FLASHBACK FRIDAY – AFGHANISTAN 1984
I showed this picture to my mother after my latest sojourn with the Afghan Mujahaddin fighting the Soviet Union and she didn’t see anything unusual. She didn’t recognize her own son standing in the middle. Good thing – if I had been caught by the KGB or Spetsnaz, it would have been, ahh… unpleasant. I was there with the “Muj” at least a dozen times until they defeated the Soviet Red Army in early 1989 – which led to the Fall of the Berlin Wall eight months later and the extinction of the Soviet Union itself by the end of 1991. It was one of the most thrilling – and consequential – adventures of modern times. ( Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #80 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
LATEST HEADLINES ON TRUMP TRIAL YOU WON’T SEE ANYWHERE ELSE
Kangaroos Ask People To Stop Unfairly Comparing Them To U.S. Justice System
9 Damning Pieces Of Evidence Proving Trump Is Guilty
Judge Instructs Jurors They Need Not Believe Trump Is Guilty To Convict Him
Donald Trump Found Guilty Of Being Donald Trump
Democrats Celebrate Trump Being Convicted Of Whatever It Was He Did
12 Jurors Unanimously Vote To Ensure Trump Reelection
- As reported by the Babylon Bee
HALF-FULL REPORT 05/31/24
Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley calls it The Manhattan Canned Hunt.
This is what a Canned Hunt is. Any real trophy hunter has nothing but contempt for those who pretend to hunt in such a phony way, which why Boone & Crockett and Safari Club International will not allow canned “trophies” in their record books.
Just as any real male athlete has nothing but contempt for men who pretend they are women so they can defeat girls in sports since they can’t win against other men.
Both are frauds as overt delusions to deny reality – precisely as the Left pretends what happened to Donald Trump is “justice.”
Understand, the Dem delusion is that Trump has been discredited, while everyone else knows that it is justice in New York City – and Democrat-run “justice” in general – have been discredited. A majority of Americans now know that the Democrat Party must be destroyed if America is to survive. This disgraceful, grossly illegal verdict will prove to be the tipping point sounding the Dems’ death knell.
This is an event – and a HFR – to remember.
THE NAGAS OF LUANG PRABANG
Nagas are multi-headed dragons who rise up to protect the former royal capital of Laos, Luang Prabang. The city along the Mekong River has been the center of Lao culture since the 600s. The Kingdom of Laos, “Land of a Million Elephants,” had to struggle for centuries to avoid being absorbed by the empires of Siam and Khmer (Cambodia). It was the French who wrested Laos from Siam (Thailand) in the 1890s, giving it independence in 1953.
For centuries, devout Buddhists have been building beautifully ornate shrines and temples called Wats here in Luang Prabang. Every day at dawn, hundreds of red-robed monks living in the Wats parade through the city streets for donations. Since the Pathet Lao seizure of power in 1975, moving the capital to Vientiane, Luang Prabang is free of politics, preserved as a religious haven and treasure house of Laotian culture.
A few days here is not to be missed. As you enjoy a glass of good French wine at a riverbank café watching the sunset over the Mekong, give thanks to the Nagas who are still protecting this sanctuary city. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #24, photo ©Jack Wheeler)
SKYE’S LINKS 05/30/24
Several momentous Supreme Court decisions are impending; this could be wonderful. There’s more fabricated outrage from the MSM (yawn), but not only does Go Woke--Go Broke continue to prove true, now Make Sense--Make Cents is trending. Meanwhile, the pile of evidence of the felonious activities of the House of Fouci piles higher and deeper, raising hopes for eventual conviction. The CIA proves to be as bad (or worse) than previously realized (shocker), and it appears that AI actually stands for Auto-Idiot. The copper supply short circuits the EV fiasco, already encumbered by the dumpster fire that is Bidenomics. And Judge Marchon instructs the jury in the Trump case like…like…like….well, like the partisan he is.
SCOTUS is about to hand down several momentous decisions:
THE ROCK PALACE OF YEMEN
Dar al-Hajar, the Rock Palace, was built by Yemen’s ruler, Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamiddin (1869-1948), atop a rock pinnacle as his summer residence. It lies in a valley about 10 miles outside Yemen’s capital of Sana’a. While an iconic example of Yemeni architecture, it’s impossible to visit now with civil war raging in the country. Someday we’ll be able to safely return to Yemen again. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #143 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
FOUR U.S. ARMY SHIPS RUN AGROUND NEAR FLOATING GAZA PIER; ‘BOOTS ON THE GROUND’
[TTP: Skye asked the question, “Is this a case of DEI = DIE?” when he shared this article about our Woke Army’s relief efforts. Mike Ryan responded to his question and TTP thought his insight should be shared. His response is at the end of this article.]
Four of the U.S. Army vessels supporting the “floating pier” in Gaza broke from their moorings Saturday and ran aground, with two of the four beaching themselves on the Israeli coast.
The Navy Times reported:
Four U.S. Army vessels supporting the maritime humanitarian aid mission in Gaza broke free from their moorings due to heavy sea states Saturday, U.S. Central Command said.
BIDEN’S ABUSE OF THE JUDICIARY HAS EXTENDED TO ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTER
Every once in a while, there is a seminal article written that elucidates political calculations not obvious on their surface.
In particular, foreign policy matters tend to be complicated to the point that most Americans focus little attention on understanding the motivations of presidents’ foreign policy decisions despite their broad national security implications.
One of the most important columns that comes to mind is Michael Doran’s brilliant essay from 2015 entitled Obama’s Secret Iran Strategy in which Doran explains Barack Obama’s motivation for empowering Iran as a regional hegemon at the expense of U.S. national security and regional alliances.
That column was followed in 2021 by another must-read essay co-written by Doran and Tony Badran entitled The Realignment in which the authors conclude that in the Middle East, “Biden is finishing what Obama started. And his top advisers are on board.”
The authors discuss the influence of returning Obama advisors on a policy intended to realign the Middle Eastern order into “one that relies more on partnership with Iran.”
THE ENCHANTMENT OF POKHARA
Everyone who visits Nepal falls in love with Pokhara. One reason is views of the Himalayas like this from Phewa Lake. You’re only at 2,600 feet while soaring far above you are the world’s 7th highest mountain, Dhaulagiri ((26,795’) to the left, the 10th highest, Annapurna (26,545’) in the center, and the unclimbed sacred peak of Machapuchare (match-a-pooch-a-ree, 23,000’) to the right.
The low altitude gives Pokhara (poke-a-rah) delightful spring-like weather most of the year, the town oozes charm and gracious hospitality with wonderfully fun bar-restaurants like the Moondance Café. As Nepal’s adventure capital, there’s whitewater rafting, tandem parasailing and motorized hang-gliding, as well as the launching pad for Nepal’s most famous trek, the Annapurna Circuit.
Or you can simply relax by the lake or be paddled around it in a canoe for birdwatching. We always end our Himalaya Helicopter Expeditions here, which we’ll do again this coming October. Hard to imagine a better place to unwind. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #295, photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THEY WANT TO SCARE YOU WITH MYTHS OF “UNHAMPERED CAPITALISM”
Bad ideas are sometimes the hardest to dethrone.
It’s probably accurate to say most people think of money as the paper currency printed by governments. And it is money in the sense that it functions as a medium of exchange, but is it sound? Is it vulnerable to inflation?
Its very existence is evidence that it is, so why are so many people reluctant to switch to a money that isn’t?
There any many myths surrounding hard money currencies, and one of them is that money, both its nature and supply, is best left to the alleged guardian of our rights, the state.
The fact that money came into existence on the market, and that its ultimate form and supply were determined by economic law, is disregarded.
Money matters belong to the state because the state, unlike the rest of us, is in a position to remove itself from market discipline. Since the state is necessary to our survival, the story goes, it cannot do its job unless it can control the growth of money.
Money, therefore, must be of such a nature that its supply can grow in accordance with the orders of a state-appointed committee.
Even the classical gold standard was under control of the state.
When that control proved too limited for those eager for war, it was abandoned.
The gold standard did not fail. States failed to keep the gold standard.