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L i k e U s ! ! !

FROM SICK CARE TO SELF-CARE: WHY LIFE EXTENSION WAS WRITTEN

1Dedicated to the memory of Skye who was Durk Pearson
Dedicated to the memory of Skye who was Durk Pearson

In today’s America, declining health has quietly become a growth industry.

The worse chronic conditions become, the larger the markets that form around managing symptoms rather than restoring health. Modern healthcare excels at intervention, crisis response, and pharmaceutical dependence—but far less at prevention, nutrition, and long-term vitality.

This didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen by accident.

 

Over the last century, medicine in the United States shifted toward a drug-centric, allopathic model—one that prioritizes patentable treatments and standardized protocols over individualized care, nutrition, and lifestyle.

As this system expanded, non-drug approaches were gradually marginalized, and the public was conditioned to believe that health comes primarily from prescriptions rather than daily choices.

Most people are never taught the history of how this system developed, how medical education was shaped, or why nutrition was pushed to the sidelines. As a result, many assume the current model is the only one possible—and that declining health is inevitable with age.

 

Where Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw Enter the Story

Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw wrote Life Extension because they fundamentally rejected that assumption.

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY: AFGHAN MUJAHADDIN?

jw-the-mujahaddinWhen my son Brandon was a cadet at Virginia Military Academy, his professor teaching Modern Military History gave a lecture on the 1980s War in Afghanistan fought by Afghan Mujahaddin against the Soviet Red Army occupation of their country. One of the pictures he showed was the one above of “three typical Mujahaddin fighters.”

Brandon raised his hand. “Yes, Cadet Wheeler,” the professor called on him. “Actually, Professor,” Brandon said, “only the man in the center with the white beard is one. The man on the right is United States Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, while the man on the left is my father.”

The professor was stunned while the rest of the class stifled laughter. “Are you quite sure of that, Cadet Wheeler?” stammered the professor. “Oh, yes sir,” Brandon replied. “I recognize my own father. That photo is framed in my father’s study. It was taken in November 1988. The Afghan Commander’s name is Moli Shakur. I have known Congressman Rohrabacher all my life.”

The cadets all applauded in appreciation. To this day, this remains one of Brandon’s fondest college memories. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #145 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE BLUE CITY OF CHEFCHAOUEN

blue-city-of-chefchaouenMy wife Rebel and I love this uniquely picturesque ancient Berber village in Morocco where everything is painted in shades of blue. Suffused in soothing blue, there’s no more relaxed place than just about anywhere. Everyone is welcome from the wealthy staying in sumptuous boutique hotels to backpackers in hostels. There are no “tourist spots,” for every café and bar is where the locals go themselves. (It’s pronounced shef-shah-win, by the way.)

Berbers – “Amazigh” (Unconquered) in their language, are the original people of Morocco having lived there for over 12,000 years. They are directly related to the reindeer-herding Lapps of Lapland in northern Scandinavia (they share the same mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U5b1b). Both are descended from the same stock of Cro-Magnon Ice Age hunters in Western Europe that split in two 15,000 years ago – one moving far north, the other south crossing the Gibraltar Strait to Africa.

One more reason why Morocco is so magical. Would you like to experience the Magic of Morocco with us next year? (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #21 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE FLATTEST PLACE ON EARTH

salar-de-uyuni-768x578_edtThe Salar de Uyuni, 12,000 feet high in the Altiplano of Bolivia, is a 4,000 square mile expanse of salt so flat it is used to calibrate the altimeters of NASA observation satellites of the earth. After a rain, it becomes the world’s largest mirror, 80 miles across. The incredible reflective surface extends to the horizon in every direction – it is both hallucinatingly disorienting and makes for amazing mirror-to-horizon photos (especially at sunrise/sunset).

The brine underneath the salt crust contains 70% of the world’s lithium – critical to our battery-fueled global economy – produced in evaporation pools that are a kaleidoscope of colors.

You can stay here in relative luxury at one of the world’s most unique hotels – the Palacio de Sal, built entirely of salt: walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, sculptures. Being here is one of South America’s more astounding experiences. Let me know if you want a Wheeler Expedition to take you there! (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #39 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE MYSTERY OF THE REEF OF HEAVEN

reef-of-heavenIn a remote corner of the Pacific Ocean, off the island of Pohnpei in Micronesia lies one of the world’s great archaeological mysteries: the only ancient stone city built on a coral reef. No one knows who built it or how.

Micronesians say their ancestors called it Soun Nan-leng, The Reef of Heaven. Their name for it today is Nan Madol, the City of Ghosts.

On artificial islets connected by a series of canals are massive walls up to 25 feet high enclosing temples, tombs, ritual centers, and platforms for thatch homes – all made of giant columnar basalt stone. Eons ago, lava flows on Pohnpei cooled into vertical pillars. Over a thousand years ago, ancient Micronesians began hauling these basalt logs miles away to build this stone city. With an average weight of 5 tons, 10,000 pounds – and some up to 25 tons, 50,000 pounds each – how they did this remains unexplained. It lies deserted today, abandoned and lost for centuries.

Paddling a kayak through the canal maze of Nan Madol to clamber over these monumental stone complexes in solitary silence – for visitors are rarely here – leaves you in a state of unforgettable awe. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #6 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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BEYOND EXOTIC

beyond-exoticThe Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is sandwiched between India and Chinese-Occupied Tibet, with a culture so unique it is beyond exotic, almost surrealistically so.  Smaller than West Virginia with only three-quarters of a million people, it has managed to avoid getting swallowed up by its giant neighbors and preserve its sovereignty, freedom, and culture, remaining true to its ancient identity.  There is no place like Bhutan anywhere else on our planet.  Rebel and I will be there again this coming November.  Let me know if you’d like to be with us: jack@wheelerexpeditions.com. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #314 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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DEMOCRATS PUSH FOR DEATH CERTIFICATES TO BE ACCEPTED AS VOTER ID

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With President Trump and Republicans campaigning hard to shore up election integrity in the U.S., congressional Democrats agreed to negotiate on the issue on the condition that death certificates be added to the list of acceptable forms of voter ID.

Though initially opposed to any form of legislation mandating voter ID, Democrats surprisingly came forward with a proposal to compromise by guaranteeing that presenting a current death certificate would be accepted as valid identification to vote in elections.

"It's our base's most widely used form of documentation," said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. "We didn't want to open any kind of discussion with Republicans about requiring voter ID unless it included death certificates. If they're not willing to consider granting us that request, then it's a no-go. How would our voters be expected to contribute to democracy if their death certificates aren't accepted as identification?"

Democrats stressed that including death certificates on the list of valid forms of identification was vital to any potential agreement on the issue. "This is about making sure our voters aren't disenfranchised," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "While it's often challenging for our supporters to obtain drivers' licenses and other forms of official ID, we have millions and millions of registered Democrats who have valid death certificates. Their voices must continue to be heard."

At publishing time, Democrats had updated their demand to allow documentation from every other country in the world be acceptable to vote in the United States.

~ Babylon Bee reporting.

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HALF-FULL REPORT 01/30/26

Reagan and Gorabchev, Reykjavik, Iceland October 1986
Reagan and Gorabchev, Reykjavik, Iceland October 1986

President Reagan is famous for his many jokes about Russia’s Soviet Union, but here’s a story about the time his speechwriters and I told him a joke.

The President had just returned from his Reykjavik Summit with Gorbachev, the first time they ever met.  After the briefing, we asked, “Mr. President, we’d like to know if a certain exchange between you and Mr. Gorbachev really took place.”

He instantly knew we were putting him on, but he ran with it:  “What exchange? Tell me about it.” I was chosen to explain…

When you get the President of the United States to laugh so hard it just about brings tears to his eyes, you know the gag worked.  It would most likely work with our POTUS today, given what we saw last night (1/29) when asked about Britain’s Keir Starmer and Canada’s Mark Carney kissing up to the ChiComs of Beijing:

So let’s talk about what’s going on in China this week as it’s a doozy.  We’ll start with what a brainless twerp Starmer is.

This is a great HFR!  Come on in!

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A DAY OF INFAMY

[This Monday’s Archive was originally posted on January 20, 2021 – a Day of Infamy when America’s domestic enemies succeeded in the cheating theft of the Presidency.  The current Confederate Insurrection now in Minneapolis is but a whispering prelude to this November 3 being another Day of Infamy if the Dems are allowed to rig the midterms, seizing the House and Senate. What must be done to prevent it?  We’ll discuss your Comments in Friday’s HFR.]

TTP, January 20, 2021

The day after Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt addressed a Joint Session of Congress and via radio the nation to declare December 7, 1941 “A date that will live in infamy.”  His “Day of Infamy” speech is the most famous of his presidency.

Eighty years later, today, January 20, 2021, is another Day of Infamy for America.  Most tragically, it is worse than that of Pearl Harbor – and a far greater threat.

Pearl Harbor was a military attack on an American island 2,500 miles from our shores by a foreign power.  There was not the slightest ability of the Imperial Japanese to pose a serious threat to seize and conquer our country.

On this day, our country has been seized and conquered as never before in our history, not by a foreign power but by domestic enemies, homegrown fascists dedicated to destroying America’s founding principles, obliterating our Constitution, eliminating our freedom, and being treasonously allied to Communist China.

And so on this day, we must note that FDR’s response to the Day of Infamy at Pearl Harbor was the opposite of defeatist:

“No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to an absolute victory.”
 

The Democrat-Fascist Party’s seizure and theft of America was just such a premeditated invasion.  It must now be our determination to have the righteous might to win an absolute victory against them.

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AMELIA VICTORIOUS – HOW TO LOSE THE CULTURE WAR WITH A VIDEO GAME

There’s something genuinely funny going on in the United Kingdom right now.

The British government’s Prevent office, housed under the Home Office (think Department of the Interior, but allergic to dissent), partnered with a media nonprofit called Shout Out UK (like a PBS focused on preventing "radicalism") to come up with a clever new way to re-educate British youth.

The concern, as always, was “radicalization.”

They thought the solution was inspired: a choice-based video game. Kids like games. Games involve decisions. Decisions shape values. What could possibly go wrong?

Thus Pathways was born, a government-funded interactive morality play designed to gently shepherd British children toward being properly antiracist, properly accepting, and properly enthusiastic about the ever-increasing number of migrants reshaping their country.

Civics class, but fun. And digital. And corrective.

As part of this effort, the designers introduced a character named Amelia, a cute, purple-haired, vaguely goth girl who carries a Union Jack and talks about Britain being for the British.

She was meant to function as a warning, a living illustration of how nationalism can look attractive, even charming, and yet be dangerous to the impressionable youths of Britain who may not have fully internalized the idea that Brexit is bad and they are to obey their elitist overlords.

What they did not anticipate was that the public would take one look at adorable, charming Amelia and decide she was the good guy.

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CHANNELING ALINSKY

saul-says-make-us-gr8agnOne thing that’s overlooked in Rules for Radicals – even by Alinsky himself – is the key role played by what I call “Alinsky Republicans” or “Alinsky conservatives.”

These are the people who, despite their professed opposition to everything Alinsky and his book were trying to achieve, act as the catalyst – the trigger or fuse – for the climactic events leading to victory for radical activists.

These are the defeatists, the doom trolls, who, after being frozen and personalized in good Alinskian fashion, simply give up, throw in the towel, and sell out the cause they supposedly represent.

They act as a kind of seed, in the same way that dust particles seed rainclouds, around which other weak sisters can congregate until enough come together to bring down the entire system and allow the barbarian hordes in.

They’re always around, waiting in the background.

They’re always active, always ready to surrender.

They’re active today.

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NYT WONDERS WHY AMERICANS ARE ‘TURNING AGAINST GAY PEOPLE’

This week, the New York Times published an article called "Americans Are Turning Against Gay People," and if you're wondering whether the paper has completely lost touch with reality, the answer is yes.

The piece opens with some gushing about a show I’ve never even heard of — and I suspect you haven’t, either — called Heated Rivalry, featuring gay hockey players, suggesting that its success proves "acceptance of queer love continues to grow."

The authors, Tessa Charlesworth and Eli Finkel, lament that this is not the case.

"We wish we could share that optimism," they write, before citing research showing that acceptance of gay people peaked around 2020 and has "sharply reversed" since then.

I’d be willing to bet that most people haven’t heard of Heated Rivalry, but even so, it’s irrelevant.

Gay characters have been on television and in movies for decades, often as leads.

These days, you’d have a tougher time finding a show or movie that doesn’t feature LGBTQ characters.

If you watch game shows, you’ve probably wondered if they have quotas for LGBTQ contestants, and if they’re required to boast about their sexual orientation.

Nevertheless, the article expresses shock that anti-gay bias reversed course after two decades.

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HUH – ‘ORGANIC’ COCKROACHES SCATTER WHEN THE SIGNAL LIGHT COMES ON

Now, to paraphrase another famous intuitive seat-of-their-pants fictional type, I am not a smart girl, but I know what a weird coincidence is.

If one really pays attention, I would have to say we have several all running in sequence in Minneapolis, which makes it an even bigger weird coincidence in itself.

Which I'd bet good money means that, from the beginning, none of this has been a coincidence at all.

You tell me.

The very first thing to take note of is how all these people appeared on Minnesota streets - specifically - with the same printed signs and shrieking the same anti-ICE, pro-illegal immigrant language.

It's awfully peculiar considering that illegal alien deportations had been humming along unabated and virtually unnoticed for years, right up to the point when there was a spike and a 180° reversal of tone and rhetoric.

Fortunately, there are people who chart these things, which helps pinpoint the exact moment the tenor shifts.

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CROSSING THE AMERICAN RUBICON

deuces-rubicon-crossingFirst of all, thank God that Donald J. Trump and enough Republicans won in 2024 to get in power and push through the reforms we are seeing now. It hasn’t been all we wanted yet, and there is room for improvement, but what has been made clear is that the United States is now at a Rubicon moment as a result. Fortunately for us, this moment has our side at the reins of power. It may not remain this way.

I have to remind everyone again, as I did right after the election, that if the popular vote had shifted even five percent, the land would have been delivered into the hands of the Giggling Mental Patient and her entourage in the Democratic Party instead of to DJT and the Republicans.

That is not a margin that should give anyone any comfort. I would like to say we have a mandate. I must point to the numbers, however, and say what we really have is a fighting chance by the grace of God.

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A RESILIENT LIFE

optimism-faithHappiness is hard work. It takes willpower and practice to develop habits that make a life work well; it takes conscientiousness to build flourishing relationships; it takes self-reflection to know what we value and, therefore, where to spend our precious time and energy.

So instead of wishing you a happy life, I’d like to show you how you can build yourself a strong, resilient life… The happiness is what you’ll earn from the doing.

There are three specific elements I’ll show you today.

 

Let’s start with Learned Optimism.

First let me define what I mean by optimism: It isn’t about ignoring harsh realities and pretending things are great, when they’re not. Optimism is a pro-active, problem solving approach to the obstacles and opportunities we’re faced with.

An optimist is more likely to find solutions, because they’re actively looking for them. A pessimist is more likely to feel helpless and overwhelmed, because they’re actively looking for reasons that any given solution won’t work.

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