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WHAT ISRAELI VICTORY WOULD LOOK LIKE

The Fate of Hamas
The Fate of Hamas

“I’m driving south to the Gaza corridor, the place Hamas invaded on Saturday (10/07),” Yonah Jeremy Bob says in our first phone conversation. “But it’s a straight drive, so let’s talk.”

Mr. Bob is an expert on the Israeli shadow war with Iran, the subject of his new book, “Target Tehran,” and he covers the Israeli intelligence agencies and military for the Jerusalem Post. He’s busy tracking down answers to the questions every Israeli wants answered: How could this have happened? What’s the plan? Who will pay?

Saturday’s shock gave way to rage, “and then rage crystallized into a very steely determination,” Mr. Bob says. “It’s the thing Israel’s enemies never fully understand. They think of Israel as a weak Western state, where people care about their looks and money and all the things that will make them flee rather than fight.” Hamas often scoffs that “the Jews love life.” But that’s why they fight for it.

He sees a two-part story here. “Hamas took its best shot and it won big on the first day,” he says. “But it really doesn’t have anything else. It isn’t going to accomplish anything else close to what it has already done. From here on, it’s going to be Israel demolishing them.”

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THE PHYSICS OF WHY CARBON DIOXIDE DOES NOT CAUSE WARMING

temperature-readingThe climate-change scheme and net-zero carbon policy are based upon a false notion that carbon dioxide and other gases cause global warming.  They do not.  We don’t have to guess about this.  We have empirical and scientific proof.

I owned a Weights and Measures gas-physics test-and-repair facility and conducted tests.  We learned gas physics from engineers at factories that manufacture gas-physics instruments.  They must understand gas physics, or their instruments won’t work.

Here’s why gas physics shows that carbon dioxide cannot cause global warming – because carbon dioxide is not a greenhouse gas.

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY: WHAT DO YOU SEE HERE?

boy-in-pyongyang-nature-park-stream A young boy playing among rocks on a stream, yes. But where? I took this photo in a nature park in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Gives you a different perspective, doesn’t it? This young North Korean boy, how so innocently playing amidst beautiful streams and waterfalls, has no future except to grow up to be a human robot in subjection to a tyranny. He has no idea of the fate in store for him. That’s why, for me, this is one of the saddest pictures I have even taken.

Perhaps he will escape from his political prison, but the odds are gravely against him. Life does have its somber moments. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #244 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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BUZKASHI

buzkashiSong Kul. Kyrgyzstan.  Here, 10,000 feet high along the shores of Lake Song Kul, Kyrgyz nomads play buzkashi, where men on horseback fight with whips, fists, elbows over a goat carcass (simulated for us in a heavy canvas bag) weighing some 40 pounds.  There are no rules.  Whoever gets the carcass to the goal line and drops it into the circle there, scores.  This ancient game has been played for thousands of years by the nomads of Mongolia, Afghanistan, and Central Asia.  The nomads who encamp at Song Kul are playing fiercely but actually having a lot of fun – laughter abounds. After the game, we had a cup of kumiss, slightly alcoholic fermented mare’s milk, with them. An experience never to be forgotten. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #281 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE MOST ANCIENT SYMBOL OF REVERENCE FOR EXISTENCE

swaswallYesterday, I found this religious decoration on the outer wall of an old mosque in the three-thousand year-old Silk Road oasis city of Bukhara. I’ve seen it in many places throughout the world, such as ancient ruins of India and Rome. Yet this is far older – it was carved onto mammoth ivory by Ice Age hunters in Ukraine 12,000 years ago.

From time immemorial has it represented eternity, prosperity, the centeredness of all that is. Why? Look up into the sky on a clear dark night. All people have studied the heavens for eons. You could always know where you were by finding North, for the two front stars of what we call the Big Dipper point to it – always.

The Greeks called it Mega Arktikos, the Great Bear – why we call Far North the Arctic today. The ancients saw the Bear every year rotating around Celestial North – now occupied by Polaris, the North Star – through all four seasons, while all the stars in the sky circled around it every night. What do you see in this depiction of that seasonal rotation?

the-big-dipper Yes, a Swastika -- Sanskrit for “the goodness of existence.” The most heinous perversion of symbolic art in world history was to take the symbol for the goodness of existence used by people for a dozen millennia – and still revered by Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems and many others to this day – and twist it into a symbol of horrific evil. It’s an informative lesson of history. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #225 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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NASR OL-MOLK

nasr_ol_molkWhat many consider the world’s most beautiful mosque is in Persia’s most captivating city, Shiraz. Over four millennia older than Islam, over two millennia older than Persia, Shiraz was "Shirrazish," a city of ancient Elam at the birth of civilization in Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago. Even then, Shiraz was famous for wine. A thousand years ago, it was considered the best in the world. Marco Polo praised it. No more. Prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there were over 300 Persian wineries. Now there are none.

Shiraz is still a city of gardens and flowers. At the garden tomb of Persia’s most revered poet Hafez (1315-1390), young couples gather for discrete romance as they have for centuries. The beauty of Nasr ol-Molk – with the sun shining through its stained glass windows covering the floor carpets in color, and the interior a dazzling display of pink tile ornamentation – can be overwhelming. The same for the friendliness of the people – always welcoming with a smile for you.

Especially if you are American. All the people we met love America and despise their rulers. The Land of Persia is still here in today’s Iran, and someday it will be free, America’s ally again. The wine will flow here once more. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #83 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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STRANGLER FIG

strangler-figChristmas Island, Indian Ocean, Australia. This huge banyan tree no longer exists. It’s been slowly strangled to death for up to a century. Seeds of fig vines were deposited by bird droppings in the upper branches of the tree, which sprouted and began to grow downward along the tree trunk, sucking nutrients from the tree along the way. Slowly year after year, they coil and wrap around the entire trunk to the ground, literally strangling the tree out of existence until all that’s left are the huge enveloping fig vines. It’s hollow inside – look carefully above the ground roots and you’ll see a shaft of vertical light.

I’ve seen a good many Strangler Figs in the rain forests of Central Africa and the Amazon – but the ones here on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean are the most spectacular. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #280 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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HALF-FULL REPORT 10/13/23

cocos-keeling-islands Welcome to Cocos-Keeling Islands, a bit of Australia lost in the Indian Ocean.  As I write this, I’m sitting in that chair you see watching a glorious sunset in solitude – and yes, with a very good oversized vodka mango juice tonic.  This is an exceedingly funky place with just 600 friendly people.  No crime whatever, relaxed and peaceful.

I’ve wanted to come here for years for its fascinating history (see the Wiki link above). So Rebel gave this experience as a birthday present.  As you may imagine, though, an internet connection is very intermittent.  So I better get to the HFR as quick as I can.  Here we go…

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SKYE’S LINKS 10/12/23

iron-musk Is Elon Musk a Superhero or Supervillain?  He could be either depending on the issue.  But here’s once case where no doubt he’s the former. The Federalies have declared war on Elon Musk, and Elon has declared war back.  This is a war all freedom advocates want Elon to win!

SEC Sues Elon To Compel Him To Testify; Musk Responds It's Time For Punitive Action Against Regulators Who "Abuse Power For Political Gain"

incompetent-stasi

That sums it up doesn’t it? Yet, while there’s plenty more evidence of Federalie perfidy this week, there’s plenty of good uplifting news as well.  And we’ll close with something special to celebrate on this day.  So come on, jump right in, the water’s fine!

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ISRAEL NEEDS ROWDY YATES

[This Monday’s Archive was written 20 years ago on August 22, 2003.  It is particularly apt to re-publish it this week given the proto-hominid barbarism of Hamas upon Israel two days ago on October 7.  Given this, the conclusion may seem Pollyannic, yet nonetheless, let’s hope Bibi Netanyahu is the Rowdy Yates that Israel needs now.] 

TTP, August 22, 2003

You know I’m not Jewish.  And I’m not a supporter of Israel for Millennial Christian reasons (e.g., Jews have to get the Holy Land back before there can be a Second Coming).  I support Israel because I support Western Civilization, of which Israel is a part and because of which she is under attack.

And also because I think proto-hominids who slaughter women and babies on purpose have no right to exist.

Rowdy Yates was the character played by Clint Eastwood in the 1960s television series “Rawhide in which he played second-in-command of a Texas cattle drive in the 1870s.  It was Rowdy Yates’ job to implement the orders of the Trail Boss, Gill Faber, to “Head ’em up, move ’em out” — keep the cattle moving out of Texas and to the railhead in Kansas, fighting off Indians, rustlers, and assorted bad guys in the process.

The Rowdy Yates Solution for the Survival of Israel has three components:

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THE IRAN GAZA WAR

Israeli civilian taken hostage to Gaza
Israeli civilian taken hostage to Gaza

It is a rampage of unspeakable cruelty, the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. It is also a security catastrophe of unprecedented proportions for Israel’s military and political class. Much time will be spent figuring out the causes and responsibility. For now, some broader observations:

First, call it the Iran-Gaza War. To be sure, Hamas bears responsibility, and any serious Israeli response will involve its total, unconditional defeat. But Hamas is an ally and instrument of Iran. An operation of such scale and complexity is unlike anything Hamas has previously attempted and strongly shows significant Iranian involvement. Hamas has publicly thanked Iran for its support, and Iran’s supreme leader applauded the invasion.

This is the war with Israel that it wants—on Israeli soil, through once-removed marauding militias. Thus: Any serious response must go through Tehran.

If the U.S. and the international community are truly outraged by the scenes of senior citizens gunned down on the street and women and children abducted, they must not only refrain from limiting Israel’s operation in Gaza but resolve to oust the genocidal regime in Tehran.

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PURE EVIL PAID FOR BY JOE BIDEN

NY Post 10/10 & 10/11
NY Post 10/10 & 10/11

On Saturday (10/07), Hamas attacked Israel, making it the bloodiest day in the country's history and resulting in more Jews dead since the end of the Holocaust. Meanwhile, the Biden administration's response was less than ideal in many ways.

This is especially with regards to the $6 billion that the United States released to Iran as part of a prisoner exchange, a move that was announced on the anniversary of September 11, no less. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in his Monday edition of "The Verdict," was among those calling out the administration for this, but also other, moves.

"This attack this massacre, this horrific assault on Israel, was funded by Iran. Hamas and Hezbollah are Iranian proxies. They work for Iran. They work under the direction of Iran. They are funded by Iran. The Wall Street Journal reported this weekend that these attacks were planned, were signed off on by the Iranian government," Cruz shared.

The role that the Biden administration played does not merely have to do with that $6 billion payment, though.

"The $6 billion is just a fraction of the cash that Joe Biden has flooded into Iran. Because a few weeks before the $6 billion, the Biden administration allowed $10 billion from Iraq to flow into Iran. That brings it up to $16 billion in cash that directly flowed into Iran. But that doesn't cover it all. 

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DID BIDEN WITHHOLD INTEL FROM ISRAEL?

Biden and Ayatollah Khamenei
Biden and Ayatollah Khamenei

Hamas terrorists in Gaza launched a massive and highly coordinated attack on Israel with incursions by land, air and sea. From a thousand miles away, Iran was funding and coordinating it. There had to be a lot of cyber chatter preceding the attack.

Yet Israel was apparently caught by complete surprise.

The question being rightly asked is, how could Israel’s intel operations – one of the most sophisticated in the world – have been caught so off-guard?

The answer may be in Washington. The Biden administration has never gotten along with the Israeli government, nor did the Obama administration where Biden was Vice President. Biden and Obama have both seemed determined to let Iran – a terrorist state that has vowed to destroy Israel – get a nuclear bomb, and experts think that at any given moment they could have one in a matter of months.

And as is well known, Biden just gave Iran six billion dollars in exchange for American hostages that Iran had taken.

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THE ESTABLISHMENT’S ALTERNATE REALITIES

bidens-economic-insecurityOne common denominator that explains why previously successful societies implode is their descent into fantasies. A collective denial prevents even discussion of existential threats and their solutions.

Something like that is happening in the United States. Eight million illegal immigrants have entered the United States by the deliberate erasure of the southern border.

Apparently, the Biden administration sees some unstated advantage in destroying U.S. immigration law and welcoming in would-be new constituents.

Yet, the more the millions arrive, the more Joe Biden and his Homeland Security director Alejandro Mayorkas flat out lie that “the border is secure.”

They both live in a world of make-believe, passed off to the American people as reality.

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