The Jade Steps

Chapter Twenty-Six:  Cleansing The Temple

Much of the royal household was transferred to the Palace of Axayacatl.  Montezuma's chefs set up the royal kitchens, attendants the royal baths, servants the royal wardrobe, so that he was fed, bathed, and clothed as before.  Suitable quarters were arranged for his wives and concubines, which he frequently visited.  His retinue of courtiers and counselors was with him throughout the day.  Petitioners and ambassadors from various parts of the empire came to plea with him or present him with tribute. 

All seemed normal - with one difference.  The only guards, of which there were many, were Spanish.  There wasn't a jaguar warrior in sight.

Yet to everyone who came to him with concern, to ask about his obvious imprisonment, Montezuma assured them he was happy and under no restraint.  He told them not to disturb themselves or the city, and commanded them not to be distressed, for his "visit" with the strangers was the will of Huitzilopochtli.

Obama can't defeat ISIS with soft power, though ISIS could beat him with soft power assuming its Caliph ever decided to agree to sit down at a table with John Kerry without beheading him.

Iran has picked up billions in sanctions relief and the right to take over Yemen and raid ships in international waters in the Persian Gulf just for agreeing to listen to Kerry talk for an hour. And that might be a fair exchange.

As bad as having your capital or ship seized by Iran is, listening to John Kerry talk is even worse.

So far ISIS has preferred the classical approach of killing everything in its path. The approach, deemed insufficiently nuanced by masters of subtlety like Obama and Kerry, has worked surprisingly well.

For it's hard to destroy something if you don't know what it is. And it's hard to know what a thing is if you won't even call it by its name or name its ideology.

The left loves root causes, but the root cause of ISIS isn't poverty, unemployment or a lack of democracy.  It's...

It's May Day.  For millennia, this has been a joyful celebration of the end of winter, with flowers and happy festivities.  Today, you'll notice news stories like, Oakland Braces for Major May Day Mayhem.

It's not May Day, it's Commie Day.  How it became that way was told last year (May 1, 2014) in May Day Should Be May Day, Not Commie Day.  It's what actually happened, so while the history may make you ill, it really is a must-read...

Last weekend was our Vegas Rendezvous, and many attendees said it was the best ever.  It really was fabulous.  I can't thank all our amazing speakers enough.  Most especially, though, I want to express my appreciation to our marvelous TTPer attendees.  Personally, it was such a pleasure to see and meet them all...

A great tragedy occurred this past week.  On Saturday (4/25), a gigantic 7.9 earthquake struck central Nepal. Through my friends there, I expressed my deepest condolences to the Nepalese, and I'm sure you do as well.  Nonetheless, the damage is far from total.  Much of the country had little damage.  Which means that our Lost Kingdom of Lo expedition this August is still on...

The protohominid thugs who trashed their own city, Baltimore, this week would have been regarded as good news by Vladimir Lenin and Saul Alinsky.  If we wished to be Leninist and Alinskyite, so would we...

There's a Thank God Department this week.  On Tuesday (4/28), the headline appeared that we've been praying for...

Lastly, the HFR Hero of the Week is a 12 year-old kid.

Last week, the Obama Justice Department declined to press charges against former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner -- even though there was overwhelming evidence that she had targeted conservative groups and may have been complicit in destroying her emails.

She also waived her Fifth Amendment privilege by proclaiming her innocence before a congressional committee and then refused to answer questions.

It is possible that for some unknown reason Ms. Lerner's case should have been dropped, but to many it appeared that once again President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder were applying the rule of law selectively.

The rule of law breaks down when those charged with enforcing the law are, in fact, violators of it. Politicians have increasingly exempted and declined to prosecute themselves and other government employees for violations of the law that apply to the rest of us.

How do we get them to obey their own laws? Here are two ways.

For some, happiness is a word that conjures up visions of selfish people concerned only with their own pleasure; but this sort of hedonistic approach to happiness is a recipe for serial bursts of pleasure at the expense of long-term happiness.

As you know, when I speak of happiness, I am describing a much richer concept; more akin to what the ancient Greeks called eudaimonia or "success at being human."

One of the central elements for living well is how you relate to other people. In this regard, happiness is literally the opposite of self-centeredness or self-absorption. In fact, contrary to many Las Vegas advertisements or Hollywood-lifestyle fantasies, self-absorption is a key ingredient for depression, and single-minded focus on personal pleasure is a recipe for long-term misery.

So here's the single most effective thing you can do to get an immediate and significant boost to your genuine happiness - and to set the stage for a deeper, long-term happiness as well. It's simple. It's not mysterious. But it is substantial: