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HALF-FULL REPORT 06/21/24

intihuatana-sunriseWelcome to the Summer Solstice and the Inversion of Reality HFR!

Today, June 21, is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere – and the shortest, or Winter Solstice, in the Southern.  On June 21st, the ancient Incas of Peru held their most sacred ritual of the year at Machu Picchu’s Intihuatana – Hitching Post of the Sun – where the priests would magically lasso and tie the Sun God Inti to the post to ensure it would not die but be reborn so the days would start getting longer again.

First time I was here was in 1960, spending a week by myself exploring it.  Many of you have been here yourself.  Roping in the Sun made sense, I thought, as from time immemorial everyone “knew” the Sun went around the Earth.

But it doesn’t, reality is the other way around.  Denying the reality that the Earth goes around the Sun today would be like, say, a man denying the reality of his not having an XX chromosome and not having ovaries can still get pregnant and have babies because he’s somehow a “woman.”

In fact, the entire Democrat agenda is based on the overt denial of reality no less wacko than someone in America today asserting that the Sun revolves around the Earth.  FJB is in full command of his senses, “sharper than a tack.”  There is no illegal immigration problem, our southern border is well protected.  Bidenomics is reducing inflation, not increasing it.  The greatest threat to mankind and the greatest national security threat to America is man-made Climate Change.  On and unrelentingly on, a non-stop ubiquitous Inversion of Reality.

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SKYE’S LINKS 06/20/24

Get ready for some great news! The Supreme Court is on a roll with two good rulings against the Administrative State, and another one coming up—the Big One. The GOP is getting serious (finally) about protecting the vote; the public is mostly over its slavish love of Academia as it is today; and we have an easy way to increase the likelihood of a vote for Trump!

The economy is a yuge talking point for Trump, too, particularly in California, poor things; and speaking of poor things, Biden is a corrupt piece of work, but not even a meat suit deserves to be paraded around like “Weekend at Bernie’s,” this grotesque pretense needs to stop. Then we talk a bit about stagflation and the elites’ denial of same; the debates; and how AI is practically human—it’s learned how to lie. Jump in!

 

Blows against the empire!  SCOTUS rules against the Administrative State in two rulings - 9-0 against the NLRB:

Supreme Court Gives Starbucks Unanimous Win In Labor Dispute

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A BOUNTY ON COYOTES

coyote-hunted[This Monday’s Archive was published on May 23, 2006. A bounty on human coyote smugglers of illegals into the US is obviously needed now more than ever – and not just Sheriff Arpaio’s methods described below. Sniper teams tracking them down so they end up like the photo above would be helpful, es verdad?

TTP, May 23, 2006

If you Google "coyote hunting," you'll get 2,790,000 hits.  It's a popular sport among outdoorsmen, and a necessary one.  As one hunter puts it:

"Coyote populations across the country are exploding and taking an unprecedented toll on wildlife. Zero predator control by state and federal agencies and low fur prices have kept trapping to a minimum, hence predator populations are booming. The opportunity to add some prime coyote pelts to your trophy collection and reduce the predator pressure on the local game and bird populations have never been better."

Coyotes are pests, varmints, hated not only by cattle and sheep ranchers, but by anyone with a regard for all the wildlife they kill.  In many states, they can be shot on sight with no permit required in a year-round open season.  Ed Boggess, Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources fish and wildlife policy chief explains:

"Coyotes are an unprotected species and can be taken at any time of year, in any quantity, by almost any methods."
It's time this perspective is applied to human coyotes - for "coyote" is what smugglers of illegal aliens from Mexico into the US are called.

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THE IMMOVABLE OBJECT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL

David Ben-Gurion and the Jewish Agency established the State of Israel on May 14th, 1948, with the backing of the United Nations and particularly Britain. The United States immediately recognized them. The initial effort had started years before, with the Balfour Declaration, in which Britain supported and helped establish a national homeland for Jews in Palestine. Israel was established according to “international law.”

Within 24 hours of Israel declaring independence, it was attacked.  Israel survived, and also survived more wars in 1956, 1967, and 1973—despite their adversaries getting bountiful shipments of arms from the Communist Bloc, as well as some Western nations.

Israel would show down with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (fronted by Otto Skorzeny’s alumnus Yasser Arafat) in 1982 and in Lebanon again in 2006 versus Iran’s proxy Hezbollah. Throughout the time discussed here, Israel was subjected to other cross-border small unit and terror attacks too numerous to name, and perfidy from many ostensibly democratic nations, to include France and Britain ripping them off over the Mirage fighter and the Chieftain tank.

Israel, despite its victories in the major wars, and surviving the long one with few good friends alongside, has been magnanimous to the losers; passing up opportunities to hold conquered land including the entire Sinai Peninsula.  They also allowed the hostile Arab residents to remain in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and to hold the Temple Mount following the Six Day War.

None of these locations have gotten more peaceful for it.

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TO THE CLASS OF 2024: YOU ARE ALL DISEASED

jealous-red-head-boy[TTP:  Whoa! Don’t pass over this article because you aren’t graduating this year. This professor from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce offers some marvelous (and amusing) reality here, that can be used to speak with liberal children of all ages. Besides, you’ll enjoy reading it! He even points out that the problem is envy, not inequality.]

If you are graduating from college this year, I suspect you’re not too familiar with George Carlin. So before you become inflamed about the (intentionally) harsh title, let me tell you I plagiarized it from Carlin, who was one of the best American comedians of the last 100 years.

His show, You Are All Diseased is available on YouTube, and it is so good that I was willing to start by alienating you a bit just to plug it here. You’re welcome. It is especially recommended if you’re in any kind of altered state of mind.

Speaking of states of mind: I’m worried about yours.

Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide among people your age in the U.S. are skyrocketing. I myself lost a student to suicide a few years ago—an experience I wish on no one.

I’m here to tell you that I think it’s partly our (your professors’) fault. We, along with others, have been feeding you a distorted view of the world and your place in it, and I think this has caused a considerable part of the existential angst you all feel.

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MAJOR LITHIUM DISCOVERY IN FRACKING WASTEWATER, EV IRONY

frack-meThe discovery of the potential for thousands of tons of lithium to be extracted annually from wastewater generated by fracking in the Marcellus Shale leaves proponents of a green energy future at a crossroads, Republicans said Thursday.

University of Pittsburgh study suggested processing byproducts from natural gas production in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale basin could potentially meet nearly half of U.S. lithium needs.

The typical electric vehicle (EV) requires nearly 18 pounds of lithium to power its battery. That figure grows exponentially for Teslas, according to reports.

 

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., who represents much of the Marcellus territory, told Fox News he wants to see those on the left change their tune.

"Now nearly 40% of our nation’s domestic need for lithium can be found right here as a byproduct of fracking," he said. "I fully expect every single Democrat to join Republicans in supporting domestic natural gas development."

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HOSTAGES RESCUED, AND MANY TRUTHS REVEALED

“There was a knock on the door.  A voice said, ‘It’s the IDF.  We’ve come to take you home.’”

This is how former hostage Noa Argamani described her rescue from Hamas on the Sabbath — Saturday, June 8 — which also happened to be her father’s birthday.

Israelis spent the weekend cheering her rescue, along with the rescues of three other former hostages — Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv.

All four, ranging in age from 22 to 41, were kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, Hamas’s notorious day of atrocities.

Israeli intelligence recently determined with certainty that they were being held in two separate buildings in Nuseirat, in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli command — which rose to the level of the prime minister and the war cabinet itself — decided to conduct two raids simultaneously, at 11:25 a.m.

Both buildings were heavily guarded by Hamas fighters, though the buildings looked, to all appearances, like regular civilian apartments.

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY – YOUNGEST PERSON EVER AT THE NORTH POLE

young-brandon-at-n-poleApril 22, 1990. This is my son Brandon, age six, happily atop a small pressure ridge of sea-ice at 90 North Latitude, the geographic North Pole. I started leading expeditions to 90N in 1978. This was my 12th, and the best weather there we’d ever had. A glorious day at the very top of our planet, and a glorious memory for both father and son.

If fortune favors you with the opportunity, have grand adventures with your children or grandchildren when they are young. They will treasure the memories so much they will someday tell their grandchildren about them. Life is short, carpe diem. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #104 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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MONGOL NOMADS ARE OBLIVIOUS TO US

mongol-nomadsThese Mongol nomads in the vast grasslands of central Mongolia milking their goats have a way of life unchanged for centuries. All of our concerns, worries and fears that plague us are totally irrelevant to them. They don’t know about them and wouldn’t care if they did.

Spending time with people such as these gives you an invaluably broader perspective of life on our planet. Our concerns, the issues that dominate our headline news, suddenly seem more parochial and far less important. An evening drinking kumiss (Mongol beer, fermented mare’s milk) in their yurts, telling stories, laughing at jokes – you realize how easy it is to relate to them through the core humanity we all have in our souls.

Exploring Mongolia in this way is a priceless adventure. We’ll be there again next year, in the summer of 2025. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #9 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET TOO CLOSE TO A 6,000 POUND ELEPHANT SEAL

elephant-sealThe Antarctic island of South Georgia is one of the most extraordinary places on earth. Square miles of king penguin rookeries, thousands of fur seals, hundreds of gigantic elephant seals amidst a backdrop of massive glaciers and snow-capped mountains.

All of the animals here have no fear of you whatever and ignore your presence – except if you make the mistake of getting too close to a bull elephant seal for his comfort. It’s a mistake I made as you can see. Luckily, with several tons of blubber to carry, this fellow can’t move as fast as me, so I hightailed it quickly. That satisfied him, and all was soon back to placidly normal again. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #62 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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LAKE BLED

lake-bledFirst Lady Melania Trump would instantly recognize Lake Bled, for it is considered the most beautiful place in her home country of Slovenia. It’s a glacial lake up in the Julian Alps near the border with Austria. The small lush island you see has been a pilgrimage site for millennia – first to the Temple of Ziva, the Slovene goddess of love and fertility, then until now to the Church of the Mother of God. For all that time, Slovene couples came here to get married.

There are 99 steps from the rowboat landing to the church, and from ancient times to today, the tradition is that for a happy and long-lasting marriage, the groom must carry his bride up all 99 steps while she must remain silent while he does.

Lake Bled is a place of deep serenity and joyous calm. Come here to experience both. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #178 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE OLD MAN OF STORR

the-old-man-of-storr

Enter “The Old Man of Storr” in Wikipedia, and it wants to talk about the steep rocky face of the mountain in the background called “The Storr.”  Google or Duckduckgo the images and you’ll get all these photos of rocky pinnacles and spires.  So where’s the Old Man?  It’s the most famous feature on Scotland’s Isle of Skye, yet you never see the Old Man himself.  Well, here he is.

Look at the three sections of rocks in the foreground.  They form a man sleeping on his back.  In the first section on the left, you can see in order his forehead, eyebrows, large nose, both lips open snoring, and chin.  In the third section on the right, you see his feet with his toes sticking up.  In the middle section – well, now we know why he’s embarrassingly renowned, for there is the Old Man’s manhood standing tall and proud.

Ask any Scottish friend of yours if he knows why the Old Man of Storr on Skye is so-named.  Then send this to him.  He’ll no doubt say, “Well, laddie, this calls for a wee dram or two for us to properly toast the Old Man!” (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #297, photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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HALF-FULL REPORT 06/14/24

biggest-super-bowlAs FJB sinks ever more rapidly into full-blown senility, here’s yet another revelation driving Dems into apoplectic panic. Yesterday (6/13): Trump Makes Stunning Inroads with Young Voters, Not Seen in 24 Years.

In 2016, Hillary won the 18-34 vote by 16 points, Biden in 2020 by 24 points over Trump.  Polls released this week shows he’s even or slightly ahead.  It’s the same with other critical demos the Dems can’t win without, Blacks and Hispanics.

Everything the Dems try to ruin Trump like their orgy of lawfare makes him stronger.  Everything they do to prop Biden up makes him weaker.  Worse, they have no alternative.  It’s not that the Dems have a thin bench of possible presidential candidates – it’s that they have no bench at all.

Get ready for great fun HFR.  Seriously informative too.  And it has quite possibly the funniest joke you’ve heard in a long while.  Here we go!

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COMMENCEMENT

graduates[This Monday’s Archive was originally published in 2005. We rerun it annually at college graduation time. Feel quite free to send this to any recent college graduate you may know.]

Mr. Chancellor, Members of the Board of Regents, Members of the Faculty, Honored Graduates, Families and Friends:

It's funny that they call this ceremony a Commencement, for you've all reached the finish line:  college, goodbye, we're outta here.  Yet of course, "commencement" means a beginning, not an end.

But one is supposed to at least start - commence - a talk such as this by saying funny things.  So I'll start by talking about Clark Gable movies.  If you've heard of Clark Gable at all, you know he was the biggest movie star in Hollywood a long time ago.  His most famous movie was Gone With The Wind.

He made a movie in 1955 called The Tall Men with Jane Russell as his girlfriend and Robert Ryan as the heavy.  It's a pretty ordinary Western flick with outlaws and cowboys and Indians - and at the end, Ryan, the bad guy, and his henchmen get the drop on Gable, the good guy, and all seems lost.  Suddenly, surprise, Gable outfoxes Ryan and triumphs.  Gable makes his exit, and after he does, Ryan delivers a line that I want you to never forget.

Serendipity is funny, a very funny thing, finding something where you least expect it.  Out of the blue, out of a movie awash with pedestrian dialogue, comes a line so profound it detonates inside your brain. Ryan turns to his men and says:

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