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THE MOSLEM MYTH OF JERUSALEM

mohammeds-night-journey
Mohammed’s “Night Journey”

[This Monday’s TTP Archives feature was originally published on December 3, 2003. The TTP Team is looking forward to your thoughts on the Forum, especially despite the irrefutable facts therein, nothing has changed in the two decades since.]

It is a commonplace in a story or article about the Arab-Israeli conflict that mentions Jerusalem to repeat the Moslem mantra that “Jerusalem is the third holiest city in all Islam, next to Mecca and Medina.”

You’ve heard this innumerable times — but how come? Just why is Jerusalem so important to not just Jews and Christians but Moslems as well?

The reason is one single line in the Koran.  If it can be shown by Islamic scholars that it has been misinterpreted, then Jerusalem ceases to be a holy city to Islam.

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WITH THE BARBARIANS IN THE GATES, WE MAY NEED OUR OWN BARBARIANS

LeMay, Patton, and Trump, by Andrea Widburg
LeMay, Patton, and Trump, by Andrea Widburg

If you have failed to realize we are living through the most significant social, economic, and political revolution in history, it can only be by a herculean effort in self-deception. So powerful is man’s ability “to thrust aside what they do not desire,” is it any wonder history is replete with catastrophes born of those who would substitute hope for reason?

What makes today’s revolution different is the unholy coalescence of inconceivable powerful, yet wholly corrupt institutions; unimaginable technological capability; and the systematic indoctrination of the most depraved ideology the world has ever known.

What is to be done? One key: You cannot fight barbarians by Marquess of Queensberry rules. As with all decent men, to both their credit and their demise, they are unable to bring themselves to fight any other way.

But we have experience fighting barbarians.  We had them in WWII, like Iron Pants LeMay and Blood & Guts Patton.  We need such a man now.

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IF MTG IS RIGHT ABOUT BIDEN, IT’S MIND BLOWING

rep-marjorie-taylor-greeneHunter Biden’s hard drive, which he’s now conceded is legitimate, proved that Hunter was an exceptionally debauched character. Drugs and prostitutes dominated his life for a long time, and his own family didn’t trust him around teenage girls.

That’s why it’s easy to believe Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s as-yet unsubstantiated claim that the Biden family was benefitting from human trafficking both in the U.S.  and Eastern Europe—including Russia and (pre-Zelensky) Ukraine. Just because she says it doesn’t mean it’s true, so the real shock is that we live in a world in which it seems possible, even likely.

According to her, in addition to money coming to the Bidens from various foreign countries,

“I just saw evidence of human trafficking. This involved prostitutes not only from here in the United States, but foreign countries like Russia and Ukraine. This is unbelievable that a President and a former Vice President, not only his son Hunter Biden, but many more family members extending past Hunter Biden and his immediate family.”

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FORGET MACRON – US AND EUROPE SEE EYE-TO-EYE ON CHINA

All Show and No Go in China, Emmanuel

In its geopolitical competition with the West, China has long sought to divide the U.S. from Europe. Last week it appeared to score a coup when French President Emmanuel Macron declared Europe wouldn’t follow the U.S.’s approach toward Beijing.

Appearances, though, are deceiving. In fact, the European Union has decisively changed its approach to China in the past year. Europeans use milder language than Americans, saying they wish to “de-risk” their economic relationship with China, not “decouple.”

But in substance, European de-risking and American decoupling look much the same. Indeed, Europe is erecting economic defenses against China that in some cases go further than the U.S.

Which leads to a question: Why do European companies know more about the dangers of doing business with China than Elon Musk?

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MOSCOW ENGULFED BY ANXIETY OVER IMPENDING UKRAINE OFFENSIVE

anxious-vlad
Getting anxious, Vlad?

Combat operations in the Donbas trenches remain deadlocked, but their diminishing intensity does not signify an impasse in the course of the Russo-Ukrainian war, which continues to evolve on the ground.

Most likely, the Russian command has tried to stockpile long-range missiles for a new series of strikes, perhaps aimed at disrupting supply routes for the expected Ukrainian offensive, possibly by hitting key bridges on the Dnipro River (Topwar.ru, April 13).

The mounting anxiety in Russia about the much-anticipated Ukrainian offensive operation constitutes the most significant change in the political context of the war, and it goes in parallel with the realization that the long-promised Russian winter-spring offensive did in fact happen — and spectacularly failing to yield any gains at enormous costs (Topwar.ru, April 10).

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY – WITH THE ANTI-COMMUNIST GUERILLAS IN CAMBODIA

jw-w-guerillas-in-cambodiaJuly, 1984. The KPNLF – Khmer People’s National Liberation Front – was the Anti-Communist guerrilla movement fighting the Soviet-backed Vietnamese Communists in Cambodia. When I was first there in 1961, Cambodia was then a land of serenity, with a gentle and tranquil people who were at peace with themselves and the world. Now it was a land of indescribable Communist horror.

It was such a privilege to be with these brave men willing to wage war against that horror and bring freedom to their country. I told their tale in Turning Back the Terror, the February 1985 cover story for Reason magazine. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #20 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE SANDS OF THE TAKLA MAKAN

takla-makanWhen Marco Polo crossed the Tien Shan mountains and reached the Silk Road oasis of Kashgar in 1273, he faced an enormous desert of endless dunes called the Takla Makan, meaning “You go in, you don’t come out.”

To avoid this fate, the Silk Road at Kashgar splits in two – above to the north of the dreaded sand sea via the oases of Aksu and Turfan, and underneath to the south via the oases of Yarkand, Khotan, Charchan and Charklik. The two routes came together beyond Lop Nor, the eastern extension of the Takla Makan, at the oasis of Dunhuang.

His father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo had earlier taken the northern route to first meet Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan, but now with Marco they took the southern route. They traveled in caravans of two-humped Bactrian camels, often crossing dunes on the edge – just like the photo you see. In 2008, I retraced Polo’s route along the southern route – part of it by motorized hang glider. He would be fascinated, I’m sure, to see what a camel caravan looks like from the air! (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #13 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE MONSTER OF SEFAR

monster-of-sefarCharlatans like Erich von Daniken convinced many gullible readers of his books this “monster” was of an alien in a space suit. Real archaeologists know it’s of an ancient tribal shaman, to be found among the greatest profusion of prehistoric rock art on earth over 10,000 years old in a remote plateau of the Algerian Sahara called the Tassili n’Ajjer.

There are no roads – you must climb up here with pack mules carrying your supplies. No one lives up here, it’s uninhabited. You’ll be among spectacularly gigantic rock formations with over 300 huge natural rock arches, so geologically unique it seems unworldly. In the center of Tassili n’Ajjer known as the Tadrart is a vastly deep gorge, like a knife sliced open the mountain. Clamber down to the bottom and you will discover a forest of 2,000 year-old Saharan cypress trees – yes, a forest in the Sahara, remnants of when the Sahara was green millennia ago.

My son Jackson and I explored here in 2003. Perhaps it’s time to be here again. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #28 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE SISTINE CHAPEL OF THE EAST

monastery-of-voronetThe Painted Monastery of Voronet was built by Romania’s national hero Stefan the Great in 1488. A UN World Heritage Site, Voronet lies in a remote Carpathian mountain valley in the northeast corner of Romania. The entire church is covered in brilliantly painted scenes of Christian reverence.

The frescoes, with the famous “Voronet blue” made of crushed lapis lazuli, have withstood over 500 winters of wind, snow, and rain. The extraordinary back panel of the Last Judgment is renowned as the East’s Sistine Chapel (as in Eastern or Orthodox Christianity). It’s one of Romania’s many wonders. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #98 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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HALF-FULL REPORT 04/14/23

animal-feeding-facility-explosionAnother Animal Feeding Facility Explosion


Feedlot, Food Production, Agricultural Fires

Fires and explosions seem to be breaking out throughout the meat and protein production pipeline. These have been barn burners and not just small fires.

The national media is silent, the government is quiet, and the food companies themselves are silent. Heck, even Bill Gates has remained silent.

This week we will look at the Obama-era technology forced upon large controlled animal feeding operations in the name of environmental justice by an incompetent EPA administrator.

Large feeding operations for chickens, hogs, and cows must install water pollution control technologies that produce explosive methane. Yet, the mandated technology lacks a process to dispose of the methane safely.

No air discharge permits are being written to flare off the explosive gas, thanks to an EPA that has repeatedly proven out of control.

Come on over to this week’s HFR, where we will talk about food plant fires. One thing is sure – nobody else is talking about this slow-rolling crisis.

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INFANTILIZOMANIA

Giant statute of Lenin in Tiraspol, Transnistria
Giant statute of Lenin in Tiraspol, Transnistria

[We’re starting an Archives feature for Mondays in celebration of TTP’s 20th Anniversary – to reprise a TTP article of years ago and to ask what you think how it applies to today on the Forum.  “Infantilizomania” was first published on September 23, 2005.  The TTP Team is looking forward to your thoughts!]

Yes, I invented this term. You won’t find it in Webster’s, the OED, or Google. At least not now. Hopefully soon you will, as it becomes the accepted term for the neurosis with which all those on the Left are afflicted.

Just as a pyromaniac is driven by a compulsion to set fires, a kleptomaniac by a compulsion to steal, and – everyone’s favorite example – a nymphomaniac by a compulsion to have sex, an infantilizomaniac is driven by a compulsion to treat adult human beings as children.

The compulsion to infantilize people is the neurotic compulsion of liberals.

Liberals of course do not call it infantilizomania. They call it compassion.

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SKYE’S LINKS 04/13/23

Scrooge McDuck Moves to Texas
Scrooge McDuck Moves to Texas

Free!  Free at last!  Well, not quite yet, but we may be on the way to the most important thing that has happened in America since FDR seized monetary gold nine decades ago.  Get ready for a Holy Moses! moment.  So calm down, get settled for first things first.  Before the link below, read about the Texas Bullion Depository.

See texasbulliondepository.gov for details. Okay, now you’re prepped to read what’s below.  Worried or terrified about CBDCs that eliminate cash and give the Deep State control over every dime you spend? Texas is riding to your rescue.  Please study this well, and hold on to your hat:

Texas Bill Would Create State-Issued Gold-Backed Digital Currency

And what’s this about?

institutionalized-american-minds

This Skye’s Links is a real blockbuster, so come on in to learn and enjoy!

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OUR FRENCH REVOLUTION

the-dying-lion-of-lucerne
The Dying Lion of Lucerne*

We are in a Jacobin Revolution of the sort that in 1793-94 nearly destroyed France. And things are getting scary.

The Democrat Party vanished completely sometime in 2020.

It was absorbed by hard-left ideologues. They were bent on radically altering, or hijacking, existing institutions to force radical, equality-of-result agendas that otherwise do not earn majority support.

What triggered the collective madness and this Jacobin takeover?  The catalysts are many.

America now has three potential futures and two are bad.

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PUTIN’S BUBBLE

bubble-popDecision-making in the Kremlin had been so erratic—even before the re-invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022—that the proposition of President Vladimir Putin inhabiting a bubble of servile courtiers and carefully doctored information appeared perfectly plausible.

Early April 2023 has brought even more evidence supporting this assumption of detachment from reality typical for mature autocratic regimes but aggravated by an unhealthy ambition for determining the course of global affairs.

Bubbles, however, are diaphanously short-lived by their nature. Is Putin’s approaching the bursting point?

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