The Oasis for
Rational Conservatives
Saturday, February 14, 2026
Ubud, Bali. I’d like to introduce to you Theo Holiday Wheeler, born September 2 at 8.8 pounds, Rebel’s and my first grandchild. We are here at the home of his parents, our son Jackson and his wife Raya.
Theo is the 17th generation of Wheeler sons, starting (as far as our ancestral records show) with Henry Wheeler, born 1503 in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England. This is a thrillingly happy occasion. And frankly, one of R&R for September was, ah, hectic.
The first three weeks we were operating our exploration of the Heart of Central Asia with a wonderful group of exceptional clients. Rebel and I were supposed to get to Bali immediately after, only to learn that the clinic in Lisbon that treats my prostate cancer insisted on a PET scan to locate a growing tumor.
So it was off from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan to Lisbon – they found the tumor, zapped it with precisely targeted radiation, and by last weekend, we made it here to meet Theo at last. Whew. Now I can look forward to being around for at least his formative years (as I’ll be 80 in a month).
So here we go for the HFR – a high hill to climb after Mike Ryan’s astounding last five, especially his series on the Left’s program of Beautiful Trouble.
She’s not real. She’s a “virtual girlfriend,” AI designed to provide every fantasy a man could dream of. Enter “virtual girlfriend” in DuckDuckGo or Google and you’ll discover there are an uncountable number of them. Yet another example of the danger of AI replacing reality with fantasy, with real world consequences: AI girlfriends and the subsequent lack of children who would otherwise grow up and pay the bills:
Washington U. Prof: AI Girlfriends Are Ruining a Generation of Men
Welcome to another stirring edition of Skye’s Links! We have news that’s exhilarating, alarming, and informative. Learn what joke’s on Elon! We have to end on a sad note, however, but it’s important for you to know. Jump right on in!
[This Monday’s Archive was originally published on July 17, 2014. Please read it in tandem with the “First Amendment and Chevron” section in Skye’s Links last Thursday. We have a majority of Supremes that want to get rid of as much of the administrative state as they can. If we get the rulings we need, then their implementation by us is The Revolution We Need.]
TTP, July 17, 2014
The illegal, tyrannical, and unconstitutional acts of Zero’s Imperial Presidency are not the cause of America’s current crisis – they are the culmination of it. The crisis we face now is a cancer that has been growing slowly and steadily since the 1880s.
We need radical surgery to cure it, a Revolution, a legal one that attacks the crisis at its foundation. So – what is the target of the Revolution We Need? It is not Zero. It is what makes him and his Imperial Presidency possible. It is what is destroying any basis for Constitutional Government. Indeed, it is eating our Constitution alive. It is a medieval atavism in modern guise. It is…
The Administrative State.
Rebel and I are in with our son Jackson and his wife at their home in Bali . Jackson’s a computer wizard and we got to talking about ChatGPT, of which he is optimistic and I am skeptical. So he says, let’s try it! He gets on the ChatGPT app on his iPhone and gives it these instructions verbally (no typing):
“Write a short-form article on the subject of freedom for Ukraine in 2024, imitating the style of geopolitical commentator Dr. Jack Wheeler. If you don't know who Dr. Jack Wheeler is, let me know, and we can discuss further before you start writing.”
Instantly, he gets this written response:
“I'm familiar with Dr. Jack Wheeler and his style of geopolitical commentary. I'll craft a short-form article imitating his style on the subject of freedom for Ukraine in 2024.”
Within seconds, up pops this 500-word essay, title and all, that frankly blew me away. It is what I’d say as a short summation. I hope you find this as sobering as I do, and as thought-provoking. Let me know what you think on the Forum.
Who was it who said of the Palestinians that they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity? You could say the same of the Republican Party.
By rights, the Democrats should be in disarray. The Biden administration has been a disaster, as pretty much everyone knows, regardless of what some loyalists may tell a pollster. And yet it is the Republicans who can’t get their act together.
Once again, they have bailed out the Democrats with an idiotic vote to oust Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. Only eight Republicans voted for Matt Gaetz’s motion, but of course every Democrat voted to get rid of McCarthy. Whatever their faults, the Democrats have party loyalty, and they know their self-interest when they see it. Unlike many Republicans.
Because while Democrats may be evil, they are not stupid. Like Gaetz Republicans.
[Last week, 9/20, Paul Goble told us about China’s plans to separate the Middle Volga from Russia. We’ve long known about China’s plans to recapture Far Eastern Siberia. Now, as Paul explains this week, China may have plans to control Russia’s entire Arctic.]
Moscow has long declared that China’s role in the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is a central part of their strategic cooperation. Despite this, the Kremlin cannot be entirely comfortable with the recent extent of Beijing’s expanding activities in the Arctic Sea.
Nor can Moscow be at ease with the Chinese government’s increasing ties with Russian regional governments in the Far North and along the coast of the Arctic Sea.
If any country other than China did the same, Moscow almost certainly would denounce such actions as neo-colonialism. If any country other than Russia did so anywhere else in the world, the Russian government would make the same pronouncement.
Given the international sanctions regime, Russia has little choice but to allow China to take these steps. Such actions carry the risk that the Russian-Chinese alliance may begin to collapse, with ever-more Russians concerned that Moscow is losing out to Beijing.
There is a growing body of evidence that indicates the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership is in freefall. If true, this makes Xi Jinping more dangerous as it increases the likelihood of an attack against Taiwan.
It also means Xi’s regime, the CCP, is extremely vulnerable to pressure from America, and the rest of the free world, to evict them from power.
Xi and the CCP face a deeper problem than the lasting economic downturn in China and myriad of social problems the Chinese regime confronts—problems that cannot be papered over by Xi’s prominence at the BRICS meeting or at any other international fora.
The Chinese regime’s problems are multiple and are the result of a fundamental cause—communism. As such, the Communist Chinese regime is illegitimate and is in a lasting and insuperable legitimation crisis.
The leadership is in crisis for two major reasons:
April, 1979 – on the sea ice at 90 North latitude, the North Pole. I was one of the more unusual Profiles for Dewar’s Scotch. It was the 3rd of my 21 expeditions to the very top of our planet. One thing that stood out for me was the photographer brought false ice cubes of carved polished crystal for the photo you see of a glass of scotch perched on a small pressure ridge. That’s the way the pros do it. One genuine item he brought was a case of Dewar’s. We had one heck of a party on top of the world! (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #75 photo of Jack Wheeler)
Originally built upon Roman fortifications on a rocky promontory in the 900s by the Counts of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Fortress gained strategic importance located between the French Kingdom and the Hapsburg Empire. By the 1600s it became so impregnable it was called the “Gibraltar of the North.” It was fought over by so many armies that finally, in establishing the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg’s full independence and neutrality in 1867, Luxembourgers agreed to tear it down.
What you see here is what is left, and is now a World Heritage Site. The Chemin de la Corniche – the promenade along the top of the ramparts overlooking Alzette River and the Old City – is renowned as “Europe’s most beautiful balcony.”
Wedged between France, Belgium, and Germany, small 1,000 square-mile Luxembourg is a haven of peaceful beauty. Come here to stand on these ramparts to experience it yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #233 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
The Igreja de São Francisco (Church of St. Francisco) was built 800 years ago on a ledge overlooking the Douro River in Porto, Portugal. 500 years later in the early 1700s, the people of Porto devoted themselves to making its interior supremely magnificent.
Most breathtaking is the polychrome wood carving depicting The Tree of Jesse springing from the reclining body of Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David, and showing the genealogy of Jesus through the branches of the tree that are the Twelve Kings of Judah, ending with Joseph and above him the Virgin and Child. Above the Tree to the ceiling is intricately carved woodwork deeply covered with hundreds of pounds of gold leaf.
This masterpiece of baroque art is an awesome tribute to the importance of Christianity to Western Civilization. To experience the power of this masterpiece yourself, come with us on our next exploration of Portugal this coming March. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #234 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
According to the many thousands of world travellers on TripAdvisor, it’s #1: Praia do Sancho on the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha. You’ll also find it on just about any list of most beautiful beaches, such as Condé Nast, Harper’s Bazaar, and Luxury Travel.
The whole island is gorgeous. Mention that you’ve been there to any Brazilian who hasn’t and their eyes get misty. Fernando de Noronha (no-rone-ya) is the dream honeymoon, the dream vacation that only comes true for few in Brazil, as it’s hard to get to and hardly any place to stay once you’re there.
You have to get to either Recife or Natal in the far northeast, then fly 220 miles out into the Atlantic. Then take a boat, or scamper down the rocks of a 250ft-high cliff to be on the sugar sand of this enchanting beach – which you’ll have almost to yourself.
For some reason, all those lists have the name wrong, calling it “Baia” or “Baio,” when it’s “Praia” (beach in Portuguese). As the welcome sign proudly announces above the cliff trail: “Praia do Sancho – A Mais Bonita do Mundo,” Sancho Beach – The Most Beautiful in the World. If you’re lucky to ever get here, you’ll surely agree. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #73 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
This is the North Face of Mount Kailas (6,638 m/21,778 ft) in a remote region of far western Tibet inhabited only by Changpa nomads. For 22% of all people on Earth – 1.2 billion Hindus, 510 million Buddhists and many millions of others – it is the spiritual Center of the Universe, the Navel of All Creation.
Kailas and surrounding glaciers are considered the source of four of Asia’s great rivers radiating out from it: the Indus, Tsangpo-Bhramaputra, Sutlej, and Karnali-Ganges. As a sacred mountain it has never been climbed.
For thousands of years, people from all Asia have made the arduous pilgrimage to Kailas to perform the sacred act of circumambulating around the mountain – most clockwise, counterclockwise for others such as the Changpa adhering to the ancient Bön Tibetan religion.
It is not easy. Huffing over the high point of the pilgrimage route with TTPer Big John Perrot, our altimeter said we were as high as Kilimanjaro, over 19,000 feet. The highlight, however, is being among so many pilgrims from so many diverse cultures. This is one of our world’s thrilling adventures, and such a privilege to participate in. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #38 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
Kangaroo CourtsTrump was handed a devastating summary judgment in New York today that seriously imperials the future of the Trump organization. The heart of the case involves whether the market or the courts determine the value of real estate assets. Asset prices go up and down, ultimately depending on what a buyer is willing to pay.
Not so in New York, says the court. The assets valued at the market peak must remain valued at the market peak, or fraud will occur if old values used on old contracts are no longer in line with current valuations. So sketchy is the court logic that Trump was denied a jury trial or the ability to raise a defense.
The Deep State fears Trump; they fear him as he teaches the public to question official narratives. All the feds have is widescale public acceptance of narratives. The government lacks a police force or military large enough to stop a massive general strike. Sure, they have germs, computer viruses, and the other tools of 21st-century governance, but they are losing the narrative war. Now, Trump is a martyr.
Dianne Feinstein is dead. She was a slow-moving poison on society as she advanced China’s interests at the expense of the United States. Her efforts to maintain the free movement of opiates into the United States have killed over 1 million Americans. This is a genocide. She discovered how to destroy urban centers as mayor of San Francisco and spread the misery to downtowns far and wide as a senator.
Labor is striking using tactics from Beautiful Trouble, which we pursue today in the HFR.
