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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 HYPOGEUM OF MALTA

hypogeumThe extraordinary rock-cut necropolis known as the Hypogeum (hi-po-gee-um) is the only prehistoric underground temple in the world.  For over a thousand years (3500-2500 BC), the temple and burial complex (eventually housing 7,000 skeletons) was carved out and down – dozens of chambers, with rock-cut replicas of above-ground temples including simulated corbelled roofs.  (A corbelled roof uses stone slabs that progressively overlap each other until the room is roofed over.)

The Megalthic Maltese learned to cut from the limestone bedrock with tools of stone and antler horn for they had no metal.  These folks figured out all by themselves how to build extraordinary temples to their gods and goddesses close to six thousand years ago.  Nobody taught them.  They were the first. Only one reason Malta is one of our planet’s most fascinating places. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #109 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE TEMPLE OF ULU WATU

ulu-watu-templeBuilt 1,000 years ago on the edge of a cliff hundreds of feet above the sea on the island of Bali, the sacred temple of Ulu Watu is one of the holiest places of worship for the Balinese people.  They have retained their unique form of Balinese Hinduism for millennia that incorporates their original animism, ancestor worship, and reverence for Buddhist saints or Bodhisattva.  This has resulted in a spiritual warmth and gentle friendliness matched by few other places on earth.  It is little wonder so many who come here consider Bali to be a worldly paradise. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #108 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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HALF-FULL REPORT 01/01/21

giving-upWelcome to the HAPPY NEW YEAR HFR!!  More accurately, From Out of the 2020 Frying Pan and Into the Fire of 2021. At this point, we now know how those who conducted the French Revolution felt about guillotining their rulers.

That should be the fate of every traitorous Deep State scumbag – from the entire senior staff of the FBI and DOJ, every talking head at CNN, every editor at WaPo and the New York Times, every arch-villain of Big Tech like Dorsey and Zuckerberg, every perp of the Russia Collusion Hoax from Brennan and Comey on down, to the entire leadership of the Democrat Party.

That’s a fantasy, of course -- but it exemplifies the bottomless rage scores of millions feel towards the Traitor Fascists determined to steal the presidency and destroy our beloved country.

So we come to history’s pivot five days from now, Wednesday January 6, and one man’s rendezvous with destiny.

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THE UNKNOWN SERENGETI

serengeti-migrationThe Serengeti Migration is world famous, when the great herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelles are strung out mile after mile migrating from Tanzania’s Serengeti to the Masai Mara of Kenya from May through July.  The migration is circular, for starting in October, the herds return.

But return to where?  And from where do the great herds start the cycle anew?  The answer is the Short Grass Plains of the Serengeti’s far south.  It is here where, from January through March, over a million wildebeest congregate en masse as you see in the photo above, not strung out over a hundred miles.  For this is their Birthing Season when the herds are replenished with new life.

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THIS IS NOT THE SPEECH OF A MAN WHO WILL BETRAY US ON JANUARY 6

pence-speech-video-122320Last Wednesday December 23), Vice-President Mike Pence spoke to the Turning Point USA conference in Palm Beach.  On Wednesday January 6, as President of the Senate, the presiding officer of the Joint Session of Congress with plenary authority to count the electoral votes determining the victor in the November 3 presidential election, he will choose to count the legal votes only or not.

If the former, the victor will be President Trump.  If the latter, the presidency will be stolen from him.  Watching this speech will give you hope for the former:

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HOW AMERICAN MYTHS WERE RAVAGED IN 2020

burning-barnThanks in large part to Democrat lockdowns, this year has left vast wreckage in its wake, with ten million jobs lost, more than 100,000 businesses and dozens of national chains bankrupted or closed.

Up to 40 million people could face eviction in the coming months for failing to pay rent, and Americans report that their mental health is at record low levels. But the casualty list for 2020 must also include many of the political myths that shape Americans’ lives.

Perhaps the biggest myth to die this year was that Americans’ constitutional rights are safeguarded by the Bill of Rights. There are many more.

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A PERFECT STORM SEEKS DESTRUCTION OF THE USA

BLM/Antifa Washington DC Nov 3, 2020
BLM/Antifa Washington DC Nov 3, 2020

As 2021 dawns, the war on our culture moves into high gear.

The opportunistic intersection of the resistance to the Trump presidency, the rise of the monopolistic tech giants, the spurious panic over the psychologically weaponized Communist Chinese Virus and its concomitant loss of personal freedom, the neo-Marxist hijacking and worsening of race relations, and the legalistic undermining of U.S. laws and institutions have all evolved into a perfect storm of destruction that not only threatens the future of the United States, but actively seeks its destruction.

And they’re just getting started.

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WHERE DID THE DEMOCRATS’ MARXIST MADNESS COME FROM?

defund-police-rallyBouts of extreme Leftism are frequent in history. Plato’s Apology, Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, and Vladimir Lenin’s What Is to Be Done? — all offer us insight into the mind and methods of the hard Left.

America has experienced surges of mainstream anarchism, socialism, and communism, most profoundly during the late 19th century, amid the Great Depression, during the Soviet-American alliance of World War II and afterward, and in the 1960s.

But rarely have these radical movements openly and without apologies made such inroads into and inside government and the establishment as during the past decade

Where and how did radical ideas such as the non-enforcement of laws, the Green New Deal, open borders, the -studies curricula of the university, or the political weaponization of professional sports come from?

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THE UNSPEAKABLY DUPLICITOUS COWARDICE OF THE REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS

Majority Leader Turtle – Chief Coward of the Senate
Majority Leader Turtle – Chief Coward of the Senate

While there are a few exceptions who need to be celebrated — Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, Matt Gaetz, and Jim Jordan, to name the most prominent of the heroes — the rest of the Republicans in Congress are abject cowards.

So anxious to go along to get along with the establishment they were oh, so comfortable with, they have been and are willing to betray their constituents to regain their access to power and money.  Forget representing the people; they represent themselves.

President Trump is the best man for the party to come along since Reagan, and they are nearly all ready to throw him under the bus.  It is disgusting.  No conservative should ever again donate a dime to any of the traitors who claim to hold conservative values.

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A GOP ELECTOR CHALLENGE ON JANUARY 6 COULD BE A CATASTROPHIC MISTAKE

congressional-bldgIn his December 23 video, Dr. Steve Turley summed up two possible roads to victory for President Trump in Congress on Jan. 6, starting with a congressional challenge to disputed Biden electors:

“First, you have to have an objection filed and endorsed by at least one US senator and one US representative.  And once filed and endorsed, both chambers of Congress...have to have a debate – I believe it's stated to be a two-hour debate – over the merits and demerits of the objection, and then a simple majority is enough to overturn the electors. 

Or second, you've got Vice President Mike Pence poised to make the final decision as to whether to certify the electors after the debate.”

Note this is an Either/Or.  Do the first prevents the second. Here’s why.

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WHY THE DEFEATISM?

defeatismMillions of patriots have fight in them as the country confronts the greatest threat to the Republic since the Civil War.  Historic elections fraud, centered on the presidential contests, involving gross criminality make it so.

Whereas many patriots are ready to fight to restore the rule of law and our liberties, others express gloom and defeat.  The fix is in, they claim.  If Trump doesn’t secure a second term, then all is lost, they bemoan.  The powerful cabal that Biden fronts will run the board over 48 months.  A long, dark night will descend on America.

Here’s a modest proposal: Wars aren’t over until they’re fought.

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SKYE’S LINKS 12/31/20

2020-virusHere is an outstanding year-in-review of 2020.  Lots here for both investors and historians alike.  It was written by a tenured 60-something conservative/libertarian chemistry professor, so the BS content is remarkably low.  This is fascinating stuff from someone who works within the belly of the beast:

Dave Collum's 2020 Year In Review, Part 1: "Willfully Ignorant"

An interesting review of the past year and the shape of things to come for international investors:

The 10 Most Important Changes Of The Past Year

A 2021 wise warning for everyone:

Delingpole: Economist 'Great Reset Will Cause a Crash Worse than 1930s'

Goodbye 2020 – hello 2021!

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THE LOST CITY OF DJADO

city-of-djadoIn the remotest center of the Sahara Desert lies an unknown, unexcavated mysterious lost city known as Djado. No one knows who built it or when. Lying on the ancient Roman trade route from the Saharan salt mines of Fachi and Bilma to the Mediterranean, the Djado oasis flourished for a thousand years (the 1st Millennium AD), but has been forgotten and abandoned for many centuries.

The only people who live near Djado in the vast desert wasteland where Algeria, Libya, Chad, and Niger come together, are the wandering Toubu nomads with no permanent settlements. It is an indescribable experience to explore such a wondrous lost city right out of an Indiana Jones movie that you have all to yourself. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #17, photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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