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Dr. Jack Wheeler

THE MOONLIGHT SYMPHONY

masai-warriors-campfire[This Monday’s Archive was first published on July 1, 2005. It has particular relevance today, as you’ll soon see. As you know, I just returned from our latest safari in the Serengeti. So I was taken aback on how what was written on safari in Africa 20 years ago applies to America right now. The big difference is that today we have a President who behaves more like a Masai than his last several predecessors]

TTP, July 1, 2005

MORU ROCKS, SERENGETI PLAINS, TANZANIA, AFRICA. It is at night that Africa becomes most alive – especially when there’s a full moon.

The most restful night’s sleep one can have, it seems, is when you are lulled by the cackling whine of hyenas, the incessant barking of zebras, the coughing of lions, the grunting of hippos, the bellowing of Cape buffalo, the stomach rumblings of elephants, the flutter of Guinea fowl roosting in the trees, and the soft chirp of the tiny Scopes owl. The Moonlight Symphony of the Serengeti.

It is so soothing, perhaps, because these sounds accompanied our emergence upon this earth. The plains of East Africa are where such proto-hominids as Australopithicus and Homo habilis became us, human beings. It is where we came out of the trees, onto the plains, and became predators.

The dominant life form on these plains is mammals, and as you witness their vast numbers divided into a myriad of different species, you see there are two kinds: predators and prey. One way to distinguish between the two is the eyes.

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY – SHACKLETON

jw-at-shackletonYou likely read the new story this week of the extraordinary discovery of Antarctic legendary explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship The Endurance 10,000 feet deep at the bottom of the Weddell Sea: Ernest Shackleton’s Sunken Ship Endurance Found 107 Years Later (3/09/22).

Perhaps you read my account of his incredible exploits in Endurance (April 2013). I thought to commemorate the ship’s discovery with this photo of me at Shackleton’s gravesite at the abandoned whaling station of Grytviken on the Antarctic island of South Georgia.

Shackleton was the most heroic arctic explorer of them all. The famous eulogy at his funeral says it all:

For scientific discovery, give me Scott

For speed and efficiency of travel, give me Amundsen

But when disaster strikes and all hope is gone

Get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton

(Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #192 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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SLOVENIA’S VINTGAR GORGE

vintgar-gorgeIn a hidden corner of Europe, the Radovna River pours off the Julian Alps to carve out the Vintgar Gorge with crystal clear water. A mile-long walkway with towering limestone cliffs on either side is your access.

Nearby is the gorgeous Lake Bled, with Bled Castle suspended atop a shoreline cliff. The medieval village of Piran, built on a spit of land projecting into the Adriatic Sea and encircled by a white sand beach is a short drive away. Ljubljana is one of Europe’s most utterly charming capital cities.

Most people have only heard of Slovenia as the birthplace of First Lady Melania Trump, but those who have been here understand it is one of the most entrancing countries on the European continent – pristine beauty, spotless environment, friendly and hospitable people, safe and very well-run. Whenever your next visit to Europe may be, try to include a few days or week or so here. You’ll never run out of fascinating things to do. A stroll through the Vintgar Gorge is an example out of so many. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #19 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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ROME IN AFRICA

roman-theatreThe best place to see Roman ruins is not in Rome or anywhere in Italy. It’s in Africa – specifically on the Mediterranean coast of Libya. This is the Roman theatre at Sabratha built in the 1st century BC. Over 2,000 years old, it’s still mostly intact. Starting as a Berber village, the Phoenicians founded the city as Sabrat by 500 BC. Then came the Greeks, then the Carthaginians, and after the Punic Wars came Rome.

The Libyan coast was a lush fertile place back then. So much so that Sabratha and the other major Roman city nearby, Leptis Magna, produced several million pounds of olive oil per year – sale of which to Rome enabled them to achieve great wealth. It’s a shame that Libya remains today in chaotic civil war. Hopefully the day is not off when experiencing Rome’s most magnificent remains will be possible here again. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #79 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE ROCK OF ZANZIBAR

rock-of-zanzibarIt would be hard to find a more exotic restaurant than The Rock, perched on a coral outcropping off Michanwi Pingwe beach on the east coast of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean.  Start off with what I found to be the world’s best (and largest) piña colada, then tuck in to marvelous fresh caught grilled lobster along with an excellent French chardonnay.  Finish with coconut tiramisù and a large cup of great Tanzanian coffee.  Rebel and I will always fondly remember our experience here – and so will you should you ever visit the extraordinary island of Zanzibar.  (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #287, photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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A MONSTER’S CASTLE

citadelle-laferriereCap Haitien, Haiti. On a steep mountain top three thousand feet high above the north coast of Haiti, stands this staggeringly gigantic fortress.

It is the Citadelle Laferrière, revered by professional distortionists of history as "the greatest monument to black freedom in the Americas." What it really is instead is a monument to totalitarian insanity.

In 1807, the leader of a victorious slave army against the French named Henri Christophe (1767-1820) seized Haiti and proceeded to re-enslave his people. With their slave labor, he built La Citadelle – 20,000 slaves died under the lash or from utter exhaustion building it, hauling hundreds of cannons, tens of thousands of cannon balls, and millions of bricks and rocks 3,000 feet up the steep slopes to the site.

Finally, in 1820, Christophe’s slaves rebelled, his body dissolved in a huge vat of liquid lime, the mortar for the fortress’ bricks. The Citadelle has been a deserted ruins ever since. I was the only visitor there. So much for "the monument to black freedom." Haiti has never experienced a single day of freedom in its entire existence to this very day.

Haiti, in other words, is not only a failed state – for over 200 years, it has always been a failed state. Tragically, the odds are high it always will be. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #265 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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PRAYERS

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Prayer ceremony at Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Bhutan, monks praying for Jack’s recovery

Thimphu, capital of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. The room service waiter upon delivery told my wife Rebel, “I want to meet Jack.” I’d been bedridden here for several days diagnosed with pneumonia.  He wanted to meet the American being cared for every morning and evening by the doctor of the King and Queen. He had never heard of such a thing.

I evidently contracted it on the plane from Istanbul to Bangkok to connect to here by a woman sitting near me with this constant terrible cough she wouldn’t do anything about.  Thank heavens Rebel was unaffected.  If you have adult-onset asthma like I do, getting pneumonia is really not good.  That’s compounded by the altitude of Thimphu at 8,200 feet.  Oh, then add in the thick smoke from forest fires nearby blanketing the air.

So I ended up in the hospital where after a battery of tests, my pneumonia was confirmed and was told recovery would take two weeks.  I messaged Miko, and was soon told the entire TTP Team – Mellie, Mike Ryan, Mark Deuce, Joel Wade, Greg Pryor – were praying for me daily.  Miko’s Mom had her prayer group in Manila praying for me every day.

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY: A DAZZLE OF ZEBRAS

dazzle-of-zebrasGroups of animals have collective nouns, like a pride of lions or a school of fish.  A group of zebras is called a dazzle.  The term is excellently appropriate.  You may wonder why zebras have such clearly obvious stripes that any predator can see.  The reason is that predators like lions or hyenas always target a specific individual in the group that’s weak, young or vulnerable.  To be dazzled is to be confused or bewildered, and that’s just what zebra stripes do to attacking predators.  As the zebras merge on the run, it’s far more difficult for the predator keep focused on the selected target – so the zebras escape unscathed far more often than not.  Their stripes are a marvel of evolutionary survival.  This photo was taken on the plains of the Serengeti and we just finished visiting it last week.  (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #285, photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE SACRED LAKE OF PHOKSUNDO

phoksundoWest of the Himalayan giants of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri in Nepal lies a roadless high wilderness inhabited only by Tibetan nomads called Dolpa. The region is named after them, Dolpo. The Dolpa practice the ancient pre-Buddhist animist religion of Tibet called Bön. They worship sites of nature they consider holy. And holiest of all is the Sacred Lake of Phoksundo.

The Dolpa consider the blue of Phoksundo an act of magic by the gods. Once you see it, you can only agree. This picture is not photoshopped – it is real. We always visit it in late October when it is ice free on our Himalaya Helicopter Expeditions. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #41 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE IDEAL ESCAPE HATCH

portugal-rivieraWhat would be an ideal place to escape from all the lunacy washing over our country – for a few days to a second home?

Let’s see… it would have to be a First World country with all the civilized amenities of modern life, and a cultured, educated, and welcoming people many, many of whom speak English.

A First World country that brushes aside all Woke nuttiness engulfing the US as silly rubbish to be ignored, and traditional Christian family values revered instead. That is not much farther away than a US cross-country flight. That has Goldilocks weather, not too hot, not too cold. That has sunsets in the ocean, fabulous food and wine, incredible castles in the sky, history that’s thousands of years old yet so hip and current it’s the cultural capital of its continent.

We’ve had Glimpses of this place before: The Europe That’s Still There, and The Portuguese Riviera. Yes, the Ideal Escape Hatch for us is Portugal – a quick overnight flight getting there, a morning flight return.

For 10 days in October of 2022, Rebel and I conducted a Portugal Exploration for TTPers.  Rebel and I and your fellow TTPers will be doing it again next month. Just click on Portugal Exploration – May 2 -11, 2025 -- you owe it to yourself to be entranced by the photos, for a glimpse of this ideal place. (Glimpses of our Breathtaking World #157 ©photo Jack Wheeler)

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ALBANIA’S BLUE EYE

blue-eye-springThis is not a Monet painting.  It is a real photograph looking straight down upon the swirling clear blue water of the Syri i Kaltër – Blue Eye – Spring burbling up from a deep karst hole of the Bistricë River in the mountains of southern Albania.

The water surges up with such force that scuba divers trying to determine the spring’s depth could only get down to 50 meters (164ft) and no more, thus the depth of the underwater source is unknown.  The water is cristal clear, drinkably pure, and very cold.  Found between the World Heritage mountain town of Gjirokaster and the Adriatic beach resort town of Saranda, it’s a hypnotic, mesmerizing experience. The Blue Eye is the beauty of nature at its most entrancing. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #293, photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE SULTAN ASTRONOMER

ancient-observatoryYou’re looking at something historically and scientifically astonishing. It is what remains of an astronomical observatory built 600 years ago – in 1420 – by a Sultan in Central Asia who loved science and mathematics more than war and conquest.

It was in Samarkand, the most fabled oasis of the Silk Road, that Sultan Ulugh Beg built his circular observatory, three stories high of white marble. All that’s left today is part of the underground sextant that you see in the photo.

For the full story of what he achieved, with many more photos, click on The Sultan Astronomer in TTP I wrote in 2020.

This Glimpse is to whet your appetite to learn about this amazing Sultan and his scientific achievements.

It’s also to whet your appetite for joining your fellow TTPers on our Heart of Central Asia expedition this September. The story of The Sultan Astronomer is but one example of what awaits you in exploring Central Asia, an enrichment of your life beyond description. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #212 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE ALLAH THAT FAILED

[This Monday’s Archive was originally published on January 6, 2004.  Facts are slippery things, especially when they are inconvenient. Ibn Warraq continues to speak out and publish the inconvenient truths of Islam under his pen name (which means “son of a papermaker”). It is a name that dissident authors have used throughout the history of Islam, who hide in fear for their lives. In 2007 Douglas Murray described Ibn Warraq as one who “refuses to accept the idea that all cultures are equal. Were Ibn Warraq to live in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia, he would not be able to write. Or if he did, he would not be allowed to live.”  The culture of Allah is a culture of death.]

Let’s say there’s this fellow named Moe. He makes a living as a highway bandit robbing travelers. Any victim who gives him any trouble he kills. Moe has a special hatred for Jews. “Kill Jews wherever you find them,” he tells the members of his gang.

At age fifty, Moe tells his best friend that he’s fallen in love with his daughter and wants to marry her. She is six years old. They are “married” and Moe starts having sex with the little girl when she is nine years old.

Moe tells his gang that God talks to him. As the Messenger of God, every word of Moe’s is the Word of God. Moe has his gang members kill anyone who refuses to believe this.

Here’s the question: Is Moe a criminally insane pervert and moral monster, or is he worshipped by hundreds of millions of devout followers who deeply believe that he is the most moral human being who ever lived?

The answer is: he is both.

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY – THE CRUSADER FORTRESS IN THE CAUCASUS

This is the fortress town of Shatili in an extremely remote Caucasus region in Georgia called Khevsureti. It was built by the Crusaders 1,000 years ago. The Khevsur people who live here trace their ancestry back to these Crusaders and until the 1930s still wore chain mail in feud-battles with other towns. I took this picture in 1991.

American traveler Richard Halliburton (1900–1939) saw and recorded the customs of the Khevsurs in 1935. The Khevsur men, dressed in chain mail and armed with broadswords, wore garments full of decoration made up of crosses and icons. They don’t do that anymore, but they proudly retain their Crusader Christian heritage – for Georgia adopted Christianity in the 4th century AD. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #85 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE REGISTAN OF SAMARKAND

sher-dor-madrassaThe magnificent Sher-Dor Madrassa, built in the early 1600s, is part of the Registan public square complex of the ancient Silk Road oasis of Samarkand. What’s fascinating is the mosaic depiction of living beings on either side of the arch – a tiger and on its back a rising sun deity with a human face. This is honoring the pre-Islamic history of Samarkand that goes back almost 3,000 years.

It was centuries old when Alexander conquered it in 329 BC. For a thousand years as Central Asia’s great entrepot on the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean, it was a cosmopolitan center for Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Nestorian Christianity. Incorporated into the Islamic world in the 700s, sacked by Genghiz Khan in 1220, rebuilt by the time Marco Polo in 1272 described it as “a large and splendid city,” Tamerlane made it his capital in 1370.

Colonized by Czar Alexander II in the 1860s within the Russian Imperial Empire, and by the Soviets in the 1920s within the Uzbek SSR, Samarkand is flourishing today in independent Uzbekistan. There is so much to learn and contemplate upon when you are here. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #67 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE MAGIC OF MADEIRA

madeira-paradiseThe island of Madeira in the Atlantic some 320 miles west of Morocco was first discovered, uninhabited, by Portuguese explorers in 1418. It has been a part of Portugal ever since. In the 1600s it became renowned for its Madeira wine, with English wine makers settling there and exporting it to England and the American colonies. The English consul Charles Murray built a beautiful estate, “Quinta do Prazer”, Pleasure Estate, high above the capital of Funchal, which by the late 1800s was converted into the Monte Palace hotel.

100 years later, Portuguese entrepreneurs developed the property into one of the most spectacular tropical gardens in the world, with lakes, waterfalls, and exotic tropical plants turning it into a fantasy wonderland. You can spend hours wandering around relaxing and luxuriating in this peaceful paradise.  It’s just one of the magically beautiful places and truly relaxing, energizing experiences we have on Madeira and the Azores.  Join your fellow TTPers when we plan our next Atlantic Paradises exploration to enjoy them.  Life goes by so quickly, Carpe diem!  (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #243 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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LOOKING INTO A BABY LEOPARD’S EYES

baby-leopardThere are not many places in Africa where you can do this, where a leopard mother has no fear of your getting this close to her cub. The best place in all Africa is a region of Zambia called South Luangwa, where iconic African wildlife is in vast profusion yet uninhabited by people. And where you can stay in a safari lodge so luxurious it’s hard to believe you’re way out deep in the African bush.

I’ve been traveling to Africa for 50 years now – since 1971 – and have been to every country on the continent, so I know how unique a South Luangwa safari is. If you have a dream of experiencing an African safari once in your life, you might consider here. I can hardly wait to come here again. Care to join me, to look into a baby leopard’s eyes yourself? (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #117 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE INSPIRATION OF AMERICA

tt-principles-of-independence-freedomNext to the entrance of The Red House, the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago in the capital of Port of Spain, there is this marble inscription. It is clear that it is inspired by our 1776 Declaration of Independence and America’s founding principles. Trinidad’s population is 99% either Indian (from India), African, or a mix of the two. 64% are Christian, 21% Hindu, 6% Moslem, others undeclared – and all have these principles as a common bond between them.

Here in the Caribbean’s Trinidad is such a clear example of how America’s founding moral principles are such an inspiration to all humanity, of all cultures, creeds, and ethnicities. They are universal, America’s heritage as a gift to the world. This is the heritage of all Americans – something we need to hold on to and hold dear as we persevere during this current period of our country’s cultural, moral, and political lunacy. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #152, photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE TYRANNY OF CHINA’S HISTORY

[This Monday’s archive was originally published on December 1, 2004 – While the news is fixated on Europe and the Middle East these days, China is always the threat looming in the background. The old saying comes to mind:  The more things change, the more they stay the same. This is peculiarly true for China.]

Chinese, written and spoken, is my candidate for the weirdest major language on earth. At the Monterey Institute, where US diplomats are taught foreign languages, it takes on average 600 hours of instruction to be fluent in a European language such as French or German, 1200 for Arabic - and 2400 in Chinese. (This means, of course, that for China and the world to communicate, Chinese must speak English, as the world will never speak Chinese).

Beyond the technical difficulties lie far deeper problems, resulting in a grossly myopic view of China’s history and future. The one buried most deeply is the way Chinese grammar reverses time: the past, in Chinese, is in front of or before you, while the future is behind you. Chinese culture is oriented towards the past, reading Chinese history through a distorted lens, and stubbornly attempting to apply illusory lessons to the present.

This is precisely what China’s military and government leaders are doing with their strategy towards America.

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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 ROCK-HEWN CHURCHES OF LALIBELA, ETHIOPIA

church-of-saint-george900 years ago, the Church of Saint George (Bete Giyorgis in Amharic) was not built – it was hand carved downwards from a horizontal rock ledge. There is nothing like the rock-hewn churches in Lalibela anywhere else in the world.

Christianity was established in Ethiopia in 330 AD and has flourished ever since. Experiencing the devotion still so very much alive in one of the oldest Christian countries on earth is inspiring. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #26 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 ETOSHA PAN

etosha-pan-elephantsNo, this isn’t the Serengeti.  The Etosha Pan is a huge 2,000 square mile salt pan in northern Namibia that has an amazing abundance of African wildlife that flourishes in a desert – lots of elephants as you see, giant eland, huge oryx, kudu with the males sporting their glorious spiral horns, wildebeest, zebra, all kinds of antelope, plus lions and leopards galore hunting them.

They all thrive on the available river and springs water amidst the surrounding mopane balsam woodlands.  It’s one of Africa’s least known yet most astounding wildlife spectacles. Come during the dry winter months of July-September when the animals gather around the waterholes.  You’ll never forget it.  (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #291, photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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THE BIRD THAT CAN KILL A LION

killer-kick-ostrich Yes, an ostrich.  Ostriches are the world’s largest, heaviest, and fastest running birds on earth today.  A full-grown adult male can weigh over 300 pounds, and it’s kick is so strong it can kill a lion.  A pride of lions led by lionesses, or a coalition of adult males, can become skilled at taking down young ostriches, but they know to stay away from the adult big boys, for they are truly lethal.  This fellow is still growing so he has to be careful on the plains of the Ngorongoro Crater Floor. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #290, photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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BEYOND THE PALE

reagan-in-ballyporeen[This Monday’s Archive is TTP’s celebration of St. Patrick’s Day with its “nutshell history” of Ireland, first written in 2006. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all TTPers!]

Ronald Reagan’s origins are even more humble than Abraham Lincoln’s log cabin.

His great-grandfather, Michael O’Regan, was born in a hut of mud and slats in farmland called Doolis near the village of Ballyporeen, County Tipperary, in 1829.

In June 1984, Ronald Reagan came to Ballyporeen as President of the United States. In his speech to the townspeople in the village square, he said, “I can’t think of a place on the planet I would rather claim as my roots more than Ballyporeen, County Tipperary.”

A friend of mine was there as a member of Reagan’s staff. After the speech, the President commented to him, “I really am proud to be from here.” With a wink, he explained: “You see, I’m from Beyond the Pale.”

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY – THE POTALA

the-potalaLhasa, Tibet, 1986. Built in the mid-1600s, the Potala in Lhasa, Tibet was the home of the Dalai Lama as the incarnation of Avalokiteśvara, the Buddhist deity of compassion, until the Communist Chinese colonized Tibet in 1959.

The Potala is one of the world’s great architectural wonders, thirteen stories high with molten copper poured into the foundation to stabilize it from earthquakes, 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines, 200,000 statues. I’ve been here several times since 1986, and it’s always such a powerful experience. Yet to Tibetans, this is a “dead” building as the Dalai Lama is gone. It is my hope that someday, the Dalai Lama will live here in a Free Tibet once again. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #114 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 CHURCH OF SAINT JOSEPH OF ARIMETHEA IN IRAN

church-of-saint-joseph-in-arimetheaIn the early 1600s, some 150,000 Armenians fled persecution from the Ottoman Empire to settle in Isfahan, Persia under the protection of Shah Abbas.  There they created an extraordinary trading network that stretched from Amsterdam to Manila, becoming prosperous in the process.  This enabled them to build extraordinary Armenian Apostolic Church cathedrals – Armenian Christianity being one of the oldest Christian denominations originating in the 1st century AD.

Here you see the Armenian Apostolic Church in Isfahan, built in 1606 and dedicated to Saint Joseph of Arimathea,  the disciple who took Jesus’ body off the Cross. The Armenian Quarter of Isfahan remains populated by thousands of Armenian Christians today who may freely practice their faith, albeit strictly within the confines of their neighborhood and never beyond.  Nonetheless, it comes as a shock to see this in present-day Mullah Iran. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #262 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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HADZA – THE LAST OF THE FIRST

hadza-tribesmenHumanity – Homo sapiens – began evolving from our Homo ergaster hominid ancestors in East Africa around a quarter-million years ago.  In all that time since, only one group of us is directly descended from those first of us, still living in East Africa, practicing the original nomadic hunter-gather lifestyle of countless millennia, their DNA unrelated to any other people on earth, their language unrelated to any other.

They are the Hadza.  It is with good reason anthropologists call them “the last of the first” – for there are less than a thousand of them left as cattle-herding and farming tribes continually encroach on the hunting grounds they need to survive.

The Hadza men hunt with bow and arrows, the Hadza women gather roots, tubers, fruits and berries.  They have no villages. Living together in bands of 20-30, they encamp in small shelters of boughs and leaves wherever the men have killed an animal like an eland (their favorite), warthog or some baboons, make a fire (the ancient hand-twisted stick method) and feast on it until it’s time to move and hunt again.

They wear animal skins, supplemented with clothes they trade for with nearby tribes like the Datoga.  They love to sing and dance around the campfire.  They smile easily and laugh freely.  The only metal I saw them have was Datoga-made arrowheads and knives traded for, and a couple of pots for cooking.  It’s hard to imagine a more utterly basic and simple existence.  Yet they live a far happier, purposeful, and satisfied life than a great, great many of our species elsewhere.

The Hadza live around Lake Eyasi on the floor of the Great Rift Valley at the base of the Serengeti Plateau in Tanzania.  It’s in the deep South Serengeti where our Wheeler-Windsor Safaris are during the late Birthing Season of February-March before the Great Migration begins.  You witness the most extraordinary wildlife spectacle on earth.  Can you imagine seeing 200-300,000 wildebeest stretching across the Serengeti as far as the eye can see?

No picture does that justice, so you focus on the individual, like this mommy cheetah watching her cub’s reflection in a small pool.

cheetah-pool-reflection

Here is where humankind began amidst this primordial scene.  And the Hadza have been here since that very beginning.  It is such a privilege and honor to be with and learn from them.  It is having life-memorable experiences like this that we aspire to give those who go on safari us.  We are currently on our Wheeler-Windsor Serengeti Birthing Safari right now.. but let me know if you’d like to meet “the last of the first" in our next trip to this amazing place.  (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #288, 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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A SHORT HISTORY OF RUSSIA

A SHORT HISTORY OF RUSSIA Jack Wheeler January 1985 [Note the date. Written in 1985 during the Cold War, Russia formed the basis of the Soviet Union]

At various times in her history, America has been at war with and has had as deadly enemies: the French, the English, the Spanish, the Germans, the Italians, the Mexicans, and the Japanese. All are today our friends and allies. There is nothing in the nature of things that makes it impossible for this to someday be the case with the Russians as well.

Yet it is important to understand how the Russians are not like us -- how their history enabled them to transform themselves into Soviets running an Evil Empire called the Soviet Union.

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FLASHBACK FRIDAY: SMUGGLERS PARADISE

jw-with-merchant-on-boat Khasab, Musendam, Enclave of Oman, October 2006. The sharp tip of Arabia, known as the Musandam Point, sticks into the Persian Gulf, separating it from the Indian Ocean. The Strait of Hormuz is only 30 miles wide from Musandam Point to the coast of Iran, and through it passes a substantial fraction of the world's crude oil.

enclave-of-oman

I came here to see the Persian smugglers. Go down to the wharves in Khasab and you will see them piled high with waterproof-wrapped bales of clothes, cases of soft drinks and juice, cartons of children's toys and electronic goods, an entire shopping mall of stuff, all ready to be crammed and tied down into 20 ft. long open speedboats with powerful outboard motors capable of outrunning Iranian Navy patrols.

There are dozens, scores, of waiting speedboats. The run from Khasab harbor to coves on the Iranian coast or the Iranian island of Qeshm takes about three hours. An average night will see dozens of speedboats racing across the Strait of Hormuz smuggling goods into Iran. The smugglers couldn’t have been more friendly to me. They hate the mullahs and are proud they are helping poor people in Iran. I had a great time with them. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #169 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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LION ON A CAT

lion-on-a-catNgorongoro Crater, Serengeti, TanzaniaNgorongoro is one of the world’s great natural wonders, created over two million years ago when the cone of a gigantic volcano collapsed in on itself.  The crater floor is over 100 square miles, teeming with African wildlife that includes the densest population of lions in the world.  You’re only allowed to drive on certain dirt roads to see them, but lions sometime have different ideas.

Here’s a lioness we found sunning herself on the hood of a Caterpillar road-grader, completely unconcerned by our presence.  We spend a few days exploring Ngorongoro to cap off our safaris in isolated roadless areas of the Serengeti.  (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #286, photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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WHAT A REAL CANNIBAL LOOKS LIKE

nambas-cannibalOn the remote north side of the island of Malekula in Vanuatu, there lives a cannibal tribe called the Big Nambas. The men wear a penis gourd wrapped in pandamus fibers, and eat “man long pig,” cooked human enemies. You have to trek over mountains of thick jungle to reach them. When I was able to years ago, there were a few men who continued the practice. This gentleman is one of them. I was in no danger as they were very kind and gracious to me.

That wasn’t the case a century ago when the first explorers, Martin & Osa Johnson, reached them. Their 1918 film, “Cannibals of the South Seas,” made the Johnsons famous, and you can see it on YouTube. Today they are far more benign. It is an extraordinary experience to meet a culture of fearsome reputation and realize they are people like you and me. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #103 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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ELEPHANTS IN THE SAHARA

©2019 Jack Wheeler10,000 years ago, the Sahara was green, with lakes, rivers, and such an abundance of animals it was a hunting paradise for people who lived here. You’ll find their petroglyphs carved on to rock outcroppings like this that my son Jackson and I found on a Trans-Sahara Expedition in 2003.

The Milankovitch astronomical cycles that drive Earth’s climate produced a West African monsoon that greened the Sahara back then. When the cycles shifted ending the monsoon, the Sahara turned dry desert as it remains today. Political cycles that permitted a peaceful crossing of the world’s greatest desert have also shifted, making this too dangerous now.

A Trans-Sahara Expedition is one of the world’s great adventures. Hopefully, one will be possible again in the not-too-distant future. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #7 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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LOST IN TRANSLATION: “PEACE” IN ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN ARE NOT THE SAME

Lenin’s Tomb, Red Square, Moscow

Lenin’s Tomb, Red Square, Moscow

President Trump has stated many times his intention for brokering an end to Russia’s war upon Ukraine is “peace.”

When these statements are translated into Russian by Russian media, our English word “peace” is translated into the Russian word “mir.”  The two words do not mean the same thing. In fact, they are diametrically opposed.

It is the same – as President Reagan famously pointed out – with our word “freedom” and the Russian word mistakenly translated as freedom, “Svoboda.”

Svoboda means license, not freedom in our sense. There is an emotional aura around the word “freedom” that is positive for most any American. Say the word to yourself, and note your emotional reaction: feels good, doesn’t it?

But for the average Russian, the word “svoboda” has a negative aura around it: it feels frightening, threatening. It means the freedom, or license, to be socially irresponsible, to be selfish and egotistical, to be indifferent to hurting others for your own gain, to commit the unpardonable sin of seeing yourself as an individual instead of as a member of the kollektiv.

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THE TOMB OF TAMERLANE

tomb-of-tamerlaneThis is the interior of “Gur Emir,” the tomb of Tamerlane (1336-1405) in Samarkand, the great Silk Road city now in Uzbekistan. Tamerlane was the last of the nomadic conquerors of Eurasia, a Turkic-Mongol whose conquests extended from New Delhi to eastern Turkey.

Gur Emir is only one of a multitude of extraordinary sights in legendary Samarkand that make being here a life-memorable experience. WWe’ll be here during our exploration of Central Asia soon again. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #59 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

 

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NO FEAR OF THE EVIL EYE: ARISTOTLE, EINSTEIN AND MUSSOLINI

aristotle-einstein-mussolini

[This is the eighth chapter of Part I: Envy of my forthcoming book NO FEAR OF THE EVIL EYE: Key to Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity.  Previous sections and chapters can be accessed here. I will really appreciate any feedback you have.]

Ever play the Ultimate Dinner Party parlor game – where you get to imagine inviting people from history to converse over dinner and explain why them? At such a party, one conversation I’d most like to hear would be between Aristotle and Einstein.  (And no, Mussolini would not be invited – we discuss him after dinnertime.)

Einstein would first have to bring Aristotle up to speed with what science had learned since the 4th century BC.  But once he digested this and Einstein paused to take a breath, Aristotle would ask him – “So, all of us here at dinner are famous – what are you famous for?” When Einstein answered, “The Theory of Relativity,” Aristotle would respond: “What is it that’s relative?”

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HORSESHOE BEND

horseshoe-bendLooking down 1,000 feet above world-famous Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River at sunset is one of most iconic views our planet offers us. It is to be found near Page, Arizona near the border with Utah. Yet in truth, the number of different mind-blowing iconic views is uncountable in this part of the American West.

Close by are the Vermillion Cliffs, and the simply psychedelic Antelope Canyon. Just a bit further is the Grand Escalante Staircase, a little bit further Zion and Bryce Canyons and Monument Valley. And of course, right next door is something called The Grand Canyon.

There are people who have explored this region for years and will tell you there’s so much they’ve yet to see. You can explore the world over – what I’ve done my whole life – and yet there is so much of Creation to be soul-thrilled by just in this one region of northern Arizona and southern Utah – and I haven’t mentioned Moab which is a total mind-blow all by itself.

Take a break from all the worries of the world to come to here. Pick a place that will thrill your soul for a few days. That’s what’s needed now. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #134 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

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HALF-FULL REPORT 02/28/25

Holy Moly, Sheikh Ratoli, there’s so much going on this week, it’s hard to know where to begin – but Branco’s summation of where the Dems and their media propagandists are now as good as any.

For that pinpoints it, yes?  The Dems are drowning in the swamp of TDS rooting for America to lose while Trump, DOGE, and the GOP fight for America to win.

It’s a Dem Two-Fer Trap.  The utter failure of their key issues to ruin America’s culture of moral decency has driven them straight into mental empoisonment:

While being paralyzed in a state of shock and awe over what T47 is doing to them:

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