The Oasis for
Rational Conservatives

Saturday, January 24, 2026

Member Menu

The Amazon's Pantanal

Serengeti Birthing Safari

Wheeler Expeditions

Member Discussions

Article Archives

Archives

L i k e U s ! ! !

SQUARE PEGS AND SUCH: A TTP BULLETIN

technical-debtTTPers,

The TTP Forum has been offline for several days due to what software engineers call technical debt. This means the slow accumulation of outdated software that eventually stops working when the world around it upgrades. Our site runs on WordPress 4.6.1, which is a content management system (CMS) that handles everything from publishing articles to running the discussion forum.

WordPress is built on a programming language called PHP, which is short for Hypertext Preprocessor. PHP runs on the web server and generates the pages you see in your browser.

Here’s the issue: the version of WordPress we’re using was written to work with PHP 4.6.1, a version released almost a decade ago. Our hosting company recently upgraded to a newer PHP environment for speed and security reasons. That’s good for the modern internet, but bad for older websites.

Many of the WordPress plug-ins (small software modules that add features like logins, forums, and security filters) depend on PHP functions that no longer exist in the latest releases. When the server runs the new code, these old plug-ins simply break.

Fixing it takes time. Each plug-in and custom script has to be reviewed, rewritten, or replaced with something compatible. Once that is done...

Read more...

THE GREEK GODS OF SICILY

the-greek-gods-of-sicily

The Ancient Greeks began settling in the Mediterranean’s largest island around 750 BC. They called it Sikelia, after the Sikani and Sicel tribes that lived there. They flourished, building numerous cities, all with temples to their Olympian gods. The city of Akragas – now called Agrigento on the south coast – grew to a population of 200,000 by the 500s. It was here that the Greeks built the most outstanding examples of monumental Greek architecture that still exist today.

Along a ridge outside the city, they erected temples to Zeus, Hera, Heracles (Hercules) and many others. The one you see here the Romans called the Temple of Concordia (harmony), for by the time they showed up in the 200s, the Greek name was lost. In the foreground lies a remnant of a bronze statue to one of the Greek gods – perhaps Apollo. The glory that was Greece has been gone with winds of millennia. It can be a very emotional experience to be here. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #248 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

Read more...

MARX AND MOHAMMED

marx-and-mohammed

[This week’s Archive was first published on September 1, 2005. Twenty years ago, it would have been deemed deranged to even imagine that New Yorkers would elect a Moslem Nazi as the mayor of the city where his religious predecessors committed the terrorist atrocity of 9-11.  That he would also be a Marxist Communist would make it a Kafkaesque lunacy.  Yet precisely this happened six days ago (11/04).  The relevance of this analysis is now crucially clear as the foundation of understanding what just happened in New York City.]

 

TTP, September 1, 2005

I was recently asked what might be the common ground between the Radical Left and Radical Islam. Let’s expand on that and discuss with you the extraordinary extent to which Marx and Mohammed are ideological brothers.

In fact, they are much more than that. Marx and Mohammed are metaphysical brothers. They share the same view on the nature of reality. Their fundamental bond is a denial of the Law of Non-Contradiction.

Far more than a rule of logic, this is a basic statement of the way reality works. It was first put into words by Aristotle:

It is impossible for the same attribute at once to belong and not to belong to the same thing and in the same relation.” Metaphysics 1005b20.
Contradictions exist only between thoughts, not in the world. This is also known as “common sense.” Both Marx and Mohammed disagree.

That reality is contradictory is the basic tenet of Dialectical Materialism – the philosophy of Marx, Engels, and Lenin – and of philosophical Islam, for which it is blasphemous to claim Allah is subject to the Law of Non-Contradiction as that would limit and bind him in the chains of logic.

If reality is contradictory and logic is an illusion, then you are left with only one way to resolve conflicts and disagreements: violently.

Read more...

FLASHBACK FRIDAY – MEETING THE DALAI LAMA

jw-dalai-lamaEighteen years ago, October 9, 2003, I had the privilege to meet and have an unforgettable conversation with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It was at a luncheon hosted by India’s Ambassador to the US at his residence in Washington. His Holiness loved my telling him how I had passed out over a thousand pictures of him during my three overland expeditions crisscrossing Tibet. “Illegally, yes?” he asked, as the Chinese make this a crime. “Oh, very illegally!” I answered as we both chuckled.

The Ambassador asked where he was born. His answer, “very remote village in far northern Tibet.” He was startled when I interjected, “Yes, I know, I’ve been there – I even bought a doonchen (telescoping 15 foot-long Tibetan prayer horn) in your village.” “A doonchen?” he exclaimed. “You mean…?” and put his hands to his lips to make this really loud WHOOOH like the horn makes. I nodded and did the same, WHOOOH. We belly laughed, while all the diplomats and Congressmen did not know what was going on.

Then he wrapped his hands around mine and I felt an electric energy run through my body. It was his blessing. I will treasure it all my life. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #60 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

Read more...

HALF-FULL REPORT 11/07/25

Mamdani's Triumph, Tariffs on Trial, and Cheney's Shadow


Zohran Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral win pits Islamic anti-usury principles against New York’s capitalist core. His base may push regulatory sabotage such as disclosure burdens, pension shifts to sukuk, and usury investigations, risking capital flight to Miami or Texas. Liberals like Schumer urge coexistence and positioning New York as a dual-finance hub while implementing sukuk banking reforms and Shariah options to tap Islamic sovereign wealth funds (for the Democrats).

Morris Katz of Fight.Agency ran Mamdani’s campaign using a political OODA Loop, syncing narrative, moral, and logistical energy. Targeting Gen Z women (81% of Mamdani voters), he built a decentralized “starfish” model utilizing TikTok dopamine feedback strategies that turned politics into social validation. Volunteers amplified content; door-knocking became performance art. CAIR funding fueled this globalist push.

In early 2025, President Trump imposed sweeping tariffs via IEEPA executive orders with 10% on most imports, up to 145% on Chinese goods, to counter IP theft and fentanyl. The policy raised $151 billion in six months but triggered lawsuits from businesses and states, claiming unconstitutional taxation without Congressional approval. The Supreme Court heard Learning Resources v. Trump on November 5, debating whether IEEPA allows tariffs as regulatory tools or if legislative approval is required under Article I of the Constitution.

Dick Cheney, dead at 84 on November 3, 2025, has long been suspected of waging Iraq 2003 for Israel’s benefit by fabricating WMD intelligence to neutralize Saddam. Critics cite The Israel Lobby, AIPAC speeches, and Iran strikes as Zionist-driven, costing 4,400 U.S. lives and trillions of dollars.

In his later years, his anti-Trump stance, endorsement of Kamala Harris, and calling Trump a "threat to the republic" positioned him as a defender of traditional GOP global engagement. His support of Kamala Harris only amplified populist views of him as a key "globalist establishment" figure and proponent of a borderless world.

Read more...

FROM SKYE TO SKYE

skinigin-village

Skinigin Village, Loch Dunvegan, Isle of Skye. The Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland is considered by many the most magically entrancing place in all Scotland. From charming fishing villages like this to gorgeously dramatic scenery to famous distilleries like Talisker, you come here for a few days and don’t want to leave the serenity of Skye that captures you.

There could not be a more beautifully opportune place from which to offer my appreciation and gratitude to TTP’s very own Skye, who provided us with his extraordinarily insightful Links and commentary every Thursday until his death last year. Skye was my dearest friend whom I loved and admired like a hero brother for well over half a century. I still treasure his friendship and am so grateful for his long contribution to TTP and to my life. So, From Skye to Skye, thanks, compadre!

(Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #294, photo ©Jack Wheeler)

Read more...

THE FREEDOM TO FAIL

dc_policecapThe Nowheresville Texas Police Station:  A long time ago.

[Some details altered to protect the innocent and guilty.]

I was in a police lieutenant’s office, watching a video taken from the body camera of one of our officers.  The call had been a welfare check, where two of our people had approached a residence, heard nothing, and proceeded to make warrantless entry.

In Texas, and in the United States at large, warrantless entry of a residence by law enforcement is limited to a handful of justifications falling under “exigent circumstances.”

Basically, it needs to be an emergency that justifies breaching the curtilage [Editor:  google it – a very interesting word for citizens], and the Supreme Court has been getting tighter and tighter on applying it.  The officers had gone into this house for a situation…. not really meeting that threshold.

She looked up at me.  “This is bad.”

Clearly, the officers—both relatively new, had overstepped.  Perhaps in good faith, but they had still overstepped.

Read more...

WHAT EVERYONE MISSES ABOUT NICK FUENTES

The racialist influencer Nick Fuentes has caused an uproar with his appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast.

Fuentes, a 27-year-old live-streamer, has built a reputation as the most controversial voice on the right. He’s embraced seemingly every taboo: praising Hitler, disputing the Holocaust’s death toll, calling himself a “white nationalist,” musing about domestic violence, and opposing interracial marriage.

Carlson’s invitation has divided conservatives. Some suggest that Fuentes’s appearance on the podcast represented an unacceptable mainstreaming of his views. Others, most notably Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts, argue that Fuentes must be debated instead of “canceled.”

Both sides fail to understand the Nick Fuentes phenomenon.

They take his statements seriously and engage with them in good faith. But Fuentes’s stated beliefs, while abhorrent, are not best parried by taking them at face value.

Instead, the Right should consider him an actor in what postmodern theorist Jean Baudrillard called “hyperreality” – a system in which the simulation of reality comes to replace reality itself.

Read more...

WHAT WOULD HE THINK OF US?

xikrin-kayapo-tribesmanThis Xikrin-Kayapo tribesman and his people live in the deepest heart of the Brazilian Amazon on tributaries of the Xingu River. You wonder what he would think of us as panic, fear, and madness engulfs our civilization. Having spent time in his village not long ago, I’m confident he would simply shake his head in bewilderment and say, “Please just let us live our lives in our forest, that’s all we want.”

True indigenous tribes who keep to their traditional way of life are so rare now in the Amazon or anywhere else where they once flourished. Each one is a precious living cultural heritage of humanity. It is such a privilege when they share their way of life with you. They deserve to have their wish granted, as my tribesman friend would express it. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #4 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

Read more...

CRITICAL THINKING HAS BEEN HIJACKED

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘glory,’” Alice said.

Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. “Of course you don’t—till I tell you. I meant ‘there’s a nice knock-down argument for you!’”

“But ‘glory’ doesn’t mean ‘a nice knock-down argument,’” Alice objected.

“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”

“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”

“The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

In the past, I’ve talked about the left's deliberate shift of language, but I’ve never mentioned the foundational shift I’m going to talk about now. This one is different. It doesn’t just twist one word or one idea — it changes the ground we stand on.

This shift attacks logic itself. It strikes at the roots of reasoning, the process by which we decide what is true. It happened quietly and almost no one saw it occur.

The term critical thinking has been redefined.

Read more...

THIS JUST IN – BLUE STATES VOTE DEMOCRAT

Blue States Vote DemocratOn the one hand, last night was a terrible night for the GOP. There’s no sugarcoating double-digit election losses when there was anticipation of real competition.

There’s little silver lining when the party was wiped out in numerous state elections.

On the other hand, Democrats won in very blue states and cities. Who didn’t expect that, and what will it really change?

Democrats certainly hope that winning governorships in Virginia and New Jersey is a harbinger of success in next year’s midterm elections….HOWEVER, there could be a “bright side.”

Read more...

THE WORLD’S MOST UNUSUAL GRAVES

toraja-gravesiteEast of Borneo in Indonesia is a large starfish-shaped Island called Sulawesi, where in the south-central mountains the Toraja people have created one of the most exotic cultures on earth. They bury their dead in caves carved out of vertical cliffs, with balconies at the entrances lined with clothed wooden effigies called a Tau Tau as guardians for the departed.

The Toraja live in villages composed of family long houses with enormous peaked roofs of wood and thatch, decorated with exquisite painted art and scores of buffalo horns. While Indonesia is predominantly Moslem, the Toraja are a blend of Christian-animist. They are a gentle, peaceful people, marvelously welcoming and friendly. It is a priceless privilege to spend time with them, as I was able to during the summer of 2016. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #49 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

Read more...

THE EROSION OF SELF-RELIANCE

In the shadow of every government shutdown, a deeper crisis emerges, one not of policy, but of identity.

The headlines may focus on delayed paychecks, frozen programs, and political gridlock, but beneath the surface lies a more troubling revelation: millions of Americans, including the middle class and federal employees, have become so conditioned to government assistance that they no longer know how to navigate hardship without it.

This is not merely an economic issue; it is a cultural and spiritual unraveling.

The American ethos of personal responsibility, once the bedrock of national pride and familial strength, is being quietly replaced by a subconscious belief that survival itself depends on the state.

 

A Nation Built on Self-Reliance

Fifty years ago, the average American understood that life was unpredictable and often unforgiving. Families saved for emergencies, churches and communities formed safety nets, and personal pride was tied to one’s ability to provide and persevere.

Government programs existed, but they were limited in scope and seen as temporary bridges, not permanent lifelines.

The middle class, in particular, took pride in its independence. To rely on government aid was not a badge of shame, but it was certainly not a default expectation.

In those days, when hardship struck, a job loss, a medical emergency, a cold winter without heating oil, people turned first to family, then to community, and finally to their own ingenuity.

They bartered, budgeted, and leaned on one another. Churches organized food drives, neighbors shared firewood, and civic organizations offered support.

The government was a last resort, not a first response.

Read more...

BRITAIN IN THE BALANCE

For centuries, Britain — and England in particular — has represented a civilizational ideal for much of the modern world.

The birthplace of parliamentary democracy, the common law system, and global standards of governance, Britain has exported its political and cultural values far beyond its shores. At home, it once epitomized social cohesion, stability, and civic pride.

Yet, in the 21st century, many Britons — particularly in working-class communities — report a growing sense of cultural alienation. Towns like Bradford, Luton, and Rotherham now evoke, for some, a sense of displacement rather than belonging.

This perception of a “de-Anglification” of England, whereby traditional English culture appears to be losing ground in its own homeland, reflects a deeper civilizational unease.

There is a need to explore the causes and consequences of this transformation, including the policies of the New Labour government, the fragmentation of national identity, the failure of integration, and the erosion of trust in public institutions.

Read more...