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HALF-FULL REPORT 02/21/25

What a breath of the fresh air of sanity on the cover of the New York Post this morning (2/21) after a week of heartbreaking lunacy.

The cover story is written by one of the world’s most prominent and best-selling conservative authors, Douglas Murray, and is such a critically important must-read for TTPers that it is a companion article in full to this HFR: Mr. President: Putin Is The Dictator — 10 Ukraine-Russia War Truths We Ignore At Our Peril.

The small print intro on the cover:

“’It’s right for President Trump to want to stop the bloodshed in (more…)

THE KASBAH OF AÏT BENHADDOU

ait-benhaddouAït Benhaddou is a thousand year-old kasbah or fortified village on the ancient trade route from the Sahara to Marrakech in Morocco. It’s constructed entirely of rammed earth, adobe, and wood.

Remember the famous scene in Gladiator where Maximus shouts “Are you not entertained?!” to the bloodthirsty crowd? It was filmed here, as were scenes in many other movies such as “The Jewel of the Nile,” and “The Mummy,” or the series ”The Game of Thrones.”

Yet this is no location set – people live here, scores of families, as they have for a millennium. You’re welcome to come here (more…)

IS THERE A DEMOCRAT BLUEPRINT TO REGAIN POWER?

What is the long-term Democratic Party’s strategy to return to power?

Americans may ask that only because so far, the Democrat agenda seems to entail polarizing and alienating as many voters as possible.

They gleefully double down on their 2024 defeat. And they seem almost to grow ecstatic at ensuring that Donald Trump and his record poll at unprecedented highs.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) rants on national TV that Trump is a d—k and promises to go to “war” against him.

Democratic representatives chant “f— Trump” on national television.

Senator “Spartacus” Booker (D-NJ) almost daily shouts to high heaven and (more…)

BASIC MAKE-READY FOR URBAN UNREST: PART THREE

prep-onFor the first part of the series, go here.

For Part Two, go here.

The Donald has seen His Royal Senescence and the giggler, Cackling Death, off from the White Place and has begun implementing the agenda that he ran on. We are pleased, but continue in our conviction that this is going to get ugly.

We are already seeing the goons of La Raza and those supporting murderous Hamas lining the streets of American cities, and we are seeing push back in Federal agencies against DJT’s attempts to clean house.

The latter are reeling from the shock (more…)

THE SANDS OF IWO JIMA

sands-of-iwo-jimaThis is the black sand beach the US Marines stormed on February 19, 1945, beginning the legendary Battle of Iwo Jima. Overlooking the beach is Mount Suribachi, where four days later Joe Rosenthal took his iconic photo of six Marines planting the US flag on its summit.

You can come here once a year at a commemoration jointly held by the US and Japanese militaries. Guests of honor are the few Marine veterans of the battle still alive. I attended on the 70th Anniversary of the battle in 2015. To be here on these sands and on the summit (more…)

TRUMP’S CONFIDENTIAL PLAN TO STRANGLE UKRAINE

US Treasury Sec Bessent meets with Zelensky in Kyiv about the contract (2/12)
US Treasury Sec Bessent meets with Zelensky in Kyiv about the contract (2/12)

Donald Trump’s demand for a $500 billion “payback” from Ukraine goes far beyond US control over the country’s critical minerals. It covers everything from ports and infrastructure to oil and gas, and the larger resource base of the country.

The terms of the contract that landed at Volodymyr Zelensky’s office a week ago amount to the US economic colonization of Ukraine, in legal perpetuity. It implies a burden of reparations that cannot possibly be achieved.

 

The pre-decisional contract, marked “Privileged & Confidential’ is dated Feb 7 (more…)

TRUMP’S LATEST EXECUTIVE ORDER REINSTATES A CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

agency-accountabilityYesterday (2/18), Trump did something extraordinary to return the American government to constitutional principles: He issued an executive order (“EO”) entitled “Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies.”

The leftists are decrying the EO as the end of so-called “independent” agencies, but that’s exactly the point. Under our Constitution, there are only three branches of government, not four. The agencies are subordinate to the Executive branch, and Trump’s EO properly restores that reality.

By the end of last month, we taxpayers were supporting a staggering 438 federal agencies. There’s no doubt that some of these agencies are useful, even (more…)

THE FOURTH PEARL OF SHING

4th-pearl-of-shingThere is a series of stepping-stone lakes in a hidden valley in Tajikistan known as The Seven Pearls of Shing. This is the fourth, taken at dawn’s early light with the lake a mirror reflecting the sky and surrounding mountains. Each Pearl are of different colors, each of uniquely mesmerizing allure. It is one of the many wonders – natural, cultural, historical – we’ll experience this again soon in our exploration of all Five Stans of Hidden Central Asia. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #52 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)

ZELENSKY AT MUNICH

[This is the full text of the President of Ukraine delivered at the Munich Security Conference last Saturday, February 15.  Full video is here.]

________________________________

At the start of the Conference, every country usually shares its stance, priorities, whether officially, openly or through informal talks with journalists, with partners.

This year, a country that was not even invited still made its presence known. A country that everyone talks about here – not in a good way.

The night before Munich this year, a Russian attack drone struck the sarcophagus covering the ruined fourth reactor of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

It was a modified “Shahed” drone – a Russian drone, a technology Iran passed on to Russia. Its warhead carried at least 50 kilograms (more…)

THE VOTER FRAUD CASE THAT COULD OVERTURN DEM CHEAT-BY-MAIL HOUSE RACES

William “Boss” Tweed (1823-1878) was, of course, a Democrat
William “Boss” Tweed (1823-1878) was, of course, a Democrat

Last November, Democrat fraudsters bypassed the presidential race and focused instead on the down-ballot races. In Florida, local Democrat candidates received more votes than either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris at the top of the ballot. Something was definitely amiss.

For instance, Republican Rocky Rochford was running against incumbent Democrat Kathy Castor for the U.S. House seat in Congressional Race 14 (FL-14). The district straddles Hillsborough and Pinellas counties and includes the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Castor was declared the winner, but Rochford is now contesting the race, claiming (more…)

TODAY IS NOT PRESIDENTS DAY!

george-washington-dayThis Saturday, February 22, is the 293rd anniversary of the birth of America’s founder, the equal in nobility, heroism, and virtue of any human being who ever lived — George Washington.

What it is not, nor is any day such as today, Monday February 17, the phony holiday called “Presidents Day.”

Let’s be quite clear on this.  There is no such holiday.  It exists only in the minds of furniture dealers, car salesmen, and those promulgating or deluded by fake news of the left.

It wasn’t until 1870 that there were any national holidays at all, recognized by (more…)

MAGIC MOUNTAINS

mongolian-magic-mountains

In a remote valley between the northern escarpment of the Tibetan Plateau and the Gobi Desert of Inner Mongolia, you find these magic painted mountains of red sandstone created by Himalayan uplift and millions of years of erosion. It’s at the sunrise light of early dawn that the colors are most apparent before they get sunwashed in the bright of day. It takes quite a hike in pre-dawn darkness to get to the right viewpoints at the right time, but certainly worth it. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #261 photo ©Jack Wheeler)

 

NO FEAR OF THE EVIL EYE: THE RELIGION OF ENVY

Kilimanjaro from the air ©Jack Wheeler
Kilimanjaro from the air ©Jack Wheeler

[This is the sixth 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.]

East of the Serengeti, there is a town called Moshi. It lies at the southern base of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the former German then British territory of Tanganyika. Some 50 miles away from Moshi is the town of Arusha, the traditional starting point for an East Africa safari (Swahili for journey) to such places as Manyara, Ngorongoro, and the Serengeti plain.

The way Africans get from Moshi to Arusha is by mini-bus or small van. The driver races madly round and round the town’s central square beeping his horn and yelling, “Arusha! Arusha!” Only (more…)

FLASHBACK FRIDAY – TIGER LEAPING GORGE

tiger-leaping-gorgeMany centuries ago, a tiger was plaguing the Naxi people who live in the mountains where the Yangtse River cascades off the plateau of Tibet. He was eating the goats the Naxi needed to feed themselves. So Naxi hunters chased the tiger into a deep narrow gorge of the Yangtse where they were sure they had him trapped. Suddenly, the tiger sprang onto a large rock in the center of the raging river and from there leapt to the other side and escaped, never to be seen again.

Ever since, where this took place has been known as Tiger Leaping (more…)