Chit Chat

By Ted Belman

From now on comments on every post must relate to the content of the post.

Comments that don’t relate to the post must go here.

Any person who contravenes this demand will be put on moderation. Also their offending comment will be trashed.

The reason for this demand is so that people who want to read comments which pertain to the post, don’t have to wade through the chatter.

Everyone will be happier.

April 16, 2020 | 7,916 Comments »

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50 Comments / 7916 Comments

  2. Listening to Putin lecturing Israel on peace is the Greatest irony.

    He is a dunce. He knows nothing about the Russian civil war.

  3. “The Palestinian Beatles

    1. All you need is hate.
    2. We all live in a tunnel under Gaza.
    3. Hey Jew
    4. Got to get you out of your land
    5. Can’t buy me nukes
    6. Muhammed in the sky with rockets
    7. Mean Mr. Jihad
    8. I stoned her standing there
    9. We can’t work it out.

    Apple Corps”

    – Facebook meme from United Against Jew Hatred

  4. I am disturbed by rumors that certain elements of Israel’s security establishment had acted improperly on Oct 7, and continue to do so, to make PM Netanyahu look bad. Any truth to that?

  6. FROM what I’ve read, perhaps Wilders may not be able to form a majority bloc to govern. If a minority, then far less will be achieved, and at a much slower pace.

    But, he is a brilliant and resolute man we all have proof and more, of that so I wish him much success.

    2

  12. Ted–Wilders was not elected PM. His party took only 35 of 150 seats in the Dutch parliament. The 115 ewpresentatives of the other parties will definitely not allow Wilders to become prime minister. Gateway Pundit was being overly optimistic when it made this claim.

  13. Sebastien–the BBC reporter said this, not Macron. The BBC reporter said this and then attributed the satatement to Macron. Macron’s statement, under pressure from the BBC reporter, was more “nuanced ,” repeatedly emphasizizing Israel’s right to defend itself.against terrorists. But he did eventually agree with the BBC reporter that Israel was bombing and killing civilians,

  19. Nov. 22, 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the murder of John F. Kennedy. I have been praying that God protect President Trump and other leaders from assasination attempts, on this Thanksgiving Eve — the beginning, as it were, of America’s “High Holy Days”

  25. Wait! You mean the Muslims don’t own Israel because Mohammed dreamt that he visited “the farthest mosque” on a flying horse? 😀

  26. “There are unknown unknowns” is a phrase from a response United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave to a question at a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) news briefing on February 12, 2002, about the lack of evidence linking the government of Iraq with the supply of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups.[1] Rumsfeld stated:

    Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones.[1]

    The statement became the subject of much commentary. In The Decision Book, author Mikael Krogerus[2] refers to it as the “Rumsfeld matrix”.[3] The statement also features in a 2013 documentary film, The Unknown Known, directed by Errol Morris.[4]

    Known unknowns refers to “risks you are aware of, such as canceled flights”,[5] whereas unknown unknowns are risks that come from situations that are so unexpected that they would not be considered.

    Origins
    Rumsfeld’s statement brought attention to the concepts of known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns, but national security and intelligence professionals have long used an analysis technique referred to as the Johari window. The idea of unknown unknowns was created in 1955 by two American psychologists, Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in their development of the Johari window. They used it as a technique to help people better understand their relationship with themselves as well as others.

    The term was also commonly used inside NASA.[6] Rumsfeld cited NASA administrator William Graham in his memoir; he wrote that he had first heard “a variant of the phrase” from Graham when they served together on the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States during the late 1990s.[7] Kirk Borne, an astrophysicist who was employed as a data scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center at the time, said in an April 2013 TED talk that he had used the phrase “unknown unknowns” in a talk to personnel at the Homeland Security Transition Planning Office a few days prior to Rumsfeld’s remarks, and speculated that the term may have percolated up to Rumsfeld and other high-ranking officials in the Defense Department.[8]

    The terms “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” are often used in project management and strategic planning[9] circles.

    Contemporary usage is largely consistent with the earliest known usages. For example, the term was used in evidence given to the British Columbia Royal Commission of Inquiry into Uranium Mining in 1979:

    Site conditions always pose unknowns, or uncertainties, which may become known during construction or operation to the detriment of the facility and possibly lead to damage of the environment or endanger public health and safety. The risk posed by unknowns is somewhat dependent on the nature of the unknown relative to past experience. This has led me to classify unknowns into one of the following two types: 1. known unknowns (expected or foreseeable conditions), which can be reasonably anticipated but not quantified based on past experience as exemplified by case histories (in Appendix A) and 2. Unknown unknowns (unexpected or unforeseeable conditions), which pose a potentially greater risk simply because they cannot be anticipated based on past experience or investigation. Known unknowns result from recognized but poorly understood phenomena. On the other hand, unknown unknowns are phenomena which cannot be expected because there has been no prior experience or theoretical basis for expecting the phenomena.[10]

    The term also appeared in a 1982 New Yorker article on the aerospace industry, which cites the example of metal fatigue, the cause of crashes in de Havilland Comet airliners in the 1950s.[11]

    Reaction
    Canadian columnist Mark Steyn called it “in fact a brilliant distillation of quite a complex matter”.[12] Australian economist and blogger John Quiggin wrote: “Although the language may be tortured, the basic point is both valid and important.”[13]

    Psychoanalytic philosopher Slavoj Žižek says that beyond these three categories there is a fourth, the unknown known, that which one intentionally refuses to acknowledge that one knows: “If Rumsfeld thinks that the main dangers in the confrontation with Iraq were the ‘unknown unknowns’, that is, the threats from Saddam whose nature we cannot even suspect, then the Abu Ghraib scandal shows that the main dangers lie in the “unknown knowns”—the disavowed beliefs, suppositions and obscene practices we pretend not to know about, even though they form the background of our public values.”[14]

    German sociologists Christopher Daase and Oliver Kessler agreed that the cognitive frame for political practice may be determined by the relationship between “what we know, what we do not know, what we cannot know”, but stated that Rumsfeld left out “what we do not like to know”.[15]

    The event has been used in multiple books to discuss risk assessment.[4][16]

    Rumsfeld named his 2011 autobiography Known and Unknown: A Memoir. In the author’s note at the start of the book, he expressly acknowledges the source of his memoir’s title and mentions a few examples of his statement’s prominence.[17] The Unknown Known is the title of Errol Morris’s 2013 biographical documentary film about Rumsfeld.[18] In it, Rumsfeld initially defines “unknown knowns” as “the things you think you know, that it turns out you did not”, and toward the end of the film he defines the term as “things that you know, that you don’t know you know”.[19]

    Rumsfeld’s comment earned the 2003 Foot in Mouth Award from the British Plain English Campaign.

    Analytical sciences
    The term “known unknowns” has been applied to the identification of chemical substances using analytical chemistry approaches, specifically mass spectrometry. In many cases, an unknown to an investigator that is detected in an experiment is actually known in the chemical literature, a reference database, or an Internet resource. These types of compounds are termed “known unknowns”. The term was originally coined by Little et al.[20] and reported a number of times in the literature since then as a general approach.[21][22][23][24]”

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_unknown_unknowns#:~:text=Known%20unknowns%20result%20from%20recognized,basis%20for%20expecting%20the%20phenomena.

  27. Zen/Yogi Berra like insight out of the mouths of idiots. 40 years later, it just doesn’t sound so crazy, anymore.
    “Let me just tell you how thrilling it really is, and how, what a challenge it is, because in 1988 the question is whether we’re going forward to or whether we’re going to go past to the back! … That’s a Hoosierism. You’ve got to get used to that!”
    “I believe we are on an irreversible trend towards more freedom and democracy, but that could change.”
    “We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.”
    “I have been asked who caused the riots and the killing in L. A. My answer has been direct and simple. Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame. Yes, I can understand how people were shocked and outraged by the verdict in the Rodney King trial. But there is simply no excuse for the mayhem that followed.”
    “I believe that I’ve made good judgments in the past, and I think I’ve made good judgments in the future.”
    “We don’t want to go back to tomorrow, we want to move forward.”
    “The future will be better tomorrow.”
    “The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation’s history. [on followup] No, not our nation’s, but in World War II. I mean, we all lived in this century. I didn’t live in this century, but in this century’s history.”
    “I made a misstatement and I stand by all my misstatements.”
    – Dan Quayle

    – Dan Quayle Wikiquote

  28. Bibi is no more to blame than any of the other politicians who have been making foolish concessions to the Arabs for decades. The polls that say Israelis want Ganz make no sense as his record is even worse. This Yom Kippur invasion has the same cause as the last one. Somebody in charge of intelligence purposely disregarded the intelligence that was coming his, in this case, their, way, and not forwarding it to the leadership. I can’t find it now, but there was just an article saying that the surveillance operators were reporting unusual activity in detail for months and their superiors threatened them to be quiet or be brought up on charges. These same surveillance operators have been also punished by not providing homes for them to replace the ones that were destroyed. There are middle level traitors who have to be exposed. And whoever is behind them.

    2

  31. Survey shows substantial support for renewal of Jewish settlement in Gaza after war

    “Channel 12 releases further findings from a survey it carried out on November 15, showing considerable support for the renewal of Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip after the war. Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza to the pre-1967 lines in 2005, removing some 8,000 Jews from their homes in 21 settlements.

    Asked what should happen with Gaza at the end of the war, 32% of respondents said “Israel should remain permanently and renew Jewish settlement”; 30% said the enclave should be “given over to international trusteeship”; 14% said Israel should “maintain a permanent military presence”; 10% percent said it should be “handed over for rule by the Palestinian Authority”; and 14% said they did not know.

    The TV anchors said respondents were also asked to make a direct choice as to whether or not they favored a renewal of Jewish settlement in Gaza, and 44% said they were in favor, while 39% were against. This finding was not shown on screen, however.

    Asked whether their political stance has changed in the wake of the war, 53% said it had not changed; 36% said they had become more right-wing; 6% said they had become more left-wing; and 5% said they didn’t know.

    Asked what should happen in terms of Israel’s political leadership after the war, 58% said new elections should be held, 19% said the current coalition should remain in office, 13% said an alternative government headed by a Likud politician other than Benjamin Netanyahu should be formed, and 10% said they didn’t know.

    Findings from the survey broadcast on Thursday suggested that were elections to be held today, Netanyahu would be heavily defeated, with Benny Gantz’s National Unity party soaring.

    The survey was conducted among 502 respondents by pollster Mano Geva and Midgam, and had a 4.4% margin of error.”

    https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/survey-shows-substantial-support-for-renewal-of-jewish-settlement-in-gaza-after-war/

  35. In October, the CCP passed the “Patriotic Education Law,” requiring churches and religious groups to adapt their educational activities to promote the Communist Party’s official ideology.

    The new law states:

    The state is to guide and support religious groups, religious institutes, and religious activity sites in carrying out patriotic education activities, enhancing religious professionals’ and believers’ identification with the great motherland,
    Chinese Police Raid Christian Worship Service, Arrest 13 Believers

    the Chinese people, Chinese culture, the Chinese Communist Party, and socialism with Chinese characteristics.

    The law mandates that “all levels and types of school shall have patriotic education permeate the entire course of school education” and that even “the parents or other guardians of minors shall include love of the motherland in family education.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2023/11/18/chinese-police-raid-christian-worship-service-arrest-13-believers/

  36. Chinese Police Raid Christian Worship Service, Arrest 13 Believers

    https://www.breitbart.com/faith/2023/11/18/chinese-police-raid-christian-worship-service-arrest-13-believers/

    …In October, the CCP passed the “Patriotic Education Law,” requiring churches and religious groups to adapt their educational activities to promote the Communist Party’s official ideology.

    The new law states:

    The state is to guide and support religious groups, religious institutes, and religious activity sites in carrying out patriotic education activities, enhancing religious professionals’ and believers’ identification with the great motherland, the Chinese people, Chinese culture, the Chinese Communist Party, and socialism with Chinese characteristics.

    The law mandates that “all levels and types of school shall have patriotic education permeate the entire course of school education” and that even “the parents or other guardians of minors shall include love of the motherland in family education.”…

  37. This is what I wrote on jihadwatch

    “A really bad idea in every single respect. Israel has to arrange for all Arabs to leave and frankly they have to make their own way out. This area is part of Israel and only Jews can live there otherwise they cannot be safe FROM THE SCOURGE of Antisemitism. Does Spencer stand over this abomination of an article?”

    The article on jihadwatch really did anger me because Spencer has a big name on Jewish circles and yet his main writer was calling for giving up of this land which totally in every way is Israel and it also showed me just how inadequate is Netanyahu.

    Under that kind of leadership from jihadwatch of course their commenters followed that theme.

    The dominant political quality is his hatred of socialism… communism…reds and he talks.ALL THE TIME about leftists, and this term assists him in many ways

    So he takes the actions of the Antisemites in the left and advocates of so-called Palestinians as to label say me.

    He would like to but cannot so he simply stops my comment

    And anyway my comment was directly attacking Spencer.

    I will be writing to Spencer short and sharp.

    Why? He has no right to trade the land of Israel.

    Now to what Peloni says

    “Felix

    Spencer a friend of Israel
    Not at all

    I disagree with this. You may disagree with his political ideology, and of course you would given that he is not a Trotskyite, but to suggest that he is no friend of Israel is absurd in the extreme.”

    I certainly disagree with Spencer but as my comment made abundantly clear not as an abstract thing

    You see his total ideology has led Spencer to advise abandoning the land of Israel.

    We live in the present moment and the present moment is Spencer carrying out a gigantic betrayal

    1. He is for abandoning Gaza

    2. He attacks Trotskyism

    So Mr Peloni you now support exactly the above

    If you continue to characterise Spencer NOW as a friend of Israel

    1

  39. @Felix

    Spencer a friend of Israel
    Not at all

    I disagree with this. You may disagree with his political ideology, and of course you would given that he is not a Trotskyite, but to suggest that he is no friend of Israel is absurd in the extreme.

    1

  41. Not relevant except it is in the current JTA and it refutes the nonsense about the Soviet Union ever being a friend to the Jews except occasionally in speeches. Original article from 1928:

    Former leaders of Denikin’s pogrom bands, now holding posts in the local Soviets in Daghestan, are terrorizing the mountain Jews, writes J. Larin, Jewish leader, active in the work of the Ozet, in an article appearing in the “Pravda”, the government organ.

    The mountain Jews are in a terrible economic and political position, Larin writes. The authorities practice violece against them, assuming the character of massacres. The central government’s decisions to improve the position of the mountain Jews are blocked by the authorities who prevent the organization of Jewish Soviets where the Jews are settled in compact masses.

    The heads of the Daghestan Republic do not punish those who are guilty and reject all Jewish complaints. Larin cites the instance of the Jewish peasants’ delegate, Antiloff who was sent to Moscow to voice the complaints of the Jews. Upon his return to Daghestan he was arrested, but finally acquitted.

    Despite the 1926 pogrom in the capital, Machatchkala, and other towns following the spread of the ritual murder the spread of the ritual murder libel, the authorities did not change their hostile attitude to the Jews.

    https://www.jta.org/archive/remnants-of-denikin-pogrom-bands-terrorize-the-mountain-jews

    Isn’t Daghestan where the Muslims tried to find and kill Israeli passengers on a plane this past week?

  45. Hi, Sebastien & crew

    The latest in America:

    https://rumble.com/v3w3tg7-pro-hamas-protestors-attack-dc-on-lockdown-as-biden-bows-to-china-is-the-da.html

    Mention is made of Ben Shapiro’s off-mike stuff; but, come on! Protestors trying to take over DC are a little more important to us. Biden kowtowing to Xi Jinping is a little more important.

    Do you want to know which Jew ought to be listened to right now? It’s not Ben Shapiro. It’s Anthony Blinken. He’s telling us things, with his silence, that people need to listen intently to. Shapiro, on the other hand, IMHO, is a blabbermouth.