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 | 7,781 Comments »

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50 Comments / 7781 Comments

  3. Hi, Felix

    The British were good but since America took over they are massive. So powerful that people feel powerless and automatically seek answers in conspiracy theory weaving.

    Please give Vladimir credit for having his own narrative, independent of us Americans. He does; and he laid it out pretty well: it is rooted in his biased, surprisingly antisemitic take on Russian history. That said, I was struck by your own motives: replacing “people” with “Felix”, I read,

    Felix feels powerless and automatically seeks answers in conspiracy theory weaving

    In your case, of course, the “conspiracy” theory — which ultimately speaks of the “American narrative” — was scripted by Karl Marx. Re-written in Wokeist English, “The American white, Christian, capitalist oppressor has caused all your problems.”

    Do you really think the British were “good”? Is that why you think they ended up ruling the world for over 100 years? Is that why the Christian Englishman Isaac Newton discovered the key to understanding nature? Is that what propelled the British and Americans to industrialize the world? Was it because they were “good”?

    Jesus said, “There is none good, but God”; but as humans go, who range from desperately wicked to “so so”, The English didn’t do badly. Until the Americans surpassed them in this endeavor, they translated the Bible and carried it into all the world. If that characterizes them as “good”, then have your way. My take on it is that they have been dilligent; and

    Proverbs 12:
    [24] The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

    Putin does credit the Americans, for being in charge of the world. He isn’t happy with this state of affairs, and is eager to bring us down. In my old-fashioned, “American narrative” way of thinking, this means that Putin is my enemy, along with his allies: China, Iran, Hamas…

    If America rules the world, it does so only by God’s consent; and that, not because we are “good”. By His will we are lifted up, and by His will we will eventually be put down; and the “narrative” that will ultimately prevail is HIS.

  5. The key point in the Interview was when Putin cautioned about the unreality of – ability to challenge the American “NARRATIVE”. There’s lots of words on Israpundit about very many things but that is not ever confronted. The British were good but since America took over they are massive. So powerful that people feel powerless and automatically seek answers in conspiracy theory weaving. I see Israpundit as caught in that web.

  6. Peloni,

    Your silly comparison

    One finger points forward; the other three point back at you. “Silly” is apologizing for Putin, who apologizes for Hitler — “silly”, and more. To quote Victor Davis Hansin, “If it paid better, you’d be a fascist.”

  7. Sebastien,

    I certainly could do much better — for instance, in Victor Davis Hansen:

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1757742976661356839

    I trust in Jesus, who died for me. Even Hansen can’t touch that. Note what Hansen said:

    If it paid better, they’s be fascists

    That’s the condition all our “friends” are in here, including the Trotskyites. If they were sent to the cross to pay my price, they would all curse God in order to be set free. No, I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto him, against that day.

  9. @Michael

    Concerning aid, have you considered that Ukraine has four times as many people as Israel? or that they are not as wealthy? or that they are in the middle of a war, in which a thousand people are killed every day? The US is not obligated to support either country; but based on need, I would say more should go to Kiev.

    These are quite arbitrary reasons to supply aid to anyone. US aid should be used to promote US interests. Period. It isn’t a charity buffet, and it isn’t a population contest. US dollars should be able to pursue US interests, and while aid going to Israel does support US interests, it will fail to do so in Ukraine.

    Aid to Ukraine will not blanche their defeat, but will only prolong the war while Ukraine continues to lose more men and more land as took place over the past year. which has hardly served US interests. The US simply can not compete with Russia’s military dominance in munitions and hardware. Hence the best foot forward would be for the US to step off of Ukraine’s neck and allow them to seek a settlement with Russia, preserve what remains of the Rumped Ukraine and US dollars and end this war.

    Unlike Ukraine, Israel does have the ability to secure US interests in the Middle East. While the administration will co-opt control over any aid passed in the Congress, Israel does preserve US interests in the region by blocking the Iranian threat to US interests, which ironically enough, the US administration has fostered and secured to specifically diminish US interests in the region, and continues to do so. Nonetheless, US interests would be well served by aiding Israel as she ramps up her own supply of munitions. The aid sent to Israel has always presented a force multiplier benefit, and has unfortunately been used to keep Israel on a leash.

    Your silly comparison of aid being considered to these two nations to the security of the US border is another unrelated absurdity. Of course the US should preserve, protect and secure her own border, but not because of Israel or Ukraine, and not to spite Israel or Ukraine, but because this is a basic responsibility of the US govt. The fact that the US has failed to challenge the White House to do is the source of that problem, not America’s ability or need to support either Israel or Ukraine, which I have noted previously.

    One more thing. While you have challenged aid going to Israel is counter-intuitively less needed than Ukraine, and that both are somehow whimsically relatable to the US border, again a bizarre notion, you failed to chastise the $10 billion going to the Hamas who began the war against Israel and committed the atrocities on October 7. Curiously, for every US dollar proposed to go to Hamas, Israel would get just $1.40, while Ukraine would get $6. Hence, if something in this package should be challenged it is neither the aid being wasted in Ukraine nor that being sent to Israel, but that being notoriously given to Hamas. Why has this missed your thorough criticism of this aid package, which Glick notes is the reason why some of Israel’s greatest allies have withheld their support of it. You also notably failed to raise issue with the fact that there is a provision in this bill which will make it illegal for Trump to block aid to Ukraine when he becomes president. While you are parroting the objections of Carlson over the aid going to Israel and Zel, you really should pay more attention to the leverage being granted to these threats to US interests which are far more duplicitous and toxic than the arguments about populations, or need.

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  11. I think the Haredim should have to do some kind of national service – maybe building houses in Yesha instead of guest workers from abroad? – but being required to do military service? 😀 (though I know some have volunteered and I assume are doing their jobs well.)

    From the Movie, “Frisco Kid” with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford. (1979)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8o1ZYVPfsY

  12. I once asked a liberal Democrat on Facebook if she now thought we should have supported South Vietnam to the end and she accused me of gaslighting her. 😀

  13. @Michael What does population size have to do with military aid? Everybody’s afraid to go head to head with the IDF including Russia.

  15. Netanyahu is slowly regaining support; Gantz is losing momentum
    According to this poll, Netanyahu’s coalition would secure 59 mandates, just two seats shy of its current number of 61….According to the Channel 14 survey, Netanyahu is the preferred candidate for prime minister in a matchup with Gantz, with 47% of the total sample supporting Netanyahu compared to Gantz’s 34%. In a matchup with Yesh Atif Chairman Yair Lapid, Netanyahu receives 49%, and Lapid garners 28%.

    https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-786823

  18. Hi, Sebastien

    Young Evangelical support for Israel plummets
    Researcher warns:

    Is there any group that is NOT losing support for Israel? especially among young people? My neighborhood has Ukrainian flags everywhere; but the only Israeli flag, save on my house now and then, flies in front of a local church.

    Concerning aid, have you considered that Ukraine has four times as many people as Israel? or that they are not as wealthy? or that they are in the middle of a war, in which a thousand people are killed every day? The US is not obligated to support either country; but based on need, I would say more should go to Kiev.

    That said, the country that should receive most of our aid is the US. It’s simply stupid, to help Israel or Ukraine defend their borders, but to let terrorists flow into the US by the thousands.

  19. @Michael

    The front lines in Ukraine are essentially right where they were a year ago

    If this is what your Crimean commentator is feeding you, I think you need to get a new source. A year ago Bakhmut was in Ukrainian hands, and more importantly, so was Avdiika. Also a year ago, Ukraine had raised their third army, which was fully stocked and preparing to march to the sea in their famed Spring offensive which mutated into the failed Summer offensive. Ukraine has no such significant force today, their munitions are depleted, their ranks are dwindled, and they have a new commander who likes to feed meat into meatgrinders and has a history of holding ground even as the defenders are cutoff and surrounded. Such details are significant. Ukraine has been losing territory along all fronts for some time now. And all you can say is look at the ship we just sank??? If the entire Black Fleet were sunk, it would not improve Ukraine’s position one iota because the battlefield is on land. As I noted previously, Neocons who find such victories as worthy of celebration are simply looking at destroying Russia rather than preserving Ukraine.

  20. Last Russian hoax coming out of the Intelligent community. Russia is going to take over Outerspace. O my gracious…… The Russians are coming the Russians are coming. Hey, Michael, you might be correct. There making a play to call off the elections this November.

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  22. @Michael It’s a reason for Israel to become self-sufficient and independent of America. But, even as things stand, Israel is not as dependent on America as Ukraine. Look at the disparity in the aid package. !4 billion for Israel and 60 for Ukraine.

  23. “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” – Mark Twain who attributed it to Benjamin Disraeli

  24. Where’s Ukraine? 84 Percent of Americans Don’t Know,

    Sebastien, about the same percentage of Americans could not find Israel on the map, even if it were put in front of their eyes. Is that a valid reason, to let it fall to the Arabs?

  25. It is utterly nonsensical to place any faith in any poll…

    …and what should I have faith in? Peloni’s word? The fact remains, that the vast majority of Americans are pro-Ukrainian.

  26. @Honeybee You should have said the title. Marvelous. “LA SERENA – Sephardic Music / Ladino Love Song | Ke Guo (Gu? K?)s”

    ”
    2,297 views Oct 25, 2020
    Performance as part of the online concert “Homenaje a la cultura y concierto de musica en Ladino”, hosted by Amigos Por Israel (Argentine).

    Entire concert video:

    • HOMENAJE A LA CULTURA Y EL IDIOMA LADINO
    Transcript”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJjACC9O7kE

  27. Ukraine continues to hold less and less Ukrainian land by the day

    Peloni, The front lines in Ukraine are essentially right where they were a year ago. Check it out. Meanwhile, yes, Russia has lost half its Black Sea fleet to a country that has no navy, and has lost about 300.000 men. It has also lost hundreds of tanks, plus armored vehicles, antimissile batteries, etc., considerably more than the Ukraine. I am more certain that the war will be going full tilt this coming November, than I am that the US will have presidential elections this year.

  32. @Michael

    76% of Americans believe Ukrainian victory is important

    It is utterly nonsensical to place any faith in any poll in a nation where elections are brazenly stolen as has been the case in the US. Even if the pollsters conducting this poll had not been implicated in the election fraud of 2020, and Fox played a major role in validating that fraud, the only value which an honest poll might have is how much fraud might be needed for the Selectees to be reelected.

    In fact, if the Congress believed the outcome of this Fox poll, where three out of four Americans would support sending billions to Ukraine while the US economy is flagging, the Ukraine bill wouldn’t need to be pasted to aid for Israel, as it would sail thru without any need of such shenanigans to pass. Instead, there is less, not more, Congressional support for Ukraine in recent months, while the Israeli aid package has also not provided the needed leverage to push for the Ukrainian bound Neocon boondoggle thru the Congress.

    No doubt the correct mix of promises and pretenses will be added to the Ukraine aid bill to someday push it uphill across the finish line, but the reality is that this poll from Fox lacks all credibility based on everything we know about Fox, and every action being taken in the Congress on Ukraine aid.

  33. @Michael

    Russia’s Black Sea fleet is getting annihilated

    The irony remains that no matter how many elements of the Black Sea fleet are or are not sunk, Ukraine continues to hold less and less Ukrainian land by the day, without any mention by those who claim to support Ukraine. As the Russians continue to make gains across Ukraine, most significantly and materially in Avdiika and Chavis Yar, the celebration of the sinking of the whole Black Fleet would seem to make little difference to the war effort which is a terrestrial campaign, and yet the Neocons grow delirious with excitement with claims of another naval success in this land war, demonstrating their true interest in this war which was never Ukraine. Indeed, if the war was designed to keep Ukraine in Ukrainian hands, we could only lament that this war has been an utter failure. Truthfully, he fact that this war goes on without any hope of supplying Ukraine with the means which it lacks to win this war exposes the reality that the war was always designed to simply degrade the Russian military, which is why the West will not allow Ukraine to negotiate a settlement. In fact, this war will continue until wiser leadership in the West replaces the Neocons who now control such matters, to th ruin of Russia and Ukraine alike. I will remind you of what Tom Luongo stated a year ago: what do the Neocons call a million or so dead Slavs [plus or minus the Black Sea Fleet] – a good start.

  37. Mayorkas has Obama halo!

    https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/489131

    https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/6/3/1433336926729/25cb9010-a2e0-4fad-b630-28c11667f574-2060×1236.jpeg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none

    (Either Mayorkas has a bigger head, or Obama has a bigger halo). Read JP article: US Jewish groups think impeaching a Jew is “antisemitic”

    https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-786830

  38. @ketzel2 You may have a point. And, do Muslims invite Jews to talk about their experiences on their religious holidays? Or even set foot there? Jews get arrested for praying on the Temple Mount. Who are the real racists, here? Yes, I’ve changed my mind.

  41. Netanyahu said today:

    “We actually want to bring to the demilitarization of the Strip. This requires our security control and responsibility over the entire area west of the Jordan, including the Gaza Strip. There is no alternative to this in the foreseeable future. We are saying this to the international community as well, to the President of the US, and to all leaders. There is no alternative.

  42. Edgar

    Thanks. I know enough to know this history is very complicated and consider Putin being attacked (by Tucker also even) for raising history.

    I have been placing some general points down and will let you guys know when finished.

    1812 for sure. That is certainly there.

  44. The problem has been the absence of a level playing field in Gaza but I’m pleased to see the IDF beginning to rectify that situation through affirmative action at least to the extent that Biden, Blinken, Gallant and Ganz will permit.

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  46. Centre-right Alexander Stubb wins the presidential election in Finland, defeating Green party candidate Pekka Haavisto

  47. From Mako.co.il:

    • Sources in Israel report that the desire to maneuver in Rafah is to pressure Sinwar to compromise

    • The Egyptians fear refugee movement in their direction following the attack and have installed protective measures on the fence

    • In Israel they claim that the Egyptians are not opposed to the IDF entering Rafah, but want the move to be done in coordination with them

    • As part of the IDF’s plan Refugees will be evacuated from Rafah to places south of the Gaza River and the coastal area of ??southern Gaza, but not to the north of the Gaza Strip

  48. FELIX-

    I think that Russia, when it concerned defence, was deeply influenced by the 1812 result of Napoleonic invasion. They surely felt that if they could hold out until winter, they’d win.

    Even so I recall that inn WW2, the Russians, seeing the Bazis so swiftly advancing and capturing large swathes of territory, and how ineffectual were the Russian defences, had already made plans to remove beyond the Urals if Moscow was captured.

    Stalin was a megalomaniac monster who murdered on slight or no pretext, , and, as you say the most of the senior Army officers, leaving Russia with almost no defences against Hitler.
    I always recall the murder of the Jewish doctors.

    You are our Russia expert and would know far more than any of us about those times.

  50. Hi, Felix. I see that you addressed me:

    I would like Michael to learn that words and actions on any forum have relevance. Michael consider this…

    Highlight was Putin patience in explaining how in Turkey April 2022 there was a peaceful outcome almost certain until Johnson’s lies and MICHAEL’S LIES ALSO intervened with the scalliwag confusionist Zorn confusing everything he touches…happened HERE

    The bitter result up to a million dead people. THAT is yours to own Michael. IMHO.

    Before Putin finally got around to mentioning April, 2022, he led us through perhaps an hour of rehashing Russian history, Putin style. He began by appropriating Ukrainian history (Kievan Rus) as Russian. For reference, Kiev was made a political entity, as Putin notes, by Varangians from modern-day Sweden, who were called “Rus”.

    Russia and Ukraine were wild places then, as was the rest of Europe: At one point, Burgundy, in modern Switzerland, was the scene of a battle between Magyars from the east, Arabs from the south and Norsemen (akin to the Rus) from the north. I read somewhere that the Rus were so violent, their chief had to have five bodyguards protecting him while he relieved himself.

    Meanwhile, as Putin pointed out, the “Russians” (i.e. Russians and Ukrainians both) were “baptized” into Eastern Orthodox Christianity. At the same time, their Slavic brothers in Poland (who shared a common language with them), were inducted into Roman Christianity by Charlemagne, the Frankish king.

    After this, an event occurred that Putin quickly glossed over: the Mongol invasion of Europe. Poland and Lithuania successfully drove back the Mongols and their Pagan Turkish allies, while the Russians became subject to them. Belarus, meanwhile, was absorbed by Lithuania and Ukraine by Poland. Putin claims the Poles mistreated the Ukrainians; but in fact, they were allowed, as Polish subjects, to freely practice Christianity. Russia, meanwhile, were under the Golden Horde, which became Muslim. They adopted Asian ways, to the point that Russian czars

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Russian_monarchs#/media/File:Simeon_Dumny.jpg

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Russian_monarchs#/media/File:Vasili_III_of_Russia.jpg

    resembled Mongol khans more than Western kings and princes. Ukraine, meanwhile, shared Poland’s more civilized ways — including the absorption of most of Europe’s Jews, who had largely been driven out of Western Europe.

    Enter the Russian-speaking Cossacks,

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Ilja_Jefimowitsch_Repin_-_Reply_of_the_Zaporozhian_Cossacks_-_Yorck.jpg/800px-Ilja_Jefimowitsch_Repin_-_Reply_of_the_Zaporozhian_Cossacks_-_Yorck.jpg

    the vanguard of Russian imperialism. During 1648-1657, Bohdan Khmelnytsky and his Russian-backed Cossack army rose up in rebellion against the Poles and their Jewish allies, slaughtering thousands. Putin refers to this time, mentioning the year “1652” more than once. This was the real beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and it was sanguinely Antisemitic.

    I won’t bore you, as Putin did me, for two hours; so I just hit some highlights. There have certainly been some lies making their rounds here, but they were not from Michael S and Boris Johnson.