Chit Chat

By Ted Belman

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April 16, 2020 | 7,908 Comments »

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50 Comments / 7908 Comments

  1. @Edgar

    Where are the poverty stricken Gazans getting the money from.

    In part at least, they have Go Fund Me pages setup to help pay for their escape.

  2. Where are the poverty stricken Gazans getting the money from. If they have so much money they can buy what they need from Hamas.

    Their future might be that they’ll be rounded up by Egyptian troops and returned to Gaza.

  5. Egyptian smuggling out Gazans out of Gaza for money. I think an Israeli NGO should help get more out by paying for people wanting to leave of which is probably most of them.

    Bedouin Arms Merchant Makes Millions off Gazans Desperate to Escape
    The Egyptian government is eager to avoid a large-scale influx of Gazans onto its soil, concerned that it could lead to a lasting situation. Meanwhile, according to The Sunday Times, a privately owned Egyptian company, reportedly with historical ties to the state, has capitalized on the situation by facilitating the daily passage of several hundred Gazans across the border (The company taking refugees out of Gaza — and ‘making millions’).

    Hala Consulting and Tourism, holding a dominant position in commercial transit through the Rafah crossing, is known to charge adults over $5,000 per escape, and $2,500 for individuals under 16

    Full article: https://www.jewishpress.com/news/eye-on-palestine/gaza/bedouin-arms-merchant-makes-millions-off-gazans-desperate-to-escape/2024/04/30/

    1

  6. Israel Withdraws From Gaza After Learning Of Protest By 19-Year-Old Fine Arts Major Roxy Barnett

    Apr 27, 2024 · BabylonBee.com

    GAZA — Israel announced its complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after learning this morning of a protest from a 19-year-old Fine Arts major at Northwestern University named Roxy Barnett.

    "Oh my goodness — we've upset Roxy," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he was briefed on the protest. "I feel so foolish! The war is over, boys. Let Hamas stay in power, forget the hostages, everybody out of Gaza, immediately!!"

    According to Israeli intel, Barnett had made a small sign out of cardboard and skipped class to walk around campus chanting. "When I learned of this 19-year-old in America skipping pottery class to chant how bad Israel is, I was shaken to the core," said one Israeli military commander, hastily canceling an upcoming missile strike on a known terror cell. "We thought we needed to destroy terrorists hellbent on raping and murdering Jews. But one look at Roxy's sign, and I knew it was time to pack up and rethink our entire foreign policy strategy."

    As news of Israel's withdrawal spread, Barnett's followers praised her as a modern-day hero, with many calling for her to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. "Roxy single-handedly solved the Middle East conflict with a single sign," remarked one admirer. "Gosh, isn't it amazing to see how you can solve millennia-old violent conflicts by screaming at the sky on a college campus in Chicago?

    At publishing time, in response to Roxy's latest protest, Donald Trump said he would no longer be running for president and that he had no idea how his campaign made her feel.

    https://babylonbee.com/cleanArticle/israel-withdraws-from-gaza-after-learning-of-protest-by-19-year-old-fine-arts-major-roxy-barnett

  7. Gantz, far-right ministers issue dueling ultimatums to PM over hostage deal, Rafah op

    So Bibi is to be faced with less than a unity govt or less than a governing coalition. I think that such a choice is actually no choice at all. Unless Bibi loses support from within his own party or from the Haredi parties of more than 4 MKs, his coalition will hold.

  9. @Edgar So what’s your point? Tge Judeans were ippressed. You suggested oppressed people had no time for intellectual endeavors.

  10. SEB-

    Always the “silly -billy”. I really shouldn’t answr as your comment is too far off the concept to bother about, but….

    The Greeks were the masters The Maccabis were the oppressed.
    and in fact were not fully free (due to internal Greek problems) until about 40 or more years later. just before the “Golden Age” lamentably a mere 9 years, the reign of Queen Shulamit
    You KNOW this, or should.
    For Jews the Torah was the be all and end all of human social order, and those apostates who absorbed foreign customs were shunned, until Rome the ALL supreme rulers of the world arrived in force, brought in, in fact by appeals to Pompey to settle a sibling rivalry, and stayed to eventually take over.

    Rome was expanding, but it is well known that after the Jewish Wars it ceased to do so and instead consolidated or diminished.

    You skip over 4+ centuries without the blink of an eye. Stoned I suppose.

    Now….STOP with the pilpulim and nonsense, zany comments, unverifiable quotes from some book, which were only the writer’s opinion etc.

    .

  13. SEB-
    Are we playing “my father can beat up your father”… or maybe a game of “mumbly-peg”. You likely know how to play it, I don’t.

    Musso was O.K (for Italy) until he got the “Empire bug”. Hitler was O.K. whilst he was an aspiring artist. Stalin was O;k util he grew out of short panys, Mao was O.K, until he could eat his first bowl of rice by himself.9=(with chopsticks of course, an art in itself)

    ****the best way to eat with chopsticks is to hold the bowl level with your mouth and sweep the contents into your opened gob, swallow and repeat until all gone.

    Just like sweeping dust into a scoop pan.

  14. @Edgar So, the Hellenists who fought the Maccabees “had too much trouble in surviving to calmly sit and absorb philosophical thoughts from the conqueror”?”

  15. Conquered people have too much trouble in surviving to calmly sit and absorb philosophical thoughts from the conquer, too ludicrous to even bother with.

  16. @Edgar

    Around 535 BCE, the Persian king Cyrus the Great initiated a protracted campaign to absorb parts of India into his nascent Achaemenid Empire.[1] In this initial incursion, the Persian army annexed a large region to the west of the Indus River, consolidating the early eastern borders of their new realm. With a brief pause after Cyrus’ death around 530 BCE, the campaign continued under Darius the Great, who began to re-conquer former provinces and further expand the Achaemenid Empire’s political boundaries. Around 518 BCE, the Persian army pushed further into India to initiate a second period of conquest by annexing regions up to the Jhelum River in what is today known as Punjab.[6] At peak, the Persians managed to take control of most of modern-day Pakistan and incorporate it into their territory.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_conquest_of_the_Indus_Valley

    The historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama of the Sakya clan, who Mahayan Buddhists refer to as Shakyamuni) was born approximately 563 BCE, and began preaching at age 40 until his death at age 80.

    —
    Only tried peyote once at a Yippie! conference at the famous 9 Bleeker Street in 1979. My girlfriend and I kept everybody up all night declaiming like Henry the Vth. 😀 Been there done that, rejected that – a LONG long time ago.

    What’s Felix’s excuse, Doc? 😀

  17. Seb-
    You are just allowing your amanita inspired thoughts to leap far ahead of reality, even though , as you “say”, this is YOUR area of “expertise”.

    Any travel, not proven for this period, would have been for trade only as would that of any Babylonian-India contact. No effect of philosophical contexts have been shown to exist then. As you say, there was no Buddha around then. And 60 years later, Buddha would have been completely unknown at that time and just beginning his own attempts to “think”. He slowly grew into it. Surely such an honest individual would have given credit to his influences..??

    Torah shows NO influences, either. It mentions only Thanks to the Great King and transfers his kindness into practical action.

    Talking about straws, your clutch is pretty strong here, including the imaginative issue that Buddha wanted to be a king.

    If you had 100 mil dollars and were speculating on horseracing a you speculate here, you’d be stonly broke in a year.

  18. Extended cabinet approves foreign observers’ visits to Nukhba terrorists in prison

    https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-798656

    My comment: Well, if it were up to me, they’d be put on a prime time game show where the freed hostages and families of the slain and hostages still being held could hunt them down and get points and prizes for most imaginative ways of torturing and humiliating them each week. Something like “Running man” (1987) with Hogan’s Hero’s Richard Dawson, but they never get out.

  19. @Edgar Of course, the Buddha didn’t want to be king as your straw argument suggested I was saying. Now who is teaching his grandmother to suck eggs. This is my area of expertise. However, as a younger contemporary of Cyrus, it may be reasonable to speculate that he got the idea that it would be possible for him to ameliorate the behavior of kings through instruction which is something he most definitely did do. There was travel between India and Eretz Israel at this time. Not only that, but if you had read the article thoroughly, you would have noticed that some of the stupas are inscribed in Aramaic.

  20. @Edgar

    “Attaturk (Mustapha Kemal) WAS a great leader-for the Turks.”

    Mussolini made the trains run on time, HItler built the Autobahn. Should we be impressed?

  24. SEBASTIEN-

    Attaturk (Mustapha Kemal) WAS a great leader-for the Turks. He was also known as “The Grey Wolf, and led the successful defence of Gallipoli in WW1. (similarly Meinertzhagen whilst campaigning in German West Africa against Von Lettow Vorbeck, was know as “The Grey Wolf)

    He put a swift end to the corrupt, cruel, disintegrating “Poor Man Of Europe” Ottoman Empire. On the other hand he committed the Armenian Genocide, and was otherwise ruthless and an iron willed. dictator.

    Otherwise he was a cruel and quick acting dictator.,

    I have his biography somewhere which I read in the mists of time- long long ago.

  25. SEBASTIEN-

    Attaturk (Mustapha Kemal) WAS a great leader-for the Turks. He was also known as “The Grey Wolf, and led the successful defence of Gallipoli in WW1. (similarly Meinertzhagen whilst campaigning in German West Africa against Von Lettow Vorbeck, was know as “The Grey Wolf)

    He put a swift end to the corrupt, cruel, disintegrating “Poor Man Of Europe” Ottoman Empire. On the other hand he committed the Armenian Genocide, and was otherwise ruthless and an iron willed. dictator.

    Otherwise he wa cruel and quick actink, for instance the

  27. Hi, Sebastien. You quoted:

    are convinced that the presence of any foreign military base on our territory cannot be conducive to our security and constitutes a form of neocolonialism,” one of the protesters was quoted as saying by the news website…”

    “protesters were seen holding flags from Niger, Mali, and Russia, along with placards calling on the US to withdraw its forces from Niger.” ? Uh huh.

    The Russians have sent troops to establish bases in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. I don’t know what the BS spin is surrounding that — I’m for letting the Africans solve their own problems (of course, this means the Americans, French and Russians will “help things along”). Outside of massacres of Christians, control of uranium deposits, etc. we shouldn’t be involved — right?

    A friend of my daughter was released a year ago, from 6½ years of captivity by Al Qaeda and ISIS, after being kidnapped in Niger. Much of that time, he was in chains in solitary confinement in a 4′ x 4′ box in 120 F heat. In the end, he was freed in a clandestine operation by French special forces and the (now deposed) Niger government.

    The Biden Regime and US Media have been keeping hush-hush about stranding our troops there. I’m all for getting them out of harm’s way.

  30. “Porto Jewish community releases film about Lisbon 1506 massacre
    In wake of October 7th massacre, film shows that pogroms do not “happen in a vacuum”.”
    By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
    APRIL 21, 2024 15:05″”The film aims to show that the October massacre did not happen in a vacuum, as stated by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who is also Portuguese,” said Gabriel Senderowicz, President of the Porto Jewish community releases film about Lisbon 1506 massacre”

    Jewish community on October 7th, because no one else experienced similar massacres in Alexandria, Granada, Seville, Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, Basel, Überlingen, Strasburg, Cologne, Worms, Erfurt, Metz, York, Norwich, Trent, Troyes, Bern, Paris, Odessa, Moscow, Hebron and elsewhere….

    This is not the first film made by the Porto Jewish Community. In 2021, they released the feature film “1618,” which recounted the story of the Inquisition in Porto. The film received the largest number of international awards ever given to a Portuguese film.

    In 2019, they released the film “Sefarad”, which chronicled the story of the destruction and resurrection of the Porto Jewish community, through the remarkable story of Captain Artur Carlos de Barros Basto, known as the “Portuguese Dreyfus.”

    https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-798131?dicbo=v2-fq69ygr

  31. For the first time: Public Seder night in the pro-Russian Transnistrian region
    80 years after the destruction of the Jewish communities in the pro-Russian Transnistrian region of Moldova, a public Seder will be held this evening for the first time in the region according to tradition.

    Apr 22, 2024, 3:22 PM (GMT+3)
    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/388904

  32. @Michael “We, the people of Agadez and all of Niger, are convinced that the presence of any foreign military base on our territory cannot be conducive to our security and constitutes a form of neocolonialism,” one of the protesters was quoted as saying by the news website…”

    “protesters were seen holding flags from Niger, Mali, and Russia, along with placards calling on the US to withdraw its forces from Niger.” 😀 Uh huh.

    https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-us-army-get-out—nigeriens-protest-us-troops–presence-on

    ‘Jihadists’ Kidnap Over 110 Civilians In Mali

    https://www.barrons.com/news/jihadists-kidnap-over-110-civilians-in-mali-3c31990d

  35. “Adams noted, however, that “Columbia University is a private institution on private property, which means the NYPD cannot have a presence on campus unless specifically requested by senior university officials.”
    https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-798189

    Sidewalks are considered public property in New York. Why are they allowed to demonstrate in front?

  36. HI, Michael. It was incomplete and went into moderation as I was still editing. I added satirical hypothetical responses by and from TSS’ers both recordings by Spike Jones from the 40s who I grew up listening to in the 70s. His renditions/parodies of 2 standards. For From: You always hurt the one you love and for the response from Hamas/Palestinianists: Chloe with the Peter Lorre as arsonist impersonation at the end. And I added Peloni because he just posted an article about a synagogue being burned down in upstate NY and asked rhetorically if this is Kristallnacht all over again.

  38. Hi, Sebastien.

    I didn’t bother clicking on the Rod Serling link, having been something of a “Twilight Zone” devotee in the 1960s.

    One quick note before breakfast: The Mike Johnson thing has really exposed a mess in US politics — so much so, that I looked to see how Nigel Farage is doing in the UK, to get a better picture of what’s up. My reasoning was that the British Official Propaganda Machine (aka The Times) has predictably praised our current misfortune, spinning it out as something positive, and Farage is about the only useful alternative voice in the UK to figure out what’s happening. Nigel is currently in Brussels, addressing an international Conservative forum. That isn’t going too well either, but here’s a snippet:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=nigel+farage&client=firefox-b-1-d&sca_esv=ce6ee22342e8dec9&sca_upv=1&source=lnt&tbs=qdr:d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiwy-fh1tOFAxUzwOYEHQFTArMQpwV6BAgEEAg&biw=1920&bih=899&dpr=1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:e586006f,vid:1gU-bfMF61Y,st:0

    Time for breakfast. Cheers!

  39. @Michael
    @Peloni
    “Palestinians welcome Turkey-Israel normalisation, Ankara says”
    August 23, 20221:14 PM EDTUpdated 2 years ago
    https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/palestinians-welcome-turkey-israel-normalisation-ankara-says-2022-08-23/

    Stumbled upon this bizarre article by accident while looking for article I remembered about Turkey inviting Gazan refugees.

    Twilight Zone Opening THEME MUSIC 1962 Rod Serling
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b5aW08ivHU

    Satirical Comments in Song from/for hypothetical TSS’ers.:

    Here’s from:
    Spike Jones- “You always hurt the one you love.”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78WXVOG2ABM&t=1s

    Here’s the Hamas/Palestinianist response : Spike Jones – “My old flame” (listen to end)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D2A32KUTq0

  41. 250,000 Palestinians have left Rafah since the partial withdrawal of the IDF

    https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/04/20/250000-palestinians-have-left-rafah-since-the-partial-withdrawal-of-the-idf/

    “…Reports from Kan 11 channel indicate that Israel has approved an action plan in Rafah, allegedly in exchange for refraining from a large-scale attack against Iran. However, Biden administration officials have refuted these claims, stating that there has been no discussion of such a deal between Israel and the United States.

    In response to the population movement, Israel has announced plans to establish 10,000 tents in the area outside Rafah within the next two weeks. Additionally, an additional 30,000 tents are being acquired for deployment at a later date.

    Initially, the IDF intended to distribute leaflets urging residents of Rafah to leave the area this week.

    However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opted to postpone this action to ensure continued American support in potential retaliatory measures against Iran following an attack attributed to the country.”

  42. @Michael
    Bibi is doing what the people want. It is imperative that the will of the people be implemented. Bibi’s has no purpose to do otherwise as his political fate is tied to being successful in satisfying the people’s opposition to the American demands. He has my every support in doing so.

    So, yes, we are very much agreed.

    The use of fake polls as a bell weather of public support for Bibi was the point of my comment, which I can appreciate might not have been clear.

  43. I see, Peloni — we are referring to two entirely different things. If you agree with me, that

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rising in the polls

    is a good thing, then we are on the same page. If the headline of the article contradicted what the article contained, that is literally not my job description. I support Benjamin Netanyahu, and I support Donald Trump.

  44. @Michael

    I don’t understand what you’re saying here.

    I am suggesting that the polls indicating that Bibi and the Right have been behind the Leftists for all these months is false.

  45. Sebastien,

    Michael with his indecipherable biblical “lessons” for today.

    You seem to validate my brother Paul:

    1Cor.1
    [18] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

    What you have expressed, is a religious difference of opinion. Should I be surprised?

  46. Peloni,

    Michael: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rising in the polls,… This is good news.”

    Peloni: “The polls are fake news. Bibi represents the will of the people”

    Are you implying tat “the will of the people” is bad news? I don’t understand what you’re saying here.

  48. @Felix Yes, I know the history but it’s a different history, as far as I can tell. So, if there is a parallel, what is it and what lesson does it teach for today, in your opinion? You remind me of Michael with his indecipherable biblical “lessons” for today.

  49. Peloni

    Your use of “echo chamber” is out of order

    I seem to recall Jacques Baud answered every single loaded issue you discussed

    The ultimate truth teller.

    You have been guilty of the biggest crime…time wasting

  50. Sebastien Zorn

    It is just that I know when a person is trolling another person.

    I repeat I was starting from the comment of Vivarto

    As in Why does it happen

    I answered because not TAKING ACTION is hard baked in

    Lenin and Trotsky faced pretty much similar through a long period

    And that is indeed true

    Lenin soon fled to Finland. Trotsky in a russian jail

    That’s exactly what we all gave today.

    But you know it all don’t you…