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 | 8,429 Comments »

Leave a Reply

50 Comments / 8429 Comments

  1. SEB-

    The murder of the Jewish doctors is a poignant reminder of this obscenity, which I commented on to Felix the other day in almost the same words, except that I didn’t say “my people”.

  2. READER-

    Possibly, or maybe they have not yet reached the age where what’s going on around them in the international field has penetrated their enjoying more mundane activities. They Will….in time, I’m sure.

  3. This is the most nonsensical statement of all time. Shame on the US State Dept:

    The U.S. State Department announced today, that it would be unfreezing $95 Million in Military Assistance for the Lebanese Armed Forces, as Lebanon attempted to prevent Hezbollah from gaining support and restrengthening in the South near Israel, and across the Country.

  4. Trump slapped 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and 20% on China.

    China responded with 20% tariff.

    Canada responded with 25% tariffs on the US.

    I’d like to mention that Canadian English is the best.

    Mexico will respond with countermeasures on Sunday.

  5. @Edgar G.

    Anyway i feel we have NO young members.. I wish we had

    I do, too.

    But there might be another reason for their absence – the younger people who have to be at work during the day and are still raising families are simply too distracted by their daily life to even think about posting on a site like Israpundit.

  6. READER-

    I believe ,TED much older and one of Israel’s major thinkers.-
    I think that unfortunately most of our more prominent posters are in their 60s-70s at least. Jews nowadays don’t seem to get sense until that age .

    Anyway i feel we have NO young members.. I wish we had, bringing
    different aspects tp our postscand leanings.

  7. @Sebastien Zorn

    The presence of Jews among Communist cadre was used as a pretext for slaughtering my people then and during the Shoah

    The presence of Jews in just about any group was used as a pretext for the same purpose.

    The W. Civ. certainly got back at the Jews in WW2

  8. @felix

    Many Jews took part in the struggles and also many joined Trotsky especially in Ukraine

    The presence of Jews among Communist cadre was used as a pretext for slaughtering my people then and during the Shoah. And the Cheka committed violence against traditional, Zionist, Bundist and other Jews it considered class enemies, as individuals, and collectively. Jewish Communists weren’t liquidated by the Soviet repressive apparatus until later under Stalin who ruled for most of the history you venerate And not just starting in the late ’40s. . See:

    “Stalin Against the Jews” by Arkady Vaksberg.

    “The first full-scale account of Joseph Stalin’s personal vendetta against Soviet Jews. Drawing on newly opened archives and on his own experiences in the USSR.”

    Amazon

  9. I was surprised at how Sebastien Zorn attacked Trotsky by calling him “a murdering bastard” and also very opposed

    Now I have learnt he got this idea from the formation of the Cheka in December 1917. This was like a secret service. Every state has them.

    I think they had to have it. Inside a few months the Social Revolutionaries turned to assassination of Lenin.

    It was Lenin who set up the Cheka. His edict but Trotsky especially would be in support

    Trotsky was building the Red Army as part of repulsing imperialist armies.

    Many Jews took part in the struggles and also many joined Trotsky especially in Ukraine. Trotsky emerged as the greatest historical fighter against Antisemitism.

    I have distinguished myself by emphasising exactly the importance to understanding the role of Trotsky in opposition to the huge loss of Jewish life in the 1918 to 1921 pogroms of Jews in Ukraine and the old Pale areas

    Why is he being attacked and why am I for putting forward the truth?

    Those truths are written forever.

  10. Who the hell does Ukraine think they are?

    The Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel warned Israel in a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign Ministry that if they voted against Ukraine again at the United Nations regarding the Russian invasion, there would be “negative consequence” toward relations between the two countries, Walla reported on Monday night.

    JPOST

  11. @Edgar G.

    What about Ted??

    No idea. Well, I am sure he is not a youngster, either, probably at least in his 70s.

  12. @Reader

    old(er) people are stuck in their ways.

    So what? And rights of any kind should be mutual and transactional or they don’t exist.

  13. NY State Bill: Protest with Terror Group’s Flag, Go to Jail for 4 Years

    Two Manhattan Democrats, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblyman Micah Lasher are going to introduce this week a bill punishing protesters who display the flags of designated terrorist organizations such as Hamas or Hezbollah with up to four years in prison, the NY Post reported on Monday.

    https://www.jewishpress.com/news/terrorism-news/ny-state-bill-protest-with-terror-groups-flag-go-to-jail-for-4-years/2025/03/03/

    I voted for Lasher in the last Dem primary. His opponent was pro-BDS.

  14. @Edgar G.

    Why do you think I’m Methuselah’s older brother????

    I don’t think that but I get this impression that you are, probably, the oldest one here because of the way you describe your life.

  15. @Sebastien Zorn

    I am not calling anyone senile but the fact is that old(er) people are stuck in their ways.

    If you don’t like seeing him mocked, criticized censored, you can ignore it. Or join the fray

    Do you realize what you are saying?

    It looks like you are using the excuse of the rules against ad hominem attacks to “join the fray” and keep attacking someone.

    It is the editors’ job to deal with these issues, and, yes, it would help for the comments not to be overly emotional.

    If you (or someone else) are full of frustration, you can pound your pillow, who knows, it might help.

    Israpundit is one of the very few sites that does not over-moderate and remove posts

    Sure, and that’s why certain normally acceptable terminology is taboo and makes comments disappear, and there are comments which only the commenter can see, etc.

  16. aREADER-

    I think Felix is between 65-70 no more, although I could br wrong…as you could be also.
    Why do you think I’m Methuselah’s older brother????

  17. @Reader Are you saying he is senile? Hardly/ There is a type of Trot that specializes in this. This is why they got kicked out of every coalition back in the day. Age is is not a valid defence, in any case. I’m a little sick of the incapacity defence being overused, in general. to evade personal responsibility. Gloves off. If you don’t like seeing him mocked, criticized censored, you can ignore it. Or join the fray, as you like. But, Israpundit had a rule, one of the few, about Ad hominem attacks, and I’d really like tge editor(s) to enforce it by removing such comments. Israpundit is one of the very few sites that does not over-moderate and remove posts. Let’s not abuse it.

    Or to quote Marx, in one of the introductions to Volume 1 of “Capital, speaking of adversaries whining about his characteristicslly withering criticism, and at times, mockery e.g., his parody of the title of Proudhon’s “Philosophy of Poverty,” “The Poverty of Philosophy” 😀

    “As the saying goes, If you can’t take the heat, stay out of
    the kitchen.”

    At least Marx was witty.

    And for a Bolshevik, even a pretend one, to complain about censorship and harshness to the vulnerable, is frankly risible.

  18. @Sebastien Zorn

    About Felix:

    1) I am sure that he is way older than anyone here except, possibly, for Edgar, and he has very strong convictions about certain things;

    2) He’s been here from the beginning, again, longer than most of us.

    The conclusion – just ignore his writings if you don’t like them, you are not required to read every comment on this site.

  19. @Sebastien Zorn

    You said you were asking us a yes/no question.

    I was asking her to answer Yes or No to my question on whether she saw that comment of mine from March 2, 8:44am and I gave a quote from it so she could tell which comment I was asking about.

    I asked her that because she seemed to completely ignore it.

    I was asking you whether the March 2, 8:44am was the one that was missing.

    Now that I am looking at it again, I think the way I worded my question to each of you was confusing.

  20. @ Reader This is the latest from iron felix zelinsky:

    You talk mountains essentially lies

    Don’t tell us not to harass him. He’s not just harmlessly harping on his pet obsession. He’s a mimofant.

    Wiktionary, the free dictionary
    https://en.wiktionary.org
    mimophant – Wiktionary, the free dictionary
    mimophant (plural mimophants). (uncommon) A person with extreme social self-centered double standards, especially about personal feelings

    A term Bertrand Russell coined to mean someone with the sensitivity of a mimosa when it comes to their own feelings but the insensitivity of an elephant when it comes to that of others.

  21. @Sebastien Zorn

    I asked 2 questions of Madeline, the first question was whether she read my comment from March 2. 8:44am, and she never answered the first question.

    And I noticed that you said that my comment was missing and I asked you whether the 8:44am comment was the one that you couldn’t see.

    I wasn’t discussing any theories, I just explained my line of reasoning in this case which was based on looking at the big picture/ using bird’s eye view of things (wide, not cursory)/whatever.

  22. @Reader So what’s your question? Does this theory have predictive value? I don’t know. Has anyone tried to disprove it? Has the West been attacking Russia through proxies? Yes, obviously. Is that what Trump is trying to do? Doesn’t seem like it. Do countries always act in their own best interest? No. I still cringe when I recall President Clinton’s apology tour over the ouster of Mossadegh. It was one of the things that emboldened Bin Laden.

    I think Trump means what he says. and it makes sense. But we’ll see. I’ve been wrong before.

    I don’t believe in historical inevitability. even if a theory seems to fit the known facts in a given period.

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

  23. @Sebastien Zorn (from the shoo-out-at -the-white-house)

    @Reader I answered your statement posed as a question at March 3rd at 1:27am posed to me and Madeleine. The one from 8:44 isn’t there.

    The one from March 2, 8:44am is still here – you are not seeing it because you are blocked from it, for some reason.

    I am reposting it because your answer had nothing to do with my full comment which you could not see.

    Reader
    March 2, 2025 at 8:44 am

    @Madeline

    The way I try to figure out what is going on is to reason, in a way, from general to specific.

    The UK and US have always felt entitled to colonize and dominate the world, influence and rule it as they see fit, and they have been very successful in this endeavor.

    The reason they have been so successful at it (starting with the UK) is because they have developed ways of doing this which are unique to them and which take into account their interests EXCLUSIVELY (their geographic locations determine a lot of their politics also just as for any other country), and they stick to the principle that the ends always justify the means.

    In 1904 Halford John Mackinder came up with the Hearland Theory which he further developed in 1919:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geographical_Pivot_of_History

    Basically, at this point, the last 2 goals on the way to the full control of the world are the full control over Ukraine leading, ideally, to the full control of Russia/Eurasia – and the world takeover will be fully or practically fully accomplished.

    THIS IS THE ONLY GOAL.

    I wrote that it would be rather through its proxies that the US would attack Russia, it doesn’t have to be from within Ukraine but it seems the most convenient way to do it.

    Of course, I have no way of knowing how things will actually develop.

    Russia is the country which has been attacked by the West throughout its history, it suffered immensely in WWII, and it has no interest in WWIII.

    In the early 90s Russia destroyed its government, gave up its ideology to switch to capitalism, left the Eastern Bloc countries (including East Germany), and dismantled the Eastern Bloc military counterpart to NATO all for the unwritten promise that NATO will not advance east even one inch.

    The promise was not kept, to say the least, and all the Russian complaints, suggestions, requests for agreements were ignored, while Ukraine demanded to join NATO and EU, and to get back her nuclear weapons, and started a punishing ethnic discrimination against her Russian population.

    I am not saying Russia is an innocent victim but every country has certain interests which must be taken into account by others.

    Based on the above information, I conclude that the US and UK can never have true friends or allies, especially not Russia which is the last major obstacle on the way to their goal.

    The quest for a ceasefire and for reestablishing good relations with Russia has a goal of stopping Russian advance in Ukraine, preventing Russia from achieving its SMO goals, and getting ready for the next attack (similar to Israel-Arab ceasefires).

    My opinion that Trump Zelensky meeting was a setup is now all over the Internet.

    UPDATE:

    https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-e&q=european+peacekeepers+in+Ukraine

  24. @Reader It was under “Shoot out at the White House” I said let’s continue in Chit Chat.

  25. @Sebastien Zorn

    Was there another of your comments addressed to me before “@Reader cont. I should say “dogmatic”…”?

    It looks like there should have been but now it is missing.

  26. @Reader cont. I should say, “dogmatic”, rather than religious. I think religion has it’s place. I agree with the theory of “Domains of Belief ” of my old Philosophy of Science Professor, who, unbeknownst to me at the time, was also a leading figure in the NY Zorastrian community, Einstein”s protegee, K.D.Irani

    There is a video in 4 parts of him discussing it on Youtube. Religion has its place.

    Kaikhosrov D. Irani

    Kaikhosrov D. Irani (May 1, 1922 – June 29, 2017)[1] was a philosopher specializing in Kant and the philosophy of science. Born in Bombay, India, he was the eldest son of Sir Dinshah Irani and Banu Mithibai Sethna. He studied at Princeton University and was a student of Albert Einstein. He taught for 41 years in the philosophy department at City College of New York, where he served as Chairman for nine years.[2] He was a member of the Academy of Science in New York, the American Philosophical Association, the Philosophy of Science Association, and the American Academy of Religion.[3] He was a judge for the Templeton Prize given to individuals for “affirming life’s spiritual dimension.”[4] He was active in New York’s Zoroastrian community.
    Publications
    edit
    Social Justice in the Ancient World (Greenwood Press, 1995)
    Rationality in Thought and Action (Greenwood Press, 1986)
    Emotion: Philosophical Studies (Haven Pub. Corp., 1983)
    Pathology and Consciousness (Haven Pub. Corp., 1978)

    Wikipedia

    He came to the U.S. on Einstein’s personal recommendation.

    Just google: K.D. Irani Domains of Belief for the videos. Erudite, thoughtful, and brilliant on the level of Victor Davis Hansen. Fascinating.
    A chair was named for him posthumously at CCNY. I just took one or two summer seminars with him but he influenced my thinking enormously.

    I mentioned him in the past, a long time ago,

  27. Fine. I will place this comment in Chit Chat but I feel it was appropriate where it was most relevant:

    Reader
    March 3, 2025 at 1:53 am

    @peloni

    I think you have become overactive as a co-editor to the point of being extremely intrusive in all the discussions on this blog and directing and moderating the discussions to always suit your own opinion and tastes to the point of sounding like a kindergarten teacher and speaking down to the participants.

    I think it would be appreciated if you eased the pressure on the audience here.

    I still feel that you overwhelm and overcensor this blog.

    I didn’t feel this way when Ted Belman was the editor.

  28. UPDATE: Europe to form ‘coalition of the willing’ to safeguard Ukraine ceasefire, British PM says
    Ammar Anwer/hw
    02.03.2025, 12:11 | Update 13:26

    https://tvpworld.com/85366055/update-europe-to-form-coalition-of-the-willing-to-safeguard-ukraine-ceasefire-british-pm-says

    Emphasizing Britain’s readiness to play a leading role in this effort alongside other allies, he said the U.K. “is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air.”

    Starmer and Macron have repeatedly floated the possibility of deploying a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine to monitor a potential ceasefire with Russia.

  29. @Reader
    https://www.israpundit.org/the-shoot-out-at-the-white-house/#comment-63356000285843
    I would appreciate it if you would make such comments in Chit Chat, not in the comment space under the articles.

    speaking down to the participants.

    This is an unfair assertion. The blog has an ad hominem rule which is actually very lax. While enforcing it, I am not speaking down on anyone, but reminding those who overstep the policy of what the consequences for doing so entails. It gives me no joy to do so, but it is my intent to continue to do so as I feel it is warranted.

    Additionally, I will add my own thoughts as I judge they are relevant, just as I have done so for many years now. If you think I should self censor myself, I will tell you that I oppose such concepts to the limit of being abusive to others, for both myself and for others. So, please speak your mind, and I will speak my own.

    But I would be interested to hear any comments others might have on this topic.

  30. @everyone here

    Quit harassing Felix.

    Every one of us has his/her favorite topic and convictions/obsessions which are irritating in their own way, and I suspect that most of us are older than 70, so these convictions cannot be changed.

  31. @fquigley

    Russia has always been prepared to negotiate on the basis of aims of the SMO

    I know but the only reason this bloodbath has been going on for 3 years is because the West poured money and weapons into it after Boris Johnson disrupted their negotiations in Istanbul by promising Ukraine everything they need for as long as it takes.

    Now the Anglos are throwing both Zelensky and Ukraine under the bus to try a different tactic to destroy Russia while appropriating the Ukrainian resources.

  32. Felix Quigley, you are WRONG!! IIIIII am Volodomir Zelenskyy! There! You hve found me out! Now you must send money — much money, so I can buy cocaine.

    And I am Trotsky too, so I am TWO people! I have two mouths and get very hungry! need much money! Also, I provide service — I give link to Joe Rogan/ Elon Musk interview:

    https://youtu.be/sSOxPJD-VNo

    Very interesting interview — tells you how Deep State creates shell NGOs to cycle US taxpayer money back to my pockets. Its nothing but a giant Hack & Grift machine.that driving the US, and then the world, into hopeless debt and bankruptcy. You will not understand this, because you are just idiot taxpayer, who gives every time I demand of you, because I am the IRS (also FBI, CIA, etc.) and you are hooked on giving to me. Ha ha!

    BTW the interview begins, with Joe & Elon talking to a porn-slanted AI.

  33. There are troubling parallels between the systematic vilification of Jews before the Holocaust and the current vilification of the Jewish people and Israel. Joseph Norland (this link works for me now)

    from 2005! 20 years ago during the second intifada. That’s what woke me up! That and Palestinian Media Watch. And they are talking as though this has never happened before. I remember the antisemitism was intense back then. And, in fact, every time the Pals went to war, i.e., massacring the innocent. Scary what short memories the public has. Though it’s clearly worse now, more institutionalized.

  34. @Edgar Naah, I’m sure it’s Hungarian. Any Greeks here, Sicilians, Koreans? I had a Marxist Iranian neighbor who explained how everything originated in Iran. 😀

  35. I’m tired of people who say bad things about Mozart when they’ve never even seen one of his paintings!

    Funny FB meme

  36. @Felix Are you kidding? You obsessively inject your reverence for your hero in to practically every conversation. Do you listen to yourself? You’re like a teenager who can’t stop talking about his favorite pop singer.

  37. Sebastien Zorn

    You are pathetic.

    “And he has been given a platform too by the editors on this site

    As have you. “Freedom of speech for me but not for thee, eh?” Reminds me of the unofficial slogan of nearly every leftist I’ve ever met, “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine.”. ”

    The only issue is support of Neonazis. You can distort any truth.

  38. @Sebastien
    I rescued the comments and made a few more adjustments. Hopefully this will improve the situation.