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 | 8,875 Comments »

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50 Comments / 8875 Comments

  1. Hi, Peloni

    Lately, I’ve noticed some experts have been lauding the benefits of smoking — something about nicotine receptors. I used to smoke, and wouldn’t wish the COPD that goes with it on anyone. Regardless of whether we live a short life or long, healthy or not, we all die; and every nation in history has had to deal with some demographic problem or other. As Solomon said, 3000 years ago,

    When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?
    — Qoh 5:11, KJV

    “The Indian fights because it is good for him” is a quote from the 1970 movie Little Big Man. Or as God said through Samuel,

    Judges 3
    1 Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
    2 Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof;

  2. @Michael

    It’s open for debate, of course, which is the cause and which is the effect.

    Good point. Also, whether it is simply a confounding factor, ie unrelatable to the situation, such as smoking increasing someone’s age should older people be more prone to smoking.

  3. True, Peloni — War is SO doggone inefficient (?); and its alternative, democracy, is becoming so popular. Why, in Michigan there are so many voters — far more voters, in fact, than people!

    MI Shock: ‘53 Counties with More than 100% Registration’

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/10/16/peter-schweizer-gai-study-details-50-threats-to-election-integrity/

    Still, war has never totally lost its charm, nor declined much as mankind’s most consistently used means of diplomacy. The demographics problem persists (perhaps having to do with the legalization of birth control circa 1961 and legal abortion in 1971?) in the US and elsewhere (as in Israel):

    https://images.populationpyramid.net/capture/?selector=%23pyramid-share-container&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.populationpyramid.net/israel/2100/%3Fshare%3Dtrue

    Concerning the “happiness index”, I did my own ad hoc study a few years back, and noted that countries committing demographic suicide, such as Germany and the USSR, tended to be experiencing a fall in national self-esteem. It’s open for debate, of course, which is the cause and which is the effect.

  4. @Michael
    The lack of offsprings around the globe is not a new concept as you probably are aware, and in fact Israel is among the very few nations among the West which bucks this trend and has an expanding population rather than a depleting one.

    I have read previously that this is hypothesized to be related to the Happiness Index where Israel stands at #5 and Ukraine and Russia stand at #105 & #72, respectively (The US stands at #23, fyi). Others have speculated that this is related to the enviornmental conditions or some other such trivia, but by whatever the drop in reproduction trend is caused, Israel is not so affected as her sister so called democracies.

    Also, not to revisit our earlier arguments on Ukraine vs Russia, but another trend to which Israel is less associated is the pursuance of silly wars such as is raging in Ukraine. As I have noted in previous conversations with you, Russia was willing to negotiate a peaceful settlement, and Ukraine, or dare I say the US, had a period of 8yrs to do more than pretend an interest in such negotiations. Meanwhile, Israel has pursued one peace initiative after another with the same faux peace partners attempting to find a way to peace while war has only come about after it being forced on the Jewish state. The consequence of this has been October 7, just as the consequence of American military adventurism has been the use of war to deplete the Russians at some level at the expense of the Ukrainians at what I sincerely believe is devastatingly high level, which is why they needed to expand the draft age while still failing to push Russia out of Ukraine.

    Hence, your suggestion that war is now being utilized as a form of depopulation tool, which I have to admit strikes me a bit macabre while also being highly inefficient, is not likely to be very successful in Israel, and I would argue that the wider world will likely be less agreeable to accept the war policy which is being forced upon it than were the Ukrainians, who I have argued previously were well accustomed to being pawns of their political masters with only rare reversals of this trend, all of which only served to be used by their political masters to ever greater levels of pernicious goals, such as the American led Orange and Maidan Color Revolutions. No doubt you will have your own thoughts on these obervations, but these are my own, such as they are.

    Regarding your comment to Ted:

    The best solution for Israel, though few might admit it, might actually be continual warfare, with the Pallies suffering most of the damage in both population and infrastructure.

    I completely disagree with this.

    War is the unraveling of societies and in fact it serves to unravel many of those who are forced to run such a terrible gauntlet. No nation should hope to survive long from continuous war, as the effects of doing so would change the very nature of the country pursuing such a gruesome goal. Furthermore, as I hope we will both come to see, Israel’s future will be supported not by war, but by peace, and not a faux peace as has been pursued over the past years by silly and malicious minds, but one based upon economy and trade and good relation, as opposed to the so called use of such villains as the Hashemites who are mistakenly said to be necessary evils which must be endured rather than replaced.

    In fact, the Pallies as you describe them should be sent packing, to find a home somewhere else where there are few to no Jews upon which to exercise their pathological rages. Fortunately for them, all of Arabia would meet this qualification, and to the level possible, this should be the manner by which the Cleft forced on Israel should be remedied and not a state of constant war which you suggest as being the best solution.

  5. Ted,

    In view of the graphs I just posted to Peloni, I note that the Israel / Gaza problem is not really geographic, but demographic. The best solution for Israel, though few might admit it, might actually be continual warfare, with the Pallies suffering most of the damage in both population and infrastructure.

    Every country has such a demograpic problem. This might be a contest of which is the most humane solution: direct euthanasia, mass immigration (aliyah), COVID-type lockdowns and vaccinicide, fentanyl poisoning or an Apocalypse.

    Each has its benefits and failings.

  6. Peloni,

    We’ve had some exchanges over the years, about the Russia-Ukraine war. I just saw a couple of graphs, which might shed some light on the situation:

    https://preview.redd.it/ukraine-and-russia-population-pyramid-comparison-2021-v0-90g0vsa5koqa1.png?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=d626e9967ba161f2f7f319d354617381165430b3

    The graphs compare the Russian population, stratified according to age and sex, side-by-side with that of the Ukraine. The Russian population is obviously larger, but otherwise it is virtually a copy of Ukraine’s. The most obvious feature of both, is how few young people are available to take care of the older population.

    America and Europe have a similar problem, and we are trying to compensate for it by importing millions of young people from across the globe. This has led to internal conflict in the West: increased crime, economic upheaval and, most notably, the degradation of the once-dominant culture.

    Ukraine has compensated in a different way: sending their middle-aged men, who are destined to become elderly and dependent seniors, to the war zone. This amounts to “elder genocide” — which decreases the population somewhat, but preserves the native cultural balance.

    For comparison, the USSR’s demographic graph for 1927 (before WWII) is shown below:

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Russian_population_by_age_and_sex_%28demographic_pyramid%29_on_01_January%2C_1927.png

    I wonder how long it will be, before the West (including Israel) adopts the “Ukrainian Solution”.

  9. Hi, Ted. I receive what you say about the current disinformation. I’m just hunkering down, and waiting for my ballot to (hopefully) come in the mail.

    This is bizarre:

    https://youtu.be/cIpqUtgtk6A

    It’s a retired US general (read, “misdirection and disinformation”), calmly telling me that “Yes, US troops are now on the ground in Israel”, and “No, there’s nothing to worry about until one of them gets killed”.

    He also calmly tells us that Israel has been given “plenty of targets” to play with — as though Israel were engaged in this war for the sheer pleasure of it.

    Meanwhile, the real war directly assaults my family every day in the US schools, with “thought missiles” that hit directly at my grandchildrens’ minds, where lasers and missiles have no effect against them; and in the airwaves, where the “truth sappers”, called “the news”, has been undermining the US election and everything else on this side of the Atlantic.

    The background to the general’s talking head depicts the Israeli night sky, being lit up with inocming missiles being intercepted (and sometimes not). We are told, in essence, that this isn’t really “war” until an actual rocket hits us personally. Welcome to “Alternate Reality”, and what it actually is:

    WORLD WAR III.

  11. We will know what Israel does once they do it! Whatever we read now could be disinformation to not let Iran know ahead of time what Israel actually intends to do.

    Feeding certain elements in the US government disinformation that surely will be leaked is one to add confusion to the Iranians.

  14. Netanyahu calls on the UN Secretary General to withdraw UNIFIL forces immediately.

    The latest news reports that Guterres refused to even consider removing UNIFIL troops from the line of fire. He is presenting those troops as shields to Hezbollah.

    Those screaming loudest, Spain and Portugal, have sent these troops, but they are also not thinking of retracting their troops or statements. I wonder how they intend to respond if anyone from UNIFIL gets hurt. Will they send “normal” troops to get involved in the fighting? This could explode very quickly.

  16. Senior Israeli defense source:
    Attack on Iran will be powerful, not moderate; high probability that Tehran will retaliate; Israel needs to prepare to strike again after Iran responds…

    Netanyahu informs US: Israel will strike Iranian military targets, avoid attacks on nuclear & oil sites.

    Israel Radar

  17. 57 minutes ago News
    Armed Coachella Rally-Goer Vem Miller is Pro-Trump, Independent Reporter, NOT Would-Be Assassin.

    A man arrested near a rally for Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump on Saturday has denied allegations of planning an assassination attempt.

    Vem Miller, 49, who is personally known to The National Pulse, and has interviewed The National Pulse’s Editor in Chief, Raheem Kassam, asserted in a lengthy video statement that he is a dedicated Trump supporter who has never fired a gun.

  23. @Michael

    there’s nothing political to be gained…

    Indeed, that which might be achieved is the death of politics, the silencing of debate and the banishment of free speech. And of course, that is not only the result of such raw, senseless violence, but the very intent of it as well. It is the mark of non-free societies, or free societies soon to be cast into the clutches of tyrants.

  24. Thanks, Peloni. What I wrote was,

    “Now is the time for all good men to come the aid of their party.” (a traditional typing exercise)

    I think you agree, that there’s nothing political to be gained, by any party, by ganging up to an unarmed blind man and beating him up — it’s raw, senseless evil (except for the HAMAS, who think it’s a virtue)

  25. @Michael
    I rescued your comment.

    The site doesn’t post foreign scripts such as Cyrilic.

    There was nothing political about that, just hatred.

    Well, I am not aware of the situation, so I will take your estimate of the situation as fact. Not all violence is political violence, rather political violence is violence exercised to either force a political outcome or to change the free atmosphere of political expression. It must always be noted, chastised and prosecuted, at least in countries which hope to maintain themselves as democratic.

    Gemar chatimah tovah

  27. Hi, Peloni. I don’t think Israpundit can handle Cyrilic script. Let me test it:

    ????? ?????? ??? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ?? ???????? ????? ??????.

    (It’s as I thought)

    In the mid-1970s, some of the (probably black) teens in our neighborhood beat up a well-known blind man, while repeatedly calling him by name as they taunted him. There was nothing political about that, just hatred.

  28. @Michael

    You manage to weave the Maidan Uprising into so many of your posts

    In fact, political violence is one of the most effective manners to unseat democracy, and it has been a particular interest of mine going back to the assassinations in the US from 50 years before the Maidan coup, but the use of political violence was far more effectively employed in the Maidan coup and in the Nazi coup of the 1930’s. Of course, the Maidan coup is far more relevant today, which is why I noted it, but political violence is an important topic to challenge in any context, which is why I was grateful to you sharing the article and news report you cited.

    So no need to translate you commentary into Cyrillic characters, as the defense of democratic norms is too important to be discussed in any language besides English at the moment, IMHO in any event.

  29. Hi, Peloni

    You manage to weave the Maidan Uprising into so many of your posts, I’m beginning to attribute them to an affect of your language — as though perhaps I can just translate what I’m about to say into Cyrillic characters, and you will understand me 🙂

    The narration that came with the video noted that if the former governor of New York can’t walk the streets in safety, who can? It’s a sign of the times — which reminds me of a scripture:

    Gen.6
    [11] The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
    [13] And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

    Thank you for restoring my post.

  30. Did Israel let anyone know its plans before destroying the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981?

    I am afraid that now they are shouting their plans from the rooftops to get an excuse NOT to retaliate this way against Iran (as in “The US won’t let us!”).

  31. @Michael
    I rescued your comment. Thank you for bring it to my attention.

    Shocking report by the way. The introduction of violence into political discord is an important aspect of the anti-democratic forces which have been taking hold over the whole of the Western world. In fact, such activities are not dissimilar to those which took hold over Ukraine both before, during, and most dramatically after the American led Ukrainian coup of 2014 when the the anti-democratic control over Ukraine became all too well entrenched to irradicate. Should Trump return to office, these are the tactics which will be utilized to first stymie his authority and his reforms, and will likely be used to ultimately attempt to overthrow his presidency. Hopefully he will have a better response to deal with this looming sword of Damocles than was exercised during his first term, during which time his response was far from successful. As was true with Ukraine, the enforcement of equality before the law, versus the absence of it, will determine the future course of the US, and since we are talking about America, it will also determine the future course of the world.

  33. Video of blind former New York Governor beaten by young Democrats.

    https://x.com/CurtisSliwa/status/1844038567049179630

    … two of the attackers, both aged 30 to 45 took it upon themselves to ATTACK Anthony and Gov. Paterson as the other teens were trash talking, before kicking Anthony on the ground and punching Paterson. These adults escalated the violence and now are trying to claim that they are innocent?!! Despite the recorded video of the encounter …

  34. Israel can not let Biden and his cronies micro manage the war Israel is fighting. Biden/Blinken and company believe they should do this but they are completely clueless and Israel needs to chart its own security path.

    Bibi and others have ignored some of the dictates of Biden and company very successfully changing things on the ground.

  35. NBC is reporting that Israel has still not informed Washington of their planned response against Iran. Some speculation is being made that they are hoping to learn the answer to this question from Gallant during his visit while others are speculating that Israel may make their response while using Gallant as a diversion distracting Washington with this expectation.

  36. Barak Ravid: “In recent weeks, the Biden administration has developed a growing lack of trust in what the Israeli government tells the United States about its military and policy plans in the multi-arena war it is waging,”

    This is the best news possible.

  38. READER-

    I’m glad that YOU remembered US…… Even retired is OK. I was with guys who were 70-75. Depends on if you can do a little walking around. Not much.

    Let me know how uou get on with the exercises. I’d be interested on knowing What they are and how to do them. I need them too but slowly does it.

    I have a hip with the cartilage worn away. I walk like a sailor. but right now am building up my shoe to add the required 3/4-1 inch. I’m using cork.’
    Then I’ll learn to walk straight all over again.

  39. @Reader
    The Philadelphi Corridor was not evacuated, as just the 162nd moved north. Today the North is where Hamas has unleashed its greatest salvo of projectiles in many many months, validating the move to crush the Hamas in the North. I hope to see the General’s Plan put in play, to starve out the terrorists by withholding food and water while allowing civilians passing thru checkpoints going south. October is going to be an interesting month.

  40. Here is some news that I find disturbing.

    This article appeared on A7 yesterday and was quickly pushed behind other news:

    162nd Division leaves Philadelphi Corridor for Jabaliya op.
    IDF launches operation in Jabaliya in northern Gaza in light of intelligence showing gathering of Hamas terrorists, efforts by Hamas to rebuild its terror infrastructure there.
    Israel National News

    Oct 6, 2024, 9:19 AM (GMT+3)

    https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/397148

    Was this whole affair with a new goal of the war designed to cover up the plan to leave the Philadelphi Corridor?

    Did IDF leave anyone there or did it leave the place totally unprotected?

  41. @Edgar
    @peloni

    Thank you, guys! Glad to “see” you, too.

    I am glad you still remember me.

    BTW, what happened to Felix?

    I actually finished reading recently the 3 volumes on Trotsky by Isaac Deutscher that Felix recommended.

    My aliyah plans are kind of frozen (but not given up) right now, I was planning to move North, and now it is impossible.

    I am retired, so I doubt that I am really fit for Mishmar Ezrachi.

    BTW, the latest rage, it seems, is strength training for seniors (most problems that come with age are caused by muscle atrophy), so I am going to try that (nothing extreme at all).

  42. Many, many more bodies not yet recovered from Hurricane Helene; National Guard finally showing up in some areas; New hurricane (“Milton”) heading for southern Florida.

    https://youtu.be/ag-hb45J6MQ

    Note that these disaster-struck areas, abandoned by the Biden-Harris administration, are nearly all MAGA

    Please vote, if you possiby can.

  43. @Reader
    I am very glad to hear from you again. You have been gone for too long. I hope you are doing well and are upto sharing your keenly spirited views once again. As I have noted before, we don’t always agree, but you do make it necessary to think quite intently about what I believe. In any event, as Edgar states so well, your return is quite welcome.

  44. READER-

    Haven’t heard from you for a long time. Your return is welcomed.

    How are your Aliya plans? NOW would be most propitious time..
    If over IDF age, you could serve in the Mishmar Ezrachi, which patrols at night checking every neighbourhood. They are well organised and do a REAL service.
    I did this, equipped with a (likely) WW2 Winchester 303, in a band of about 6-8., We had a Van, and were dropped off in pairs with a later rendezvous. We had regular target practice.

  45. I am reading Joachim Koehler’s book Wagner’s Hitler:The Prophet and His Disciple.

    The chapter entitled Pioneers has absolutely amazing information about who really created Hitler and pushed him into his leadership position with the main goal of implementing The Final Solution to the Jewish Question (the rest of the book is certainly worth reading also).

    Some of the above folks talked him into writing Mein Kampf while he was in prison in the 1920s and helped him with editing the manuscript, etc.

    BTW, the first (apparently) man to suggest gassing the Jews (together with mosquitoes) was Emperor Wilhelm II (and this thought also occurred to a few others decades before WWII).

    Just found this:

    https://www.jns.org/germany-experiencing-tsunami-of-antisemitism/?_sc=NTAyMDI0NiMxMTAyMzA%3D&utm_campaign=Morning+Syndicate+Sunday+1062024&utm_medium=email&utm_source=brevo

    Jew hatred is always about religion, no matter what the haters say or which new slogans they invent, or which religious views or lack thereof they profess.

  47. Abed Amaala tweeted that,

    At dawn on the night of October 7, 2024, there will be a major attack on Iran that will return Iran to the Stone Age. After a year of the flood of catastrophe and defeat. The sunrise of the new Middle East after the final blow to Iran on the night of October 7, 2024

    He couldn’t possible know. I think he is guessing.

  48. Ismail Qa’ani, commander of the Quds Force of Revolutionary Guards, is being reported by Channel 12 as having been killed. Iran is disputing this claim, but he has not been seen in several days, and was notably absent from Khomeni’s recent propaganda speech, something which he routinely attended. It is believed that Qa’ani was killed in the same air raid in which Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah’s replacement, was killed. What makes this even more likely to be true is that Iran has now released footage as proof of life for Qa’ani which was recorded days before he would have been killed. It should be recalled that Qa’ani was Suliemani’s replacement. Hence if this claim proves to be accurate, which it currently does appear to be, the replacements for both Nasrallah and Sulleimani would have been taken out with the same bomb.