Home » Open thread 11/13/23

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Open thread 11/13/23 — 43 Comments

  1. I’m puzzled by the rankings and irritated by the narration, but there were a lot of beautiful critters in this video. Ocean: the final frontier.

  2. Greetings from Chicago. Well, there’s a protest going on in my building. The Israeli consulate is here. Being told to shelter in place.

    There is a current protest in the building. We are activating a shelter in place. All elevators have been shut down for your safety. Please stay in your suites at this time. Protestors are on the second floor. Further instructions are available on the SafetyNet Mobile Web App. -Accenture Tower Management Team

    Fun times.

  3. Insight from Steve Hayward, at Power Line, on this outbreak of Jew-hating.

    https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/11/this-is-not-your-grandfathers-anti-semitism.php

    … what we are seeing now differs from the old-timey anti-Semitism of the 20th century, which involved ugly, resentful stereotypes of Jews as rootless cosmopolitans, grasping financiers, or (for some medieval Christians) “Christ-killers.”

    The primary charge against Jews and Israel right now emphasizes they are “settler colonialists”—an ideological construct that didn’t exist until the day before yesterday. This ought to be a very big “tell” of the insincerity and larger source of what is going on. In short, this is not your grandfather’s anti-Semitism. And because it is rooted in a broader progressive ideological banner, it effectively mobilizes a lot of terrible human beings who might not be sufficiently motivated by Jew-hatred alone.

    One way to begin to understand this more clearly is to think about the popular meme that shows a glowering Trump (my favorite kind of Trump) with the legend, “It’s not me they’re after—it’s you. I’m just in the way.” We can paraphrase this by saying, “It’s not Israel we’re after—it’s the entire project of Western civilization. Israel is just in the way.”

  4. This building is also the train station, so this will disrupt all inbound and outbound trains I’d think. Hopefully that will be impetus enough for the police to get them the hell out of here.

  5. The legacy of Lightfoot. When you reward something (riots and murder) you get more of it. Stay safe Mike.

  6. For anyone who insists that the IDF can and should differentiate between Hamas and “ordinary” Gazans, and that IDF should risk lives of Israelis to avoid civilian casualties:
    The key to peace is the destruction of the tunnels. The people who know where the tunnel entrances are:
    1. Hamas
    2. “Ordinary” Gazans

    If there have been instances where Gazans have told IDF where the tunnels are, or left indications, I have not read of them. I know that any Gazan overtly cooperating with IDF is risking his life, but so is remaining in North Gaza after being repeatedly warned of the current invasion.
    Maybe such cooperation is ongoing and being kept quiet for security reasons.
    Maybe not.

  7. I told my Wife yesterday that all this anti semitic rioting leaves the MSM and Dems in a quandary. The riots are being done by the Left. Now how are they going to say the Trump, MAGA and Rep are anti semitic.

  8. SHIREHOME-
    “Now how are they going to say the Trump, MAGA and Rep are anti semitic.”

    Easy- they will say it with their mouths.
    Once they jumped the shark with “Queers for Palestine,” words have no fixed meaning. It started with man vs woman, the current definition of racism (treating black people the same as white people), and now “genocide” means withdrawing from an area and having the population double in a decade.
    No more talking. It’s just noise being emitted form their mouths to make them feel better. Watch what they do, and act or react accordingly.

  9. Olignicella:

    Ooo … seadragons!

    In 5th grade we had to do a report on some class of fishes. Naturally I chose “unusual fish,” which was a catchall for weird fish.

    The only ones I remember are: seadragon, coelecanth, and clownfish.

    The coelecanth appealed to my sense that we don’t know everything:
    ______________________________

    The oldest known coelacanth fossils are over 410 million years old. Coelacanths were thought to have become extinct in the Late Cretaceous, around 66 million years ago, but were discovered living off the coast of South Africa in 1938.

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

  10. West TX, the IDF has extracted a lot of valuable intelligence from the many terrorists who have been captured and interrogated. I imagine that includes info about the location of tunnels. I sure hope so; my sons are IDF soldiers.

  11. RE: An Insight into China–“grabhags”

    One way to understand an important aspect of today’s China is to analyze and to
    understand the phenomenon/the people who western Youtube vlogger about China “serpentza” calls “grab hags,” the attitude and approach to life of and actions of people—“aunties” now middle aged or older–a “lost generation” who grew up under and were part of Mao’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution—people who only care about themselves, do whatever they want, and who have no concern for others, as illustrated by the feeding frenzy such “grabhags” exhibit when they can grab something for themselves, say, free samples in a newly opened store, or corn which is about to be harvested, or toilet paper which is supposed to be for individual public use.

    Serpentza says that being aware of and understanding this “grabhag” attitude can tell you a lot about what is going on in China today.*

    See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fvKzW_uiPk&t=483s

    and here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du5F4ORvi_4&t=346s

    and here as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evP2kOYf0gY

    here, too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGXydvogzYo&t=39s

  12. Urban renewal in Gazaland, via armored D9.

    Gazamites aren’t too keen on joining the Order of St. Rachael Corrie; that’s better done by a usefull idiot.

  13. Ilana-
    I am sure that you are correct, and I pray for your sons and all Israelis caught in this repeat attempt at elimination of Jews.
    My point is different, though, and I apologize if I was not clear.
    I am disagreeing with those who claim that the IDF is somehow culpable for civilian deaths because they are not somehow able to shoot between the “innocent” Gazans when aiming at the terrorists. The “innocent” Gazans could easily prove their innocence by revealing the tunnel locations. To the extent that they do not, they and they alone are responsible not only for their own deaths, but the deaths of the truly innocent children who are caught in the crossfire.

  14. I don’t seek out Paul Joseph Watson, I watch something from PJW every 2-4 months, offhand.

    He popped up in my YT feed, though, so, watched his commentary and reporting/inclusion of parts of Vivek R’s GOP debate.
    Have to say, Vivek is making a great case for being the veep candidate either way. He’s clearly going to push for a harder line on the GOP, and that certainly comes across as “About Damned Time” to me. He’s figured out what Trump was doing right, and being quite strong about it.

    I loved the way Vivek started challenging the “hosts” about their reporting on the Trump-Russia hoax (ca. 7:00)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aQ_Lq1-Ed4

    I ack, haven’t actually dug into VR’s actual positions on most stuff, but he does seem to have that same firebrand quality that makes Trump look great on some levels.

  15. No of course not the idf is pajnstaking in care of how to treat civilians islamists do not

  16. yes mandelblit (sic) is as obvious as death and taxes, oh sorry taleb biara, I didn’t have her on the program,

  17. From an article reporting on the Secret Service confronting three people trying to break into Biden’s granddaughter’s car:

    “One of the agents opened fire, but no one was struck by the gunfire, the Secret Service said in a statement.”

    So, we’re supposed to call the police when a bad guy confronts us, but when they arrive, they’re such bad shots that they don’t hit the perp. Where did those stray rounds end up?

  18. storm trooper aim, yes that doesn’t inspire confidence,

    robert spencer one of the lead islamognosists, note that khaybar is the adhan cry in london, of course no one perhaps gb news asks what’s up with that,

  19. Windbag – it seems like some serious overreaction by the Secret Service. If a cop or just a car owner had shot his gun at someone burglarizing it, they’d be in more trouble than the potential thief.

  20. The Pope removed the Conservative Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler.
    In this link there is a 20 something minute interview with that Bishop made only a few hours after the removal.
    Even though I am not Catholic and don’t believe in “Apostolic Succession” and praying to Mary and some other Roman Catholic things, I have to compliment that Bishop for his gracious attitude and of calling for prayer .
    The Bishop talks about forces at work within the Catholic Church that are seeking to change truth.
    https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/bishop-strickland-reacts-to-removal-by-pope-francis-i-feel-very-much-at-peace/

  21. Israel is at war. Noncombatants are killed in war. What Israel might consider is clearing avenues of escape for the people of Gaza. Clearing physical obstacles and, of course, Hamas. This might demonstrate Israel’s care about noncombatants. But no one supporting Hamas will care.

  22. JFM, my understanding is there is a four hour pause to allow Gazans to leave each day. I read the IDF is was fighting Hamas to open that refugee corridor.

    You’re not going to hear from the MSM the lengths Israel is taking to NOT target civilians. This is urban warfare and it is certainly messy.

  23. The Pope removed the Conservative Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler.

    Jon baker:

    As an ex-Catholic I hadn’t heard of this happening in recent times. There’s a lot of inside Catholic baseball to unpack. I wouldn’t mind hearing from Art Deco on the score.

    Strickland is, or was, a conservative bishop in Texas, apparently one of the most outspoken Catholic leaders speaking out against Pope Francis’s reforms. Forbes has a decent more-or-less neutral summary:
    ________________________________________

    Strickland, a firebrand conservative, has been vocal about his opposition to Pope Francis, particularly the pope’s efforts to make the church more welcoming to LGBTQ Christians, additional responsibility being given to lay people (non-priests) and a recent synod (a meeting of church leaders) he called. Strickland called that synod “garbage.” He has written several public letters reiterating his beliefs that homosexuality is a sin, that women cannot be priests or serve in any priestly duties and that the church is moving in the wrong direction, including one in August in which he decried what he called an “evil and false message that has invaded the Church.” Strickland had frequently waded into politics — in December 2020 he spoke at a rally in Washington, D.C., organized by then-President Donald Trump’s supporters seeking to overturn the election. He is also a prolific social media poster — he once shared a video calling Pope Francis a “diabolically disoriented clown.”

    Pope Francis has sought to bring progressive reforms to the church. Most recently, he said that transgender people can be baptized in the church as well as become godparents in Catholic baptisms and witnesses to Catholic weddings, though he has made statements criticizing transgender people in the past. In January, he was criticized by the more conservative members in the church for saying that homosexuality is not a crime. In February, he called for a greater level of involvement from lay people. And last month, he led a synod in Rome where church leaders discussed those issues. These actions have frequently put Pope Francis at odds with an increasingly vocal conservative flank of the church in the U.S.

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/11/11/pope-francis-ousts-conservative-texas-bishop-after-frequent-attacks/?sh=71289e201a32
    ________________________________________

    It’s not my fight, though I am gratified conservative Catholics are making a stand.

  24. Not that I’m an expert, but that certainly rings true to me. Plenty of informed people are confident that Hamas rules by fear and really are hated by many Gazans. As they lose their grip on control it could all slip away from them very quickly. But of course that is what I want to believe. So there’s that to consider.

  25. Just saw this link re IDF getting help from fed-up Gazans.

    West TX Intermediate Crude:

    It’s so hard to say.
    ____________________

    I Want to Believe

    –poster in Fox Mulder’s office, “The X-Files”
    ____________________

    I’m sure there are some.

  26. @ Mike Plaiss – I hope you wrote those last 2 comments from home and are not still stuck in your office by the protesters!

  27. AesopFan:

    You might post a bit more as a teaser:
    __________________________

    Pope Francis has officially sacked Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas for being “way too Catholic.”

    “Despite repeated warnings, Bishop Strickland refused to stop being so Catholic,” said Pope Francis. “He adamantly held firm to Catholic doctrine, and there is simply no room for that in today’s Catholic Church.”
    __________________________

    I’m reminded of this memorable bit from “Small Dead Animals” upon Pope Benedict’s election in 2005:
    _______________________________

    Verdict On Pope: “Too Catholic”

    The disappointment in the voices of the anchors during CTV
    news coverage was palpable. One got the sense they were
    hoping for an upset, and a politically correct “progressive”
    papal election angle to pursue. “The new pope, Wang Chung
    One, the first from China, standing alongside his same-sex
    partner as he appeared on the balcony at the Vatican,
    introducing himself to a billion Catholics by declaring a
    woman’s right to chooooooose… well, Lloyd, this is a
    turning point for the Church…”

    –Kate McMillan (Candadian artist and blogger)

  28. Thanks AesopFan. Yes, we got the all clear about 12:40 our time, so it all lasted a little over four hours. We couldn’t leave our floors. Elevators were off and the stairwell doors were locked. That was a bit spooky, but otherwise OK.

    And I’ll chime in on the whole Catholic thing. Conservatives are on the defensive – at least with the church hierarchy. Our Cardinal has mused out loud about not allowing the Latin Mass to be performed here, which upsets me on many levels including the practical. When I go to any given church on a Sunday it’s about half full. When I do make it into the city to attend the Latin Mass at St John Cantius Church I have to get there early to make sure I get a seat. Truly standing room only and one sees a lot of young people with families! So, naturally we need to do away with that.

  29. From a Catholic radio host, Terry Barber, the now-deposed Bishop Strickland told him that the papal nuncio said to him,

    ‘Look, the Holy Father is watching you. You need to stop talking about the deposit of faith. There is no deposit of faith.’”

    “Well, you can imagine how shocking that is to hear a nuncio say there’s no deposit of faith, because if you don’t believe in the deposit of faith, you’re not Catholic,” continued Barber. “That’s not just my opinion. That’s the Church teaching.”

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/terry-barber-reveals-us-nuncio-cardinal-pierre-told-bishop-strickland-there-is-no-deposit-of-faith/

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