Home » Open thread 11/17/23

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Open thread 11/17/23 — 55 Comments

  1. Budgies are cute, friendly and easy to teach to talk. When I was younger I knew this old guy with “Jackie”. Very friendly bird who liked being petted by pretty much anyone. The old guy taught him that when he wanted cuddles he should shout out “Come over here, asshole!”

    Never failed to get someone to approach.

  2. The talking parrot is more understandable than Kamala Harris.

    Speaking of demonkrats; John “Frankenstein” Fetterman is an active supporter of Israel. He is one of the very very few demonkrats that has actually stated his support of Israel. He makes no bones about the fact that Hamas is a terrorist group.
    Of course, this must really upset the majority of demonkrats in Congress who remain totally silent about the genocide committed by Hamas. These silent demonkrats, by their silence, are in fact displaying their support for Hamas and rely on “The Squad” to do the talking for them.
    Anyway, Fetterman at least has the cohones to show his views and at least in this instance, he should be given a huge amount of credit. Good on him !!

  3. The headline says “Shocking” but I myself was not shocked at all that 75% of Palestinians support the 10/7 massacre, 76% have a positive view of Hamas and 98.2% have a negative view of America, or even that 64% of them have a negative view of Iran for that matter. I wonder how many of them are fully aware that America has been Gaza’s biggest financial patron (and similarly that Iran has been Hamas’s biggest financial patron). It turns out you really can’t buy love, or at least you can’t fund love. Perhaps you can only really fund hatred and resentment.

  4. the good people of gaza, were cheering the attackers on september 11th, greg kelly has the file footage,

    yes I had a parrot when I was a young lad,

  5. Apologize if this has already been posted or discussed, but many here will find this interesting and I believe neo will also.

    There is a new documentary, “The Fall of Minneapolis.” Megyn Kelly interviews the producer and director. They discuss and air a lot of potentially exculpatory footage and evidence. Sounds like a worthwhile documentary to watch. It is maddening and very sad.

    https://youtu.be/UAfuGp2Vsng?si=yl2_Yjg1rSBgquh0

  6. Help. I have not been able to open the daily Maggie’s Farm entry since Tuesday, November 14. It seems to be frozen on that date, but I did not hear about them closing it down. Can you see the daily entries since Tuesday?
    Thank you,

  7. Re: Maggie’s Farm

    Anne

    I couldn’t say why they haven’t updated lately. However, I do read them now and then, so it’s good to be reminded.

    Below is the link, if anyone else is curious. “Maggie’s Farm” is also a well-known, sixties Dylan song, so not surprisingly there are a ton of marijuana dispensaries using the name, making it difficult to find the blog:
    ____________________________________

    We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics… Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

    http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/
    ____________________________________

    Hmm … maybe it’s not too late for me to live on a commune again!

  8. Townhall: New Poll Shreds Liberal Narratives About the Palestinians and Hamas.

    75% of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank support Hamas and the October 7 atrocities.

    Palestinian civilians overwhelmingly support Hamas’ attacks on Israel that killed over 1,400, including children and babies, and which resulted in 240 hostages taken, including children and babies— which then led to Israel entering Gaza.

    Also worth noting when given a choice between a shared state where both people co-exist, two states, or a Palestinian state from the river to the sea, 77.7% choose the last option. (Correction: that was the West Bank opinion. The Gaza opinion was 70.4%, and overall WB+ Gaza opinion in favor of River to the Sea was 74. 7%.

    What were the choices in the “Palestinian state from the river to the sea” question?

    Table 33: Do you support the solution of establishing one state or two states in the following formats: (Note: West Bank + Gaza)

    One-State Solution for Two Peoples 5.4%
    Two-State Solution for Two Peoples 17.2%
    A Palestinian state from the river to the sea 74.7%

    This give unambiguous evidence that the “river to the sea” chant means a Palestine free of Jews- at least as those Arabs living in Palestine interpret it. Note that the “one-state solution for two peoples,” where Jews and Arabs live together, got only 5.4% support.

    And we have Tlaib, the Pali congresscritter from Michigan, informing us that “river to the sea” means “coexistence.”

  9. Where did these poll results come from? Hamas? Why anyone would take these results as fact astounds me. How are polls conducted in Gaza anyway?

    Another blogger I follow brought up an interesting idea about polling in this country. Polls are conducted through landline phones. How many people have landline phones these days? My family uses cell phones, we don’t have a landline. Polls are supposed to be confined to an area for sampling purposes. Cell phone area codes can be different from where the user lives. It becomes harder to trust polls.

  10. I think in these troubling times of mass insanity and confusion you will find a lot more inner peace if you lean on God.

    Link below is a great song, ” Who you say I am ” by Hillsong Worship. This version filmed with a live audience.

    Song seems to be based on John 8:36, among other verses.

    Note this is You Tube so the advertisement that pops up before the song may have nothing to do with the song. Also noticed that the Mormons ( Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) run an add in front of this song sometimes even though Hillsong is not a Mormon group.

    https://youtu.be/lKw6uqtGFfo?si=JtpX3xSbT0kHd__n

  11. Gringo

    And we have Tlaib, the Pali congresscritter from Michigan, informing us that “river to the sea” means “coexistence.”

    miguel cervantes

    like lebensraum means neighborliness

    L.O.L.

  12. The New York Times and Politico are piling on against Eric Adams with an article about his many, many appearances at Turkey-related events and occasions when he was Brooklyn borough president. No, not Turkey Thanksgiving gobble-gobble, but Turkey fezes and Erdo?an.

    A lot of research and investigative reporting was required from people who haven’t bothered investigating the Biden administration, so it’s likely that they received a tip, a leak, or a data dump from somebody.

    I suspect that the reason for the attacks on Adams aren’t really about Adams himself. They’re intended to punish Democrats who leave the reservation, and to scare off dissenters as the election nears.

  13. Polls aren’t really about people’s considered opinions. People pick the answer that they think their side supports and requires and they don’t do much thinking about it. That said, the Middle East question was always difficult, if not impossible, to resolve in a way that would satisfy both sides.

  14. I think the sample is awfully small, less than 700 people out of a population of two million,

  15. Yeah, sure, the poll could easily be complete nonsense. But wouldn’t an Arab organization who hypothetically manufactured such poll results want to generate good PR for Gazaites with the goal of creating sympathy for them among Americans and the greater West in general so they could put pressure on Israel to lay off? Wouldn’t it be better to indicate that most people in Gaza, if not abhored the October 7th attacks, at least think they went too far?

  16. The search for the Moderate Muslim continues….

    Next up: Possible Sasquatch sighing in Colorado!

  17. I’m sure there are moderate moslems, but are they ‘authentic’ like the african american spokesman, deemed so, like sharpton, like coates or kendi, those like elder or sowell or even mcwhorter are not considered so,

  18. I think the sample is awfully small, less than 700 people out of a population of two million

    I agree. My opinion is you’d want at least 2,000, or around .1%. Ideally 20,000, or around 1% (which likely wouldn’t be very realistic in the midst of what’s essentially a battle field).

  19. I’m sure there are moderate moslems, but are they ‘authentic’ …

    I’ve noticed that truly moderate Muslims seen to require bodyguards.

  20. Re: Vivian Silver — the peace activist I mentioned a few days ago:
    _______________________________________

    Canadian-Israeli peace advocate Vivian Silver, 74, has been confirmed to have been killed in Hamas’s 7 October attacks, after she was initially thought to have been taken hostage.

    She co-founded the Women Wage Peace group, which lobbied for a diplomatic resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and helped found Ajeec-Nisped – the Arab-Jewish Center for Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation.

    Kher Albaz, an Israeli Bedouin who worked alongside her, tells BBC World Service she “lived in equality” and used to drive injured Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Israeli hospitals.

    “She was a real human being, her view on life was very positive, she was always smiling and looking for ways to make people feel better, always looking for ways to make sure people felt accepted and felt good,” he says.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-middle-east-67400490

  21. its a shame, she honestly though they would respect her choices, but they literally want to kill every Jew they can get their hands on,

  22. miguel cervantes

    I think the sample is awfully small, less than 700 people out of a population of two million

    Nonapod had a similar question about sample size.

    DuckDuckGo: what are sample sizes for opinion polls

    A fairly common response is that a sample size of 1,000 for 300 million Americans is considered valid. As such, a sample of 700 for the 5 million living in Gaza and the West Bank would appear to be valid.

  23. huxley:

    That’s certainly true for moderate Muslims who speak up in public. I know quite a few who are silent because they don’t want to have bodyguards, or because they just aren’t politically inclined, or for both reasons. What percentage of the whole of the Muslim population do they represent? I don’t know. But they live in the US.

  24. A bit of hyperbole in the headline…

    Parrot Joke 1:

    Woman goes into a pet shop, says she wants to buy a parrot. Owner says he has only one, but it spent all its time in a brothel, so he assumes she doesn’t want it.

    She goes, “Nah, sounds unique — it’s my husband’s birthday present — he’ll probably find it amusing.”

    So she buys it a cage, feed, etc., and takes it home.

    Once home she sets its cage up, and leaves it for a bit. Meanwhile, she calls her husband and tells him she’s got a big surprise for him.

    She walks back into the room, and the parrot squawks, “Hey, a new place… and a new girl!! Hubba Hubba!!:

    She laughs and leaves the room.

    Her bestie comes over, and she goes to show off the parrot. It immediately squawks, “TWO new girls. This place is ROCKIN’!!”

    She invites another couple friends over to see the parrot, and, as the four walk into the room, “Holy cow, a gaggle of new girls!! Va Va VOOM!!”

    They all laugh.

    They’re sitting around, talking, and she hears her husband come home. Hearing the girls talking, he walks into the room…

    The parrot squawks. “HEY. JOE!! You found the new place!!! Lots of new girls! Who you gonna hook up with first?”

    😀

    =============
    Parrot joke 2:

    Woman walks into a pet store, wants a parrot. Owner says he only has one, and all it seems to do is sing Christmas Carols.

    She says, “It’s for a Christmas gift for my boyfriend, that seems appropriate.”

    “Very well, The bird’s name is Chet.”

    She buys a cage and supplies, and takes it home.

    Her BF gets home from work, and they wait. And wait. And wait. The bird is silent. Somewhat disappointed, they start partaking of the Christmas Spirits.

    The BF, being not an exactly upright kinda guy, and now somewhat drunk, wonders if he made a minor threat to the bird, what it would do….

    So he digs out a bic lighter, and flicks it, then moves it closer to the bird, from the left side. The bird eyes the flame warily, shifts over to the right side of its perch, and starts singing *”I’mmmmmm Dreaaaaming, of a Whiiiiite, Christmassss”* . He’s amused. Every time he brings the lighter towards the bird from the left, it sings the same song.

    “Hmmm…”, he thinks, “Always the same song from the left, what happens from the right…? ” So he brings the flame near to the poor benighted bird from the right… This time, it breaks into *”Jingle Bells Jingle Bells Jingle All the Waaaaay…”* as it sidles over to the left side of the perch. He laughs again. And again, the bird sings the same song when approached from the right. He tries the left, and it goes back to “White Christmas”.

    Now, he’s not gotten any closer than a foot with the flame, so the bird isn’t really being harmed, just scared, in an obviously inappropriate way.

    His next inspiration is to bring it towards the bird from the front, which means it can’t go left or right. This time, the bird eyes the flame and spreads its legs as wide as it can, and breaks into a squawking rendition of “Chet’s nuts roooooasting, over an opennnnn fire….”

    🙂

    Yes, it would be very wrong to do. But it’s ok to *joke* about it.

  25. @Gringo, all that’s assuming a margin of error of 3% of a random sample. The problem is determining what is a truly “random” sample and whether or not one agrees that a 3% margin of error is sufficiently narrow or not. Most polling is obviously limited by money, time, and logistics. Since they don’t have infinite money to pay infinite pollsters to poll everyone in an entire universe for an infinite amount of time, they have to compromise on all those points. Personally I just wish they’d spend resources to poll more people (larger sample sizes) and be more careful about the wording of the questions (be more neutral and less leading). That’s my opnion anyway.

  26. Nonapod

    Yeah, sure, the poll could easily be complete nonsense. But wouldn’t an Arab organization who hypothetically manufactured such poll results want to generate good PR for Gazaites with the goal of creating sympathy for them among Americans and the greater West in general so they could put pressure on Israel to lay off? Wouldn’t it be better to indicate that most people in Gaza, if not abhored the October 7th attacks, at least think they went too far?

    The bluntness of the poll results would, as you point out, appear to indicate that there wasn’t much of an attempt to present Palestinian opinion so that it wouldn’t alienate potential supporters in the West. Nonetheless, there is an attempt in the presentation of the poll results, to obscure the overwhelming support for the Judenrein Palestine “river to the sea” solution.
    Wartime Poll: Results of an Opinion Poll Among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Unfortunately, due to “bandwith exceeded” due to high interest in that link, it is not currently accessible)

    Please refer to the English Press Release and the Tables of Results.
    Please refer to the Arabic Press Release and the Tables of Results. (Copied before “bandwidth exceeded.” In retrospect I should have copied the link in a PDF.)

    The links for English Press Releases leaves out some important poll results that are listed in Tables of Results .(I include only the main link in my posting, as multiple links often get designated as spam)
    The English Press Releases link makes no mention whatsoever of the overwhelming Pali support for the Judenrein solution of “Palestine from the river to the sea.”
    From Tables of Results link:

    Table 33: Do you support the solution of establishing one state or two states in the following formats: (Note: West Bank + Gaza)

    One-State Solution for Two Peoples 5.4%
    Two-State Solution for Two Peoples 17.2%
    A Palestinian state from the river to the sea 74.7%

    From the English Press Releases link, there is no mention of how Palestinians support different proposed state solutions as shown in Table 33. From Page 4 of English Press Releases link:

    68% reported that their support for a two-state solution has declined, while 23% reported it had increased.
    • The war is also leading to a decline in the belief that coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis is possible, with 90% reporting they were less likely to hold such convictions. Only 7% said that the possibility of coexistence has increased.
    • In addition, 87% said their conviction in reaching a permanent peace deal with Israel has declined, while 9% said it had increased.

    Given how Israel has turned north Gaza into rubble, it is understandable that there is reduced Palestinian support for coexistence, a peace deal, or a two-state solution. Yet the English Press Releases gives no indication at all that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians are for the “river to the sea” solution, which by making Palestine Judenrein, is very much against coexistence etc.

    The narrative of the English Press Releases is that those dastardly Israelis, with their invasion of Gaza, are killing Palestinian support for coexistence, a two-state solution, or a peace deal. Yet by omitting overwhelming Palestinian support for Judenrein Palestine (river to the sea), the English Press Releases are hiding the fact that before Octobe7, there was little Palestinian support for coexistence, a two-state solution, or a peace deal.

    I am reminded of how European and American press releases about Arafat indicated that Arafat supported a two-state solution, while Arafat’s statements in the Arab press indicated that Arafat saw the two-state solution only as an interim stage before the final solution of Judenrein “river to the sea” Palestine. (See MEMRI for documentation.)

  27. JFM

    Another blogger I follow brought up an interesting idea about polling in this country. Polls are conducted through landline phones. How many people have landline phones these days? My family uses cell phones, we don’t have a landline.

    Neo to JFM

    Polls today use cell phones as well.

    If the current high demand for the AWRAD link to the poll, resulting in “509 bandwidth length exceeded,” ever dies down, you would be able to see that the poll was conducted not by phone, but by person-to-person contacts. Again, I regret that I didn’t copy the website to a PDF.

  28. the poll was conducted not by phone, but by person-to-person contacts

    Yeah, given that the power has been cut in Gaza since almost the start I kinda assumed that was the case.

  29. Paul Nachman:

    The Greenfield link yields a 404. Greefield does have a recent applicable post:
    _________________________________

    The trouble with all the dreams of coexistence is that Islam is Jihad and Jihad is Islam. The most fundamental external expression of Islam is a drive to conquer the entire world, not in some uncertain ‘end of days’ future, but here, now and in the present. The difference between the so-called moderates and extremists comes down to quibbling over when and how that conquest is to begin, where it is to be implemented and who is to take charge of it.

    But the actual conquest is an ongoing project. Every Islamic war, whether against Muslims or non-Muslims, is waged as part of an agenda of global conquest.

    https://www.danielgreenfield.org/2023/11/there-is-no-moderate-jihad.html

  30. “ But the actual conquest is an ongoing project. Every Islamic war, whether against Muslims or non-Muslims, is waged as part of an agenda of global conquest.”

    Yes, and it goes on all the time. If you look up all the Muslim versus everyone else wars just in the twentieth century the butcher bill is in the millions of Christians and Hindus.

    Following the 2010 “Arab Spring” in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas) was elected to be the government. They promptly began instituting Sharia law, murdering Coptic Christians, and burning down their churches. They were eventually overthrown by the Army led by Al Sissy who is now the dictator.

    It continues in other places as we read this. From a close family friend, there is a war in eastern Nigeria of the local Muslims versus the Christians. The Muslims will raid a village, kill the men and boys, rape and kidnap the women and girls, and follow up by burning the church down. I couldn’t find it again but I recently saw a photo of soldiers with rifles guarding one of these churches.

  31. I think the sample is awfully small, less than 700 people out of a population of two million

    Sampling error doesn’t really depend on the fraction of the population, just on the sample size, and how randomly it’s selected. If it’s a good random sample of 700, I believe the sampling error is somewhere around 4%. So if the poll says 75% approve of the 10/7 attacks, you can be confident the true number is between 67% and 83%. Of course we don’t know how random (representative) the sample was.

  32. That bird must be smart to be able to mimic things so well.

    No birdbrain he (or she).

    But I suppose the constant repetition becomes exasperating after a while.

  33. In open-thread comments from yesterday and today, Outlier and Rufus T. Firefly have both noted the release of a new movie about the George Floyd arrest and its aftermath. I watched the movie yesterday, and I just want to add my recommendation.

    The movie is called “The Fall of Minneapolis.” As I said yesterday, I watched every day of the trial and read all that I could find about the arrest, autopsy, and riots. The movie didn’t add much to what I already knew, but it was all put together very well.

    For me, the George Floyd story and the January 6th prosecutions are connected. The Marxists are hell-bent on politicizing crime and criminalizing politics. Soon we’ll all be dragged into it.

    Anyway, here’s a link to the (free) movie: https://www.thefallofminneapolis.com/

  34. Abraxas, re: Turkey the country, I’d like to see the identifier ‘Turkia’ become popular. It would be along the same lines of all the other national names that end in ‘-ia’ and would dig in the heels as far as refusal to take up the Turks’ own “suggestion” of ‘Türkiye’ (in the English language, mind you!), which I was deeply disappointed to see the D. C. bureaucracy accept as the new standard of orthographic reference in federal documentation. (Along with Google, Bing Maps, etc.) Also would still satisfy the concerns of those who, for whatever reason, sincerely fret about the country and the bird having had the same name in modern English. I’ll try to do my bit in this regard.

    (Ironically, I was just trying to check the CIA World Factbook to satisfy myself that it’s adopted the new Turkish-imperialist spelling, which I’m sure it has; but the funny thing was that the site gave me an error message saying I’m not allowed to access the URL on this server. I assume that has to do with the fact that I’m using a VPN, which is again, I suppose, a case of ‘secrecy-for-me-but-not-for-thee’.)

  35. Kate:

    It is unfortunately true, and the source is the Tanzanian government. See this.

    There is another Tanzanian student missing.

    Tanzania. There are people from many many countries dead or being held hostage. It reminds me that many foreign nationals were killed in 9/11.

  36. On Turkey (the country) and turkeys (the birds): In Egypt, they called the birds “deek rumi,” that is, Roman rooster, because they, or something like them, were exported on ships from what had been new Rome, i.e., Turkey. I have read somewhere that we call turkeys by that name because they resembled fowl shipped to Europe from, ahem, Turkey.

  37. Re: The Asbury Revival

    Last February at Asbury University in Kentucky, some students stayed after chapel to worship. Then they kept worshiping and more came to worship and more came to worship and they had a revival.

    Or the Holy Spirit did. You choose.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Asbury_revival

    It went from Feb 8 – 24. An estimated 50,000 – 70,000 people attended. Here’s a lovely 8 minute mini-documentary on the event.

    –“Asbury Outpouring (aka Asbury Revival) | Documentary Film”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJwQSEihmhQ

    I’m not exactly this sort of Christian, but I sure know what they are talking about.

  38. Re moderate Muslims:

    I heard of Zuhdi Jasser, a US Navy vet and Arizona MD, on Mark Levin’s show. I listened to most of a recent Charlie Kirk podcast with Jasser, who speaks in a very calm, even tone. He says he is trying to reform Islam. My gut is that he is full of beans but I could be wrong. I don’t see his movement gaining traction, maybe because it is “weak sauce”?

    He says that the Koran is not violent, only the Hadiths (commentaries on the Koran.)

    https://aifdemocracy.org/
    https://mzuhdijasser.com/

  39. Jordan Rivers, I’ve seen articles including Zuhdi Jasser for some years. He seems to be entirely sincere in his efforts. Robert Spencer’s book and articles cite lots of Koran verses which are violent, but the hadith are worse, yes. Jasser’s effort is to make Islam into a culture which can live in peace in the modern world. Good luck to him, but I don’t see much evidence that it’s working.

  40. I heard of Zuhdi Jasser, a US Navy vet and Arizona MD, on Mark Levin’s show.

    Jordan Rivers:

    I share your skepticism. I’m usually disappointed by “moderate Muslims,” when I dig into what they say.

    However, like Kate I’ve read Jasser off and on for years. Roger L. Simon, former CEO of PJ Media, speaks well of Jasser:
    _________________________________

    Dr. Zuhdi Jasser? Zuhdi, a friend of mine, is a fantastic human being but he seems to be the only “moderate Muslim” we ever see on television. Where are the others?

    –Roger L. Simon
    https://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2015/11/24/islam-needs-an-intervention-n95043

    _________________________________

    Jasser has a post-Oct 7 comment on a CNN article claiming that “Being a Muslim American right now is like living on borrowed time.”
    _________________________________

    If Muslims are on borrowed time it IS because of the cowardice of these fake academics who blame the world for their own weakness in the face of malignant theocrats who have been destroying our communities and the faithful for hundreds of years.

    If Muslims are on borrowed time, it is because the Hamas militants of the world and their apologists in our campuses let Palestinians suffer as cannon fodder to the suicidal wars they wage and their end of times nihilism.

    No. It is the Islamist tyrannies and their pro-terror sharia supremacist movements that should be on borrowed time and instead it is Western secular liberal democracies who are on borrowed time. Full stop.

    Give. Me. A. Break.

    https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mzuhdijasser_opinion-being-a-muslim-american-right-now-activity-7121721699795947520-NxHh
    _________________________________

    I think Zuhdi Jasser is legit and I wish him well.

    I’m still short on Islam’s reformation.

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