Washington Post: Stenographer to Terrorists
Lotta stupidity out there, but this one still stands out. From the Washington Post two days ago, we get a story about the internal conflicts in the Biden administration over Gaza. Reading the article, I get the impression the conflict is between Biden, who is fairly staunchly pro-Israel, and a bunch of snot-nosed staffers. Anyway, in this ostensibly straight news article, one passage stands out:
The previously unreported meeting of officials underscores how Biden’s handling of what is arguably the biggest foreign policy crisis of his presidency is dividing a White House that has prided itself on running a disciplined and united operation. The Israel-Gaza war has roiled the administration more than any other issue in Biden’s first three years in office, according to numerous aides and allies inside and outside the White House, as staffers agonize over their positions on highly emotional issues.
Adding to the sensitivity, the unwavering embrace of Israel that many staffers find upsetting stems in large part from Biden’s personal lifelong attachment to the Jewish state, aides said. Biden often cites his 1973 meeting with Prime Minister Golda Meir as a seminal event that crystallized his view of Israel as critical for Jewish survival.
At the time, Israel was 25 years old, a left-leaning nation and a military underdog, struggling to find its way in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Now Israel is a military powerhouse led by a far-right coalition, and the Biden administration has become identified with a military campaign that has killed more than 13,000 Palestinians, displaced hundreds of thousands of others, created a humanitarian disaster and damaged America’s moral authority in much of the world.
First of all, the insistence on playing stenographer to a terror organization by uncritically reporting their undoubtedly inflated casualty figures is bad enough. After all, this is the same terror organization whose health ministry appendage told the world that nearly 500 people were killed by an Israeli air strike that turned out to be a misfired Palestinian rocket that caused a crater to a parking lot. Even Human Rights Watch, which initially uncritically joined every chump sucka media outlet on Earth in repeating the claims, now says in not-so-many words that it was BS:
At 6:59 p.m. that day, a type of munition that Human Rights Watch has not been able to conclusively identify hit a paved area inside the hospital compound, between a parking lot and a landscaped area where many civilians congregated to seek safety from Israeli strikes. The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 471 people were killed and 342 injured. Human Rights Watch was unable to corroborate the count, which is significantly higher than other estimates, displays an unusually high killed-to-injured ratio, and appears out of proportion with the damage visible on site.
But the problem here goes beyond merely repeating unverified and unverifiable casualty figures. The real problem here is that we are told, as a matter of straight news, that the Biden administration’s response “damaged America’s moral authority in much of the world.”
Apparently, Israel is just supposed to sit there and take it. And if they don’t, not only are they the Real Monsters, but anyone who helps them has lost their moral authority.
I mean it’s just a fact, right? As reported by an outlet that deals only in facts.
Over at NRO, Becket Adams takes the WaPo to task, finding that they falsely reported that an Israeli strike had “deliberately” killed a member of Doctors Without Borders who was riding in a convoy which was clearly marked with the group’s logo, and that the newspaper reported that Israel’s counter-strike against the October 7 atrocities had thus far killed 11,000 Palestinians. Doctors Without Borders quickly replied that they could not ascertain who had attacked their convoy, so we can be pretty certain which side it really came from. And of course the 11,000 deaths figure has yet to be verified by any quasi-neutral body, including the UN, and is simply the number alleged by the Gaza Ministry of Health. The WaPo amended the Doctors Without Borders story but they haven’t yet addressed the fatality claims.
Mr. Adams calls out the irony that the WaPo likes to append the clause “without evidence” to the risible claims that Donald Trump and other Republican make, yet swallows without verification whatever their reporters glean from Hamas. He also reminds the reader that the WaPo botched the initial claims of an Israeli strike at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital (as Patterico wrote about above), and the removal of the Michael Ramirez cartoon which pointed out the incongruity of a terrorist organization which regularly uses civilians — including children — as human shields complaining about noncombatant deaths. And, Mr. Adams points out, the WaPo Editorial Board remained silent about university presidents issuing pro forma progressive pronouncements about national and world events such as George Floyd, abortion, and China’s involvement in COVID, yet suddenly counseled university presidents to tread lightly in balancing the barbarity of the October 7 attacks against the alleged unfairness of Israel’s treatment of the citizens of Gaza, lest the university appear to be taking sides on a controversial and complicated issue. In the close of his piece, Mr. Adams sums it up pretty succinctly:
JVW (1ad43e) — 11/28/2023 @ 9:18 amOne, scorecarding a war based on total casualties is a ridiculous tool for assessing the morality of either side, or the status of the war.
Two, I read through Kessler’s review of casualties reported by the Gazan Health Ministry and I’m agreeable that their total casualty numbers aren’t out of line.
Three, what the Hamas-controlled Gazan Health Ministry won’t tell you is how many of the total were actually combatants, but the historic ratio has been around one-third of the total, meaning that around 4,000 Hamas militants have gone to Hell in the last few weeks.
Four, what clearly has not been reported enough is that all civilians in northern Gaza were told to leave to southern Gaza, and those who stay are putting their lives in peril by not doing so. The MSM regularly places all responsibility on the IDF for civilian casualties, while placing no responsibility on Hamas and Gazan civilians for not getting the civilians TFO.
Five, I listened to a Dispatch podcast on how the press corps and it’s worth checking, because the guest (Matti Friedman) details how Israeli press bias has been adversarial toward the current government and gives Hamas a pass.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 11/28/2023 @ 11:01 amand the Biden administration has become identified with a military campaign that has killed more than 13,000 Palestinians, displaced hundreds of thousands of others, created a humanitarian disaster and damaged America’s moral authority in much of the world.
Emphasis mine
The part “has become identified with” is such a weaselly, passive-voice phrase.
norcal (73ebcf) — 11/28/2023 @ 12:10 pmThe Democrat Party is increasingly being controlled by snot-nosed graduates of woke finishing schools. IF they get into power, these same kids will be redesigning our economy based on some studies they read.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/28/2023 @ 12:29 pmIF they get into power, these same kids will be redesigning our economy based on some studies they read.
If only. They will more likely be basing the economy on some pithy and demagogic Tweets from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Paul Krugman, and Thomas Piketty.
JVW (1ad43e) — 11/28/2023 @ 1:15 pmMore then 100 west bank palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers who then seized their former neighbors lands. Also another 1,000+ palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes and lands and told they would be shot if they resisted. New york times. They still have aways to go to reach 1300 ;but they are catching up. also in slate, guardian, intercept and PBS.org.
asset (5b4114) — 11/28/2023 @ 2:55 pmAlso another 1,000+ palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes and lands and told they would be shot if they resisted.
Back in 2005, around 8,000 Israeli Jews were forcibly removed from Gaza and resettled elsewhere in Israel, to make way for Palestinian control of the entire Gaza strip. How did the Palestinians reward Israel for this bold and controversial move? They elected Hamas as their government. You will please spare us the “poor Palestinians, they are making all of the sacrifices to enact the two-state solution” bullstuff you’re trying to spread.
JVW (edc32b) — 11/28/2023 @ 3:09 pm@7My point is nether side are the good guys. As you know I support getting rid of Hamas in gaza. The terrible cost of 6,000 dead palestinian children to atone for the 200 dead Israeli children and when it starts up again thousands more palestinian children will die.
asset (5b4114) — 11/28/2023 @ 3:17 pmThe median age of the US population is 38.9 years. Most of us are young (sic) enough to remember 9/11.
nk (bb1548) — 11/28/2023 @ 4:02 pmI think that we are seeing the end result of the abandonment of critical thinking in our universities. True and false no longer apply; only the direction that statements drive the narrative matters. A good lie is better than a bad truth.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/28/2023 @ 4:36 pmThe median age of the US population is 38.9 years.
The median age of recent J-school graduates is 23, and that’s what fills the newsrooms now.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/28/2023 @ 4:38 pmReporters have always reduced everything to sloppy sentimentalism or avid sensationalism. No matter their age or the age. It’s what sells.
nk (bb1548) — 11/28/2023 @ 4:59 pmEver here of yellow journalism? Only in the late 1950’s did the corporate media starting with tv networks come up with unbiased journalism to protect sponsors of commercials from controversy. Young women the target of commercials are not very political un less you piss them off like abortion.
asset (6c2113) — 11/28/2023 @ 6:02 pmThe terrible cost of 6,000 dead palestinian children to atone for the 200 dead Israeli children and when it starts up again thousands more palestinian children will die.
Some number of civilian citizens of the Confederate States of America — women and children included — died both from military battles in the Southern states and then from campaigns like Sherman’s scorched earth policy in burning cities, crops, and supplies.
Even though modern historians don’t believe that all that many civilians were killed by those policies, either through being burned to death or later starved to death, would you be willing to lend credence if some Confederate sympathizer claimed that 10,000 Southern women and children ended up dead due to Sherman’s campaign?
Would it have made any difference in your appraisal if Confederate soldiers had donned civilian clothing and embedded themselves among the women and children as a way to try and hide from the Union Army and use their families and children as human shields?
Would that then make the whole issue of ending slavery in America unjust, since it came at “too high a price”?
Or do you now self-righteously declare that in our Civil War “neither side were the good guys”?
It’s pretty easy to pass judgement on people who are fighting for their very lives when you’re sitting safely at home typing on your keyboard, isn’t it?
JVW (17c0b2) — 11/28/2023 @ 6:07 pmA lot of German civilians died in the bombing campaigns, too. They were just as much responsible for Hitler and the Nazis as Palestinians were for electing Hamas to rule Gaza. Which group do we have more sympathy and why?
If people want to talk about how Israel oppressed Gazans, we can point to the oppression that the French and English imposed on Germany at Versailles.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/28/2023 @ 6:26 pm@14 Nathan bedford forrest was a terrorist who murdered black soldier prisoners. Jefferson davis was captured wearing women’s cloths. Southern soldiers didn’t always wear uniforms like mosbey. North was eventually fighting to end slavery. Yes I can pass judgement using basic standards of humanity which means I have say to Israel you must protect the children even at cost while you destroy Hamas. @7 Israel did not withdraw from gaza and the west bank out of the goodness of their hearts. The cost to control the palestinian occupied territories was to great in lives and finances. Thats why they left and you know this.
asset (6c2113) — 11/28/2023 @ 6:30 pmThe only ones responsible for the deaths of Gazan civilians — and I mean civilians and not unlawful combatants not in uniform — are the Ham Ass terrorists. They can’t just be allowed to raid, murder, rape, and kidnap and then run and hide in their civilian population. They just can’t be allowed.
If the Gazan civilians don’t like it, they can poison Ham Ass’s food and water and slit their throats as they sleep. They can’t expect Israelis to allow themselves to be slaughtered for their sake.
nk (bb1548) — 11/28/2023 @ 6:53 pmAnd not for the sake of non-entity internet trolls, either, nor to get some dotard reelected. The United States had placed Israel under an arms embargo in the 1949 war. It still had friends around the world who supplied it with weapons.
nk (bb1548) — 11/28/2023 @ 7:19 pmSpeaking of giving Hamas a pass, the Oakland City Council took it to a whole new level.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 11/28/2023 @ 7:30 pmSo ahead of his time
“So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post. Hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands!”
lloyd (8cc575) — 11/28/2023 @ 8:17 pmThe cost to control the palestinian occupied territories was to great in lives and finances. Thats why they left and you know this.
I never claimed that Israel abandoned Gaza out of the goodness of their hearts. They were tired of being condemned worldwide as “occupiers,” so they left Gaza to the Palestinians and — guess what? — they were still condemned worldwide as occupiers. So a lot of good that move did. But I’ve never argued against the idea that Israel saw keeping Jewish settlements in Gaza as inherently dangerous given the demographic changes in the region and the repeated problems in quelling an unruly people.
But my point remains that Israel received no credit for taking the very controversial step of forcefully relocating its own citizens from the area, so anybody who thinks that the world will suddenly celebrate Israel if they agree to a ceasefire and to go back to the status quo ante of October 6 is deluding themself. Everyone with any understanding of modern world affairs knows that Israel will continue to be the whipping boy for every academic Third Worldist dipshit, every nasty anti-semite, and every mindless progressive who believes that successful societies are only so because they are oppressing the totally dysfunctional societies which progressives so revere from afar.
JVW (03a183) — 11/28/2023 @ 9:17 pmHopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands!
I think that Charles Koch is still interested in a major paper.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/28/2023 @ 10:07 pmthey are oppressing the totally dysfunctional societies
Like Cuba and North Korea, Gaza would be a paradise if not for all the oppressing.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/28/2023 @ 10:09 pm@21 After reading your comments all I get is on the one hand yes and on the other hand no. The main reason Israel left is cost not tired of condemnation. It wasn’t alturism (you make no comment on why) that settlers were removed ;but cost of protecting them. This is why netanyahu kept IDF on west bank instead of gaza on oct.7 to protect settlers who were killing palestinians for their lands (NYT) long before oct.7 and have killed over a 100 since giving oct.7 as an excuse.
asset (6c2113) — 11/28/2023 @ 11:57 pmTrump has been on the side of Ham Ass ever since Netanyahu congratulated Biden for winning the election. To Trump and his cult, everything is always about Trump. Every thing. Always.
nk (bb1548) — 11/29/2023 @ 5:50 amWhile I have sympathy for Palestinian civilians whose lives are so disrupted and who are often caught in the crossfire, I contend that they should direct their anger and indignation at Hamas rather than at Israel. Hamas launched it barbarous attack knowing full well that Israel would respond militarily (and why shouldn’t they, after all?), and that it would result in civilian casualties, and they didn’t care. Hamas has always been quite willing to sacrifice Palestinian civilians, while many of its top leaders live abroad in luxury, funded by money pilfered from foreign support. It’s too bad that so many have to suffer, but Hamas doesn’t seem to care about that. The Hamas Covenant should be required reading for campus twits who argue that the blame for this conflict is 100% on the Israeli side.
Roger (ded668) — 11/29/2023 @ 6:29 amhttps://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2023/11/28/source-biden-pressure-israeli-tactics-will-leave-hamas-intact-and-in-power/
Keep covering for Joe.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 11/29/2023 @ 6:49 amhttps://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/11/29/more-police-state-bs-n595415
Anyone want to defend the special counsel here? Or, really, the direction our investigative agencies?
This is what I mean why I’m so frustrated with this near religious zeal to “get Trump” at all costs.
I’m here to tell you that the costs may not be worth it.
whembly (5f7596) — 11/29/2023 @ 8:39 amKeep covering for Joe.
It’s possible that one can be against Joe AND Trump. In fact the most likely case for Joe being re-elected is that Trump is the Republican nominee.
So, why are you trying to get Biden re-elected?
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/29/2023 @ 8:48 amAnyone want to defend the special counsel here?
Sometimes lawyers bury their opponents in massive “discovery” documents. Here, Jack Smith is burying himself. If he uses this to create watch lists, it will only go to destroying judicial tolerance for watch lists.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/29/2023 @ 8:54 amSo, apparently, then-Prince Charles was concerned about the “complexion” Harry and Meghan’s baby.
https://pagesix.com/2021/11/28/book-prince-charles-questioned-skin-tone-of-harry-meghan-baby/
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/29/2023 @ 9:06 amLiz Cheney blames Kevin McCarthy for rescuing Donald Trump after J6.
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/the-things-we-do-for-the-orange-jesus-cnn-shares-stunning-insider-excerpts-from-liz-cheneys-new-book/
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/29/2023 @ 9:10 amWho is covering for Joe?
nk (bb1548) — 11/29/2023 @ 9:21 amLiz Cheney blames Kevin McCarthy for rescuing Donald Trump after J6.
And all it got McCarthy was …? The schadenfreude! The schadenfreude!
nk (bb1548) — 11/29/2023 @ 9:25 amComedy Gold!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/29/2023 @ 10:01 am31, just don’t let those kids marry any of the Patrick Mahomes kids…on attitude and petulance alone, without regard for what shade they end up.
urbanleftbehind (640fb5) — 11/29/2023 @ 10:04 amThere is no way that Trump would pick a woman of color. He’d lose all the incels and racists, a good portion of his support. She took down the flag, too, dishonoring their Lost Cause.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/29/2023 @ 10:15 amRip, why do you hate Haley so? Don’t pretend you don’t.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/29/2023 @ 10:17 amI don’t hate Haley, I just object to her as a presidential candidate. I’ve laid out my reasons multiple times, and I’m not going to repeat myself.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/29/2023 @ 11:01 amHere’s one reason:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/29/2023 @ 11:14 amasset (6c2113) — 11/28/2023 @ 11:57 pm
Now that’s not what happened and I don’t think the New York Times ever said that. Most of the people killed since October 7 were killed by soldiers – all but 8 – the NYT gave a number sightly over 100 killed , but did not go into the circumstances, but there are Hamas cells in places like Jenin and terrorist attacks that would have attracted notice before October 7.
Sammy Finkelman (f1a67c) — 11/29/2023 @ 11:35 amRoger @26: Hamas intended for Israel to attack and invade Gaza. There is no other explanation for them posting on some captured social media accounts what they did.
Sammy Finkelman (f1a67c) — 11/29/2023 @ 11:39 amWonder how the WaPo is going to spin Hamas l’s murder of an infant they kidnapped to go the infants they beheaded and cooked in an oven.
NJRob (665836) — 11/29/2023 @ 11:56 amThose who try and keep everything about Trump instead of focusing on the President or Republican alternatives to Trump are covering for Joe. But you knew that already.
NJRob (6ec3e6) — 11/29/2023 @ 12:00 pmMore from Rep. Kevin McCarthy:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/29/2023 @ 12:13 pm43. No the ones that were cooked in a (microwave?) oven – there was more than one – Caroline Glick wrote about that and she was challenged and she checked and confirmed it from several sources and was told that the infant she was talking about was not the only one – that baby I don’t think was beheaded.
Several children in at least one place (toddlers?) were beheaded such that the Zaka people who came to take and prepare the bodies for burial didn’t know which head belonged to which child. Many bodies were burned. Many people were forced out of their safe rooms by fire (like what happened in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.
It’s been hard to get the beheaded babies story straight but at one point the NYT said it originated with an (unnamed) French journalist.
Hamas and its supporters alternate between taking credit for killing children (and civilians in general), denying it, and denying the denial.
Sammy Finkelman (f1a67c) — 11/29/2023 @ 12:52 pmHaley as Trump’s VP would certainly give her a boost to be the Republican nominee in 2028. It would also allow her to become President earlier if Trump was impeached; improving its likelihood if Senate Republicans knew she would replace him.
Rip Murdock (1992c1) — 11/29/2023 @ 12:53 pmRip, I suspect that any politician who passes your purity test has zero chance of getting elected.
Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Even if I’m wrong, and your dream candidate get elected, there is this:
norcal (60c7fb) — 11/29/2023 @ 1:17 pmPfft. Binary brainlessness.
Paul Montagu (d52d7d) — 11/29/2023 @ 2:23 pmThe important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing.
Whereabouts do they sell these here establishers of political climates of opinion, norcal?
It’s like the joke about the three men, one of them an economist, who are shipwrecked on a desert island with a can of beans but no can opener. Discussing how to open the can, one man proposes dropping it from the top of a palm tree, while another proposes hitting it with a rock. The economist proposes: “Let’s assume that we have a can opener ….
nk (bb1548) — 11/29/2023 @ 2:54 pmI know my favored candidate won’t win (they never do). And it has nothing to do with purity. I’ve laid specific reasons (ad nauseum) for not liking Nikki. The “groundswell” of support (among the 20 or so posters here) for Nikki demands a response. If she is the nominee, she won’t get there with my help.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/29/2023 @ 3:06 pmThen again, I live in California, where Trump is at 59%; +48 over DeSantis and +51 over Nikki. Trump is so influential that he got the State Republican Party to re-write the delegate allocation rules in his favor.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 11/29/2023 @ 3:11 pmThe important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing.
An example here would be the Reagan tax cuts of the early 1980s, or welfare reform in the mid-90s. The former required the cooperation of a Democrat House, and the latter required the cooperation of a Democrat White House.
JVW (39d72a) — 11/29/2023 @ 3:33 pmHamas intended for Israel to attack and invade Gaza. There is no other explanation for them posting on some captured social media accounts what they did.
Don’t discount the possibility that these are raging lunatics, blinded by ugly hatred. I think that the Hamas leadership probably knew these attacks would bring the invasion of Gaza and for whatever reason welcomed it, but at the same time I wonder if the leaders were deep down inside a little bit taken aback at the bloodlust shown by their shock troops.
JVW (9cccdf) — 11/29/2023 @ 3:37 pmWhereabouts do they sell these here establishers of political climates of opinion, norcal?
nk (bb1548) — 11/29/2023 @ 2:54 pm
They come free with a mirror. 😛
norcal (cbfad8) — 11/29/2023 @ 5:37 pmRIP Henry Kissinger (100).
Rip Murdock (1992c1) — 11/29/2023 @ 6:47 pmI know a lot of commentary is about Kissinger’s shuttle diplomacy and the Middle East, but I think his crowning achievement was separating China and the USSR at the beginning of the 70s. Divide and conquer, and it worked.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/29/2023 @ 7:28 pmElon Musk tells fleeing advertisers to “to go f*&% yourselves”. I think Musk is such an interesting study on how social media makes really smart people seem so glaringly flawed. He is literally the inventer and pioneer of the electric car company in the US. He is commercializing space. He helped create StarLink. He’s financing technical innovations in medicine. And he’s soiling his incredible legacy with this hubristic Twitter/X obsession. He should do what he does well….’cause managing X ain’t it.
AJ_Liberty (fa63f1) — 11/29/2023 @ 7:58 pmWhen X was Twitter, ads for Disney, Apple and IBM appeared alongside Jihadi videos and those companies didn’t care. They also didn’t care when Twitter smothered the truth about the origins of a virus that killed millions and a laptop that embarrassed a favored presidential candidate. If he managed X to maximize shareholder value, he’d kiss their rears. He’s not, to his credit. Really smart people don’t give a damn about what dumb people want them to do.
lloyd (248641) — 11/29/2023 @ 8:36 pm@56
Count me as a fan of Musk.
I don’t mind is Titter/X antics and for the most part, it’s a net positive.
Certainly much better than the previous owners.
whembly (77236a) — 11/29/2023 @ 8:36 pm@43 if Israel wasn’t responible for the deaths of 6,000 palestinian children you would have a point. To many who support Israel want to ignore dead palestinian babies. I don’t and still support Israel’s right to get rid of Hamas. Speaking of evil kissinger is now confronting all the many thousands of people including women and children that he was responsible for the deaths of.
asset (12b51a) — 11/29/2023 @ 9:01 pmAnd when Musk “likes” a screed that expressed shädenfreude regarding American Jews who supported illegal immigration being backstabbed by their progressive “allies” love for Hamas, he is called an antisemite and cannot seem to counter the meme. (The poster was most def anti-immigrant, but the antisemitism was hard to see.)
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/29/2023 @ 10:00 pmWhen X was Twitter, ads for Disney, Apple and IBM appeared alongside Jihadi videos and those companies didn’t care.
Because the press didn’t care.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/29/2023 @ 10:02 pmHe is literally the inventer and pioneer of the electric car company in the US.
Musk should pay his publicists a bonus just for getting AJ_Liberty to say that. There were electric cars and electric car companies in America before there were pants with belt loops. A generation before.
Musk’s “genius” is in boldly going where others have built the sidewalks and dropped their wallets. His problems with Twitter/X stem from throwing away Jack Dorsey’s credit card (to extend the allusion).
Meh!
nk (024441) — 11/30/2023 @ 6:06 amDon’t forget “peace with honor” in Vietnam.
Rip Murdock (1992c1) — 11/30/2023 @ 6:50 amRIP Irish singer and songwriter Shane McGowan (65), of The Pogues. Wrote the modern Christmas classic Fairytale of New York.
Rip Murdock (1992c1) — 11/30/2023 @ 7:01 amRIP Broadway, television, and film star Frances Sternhagen (93). Nominated for seven Tonys, she won one. Most famous for television appearances as a mom: Cliff Clavin’s in Cheers, Brenda Leigh Johnson’s (Kyra Sedgwick) in The Closer; and Trey’s. (Kyle MacLachlan) in Sex and the City.
Rip Murdock (1992c1) — 11/30/2023 @ 7:12 am66, there’s gonna be Twitter combing and conspiracy spinning on Macgowans death i. e. “How tight was he with Conor McGregor?”.
urbanleftbehind (e005f9) — 11/30/2023 @ 7:48 amDon’t forget “peace with honor” in Vietnam.
Don’t forget that the north cynically signed an agreement they never intended to follow.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 8:29 amThere were electric cars and electric car companies in America before there were pants with belt loops. A generation before.
Sure, and all of them failed. If something doesn’t succeed, it’s not much of an invention. Tesla succeeded where even GM failed. Their patents will be licensed, GM’s won’t.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 8:34 amMusk’s “genius” is in boldly going where others have built the sidewalks and dropped their wallets.
If it was so easy, everyone would be succeeding. Hint: They aren’t. Musk succeeded in competition with a government agency with infinite money, and against other billionaires who used to have more money.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 8:37 amIt would be interesting if Trump had to spend a night in jail.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 9:22 am@71
Musk’s Tesla/SpaceX success is more to do with innovative supply chains and manufacturing than “cool stuff”.
Its easy to prototype new stuff… but, to mass produce it AND make it profitable is something else entirely.
whembly (5f7596) — 11/30/2023 @ 9:23 amMusk will be the world’s first trillionaire, only partially due to inflation.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 9:24 am“There were electric cars and electric car companies in America before there were pants with belt loops.”
Tesla turned electric vehicles into sought after cars. They revolutionized the EV battery arena. This isn’t exactly controversial.
https://www.topspeed.com/how-tesla-reshaped-automotive-industry/#:~:text=Summary,world%2C%20the%20Tesla%20Model%20Y.
https://medium.com/@dailymediapoint/9-ways-elon-musk-tesla-motors-changed-automotive-industry-5be11a353725#:~:text=Spurring%20Global%20EV%20Adoption%3A%20Elon%20Musk%20Tesla%20Motors&text=This%20infrastructure%20not%20only%20made,for%20high%2Dquality%20electric%20vehicles.
https://www.hotcars.com/the-real-story-how-tesla-evs-revolutionized-the-car-industry/
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 11/30/2023 @ 9:42 amI’ve found the WAPO to be a good source for news in the past. Their current performance is deeply disappointing and undermines their credibility.
Time123 (24578e) — 11/30/2023 @ 10:11 amLike many other newspapers, the WaPo is laying off the old-timers and hiring out of J-school to cut costs. These kids are the product of a very different education system that most of us experienced, light on critical thinking, heavy on dogmatic belief and fearful of political inquisition.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 10:20 am*
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 10:21 amthatthanLOL!
Rip Murdock (1992c1) — 11/30/2023 @ 10:52 amTime123 (24578e) — 11/30/2023 @ 10:11 am
This could be an example of the Gell-Mann effect. (The Washington Post is probably never trustworthy when it comes to its sources – it perhaps may be accurate when something is going to become known another way and gets to its readers first)
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/65213-briefly-stated-the-gell-mann-amnesia-effect-is-as-follows-you
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 11:59 amLook at this from the Washington Post, in 2021:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/28/rob-malley-iran-envoy-choice/
He was only (probably) an Iranian double agent.
https://nypost.com/2023/10/20/pentagon-aide-called-iran-spy-keeps-security-clearance
(that article is about a protege)
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 12:34 pm69. Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 8:29 am
The agreement had provisions for determining a violation, and it worked, but there was no plan in place for what to do in that event, Some say resumption of American bombing might have worked, but that was prohibited by Congress.
North Vietnam did not really expect to take over the south in 1975. The victory came as a surprise to them. It was because Congress cut off military aid. That was because of the freshman Democratic class. It was organized by Bill Clinton, (he intended to be the leader of the Dem freshmen) He did not make it into Congress himself (and even worse for him, Senator Fulbright lost the Democratic primary) but the forces he set in motion, continued after him.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 12:42 pm43. NJRob (665836) — 11/29/2023 @ 11:56 am
What Hamas did is turn him over to another Islamic group two days before and that group claimed that he, and his brother and his mother got killed by Israeli shelling (in the middle of almost complete truce!)
If almost everybody in the world indicates that they did not believe them, and that punishing anyone who harms or harmed them will be atop priority for years they may yet turn up alive.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 12:48 pmKevin M (ed969f) — 11/29/2023 @ 7:28 pm
They were already separate since the late 1950s. The USSR backed India in 1962. They even fought a border war in 1969.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_border_conflict
It was not necessary to do anything.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 12:55 pmasset (12b51a) — 11/29/2023 @ 9:01 pm
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 1:01 pmasset (12b51a) — 11/29/2023 @ 9:01 pm
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 1:01 pm@84 It was because south vietnam was corrupt and their soldiers wouldn’t fight for corruption. See pictures of Danang 1975 same kabul 2021. Yet those willing to fight in ukraine rethugs want to cut funding.
asset (d0628e) — 11/30/2023 @ 1:38 pm@86 Chile 1973 see movie missing with jack lemon.
asset (d0628e) — 11/30/2023 @ 1:41 pmWhy does jeff bezos support establishment democrats? His business is economic libertarian free trade capitalism which is the mantra of the reagan/bush/romney/club for growth wing of the republican party ;but not the trump populist republican majority which is why he hates trump.
asset (d0628e) — 11/30/2023 @ 1:48 pm> Which would make the median age in Gaza 18 assuming the deaths were a random sample of the population of Gaza.
Yes, that’s well established.
CIA world factbook says median male age is 17.7 and median female age is 18.4. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/gaza-strip/
Forty percent of Gaza’s population is under the age of 15.
aphrael (71d87c) — 11/30/2023 @ 2:13 pmMusk’s Tesla/SpaceX success is more to do with innovative supply chains and manufacturing than “cool stuff”.
There’s a lot of chutzpah in that comment, particularly with respect to SpaceX.
And if it was just a matter of being a better quartermaster, why are GM and Ford unable to compete with Tesla? They had “supply chain” down to a science before Musk was born. Believe it or not a LOT of engineering is creating new stuff. R&D engineers are not the people who work for bureaucratic companies.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 2:46 pmA trial date has not yet been set for the matter.
They should subpoena Mayor Adams for testimony on the costs of dealing with paroled immigrants.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 2:49 pmIt was not necessary to do anything.
So, prying China out of the Socialist orbit wasn’t necessary and things would have “just happened”? Next you’ll be saying that Reagan and Shultz had nothing to do with the financial destruction of the Soviet Union. The USSR would have spent 60% of GDP on a hopeless arms race anyway.
#JustHappened
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 2:53 pmChile 1973 see movie missing with jack lemon.
Because anecdotal movies made by polemicists are as good as knowing history!
Kevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 2:55 pmOn second thought…….
Rip Murdock (1992c1) — 11/30/2023 @ 3:19 pm@93
Not really… being a “better quartermaster” is precisely how you become profitable.
Better yet, a “better quartermaster” is an absolute force multiplier and even, wins you wars.
This isn’t to say creative engineering doesn’t have a place… of course it does.
But having a great “quartermaster” absolutely is a factor whether or not your company makes profits.
whembly (5f7596) — 11/30/2023 @ 3:48 pm> Which would make the median age in Gaza 18 assuming the deaths were a random sample of the population of Gaza.
aphrael (71d87c) — 11/30/2023 @ 2:13 pm
I didn’t check this before, but I assumed a median age would be something between 30 and 40 and I remember an estimate given in a book dealing with prewar (and wartime) Poland where approximately 1/3 of any given population is under 18. I knew Gaza had a high birth rate, but hw high cold it go?
In the United States it was 38.1 in 2018, (pre-Covid) and 29.7 in 1960. and 28.4 in 1970.
Yes, it does get so low.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_median_age
Angola had 15.9 in 2018 and is number 228 (probably due to war in previous years) Niger is ranked number 230 at 15.4. There seem to be numbers missing.
Israel had 29.9. Gaza is not listed.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 4:02 pmHamas intended for Israel to attack and invade Gaza. There is no other explanation for them posting on some captured social media accounts what they did.
JVW (9cccdf) — 11/29/2023 @ 3:37 pm
I discount that for anyone in a position of authority. It’s ambition, fear of dissent – the way someone in Soviet or Chinese Politburo could not dissent – friendship with others in the leadership. and money from Iran.
And what they really wanted was not to kill Israelis, but to get their own people killed by Israelis.
They couldn’t survive at that level if they were blinded by hatred.
Several possibilities, but none of them make sense for people living in Gaza, which means it wasn’t their decision. It was part of a bigger plan, initiated by Iran, Russia and/or China.
+The goal being, on the part of Iran, to be able to use a nuclear weapon with impunity (relying on their spies to tell them when there was impunity); for Russia a more short term goal to divert U.S. military resources away from Ukraine and to eliminate any possibility – which was admittedly small – of Israel selling anything to Ukraine; and for China to have Iran either get away with the use of a nuclear bomb or get any response condemned, leaving China free to credibly threaten Taiwan with a nuclear bomb and peacefully arrange a surrender.
I think they were surprised by two things: How many of their attacks were successful – they had over 20 separate groups, none of whom knew about the existence of the others; and by how many did not kill all the people they were supposed to. They were also surprised by the number of hostages they got.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 4:18 pmKevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 2:53 pm
It had already happened. And the increase in trade and shift to more sound economics didn’t happen until the death of Mao. Now the elimination of the boycott maybe helped that along.
No, I am saying that the money they spent on arms had nothing to do with the fall of the Soviet Union.
That happened because Brezhnev died, and Kosygin died and all the members of his Politburo.
The spending on Star Wars maybe helped the Soviet Union give up on catching up militarily to the United States and that was a good thing .
But the Evil Empire fell (mostly – it had abt of a second coming under Putin) because of Gorbachev trying to change things and because of the system of control was senile. Even Brezhnev had not understood it – just tried to maintain what Lenin and Stalin had established.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 4:26 pmMore about the Iranian spy network that has infiltrated the U.S. government:
https://nypost.com/2023/11/29/opinion/meet-the-israel-haters-at-the-top-of-bidens-pro-iran-government
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 4:34 pmasset (d0628e) — 11/30/2023 @ 1:38 pm
No they wouldn’t fight if they felt they were being abandoned. South Vietnamese President Thieu had made a sudden withdrawal owing to limitations on U.S. military aid.
NO such abandonment took place in Ukraine.
France in 1940 also had its army running.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 11/30/2023 @ 4:37 pmKevin M (ed969f) — 11/30/2023 @ 2:49 pm
Why should people who criticize Democrats suddenly believe him on this? Mayor Adams, or rather the people he put in charge because they raised money for his campaign, is trying to spend as much money as possible (give out emergency contracts) Suddenly it really costs what he spends?
He’s trying to save a little money maybe (or spend a little less) so the House of Representatives voted to stop him today.
https://wabcradio.com/2023/11/30/house-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-cancel-lease-at-floyd-bennett-field
Sammy Finkelman (f1a67c) — 11/30/2023 @ 5:33 pmCourt opinion.
Rip Murdock (1992c1) — 11/30/2023 @ 7:04 pm@103 whats your excuse before abandonment that they wouldn’t fight? Ukraine will fight on wither we abandon them or not look at bataan 1942 vs danang/kabul.
asset (e9353b) — 11/30/2023 @ 11:00 pm