Coffee is good for talent, but genius wants prayer. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Iran Pays For Kassam Attacks In Israel

Once again, Iran shows why negotiations on any kind of security arrangements for Iraq or anywhere else in the Middle East will prove fruitless. Iran occupies the central position for terrorism throughout the region; it assists the militias in Iraq, it supports the Hezbollah push to overthrow the Lebanese government, and now we see that it directly funds the Palestinian terror attacks on Israeli citizens. It even funds Fatah terror groups while Ehud Olmert insists on propping up their leader with a hundred million in cash.

In The Bullpen (Chad Evans) Conspiracy Theories Abound in Iranian Press

Steven Stalinsky, of MEMRI, notes some rather interesting conspiracy theories in the Iranian press. A summary of conspiracies in his article appearing in The New York Sun:

Ankle Biting Pundits (Bull Dog Pundit) What’s Not To Like About Sessions’ Social Security Plan?

Can someone please explain to me why anyone would oppose the ideas in a Social Security reform plan like the one outlined by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) in today’s Washington Post? [Note: Formating at ABP is a little flaky right now, but the post is still worth reading. Jim]

Well, let’s have some coffee and then take a swim. ~ Johnny Weissmuller

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to
SmadaNek

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) The Return Of Conservative Grapevine — “In the latter part of 2005, I ran Right Wing News and a blog called Conservative Grapevine. Conservative Grapevine was a link blog dedicated to highlighting the best posts from around the right side of the blogosphere as well as covering articles about blogging. Unfortunately, the work load got to be too much for me on top of RWN and so after only 4 months, I decided to kill off CG.

Well, after a 14 month long hiatus, Conservative Grapevine is back, but this time, it’s not going to be a solo project.”

Flopping Aces (Curt) Responding To The New York Times — “The New York Times has a new article out tomorrow in which they skewer blogs for having the audacity to question them:”

Right Truth (Debbie) Palestinians threaten violence, I’m shocked! — “Actually the article headline is Israel and Palestinians threaten violence. As Israel continues to defend herself, Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza said that Israel would be responsible “for any response in the coming hours” by Islamic Jihad. Translation, ‘we’re going to attack you, but it will be your fault’.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) It’s The Electability, Stupid — “Rumors have swirled around HIllary Clinton regarding her presumed run for the presidency in 2008, with some saying that a Barack Obama run will keep her out of the race and that she has not discovered the inner fire for the grueling campaign, a la Mark Warner. Now, however, she’s begun meeting with Democratic power brokers, indicating that she’s plowing ahead — but Democrats do not appear completely thrilled by the prospect.”

Give a frontiersman coffee and tobacco, and he will endure any privation, suffer any hardship, but let him be without these two necessaries of the woods, and he becomes irresolute and murmuring. ~ U.S. Army Lt. William Whiting, 1849

Flopping Aces coverage of TOM™ (The Old Media) using terrorist apologists as sources is quite the talk in the blogosphere, and rightly so. Here are the stories:

• 11/24 — The AP & Hamas
• 11/24 — Patterico Takes On The Democrat Times
• 11/25 — Getting The News From The Enemy
• 11/27 — Getting The News From The Enemy, Update
• 11/27 — Getting The News From The Enemy, Update II

Excellent job, Curt. (h/t to Beth at Blue Star Chronicles for the links.)

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Olmert Offers Peace, Fatah Responds As Usual — “Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave what had been billed as a major policy speech, but to little practical effect. Olmert urged Palestinians to agree to end hostilities in order to negotiate for a long-term peace and offered mass prisoner releases as an incentive, but the Palestinians responded with rocket attacks from Gaza:”

I will be in a training class again today. Thanks for hanging in there.

Coffee is a beverage that puts one to sleep when not drank. ~ Alphonse Allais

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to
Hooah Wife

Right Truth (Debbie) Hamas wants to attack United States interests in Middle East — “Hamas not only refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist, they now want to attack interests of the United States in the Middle East. They seem to be upset with President George W. Bush and the United States support of Israel. It seems the ‘radicals’ within Hamas are outnumbering the (dare I say it) moderates. Israeli intelligence believes that if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas moves to dismiss the Hamas government in the next few weeks, the radical element in Hamas will go forward with attacks on US interests.”

Blue Crab Boulevard Russia And China Raise Objectios To NK Sanctions — “The concessions already made in the resolution make the sanctions largely toothless to begin with. This latest round of objections will likely weaken them still more. Iran is watching and laughing. It knows how far it can go now.

All the way.”

In The Bullpen (Chad Evans) Hamas Might Target U.S. Interests — “This was really only a matter of time not due to the perceived evils of the Bush Administration, but rather because the Bush Administration won’t invite the Palestinian leadership of terror to Camp David unlike administrations past.”

The drink that comforteth the brain and heart and helpeth digestion. ~ Sir Francis Bacon

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to
Musing Minds

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) New Offensive Brewing In Gaza — “The London Telegraph reports that Palestinian militants have acquired tons of explosives and perhaps even advanced missiles, preparing for a showdown with the IDF they expect to come if Gilad Shalit is not freed soon. The terrorists want to emulate Hezbollah’s attack against the Israelis and have upgraded their weapons systems with that in mind:”

Blue Crab Boulevard Commission To Review AZ “9/11 Memorial” — “All of a sudden, the commission that approved the Arizona “9/11 Memorial” will review the structure that carries inscriptions that make it seem more like a tribute to moral equivalence.”

Confederatre Yankee Torturing the Truth — “I’d like for the Times to go out of their way for once and try to apply a little logic and reason, and—God forbid, facts—to support their contention that the legislation will make American soldiers “less safe.” The truth the Times and its liberal supporters refuse to confront is that our enemies in this war against Islamic terrorism do not now, nor have they ever, followed any civilized notion of how to conduct warfare against military or civilian targets, and when they have been able to capture American soldiers, they have tortured, mutilated and beheaded them.”

The Strata-Sphere (A.J. Strata) Time To Meet Justice — “After five years we get a chance to bring those animals who decided to use our civilian airplanes as their weapons to attack innocent people on 9-11 to justice . The idea we had to go through so much wrangling to try these murderers without exposing our defenses to their comrades (who are still out there planning the next 9-11) is a sad sign that the suicidal mindset that allowed 9-11 to happen still permeates our culture.”

I don’t know what to make of this:

An explosion in central Tel Aviv on Tuesday night appeared to be the work of criminals, not terrorists, police said. No injuries were reported.

Not much online at this time other than the boilerplate, ‘doesn’t appear to be terror related’.

Coffee falls into the stomach … ideas begin to move, things remembered arrive at full gallop … the shafts of wit start up like sharp-shooters, similes arise, the paper is covered with ink… ~ Honore de Balzac

Iowa Voice (Brian) Election Glitches — “You know, no matter what happens come November, the left is going to be screaming bloody murder. If they lose, especially after telling themselves over and over again that victory is theirs (kind of reminiscent on 2000, 2002, and 2004), they’re going to be blaming it on fraud and these machines.”

Don Surber No new ideas and no clue — “Democrats always look good in the summer. They looked good in the summer of 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004. The best Democrats could do was re-elect Clinton in 1996 — but not by a majority; they last got a majority in 1976 and have not had a majority of the white vote since 1964. The only way they won back the Senate was by a tie.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Israeli Arabs a ‘Fifth Column’? — “Israeli Arabs have come under unprecedented criticism in the last few weeks, undermining their political position in the nation. While majorities still see native Arabs as Israelis, growing percentages of Israelis want them to emigrate out of Israel, with even Knesset members expressing hostility towards them. The potential for increasing racism have some politicians worried, especially Israeli Arab MKs. However, as the Jerusalem Post reports, they have done the most damage to their image themselves:”

If it wasn’t for coffee, I’d have no discernible personality at all. ~ David Letterman

In The Bullpen (Chad Evans) Hezbollah Demanding Child Killer — “According to the Jerusalem Post, Hezbollah is refusing to negotiate over the release of two abducted IDF soldiers that started the latest Israel-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah’s demand instead is rather simple. Israel has to release Samir Kuntar.

Who is Samir Kuntar? He might be the next Hezbollah leader.”

Right Truth (Debbie) United Nations, going, going, gone? — “How can the worst of terrorist nations and the best of free nations all have the same say and equal footing in an organization like the United Nations, and accomplish anything worthwhile? They can’t. A group of like-minded countries working together against the countries left at the United Nations would be a wonderful idea.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Sistani Kills Federalism Plan — “In a move that belies earlier reports that Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani had withdrawn from Iraqi politics, the widely respected Shi’ite imam scotched a plan by Shi’ite political groups to transform Iraq into a loosely-knit federation of three autonomous states. The Shi’ite-controlled legislature will table the proposal indefinitely, and the third-ranking official in the government pronounced the plan dead:”

Outside The Beltway (James Joyner) Bill Clinton Meets Lefty Bloggers — “Liberals are angry at Clinton for enacting so little of their agenda, just as conservatives are angry at Bush. But politics is the art of the possible. Rantings of the critics aside, presidents are not dictators who can govern by fiat. There are plenty of perfectly legitimate reasons to criticize Clinton and Bush; that they were insufficiently ideological is not among them.”

Dr. Sanity (Pat Santy) WHO WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IT? — “Slowly and almost imperceptably, the liberal left has morphed into the lunatic left. They have abandoned most of the liberal legacy that gave them emotional consistency and moral clarity; and instead, they have embraced positions that would have been completely inconceivable to imagine just a few short years ago.”

Give a frontiersman coffee and tobacco, and he will endure any privation, suffer any hardship, but let him be without these two necessaries of the woods, and he becomes irresolute and murmuring. ~ U.S. Army Lt. William Whiting, 1849

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to
Something… and Half of Something
&
Stix Blog

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) ‘An Absolutely Hostile Attitude Towards Jews’ In Germany — “Charlotte Knobloch survived Nazi Germany’s genocide on Jews to rise to the head of the German Jewish Council. In a disturbing interview with Der Spiegel, Knobloch — whose personal history gives her the requisite perspective — states that anti-Semitic attitudes have hit levels not seen in years:”

PoliBlog (Dr. Steven Taylor) Harris on Track to Win So that She Can be on Track to Lose — “If anyone wants a lesson in the anemic influence of party leadership and the general fact that the process of choosing primaries candidates is a self-selection process, this race is it. It has been clear for months that Harris has no chance of winning this Senate seat, and while there were attempts by GOP leadership to recruit another candidate, or to dissuade Harris from running, the bottom line is that they have no power to actually make such things happen. Party leadership sometimes can actively and successfully recruit candidates, but on balance it is a catch as catch can in terms of who is willing and able to run.”

GOP Bloggers (Jonathan R.) Europe Begs Iran: “Please Toy With Us” — “With Iran, Europe behaves in exactly the way one would expect, reluctantly imposing an ultimatum and then begging the aggressor to create some blatantly duplicitous facade of compliance that Europe could then point to as a rationale to do nothing.”

Confederate Yankee Pretty/Stupid — “If Hammasa Kohistani wants to change public opinion and stereotypes against Muslims as she says elsewhere in the article, she needs to encourage Muslims to prove, time and again if necessary, that the violent fundamentalist way is not their own. British Muslims should respond to suspicions not by embracing terrorism, but by becoming the most vigilant fighters against it.”

Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after. ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) The Ceasefire Continues To Disintegrate — “The UN ceasefire is now on the brink of total disentegration. Hezbollah has been refusing to disarm or go South and they’re continuing to attempt to rearm. Moreover, it’s now starting to look as if the international troops that are supposed to be supplementing the Lebanese army in the South may not be forthcoming at all:”

In The Bullpen (Chad Evans) Annan Wishes to Give UNIFIL Teeth — “According to the Jerusalem Post, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to recommend giving UNIFIL the ability to fire upon Hezbollah when deployed in Southern Lebanon. This would seem like a no-brainer considering two resolutions have now called for the disarming of Hezbollah, but this is the United Nations we’re talking about.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) UNIFIL Teeth Sharpened? — “The public acknowledgment of 1701’s inherent flaw of credible enforcement comes as a pleasant surprise, as does the proposed solution. If we had a hope in Hades that the UN would actually deploy the kinds of troops that would execute such orders, we’d almost say this was progress.”

Michelle Malkin Missing Fox News crew: Blogburst — “Fox News Channel reporter Steve Centanni and freelance cameraman Olaf Wiig are still missing. It has now been more than a week since their kidnapping at gunpoint in Gaza by unknown terrorists. FNC top management, the journalists’ families, and Palestinian journalists continue to press for their release.”

Coffee is a beverage that puts one to sleep when not drank. ~ Alphonse Allais

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Kerry Couldn’t Find Mainstream With Both Hands And A Flashlight — “In case Kerry doesn’t recognize it, and there’s no particular reason why he would considering his own legislative track record, that’s the mainstream in Connecticut. And unless the state has suddenly turned into Texas, Connecticut voters see little resemblance between Lieberman and Cheney. Maybe Kerry needs to reconsider his own relationship to the mainstream instead.”

Blue Crab Boulevard Court Jester — “John “Magic Hat” Kerry continues to show that he deserved to lose in the 2004 election. Today, he began excavating an even lower position for himself. The man who voted for the war in Iraq, then voted against funding the troops used his moral low ground to attack Joe Lieberman.”

Wizbang (Jay Tea) Jay and the giant imPeachment — “You know, I could almost go along with this impeachment silliness. The thought of the left devoting all that time and effort into removing Bush, then realizing that they’ve just handed the Oval Office to Dick Cheney, warms the cockles of my heart.”

Danny Carlton — Alias “Jack Lewis” My (lay) analysis of the NSA ruling — “She takes seriously the plaintiffs obsessive worries that the government is listening to their calls. What about my “well founded belief” that idiot judges are delivering us to violent terrorists like a well wrapped Christmas gift?”

Ankle Biting Pundits (Bull Dog Pundit) Hey Kofi-Shut Up About Israeli Raid Until UN Does Its Job — “If we pointed out every stupid thing Kofi Annan ever said, we’d have time to write about nothing else. But when he makes such galling statements, it deserves mention.”

Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis – a good hot cup of coffee. ~ Alexander King

Townhall (Val Prieto) Truth, even if clandestine, is still truth. — “Right now there remain at least two dozen independent journalists incarcerated in Cuba simply because they dared speak the truth. Some have been locked away since 2003, still in the infancy of their 15 or 20 year sentences. Truth has made them suffer beatings, torture and malnutrition. Truth has mocked, ridiculed, and subjected them to abject horrors and indignity.
All because they bear witness to the world around them and dare describe it nakedly and without their government’s official veil.” [h/t: Blue Crab Boulevard]

Dr. Sanity (Pat Santy) ACTIVE LISTENING vs WORTHLESS DIPLOMATIC WRANGLING — “When it comes to the decisions to act to prevent homicidal countries, led by homicidal maniacs from killing, Glick has the right of it. All you have to do is listen to what the mullahs are saying. All you have to do is listen to what Ahmadinejad and the leaders of all the various Islamic fanatic cults are saying–repeatedly, clearly, concisely, calmly, and consciously.”

To be continued (When some other folks wake up and post something interesting)

BLOGGERS ARE WAKING UP UPDATE:

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Israel Arrests Palestinian Deputy PM In Ramallah — “The Israelis sent a message this morning that they have not forgotten the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit by Hamas. The IDF captured the Hamas Deputy Prime Minister, Nasser Shaer, at his home this morning:”