The first cup is for the guest, the second for enjoyment, the third for the sword. ~ An old Arabic saying

Don Surber LA Times’ unconstitutional suggestion — “Conservatives know what the word bipartisan really means: Republicans capitulating to Democrats. The LA Times in an editorial today takes it one step beyond, bending it to mean the Republican elected to run the executive branch surrendering his duties to a Democratic Congress.”

Right Truth (Debbie) Lebanese walk all over Syria and Iran — “As I enjoyed the peace and quiet of my home with beautiful weather here in Tennessee on Thanksgiving Day, I watched the freedom-loving people in Lebanon, again, take to the streets in protest of Iran and Syria. Tens of thousands of Lebanese people paid tribute to assassinated Christian politician Pierre Gemayel in Beirut. They were not giving thanks, they were mourning the death of yet another good leader.”

So, has everyone gone shopping, or are you sleeping off your holiday celebrations?

Nancy Astor: “If I were your wife, I would put poison in your coffee.”
Sir Winston Churchill: “And if I were your husband, I would drink it.”

Right Truth (Debbie) Man linked to Mohamed Atta opening flight school — “A German, Wolfgang Bohringer has been linked to Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker in the attacks on New York and Washington in 2001 and he plans to build a flight school. No, this is not a joke. He planned to ‘build a resort and flying school on Fanning Island — an atoll without telecommunications or a functioning airstrip, but among the closest to Hawaii, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) to the north’.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) A Familiar Refrain In Lebanon — “Once again, a politician opposed to Syrian hegemony in Lebanon has been assassinated, and again the victim hails from a family with a long history of supporting Lebanese independence. Pierre Gemayel, whose brother Bashir was also assassinated in 1982, died in a suburban hospital after a shooting:”

Ankle Biting Pundits (Bull Dog Pundit) Pelosi To Liberal Dems: Stay In The Closet – For Now At Least — “There’s an interesting article in today’s Boston Globe about how Nancy Pelosi is telling some of the far-left kooks in her caucus that they better not move forward with their moonbat agendas, because the controversy might distract from what Pelosi calls accomplishing agenda items which are “within reach” and on which the caucus is “unified”.”

Big Lizards (Dafydd) Ban it, Janet! — “Oh ho! Janet Reno — you remember her? — has gone to court, leading a bunch of lesser legal accolytes to make it look like a movement, to overturn the anti-terrorism Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA).”

Many people are like instant coffee: the minute they get in hot water they dissolve. ~ Unknown

GOP Bloggers (Jonathan R.) Bill Clinton Still Can’t Stop Lying — “What is it about Democratic former Presidents? Why can’t they have any class? Bill Clinton reminded America of his overwhelmingly narcissistic self-absorpotion in his pathetic legacy defense with Chris Wallace on Sunday.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) UNIFIL Bigger But Just As Ineffective — “The expanded UNIFIL force tasked to implement UN Security Council resolution 1701 has almost no mandate to do so and has received no leadership from the UN, the New York Times reports this morning. The force commander believes that he can do nothing unless authorized by the Lebanese Army — and so nothing they do:”

That’s it for this morning. My minds just not in it today. Perhaps later.

The first cup is for the guest, the second for enjoyment, the third for the sword. ~ An old Arabic saying

This will most likely be a short post. Like most Floridians, I am spending much of this morning looking at the Weather Channel and online sources to find the latest news on Ernesto rather than going around looking for some good posts. Jim

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Peacekeeper Muddle Exposes The Sham Of A European Union — “Der Spiegel analyzes the fallout from the French hokey-pokey and European distancing from the formation of the expanded UNIFIL force in Lebanon. Now that Jacques Chirac got shamed into committing his troops to the peacekeeping force and Italy has also ponied up some of its own, the Europeans have commenced an orgy of self-congratulation. DS throws a dash of ice-cold water on the victory dance:”

Mein BlogoVault (Good Lieutenant) Plamegate Wrap-up: Short ‘n Sweet — [I can't pick out an excerpt, just go and read the whole thing. Go. Now. Jim]

Ernesto Blogging:
The Florida Masochist
Florida Cracker
Stuck on the Palmetto
Critical Miami
Eye of the Storm
Babalu Blog

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.”

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

Flopping Aces (Curt) This Cease Fire Will Not Last — “This cease fire will not last, as I along with many others have been saying. It’s a cease fire brokered by the UN which has no teeth, which is just so typical of anything coming out of the UN. They cannot force Hezbollah and Lebanon to abide by their resolutions so what good are they? I mean really? They couldn’t do a damn thing about Saddam and they can’t do a damn thing about Lebanon.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Israel: Game On If Hezbollah Keeps Weapons — “None of us who follow the UN and Kofi Annan experienced any sort of surprise when he demurred from actually enforcing a Security Council resolution. His insistence that the UN has no real interest in the question of Hezbollah disarmament may seem shocking, since the Security Council has now twice demanded it, but it comes as a piece to the record of UN peacekeeping under his regime, first as the head of peacekeeping and now as Secretary-General. UN forces sent to keep “peace” have almost without exception fled from terrorists and genocidists, only standing firm when under NATO or US/UK command.”

Blue Crab Boulevard Israel Warns Of Renewed Offensive — “The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Israel is strongly warning that Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm will be likely to bring about renewed hostilities. They are also extremely unhappy with Kofi Annan.”

Dr. Sanity (Pat Santy) DENIAL, DEMOCRATS, AND THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY MURDERERS — “Rather than return to the false promises of safety, peace, brotherhood and utopia that are all jumbled together in the bubble of Democratic denial, I choose to face the reality of Islamofascism and the hatred that motivates it, just as an earlier generation faced the genocidal and fanatical reality of national socialism.”

Ah! How sweet the coffee’s taste is,
Sweeter than a thousand kisses,
Milder than sweet muscatel.
Coffee, coffee, I must have it,
And if someone wants to treat me,
Ah, my cup with coffee fill! ~ Johann Sebastian Bach (Koffee Kantate)

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to
WebKittyn Warbles

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Lebanon Balking At The Terms — “Despite the clear language in the agreement that not only calls for the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1559 to disarm Hezbollah but also to ensure that the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL have the only arms in the sub-Litani region, Beirut now says that Hezbollah can keep their weapons — as long as the weapons stay concealed:”

Wizbang (Jay Tea) Hezbollah: terrorists with phenomenal PR skills — “This ‘cease-fire’ will not hold. Hezbollah will violate it, for that is their nature. That is what they do. That is what they are already doing. And among the first to suffer will be those thousands of Lebanese who are returning to the war zone, trusting in Hezbollah and the United Nations (two groups who have repeatedly proven their untrustworthiness) to maintain this fragile ‘peace.’ ”

The Strata-Sphere (A.J. Strata) Hezbollah Defies Agreement; Syrian Connection Established — “Hezbollah is going to defy the UN cease-fire, as expected. The Islamo Fascists think they have won something and they have no intent of settling back on their laurels. So Hezbollah will not be disarming as promised:”

Danny Carlton alias “Jack Lewis” Typical Middle East ceasefire: only Israel stops shooting — “What this means in reality…Hezbollah under the careless watch of the UN will have ample time to restock their weapons from Iranians and Syrian sources. Meanwhile the publicity stunt of maximizing Lebanese civilian casualties so idiots across the globe could blame Israel worked perfectly. In no time at all Hezbollah will be able to arrange for the slaughter of even more Lebanese civilians to be quickly blamed on Israel, while they pump northern Israel full of rockets again.”

I had planned to post more today. I should have had the time. It just didn’t work out that way.

Of course the big news is the cease-fire in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. To discribe this as fragile would be overstating reality.

Also in the Mid East is the story of the two FOX-TV journalists kidnapped in Gaza. Our prayers go out for their safe and quick return.

Cuban Television is showing video of Fidel Castro meeting in his sick room with Hugo Chavez.

There are others as well. I guess there’s always tomorrow.

Coffee, according to the women of Denmark, is to the body what the Word of the Lord is to the soul. ~ Isak Dinesen

Blue Crab Boulevard Sanity? — “More Muslims have been saved from death in the past decade by the Western governments than by the Muslim governments. More Muslims have been killed by the Islamists than by the Western governments in the past decade. The Islamists are a sick, sick group of people. Muslims have to stand against this threat or be brought to their level.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) BBC: Lebanon Refuses To Disarm Hezbollah — “I guess that crying on television and writing op-eds about the desperate hope for peace cannot motivate Fuad Siniora and his Cabinet to take the concrete action that would deliver it. The BBC reports that the Siniora government has rejected the UN demand to disarm Hezbollah, and the terrorist group has blocked the deployment of the Lebanese Army to the south:”

The Strata-Sphere (A.J. Strata) The Al Qaeda Youth Program — “Just like Hitler had the Nazi Youth Program to indoctrinate children into his warped world view, the Islamo-Fascists have the same mind washing program in their religious systems. What is frightening is that they have used the openness of the West’s civil society to establish Al Qaeda Youth Programs in our very midst.”

Michelle Malkin (Val Prieto) [Val, of Babalu Blog, is guest blogging while Michelle is on vacation. Jim] Harlem Residents In Support of Slavery — “Make no bones about it: Cuba is an island of slaves. What else does one call a place where the people eat what one man feeds them; work at what one man decides that they work on; march when one man tells them to march; say what one man tells them to say and think only what one man tells them to think. What else do you call a place where the people are kept from progressing as individuals, where the people are kept away from information, where people are isolated from the rest of the world?”

Making coffee has become the great compromise of the decade. It’s the only thing “real” men do that doesn’t seem to threaten their masculinity. ~ Erma Bombeck

FYI: I’ve been playing around with my Thunderbird Email client this morning instead of working on this First Cup post as I should have been. I’ll get back to work now.

Blue Crab Boulevard Poor Media — “Oh, gee. Let me get out my violin. The media is choosing not to send a chartered jet full of reporters chasing after the president everywhere he goes. It costs too much, you see. But Critics of Anything Bush™ are whining that it’s “secrecy”.”

TMH’s Bacon Bits (DL) Terrorist Plot: Bush Lied Again! — “One of my favorite Biblical stories is when Christ, in response to his Apostles’ pleading with Him for a miracle to help convert some skeptics, said that all the miracles in the world wouldn’t convince them. I’m afraid that is exactly how far gone is the condition of liberalism today – unswayable and ill of mind, foul of heart, contaminated with twisted tormented souls.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Now It’s Time To Play Beat The Clock — “Neither Israel nor Lebanon acted urgently to ratify the UN Security Council cease-fire resolution, putting off consideration from both Cabinets until Sunday. Israel used the time to push forward on its military goals, trying to accomplish as much as possible before the cease-fire comes into effect:”

When Nasrallah has this to say about the proposed cease fire, it has to tell you something:

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday called the U.S.-French draft cease-fire plan “unfair and unjust,” but said he supports a plan to deploy the Lebanese army in south Lebanon.

[...]

“The least we can describe this (draft resolution) is as unfair and unjust. It has given Israel more than it wanted and more than it was looking for,” he said in a televised speech.

No Surprises here.

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

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) There’s Gotta Be Irony In Here Somewhere — “Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has told an interviewer that he wants German troops in any international force protecting the Jewish state.”

Iowa Voice (Brian) Senate Dems Block Minimum Wage Bill — “Over the next day or so, they’re going to be in the news, patting themselves on the back for “screwing the rich”. But in reality, the only one who got screwed here was the poor. The rich already pay those taxes, so not getting them cut isn’t going to affect them in the least.”

Blue Crab Boulevard Another Day Of Waiting For Fidel — “Weird pronouncements are coming from Cuba, the US government admits they really do not know what is going on, either and we’ll just have to wait. Hard, isn’t it? Cuban government spokesmen are warning the the communist party will “defend the revolution”. Now that sounds almost as if it were a backhanded admission that Castro will not come back to power, but we’ll have to see.”

Babalu Blog (Val Prieto) Pa’ la calle! — “I would have given anything to have seen the expression on the faces of all of these reporters, most of whom have showered fidel castro and la revolucion with praise and adulation for so many years. Their utter shock! Their utter dismay! How could the glorious revolution turn its back on such staunch supporters!”

The Strata-Sphere (A.J. Strata) Petulent Democrats — “Family owned small businesses once again take a hit from Democrats who cannot abide anyone succeeding in life and passing the fruits of their efforts to their children. Their petulance has blocked a compromise on the infamous death tax where greedy bureacrats take the hard earned poperty built over a lifetime for their own wasteful uses.”