Hamas, and those who support it, are warmongers.  Deal with it.  Ha'aretz reports: 

[Mahmoud] Abbas declared that the Palestinian Authority, whose chairmanship falls under his jurisdiction, as well as the government, which will be led by Hamas, will continue to opt for negotiations with Israel as a strategic choice.
The PA chairman said that the government and the PA are bound by signed agreements and are obligated to negotiations, the aims of which are "to strengthen and develop the popular struggle in the ways of peace" in order to achieve the goals of the Palestinian people.
"We have not and will not accept any questioning of the accords' legitimacy," Abbas told parliament. "Indeed, from the hour they were endorsed, they became a political reality to which we remain committed."
Hamas rejected Abbas' call on Saturday for the new Palestinian government that it will form to respect a commitment to peacemaking with Israel and pursue only peaceful struggle.
"Hamas rejects negotiations with the occupation under the current circumstances, while occupation and aggression continues," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
"We re-emphasise the commitment to (armed) resistance as a natural right of our people."

MANILA, Philippines, Feb 17, 2006 (AP) - A rain-soaked mountainside disintegrated into a torrent of mud, swallowing hundreds of houses and an elementary school in the eastern Philippines on Friday. At least 23 people were confirmed dead, and 1,500 were missing....

Aerial TV footage showed a wide swath of mud amid stretches of rice paddies at the foothills of the now-scarred mountain, where survivors blamed illegal logging for contributing to the disaster.

The New York Times' Michael Slackman just might be onto a breakthrough,

It is difficult to draw an absolute link between the ferry disaster and the violence that exploded across much of the Muslim world last week in response to Danish cartoons that had lampooned the Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims feel it was blasphemous to draw the Prophet at all, let alone in a mocking manner.

But in the coincidence of the two events, there is a clue to a dynamic that has played out in this region for many years: Leaders often call attention to external enemies — most often the Israelis — as a device to allow their own subjects to blow off steam. The anger itself is almost always home grown.

Enlightenment perhaps?  Like maybe common wisdom may actually be ready for the idea that Middle East peace could benefit from a multinational confrontation of the historic rejection of equal national rights for the Jewish people by the neighboring Arab establishment?  Keynahora!  But don't hold your breath.

Hat tip: Blogs of Zion

I received my DCCC survey in my inbox yesterday.  The following is what I submitted in its open comment window:

We make it too hard to ourselves playing whack-a-mole with the conservative Republican policy agenda. Liberal values recognize that we are all in this together, while the conservative ethic insists it is every-man-for-himself.  We can beat the GOP and set the nation back on the right track by returning to a strong committment to public service for the benefit of common interests, such as public education, public health, public airwaves, public lands, etc.  We can go anywhere with this fundamental liberal idea, and our history supports us.  Environment, education, energy, security, corruption; you name it.  Try it out and see for yourselves.