More thanks are in order, particularly to the anonymous tipsters who keep hitting my Amazon tipjar.

And it’s the perfect time of month, too—bill-paying time.

Thanks so much to all of you.

I was going to put up a Mel Gibson post to the effect that I don’t accept his apology, but I don’t have to. Instead, I’m going to send you over to the Carnival of Mel, which is utterly, utterly, hilarious. Hilarious.

And sorry, Steve, but but I don’t care how drunk you get, you’re not getting any. I don’t do misanthropes. Not even ones who cook.

Update: Click on the “MORE” links or you’re missing some of the funniest lines.

Oh, look. Former president and would-be peacemaker—whose failures include negotiating with North Korea to get them to stop building nuclear weapons—has an idea who’s behind all the troubles in the world, too. Hey, maybe he and Mel Gibson could start a club!

This is what he wrote in an op-ed for today’s WaPo:

The general parameters of a long-term, two-state agreement are well known. There will be no substantive and permanent peace for any peoples in this troubled region as long as Israel is violating key U.N. resolutions, official American policy and the international “road map” for peace by occupying Arab lands and oppressing the Palestinians. Except for mutually agreeable negotiated modifications, Israel’s official pre-1967 borders must be honored.

You see? It’s all Israel’s fault.

Get this logic: Israel adds to the situation by taking and holding prisoners. I suppose Carter figures if palestinian and Lebanese terrorists try to kill Israelis, Israel should just shrug her shoulders and wave them bye-bye at the border.

One of the special vulnerabilities of Israel, and a repetitive cause of violence, is the holding of prisoners. Militant Palestinians and Lebanese know that a captured Israeli soldier or civilian is either a cause of conflict or a valuable bargaining chip for prisoner exchange. This assumption is based on a number of such trades, including 1,150 Arabs, mostly Palestinians, for three Israeli soldiers in 1985; 123 Lebanese for the remains of two Israeli soldiers in 1996; and 433 Palestinians and others for an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three soldiers in 2004.

This stratagem precipitated the renewed violence that erupted in June when Palestinians dug a tunnel under the barrier that surrounds Gaza and assaulted some Israeli soldiers, killing two and capturing one.

Do you see how this creep turns logic inside-out? He blames Israel for attempting to stop terrorists from killing her citizens, not the terrorists for killing those citizens. He repeats the lie that Israel simply arrests palestinians for no reason. He blames Israel for causing the reasons why terrorists killed two soldiers and captured Cpl. Gilad Shalit (notice how carefully Carter does not use his name, thus dehumanizing Israel subtly). There is no blame whatsoever on the terrorists—ever.

You know, he could make his Jew-hatred a bit more plain, but I don’t see how.

I never thought I’d live to say this, but thank Gd Reagan won in 1980.

And here’s my contribution to Tummy Tuesday.

It’s 100 degrees in the shade, where Tig was showing off his tummy, until shortly after I took this picture. Now he’s in the apartment, in his box, where it’s a pleasant 72 degrees F.

Lair’s got a shot of Nardo’s tummy. We will not make fat jokes regarding Tig, please. (Plus, I deliberately chose a pose that makes him look enormous. He’s not that fat.

Hezbullah hasn’t stopped their fire, they just changed it to mortars:

Several mortar shells were fired Tuesday morning at Israeli communities in the Upper Galilee, near the border. No injuries were reported in the shooting and no damage was caused. Mortars were also fired at Israel on Monday and landed in Kiryat Shmona.

The IDF says most of the medium- and long-range rockets were destroyed.

The relative quiet in the Haifa and Krayot area is not coincidental, as the IDF revealed new figures Monday showing that Hizbullah’s 220 millimeter rocket system has taken a heavy blow. The number of rockets of that type fired at Haifa have gone down from 400 to 200.

In addition, a senior government source told Reuters that the IDF destroyed two thirds of Hizbullah’s Zelzal missiles.

Figures for the short-term rockets are less encouraging, however. Hizbullah still holds 10,000 such rockets.

You know, 10,000 rockets is still 10,000 too many.

The U.K. is breaking from the EU over their cease-fire document. Huh. Didn’t see that coming. Tony Blair is dealing with a full-scale revolt over his position on Israel right now.

A British official said on Tuesday that the UK cannot accept a draft European Union statement calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hizbullah guerrillas.

Speaking as EU foreign ministers held emergency talks on the three-week-old crisis, the official said London wanted several changes to the document circulated by Finland, which holds the 25-nation bloc’s rotating presidency.

“As it stands, there is no way we can accept this conclusion,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Diplomats said Britain, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland wanted alternative wording urging a cessation of hostilities.

Ha’aretz is reporting that a deal is near for Cpl. Gilad Shalit’s release.

Senior Palestinian lawmaker Nabil Sha’ath of Fatah said Tuesday that negotiations over the release of abducted IDF Corporal Gilat Shalit had entered an advanced stage, and that a prospective deal could involve the release of 700 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the captive soldier.

Yeah, that’ll show them. Give ‘em what they want, after three weeks of war. Please let this not be true.

The ground war ramps up:

Israel Defense Forces troops engaged in heavy exchanges of fire with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanese village of Ayta a-Shab, near Zarit, on Tuesday.

A unit of paratroop soldiers have been operating in the village since Monday. The IDF said Tuesday that four Hezbollah guerillas were hit in the clashes, and that all had apparently been killed.

An IDF soldier was lightly hurt in Maroun A-Ras, also in southern Lebanon. He was evacuated to hospital in Safed.

[...] A total of five units - thousands of soldiers - are currently deployed in Lebanon. The forces are active from the Metula region to the area of Zarit, reaching some three to six kilometers inside Lebanese territory. As yet, no reserve soldiers have entered Lebanon, although their deployment is being considered.

The object of the operations was to complete the destruction of Hezbollah border strongpoints by Thursday. The IDF troops are also seeking Hezbollah weaponry dumps.

Soldiers will also extend into villages used as Hezbollah bases, in operations similar to the one last week in Bint Jbail.

Last, but not least, Hezbullah got what it wanted:

The deaths of dozens of civilians in an Israel Air Force attack on the southern Lebanese village of Qana marked a significant diplomatic turning point against Israel, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday.

The foreign minister said that following the events in Qana, Israel’s scope for political maneuvering had been reduced, as was the amount of European support Israel is receiving for its operation in Lebanese soil.

Livni said this change was exemplified in the “problematic” Russian and French stance towards Israel.

“Problematic”—that must be diplo-speak for “anti-Israel.”