UPI is reporting:

Hamas officials have smuggled more than $66 million into Gaza and have met with U.S. Democrats at a secret location, it was reported Wednesday.

Yes, you read that right. The article continues:

Meanwhile, the Bethlehem-based Maan News Agency reported Hamas representatives recently had secret talks with U.S. Democratic Party officials in anticipation of the party regaining congressional power in Washington.

The Palestinian news agency also said Hamas had secret talks with European government officials, including with Britain and France.

A story in the Jerusalem Post had reported something similar — but then the relevant paragraphs disappeared. Tom Blumer has the details. A similar report showed up here. (H/t NoisyRoom.net.) And then I ran across the UPI story.

Captain Ed is skeptical. He says the Democrats would have to be idiots to meet with Hamas. I say, maybe the Democrats are idiots.

In any event, a decent press would be very, very interested in tracking down the truth of this allegation.

Somehow, I doubt that will happen. But I’d love to be proved wrong.

Gateway Pundit reports that an arrest warrant has been issued for Deb Frisch for failing to appear in court. (The news was originally reported at TalkLeft, whose host has been a loyal and helpful friend to Jeff Goldstein during this saga.) Apparently Jeff G. had accused Frisch of violating the restraining order, and obtained a contempt citation. Frisch has repeatedly failed to make mandatory court appearances to contest the citation.

And here I thought the whole thing was over.

The L.A. Times subscription people just called, as they often do around this time of the evening.

Lately, I handle this by putting the kids on the phone.

Tonight, Matthew (age 4) was on with them for over a minute, answering questions with a “yes” or a “no.” The conversation lasted so long, I started to worry that he was signing us up for a subscription.

We asked him later what he was talking about with the girl on the phone. “They were telling me so many things,” he said, “and they asked if my daddy was here and I said yes, but they didn’t hear me, so they asked me again.”

I won’t talk to them anyway. Finally, Mrs. P. took the phone and gave them a polite “No, thanks” — so I know for sure that we won’t see the paper on our doorstep tomorrow morning.

Whew . . . dodged a bullet there.

My dad died a year ago today. I wrote about him here. If you didn’t read that entry before, do me a favor and read it now.

If you ever got to know him, you were lucky. Today is a day to think about your luck. For the rest of you, take a second to be thankful for a world that produces such men.

Rest in peace, Dad.

P.S. He still returns from time to time.

P.P.S. If your dad is still around, give him a hug today if you can, and call him today if you can’t. Don’t take anything in this life for granted. Here is a little trick to help you remember how special each day really is.