The official line is that the US will be willing to talk with Hamas if they officially renounce violence and recognize Israel. It's never been quite clear how this "We're going to change their minds by not talking to them" thing was supposed to work.

Ah, it's hard to figure out exactly what the US position is, but it seems to be try to deal only with Abbas in the West Bank and try to ignore the Gaza Strip as much as possible...

HOWTO make "rotten shark"

Worried that the uremic acid in the shark you just caught makes it unsuitable for consumption? Try "rotten shark" -- putrefied, buried, dried shark jerky, an Icelandic "delicacy" that is even more fun to read about than it is to eat:

Take one large shark, gut and discard the innards, the cartilage and the head. Cut flesh into large pieces.Wash in running water to get all slime and blood off. Dig a large hole in coarse gravel, preferably down by the sea and far from the nearest inhabited house - this is to make sure the smell doesn't bother anybody. Put in the shark pieces, and press them well together. It's best to do this when the weather is fairly warm (but not hot), as it hastens the curing process. Cover with more gravel and put heavy rocks on top to press down. Leave for 6-7 weeks (in summer) to 2-3 months (in winter). During this time, fluid will drain from the shark flesh, and putrefication will set in.

It's never been quite clear how this "We're going to change their minds by not talking to them" thing was supposed to work.

It's known among political theorists as the "LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU" method.

It's never been quite clear how this "We're going to change their minds by not talking to them" thing was supposed to work.

I've always read that policy as "We don't want to talk to Hamas, but we don't want to look like we don't want to talk to Hamas. So if we say 'Oh, we're perfectly happy to talk provided you change your entire philosophy' it puts the burden on them and we look better because, hey...willing to talk."

It's passive-aggressive diplomacy. Well, more passive-aggressive than some other diplomatic efforts.

In Junot Diaz's book he talks about how Dominicans believe the Kennedy family is cursed with fukú because JFK called for the assassination of Trujillo.

Oh yeah! I loved that book.

OK, who else has a Kennedy family curse theory?

Thank you very much for the explanation, CaBil. I'm just quite baffled, since every other headline in the paper is something about the US demanding Israel and Hamas to talk, or you know, something like that. So I just assumed US was also talking with Hamas, after all those Rice visits to the Palestinian Authority where I assume she talked with someone there (though now I understand why Bush didn't go there when he was here).

(Wow, seems like my assumptions are slightly disorganized)

Ah, it's hard to figure out exactly what the US position is, but it seems to be try to deal only with Abbas in the West Bank and try to ignore the Gaza Strip as much as possible...

Hey, it's OK. Everyone are trying to ignore the situation in Gaza Strip as much as possible. I think that Egypt rushed into the role of the mediator so that the dealing with this boiling potato won't fall on it later on.

OK, who else has a Kennedy family curse theory?

I believe they were cursed by Joe DiMaggio for porking his wife. All the best curses in the US seem to involve baseball in one way or another.

The papers may be talking about the US Congress. The Democrats in Congress have been urging talking to Hamas/Hezbollah, but the US Congress is far weaker in foreign policy areas that the President.

Rice may be talking to folks at the PA, but in the US, she has been basically off the radar since the Annapolis Conference back in Nov, 2007, which was widely portrayed in the US as a substantive failure. Despite the conference articulating a two-state solution, there has been no real mention of the two-state solution from the US government since.