This is a priceless exchange between journalist “Matt” and State Department spokesman Ian Kelly. Who is Matt? Terrific job on his part — not so terrific on George Mitchell’s team’s part. . . Daily Press Briefings : Daily Press Briefing – November 17 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:29:30 -0600 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2009/nov/132024.
Not a regular topic on the blog, but I really do love wildlife — and being out in “it”. Although 600,000 others have seen this spell-binding video of National Geographic Paul Nicklen’s encounter with a leopard seal, I had not seen it. I have watched it a half dozen times now.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Richard Lugar (R-IN) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) have jointly written a compelling case to end the travel ban for all Americans desiring to go to Cuba.
I just published an article at The Daily Beast on White House Counsel Gregory Craig’s resignation. For the record, I am an admirer of Greg Craig’s.
(Digital Globe-ISIS photo of Qom facility and tunnel entrances; courtesy ISIS) The Institute for Science and International Security has just posted the just released IAEA reports on both Iran and Syria.
This is a guest note from Richard Vague’s Delancey Place which ran on 16 November 2009.
Recently, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice went at it during a session when 187 Members of the United Nations were about to vote against the United States and two allies on the issue of the US embargo against Cuba.
Some diplomacy data points I have picked up during my trip to Havana in the last couple of days: ~ There are 65% more non-immigrant visas processed by the US State Department for Cubans wanting to travel into the United States this year than last year.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw “Radek” Sikorski, husband of Washington Post editorial writer (and Polish cuisine expert) Anne Applebaum, is a compelling, brilliant, eclectic political intellectual who I admire a great deal.
The comments on my blog have grown increasingly vile — and are not in any way constructive, civil, fair-minded, or policy-oriented. I am turning them off. The primary violators of my policy know who they are. There are rampant ad hominem attacks on TWN now, comments about the personal lives and relations of other commenters….
