By Steve Clemons

At the end of the day Friday, Bear Stearns’ stock market value was more than $3.5 billion. Over the weekend — today in fact — JP Morgan Chase has announced the acquisition of Bear Stearns at just $236 million.

The Brussels Forum, which I just left this morning to return to Washington, DC, convened a terrific array of policy and political talent from both sides of the Atlantic — and had a distinguished group of attendees from Russia and Japan as well.

This is a note from a good friend — unnamed — in the Senate regarding my earlier post about US Senators on their way to the Brussels Forum getting stuck in Newfoundland: Hey Steve, I just saw your post. I was on that broken-down plane, along with my boss Senator XXXXXXXX.

For the last two days, I have been deeply embedded in German Marshall Fund President Craig Kennedy’s “Brussels Forum“. In years previous, I have been to the World Economic Forum, the Clinton Global Initiative, Economist Intelligence Unit seminars, McKinsey sponsored meetings, and I generally like them all.

One of the very coolest and most informative blogs I check in on a daily basis is ArmsControlWonk.com published by my New America Foundation colleague Jeffrey Lewis. Both of us were asked by the Better World Campaign to offer comments for its “On Day One” initiative. He talked nukes, and I talked Cuba. . .

Cuban President Raul Castro has started his reforms — well, he did quite a while ago actually though few noticed. But the new news is that the Cuban government has removed restrictions on the sale of computers, DVDs, and video players inside Cuba. Old story first.

Today at 9:30 am, Former Israel Foreign Minister Schlomo Ben-Ami will be speaking about his work to encourage a Gaza ceasefire and then how to trigger moves in a positive direction for Israelis and Palestinians. He’ll be at the New America Foundation today in Washington, DC, and yours truly will be moderating the meeting.

Washington, DC is actually, really, seriously becoming a hip place. Helene Cooper — the New York Times‘ diplomatic correspondent — is occasionally forced to write for other sections of her paper, and she’s been asserting that DC hipsterism is on the upswing more by assertion than empirical surveys. . .but I’m now with her.

This was an exchange last night on Lehrer News Hour between my friend and former colleague Nir Rosen and AEI scholar and “surge architect” Frederick Kagan: JIM LEHRER: And now, two very different views of the surge. They come from two frequent visitors to Iraq.

Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama can publicly acknowledge that either would accept the 2nd slot on a Democratic ticket because it would spell the end of their campaign. But I have to take exception to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comment that a joint ticket is impossible.