Inside sources tell me that the Annapolis Peace Summit to address Israel/Palestine issues will be officially announced tomorrow, and the date will be November 27. The selection of Annapolis as the site for the upcoming Israel/Palestine Peace Summit makes some sense if one were serious about creating a new reality in the Middle East.
I have just received some surprising news. I’m just back from China as of late last night and have not been in the loop on whether this was expected or not, but President Bush’s Adviser on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Fran Townsend has resigned.
I’m flying back to Washington today from China. Just saw this surname calculator in the New York Times. My last name, Clemons, has slipped to #1282 from #908 in most common surnames in the country. How about yours? More later.
Until Sunday, I am visiting Beijing and staying at the Diaoyutai State Guest House for a conference on US-China relations organized by McKinsey & Company. So far, the meeting has been mostly high end networking, but the substance begins in about 30 minutes.
About a month ago, far-right activists pressed hard for Republican candidates for President to take a position on the Law of the Sea. Most of them did. Senator John McCain was asked about it on a bloggers’ conference call.
This week, I attended two fascinating briefings on how the American public is thinking about the world. The first was a press conference to unveil research sponsored by the UN Foundation and the second was a small working group organized by the Stanley Foundation.
While Frank Gaffney wrote his first column without any reference to the Law of the Sea in nearly half a year, he probably helped pen the lead editorial on the page opposite his column in the Washington Times. The Times makes two main claims against the treaty, neither of which has any legs.
Joshua Micah Marshall and I teamed up together a couple years ago and had a co-branded “Bolton Watch” website during much of the battle over John Bolton’s failed confirmation bid to serve as Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations. We were among those who helped beat Bolton then.
Russell and Warren sent this from Carson City, Nevada. They are big-time Hillary Clinton supporters and donors (she should do one of her lunches with them) — and they snapped this picture of a bobcat in their front yard.
This article is a must-read according to my friend Nir Rosen on what illusory American success in Iraq is based on. I find these quotes from the piece illuminating: “The Americans lost hope with an Iraqi government that is both sectarian and dominated by militias, so they are paying for locals to fight al-Qaida.