I’ll be moderating a conference focusing on the now and near term of the American economy, the housing bubble, and recession fears today in Washington. Here’s the line up. The entire meeting will be taped by C-Span today — and broadcast later this afternoon and over the weekend.

Praise where praise is due.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced that the new US Envoy for Middle East Security is going to be former NATO Commander Jim Jones. Here is an item that I posted on my blog from strategist Harlan Ullman and General Jim Jones earlier this year.

While there have been fifteen U.S. Senators in American history who became President, only Warren Harding and John F. Kennedy went directly to the White House from the Senate.

Earlier today, I wrote about the interesting press gaggle comment by White House spokesperson Dana Perino that Bush was not a “gambler.

(Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky will lead the U.S. delegation to the UN climate change conference next month in Bali.

No kidding. White House spokesperson Dana Perina yesterday said that despite Bush’s big gambles on Iraq, on his ‘bring it on’ battle against global terrorists, and possibly on Iran, “The President is not a gambler.

This tidbit just appeared in Robin Wright’s recent reporting on the Annapolis Summit in an article titled “Iran: The Uninvited Wildcard in Mideast Talks“: Iran will still have leverage in the event of peace, Arab officials concede.

Thanks for the good greetings from many friends and TWN readers who clocked in from China, Australia, Israel, and throughout Europe tonight regarding some comments I made on CNN International about the Annapolis Summit.

On the eve of the Annapolis Summit, former U.S. Army Chief of Staff General ERIC SHINSEKI has asked that his name be added to a letter to the President and Secretary of State about the fundamental requirements for a successful Israel-Palestine outcome.