White House Statement on Gaza

-

67

I’m flying across country today, on my way to Reno, Nevada — where from a dingy hotel according to Jonathan Alter’s fascinating new book, The Promise: President Obama, Year One, then candidate Barack Obama triggered the start of a serious White House transition plan.

Budrus Is a Must-See

-

40

I was honored last night to be invited to a small showing of the movie Budrus, a documentary about one town in the West Bank that successfully and non-violently resisted Israeli efforts in 2003 to build the separation barrier in a way that would have encircled the town, cutting the residents off from their land…

New Pew 22-Nation Global Attitudes Survey Out

-

12

I just received the press announcement from Bruce Stokes and Andrew Kohut at the Pew Research Center on the just released Pew Global Attitudes Survey. Fascinating stuff — and disturbing. 49% of Nigerians have a “favorable” view of al Qaeda, and a majority of Pakistanis “favor” an Iran nuclear weapons program.

Pray for Oakley

-

45

One of my couple of north stars in my life is, in part, a pup named “Oakley the Amazing Weimaraner.” Two days from tonight on June 18th, Oakley will be eight years old. Tonight, he is recovering from surgery — and hopefully can pull through.

Playing with Your Johnson?

-

6

How many of you knew that Robert Guest writes (but soon won’t as he is sadly returning to mother England) Lexington’s Notebook for the Economist? And before him, Adrian Wooldridge? Probably not many of you.

The $1 Trillion War?

-

21

(Photo Credit: The U.S. Army’s Photostream) Blake Hounshell has a must-read piece in Foreign Policy that raises some serious questions about the timing and accuracy of today’s article by James Risen in the New York Times, which claims that the United States has discovered $1 trillion worth of precious metals in Afghanistan.

Will Okinawa’s Voice Be Heard in Washington?

-

2

There are some very high powered US-Japan events taking place this next week in Washington, the most prominent of which is titled “150 Years of Amity and 50 Years of Alliance: Adopting an Enhanced Agenda for US-Japan Partnership” co-sponsored by the Center for New American Security, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and the Ocean Policy Research…