See You Off In September

As Cairo's streets calm down, could the Obama administration be open to letting Hosni Mubarak finish his term? The BBC says the State department has distanced itself from comments by ad hoc U.S. envoy Frank Wisner, but distance is difference from repudiation:

"We need to get a national consensus around the pre-conditions for the next step forward. The president must stay in office to steer those changes," [Wisner] told the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

"I believe that President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical - it's his chance to write his own legacy.

"He has given 60 years of his life to the service of his country, this is an ideal moment for him to show the way forward."

But in Washington, state department spokesman PJ Crowley said: "We have great respect for Frank Wisner and we were deeply appreciative of his willingness to travel to Egypt last week."

"He has not continued in any official capacity following the trip. The views he expressed today are his own. He did not co-ordinate his comments with the US government."

Down By The Riverside

Progressive evangelical preacher and leader Jim Wallis (left) is married to the Rev. Joy Carroll, an Anglican priest from England who was the model for the fictional character in the BBC series "The Vicar Of Dibley." Speaking this morning to the annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles in Riverside, Wallis said that when their younger son, Jake, was watching Joy celebrate Holy Eucharist one day, he turned to dad and said, "Are guys allowed to do that?" More later on Wallis' reflections on women and faith. He's shown here with Paul Reza of St. John's.

The Missing Side Of The Two-State Story

While it's good news that Israel and the U.S. are nearing agreement on a plan to limit West Bank settlements, it's passing strange how little we hear in mainstream outlets about corresponding Israeli and American expectations of concessions from the Palestinian side. The issue makes the 12th paragraph of this BBC story and gets one pro forma sentence:

[Israeli PM Netanyahu] reiterated his demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

As if there's been any uncertainty about that since 1948. I can understand why the explicit concession of Israel's Jewishness is problematical for the Palestinians. There are 1.5 million Arabs in Israel, and the demographic trend is on their side. But I can't figure out why the two issues, settlements and Israel's Jewishness, don't get equal play from U.S. and British reporters, especially because they're two sides of the same coin. After all, from the Palestinian perspective, the settlements are an intrusion on the West Bank's essential Arabness.

Ironic that Arabs in the Holy Land will tell you that the U.S. media is endemically pro-Israel.

Bibi Could've Skipped His Press Conference

How interesting: In a BBC article about PM Netanyahu's visit to London, the only substantive issue mentioned is the West Bank settlements. Why did the reporter exclude any reference to Israel's concerns about Palestinian resistance to its nature as an inherently Jewish state?

And 80% Are Experiencing Recessions

The BBC reports:

There could be one hundred billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy, a US conference has heard.

Dr Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Science said many of these worlds could be inhabited by simple lifeforms.

That January In Paris

As the BBC notes, on this date in 1973 President Nixon ordered a ceasefire in Vietnam following the diplomatic breakthrough which led to the Paris Peace Accords a few days later.

Hat tip to Jack Nesbitt