| The Kensington Review |
15 October 2004 |
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Latest Commentary:
Kerry and Bush Must Now Get Out the Vote -- The American electorate seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief late Wednesday when President Bush and Senator Kerry concluded their third joint press conference. The speed with which remote controls the nation over switched to the National and American League Championship games tested the limits of known physics. The pundits quickly declared a draw in this non-competitive event and announced that the final days of the campaign will focus on “Get Out The Vote” efforts. Every election hinges on GOTV efforts; indeed, that's been the whole point all along. Rome and Madrid Treat Immigrants Differently -- Between them, Italy and Spain account for 2/3 of all the immigrants entering the European Union. Both have aging populations and declining birth rates among the native-born populations. This creates a pension and medical care time bomb for both. Yet, in their approach to immigration from outside the EU, they couldn’t be any different. In the end, one of the approaches will be thoroughly discredited, and there is much for other nations with the same demographic problems to learn. Tech Industry Wins Delay on FASB Rule Requiring Expensing of Options -- The Financial Accounting Standards Boards backtracked on its plan to have public companies count their employees’ stock options as expenses. Because of the complaining from America’s high tech industry (which has a tradition of paying people too little in cash and too much in stock that may or may not be worth millions), FASB has put off this requirement for six months. Ostensibly, this is to give everyone more time to get their ducks in a row. In real terms, though, it gets everyone with a vested interest in killing this off through to the other side of the election. Then, the backroom influence peddling can begin. Sy Hersh’s Chain of Command is a 21st Century The Best and The Brightest -- The year 2004 will be remembered as the year of the polemic book. From the left and the right, there has been a large number of political diatribes published in book form. The trend reflects the election campaign, and the high stakes that go with it. Among the National Book Award nominees for best non-fiction is the 9/11 Commission Report. Yet, the one that is likely to endure beyond this decade is Chain of Command by Seymour Hersh. |
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