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Latest Commentary:
US Air Force and Navy Cut Weapons Programs -- American politics has mistaken quantity for quality for generations. An iron law of the game is to promise more spending, presuming that if one spends more the country gets more. Increased spending on welfare programs does not necessarily make the poor better off, bigger budgets for education don’t always yield a more knowledgeable populace, and giving the Pentagon ever more cash doesn’t necessarily make the country safer. The recent cuts the Air Force and Navy have announced are excellent moves, and one only hopes that Congress goes along. Generosity of Rich Nations Questioned as Tsunami Aid Flood Begins -- UN emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland got himself in hot water with the Bush administration over something that he didn’t actually say. President Bush and his people took umbrage at Mr. Egeland’s characterization of foreign aid programs of the wealthy nations as “stingy,” saying Mr. Egeland’s statement was “very misguided and ill-informed." As usual in this sort of argument, the figures can lie and liars can figure. US Airways Asks Employees to Work for Free -- Chutzpah is a delightful Yiddish word that means approximately what “cheek” means in British-English. The man convicted of killing his parents exhibits this quality when he pleads for mercy from the court because he is an orphan. The same is true of the top management at US Airways. Having twice bankrupted the company, they destroyed any employee loyalty with pay cuts totaling 40% of the wages initially paid. Now, they want these same employees to work without pay over the New Year holiday. Better still to call in the liquidators. Verifiable Predictions for 2005 -- With 2005 arriving later tonight, the media have filled dead air and empty space with reviews of 2004. It is as pointless and tedious as it was last year, so looking ahead can’t be any worse. As with the predictions made last year, and unlike those of Nostradamus, the Oracle at Delphi, or the horoscopes in newspapers and magazines, these predictions can be verified thanks to their specificity. Humble pie will be served a year from now. © Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review , J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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