| The Kensington Review |
4 April 2005 |
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Latest Commentary:
John Paul II Leaves Large Shoes to Fill -- Judging from the media reports, nothing happened on planet Earth after John Paul II died on Saturday, and very little that preceded his death mattered. This is The Big Story, and as usual, the press and the commentators are excessive in their zeal to cover the smallest detail. In doing so, they miss the big picture. The rather astonishing 26-year reign of this rock star of a Pope was the confluence of many different forces, but in the end, the success of John Paul II rested on the simple fact that he lived what he preached. Al Qaeda Attacks Abu Ghraib -- While the western media and public's attention was focused on the events at the Vatican, the civil war in Iraq continued. Insurgents, claimed by Al Qaeda, attacked the American-run prison at Abu Ghraib. The wall of the prison wasn't breached, and there were no American deaths. Yet, the firefight went on for almost an hour including concentrated mortar fire, and helicopter gunships had to intervene. When the shooting stopped, almost four dozen US soldiers had been wounded. The attack wasn't militarily significant, but it shows that the anti-US forces in the country are far from defeated. Japan to Privatize Its Post Office -- When Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took office in 2001, one of his top priorities was the privatization of Japan's Post Office. In the US, the Post Office has the job of making Federal Express and UPS look good by comparison. It isn't a bank. In Japan, not only is the Post Office a financial institution, but it is the 800-pound gorilla in the economy. That is why it has taken almost four years to get the process going. It isn't going to get done over night either, but this reform is the biggest thing to hit Japan's economy in decades. Baseball 2005 Begins with Steroids and The Designated Hitter -- The ability of baseball to survive the stupidity of Major League Baseball's owners is a testament to the underlying beauty of the game. In a world where grown men get paid millions of dollars a year to play a game that children play for free, it is difficult to imagine anyone upsetting the gravy train and having to get real jobs. Yet, every spring professional baseball returns under a unique cloud only to muddle through because there are millions of amateurs who love the game for itself. © Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux. |
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