| The Kensington Review |
25 May 2005 |
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Latest Commentary:
Moderates End Filibuster Crisis in Senate -- It took a bipartisan group of moderates to force some sense on the US Senate over the potential filibuster over judicial appointments and the threat of the “nuclear option” to abolish the filibuster in such cases. Like small children, the rightists in the Senate wanted to change the rules to get the victories they wanted on these rather insignificant appointments. Equally lacking in maturity, the Democrats had threatened to bring all Senate business to a halt if the rules were changed. In the end, the Senate grown-ups (all 14 of them) prevailed. Laura Bush Visits Mid-East, Gets Criticism as Souvenir -- In general, spouses and children of politicians are out of bounds when it comes to political attacks. Betty Ford’s chemical dependencies were not fair game for critics of the Ford White House, Lady Thatcher’s vicious regime should never have been attacked because of Sir Denis Thatcher’s love of golf and gin (there were so many legitimate reasons), and no gentleman would attack Mrs. Laura Bush for her husband’s policies. However, she stepped into the ring on her recent trip to the Middle East, and got a fair dose of criticism – and it was deserved. Housing "Bubble" is Suspect -- April existing home sales in the US came out yesterday and set a record. Some 7.2 million existing homes were sold, that is their contracts actually closed, beating the previous record by around 180,000 dwellings. The nattering of pundits about a housing bubble in the US increased in volume but provided no more clarity. In part, this reflects a general economic ignorance among talking heads, but it also shows that people are worried about rising housing prices. That concern is a chief reason why one is suspicious of housing bubble speculation. Dove Foundation Slams Burger King for Star Wars Kids Meals -- “The Dove Foundation is a non-profit organization established to encourage and promote the creation, production and distribution of wholesome family entertainment. The Foundation, free from commercial pressures, awards a blue and white Dove Seal to any movie or video that is rated ‘family-friendly’ by its film review board.” That’s what the website says, and good on them for it. But the same organization is attacking Burger King for its latest Kids Meal hype because the “Star Wars” movie tie-in relates to a PG-13 rated film. Getting laughed at doesn’t help the organization or its mission, but it is hard to respond any other way. © 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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