| The Kensington Review |
28 September 2005 |
|
Donate to the American Red Cross to Help Hurricane Victims
Latest Commentary: |
Call 1-800-HELP-NOW
Volume IV, Number 116 |
|
SEC Starts Investigation of Possible Insider Trading by Senator Frist -- Senator William Frist (R-TN) has fallen a long way in the eyes of this journal. Perhaps, it was naïveté here to think a surgeon might actually be a man of reason and reflection. The latest in the fall of Tennessee’s Slick Willie is a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into possible insider trading by the Senator earlier this year. At best, his story is unconvincing.
Sharon Narrowly Defeats Netanyahu over Withdrawal -- The Israeli governing party, Likud, backed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip by only a thin margin on Monday. The central committee was voting on a measure to bring forward the date of party primaries, largely to let Benjamin Netanyahu challenge Mr. Sharon before the withdrawal takes hold. Mr. Sharon’s forces carried the day 1,433 to 1,329. It was a victory worthy of Pyrrhus. US Consumer Confidence Has Biggest Drop in 15 Years -- The US consumer has kept the world economy afloat for months, even years. So when the confidence of that Yank with the bucks dips, people everywhere panic. The latest monthly survey from the private Conference Board shows the biggest fall month-on-month since Saddam Hussein marched his troops into Kuwait. But one should remember that a single data point doesn’t make a trend. Moscow’s Millionaire Fair Dances on Lenin’s Grave -- Last Saturday, a vulgar display of excessive wealth began in Moscow, the city’s first Millionaire Fair. For a mere 1,000 rubles (around US$20 or US$35), one can enter the Crocus Expo International Exhibition Center and have a look at what mankind has produced for those for whom money is no object. Disgust at the horrid materialism of it all, though, is mitigated by the knowledge that two decades ago, such a thing was unthinkable. As awful as the crass commercialism of capitalism can be, it is preferable to endless queues for bread, shoes and nails, to say nothing of secret police, show trials and gulags. © Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux. |
|