| The Kensington Review |
4 November 2005 |
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Volume IV, Number 132 |
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US Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Foreign Prisons -- The Bush administration’s response to the Al Qaeda murders in New York and at the Pentagon has been frightening in its lack of respect for the good name of America. The Patriot Act was bad enough, and the refusal to treat Prisoners of War at Guantanamo as POWs is shameful. But the big news this week is that the CIA has been operating 11 secret prisons in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Can anyone in the White House spell “Habeas corpus?”
Sarkozy and de Villepin Fiddle While Paris Burns -- For the past week, rioters have held off the police in the northeastern suburbs of Paris. Wednesday night, more than 150 vehicles were torched, shots have been fired at the security people, and three dozen or so have been arrested. After such urban violence, the government remains divided on a response between two men who want to be president. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin wants to avoid stigmatizing the housing estates (les cités), while Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has called for “industrial cleansing” of the estates. Deloitte Drops BCCI Case against Bank of England -- The Bank of Credit and Commerce International folded in one of the most spectacular collapses the financial world ever saw. On July 5, 1991, the Bank of England closed it down following an auditors’ report that said the bank was involved in “widespread fraud and manipulation.” Earlier this week, the liquidators, Deloitte, withdrew the case against the Bank of England, bringing the whole sorry mess to an end (almost). Deloitte, however, could have ended all of this back in January. Stamp Collectors Make School-Yard Swap Worth $3 Million -- As hobbies go, stamp collecting lacks a certain sexiness. Oh, it beats trainspotting by miles. And it doesn’t get one as dirty as gardening. It’s cheaper to start than collecting Ferraris or Stradivarius violins. Yet, philately remains a field inhabited by old men, young boys, and those with too much time on their hands. However, a je ne sais quoi did arrive in the field with a $3 million trade between two collectors earlier this week. © 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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