| The Kensington Review |
16 October 2006 |
| Latest Commentary: | Volume V, Number 123 |
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Iraq Study Group Says “Change the Course” -- The Iraq Study Group is a behind-the-scenes body of 10 members led by James A. Baker III. It is preparing a report for early next year that will recommend that the US administration abandon its “stay the course” approach to Iraq because it isn’t working. Since Mr. Baker is the fixer from the previous George Bush’s administration as well as a Reagan crony, there’s a chance the ISG might get a hearing after the mid-term elections. The pity is the public debate will be over by then, although the leaks to the Los Angeles Times over the week-end and The New York Sun before that are welcome.
UN Security Council Unanimously Votes for North Korean Sanctions -- The United Nations Security Council voted 15-0 on Saturday to slap sanctions on North Korea in response to its nuclear test last week. North Korea blustered and ranted and stormed out of the meeting to which it had been invited. Some of this was theatre, and some of it was symbolic. However, a great many commentators have missed the point. China backed Washington and not Pyongyang. Marubeni Consortium Wins Qatari Thermal Power Plant Contract -- Qatar is one of those places on the map that is trying hard to put itself on the map. Home of Al Jazeera, an Arab emirate that lets women vote and run for local office, Qatar is a place that won’t be recognizable in a few years. Now, this oil-rich nation is building a thermal power plant, and a consortium led by Japan’s Marubeni has won the $2.3 billion contract. Nothing like planning ahead. Beijing Cracks Down on “Chinglish” Ahead of Olympics -- “East is East and West is West” wrote Rudyard Kipling. Had he lived to see jet airplanes, he might have decided the twain might meet after all, with amusing results. “Chinglish” is the word created to describe poorly translated Chinese into English. Like most communists, those running the People’s Republic of China have no sense of humor and have launched yet another campaign to stamp out these poor translations so the nation isn’t embarrassed when the world turns up in 2008 for the Olympic games. What a pity. © Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux. |
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