The Kensington Review

18 October 2006

Latest Commentary: Volume V, Number 123
RNC Pulls Ads from Ohio Senate Race -- The big political news in the US is the decision by the Republican National Committee to cut back on the TV advertising it will buy in support of the Senate campaign of Ohio Senator Mike DeWine. This means the RNC doesn’t see much hope of holding the seat. Since Mr. DeWine is still doing better in the polls than Rick Santorum (R-PA) or Conrad Burns (R-MT), the RNC is effectively ceding three seats to the Democrats in the Senate. The reason is simple; of the seven races with GOP incumbents that are in play, they only need to hold one or two to keep the Senate.

UN Picks New Secretary-General, Deadlocks on Security Council Seat -- The UN, the world body that nationalists all over love to hate, is making some changes in who sits where. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s successor will be South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon, the first Asian in the post since U Thant in 1971. Meanwhile, the election for one of the two Security Council seats reserved for Latin America is still going on between Venezuela and Guatemala. To understand the UN, one must remember that it isn’t a democracy but rather a diplomatic forum.

Chicago Merc Buys CBOT -- If one wants to trade stocks in the US, New York is the place to be. For futures contracts, though, Chicago is not the “Second City” so much as the 800-pound gorilla. With the Chicago Mercantile Exchange buying the Chicago Board of Trade for $8 billion, the gorilla just put on a little weight. The only question is whether this Microsoft-style hold on futures is a good thing for investors and speculators.

US Population Reaches 300 Million Mark -- According to the US Census Bureau, at 7:46 am Eastern Daylight time yesterday, the 300 millionth American arrived. Precisely who that was is never going to be known, and it could just as easily have been an immigrant as a newborn native. The mark is a statistical milestone merely because of the roundness of the number. What matters more is the continuing growth of the US population.

© 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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