| Latest Commentary: | Volume VI, Number 63 |
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Democrats Cave on Iraq-Nam Timetable -- Back in November, the Democratic Party took both houses of Congress from the Republicans largely because the American people are tired of the war-without-end in Iraq-Nam. When the president had to come to Congress, cap in hand, to ask for more money to keep on fighting to protect the pro-Iranian government in Baghdad (quite contrary to American national interests), they had an opportunity to end the war by forcing the president to accept a timetable for withdrawal of American forces from Iraq-Nam. One presidential veto later, the Democrats in Congress have caved in on the timetable; the new war funding bill lacks one. The Democrats remain a party of collaboration rather than opposition.
Serbian Court Convicts Prime Minister Djindjic’s Assassins -- On March 12, 2003, the pro-Western Prime Minister of Serbia, Zoran Djindjic, was getting out of his car in Belgrade when a sniper shot and killed him. As Judge Nata Mesarevic said this week, “It was not an ordinary murder, it was a political murder with the aim of destabilizing the state.” Judge Mesarevic spoke at the end of a trial that convicted several men of conspiracy and murder. As the trial began, this journal said that this case would be the litmus test for Serbian justice. It looks like Serbia passed the test. EU Caps Mobile Phone Roaming Charges -- As a general rule, the free market is the best way to establish prices for goods and services. The more a market represents the textbook ideal of a market, the less need there is for government intervention. However, when a flawed market fails to deliver, government action is appropriate. So, the telecoms screaming about the recent decision from the European Parliament to cap roaming charges inside the EU are being disingenuous at best. They don’t operate in a free market to begin with, and their roaming charges actually harmed other sectors of the European economy. Scottish Schoolgirl Wins Intel Award for £40 Cloud Chamber -- A cloud chamber is a nifty piece of scientific equipment that physicists use to study cosmic rays. Essentially, it makes the particles’ trails visible. Like a lot of scientific equipment, such chambers tend to run to quite some money. So, this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair’s (ISEF) First Award for physics and astronomy went to a young scientist from Scotland who figured out how to make one for about £40 (US$80) from a plastic fish tank, an aluminum sheet and some felt. Congratulations to Holly Batchelor, an 18-year-old student at The Mary Erskine School in Edinburgh. © Copyright 2007 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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