| Latest Commentary: | Volume VI, Number 71 |
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Democrats Fail in No-Confidence Vote against AG Gonzales -- American humorist Will Rogers said back in the 1930s, “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” A lifetime later, the Democrats in Congress are proving that, even when they do get organized enough to act, they can’t quite seem to get anything done. The latest example of their ineptitude is their failure to get a meaningless “no-confidence” vote against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales through the Senate. Maybe if they tried something less symbolic and more useful, they wouldn’t look so much like a party of collaboration when they fail.
Chavez Tells Supporters to Give Away Luxuries -- The fingernail grip on reality of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez slipped a bit more. He seems to think his followers should give away all the extra stuff they don’t need in order to prove that they are good socialists. On Monday, he said, “Whoever has a fridge they do not need, put it out in the village square. Whoever has a truck, a fan or a cooker they do not need, give something away. Let’s not be selfish. I demand you do it.” Demand? Who does he think he is? Jesus of Nazareth? Royal Bank of New Zealand Sells Kiwis -- In an interesting exercise and a possible case study for business and economics students, the Royal Bank of New Zealand intervened in the foreign exchange markets earlier this week. The kiwi dollar had reached a 22-year high against the US dollar thanks to an unexpected interest rate hike last week from 7.75% to 8%. This comes on the heels of general weakness in the US dollar. Although the sale of kiwi dollars by the New Zealand central bank did knock 2% off the value of the local currency, the situation demonstrates the limits of central bank powers in the 21st century. British Non-Profit Says Let Kids Play -- Much has been made of the British nanny state, but two recent announcements from the UK’s leading non-profits suggest a few scrapes and a broken wrist might be just what kids need. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents [RoSPA] issued a press release that opened, “The Children need wilder places to play where they can take risks, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said today ahead of its International Play Safety Conference on Thursday.” Last week, Britain’s Children’s Society pointed out that kids’ “freedom to play out with their friends is being curtailed by adult anxiety about the modern world.” A little risk taking is, indeed, in order. © 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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