| Latest Commentary: | Volume VI, Number 73 |
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US Passport Rules Relaxed as Feds Bungle -- After the Al Qaeda murders on September 11, 2001, the US went into a panic over security. In a delayed reaction, the US government decided that American travelers flying to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda would need passports rather than simpler forms of ID like drivers’ licenses effective in January. That’s been moved back to September because the US government couldn’t issue enough passports in time. But when land and sea travelers are added to this, things have exploded. Surely 5 plus years is enough time to get ready for the new rules?
France Gives Sarkozy Smaller Majority -- The French electorate gave President Nicolas Sarkozy a majority in the House of Deputies in yesterday’s election. A “blue tsunami” had been predicted (in Europe, the conservatives are blue, the socialists are red – much more historically accurate than America’s color-codes for Democrats and Republicans). Instead, Mr. Sarkozy’s Union pour un Mouvement Populaire [UMP] and its allies on the right hold fewer seats than the UMP on its own in the last parliament. Meanwhile, the Socialists earned 226 seats, compared to 149 in the last parliament. The voters clearly want a move to the right, but not too far. Aspen Institute Calls for End to Quarterly Guidance -- A broad alliance of business interests working under the aegis of the Aspen Institute is announcing today a new set of corporate principles that includes an end to quarterly guidance. The new principles call for greater communication with shareholders to give them a longer-term perspective on a company and its stock. Rather than look at quarterly results, the Aspen declaration calls for a five-year time horizon. It is the right thing to do, but there are a host of pressures against it. Rushdie, Botham Get Knighted -- Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has issued the list of Birthday Honours for 2007. Once again, this journal’s efforts have gone unnoticed (could it be that the desire to abolish of the monarchy plays badly at the palace?), but other worthies have not. Salman Rushdie, author and offender of the late and unlamented Ayatollah Khomeini, will be knighted, as will former cricketing hero Ian Botham. Australian comedian Barry Humphries, better known as Dame Edna Everage, receives a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), since knighting a dame creates all kinds of protocol problems. And most of all, Edward Joseph Cooper, from east Belfast, was made an MBE for being a better human being than most. © 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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