| Latest Commentary: | Volume VI, Number 78 |
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Senate Fails to Close Debate on Immigration Bill -- The US Senate voted yesterday on ending debate on the current Immigration Bill, a measure that would require 60 “ayes” to bring the bill to the floor for a final vote where 51 would be needed to pass it. Despite the very personal backing of the president, the bill’s backers couldn’t even muster a majority let alone 3/5 of the chamber. The vote of 46 in favor to 53 against means there probably won’t be a bill on immigration under Mr. Bush at all.
Prime Minister Brown Unveils New Cabinet -- The first thing one does when one moves into a new house is clean it. So, Her Majesty’s Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Gordon Brown, MP, PC, got rid of some deadwood, some stained reputations and a few obstructions in his cabinet yesterday. With one exception, there are now no Blairites in the British Cabinet. The men and women he selected to lead Britain out of the Blair years are a competent bunch, and mercifully, they don’t all take to spin as much as they do substance. US Gets Nervous over Chinese Recalls -- The US and China are starting to get nasty about some poor quality products that the US has imported from the People’s Republic of China. The incidents of contaminated toothpaste, defective tires and poisoned pet food have been covered extensively in the American press. The impression is that Chinese products don’t meet American safety standards. The Chinese, naturally, take exception to the suggestion that their exports aren’t up to snuff. The argument, though, underlines the need for common standards in free-trade arrangement to prevent non-tariff barriers to trade from arising. American Bald Eagle No Longer Endangered -- The Secretary of the Interior yesterday made it official. The American Bald Eagle, a symbol of the American Republic along with the Stars and Stripes, is off the Endangered Species list. In 1963, the lower 48 states had but 440 mating pairs. Since then, a massive conservation effort has resulted in a 25 fold increase. The 10,000 or so pairs represent a “back-from-the-brink” story that illustrates just what proper environmental laws can achieve. © 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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