| Latest Commentary: | Volume VI, Number 89 |
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NY Governor Spitzer’s Aides Used Police for Political Ends -- New York Governor Eliot Spitzer,a Democrat, has been locked in a battle royal with State Senate GOP Leader Joe Bruno, a man who has been in office long enough to have no scruples left. The state attorney general, Andrew Cuomo (a Democrat), charged on Monday that two of the governor’s aides misused state police to plant a story about Mr. Bruno’s travel shenanigans. The governor has apologized, suspended one of his staff and reassigned another. It’s not enough because the incident has destroyed the governor’s reputation as a clean politician who was going to clean up Albany.
“Joint Campaign Plan” Will Have GIs Dying in Iraq-Nam in 2009 -- General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker have a plan for the war in Iraq-Nam that is, according to the general’s official spokesman, still in the final editing stages. The “Joint Campaign Plan” in the words of the Associated Press, “envisions establishing security at the local level in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq by summer 2008, leading one year later to security conditions nationwide that Iraqi forces are capable of sustaining.” In other words, the plan is to hand over to the Iraq-Namese in the summer of 2009 and to have GIs dying at least until then. Expedia Share Buy Back Scaled Back -- Expedia.com is a rarity on the internet. The on-line travel agent is one of the very few operations that actually makes money for its owners. Spun out of Barry Diller’s IAC internet group back in 2005, its stock trades in the high $20 range. That trading has disappointed many, and to give the stock a shot in the arm, the company had planned a buy back of around 42% of its shares, relying on $3.5 billion in new debt to execute it. Citing unfavorable market conditions, that 45% has shrunk to 8%, and the buy back will rely on existing credit facilities rather than new debt. Joe Garagiola’s Just Play Ball is Baseball Talk Written Down -- Joe Garagiola was a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, and a few other clubs, about 60 years ago. He always said his was a unique story because most major leaguers were the best kid in their town, or county or college. He wasn’t even the best kid on his block; he grew up across the street from Yogi Berra (so technically, Yogi lived on a different block). In his new book, Just Play Ball  , Mr. Garagiola reflects on the position of catcher in particular, and baseball in general in a way that reads more like broadcaster’s chatter during a rain delay than high literature. That’s not an insult.
© 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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