| The Kensington Review |
10 September 2004 |
|
Latest Commentary:
America’s War Dead in Iraq Tops 1,000 -- Four American military personnel died in Iraq on Wednesday. Depending on the exact time of their passing, the dubious honor of being the 1,000th American to die in a war about weapons of mass destruction, oil and/or democracy for Iraqis goes to: Spc. Clarence Adams III, 28, of Richmond, VA, 1st Lt. Timothy E. Price, 25, of Midlothian, VA, or one of two soldiers whose names have yet to be released pending notification of their next of kin. Their sacrifice is as great as any from Lexington-Concord and Yorktown through the Somme and Guadalcanal to Inchon, KheSan and Kuwait. But there is nothing patriotic, honorable nor noble about getting them killed for all the wrong reasons. Blair Reshuffles His Cabinet -- Prime Minister Tony Blair reshuffled his cabinet this week, and the result has many wondering whether he botched it, made a brilliant move or simply muddled through. The crux of the issue is the role of Alan Milburn, who left the cabinet 15 months ago to “spend more time with his family.” Mr. Blair has made him Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (a silly title that works out to be minister-without-portfolio), and he’ll get to write the party manifesto for the next election. This, quite unofficially, has Gordon Brown, MP, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the man in charge of all the money) furious. He thinks he is Mr. Blair’s successor. Viacom to Spin Off Blockbuster -- The Financial Times reported that media giant Viacom (CBS, MTV, Cartoon Network, Simon & Schuster) formally began the process of spinning off its Blockbuster video rental business. Those shareholders who tender their Viacom stock will get 5.15 shares of Blockbuster. The FT says this will be worth about $1 billion. The question is whether Blockbuster has a future. William Gibson’s Career Recovers with Pattern Recognition -- Perhaps, it was enough that Canadian writer William Gibson gave the world the term “cyberspace” in his novelette Burning Chrome. His early works were a breath of fresh air in science fiction, and his fellow cyberpunk writers (Bruce Sterling, Rudy Rucker, Walter Jon Williams, etc.) created a sub-genre every bit as exciting and visionary as the greats of the 1950s. Then, his work wandered from its previous quality: Virtual Light, Idoru, and All Tomorrow’s Parties just weren’t as good. Mr. Gibson, though, has revived his craft and vision with Pattern Recognition. |
|
Links |
Amazon.com |
Archives |
Contact us |