| The Kensington Review |
8 July 2005 |
| Latest Commentary: | Volume IV, Number 81 |
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Al Qaeda Murders London Commuters -- More than a year ago, Sir John Stevens, commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, said, “there is perhaps an inevitability that some attack will get through.” Yesterday, it did. While London was on its way to work on 7/7, at least four explosions occurred within minutes of one another. The number of casualties is in the hundreds, and the fatalities will rise as time goes on. Londoners have been inoculated against the panic other places might have experienced thanks to years of IRA bombings. But there is cause to worry beyond today.
America Jails Reporter Without Trial -- Judith Miller of the New York Times was jailed on Wednesday without trial for refusing to reveal a source to a grand jury. The legal term is “civil contempt of court,” but “fascism” is a much better description. Too often the word gets tossed around like a Frisbee at Malibu, haphazardly, but in this case, the shoe fits. By the same token, Ms. Miller should be on trial for inciting a war of aggression and misuse of the First Amendment to cause a breach of international law. Freezing Cold Summer Offices Hurt Businesses -- Sweaters and jackets are supposed to be for the cooler months of the year. But in the office, it is a sign that someone needs to take his hand off the thermostat. As cities in North America swelter in the usual muggy heat of July, secretaries, accountants and lawyers are donning everything but thermal underwear to fight off the effects of air conditioning in the workplace. A recently publicized study from Cornell says that not only are offices too cold to be comfortable, but also chilly workstations are inefficient ones. Caneletto Painting Sells for Double Auctioneer’s Expectation -- Once upon a time, a painter had to be able to paint. Rather than create performance art that strikes at the preconceptions of the post-modern apathy of suburbanites (or whatever it is), artists had to have some technical ability. The mess that is modern art arose when the Impressionists decided they were more interested in absinthe than art. So it was particularly heartening to see that a Caneletto sold at Christie’s in London for £11 million, about twice what the auction house expected. © Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux. |
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