| Latest Commentary: | Volume VI, Number 82 |
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DHS Top Jobs Remain Unfilled -- The Heimatschutzministerium, or Department of Homeland Security as it says on the official letterhead, has been a disaster from start to finish. The Loss of New Orleans alone proves how dysfunctional it is. While part of the reason is lack of a clear mission, and some of it is incompetence, there is also a lack of personnel at the top levels. Some of the big jobs aren’t being done badly; they aren’t being done at all. According to a recently released report by the majority staff of the House Homeland Security Committee, 138 of the top 575 positions aren’t filled.
Live Earth Entertains, But is That It? -- Al Gore’s brainchild, a global concert held to highlight global warming, came off rather nicely over the week-end. The gig started in Sydney and Tokyo, and ran through Shanghai, Johannesburg, Hamburg, London, Rio, New York and Washington, DC. About 100 acts performed, and no one has seen it all (thanks to YouTube, though, someone will have by August). This journal is all for musical events that try to bring people the bigger picture, but the question needs to be asked, just what did Live Earth accomplish? Boeing Unveils 787 Dreamliner -- Civil aviation designers seem to be moving in two different directions. Airbus with its huge A380 is offering commercial airlines the capacity to carry six to eight hundred people at a time. Boeing has just countered with a “green” airplane, the 787 Dreamliner, which is 20-30% more fuel efficient that comparable aircraft. Both are trying to address the fuel cost component of air travel. The aircraft that wins out here will set the tone for air travel for the next 30 years. New Seven Wonders of the World Chosen -- Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only the Great Pyramid of Giza remains. Since a couple thousand years have passed since that list was drawn up, some people thought it was a good idea to create a new one, making allowances for progress and a wider geographical knowledge. Over the week-end, the results of the internet, text and phone voting from around the world were announced. The New Seven Wonders are: The Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, the Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Coliseum in Rome, and the Taj Mahal in India. © 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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