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Benjamin Espen

The Backlash Mission Book Review

The Backlash Mission: The Blackcollar series book 2 by Timothy Zahn Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy (October 16, 2012) 352 pages ASIN B0094ANS2E The second book in the Blackcollar series picks up several years after the conclusion to the previous volume. The Blackcollars of Plinry have wrestled concessions from

The Long View 2006-11-06: The Zombies in Retreat

John Reilly used to poke fun at the sclerotic state of Republican economic policy with the phrase “capital gains zombies”. Gains…gainssss! I see that twelve years later, this idea is still current: The alliance of social conservatives with the business lobby in the United States is contingent. If the

The Long View: Up in the Air

Up in the Air, Walter Kirn’s 2001 satirical novel on frequent flyer culture, later made into a movie starring George Clooney and written by Jason Reitman, has always been of topical interest to me. My father-in-law has lived that life for almost all of the time I have known

The Long View 2006-11-06: Wretched Excess

Twelve years ago, dissatisfaction with W brought both houses of Congress to the Democrats. This time, it looks like the House may swing, but the Senate may not. We shall see. Wretched Excess So how many stunning rebukes to the Bush Administration have we seen in the past few days?

The Long View 2006-11-03: Justice Done; Holy Political Ads; The Irony of History

When I first re-read this post, I wondered how John Reilly, an attorney, made it through voir dire. He was obviously surprised too, because he explained how it all went down. Also, apparently he got the “enhanced screening” at the courthouse. Justice Done; Holy Political Ads; The Irony of History

Solo: A Star Wars Story Movie Review

Solo: A Star Wars Story Director Ron Howard Starring Alden Ehrenreich, Joonas Suotamo, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, and Donald Glover Writers Jonathan Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan I finally watched Han Solo’s origin story. I really liked it. I saw it as an attempt to rehabilitate the reluctant hero Han

The Long View 2006-10-30: Premonitions and Dark Arts

There is an interesting premonition of the Eurozone financial crisis here. Monetary union between Germany and Italy and Germany and Greece devastated the economies of the smaller, less productive countries. Some people saw this coming a long time ago. There is a kind of analogy to be made to the