I started the discussion on Tuesday night with a sort of mini-argument: four points that I had arrived at over a couple of weeks reading on the subject of Iran, which I figured would get the ball rolling on the evening. Because of the sharp minds in attendance, it was all that was necessary to …
Category Archives: Wrap-Ups
Pirate Run-Down
Jeremy started his discussion of maritime piracy by talking about his days covering the issue in Asia, specifically the activity in the Straits of Malacca, between Singapore and Indonesia. At one particularly narrow stretch, the channel is less than 2 miles wide – an ideal target zone for pirates. The Free Aceh rebels, a separatist …
The Legal Wrap
Our session on the morality of legislating behavior rambled at times, but produced a lively conversation, and I think we all took something from it. The Junta would like to thank Dave for sharing his personal episode of confrontation with the war on drugs. It was powerful to hear a man speak openly about a …
Democracy Wrap
Monday night’s Junta was well-attended despite coming off a holiday weekend, and produced great conversation. Our out-of-town guest was Jarrett Wrisley, an American living in Bangkok and a longtime friend of mine. He spent the opening part of the discussion bringing us all up to speed on the situation in Thailand, including the story of …
Wrap Up: Collapse of the System
It’s been ten days since the Junta met to discuss the crisis in the American system and the possibility of collapse, but I’m just getting around to writing it up for a number of reasons, chief of which being that I’m a top procrastinator. Given the topic of discussion, Arrow Bar proved an appropriate locale …
Wrap-up on Discrimination
Thursday night’s Junta was a great one. We continue to set the bar high for intellectual engagement and for attracting top-notch minds. And the Algonquin is becoming a favorite venue, at least in my opinion. The whiskeys are a bit tough on the wallet, but the atmosphere is par excellence. Professor Andrzej Rapaczynski set out …
Avant-Garde Wrap-Up
Last week was the most successful Junta to date. Ten or so people showed up and turned the back of the bar from a damp and sticky foosball room into an underground outpost of intellectual enlightenment. Josh’s presentation on the development of the New York downtown avant-garde art scene was well researched and provoked a …