I recently expressed to Jeremy the unlikelihood of my voting for Obama again, and listed a few reasons. He responded that he understood my disappointment in Obama and “share[d] it in some ways,” but that I was “blinded by idealism.” In the interest of bringing discussions like this out of email and into the public, …
Tag Archives: politics
WikiWrap
Last week’s discussion was well attended despite the impending ice storm. Thanks to everybody for coming out. Here’s some of what went down. “I am really surprised there isn’t more outrage from Americans over the Wikileaks releases,” said Joah. He meant the Apache helicopter video in particular. The soldiers in the video technically did follow …
Wikileaks Discussion
The Junta convenes tomorrow night (Tues) to discuss Wikileaks. Please join us for a robust exchange of ideas about privacy, espionage, diplomacy, war, revolution, and freedom, among other things. All viewpoints are welcome. Read previous posts for more background. Tuesday, February 1st, 8:30pm DOC Wine Bar, 83 N. 7th St. in Williamsburg. (Cash bar only)
Glenn Beck Exposed
We are not slowing down here at the Junta. After the smashing success of our meeting on contemporary art, we are jumping to a contemporary media figure as a subject of discussion. Glenn Beck is known as the new star of conservative radio and Fox News TV, where he is seen and heard by millions. …
Iran Wrap
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 …
The Effectiveness of Sanctions
WNYC carried a story this morning about American companies doing business in Iran. While technically it is illegal under American law for companies to deal with Iran, business successfully lobbied to be allowed to subvert the embargo by using their foreign subsidiaries. This is how, for example, Honeywell is able to sell Iran technology to …
The Price of the Inside View
As we were planning our Iran session, Jeremy and I discussed whether we would be able to find someone with direct experience of Iran – well, that is, find someone and get them to accept our invitation – given the difficulties of traveling there. Today the LA Times published a piece about the costs and …