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 …
Tag Archives: politics
Obama’s State of the Union
Earlier in the day yesterday, I tweeted that I’d like to hear Obama admit the truth about the state of our Union. While he couldn’t come out and put it the way I did, I noticed that he avoided the traditional opening of the speech, “The state of our Union is strong.” Obama opened with …
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 …
Uighurs
Good Junta last night, I’ll leave it to Rindy to post some of the highlights, but for me that was what the Junta was all about: a bunch of dudes sitting around drinking and having good, engaged conversation about real topics. Relevant to last night, and other Junta topics, is the continued rioting in Xinjiang. …
Democracy is Bad for You
Date: Monday, July 6th Time: 7-9pm Place: Arrow Bar, 85 Avenue A, btw 5th/6th St. The next Junta will be centered on the question of democracy in our time. As democracy spreads through a society, power devolves from the elites and the middle class grows. Theoretically, this process should continue until the poor are also …
Neglected Aspects of Discrimination
The Junta will next convene on Thursday, February 5th, 7:00 pm at the Algonquin Hotel, 59 W 44th St, between 5th and 6th Avenues. We are delighted that Professor Andrzej Rapaczynski has agreed to spend the evening with us. I worked with Andrzej for 9 years at Project Syndicate, an international association of newspapers based …
The Election Junta Wrap-up
Monday night’s Junta ended up with four participants, none of whom represented the financial industry. There was also a shortage of McCain supporters. This being the case, the discussion quickly became all about the prospects of an Obama victory and presidency, with little said about the economic crisis he inherits. All were agreed that the …