WAIS

WAIS Welcomes Roberta Tontini (Italy/Germany/China)

JE: WAIS ‘09 presenter Roberta Tontini (a friend of Sergio Mukherjee from the University of Heidelberg) has also written this weekend, to formally [...] Continue Reading…

WAIS Welcomes Sergio Mukherjee (Brazil/India/US)

JE: WAISers who attended our conference last month will remember Sergio Mukherjee, who at the last minute stepped up to the plate to [...] Continue Reading…

re: A Community of Scholars (Tor Guimaraes, Brazil/US)

Tor Guimaraes responds to Gilbert Doctorow’s post of 19 November:

I share much of Gilbert Doctorow’s opinion about the “community of scholars,” but on [...] Continue Reading…

re: Tourism and Rip-Offs: World’s Favorite Airline? (John Heelan, UK)

Eugen Solf wrote on 21 November:

Whilst I sympathise wholeheartedly with John Heelan, it must be said that the “world’s favourite airline” is no [...] Continue Reading…

re: Religion: Islam and God (Vincent Littrell, US)

Vincent Littrell writes:

This is a response to David Gress’s post of 12 November:

Much of David Gress’s post is in my view the type of [...] Continue Reading…

re: Economics: Self-Sufficiency vs. Globalization; on Immigration and Unemployment (Istvan Simon, US)

Istvan Simon (IS) responds to Jon Kofas (JK)’s post of 19 November:

(JK) If indeed the countries of origin would be developed on [...] Continue Reading…

re: Tourism and Rip-Offs: Mexico (Henry Levin, US)

Henry Levin responds to Richard Hancock’s post of 21 November:

My youngest son went to the University of California-San Diego, and, perhaps, because of [...] Continue Reading…

re: Immigration and Spain (David Gress, Denmark)

David Gress responds to Tim Brown’s post of 20 November:

Everyone was a migrant. Yes, if you take the very big picture: all modern [...] Continue Reading…

re: Immigration, Labor and Street Crime (Randy Black, US)

Randy Black writes:

I am in total agreement with Richard Hancock’s 20 November post, where he defends the practice of hiring foreign labor for [...] Continue Reading…

re: Tourism and Rip-Offs; on Cheap Airlines (Eugen Solf, Germany)

Eugen Solf responds to John Heelan’s post of 21 November:

This is a rather general remark about the cheap airlines (”no frills”), a business [...] Continue Reading…

re: Tourism and Rip-Offs: on Ryanair (Jordi Molins i Coronado, Catalonia)

John Heelan wrote on 21 November:

I needed to get back urgently from Madrid to London last month for a family matter. As my [...] Continue Reading…

re: Tourism and Rip-Offs: Mexico (Richard Hancock, US)

Richard Hancock writes:

I could write a catalog of being ripped off in Mexico. I will just cite a couple of incidents. When [...] Continue Reading…

re: Tourism and Rip-Offs: British Airways (John Heelan, UK)

John Heelan writes:

I am still fuming about a attempted (but legal) “rip-off” by what claims to be the “World’s Favourite Airline”! [...] Continue Reading…

re: Economics: Unemployment and Leading Indicators (Tor Guimaraes, Brazil/US)

Tor Guimaraes writes:

Mike Bonnie (20 November) brings up a good point. The 10.2% unemployment figure is what economists call U-3. Nationally, the latest [...] Continue Reading…

re: A Community of Scholars: Stanford (Henry Levin, US)

Henry Levin responds to David Gress’s post of 20 November:

I was at Stanford from 1968-1999, going from an assistant professor of education and [...] Continue Reading…

re: A Community of Scholars (David Gress, Denmark)

David Gress responds to Gilbert Doctorow’s post of 19 November:

I wonder who that professor at BU was; I am sure I know him. [...] Continue Reading…

re: Immigration (Tim Brown, US)

Tim Brown follows up on his posting of 19 November:

Truth is, at some time in history everyone was a migrant. Even Adam and [...] Continue Reading…

re: “Nativist” Politics, Immigration and Globalization (Robert Whealey, US)

Robert Whealey responds to Jon Kofas’s post of 19 November:

The globalization of the investment banks and about twelve
stock [...] Continue Reading…

re: Capitalism, Democracy, Political and Economic Freedom (Mike Bonnie, US)

Mike Bonnie responds to the recent exchange between Istvan Simon (IS) and Tor Guimaraes (TG):

IS: Tor Guimaraes is not only wrong in continually [...] Continue Reading…

re: Immigration and Street Crime (Richard Hancock, US)

Richard Hancock responds to David Gress’s post of 18 November:

I disagree with David Gress’s assertation that immigrants do little good in our country. A [...] Continue Reading…

re: Tourism and Getting Ripped Off: More on Taxis (Eugen Solf, Germany)

Eugen Solf writes:

During my travels I have come to the conclusion, especially in far-away countries, that being “ripped off” is part of one’s everyday [...] Continue Reading…

re: Tourism and Getting Ripped Off (Les Robinson, US)

Les Robinson writes:

Once in London, I was still confused about the exchange rate for the dollar and left too much change for the tip. [...] Continue Reading…

re: Tourism and Getting Ripped Off: Taxis (Robert Crow, US)

On getting ripped off abroad, Robert Crow writes:

In quite a bit of traveling, the only rip-offs I can think of have [...] Continue Reading…

re: Tourism and Getting Ripped Off: France (Randy Black, US)

Randy Black writes:

Regarding John Eipper’s call (19 November) for anecdotes of rip-offs experienced by WAISers during their travels, I can truthfully state that I’ve [...] Continue Reading…

“Nativist” Politics and Prejudice of Immigration (Jon Kofas, Greece)

On the politics of immigration, a recent WAIS hot topic, Jon Kofas writes:

“Nativist” politics and prejudice of immigration are very old in both US [...] Continue Reading…

re: WAISers: Jon Kofas’s Novels (David Gress, Denmark)

David Gress responds to Jon Kofas’s post of 17 November:

Jon’s novels sound most interesting. Am I to understand that you, a Greek, wrote [...] Continue Reading…

re: Europe: Immigration and Street Crime (Carmen Negrín, France)

Carmen Negrín responds to Tim Brown’s post of 19 November:

Indeed Tim misunderstood and didn’t need to be on the defensive. I am not [...] Continue Reading…

re: Capitalism, Democracy, Political and Economic Freedom (Rodolfo Neirotti, Argentina)

Istvan Simon wrote on 16 November:

The bubbles and periodic failures of market economies show that they are not perfect. But so do forest [...] Continue Reading…

re: Safety in China and Elsewhere (Istvan Simon, US)

Istvan Simon comments on Charles Ridley’s and Mike Bonnie’s recent assertions that they feel safe in China:

I personally never felt unsafe in China either. [...] Continue Reading…

re: WAIS Survey: on Adding WAIS Value (Robert Gibbs, US)

Bob Gibbs replies to Gene Franklin’s post of 17 November:

One man’s trash (or post) is another man’s treasure.

I might add [...] Continue Reading…

re: WAIS Survey: on Adding WAIS Value (Francisco Wong-Diaz, US)

Francisco Wong-Diaz adds these thoughts on WAIS “value”:

I thought that the recuitment and selection process used to add WAISers to the fellowship ipso facto [...] Continue Reading…

re: WAIS Survey: on Adding WAIS Value (Miles Seeley, US)

What is WAIS and how could it be more “WAISerrific”? These are the questions JE posed on 15 November with the “WAIS value” [...] Continue Reading…

re: Europe: Immigration and Street Crime (Tim Brown, US)

Tim Brown responds to Carmen Negrín’s post of 18 November:

Have I missed something? As a specialist in Latin America with particular expertise [...] Continue Reading…

re: Capitalism, Democracy, Political and Economic Freedom (Tor Guimaraes, Brazil/US)

Tor Guimaraes (TG) responds to Istvan Simon (IS)’s post of 16 November:

IS: Tor Guimaraes is not only wrong in continually referring to [...] Continue Reading…

re: A Community of Scholars (Gilbert Doctorow, Belgium)

Gilbert Doctorow writes:

I would like to add a follow-up comment to Charles Ridley’s posting of 18 November. In the broad order of [...] Continue Reading…

re: Immigration and Development (Tim Brown, US)

Tim Brown responds to Jon Kofas’s post of 17 November:

Mr. Kofas misses what for me are two important pieces of the equation–the difference between [...] Continue Reading…

re: Immigration Costs and Benefits (Pablo Swedberg, Spain/Sweden/US)

David Gress wrote on 18 November:

The costs [of immigration] are huge, on the order of several thousand dollars per taxpayer per year. [...] Continue Reading…

re: Europe: Immigration and Street Crime (Carmen Negrín, France)

Carmen Negrín responds to David Gress’s post of 18 November:

David’s comments make me think of what American Indigenous peoples must have thought of the [...] Continue Reading…

re: WAIS Survey: on Adding WAIS Value (Charles Ridley, US)

Now, Charles Ridley takes the survey:

I perceive WAIS as a most valuable connection to what others are thinking about a wide variety of [...] Continue Reading…

re: WAIS Survey: on Adding WAIS “Value” (John Heelan, UK)

As part of our ongoing series (”ongoing” since yesterday!) on what WAIS “value” is and how it can be increased, John Heelan writes:

1) [...] Continue Reading…

re: Capitalism, Democracy, Political and Economic Freedom (Istvan Simon, US)

Istvan Simon writes:

On 16 November, John Heelan said that capitalism under Salazar, Franco and Pinochet was “rampant” without political freedoms.

I did [...] Continue Reading…

re: Europe: Immigration and Street Crime (David Gress, Denmark)

David Gress responds to Jon Kofas’s post of 17 November:

There is no fear-mongering that I can detect either in the US or Europe, [...] Continue Reading…

re: France and Street Crime–on “Missiles” (Robert McCabe, France)

In his post of 17 November, Robert McCabe mentioned a “riot” that took place in Paris this past weekend. An Internet company had [...] Continue Reading…

Books: David Westbrook’s *Out of Crisis* (David Westbrook, US)

David Westbrook sends this excellent news:

My latest book, Out of Crisis: Rethinking Our Financial Markets, is
out. The book is [...] Continue Reading…

re: Afghanistan (Miles Seeley, US)

Miles Seeley responds to John Torok’s post of 15 September:

Sorry to be so long in responding to John’s post. I have watched with great [...] Continue Reading…

re: Europe: Immigration and Street Crime (Jon Kofas, Greece)

Jon Kofas responds to Robert McCabe’s post of 17 November:

Immigration is an easy target for fear-mongering, as it always has been in the US [...] Continue Reading…

re: Street Crime in Different Nations (Tim Brown, US)

Tim Brown writes:

My own experiences with crime and violence involved me both as a person and consular professional, the latter because a major consular [...] Continue Reading…

re: WAIS Survey: on Adding WAIS Value (Maxine Thomas, US)

Maxine Thomas writes:

I am 93 years old and read every one of the WAIS letters. Ronald Hilton
was married to my sister [...] Continue Reading…

re: WAIS Survey: on Adding WAIS Value (Eugen Solf, Germany)

Eugen Solf responds to JE’s questions on “WAIS Value” (15 November):

You are raising many important questions, some overdue, and some implicit points. They deserve [...] Continue Reading…

re: WAIS Survey: on Adding WAIS Value (Gene Franklin, US)

JE: I’ve received many interesting responses to my “WAIS Value” posting/survey of 15 November. I’ll post a few of them today, and [...] Continue Reading…

re: Russia: Street Crime and Income Disparity in Moscow (Cameron Sawyer, Russia)

Mike Bonnie wrote on 17 November:

Although I don’t have empirical data to back this up, intuitively, safety has everything to do with levels of [...] Continue Reading…

re: Great War and Its Causes (John Recchiuti, US)

John Recchiuti responds to Nigel Jones’s post of 16 November:

I’m lecturing today at my small liberal arts university in the Midwest
on the origins of [...] Continue Reading…

Society: Superstructures and Substructures in the Age of Atomism (Jon Kofas, Greece)

Jon Kofas writes:

Does widespread cynicism throughout the world in the early 21st century about political, judicial, business, religious, educational, social and cultural institutions widen [...] Continue Reading…

re: Denmark, Immigration and Street Crime (David Gress, Denmark)

Cameron Sawyer wrote on 16 November:

I think it’s not totalitarianism which determines the level of street crime, but probably more factors like (a) [...] Continue Reading…

re: Europe: Immigration and Street Crime (Robert McCabe, France)

Robert McCabe responds to Cameron Sawyer’s post of 16 November:

I’ve long wondered whether a society’s safety quotient is somehow related to immigration factors. In [...] Continue Reading…

re: China, Japan and Safety (Sardar Haddad, US; ex-Iran)

Sardar Haddad writes:

I agree with Charles Ridley (15 November) about safety in Japan. During my visits to Japan, I have noticed that Tokyo and [...] Continue Reading…

re: China, Japan and Safety (Mike Bonnie, US)

Cameron Sawyer wrote on 16 November:

I think it’s not totalitarianism which determines the level of street crime, but probably more factors like (a) [...] Continue Reading…

China: Obama’s Visit (Ying Rong, US)

Ying Rong writes:

President Obama’s visit to China takes place shortly after the 20-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

At Obama’s speech [...] Continue Reading…

re: UK: on Sharia Courts (John Heelan, UK)

Randy Black wrote on 16 November:

In his 15 November post, John Heelan corrected my position that Sharia courts in England have judicial powers, when [...] Continue Reading…

re: Trial of 9-11 Suspects in NYC (Istvan Simon, US)

Istvan Simon writes:

On 16 November, John Torok asked me what kind of tribunal I would favor for the 9/11 suspects, and whether I support [...] Continue Reading…

WAISers: a Personal and Literary Update (Jon Kofas, Greece)

JE: It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from our friend Jon Kofas, so I wrote him a personal note last week. [...] Continue Reading…

re: Albania and Street Crime (Tom Hashimoto, Albania/Slovenia/Japan)

On 15 November, JE asked a contrary question: has there ever been a nation where a transition to democracy has actually coincided with a [...] Continue Reading…

re: China, Japan and Safety (Cameron Sawyer, Russia)

Cameron Sawyer writes:

When commenting Charles Ridley’s post of 15 November, JE posited some kind of correlation between democracy and street crime.

But the safest [...] Continue Reading…

re: Great War and Its Causes (Nigel Jones, UK)

Nigel Jones writes:

I apologise for taking my time to respond to Cameron Sawyer’s post from several days ago, and indeed to that of [...] Continue Reading…

re: Capitalism, Democracy, Political and Economic Freedom (John Heelan, UK)

John Heelan writes:

Istvan Simon (16 November) wrote interesting comments on the relationship between political and economic freedoms.

[IS] In fact there is ample evidence that [...] Continue Reading…

re: UK: on Sharia Courts (Randy Black, US)

Randy Black writes:

In his 15 November post, John Heelan corrected my position that Sharia courts in England have judicial powers, when he stated [...] Continue Reading…

re: McVeigh and Hasan Compared (Robert Whealey, US)

Robert Whealey responds to Massoud Malek’s post of 14 November:

Timothy McVeigh was a mass murderer who killed 168
people in Oklahoma. [...] Continue Reading…

re: Capitalism, Democracy, Political and Economic Freedom (Istvan Simon, US)

Istvan Simon responds to the recent postings of Jordi Molins i Coronado, Cameron Sawyer, Tor Guimaraes and Alain de Benoist:

I have followed the exchange [...] Continue Reading…

re: Trial of 9-11 Suspects in NYC (John Torok, US; ex-NYC)

John Torok writes:

It will not surprise WAISers to learn that in an imperfect world I think the the Justice Department’s decision to try [...] Continue Reading…

WAIS Survey: on Adding WAIS Value (John Eipper, US)

JE writes:

As part of a major overhaul of our public website, which we hope to have on-line in early 2010, I’ve been in consultation [...] Continue Reading…

China, Japan and Safety (Charles Ridley, US)

Charles Ridley writes:

Like Mike Bonnie (15 November) I certainly felt safe in China. One might be cheated in bargaining over the [...] Continue Reading…

UK: on Sharia Courts (John Heelan, UK)

Randy Black (RB) wrote on 15 November:

Just last week, Islamic leaders in Britain declared their ultimate goal was to turn England’s Buckingham Palace into [...] Continue Reading…

re: Nidal Malik Hasan (Bienvenido Macario, Philippines/US)

Massoud Malek wrote on 14 November:

Timothy McVeigh was a Christian and a decorated veteran of the United States Army, having served in the first [...] Continue Reading…

re: Economics: “The Asian Knout and the European Stock Market” (Alain de Benoist, France)

Alain de Benoist writes:

I have read with interest the recent exchange between Tor Guimaraes and Cameron Sawyer about capitalism, its merits and its faults. [...] Continue Reading…

re: Trial of 9-11 Suspects in NYC: Biggest Story of Week? (David Krieger, US)

David Krieger writes:

JE commented on 14 November that decision to try of the 9/11 suspects in NYC was the biggest news story of the [...] Continue Reading…

re: Nidal Malik Hasan (Mike Bonnie, US)

Randy Black wrote on 14 November:

I wonder if [Mike Bonnie] might reevaluate his statement about race, rank, religion or ethnic background not being part [...] Continue Reading…

re: Nidal Malik Hasan: Muslim Bashing? (Randy Black, US)

Randy Black responds to Massoud Malek’s post of 14 November:

Massoud wrote that the WAIS forum is leaning towards Muslim bashing. Nothing can be further [...] Continue Reading…

re: “Fragging” (Robert McCabe, France)

Robert McCabe responds to Mike Delong’s post of 14 November:

During my years as a reporter in Vietnam (1959-67) there were plenty of stories about [...] Continue Reading…

US: Trial of 9-11 Suspects in NYC (Istvan Simon, US)

Istvan Simon writes:

The Obama administration has announced that it will try the mastermind architect of the September 11 attacks, who also allegedly confessed [...] Continue Reading…

re: Religion: God in Islam, Judaism, Christianity (Alain de Benoist, France)

Alain de Benoist writes:

Ernie Hunt (14 November) wrote these lines about God: “We call Him/Her the Lord of history and use that reference [...] Continue Reading…

re: Nidal Malik Hasan (Massoud Malek, US; ex-Iran)

Massoud Malek writes:

Timothy McVeigh was a Christian and a decorated veteran of the United States Army, having served in the first Gulf War, [...] Continue Reading…

re: Religion: God in Islam, Judaism, Christianity (Ernie Hunt, US)

Do Christians, Muslims and Jews worship the same God? Alain de Benoist (and JE) reflected on this topic on 13 November. Ernie [...] Continue Reading…

re: US: Obama One Year after Elections; on Being “Fit” for Office (Edward Jajko, US)

When commenting Phyllis Gardner’s post of 13 November, JE wrote:

US presidents can no longer be perceived as a couch potatoes. You have [...] Continue Reading…

re: Nidal Malik Hasan; on “Fragging” (Mike Delong, US/UAE)

Mike Delong responds (via Blackberry) to Mike Bonnie’s 13 November question about “fragging”:

The Hasan case is not “fragging” but premeditated murder. There [...] Continue Reading…

re: Nidal Malik Hasan (Randy Black, US)

Randy Black writes:

On 13 November, in his response to Tor Guimaraes’s 12 November post, Mike Bonnie stated, “The man (Nidal Hasan) who did [...] Continue Reading…

re: Economics: “The Asian Knout and the European Stock Market” (Tor Guimaraes, Brazil/US)

Tor Guimaraes responds to John Heelan’s post of 13 November:

I believe Slavoj Zizek is on to some critical issues. In practice over the [...] Continue Reading…

re: Economics: “The Asian Knout and the European Stock Market” (Cameron Sawyer, Russia)

On 13 November, John Heelan forwarded this quote from Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek:

The way market fundamentalists react to the turmoil that ensues when their [...] Continue Reading…

re: Economics: “The Asian Knout and the European Stock Market” (Jordi Molins i Coronado, Catalonia)

On 13 November, John Heelan noted a question from Slavoj Zizek:

What if it shows that democracy, as we understand it, is no longer the [...] Continue Reading…

re: Nidal Malik Hasan and Religion (Alain de Benoist, France)

Alain de Benoist writes:

David Gress (12 November) wrote: “When Muslims hear Allah (who has very little indeed in common with the God Jews [...] Continue Reading…

Economics: “The Asian Knout and the European Stock Market” (John Heelan, UK)

John Heelan writes:

Slavoj Zizek uses Trotsky’s characterisation of Tsarist Russia and asks some uncomfortable questions in an interesting article in the latest London Review [...] Continue Reading…

re: US: Obama One Year after Elections (Phyllis Gardner, US)

Phyllis Gardner responds to Paul Pitlick’s post of 12 November:

I agree with Paul Pitlick. Seymour Hersch was on the NPR radio program [...] Continue Reading…

re: Nidal Malik Hasan; on “Fragging” (Mike Bonnie, US)

Tor Guimaraes wrote on 12 November :

I share Michael Sullivan’s and others’ anger, frustration, and shock from this great tragedy at Fort [...] Continue Reading…

re: on Financial “Terrorism” (Tor Guimaraes, Brazil/US)

When commenting Tor Guimaraes’s post of 12 November, JE wrote:

With the exception of a few specific rogues like Madoff, retirement account-killers are [...] Continue Reading…

re: Nidal Malik Hasan (Joe Listo, Brazil)

On Nidal Malik Hasan, Joe Listo writes:

Sooner or later, the US must come to grips with reality: the Jihadists are out to cause [...] Continue Reading…

re: Nidal Malik Hasan and Terrorism (Michael Sullivan, US)

Michael Sullivan responds to David Crow’s post of 12 November:

My definition of terrorism is someone or group that plans to attack innocent people [...] Continue Reading…

re: Einstein: Eine Kleine Steinmusik… (Robert McCabe, France)

Apropos Einstein (see Holger Terp’s post of 12 November), Robert McCabe writes:

Here’s the perfect (anonymous) limerick on the Great Man…

There’s a wonderful [...] Continue Reading…

re: US: Obama One Year after Elections (Paul Pitlick, US)

Paul Pitlick responds to Nigel Jones’s post of 4 November:

Although I don’t completely disagree with the assessment that Mr. Obama hasn’t done [...] Continue Reading…

re: Armistice Day vs. Veterans Day: A Quote from Vonnegut (David Krieger, US)

David Krieger writes:

Here is a quote from Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut that was sent to me regarding the change from Armistice Day [...] Continue Reading…

re: Great War: Thoughts on Armistice Day (Cameron Sawyer, Russia)

When commenting Alain de Benoist’s post of 12 November, JE wrote:

Dividing historical epochs into tidy centuries, as the French do in their literature departments, [...] Continue Reading…

Einstein and the US (Holger Terp, Denmark)

Holger Terp asks:

I’m reading up on Einstein at the moment.

One simple question from the ignorant:

Albert Einstein got a [...] Continue Reading…