Category Archives: Coffee House

Introducing the Journalism Security Index (JSI)

Posted on January 30, 2012 by AK

The Press Freedom Index issues by Reporters Without Borders is a good starting point for assessing journalistic freedoms in global comparative perspective. However, much like all attempts to measure democracy or Transparency International’s assessment of corruption perception, their methodology relies on tallying … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Karlin Freedom Index 2012

Posted on January 24, 2012 by AK

This is the Karlin Freedom Index for 2012, a political classification system I formulated more than a year ago in response to systemic bias on the part of traditional “freedom indices” such as Freedom House and The Economist Democracy Index … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Is The US Still A Liberal Democracy?

Posted on January 23, 2012 by AK

In the years since 9/11, the US has built a mosaic of national security powers that undermine its claim to be the “land of the free.” According to this useful summary by Jonathan Turley, these include: Assassination of its own … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Sublime Oblivion | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

New Year Special: 2012 Predictions

Posted on January 3, 2012 by AK

It’s been a great year! To recap, in rough chronological order, 2011 saw: The most popular post (with 562 comments and counting; granted, most of them consisting of Indians and Pakistanis flaming each other); Visualizing the Kremlin Clans (joint project … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Da Russophile, Sublime Oblivion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 215 Comments

The Race To Collapse

Posted on November 25, 2011 by AK

As readers of this blog know, I have long regarded the return of economic crisis as an inevitability (because the core energy and no-growth predicament facing the Western world wasn’t solved in 2008-9 but merely kicked further down the road by … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 79 Comments

I Appear On RT To Discuss Occupy Wall Street

Posted on November 14, 2011 by AK

Here’s the video. Big thanks to the guys at RT, the channel that has been at the forefront of covering OWS for providing me with this opportunity. I was contacted by RT after they noticed my post on why OWS isn’t happening … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Life in General | Tagged , , , , , , | 21 Comments

BRIC’s of Stability: Why Occupy Wall Street Isn’t Coming To Moscow Or Beijing

Posted on November 7, 2011 by AK

EDIT: This article has been translated into Russian at Inosmi.ru (БРИК стабильности: почему Occupy Wall Street не приходит в Москву или Пекин?). As repeatedly noted by Mark Adomanis, the Russian liberals and the Western media have predicted about 10 of the last … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Da Russophile, The Sino Triumphalist | Tagged , , , , , , , | 84 Comments

Mark Sleboda Appears On Eurasian TV

Posted on October 14, 2011 by AK

You may remember Mark Sleboda from this article in which he talked about the inherent ridiculousness of Western countries like the US and Britain criticizing Russia when they happily engage in the same abuses. He now has his own segment at … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House, Da Russophile | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Esperanto Estas La Plej Facila Lingvo En La Mondo

Posted on October 9, 2011 by AK

In the course of my Chinese adventures, all other languages started to seem a lot easier. So needless to say that Esperanto, one of the easiest of them all, looks like just a walk in the park now. In particular, I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Coffee House | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 41 Comments

Why Obama Will Almost Certainly Lose

Posted on October 7, 2011 by AK

And ironically, despite my blog’s focus, to date my US predictions have been more accurate than my Russian ones. Obama to become President? Check. Republicans to win 2010 mid-terms? Check. The emergence of “a new party, a new politics”, with “the … Continue reading →

Posted in A Gambler's Odyssey, Coffee House | Tagged , , , , , | 46 Comments