The Case of Maltin’s Movie Guides: The Expert and the Crowd

Maltin, Leonard - Leonard Maltin’s 2011 Movie Guide – New-York and London – Penguin Group (Plume Books) Maltin, Leonard - Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide – 2nd Edition (2010) - New-York and London – Penguin Group (Plume Books) In an age of crowdsourcing...

The Business of Torture

A report published in March 2010 by Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation and titled “From Words to Deeds” accused European companies of manufacturing and selling “tools of torture”. Among these were fixed wall restraints, metal...

The Psychology of Spree Shooters

Most spree shooters are loners. They are either schizoid (with deficient interpersonal skills) or paranoid and even paranoid-schizophrenic (psychotic, delusional). Their dysfunction is all-pervasive: their family life, career, romantic relationships, professional and...

Maritime Piracy

By Sam VakninAuthor of "Malignant Self-love: Narcissism Revisited"In the second half of 2008, pirates based in Somalia have hijacked dozens seafaring vessels: yachts, fishing boats, small freighters, cruise ships (the Nautica), military cargo (the freighter Faina), a chemical...

From Madoff to Murdoch to Greece: Whatever Happened to Ethics?

"When work is a pleasure, life is a joy! When work is a duty, life is slavery."Maxim Gorky (1868-1936), Russian novelist, author, and playright The former head of the biggest stock exchange in the world swindles his clients. The editors and journalists of Britain's largest...

Can the Albanians in Macedonia be Bought off?

The once and future Prime Minister of Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski, has surrendered large swathes of his government to his Albanian coalition partners, DUI, the political incarnation of the rugged insurgents who roiled the country in an armed conflict in 2001. Even the...

Secession, National Sovereignty, and Territorial Integrity

By Sam Vaknin Editor-in-Chief of Global Politician I. Introduction In July 2011, South Sudan became a new state by seceding from Sudan, follwing decades of civil war and a referendum. When Kosovo attained its independence in February 2008, some pundits warned against this...

Entertaining the Masses in Developing, Poor Countries

The cramped offices of Toper, Macedonia’s leading publisher of reference works, are a shrine to the book. Thickset tomes – mainly translations from the English – are strewn everywhere. The proud owners show us their latest crop: two beautifully bound, quality paper...

The Imminent Water Wars

Growing up in Israel in the 1960's, we were always urged to conserve precious water. Rainfall was rare and meager, the sun scorching, our only sweet water lake under constant threat by the Syrians. Israelis were being shot at hauling water cisterns or irrigating their parched...

Bully at Work: Interview with Tim Field

In 1994 the late Tim Field was bullied out of his job as a Customer Services Manager which resulted in a stress breakdown. Turning his experience to good use he set up the UK National Workplace Bullying Advice Line in 1996 and his web site Bully Online in 1997 since which...

Private Armies and Private Military Companies (PMCs)

In July 2002, Christopher Deliso recounted in antiwar.com that Dutch Radio, based on reports leaked by a Dutch military analysis firm, accused the US government of aiding and abetting terrorists in Macedonia. Not for the first time, the Americans were rumored to have hired...