The orig­i­nal blog entry that appeared on this page, and all follow-​​up com­ments posted by the pub­lic, have been removed under threat of law­suit. In May-​​July 2008, the World Sci­en­tific and Engi­neer­ing Acad­emy and Soci­ety (“WSEAS”), rep­re­sented by the law office of Charles Lee Mudd Jr. in Chicago, threat­ened to bring suit for defama­tion, trade libel, and com­mer­cial dis­par­age­ment because of my pub­lic com­plaints on their mar­ket­ing prac­tices and insti­tu­tional cul­ture in 2004−−2005.

I dis­agree with all their assess­ments of the sit­u­a­tion, and am dis­ap­pointed to con­sider the chill­ing effect this deci­sion may have on oth­ers who have made the same com­plaints. But as a writer run­ning a small busi­ness I am unable to afford the expense and stress of a legal case on such a triv­ial matter.