SIPA invaded by Noam Chomsky | The Morningside Post

Anyone in the international affairs building between 4 and 7pm December 3 could be forgiven for thinking that SIPA was under occupation. Such is the pulling power of Noam Chomsky, the famed MIT professor, and ardent critic of US foreign policy, that an hour before he was scheduled to deliver the Edward Said Memorial Lecture in Altschul auditorium no less than 300 people had formed a line stretching through the foyer and up the stairwell to the 8th floor. Even before you entered the lecture theater it was clear that this event was something a little different.

via SIPA invaded by Noam Chomsky | The Morningside Post.

Read Full Post »

Say it ain’t so, Randi! : Pharyngula

This is a comment on the article linked to below:

“I’m sorry Greg, but you miss an important point. None of the Global warming denialists will see the nuances in Randi’s writing. Consider the case of Noam Chomsky and a holocaust denialist in the early 80s. Chomsky wrote an essay in support of intellectual freedom when the French government planned to ban the book based on its falsehoods and distorted history. Chomsky did not like the idea of state-sanctioned history. He prefers to have a history book fail on its lack of merits rather than state intervention. But he allowed the author to use the essay “whatever way he chooses.” Oops. Epic fail. The holocaust denial book was published and we see “with a forward by Noam Chomsky” on the cover in nice big letters. The creep used the essay to promote the book (not the original intent of the essay nor did the essay support the content of the book).”

via Say it ain’t so, Randi! : Pharyngula.

Read Full Post »

cathartic discoveries « my ~ 2 sense

i just finished two of noam chomsky’s excellent books concerning the empire of the united states: hegemony or survival and failed states. before that, i finished naomi klein’s the shock doctrine and howard zinn’s a people’s history of the united states. all books i strongly recommend for their excellent research, opinions, and perspectives on economics, foreign affairs, war, labor, human rights, international laws, etc.

via cathartic discoveries « my ~ 2 sense.

Read Full Post »

Welcome to Slider’s Dugout Message Board – Msg: 26179649

A major component of the craft of maintaining morale is not taking the advertised reality too seriously. In the early 1960s, when the overwhelming majority in the U.S. supported military intervention in Vietnam, Chomsky was one of a minority of U.S. citizens actively opposing it. Looking back at this era, Chomsky reflected, “When I got involved in the anti-Vietnam War movement, it seemed to me impossible that we would ever have any effect. . . So looking back, I think my evaluation of the ‘hope’ was much too pessimistic: it was based on a complete misunderstanding. I was sort of believing what I read.”

via Welcome to Slider’s Dugout Message Board – Msg: 26179649.

Read Full Post »

The Prickly Pears: Obama: Old Wine In New Bottle

As I observe the moral implosion of the Democratic leadership, I keep thinking of an essay by Noam Chomsky commenting on the Clinton presidency. In the 1996 essay, titled “Old Wine in New Bottles: A Bitter Taste,” Chomsky expands on Paul Krugman’s assumption that “bad ideas flourish because they are in the interest of powerful groups.” In this case, Krugman was talking about international economic development and specifically about New Zealand; but Chomsky extrapolated this conclusion and applied it to corporate capitalism in general.

via The Prickly Pears: Obama: Old Wine In New Bottle.

Read Full Post »

Noam Chomsky is a Dead Head ~ Notoriously Conservative

How out of touch is this guy? He thinks he understands, but obviously he doesn’t. William F. Buckley was 1000x intellectually superior to this dead head.

via Noam Chomsky is a Dead Head ~ Notoriously Conservative.

Read Full Post »

Documentaries screened in Istanbul tell stories of prisoners – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Williams Francone, born on the day of Mumia’s arrest, investigates the case of a man who has been imprisoned for Francone’s entire life. Interviews with Alice Walker, Noam Chomsky, Mos Def, Snoop Dog and Mumia’s attorney reveal racial injustice underlying Mumia’s conviction. The fact that Mumia was a member of the Black Panther Party, an African American organization, known for its notion of “black nationalism,” adds a political dimension to his conviction. In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal for a new trial and sustained the 1982 ruling.

via Documentaries screened in Istanbul tell stories of prisoners – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review.

Read Full Post »

New York Books – The Best Books of 2009 – page 1

There have been many indictments of the Bush Doctrine, but few make the tragedy of war more personal than Krakauer’s sobering account of Tillman, an NFL player who enlisted in the Army following 9/11. As with Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, Krakauer’s protagonist is an iconoclast, one who dreams of meeting Noam Chomsky after completing his military service. But Tillman was felled by friendly fire in Afghanistan, and a sense of outrage propels this riveting book: anger at the operational errors that left Tillman and his men stranded in the mountains, and at the ensuing cover-up, in which White House and Pentagon officials made propaganda of the Tillman tragedy while lying to his family. No mere hagiography, this is investigative reporting at its best. ALEXANDER NAZARYAN

via New York Books – The Best Books of 2009 – page 1.

Read Full Post »

Is Robert Fisk suffering from the Bernard Lewis syndrome?

Now what did Robert Fisk really mean when he said that Hezbollah is anti-Semite?

Did he forget that Nasrallah had a meeting with Noam Chomsky: a Jew! And with Neturei Karta: a Jewish organization. How anti-Semitic? Norman Finkelstein, another Jew met representatives of the anti-Semetic Hezbollah, Mr. Fisk!

via Is Robert Fisk suffering from the Bernard Lewis syndrome?.

Read Full Post »

Real Solutions to the Energy and Climate Crises – Scitizen

Our news media have substituted entertainment for information and sponsor-endorsed opinion for neutral reportage, while the literacy of the public and the capacity for critical thought have progressively declined. Orwell, Huxley, Bradbury, Vonnegut, Chomsky and a long line of others have decried it all along.

via Real Solutions to the Energy and Climate Crises – Scitizen.

Read Full Post »