Chomsky.info: Thursday, October 19, 200618 Oct 2006Team behind Chomsky book on trial under Article 301, The New Anatolian (October 19, 2006). An excerpt:Under controversial Article 301, court hearings began yesterday against a trio responsible for the Turkish edition of a book by Noam Chomsky.The case against the publisher, editors and translator of “Manufacturing Consent,” written by U.S. leftist intellectual Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman, were present for the hearing.
Chomsky.info: Wednesday, October 18, 200617 Oct 2006Chavez, Chomsky and State Terrorism, by Frederick H. Gareau, Media Monitors Network (October 18, 2006). An excerpt: I first discovered that Noam Chomsky was one of the foremost experts on state terrorism, if not terrorism in general, when supervising a Ph D dissertation on the former subject. The doctoral candidate could not find anyone else in the department to assume the job. After several revisions in which, among other changes, the candidate was required to abandon a harsh leftist presentation in favor of softer academic discourse, his dissertation was accepted. I left this experience intrigued by the subject and impressed by Chomsky’s bravery in accusing Republican and Democratic administrations in Washington of supporting state terrorism.
Chomsky.info: Wednesday, October 18, 200617 Oct 2006The Future of Democracy, interview with John Titlow, dragonfire (July 5, 2005). An excerpt: A few years ago, after the Reagan years, polls showed that about 80 percent of the public thought that the government works for the few and the special interests, not for the people. Well, if that’s true, then we’re not very free. We don’t have anything to do with our government. If you take a look at the last election, 2004, I don’t think that particular question was asked, but if you compare public attitudes, which are very heavily studied, and the positions of the two candidates, they are poles apart. Both of the political parties are far to the right of the public on a host of general issues. In fact, people had to make guesses about the positions of the parties, because they weren’t really articulated in any comprehensible form. Most people, it turns out, seriously misunderstood the positions of the candidates.
Chomsky.info: Wednesday, October 18, 200617 Oct 20064 Turks tried for ‘insulting Turkishness’ by publishing Chomsky book appear in court, International Herald Tribune (October 17, 2006). An excerpt: The trial of a publisher, translator and two editors charged with crimes for producing a Turkish version of Noam Chomsky’s book, “Manufacturing Consent,” was adjourned to a later date on Tuesday to give the defense more time to prepare. [...] A previous case for publishing another book by Chomsky in Turkish was dropped after the author flew to Turkey to attend the trial.
Chomsky.info: Tuesday, October 17, 200616 Oct 2006Chomsky in Chile, The Santiago Times (October 17, 2006). An excerpt:Celebrated linguist, philosopher and political activist Noam Chomsky appeared at Frontera University in Temuco Sunday, speaking at the First International Congress for Indo-American Language and Literature. He discussed a variety of controversial topics, from Chile’s copper industry to the situation in North Korea.
Chomsky.info: Tuesday, October 17, 200616 Oct 2006Silenced by the Drums of War, by Jeff Cohen, GregPalast.com (October 3, 2006). Relevant excerpt: I thought about proposing Noam Chomsky as a guest, but our stage couldn’t accommodate the 23 right-wingers we would have needed for balance.
Chomsky.info: Monday, October 16, 200615 Oct 2006On America’s Foreign Policy, audio interview, PBS (September 29, 2006). An excerpt:It’s an interesting situation in American political history. It’s no big secret that for the last year just about every week the Republican administration has been shooting itself in the foot on one thing or another, whether it’s Katrina, or Iraq, and a long list. And it’s kind of interesting that the Democrats have basically not gained from this. The only gains they made is that support for the Republicans has dropped. Well, what this illustrates is that there is no functioning opposition party.
Chomsky.info: Sunday, October 15, 200614 Oct 2006Latin America Declares Independence, International Herald Tribune (October 3, 2006). An excerpt:Five centuries after the European conquests, Latin America is reasserting its independence.In the southern cone especially, from Venezuela to Argentina, the region is rising to overthrow the legacy of external domination of the past centuries and the cruel and destructive social forms that they have helped to establish.The mechanisms of imperial control-violence and economic warfare, hardly a distant memory in Latin America-are losing their effectiveness, a sign of the shift toward independence. Washington is now compelled to tolerate governments that in the past would have drawn intervention or reprisal.
Chomsky.info: Saturday, October 14, 200613 Oct 2006“The other Davos”, Attac (January 26, 2001). An excerpt:I am sorry I can’t be with you on this important occasion. In fact, I can do little more than express enthusiastic support for what you’re doing and hope for success in this endeavor and many others like it throughout the world. The challenge faced is enormous as there is an increasing willingness to undertake it, which is very heartening for people who look forward to a more decent world. In the few moments that I have, I would like to recall some basic facts about what is called globalization, highlighting this misleading term which is used to refer to a very specific form of international integration designed by the powerful states, imposed on the rest, in the interests of private concentrations of power, and with the interests of people only incidental.
Chomsky.info: Friday, October 13, 200612 Oct 2006Hegemony or Survival is #5 on the New York Times bestseller list for Paperback Nonfiction for October 22, 2006, after debuting at #16 on October 15.
Chomsky.info: Friday, October 13, 200612 Oct 2006On October 3 Noam had an hour-long interview on NPR (“On Point”) with Tom Ashbrook. The program was broadcast at 11 AM, and replayed in Boston at 8 PM. Unfortunately, the interview doesn’t seem to be online, but we might be able to make it available if we can get hold of a copy of the program. If you happen to have a copy of this program, could you please send me an e-mail? Thanks.UPDATE: Please ignore the earlier request. The interview is available online, as listed two posts above.
Chomsky.info: Tuesday, September 19, 200618 Sep 2006This might be of interest to readers of chomsky.info:I have some interviews on cassette tape with lower level Sandinista officials (1988-89) that may be of interest to scholars. I would like to donate them to an archive, an established organization htat woudl make them available to people or an academic department for its library. There are some transcriptions. Some other things—posters, clips from Barricada—from Nicaragua, and other Latin American solidarity, especially El Savlador and other (e.g., 1977 Paredon record album demo in mint condition “Testimonios de la Tortura en Chile” with transcription and translation). Also, I have a box full of other items, like fliers, posters and booklets from the 60’s: anti-war posters and some other miscellany (e.g., “What to do if the FBI Comes Knocking” booklet) that I would like to donate to an organization or established collection. Some women’s movement publications. Some things from the 70s (e.g., poster: “Angolan Liberation Fighter”). Also a number of copies of “The Realist,” including interview with Lenny Bruce. Some of these items may just be nostalgia, but other items might be of interest and useful for a collection.Please e-mail me with requests; I will forward them to the author.
Chomsky.info: Thursday, September 07, 20066 Sep 2006Noam Chomsky + Robert Trivers, discussion with Chomsky and Trivers, Seed Salon (September 6, 2006). An excerpt:Trivers: There is excellent work being done on deception in other creatures. Wolfowitz comes in the very next day and says, “Hard to imagine that we’d need more troops to occupy than to knock over.” But that was established military doctrine; we’d known that for more than 50 years. To give you just one line of work that’s of some interest: We find repeatedly now-in wasps, in birds and in monkeys-that when organisms realize they’re being deceived, they get pissed off. And they often attack the deceiver. Especially if the deceiver is over-representing him or herself. If you’re under-representing and showing yourself as having less dominance than you really have, you’re not attacked. And the ones that do attack you are precisely those whose dominance status you are attempting to expropriate or mimic. It’s very interesting and it suggests some of the dynamic in which fear of being detected while deceiving can be a secondary signal, precisely because if you are detected, you may get your butt kicked or get chased out.Chomsky: There’s a name for that in the international affairs literature; its called maintaining credibility. You have to carry out violent acts to maintain credibility, even if the issue is insignificant.
Chomsky.info: Thursday, September 07, 20066 Sep 2006Chomsky Slams Silence on US-Cuba, brief press release by Prensa Latina (August 30, 2006). An excerpt: Havana, Aug 30 (Prensa Latina) US academic Noam Chomsky criticized Wednesday western silence on US plans for Cuba, terming them a reflection of an imperial mentality that is imperceptible for those who suffer from that disease.
Chomsky.info: Friday, August 25, 200624 Aug 2006On ‘Failed States’, audio interview, CounterSpin (August 25, 2006). An excerpt:As the invasion proceeded, there was the usual boilerplate about democracy that nobody pays any attention to. But democracy promotion became the mantra months later. The United States went to war-as Bush, Powell, and others stressed-on the basis of what they called the ‘single question’: will Saddam Hussein give up his weapons of mass destruction? Well, the single question was answered within a few months in the wrong way. Then there were various efforts to try to conjure up another reason for the war. It turned out, by about August/September of that year, that real reason was what the press called George Bush’s “messianic vision” to bring democracy to the Iraq, the Middle East, the world and so on. The press, and the scholarship too to a large extent, immediately jumped on the bandwagon. A couple of months later, November, Bush gave a speech at the anniversary National Endowment for Democracy, in which he proclaimed his vision for democracy. He had rousing applause for this idealistic war, the Iraq war was the “most noble war in history”, and so on.
Chomsky.info: Friday, August 25, 200624 Aug 2006On ‘Failed States’, audio interview, CounterSpin (August 25, 2006). An excerpt:As the invasion proceeded, there was the usual boilerplate about democracy that nobody pays any attention to. But democracy promotion became the mantra months later. The United States went to war-as Bush, Powell, and others stressed-on the basis of what they called the ‘single question’: will Saddam Hussein give up his weapons of mass destruction? Well, the single question was answered within a few months in the wrong way. Then there were various efforts to try to conjure up another reason for the war. It turned out, by about August/September of that year, that real reason was what the press called George Bush’s “messianic vision” to bring democracy to the Iraq, the Middle East, the world and so on. The press, and the scholarship too to a large extent, immediately jumped on the bandwagon. A couple of months later, November, Bush gave a speech at the anniversary National Endowment for Democracy, in which he proclaimed his vision for democracy. He had rousing applause for this idealistic war, the Iraq war was the “most noble war in history”, and so on.
Chomsky.info