Friday, March 23, 2012
On Noam Chomsky 2
1) Chomsky has said that crimes of Democratic Capitalism are "monstrously worse than those of Communism" ("Power and Terror" 2003).......2) He has consistently referred to the United States as a "police state" and himself as an "American dissident" (this, despite the fact that the dude is basically ignored by official Washington).......3) He has consistently referred to the pentagon as "the most hideous institution on earth" - this despite the fact that he's been cashing checks from them AND several multinational corporations (this, for his "work" LOL for the research laboratory at MIT.......4) He wrote his first book, "Syntactic Structures", with grants from the U.S. Army (Signal Corps), Air Force (Office of Scientific Research, Air Research, and Development Command), and the Office of Naval Research.......5) He could have resigned (from MIT) AT ANY MOMENT on principle but he DID NOT and has made a handsome fortune courtesy of the military industrial complex.......6) He moved his family out of Cambridge and relocated in the suburban community of Lexington, a town with a minority population of 1.1% and he did so at around the same time that Boston was desegregating its schools. Gee, HOW FRIGGING CONVENIENT!......7) He set up a trust fund for his daughter, the Diane Chomsky Irrevocable Trust, to protect his assets from Uncle Sam (this, despite the fact that he's been highly critical of others for sheltering THEIR money).......8) Not only did Mr. Chomsky defend the crackpot Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson's right to free speech, he also defended his "findings" (which have proven to be fake, btw - the "Village Voice"), praised his extensive historical research", and defended him against charges of anti-Semitism.......9) He charges people to download his earlier speeches. And you want to hear some irony here. If you want to hear Mr. Chomsky talk about "Property Right", it'll cost you 79 cents a minute.......10) Shortly after 9/11, Mr. Chomsky raised his speaking fees from $9,000 a pop to $12,000 a pop - this, while criticizing others for "war profiteering".......11) Instead of selecting a money market fund for his retirement option, Mr. Chomsky chose blue-chip stock options. And, get this, one of those funds, the TIAA-CREF stock fund, heavily invests in many of the businesses that Chomsky spposedly despises; oil companies, military contractors, pharmaceuticals, etc........12) Practically every person that Mr. Chomsky has hired for a critical position at MIT has been a white male.......13) There is no record of Mr. Chomsky EVER criticizing Communist Vietnam for its many crackdown on free speech.......14) There is no record of Mr. Chomsky EVER criticizing Communist Cuba for its transgressions; its keeping of thousands of political prisoners in a gulag, for example.......15) In the years after 9/11, in order to get into one of his lectures, you had to submit a photo ID in advance, go through a security checkpoint, and be frisked at the door - this, while, at the same time, saying that America was a police state and that Islamic terrorism "wasn't really a threat".......16) If Chomsky lived in China and said even half the things about that country that he's said about our country, he'd be shot. He'd be shot and he knows it.
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23 comments:
According to the Yale Cambodian Genocide Project, 1.7 million people were either slaughtered or starved to death by the Khmer Rouge and, yeah, you're right, if you read Mr. Chomsky's 1979(?) book, "After the Cataclysm", you certainly get the impression that it was much, much, less, and that America was the perpetrator.
I've been an admirer for awhile... and I'll leave it at that. I could go through all your points one by one, but it would be a waste of time, as... [1] you clearly don't like the guy and nothing will convince you otherwise [2] You have some valid criticisms, but nobody's perfect... at least I know I'm not, although Will Hart may be.
As for what dmarks says should not be forgotten... I'm not even going to remember it, as I usually try to avoid memorizing false facts.
dmarks: You are really good at remembering false facts, as you regurgitate them readily. However, I am telling the truth about Noam Chomsky.
False facts are your speciality dmarks. You'll never see me regurgitating any of the untruths you're constantly spouting about people like Bill Maher, Rahm Emanuel, Al Gore, Noam Chomsky, etc.
Name one fact I got wrong about any of them. You can't
dmarks: Name one fact I got wrong about any of them. You can't.
Name one fact you got RIGHT about any of them. You can't.
dmarks: Amazing. WD can't even name one. He copped out.
You couldn't name one you got right. YOU copped out.
What you got wrong was...
Bill Maher: didn't say mentally challenged people are sub-human.
Rahm Emanuel: Intended to insult Liberals by calling them f**king retarded. He didn't intend to insult mentally challenged persons.
Al Gore: didn't say he invented the internet.
Noam Chomsky: didn't support the khmer rouge genocide or deem it acceptible.
dmarks: He said [mentally challenged children] weren't people.
No he didn't. Bill Maher said, "dogs are like retarded children". (This is an exact quote from the YouTube video). Saying they were LIKE dogs isn't the same as saying they should be treated like dogs or that they aren't human. Nor did he ever suggest euthanization (another outrageous claim you've made in the past). Criticize him for what he actually said (which I agree is insulting). There is no need to make stuff up (which is what you've done and continue to do).
dmarks: But he did in fact insult them. He equated "liberals" to this group...
His insult was directed at Liberals. Also, he apologized to mentally challenged people (and the head of the Special Olympics accepted his apology), but he never apologized to Liberals.
You completely ignore the reality of what he meant (he intended to call Liberals dumb) and focus on his use of the R-word. I assume because you agree with his feelings regarding Liberals? Otherwise not criticize him for his insult to BOTH groups?
dmarks: Actually, [Al Gore] did [say he invented the internet].
No he didn't. Snopes debunked it. They say FALSE. According to Snopes, "Al Gore did not claim he 'invented' the Internet, nor did he say anything that could reasonably be interpreted that way".
dmarks: The word he used is "create". "Create" and "invent" are synonyms.
Snopes disagrees. They say "Gore never used the word 'invent', and the words 'create' and 'invent' have distinctly different meanings; the former is used in the sense of "to bring about" or "to bring into existence" while the latter is generally used to signify the first instance of someone's thinking up or implementing an idea".
Al Gore sponsored legislation that helped create the environment that lead to the internet as we know it today. That is what he was talking about.
dmarks: [Noam Chomsky] used false numbers for the deaths in order to downplay it, as part of his support, and he said that it was an OK price for the good the Khmer Rouge were doing.
No, he didn't. The source of his numbers was a survey by Michael Vickery. The numbers were not "false", although they have been disputed. But that's not the same as saying they were fabricated. Nobody has said Michael Vickery outright fabricated his numbers.
Also, Noam Chomsky's co-author, Edward Herman, (while referring to the Khmer Rouge as "villains"), said he and Chomsky "went to great pains to stress that there was no doubt that the Khmer Rouge was committing serious crimes..."
So, Noam Chomsky's book says the Khmer Rouge committed serious crimes, and you interpret that as support? I interpret your interpretation as lying.
And I'm sorry, wd, "Dogs are like retarded children" - there just aren't a lot of ways to justify that bad boy. Maher is an idiot and he should be shamed and shamed harshly.
BB Idaho, consider me open to the suggestions in that article, especially the one on catastrophic care/coverage.
Will: according to the Yale Cambodian Genocide Project, 1.7 million people were either slaughtered or starved to death by the Khmer Rouge.
I didn't say I agreed with either Michael Vickery or Noam Chomsky (for going with the former's numbers). What I was pushing back against was dmarks' implying that either outright fabricated their numbers or that Chomsky "supported the Khmer Rouge genocide".
Will: Democratic Capitalism is far more despicable than Communism.
Noam Chomsky said this? Do you have a link to an article? I'd be interested in reading it.
Will: ...there just aren't a lot of ways to justify that bad boy.
OK, but I never tried to do that. I only pointed out that it didn't mean Maher thought they're sub-human or that they should be euthanized. In any case, that statement is quite old. Show me a recent statement (or any other) where he says something insensitive about mentally challenged persons. I doubt there is a pattern. If there is I might go along with you on this "shaming".
dmarks, why the hell would Al Gore say he invented the internet? Anyone watching would know he was wrong, or at least strongly suspect it (and be able to look it up and confirm he didn't invent it). Al Gore isn't stupid, yet you insist he was dumb enough to think people would believe he invented the internet? I say you're dumb. He was CLEARLY referring to the legislation he sponsored.
dmarks: [Bill Maher] simply said it, by saying there were like pets, and weren't even people.
No he didn't. He meant mentally, not literally. This is something any rational person hearing that comment would know immediately. They may very well still be offended, but they'd never reach the conclusions you've reached, which are completely wacky, IMO... and include a bunch of over-the-top conclusions that do not "follow".
Also, Bill Maher is a strong supporter of PETA, a group that believes animals have rights... and according to Bill Maher, comparring a person to an animal is a COMPLIMENT.
dmarks: Now that is a flat out lie [that Al Gore was referring to the legislation he sponsored when he said he took the initiative in creating the internet"].
No, it's the truth. Snopes agrees.
dmarks: I take Maher for what he said. Not what I wish he said.
No you aren't. You're taking him for what you think he meant.
dmarks: I am looking at the actual statements, not the conclusions.
There's your problem. You're skipping the most important part. For ideological reasons, I'd guess. You don't like Al Gore's politics... so you ignore the whole story, focusing on his words and ignoring what he really meant. Snopes is right and dmarks is wrong.
dmarks: [Bill Maher] later saying they aren't even people is bad enough.
But he didn't say that. I just watched the video again to be sure. You're lying or delusional.
dmarks: If Bush had taken credit for the internet...
bush didn't sponsor legislation that helped create the internet as it exists today, Gore did. We should all thank Gore for helping set up the environment that lead to the internet as we now know it.
Gore only took credit for what he did (sponsor legislation that directly lead to the internet as we know it today). If bush had made a similar claim he would have been lying, so yes, I would be savaging him for it.
Because, coming from Gore the statement is truthful, while if bush had said the same thing it would have been a lie.
I watched the entire Maher video clip (they went to commercial at the end). He never said mentally challenged persons "aren't people due to their retarded brains". You're lying or imagining it.
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