WHat's your opinion on Noam Chomsky?

[HEyHEY]

Just a carry-over from GD. I don't think he's so friggin great. I think he's over rated. Of course, he's not as bad as John Ralston Saul, but he's bad enough. I also don't like the way he's been made into a messiah by some.

[frankenforpres]

1. im pretty sure i met him in like 1997 or 1998

in the summer of 1997 or 1998 i was at first beach in newport RI( i used to live down the street). my friend and i used to build these giant fucking temples in the sand, and people would always come over to us and chat us up. some old man ( he was old to me, i was 17 or 18) started talking to me telling me i should put some kind of symbol on top of the temple, i said what? like a cross or something religious. he said NO! something like a giant tit! and told me about some statue he saw in SOHO with eight tits. i thought this was amusing, so i kept talking to him. he told me about all the science and engineering students he tortured with his language/english(dont remember which) classes he taught at MIT. important to note, i had no idea whom noam chomsky was and he didnt tell me his name. about 2 years later i was flipping channels and saw some guy on c-span who looked familiar, when i found out he was an MIT prof, i knew who it was, the giant tit guy.

[Robeson]

5. Great story....

...that's one to remember!

[enigmatic]

2. Neither could hold Tommy Douglas' Curling Broom

And I'm only slightly kidding:)

[KitchenWitch]

8. mmm Curling

*sniff*

I miss curling.

[enigmatic]

10. Oh God...

Before I came up here to live I laughed at Curling; 5 years later I'm hopelessly obsessed by it, to the point that we're going to have a weekly Curling roundtable on the station once the season starts next Fall.

And the world Championships are coming to town next year; I can't wait...

[KitchenWitch]

17. I literally became obsessed by curling at this year's Winter Olympics

totally fascinating.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

21. I miss curling too.

Like the bubonic plague. I just don't get how people can get into it. Seriously, what is the attraction?

[Monk06]

12. Amen to that Enigmatic. Although Chomski does a pretty scary...

graduate seminar.

[enigmatic]

18. I wish I could have had the pleasure

of voting for him; I have a CCF 10 year member pin that I have on my coat, and it's one of my prized posessions..

[Monk06]

19. My dad was an MP (Military Police) stationed at the MoD in Ottawa..

in 1960. His office overlooked Tommy D's hotel.

He used to watch Douglas go for his morning walk.
Everyday in all weather without fail at 6:00 AM.
My dad said you could set your watch by him.

BTW that CCF pin has to be quite the conversation
piece.

[Placebo]

3. He's the greatest mind to ever walk this earth.

Greater than Jesus. Greater than any philospher.

We're talkin'...

:kick: NOAM. :grr: MOTHAFUCKIN'. :nuke: CHOMSKY :patriot:

[JohnKleeb]

4. Haven't read him, don't plan to

I disagree with his views though form what I've read. Who's John Ralston Saul by the way?

[HEyHEY]

6. A Chomsky wanna be

[JohnKleeb]

7. Ahh

I gotta admit though I've never wanted to read Chomsky.

[enigmatic]

11. Read about this guy instead

Tommy Douglas:

http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee/douglas-tommy.html

http://www.tommydouglas.ca/tommy/achievements

http://www.weyburnreview.com/tommydouglas/welcome.html

Not only The Greatest Canadian, but may be the greatest Human Being of the 20th Century..

[JohnKleeb]

13. Is he the one related to Kiefer Sutherland?

He does seem like a great guy form what I read, thanks. A guy interested in bettering the lives of the pepole is my kind of person.

[enigmatic]

15. Yeah

He's the only person I have a real regret never to have had a chance to vote for; an amazing guy...

[JohnKleeb]

16. Indeed

Interesting to learn about figures who are never discussed here in the states but had a great impact on the world.

[Reverend_Smitty]

9. I've read some of his stuff...

Some of it I agree with, others not. His books are dense and take quite a bit of brain power to get through one but on the whole I would say he's an important intellectual and I've tried to keep an open mind when reading him.

I don't know much about linguistics but from what I've heard, he's done some pretty groundbreaking work in that field, so even if I don't agree 100% with his politics, I got to give him props for that.

[Robeson]

14. I read him, like I do many intellectuals....

...he's not a messiah, but he sheds light on much, as most intellectuals do.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

20. As a junior historian I find his academic work to be excellent

His historical research sources and writing is to an excellent standard. This is what I judge him on. However he is also a commentator on contemporary events which is where most people encounter his work. His recent books on 9/11 and war on terrorism are pretty much 'preaching to the choir' and don't add much to the discourse that hasn't already been said. However he does use his extensive knowledge to put current events into a continuity of US interventions overseas for economic reasons which can be useful for the non-historian.