Tuesday, October 18, 2005

THERE'S NO QUESTION in my mind that Noam Chomsky has earned and richly deserves the honor of being selected as the world's top public intellectual. If you've heard him speak, or read his books, or know about his seminal work in linguistics, there's no doubt that he is one of the most innovative, knowledgeable, curious, and original thinkers of our time.

And he's a hell of a sight better as an intellectual than Christopher Hitchens. Good grief. How can someone who can't tell the difference between liberation and occupation be an intellectual?

2 comments:

RED Letter Days said...

Holy cannoli, Chomsky is the obvious choice! He astounds me every time I see or hear him speak. Thank god for the internet so it's easy to download his speeches and read his articles.

Congrats on the teaching gig. You are a far far braver soul than I. It's a tough job, but I know you'll be great.

BTW, Totally LOVE the new blog design. Looks really fantastic.

Kathy said...

Yeah, I heard him speak at a Peace Action annual dinner, and he was awesome.

Well, I may be brave, but I know I'm letting myself in for far more than I am aware of now. Everyone I talk to who knows the program says it's very, very, very, very hard. In fact, my daughter's piano teacher's daughter (how's that for confusing?) is a NYC Teaching Fellow right now, and Judy (the piano teacher) says she and her daughter have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on supplies for the classroom. Those kids have nothing. It's a disgrace. So maybe I can help a little.

Thanks about the design. I love it too! I got the idea from Shakespeare's Sister; she started with this template and then modified it.

Write again soon!