Noam Chomsky on Ward Churchill

MIT Professor Noam Chomsky talks with documentary film producer Grant Crowell about his belief that Ward Churchill, the fired ethnic studies director of University of Colorado at Boulder, is a victim of politics (Recorded in October 2005 on MIT campus.)

"V for Vendetta" Speech

Good evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine — the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, whereby those important events of the past, usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, are celebrated with a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat. There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.
I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night I sought to end that silence. Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey, to remind this country of what it has forgotten. More than 400 years ago a great citizen wished to embed the fifth of November forever in our memory. His hope was to remind the world that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives. So if you've seen nothing, if the crimes of this government remain unknown to you then I would suggest that you allow the fifth of November to pass unmarked. But if you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek, then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot.

WATCH SPEECH here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DRAD-j8ObI

Noam Chomsky - "I am Kinda": Reflections on the Culture of Imperialism

Famed linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky delivered a lecture titled "'I Am Kinda': Reflections on the Culture of Imperialism" last Monday, March 8, in McCosh 50. Chomsky, a professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a renowned public intellectual who has written and lectured widely on linguistics, philosophy, intellectual history, international affairs and US foreign policy. The lecture's title refers to a woman named Kinda who introduced herself to Chomsky at a lecture he gave in Beirut in 2006. As a child, she had written a letter to President Ronald Reagan after the 1986 US bombing of Libya, her home country. Chomsky had printed the letter in his book "Pirates and Emperors: International Terrorism in the Real World." Chomsky's other books include "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance," "Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy" and "Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs." The talk was designated as the Edward Said Memorial Lecture and was sponsored by the Department of English and the Princeton Committee on Palestine.

Dahlia Wasfi - Ain't Nothin' Green About the Green Zone

Having spent her early childhood in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and having returned twice to Iraq since the U.S. invasion, Dr. Wasfi has a first hand understanding of the invasions devastating repercussions. To begin the healing of the people and the land, Dr. Wasfi calls for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all foreign troops.

Slavoy Zizek - The Idea of Communism

A debate between Alex Callinicos, John Holloway and Slavoj Zizek on the Idea of Communism.

This was the biggest show by far in the 5 days of Marxism 2010 (the queue was HUGE!) which itself was the biggest Marxism event ever with [I think] around 6000 people attending from all over the world.

Filmed in Logan Hall, Institue of Education, Bloomsbury.

General Smedley Butler:

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class thug for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."

WIKIPEDIA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler



War is a Racket by Smedley Butler is a famous speech denouncing the military industrial complex. This speech by two-time Congressional Medal of Honor recipient exposes war profits that benefit few at the expense of many. Throughout his distinguished career in the Marines, Smedley Darlington Butler demonstrated that true patriotism does not mean blind allegiance to government policies with which one does not agree. To Hell with war.

Tariq Ali - From Cairo to Madison - The Arab Revolution

Tariq Ali: From Cairo to Madison - The Arab Revolution and a World in Motion --- Tariq Ali spoke at Brooklyn's Galapagos Art Space on Tuesday May 17th for a sell-out event co-sponsored by Verso and Haymarket Books, entitled "From Cairo to Madison: The Arab Revolution and a World in Motion." With thanks to Noel Benford for filming the event.

Tariq Ali is a writer and filmmaker. He has written more than a dozen books on world history and politics—including Pirates of the Caribbean, Bush in Babylon, Clash of Fundamentalisms and The Obama Syndrome—as well as five novels in his Islam Quintet series and scripts for the stage and screen. He is an editor of the New Left Review and lives in London.