Noam Chomsky Archives

Monday

October 23, 2023

Are Barack Obama and Russell Brand in a cult?

What do the likes of Warren Buffett, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Russell Brand have in common? They are all fans of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), a pseudoscientific hodgepodge of strange hacks and corny aphorisms supposed to change an individual’s thoughts and behaviors. NLP practitioners claim to have the power to help clients achieve desired outcomes. Comedian Jimmy Carr, currently touring the US, recently spoke about the power of NLP during an interview with podcaster Chris Williamson. Carr has also spoken about the power of NLP on other hugely popular podcasts. Like Buffett, Clinton, Obama and Brand, Carr has achieved unimaginable levels of success. But the idea that NLP can help you reach some higher plane of awakening is not rooted in solid science.

Monday

May 1, 2023

Cockburn

Epstein revelations from beyond the grave

Four years after he died in jail, stories about Jeffrey Epstein continue to surface. Cockburn took in the Wall Street Journal’s deep-dive into the demonic sex offender’s emails, which reveal that Epstein was meeting with even more well-known and influential people than previously thought. From top government officials to leaders in the banking world, Epstein was never far from the corridors of power. The question is why these people would have any interest in meeting with someone like Epstein. CIA director Bill Burns and Epstein had multiple meetings around the time the then-deputy secretary of state was leaving government. Three meetings are recorded in the documents seen by the Journal, one at a law firm and two at Epstein’s Manhattan residence.

Tuesday

July 14, 2020

Conrad Black

The fatuousness of the Harper’s letter

The recent letter ‘on justice and open debate,’ published in Harper’s magazine on July 7 and signed by some 150 self-nominated intellectuals, will stand as one of the conspicuous fatuities of this intense American election year. The intellectuals begin with the portentous assertion that ‘our cultural institutions are facing a moment of trial.’ It is then explained that forces that have all long demanded ‘police reform and greater equality and inclusion across our society,’ goals whose championship these signatories claim throughout for themselves, are now being threatened.

Thursday

July 9, 2020

Paul du Quenoy

Harping on Harper’s

Earlier this week, a motley assortment of about 150 sententious bourgeois liberals, joined by a couple of Chamberlain conservatives, diminished whatever public standing they had by choosing Harper’s magazine, your grandmother’s favorite periodical, to publish an ungainly group letter that, they would like us to believe, is an impassioned defense of free speech in these parlous times. On its merits, this should not be controversial or even necessary. Until about ten years ago, free speech was a sacrosanct element of the American Republic.