Noam Chomsky interview

Q:Do you think the people in the West—and it is now happening in India as well—are giving up newspapers and turning to the internet largely because they do not believe what the newspapers say?

Noam Chomsky: In the US, it’s partly true. But that’s also part of a much broader phenomenon which you can easily see in polls. A large majority of the population is disillusioned with everything. They are anti-government, anti-business, opposed to the political parties, Republicans even more than the Democrats; they dislike Congress, they don’t believe the professions, the scientists. It’s as if their lives are falling apart. So, yes, they don’t like the media. Then there is also the propaganda—how the media is socialist and so on.

via Outlook

Be honest or don't bother to do it

“My feeling is that I have to be very honest or I shouldn’t bother to do it."

David Grossman on writing novels

"When I write novels, I write them as though no one would read them. That's a very, very intimate act."

Howard Jacobson on Philip Roth, Woody Allen

"I still think Philip Roth is the most wonderful writer but he has essentially stopped being funny. He is perfectly within his rights to have stopped being funny, but I feel: ‘Now more than ever I want you to be funny... now that you are in the toils and at any moment you're going to die and you are fed up with everything and everybody.' I feel the same with Woody Allen: ‘Fine, it was easy before. Joke now.' It's never too serious to laugh."

Liu Xiaobo dedicates the Nobel Peace Prize to people killed in 1989 crackdown

Reuter reports that Nobel Peace Prize-winning Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo dedicated the award to people killed in the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests, reports said on Monday, while Chinese media said the prize showed the West feared China.

Mario Vargas Llosa : conversation

As I find, there are not many interviews with Mario Vargas Losa on the net. but just now I got " A conversation with Mario Vargas Llosa".

Congratulation Liu Xiaobo!

I'm glad the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded this year to the Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, who is serving a 11-year prison sentence now.

Liu Xiaobo is now 54 years old. In 1989, he participated in the riots in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, and then fell into disfavor with the authorities in China. After the riot, Liu Xiaobo spent about 20 months in prison. Then, in December 2009, he was arrested for the organization in recent years of propaganda activities aimed at undermining state power and overthrowing the socialist system, and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Liu Xiaobo was said to be one of the authors of the letter to the Chinese authorities demanding respect for human rights.

Rohinton Mistry's novel dropped: a moral victory for Gustad Noble

Such a long journey is an objectionable book,says Aditya Thackeray, grandson of Siva Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, drop it from the syllabus. The Mumbai university VC readily nods in agreement, calls in a meeting of his senior officials,and unanimously takes the decision to drop it. Yes, it is as fast as that.

No protests: not a murmur, let alone any howl. The VC of course does it to save his hide, ditto with his officials, but what happened to Mumbai intellectuals? Do we have any reaction from Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt, and our ever-belligerent Arnab Goswami?

Of course, it's a risky venture to say anything against the Thakerays who, though out of power, still seem to rule Mumbai. If you want to live in Mumbai, you must learn to be afraid of Thackeray. That is democracy, Mumbai style.

But it's a moral victory for Gutad Noble, the Rohinton Mistry novel's protagonist, who struggled with what's right and what's wrong. What better proof to vindicate his experiences than this here-and-now display of Shiv Sena's strength!

What is Facebook for?

Ask any kid what Facebook is for and he'll tell you it's there to help him make friends. What else could he think? It's how he *does* make friends. He has no idea the real purpose of the software, and the people coding it, is to monetize his relationships. He isn't even aware of those people, the program, or their purpose