# Chomsky in Cardiff



## Dic Penderyn (Nov 23, 2010)

Date for your diary. Friday 11th March. Venue TBC, but probably Cardiff University.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125673107494559


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## spacemonkey (Nov 23, 2010)

Wow. I hope I can go to this.


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## Riklet (Nov 24, 2010)

Aye i'll be going to this hopefully, should be a good 'un, my Greeny mate was joking he's flown over specifically for them haha... is he doing a bit of a European "tour" or something? .....Roadies...??


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## William of Walworth (Nov 24, 2010)

I suspect tickets would sell out in a nanosecond, but worth keeping an eye on!


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## lewislewis (Nov 26, 2010)

Going to try and get into this. On Facebook there's more than 3,000 people wanting to attend. There is definitely fertile ground for progressive politics in Wales, just as everywhere else really.


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## Clint Iguana (Nov 28, 2010)

Dic Penderyn said:


> Date for your diary. Friday 11th March. Venue TBC, but probably Cardiff University.
> 
> http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125673107494559


 
can somebody please cut and paste the info for those of us that have not succumbed to the facebook trap please (have to create an account to see it!)


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## 1927 (Nov 28, 2010)

Clint Iguana said:


> can somebody please cut and paste the info for those of us that have not succumbed to the facebook trap please (have to create an account to see it!)


 
In March 2011, Cardiff University will be treated to a visit by one of the greatest intellectuals of our time.

Beginning with his opposition to the Vietnam War, Chomsky has established himself as a prominent critic of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. He has since become an outspoken political commentator and a dedicated activist.

According to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index in 1992, Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any other living scholar from 1980 to 1992.

He is also the eighth most cited source of all time, and is considered the "most cited living author".

This is a once in a life time opportunity. 

Expect a crowd.

Don't miss out.


***

Join this event now to register interest. 

DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TICKETS YET

Those registered on this page will be the first to know when more information on how to attend is available.

*** 

Wall
.


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## Riklet (Nov 28, 2010)

There's no where in cardiff university that could seat 4000 people...

Maybe we all need to chip in and rent the stadium 

I'm thinking it'll be St Davids most likely, hmm?


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## lewislewis (Nov 29, 2010)

Even if only half of the Facebook show-offs actually attend, it'd still have to be St Davids or somewhere like the Coal Exchange?

Or God forbid, the Millennium Centre?!


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## bendeus (Nov 29, 2010)

Man, I *really* hope I can get a ticket. Don't care where.


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## badlands (Nov 29, 2010)

Just bought 'Interventions' in a charity shop for 30p


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## Clint Iguana (Nov 29, 2010)

1927 said:


> In March 2011, Cardiff University will be treated to a visit by one of the greatest intellectuals of our time.
> 
> Beginning with his opposition to the Vietnam War, Chomsky has established himself as a prominent critic of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. He has since become an outspoken political commentator and a dedicated activist.
> 
> ...


 
Diolch n fawr


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## ddraig (Jan 5, 2011)

fucking £7/£5!!  +£1 booking fee!
in St Davids Hall now on Sat 12 March
http://www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk/Welsh/Noam-Chomsky-12/3/2011/index.asp

tickets seems to be going quick as suspected!


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## Udo Erasmus (Jan 5, 2011)

A fiver for the cheap seats I don't think is that expensive - and you can skip the booking fee by going to St David's Hall in person and paying in cash. People pay the same to go to the Cinema or see a local band playing.
The ticket price is to be able to pay the cost of hiring a venue that holds 2000 people.

However, if you prefer your entertainment cheaper the next monthly cardiff unemployed daytime disco is on january the twentieth


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## ddraig (Jan 5, 2011)

on the guestlist are ya Udo?


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## lewislewis (Jan 5, 2011)

£7/5 is great...you won't get any other event in that venue for that price, whether it's a band or a speaker or whatever.


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## Will2403 (Jan 5, 2011)

How long will it be before tickets are sold out?

Are there any other dates while he is in Europe?

I would really love to see him speak and get a book signed.  He is pretty much my god


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## ddraig (Jan 5, 2011)

Will2403 said:


> How long will it be before tickets are sold out?
> 
> Are there any other dates while he is in Europe?
> 
> I would really love to see him speak and get a book signed.  He is pretty much my god


 
i reckon a couple of days if that by the way they are going!
see here for seats left (in blue)
https://www.neuadddewisant.caerdydd.gov.uk/gateway.aspx?E=N&QL=S5530|VSDH|GShowDatesCombo.aspx


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## Gavin Bl (Jan 5, 2011)

ddraig said:


> fucking £7/£5!!  +£1 booking fee!



you tight sod, ddraig  its noam bloody chomsky!


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## ddraig (Jan 5, 2011)

well i went and fetched some in person earlier
and went for the £5 option, sorted


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## Gavin Bl (Jan 5, 2011)

sarnies and a flask, mun, sarnies and a flask


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## Dic Penderyn (Jan 6, 2011)

Due to the layout of the place the Q&A session will be a bit of a mare unless we get the questions sorted in advance. So if you want to ask anything get it in writing beforehand.


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## jannerboyuk (Jan 6, 2011)

ddraig said:


> fucking £7/£5!!  +£1 booking fee!
> in St Davids Hall now on Sat 12 March
> http://www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk/Welsh/Noam-Chomsky-12/3/2011/index.asp
> 
> tickets seems to be going quick as suspected!


Yeah my mate has got a couple of tickets. Cracking. I might sneak christopher hitchens in though for funsies.


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## Threshers_Flail (Jan 6, 2011)

Going in to pick my tickets up now. 

Chomsky followed by Wales v Ireland in the rugby, potentially a cracking day out.


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## Dic Penderyn (Jan 8, 2011)

Tickets have already sold out. There's a few up for grabs from Radical Wales, you have to join the email list to be in with a chance to win.


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## Col_Buendia (Jan 8, 2011)

I got tickets to hear Jody McIntyre speak about being roughed up by the Met, but apparently there's some Yank trying to crash his gig. Anyone know anything about that?


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## spacemonkey (Jan 14, 2011)

I might have a spare ticket...

Anyone fancy meeting up for a pint afterwards? Sounds like there might be a few urbs going.


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## ddraig (Jan 14, 2011)

could do 
think there are a fair few ai
rugby day so should be fun


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## Dic Penderyn (Jan 24, 2011)

Here's an interesting article by the person responsible for bringing Chomsky to Wales: Noam Chomsky to speak in Cardiff


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## friedaweed (Jan 24, 2011)

anyone any idea if he's doing anything else in the UK when he's over?


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## Udo Erasmus (Feb 18, 2011)

A Statement from Organisers

*Cardiff University Security disrupts intellectual events at the Campus*-----------------------------------

When invited to give a talk at Cardiff University, Professor Noam Chomsky graciously accepted to give a lecture titled ‘The Current Crises in the Middle East’ on the 12th of March 2011. [1]

Anyone who has heard about Noam Chomsky would clearly know that his acceptance to give a talk in Cardiff University is not only a great privilege for the University itself but for Cardiff and Wales as well. However, Cardiff University security bodies didn’t seem to share this opinion with sensible people.

When we first proposed to hold Chomsky’s lecture at Cardiff University Student's Union, the staff were extremely helpful and enthusiastic about helping in every way they could. However, when the news about this lecture reached Security, we were faced by a huge number of reservations and obstacles.

Jason Dunlop, the Student Union manager, made it clear to us that he could be obliged to contact the British intelligence department with both of its branches MI5 and MI6 in addition to the police force to monitor the talk and its guests.

Furthermore, we were faced with pressure to exclude all non-students from this lecture, and when we demanded to make this lecture available to the general public of Cardiff, we were informed that security will have to monitor the identities of every single attendee of the event. Faced with obstacles like these, we didn’t have a choice but to hold the talk at a venue that is not affiliated with the university, St David’s Hall. St David’s Hall's handling of the event on the other hand was extremely professional and didn’t impose any security demands on us. Most of the 2000 seats sold out within 48 hours.

This poses clear issues of academic freedom. Noam Chomsky is not an extremist, he is a world renowned academic and one of the most acclaimed intellecutals of our time. Attending a lecture by an academic is not a criminal offence.

Furthermore, when inviting a famous journalist and blogger who writes for The Independent, Jody McIntyre [2], to introduce Professor Chomsky and give a lecture in the campus on March 13th, the university refused to host him as well. Confirmation of the room booking for this talk was delayed by a whole month before it was refused, again due to security demands which came from 'higher channels', as the University room booking service suggested initially. We were given one alternative and that is to hold this particular talk at the student union Great Hall which is usually used commercially for entertainment events and hence imposes a huge financial burden that we as students cannot afford for an intellectual event.

1 - http://www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk/English/Noam-Chomsky-12/3/2011/
2 - http://jodymcintyre.wordpress.com/


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## lewislewis (Mar 12, 2011)

This was great. I have to be honest- some of Noam's answers surprised me. We were outside the traditional comfort zone on some issues.

Aside from international affairs, the points he started to make about participatory economics and structures were interesting and i'll need to do some thinking about that.

Suffice to say, I was deeply pleased to hear Noam defend devolution as being progressive.

The gift of a Welsh lovespoon at the end managed to be both humorous/tacky and quite touching.

For six quid it wasn't bad at all. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and I picked up alot of new points about Israel and the Palestinians.


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## spacemonkey (Mar 12, 2011)

lewislewis said:


> This was great. I have to be honest- some of Noam's answers surprised me. We were outside the traditional comfort zone on some issues.
> 
> Aside from international affairs, the points he started to make about participatory economics and structures were interesting and i'll need to do some thinking about that.
> 
> ...


 
Yep, I was pleased he viewed devolution as a good thing. 

I enjoyed/was horrified by his comments about Bush quoting that bible passage to Chirac. Can you remember what it was? 

Also, that line about Unions being the last line of defense from the complete corporate takeover of a country was really quite depressing.


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## Combustible (Mar 12, 2011)

This sounds like what he was referring to

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2009/aug/10/religion-george-bush

I thought it was interesting.  I noticed there were a few empty seats but obviously there's not much that can be done about people rushing to buy tickets and not turning up.


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## ddraig (Mar 14, 2011)

buzz review
http://www.buzzmag.co.uk/uncategorized/chomsky-in-cardiff-review/


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## Dic Penderyn (Mar 14, 2011)

Certainly a successful event, with all the faffing about I had to do though I was a bit stressed both before and after.

Was (and still am) annoyed my question go so garbled though, it was on the list to be asked by the chair but due to that idiot demanding questions from the floor I had to ask it over the microphone. Given chris Norris had it written in front of him it was somewhat annoying he just muttered "devolution. is it progressive?" 

It was really a question about corporate welfare and socialism for the rich, but hey ho. I'll email Chomsky and post up the response if I get one.

I don't know why people got arsey about the way questions were structured, we only had a short time and the venue wasn't appropriate for the stage hearing what anyone said. As it turned out the areas covered were the same as on the list, but were more vague due to the difficulties in being heard. So we got "What about Wisconsin?... WISCONSIN! WHAT ABOUT WISCONSIN?! WISCONSIN!!!" rather than "Do you think the resistance by state employees in Wisconsin to the attack on workers' rights shows the way for the public sector elsewhere?"


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## lewislewis (Mar 14, 2011)

Didn't your question lead up to "why does the left view devolution as progressive?" And you used the funding shortfall between pupils in Wales and England (which is incredibly misleading in my opinion) and corporate handouts/business subsidies to argue that devolution isn't?

Seeing as Chomsky mentioned parliamentary roads to democracy and change, I think devolution is clearly progressive. I don't see how any person on the left, from looking at the policy record, could see devolution as being anything other than progressive. I mean, the socialist left and people to the left of me argue that devolution isn't that important and doesn't affect the cuts or the economy, but they generally see the process as being at least a step in the right direction in terms of social reforms.

Bearing in mind that Chomsky addressed Assembly Members the night before the talk, and is aware of the Welsh political situation, I am surprised you wondered whether he thought devolution in Wales was progressive.

I would be really interested if you got a more in depth answer or wanted to explain your position more freely.


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## Dic Penderyn (Mar 14, 2011)

lewislewis said:


> Didn't your question lead up to "why does the left view devolution as progressive?" And you used the funding shortfall between pupils in Wales and England (which is incredibly misleading in my opinion) and corporate handouts/business subsidies to argue that devolution isn't?
> 
> Seeing as Chomsky mentioned parliamentary roads to democracy and change, I think devolution is clearly progressive. I don't see how any person on the left, from looking at the policy record, could see devolution as being anything other than progressive. I mean, the socialist left and people to the left of me argue that devolution isn't that important and doesn't affect the cuts or the economy, but they generally see the process as being at least a step in the right direction in terms of social reforms.
> 
> ...



I know your opinion on devolution.

Sadly the question I shouted from the floor was far less articulate or well structured as the one I submitted by text earlier in the week. I think the levels of corporate subsidy in Wales are due heavy criticism, from UPM getting £1.75 million to build a bigger paper mill in Shotton to the £40 million to the Celtic Manor for a jolly. 

 for these sort of reasons, so I thought it would be interesting to hear him comment on it here. 

Also, just because Chomsky mentioned parliamentary roads to democracy, it doesn't mean that everyone on 'the left' has to accept that parliament is progressive. I fundamentally reject parliaments, be they in Westminster or Cardiff Bay.


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## Silurian (Mar 14, 2011)

Dic Penderyn said:


> I know your opinion on devolution.
> 
> for these sort of reasons, so I thought it would be interesting to hear him comment on it here.
> .


 
http://cardiffian.jomec.co.uk/video/noam-chomsky-cardiff


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## ddraig (Mar 22, 2011)

National Assembly for Wales has put up three videos of Noam Chomsky's Pierhead sessions on vimeo - see here.



from guardian Cardiff
http://www.guardian.co.uk/cardiff


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