The Chomsky Trilogy: Secrets, Lies and Democracy/the Prosperous Few and the Restless Many/What Uncle Sam Really Wants (The Real Story)
by Noam Chomsky
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Paperback (01 November, 1995)
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Reviews (29)

Thoughtful short work
more of a compendium of short interviews than indepth analysis but once again provides some thought provoking ideas for anyone interested in the world around them and if your're not, WHY NOT?

short interesting books on foreign policy and trade
The chomsky trilogy consists or three books from chomsky. They cover issues that really brought out by the media. They focus on U.S. foreign policy that many people may not be aware of it like nicauraga and hati. He deals with how coporations and strong anti-communist feeling influenced the policy.In addition, the books cover trade agreements like NAFTA and GATT and how they are influenced by corporations and turning parts of the industrialized world into the third world.

Some Good Points
In Chomsky's democracy, there is no passive citizens.Everyone will have to think and participate.And if you think about the some of the statements in this book, you begin to wonder.It's a good start when you embark on seriously reflecting on the nature of the world around us.

On the other hand, the reader whould do well to, as the first exercise, think about some of the things said in the book.For example, on p.99, it was mentioned by on of the questioners that "The United Sates, with 5% of the world's population, consumes 40% of the world's resources...."At the same time, on p.38, the author laments that "Real wages has been declining since the 1960's" in talking about the Third-Worldization of America.Does anyone not suspect that if Americans are any richer than they are now, they would not consume merely 40%, but maybe 50%, 60% or more, of the world's resources?Is it not implicit in the author's lament his horror at the thought of living a style not on the same level as the United States, when in fact, these other countries are living a more ecological balanced life?Yes, counter the defenders, but, it's possible for us to make more money and consume less.Really?What is the motivation to make money but to consume.And is it feasible at all that economic growth, the only source of wage growth, can be achieved without using up some resources of the world?A society where there is no farmer, no hunter but everyone is a lecturer, who does not pollute air, does not cut down trees, does not kill animals for food, does not exist.

In "Media Control", the same author talked about "manufacturing consent" and having "to turn to the technique of propaganda" by the government, as early as the Creel Commission to Americans to go in to World War I.In another breath, he writes in p.36 of this book, "the media contribute to the sense that the government is the enemy and they suppress the sources of real power in the society, which lie in the totalitarian institutions - the corporations, now international in scale - that control the economy and much of our social life." How is that possible?Did the Big Brother slip somewhere for the "controlled" media to attack it's own master?

Nevertheless, Chomsky is right to think that there is "a lot of power behind" the theory put forth by Thomas Ferguson, who believes that "the state is controlled by coalitions of investors who join together around some common interests." So, he is against Big Business.But, somewhat he is not against Big Government, for he thinks it's OK that the health care be in the hand of the government, for example.

He is only against the government when it comes to foreign policies.And here he is at his most consistent, as he describes one event after another, from the softball plants in Haiti, to Nicaragua, German POW's, Chile and Russia. ... Read more

Isbn: 1878825070
Sales Rank: 491663
Subjects:  1. History & Theory - General    2. Politics - Current Events    3. Sociology   

Take the Rich Off Welfare (Real Story Series)
by Mark Zepezauer, Arthur Naiman
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 September, 1996)
list price: $12.00
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Editorial Review

Thank God the U.S. government has begun to cut funding of the arts, humanities, and social services ... but what are they going to do with all that surplus cash? Although the popular media has been largely mum about it, most of the welfare payments go to large corporations in the form of tax write-offs, subsidies, and plain old handouts. This frightening and enlightening book by the editor of The Tucson Comic News (a monthly collection of comic strips and panels) traces the flow of money into such worthy projects as subsidizing nuclear power plants (the last one was finished in 1973, but that doesn't stop the U.S. government from spending $7.1 billion a year on this vapor industry), tax breaks for the tobacco industry ($41 million last year), and corporate expense account write-offs ($5.5 billion last year). Read it and weep. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Listing The Subsidies That You Pay For
Taxes are never just to raise revenue, there are always politics involved for preferential treatments. So there will always be those who benefit from tax policies, even if it is called "revenue neutral" (tax the poor more to tax the rich less). The authors list a number of policies that provide benefits for the rich; they call that "wealth fare". This book lists various policies and their costs; you'll rarely find this in your local newspaper. The authors believe its wrong for the rich to steal from the poor (p.8). Lower corporate taxes resulted in huge Federal deficits and higher taxes for the rest of us (p.10).

Government subsidies are fixed amounts of money listed in the budget. Tax breaks receive little scrutiny and are open-ended (p.12). "Military Waste and Fraud" wastes $172 billion a year. But this can provide benefits to the districts of powerful Congressmen, a form of transfer payments. These made the Southwest bloom and the Northeast a "rust belt". Overpriced items may be "Hollywood accounting" for cost-overruns. Reagan and Congress lowered taxes on the rich by raising Social Security taxes on earned income (p.36). Raising the taxable limit could reduce this tax for most people. Page 39 explains the scam of accelerated depreciation. The capital gains tax is a subsidy to the super-rich (p.41). Lower capital gains taxes results in lower growth in the economy (p.44). Page 46 explains how the Federal Reserve damaged and destroyed the Savings & Loan banks. They needed help from Congress for this looting (pp.47-48). Like the other scams, the average taxpayer pays for this too (p.51).

There are some mistakes in this book. The "average full-time farmer is worth $700,000" (p.56). That's not as much as it sounds: 200 acres at $2,000 an acre, house and barns about $150,000, supplies and tools another $150,000 (your estimates may vary). That is for a small owner-operated business. While they may quibble about subsidies, food is cheaper in America than elsewhere, and you don't find people dying from hunger as in earlier times (p.57). [Isn't it cost-effective to have people die from excess feeding in their 60s than from TB or hunger by age 30?] Their price for a barrel of oil is far out of date (p.67). Page 73 explains why the credit for foreign taxes can ship US jobs abroad.

The authors want to tax municipal bonds because the wealthy benefit more (p.74). The real problem is that states continually borrow more and more to create this tax-free income; that's why states now have such huge debts. Federal salaries and pensions can be reduced to save money and taxes (p.81). Page 83 explains the scam of corporate owned life insurance! The diatribe against "nuclear subsidies" sounds like it was paid by Big Oil. Nuclear power is big in France, Japan, and Saudi Arabia; why not here? The minerals and oil depletion allowances are tax breaks disallowed to wage earners. Page 102 makes the mistake of claiming that tax breaks keep gasoline prices lower; actually the higher prices in Europe are due to higher taxes!

The authors document many types of government subsidies. But don't the same laws exist in many other countries? Various groups collude to create laws that benefit them or their businesses. It just depends on whether you want the greatest good for the greatest number.

Oink Oink
Before the welfare reform bill of 1996, genuine welfare was about 130 billion dollars per year, including food stamps, AFDC, housing assistance, WIC, Head Start, Low-income energy assistance, JOBS, Legal Services corporation, Medicaid, SSI, Pell grants, and the EITC. Altruistic behavior, of course, enrages conservatives, along with legitimate concerns, such as the Department of Education losing 450 million dollars in a three year time frame.

Meanwhile, the rich are quietly gorging at the trough.

The authors discover that "wealthfare" -- the money we hand out to corporations and wealthy Montgomery Burns types -- is at LEAST 448 BILLION dollars a year. To ensure not being accused of "bias," they consistently use conservative figures, thus leaving the real number far greater.

Their presentation is effective. Well cited, they address the orgy of waste and fraud in the "neglected" Pentagon, Social Security inequities generated from Reagan's sneaky regressive mega-tax hike on working people, phony accelerated depreciations (e.g. the NEGATIVE tax rates many corporations get away with), the S&L bailout we're still paying for, subsidies to nuclear, mining, timber, gas, oil, aviation, handouts to the media giants, insurance loopholes, and much more! Quite a lot for such a little book. A job well done!

This IS the "pinko's" view of the tax code. After all, it's socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor....

A pinko's view of the tax code
I guess this is what passes for a thoughtful review of the tax code for a liberal. I'm sure the author has no desire to give "tax breaks" to individuals any more than those greedy corporations. Besides attacking expense deductions as a "tax break," the class-warfare demagoguery always ignores the ultimate beneficiary of tax breaks to corporations, which are the company's workers and its stockholder. Oh yeah, the stockholders are just greedy rich people anyway, right? ... Read more

Isbn: 1878825313
Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Economics - Macroeconomics    3. Fiscal policy    4. Government spending policy    5. Governmental Income And Expenditure    6. Politics - Current Events    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Public Finance    9. U.S. Government    10. United States    11. Waste in government spending   

The Betrayal of America: How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President
by Vincent Bugliosi, Molly Ivins, Gerry Spence
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 May, 2001)
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Reviews (209)

Burying the lead
Those who reviewed this book and point out the so-called "fact" that Bush actually "still won" after the newspaper consortium did its hand recount, have bought into the media's burying of the lead on this story.

Read all of almost any article online published at the time about these later results and you will find statements such as this one, from a CNN article:
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/04/04/florida.recount.01/


"Ironically, a tougher standard of counting only cleanly punched ballots advocated by many Republicans would have resulted in a Gore lead of just three votes, the newspaper reported.

"The newspapers' review also discovered that canvassing boards in Palm Beach and Broward counties threw out hundreds of ballots that had marks that were no different from ballots deemed to be valid.

"The papers concluded that Gore would be in the White House today if those ballots had been counted."

Um... What???!

So folks, don't believe it.Bush only "won" because of the obsequiousness of the press and the dishonesty of the people in charge of counting votes in the state of Florida.

This book, and Mr. Dershowitz's book, should outrage every American. It's sad that half this country chooses to ignore these facts.It's sad that democracy has sunk so low.

Very Well Done(If you read it)
Molly Ivans' review of this book hits the nail on the head: here is a modern day J'accuse, and that is in part to say that Bugliosi's conclusion, like Zola's, is inarguable. Negative reviewers who point to any ultimate result of the 2000 vote count or re-count giving the election to Bush have missed the point of this book either because they didn't actually read it or were too dim to understand it.

A Must Read for Americans: From H.S. Seniors to All Voters
The intricate details of Mr. Bugliosi's book provide an insight to the 2000 stolen election like no other.He exposes the rancid infection of the "felonious five" Supreme Court Justices with wit, humor and a legal mind heretofore unknown in American Jurisprudence.For those planning to vote, it's an eyeopener which will lead them to the right check in the voter's box; and for those just beginning the privilege of voting, it enlightens them to take the path which will protect America's future -- a book which should be REQUIRED reading in high school government classes, and government classes across America's Universities.Mr. Bugliosi provides knowledge of the Bush/Cheney abuses of the Rule of Law and demonstrates the opinion that Bush/Cheney are above it -- and none dare questions it.This review of the 2000 election prepares one for this year's election with the hope of escaping the 2000 election fiasco.It makes one aware, prepared and on guard for any tactics in the 2004 election.We should all be thankful for Bugliosi's insight and courage to expose the betrayal.Absolutely a MUST READ, page turner and can't put down book!!!He makes understanding the law all the easier for those not familiar with its intricacies, and shows how down and dirty Bush/Cheney were in abusing the laws their swore to uphold. ... Read more

Isbn: 156025355X
Sales Rank: 58952
Subjects:  1. (George Walker),    2. 1946-    3. 1948-    4. 2000    5. American    6. Bush, George W    7. Bush, George W.    8. Courts - Supreme Court    9. Current Affairs    10. Election    11. Gore, Albert,    12. Legal System    13. Political    14. Political History    15. Politics - Current Events    16. Politics/International Relations    17. Presidents    18. United States    19. Gore, Albert    20. Trials, litigation, etc   

The Beast Reawakens: Fascism's Resurgence from Hitler's Spymasters to Today's Neo-Nazi Groups and Right-Wing Extremists
by Martin A. Lee
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (October, 1999)
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Editorial Review

If you thought Nazism died with Hitler, think again. In The Beast Reawakens, journalist Martin A. Lee traces the resurgence of fascist ideals from the prominent Nazis who escaped prosecution following World War II to the present-day incidents of right-wing violence in Europe and America. One only has to look at the current situation in the Balkans to see that fascism is alive and well. Lee begins his troubling account by reminding us of the many prominent Nazis who, after the war, built new and profitable lives for themselves fomenting political intrigue, while providing role models to a new generation of neo-Nazis all around the world. This underground Nazi culture might have remained out of sight had it not been for the fall of Communism. In the confusion following the end of the Cold War, right-wing nationalist movements sprang up all over Europe, taking root especially deep in formerly communist areas such as Croatia, Bosnia, and Romania.

According to Lee, "the Beast" doesn't restrict itself to Eastern Europe by any means; skinhead violence against immigrants is on the rise in Germany, while right-wing politicians in France, Italy, and other western European countries are increasingly finding a willing audience for their national and racial polemics. And lest American readers be lulled into a false sense of security, Lee warns that the United States is hardly immune to this kind of hateful rhetoric. He warns that many of the militia groups currently operating today share the same glorified attitude toward violence, the same irrational hatred of foreigners and ethnic minorities that mark the worst excesses of fascism in Europe. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

Begins well, but leaves much to be desired in the end
This book begins fairly well, describing how various Nazi intelligence officers survived World War II and went on to promote Nazi causes throughout the world. Especially interesting are the links between the Nazis and the Third World, especially Arab countries, that they developed in order to challenge American global hegemony. Also very useful are the connections between post-WWII Nazis and the Soviet Union, which again, like the Third World connections, were forged to help challenge American hegemony.

The book also gives a fairly decent description of some (not many) of the underlying currents of thought on the far-right, like National Bolshevism. However, at this point, the book leaves much to be desired...

First of all, the print is rather large and is written in an amateur-ish manner. The result is that this is a fairly large book that could have been condensed into a text 60-70% of the size it is now. Also, one finishes the book with many questions remaining.

Secondly, the book is not in the least bit comprehensive. Major figures of the post-WWII far-right, such as Francis Parker Yockey, are barely mentioned except on just a few pages.

Third, the author devotes far too much space to how the far-right is supposedly becoming "mainstream." He mentions the Liberty Lobby, which, unlike what he says, was never influential in the Republican Party, and fails to point out that it has been defunct since before the book's publication. He dedicates too much space to Eduard Limonov's National Bolshevik Party in Russia, which is a very minor grouping that plays little or no role in Russian politics.

I could continue on and on... check this book out and read it if you're interested in this sort of thing, but don't expect it to be a comprehensive and objective account.

I highly recommend two other books: Black Sun by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, and Dreamer of the Day by Kevin Coogan (I think The Beast Reawakens plagiarized some of their material from Coogan's book). Those two books are perhaps the most comprehensive books published right now about the far-right.

Reads like an endless term paper, but still helpful in parts
It's clear that a journalist and not a scholar typed this; perusing the endnotes you see that it's cobbled together from hundreds of websites (some now defunct), books, and articles. It's narrower than I expected: Britain barely gains a mention, but Latin America (e.g. Apristas in Peru) gains more attention, and Russia and Germany receive the lion's share of international coverage, balanced with the American fringes. It's unsurprising in its perspective, but having consolidated helpful documentation of Arab-Nazi/far-right ties, the hijinks of such as Yockey, Otto Ernst Remer, Skorzeny, and Gerhard Rex Lauch makes for unintentionally entertaining reading. I liked the vignette of Jewish tourists throwing bagels and lox at American Nazi Rockwell, and the delusions of the anti-ZOG megalomaniacs.

Too often, however, the book bogs down, especially in its post-war diplomatic accounts, in minutiae that had me nodding off. The condensation of the emergence of the French New Right, under Benoiste, and the permutations of the German thinkers, on the other hand, kept me page-turning. Certainly the descriptions of Yockey, for example, drawn I imagine from Kevin Coogan's bio in manuscript, showed Lee's ability to make his subject come alive.

Still, reflecting perhaps the rush to get this in print post-McVeigh, you get clumsy sentences like this (as early as the preface, xxvii): "With that fateful sub rosa embrace, the die was cast for a litany of antidemocratic CIA interventions." Three metaphors mixed in 17 words. Or this non-sequitor. After citing evidence of neo-Nazi German views intersecting with "the perverse logic of ecofascism," Lee then claims that $Qhis type of thinking would enable mainstream politicians to avoid racist terminology while advocating xenophobic views. 'We have to think of the ecological consequences of unlimited immigration.' declared Otto Zeitler, Bavaria's land development minister, after German unification." (218)

Yes, certainly we have to think about such issues, but I see no xenophobia in pondering the obvious in Zeitler's statement. Routledge has published lots of fascist studies the past decade and a half; I recommend their very accessible and intelligently organized "Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right" for an ideal introduction free of stereotypes or sloppy analyses. With Lee's book, the haste seems to emerge in the lapse in rigor.

The bias is evident in this book, but after having dutifully read it all, I find the purported threat from these factions in the West overblown, and those from the Middle East, on the other hand, largely ignored by the Left. It does gather in one volume a sobering reminder of how much the West, especially the U.S., cozied up to the remnants of the Nazi regime to keep them out of Stalin's grasp, and how much disinformation continues to be shelled out, by the Left and the Right, about the involvement between anti-communist factions, the far-right, and America.

Inaccuries on every page
Every page had historical inaccuracies.The goal of the book was to put the sins of Nazis and the CIA on Russia and Israel.Cognative dissonance on every page.A mix of historical facts with the authors agenda.Praises George Bush Sr as a noble person, need any more be said.

The author has no credibility, he writes as a spokesman for the Central Intelligence Agency, which is what i view him as after reading this book ... Read more

Isbn: 0415925460
Subjects:  1. Discrimination & Racism    2. Government - State & Provincial    3. History & Theory - Radical Thought    4. Political Doctrines    5. Political Science    6. Politics - Current Events    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Post World War II History   

A History of God : The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (4 Cassettes)
by Karen Armstrong
Average Customer Review:
Audio Cassette (01 October, 1994)
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Editorial Review

Armstrong, a British journalist and former nun, guides us along one of the most elusive and fascinating quests of all time--the search for God. Like all beloved historians, Armstrong entertains us with deft storytelling, astounding research, and makes us feel a greater appreciation for the present because we better understand our past. Be warned: A History of God is not a tidy linear history. Rather, we learn that the definition of God is constantly being repeated, altered, discarded, and resurrected through the ages, responding to its followers' practical concerns rather than to mystical mandates. Armstrong also shows us how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have overlapped and influenced one another, gently challenging the secularist history of each of these religions. --Gail Hudson ... Read more

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• Abridged

Reviews (145)

Religious or not, this book is a must-read
I have read the book several times and one idea always catches my attention: Montheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) replaced the idea of "Faith" with "correct belief". This seems to be the root cause of religious tensions existing in the world today. Monotheistic religions do not just maintain that they are "correct", they also stress on the fact that all other religious (faiths) are "incorrect beliefs"....
Read this book, you'll pave your own path to understanding your beliefs.

Informative
Well written, encyclopedic in its aspirations; this book is a bit too dry and pedantic for my tastes.

BANNED in Malaysia
According to a article I clipped in KL, Malaysia during late April 2005, "A History of God" and Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet" both by Karen Armstrong were just banned under the Printing and Publications Act 1984 (Amended) 1987. The possession, printing, reproduction, sale and distribution of the publications were prohibited and offenders could be jailed for 3 years or fined RM20,000 or both.

Any book banned by the same government who banned the Bible (in one native language and later recinded the ban) should be seriously considered for reading. ... Read more

Isbn: 0694515035
Subjects:  1. Audio - Inspiration / Philosophy    2. Audio Adult: Other    3. Biblical teaching    4. Comparative Religion    5. Comparative studies    6. God    7. History    8. History of doctrines    9. Inspirational - General   

9-11
by Noam Chomsky
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (October, 2001)
list price: $9.95 -- our price: $9.95
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Reviews (159)

Self-citations- YEHHHH!
A booklet filled with typical Chomsky. Nothing is factual but there seem to be lots of citations that refer the reader back to some other Chomsky title which contains even more self-citing.

How deep is the rabbit hole? Only Chomsky knows. I guess this is the trick of a learned linguist.

"The Anti-Chomsky Reader" is a must have accompaniment.

PenetratingArmenian
A Self Certified Blogspot Blogger

PS-1 Star because it's dead cheap and brief.

Chomsky
I find it humorous that one "patriotic, America loving" reviewer wanted to charge Chomsky with treason under the Patriot Act, even though the Constitution clearly spells out the criteria for treason, the only crime it explicitly defines.You would figure that someone who loves America so much would find it abhorrent to circumvent the Constitution like that.
It is completely illogical to equate questioning America with hating America.If you had a family member you thought was making a grave mistake, you most certainly would speak up.I see no difference in this case.In fact, I think it would betreacherous if someone who thought a loved one was making a grave mistake stayed silent, instead of trying to help.America is great because everyone is free to express their opinions, and remains viable because Americans can sort out valid opinions from trash.There is no need to censor them, bad opinions will simply marginalize themselves.If Chomsky's words are those of a loony radical, then people will disregard them.However, if there is validity to them, which many seem to feel, then they are a constructive part of American political discourse.
Chomsky doesn't defend terrorists, he just points out that it isnt the hatred of freedom that spawns them.Our foriegn policy (especially post WWII) has alienated and aggravated a large number of people around the world.That doesnt justify the actions of terrorists, it just helps explain why these people are so determined to destroy us.
Overall, I think this is a solid book, although I am not a huge fan of Chomsky's writing style.

Digging at the roots of9-11
As has been stated in numerous reviews prior to this one, this slim volume by Chomsky is a collection of edited interviews in the immediate aftermath of 9-11.Perhaps the most salient quality of this short book is the fact that it attempts to critically analyze and elucidate some of the underlying factors that seem to trace a trajectory toward the terrorist attacks on NYC and D.C.I'm sorry, but any rationally thinking human being should be able to understand that these attacks were not simply a matter of "terrorists who hate freedom and what America stands for"; it's much more complex than that.Unfortunately, at this time in our history, it has virtually become VERBOTEN to ask the question 'Why?' vis-a-vis 9-11.Despite some of the rather hackneyed and noxious accusations made by previous reviewers (e.g., that Chomsky "hates America," is "an apologist for the terrorists," is "cashing in on 9-11," etc.), this book is a good starting point for a critical analysis of that horrible day. ... Read more

Isbn: 1583224890
Sales Rank: 41619
Subjects:  1. Criminology    2. International Relations - General    3. Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement    4. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    5. Political Science    6. Political Terrorism    7. Politics - Current Events    8. Politics/International Relations    9. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001    10. Terrorism    11. Current Events / International