"Zinn talks about Obama and the “possibility of change.” It seems odd to be asking this of an octogenarian but: Exactly how much time do you think we have?"

"The harmonious vision of higher wages in general benefiting both capital and labour is a mirage."

Chomsky's version of anarchism, challenging coercive institutions to justify themselves, is not terribly exciting. But I thought this article did a good job summarizing one of his typical speeches (especially for a publication called "The American Conservative").

Could there even be such a thing as a non-cynical monk? Here's some nice satire from Thomas Merton.

This is the only version I could find transcribed to the www, and it has some encoding problems. You can find a hard copy in Random House's "A Thomas Merton Reader'.

"From 1945 onwards, J Edgar Hoover’s FBI spied on Camus and Sartre. The investigation soon turned into a philosophical inquiry…"

"On Monday November 4th, 2013 Nichole, a woman experiencing homelessness in Denver, went to court for a ticket issued to her for “unlawful camping.” She was given this ticket while lying on her blanket under the “pillars” in Civic Center park on a cold rainy afternoon. The description on the ticket said “unlawful camping”, but instead of citing the ordinance number for the urban camping ban, the officer cited 39-7a which is a park violation prohibiting sleep in or on a blanket in the park overnight. However, as noted, this ticket was issued in the afternoon, not at night when the park camping violation 39-7a would apply."