Chomsky signs Australian letter of support for Assange

[Ichingcarpenter]

SYDNEY — Renowned American scholar and activist Noam Chomsky signed an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Tuesday urging her to make a "strong statement" in support of Julian Assange.

Chomsky, a professor of linguistics at the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a prominent critic of US foreign policy, joined scores of high-profile Australian lawyers, authors and journalists in signing the letter.

Sparrow, editor of Australia's Overland literary journal, said the idea began with a few invitations but soon went viral, attracting an overwhelming response.
"Chomsky contacted us because I guess somebody had forwarded it to him," Sparrow told AFP.
"I think that this sentiment and this suspicion that Mr Assange is not to receive fair treatment is something... that extends beyond Australia more generally," he added.

Also signed by Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown, army whistleblower Lance Collins and a host of Australian authors including Raimond Gaita, Christos Tsiolkas and Helen Garner, the letter said Assange's case was a "watershed" for free speech.

"If these incitements to violence against Mr Assange... are allowed to stand, a disturbing new precedent will have been established in the English-speaking world," the letter to Gillard said.
"In this crucial time, a strong statement by you and your Government can make an important difference."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iGqenG8-Ggin8X3dEUGTQrKlzUbw?docId=CNG.ff6b0ef1de475368ff6b8fbd3707651b.4e1

[Ichingcarpenter]

1. One of my Heros and also rated as one the smartest men in the world

'According to the Arts and Humanities Citation Index, between 1980 and 1992 Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any other living scholar, and the eighth most cited scholar overall.’

’Chomsky was voted the leading living public intellectual in The 2005 Global Intellectuals Poll conducted by the British magazine Prospect.

He reacted, saying "I don’t pay a lot of attention to polls". In a list compiled by the magazine New Statesman in 2006, he was voted seventh in the list of "Heroes of our time".’

[Catherina]

2. Rec'd. Shame on the cowards who won't stick their necks out

but will then try to lecture us about integrity and courage.