It's not often that theoretical syntax is mentioned on the world stage, but that's just what happened yesterday at the United Nations in New York. According to the Associated Press account of Hugo Chávez's speech:
At the start of his talk, Chavez held up a book by American writer Noam Chomsky ... and recommended it to everyone in the General Assembly, as well as to the American people.
"The people of the United States should read this ... instead of the watching Superman movies," Chavez later told reporters.
Here's a photograph of that historic moment:
I guess Chávez is into minimalism. Who knew?
Brilliant!
Posted by: AJ | September 21, 2006 at 03:13 AM
I love this.
Posted by: polyglot conspiracy | September 21, 2006 at 05:07 AM
May I use your photo? With a credit of course.
Posted by: Szwagier | September 21, 2006 at 08:01 AM
LOL, good one!
Posted by: Bridget | September 21, 2006 at 07:14 PM
Are him insulting my grammer? BASTARD!
Who wants to bet that most people think that it's one of Chomsky's political works?
Posted by: Darryl McAdams | September 21, 2006 at 07:16 PM
I retract my previous comment in light of the fact that I read the article and have since realized you photoshopped the pic.
I feel silly.
Tho Minimalist Program would've been a better book to recommend.
Posted by: Darryl McAdams | September 21, 2006 at 07:30 PM
It seems that Chavez have made Chomsky a millonaire. His book is 4th in Amazon!!!!
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/15576025.htm
Posted by: Drake | September 21, 2006 at 10:10 PM
"Tho Minimalist Program would've been a better book to recommend."
Only if, for some reason, we wanted to confuse the Venezualans as to the whereabouts of UTAH. Or Utah.
Posted by: Chuck | September 30, 2006 at 05:41 PM
I'm not surprised that Chavez would hold up a Chomsky book, I'm just surprised it was that one.
Posted by: Chris Ball | October 02, 2006 at 02:05 PM
Doh! Egg on my face. I really need to think things through before I comment. Good one.
Posted by: Chris Ball | October 02, 2006 at 02:06 PM
Why replace the cover of "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance," with your photoshopped effort? It smacks of verisimilitude.
Posted by: dec | October 04, 2006 at 07:40 AM
It smacks of verisimilitude.
Heh. Excellent contrast between the implication of the verb smack and the meaning of the word verisimilitude.
Posted by: The Tensor | October 04, 2006 at 07:54 AM
Come on,
The last thing the world needs is another devotee to the misguided, Anglo-centric linguistic world-view of Chomskian Syntax.
Lexicalism is the Future!
Stick with Chomsky's politics.
Posted by: aidhoss | October 05, 2006 at 06:33 PM
Oh, yes, I think I will be using this photo -- appropriately credited of course.
Posted by: Loxias | October 10, 2006 at 02:38 AM
I did here.
Cheerio!
Posted by: Loxias | October 10, 2006 at 02:54 AM
I've lurked around here ever since being linked from Language Log, figured I'd leave a comment on how tickled I got at this. I stole it to use as a link to this site from mine.
Posted by: daniel | October 12, 2006 at 11:11 AM
I'm glad it's been providing chuckles. The night before my general exam I was stressed and couldn't get to sleep, then I saw the news story, felt inspired, and spent a couple of hours photoshopping it. Very relaxing. (Actually, I used GIMP, and I have to say, what a terrible, terrible interface. Not Friendly. The price is right, though.)
Posted by: The Tensor | October 12, 2006 at 03:37 PM