29 Nov. 1989
Dear Noam,
I enclose another probably unpublishable review [see Ch. 3.1]–but I'll give it a try. On the off chance that someone might publish it, is it ok to use the quote from your letter on p. 6? (I haven't sent it off yet.)
Enclosed also are the pages of the Hearings Segal refers to.
The 1969 MacArthur testimony. See Chapter 4.1.
The silence in general about AIDS, at least here, is deafening. Segal seems to be totally isolated, though he cites people who agree with him in private. Perhaps you won't mind if I ask you straight out what you think. Is it possible to find out if Segal is right or wrong?
Sincerely,
Michael
On 12/28/89 Chomsky thanked me for writing and sending the Lemann review, and wished me luck in getting it published. As for the MacArthur testimony, he said it "sends a chill up the spine." It was "very far from his field" and he had "no scientific judgment." "But," he added, "it is hard for me to believe that one can't obtain a scientific judgment from some knowledgeable and unprejudiced source." He didn't know anyone in AIDS research, he said, "but there are plenty of them around."
There was a hiatus in our correspondence at this point for about a year. In the meantime came the Gulf War build-up and war. We agreed completely on that.
I wrote again on Nov. 30, 1990, enclosing a letter to the editor of the local Kassel newspaper denouncing Bush's war plans (which was actually printed!) and another article (never published) about Segal and AIDS.