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Letters from our readers

On “US exploits UNHRC resolution to pressure Sri Lanka

 

Thank you, Mr. Sarath Kumara, for your thought-provoking article. In my view, the government in power has dumped people on this island into a vulnerable position in the context of the global power game. You have correctly mentioned that none of the countries involved in this game are seriously concerned about human rights in Sri Lanka… Only the SEP, jointly with its counterparts in the rest of the world, can act effectively to defend the population here. My tributes to the SEP for its endeavours towards that direction.

 

IVE
Sri Lanka
8 March 2012

On “The New Orleans Saints’ ‘bounty’ program and violence in American sports

Mr. Walsh,

That’s a good article. I have watched not a few NFL events in my time, and the “logic” of selling US military projects abroad falls more and more to the Sunday afternoon events as the team owners sell ads to the Pentagon. With regards the Saints and Vikings playoff game in 2010, it was pretty obvious that the afternoon’s project was to remove Favre, and cut off Minnesota’s path to the Superbowl. He was taking hits that looked unprecedented for violence, at least to my eye. He finished the afternoon with a broken ankle.

In my youth, I played at a weight of 155 pounds. A few years ago, when I attended a state championship game for my former high school in Texas (and where football is a not small deity), I was struck by the average weight of linemen tipping scales at 239 pounds, and decidedly much faster moving players at that.

A group of former NFL players has also filed suit in Atlanta federal district court for brain injuries sustained via collisions and concussions, and they’ve made a little movie, called Bell Rung.

GS
8 March 2012

On “Interview with Rainer Rother, director of a Soviet-German film retrospective: ‘These films are a pledge that things can be different’

Dear WSWS,

I’ve read with great interest the interview with Rainer Rother and his work of rescuing from oblivion this hidden treasure, unknown to most people, including myself.

If only we could have similar films produced today... I can only dream of substituting Mary Pickford with Jennifer Aniston or St. Jorgen with some contemporary pseudo-left or trade union leader... Then, without necessarily laughing at anybody, we can all have a good laugh!

 

Chris
7 March 2012

On “New version of Porgy and Bess: A pale reflection of a work of genius and compassion

This is a very thoughtful and intelligent article. Thanks for getting it right about Porgy and Bess.

 

Walter R
7 March 2012

On “Jack London’s The Iron Heel: An enduring classic

As Jack Hood correctly points out, “the sincerity of London’s early socialist convictions is unchallengeable.” Trotsky himself, whose personality, immediately recognized phoniness when he saw it, had the same opinion when he wrote his perceptive review of this novel.

Unfortunately, despite the legacy of London’s writings, another example of how wsws.org recognizes the importance of the past, this element is often ignored and/or marginalized by 99 percent of Jack London scholars who hold prestigious positions in academia and choose instead to pursue the Jungian thesis emphasizing the later writings in the belief that London turned away from socialism. Unfortunately, history and accurate analysis of London’s writings opposes such a spurious and politically motivated reading. The author had a huge working class readership both before and after his death. He inspired many people, most notably the late Jim Allen who collaborated with Ken Loach.

But, despite these facts, London’s socialism is regarded as an irrelevant virus by most of his more affluent readers today, so much so that a recent entry in “The Jack London Newsletter” emphasizes his popularity among White Guard soldiers rather than the Bolsheviks! It is so important that wsws.org continues to emphasize the radical heritage of the past, particularly in times that now resemble the prelude to the violence of The Iron Heel and the warnings against home-grown American Fascism in Sinclair Lewis’s It Can’t Happen Here, a book that, more than coincidentally, was never made into a Hollywood film during the 1930s when most of his works were.

 

Tony W
8 March 2012

 

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