The following is a selection of recent letters to the WSWS.
On “An exchange on ‘Friedman of the Times declares war on France’”
For a start, I’d like to commend DB for the viewpoints expressed. Unfortunately DB’s research turns out incomplete—happens every day in many professions.
Having been under the German Nazi/fascist jackboots for five years in occupied Holland I followed the Nuremberg trials very closely, including the case of Julius Streicher, and was pleased to see it (March 25, 2003) on my computer monitor in my daily WSWS logon.
Bill Vann, your reply to DB is tops in my books—international law.
FR
24 November 2003
* * *On “US: 21,000 Verizon workers accept buyout”
This is a big fat scam in order to artificially inflate the stock. Of the 5,600 unionized employees that accepted the offer only a few (in Pennsylvania, as far as I know) were actually allowed to receive the package. The rest were forced to get themselves back on the payroll by November 22, 24 hours from the deadline, or they were retired without any enhancements. Many left in disgust, regardless of the extra money promised. In southeast Pennsylvania only those hired before March 1969 got the enhancement, about 5 percent of those that accepted the offer. There is a big difference between those that were ready to get out and those that made it out the door. All management were allowed to go from the beginning.
SM
23 November 2003
* * *After reading this article you can realize the significance of the ruling by Jeb Bush. It is yet another way that the religious right in America is enforcing its puritan and highly hypocritical views on the rights of people’s own right to their body. This is a classic example on how worldwide governments and religious groups are combining to suppress the human being’s right to choose what it can or can’t do to its own body, whether it be abortion, contraception, sex, euthanasia and any other basic freedoms. A note to the religious right, in that it openly supports state execution, the rejection of sex education in schools, and of some religious groups, such as Eagle Forum, the open suppression of women’s equal rights in society and the workplace. It should be our basic right to die in dignity, to have freedom of our own bodies and to live a happy and meaningful life without religious and political oppression, which in America and many other countries is enjoying a close and personal marriage.
MF
23 November 2003
* * *On “Britain: Massive turnout at demonstration against Bush and Iraq war”
I read this excellent article with great interest. I watched it on television as well. I do have a question though. I live in Canada and would like to know why most Americans didn’t see this? There was little or no coverage on the American news. I looked at is as a piece of history ... the next will be when Bush is defeated in the polls.
I also feel that by not allowing coverage of the dead soldiers coming back home ... is an abuse by the president. The families should have the right to know that their country is as proud of them, when they left ... as they are coming home.
DC
22 November 2003
* * *I’m with you all the way, but in fairness to accuracy, CNN did post some news of the protest on their web site. They may have said they weren’t going to cover it—which is definitely noteworthy to mention, but it’s also noteworthy that they eventually did cover it. I think it shows that the protest was so big and successful that they had to cover it.
Keep up the good work.
HR
Olympia, Washington
21 November 2003
* * *Dear Mr. Ingram:
Regarding how Americans feel about Bush, I noticed in several Internet photos of the protest that the group, Expats Against Bush, were well represented. Their prominent signs, reading “Proud of my country; Shamed by my president,” were evident in a great many of those photos. They are doing a good job of informing people in the UK about the real attitudes of Americans around the world.
CZ
San Francisco
21 November 2003
On “Arson destroys Indiana Holocaust museum”
I read with interest the article by Joanne Laurier [“Arson destroys Indiana Holocaust museum.”] I live in Istanbul, which has been shattered by terrorist attacks—first on November 22, destroying two synagogues, and another one yesterday at the entrance of the British Consulate. The latest killed innocent civilian guards and injured hundreds of pedestrians near the building, including the counselor, who was killed. On top of this, the glass paneled building of the headquarters of the HSBC Bank was also totally destroyed.
From the days of the Ottoman Empire, when the Sultans ruled that superpower, Turkey played a great role protecting the Jews from the Spanish Inquisition, which subjected them to torture and murder. Jews were invited to take shelter, peace and freedom from this injustice back in 1542 to land on Turkish territory in a city called Selaniki—now in Greece—where they lived happily for centuries. As the Nazis sought to wipe out the Jews of Europe, declaring themselves a pure race and their country the greatest nation on Earth, the Turks were friendly to Jews. I have written these lines to you due to my feeling on the Holocaust by the Nazi regime.
KC
Istanbul, Turkey
21 November 2003