On “Historians in the service of the Big Lie”
Fantastic! I saw the book at a nearby arm of Barnes and Noble, browsed the jacket blurb and the table of contents, and concluded it was yet another calumny in the "Service" of Stalinism. I am very happy to see you are moving quickly to counter it in the public arena.
Charles H
29 October 2009
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Recently the UK’s Times Literary Supplement reviewed two books about Leon Trotsky. I’m waiting for the WSWS to publish the proceedings of this event. Somebody needs to correct the TLS’s many errors in their review of these books. I’m confident that these errors will be refuted at this event. I want to know the truth about Trotsky.
Larry L
29 October 2009
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Thank you for holding this meeting. There have been an inordinate number of hack-job biographies of Trotsky coming out of late. While Simon Sebag Montefiore continues to write long love letters to Stalin and these 800+ page missives are lauded by critics, Trotsky is repeatedly portrayed as the “actual” villain in the failure of the Soviet Union. Indeed, I figure it’s only a matter of time before he’s accused of baby-eating at this rate.
In any event, you do a tremendous service in exposing these lies publicly. Thank you.
Christie S
Oregon, USA
29 October 2009
On “Chicago city and transit budgets pose mass layoffs and deep cuts in services”
Fraud, nepotism, looting, corporatism, gangsterism—these Chicago politicians do it all! With such tools in their belts, it’s no wonder they got one into the White House.
EG
29 October 2009
On “The swine flu pandemic and the market”
You write, “Contrary to the unfounded and, in many cases paranoid, assertions of certain groups, both ‘left’ and right, there is no scientific or historical evidence to doubt the necessary role of vaccinations.”
I, for one, do not doubt the necessary role of vaccinations. I have had shots for “regular” flu every year for the past 15 years. I do, however, have concerns about the vaccine for H1N1. There have been studies done about the side effects of this vaccine that cause me worry. This worry goes along with the “market” basis for manufacture (or non-manufacture, in the case of US companies) of vaccines.
It is not difficult to believe that the companies producing vaccines would rush them to market without proper evaluation of potential side effects in order to make as much money as they can while the fears of epidemic last. I did not get this idea from reading tea leaves or casting the I Ching.
Carolyn
California, USA
30 October 2009
On “Australian man faces lengthy jail term for ‘offensive’ letters”
Hello,
I appreciate your article about me, which was published on your site. It is an informative and very useful article. Please say my thanks to the author.
Kind regards,
Sheikh Haron
31 October 2009
On “‘People’s needs go unmet—it’s just inexcusable’”
What this physician says is true. The community he practiced in could very well be near where I live, in Dayton, Ohio.
The very term “American healthcare system” is an oxymoron. There is no such thing. What we have is a patchwork wherein a few citizens have pretty much unlimited access to the medical system (those include our rulers in the government), most people have limited access to the system (those whose jobs allow them to buy insurance, even if the costs are a huge portion of their paycheck), and a large and growing faction that has virtually no access to the system (the unemployed, low-paid, those with pre-existing conditions, etc.).
I'm 51, unemployed, and live in the ruins of Dayton, Ohio. When I was growing up, my parents worked for General Motors, and I was able to have dental, eye care, and medical care of the best sort, and I am grateful for that. When I was recently thrown out of my job after 20+ years, I lost my insurance coverage because I live in the only developed country that is deranged enough to tie everything to employment (of course, that is done so as to enslave us).
I was dumb enough to vote for Obama but won't again, and my grown children who were also fooled feel the same. He is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who never had any intention of improving anything for the millions of suffering Americans. We citizens must face up to the fact that we’ve been entirely thrown overboard by our rulers, so there won’t be any help coming to rescue us. We will either sink or swim on our own. We must empower ourselves!
David M
Ohio, USA
2 November 2009
On “The postwar novelist in regression: Norman Mailer (1923-2007)”
A very witty, edgy, funny piece. A few quibbles: I don't think you’re being fair to Marcuse, because his concept of “repressive desublimation” would be comprehensive of the fact that “we had a sexual revolution and yet we still have class oppression.” Also, I think you're right to lampoon the 60s craze with pharmaceutical recreation. However, why, then did there appear a few days ago an article about the swine flu vaccine that mentions not one of the considerable medical dangers of this vaccine and how its creation and mandation is a product of corporate corruption and profit seeking? Get out of the RT scientistic ghetto!
Thomas S
3 November 2009
On “A letter on debt and debt collectors”
It is important to remember that one of the major clients of these enterprises, and their criminal methods, in pursuit of ‘debtors,’ are the local authorities in Britain. Labour Party administrations up and down the country use the courts and debt agencies to pursue the poorest, most vulnerable individuals, and families ruthlessly—and I mean ruthlessly!
Kathryn
3 November 2009