On “Parliament demands violent repression of British youth riots”
Julie Hyland’s piece on the UK parliament’s reaction to the riots was excellent. I watched some of the parliamentary debate and it was akin to mob rule. Keep it up, Julie! Something might give one day.
Tim H
UK
12 August 2011
***
Notice how quickly the police phone hacking scandal faded from the front page.
Scotland Yard could have started that riot very easily by murdering any black youth in a troubled area, for in the summer the trouble would have surely followed. They know very well that it would escalate; sounds like police agent provocateurs started the trouble.
Prime Minister David Cameron also suggested the cause was parentless children. Mimicking the old axiom that black fathers leave their families. A subtle suggestion from the racist leader appealing to his white constituents.
More likely both parents are out scraping up a meager existence....
Kim H
12 August 2011
On “Mobilize the working class behind Verizon strikers!”
As disturbing as it is that these workers are facing steep concessions, Verizon has gone a step further by having additional non-union affiliated personnel on standby if need be, under the threat of termination. A true display of underhandedness in order to feed the gluttonous appetite of the financial aristocracy.
Richard T
11 August 2011
On “Britain: Westminster council ban SEP public meeting in attack on democratic rights”
Sent to the addresses at the end of this article:
Sirs -
I am appalled at your anti-democratic and underhanded canceling of the August 4th meeting which was to be held by the Socialist Equality Party in Westminster.
That there was a switching of the contracts with the insertion of a “no political party” clause after the party’s having held two previous meetings in that same venue is absurd and verging on the criminal. Your attempt at intimidation by saying that police would also be posted outside “just in case of disturbance” is fascistic in tone.
This is yet another act of cowardly suppression of the free trade of ideas and views in Britain.
Disgustedly,
Christie S
11 August 2011
On “An open letter to Professor Juan Cole: A reply to a slander”
I used to read Juan Cole... until Barack Obama hit the scene and Cole became his apologist. Reading your quote, I though I’d respond to him... along the lines of... “my gosh you used to have at least the veneer of integrity”... but no dice. The address you furnish brings up a contact page... but it never works. I imagine that he got tired of notices from people who’ve seen through him.
John L
12 August 2011
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I tried writing into Juan Cole but for some strange reason my e-mail is not being accepted! I am disgusted at what he wrote about the WSWS.org! How dare he suggest that the WSWS.org agree with harming innocent working class people HOW DARE HE!! Arghhhh! Just letting you know that I tried!
Mel M
12 August 2011
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Mr. Cole’s email link isn’t working.
Does anybody really pay any serious attention to Juan Cole? He’s just another neo-liberal tool. He regurgitates and re-regurgitates the same rhetoric found on most “progressive” web sites; rhetoric designed to assuage the misgivings of the pseudo-intellectuals, the Point-And-Click Progressives and the Old School Democrats nervous about the appearance of their President selling out the poor and middle class to white nationalist imperialism. He’s a bloviator. A bullshit artist. Secular Clergy.
I suppose, if you feel his “informed comment” requires your attention, I shouldn’t complain, but I much prefer your criticisms of the ISO. When I read their articles I don’t come away feeling…well…soiled. Seriously, Cole’s “informed comment” can’t come close to the journalism found on the WSWS. Keep up the good work.
L
12 August 2011
On “Notes on the social crisis in America”
I really appreciated your “Notes on the social crisis in America”. The short but poignant anecdotes from around the country hit home strongly and remind me of the conditions I see all around me. I think it is the barbarity and tragedy of the little, quotidian events which surround us that creates the most moral, emotional and deepest objections to the capitalist system. Thank you for this article and keep up the great work, Naomi.
Julian Q
11 August 2011
On Sri Lanka
Here in Sri Lanka there are many discriminations continuing against the Tamils... The latest is the disconnection of water and electricity supplies to IDP camps where thousands of people are still living as victims of war. But it is sad to note none of this information has appeared in your web site.
Thanks
Anil
Sri Lanka
12 August 2011
On “‘Order and Annihilation’ exhibition reveals link between Germany’s police force and the Nazi regime”
Reading this article, I was well reminded of the 1993 book Ordinary Men: Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning. Browning’s main point to me was how ordinary men could be led to do extraordinarily cruel acts. I recall that one policeman didn’t like what he saw and asked to go back to Germany. He was sent home and was not punished. The rest stayed and killed thousands. One has to ask oneself how I would have behaved.
My observation in America is that nearly all police have military backgrounds, just as those in post-WWI Germany had. Since there is no draft, our military has taken on an “Us vs. Them” complexion, with “them” being we the citizens. I see police pushing people/“civilians” around quite a lot. Recall the January 2001 pre-Iraq Invasion protests which police suppressed with great force, particularly in Chicago.
And how did the anti-democratic Patriot Act materialize within hours after 9/11?
I think we should be concerned.
Sincerely,
Rich H
Arizona, USA
11 August 2011
On “The New York Times and ‘living within our means’”
There’s a lot of lip from the bourgeoisie these days about “means” and ends. But here is a better quote from the past:
“Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.” (And: “I suppose I shall have to die beyond my means.” [Upon learning he needed an operation.])
- Oscar Wilde
JB
12 August 2011