China's Future

David Shambaugh paints a rosy picture as the People's Republic of China turns 60 [Sept. 28]. Let's not forget that China is a communist dictatorship with a one-party system, a rubber-stamp congress and a judiciary under the control of the Party. Human rights are routinely trampled, even though they are written into the constitution; dissidents are jailed for long periods of time. The Chinese government did not hesitate to send tanks against its own people in 1989, and we have seen what the government can do against the Tibetans and the Uighurs when they dare rise up and ask for greater autonomy. China has become an economic powerhouse, but one result is glaring inequalities between billionaires on one side and the millions of people below the poverty level. Maybe another revolution is brewing.
Jean-Louis Desplat, SAINT-LO, FRANCE

A picture accompanying your article is titled Hero Worship. It shows photographs of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, the founding leaders of the People's Republic of China, flanking a shelf on which sits a model of the Teletubby Po. How's that for a true case of East meets West?
Cathryn Hindle, HORSHAM, ENGLAND

You Don't Mess Around with Dan
Re Lev Grossman's review of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol [Sept. 28]: To be a good read — and this was — a book doesn't have to be a literary masterpiece. Authors make things up in works of fiction. Anything that will get people to turn off the computer or TV is good, and this book will. Plus, far more people will read the book than will read your review.
Clif Sellers, CHICO, CALIF., U.S.

Debating Infant Vaccines
Though Joel Stein's column about vaccination was clever and in some ways humorous, children being injured every year by vaccinations is not [Sept. 28]. Conventional wisdom, which is what he reports believing in, is not always right. Fifty years of body casts instead of physical therapy for polio victims, thalidomide and its results and the recent speedy rollout of Gardasil — which has already been linked to an estimated 50 deaths — are a testament that the best medical evidence is not always correct.
Lynda Lambert, BALTIMORE

Thanks so much for addressing the vaccination scare stories. My great-uncle died at the age of 18 months from polio. In the 1950s, my aunt died of polio, just as the vaccine was being released. Today children are dying in places where immunization has not yet wiped out the disease. People who don't inoculate their kids should ask their parents what life was like before vaccines. Many can still remember a time when children died in much greater numbers than they do now.
Bruce Prickett, FREMONT, CALIF., U.S.

I was born in 1953 and I got my polio shots when I was age 4, and I am thankful as there were still cases of the disease in Europe at that time. But I am against giving babies vaccines against everything. I've had measles, whooping cough, rubella and chicken pox. I survived them all. Vaccinations should be kept to the minimum, so that the body can respond to ailments in the natural way.
Roberta Fischer Malara, VARESE, ITALY

That's Not Entertainment
Glenn Beck is a charlatan [Sept. 28]. he has made himself rich off people's fears without making the slightest constructive comment about national issues. Instead, he has spread innuendo to keep his audience happy. He's a TV evangelist who makes altar calls and then drives away in his Cadillac.
Alan Moen, ENIAT, WASH, U.S.

Beck is inquisitive and interesting. His broadcasts offer his opinion, and I choose whether to investigate his ideas or not. He doesn't regurgitate the morning news and he is adorable, even when I disagree with him. Politicians clearly despise middle-class Americans who dare to question them. Should we trust Washington more? Please recognize the real story of Beck's fans: we're everyday working people concerned about the future of our country, and we don't like censorship.
Melissa Odom, MILTON, FLA., U.S.

Beck is a man we can trust to tell it "like it really is." We little ol' unimportant taxpayers with no tax loopholes are just looking for accountability and transparency in government, as we were promised and as we expect.
Lori Horan, MUSKEGON, MICH., U.S.