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Pets are not
the ideal Christmas gift
With only a few days remaining for the Christmas shopping season, I’d like to bring to readers’ attention a mistake that is often made this time of year — buying companion animals as gifts.
Taking care of a pet is a big responsibility and not everyone has the time or means to do so. Also, the cute kitten or puppy under the tree on Christmas day will eventually grow up, and the interest may fade as time passes. Eventually these animals are taken to already overcrowded animal shelters, where they are put to death if they are not adopted in a short period of time.
If you are sure about buying a companion animal, consider adopting from an animal shelter such as the SPCA or PACCA or from rescue groups. Almost all pet stores obtain their animals from puppy mills, breeding farms that mass-produce puppies mostly for sale to pet stores.
Cruelty associated with puppy mills includes filthy conditions, killing of unwanted animals, little or no vet care, and forced breeding.
A dog with "papers" in no way guarantees that the animal came from a healthy or show-quality blood line.
For a list of rescue groups visit www.petfinder.com and for more information about puppy mills, visit www.puppymillrescue.com
George W. Wilson Jr.
Burholme
Expansion foes should
put victims first
I have lived in Fox Chase since I was 7 years old (I am now 28), and I never realized just how ignorant and short-sighted some of my neighbors were until I read the article about the Fox Chase Cancer Center’s planned expansion (Will they or won’t they, Dec. 6 edition).
It boggles my mind that so many people would be opposed to the expansion of something that would ultimately save lives. Like Councilman Greenlee said, it’s not like the Fairmount Park Commission agreed to sell the land to make way for a shopping center or a restaurant. It’s for medicine.
Maybe those same people who are opposed to the expansion would like to walk into the rooms at FCCC now and explain to them why the center can’t adequately help them.
Maybe Gerald Waln would like to be the one to say, "Sorry, friend, we can’t let the center help you treat your cancer. I’d rather look at trees because that’s what my cousin wanted over 100 years ago when he died." Maybe Paul Canty wants to be the one to explain to a cancer victim’s family that the facility can’t have the adequate resources it needs close at hand because it’s more convenient to him that the center uses an abandoned building elsewhere in the city.
By opposing something that is so vitally necessary, all those people might as well hold a news conference and say, "Sorry, cancer victims. You can’t have the help you need. We’d rather have a driving range." The argument that the expansion of FCCC would destroy the park is ludicrous at best.
The most important aspect of all is the fact that the construction would double the number of beds presently at FCCC.
It would enable patients to have their own rooms, rather than having to share one, because quite frankly, a lot of sensitive issues are discussed with patients and their families, and it shouldn’t have to be heard by someone else, especially in a situation where the other patient sharing the room is in a worse condition.
But no, go right on opposing the expansion of the center and being short-sighted. But I imagine if someone in the opposition’s family were to get cancer, God forbid, they would change their tunes real quick about the expansion. And I think that’s even worse.
Michael Nunes
Fox Chase
Some wills are meant
to be broken, but not this one
Regarding the Dec. 6 editorial Two big decisions, in which the Northeast Times supports the expansion of the Fox Chase Cancer Center into Burholme Park, comparing the wills of Stephen Girard and Robert Ryerss is like comparing apples and oranges.
Girard’s will was determined to be unconstitutional by the federal courts because it was exclusionary. It provided housing and an education to "orphaned white males" only. The Ryerss will, if anything, is most inclusionary in that it provides a park for "everyone" to enjoy "forever."
City Council will set a very bad precedent if it allows the breaking of the Ryerss will. Aside from the loss of parkland that cannot be replaced, who in their right mind would ever will their land or possessions to the city in the future?
George Wylesol
Cheltenham
Long live our important
holiday tradition
I want to say thank you to the 15th Police District Advisory Council, especially Nancy Doerr, Captain Bachmayer and community relations officer Sharon Krause for continuing the tradition of the annual police officers dinner for the 15th and 2nd police districts and Northeast Detectives
Many of you may not know that this tradition was started more than 10 years ago by my mother and father, Tony and Mary Cianci, and a dear friend, Edie Turing. Mom thought it would be a great idea to say thank you during the holidays to the men and women in blue who lay down their lives every day to serve and protect us. It was all a part of community policing.
Back in the day we would solicit local businesses that donated either money, giveaways or food. They jumped at the chance to do something for their police officers. It was great to see the overwhelming amount of giving and appreciation to do this.
I, along with two police officers chosen by the captain, would go and pick up a Christmas tree, and Lawton School would make the decorations. There was an early luncheon at a catering hall, then the later meal commenced at police headquarters and we served police officers from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Of course, there was always a visit from Santa Claus! All leftover food was sent to a local orphanage and 911 Police Radio. It was only the four of us who organized it and many Town Watchers helped greet and serve. But we loved it year after year, and the smiles we got made it all worth the effort.
It is kind of funny, but I can remember mom and dad sitting at our kitchen table gluing google eyes on the candy cane reindeer to use as gifts for the officers, or making sleighs out of Popsicle sticks and writing all their names on them. Those were the days when simple things meant the most.
Eventually we asked for assistance from the 15th PDAC and they obliged, and today the same tradition is being honored with few changes and many smiles. I am still warmed to see that something so little started by simple people has become a Philadelphia tradition in every police district throughout the city of Philadelphia.
And when changes are never accepted lightly, one thing I am glad of is we still make sure that all police officers that work out of the headquarters on Levick Street will get a hot meal that day as our way of saying they’re appreciated, thought of and thanked for all they do — just like my parents intended this day to be!
And I am sure that mom and dad will be watching from up above, smiling and hoping a good time is had by all. Thank you for keeping up with my parents’ tradition. You have no idea how much it means.
To the police officers of the 2nd and 15th district and Northeast Detectives, enjoy your day, because you deserve it. Merry Christmas.
Angelique Cianci-Hartman
President, Tacony Town Watch
A soul-searching question
for Father Judge parents
My son goes to Father Judge High School and I am writing to let parents know how appalling it is that kids steal and parents think it is OK.
Someone stole my son’s iPod out of his friend’s bookbag during school wrestling practice. I work hard for my money as I am sure most people do, so when something like this happens it really makes me mad. If one of my children came home with something that did not belong to them and I know that I did not buy it for them, especially something that costs as much as an iPod, I would have my son return it to the place they found it. If I found out my son stole it, I would make him give it back, apologize for taking something that did not belong to him, and punish him for stealing. Stealing is not acceptable.
It is amazing that parents send their children to Catholic school — most of them all of their lives, others because of the public schools in Philadelphia — and they learn nothing from the experience. What values are we teaching our children when we allow them to take things that don’t belong to them and watch as they listen on the iPod or use the phone or even ride the motorcycle they have taken from another child?
If you have the iPod Nano or know who does — with this inscription on the back: Merry Christmas Robert Murphy — please drop it off at the school office and no questions will be asked. We would just like the iPod returned.
Marianne Murphy
Pine Valley
Widow to coward:
Merry Christmas, grinch
This is to the person who totaled my car and hit two other vehicles on Nov. 16 at approximately 11:45 p.m. at Club Lyrics in the Roosevelt Shopping Center at Harbison and the Boulevard. You are a coward, and you will probably never take responsibility for anything that you do in life!
I am a widow and also a breast cancer survivor and needed my car to go to doctor’s appointments. I only had liability insurance but no collision. My car is totaled. You took away the little bit of independence that I have. I hope you feel good about yourself. You have caused me nothing but pain and emotional stress. There were witnesses. You drive a white Cadillac, 2000-05, Pennsylvania license plate with the last four digits 9673.
Merry Christmas, you grinch. Hopefully someone turns you in and you don’t ruin someone else’s holiday.
Phyllis Brooks
Tacony
What to get for the
person who has everything
With the holiday season here, it’s the time of year when we agonize about what to get for friends and family. We all want to give heartfelt, unique presents that will be useful in a person’s life.
But how many of us have thought about giving a gift that would really make a difference — the gift of change?
Instead of buying a present for your friends and family, consider donating to an organization in their name.
Many of us are lucky enough to live lives of relative comfort. It’s probably safe to say that many of our friends don’t need more material goods either. Show them that you truly care by donating to an organization whose mission you both support.
Request that your friends and family do the same for you. Provide them with a list of organizations that you feel connected to, and ask that they make a donation instead of giving you a present this year.
I was inspired by a friend’s daughter who recently wrote her an e-mail asking her to do exactly this. Because she is trying to minimize her material possessions, she requested that any money to be spent on her should go to a progressive organization instead. To help her friends and family, she provided a list of organizations that she supports. She ended her e-mail by saying that the only material thing she needs is socks, because "you know that someone loves you if they buy you socks."
There are still so many people in the Delaware Valley who are struggling. A holiday contribution could make a significant difference to an organization that is creating real solutions to help those who are most in need.
Imagine the real change that you and your loved ones can create this year.
Bread & Roses Community Fund recognizes and supports progressive, grassroots organizations that have the potential to make an impact. We give those organizations "wings" with financial support and skill-building assistance. With this respect and support, they can make a real difference where it matters most.
Make a difference this holiday season. Make donations instead of giving presents to every person you know. You may be amazed at the change you create.
Casey Cook
Executive director, Bread & Roses Community Fund
Words to the wise
Calling an illegal alien an "undocumented immigrant" is like calling a drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist."
Just goes to show, power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Let’s stop all the political correctness and start saying it like it is.
Anthony J. Porta
Sebring, Fla.
Pro-death penalty
letter was vile
The letter from Bill McDevitt Jr., The death penalty is a beautiful thing (Nov. 22 edition), has to be among the most vile of any commentary I have read, ever. His wish for the public execution of John Lewis, a.k.a. Worthless Human Waste, with grateful onlookers gleefully cheering his humiliating death, drags us back to what some think were the good old days when we hanged our erring citizens from trees and brought the kids to watch ("Look, Betty Lou, look at him struggling!") with maybe the pledge to the American flag to follow with fried chicken and lemonade for everybody.
I thought that we were past that kind of justice, but apparently I was wrong. And just when I thought this looney letter couldn’t get any worse, it did, when Mr. McDevitt said that the execution of some innocent people doesn’t really matter.
"Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee" are words you should pay attention to, sir. They mean that funeral bells will ring even for people like you, and you will face final judgment by a merciful creator. So, good luck! By the way, those words are from John Donne, not Winston Churchill, just as your quote about the doom of repeating history was written by Santayana, not Sir Winston.
Edward Huber
Burholme
Hospitals should have
a heart for babies, too
Regarding William Kenny’s story in the Dec. 6 edition on Frankford Hospital’s Heart Center (Their hearts a-thumpin’), Frankford’s renovation announcement came at the same time that Northeast Philadelphia citizens at a town meeting were voicing concerns that women are laboring in hospital hallways due to overcrowded conditions since all four local hospitals previously offering obstetrics — Frankford, Parkview, Nazareth and Jeanes — chose to close their OB units or the entire hospital.
As William Kenny noted in his article, Frankford’s look at the age demographics of the area assured them that "the need for cardiac care will continue to grow." As families move out or avoid the Northeast because of no maternity services, an aging demographic may indeed be inevitable. Furthermore, with more than 5,000 births every year in the Northeast alone, any rationale of closures due to lacking demand is questionable.
Another excellent cover story in the same edition of the Northeast Times reviews the maternity crisis resulting from high malpractice, low Medicaid reimbursement, and difficulty recruiting skilled practitioners — all issues overcome by the new cardiac care department at Frankford. Can Frankford share the formula for expanding services despite barriers that have proved fatal to obstetrics? Ironically, the hearts will be attended to in space previously used to deliver babies.
Frankford used operating funds to finance the expansion where their heart patients can walk a mere 15 feet from diagnosis to comprehensive care. Meanwhile, women in Northeast Philadelphia could spend up to an hour on public transportation, or a half-hour by car (non-rush hour) to give birth. What is not clear is Frankford’s choice of hearts over babies since by its own admission both choices share the same problems (high malpractice, low reimbursement, etc). We would love hospitals to be able to use their operating costs to make obstetrical care as available as heart surgery — and not choose between old hearts and new.
Sue Rosenthal
Chairwoman, community board of District 10 Health Center
Letty Thall
Director of public policy, Maternity Care Coalition
Excuses, excuses
for rising rates
Blue Cross/Blue Shield subscribers will pay more for 2008 insurance premiums. The deductible will increase from $250 to $300 per month. The monthly premium for one plan goes from $290.98 to $314.47. I am sure Blue Cross/Blue Shield can come up with 100 excuses for increasing their premiums.
In addition, mortgage companies are gouging their customers with high variable rate mortgages. How do they know what mortgage rates will be years down the road? Some people in authority must come down on Blue Cross/Blue Shield and mortgage companies.
John Horner
Oxford Circle
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