Post looking for vets
Rhawnhurst-Castor Post 754 is open to any veteran who would like to join the American Legion.
Our membership is open to anyone who served in the military. Our American Legion post is the largest in Philadelphia. We have 719 members.
Men or women who would like to join can call me anytime at 215–632–7781.
William Cole
Post Commander
Donate to St. Leo appeal
Dear parishioners, friends and alums of St. Leo the Great, thank you for your prayers and support. The archbishop refused to meet with us so we were left with no alternative but to appeal to the Vatican.
We have hired a canon lawyer. If you are interested in donating to our legal fund, please email me at portkuv@aol.com or call me at 215–901–8052.
We will be attending a rosary rally at the cathedral on Sunday, Aug. 18, at 5:30 p.m. We are asking all of those affected by the recent mergers and closing to participate.
Thank you again for all that you do for St. Leo. Please continue to pray for our church. St. Leo the Great, pray for us.
Ann Marie Kuvik
Tacony
Mom wants dam down
This letter is in response to Fred Maurer, who seems to think that the dam in Pennypack should stay because of the benefit it has to fish.
Are you kidding me? Basically, what you are saying is that the dam and its fish are more important than human lives.
I only have one question for you, Mr. Maurer, have you ever lost a child? Well, I did, and that dam is going away one way or another. I don’t care how long it takes. So I guess you will have to find fish somewhere else. That dam is useless.
Kimberly Boyle
Bell’s Corner
Tearing down the dam will save lives
I was one of Brandon Boyle’s best friends, also the creator of the Facebook page “Pray For Brandon” and I’d like to give my input on the dam and bridge situation at Pennypack.
For starters, as a teenager who has lived in the area for many years, I can say that many teenage individuals swim in those waters. Even days after the incident, people were still jumping off the bridge into the swift-moving waters.
I know I am heartbroken after Brandon’s death, and I can’t imagine what the family is going through during this difficult time. I also know I can’t see another person go through this tragedy!
This also isn’t the first time someone passed away in these waters. The dam is no longer serving any purpose to Pennypack Creek, so it should not be there if all it is going to do is cause harm to others.
We all strongly feel this dam needs to be removed and we won’t stop until something happens!
Stav Chen
Stafford, Va.
Dam is a killer
I am writing in regard to the Pennyack dam where my precious nephew Brandon drowned. His death was completely unnecessary, an incomprehensible loss to our family.
Brandon was just 13 years of age and in the prime of his life. He was a young teenage boy who found the creek just too irresistible not to take a swim.
My family has done some research on the Pennypack Creek and found that since 1994 there have been 16 deaths. This dam is a killer and it needs to be removed.
Do we have to wait until the city gets sued to pay attention to this hazardous situation? Can the officials of Philadelphia just do the right thing and remove this killer?
Please have compassion for the families of these needless losses, and for the families that will have to go through such sorrow in the future. If this dam is not removed there will be other grieving families. Please do something!
Lisa Loew
Boynton Beach, Fla
Destroying dam won’t keep kids out of creek
OK, tear down the dam, wreck that section of the park doing it, but you will still have kids and adults jumping into the Pennypack and drowning.
After a storm, the creek moves like a freight train usually two to three feet (if not more) higher than normal.
Some people can’t resist the temptation to give it a try. Even on a normal day, the creek bottom is full of branches and other junk, either washed or deliberately thrown in, that can snag you and drown you. Folks will just find another spot to jump in. They do it now anyways.
Juliann Pinto
Holmesburg
No reason to celebrate local Playmate
Please allow me to respond to the “Girl Next Door” article that appeared in the July 17 edition of the Northeast Times, written by Ed Morrone. The narrative detailed the excitement of a local woman who was named Playboy magazine’s “Playmate of the Month” in its August 2013 edition. I have been a reader of the Times for many years, and I cannot let this story pass without some rebuttal. Forgive the medieval, prudish tone, because I do not share the writer’s or the subject’s glee about this situation.
The front-page article about this very beautiful, and hopefully naive, young woman’s venture into the Playboy world failed to mention that she is now an integral part of America’s insatiable, perverted and ever-burgeoning sex industry.
Let’s hope that she will, in the future, reconsider her present-day decision, look back and regret any physical and moral damage she may have caused herself, her family and anyone else. Despite her contemporary euphoria, subsequent guilt of such actions may be difficult to suppress.
In the meantime, she can bask in the false glow of her temporary, carnal fame, bestowed on her by the Playboy crusade. She is, however, throwing away her beauty, talent, heart and soul to a false promise — to a depraved movement that is doomed to fail and will, one day, crash, burn, and ultimately implode.
Joe Cooney
Fox Chase
Bartender to playmate: an inspiring path
I think the Northeast Times’ story on Val Keil, Playboy’s Miss August 2013, was well written and appropriate to publish. The Northeast Times acknowledges successful and inspiring stories all the time, and I don’t think Miss Keil’s story should be passed up because of her break into Playboy magazine.
I think the real purpose of the article, and what letter writer Catherine Morrison missed, was that Val Keil was a hard-working bartender trying to get that big break, and when a chance came along, she took it. Not only did she take the chance, she succeeded. Many people, these days, are afraid to take chances, and beat themselves up when they pass them by. Others think that success should be bestowed upon them with little to no effort. Keil should be commended for her success.
Reading the article, “The Girl Next Door,” inspired me, actually. It proved that the dream is out there if you’re persistent and you go for it. It also told me that anybody, whether it’s a restaurant hostess, a garbage man or custodian could better themselves with the proper resources, determination and talent. One hears thousands of “no’s” before he/she hears that one “yes” in the entertainment industry.
If someone from our area launches to the ranks of stardom, even for 15 seconds, the Northeast Times should acknowledge it. It lets the rest of us dreamers know that a better life is possible.
Tom Crankshaw
Frankford
Zimmerman verdict was an easy call
I am writing in response to Miriam Levinson’s letter concerning the Trayvon Martin case (Zimmerman racially profiled Trayvon, Aug. 7, 2013).
I respect her right to express her opinion, however misguided. But I believe all those who are outraged by the verdict are delusional.
I watched every televised moment of the Zimmerman trial — without bias — and I can say that every proven fact, every piece of forensic evidence corroborated Zimmerman’s story and ultimately exonerated him.
It wasn’t even close.
The prosecution’s own witnesses actually helped the defense, including the detective who originally wanted to charge Zimmerman with manslaughter.
Remember, the defense didn’t have to prove a thing — it’s the prosecutor who had to prove malicious intent for second-degree murder. They couldn’t even prove manslaughter.
On the other hand, the defense actually proved self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s why it’s so troubling to me seeing so many people around the country completely reject fact and reason in favor of pure emotionalism.
The law is all we have.
If we trash it, the mob will take over, like it did in the circus leading up to the trial.
But for the pressure from Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the New Black Panthers (yes, the same Black Panthers who violated voters’ rights in Philly in ’08), there would not have been a trial.
It wasn’t racism on the part of the Sanford police, but the realization that there was simply not enough evidence to charge Zimmerman with murder.
If Ms. Levinson could ask, “Who threw the first punch?” it shows me she clearly didn’t see the same trial I did.
Following someone is not illegal, assault is. I suggest to her and anyone who feels angry about the verdict to go back and give it a second look — without the hysteria.
Jay Polis
Bustleton
Holocaust education needed in schools
I must take great exception with the letter to the editor from Leonard T. Roberts of Mayfair. He reasons that the bill in Harrisburg is one that pays too much attention to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and its purpose is not really needed since textbooks mention “Hitler, the Jews and the ‘Final Solution,’ ” and that teachers have the responsibility of talking about these events to help students understand the present and the role of hate in history. He insinuates that this legislation would give special attention to one group over other groups.
The present educational need is not to just teach about the Holocaust but also to help students understand what happens when hatred runs amok and becomes state-sponsored evil. This has happened numerous times since the Holocaust and continues to devastate the lives of ordinary people around the world. Examples that come to mind are the killing fields of Cambodia and atrocities in Croatia and Darfur, to mention just a few. Just as important, students should learn about how distorted propaganda shapes people’s judgments and how mob psychology can be dangerous. Additionally, in our modern world, students need to see how bullying can lend itself to become more serious negative behaviors. The Holocaust provides opportunities for students to learn about how individual decisions impact the community and the world at large. Additionally, one of the great lessons regarding learning about the Holocaust is for students to learn about compassion and understanding for, and of, all people.
Some secondary teachers may provide a glimpse about the Holocaust and other examples of hatred that have occurred. Most teachers do not. Lessons about the Holocaust and other atrocities are more likely to take place in southeastern Pennsylvania, where there are more educators who have had significant contact with people who have lived through these events. It is less likely that such instruction takes place in other areas around the state that are less diversified.
Mandating the teaching about these atrocities and their implication, including the Holocaust, is the only way for all of our students to learn to make more informed judgments and become better citizens. The educational needs of students throughout Pennsylvania demand that this legislation promote mandated instruction regarding the Holocaust and other atrocities.
Donald Wittenberg
Pine Valley
Readers write poetry
Stick to the middle
My grandfather was a poet,
My grandmother was a teacher,
There is none of them yet,
But I love them ardent, tender.
There is a portrait on the wall,
Both sitting in embrace,
Stick to the middle, they smile,
Talking beside face to face.
Aspiring to fulfill their precept,
I stick without shying on week-days,
I try to work without hurt
To everybody, me and neighbors.
Moysey Barash
(Translated from Russian by his wife, Marim Barash)
Pennypack
