not lazy or cheap

I can't take it any more! I have to write in response to letters regarding people without health insurance ("Health-care bill would erode freedom," Sunday).

I don't have health insurance and haven't had any in four years. I also don't have electronic equipment, a fancy cell phone (mine is five years old), or tickets to sporting events, nor have I taken a vacation in five years. Something else I haven't had in four years - until recently - is a steady job. I have lost three jobs because of budget cuts at employers in the past four years.

What I do have is a master's degree from Temple, a home that is in foreclosure, and a 13-year-old car. I am not stupid or lazy. At one time I had four part-time jobs to make ends meet, but until very recently, I could not find a full-time job. Ironically, I now work for an organization that finds jobs for people.

It is unconscionable that the uninsured are all considered lazy and without insurance because they don't want to pay for it. If I could, I would, because I am also a cancer survivor who knows the dangers of not having it.

D.A. Dennis

Audubon

Cheapening

a worthy word

Some people may well wonder about the common use of the term conservatives to describe certain elements of our society these days. Conservatives have, for a very long time, been shown to have opinions and values rooted in logic, fact, and history. They have made substantial contributions.

Seniors railing against the government "takeover" of Medicare, folks braying that our president is a socialist and a fascist, and wealthy geezers funding absurd political campaigns are given undue respect when they are described as conservatives. They are made to appear as if they were not simply ignorant, selfish, or racist. Fed by an unending diet of opportunistic and vapid radio and television, they have become our very own mullahs promoting positions that are at best narrow-minded and at worst destructive of the foundations of our democracy.

How to describe them? Lost-planet people? Far right-wingers? Radicals, perhaps? One can ponder this question, but certainly complimenting them with the respectable term conservative does them vastly more service than they deserve.

Dave Kalkstein

Philadelphia

davek50@yahoo.com

Time to repair

relations with Cuba

Are you as tired of the agonizing amount of pettiness in Washington surrounding Cuba as I am? Is it not way past the time to do the right thing and mend our ties with Cuba once and for all? Continuing a vendetta against an old, sickly man and keeping this island country in relative poverty poorly reflects on our values as a world leader ("Critics say they can block U.S. tourism to Cuba," Saturday).

Cuba cannot harm us. It's time to lift the travel ban, expand trade, and drop all remaining restrictions. There are plenty of real problems to solve. Show the world the United States can forgive in the name of peace and helping our neighbors.

Ed Dixon

Philadelphia

eddixon@comcast.net

Gays need protection

in the workplace

It is shocking enough that marriage equality for gay and lesbian persons is put up for a vote in this country, as if any group deemed "other" by the majority is vulnerable to its tyranny.

But it is appalling that in 29 states, one can be fired for being gay or lesbian.

This isn't about some religious definition of marriage, nor is it granting "special rights" (since when is not being fired for who one is "special rights?"). This is employment that may be denied a set of Americans because of their minority status. Substitute any racial or religious group or socioeconomic status for gay/lesbian, and one sees how perverse such a law is. Americans can still be as homophobic or racist as they want, but since there is a difference between thoughts and action, they should not be able to discriminate. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act should be passed.

James F. Davis

Gulph Mills

Be thankful

for SEPTA

Drivers, the next time you are behind a bus or trolley and find your frustration mounting, muttering about how much easier life would be if this bus would just get out of your way, remember what last week was like without SEPTA. Remember the transit-free rush-hour crawl, where traveling three miles took almost two hours?

One benefit of this strike was to let us experience a parallel world where there is no SEPTA.

Welcome back, SEPTA workers! The service you provide - to riders and drivers alike - is one of the things that makes life worth living in Philly.

Alex Doty

Executive director

Bicycle Coalition

of Greater Philadelphia

alex@bicyclecoalition.org