Council fiddles while schools fail

ISSUE | SCHOOLS

Fiddling Council

With Philadelphia public school libraries closing, full-time nurses nonexistent, college counselors a thing of the past, class sizes ranging from 30 to 40 or more, buildings crumbling, gifted programs left behind, teachers buying their own supplies, and all sorts of other funding-related woes, five members of City Council spent Tuesday's budget hearing lamenting the lack of cursive handwriting instruction ("Council skeptical on school funds," May 27). Will they complain at the next hearing that our kids aren't learning how to use an abacus? While Rome burns, Council fiddles.

|David S. Cohen, Philadelphia, dsc250@gmail.com

Shameful omission

As a professor for 53 years, I have had to deal with students who have been handicapped by not being taught cursive ("Council skeptical on school funds," May 27). These children are unable to read the Declaration of Independence in its original form, much less their parents' love letters. This is a national shame.

|Harry W. Woodcock, Plymouth Meeting

ISSUE | GIVING

Overflowing mailbox

I began saving charity mail solicitations in mid-March and now have 240 of them. How can we stop this flood of mail and waste of paper, not to mention the unwanted and unneeded enclosed address labels, greeting cards, scratch pads, calendars, and more? I suggest charities rethink this method of fund-raising.

|Arlene Goldman, Newtown

ISSUE | LITTER

Signs of progress

Philadelphia needs to clean up its act, litter-ally. Democratic mayoral nominee Jim Kenney could lead the way with something concrete - not abstract rhetoric - by insisting that all the campaign signs that were left after the May primary be removed. They are becoming trash, shredding and blowing hither and yon.

|Debs Bleicher, Philadelphia

ISSUE | NEXT MAYOR

Kenney's appeal

It was not racial math, but simple math that helped determine the outcome of the mayoral primary: Jim Kenney was the candidate of more than one interest, while his primary opponents represented a single interest or issue.

|Cris Aguilar, Philadelphia, tilipulo@netzero.net

ISSUE | SCOUTING

All together now

Robert Gates, president of the Boy Scouts of America, is to be commended for his support of equal rights for gays in his organization. As a youth, I was a Cub Scout. As an adult, I was a combat veteran in World War II.

Thought also should be given to unifying Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts into an single club under the name True Scouts of America.

|Gene Dichter, Philadelphia

ISSUE | LADS AND LIDS

Knowing when to doff a hat is tops

I've noticed that men have no clue as to the etiquette for wearing caps or hats. I've seen them worn indoors while eating, in homes, and in all manner of wrong settings. After consulting a reference on etiquette, I offer these tips:

Hats can be left on outdoors, at all athletic events, on public transportation, in certain public buildings, including post offices, airports, and hotel or office lobbiess, and on elevators. Remove hats - including baseball caps - when in a home, at mealtimes, while being introduced, indoors or out (unless it's frigid), in a house of worship unless a covering is required, indoors at work, in a school, library, courthouse, or town hall, in restaurants and coffee shops, at a movie or any indoor performance, and when the national anthem is played or the flag passes by.

|David Holewinski, New Britain, davidholewinski@hotmail.com

ISSUE | WAR STORIES

Political rewriting of recent history

Charles Krauthammer's comment is typical of the revisionist history from Bush apologists ("Fall of Iraq Began in 2011," May 25). These commentators want us to forget that Iraq was our greatest foreign policy blunder since Vietnam. They'll be in full voice, given that Jeb Bush - the likely GOP nominee - made the mistake of defending his brother's foreign policy failure.

|Bill Maginnis, North Wales

ISSUE | IRISH UNITY

Altering a national identity

Thanks to Ireland for its wholehearted embrace of marriage equality ("In landslide, Ireland OKs gay marriage," May 24). My family boasts an ancestor, Joseph Plunkett, who sighed the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic - the first granting universal suffrage, including equality for women (something the United States has yet to do.) He was executed for his part in the Easter Rebellion, but his spirit lives on.

The gay-marriage vote also shows that Ireland has broken the shackles of the Catholic Church. Perhaps the sex-abuse, finance, and other scandals have finally resulted in people growing up and growing out of the notion that Irish and Catholic are one and the same.

|Marguerite Sexton, Jenkintown, middlesistermag@gmail.com

Liberal views abound, but abroad

While the Irish just voted to legalize gay marriage, three-dozen states in this country already have gay marriage and most Americans favor it. But five stodgy Supreme Court justices are bending over backward to find ways to scuttle it. Meanwhile, Republicans in Washington and at the state level are exploring ways to outlaw or undermine abortion rights, while abortion has been legal in Italy since 1978. No wonder Pope Francis is visiting in the fall. He has more influence here than in Italy and Ireland.

|George Magakis Jr., Norristown