Letters to the Editor

Don't be so sure Iran won't attack

A letter Monday, "Provoking a war with Iran," asserted that "Iran is not about to attack anyone." How does the writer know this fact? Does she have a mole in the CIA giving her this information? Are the recent bombings in India and Africa, and the arrest of five Iranians who were in possession of bomb-making material in Thailand, just a rehearsal for further attacks?

Neither Israel nor the United States is engaged in saber- rattling. Quite the contrary, it has been the U.S. policy these past three years to attempt negotiations and sanctions rather then any military action.

Stanley Spitzer, Narberth

Christie's other flag decision puzzling

An admitted big mouth like Gov. Christie is bound to have things come back to bite him. The growing flag-flying controversy is an excellent case in point.

At first blush, ordering the flag flown at half-staff for Whitney Houston appeared to be race-based political pandering. On second thought, however, anybody who has ever heard Houston's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" cannot deny that a full-fledged patriot resided in the heart of this talented albeit troubled American.

So, I am OK with Christie's order to fly the flag at half-staff in her case. Christie puzzles everybody, however, by missing an opportunity to join an apparently unanimous move to get everyone on the same page when flying the flag at half-staff statewide for perished members of the military from New Jersey.

Is that because he is a contrarian? Is it because he wants to maintain certain executive prerogatives? Or is it because he was too busy? I'd like a better explanation than what he has offered.

John J. Kirkwood, Haddonfield

Cuba could follow China's lead

In regard to a letter Wednesday - "If China is OK, why not Cuba?" - all Cuba needs to do to attain the trade status that China enjoys is to have the Castro brothers sell out to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and agree to treat their citizens like indentured servants, which is what China has done to its people. Do that and, voilà, Cuba will achieve Chinese-style trade status, less the high transportation costs for its communist/capitalist goods. It really isn't rocket science. We all know who owns the U.S. government, and it isn't the citizens.

Roy Lehman, Woolwich Township

Extortion used to keep schools open

St. John Neumann must be turning in his grave over the recent assault on his beloved parochial-school children and their families. The threat by the archdiocese to close 45 urban parochial schools, then to miraculously "save" many of them once vast sums of money had been pledged, comes across as a contrived effort to extort funds from already-cash-strapped working families. And it worked.

With diminishing enrollments and flagging financial support, it's understandable that some marginal parochial schools would have to close or consolidate. And it's gratifying that many have been spared such a fate and will remain solvent, at least for the time being. But the inept, ham-fisted tactics used to accomplish that raise questions about how far church leaders are willing to descend in order to achieve their financial objectives.

William K. Mullan, Chalfont

Government is bad for schools

In his commentary Thursday, "When schools weren't public - or any good," Jonathan Zimmerman brings home the point that "the U.S. government has been the prime engine and enforcer of equality in American education."

Right on. Thanks to government intervention, public school children are equally dumb, stupid, and functionally illiterate. Thanks, Uncle Sam.

Avrum Fine, West Chester, filmamerica@comcast.net

Clean air must be protected

As someone with a family history of stroke and heart disease, I was very interested to learn that researchers have linked small amounts of air pollution to an increased risk for stroke. The research suggests that low levels of fine particulate air pollution, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had previously concluded to be generally safe, in fact, are dangerous and increase the risk of stroke. This type of air pollution is strongly associated with traffic. With major interstate highways running through our state, this should be a concern to all of us. I urge all Pennsylvanians to support the American Lung Association and its efforts to protect and strengthen the Clean Air Act and make cleaner, safer, healthier air a reality for everyone.

Amanda Smart, Landenberg

Obama guilty of same sins as Bush

In reference to a letter Thursday, "Obama broke promise for a reason," who ever heard of politicians keeping promises? President Obama got elected on an anti-Bush and "hope and change" platform. Bush is gone, but hope and change are still wanting.

Bush had an opportunity in the spring of 2008 to pull the plug on 30 years of congressional malfeasance and banking corruption. However, surrounded by Keynesian experts, he chose to bail out the banks and save General Motors. Obama picked up where Bush left off, with the same tribe of advisers, and three years later, they are still trying the same therapy. Will they ever learn?

Richard Lamb, Kennett Square

Rating agencies played a role

Cristian deRitis said people were blaming Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, appraisers, the Federal Reserve, Wall Street, Congress, regulators, lobbyists, bankers, state pension funds, private investors, individuals like you and me, and even Osama bin Laden for the housing crisis ("Housing crisis was your fault," Thursday).

No one has escaped blame, except for one culprit, the rating agency that's part of the corporation he works for: Moody's was paid to rate mortgaged-backed securities or bonds so investors could base their risk level on an independent, expert opinion. Now we know that the rating agencies like Moody's and Standard & Poor's were neither. They made huge profits by taking the junk bonds presented to them and spinning them into AAA-rated gold, based on the manipulated data (read fraud) that Goldman Sachs and others fed them. Anyone with an IRA or pension has been victimized, not just underwater homeowners.

Reid Beck, Rydal, reid_beck@hotmail.com