Kenney’s mixed-up priorities
Again, Kenney has his finger on the pulse of the city. I think Nero did a better job of protecting Rome than Kenney and crew did in Philadelphia. After two days of protesting (no one wants to say it was rioting), Kenney’s big decision is to move the Rizzo statue. Way to go, Jim, at least we see you have your priorities in order. Now maybe you can find someone to put the city back together since you don’t seem capable of doing it.
Richard Donofry
East Torresdale
Police hands were tied
On May 31, I watched city leaders speak about violence being under control while on the split screen, multiple police vehicles were being vandalized and set on fire, and looters were ransacking local stores.
On the same day, ordinary citizens throughout the city had to come out to defend their own shopping centers. (Funny, no one wanted to mess with them.)
Do our leaders not understand that every building defaced, every window broken, every armful of looted goods means jobs lost, businesses ruined and people moving out of the city, and this on top of all the loss already from COVID-19?
In the middle of a virus pandemic, how much more was spread, and how many more may die? No quarantine for rioters.
They say police were outmanned by the mobs. No they were not.
Police have equalizers — such as water cannons, tear gas, dogs and, as a last resort, yes, guns. Why were police hands tied?
Why is it that so many of us have been stuck at home for nearly three months, and our rights taken from us, but criminals are allowed to run wild? I feel like I’m being held hostage by “progressive” politics, and I’m ready to riot at the polls.
I weep for my city, the libraries and rec centers that will close, the rise in poverty and crime (and taxes) to come. Dreams destroyed. And so much of it was unnecessary.
Richard Iaconelli
Rhawnhurst
Just issue a ticket
In my opinion, a charge of racism is in the eye of the beholder.
But with at least two police cases, New York and Minneapolis, the common denominator is stupidity by the police.
In New York, several police tried to arrest someone for selling loosies. In Minneapolis, several police tried to make an arrest over an alleged phony $20 bill. Two men lost their lives.
In each case, they should have ticketed the perpetrators and called it a day.
Mayer Krain
Modena Park
Do these cures work?
The COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. has killed more than 100,000 people, or 28% of the world’s total fatalities, more than the next six-highest countries combined as well as inflicting a tremendous blow to our economy. Must we now choose between lives and livelihood?
We are told that hydroxychloroquine might prevent or even cure the virus. Doctors and scientists say that it must be started in a hospital or clinical setting to avoid significant heart rhythm abnormalities and possible death from heart attack, according to a study of 96,000 hospitalized virus patients on six continents. This malaria medication is also used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Patients are warned of the danger of stopping the medication except under doctor’s orders. People are hoarding this medicine, leading to a shortage. Patients who use it and need it are unable to refill prescriptions. New doctors have to swear to the Hippocratic Oath to first do no harm. Evidence shows that not only does it have no benefit, but significant potential for harm. One study of 15,000 patients showed a 34% greater risk of death and a 137% risk of rhythm abnormalities.
State health departments have been flooded with calls questioning the possibility of using Clorox, isopropyl alcohol or Lysol to combat the virus, prompting the makers of Clorox and Lysol to plead with Americans not to inject or ingest their products. Using them as an internal disinfectant would cause fatalities, according to health professionals such as the FDA. They point out that Isopropyl alcohol can shut down the central nervous system. Ingesting bleach can burn the esophagus. Lysol, once it made its way into the blood, could cause kidney failure within hours, and result in death.
Mel Flitter
Somerton
Good reasons for gun sale surge
A recent letter writer bemoans that gun sales are permitted during the pandemic, and asks: “Is this due to our constitutional right to have a weapon?” Well, yes, that is precisely the reason.
There are two factors to account for the huge surge in gun sales during the coronavirus crisis. The first is that people want to be able to protect themselves and their families in uncertain times, especially in light of the fact that prisoners are being released while police resources are stretched thin. It is no accident that many are first-time buyers, and, not surprisingly, quite a few are card-carrying liberals. The second is that people are afraid of government tyranny, as was demonstrated by the over-reactive response by some states.
Pennsylvania took a reasonable approach: gun sales are permitted, but on a limited basis and with strict social distancing rules.
Leo Iwaskiw
Somerton
Pandemic can’t stop murders
Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt this pandemic to take you back to our regularly scheduled program, to the usual round of murders in our cities.
During this pandemic, the world came to an eerie standstill and the world population went into a somber isolation. It took an unseen organism to put a ceasefire between warring factions in Syria and Libya and sent armed rebels running scared into hiding.
But then again, after the threat is over, it’s back to more of the same of the everyday occurrences of senseless killings in our daily lives. And nothing more horrific than the killing of a security guard in a dollar store who was just doing his job by enforcing the wearing of a mask.
It took a deadly virus to put apocalyptic fear into the world and stop us in our tracks, and I guess, the phrase, “We’re all in this together,” doesn’t apply to the evil that is always present in the human race.
Al Ulus
Somerton
