Letters to the Editor

by the Readers

Road Rage

Along the Schuylkill River is an excellent place to erect a statue in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. [News, "Fit for a King?" Doron Taussig, Jan. 13, 2005] Why do people feel the need to change the name of West River Drive after someone? It was bad enough when they changed East River Drive to Kelly Drive to honor some pathetic councilman, or Delaware Avenue after the brutal Christopher Columbus.
Harry Schmidt
Mantua

My Eagles, My

A friend of ours, Jim Warren, was featured in the Jan. 6 issue of the paper [Cover Story, "The Blood Curdling Horror of Jim Warren!" Duane Swierczynski]. We loved the article and were thrilled with his appearance in a paper we know well and love. But who is Brian Hickey and where does he get off predicting an Eagles loss in an Eagles city [Naked City, "How They'll Lose," weekly since Sept. 9, 2004]? What kind of garbage is that?

We are sick and tired of these underestimating, whining, faithless Philadelphians who call themselves Eagles fans. These fair-weather crybabies are absolutely infuriating. They cheer and scream and dress in green, and at the first dropped pass, they are waving their hands, folding their arms and talking about another year down the john. Stop your boo-hooing. Get behind your team. Tell them you believe. Show them your love, win or lose. Give them your support and your positive voice and maybe they'll give you a Super Bowl win! The only thing missing from the Eagles' capacity to take the Bowl is the unfailing, unconditional, unwavering faith of their fans. Hey Birds, WE BELIEVE!
The Unwavering Jill Mancuso and Josh Kopp
Jenkintown

Ed: Mr. Hickey stands by his initial prediction that, by picking them to lose every week, the Eagles will ultimately win the Super Bowl.

Peacekeeping Mission

As someone who had been active in Amnesty International here, I was very interested to read [Slant, "Separation Anxiety," Mary Shaw, Jan 6, 2005]. I would like to note that there are many organizations as well as private individuals, both in the Middle East and in the U.S., working to the bridge the divides that exist on these issues. Some involve young people. The idea is that young people don't necessarily carry the same baggage of hate that today's leaders do. Locally, people are working to bridge the divide between Arab and Jew, as well as between Jew and Jew. For example, the Jewish Dialogue Group has been doing a lot of work around reconciliation. Philadelphia-area filmmaker Wendy Univer's film Passionate Voices, another attempt to explore the divide, was shown as part of the Amnesty International Film Festival.

As Shaw notes at the end of her column, the fighting and the dying on both sides of the Middle East conflict will continue indefinitely "until all parties involved can stop and see the humanity on the other side."
Len Perlman
Germantown

Correction

Two photo credits were omitted from last week's issue. Michael T. Regan shot both the inside cover image [Special Pullout Section, "Spring Forward"] and the Youth Study Center [News, "You've Got Jail"].