Gloria Feldsher's comparison of slavery and the Holocaust to the slaughtering and eating of animals for food is despicable [Feedback, "Meat Is Genocide," Aug. 31, 2006]. It is exactly her kind of thinking — the dehumanization of the victims of slavery and the Holocaust — that allowed people to perpetrate such inhumane acts on fellow human beings. While I give Ms. Feldsher the benefit of the doubt with regard to her intentions, the reality is that her comparison between animals and humans in the context of Africans (slaves) and Jews (Holocaust victims) smacks of bigotry of the worst kind.

Jovida Hill

How well you put two things together: Chelsea Koehler's remarks on troubled children in city schools [Slant, "We Know Their Names," Aug. 24, 2006], and below that, a photo of a homeless man with another man walking by [Angle, "Top of the Morning," Michael T. Regan]. I know the homeless man in the photo. We are both members of a religious congregation in Center City. The terrible irony of his situation is that he has options other than that of staying homeless and on the street. He has people who care about him and who have tried to help him over many years. There are many services that he is eligible for but that he won't take advantage of, and he has other resources. However, he, like many homeless people in the city, has a way of seeing the world that keeps him living a life that is uncomfortable, unsettled and depressing — even to him. Like the children in the schools that are on a path to self- (and other) destruction, most homeless people on our streets also have services waiting to help them. Maybe these services do help more people than they miss and the ones they miss are just the ones we hear about, but Isometimes wonderabout the fact that wecan't insist that people get effective help untilit is too late. Forcing people before a crisis would be treading on their personal integrity and freedom. I have no idea how to resolve this dilemma that we have as a society: letting people make their own decisions about their lives versus watching them self-destruct and/or wreak havoc in society.

Name Withheld

Kudos to the person(s) who conceived the Aug. 24 cover ["Couriers," Brian Howard]. It was a nice little play on the old Wheaties box. Also thanks for the actual story. If it had not been for your paper, it is possible I would have never found out about the event.

Bill Piccinni

What a dark picture your article painted of my friend and colleague, Terry Gillespie [Agenda, "Face Off," A.D. Amorosi, Aug. 24, 2006]. I have known Terry for about eight years, and truly, he is one of the nicest people in the biz. I have been [doing] standup since 1998, and Terry has talked me down from more than one ledge during the fun ride that is comedy. Terry was there for me the very first time I got heckled; he stuck by me, talked me through it and reassured me that the heckler was a jerk, that I should grow from it and that the experience would make me a stronger comedian. Well, it did. I love working with Terry, and I always enjoy watching him. He is a true pro, both on and off stage.

Any comic who throws knives at another comic is not really the kind of person I would invest any time or energy in. Those guys who call Terry a hack? Shame on them. I never heard him utter a bad word about anyone.

Regina Smith

Rather than arguing over the viability of biodiesel [News, "Fuel for Thought," Jenna Portnoy, Aug. 31, 2006], SEPTA could do far more for the environment by reactivating the many miles of rail lines that have been idled since the agency was formed. Instead, these assets are being squandered through a combination of inertia and mismanagement. SEPTA wasted six years and millions of dollars promoting a gold-plated, impractical "metrorail" to Reading despite the fact that standard commuter rail service could have been resumed for about one-third the cost. Now, that line is unlikely to be built within a generation. Trolley routes 15, 23 and 56 were "temporarily" converted to buses in 1992, but SEPTA has yet to follow through on its promise to restore rail service on the latter two lines. Service on route 15 has been partially restored, but only after correcting fundamental oversights such as the failure to ensure that cars could connect to Girard Avenue from the depot. Tracks on the R8 Fox Chase and R3 West Chester lines are rotting, and resumption of service to Quakertown has been delayed so long that local officials are talking about setting up their own agency to do what SEPTA cannot.

Other cities are spending billions to build new services while SEPTA is throwing away what we already have. The riders — and the region — deserve better.

Jeff Karpinski

I think CellZone gets part of the picture: people are using public space, community space, for private activities [Naked City, "Yeah, We All Can Hear You Now," Natalie Hope McDonald, Aug. 17, 2006]. But their solution, tocarve outlittle private spaces, misses the point and hence won't solve it.

Not only do most people not want to limit their private lives to little boxes, I predict, but manyno longer even recognize public/community spaces when they inhabit them. Technology has helped to rob us of our customary perceptions. We are insulted by private conversations in public spaces, and hence consider they are fair game to join in on, because there is a human need for public space; for space we share not only for open communication, but forcommon purposes. When we as strangers wait together silently for a train, for instance, we feel a commonality that is borne out by the camaraderie that develops when "situations" happen. A bond is able to form because we've honored the unwritten code of sharing and respecting that space. One cell phone conversation in the midst of that space says, "I don't recognize this public space, I don't respect it, and I violate it." Here and now dissipates into here, there and everywhere.

CellZone might work if there were also enforced laws in public spaces saying, don't use that phone here.

Jennifer French

My job pays me weekly by check and taxes arewithheld [Editor's Letter, "Dumb and Number," Duane Swierczynski, Aug. 24, 2006]. At the end of the year, because of a working-class income and not looking to list exemptions and deductions, all I had to do is pick up the phone, dial the IRS and punch in numbers when prompted.Then I'd waita couple weeks for my refund.

That was how I filed my taxes for the year ending in 2004. This past year, I was mailed a message stating that this phone filing was too expensive to maintain so it was discontinued, but I couldgo online and file my 2005 taxes with any one of a bunch of competing private tax services. It didn't seem to me that it could cost all that much (following the IRS's instructions on a touchtone phone). I think the Republicans are just throwing bones to the private sector under theguise of their so-called marketplace/fiscal responsibility doctrineswhen in actuality they are throwing bones to businesses because it helps with their campaign donations. These so-called fiscal conservatives aren't.AndBush, the "compassionate conservative," is an idiot.

Bill Paci

Since City Paper ran a story on Morjorie Newlin, an 86-year-old weightlifter and great-grandmother from Mt. Airy, letters have poured in from across the country. Some readers can't believe it's true while others say her story is the ultimate motivation.

I think Morjorie Newlin looks good for her age [Naked City, "Flex Appeal," Tasha Ho Sang, Aug. 3, 2006], but I want to [share a] secret. I passed it on to a couple of my co-workers and they refuse to believe that this is a true story. They all say she may be 86 now, but she sure wasn't when they took that picture. Please help me prove that this is a true story, and that they too could look this good at this age.

Helen Roberson

When I saw her picture, what she had to say and what she did for herself at her age is so GREAT!!! I need to know how I can get in shape!

Rejane Brazil

Age is only a number! Way to go Ms. Newlin! What an inspiration you are!

Norma Joiner

I believe this is a hoax.

Deloris McKenney