Beautiful character piece about an impressive Philadelphia figure [Cover Story, "Prodigal Sonia: An Entreaty," Bruce Walsh, Nov. 11, 2010]. More of this type of writing would give face to such a great city. The last question Sonia reads flows right through the author to all of us: How does one scream in thunder? Well done!

THE REST OF THE STORY

Nice article, but it stops abruptly at the mid-1970s [Cover Story, "Exiles on South Street," Nov. 4, 2010, Jonathan Valania]. There is much more to South Street's story that goes well into the '80s. Valania's focus is solely on the '60s generation and those who had a mainly entrepreneurial interest in South Street. Where's the rest of the story?

OR BUY THE BOOK

As the daughter of a lawyer, the late Robert Sugarman, who represented the Citizens Council to Preserve & Develop the Crosstown Communities, I was disappointed that community organizing and coalition building effort was not covered more extensively. The efforts of my dad, Alice Lipsomb and others involved with the coalition are widely credited as having been key to stopping the Crosstown, and their efforts represented a groundbreaking success for coalition-building and community organizing in Philadelphia. [That] story can also be found in a book authored by my dad, Tom Reinert and Janet Reinert, titled The Crosstown: A Case Study.

ALL ASSHOLE

You will never have to fear Pat Toomey eating your brain SO, YOU'RE DENYING BECK'S DICKBAGNESS?

Sorry to learn that a website user made the unfortunate characterization of you as a "biased, far-left, socialist Jew media hack" [A Million Stories, Nov. 4, 2010]. Unsophisticated name-callers can be found in any political wing; why, just this week City Paper's editors allowed someone writing the A Million Stories column to publish the phrases "Republican overlords, tea-baggers, fucking fuck Pat Toomey, batshit crazy, incoherent, dickbag Glenn Beck, GOP carnage, Meehan's vomitorium, etc." I suppose there's nothing like a well-crafted riposte to combat crude invective, so congratulations CP on your subtlety and wit!

Substantively, your column is less well-thought-out. The notion that "there are more of us [presumably, liberals] than there are of them [conservatives]" is plausible only to someone who believes that civilization ceases at the western borders of Manhattan, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Self-described liberals comprise no more than 20 percent of the U.S. population. The explanation for the November 2010 loss of Obama's Senate seat to Mark Kirk, the GOP gain of 60-plus House seats and six-plus Senate seats, Republican pickup of 680 seats in state legislatures, GOP majority gains in 14 states, and the largest party switch in 70 years is simple: Candidate Obama carefully avoided concrete discussion of his political agenda, was shielded from media scrutiny, charmed his way into office, and enjoyed a 76 percent approval rating once inaugurated. Only as he forced down the throats of Americans his failed stimulus, auto company bailouts, unexplained healthcare package, $3 trillion deficits, cap-and-trade energy taxes, takeover of private industry, EU-style expansion of government power — after only 21 months —an alarmed America sobered up and overwhelmingly put a stop to it. Republicans are under no illusion that they are loved; but they understand they were elected to put the brakes on a far-left administration and Congress, whose policies are apprecia...]]> http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2010/11/04/feedback http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2010/11/04/feedback NO JUSTICE
Philadelphians should do some more homework [CP Choice, “Government & Politics,” Holly Otterbein, Oct. 21, 2010]. Mr. Williams is an over-zealous man who would do or say anything to get ahead. In 1996, he helped put two innocent people in jail who were undeniably victims of a brutal attack by a gang of over 30 drunken teens [Naked City, “No Exceptions,” Julia Harte, Nov. 4, 2009]. Not one of the attackers were ever interrogated or jailed. Where is the justice in that?

I'm so glad there are people like you out there to be the voice of the detainees [Naked City, "And Stay Out," Holly Otterbein, Oct. 7, 2010]. My son's father, Davy Phean, is also locked up in York awaiting deportation along with Mout Iv and the other men. Davy's situation is almost identical. His family and I are trying everything we can think of. Mia-Lia Kiernan and Davy's lawyer are doing what they can to help him. I tried going public and contacting the news and the papers when Davy was first detained, but no one really seems to care or want to listen. But I just wanted to say that I really appreciate your article and thank you.

Please. City Paper cloaks itself in righteous anger over Philadelphia Weekly's cover [A Million Stories, Oct. 7], going so far as to shamelessly link it with the Rutgers freshman killing itself to generate even more outrage, but your motivations are transparent: To somehow discredit a bigger, better, more widely read Philly alt-weekly newspaper that you envy and whose content you can't compete with week to week. Stop pretending to actually care about LGBT issues or exploit them for your own selfish purposes! You're nothing but hypocrites.

Since [Philadelphia Weekly is] my former employer, I won't take a position on the cover image. But I do want to say this: It's hard to take righteous anger about LGBTQ issues seriously when it's next to a Pat Toomey ad [online]. Toomey is in favor of banning adoption for gay people, is against gay marriage, and is against hate crime legislation to protect the LGBTQ community. ...]]> http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2010/09/23/letters-to-the-editor http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2010/09/23/letters-to-the-editor LIBERALISM!

This is a prime example of liberalism infecting our culture as a whole [Fall Arts Guide, "Death Cabaret for Cutie," Holly Otterbein, Sept. 16, 2010]. Without God in school, you have godlessness. With godlessness, you have sin and depravity. God help a society which calls eating cow hearts and immersing oneself in fake blood "art." Please vote for Tea Party candidates in all upcoming elections. We can take our country and our culture back.

This isn't art ["Death Cabaret for Cutie"]. Have you been to the website? This is indoctrination. The articles are recruting [sic] people who are depressed and unsatisfied with their lives, like the terrorists do. What the hell does a performance troupe need a hypnostist [sic] for? Did you see the sublimnal [sic] messages in their party invatation [sic]? This isn't art. It's a cult.

The article says that we need more brains, less brawn [A Million Stories, Sept. 16, 2010]. Yes, but we need a lot of brawn, too. When the plumbing goes or the roof leaks, we don't need overeducated people. It is becoming harder and harder to find competent workers in these areas, and people need to be trained to do these types of jobs. There are always going to be people who will not be good at the educational system and they deserve a chance to succeed also.

In a recent cover story CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS

I have serious problems with the depth and responsibility of your journalism in this piece [Cover Story, "Idealists for Hire," Isaiah Thompson, Aug. 12, 2010]. As a former canvasser and the current employee of an organization that runs a canvass, my opinion is that your article's findings are not truthful. The tone challenges all organizations that run canvasses. You disapprove of how much of a person's donation goes to the canvasser, while simultaneously criticizing how little canvassers get paid. You cannot have it both ways.

The clearest evidence that your article represents inadequate reporting is that you used only two canvasses as a microcosm for all others. To make your job easier, you picked two canvasses that are notorious for how they treat their employees — two organizations that have had multiple lawsuits brought against them. There are scores of organizations that run canvasses and have never been sued, treat their employees well, pay their employees fair wages and ask them to work acceptable hours. You did not even mention those legitimate organizations operating in Philadelphia so you could make your point of trashing canvassing easier.

In the political system we live in, money talks. Donations are community organizing; the two are not mutually exclusive. For honest organizations, those funds that were raised allow programs to exist that directly benefit communities, or for lobbying groups, the money makes each signature it stands behind more powerful.

At Clean Air Council, just like most organizations, employees that are around for months are not fired after missing a quota for just two consecutive weeks. Canvassers are not put in pressure situations where they struggle to save their jobs every week. That would not be effective managing. Every single canvasser at Clean Air Council makes well over minimum wage and no one, including the canvass director, works more than 40 hours in a week.

You claim that "instead of providing a career path for would-be activists a...]]> http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2010/09/09/letters-to-the-editor http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2010/09/09/letters-to-the-editor QUIT WHINING

As a "freelance writer" who's had [to pay] the city of Philadelphia's mandatory Business Privilege License for 30 years so that I could work as a journalist out of my apartment or rowhouse, this boo-hoo, bloggers-are-being-taxed-by-city-meanies brouhaha seems, well, a manufactured tempest in a teapot [Naked City, "Pay Up," Valerie Rubinsky, Aug, 19]. Philadelphia has always applied this tax to writers, artists and, indeed, everyone who conducts a "business" from their home and elsewhere. This means bloggers, too. It seems bloggers want it both ways — they want to be viewed as "citizen journalists" with the emphasis on "journalist," and yet they want to be viewed financially as "hobbyists" not making a living from their work. Well, welcome to the real world. Why should bloggers be exempt from the rigors of professionalism?

Regardless of the good intent of these underpaid street solicitors, I am tired of them [Cover Story, "Idealists for Hire," Isaiah Thompson, Aug. 12]. I live in Center City and can hardly leave my apartment without having to deal with several of them. Even late at night, I have seen them in my neighborhood. I would think after working a certain area for a month or so they would move on. No. They just change the color of their T-shirts and pick up a new "cause"! I wish I could "opt out" instead of crossing to the other side of the street!

Is City Paper on the lookout for Republicans? For a few weeks now, the paper has been quick to jump on Democrats for bullying opponents into withdrawing from races and preventing them from taking their seats as elected co...]]> http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2010/09/02/letters-to-the-editor http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2010/09/02/letters-to-the-editor CONFUSION

The reason [Marilyn Bess] or any individual who received a letter [from the city saying that he or she needed to pay a business privilege tax on the blog he or she operated] was because on her federal income taxes she claimed these earnings not as a hobby but as a business [Naked City, "Pay Up," Valerie Rubinsky, Aug. 12, 2010]. Therefore, for federal income taxes, an individual who claims these earnings as a business can receive deductions for their computer or web hosting as a business expense. However, these have implications for one's local taxes. That point is not stressed [in the story]. These individuals claimed their blogs as businesses. There are consequences — such as receiving tax deductions as well as paying additional taxes — for making that claim.

Everyone needs to pay their taxes, and it is important for Philadelphia residents to understand when their hobbies become businesses. If you generate revenue ($1 or $1 billion) then you are a business and need to file (whether you take a loss or make a profit doesn't matter in determining if you file, just the fact that you had revenue). If whatever you are doing does not bring in any money, you are not in business.

[Referring to the line from the story that says, "So even if your blog collects a handful of hits a day, as long as there's the potential for it to be lucrative ... the city thinks you should cut it a check"]: The "potential to be lucrative" phrase is misleading. If I own a blog that has the potential to include ads, but I don't have any, I am not required to register for a business license or the business privilege tax. I believe a lot of the misunderstanding is because individuals blogging without ads on their sites believe they must pay a tax on it.

[Editor's note: The online version of this story has been changed to reflect new information and to incorporate clarifications.]