People who truly need help aren't getting it

I read that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has determined that flood damage done by torrential rains June 17 was not severe enough to warrant a federal emergency disaster declaration ("FEMA Denies Funds for Flood-Ravaged Areas," July 21). It's a shame with so many mindless giveaways of funds from the stimulus plan that there is nothing left for those truly in need of financial help.

Perhaps a well-worded request stating that you will be hiring union workers to repair the damage and that the site is shovel-ready might do the trick.

SHEILA THOMAS
Ross

Pass on mediocrity

Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, has stated that she is "a product of affirmative action." So is Judge Sotomayor's career advancement through college until the present time due to her ethnicity and gender, or to excellence in her field or an outstanding resume?

President Obama has apparently chosen Judge Sotomayor not because of her abilities or the content of her character but because of her gender and Hispanic heritage. Justice should be blind, not mediocre.

Our senators, Bob Casey and Arlen Specter, need to consider their past personal decisions before deciding whether to confirm this nomination.

When Sen. Casey's father was ill and when Sen. Specter discovered he had cancer, did they ask for the best doctor available or settle for a doctor whose only qualification was gender and nationality?

Our senators should give at least as much thought to selection of a Supreme Court justice as they do to their choice of physicians and vote against confirming Sonia Sotomayor.

ROY J. WHIPPLE
New Sewickley

'I am right here'

One thing I've discovered about growing old: Do you use a cane, walker or wheelchair? Strangely, they seem to cause us to lose our status as thinking, speaking beings. The first time it happened to me, I was using a cane. A woman who had a form for me to sign looked over my shoulder at my daughter and said, " Can she sign her name?"

Since that first shock, I have come to expect such treatment from ushers, servers and others. I have learned to say, "I can talk, I can walk, I am right here."

Please treat us with dignity. We hate losing our physical independence. We are still here in body, mind and spirit.

MYRNA ROSENSTEIN
Squirrel Hill

Deadly drones

Drones. What a strange word it is. Webster's first definition of a drone is "a male bee, stingless and makes no honey." The second meaning, "a remote control mechanism," is the deadly definition.

That kind of drone, a U.S. pilotless aircraft has, since 2006, killed approximately 14 al-Qaida leaders and at least 700 civilians, a 50:1 ratio of innocent victims to targeted enemies. "Drones are for cowards," one former soldier remarked.

Pakistani officials, such as Qamar Zaman Kaira, the nation's information minister, said that the drone attacks "are counterproductive," and that they "don't produce the desired results." If our own leaders, including David Kilcullen, a former top adviser to U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, are admitting that drones kill innocents and Pakistani leaders are saying it -- so why are we still using them and are they still worth it? And what are we doing there anyway?

To truly help the Pakistani people, the administration could end its use of drones and invest in humanitarian and economic aid efforts -- for us and them. According to the National Priorities Project, we in Pittsburgh have spent $677.6 million for total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending since 2001. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided: 167,349 people with health care for one year or 814,900 homes with renewable electricity for one year or ... a hundred other things from your own wish list.

George W. Bush's wars have become Barack Obama's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the addition of Pakistan. It is more than we can bear.

BETTE McDEVITT
North Side

A real sanctuary

Philly Zoo elephants Kallie and Bette are now reportedly living in Somerset County, at least temporarily ("Pittsburgh Zoo Hosting Two Philly Pachyderms," July 8). Since the zoos touted the move, most local media enthusiastically covered the story. Strangely missing is any coverage of the elephants in their new home.

In stark contrast, when former Philly elephant Dulary moved to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, the media were invited to cover her arrival and the "CBS Evening News" aired the story that night.

This time there are no photos, no videos, nothing but pat assurances from the same zoo officials who insist breeding them is an option despite ample scientific data supporting that a first-time pregnancy at Kallie and Bette's age of 27 is life-threatening. At some point a few staged photos of the elephants will inevitably appear -- but only when zoo officials decide it is convenient.

Many citizens erroneously believe the elephants have moved to a bucolic "sanctuary." In actuality, Kallie and Bette's new living quarters mirror their prior home: a cement barn, a small fenced-in yard, long cold winters and keepers dominating them with bullhooks. Saddest of all, Kallie and Bette could have moved to a true sanctuary -- the 2,300-acre Performing Animal Welfare Society in California -- at no charge over two years ago, where they would have hundreds of acres to roam and forage, elephant friends and no chance of breeding. It's not too late for our elephants -- the offer to provide them a forever sanctuary home remains open; zoo officials just need to do the right thing and put the elephants' welfare before the zoos' business interests.

MARIANNE BESSEY
Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants
Philadelphia

The budget battle must not end in elimination of invaluable services

United Cerebral Palsy (UCP/CLASS) is the third-largest nonprofit organization serving people with disabilities in Allegheny County. We are concerned about the effect of the budget impasse and cutbacks proposed in several bills on our participants and other vulnerable members of our community.

Pennsylvania has the second-largest population of senior citizens of all states. Many thousands of people with disabilities receive state-subsidized in-home supports that allow them to stay at home at much lower cost than if they had to go to a nursing home. Like other Pennsylvania nonprofits, we are borrowing money to maintain these services to people who depend on us for survival during the budget impasse.

Most Pennsylvanians are working poor and middle-class people who are one crisis away from needing the human service safety net that provides in-home personal assistance and other life-sustaining services including child care, public education, income support, housing, health insurance, prescriptions and tangible help. Even at current funding levels, thousands of citizens with developmental disabilities in Pennsylvania are on waiting lists for "emergency" services. We find it unimaginable that some elected officials have proposed balancing the state budget with reductions that would result in thousands of citizens losing services or going on longer waiting lists.

During the current recession that has our nation in its grip, most people are doing what they can to help friends, neighbors and those vulnerable members of our communities. We at UCP/CLASS call on elected officials to pass a budget now that provides increased revenues from a tax increase or other reliable sources so that the human services safety net is maintained.

AL CONDELUCI
CEO
LUCY SPRUILL
Director of Public Policy and Community Relations
UCP/CLASS
Oakland

This idea will thwart the investment we need

Regarding "Tax Writers Eye Surcharge on Rich" (July 9) to pay for health care: This is a disastrously bad idea in the depths of a recession. It torpedoes the investment needed to increase employment.

The average American works with at least $60,000 worth of capital that he/she didn't have to supply (e.g., office buildings, stamping presses, delivery trucks, etc.). If you're driving the delivery truck and it wears out, hopefully someone will invest in a replacement, or you'll soon be unemployed.

Most of us don't have the income to permit any substantial level of savings after we've paid our bills. Only a few high-income families -- the "rich" -- can afford to set aside substantial sums. But they don't bury it in jars in their back yards; instead, they invest it ? ultimately in new plant and equipment (and delivery trucks).

When we tax these investor families, they have two options: They can (1) cut back their lifestyles to maintain their previous levels of savings and investment, or (2) cut back their investing to maintain their lifestyles.

It's painful to cut back your standard of living. So their investing -- which might have saved jobs or even created new ones -- will get cut back instead.

We want the best of health care at minimal cost to ourselves. So our politicians will want to promise that. But we need to ask, "Are our medical bills such a burden that we're willing to lose our jobs to avoid them?"

FRED ANDERSON
Ross

Brinkley continued to inform us

I'd like to add a slightly contrarian voice to many who justifiably mourn Walter Cronkite ("America's Anchorman Dies," July 19). Yes, Mr. Cronkite was an unforgettable presence during a tumultuous time in American history.

But so was David Brinkley, who unlike Mr. Cronkite, did not retire to his sailboat after leaving his anchor duties. Instead, Mr. Brinkley went on to create one of the best Sunday network talk shows of all time. ABC-TV's "This Week with David Brinkley" was an award-winning platform from which Mr. Brinkley informed and illuminated for nearly 20 more years.

Walter Cronkite was an icon, and my memories of him on the day JFK died are indelible. But Mr. Brinkley was, for many more years, a living, breathing force in the news, and my memories of him are as a vital, committed newsman who helped me better understand the world.

JOHN KICHI
Sewickley Hills

We should gladly pay our fair share

While the budget battle drags on in Harrisburg, the Post-Gazette has printed numerous letters from those opposed to tax increases. I'd like to remind my fellow readers of a quote from former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: "I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization."

Due to the recession, the state government has to decide whether to raise taxes or to make crippling cuts to education, development and infrastructure, state parks and recreational facilities, highways and transportation, the arts, and assistance for the poor and the unemployed.

These programs make our society more functional and more civilized.

Importantly, this is not the time for Pennsylvania to cut back because that would throw state employees and contractors out of work, and that will only deepen the recession by reducing their expendable income. Of course, an income tax increase also reduces expendable income for the employed, but if taxes are not cut, more of that marginal expendable income, mine for example, will be saved, not spent, and savings do not stimulate the economy.

What has happened to our sense of community? People like me who are fortunate enough to have a job should be willing to chip in an extra 0.5 percent in income taxes to keep our neighbors employed and to provide valuable services for all.

Although I detested Gov. Ed Rendell's extravagant promises to pay for everything with state-sponsored gambling, this time he got it right by proposing increases in state taxes. It is now detestable that partisan politicians and anti-government conservatives are disparaging sensible proposals to raise an appropriate mix of state income, tobacco and gasoline taxes.

The anti-tax folks say there are programs that should be eliminated, but I'll bet they have no consensus regarding which ones and each of them would complain when his favorite program is cut. Along with Justice Holmes, we should be glad to pay taxes and we should acknowledge the "civilization" that taxes buy.

JOHN NAGLE
Point Breeze

We need results from the mayor's office

Where is the cooperation from the city of Pittsburgh regarding calls made to it concerning anything that needs to be worked on such as street cleaning or even painting yellow curbs in our neighborhood?

First, the city is extremely slow responding to telephone calls. The city personnel tell you they need a petition of citizens requesting certain things that need to be done. It's frustrating to deal with city of Pittsburgh personnel; they seem to have rules and regulations that were just recently enacted with the new mayor! All I would like to see is better cooperation and action to correct situations that need attention.

Second, they seemed to be oblivious to the facts given to them. It appears that they really could not care about what you might request them to do. My experience with the mayor's office is that they do not want to be of any help when you call them. I tried to get the city to clean parts of Forbes Avenue near Braddock Avenue for at least three weeks following a heavy rain storm that left a lot of debris, i.e., stones, tree branches and sand that flowed down Forbes Avenue from Squirrel Hill. This stuff was deposited in our block and is very unsightly and should be swept from the street.

Why do we need a petition from those living nearby to send to the city for action to remove this debris? In the past, under at least three other mayors, when we called the city for action concerning anything we thought was needed, we always got results.

I would like to see results, not excuses. Don't just sit there, do something!

MICHAEL MESSINA
Park Place

Dormont, get with it

While some are taking a positive step forward with studying streamlining traffic flow though the communities of Peters, Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon, I think most South Hills commuters can agree that the most aggravating and densely clustered section of Route 19 is the Dormont sector. With 11 misaligned traffic signals within a span of 0.7 miles, Dormont has become a debilitating and congestive strain on South Hills traffic flow.

While most surrounding communities have invested in traffic signals that trigger a light change with a sensor, Dormont continues to use the antiquated and inefficient traffic timer, oftentimes further frustrating already annoyed drivers with the additional irritation of waiting at a traffic signal with little or no cross-traffic.

In addition, why allow on-street parking? Half of the businesses along West Liberty Avenue are vacant, and with unused public parking lots, why not enforce a parking policy to maximize the utilization of these lots instead of intensify the unpleasantness that is driving this span?

Wake up, Dormont: I am not the only one who avoids this section of an otherwise tolerable stretch of pavement like the plague.

JEFF HEISKELL JR.
Mt. Lebanon

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