PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future

I'M NOT a perfect Catholic. When Mrs. Paul had a monopoly on meatless Fridays, I sometimes managed to get my hands on a burger. Once, at confession, I lied about a sin, which must amount to purgatorial perjury. I've missed Mass, sassed the sisters behind

IT IS VERY unfortunate that Philadelphia has decided to reduce the number of school nurses. All children benefit from the expertise provided by the school nurse.

THIS IS in response to a letter written by Donna Di Giacomo: I don't write many letters to the editor but find, as a citizen of this great city, that I must.

THE GOOD NEWS is that the General Assembly has finally approved an impact fee for Marcellus Shale gas drillers.

TO JENICE Armstrong: Mrs. Brady was wrong. Period. A real man never wants his mother or wife to fight his battles for him, ever. I know you won't understand this because it's a guy "thing," but the repercussion from letting a woman fight your battles is way worse than whatever was the reason for your woman to stick up for you. It's the same reason a boy needs a man in his life growing up no matter how great the mother or female guardian raising him.

GOV. CORBETT reiterated his no-tax chastity pledge this week when he delivered his state budget. He claimed that his budget, which would slash millions of dollars, especially from higher ed, imposed no new taxes on citizens.

IT IS FAIR to say that blacks engage in hate crimes. A short perusal of the Southern Poverty Law Center's website reveals as much. It's just not politically expedient or marketable. The issue is one of self-hate as much as it is about "hate crimes." Murders by blacks against blacks reveal as much; yet, while there is no shortage of theories as to why, what's required is less thought and more action before this city becomes a "Clockwork Orange" cauldron of violence.

FOR THE first time in this country, a high-ranking clergyman - Msgr. William Lynn, the former vicar of clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia - will be tried on criminal charges for putting children in danger because of his "alleged" mishandling of priests known or credibly accused of the sexual exploitation of children.

AFTER reading Valerie Russ' account of the defeat of the planned Chinatown/Reading Viaduct Neighborhood Improvement District, I thought about a tale of two cities. One is Philadelphia and the other, New York City.

YOU WONDER why anyone would want to run for president of the United States. Why, especially, would someone who has it made in the shade like Mitt Romney, with a good family, good health, good looks, good houses (a $12 million beachfront compound in the La Jolla section of San Diego and a $10 million home on Lake Winnipesaukee, in

Larry Kane Journalist "We have hundreds of municipalities in three states. We have governors of states, township executive directors, county managers - and we have horrible purchasing options in this area. We need to get a conference immediately somewhere in this area, called by the governors, county executives and the mayor of Philadelphia to form an organization called A.P.A.: Area Purchasing Agency.

ONCE AGAIN, Catholic bishops - and conservative Republicans - are trying to make a "religious liberty" issue out of the provision of nondiscriminatory health-insurance coverage to women by falsely equating contraception with abortion.

IT SEEMS quite evident that Jason Kaye has never taught in a public-school classroom and is therefore incapable of casting the ballot for the "Are teachers the problem?" vote.

TODAY'S budget address by Governor Tom Corbett is not expected to be pretty: not with an expected shortfall of $500 million that will undoubtedly be met with cuts in health, human services and higher education. We can expect the usual outcry from education and social-service advocates over these cuts, and the usual complaints from the governor and others that spending for higher ed, human services and health is wasteful and needs to be pared.

I APPRECIATE Stu Bykofsky's anger and frustration at the apparent hypocrisy of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement against Israeli interests. One must seriously question whether this group and its aims are in anyone's best interests.

IF RONNIE Polaneczky's postmortem hit-job on the late Cardinal Bevilacqua proves anything, it is that she shills for the self-anointed professional victims' lobby. His death rocketed into lunar orbit her malicious fantasies about him.

BACK IN THE '70s, a popular poster said something like, "Imagine if schools had enough money and the military had to hold bake sales."

I READ Josh Cornfield's article about Philadelphia School District financial officer Michael Masch and found it both off-target and unnecessarily personal. Masch has served the public in budget-related finance roles for many years. He served on the staff

THREE of the most beautiful words in the English language are "We the people." New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knows that. Last week, he promised to veto any bill legalizing gay marriage. Responding to the somewhat hysterical criticism that he usually gets, like a Democratic assemblyman's comment comparing the governor to his segrega

AS SOMEONE who has participated in the redistricting process in 1991 as a Council staffer, in 2001 as a member of the Latino Voting Rights Committee and this year as a member of the City Council redistricting committee, I totally agree with the Pennsylvan