Bigger Picture

I AM A lifetime resident of Philadelphia involved in animal rescue. The stories about the animal-control shelter are especially sad and ironic since, only a few weeks ago, the Alliance for Philadelphia Animals formed, pledging to bring about "no more homeless pets" in Philadelphia. The trouble is that all the negative energy and criticism will be directed against PACCA. If people give it any thought, they would see that they need not to boycott these institutions but to adopt as many animals as possible from them to lower the appallingly high death rates.

I think I understand why the United States has so much trouble dealing with China. Americans react to China like the blind men reacted to the elephant. Remember John Godfrey Saxe's version of the Hindu fable about the six sightless "men of Indostan" who tried to observe a pachyderm by touch? One felt "his broad and sturdy side" and thought the elephant was like a wall. Another grabbed his trunk and imagined a snake. A third felt his ear. The others grasped, respectively, his tusk, knee and tail.

A federal advisory committee on Tuesday unanimously approved over-the-counter sale of a rapid HIV test, acknowledging public health workers' pleas for a new tool against an epidemic that is driven largely by people who don't know their status and infect others. If the Food and Drug Administation agrees with its advisers, the oral swab screening test made by OraSure Technologies Inc. of Bethlehem, Pa., would become the first infectious disease test approved for home use. The panel overcame considerable unknowns and concerns that the test cannot pick up newly-acquired infections to focus on a bigger picture.

I believe that it would be in the best interest of New Jersey and its citizens for Gov. McGreevey to serve out his term of office. Since McGreevey has frankly confessed his sexual orientation, he can no longer be compromised by it. He has an opportunity to free himself from political shackles and become an even better, more honest politician and governor. The governor's allegedly unethical behavior of placing a sex partner in unmerited government positions is of deep concern, as are the unsavory connections of some of his campaign associates and political appointments.

Sally Menke, 56, director Quentin Tarantino's longtime editor on films such as Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown , and the two-volume Kill Bill, was found dead early Tuesday morning by searchers in Los Angeles after she went hiking in the severe heat the day before, authorities said. Search dogs, helicopters, and patrol officers searched Griffith Park after friends alerted authorities Monday afternoon when Ms. Menke failed to return home. Police said her body was found just before 2 a.m. in a rugged area; her severely dehydrated yellow Labrador retriever was sitting next to the body.

Recent research indicates that two-thirds of phone users admit they regularly lose their temper as a result of being put on hold. This new phenomenon of "phone rage" should give us pause for thought about the quality of progress in the technological age. One of the great cliches of what we call modern society is that time is money. But this is misleading.. . . The culture of time-is-money is based on a peculiar and invisible form of selfishness, which conceals from the selfish the damage it does them.

The Philadelphia Human Relations Commission reached the correct decision on the "speak English" sign at Geno's Steaks. What took so long? The HRC spent 21 months determining there was insufficient evidence of bias. That's after the HRC's chairman filed the complaint since nobody from the public ever complained in the first place. What an embarrassment. Geno's owner Joey Vento called the decision a "good victory. " Not so fast, Joey. There's discrimination, and then there's just plain wrong.

Flyers goalie Robert Esche, who has missed eight games with a small ligament tear in his left knee, may be able to return to game action as early as Tuesday, coach Ken Hitchcock said yesterday. Hitchcock said that he hopes Esche will get medical clearance tomorrow or Monday. In the meantime, Sean Burke will start in goal this afternoon against the Atlanta Thrashers at the Wachovia Center. Help for the depleted corps of forwards arrived yesterday in the form of center Alexei Zhamnov, acquired in a trade Thursday with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Talk about river sharks! It is wonderful that Camden County has a minor-league baseball team by that name. It's less wonderful that it has politicians roaming like predators around its riverfront. The all-Democratic Camden County board of freeholders is pulling a political power play that is holding up Camden-side construction of the cross-river tram to Philadelphia and could jeopardize related waterfront development in the troubled city. The freeholders are refusing to turn over rights to an underwater patch of land to allow construction of the $26 million aerial tram connecting Camden to Penn's Landing.

While their students were off at summer camps, relaxing poolside, or at the Jersey Shore, 21 teachers gathered at Valley Forge National Historical Park last week to take part in a summer camp of their own, one that would strengthen their abilities to teach history in today's classroom. The Valley Forge Teacher's Institute brought historical authors Thomas Fleming and Gary Nash in to speak with the teachers this year, headlining a group of local college professors. In addition to time spent at lectures, the teachers were given guided tours of the park, and spent a day hitting the historical hotspots of Philadelphia.

A federal advisory committee on Tuesday unanimously approved over-the-counter sale of a rapid HIV test, acknowledging public health workers' pleas for a new tool against an epidemic that is driven largely by people who don't know their status and infect others. If the Food and Drug Administation agrees with its advisers, the oral swab screening test made by OraSure Technologies Inc. of Bethlehem, Pa., would become the first infectious disease test approved for home use. The panel overcame considerable unknowns and concerns that the test cannot pick up newly-acquired infections to focus on a bigger picture.

WITH ALL due respect to the writers in the sports departments of every newspaper in Pennsylvania, including this one, Joe Paterno is not their story. They borrowed him for a few decades, making his gridiron triumphs a metaphor for their own particular interests or agendas. They dissected his strategies, his recruits, his awards, his national rankings and even his personality, to fill column space. And in these last weeks, they turned him into King Lear, the man who was too certain of his own importance and too trusting of bad characters in his retinue.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - With all the appropriate hoopla, the curtain will rise on Game 1 of the World Series 243 days from now. That's not forever. It'll just feel like it at times. One more time: Baseball isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. The Phillies, who will conduct their first official full-squad workout tomorrow, have spent a lot of money in hopes of being part of the festivities. Their chances will increase if Chase Utley can bounce back. Even though he started for the National League in the All-Star Game again last July, he had the worst year of his career, batting just .275 with 16 homers and 65 RBI. That, by itself, isn't alarming.

Jamar Nicholas called on his experience growing up in West Philadelphia and Germantown when he illustrated "Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun: A Personal History of Violence," a graphic depiction of Geoffrey Canada's tale of growing up in the South Bronx. Social activist Canada, president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone, first wrote this memoir in 1995. That was before he became famous, interviewed by Oprah, featured in David Guggenheim's documentary "Waiting for Superman," and profiled in American Express ads. When his publisher, Beacon Press, decided this year to re-release the book as a graphic memoir, they took to the Internet to find an illustrator.

Most of Pat Gillick's Hall of Fame resume was built in Toronto, where he built an expansion franchise into the first and only Canadian team to win the World Series. Gillick's candidacy benefited from two other factors. One can be celebrated by Phillies fans, the other should be lamented by baseball fans everywhere. The Phillies' 2008 World Series title gave Gillick a late-career achievement that added fresh sparkle to his already distinguished body of work. There's no doubt it helped Gillick get 13 of 16 votes - one more than needed - from the expansion-era veterans committee.

Sally Menke, 56, director Quentin Tarantino's longtime editor on films such as Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown , and the two-volume Kill Bill, was found dead early Tuesday morning by searchers in Los Angeles after she went hiking in the severe heat the day before, authorities said. Search dogs, helicopters, and patrol officers searched Griffith Park after friends alerted authorities Monday afternoon when Ms. Menke failed to return home. Police said her body was found just before 2 a.m. in a rugged area; her severely dehydrated yellow Labrador retriever was sitting next to the body.

There are two ways for a baseball team to improve its pitching - from the front end of the game and from the back. The hope is that, when you're done, the talents of the starting rotation and those of the bullpen blend smoothly at some point beyond the middle of the game. If the Phillies are going to make a run at a playoff spot, their pitching has to get better, and probably significantly better. Of the two ways to improve, the first choice would be to land a top-of-the-rotation starter before the non-waiver trade deadline expires Saturday afternoon.

All Amy Rodriguez could do was grab her head and look to the sky. It was right there for the Philadelphia Independence forward, resting on her right foot. But a split-second choice squandered her chance of being a hero, and instead, there was no hero. The Independence, playing in its inaugural game in the Women's Professional Soccer league, had to settle for a 0-0 tie against the Atlanta Beat, another expansion team, last night before an enthusiastic crowd of 6,028 at West Chester University's Farrell Stadium.

LAST SUMMER, Collingswood coach Joe McLoughlin wanted just one thing for his Panthers. As simple as it may seem, he just wanted balance. "We have kids that can score," McLoughlin said. "But I want to be able to put five kids on the floor and have them all be a threat to score. " That's where senior Brian Myers fits in. The 6-5 center was presented with a challenge by McLoughlin to score more this season. Granted, the bulk of the scoring still would be done by seniors Kyle Brennan (13 points per game)

There was a time when Will Brown might have hesitated before releasing that fine, arcing shot that so often finds the net. There was a time when the Penn Wood senior had doubts about his ability to play at a higher level, doubts about his shot, doubts about his skill set. No one should doubt anything about the 5-11 guard now. Because no player for Penn Wood, the defending PIAA Class AAAA state champion, has improved his game more in a year than...