Plight

RE BARBARO: You have to be kidding. The big news is a horse breaking his leg, and getting an emergency operation, while under the guise of "supporting our troops," hundreds of injured GIs can't find sufficient health care? No wonder there isn't any morality left when animals are more important than humans. Ralph Goldsborough, Yeadon Duke double standard Columnist Jenice M. Armstrong wrote on May 17: "The Duke University lacrosse players will never be considered innocent even if exonerated of rape because they engaged in an activity that demeaned and exploited women.

In reply to the Aug. 24 Letter to the Editor by A. M. Ladduwahetty, I must protest the attempt to taint the opinions of the readers. Since we are not totally aware of all the facts dealing with the 155 Tamil refugees in Canada, it is both unfair and unwise of us to draw conclusions at this time. What we do know is the reason that the Tamils are forced to flee their homeland. Our plight is one much like that of the Jewish community in the Soviet Union. In both cases, a large, influential minority is subjugated by the government, having both political and basic human rights stripped from them.

Describing The Afghan Women as a play that mixes the style and conventions of Greek drama with preachy speeches about the plight and future of current-day Afghanistan makes it sound like something you might not want to sit through. I'll admit that in the early going, I more or less resigned myself to a long evening of imitative, although very exciting, didactic theater. But I'm pleased to report that, ultimately, my experience of the play by William Mastrosimone - receiving its first professional presentation in an excellent production from the Passage Theatre Company - was quite the opposite.

Two Australian imports top the list this week: last year's staggeringly popular down-under comedy and a less well-known drama. "CROCODILE" DUNDEE (1986) (Paramount) $29.95. 102 minutes. Paul Hogan, the most popular entertainer in Australia, was best-known in the United States for his tourism commercials. This riotously funny comedy changed that. He stars as a crocodile hunter from the outback who winds up in the jungle of Manhattan. It's the oft-tested device of having an innocent outsider show up the supposed sophisticates, but Hogan gives it a hilarious variation.

I'D LIKE ANY of the mayoral candidates to address the needs of the "not-so-poor" people of Philadelphia. Recent news reports say that there is no more middle class - and I agree. Because I earn about 50k a year, I don't qualify as low-income, but am far from wealthy. I'd like to purchase one of the many new homes being built in this city, but they start at 200k, and that is out of my budget. The homes being built by Philadelphia Housing Authority are nice, too, but I can't buy one of those because I only have two people in my household (myself and one child)

New York Giants coach Dan Reeves knows what Eagles coach Rich Kotite is going through. He coached under the same ominous cloud and twisted in the same harsh wind two years ago in Denver. "It's by far the most difficult situation I ever went through," Reeves said, referring to his final season as head coach in Denver, when it was widely (and accurately) reported that owner Pat Bowlen had decided to dump him after the last game. "It's the uncertainty of it. People are human.

This year's Academy Award-winning documentary, "Broken Rainbow" - the story of the forced relocation of more than 400 Navajo families - will be screened tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at the Friends Center, 1501 Cherry St. The relocation, the result of a 1974 law whose deadline in July 7, is "the largest (such) project since Japanese-Americans were interned at camps in World War II," according to Navajo spokesman Larry Anderson. The screening is a benefit presented by the Big Mountain Support Group of Greater Philadelphia.

YOUR EDITORIAL cartoon regarding Erica Pratt was really uncalled for and could be very damaging to her mental state (July 25). Just being kidnapped and left in a basement for 23 hours is a scare that she may never be able to let go of. Someone should reprimand the artist. Keith J. Richards Philadelphia How dare Signe Wilkinson put such a tasteless cartoon like this one about Erica's returning to her neighborhood that is drug-infested. Your cartoon is NOT WANTED in the paper.

ON A RECENT Sunday, I was walking my dog in Northeast Philadelphia. A rottweiler was off his leash and out of the yard, running loose. He spotted me and my dog, and charged. He attacked and bit me on my back, and scratched my stomach, arms and face. Neighbors responded to my cries and managed to chase the dog away. The police were called, but it took more than an hour for them to arrive. The dog's owner wasn't home. Who leaves a dog unattended outdoors and unleashed? The police officer who showed up wasn't concerned about the situation, just writing minimal information in a useless report.

I invite City Solicitor Kenneth Trujillo to get out from behind his desk and come to North Philly and ride with us firefighters. Come into a burning dwelling with us, crawl around on hands and knees in the thick black smoke, only to discover you were just crawling around in hypodermic needles and human waste. Then tell us hepatitis C is not work-related. MICHAEL PATRICK BRESNAN Philadelphia I'm tired of the city's excuses for not honoring the arbitrator's contract award to the firefighters.

As Marcus Hook Borough Mayor James Schiliro deals with charges that he held an acquaintance hostage and fired a gun during a drunken episode at his home in February, residents Tuesday expressed mixed feelings about whether he should resign. Schiliro, 38, a Republican, has said he would not seek reelection but intends to serve the remaining nine months of his four-year term. Schiliro apologized at a Monday night council meeting for the negative publicity that "his arrest has cast on the borough," according to the Delaware County Times.

It has been 30 years since the last supermarket set up shop in Camden, at its far southern end - now the only such store in the city. Since then, most residents have turned to bodegas and other small groceries to purchase food. The Camden Children's Garden and its affiliated Camden City Garden Club have tried to fill the fresh-produce void. But that role may be in jeopardy as the garden faces eviction from its waterfront home. Each growing season, hundreds of seeds are planted in the Children's Garden grow labs and later transferred to community gardens throughout the city.

CAIRO - The Palestinian prime minister warned Sunday that his government could fail to meet its obligations to its people because of a cash crunch, and urged Arab countries to deliver on promised aid. Salam Fayyad met with Arab League members to discuss ways to raise the $100 million they pledged earlier to his Palestinian Authority. Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said seven countries have responded favorably, but he did not name them. League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo decided to dispatch a delegation to the region to raise the funds the Palestinian government needs to make ends meet.

If nothing else, Thanksgiving should constantly remind us of how exceedingly blessed we are. But sometimes we forget. Simple comforts we take for granted - food, shelter, a flushing toilet, a winning football team (let us pray for next season), a family who loves us, a government that supports us - tend to drop off the radar, replaced by what we think we want and deserve. Well, have I got a talented, inspirational, and perfectly delightful reality check for you. I'm talking about the Watoto Choir, a children's choir based in Kampala, Uganda.

The Watoto Children's Choir from Uganda brings the "Beautiful Africa: A New Generation" tour through Philadelphia, performing at three venues to raise awareness of the plight of children left orphaned by HIV/AIDS, war, illness, and poverty. The first of the free concert series begins at 7 p.m. Saturday in West Philadelphia at the African Cultural Alliance of North America Community Center at 5530 Chester Ave. Sunday performances will be at 7:45 and 10:45 a.m. at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, 6401 Ogontz Ave., and 6:30 p.m. at the New Life Glenside Church at 467 N. Easton Rd. The sound of the Watoto Children's Choir, composed of children who have lost one or both parents, is described as a blend of contemporary gospel and traditional African rhythm.

KARACHI, Pakistan - Tens of thousands rallied in Pakistan's largest city Sunday in the biggest show of support yet for a 14-year-old girl who was shot and seriously wounded by the Taliban for promoting girls' education and criticizing the militant group. The Oct. 9 attack on Malala Yousufzai as she was returning home from school in Pakistan's northwest horrified people inside and outside the country. At the same time, it gave hope to some that the government would respond by intensifying its fight against the Taliban and their allies.

Of all the groups claiming to be burdened by the new law requiring a government-issued photo ID to vote in Pennsylvania, people born in Puerto Rico have it the worst, a coalition of civil rights and Latino advocacy organizations said Friday. While Asian Americans, seniors, and others have complained about the law's impact, it "devastates" voter access for Puerto Ricans, said lawyer Juan Carlos Ibarra, because a series of bureaucratic hurdles requires them "to walk a longer path to the voting booth" in November.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The idea of the Phillies' front office "jumping ship," as Jonathan Papelbon called it during this week's All-Star Game festivities, is something he says his teammates would not endorse. "In my opinion," Papelbon said, "I wouldn't want to be in any other clubhouse to try to get out of this. " Yet that clubhouse could look quite different in a matter of weeks. A season on the brink resumes Friday in Colorado, and the Phillies will play 15 games before the July 31 trade deadline.

The water ran out after the first day at sea. The boat engine quit on the second. Hien Cao, 22, clutched her 2-year-old daughter and 6-month-old son. They and 25 others had crowded onto a five-person fishing boat, the captain paid in gold to steer them to freedom. Now, the sun beating down as the vessel drifted off the southern coast of Vietnam, Cao felt numb. She'd taken this chance, this escape from a country that had become a prison, to give her children a better life.