Letters: He's a very happy Flyers wreck

THIS FLYERS run has been nothing short of amazing - though I've lost half my nails, what little hair I have left on my die-hard Philadelphia scalp is fading fast, and my superstitious neurosis has taken over.

I love this team for its heart and fight, despite the ailments it's caused me. Regardless of the outcome, you guys are winners!

Eddie Gallagher, Philadelphia

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Shouldn't any oil company that drills offshore be prepared for this eventuality and have procedures in place to stop this devastation before they are allowed to "Drill, baby, drill"?

I guess the lobbyists have done an extraordinary job once again. What terrorist could unleash such devastation to our beloved homeland and come away virtually unpunished?

Can Osama enlist new tactics involving lobbyists and a PR firm to accomplish his objectives? If greed is such a necessary ingredient to our way of governing, shouldn't we include green in the color scheme of Old Glory?

Daniel J. Sullivan, Philadelphia

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The cornerstone of an effective government is integrity, accountability and transparency.

Last week, Channel 6 reported that the Department of Licenses and Inspections had found multiple code violations in a building used and operated by the city - police headquarters. According to procedure, L&I issued violations and granted a 30-day grace period for the violations to be corrected.

Some years later, the violations still remain.

The city claims not to have made the repairs because the cost was prohibitive. The building remains in full use. To my knowledge, the city hasn't presented a plan for immediately remedying the violations.

Meanwhile, L&I has conducts "sweeps" of businesses to see if they conform to the applicable codes, in most cases, local bars. In several cases, the establishment was immediately closed until the violations were corrected. Some of those bars weren't able to reopen because of . . . the prohibitive cost of the repairs.

Although the proprietors are responsible for maintaining their buildings and abiding by applicable city codes, the impact of summarily closing these establishments affect the communities they serve. Many of our local bars employ residents from the community, donate money to support educational initiatives, sponsor community block parties and even donate food to families.

I agree with the city controller, who stated that lack of money is not a valid reason for not fixing building violations, but that should apply to everyone.

Charles B. Askew, Philadelphia

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Rand Paul, the latest "through the looking glass" purveyor of libertarian fantasies as the GOP senatorial candidate in Kentucky, says he opposses all federal bailouts of private industry and government handouts for alternative energy like wind and solar power.

He doesn't mention the $10 billion a year the feds hand out to oil companies in the form of tax writeoffs for exploration and development. Apparently, "Big Guv'mint" is "bad" - except when it's "good" - and vice versa.

In a high-tech world of big corporations, big populations and big problems, laissez-faire small government utopianism is a fairy tale.

Complex societies must have some sort of coordination and direction, some context, which it is the job of government to provide. That the job is often not done well is no reason to refuse to try to do it at all.

Jim Hunter, Philadelphia