Well, you that read the" Susquehanna Transcript" are in the reader's part. Whatever you read will stay in your mind and thoughts forever. When the U.S.A. had strict laws preventing books - that were filled with porn and gutter language, you had to go out of Our Country to places like Havana, Cuba to read Henry Miller's Tropic Books. You had to go to Dublin, Ireland to read James Joyce's risque books. That changed, and in the early 1950's  2 people came to Chicago and 1 man was already there. They changed reading for the worse. 2 liberal twin Sisters came from Sioux City, Iowa - Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren. Not their real names, they were their pen names." Not exactly Emily Post type - reader newspaper columns! Hugh H. formed the "Playboy Magazine and Playboy Clubs." Be careful what you read!

You are now in the listening and hearing part of this letter. Have you ever been in a place when someone talks using the words that insult and startle you? Or on the Radio, TV or Internet? Someone that could care less if you are offended or not! Do your friends or children use language that make you proud of them? Satan is around all of us and is constantly tempting us.

Sincerely,

Bruce Moorhead

Susquehanna, PA.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, both 18, shoot to death 13 in their high school.

Kip Kinkel, 15, shot and killed his parents and two students in his high school.

Shawn Cooper, 15, took a shotgun to school and injured one.

Elizabeth Bush, 14, shot and killed another student.

Cory Baadsgaard, 16, took a rifle to school and held 23 of his classmates hostage.

Michael Carneal, 14, shot and killed three at a school prayer meeting.

The above list of shooters is representative of 58 school shootings in the U.S. most of which have a common denominator: drugs - drugs legally prescribed by medical doctors.

The question arises, should James Holmes, the 24-year old doctoral student who killed 12 and wounded 50 others, be added to the list?

Holmes' bizarre behavior, dyed red hair, and senseless killings, were immediate clues that he was under the influence of a mind-altering drug. In his case, it was Vicodin.

Vicodin is a widely prescribed drug for pain relief and is a disturbingly popular street drug. The Drug Enforcement Administration believes Vicodin is one of the most widely used additive drugs. The pain killer is so habituating that using it for a week or two can cause dependency.

And Holmes was hooked on Vicodin for months.

The drug changed Holmes from what all who knew him described as a friendly, responsible, intellectually gifted man, to an antisocial, nonfunctional, dangerous psychotic.

Before the drug-crazed shooting spree, Holmes dosed-up on a drug cocktail that included 100 mg of Vicodin. So we should stop using firearms and violent movies as a whipping boy for his crimes; they had nothing to do with the shooting rampages, drugs did.

In a way, Holmes, himself, was a victim of prescription drugs that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says causes the deaths of 100,000 persons every year and 2 million serious drug reactions.

This doesn't relieve or excuse Holmes of responsibility for his actions; it just makes them understandable.

Virtually every single drug prescribed by MDs is a toxic compound that causes illnesses, abnormal behaviors, and deaths. And the drug cartels---GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, and all the others---hide, ignore, coverup with falsified research, and continue to sell their products knowing that they do nothing to cure and everything to harm.

Think not? Let's look at the records of some of the biggest American drug cartels.

GlaxoSmithKline. It agreed to pay $1 billion in criminal fines and $2 billion in civil fines following a federal investigation. The pharmaceutical company was found guilty of fabricating drug safety tests, defrauding Medicare and Medicaid out of billions, deceiving regulators about the effectiveness of its drugs, and used deceptive practices to earn billions.

Merck. Vioxx, an arthritis drug, was introduced by Merck in 1999 and withdrawn in 2004. Whistleblower Dr. David Graham, in testimony before the U.S. Senate, estimated that during this time between 88,000 to 139,000 experienced hearts attacks from this drug, and between 30 percent to 40 percent of them died. Using mid-range figures that amounts to 40,000 deaths in the five years it was on the market.

Leaked documents revealed that Merck knew of the drug's dangers yet hid them for years.

Pfizer. It's being sued by five U.S. pharmacies of monopolistic marketing practices to control its $10 billion cash cow product, Lipitor. Pfizer is accused of price-fixing, bribing pharmacy managers, and obtaining a fraudulent patent.

Yet the criminal enterprises go on. They are a national and international racket perpetuated by a $60 billion propaganda campaign on TV and in the print media promoting their drugs as “medicines.” And they have been wildly successful, much more so than their cartel counterparts in Columbia and Mexico.

The top ten pharma companies earn $375 billion a year and are responsible for the deaths of 100,000 a year. The illegal cartels make a paltry $64 billion and cause an annual 10,000 deaths. What's the difference between the pushers? One wear suits, the other doesn't.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA

During our last meeting, on July 11th, we had our largest-attended meeting, of over 40 people, which packed the room to standing room only! There were some intense exchanges from rather upset residents concerning the funding of the 4-H programs and concerns about the impacts of gas drilling and the lack of Emergency Preparedness in case of gas leaks and explosions.

The "Transcript" reporter, Shawn Carey, barely describes the heated-emotional exchanges between residents and the Commissioners. I am requesting that the "Transcript's" reporter, Kerri Ellen Wilder, come back and continue to write her hard-hitting, eloquent articles on the County meetings. Her writing and reporting is of the highest-order.

I've been videotaping the last two meetings to have a true, public record of all that goes on in the County meetings. The County Commissioners have not recorded any public comments in their minutes for the past four years ! This is a disservice to the public and not at all encouraging of public participation.

You can find my videos on www.youtube.com under my email name of "veraduerga"and can use this link for the last county meeting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHnd6ldP6ss for part 1 and part 2 is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwHUPQuSLUE.

I will continue to videotape the county meetings as I am able to attend them, unless others are willing to videotape and make it public and accessible to the public.

This needs to be done to promote government transparency and honesty and allow the greater public to know and see what is happening in local government.

Come to meetings and be part of the solution and make this county work for you in a better way.

Sincerely,

Vera Scroggins

Brackney, Pa.

I am delighted that the City of Scranton employees were given lunch sponsored by a local radio station. The reason was because they had received an minimum wage paycheck. For one week. They also got another perk, a free lunch.

I do feel sorry for the employees that are not City of Scranton employees. Gosh, when the banks became a casino, a lot of pension plans were wiped out. In one day you went from having a comfortable retirement, to having to face the fact: you might have to work until you die. I'm just sorry that those employees didn't have a soup kitchen for them. Oh, wait there is a soup kitchen for them.

I guess the radio station figures they would find the common denominator.

Not everyone wants a free lunch. So after that stunt, the Mayor, shamed and humbled, finds he now must find another way to show good money management, isn't that the reason he was hired, elected to do?

And the wheels of government grind forward, and the employees are repaid the money, and at some point, some will receive a raise.

Yep, ain't nothing better than a free lunch. Me, I was raised that there is no such thing as a free lunch. I guess I just have to look harder to find the common dominator.

Respectfully,

Cynthia Allen

Summersville, Pa

I am completely astonished by the Free Enterprise loving people in our nation who currently favor re-electing Barak Obama for a second term. With respect to my financial and physical well being, I am confident that my daughter’s Labrador Retriever is more qualified to be president than our current president. I have been watching the political ads and what I see coming from the Obama campaign is alarmingly like what I see on the midway of the Harford Fair. A great deal of slick talk but little substance. Speaking of such, he sold us on 5.6% unemployment while on the stump in ’08 but, while it remains at 8.2%, he continues to make the same pitch. Much of what is being said is either an outright lie or, at best, taken out of context.  Never the less, the legacy of P.T. Barnum remains strong, alive and well.

In Mitt Romney, we will not find the flash and glitter of Obama. But, three and a half years of abject failure proves to me, if I ever had a doubt, that Obama deserves not an additional minute in office. Romney, should you do your homework, took his own money (not Washington’s) and made a fortune. He created wealth through Free Enterprise, just like millions of Americans before him. Mitt Romney is a man who loves his Country, his family and our American Way. He is short on rabble rousing and long on good business sense. He is good for us.

As even the blind can see, Obama is unable to run on his record. What else can explain his campaign of tearing down his opponent by every means available. His ads are 75% negative so far, within which truth is a scarce or completely absent commodity. It is more than disconcerting to look at Obama on the stump, telling his biggest lies while tipping his face forward, lowering his brow and wagging his finger. At those times, I see a medieval painting of the face of evil. He looks like Satan himself – look closely at his eyes. Our worst nightmare would be four more years.

Sincerely,

Joe McCann

Elk Lake, PA