For as long as I can remember, and I'm 66, two first class stamps would get a letter delivered to our friends in Canada.

This last Christmas, I had such a letter returned demanding 17 extra cents in postage. Not only did that return cost more than 17 cents but it seems to point to other problems. Has the real value of the US Dollar decayed so much that two forever stamps don't have the value they once did?

I have written my Congressman and my US Senators to address this basic issue. Perhaps such an issue is dwarfed by concerns such as our president ignoring our US  Constitution and funding terrorist groups. But just on the chance that I  have stumbled upon something easily correctable, I will expect this to be  changed for the better.

I don't expect the US Military to run at a profit, nor do I expect the USPS to do the same. They are both services important to society.

Sincerely,

Joseph DuPont

Towanda, PA

In 2013, the majority of our elected legislators in Harrisburg legislated, passed, and enacted a law for a 3 year plan that ends in 2017 that raised the Gas Tax about 10 cents each year, the Diesel Tax about 13 cents each year for every gallon of Fuel that is sold in  PA, and also increased the motorist fees us  PA Residents pay to our State Government for the privilege of driving. As of 1/1/15, the State Government is getting 50.5 cents for 3 grades of Gas, and 64.2 cents for Diesel for every gallon of Fuel that is sold in  PA The combined  PA & Federal Taxes is 69.09 cents for Gas, and 88.79 cents for Diesel for every gallon sold for 2015. In 2016 or 2017, the State Government will probably get about 60.5 cents for Gas, and 77.2 cents for Diesel for every gallon of Fuel that is sold in  PA The Fuel Taxes and Motorist Fees increases adds up to about a 40% increase in Revenue that the State Government is getting for those 2 increases. This 2013 law is designed to raise $2.3 Billion Dollars per year, or $6.9 Billion Dollars for the 3 year plan.

The $6.9 Billion Dollars new money is supposedly to be used to stem a rising backlog of needed repairs or upgrades to  PA Bridges, Highways, and Mass Transit, but a small slice will go to  PA Airports, Ports, Railways, and Recreational Routes per the 2013 law that was enacted by our elected legislators in Harrisburg. Let's hope the $6.9 Billion Dollars or more or less will be used just for the Projects it is and was designed for, and not used for other things also.

Based on the conditions of the  PA Bridges and Roads for a long time now, every  PA Resident should wonder where all that Fuel Taxes and motorist fees money was going for all those past years. It seems like very little of that money was used to improve the Bridges and Roads in Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Susquehanna, and Wayne Counties.      PA has become a land of opportunity and corruption for people who try to get away with doing illegal things, and very seldom are prosecuted for the wrong doing they do. If  PA is ever going to have any kind of accountability, ethics,  principles, and transparency in its State Government, then now is the time for all of us

 PA Residents to call, email, or Snail Mail all of our elected legislators in Harrisburg and ask them to legislate, pass, and enact a strict law that will severely punish any people in State Government that are caught and convicted of illegal wrong doing. All of us  PA Residents deserve much better than what we're getting for all the various Taxes we pay to our State Government.

Sincerely,

John Hollenback

Greenfield Twp., PA

The 3rd Annual Breakfast for Life was held at the Montrose Bible Conference to benefit the Cindy Conady Memorial Scholastic Fund,  sponsored by The Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains and hosted by Montrose Bible Conference.  Pastor Mark Harmon was the narrating speaker and attendance was near capacity.  I've been to Washington, DC  before,  for The Annual March For Life and as others attending the breakfast I agreed that the speaker presentations given at Montrose equaled and surpassed those given by Congressmen and Senators in Washington for their knowledge and compassion on life issues, particularly for the unborn child.

Paige Parkhurst spoke first.  She is the winner of the 2014 Cindy  Conady Scholarship Essay Contest.  Miss Paige is going into the medical field.  Her great desire is to one day thank her biological Mother for giving her life, as she was put up for adoption at birth. 

Next we heard from Margie Overmiller who told us of her teenage abortion trauma.  She suffered  with depression alone for years.  No one wanted to hear her grief so she bore it silently for years until she found Mr. Right and gave birth to their child.  In gratitude she went to college to obtain  her degree to become a counselor.

The next keynote speaker was Laura Squire, our Regional Care Net Director.  She gave us an update on the Care Nets' expanding work of assisting teenagers, young women and their families through potential crisis pregnancies.  Care Net provides information, counseling material and support  and placement of newborns who need a home.

Mr. and Mrs. Todd Legg attended with their son Zach, now three years old , who is living proof of his parents heroic patience  through all of the processes in securing the adoption of a mother's newborn that she nor her husband can keep.  Their story was told with poise, humor and tears. They received a one minute standing ovation. 

Well, last but not least, we heard from the Revered, Bishop Bambara who stood to speak and said " This is a hard act to follow."  But after expressing his heartfelt appreciation personally for every speaker’s contribution, he spoke of his grandmother who died giving birth to his uncle,  rather then having  the "doctor recommended" abortion.  Let's just say that Bishop Bambara's Uncle went on to live a remarkable life through all of his rigors of M.S. From the faith perspective he reflected on Laura Squires' words from Jesus, " The truth will set you free"; Never give up he said; we are created in the Image and Likeness of God!  If God be with us, who can be against us.

It is simple to understand.  Jesus, our Creator and Savior said; If you love me, keep my commandments. 

Sincerely,

John Mann

Susquehanna, PA   

It was the weekend of January 16. Two films were going to face off at the box office: American Sniper and Selma.

Sniper wasn’t expected to get much of a draw. It is the fact-based, firsthand account of Navy SEAL, Chris Kyle. A military legend, Kyle is the deadliest sniper in American history. His official kill count is 160 and 95 probables. But who would want to see it?

It takes place during the unpopular Iraqi war, is too violent, too masculine, too patriotic, and it would lose the women and liberals.

Sure, some Clint Eastwood fans, military types, and overly-patriotic flag wavers would buy a ticket, not much more. Instead, it was a box office head shot placing No. 1 and earning a record-breaking $90 million that weekend. That wasn't supposed to happen.

Selma was also playing that MLK-Day weekend. It was expected to attract a sizable audience. The film chronicles Dr. King's three-month campaign in 1965 to win voting rights for blacks. It placed a chilly No. 5, not just a disappointment, but a belly-flop into a dry pool. It earned less than one-tenth of Sniper. That wasn't supposed to happen, either.

Answering the whys of these two surprises takes some day-after quarterbacking. Sniper has no message. It's just the bare-bones story of a 6' 2”, 230-pound Texan. A stereotypical kid who did nothing more than what he thought was right. He enlisted.

During Kyle's four tours of duty in Iraq, he was awarded two Silver Stars and five Bronze Stars. He managed to survive three gunshot wounds, six IED explosions, an $80,000 bounty on his head, and memories that would haunt his days and nights.

Sniper's a film not of war, of killing, not of victory or defeat; it is a story of what combat does to every man, of what it did to this man.

And Selma? Many young theatergoers asked, Selma who? The mid-60s was a time before they were born, almost two generations distant. Selma was history if not ancient, then at least yellowing around the edges.

The film's inaccuracies didn't help. Highlighting the many liberties taken with the historical record was a photograph of the entire cast with their hands held high all wearing t-shirts lettered with, “Hands up. Don't shoot,” an acknowledged fabrication yet it persists.

Selma was nominated for Best Picture. No surprise there. It had a great cast equipped with an excellent script, and stirring background music. Yet it failed. Why?

Maybe Sniper and Selma are telling us something about Hollywood and about ourselves.

Movie Town was badly out-of-step with Selma. What they felt was a sure hit was a dismal miss. It raises the question: Does Sniper and Selma reveal a rift---a yawing chasm--- between the Hollywood left and the middle America right?

For the rest of us, maybe we're all a bit tired of race, of civil rights, of the parade of martyred blacks hunted down by white policemen.

And maybe the clownish antics of professional race agitator, Al Sharpton, is wearing thin. Predictably, the president’s go-to-man on race is in a dither. Rev. Al is aggrieved that the best actor, best actress, and best director, were all white. Heavens!

Not to worry. The president is making amends by inviting the cast of Selma to the White House. Think he'll do the same for Sniper?

And maybe the sensitive male isn't what men or women really want. This guy with a linebacker's physique, in combat utilities, with down-home values, and unapologetically patriotic, has got moviegoers waiting in round-the-block lines for the two-and-a-quarter hour movie.

And maybe Sniper will cause us to stand a bit taller with our hand over our heart when the national anthem is played and give thanks to God that the “star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”

Goodness knows, the price for this was paid for by a thousand and a thousand other guys just like Chris Kyle.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA

I have read that D.A. Jason Legg has announced his candidacy for Judge of Susquehanna County Court of Common Pleas.

Mr. Legg has very impressive credentials, not only in a judicial capacity, but also involvement in community activities.

I would like to know if Mr. Legg, if elected judge, will be able to separate his personal view, from judicial law, regarding issues concerning family planning, women’s health care, and legalized abortion?

Sincerely,

Thomas J. Lake

Thompson, Pa.

The Blue Ribbon Foundation of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania is pleased to announce that our 2014 Annual Report is now available on our website at www.bcnepa.com/Community/BlueRibbon.aspx.

Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania established its private, non-profit Blue Ribbon Foundation in 2002 to invest in health and wellness initiatives throughout northeastern and north central Pennsylvania. 

Last year, we awarded grants to 28 organizations for health-related projects that are producing real results.  In Susquehanna County, for example, our partners included:

EastCentral Pennsylvania Area Health Education Center, which is offering Youth Mental Health First Aid training to individuals who work with adolescents, to help them better recognize mental health and crisis situations.

Women’s Resource Center, which is providing safety counseling to women at-risk for domestic and sexual violence, including Susquehanna County residents.

United Way of Susquehanna County, which will continue to provide much-needed health and human services programs to county residents.

These partners and others recognize the value of preventing rather than treating disease, and are helping to turn the tide on many of today’s most pressing – and most costly – health issues.

The Blue Ribbon Foundation is privileged to support the work of so many dedicated organizations.

Sincerely,

Cynthia A. Yevich

Executive Director

The Blue Ribbon Foundation of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania