To the Ombudsman of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

I apologize for taking up your time, as you must be very busy, but I feel there is a question you need to answer.

Why should my family continue to purchase your newspaper?

A column in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer by Daniel Rubin reveals a disturbing case of attempted censorship by a public relations firm tied to the Foxwoods Casino.

The public relations firm in question, Tierney Communications, fired one of their vice presidents, Peggy Griffin, because she wrote a letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer warning of the casino's potential effect on her neighborhood. She had already made the firm aware of her stance on the issue before they hired, and she did not mention her affiliation with Tierney. Nevertheless, they dumped her, putting a potentially damaging mark on her career.

Well, last year ended with 392 murders in Philadelphia, slightly less than 2006, despite a gruesome summer.

What was behind this violence, and its sudden decline. There is no one solution, but I think this NPR story holds some clues. What we saw was good law enforcement in action! Yes!

You see, according to federal drug enforcement officials, such as Drug Czar John Walters, there were major successes in curbing the amount of drugs, particularly cocaine, coming into the country early this year. One of the first places hit by the cocaine shortage was Philadelphia, where the scarcity started in May. In the following summer, there were massive amounts of violence.

Coincidence? I think not.

Well, 'tis the holiday season, and it's time to send out the presents. Let's see who's on my list and what I'll be sending.

Michael Nutter-Lots of good luck. He'll need it.

Rev. Charles Newman-A copy of "What's Wrong with the Catholic Church" with a small mirror taped to the cover.

Anthony Bevilacqua-See Charles Newman.

Alycia Lane-A sympathy card. No one deserves this much schadenfreude during the holiday season. I will, however, enclose a gift certicate to an anger management class.

Michael Smerconish-Some duct tape to put on his mouth. No, scratch that, a ball gag. Harder to chew through, and won't come undone from the tape glue being dissolved by all his foaming.

Kevin Ferris, Inquirer Columnist-Some glasses. His eyes are clearly weak, as he cannot see that Iraq is a disaster after five years.

Jonathan Last, Inquirer Columnist-See Kevin Ferris.

Vince Fumo-A get out of jail free card. Hmm...better send one to Ms. Lane, just in case.

Watching the news last night, I saw that the shooting in Omaha received only two minutes of coverage on the CBS Evening News. Am I the only one concerned that we have gotten to the point that a shooting spree has to have a death toll in the double digits to warrant major attention or outrage?

This is an issue of great interest and importance to Philadelphia. Over the past year, we have had over 300 murders. Yet what do we do...nothing.

What does our government do...nothing.