The white T-shirt has an oozing, blood-red "38's" on it, with a checkered "38 Specials" written across the chest.

But what incensed Nuriddin the most was the design near the bottom of the shirt, which seemed to represent everything that his career - not to mention his role as a father - was meant to prevent:

Two young black men, with eyes blotted out, aiming handguns at each other's heads.

Following the senseless success of the "Stop Snitchin' " T-shirts, many stores are now selling T-shirts with slogans just as damning - or worse:

Shirts depicting angry, drug-dealing snowmen with the slogan "Trapper of The Year" - slang for Dealer of the Year - available at the South Philly Kicks USA.

"MasterThug" shirts, sold at SneakerVilla on N. 52nd Street near Ranstead in West Philly, which feature a copy of the MasterCard design - but instead of credit card numbers, the gauges of guns such as the AK-47 are shown.

One shirt, found at Cap USA on S. 11th Street near Walnut, is a twisted knock-off of an Utz potato-chip bag. It features masked men with guns atop a pile of money. And instead of Utz's smiling cartoon girl at the top, there's a cartoon of a masked thug holding a gun and money. "Gutz - No guts, no glory," reads the shirt. "Gangstas don't die. We multiply!"

Representative John Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, who publicly stated during a July 30 an interview with Michigan TV station WDIV-TV, "I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah, or for or against Israel." Congressman Dingell's comment, coupled with his vote against a House resolution condemning Hezbollah, ignited a storm of controversy.

Representative Allyson Schwartz, is a Democrat, from Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District. Congresswoman Schwartz portrays herself as a devoted supporter of Israel. She often invokes that she is descended from a holocaust survivor.

Yet, when asked to comment about the remarks made by Dingell, her office refused. They merely cited a speech given by Schwartz, stating her devotion to Israel.

Schwartz's inability to comment is interesting to say the least.

This is a grave concern because voters must know whether Representative Schwartz is more loyal to her party or her purported principles. Will she not even issue one comment expressing some disquiet about the moral equivalency a leading Democrat draws between a terrorist group and a democratic nation?

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., found himself a target of much greater criticism this week when he directed another wisecrack at an Indian campaign worker for his opponent, James Webb. He called the worker "Macaca," a nickname that some observers have interpreted as a racist slur.

I thought Raj Bhakta might have something to say about the controversy, so I called him this afternoon. "Sen. Allen's 'macaca' moment was a true ca-ca moment," Bhakta said of his GOP brother. "It just betrays ignorance of the Indian community and our contributions to American society."

While no one can be certain that Allen meant to demean the campaign worker because of his Indian ancestry, Bhakta said, it was totally inappropriate of the senator to call attention to the only Indian person at the event, tease him and say "Welcome to America." He called Allen's comments "stupid" and unenlightened.

Wearing an orange Nike shirt and shorts, 7-year-old Coy Seals sat yesterday on his grandmother's front steps in the city's Parkside section and quietly sobbed into his trembling, little hands as she gently rocked him after the sudden loss of his mother, Gloria.

His older brother, Joshua, 15, stood nearby, describing the gruesome discovery he made at his home yesterday morning.

"I woke up, and all I heard from my bedroom upstairs was, 'Rodney shot your mom! Rodney shot your mom!' " Joshua said yesterday outside his grandma's house, on 50th Street near Thompson. "I didn't know who was screaming, but then I walked downstairs and saw her lying there."

Cops said Gloria Seals, 33, was returning from work when she got into an argument with Rodney Arrington, of the city's Powelton section, as she entered her home on 49th Street near Aspen.

"My heart is broke right now. Anything I ever did, she was right beside me, helping me, supporting me and taking care of me," said Joshua Seals, of his mother. "I ain't got my pop no more, and now I ain't got my mom neither. It's really tough."

As a college-educated, middle-class white resident, I'm ashamed of the state of our city. I'm disgusted by the lack of action by Mayor Street on gun- and drug-related deaths.

Take the $10 million for the video surveillance program and hire more officers and start more social and educational programs in the neighborhoods. Don't treat our streets like a population of suspects.

I have grown to admire an HBO series that represents the true life of the inner city. "The Wire" is set in Baltimore, but its themes of political and police bureaucracy in the crime-stricken neighborhoods of Baltimore are directly relevant to the struggles of Philadelphia.

I'm tired of hearing about casinos and condo developments. I want to hear about real crime prevention, social intervention and an ethical mayor who truly represents the heart and soul of this city.

This slogan for the coming season of "The Wire" is "No Corner Left Behind." Let School District CEO Paul Vallas, with his six-figure income, relate to the reality of everyday struggle on the streets, and not just what he wants to show the puppetmaster Mr. Bush.

Mayor Street, you once said "the brothers and sisters" are running the city. If any of those employees had any backbone, they would tell you about the horrible job you are doing to protect the streets and schools.

Ian Shumard, Philadelphia

Last Thursday night 13th district Congressional hopeful Raj Bhakta held another Emergency Crime Forum, this time in the community of Lawncrest.

"At the most basic level, the government must be able to make us safe," Bhakta said. "I find it absolutely insane to be fighting a war halfway across the world for freedom from tyranny and terror when we're losing that battle right here."

In the year that ended June 30, the City of Philadelphia wound up with a surplus of nearly $202 million.

Raj is urging Street to save the city from the violence that is destroying our neighborhoods. “Philadelphia is quickly becoming the murder capital of the United States,” said Raj. “If we have a budget surplus we should put it toward hiring more police officers.”

253 murders have occurred already in Philadelphia this year. “The top priority of government must be public safety,” said Raj. “Right now the people in Philadelphia are not safe.”

When Tesla, the upstart auto company based in Silicon Valley, unveiled its all-electric Roadster at a swank affair in Santa Monica last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped in for surprise visit. Recognition hung in the air. The man who became famous for playing one seriously aggressive electric appliance had come to pay his respects to another.

The event — where Tesla was offering its first 100 "signature edition" cars for $100,000 apiece — felt like automotive history, and I have the feeling that one day I'm going to be very glad I bothered to attend. The yare and sleek carbon-bodied sports car is, by my reckoning, the first plausible electric automobile of the 21st century. And, without electrics, the 22nd century is going to be very rocky indeed.

The 10-year old Republican conservation organization, with a nationwide grassroots membership that also includes many elected Republican officeholders, said that Bhakta is a strong advocate for protecting our environment and supports policies that will responsibly address the serious environmental challenges facing America.

"Raj is a conservation-minded Republican in the great tradition of Theodore Roosevelt," said REP President Martha Marks. "He truly understands environmental issues and is committed to responsible policies that control sprawl, improve air and water quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve our natural resources, and promote clean, renewable energy."

Marks added, "Our party as a whole is not where it should be when it comes to environmental protection. That is why we need to elect Republicans like Raj Bhakta to Congress. His enthusiasm, energy and strong stewardship ethic will be a positive force in Congress and help build the bipartisan support needed to solve our most pressing environmental challenges."

Republicans for Environmental Protection is dedicated to restoring the GOP's great conservation tradition, which began with the vision and leadership of President Theodore Roosevelt.

"Republicans were responsible for most of this nation's landmark environmental laws and for protecting many of America's national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas," Marks said. "We are fortunate to have candidates like Raj stepping forward to carry on that stewardship tradition."

District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham yesterday announced that she would weigh in on a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of inmates alleging crowded conditions in city prisons.

Abraham said that one of the remedies proposed in the suit - releasing inmates to relieve overcrowding - would endanger public safety.

"The last time prisoners were released by a prison cap order, they unleashed a crime wave on the citizens of Philadelphia," Abraham said in a statement. Her office yesterday filed a motion to intervene: to become a third party to the suit in order to protect its interest - public safety.

In the 1980s, the city was sued in federal court by prisoners alleging overcrowded conditions. The city settled by accepting a cap on the prison population, and releasing scores of defendants charged with lesser offenses.

Abraham said that as a result, the number of fugitives nearly tripled, and thousands of them were rearrested for new crimes.

Bianca Ryan, a big-voiced 11-year-old schoolgirl from Philadelphia, was crowned the first $1 million winner on NBC's America's Got Talent Thursday night.

Teary-eyed and at a loss for words when the show's host, Regis Philbin, called her name, Ryan – one of 10 finalists – admitted her shock afterwards.

"I thought he was going to say 'after the break,' I didn't know he was going to announce it right away," she said.