Ronnie Polaneczky weighed in on the city's side in the latest controversy concerning the Boy Scouts ("Boy Scouts in a jam," Aug. 2).

I'm waiting for the day when a DN columnist does something really rad and stands up for traditional values (the horror!) and the Boy Scouts (shudder).

But I have a question on Ms. Polaneczky's statement that the city has embraced principle while "the Cradle" (meaning the local Boy Scout council) cannot. In the land of political correctness, does an embrace of principle only count as such when one supports an item on the left's agenda (in this case, acceptance of homosexual scout leaders)?

Out here in Realityville, we see your columnist looking at it the wrong way round. The Scouts are the ones embracing principle.

George Tomezsko, Hollywood, Pa.

When the National Park Service shelved its plan - temporarily, at least - to install a 7-foot-tall fence behind Independence Hall, much of the credit went to elected officials who voiced strong opposition to the plan.

But it was a Chestnut Hill woman who rallied the troops to halt the ill-conceived plan. For Ann Meredith, a mother of two teenagers, it was the second time in recent years she has brought the National Park Service to its knees.

"What motivates you?" I asked her shortly after the Battle of the Fence. "A sense of fairness," she quickly responded. She took particular umbrage at the fact that the National Park Service gave lip service to the opinions of stakeholders. "If the plan had integrity and made sense, I would readily embrace it," she added.

But it didn't and Ann did what she does best - used her persistence, doggedness and passion to arouse powerful elected officials to slow down the Park Service.

Undoubtedly, the Park Service will be back; hopefully so will Ann.

We need her.

As last week's thwarted terrorist plan to blow up airplanes departing from London once again open the floodgates of debate about security, the mother of all security questions is right here in Philadelphia:

How do we protect our symbols of freedom without imprisoning them?

The National Park Service is proposing a plan for Independence Park that would erect a seven-foot-high iron fence in the middle of Independence Square that will essentially bisect the park behind Independence Hall.

The Colonial legislature created Independence Park - where citizens first assembled to hear the Declaration of Independence read - and deemed it to remain forever as an open public-gathering spot. The fence would cut the park in half.

The Park Service has extended the public comment period on this issue. The deadline is now Sept. 1.

These symbols belong to the country, but they live in our city - and in our DNA. It's up to us to urge the Park Service to find a better way to protect the symbols of our freedom without putting them behind bars.

Philadelphia’s troubles are Montgomery County’s troubles, too, according to Republican 13th District congressional candidate Raj Peter Bhakta.

"Montgomery County residents today cannot afford to live in a bubble, take an insular view," said Bhakta. "The decline of Philadelphia causes sprawl and the strip-mallification of Montgomery County… If you want to preserve Montgomery County, you need to save Philadelphia…"

I have a question.

Where's John Street?

Why isn't the mayor more outraged, outspoken and more visible about gun violence in his city?

It is, after all, a hornet's nest.

It's virtually the same rate as that of U.S. wounded in the first seven months of the war in Iraq.

Let me stress that.

Shootings in the streets of Philadelphia occur at a rate comparable to the rate of U.S. soldiers wounded at the start of the war in Iraq.

Political leadership matters, and sometimes means more than behind-the-scenes work. This is one of those times. On this issue, strong and visible leadership is lacking. And I just wonder: Where's John Street?

The casualties of corruption keep piling up in Congress, but lawmakers still avoid corrective action.

Right now, lawmakers seem not at all serious about cracking down on the ethical abuses that stain Capitol Hill. Time is running out for them to prove that statement wrong.

Joseph and Cathie Nasife and their family were stuck in a nightmare for two weeks.

They didn’t know if they were going to get out alive‚ especially when so many around them were dying.

It started out simple and safe enough.

The Nasifes were to go to Lebanon for their son’s wedding‚ and return home in a matter of days.

They arrived on July 5 and the wedding was four days later.

Then‚ on July 11‚ as they were sitting in their resort‚ The LaTourneaunt‚ in the northern part of the country‚ they heard the beginning of their problems.

“At 4 p.m.‚ we heard what we thought were loud blasts‚” Cathie said. “My husband speaks Arabic‚ and he heard them say in Arabic‚ ‘there are bombs.’ Right then and there we said we’re leaving.”

The Nasifes even contacted those that represent them: U.S. Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz‚ D-13‚ and U.S. Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick‚ R-8.

“We called Schwartz‚ and someone in her office said we would get back to you. They never did‚” Cathie said. “Schwartz did absolutely nothing – and she’s our representative.”

As Mayor Street and the rest of the city struggle to thwart a mounting homicide rate, an elite group of 37 has spent the last six weeks brainstorming solutions.

Panel members suggest a "stop-and-frisk" checkpoint, with police monitoring everyone passing through for weapons. They recommend more job programs for felons, more community policing, tougher gun laws, and more positive outlets for youth.

They are not convinced hiring more officers would help.

Their group has much at stake in stopping the violence that has gripped their city this year.

They are about to be sophomores at the city's high schools. And many of them live in neighborhoods wracked by violence and know the victims.

It all began with a tip: In the aftermath of the July 7, 2005, transit bombings in London, British authorities received a call from a worried member of the Muslim community, reporting general suspicions about an acquaintance.

From that vague but vital piece of information, according to a senior European intelligence official, British authorities opened the investigation into what they said turned out to be a well-coordinated and long-planned plot to bomb multiple trans-Atlantic flights heading toward the United States - an assault designed to rival the scope and lethality of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings.

By late 2005, the probe had expanded to involve several hundred investigators on three continents who kept dozens of suspects under close surveillance for months, even as some of the plotters traveled between Britain and Pakistan to raise money, find recruits, and refine their scheme, according to interviews with U.S. and European counterterrorism officials.

"It's not like three weeks ago all of a sudden MI5 knew about this plot and went to work," a U.S. law-enforcement official said, speaking of the British security service. "They'd had a concern about these guys for some time, for months. Details started to emerge, and it became clear over the last couple weeks the nature of the threat and the individuals." The official, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Was yesterday's stunning arrest of 24 Muslim extremists in Great Britain in an alleged plot to blow up as many as 10 jumbo jets over the Atlantic Ocean a good sign, that the West is winning the fight against terrorism?

Or is it something else - not only a grim reminder of the ongoing threat to Americans but a warning that a new generation of homegrown terrorists, increasingly radicalized by events in Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere, is on the march?

Philadelphia Daily News discusses solutions for violence.

A column last week noting links between fatherless homes and violent crime brought tons of reaction and lots of questions, chief among them what can be done.

It's a question begging for more than normal political responses - a special committee or a new police chief or a new gun law or a curfew.

The point is that a crisis, which the city faces, calls for multiple responses, from the orthodox to the unusual. And all should be taken seriously, without political constraints or deference to political correctness.