While the City sifts through our trash hoping to catch recycling violations, we found out it is apparently OK for the City not to bother recycling. Last week, only the regular City trash truck showed up in our neighborhood. The guys collecting took the recyclables and mixed them with the regular trash. When my wife complained, the trash collector assured her it was “all right.” The recycling truck never showed up …

Law enforcement in Bensalem must really have lots of time on its hands anytime it prosecutes a woman for allegedly trying to trade sex for World Series tickets. Let’s see, who was the real loser here — the woman who got her 15 minutes of fame plus the tickets or the Bensalem Police Department, which spent taxpayer money going after the woman …

The lack of H1N1 vaccines is appalling. Officials knew about this for how long yet you can’t get a shot for swine flu if your life depended on it (which it might) at public health clinics in Philadelphia or from your family doctor. If this mess had happened during the Bush administration, we would be screaming about the incompetence. The Obama administration should man up and take the heat for its rosy predictions about vaccine availability and stop passing the buck to the manufacturers …

The proposed health-care reform bills coming out of the House and Senate would reportedly cover 96 percent of the uninsured who are too young to get Medicare. The proposed bills also would reduce the federal budget deficit by $100 billion over the next 10 years. These are the estimates of the Congressional Budget Office as reported in The New York Times Oct. 30.

The proposals are not without flaws, but they accomplish the main objectives of covering most of the uninsured and deficit reduction, a major victory for all of us …

This was written before the results are in on a referendum in Maine that would repeal gay marriage in that state. I can’t imagine any of us straight folks putting up with the threat the state could negate the legality of our marriages at anytime. It is bad enough ones like our own don’t recognize gay marriage, but once it is legal to try and repeal the law is simply outrageous and should not be tolerated in a country that prides itself on fairness …

As the president wrestles with the request for more troops for Afghanistan, here’s what those accusing him of “dithering” ought to consider: the government of Afghanistan is hopelessly corrupt; the Soviets couldn’t pacify that country with a much bigger troop commitment; the brother of the Afghan President Hamid Karzai is reportedly involved in the drug trade while simultaneously being on the payroll of the CIA; and most of Al Qaeda has moved into Pakistan. John le Carré wrote in his novel “The Little Drummer Girl,” terrorists are as elusive as drops of water on a wall. There are good reasons for the president to “dither”…

In case you haven’t noticed, the much-maligned federal stimulus is working. “Fueled by Stimulus, U.S. Economy Grows” was a headline on the Business page of the Inquirer dated Oct. 30. The article goes on to say, for the first time in four quarters, the GDP rose. The question being raised now is not whether the stimulus works, but how long will the recovery last?

If it were up to Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, there already would be a second stimulus in the works. Lesson learned for the Teabaggers: during a recession, when the banks are not lending money and the interest rates are zero, it is the job of the federal government to stimulate the economy and get it moving again …

The most distressing habit of the sports media in New York and Philadelphia is to bash each other’s city with phony comparisons. It’s as if to root for the Phillies, I must hate New York — the city and its fans.

Actually, I rather like New York. I enjoy Broadway and its bright lights, the excitement of its theaters and restaurants and the great shopping. We try to make it up there at least once or twice a year. I also love Philadelphia and the fact our restaurants are second-to-none (yes, Virginia, we are more than just cheesesteaks).

As for the fans, I find them more alike than different. Both are passionate, sometimes rude, but always devoted. You can be passionate rivals without stereotyping one another, can’t you …

It is November and the Kennedy assassination will be front and center again. I recommend The History Channel special, “JFK — Three Shots that Changed the World.” It is a meticulously detailed, chronological look at the events in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, and afterward. It should be must-viewing for those of you too young to have lived through it.