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Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com.
WHY FOOD COSTS MORE Corn is getting a lot of attention these days, especially as it has played a growing role in ethanol production. Some anti-ethanol and anti-agriculture groups want you to believe that the emergence of this new domestic fuel industry is behind high food prices [see Stan Cox, “Recipe for hunger,” May 15]. If that seems hard to swallow, it should. Record-setting oil prices are the biggest reason for food-price increases, along with growing world demand for food, a weak U.S. dollar, and wheat and rice crop failures around the globe. Meanwhile, U.S. farmers last year grew a record-setting 13.1 billion bushels of corn on 86 million acres. Of that, 22 percent went to make about 7 billion gallons of ethanol. That still left enough corn to supply the domestic market, increase exports to record levels, and stockpile a 10 percent surplus. The White House Council of Economic Advisers recently noted that higher prices for corn account for 0.25 percent of the current increase in food prices. So how has food gotten so expensive? Production, packaging, and transportation, among other factors. And what is the common denominator? Oil.
Oil prices have soared past $130 a barrel; some in the investment industry predict oil could rise as high as $200 within two years. It’s time to quit giving OPEC a free ride on escalating food costs and start showing support for a domestic industry that is creating American jobs, feeding the world, saving you 30 to 40 cents a gallon at the gas pump, and leading the way toward great freedom from oil tyranny. Andrew Goleman Divernon
MISSING YANKS AVATAR Not so very long ago, on a beautiful early afternoon I took a walk after lunch. It was a day with the bright promise of spring sun, but cold enough to make you doubt global warming this late in the spring. Near the Capitol, on a bench half in sun and half in the shade, I saw a gentleman. He looked vaguely familiar, not quite distinguished but not quite aimless and without purpose, either. He had enough class to have been dressed by his wife, but his look was like so many other state retirees you see along the way in our city. His face was filled with the melancholy look of loneliness. His fingers were poised over the keys of a shiny laptop computer, but they didn’t move. With his head cocked, his eyes scanned side to side, looking toward the no-one-there on the bench beside him. Since he didn’t seem to mind my intrusion into his space, I watched a minute, wondering about this man, obviously not homeless or hopeless but looking for all the world as if he were struggling to hear someone’s voice. I wondered about this man, sitting on the bench seeking his purpose. It began to hit me. Before the governor began his assault on everything Springfield I had seen this man around the Capitol more than once. Back then his face was filled with a quizzical look of satisfaction. I remember his talking to the no-one-there on the bench back then as well. Every time I would walk close then, he would whisper to his space-mates on the bench, sharing secrets too important for mere passersby to overhear. I don’t remember ever seeing a laptop on those days, and I began to wonder if the technology had scared his friends away. It looked like a gift from his kids, or maybe he borrowed it from his wife. As I remember, this man was a friend of yours. Perhaps if you took the time to stroll downtown on a warm afternoon you might find him and ask about his voices. It would be a shame if there were conversations going unheard because of some mix-up before politics chased all the fun people to Chicago or Benton. With my lunchtime almost gone and a cloud over the sun this man stood up from his bench. I smiled and walked by but he didn’t smile back or acknowledge my leaving. I stopped to speak, but he did not invite me to chat. Turning his back on me, he walked away, happy to talk to himself. I overheard something to the effect of “they just aren’t worthy of Yanks Avatar,” or words to that effect, and he was gone. Walking back to my office, I decided I needed to let you know your friend was still around and see if you could find him, maybe as a public service. It is so sad if there are stories that need to be told but no voices to speak up.
Rex Crossland
Springfield
SACRED STORIES AND POLITICS Various sacred stories urge the importance of the connectedness of all kinds of people. The Pentecost story (Acts 2:5-12), recently celebrated in many churches, describes 17 nations, alienated by language suddenly, by God’s Spirit, understanding each other. This implies that God has always intended for humankind to be united, of one Spirit — to be connected. Not in some legally forced way but in a coming together of alienated human hearts. The opposite is for humans to deny we are mutually and dependently connected and to act out that cynicism. When any of us denies our connectedness, does not take it seriously, or fails to seek ways to live it out, we become out of harmony with God and the sacred oneness of humanity. The issue of race is now in the daily news. With a black man and a white woman running against each other for president, we are living in history-making times. But we also are stirred by racial tensions many thought were no longer active. Daily we see some highly influential person, regardless of party or ethnicity, or media personality exploiting racial tension to influence the future of our country. Religious people should, with eyes wide open, see that any use of tendencies toward racism, for political benefit, is in direct opposition to many of our sacred stories. If our country shows itself willing to build its future by exploiting race, it is building on fear and suspicion and not on the foundation of the sacred call for mutuality and equality among all kinds of people.
It appears in some states that whites are primarily voting for Clinton and blacks for Obama. Until people vote for individuals on the basis of their character, intellect, and leadership potential rather than their color or gender, we are in much trouble. We may miss the very gifts that God sends to guide us to a more noble, a more spiritual, society. Some individuals no doubt have really moved beyond color, but I fear large numbers have not experienced such spiritual transformation. For persons with religious hope, this should be seen as a high priority challenge. The central themes of our sacred stories cannot fully live in persons or nations that have not dropped, really dropped, racism and sexism as ways to live in and think about the world.
The nation has an opportunity now to make a giant step forward in this part of our life, by our spiritual consciousness’ being raised up a notch. Or we can digress in the opposite direction, succumb to fear and suspicion, and risk losing many of the gains made. This is an American issue of highest spiritual importance. I hope reflecting on our highest religious traditions will result in American people using the historical moment to make real the meaning of the Christian Pentecost and similar sacred stories. Rev. Jim Hibbett Riverton
MAKE RED LIGHTS OPTIONAL I’ve heard there’s legislation to try and provide money to some communities to install cameras to catch people not stopping at red lights. They’re probably doing this because there’s no one coming the other way and, as a consequence, they end up sitting there burning gas, waiting for no one. They should pass emergency legislation that if there’s no one coming the other way, to heck with the red light . . . you can go. I for one am tired of sitting at red lights when there’s no one coming the other way. You just sit there — burning gas at $4 a gallon. It would be a good move for our wallet and the environment. Paul Valek Jacksonville
WHY FOOD COSTS MORE Corn is getting a lot of attention these days, especially as it has played a growing role in ethanol production. Some anti-ethanol and anti-agriculture groups want you to believe that the emergence of this new domestic fuel industry is behind high food prices [see Stan Cox, “Recipe for hunger,” May 15]. If that seems hard to swallow, it should. Record-setting oil prices are the biggest reason for food-price increases, along with growing world demand for food, a weak U.S. dollar, and wheat and rice crop failures around the globe. Meanwhile, U.S. farmers last year grew a record-setting 13.1 billion bushels of corn on 86 million acres. Of that, 22 percent went to make about 7 billion gallons of ethanol. That still left enough corn to supply the domestic market, increase exports to record levels, and stockpile a 10 percent surplus. The White House Council of Economic Advisers recently noted that higher prices for corn account for 0.25 percent of the current increase in food prices. So how has food gotten so expensive? Production, packaging, and transportation, among other factors. And what is the common denominator? Oil.
Oil prices have soared past $130 a barrel; some in the investment industry predict oil could rise as high as $200 within two years. It’s time to quit giving OPEC a free ride on escalating food costs and start showing support for a domestic industry that is creating American jobs, feeding the world, saving you 30 to 40 cents a gallon at the gas pump, and leading the way toward great freedom from oil tyranny. Andrew Goleman Divernon
MISSING YANKS AVATAR Not so very long ago, on a beautiful early afternoon I took a walk after lunch. It was a day with the bright promise of spring sun, but cold enough to make you doubt global warming this late in the spring. Near the Capitol, on a bench half in sun and half in the shade, I saw a gentleman. He looked vaguely familiar, not quite distinguished but not quite aimless and without purpose, either. He had enough class to have been dressed by his wife, but his look was like so many other state retirees you see along the way in our city. His face was filled with the melancholy look of loneliness. His fingers were poised over the keys of a shiny laptop computer, but they didn’t move. With his head cocked, his eyes scanned side to side, looking toward the no-one-there on the bench beside him. Since he didn’t seem to mind my intrusion into his space, I watched a minute, wondering about this man, obviously not homeless or hopeless but looking for all the world as if he were struggling to hear someone’s voice. I wondered about this man, sitting on the bench seeking his purpose. It began to hit me. Before the governor began his assault on everything Springfield I had seen this man around the Capitol more than once. Back then his face was filled with a quizzical look of satisfaction. I remember his talking to the no-one-there on the bench back then as well. Every time I would walk close then, he would whisper to his space-mates on the bench, sharing secrets too important for mere passersby to overhear. I don’t remember ever seeing a laptop on those days, and I began to wonder if the technology had scared his friends away. It looked like a gift from his kids, or maybe he borrowed it from his wife. As I remember, this man was a friend of yours. Perhaps if you took the time to stroll downtown on a warm afternoon you might find him and ask about his voices. It would be a shame if there were conversations going unheard because of some mix-up before politics chased all the fun people to Chicago or Benton. With my lunchtime almost gone and a cloud over the sun this man stood up from his bench. I smiled and walked by but he didn’t smile back or acknowledge my leaving. I stopped to speak, but he did not invite me to chat. Turning his back on me, he walked away, happy to talk to himself. I overheard something to the effect of “they just aren’t worthy of Yanks Avatar,” or words to that effect, and he was gone. Walking back to my office, I decided I needed to let you know your friend was still around and see if you could find him, maybe as a public service. It is so sad if there are stories that need to be told but no voices to speak up.
Rex Crossland
Springfield
SACRED STORIES AND POLITICS Various sacred stories urge the importance of the connectedness of all kinds of people. The Pentecost story (Acts 2:5-12), recently celebrated in many churches, describes 17 nations, alienated by language suddenly, by God’s Spirit, understanding each other. This implies that God has always intended for humankind to be united, of one Spirit — to be connected. Not in some legally forced way but in a coming together of alienated human hearts. The opposite is for humans to deny we are mutually and dependently connected and to act out that cynicism. When any of us denies our connectedness, does not take it seriously, or fails to seek ways to live it out, we become out of harmony with God and the sacred oneness of humanity. The issue of race is now in the daily news. With a black man and a white woman running against each other for president, we are living in history-making times. But we also are stirred by racial tensions many thought were no longer active. Daily we see some highly influential person, regardless of party or ethnicity, or media personality exploiting racial tension to influence the future of our country. Religious people should, with eyes wide open, see that any use of tendencies toward racism, for political benefit, is in direct opposition to many of our sacred stories. If our country shows itself willing to build its future by exploiting race, it is building on fear and suspicion and not on the foundation of the sacred call for mutuality and equality among all kinds of people.
It appears in some states that whites are primarily voting for Clinton and blacks for Obama. Until people vote for individuals on the basis of their character, intellect, and leadership potential rather than their color or gender, we are in much trouble. We may miss the very gifts that God sends to guide us to a more noble, a more spiritual, society. Some individuals no doubt have really moved beyond color, but I fear large numbers have not experienced such spiritual transformation. For persons with religious hope, this should be seen as a high priority challenge. The central themes of our sacred stories cannot fully live in persons or nations that have not dropped, really dropped, racism and sexism as ways to live in and think about the world.
The nation has an opportunity now to make a giant step forward in this part of our life, by our spiritual consciousness’ being raised up a notch. Or we can digress in the opposite direction, succumb to fear and suspicion, and risk losing many of the gains made. This is an American issue of highest spiritual importance. I hope reflecting on our highest religious traditions will result in American people using the historical moment to make real the meaning of the Christian Pentecost and similar sacred stories. Rev. Jim Hibbett Riverton
MAKE RED LIGHTS OPTIONAL I’ve heard there’s legislation to try and provide money to some communities to install cameras to catch people not stopping at red lights. They’re probably doing this because there’s no one coming the other way and, as a consequence, they end up sitting there burning gas, waiting for no one. They should pass emergency legislation that if there’s no one coming the other way, to heck with the red light . . . you can go. I for one am tired of sitting at red lights when there’s no one coming the other way. You just sit there — burning gas at $4 a gallon. It would be a good move for our wallet and the environment. Paul Valek Jacksonville
