THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD
Cool weather wasn’t the only thing different about this year’s Illinois
State Fair.
Did anybody notice that for the first time ever, the annual Twilight Parade
included a float officially sponsored by a gay and lesbian group? Dubbed the
Diversity Express, the blue locomotive festooned with rainbow balloons and flashing
lights and blaring the tunes “Come On, Ride the Train” and “Peace Train” won
the grand marshal’s award in the noncommercial-float category. It was sponsored
by the Station House bar, the “outandabout DJs,” and Phoenix Center, which provides
HIV testing and counseling.
“Hopefully our little train has opened some minds and hearts,” says Doug McCulley,
an outandabout DJ.
FOX HUNT COMES TO SPRINGFIELD
Filmmaker Robert Greenwald contends that the Fox News Network is neither
fair nor balanced. His new documentary, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on
Journalism, makes the case with clips of Fox broadcasts, interviews with
former Fox employees, and interoffice memos that show how network executives
pushed for conservative, pro-Bush administration slant. Springfield’s Middle
East Peace Project sponsors a screening of the film at noon Wednesday, Aug.
25, in the Carnegie Room North of the Lincoln Library. For information, call
217-787-3354.
MORE TROUBLE WITH “B” AND “S”
The Virginian-Pilot had to cough up an apology this week for
botching the name of the Illinois Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. The Norfolk-based
daily referred to Barack Obama as “Osama” — as in Osama bin Laden — in a commentary.
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2004.
