Letters to the Editor
No more rockets In 2005 Israel withdrew completely from Gaza, no soldiers, no civilians, nothing! What did Israel hope to accomplish? An area ruled by Arabs, for Arabs, living side by side with Israel in peace. What did happen? Constant rocket attacks since then, over 6,500 rocket and mortar attacks against Israel. The cease-fire lasted…
Bullet points for assessing the Bush years
As the classic New Year’s song asks, “Should auld acquaintance be forgot?” Not if our auld acquaintance is the Bush regime. Yes, our country will soon be getting a new beginning, and maybe, just maybe, we can put it back on the right path. As we head that way, however, we ought not totally put…
WTF, Facebook?
After his wife and several friends signed up, Bill Carter decided to create a Facebook profile six weeks ago. Not long ago, Facebook served primarily as a vehicle for college kids to rag on their professors and ascertain the location of the next beer pong tournament. Now the world’s largest social networking site, Facebook is…
IT Picks
THEATER | Joseph’s dreamcoat The Springfield Theatre Center is giving theater lovers what they have been asking for with a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. According to Bill Bauser, director of the musical, it is the most requested show at the Springfield Theatre Center. The story follows Joseph, who wears a multi-colored…
The return of the Timmys
Well it isn’t exactly the return of the Timmys because the Timmys never really left. But it’s been a good while since the fun-loving and well-loved local punk-mock rockers graced the stage or floor of a Springfield club. According to Robbie Kording, a founding Timmy, their main singer and all around instigator of goofy antics,…
A dash of salsa in the gym
You feel it in the pit of your stomach first: a thumping Latin beat that makes your insides shake and your heel start tapping. But by the end of the hour, you feel Zumba everywhere: your heaving lungs, your pulsing stomach muscles, your swinging shoulders. “It truly feels like you’re dancing with your friends,” said…
Yoga comes in many wonderful flavors
You can do it in the air. Or by sea. You can do it if you’re young. Or old. Or in 100-plus-degree rooms (Bikram yoga). Indeed, yoga, the ancient Hindu practice for the mind, body and spirit, has evolved from breathing exercises and meditative poses to physical therapy to aerial choreography to a new way…
Southwind Park building seeks highest environmental rating
Once just sketches on a blueprint, Erin’s Pavilion has evolved. Since last June workers have structured the exterior walls and poured the concrete floor of the $4 million, 15,000-square-foot multipurpose welcome center situated at Edwin Watts Southwind Park — an 80-acre “all people” recreation area near the intersection of Interstate 55 and Toronto Road. When…
China%uFFFDs ethos of piracy
The year 2008 went out with a big bang for Microsoft. On Dec. 31, a court in China’s southern city of Shenzhen convicted 11 people of violating national copyright laws for manufacturing high-quality fake versions of Windows XP, Vista, Office and 16 other Microsoft products, and distributing them in 36 countries. They were sentenced to…
What can you do when you don’t do the gym?
Fitness professionals hear the same excuse many times: “I’d love to get in better shape, but I’m not a gym person.” So, for people who don’t like conventional exercise programs, what else is there? The answer is simple: plenty. At community centers, church gymnasiums, martial arts centers and the YMCA, there are many options for…
Pairing beer with food
It’s one of the oldest beverages in the world — almost certainly the oldest alcoholic beverage. There are references to it in some of the earliest writings discovered in ancient Sumeria and Mesopotamia. In its modern forms it has a range of flavors and complexities that can match and often exceed wine. So why is…
Foreign films coming to Springfield
Voir Il y a Longtemps Que Je T’aime et Auf Der Anderen Seite à Springfield. Translation: See I’ve Loved You So Long and The Edge of Heaven in Springfield. The closing of Kerasotes’ White Oaks Cinema last September was the most recent of several blows to independent and foreign cinema in Springfield. As venues for…
Torino proves a grand exit for Eastwood
Gran Torino proves to be a requiem of sorts for Clint Eastwood. This graceful, poignant film is the perfect exit for the iconic actor/director as he displays not only his usual confidence behind the camera but is also at the height of his skills in front of it. Never before has Eastwood given such a…
Inspecting the DHS inspector general
The Department of Human Services’ Office of Inspector General needs to improve its handling of investigations, according to a review by state auditors. The inspector general is responsible for probing neglect and abuse claims at state-supported mental-health and disability service agencies. In the 2008 fiscal year, there 1,631 allegations of abuse and 329 of neglect…
Back to the future in Enos Park
In the late 1800s it was known as the “Jewel of Springfield”! A hundred years later in 1997 it was officially classified as a “blighted community” qualified to establish its own TIF district. In 2003 it became the geographical “heart” of the Mid-Illinois Medical District. Today it’s a neighborhood struggling to regain the image of…
People’s Poetry
cellopoem #1 I watched gerrall practicingthe back legs of her folding chairwere neatly wearing shoes perhapsto even the seat more likely to keepthe chair from moving a cellist can’thave a chair that moves I always saidthat unlike violinists a cellist playsas much with the seat of her pants as with her arms and fingers ©…
The homeless taking care of business
At this business meeting of homeless people, some of the speeches are long and rambling, but that’s no different from many of the church and professional meetings I sit through regularly. What is different from many meetings I attend is that the business is important and the focus is clear. Advocacy for the homeless by…
