I’m whopper-jawed. I’m stunned. I’m sick. I’m disgusted. I’m fuming. If you thought that you could no longer be shocked by anything the Bush administration does, you’ve obviously not heard of the latest inhuman, totally depraved, appalling bit of evil coming out of Bush’s EPA. These so-called environmental and health protectors have proposed a new […]
Editor’s Note
Evangelical environmentalism
It’s obvious to even a casual observer that the Lord works wonders in mysterious ways. Just ask Jim Inhofe. Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican who chairs the U.S. Senate’s environment committee, is the favorite pet of corporate polluters whose industrial emissions are cited by scientists as the leading cause of global warming. Not only has Inhofe […]
Lets find a better place for the Salvation Army
Let’s keep working on this Salvation Army issue. There has to be a better location for a homeless shelter than the site the Army has picked, out by the airport. The Salvation Army keeps saying that because homelessness is a community problem, the community needs to find the shelter a home. But even though the […]
Another corporate captive
While liberal and conservative groups alike are poring over the record of Judge Sam Alito to decipher where he stands on Roe v. Wade, who are those guys over in the shadows, grinning from ear to ear? Ah, those are the executives and lobbyists of corporate America, and they don’t care whether Bush’s new Supreme […]
A Thanksgiving connection
It’s Thanksgiving Day — have you hugged a farmer yet? Actually, we need to do a lot more than hug those family farmers who bring us such a bounty of good food, for they’ve become endangered species in the Brave New AgWorld of industrialized, conglomeratized, and globalized food production that our policy-makers are pushing. Thanks […]
No gap, no letting go
A veteran Springfield teacher expressed frustration as she left the Nov. 14 forum on “Closing the Achievement Gap”: “We’re already doing so much of what they suggested, but we’re not closing the gap.” A school official was defensive, claiming that the district is already doing what it needs to do to close the gap between […]
Best ideas since sliced bread
Have you heard of Otto Rohwedder? He’s the guy who perfected the bread slicer, back in 1928. Well, if you can come up with the best idea since sliced bread, it could be worth $100,000 to you. That’s the top prize being offered in a unique and useful competition sponsored by the Service Employees International […]
They’ve stiffed us. Again.
For the second time this year, Congress said no to an increase in the minimum wage, leaving it — and millions of workers — stuck at the poverty level of $5.15 an hour. That’s $10,500 a year for full-time work. Yes, this is the same Congress that gave itself a pay raise in July, making […]
A community and its bookstore
In most American towns, chamber-of-commerce booster types measure the town’s status by whether it has such corporate symbols as a Wal-Mart or McDonald’s. For me, however, the true measure of a town’s vitality comes down to whether it has three noncorporate essentials: a vibrant farmers’ market, a good local pub, and an independent community-based bookstore. […]
Finding the homeless shelter a new home
Sometimes it takes a defeat to get everyone’s attention and gather more resources to start building toward a victory. That is an optimistic assessment of the battle over the location of the proposed Salvation Army community center and homeless shelter. Fortunately, it is shared by both sides of the controversy. Here’s what we’ve learned so […]
Impeach Bush
With that twisted macho smirk of his, George W. Bush keeps telling us that he’s a “war president.” So how’s the chief doing? Let’s do Bush by the numbers: Number of American troops killed so far in his war of lies in Iraq: 1,987, and rising daily. Number of wounded: 14,755, and rising. […]
Is this war really necessary?
As I read 1776, the best-selling introduction to the Revolutionary War by historian David McCullough, I kept hoping the American colonists and their British cousins would find a better way to settle their differences. When King George III made his case for war before Parliament, arguing that “the spirit of the British nation” is too high […]
