Eleven million people play online poker; 10,999,999 of ’em win, usually $2,000 each. No doubt you know one of the 10,999,999 — Uncle Bob’s strange friend who wears a topcoat in the summer, the nerdy college kid down the street, the librarian with the darting eyes. The only problem these folks have is how to […]
Opinion
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The Hype
COMIN’ OUT HARD Not a full day after locking up the Democratic nomination for governor, Gov. Rod Blagojevich came out swinging, unveiling ads attacking his opponent, GOP hopeful Judy Baar Topinka, and inviting her to participate in a series of debates. That’s funny, given that throughout the Democratic primary campaign Blago claimed that he was […]
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The Hype
PARTY TIME If Springfield’s election-night parties are at all indicative of how energetically followers will stump for their political parties, it’s a good thing Gov. Rod Blagojevich has $15 million in the bank. The Democratic, um, party at the Carpenters Union Hall on Tuesday night was about as exciting as the governor’s hair — and […]
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Independence day
A specter is haunting Latin America — the specter of socialism. From the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego, alternatives to the Washington Consensus are being developed and leftist governments are being elected. A 200-year legacy of U.S. intervention in the form of the Monroe Doctrine, “dollar diplomacy,” CIA-backed dictatorships, and the International Monetary Fund […]
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Three years and counting
On March 19, 2003, the Bush administration launched what has become one of the longest-running wars in U.S. history. Now, on the third anniversary of the start of the war, we are just beginning to feel the full effects of the greatest catastrophe in American foreign policy since the Vietnam War. We are all familiar […]
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The Hype
A DIFFERENT MARCH MADNESS I asked Christopher Z. Mooney, professor at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Springfield, to point out a few things to look for in Tuesday’s general primary. Here goes. The race for treasurer, Mooney says, may be the one to watch because it pits […]
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Who’s going to win?
Rich Miller is a smart guy. That’s why he’s a pundit. Miller, whose sage discourses appear in these pages, as well as in the political newsletter Capitol Fax, waved garlic and ran for his shotgun when we called the other day asking who he thinks will win come Election Day, March 21. “I don’t make […]
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The Hype
Fax check Judy Baar Topinka leads the pack for the Republican nomination for governor. She’s also the only Republican who holds statewide office. Lately, it seems, Topinka’s office has been cranking out a news release a day — a marked increase in communications — on everything from lenders’ forums to an African-American History Month reception. […]
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The end is near
Denial and willful ignorance are two of the most salient features of contemporary American society. Our political and business leaders have a financial interest in encouraging short-term thinking, selfishness, and war. As a result, topics covered in depth by foreign media are taboo for America. Some of the issues we refuse to address have the […]
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The most purposeful shot
Harry Jacobs watched from his window as the February snow drifted in his neighbor’s driveway, most of it under the basketball backboard bolted to the roof over the garage door. He watched an easy hour’s worth before he remembered that it was clinic day. “Best call the taxi,” he thought, “get there a little early […]
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Here and there
He was not from here; he was from there. New places made him apprehensive, but it seemed friendly here. The sign outside the building read “Welcome to the Medical Center Parking Ramp.” He’d never been welcomed to a parking ramp before — a comforting start. The parking ramp was full. He joined the circling cars, […]
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Competition’s limits
I was surprised to read a recent commentary in these pages that suggested that the Kerasotes theater chain avoids films with gay content — surprised because it isn’t true. Many have been brought to Springfield by Kerasotes over the years, such as Philadelphia, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Mulholland Dr., and Bound. If Kerasotes dared […]
