Last month President George W. Bush visited a nuclear power plant in Maryland to proclaim, “It is time for this country to start building nuclear power plants again.” Bush has joined the nuclear industry’s public-relations campaign for what it calls a “nuclear renaissance,” putting construction of new nuclear plants on a fast track. One of […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
common sense
The Transportation Security Administration is the all-knowing, all-seeing federal agency in charge of taking our shoes off at airports — and our heroic leaders there have recently rooted out a treasure trove of invaluable data. Unfortunately, it’s not information about some secret cell of terrorists — it’s a trove of your personal information and mine. […]
Posted inOpinion
Sunday morning coming down
Zombies have invaded Springfield. Don’t believe me? Venture downtown some Sunday morning. You will see clots of automatons restlessly roaming the streets, trudging ever forward, but shackled by the fact that they haven’t the slightest clue where they’re going. Their eyes, wide open but unfocused, sweep slowly side to side, hopelessly, searching for . . […]
Posted inOpinion
The ogler’s [sic] secrets
In these times when our president struts his bottom-of-college-class standing and our governor jokes of his low ACT score, I find it easier to admit my language ignorance. Of course, our academic failures are not our fault but, rather, the fault of our respective educational systems. And I, for one, admire both the president and […]
Posted inOpinion
common sense 6-30-05
Merck, the $5.2 billion-a-year drug giant, is upset that people think it’s a greedheaded bloodsucker. So Merck’s executives have decided to do something. Does that mean they’ll stop their greedheaded bloodsucking? Don’t be insane — bloodsucking is wildly profitable! No, no, Merck’s honchos want to deal with the appearance of bloodsucking, not tamper with the […]
Posted inOpinion
capital voices 6-30-05
Yanks Avatar is caught between liberal and conservative, and he’s making mistakes. He is, I suspect, not much different from other folks who can reach out and touch their midsixties. Once he was liberal; he’s now leaning conservative. However, in Yanks’ case, his “leaning conservative” brings him only to the middle, for he was, in […]
Posted inOpinion
commentary 6-30-05
It is a natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren until she turns us into beasts — I know of no other way of judging the future but by the past.” — Patrick […]
Posted inOpinion
Durbin was not misunderstood
Now that the dust has settled, it’s time for a closer look at what U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin actually said. Why did it ignite such a strong reaction? My take is that the furor over Nazis by Republicans and talk radio was a smokescreen, part distraction and part denial. What really got Durbin in trouble […]
Posted inOpinion
common sense 6-23-05
Don’t you wish you had a rich and kindly old uncle whose chief mission in life was to give things to you? Well, if you lived in Alaska, bucko, you’d have a generous relative, and you’d call him Uncle Ted, as everyone else does. This year, Uncle Ted has given $645 million worth of stuff […]
Posted inOpinion
User friendlier
Richard M. Yon isn’t your typical tourist. As a Florida university student, pursuing his Ph.D. in political science, Yon’s visit to Springfield over Memorial Day weekend was part of his 5,000-mile tour of various presidential sites. “I’m such a nerd,” he laughs. Over the phone, it’s hard to tell whether he’s being self-deprecating or brutally […]
Posted inOpinion
capital voices 6-16-05
He was Billy Mack See-Inside because it was the name he wanted and what he could do. He could see inside living trees, feel time as it was when each ring was newborn. Weather permitting, he came by every Saturday, stayed an hour, told his secrets, then lumbered on to his other worlds. His uniform […]
Posted inOpinion
common sense 6-16-05
George Washington sagely warned against America’s getting caught up in “entangling alliances” in foreign affairs. President Bush, however, seems to think he’s smarter than the first George W. As a result of Bush’s arrogance or ignorance or both, our country is now entangled in some ugly and messy alliances that put us on the wrong […]
