Despotly seeking Idi
Untitled Document The Last King of Scotland Running time 2:03Rated R Parkway Pointe At the heart of The Last King of Scotland is a ferocious performance by Forest Whitaker as the ousted Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The actor so finely captures the ruler’s vocal inflections and physical presence that it’s hard not to just sit…
Opportunity’s risk
Untitled Document Abuzz with Friday’s news that corn had hit near-record prices, a small group of farmers and curious investors gathered at 1st Farm Credit Services in Normal last weekend to hear a pitch for shares in a new corn-to-ethanol plant in Gibson City. If it’s approved, the facility won’t be fired up until the…
Letters to the Editor
Untitled Document We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address, and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to Letters, Illinois Times, P.O. Box 5256, Springfield, IL 62705; fax 217-753-3958; e-mail editor@illinoistimes.com. GLAD FOR THE DISCUSSION I thoroughly enjoyed the article “Alone in a crowd” by R.L. Nave [Jan. 4]. Not only did…
A surge of pessimism
Untitled Document Much ink has been spilled and outrage revved up in arguing that the Bush administration has shamefully ignored the Iraq Study Group report released in December. But in a speech on Jan. 10 announcing a new strategy for Iraq, President George W. Bush took a major ISG recommendation to heart: the United States…
Motion denied
Untitled Document Three Springfield police officers face a federal trial on claims that they used excessive force in the 2002 death of a mentally ill man. In a Jan. 10 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit denied the city of Springfield’s motion for summary judgment in a case based on qualified…
Powering forward
Untitled Document Despite several ice storms in the capital city that knocked out electricity for thousands of customers of Springfield’s City Water, Light & Power — the most recent last weekend — utility officials say that construction of a new power plant is continuing on schedule. According to project manager Brian Fitzgerald, Mother Nature has…
Resurrection city
Untitled Document In contrast to my column of a few weeks back, which ruminated on the discouraging state of the Springfield music scene, it may be time to sing a different tune. It seems that things here, in our local nightclub world, have perked up considerably. Here’s a taste of things to come: • The…
Misstep
Untitled Document The first Springfield screening of the movie Stomp the Yard had a certain air of excitement about it. The audience, filling maybe half the seats in the theater, included small children, middle-aged parents, canoodling couples, gray-haired elders, teenagers with jeans bagging and caps askew. Some of these people were African-American; some were of a…
Children of the future
Untitled Document Children of Men shows us a future in which all women have become infertile. It also shows us a future without maids and janitors. Will the world in the year 2027 really be this filthy and grungy? You would think that without kids around it would be easier to keep things clean. Children…
Tropical winter
Untitled Document Just a few days ago, the news from your neighborhood climatologist might have suggested there’s really something to that global warming thing. Take the first Saturday of January, when temperatures climbed into the low 70s in the Northeast — where the weather is supposed to be . . . well, you know what…
Limited by the source material
Untitled Document The Book of Exodus isn’t one of God’s finer moments. From the moment he first appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush, it’s obvious that Mr. I-Am-That-I-Am has a thing for cheap theatrics. When his staff-into-serpent party trick falls flat, he makes with the real razzle-dazzle. Rivers turn to blood.…
People’s poetry
Untitled Document friendquote poem #5I pick up illinois times most weeks don’t always read all of it but here and there you know it fits exactly the bottom of silas’s birdcage and boy that bird makes editorial comments all over the place ©Jacqueline Jackson 2006 Newborns begin life as…
Pressing matter
Untitled Document Consider the olive. The olive tree has been cultivated for more than 5,000 years, starting in the eastern Mediterranean. Trees can live and bear fruit for as long as 1,000 years. The Greek word for olive, elaia, is the root of the word “oil.” It’s difficult to overstate the importance of olives to…
Non-toxic paints
Untitled Document I’m moving into a freshly painted apartment and am curious as to whether it makes any sense to repaint the walls with nontoxic paint in the hope of covering up the toxic stuff already there — or is it too late? Conventional indoor paints do indeed release potentially toxic chemicals during and shortly…
Olive branch
Untitled Document You’d think that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who is forever being touted as one of the smartest politicians in Illinois history, would have realized long ago that Barack Obama was immensely popular and needed to be treated differently than others. Yet it wasn’t until last week that Madigan finally offered a public…
Wall Street’s greedheads
Untitled Document In December, while children were enjoying visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, the barons of Wall Street were having much richer dreams — and all of theirs came true. The top dogs at the big banking houses gorged themselves on record payouts that have taken greed to new heights of obscenity. The…
