Letters policy
We welcome letters, but please include your full name, address and a daytime
telephone number. We edit all letters for libel, length and clarity.
Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois
62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com
A PHARMACIST’S OBLIGATION
David Smith, senior policy analyst for the
Illinois Family Institute, objects to the governor’s recent
emergency rule in regard to a pharmacist’s obligation to fill
a doctor’s prescription [“Letters,” April 14].
I’m sorry, Mr. Smith, but a pharmacist’s moral
disagreement with filling a prescription should have absolutely
nothing to do with what he or she is obligated to do. What if the
pharmacist disagrees with filling prescriptions for HIV patients?
Are we just supposed to let that person play God? Please! What if
you were dying, Mr. Smith, and were in a great deal of pain? Would
it be OK with you if the pharmacist decided that it was morally
wrong to use pain medication — medication that was prescribed
by a physician?
Terry Kochmann
Springfield
IRONY OF IRONIES
I find it wickedly ironic that the city
fathers who authorized the destruction of the East Side mural
“Corporate State 1984,” so as not to offend the
sociopolitical sensitivities of conservative tourists and visiting
dignitaries, now find that budget cuts have caused them to
eliminate planned murals on the outside of the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Library and Museum. I think it’s called poetic
justice. Or “what goes around comes around.” Or bad
karma. Take your pick.
Mike Townsend
Chatham
TURN THE VOLUME DOWN
I submit that the continued noise problem
from concerts at the Warehouse would be lessened, if not fixed
altogether, if the volume were turned down. If the current sound is
loud enough to be heard inside nearby houses, then surely even with
a bit less volume it still could be heard by concert patrons.
Reducing the volume also would reduce the risk of eventual hearing
loss on the part of both the patrons and the band members. Seems
like a win-win situation for all concerned!
Dick McLane
Springfield
OPPOSE INVOLUNTARY RECRUITING
I support the troops and the rights of a
volunteer military, but I do not support institutionalizing
involuntary-recruitment practices. The No Child Left Behind Act
automatically gives the military the right to take any
student’s private information without any form of parental
permission or notification. This snooping into students’
private school information needs to stop! There is an opt-out
provision in the legislation, but rarely are students or parents
informed of it. I encourage students and parents to send letters to
their school’s administrators asking them to keep their
information private. A sample form can be found at
www.militaryfreezone.org/opt_out.
Graham Pritchett
Concordia, Kan.
REMEMBERS 1942 GREEK CONVENTION
I read a very fine article in Illinois Times about
the gifts of the Greeks in Springfield [Bob Cavanagh,
“History talk,” April 14]. It talked about the AHEPA
(the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association)
convention, which took place at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in 1942.
I was there as a member of the senior auxiliary of the
Daughters of Penelope. I was in Mr. Alex Karon’s restaurant, and
I know his daughter, Nancy Drake.
The Americans of Greek extraction in
Springfield have an excellent record of citizenship and
philanthropy. I was elected at the district convention as
secretary, and I went on to become the national president of the
Daughters of Penelope.
Springfield in 1942 holds many fine memories
for me. I am very proud of the Americans of Greek extraction who
were immigrants and worked very hard to provide the best for their
families. Your article was very well done, and people like the
Drakes and Tina (Bartsokas) Ekstrom were very proud to be
Americans.
I was born in Greece myself, and I am a
naturalized citizen. I served the United States in the Navy, and I
am very proud to be in America, where freedom really belongs.
Adeline J. Geo-Karis
State Senator, 31st District
Zion
HOMETOWN PRIDE, CHINESE-MADE
Did anyone notice that the Lincoln souvenir
hats handed out at the Sunday torchlight parade were made in China?
What a way to honor an American president that this city takes such
pride in!
Roberta Codemo
Springfield
THANKS FOR SPUNKY BOTTOMS STORY
I want to thank Jeanne and Tom Handy for
their marvelous article on the resurrection of Spunky Bottoms
[“Bird’s-eye view,” April 7]. I believe that
I’ve read most if not all of Jeanne Handy’s articles in
Illinois Times, and in my opinion this particular one is her best.
Moreover, Tom Handy’s photos are excellent. Thank you for
exposing your readers to this part of the America’s wetlands
heritage. It is very much appreciated.
David H. Binstadt, M.D.
Springfield
FIGHTING FOR THE LAST DROPS OF OIL
Between now and 2022, the demand for oil will
outstrip the supply, and there will be an intense bidding war for
the last dregs of oil on the planet. This will be catastrophic for
the world, and it could be happening now. National Public Radio
reported on March 17 that financial speculators believe that the demand for
oil will outstrip OPEC’s ability to keep up, and so oil
prices continue to rise.
We have known about this problem since 1977.
President George W. Bush knows about it. What is the
administration’s plan? It is a policy that has been in place
since 1977: Go to war to get oil. Wars in the Middle East, where
much of the oil is, will continue for 40 to 50 years — until
all the oil is depleted. The plan is a punishing one of “last one
standing.”
What we need, I believe, is a little
consciousness-raising, as they used to say in the 1970s. If
everyone would become aware of this problem, a public debate could
take place. I, for one, have “postcard-blitzed”
congressmen, as well as the president and vice president. What will
you do?
Beni Kitching
Springfield
LIONIZING LINCOLN FOR EVIL ENDS
Since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in
1865, Lincoln’s presidency has taken on mythic proportions.
Today, Lincoln is all but worshiped here in Illinois. His image is
on our state license plates along with the state slogan “Land
of Lincoln.” He is called “Honest Abe” and
“The Great Emancipator,” and his birthday along with
Washington’s is celebrated as a national holiday. The Peotone
airport boondoggle is to be named for him, and recently, the state
and federal government spent $115 million to build the Abraham
Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. Years
behind schedule and its planning and construction mired in
political scandal and endless cost overruns, the finally completed
library, like the proposed Peotone airport, is a fitting tribute to
one of America’s most corrupt and overrated presidents.
It is fitting that President George W. Bush
attended the dedication of this boondoggle on April 19. It should
come as no surprise that today’s so-called political leaders
seek to lionize Lincoln and follow in his footsteps. By controlling
the present, today’s politicians seek to color our view of
the past and thereby justify their own tyrannical actions: If
Lincoln was a hero, then so are they. If we are ever to free
ourselves from our present tyranny, though, we must learn to
recognize tyranny in our past. Like the true abolitionists and
patriots who rotted in Lincoln’s jails, we must see facts
plainly.
Perhaps you will one day enjoy a visit to the
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield or
one day fly into Abraham Lincoln National Airport near Peotone.
Just try not to forget the hundreds of millions of dollars
squandered, the politically connected firms and politicians who
profited from the construction, and the expropriated landowners and
taxpayers on whose backs these latest Lincoln monuments were built.
Jerome Kohn
Illinois Taxpayer Education Foundation
Chicago
CORRECTION
The wrong date for last Sunday’s
“Wearable Art Fashion Show” was published in last
week’s “Night & Day” section. We regret the
error.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2005.
