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Send letters to: Letters, Illinois Times. P.O. Box 5256. Springfield, Illinois
62705. Fax: (217) 753-3958. E-mail: editor@illinoistimes.com
INEXCUSABLE WEAKNESS IN THE LAW
The Audubon Society’s threat to
demolish the 1858 Adams House, a Springfield landmark in fact if
not in law, underscores the impotency of the city to afford
substantial protection to undesignated historic structures [Linda
Hughes, “Tearing down the house,” June 23]. This
inexcusable weakness in the city code resulted from a 1995
amendment to the Historic Sites Ordinance. The amendment prevented
even discussion of the landmarking of a building unless the owner
allowed such debate. The amendment succeeded in its immediate goal
of demolishing the historic Ferguson Mansion on North Fifth Street,
a building cited as one of the 10 most threatened historic sites in
Illinois that year. Now the threat to the Adams House provides the
impetus to restore the Historic Sites Ordinance to its original
form, that mandates free and open discussion of proposed
landmarking of historic properties before the Historic Sites
Commission.
Jerry Jacobson
Save Old Springfield
Springfield
SMELL OF ROTTEN FISH
The Framework Convention on Climate Change of
1992 is a United Nations treaty that addresses potential
human-induced global warming by asking countries to pledge to seek
solutions to the greenhouse-gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
After several years of study, meetings, and negotiations, more than
160 nations met in Kyoto, Japan. The nations drafted an agreement
that put binding limitations on greenhouse-gas emissions for
developed nations. The agreement is known as the Kyoto
Protocol.
The agreement established an
emission-reduction target. The group’s (all nations’)
target is 5 percent. Each of the industrialized nations has an
individual target. While adherence by all nations to the Kyoto
Protocol will not solve global warming, it is a beginning.
President Bill Clinton committed the U.S. to the Kyoto treaty in
1998.
Inexplicably, President George W. Bush in
March 2001 indicated that his administration would not ratify the
protocol. His reasons for reneging on the U.S.’s commitment
are the alleged harm the pact could do to the U.S. economy and his
belief that technology can more effectively fight the effects of
rising temperatures. The U.S. is by far the largest emitter of
greenhouse gases of all industrial nations.
On what did Bush base his conclusion that the
Kyoto Protocol was not necessary? He relied heavily on two
administration climate reports. The reports questioned the
certainty of the science surrounding climate change. The reports
were edited by Philip Cooney. Mr. Cooney, at that time, was a White
House official. Prior to his White House position he was a lobbyist
for the oil industry and had been head of the climate program at
the American Petroleum Institute, which is a trade group for large
oil companies.
One of the giant oil companies that oppose
the Kyoto Protocol is ExxonMobil. It has just been announced that
Mr. Cooney will resign his post with the administration and join
ExxonMobil. Is that rotten fish I smell?
There is no end to the duplicity of the Bush
administration. America has survived many crises, and it shall
survive the Bush administration.
John D. Kolaz
Springfield
TIMES DEMAND GUTS AND HUMOR
In watching Democracy
Now! with Amy Goodman on Channel 375 and then switching to the Daily Showwith Jon Stewart on
Comedy Central, it came to me that what is missing from the core of the
Democratic Party is guts and humor.
Democracy Now! reports
the news in a tremendously serious tone that exudes honor and
decency. While I cherish the fact that we are now able to get an
alternative to the mainstream media, I find the continuous sadness
overwhelming on a daily basis. The Jon Stewart show is filthy,
bitingly funny, and remarkably thorough in its examination of how
leaders in both parties are handling our country. Nothing and no
one is spared criticism, and that is what journalism must do to
maintain a democracy. It also engages your heart and mind. I could
do without the really sick creepy stuff, but sometimes it really
hits the mark in illustrating just how tragically flawed Americans
are in their ability to discern the words of integrity being sold
to them versus acting with integrity: Bomb civilians but sell
yourself as pro-life. Promote education and then take away the
funding with military preemptive strikes. Americans have not been
able to connect the dots.
When things get this bad, irony can relieve
the hopelessness and makes room for clear thinking. You feel less
alone and not so overwhelmed. Democracy
Now! has tons of integrity, which
is greatly appreciated and needed. Perhaps if a show combined the
biting humor of Jon Stewart and Amy Goodman’s integrity, we
just might have something Americans could take into their hearts
and push forward.
Anne Logue
Springfield
FEELING THE HEALTH CARE PINCH
I read “Code red” [Mary Rickard,
June 23] with great personal interest and wish David Gill success
in his campaign for health-care coverage for everyone. What a novel
idea!
Being unable to marry and a self-employed
small-business owner, I do not have access to group insurance or
spousal benefits. My personal monthly insurance premium is just shy
of $800. For that I still get to pay all of my medical bills
because the deductible is so high that I never reach it. Since my
insurance company isn’t anywhere near going broke from paying
claims, I know I’m making the payment on a Mercedes for some
company executive as much as I’m paying into the claim pool.
Maybe now that insurance costs are beginning
to threaten the corporations the way it’s threatened small
business, the manner in which we receive health-care coverage will
change.
Douglas Mayol
Springfield
TIME FOR ACTION ON IRAQ
It is time for Congress to stop
procrastinating about Iraq. Urge our congressional representatives
to sign on to a bipartisan resolution, the Homeward Bound Act
(House Joint Resolution 55 and Senate Resolution 171), calling on President George W. Bush to come
up with a plan by the end of this year to withdraw the troops from Iraq
and for the withdrawal to start no later than October 2006. The binding
resolution is sponsored by Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr., R-N.C.; Rep. Ron
Paul, R-Texas; Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; and Rep. Neil Abercrombie,
D-Hawaii.
We do not want this war and occupation to
drag on endlessly like the Vietnam War, which lasted 17 years.
American public opinion turned against the Vietnam War in 1968, yet
the war continued for seven more years, during which time most of
the fatalities and casualties occurred. There were always new
promises of light at the end of the tunnel, but that war only ended
after Congress voted to cut off funds.
Our troops should not have to pay for the
maliciousness and bungling of high government officials.
Jim Senyszyn
Peoria
SEND A MESSAGE TO CRIMINALS
Mark your calendars now for Tuesday, Aug. 2,
the 22nd annual “National Night Out.” This year marks
the first year that the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security’s Ready campaign is to be a part of National Night
Out. Ready is a national public-service advertising campaign
designed to educate and empower the public to prepare for and
respond to terrorist attacks and other emergencies.
Target Corp. is our national sponsor, and we
are proud and honored to welcome them on board. Every Target store
has or will have an executive team leader for assets protection
that will be our primary point person for National Night Out.
National Night Out plays a vital role in
assisting the local police and sheriff’s department through
joint crime-, drug-, and violence-prevention efforts. It also
provides a unique opportunity for Springfield and surrounding towns
to join forces with thousands of other communities across the
country in promoting police-community crime-prevention efforts. It
is also essential that all citizens be aware of the importance of
crime-prevention programs and the impact that their participation
has on reducing crime, drugs, and violence in our community.
Let’s get our neighborhoods and
community ready to send a message to criminals and let them know we
are organized and fighting back by hosting a variety of special
events. In the North End of Springfield, we are uniting with
several of the North End associations and having one big party.
Anyone who would like to get involved should contact Monica Penman
at monicap352@excite.com or me at 217-528-9933.
Margaret Ann Gramlich
President
North End Improvement Association
Springfield
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2005.
