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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.
PROHIBITING ALL “BAD” THINGS Wow, what an article by Nick Gillespie [“The
race to ban,” Jan. 4]! I am surprised someone had the intestinal
fortitude to speak out against these groups force-feeding us these bans.
What a direct, to-the-point, and very true article! If every adult reading
this article doesn’t get outraged at what is happening, they should! Pandora’s box was opened some time ago, and now
someone has kicked it over, spilling everything inside. The original
“can’t think for themselves so we are going to force it”
issue has to be the seat-belt law. Sure, there’s less injury using
seat belts — who is really denying that? These groups are basically
saying, “The general public is too stupid to decide on their own, so
we will force you!”
Yes, there is a possible ban for everything someone
has decided is bad for us. For those readers who applaud some of these bans,
don’t applaud too much or too loud. At some point you will be banned
from your vice, favorite food, or beverage. Here’s a list I see as being next for the
“all things bad so let’s ban it” list: alcohol, beef,
pork, caffeine, sugar, barbecue (lots of smoke and charred meat), eggs,
salt, tuna, and fried chicken. Do I really need to continue to make my
point? There’s a survey/study somewhere saying all these products are
bad in one manner or another. The real problem, though: For the most part, the
public isn’t actually voting for some of these bans. Isn’t
about time a politician with intestinal fortitude takes a stand and tells
these lobbyist groups to place these bans on general election ballots? Let us decide if we want these bans. Before too long, we will all be
forced to eat only organically grown rice and vegetables and wash it down
with only approved, certified, mandated water.
Jeff Davis
Dawson
HERE’S SOMETHING TO BAN I heard that they are going to push for a statewide
smoking ban. Well, that is all right. However, what they should put a state
ban on is the cell-phone use [in vehicles] without a hands-free device.
Cell-phone usage is getting out of hand. Police officers are among the
biggest offenders: I have seen them driving and talking on their cell
phones, and they should be setting an example for how we should conduct
ourselves behind the wheel. The statewide smoking ban is a joke: The ban
should be on the use of cell phones. John Rector Springfield
NEXT STOP: IRAN Plans are being readied for a military engagement
with Iran. Aircraft carriers have been moved into position in the Persian
Gulf, and the first shot was fired during Bush’s recent speech to the
nation when an Iranian consulate was attacked in Kurdistan in northern
Iraq. If you think this isn’t happening, think again. One key
indication is that Adm. William Fallon has replaced Gen. John Abizaid as
chief commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East — a perfect choice
if you want to go for military engagement rather than political engagement.
The plan is for surgical strikes against specific targets in Iran, but it
won’t end there. Eventually it will necessitate the use of ground
forces (where are these going to come from?), and, when that fails, [the
United States will] resort to the use of nuclear weapons. Building on this
cataclysmic state of affairs will be Iran’s use of nuclear weapons.
This will lead to a worldwide economic depression. Cassandras have been
warning us of the coming debacle. To name just a few: Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker, Scott Ritter
(author, Target Iran), Joseph Cirincione of the Center for American Progress, Daniel
Ellsberg of the Vietnam era (pleading with leakers to come forward and
expose the administration’s secret plans), and, finally, retired
Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan. Richard Perle has stated that the policy of this
administration is “total war.” Iran and Syria have been in
their sights all along. War is the solution to any problem, even if
you’re losing. The motto is “failing forward,” as Hersh
has said. And why? Because this is how they stay in power. If you want to
stop them, the only solution is impeachment and removal from office. Start
the proceedings now. (A word to the Democrats: as the old saw goes,
“Nero fiddled while Rome burned.”) Beni Kitching Springfield
WHAT IS THE GOVERNOR HIDING? Well said, Joshua Hue [“Letters,” Jan.
18]. I am with you 100 percent. I hope you sent a copy of this to the
governor’s office, because I am sure he doesn’t read Illinois Times. I have heard
this governor say so many times how he wants to stop corruption in our
state government. What is the governor hiding? Release the subpoenas.
Another angry taxpayer. LaDonna McClanahan Springfield
STORY REFLECTED MY EXPERIENCE
As I sat in my break
room yesterday and today, I had a chance to unwind from the “brain
drain” I have continuously felt from working and residing here, and I
read your article about being “Alone in a crowd” [R.L. Nave,
Jan. 4]. For the first time ever since moving from my home in Chicago, I
discovered that my negativity regarding this city was not just a personal
issue that I needed to dispose of. First of all, let me state for the record that I am
not interested in the nightlife on any level. However, I have noticed that
the futile mentality runs rampant amongst all races here. Getting high or
intoxicated, envying anyone they don’t know, fighting, feuding, and
stealing from each other seem to be the way of life. We have too many
African-American people who come from the larger cities to “get on
Section 8” or settle for menial jobs so that they can stay on welfare
assistance and get Link benefits, simply because it is much cheaper to live
in Springfield. With this regressive way of living in this area, I
can relate to the hopelessness professional and level-minded minorities
undergo on a daily basis and will pounce on the chance to get out of here.
I also know that racism in the entire nation is as prevalent as the air we
breathe, but its prevalence here is suffocating. Regardless, if there are
new developments and large opportunities that arise, the issue will always
be the process of selection and who will handle it in a fair and objective
mannerism. We recently had a historical landmark open in
Springfield, in 2005. I was professional enough to converse with the
patrons, smile, and explain what their experience would entail but not
professional enough for any office duties that my nonminority peers were
assigned to complete. I was commended for my knowledge, but I was not fully
appreciated or made to feel capable. I have tried to reject the idea that
it was because I am an African-American and that maybe it had more to do
with my being active in my union (in a place where they honor the man
committed to preserving the Union) and the others were not. It became even
harder to ignore when a few of the white employees left; they passed around
fliers bearing icons of weeping faces and threw house parties for
them. They were invited to our senior administrator’s home for a
barbecue months after they had left. I, on the other hand, received our
daily passdown of events that stated that it was my last day and
“good luck.” As infantile as it sounds, it hurt because I put
my everything into exemplifying that I was a model employee, regardless of
what my personal life entailed. Since tranferrring from this facility, I
have been awarded certificates for a higher-paying title in three counties
of my choice (Sangamon is dead last, of course) through a union-sponsored
program. With all of this said, it does not change the
perspective of my neighbors or future employers in this town. I am saddened
by the reality check your article provided me. I just hope that within the
next 20 years or less our community leaders and residents can pull together
with a modern and culturally diverse solution and come from out of the
shadows of oppression.
Althea Barnes Springfield
This article appears in Jan 18-24, 2007.
