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CARTOON CROSSED THE LINE
Among my favorite parts of Illinois Times are the cartoons. They usually give me a reason to chuckle. However, I found “Plastidad” [Ted Rall, Oct. 12] to be very distasteful and trivializing of what our military families endure. I was shocked and surprised Illinois Times decided to print the cartoon! Freedom of the press and speech was given to us by the sacrifices of our military people throughout our history!
Whether or not the cartoonist supports the war, do not trivialize a soldier’s misfortune. To think a family can substitute a plastic cutout of a loved one is very poor taste!
I don’t mind if a cartoonist is using freedom of press/speech to trivialize the elected officials or to speak out against issues. This cartoon, trivialized a soldier’s ultimate sacrifice.
I’m very disappointed that Illinois Times printed this very poorly conceived cartoon!
Jeff Davis
Dawson
LAWYERS SHOULDN’T MAKE LAWS
Lawyers should not be allowed to serve in the Senate or House of Representatives, either on the federal or state level. It is a conflict of interest. Congress passes laws that are so complex that regular citizens cannot figure them out. That is why we have more lawyers per capita than any other country. They make laws so complex that they guarantee work for themselves and their classmates. You can say that Lincoln was a lawyer, but that was in an earlier time.
Lawyers are needed in the judicial branch and are acceptable in the executive branch, but the lawmaking arm of government just bogs down with their presence.
Patrick Johnopolos
Springfield
TREATED RUDELY AT THE CAT SHOW
To the snobby broad at the cat show in Springfield this past weekend who told me not to make eye contact with her cats, here’s a big “up yours!” If you don’t want your precious babies exposed to the public, put a blanket over their cages. I came all the way from Peoria to spend time with my mother and sister and was treated very rudely. Rather than asking nicely not to mess her animals, she went on this big speech about how cat show guidelines regulate the animals interacting with the public. Why do you think it’s open to the public and we spend $3 to get in? It’s not to look at the tops of their cages. Needless to say, I’ll never pay to go to the cat show again. I’ll happily go back to Pekin where I live and go to the animal shelter where not only do I get in for free, I can interact with the animals as much as I want in their “cat room.” To all you cat-showing snobs, either learn to be nice or make the cat show not open to the public.
Jamie Herman
Pekin
TIME TO REDEFINE “PUBLIC” PLACES
I think the city needs to rethink the smoking ban. First, they need to decide just what is or is not a public place. A bar is just that — a bar. It discriminates by barring anyone under the age of 21. If you’re 21, then you’re old enough to decide whether you want to walk into a roomful of smoke to have a beer. If you work there, you’re old enough to decide if you wish to work in that environment. Don’t want black lung? Then don’t work in the mine. A tavern or a bar and grill is nothing more than a restaurant that masquerades as a bar; as such, they allow all to enter. If you’re a restaurant that just so happens to serve alcoholic beverages, you still have to allow all to enter your establishment.
Managers and owners of bars that do not have or maintain a city- or county-licensed kitchen should be allowed to decide whether their establishment is smoke-free. Should they decide to allow smoking, then they should be required to post signs that smoking is permitted so that patrons can decide if they wish to enter.
Now, if this does not make good sense to the city’s aldermen, then maybe they should ban cigarette machines in these establishments. If smoking is that dangerous to those too stupid for their own good, then maybe tobacco-product sales should be banned as well within the city limits.
W.D. Foster
Springfield
PRESIDENT BUSH’S LEGACY
Who’s the genocide champ now? Wow, who could’ve guessed this crude hayseed from Texas could be the “king of killing”? Holy cow, 600,000 killed in Iraq! George W. Bush, your “legacy” will indeed go down in history. But if you could be around to read it, I don’t think you’d like it.
Of course, you won’t be alone in that legacy. There’s too much blood on too many hands. Too much to ever wash off. And the killers’ defenders, including the right-wing radio brownshirts, bear much guilt for cheering them on.
Robert Waldmire
Portal, Ariz.
HYPOCRISY OF BUSH AND REPUBLICANS
President George W. Bush recently headlined a fundraising event for none other than Don Sherwood, a Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania. Sherwood is a typical conservative Republican member of this Congress. He has a wife and family, touts family and religious values, and mocks anyone who might disagree with him on anything. Typical. He also has had adulterous affairs. His last one was with a woman in his office (taxpayer paid), 30 years younger.
When she cut off the affair, Sherwood tried to choke her to death. Police were called, a police report completed. He now says, in campaign ads, “I’m sorry.” I have not heard if he has yet checked into alcohol rehab, the typical Republican excuse this year.
Why is President Bush a hypocrite for endorsing and raising money for Sherwood? The month of October is National Domestic Violence Month. Bush just gave a big speech on the horrors of domestic violence.
Remember, when you vote for a Republican for Congress on Nov. 7, this is the type of behavior you are condoning. Hopefully you’re in the 1 percent of us who have received the big tax cuts. That should make up for the corruption, incompetence, and disgraceful actions of this Bush-rubberstamp Republican Congress. It’s up to you.
Michael Peterson
Springfield
TIME TO GET CREATIVE
I’ve been out more since the smoking ban went into effect. As a nonsmoker, I’m enjoying myself more because my eyes aren’t burning when I walk into a bar, and I don’t smell like an ashtray when I come home. I haven’t seen the decrease in business that others are complaining about. Granted, I’m only one person and can only visit so many bars at once, but I’ve been inside several and drove by more since the ban and haven’t seen a decrease in patronage. If anything, they appear to have just as many people as they always did, and the parking lots have just as many cars.
The truth is, the laws and regulations don’t have to mean that much to an entrepreneur. If the environment changes, then change your business to meet that environment. If your business is seriously hurting because people can’t smoke inside your establishment, it’s time you take a serious look at your business. Take a look at your market, figure out what customers want (besides smoking), and cater to those needs. Get creative. Bring in live entertainment, have drink specials, or even do something unusual like sponsoring a singles night (we are in desperate need of those) or even start a new kind of business, like a microbrewery. I, personally, would love to see something like that here.
I’m not saying it’s easy, but this is make-or-break time. If your business can’t survive this change, maybe it’s time you learned there’s more to running a business than just having a liquor license. Some may lose the battle, but not the establishments I’ve been to. They’re doing fine and appear to be in no danger of going out of business. Springfield won’t lose its nightlife — it will just change.
Steve Marley
Springfield
A CUT ABOVE
Humphrey’s Market [1821 S. 15th St., 217-544-7445] still provides the old-fashioned cuts of meat without the extra weight of packaging in the vacuum bags with water added [see Amy Spies Karhliker, “Unkindest cut,” Oct. 12]. This store has been in business for many years. There are butchers available there.
Nina Bain
Springfield
This article appears in Oct 19-25, 2006.
