Original News, Features & Opinion on Chicago, Illinois and America
Who are the Arabs of the Southwest Suburbs? The recent personal attacks against a trustee in Palos Township has sparked a discussion about who are the Arabs of Chicagoland. I have spent most of my life studying and writing about the American Arab community, authoring dissertations and studies on them at Northern Illinois and the…
The bullying of Sharon Brannigan Sharon Brannigan, a suburban Township politician who made some improper comparisons while arguing about immigration policy has suddenly become the target of the protesters against anti-Muslim, anti-Arab racism. But in their protests, they have turned into bullies who yell, scream, and disrespect the image of what Arabs are all about. And…
Exorbitant Hamilton tickets reflect founding father’s life “Hamilton: The Satirical.” More tickets were announced available this week to the politically partisan Broadway musical “Hamilton: An American Musical.” But only the super rich will be able to afford seats that allows them to see the whole stage and even the cheap, obstructed seats will still cost…
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Netflix increases fees as programming drops Netflix raised fees, again. But if they want to keep me as a loyal subscriber, they need to be loyal to me and produce some kickass programing. Dropping Kevin Spacey from “House of Cards” is a major blow, and the garbage they are offering the wake of another favorite,…
Taking a stand against pollution The world is being overcome slowly and steadily by pollution in many forms. One of the worst and most threatening is the non recyclable use of plastics. Plastic bottles are finding their way into our oceans and breaking up into plastic particles that are being eaten by the fish that…
Sandburg HS cracking down on e-Cigarettes and vapes Southwest suburban high school cracks down on students using e-cigarettes and vapes, warning it is a health hazard to students and also a local municipal crime. By Ray Hanania The principal of one of the Southwest Suburb’s largest high schools announced Friday that disciplinary action will be…
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Video: Adventures in remembering Harold Washington I traveled with my dad this week to a meeting of former Chicago City Hall reporters at Italian Village to mark the 30th anniversary of the passing of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington. Afterwards, we went to WGN AM 720 radio to join “The Download” radio host Justin Kaufmann for…
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All you can eat Brazilian steak houses One of my favorite restaurants is the Brazilian steakhouse where waiters serve the Churrascaria food selections on skewers one slice at a time with a huge salad bar in the background. Texas de Brazil is at the top of the list but I have enjoyed them all including…
Arab Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Remembering back to the 1960s when Arab Americans had hope for freedom and racism in America was focused elsewhere. Thanksgiving was a feast in Arab American homes in the 1960s and 1970s before politics, hatred, racism and Israeli violence created a refugee crisis By Ray Hanania Thanksgiving is a special holiday…
Remembering Mayor Washington this Thanksgiving Mayor Harold Washington was one of the more affable of Chicago’s mayors. He had a great sense of humor and was driven by a desire to balance the imbalance in Chicago’s society, bringing all of the city’s races and ethnic groups together, treating them equally. It’s something we no longer…
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Rauner’s bash-and-burn TV Ads slander Illinois Illinois Gov Bruce Rauner thinks his ads bashing House Speaker Michael J. Madigan are clever, tapping support from three neighboring Republican governors. But the Ads really symbolize Rauner’s own self-hatred of the state he leads By Ray Hanania Anyone with a lot of money can clog our TV viewing…
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Christmas holidays shoved down our throats It’s not even three weeks till Thanksgiving and stores are already pushing and promoting Christmas. Don’t you think it’s just too soon? Maybe we should enjoy the Fall and also Thanksgiving before we start focusing on the Christmas holidays. By Ray Hanania You don’t have to be Christian to…
Will wonders never cease? Bears favored over Packers for the first time since 2008 By Steve Metsch Yes, folks, you read that correctly. The Bears, as of this morning, are 3-point favorites over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. That’s the first time since December 2008. The Bears were giving four points that Monday night…
DNAInfo.com shuts its doors this week Community news organizations including those online must do better job of fairly reporting the the news than the biased and racist major mainstream news media. Chicagoland journalism is plagued by bias and racism in the news media and its not an easy thing to fix. The demise of DNAInfo.com…
Rauner promises to provide names of Americans against Israel Racist Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner promises to provide Israel, a foreign country, with intelligence information on American citizens living in Illinois as a part of anti-Terrorism security measures. The Governor made the promises during a weeklong visit to Israel this week. By Ray Hanania Illinois Governor…
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Questions in the Kenneka Jenkins death mystery Too often in many tragedies, the focus is always on the role of police or government. Not enough attention is placed on the responsibilities of the parents By Ray Hanania Published in the Southwest News Newspaper group — When does an investigation turn to the responsibilities of the…
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A better way to fight cancer and taxes “Don’t go into the light”, and other healthcare stories including how to fight cancer and use our taxes wisely By Ray Hanania I was sitting in the hospital last week after having successful cancer-removal surgery and I was thinking about what causes cancer. Basically, the National Cancer…
Biding time while waiting for my favorite TV programs The latest trend as cable TV programs rise in popularity and quality is that their seasons are shortened to only a few episodes. For those of us used to 25 to 30 episode seasons, it’s disappointing that we’re seeing fewer episodes for originally programming on HBO,…
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