Original News, Features & Opinion on Chicago, Illinois and America
Daily Herald slams minorities and women in Tollway coverage The Arlington Heights Daily Herald has been running a series of news reports that read more like opinion columns, slamming the Tollway Authority for changing its administrative staff, a change most people agree has been good. But do the attacks from the newspaper also have a tinge of…
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GOP Chairman Schneider denounces State Rep. Kifowit’s remarks Today during floor debate in the Illinois House of Representatives, Democratic State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit wished death upon Republican State Rep. Peter Breen and his family. Kifowit later said her words were “misheard, misrepresented, misinterpreted and mischaracterized,” but an audio recording of her extreme rhetoric proves otherwise….
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Challenging racist laws that restrict free speech By Ray Hanania Letter I wrote to Illinois Representative David Harris of Arlington Heights (Republican) who introduced a bill last year to expand the existing anti-BDS law that prohibits Americans from criticizing a specific foreign country, Israel. I criticize Israel’s government and will continue to criticize Israel’s government…
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Miriam Zayed passing mourned by Chicagolands Arab, Muslim community Local activist fought for the rights of Arabs and Muslims in the Chicagoland area and also for the rights of all in mainstream American politics. Miriam Zayed was among one of the first two Arab Americans in Chicagoland to run for public elective office in the…
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No justice in fight against crime in Van Dyke conviction Two issues continue to bother me. The first is the imbalance and lack of justice in the prosecution of Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke, and the lack of attention to the criminal behavior of the victim Laquan McDonald. The second is the increasing amount…
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Roseanne Barr should spin-off her own new series Just because ABC TV Network doesn’t want Roseanne Barr in the newly re-engineered Roseanne TV series called “The Conners,” doesn’t mean she can’t be the star of her own re-engineered Roseanne TV series with its own premise, starring Roseanne Barr. By Ray Hanania I really enjoyed the…
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When will people in Chicago get serious about violence? Organized protests may bring attention to the problem of neighborhood violence. But if community homeowners and families don’t stand up to the violence in their own community, they can’t make a difference and violence will continue. The past weekend when Chicago saw 74 brutal shootings and…
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Pfleger publicity stunts do nothing to stop violence Father Pfleger organized a protest of community residents and activists to block traffic on the Dan Ryan Expressway recently to protest increasing gang violence. But are the protests good for the community or his own personal interests. What he should be doing is helping residents to stand…
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Media hypocrisy over Roseanne Barr Roseanne Barr’s racist reference to Valerie Jarrett is irresistible and Barr rightly apologized. But was ABC TV’s decision to punish Roseanne by cancelling her hit TV series revival warranted? Or, is it the result of a double standard fueled by news media bias against Barr because of her open support…
A “teaching moment” on Roseanne Barr, the media and political hypocrisy Roseanne Barr said something stupidly racist about Valerie Jarrett and Jarrett responded saying we should take it as a “teaching moment.” But what kind of “teaching moment” can we have in an America that is deeply divided, caught in the middle between extremist politics…
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Destroying American history because of racial politics The wave of attacks against symbols of the civil war is undermining the history of this nation for political reasons and is driven by a form of reverse racism. Statues and markers recognizing icons of the South from the civil war are being targeted because of reverse racism…
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A good movie should be about entertainment These days, movie reviewers judge films not by what the audience wants but rather by what they want. Oftentimes, those judgments are driven by issues that pander to social minorities and left-wing liberal preferences. Why can’t we judge films based solely on their entertainment value, rather than on…
Groups plan to protest Confederate presence at Chicago cemetery Rally and Speak-out Against Confederate Monument This Saturday, February 7, from 3-4 PM, there will be a community speak-out outside of Oak Woods Cemetery, at 71st and Cottage Grove. Within Oak Woods Cemetery there is a 46 foot tall statue commemorating the confederate soldiers who died…
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Lawsuit filed against Facebook for housing discrimination in Ad policy Today (March 27, 2018), the National Fair Housing Alliance (“NFHA”) and three of its member organizations filed a lawsuit against Facebook, Inc. in federal court in New York City, alleging that Facebook’s advertising platform enables landlords and real estate brokers to exclude families with children,…
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Why conspiracy theories are necessary Youtube has launched a campaign to delete and ban videos that promote “conspiracy theories” that trend against mainstream acceptance and news media coverage. But is that a wise thing to allow? Conspiracy theories keep the American public aware of instances when conspiracy theories are actually a reality By Ray Hanania…
Rally for Gutierrez for opposing Israeli detentions of children, Chicago, IL Congressman Luis Gutierrez will be honored by leaders and activists on Monday March 12, 2018 for his leadership in calling on Israel to end its policies of imprisoning and detaining children. Gutierrez, who has represented the Illinois 4th Congressional District since January 1993, has…
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Remembering Chicago’s racial tensions from the late 1960s Looking back at Chicago in the 1960s and the racial tensions that divided Blacks and Whites, I decided to write a book about that experience. White Flight, which I titled “Midnight Flight: One family’s experience of White Flight and the racial transformation of Chicago’s South Side (an online…
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Remembering Billy Graham and Christian Arabs The Rev. William “Billy” Franklin Graham Jr. died this week at the age of 99. During his life, Graham once held the Palestinian Christians of Bethlehem in the highest esteem. And when my mother passed through one of his evangelical conventions one day, Graham held her hand high up…