Hypocricies in the mainstream media

I had to laugh when I read Steve Huntley's column in Friday's Chicago Sun-Times. Steve, my former editor there, has fashioned himself as one of the leading enablers of anti-Muslim hate. He has company at the Sun-Times although the ranks of Muslim bashers have been weeded out in the newspaper's transition from bully pulpit under the racism of Baron Conrad Black to returning to respectable journalism again as a great newspaper. Huntley is the odd-man out, though, with his narrow views on the Middle East.

Huntley, citing one of the most critical anti-Muslim newspapers in America, the Wall Street Journal, notes that Muslims have protested to Random House over a new book called “The Jewel of Medina.” And then Huntley goes on to set up the Council on Islamic Relations, CAIR, in his column, tying them into the theme that Muslims protest excessively and monitor the media too closely. (CAIR, in my opinion, is inconsistently either a leading proponent of free speech or often the leading vigilante squelching free speech.) The protests have led Randomn House to not release the book. The book is about the Prophet Muhammed who led and founded the Islamic religion that “only” a 5th of the people of the world observe. The book has been described as scurrilous and vicious and pure anti-Muslim hate.

And here's Huntley, arguing that it's sad when voices are silenced because of bigotry. What a hypocrite. Huntley served on the Sun-Times board at a time when anti-Muslim and anti-Arab voices were not only silenced and prevented from being articulated, but when they hate-mongering against Muslims and Arabs was at it’s ugliest and most vicious crescendo.

Believe me, if the book were a gossip-filled dissertation exposing Jesus as something other than the Christian Messiah, he’d be all over it demanding that it be removed from store shelves. Sure, he’d say, publish it, but don’t you dare sell it or face my ugly wrath!

Huntley didn’t write to blast the Wall Street Journal which hounded Chicago attorney Mazen Asbahi out of a job as a volunteer liaison between the Muslim Community and the Barack Obama campaign. The Wall Street Journal reported that Asbahi served on a board that had some members who were from another board who were … GASP! … Muslim! Eeeeiyiiiiiiieeeeee! Oh my God! Muslims are Americans too!
Guilt by association is the bludgeon that hypocrites like Huntley and the Wall Street Journal justify when the targets pray to the wrong religion.

It’s all pathetic and one reason why the mainstream American news media is faltering. It’s not just the economy. Hell, the economy has been up and down for years but you have never seen the devastation being reeked upon the print news media like the Chicago Sun-Times these days.

No. The print media is faltering because the writing in many newspapers over the past decade have turned to the far, ugly right. Conservative neo-fascism disguised as free speech used to bully and intimidate anyone who has a viewpoint that they dislike. And it hasn’t been just one newspaper. It has been most of the major newspapers. The writing has been filled with hate-mongering, and vicious slander of a religion and a people.

If a Gay person went on a killing spree, no one would write he’s a terrorist symbol of the evil Gay Rights movement. Andrew Cunanan. If a Chinese man on the street in Beijing goes on a knife wielding rampage killing two innocent tourists, no one calls him a representative of a terrorist people. If a Catholic farm boy fills a truck with explosives and parks it in front of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, no one calls Christians terrorists.

But, if one Arab or one Muslims does anything crazy, criminal or violent, the entire Islamic World is held responsible. Islamic terrorism. Islamic violence. Muslim fanaticism. Islamo-fascism. Those words role off the lips of writers who exploit anything to make Muslims and Arabs look bad.

No. The print news media isn’t suffering just because the economy is bad. Everyone is suffering because the economy is bad. The print news media is suffering because more and more open-minded people are turning to alternative sources on the Internet instead of reading their junk in the inked up pages of their newspapers and their minds. More and more journalists who have been shut out of the mainstream media because of their religion and ethnic heritage have found a stronger wider voice on the Internet. More and more people have found that the Internet, not hate-mongering newspapers like the Chicago Sun-Times, allow them the true essence of free speech that the mainstream news media hypocritically manipulates.

The Chicago Sun-Times, overall, is a better paper than it was when it was in the hands of imprisoned felon Conrad Black. But the anger from some corners in its newsroom remains far too disturbing. Not that newspapers care. They love to dish it out but they can never take the criticism. They slam everyone and then one someone slams them, they engage in campaigns of intimidation and libel.

I’m going to send Random House a letter thanking them for caring about the concerns of Muslims and Arabs – Christian Arabs, by the way, are Muslim by culture and although we don’t observe Islamic religious practices, we identify closely with the essence of the Islamic lifestyle that is really about peace, justice and family values. (Yes, every group has its dark side but, like I said, no one holds those bad apples as representatives of the entire orchard, except writers like the Chicago Sun-Times’ Huntley, I guess.


(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist and author. He can be reached at www.TheMediaOasis.com and by email at rayhanania@comcast.net.)


Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Is your computer safe: from the Better Business Bureau

Steve J. Bernas President & CEO

Tel: 312-245-2514
Fax: 312-832-1907
Cell: 312-848-8437
Web: www.chicago.bbb.org

BBB
330 N. Wabash Ave Suite 2006
Chicago, IL 60611




News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE





Is Your Computer Taking You Where You Want To Go?

Chicago, IL, August 14, 2008- The Better Business Bureau warns that if you use your computer to buy or sell items, or do other financial transactions, requiring passwords and user IDs, you should confirm the online security of those Web sites. And you need to make sure the latest patches to stop criminals from diverting users to fake Web sites where a user’s personal and financial data could be stolen have been installed.

“For every new use that your computer enables you to do, there always seems to be another negative, nefarious or criminal use that often counters the benefits,” says Steve J. Bernas, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois.

Bernas explains that on July 30, 2008 the New York Times printed an article about a flaw in the Domain Name System. This Internet-wide system translates Web site addresses that most users can understand into numeric versions that computers understand.

The flaw allows a criminal to redirect Web traffic to a fake site that looks like the intended Web site. This would allow the person to steal the user’s name, password and other information. There would be little or no indication of the user’s misdirection.

“This is a global problem but it is our understanding that many of the large Internet providers, such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon have fixed the problem for their customers,” Bernas says. But he adds “for consumers to insure the safety of their personal information they need to check with their internet providers”.

This issue affects businesses as well so it is equally important that IT departments and network administrators take the necessary steps to safeguard their systems. That includes contacting the webmasters of the sites that you visit to make sure that the appropriate system patch has been installed.





“As with any type of potential identity theft, it is often difficult to determine what’s been done,” Bernas notes. “It’s always a good practice to look at all your credit card and other financial transaction records on a regular basis to spot any that are unauthorized.”

Additional information about the Better Business Bureau and this specific situation can be obtained by going to www.chicago.bbb.org, or contacting the BBB at: 312-832-0500.


###

About the BBB

As private, non-profit organization, the purpose of the Better Business Bureau is to promote an ethical marketplace. BBBs help resolve buyer/seller complaints by means of conciliation, mediation and arbitration. BBBs also review advertising claims, online business practices and charitable organizations. BBBs develop and issue reports on businesses and nonprofit organizations and encourage people to check out a company or charity before making a purchase or donation.

A tornado in Orland Park last week?

JUST MY POINT EXACTLY. No one ever really cares about the Southwest Suburbs. Orland Park DID have a tornado but no one reported it, until now, a week later. Even the local papers missed the story. Here's a story in the Chicago Tribune that finally came out today and that officially confirms what many people in Orland Park have been saying all along. There was a tornado here, albeit not a huge whirlwind. (I say many because a few just were so drunk that during the tornado they thought they were sober.)

The wind ravaged my bedouin encampment in the backyard and I think my hookah got wisked away in one of those August 4th zephyrs. Trees were bent at 45 degree angles. The unkempt lawn at the Award Winning Orland Park Police Station -- which the village insists is an open lands project -- was howling in the wind. The debri that often covers the parking lot of the 151st Street and West Avenue strip mall just vanished, the winds were so bad. A above ground pool a few blocks away was lifted up and relocated in a neighbor's yard (and the village cited them for excessive water use during the summer water drought ban whatever.) The suburban stereotype of swingers and wife-swapping was replaced by garbage can swapping.

All we heard about was Bolingbrook, Bloomingdale and Griffith, Indiana.

All that and nary a mention in the local gossip pages. Isn't it like the news media and everyone everywhere else to just ignore us?

It's not just Orland Park that everyone is ignoring. It's the entire Southwest Suburban region. To the bosses in Chicago -- who control some of the politicians right here in Orland Park, hint, hint -- Orfland Park doesn't exist.

Here's my top 10 list of pet peeves about how the Southwest Suburbs are ignored:

10 -- We have a tornado and it takes 9 days for anyone to officially acknowledge it

9 -- Why is it the state has spent the past half century building expressways to serve the Northwest and North suburbs and all we get is some far out extension to help voters in Will and DuPage County?

8 -- Why is it that everyplace else get's efficient and round-the-clock public transit and all we get in the Southwest Suburbs is "After Thought." PACE, Metra ... the undependable lines.

7 -- The terms "Southwest Side" and "Southwest Suburbs" are often misused by the media usually to describe murder and mayhem in other areas like Little Village, or the far South Side. The far south side is NOT the Southwest Side.

6 -- The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times (which steals copy from the Southtown) takes very seriously issues of importance to residents in Winnetka and Skokie and Evanston, but they barely take notice of our region.

5 -- Political corruption and mismanagement are headline grabbing leads in other areas of the region, but very few serious journalists pay any attention to government corruption, waste, lying and deceipt when it takes place in Orland Park.

4 -- Why does the Southwest Suburbs have more racial hatred than other regions -- people are still steaming over the building of the mosque here

3 -- Chicago has made a pitch to bring the Olympics to the city in 2016 and the grand plans for the events involve every place else except the Southwest Suburbs.

2 -- Coffee at Starbucks in Buffalo Grove tastes exquisite, but in the three franchises in Orland Park, it tastes like dead possum!

1 -- How come Bernie Mac used to come to Orland Park and smoke his cigars through his oxygen tank tubes at local cigar stores and no one ever mentioned that?

Ray Hanania
OrlandParker.com

Celebrity Sightings: Kanye West's FatBurger coming to Orland Park

Orland Park has a lot of celebrities. Crains Chicago Business reports that the first "Fatburger" owned by hip-hop/rapper and George Bush-critic Kanye West will be opening sometime next month in Orland Park. The 2,353-square-foot, 74-seat restaurant will be at 15110 S. La Grange Road, near the intersection of 143rd Street.

Kanye owns "KW Foods LLC," which has rights throgh the Santa Monica, Calif.-based burger chain Fatburger Corp, to develop 10 Fatburgers in the Chicago area with the first in Orland Park and a second in Evergreen Park next year.

Orland is a magnet for celebrities, especially sports and entertainers. We have lots of them including Buddy Guy, a few Bears and Sox players, and, if you haven't see the entourage following R Kelly (Robert Sylvester, web site http://www.r-kelly.com/). The rapper and singer-singwriter hangs out at LifeTime with a huge entourage. Not exactly the way to remain anonymous, I guess. But, the R-man raises eyebrows and high-fives followed by a network almost as large as the one in that cell phone commercial.

Welcome Kanye. Word is the food is great and we're glad to have you here.

Now, some people have told me they also used to see Bernie Mac, who is from Chicago originally, hanging out at a cigar bar in Orland Park with his oxygen tank at his side and the breathing tubes in his nose, while puffing on a cigar. Just before Mac's deasth, he performed as a warmup for an appearance by Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama. Mac cussed his way through the riffs and drew a mild rebuke from Obama, who then said, eh was just joking. But staffers later insisted Obama had criticized some of the Mac's comments.

Let us know of any other celebrity sightings in Orland Park or the region.

Ray Hanania
http://www.themediaoasis.com/

Trying to be something Orland Park is not

There are some people who are never happy with what they are or what they have. They're always looking elsewhere for the "big ideas" instead of right in their back yards. Take Orland Park's "leadership," for example -- I use the term liberally, of course.

The Village has been purchasing land bordering LaGrange Road, 143rd Street and Southwest Highway -- the triangle -- to develop a mixed-use, Old Town-like downtown area adjacent to the newly remodeled Metra train stop. The last hurdle is the purchase of Orland Plaza, which has been all over the news.

The idea is this "down town" will be like Frankfort's downtown. A place that has a look and feel from the past when people would sit on the edge of the wood planked sidewalks (after the mud dried), watched the horse and buggies klop-klop by, kicking up mini-dust storms, and eat homemade pie.

I admit the idea has some merit. When I want to lazily walk in a turn-of-the-century like downtown center, I drive to Frankfort, spend a few hours there, and then never go back, except maybe for their annual Labor Day weekend arts, craft and food fest, which is one of the region's best.

If I want to spend more than a few hours at a place like that, I've traveled to Narbonne in France and walked around Carcassone, between Toulous and Narbonne in France, not too far from Perpignon on the Cout d Azure, which was Salvador Dali's favorite place to paint. I'll spend a few days walking around there among its olden days store fronts, shops and streets filled with circus-like minstrels. Or, maybe, you might travel to Palestinian East Jerusalem, and visit the Souq and spend hours walking from one tiny shop to another taking in the aromatic orchestra of incense. (In fact, at the end of this column, you can watch my July 2007 Comcast Cable TV program "TV Chicagoland/30 Minutes" and my video tour of the Souq of East Jerusalem.) Or, maybe, go to the old city in Barcelona and take in breathtaking ancient churches and structures from real Medieval times.

But does Orland Park really need an "Old Town?"

I don't think so. I know they keep telling us it's to broaden the "ambiance" of our little village. Well, Orland Park is no "little village." With better management, it could be the economic engine driving the Southwest Suburbs. Instead, we're slumped by a poor economy like everyone else and that's surprising because we have so many retail shops our sales tax revenues should be shooting through the roof and they are not. We have so many store fronts that are vacant, a trashy look that reminds people of a future ghetto -- it's happened to places. I've seen it.

Mayor Dan McLaughlin fashions himself off to be some mini-me Mayor Daley. We'll call him "da boss," because behind his unpresuming smile is one tough politician who gets angry over any resistance from people around him.

(That's how he was to me when I told him that instead of automatically appointing his nominee for a certain high-paying village position, we should at least open the job up to the village residences to see if anyone else was interested in qualifying for it -- I quit the commission when he told me it was either his way or the highway and now he goes around telling people he doesn't understand why I am so critical of him -- you're no different than the other two-faced politicians, Dan!)

It's that 19th Ward fever that has been sweeping through our community over the past few years. There's no immunity for it, yet.

So, how about we drop this stupid idea of some turn-of-the-century old town atmosphere and instead build something really remarkable, like a community theater (that isn't political like the one we have today), or a museum campus, or some place where people can go to have real enjoyment, arts, entertainment and fun?

Secrets of the Souq of East Jerusalem Video
Click the PLAY button to watch
or THIS LINK IF THAT DOESN'T WORK ON YOUR COMPUTER:

Frankfort Township official crosses the line on Arab and Muslim hatemongering -- but some of the response is hypocritical

Frankfort Township Assessor Paul Ruff, whose government job is to serve as a liaison on their property taxes with the Cook County Assessor, seems to have expanded his duties recently when he sent out an email to a lot of people in his township that expressed his concerns about Muslims who live in America.

No one actually has the exact email that Ruff allegedly sent out, and Ruff is not returning phone calls or emails so we don't know if he actually wrote it, or more likely, received the email and thought it was worth forwarding to his email list (which is something so many people do often.)

But several groups are trying to organize protests against Ruff and they are partnering with some good groups and some groups that are not so good, like CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations which has a habit of browbeating those in the Arab and Muslim community who go too far in denouncing extremism and anti-American violence (more below on CAIR).

Here is what has been written in all the local newspapers about what Ruff wrote:

The e-mail, circulated in June, said America should follow the lead of Australia's former prime minister John Howard, who said Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law should get out of Australia.

"Once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our Christian beliefs or our way of life, I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, the right to leave," the e-mail said, supposedly quoting Howard.

The e-mail actually was based on a column by Georgia state lawmaker Barry Loudermilk.

"Maybe if we circulate this amongst ourselves, American citizens will find the back bone to start speaking and voicing the same truths," the e-mail continued. "If you agree, please send this on."

Loudermilk is a racist and a bigot. I doubt that Ruff is a racist and he probably is just reacting the way most Americans do when they see Islamic fanatics make all kinds of threats against Americans (as they are doing targeting the Beijing Olympics), but only see many high profile Islamic "leaders" like CAIR waffle and walk carefully in their limited denunciations of "extremists."

What CAIR does is to denounce extremists and extremism, and violence. Yet, they do not hesitate to stand with fanatics and extremists who do not denounce violence and extremism. And, CAIR has walked a fine line, denouncing Osama Bin laden and al-Qaeda, but NOT denouncing Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which are terrorist organizations that use violence and the reprehensible and indefensible suicide bombing violence in which young, misguided Muslims and Arabs are brainwashed by their fearless leaders who convince them to sacrifice their lives for the cause while the fearless leaders do not sacrifice their own lives.

CAIR's Chicago spokesman is Ahmed Rehab. He is a very good person. Very genuine. But CAIR is sometimes "racist" (I define that as a group that discriminates againsts omeone else on the basis not only of race but also religion and ethnic and religious political views) and often engages in the same kind of hatemongering against individuals that it often denounces that is done to Muslims in America.

In otherwords, CAIR will denounce people like Ruff, but they remain silent when Muslim American extremists attack and denounce and intimidate Christian Arabs like myself and other secular Muslims.

The majority of Muslims in Chicagoland are moderates. They are not engaged in any anti-American activities. Yet, they are intimidated and browbeat by organizations like CAIR to shut up or be ostracized. (Just look at the case of Omar Najib, a Palos Heights based lawyer who has been the target of a hate campaign by extremist Muslims, many at the Bridgeview Mosque, and yet you WON'T hear CAIR denounce that extremism from among their own ranks.)

That's the hypocrisy that CAIR represents. Rehab is trying to change that but after waiting three years for him to do something, I think the time is now to put pressure on CAIR to either genuinely denounce extremism (including those extremists in the Muslim community right here in the United States and in the Chicago area) and stop being hypocrities about hatemongering, or there should be a formal campaign to ostracize CAIR and expose it for what it is.

Ironically, well intentioned groups like the Southwest Interfaith Team (SWIFT) -- the coalition of Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders -- are ignorant of the reality of the hatemongering that takes place inside the Arab and Muslim American community. They speak out against hatemongering against Muslims but DO NOTHING to stand up to the hatemongering by organizations like CAIR and others against Christian Arabs like myself and secular Muslims.

The Arabian Club of Orland Park is planning a public meeting where some of these issues can be discussed and I hope you will attend. Until then, here is some background on the issues discussed here:

Ruff's Township Assessor's Web Page

Story in the Southtown July 22

Story on Ruff's achievements in the Frankfort Station Newspaper April 8

The Council on American Islamic Relations Chicago Page

SWIFT Web Page

We were unable to reach Ruff for a comment.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.themediaoasis.com/

It's not over yet for John Edwards

I used to really like John Edwards. Before Hillary Clinton, he was my first choice for president. I still do like him, sort of. But as each denial from him comes out, I am finding that I like him less and less.

I met Edwards and I participated in several conference calls with him when he was considering running for president and then became a vice presidential candidate in 2004. I followed him when he ran during the past year. He was a very likable person. Of course, everyone born in 1953 is likable (including me.)

Yet, deep down I can't help but to believe that John Edwards is still lying. He lied about having an affair and now has come "clean." Yet, he seems like he is qualifying everything, instead of coming clean.

He was asked about a photo in which a man who looked like him was holding a little baby that belonged to his girlfriend and former staff person, Rielle Hunter, and instead of saying he did or did not meet the baby, insisted that the picture could or might not be him. It's the trait of a liar to pretend to tell the truth but work hard at mincing words in order to walk around the truth.

I don't believe we have the truth yet from Edwards and I don't think I am alone. I think Edwards needs to tell the truth. The whole truth. And nothing but the truth. Why? Well, I recognize that a person's personal life is really no one's business. But, after you held yourself up to the level of moral and principled heights that marked your public campaign to win over the support of the American people, you owe it to us to tell us whether you were duping us, too, on the issue of whether you would make a good president.

Your private life is now public and you have a moral and principled obligation to set the record straight. Either you did or did not father the child. What else are you hiding? How many other women are there from your past campaign trail on which the shoulders of millions of Americans relied?

Tell the truth John. Quit playing games. Avoiding the truth and playing games with the way you answer things will do more harm to you and your family than admitting the ugly absolute truth.

But, you won't know that until it's too late and you keep lying, unfortunately. It's tragic to see your fall. I admired you and so did many millions of Americans.

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com