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There Is No Rehabilitating The Vietnam War

By Robert Freeman/Common Dreams

Since the day it ended, in 1975, there have been efforts to rehabilitate the Vietnam War – to make it acceptable, even honorable. After all, there were so many sides to the story, weren’t there? It was so complex, so nuanced. There was real heroism among the troops.
Of course, all of this is true, but it’s true of every war so it doesn’t redeem any war. The Vietnam War is beyond redemption and must be remembered and condemned for the calamity that it was. The Vietnam War was “one of the greatest American foreign policy disasters of the 20th century.”
Those are not the words of a leftist pundit or a scribbling anti-American. They are the words of H.R. McMaster, the sitting National Security Advisor to the President of the United States.

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Posted on September 25, 2017

24 Hours With WYCC

By Steve Rhodes

“After 34 years as the City Colleges of Chicago’s public television station, WYCC-Channel 20 will be going off the air,” Robert Feder notes. “But it’s no surprise. The decision was prompted by the sale of its broadcast license in the FCC spectrum auction in April.”
If I recall correctly, the idea of the city selling off WYCC’s license originated with Feder; he at least lobbied for it. Which makes me sad, because WYCC offers quality public programming that I find consistently more interesting than the WTTW lineup. Let’s take a look within the confines of our “24 Hours With . . . ” series, starting Friday afternoon.

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Posted on September 22, 2017

Without A Net: The Digital Divide In America

By Tara García Mathewson/The Hechinger Report

The United States is likely to reach the goal of making sure every single public school has access to the Internet by 2020, according to EducationSuperHighway, a nonprofit focused on this milestone. But that won’t close what has come to be known as “the digital divide.”
Nearly one in four school districts still does not have sufficient bandwidth to meet the digital learning needs of students. And even before bandwidth, plenty of schools don’t have the laptops or tablets that students need to get online.
Meanwhile, wealthy districts go on purchasing the newest technologies to prepare their students for a world that increasingly runs on them.
The documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy, who has covered addiction, nuclear radiation and the politics of the Mexican border fence, among other social issues, explores this persistent technology gap in her latest film, Without a Net: The Digital Divide in America.

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Posted on September 21, 2017

The Beachwood vs. Ken Burns’ Vietnam

What Really Led To The Fall Of Saigon

An e-mail exchange between our very own Tim Willette and Steve Rhodes.
Tim: I read that Dan Ellsberg is not in the Burns documentary.
If that’s true . . . A 10-episode, 18-hour documentary about the war and Ellsberg isn’t in it? Maybe LBJ isn’t in it, either!

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Posted on September 20, 2017

If George W. Bush Can Be On Ellen, Of Course Sean Spicer Will Be At The Emmys

By Jon Queally/Common Dreams

Though some jaws dropped, many laughed, and the former White House press secretary was applauded for having a “sense of humor” about the work he did for President Donald Trump, there should be nothing surprising about Sean Spicer’s on-stage appearance at Sunday night’s Emmy Awards.
And so while some jeered the Emmy’s producers for trying to make a cheap joke or “normalize” Spicer, it was clear that many didn’t find the gag particularly funny.


But taking the criticism a step further, journalist Glenn Greenwald makes the point, in a post at The Intercept on Monday morning, that there is nothing shocking – and much that’s very predictable – about a man like Spicer being welcomed into the circles of the elite.

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Posted on September 19, 2017

WFLU-TV

By Northwestern Children’s Practice

Keep it down.

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Posted on September 12, 2017

The Chicago Tribune Presents Oprah’s Boyfriend’s Identity Seminar

By S. Graham & Associates

The Chicago Tribune presents Stedman Graham’s Identity Seminar in Naperville on September 28th, from 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. at the Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center at North Central College.
Identity is the foundation for thinking and growing. It is the cornerstone of social and economic development. Today, the evidence is everywhere. In no other time in history has there been a greater need for people to be leaders of their lives and claim their right as human beings, which includes the freedom to achieve their full potential.

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Posted on September 10, 2017