The shocking news that Christopher Columbus was Greek—in this excellent essay by Chicago writer James Banakis–may have come as a surprise to our friends Sal and Ben Carmada from Joseph’s Finest Meats and to all my wife Betty’s relatives back home in Montemaggiore Belisto Sicily. But independent journalism always must seek the truth. And the truth about Columbus in Chicago is that the monuments and statues honoring the great explorer were attacked by the hysterical political left hoping to erase him from our common Western history. But the communists can’t ever erase his heroism. Columbus is a father of the West.
John Kass
By James Banakis
October 11th, 2026
I love Italian cinema. It has none of the gratuitous glitter of Hollywood films. Italian movies usually take place with surprising photographic style and a deep connection to everyday life. Like the unsurpassed Cinema Paradiso, it demonstrates empathy and family tradition.
The women are beautiful, real, and passionate. The men are seamlessly vulnerable yet masculine.
Sergio Leone, the pioneer and master of the spaghetti western, directed the seminal “Dollars Trilogy,” that are forever rewatchable. Even
American films about the Italian American experience i.e. The Godfather, win me over. My favorite scene, Clemenza teaching Michael how to make a Sunday sauce. Need I mention I would choose Italian cuisine above all others.
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