July 26, 2009, - 1:14 pm
I’d say this group, the Voca People of Israel, gives Bobby McFerrin some pretty good competition (although he’s one guy who does a ton of sounds on his own). But did they really need to cover Britney Spears and that utterly detestable “Cotton-Eyed Joe” song? Their “Billy Jean” rendition is very cool, though.
July 24, 2009, - 8:12 pm
Despite Barack Obama’s gazillion-step back-track cha-cha over his absurd comments about Cambridge Police “act[ing] stupidly”–and his phone call with Sgt. James Crowley–we know what he really thinks of the police. He shares the same thoughts as Henry Louis “Ya, I’ll talk to your mama outside” Gates, Jr.
And for those who didn’t know what President Obama thought of the police, there might just be a tiny hint in the fact that, during during the election campaign, Obama set up porta potties directly on top of the Portland Police Memorial, which honors the city’s 25 fallen police officers. (Thanks to my bud, Brett Winterble of Covert Radio for the tips.)
Obama Porta Potties on Top of Police Memorial
Or there might be another tiny hint in the fact that one of Barack Hussein Obama’s biggest campaign supporters was none other than Russell Simmons, the well known hip-hop mogul who repeatedly praised and promoted the rap single, “F— Tha Police!” by NWA, whose former members were also Obama supporters. Simmons helped put together the “Yes We Can” celebrity music videos for the Obama campaign and produced the “Yes We Can” mix tape in conjunction with the Obama campaign. (And check out Simmons’ thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Obama and his minions.) The Prez accepted Simmons cash, never disavowed any of these cretins, nor ever uttered a word against their famous hate-on-the-police song.
**** UPDATE, 07/25/09, 9:45 p.m.: In his book, “Do You!: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success,” Russell Simmons wrote:
“In all the years I’ve been involved in hip-hop, one of the most thrilling moments for me came in 1989 when NWA released their song ‘F— [DS: word edited with dashes] tha Police.’ . . . I heard a group of young people from South Central Los Angeles who had the courage to speak the truth about the police. . . . I do believe that ‘F— tha Police’ did make the atmosphere a little bit better in Los Angeles for a time.”
From a February 2009 Rolling Stone interview with Simmons:
“I ask if he even has time to listen to music any more. ‘Oh yeah, man. If you put on ‘F— [DS: F-word edited] Da Police’ on that stereo, man, I’ll jump out this car right now. Right out the window.’ He pulses in his seat.”
END UPDATE ****
Just in case, you forgot the song, below is a dope rendition by my favorite rapper, “OG (Ol’ Gangsta) Moses” a/k/a Charlton Heston. (No, Heston never said anything about Jews or homosexuals dying–that’s some jerk smart aleck’s editing.)
To those who didn’t get it, that was a joke (and wasn’t the song), though Heston did read the lyrics of “F— the Police” to a Congressional Committee (sadly that video isn’t available). Here are the complete lyrics of “F— the Police,” which could have been written by Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr.
July 24, 2009, - 6:02 pm
Sorry I’m late with my movie reviews but there were so many this week, and I’ve been delayed with figuring out glitches from my new site design. Now my reviews will be easier to find. Ironically, the best movies this week are a kids’ flick, and Iraq war movie (that isn’t “anti-war”), and a romance.
* “The Hurt Locker“: This was, by far, the best movie this week, and probably one of the best of the summer, if not the year. While it’s a tad violent, somewhat bloody, and definitely not for kids, I loved it, but for the opening quote onscreen, written by anti-war, pro-HAMAS New York Times fabricator Chris Hedges.
Hurt Locker shows us what it’s really like, every day on the streets of Iraq, even now that things have “quieted down” (although this movie takes place during the more violent years of the war). Soldiers in a unit specializing in defusing bombs have their hands full. And they are extremely dedicated, risking their lives every day, in service to our country, for unappreciative Iraqis. They go out of their way to save not only lives, but property and buildings. And every time they defuse the bombs, there are more . . . more chances to die in the name of turning Iraq over from Sunnis who oppose Iran to Shi’ites who support it.
Jeremy Renner is excellent as the dedicated bomb defuser who is part daredevil, part crazy–which you have to be–to do the job. He loves what he does and he has compassion for those who don’t have any for him in the Iraq killing fields.
This movie is heart-pounding excitement and full of suspense at every turn. But it also shows us a little of the personal feelings of soldiers, how they blow off steam in free time during war, how they interact, and how their social lives are affected. Not boring by any stretch. This movie engaged me every step of the way. And it’s extremely patriotic, if in a very subtle way.
The way good movies are supposed to be.
FOUR REAGANS
* “G-Force“: If you have kids, or even if you don’t, go see this movie. It’s both fun and funny. The animated movie–about specially trained guinea pigs who act as special agents in spying and the war on terror–is a Disney 3D flick. While the 3D was lame and dull in comparison with other 3D movies, the story was cute. I especially enjoyed the movie’s comparison of bungling FBI agents with these skilled rodents. Hey, they don’t call it Famous But Incompetent for nothing.
Several rodents, voiced by various famous actors, play caricatures with human characteristics. They are part of a special program funded by the FBI and developed by humans. They try to infiltrate a terrorist plot by an appliance magnate who is trying to take over the world, and run from the FBI, get trapped in a pet store, and experience other adventures in the process of saving the world.
A bonus: this movie is less than 1.5 hours, always ideal.
THREE REAGANS
* “(500) Days of Summer“: This flick’s name references the name of a woman, not a season. And she’s a very cold, unlikable woman (played by Zooey Deschanel) at that.
In many ways, this is a chick flick, where the guy is the chick, and the woman is–you guessed it–the man. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a wannabe architect who is stuck working at a greeting card company. He falls for Summer, the secretary who just wants to be “friends” and play things “casual,” no matter how intense their romance gets. We watch him from the beginning to the end of their romance, which a narrator tells us won’t end pretty.
While this movie was funny and cute, in many ways it seemed too cutesy and was trying to hard for the kitsch factor. And Deschanel is, like I said, simply not likable. So it’s hard to see why the guy continues to chase after her.
Still, it was charming and funny (if coupled with a few groanworthy bathroom humor and vulgar jokes).
TWO REAGANS
* “Orphan“: As horror/thriller flicks go, this isn’t bad. But it isn’t great either. When one of the best things about a movie is the cool, contemporary house in which much of it takes place, it’s not a good sign.
And some of the acting is just soooo bad, particularly that of far-left actor Peter Sarsgaard. He plays the husband, whose wife has miscarried a baby and is a recovering alcoholic piano teacher. This wealthy couple is looking to adopt another kid to go with their two other kids, a boy and a young–and completely cute and sparkling–deaf daughter, played by the captivating little Aryana Engineer. She is the real star of this movie.
At a Catholic orphanage, the couple meets a Russian-born orphan girl whose family burned to death in a fire in their house (hmm . . . maybe a hint not to adopt her?) . They are impressed with the girl’s precocious nature and extraordinary artistic talent and adopt her. Soon, she is terrorizing the family, but the husband refuses to believe the cries and complaints of his wife (Vera Farmiga).
While some have called the plot twist revealed toward the ending of this movie “clever,” I thought it was sort of a rip-off, since there’s never a hint or clue about it earlier in the movie. But it’s definitely different and extremely creepy.
This extremely bloody, violent movie (which is full of sexual innuendo and swear words) is NOT for kids. Mildly entertaining. But parts of it were just too slow and so laughable.
ONE AND A HALF REAGANS
* “Adoration“: This creepy arthouse thriller is pure propaganda of the pan-Islamic, pan-terrorist variety.
The son of an Arab Muslim and an American woman is a high school student in New York. He tells his classmates that he is the kid of a Palestinian terrorist who attempted to send his pregnant mother on an El-Al plane to Israel with a bomb. (It’s a true story and the bomb was intercepted by Israeli security.) But it’s not true–those were not his parents; they were killed in a head-on collision car accident–and he was encouraged to lie to his classmates by his Lebanese Arab Muslim French teacher.
Soon, we see this kids’ classmates and friends and adults all over the internet arguing whether or not we should sympathize with the terrorists (as the boy urges). It’s simply disgusting. In the meantime, the creepy Arabic French teacher is out to prove that his uncle, who is raising him, is prejudiced against Muslims, and she basically succeeds.
We also see flashbacks of the boy’s grandfather, a wealthy White man who is prejudiced against Arab Muslims. He causes the boy’s mother to drink and his parents to leave dinner early, causing their car accident death. Yup, Americans are bigots against nice, poor Muslims and cause them to get in head-on collision deaths. That’s the message of this movie.
Oh, and we learn the French teacher was the first wife of the Arab Muslim that was this kid’s father. He was taken away from her when the kid’s Anglo-American mother was sleeping with him and stole him away. Yup, evil Christian American bitches still Muslims’ husbands. Riiiight.
My favorite blatant propaganda quote from the movie: when the French teacher tells the boy’s uncle that her ex-husband was “very generous” to decorate a Christmas tree, given his upbringing.
A manipulative piece of crap worthy of a flush down the toilet. Feh.
FOUR MARXES
* “The Ugly Truth“: Well, half of the title of this stupid, groanworthy, predictable chick flick is accurate: it’s ugly. And a waste of time. While I laughed a few times during this rehashed set of plot lines and dumb jokes from every bad romance movie of the last 20 years, I mostly cringed and gritted my teeth. Not only were the jokes dumb, they were mostly vulgar. The “vag”-word, c-word (the one that rhymes with rock), f-word, and pretty much every other word you wouldn’t utter at a job interview is in this. And it’s just gross.
Katherine Heigl plays a local television morning news show producer, whose show hires a male chauvinist, Tom Leykis-esque commentator (Gerard Butler) to deliver advice to guys on the show. He tells guys how to treat women as badly as possible to get sex out of them, etc. Initially she hates him, but soon Butler is giving her advice on how to bag a pretty boy doctor on whom she has her eye. Predictably, she ultimately falls in love for Butler, then they get into a fight, then they kiss and make up. The end.
Gag.
THREE MARXES
July 24, 2009, - 3:02 pm
As you’ll recall, back in May, Kentucky Fried Chicken, er . . . KFC, was giving out free meals via internet coupons. The promotion was a fiasco, with long lines and, ultimately, the retail restaurant chain canceling the promotion of its grilled chicken in favor of a mail in coupon (with staggered dates).
It was deserved bad publicity for a poorly planned marketing campaign that turned what could have been a lot of positive good will into angry customers galore. However, KFC made good by mailing out the free coupons to those who filled out a form.
But that’s not good enough for Detroit resident Kay Ready and her lawyer Jay Edelson. They’ve filed a federal class action lawsuit against KFC for fraud. Read the entire absurd lawsuit complaint.
That’s ridiculous. KFC made good on the promotion, mailing out coupons for the meals it couldn’t handle during the time of the promotion, and the coupons even included something extra, a free drink. Ms. Ready could have easily obtained the mailed coupons. She and her lawyer are just driving up the price of KFC for the millions of American families who find it an economical choice in tough times. And, of course, Mr. Edelson, clogging the courts with this waste of time, stands to make millions in legal fees.
KFCha-ching.
Remember them the next time prices at your favorite fast food restaurant go up. It’s the involuntary litigation tax you’re paying for silly, frivolous lawsuits like this one.
The next time someone says there’s no such thing as a free lunch, they are right after all. If KFC offers the free lunch, some sleazy lawyer finds a way to make ’em pay.
These people are literally making a federal case over a $5 lunch.
July 24, 2009, - 2:12 pm
Since it’s Friday, it’s Free Chocolate Friday. As regular readers know, every Friday through the end of September is Free Chocolate Friday, meaning that under Mars’ “Real Chocolate Relief Act” promotion, you can get a coupon for a free Mars chocolate candy bar.
July 24, 2009, - 1:10 pm
Readers and friends, welcome to the new DebbieSchlussel.com site design. As you’ve probably noticed, it started going up in parts of the universe, last night.
There are still kinks to iron out, like fixing old links/links to past articles. We will fix it. I’m working with some great people, and we have a lot of new things in store for this site. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, some new features. And some necessary ones that I and you have wanted for some time, and we finally put them in: a search engine, a more friendly/easier archives section, e-mail a friend, etc. (Printer friendly will be back soon. It’s a glitch we’re fixing.)
And as you might note, we have books I’m reading, books I recommend, music I’m listening to, and products I like and recommend. Some of those need to be fixed and changed, too (like Tim Green’s newest book, which I haven’t read, so I’m not really sure I recommend it).
Please let us know what you think of the new site. Most of the feedback, thus far, has been extremely positive. But if there’s something you don’t like, we’d like to know about that, too. And what you’d like to see that you think is missing.
Bear with us. Progress always involves glitches and mistakes.
July 23, 2009, - 4:42 pm
Darrell Issa a/k/a “Jihad Darrell” Moonlights as Prez of theBashar Assad Fan Club, American Auxiliary
This is Beck‘s second pandering promotion of this skunk on his show, and it’s ironic that Issa will be on their respective FOX News and CNN shows to unveil a report on ACORN’s criminal practices. That’s kind of ironic, given that Issa, himself, has a long and interesting criminal history that includes, among other things, lying about his military service, going AWOL, car theft, carrying unlicensed concealed weapons, firing an employee at gunpoint, arson, insurance fraud, patent theft.
Looks like ACORN has nothing on him. You have to ask yourself if Issa is truly the best Republican choice to whine about ACORN’s criminal activity, given his own record of criminal activity. I mean, do Republicans really want to help their enemies on the left so easily invoke that phrase about a pot, a kettle, and the color black?
A 2007 column I wrote in the New York Post stopped Republicans in the House from electing Darrell Issa as their policy committee chairman.
Sadly, there’s nothing to stop Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs from promoting this horrible excuse for a Congressman and conveniently ignoring gaping details in his resume.
Yes, there’s no law forcing Beck or Dobbs to actually do their homework.
And that’s why they’re both gush over Issa today.
Jihad Darrell’s Crying Game: Pro-Hezbollah Rep. Darrell Issa Cries for Terrorists; Their American Victims? Fuhgedaboutit
July 23, 2009, - 4:27 pm
. . . your faux-“conservative” representative on ABC’s yenta/hag-fest, “The View,” agrees with President Obama and Whoopi Goldberg that Officer James Crowley–the working-class cop trying to do his job–was “racist” in arresting the completely obnoxious and belligerent Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr. for disorderly conduct.
For the last two days on the show, she’s agreed with those two and called the officer a racist, lecturing us on the topic. And the ever vacant Hasselbeck, today, defended and praised Obama for saying Crowley and the Cambridge Police Department acted “Stupidly.” Don’t forget her stellar credential: coming in fourth on the second season of “Survivor.”
That’s “Conservative”?: Airhead “View” Hag Elisabeth Hasselbeck Lectures America About “Racist” Cop
Aren’t you glad to be “represented” by this “conservative”? Hey, don’t blame me. She repeatedly gets the praise of those who love her–Sean Hannity (who constantly promotes her) and Michelle Malkin (who got upset when conservatives criticized Hasselbeck and said she’s “doing a great job”).
And, as I recall, Federal Air Marshal Robert Thompson likes her, too.
One of my friends calls Hasselbeck, a “token Chrissy Snow RINO sidekick.” He’s being kind.
**** Read my column on this from earlier today: “Stay Out of Local Law Enforcement, Mr. President: ‘Racist’ Cop Also Tried to Save Black Athlete’s Life.” ****
July 23, 2009, - 4:02 pm
By Debbie Schlussel
As I keep saying, Muslims in America are absolutely no different than Muslims in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or anywhere else in the world, but for the fact that they have yet to reach critical mass here. And that’s coming soon because we continue to let them in, legally AND illegally.
And in that light, you shouldn’t think for a second that this kind of story (watch the video) isn’t coming to America. It’s basically already here.
A young Muslim woman has been warned by police that her life is in danger after a male friend lost his tongue in an alleged assault using acid in an apparent “honour attack”.
The Asian man is in a serious but stable condition in hospital after an incident in Leytonstone, East London, three weeks ago. Sulphuric acid is said to have been thrown in his face and he was stabbed twice in the back.
The 24-year-old, being treated in a specialist unit in Essex, is now blind, his tongue has been destroyed and he suffered 90 per cent burns.
The woman, who claims the relationship is an innocent friendship, and the man live in the Asian community of East London, where their relationship is said to have upset her family for bringing dishonour on them.
Scotland Yard have issued what is known as an “Osman warning” – telling the woman that there is a threat to her life. . . . Detectives believe that the man and woman were not in a sexual relationship but were just friends.
Two men, aged 19 and 25, are due to appear before Waltham Forest Magistrates today, charged with the attempted murder of the 24-year-old man on July 2, 2009. Both men are said to be related to the woman, one is understood to be her brother.
Well, hopefully, this will turn off American guys from dating Muslim women. But I doubt it.
Give kudos to the Brits–far too late–for finally noting the religion involved in these stories. Good luck getting the PC American press to do so when these things happen here.
July 23, 2009, - 3:17 pm
By Debbie Schlussel
If you’re traveling abroad. It might not be a good idea to fly Continental Airlines on the way home to the West.
You see, Continental has decided to abide by India’s absurd policy of mandating that “specified VIPS” are “exempt” from security, including removing shoes, being wanded, etc. And apparently, that includes some Muslims. You might be wondering why the airline and a foreign government get to decide this and not the U.S. government. After all, this regards flights heading to the U.S. and which will, therefore, be in U.S. airspace . . . just like the planes on 9/11. But apparently, for flights originating elsewhere, it’s out of TSA control and in the hands of the airline.
That’s scary, given that we know planes coming into the U.S. are every bit as vulnerable to terrorist plots as those originating here. Remember the Shoe Bomber (who came here from France)?
former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was told to remove his shoes and scanned by a metal detector. . . .
The former president was told to remove his shoes and the contents of his pockets, and a hand-held metal detector was run over his body.
Oh, the horror. Mr. Kalam’s fellow co-religionists blow up our planes and murder 3,000 Americans, and yet only we–and not him–should be subject to the increased hassles his fellow worshippers of Mohammed caused for us.
And India–which you’d think would get a clue after the Mumbai attacks–lodged a protest against Continental, claiming the search violates its laws and that the man is 77. Ah, welcome to America, where little old ladies from Pasadena who aren’t Muslims are searched for more invasively at age 80.
At first, the airline defended itself and these normal security procedures and said there was “no special rule for VIPs.” But all that has changed, and Continental has put on its best pander dancing shoes. Terrorists, take note, and pick a top Muslim VIP for the next India to New York Continental flight.
Continental Airlines Inc. has apologized to a former Indian president after he was frisked before boarding a flight to New York in April, a breach of protocol denounced as “unpardonable” by a[n Indian] government minister.
Attention, India: taking your shoes off, emptying your pockets, and being wanded is not “frisking.” Get a clue.
“Our intention was never to offend Dr. Kalam or the sentiments of the people of India,” the airline said in an e-mailed statement. “We have tendered a formal apology to Dr. Kalam and we sincerely hope he will fly with us again.”
Translation: We hope he won’t carry a bomb or other explosives, since we’ve acquiesced to India’s absurd “don’t search VIPs” policy.
You know what? To about 150 million Muslim Indians, there’s another guy who qualifies as a VIP. His last name is Bin Laden.
*** UPDATE: Some Tribute Music:
