By Debbie Schlussel
Readers:
Today, I was in court all day, defending someone in a criminal case. It’s pro bono, and I’m doing it because it’s something I believe in, and so will you.
Can’t tell you what it’s about until it’s over tomorrow, but when I can I will. So much to tell.
I usually try to prepare something and post it for when I’m not here, but occasionally, I just can’t, and today was one of those days (was preparing for the trial beforehand and also did a round-trip road trip to Buffalo last week, too). Consider this a brief, unplanned intermission which ends soon.
Putting up a few things later tonight.

Thanks for your understanding and continued readership, and stay tuned for more.
Thanks to all the readers who wrote in asking about my welfare in my absence. Rest assured, I’m okay. Thank G-d.
DS

By Debbie Schlussel
As readers of this site know, though I intend to vote McCain-Palin, I’m not exactly overwhelmed by Sarah Palin (or McCain) and find the over-exuberant gushing over her, ridiculous.
But far more outrageous is some of my fellow co-religionists’ (in name only) outrageous attacks on Palin. First there is the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, which foolishly disinvited Sarah Palin from an anti-Iran rally. Stupid move. And for the record, these “Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations” are self-appointed rich people, mostly liberals, who head organizations that have very few members and whose membership’s average age is like 76. They don’t represent the Jews. They don’t rep me.
Now, there is Sandra Bernhard, the unfunny (like most female comediennes) lesbian single mother, who is equally ugly and twisted on the inside as out. Her bigoted anti-Gentile video tirade against Sarah Palin is embarrassing, and as a Jew, I’m disgusted. Here’s the vile video full of disgusting language:

The two slurs she uses against Sarah Palin–“goyishe” and “shiksa”–are derogatory terms for non-Jews, and I never use them. My dad taught me from when I was very little, to refrain. And I cringe when I hear other people use them. The terms are bigoted. Period.
“Goy”, a Hebrew word, literally means “nation”, the “goyim” are the “nations”, but it’s a term used to describe non-Jews, and it has a negative connotation.
Far worse is “Shiksa”, the feminine term of “Shegetz” (pronounced “SHAY-getz”), which also means non-Jew. The word is extremely derogatory, as it comes from the Book of Genesis, in which G-d tells the snake (who got Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden apple) that G-d is going to cut the snake’s legs off and make it and all future snakes creepy crawlers of the earth who will have to eat the dirt and dust. The word, “Shkatz” (pronounced “Shkotz”), is the word for creepy crawler of the earth, and that’s where the term “Shiksa”–used by Sandra Bernhard to describe Sarah Palin–comes from. Sickening.
Frankly, I’d take Sarah Palin any day over Sandra Bernhard. This disgusting figure of showbiz is nauseating and warped in so many ways. I wish we could kick her out of my religion. But for now, like so many stupid celebs, she is a follower of faux Kabbalah a/k/a the Jewish Scientology.
Anyone who knows better knows that the Jewish Bible–the Old Testament–is very much a part of the Christian religion. And I believe Sarah Palin knows far more about it than Sandra Bernhard, who tells her she can’t use it.
I love how she attacks Sarah Palin’s looks. Somebody needs to give Ms. Bernhard a mirror. Guys, which one would you rather “date”?
Oh, and what’s up with Bernhard’s disgusting comment: “a bikini wax: fresh Jew-esque twat in your face”?
Um, no thanks. Three letters: TMI. And please stop invoking my religion for your stupid, disgusting rants against Sarah Palin.
Who died and made you chief rabbi, Sandra Bernhard? Now, please go away. We Jews don’t want to claim you.

By Debbie Schlussel
Yesterday, Michigan State Police and federal Department of Agriculture agents raided several gas stations, party stores, and homes–20 locations in all–and arrested 20 people for Bridge Card (food stamp) fraud. Ann of the great site, Refugee Resettlement Watch, asked me about their identities, since the media won’t report it.
All of those arrested were Shi’ite Arab Muslims, but of course neither that and nor the arrestees’ names were mentioned in any media coverage. Gee, I wonder why. Watch the politically correct, censored video report at right.
They were illegally paying Bridge Card holders cents on the dollar for Bridge Cards, then cashing them in for the full value, without any legitimate food sales.
As I noted back in February, a very similar series of raids over Bridge Card fraud happened then. And no media would name the arrestees, all of whom were Shi’ite Muslim Arabs. Michigan State Police Lt. Marty Bugbee–who headed up this investigation and the one in February–cited Hezbollah and said he believed the money from the fraud was going there, back during the February raids.
But, as I noted, politically correct Detroit Free Press editors Theresa Mask and Ritu Sehgal edited out a Freep reporter Dan Cortez’s paragraph mentioning the Hezbollah connection.
The same is happening here in Channel 7/WXYZ-TV reporter Kimberly Craig’s report. A complete PC-whitewashing of who is behind the Bridge Card/food stamp fraud: Muslims who support and fund Hezbollah.

By Debbie Schlussel
**** UPDATE: Review of Horrid “Towelhead” Added, Scroll Down ****
There are a few good new choices at the movies, this weekend. I did not review “Igor” because the screening was held on the Jewish Sabbath. “My Best Friend’s Girl” was not screened for critics, which as I usually note is a good sign that it stinks. I will be adding my review of “Towelhead”, later today.
* “Lakeview Terrace“: I think this is one of my favorite movies by director Neil LaBute. I usually like his movies because he doesn’t shy away from controversial issues, whether it’s misogyny or relationships with fat women or, in this case, racism.
We usually hear the narrative about White racism against interracial couples. But in this movie, LaBute explores Black racism against interracial couples. And it comes with an interesting twist: Samuel L. Jackson is great as a Black single father and cop, who is doing his best to raise his kids with good values and deal with the mean streets of the inner city he patrols.

Enter Patrick Wilson, who is White, and his wife, Kerry Washington, who is Black. It’s not just that they are an interracial married couple, it’s that Wilson is your typical White liberal. He’s a Berkeley grad who drives a Toyota Prius and listens to loud Gangsta Rap and Hip-Hop, polluting the neighborhood’s quiet street, music which even his Black wife does not like or approve of. And he works for an eco-friendly supermarket chain like Whole Foods.
That’s what I like about this movie–that even though Samuel L. Jackson is the racist villain, it’s not all black and white or . . . Black and White. We see Wilson and his wife having sex in their pool, while Jackson’s kids are watching. Jackson is rightfully upset that, while he’s trying to raise his kids with good, conservative values, the neighbors might be a bad influence.
But he takes it way too far and enlists violence. His hatred gets the best of him. The movie also briefly depicts other Black-on-White racism, as Washington’s Black executive father (who appears to be a lawyer) refuses to talk to Wilson, his daughter’s White husband.
It’s interesting, though it gets a little messy and carried away toward the end. Perhaps it might have been better explored without mixing in a thriller. Perhaps not. Entertaining and noteworthy, but lots of bad language (and some implied sexual situations and violence).
THREE REAGANS

* “Ghost Town“: Funny, light, and entertaining. This is the way movies are supposed to be–an enjoyable escape.
Ricky Gervais is a perfect fit for his role as a self-absorbed, misanthrope dentist who lives alone and looks down on people. But there’s an accident during his colonoscopy. He insists on a full anesthesia and dies for seven minutes.
Soon, he sees ghosts of dead people who are stuck on earth to finish their unfinished business: A woman who wrote a letter to her daughter, but it got stuck and hidden under a rug; a man whose son can’t find his favorite stuffed bear hidden under the front seat of the car; and a jerk who was cheating on his wife and died the day she found it. All went his help to communicate with their living relatives.
That last example is Greg Kinnear, and he succeeds in getting Gervais to talk to his wife, in an attempt to break up her impending marriage to a man Kinnear doesn’t like. Soon Gervais falls for the wife. But does he give up his selfishness and hatred of people, or does he use his new gift for his own immoral purposes?
Could have done without the brief jokes about a mummy’s penis and the dog poop and farting jokes–both of which were stupid and completely unnecessary. But there are a lot of funny lines in this movie that’ll keep you laughing.
Charming and cute. Would love to have seen more of SNL’s Kristen Wiig and a hospital legal administrator, both of whom are hilarious in this movie.
THREE REAGANS


* “TransSiberian“: In this thriller, a married American couple (Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer) are taking a train ride across Russia and the former Soviet Union at the conclusion of doing charity work in China.
The husband is your typical middle America good guy, but the wife was a bad girl at one time and has become restless. Soon, they meet a mysterious couple (Kate Mara, Eduardo Noriega) who teach English in Japan. The male, of Hispanic origin, is apparently a drug smuggler. Can’t say more or it will ruin the movie, except that people disappear and it’s not always what you thought.
Interesting, but violent and a little slow. Entertaining, and I liked the message I got out of it, which is that an average middle American life with its boredom and predictability is often preferable to restless adventure, which can have dangerous and deadly consequences. Did not like the portrayal of Middle Americans–via the Woody Harrelson role–as naive and dopey, though.
Also stars Ben Kingsley as a Russian narcotics detective, though he has a relatively minor role in the movie.
TWO REAGANS

* “In Search of a Midnight Kiss“: This movie, shot complete in Black and White, has a few brief, sweet moments, but it’s mostly disgusting and vile, with a masturbation scene at the very beginning. It’s all downhill from there, and depressing.
It’s also a poor semi-imitation of the far-more charming but somewhat over-rated “Before Sunrise.”
A lonely guy who moved L.A. is sad because he has no-one to kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve. He posts an ad on an online dating site, and soon meets a shallow blonde who moved to L.A. to become–what else?–an actress. Soon, the guy is sucked into what seems like a lifetime of drama and unfun “adventure” with the self-absorbed blonde and her estranged boyfriend. All actors in this movie are unknowns, and the movie tries very hard to be artsy and avant-garde (and not very hard to be entertaining, interesting, or give me a reason to care about these vile, loser characters).
If I needed melodrama and stress, I wouldn’t go to the movies to get it. He gets the kiss at midnight, but you get kissed off by this substandard movie and lose ten bucks and 1.5 hours of valuable life never to be redeemed.
THREE MARXES


* “Baghead“: Four amateur actors involved in a dating love triangle go to a family cottage in the woods to write an indie movie starring themselves. Soon, they find they are terrorized by someone with a bag over his/her head. They think it’s one another playing tricks on each other. But is it?
Obviously low-budget and amateurish and not very scary, but hardly as bad as I expected.
ONE MARX

* “Towelhead“: Blecccch! This is one of the grossest, most disgusting, most stupid movies I’ve ever seen. It’s the “coming of age” story of Jasira, a horny, slutty half-Lebanese Arab girl sent by her Anglo loser mother to live with her stupid, immature, racist Lebanese Christian father in Texas. We’re treated to such class activities as watching her masturbate to Penthouse-style magazines many times in the movie, having sex with her callous Black boyfriend (forbidden by her father because he’s Black), and having sex with her adult, married, next-door neighbor. Oh, and we see menstrual blood on her underwear, a bloody tampon up close on the screen and another seen where her next-door neighbor has her vaginal blood on his hands.
Yeah, a fun, tasteful time at the movies. A complete waste of time and completely sick. And did I mention, completely disgusting? Skip at all cost. Warped to the max.
***
By the way, CAIR just sent out an e-mail that it participated in a taped “dialogue” about ethnic slurs, which will be featured on the “Towelhead” DVD. One wonders why, since the people in this movie are Christian Arabs. Islam is neither mentioned nor featured. But, hey, hilarious that CAIR wants to be connected with this piece of vile garbage. So much for Muslim “modesty.” Just curiuos: Did they film the “dialogue” at “The Pink Pony”?
FOUR MARXES PLUS

By Debbie Schlussel
It’s not just that Vladimir Putin, who orchestrates the puppet strings of Medvedev, was the head of the Soviet KGB. It’s not just that the invasion of neighboring Georgia was an ominous remind of the former Soviet-dominated dictatorship and its totalitarian satellite states.
It’s many other things that are omens of a return to Soviet Communism throughout Russia and its neighboring former Soviet provinces. The latest is Russia’s proposed ban of “Western celebrations” Halloween and Valentine’s Day.
It’s an echo of Muslims who wanted to and successfully banned Halloween celebrations in some public schools here in the U.S. And the involvement of the anti-Semitic Russian Orthodox Church–which itself underwent Soviet persecution but was successfully secularized and Sovietized by Communists–is noteworthy.

Russia Wants to Eliminate These Western Celebrations

Russia is opening a new front in its battle with the West over last month’s fighting in neighboring Georgia: a move to ban the Western holidays of Halloween and Valentine’s Day as bad influences on the nation’s youth.
The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, will consider a measure this month to guard students from what the government considers destructive Western influences, such as the two festive celebrations that are growing more popular in Russia.
Maxim Mishchenko, a Duma member, says he is pushing the bill to guard the “moral and spiritual upbringing” of the nation’s youth and to promote traditional Russian culture and values rather than those imported from the West.
The proposed legislation reflects the rising nationalism here and a sense that Russia is threatened by U.S. and European culture and military powers, analysts and lawmakers say.
“All this is part of the mind-set of we need to protect ourselves – and protect ourselves in a conservative way,” says Maria Lipman of the Carnegie Moscow Center, a think tank.
The recent conflict with Georgia, in which Russian troops moved deep into the former Soviet republic, helps push the proposal, says Alexandra Ochirova, social issues commission chairwoman of the Public Chamber, a Kremlin-picked advisory group of prominent citizens.
“The events in the Caucasus have direct connections with the policy of our state, because for the first time citizens have witnessed that the state is able to protect every concrete Russian citizen,” she says.
The proposal dovetails with a new Russian version of Valentine’s, called the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. The holiday, held in June, was backed by first lady Svetlana Medvedev and the Russian Orthodox Church. Among its goals: stimulate a sense of family life and to stem Russia’s declining birth rate.
Mishchenko says students should celebrate Russian holidays, not those heralded in the United States and Europe.

For the record, I recognize that many Christians in America do not celebrate Halloween, as they see it as a celebration of witchcraft and paganism. The same goes for religious Jews, who see it as a celebration of paganist and non-Jewish beliefs. As a kid, my modern Orthodox Jewish Day School used to hold assemblies every year, telling us not to trick-or-treat (which few kids of any religion do anymore on Halloween, anyway).
But despite its religious origins and connotations, Halloween became a largely secular, Western holiday primarily in America, and that’s what it is. And that’s the reason Russia is trying to ban it and Valentine’s Day celebrations.
Creeping Communism is spreading its tentacles throughout the former Soviet superpower.

By Debbie Schlussel
**** SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****
Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta is a role model for all Americans, whether they are immigrants like him or native born. He made the ultimate sacrifice, giving his life to save those of his fellow Marines.
Sadly, nitpickers in our military are denying him and his grieving family the Medal of Honor. It’s a travesty. This late patriot deserves the honor. He earned it in blood and gutted limbs.
This is the kind of one-time illegal alien I wish we had more of in America. His story makes me proud to be an American, while at the same time it is heartbreaking:

Rest In Peace: Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta
Deserves the Medal of Honor

An immigrant from Mexico, Rafael Peralta enlisted in the Marine Corps the day after he received his green card in 2000. He adorned his bedroom at his parents’ home in San Diego with copies of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights and a picture of his boot camp graduation class.
And as he waited for combat in Fallouja, he wrote to his teenage brother: “You should be proud of being an American. Our father came to this country because it was the right place for our family to be. If anything happens to me, just remember I’ve already lived my life to the fullest.”
On Nov. 15, 2004, the 25-year-old sergeant volunteered for dangerous duty assisting an under-strength squad in clearing heavily armed insurgents from barricaded houses. As the squad rushed into one house, Peralta was wounded in the crossfire and knocked to the ground.
An insurgent rolled a grenade toward the Marines. Peralta, laying on the ground, reached out and grabbed the grenade, using his body to shield his fellow Marines from the blast, according to Marines who were there. He saved four squad members, maybe more, at the cost of his life.

But, despite this heroism, Peralta’s family is being denied one final honor for their dead son–the Medal of Honor. Instead, he will posthumously receive the Navy Cross, the second highest honor for combat bravery by a Marine.
Who can blame his mother, Rosa Peralta, for being angry and upset? Rafael Peralta deserves the Medal of Honor. He saved several lives and enabled his fellow soldiers, some of them fathers, to return home to their families. The soldiers say they saw him reach out and grab the grenade and put it under his body. But a committee of doctors and military figures insists that heroism isn’t involved since Peralta was shot in the head and could not have survived before he used his body to shield his fellow soldiers from the grenade. And that’s why they recommended against giving Peralta this honor:

A rare decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to reject a Marine Corps recommendation that one of its heroes receive the Medal of Honor has angered Marines who say Sgt. Rafael Peralta sacrificed his life to save theirs.
Peralta’s family was notified of the decision Wednesday by Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski, a top Marine Corps commander. Col. David Lapan, a Marine spokesman, said he was unaware of any recent award nomination that was denied in this way.
A Gates-appointed panel unanimously concluded that the report on Peralta’s action did not meet the standard of “no margin of doubt or possibility of error,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The argument about whether to award Peralta the nation’s highest military honor centers on whether a mortally wounded Marine could have intentionally reached for the grenade after suffering a serious head wound.
For his actions during a Nov. 15, 2004, firefight in Fallujah, Iraq, Peralta will receive the Navy Cross, the service’s second-highest award for valor. The citation said Peralta, 25, covered a live grenade thrown by insurgents.
“I don’t want that medal,” Peralta’s mother, Rosa, said Wednesday. “I won’t accept it. It doesn’t seem fair to me.”
The decision is “almost like somebody called me a liar,” said Marine Sgt. Nicholas Jones, 25, who was with Peralta that day. Jones, a recruiter, said Peralta’s actions have become part of Marine Corps lore, as drill sergeants and officer-candidate instructors repeat it to new Marines. “His name is definitely synonymous with valor,” said Jones, who was wounded by the grenade blast.
“I know for a fact that I would have been killed . . . and that my daughter, Sophia, our new baby, Sienna, would not be here or coming into the world. And that my son, Noah, would have grown up without knowing his dad,” said Robert Reynolds, 31, a corrections officer and former Marine who was with Peralta that day.
In a Marine Corps investigation of the attack, Natonski said, “I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt” that the gravely wounded Peralta covered the grenade.
Natonski, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., appeared disappointed by the news he brought the family, said David Donald, Rosa Peralta’s son-in-law. “He felt like Rafael deserved the Medal of Honor,” Donald said.
Peralta’s heroism has become Marine Corps legend, Lapan says. . . . Peralta had been shot in the head before he covered the grenade, a Marine investigation said. The report concluded he was hit by a ricochet that likely came from the gun of another Marine while they were clearing insurgents from a local home.
After he was wounded, the report said, Peralta scooped an insurgent grenade under his body, absorbed the blast and died, according to five of the Marines who were with Peralta during the firefight. . . .
Gates made his decision last week, Whitman said. He declined to provide any explanation other than the facts did not meet the standard for a Medal of Honor.
Five men have been awarded the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq, one for service in Afghanistan. All were posthumous.
Peralta first came to the United States from Mexico without legal documentation as a teen and joined the Marines the day he got his green card on April 17, 2000. He later became a naturalized citizen. . . .
According to [the Marine Corps] investigation, Marines scrambling for cover after an insurgent threw a grenade toward them plainly saw Peralta reach with his arm to “scoop” the grenade under his body.
Scorch marks were later found on his flak jacket, along with embedded pieces of shrapnel and a part of the grenade fuse, the reports show. “There’s no way that grenade got under the center of mass of his body without him putting it there,” said Reserve Marine Lt. Col. Scott Marconda, who investigated the incident in 2004 as a major and judge advocate. “I’m not a cheerleader. It is what it is. And my point is: I believe that he did that.”
The Marine investigation highlighted a key area of controversy: whether the gunshot wound to the back of Peralta’s head from a ricochet left him unable to function.
Col. Eric Berg, an Army pathologist who autopsied Peralta’s remains, said in the 2005 report that the head wound would have been “nearly instantly fatal. He could not have executed any meaningful motions.”
Berg said Monday that he stands by his conclusions. Four other experts – Peralta’s battalion surgeon, and two neurosurgeons and a neurologist who examined the autopsy reports – said Peralta could have knowingly reached for the grenade. They say the ricochet was traveling at a “low velocity” and would not have immediately killed him.

Miracles often happen that cannot be explained by accepted medicine or science. And, yes, some (including me) consider it divine intervention. Sometimes, there are incidents of superhuman strength. Some, such as the stories of mothers lifting cars off their kids, are often mythical. But sometimes superhuman and unscientific things happen that defy proven medical science. I believe this is one of those cases, and so do Peralta’s fellow soldiers, commanding officers, and family.
Rafael Peralta is not just an American hero. His is that rare case of self-sacrifice that is, indeed, worthy and deserving of the Medal of Honor. His fellow soldiers know what they saw.
It speaks volumes that our government defied all reason to give Iraq trutherist Jessica Lynch–an incompetent soldier who failed to follow orders, mishandled her weapon, etc.–the Bronze Star (because she’s a woman), but won’t exercise the reason and goodwill necessary here to give an American soldier his due for making the ultimate sacrifice.
Give the guy his medal. Sgt. Rafael Peralta earned it.
We’re from the government, and we’re here to help you.
**** UPDATE, 9/19/08: Reader Sean, who served our country in the military, writes:

When I first saw the story of this Marine who will posthumously receive the Navy Cross instead of the Congressional Medal of Honor, I thought that it was a case where perhaps there wasn’t enough direct testimony, or there was some other reason it was downgraded. At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, the Medal of Honor is sort of the military equivalent of sainthood. Once you receive The Medal you have been permanently placed among the pantheon of heroes – many of whom received their award posthumously– whose uncommon valor is the epitome of courage and selflessness to which all soldiers should strive.
But after reading your post, I’m deeply troubled. It sounds like some panel in the bowels of the Pentagon decided he couldn’t have lived long enough to consciously roll the grenade under his body. This was in spite of the testimony of several eyewitnesses and medical experts. But that also begs a question. If he didn’t actively do it himself, that would mean he didn’t commit ANY act of bravery and he shouldn’t receive any award other than a purple heart for his mortal wounds.
It may sound like I’m putting my tin foil hat on, but I think there’s more to this story than we know. This Marine and his family deserve better.

By Debbie Schlussel
**** SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****
Does John McCain really want to win?
Sometimes, I think he really just doesn’t have the will. Especially when he sticks with “allies” and surrogates who say dumb things like this:

The McCain campaign was embarrassed yesterday when Carly Fiorina, former chief executive officer of computer giant Hewlett-Packard — and a senior McCain adviser — questioned vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s leadership credentials.
Asked in a radio interview whether she thought Ms Palin had the experience to run a major company like Hewlett-Packard, Ms Fiorina replied: “No, I don’t. But you know what? That’s not what she’s running for.”

John McCain & Pro-Amnesty Advisor Carly Fiorina

Ms Fiorina tried to spin her comments in a later interview.
“Well, I don’t think John McCain could run a major corporation,” she said. “I don’t think Barack Obama could run a major corporation. I don’t think (Democratic vice-presidential nominee) Joe Biden could. But it’s not the same as being the president or vice president of the United States.”

If she really thinks none of them could run a company, why does she expect us to vote for any of them, especially with our economy in chaos?
And here’s a note on Fiorina. She couldn’t run a major corporation either, which is why Hewlett-Packard dumped her. Doesn’t anyone remember that?
Oh, and by the way, despite this idiocy, John McCain–according to today’s Wall Street Journal–continues to consult this failed female affirmative action CEO on business matters:

For a business perspective, Sen. McCain consults Republican National Committee Victory Chairwoman Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co., and Meg Whitman, the former head of eBay Inc. “He listens a lot,” economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain’s senior economic adviser, said.

That’s bad news, since people in the know at H-P tell me that Fiorina was notorious for advocating illegal alien amnesty and for abusing H-1B visas for “skilled” foreign workers, so she wouldn’t have to pay Americans market wages for the same work.
No matter who is President, the most important national security issue–our borders and who gets in and out of them–will not be resolved.
It will only get worse.
Regardless of Palin, Thank G-d McCain didn’t pick Carly Fiorina as his Veep choice.
**** UPDATE, 09/19/08: Reader Sean writes:

Thank you for calling out Carly Fiorina. I’ve read her comments about McCain and Palin not being able to run corporations and I thought the same thing…”neither can you!” Maybe McCain is keeping Fiorina on to say “see? There are PLENTY of worse choices for VP.” I get the willies just typing the next sentence: The woman who ran H-P into the ground is the chairwoman of the RNC’s Victory Committee. YIKES!

Double YIKES!

By Debbie Schlussel
Even though we know yesterday’s Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a, Yemen were targeted at Americans and America, it’s ironic that the only American who died was a relative of Jaber El-Baneh, the fugitive seventh member of the Lackawanna Six Al-Qaeda terrorists–homegrown terrorists in Suburban Buffalo.
I’ve written about Jaber El-Baneh–who, in 2005, was allowed to escape a Yemeni prison by Yemeni police and prison guards and who has never faced justice in America for training to foment terrorist attacks on our soil.

Jihad Irony: Susan El-Baneh & Relative Jaber El-Baneh
Al-Qaeda’s Only American Victim Yesterday was Al-Qaeda Relative
Mr. El-Baneh trained at the Al-Farooq terrorist training camp run by Osama Bin Laden and was indicted. He eventually returned to Yemeni authorities, but they refuse to extradite him and let us try him here. In Yemen, he was convicted of participating in Al-Qaeda attacks including the bombing of the French Limburg oil tanker in 2002.
Since Muslims usually look at successful terrorist attacks (and hurricanes and other natural disasters) against us Westerners as a sign that “Allah is on our [the Muslims’] side,” one wonders how they look at the death of Susan El-Baneh. Although Susan El-Baneh was only a relative, she was a devout Muslim in a family that fiercely supported the views and behavior of terrorist Jaber El-Baneh.
Susan El-Baneh’s family tried to avoid talking about their terrorist relative, Mr. El-Baneh, with the press and tried to stress that “anyone can be a victim of a terrorist attack.” But let’s be clear. Again, the attack was against an American target for a reason, not to strike and send a message to just “anyone.” And I’d bet if they could choose the American they killed, Susan El-Baneh, relative of one of their own, wouldn’t have exactly been their first choice, or even their 3,000th.
Yemen is a hotbed of American hatred and a place where Al-Qaeda is not only welcome but terrorists, including one from Buffalo and several who attacked the U.S.S. Cole, are broken out of prison with the help of Yemeni police and its government. It’s very likely that Ms. El-Baneh and the Yemeni arranged marriage hubby she was bringing here didn’t exactly hate their Lackawanna Six family member or his efforts and “training”. In fact, I’m quite sure they were all in favor of it, like the rest of the El-Baneh family in Buffalo.

Eighteen-year-old Susan El-Baneh and her husband of three weeks died holding hands, her brother said, victims of a terrorist attack Wednesday on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen. [DS: An they know this because . . .?] American citizen Susan El-Baneh, 18, and her Yemeni husband of less than a month were killed in the attack.
The Lackawanna, New York, native, a high school senior, had gone to the Arabian Peninsula country a month ago for an arranged marriage. She and her husband were in the waiting area of the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, trying to find out the procedure to bring her spouse back to the United States. Susan El-Baneh was the only American killed in the attack. . . .
Susan El-Baneh had traveled to Yemen 30 days earlier with younger brother and mother, who gave her away during the wedding. . . .
She was going to go there and try and bring her new husband back to the United States after paperwork was done and then complete her last year of high school.” . . .
Susan El-Baneh probably was going to come back to the United States in December, her brother said, or whenever the paperwork for her new husband was cleared. She planned to finish her final year at Lackawanna High School . . . .
Susan El-Baneh is related to Yemeni-American Jaber El-Baneh, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list, accused of being the seventh member of the Lackawanna Six. The six were convicted or providing material support to al Qaeda.
El-Baneh confirmed the relation but preferred to talk about his sister and how the attack proved anyone can be the target of a terrorist act.

Anyone? Then, why did they choose the American Embassy?
Yes, anyone can inadvertently end up the victim of an Islamic terrorist plot. But not just anyone is the target. The U.S. Embassy was targeted for a reason, and that reason wasn’t Ms. El-Baneh.
The reason was you and me. She and her family will never be the intended victims, though they belligerently supported their relative who was a would-be perpetrator.
It’s sure different when the shoe(-bomb) is on the other foot, isn’t it?
It is a miracle that other Americans–especially Americans who didn’t come from Al-Qaeda families–weren’t killed.
Susan El-Baneh’s relative targeted Americans on behalf of Al-Qaeda on American soil and failed to kill any. Al-Qaeda targeted Americans on Yemeni soil and hit a relative of one of their own.
I think Allah is sending Muslims a message: Allah is not on your side. Pick up your marbles, er . . . ball-bearings, and go home.
Thanks to reader Mark for the tip.

By Debbie Schlussel
In the past, I’ve written about how tens of millions of dollars of fake bank checks were cashed by Al-Qaeda operatives at various casinos in Vegas. The apocryphal checks were drawn on a branch of the Bank of America that didn’t exist. Omar Abdel-Fattah Al-Shishani was stopped by then-U.S. Customs agents at Detroit Metro Airport with over $10 million in the fake checks. It was all part of the Al-Qaeda plot to commit jihad on casinos and simultaneously cheat infidels.
Now the North Koreans are taking a page from the Al-Qaeda playbook. Brett Winterble, host of Covert Radio Show (and former Rush Limbaugh producer), sends this latest example, which he’ll be covering on his podcast show today. In studying for his Masters Degree studying national security issues, he did a study in 2005 on this:

Chen Chiang Liu dealt in counterfeit $100 bills authentic enough to trick bill validators installed in Las Vegas slot machines.

A Las Vegas jury didn’t find his defense so convincing.
The 45-year-old man was found guilty Wednesday of coordinating the delivery and sale of millions of dollars worth of North Korean-produced “Supernotes,” a high-quality counterfeit currency.
After a seven-day trial, Liu was convicted of one count of conspiracy to sell, deal and pass counterfeit U.S. currency and one count of fraudulently passing and keeping counterfeit U.S. currency.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Liu transported the fake bills to Las Vegas and used them in slot machines. He played a nominal amount of money before cashing out and receiving authentic currency.
Liu met with an undercover FBI agent in March 2005 to negotiate the sale of the Supernotes. Between April and August of 2005, Liu delivered $2 million in bogus $100 bills to the agent. . . .
Liu’s wife, Teresa Liu, was also charged in the case. When authorities converged on the couple in Las Vegas in July, they found 301 Supernotes in Teresa Liu’s possession. But as the seven-day trial wound down, U.S. District Judge James Mahan ruled there was not enough evidence against the wife. . . .
During a subsequent search of Liu’s vehicle, agents found three envelopes containing 301 Supernotes hidden in a red shopping bag underneath clothes. . . . Agents also found $23,800 in genuine U.S. currency in Teresa Liu’s make-up bag.

Says Brett Winterble:

This is yet another example of North Korea committing an ongoing act of war against the United States, by counterfeiting our currency. They have a whole organization inside their diplomatic corps called “Bureau 39”– the entire purpose is to build criminal enterprises worldwide. They primarily traffic counterfeit U.S. dollars and high grade meth, which they move into Asia. They do both via diplomatic pouches, which is why the Russian Embassy in Beijing was involved.

Very interesting. If only the U.S. Customs Service–which did fine work in this area–was still around to investigate and stop these kinds of operations.

By Debbie Schlussel
**** SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****
Recently, I told you about how a Black woman who was supposed to sing America’s National Anthem at the beginning of a Denver City Council meeting, instead opened it with the separatist Black National Anthem. And I noted that has-been pop singer Anita Baker also sang the Black National Anthem at a Detroit speech of National of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Apparently, the trend is growing. Video shows Dallas Mavericks player Josh Howard, a multi-millionaire, saying:

The Star-Spangled Banner is going on right now. I don’t even celebrate that sh-t. I’m Black.

It also sounds like he might be invoking the name “Obama.” It’s hard to hear it, so listen closely:

So, let’s see. The guy is making millions of dollars to throw a ball through a basket (he averaged 19.9 points last season). He lives better than most Americans could ever dream of. And yet, he doesn’t feel like enough of an American to regard our National Anthem as anything other than “That Sh-t” because he’s Black.
HUH?
Oh, and don’t forget he’s an admitted pot user drives 94 miles per hour (for which he’s scheduled to appear in court, next week), and threw himself a birthday bash after he and his team blew the playoffs and lost to the New Orleans Hornets.
Yet, only in America, does this guy become a multi-millionaire.
Yup–“That Sh-t”, indeed.
What is up with this undue separatism and self-imposed faux-alienation, at a time when a Black man may become President of the United States and there is affirmative action and minority set-asides throughout the nation?
***
The video was shot two months ago on a cellphone camera. Watch a North Carolina TV news report from WXII-Channel 12. A number of Black Americans are very upset by Josh Howard’s statement. I especially like the comments of Larry Jones, a proud Black American U.S. veteran.
**** UPDATE: Bonus Video–Josh Howard on the Joys of Pot: