August 7, 2006, - 2:11 pm

Hilarious: The Mel Gibson Friends That Keep on Giving; Patrick Swayze, Mid-East Scholar

By
I really don’t think the Mel Gibson anti-Semitism story is that big of a deal. Hardly an earth-shattering event. , and that’s the end of the story.
But not for Mel. He just can’t give it up. He keeps trotting out the worst choices in friends to vouch for him “not being an anti-Semite.” Last week, there was of Eminem-rapping-lyrics-as-a-graduation-speech fame. As , she was hardly the ideal choice as a Gibson defender.
Now, there’s “Dirty Dancer” Patrick Swayze, who also insists that Mel Gibson “is not anti-Semitic.” That’s the biggest acting gig Swayze can get, these days, apparently.


Wait, is this the same Patrick Swayze “? Why, yes it is. (My column on Middle East “scholar” .) Is it the same airplane pilot Patrick Swayze ? Why, yes it is.
Is it the same pan-Arabist, pan-Islamist Patrick Swayze, “? (Fortunately, the movie was shelved, permanently.) Based on a book by Sheik Sultan Al Qassimi, ruler of Sharjah (one of the seven United Arab Emirates), the script was about Johannes Herman Poll, an American boy who was “adopted” (a/k/a kidnapped, held hostage, and forcibly converted to Islam) by an Arab couple to become a powerful 19th Century sheik.
Hmmm. . . . Maybe that’s how Patrick Swayze is such an expert on anti-Semitism. That and his experience “raising Arabian horses.”
Instead of pontificating on Mid-East policy and Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitism, Swayze should have stuck to acting. His career went downhill after “Red Dawn” and “North & South” (the Civil War miniseries). Remember “Road House“?
Hilarious. Come on, Mel. Give it up. This sorry lot of defenders is turning a week-long story into a several weeks-long farce.

Read the full Post


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 7, 2006, - 11:46 am

Caution: Oliver Stone Says He May Make 9/11 Conspiracy Film

By
Last year, when it was announced that Director Oliver Stone was making a 9/11 movie, I was among the first to .
Now, Stone’s 9/11 film, “World Trade Center,” out Wednesday, is getting rave reviews from a lot of conservatives. ****UPDATE, 08/08/06: My .**** They like it because–contrary to expectations–Stone reportedly stuck to the 9/11 story and didn’t do one of his conspiracy theory dog and pony fiction shows, a la “JFK.”
And, I’m being criticized by left-wing sites for daring to worry–last year–that Stone would make one of his loony non-“documentary” versions of “.”


Arafat Bud Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center”

But I think those who praise Stone for this pic should hold off praising him. Stone has now let on that he may do a 9/11 conspiracy film, too. And he will use goodwill from this project to lend legitimacy to that one. That should disturb everyone. Ditto for the fact that, while his movie doesn’t make political statements, he is using it to attack Bush in press interviews.
Stone told Detroit Free Press Film Critic Terry Lawson,

“There’s a lot of movies to be made about 9/11, and this is just the one I wanted to make at this time. Maybe later, I’ll make another one, from a different perspective. . . .
There are lots of movies that could be made about the politics of 9/11. Someday, someone will make the 9/11 ‘Battle of Algiers,’ you can bet.” (The classic “The Battle of Algiers” was told primarily from the perspective of the Algerians in their revolt against the colonial French.)

In other words, someday someone will make a 9/11 movie from Mohammed Atta’s and Osama Bin Laden’s perspective. And don’t be surprised, since he’s already hinting at it, if that “someone” is Oliver Stone, himself. Call it, “Love Letter to Fidel: Nixon’s Platoon of Natural Born JFK 9/11 Killers Born on the 4th of July.”
And, don’t forget, Stone remains a , the Islamic soul-mates of 9/11’s hijackers. He visited HAMAS Ramallah Chief Hassan Yussef. According to Al-Ahram, in March 2002, just after the Passover Massacre, Stone visited Arafat at his Ramallah compound with Portugal’s Nobel Prize-winning novelist Jose Saramago and French anarchist Jose Bove.
During the meeting Saramago called the situation in Ramallah “a crime comparable to Auschwitz.” When asked where were the gas chambers, he answered, “not yet.” According to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Variety columnist Army Archerd later asked Stone about incitement in the Palestinian schools and the glorification of suicide bombings, Stone ignored the question and instead said of Arab-Israeli tension that, “The memories are long as are the grudges and feuds.” Whatever.
Stone also told the Free Press’ Lawson that he urged actress Maggie Gyllenhaal to stay in the movie–playing the wife of one of 9/11’s heroic cops–despite the fact that she said the US bore responsibility for 9/11. Will Jimeno–the surviving real-life cop whose wife she plays–and his wife might have been too starstruck to object to Gyllenhaal, but her comments are a slap in their face. And the faces of those many cops and firefighters who died on 9/11. Period.
That Stone chose to keep her on is a double slap. Just wait for the triple slap in the form of an Academy Award nomination (can’t wait for her Michael Moore-esque acceptance speech).
In Friday’s USA Today, Stone told reporter Anthony Breznican:

“In these articles, you know where they’re going the moment they use ‘conspiracy theorist.’ It’s some kind of derogatory term,” he says. “Some conspiracy theorists are completely insane. But it’s not wrong to question the official story. Never. That’s been the story of my life and in all my films.” . . .
“Bush makes Nixon look like St. Augustine,” he says of the saint known for his zeal in confessing wrongs. “At least Nixon had some intelligence and a conscience …. Bush is The Manchurian Candidate,” a reference to the 1962 movie about a presidential contender manipulated by immoral handlers.

Even 9/11 conspiracy theorist organizer David Slesinger won’t dare criticize Stone (while he criticizes everyone else who doesn’t buy into his bizarre theories):

But Slesinger says he isn’t upset that Stone doesn’t ask those questions. “It’s not for a propagandist like myself to question an artist like Oliver Stone.”

In USA Today, Stone continues the hints he made to the Detroit Free Press about a conspiracy theory film in the works:

Would he have preferred to make a film that explores the political implications of 9/11 instead of a strict rescue docudrama?
“If I could go back, would I change it? Good question.”

So while “World Trade Center” may play the facts of 9/11 straight, don’t mistake one movie for Oliver Stone’s final word on 9/11 and Islamic terrorism.
That may be yet to come. And, given his track record, it may not be so nice . . . or factual.

Read the full Post


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 4, 2006, - 8:17 pm

Not Like Father, Like Son: On Israel/Hezbollah, John Dingell, Sr. is Turning Over in His Grave (My Grandfather Knew)

By
Many have noted Democratic U.S. Congressman John Dingell, Jr.’s outrageous comment, Sunday, on a local Detroit political TV show, that he did not oppose Hezbollah (video here and here).
But to those of us who live in the Detroit area and have been following his way-too-long in Congress, his statements are hardly shocking. In fact, Dingell has for a long time.
Dingell’s comments lauding Hezbollah–which murdered over 241 U.S. Marines and civilians–are nothing new. He will do or say whatever is necessary to hold onto his perceived base of extremist Muslim voters. It is not out of principle. He doesn’t really believe these things–he’s just a political prostitute. And that’s far more scary.


Artwork by David Lunde

Evidence of this is that Dingell wasn’t always this way. Before the whiny Islamic community of Dearborn and beyond was perceived as powerful (their purported numbers of voters are highly exaggerated from reality and actually still very small), Dingell wasn’t a strong supporter of Islamofascism.

Artwork by David Lunde

And the Dingell apple falls far from the tree. Dingell’s father, John Dingell, Sr., who preceded him in Congress, was very pro-Israel. So was the entire Michigan Democratic Party–which today is the domicile of the Islamofascists.
Below is an article from The Detroit Times, from November or December of 1948, not long after Israel became a State. It is about a pro-Israel dinner hosted by my late grandfather, Irving W. Schlussel, a lawyer, Detroit Jewish Community Council President, and President of the Jewish National Fund (which reclaims swamp and rocky land in Israel and plants trees on it). John Dingell, Sr. is one of the honorees, and he is pictured in the photo with my grandfather. Dingell, Sr. was inscribed in the JNF’s “Golden Book” for his support for Israel. His statement (some of which is unfortunately cut off in the only copy in my possession) is very pro-Israel. Today, he is probably turning over in his grave, at the disgusting actions and statements of his terror-apologist son.

Also, below, is another article from The Detroit Times from 1951. It is about a dinner, also hosted by my grandfather, Irving Schlussel.The dinner was in honor of then-Michigan Governor G. Mennen “Soapy” Williams and Lt. Governor (later U.S. Senator) Phil Hart. Although he is not mentioned in the article or pictured in the photo, John Dingell Sr. was in attendance, because, again, he was a strong supporter of Israel, unlike his terror-apologist son, who has been in office 50-years too long. At this dinner, the Williams-Hart Forest in Israel was established.

Because of my grandfather’s (and grandmother’s) efforts, the State of Israel also established a forest in honor of him and my grandmother, the Irving W. and Marilyn D. Schlussel Forest (note the old plaque which mistakenly says he is from New York–in those days, they thought all American Jews were from New York). That is me in 1991 (with my original ’80s brunette hair) planting a tree in the forest along with my sisters at a forest rededication ceremony.

Read the full Post


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 4, 2006, - 7:37 pm

“Rabbi” Jodi Foster: Mel Gibson’s Anti-Semitism “Expert”

By
So, let me get this straight:
, who will portray Nazi film propagandist on the screen, says that Riefenstahl–who used concentration camp inmates as film extras–was “a great documentarian” and has “been libeled so many times.” (More about Hitler paramour . More about .)
And now she’s the “anti-Semitism expert” who says Mel Gibson is “absolutely not” anti-Semitic?!
Guh-reat kosher seal of approval. Coming from her, it’s hardly a ringing endorsement. Next, David Duke will be telling us what a philo-Semite good ole Mel is. . End of story.


Rabbi Jodi Foster Gives Mel Gibson Kosher Seal of Approval

**** UPDATE, 08/05/06: Allah Pundit at Hot Air reports that even David Duke doesn’t like Mel Gibson. ****

Read the full Post


Tags: , , , , , , , ,

August 4, 2006, - 7:12 pm

Endorsement: Why I’m Voting For Rev. KEITH BUTLER for U.S. Senate; Bouchard’s Islamofascist Ties Very Troubling

By
I’ve been asked by many readers in Michigan whom I’m voting for in Tuesday’s Michigan Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. Some have asked me to make an endorsement.
I will be voting for Rev. Keith Butler.


It is troubling that neither Butler, nor his opponent, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, support the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative–the measure to get rid of affirmative action and race/gender/ethnic preferences in state hiring and admissions. That said, Rev. Butler is the true conservative (minus his support for affirmative action) in this race.
I am not troubled by the fact that Bouchard is an Arab-American, but I am troubled by the fact that he said in a newspaper article that there is a need for more Arab activist candidates for office. I think I know what that means, and it isn’t good. That Bouchard has allied himself with and identified with very Islamofascist, anti-American, anti-Israel organizations, like the Arab American Institute (AAI) and , is even more disturbing. AAI supports HAMAS and Hezbollah.
ACCESS helped fund the 2002 University of Michigan Divestment (from Israel) Conference and has sent out e-mails advertising pro-Hezbollah rallies over the last few weeks. It used tax funds to train accused Al-Qaeda terrorists for commercial drivers licenses and HazMat hauling certificates. , also with our tax money. In 2002, ACCESS was raided for allegedly helping pregnant Muslim illegal aliens obtain phony social security numbers so that they could have U.S. citizen babies here, courtesy of Medicaid. For a guy who claims in his campaign ads that he is so tough on illegal immigration, Bouchard’s association with ACCESS (he attended their dinners, etc.) is proof he’s a hypocrite. I’ve written a lot about ACCESS, including and .
Although Bouchard is an Arab Christian, most Christian Arabs–particularly my many friends in the Maronite Lebanese community of Michigan who oppose Hezbollah–are supporting Rev. Butler (he has an ad in their Lebanese Magazine). That is telling.
Like me, they fear that Bouchard–if elected–will turn out to be like another Christian Arab-American U.S. Senator from Michigan, Spencer Abraham. Abraham put )–the extremist HAMAS front group–on the map, taking them around the Hill to meet other high-ranking politicians. He also worked with U.S. Congressman Joe Knollenberg to , at the request of the Arab American Institute’s James Zogby.
Bouchard is a career politician, who is supported by “moderate” Republicans in Michigan. It was far too long ago that he held a job in the private sector. Butler, a successful businessman and minister, built a giant and impressive empire that has introduced many Blacks to conservative values and thought. He is a fine orator and a strong supporter of our ally, Israel, in the War on Terror. He supports fighting Islamofascism, not embracing or appeasing it. With Bouchard, we’re not so sure. And why take the chance?
That is why, this Tuesday (August 8th), I’ll be voting for Rev. Keith Butler, Republican, for the U.S. Senate in the Michigan primary. If you are registered to vote in Michigan, I hope you will, too.
NOT PAID FOR BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE COMMITTEE.

Read the full Post


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 4, 2006, - 1:35 pm

Men “The New Women” Alert: Derek Jeter, Avon Lady & Pink NHL Jerseys

By
On this site, we constantly lament the feminization of America’s men and the masculinization of America’s women.
The latest in the “Men-the New Women” saga are two disturbing chapters in the sports category:
* NHL Goes Pink: First, they took the fighting out of hockey, and now they’re inserting the pink. Both bad moves.
The NHL is trying to garner more female fans by enlisting Reebok to produce pink “female-friendly” NHL hockey jerseys (sometimes referred to in hockey jargon as “sweaters”–but they aren’t really sweaters) for each of the NHL’s 30 teams. No blue is allowed.


Pink NHL Jerseys; Meet the New Avon Lady, Derek Jeter

A Toronto Maple Leafs hockey jersey with pink striping patterns, logo, numbers, and letters? They think this will attract more women fans to the NHL than the male fans it scares away? Yup, that’s the laughable plan, which is not supposed to be funny.
The NHL and Reebok say that even though the focus of the new “apparel” is the “untapped women’s market,” men can purchase them. Yeah, maybe men in San Francisco, DuPont Circle, and the back of Elton John’s tour bus.
We can’t wait for the day when clueless, PC NHL marketers force NHL players to actually wear these silly pink jerseys on the blue line. “Pretty in Pink Night at Madison Square Garden?”
We predict that the pink jerseys will be a market failure. What’s next–the official tampon of the NHL? Don’t put it past the League.
We’ve already written about –equally as silly. More about the no-so-pretty in pink NHL jerseys here.
* Derek Jeter, Avon Lady: Remember the Avon Lady? Well, the Avon Lady’s new name is Derek. As in, Major League Baseball’s Derek Jeter.
Not only is Jeter promoting a new men’s “fragrance,” he’s pushing a new line of Avon men’s beauty products bearing his name. The “fragrance”–which Jeter says he’s been very involved in creating . . . along with his mother and sister–is a blend including notes of chilled grapefruit.
Memo to Derek: Men don’t wear “fragrances.” They wear “cologne.” And they don’t wear fruit scents. Unless, again, they are planning a trip to the back of Elton John’s tour bus.
As for his “beauty” products, we doubt they’ll be very popular in the dugout. It reminds us of the old Avon slogan–“Avon, You Never Looked So Good”–which apparently needs to be reinvented.
New slogan: “Avon, You Never Looked So UnMasculine.”

Read the full Post


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 4, 2006, - 12:04 pm

Attention, Terrorists & America: Important Anniversary Tomorrow

By
Tomorrow is an important anniversary. For the terrorists and for us.
On August 5, 1966–40 years ago, tomorrow–ground was broken on the World Trade Center.
Today, almost five years after the 9/11 attacks, the WTC has still not been rebuilt. That is an embarrassment and an American tragedy. Instead of showing the Islamic terrorists and their 1 billion supporters we mean business, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center is mired in feuding and lawsuits.
It is ludicrous. Our idea would have been five towers with the middle one being much taller than the rest–with ground broken on 9/11/02 and the project finished by 9/11/06. That would have sent a great message to those who hate us.


Instead, we will recognize the 40th anniversary of the start of the WTC, with a giant black hole still unfilled . . . a monument to the terrorists, instead of one in answer to them.
How many more anniversaries of the building of the WTC–and the obliteration of it–will pass before the WTC is rebuilt? Will we still be asking this question, say, five years from now?
Probably. Some good news, though: As we wrote previously, at least one new building, , did go up near the towers where another building was taken down on 9/11.

7 World Trade Center: Hey, Bin Laden . . . .

Read the full Post


Tags: , ,

August 4, 2006, - 10:59 am

HILARIOUS!: Hezbo’s Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah Dating Video

By
From Day One, we’ve called it: Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is a who tells others to become martyrs, but, himself, hides from the Israelis–too afraid to face Allah and the 72 re-virginized.
Now, Michelle Malkin presents Nasrallah’s hilarious dating video by comedian Adam Mutterpurl. Watch it at Hot Air. Adam Mutterpurl’s site here.
.


Nice Lipstick:

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s Girlie-Man Terrorist Leader

(Sheikh–or, rather Sheikha–Nasrallah Artwork by David Lunde)

Read the full Post


Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

August 4, 2006, - 9:42 am

Weekend Box Office: Funniest Movie of the Year (“Ricky Bobby”) and Creepiest (“Night Listener”)

By
This weekend at the box office:
* “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby“: Hands down, the funniest movie of the year. You’ll laugh your butt off. If you like Will Ferrell, you’ll love this one–which is, by far, his best display of silver screen silly fun. Much better than “Anchorman,” this is what summer movies are supposed to be about–funny, light, escapist, and a good time.
Ricky Bobby (Ferrell) is the fictional NASCAR race-car driver with two first names. The movie is the hilarious story of his rise to NASCAR fame, fall from it, and comeback. It makes fun of NASCAR, NASCAR drivers, and NASCAR drivers’ wives and groupies, but not in a way that makes fun of Middle America (as snooty, sneering Hollywood often does). NASCAR fans, on the other hand, are not ridiculed. Done with the full cooperation of the real-life NASCAR.


You gotta love a movie that makes relentless fun of the French. And this one does. Sacha Baron Cohen, of “Ali G” and “Borat” fame, plays gay French race car driver, Jean Girard. His exaggerated French accent is reminiscent of Peter Seller’s “Inspector Clouseau,” only far more hilarious.
Don’t leave when you think the movie is over. The hilarious out-takes are as funny as the rest of the movie and worth staying for.
We didn’t need the PC Halliburton dig, but other than that, the movie was very enjoyable. Because of sexual and bathroom-style jokes, it’s probably not for young kids. But it’s rated PG and suitable for young teens and up.
* “The Night Listener“: Easily the most bizarre, creepy movie of the year, this one was reminiscent of “Misery” (only not as good). Robin Williams plays a maudlin gay national radio host who falls for a book written by a tragic young boy dying of AIDS and the boy’s adopted mother. Or is there such a boy at all?
Although the in-your-face gay agenda of this movie was jarring and extremely annoying, it is redeeming because it shows the uber-gullibility of activists for left-wing causes and the ability of scam artists to easily exploit them. Frequently, the PC crowd is so naive and agenda-focused, all reason, instinct, and intuition goes out the window–as William’s character so blatantly displays.

Read the full Post


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

August 4, 2006, - 8:56 am

Mel Gibson Family Dodged Vietnam Draft

By
is hardly the American patriot or conservative some want you to believe that he is.
He’s made frequent comments attacking President Bush and the War in Iraq. But there’s also something else about him and his anti-Semitic father, Hutton Gibson, that you may not know:
They moved to Australia to dodge the Vietnam draft.
As reported by many media outlets, when Mel Gibson turned 12, in 1968, Hutton Gibson moved the family from New York to Australia, so that neither Mel nor his brother would be drafted to go to Vietnam.


(Before I start getting hate-mail about the Jews, for the record–unlike Mel Gibson–my father was drafted during the Vietnam War and served in the U.S. Army for several years (and the U.S. Army Reserves). (His writings are and .) My cousin, a U.S. Air Force Academy grad, recently finished serving a year in Iraq and remains stationed overseas serving in the Air Force. My great-uncle, a career Army man, served during World War II and in Pearl Harbor, rising to the rank of General.)

Read the full Post


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,