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A host of voices, from the Wall Street Journal to USA Today baseball columnist Hal Bodley, whined that America should let Cuba play in the inaugural World Baseball Classic. If there was an inkling of a chance that some players could defect, their whines might be slightly worthy.
After being rejected by the Treasury Department, the Bush Administration listened to the whiners and allowed the team representing the despotic Catroian dictatorship in. It was also a nod to billionaire Major League Baseball team owners, eager to find new Communist-bred talent. (Yeah, that’s a reason to allow totalitarianism to have a team on our shores.
Cuba reached the finals of the Classic, but thankfully did not win. The Cuban team was bested by the Japanese team, last night.
But don’t look for even a consolation prize of Cuban athletes defecting to freedom. Why?

(Fidel Castro Trading Card from Infinite Jest)
Well, it might have something to do with the team’s “trainer.” His name: Antonio Castro Soto del Valle. Yes, he’s a Castro, the son of the Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, and is supposed to be an orthopedic surgeon.
Do you really think he’s there to be a trainer or even team doctor? Me, neither. More like an enforcer. Watch for all the Cubans to return home . . . but not of their own accord.
Would hate to see what happens to them for coming in second to a free, capitalist democracy.

[Note from Debbie: This article is written by my father, H.L. Schlussel, who taught me almost everything I know about the Middle East and Islam. His wealth of knowledge dwarfs most of the so-called terrorism and Mid-East “experts” you see on TV and cable. DS]
By H.L. Schlussel, MD
A recently released Turkish Film, , is breaking all box office records in that country.
The story line in the movie is as follows: A Jewish doctor pays U.S. soldiers in Iraq, commanded by a psychopathic Christian fundamentalist, to murder Muslims so he can obtain their organs to sell to wealthy Jews in Tel Aviv and New York. In the course of their predations, the U.S. soldiers shoot up a Muslim wedding, killing the groom in front of his bride and a little boy in front of his mother.

“Kurtlar Vadisi – Irak”: Turkey’s Anti-Semitic, Anti-American Hit Film
But reality is different from the movies.
A recent atrocious suicide bombing attack on a Muslim wedding at a hotel in Amman, Jordan, resulted in the bride’s father and many in the wedding party being killed. But–surprise, surprise!–the attackers were not U.S. soldiers or Jews, but a devout Muslim couple with close ties to Al-Qaeda’s genocidal leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. We know this because the Jordanian security services apprehended the woman of the couple, who chickened out at the last minute.
This time, leading Muslim clerics were not able to claim it was an Israeli or U.S. plot, as they did regarding 9/11, the infamous Danish cartoons, AIDS, bird flu, the destruction of the mosque at Samarra, etc., etc., etc. . . .
This brings me to the reason I am writing this article. You see, back in the early ’90s, after the Gulf War, Bush I/Baker forced Yitzchak Shamir, who was then Prime Minister of Israel, into the International Madrid Peace Conference, guaranteed to solve all the problems of the Middle East. The Turks, who, at the time, were close allies of the U.S. and Israel, were reluctant to participate, because they thought this conference was a “Kurtlar Sofrassi” (“A Wolves’ Table”). Secretary of State James Baker said he had Shamir “in [his] sights like a turkey.” The “hunting of the Jew” metaphor apparently resonated on the left, as well. Leslie Gelb of the New York Times wrote an op-ed in which he approvingly stated that Baker had Shamir “treed.”
Baker felt such a conference was a slippery slope. Who knows where it would lead once it got started? Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of Lubavitch, one of the outstanding rabbis of the Twentieth Century, agreed. He forcefully urged Shamir not to participate. Well, it turned out that both Baker and the Rabbi were right. The Madrid Conference led to Israel’s signing on to the suicidal Oslo I Agreement, which led to Oslo II, which led to Wye, which led to Camp David, which led to open season on Jews all over the world, and international enmity unprecedented since World War II.
Israel, itself, is demoralized and riven by polarization. The government recently , with a large percentage still living in cramped, temporary quarters without jobs or hope.
That brings me to my third wolf story, from the brilliant Benjamin Franklin. He said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.”

Ehud Olmert: Israel’s Visionless Acting Prime Minister
Attacked his Own Citizens
(Amona Attack Photo Courtesy of Sultan Knish)
Israel’s current “temporary” Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, is a visionless political hack, who was a former Mayor of Jerusalem. His most noteworthy act, since becoming Prime Minister, was to . In this action, there were 200-300 casualties. Two members of the Israeli Parliament, both ex-Generals, were rendered unconscious. One of them sustained a fractured hand, and the other a possible fractured skull. (Disturbing photos at Sultan Knish.)
In a speech before the left-leaning “Israel Policy Forum,” in July 2005, Olmert stated, “We are tired of fighting, tired of being courageous, tired of victories, tired of defeating our enemies.”
With a guy like this leading the charge, can Israel survive? Doubtful! The leftist journalist, Ari Shavit, wrote in the left-wing newspaper, Ha’aretz, that Olmert’s victory in the upcoming Israeli elections would be “the beginning of the end.”
H.L. Schlussel, MD is a physician, Vietnam-era U.S. Army Veteran and Middle East expert, who speaks several languages.

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I’ve written about–actually, against–Al-Jazeera’s new English language network, soon to be on the air ( and ). (Yes, the Arabic language version, but I’m no fan of the Terrorist News Network.)
Now comes this hilarious, deadpanned quote from Dave Marash, Al-Jazeera International’s new Jewish anchor (we’re sure his religion had nothing to do with his hiring, which is why Al-Jazeera is touting it ad absurdum; nope, it was his charming good looks):

I do not see Al Jazeera as the antagonist of the Jews or the Israelis. It is a friend of the Jews, a friend of Israel, a friend of peace and harmony in the Middle East.

Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that, Dave.

Dave Marash: Al-Jazeera International’s Resident Evil Jew

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From the “They Couldn’t Have Gotten it More Wrong” Dept., this TVWeek.com headline:
“Mike Wallace Never Jumped the Shark”
Oh, yes, he did.

Mike Wallace Jumped the Shark, Well Before Fonzie Did

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In case there was any doubt about the far-left politics of the Sundance Channel, this was last night’s prime-time programming on the three year anniversary of war in Iraq:
* “Big Storm: The Lynndie England Story”
* “Occupation: Dreamland”
* “Torture: The Guantanamo Guidebook”
So glad the Sundance Channel supports our troops.

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Even if you’re not a pro football fan, Paul Tagliabue’s retirement as Commissioner of the National Football League, announced today, is important. Especially if you are a U.S. taxpayer.
Under Tagliabue’s leadership, the NFL was turned into a mega-conglomerate of sponsorships and entertainment. But he did it on the backs of the U.S. taxpayers.
Before Paul Tagliabue, pro football was a game most played half the year, then had to work as insurance salesman the other half. But thanks to you, Mr. Tagliabue, a slick labor lawyer, changed all that.
U.S. taxpayers were and continue to be the constant financiers of newer and bigger stadiums and arenas, not the NFL billionaire owners, allowing them to spend more money on players’ salaries and keeping a lot more for themselves. U.S. taxpayers pay for consistent police protection of players at games around the country, not just on Sunday, but on Monday Night, and Thursday Night, too.

Paul Tagliabue: Corporate Welfare Extractor Extraordinaire
Then, there’s the tax-subsidized Super Bowl. U.S. taxpayers paid for hundreds of federal, state and local police to watch over this year’s Super Bowl, as they do every year. And U.S. taxpayers paid for federal and protect the poor NFL billionaires from losing a penny of merchandise money.
You, Joe and Josephine taxpayer, working your butts off to put NFL millionaire athletes in gorgeous, state-of-the-art locker rooms, and NFL billionaire owners in fancy luxury suites.
That’s Paul Tagliabue’s legacy in heading the NFL. So, how do you like him now? He started the slippery slope that never ends.
Hopefully, you like paying for Warren Sapp’s vacations and Ricky Williams pot-fests. Because, whether you buy tickets to the game or not, you’re subsidizing both. Thanks, Paul Tagliabue.

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We’ve written all that needs to be said about (see also, ).
Last night, Sharon Stone crowded out the TV screen with her “me, me, me” feature on NBC’s “Dateline.” We heard her whine about her social life, not getting parts in Hollywood after 40 (gee, that’s news; never heard it before), how she’s showing more of her crotch in her next stupid film, etc.–all from her dignified mansion. Poor Sharon. Get out the violin.
Today, it’s more stupidity–wait, make that vapidity–about the Mid-East. Yup, Sharon Stone, Middle East Scholar, is ba-a-a-ack. Too bad. We thought we’d heard the end, when she lectured Israelis to stop killing, uttered something stupid about being in a puddle of water over Shimon Peres, and talking about kissing everyone to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. (Israel was just struck with the bird flu virus. Like the country needs more viruses? . . . .)
Here’s her latest new-age psychobabble on Mid-East peace:

And it really is just a breath. It’s just an agreement that’s just a breath. We are not far apart. We can choose to have this alternative kind of growth that is a collective nuance of understanding.

HUH?! What did she just say. Translator, please. Uh, and who’s “We”? Did SHE have to give up her ? Did she get ? Did she get her children blown up in Sbarro’s Pizza or her own face mutilated at the Dolfinarium disco? Hello, hello, hello . . . ?
Nice aging house, nobody’s home.
The only breath is heavy breathing for this from “Basic Instinct” and this wet-tshirt shot from “Basic Instinct 2.” And we have news for Ms. Stone: That kind of breath won’t bring peace to the Mid-East.

But, wait. Like a Ginsu Steakknife commercial, there’s more:
Stone says she’s glad women are “stepping up” to “take their place in the world.” She calls it, “their feminine instinct.”

This is a new and very exciting time for women, because women by their very nature are creative and not destructive. And this is an extraordinary and important thing that we can bring into a world that awaits the opportunity for peace.

Oh, really? Here are some names for Sharon to google in researching her “feminine instinct” theory: Wafa Idris, Abu Asiyah, and Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi. They are all FEMALE homicide bombers and terrorists (who also just happen to be Islamic). Ooops, and don’t forgot the “non-destructive” Princess Bunieh al Saud a/k/a Saudi “Princess Bonnie,” who tortured and threw her Filipino slave-maid down the stairs at her Orlando condo. Yes, we trust these “non-destructive” women to bring peace as only Sharon Stone knows they will.
Time, Sharon–well past time, Crotchy, to SHUT UP! Or since you are in Paris, Fermez La Bouche!

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The Boston Globe claims that tattoos are becoming a mark of power, even at the office.

A number of white collar professionals are finding that body art is a helpful tool at the office . . . . In some workplace circles, visible tattoos have become the new power suit.

Uh-huh. If your office is the NBA or an advertising agency.
Try going to a respectable office in a non-creative, non-sports industry, and it’s doubtful your body canvas of assorted snakes, skulls, and “I Heart Tom”/”I Heart Roseanne,” will get you a second interview. As , the Coast Guard has updated its rules to keep the overly tattooed out. That wasn’t the case before. Starbucks and Blockbuster don’t allow visible tattoos. For good reason. It’s not very professional-looking.

The New Power Suits?

[AD: Need Tattoo Equipment? Check Out Our Cool Tattoo Machine Selection]

Most workplaces aren’t the sets of “Meet the Barkers” or “Prison Break.” The fact is that while they’ve become more of a fixture of pop-culture, and less thought of as the attire of sailors, soldiers, carnies, and convicts, tattoos are hardly a sign of power. In fact, at bar-time, on women, they’re usually a sign of “I’m easy.” (Tramp-stamp, anyone?)

Any one with $200 bucks and an ability to stay still while being repeatedly stabbed with a needle can get a tattoo. How is that a “mark of power”? If anything, they’re a sign of impetuousness.

We’d say the person with the real power is the guy holding the needle.

We have a number of friends and, we’re sure, a number of readers who are tattooed. And we don’t hold it against them or look down on them in any way. But we expect that, someday, they’ll be shelling out the big bucks to get it lasered off at the cosmetic surgeon’s office.

Power? Hardly. Just a needle repeatedly stabbing you for permanent demarcation and likely regret. Would you want, say, your President to be covered in tattoo “body art”? If tattoos are a sign of power, what’s next, multiple nose-rings as the new power-tie?

No thanks. Doesn’t exactly whet your appetite at a restaurant to see the waitress sporting those.

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HBO’s new show, “Big Love,” is getting a lot of hype. Airing in the prized post-Soprano’s slot on Sundays at 10 p.m. Eastern, the show is about a lapsed Mormon in suburban Salt Lake City who has three wives and families.
But while the Mormon Church banned the practice of polygamy in 1890, another religion continues to encourage it to this day. Hint: It begins with an I, ends with an M, and has an S-L-A in the middle.
If you think men with four wives only happens in Utah, think again. If you think that, with Muslims, it only happens in some desert emirate over in the Middle East, also think again.
The fact is there are Muslim men with multiple wives living everywhere in America. But unlike the Mormons–most of whom don’t practice polygamy anymore–Muslims with multiple wives aren’t subject to ridicule, like HBO shows or Jay Leno jokes. And they aren’t prosecuted, like Mormon Tom Green was.

HBO’s Fictional “Big Love”; America’s Real, Growing “Big Love”
There are Muslim polygamist men living not far from me in the Detroit area. They have one wife, to whom they were married in the eyes of the State, and several to whom they are married in the eyes of the mosque. While our government recognizes these marriages for Muslims, it enforces polygamy laws against everyone else. In Dearborn, Michigan–Islamic America’ nucleus–statutory rape cases have been dismissed on the grounds that there was a marriage (of a 14-year-old girl! in one case) in the eyes of the mosque.
Here’s a quote from Islamic commentator Hassan Hathout:

We American Muslims are subject to American law and we have the right of objection only if the law forces us to do something against Islam. . . . When an American Muslim takes a second wife (as is rumored to be the practice of some Islamic centers), the second wife is denied her “legal” proof of marriage, and will essentially be kept as a hidden or secret wife.

This is a huge drain on Infidel society, because there have been instances where Muslim polygamist marriages have been used to foment mortgage and bank fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud. In addition, the multiple wives are usually an excuse to milk the system, whether it’s Medicaid or Aid to Families with Dependent Children or WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) aid.
But when it comes to Islamic polygamy on our shores, neither law enforcement–nor feminists constantly griping about exclusive golf clubs–are lifting a finger. While the Utah and Arizona Attorney Generals’ offices investigate and issue reports about Christian polygamy in their states, not a word from their Michigan counterpart. The double standard is clear.
So where’s HBO’s “Big Islamic Love” show? Don’t hold your breath. Only Christians need apply for the scorn. Muslims . . . totally off limits.

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Wal-Mart made a big mistake hiring Andrew Young as its new high-paid spokesman. Already, we won’t shop there because top Wal-Mart executives . (And ICE–Immigration and Customs Enforcement–let the retail giant get away with it.)
Now, there’s Young–another reason why Wal-Mart is a poor choice as cause-celebre for conservatives. Andrew Young was forced to resign as Jimmy Carter’s U.N. Ambassador in 1979 because he met with the P.L.O. and, through his actions, legitimized the group. The P.L.O. was a designated terrorist entity at the time and U.S. officials were forbidden with meeting with the group.
But Young didn’t stop there. He predicted that his meeting with the Palestinian terrorists would create “the constituency for the Palestinians.” It became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many believe–with good reason–that Young met with these terrorists because of his hatred of Jews and his desire to further break down the disintegrating relationship between American Blacks and Jews.

Andrew Young: Walmart’s New Spokesman
Young became a defender and lionizer of Palestinian terrorists who brutally murdered U.S. officials (including the then-highest ranking Black diplomat George Curtis Moore–so bludgeoned that authorities could not differentiate him on sight from the White diplomat the Palestinians also tortured to death). But, also, Young’s meeting became the prominent first step down the slippery legitimacy slope for what is now the HAMAS terror nation-state.
Wal-Mart’s new spokesman, Andrew Young. A great reason not to shop there and help subsidize his paycheck.