By Debbie Schlussel
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.
Go here for the details and link to free chocolate.

By Debbie Schlussel
This photo, with Tiger Woods, was taken Sunday at the AT&T National at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD. The man in the wheelchair is U.S. Army Private First Class Brendan Marrocco of Staten Island, NY (his father is pictured behind him).

Marrocco, 22, was severely injured early on Easter Sunday when his convoy was blasted in Iraq. He had joined the U.S. Army more than a year ago.
The Staten Island Academy graduate survived the explosion but each of his badly damaged limbs required amputation.
His legs were removed above the knees, while his left arm was amputated below the elbow and the right arm above the elbow.

He also was badly burned, lost teeth and suffered injuries to his left eye.
Marrocco is undergoing rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical center in Washington D.C., where it is expected he will be for the next couple of years.
His mother, Michelle, who works for a nursing care company, and his brother, who left a job at Citibank, have both moved to Washington to be closer to Marrocco and help him recover, according to published reports.
Marrocco’s father, Alex, who politely declined to be immediately interviewed for this story, also has taken time off from work to be with his son.

G-d Bless this brave soldier, who gave everything short of his life in service to our country. I pray for him in his recovery.

By Debbie Schlussel
Sorry for the light blogging today, but I was in the belly of the beast–Detroit, or as I like to call it D-Mecca–at meetings about the misbehavior of our friends, “my cousins” in Dearbornistan.
In the meantime, Detroit has been contending with this fabulous specimen, Martha Reeves. Yup, the chick who is still trying to relive her days as the head diva of the Vandellas (what the heck is a Vandella, anyway–female vernacular for Vandal?).
As I always say, Martha Reeves is Michael Jackson (when he was alive) minus the credit lines. Like many down and out former Motown acts and one-hit wonders, she looked for new funding avenues and found it by using her has-been celeb name to get elected to the Detroit City Council. So far in running Detroit . . . into the ground, this senior diva-zen was an unfailing ally of deposed Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, deposed City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, and quickly announced to the City that since she’s a Councilwoman, she should get free tickets to everything.

When we left Detroit City Councilwoman Martha Reeves Friday, she was performing as Martha and the Vandellas in England, barnstorming the country in a Motown 50th anniversary tour, being hailed as a legend, lionized as a diva and missed at the council table during a busy week back home.
Since then, Reeves told an interviewer that her council service was “a second job I have” after singing. She also returned to Detroit, unable to comment on the departure of Monica Conyers because, she said, she didn’t know Conyers had resigned.
The last concert was Sunday night in Liverpool, and Reeves missed work at her $81,000-a-year “second job” – with car and staff – in Detroit for the sixth day Monday.
And Monday happened to be one of the most historic days in council history, as six members held a news conference and called for their disgraced colleague Conyers to step down after her guilty plea to federal bribery charges.
Later Monday, Conyers announced she would resign.
Reeves missed critical votes on approving water and sewer rate increases last week. She also was gone as the state Legislature was finalizing legislation to set up a regional authority to oversee the expansion and renovation of Cobo Center.
Back in town Monday evening, Reeves defended her absence. . . .
Reeves said she was unaware that Conyers had resigned until told by a Free Press reporter about 6 p.m. She declined to comment on Conyers’ departure, saying she needed to get up to speed on what happened.
“I’m not that familiar with what’s going on,” she said. “I can’t make a comment on anything.” . . .
Reeves will be busy in July.
In the Vandella business, that is.
Her Web site lists concerts this Saturday, July 4, in New Jersey and Friday, July 10, and Saturday, July 11, near St. Louis.

It’s Like a Heat Wave. Only she’s not Dancing in the Streets . . . of Detroit.

By Debbie Schlussel
As readers know, I’m no fan of Sacha Baron Cohen (except I do like “Da Ali G Show”). I didn’t like “Borat” (read my review), and I’ll be posting my review of “Bruno” tonight, just after Midnight (per studio request). But I have to say that this interview with Matt Lauer pandering to a fake persona is quite entertaining, because it shows what a tool this normally indignant and self-righteous lefty Lauer is.
Ann Coulter and no-one else on the right–including comedians–would ever get such disgusting ass-kissing from a dude who is supposed to be a “respected journalist and interviewer.” They always tells us that Ann is a “performer” and a “circus ring act.” Well, if they really believe that, then Matt Lauer should be kissing hers, thusly, too. “Ich Bin Lauer.”
If only the coward Cohen had the cojones to do to Lauer what he did to Ron Paul, Allan Keyes, Bob Barr, and Middle Americans from Mississippi and Alabama. But, predictably, he doesn’t.

Fantastische, Matt-olph Lau-itl-er. Aschen-holen.
The pandering NBC apologies to the Hilton family start in . . . 4-3-2-1.

By Debbie Schlussel
For decades, Nike has marketed itself as hip, brash, and all about freedom, openness, and uber-tolerance (to the point that it gave HAMAS front-group CAIR free t-shirts). But it’s all a lie.
At least, that’s the experience of Xavier University guard Jordan Crawford and those who filmed him putting down a two-handed jam over NBA pro LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
James and the Nike henchmen at LeBron James’ Skill Academy–his basketball camp in Akron, Ohio–demanded and seized videotapes from everyone and anyone who might have taped a college player besting the egomaniacal pro on the court. Some video was snuck out, and now Nike and LeBron have succeeded in getting YouTube to censor that, too. Get your T-Shirt to mark the occasion (thanks to Fan IQ for the sartorially splendorous tip).

Looks like a certain NBA star has been listening to too much “Brian Manilow” on his IPod.
So, with that, perhaps Nike can introduce it’s new slogan: Just Seize It. Now, we know what the swoosh emblem means: the speed with which Nike confiscates video.
Here’s Jordan Crawford talking about it (I think I need a Mumblish-to-English translator–and no, that’s not racist, since I always tease my little brother that he sometimes speaks Mumblish, too).

More confirmation of what we always knew: the left and celebrities are the kings of censorship . . . and hypocrisy. Free speech for them, but not for you.
LeBron James remind me of a far inferior version of the Biblical King Pharoah, who pretended and wanted people to think that he didn’t go to the bathroom like the rest of us.

By Debbie Schlussel
Poor Billy Dee Williams. The aging actor, struggling to get work in his autumn years, is being targeted by Detroit’s incompetent “leadership” as the cause of the city’s problems. And ya know what? He’s a RACIST!!!!!
So what did Williams–best known as the Star Wars movies’ Lando Calrissian–do wrong?
Well, he didn’t kill anybody. Instead, he did something far worse, outrageous: he is on billboard ads for Colt 45, the alcoholic drink he’s been fronting for decades. That nails it–he must face the electric chair. And then Detroit will arise anew from the ashes.

Put off by a recent spate of billboards around the city that feature actor Billy Dee Williams touting malt liquor with the phrase “works every time,” the City Council on Tuesday began looking at ways to regulate billboard advertising.
“This is killing our community,” Councilwoman JoAnn Watson said after a local minister, Mayowa Lisa Reynolds, appeared before council asking for help.

Uh, no, Billy Dee Williams’ ads are not what’s killing your community, woman. Take a look at your city. It’s a cocktail of crime, drugs, school dropouts, corruption, public assistance, single motherhood, and hip-hop that is killing Detroit. Lando Calrissian and his cheap and easy way to get drunk isn’t what’s pulling the trigger on the late, once-great City of Detroit.

Reynolds said she conducted a survey and found the billboards, which feature a cartoon representation of Williams trying to sell Colt 45, located in every square mile of the city.

Try doing a survey of rap CDs, single mother households, and crack dens. I bet you find one of those in every square acre of the city.

“This is just wrong for our city,” said Reynolds, who then questioned what the slogan, “works every time,” means.

Hmmm . . . funny they don’t protest the ads that tell you condoms work every time (oh, wait, those don’t “work every time”). Or the ads for Detroit’s casinos that create more and more destitution. Or the campaign ads for all of the numerous frauds who serve on the Detroit City Council (who don’t “work every time” or even most of the time).

“That if women drink it, ladies will lose their virginity?” she asked. “Or a man will do things out of character?”

Yeah, that’s the ticket. Blame the over 75% out-of-wedlock birth rate in Detroit and ten-year-olds having sex in the city on Lando Calrissian pimping alcohol. I see the connection. Don’t you? I guess the irony is lost on her that at least one of the billboards is on top of a 24-hour “adult video” store, you know one of those filth vendors she has no problem with the operation of within her city’s limits.

She added that she did not find the billboards in nearby communities such as Royal Oak and Plymouth.
“It’s an issue of racism and perversity,” Watson said.

Racism and perversity? Has this woman listened to a hip hop song lately? Has she watched BET? You can find both of those–consumed in vast quantities in Detroit–in both of those. And again, all those adult video stores and strip clubs in her city? Hello . . . ?
Ah, so now Billy Dee Williams is a self-hating racist. And the target demographic that makes up the vast majority of consumers of Colt 45 had a gun put to their head, were kidnapped, and forced to enter the beer and wine shack to buy the drink.

Council directed its Research and Analysis Division to see what action council could take and whether council could halt the erection of new billboards.

More Detroit tax money wasted on stupidity, as the city continues its rot.

Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. said he too had problems with the billboards but tempered his criticism by suggesting that the ads wouldn’t go up if people didn’t buy the products.
“We also have to check ourselves,” he said. “I see a lot of people buying 40 ounces.”

He gets it. But he’s a lone voice among the “leadership” of the People’s Republic of No You Di’int a/k/a Detroit.
Hey, maybe Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson can fly on over, shakedown Colt 45, and get distributorships of this racist beverage for their friends.
Forget Lando Calrissian saving the galaxy. He has his hands full with the fools running Detroit.

By Debbie Schlussel
**** SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATE ****
I feel for these kids, who were apparently turned away from The Valley Swim Club’s swimming pool because they are Black. In the hot summer sun, their day camp, Creative Steps Day Camp, paid almost two thousand dollars to swim there, and to kick them out for their race is wrong, not to mention extremely low-class. (We don’t know for sure if the mainstream media news report is accurate and whether we have the full story, but it appears likely, since the club isn’t talking beyond its “complexion” statement–see below.)
But it’s important to remember that while racism and bigotry will always exist everywhere on earth, in America it’s rare, on the fringe, and generally frowned upon by most Americans (who are mostly fair and decent unlike elsewhere around the world). And this club will take the heat, of which this bad publicity and news report are just the start. I’m sure this club will be the subject of lawsuits, as it should be for violating a valid contract it had with the kids’ day camp, and lots of news reports. I’m sure many mainstream media figures are booking their post-Michael Jackson memorial service plane tickets straight for Philadelphia.

Yes, a private club in America has a right to discriminate. There are country clubs a mile from my residence where I’m not wanted because Jews can’t be members (and I wouldn’t want to be). That’s their right. But that doesn’t mean it’s not extremely low-class. It is. And if you make a contract to allow kids to swim there, you must abide by the contract. To kick these kids out because of their complexion, that’s just sickening. And I know most Americans agree with my assessment.
The sad part of this is isn’t just the undue bigotry against the kids. They’ll get their redress in some way, and hopefully their parents will have the good sense not to turn this into an “America is racist” lesson. It’s that this very untypical, unAmerican experience will be cited and used–as such rare examples always are–not just by the professional race merchants such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (who are probably also already booking their plane tickets to Philly), but by our enemies, particularly of the Muslim variety, who will shove it in our faces whenever we cite their frequent religious and state human rights abuses.
Yes, this incident is fuel for the appetite of all of the malefactors within–and without–America.
**** UPDATE: A friend of mine writes:

Yes..kids should not have to deal with inequalities of the past, and this incident is certainly ugly.
Just as ugly as the [discrimination against the White] CT firefighters, and just as offensive as the ‘diverse’ C & D students recently admitted to Annapolis. Reminds me of a Bob Dylan song: “A self-ordained professor’s tongue, too serious to fool, spouted out that liberty is just equality in school”.

Exactly. In most of America, anti-Black racism is not tolerated today. But anti-White racism?

By Debbie Schlussel
To my mind, the biggest failure, the biggest rip-off by Newt Gingrich and his Contract for America was his and the Republicans’ refusal to defund PBS–the Public Broadcasting Service–when he had the chance, when Republicans ruled the roost in the Congress. It was something they’d repeatedly promised to do, but didn’t have the cojones to seal the deal.
There’s a reason why I call PBS, the “Palestinian Broadcasting Service.” That’s what it is. During your average week, in addition to anti-American, left-wing programming, there is always anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian bunk on the schedule.
Tonight is more of the same. It’s basically a repeat of the many PBS listings I’ve kept track of over the years. And your taxes continue to fund it.
From Today’s USA Today:

From Today’s Detroit Newsistan:

Notice that the broadcast is subtitled, “Heart of Jenin.” As I’ve noted many times over the years, Jenin is the stronghold of Islamic terrorists and their homicide bomb factories. It was used as the base for a string of homicide bombings in which innocent Israelis and other civilians were murdered. In 2002, Israeli soldiers went door to door in Jenin–at great risk to their lives–looking for terrorists and bomb manufacturers, rather than drop a giant bomb on the place as they should have done. But they wanted to spare the Palestinians, and they got nothing but a giant PR fiction for it.
A mythical “massacre at Jenin” was made up by Palestinian propagandists and their eager mainstream media news tools. Part of the mythology was that Israeli soldiers murdered 500 Palestinian civilians. But even a United Nations investigation found that this was a total lie, that only just over 20 Palestinians died, many of them from natural or other causes unrelated to the Israeli presence.
Don’t be shocked if PBS repeats this canard on tonight’s offering. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. PBS = Pan-Islamic BS.

By posting this, I’m probably doubling the ratings of one 69-year-old cat lady and an aging sixties hippie to four such people. But it needs to be pointed out.
If the 69-year-old cat lady and the aging former toker who watch this anachronistic, stale channel want to watch this anti-Israel mythology, fine. But let them pay for it, not the average American taxpayer who never ever tunes the clicker to PBS.
As I’ve noted before, PBS is “patriotic” twice a year, with a fireworks broadcast on the Fourth of July and a similar program on Memorial Day. But the rest of the year, it’s like Bin Laden or Ismail Haniyeh is the programming executive.
Yes, the GOP had the opportunity to defund PBS and was about to do it. But Newt Gingrich wimped out and refused to allow that part of some pending legislation go forward.
Now the GOP is out of power for–I believe–a long time. Now it is too late. They had the chance to end tax funding to PBS, but they blew it.

By Debbie Schlussel
Check out this great column, “They Died for Us: A Jackson Five You Never Knew, ” by Chuck Goudie, chief investigative reporter for Chicago’s ABC 7 News/WLS-TV.
An excerpt:

The cause of Mr. Jackson’s death was obvious to anyone who saw him.
Really, no autopsy was necessary.
It was cardiac arrest. Caused by a roadside bomb.
I’m not talking about Michael Jackson, the supposedly drug-addled entertainer whose death has dominated every waking moment these past few days.
Instead, . . . I found a few other Jacksons whose deaths didn’t receive the attention they should have.
Let’s start with Army Spec. Marlon P. Jackson, who was the first American soldier named Jackson to be killed in Iraq.

An unoriginal, more prominent columnist has an inferior copy of this column, out today. But Chuck Goudie wrote this original last week, before Independence Day. Read the rest. Thanks to reader Mike for the tip.

By Debbie Schlussel
I’m not in the New York/New Jersey area, and this fight likely starts before the Jewish Sabbath ends, but if those two problems weren’t the case, I’d be in the audience for this.

Spare Ran Nakash the metaphors that boxing is a war. Mr. Nakash, a burly cruiserweight who will box against William Bailey at Newark’s Prudential Center on Saturday, is chief commander of hand-to-hand combat instruction for the Israeli Defense Force. He’s trained thousands of soldiers in krav maga, an anything-goes street-fighting technique with minimal similarity to boxing. Still, Mr. Nakash is 18-0 with 14 knockouts and hopes someday to fight champ Tomasz Adamek, whose title defense versus. Bobby Gunn headlines the Newark card.

Israeli Cruiserweight Boxing Champion Ran “The Jewish Warrior” Nakash will be at the Leon & Toby Cooperman JCC on Wednesday, July 8, 7:00pm to offer a free boxing and Krav Maga Clinic and to promote his upcoming fight at Prudential Center in Newark this Saturday, July 11th. Children and teens ages five to seventeen are encouraged to participate in the clinic in which Ran will demonstrate and teach various boxing and self-defense maneuvers. The clinic will be followed by a “Meet and Greet” where guests will have the opportunity to learn a little more about this “intense” fighter. His background is very interesting.
Nakash, who hails from Haifa, has a perfect professional record of 18-0 with 14 of those wins coming by knockout. He is trained in a number of martial arts including Muay-Thai, kick boxing, and karate. Nakash is also the Chief Instructor of the Israeli Defense Force’s Krav Maga Unit; making him Israel’s highest ranking authority on this form of hand-to-hand combat.
On Wednesday, the Leon & Toby Cooperman JCC Metrowest is located at 760 Northfield Avenue, West Orange, 973-530-3404.
On Thursday, July 9 at 7:00pm Nakash will offer a similar demonstration at the Jewish Enrichment Center, 38 West 13th Street, New York City, 646-486-0470.

More about Ran Nakash here. Also check out another site I like, J-Grit, the “Internet Index of Tough Jews.”
And on a related note, check out this postcard photo I saw on ebay, featuring Jewish U.S. Army soldiers who served in World War I (in the American Expeditionary Forces) celebrating a Passover Seder in 1919 in Paris after the war.