By Debbie Schlussel
A couple of years ago, the story of billionaire playboy Ashraf Marwan–long known in Israeli intelligence circles as an important double agent who betrayed Egypt and helped Israel–came to light to the world at large. Marwan “fell”–was thrown over a balcony–from his London apartment and his memoirs were stolen. Marwan was the son-in-law of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. And just a month before his untimely death, Marwan’s name was leaked by an off-kilter former Israeli Mossad agent bent on revenge.

Then-Egyptian Prez Nasser w/New Son-In-Law/Israeli Spy Marwan
(w/Nasser Daughter/Marwan Bride, Mona Nasser)
Tonight, “60 Minutes” did a somewhat fair report on Marwan–compared to their usual biased anti-Israel reporting. But, of course, they had to give the embarrassed Egyptian side of things. Everyone who’s known the story of Marwan knows he was spying for Israel and against Egypt–and not the other way around as the Egyptians, whom he played like violins, claim. But they must claim that to save face. After all, his betrayal of the Egyptian Arab Muslims was a huge scandal and an even greater embarrassment, which they can never live down. The guy who was doing Nasser’s daughter was doing her and Egypt on behalf of Israel–enough to make Arab Muslims all over the world red-hot with anger. So they lie about it and pretend it isn’t so. But it is. That’s why they murdered the guy and stole his memoirs, so their embarrassment could never turn into an international best seller and hit movie.
Even if Marwan had been a double agent working on Egypt’s behalf, he didn’t achieve their goal, which was total recapture of the Sinai. It took a non-war, non-spy situation and Jimmy Carter’s forcing of Menachem Begin to win that territory back for a soundly defeated Egypt. And “60 Minutes”–in its typical, revisionist pan-Arabist spin–claims the “Yom Kippur War” was a virtual tie, a wash, a “standstill.” Oh, really? History says otherwise. It was a rout of Egypt and the aiding and abetting Arab nations–a complete Israeli victory.

Not sure if the Howard Bloom in this report is the author who wrote the excellent, “The Lucifer Principle.” I don’t think it’s the same guy. But, regardless, I recommend that book highly. That Bloom was ahead of his time in recognizing the Islamic threat to America, years ago.
Another thing: “60 Minutes” reporter Steve Kroft compares Marwan’s exploits to a John Le Carre novel. But as I’ve noted, John Le Carre hated Israel and used anti-Israel plots in his books. Plus, he was gonna be a commie spy and carefully considered it.
BTW, my fave Israeli spy remains Eli Cohen (also spelled, Elie Cohn), who rose to the point where he was about to become Syria’s Defense Minister–he was that good a spy for Israel. A great portrayal of his story is the movie, “The Impossible Spy.” Buy it. (His story is also excellently chronicled in the book, “Our Man in Damascus,” by Eli Ben-Hanan.)

By Debbie Schlussel
In early March, I told you about the sad news that legendary former Detroit Pistons and USA Olympic Team basketball coach, Chuck Daly, was ill with pancreatic cancer. Even more sad, Daly died this morning.
As a Pistons fan in high school and college, I had the pleasure of meeting this immensely classy coach who knew how to coach big stars with big egos and still win. I and my little brother were Pistons fans because of Daly, as he took the team from a perennial loser and the butt of jokes to a champion operation. He was ahead of his time as one of the first NBA coaches to use offensive style basketball to win. His coaching won two NBA championships and an Olympic Gold Medal when he coached the USA Basketball “Dream Team.”
Daly earned the nickname, “Daddy Rich,” from former Detroit Piston basketball player John Salley, who gave him the moniker for his thousand dollar fancy suits. He was always immaculate on the outside, but also on the inside. While Michelle Obama harps on her father’s working class past which isn’t reflected one bit in herself, Chuck Daly was the real thing. His fancy suits never covered up his working class persona and ethic.

Chuck Daly, Legendary Coach & Class Act, RIP
Chuck Daly, one of America’s sports greats and always a class act, Rest in Peace.
***
Below, I repost what I wrote about Chuck Daly when news of his illness was announced:

March 6, 2009
Chuck Daly: Pray For One of Sports’ Classiest Coaches
By Debbie Schlussel
As kids, my little brother and I were always big fans of Chuck Daly. We are twelve years apart and we had, among other things, our fandom of the Detroit Pistons in common. The legendary Detroit Pistons head coach–who led the Pistons “Bad Boys” to two back-to-back NBA championshipa–was always a nice guy and class act, in an industry filled with headcases, including on the coaching side. And he also coached the U.S. Olympic Basketball Team known as “The Dream Team” to win the Gold Medal.
Today, we learned that this true gentleman has been stricken with pancreatic cancer, the cancer which is quickly fatal for all but 5% of cases. As readers know, I lost someone near and dear to me to this horrible disease from which few live past five years and most live only months after diagnosis.
Chuck Daly was a coaches’ coach, with old-fashioned values you don’t much see in today’s pro coaches. When my brother and I met him in various settings, he was always down to earth and kind. And remember, this is the guy who had to simultaneously deal with the egos of Dennis Rodman, John Salley, and Isiah Thomas. (Yes, Bill Laimbeer played for him, too, but he wasn’t a problem child, just a “Bad Boy” who played his role.)
Sadly, Chuck Daly is apparently in Stage Four of the cancer. But you never know. Sometimes, miracles happen.
I pray for Chuck Daly’s recovery and hope that he is comforted and does not suffer.
I’ve met few nicer, classier people in pro sports (and I used to be a sports agent, so I’ve met many).
Chuck Daly is the walking definition of a mensch, and I wish him much energy and strength in this fight for his life.

Yes, the late Chuck Daly is more evidence of the old saying, “They don’t make ’em like they used to.” Especially in pro basketball and sports in general.

By Debbie Schlussel
You’ve already seen my review of the new “Star Trek” movie. Here are my reviews of the rest of the new releases, this weekend. These two movies have a couple of things in common: 1) I hated them, and 2) both feature limb-cutting disgusting scenes designed just for the purpose of shocking us. I say, stick with “Star Trek,” or rent something.
* “Next Day Air“: This movie, starring a mostly Black (and the few that are not Black are Hispanic) cast, is something of a voluntary minstrel show. Black actors voluntarily join the casts of this type of garbage, and Black audiences go to see movies like this in droves, after Black radio stations promote it and give out free tickets. And it’s complete and utter crap. If I were Black, I’d wonder why Hollywood consistently serves my people up with so much trash like this. I’d wonder why they think I should see this kind of big screen glorification of pointless violence, obscenity, and drug trade.

Donald Faison plays a delivery man for a private national express mail service, much like FedEx or UPS. A complete stoner, he is high when he accidentally delivers a large ceramic piece containing a huge cocaine shipment to the wrong address. The slacker stoners who live in the apartment quickly plan on how they will sell the stuff and make millions for themselves. They deal with one of their drug-dealing cousins, but don’t completely trust him. Meanwhile, the man who as supposed to receive the shipment, across the hall, and his girlfriend are sweating over the drugs. Their kingpin travels from Mexico to get them to talk and find the drugs.
The movie is mostly four-letter words–pretty much every other word–and an exercise in observing unworthy lowlifes in, um, “conversation.” That, and a disgusting scene in which a man’s tongue is cut out by one of the slacker lowlifes planning to deal the drugs. Yes, American society has long past disintegrated, and this piece of on-screen celluloid crap is Exhibit “A.” Extremely violent, disgusting, boring, and pointless. Stop glamorizing the dregs of the ‘hood, Hollywood.
If the studio allowed me to still review this movie, not having seen the whole execrable thing, I’d have walked out. Believe me, I wanted to very badly, the entire time.
FOUR MARXES PLUS

* “Is Anybody There?“: Michael Caine plays an aging man who lives in a senior citizens nursing home in the house of a middle-aged, bitter working-class English couple in the midst of marital strife. Struck with mild dementia, he befriends the couple’s young son. But while his declining mental state is not apparent, it soon becomes so, with dire and disgusting consequences. He performs a finger-cutting magic trick that he screws up, accidentally cutting off another ailing senior citizen’s finger in front of the kids at the young son’s birthday party. That was disgusting and unnecessary.
As was, in my opinion, the rest of this boring movie. A complete, depressing waste of time. I like Michael Caine, but I wish I’d skipped this. You were forewarned. Most critics raved over this, but the movie emperor wears no film. There’s nothing here to see here.
THREE MARXES

By Debbie Schlussel
Meant to get to this earlier in the week, but didn’t. Still, this Supreme Court decision is so boneheaded that it’s as newsworthy on Friday as it was on Monday.
Even more incredible, a unanimous Supreme Court–that means Scalia, Thomas, and Roberts joined in on the dumbassity–found that the “ignorance is bliss” defense is fine for people using stolen social security numbers. That means, if you lie and claim you didn’t know the fraudulent SS#s you used were stolen, well, you’re not an identity thief.
Incredible:

A unanimous Supreme Court said Monday that undocumented workers who use phony IDs can’t be considered identity thieves without proof they knew they were stealing real people’s Social Security and other numbers.

Thanks, Gringo Infidel Supreme Court For Your “Enlightened” Decision

The court’s decision limits federal authorities’ use of a 2004 law, intended to get tough on identity thieves, against immigrants who are picked up in workplace raids and found to be using false Social Security and alien registration numbers.
Advocates for immigrants had complained that federal authorities used the threat of prosecution on the identity theft charge, which carries a two-year mandatory prison term, to win guilty pleas on lesser charges and acceptance of prompt deportation.

And this “acceptance of prompt deportation” is a bad thing because . . .?

“These prosecutions have been taken off the table,” said Nina Perales, southwest regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

MALDEF applauds. Gee, whatta shocker.

The court, in an opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer, rejected the government’s argument that prosecutors need only show that the identification numbers belong to someone else, regardless of whether the defendant knew it.
Breyer said intent is often easy to prove in what he called classic identity theft. “Where a defendant has used another person’s information to get access to that person’s bank account, the government can prove knowledge with little difficulty,” Breyer said.

PUH-LEEZE. The intent is implicit in the use of the Social Security number that isn’t yours. You know that it’s likely stolen. Res Ipsa Loquitur–the thing speaks for itself.

But immigrants without proper documentation need identity documents and often buy them from forgers, never knowing if they belong to anyone.

Again, PUH-LEEZE. If you believe that, then I have some land in Gaudalajara to sell you.

Such was the case with the undocumented worker on the winning side Monday. Ignacio Carlos Flores-Figueroa, a Mexican immigrant employed at a steel plant in East Moline, Ill., traveled to Chicago and bought numbers from someone who trades in counterfeit IDs.
Unlike earlier fictitious numbers Flores-Figueroa used, these numbers belonged to real people.

Yes, I’m sure he investigated the previous ones to determine they were fakes and is just so upset these ones are real. Uh-huh, he was “duped” into knowingly buying Social Security numbers that weren’t his. Just as he was forced to come to America illegally and take a steel plant job.

Flores-Figueroa had worked at the plant under a false name for six years. His decision to use his real name and exchange one set of phony numbers for another aroused his employer’s suspicions.

Wow, real perceptive. Someone has two sets of social security numbers, and someone thinks that’s suspicious. Ya think?

He was arrested in 2006 and convicted on false document and identity theft charges.
He appealed his conviction as an identity thief.

Gaming the system. They all do it, ‘cuz we let ’em.

The Bush administration used the identity theft law hundreds of times last year. Workers accused of immigration violations found themselves facing the more serious identity theft charge as well, without any indication they knew their counterfeit Social Security and other identification numbers belonged to actual people and were not made up.

Tough noogies. They knew the numbers weren’t theirs. That should be enough.
But now it isn’t. Next, the Supremes will be telling us that a person who walks into a bank with a gun and asks for money isn’t doesn’t really know the gun is loaded, and therefore, no armed robby charges should follow.
Nauseating.
Even without Barack Obama in office, this is the kind of Supreme Court decision that is helping us lose our country and, certainly, its national security.
Now, what happens when all of these illegals challenge their deportations based on their use of false social security numbers? Don’t doubt they’ll be back to clog the court system with their challenges and appeals based on this boneheaded new legal precedent.
Read Vicki Crawford’s excellent column on this, “Ignorance is Bliss: Playing the I-Didn’t-Know Card,” in the Naples Daily News.

By Debbie Schlussel
Looks like the Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act FREE candy bar promotion is now working. Several readers e-mailed that they successfully signed up for their coupon, and I just successfully tried, as well. Go here for the link to FREE Chocolate Friday.

**** UPDATE: When you successfully register for your free chocolate bar, here’s what you’ll receive in your inbox:

From: Real Chocolate Relief Act Admin@realchocolate.com
Date: Fri, May 8, 2009 at 1:38 PM
Subject: You’ve got a Mars Real Chocolate Coupon
To: Debbie Schlussel writedebbie@gmail.com
Congratulations! You are one of the lucky people to receive a Mars Free* Real Chocolate coupon (subject to verification of eligibility). Your coupon will be mailed and should arrive in approximately six weeks. Your coupon will be sent to the address indicated on your registration form. Thank you for visiting and learning about Mars Real Chocolate Relief. Enjoy your Free* Real Chocolate coupon!
* Limit: 250,000 Coupons per Friday (9:00:00AM ET to 11:59:59PM ET). See terms and conditions for details.

By Debbie Schlussel
Please. Make. It. Stop.
I can’t stand it, anymore. If I hear one more person compare Barack Hussein Obama to Spock, I think I’m gonna hurl. But with the new “Star Trek” movie (read my review) now out, that’s what the seers of the “conventional wisdom” are doing.
Yeah–I know, I know–Spock is half human and half Vulcan and Obama is half human and half Marxist. Actually, these Obama worshippers are comparing the two because of Obama’s biracial heritage. Uh, whatever.
This is the crap we saw on last night’s “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” with the “reporter”/panderer pimping us on the Spock comparison and a dude from Newsweek chiming in to back him up:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Here’s the real comparison:
Spock . . . Boldly went were no man went before, but
Barack . . . Boldly went to Jimmy Carterville, where a gazillion failed liberals went, not to mention double-digit inflation, and American hostages in Iran.
Spock . . . Went forward in time (in new “Star Trek” movie) to save the earth;
Barack . . . Went back in time to the Great Depression, the Carter Years, the New Deal, the Great Society–to not save the earth.
Spock . . . Brilliant but modest;
Barack . . . Well he thinks he’s the first adjective and lets us know it, and he definitely ain’t the second adjective.
Spock . . . in an interspecies relationship (in new “Star Trek” movie;
Barack . . . in an interspecies relationship.
Spock . . . Live Long and Prosper;
Barack . . . Taxed Long and Whither Under Socialism & Socialized Medicine.
Spock . . . visited countless galaxies;
Barack . . . visited “57 [United] States.”
Spock . . . in real life, he’s a Jew;
Barack . . . in real life, he’s a Muslim.
Spock . . . wants us to be nice to and make peace with aliens from everywhere;
Barack . . . wants us to be nice to aliens, from everywhere–Mexico, the Middle East, etc. (“comprehensive immigration reform” comin’ up).
Spock . . . weird ears and strange eyebrows;
Barack . . . weird ears and strange eyebrows.
Spock . . . realized you can’t make peace with Romulans and must fight them to save earth;
Barack . . . still pandering to Islam, bowing to Saudi Kings, negotiating with HAMAS, accepting books and shaking hands with Hugo Chavez, and looking to hang with Ahmadinejad.
Okay, enough of the comparisons. Right now, it’s like we have a Klingon-in-Chief invading the White House. If I had a choice, I’d want Kirk as President, not Spock. Sadly, the Republicans can’t come up with one.
Beam me up, Scotty . . . .

Not Even Close

By Debbie Schlussel
**** UPDATE, 05/10/09: Carl in Jerusalem discovered and posted the first video back in March. Missed it then. But Carl has an important English Transcript of the video. Very much worth reading. Click on over. ****
Muslims on list-serves around North America have been circulating this video, with this message:

The Israel Boycott is Biting.
You can do a lot with a critical mass, let’s bring this to the U.S.

You don’t need to speak like the Frogs to understand what’s going on here. Just a lot of BS about “the illegal occupation” and other of the usual crap lines and propaganda they put forth.

Here’s more of the barbarians’ crap, this time in London. Watch the bloody English bloke at the end who encourages the same kind of stealing.

By Debbie Schlussel
**** UPDATE, 1:39 p.m. Eastern: Seems to be working now, just registered for my free coupon. ****
Earlier this morning, I told you about the “Real Chocolate Relief Act,” Mars’ promotion giving away coupons for free candy bars, every Friday from today until the end of September. The coupon promotion begins at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, so you can now print one out. Details here.

**** UPDATE, 9:28 a.m.: It appears that Mars and its servers hosting the RealChocolate.com site are as well prepared as KFC was for the overwhelming response to the free stuff promotions. You simply can’t get through to the site. There is obviously too much traffic and all you get are error messages. Sorry, but a free candy bar isn’t worth all that time and frustration.
Who plans these promotions, but doesn’t prepare for the demand? It’s free stuff. The response is predictable . . . but apparently not to the follow-through/fulfillment geniuses at the marketing departments of these huge corporations.
I feel like a sucker promoting these things on my site when they turn into fiascoes.

By Debbie Schlussel
Everyone needs to be proud of their country (when it’s America), too. Spare me the working-class BS. This chick has had a traveling personal gourmet chef for the last 2.5 years.

By Debbie Schlussel
Okay, so the Oprah KFC free grilled chicken meal I told you about was kind of a bust. I’m told waits in line were way too long and now many KFC outlets are giving out rainchecks because they’ve run out of chicken (see the video below from KFC’s Prez, Roger Eaton–who sounds like he’s from South Africa). I’m also told by Detroit area KFC franchise owners that the giveaway was unfair to KFC franchisees because the money for the free food came out of their pockets, and they’ve depleted their chicken supplies right before their biggest sales day of the year, Mother’s Day. (Like I said, since KFC isn’t kosher, I didn’t partake, but it sounds like that was a waste of time and not worth the wait.) Sorry.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t partake in Free Chocolate Friday–Mars’ free candy bar coupons, every Friday, beginning today. It’s part of a promotion called the Real Chocolate Relief Act, which sounds to me like the Democrat campaign, last year–Elect a Black President, and America will be saved–and the Barack stimulus plan, this year–a chocolate Prez gives you “relief” in the form of bloated spending and giving away free stuff. But in this case, the “Real Chocolate Relief” is actually Real Chocolate.

Every Friday, beginning today and going through the end of September, Mars is giving away 250,000 free candy bar coupons. Get your FREE CANDY BAR coupons here. But hurry–they are only giving away 250,000 per Friday. The promotion begins at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (you can’t print out a coupon until then) and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern, Tonight, though I’m sure the 250K coupons will be long exhausted by then. (You can sign up to be reminded by e-mail about each Friday’s promotion.)
The coupons are good for Snickers, Peanut M&Ms, Milky Way, Twix, Dove, and 3 Musketeers bars. Out of these, I’d have to say my fave is Snickers, because it reminds me of liberals. Any way you slice it, it comes up nuts.
I know, I know–candy bars aren’t healthy, and I don’t eat them, since they’re loaded with sugar and calories. (I can’t remember how many years it’s been since I ate a candy bar, and when I eat chocolate, it’s my preferred dark chocolate in tiny square doses.) But, once in a while, a little splurge won’t kill you, especially if it’s not out of your wallet. And, hey, it’s Friday. On the weekends, everything is calorie-free and very healthy, right?
***
KFC President Roger Eaton Apologizes for Oprah KFC Free Grilled Chicken Fiasco & Gives Instructions . . .