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In honor of the recent 40th anniversary of “Star Trek,” Christie’s auction house began the bidding and sale of items from the set of the hit show that has spawned geeky Trekkies worldwide and a gazillion silly spin-offs.
A burgundy captain’s chair that belonged to Jean Luc Picard went for $52,000. And it’s not even real leather. A small resin-and-aluminum model of the Starship Enterprise for $120,000. Billionaire Paul Allen is suspected to be one of the anonymous bidders who blew a ton of money on this junk. Conan O’Brien is planning to show a segment on the auction on his latenight NBC show.
Well, no-one ever said Trekkie-mania was an emblem of sanity or normality. We harken back to the fantastic skit by William Shatner (the other Jewish member of the SE crew, in addition to Nimoy), when he hosted Saturday Night Live. He told the Trekkies to get a life. But when they got sad, he pretended he was just re-enacting “Episode 25”–“The Enemy Within,” a Star Trek episode in which Captain Kirk’s body was invaded by aliens, which made him nuts. They bought it. Funny stuff.

A bit of Schlussel Star Trek trivia:
I have a connection to the Starship Enterprise. Sort of. My mother taught Leonard Nimoy a/k/a “Spock’s” real-life son, as a teacher in the New York City public schools. Another bit of trivia: That hand signal he made with his fingers split apart is ripped off from the sign the Cohens, the Jewish High Priests, used to make in ancient Israel (and Jews are forbidden from making that hand-sign).
These days Nimoy is selling disgusting books of nudie photos he took of women wearing Jewish prayer paraphernalia. Yup, the Klingons got to him. And he’s never been cured.
Beam me up, Scotty. There’s no intelligent life on this planet.

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A New Year’s Eve fire set by a man of Middle-Eastern heritage who lives in Islamofascist-dominated Dearbornistan Heights sounds like it was another attempted honor killing in our midst.
Here are the details from The Detroit Newsistan:

Mount Clemens
Man pleads no contest in fire at ex-wife’s home
A 46-year-old Dearborn Heights man pleaded no contest Thursday in Macomb Circuit Court to charges he intentionally set fire to his ex-wife’s Clinton Township apartment on New Year’s Eve. Kenny Khalil was charged with malicious destruction of a building for using a copied key to get in and set fire to the closet of the apartment his ex-wife and former mother-in-law shared. Khalil told investigators he was in Redford at the time of the fire, but phone records contradicted that. No one was injured in the fire. He could face up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 22.

Hmmm. . . Taqiyah AND an apparent attempted honor killing by fire. Welcome to ground zero of the jihad on America.

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You know, fake news that’s funny. Guns ‘N’ Butter. Check it out.
And, of course, don’t forget our eternal fave fake news site, The People’s Cube.

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Or . . . or . . . or, we’ll get very angry and . . . do nothing, says top U.S. nuclear negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill:

It isn’t in anyone’s interest. We will not accept a nuclear state.

Noth Korea is about to test its Nukes, this weekend. And that’s all we can do.
Like those empty words will make any difference to Kim Jong Il. Score another zero for the captain of the U.S. Olympic “Speak Loudly and Carry a Toothpick” Team.
Brings yet more renewed memories of “‘s” puppet version of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. He asked U.S. Weapons Inspector Hans Blix what the U.N. would do if he didn’t cooperate. Blix told him they’d send a very angry letter.

Kim fed Blix to his pet shark. Glug, glug, glug. Gasp.
As we’d said before, perhaps a talking to might be more effective.

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Tonight is the start of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which lasts until the end of next week (7 days). I wish all my Jewish friends and readers a Happpy Sukkot. (I’ll still be posting regularly, next week.)
To all of my readers, in case you were wondering, Sukkot is of the three Jewish harvest festivals. It is a cool holiday because you build a temporary hut behind your house and eat all of your meals in it. Kids love it. And so do I. Here’s more from my , last year:

The holiday involves the building of a temporary hut (called a “Sukkah”), covered with leaves, outside of your dwelling, and eating your meals in it to commemorate the temporary dwellings of the Jews wandering in the desert. (Some people even sleep in them. Not me, though.)

Various Versions of Sukkahs

It is actually a very fun holiday, and kids go visiting the huts around the neighborhood for candy and treats in a sort of Jewish version of Halloween trick-or-treat (no costumes, though–or tricks). Kids also participate in decorating the huts.

More on Sukkot (also called Sukkos, Succot, Succos, etc.) here, here, and here.

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Remember Whoopi Goldberg, the actress/unfunny comedienne, who performed an extended “monologue” about President Bush and female pubic hair at a 2004 Kerry-Edwards Democratic fundraiser?
Well, now, Ms. Thang’s taken a distinctive new tack . . . as your child’s etiquette teacher. The crass Goldberg has a new book out for kids, “Whoopi’s Big Book of Manners.”
Goldberg was on ABC’s hag-fest, “The View,” today, pimping the book. And not a single one of the hags–including airhead, so-called conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck–mentioned that it’s just a tad hypocritical for this unclassy shrew to be teaching anyone–especially impressionable young kids–manners . . . or anything else.

Whoopi Goldberg: Miss Crass is Now Self-Anointed Miss Manners
To refresh your memory, here are some excerpts what Goldberg said at the 2004 DNC fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall. The new “Miss Manners”? Hardly:

Being President is like being in a horror movie, the hair turns white overnight.
You have to meet the King and Queen of Kupeepee and you know you’re going to look dumb if you don’t know where Kupeepee is because everybody else pretends they know where it is. And when you get the menu for the State Dinner, you know that you have bears balls and frog lips as a delicacy and you cannot say, “Hell No!” . . .
And that’s why I’m here tonight. Because I love bush. But someone’s giving bush a bad name. Someone has tarnished name of bush. Someone has waged war, someone has deliberately misled the country, someone has attempted to amend the constitution, all in the name of bush. The bush I know and cherish would never do such things. My bush is smarter than that. And if my bush is smarter than that, you can understand just how dumb I think that other bush is. And anyone who would wave to Stevie Wonder is not fully there. I will do whatever it takes to restore bush to its rightful place and that ain’t in the White House. Vote your heart and mind and keep bush where it belongs.

Even Slimfast–founded by far leftist S. Daniel Abraham–dumped Goldberg over her extraordinary “manners“:

The manner in which Ms Goldberg chose to express her personal beliefs at this event do not reflect the views and values of Slim-Fast Foods Company. We are disappointed by the manner in which Ms Goldberg chose to express herself and sincerely regret that her recent remarks offended you. Advertisements featuring Ms Goldberg will no longer be on air.

Whoopi Goldberg teaching kids manners is like Rosie O’Donnell teaching kids dieting and heterosexuality. But it might actually mark the first time the so-called comedienne actually did something funny.
The book might make a good gag gift . . . once it’s reached the remainder table at the bookstore. It’s her biggest joke yet.
A better title for the book:

Do as I Write, Not as I Do.

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If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. That’s apparently the mantra of three liberal authors who can’t stop Ann Coulter’s popularity on TV and in the book world. Sort of.
Three different books are out this month against Ann. You can tell what they’re about by their juvenile dust-jackets. Yes, sometimes, you can judge a book by its cover.
One of them, “I Hate Ann Coulter,” attacks her for her former hair color and weight in high school:

By examining her life . . ., interviewing high school classmates who remember Ann when she was a chubby brunette (presumably before she sold her soul to be thin, blond, and pure evil), . . . we hope to do our part to put her in her place once and for all.

Witless: Susan Estrich’s Dumb Ann Coulter Attack
Hair and weight? Is that the best they can do? After all, there are plenty of women on their side who are still brunette and chubby, like, say, Rosie O’Donnell. We write “they” and “their” because the author(s) didn’t have the guts to use a real name. Instead, the book is written by “Unanimous.” Another, “Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter,” by “journalist” Joe Maguire, lost us at the title. Whatever you think about her, no-one can say she’s brainless. She’s brilliant, which is why the left hates her.
Possibly the worst one, however, is, “Soulless: Ann Coulter and the Right-Wing Church of Hate,” by left-wing FOX News Contributor Susan Estrich. We used to think that she was one of the more palatable liberals because she managed to lose the Dukakis campaign with finesse (even if it was unfortunately against one of the worst Republican Presidents, George H.W. Bush). But this one should have had a green cover–for jealousy. At least Ann never represented Claus Von Bulow (Estrich brags he was a client).

The most sad thing about Estrich’s book is the cover, which is supposed to be her dressed as Ann. It looks more like a cross between Ann and Meatloaf. And Susan, was it really necessary to wear your Jewish star on the cover? A number of us from the Hebrew persuasion happen to like Ann.
Even USA Today’s “Book Buzz” termed the troika of books attacking Ann, “Merciless.” We predict book buyers will be merciless, too: Don’t look for the total purchases of all three books combined to come close to the sales of Ann’s last book, “Godless: The Church of Liberalism.”

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This weekend’s box office releases have the distinction of including two movies that are, respectively, among the best and worst movies of the year. We’ll start with the best:
* “The Departed“–In a novel move for director Martin Scorsese, this is a mob movie. And it’s easily one of the best movies of the year, possibly the best mob movie I’ve ever seen. If you liked “Goodfellas,” you’ll love this.
It’s far better, far smarter, vastly different from any other mob movie, and it’s very original (for the American audience–it’s a remake of “Mou Gaan Dou” a/k/a “Infernal Affairs,” a 2002 Hong Kong thriller). And though it’s extremely bloody and violent, it’s not as disturbing as “Goodfellas.” The movie is thrilling and nail-biting at every step of the way, and unlike most Hollywood fare these days, it’s completely unpredictable. Highly entertaining.

Leonardo DiCaprio is Magnificent in “The Departed”
Think “The Prince and the Pauper” meet “Goodfellas.” Leonardo DiCaprio plays Billy Costigan, a Massachusetts State Trooper who has infiltrated the Irish Mafia run by Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Matt Damon is Colin Sullivan, Costello’s operative who has infiltrated the Massachusetts State Trooper’s Office of Special Investigations. Both sides know they have a mole, and both sides, as well as Costigan and Sullivan, are trying to find their respective moles, before the mole kills them.
An interesting and very real sub-plot: the mobsters are working with the Chinese, trying to sell them stolen microprocessors, which can be used to launch missiles against America, Taiwan, and who knows what other countries. And, Sopranos-style, there’s even a love interest psychiatrist in “The Departed,” though her role is far different that that of the shrink on the HBO mob series.
DiCaprio is clearly the star in this movie as the conflicted good guy who must maim and bully–mafia style–to make his cover believable. I would not be surprised if he gets an Academy Award nomination.
Also good is co-star Mark Wahlberg, as Sgt. Dignam, who overseas the undercover informant. Although the former Calvin Klein underwear model has become a really effective actor, with this and a very touching turn as Vince Papale in “,” I feel bad praising his acting skills or anything about him. Reader ” that, when he was 16, this thug, Wahlberg, attacked two Vietnamese people and gouged out one of their eyes with a meathook, while robbing them.) He’s a violent thug and it’s sad that he’s attached to such a good project. It gives me mixed feelings about recommending it.
Lots of good lines in this film, but the best, in my view, is this one uttered by Wahlberg to an FBI agent:

My view of Feds is they’re like mushrooms. Feed ’em sh-t and keep ’em in the dark.

(Not my view of the hard-working rank and file federal agents, just their desk-jockey superiors who sabotage their efforts.)

Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon & Thug Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed”
An underlying theme in the movie, encapsulated by that comment, is that the FBI and other federal agencies often work against local and state law enforcement to muck things up, not make them better. (I’ve , which is significant in the war on terror, most notably .)
If there are any faults besides the blood (which is necessary to the plot and storyline of this film), the film is two-and-a-half-hours long. But it flies by as if it were half that time. Also, the South Boston accents are not accurate, and the actors seem to fall in and out of them. All except thug Wahlberg, who is a genuine Southie from Dorchester, Mass. (I know the accent well, from the days when I worked at a Boston law firm representing NHL players, and my excellent assistant, Barbara Fitzgerald, was a brilliant product of the Southie projects.)
Several in the movie audience at a Forbes Magazine screening I attended hissed at some of the stereotypical statements about the Irish uttered by Irish characters in the movie. And who can blame them? Then, there’s the cast of annoying liberal celebs who spout off unsolicited in real life–Martin Sheen (who does well here), Alec Baldwin, and DiCaprio.
Baldwin’s character makes the statement: “The Patriot Act. I love it, I love it, I love it.” But the scene in which he says that makes clear that the Patriot Act is actually needed and helpful even in organized crime investigations, as the Troopers are surveilling a mob interaction with the Chinese.
For those readers who’ve criticized me for praising a mob movie, the ending in this one is satisfying, from a law enforcement and justice perspective–and a moviegoer’s. I think the many law enforcement professionals who read this site will enjoy this movie, as will most of my other readers.
An extended trailer is on the movie’s official website, though even the scenes in the trailer don’t capture the genius and thrill of this great film.

* “Employee of the Month“–One of the worst movies of the year. Note to the wise moviegoer: If it has the name Jessica Simpson in the cast, skip it. (In her last on-screen turn, last year, the talentless beauty also co-starred in “,” one of my picks for .)
Here’s the “plot” (if it can be called that). A loser “box boy” (stocker) employee (Dane Cook) of a Costco/Sam’s Club style store (“Super Club”) vies with a goodie-goodie employee (Dax Shepard) to become Employee of the Month. The reason: the rumor is that new cashier (Simpson) sleeps with the Employee of the Month.
It’s supposed to be a comedy, but it ain’t funny. Just dumb. Don’t waste almost two hours of your life on this clunker (and I’m being kind by calling it that).

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I, for one, am sick of the all-Mark-Foley-all-Hastert-should-resign all-the-time, diarrheic media slurry. And now, it’s being reported that the whole graphic IM message series between the now-former Congressman and the page was a set-up prank by the page, Jordan Edmund. Haha funny.
And some other notes on the matter:
On Sunday, I wrote about , among them Donald E. Buz Lukens, who resigned in shame after an alleged affair with a teen-age prostitute (pimped out by her own mother!).

Not in Mark Foley’s Future
I also mentioned that I worked for former Congressman Phillip M. Crane. A number of people e-mailed and commented about whether he was the Congressman who had an affair with a page. No, he was not. That was Dan Crane, his brother–an Illinois dentist. I was well aware of Dan Crane’s involvement in the page scandal, because at age 17, when I began working for Phil Crane, his office manager told all of the interns about it and reminded us that this was the brother, NOT our boss. Phil Crane was a principled, brilliant, honorable, and decent guy in all the years I’ve known him. And I remain good friends with him, his wife Arlene, and his children, to date. He can’t be held responsible for the actions of his brother.
Dan Crane, who had an affair with a female page, cried on the floor of the House of Representatives. He publicly apologized and begged for the forgiveness of the people of his district. All of this was televised. He lost his Congressional seat.
Gerry Studds, who had an affair with a male page at around the same time, did none of those things. And he was re-elected over and over. He got to retire with honor, years later.
And, incredibly, he now has a federal site named after him. No, it’s not the Washington Monument. It’s the Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Also notable, a Republican Congressman Don Young of Alaska, is the one who asked that the Sanctuary be named after this liberal Congressional Page paramour. (The info on the Sanctuary’s site is completely incorrect–it says that Senator Andrew Young of Alaska did so. No such Senator from Alaska, ever.) Young later took campaign contributions from Studds. Perhaps something strange was going on there.
Frankly, I think a federal bathhouse would be a better monument to Studds, if there must be any government site bearing his name. A friend of mine suggests Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, which we both think would be more appropriate in a lot of ways.
So, a national sanctuary, of all places, named after Gerry Studds. But Foley resigned for the same thing. And, yet, it’s still not enough.
What will be? Perhaps a complete apology by the former page, Jordan Edmund, for playing a prank that has now turned America upside down when we’re supposed to be fighting a war on terror.
No-one is saying Foley should not have resigned. He should have. And it’s good he’s gone. But the non-stop Natalee Holloway style coverage is absurd.
How many heads will be enough for the lumpen liberaltariat–and mediatariat?

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Two “entertainment” (if you can call it that) figures we dislike intensely hate on each other. Like Alien vs. Predator and (and Fatah vs. HAMAS), we couldn’t ask for better than that.
This time, it’s detestable rapper 50 Cent hating on Oprah (again). BET reports that behind the scenes at a taping of the show, “106 & Park,” the rapper said of the pretentious daytime talk show host:

Oprah’s great. I just think the only misconception is that she’s a Black woman. They say Oprah Winfrey’s a Black woman, but she’s [been] catering to a demographic of a middle-aged White woman for so long that I believe she’s a middle-aged White woman.

50 Cent vs. Oprah =

(Racist Oprah artwork by David Lunde)
Alien vs. Predator

Oprah a “White woman”? Hardly. She is, indeed, catering to them on her show, as I said during a recent appearance on “Scarborough Country.” But it’s all an act. If anyone has any doubts on Oprah’s race and how she really sees White people (including those that made her a billionaire), .