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To all of my readers and friends, in observance of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot (I swear I’m not making all these holidays up!), I will be out the next two days, but my webmaster will post items I’ve written ahead of time and probably a new column.
In case you are wondering, 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.) It also marks one of the three Jewish harvest festivals.

Where I’ll be the next two days . . .
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.
Back, live, on Wednesday Night. Stay tuned for a Mark Cuban, Billionaire Brat update, etc.

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Last week, pages of USA Today contained the usual ads over the settlement of class action lawsuits.
The latest was particularly important: a class action lawsuit against the Russell Stover candy company for the “crime” of candy labeled as “low carb” that contained more carbohydrates than advertised.
Doesn’t this sound like a hilarious “Seinfeld” episode about “low-fat” frozen yogurt? Yes, it does. And that’s where absurd class action lawsuits like this one belong–in the sitcoms, not our real-life court system.
Reading the settlement ad is like reading a comic book: “A refund of thirty cents ($.30) for each purchase of a “low carb” candy, up to a maximum of 5 purchases.”
Wonderful. Marvelous. Lucky you could get up to a buck and a half, while lawyers James H. McFerrin and James Stirling of the Birmingham, Alabama law firm of McFerrin, Stirling & Hood collects gazillions in legal fees for their “heroic” litigation on behalf of low-carb warriors everywhere.
I can hardly wait for the movie, starring Camryn Manheim.

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Over the past several months, I’ve received e-mails from a man named Nael AbuNab a/k/a Neal AbuNab, begging me to give publicity to a -esque “movie” he made. He is a close friend of “former” Palestinian terrorist and FBI award revokee , yet claims that he is a big fan of my work.
Besides not falling for the phony taqiyah-style adulation from this Kuwaiti-born Palestinian Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton, and John Kerry campaign worker, I’ve ignored his e-mails for several very good reasons. It’s not just that he’s an activist in the pro-HAMAS/Hezbollah American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), either.
AbuNab’s movie openly glorifies his and friend, “former” terrorist, and Midwest ADC chief, Hamad, as an “American hero” (?!). Then, there are AbuNab’s “writings.” As a Pan-Islamist ranter for an openly pro-HAMAS and -Hezbollah local Islamic “Arab” newspaper, his work on film is probably as completely unworthy as his work in print–very suitable for someone’s birdcage in Gaza (but not any birdcage here in America; wouldn’t want to get PETA riled up).
Now, however, I’ve found a reason to give AbuNab a lot of publicity. AbuNab is a candidate for Dearborn School Board, most likely to spread his pan-Islamist, pro-terrorism views to the Dearborn educational system, for the few non-Muslim students who are not already so inculcated. And he is a convicted felon.
As result of his candidacy, it has come out that AbuNab is currently on probation for fraudulent business practices. According to the Detroit News, AbuNab was convicted in December 2003 on two counts of conspiracy, one count of criminal enterprise, and one count of false pretenses. He pled no contest to rolling back car odometers and issuing false titles at a Detroit car dealership he ran.
And the fraud continues. This summer, after the London bombings, AbuNab put one over on the Sunday Times of London’s Douglas Rogers, to whom AbuNab lied about the end result of the car dealership–claiming it was a result, not of his criminal fraud and deceit, but of 9/11 backlash against Muslims and Arabs.
” ‘After September 11 our community was under siege, we faced the backlash,’ he [AbuNab] says. ‘I lost a business. But I weighed my love for the country that had given me a home and the love for my faith and I found no contradiction.’ ”
Cry me a river. Or rather, cry the river for the real victims of the real reason for the failure of AbuNab’s business–the phony odometers and false auto titles AbuNab sold.
Since he committed fraud upon customers and the Sunday Times of London, it’s no surprise that AbuNab made a “movie” with the equally fraudulent premise that his and Abu Moskowitz’s “former” terrorist buddy, Hamad, is some sort of great American. Indeed.
The question is: Who is funding his “films,” campaigns, etc.?

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Highlights from Nation of Islam leader Louis Walcott a/k/a Louis X a/k/a Louis Farrakhan’s “Millions More March” (We call it the “100,000s More March” because the original “Million Man March” had only 100,000 racists in attendance, not a million. Even less are at the remake.):
* Farrakhan said the rally is a “start of a new movement.”
Really? Is racism a “new movement”? Silly me. I thought it was centuries old. And whaddya know–Louis X founded it. How proud he must be.

Extremist Love Gaze: Louis Farrakhan and
* Farrakhan said, “We’re tired of begging others to do for us what we have the capacity to pool our resources–intellectually and financially–to do for ourselves.”
Glad to hear it. Now, maybe, his Fruit of Islam goon squad will turn down future HUD contracts to patrol the projects and will do it for the money Farrakhan raises, in FOI’s name, to put himself in the lap of luxury.
* HOprah’s fave hip-hopper, Kanye “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” West, performed at Sautrday’s pre-March event.
I guess this means we can say, “Kanye West doesn’t care about Whites (“Crackers”), Christians, Jews, Asians, Arabs . . . and every sundry other group Louis X has expressly denounced.” Damn, no national telethon of celeb airheads on which to do it.
* Detroit Free Press resident propagandist for extremist Islam Niraj Warikoo “reports” on the March and Farrakhan’s recent Detroit visit. Surprise, surprise, not once in the article is there a mention of Farrakhan’s raving lunatic statements or rampant racist utterings. Instead, we see a headline: “Millions More March to Stress Inclusiveness.”
Inclusiveness? Of whom? Whites, Christians, Catholics, Jews, Koreans, or any of the other diverse groups Louis X has denounced? Think again, despite the ludicrous claim to the contrary in this piece.
* The whole USA today op-ed page, with glowing articles by Breea C. Willingham and Debra McCown (circa 1995, at the original hate-fest) on the Reigning Reverse Racist, Farrakhan. Nary a mention of Farrakhan’s racism and bigotry–unless you count McCown’s reference to Louis X’s “controversial statements about Catholics, gays and Jews.”
Controversial?! They’re not “controversial.” They’re RACIST, BIGOTED, and flat-out WRONG. Unbelievable how people kowtow to this loon.
All this glowing coverage of Louis X with barely any notice of his outrageous statements is a little like a retrospective about Hitler that goes on and on about his skill at making weird-shaped mustaches, but never mentioning the camps, the ovens, or the eleven million.
Read more about Farrakhan’s back taxes owed, rip-off schemes to make money off the less fortunate Blacks who attend the Marches, and his interesting space-ship theories, from my witty friends at Am I Annoying.
Yes, there are a million–or is that, 100,000?–suckers out there.

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I wrote, last week, that “Domino” was the . Horrid. In theaters today, avoid this at all cost.
When the highlight of a movie is a diversionary appearance on “The Jerry Springer Show,” by one of the characters, you know it’s really bad.
I also said that “90210” has-beens Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green must be really desperate to appear in this craven piece of crap. And whaddya know?–USA Today confirmed it, this week.

Ziering & Green: If only “90210” losers would recede with their hairlines . . . .
Asked why they did this disgusting movie, Ziering said that it “helps put it [“90210″] behind you.” Wrong. It helps show you are a big behind, Ian.
As I said , if there was a death penalty for trash detrimental to America, the makers of–and actors in (including the “90210” fools)–this movie would be the first executed.

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I’m no prude, but you don’t have to be one to find two “news” stories about Victoria’s Secret, disturbing:
* Cross-Dressing/Transsexual Customers now welcome at Victoria’s Secret: The “customer” trying on lace bras and panties in the next dressing room at VS may not be a female. Or a male. He/she may be an “it.” Yes, as Detroit Free Press writer John Smyntek reports, male cross-dressers and transsexuals are now welcome at VS. Sounds like the chain is pretty desperate.
The new welcome mat to “non-traditional” women’s undergarment customers began Sunday Night with HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” on which nebbish Larry David was invited to try on bras by a VS saleswoman. VS gave its seal of approval to–and willingly participated in–the episode. These customers, which the store chain calls “male clients” are allowed to use dressing rooms.

Of Mannequins and “Men”: Not just for Female Silicone Valleys anymore
Hmmm . . . Maybe Elton John can buy his boyfriend this year’s VS diamond-studded, platinum bra, for the holidays.
* Victoria’s Secret’s Mannequins’ “Positions”: VS has decided to pose mannequins in windows in explicit positions. Even if it’s not a real human, it’s just a tad inappropriate to see a thonged, kneeling mannequin facing you on all fours on a bed, butt-end forward–right in the store window for all to see. We all know the various purposes of lingerie, but the thing that best sells it is mystery, not obscenity. That only buys the sexy underwear protests and boycotts from rightfully angry parents. Abercrombie & Fitch discovered that eventually. Time for VS to, also.
Ditto for the whips-and-chains on some VS mannequins. VS doesn’t sell those items, so its not even truth in advertising. Besides, if the chain wants to be as sleazy as Fredericks of Hollywood, they might as well go out of business–as FoH might, if its profits keep sinking.

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Why did North Carolina State University allow an illegal alien to play for its basketball team? Does the “win at all cost” mentality in college hoops go so low that college officials will even jeopardize our borders?
Apparently so. At least, in the case of Gavin Grant, a Jamaican who entered the U.S. illegally, without a visa, in 1994 and has been living here ever since. That’s what ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) told Greensboro’s News and Record.
It’s bad enough that major college sports are dominated by domestic criminals, like the EIGHT(!) Central Michigan football players charged with beating a man to death, who are awaiting trial. Now, we have illegal aliens like Grant on the bench, too.
Because he’s here illegally, Grant could face a ban from re-entry to the States for 3-10 years, but could apply for a waiver. I hope government officials at ICE and CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) are tough and don’t grant him such a waiver.

Deport the Wolfpack!
A message needs to be sent that, even if you average 4.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game (as did illegal alien Grant), you must be here legally. He may be a college hoops star, but he could also have been another Lee Malvo.
Authorities should start checking for other illegals in the universe of greedy NCAA schools’ sports fiefdoms. I doubt Grant’s case is unique. Sounds like a job for ICE Special Agents in Charge who enjoys getting his mug on the pages of ESPN.com (for ).
If Grant is deported, N.C. State will lose his scholarship and be short a player for the season. That’s exactly what should happen. Perhaps the penalty will send a message.
Maybe then, greedy NCAA college and university presidents who run these athletic conglomerates will finally begin to enforce immigration laws against their entire student bodies (not just the “student”-athletes), instead of constantly whining against it.

By and Mark Cuban
I must’ve have really gotten to billionaire NBA owner Mark Cuban in of his outrageous new film, “The War Within.” He responded to me below, and has claimed to me and others–including my own cousin, Ira–that I did not see the movie. In fact, I did.
I would never write a movie review without first seeing the movie. That would be malpractice. If Cuban wants proof, he can check with the Detroit area publicist for the film, Sean Engler, Detroit Free Press Film Critic Terry Lawson, and Detroit News Film Critic Tom Long–all of whom saw me at the screening at Birmingham’s Palladium movie theater.
Nice try, though, Mark. You know what they say about people who assume things. And Happy New Year! Go Pistons!
— Mark Cuban wrote:
> Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2005 10:39:46 -0500
> Subject: War within
> To: dschlussel@yahoo.com
> From: Mark Cuban
>
> Your blog post was interesting. Uninformed, but
> interesting.
>
> Would you like to go see the movie so you have a
> clue what you are
> talking about ?
>
>
> Its Mavs Time ! Www.mavs.com
> The best programming is on HDnet www.hd.net
>
> Thx
> M

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To all my readers and friends, in observance of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, I won’t have new material up until tomorrow night.
To my Jewish readers and friends, have an easy fast, and may you be inscribed in the book of life for a happy, healthy new year (even you, Abu Moskowitz).
And to all of America, I will be praying for the safety and security of our great country and that it will be free from terrorists and foreign invaders who wish us harm.

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Timing is everything. But for some things, no time is ever the right time.
And that applies to “The War Within,” in nationwide release Friday. No time is ever the right time for a movie sympathetic to homicide bombers and terrorists.
Given last week’s rumors–hoax or not–about possible bombings of the New York subways and this summer’s actual bombings of London subways, “The War Within” is especially loathsome now.
Someone needs to tell that to Executive Producer and Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban.

World’s Most Annoying Sports Fan Now Jihadist Propaganda Producer
The movie, about a Pakistani Muslim homicide bomber who blows up New York’s Grand Central Station, is especially frightening because the goal is to get you to like the terrorist, Hassan (played by Ayad Akhtar). Hassan does not have a scary looking Mohammed Atta-esque visage. He is a laid back, very likeable, devout guy, with regular values that could be those of the religious Christian or Jew next door.
And that’s the point. Producers want you to sympathize with Hassan, understand his point of view. At the end of the film, viewers may find themselves actually rooting for this hail-terrorist-well-met to blow up Grand Central.
In media notes provided by the movie’s publicists, Director and Co-Writer Joseph Castelo’s answers to questions are mortifying. “How are we ever going to understand what’s going on right now if we don’t see these people [homicide bombers/terrorists] as human beings?” Is he asking or telling us?
His “Director’s Statement” is the written definition of chutzpah:
“I understand the reluctance to extend sympathy to those who wish to do us harm. But I am a firm believer in the power of empathy. Whereas a sympathetic portrayal would imply an affinity, either emotional or intellectual, with Hassan, our protagonist, an empathetic depiction implies a more complex and potentially enlightening dynamic: that of coming into an awareness of the experience of another.”
Huh?
Empathy. Sympathy. Whatever. It’s a distinction without a difference, and this absurd psychobabble to justify rooting for terrorists is flat-out disgusting.
No film should EVER have a homicide bomber as its “protagonist.” Period.
Then, there is the story of the “protagonist,” Hassan, and why he chose to become a terrorist. When the movie begins, we see Hassan on the streets of Paris, a secular Muslim speaking on the phone about going to the movies. Then, he is called several obscene names and violently nabbed by American agents. We next see secular, innocent Hassan in a dark Karachi, Pakistan dungeon–questioned, tortured, and mutilated. Throughout the film we are treated to views of his various ugly scars and his flashbacks of the torture.
Yes, predictably, it’s the Americans’ fault. We turned this nice guy into a terrorist through torture.
Exactly how many of the’93 World Trade Center or 9/11 hijackers fit this description? Was the Blind Cleric, Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman kidnapped from Egypt to the tax-funded Alkifa Refugee Center/mosque in Brooklyn, which he used to plot the ’93 attack?
Was Mohammed Atta tortured before he commandeered planes into buildings? No, as I recall, he was ignored by a clueless federal government employee when he told her he was going to take over Washington and wanted her photo of it. Were Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaf Al-Hazmi tortured by America? Actually, they spent a life of luxury in sunny, balmy San Diego, courtesy of Saudi Princess Haifa Al-Faisal, who paid their rent. How about the hijackers who went to Vegas to gamble and drink, ? Was that American-inflicted torture?
The Lackawanna Six Qaeda cell? Were these mostly-American born jihadists tortured? Some might say the tough winters they suffered in Buffalo could qualify. You get my drift.
It’s not the drift of the creators of this movie. In promotional materials, Castelo said, “You know I’m not ever going to sit here and just go off on the US government; I’ll let people arrive at their own conclusions about what’s going on.” The conclusion he wants movie-goers to “arrive” at are quite obvious.
Who is the dummy at the New York Transportation Authority or Mayor Bloomberg’s office, who let this guy shoot the film at Grand Central? How to use bombs hidden in New York cab car batteries and how easy it is to blow up 42nd Street and other important New York sites . . . . yeah, that’s what we need more movies about.
“The War Within” goes to great lengths to tell us the “true meaning” of jihad, which they claim is a mental and religious struggle, not the violent one against non-believers that it really is. Ironically, the Imam who delivers this sermon is played by Kamal Marayati, the real-life brother of , head of the . That’s significant because not only was a prominent MPAC officer tied to the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group, but –Salam’s wife–recently had to shut down her KinderUSA charity because it was laundering money to HAMAS martyrs’ families. That’s the real meaning of jihad.
In case there is any doubt, the filmmakers provided movie critics a bibliography for the film. Listed are books by Palestinian terrorism supporting academics Edward W. Said and Raymond William Baker, Seymour Hersch’s “Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib,” and most notable, the work of Sayyid Qutb. Qutb was Osama Bin Laden’s spiritual leader and the father of modern extremist Islam.
In a metaphor repeated during the movie, Hassan tells the young son of his friend that Muslims are having their homes seized by Americans and others who want the land for oil (or whatever), and they must live in the backyard. Hmmm . . . so, who was it in Saudi Arabia who had their land and oil wells seized and nationalized? Not Muslims. Americans. Nice metaphor. Doesn’t match reality.
The other terrorist in the film is played by Charles Daniel Sandoval, who also starred in “West Bank Brooklyn,” about “how hard it is” for Palestinians to live in Brooklyn among Jews. Interesting. Jews out of Gaza, today. Brooklyn, tomorrow. I think I know whose house was taken and who has to live in the backyard doghouse. It’s not the Muslims.
Last week, the movie was screened in Dearborn, Michigan (the heart of Islamic America) and, not surprisingly, well received. Sadly, there was no “War Within” that audience to oppose this anti-American, pro-homicide bombing film.
Unfortunately, “The War Within” is but one of a new chic genre of nouveau terrorism cinema not-so-verite. Coming up next: “Paradise Now,” the Palestinian version of this same old “empathize”-with-the-terrorists trash. Same plot, different setting.
“The War Within” is executive produced by the Danny Bonaduce of the NBA–Dallas Mavericks’ owner, failed reality TV star, and loudmouth billionaire Mark Cuban. His HDNet Films, Magnolia Pictures, and 2929 Entertainment developed, financed, produced, and distributed the movie. Landmark, Cuban’s chain of artsy-fartsy theaters, is showing the film nationwide.
On his blog, Cuban urges:
“And because you all know I have to plug and promote. [sic] Our movie, The War Within [sic] came out this week and got off to a good start in NY and [sic] expands Friday to multiple cities . . . GO SEE IT. It’s intense.”
Yes, intensely repulsive.
Thursday is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. No word on whether Cuban is expected at synagogue to repent for this sickening celluloid sin.
E-mail Mark Cuban about his production choices. Post notes against this irresponsible movie on his blog. And don’t buy any Dallas Mavericks merchandise.