Friday, September 3, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Hewitt on what the 70 percent believe
Arthur Brooks...The Battle Blog
8-3-10
In a Washington Examiner column, Hugh Hewitt takes the concept of the 70-30 Nation outlined in The Battle and builds on it:
The 70 percent is appalled by the placebo economics practiced by the president and the Congress over the past two years, shocked by its profligacy with the wealth of the republic, and sickened by the looting of the next generation’s opportunities.
The 70 percent did not want Obamacare, but it has been thrust upon them.
The 70 percent did not want federal judges to declare “game over” in the complex discussion of what marriage is and means.
The 70 percent want a fence on the border that works, and do not want their concern over unregulated immigration dismissed as nativisim.
The 70 percent are not ashamed of their belief in God, deeply resent being labeled bigots because they view ground zero as land that ought not to be exploited for “messaging” of any sort by any group, and are enraged by the scorn which they encounter everywhere in media except Fox News and talk radio.
The 70 percent believe that the federal government is remote and clueless, and that the Constitution’s principles of enumerated and limited powers and the sovereignty of the states are vibrant, important core values to the republic.
The 70 percent think Iran is in the grip of an evil, theocratic fascism, and that Israel is our true friend and ally deserving of our full-throated support.
8-3-10
In a Washington Examiner column, Hugh Hewitt takes the concept of the 70-30 Nation outlined in The Battle and builds on it:
The 70 percent is appalled by the placebo economics practiced by the president and the Congress over the past two years, shocked by its profligacy with the wealth of the republic, and sickened by the looting of the next generation’s opportunities.
The 70 percent did not want Obamacare, but it has been thrust upon them.
The 70 percent did not want federal judges to declare “game over” in the complex discussion of what marriage is and means.
The 70 percent want a fence on the border that works, and do not want their concern over unregulated immigration dismissed as nativisim.
The 70 percent are not ashamed of their belief in God, deeply resent being labeled bigots because they view ground zero as land that ought not to be exploited for “messaging” of any sort by any group, and are enraged by the scorn which they encounter everywhere in media except Fox News and talk radio.
The 70 percent believe that the federal government is remote and clueless, and that the Constitution’s principles of enumerated and limited powers and the sovereignty of the states are vibrant, important core values to the republic.
The 70 percent think Iran is in the grip of an evil, theocratic fascism, and that Israel is our true friend and ally deserving of our full-throated support.
Gunman was former Lahaina resident
Yikes...I thought I recognized him.
Discovery Channel gunman was former Lahaina resident
James J. Lee, 43, was a 1985 Lahainaluna High School graduate
Lahainaluna classmates remembered James J. Lee as a talented artist, comic-book fan and something of an outsider who was picked on in school.
Lee was identified Wednesday as the man who held two Discovery Communications employees and a security guard hostage in a four-hour standoff in Silver Springs, Md., outside Washington, D.C. Tactical officers shot and killed Lee when building security cameras showed him pulling out a handgun and pointing it at a hostage, said Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger. An explosive device on the gunman's body detonated when police shot him, he said.
The tragedy was felt keenly by Patrick Ross, the Lahainaluna Class of 1985 senior class president, who remembered Lee was the victim of bullying in high school.
"I'd like it to be known that he was a victim of being picked on," Ross said. "Picking on others can have serious consequences."
A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing told The Associated Press that authorities had identified Lee as the likely suspect.
NBC News reported that after its producers called the Discovery Channel's general number, a man identifying himself as James J. Lee got on the phone and said he had a gun and several bombs.
His MySpace page said he was 43 years old, and he listed Hawaii as his hometown.
The Maui News received calls from residents Wednesday saying that they knew the hostage-taker as a former Lahaina resident.
"When I saw his face and I saw his age, I immediately thought it was him," Ross said.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Lee was given ownership of a 12.5 percent stake in a Lahaina residence in 2003 through a family trust, and that he sold his interest in 2007 for $90,000.
In 2008, Lee was arrested after throwing thousands of dollars into the air outside the same Discovery Channel building. At a court hearing, he said that he had sold several inherited properties on Maui to pay for the protest and had one property left, worth about $200,000, according to a 2008 report in the Gazette.Net Maryland Community Newspapers Online. The report said he was planning to give the property away in a "save the planet contest."
Information about Lee's family on Maui was sketchy. Classmates and school administrators interviewed said he had a brother and two sisters and was raised by a single mother who died about 10 years ago. Their family home on Wahikuli Road was sold shortly thereafter.
After consulting with his classmates, lawyer Walter Vierra said they believed that Lee's family used to run a sushi deli in Lahaina at a location that is now occupied by a surfing school. They later moved away from the island, he said.
Several Lahainaluna classmates contacted Wednesday said they had lost touch with Lee after high school. With only 140 students in the Lahainaluna Class of 1985, many were like Vierra, saying they "knew of him."
"I was in the band with him," Vierra recalled.
Henry Ariyoshi, who was principal at Lahainaluna during Lee's time at the school, saw him from time to time around campus.
"I didn't see (in him) anyone who was . . . weird," he said in a phone interview, noting that it has been a long time since he had seen Lee. "As far as I'm concerned, he was a good kid."
Allan Almeida, who was Lee's classmate at Kamehameha III Elementary School, said: "He was always cool.
"He wasn't, like, strange . . . or a bully."
In fact, Lee was victimized by bullies, said Ross, who is now an executive recruiter in Los Angeles.
Ross recalled an incident during freshman year in the band room when a football player threatened to beat Lee up. He ran under the band room stage, chased by the bully, who was lifting up panels that made up the stage in an effort to catch him.
"It was humiliating," Ross said.
As senior class president, Ross gave Lee - "a good artist" - the task of designing the class poster for a homecoming contest.
"It was artistic and beautiful to some eyes, but was comic-booky," he recalled.
Lee's poster bearing the theme "Luna Juggernaut" placed second - disappointing the entire senior class.
"He was so ridiculed," Ross recalled.
He didn't know why Lee was picked on but noted that "he was unusual, off-centered."
"He often spoke as if he was in a comic book," Ross continued. "But that made him an extraordinary artist."
Ross and others interviewed said that Lee showed no signs of violence as a youth. In fact, Ross is not sure that Lee would have been able to take someone's life.
"Either way, it's all messed up," said Ross. "I'm not sure he was the type that could take it to that level."
He had not seen Lee since high school and his efforts to contact him in 2005 for the class's 20-year reunion were unsuccessful.
In the Lahainaluna yearbook in 1985, in the senior scrolls section, Lee wrote:
" 'The power is mine, mine is the power, nothing can stop me now.' 'Rock' plans to become a full-time cartoonist and/or go to college. Likes: Comic books, nice people, drawing. Dislikes: Snobs, selfish and self-righteous people. Remembers: His own comic books, Spiderman, Warlock and Metamorphis Odessy comics."
* The Associated Press contributed to this story. Lee Imada can be reached at leeimada@mauinews.com.
Discovery Channel gunman was former Lahaina resident
James J. Lee, 43, was a 1985 Lahainaluna High School graduate
Lahainaluna classmates remembered James J. Lee as a talented artist, comic-book fan and something of an outsider who was picked on in school.
Lee was identified Wednesday as the man who held two Discovery Communications employees and a security guard hostage in a four-hour standoff in Silver Springs, Md., outside Washington, D.C. Tactical officers shot and killed Lee when building security cameras showed him pulling out a handgun and pointing it at a hostage, said Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger. An explosive device on the gunman's body detonated when police shot him, he said.
The tragedy was felt keenly by Patrick Ross, the Lahainaluna Class of 1985 senior class president, who remembered Lee was the victim of bullying in high school.
"I'd like it to be known that he was a victim of being picked on," Ross said. "Picking on others can have serious consequences."
A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing told The Associated Press that authorities had identified Lee as the likely suspect.
NBC News reported that after its producers called the Discovery Channel's general number, a man identifying himself as James J. Lee got on the phone and said he had a gun and several bombs.
His MySpace page said he was 43 years old, and he listed Hawaii as his hometown.
The Maui News received calls from residents Wednesday saying that they knew the hostage-taker as a former Lahaina resident.
"When I saw his face and I saw his age, I immediately thought it was him," Ross said.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that Lee was given ownership of a 12.5 percent stake in a Lahaina residence in 2003 through a family trust, and that he sold his interest in 2007 for $90,000.
In 2008, Lee was arrested after throwing thousands of dollars into the air outside the same Discovery Channel building. At a court hearing, he said that he had sold several inherited properties on Maui to pay for the protest and had one property left, worth about $200,000, according to a 2008 report in the Gazette.Net Maryland Community Newspapers Online. The report said he was planning to give the property away in a "save the planet contest."
Information about Lee's family on Maui was sketchy. Classmates and school administrators interviewed said he had a brother and two sisters and was raised by a single mother who died about 10 years ago. Their family home on Wahikuli Road was sold shortly thereafter.
After consulting with his classmates, lawyer Walter Vierra said they believed that Lee's family used to run a sushi deli in Lahaina at a location that is now occupied by a surfing school. They later moved away from the island, he said.
Several Lahainaluna classmates contacted Wednesday said they had lost touch with Lee after high school. With only 140 students in the Lahainaluna Class of 1985, many were like Vierra, saying they "knew of him."
"I was in the band with him," Vierra recalled.
Henry Ariyoshi, who was principal at Lahainaluna during Lee's time at the school, saw him from time to time around campus.
"I didn't see (in him) anyone who was . . . weird," he said in a phone interview, noting that it has been a long time since he had seen Lee. "As far as I'm concerned, he was a good kid."
Allan Almeida, who was Lee's classmate at Kamehameha III Elementary School, said: "He was always cool.
"He wasn't, like, strange . . . or a bully."
In fact, Lee was victimized by bullies, said Ross, who is now an executive recruiter in Los Angeles.
Ross recalled an incident during freshman year in the band room when a football player threatened to beat Lee up. He ran under the band room stage, chased by the bully, who was lifting up panels that made up the stage in an effort to catch him.
"It was humiliating," Ross said.
As senior class president, Ross gave Lee - "a good artist" - the task of designing the class poster for a homecoming contest.
"It was artistic and beautiful to some eyes, but was comic-booky," he recalled.
Lee's poster bearing the theme "Luna Juggernaut" placed second - disappointing the entire senior class.
"He was so ridiculed," Ross recalled.
He didn't know why Lee was picked on but noted that "he was unusual, off-centered."
"He often spoke as if he was in a comic book," Ross continued. "But that made him an extraordinary artist."
Ross and others interviewed said that Lee showed no signs of violence as a youth. In fact, Ross is not sure that Lee would have been able to take someone's life.
"Either way, it's all messed up," said Ross. "I'm not sure he was the type that could take it to that level."
He had not seen Lee since high school and his efforts to contact him in 2005 for the class's 20-year reunion were unsuccessful.
In the Lahainaluna yearbook in 1985, in the senior scrolls section, Lee wrote:
" 'The power is mine, mine is the power, nothing can stop me now.' 'Rock' plans to become a full-time cartoonist and/or go to college. Likes: Comic books, nice people, drawing. Dislikes: Snobs, selfish and self-righteous people. Remembers: His own comic books, Spiderman, Warlock and Metamorphis Odessy comics."
* The Associated Press contributed to this story. Lee Imada can be reached at leeimada@mauinews.com.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
There Are No Resentments
"There are no justified resentments. To resent someone is to fall under the illusion that they are the cause of our suffering. No one can die from a snake bite. It's the poison that kills them. You may receive the poison of another’s words, or even just in a glance, but you don’t have to absorb it or allow it free passage through the veins of your consciousness. The consequence of not absorbing the poison of others is you never experience enmity towards others. And people notice when you have absolutely no enmity. It draws them close, it empowers them, it builds trust, it enables harmony to break out! It is only because the lion has no thought of killing the lamb that the lamb feels able to come so close."
~ Brahma Kumaris, Mt Abu
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Return of the Ukulele
Return of the Ukulele
The plucky little instrument with the Hawaiian name has been making an enormous comeback. That’s in no small part thanks to performers like Jake Shimabukuro and the late Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole, whose demonstrations of the ‘ukulele’s astounding versatility have epiphanied audiences’ socks off.
And it’s not just an island phenomenon, notes Toronto filmmaker Tony Coleman in his 2010 documentary The Mighty Uke: The Amazing Comeback of a Musical Underdog, which features Shimabukuro. ‘Ukulele clubs and classes can be found all over the globe.
Nor is this the first time the diminutive instrument has captured the public’s imagination. Over the decades, a surprising array of celebrities has found the humble ‘uke appealing—from Elvis Presley to Arthur Godfrey, from The Cars’ Greg Hawkes to the Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer. All three of the Beatles who played guitar also performed on ‘ukulele. Of course, Hawai‘i’s King David Kalakaua wasn’t only a fan; he knew the correct pronunciation (at least here in the Islands is “oo-koo-lay-lay,” sans the initial “y.”
Kazoos aside, few instruments are as easily mastered as the ‘uke—at least at the basic level. When the accomplished and irreverent ‘Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain played Albert Hall, performing with ‘ukulele in hand and tongue in cheek, so did many in the audience, who had brought their own ‘ukes along.
“Anyone can learn to play a couple of chords,” says a fan in The Mighty ‘Uke. “It’s a people’s instrument.”
For a group of Maui kama‘aina, it’s also a way to preserve an island heritage. Moana Anderson and Honeybun Haynes are among the fourteen members of Honeybun and the Coconuts, an ‘ukulele band that performs at the Pukalani Country Club on Tuesday nights. Their musical coach is Walter Kawae‘aea, protégé of the late, legendary Kahauanu Lake. “What we do has a lot to do with ‘Uncle K,’” says Anderson.
The plucky little instrument with the Hawaiian name has been making an enormous comeback. That’s in no small part thanks to performers like Jake Shimabukuro and the late Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole, whose demonstrations of the ‘ukulele’s astounding versatility have epiphanied audiences’ socks off.And it’s not just an island phenomenon, notes Toronto filmmaker Tony Coleman in his 2010 documentary The Mighty Uke: The Amazing Comeback of a Musical Underdog, which features Shimabukuro. ‘Ukulele clubs and classes can be found all over the globe.
Nor is this the first time the diminutive instrument has captured the public’s imagination. Over the decades, a surprising array of celebrities has found the humble ‘uke appealing—from Elvis Presley to Arthur Godfrey, from The Cars’ Greg Hawkes to the Dresden Dolls’ Amanda Palmer. All three of the Beatles who played guitar also performed on ‘ukulele. Of course, Hawai‘i’s King David Kalakaua wasn’t only a fan; he knew the correct pronunciation (at least here in the Islands is “oo-koo-lay-lay,” sans the initial “y.”
Kazoos aside, few instruments are as easily mastered as the ‘uke—at least at the basic level. When the accomplished and irreverent ‘Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain played Albert Hall, performing with ‘ukulele in hand and tongue in cheek, so did many in the audience, who had brought their own ‘ukes along.
“Anyone can learn to play a couple of chords,” says a fan in The Mighty ‘Uke. “It’s a people’s instrument.”
For a group of Maui kama‘aina, it’s also a way to preserve an island heritage. Moana Anderson and Honeybun Haynes are among the fourteen members of Honeybun and the Coconuts, an ‘ukulele band that performs at the Pukalani Country Club on Tuesday nights. Their musical coach is Walter Kawae‘aea, protégé of the late, legendary Kahauanu Lake. “What we do has a lot to do with ‘Uncle K,’” says Anderson.
Glenn Beck's Happy Warriors
Wall Street Journal
By JAMES FREEMAN
Washington, D.C.
Jason Riley discusses Glenn Beck's rally at the Lincoln Memorial.
Glenn Beck's Happy Warriors
You probably couldn't have found a more polite crowd at the opera.
Geese Fly-Over at beginning of Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally
By JAMES FREEMAN
Washington, D.C.
Jason Riley discusses Glenn Beck's rally at the Lincoln Memorial.
Glenn Beck's Happy Warriors
You probably couldn't have found a more polite crowd at the opera.
Geese Fly-Over at beginning of Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally
Golden Goose is in Peril
We have become a society of narcissistic, self-centered, drug-crazed and apathetic creatures. The time has come when democracy and the forefather’s framework for our society has been trashed...Facebook post by William Heimermann
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
The Honor of a Great People
Posted at 12:00 pm on August 29, 2010 by Doctor Zero promoted from GreenRoom to HotAir.com.
"We reclaim our honor by turning away from those who believe the great mass of us are beneath their contempt, and compassion is best expressed through domination. They have no power we didn’t give them, which means they have no power we cannot take away. Let us begin."
"We reclaim our honor by turning away from those who believe the great mass of us are beneath their contempt, and compassion is best expressed through domination. They have no power we didn’t give them, which means they have no power we cannot take away. Let us begin."
Moral authority — that’s what the rally was really about.
"Moral authority — that’s what the rally was really about."
posted at 9:00 pm on August 28, 2010 by Allahpundit
Mr. Beck made a surprise visit on Friday to a convention held by FreedomWorks, a Tea Party umbrella group, for Tea Party supporters. He received a thunderous welcome from a crowd of about 1,600 in Constitution Hall.
He told the crowd that he had begun planning his march on Washington a year ago, thinking “it was supposed to be political.”
“And then I kind of feel like God dropped a giant sandbag on my head,” he said.
“My role, as I see it, is to wake America up to the backsliding of principles and values and most of all of God,” he said. “We are a country of God. As I look at the problems in our country, quite honestly, I think the hot breath of destruction is breathing on our necks and to fix it politically is a figure that I don’t see anywhere.”
***
In a way, the rally today mirrored rallies held for then-candidate Barack Obama in 2007 and leading up to the election of 2008. Both this rally and many of Obama’s featured mesmerizing speakers, who chose to inspire audiences by rhetorically empowering them to take matters into their own hands.
While Beck’s rally emphasized belief in God, Obama’s generally emphasized himself as a savior of the American people. This, I believe, was the contrast the talk radio and television personality was trying to achieve. Beck’s rally, and the speakers who addressed the crowd, were continually thanking God and Beck for bringing such an inspiring crowd together…
Only toward the end of the program did Beck refer to Democrats, Republicans, and independents. But it still wasn’t political. It was a unity call, imploring everyone to come together and unite to “restore honor.” It was a post-partisan moment. Similar, in a way, to Obama’s 2004 DNC speech, when the then-state senator from Illinois suggested that we should not remain isolated in a “red America” or a “blue America,” but should come together as the United States of America.
***
We need to think about the success of Beck’s rally Saturday and ask what it says about the lack of moral authority in this country today. We also need to wonder what it says about us as a culture that so many Americans on a Saturday in August and more than two million a day via Fox News come to Beck and apparently hear something in his hodge-podge of elementary-school history and mishmash of moral platitudes and bromides that they find meaningful.
Moral authority — that’s what the rally was really about. That’s what the bagpipes playing “Amazing Grace” at the end of the rally were all about. That’s what all the talk of standing on “hallowed ground” was all about. That’s what the repeated use of words like “honor,” “integrity” and “trust” were all about…
That’s what what was so powerful about November 2008 in Grant Park when Barack Obama took the stage on election night: Millions of Americans thought they were watching someone who brought moral authority to the White House. I know I did.
Sadly, millions now feel Obama has since lost it with too many morning-after flip-flops on moral issues, entertainment TV show appearances, and days on the golf course as the economy struggles.
***
“Restoration” is a theme he has a gift for: a gift not only of analytical insight but of personal experience with balancing justice and mercy, and distinguishing between self-deception and realistic hope.
And he’s right about this, too: America can’t be set on a better course solely with changes in federal policy. Law and government don’t – can’t – make the people good. They don’t make us eligible for liberty. Our law and government are only as good as we are. It’s the people who have to change. And spiritual revival never looks like something organized by State Department protocol; when people are changing from the inside, there are rallies, hortatory preaching, gabfests, sorrow, joy.
I urge my fellow conservatives not to despise this phenomenon or be disparaging about it. All our futures depend on the character of the people around us. Fear, defensiveness, and moral weakness in the people are the best friends of the tyrant. None of us can resist the siren-call of statist collectivization single-handedly. It is not embarrassing or over-the-top for people to gather in public to affirm that there’s such a thing as good character, and that we can’t do without it. It is meaningful and life-changing to many. It is necessary.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
"Restoring America" 8-28-10 Photos
A GREAT SPIRITUAL REVIVAL
BBC News - In pictures: Washington conservative rally
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11121542
BBC News - In pictures: Washington conservative rally
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11121542
Thursday, August 26, 2010
EDITORIAL: Obama administration indicts America
State Department reports on U.S. human right violations
BY THE WASHINGTON TIMES..8-25-10
Move over Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria. The State Department has made it official: The United States violates human rights. In an unprecedented move, the Obama administration submitted a report to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights detailing the progress and problems in dealing with human rights issues in this country. The document is a strange combination of left-wing history and White House talking points.
Full Story on washingtontimes.com
BY THE WASHINGTON TIMES..8-25-10
Move over Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria. The State Department has made it official: The United States violates human rights. In an unprecedented move, the Obama administration submitted a report to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights detailing the progress and problems in dealing with human rights issues in this country. The document is a strange combination of left-wing history and White House talking points.
Full Story on washingtontimes.com
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