Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose – Ep.4 (1/7) – From Cradle to Grave
Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times said on Arkansas Week on AETN on 6-8-12:
I give republicans credit for they are not really mincing words anymore. They have decided that cutting government and cutting taxes even in one of the poorest states even if it means devastng impact on people that have been lifted out of poverty by these programs is to say that you need to take this tough bitter medicine we think it is better for you and a lot of people have responded to it. That is what the election is about. If that works then they win, and people will reap that harvest.
I have a couple of points to make about this statement. First, I was impressed that Brantley gave Republicans credit for shooting straight with the people what their strategy is.
Second, I do not agree that cutting welfare will have a “devastng impact on people that have been lifted out of poverty by these programs” as Brantley contends. What we have now in the USA is a welfare trap that must be eliminated. The first step is to remove all welfare programs and replace them with the negative income tax program that Milton Friedman first suggested.
Milton Friedman points out that though many government welfare programs are well intentioned, they tend to have pernicious side effects. In Dr. Friedman’s view, perhaps the most serious shortcoming of governmental welfare activities is their tendency to strip away individual independence and dignity. This is because bureaucrats in welfare agencies are placed in positions of tremendous power over welfare recipients, exercising great influence over their lives. In addition, welfare programs tend to be self-perpetuating because they destroy work incentives. Dr. Friedman suggests a negative income tax as a way of helping the poor. The government would pay money to people falling below a certain income level. As they obtained jobs and earned money, they would continue to receive some payments from the government until their outside income reached a certain ceiling. This system would make people better off who sought work and earned income.
Here are some previous posts that I made that show how that should be done in greater detail.
Ep. 4 – From Cradle to Grave [7/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980) With the national debt increasing faster than ever we must make the hard decisions to balance the budget now. If we wait another decade to balance the budget then we will surely risk our economic collapse. The first step is to […]
Ep. 4 – From Cradle to Grave [6/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980) With the national debt increasing faster than ever we must make the hard decisions to balance the budget now. If we wait another decade to balance the budget then we will surely risk our economic collapse. The first step is to […]
Ep. 4 – From Cradle to Grave [5/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980) With the national debt increasing faster than ever we must make the hard decisions to balance the budget now. If we wait another decade to balance the budget then we will surely risk our economic collapse. The first step is to […]
Ep. 4 – From Cradle to Grave [4/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980) With the national debt increasing faster than ever we must make the hard decisions to balance the budget now. If we wait another decade to balance the budget then we will surely risk our economic collapse. The first step is to […]
Ep. 4 – From Cradle to Grave [3/7]. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose (1980) With the national debt increasing faster than ever we must make the hard decisions to balance the budget now. If we wait another decade to balance the budget then we will surely risk our economic collapse. The first step is to […]
With the national debt increasing faster than ever we must make the hard decisions to balance the budget now. If we wait another decade to balance the budget then we will surely risk our economic collapse. The first step is to remove all welfare programs and replace them with the negative income tax program that […]
Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose – Ep.4 (1/7) – From Cradle to Grave With the national debt increasing faster than ever we must make the hard decisions to balance the budget now. If we wait another decade to balance the budget then we will surely risk our economic collapse. The first step is to […]
Unbroken Official Olympics Preview Trailer (2014) – Angelina Jolie Directed Movie HD
Louis Zamperini – “Unbroken” by Men, Humbled by Jesus
Published on Nov 21, 2014
The personal testimony of Louis Zamperini on how Jesus changed his life after the Japanese were unsuccessful in taking his life during World War II. This talk by Louis Zamperini at Emmanuel Enid, Oklahoma was one of his last public appearances before his fall limited his travel schedule. Louis died July 2, 2014.
The Great Zamperini
When my wife Jill and I watched the interview that Louis Zamperini gave to Jay Leno we were not astonished to learn that the strength Louis Zamperini needed to forgive those who tortured him came from his faith in Christ.
May 27, 2011 – The story of Louis Zamperini’s POW experience—and conversion to Christ at the 1949 Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles—is told in the bestselling book, Unbroken. We caught up with Zamperini to talk about his June 10 book signing at the Billy Graham Library and how God is using Unbroken to touch lives around the world.
I have tears in my eyes and praise in my heart for what God has done through you. ~A letter from Billy Graham to Louis Zamperini
by Janet Chismar
When 94-year-old Louis Zamperini opened his mailbox a few months ago, he found a letter he will always treasure.
“Dear Louis,” wrote Billy Graham, “My associate read me parts of the new book about you yesterday. What a life you have lived. What a description you have in the book of your conversion to Christ in 1949, and the great part that [your wife] Cynthia played in it, which I was aware of, but not in such detail. I had tears in my eyes and praise in my heart for what God has done through you.”
Mr. Graham’s letter is one of thousands that have poured into Zamperini’s mailbox since the release of the New York Times No. 1 bestseller “Unbroken.” The story about Zamperini’s remarkable journey from Olympic runner to World War II hero has been hailed by TIME magazine as the best nonfiction book of the year.
And Billy Graham isn’t just a consumer of “Unbroken,” he plays a pivotal role in the book.
As his letter said, the year was 1949. The city: Los Angeles. Louis Zamperini was adrift and struggling with alcoholism and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder following savage abuse as a prisoner of war in Japan. Cynthia was ready to saddle him with divorce papers.
It was around this time that neighbors convinced the young woman to listen to the bold evangelist preaching in a big tent outside downtown Los Angeles. Cynthia accepted Christ that night, and she told her husband that because of her conversion, she wouldn’t file for divorce. She asked Louis if he would accompany her to the Crusade. After a week of arguing, she finally persuaded him to go.
“I was resentful,” he says. “I’d always been poisoned against such tent meetings since I was a youngster.”
An Answer to Prayer
Hillenbrand paints a vivid picture of what happened when Zamperini actually walked into the Billy Graham Crusade, including portions of the sermon he heard, which concluded with a clear presentation of the Gospel. That chapter in the book is an answer to prayer.
“‘Unbroken’ is Laura’s book,” says Zamperini, “so all I could do was pray that she would somehow have the Gospel in it. Then she called me and told me she had talked to Billy Graham and Cliff Barrows. She wanted to include the sermon I heard, and they sent it to her.”
He describes how the two joined forces to share the story of “Unbroken.” When Hillenbrand was researching her book about the thoroughbred racehorse Seabiscuit, she found an interesting quote from a 1938 Los Angeles Times article. A reporter had called Zamperini’s coach and said, “Louie hasn’t lost a mile race in four years. If he loses this year, who do you think will beat him?” Zamperini’s coach answered, “Seabiscuit.”
The newspaper writer loved that quote—and so did Hillenbrand. She proceeded to call Zamperini and said she wanted to write a book about his life. “I told her I had just finished my own book, ‘Devil at My Heels,’ and that I had milked the story dry.”
Hillenbrand recognized that Zamperini’s story was worth waiting for. “We became close friends, and after about a year, she asked again. She said this: ‘I must do it.’”
Zamperini is thankful for Hillenbrand’s persistence and thoroughness. He describes her as an amazing researcher. “She has such depth in her writing, and she confirms every single thing. The woman is historically accurate on every word. She won’t print a word unless she has confirmation.”
The book is really a history book, says Zamperini. “I get calls from World War II veterans, and they say, ‘I have just finished ‘Unbroken.’ Finally someone has written the truth about the war in the Pacific.’”
Hillenbrand’s graphic descriptions elicited difficult memories for Zamperini. “I found myself back in prison camp when I was reading the book, and had to stop and look away to be sure I was still here. I almost had a nightmare.”
Old Things are Gone
Zamperini did have nightmares in prison and nightmares at home until he received Christ at the Billy Graham Crusade. “That night when I got home from the Crusade, it was unbelievable. I didn’t have a nightmare, and I haven’t had one since,” he says.
One critic of the book found that hard to swallow. “I can’t understand how someone with severe PTSD could get over it in one night,” he wrote.
“The fellow obviously doesn’t know his Bible,” Zamperini says with a laugh. “When you accept Christ, you become a new creation. Old things are gone.”
While secular audiences are eating up Hillenbrand’s captivating descriptions of Zamperini’s track career, World War II experience, and the horrifying prisoner of war account, Christians are finding fresh inspiration in the pages of “Unbroken.”
“I get so many letters from Christians,” says Zamperini, “and some of them are having a tough time. I write back and share Scripture with them.”
He describes a letter he received recently from a man who had been fired from his job. “This man was a Christian and forgave everyone else in his life, but he had a hard time forgiving the boss who fired him. He hated the man. But then he read in ‘Unbroken’ how I forgave the POW prison guard.” Now this man has not only forgiven his boss, he is praying for him.
“‘Unbroken’ has had a tremendous influence, and it has turned into a God-given opportunity to share the Gospel,” Zamperini adds. “The book has yielded an unbelievable ministry.”
When my wife Jill and I watched the interview that Louis Zamperini gave to Jay Leno we were not astonished to learn that the strength Louis Zamperini needed to forgive those who tortured him came from his faith in Christ. Louis Zamperini’s Story of Survival and Redemption Former Olympic Star and POW Finds New Ministry […]
What an amazing story. November 12, 2010 The Defiant Ones In her new book, the author of ‘Seabiscuit’ turns to the unimaginable ordeal of an Olympic athlete and WW II hero. Because of her own debilitating illness, they struck a special bond. By STEVE ONEY With a fringe of white hair poking out from under a […]
Last night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno I saw this amazing interview of Louis Zamperini. He is truly a great American war hero. Book review: ‘Devil at My Heels’ by Louis Zamperini and David Rensin The author, who spent two years during World War II in Japanese POW camps, tells his life story […]
Cam Edwards talks to Katie Pavlich from Townhall about her new book, Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up – NRA News – April 18, 2012.
Katie Pavlich’s new book, “Fast and Furious,” assembles the devastating evidence that implicates the Obama administration for its ill-advised gun-walking operation and ensuing scandal to mislead Congress and the American people.
Few journalists have devoted as much time reporting on Fast and Furious as Pavlich. As the news editor of Townhall, she has asked questions the mainstream media ignored. Now her book pieces the story together for a complete picture of how a government-run operation turned deadly.
Operation Fast and Furious began in 2009 as an effort to eliminate high-level arms trafficking networks. Guns were allowed to “walk,” and rather than arresting straw purchasers and cartel buyers, hundreds were used to commit crimes in the United States and Mexico. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed with one in 2010 and an estimated 1,400 guns remain missing.
The book details President Obama’s lifelong mission to subvert the Second Amendment, long before he was seeking federal office. Pavlich also documents how Fast and Furious plays into his administration’s anti-gun agenda. She cites a Washington Post story from Dec. 15, 2010, before details of Fast and Furious had emerged, in which federal authorities attempt to blame the rise in gun violence on U.S. gun shops.
Unbroken Official Olympics Preview Trailer (2014) – Angelina Jolie Directed Movie HD
Louis Zamperini – “Unbroken” by Men, Humbled by Jesus
Published on Nov 21, 2014
The personal testimony of Louis Zamperini on how Jesus changed his life after the Japanese were unsuccessful in taking his life during World War II. This talk by Louis Zamperini at Emmanuel Enid, Oklahoma was one of his last public appearances before his fall limited his travel schedule. Louis died July 2, 2014.
In her new book, the author of ‘Seabiscuit’ turns to the unimaginable ordeal of an Olympic athlete and WW II hero. Because of her own debilitating illness, they struck a special bond.
With a fringe of white hair poking out from under a University of Southern California baseball cap and blue eyes sharp behind bifocals, 93-year-old Louis Zamperini refuses to concede much to old age. He still works a couple of hours each day in the yard of his Hollywood Hills home, bagging leaves, climbing stairs and, on occasion, trimming trees with a chainsaw. His outlook is upbeat, even rambunctious. “I have a cheerful countenance at all times,” he says. “When you have a good attitude your immune system is fortified.” But as he plunged into “Unbroken,” Laura Hillenbrand’s 496-page story of his life, the happy trappings of his current existence fell away.
“Unbroken” will be published Nov. 16 with a first printing of 250,000 copies. Its publisher, Random House, hopes to repeat the success it enjoyed with “Seabiscuit,” Ms. Hillenbrand’s 2001 best seller, which has six million books in print and became a hit movie. “We’re positioning it as the big book for the holidays,” says a Barnes & Noble buyer.
One of the many notable aspects of “Unbroken” is that its author has never met her subject. Suffering from a debilitating case of chronic fatigue syndrome, she was unable to travel to Los Angeles from her Washington, D.C., home. She did the bulk of her research by phone and over the Internet, which enabled her to zero in on key collections at such institutions as the National Archives.
“Unbroken” details a life that was tumultuous from the beginning. As a blue-collar kid in Southern California, Mr. Zamperini fell in and out of scrapes with the law. By age 19, he’d redirected his energies into sports, becoming a record-breaking distance runner. He competed in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin where he made headlines, not just on the track (Hitler sought him out for a congratulatory handshake), but by stealing a Nazi flag from the well-guarded Reich Chancellery. The heart of the story, however, is about Mr. Zamperini’s experiences while serving in the Pacific during World War II.
A bombardier on a B-24 flying out of Hawaii in May 1943, the Army Air Corps lieutenant was one of only three members of an 11-man crew to survive a crash into a trackless expanse of ocean. For 47 days, Mr. Zamperini and pilot Russell Allen Phillips (tail gunner Francis McNamara died on day 33) huddled aboard a tiny, poorly provisioned raft, subsisting on little more than rain water and the blood of hapless birds they caught and killed bare-handed. All the while sharks circled, often rubbing their backs against the bottom of the raft. The sole aircraft that sighted them was Japanese. It made two strafing runs, missing its human targets both times. After drifting some 2,000 miles west, the bullet-riddled, badly patched raft washed ashore in the Marshall Islands, where Messrs. Zamperini and Phillips were taken prisoner by the Japanese. The war still had more than two years to go.
Eli Meir Kaplan for The Wall Street JournalLaura Hillenbrand at her home in Washington; she rarely leaves the house because of her illness.
For 25 months in such infamous Japanese POW camps as Ofuna, Omori and Naoetsu, Mr. Zamperini was physically tortured and subjected to constant psychological abuse. He was beaten. He was starved. He was denied medical care for maladies that included beriberi and chronic bloody diarrhea. His fellow prisoners—among them Mr. Phillips—were treated almost as badly. But Mr. Zamperini was singled out by a sadistic guard named Mutsuhiro Watanabe, known to prisoners as “the Bird,” a handle picked because it had no negative connotations that might bring down his irrational wrath. The Bird intended to make an example of the famous Olympian. He regularly whipped him across the face with a belt buckle and forced him to perform demeaning acts, among them push-ups atop pits of human excrement. The Bird’s goal was to force Mr. Zamperini to broadcast anti-American propaganda over the radio. Mr. Zamperini refused. Following Japan’s surrender, Mr. Watanabe was ranked seventh among its most wanted war criminals (Tojo was first). Because war-crime prosecutions were suspended in the 1950s, he was never brought to justice.
This all came rushing back when Mr. Zamperini first sat down with a copy of “Unbroken” last month. “As I was reading,” he says, gesturing with an arm to a peaceful vista of palm trees outside his house, “I had to look out that picture window from time to time to make sure that I wasn’t still in Japan. When I got to the end I called Laura and told her she’d put me back in prison, and she said, ‘I’m sorry.’ ”
“It’s almost unimaginable what Louie went through,” says Ms. Hillenbrand from her home on a late fall afternoon. She discovered Mr. Zamperini’s story while researching “Seabiscuit,” the saga of another individual—in that case, a horse—that confronted long odds. “Louie and Seabiscuit were both Californians and both on the sports pages in the 1930s,” she says. “I was fascinated. When I learned about his World War II experiences, I thought, ‘If this guy is still alive, I want to meet him.’ ”
Following the publication of “Seabiscuit,” Ms. Hillenbrand wrote to Mr. Zamperini. Shortly thereafter they had the first of many long phone conversations. His tale of survival captivated her both on its merits and because she could relate to it personally. “I’m attracted,” she says, “to subjects who overcome tremendous suffering and learn to cope emotionally with it.”
Louis ZamperiniIn basic training, pre-WWII helmet, 1941
The 43-year-old Ms. Hillenbrand contracted chronic fatigue syndrome during her sophomore year at Kenyon College. The bewildering disease, thought to originate from a virus, can be enfeebling and is incurable. Ms. Hillenbrand is today essentially a prisoner in her own home. She is so consistently weak and dizzy (vertigo is a side effect) that she recently installed a chair lift to get to the second floor of her house, where she lives with her husband, G. Borden Flanagan, an assistant professor of political philosophy at American University. What to others might seem simple matters are to her subjects of grave consideration. “I skipped my shower today,” she says, “in order to have the strength to do this interview. My illness is excruciating and difficult to cope with. It takes over your entire life and causes more suffering than I can describe.”
Ms. Hillenbrand’s research was complicated by her disease. But as she likes to remind people, she came down with chronic fatigue syndrome before starting her writing career, and she has learned to work around it. “For ‘Seabiscuit,’ ” she says, “I interviewed 100 people I never met.” For “Unbroken,” Ms. Hillenbrand located not only many of Mr. Zamperini’s fellow POWs and the in-laws of Mr. Phillips, but the most friendly of his Japanese captors. She also interviewed scores of experts on the War in the Pacific (the book is extensively end-noted) and benefited from her subject’s personal files, which he shipped to Washington for her use. “A superlative pack rat,” she writes, “Louie has saved virtually every artifact of his life.”
Louis ZamperiniHis damaged B-24 after a mission:, 1943
During her exploration of Mr. Zamperini’s war years, Ms. Hillenbrand was most intrigued by his capacity to endure hardship. “One of the fascinating things about Louie,” she says, “is that he never allowed himself to be a passive participant in his ordeal. It’s why he survived. When he was being tortured, he wasn’t just lying there and getting hit. He was always figuring out ways to escape emotionally or physically.”
Louis ZamperiniMr. Zamperini with mother at homecoming, 1945
Mr. Zamperini owes this resiliency, Ms. Hillenbrand concluded, to his rebellious nature. “Defiance defines Louie,” she says. “As a boy he was a hell-raiser. He refused to be corralled. When someone pushed him he pushed back. That made him an impossible kid but an unbreakable man.”
Although Mr. Zamperini came back to California in one piece, he was emotionally ruined. At night, his demons descended in the form of vengeful dreams about Mr. Watanabe. He drank heavily. He nearly destroyed his marriage. In 1949, at the urging of his wife, Cynthia, Mr. Zamperini attended a Billy Graham crusade in downtown Los Angeles, where he became a Christian. (The conversion of the war hero helped put the young evangelist on the map.) Ultimately Mr. Zamperini forgave his tormentors and enjoyed a successful career running a center for troubled youth. He even reached out to Mr. Watanabe. “As a result of my prisoner of war experience under your unwarranted and unreasonable punishment,” Mr. Zamperini wrote his former guard in the 1990s, “my post-war life became a nightmare … but thanks to a confrontation with God … I committed my life to Christ. Love replaced the hate I had for you.” A third party promised to deliver the letter to Mr. Watanabe. He did not reply, and it is not known whether he received it. He died in 2003.
Sally Peterson for The Wall Street JournalMr. Zamperini still has his purloined Nazi flag.
Mr. Zamperini’s internal battles and ultimate redemption point to a key difference between “Unbroken” and Ms. Hillenbrand’s previous book. “Seabiscuit’s story is one of accomplishment,” she says. “Louie’s is one of survival. Seabiscuit’s story played out before the whole world. Louie dealt with his ordeal essentially alone. His was a mental struggle.” That struggle, she adds, feels particularly resonant in 2010. “This is a time when people need to be buoyed by something, and Louie blows breath into people by making them realize that they can overcome more than they think.”
Because of Ms. Hillenbrand’s illness, there will be no author tour. In 2007 she sank deeper into chronic fatigue syndrome, and she hasn’t pulled out of it. “This is going to be hard,” she says. “I’m very afraid. I’m not functioning well. I’m going to have to be careful that I don’t slip back to the bottom.” Next week’s “Today” show interview was taped at her home.
Louis ZamperiniA rambunctious youth in Torrance, Calif.
Mr. Zamperini—whose health issues don’t go beyond taking blood-thinning medication following a recent angioplasty—is raring to go. His wife died in 2001, and while he is close to his two children and a grandson, he lives alone. In short, he’s up for an adventure. He has told Random House he will promote the book in Ms. Hillenbrand’s stead. He also has signed with a San Francisco-based speakers’ agency. His goal is to become an inspirational mainstay on cruise ships. He has transformed what he learned as a POW into parables (“Hope has to have a reason. Faith has to have an object”) that he feels can reduce stress and are perfect for an anxiety-filled time.
Louis ZamperiniVisiting a prison camp in Japan in 1950
There is also, not surprisingly, movie interest (the film version of “Seabiscuit” took in $150 million world-wide at the box office). The outlook, however, is uncertain. In the 1950s, Mr. Zamperini published an autobiography titled “Devil at My Heels.” Universal, envisioning a vehicle for Tony Curtis, optioned Mr. Zamperini’s life rights. The project went nowhere. In the 1990s, Universal re-optioned the rights, this time for Nicolas Cage. Again the project faltered. In 2003, Mr, Zamperini and writer David Rensin updated “Devil at My Heels.”
Louis ZamperiniRunning in the Olympic torch relay in Los Angeles, 1984
Andrew Rigrod, an entertainment lawyer representing Mr. Zamperini, believes the rights have now reverted to his client. A Universal spokeswoman says that this is most likely correct, but says the studio still owns the previous project and is developing it. She adds that she expects things to be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. Mr. Zamperini’s hope, Mr. Rigrod says, is that he and Ms. Hillenbrand (who is represented by CAA) will join forces. “He wants the movie to be based on Laura’s book,” says the lawyer, “and he would cooperate and participate.” Says Mr. Zamperini: “For the work she’s done, she deserves the movie. I told her I don’t want anything
Over the course of the seven years Ms. Hillenbrand toiled on “Unbroken,” she and Mr. Zamperini became friends, despite never laying eyes on each other. “I call him a virtuoso of joy,” she says. “When things are going bad, I phone him.” Says Mr. Zamperini, “Every time I say good-bye to her, I tell her I love her and she tells me, ‘I love you.’ I’ve never known a girl like her.
“Laura brought my war buddies back to life,” he says. “The fact that Laura has suffered so much enabled her to put our suffering into words.”
—Steve Oney is the author of “And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank.”
When my wife Jill and I watched the interview that Louis Zamperini gave to Jay Leno we were not astonished to learn that the strength Louis Zamperini needed to forgive those who tortured him came from his faith in Christ. Louis Zamperini’s Story of Survival and Redemption Former Olympic Star and POW Finds New Ministry […]
What an amazing story. November 12, 2010 The Defiant Ones In her new book, the author of ‘Seabiscuit’ turns to the unimaginable ordeal of an Olympic athlete and WW II hero. Because of her own debilitating illness, they struck a special bond. By STEVE ONEY With a fringe of white hair poking out from under a […]
Last night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno I saw this amazing interview of Louis Zamperini. He is truly a great American war hero. Book review: ‘Devil at My Heels’ by Louis Zamperini and David Rensin The author, who spent two years during World War II in Japanese POW camps, tells his life story […]
Bob Welch chose suicide because he felt there was no other way like so many others today. (Details of his suicide below later in this post.) It is sad that this is such a pressing problem. I think of songs that point this out: Adam’s Song, The Last Resort, etc.
There are two usual approaches to this problem that young people take.
First, you have the worm approach. They crawl into the ground because they don’t want to be close to anyone.
Second, the puppy approach. They do anything they can to get people to like them.
The better approach is to act like the child of God that you are. Feeling loved and accepted starts with your relationship with Christ who is the only one able to meet the deepest needs of your life. (Fast forward to the end of this post if you need a relationship with Christ.) Talking to Jesus and reading his Word- The Bible – are steps to strengthening your friendship with him. He laid down his life for you, so it is obvious that he regards you as a friend worth dying for (John 15:13) That is powerful comfort when you wonder if anyone cares.
Portions of the above post were taken from the excellent devotional book by Josh McDowell, and Ed Stewart “Youth Devotions 2,” published in 2003 by Tyndale. Back then my kids were 17, 14, 9 and 7 and we went through several of these devotions together. Just recently I got the book out of the garage and three of my kids have been meeting with me at 5:30 am every morning and we are going through some of these same devotions again. I thank God for kids who came to me and asked to start meeting with me every morning to spend 30 minutes studying Bible applications and praying together. To God be the glory.
The band’s place in the pop music landscape was established with the release of their breakout single, “Last Resort,” which was quickly picked up by MTV and nominated for a “Best New Artist Video” award at the 2000 Video Music Awards. The song is a gut-wrenching first-person chronicle of hopelessness that’s gone so deep the singer is seriously contemplating suicide. But the band is adamant about the fact that the song is about fighting to survive by overcoming depression, rather than allowing it to lead to suicide. “It’s not saying I can’t go on living. It’s saying I can’t go on living this way,” says Dick (Spin, 10/00).
I know there are some curse words in the following song. I have eliminated both times the curse word is used. I really think that there needs to be a response to the young people who are saying things like the words in this song Here are some of the words:
Do you even care if I die pleading, Would it be wrong, would it be right, If I took my life tonight, Chances are that I might, and I’m contimplating suicide, ‘Cause I’m losing my sight, losing my mind, Wish somebody would tell me I’m fine, Nothing’s alright, nothing is fine, I’m running and I’m crying, I never realized I was spread too thin, Till it was too late andI was empty within, Hungry, feeding on my chaos and living in sin, Downward spiral, where do i begin, It all started when i lost my mother, No love for myself and no love for another,Searching to find a love upon a higher level, finding nothing but QUESTIONS AND DEVILS, I can’t go on living this way, Cut my life into pieces, This is my last resort.
My response to these words:”Do you even care if I die pleading, Would it be wrong, would it be right, If I took my life tonight, Chances are that I might, and I’m contimplating suicide” is that you should plead to someone who can do something about your situation and that is Christ!!!!
Below David Powlison asserts:
How do you get the living hope that God offers you in Jesus? By asking. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
Suicide operates in a world of death, despair, and aloneness. Jesus Christ creates a world of life, hope, and community. Ask God for help, and keep on asking. Don’t stop asking. You need Him to fill you every day with the hope of the resurrection.
In a day and age where the walls are crumbling between what had been a variety of distinctive popular music genres, Papa Roach is like many other chart-topping bands whose music combines sounds that were once distinct. Coby Dick’s raspy and throat-wrenching vocals join with music that incorporates sounds of rap, rock, thrash, funk and metal. Listeners familiar with popular music will hear the influence of Faith No More, the band Dick cites as one of his early favorites. Similar contemporary bands include Korn, Limp Bizkit, The Deftones and P.O.D.
Reviewer Tim Kennedy of Spin describes the resulting sound as “an amalgam of below-the-belt guitar riffage, punk-rock urgency, and half-sung, half-rapped vocals (10/00). Rolling Stone’s Anthony Bozza says listening to Papa Roach is “like standing on a precipice—sustained tension and the threat of a tumble” (8/31/00).
The sound combines with Dick’s lyrics in a powerful and emotional blend that addresses the reality of life for kids who have been burned over and over again. Tobin Esperance says, “We write about things that have happened to our singer, specifically, and friends around us. It’s real life stuff. We’re not writing about s___ that we don’t know about, like girls and cars and money … we only know real life bulls___ that happens” (nyrock.com). Coby Dick says of his autobiographical music, “I’m venting my emotions. It’s blunt” (Rolling Stone, 8/31/00). He says “Papa Roach, lyrically, is my counseling” (Billboard,6/10/00).
Infest (2000)
Papa Roach released the album they now consider their first in April of 2000. The album quickly began to sell as a result of radio and MTV exposure, went gold after two months thanks to scoring with MTV’s Total Request Live audience, and had gone double platinum by September 2000.
Papa Roach offers an introduction to their music, mission, message and intentions on the album’s title cut. After introducing himself to his listeners, Coby Dick informs them his “God-given talent is to rock all the nations.” In this, the band’s “first manifesto,” the group lays out their plan to “infest” the world and young minds (“wrap you in my thoughts”) with an angry musical message of anarchy and rebellion against a messed-up world that’s let them down: “We’re going to infest/We’re getting in your head/What is wrong with the world today/The government, media or your family.” Institutions and people are not to be trusted. In fact, “First they shackle your feet/Then they stand you in a line/Then they beat you like meat/Then they grab you by your mind … people are the problem today.” Dick admits the struggle so many young people feel: “the game of life is crazy.” Alone in this sea of brokenness and hopelessness, Dick asks, “Would you cry if I died today/I think it be better if you did not say.”
The band’s place in the pop music landscape was established with the release of their breakout single, “Last Resort,” which was quickly picked up by MTV and nominated for a “Best New Artist Video” award at the 2000 Video Music Awards. The song is a gut-wrenching first-person chronicle of hopelessness that’s gone so deep the singer is seriously contemplating suicide. (See lyrics on page 7.) The fact that “Last Resort” is part of the mainstream pop music landscape indicates it is connecting with more and more kids who see it as an expression of their own inner struggles. For casual listeners, the song is very confusing. Listening to the song reveals the criticisms claiming the song promotes suicide could certainly be warranted. Kids who are riding the fence because of numerous other problems in their lives could interpret the song in a way that would give them permission to go over the edge, especially if they don’t know the story behind the song. But the band is adamant about the fact that the song is about fighting to survive by overcoming depression, rather than allowing it to lead to suicide. “It’s not saying I can’t go on living. It’s saying I can’t go on living this way,” says Dick (Spin, 10/00). He also says, “Last Resort” has “a positive edge to it, as far as like, ‘Don’t succumb to it. Keep yourself afloat.’ With these problems in your life, find a friend you can confide in” (Sonicnet.com). Based on the band’s resolve to survive like a roach, one would have to take them at their word. The song chronicles the suicide attempt of one of Coby Dick’s former roommates. After his “unsuccessful” attempt, the young man “turned to God” … Dick claims the attempt was what killed the rotting part of his roommate’s soul. The song has definitely connected. “We’ve gotten so many e-mails from people who tell us ‘Last Resort’ saved their lives,” says Dick. “It makes some people feel less alone” (Rolling Stone,8/31/00).
The album’s third cut is equally powerful. Released as a single and put in heavy rotation on MTV, “Broken Home” (See lyrics) is an overt lyrical, sonic and visual cry from the heart of one whose young life has been shattered by family breakdown. Written by Dick about his feelings after his parents’ divorce, the song offers listeners an emotional window into the reality of kids beaten up by our current culture of divorce. Every parent considering divorce should sit and watch this video. It is powerful.
“Dead Cell” has been called “a darkly sarcastic paean to Columbine kids the world over” (Alternative Press, 10/00). If that’s the case, the sarcasm is not easily heard. The dead cells are described as “born with no soul/lack of control/cut from the mold of the anti-social … sick in the head/living but dead.” Loud, angry and fast, the song could be interpreted by some who are young and angry as a call to arms: “I’m telling ya the kids are getting singled out/Let me hear the dead cells shout.”
“Between Angels and Insects” is an insightful rant against American greed and materialism. Dick says he wrote the song to remind himself that the things the band’s success will bring are not the things that make one happy. The lyrics are powerful and excerpts could serve to spark discussion with teens about the false promises of materialism: “Diamond rings get you nothing/But a life-long lesson/And your pocketbook stressin’/You’re a slave to the system/Working jobs that you hate/For s___ that you don’t need/It’s too bad the world is based on greed/Step back and stop thinking ‘bout yourself … ‘cause everything is nothing/And emptiness is in everything … Possessions they are never gonna fill the void … the things you own, own you.” When discussing the message of the song Buckner says, “all the worldly things that people equate with happiness—do they necessarily make you happy? You can have Rolexes and diamond rings and cars and houses … but really the things that make you happy are peace of mind and passion in your life” (Alternative Press, 10/00).
Relational selfishness and greed are the subject of “Blood Brothers,” a song offering powerful evidence of the depth of sin’s hold on humanity: “It’s our nature to destroy ourselves/It’s our nature to kill ourselves/It’s our nature to kill each other/It’s in our nature to kill, kill, kill.” The song speaks about allegiance in a world where you can’t trust anybody and you’ve got to watch your back. The lyrics leave one thinking the song could serve as an anthem for a street gang or other fringe subculture: “Blood brothers keep it real to the end.”
Themes of severe relational breakdown and the resulting pain continue in “Revenge,” a song about a girl who was “abused with forks, knives and razorblades” and who finally left the man who abused her in fits of rage. Listeners who have been abused will identify with the song’s mention of the ever-present and visible emotional scars they so often feel: “Chaos is what she saw in the mirror/Scared of herself/And the power that was in her/It took over and weighed heavily on her shoulders/Militant insanity is now what controlled her.” The song indicates that she exacts revenge on him, although the method and outcome is unclear.
Backstabbers are the subject of “Snakes,” an angry and threatening rant at those who betray friends. The song reflects the distrust so many kids feel because of the parade of letdowns they’ve experienced. The chorus asks, “Do you like how it feels to be bit in the neck by the snake that kills?/Do you know how it feels to be stabbed in the back then watch the blood spill?/I don’t like how it feels.”
Coby Dick chronicles his wrestling match with alcohol on “Binge,” a song that serves as a personal confession. “All I need is a bottle/And I don’t need no friends/Now wallow in my pain/I swallow as I pretend/To act like I’m happy when I drink till no end/I’m losing all my friends, I’m losing in the end … When I’m sober, life bores me/So I get drunk again.” The song is a heart cry about what drives the binge drinker, how he really feels inside and his desire to see it end. In the song’s final lines, Dick sings, “I wish things would change/Wish they’d rearrange.”
“Never Enough” is another cry for help from a confused and tortured young soul that is deeply longing for redemption. “Life’s been sucked out of me/And this routine’s killing me … somebody put me out of my misery,” Dick sings. The song will resonate with kids who are lost, purposeless and without peace. The song’s conclusion is a loud cry for help: “I feel as if I’m running/Life will knock me down.”
“Thrown Away” offers a view of life through the eyes of a kid struggling with ADD, something Coby Dick knows well as he watched his brother’s personal struggle with the disorder. “My heart is bleeding and the pain will not pass … I want to be thrown away … I am a mess, I’ve made a huge mess/I can’t control myself/I’m losing it, I’ve lost it/I’ve spilt all my marbles … sometimes I want to be thrown away.”
The album concludes with an unlisted hidden cut called “Tightrope.” The track is stylistically unlike any other cuts on the album as it is done in reggae style. The lyrics are a confusing mix of thoughts where Dick calls his words “weapons in which I murder you.” The song offers a confession regarding the ethical dilemmas faced by kids in these confusing times: “there is a thin line between what’s good and what is evil/I will tiptoe down that line/But I feel unstable/My life is a circus and I’m tripping down the tightrope/There’s nothing left to save me now so I will not look down.”
It’s easy to see the risk factors for suicide—depression, suffering, disillusioning experiences, failure—but there are also ways to get your life back on track by building protective factors into your life.
Ask for help
How do you get the living hope that God offers you in Jesus? By asking. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
Suicide operates in a world of death, despair, and aloneness. Jesus Christ creates a world of life, hope, and community. Ask God for help, and keep on asking. Don’t stop asking. You need Him to fill you every day with the hope of the resurrection.
At the same time you are asking God for help, tell other people about your struggle with hopelessness. God uses His people to bring life, light, and hope. Suicide, by definition, happens when someone is all alone. Getting in relationship with wise, caring people will protect you from despair and acting out of despair.
But what if you are bereaved and alone? If you know Jesus, you still have a family—His family is your family. Become part of a community of other Christians. Look for a church where Jesus is at the center of teaching and worship. Get in relationship with people who can help you, but don’t stop with getting help. Find people to love, serve, and give to. Even if your life has been stripped barren by lost relationships, God can and will fill your life with helpful and healing relationships.
Grow in godly life skills
Another protective factor is to grow in godly living. Many of the reasons for despair come from not living a godly, fruitful life. You need to learn the skills that make godly living possible. What are some of those skills?
Conflict resolution. Learn to problem-solve by entering into human difficulties and growing through them. (See Ask the Christian Counselor article, “Fighting the Right Way.”)
Seek and grant forgiveness. Hopeless thinking is often the result of guilt and bitterness.
Learn to give to others. Suicide is a selfish act. It’s a lie that others will be better off without you. Work to replace your faulty thinking with reaching out to others who are also struggling. Take what you have learned in this article and pass it on to at least one other person. Whatever hope God gives you, give to someone who is struggling with despair.
Live for God
When you live for God, you have genuine meaning in your life. This purpose is far bigger than your suffering, your failures, the death of your dreams, and the disillusionment of your hopes. Living by faith in God for His purposes will protect you from suicidal and despairing thoughts. God wants to use your personality, your skills, your life situation, and even your struggle with despair to bring hope to others.
He has already prepared good works for you to do. Paul says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). As you step into the good works God has prepared for you—you will find that meaning, purpose, and joy.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Bob Welch, a former member of Fleetwood Mac who went on to write songs and record several hits during a solo career, died Thursday of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. He was 65.
Police spokesman Don Aaron said Welch’s wife found him with a chest wound at their south Nashville home around 12:15 p.m.
Welch was a guitarist and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974. He formed the British rock group Paris in 1976, and had hits including “Sentimental Lady” in 1977 and “Ebony Eyes” in 1978. Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham did backup vocals on “Sentimental Lady.”
Aaron said Welch apparently had had health issues recently. He said a suicide note was left.
Fleetwood Mac’s career took off in the mid-1970s after Welch left the band. “Dreams” was a No. 1 hit in 1977 and “Don’t Stop” the same year. It later became the anthem for Bill Clinton’s 2002 presidential campaign. “Hold Me” was a hit in 1982 and “Little Lies” in 1987.
Welch, a native of Los Angeles, scored his biggest hit with “Sentimental Lady,” which reached No. 8 on the Billboard chart. His other singles included “Precious Love” in 1979 and “Hot Love, Cold World” in 1978.
When Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, Welch was not included in the group.
“It basically comes down to the fact that they don’t like me anymore,” he told The Plain Dealer of Cleveland at the time. “I guess they can do what they want. I could understand it if I had been a sideman for a year. But I was an integral part of that band … I put more of myself into that band than anything else I’ve ever done.”
Longtime Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks told The Associated Press that Welch’s death hit her hard.
“The death of Bob Welch is devastating … I had many great times with him after Lindsey and I joined Fleetwood Mac. He was an amazing guitar player – he was funny, sweet – and he was smart. I am so very sorry for his family and for the family of Fleetwood Mac – so, so sad …”
Founding member Mick Fleetwood did not immediately respond to e-mails for comment Thursday.
Fleetwood Mac, started in 1967 by two former members of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, became an enormously popular pop-oriented group in the late 1970s. Nicks’ haunting vocals and Buckingham’s distinctive guitar work helped propel the band’s 1976 album “Rumours” to multiplatinum status.
Problems with alcohol and drugs, as well as well-publicized fights between band members, led to their breakup. Money and nostalgia helped bring the band back together, leading to successful reunion tours.
As a songwriter, Welch had his songs recorded by Kenny Rogers, Sammy Hagar, the Pointer Sisters and others.
In 1999 he released a CD, “Bob Welch Looks at Bop,” a salute to bebop music in the 1940s.
In an interview with The Tennessean in 2003, Welch said he never dreamed he’d be remembered for much.
“I just wanted to play guitar in a good band,” he said. “I wanted to make the music I love. I wanted to travel the world and have adventures.”
Welch also said “music is disposable now. It doesn’t have the emotional impact anymore. That’s sad.”
He had lived in Nashville since the 1990s.
Bart Herbison, executive director of the Nashville Songwriters Association, quoted his wife Wendy as saying Welch had spinal surgery three months ago and doctors told him he would not get better, and he did not want her to have to care for an invalid.
The couple had no children. Funeral arrangements were incomplete
Success does not bring satisfaction in life. How many times have we witnessed that play out. I am truly sorrow that Junior Seau chose to take his life. He was always happy go lucky on the outside. Arkansas Razorback Tony Bua played with Junior Seau at Miami and one time Michael Jordan walked in the […]
AFP reported this morning: Whitney Houston ‘drowned in bath after taking cocaine’ By Michael Thurston | AFP – 9 hrs ago Grammy-winning pop legend Whitney Houston died from accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub after taking cocaine which could have triggered a heart attack, coroners said. Houston, who died at age 48 in the bathtub of […]
Below you will find the rare pictures that surfaced and then there are links to previous posts that talked about Marilyn’s spiritual search. Evidently she consulted the psychic Kenny Kingston on several occasions. Rare Marilyn Monroe photos hit auction block This image, taken in 1960, released by Julien’s Auctions, shows a black and white photograph of […]
Uploaded by MrDAILYINFO on Feb 12, 2012 R.I.P WHITNEY HOUSTON; Last Performance at Kelly Price’s “For the Love of R&B” Pre-Grammy Party Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012. COURTESY OF JET ____________________________ It seems that alcohol and drugs are a bad combination. The report below from Yahoo News: Whitney Houston Died of Prescription Drug, Alcohol Combination, TMZ […]
Amy Winehouse wins a Grammy!!! Take a look. Amy Winehouse’s parents accept Grammy Late Amy Winehouse gets Grammy award for best pop performance by a duo for duet with Tony Bennett. Singer Tony Bennett and parents of the late Amy Winehouse Mitch and Janis Winehouse accept the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Body […]
It was so sad to lose these people so soon. The Curse of 27 This page is in response to my most frequently asked questions – is there really a Curse of 27, how many musicians actually died at that age, and who are they. When legendary Blues man, Robert Johnson, was killed at the age […]
A curve ball in the Amy Winehouse case. Troubled Brit singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her London home in July. / AP FILE PHOTO Written by JILL LAWLESS, | Associated Press FILED UNDER Entertainment LONDON — The coroner who oversaw the inquest into the death of singer Amy Winehouse has resigned after her […]
Jim Morrison’s picture above. He died way too young and many of our young people turn to drugs and suicide because of loneliness. It is sad that this is such a pressing problem. I think of songs that point this out: Adam’s Song, The Last Resort, etc. There are two usual approaches to this problem that […]
I have a lot of respect for Tea Party heroes like Tim Huelskamp , Idaho First District Congressman Raúl R. Labrador, and Justin Amash who are willing to vote against proposals that increase our spending, and they want to pass the Balanced Budget Amendment.
It is a fact that we must balance the budget soon. I do not believe that we can wait to balance the budget at some distant time in the future. The financial markets will not allow us a long time to get our house in order. Look at how things have been going the last four years and no matter how anyone tries to spin it, we are going down the financial drain fast and headed to Greece!!!
It’s hardly rare for politicians in Washington to say things that make one wonder what color the sky is in their world. Vice President Joe Biden has offered a steady stream of examples, demonstrating again that sometimes an old dog can’t unlearn old tricks. But in the press gaggle yesterday, White House spokesperson Jay Carney dropped a doozy, suggesting anew that the Obama Administration is living in a fantasyland all its own.
Carney broke off answering a question about Baghdad to insert the following: The rate at which spending has increased is lower under President Obama than all of his predecessors since Dwight Eisenhower.
Carney went on to observe that “this President has been—has demonstrated significant fiscal restraint and acted with great fiscal responsibility.”
Well, well, let’s just look at the figures. Federal spending as a share of the economy will average over 24 percent during Obama’s term, and each and every year of that term will see a higher share than during any year since the Second World War. That apparently qualifies as “significant fiscal restraint” Obama-style.
Fiscal responsibility? Obama has had by far the largest budget deficits, driven in large part by the eruption in spending.
The President is responsible for submitting an annual budget to Congress and has the authority to veto legislation, including irresponsible spending. Most Administrations have run small but manageable deficits, but President Obama’s unprecedented budget deficits pose serious economic risks.
BUDGET DEFICITS AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP, BY ADMINISTRATION
Source: Office of Management and Budget.
It is, of course, the job of the chief White House flak to spin answers in response to questions. But in this case, there was no question. There was only the flak attempting to inject utter nonsense into the national debate. More Kool-Aid, Mr. Carney?
I really enjoyed this article from a few years ago and wanted to pass it on to you. You will notice that number 10 and 11 on the list would have been higher up on the list if it had not been for heartbreaking losses to the Tennessee Vols. Of course, the loss in 1998 still gets to me since we should have been running it straight up the middle and they putt it with 40 seconds left at Tennessee 40 yard line. HOW COULD HAVE THE VOLS GONE 80 YARDS IN 40 SECONDS? I got this article by Harry King off of George Lapides website:
Top 10 Teams Ever At Arkansas
By Harry King
LITTLE ROCK – Despite a 10-game winning streak, I cannot find a place for these Razorbacks on the list of Best Dozen Arkansas teams.
Even if Arkansas had completed enough passes to beat Wisconsin in Orlando, 11-3 would not have cracked the Top 10.
Trying to rank Arkansas teams since Frank Broyles arrived in 1958 is arbitrary and rigid rules eliminate deserving teams. For instance, if only conference champions are considered, the 1969 team is gone and so is Lou Holtz’s 11-1 team that finished third in the country.
Undisputed champions of the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference, the latest Razorbacks are second-best of the Houston Nutt reign, behind his 1998 team.
Winning 10 is a tribute to superb running backs, a veteran offensive line, and a hang-tough defense. Wisconsin running back P.J. Hill was so stifled that quarterback John Stocco threw a half-dozen passes from inside his 20 despite leading by 10.
But winning 10 is not the wow of a few years ago. With a 12-game season, a conference championship game for many and a bowl game for all, there is a need to redefine a great record.
Boise State was 13-0 and the Florida-Ohio State winner will notch No. 13 in the national title game. Wisconsin was 12-1 and the Orange Bowl winner will have 12 victories. The Louisville-Wake Forest loser will be on 11 along with TCU, Brigham Young, Hawaii, Rutgers, Auburn, West Virginia, USC, Oklahoma, Michigan and the Sugar Bowl winner. More than half had only 13 games.
All told, more than two dozen teams won 10 or more.
Still, this Razorback team deserves plaudits for a 7-1 record in the Southeastern Conference. The fact that Arkansas lost to three teams in BCS bowl games and to once-beaten Wisconsin counts for something. And, the Razorbacks beat two teams that were ranked in The AP top 15 at the time.
Although impossible to compare the Razorbacks from decade to decade, particularly in light of the SWC vs. SEC, it is valid to assess how a particular team ranked with others of that day. Almost every great Arkansas team had one thing in common – an all-conference quarterback.
During the season, neither Casey Dick nor Mitch Mustain was mentioned in the same breath with JaMarcus Russell of LSU, Chris Leak of Florida, Andre Woodson of Kentucky, or Erik Ainge of Tennessee. That does not mean that Dick or Mustain won’t produce next fall, only that the jury is still out.
A countdown of the unofficial Best Dozen begins with the 1975 team that lost early to Oklahoma State. Eventually, Scott Bull took over at quarterback and the Razorbacks ended a 9-2 regular season with a 31-6 trouncing of then-No. 2 Texas A&M. In the Cotton Bowl, they took apart Georgia.
No. 11 – 1998, 8-0 start, Clint Stoerner’s stumble, a hangover loss to Mississippi State, and too much Michigan in Orlando. Stoerner was second team All-SEC.
No. 10 – 1989, Ken Hatfield’s second straight 10-1 regular season. Made 568 yards in the Cotton Bowl and lost. Quinn Grovey, All-SWC in 1988.
No. 9 – 1970, won nine straight between an opening loss to No. 10 Stanford and a rout by No. 1 Texas. Bill Montgomery, All-SWC.
No. 8 – 1962, a 7-3 loss at No. 1 Texas and a 17-13 loss to No. 3 Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. Billy Moore, All-SWC.
No. 7 – 1979, lost to No. 6 Houston during the regular season and to No. 2 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Kevin Scanlon, All-SWC.
No. 6 – 1988, opened 10-0, and was a Steve Atwater interception away from beating No. 3 Miami. Flopped in Dallas.
No. 5 – 1968, 16-2 over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl completed a 10-1. Montgomery was a sophomore.
No. 4 – 1969, so close to perfect on that December day in Fayetteville. Too much Archie Manning in New Orleans. Montgomery, again.
No. 3 – 1965, unbeaten and ranked No. 2 when it lost to LSU in the Cotton Bowl. Jon Brittenum, All-SWC.
No. 2 – 1977, a 13-9 loss to No. 2 Texas was the only downer and 31-6 over then No. 2-ranked Oklahoma might be the most memorable victory in school history. Ron Calcagni, All-SWC.
No. 1 – 1964, nobody can argue with perfection. Fred Marshall, All-SWC.
Unbroken Official Olympics Preview Trailer (2014) – Angelina Jolie Directed Movie HD
Louis Zamperini – “Unbroken” by Men, Humbled by Jesus
Published on Nov 21, 2014
The personal testimony of Louis Zamperini on how Jesus changed his life after the Japanese were unsuccessful in taking his life during World War II. This talk by Louis Zamperini at Emmanuel Enid, Oklahoma was one of his last public appearances before his fall limited his travel schedule. Louis died July 2, 2014.
The Great Zamperini
Last night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno I saw this amazing interview of Louis Zamperini. He is truly a great American war hero.
The author, who spent two years during World War II in Japanese POW camps, tells his life story in this crisp yet richly detailed account.
January 10, 2011|By Michael Harris, Special to the Los Angeles Times
First there was Louis Zamperini, then came the Louis Zamperini story.
The man made the story — carved it out of the bedrock of his life, out of high achievement and almost unbelievable suffering — but the story also made the man. It gave him a vocation as evangelist, inspirational speaker and worker with troubled youth; it made him an authority on the toughness of the human spirit. And in the end, perhaps, the story defined and caged him, as our stories tend to do if we repeat them often enough.
Zamperini, 93, has been telling his story for a long time. A first version of “Devil at My Heels” appeared in the 1950s. In 2003, Zamperini, collaborating with David Rensin, produced an updated version that included the discovery by a CBS documentary crew in 1998 that Matsuhiro “The Bird” Watanabe, the most sadistic of the guards who had tortured him during his two years in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, had escaped prosecution for war crimes and was willing to be interviewed.
Now there is renewed interest in that book, with a foreword by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that rides the slipstream of Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption.”
Hillenbrand (“Seabiscuit”) takes nearly 200 additional pages to tell the story than Zamperini does in this crisp yet richly detailed account. She wants to probe the mystery of what makes people like Zamperini stronger than the rest of us. He just gives us the facts, which are extraordinary enough:
Zamperini grows up in a working-class Italian American family in Torrance. Whatever he does, he does wholeheartedly. He’s a hell-raising delinquent, then a disciplined runner. He stars in track at USC and competes in the 1936 Olympics. He joins the Army Air Forces as a B-24 bombardier and crash-lands in the mid-Pacific in 1943. He and two other crewmen drift 2,000 miles in 47 days, slowly starving, their raft circled by sharks and strafed by a Japanese plane. One of the men dies. The remaining two are rescued — by the Japanese.
Zamperini’s captors, aware of his athletic fame, beat him almost daily but keep him alive because they hope he will make propaganda broadcasts in return for cushier treatment. He refuses and by the end of the war weighs only 70 pounds.
Back home, consumed by hate and dogged by nightmares of “The Bird,” Zamperini drinks heavily, gets into fights, loses money in get-rich-quick schemes and alienates his wife, Cynthia, who, in desperation, drags him to a Billy Graham crusade. He experiences a conversion to Christianity, changes his ways and never looks back. He forgives the Japanese and in 1950 visits Sugamo Prison in Tokyo to offer the Gospel to the war criminals held there. He devotes the rest of his life to good works.
As a POW, Zamperini saw the “filth, squalor and inhumanity” of prison camp as proof that the Allied cause was right. One wonders what he would say about Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and the CIA’s secret prisons. Would he justify them, as he justifies the “unavoidable horror” ] of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the internment of Japanese Americans? Or would he shake his head, faced with a question that doesn’t belong to the Zamperini story at all? It’s a story that seems to come from a different world — a world of clear-cut good and evil, of unquestionable victory — that we hunger for with palpable nostalgia as we give the World War II generation a last hurrah.
When my wife Jill and I watched the interview that Louis Zamperini gave to Jay Leno we were not astonished to learn that the strength Louis Zamperini needed to forgive those who tortured him came from his faith in Christ. Louis Zamperini’s Story of Survival and Redemption Former Olympic Star and POW Finds New Ministry […]
What an amazing story. November 12, 2010 The Defiant Ones In her new book, the author of ‘Seabiscuit’ turns to the unimaginable ordeal of an Olympic athlete and WW II hero. Because of her own debilitating illness, they struck a special bond. By STEVE ONEY With a fringe of white hair poking out from under a […]
Last night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno I saw this amazing interview of Louis Zamperini. He is truly a great American war hero. Book review: ‘Devil at My Heels’ by Louis Zamperini and David Rensin The author, who spent two years during World War II in Japanese POW camps, tells his life story […]
I wish the federal government would go back to spending less than 5% of GDP like they did the first 150 years of our country’s history. We could cut down on a lot of wasteful spending if we did that.
In a speech yesterday in Elyria, Ohio — a small town just outside Cleveland sitting at the forks of the Black River — President Barack Obama delivered a politically charged speech in which he hearkened back to the country’s roots, saying that his opponents “don’t seem to remember how America was built.” In his view, taxpayers want their money spent in ways that will help further “the larger project we call America.” In other words, more spending and bigger government paid for with higher taxes.
In a city quite unlike Elyria, thousands of miles west, sprawling forth from the desert just east of Death Valley, officials from this federal government provided the latest example of what happens when the president’s philosophy succeeds — when layer upon layer of government grows so big that it begins to serve the interests of a ruling class, rather than the people from whom it derives its power. Two years ago in Las Vegas, the General Services Administration (GSA) — a little-known federal agency that helps manage other federal agencies — blew through $820,000 in taxpayer funds for a lavish, booze-fueled conference for 300 employees, complete with magic shows, margaritas, and a self-produced rap video making fun of the spending. (It’s worth mentioning that in 2009, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) asked White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel for help in encouraging government meetings to be held in Nevada.)
That’s just the giant tip of the iceberg for this wasteful behemoth, as reports have emerged of other taxpayer-financed “business trips,” including junkets to Hawaii, South Pacific islands, California’s Napa Valley and Palm Springs. A hotline has been set up for employee tips on wrongdoing, and this week the House is conducting hearings on the GSA’s gross abuse of taxpayer funds.
Sadly, government waste, fraud and abuse isn’t limited to just one agency. Look no further than the Department of Energy (DOE) whose inspector general said yesterday that he’s overseeing 250 to 300 open criminal investigations into the “entire spectrum of DOE activities,” including 100 reviews involving more than $35 billion in stimulus dollars, according to Politico. In addition, it was reported that the investigators are looking into the “use of thousands of outside contractors, federal money being diverted for personal use, false data in grant and loan applications, conflicts of interest and incomplete and inferior work from DOE weatherization grant winners.” To date, those investigations have led to eight criminal prosecutions and the recovery of $2.3 million.
How commonplace is this waste? Given the sheer size and scope of the government — which is set to spend $6.3 trillion this year — it’s impossible to say. But just as pernicious as the countless billions that have been squandered is the cancerous attitude that has taken hold in Washington and that is metastasizing across the land. It’s one of thoughtless entitlement in which individuals who live off the bureaucratic beast reflexively take and spend more all while doing less, giving no consideration to those who fuel their appetites.
Of course, that mindset is not exclusive to the federal level, and examples abound of government employees taking from the public coffers. Just this week in our nation’s capital, 90 city employees were suspended for receiving unemployment benefits while still holding city jobs, and 40 former city workers cashed unemployment checks that they weren’t entitled to. All told, the city paid out some $800,000 in illegitimate benefits. But it’s not just about outright theft. It’s also about out-of-whack expectations that one is entitled to receive without doing. In Michigan, for example, a public school teacher is advising her students not to become teachers because under a new state law, she won’t be able to retire at age 47 as she hoped.
Contrary to what those on the left might believe, this swollen government is not what was intended.
Flowing from the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Constitution, the federal government was designed on the principle that the ultimate authority of a legitimate government depends on the consent of a free people. As Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III writes in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, “Nature does not single out who is to govern and who is to be governed; there is no divine right of kings. Nor are rights a matter of legal privilege or the benevolence of some ruling class.” Yet in this government, a privileged few are acting outside those bounds with the expectation that they have the right to do as they please, unfettered by any obligation to the people.
Under the Obama Administration, the situation has gotten worse. The president turns to bigger government and higher taxes as a solution to every problem. On health care, unemployment, education and energy, Obama has reflexively pursued a policy of more is more — more spending paid for with more taxes. This week served up another prime example when the president called for increased regulations and $52 million in spending to combat high gas prices — even though he admitted that the measures wouldn’t have any immediate impact on the price at the pump.
As the people lose control over this unrestrained government, those with the most cash are the ones with a voice. In an interview last week with The New York Times, former Democratic congressman Patrick Kennedy revealed that access to the Obama White House is a “quid pro quo” based on how much money one contributes to the president’s campaign. That news, though, likely is not a shock to an American people who have come to expect the worst, not the best, from Washington. However, that is not how America was built, it’s not the government we must have, nor is it the one that the Founders envisioned.
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Louis ZamperiniMr. Zamperini with mother at homecoming, 1945
The Daily Hatch 