The Levant () is the area of Western Asia bounded by the Mediterranean to the west, the Taurus Mountains to the north, the Arabian Desert to the south, and the Syrian Desert to the east. The Levant includes modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories and corresponds roughly to the historic area of Greater Syria. The Levant has been described as the "crossroads of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and northeast Africa".

Historically, the ''Levant'' encompassed all the "Mediterranean lands east of Italy". The "trade on the Levant" between Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire was of great economic importance. An imprecise term, ''Levant'' refers to an area of cultural habitation rather than to a specific geographic region, and its meaning has shifted according to historical and cultural reference and preference.

Etymology

The term ''Levant'', which first appeared in English in 1497, originally meant the East in general. It is borrowed from the French ''levant'' 'rising', that is, the point where the sun rises. Similar etymologies are found in Ancient Greek Ἀνατολή (''cf.'' Anatolia) and Germanic ''Morgenland''.

"Capitulations"

The term became current in English in the 16th century, along with the first English merchant adventurers in the region: English ships appeared in the Mediterranean in the 1570s and the English merchant company signed its agreement ("capitulations") with the Grand Turk in 1579 (Braudel).

In 19th-century travel writing, the term incorporated eastern regions under then current or recent governance of the Ottoman empire, such as Greece. In 19th-century archaeology, it referred to overlapping cultures in this region during and after prehistoric times, intending to reference the place instead of any one culture.

Since World War I

When the United Kingdom took over the southern portion of Ottoman Syria in the aftermath of the First World War, some of the new rulers adapted the term "Levantine" pejoratively to refer to inhabitants of mixed Arab and European descent and to Europeans (usually French, Italian or Greek) who had assimilated and adopted local dress and customs.

The French Mandates of Syria and Lebanon, from 1920 to 1946, were called the Levant states. The term became common in archaeology at that time, as many important early excavations were made then, such as Mari and Ugarit. Since these sites could not be classified as Mesopotamian, North African, or Arabian, they came to be referred to as "Levantine."

Since World War II

Today "Levant" is typically used by archaeologists and historians with reference to the prehistory and the ancient and medieval history of the region, as when discussing the Crusades. The term is also occasionally employed to refer to modern or contemporary events, peoples, states or parts of states in the same region, namely Cyprus, Iraq, the Palestinian territories, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria (compare with Near East, Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia). Several researchers include the island of Cyprus in Levantine studies, including the Council for British Research in the Levant, the UCLA Near Eastern Languages and Cultures department, and the UCL Institute of Archaeology, the last of which has dated the connection between Cyprus and mainland Levant to the early Iron Age. Currently, a dialect of Levantine Arabic, Cypriot Maronite Arabic, is the most-spoken minority language in Cyprus.

The term "Southern Levant" is used by archaeologists as a non-political term for (approximately) the area of the modern states of Israel and Jordan as well as the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; see History of the Southern Levant.

See also

Mashriq

Fertile Crescent

History of the Levant

Mesopotamia

Near East and Middle East

Notes

References

Braudel, Fernand, ''The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Phillip II''

Julia Chatzipanagioti: Griechenland, Zypern, Balkan und Levante. Eine kommentierte Bibliographie der Reiseliteratur des 18. Jahrhunderts. 2 Vol. Eutin 2006. ISBN 3981067428

http://www.levantine.plus.com/index.htm. Levantine Heritage Site. Includes many oral and scholarly histories, and genealogies for some Levantine Turkish families.

External links

The History of the Ancient Near East The Ancient Levant Levantine Cultural Center in Los Angeles

Category:Fertile Crescent Category:Mediterranean Category:Near East Category:Western Asia Category:Geography of Syria Category:Geography of Lebanon Category:Geography of Palestine Category:Geography of Jordan Category:Geography of Israel

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Name	Ezra Levant
Birth date	1972
Birth place	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Death date
Resting place coordinates
Education	B.Comm; LLB
Alma mater	University of Calgary, University of Alberta
Religion	Judaism
Website	Ezra Levant
Footnotes	}}

Ezra Isaac Levant (born 1972) is a Canadian lawyer, conservative political activist and media figure. He is the founder and former publisher of the ''Western Standard'', hosts ''The Source'' daily on Sun News Network, and has written several books on politics.

Early life and education

Born in Calgary, Levant holds a commerce degree from the University of Calgary and a law degree from the University of Alberta. His great-grandfather emigrated to Canada in 1903 from Russia to establish a homestead near Drumheller, Alberta. Levant grew up in a suburb of Calgary. He attended a Jewish day school in his childhood before transferring to a public junior high school.

Levant campaigned for the Reform Party of Canada as a teenager and joined it as a university student. In 1992, while at the University of Calgary, his two-person team won the "best debating" category in the Intercollegiate Business Competition held at Queen's University. In 1994, he was featured in a ''Globe and Mail'' article on young conservatives after accusing the University of Alberta of racism for instituting an affirmative action program of hiring women and aboriginal professors. His actions outraged aboriginal law students, feminists, and a number of professors, and he was called to a meeting with the assistant dean who advised him of the university's non-academic code of conduct and defamation laws. As head of the university's speakers committee, Levant organized a debate between Doug Christie, a lawyer known for his advocacy in defence of Holocaust deniers and accused Nazi war criminals, and Thomas Kuttner, a Jewish lawyer from the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission.

Levant gained a reputation as the university's leading conservative. He was invited to write a guest column for the ''Edmonton Journal'' and interviewed on television. He spent the summer of 1994 in Washington, D.C., in an internship arranged by the libertarian Charles G. Koch Foundation Summer Fellow Program. He worked for the Fraser Institute in 1995, writing ''Youthquake'', which argued for smaller government, including privatization of the Canada Pension Plan. Levant saw "youthquake", the term he used to describe what he identified as a conservative youth movement of the 1990s, as similar to the 1960s civil rights movement except that instead of being enslaved by racism, his generation was "enslaved by debt" and, in order to liberate itself, society needed to dismantle elements such as trade unions, the minimum wage, universal health care, subsidized tuition and public pension plans.

Political activism

Views on Quebec

Levant favoured Quebec separatism and a yes vote during the 1995 Quebec referendum in a ''Calgary Sun'' column titled "10 Reasons to Hope for a Yes Victory" Among his 10 reasons were Levant's views that the departure of Quebec from Canadian confederation would lead to the elimination of bilingualism and multiculturalism, that it would give the Canadian government the "fortitude" to say no to "other special interest groups" such as First Nations and environmentalists; it would end corruption in Parliament, which Levant blamed on Quebec politicians, and clear the way for Preston Manning to become Prime Minister of Canada.

In 1996, Levant wrote a column saying that if the federal Liberals were re-elected, Alberta could separate from Canada making it "free from Quebec's demands."

Uniting the right

In 1996, Levant worked with David Frum to organize the "Winds of Change" conference in Calgary, an early attempt to encourage the Reform Party of Canada and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to merge so that a united rightwing party could defeat the Liberal Party of Canada in the subsequent election. While unsuccessful, the conference anticipated future attempts at a Unite the Right movement which ultimately led to the formation of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. Levant supported Preston Manning's United Alternative initiative in 1999, a more advanced attempt to unite the country's conservative movement and was one of the leaders of the movement to create the Canadian Alliance as an attempt to broaden the party's base.

Political organizer and aide

While he was a student-at-law, Levant was an active political organizer in the Reform Party, and guided the successful attempts by Rahim Jaffer (as the campaign manager for his nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona and later as his communications-director during the 1997 Federal Election) and Rob Anders to win party nominations. In 1997, he went to Ottawa to work for the Reform Party, becoming a parliamentary aide to party leader Preston Manning and being put in charge of Question Period strategy.

In 1999, after being dismissed as Preston Manning's legislative-assistant, Levant left Ottawa to join the editorial board of the fledgling ''National Post'' newspaper in Toronto. A close friend of Stockwell Day's son Logan, Levant proclaimed himself a "Stockaholic" and supported the elder Day in his successful attempt to defeat Reform Party leader Preston Manning for the leadership of the new Canadian Alliance.

In February 2001, he returned to Ottawa as communications director to Day. In May of that year he resigned after leaking to the ''National Post'' a letter that he sent to dissident MP Chuck Strahl in which he threatened to sue over Strahl's criticisms of his office.

Candidacy and resignation

Later in 2001, Levant returned to Calgary to practice law. By February 2002 he had won the Canadian Alliance party nomination for the riding of Calgary Southwest, but stepped aside after public pressure so that new party leader Stephen Harper could run there in a 2002 by-election. When the by-election was called, Levant, who said he spent over $150,000 to gain the nomination, announced on March 28 that he would not step aside. Later that night, however, he relented after widespread pressure from the party and accusations that he was putting himself ahead of the party.

Publishing

In 2004 Levant co-founded the ''Western Standard'', an Alberta-based magazine with an emphasis on Western Canada, political conservatism, and libertarianism. In October 2007 the magazine stopped publishing its print edition after failing to become profitable, becoming an online magazine. Levant later sold the publication's remaining assets to Matthew Johnson, the former legislative aide to Rahim Jaffer.

Levant wrote an irregular column for the ''Calgary Sun'' for ten years, until he was dropped in October 2007 because of "internal decisions." He continued to write occasional columns for the ''National Post'' on a freelance basis.

In 2010, Levant joined Sun Media a columnist and now has an on-air position on the Sun TV News Channel as host of The Source.

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

In February 2006, the ''Western Standard'' published the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons depicting Muhammad. Syed Soharwardy of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada and the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities complained about the publication to the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission and a hearing was scheduled for January 2008. On the day of the hearing Levant republished the cartoons on his website.

At the request of Levant and his lawyers Levant was allowed to videotape his interview with Shirlene McGovern, a human rights investigator with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. Levant later published that video on YouTube where it spent several days among the top-ten viewed videos. Soharwardy's complaint was ultimately withdrawn, and a complaint he filed with Calgary police came to naught. An identical complaint by the Edmonton Muslim Council was dismissed by the Commission on August 5, 2008.

The timing of the Levant case was notable in that it coincided with a high-profile case considered by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (which Levant has criticized), the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and the Ontario Human Rights Commission regarding complaints by the Canadian Islamic Congress about a column by Mark Steyn in Maclean's Magazine. None of the complaints obtained a ruling against Steyn or Maclean's.

Stance against the Alberta Human Rights Commission

Levant is a fierce critic of the Alberta Human Rights Commission, particularly concerning Rev. Stephen Boissoin, who in the Lund v. Boissoin matter was fined $7,000 and banned from publicly "disparaging ... gays and lesbians" in May 2008. This case concerned a letter published by the ''Red Deer Advocate'' in 2002 in which Boissoin attacked the "homosexual agenda" as "wicked". In June 2008, Levant republished Boissoin's letter on his blog. When the AHRC dismissed the resulting complaint in November 2008, Levant accused the HRCs of religious discrimination, asserting that "100% of the CHRC's targets have been white, Christian or conservative" and that "It's legal for a Jew like me to publish [Boissoin’s letter]. It's illegal for a Christian like Rev. Boissoin to publish it." The HRC's ruling was overturned by the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in 2009, on the grounds that Levant had the right to free speech.

Support and criticism

Levant's case has attracted the attention of organizations such as PEN Canada, the Canadian Association of Journalists, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association — all of which have called for reform of the commissions. He has been featured on Glenn Beck's show on CNN. Levant supported the Canadian government's decision to refuse George Galloway entry into Canada in March 2009. Although Levant described it as "an immigration matter", free speech advocates protested this move, citing it as a hypocritical double standard.

Libel cases

In 1988, Levant wrote a Reform Party fundraising letter in which he criticized Alberta Progressive Conservative Senator Ron Ghitter . Ghitter sued for defamation and in 2000, Canadian Alliance MP Rob Anders and Levant admitted liability and issued a formal apology and undisclosed damages to settle the suit.

According to Levant, after the HRC cases against him were dismissed, "the most aggressive members of the human rights industry proceeded to punish [him] by filing over 20 law society complaints and five defamation suits against [him]. ... the point of all these lawsuits [is] just to bury [him] in an avalanche of paperwork and bills, to get [him] to shut up. So far, it ain't working."

The Law Society of Alberta had found that Levant violated the following rules of professional conduct: to “respect and uphold the law in personal conduct,” to “seek to improve the justice system,” to not “ act in a manner that might weaken public respect for the law,” to be “courteous and candid,” and to not “harass any person or discriminate against any person” on various prohibited grounds and ordered Levant to attend a "mandatory conduct advisory" after which the matter was dropped.

As a result of one lawsuit, Levant was ordered to pay $25,000 to Giacomo Vigna, a Canadian Human Rights Commission lawyer, for libelling him with "reckless indifference" in his blog. Justice Robert Smith ruled that Levant "spoke in reckless disregard of the truth and for an ulterior purpose of denormalizing the Human Rights Commission across Canada which makes his statements malicious in that sense" and ordered Levant to remove the libellous materials from his blog.

Lawyer Richard Warman is also suing Levant as well as Kathy Shaidle, Kate McMillan of Small Dead Animals and several other conservative bloggers for libel over statements made about Warman on Free Dominion. Levant says this "lawsuit isn't logical, or serious. It's a nuisance suit."

Levant is also being sued by Warren Kinsella for libel, asking for $5,000,000. Levant has called Kinsella's suit "laughable".

George Soros

In September 2010, Levant wrote a column for Sun Media accusing George Soros of funding avaaz.org, a group lobbying to stop Sun Media being granted a license for Sun TV News Channel, and strongly attacking Soros's character and history by alleging that as a child he collaborated with the Nazis. Soros threatened to sue Sun Media for libel and on September 18, Sun Media issued a retraction and apology to Soros stating that: :''On September 5, 2010, a column by Ezra Levant contained false statements about George Soros and his conduct as a young teenager in Nazi-occupied Hungary. ...'' :''The management of Sun Media wishes to state that there is no basis for the statements in the column and they should not have been made.'' :''Sun Media, this newspaper and Ezra Levant retract the statements made in the column and unreservedly apologize to Mr. Soros for the distress and harm this column may have caused to him.''

Recent activities

In July 2008, Levant was invited to be a witness before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus "about the threat posed by radical Islam using Western legal mechanisms as weapons".

From 2009 until 2010, Levant worked as a lobbyist for Rothman's Incorporated, a manufacturer and distributor of tobacco products.

In March 2010, Levant accompanied U.S. conservative personality Ann Coulter on a Canadian speaking tour. Her speech at the University of Ottawa was canceled at the last minute, apparently by its organizers, because of what Levant called "physical danger to Coulter and the audience" from protesters. The Ottawa Police later disputed any claims of unrest or violence.

In September 2010, Levant published a book, ''Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada's Oil Sands'', arguing a moral case for developing the Athabasca oil sands rather than importing oil from nations with bad records concerning human rights and the environment. The book was the winner of the 2011 National Business Book Award, awarded on May 12, 2011 in Toronto.

Levant hosts ''The Source'', an evening talk show host on the Sun News Network and writes a regular column for the Sun Media chain of newspapers.

Books

Notes

External links

Ezra Levant's blog

YouTube Account

Category:Alberta candidates for Member of Parliament Category:Canadian columnists Category:Jewish Canadian writers Category:Living people Category:Canadian magazine publishers (people) Category:1972 births Category:Canadian political consultants Category:Lawyers in Alberta Category:Canadian Alliance politicians Category:Canadian television journalists

fr:Ezra Levant

name	Glenn Beck
birth name	Glenn Edward Lee Beck
birth date	February 10, 1964
birth place	Everett, Washington, U.S.
education	Sehome High School
nationality	American
occupation	Political commentator, author, media proprietor, entertainer
spouse	Claire (1983–1994)Tania (m. 1999); 4 children total
website	Glenn Beck's Official Website
religion	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)
Residence	Manhattan, New York City
Home town	Mount Vernon, Washington, U.S. }}

Glenn Edward Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the ''Glenn Beck Program'', a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. He formerly hosted the ''Glenn Beck'' television program, which ran from January 2006 to October 2008 on HLN and from January 2009 to June 2011 on the Fox News Channel. Beck has authored six ''New York Times''-bestselling books. Beck is the founder and CEO of Mercury Radio Arts, a multimedia production company through which he produces content for radio, television, publishing, the stage, and the Internet. It was announced on April 6, 2011, that Beck would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox News later in the year but would team with Fox to "produce a slate of projects for FOX News Channel and FOX News' digital properties". Beck's last daily show on the network was June 30, 2011.

Beck's supporters praise him as a constitutional stalwart defending their traditional American values, while his critics contend he promotes conspiracy theories and employs incendiary rhetoric for ratings.

Personal life

Early years

Glenn Edward Lee Beck was born in Everett, Washington, to William and Mary Beck, who lived in Mountlake Terrace, Washington at the time of their son's birth. The family later moved to Mount Vernon, Washington, where they owned and operated City Bakery in the downtown area. He is descended from German immigrants who came to the United States in the 1800s. Beck was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Mount Vernon.

Glenn and his older sister moved with their mother to Sumner, Washington, attending a Jesuit school in Puyallup. On May 15, 1979, while out on a small boat with a male companion, Beck's mother drowned just west of Tacoma, Washington in Puget Sound. The man who had taken her out in the boat also drowned. A Tacoma police report stated that Mary Beck "appeared to be a classic drowning victim", but a Coast Guard investigator speculated that she could have intentionally jumped overboard. Beck has described his mother's death as a suicide in interviews during television and radio broadcasts.

After their mother's death, Beck and his older sister moved to their father's home in Bellingham, Washington, where Beck graduated from Sehome High School in June 1982. In the aftermath of his mother's death and subsequent suicide of his stepbrother, Beck has said he used "Dr. Jack Daniel's" to cope. At 18, following his high school graduation, Beck relocated to Provo, Utah, and worked at radio station KAYK. Feeling he "didn't fit in", Beck left Utah after six months, taking a job at Washington D.C.'s WPGC in February 1983.

Adulthood

While working at WPGC, Beck met his first wife, Claire. In 1983, the couple married and had two daughters, Mary and Hannah. Mary developed cerebral palsy as a result of a series of strokes at birth in 1988. The couple divorced in 1994 amid Beck's struggles with substance abuse. A recovering alcoholic and drug addict, Beck has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

By 1994, Beck was suicidal, and imagined shooting himself to the music of Kurt Cobain. He credits Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with helping him achieve sobriety. He said he stopped drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis in November 1994, the same month he attended his first AA meeting. Beck later said that he had gotten high every day for the previous 15 years, since the age of 16.

In 1996, while working for a New Haven area radio station, Beck took a theology class at Yale University, with a written recommendation from Senator Joe Lieberman, a Yale alumnus who was a fan of Beck's show at the time. Beck enrolled in an "Early Christology" course, but soon withdrew, marking the extent of his post-secondary education.

Beck's then began a "spiritual quest" in which he "sought out answers in churches and bookstores". As he later recounted in his books and stage performances, Beck's first attempt at self-education involved six wide-ranging authors, comprising what Beck jokingly calls "the library of a serial killer": Alan Dershowitz, Pope John Paul II, Adolf Hitler, Billy Graham, Carl Sagan, and Friedrich Nietzsche. During this time, Beck's Mormon friend and former radio partner Pat Gray argued in favor of the "comprehensive worldview" offered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an offer that Beck rejected until a few years later.

In 1999, Beck married his second wife, Tania. After they went looking for a faith on a church tour together, they joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October 1999, partly at the urging of his daughter Mary. Beck was baptized by his old friend, and current-day co-worker Pat Gray. Beck and his current wife have had two children together, Raphe (who is adopted) and Cheyenne. Until April 2011, the couple live in New Canaan, Connecticut, with the four children.

Beck announced in July 2010 that he had been diagnosed with macular dystrophy, saying "A couple of weeks ago I went to the doctor because of my eyes, I can't focus my eyes. He did all kinds of tests and he said, 'you have macular dystrophy ... you could go blind in the next year. Or, you might not. The disorder can make it difficult to read, drive or recognize faces.

In July 2011, Beck leased a house in the Dallas–Fort Worth suburb of Westlake, Texas.

Career

In 2002 Beck created the media platform Mercury Radio Arts as the umbrella over various broadcast, publishing, Internet, and live show entities.

Radio

In 1983 he moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, to work at radio station KZFM. In mid-1985, Beck was hired away from KZFM to be the lead DJ for the morning-drive radio broadcast by WRKA in Louisville, Kentucky. His four-hour weekday show was called ''Captain Beck and the A-Team''. Beck had a reputation as a "young up-and-comer". The show was not political and included the usual off-color antics of the genre: juvenile jokes, pranks, and impersonations. The show slipped to third in the market and Beck left abruptly in 1987 amid a dispute with WRKA management.

Months later, Beck was hired by Phoenix Top-40 station KOY-FM, then known as Y-95. Beck was partnered with Arizona native Tim Hattrick to co-host a local "morning zoo" program. During his time at Y-95, Beck cultivated a rivalry with local pop radio station KZZP and that station's morning host Bruce Kelly. Through practical jokes and publicity stunts, Beck drew criticism from the staff at Y-95 when the rivalry culminated in Beck telephoning Kelly's wife on-the-air, mocking her recent miscarriage. In 1989, Beck resigned from Y-95 to accept a job in Houston at KRBE, known as Power 104. Beck was subsequently fired in 1990 due to poor ratings.

Beck then moved on to Baltimore, Maryland and the city's leading Top-40 station, WBSB, known as B104. There, he partnered with Pat Gray, a morning DJ. During his tenure at B104, Beck was arrested and jailed for speeding in his DeLorean. According to a former associate, Beck was "completely out of it" when a station manager went to bail him out. When Gray, then Beck were fired, the two men spent six months in Baltimore, planning their next move. In early 1992, Beck and Gray both moved to WKCI-FM (KC101), a Top-40 radio station in Hamden, Connecticut. In 1995, WKCI apologized after Beck and Gray mocked a Chinese-American caller on air who felt offended by a comedy segment by playing a gong sound effect and having executive producer Alf Gagineau mock a Chinese accent. That incident led to protests by activist groups. When Gray left the show to move to Salt Lake City, Beck continued with co-host Vinnie Penn. At the end of 1998, Beck was informed that his contract would not be renewed at the end of 1999.

The ''Glenn Beck Program'' first aired in 2000 on WFLA (AM) in Tampa, Florida, and took their afternoon time slot from eighteenth to first place within a year. In January 2002, Premiere Radio Networks launched the show nationwide on 47 stations. The show then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, broadcasting from new flagship station WPHT. On November 5, 2007, ''The New York Times'' reported that Premiere Radio Networks was extending Beck's contract. By May 2008, it had reached over 280 terrestrial stations as well as XM Satellite. It was ranked 4th in the nation with over six and a half million listeners. Glenn Beck is number three in the ratings behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

Television

In January 2006, CNN's ''Headline News'' announced that Beck would host a nightly news-commentary show in their new prime-time block ''Headline Prime''. The show, simply called ''Glenn Beck'', aired weeknights. ''CNN Headline News'' described the show as "an unconventional look at the news of the day featuring his often amusing perspective". At the end of his tenure at CNN-HLN, Beck had the second largest audience behind Nancy Grace. In 2008, Beck won the Marconi Radio Award for Network Syndicated Personality of the Year.

In October 2008, it was announced that Beck would join the Fox News Channel, leaving CNN Headline News. After moving to the Fox News Channel, Beck hosted ''Glenn Beck'', beginning in January 2009, as well as a weekend version. One of his first guests was Alaska Governor Sarah Palin He also has a regular segment every Friday on the Fox News Channel program ''The O'Reilly Factor'' titled "At Your Beck and Call". Beck's program drew more viewers than all three of the competing time-slot shows combined on CNN, MSNBC and HLN.

His show's high ratings have not come without controversy. ''The Washington Post''s Howard Kurtz reported that Beck's use of "distorted or inflammatory rhetoric" has complicated the channel's and their journalist's efforts to neutralize White House criticism that Fox is not really a news organization. Television analyst Andrew Tyndall echoed these sentiments, saying that Beck's incendiary style had created "a real crossroads for Fox News", stating "they're right on the cusp of losing their image as a news organization."

In April 2011, Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts, Beck's production company, announced that Beck would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox News in 2011. His last day at Fox was later announced as June 30. FNC and Beck announced that he would be teaming with Fox to produce a slate of projects for Fox News and its digital properties. Fox News head Roger Ailes later referenced Beck's entrepreneurialism and political movement activism, saying, "His [Beck's] goals were different from our goals ... I need people focused on a daily television show." Beck hosted his last daily show on Fox on June 30, 2011, where he recounted the accomplishments of the show and said, "This show has become a movement. It's not a TV show, and that's why it doesn’t belong on television anymore. It belongs in your homes. It belongs in your neighborhoods." In response to critics who said he was fired, Beck pointed out that his final show was airing live. Immediately after the show he did an interview on his new GBTV internet channel.

GBTV

On June 7, 2011, Beck's company, Mercury Radio Arts, announced the new subscription-based internet TV network, GBTV. Glenn Beck's Fox News one-hour show ended June 30, 2011, and his new two-hour show will begin on GBTV.com starting September 12, 2011.

Books

Beck has reached #1 on the ''New York Times'' Bestseller List in four separate categories : Hardcover Non-Fiction, Paperback Non-Fiction, Hardcover Fiction, and Children's Picture Books.

''The Real America: Messages from the Heart and Heartland'', Simon & Schuster 2003. ISBN 978-0-7434-9696-4

''An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems'', Simon & Schuster 2007. ISBN 978-1-4391-6857-8

''The Christmas Sweater'', Simon & Schuster 2008. ISBN 978-1-4165-9485-7

''America's March to Socialism: Why We're One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades'', 2008 (Audiobook) ''An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck'', Deseret Book 2008 (Audiobook). ISBN 978-1-59038-944-7

''The Christmas Sweater: A Picture Book'', Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 2009. ISBN 978-1-4169-9543-2

''America's March to Socialism: Why We're One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades'', Simon & Schuster Audio 2009 (Audio CD). ISBN 978-0-7435-9854-5

''Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government'', Simon & Schuster 2009. ISBN 978-1-4391-6857-8

''Arguing with Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government'', Simon & Schuster 2009. ISBN 978-1-4165-9501-4

''Idiots Unplugged'', Simon & Schuster 2010 (Audio CD). ISBN 1-4423-3396-0

''The Overton Window'', Threshold Editions 2010. ISBN 1-4391-8430-5 ''Idiots Unplugged'', 2010 (Audiobook) ''Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth, and Treasure'', Simon & Schuster 2010. ISBN 1-4423-3457-6.

''The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life'', Keith Ablow, co-author; Threshold Editions, 2011; ISBN 978-1451625516.

''The Original Argument: The Federalists' Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century'', with Joshua Charles; Threshold Editions, 2011; ISBN 978-1451650617.

Beck also authorized a comic book: ''Political Power: Glenn Beck'', by Jerome Maida, Mark Sparacio (illus.); Bluewater Productions, 2011; ISN B004VGB4FO

Stage shows and speeches

Since 2005, Beck has toured American cities twice a year, presenting a one-man stage show. His stage productions are a mix of stand-up comedy and inspirational speaking. In a critique of his live act, ''Salon Magazine's'' Steve Almond describes Beck as a "wildly imaginative performer, a man who weds the operatic impulses of the demagogue to the grim mutterings of the conspiracy theorist". A show from the ''Beck `08 Unelectable Tour'' was shown in around 350 movie theaters around the country. The finale of 2009's ''Common Sense Comedy Tour'' was simulcast in over 440 theaters. The events have drawn 200,000 fans in recent years.

In March 2003, Beck ran a series of rallies, which he called Glenn Beck's Rally for America, in support of troops deployed for the upcoming Iraq War. On July 4, 2007, Beck served as host of the 2007 Toyota Tundra "Stadium of Fire" in Provo, Utah. The annual event at LaVell Edwards Stadium on the Brigham Young University campus is presented by America's Freedom Foundation. In May 2008, Beck gave the keynote speech at the NRA convention in Louisville, Kentucky.

In late August 2009, the mayor of Beck's hometown, Mount Vernon, Washington, announced that he would award Beck the Key to the City, designating September 26, 2009 as "Glenn Beck Day". Due to local opposition, the city council voted unanimously to disassociate itself from the award. The key presentation ceremony sold-out the 850 seat McIntyre Hall and an estimated 800 detractors and supporters demonstrated outside the building. Earlier that day, approximately 7,000 people attended the Evergreen Freedom Foundation's "Take the Field with Glenn Beck" at Seattle's Safeco Field.

In December 2009, Beck produced a one-night special film titled "The Christmas Sweater: A Return to Redemption". In January and February 2010, Beck teamed with fellow Fox News host Bill O'Reilly to tour several cities in a live stage show called "The Bold and Fresh Tour 2010". The January 29 show was recorded and broadcast to movie theaters throughout the country.

Projects and rallies

9-12 Project and Tea Party protests

In March 2009 Beck put together a campaign, the 9-12 Project, that is named for nine principles and twelve values which he says embody the spirit of the American people on the day after the September 11 attacks. The Colorado 9-12 Project hosted a "Patriot Camp" for kids in grades 1–5, featuring programs on "our Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and the values and principles that are the cornerstones of our nation".

Restoring Honor rally

The Restoring Honor rally was promoted by Beck and held at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 2010. The rally — which purported to embrace religious faith and patriotism — was co-sponsored by the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, promoted by FreedomWorks, and supported by the Tea Party movement.

''America's First Christmas''

In December 2010, Beck went to Wilmington, Ohio, a town devastated by the late-2000s recession, to host live events to encourage his fans to go to the town to boost the local economy in a project called "America's First Christmas". He hosted an event and his radio and television shows from the local theater.

2011 international tour

Beck headlined his "Restoring Courage" events in Jerusalem, Israel, in August 2011 in a campaign Beck said was designed to encourage people worldwide "to stand with the Jewish people". After Jerusalem, Beck visited Cape Town, South Africa, and was scheduled to visit Venezuela.

Political views

Beck has described himself as a conservative with libertarian leanings. Among his core values Beck lists personal responsibility, private charity, the right to life, freedom of religion, limited government, and family as the cornerstone of society. Beck believes in low national debt, and has said "A conservative believes that debt creates unhealthy relationships. Everyone, from the government on down, should live within their means and strive for financial independence." He supports individual gun ownership rights and is against gun control legislation.

Beck believes that there is a lack of evidence that human activity is the main cause of global warming. He holds that there is a legitimate case that global warming has, at least in part, been caused by mankind, and has tried to do his part by buying a home with a "green" design. He also views the American Clean Energy and Security Act as a form of wealth redistribution, and has promoted a petition rejecting the Kyoto Protocol.

Opposition to progressivism

During his 2010 keynote speech to Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Beck wrote the word "progressivism" on a chalkboard and declared, "This is the disease. This is the disease in America", adding "progressivism is the cancer in America and it is eating our Constitution!" According to Beck, the progressive ideas of men such as John Dewey, Herbert Croly, and Walter Lippmann, influenced the Presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson; eventually becoming the foundation for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Beck has said that such progressivism infects both main political parties and threatens to "destroy America as it was originally conceived". In Beck’s book ''Common Sense'', he argues that "progressivism has less to do with the parties and more to do with individuals who seek to redefine, reshape, and rebuild America into a country where individual liberties and personal property mean nothing if they conflict with the plans and goals of the State."

A collection of progressives, whom Beck has referred to as "Crime Inc.", comprise what Beck contends is a clandestine conspiracy to take over and transform America. Some of these individuals include Cass Sunstein, Van Jones, Andy Stern, John Podesta, Wade Rathke, Joel Rogers and Francis Fox Piven. Other figures tied to Beck's "Crime Inc." accusation include Al Gore, Franklin Raines, Maurice Strong, George Soros, John Holdren and President Barack Obama. According to Wilentz, Beck's "version of history" places him in a long line of figures who have challenged mainstream political historians and presented an inaccurate opposing view as the truth, stating:

Conservative David Frum, the former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, has also alleged Beck's propensity for negationism, remarking that "Beck offers a story about the American past for people who are feeling right now very angry and alienated. It is different enough from the usual story in that he makes them feel like they’ve got access to secret knowledge."

Ideological influences

Political and historical

An author with ideological influence on Beck is W. Cleon Skousen (1913–2006), a prolific conservative political writer, American Constitutionalist and faith-based political theorist. As an anti-communist supporter of the John Birch Society, and limited-government activist, Skousen, who was Mormon, wrote on a wide range of subjects: the Six-Day War, Mormon eschatology, New World Order conspiracies, even parenting. Skousen believed that American political, social, and economic elites were working with Communists to foist a world government on the United States. Beck praised Skousen's "words of wisdom" as "divinely inspired", referencing Skousen's ''The Naked Communist'' and especially ''The 5,000 Year Leap'' (originally published in 1981), which Beck said in 2007 had "changed his life". According to Skousen's nephew, Mark Skousen, ''Leap'' reflects Skousen's "passion for the United States Constitution", which he "felt was inspired by God and the reason behind America's success as a nation". The book is touted by Beck as "required reading" to understand the current American political landscape and become a "September twelfth person". Beck authored a foreword for the 2008 edition of ''Leap'' and Beck's on-air recommendations in 2009 propelled the book to number one in the government category on Amazon for several months. In 2010, Matthew Continetti of the conservative ''Weekly Standard'' criticized Beck's conspiratorial bent, terming him "a Skousenite". Additionally, Alexander Zaitchik, author of the 2010 book ''Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance'', which features an entire chapter on "The Ghost of Cleon Skousen", refers to Skousen as "Beck's favorite author and biggest influence", while noting that he authored four of the 10 books on Beck's 9-12 Project required-reading list.

In his discussion of Beck and Skousen, Continetti said that one of Skousen's works "draws on Carroll Quigley’s ''Tragedy and Hope'' (1966), which argues that the history of the 20th century is the product of secret societies in conflict", noting that in Beck's novel ''The Overton Window'', which Beck describes as "faction" (fiction based on fact), one of his characters states "Carroll Quigley laid open the plan in ''Tragedy and Hope'', the only hope to avoid the tragedy of war was to bind together the economies of the world to foster global stability and peace."

Princeton University historian Sean Wilentz says that alongside Skousen, Robert W. Welch, Jr., founder of the John Birch Society, is a key ideological foundation of Beck's worldview. According to Wilentz: "[Beck] has brought neo-Birchite ideas to an audience beyond any that Welch or Skousen might have dreamed of."

Other books that Beck regularly cites on his programs are Amity Shlaes's ''The Forgotten Man'', Jonah Goldberg's ''Liberal Fascism'', Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen's ''A Patriot's History of the United States'', and Burton W. Folsom, Jr.'s ''New Deal or Raw Deal''. Beck has also urged his listeners to read ''The Coming Insurrection'', a book by a French Marxist group discussing what they see as the imminent collapse of capitalist culture, and ''The Creature from Jekyll Island'', which argues that aspects of the U.S. Federal Reserve system assault economic civil liberties, by G. Edward Griffin.

On June 4, 2010, Beck endorsed Elizabeth Dilling's 1936 work ''The Red Network: A Who's Who and Handbook of Radicalism for Patriots'', remarking "this is a book, ''The Red Network'', this came in from 1936. People — [Joseph] McCarthy was absolutely right ... This is, who were the communists in America." Beck was criticized by an array of people, including Menachem Z. Rosensaft and Joe Conason, who stated that Dilling was an outspoken anti-Semite and a Nazi sympathizer.

Religious

Beck has credited God for saving him from drug and alcohol abuse, professional obscurity and friendlessness. In 2006, Beck performed a short inspirational monologue in Salt Lake City, Utah, detailing how he was transformed by the "healing power of Jesus Christ", which was released as a CD two years later by Deseret Book, a publishing company owned by the LDS Church, entitled ''An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck''.

Religious scholar Joanna Brooks contends that Beck developed his "amalgation of anti-communism" and "connect-the-dots conspiracy theorizing" only after his entry into the "deeply insular world of Mormon thought and culture". Brooks theorizes that Beck's calls to fasting and prayer are rooted in Mormon collective fasts to address spiritual challenges, while Beck's "overt sentimentality" and penchant for weeping represent the hallmark of a "distinctly Mormon mode of masculinity" where "appropriately-timed displays of tender emotion are displays of power" and spirituality. Philip Barlow, the Arrington chair of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University, has said that Beck's belief that the U.S. Constitution was an "inspired document", his calls for limited government and for not exiling God from the public sphere, "have considerable sympathy in Mormonism". Beck has acknowledged that the Mormon "doctrine is different" from traditional Christianity, but said that this was what attracted him to it, stating that "for me some of the things in traditional doctrine just doesn't work."

Particularly as a consequence of Beck's Restoring Honor rally in 2010, the fact that Beck is Mormon caused concern amongst some politically sympathetic Christian Evangelicals on theological grounds. Tom Tradup, vice president at Salem Radio Network, which serves more than 2,000 Christian-themed stations, expressed this sentiment after the rally, stating "Politically, everyone is with it, but theologically, when he says the country should turn back to God, the question is: Which God?" Subsequently, a September 2010 survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Religion News Service (RNS) found that of those Americans who hold a favorable opinion of Beck, only 45% believe he is the right person to lead a religious movement, with that number further declining to 37% when people are informed he is Mormon. Daniel Cox, Director of Research for PRRI, summed up this position by stating:

Pete Peterson of Pepperdine's Davenport Institute said that Beck's speech at the rally belonged to an American tradition of calls to personal renewal. Peterson wrote: "A Mormon surrounded onstage by priests, pastors, rabbis, and imams, Beck [gave] one of the more ecumenical jeremiads in history." Evangelical pastor Tony Campolo said in 2010 that conservative evangelicals respond to Beck's framing of conservative economic principles, saying that Beck's and ideological fellow travelers' "marriage between evangelicalism and patriotic nationalism is so strong that anybody who is raising questions about loyalty to the old, lassez-faire capitalist system is ex post facto unpatriotic, un-American, and by association non-Christian.” ''Newsweek'' religion reporter Lisa Miller, after quoting Campolo, opined, "It's ironic that Beck, a Mormon, would gain acceptance as a leader of a new Christian coalition. ... Beck's gift ... is to articulate God's special plan for America in such broad strokes that they trample no single creed or doctrine while they move millions with their message."

After attempting unsuccessfully for a year to arrange a meeting with Protestant evangelist Billy Graham, Beck was invited to meet with Graham on February 19, 2011. Days later, Beck described the circumstances, writing: "Two weeks ago, as I have been struggling with some ideas and some things that I am working on for the future and I am trying to get clarity again, I thought of Billy Graham. When the phone rang and they said the Reverend feels it’s time to meet, I met with him. We had an hour scheduled. It lasted three hours." Earlier, in a January 2011 interview with ''Christianity Today'', Graham had said he regretted instances where he had strayed into politics in the past.

Public reception

In 2009, the Glenn Beck show was one of the highest rated news commentary programs on cable TV. For a Barbara Walters ABC special, Beck was selected as one of America’s "Top 10 Most Fascinating People" of 2009. In 2010, Beck was selected for the Times top 100 most influential people under the "Leaders" category.

Beck has referred to himself as an entertainer, and a "rodeo clown".

thumb|Beck at the [[Time 100|''Time'' 100 Gala, 2010]]''Time Magazine'' described Beck as "[t]he new populist superstar of Fox News" saying it is easier to see a set of attitudes rather than a specific ideology, noting his criticism of Wall Street, yet defending bonuses to AIG, as well as denouncing conspiracy theories about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) but warning against indoctrination of children by the AmeriCorps program. (Paul Krugman and Mark Potok, on the other hand, have been among those asserting that Beck helps spread "hate" by covering issues that stir up extremists.) What seems to unite Beck's disparate themes, ''Time'' argued, is a sense of siege. One of Beck's Fox News Channel colleagues Shepard Smith, has jokingly called Beck's studio the "fear chamber", with Beck countering that he preferred the term "doom room".

Republican South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham criticized Beck as a "cynic" whose show was antithetical to "American values" at ''The Atlantic'''s 2009 First Draft of History conference, remarking "Only in America can you make that much money crying." The progressive watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting's (FAIR) Activism Director Peter Hart argues that Beck red-baits political adversaries as well as promotes a paranoid view of progressive politics. Howard Kurtz of ''The Washington Post'' has remarked that "Love him or hate him, Beck is a talented, often funny broadcaster, a recovering alcoholic with an unabashedly emotional style."

Glenn Beck was honored by Liberty University during their 2010 Commencement exercises with an honorary Doctoral Degree. During his keynote address to the students, he stated "As a man who was never able to go to college — I’m the first in my family that went; I went for one semester; I couldn’t afford more than that — I am humbly honored." In June 2011, Beck announced he was to be the honored with the Zionist Organization of America's 2011 Defender of Israel Award.

Laura Miller writes in Salon.com that Beck is a contemporary example of "the paranoid style in American politics" described by historian Richard Hofstader:

"The Paranoid Style in American Politics" reads like a playbook for the career of Glenn Beck, right down to the paranoid's "quality of pedantry" and "heroic strivings for 'evidence, embodied in Beck's chalkboard and piles of books. But Beck lacks an archenemy commensurate with his stratospheric ambitions, which makes him appear even more absurd to outsiders.

Critical biographies

In June 2010, investigative reporter Alexander Zaitchik released a critical biography titled ''Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance'', with a title mocking Beck's work, ''Common Sense''. In an interview about the book, Zaitchik theorized that "Beck’s politics and his insatiable hunger for money and fame are not mutually exclusive", while stating: "Beck’s true religion is not Patriotism, Mormonism, or Conservatism. His true religion is cross-platform self-marketing ... According to Beck’s worldview, there’s no inherent contradiction between his sophisticated instinct for self-promotion, his propagandist rodeo clown act, his self-image as a media mogul, and his professed belief system. I think he actually believes that God wants him to make a ton of money and become this huge celebrity by fear mongering and generally doing whatever it takes in the media to promote right-wing causes."

In September 2010, ''Philadelphia Daily News'' reporter Will Bunch released ''The Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters, and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama''. One of Bunch's theses is that Beck is nothing more than a morning zoo deejay playing a fictional character as a money-making stunt. Writer Bob Cesca, in a review of Bunch's book, compares Beck to Steve Martin's faith-healer character in the 1992 film ''Leap of Faith'', before describing the "derivative grab bag of other tried and tested personalities" that Bunch contends comprises Beck's persona: In October 2010 a polemical biography by Dana Milbank was released: ''Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America''.

Satire, spoof and parody

Beck has been the subject of mockery and ridicule by a number of humorists. In response to Beck's animated delivery and views, he was parodied in an impersonation by Jason Sudeikis on ''Saturday Night Live''. ''The Daily Show''s Jon Stewart has spoofed Beck's 9-12 project with his own "11-3 project", consisting of "11 principles and 3 herbs and spices", impersonated Beck's chalk board-related presentation style for an entire show, and quipped about Beck "finally, a guy who says what people who aren't thinking are thinking". Stephen Colbert of ''The Colbert Report'' satirized Beck's "war room" by creating his own "doom bunker". Through the character Eric Cartman, ''South Park'' parodied Beck's television program and his commentary style in the episode "Dances with Smurfs". ''The Onion'', a satirical periodical and faux news site, ran an ''Onion News Network'' video "special report" where it lamented that the "victim in a fatal car accident was tragically not Glenn Beck". Meanwhile, the ''Current TV'' cartoon ''SuperNews!'' ran an animated cartoon feature titled "The Glenn Beck Apocalypse", where Beck is confronted by Jesus Christ who rebukes him as the equivalent of "Sarah Palin farting into a balloon". Political comedian and satirist Bill Maher has mocked Beck's followers as an "army of diabetic mallwalkers", while ''The Buffalo Beast'', named Beck the most loathsome person in America in 2010, declaring "It's like someone found a manic, doom-prophesying hobo in a sandwich board, shaved him, shot him full of Zoloft and gave him a show." The October 31 Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, hosted by Comedy Central personalities Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, was conceived as a parody of Beck's earlier Rally to Restore Honor, even though Stewart and Colbert said that they came up with the idea of holding a rally in March and Stewart had put down the deposit for the National Mall before Beck announced his rally.

Public disputes

Obama

Several incidents involving Beck and President Barack Obama have resulted in notable public controversy. In response to Obama's remarks on the Henry Louis Gates controversy, Beck argued that Obama has repeatedly shown "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture", saying "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people. I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist." These remarks drew criticism, and resulted in a boycott promulgated by Color of Change. In 2009, the boycott resulted in at least 57 advertisers requesting their ads be removed from his programming, to avoid associating their brands with content that could be considered offensive by potential customers. He later apologized for the remarks, telling Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace that he has a "big fat mouth" and miscast as racism what is actually, as he theorizes, Obama's belief in black liberation theology.

Van Jones

In July 2009, Beck began to focus what would become many episodes on his TV and radio shows on Van Jones, Special Advisor for Green Jobs at Obama's White House Council on Environmental Quality. Beck was critical of Jones' involvement in STORM, a left wing non-governmental group, and his support for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, who had been convicted of killing a police officer. Beck spotlighted video of Jones referring to Republicans as "assholes", and a petition Jones signed suggesting that George W. Bush knowingly let the 9/11 attacks happen. In a move attributed by ''The New York Times'' to criticism of his earlier statements by conservatives and Republicans, Jones resigned his position in September 2009. ''Time'' magazine credited Beck with leading conservatives' attack on Jones. Jones characterized the attacks from his opponents as a "vicious smear campaign" and an effort to use "lies and distortions to distract and divide".

ACORN

In 2009, Beck and other conservative commentators were critical of Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) for various reasons, including claims of voter registration fraud in the 2008 presidential election. In September 2009, he broadcast a series of heavily edited undercover videos by conservative activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, which seemed to portray ACORN community organizers offering inappropriate tax advice to people who said they were engaged in illegal activities. Following the videos' release, the U.S. Census Bureau severed ties with the group while the U.S. House and Senate voted to cut all of its federal funding.

Satire website

In 2009, lawyers for Beck brought a case (''Beck v. Eiland-Hall'') against the owner of a satirical website named ''GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com'' with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The claim that the domain name of the website is itself defamatory was described as a first in cyberlaw. Beck's lawyers argued that the site infringed on his trademarked name and that the domain name should be turned over to Beck. The WIPO ruled against Beck, but Eiland-Hall voluntarily transferred the domain to Beck anyway, saying that the First Amendment had been upheld and that he no longer had a use for the domain name.

Jewish Funds for Justice

In January 2011, in protest at what they saw as inappropriate references to the Holocaust and to Nazis by Beck (and by Roger Ailes of Fox News), four hundred rabbis signed an open letter in paid advertisement in the Wall Street Journal. The ad was paid for by Jewish Funds for Justice which had previously called for Beck's firing. The JFFJ have claimed on their website that Beck seems "to draw his material straight from the anti-Semitic forgery, the ''Protocols of the Elders of Zion''". The letter states that Beck and Fox had "...diminish[ed] the memory and meaning of the Holocaust when you use it to discredit any individual or organization you disagree with. That is what Fox News has done in recent weeks." In response, a Fox News executive said to Reuters that the letter was from a "George Soros-backed leftwing political organization".

Reform Judaism

On February 22, 2011, during a discussion on his radio show about the controversy surrounding his earlier comments about Soros, Beck said "Reform Rabbis are generally political in nature. It's almost like radicalized Islam in a way where it's less about religion than it is about politics." He was quickly criticized by other conservatives, Jewish rabbis, and others. The Anti-Defamation League labeled Beck's remarks as "bigoted ignorance". On February 24, Beck apologized on air, agreeing that his comments were "ignorant".

2011 Norway attacks

In the wake of the 2011 Norway attacks, Beck received condemnation for his comparison of murdered and surviving members of the Norwegian Workers' Youth League to the Hitler Youth: "There was a shooting at a political camp which sounds a little like, you know, the Hitler Youth or whatever, you know what I mean. Who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing." The statement was ill-received in Norway, leading senior political commentator Frank Aarebrot to label Beck as a "vulgar propagandist" and a "fascist", and Torbjørn Eriksen, former press secretary to Norway's prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, to describe Beck's comment as "a new low", adding that "Glenn Beck's comments are ignorant, incorrect and extremely hurtful". Commentators pointed out that groups affiliated with the Tea Party movement and the Beck-founded 9-12 Project also sponsor politically oriented camp programs for children. Beck condemned the attack in spite of his statements about its victims.

See also

Beck University

Conservative talk

List of most-listened-to radio programs

References

External links

Glenn Beck's Radio Program

Glenn Beck – The 912 Project

Official Site at Fox News

Multimedia

A Day in the Life of Glenn Beck - slideshow by ''Time magazine''

Katie Couric Interview of Glenn Beck - video by ''CBS News''

"Brand it like Beck" - video interview by ''Forbes magazine''

John Stossel: "Glenn Beck, Conservative Narcissist?" - video by ''ABC News''

Glenn Beck Discusses his Mormonism - video testimonial at ''The Week''

In the Words of Glenn Beck - slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Category:1964 births Category:American anti-communists Category:American Latter Day Saints Category:American magazine editors Category:American magazine founders Category:American non-fiction environmental writers Category:American people of German descent Category:American political pundits Category:American political writers Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Anti-globalist activists Category:Conservatism in the United States Category:Conspiracy theorists Category:Converts to Mormonism from Roman Catholicism Category:Environmental skepticism Category:Fox News Channel people Category:Living people Category:People from Bellingham, Washington Category:People from Everett, Washington Category:People from Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:People from Mount Vernon, Washington Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Tea Party movement Category:Writers from Washington (state) Category:Writers from Connecticut

ar:غلين بيك cs:Glenn Beck da:Glenn Beck de:Glenn Beck et:Glenn Beck es:Glenn Beck fa:گلن بک fr:Glenn Beck is:Glenn Beck he:גלן בק la:Glenn Beck nl:Glenn Beck no:Glenn Beck ru:Гленн Бек simple:Glenn Beck sk:Glenn Beck sh:Glenn Beck fi:Glenn Beck sv:Glenn Beck uk:Гленн Бек yi:גלען בעק

name	Oscar Levant
birth date	December 27, 1906
birth place	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
death date	August 14, 1972
death place	Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
yearsactive	1928-1958
spouse	Barbara Woodell (1932-1932) (divorced)June Gale (1939-1972) (his death) 3 children }}

Oscar Levant (December 27, 1906August 14, 1972) was an American pianist, composer, author, comedian, and actor. He was more famous for his mordant character and witticisms, on the radio and in movies and television, than for his music.

Life and career

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to an Orthodox Jewish family from Russia, Levant moved to New York with his mother, Annie, in 1922, following the death of his father, Max. He began studying under Zygmunt Stojowski, a well-established piano pedagogue. In 1924, aged 18, he appeared with Ben Bernie in a short film, ''Ben Bernie and All the Lads'', made in New York City in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film system.

In 1928, Levant traveled to Hollywood where his career took a turn for the better. During his stay, he met and befriended George Gershwin. From 1929 to 1948 he composed the music for more than twenty movies. During this period, he also wrote or co-wrote numerous popular songs that made the Hit Parade, the most noteworthy being "Blame It on My Youth" (1934), now considered to be a standard.

Around 1932, Levant began composing seriously. He studied under Arnold Schoenberg and impressed him sufficiently to be offered an assistantship (which he turned down, considering himself unqualified). His formal studies led to a request by Aaron Copland to play at the Yaddo Festival of contemporary American music on April 30 of that year. Successful, Levant began on a new orchestral work, a sinfonietta. He married actress Barbara Woodell; they divorced in 1932.

In 1939, Levant married for the second time, to singer and actress June Gale (née Gilmartin), part of the singing foursome The Gale Sisters (besides June, there were Jane, Joan, and Jean). They were married for almost 33 years, until his death, and had three children, Marcia, Lorna, and Amanda.

At this time, Levant was perhaps best known to American audiences as one of the regular panelists on the radio quiz show ''Information Please''. Originally scheduled as a guest panelist, Levant proved so quick-witted and popular that he became a regular fixture on the show in the late 1930s and 1940s, along with fellow panelists Franklin P. Adams and John Kieran, and moderator Clifton Fadiman. "Mr. Levant", as he was always called, was often challenged with musical questions, though he impressed audiences with his wide depth of knowledge and quickness with a joke. Kieran praised Levant as having a ''"positive genius for making offhand cutting remarks that couldn't have been sharper if he'd honed them a week in his mind. Oscar was always good for a bright response edged with acid"''.

From 1947 to 1949, Levant regularly appeared on NBC radio's ''Kraft Music Hall'', starring Al Jolson. He not only accompanied Jolson on the piano and played classical and popular solos, but often joked and ad-libbed with Jolson and his guests. This includes comedy sketches. The pairing of the two entertainers was inspired. Their individual ties to George Gershwin --- Jolson introduced Gershwin's "Swanee" --- undoubtedly had much to do with their rapport. Both Levant and Jolson appeared as themselves in the Gershwin biopic ''Rhapsody in Blue'' (1945).

In the early 1950s, Levant was an occasional panelist on the NBC game show, ''Who Said That?'', in which celebrites try to determine the speaker of quotations taken from recent news reports.

Between 1958 and 1960, Levant hosted a television talk show on KCOP-TV in Los Angeles, ''The Oscar Levant Show'', which later became syndicated. It featured his piano playing along with monologues and interviews with top-name guests such as Fred Astaire and Linus Pauling. A full recording of only two shows is known to exist, one with Astaire, who paid to have a kinescope recording of the broadcast made, so that he could assess his performance. This is likely the only Astaire performance to have imperfections, as it was live, and Levant would repeatedly change the tempo of his accompaniment to Astaire's singing during the bridges between verses, which appeared to get him quite off balance at first. He did not dance, as the studio space was extremely small.

The show was highly controversial, eventually being taken from the air after a comment about Marilyn Monroe's conversion to Judaism: "Now that Marilyn Monroe is kosher, Arthur Miller can eat her". He later stated that he "hadn't meant it ''that'' way". Several months later, the show began to be broadcast in a slightly revised format—it was taped in order to provide a buffer for Levant's antics. This, however, failed to prevent Levant from making comments about Mae West's sex life that caused the show to be canceled for good. Levant was also a frequent guest on Jack Paar's talk show, prompting Paar in later years to sign off by saying, ''"Good night, Oscar Levant, wherever you are."'' On an appearance on the Tonight Show, from New York, Levant once quipped that his Jaguar ambulance was waiting outside for him.

The 1920s and 1930s wit Alexander Woollcott, a member of the Algonquin Round Table, once said of him: "There isn't anything the matter with Levant that a few miracles wouldn't cure."

Open about his neuroses and hypochondria, Levant, in later life became addicted to prescription drugs and was frequently committed to mental hospitals by his wife. Despite his afflictions, Levant was considered a genius by some, in many areas. (He himself wisecracked "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.")

Later life and death

Levant drew increasingly away from the limelight in his later years. Upon his death in Beverly Hills, California of a heart attack at the age of 65, he was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. In their routines, some comics have claimed, apocryphally, and citing an old joke, that hypochondriac Levant's epitaph was inscribed, "I ''told'' them I was ill."

Filmography

''Ben Bernie and All the Lads'' (1924), filmed in early DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process.

''The Dance of Life'' (1929)

''Night Parade'' (1929) (uncredited)

''In Person'' (1935)

''Rhythm on the River'' (1940)

''Kiss the Boys Goodbye'' (1941)

''Rhapsody in Blue'' (1945)

''Humoresque'' (1946)

''Romance on the High Seas'' (1948), Doris Day's first picture.

''You Were Meant for Me'' (1948)

''The Barkleys of Broadway'' (1949)

''An American in Paris'' (1951), where he played a bohemian pianist.

''O. Henry's Full House'' (1952)

''The I Don't Care Girl'' (1953)

''The Band Wagon'' (1953), where his songwriter character was based on the movie's own co-screenwriter — songwriter Adolph Green.

''The Cobweb'' (1955)

''The Oscar Levant Show'' (1958)

Broadway

''Burlesque'' (1927) - musical play - performer ''Ripples'' (1930) - musical - co-composer ''Sweet and Low'' (1930) - musical revue - songwriter ''The Fabulous Invalid'' (1938) - musical play - replacement conductor ''The American Way'' (1939) - musical play - conductor and composer

Memoirs

''A Smattering of Ignorance'', New York : Doubleday, 1940

''The Memoirs of an Amnesiac'', New York : Putnam's, 1965

''The Unimportance of Being Oscar'', New York : Putnam's, 1968

References

Bibliography

Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger. ''A Talent For Genius: the Life and Times of Oscar Levant''. Silman-James Press. ISBN 1-879505-39-8

Dr Charles Barber. "The Concert Music of Oscar Levant". Department of Music, Stanford University. http://www.classical.net/music/composer/works/levant/index.php

Notes

External links

Levant at Classical Net

''Ben Bernie and All the Lads'' (1924), a film featuring Levant as pianist, made in Phonofilm process by Lee DeForest in New York City

Web biography

1958 clip from the Oscar Levant Show featuring Fred Astaire at YouTube

Category:1906 births Category:1972 deaths Category:American actors Category:American classical pianists Category:American comedians Category:American composers Category:American jazz pianists Category:American Jews Category:American pianists Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Hypochondriacs Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish classical musicians Category:Jewish classical pianists Category:Jewish comedians Category:Jewish composers and songwriters

da:Oscar Levant de:Oscar Levant fr:Oscar Levant it:Oscar Levant he:אוסקר לבנט pl:Oscar Levant pt:Oscar Levant sv:Oscar Levant

{{infobox canadianmp | name	Brian S. Storseth
term start	2006
predecessor	Dave Chatters
birth date	February 13, 1978
birth place	Barrhead
profession	Businessman, insurance agent
party	Conservative
party colour	Conservative
residence	St. Paul
riding	Westlock—St. Paul
spouse	Amel Storseth

Brian S. Storseth (born 1978) is a businessman and Conservative politician in Alberta, Canada. He is the current MP for Westlock—St. Paul, having defeated his next nearest opponent by a margin of over 53% in the Canadian federal election, 2006.

Born in Barrhead, Alberta. Storseth studied political science at the University of Alberta, and at the age of 24 was elected to town council. He owned and operated his own business in St. Paul, Alberta and while at the University of Alberta worked in the office of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Having served on the Aboriginal affairs committee, Brian Storseth is now serving as the only Alberta MP on the standing committee of Agriculture and Agri-food.

External links

Personal campaign site

"Meet the candidates"

Parliament Webpage

Category:Conservative Party of Canada MPs Category:Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Alberta Category:Living people Category:People from Barrhead County, Alberta Category:1978 births Category:University of Alberta alumni

fr:Brian Storseth sv:Brian Storseth