Bestselling horror novelist Stephen King recently helped out his fellow Mainers by holding a contest through his Bangor-based radio station: however much money listeners donated, King would match. The money would then be donated to lower-income Mainers to help pay for heat this winter.

King raised $242,370. Not too shabby. Clearly, this is a commendable and gracious effort on the part of King. It says a lot about his character. But when you bring it into context with past King quotes and his overall liberalism, it brings up an interesting hypocrisy in what famous liberals and 1 percent types do and say.

In the past, King has stated that he thinks people who make as much as he does should be taxed as much as 50 percent. Why? Has King fully thought about a world where 50 percent of his money is taken by Big Government and then they decide where it goes? Just because it goes to the government with the “best intentions” does not mean it will help heat fellow Mainers’ homes. Yet liberal entertainers like King continue to beg Obama to tax them more when they are fully capable as individuals who have found financial success to use their disposable income anyway they see fit, including helping those they see as needy.

How Stephen King has not connected his actions with his beliefs is really quite amazing.

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Welcome to Big Hollywood’s monthly review of all things notable in the world of music.

This is Vintage Now, released a few weeks ago, is a retro music compilation that isn’t designed to cash in on nostalgia– rather, it’s a harbinger of a growing movement to revive not only the style but the values of classic culture. Featuring 10 songs from artists of all ages and nations, This is Vintage Now embodies the sound of classic jazz, rock, and pop music but doesn’t come off as pure nostalgia. Producer David Gasten, who appears on the record with his band The City Kids, explains the reason the disc doesn’t sound like a cynical ploy preying on older generations’ memories:

The Vintage Movement is a new social movement of people who are essentially trying to escape back to the 1940’s, 1950’s, and early-to mid-1960’s. Many times attempts at bringing a period back have been short-lived (e.g. the Nineties Swing Revival) because they were not rooted in a inside-out, values-based way of doing things. People come to these older styles because they want to escape. They want to visit an alternate world where class and quality are the rule, not the exception. They want to be excited about life and culture instead of slimed by the same old garbage over and over again. And they want to get along with others, have good conversations, flirt, dance, enjoy great music and movies, etc. The ladies want to be treated like ladies, and the gentlemen want to be able to be gentlemen.

Spanning a wide range of styles, from Beverley Kenney’s whimsical ’40s-era piano ballad to Big Jay McNeely’s raucous boogie-woogie to The Necro Tonz’s edgy jazz to Caro Emerald’s catchy neo-swing tune “Just One Dance” (see the YouTube Video below), This is Vintage Now is a well-paced, engaging listen, and its intent is exactly the type of culture-changing  media we need to combat the values-destroying narcissism and nihilism of the world’s currently dominant “artists.” TIVN is available from iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, and other online retailers, or you can order it directly from the compilation’s home website to get extra tracks from a special Release Party edition.

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Christopher Titus thought he had a lot to endure while growing up, with a severely alcoholic and emotionally abusive father and a mother who ultimately committed suicide. Yet instead of succumbing to despair himself and letting his hardships defeat him, he became a standup comedian who turned his pain into riveting and relatable tales that eventually earned him his own self-titled Fox network sitcom.

But even as he’s attained the highest of comedic success – including his upcoming third standup special for Comedy Central, which will debut July 4 – Titus has kept his eyes and heart open to the hardships of others. He’s established the charity Project InSight to organize annual stand-up shows to benefit various faith-based, private organizations that work to improve the lives of teens who are homeless or in foster care.

Saturday night, May 7th, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, Titus will perform in a special show called “Laugh You A$$ Off, Save the World” with stellar talent including Kevin Nealon (“Saturday Night Live,” “Weeds”), Billy Gardell (star of CBS’ hit sitcom “Mike & Molly”) and Dana Carvey (“SNL”, “Wayne’s World”) to raise funds for the Olive Crest center for troubled teens. The event will be hosted by Jillian Barberie of Ch. 11’s “Good Day LA,” who is a former foster child herself, and is aiming to raise funds for the program’s comprehensive care services.

“There’s 56,000 foster and homeless teens in Los Angeles, and that’s a big deal for me,” says Titus. “We want to eradicate the problem of teens being homeless from Los Angeles by 2020. I had a tough childhood, with a tough dad and an insane mom, but can you imagine living in the bushes by the 101?”

Titus is particularly concerned about teenagers in the foster care system because of the general societal attitude that holds that troubled children must be reached at a young age or else it’s too late to do anything constructive for them. He notes that many teens spend their entire lives in foster care and then are forced out into society without ever having had anyone to truly care about them, develop their interests and train them to deal with the real world.

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And on the way down here I drove and I heard about this guy in Wisconsin, his name was Walker and apparently he wanted to stop collective bargaining. That’s supposed to balance the budget. That’s the magic bullet. So you’ve got [Republican Governor] LePage in Maine, Walker in Wisconsin, you got [Republican Governor] Scott in Florida. It’s Larry, Curly and Moe. That’s what we got right here.

Now you might say, what are you doing up there? Aren’t you rich? The answer is: thank God, yes. Because I grew up poor. I lived in a family where my mother asked donated commodities from a Republican administration and got turned down. That’s where I came from. And you know what, as a rich person I pay 28% tax. What I want to ask you is why am I not paying fifty? Why isn’t anybody in my bracket paying fifty? …

Because [politicians opposed to raising taxes] come from the party of Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator, who one year put down on his taxes that he gave $10,000 to charity. Well, my wife and I … we try to make up the difference, the shortfall, that 22% we don’t pay, by giving it away. But you know what, I haven’t seen a lot of that going around.

Doesn’t Stephen King kind of answer his own question here? Yes, his elitist, holier-than-thou and arrogantly mistaken belief that a whole lot of people in the most charitable country in the world aren’t as charitable as he is, is off-putting in the extreme. But that he’s able to give that 22% of his income not swallowed up by the blackhole of the government directly to the causes he believes in is a beautiful thing. This is exactly why raising taxes is a terrible idea. Regardless of what people do with their money, whatever they do with it is better for this economy than what the government does with it. Obama’s failed stimulus settled that argument, especially when you compare the results of that to the roaring economy that resulted from Reagan’s huge tax cuts.

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Conservatives have long been silently known as the “more liberal givers“ despite the slacktivist narrative to the contrary. I can’t count a single conservative of my acquaintance that doesn’t include charitable work in their list of priorities. If we don’t want intrusive government then we need to care for the least among us so that they are not exploited as a reason by the government for bigger government.

My husband owns a recording studio, declared as one of the top 16 in the world by Mix Magazine so it wasn’t unusual when an artist named Becky Kelly called them to present a track, titled “Where’s the Line to See Jesus,” that she wanted to turn into a professional recording. What was unusual was the message: simplistic, heartfelt; one distinct melody with a lesson that extends beyond the boundaries of the holiday season. Along with the song Becky and Chris created the accompanying video below.

I’m proud of all the hard work everyone put into this and especially proud of the song’s biggest benefactor – it’s not Becky, it’s not the studio, but a charity called CFS that has long helped families in need and children who need temporary or forever homes. The charity operates solely on private donations but due to tumultuous economic times, those funds are shrinking. We can’t cede the privilege and responsibility of helping our fellow man to the government; that’s not who we are or what we believe and using the arts is a fantastic way to raise funds and awareness.

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Daily Mail:

Bono’s anti-poverty foundation ONE is under pressure to explain its lavish salaries after it was revealed that only a small percentage of money it raises reaches the needy.

The non-profit organisation set up by the U2 frontman received almost £9.6m in donations in 2008 but handed out only £118,000 to good causes (1.2 per cent).

The figures published by the New York Post also show that £5.1m went towards paying salaries.

While the organisation’s gameplan has never been direct handouts on the ground, many who admire the Irish rock legend may be surprised by the figures.

Bono was playing Brussels last night with U2 as the world’s leaders – so many of whom he speaks to directly – were meeting at the UN assembly in New York to assess the progress, or lack of, in reaching the Millennium goals they set.

The Post revealed it had received a number of gifts from ONE in the run-up to the event, such as leather notebooks, bags of coffee and water bottles. (more…)

According to Variety, the amount of political money from the entertainment industry is split about 73-27, with the majority going to the Democrats. That is a startling statistic. 27% of showbiz dollars go to REPUBLICANS? Are there really that many of us? Either something screwy is going on, or there are a LOT of Industry Republicans hiding out.

By raw statistics, that would indicate over a quarter of the entertainment business is Republican. Now it could just be that Republicans are more generous.  Democrats are notoriously cheaper than a Barney Frank ferry ride. Al Gore spent more money on harassable masseuses than he gives to charity. Bill Clinton’s idea of charity is giving away used underwear (though in fairness, some of the clothing he soiled is now considered museum quality). Joe Biden spends more on polishing his tooth marks out of his shoes than he routinely gives away.

Democrats are as hypocritical as Leonardo DiCaprio’s private jet. They talk all the time about the uncaring rich not helping the poor, but come tax time, the charitable giving recorded on their Schedule As is dwarfed by their mortgage interest on their luxurious abodes. Democrats think their public service and undying support of a powerful state is tantamount to charity. (more…)

Frum Forum:

Debbie Schlussel posted a long piece last evening about a charity that Sean Hannity is affiliated with, accusing them of malfeasance and mismangement.

Frum Forum has done an exhaustive investigation of the charity in question, Freedom Alliance, and found enough evidence to substantially rebut each of Schlussel’s claims. I’ll approach them one by one. 

Schlussel Accusation: Sean Hannity improperly benefited from Freedom Alliance by charging private jets, hotel stays and luxury cars.

Freedom Alliance’s press release today stated categorically that they have “never provided planes, hotels, cars, limos, or anything else to Sean [Hannity] … to be clear Sean pays for all his own transportation, hotels, and all related expenses for himself and his family and friends and staff.” We are satisfied that this is true.

It is true that Freedom Alliance spent $60,000 on aviation services in 2006, but there is no evidence that this was for Sean Hannity’s benefit, and it seems unlikely that the money was used to lease a Gulfstream 5. Rates for G5 aircraft average around $8,000 an hour. $60,000 would not buy much at that rate.

We have also been able to confirm that Sean Hannity has no operational control over the organization. Nor is he even a member of the group’s board.

If Schlussel stands behind her statement, then she will have to do better than a quote from a blind source, who is, as she admits, a friend of a friend.  (more…)

I reached out to Andrew Breitbart over the weekend with a simple plea: Haiti needs assistance. Can you help? Within seconds, I had the answer I was hoping for — a resounding “Yes!”

I own a jet charter service that operates a fleet of Boeing 737s. Haiti needs medical supplies, surgeons, nurses, rescue workers, food, water and the only way to get it there quickly is by air.  Haiti needs to Medevac the critically injured to US hospitals, and orphans need to be flown to homes in the US. The vital link in all the countless ways people are providing help in Haiti is air transportation.

This is our mission, to support the ongoing relief effort in Haiti with air transportation logistics.

We have three Boeing 737’s and two King Air turbo props. What we don’t have is fuel (yet).

We need you. We need immediate donations to cover our fuel and related expenses. Fuel costs money.

Please visit www.airlifthaiti.org and give. Time is of the essence and many lives are precariously hanging in the balance.

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Brad Pitt was recently asked by German magazine Bild if he believed in God. Pitt smiled and answered: “No, no, no!”  Then, asked if his soul was spiritual, he once again said: “No, no, no!” Adding: “I’m probably “20 percent atheist and 80 percent agnostic.” With that, the shrieks of millions of women who dreamed of a storybook church wedding with Mr. Pitt could be heard crying out across the planet.

The comment is sure to cause a few ripples from the man who once played the son of a preacher man in the spiritual A River Runs Through It.  What’s more, Pitt advises there is no use thinking about God or a higher power — we’ll find out when we get there, he says.  Umm, get where Brad?  The Beverly Hills Hotel in the sky?  It never ceases to amaze to hear celebrities speak out about religion – or a lack thereof.  In a business where vainglory is king, perhaps it is not surprising many in Hollywood are said to lack religion.  Que Sera Sera — free country, right?   (more…)

I’m tired of ignoring the elephant in the room, so I’ll just come out and say it. Christians are corny, out of touch, lonely creepers who generally end up becoming murderers or rapists…. At least that’s what Hollywood’s taught me.

Not to mention they’re all a bunch of minority-bashing fear mongers. Why does anyone continue to allow this hateful, extremist group to exist? Am I the only one who feels that they could stand to learn a lot from the peaceful, Muslim folk?

If I hadn’t been raised in such a logical household, the entertainment industry would have elicited only one reaction from me in regards to “Christians”; “Good God, these people are crazy.”

It all started with the flick “Carrie.” Who can forget Sissy Spacek’s loopy, evangelical mom citing Bible verses amidst insane spiritual tirades until she was finally skewered with every kitchen utensil in the cabinet…all to a disturbing orgasmic moaning session. The scene was used to drive the point home: Christians are dangerous and nuts, but they’re great to make fun of. (more…)

Earlier this week, UPI reported Vice-President Joe Biden and his wife released their 2008 tax returns and while the Second Couple had an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $269,256, they gave a mere $1,885 to charity.  Not quite the Biblical standard of a tithe. According to a statement by the White House, the charitable donations are “NOT (my emphasis added) the sum of their annual contributions to charity. They donate to their church, among other contributions.” Then what is the sum of their contributions to charity? Inquiring minds want to know.

I realize many recent political appointees have had tax avoidance issues but no one has yet been accused of understating their charitable contributions. Even Turbo Tax encourages you to take full advantage of charitable contributions in several different ways, as I’m sure the Treasury Secretary can attest.  But on the bright side, the Biden Family increased their charitable givings fifteen-fold compared to a decade ago. (more…)