{{infobox album | name	Matters| Type Album | Artist Pulley| Cover pulley matters.jpg| Released April 6, 2004| Recorded 2004| Genre Punk rock| Length 33:35 | Label Epitaph| Producer | Reviews * Allmusic [ link] Punknews.org link
last album	''Together Again for the First Time''(2001)
this album	''Matters''(2004)
next album	''Time-Insensitive Material''(2009) }}

''Matters'' is the fifth full-length album by the punk rock band Pulley.

Track listing

# "A Bad Reputation" – 2:54 # "Blindfold" – 2:43 # "Huber Breeze" – 2:25 # "Insects Destroy" – 3:20 # "Looking Back" – 2:48 # "Poltergeist" – 2:16 # "Immune" – 4:24 # "YSC" – 3:09 # "Stomach Aches" – 2:51 # "I Remember" – 2:20 # "Suitcase" – 3:13 # "Thanks" – 1:12

Track 7 is actually two songs. "Immune" ends at 3:24. At the 3:26 mark begins a cover of the theme song to the 1970's children's television show, ''Land of the Lost''.

Category:Pulley albums Category:2004 albums

it:Matters

Mark Bittman (c.1950- ) is an American food journalist and author. Bittman wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' dining section called ''The Minimalist''. His final ''Minimalist'' column was published on January 26, 2011. Bittman continued writing as a columnist for the New York Times Magazine and had a column in the paper's Opinion section; he also blogged.

Career

Bittman is a graduate of Clark University. He has written at least ten books on food and cooking, three of which won IACP/Julia Child awards, James Beard awards, or both. Three books are related to his newspaper column:

''The Minimalist Cooks at Home''

''The Minimalist Cooks Dinner''

''The Minimalist Entertains'' (Selected recipes from these are in the collection "Mark Bittman's Simple and Easy Recipes from The New York Times".)

Bittman also wrote two books with Jean-Georges Vongerichten: ''Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef'', which received the James Beard Award. In 2000 they published the ''Simple to Spectacular''.

Bittman's book ''How to Cook Everything'' first published in 1998, was published in a revised second edition in 2008. An iOS app version was published in 2010. ''How to Cook Everything Vegetarian'' was published in 2007.

In 2009 Bittman published Food matters (Book) discussing the topics of environmental challenges, lifestyle diseases, and the overproduction and over consumption of meat, simple carbohydrates, and junk food.

The publication of ''Food Matters'' followed a pair of articles on food production issues for ''The New York Times Week in Review'', called “Rethinking the Meat Guzzler” and “The Future of Fish”.

In 2010, Bittman followed up ''Food Matters'' with ''The Food Matters Cookbook'', expanding (in "500 Revolutionary Recipes") upon the kinds of foods and issues discussed in the previous book.

Other books include ''Fish - The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking'' (1999), ''The Best Recipes in the World'' (2005), ''Leafy Greens'' (1995), ''Bittman Takes On America's Chefs'' (2005, a companion volume to the TV series), and ''Kitchen Express'' (2009).

Radio, Television and Film

Bittman is a regular on NBC's ''The Today Show'' and has appeared on NPR's ''All Things Considered'' and dozens of other shows.

Bittman is the host of the Public Television series ''Bittman Takes on America's Chefs'', which first aired in spring 2005, and later won the James Beard Award for the best cooking series. The second season, ''The Best Recipes in the World'', aired a year later.

In 2008 Bittman appeared with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali, in a PBS series called ''Spain... on the road Again''.

Bittman also created a film in 2007 entitled "What's wrong with what we eat?"

Bittman appeared as a guest judge on the Food Network competition series ''Chopped''.

Bittman performs in a video short each week on The New York Times website, in which he describes, cooks, and eats a simple dish.

Personal life

Bittman is married to ''New York Times'' graphic designer and art director Kelly Doe. They live in New York City. He has two adult daughters from his first marriage to the writer Karen Baar. Bittman is a licensed pilot and a marathon runner. Bittman's paternal grandfather was born in Romania.

References

External links

Mark Bittman Bio at his Official website

Video: Mark Bittman and Ezra Klein "Voting with your mouth" a conversation about how we can eat better and improve on planetary effects of our diets.

Mark Bittman articles at Byliner

Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:American food writers Category:American journalists Category:American people of Romanian descent Category:American television chefs Category:The New York Times writers

bg:Марк Битман fr:Mark Bittman

name	James Carville
birth name	Chester James Carville, Jr.
birth date	October 25, 1944
birth place	Carville, Louisiana
nationality	American
political party	Democratic
residence	New Orleans, Louisiana
education	Louisiana State University (A.B., J.D.)
occupation	Political consultant, Political science professor of practice, Tulane University
spouse	Mary Matalin (since 1993)
website	carville.info }}

Chester James Carville, Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, commentator, educator, actor, attorney, media personality, and prominent liberal pundit. Carville gained national attention for his work as the lead strategist of the successful presidential campaign of then-Arkansas governor Bill Clinton. Carville was a co-host of CNN's ''Crossfire'' until its final broadcast in June 2005. Since its cancellation, he has appeared on CNN's news program, ''The Situation Room''. As of 2009, he hosts a weekly program on XM Radio titled ''60/20 Sports'' with Luke Russert, son of the late Tim Russert who hosted NBC's ''Meet The Press''. He is married to Republican political consultant Mary Matalin. In 2009, he began teaching political science at Tulane University.

Early life and education

Carville, the oldest of eight children, was born in Carville, Louisiana, the son of Lucille (née Norman), a former school teacher who sold World Book Encyclopedias door-to-door, and Chester James Carville, a postmaster as well as owner of a general store. He is of Irish and Cajun heritage. James attended Ascension Catholic High School in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.

He received his undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees from Louisiana State University. He served for two years in the United States Marine Corps.

Early career

Before entering politics, Carville worked as a litigator at a Baton Rouge law firm from 1973–1979. Carville spent two years serving in the United States Marines, achieving the rank of Corporal, and later worked as a high school teacher.

Prior to the Clinton campaign, Carville and consulting partner Paul Begala gained other well-known political victories, including the gubernatorial victories of Robert Casey of Pennsylvania in 1986, and Zell Miller of Georgia in 1990. But it was in 1991 when Carville and Begala rose to national attention, leading appointed incumbent Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania back from a 40-point poll deficit over White House hand-picked candidate Dick Thornburgh. It was during Wofford's campaign that the "it's the economy, stupid" strategy used by Bill Clinton in 1992 was first implemented.

Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential campaign

In 1992, Carville helped lead Bill Clinton to a win against George H. W. Bush in the Presidential election. In 1993, Carville was honored as Campaign Manager of the Year by the American Association of Political Consultants. His role in the Clinton campaign was documented in the feature-length Academy Award-nominated film, ''The War Room''. One of the formulations he used in that campaign has entered common usage, derived from a list he posted in the war room to help focus himself and his staff, with these three points: # Change vs. more of the same. #The economy, stupid. # Don't forget health care.

Political and media work

After 1992 Carville stopped working on domestic campaigns, stating that he would bring unneeded publicity. He then worked on a number of foreign campaigns, including those of Tony Blair - then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - Ehud Barak of Israel's Labor Party, and the Liberal Party of Canada. In 2002, Carville worked as a Greenberg Carville Shrum (GCS) strategist to help American-educated Bolivian Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada win the presidency in Bolivia, which was portrayed in a documentary Our Brand Is Crisis.

In 2004, he was brought in for last-minute consulting on Senator John Kerry's Presidential campaign, but he did not play a major role.

In 2005, Carville taught a semester of the course "Topics in American Politics" at Northern Virginia Community College. Among the guests he had come speak to the class were Al Hunt, Mark Halperin, Senator George Allen, George Stephanopoulos, Karl Strubel, Stan Greenberg, Tony Blankley, representatives from the Motion Picture Association of America, James Fallows.

In 2006, Carville switched gears from politics to sports and became a host on a sports show called ''60/20 Sports'' on XM Satellite Radio with Luke Russert, son of the late NBC journalist Tim Russert. The show is an in-depth look at the culture of sports based on the ages of the two hosts (60 and 20). After the Democrats' victory in the 2006 midterm election, Carville criticized Howard Dean as Democratic National Committee Chair, calling for his ouster, as he believed Dean had not spent enough money. In late November 2006, Carville proposed a truce of sorts.

Carville is the executive producer of the 2006 film ''All the King's Men'', starring Sean Penn and Anthony Hopkins, which is loosely based on the life of Louisiana Governor Huey Long.

Carville had believed that Al Gore, whom he helped put in the White House as vice president in 1992, would run for president in 2008. This prediction did not come true.

On March 4, 2009, ''Politico'' reported that Carville, Paul Begala, and Rahm Emanuel were the architects of the Democratic Party's strategy to cast conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh as the face of the Republican Party. Carville was particularly critical of Limbaugh for saying he wanted Barack Obama to "fail." It was later reported that Carville had voiced the opinion, during the presidency of George W. Bush, that, "I don’t care if people like him or not, just so they don’t vote for him and his party. That is all I care about. I hope he doesn’t succeed, but I am a partisan Democrat. But the average person wants him to succeed. It is his country, his life or their lives. So he has that going for him." Carville made the remarks on September 11, 2001, shortly before the terrorist attacks on the United States. Upon hearing news of the attacks, Carville asked reporters to "disregard" his prior comments.

Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani hired Carville as a campaign advisor in July 2009. Carville said that the 2009 Afghan presidential election is "probably the most important election held in the world in a long time," and he called his new job "probably the most interesting project I have ever worked in my life." Carville, whose work for Ghani is ''pro bono'', when asked about similarities between politics in Afghanistan and politics in Louisiana, responded: ::Yeah, I felt a little bit at home, to be honest with you.

In 2010, Carville worked as senior advisor for the campaign of Colombian presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos.

He is acting as advisor for Daniel Scioli (Governor of Buenos Aires) re-election campaign.

Hillary Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign

As an advisor to Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, Carville told ''The New York Times'' on March 22, 2008, that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who had just endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, was comparable to Judas Iscariot. It was "an act of betrayal," said Carville. "Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,” Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week. Governor Richardson had served in President Bill Clinton's administration as both United States Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of Energy, and Carville believed that Richardson owed an endorsement to Senator Clinton in exchange for being offered those posts by her husband. Carville also claimed that Richardson assured many in the Clinton campaign that he would at least remain neutral and abstain from taking sides. Richardson refuted Carville's account, arguing that he had not made any promises to remain neutral. Richardson claims that his decision to endorse Obama was "clinched" by his speech on race relations following the swirl of controversy surrounding Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright. Carville went on to note,"I doubt if Governor Richardson and I will be terribly close in the future," Carville said, but "I've had my say...I got one in the wheelhouse and I tagged it."

Even as Clinton's campaign began to lose steam, Carville remained both loyal and positive in his public positions, rarely veering off message and stoutly defending the candidate. But on May 13, 2008, a few hours before the primary in West Virginia, Carville remarked to an audience at Furman University in South Carolina, "I'm for Senator Clinton, but I think the great likelihood is that Obama will be the nominee." The moment marked a shift from his previous and often determinedly optimistic comments about the state of Hillary's campaign.

After Barack Obama's clear lead for victory in the Democratic presidential campaign on June 3, James Carville said he was ready to open up his wallet to help Obama build a political war chest to take on John McCain in November.

Career as author

Carville is also a best-selling author. With his wife, Mary Matalin - a Republican - and writer Peter Knobler, Carville co-wrote ''All's Fair: Love, War and Running for President'', published in 1995. He later wrote: ''We're Right, They're Wrong: A Handbook for Spirited Progressives'', published in 1996; ''...And The Horse He Rode In On: The People vs. Kenneth Starr'', published in 1998; With Paul Begala he co-wrote ''Stickin''. ''Suck Up, Buck Up... and Come Back When You Foul Up'', in 2001, which detailed strategies for fighting and winning in business, politics, and life. In 2004, Carville released a political banter book entitled ''Had Enough?'', as well as a children's picture book, ''Lu and the Swamp Ghost'', with co-author Patricia McKissack and illustrator David Catrow. In January 2006, he released another book co-written with Begala, ''Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future''.

Carville's most recent book is entitled ''40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation''.

In 1996, Carville was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, along with former Louisiana State Treasurer Mary Evelyn Parker and the late segregationist leader Leander Perez.

Personal life

Carville is married to Republican political pundit Mary Matalin, who had worked for President George H. W. Bush on his 1992 reelection campaign. Carville and Matalin were married in New Orleans in October 1993. They have two daughters: Matalin Mary "Matty" Carville and Emerson Normand "Emma" Carville. Carville publicly acknowledged that he has adult attention-deficit disorder.

In 2008, Carville and Matalin relocated their family from Virginia to New Orleans. He is currently on the faculty of the department of political science at Tulane University.

He describes himself as a liberal Catholic.

Film and television appearances

Carville takes a lead role in ''The War Room'', a documentary about Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, together with George Stephanopoulos.

He appeared in the 1996 film ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' as attorney Simon Leis.

He appeared in three episodes of the sitcom ''Mad About You'' playing himself, as head of a political consulting firm that hires Jamie Buchman, played by Helen Hunt.

In the films ''Old School'' and ''Wedding Crashers'', Carville makes cameo appearances as himself

He appeared as himself in Rachel Boynton's ''Our Brand Is Crisis''

Carville appears as the Governor of Missouri, Thomas Crittenden, in the 2007 movie ''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford''.

He appeared as himself in NBC's comedy ''30 Rock'', season 2 episode 8 'Secrets and Lies'

Appeared in cartoon form in the ''Family Guy'' episode "Running Mates."

Starred in Steven Soderbergh's HBO series ''K Street'' along with his wife.

Carville is a regular guest on ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' where he picks both NFL and college football games against the ''USA Today'' spreads.

He will make a cameo appearence in ''The Muppets.

See also

K Street (TV series)

Ray Nagin

References

Further reading

Clinton, Bill (2004). ''My Life''. Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.

External links

The Office of James Carville

CNN Biography

Category:1944 births Category:American campaign managers Category:American political consultants Category:American political pundits Category:American political writers Category:American schoolteachers Category:Cajun people Category:Clinton Administration personnel Category:Living people Category:Louisiana Democrats Category:Louisiana lawyers Category:Louisiana State University alumni Category:Louisiana State University Law Center alumni Category:People from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Tulane University faculty Category:United States Marines Category:United States presidential advisors

de:James Carville fr:James Carville no:James Carville simple:James Carville sh:James Carville

name	Eric Idle
birth date	March 29, 1943
birth place	South Shields, County Durham, England
occupation	Actor, author, comedian, composer, musician, singer, writer
years active	1969–present
spouse	Lyn Ashley (1969–1975) Tania Kosevich (m.1981)
children	Carey Idle (b.1973) Lily Idle (b.1990)
notable works	Monty Python
website	http://pythonline.com/
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano }}

Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer who wrote and performed as a member of the popular British comedy group Monty Python. After Python ceased to exist, Idle has remained in the entertainment business, with notable success The Rutles on ''Saturday Night Live'' and the written the play ''Spamalot''.

Early life and education

Idle was born in South Shields, County Durham (now Tyne and Wear) in Harton Village, the son of Nora Barron (née Sanderson), a health visitor, and Ernest Idle. His father served in the Royal Air Force and survived World War II, only to be killed in a hitch-hiking accident on Christmas Eve 1945. His mother had difficulty coping with a full-time job and raising a child, so when Eric was seven, she enrolled him into the Royal Wolverhampton School as a boarder. The school began as a Victorian orphanage, and during Idle's time it was a charitable foundation dedicated to the welfare of children who had lost one or both parents. Its pupils, mainly the children of dead English soldiers, still referred to it as the 'Ophney'. Idle is quoted as saying: "It was a physically abusive, bullying, harsh environment for a kid to grow up in. I got used to dealing with groups of boys and getting on with life in unpleasant circumstances and being smart and funny and subversive at the expense of authority. Perfect training for Python."

Idle stated that the two things that made his life bearable were listening to Radio Luxembourg under the bedclothes and watching the local football team, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite this, he disliked other sports and would sneak out of school every Thursday afternoon to the local cinema. He was eventually caught watching the X-rated film ''BUtterfield 8'' and stripped of his prefecture, even though by that time he was head boy. Idle had already refused to be senior boy in the school cadet force, as he supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and had participated in the yearly Aldermaston March. Idle maintains that there was little to do at the school and boredom drove him to study hard. He consequently won a place at Cambridge University.

Career

Pre-Python career (1965–1969)

Idle attended Pembroke College at Cambridge, where he studied English. At Pembroke, he was invited to join the prestigious Cambridge University Footlights Club by the President of the Footlights Club, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Footlights Club member Bill Oddie.

When Idle joined the Footlights Club, his future Python fellows Graham Chapman and John Cleese, also attended Cambridge. He became Footlights President in 1965 and was the first to allow women to join the club. Idle starred in the children's television comedy series ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' opposite his future ''Python'' fellows Terry Jones and Michael Palin (who were both former Oxford University students). Terry Gilliam provided animations for the show. Other members of the cast were comic actors David Jason and Denise Coffey.

Monty Python (1969–1983)

Idle wrote for ''Monty Python'' mostly by himself, at his own pace, although he sometimes found it difficult in having to present material to the others and make it seem funny without the back-up support of a partner. John Cleese, another member of The Python Group, admitted that this was slightly unfair – when the team voted on which sketches should appear in a show, “he only got one vote” – but says that Idle was an independent person and worked best on his own. Idle himself admitted this was sometimes difficult: “You had to convince five others. And they were not the most un-egotistical of writers, either."

Idle's work in Python is often characterised by an obsession with language and communication: many of his characters have verbal peculiarities, such as the man who speaks in anagrams, the man who says words in the wrong order, and the butcher who alternates between rudeness and politeness every time he speaks. A number of his sketches involve extended monologues (for example the customer in the "Travel Agency" sketch who won't stop talking about his unpleasant experiences with holidays), and he would frequently spoof the unnatural language and speech patterns of television presenters. Additionally, like Palin, Idle is said to be the master of insincere characters, from the David Frost-esque Timmy Williams, to small-time crook Stig O'Tracy, who tries to deny the fact that organized crime master Dinsdale Piranha nailed his head to the floor.

One of the younger members of the team – a year behind Cleese and Chapman at Cambridge – Idle was closest in spirit to the students and teenagers who made up much of Python's fanbase. Python sketches dealing most with contemporary obsessions like pop music, sexual permissiveness and recreational drugs are Idle's work, often characterized by double entendre, sexual references, and other "naughty" subject matter – most famously demonstrated in "Nudge Nudge." Eric Idle originally wrote "Nudge, Nudge" for Ronnie Barker, but it was rejected because there was 'no joke in the words'.

A competent guitarist, Idle composed many of the group's most famous musical numbers, most notably "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", the closing number of ''Life of Brian'', which has grown to become a Python signature tune. He was responsible for the "Galaxy Song" from ''The Meaning of Life'' and (with Cleese) "Eric the Half-a-Bee", a whimsical tune that first appeared on the ''Monty Python's Previous Record'' album.

Post-''Python'' career (1983–present)

After ''Python'' ceased to exist as a regularly active ensemble in the early 1980s, all six members pursued solo projects. Idle's first solo work was his own BBC Radio One show, ''Radio Five'' (pre-dating the real Radio Five station by 18 years). This ran for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 and involved Idle performing sketches and links to records, with himself playing nearly all the multi-tracked parts.

On television, Idle created ''Rutland Weekend Television'' (RWT), a sketch show on BBC2, written by himself, with music by Neil Innes. RWT was 'Britain's smallest television network'. The name was a parody of London Weekend Television, the independent television franchise that provided Londoners with their ITV services at weekends; Rutland had been England's smallest county, but had recently been 'abolished' in an administrative shake-up. To make the joke complete, the programme went out on a weekday. Other regular performers were David Battley, Henry Woolf, Gwen Taylor and Terence Bayler, and George Harrison made a guest appearance on one episode.

A legacy of RWT was the creation, with Innes, of The Rutles, an affectionate parody of The Beatles. The band became a popular phenomenon, especially in the U.S. where Idle was appearing on ''Saturday Night Live'' – fans would send in Beatles LPs with their sleeves altered to show the Rutles. In 1978, the Rutles' mockumentary film ''All You Need Is Cash'', a collaboration between Python members and ''Saturday Night Live'', was aired on NBC television, as written by Idle, with music by Innes. Idle appeared in the film as "Dirk McQuickly" (the Paul McCartney-styled character of the group), as well as the main commentator. Actors appearing in the film included ''Saturday Night Live'''s John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner, as well as George Harrison and Mick Jagger. Idle wrote and directed The Rutles comeback in 2008 for a live show Rutlemania! to celebrate the 30th anniversary. The performances took place in Los Angeles and New York with a Beatles tribute band.

In 1986, Idle provided the voice of Wreck-Gar, the leader of the Junkions (a race of robots built out of junk that can only speak in movie catchphrases and advertising slogans) in ''The Transformers: The Movie''. In 1987, he took part in the English National Opera production of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera ''The Mikado'', in which he appeared in the role of the Lord High Executioner. In 1989, he appeared in the U.S. comedy television series ''Nearly Departed'', about a ghost who haunts the family inhabiting his former home. The series lasted for six episodes as a summer replacement series.

Idle received good critical notices appearing in projects written and directed by others – such as Terry Gilliam's ''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' (1989), alongside Robbie Coltrane in ''Nuns on the Run'' (1990) and in ''Casper'' (1995). He also played Ratty in Terry Jones' version of ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1996). However, his own creative projects – such as the movie ''Splitting Heirs'' (1993), a comedy he wrote, starred in and executive-produced – were mostly unsuccessful with critics and audiences.

In 1994, he appeared as Dr. Nigel Channing, chairman of the Imagination Institute and host of an 'Inventor of the Year' awards show in the three-dimensional film ''Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!'', which was an attraction at Walt Disney World's Epcot from 1994 until 2010 and at Disneyland from 1998 until 2010. The film also stars Rick Moranis and other members of the cast of the 1989 feature film ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids''. In 1999, he reprised the role in the second (and controversial) version of the Journey Into Imagination ride at Epcot, replacing Figment and Dreamfinder as the host. Due to an outcry from Disney fans, Figment was reinstated into the ride. Idle is also writer and star of the 3-D film film ''Pirates – 4D'' for Busch Entertainment Corporation.

In 1995, he voiced Rincewind the "Wizzard" in a computer adventure game based on Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' novels. In 1996, he reprised his role as Rincewind for the game's sequel, and composed and sang its theme song, "That's Death". In 1998, Idle appeared in the lead role in the poorly received film ''Burn Hollywood Burn'' (see ''Criticism''). That same year, he also provided the voice of Devon, a dragon, in Warner Bros. Animated film ''Quest for Camelot'' and as Slyly the albino arctic fox in ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie''.

In recent years, Idle has worked with people who regard him as a huge inspiration, such as Trey Parker and Matt Stone in ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'', in which he voiced Dr. Vosknocker. He has also made three appearances on ''The Simpsons'' as famous documentarian Declan Desmond, so far the only appearance on the show by a Python. From 1999 to 2000, he played Ian Maxtone-Graham on the NBC sitcom ''Suddenly Susan''. He has also acted as Narrator to the AudioNovel version of ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' by Roald Dahl and Waddlesworth the parrot in ''102 Dalmatians'' and the video game of the same name.

In late 2003, Idle began a performing tour of several American and Canadian cities entitled ''The Greedy Bastard Tour''. The stage performances consisted largely of music from Monty Python episodes and movies, along with some original post-Python material. In 2005, Idle released ''The Greedy Bastard Diary'', a book detailing the things the cast and crew encountered during the year-long tour.

In 2004, Idle created ''Spamalot,'' a musical comedy based on the 1975 film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. The medieval production tells the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they journey on their quest for the Holy Grail. ''Spamalot'' features a book and lyrics by Eric Idle, music by Idle and John Du Prez, direction by Mike Nichols, and choreography by Casey Nicholaw.

More recently, Idle provided the voice of Merlin the magician in the DreamWorks animated film ''Shrek the Third'' (2007) with his former ''Python'' co-star John Cleese, who voiced King Harold.

Idle's play ''What About Dick?'' was given a staged reading at two public performances in Hollywood on 10–11 November 2007. The cast included Idle, Billy Connolly, Tim Curry, Eddie Izzard, Jane Leeves, Emily Mortimer, Jim Piddock and Tracey Ullman.

Other credits

Writing

Idle has written several books, both fiction and non-fiction. His novels are ''Hello Sailor'' and ''The Road to Mars''. In 1976, he produced a spin-off book to ''Rutland Weekend Television'', entitled ''The Rutland Dirty Weekend Book''. In 1982, he wrote a west end farce ''Pass The Butler'', starring Willie Rushton. During his Greedy Bastard Tour of 2003, he wrote the diaries that would be made into ''The Greedy Bastard Diary: A Comic Tour of America'', published in February 2005.

Idle also wrote the book and co-wrote the music and lyrics for the musical ''Monty Python's Spamalot'', based on the film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. It premiered in Chicago before moving to Broadway, where it received the Tony Award for Best Musical of the 2004–05 season. Idle won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics.

In a 2005 poll to find "The Comedian's Comedian" (UK), he was voted 21 in the top 50 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

An example of Idle's idiosyncratic writing is "Ants In Their Pants" – a poem about the sex life of ants. It starts as follows:

:'Where does an ant get its rocks off? :How does the ant get it on? :Do ants have it away, say three times a day, :Is it once a week sex, or p'raps none?'

Bibliography

''Hello Sailor'', novel, 1975  ISBN 0-297-76929-4

''The Rutland Dirty Weekend Book'', 1976  ISBN 0-413-36570-0

''Pass the Butler'', play script, 1982  ISBN 0-413-49990-1

''The Quite Remarkable Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat'', children's book, 1996  ISBN 0-7871-1042-6

''The Road to Mars'', novel, 1998  ISBN 0-7522-2414-X (hardcover), ISBN 0-375-70312-8 (paperback)

''Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python Souvenir Program'', Green street Press (U.S.), 2000

''The Greedy Bastard Tour Souvenir Program'', Green street Press (U.S.), 2003

''The Greedy Bastard Diary: A Comic Tour of America'', journal, 2005  ISBN 0-06-075864-3

''Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)'', co-written, play/musical parody of Monty Python's Life of Brian

Songwriting

Idle is an accomplished songwriter, having composed and performed many of the Pythons' most famous comic pieces, including "Eric the Half-a-Bee", "The Philosophers' Song", "Galaxy Song", "Penis Song (Not the Noel Coward Song)" and, probably his most recognised hit, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", which was written for the closing scene of the Monty Python film ''Life of Brian'', and sung from the crosses during the mass crucifixion. The song has since been covered by Harry Nilsson, Bruce Cockburn, Art Garfunkel and Green Day. Idle, his fellow Pythons, and assorted family and friends performed the song at Graham Chapman's funeral.

In 1990, Idle sang and co-wrote the theme tune to the popular British sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave''. The song was later released, but did poorly in the charts. However, when "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" was adopted as a football chant in the late 1980s, Idle's then neighbour Gary Lineker suggested Idle re-record and release the popular track. With help from Radio 1 breakfast show host Simon Mayo, who gave the song regular airplay and also used the chorus within a jingle, it became a hit, some 12 years after the song's original appearance in ''Life Of Brian'', reaching number 3 in the UK charts and landing Idle a set on ''Top of the Pops'' in October 1991. He recorded a special version of the song for Mayo's own use on air ("Come on Simon, get another song on now; why don't you put on a nice Cliff Richard record?") and changed the line "life's a piece of shit" to "life's a piece of spit" in order to get daytime airplay on radio.

In 2004, Idle recorded a protest song of sorts, the "FCC Song", in which he lambastes the US Federal Communications Commission for fining him $5,000 for saying the word "fuck" on national radio. Fittingly, the short song contains 14 uses of that expletive. The song can be downloaded in MP3 and OGG Vorbis format at the Internet Archive. In 2005, he received multiple Tony award nominations for his songwriting work on the Broadway musical ''Spamalot''.

He wrote, produced and performed the song "Really Nice Day" for the movie ''The Wild''.

In 2004, the musical comedy ''Spamalot'' debuted in Chicago and opened in New York's Shubert Theatre on February 14, 2005. Idle wrote the lyrics and book for ''Spamalot'', collaborating with John Du Prez on much of the music. The original 2005 Broadway theatre production was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Sara Ramirez), and Best Direction of a Musical (Mike Nichols).

In June 2007, "Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)", a comic oratorio by Idle and John Du Prez premiered at the inaugural Luminato arts festival in Toronto. Idle himself performed during this 50-minute oratorio, along with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and members of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. The composer, John Du Prez, was also present. Shannon Mercer, Jean Stilwell, Christopher Sieber, and Theodore Baerg sang the principal parts. The American premiere was at Caramoor (Westchester County, New York) on 1 July 2007. Soloists were the same as in the Toronto performance, but the accompanying chorus was made up of members of New York City's Collegiate Chorale. The show was revised and expanded for a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2007, including two sell-out nights at the Sydney Opera House. A tour during the summer of 2008 included performances with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C., the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia, and Houston.

Idle has recently contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Raining In My Heart" for the upcoming tribute album, Listen to Me: Buddy Holly to be released on September 6th, 2011.

Tributes

An asteroid, 9620 Ericidle, is named in his honour. Idle was voted the 21st favourite comedian out of 50 in The Comedian's Comedian 2005 poll by comedians and comedy insiders.

Family

Eric Idle married Lyn Ashley, an Australian, in 1969. Ashley occasionally appeared in small roles on ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', where she was credited as "Mrs Idle". They divorced in 1975. They have one son, Carey, born in 1973.

Idle married his current wife, Tania Kosevich, an American, in 1981. They have one daughter, Lily, born in 1990. Idle has resided in Los Angeles since the early 1990s.

Criticism

In recent years Idle has been criticised for commercialising the legacy of Monty Python. In ''Slate'', Sam Anderson wrote in the article "And Now For Something Completely Deficient" that though Idle "has earned a spot in Comedy Heaven for his Python days...his jokey 'exposure' of his own exploitation (he has called tours 'Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python' and 'The Greedy Bastard Tour') is more irritating than funny." Of ''Spamalot'', Anderson opined that "Python was formed in reaction to exactly the kind of lazy comedy represented by ''Spamalot'' – what Michael Palin once described as the 'easy, catch-phrase reaction' the members had all been forced to pander to in their previous writing jobs".

''Spamalot'' had mixed reactions from other Python members. Cleese lent his support by voicing God in a recorded performance that was integrated into the musical. Palin observed: "It's a great show. It's not ‘Python’ as we would have written it. But then, none of us would get together and write a ‘Python’ stage show." Terry Gilliam had a mixed reaction to the show, calling it "Python-like". Terry Jones described it as "utterly pointless and full of air".

In 1998, Idle appeared in the lead role in the film ''Burn Hollywood Burn''. The film was nominated as 'Worst Picture of the Decade' in the Golden Raspberry Awards (known as the Razzies) – and was awarded five Razzies including 'Worst Picture of the Year'.

In 2000 ''The AV Club'' gave the album ''Eric Idle Sings Monty Python: Live In Concert'' the title of 'Least Essential Solo Album' of the year.

There has also been criticism of Idle from the other Rutles, who reunited for the ''Archaeology'' album in the mid-1990s without him. On the Channel 4 programme ''What The Pythons Did Next'', Rutles drummer John Halsey (aka "Barry Wom") said that he had to switch off Idle's ''The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch'' after ten minutes. Neil Innes was more diplomatic on the same show, saying "we used to think he had delusions of grandeur, now we know it's only grandeur".

Filmography

! Year	! Film
1972	''And Now for Something Completely Different''
1975	''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''
	''All You Need Is Cash''
''The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch''
1979	''Monty Python's The Life of Brian''
	''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life''
''Yellowbeard''
1985	''National Lampoon's European Vacation''
1986	''The Transformers: The Movie''
1988	''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen''
1990	''Nuns on the Run''
1992	''Mom and Dad Save the World''
1993	''Splitting Heirs''
1995
1996
1997
	''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie''
''Quest for Camelot''
''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut''
2000	''102 Dalmatians''
''The Scream Team''
''National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure''
2004
2005
2006	''Who is Harry Nilsson? (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)''
2007	''Shrek the Third''
2008

References

External links

PythOnline

Eric Idle singing his "FCC Song" in MP3 format from Archive.org

Eric Idle – BBC Guide to Comedy

Eric Idle – Comedy Zone

''My Girl Herbert'' – the 1965 Cambridge Footlights Club revue during the time when Eric Idle was President of the Footlights, as well as being a member of the revue cast)

Category:1943 births Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Category:English comedians Category:English comedy writers Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English film actors Category:English television actors Category:English television writers Category:English voice actors Category:Gilbert and Sullivan performers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Monty Python members Category:Living people Category:People from South Shields Category:People from Wolverhampton Category:Old Royals Category:The Rutles members

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name	Pat Robertson
birth name	Marion Gordon Robertson
birth date	March 22, 1930
birth place	Lexington, Virginia, United States
occupation	Televangelist
spouse	Adelia Elmer
children	Timothy Bryan Robertson Elizabeth Faith Robertson Gordon Perry Robertson Anne Carter Robertson
parents	Absalom Willis Robertson Gladys Churchill }}

Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States.

He is the founder of numerous organizations and corporations, including the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the Christian Coalition, Flying Hospital, International Family Entertainment Inc., Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, CBN Asia and Regent University. He is the host of ''The 700 Club,'' a Christian TV program airing on channels throughout the United States and on CBN network affiliates worldwide.

The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson is a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church. His media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States.

Life and career

Family

Robertson was born in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson, a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis). He married Adelia "Dede" Elmer on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2005, 14 grandchildren.

At a young age, Robertson was nicknamed ''Pat'' by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.

Education and military service

When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He graduated with honors and enrolled at Washington and Lee University, where he majored in history. The claim that he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa is not substantiated by the Phi Beta Kappa membership directory. He also joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."

In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the army; he opted for the first.

In his words, "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"

However, former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter which said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with liquor. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986. He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs.

Robertson was promoted to first lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a Bachelor of Laws degree from Yale University Law School in 1955. However, he failed to pass the bar exam, shortly thereafter underwent his religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended the New York Theological Seminary, and was awarded a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.

Religious career

In 1956 Robertson found his faith through Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.

In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying a small UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. Later in 1977 he purchased a local Leased access cable TV channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.

CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's non-profit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, ''The 700 Club'', twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as "ABC Family". On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.

Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law and Justice, a public interest law firm that defends Christians whose First Amendment rights have allegedly been violated. The law firm, headquartered in the same building that houses Regent's law school, focuses on "pro-family, pro-liberty and pro-life" cases nationwide.

Robertson is also an advocate of Christian dominionism — the idea that Christians have a right to rule.

In 1994, he was a signer of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.

Pat Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told ''Israeli Foreign Affairs'' that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.

1988 presidential bid

In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.

Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.

Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucus, ahead of Bush. He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcasting broadcaster.

Books

Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner accuses Robertson of espousing anti-semitic beliefs in the book:

Business interests

Robertson is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).

Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family.

Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on ''The 700 Club''.

In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. Robertson commented that “In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." Shortly afterward, the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.

Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.

A fan of Thoroughbred horse racing, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.

According to a June 2, 1999, article in ''The Virginian-Pilot'', Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor. According to the article, Taylor gave Robertson the rights to mine for diamonds in Liberia's mineral-rich countryside. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported this incident to the state of Virginia for investigation in 1994, Robertson used his Operation Blessing planes to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Liberia, despite the fact that Robertson was telling his ''700 Club'' viewers that the planes were sending relief supplies to the victims of the genocide in Rwanda. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity, the United States Congress passed a bill In November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President George W. Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring Al Qaeda operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade. On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia. In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements — in which the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period — were similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.

Political activism

After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7 million member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates. It was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures".

In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia." Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.

Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.

On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election.

While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has recently begun endorsing environmental causes. He appears in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We can Solve it Campaign against global warming.

In January 2009, on a broadcast of ''The 700 Club'', Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem — they shouldn't — and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."

Controversies and criticisms

Controversies surrounding Robertson include his earlier work as a faith healer, his claim that some Protestant denominations harbor the spirit of the Antichrist, and his claims of having the power to deflect hurricanes through prayer; he has also denounced Hinduism as "demonic" and Islam as "Satanic." Robertson has issued multiple condemnations of feminism, homosexuality, abortion and liberal college professors. Robertson also had financial ties to former presidents Charles Taylor of Liberia and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, both internationally denounced for their human rights violations. Robertson was criticized worldwide for his call for Hugo Chavez’s assassination and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's health as an act of God.

The week of September 11, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur." Both evangelists came under attack from President George W. Bush for their statements, for which they later issued apologies.

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Robertson implied on the September 12th broadcast of ''The 700 Club'' that the storm was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that September 11 and the disaster in New Orleans "could... be connected in some way".

On November 9, 2009, Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination." He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group."

Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew controversy and condemnation. Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so. CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French." Various prominent voices of mainline and evangelical Christianity promptly denounced Robertson's remarks as false, untimely, insensitive, and not representative of Christian thought on the issue.

In 1995 Sita Ram Goel sent him Goel's book "Jesus Christ: An Artifice for Aggression", and a letter in protest to Robertson's remarks towards the religion of Hinduism.

Predictions

Several times near New Year, Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record," he said. "Sometimes I miss."

1982: Doomsday

In late 1976, Robertson predicted that the end of the world was coming in October or November 1982. In a May 1980 broadcast of ''The 700 Club'' he stated, "I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."

2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami

In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on ''The 700 Club''.

On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest." While this claim didn't garner the same level of controversy as some of his other statements, it was generally received with mild amusement by the Pacific Northwest media. The History Channel's initial airing of its new series, ''Mega Disasters'', debut episode "West Coast Tsunami", was broadcast the first week of May.

2007: Terror attack

On the January 2, 2007, broadcast of ''The 700 Club'', Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."

2008: Worldwide violence and American recession

On the January 2, 2008 episode of ''The 700 Club'', Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010. However, there was a decrease in overall deaths for the period, and the American economy had already entered a recession in 2007, with increased household debt and the collapse of financial institutions.

2008: Mideast meltdown

In October 2008, Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian Conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control."

2009: Economic chaos and recovery

On the January 1, 2009 broadcast of ''The 700 Club'', Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 dollars an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically, "things are getting ready to turn around."

Works

''Shout it from the Housetops'' an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)

''The Secret Kingdom'' (1982)

''Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions'' (c1984)

''Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life'' (1985)

''America's Dates with Destiny'' (1986)

''The Plan'' (1989)

''The New Millennium'' (1990)

''The New World Order'' (1991)

''Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense'' (c1993)

''The End of the Age'' (1995, fiction)

''Bring It On'' (2003)

''The Ten Offenses'' (2004)

''Courting Disaster'' (2004)

See also

''The 700 Club''

Christian Broadcasting Network

Christian right

Christian fundamentalism

Christian Coalition of America

Christian Zionism

Moral majority

Operation Blessing

References

Further reading

Rob Boston. ''The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition''

Harrell Jr., David Edwin ''Pat Robertson: A Life and Legacy'' (2010) 442 pages. Scholarly biography draws on documents and interviews in seven countries

David John Marley. ''Pat Robertson: An American Life'' -

External links

Official Pat Robertson Website

Brian Ross. Some Question Robertson's ''Katrina'' Charity, ABC News, September 9, 2005.

"Preacher: God told him about storms, tsunami"

Robertson Denounces Hinduism as 'Demonic'"

2000 lbs. leg press

Robertson talks about his prostate cancer surgery with Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy

NPR Audio Report: Televangelist Robertson Urges U.S. Hit on Chavez

Archive of American Television interview with Pat Robertson

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