Free Republic

Why N.Korean Girl Band Canceled Beijing Gig The all-girl North Korean pop band Moranbong abruptly canceled a concert series in Beijing on Saturday because Beijing objected that their program was chock-full of paeans to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, intelligence officials here believe. China was going to send a politburo member to the concert, but decided on a lower-ranking official when it discovered the contents of the show, Saenuri lawmaker Joo Ho-young quoted the National Intelligence Service as saying. "The NIS viewed this perceived slight as the primary reason for the abrupt cancelation," Joo added. Radio Free Asia quoted a...

Chinese censors are scrubbing sites of mentions of North Korean girl band By Victoria Ho 19 minutes ago After the Moranbong Band's abrupt cancelation of their performances in Beijing over the weekend, it appears Chinese censors went to work deleting speculation and chatter about the North Korean girl band on mainland sites. The Moranbong Band, whose members were said to be handpicked by North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, were on a goodwill mission to Beijing and were set to perform three concerts starting Saturday night. But just hours before the first, they abruptly canceled the gig and headed home on...

Lloyd Keating & His Music (Ted Wallace ensemble) plays "Lady, Play Your Mandolin" (1930). Elmer Feldkamp is vocalist.

"So Beats My Heart For You" is played by the Buckingham String Players (directed by Van Phillips) on Columbia CB-148, recorded on October 10, 1930. Lou Aberlado is the vocalist.

Three tunes from 1928.

Dance Orchestra.

Dance Orchestra.

The Brandon High School Band did not perform at halftime during the season-opening game Friday night. A statement from the Rankin County School District says a July federal court order is the reason the band was banned from Friday night's halftime show. The band had been slated to perform the hymn "How Great Thou Art." The district made the decision to ban the halftime show after learning the hymn was included in the performance. "It bothers me because you look at the schools and all of the school shootings and all the bad things that are happening, and wonder why....

Reacting to the disclosure that Hillary Clinton exclusively used a private email account during her tenure as secretary of state, a federal judge agreed Friday to reopen a conservative group's Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking details about the employment arrangements of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. However, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan declined — for now — to address claims from Judicial Watch that Clinton's use of the private account and server led State Department officials to commit a fraud on the court by certifying they had turned over all responsive records.

Paul Specht and his Orchestra play "Ten Little Miles From Town." Recorded in New York on September 13, 1928.

Jack Payne and his B.B.C. Dance Orchestra plays "Bubbling Over With Love."

After a long year of lessons on our constitutional heritage and expert speakers on many fields, including Dinesh D'Souza, we are going to celebrate with a party on Thursday, November 13, 7PM at Rush Park Auditorium in Los Alamitos. Attending will be the Band of The California Battalion, a wonderful Civil War Band. Also we will have one of the finest Lincoln presenters adding to the festivities. Full information is at our website: www.teaparty405-605.org

Ohio State's marching band performs during the Sept. 27 Buckeyes game. Theme: The Wizard of Oz.

One of Barack Obama’s best-remembered promises was, “If you like your health insurance, you can keep it.” But at the very same time the president was making that promise, lawmakers on Capitol Hill were drafting legislation that would make sure that promise could never be kept. We call it Obamacare. Moreover, the problem is not only that millions of people were unable to keep the plan they had in 2010, when the health reform law was passed. They are not likely to be able to keep for long any plan they have selected this year on a health insurance exchange....

Ohio State University fired marching band director Jonathan Waters yesterday after a two-month investigation found that band leaders ignored a “sexualized” culture among students and didn’t take sexual-harassment training as recommended. The firing came two weeks after OSU leaders told Waters he could keep the job if he enacted a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment, his attorney, David Axelrod, said yesterday. The firing was a surprise to Waters, Axelrod said. “Jonathan has not decided precisely what action he will take,” Axelrod said. “He intends to defend his good name in one way or another.” Ohio State fired Waters, 38, after...

A very entertaining and inspirational 6 minutes. Just wish I'd been there. Lucky the atheists weren't there with their lawyers to stop the show.

An Oregon-based ad agency has been generating national attention for its ads promoting Cover Oregon, The Beaver State’s the version of an Obamacare health insurance marketplace. The generally pointless ads cost taxpayers $3 million, reports Fox News. They feature ostensibly catchy musical numbers and have sort of a hipster, granola, outdoorsy vibe. They offer no clue what they are about until the very end, when the words “Cover Oregon” appear on the screen along with a website. One version of the ad also bothers to list a phone number. Now, North, the Portland-based agency, wants high school marching bands to...

A veteran member of the U.S. Army Band said he is facing retribution and punishment from the military for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his car, reading books written by conservative authors like Mark Levin and David Limbaugh, and serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at his promotion party. Master Sgt. Nathan Sommers, a 25-year Army veteran and conservative Christian based at Fort Myer in Washington, believes his outspoken opposition to gay marriage prompted higher-ups to take a closer look at his beliefs. The recipient of an Army Commendation Medal and a soloist at the funeral of former First Lady Betty Ford, Sommers...

There are few victories sweeter in life than that of young teenagers triumphing over organized mean-spirited adults in positions of seemingly absolute power. This is a story that comes out of my own home town of Gold Beach, Oregon. It pits the high school band, consisting of 15 teenagers ranging in age from 15 to 18, against the powerful local teacher's union that tried to shut the band down because their unpaid volunteer band director, who everybody agreed was doing a good job, did not possess an Oregon teaching credential. http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/duffy141.html

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration hit a sour note by canceling a traditional Marine Corps Band performance yesterday at the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Rocky Point, NY, blaming “sequestration” budget cuts.