Probably the easiest way to learn  how to program java  is to run though a
set of programming  tasks designed to teach you the basics as you go though.

I found for me that doing a course in Java gave me the motivation to
learn it, and being stubborn lead me to learn more things in my spare time.

The Object Oriented part  of Java requires you to bend your brain the
most, to truly understand. However if you are stuborn and work hard it
will finaly click.

This list is a good place to ask basic questions on your path, the java
tutorials on java.sun.com is a great place to find examples while the
book "Thinking in Java" is a free web book which explains most things in
a easy to understand, yet excelent mannor (and better yet it is free and
online so search for it).