Radio, Aug. 13: Cuba Libre?

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, DenverTo listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Cuba libre," freedom for the long-oppressed islanders, was a slogan in the Caribbean over a century ago. It's been a mere hope for the past half-century, as communist dictator Fidel Castro has ruled Cuba as one vast prison camp -- aided by his brother Raul and the dead, semi-deified Che Guevara, and abetted by much of the mainstream media.

But now at last, with the ailing (perhaps already deceased?) Fidel having relinquished power to Raul, and the Latin American power equation in flux as Venezuela cozies up to Iran, freedom for the Cuban people takes on lively new possibilities.

"Backbone Radio with John Andrews" looks at the possibilities this Sunday. Humberto Fontova of New Orleans, Cuban-born and the author of Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant, returns to the show with an update. Jay Ambrose, columnist of the Rocky Mountain News, tells how his boyhood awe of Castro turned to revulsion. I hope you'll be listening.

** We'll also look at the colliding trends of murderous Islamic theocracy and weary Western secularism, with two men experienced in watching the spiritual weather. Gino Geraci, a Denver pastor active in world missions, who recently had me on his KRKS weekday show, now visits my show in return. Douglas Gresham, stepson of the great C. S. Lewis, checks in as well.

** And if it's back to school season, it must also be "trap the teacher time" in Colorado's 176 local school districts -- with the CEA teacher union boosting its membership in August so the political warchest is maximized for Democrat campaigns in November. Heather Reams joins me from Washington DC to talk about the Association of American Educators, an alternative, apolitical group that professional-minded teachers can join.

Tune in from 5-8pm this Sunday, August 13, on 710 KNUS in Denver and 710knus.com around the world. Call in with your two-cents at 303-696-1971. Or comment by email, during the show or right now, at backboneradio@aol.com.

There's nothing else quite like Backbone Radio, the most principled, most patriotic, most faith-based, most Colorado-proud spot on the dial. Tune in for another lively Sunday evening of fact, opinion, and insight.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Does a political radio road trip to Washington DC sound good for November 13-16? I'm teaming up with KNUS newsman Bill Jones to host a Colorado safari in the nation's capital just after Election Day. Bill's website, AndawayWego.net, has details. Book now, space is limited.

Radio, Aug. 6: Israeli Ambassador Calling

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, DenverTo listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ------------------------------------------- Links for our 8/6 guests include www.aifl.org for Ambassador Uri Bar-Ner, http://climatesci.atmos.colostate.edu for Roger Pielke Sr., and www.freepeoplefreemarkets.org for Paul Prentice. The Colorado corporate campaign against TABOR nationally is linked here. ------------------------------------------- How is the morale in Tel Aviv as the war enters its fourth week? Will the Turks contribute peacekeepers in Lebanon after Israel's drive against Hezbollah is over? What does Turkey's success as a secular Muslim state tell us about a possible better future for Islam as a whole?

Ambassador Uri Bar-Ner, former Israeli envoy to Turkey and my friend from a 2004 Mideast trip, checks in live from Tel Aviv by satellite phone for our August 6 show. We'll ask him these questions and more.

"Backbone Radio with John Andrews" invites you to listen and join the conversation this Sunday from 5-8pm on 710 KNUS. We don't buy into the neutrality of some, and the hesitancy of others, in the hot war with Iran's terrorist proxy. We're huge admirers of Israel's backbone during the past month (and the past 60 years). Agree?

** Jim Spencer, Denver Post columnist, may not agree. That's okay, he's always welcome in the studio anyway. We'll get Jim's peppery take on everything from Dick Lamm to Qana to Baja, attempting to straighten him out where needed.

** Rosemary Jenks of Numbers USA, a leading immigration reform group, thinks Baja is sending too many of its people to El Norte. We'll hear if she agrees with Dems that Colorado's new law on illegal aliens is "just wonderful, end of subject."

** Roger Pielke Sr., CU climatologist, will tell us why the global warming panic is unwarranted. His work, predictably overlooked by the MSM, was highlighted in June by the Post's David Harsanyi, who had a good related piece this week.

** All this plus a strong dose of economic truth from CU's Paul Prentice, instructor for the Independence Institute liberty course we've told you about before. With leading Colorado business groups trashing TABOR nationwide -- corporate socialism in full flower -- that dose is sorely needed.

Tune in from 5-8pm this Sunday, August 6, on 710 KNUS in Denver and 710knus.com around the world. Call in with your two-cents at 303-696-1971. Or comment by email, during the show or right now, at backboneradio@aol.com.

There's nothing else quite like Backbone Radio, the most principled, most patriotic, most faith-based, most Colorado-proud spot on the dial. Tune in for another lively Sunday evening of fact, opinion, and insight.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

Radio, July 30: Is it World War Three?

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, DenverTo listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ All of us at 710 KNUS invite you out to a Friday night radio party on July 28, today, when syndicated host Hugh Hewitt appears live in Denver. It's at the Radisson Southeast, Parker & 225, doors open at 6pm and everyone is welcome. Your smile is your ticket.

This kicks off our 710 Townhall speaker series, with another good one coming up next month. Hugh Hewitt's warmup act on Friday will be none other than Bob Beauprez, Republican candidate for governor. Be there if you can.

Hugh and Bob agree with me, I'll bet, that Israel's current battle is no mere border incident but part of a struggle for the survival of liberty (and yes, the survival of America itself), on a global scale that some are calling World War Three. The determination of Islamic fascism to destroy us is just that serious, I'm convinced.

"Backbone Radio with John Andrews," coming up Sunday night the 30th, will dig further into this vital question. Dr. Neil Dobro, chairman of Americans Against Terrorism and a leader in Colorado's Jewish community, joins me in studio with the latest from his sources over in the Middle East. I hope you'll be listening.

There's so much more to cover, our three hours on the air hardly scratch the surface. My other guests this week include...

** Ken Blackwell, the Ohio secretary of state who recently won his GOP primary for governor and is now on a roll to become the highest ranking African-American in elected office anywhere.

** Brian Davidson, Republican running statewide for the CU Board of Regents, and Terrence Moore, the former Marine who runs Colorado's top-scoring charter school -- where teens study classics and like it. You want fresh ideas on education, these guys have'em.

** And to wish our state a happy 130th birthday in style, Tom Noel, Colorado historian extraordinaire, chimes in with yarns and lore ahead of Statehood Day, August 1.

Tune in from 5-8pm this Sunday, July 30, on 710 KNUS in Denver and 710knus.com around the world. Call in with your two-cents at 303-696-1971. Or comment by email, during the show or right now, at backboneradio@aol.com.

There's nothing else quite like Backbone Radio, the most principled, most patriotic, most faith-based, most Colorado-proud spot on the dial. Tune in for another lively Sunday evening of fact, opinion, and insight.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

Radio, July 23: Jihad martyr's daughter now leads Arabs for Israel

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, DenverTo listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Mideast in flames as violent passions seek Israel's extinction. Political battle lines drawn here over laws and elections. And the pen still mightier than the sword in shaping history, even in this era of rockets and nukes.

"Backbone Radio with John Andrews" will range across all those topics in our July 23 show, Sunday evening on 710 KNUS in Denver. America without apologies, America with steel in her spine, is our beat. Your ear and mind are our marketplace. Don't miss this show!

** We'll look deeper into the roots and aims of Islamic fascism and jihad. Nonie Darwish, daughter of a jihadi martyr in Gaza and now the head of Arabs for Israel, will be my guest. So will Joel Rosenberg, best-selling author and former aide to Prime Minister Netanyahu.

** We'll explore domestic issues from Bush's stem-cell veto to a suburban shootout among Colorado Republicans. County-commissioner rivals Bernie Zimmer, Jim Dyer, and Greg McKnight will join me in studio. So will Backbone blogger Krista Kafer, arch-foe of the DeGette bill.

** We'll talk with radio host Bill Bennett about his new patriotic history textbook... and with two recent graduates of the Claremont Institute program for young conservative writers, Californian Joey Tartakovsky and Ohioan Carolyn Garris.

Tune in from 5-8pm this Sunday, July 23, on 710 KNUS in Denver and 710knus.com around the world. Call in with your two-cents at 303-696-1971. Or comment by email, during the show or right now, at backboneradio@aol.com.

There's nothing else quite like Backbone Radio, the most principled, most patriotic, most faith-based, most Colorado-proud spot on the dial. Tune in for another lively Sunday evening of fact, opinion, and insight.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

Radio, July 16 : One cheer maybe

Join us on radio every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, DenverTo listen online from anywhere, click 710knus.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Hours after we finished our last show, the Colorado legislature finished its special session on immigration. The result fell far short of three cheers -- but since the state will now be a little less welcoming for illegal aliens, the verdict from Backbone is one cheer maybe.

Bottom line, majority Democrats helped themselves politically a lot more than they helped law-abiding citizens concerned about this Mexican invasion. They gave Gov. Owens some of what he wanted -- but did nothing on proof of citizenship for voting, or on preventing Supreme Court mischief with future ballot issues, the low blow that started this summer brawl.

Columnists Al Knight of the Denver Post and David Kopel of the Rocky Mountain News will be my guests this Sunday on "Backbone Radio with John Andrews" to analyze what happened and what's next. You are invited to listen in and join in.

** Kopel will also report on the UN gun-grab conference which ended in failure (hooray) earlier this month in New York. Here's his Volokh blog post about that.

** How dangerous is the Mideast powderkeg right now? Is North Korea for real? What would Reagan do? I'll ask his first national security adviser, Richard V. Allen, who now lives in Denver.

** With two local Democrats exploiting Terri Schiavo's death in their congressional races, Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review will discuss "The Party of Death," his hard-hitting new book about the Dems and the life issue.

** Plus an update on the privately funded school voucher plan recently launched by Colorado Catholics -- I'll talk with educator Dick Thompson and businessman John Harpole.

Tune in from 5-8pm this Sunday, July 9, on 710 KNUS in Denver and 710knus.com around the world. Call in with your two-cents at 303-696-1971. Or comment by email, during the show or right now, at backboneradio@aol.com.

There's nothing else quite like Backbone Radio, the most principled, most patriotic, most faith-based, most Colorado-proud spot on the dial. Tune in for another lively Sunday evening of fact, opinion, and insight.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS