John's Opinions

This is the tenth year of Blue Light Christmas. Since this year's version launched it has been very successful, with more and more listeners tuning in everyday. I suspect that this trend will continue on up to Christmas Day. On December 26th regular programming will resume and Blue Light Christmas will be finished for another season.

I have been busy adding new tracks to the Blue Light playlist. I like to make a few new additions each season in order to keep the playlist fresh. To be sure, all of the old favorites and classic will still be there too however.

So far this year, I have added additional tracks by John Stevens, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Von Monroe, and Nat King Cole. I will continue to add more as time goes by.

I hope that everybody will be able to tune in. Blue Light Christmas has become a real tradition on the Internet.

Blue Light Christmas is now on the air. This is the tenth annual edition of what has become a real Christmas music tradition on the Internet. Click here to listen.

This is a great article by Tunku Varadarajan. Everyone should read it. The author takes on the practice of political correctness when it comes to Islam which is preventing our society from adequately dealing with Islamic extremism and terrorism.

To be sure, most Muslims are peaceful, but on the other hand, too many are not.

Even the politically correct F.B.I. estimates that of 2,000 mosques in the U.S., 10% preach jihad. There are said to have been at least 14,396 acts of Islamic terrorism (if we include the latest blast in Peshawar, Pakistan) since the World Trade Center atrocity; more people are killed by Islamists each year than were killed in all 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition; more civilians were killed by Muslim extremists on 9/11 than in the 36 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. Then let us not forget the recent acts in Bali, Madrid, London, Mumbai, Thailand, India, Somalia, Nigeria, the Philippines and almost on a daily basis in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. And yet, it is Muslims who are offended when we raise these facts.

(Link)

In case you missed it in the above quote, the FBI has estimated that 10% of the mosques in the USA "preach jihad." Jihad is the sort of thing that lead to 9/11. It is becoming more obvious all the time that it was jihad that lead to the Fort Hood massacre, which of course our poor excuse for a president even refuses to call terrorism. But of course Obama and company aren't doing anything about this because they don't want to seem politically incorrect. It is an absolute outrage.

Here is another shocker along these same lines.

According to a poll conducted in 2006, a quarter of British Muslims believe that the terrorist bombs in the London subway in 2005--which killed 56 people--were a legitimate response to the "war on terror."

(Link)

This is what we are dealing with folks. We have a major religion in which a significant minority believe that terroristic acts are justified, but woe be it to anyone who has the temerity to point this out.

In my opinion, as long as Barack Obama sits in the White House, the war against Islamic terror is doomed. Heck, he even refuses to use the word "war on terror." In effect, with Obama around the terrorists have already won.

Obama's Justice Department as we know has decided to try Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other terrorists in New York, thus dignifying them and giving them a convenient platform to spew their hate. 9/11 was an act of war against this country if I ever saw one, yet rather than trying Mohammed and others in a military tribunal where they belong, they are going to be paraded around in New York like they were some kind of celebrity. I wonder how many millions of dollars this will cost the American taxpayer. These guys will lawyer up (with free lawyers by the way) and stretch this thing out virtually forever, thereby delaying indefinitely the justice that they so sorely deserve.

There is only one way to fix this dilemma. We have got to clean out that rat's nest in the White House. Believe me my friend, 2012 cannot come soon enough. Obama has turned out to be the worst thing that has ever happened to this country. I only hope and pray that he will not have totally destroyed this once great country before we can get him out of there in the next election.

The tenth annual edition of my Internet Christmas radio station, a Blue Light Christmas, will be launched on Thanksgiving Day. Blue Light Christmas has become a real Internet tradition and it is enjoyed by thousands every Christmas season. If you haven't tried it yet, be sure to tune in. This year I plan to make it even better than ever. It specializes in classic Christmas tracks form the 40's, 50's, and 60's.

I upgraded my PC recently to Windows 7 Professional. The upgrade went pretty smoothly and as expected. Since I had been running XP, I had to do a clean install. First I backed up all of my files and settings to an external hard drive, then after I finished the install I copied the settings and files back again. Since my computer turned out to have a Windows experience index of 4.6, I am able to run all features in Windows 7 including the Aero interface without any problems. Actually my score would have been even better if it weren't for my graphics card. Everything else was in the six range. I was a bit surprised that my graphics card only scored 4.6, although 4.6 is acceptable. It is an ATI Radion 3470 with 256 MB of dedicated memory. I guess that I should have gone for a card with 512 MB, but that's water under the bridge now.

Anyway, my system seems to be very fast, even faster than XP was, and that's with Aero enabled. Startup is a bit faster and shutdown is much faster, so I am really happy about that.

As far as the Windows 7 interface goes, it takes some getting used to but it is starting to grow on me. At first I didn't like the new start menu, and the fact that you are not able to revert to the classic start menu as you could with XP, but after some tweaking I can live with it.

I had two software titles that I had used for years which are not compatible with Windows 7. Forte Agent 4 and Cool Edit Pro 2.1 won't run on Windows 7, even in the compatibility mode. That's too bad. I especially miss Cool Edit. To upgrade to a compatible version which is now called "Adobe Audition," it would have cost me about $300, so I think I will pass on that. Instead, I am evaluating an alternative, Goldwave, and so far I am satisfied with it but I have not decided if I want to make it my permanent WAV editor or not.

This is a screen shot of my new desktop using the Aero interface.

They have fought to preserve our freedoms. Without them, this would be a very different country right now, or perhaps we wouldn't even have a country by now.

Today is the day we should all pay our veterans proper respect

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taught Americans much-needed lessons in the valor and willingness to sacrifice of the 2.3 million men and women who have donned uniforms on active duty or in the reserves.

It has dawned that all have volunteered in service for the rest of us at home, risking health and life and often losing one or the other. It has dawned that we would be nowhere without them.

If there is a veterans parade in your area today, attend it and show your respect for these fine individuals, many of whom have sacrificed so much to keep us free.

Hopefully, on this Veterans Day we Americans will realize that that is much more that holds us together than what keeps us apart. Whether we are conservative, moderate or liberal, or Republican or Democrat, we should all join in this celebration of our veterans.

Well, we have had two straight days of shootings. Today it was a man in Orlando, Florida going on a shooting spree in a downtown office building. Six were shot and one was tragically killed. (Link) News reports are saying that the shooter was having financial problems. But aren't millions of Americans having financial problems right now, but how many go out and shoot at innocent people?

At least the shooter is in custody and presumably he will be facing severe consequences for his actions. It doesn't look like this shooting had anything to do with terrorism however. But I'm not so sure about the shooting that happened at Fort Hood yesterday. (Link)

In yesterday's shooting, the shooter called out a phrase in Arabic just before he started his rampage. It is alleged that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had openly praised suicide bombers in the past. He was known to be a very disgruntled person.

Doesn't that mean that Hasan himself seems qualified to be considered a terrorist? It may well be that yesterday's shooting might have been another terrorist attack upon this country. Even if there was only one shooter, remember that even one person acting alone can still be a terrorist.

I have long suspected that 9/11 would not be the last terrorist attack to hit this country. It was only a question of when, not if.

This latest incident should be a reminder to everyone that we are still living in dangerous times. It is more obvious now that we will have to continue diligence against terrorism indefinitely. It is a sad but real reality.

This is good.

HIGH SCHOOL - 1958 vs. 2008

Scenario 1:

Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck's gun rack.

1958 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.

2009 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers..

Scenario 2:

Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.

1958 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.

2009 - Police called and SWAT team arrives -- they arrest both Johnny and Mark. They are both charged with assault, terrorist threats and both expelled even though Johnny started it and Mark was just defending himself.

Scenario 3:

Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.

1958 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal's office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.

2009 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The school gets extra money from the state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario 4:

Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

1958 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.

2009 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist is told by Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario 5:

Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school..

1958 - Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock..

2009 - The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario 6:

Pedro fails high school English.

1958 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.

2009 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state.. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario 7:

Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.

1958 - Ants die.

2009 - ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents -- and all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny's dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario 8:

Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1958 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.

2009 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy.

I saw this in a usenet posting. I hope that the poster doesn't mind if I reproduce it here.

And he wets his pants too. LOL.

I hope it's not true. I have been enjoying this so-called war between Fox news and the White House.

FishbowlDC scoops that Fox News SVP Michael Clemente met with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs this morning and the two reached what some are calling a "truce" in the ongoing and very public war of words between the Obama administration and the news network.

Maybe the White House has finally realized that their clumsy attempt to take on Fox News has backfired. It has only resulted in increased publicity for FNC and higher ratings for a channel which was already beating it's competition hands down.

It's so funny that the White House was calling Fox news "biased" yet they didn't ever let out so much as a whimper about MSNBC, which is the most biased news channel of all and which makes Fox News look like a picnic by comparison.

Much more than ever we need news media that can keep the politicians honest and responsible. Obama and company have told so many lies about their policies, yet most of the MSM gives them a free pass. There is only Fox News and a very few print outlets, plus talk radio out there to try to apply journalistic standards to an administration that tries to bully and intimidate anyone who dares to disagree with them and tell the truth.

This is all about politics and the fact that Obama is too thin skinned to take any legitimate criticism. With CNN and MSNBC, plus the broadcast networks in their hip pocket, I guess that the White House believed that FNC would be an easy target. Oh how they were wrong. Score it Fox News 1, White House 0.