Photo, left: DÔME DES INVALIDES, TOMB OF NAPOLEON I.  On 5 May 1821, Napoleon I passed away on the island of St. Helena, where he had been in exile since 1815. He was buried near a spring, in the shade of a few weeping willows, in the "valley of Geraniums". His remains stayed there until 1840. In 1840, King Louis-Philippe decided to transfer the Emperor's body. French sailors, under the command of the Prince of Joinville, brought his coffin to France aboard the ship "Belle Poule".
A state funeral accompanied the return of Emperor Napoleon I's ashes, which were transferred to Les Invalides on 15 December 1840 while the tomb was being built. The architect Visconti (1791-1853) was commissioned to make it in 1842 by King Louis-Philippe, who had extensive work carried out beneath the Dome, involving an immense excavation to create a space for the tomb. The body of Emperor Napoleon I was placed there on 2 April 1861.
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block A:  Sean Wilentz, Princeton, in re: Campaign 2016: apparent diminution of chances for Mr Trump; political affairs of Mrs Clinton. / Troubled Presidential Elections 1800, 1824, 1836, 1860 & Trump. @SeanWilentz, @Princeton University. (1 of 2)
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block B:  Sean Wilentz, Princeton, in re: Campaign 2016: apparent diminution of chances for Mr Trump; political affairs of Mrs Clinton. / Troubled Presidential Elections 1800, 1824, 1836, 1860 & Trump. @SeanWilentz, @Princeton University. (2 of 2)
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block C:  Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, NYU Law, in re: Supreme Court.  Mrs Clinton’s incompetence. (1 of 2)
Open Letter to Donald J. Trump.  Impeach Mrs Clinton.
. . . But not you. Instead of tackling substantive issues on the campaign trail, you have doubled down on your shameless efforts at self-promotion and self-justification. You have engaged in endless tweets that reveal a thin skin and an unstable psyche. You hired the lawyer Marc Kasowitz to write one of the dumbest demand letters in the history of defamation law to the New York Times, asking it to retract its story about your past sexual misconduct because, he bizarrely claimed, old stories cannot be true, even if they are. Though I’m no New York Times cheerleader, I found myself, along with millions of other Americans, cheering as the paper’s General Counsel, David McGraw, gave your lawyer the written drubbing that your bullying deserved.
As you make yourself the central campaign issue, you also reveal that you are unfit to hold office. In your praise of Vladimir Putin, you show a flagrant disregard of the constitutional limitations associated with the office of the Presidency, so much so that I joined with other Constitutional originalists to oppose your nomination because of your extravagant views of unilateral presidential power. In addition, you stoked fears that you are anti-Semitic when you ranted: “Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends and her donors.” These wild charges ignore the more serious case against Clinton. With each passing day, more powerful evidence emerges that key government officials, including President Obama and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, may have improperly taken part in blocking criminal prosecutions against Clinton by using kid-glove procedures. These behaviors stand in striking contrast to the FBI’s overzealousness in the failed prosecution of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell for far less serious offenses of supposed corruption—charges that were unanimously rejected this past June by the United States Supreme Court. / http://www.hoover.org/research/open-letter-trump
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block D: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, NYU Law, in re: Supreme Court.  Mrs Clinton’s incompetence. (2 of 2)
 
Hour Two
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block A:  Michael E Vlahos, Johns Hopkins, in re:   The World Island; the Bismarck and WW II. Capital ships are representational; Russia’s currently  sending a flotilla —a major battle cruiser and a huge carrier— to the Eastern Med proclaims for them the end of the Syrian war: ferocious firepower against rebels who have no defense, will flatten Aleppo.   These rebels are struggling without much support from anywhere [leastwise the US] ; everything is going against them.  Russians see that symbolism and ritual affirmation of their year-long deeds constitute a final step in winning. / Redeemer Nation Diary: Sink the Bismarck, 2016.
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block B:  Michael E Vlahos, Johns Hopkins, in re:   US done as the “master of Europe”?  Russians have a better grasp of ceremonial representation by large naval vessels than dos the US. We undervalue our capital ships, our carriers, don’t comprehend their value in promoting the authority of American presence and power. US has thrown away its [authority and the respect in which the world holds its navy].  Red Sea: Houthi rebels, using Iranian missiles, exact replica of Chinese, fire from truck on land tow the USS Mason and the Ponce [resupply and intell] and the San Antonio, which has Marines on board.  Also Nitze.   US sent an exact replica of the Missouri to Istanbul; capital ships need to be used as central to the [image] of American power.  / Redeemer Nation Diary: Sink the Bismarck, 2016.
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block C:  Gregory Copley, StrategicStudies director; GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs; & author, UnCivilization, in re:  Ethiopia, Egypt, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somaliland and the Battle for the Suez‑Red Sea. Lines of Communication
Ethiopia has an unstable govt since 2012 and an incipient rebellion by Oromos. Has Somaliland, Djibouti and South Sudanese support, also from China. (Pres Obama visited last year and alienated Ethiopians.)  Sixty major ethnic groups, of whom Oromo are the largest. Their unrest is due to widespread popular disenchantment with the Tigreans (6% of the population and largely in control over almost everything, incl all the seats in Parliament).  Most people unhappy with the autocracy, as the economy is stagnating, Then the leaders announced they’d expand the capital into adjacent territory with any consultation. On 9 Oct the govt imposed a state of emergency – first since the terrifying Derg – and thereby stimulated unrest. Mass arrest, no Internet, bans on everything. The expatriated Crown Council pleads for
Grans Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, near the Sudanese border to provide hydropower to Sudan by damming the Nile, which of course has much alarmed Egypt, Ethiopia has bit off more than it can chew.  Sisi bent over backwards to negotiate, but with no response Egypt reverts to earlier policies.  Eritrea. Djibouti: naval base there, while China is building a nearby military base.  China ahs contract to control the commercial port, and a separate contract to build a major Chinese naval base: direct result of Secy Kerry’s alienating and frightening the govt of Djibouti, which is allied to Ethiopia.
China bldg a massive network from Djibouti through to central Africa to link up with trade and  ship goods to Pakistan and thence China.
Port of Berbera.  Saudis and UAE had a big rift with . . .
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block D: Gregory Copley, StrategicStudies director; GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs; & author, UnCivilization, in re:  Ethiopia, Egypt, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somaliland and the Battle for the Suez‑Red Sea. Lines of Communication
Horn of Africa; Egypt, Saudi Arabia. Houthis fire Iranian anti-ship missiles from China. Suez _red Seal lines of communications Not good regionally, esp for Egypt’s commerce and its having recently doubled the width of the Suez Canal.  Saleh [Yemen]  was forced aside by US and Saudis and Gulf Cooperation Council.  Pres Obama’s view of democracy is at variance with others; this was not a triumph of democracy. Obama will move for direct physical intervention in Syria and in Yemen —can’t risk an expeditionary fore in to Sanaa, but perhaps intell to Saudis and . . . .  Wil Djibouti withdraw privileges for US, Saudis and UAE to use its defense [venues]?   If US DoD backs off . . . Bab al Mandaab:  Egypt owes a huge debt to Saudis so has to support it militarily, woolens nolens (mostly nolens);  and must have stable littorals to the Red Sea.  False-flag ops in Yemen; chemical attack. Eastern Med in flames with the Russian flotilla arriving.
 
Hour Three
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block A: Francis Rose, NationalDefenseWeek.com (WMAL) and francisrose.com, and now Channel 7 in Washington; and Channel 8 daily: "Government matters";  in re: Dept of Veterans Affairs; past misdeeds; Bob McDonald: “90% of the VA med centers have new leadership” under him.  But no one fired. Hunh?  People moved parallel from one medical center to another; jus t moving people from one location to another.  Yike: Tampa, Fla, character, Fogarty, who disgraced herself, moved; Harlingen (lowest in quality and falsified reports) moved to San Antonio.  Opaque structures so no one can see how it works. 
Pity the miserable patients.  Major transparency problem; Dr Peter Almanoff, special advisor, couldn’t identify which survey they’re using to claim all is well. Some patients get excellent care but apparently large numbers do not. 
Bible removed from the Chillicothe VA facility’s waiting room — “We’re secular”  —what??
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block B:  Francis Rose, NationalDefenseWeek.com (WMAL) and francisrose.com, and now Channel 7 in Washington; and Channel 8 daily: "Government matters";  in re: Army Talent Task Force. Transformation; Army wants soldiers to say what they want to do – enter info abt themselves—rather than ad hoc assignments; then can do relevant work, get smarter assignments and promotions.  Have 450K soldiers in regular Army, plus reserves.  Note Joint Strike Fighter Caucus in Congress: want more F35 s in this year’s Defense Appropriations Bill. 
John Batchelor and Francis Rose volunteer for the F22 caucus.   
TSA, airport screeners;  Enterprise Risk Management: DHS uses, and, e.g., how to do you screen someone for the pre-check security program?
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block C: Patrick Tucker, DefenseOne, in re: JIDO  (pron: jai-doh; Joint Improvised Device Organization); in Pentagon, digital tech in Mesopotamia is this forever war.  To see how IEDs are used.  Budget of $400mil; hope to understand how IEDs work, what threats they pose, et al.  Also much digital info transfer; recording, storing, sharing the info.  Catapult: put reports on google Earth by selecting fields.  
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block D:  Patrick Tucker, DefenseOne, in re: Pretend you have a division of tanks or that you’re prepared for an air strike:  Russians have in Syria  [Маскарад / masquerade] – creating life-sized balloon models of armor.  Rusbal? Co – Potemkin village. However, cannot fool hyperspectral imagery, but can at least eat up hours of analysis and be a big annoyance. 
 
Hour Four
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block A: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts.  Part IV of IV; segment 13 of 16.  The definitive biography of the great soldier-statesman by the New York Times bestselling author of The Storm of War—winner of the Grand Prix of the Fondation Napoleon 2014
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block B: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts.  Part IV of IV; segment 14 of 16. 
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block C: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts.  Part IV of IV; segment 15 of 16. 
Friday  21 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block D: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts.  Part IV of IV; segment 16 of 16.