Photo: Long March 5
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 1, Block A: John Tamny, RealClearPolitics, et al.; in re: Why heavily taxing rich people, who have spare capital to invest in risky projects, redounds to the disadvantage of all the rest of us.  Exhibits: Bezos in Amazon, commercial space, the Washington Post (and brought it back from the dead), and multiple other projects.  Carlos Slim revived the New York Times.  It was Bill Gates who put a spare $150 million in to the failed Apple and thereby resuscitated it.   
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 1, Block B: John Tamny, RealClearPolitics, et al.; in re: Why heavily taxing rich people, who have spare capital to invest in risky projects, redounds to the disadvantage of all the rest of us.   In other words, don’t overtax the filthy rich.
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 1, Block C: Russell Berman, Hoover, in re: Chancellor Merkel’s words of congratulations to Pres Trump on his election are charming but sound like a sort of tongue-lashing.  Note the profound differences between the German and the US constitutions: US starts with the premise that humans are fundamentally free and society derives its [social] power from the common consent of the citizenry; whereas the German constitution, Kantian, holds that the state is the source and repository of power, that citizens must follow the laws and behave themselves for the state to sanction their activities. 
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 1, Block D: Russell Berman, Hoover, in re:  . . . German and US constitutions.   The two have more in common than in conflict – both are entirely democratic, yet Americans start from liberty, while Kant and the very troubled Twentieth Century history of Germany cause Germans to cleave to state power and stability.  . . .  
 
Hour Two
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 2, Block A:  Michael Vlahos, Johns Hopkins, in re:  Russia’s current Zapad 17 military exercises spotlight its capability to enter the Baltics and sort of bring them back in to the (Soviet) fold. In NATO, where members guess that Russia probably won’t want to take Paris and London, the govts are on the phone screaming at the US to create a ceasefire.  Meanwhile Poland will be blaming France; France will blame the US.  The US will be struggling to bring in arms and vehicles, but that’s all weeks away and thus irrelevant.
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 2, Block B:  Michael Vlahos, Johns Hopkins, in re: . . .  NATO survive?  [response]
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 2, Block C:  Richard A Epstein, Chicago Law and NYU Law; Hoover; in re:  US national health care.
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 2, Block D: Richard A Epstein, Chicago Law and NYU Law; Hoover; in re:  US national health care.
 
Hour Three
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 3, Block A: Tzvi  Kahn, FDD, in re: Iran’s compliance or not with the 2015 JCPOA.  Federika Mogherini, EU foreign minister, has gushed that the IAEA is in compliance with the JCPOA. Not only has the IAEA never reported Iranian compliance with the JCPOA; it’s not even authorized to certify it.  . . . Tillerson says that Iran is “technically in compliance.” (What does that mean?) McMaster agrees with Zvi.   . . . Iran refuses to give IAEA access, so it’s impossible for anyone to know what’s been or is being done.
The electrical plant north of Teheran has assemblies that are pertinent to nuclear weapons dvpt. Iran has a 130-ton cap on heavy water; IAEA says Ian had excess heavy water and shipped to Oman – which is simply storing it for Iran, who still owns it and is storing it overseas.
Nikki Haley, US amb to the UN: How can we kow if it’s complying when inspectors aren’t allowed to go where they're supposed to?
Over the years, they’ve had some access; e.g., partial access to Parchin – where the IAEA found traces of uranium, was engaging in nuclear weaponization activities there. From then on, Iran has refused all access.   JCPOA: “Any [one] significant violation of the accord can [spark] reissuance of all sanctions.” An all-or-nothing clause; since even one violation can engender total end of the agreement,  UN and others are afraid to point out any violations. [“Technically, an Iranian refusal to grant access to suspicious locations constitutes a violation of the JCPOA only if the IAEA formally requests such access. In this case, however, an IAEA official acknowledged that the agency had declined to issue such a request because it fears that Washington would use an Iranian refusal as an excuse to abandon the JCPOA.”]
Sunset clauses are among the most serious  flaws in the agreement.   Iran can comply with the deal and still get nuclear weapons: on expiry of the clauses, Iran may legally start stockpiling or buying nukes.   
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 3, Block B:  Tzvi  Kahn, FDD, in re: Iran’s compliance or not with the 2015 JCPOA.  
http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/tzvi-kahn-iran-is-not-in-technical-compliance-with-the-jcpoa/  Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared on Sunday that Iran is in “technical compliance” with the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). This assertion ignores multiple Iranian violations of the letter of the accord. It overlooks the lack of transparency in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) reporting on Tehran’s nuclear conduct. It sidesteps the agency’s failure to receive access to military sites where nuclear weaponization activities may have occurred. And it contradicts the assessments of other Trump administration officials.  . . . 
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 3, Block C:  Andrea Wulf: The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 3, Block D:  Andrea Wulf: The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World
 
Hour Four
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 4, Block A:  Jeff Bliss, Pacific Watch, in re: Jerry Brown calls his opponents “troglodytes.” [In full disclosure, editor here loves caves and aspires to live in one.]   . .  California will build the slowest bullet train on the planet – slower than air travel.  And still bldg a spur to: nowhere.  San Diego and Hep A outbreak that’s reached Los Angeles and Santa Cruz; vector seems to be homeless people.  UC SAN Diego will be hosting HH the Dalai Lama as a commencement speaker. Beijing having a kitten.  Lots of Chinese nationals studying in the UC system.
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 4, Block B:  Jeff Bliss, Pacific Watch, in re:  On to Berkeley: an endangered species – Republicans! Didn't they call hazmat teams when the found a Wall Street Journal on a bench? . . .  Will get $300K to help pay for security when protests require a lot of police and city-provided security. Back to the City: housing is so expensive in San Francisco that people are moving to Sacramento – “like drunken millionaires throwing around vast sums; nice for the economy but tearing up the social structure.”  Sacramento sort of exploding with overage from Silicon Valley.   Nancy Pelosi shouted down by young protestors – want open borders, full amnesty.  Pelosi stood her ground for a good half-hour before she threw up her hands, threw in the towel.   Football: brain injuries.  New SF stadium is so unpopular that tix are now $17 (sometimes $14 for an NFL game) – in midday can be dangerously hot; parking pries are confiscatory and staff are rude.  Movie attendance is ‘way, ‘way down. Studios blame everyone but themselves. 
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 4, Block C:  Nick Bunker, Empire on the Edge
Friday  22 September 2017 / Hour 4, Block D:  Nick Bunker, Empire on the Edge