Friday 9 August 2013

Air Date:

August 09, 2013

Photo, above: On forty-foot tall posters across Egypt: "Bye-bye, America!” "وداعا وداعا وأمريكا!"

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Hour One

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 1, Block A: Michael Auslin, AEI, in re:In a few days, the U.S. State Department undoubtedly will reopen all of the 22 U.S. embassies and posts it closed last weekend across North Africa and the Middle East. In response to intercepted al Qaeda communications discussing a potential attack, the Obama administration shuttered the diplomatic missions, most likely to avoid a repeat of the Benghazi disaster of 2012. The move was widely praised on both sides of the political aisle, and indeed, protecting American lives is the primary responsibility of the U.S. government. Yet amid the hosannas for the supposedly proactive response by the State Department, raising the drawbridges on nearly two dozen U.S. installations abroad sends a rather different message from simple prudence. It is an unmistakable sign of America’s shrinking presence both at home and abroad. The message is broad, but simple: Expect less. [more]

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 1, Block B: Nadia DAmouni, Reuters, in re: possibility of Blackberry taking itself private. BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY.O) (BB.TO ) is warming up to the possibility of going private, as the smartphone maker battles to revive its fortunes, several sources familiar with the situation said. Chief Executive Thorsten Heins and the company's board is increasingly coming around to the idea that taking BlackBerry private would give them breathing room to fix its problems out of the public eye, the sources said. "There is a change of tone on the board," one of the sources said on Thursday. No deal is imminent, however, and BlackBerry has not launched any kind of a sale process, the sources said. Even if it tried, BlackBerry could find it hard to come up with a buyer and the funding to go private. With the company still posting losses and bleeding subscribers, private equity firms and other buyers may not want to step up. The company's shares have fallen more than 19 percent this year. Its market value has fallen to $4.8 billion, from $84 billion at its peak in 2008. BlackBerry, which had been pinning its hopes for a turnaround on its new line of BlackBerry 10 devices, declined to comment. The sources

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 1, Block C: John Schiffman, Reuters, in re: Exclusive: U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate AmericansA secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans. [more]

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 1, Block D: Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re: Modern Journalism: Retyping press releases "This post is really about the monthly NOAA update of the solar cycle, but before I do that, I must note some really bad science journalism in connection with that solar minimum. This week NASA released a poorly written press release describing how the Sun’s magnetic field flips whenever it goes through solar maximum, the period when sunspot activity reaches its maximum. The article gave the incorrect impression that this 'flip' will be some grand, singular, and spectacular event, and when it happens the consequences to Earth could be significant. Then it buried this most important little detail to the article’s final paragraphs: 'The sun’s north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up,' says Scherrer. 'Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of Solar Max will be under way.' In other words, this 'flip' is already half over, and no one noticed. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of the Sun and the solar cycle should have . . . "  [more]

Hour Two

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 2, Block A: Kori Schake, Hoover & Shadow Government (Foreign Policy), in re: Vlad the Impaler There is nothing now that Putin seems to want that Obama can give him. Or, to put it differently, the things Putin wants Obama has already given him: a de facto veto on American policies, from Syria to missile defenses, and quiescence on Russia's authoritarian descent. The Obama administration has compromised a core U.S. interest -- the ability to take action unilaterally or with like-minded allies -- in return for Russian cooperation on second-order issues like Iran sanctions (which should be just one element of an Iran policy). Realists would never make that trade. In classic liberal fashion, Obama is constraining American power by rules and norms to which all states could be subjected. . . .

Moscow has said “no” to Saudi Arabia’s alleged proposal of a rich arms deal and protection of Russia’s gas interests in the Middle East in exchange for abandoning Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to Arab and European diplomats. The proposal of $15 billion in weapons contracts was allegedly made during the July 31 meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and influential intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Reuters reported.   Neither Moscow nor Riyadh has officially commented on the agenda of the talks, but a Thursday AFP report revealed new details of the negotiations.   According to an undisclosed European diplomat, Prince Bandar proposed the deal and told Putin that "whatever regime comes after" Assad will be "completely" in Riyadh’s hands. The Prince reportedly stated that if the deal was accepted, Saudi Arabia would not sign any contracts damaging Russian interests by allowing Gulf countries to transport its gas across Syria to Europe.   The terms included Moscow dropping its support of President Bashar Assad, as well as not opposing any future Security Council resolutions on Syria.   "President Putin listened politely to his interlocutor and let him know that his country would not change its strategy," a separate Arab diplomat told AFP.   Bandar bin Sultan then told Russian officials that the only option left in Syria is a military one – and that they should forget about the Geneva-2 international peace conference because the opposition would not attend, the source said. Efforts to bring about the conference – which has been put forth by the US and Moscow – have so far been fruitless, mainly because of the absence of unity within the opposition ranks. Russia and Saudi Arabia - which traditionally buys its military hardware from the US – have had a massive arms contract frozen since 2008. Back then, the sides agreed that Moscow would supply a huge assortment of equipment, including 150 T-90 tanks and more than 150 attack helicopters, to the Gulf state.   According to sources within Russian arms exporters, the status of the deal has not changed following the talks. The insider added that Russia has not received any offers to purchase weapons from Saudi Arabia.   "We know nothing about such intentions of the Saudi side," a senior source in military-technical cooperation told RIA Novosti news agency. Some Russian experts say Saudi Arabia acted as a US proxy in the alleged proposal, as it has been doing for the past two years of the Syrian conflict. “Any direct involvement in the region by either the US or any former European colonial powers is perceived as an affront. But with the given arrangement, any initiatives by the influential, authoritarian regional super power (and Saudi Arabia is undoubtedly that) are taken for granted,” political analyst Igor Khokhlov told RT. [more]

Photo, below: Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, general secretary of the National Security Council of Saudi Arabia, meeting in Moscow (RIA Novosti / Alexey Druzhinin)

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 2, Block B: Gretchen Morgenson, NYT, in re: Clawbacks in Word, Not Deed Clawbacks, or money returned by an employee committing financial improprieties, are gaining support among investors and companies — though examples are rare.

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 2, Block C: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, in re: Defining Ideas article, “The Dick Durbin Debit Card Fiasco In this piece, it's argued that a recent ruling in federal district court is sending tremors through an already roiled market: One of the great financial innovations of the 1990s was the now ubiquitous debit card. But its salad days may well be coming to an end. We have Dick Durbin to thank for that. His Durbin Amendment, nestled in Dodd-Frank, has led to all sorts of problems. Banks, for instance, have suffered huge capital losses . . . [more] (1 of 2)

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 3, Block D: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, in re: Defining Ideas article, “The Dick Durbin Debit Card Fiasco In this piece, it's argued that a recent ruling in federal district court is sending tremors through an already roiled market: One of the great financial innovations of the 1990s was the now ubiquitous debit card. But its salad days may well be coming to an end. We have Dick Durbin to thank for that. His Durbin Amendment, nestled in Dodd-Frank, has led to all sorts of problems. Banks, for instance, have suffered huge capital losses . . . [more] (2 of 2)

Hour Three

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 3, Block A: Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re: --Obama cancels summit meeting with Putin - The Washington Post 

--VIDEO: Obama on Putin, Snowden and the Olympics President Obama said in his press conference that Edward J. Snowden’s asylum offer is only the latest in a long list of actions forcing the administration to question its relations with Russia.

US president trash-talks Russian president President Barack Obama said Russian President Vladimir Putin has the slouch of “the bored kid in the back of the classroom” even as he said the two leaders “don’t have a bad personal” relationship. Obama’s commented today at a White House news conference shortly after “two plus two” talks in Washington between U.S. and Russian foreign and defense ministers intended to bridge differences on issues including missile defense, the Syria conflict and human rights. After Russia granted temporary asylum to Edward Snowden, the fugitive former U.S. security contractor, Obama canceled a planned stop in Moscow for a one-on-one meeting with Putin tied to next month’s Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg. Obama said today that, given “a number of emerging differences” it is “probably appropriate for us to take a pause” and to reassess the relationship. [more] (1 of 2)

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 3, Block B: Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re: --Obama cancels summit meeting with Putin - The Washington Post 

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 3, Block C: Christopher Harmer, Institute for the Study of War, in re: Required Sorties and Weapons to Degrade Syrian Air Force ISW has produced a technical study of the requirements to conduct a limited strike to degrade the Syrian Air Force, excluding the Integrated Air Defense System (IADS). It is not a recommendation for or against such a strike, nor does it evaluate the possible effects of such a strike on the regime, the rebels, or the various states and non-state actors supporting both sides. study on website.

Yesterday Senator John McCain submitted to the Congressional Record a statement on the situation in Syria, General Dempsey’s recent letter on military options, and our study assessing the requirements for a limited military strike on the Syrian regime’s air force. In the statement, Senator McCain said: “For a serious accounting of a realistic limited military option in Syria, I would strongly recommend a new study that is being released today by the Institute for the Study of War, or ISW, which was overseen by General Jack Keane, the author of the surge strategy that enabled us to turn around the war in Iraq. This new study confirms what I and many others have long argued: That it is militarily feasible for the United States and our friends and allies to significantly degrade Assad’s air power at relatively low cost, low risk to our personnel, and in very short order.”

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 3, Block D: Emma Rosenblum,Workplace: Breaking Bad's Management Lessons The leadership strategies behind Walter White's meth empire:Walt’s success is attributable, for the most part, to the superiority of his product. His “blue meth” is the best on the market, 99.1 per cent pure, and he’s able to command higher prices than his competitors. Still, in order to rise he’s had to commit multiple murders, including a vehicular homicide and the assassination of his boss with a wheelchair bomb—not the standard corporate trajectory. As a strategist, though, Walt has often proceeded by the book. At his operation’s make-or-break moment, when his partners want to quit and sell the business out from under him, he makes an empire-saving pivot that would win plaudits from Michael Porter, the Harvard Business School professor who gave us the classic “five forces” template for analyzing competition.

“Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work?” Walter White hisses to his wife at the midpoint of the most-quoted monologue in AMC’s (AMCX) Breaking Bad. “A business big enough that it could be listed on the Nasdaq goes belly up. Disappears!” A stock exchange reference might seem out of place on a show about an Albuquerque meth king, but Breaking Bad, which begins airing its final eight episodes on Aug. 11, has always focused on the financial rewards of breaking the law. Over the course of the series, Walt (played by Bryan Cranston), an overqualified, milquetoast chemistry teacher who began cooking meth to pay for lung cancer treatments, has built his drug operation into an international powerhouse. And through Walt’s increasingly unhinged management style, Breaking Bad creator and executive producer Vince Gilligan has offered a riveting critique of professional leadership.

Hour Four

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 4, Block A: Athenia Torpedoed: The U-boat Attack That Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic by Francis M. Carroll (1 of 4)

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 4, Block B: Athenia Torpedoed: The U-boat Attack That Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic by Francis M. Carroll (2 of 4)

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 4, Block C: Athenia Torpedoed: The U-boat Attack That Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic by Francis M. Carroll (3 of 4)

Friday 9 August 2013 / Hour 4, Block D: Athenia Torpedoed: The U-boat Attack That Ignited the Battle of the Atlantic by Francis M. Carroll (4 of 4)

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