Photo, above:  Vice-president Joseph Biden.  

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Guest-host: Francis Rose. Co-Host:  Gordon Chang

Saturday 905P Eastern Time:   Francis Rose and Gordon Chang,  in re: Gu Kai Lai, Bo Xilai: what to make of it all, and how much of the trial and sentencing is real, and how much is a show – just fake?

Saturday 920P Eastern Time:   Keith Fitz-Gerald, chief investment strategist for Money Map Press, & author, Fiscal Hangover: How to Profit from the New Global Economy, in re: QE3.  Will it be decided in Jackson Hole at the Fed mtg on 31 Aug? Bernanke will say a whole lotta nothing.  We've already seen its harbinger in Son of Twist; it'll be hundreds of billions, maybe a trillion. Drug addict needs to keep increasing his dosage; the hangover is a bear.  Cheap promises build; they write checks they know they can never cash. In 2013, or 2014 at latest, there'll be Hell to pay.  Isn’t the Fed suppose to be independent of the president?  In the last four Administrations the Fed has looked politically savvy. Next Fed mtg is Sept 12-13 in Washington; Bernanke wants time to check in w China, Mario Draghi, and the ECB. China will say that it hates this and Draghi says anything to make people happy. Traders talking about this in detail, bldg defensively vs QE3. Just learned that Soros and Paulsen are buying heavy into gold. Bernanke has the chance to go down as one of he greatest Fed heads in history by being truly independent; hasn’t done it yet, will probably look more like a political hack.  Investor can’t afford not to go along with the ride – if the mkt goes  off on a ear, you're left on the sidelines. Stick with large, globalized brands, big defensive plays. Own gold, metals. Bond yields may go negative before reversal, but avoid long-term fixed instruments.

Saturday 935P Eastern Time:  John Wohlstetter, Discovery Institute & author, Sleepwalking with the Bomb, in re: Unnerving acceleration of Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons technology. Iran is definitely weaponizing its nuclear materials; as PM Netanyahu said, you don't make ICBMs to deliver medical supplies. Nuclear materials: to go from medical to weapons-grade takes about a week. From uranium ore you have three tenfold shrinakges; from there can be put on a missiile - don't have the needed bombers - would have to have a plutonium bomb for their medium-range missile.  

Saturday 950P Eastern Time:    Dr. Stephen Blank, National Security Affairs, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College inn re: Russia’s recent military aggression (Syria) and new word that Putin says Russia will spend $720B on military aircraft.

Anti-Japan protests have been reported in several mainland cities, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Chengdu, in the wake of last week's landing on the disputed Diayou islands by activists from Hong Kong and Macau. Japan's Kyodo news agency said 2,000 people joined a rally in Shenzhen, where protesters sang the Chinese national anthem and held anti-Japan placards as they marched through the streets. Some angry demonstrators also ripped up a Japanese Flag and stomped on it.

Saturday 1005P (705P Pacific):  Francis Rose and Gordon Chang,  in re: presidential campaign & foreign policy

Saturday 1020P (720P Pacific):  Dr. Lori Handrahan, School of International Service, American University, in re: America’s national security endangered by pornography.  US is now the world's primary producer of child porn. Newspapers report that  5,200 names of Pentagon men leave their .mill addresses on porn sites; Sen Grassley asked why this wasn't investigated, was told, "It's not a priority for us." Is widespread among federal agencies; seems to be epidemic among US govt employees. Our tax money -  and those are natl security computers.  Operating now with impunity.  People with high security clearances are able to do this.  Cause of Action, an NGO in DC, has just filed a FOIA request for the State of Maine because massive funds for cleaning this up are missing. I was a lifelong registered Democrat until recently , when I deregistered recently out of concern on this matter: Pres Obama should be out front saying that there'll be zero tolerance for this - and he's not. 

Saturday 1035P (735P Pacific):  Charles Ortel, Newport Value Partners, in re: Europe and global economy issues. Massive debt, overleveraged; if there are any worker bees in Europe in August, they must see that the only way is shrinking the bloated public sector.  September - Holland: elections around the 11th; Dutch treat - they will not support funding the deficit-prone South. Spain: daily musical drama to refinance towering debt load. Germany:  not likely to refinance the profligate southerhn zone, Crescendo day by day in September, ad US wrestles with its own problem, and Israel calculate how much longer it can put up with this nut job Ahmadinejad. Top guys like together at swell dinners, but that's not working now.  US: transfer payments now around $3 trillion PA. No one, a Democrat  or Republican, has been able to say "We can't afford this any more.  I heard the last segment - if you're got govt people watching porn, don;t tell me we don;t have to any people on the payroll.  Merkel:  the problem is that we're not at 1981 where nominal interest rates were 16%; banks highly leveraged; the painful reset will cause many banks to need much more capital or painful restructuring. You gotta repay the principal eventually; property values way up from twenty years ago but not from ten years ago. Greek debt: no one knows what their debt is.   There's gonna be a flare-up in the Middle East. If Saudia has an Arab spring moment, sundry problems in China and elsewhere, then the bond vigilantes bet vs central banks and break them, the way Soros did in England.

Saturday 1050P (750P Pacific):  Richard Norton Smith, American historian, in re: Scuttlebutt that Obama might drop Joe Biden from ticket, replace him with HR Clinton, and historic precedent for same.

SENKAKU ISLANDS, Japan — A group of Japanese activists swam ashore and raised flags early Sunday on one of a group of islands at the center of an escalating territorial dispute with China. The Coast Guard in southern Japan’s Okinawa prefecture said nine or 10 activists had made an unauthorized landing on Uotsuri Island, part of the small archipelago known in Japan as Senkaku and in China as Diaoyu. The uninhabited islands surrounded by rich fishing grounds are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan.

Saturday 1105P (805P Pacific):   Major General Dale Meyerrose, USAF (ret.), & The Meyerrose Group (first Senate-confirmed Chief Information Officer, United States Intelligence Community), in re: Implications of China’s one-child policy on national security; and “cybergeddon” - the likelihood a country or other actor will stage a massive, crippling cyberattack.

Saturday 1120P (820P Pacific):  Rick Fisher, in re: new Chinese missile, DF41: can reach all of the continental US. China has blt 3000 mi of underground tunnels. Pentagon is radically underestimating (publicly) the numbers of missiles China has. As of August 2012, the Chinese PLA juggernaut is racing full steam ahead.

Saturday 1135P (835P Pacific):  Pamposh Raina, India Ink blog, New York Times, in re: cheapest tablet computer in the world. Akash 2: $21 (subsidized) for students; $78 in commercial form. Akash to be used with wifi. See: http://www.akashtablet.com/features.html

Specifications   Android OS 2.3 / Cortex A8, 800 Mhz Processor with HD Video Co Processor / 256 MB RAM / Storage: (Internal) 2GB Flash / (External) 2GB to 32GB Supported / Peripherals: 1 Standard USB Ports / Audio Out: 3.5mm jack / Display and Resolution: 7" Display with 800x480 pixels / Supported Document Formats: All Version Office Doc formats & many more / High Quality Video Streaming & HD Quality Video Playback / Input Devices: Resistive Touch Screen / Connectivity with GPRS & WiFi IEEE 802.11 a/b/g   /  Battery: Upto 180 minutes of battery, AC adaptor 200.240 volts

Saturday 1150P (850P Pacific):  Claude Barfield, AEI, in re: What to do about Huawei?  Security, trade, and technology

   

Saturday/Sun 1205A (905 Pacific):  The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition by Donald R. Hickey, 1 of 2

Saturday/Sun 1220A (920 Pacific):  The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict, Bicentennial Edition by Donald R. Hickey, 2 of 2

Saturday/Sun 1235A (935P Pacific): Rick Geddes, Cornell, prof of policy analysis & mgt, in re:  US Postal Service losses/defaults

Saturday/Sun 1250A  (950P Pacific):  Exeunt: Francis Rose and Gordon Chang.

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Music (using New York City broadcast hours)

9-hr: Pained Veil, Taking of Pelham, Persia, Pirates. 10-hr: District 9, Snow White and the Huntsmen, Crysis.  11-hr: Painted Veil, Pirates, Dexter.  midnight hour: Cowboys and Aliens, Dexter, Talking of Pelham.