Photo, above: In Fiorello LaGuardia's district; see Edward W Hayes, criminal defense attorney par excellence, on the buildings's collapse, Park and 117th.   Rao's is a southern Italian restaurant founded in 1896 and located at 455 East 114th Street (at Pleasant Avenue) in East Harlem, New York City, with a sister restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The restaurant was started in 1896 by Charles Rao, who moved with his parents from Italy to the United States. He bought a small shop in Italian Harlem, once a very large Italian-American community, and ran the restaurant until his death in 1909. Louis Rao took over the business. He was seen by many as a very suave man. He had his hair cut at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and wore many fancy suits. Current co-owner Frank Pellegrino describes those days as "the days of big Cadillacs and usually convertibles." He was much more conservative in behavior and looks and refined the cuisine into a simpler Italian menu, with the help of "Aunt Jake." After Vincent Rao's death in 1999, the restaurant was taken over by Frank Pellegrino, Anna Pellegrino Rao's nephew, and Ronald Straci, another close relative. Anna Pellegrino Rao refined the menu even more with the help of Vincent and she is the source of the menu's identity today.

Harlem Bespoke broke the original story on the eBay charity auctions at Rao's back in December (which received over 29 bids and over $3,000 for charity), and now the Wall Street Journal reports on a second, similar event. So Rao's, the 100 year-old restaurant in the former Italian Harlem section of Pleasant Avenue, is currently selling a dinner reservation for four on July 27th, 2010 to benefit the National Italian American Foundation. The legend goes that reservations are so difficult to get that even Madonna was turned away at some point. Former President Bill Clinton had to "loan" a table from a patron to get a chance to eat at this East Harlem institution. The restaurant is booked for the entire year, so this new charity auction, with bids starting at $5,000, is a way to secure a table if you have deep pockets. If competing with others is not your thing, the four-person meal can be yours for the "buy-now" price of $20,000. See more on eBay: LINK. Read more details in the Wall Street Journal: LINK. Photo by Ulysses.  [Easier to get a reservation at Per Se.  Long ago, when this neighborhood was almost entirely Italian, on the saint's day, the stature of the saint was carried along all the streets on the shoulders of eight men. --ed]

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-hosts: Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal editorial board.  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents. 

Hour One

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 1, Block A: Devin Nunes, CA-22, & KMJ radio in Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley, in re: California Ninth Circuit: Aqueducts and big dams; Endangered Species Act: the Delta smelt is said to be threatened (not endangered, and the smelt are food for the salmon. Once in a while a pump catches a smelt.  Today, a biological opinion given so bad that it was thrown out by a lower Federal Court; today was reinstated by the Ninth Circuit – during the driest year in a century in California. Lose tens of thousands of jobs; food will come from elsewhere. Bankruptcies.  We get rainfall from November to March; built an infrastructure to hold water up to five years if and only if  you move the water around (i.e., use the pumps). Situation is now so dire that not only the farms are out of water, but so are whole cities.   Pres Obama visited here a month ago in the dry fields – blamed the lack of water on global warming and climate change. "We'll have to get used to it. The feds will pay for dead cows."  For he first time in seven years, the Senators did introduce a bill: mostly welfare, no water.

 Private water rights bill clears House | TheHill The House passed the Water Rights Protection Act in a 238-174 vote. ...Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) said the U.S. Forest Service . . .  

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 1, Block B:  Edward W Hayes, criminal defense attorney par excellence, in re: Buildings's collapse, Park and 117th. Life in the big city. Suddenly, two century-old, well-kept buildings exploded. Praise to the emergency services – which have sophisticated eqpt, brought it in swiftly, and need to be highly skilled to operate it correctly.  Ed: Once I had a situation in my house, I called, and they arrived immediately. Con Ed has very  competent people working for it.  New York history: Fiorello LaGuardia, fusion mayor in New York in the thirties and Forties; was a Congressman representing this area, which at he time was strongly Italian, now is predominantly Hispanic.  Gentrifying fast – fab restaurants at 100th and Lex.  Poor people will be driven out soon. 

Blast ‘Ripped the Stomach Right Out of You’  The building collapse in East Harlem instantaneously trapped people in rubble and just as quickly sent residents into the street to help.

For Friends and Relatives of the Missing, Shock, Questions and, Most of All, Fear After an explosion in East Harlem, relatives of missing people were making phone calls and checking hospitals, trying to keep hope alive.

Standing for More Than a Century, Only to Vanish in an Instant The two buildings that were wiped out by an explosion had been fixtures on their block in East Harlem since 1910.

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 1, Block C: Steve Malanga, Manhattan Institute, in re: Govs. Cuomo and Christie Face Off over Taxes  For years, studies have ranked New Jersey and New York among the highest-taxed and least business-friendly states. An October report by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation placed the two states in a dead heat for the worst business-tax climates in the country, giving a slight edge to the Garden State.

"New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has vowed to keep New Jersey out of last place," the report noted, but it added that if New York made the smallest improvements, it could crawl out of the bottom ranking. Indeed, the neighboring Empire State—long considered the epitome of big government taxation—could soon become more tax-friendly than New Jersey.  Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed $2 billion package of tax cuts and reforms 

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 1, Block D:  Larry Johnson, NoQuarter, in re:  Senator Dianne Feinstein Calls Out the CIA

 . . . linked to the Panetta Report. JohnBrennan vs DiFi: CIA had an internal report that he Senate Intell Committee was fully entitled to see but CI refused, kept it under wraps. Senate researchers (probably tipped of)) found it, took it carefully back. No talk of revealing sources; rather report probably details activities of other govt.  One fellow spoke of Morocco (not allowed to me the place);  a detainee was shipped from [Morocco] to Afghanistan, where he was tortured. DiFi didn't blink an eye over NSA odd deeds; does so only now.  The common thread here was John Brennan – certainly an enabler and knowledgable; he feigned ignorance (bunkum) – his name is probably in the report. 


“The C.I.A. just went and searched the committee's computers . . .” Cold War is entering springtime.  John Brennan in the cross hairs of the threatened and running-for-re-election Udall:

On Tuesday, Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) alluded to the question in a letter to Obama. 'As you are aware, the CIA has recently taken unprecedented action against the Committee in relation to the internal CIA review,' a reference to an agency document that reportedly backs up the committee's conclusions and that the CIA allegedly didn't disclose during the investigation. Udall called the action, about which he didn't elaborate, 'incredibly troubling.' More here.

Hour Two

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 2, Block A: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents,  in re:

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 2, Block B: Monica Crowley, Fox News , political and international affairs analyst & New York Times best-selling author; in re: Putin, Russia, and the Crimea. Ukraine: State Secy gave a Monday deadline to Vl Putin; Putin not much susceptible to ultimata.   Massing mil forces on Ukraine frontier; Putin won’t be satisfied with Crimea, only – and the US president is incompetent and weak-knee'd; Euros the same plus craven and crass – why shouldn't Putin try to nail together the USSR anew? The wheels of US policy are coming off.  High-profile spokesmen in the GOP; Rand Paul denies he's an isolationist but . . .  Strange bedfellows, left and right.  A rapidly-growing consensus in US: reduced appetite for global engagement; here's where we need a US president who subscribes to ethical deeds, leadership.  "War-weariness" message is repeated endlessly in media; lack of confidence among US citizens, and the failure in Syria a compounded it.   Lenin: "If we lose Ukraine, we lose our heads."  Putin will win this? – he's already won.

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 2, Block C: Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich,  Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, in re: Russian troops amassed on the borer; war games there, then sent home; no info now, Alarms Ukrainian people.  If Putin stays in Crimea, it’ll be bad; if he moves forward form there, it'll be very bad. He unified many Russian news companies under the control of one person, now controls all the new going and coming.  The most likely number is 360,000 to 400K  Jews in Ukraine now – mostly in the east, because westerners were killed by Hitler. [Recitation of numbers in each city.] Crimea has 15,000 Jews. провокации/pravakatsia –provocations.  What's fearsome is that we don’t know what's coming – fear of the unknown. It’s a bit tense.  Food is available.  . . .  Local politico thought he US and EU would send in troops to protect. Hah! Nobody wants to start a war – we're all praying tat Russia won't go further.  Crimea now annexed de fact, not de jure.  If Crimea negotiates a semi-autonomy 'twixt Russia and Crimea, Kiev won't fight; if Russia intrude further, it'll be a fight.  Ukraine is now headed by professionals who understand economics; is much stabler now than it was even two weeks ago. When Yanukovych fled there was a brief crisis, not resolved.  Two critical issues: security and economy – country was bled dry under Yanukovych.  Need to get militias and thug off the streets.

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 2, Block D:  Eli Lake, senior national security correspondent, Newsweek/Daily Beast, in re: Rockets from Gaza, Iranian weapons shipment on the Klas C.  M302 = long-range missiles with warheads (Syrian-made, Chinese seals, Panamanian vessel); lot s of other weaponry on board, too. Was all intended to rain down on Israel.  The ship sent out from Iran while the ayatollahs were purportedly negotiating for peace.  Nuke talks compartmentalized.   . . .  Treaty(?) agreement that the US help Israel in seizing this sort of shipment.  UUAE angry over State Dept report – an insult to UAE, which is generally sensitive about human right record. Ummah(?) Party: leader was from a jihadist training camp in Syria – so why did Foggy Bottom mention this?  Anent the Klas C – no worldwide reaction, as there was vs the Karim A. A shrug.  Why? Fewer Israeli casualties these days more media pix of Palestinians.  Also, Arafat had theoretically sworn to pursue a peace process, which Hama never has.  We don’t k's getting through – although the Israelis have been very effective. now what

Hour Three

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 3, Block A: Malcolm Hoenlein, in re:  State Secretary Kerry's odd statement – "not necessary to recognize Israel" - will be interpreted in Israel as another criticism for Bibi just as Abbas visits US.  Rocket attacks – 70 – unremarked by Abbas. Washington is undermining a successful outcome. Abbas knows he doesn’t have to make any concession, according to the US president. Abbas as elected for a four-year term; no new elections, so he's been parked there a decade.  General deterioration in Golan.  Hezbollah houses built with living room, dining room, missile room. Venezuelan demonstrations, people killed.  IRCG threats of obliterating Jews and going to war, generally  Army bus in Cairo attacked  - by Ikhwan?

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 3, Block B: Jonathan Spyer, Middle East analyst; senior research Fellow, Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center; in re: Kurd still hold on to three enclaves, hope to unite them, in northeastern Syria; have successfully defended them against jihadis. Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria are among the most peaceful l and organized areas in Syria. One controlled by PKK, another by Barzani; flow of goods and aid across the border is sporadic.  ISIS, foreign fighters, very extreme and cruel to Syrian civilian populace; al Nusrah fights it. ISIS holds its main turf.    Hezbollah has lost 500 men, is weakening but gained a lot of experience – a generation is skilled in urban war.    Israeli-Lebanese border is quiet.  Offensive in western mountains for months, still fighting for a town; while Hezb is engaged in that fight it doesn’t want to open a second front.  Chechen fighters in the Syrian combat – Shishani (top man in ISIS) is surrounded by Chechens, bringing an immensely brutal way of war with massive sadism  Rebels consider them to be excellent fighters  . Civilians hate them.

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 3, Block C:  LouAnn Hammond, DrivingtheNation.com, in re:  New Jersey Bans Tesla to Ensure Buying a Car Will Always Suck

US transportation chief pledges hard look at GM recall  GM is recalling 1.6 million of its vehicles following problems with ignition switches that unexpectedly turn off during operation, sometimes at . . .

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 3, Block D:  Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re:  Penny-wise, pound-foolish: The Obama Administration budget proposal for NASA included shutting down Opportunity in 2015. This is very stupid. It costs about a billion dollars to build a rover and get it to Mars. And that’s assuming everything works. Opportunity is already there and functioning flawlessly at a fraction of that cost. Rather than cutting Opportunity, NASA should consider cutting the new rover mission so that the money could be used for other planetary exploration, such as a mission to Titan.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter entered safe mode on Friday, caused by unexpected switch to a backup computer. They expect to get the probe back into full operation in a couple of days.

The competition heats up: The Russian company that owns the Proton rocket is considering a redesign that would allow them to launch two satellites on one rocket.

Launching two or more satellites during a single launch is not ground-breaking technology, but the Russian have never done it with their Proton. If they make this change, it will allow them to reduce the cost for a commercial launch considerably, thus making them more competitive against companies like SpaceX.

That they have decided to consider this now, after almost three decades of commercial operation since the fall of the Soviet Union, is more proof that the low prices of SpaceX are forcing innovation and an effort to lower costs across the entire launch market.

Update: My statement above about Proton never launching more than one satellite is wrong. They have done it numerous times, something I am very aware of but for some reason completely forgot when I was writing this post. (The jet lag from the trip to Israel must still be affecting my brain.) In fact, they have just rolled to the launchpad a Proton with two communications satellites on board, a fact that makes the story at the first link above very puzzling.

The competition heats up: Lockheed Martin announced on Wednesday that they will either give a full refund or re-fly a payload for free if their Atlas rocket fails at launch.

This means that Lockheed Martin’s customers will no longer have to shop or pay for insurance. Instead, the company is providing it for them free, thus lowering the cost for those customers.

Hour Four

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 4, Block A: The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency by James Tobin ( of 4)

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 4, Block B: The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency by James Tobin ( of 4)

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 4, Block C: The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency by James Tobin ( of 4)

Thursday  13 March  2014 / Hour 4, Block D: The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency by James Tobin ( of 4)

..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..

Music

Hour 1:  Ides of March. Dexter. Infamous.

Hour 2:  Infamous. The Recruit. The Eagle. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. 

Hour 3:  Battleship. Crysis. 

Hour 4:  Cinderella Man.