Photo, above:  Lake Baikal in Winter.  See Hour 4, Block C,  Nicholas Wade, on a 24,000-year-old skull with some mitochondrial DNA found also in today's Native Americans; suggests people with brown hair, brown eyes and freckles.   Baikal is considered sufficiently frozen by locals when the ice is one meter thick. Then they begin driving across and around the lake, carefully and always in twos lest one vehicle find trouble, in Ladas, Nivas, and small four-wheel drives.  

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-hosts: Mary Kissel, WSJ.   Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents.

Hour One

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 1, Block A: Mona Charen, NRO, in re: HEALTH CARE Soft Tyranny  Our well-intentioned despot:  Obama's soft despotism  The talking heads love presidential analogies. Is Obamacare’s rollout Obama’s Katrina or his Iraq? Is Obama’s false promise that you could keep your health-care plan like George H. W. Bush’s “read my lips” pledge, or is it like Clinton’s “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”? Iran–Contra anyone?

These comparisons don’t take you far.  The president’s troubles are unique to his particular vanities and blind spots.

Some of Obama’s most devoted admirers are at pains to distinguish his current fall from grace from George W. Bush’s. Chris Matthews, for example, argues that, The problem with Katrina was apparent indifference. One thing you can’t hold against the president is indifference about health care. He’s the guy that . . .  [more]

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 1, Block B:  Edward W Hayes, criminal defense attorney par excellence, in re:  Stop and frisk now pro tem not ceased.  However, the new mayor, Mr de Blasio, will overtly or sotto voce bring an end to stop/question/frisk.  The diminished confiscation of guns in New York will lead to more deaths than any serial killer has done.  Very recently, a large increase in people begging in the street and homeless. I'm pretty skeptical of de Blasio's intentions in law enforcement.  I was down at a courtroom the other day: these teenagers are 'way out of control; only strict policing keeps them at all in line.

Judges, legal experts back Judge Shira Schindlin in stop, frisk ruling
  New York Daily News ‎- 2 days ago
Five retired federal judges and 13 professors of legal ethics weighed in on the stop and frisk fracas Monday, backing U.S. District Judge Shira ...  After NYC Elections, 'Stop-and-Frisk' Debate Persists   It postpones the operations of the monitor who was asked to oversee reforms of the stop-and-frisk practices, which Judge Scheindlin had said . . .   NY Post Celebrates 1,000,000th Stop & Frisk Propaganda Piece

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 1, Block C:  Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal editorial board, in re: the US Senate - the nuclear option.  Now cloture and filibuster have gone away because of the assertions of the Majority Leader. In the auld days, needed 60 votes; today, Harry Reid moved to reduce it to 51. The top-ranking Republican official, No. Three in line for the presidency, today went to a screen to tap out his entry; tried repeatedly, failed, gave up. Phone the navigators. Several hour later was called back.  The Speaker of the House needed to go to telephones – with nine days left.  Forced to have 60 votes to confirm: obliged nomination of political moderates, and of judges "motivated by the desire to comply with the law." . . . Insurance companies were not at all consulted or forewarned that Pres Obama would demand that persons who'd been thrown off the insurance rolls be reinstated for a year.  This leaves he insurance industry confused, to say the least; and are carefully regulated by state regulators who themselves are constrained by narrow constrictions.  "The only remedy now is repeal."

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 1, Block D: Sudeep Reddy, WSJ, in re: If anything, Yellin will be an even more activist Fed chairman than Bernanke has been.  Investors  - Dow at 16,000 – love it so far.  What do we have to show for it.? Disappointing jobs & economic growth; widening income gap; not that much favorable.  Weak fundamentals. Last year: taper?  Turmoil overseas; this shows how much the other economies are struggling – pathetic that our weak position is better than most, incl China, Brazil , Europe.  It was May 26 when Chairman Bernanke mentioned that the Fed might slow its bond purchases, near panic.  Credit bubble; sugar high.  Now, the Fed will have kept interest rates near zero for seven or eight years before it's over. Is this what the economy needs? Is it another mistake?   David Malpass said:  92% of all bank deposits – $1.5 trillion – are held by the Fed, which may be trapped. How to figure out the exit?

 Recap: Janet Yellen's Confirmation Hearing for Fed Chair  Will Yellen signal how the Fed would manage its bond-buying program under a Chairwoman Yellen? Will she navigate GOP criticism of the Fed? Will markets like what they hear? We'll be following all the action live.

Hour Two

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 2, Block A:  Rob Satloff, Washington Institute, in re:  Israel and Iran.  Was Jerusalem kept in the dark two weeks ago about the US position on Iran at he talks?  Washington says, "US and Israel have never been closer" and "We shouldn’t take Israel too seriously because they don’t really know what's going on inside, are not apprised." Can’t have it both ways.   Pres Obama says that his goal is that Iran not have a nuclear weapon, whereas Israel's goal is that Iran not have the capability to have a nuclear weapon.    I don’t think that Secy Kerry had it as a strategy that he'd bludgeon Israel with his peace strategy; but I think he dramatically overreacted in Israel and erred in (mis-)defining Israel's motivations. Not good.  Spooked the govt of Israel. The conflict in Syria transforms all the nations on its border; and the rise of cross-border jihadists activity  . . .  could lead to its all falling apart.   The Iranian drive for a nuclear weapon is a symbol of its predation; its hegemonic ambitions from Beirut through Iran. In the region, an agreement with Iran is seen as a huge victory for Iran.

Obama's Fight with Israel This Time It's Serious  New rifts in U.S.-Israeli cooperation could mean that time is running out for peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.   America and Israel are in uncharted waters. Just eight months since President Barack Obama visited Israel on the first foreign trip of his second term in an attempt to patch things up with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the two close allies are at odds once again -- this time over a proposed "first step" nuclear agreement with Iran.

Washington and Jerusalem eventually will find a way to move beyond this titanic clash, but no kiss-and-make-up effort can erase the scars that will be left behind. The current crisis is already one of the biggest U.S.-Israel blowups, ever -- and it could get worse before it gets better. [more]

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 2, Block B:  Cliff May, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, in re: Saudi king hands Egypt $12 billion and suddenly MiGs start landing in Egypt and the Russian navy shows up in Alexandria. Russia won’t likely replace the US in Egypt, but will seize opportunities.  Putin backing Assad, flirting with Iran and Saudis, and loves being on the high wire. He slaps around the Byelorussians, Europeans, Ukrainians. Is laughing about how he outsmarted the Americans on Syria. The picture of the Saudi intell chief with Putin was a game-changer; now, photographed with the Saudi king. Putin says to US, I'll eat your lunch if I want.  Jose Maria Asnar (Spanish PM) at dacha with Putin asked: "Why are you helping the Ukrainians get nukes??"  Putin replied, "No problem; five minutes before they use them the Israelis will take care of it." Malcolm asked Putin the same question.  Dumbfounding.  Sochi Olympics. Putin is clever, Machiavellian.  Note: the more Middle Eastern insecurity, the higher the price of oil – good fo Putin.

 Russia in the Middle East. Russia’s Foreign Policy Is Nearing Complete Failure. It seems only yesterday that President Vladimir Putin seized the world's attention with his proposal to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control. To many, the fancy footwork had a clear message: Russia was back in the diplomatic big league at last.  We can see now what all the headlines briefly obscured. Since Mr Putin regained the presidency last year, his foreign policy has foundered. Russia has not faced such a serious need to rethink its role in the world for more than a quarter century.  Start with Europe. For the past decade, . . .  [more]

The Iranian Rapprochement Fantasy   The foreign-policy establishment thinks Iran should concede nothing in negotiations.

Any agreement that does not recognize the rights of the Iranian people and does not respect these rights, has no chance,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said last week.

The Iranian foreign minister was not talking about freedom of speech, assembly, and religion — among the many human and civil rights his regime has denied the people of Iran for more than 30 years. No, he was talking about a “right” that does not exist: his regime’s “right” to enrich uranium.  [more]

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 2, Block C: Tony Badran, FDD, in re: Iranian embassies operate with dip cover but are military installations, from the Fertile Crescent to the Balkans. "Iran's ambassador to Lebanon says his country's cultural attaché [usu means from the Ministry of Intelligence or IRGC; this guy spent 5-1/2 years in the Sudan, relevant for weapons smuggling inter al.] has died from wounds sustained in twin explosions that struck near the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, killing 23 people." Hezbollah says it’s the Saudis, and also points to Ain Helweh camp (Sunni).   The man who was responsible of killing US Marines in 1983 is now Iranian defense minister.  Who's got the weight to hit Iran? To say Saudi Arabia is politically useful. Russians and Iranians use Chicago Rules. (First to condemn the attack was the Kuwaitis, who feared being accused.) It may have been an al Qaeda operation. French intell suggests it was  _______.  With the US gone, it'll be ever more a jungle – and they capitalize on the very public rift between the US and the Saudis and the Israelis.  "People think Iran will bargain us away in these talks," says Hezbollah, "but they won’t."  expect a string of attacks in Lebanon. 

Hezbollah, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia. The Secret History of Hezbollah It was always an outpost of the Iranian revolution.  Thirty years ago last month, Hezbollah blew up the barracks of the U.S Marines and French paratroopers stationed at the Beirut airport, killing 241 U.S. servicemen and 58 Frenchmen. It wasn’t Hezbollah’s first terrorist operation, but this attack, the most memorable in Lebanon’s vicious and chaotic 15-year-long civil war, marked the Party of God’s entry onto the world stage. [more]

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 2, Block D:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:  Over 20 years, 850,000 Jewish refugees displaced around the Middle East; Israel had a population of 650,000 and absorbed another 650,000. This year, the Canadian parliament called for a discussion to include both Palestinian and Jewish refugees. In Iraq, Mahabarat held ancient Judaica in a flooded basement ; material taken to the US National Archives and lovingly restored. Al Quds University: students in black hoods, waving Kalashnikovs, al Q flags and Nazi salutes; Brandeis, which had a relationship with al Quds, suspended it.  Suicide bomber into a convoy of Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai. Egypt trying to clear out major problems in that rogue state and al Qaeda hit back.  A boiling pot that gets almost no attention.

Hour Three

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 3, Block A: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: an unnamed White House official said that in the deal wit Iran, Israel was inhibiting the peace deal. WH says both, "We shared all the details of the discussions with Israel" and also "Israel doesn’t really know what's going on."  . . .  It's the sanctions that brought the Iranians to the table, so we should be ratcheting the sanctions up. The Senate will take up the issue on 9 December. Talks not going well: Iran sees that the West is weak. Khamenei uses obscene language. Proposed: freeze enrichment at 20% for six month suspend interior but not exterior dvpt of Arak plutonium reactor; suspend centrifuges – but not the important ones. To go from 3.5% to 90% is a straight shot with the new centrifuges; the 20% is no longer as important, Iran says that the right to enrich is enshrined in the Nonproliferation Treaty – but it's not.   A thousand people with European passports are trained as jihadist fighters; will blow back one day. 

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 3, Block B: Ambassador Dore Gold, author and president, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, in re: Iran. "Interim deal" between the P5+1 & Iran that does not lead to the dismantling of 19,000 centrifuges.  Calling Bibi a "roadblock to peace."  The 20% enrichment no longer much relevant; Iran now using advanced, very fast centrifuges and can go from 3.5% to 90% in one mad dash.  Too Israel-centric? Unfortunately, democracies speak up. We’ve just commemorated the huge attack killing 241 Marine in Beirut: the order to attack was issued by Iran. The man who organized the attack, Brig. Gen. Hussein Dehqan, is today the new defense minister of Iran – and he's about to get nuclear weapons. Are we out of our minds?

Iran's new nuclear facility in Shiraz.  Iran claims it has the right to enrich under the NPT; Search the document for "enrichment" – it’s not even hinted at, let alone mentioned. All that's said is he right to peaceful nuclear dvpt for energy.  Iran is dangerous with its centrifuges.

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 3, Block C:  Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, in re: Even the most ardent defender of government power must concede that it is sickening when a president tells people without healthcare insurance that they must navigate his government websites or go without. If “the right to healthcare” is fundamental, Obamacare violates it. Delay here is no option. If left in place, every single structural problem that besets Obamacare today will continue to wreck innocent lives a year from now. Striking it down is an act of mercy for the American people . . . [more]  (1 of 2)

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 3, Block D: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, in re: Even the most ardent defender of government power must concede that it is sickening when a president tells people without healthcare insurance that they must navigate his government websites or go without. If “the right to healthcare” is fundamental, Obamacare violates it. Delay here is no option. If left in place, every single structural problem that besets Obamacare today will continue to wreck innocent lives a year from now. Striking it down is an act of mercy for the American people . . . [more]   (2 of 2)

Hour Four

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 4, Block A:  Daniel Henninger, WSJ, in re: WONDER LAND   Worse Than ObamaCare

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 4, Block B:  Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re:

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 4, Block C:  Nicholas Wade, NYT, in re: A European contribution to Native American ancestry could explain two longstanding puzzles about the people’s origins. One is that many ancient Native American skulls, including that of the well-known Kennewick man, look very different from those of the present day population. Another is that one of the five mitochondrial DNA lineages found in Native Americans, the lineage known as X, also occurs in Europeans. One explanation is that Europeans managed to cross the Atlantic in small boats some 20,000 years ago and joined the Native Americans from Siberia.

Thursday  21 November  2013 / Hour 4, Block D: Peter Lattman, NYT, in re:   John Edwards Revisits His Past, Hanging Law Shingle Again    Before he served as a United States senator, before he made a run at the presidency and before his political career collapsed amid a sex scandal and fraud trial, John Edwards was a trial lawyer.

Now, Mr. Edwards is returning to his roots and opening a new law practice. The plaintiffs’ firm, Edwards Kirby, reunites him with his former partner, David F. Kirby, and includes on its payroll his eldest daughter, Cate Edwards.

“The reason we formed this firm is because we all believe in the same thing — in standing up for the disenfranchised and those who need an equal chance

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Music

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