The John Batchelor Show

Thursday 30 May 2013

Air Date: 
May 30, 2013

 

Photo, above: Bedouin men getting out of the searing sun, Sinai   (Leanne Logan, © Copyright Lonely Planet Images 2011) See: Hour 2, Block B: Steven A. Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Hour One

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 1, Block A: Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal editorial board; Tim Wilson, and James Patterson, IPA/Australia, in re: the sandwiching of Gillard.

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 1, Block B:  Isaac Stone Fish, there's more grass-root  hatred of Japan than of the US in China. This excitability is endemic among Tom Clancy readers, and the WSJ editorial board.

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 1, Block C: . Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and Lara M Brown, political analyst and author, in re:  the moiré complicated the scandal, the greater the volume needed to get through to the public. News organizations refuse to meet with Atty-Gen Holder because he demands it be off the record. Issuing subpoenas for search and seizure of professional and personal records of journalists, how can you ask it be off the record?  The rule is, when you're [busted], get all the information out right away. This White House thinks it hasn't done anything wrong, problems are merely bureaucratic, not its responsibility. –If so, this is the vast administrative state run amok – the bureaucracy turned against the citizenry. Why? They’re in a bubble. Have closed ranks, have few Senatorial or Congressional allies. Affordable Care Act: prices could double on people who aren’t alert; everyone waiting to see [what'll go wrong next].

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 1, Block D:  Michael Auslin, AEI, in re: Chinese are the WalMart of cyberespionage. Greatest theft since the Soviets stole the atomic bomb. Feckless US govt – Obama, Bush, Clinton. "New power relations" means steal us blind then inviting us for tea and crumpets.  China feels that the trend is its friend. China is buying US bonds; and this theft has been going on for twenty years or more, the US has done nothing, so China happily intends to continue. Diplomatic charade – head of Pacific fleet, et al. Policy dvpd by Donilon, Jeff Bafder, Kurt Campbell (Asst Secy of State, H Clinton's top aide), all among a small number of people. No Asia expert working on US policy.

America’s national security advisor and the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet are in China this week, bearing messages of goodwill and eagerness to deepen ties. Unfortunately for America’s Pollyanna diplomacy, a leaked report on Chinese espionage against the Pentagon’s most sensitive weapons systems shows just how dysfunctional the Sino-U.S. relationship is. As a first step toward recovering, Washington needs to admit that it is in an abusive relationship; next, it has to find the courage to protect itself against further mistreatment.

Hour Two

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 2, Block A:  .Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: four units if the sophisticated S300; announcement timed by Russia; may take a long time for Russia to get them operational. Nasrallah now much more aggressive, antagonizing Lebanese people – Sunni/Alawi clashes, much fighting, and "Victory means total victory." Significant assault forces he sends to Syria and 5,000 more entering, and they anticipate zero reaction from the West. If S300 goes operational Israel has no choice but to act – but huge ramifications.  Refusal of "bribe." Lebanon fraying, destabilizing into warring camps? Syrian economy collapsing, GDP down 45% in the last year; Beirut was becoming a magnet, but impact of the Syrian fighting is observable.   A leading analyst said the Hebz has been Assad's agt for 30 years.

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 2, Block B:  . Steven A. Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, in re: Cairo. Morsi.  Egypt-Iran.  Sinai: The Islamic Emirate of Sinai, rife with gun-running, and human-, weapons-, and drug-trafficking; Bedouin. A huge security issue, and Egyptian armed forces wholly unable to fight in Sinai.

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 2, Block C:  . Jeffrey White is a defense fellow at The Washington Institute, ex-DIA, in re: Hezbollah's declaration of war in Syria.

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 2, Block D: Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, in re: Palestinians: Abbas said we'll take the $4bil but give nothing in return.  Fatehr standing t a bus stop & murdered: a fellow who praises the murder . . .  Congressmen call on UN to keep Iran from hosting disarmament conference, Abbas.

Hour Three

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 3, Block A:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 3, Block B: Dr. Ely Karmon, The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism; in re: Western intell on terrorism.

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 3, Block C: Nick Confessore, NYT, in re: Some conservative & liberal groups flagged by IRS tested limits of nonpolitical status.  Groups Targeted by I.R.S. Tested Rules on Politics

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 3, Block D: Ken Croswell, Scientific American, in re:

Magellanic Stream. Tadpole Galaxies. Distant galactic collision.

Hour Four

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 4, Block A: Todd Woody, NYT, in re: Jeyna Meydbray, chief executive of PV Evolution Labs, a testing company in Berkeley, Calif., scrutinized solar panels.

Solar Industry Anxious Over Defective Panels  When defects are discovered, confidentiality agreements keep the manufacturer’s identity secret, making acc

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 4, Block B: Alex Nussbaum, Bloomberg, in re:  Affordable Care Act.   Obamacare Unveiled as California Wwth New York Lead U.S.      While politicians in Washington argue over the Affordable Care Act, its ultimate fate is being decided far from Capitol Hill.   Amid the sporadic repeal votes in Congress and activist campaigns on both sides of the debate, states from New York to California are striving to meet an Oct. 1 deadline to implement the heart of the health-care law, the online insurance “exchanges” meant to enroll millions of Americans.

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 4, Block C:  Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re: To the horror of global warming alarmists, the climate refuses to warm.  For those who are regular readers here at Behind the Black, none of the data described by Peter Ferrara in this article will be a surprise. I have been reporting these facts for years. However, the article provides a nice outline of what we know, and includes this sentence near the end that sums up the true problem we face:  Has there ever in history been such an almighty disconnect between observable reality and the delusions of a political class that is quite impervious to any rational discussion?

Thursday  30 May  2013 / Hour 4, Block D: Gary Libecap, Hoover Defining Ideas , in re:  Save the Fish   Harvard students, outraged over a doctoral dissertation arguing that Hispanic immigrants lack “raw cognitive ability or intelligence,” this week urged the university to investigate how the thesis came to be approved and to ban future research on racial superiority.

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Music

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