Photo, above: Danny Lewin with Akamai co-founder Tom Leighton in 1999.

Just before 8 AM. on Sept. 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 took off from Boston’s Logan Airport. Bound nonstop for Los Angeles, the flight was just one of more than 40,000 scheduled to crisscross the country that day. The plane was partially full—81 passengers, nine crewmembers, and two pilots. Many of its passengers were traveling for work on the daily scheduled flight, including 31-year-old Internet entrepreneur Danny Lewin.

The plane headed due west and held on course for 16 minutes until it passed Worcester, Mass.* Then, instead of taking a southerly turn, it swung to the north and failed to climb to its assigned cruising altitude. Around this time, a bloody hijacking began onboard. Five terrorists, all of them wielding box cutters and knives, commandeered the plane and steered it into New York airspace. At 8:46 AM., the Boeing 767 slammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

Flight 11 was the first of four planes to be hijacked the day of the attacks, killing everyone on board and hundreds more when it caused the collapse of the North Tower. But before any of the horror unfolded that day, a little-known act of heroism is likely to have taken place on Flight 11 when Lewin—an Israeli-American who served in one of the most elite counterterrorism units of the Israel Defense Force (IDF)—rose from his seat and engaged in a struggle with one of the terrorists to try to thwart the hijacking. During the struggle Lewin was killed, making him the very first victim of the 9/11 attacks. . . . See Hour 4,  No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet by Molly Knight Raskin

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Hour One

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 1, Block A: Jesse McKinley, NYT, in re: The "David and Goliath" of New York – Rob Astorino vs the Giant: Westchester County Executive runs for governor.  Rob Astorino has been on the scene for a decade; last fall coasted to re-election; is 46 years old, M. with children. Easy presence on the stage. Emphasizes that he connects with Latino voters; speaks Spanish. opened his campaign in el Bron' speaking Spanish.  While Mrs Clinton takes up all he oxygen in NYS, Rob Astorino is ten yeas younger than Gov Cuomo, who has $30milin his war chest.  Astorino starts his campaign in Buffalo. Hydrofracking: Rob Astorino favors this as a great idea, a job-creator, a potential economic boom.  Cuomo more circumspect: checking the [very real] health and envtl issues.  . . .  One hears presidential talk everywhere except in the Cuomo camp.  Of course, in January, he jetted out to Hollywood and brought back half a million dollars. 

Westchester Leader Opens Bid to Deny Cuomo a Second Term   Rob Astorino, the Westchester County executive, said he would seek the Republican nomination to challenge Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat.  But the increasingly fractious relationship between Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio has gripped New York’s political world, and will be tested further over the next month as the governor and legislators put the finishing touches on the state’s budget.

“Institutionally the deck is stacked toward the governor because the state has so much legal authority over the city, whether it is tax, education and economic policy or simple reliance on state budget funding to operate,” said Edward Skyler, a former deputy mayor for operations in the Bloomberg administration, and now an executive at Citigroup. “So there will always be an inherent tension, no matter how strong the personal history.”  In public, Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio have emphasized their longstanding friendship. The two have known each other for about two decades; Mr. de Blasio worked for Mr. Cuomo when the governor was running the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration, and Mr. de Blasio cites Mr. Cuomo as a mentor.  “He is in the game every minute, every day,” Mr. de Blasio said in an interview during the mayoral campaign last year. “He’s got one speed, and I really like that.”

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 1, Block B:  Daniel Henninger, WSJ, in re:  Putin Carterizes Obama, Totally.  At the end of his presidency, Jimmy Carter was widely seen as anineffectualleader. Pointed out by R Reagan in a speech: Carter foreign policy was incoherent and inconsistent, confusing both our allies and adversaries If we were to preserve world peace, needed a "vital margin of safety" – in defense capabilities, inter al.  Compare this to the Ukraine crisis.  Recall the mess in Syria; and North Korea; and the Soviets's invasion of Afghanistan; and China.  At present, nations that want to act aggressively feel they have the liberty to do tat. Note that DPRK has just fired off new, much more sophisticated missiles. Last Wednesday, Russian defense minister said he intends to use Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to refuel his bombers.  Israel intercepted a shipload of major missiles sent by the Iranian IRGC; this fact evaporated Pres Obama's intention to give a tongue-lashing to PM Netanyahu.  When a stalwart ally like Saudi Arabia peels out, who’s not far behind? US president's trajectory is obviously heading downward If Mrs Clinton decides to run, Mr Obama is leaving for her [a royal mess].  

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 1, Block C: Russ Buettner, NYT, in re: In Job, Appointee Profits and Christie Gains Power When Gov. Chris Christie pushed to expand financial incentives to keep businesses in New Jersey, one of the first companies to benefit was a client of David Samson, a lawyer with a long and close relationship to the governor. When Mr. Christie announced government-backed financing for college and school construction projects, Mr. Samson’s firm got a piece of that business.

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 1, Block D:  Chris Whiton, author, Smart Power, in re: The day's events in Crimea/Kiev, with Kissinger's op ed to choose: divide the baby. . . .   Oligarchs who support Putin in their desire to travel abroad; can show that Putin doesn’t have uniform support.  Longer term reduce Europe's dependence on Russian energy, transfer that as much as possible to, for example the US.  Were the US to show leadership NATO, others would follow.  Excellent leadership in Poland, also coming on line in the Baltics. 

Hour Two

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 2, Block A: Aaron David Miller, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; new book: The End of Greatness: Why America Can't Have (and Doesn't Want) Another Great President; in re: peace process 1,   peace process 2; negotiations with Iran.  Bibi Netanyahu's visit. ISRAELI NAVY INTERCEPTS ALLEGED IRANIAN ARMS SHIPMENT NEAR SUDANESE PORT

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 2, Block B: Patrick Clawson, The Washington Institute (directs the Iran Security Initiative); in re: This week's discussions: Obama is remarkably confident of his path on Iran. 

Iran, Iranian weapons; Obama-Netanyahu discussions on Iranian weaponry.

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 2, Block C: Eric Trager, Esther K. Wagner Fellow at The Washington Institute; was in Egypt during the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolts and returns frequently to conduct firsthand interviews with leaders in Egypt's government, military, political parties, media, and civil society; in re: Egypt reached out to Russia because it wasn't much able to trust Washington, who withheld critical helicopters.  Cold shoulder from DC caused Egyptian generals to look toward Russia – which was amiable. A large percentage of Egyptian arms is still old Soviet stuff, so new helos can be integrated. Russian arms deal is a way for Egypt to signal displeasure – and Saudi Arabia is paying for the arms.  Why has Prince Bandar been sidelined?  Not clear which Saudi monarchy players are engineering that.  Klaus C – ship intercepted with missiles, probably intended for Gaza, but might have fallen into Sinai bandits who could aim them at Cairo. Russia condemned as godless is no more; rather, Putin is shown as a strong leader.  Muslim Bortherhood ahs been decapitated; offices in London and around the Gulf. See: The Molotov, Bat, and Fire Movements – using slingshots shooting marbles, low-profile; publishing home addresses of police officers – kill the coup through a thousand cuts.  In the Egyptian press, see frustration with how the US responded in Ukraine; cf. its response v Morsi.  reinforces the perception that Egypt needs to turn toward Russia.  Morsi: held in a prison, in a cage in curt but enclosed in glass so his calling out can't be heard.  Political trial. 

Egypt, Al-Sisi, arms deal with Russia.  Arms talks with Russia.   Iran on Thursday rejected Israeli allegations that Tehran   supplied Syria-made rockets intended for Palestinian guerrillas in the Gaza Strip, a day after the Israel Navy intercepted an Iranian arms vessel carrying medium-range missiles in the Red Sea, about some 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) from the Israeli coast. The Navy said that the shipment was headed for the Gaza Strip via Sudan.

"This allegation is not true and in principle the message or movement of a ship carrying weapons from Iran to Gaza is not true," Amir Abdollahian, Deputy Foreign Ministry for Arab and African Affairs said, according to official state news agency IRNA.  "The allegation is merely based on repetitious and baseless fabrications of the Zionist media," he added.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran's military arm which answers directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rather than to the president, has also rejected the reports, according to IRNA. There was no immediate comment from Syria,

Hamas Interior Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday that the seizure of the arms shipment by the IDF is an Israeli pretext to justify the Gaza blockade. He said Hamas knows that Gaza's maritime zone is under Israeli surveillance and that any ship that attempts to pass through would be stopped and that Gaza resistance forces are not so naïve as to send a large arms shipment via the sea. The Palestinian leadership in Ramallah did not issue an official response to the takeover of the ship but Palestinian officials told Haaretz that the operation raises questions regarding the timing of the operation. "The ship has been sailing for weeks and it is seized exactly when Netanyahu is in Washington," the official said. "The entire operation and the reports raise many questions regarding the timing and whether the event was real or fabricated."

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 2, Block D: Clifford D. May, President of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, created immediately following the 9/11 attacks on the United States; in re: Crimea. Russia is a principal in the Syria civil was and dealing with Iran; Putin has zero intention of helping the US in any way.  Obama had a reset button.  Now we need a more realistic evaluation.  Putin has red lines; not clear that the US does. Putin will control Crimea – might let it stay inside Ukraine while my soldiers are there.  Does he also want parts of Eastern Ukraine?

Kiev, Putin, US policy implications for Middle East. Iran: don’t imagine that anyone in there is a moderate or will ever give up its nuclear program.  Will we see a Russian push into the Baltics? Putin is testing the West; if we fail, he'll know what to do. 

http://www.defenddemocracy [dot] org/media-hit/new-world-disorder/

http://www.defenddemocracy   [dot]   org/media-hit/why-putins-gaze-is-fixed-on-ukraine/

http://www.foreignpolicy.com  [dot] articles/2014/03/04/welcome_to_cold_war_ii

http://www.foreignpolicy   [dot] com/articles/2014/03/05/caught_in_the_crossfire

Hour Three

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 3, Block A: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: House declare Israel "a major strategic partner of the US."  Recall the Karim A.  Many other ships carrying huge volumes of illegal weapons to  - Hezbollah? Hamas?  etc.  – all coming from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.  Now, the KLOS-C.   Pres Obama's interview with Mr Goldberg of Bloomberg*: "Let's assume that the [Iranian theocracy will misbehave] – it's manageable." – What?     With that CEP, Israel, Saudi refineries, Jordan, Cairo, all are within range. Iran is to get another half-billion dollars from the US again in unfrozen funds.  Abbas will not recognize Israel nor offer security for the Jordan River valley.  Abbas will be 79 next month, will visit Washington.  Why should Abbas move while Obama puts all the pressure on Israel?  The missiles in the KLOS-C: came from Iran to Sudan back to Gaza to be used perhaps in Sinai; maybe against Egypt r Saudi, surely against Israel.  

*US State Dept is very upset; so is PM Netanyahu. 

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 3, Block B: Simon Henderson, director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at The Washington Institute; in re: breakdown of comity in GCC? Recall of ambassadors from Qatar: Gulf Arab politics try endlessly to make everything look successful despite undercurrent of tensions. Surprising announcement of ambassadors's withdrawal. Can they recover? Dunno.  Qatar's young ruler as he took over from father looked promising; Qatar, Gulf State Council, withdrawn ambassadors – it was thought that Hamid bin . . .   /HBJ, once gone, would leave his son to take a more cautious approach., take time to settle in to his job of ruling the country and so diminish confrontational policies.  US president heading to Riyadh to speak on Syria, Ukraine, et al. Who asked for this meeting? Perhaps Pres Obama.  King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is worried abut "wrong" US policies, esp anent Iran, and certainly to Syria over chem weapons.  The king is so amazed he wants to hear this directly and be persuaded if there's any logic to the policies.  King Abdullah was born in 1923, is thus 91 years old, is physically frail, can manage one or two hours of work a day. His political views are clear; his assessment of the region is clear, and perhaps unpersuadable.  Withdrawal of ambassadors from GCC suggests that GCC is not a good basis on which to project the Obama Adm foreign policy. Pres Obama needs not only to persuade King Abdullah but also to recover some of the abris from GCC.  Ukraine: of intense interest to the Gulf: seen as a US foreign policy challenge that's totally fresh, in no way inherited from Pres Bush (as were Iraq, Afgh, Iran's nukes); Pres Obama can't blame this on anyone else; people are sitting back to see how he performs. Their perception is that he doesn’t know how to challenge evil. They see Pres Putin as evil personified. 

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 3, Block C: Mary Anastasia O'Grady, WSJ, THE AMERICAS, in re:  The Roots of Venezuela's Disorder

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 3, Block D:   Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com,  in re:   The competition heats up: In testimony to Congress Wednesday, Elon Musk described how allowing SpaceX to compete as a military launch provider would significantly lower costs.

[Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama)] said the Air Force EELV contracts require compliance with complex oversight and accounting practices that add costs to the program. As a result, he suggested comparing the cost of a SpaceX Falcon 9 and a ULA Atlas or Delta was comparing apples and oranges.

Musk agreed “there is additional cost for U.S. government missions due to the mission assurance process.” And he said SpaceX’s costs for launching a military mission would be 50 percent higher than for a purely commercial launch. Even so, he said, SpaceX could provide a Falcon 9 rocket for around $90 million as opposed to nearly $400 million for a ULA launcher. “Even when you add the Air Force overhead, there’s still a huge difference,” he said. [emphasis mine]   The only reason that Congress is against eliminating the military launch monopoly given to ULA and allowing SpaceX to compete is because the monopoly feeds a lot of pork to the districts of certain but powerful legislators like Shelby.  ULA and Shelby are losing the argument however. The cost differences are too high, and SpaceX has proven that it can do the job efficiently and effectively. Eventually the monopoly will die, and the sooner the better.  The Obama administration released its 2015 proposed federal budget today, including its budget proposal for NASA.

The spending plan supports the Obama administration’s decision to extend U.S. operations of the International Space Station to 2024 with about $3 billion, funds NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule with nearly $2.8 billion, and requests $848 million for development of commercial spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from low Earth orbit and end U.S. reliance on Russian Soyuz vehicles.

The budget proposal of $17.5 billion is essential flat, with a 1 percent cut from last year. It also includes proposals for several Earth science missions as well as a mission to Europa. In addition, it grounds the SOFIA airborne telescope, which has turned out to be as expensive to operate as Hubble while being far less productive.  The $848 for the commercial program is approximately the same number the Obama administration has requested every year. Congress has routinely cut this number, but has cut it less each year as time has passed. I suspect that they will cut even less this year, considering the tensions with Russia right now over the Ukraine. We need our own vehicles to ferry astronauts into space, and commercial space is right now the only way it is going to get done.

Hour Four

(Photo, left) Danny Lewin’s name is located on Panel N-75 of the National September 11 Memorial’s North Pool, along with those of other passengers of Flight 11.

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 4, Block A: No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet by Molly Knight Raskin (1 of 4)

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 4, Block B: No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet by Molly Knight Raskin (2 of 4)

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 4, Block C: No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet by Molly Knight Raskin (3 of 4)

Thursday  6 March    2014 / Hour 4, Block D: No Better Time: The Brief, Remarkable Life of Danny Lewin, the Genius Who Transformed the Internet by Molly Knight Raskin (4 of 4)

..  ..  ..

Music

Hour 1:  Batman Returns. The American President. Oblivion.

Hour 2:  Serenity. Alexander. Eastern Promises. 

Hour 3:  Legion. The Ghost Writer. Shoot 'Em Up. Apollo 13.

Hour 4:  Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 

 

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