JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Colleagues: Sebastian Gorka, America First radio and Fox; and Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents
 
Hour One
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 1, Block A:  Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover, & NRO; in re:  America is withering; 30 million were employed in February of this year; now are unemployed.  Science is conducting itself “without humility,” without checks and balances.   Epidemiologists have had models that have been injurious; also the WHO; the CDC gave $7 million tot the Wuhan Institute of Virology; “masks have utility,” or “masks have no utility” —and on and on. From the trivial to essential matters.  Does the weather have an effect on the virus? Yes; no; yes. This generation of scientists has no knowledge of the history of science. We’ve given them a blank check, which is dangerous. . . . Andrew Cuomo has become a folk hero, but he sent elders to old-age homes where they contracted the virus and died.   D-Day and the hedgerows:  we weren’t going to lose anyone because of science—they prepared in advance for everything up to the landing, but not for the Germans dug in to the massive hedgerows. Two soldiers figured out how to solve that lethal problem right there on the cliff. 
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 1, Block B:  Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover, & American Greatness; in re: The media today: do they [does it] even exist? Chroniclers of virus-ridden America.  We have a media that works entirely for one side and is unaware of that.  It got itself into a trap where it feels that only it has knowledge of the pathologies of Donald Trump. If Trump said that there may be a way of expunging the virus, and the media report that he said to drink Clorox or fish-tank cleaner. People want actual reports; it's as though the main media don't exist.  Do they have secret meetings?  No; 93% of the coverage is biased against Trump . . .  Young reporters enter the field and think they have to follow this or not get promoted. Like the last generation of the Soviet press. We were told that Trump as unstable; a Yale shrink testified to Congress that he was mad; he took a reputable test, the Montreal Test, and aced  it.  Dozens of examples. They have to be asymmetrical to achieve their goals.  DoJ has decided not to prosecute General Flynn.  Media will turn it into an attack on Trump.  Never that a decorated war hero was set up in perjury trap to humiliate and destroy him and his boss.  All the plotters are culpable and are facing indictment.  The press and plotters will get angry: “the walls are closing in.”
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 1, Block C:  Lee Ohanian, Hoover, in  re:  The tragic challenge of the homeless.  The cost of building housing for the homeless: something magical happens when Los Angeles spends other people’s money.  In LA a $1.2 bil bond was passed to bld housing for the homeless for 10,00 people. Now, it’ll be 7,400, but not one unit has been completed.  The cost of one unit is over $500,000!!  Exceeds the value of a one-bedroom condominium.  San Jose has outdone LA: in the middle of Silicon Valley; has bought 8’x10’ tool sheds, and Habitat for Humanity will assemble and carve in an opening for an HVAC unit; there are 40; no kitchen or bathroom. This will cost $700 per square foot – more than it costs to bld top-of-the-line housing anywhere in the US. A bed, table and chair.  Volunteer labor. The whole box cost $600 at retail.  Inhumane housing; $1.2 billion in bond money.  Those in power in California profess to be most sympathetic to the homeless, but every year this occurs on a grand scale.  What to do? Remove some of the obstacles to private development. Developers would begin to build new housing; those who could afford it would move in, and the old housing could be re-habbed for the homeless.
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 1, Block D: Phillip Sprincin, City Journal; in r: Curbside pick-up can survive for a little while, but not for long.  If we utilize this, we should have started earlier; seven weeks is too long.  Two-thirds of US shops are retail. I endorse masks; should begin to loosen with the caveat that people have to wear masks and use hand sanitizer. Politicians need to be a lot clearer. The problem with Gavin Newsom: his list should have been put out in week one or two so people could plan.  New Zealand issued requirement for opening before they closed down.  Swine flu (from 2009) still kills 1,000 Americans annually; that’s what this virus will do.  RT.live :  a great website with data that show the growth rate, which is the critical matter.  Is it possible that Sacramento doesn’t want to re-open? Too early to say.
 
Hour Two
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 2, Block A:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Netanyahu forms a stable government as the country re-opens. 
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 2, Block B:  Harold Hamm, Continental Resources; Council for a Secure America; American entrepreneur, fracking pioneer; and Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: The future of the energy business, which has held America together for the last decade.  Glad you started with the American energy renaissance: al brought about by horizontal drilling, only.  Took a special breed of entrepreneurs to go down two miles, then turn right and got two miles horizontally. From 5 mill Bbl/day up to 13 million Bbl/day. Envy of the world, incl Saudis and Russians, formerly the largest producers of oil and gas. US has replaced both in O&G.  Horizontal drilling has, indeed, created an energy renaissance. 
 
Saudis tried it; took their sovereign wealth fund from $750 bil down to $350 bil, at which point they stopped. We asked the president to call the Saudis and Russians to stop the free-falling oil price (it was negative for a day), which he did, and they somewhat backed off.  The CMA, which Cushing, OK, trades on, allowed the negative price after promising to let everyone know if they were going to do that—which they did not. Russians and Saudis were operating in cahoots to destroy the US O&G market; but a major legal case was threatened, which scared them. 
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 2, Block C:  Ilan I. Berman,  American Foreign Policy Council, in re: Venezuela has been sending billions of dollars’ worth of gold to Iran, which depends on Venezuela as an arrow into the Americas, for its strategic position. Syria Iran:  air strikes against Iranian positions.   Russia is behind us in the global pandemic curve.  Will that affect Russian foreign policy and defense spending? Russia will sink into instability [for economic reasons]. 
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 2, Block D: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:  Iran has been smearing Israel; a vicious appeal to hatred and bigotry. The arms embargo is UN-approved; separate from the JCPOA. Iran and Palestinians continue the blood libel that Israel and the US created the virus.
 
Hour Three
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 3, Block A: Sebastian Gorka, America First radio; in re: Gen Flynn was put through Hell; convicted of a process crime, lost $3 million in legal fees. Is now a free man the cloud removed from over his head. But the house of cards has begun to teeter. Conrad Black said, “This opens the flood gates.” Targetting of a patriot for political purposes.
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 3, Block B: Sebastian Gorka, America First radio; in re: Joe Biden’s campaign (the missing parts).  Lacking important metrics: money; social media contacts; energy and enthusiasm; confidence that he’s ready to be president. He took 36 days to respond to the accusation of sexual abuse, and shows no energy to repair and run America. He wasn’t a willing competitor in the beginning, and now is tetchy under simple questions. Mixes up his wife with his sister. April 2012, Obama campaign began an ad hominem attack on Romney.  The Alinsky model is that you kick the opponent in the groin even when he’s down.
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 3, Block C: Dana Wheeler, Plymouth Rock Technologies CEO;  in re: In the time of the virus small business have been hammered. Plymouth Rock Technologies makes an attractive drone, has been given an important blessing by the UK: certifies that our drone is flight-worthy and may be flown in the UK.  We plan on bringing it back to the US for approval by the FAA.  These drones are also for surveillance of common space. Important for border security and security of airports. Not a hobby-type commercial drone; designed to operate in DVE – degraded visual environments.  Can fly in any weather. Sensors can penetrate clothing. As we hoer above crowds we can usually tell if someone is wearing a suicide vest.  N March 16, e had the best economy in the world; then the company had to cancel private placement. But it applied to the stimulus package; applied early, via Bank of America; it got us through to the next round and [we succeeded].  In April, started private placement again. We’re oversubscribed.  We do lifesaving, search and rescue.  Can even track virus for fevers.  Now that we have our private placement in place, with funds to start production, we’re going to build five to ten more in the States and get certification from US agencies.
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 3, Block D:  Conrad Black, The National Post; Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other;  The Flight of the Eagle, in re: The CBC.  Lines up almost perfectly with NPR.  It's a state-owned broadcaster, job security is high, no pressure to produce; attracts more left-wing people (CBC, BBC, NPR, Australian Broadcasting Corporation).  Good in cultural matters, but politically . . .   political comments recently have been scurrilous; scandalous and shocking. The Economist magazine wrote that the entire survival of the Trump Adm depended entirely on what Michael Cohen says. English-language CBC was not separatist, stated news fairly; but the French CBC was outrageous in its propaganda.  Pierre Trudeau threatened to close it down; Quebecois separatists murdered a prominent politician.  Now the CBC has threatened to shut down the Epoch Times!    CBC is soft on China—has a natural sympathy for China and loathes Trump.    It’s skeptical of a religious group’s claiming persecution because they’re all atheists.  They've had many good people in the news service; my friend there was absolutely scrupulous.    They’ve [gone downhill] in recent years.  The govt needs to appoint someone competent to run the CBC and clean it up.
 
Hour Four
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 4, Block A:  Mary Anastasia O‘Grady, WSJ editorial board and Americas column; in re: Brazil in the time of the virus: many people work day to day in the informal economy; and the nation has very little health care. It's a large, poor country. Bolsonaro’s supporters still support him; his critics are still unhappy. Classical liberals supported him but are disenchanted now with his macho-man talk about the virus.  The economy minister objected to the Keynesian ProBrazil program, offered to resign; Bolosonaro kept the minister and maintained his policies.
Brazil Doubles Down on Reform  President Jair Bolsonaro reaffirms the goal of ending crony capitalism.   https://www.wsj.com/articles/brazil-doubles-down-on-reform-11588541718
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 4, Block B:  Mary Anastasia O‘Grady, WSJ editorial board and Americas column; in re: El Salvador.  President Nayib Bukele when under pressure simply issues decrees.  Displeased, he took the military with him into Congress on a Sunday; soldiers carried long arms; president called the Congressmen “scoundrels.”  Citizens were scandalized. In the coronavirus, he’s grown even heavier-handed.   Salvadoran gangs have long been a major problem. Bukele had some success early on; then the gangs pulled back, waited a bit, and will launch again.  Bukele is worried about the virus; began taking anyone on the street to a quarantine center, had them confined for up to a month at whim; which spread the virus even more.
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 4, Block C:  Mike Murphy, author, From The Stick to The Cove: My Six Decades with the San Francisco Giants; in re: The San Francisco Giants.  In 1955, in the ball park, Mike retrieved a ball and threw it back, leading him to be invited by Ed Montague to be a bat boy. The City was always a baseball town.  Once I was a bat boy for both sides; was bat boy and ball boy. Willie Mays.  Mr Logan. The ’58-’59 season; then Candlestick Park.  Wind condition!  Fog, wind, homeruns that turned into routine fly balls. Just hung there.  Manager hired a wind expert, but that didn't help. When the Beatles played their last show there it was so cold it wasn’t even a full house. Became clubhouse manager.  I got to know a lot of good ballplayers.  I was reading the sports pages when I was six years old.  SF Giants’ and LA Dodgers’ rivalry. Big fight in 1965.  Whacking each other.
Thursday 7 May  2020  / Hour 4, Block D:  Mike Murphy, author, From The Stick to The Cove: My Six Decades with the San Francisco Giants; in re:  . . .  2010 World Series ring.
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