Photo, left:
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Hour One
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 1, Block A: Bill Whalen, Hoover Institution, A Day at the Races, in re: Mrs Clinton began backchannel for Iran talks through Sultan of Oman [Sultan Qaboos, currently unwell], She authorized the war in Iraq in 2003 – as a politically viable thing to do – and will not be caught again doing this.  In this race she'll be Left at all times.  Better that the Iran deal be sprung on her now than later.  Does Harry Reid control 34 votes in the Senate and Mrs Pelosi 100+ in the House?   Mrs Clinton changed directions on the TPP – and discreetly said zero at voting time.  Note that Chuck Schumer said he can’t support a deal without spot inspections – which this deal does not.  GOP ought to hold hearings on the Iran deal and request that Mrs Clinton attend all of them. Yesterday, she gave a speech and named names: the three leading candidates for GOP – Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio.
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 1, Block B: Bill Whalen, Hoover Institution, A Day at the Races, in re: Scott Walker went to London was asked abt evolution, choked for three days.  If you had the debate tomorrow, you’d get a clear answer.  Rick Perry.  Scott Walker. At present, Mr Trump tops the field with his [uncareful] comments. Anderson, and Perot, eke Buchanan, were exciting initially than merely [drained away votes.  Trump – and possibly others – could take away 5% of the vote.
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 1, Block C: Kori Schake, Hoover, in re: the Iranian revolutionary Guard Corps is an active enemy of America – running military ops in a half-dozen counties  The end of sanctions in the Iran deal is supposed to keep people charged with terrorist, arms movements and the like, are to remain on the sanctioned list.  Not  so. As for Soleimani, __. A lot more than $150 Bil – will also sell oil, and transact commerce in dollars again – will bring in a huge amount of money of which the principal beneficiaries will be not the citizenry – it's a kelptocracy – but the IRGC.  We could make it possible for ordinary Iranians to become beneficiaries, but this deal doesn’t.  Assad has already said that he cheers on the deal – "It's wonderful" – so Iran can bankroll his slaughter.   Ben Rhodes said this past spring that inspections will be "any time, anywhere" – but that's not in the document.  White House is now desperately trying to expunge Ben Rhodes's April emissions.  Oops. Now it's "Managed access."  Military sites: IAEA will have to make requests to the Iranian regime, which will have 14 days to think; then we can take it to a commission of Russians, Chinese, and others to adjudicate.  Members chosen are those who can keep a straight face while deliberating.   US B1's are in combat over Iraq all the time – deliver weapons that keep Kurds, Yazidis, safe from their enemies.   Iran's mullahs have a vision for the future that will be a disaster for Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Gulf states.    We need to push Iran back in the box and retaliate for violence; we need to target Iran's active destabilization work. Its obtaining nuclear weapons has terrified the entire region.
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 1, Block D: Michael Ledeen, FDD, in re: the suspect secret nuclear weapons dvpt in Iran. Omasr Sharif was a brilliant bridge player and an excellent friend. The Iran deal in Vienna: they’ve constructed the fog of diplomacy that no one can solve; not inn purpose except that Pres Obama desperately wants an agreement: it's like a battered wife - every time Iran spits in his face, he says "Don't worry, it'll be all right."  This agreement is what he was able to get in the end; a no-deal deal. No one has signed it, and it still has to be approved by the US, EU, China, Russia and the Iranian parliament.  Some details seem to be illegal in Iran: visiting mil sites, speaking to mil ofcrs, et al.  Last time Kerry returned from Geneva, Khamenei said, "This thing is no good."  Here  we have "Implementation Day," when everybody will formally have approved  - which might never happen. What Pres Obama deeply wants is to get on a plane, fly to Teheran, walk across a red carpet, and hug Khamenei.  On Quds Day very recently, Khamenei was leading vast chants of, "Death to America."  They haven’t released even one hostage; to rub it in, they put the Washington Post reporter jailed there back into the courtroom.  In strikingly defensive remarks, Pres Obama said, "Very little of the money will go to terrorist activity." A)  He has no information on that, is talking through his hat, and B) that 's quite unlikely Executions and torture have increased under Khamenei.  The yet-undecided specifics are still to be hashed out by yet more committees; negotiations will go on endlessly. Our allies are rushing to sign bz deals with Iran.  Boeing has been in Iran refurbishing Iranian aircraft; we're already in up to our necks.  Obama doesn’t care what Congress says or does; It'd be nice if Congress went throughout this document and raised real questions.  WaPo: if you want an end to the Iranian nuclear program, you need regime change.  
Hour Two
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 2, Block A: Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; author: Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, & The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag after Stalin; in re: Iran to be invited to join the Eurasian Alliance, Shanghai Cooperation, Minsk II. Right Sector in Kiev.  Fighting and a standoff in Western Ukraine.  Everything in the world seems to be on the move; could get global vertigo. Today's Iran deal – if it happens, Iran will re-enter the world as an power not only in the Middle East but on the world stage. Obama under attack. In  recent years, Iran's closest European ally has been Russia. Oil and other relations, but Russia's agreement to take spent fuel made Russia a crucial player. n the very day the Iran deal is being announced, Obama's appointees are testifying in Congress that Russia in America's Number-One enemy, behind ISIS, China, North Korea.
Russia has 20 mil Muslim citizens, "multi-confessional." Has had its own tragic deaths – more Russians have perished in Russia from jihadism than did in the US on 9/11.  Had there been no agreement, but war . . . Iraq had blowback in Russia against the "heathens": Moscow. 
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 2, Block B: Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus, & author: "The world can now breathe a sigh of relief," Putin said in a statement. He said the agreement would spur civilian nuclear cooperation between Russia and Iran, and contribute to combating terrorism in the Middle East.  http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/07/14/iran-nuclear-russia-idUKL5N0ZU39I20150714    Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made clear Russia expected some reward for backing the deal, suggesting Washington should abandon plans to base missile defence systems in Europe.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/04/02/parameters-joint-... (2 of 4)
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 2, Block C: Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus, & author (3 of 4)
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 2, Block D: Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus, & author (4 of 4)
Hour Three
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 3, Block A:   Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re: Using the images and data so far received from New Horizons, planetary scientists outline some of their tentative conclusions as well as speculate about what it means.
Pluto - the other images we've already received.  Also, science:  1. Ceres' white spots might be salt, not water. 2. Rosetta prepares for perihelion of comet. 3. Mauna Kea road reopens, under restrictions.
Commercial space: 1. NASA names astronauts for Dragon and CST-100 manned flights  2. SpaceX to go slow on 4000 constellation of satellites  3. Also: limited results from the Dragon launchpad abort test  4. India has successful commercial launch
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 3, Block B:  Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re: The Rosetta science team has prepared a FAQ outlining what we should expect next month as Comet 67P/C-G reaches and passes its closest point to the Sun, with Rosetta (and hopefully Philae) there to watch.
Road to Mauna Kea opened, with restrictions  The University of Hawaii has reopened the road to the summit of Mauna Kea, subject to the emergency restrictions imposed by Hawaii’s Board of Land and Natural Resources.  The visitors center remains closed, and access by the public is much more limited. However, with the road open to employees it means astronomy can resume on the mountain as well as construction of the Thirty-Meter Telescope. I fully expect some of the protesters to defy these restrictions and get arrested. Based on their behavior these past four months, they don’t have much respect either for the law, or for the sacredness of the mountain
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 3, Block C:   Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review & Pirates fan, in re: PHILADELPHIA-Republicans held a smart, enthusiastic, well-organized leadership conference here last month that drew presidential candidates and party rock stars, plus edgy, informative panels for grassroots activists. But they will need a lot more than . . .   [more]
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 3, Block D:  Lee Smith, The Tablet & Hudson Institute, in re: What Happens in Vienna . . . Could spell disaster for the Middle East.
Hour Four
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 4, Block A: Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 by Bruce Hoffman  (1 of 4)
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 4, Block B: Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 by Bruce Hoffman  (2 of 4)
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 4, Block C: Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 by Bruce Hoffman  (3 of 4)
Tuesday  14 July 2015 / Hour 4, Block D: Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 by Bruce Hoffman  (4 of 4)