Photo, left: A bread ticket granting the holder one loaf in celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday, May 24.
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Larry Kudlow, CNBC senior advisor; & Cumulus Media radio
 
Hour One
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 1, Block A: Robert Costa, Washington Post, in re: Donald Trump plans to meet with Bob Corker as VP decision looms  Monday’s meeting comes after the senator praised Trump’s late April address on world affairs. 
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 1, Block B:  Robert Costa, Washington Post, in re: Donald Trump to meet with Henry Kissinger, GOP’s foreign-policy eminence [grise]. The face-to-face session comes after weeks of phone conversations between Trump and Kissinger, who was a top advisor to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. / NEW YORK — Donald Trump is scheduled to meet here Wednesday with former secretary of state Henry Kissinger as the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee looks to develop his foreign-policy expertise, according to three people close to Trump. Kissinger has long been the GOP’s preeminent elder statesman on world affairs, in particular on U.S. relations with China.
Trump declined to comment. Kissinger’s spokesperson was not reachable. Meeting with Kissinger has become a rite of passage for many ambitious Republicans, especially those who land on the party’s presidential ticket. Sarah Palin had a high-profile meeting with him in 2008 when she became the GOP vice-presidential nominee, seeking his counsel and association with his credentials. The face-to-face session comes after weeks of phone conversations between Trump and Kissinger, who was a top advisor to presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. The people close to Trump spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss his private schedule and his relationship with the 92-year-old former diplomat.  . . .   Last week, during a visit to Washington to meet with party leaders, Trump met with James A. Baker III, another former Republican secretary of state.
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 1, Block C: John H. Cochrane, Hoover via Wall Street Journal, in re:  Ending America's Slow-Growth Tailspin The US economy needs a dramatic legal and regulatory simplification.
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 1, Block D: Carson Bruno, Hoover via Real Clear Markets; in re:  California Primaries Have Meaning Well Beyond the Golden State  Ballots are arriving in the mailboxes of California's vote-by-mail voters, which currently account for about 70% of primary voters. In California, Election Day is more accurately Election Month. And while the Presidential race is cooling off, rather than heating up as many expected, it doesn't mean there aren't exciting issues on this June's ballot.
Ending America’s Slow-Growth Tailspin  Sclerotic growth is America’s overriding economic problem. From 1950 to 2000, the U.S. economy grew at an average rate of 3.5% annually. Since 2000, it has grown at half that rate—1.76%. Even in the years since the bottom of the great recession in 2009, which should have been a time of fast catch-up growth, the economy has only grown at 2%. Last week’s 0.5% GDP report is merely the latest Groundhog Day repetition of dashed hopes.
Looking ahead, solving almost all of America’s problems hinges on re-establishing robust economic growth. Over the next 50 years, if income could be doubled relative to 2% growth, the U.S. would be able to pay for Social Security, Medicare, defense, environmental concerns and the debt. Halve that income gain, and none of those spending challenges can be addressed. Doubling income per capita would help the less well off far more than any imaginable transfer scheme.  . . .
 
Hour Two
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 2, Block A:  Stephen F. Cohen, Prof. Emeritus of Russian Studies/History/Politics at NYU and Princeton; also Board of American Committee for East-West Accord (eastwestaccord.com); in re: NATO says sets date for 2016 summit in Warsaw | Reuters
WARSAW The NATO summit in Warsaw scheduled for 2016 will take place on July 8-9, the U.S.-led alliance said on Friday. "This summit comes at a crucial time for the . . . “
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 2, Block B: Stephen F. Cohen, Prof. Emeritus of Russian Studies/History/Politics at NYU and Princeton; also Board of American Committee for East-West Accord (eastwestaccord.com); in re: West and Russia on course for war, says ex-Nato deputy ...  Nato v Russia in 99 seconds. He describes Russia as now the . . . ; West’s most dangerous adversary and says Putin’s course can be stopped only if the West . . .
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 2, Block C:  Stephen F. Cohen, Prof. Emeritus of Russian Studies/History/Politics at NYU and Princeton; also Board of American Committee for East-West Accord (eastwestaccord.com); in re: http://www.unian.info/politics/1353835-poroshenko-holds-telephone-conver...
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 2, Block D: Stephen F. Cohen, Prof. Emeritus of Russian Studies/History/Politics at NYU and Princeton; also Board of American Committee for East-West Accord (eastwestaccord.com); in re: Gorbachev backs Putin’s invasion of Crimea -... 2 days ago  May 21, 2016 · Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet premier, says that he supports Russian President Vladimir Putin’s takeover in Crimea — and . .  .
 
Hour Three
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 3, Block A:   Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, &  Dr Lara M Brown, George Washington University, in re: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/281084-reid-lay-o...
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 3, Block B:  Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, &  Dr Lara M Brown, George Washington University, in re: Gingrich: Romney’s anti-Trump efforts ‘pathetic’   Newt Gingrich on Monday panned Mitt Romney’s campaign against Donald Trump Donald Trump Muslim ... wonder what his problems are." Romney has emerged as one of the biggest critics ... University. Reports emerged earlier this month that Romney was among those courting potential third-party ...
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 3, Block C:   Robert Zimmerman, behind the black, in re:  India test flies its first spaceplane prototype  The competition heats up: India this morning successfully completed a test flight of its first spaceplane engineering prototype.
After a 90sec burn, the booster delivered the RLV-TD to the proper altitude before separating from the prototype and destructively fall-back to Earth in the Bay of Bengal. Meanwhile, the RLV-TD continued on, falling back into Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic velocity. During this hypersonic test, the RLV-TD pitched its nose up relative to the horizon and direction of travel – just as the Space Shuttles did during atmospheric entry. This allowed engineers to gather valuable in-flight data surrounding the performance of the vehicle’s thermal protection system (600 heat-resistant tiles and a carbon-carbon nose) and its aerodynamic characteristics during hypersonic flight, and inform the overall design of the eventual, full-scale RLV.
The prototype was designed to test the flight characteristics of the spaceplane, not its landing capabilities. If all went as planned, it would have glided horizontally into the ocean, as if it was landing on a runway, but then sink.
Tuesday  24 May 2016   / Hour 3, Block D:  Robert Zimmerman, behind the black, in re:  SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, and Mars   Two stories this week illustrate the difference between lobbying the government to get anything accomplished, and doing it yourself with the goal of making money from it from private customers.
SpaceX Is Already Working on Legal Approval for Its 2018 Mars Flight
Lockheed Aims for Mars Space Station By 2028
In the first case, SpaceX is planning to fly a Dragon capsule to Mars, using its Falcon Heavy rocket, and do it by 2018. It would not be manned, but would do the initial engineering testing for later manned missions, using larger interplanetary spacecraft. SpaceX is not asking the government to help pay for it. They’re only making sure they’ve dotted all the legal “i”s required. The goal is to build spacecraft that can take anyone to Mars who’s willing to pay for the flight.
In the second case Lockheed Martin is proposing a big government program to put six astronauts in orbit around Mars, in 2028. They haven’t really built anything yet to do this, they merely are lobbying the federal government to pay for it.
Which do you think is more likely to happen? Anyone who reads Behind the Black knows that I choose SpaceX. For 40 years I’ve seen many different variations of Lockheed Martin’s proposal, all of which came to nothing. They’re powerpoint proposals, not real engineering, designed to wow Congress and NASA and get funding for the company. Nothing will ever be built, since the actual construction is so far into the future and so untested that it’s impossible to predict what will really happen.
SpaceX, however, is planning a real mission, which is being designed to lay the groundwork for later, more complex attempts. Rather than propose something big for far in the future, they’re building something reasonable and doable now. Moreover, they aren’t lobbying the government, they’re advertising their skills to the entire world with the goal of convincing everyone to buy their very real product.
UPDATE: I should add a link here to Orbital ATK’s proposal in Congressional hearings on Monday to use their Cygnus capsule to build a cislunar space station by 2020. Like Lockheed Martin, they’re lobbying Congress to build a mostly powerpoint concept. Why don’t they instead make an investment of their own money, like SpaceX, to send some Cygnus capsules to lunar space and demonstrate the concept—while also learning what needs to be done? I’d have greater faith in the reality of their concept if they did that.
 
Hour Four
Monday 24 May 2016 / Hour 4, Block A:  Eternity Street: Violence and Justice in Frontier Los Angeles by John Mack Faragher. Part II of II. (segment 5 of 8)
“Groundbreaking … if you read Professor Faragher’s Eternity Street you will be enlightened to discover the violent story of the West―real and imagined―today’s and yesterday’s―begins and ends in Los Angeles.” (Stuart Rosebrook - True West Magazine)
“Faragher’s stories evoke Cormac McCarthy. In a grim but riveting narrative, languid preconceptions of Edenic California’s birth give way to murder and mayhem, carnage and cruelty. Eternity Street describes human beings at their worst, but this is American history at its best.” (Elizabeth Fenn, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Encounters at the Heart of the World)
“Gripping and authoritative, this is a masterwork of scholarship and literary grace. Faragher’s dark portrait of L.A. pulls no punches and asks us to consider what grim DNA yet lurks in the City of Angels.” (William Deverell, University of Southern California, author of To Bind Up the Nation’s Wounds)
“In Eternity Street, John Mack Faragher has unearthed a blood-soaked history of nineteenth-century Los Angeles that blows away ‘Wild West’ fantasies. Faragher’s masterwork should be read by all who wish to understand more about the violence that has shaped the American past.” (Stephen Aron, UCLA, author of The American West: A Very Short Introduction)
“Through chilling anecdote and skilled storytelling, John Mack Faragher explores the experience of frontier violence for L.A.’s Mexican, Anglo, Indian, Black, and Chinese residents. This may just be the true origin story for L.A. noir.” (Amy Greenberg, Penn State University, author of A Wicked War)
“Eternity Street will be an enduring landmark. Faragher’s stories are not happy ones, but they are ones we need to remember if we hope to embrace the West’s full history and cope with the legacy that continues to bedevil us.” (Elliott West, University of Arkansas, author of The Last Indian War)
Monday 24 May 2016 / Hour 4, Block B:  Eternity Street: Violence and Justice in Frontier Los Angeles by John Mack Faragher. Part II of II. (segment 6 of 8)
Monday 24 May 2016 / Hour 4, Block C: Eternity Street: Violence and Justice in Frontier Los Angeles by John Mack Faragher. Part II of II. (segment 7 of 8)
Monday 24 May 2016 / Hour 4, Block D: Eternity Street: Violence and Justice in Frontier Los Angeles by John Mack Faragher. Part II of II. (segment 8 of 8)
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