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JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-hosts: Larry Kudlow, CNBC senior advisor; & Cumulus Media radio, & Stephen Moore, chief economist, Heritage Foundation. 
Hour One
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 1, Block A:  Stephen Moore, chief economist, Heritage Foundation, and Mona Charen, NRO, in re: Baltimore, augur of presidential politics – today and in 1968. Note invasion of Czechoslovakia and Nixon's choice of Spiro Agnew, not the nattering nabob of negativism, and a moderate/liberal Republican who also was corrupt and busted.  Clinton revelations. Larry Hogan, the great GOP businessman, beat Michael O'Malley, who's a big taxer, a big spender, a big liberal. Maryland taxes are off the charts.  It's an economic wasteland.  Let O'Malley not think that he's a hero – he's part of the problem and is why Hogan won.  Today the president blamed Congress for the trouble in Baltimore.  First time in seven years I've praised Pres Obama: "These are not protestors, they're thugs." He also listed "fatherless young men" – good for him!  However, he asked for massive investment n Baltimore, which currently ahs 892 federal programs.  All failires.  
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 1, Block B: Stephen Moore, chief economist, Heritage Foundation, and Mona Charen, NRO, in re: Kasic, Jindal, and ___ -- all have done an excellent job: school choice, tax control.  I Baltimore I think the Black rage is also against poor schools and [economic breakdown].  Recall that in 2012 the East Coast was hit by Hurricane Sandy a few days before elections, a large number of voters made up their minds based on reactions to Sandy.  Ergo, it's too early to guess how the electorate will respond to these matters.  I think the country yearns for strong leadership.  Jeb Bush was a truly great governor, out of office since 2006.  Good on education and tax policies; problem is, he's been an [unknown] candidate. Spent too much time obsessing about fundraising instead of discussing his policies with voters. Rick Perry was a pilot and knows the military.  Has a strong America-first approach and is completely opposed to the Iranian deal.  Rand Paul, by contrast, takes [weak positions]. 
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 1, Block C: Carson Bruno, the California dreaming revisionist of Hoover, & Stephen Moore, chief economist, Heritage Foundation, in re: at face value, the California comeback seems to be happening – but re-check the stats.  Only the Bay Area is booming – Silicon Valley – while the reservoirs are drying up, no end in sight to the four-year drought.  Bay Area not sitting on an aquifer; when the Hetch Hetchy runs dry, they’ll have to figure out something entirely new.  In the last few years, 1.5 million more left then arrive in Cali. Further, it's great to live in if you're madly rich or really poor, but the middle class is being hollowed out.  This is the fourth drought in seven years; the enviros protect fish (a bait fish, a smelt eaten by other fish, one that does well when it rains and not when it doesn't; looks like heavily ironic junk science), they hate farmers and the Central Valley. Have highest fuel, electricity and gas taxes.  Conserve our way out of the drought? If that's the strategy, need to do a lot more than conserve.    The GOP in Cali is in Victor Davis Hanson argues that not only will the state not bld new reservoirs, but won’t let anyone have a deep-enough pump to reach the water.  Seventy-five per cent of the population lives on 25per cent of the geography.  California is sitting on e huge energy deposit, imports oil from the Middle East rather than North Dakota. Have $2 trillion worth on O&G. Incl nuclear and hydro: you hit 50 per cent.  Loretta Sanchez, spectacular campaigner, may jump in . . .
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 1, Block D: Larry Kudlow, CNBC senior advisor; and Cumulus Media radio, in re:   Turns out that it's the liberal press that's killing Mrs Clinton with Clinton Cash, so the GOP doesn’t need to. It needs a softer image plus good economic and natl security policies. Let Hillary be Hillary and don't get in the way.  Republicans need to stop sounding like mean old white men. What scares me is her giving 20 per cent of US uranium to Putin.  Polling data show that people are suspicious of Mrs Clinton's judgment – and that's a killer.  I wish that the GOP would have a bunch of candidates each with a four-point plan. Let Hillary sink into her own quagmire; let the GOP lead with clear plans.
Hour Two
Tuesday  28 April 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:  Hill argues the current Westphalian order is collapsing, not only in Europe but in the Middle East and in China. Discussion of Westphalian order under pressure.  Hill identifies the US/NATO move in the 20th-century Serbian conflict as undermining the Westphalian Order. " What is worrying is seeing what Russia is doing toward Ukraine and seeing what China is doing in the international waters of Asia: It indicates that their leaders think that this order is finished. And therefore what they need to do is begin to move rapidly, but carefully, to begin to create spheres of influence.  They will essentially be in charge of an entire region of the world, so a big part of the world would be under the hegemony of Beijing, and a big part of the world would be under the hegemony of Moscow. And the other parts of the world would each become someone's sphere of influence.
SFC: I disagree. . . . I'd reformulate: the West accuses Russian under Putin f destroying the post-Soviet security order in Europe by arming he fighters in eastern Ukraine.  Hill also points to what we did in 1999, and Russia did in Georgia, [et al.].  This neglects to mention that Russia was purposely excluded from the post-Soviet order in Europe.  . . .  Europe is split and China is reorienting. It's global, or semi-global. 
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 2, Block B: 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 (2 of 4)
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 2, Block C: 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:   http://russia-insider.com/en/chechnyas-kadyrov-makes-headlines-order-shoot-russian-police/6175  ;  Sputnik @SputnikInt  ; Economic stability in #Ukraine unattainable without #Russia – #Steinmeier sptnkne.ws/fPm pic.twitter.com/PKcKK0YmUJ ; from Conflict Reporter:  said to be Azov frontlines ; WW  I trench warfare. ;  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-pZCdEhulk ; Looks as though the ceasefire is a way of saying, dig in, trenchlines.  Suggesting the next phase will be ground level surges, similar to WARRANT  I 1915 Offensives, prepped by artillery. http://m.0629.com.ua/news/809755  "Dnepr-1" destroyed ammunition depots militants near the villages Sahanka Dzerzhinsk and under Mariupol.  This regiment of "Dnepr-1" reports on his page on Facebook.  "In response to regular terrorist attacks on the Russian troops as the civilian population, and Ukrainian forces, the soldiers of the regiment "Dnepr-1", with the support of the APU militants destroyed a warehouse in which to store artillery ammunition and weapons,"  said in a statement.  ; Warehouse located in the town of Dzerzhinsk, near Mariupol, Donetsk region. In addition, the soldiers of the regiment "Dnepr-1" terrorists blew up the heavy armored vehicles near the village of Sahanka. Recall that according to Minsk agreements Sahanka village is located on the Ukrainian side of the demarcation line. "In fact the village is not even a gray area, because it has been occupied by terrorists," - the press service of the regiment.
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 2, Block D: 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 (4 of 4)
Hour Three
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 3, Block A:   Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review & Pirates fan, in re: American culture is at odds with a lot of things that shade its values, character and work ethic. Most notable of these are politics and Hollywood, the celebrity-driven entities that dominate media coverage. The collision of Hollywood and the presidency with a sizable chunk of Washington's media, which report on the latter and party with the former, has elevated both as cultural icons that dictate not just fashion but values, causes and behavior — or, at least, behavior they consider good for the rest of us to emulate . . .  [more]
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 3, Block B:  James Goodby, Hoover, in re: Nuclear Non-Proliferation: We must keep working for a world without nuclear weapons (yes, it's possible). At the Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference later this month at the United Nations, the five nuclear weapon states recognized by the Treaty—the United States, Russia, Britain, France, and China—will come in for critical scrutiny from an international community that regards current approaches to nuclear arms as inadequate.  Just take Moscow’s aggression toward Ukraine, which has introduced dramatic new tensions into relations between the West and Russia. The crisis should also remind us, however, of the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and of our common interest in reducing and eliminating that threat.  [more]
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 3, Block C:   Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re: Progress freighter in big trouble  A Progress freighter launched by Russia to ISS on Tuesday was placed in the wrong orbit, has not deployed its radar antennas needed for rendezvous, and is not responding properly to commands on the ground.  Whether it is in the wrong orbit might be an incorrect report, but other sources demonstrate clearly that the spacecraft is tumbling out of control. Based on all these reports, it does not look good for this vehicle. The crew on ISS, including the two astronauts on a year-long mission there, might have to do without these supplies.
Meanwhile, Russia is proceeding with its plans to consolidate control of all aspects of its aerospace industry under the banner of a single government “super-corporation” run by Roscosmos. Considering the number of technical failures they have had with spacecraft and rockets in the past five years, it seems to me that this is the worst approach for solving these problems. Then again, Russian culture strongly favors a top-down authoritarian approach, so it might work better under this Soviet-style approach. I don’t believe it, but we are going to find out in the coming decades.
Air Force reveals some details of next X-37B mission  Having firmed up the May 20 launch date for the next X-37B mission, the Air Force has also revealed one of the experiments the reusable mini-shuttle will carry.  They will be testing in orbit an advanced ion engine. I suspect however that this is not the only experiment on board.
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 3, Block D: John Bolton, AEI, in re: This is not the time to cripple our intelligence-gathering capabilities against the rising terrorist threat. Congress should unquestionably reauthorize the NSA programs, but only for three years. That would take us into a new presidency, hopefully one that inspires more confidence, where a calmer, more sensible debate can take place.

John R. Bolton, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, was the United States ambassador to the United Nations from August 2005 to December 2006.  read this article online
Hour Four
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 4, Block A:  John Nicolson, Scottish National Party candidate for Parliament from East Dunbartonshire, in re:    http://www.scotsman.com/news/general-election-snp-coverage-mostly-negative-1-3757051
http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/tories-and-labour-clash-over-renewal-of-trident-1-3757355
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 4, Block B: John Nicolson, Scottish National Party candidate for Parliament from East Dunbartonshire, in re: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/28/tories-playing-politics-trident-defence-secretary-michael-fallon-nuclear-deterrent
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 4, Block C:  Laurie Goodstein, NYT, in re:   Pope Francis Steps Up Campaign on Climate Change  An effort by the pope to further the issue of climate change and environmental stewardship is already angering some thinkers on the American right.
Tuesday  28 April 2015  / Hour 4, Block D: Peter Klein, Retro Report producer, in Vancouver; also director of the UBC Graduate School of Journalism; in re: Anatomy of an Interrogation The story of the first and only CIA contractor to be convicted in a torture-related case after an interrogation. . . . Abdul Wali; Haider Akhbar. David Pisarro behaved very oddly – unacceptably.  Abdul Wali was under a sandbag, one eye moved to the center of his head. Pisarro was never trained in interrogations.  [Apparently was brutal, irrational, and unproductive.] Wali died after three days. Even though Abdul Wali turned himself in voluntarily t clear his name, and was not allowed to do so,  "I never lost any sleep over his death." – David Pisarro, in his cowboy hat.
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