Tuesday 30 June 2020
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Hour One
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 1, Block A: Gregory R Copley, Defense and Foreign Affairs, and author, The New Total War of the Twenty-first Century, in re: China’s amazingly ham-handed methods have created upset and panic among many of the PRC’s trading partners. China is pushing against India to show strength.. Last year Modi put a million troops in Jammu and Kashmir, abrogating a treaty. Part of Kashmir is occupied by India, part by China, part by Pakistan, the last providing the land bridge from China to Pakistan, letting it ship goods to Indian Ocean ports. Beijing has created an anti-PRC coalition.
Xi has made a few significant gains in the Pacific: e.g., Kiribas changed ties from Taiwan to Beijing. Trying to intimidate ASEAN countries; having a little success in Burma/Myanmar. However, China can't bld a sufficient strategic reach to challenge the US and the West, or resuscitate its economy – if, of course, the West recovers.
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 1, Block B: Gregory R Copley, Defense and Foreign Affairs, and author, The New Total War of the Twenty-first Century, in re: China’s aggression in South and East China Seas, in Hong Kong; in the US, an election year: does it suit the US to keep China at arm’s length? Yes. Behooves the US to see the PRC suffer economic and strategic decline under virus and military circumstance. Xi must ensure that Trump is not re-elected. PRC has its factories working, but nowhere to sell; and massive flooding from Three Gorges Dam. We may be seeing the structural failure of the dam. Were that to happen, would affect 300 million people.
Joe Biden observed that China would “never beat the US,” but he has a more accommodating position vis-à-vis China. Biden would persist with the Clinton and Obama policies: ample room to get away with its economic and other policies; Belt and Road is about how do you exert control over areas of the world? Britain goes with the Commonwealth and perhaps France in confronting the PRC, but the EU is increasingly dependent on China, is beholden to Beijing. Would leave Western Europe leaderless against Beijing.
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 1, Block C: Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re: First Space Force launch: a GPS satellite to maintain the constellation in orbit, for military and civilian. Have launched Falcon rocket 88 times! Sierra Nevada building Dreamchaser class to take cargo up and down to ISS. Thermal protection tile system. SLS. . . . Angara rocket. Charged $100 mil per launch, but competition with SpaceX revised that down to $57 mil – still not competitive. Yutu2 moved 62 feet in order to study different geology. Three Gorges Dam (Brobdingnagian) to control Yangtse flooding, Design flaws; now flooding may break the dam.
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 1, Block D: Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re: Betelgeuse; eventually will be a supernova. Star spots: like sunspots, but larger. A melting(?) exoplanet.
Hour Two
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 2, Block A: Liz Peek, @LizPeek, TheHill and Fox News, in re: We’ve ended Q2: the strangest on record. In February, sparkling news; then in March, catastrophe. So far, it’s better than expected. May jobs number was huge; now, May consumer confidence reading is high: 91. Very important to hiring. Stock market recovery had a salubrious effect on spending. Housing: May numbers pending home sales up 44%, biggest ever recorded. New homes: 690,000 units. House prices up about 5%. We’ve never had a man-made recession before. We’ve spent only half of the funds from the CARES program. Barry Lyndon: the dinner tables were very far apart; in recent years in New York, getting too close and cramped.
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 2, Block B: Liz Peek, @LizPeek, TheHill and Fox News, in re: Joe Biden asked about cognitive issues. Everyone lucky enough to grow older becomes absent-minded; but Biden said he’s regularly tested, of which there’s no record. First time in 88 days he’d faced the press. He also speaks for three minutes at fundraisers and leaves all the talk to others. His wife is doing as many as he is. Strange behavior for someone who clearly does not have an enthusiastic response from Democrats (e.g., 58% in Kentucky). He’s being heavily protected. He also has not made a case for what he intends to do as president. “Constantly tested” – interested to see the results.
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 2, Block C: New World Report. Joseph Humire, Center for a Secure Free Society, and Senadora María Fernanda Cabal, @MariaFdaCabal, in re: Everyone knows about Chavez and Castro. Problem is that the Communist propaganda is so powerful. A Lebanese businessman, Saa, a Colombian national, was arrested in Cape Verde: a major episode in the liberation struggle for Venezuelans, who are caught in a massive proxy fight. Need only a few dozen intl agents for Maduro’s strategic relationship, Saa was behind 26 tons of gold from Mexico to Turkey, bringing food to Venezuela. Next was to be gold for gas. Cape Verdean authorities annulled all of Saa’s legal defenses and accepted the US extradition request. He’s wanted in Miami, inter al. Also in Italy and Colombia; many criminal backgrounds.
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 2, Block D: New World Report. Joseph Humire, Center for a Secure Free Society, and Senadora María Fernanda Cabal, @MariaFdaCabal, in re: The virus in Latin America: how its spreading. Bogota has a huge food market. Informal economy. One manager wanted to close part; instead, schedules were revised. Today, closed about a third of the market; using familiar modes of anti-viral protection. . . . Uruguay: not a lot of viral infection—fewer than 1,000 cases. Reasons: Social trust—a lot of trust in the institutions and in each other; Montevideo has a neighborhood feel; and the public healthcare system works pretty well.
Baranquilla became totally closed down. Over 3,000 dead people.
Hour Three
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 3, Block A: Joseph Sternberg, WSJ editorial based in London, in re: Pandemic seems to have receded in London, but is breaking out elsewhere and government is locking down again, which displeases people. Virus will move into the human population for years. PM announces £5 bil in new infrastructure projects. E have no idea what infrastructure will be needed in our new world; and pol can shut everything down at will—how can you have an economy like that? Damocles sword hanging over us.
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 3, Block B: Joseph Sternberg, WSJ editorial based in London, in re: One-way system for foot traffic, or you’ll have to circle back. Fitting rooms not much open. Restaurants not all open, but people are starting to return to life. Plexiglas widespread. Dining: not open till next week. Experimentation in takeaway/carry-out.
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 3, Block C: Michael Boskin, Hoover, in re: Reopenings and their complexities.
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 3, Block D: Bill McGurn, WSJ editorial board & weekly "Main Street" column; in re:
Hour Four
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 4, Block A: Bill Whalen, Hoover, in re:
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 4, Block B: Bill Whalen, Hoover, in re:
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 4, Block C: Ken Croswell, astronomer; in re:
Tuesday 30 June 2020 / Hour 4, Block D: Ken Croswell, astronomer; in re:
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