The John Batchelor Show

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Air Date: 
November 05, 2013

 

Photo, above: Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in Great Britain. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. Celebrating the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London, and months later the introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.

Within a few decades Gunpowder Treason Day, as it was known, became the predominant English state commemoration, but as it carried strong religious overtones it also became a focus for anti-Catholic sentiment. Puritans delivered sermons regarding the perceived dangers of popery, while during increasingly raucous celebrations common folk burnt effigies of popular hate-figures, such as the pope. Towards the end of the 18th century reports appear of children begging for money with effigies of Guy Fawkes and 5 November gradually became known as Guy Fawkes Day.

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-host: Larry Kudlow, The Kudlow Report, CNBC; and Cumulus Media radio

Hour One

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 1, Block A: John B. Taylor, Economics One blog and Hoover, in re: Extreme Policies Are a Big Problem, Despite Naysayer

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 1, Block B: Randy Barnett , Georgetown Law, in re: a new paradigm in thinking about Obamacare.  usat.ly/1bDUZkC A penalty that's not a tax is illegal; Chief Justice rewrote the code that Congress had written to allow it, and so the ACA.  If it's a tax, has to be scored by the CBO.  The only constraint on taxing power is political.  . . .  The millennials want nothing to do with this.  . . .

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 1, Block C: David Davenport, Defining Ideas (Hoover Institution), and author, The New Deal & Modern American Conservatism: A Defining Rivalry,  in re:  What Is the Future of the GOP?  Chris Christie, and other electoral races tonight. Herbert Hoover on the New Deal: a turning point in American society.  In a crisis you can do nothing (Hoover accused of this, probably not accurately), do everything (as FDR did), or do something. 

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 1, Block D: Larry Kudlow, The Kudlow Report, in re: The White House has arrogantly decided to say that it did not deceive, despite all information to the contrary known by almost the entire public.   Major political problem.   Kentucky: 280,000 people cancelled – almost all small-group policies, being pools of small businesses.  Could be as many as 129 million people across the country (and there are 155 million people working in the US).   Deception by the president of the United States, who refused to admit to his own decisions to deceive.

Hour Two

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 2, Block A:  Jillian Kay Melchior, National Review Online, in re: G4S and Serco woes deepen with British fraud investigation The sordid history of a British multinational that got an Obamacare insurance-exchange contract worth more than a billion dollars. When you can't get online with ACA and send n a paper ballot, these people get the ballot. Contract for $1.439 billion – even though there's a substantial record in England of Serco fraud and personal scandals – and the contracts has been increased by multiple millions of dollars; after they’ve spent money on lobbying, Obama re-election campaign, on Jack Abramoff's old firm.  Hedgies and insider trading. 

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 2, Block B:  John Fund, National Review Online, in re: election night. Cuccinelli was down double-digits, then in the last two weeks reminded people that he was the first to sue vs Obamacare. (Cancelled policies, uncertain future; president's deceptions are inexplicable.)

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 2, Block C: Eric Trager, Washington Institute, in re: How Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Can Bounce Back  There's zero chance Morsi will be acquitted.

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 2, Block D:  Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re: The competition heats up: India successfully launched its first probe to Mars today.

The mission, also known in India as Mangalyaan (which means “Mars-craft”), has at the moment only reached Earth orbit. To get to Mars, it must still complete an additional engine firing on November 30. At the same time announcing that a third powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo will occur in about a month, Virgin Galactic has now admitted that commercial flights will not occur in 2013.

The sun goes boom!   It's always best to admit when you're wrong as soon as you find out. Last month, in reporting NOAA’s monthly update of the solar cycle, I unequivocally stated that My interpretation of this data tells me that almost certainly the solar maximum has ended. We might see some later fluctuations whereby the sunspot number jumps, but the Sun is clearly beginning its ramp down to solar minimum.  Well, I spoke too soon. Last night NOAA posted the newest update of the solar cycle, and it shows that in October the Sun was more active then it has been in two years. In fact, for only the second time this entire solar cycle the Sun’s sunspot activity actually came close to matching the predictions of scientists. This month’s graph is posted below the fold, with annotations.
Read more

Hour Three

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 3, Block A:   Francis Rose, Federal News Radio, in re:  "an orchestrated deceit" on ACA. Marilyn Tavenner testifies in Congress again. Candor? Honesty? Even Democrats are starting to wonder.  Wave of withdrawals of health-insurance policies.

Oregon has yet to enroll a single person due to website problems and is now sifting through paper applications. The website has become so problematic that visitors are told to submit an email address so they may be informed when it becomes functional.

NPR reports:  [S]pokeswoman Amy Fauver explained how it is working. “We have on our website right now a place where people who just want to wait, who just want to do it electronically, can give us their e-mail address, and we will e-mail them when the system is fully functional,” she said.   . . .

The paper application is 20 pages long and asks for everything from names and the number of people in your household to pension contributions and alimony payments.

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 3, Block B:  Dino Falaschetti, PERC/Montana, in re: Obama appoints Brown, Garcetti to climate-change task force
Los Angeles Times ‎- 3 hours ago 
Mayor Eric Garcetti and Gov. Jerry Brown are among the state and local leaders named to a task force on climate change.  Garcetti Appointed to Obama Climate Change Task Force President Obama names LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, Gov. Jerry Brown to climate-change panel

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 3, Block C:   Claudia Rosett, FDD, in re:  Iran's Worrisome Shipping News   Diplomats in Geneva this week should pay more attention to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines' long record than to the political sensitivities. Bravo to the European Union, whose authorities are seeking ways to maintain sanctions on Iran's national cargo fleet. The EU's existing sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines were overturned in September by the EU General Court on grounds that the European Council had not provided enough evidence linking IRISL to Iran's nuclear program, which was the reason given for the EU's blacklisting the shipping group in 2010. European governments are now exploring new grounds for reimposing sanctions, such as IRISL's record of arms smuggling.

But Europe's push to keep pressure on IRISL comes at a delicate moment. The U.S. administration has been trying to deflect tough measures against Tehran for fear of . . .

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 3, Block D: Katie Thomas, NYT,  in re: Under Health Care Act, Millions Eligible for Free Policies   Elisabeth and Mark Horst, artists in Albuquerque who earn $24,000 a year between them, qualified for a zero-premium plan.

Hour Four

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 4, Block A:  Tunku Varadarajan, The Daily Beast, in re: In India, Size Is Everything If Narendra Modi, the hopeful future prime minister of India, has his way, the country will build the largest statue in the world. With any luck it will overshadow his bloody record.

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 4, Block B: John Tamny, RealClearMarkets, in re: Wall Street 'Love' of QE Is an Obnoxious Myth  The absurd notion that Wall Street thrives amid periods of 'easy money' is belied by logical  and empirical realities.  Artificially low rates of interest and the infantilization of money in the form of QE have coincided with reduced staffing levels, slashed bonuses, and the tragic rise of government as Wall Street's #1 client.

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 4, Block C: Float Planes and Flying Boats: The U.S. Coast Guard and Early Naval Aviation by Capt. Robert B. Workman Jr. USCG (Ret)  (1 of 2)

Tuesday  5 November  2013 / Hour 4, Block D: Float Planes and Flying Boats: The U.S. Coast Guard and Early Naval Aviation by Capt. Robert B. Workman Jr. USCG (Ret)  (2 of 2)

..  ..  ..

Music

Hour 1:  Breaking Bad. Enders Game.

Hour 2:  The Kingdom. Enders Game. Centurion. Pacific Rim.

Hour 3:  Dark Knight Rises. 

Hour 4: