left: Napoleon at Ulm.
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-hosts: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com. Dr. David M. Livingston, The Space Show.
 
Hour One
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 1, Block A: Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations in the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania, in re: Xi & his cronies began a campaign against the corruption of the old regime (not of his own posse). Xi has now turned against not only his enemies but now his friends. Constant struggle within the elite since 1911, "Mafia politics."  Xi is unusual  in attacking with gusto people who were basically piece of furniture in the Communist regime. Doubtful that he can control what he's started.  And aggressive foreign policy against many of his immediate neighbors; and the Chinese govt is terribly divided. Purges are endemic to Communist politics.  Have to have institutions that are stronger than people, power must inhere in the office, not the person.  China's constitution provides for an orderly govt; Mao promised democracy, secret ballots, and the like 
China desperately needs institutions, procedure: prosecutors' pursuing fair trials, all would be fine. This purge is not. 
US has 22 Raptors, shd have a hundred.  Russians have sold to Vietnam missiles that can take out China's major base on Hainan Island. Both are thieves and Mafia regimes, But 45 years ago the US made a grave miscalculation about where China was headed.  Now we're facing the truth: using money from American consumers, China has built an [impressive] military [that's aimed against the US]. 
In a way, China has strategically already lost since none of the neighbors has yielded; Beijing ratchets up the tension by speeding up.  This also will not be accepted.  Ergo, China has o choice by to walk back and if it doesn’t, there's a likelihood of much loss of life  . As for the conspicuous fact of many conflicting voices' coming from Beijing, as Napoleon said, "One bad general is better than two good generals." http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2015/06/12/why-zhou-yongkangs-fall-isnt-the-end/
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 1, Block B: Kelley Currie, senior Fellow with the Project 2049 Institute, in re:  http://time.com/3917354/china-aung-san-suu-kyi-visit-burma-myanmar/
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 1, Block C: Hotel Mars, episode n; Andy Weir, author, The Martians, in re: Martian colonies, constructing habitats. A spectacular novelist. Knowledge of Mars, of NASA's operations, the story of Mr Watney.  (A major motion picture is en route.)  Watney's main problem is that he ended up abandoned on Mars, everybody thinks he's dead, and he needs to survive with what little is available.  Dealing with the surface of Mars, the soil, surface chemistry, how to produce food.  Andy was refused by publishers, so self-published on Kindle, now has been courted by the same publishers. When I wrote the book, people believed that Mars was effectively a desert; since then, we've learned that there's a lot water in soil trapped as ice. Every cubic meter of Martian dirt has 35 liters of water!  NASA astronauts say that Andy's depiction of astronauts is highly accurate. The backstabbing in the bureaucracy is well portrayed. Paleodiet: Nothing tea.  Took me three years to write the book, of which half was research, I had a mailing list of 3m,000 people who read each chapter as it emerged ad very helpfully criticized me.  The December 2014 Orion flight took the book's cover! I've  been invited to speak at NASA and at SpaceX – a real treat. Am surprised at how much NASA liked the book, that they introduced me to the top guys there. 
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 1, Block D:  Lee Smith, the Tablet, and The Consequences of Syria,  in re:   Sanctions without guarantees? We need to know what Iran has done in the past is so inspectors can benchmark the program, so can know if Iran is holding up its side of the deal. If no inspectors in there, there's no possible deal.  . . . Someone at the Jerusalem Post conference called out to Secretary Jacob Lew, "You’re a Court Jew!"  Pres Obama sent Lew to make absurd assertions. We see figures align themselves with the Administration, go out and sell absolutely absurd notions to Jews.  J Street:  bills itself as  pro-Israel group, which most thoughtful people disagree with. They often take positions to which the Israeli electorate is opposed. If you say you’re pro-Israel but what you advocate weakens US-Israeli ties, you've weakened your own political power. 
The ‘Court Jew’ Controversy Re-Erupts  New reality for an old phenomenon: How Obama and Israel changed the stakes of Jewish power
Hour Two
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 2, Block A: Mike Davis, professor at Hong Kong University Law School, in re: China's struggle to shed itself of a tyranny and replace it with democracy.  Place to watch is Hong Kong; the struggle is in the Legislature (LegCo, legislative council, pron: ledge-co) – a bill to implement the Beijing version of democratic reform in HK, which let Beijing vet all candidates.  "State democracy": 5 million Hong Kong citizens may vote – but only for he candidates put forward by Beijing! Those who support the bill do so guessing hat maybe there'll be a better bill in future – not likely. "Localists" mostly support a nonviolent approach; are accused of wanting an independent HK, although they're merely asking for the autonomy long ago promised by Beijing.  Word of a bomb plot to blow up _______ -- highly unlikely that any HK person was involved; more likely that it's a false-flag op run by Beijing.  Certainly, all local groups disavow any connection, and the language in the notes sounds a whole lot like Communist Party blather.  Sounds as though Beijing is entirely flummoxed by Hong Kong and is taking desperate steps.  In LegCo, one vote.
http://time.com/3922358/hong-kong-separatist-localist-bombs-democracy-national-independent-party-propaganda/  ; http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/17/us-hongkong-politics-idUSKBN0OW2PJ20150617
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 2, Block B: Peter Navarro, professor at the University of California, Irvine and producer of the documentary Death by China, in re: There's an effort to rehabilitate Snowden and bring him back as a hero; however, there are global problems generated by his deed.  Snowden claims hat he so thoroughly encrypted the files hat he can't decrypt alone. However, the damage is severe; Chinese hack frequently into US got and civilian networks, Are we in a low-lever war? Note that Snowden does not speak with he same passion of Russian and Chinese hacking into citizens's files. He fled to China and Russia – here are a lot of places to run and hide, but Russia and China are not our friends. Snowden isn’t  much of a patriot.  Mrs Clinton named Russia, China and Iran as enemies of the US.   Chinas aggresson will be one of the top three issues of he 2016 campaign. Our economy is still under siege form China – unfair trade practices and stealing our trade secrets.  Donald Trump names Death by China as one of his favorite [information source]. He does his homework. 
http://www.wsj.com/articles/snowdens-gift-to-russia-and-china-1434320274
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 2, Block C: Melik Kaylan, Forbes.com, in re: Turkish elections.  Erdogan, who comes from the AKP, which has done poorly in the last elections.  At first, euphoric, since Erdogan had become a despot.  A few decades ago, a deadlock of coalitions leading to corruption and bad governance, the military stepped in. Wee the army the same as it was when if t effected coups and demanded better democracy, the presidency would be nominal (It's supposed to be ceremonial). But Erdogan defanged the army so there's no force to put together the nation if it falls apart except Erdogan, who wants enough chaos to occurred for him to be reinstalled as tyrannical leader. . . . The war on the Syrian border.  Crackdowns on journalists in the last few days.  . . .  Kurds chose to vote monolithically; Erdogan tried to split them and failed, not least because the Kurdish leader is Westernized, said this is not only  a Kurdish party, it's for all disenfranchised people.
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 2, Block D:  Simon Constable, Forbes.com, Barron's, et al., in re:  TheStreet: How Your Portfolio Can Profit from Japan's Manufacturing Rebound ; TheStreet: China's Steel Producers Choke ; Barron's: Vanguard's Precious Metals Fund -- Back to Conservatism  ; Forbes: Newscorp's WSJ Makes Bold Move on Fleet Street
Hour Three
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 3, Block A: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts, Part II (of IV), segment 1 of 4
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 3, Block B: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts, Part II (of IV), segment 2 of 4
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 3, Block C: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts, Part II (of IV), segment 3 of 4
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 3, Block D: Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts, Part II (of IV), segment 4 of 4
Hour Four
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 4, Block A:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: Jeb Bush's case against Marco Rubio The decision of whether to support Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio was one Florida Republicans ... ;  Jeb Bush Says He 'Just Can't' Throw George W. Bush 'Under the Bus'
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 4, Block B: Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: …Trump jumps in: The Donald's latest White House run is officially on
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 4, Block C: McKay Coppins, Buzzfeed, in re:  Jeb Bush Embarks on Least Joyful Campaign Ever  Bush once said he would only enter the 2016 race if he could campaign “joyfully.” Now that he’s running, he seems miserable.
Wednesday   17 June  2015  / Hour 4, Block D: McKay Coppins, Buzzfeed, in re:  Donald Trump reportedly paid actors $50 to cheer for him at his 2016 announcement Real estate mogul Donald Trump is being accused of hiring actors to cheer for him at his ... ; http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/donald-trump-americas-troll-gets-tricked-into-running-for-pr?utm_term=.tq5VY5vnY#.tkDemwXPM
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