Photo, above: 

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-hosts: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, and Dr. David M. Livingston, The Space Show.

Hour One

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 1, Block A:   Toshi Yoshihara,  A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Naval War College, in re:  Liaoning steams southward, USS Cowpens (displaces 10,0000 tons) training behind in international waters. A Chinese mil ship comes within 500 yards, making the event susceptible of a collision; Cowpens obliged swiftly to engage in evasive manoeuvers. In intl law, Chinese interfered in freedom of navigation. US has extended an invitation to China to participate in 2014 Rimpac naval exercises, which may turn out to be not a good idea.  . . .  If China is, indeed, a rising power, it needs to take the same position the US does: maintain freedom of navigation. In refusing to observe the rules of the road, China doing everything counterproductive – Barbara Tuchmans "folly" – in a way that indicates Chinese weakness. Maritime Military Consultative Committee, formed over a decade ago, turns out to be only print on paper.   Likelihood that the captain of the Liaoning acted independently of Beijing's orders?  Zero, or perhaps less.

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 1, Block B: Nury Turkel, Esq, past president of the Uyghur American Association, in re: a Uyghur family planning for a wedding ceremony next month in Kashgar, Chinese police entered, tried to removed the bride's veil – considered extremely offensive – ad when a man objected, the police killed him, and wound up killing  _ others while one police officer was killed.  Why is this occurring often? Beijing has stepped up its war on traditional ceremonies. Very troubling trend in the region.  Police now vow to avenge their one death.  This looks as though it'll go on indefinitely. Chinese tactics seem to be – pardon me – straight out of the Nazi playbook: executions on the spot, extrajudicial killings.  They called the bridal veil a symbol of religious extremism, thus a harbinger of terrorism!  These people were targetted because they were Uyghur.  In Uyghur neighborhoods, there are plenty of Han observers - spies – to keep track of all traditional families. "This is the nature of the Communist system."  Car crash in Beijing on 28 October: yes, they were Uyghur, but the yarn by the Beijing authorities has changed a few times, is farfetched, and is nontransparent, so no one can be sure what happened.

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 1, Block C: Dr. David M. Livingston, The Space Show, and Scott Bolton, theoretical and experimental space physicist, Director of the Southwest Research Institute Space Science and Engineering Division, in re: JUNO mission to Jupiter, launched 2011 and will arrive in 2016 (on 4 July), to help us understand how Jupiter formed, and how the rest of the planets in our Solar System did.  JUNO will go into polar orbit over Jupiter at >150,000 mph, the fastest human-made thing; whole orbit is eleven days long.  (How JUNO was launched!  See the movie.) Galileo & Deep-Impact Mission. You see how fragile and small the Earth and Moon are, see their motion in relation to each other.  When JUNO goes into orbit, we study Jupiter for about 30 eleven-day orbits, then at eh end we send it into the planet for planetary protection reason so it won’t accidentally crash into any of the other moons; the atmosphere will burn up the craft.   In October, ham radio operators sent a lot of Morse code to JUNO: thousands in unison punched in the Morse code he word "Hi."  As Juno approached the Earth, we actually heard it – JUNO had radio receivers on board (study the magnetosphere, et al.), which we used to detect the ham signal.  We look at the Doppler shift in order to measure the gravity field of Jupiter; also measure force fields from deep inside the planet, also a plasma instrument, [et al.].  Microwave radiometer measure the atmosphere and its composition, esp water inside Jupiter, leading us to know more about how the planet formed. JUNOcam: raw data immed to the Web for everyone.  Citizens everywhere will help form the images and post them. On arrival, point engine to land and fire it sort of like reverse thrust, slow down enough for Jupiter's gravity to grab it – at which point we're in orbit!

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 1, Block D:  John Schiffman, Reuters, in re: PRC agents in the US: From Colorado, to Northern California to China, Shiffman and D Wilson follow a smugglers trail and explore its global security and military ramifications. Why was Philip He transferring radiation-hardened microchips (radchips)? Critical for use in space, and against nukes.  Protected under US export laws; we can buy them within the US, but deportation is illegal. Phillip He worked for Cal Transport, but bought $500K of chips from a firm in Colorado. He must have known he'd be caught, but we also had FBI Keystone Cops that let the chips get out. Meanwhile, the mfr was about to be sanctioned by State for selling 14,000 chips.  P He took the chips out of their protective coating – need extreme clean rooms to make them – out of their packaging and put them in baby formula.  He was promised a condo in Shanghai if he succeeded.  His fronted money, routed through five different banks, was laundered.  An 88% increase in suspicious queries to such mfrs. China has fund it too difficult to make these. Whatever the Chinese, Iranians, or Russians buy in the US is what they need; can thus do a sort of portrait of what they’re making. Turf battles between DHS, State, Treasury and others.  Philip He sentenced today to three years in prison. How China’s weapon snatchers penetrate American defenses      

Hour Two

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 2, Block A: Stephen Yates, CEO of DC International Advisory and former advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, in re: What if China and the U.S. were a hair’s-breadth away from war—and Americans didn’t notice? Why pundits on both sides of the aisle are ignoring the scary reality. What's important also is that this occurred while the US vice-president  was visiting Beijing. This emphatically is not coincidence: the visit and the near-collision were orchestrated by the same persons. The unfortunate US habit is to pretend that at the beginning of each new US Administration history starts all over Hainan incident:  Interceptor fighter jet and a PLA J-811 collision; US still had in the balance permanent normalized trade relations with China*.

Thomas Friedman, a self-described "friend of China," asked if Chinese governance was "frailer" than he thought. Economically, politically, and strategically, China may not be the miracle Friedman thought. But why is Friedman writing to a dictator?  GC: "China has a system that's frail, but Friedman has a mind that's weak."

Ten days ago, amid the rising tension provoked by China’s establishment of an air defense identification zone over territory also claimed by Japan, a Chinese naval vessel came within 200 yards of hitting an American cruiser. Had the two ships collided and sailors from both sides died, the two most powerful countries on earth would have found themselves contemplating war.

But that’s not the scariest part. The scariest part is that I read about the incident on page A21 of The New York Times. As of 11:30 A.M. Sunday, the story wasn’t visible on the Times’ homepage. That same morning, when CBS’s Bob Schieffer interviewed foreign policy big-mouth John McCain, the incident never came up. The relationship between China and America is today’s equivalent of the relationship between Germany and Britain before World War I. It’s the foundation of world commerce and world peace. But it’s fragile. In the history of . . .

..  ..  ..

* On April 1, 2001, the Hainan Island incident occurred when a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8II interceptor fighter jet resulted in an international dispute between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China.

The EP-3 was operating about 70 miles (110 km) away from the PRC island province of Hainan, and about 100 miles (160 km) away from the Chinese military installation in the Paracel Islands, when it was intercepted by two J-8 fighters. A collision between the EP-3 and one of the J-8s caused the death of a PRC pilot, and the EP-3 was forced to make an emergency landing on Hainan. The 24 crew members were detained and interrogated by the Chinese authorities until a statement was delivered by United States government regarding the incident. The exact phrasing of this document was intentionally ambiguous and allowed both countries to save face while simultaneously defusing a potentially volatile situation between militarily strong regional states

..  ..  ..

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 2, Block B:  Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: April 1, 2001, the Hainan Island incident occurred when a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8II interceptor fighter jet resulted in an international dispute between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China.  The Obama Administration is not learning from this, but the American people understand that confrontation is what Chinese leaders respect.  There's a split between the policy persons inside Washington and the American public.  The Obama Administration is deaf right now, and Peter Beinart is deaf not to know that there's a whole world outside the State Department. Silly statements out of the White House – how strong, confident and liberal Xi Jinping is -   that patently are inaccurate.  Events in Asia are slow-moving and not captured by US media.   In defense hearings; Israel mentioned 178 times; Iran, 171 times, and China five times!   Note that Iran is powerful largely because China supports it.  The US policy of "engagement" has become appeasement. After the next great conflict, we'll ask, How can we have been so oblivious?

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 2, Block C: Paul Gregory, Hoover Institution, University of Houston, and Forbes.com, in re:  Kim Jong Un Copies the Playbook of Joseph Stalin in North Korea, The World's Last Stalinist State  Stalin would have slapped the “Great Successor” heartily on his back for executing his “traitor-for-all-the-ages” uncle [Jang Sung-taek]. "Well done, young fellow. This young guy, Kim Jong Un, doesn’t shirk from killing his own relatives. He reminds me of myself. I didn't hesitate to shoot my closest friends and the relatives of my . . .   [more]»  A Stalinist show trial outrageous charges, and he like – could be a description of Moscow in 1938. Kim Il Sung adopted Stalinist methods; thee ow have moved to the third generation.  Note that Stalin purged only when he felt very secure in power – ergo, this may be a sigh of strength and confidence.  However, DPRK depends entirely on China, which has expressed displeasure, but North Korea is holding China hostage: disintegration of North Korea and unification with the south? The Pyongyang political class is all military officers, have no sense of business ("moderates" are all out); notable that the regime can exist despite a horrendous economic performance. All Kim has to do is accumulate enough forex to keep his elites happy.   Stalin began purge in Leningrad in 1934; from murder to murder; grew increasingly powerful with each show trial (beginning Au 36, Lenin's deputies, then on to commissars and technocrats  Big purge was Bukharin, August 1938, lasted two and a half weeks with intl press attending – a sign of much confidence.  There'll be more executions: of the uncle's fellow coup-plotters. Jang Sung-taek had close relations with important Chinese people; families now know that they have either to be executed or go to the camps, or else fight.  Stalin reached a cessation in 1938; had scapegoats, so how will Kim find the proper scapegoats?  The Great Successor wins by having a nuclear bomb and being reputed to be somewhat crazy. 

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 2, Block D:  Paul Mooney, Reuters,  in re: China's denial of visas to foreign journos: usu have to be renewed every December – although for Paul Mooney recently it's been every three months -  they usu wait till the last minute as intimidation. VP  Biden raised the issue; abt 20 reporters with visa at stake.   Journalists everywhere are afraid of Chinese vindictiveness.  We knew why they’re doing it: they don’t like Hong Kong is better to report from; Chris Buckley, New York Times, is working from there apparently unhindered. NYT contingency plan is to move staff out to Taipei, Singapore and Seoul.  While I don’t want to see Chinese journalists kicked out of the US, I think we could delay, same way China does. Also not grant visas to their security bosses; things getting worse now; we need to retaliate somehow.  Melissa Chen of al Jazeera kicked out two years ago because of human right; Bloomberg reporting on finances of Party officials and so now in bad odor.  Bloomberg has killed a lot of stories and has knuckled under.  Some Chinese journos in Beijing are laying low for he moment, but no one thinks the Communist Party can do this indefinitely. Cartoon of rooster being strangled: "You can strangle every single rooster, but the sun will rise anyway." 

Second-worst year on record for jailed journalists   For the second consecutive year, Turkey was the world’s leading jailer of journalists, followed closely by Iran and China. The number of journalists in prison globally decreased from a year earlier but remains close to historical highs.

Hour Three

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 3, Block A:  Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re:  review of the show till now. . . .  North Korea has entered a blood sport.  If China refuses visas to US journalists, that'll be viewed with much displeasure by Washington. What are they hiding?? everything – everything is going to Hell right now. 

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 3, Block B: Henry I Miller, M.D., Hoover & Forbes.com, in re:  "EPA's New Overseer of 'Scientific Integrity': The Blind Leading the Blind"

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 3, Block C:  Ritchie King, Quartz.com, in re: If you clicked the button in the  article on QZ.com, then you're currently mining bitcoin, the math-based digital currency that recently topped $1,000 on exchanges. Congratulations. (It won’t do anything bad to your computer, we promise.)

New bitcoins are created roughly every 10 minutes in batches of 25 coins, with each coin worth around $730 at current rates. Your computer—in collaboration with those of everyone else reading this post who clicked the button above—is racing thousands of others to unlock and claim the next batch.

For as long as that counter above keeps climbing, your computer will keep running a bitcoin mining script and trying to get a piece of the action. (But don’t worry: It’s designed to shut off after 10 minutes so your battery doesn’t drain if you’re reading this on a phone).

So what is that script doing, exactly?  Let’s start with what it’s not doing. Your computer is not blasting through the cavernous depths of the internet in search of digital ore that can be fashioned into bitcoin bullion. There is no ore, and bitcoin mining doesn’t involve extracting or smelting anything. It’s called mining only because the people who do it are the ones who get new bitcoins, and because bitcoin is a finite resource liberated in small amounts over time, like gold, or anything else that is mined. (The size of each batch of coins drops by half roughly every four years, and around 2140, it will be cut to zero, capping the total number of bitcoins in circulation at 21 million.) But the analogy ends there. Complete article: QZ.com

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 3, Block D: Bob Kildee (MI-5), in re:: one of his constituents: Amir Mirza Hekmati (born 1983) is an American who was arrested for allegedly spying for the CIA in Iran. On January 9, 2012, he was sentenced to death on . . .   
Jailed in Iran: The story of ex-Marine Amir Hekmati | Al Jazeera ...
 


Sep 25, 2013 - On Aug. 29, 2011, Amir Hekmati was getting ready to celebrate the end of Ramadan with extended family in Tehran.  . . .

Hour Four

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 4, Block A: Gettysburg: The Last Invasion by Allen C. Guelzo, Part II (1 of 4)

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 4, Block B: Gettysburg: The Last Invasion by Allen C. Guelzo, Part II (2 of 4)

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 4, Block C: Gettysburg: The Last Invasion by Allen C. Guelzo, Part II (3 of 4)

Wednesday  19 December 2013  / Hour 4, Block D: Gettysburg: The Last Invasion by Allen C. Guelzo, Part II (4 of 4)

..  ..  ..

Music  

Hour 1:   Apocalypse Now. Last Samurai. Shaolin. StarTrek Wrath of Khan.

Hour 2:   Shaolin. Baking Bad.

Hour 3:   Batman Arkham City, Inception. 

Hour 4: