Photo, left: The cover of the book, The Will of the Universe. The Unknown Intelligence [or: The Volition of the Universe], by Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, 1928, considered to be a work of Cosmist philosophy.
     Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was a Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of the astronautic theory, of Polish and Russian descent. Along with his followers, the German Hermann Oberth and the American Robert H. Goddard, he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics, His works later inspired leading Soviet rocket engineers such as Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko and contributed to the success of the Soviet space program.
   Tsiolkovsky spent most of his life in a log house on the outskirts of Kaluga, about 200 km (120 mi) southwest of Moscow. A recluse by nature, he appeared strange and bizarre to his fellow townsfolk.
   Konstantin Eduardovich on interplanetary travel:   "The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but we cannot live forever in a cradle."
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-hosts: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com. Dr. David M. Livingston, The Space Show.
Hour One
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 1, Block A: Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations in the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania, in re: Five PLA navy warships in the Bering Strait, right off Alaska where the US president is right now.  Meanwhile, thousands of stone-faced, goose-stepping Chinese soldiers march through Tien An Men to commemorate the CCP victory against Japan in WWII – which never, ever Jinping, in direct line from Mao Tse-tung, who spent the whole war in caves in Yenan as far as possible from Japanese troops, and amused himself by chasing skirts.  Mao actually punished one of his generals for fighting. CCP had a secret mtg south of Yenan: "You're forbidden to fight Japan head-on." One general in Dec 1940 launched a campaign that gave Japan a bit of a bloody nose; then he was grounded for the rest of the war; then out to defeat the US in Korea, then returned to die a horrible death.  Xi Jinping highjacks someone else's holiday.  The USSR entered the war two days before Nagasaki, so Putins attendance at the Beijng parade is bizarre.  The Beijing govt forbids any Chinese person from watching the parade, even from out of his own living-room window. Fear!  Tat someone might sttanfd in front of a tank?   When Soviets got rid of Stalin, they could pretend authority back to Lenin. In CHina, however. hy have to lie abot the past to justify theresent. What's being acknowlede that the legitimacy of the whole Party edifice stands on sand . Beig eroded.  Here Chinese aircraft plys abunch of model-ladies stuffed into uniform and required to goos-step.   Xi insistes htat the Japanese apologize – but see photo: Mao says to Japan, "No need to apologize; because of you, we were able t defeat Chiang Kai-shek."
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 1, Block B: Scott Harold, full political scientist and deputy director, Center for Asia-Pacific Policy at The Rand Corporation, in re:  . . . PLA indicted for cybercrimes in the US; after a while, China will realize that the US is serious, will approach the US govt to consider "cybernorms."  Certainly Can d Russia are cooperate closely in some ways but  . . . .  China's aggressive behavior has turned all of its neighbors against it, and now are cooperating among themselves.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/administration-developing-sanctions-against-china-over-cyberespionage/2015/08/30/9b2910aa-480b-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 1, Block C: Anatoly Zak, , in re: the all female simulated moon mission; the Vostochny [Космодром Восточный] delays and plans; the Roskosmos health overall during the recession. . . .  Soyuz rocket and Soyuz spacecraft are quire different: the rocket has no ability to carry humans, will be an unmanned vehicle flying from Vostochny, the new launch site. Official launch date of Vostochny was to be October of 2015; in three years, have done enormous bldg, but fell a little behind, so probably start in early 2016.  Will open soon. Moscow is obliged to thro money at the several erupting problems. As for launching Angara [Angara pad at Vostochny; nearest city is Uglegorsk]:  new-generation rocket (Soyuz in 50 yrs old); Angara is still taiga; promised by 2018 to bld a new pad, and by 2021 have manned capabilities. Putin during his last annual press conference that this is his pet project, feels historically attached to it. Some rockets are too big to be carried on the existing rails (6,000 km-plus to get there, with tunnels and bridges). Russia is bldg its own space station –will use ISS till 2024, and thereafter it can e split into separate sections. From 2024, the Russian modules can form the core of a new, embryonic space station.  Vostochny same latitude as Baikonur, can fly in same orbit; but for photgraphy wd prefer to have a higher inclination, which they can do later.
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Soyuz TMA-18M enters orbit! ; Russian station proposals to go to Kremlin  ;  Single manned Soyuz from Vostochny was planned  ;  Vostochny's movable skyscraper
On April 12, which is Cosmonautics Day in Russia, Putin suggested to name the town that will be built near the cosmodrome after Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, saying that there is not a single locality in Russia that would bear the name of the scientist.  Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky on interplanetary travel:   "The Earth is the cradle of the mind, but we cannot live forever in a cradle."
Vostochny (formerly Svobodny) Cosmodrome www.russianspaceweb.com/svobodny.html ; History of Vostochny (formerly Svobodny) launch site by Anatoly Zak. [The Vostochny Cosmodrome will be located at 51° 49′ N 128° 15′ E in Amur Oblast in the Russian Far East]
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 1, Block D: Evelyn Cheng, NBCUniversal,  in re: if the Fed raises rates it'll strengthen the dollar, bringing in more overseas investment.  Likely a torrent of outflow from China; can China survive that? Temporary, yes, but not sustainable for years and years. China did blame its stock-market plunge on the Fed, also HH the Dalai Lama, and Morgan Stanley.   Sigh.  Current burn rate out of Beijing suggests that it'll run out of forex in a year or so?
Hour Two
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 2, Block A: Charles Ortel, managing director of research firm Newport Value Partners, in re: the problems in China are roiling the global economy and markets.  The fiction of he day: that the Chinese Communist Party did anything, at all, to fight Japan.  The combined powers of Europe plus the US defeated Japan. Stalin was persuaded to enter the Pacific war only three weeks before it was done.  Stalin saw Chiang as the guy to do business, with, not Mao. FICTION.  On each side of the parade route for four blocks, citizen forbidden to look out their windows t0 have to look at the TV.  IMF has lowered projected world GDP growth: global slowdown, Greece, plus US.  Three Ds: debt, demography, disclosures. Too much global debt; how to reduce it without something negative? Demography: where there is wealth/net worth, there are also ageing populations and smaller families – ergo, far slower growth than in boom time.  Disclosure: everybody everywhere, looking for green shoots o progress; nowhere to be seen because we've been sold a bill of goods.   The signs are: we've delayed the day of reckoning for so long – we failed to reduce capacity where it's outmoded and expensive, then shrink the bloated bureaucracies; could head into a grave recession/depression.  China printed a trillion dollars recently. We won't clean things up; best-case scenario is: next 20 years, China grinds it out at a low level.  Twenty years of deflation doesn't give you a lot of scratch for the PLA. China selling $20 bil/day to prop up the yuan.  We also suspect that China's forex reserves aren't as big as the leaders say. A lot of Chinese money is coming to the US right now.  . . . What matters are wages and capital; when you lower GDP number, then  . . .  US is not creating good, high-paying jobs.
Capital outflow from China: http://nationalinterest.org/feature/2015-the-year-china-goes-broke-13749
From ZeroHedge, 1 Sept:   From the moment Japan opened, USDJPY buying took off (standard 100 pip rip on absolutely no news whatsoever) as yet another manipulated market breathed new life into equity longs dreams. That 'help' combined with the fact that, as SCMP's George Chen reports, 50 China brokerages will jointly contribute 100 bln RMB capital to the government margin finance agency to start "new round of market rescue" provided some stability after US markets' collapse. However, tonight's big news appears to be a major crackdown on leverage as MNI notes regulators ordering brokerage houses to clear all non-official margin trading services - not just halting new clients but also closing existing accounts. Chinese stocks are opening modestly lower as PBOC fixes yuan stronger for the 4th day in a row. Finally, China credit risk has spiked to 2-year highs as traders increase positions dramatically. The manipulation will continue through tomorrow at least when Parade Week peaks, so buckle up.
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 2, Block B: Bruce Bechtol, professor at Angelo State University and author of North Korea and Regional Security in the Kim Jong-un Era, in re:  what we learned about the North Korean military during the just-concluded crisis.
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 2, Block C:  Steve Herman, VOA Asia, in re: the Bangkok bombing. The Turkish embassy in Bangkok denies the arrested suspect is a Turkish citizen .  Arrest warrants issued for eight people; several at least are" ethnic Turks" – Turkey, or Uyghurs.    Location of bomb was a Hindu + Buddhist shrine visited mostly by Chinese people. Meanwhile Beijing denies hat its treatment of Uyghurs had anything to do with the bombing.  Thai media have been gagged and forbidden to mention much of this, obliged to protect Thailand's image. Although we're not under martial law anymore, we're still restricted by the military junta.  Some foreign correspondents's mtgs shut down; lèse-majesté laws here.  Everybody skittish lest there be another attack, and the authorities contradict themselves, s no one thinks the govt reports are accurate. Worst single-attack casualty numbers in Thai history.  Junta reps left Bangkok yesterday for Beijing, incl defense minister and high officials and aides.   
. . . Some dips and intell members in July, when Uyghurs were forcibly deported to China (where they'd be very badly treated), strongly criticized the Thai govt.
Lèse-majesté: the crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 2, Block D: Sohrab Ahmari, WSJ editorial, in re: The Middle Eastern diaspora descends on Europe. Three-year-old Hassan and his caretakers – an uncle; his parents are back in Syria – bravely continues. Arrive on the northern shore of Lesbos need to make their way to the Mittolini: a forty-mile trek across the island in 100-degree weather Busses are only for women and children. Only  occasionally for children. Thereafter, with temporary papers,, to Athens, then a train to Thessaloniki, and buses to the Macedonian border, then Serbia, Hungary, Austria, then Germany or Scandinavia. "Via the Western Balkan corridor." Germany has agreed to accept 400,000 Syrians.  If little Hassan is accepted in Germany, in theory his parent will later be able to emigrate to Germany. Need a way safely, quickly and humanely to process the ocean of arriving humanity.  Front National, Golden Dawn – neo-Nazi movements across Europe.
Hour Three
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 3, Block A: Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-wrote-classified-e-mails-... ; http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09/01/sources-clinton-email-marking... ;  http://www.wsj.com/articles/hillary-clintons-emails-point-to-large-role-...
Fiorina wins.  How Carly Fiorina earned a spot on the big stage at the GOP debate  Fiorina also had fairness on her side, say supporters. The original rules would have made . . .  ;  CNN Just Found a Way to Get Carly Fiorina onto the Debate Stage ; CNN Alters Debate Criteria, Which Could Help Carly Fiorina
Carson vs. Drumpf.  A Fellow Outsider, Ben Carson Rivals Donald Trump in Polls, if Not in Pomp  The spotlight rarely found Ben Carson this summer. While other presidential candidates shot . . .   ;  USA TODAY GOP Power Rankings, Week 1: Carson a strong second
Biden Marches:  Dick and Liz Cheney Slam Hillary Clinton, Encourage Joe Biden to Run  The former vice president encouraged Biden to run for president during an interview with . . . ; Biden to join labor boss at Labor Day event ; Common Ground: Biden should retire, not run
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 3, Block B: Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor.  (2 of 4)
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 3, Block C: Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor.  (3 of 4)
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 3, Block D: Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor. (4 of 4)  
Hour Four
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 4, Block A:  Lee Smith, The Tablet, and author; in re:  Meet the Iran Lobby In the fight over sanctions and the nuclear deal, how did the supposedly all-powerful pro-Israel lobby lose to the slick operatives of the National Iranian American Council?
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 4, Block B: Josh Kraushaar, National Journal, in re:   Jeb Bush's biggest rival for the nomination isn’t Donald Trump. It’s John Kasich and Marco Rubio. 
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 4, Block C: Ty Rogoway, Foxtrotalpha, in re: F-22 Raptors Will Be Deploying to Europe to Send a Strong Message to Russia ; Watch Typhoons Intercept a Russian Intel Plane from inside the Cockpit
Wednesday   2 September 2015  / Hour 4, Block D: Patrick Tucker, defenseone.com, in re: Is This the Warship of the Future?      Laser-armed battleships that print their own drones will have to survive anti-ship missiles plummeting from space.  If you thought the battleship era faded after World War II, just wait a few decades. A group of British designers with the Startpoint group have revealed concept art for a future warship called Dreadnought 2050, the product of an open-thought experiment at the informal request of the U.K. Ministry of Defense.
Named for the 1905 British man-of-war that rendered its predecessors obsolete, Dreadnought 2050 has all the futuristic accessories that a mid-21st-century warship shouldn’t be without. The ship is powered by hydrogen fusion — or if that proves unworkable, then at least by “highly efficient turbines driving silent electric motors to waterjets.” The hull is composed of “ultra-strong” composites of the finest acrylic. Out back, there’s a floodable dock for launching Royal Marines and swimming drones, a deck for launching armed aerial drones, and 3D printers to make more as needed. The designers don’t specify the size of their new dreadnought, but they imagine it would replace a ship with a crew of about 200 — perhaps making it comparable to the U.S. Navy’s 15,000-ton Zumwalt-class destroyer.  . . .  [more]
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