Photo, left: Tomomi Inada, Japanese Defense Minister
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Co-hosts: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com & Daily Beast. Dr. David M. Livingston, The Space Show.
 
Hour One
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 1, Block A: Josh Rogin, Washington Post, in re:
Tomomi Inada, Japanese defense minister, has spoken in favor of Japan’s having  its own nukes. Inada is called “the Japanese Sarah Palin.”  She’s still a basic LDP nationalist, anti-China, anti-North Korea.  . . . Only way Japan can defend against a rising China is by joining with India, Taiwan, SE Asian neighbors. Japan has enough plutonium to build seventeen [?]weapons tonight.
Japan’s prime-minister-in-waiting trades nationalism for globalism   Japan’s new defense minister, Tomomi Inada, is pushing her country to become a stronger, more independent actor on the world stage — and trying to make herself prime minister in the process. But as she gets closer to both goals, she’s finding that Japan’s success is more dependent than ever on deepening cooperation with its neighbors and the United States.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/japans-prime-minister-in-waiting-trades-nationalism-for-globalism/2016/09/18/2c17abc2-7c3a-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html?postshare=8131474287484176&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.ff6546b77127
ASIA   Preparing for North Korea's Inevitable Collapse  Let's be honest. The world would be a better place if a revolutionary tribunal in the near future sent North Korea's Kim Jong-un and his henchmen to the gallows. Kim's subjects are so malnourished that North Koreans are notably shorter than their South Korean cousins. The state's gulags are so large, you can see them from space. Survivors of those camps have testified that fellow prisoners withered away from starvation.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-09-20/preparing-for-north-korea-s-inevitable-collapse
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 1, Block B:  Andrew Collier, managing director of Orient Capital Research based in Hong Kong, in re: Bank for Intl Settlements has a red-warning line for danger in an economy of 10 ; today China is 30.1. Imagine that you have a credit-card limit of $100, and one day reach $300 – the credit card company will call in alarm.  It's the big steel firms spending; others are paying off debt. Not sustainable; we’re seeing cracks in the framework of China. They borrow money to pay old debts; everyone stands around figuring when it’ll collapse.   BIS:  If you have credit growing much higher than trend, you’re on the verge of a crisis.  Deep? Shallow? Debt-for-equity stock: banks says “let's not call it a loan, let’s make it equity.”
Govt is pushing towns and provinces to sell assets to recover some cash – on the market suddenly are boats, expensive tools US$100K). A good idea, but probably too late.
A lot of money leaving China is travelling lawfully; but friends in Queens, New York, said, “We’ll buy a bldg. here and maybe not pay  [an entity in China].”
It's not just organized crime who’s sending out cash; it's everybody who has any money: the RMB is depreciating, the dollar is safest.   “I’m just hoping it's not Greece.”
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 1, Block C: Christian Whiton, D.C. International Advisory, in re: China and Syria.  What does China want in the Middle East?  Chinese foreign policy in Africa: pipelines, ports, no interest in politics.  In the Middle East China wants to sell arms, also to be seen playing a larger role where the world is focused.  China elbows its way into the room then has little to say.  China is so obsessed with pageantry, wants to do something with Assad. Cooperation in a superficial sense: Shanghai  Cooperation Agreement that alarms he west: yikes; they’re aligning; in fact, that’s rather limited.
China and Russia hold a longstanding distrust of each other. Russia claims that US drones hit the UN aid convoy. Putin didn’t need to send a giant army; he made the Syrian regime a vassal, w have a naval base at Latakia plus an air base.  No clear US policy, so here are low-hanging fruit. 
Chinese envy of Putin. Looks as though Xi Jinping is saying, I can be Putin, too Russia is basically Bulgaria with Nukes- a mall GDP, ltd ability to project power abroad, whereas China is gaining in that very rapidly.  Putin has played a poor hand very well. 
China has first African base in Djibouti, now into the South Atlantic; main force projection right now is near home.  Aimed more at sigint: near Australia, tying to sweep info on what the US is doing in Darwin. Can do a lot with just a little real estate. The al threat of China: a cyber Pearl Harbor.
India looking at the S China Sea; China has bit off too much.  It's bubble economy at home will have consequences for leadership; Xi is very dependent on his military to maintain his own power.
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 1, Block D:  Jay Solomon, WSJ Foreign Affairs Correspondent; @WSJSolomon; author, The Iran Wars: Spy Games, Bank Battles and the Secret Deals That Reshaped the Middle East;  in re: One Chinese firm is critical in China’s acquiring
Hongxiang Industrial, led by a CCP member, a woman; it sits almost on the North Korean-Chinese border. Admits it's a bridge between China and DPRK. Over last half-year, US showed evidence that China helps DPRK dvp centrifuge and dual-use weaponry.  China now starts to shut down that operation and accuses the woman of “industrial crimes.”  Uranium hexafluoride is also moving into DPRK; 90% of its trade goes through China. China takes minimal steps for intl PR. Does Hongxiang really want to give DPRK nukes, or just want money?  Trade DPRK-Iran that passes through China.  Iranian missile program tech went directly from Pyongyang to Teheran, starting decades ago.  At the Nonaligned Summit in Teheran: a scientific cooperation agreement.
North Korea and China and Iran and Russia: a scary alliance.  Hongxiang  on the border must be one of very many such firms on the Yalu.
I was in North Korea just on the other side of the border: Korean side had one light bulb, Chinese town was filled with neon.
..  ..  .. 
The U.S. and China are targeting the finances of a sprawling Chinese conglomerate headed by a Communist Party member who the Obama administration believes has played a role in aiding North Korea’s nuclear program.
The actions against the company, Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., mark the most serious effort to date to pursue Chinese firms and business executives for their suspected role in supporting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s rapidly expanding nuclear-weapons program. Earlier this month, Pyongyang conducted its fifth atomic test in a decade. http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-china-move-against-firm-suspected-of-aiding-north-korean-nuclear-program-1474300834
U.S., China Move Against Firm Suspected of Aiding North Korean Nuclear Program  Actions mark most serious effort so far to pursue Chinese companies thought to be helping Kim Jong Un’s regime.   The U.S. and China are targeting the finances of a sprawling Chinese conglomerate headed by a Communist Party member who the Obama administration believes has played a role in aiding North Korea’s nuclear program.  The actions against the company, Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., mark the most serious effort to date to pursue Chinese firms and business executives for their suspected role in supporting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s rapidly expanding nuclear-weapons program. Earlier this month, Pyongyang conducted its fifth atomic test in a decade.
 
Hour Two
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 2, Block A:  Bruce Klingner, senior research Fellow, Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, in re: American is consumed with domestic politics;  the new president will face in January is the predator rogue state of North Korea.  Jay Solomon of he WSJ and others point to: when does Chinese plain moneymaking stop and mil collaboration start with North Korea – mass murder, deportations, slavery. Beijing wants to teach South Korea a lesson as it allies ever more with the US.
A company on the Yalu River, Hongxiang, selling dual-use technology from China to North Korea; it somewhat slowed down when the US pointed this out boldly.
How much of DPRK nuke program is homegrown?  Generally, its indigenous based on 1960s actions where DPRK trusted neither China nor USSR; but it needs interaction with the outside world.  What's being transferred to North Korea?  Lots —including customs receipts for aluminum oxide!
US Congress, both parties, is frustrated with “incrementalism” of Obama Adm on these lethal matters.  http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-china-move-against-firm-suspected-of-aiding-north-korean-nuclear-program-1474300834
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 2, Block B:  Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, in re: Flooding in DPRK, 70,0000 homeless; disease, despair.  Satellite imagery of a re-education political prison camp; holds women forcibly repatriated and political prisoners. If UN agencies disperse aid here, need to factor in these human rights disaster.  The new UNHCR: I call on North Korea to distribute aid to all persons, incl prisoners.  If we send aid through its soldiers, that’ll increase he catastrophe.  If we distribute through our own aid workers, that will tend to undermine the power of this overtly evil regime. Dr Norbert Vollertsen!  US has long been aware of enslavement and torture – has done basically nothing.  
The human tragedy in North Korea is not the flood. https://www.nknews.org/2016/09/south-korea-split-over-whether-to-aid-arch-nemesis-in-flood-relief/
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 2, Block C:   Aaron Klein, host of Investigative Radio on weekends; and Middle East bureau chief, Breitbart; in re: El Sisi is on the front line of fighting ISI.  Concerned for cause about Sinai; Hillary Clinton as  player in the Obama Adm, and his policy toward Egypt (recall his support of Muslim Brotherhood).   . . . as though creating a Palestinian state would defeat ISIS.
Mtg between Pres Obama and PM Netanyahu in Pres Obama’s hotel room in New York: Bibi thanked Obama for aid, and . . .    Recall Obama invited Bibi to the West Wing, then left him to cool his heels for two hours while the Obamas had dinner privately. Bibi is the major intl opponent of Obama’s deal with Iran; but Iran not mentioned today. Obama spoke of “settlement activity” where Jews have built within existing Jewish towns.   Hamas is taking over segments of the West Bank, with Fatah losing ground. Why is Pres Obama then so focused on bldg. a Pal state right now?  Rumor that Pres Obama is interested in being UN Secretary General as soon as he leaves office in January of 2017. 
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 2, Block D: Aaron Klein, host of Investigative Radio on weekends; and Middle East bureau chief, Breitbart; in re: The West Bank, Gaza, threats from Iran.  “Unarmed 13-year-old Palestinian girl shot by Israeli soldier.”  Media reports refer to a “a wave of violence,” like a weather report, as though it was random, In fact, six to eight attacks on the weekend, then more on Monday and more on Tuesday.  Seems to be orchestrated by Fatah, whose Facebook page openly calls on people to go attack Jews wherever and however. Claims a nonexistent threat to al Aqsa Mosque – whereas the opposite is factual.  Abbas is playing to his domestic politics; Dahlan.  See the UN: Arab League ring using he violence to call for a Palestinian state, making Abbas relevant while his Fatah openly calls for attacks
Gaza Strip: Iran there with Hamas; Hamas recently starved for weapons, has a smuggling program with ISIS in Sianai, but ISIS cut off routes. Meanwhile, Israeli drones can monitor ground-based smuggling, which deters ISI a bit. Hamas very low on weapons, Iran panicking, sending IRGC specialists to teach Hamas how to build its own weapons. How can IRGC enter? Via tunnels, or via Mediterranean, or now trying to get in under cover of Western NGOs. Israel downed a drone above Gaza Strip, flown by a Hamas militant under tutelage of Iran.   Iran heavily involved with drones.
Aleppo: offensive by Russia and Iran. Big offensive prepared will not stop near Aleppo but will cut off Turkey.  
 
Hour Three
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 3, Block A:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re:  Josh Kraushaar opines that Evan Bayh’s return ticket to the U.S. Senate is going to be more difficult than expected. He explains that despite high name recognition and a celebrated political family, Bayh has spent most of his time away from his home state, and now that Republicans are framing him as an out of touch carpetbagger, his strong lead in the polls is slipping. According to Kraushaar, Bayh’s candidacy mimics Senate candidate Ted Strickland, (D-OH) who struggled once the campaigning began.
The Senate continues sturdy for the GOP. Portman, Toomey, Ayotte, Johnson, Heck (NV), Barr.
Senate
1.  Wisconsin Johnson / http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/poll-russ-feingold-leads-ron-johns...
2.  Ohio Portman / https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/19/did-you-...
3.  Pennsylvania Toomey  /  http://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/09/20/pa-senate-race-poll/
4.  North Carolina Burr  / http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/columnists/ned-barnett-ross-giving-bur...
5. Nevada Heck   /http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/can-joe-heck-really-win-nevada-sen...
6.  New Hampshire  /  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/09/20/kelly-ayotte-magg...
7.  Florida Rubio  /  http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/09/20/marco-rubio-patrick-murphy-battle-out-floridas-airwaves/90741288/
Ayotte vs Hassan:  http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2016/09/battle-senate
In an interview with CNN in last month, Mrs Hassan refused on three separate occasions to say whether she found Mrs Clinton trustworthy. The interview was so embarrassing for Democrats that Mike Pence, Mr Trump's Republican vice-presidential nominee, screened it during a campaign rally in New Hampshire. Later, a Hassan campaign spokesperson said that Mrs Hassan did consider Mrs Clinton trustworthy.
Mrs Ayotte is walking an even finer line when it comes to her own party leader. Her official position is that she will vote for Mr Trump, but she isn’t endorsing him. She is, she has said, voting for the television reality star even though she disagrees with many of the positions he holds and the language he has used during the campaign. Mrs Hassan, naturally, accuses her opponent of trying to have it both ways.
When Mrs Ayotte was herself interviewed on CNN she dodged a question about whether she trusted Mr Trump with the nuclear codes. But she was so critical of the Republican nominee in August that he ridiculed her soon afterwards in an interview with the Washington Post. So outraged were potential Trump donors by his comments in that interview about Mrs Ayotte as well as about Paul Ryan, the House Speaker, and John McCain, the senior Republican senator from Arizona, that within days Mr Trump found himself endorsing all three over their more conservative Republican primary challengers.
In many ways, the signs for Mrs Ayotte do not look good. New Hampshire has voted Democratic in five out of the last six presidential elections. Mr Trump has never led Mrs Clinton in a single poll here. Should Mrs Clinton do well in New Hampshire it would continue the pattern of Democrats winning in New Hampshire during presidential elections, while they concede losses to Republicans during the mid-terms. But like in other swing states the race has been getting tighter to the point where the most recent poll from NBC News and the Wall Street Journal has the contest tied. As Mr Trump has fared better in state polls, so too has Mrs Ayotte.
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 3, Block B:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: Pennsylvania is the largest piece of the whole election: http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/21/politics/pennsylvania-battleground-2016-el...
"There are 800,000 more active Democrats than Republicans here," said Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin Marshall College Poll and the sage of Pennsylvania politics. "The fact of the matter is Donald Trump does have a tough battle. I'm not saying he can't win, but I'll tell you what, if he did, the presidential race is over."
The latest Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll has Clinton with a comfortable 9-point lead over Trump but Madonna says the race is likely much closer.
Trump and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, have returned to the state often -- nine visits between the two of them so far, with more on the way. 
The campaign has also started to advertise in the state. After spending a sum total of zero on TV advertising through August, Trump has now spent nearly $3 million dollars on an advertisement highlighting immigration and security concerns.
Clinton, meanwhile, is taking no chances. Her campaign opened its 55th office in the state this week, she currently has more than 300 campaign organizers -- and expects many more by Election Day -- and she and her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, have been here 11 times, not including the party's convention, which was held in Philadelphia. Clinton has also spent four times that of Trump, around $12 million, on TV advertising in Pennsylvania.
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 3, Block C:  Hotel Mars, episode n.  David Livingston, The Space Show; and Doug Messier,  NASA, in re:  Elon Musk raises the bar!  http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/09/spacexs-interplanetary-transport-system-will-go-well-beyond-mars/  (1 of 2)
Douglas Messier is a communications expert with more than a decade of experience with entrepreneurial startups. A skilled analyst, he has broad knowledge of the aerospace, Internet, education, and environmental fields. He is an expert in translating scientific and technical concepts for lay audiences and in helping individuals and organizations craft their messages in print and online.  Douglas is Managing Editor of Parabolic Arc. Offering “Space Tourism…and Much More.”
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 3, Block D:  Hotel Mars, episode n.  David Livingston, The Space Show; and Doug Messier,  NASA (2 of 2) 
 
Hour Four
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 4, Block A:  1956: The World in Revolt by Simon Hall, Part II of II; segment 5 of 8
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 4, Block B:  1956: The World in Revolt by Simon Hall, Part II of II; segment 6 of 8
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 4, Block C: 1956: The World in Revolt by Simon Hall, Part II of II; segment 7 of 8
Wednesday   21 September 2016 / Hour 4, Block D: 1956: The World in Revolt by Simon Hall, Part II of II; segment 8 of 8