The John Batchelor Show

Friday 9 October 2020

Air Date: 
October 09, 2020

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 1, Block A: Dan Henninger: @DanHenninger, @WSJOpinion; editorial board and Wonder Land column; in re: The Great Shutdown Shamble in England and Scotland.  Biden is the shutdown candidate: “We can't fix the economy till we fix the coronavirus problem.”   The question is, how do we live with the virus?  The president said, “Don't let it dominate your lives.” In the springtime, New York was massively shut down; this past week, the mayor and governor somehow identified nine zip codes with rates over 3%, and closed schools, businesses and churches and synagogues.  People poured out into the street and objected.  We may have reached a point where the population of the US and the rest of the world have said, “Enough; pols have to figure out a way to accommodate this virus.”  The Great Barrington Declaration, signed by 6,000 medical professionals. 
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 1, Block B: Jeff Bliss, #PacificWatch, Pacific Watch, in re: The Bay Area—the decline and fall of a great city. The Chronicle reports a population decline in SF, which counts on taxes to survive.  It's a ghost town.   It has a plan of 41 points, including reforming permits.  Wouldn't cleaning up the homeless and drugs help solve it?  Yes, but power and money come in for these problems.  People leave the city, county, state. It's beyond imagination.  Disneyland is still closed and is deeply in debt.
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 1, Block C: Richard Epstein, @RichardAEpstein, Chicago Law, NYU Law, Hoover Defining Ideas, in re:    Decentralized responses almost always beat out responses [from on high].   . . .  “Forget about the text; focus on the problem.”  United Steelworkers v. Weber, and Griggs v. Duke Power
“How Affirmative Action Falls Short” https://www.hoover.org/research/how-affirmative-action-falls-short
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 1, Block D: Richard Epstein: @RichardAEpstein, Chicago Law, NYU Law, Hoover Defining Ideas, in re:  Schools.  Must teach children usable and marketable skills; if you can’t balance a checkbook, you can't rise in employment. 
 
Hour Two
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 2, Block A:  Michael Vlahos, @JHUWorldCrisis, Johns Hopkins; in re: Are we now in a civil war?   We’ve been in the midst of coup attempt for several years.  Nancy Pelosi’s attempt to form a commission anent the 25th Amendment:  anticipating that Joe Biden wont be able to complete his term, if elected.  A civil war is not a formal affair.  Rather, resembles anarchy, chaos, what occurred in Russia in 1917. Also Spain, with murder and mayhem till the 1936 election, which went over the cliff.  This devolution is accretive, like the salami-slicing strategy. Right now we’re in the midst of the last of the slices. Does blue realize they're in process of breaking down the Constitutional order, itself, and replacing it with a new order?   Began with Title IX. Cancel culture, assault on the Second Amendment.  Constitution no longer restrains blue.  Also Supreme Court packing; Pelosi’s effort to use the 25th Amendment as a tool for a coup d’etat at any time; mail-in voting ripe for all sorts of manipulation.
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 2, Block B:  Michael Vlahos, @JHUWorldCrisis, Johns Hopkins; in re: Bolsheviks; Kerensky, who thought he was doing the right thing, was a god guy. However, in a civil war what you get is the power of the gun.   Blue has religiously embraced the Church of Woke; in Moscow, they thought that taking reform steps would satisfy the people – but it never is.  If Biden takes the White House by reforming the Constitution, we [can't] take his [direction].  Blue are confident they can cause change, but don't see that they’re the drivers of destruction.
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 2, Block C:  Chris Riegel: @Scala, @STRATACACHE; in re: Big tech: how it functions in the world market, what to do about it. In Europe, much [envy] of American success; why not emulate it? Because the conditions don't obtain in Europe, as success is regulated by very, very high taxes 
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 2, Block D:  Francis Rose, @FRoseDC, host of @GovMattersTV, @ABC7News & WJLA 24/7 News. Washington D.C., in re:  The federal workforce in the Twentieth Century, incl the fleet. The 355-ship Navy.  Jerry Hendricks.  Secretary  Mark Esper said: 355 by 2030 is still the goal (and 500-plus by 2045), but probably only as a stepping stone in context of what our competitors are doing around the world.   If we’re going to be there we need equipment to be there. Will have to be in a lot of places, which in the ocean will require a lot of boats ships, submarines.  Seth Cropsey at Hudson Institute.  Fleet structure assessment—in keeping with the NDA? Moved it to Secretary of Defense, and had another program competitively developed by Hudson.  Similarities among the three ideas were striking: smaller ships, many unmanned ships, cutting back the boomers.  How did they get to 500?  Replace aircraft carriers with small ships that sometimes don't need a crew. How do we pay for it?  // Dr Beth Ripley: The VA is a few steps away from printing actual body parts with which to fix up veterans. Next step is printing bones, around which ligaments and muscles will grow up.  Then: tissue-composed organs for transplants.  Useful for colonizing Mars! 
 
Hour Three
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 3, Block A: Gregory R Copley: Defense and Foreign Affairs; Gregory R Copley, The New Total War of the Twenty-first Century and the Trigger of the Fear Pandemic, in re:  Amphibious assault.  Geopolitical situation: launching offensive action rewards:  Karabakh, South China Sea, Crimea.  In the summer of 1942, Australia watched and held its breath watching the Solomons.  Japan shelling the US Marine Corps. Would Australia survive?  A major problem for the Marines was supplies.  All these years later, we still haven’t solved amphibious assault. Offload from the stern.  Bow-loading. To move troops and eqpt over really long distances, need vessels more compatible with the fleet.  Aircraft carriers, LHDs*, but need the bulk of troops and eqpt on to the beach in vehicles; the weak end of the [program]. Backing into the beach gives much more flexibility, can withdraw quickly. Xerxes.  Today, the whole global balance has altered. 
* A landing helicopter dock (LHD) is a multipurpose amphibious assault ship which is capable of operating helicopters and has a well deck. The United States Navy (USN) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) use the term as a hull classification symbol.
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 3, Block B:  Gregory R Copley: Defense and Foreign Affairs; Gregory R Copley, The New Total War of the Twenty-first Century and the Trigger of the Fear Pandemic, in re: US Marine Corps and the Royal Marines are looking at returning to  amphibious. . .  Need to get systems ashore, be the firstest with the mostest; need light eqpt.  Guam: considering how, if needed, to take it back!  Can they claw it back with an amphibious assault? Supersonic missiles from Chinese Mainland and US bombers.  Can it be done?  Yes.  Seabees; Pulau.  China is trying to buy up Pacific islands ports.  Russia:  2011, ordered two French Mistral class ships; deal canceled because of US sanctions, so Russia is building two: one for Black Sea (and thence into Mediterranean) and one for Pacific (concern about China).  Falklands. Cost-benefit equation is about the same as the Battle of Salamis in 480 AD**. 
Taiwan: huge Chinese exercises simulating an attack on Taiwan. China in the 30,000-ton range; not ready to take Taiwan and nearby islands. 
**  A naval battle fought between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles, and the Persian Empire under King Xerxes in 480 BC.
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 3, Block C:  Hikmet Hajiyev, @HikmetHajiyev, Assistant of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department; in re: Nagorno-Karabakh, fertile region with lots of water, now overrun by Armenia.  Why is there fighting there, which is part of Azerbaijan?  Ethnic cleansing there.  Armenian defense minister adopted a very aggressive position; attacked Azerbaijan border in July; now, Azerbaijani civilians.  July attack and current fighting are very much related.   New territorial grab. Ballistic missiles have been fired from Armenia into the city of Ganja, a city of farmers.  The Armenians were trying to provoke a ballistic-missile attack by Azerbaijan which so far has not done that, but stayed on its own territory.  Using ballistic missiles to attack may towns in Azerbaijan. Targetted our electric grid, and even Baku.  We’re using PGMs to protect as much as possible.  President Aliyev addressed the country and the region.  Our society is still in solidarity; we've suffered from this war for thirty years, and the people say, Enough is enough.  Killed many civilians, destroyed more than 5,000 homes.  We now want to end the military occupation of Azerbaijan. The oil and gas pipelines also under attack. 
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 3, Block D:  Lee Smith: @LeeSmithDC; author, The Permanent Coup: How Enemies Foreign and Domestic Targeted the American President, and the Tablet; in re: DNI revelations in the past days.  July 28, 2016, Russian intell picked up on a Hillary plan to smear Trump; Brennan goes to White House to brief the president. Barack Obama was read in to this operation long before 28 July; what he had at stake was worry about damaging info being dropped on the sitting president. Don't know what, precisely, but probably in the 30,000 emails allegedly erased, although Pompeo says it’s not all deleted and he has [some].  Alexander Downer on July 27 goes to US embassy in London, says Russia might be dropping info damaging not only to Clinton but also to Obama.  The Downer revelation may be the driver of Brennan going to White House.  Obama was using a pseudonym in correspondence with Secretary Clinton. All knew she was doing something she shouldn’t have, using an unsecured server.  That wasn’t enough to set all events in motion.  One current candidate interfered with the peaceful transfer of power.  Gina Haskel is now director of CIA; she probably knows a great deal as she ran the London station at the CIA, which basically runs all of Europe.  She’s clearly concealing a lot.  
 
Hour Four
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 4, Block A:  Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com; in re: Starship apparently can carry enormous loads in record time, not only interplanetarily, but around the Earth—and the US military is now involved.  Actual Elon Musk genius***.   . . . Starlink constellation of satellites to provide high-speed internet to rural areas worldwide. Radio astronomy: complaint about the Starlink and other satellites: impact on square-kilometer array in Western outback of Australia where one band will interfere.  Tugboats. Starliner has lost its pilot. 
Military considering using Starship for point-to-point transportaion
*** Army Gen. Stephen Lyons, commander of U.S. Transportation Command, announced the agreement Oct. 7 at a National Defense Transportation Association virtual conference. “Think about moving the equivalent of a C-17 payload anywhere on the globe in less than an hour,” Lyons said. The C-17 is a very large military cargo plane capable of transporting a 70-ton main battle tank.
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 4, Block B:  Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com; in re:  China took a photo of a Mars probe in space.  Built into it a tiny camera that can be released from the main spacecraft; smart: get a sense of how your spacecraft looks and is doing.  . . .  One-third of Mars is covered with ice. 
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 4, Block C:  Richard Fontaine, @RHFontaine; Foreign Affairs;  CEO of the Center for a New American Security, @CNASdc, in re: What would a Bixden foreign policy lok lik? He’d have leverage from some of Trump’s policies.  Leverage: from Heart of the Deal, “Leverage is having something the other guy wants; or, better, needs; or, best, can’t do without.” Trump’s biggest [accomplishment ] is trade deals/tariffs.  Biden wouldn't just eliminate all tariffs.   Lots of issues with China.  The NSC recasts the 21st Century world as one of rivalry.  Broad consensus across party lines about great-power competition.    Afghanistan: Biden always wanted to wind down that war, although maybe not just get out.  Moving US embassy to Jerusalem.  Ukraine:  Trump sent lethal arms (Obama sent blankets); we should be trying to get Russia to withdraw its forces.
Friday 9 October 2020 / Hour 4, Block D:  Richard Fontaine, @RHFontaine. Foreign Affairs; CEO of the Center for a New American Security, @CNASdc, in re: Foreign policy and leverage.  Controversial policies today that Mr Biden probably wouldn't continue: Iran deal (predation in the whole region).  Biden has a major advantage, wants to return to the JCPOA. Sunset clauses are almost at hand.  Given that the US is no longer part of the deal. Good time to negotiate some improvements.  . .  .  Trump has fully embraced Saudi Arabia.  Capitol Hill Democrats reject this.  Can now reset the tenor of all relations, from war in Yemen to . . .    Germany’s defense expenditures.  National security issue: Paris accords, which Biden would rejoin.  World geopolitical situation is in flux; coming: larger or smaller defense budget?  Smaller in either case; but priorities would differ.  
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