Photo, above: Omar Shishani (center) has urged Muslims to support the jihad against the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. Tarkhan Batirashvili (anomalously, is a Georgian: თარხან ბათირაშვილი, born in 1986, associated with Chechens) (Arabic: أبو عمر الشيشاني‎), commonly known as Abu Omar al-Shishani or Omar al-Chechen, was a Mujahid Emir (commander) who fought in Syria. Formerly the leader of the Muhajireen Brigade and later Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, Batirashvili was named commander of the northern sector of Syria by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the summer of 2013. Units under his command have participated in major assaults against Syrian military bases in and around Aleppo, including the capture of Menagh Airbase in August 2013. He's considered "one of the most influential military leaders of the Syrian opposition forces."

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-host: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR radio in Detroit, the Great Voice o the Great Lakes.

Hour One

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 1, Block A: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR Detroit, in re: GOP doesn’t even make an effort to convey to Hispanic voters that it's interested in their welfare and in immigration.  The way they do talk abt immigration is corporate: bring in labor for corporations, an economic construct, bit a human effort to lend a hand, improve their lot.  Republicans miss the ability to communicate. My wife is Mexican-American . . .   Now 28 members of the Dem Senate are having a talkathon: all night o climate change. "Talking for action on climate change." I'm uncomfortable with my govt's thinking it can pay for surveillance [of all of us all the time].  TMJ:  Right, and they do it based on key words, whereas those who're actually plotting to do ill won't use those words. . . .   Edward Snowdon. JB: I'm watching a webcam in Bali where the elephants play in the water and enjoy the morning. 

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 1, Block B:  Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD; Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, in re:  9/11 recruiter – Mohammed Zumar - has been released by Syria.  Worked out of Germany. In 2003 was arrested in Morocco; US govt decided to send him to Syria to be held in one of Assad's prisons (with which I disagreed at he time). Now he's freed in exchange for some al Q senior leaders.   I've twice warned in Congressional testimony; it was seen beforehand. A core al Q member, Abu Khalid _____ (with Zawahiri), also was freed.  Changing modality of suicide bombers:  ISIS eulogizes a Dane and  an Uzbek  The adjusted the North Baghdad Division; from 2013 to this March, 24 foreign suicide bombers. All major attacks where scores of people were killed.  The al anti-trial militias.  Bro. Fati Denmarki blew himself up. The enemy is getting stronger; we're deeply at risk.  The have e capability to recruit, get the fighters there, convince them to become suicide bombers. A powerful message. The fact that al Q has sustained this since 2004 shows that it has staying power.  Recruits flowing in have divided among  several groups there. Long War Journal is a very careful chronology.  (1 of 2)

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 1, Block C: Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD; Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, in re:   The scariest groups on Earth; the g jihadists in Aleppo   Al Qaeda attacks Hezbollah: Abdullah Azzam Brigades and the al Nusrah Front in Syria and Lebanon – attacking Hezb cultural center and positions.   Assad and Iranian regimes are allies. Al Qaeda-affiliated groups claim credit for joint attack on Hezbollah.  Alost Grimm's fairy take: with an execution scene from Aleppo, not for everyone to look at.  Big split  between al Q and the Islamic State of Iraq; made an extremely brutal video.  Of one of the civilians to be killed, an al Q member said "This guy is mentally ill" – and they killed him anyway. Chechen are stateless and ferocious.  What they really want to kill is Putin and the whole of the Kremlin, but they keep busy killing civilians, Gathered a group of villagers, incl women and children. They're the Berserkers of the jihad. True believers. Fought against every odd in Chechnya and the Caucasus; still going.    . . . [list of groups and lead fighters].  Zumar has been released;  will be respected because of his position in the al Q sphere for many years, knows elder, recruited Mohammed Attah and the pilots of 9/11.  The man who recruited the pilots and killers of 9/11 is fee; the US is doing nothing.  NSA: we don’t need you watching us – find al Zumar. Chechen ISIS commander musters forces at Syrian base Omar al Shishani is photographed while addressing scores of Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham fighters at a captured military base in Syria (2 of 2)

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 1, Block D:  Jeff Bliss, The Bliss Index, and Francis Rose, Federal News Radio, in re: Affordable Care Act. FR:  Darryl Issa decided after Lois Lerner refused to testify again he'd embarrass himself with Congressman Cummings, cut off his mic with a finger-across-the-throat gesture.   IRS not capable of handling so much info; this probably will be the end of IRS investigation.  (The last thing the GOP wants is to look mean, as that obscure the main point.)  A PR person offered me an interview with someone from the Robert Wood Johnson Fdn on DC Healthlink. All of DC: only 5,000 people have signed up – how many on Medicaid? Can’t find out. Also, three weeks before people who have by law to be signed up, many don’t even know of it  TJM: "It's a representative govt; why should people in DC know about it if Congresspersons haven't even read the bill?"  J Bliss: In California, only about 15% of those who've signed up have paid. Do they think it’s free?  . . . No one on the GOP side has been able to explain why ACA is bad and what can be done to reform it. They have nothing better; "We don’t like it it's not good"  doesn't quite do it. 

Hour Two

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 2, Block A:  David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, in re: the talkathon all night? Climate change bad. We fix.  The Republicans at least dealt with issues at hand, - Rand Paul on NSA; Ted Cruz on the filibuster.  Will climate-change-all-night excite the Michigan Democrats? No.  Dave Camp took on tax reform . . .  [TMJ]

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 2, Block B:  David Kirkpatrick, NYT, in re: Libyan stand-off where a North Korean freighter, the    awaits receiving the oil from a rebel group, but the Libyan govt in Tripoli has threatened to bomb the freighter. Has the freighter set sail? Not clear who controls it now. There's almost no govt in Libya – transitional govt after Qaddafi is weak. Regional groups want a greater share of oil revenue; decided to blockade the most important ports for export.  . . .

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 2, Block C: James Cesar, UVA and Hoover Institution, in re:    William Miller calculating the chronology of the Bible; people began to form around Miller, called themselves Millerites; end of world set for "sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844." End of world did not occur.  Arriving at today, how do people accept the disappointment of the failing ACA: can accept the fact ("Accepters"); people who deny the fact ("Deniers"); and Deflectors.  Some people who invest so much they can’t accept the reality. Deflectors admit a little bit: they see there's a problem, say. "But it would have happened; in some ways it did happen."  Here, blame racism, r dysfunctional govt (i.e., Republicans), or some evil force. Here, the president seems to be part Denier but mostly Deflector. "But for Fox News . . . but for Rush Limbaugh. I would have succeeded."

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 2, Block D: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: China steals another island, Reed Bank, from Philippines: here, possession is 10/10ths of the aw.          

Hour Three

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 3, Block A:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: IRANAN INTELLIGENCE Defector; Lockerbie bombing was carried out at direct order of Khamenei, PFLP General Command built the bomb.  US and UK both had that info, covered it up to avoid bad relations with Syria, ion the doorstep of Iran.  This is what cousining up to devils gets you. Note that the two tickets bought for the men travelling on stolen passports on the Malaysian plane: tickets bought by an Iranian.  Syria has seven hangars and five underground facilities . . .  Fighting in Syria (al Nusrah vs Hezbollah!) and in Lebanon. More than 120 Hezbollah soldiers have been killed in the last few weeks. "Our sons are not cannon-fodder for Assad."  ("But it's OK for the t die fighting Zionists.")    Fatah an Arab League: unanimously endorse Abbas's refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.  US State Dept said that PLO wasn't obliged to recognize Israel.  This is a clear message from Palestinian Authority/Fatah that it won’t comply with anything, will make n concession, show  up only to dictate demands.  Abbas to White House on 17 March. Death of the various Kerry plans?   Will Pres Obama make a statement  similar to the one he made to Bloomberg to warn Netanyahu, a statement laying out what Abba needs to do?

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 3, Block B: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Recall the Karim A.  Why did Iran take the risk with current ship, Klos C ? Part of Iran's terrorist war against Israel and Israel's neighbors: rockets that can cover most of Israel in high volume; were going to Islamic Jihad (not Hamas, which is broke – Egypt has started to declare it a terrorsit organization). Started Syria, to Iraq and Iran, then to Sudan, then overland to Gaza.  400 K rounds of rounds for Kalashnikovs; tons of mortar rounds, rockets. What got through that we don’t know about? These are the Iranians that the US pres and state secretary are planning to treat with. How do you speak of peace?  EU foreign minister visits; Iran pays no price – it gets money, continuation of talks.  Israel constantly takes in  wounded to hospital; today, Ukrainians were airlifted in through private initiative – there's no facility in Ukraine right now. 

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 3, Block C:  Les Gelb, Council on Foreign Relations, in re: Cut the Baloney on Ukraine   All countries must stop their lies and self-destructive posturing or pay costs they’re loath to admit.  Russians, Americans, Europeans, and Ukrainians plunge on toward the all-time foreign policy record for venality, lying, hypocrisy and self-destructive maneuvers. They show no shame and scant regard for consequences. At this moment, Russia is the most to blame for having transformed a very bad situation into a crisis. Top U.S. officials contribute with their daily evocation of saintly principles that the United States itself has often defied. Experts and politicians goad the White House on with demands for tough actions against Russia that they surely know will fail. Europeans continue their feckless ways. And most Ukrainian leaders of all stripes and ethnicities remain monumentally corrupt and rhetorically dishonest.

This pile of garbage and ineptitude is heading in one direction—toward a long-term crisis very costly to all. There will be little or no diplomatic cooperation anywhere in the world. The economies of all will suffer. No, there won’t be a war between the West and Russia, but the resulting new peace will be ugly. Everyday this future looks more inevitable. There’s one chance to turn things around, but it’s a long shot. All leaders involved have to tone down their “explanations” and self-justifications. They have to stop threats and sanctions for the time being. Everyone knows these actions won’t go away and that diplomatic failure would soon call them forth again. And just for the moment, everyone’s objective should be to help President Vladimir Putin climb down from his perilous perch. If there’s to be an agreement, everyone knows what it must be: Russia proclaims and Ukraine accepts greater autonomy for Crimea within a still united Ukraine. At this point in the turmoil, it’s easy to forget that Ukraine itself is the root of the problem. Its deposed leader, Viktor Yanukovych, was a crook. What’s worse is that . . .

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 3, Block D:  Paul Barrett, Bloomberg Businesswek, in re: SHOULD WE AMEND THE SECOND AMENDMENT? Reflections on former Justice Stevens’s provocative constitutional case against individual gun rights. Stevens argues, “Emotional claims" about the sanctity of gun ownership "distort intelligent debate." Of course, the National Rifle Association is having none of it. Barrett writes, "Amending the Constitution, and that includes amending an amendment, is a political undertaking that has to reflect the will of ‘we the people.’ These days, an awful lot of those people, the vast majority of whom obey the law and pay their taxes, like their guns and intend to keep them.

Hour Four

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 4, Block A:  McKay Coppins, Buzzfeed, in re: CPAC & Young Republicans.   Young, Pretty, and Political: The Highs and Lows of Conservative Media Stardom  Michelle Fields is chasing the neon Fox News searchlight, with an army of online admirers following her every step. What it’s like to be a female CPAC celebrity.

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 4, Block B:  Jed Babbin, American Spectator, in re: Pres Obama and Ukraine. The Cold War is back. I may light up a good cigar to celebrate the return to clarity. Putin the Humanitarian | The American Spectator

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 4, Block C:  Megan McCloskey, ProPublica, in re:  Failing the Fallen: The Military Is Leaving the Missing Behind   The Pentagon spends more than $100 million a year to find MIAs, following the ethos of "leave no man behind." Yet, as ProPublica's Megan McCloskey reports today, it solves surprisingly few cases, hobbled by a duplicative bureaucracy and a stubborn refusal to seize the potential of modern forensic science -- that is, DNA testing, which it treats solely as a confirmation tool.

Monday  10 March  2014  / Hour 4, Block D:   David Sanger, NYT, in re: the cyberespionage Russia uses on Ukrainians, "Snake" or Ouroboros, for the serpent in Greek mythology. Suspicion Falls on Russia as ‘Snake’ Cyberattacks Target Ukraine’s Government Since the first major protests in Kiev that triggered the current crisis with Moscow, American intelligence agencies have been on high alert for cyberattacks aimed at the new government in Ukraine. They were a bit late: the attacks started long before President Viktor F. Yanukovych was forced from office, and as might be expected, no one can quite pinpoint who is behind them, although some suspicion is falling on Russia.

According to a report published by the British-based defense and security company BAE Systems, dozens of computer networks in Ukraine have been infected for years by a cyberespionage “tool kit” called Snake, which seems similar to a system that several years ago plagued the Pentagon, where it attacked classified systems.

The malware appeared many more times this year in Ukraine, as the protests in Kiev picked up their pace. The protesters were angered by Mr. Yanukovych’s decision not to pursue closer trade and political ties with Europe, which has been vying with Russia for influence in Ukraine.

Snake — also known as Ouroboros, for the serpent in Greek mythology — gives attackers “full remote access to the compromised system,” according to the BAE report released Friday. BAE cited circumstantial evidence that the attacks originated in Russia, saying that the malware developers operate in the Moscow time zone and that there is some Russian text in the code.  But American intelligence officials said . . .

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Music

Hour 1:  Argo. Internationale. 

Hour 2:  Uncharted. All the King's Men. Inception. 

Hour 3:  iRobot. Snow White & the Huntsman. Ides of March. 

Hour 4:  Ides of March. Pacific Rim. The Pacific.