The John Batchelor Show

Thursday 07 February, 2013

Air Date: 
February 07, 2013

 

Photo, above:

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-hosts: Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal editorial board, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents

Hour One

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 1, Block A:  Ed Hayes, criminal defense attorney par excellence, in re: the play, Lucky Guy, opening on Broadway. NY Post: "Hotshot lawyer Eddie Hayes is looking forward to seeing himself portrayed in Lucky Guy, Nora Ephron’s Broadway play about columnist Mike McAlary, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998 as he was dying of cancer at the age of 41."  in 1977 Ed Koch runs against Cuomo for mayor.  Eddie was a prosecutor in the Bronx; pick up phone, "Hello, homicide."  I put more people in jail than anyone else in New York – unbelievable crimes: torturing children, murdering the elderly.  Mike McAlary, columnist then, was a great tabloid writer. Someone kidnapped a guy from the garment center, hid him in a hole in Central Park. Cops racing off to Central Park, call Eddie, "Hey, get Mike." Eddie calls Mike, who needs an extra half hour to get there. Eddie calls the cops, "Can you drive a little slow?"  Yes.

Eddie comments on the good old days of 1980s chaos and graft in the Big Apple.

"Mike McAlary was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist who worked at the New York Daily News for 12 years, beginning with the police beat. In 1988, McAlary wrote a book, Buddy Boys, about corrupt police in New York's 77th Precinct."

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 1, Block B:  Ed Hayes and LouAnn Hammond, Drivingthenation.com, in com, in re: small cars are the stars of the huge auto show. The recession is still very much with us; everybody can’t afford the old, huge models. Major mfrs selling luxurious small cars - with inadequate torque, which is dangerous in a pinch because acceleration is limited - esp up a hill with a big truck behind you. The only people who’ve recovered from the crash are bankers. Ford has Interceptor police cars. Mercedes has the Popemobile; President Obama has a reinforced Cadillac, etc.

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 1, Block C: Salil Tripathi, MINT at WSJ, in re: Imagine the toll on India’s intellectual life if scholars don’t say the unspeakable because it isn’t worth the trouble. "No job is worse than no-job" – the conditions in Bangladesh now; bad conditions because many small mfrs compete for the few contracts, cut corners, take on more work than they can manage, leading to the horrific fire of some weeks ago. A large percentage of Bangladeshi parliamentarians have major investments in clothing mfrs, so have no motivation to pass legislation ensuring working safety. From 1971 war of independence, many convicted of war crimes; population divided on whether they should receive the death sentence or be let free.

Garment workers in Bangladesh get $5/mo; in China, $200.  Outpacing India in this development.

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 1, Block D:  Larry Johnson, NoQuarter, in re: John Brennan's CIA Confirmation Hearing: Live Updates (Video)    President Obama's nominee for CIA director faces tough questioning at today's confirmation hearing.

 

Hour Two

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 2, Block A:  . Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:  agreement that the US Administration wd approach Iran for a meeting; Supreme Leader rejects it in order to make greater demands. Iran now ever more aggressive globally, incl ship intercepted in Yemen, filled with munitions – it turns out to be one of six, sent to incite the Houthis (rebels vs the Yemeni govt). Rial gone from 30,000 down to 40,000 in two weeks.   Burgos Report points to Hezbollah as the origin of the Bulgarian bombings – killed 5 and wounded 32. Now an official document; will Europeans label Hezbollah a terrorist organization? Euro govts need to be exposed for failure. Morsi embraces Ahmadinejad in Cairo – welcome rebuffed by Ahmadinejad having shoes thrown at him, and lecture to A on Iran's exacerbation of the Sunni-Shiite split. Ahmadinejad was even driven away from an old mosque he tried to visit.  Egyptian case reserves fell below $15bil.  Taking delivery of US F16s (why are we sending them?).

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 2, Block B:  . Aaron Y. Zelin , Richard Borow fellow at The Washington Institute, in re: Islamists in the Syrian opposition & jihadist social media

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 2, Block C:  .Elliott Abrams is senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, in re: bombing the Syrian reactor; Abrams's new book Tested by Zion

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 2, Block D:  Dr. Daniel Gordis, sr VP at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem; writes a regular column, “A Dose of Nuance,” for the Jerusalem Post; in re: The Promise of Israel, his new book.

Hour Three

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 3, Block A:  Malcolm Hoenlein and John Batchelor on Iranian threat.

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 3, Block B:  . Benjamin Weinthal, journalist, FDD in  Central Europe, based in Berlin; in re: the Bulgarian bombing; Hezbollah and the EU.

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 3, Block C:  . Philip Bobbitt, Hoover, in re: a report card on the Obama administration foreign policy.  The Briefing: How to Succeed in Foreign Policy Despite Really Trying by Philip Bobbitt Advancing a Free Society.

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 3, Block D:   Reza Kahlili, author, A Time to Betray, in re: update on Fordow event of January 21, 2012; comment on the Supreme Leader rejecting one on one talks with US.

Hour Four

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 4, Block A:  John Avlon, CNN, The Daily Beast,  and Newsweek International, in re:the NRA enemies list includes major church leaders in the United States.   Legendary columnist Jimmy Breslin -- also a Nixon enemies list alumni -- remarked when his name was found on the new NRA document, "Put me first on the list." This defiance is a very American response to such an awkward attempt to intimidate.  The NRA enemies list will backfire badly. And then maybe its absurd excess will provoke a needed reset inside the organization, providing a timely reminder that the politics of addition are always more effective than the politics of division.

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 4, Block B:  David Weidner, WSJ, in re:the make-believe exit interview with Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner, friend to banks.

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 4, Block C:  Death from the Heavens: A History of Strategic Bombing by Kenneth P. Werrell; 1 of 2

"While other books have addressed various aspects of the subject, such as specific aircraft or warfare in specific wars, this book is the first to take a comprehensive look at strategic bombing from its beginnings to the present. Written by a historian, who is also an expert on the technology of bombing and its application, the work covers the theory, hardware, and operations of strategic bombing. While the author, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, focuses primarily on American aircraft and activities, he includes the strategic bombardment efforts of Great Britain, Germany, and Russia, as he places the topic into a larger context and also covers air-to-surface and surface-to-surface missiles. More than a chronological narrative, this study offers a critical analysis and concludes by calling into question the value of strategic bombardment."

Thursday  10  Jan 2013 / Hour 4, Block D:   Death from the Heavens: A History of Strategic Bombing by Kenneth P. Werrell; 2 of 2

..  ..  ..

Music

Hour 1: Downtown Abbey, Brake, Skyfall, Call of Duty: Black Ops

Hour 2: Call of Duty: Black Ops, Assassin's Creed

Hour 3: Assassin's Creed

Hour 4: Babylon AD.