The John Batchelor Show

Monday 16 September 2019

Air Date: 
September 16, 2019

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, the Great Voice of the Great Lakes
 
Hour One
Monday  16 September 2019/ Hour 1, Block A: Tom Joscelyn, Senior Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; & Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal; and Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD; in re:  The war attack on eastern Saudi oil. Hamza bin Laden, dead? If so, where and when?  And what was he actually doing these last years – his operational portfolio?  All the papers and stuff scooped up at bin Laden’s compound was stored at CENTCOM; Tom persuaded them to release the papers to the public.   A cache of Taliban’s weapons; al Qaeda and Taliban are knitted together in Afghanistan.  Obama Adm claimed that “al Qaeda is a shell of its former self” [not accurate], and now Mike Pompeo is saying the same thing.
Monday  16 September 2019/ Hour 1, Block B:  Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD; in re: Al Qaeda in Syria.  . . .  Taliban riding dirt bikes into Zabul; vaguely comical video on LongWarJournal. Problem is, what the Taliban say is accurate [cf: what comes out of DC often is not].
Monday  16 September 2019/ Hour 1, Block C: Gordon Chang, Daily Beast, in re: Hong Kong and China. HauWei.  Terry Gao, a Taiwanese billionaire friendly to the Beijing Communist Party, will not run against Tsai Ing-wen (probably because Beijing didn’t want two candidates running against the DPP).  Beijing is purging Cathay Pacific; will in future weaponize US firms in China which frankly need to pull out (leaving $256 Billion in investments).   Michael Pillsbury is Pres Trump’s informal emissary to China.
Monday  16 September 2019/ Hour 1, Block D:  Michael Yon, veteran war correspondent who has been covering the Hong Kong protests, in re: The protests, now going on for over a hundred days.  Huge white plastic barriers provided by the Peoples Liberation Army, filled with water; protestors sometimes drill holes and the water flows out fast.  Do multiple actions each night, wearing out the police.  Police are getting more aggressive,  emotional, and quicker to make mistakes.  ____ said officers would be justified in firing live rounds if the protestors continue throwing petrol bombs (Molotov cocktails).   One young man on the street with blood on his head, to whom police were being brutal, incl pepper spray at six inches’ distance; sadistic. Hong Kongers expect someone to be killed; in that case, the retribution will be dead police. Very dangerous Police indiscipline. Protestors’s support base is growing; saw this in Kowloon Bay on Sunday when citizens came out of their apartments and fought the local Triad.[!]  One protest was estimated at over two million. 
 
Hour Two
Monday  16 September 2019/ Hour 2, Block A:  David M Drucker, Washington Examiner, & John Fund, NRO, in re:   An unnamed woman claims, via intermediaries in a book being flogged, something vulgar about Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.  Why now?   Nancy Pelosi demands impeachment immediately.  JF: I think this is a sad day for journalism; this book quotes Blasi-Ford’s best friend as saying, “I have no confidence in her testimony.”  Two per cent of twitter followers file most of the posts; this mob has gravely intimidated the Democratic candidates. [The New York Times has conflated  a book review with news reporting.] This demeans all of us.
Monday  16 September 2019/ Hour 2, Block B:  John Fund, NRO, in re:  . . .  If you put Joe Biden on stage with Donald Trump, would the contrast be what the Democrats want?  . . . And Elizabeth Warren? Give her credit for being a much better speaker than she used to be; she’s a good candidate now. Bernie Sanders may have an agreement with Warren-- incl, “I have no interest  in [Hillary Clinton’s] email.”  Kamala Harris can attract women voters.  Candidates get worn out when the money is so thin that they can’t afford to pay for the press bus.  JB: The major news is the burning oil fields  in Saudi Arabia – affecting our allies and adversaries, esp China.
Monday  16 September 2019/ Hour 2, Block C:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Israeli elections – Groundhog Day?  Polls will open at seven AM Tuesday; exit polls in their afternoon. Of the main parties, few will cross the 3.25% threshold. The major parties don’t hugely disagree on major policies, votes will be in large part on personalities. Also Netanyahu’s close relationship with Trump.   . . .  Israeli Palestinians are weary of the corruption in the PA and in UNESCO, and far and away the majority say they're content with the economy and [liberty] in Israel .  Of the Gazans who went to Israel for medical treatment, in 2018 1,500 decided to stay, or to leave the region entirely to escape Hamas.   Hostilities between Canada and Iran. 
Monday  16 September 2019 / Hour 2, Block D: Indiana Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:  The story of Boris Johnson and Moses: 3,000-yr-old tin ingots found off the coast of Israel, turn out to have come from Devon and Cornwall!  Engelond had trade routes.  Also bronze ingots.  Have been found in archaeological sites in Turkey and Greece, but metallurgical analysis shows these were from a village in Cornwall.  Cornwall—Jerusalem.  “I’d love to be there when they tell Jeremy Corbyn about this.”   The first use of the word “Hebrew” : In Jordan, and inscribed Moabite excavation, the first use; two newly-deciphered inscriptions, in connection with a massive battle. Book of Kings in the Bible; King Mesha of Moab rebelled against Hebrew rule  . . .
 
Hour Three
Monday  16 September 2019 / Hour 3, Block A:  Larry Johnson, Sic Semper Tyrannus, & NoQuarter blog, in re:  Michael Flynn. Five Eyes.   Sidney Powell letter, also Susan Rice. Why wd Powell want a letter from GCHQ to the security team ?  Saying that Christopher Steele was untrustworthy . . . FISA warrants.  The British embassy disavowed Steele’s credibility. “Fruit of the poisonous tree” – if evidence was collected [illegally] . . .  A 302: every time an FBI agent meets with a source, he must record it in a 302 report. 
Monday  16 September 2019 / Hour 3, Block B:  Larry Johnson, Sic Semper Tyrannus, & NoQuarter blog, in re:  Michael Flynn.  Outside-the-Continental-United-States” lures
Monday  16 September 2019 / Hour 3, Block C:   Loren Davis, Oregon State, in re: The Stone Age in Cooper’s Ferry, Idaho
Monday  16 September 2019 / Hour 3, Block D:   Loren Davis, Oregon State, in re: The Stone Age in Cooper’s Ferry, Idaho
 
Hour Four
Monday  16 September 2019 / Hour 4, Block A:  City on a Grid: How New York Became New York, by Gerard Koeppel
Monday  16 September 2019 / Hour 4, Block B:  City on a Grid: How New York Became New York, by Gerard Koeppel
Monday  16 September 2019 / Hour 4, Block C:  City on a Grid: How New York Became New York, by Gerard Koeppel
Monday  16 September 2019 / Hour 4, Block D:  City on a Grid: How New York Became New York, by Gerard Koeppel