The John Batchelor Show

Thursday 19 July 2012

Air Date: 
July 19, 2012

​Minister of Tourism Stas Misezshnikov speaks near the coffins holding Israeli citizens Itzik Colangi, 28, Amir Menashe, 28, Maor Harosh, 25, Elior Price, 26, and Kochava Shriki, 44, who were killed in a suicide bombing attack in Bulgaria 2 days ago, as their bodies arrived at the Ben Gurion airport in Israel early Friday morning. July 20, 2012.

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Rawat Singh and his son Sohan, rear, in the family’s new home in Lordi, India, built with profits from guar farming. Their old mud hut is now used by goats.

Thursday 905P Eastern Time: Mary Kissel, in re: presidential election; Bain atttacks. Sally Setal, AEI, in re: bone-marrow maket, rewaring donors for building a bank of bone marrow for transplants.

Thursday 920P Eastern Time: Mary Kissel, in re: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau creates a new document to protect borrowers from predators, instead makes loans less likely and the consumer less informed.

Thursday 935P Eastern Time:  Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, in re:  Gov Romney's campaign in Boston, vice-presidential choice not until after Romney's overseas trip, choices between Tim Pawlenty and Bobby Jindal.

Thursday 950P Eastern Time:  Gardiner Harris, NYT South Asia Correspondent, in re: Profits from raising guar, a hard bean that's crucial in the drilling process called hydraulic fracturing, have improved the lives of poor farmers in northeastern India

Thursday 1005P (705P Pacific Time):  Malcolm Hoenlein, in re: mass murder in Bulgaria: Hizbollah agent suicide bomber, probably with Iranian specialists, kills seven Israeli children in a bus in the Black Sea resort. They get credentials by the number of people they kill, especially Jews. The Iranian al Quds group is the progenitor of this operation.  Russia's interest is primarily not to have an Islamist regime – can’t afford that for Chechnya. Shootdown several weeks ago of Turkish mil plane: Russians called that a NATO incursion (it was not; Turkey was testing Syrian air defense systems, which are entirely Russian and are much better than the Turks thought).  The US keeps saying, "Peace; talk; negotiate." US putting pressure on Israel not to retaliate.

Family and friends mourn on the coffins holding Israeli citizens Itzik Colangi, 28, Amir Menashe, 28, Maor Harosh, 25, Elior Price, 26, and Kochava Shriki, 44, who were killed in a suicide bombing attack in Bulgaria 2 days ago, as their bodies arrived at the Ben Gurion airport in Israel early Friday morning. July 20, 2012.

Thursday 1020P (720P Pacific Time): Malcolm Hoenlein, in re: Israeli PM says that the Bulgarian attack was from Iran, that Israel will retaliate.  Failure to respond could exacerbate the already-unstable situation. IRGC has created a special unit of 60 addtl scientists because Iran doesn’t believe anything bad will happen in response.  Rapidly preparing for war, and saying so loudly.  Damascus attack – death of Shawkat and others – clearly ahs sent alarms into Teheran.   US wants to provide air cover to France, Turkey and Qatar to invade Syria, but the Russian fleet now controls the Eastern Med from Tartus/Latakia to Cyprus.  Note that he Russians hosted the SNC – Syrian Natal Council; Syrian opppo – in Moscow. Huge Syrian stockpile of chem./bio weapons, being moved to  . . . somewhere. Massive regional danger. Its guards are defecting, and selling stocks.  Egad.  US and Jordanian and other countries have been planning to move in to take control.  [Not clear that's possible.] Descent into anarchy would be dark.

Thursday 1035P (735P Pacific Time): Robert Satloff, executive director, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, in re: post-Assad preparations?  "Intl stabilization and humanitarian support force" – one chance to safeguard the chemical weapons,; to help the right people emerge post-Assad; to ensure that the minorities believe they'll be protected – one chance to get it right. Turks, Jordanians, Israelis, Lebanese, Europeans; mil civilian – otherwise, the Syrian vacuum will be filled by jihadis.   US has decided that without UN backing, it won’t move. The Syrian opposition is struggling , on a shoestring and in the heart of Damascus, to do this.  Every border post has been taken over by the Free Syrian Army, says al-Arabiya.  Iraq: US didn’t respond well.  Drive a stake in the heart of the Assad regime – lots of thugs and Islamists are planning.   Syrian WMD stockpiles. Would Assad create an apocalypse? Can’t rule it out.  However, [thankfully] somebody is keeping a lid on this [Russia?].  Strongest persons in Syria: Sunnis.  Christians, Kurds, and other minorities are rightfully much alarmed. Assad trying to create an Alawite state-within-a-state.  If the Russians don’t interfere, outsiders will wish swiftly to move in post-Assad for humanitarian work plus sequestering the chem weapons.

Thursday 1050P (750P Pacific Time): Benjamin Weinthal, FDD (Berlin), in re: sanctions on purchases from Iran, but German-Iranian trade, esp engineering and dual use [both civilian and military use], continues at $4bil euros. Drilling to 6,000 meters: Iran protecting nuclear facilities, many buried deep  into the side of a mountain. Five thousand German companies trading with Iran; Merkel govt: stays tight-lipped, and encourages trade with Iran. Germany can pass legislation rendering circumcision illegal, but can’t stanch its cash flow from the Islamic Republic.  Because of sanctions, China has successfully demanded deep discounts on the oil it buys from Iran.  "The Federal Republic of Germany would never do anything to hurt the Jewish State" [– hah-ha: drilling to 6,000 meters?]  .     .

Thursday 1105P (805P Pacific Time): Dan Raviv, co-author with Yossi Melman of Spies Against Armageddon, on Israeli secret services, in re:  Mossad, Iran, retaliations for Bulgaria. Israelis are confident that if Iran decides to break out and use nukes, Israel would know.  Bulgaria:  response might not be immediate; may reply more effectively to the exact father of the attack, the precise target.  Arafat's radioactive underwear? Polonium? [Puh-leeze.]   Israelis who'd know if he was poisoned by Israel: best info we can get is that Israel did not – "The whole world wd hate us and he's politically finished, anyway," said Sharon.  Israel's Seal Team 6, in effect, has operated inside Iran and assassinated several scientists.  Mossad knows the country, but does not stay with local Jews.

Ruins in the city of Homs, Syria.

Thursday 1120P (820P Pacific Time): Nofal Al-Dawalibi, shadow government in exile; Syrian opposition, in re:  18,000 Syrian refugees streaming into Lebanon; disaster.  The criminal, Nazi-type regime, cares nothing for people; dictator wants only to stay in place, thinks he's a god on Earth. Also 1 il-plus displaced inside Syria; many in Jordan and Turkey.  Causing humanitarian crisis. On the international level, nothing is being done to stop these crimes. We have not much information on how the bomb was released to kill the ministers; doubt that it was an external matter, think it might be internal. Was it the Free Syrian Army? Either way, a good sign. Russia and China vetoed UN Article VIII. Regime is using all arms, tanks, missiles; being helped by Russia, Iran, Iraqis, Hezbollah, will not fall peacefully, only militarily.. We ask the intl community to help – militarily, and by giving suitable arms to help us protect civilians, to open corridors for humanitarian support and to the Free Syrian Army.  Position of China and Russia is terrible.  Article 51 of UN Charter: can create coalition for benefit of people under attack.  Asking for Article VII from UN Security Council. Syria is asking for help. [Note: Nofal Al-Dawalibi, the son of a former Syrian prime minister, announced plans to create a shadow "government" in exile, saying he wants to help Syrian rebels and encourage international military intervention against Assad's forces.]

 

Thursday 1135P (835P Pacific Time): Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack, in re: private space

Thursday 1150P (850P Pacific Time):  John Bolton, AEI, in re: Iran, North Korea, and Syria

 

Thursday/Fri 1205A (905 Pacific Time): Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 by Jack L. Goldsmith; 1 of 2

Thursday/Fri  1220A (920 Pacific Time): Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 by Jack L. Goldsmith; 2 of 2

Thursday/Fri  1235A (935P Pacific Time): Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, in re:  Gov Romney's campaign, esp in Boston.

Thursday/Fri  1250A  (950P Pacific Time): Exeunt. Art Harman, in re: Chinese manned space

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Music (using EDT broadcast times)

9-hour: Downtown Abbey; Painted Veil; Ghost Writer; Frost-Nixon

10-hour: The Kingdom; Syriana

11-hour: Syriana; Star Trek; The Kingdom

12-hour: Thirteen Days; Downtown Abbey