The John Batchelor Show

Tuesday 10 March 2020

Air Date: 
March 10, 2020

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 1, Block A:  Elizabeth Peek, TheHill and Fox News; in re:   The economy was going gangbusters  — 275,000 jobs added last month, being 1,000 more than anyone expected— until this [Wuhan flu] came in.  Note that the flu doesn’t fare ell in heat [actually, humidity], and can be turned back by good hygiene. . .  . Today, banks are much stronger, but yesterday adds a big unknown to an already-uncertain situation; then the oil industry, esp the shale oil industry, under tremendous pressure and apparently in trouble. Today’s bounce-back was a partial recovery of confidence that the Saudis and Russians are speaking to each other, or at least to their own oligarchs. Btw, the Saudis need money to diversify their economy. The South Korean success in separating masses of people suggests that this thing can be controlled.  . . .  Satellite photo over China show more pollution, meaning that industrial production is probably picking up.    . . .  Our overdependence on Chinese supply chains: will we go back to business as usual?  No – Southeast Asia, Turkey, and other countries will be called on. The USMCA makes investment in North America much more inviting.
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 1, Block B:   Elizabeth Peek, TheHill and Fox News; in re: The politics of the Wuhan flu.    The Democratic nomination looks to be entirely in the hands of someone who, as well as I know, has said nothing about he future; only about the past. He’s said to be well-liked in Washington. What is the vice-president campaigning for? 
I spent a lot of time reviewing Biden’s policies; We’ve been calling  him “moderate” – only compared to Bernie, He wants to hike taxes by $4 trillion, and spend trillions in a green new deal, raise min wage, make it much easier to unionize; get rid of ability to choose whether or not to join a union. As he has to face Donald Trump, he may have a lot of explaining to do. Am not sure that people will be happy to learn that their taxes will go up.
Will his vice-president be an afterthought? Not at all. People are worried about Joe Biden’s mental condition—“his cognitive decline” as he mixes up people, places, and times. This is worse than the old gaffes: when you don't know what state you’re in or can’t form a proper sentence, this is [a matter of concern.] His VP will act as president. John McCain had this issue; the New York Times and others were concerned about his melanoma at age 72.  Biden is 78. 
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 1, Block C: Bill Whalen, Hoover Institution Area 45 podcast; in re:  Warhorses whom the party calls on in instances of  . . . McLaughlin piece in the National Review.  Tom Dewey emerged in 1940, was the 1944 nominee against Roosevelt, and seemed to be the favorite in 1948 but lost to Truman. Bob Dole  (age 73) was chosen by the GOP to go up against the extremely talented Bill Clinton.   Biden will be 78 days after the election.  Place-holder candidate. Nothing novel or transformative about any of these candidacies; need to get Democrats excited, not against someone else but in favor of this candidate.  However, Ronald Reagan won on his third try. He was novel and transformative in his policies.  ’Twas a good night for Joe Biden; the party coming in behind him. It’ll now be a question of enthusiasm.
Biden is a creature of the swamp, of Washington; and the questions around Hunter Biden. With a 78-year-old who’s sometimes cranky, the vice-president will be [most important]; and the VP will have a leg up on the 2024 race. Biden needs to get to 1991 
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 1, Block D:   Ahmad Obali, GunazTV; in re:  Iran ‘s  border are entirely closed by its neighbors.  The regime there either doesn’t have good facts, or declines to share them. The UN human rights rapporteur as asked Iran to free all political prisoner temporarily to spare them from coronavirus.  Regime aid it released 70,000 political prisoners . . . really?  Overcrowded and disease-ridden prisons.
It's civil-rights activists who’ve been imprisoned. Regime sent 75,000 home: if they we serving five-year terms or less, but most are not.  From the province of Isfahan, a tiny town where the local official said 88 people have died there, alone, as of the other day; that more than 700 had been contaminated.
In NW by the Turkish border, 72 died.  IRNA reported that 44 people had died of alcohol poisoning thinking that alcohol would protect them from the virus.  This is because people have no other medical treatment to call on. Those who go to hospitals, which by now are full with no room, ask for gloves, face masks, hand sanitizer, alcohol.  It's a tragedy beyond comprehension. Thousands are dying and the govt tries to make it look like normal life.
Can they cross any border? No. Borders are closed. Luckily, we were among the first to tell people to stay home, don't go out. The the Iranian govt TV blames us for creating panic—so some go out and thereby spread the disease.
@AhmadObali , @Obali_Duman , #GunazTv
 
Hour Two
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 2, Block A:  Gregory Copley, Defense and Foreign Affairs, in re: South Africa, where the economy is failing despite its rich resources; this is because of theft. Pres Cyril Ramaphosa was supposed to fix the problem, but he’s part of it. He was a union organizer under Apartheid, then became a billionaire.  Every one of the state’s great enterprises became a looting-pot.  All much n debt from foreign borrowings; have bankrupted the country – absence of services, airlines, power generation: all [ceased]. Crime is on the increase.  Said to be chaos in-country.  I see no sign that the government is taking any precautions even though Chinese people are pouring in daily.  Unrestricted air entrance since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. No way that hospitals can even ascertain the disease.  Not a good time to visit.  The Economist identifies “Big-manism”, that even though voters prefer democracy, but the powers maintain their positions.   KwaZulu Natal will likely declare independence.  Others want to separate from the ANC, especially.  Breakup of South Africa coming. Scattering of peoples and some violence.   Chinese will lose thier interests there if they’re not careful, and will be the only source of support of Ramaphosa.
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 2, Block B:  Gregory Copley, Defense and Foreign Affairs, in re:  Will the virus on top of everything else bring down the Iranian regime? No sign yet that t he security forces will assist in that; and there’s no one emerging as a replacement leader .  Their economy s sinking because they can't get their rigs working, but currently at a very slow rate. Their land bridge to the Mediterranean— but they’re not strategically viable domestically and can do nothing with it. Population is getting angrier and angrier, but [not clear that we’re near a tipping point].  The open entry to masses of Chinese people is what created the disastrous coronavirus in Iran.
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 2, Block C:  Joseph Humire in US, Senator Maria Fernanda Cabal in Bogota;  in re:  Trump work with Bolsonaro of Brazil and Duque of Colombia to confront Venezuela failure.
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 2, Block D:  Joseph Humire in US, Senator Maria Fernanda Cabal in Bogota;  in re:  Is the FARC reintegration a good example for Taliban re integration
 
Hour Three
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 3, Block A:  Scott Atlas, senior Fellow at Hoover Institution; author, Restoring Quality Health Care: A Six Point Plan for Comprehensive Reform at Lower Cost;  in re: Medicare for All is worse for all.
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 3, Block B:  John Tamny, RealClearPolitics, in re: Michael Milken is a success.
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 3, Block C:   Bob Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re:  Covid 19 cancels planetary conference
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 3, Block D:  Bob Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re:  IG of NASA castigates the SLA program.
 
Hour Four
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 4, Block A:  The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters, by Gregory Zuckerman
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 4, Block B:  The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters, by Gregory Zuckerman
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 4, Block C:  The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters, by Gregory Zuckerman
Tuesday 10 March 2020   / Hour 4, Block D:  The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters, by Gregory Zuckerman