Photo above: Democratic National Convention, Missouri 1876

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Tuesday 905P Eastern Time:  Larry Kudlow, The Kudlow Report, CNBC, and WABC Radio, in re: world economic news – gold got to $1,700/oz;  gold at $32.43; ISM at 46, third straight month below 50 – while FedEx (which delivers what everybody buys; thus is  a bellwether) reported pulling down estimates for the next year. Europe, China, US.  However, car sales at over 14 million.   Bernanke at Jackson Hole: expressed "grave concern" – ergo, probably expect QE3.

Tuesday 920P Eastern Time:  John Fund, American Spectator, in re:  The president, asked what grade he'd give himself, replies, "An incomplete" – apparently in a request to give him more time.  Dan Pfeiffer, White House aide, said the economy isn’t just numbers, it’s personal.  If he's re-elected, we'll see government by Executive Order tested to its greatest extent, force Congress to its edge. In case of confrontation, will shut government down.  Criticism of Aiken on the floor is tempered to some extent as it didn’t play well in focus groups; also, the country is split on abortion so not to discuss too much. Most of the losses in Obama's personal popularity have been among women.

Tuesday 935P Eastern Time:   Mona Charen, NRO, in re:  In 2008, during the heated campaign, Bill Clinton spoke in favor of his wife, then was offended as he thought he was accused by the Obama camp of being racist. Now, he's the centerpiece in nominating Pres Obama. It's still a Byzantine relationship.   However, the incumbent is facing a terrible economy and depends on Clinton to drape the mantle of economic success on Pres Obama's shoulders.  Ed Kline (author of,  The Amateur) says that Clinton refuses to show his Wednesday speech in advance to Obama's team.  Republicans have a deep bench – governors. Congressmen, mayors – while the Democrats seem to have the president and not much of anyone else.  LK:  Clinton will hurt Obama so that his wife can run in 2016 against a Republican.  JB: One guesses that Mr Clinton is there to promote Mr Clinton.

Tuesday 950P Eastern Time:   Larry Kudlow, in re:  Ryan never mentioned tax cut, and Romney never satisfactorily conveyed growth.  He sees the economy both ways: cutting expenses and growing it. Romney's was a pretty good speech, but on the key point – the economy – he didn’t do it.

Tuesday 1005P (705P Pacific Time):  Craig Unger, Vanity Fair, in re: Democratic convention in Charlotte. First Democratic convention was in 1832.  Craig's new book: Boss Rove. At a breakfast in Tampa, Craig asked Rove a question; Rove "sort of exploded "at him, said Craig had accused Rove of murder – which he did not.  Oddly, later in the week Rove again linked himself to murder: "If Aiken ends up dead, don’t blame me."  Republicans trying to paint Obama as a weak president. In their speeches today, Rahm Emanuel and Deval Patrick seem to be running Obama against George W Bush.   There exists a schism in the Republican Party – Tea Party loathes  W Bush – while Rove has now taken control with a billion dollars raised from, inter al. , Sheldon Adelson and the Koch brothers.

To Mayor Julien Castro, mayor of San Antonio, born in 1974.  See: San Antonio de Béjar.

Tuesday 1020P (720P Pacific Time):  Craig Unger, Vanity Fair, in re: Democratic convention in Charlotte.  Shelly Adelson spoke of donating $100 million?  The Koch brothers of donating $400 million?

To Mayor Julien Castro, mayor of San Antonio, born in 1974.  See: San Antonio de Béjar.

Tuesday 1035P (735P Pacific Time):  Craig Unger, Vanity Fair, in re: Democratic convention in Charlotte. Smart Tech in Chattanooga owned by Mercer Reynolds and some of Rove's biggest donors; can identify via 100 data points on every voter in the US. Can call every single voter in one afternoon with targeted msgs that will encourage or suppress votes in a district. Other ground game s voter suppression: there are 50 million Hispanic voters now; could flip from red to blue.  Rove pressing for federal voter ID; that wd keep minorities from voting. If Arizona's voting goes from 15 million to 17 million, it flips from red to blue.  Rove's war chest of a billion dollars.

Michelle Obama's speech. Playing Stevie Wonder; played it at Republican convention, also.

Tuesday 1050P (750P Pacific Time):  Craig Unger, Vanity Fair, in re: Democratic convention in Charlotte. Larry Sabato compares the speeches of Mrs Obama to Mrs Romney: each outshines the male keynote speaker of the night. Rove went after Sarah Palin, Herman Caine, all the others, in order to protect Romney. He thinks Palin is undisciplined; he withholds massive funding from each one whom he scorns and cuts off.

 Michelle Obama's speech.

Tuesday 1105P (805P Pacific Time):  Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; David Drucker, Roll Call; Lara M Brown, Villanova, in re: Democratic convention in Charlotte; specifically, the speeches of Mayor Castro and the First Lady, Michelle Obama.  SZ: In these situations, you're preaching to the choir and the choir is pretty happy.  DD: They say that the function of the govt is to level an unfair playing field, govt spending to help give opportunities to those who don't have any.  SZ: Polls showed that Romney's favorability had grown and the president's favorability had shrunk.  JB: Gold and silver prices today, ISM numbers - did the convention recognize that the worldwide slowdown is here? SZ: If they did, I totally missed it.   JB: Everyone expects Draghi and Bernanke to move in the next week with easing. DD:  They spoke of a resurgence in mfg - saved General Motors - and relied on raw numbers of certain categories.  SZ: Many categories of women; 52% of electorate; have many different perspectives - abortion, the economy, 

Tuesday 1120P (820P Pacific Time):  Jeff Bliss, The Bliss Index; Gene Countryman, KNSS; Larry Johnson, No Quarter, in re: Democratic convention in Charlotte.  Lost 125 jobs at Hawker Beechcraft in Wichita. Boeing has left town. Lear Jet owned by Bombardier (Canadian). Cessna doing OK.  Nobody's counting on green jobs any more. Forty-six million people on food stamps. Deficit spending. DoD can be cut dramatically, but govt jobs cannot rescue the economy.

Tuesday 1135P (835P Pacific Time):  Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack, in re: Russian space program; Putin fires the head of the upper-stage rocket failures; Russia plans sub-orbital; LA cuts down 400 trees to drive Endeavor Shuttle to museum.

Tuesday 1150P (850P Pacific Time): Jed Babbin,  in re: ideological Democratic Convention, lots of Commander-in-Chief talk.

Tuesday/Wed 1205A (905 Pacific Time): The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt; 1 of 2

Tuesday/Wed  1220A (920 Pacific Time): The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt; 2 of 2

Tuesday/Wed  1235A (935P Pacific Time): Mona Charen, NRO, in re:  In 2008, during the heated campaign, Bill Clinton spoke in favor of his wife, then was offended as he thought he was accused by the Obama camp of being racist. Now, he's the centerpiece in nominating Pres Obama. It's still a Byzantine relationship.   However, the incumbent is facing a terrible economy and depends on Clinton to drape the mantle of economic success on Pres Obama's shoulders.  Ed Kline (author of,  The Amateur) says that Clinton refuses to show his Wednesday speech in advance to Obama's team.  Republicans have a deep bench – governors. Congressmen, mayors – while the Democrats seem to have the president and not much of anyone else.  LK:  Clinton will hurt Obama so that his wife can run in 2016 against a Republican.  JB: One guesses that Mr Clinton is there to promote Mr Clinton.

Tuesday/Wed  1250A  (950P Pacific Time): Bill McGurn, WSJ, in re: Why is Bill Clinton speaking in Charlotte?..

  ..  ..  ..  

 

Sprites are large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, or cumulonimbus, giving rise to a quite varied range of visual shapes flickering in the night sky. They are triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between an underlying thundercloud and the ground.

 

Sprites appear as luminous reddish-orange flashes. They often occur in clusters within the altitude range 50–90 km above the Earth's surface. Sporadic visual reports of sprites go back at least to 1886, but they were first photographed on July 6, 1989 by scientists from the University of Minnesota and have subsequently been captured in video recordings many thousands of times.

Music (New York City broadcast times)

9-hour: Painted Veil, Iron Lady.  10-hour: Iron Lady.  11-hour: Valkyrie, Starship Troopers.  midnight hour:  Atonement, Iron Lady, Jane Eyre.