photo: left: Gorbachev and Bush, 1990

 

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-host: Larry Kudlow, CNBC senior advisor; & Cumulus Media radio

 

Hour One

Brett Arends, Barrin's. Tom Nesbitt, Mercatus

Hour Two

Stephen F.Cohen, NYU and Princeton, New York.

Hour Three

Everette Dennis, Northwestern in Qatar. Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed al Attiyah, Defence Ministy, Deputy PM.

Hour Four

Bob Zimmerman BehindtheBlack.com. Joe Pappalardo.

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JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-hosts: Larry Kudlow, The Kudlow Report, CNBC; and Cumulus Media radio.  Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, the Great Voice of the Great Lakes.
Hour One
Tuesday  25 July 2017 / Hour 1, Block A:.  LK: American populism aways called for growth and prosperity for all.  Steve Bannon’s economics did not; ergo, Bannon down, stocks up.
Brett Arends, Barron’s, in re:  I’m wary of attributing the stocks rally to Bannon’s departure since the intl rally has occurred anyway.  Sorry Larry isn’t Treasury Secretary. Seems to me a synchronized global uptrends. Signs are all green at the moment.  LK: Fear that Trump might have veered off into [Bannon’s programs].  Today Donald Trump convened a meeting in the Roosevelt Room with Dem and GOP leaders.  Trump said, I  won’t block anything that’s not extreme; we need to get moving on Dreamers, on the wall., on multiple topics.  Wolff’s book claiming that Trump doesn’t have the capability to be president; he’s showing everyone that he’s extremely capable.
BA:  Trump wd do himself an enormous favor if he smashes his Blackberry and quit tweeting,  Wolff’s book is [empty and ridiculous].  LK: Wolff acknowledged that he spoke not to even one Cabinet Secretary.  He said he has very few facts. Our book on JFK and Reagan is filled with extremely carefully checked facts.
Tuesday  25 July 2017 / Hour 1, Block B:  Brett Arends, Barron’s, in re: Will Theresa May survive the upcoming Brexit vote? She’ll stagger on with on one to replace her – a “weak, unstable government.” This year will be difficult: The EU wants to punish Britain for Brexit to discourage anyone else; also, a land grab for business.  British govt struggling to reassure intl investors that they can invest in Britain and not be disadvantaged.  I’m nervous about the negotiations. 
Britain has an impossible conundrum:  wants immigration restriction plus access to the single mkt – impossible since one of the freedoms of the market is free movement.  JB: Does Commons regret all this? BA: The overwhelming majority of Commons was opposed to Brexit.  Hard Brexit  vs soft, where Britain cd take a half-step away from the EU without losing much. A very high risk that this will turn out badly for Britain.
Tuesday  25 July 2017 / Hour 1, Block C:  Todd Nesbit, Mercatus Center, in re:  Book on sin taxes: Taxes, Paternalism and Fiscal Discrimination in the Twenty-first Century.   Of states, Wyoming is the best, while Andrew Cuomo in New York is the biggest bully – by a sizable margin, Cigarette taxes, bans on consumption of various products.  Don't forget Mayor Bloomberg – mayn’t smoke cigarettes, or drink large sodas and I think not eat French fries. Tried to ban transfats. TN: Consumers largely understand the risks of each of these; I don’t think it's necessary for govt to force you in these matters.  LK: Taxes shd be neutral, not allocate resources to govt-designated causes; also, do the least harm to the economy and to individuals.  TN: The size and breadth of taxes often lead to greater taxes.  Selective taxation minimizes opposition thereto.  Claiming warm fuzzy outcomes, and tying the taxes to other programs, just leads to more support for the programs.  JB:  In Seattle, a tag at Costco: Gatorade, 16.9 oz bottle, $15; plus a $10 city tax.  TN:  Creates a secondary market, such as Amazon.  Very lazy public policy.  JB: Do legislators explain why they keep doing the same thing with no favorable result?  TN: When the other political party has the dominant position in the legislature, that’s when it occurs.  JB: Any indication that political voices who’ve always known only politics are more [attached to this] than those who’ve [actually held a job]?  So few of the Obama Adm ever made a payroll; the opposite with Trump. 
Tuesday  25 July 2017 / Hour 1, Block D: Larry Kudlow, in re:  JB is in a vast, developing part of the world; this year have been in Tbilisi, Baku, and now Doha, which is blanketed in cranes with a subway being built.  Trump’s amalgamation of Sunni nations as US allies is brilliant. I want to see more economic dvpt going on.  Oil up $20 helps When Pres Trump goes to Davos: no attacks on bz, lowering tax rates across the board, and prosperity is the most populist deed that can be done. “Where is the civility in Washington? When Democrats and Republicans went to dinner and spoke mildly to each other?” In today’s meeting, Trump gave a command performance.  JB: Donald Trump is very, very popular in Doha.
 
Hour Two
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 2, Block A:  Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; American Committee for East-West Accord; author: Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, & The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag after Stalin;  in re:  Student or prof proposes a thesis, presents a case study to illustrate and prove the scholarly thesis.  You and I have often spoke n of what I call “media malpractice.” Anent Russia: Walter Lipmann did a very long report in 1920, published in the New Republic, covering US press coverage of the Russian civil war; found systematic misreporting — facts and interpretation all wrong, to assure Americans that the Communists would lose. It was so blatant that J-schools long used it as a cautionary example. Next, presented Yeltsin’s so-called reforms as a bright new day when in fact it was an across-the-board disaster. Now we’re getting something comparable concerning the new cold war. TV stations used to have their own office in Moscow, but now only one does.
Malpractice is not just regularly printing questionable narratives and facts (see: New York Times WaPo, cable sites, where a dozen major stories on Russiagate had to be retracted).   Note esp the omission of facts on dvpts and commentary that do not conform to the orthodox narratives.
December 12, 2017, the National Security Archive in Washington (bipartisan, does excellent work) publ an article that in 1990 and 1991 the US and all the major powers promised Russia that if Gorbachev agreed to the reunification of Germany,  then . . .
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 2, Block B:  Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; American Committee for East-West Accord; author: Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, & The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag after Stalin;  in re: James Baker and Pres Bush (and France, the UK and Germany) swore to Gorbachev that NATO would never expand eastward an inch; a detailed set of conversations, and violated by thousands of miles. These agreements were never reported in the US.  Two small media outlets— the Natl Interest and the American Conservative — published four articles o this. JB: Conservative voices said, Mr Gorbachev, they’re lying to you.   SC: How can the New York Times and the Washington Post not publish one word of this? An editorial decision not to publish anything that doesn’t conform to the Orthodox narrative. 
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 2, Block C:  Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; American Committee for East-West Accord; author: Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, & The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag after Stalin;  in re:  NSWarchiveGWU.  The fact that the Times and WaPo haven't reported the agreement means we have a hard time finding out what actually was said. Five years later Bill Clinton made the decision to expand NATO. We’re in a perilous situation with Russia today. The fact that the Times won’t publish this is the essence of media malpractice. Consider the consequences of NATO expansion – two proxy hot wars (Georgia, Ukraine) with another waiting to occur in he Baltics.   Russia often say the US has “betrayed and deceived” Russia.
Bush2 unilaterally left the missile treaty; then Libya, for which the US promise no attempt wd be made to capture Qaddafi. But the basic promises that the Russian [political class] recalls are those made by Bush1, Baker, and other NATO members. JB: Foreign policy has withered these last years to focus only on terrorism, and the leadership of the Times and Post are uninformed. SC: “That’d be OK for Kentucky, but not for New York and Washington.”  Their editorial writers will say, “Gorbachev should’a got it in writing.”   That would mean that the word of our leaders is dross.  My opinion is that even if there had been a treaty, they would have broken it.    In 2002, Bush 2 simply walked away from a bedrock missile treaty. Also, ”Every nation has a right to join NATO.” No they don’t. It's a security organization.  NATO’s “attack on one is an attack on all” renders it much more dangerous.  “Russia represents no threat that we didn’t create.”  The Common European home from Portugal to Vladivostok – that’d be inclusive.  Say that all NATO members reflect out democratic values – Turkey? Poland?
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 2, Block D:  Stephen F. Cohen, NYU & Princeton professor Emeritus; American Committee for East-West Accord; author: Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives: From Stalinism to the New Cold War, & The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag after Stalin; in re: Johnson’s Russia List; David Johnson will send you info daily. The other is the American Committee for East-West Accord: eastwest accord.com; will daily send you four or five articles. 
 
Hour Three
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 3, Block A: Everette Dennis, Northwestern University Dean on the Doha campus; in re: Media in Qatar.  First thing we tell students its they’ll get a world-class education, and concurrently a fine journalism education. 
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 3, Block B: Everette Dennis, Northwestern University Dean on the Doha campus; in re:  Media in Qatar.
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 3, Block C:  Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense, in re: Ofc of the High Commission of Human Rights of the UN has condemned the “illegal blockade” that’s been mounted gains Qatar. Why the blockade? For the last six months we’ve been waiting for a third party sound and credible to come forward; this is not only an economic embargo, it’s affected the social fabric of the region. Everybody is related to everybody in this region.  We enjoy excellent relations with the US, economically, educationally, and militarily; in investments and energy (ExxonMobil).   In the GCC countries – the three embargoers are the UAE, Saudis, and Bahrain . . . our agency was hacked with a false statement attributed to our emir; began embargo June 5.  No dialogue before that. 
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 3, Block D:  Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense, in re:  All the construction cranes that are not in China are here. Our prosperity started in ‘95 when we decided to [shift course] to 2030 vision, toward which we’re working day and night.  We’ll host the 2022 World Cup; we’re working to achieve our greater vision: tolerant, open, diversified.  You see a lot of intl faces, esp from all over the Indian Ocean Basin and worldwide.  You’re using your wealth to invest in Europe and Asia, and inviting investments here.   Oil an gas will be depleted one day and we’ll need other sources of income.  Iran. 
[See Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabinet_of_Qatar]
 
Hour Four
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 4, Block A:  Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re: Space.  The astronaut John Young, a man for all seasons; the ninth man to walk on the Moon; the only to fly in Apollo and Gemini programs; launched six times from the Earth and a seventh fro the Moon.  Corned beef sandwich. He later spent many years at NASA to make the programs  safe; he didn't always succeed and spoke of his frustration with NASA in that respect.
SpaceX opens launch year with successful Zuma launch. Falcon 9: Zuma – what is it? No one knows. Northrup Grumman paid for it; it as launched this week; it either fell into the ocean or is orbiting. 
Falcon Heavy on launch pad for static fire test.  First time all 28 engines fire at once, for an estimated 15 seconds on the launch pad.  Hotels coming to Boca Chica, Texas, because of SpaceX spaceport.
China completes its first launch of 2018; will go for 30 launches this year, as will the Russians.  A  neck-and-neck race.  Arianespace aims for 14 launches in 2018, incl four of the Soyuz.  Ariane refused to lower prices but SpaceX forced the market, and now everyone has more business. 
ULA settles lawsuit over defrauding the government of $90 million, Govt was paying $1 billion PA plus overcharging for launches – ’twas a monopoly at the time and they’ve paid. 
Atlas 5 passes NASA review for manned launches
Blue Origin engine tests continue
Orbital ATK gets second contract for satellite repair robot
Team Indus exits Google Lunar X-Prize
First six segments of Extremely Large Telescope cast
Sunspot update for December
Exploring Arsia Mons, home of glaciers and water clouds
Curiosity images tubelike rock formations
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 4, Block B:  Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re:  Space.
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 4, Block C:  Dr Khalid Al Subai, director of Qatar Space and lead investigator of the Qatar Exoplanet Survey, in re: Exoplanets are planets around other stars; we try to find more planets, esp like Earth, to understand how solar systems are formed.  What telescopes? International; need 24-hour coverage of the sky.  New Mexico, Canary Islands, and in China.  Using the transit system.  . . . Leasing space with a relatively large amateur telescope?  Will grow your network of telescopes? 
The plot might well be fictional, but across the world, in the tiny Gulf state of Qatar, a group of scientists has been researching the possibility of other life forms in the solar system for several years. The team, led by Dr Khalid Al Subai, leader of the Qatar Exoplanet Survey and a research director at Qatar Foundation, has — with the help of scientists in the UK and the US — already discovered two new planets.  “This kind of science is addressing very profound questions [such as] are we alone? Is life special or can [it] be common? These questions have intrigued human beings for a long time and we are now approaching to answer these kinds of questions,” Al Subai tells Arabian Business.
Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re:  Space.
Tuesday 9 January 2018/ Hour 4, Block D:  Joe Pappalardo, Popular Science, in re:  Air weaponry.