The John Batchelor Show

Friday 1 May 2015

Air Date: 
May 01, 2015

Photo, left: To the Shores of Triploi, the First Barbary War.
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Hour One
Friday  1 May / Hour 1, Block A: Jim McTague, Barron's Washington, in re:  The people who nailed the horrific Q1 GDP number have bad news ...  And just a day after the disappointing Q1 GDP release, the Atlanta Fed has news about Q2: the economy will grow by just 0.9%, according to . . .    Global regulators raise concerns about high-speed trading
Friday  1 May / Hour 1, Block B: Harry Siegel, New York Daily News, in re:  Hillary Clinton swung big in her 2016 policy debut, declaring on Wednesday that “we have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance” and vowing to end the “era of mass incarceration.” Or at least to try. The headline of her campaign’s release: “Hillary Clinton pledges commitment to reforming criminal justice.”
Given how few particulars she offered (getting body cameras to every police department, cutting off federal funding for military equipment and mandatory minimum-sentencing reform), she should talk to 3 Bs: Bill her husband, Bill her City Hall frenemy and her old boss Barack about just how tough it is to rebalance the system. First, President Clinton, who in 1994 signed a landmark crime bill, with $30 billion for new cops and prisons and harsher sentences for drug offenders. Hillary didn’t mention that in her speech, nor did she note that the steep rise in imprisonment that bill led to came just after the peak of a 30-year era of rising crime rates that [severely damaged] cities. [more]
Friday  1 May / Hour 1, Block C: Mary Anastasia O'Grady, Wall Street Journal THE AMERICAS, in re: Devilish Dealmaking in Colombia
Friday  1 May / Hour 1, Block D:  Dan Barry, NYT, in re: Sports page: a promising man who after playing football in high school and college committed suicide at age 32. Examinations of his brain by Boston University revealed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E), the degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head.
Hour Two
Friday  1 May / Hour 2, Block A:  Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re: Operation Earnest Will - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia    Location, Persian  Gulf ... protection of Kuwaiti-owned tankers from Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988, three years into the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War.  US Navy to accompany US, British flagged ships in Persian Gulf after Iran seizes vessel He stressed that the U.S. Navy would not be escorting the merchant vessels, but would be . . .   Inching Toward Conflict: US Navy To Escort Cargo Ships in Persian Gulf; Iran Refuses to Back Down   ;  US Navy Starts to Accompany Ships in Strait Where Iran Seized Cargo Carrier
Friday  1 May / Hour 2, Block B: Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re: Iran says warships at entrance to key Yemen strait   Tehran (AFP) - Two Iranian destroyers, sent to the Gulf of Aden to protect commercial ships, . . .   Inching Toward Conflict: US Navy to Escort Cargo Ships in Persian Gulf; Iran Refuses to Back Down  Iranian fleet patrols Gulf of Aden, Bab al-Mandab: Navy commander
Friday  1 May / Hour 2, Block C:  Gene Marks, Washington Post, in re:  Last week  we spoke about how Hillary was "surprised" that small businesses aren't hiring people    And now:    Yesterday:  Bank of American Survey finds that 2/3 of small businesses haven't recovered from the recession.  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-of-america-survey-finds-64-percent-of-small-business-owners-are-still-recovering-from-the-great-recession-2015-04-29
Today:  CAN Capital survey finds that less than half of small business owners (49 percent) expect business growth within the next 12 months, a decline from the 58 percent in the previous index conducted in September 2014.  https://www.cancapital.com/press/all/2015/growth-expectations-muted-for-small-business-owners
Friday  1 May / Hour 2, Block D:  Liz Peek, The Fiscal Times & Fox, in re: http://m.thefiscaltimes.com/all/columns-2015-04-29-how-stop-next-urban-race-riot-ask-republican#1
Hour Three
Friday  1 May / Hour 3, Block A:  John Tamny, RealClearMarkets, in re: The Taxation Confusion That Informs the 'Reform Conservative' Movement   While a reduction in the burden that is government has historically animated the conservative movement, the self-proclaimed 'ReformiCons' have seemingly embraced its continued growth.  Indeed, the centerpiece of their policy vision is a $2,500/child tax credit.  The plan there in their own words is to stimulate conception of children "who will grow up to fund the Social Security and Medicare benefits of all future seniors." The thinking is dangerous, and worse, confused.  While the tax code should be blind, and should in no way penalize the most productive (the rich), it should also be remembered that all income classes gain when the rich are penalized the least.  ReformiCons act as though the opposite is true.  Forbes.com.  
Friday  1 May / Hour 3, Block B:  Paul Gregory, Hoover, in re: http://paulgregorysblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-ultimate-putin-sympathizer-germanys.html
Friday  1 May / Hour 3, Block C:  Joseph Bergeron, in re: "The Resurrection of Jesus: A Clinical Review of Psychiatric Hypotheses for. the Biblical Story of Easter"  (1 of 2) http://itq.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/80/2/157.pdf?ijkey=tFBCmpbGHa44r5K&keytype=finite
Friday  1 May / Hour 3, Block D: Joseph Bergeron, in re: "The Resurrection of Jesus: A Clinical Review of Psychiatric Hypotheses for. the Biblical Story of Easter"  (2 of 2) http://itq.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/80/2/157.pdf?ijkey=tFBCmpbGHa44r5K&keytype=finite
Hour Four
Friday  1 May / Hour 4, Block A: Fred Siegel, author, The Revolt Against the Masses: How Liberalism Has Undermined the Middle Class, (1 of 4)
Friday  1 May / Hour 4, Block B: Fred Siegel, author, The Revolt Against the Masses: How Liberalism Has Undermined the Middle Class, (2 of 4)
Friday  1 May / Hour 4, Block C: Fred Siegel, author, The Revolt Against the Masses: How Liberalism Has Undermined the Middle Class, (3 of 4)
Friday  1 May / Hour 4, Block D: Fred Siegel, author, The Revolt Against the Masses: How Liberalism Has Undermined the Middle Class, (4 of 4)
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