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JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 1, Block A:  Dan Henninger, WSJ editorial board and Wonder Land, in re: Mrs Clinton says that the Russian hacking matter was a result of Putin’s personal animus against her. This is mostly about Podesta’s email and what he said behind her back, Does she think this back-office chatter about her cost her the election?  She ignored the blue-collar vote in PA, OH, WI, and lost because of that.  Today Pres Obama said: “The Electoral College is a carryover from an earlier vision that put a lot of premium on states, where Wyoming has as many senators as California does.”  The Democrats don't like the structure of our government.  Spent the last weeks of the election attacking Trump personally, ignored policies.
Michael Moore says, “Disrupt the inauguration” Will this go on for four years? Shades of Abbie Hoffman in Chicago in 1968.  Today, most Americans aren't into street politics, are interested in policies and governance.  http://www.wsj.com/articles/steal-this-election-1481759796?tesla=y
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 1, Block B:  Paul Gregory, Hoover and Forbes.com, in re: What did the Kremlin think it was doing in stealing and publicizing email?  Maybe that they’d elect Trump (far-fetched), thus Rex Tillerson for State? First, Putin was looking at the same polls we were, so would have thought Clinton would be elected.  Now Putin is stuck with Trump, esp Jim Mattis as SecDef, and even Tillerson could be a problem for Putin: he’s refused to be intimidate by Putin. And US fracking sidelines some of Russia’s Arctic reserves. US is now the swing producer will overtake Saudis and Russians; fracking will determine the price of a barrel o foil, Arctic reserves can be developed at $100/Bbl, not likely to return soon.  “Russian oil is toast,” says my colleague.  . . . Trump probably will not surround himself with Putinistas.   . . . Clinton was one of the few hopes to save the Putin petro-state.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2016/12/16/does-putin-not-understand-that-trump-not-clinton-threatens-his-petrostate/#7778edb46f98   Trump's energy policies can ruin Putin's Petrostate, which rests on high-cost reserves and depleting legacy wells. The US, as the swing producer, now sets the price of oil, not OPEC.  Expect lower break even costs of energy production under Trump's pro-energy policies. Tillerson will understand these things better than anyone in government.
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 1, Block C:  Liz Peek, Fiscal Times and Fox News, in re: Make no mistake: it’s payback time. In ordering up a “deep dive” into possible Russian interference in the election of Donald Trump, sore loser Barack Obama wants to delegitimize the real estate magnate’s win. His motive? Punishing Trump for the years the mogul spent publicly questioning whether Obama was an American citizen, which cast doubts on the legitimacy of his presidency. Ah, how sweet the revenge. And how pitiful.
     President Obama has searched high and, increasingly, low, for the reasons he and Hillary Clinton lost the election. He has blamed Fox News, insufficient grass-roots campaigning by Hillary, “fake news”, and now has singled out Russian meddling for the loss of 194 of 207 counties that voted for him in either 2008 or 2012.  . . . Part of Mrs Clinton’s problem is that she isn't very politically astute.  She and Pres Obama don't seem to have learned from the drubbing.
     Nunes Statement on Cyber-Attack Investigations   WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes released the following statement today on the continuing investigations into cyber-attacks during the U.S. presidential campaign:  
“In the course of the House Intelligence Committee’s ongoing oversight of cyber-attacks during the U.S. presidential campaign, we have not received any information from Intelligence Community (IC) agencies indicating that they have developed new assessments on this issue. I am alarmed that supposedly new information continues to leak to the media but has not been provided to Congress despite my letter asking for more information on this topic, and despite the Committee’s request to schedule an urgent classified briefing that would set the record straight on the IC’s current assessment. As part of its ongoing oversight, the Committee has now planned visits to the FBI, NSA, CIA, and DIA in January so members can further investigate this issue in the 115th Congress.”
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 1, Block D:  Dr Joseph Frager, Jerusalem Chai chairman, in re: UNESCO’s dangerous Temple Mount decision and the possible consequences.  Claim that the Wailing Wall has no historical connection to Judaism, which is batty, since al Aqsa even means “Holy Temple,” referring specifically to the Second Temple.  Sinister strategy: constantly to delegitimize and demonize Israel piece by piece; last year, the allegation included the Temple Mount but not the Western Wall; this year, incudes the Western Wall.  Sets up the UN for a resolution simply to abnegate Israel. The new US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is entirely aware of this matter.  Saeb Erekat will soon be in DC to lobby for a UN resolution on Judea and Samaria, call them illegal, then say, “they’re obstacles to peace,” then call for a unilateral PLO state with pre-1967 borders. What will Pres Obama do in the coming 34 days?  He may not veto that resolution. Jimmy Carter and the New York Times favor that resolution! http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/9328
Hour Two
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 2, Block A:  Michael E Vlahos, Johns Hopkins, in re:  . . .  Netherlands had 1,000 tanks in 1908, now has zero.  Germany had 2,500, now has 408(?).   All of Europe is shockingly unable to defend itself. Who does it think will step up and protect it?  [Look at this!  http://www.globalfirepower.com/armor-tanks-total.asp  ][Another example of Euros’s expecting daddy USA to pay for its total defense. –ed.]  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/16/us/politics/obama-putin-hacking-news-c...
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 2, Block B:   Michael E Vlahos, Johns Hopkins, in re: Sharing world power— China in the East, Russia in Europe, US in the Americas?  Sure, but not while Russian GDP is tiny, or while China has a GDP the size of Japan’s as we throw over our ally, Japan. US is still primus inter pares.  Kori Schake’s poker metaphor: Russia is weak, plays its hand brilliantly; China is stronger yet playing poorly, clumsily; US has a strong hand and is playing stupidly. Does America’s need to buy time mean that the US has conceded the South China Sea and the Black Sea? Nyet – we must push back with Korea and Vietnam; and we have to push in the Baltics – I want to recreate the armored cavalry division, rotate it through Poland to show Russia the unwisdom of [invading] there.
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 2, Block C:   Gene Marks, Washington Post, in re:  Labor secretary pick Andy Puzder seen as ally for employers  http://m.nrn.com/people/labor-secretary-pick-andy-puzder-seen-ally-employers via @NRNonline ((Puzder was an attorney in St. Louis when he met Carl Karcher, who founded Carl’s Jr.. Puzder moved to California in 1991 to serve as Karcher’s personal attorney, according to a biography on Puzder’s blog, andy.puzder.com. Puzder helped Karcher avoid bankruptcy and help retain ownership of his company, CKE Restaurants))
Federal Reserve raises interest rates for second time in a decade, expects 3 hikes in 2017 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/14/federal-reserve-expected-to-announce-higher-interest-rates-today/?utm_term=.1d9cd6caaeb1
US Businesses Cut Stockpiles in October Even as Sales Rise http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/12/14/business/ap-us-business-inventories.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Small Business Owners' Optimism Skyrockets Following Trump Victory https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-13/small-business-owners...
Entrepreneurs
Businesses in Portland, Ore. will now have to pay a surtax if their CEOs make too much more than their employees https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2016/12/15/businesses-in-portland-ore-will-now-have-to-pay-a-surtax-if-their-ceos-make-too-much-more-than-their-employees/?utm_term=.f3e62e2d4e28
What New York City's New Freelancer Law Means for All Small Businesses – if you pay an independent contractor more than $800 in a year, you have to write up exact tasks and make special payments.  Egad. What New York City's New Freelancer Law Means for All Small Businesses Will New York's freelancer rights bill spread to other cities? Stay tuned. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/286409
American Express to give employees 20 weeks of paid parental leave http://www.benefitnews.com/news/american-express-to-give-employees-20-weeks-of-paid-parental-leave
Robots!
An Airdrop of Popcorn Makes Amazon Drone Delivery History /  The retail giant Amazon.com Inc. has made its first drone delivery to an actual customer, dropping off one of its Fire TV streaming devices and a bag of popcorn to a house in the English countryside 13 minutes after receiving an online order.
The delivery occurred Dec. 7 near Cambridge in a zone that U.K. aviation authorities have authorized for drone test flights, according to a tweet Wednesday by company Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos and a video documenting the flight. “First-ever #AmazonPrimeAir customer delivery is in the books,” Bezos said in the tweet. “13 min -- click to delivery.”
The custom-built quad copter is seen in the video floating over green farm fields before nestling down onto a lawn and dropping off the package. The ruddy-cheeked customer, identified only as Richard B. of Cambridgeshire, then trots out into the yard to pick up the purchases after the drone took off.  “We’re starting with two customers now and in the coming months we’ll offer participation to dozens of customers living within several miles of our U.K. facility, and then growing to hundreds more,” the video narrator said. “After that, well it’d be easy to say the sky’s the limit, but that’s not exactly true anymore, is it?”
While the flight was conducted under U.K. restrictions that for now prohibit such deliveries on a widespread basis, it marks a milestone in the race by companies like Amazon and Alphabet Inc. to use unmanned vehicles to transform how customers buy and receive goods. The company is beginning broader delivery trials in an attempt to gather safety data to justify an expansion of the program.
Drone-Delivery Radius  Amazon says it is conducting the testing in the U.K. because regulations in the U.S. are too strict. Amazon announced the delivery five hours before Bezos and other technology industry leaders were scheduled to meet with President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to cut regulations across the board.  Amazon is making its drone-delivery service available to customers who live within a few miles of the U.K. facility it built to test deliveries.
After the Dec. 7 order was received and the items were packaged, the cargo was automatically loaded onto the underside of a quad copter. A small rail bed carried the drone out of the building and into a field.  . . .   https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-14/with-an-airdrop-of-popcorn-amazon-makes-drone-delivery-history
Dobot lends a robotic hand to small businesses  http://newatlas.com/dobot-m1-consumer-robot-arm/46887/ @nwtls
Microsoft is creating talking bots that will call you on Skype http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/14/13951518/microsoft-skype-bots-talking-bots
This startup is growing so fast, the CEO just took the entire company and their families to Hawaii
http://www.businessinsider.com/cohesity-ceo-took-entire-company-and-their-families-to-hawaii-2016-12
Lake Tahoe hangover-curing concierge business launches   http://www.sierrasun.com/news/business/lake-tahoe-hangover-curing-concierge-business-launches/ @SierraSun_News
$3 billion stolen in 'business email compromise' scam, BBB warning small businesses http://www.ketv.com/article/3-billion-stolen-in-business-email-compromise-scam-bbb-warning-small-businesses/8489858 @KETV
Sisters transform minivan into mobile gift-wrapping business in Council Bluffs http://www.nonpareilonline.com/news/local/sisters-transform-minivan-into-mobile-gift-wrapping-business-in-council/article_08d302b1-8366-527e-bf55-bfcc39e5f079.html
@nonpareilonline
This business scanning women's feet to make heels that don't hurt http://www.cityam.com/255302/business-scanning-womens-feet-make-heels-dont-hurt
@cityam
Target store experiments with offering “quiet hours” for autistic shoppers https://theamericangenius.com/business-news/target-store-experiments-offering-quiet-hours-autistic-shoppers/
Skype breaks the language barrier with real-time translation for mobile and landline calls http://thenextweb.com/apps/2016/12/12/skype-translation-mobile-landline/
Emoji translator wanted - London firm seeks specialist  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-38287908 @NalinaBelfast @BBCNews
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 2, Block D:   Gene Marks, Washington Post (2 of 2)
 
Hour Three
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 3, Block A:  Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, NYU Law, in re:  NEPA in 1969.  New technologies and methods make construction much safer and swifter.  Nonetheless, EPA maintains an furthers throttling regulations.  Smarter not to front-load regs but to back-load them seriously.
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 3, Block B:  Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, NYU Law, in re:  Keystone XL Pipeline and Dakota pipeline. 
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 3, Block C:  Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director. Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), in re:
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 3, Block D:   Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director. Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), in re:
 
Hour Four
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 4, Block A:  Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re:
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 4, Block B:  Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com, in re:
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 4, Block C: Avi Loeb,  , in re: https://www.amazon.com/First-Star-Milkomeda-Abraham-Loeb-ebook/dp/B014GC...
Friday  16 December 2016 / Hour 4, Block D: Avi Loeb,  , in re: https://www.amazon.com/First-Star-Milkomeda-Abraham-Loeb-ebook/dp/B014GC...
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