The John Batchelor Show

Friday 16 October 2015

Air Date: 
October 16, 2015

Photo, left: African Court Convicts Captain of Renegade Ship in Illegal Fishing Case   São Tomé and Príncipe court on Monday convicted the captain of a fishing ship, the Thunder, and two crew members on several charges tied to illegal fishing, a prosecutor in the case said. The verdict was the culmination of a dramatic, 10,000-mile chase from Antarctica to the Gulf of Guinea.  The Thunder, which had been on Interpol’s most-wanted list, was spotted last year poaching fish in Antarctic waters and was chased by an environmental group, Sea Shepherd, for more than 110 days until it sank in early April off São Tomé and Príncipe, a West African island state. Prosecutors from São Tomé and Príncipe and Sea Shepherd officials speculated that the Thunder’s captain had sunk the ship on purpose to dispose of evidence. “This isn’t just a victory for our country,” said Frederique Samba Viegas D’Abreu, the attorney general of São Tomé and Príncipe. “It’s a victory for the oceans and against these international crime syndicates that have operated for too long above the law.” The chase highlighted the lack of policing on the high seas and the rarity of bringing well-documented maritime scofflaws to justice. Documents seized from the Thunder shortly before it sank were sent to Germany and prompted investigations across Europe whose scope includes companies in Spain, where the ship’s owners are said to be based, according to Interpol officials.  In recent months, Spain has raided several . . .  [more]
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Hour One
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 1, Block A: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, in re:  http://www.hoover.org/research/economic-fantasies-robert-reich
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 1, Block B: Richard A Epstein, Hoover Institution, Chicago Law, in re:  http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/10/16/labor-market-turnover-changes-little-in-august-as-job-openings-fall-slightly/
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 1, Block C: George Vecsey, author, Stan Musial: An American Life; in re:  Baseball: A History of America's Favorite Game (Modern Library Chronicles) by George Vecsey. Kurkjian: Five questions for Cubs-Mets. The NLCS is a dream matchup that features Chicago's stunning collection of good young hitters against New York's equally stunning collection of good pitchers. ; Crasnick: Royals, Blue Jays on collision course. ;The last time the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays took the field together, things got a little ugly. In other words, folks, this ALCS could be interesting.
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 1, Block D:  Francis Rose, Federal New Radio, in re: 1. Accountability at VA - Allison Hickey resigns.  “Nearly 18 months after the nation first learned of the delays in care crisis at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, the problems there are far from fixed. Phoenix-area veterans are still suffering due to untimely care and VA malfeasance. Instead of facing discipline, some employees at the heart of the scandal are on seemingly never-ending paid leave. And, incredibly, some VA leaders who oversaw the problems in Phoenix remain on the job to this day. It's well past time for VA to clean up the mess in Phoenix. That means providing veterans with the care they have earned in a timely fashion and swiftly firing any employee standing in the way of this important task. This report is yet another reminder that VA leaders still have much more work to do when it comes to fulfilling these critical responsibilities.” – Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
Hour Two
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 2, Block A:  Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Omdurman ; http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/15/obama-ignores-generals-on-troop-levels-for-unprece/  ; Hillary Clinton Defends Hawkish Record in First Democratic Debate
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 2, Block B: Michael Vlahos, Naval War College, in re:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Omdurman ;  http://www.kare11.com/story/news/local/2015/10/13/new-effort-to-lure-business-talent-to-minnesota/73900686/
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 2, Block C:  Gene Marks, Washington Post, in re:  SMALLBIZ AMERICA   Pittsburgh is self-insuring employees to cut health expenses: http://www.wtae.com/news/Pittsburgh-self-insuring-employees-to-cut-health-expenses/35825390  ;  Motor City Match sparks Detroit small biz with grant money http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/32883608-story  ;  New effort to lure business talent to Minnesota   
http://www.kare11.com/story/news/local/2015/10/13/new-effort-to-lure-business-talent-to-minnesota/73900686/ ; How millennials are creating new ‘mega cities’ http://for.tn/1Mwszi3  (By Leena Rao, Fortune Senior writer)
SMALL BIZ TROUBLES    Is Dodd-Frank Choking Small Banks & Businesses? http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2015/10/is-dodd-frank-choking-small-banks-businesses/
Hiring the Wrong Employee Could Cost Your Business $50,000 http://sba.thehartford.com/managing-employees/dont-make-these-5-hiring-mistakes?cmp=SOC-SC-Content-
These 2 Charts Show How Hard It Is for Startups to Raise $$ Right Now  http://dcinno.streetwise.co/2015/10/14/startup-funding-q3-2015-vc-data-show-seed-funds-tightening
SMALL BIZ UBERWORLD  Uber error leaks 700 US drivers' personal data, including social security numbers, driver licences and tax forms - @BBCTech    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34529821?ocid=socialflow_twitter#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Uber launches on-demand delivery service UberRush, goes live in Chicago and San Francisco (Carmel DeAmicis/Re/code) http://recode.net/2015/10/14/uber-gets-serious-about-delivery-its-no-longer-an-experiment
 
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 2, Block D:   Gene Marks, Washington Post, in re: SMALL BIZ OPPORTUNITY    Weed at work? A fifth of small-business owners say it's OK http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-weed-at-work-survey-1014-biz-20151014-story.html
Freshman runs iPhone repair business out of dorm   https://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/10/14/freshman-runs-iphone-repair-business-out-of-dorm
How Monkeys Became Big Business in Florida   http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-florida-monkey-farm/
Lending platform Kabbage raises $135M to expand its technology  http://venturebeat.com/2015/10/14/lending-platform-kabbage-raises-135m-to-expand-its-technology/
4,000 Starbucks Workers Are Now Going to College for Free http://www.businesspundit.com/4000-starbucks-workers-are-now-going-to-college-for-free
Americans will spend $350 million on Halloween costumes for their pets http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2015/1014/Americans-will-spend-350-million-on-Halloween-costumes.-For-their-pets
Hour Three
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 3, Block A: Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, in re: What a U.S.-Russian War in Syria Could Look Like  The war in Syria started as a civil conflict, became a regional meltdown and molted into an international crisis. Here's how it could evolve into a world war.
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 3, Block B: Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, in re:
Regional Discord Fuels Islamic State’s Rise  For most of the major players in the complicated conflicts ravaging the Middle East, the defeat of Islamic State is subordinate to a more pressing objective: thwarting each other's ambitions.
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 3, Block C: Max Holland, WashingtonDecoded.com, in re: http://www.washingtondecoded.com/site/2015/10/locker.html
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 3, Block D: Max Holland, WashingtonDecoded.com, in re: Mr. Obama also opined that Mrs. Clinton’s actions weren’t comparable to the cases in which former CIA directors John Deutch and David Petraeus pleaded guilty to misdemeanors for mishandling classified information. “We don’t get an impression that here there was purposely efforts on—in—to hide something or to squirrel away information,” he said. The President has many talents, but we didn’t know mind-reading was one of them. Again as a lawyer, Mr. Obama knows that Mrs. Clinton’s state of mind will be crucial to the FBI’s recommendations in the case. It is hard to believe he wasn’t deliberately trying to work the referees in Mrs. Clinton’s favor. His words cast a pall over FBI Director James Comey, who will now be suspected of following orders if the FBI gives Mrs. Clinton a legal pass.
Hour Four
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 4, Block A:  Mary Anastasia O'Grady, WSJ, in re: http://www.wsj.com/articles/diagnosing-what-ails-haitis-economy-1444600832
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 4, Block B:  Ian Urbina, NYT, in re:  African Court Convicts Captain of Renegade Ship in Illegal Fishing Case   A court in São Tomé and Príncipe convicted the captain and two crew members of the Thunder, the culmination of a chase from Antarctica to the Gulf of Guinea.
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 4, Block C: Robert Zimmerman, behind the black, in re: ULA picks Vulcan launchpads  The competition heats up: ULA has picked the two launchpads it will use for its new Vulcan rocket.  United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan rocket will lift off from the company’s existing Atlas 5 launch facilities in Florida and California, according to the company’s Vulcan program manager. The launch pads at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base will require modifications to accommodate the Vulcan booster, which is wider than the Atlas 5 rocket’s existing first stage, said Mark Peller, ULA’s Vulcan program manager, at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, New Mexico. This decision mainly outlines how ULA hopes to eventually reduce the number of launchpads it must maintain, and thus reduce its costs
Russia to sell China rocket engines?  The competition heats up: Russia is negotiating with China to sell them Russian rocket engines. No deal has been made, but it appears that Russia, faced with the possibility that it might lose the U.S. as a customers, is shopping its product around.
Friday  16 October 2015 / Hour 4, Block D:   Matt Richtel, NYT, in re: A Culture of Nagging Helps California Save Water The rise of domestic and neighborhood self-enforcement is having an effect on the wasting of water amid the drought.