Monday 2 March 2015
Photo, left:
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, The Great Voice of the Great Lakes; and author, Liberty Risen.
Hour One
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 1, Block A: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, & Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD, in re: Osama bin Laden’s Files: Al Qaeda’s deputy general manager in Yemen. Documents recovered in Osama bin Laden's compound reveal that Nasser bin Ali al Ansi, a senior Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) official, was appointed as one of al Qaeda's deputy general managers. It is highly likely that he continues to serve in that role underneath Nasir al Wuhayshi, who is both AQAP's emir and al Qaeda's global general manager.
Afghan “Death” militia emerges, vows to fight Islamic State, Taliban. The creation of the "Marg" militia appears to be a part of a growing trend of the re-arming of warlords and the defunct Northern Alliance as Afghans fear the resurgence of the Taliban and an increasing threat from the Islamic State.
Osama bin Laden’s Files: ‘Very strong military activity in Afghanistan’ Correspondence among senior al Qaeda leaders indicates that the group maintains a larger foothold in Afghanistan than is widely recognized.
Taliban suicide bomber strikes NATO diplomatic convoy in Kabul The attack on NATO's envoy to Afghanistan takes place as rumors of peace talks between the Taliban, the Afghan government, and the US persist.
Islamic State kidnaps around 150 Assyrian Christians in Syria THREAT MATRIX The Assyrians were kidnapped in the Al Hasakah province of Syria, where the Islamic State is engaged in fierce fighting with Kurdish and Assyrian forces for control of the area.
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 1, Block B: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, & Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD (2 of 2)
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 1, Block C: Rich Lowry, National Review Online, in re: The disgraced head of the IPCC said that climate change is "my dharma": The other day, the head of the IPCC, Rajendra Pachauri, quit amid a sexual-harassment scandal and noted in his letter of resignation: “For me the protection of Planet Earth, the survival of all species and sustainability of our ecosystems is more than a mission. It is my religion.” . . . Al Gore used the Katrina storm clouds in his film: they need urgency and fear; pressing for a fever pitch and leaving behind accurate scientific method, turning to bombast.
A Shameful Climate Witch Hunt Dissenters from approved thinking are the subject of menacing inquiries. Let the climate inquisition begin. The ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, Raul Grijalva of Arizona, has written to seven universities about seven researchers who harbor impure thoughts about climate change. One of the targets is Steven Hayward, an author and academic now at Pepperdine University. As Hayward puts it, the spirit of the inquiry is, “Are you now or have you ever been a climate skeptic?” Grijalva’s letters were prompted by the revelation that Wei-Hock Soon, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and a skeptic, didn’t adequately disclose support for his research from energy interests.
Soon's lapse aside, the assumption of Grijalva’s fishing expedition is that anyone who questions global-warming orthodoxy is a greedy tool of Big Oil and must be harried in the name of planetary justice and survival. Science as an enterprise usually doesn’t need political enforcers. But proponents of a climate alarmism that demands immediate action to avert worldwide catastrophe won’t and can’t simply let the science speak for itself. In fact, for people who claim to champion science, they have the least scientific temperament imaginable. Their attitude owes more to Trofim Lysenko, the high priest of the Soviet Union’s politicized science, than, say, to Gregor Mendel, the founder of modern genetics, whose work was shunned by Lysenko for ideological reasons. Consider the plight of Roger Pielke Jr. of the University of Colorado Boulder, who has done work on extreme weather. He, too, is on the receiving end of one of Grijalva’s letters. At first blush, Pielke seems a most unlikely target. It’s not that he doubts climate change, or even doubts that it could be harmful. His offense is merely pointing to data showing that extreme weather events like hurricanes, tornadoes, and droughts haven’t yet been affected by climate change. This is enough to enrage advocates who need immediate disasters as a handy political cudgel. . . . [more]
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 1, Block D: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: Arunachal Pradesh, definitively a part of Northeastern India, is suddenly claimed by China as "Southern Tibet," which is daft. China now calls in the Indian ambassador whenever an Indian official visits the Indian province. [This takes enormous crust; is actually shocking.] Nonetheless, Modi will not buckle under as China continues to lash out and test its neighbors. . . . Beijing is in no position to reform the economy as that would irritate some powerful domestic groups; rather, Xi probably will watch the economy decline and instead use predatory tactics against neighbors. Seems that perhaps $450 billion escaped China for foreign investment. . . . Chinese consumption is maybe 40% of GDP, whereas in the US it's maybe 70%. . . . Alibaba: Sharp-elbowed world of Chinese e-commerce –problem with fake accounts. Merchants increase sales ranking by paying people to buy from Alibaba site, then return 20 to 30%. Growth model depends on fraud.
China's Purchasing Managers' Index, a statistic that looks at activity in factories, registered at 49.9 for February, below the level of 50 that indicates growth, France24 reported March 1. The index came in at 49.8 in January. The announcement came a day after the country's central bank cut its one-year interest rate for deposits by .25 per cent to stimulate the economy. In 2014, China's economy [reportedly] grew by 7.4 per cent, its lowest rate in 24 years. / China warns Modi against visiting Arunachal Pradesh A signboard is seen from the Indian side of the Indo-China border at Arunachal Pradesh. Efforts on to connect more Arunachal Pradesh towns by rail route Will the sensitive matter of border state Arunachal Pradesh be solved during Modi government?
Hour Two
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 2, Block A: David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent & Francis Rose, Federal News Radio, in re: Jeb Bush at CPAC: Q&A. He didn’t much explain his view of the path to citizenship; was his usual detailed, wonky persona and so rather charming. . . .
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 2, Block B: David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent & Francis Rose, Federal News Radio, in re: . . .
. . . Rep DevinNunes: "The reason the DHS bill didn’t get done last Friday was phony conservatism." HHS is still worried. See Francis Rose's article, below.
Earth to House GOP: This Ain't Governing, by Francis Rose
I think I know what the House Republican leaders feel like. Or at least what they should feel like.
When I was a sophomore in high school, I was chosen to be the sports editor of the school newspaper. It was a big deal. A few seniors on the staff were not happy, and predicted the end of the world as we know it. The first issue went fine; the second issue was late, because I didn't execute well (strike one). Two others staffers had to complete the third issue, because I executed even worse (strike two). By the fourth issue, I was no longer sports editor (strike three). I liked being the sports editor. Doing the actual work was less fun.
That's where we appear to be in the House of Representatives, where the stakes are somewhat higher than a high school newspaper. The day after the November election that returned Republicans to complete control of Congress and gave the party historic numbers in the House, Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader-to-be Mitch McConnell published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, boldly titled “Now We Can Get Congress Going.” The first opportunity to demonstrate they were serious was last December’s “cromnibus” that carved out funding for the Homeland Security Department from the rest of the government, which they fully funded. Their second opportunity was this week's deadline to fund the Homeland Security Department for the rest of the fiscal year. They blew it, and wound up passing a one-week continuing resolution that puts the agency back in the same place this Friday that it was last Friday: hoping Congress will finally do something to stop the madness.
Federal News Radio and other outlets have well documented the problems a DHS shutdown causes: 200,000 employees working without pay (or being disciplined for going AWOL), 30,000 other employees laid off, the nation’s cyber defenses down, the Coast Guard’s fleet crisis, and the list goes on. To me, the most striking words hammering the 50-some Republicans who seem intent on shutting down DHS to make a point about President Obama’s immigration executive order came from former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. His stature as President Bush’s Homeland Security Advisor after 9/11, and as the first Secretary of the new Department, should be enough to demonstrate he’s no Obama administration mouthpiece. Indeed, he stated pretty clearly last week that while he opposed the provisions of the immigration executive order, he also opposed the House Republican rump group’s strategy to starve it. But Ridge holds two other credentials that I bet most observers didn’t think of when he chipped away at the credibility of the House rebels.
One credential was as a former six-term congressman from Pennsylvania. So his advice to the House GOPers trying to hijack DHS funding came from someone who had walked in their shoes successfully enough to gain him the credibility to be elected Governor of Pennsylvania.
The second credential was as the first enlisted Vietnam combat veteran elected to Congress, who earned a Bronze Star in the process. That credential made these words even more powerful: “We would no more ask the men and women in harm’s way in Afghanistan, or the 3,000 boots on the ground combating ISIL, to go out to provide safety and security in the interest of national security without pay...There are many people in many departments and organizations in this government that have the responsibility of our safety and our security. They wear...a different uniform, but the goal, the mission and the objective is the same: keep America as safe and secure as possible."
The second DHS Secretary, Michael Chertoff, said at the same event as Ridge that “a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is going to cause a lot of pain and a lot of difficulty for American citizens as well as for the hundreds of thousands of people who work for DHS.”
When House Republicans have lost the first two DHS secretaries - both Republicans - they’ve really lost the battle. The only solution that will demonstrate House Republican leaders are serious about governing is to put the fully-funded DHS bill on the floor - right away - and get it to the Senate in plenty of time to pass by Wednesday or Thursday. That course of action is the only one that will give the American people confidence to consider keeping Republicans in charge of Congress. And why should voters choose a Republican President next year if they'll get more of this?
Strike one for the House Republican majority was not dealing with this in the lame duck session of the 113th Congress, right after the bold promise to “get Congress going.” Strike two was Friday’s fiasco to kick the DHS funding can down the road a week. Strike three could be this Friday, if the Homeland Security funding bill isn’t clean, and isn’t passed. And the entire Republican caucus - in both chambers - could find itself like one former high school sports editor a long time ago: on the outside, looking longingly in.
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 2, Block C: John Nicolson, Scottish National Party, in re: As John campaigns for a seat in Parliament from East Dunbartonshire, in greater Glascow, he wears a huge sunburst-looking ribbon of the Scottish National Party with the yellow and black of a bumblebee and the Egyptian symbol of rebirth (an SNP symbol). SNP is the Holyrood party that controls smaller domestic matters; in May, a huge vote to take Scotland out of the UK and become sovereign, lost by a small margin, so now the vote is for SNP members to go to Wesminster. Looks as though the SNP will hold the balance of power there. http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/snp-increases-general-election-poll-lead-1-3703946
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 2, Block D: John Nicolson, Scottish National Party, in re: Polls are showing that neither of the UK’s two main parties are likely to win an overall majority. This means they will need to haggle after the election with smaller parties, who are set to hold the balance of power. Data show that investors are paying relatively high premiums to protect themselves against the threat of sterling tumbling in the immediate aftermath of May’s vote. http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/0b629bf0-bdc6-11e4-9d09-00144feab7de.html?siteedition=intl#axzz3T9lUWzb3
The second worry is that Labour could take power with a coalition of leftwing parties such as the Scottish Nationalists and the Greens and slow the pace of spending cuts. Analysts believe that, while such a move could boost output in the short term, it is likely to hurt the pound over a longer period.
Hour Three
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 3, Block A: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: In Washington at AIPAC: an address by the Israeli prime minister, which also anticipates his speech to Congress in some hours. Sixteen thousand people attended this conference – every faith, color, part f ht US;3,00 college students – all committed t US-Israel relations. Samantha Power, US amb to the UN, spoke in the morning with a litany of her responsibilities. The prime minister spoke next: deflected criticism that his acceptance of the invitation was a challenge to the US president; rather, he thinks that the details of the US-Iran deal were not reaching the American people. He spoke of relations, of Congress's extraordinary role. Cited some previous disagreements, incl Israel's bombing of the Osirak reactor (which deed turned out to be invaluable to the US). In 1967, US threatened Israel not to go to war against the onslaught of six nations; Sharon was instructed to withdraw from Lebanon, et al. PM was conciliatory and very warmly received. Posted a map showing the encirclement by Iran and its groups in the region, and throughout Africa. "If they can do this without nuclear power, then imagine the threat it could pose with nuclear power." ISIS. Iran's backing is destabilizing the region (it controls five capitals; is a predator state posing a danger to the peace of the region. Various groups endeavoring to extend a caliphate across a broad swath, incl Middle East, Africa, SE Asia. The US president has focused on only one story: will Iran get nukes or not? The issue is its running Houthis, Hezbollah, many other organizations. As Sen Menendez points out, "We know they're cheating because they have in the past; and they continually explain that they intend to destroy the US."
The Guardian’s Dan Roberts, Mairav Zonszein, and Oliver Laughland: “As he flew out of Ben Gurion airport, Netanyahu described his 48-hour trip to Washington as ‘a fateful, even historic mission,’ which is to culminate in a controversial speech to Congress in which he will speak out against an emerging pact with Iran over its nuclear programme.”
An estimated eight people were wounded in an explosion near the office of the prosecutor general in central Cairo on March 2, unnamed security sources said, Reuters reported. Six of the injured were police officers and two were civilians. The public prosecutor was inside the building at the time of the attack but was uninjured. Attacks in Cairo have become increasingly common. There were four bombings in the city Feb. 26.
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 3, Block B: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Sunset Clause: Iran wd keep its nuke program for "double-digit years, and there's no other steps we can take." Meaning: US is now asking Iran to hold its nuclear program static for a decade; thereafter, it would have permission to increase it number of centrifuges - – which it doesn’t need, having 19,00 now. Susan rice said a deal wd be unachievable ideal to deny Iran access to very good centrifuges that would complete the nuclear fuel cycle. "Allowing an unachievable deal should not get in the way of a good deal" – but dismantlement is the entire goal. Rice said that as of now Iran is demanding a two-month breakout period. She said, "I know you'll go to the Hill tomorrow for increased sanctions " – and all sixteen jumped up for a standing ovation. She did that a second time. The way the Obama Administration is setting it up, it's pretty much guaranteed that Iran has the bomb. This deal sets up a nuclear arms race in the Gulf. As Saudi enters, everyone else would have to set up their own nuke program. The arms race will extend from Egypt to Central Asia through the Middle East, Turkey, Jordan – no one wants to be at the mercy of Iran. We could let this alligator sharpen its teeth and expand in the region.
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 3, Block C: Haym Benaroya, Rutgers, and author, Turning Dust to Gold, in re: http://spacenews.com/38346why-the-moon-and-how/
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 3, Block D: Arif Rafiq, Middle East Institute & PakistanRisk, in re: Islamic State Goes Official in South Asia (The Diplomat) / The Islamic State’s War on Al Qaeda Heats Up (The National Interest)
Hour Four
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 4, Block A: Ann Marlowe, Hudson Institute, in re: https://www.libyaherald.com/2015/03/01/thinni-condemns-british-un-ambassador-over-tv-interview/
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 4, Block B: Jed Babbin, American Spectator, in re: http://www.epictimes.com/londoncenter/2015/03/fear-and-anger-in-the-white-house/
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 4, Block C: Ron Haskins, Brookings Institution and Annie E. Casey Foundation, in re: Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives. Hearing on Challenges Facing Low-Income Individuals and Families February 11, 2015. Read the full testimony.
Monday 2 March 2015 / Hour 4, Block D: Ethan Epstein, Weekly Standard, in re: Useless college majors now proven useful
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