Photo, left: Columbus Circle, Monday 26 January, waiting for the blizzard June that did not arrive.
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 1, Block A: John Fund, National Review Online, & David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, in re:  In face of what's predicted to be a major blizzard in the Northeast, settling in by the potbelly stove to talk politics.  Chris Christie (of whom Haley Babour is enamored). Scott Walker. Rick Perry (made a good case on job-creation in Texas, et al.).  Ted Cruz.   Ran Paul & Marco Rubio: not present at he other event, but with Ted Cruz on stage, with Carly Fiorina; she and Susanna Martinez and Kelly Ayotte would be good female VP candidates.  Sarah Palin made rather long remarks, seemed odd.  JF: "I've always said that Mrs Clinton would run, even if she's no longer on this Earth."
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 1, Block B: John Fund, National Review Online, & David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, in re: SOTU, Mssrs Boehner and McConnell.  JB: The president had a long phase with a majority of Democrats that he barely used – why?  TMcC: He did use it: for Obamacare.  Backchannel negotiations on pieces of minor legislation. 
In a joint news conference this morning, President Obama was asked about Yemen, the latest turmoil there and the coup. He responded that it's a dangerous place and a dangerous time and that he will not be sending U.S. troops there to either help settle things down or hunt down terrorists. He said that would be an unsustainable program. "We added more debt during the Obama years than all the presidents from George Washington down to George Bush," the Kentucky Republican said. "The last thing we need to do to these young people is add more debt, and giving away free tuition strikes me as something we can't afford."
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 1, Block C: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:  Seventieth anniversary commemoration of Auschwitz.  About 300 survivors will participate; this is probably the last such even the survivors will attend. Merkel: "Anti-Jewishness is a disgrace in Germany, Auschwitz in a warning. It’s an everlasting obligation of Germany to remember what it unleashed."   Tomorrow, many heads of state will participate; Pres Obama won’t but Jack Lew will.    Also, a UN event on Wednesday.  TGM:  I went the 60th anniversary; when I returned, was quizzed as to why I'd spend taxpayers's money to do that – I replied that I think every representative should.   . ..    MH:  Churchill said it best: "The farther back we look, the farther ahead we can see."  JB:  I recall the room with a glass wall behind which were suitcases. The monsters lied to them, saying, "Bring a suitcase and be sure your name is on it so you can keep track of it."  . .  . Seventy years later, the cycle continues in Golan. Israel hit a convoy and killed Jihad, the son of Imad Mughniya, who was testing (something) for Iran to bld a second front through Syria as a launching pad for IRGC to guide Hezbollah attacks. PFLP visiting with Ahmed [Jumeini?] today.    The Israeli air strike accidentally uncovered the thoroughgoing permeation of the region by Iran.  Local and regional leaders remark on the entre lack of US activity, let alone leadership, in facing Iran's conspicuous malfeasance.  "Seventy years- not long enough, it; like yesterday."  MH: Today, pix of anti-Jewish posers all over Germany in 1935 yet no press would show the posters. 
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 1, Block D:  Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: Chinese Communists delegitimize themselves. The Great Firewall.  TGM: Cat and Mao.
Hour Two
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 2, Block A:  Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, & Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD (1 of 2), in re:  AQAP releases infographics detailing attacks    Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has released a report including two infographics that detail its attacks over the past three months. The group claims credit for 205 operations, including the massacre at Charlie Hebdo's offices in Paris, during the three months since Oct. 25, 2014.    AQAP issues guidelines for suicide operations   Harith al Nadhari, a senior AQAP sharia official, sets forth six recommendations for suicide operations in a newly-released video.  Iranian political and military leaders laud Qods Force general killed in Syria  Political and Military elites of the Islamic Republic weigh-in on the death of Brigadier General Mohammad-Ali Allah-Dadi, the IRGC-QF member killed in Syria by an Israeli helicopter attack.Their commentary indicates a desire to establish deterrence, at least rhetorically, and tout their globalist message pertaining to the Islamic Revolution.  Family members claim leader of Ansar al Sharia in Benghazi has died   Mohamed al Zahawi's family members have told the press that he has died due to wounds suffered in fighting last year. Zahawi has been the leader of Ansar al Sharia in Benghazi. Unconfirmed rumors of his death have circulated for months.    Analysis: Qatar embraces admitted al Qaeda operative  Qatar continues to celebrate the release of Ali Saleh Kahlah al Marri, an admitted al Qaeda sleeper agent, from a US federal prison last week. The prime minister of Qatar has even reportedly called al Marri to congratulate him.   Pakistan falsely claims it takes 'immediate action' against terror groups listed by the UN  Although numerous news outlets have reported that the Haqqani Network and Jamaat-ud-Dawa have been banned in Pakistan, no official announcement of the group's status from the government or Ministry of Interior has been released.   Analysis: Freed former al Qaeda operative was part of intelligence dispute   The story of how Ali Saleh Kahlah al Marri was first identified and arrested became a key part of the dispute between Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the CIA. Al Marri, who was recently released from a US prison, admitted that he was an al Qaeda sleeper agent.  
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 2, Block B: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, & Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD  (2 of 2)
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 2, Block C: Eric Trager, Washington Institute, in re:  Why Egyptians Don’t Want Another Revolution  Four years on, it’s clear that the Arab Spring brought on the state’s collapse.  Four years ago Sunday, at 1:30 in the afternoon, I stood across from the High Court in downtown Cairo, approximately one mile north from Tahrir Square. Egypt’s revolutionary youth activists had called for mass protests against police brutality—January 25th is Police Day in Egypt—but at that particular moment, security forces kept three small groups of demonstrators at bay. Suddenly, a few hundred protesters marched into the area from the north, overwhelmed the police and converged with the other protesters to form one enlarged mass. As the protesters pushed southward, riot police . . .
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 2, Block D: Arif Rafiq, Middle East Institute &  PakistanRisk, in re: Attack Leaves 80% Of Pakistan Without Power  Rebels Tied to Blackout Across Most of Pakistan
Hour Three
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 3, Block A: Francis Rose, Federal News Radio, in re: http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/tammy-baldwin-we-can-do-better-for-wisconsins-vets-b99431838z1-289644931.html       Independent assessment gives VA's cybersecurity positive mark    However:   “One cybersecurity expert, who requested anonymity and is familiar with the Mandiant report, said the fact that the logging was turned off is akin to the company walking into a dark room and coming out saying it didn't see anything so, in the future, please turn the lights on.  The source says Mandiant also recommended that VA keep its system logs on a separate log server and not on the actual systems because a common technique of hackers is to delete logs after the intrusion to erase tracks.
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 3, Block B:  John Steele Gordon, AEI The Americas, in re: The man who saved the world Europe and Eurasia, Foreign and Defense Policy, Society and Culture
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 3, Block C:  Claudia Rosett, FDD & Forbes.com, in re: Alberto Nisman's Warning About Iran  Beyond puzzling over the circumstances, is there any response the U.S. can make to the sudden death this past weekend of Argentine special prosecutor Alberto Nisman?
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 3, Block D:   Mark Hemingway, Weekly Standard, PJ Media, in re:  The American Sniper Freakout: Why The Left Can't Tolerate This Movie.  The American Sniper Freakout: Why the Left Can't Tolerate This Movie. “The film is primarily about the heroism of . . .
Hour Four
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 4, Block A: In the Hour of Victory: The Royal Navy at War in the Age of Nelson, by Sam Willis (1 of 4)
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 4, Block B: In the Hour of Victory: The Royal Navy at War in the Age of Nelson, by Sam Willis (2 of 4)
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 4, Block C: In the Hour of Victory: The Royal Navy at War in the Age of Nelson, by Sam Willis (3 of 4)
Monday  26 January 2015 / Hour 4, Block D: In the Hour of Victory: The Royal Navy at War in the Age of Nelson, by Sam Willis (4 of 4)