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JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, The Great Voice of the Great Lakes
 
Hour One
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 1, Block A: Tom Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor & FDD, and Bill Roggio, Long War Journal senior editor  & FDD, in re:    Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces close in on Tal Afar   The Popular Mobilization Forces continues to flex its military muscles in Iraq. The PMF has surrounded Tal Afar and has promised it would lead the offensive to retake the city, despite Iraqi and US claims that the group would only operate in rural areas of western Mosul.
Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces close in on Tal Afar  The Popular Mobilization Forces continues to flex its military muscles in Iraq. The PMF has surrounded Tal Afar and has promised it would lead the offensive to retake the city,
Al Qaeda’s general command comments on ‘martyrdom’ of senior figure in Afghanistan   Al Qaeda's general command has released a statement commenting on the "martyrdom" of Faruq al Qahtani and others. They were killed in an American airstrike on Oct. 23 in Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden's files show that Qahtani was tasked with establishing new safe havens for al Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2010, if not earlier.  (1 of 2)
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 1, Block B: Tom Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor & FDD, and Bill Roggio, Long War Journal senior editor  & FDD (2 of 2) 
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 1, Block C:  Gordon G. Chang, Daily Beast & Forbes.com, in re:  It's time to go after North Korea's protector, which looks like the only way to end what Obama told Trump is the No. 1 threat to the US. http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2016/11/27/to-disarm-north-korea-wage-trade-war-on-china/#5163f7d42864  ;  http://thediplomat.com/2016/11/japan-scrambles-jets-as-china-air-force-flies-bombers-fighters-through-miyako-strait/?utm_content=buffer11154&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a warning Nov. 25 that countries should not establish or maintain military ties with Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province, Reuters reported. The ministry also said that it was still confirming news that customs officials at Hong Kong's Kwai Chung container terminal confiscated nine Terrex armored personnel carriers being sent via shipping container from Taiwan to Singapore. The Singapore Ministry of Defense confirmed ownership of the military vehicles and said they were being shipped commercially after being used in routine overseas training. Taiwan's government denied Nov. 24 allegations that the vehicles had been made in Taiwan for sale to Singapore. Singapore has long maintained military ties with Taiwan, including annual training and a small contingent of troops. Beijing and Singapore disagree over numerous regional issues, including the proper way to manage disputes in the South China Sea and this incident provides Beijing an opportunity to pressure the island. Singapore relies heavily on trade and would like to preserve unimpeded navigation in the Asia-Pacific.
Domestic Affairs  http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-26/china-unveils-new-capital-controls-freezing-ma-frenzy  ;  https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/27/chinas-property-frenzy-and-surging-debt-raises-red-flag-for-economy  ;  http://www.gulf-times.com/story/522518/China-made-100bn-city-near-Singapore-scares-everyb
While Chinese home buyers have sent prices soaring from Vancouver to Sydney, in this corner of Southeast Asia it’s China’s developers that are swamping the market, pushing prices lower with a glut of hundreds of thousands of new homes. They’re betting that the city of Johor Bahru, bordering Singapore, will eventually become the next Shenzhen.
“These Chinese players build by the thousands at one go, and they scare the hell out of everybody,” said Siva Shanker, head of investments at Axis-REIT Managers and a former president of the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents. “God only knows who is going to buy all these units, and when it’s completed, the bigger question is, who is going to stay in them?”
The Chinese companies have come to Malaysia as growth in many of their home cities is slowing, forcing some of the world’s biggest builders to look abroad to keep erecting the giant residential complexes that sprouted across China during the boom years. They found a prime spot in this special economic zone, three times the size of Singapore, on the southern tip of the Asian mainland.
The scale of the projects is dizzying. Country Garden’s Forest City, on four artificial islands, will house 700,000 people on an area four times the size of New York’s Central Park. It will have office towers, parks, hotels, shopping malls and an international school, all draped with greenery. Construction began in February and about 8,000 apartments have been sold, the company said.
Foreign Affairs    http://thediplomat.com/2016/11/japan-scrambles-jets-as-china-air-force-flies-bombers-fighters-through-miyako-strait/  ;   http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-singapore-military-idUSKBN13K1AN  ;  http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-charts-deeper-focus-on-latin-america-1480096963
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 1, Block D: Gordon G. Chang, Daily Beast & Forbes.com, in re:  What is to be done? The next president will face a quandary often called the “Thucydides Trap.” This concept was popularized by the Harvard political scientist Graham Allison. Its premise is that through the 2,500 years since the Peloponnesian warfare that Thucydides chronicled, rising powers (like Athens then, or China now) and incumbent powers (like Sparta, or the United States) have usually ended up in a fight to the death, mainly because each cannot help playing on the worst fears of the other. “When a rising power is threatening to displace a ruling power, standard crises that would otherwise be contained, like the assassination of an archduke in 1914, can initiate a cascade of reactions that, in turn, produce outcomes none of the parties would otherwise have chosen,” Allison wrote in an essay for TheAtlantic.com last year.  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/12/chinas-great-leap-backward/505817/
 
Hour Two
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 2, Block A:   David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent; John Fund, NRO, in re:  Recount Nation. @DavidMDrucker, Washtinton Examiner. @JohnFund, @NRO. @ThadMcCotter.   Recount requests filed by the Green Party's Jill Stein continue to gain momentum in key swing states as her campaign raises millions in a matter of days.
Stein said she plans to request a recount in Michigan over its 16 electoral votes as similar cases progress in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Donald Trump was the apparent winner in all three states, defeating Hillary Clinton by margins in the range of tens of thousands of votes.
While the effort has raised more than $6 million, Stein's campaign said in a statement the average donation was about $46.  The recounts would not change the election outcome for Stein, who finished fourth behind Libertarian Gary Johnson, but there is a very small chance they could flip the states for Clinton.  http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/28/latest-on-jill-steins-recount-requests.html   (1 of 2)
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 2, Block B: David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent; John Fund, NRO (2 of 2)
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 2, Block C: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:   Iran May Seek Naval Bases in Yemen and Syria
"We need distant bases, and it may become possible one day to have bases on the shores of Yemen or Syria," Gen. Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, said in remarks published on Sunday. He added that having distant bases "is worth dozens of times more" than having nuclear technology. (Reuters)
    Iranian Navy to Escort Tankers Through Red Sea
In response to a rising threat of piracy and terrorism, Iran's Navy will be escorting all Iranian tankers in the waters off Somalia, in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and in the Red Sea, Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, commander of the Islamic Republic Navy, told state-owned media. (Maritime Executive)
Khamenei: Sanctions Renewal by U.S. a Breach of Commitments
The U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 15 approved a 10-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA). Referring to this, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Sunday in Tehran: "Now they raise the issue of extending the sanctions in the U.S. Congress and claim that these are not [new] sanctions but renewal [of old ones]....If these sanctions are extended, it will surely constitute a violation of the JCPOA [the nuclear agreement] and they [U.S. officials] must know that the Islamic Republic will definitely react to it."  (Press TV-Iran)
Iraq's Parliament Legalizes Shiite Militias as a Government Force - Hamza Hendawi and Qassim Abdul-Zahra
Iraq's parliament on Saturday voted to legalize state-sanctioned Shiite militias long accused of abuses against minority Sunnis. The militias have now become an "independent" force that is part of the armed forces and will benefit from salaries and pensions identical to those of the military and police. The legislation was rejected by Sunni Arab politicians. 
    Most of the Shiite militias are backed by Iran. Their ranks significantly swelled after Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called for jihad against IS in June 2014. They now number over 100,000 men and fight with heavy weaponry, including tanks, artillery and rocket launchers. (AP-Washington Post)  (1 of 2)
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 2, Block D: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents (2 of 2)
 
Hour Three
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 3, Block A:  Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board & host of Opinion Journal on WSJ Video; in re:   The Long Strange Trudeau Romance with Castro. @MaryKissel, @WSJOpinion.    “Antananarivo, Madagascar, November 26, 2016: The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today issued the following statement on the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro:
“It is with deep sorrow that I learned today of the death of Cuba’s longest serving President.
“Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century. A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation.
“While a controversial figure, both Mr. Castro’s supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for “el Comandante”.
“I know my father was very proud to call him a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Fidel when my father passed away. It was also a real honour to meet his three sons and his brother President Raúl Castro during my recent visit to Cuba.
“On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and many, many supporters of Mr. Castro. We join the people of Cuba today in mourning the loss of this remarkable leader.”  /   http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2016/11/26/statement-prime-minister-canada-deat...
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 3, Block B:   Sebastian v Gorka, VP & professor of Strategy and Irregular Warfare, Institute of World Politics, in re:  Suspect Jihadist in Ohio & What Is to Be Done? @SebGorka. Institute for World Politics.  “…No evidence has emerged that Mr. Artan had any connection or allegiance to radical ideology. Though no terrorist group had claimed responsibility for the attack, the Islamic State was updating its online audiences on the rampage on Monday.
Both the car-ramming and the knife attacks are now established forms of aggression inspired by the Islamic State. An attacker in Nice, France, used a delivery truck to kill dozens of pedestrians in July, and chats between an attacker in Würzburg, Germany, and his Islamic State handler indicate he was initially told to use a car to carry out his assault that same month, before he settled on using an ax because he did not have a driving permit.
The authorities in Ohio said that it was too soon to know what had motivated Mr. Artan, but that it was clear the attack had been deliberate. Mr. Artan’s Columbus home was surrounded by squad cars, crime scene tape and a bomb squad truck on Monday afternoon, and police officials said they were waiting for a search warrant.
“This was done on purpose,” said Chief Craig Stone of the Ohio State University police. “To go over the curb and strike pedestrians and then get out and start striking with the knife — that was on purpose.   http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/us/active-shooter-ohio-state-universit...
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 3, Block C:   Josh Rogin, Washington Post, in re: Kerry Knows Russia Will Conquer Aleppo in 60 Days. @JoshRogin  “…Fears about Trump’s plan for Syria rose last week when the Wall Street Journal reported that Donald Trump Jr. met in October in Paris with the elements of the Syrian opposition that Assad and Russia endorse. Donald Trump told the New York Times last week he has “some very strong ideas on Syria.” He has spoken with Putin twice since the election about cooperation in the Middle East.
Moscow and the segment of the Syrian opposition it supports are seeking a peace deal that would cement Assad’s rule for the foreseeable future and label the rest of the opposition as terrorists to be destroyed. Many in Washington, including Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), who met with Trump last week, argue that the United States should stop supporting Syrian rebels to end the war and stop the suffering.
It’s a tempting prospect, but it’s based on flawed logic. If Trump strikes a deal with Russia and the Assad-friendly opposition, he will be able to claim success where Kerry failed. But it will be a pyrrhic victory at best. The rest of the opposition will continue fighting, and millions of Syrians will continue to resist Assad’s brutal rule and demand basic rights….   https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/kerrys-race-to-stop-the-siege-of-aleppo/2016/11/27/b894d4d0-b33f-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html?utm_term=.323a21c39a74
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 3, Block D:  Harry Siegel, New York Daily News and The Daily Beast, in re:   Waiting for Trump: On the Rug in the Oval Office. @HarrySiegel. @NYDailyNews   “…Let’s start with President Obama’s rug, before it’s replaced by a much classier one from a Trump factory in China. Obama’s rug is bordered by five quotes woven in all caps, four from past Presidents, including Abraham Lincoln’s “GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE” along with Martin Luther King’s “THE ARC OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE IS LONG, BUT IT BENDS TOWARDS JUSTICE.”
Go from there to the original source of both those lines: the 19th century abolitionist, Unitarian minister and wordsmith Theodore Parker, whose rhetoric has endured even as his name has been mostly forgotten — and who spent his life doing and reflecting on the long, grinding deeds and words of setting America on a better course.
When King culminated his majestic Sermon at Temple Hollywood in 1965 by saying, “Deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome . . . because somehow the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice,” he was paraphrasing Parker’s 1853 sermon on Justice and the Conscience, delivered in an America still crippled by slavery. He wrote:
“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight, I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”
That came three years after Parker, urging his Massachusetts flock to defy the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 in his great sermon “Slave Power in America,” first defined “what I call the American idea” as “a democracy, that is a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people.”
Parker, who finally amassed a flock in the thousands in Boston even as he openly wrestled with his own faith and was assailed by other theologians, died at age 49 in 1860, months after supporting John Brown’s raid as one of the so-called Secret Six, less than a year before the Civil War began and three years before Lincoln would immortalize his phrase at Gettysburg.
Throughout Parker’s adult life, he publicly wrestled with convention and morality, coming over time to place the individual conscience above American law and even God’s received word. If the God of the Bible justified American slavery, he’d write, so much the worse for God.
“I preach abundant heresies,” Parker wrote to a confidant. “And they all go down — for the listeners do not know how heretical they are.” He added in a later letter, “just so fast and so far as men understand them, and no farther.”  http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/trump-arc-history-learning-theodore-parker-article-1.2885382
 
Hour Four
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 4, Block A:  The Fourteenth Day: JFK and the Aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis: Based on the Secret White House Tapes, by David Coleman (1 of 4)
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 4, Block B:  The Fourteenth Day: JFK and the Aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis: Based on the Secret White House Tapes, by David Coleman (2 of 4)
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 4, Block C:  The Fourteenth Day: JFK and the Aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis: Based on the Secret White House Tapes, by David Coleman (3 of 4)
Monday 28 November 2016 / Hour 4, Block D:  The Fourteenth Day: JFK and the Aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis: Based on the Secret White House Tapes, by David Coleman (4 of 4)