The John Batchelor Show

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Air Date: 
May 17, 2016

Photo, left: St Herman's Cave in Belize.
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Larry Kudlow, CNBC senior advisor; & Cumulus Media radio
 
Hour One
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 1, Block A:  Sudeep Reddy, economics editor, Wall Street Journal Washington; in re:   U.S. Worse Off Now than in 1960s? Economists, Voters Disagree   Forecasters in The Wall Street Journal’s monthly survey of economists said living standards were higher today than during the 1990s or earlier, sharply differing with recent views of voters. 431  ;  Economists Divided Over Next Fed Rate Increase ; Recession Odds Remain Elevated Despite Calmer Financial Markets  ; http://www.wsj.com/articles/global-economy-week-ahead-job-churn-brazil-unrest-u-s-shoppers-1462734003  ; http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/05/06/economists-react-to-the-april-jobs-report-a-generally-disappointing-print/
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 1, Block B:  Sudeep Reddy, economics editor, Wall Street Journal Washington; in re:  http://www.wsj.com/articles/tallying-the-economic-toll-of-political-upheaval-1463340311   The two leading presidential candidates, who sit far apart on the ideological spectrum, have prescribed either divergent or vague plans for trade, taxes, immigration and other policies that deeply influence the economy. That is stoking uncertainty, something businesses don’t like and consumers can find unsettling.  “Firms are going to be reluctant to invest or hire if they have no idea of future government policy, and if it’s cheap to wait they will do that,” said Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University professor who has studied the effects of uncertainty on the economy.
The evidence shows up across a wide range of surveys and data sets. Mr. Bloom developed an index linking policy uncertainty—often seen ahead of elections—to greater stock-price volatility and declines in investment, output and employment. Wells Fargo research highlights the underperformance, dating back to 1933, of financial markets in years when no incumbent is running. And recent surveys from Bank of America and PricewaterhouseCoopers show rising anxiety among businesses tied to the election. To be sure, a number of forces—linked to politics, policy and more—are responsible for broad shifts in the economy. The U.K.’s potential exit from the European Union and the Federal Reserve’s next steps on interest rates, for example, are seen by many investors and economists as more significant.  “The Fed is far more important to the global economy than [are] U.S. presidential elections,” said Brian Levitt, senior investment strategist at OppenheimerFunds.
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 1, Block C: Richard A Epstein, James Parker Hall Distinguished Svc Prof of Law, University of Chicago Law School; also NY Law School and Hoover Fellow; in re:  The Supreme Curt Little Sisters (semi-)decision. https://ricochet.com/scotus-decision-little-sisters-poor-opportunity-white-house-congress/  and John Yoo’s response.
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 1, Block D:  Bernard (Bud) Weinstein, Maguire Energy Institute, Southern Methodist University; in re: Fracking:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/1/bernard-weinstein-how-fracking-set-america-free/
 
Hour Two
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 2, Block A:   Stephen F. Cohen, Prof. Emeritus of Russian Studies/History/Politics at NYU and Princeton; also Board of American Committee for East-West Accord (eastwestaccord.com); in re:  Cold War 2.0: Russia to restore missile system after US turns on ...  NATO Build-up in Romania and Moldova Directed against Russia ;NATO Build-up in Romania and Moldova Directed against Russia ... Romania was one of the first NATO countries to increase its defense   ; Expect Intense Russian Pushback on NATO   Russia's military buildup, its illegal seizure and annexation of Crimea and support for armed separatism in eastern Ukraine have caused NATO .. ; Russia Calls New US Missile Defense System a 'Direct Threat'  (1 of 4)
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 2, Block B:  Stephen F. Cohen, American Committee for East-West Accord (eastwestaccord.com); (2 of 4)
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 2, Block C:   Stephen F. Cohen, American Committee for East-West Accord (eastwestaccord.com); (3 of 4)
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 2, Block D:  Stephen F. Cohen, American Committee for East-West Accord (eastwestaccord.com); (4 of 4)
 
Hour Three
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 3, Block A:  Robert Zimmerman, beyond the back, and cartographers of caves. in re: In Maya Mountain Lodge in San Ignacio in Belize near the Guatemalan border; spent two days in Mountain Cow Cave – rooms were so gigantic that Bob couldn't see all the walls. The cave explorati0n is a joint project of US cavers and he Belize govt. 
SpaceX and the Air Force and Congress: Congress cut the budget for launches and demanded that the most expensive launch company be used.  Antares readied for launch: SpaceX is the only firm willing to cut costs and has done so brilliantly: $82 mil for launch, vs $250 mil using ULA.
Boeing's Starliner first flight delayed: spacecraft for manned launch to ISS; one of two firms NASA has given contracts to; Dragon in SpaceX; Starliner is Boeing.  Launch for early 2018 or maybe later.   Starliner didn't start preparing till t got the contract, whereas SpaceX began much earlier and now is almost ready. Boeing is too-oo large.  The Starliner is in a smaller division – and n a fixed-price contract. 
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 3, Block B:  Robert Zimmerman, beyond the back, in re: Belize used to be British Honduras; became an independent nation within the Commonwealth.
Iran announces satellite plans:  the commercial biz, or military recon and surveillance?  Probably both – two indigenously-blt satellites (comms of some kind; smallish; replacing earlier ones built with Italy and Russia but not delivered because of sanctions. Then three, remote-sensing sats
Vostochny manager resigns, plus new embezzlement investigation. Guilty? Scapegoat? Russia has a lot of quality-control issues.  Vostochny is in southeastern Siberia, surrounded by magnificent taiga.  [“Siberian wasteland”? – nyetu: magnificent terrain!]
Airbus initiates a small-sat project: many new co’s bldg. sats  weighing =/< 1,000 lbs. Miniaturization becomes a major industry, Airbus was focussed on only huge rockets till now, suddenly aiming at small-sat market. 
Texas town limits SpaceX testing of engines and capsule in MacGregor, where there are very sensitive cows. Test engines, everything tested before launch. City council is chopping SpaceX off at the knees.   Need bovine space cadets.
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 3, Block C:  Dr Lara M Brown, George Washington University, and Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, in re:  Hillary Clinton Holds Slim National Lead over Donald Trump: Poll  The NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking poll was conducted online May 9 ...
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 3, Block D:   Dr Lara M Brown, George Washington University, and Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, in re: http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/17/nbc-poll-trump-outperforming-romney-wi...
 
Hour Four
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 4, Block A:   A Self-Made Man: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln Vol. I, 1809 - 1849, by Sidney Blumenthal.  (5 of 8)  “A breathtaking new view of Abraham Lincoln." (The National Memo)
“Splendid . . . Blumenthal’s work of building the context for Lincoln’s political activism in the presidential elections of 1836 through 1848 is a miracle of detail and his six chapters on Lincoln as a congressman in antebellum Washington are worth the price of the book alone. . . . Never have we had such an exquisite warp of the ins and outs of political life in the 1830s and ’40s laid across the weft of Lincoln’s individual trajectory. Rarely has a Lincoln biographer come to his task with such elegance of style. . . . Here is a great book, on a theme that too many people disdain to regard as great. That they are wrong about the theme, and wrong about Lincoln, is the burden of Blumenthal’s labor, and no one can come away from reading A Self-Made Man without understanding that, or without eagerly anticipating the ensuing volumes.” (Allen Guelzo Washington Monthly)
“Engaging and informative . . . lively . . . full of thought-provoking observations about the factors that went into Lincoln's makeup.” (Christian Science Monitor)
“Terrific . . . The Lincoln of Blumenthal’s pen is a cunning Whig floor leader in Illinois, a brave progressive facing racist assaults on his religion, ethnicity, and very legitimacy that echo the anti-Obama birther movement. . . . Blumenthal takes the wily pol of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals and goes deeper, finding a Vulcan logic and House of Cards ruthlessness.” (The Washingtonian)
“Lincoln again? Not to worry. Just stand back and let this first volume of a planned four-volume treatment reveal its glowing qualities. . . . A fascinating perspective during a presidential election cycle.” (Booklist, starred review)
“Engrossing . . . Blumenthal takes the reader deep into Illinois and national politics to locate the character and content of Lincoln's ideas, interests, and identity, and to understand his driving ambition to succeed in law and politics. . . . [Blumenthal] effectively shows that the president's Illinois was a proving ground for the politics of expansion, economic development, nativism, anti-Mormonism, and slavery that both reflected and affected national concerns.” (Library Journal)
“[Blumenthal] delves deeply into the incremental building of Lincoln's anti-slavery views . . . A consummate political observer keenly dissects the machinations of Lincoln's incredible rise to power.” (Kirkus Reviews)
“In this compelling first volume of what will no doubt be a landmark biography of perhaps our greatest president, Sidney Blumenthal brings his formidable storytelling and analytical gifts to the task of creating a lasting portrait of Lincoln. In this Blumenthal succeeds wonderfully well, giving readers an engaging, clear-eyed, and insightful account of Lincoln's early years, clearly charting the sixteenth president's intellectual and political development. The book is at once timely and timeless.” (Jon Meacham, author of Destiny and Power and Thomas Jefferson)
http://www.amazon.com/Self-Made-Man-Political-Abraham-Lincoln/dp/1476777...
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 4, Block B:  A Self-Made Man: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln Vol. I, 1809 - 1849, by Sidney Blumenthal. (6 of 8) 
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 4, Block C: A Self-Made Man: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln Vol. I, 1809 - 1849, by Sidney Blumenthal.  (7 of 8) 
Tuesday  17 May 2016   / Hour 4, Block D: A Self-Made Man: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln Vol. I, 1809 - 1849, by Sidney Blumenthal.  (8 of 8)