Wednesday 10 August 2016
Photo, left: Chinese Communist Party-run Peoples Liberation Army invades sovereign waters of neighbors; happens to be within some of the world’s most-travelled commercial sea lanes and close to underwater riches.
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-hosts: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com & Daily Beast.
Hour One
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 1, Block A: James Holmes, professor of strategy at the Naval War College and former surface warfare officer, in re: Chinese overflights above Scarborough Shoals, the bogus islands where PRC is trying, totally illegally according to the Hague Court, to augment its territory and sea sovereignty. Meanwhile Vietnam, understandably anxious, brings in batteries of missile launchers – an Israeli system; surface to surface; long range, good accuracy, multiple targets. Vietnam has been worried for over four years, reach out to US and Asia for advice. I said, if China wants to do this then others have few choices but to follow suit Aggressive relations with China for hundreds of years; lost a naval battle to China in 1974 and will not back down easily. / When a US military official was flying China demanded that the US stay clear of its new-found special ADIZ - air defense zones. “It's a game of one-upsmanshjip.”
Vietnam has discreetly fortified several of its islands in the disputed South China Sea with new mobile rocket launchers capable of striking China's runways and military installations across the vital trade route, according to Western officials. Diplomats and military officers told Reuters that intelligence shows Hanoi has shipped the launchers from the Vietnamese mainland into position on five bases in the Spratly islands in recent months, a move likely to raise tensions with Beijing. The launchers have been hidden from aerial surveillance and they have yet to be armed, but could be made operational with rocket artillery rounds within two or three days, according to the three sources. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry said the information was "inaccurate", without elaborating.
Deputy Defence Minister, Senior Lieutenant-General Nguyen Chi Vinh, told Reuters in Singapore in June that Hanoi had no such launchers or weapons ready in the Spratlys but reserved the right to take any such measures. "It is within our legitimate right to self-defense to move any of our weapons to any area at any time within our sovereign territory," he said. The move is designed to counter China's build-up on its seven reclaimed islands in the Spratlys archipelago. Vietnam's military strategists fear the building runways, radars and other military installations on those holdings have left Vietnam's southern and island defenses increasingly vulnerable. Military analysts say it is the most significant defensive move Vietnam has made on its holdings in the South China Sea in decades. Hanoi wanted to have the launchers in place as it expected tensions to rise in the wake of the landmark international court ruling against China in an arbitration case brought by the Philippines, foreign envoys said. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-vietnam-exclusive-idUSKCN10K2NE
New photos apparently show China building fighter jet hangars on disputed islands Satellite photos released on Monday appear to show China making progress on construction of at least two dozen hardened concrete hangars suitable for housing Chinese air force planes, including strategic bombers and inflight refuelers, on disputed islands in the South China Sea. The photos were collected and studied by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based think tank. They show construction work on man-made islands at Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief reefs. The think tank reports the images were taken in June and July.
“These hangars are the smoking gun. You do not build nearly 80 hangars for civilian purposes on these tiny spits of land They're clearly meant for forward deployment of Chinese Air Force assets,” Greg Poling, Director of CSIS' Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, told Fox News. “They're holding a gun but they haven't put the bullet in it yet and they're saying that's not threatening,” he added. China has said the new islands are primarily to assist fishermen and other causes, as well as to reinforce its sovereignty claims. China also says that the islands should be able to defend themselves, and that it is entitled to build whatever structures it wishes on them. Meanwhile, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on Tuesday called for more military transparency to help calm simmering tensions in the region. Adm. Scott Swift also criticized China-Russia joint naval exercises planned next month in the South China Sea, saying the choice of location would not help with "increasing the stability within the region." He also said any decision by China to declare an air defense identification zone over the strategic water body would be "very destabilizing from a military perspective."
The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a ruling on July 12 invalidating China's vast South China Sea maritime claims, a ruling that Beijing largely refused to accept. China strongly criticized the United States for encouraging the Philippines, a U.S. ally, to pursue the matter. Since then, Beijing has launched air patrols over the South China Sea, said it would consider declaring an air defense zone and vowed to continue work on man-made islands created from piling sand atop coral reefs in the highly contested Spratly group. . . . http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/08/09/new-photos-apparently-show-china-building-fighter-jet-hangars-on-disputed-islands.html
http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/Chinese-ships-sail-by-Senkakus-for-third-straight-day
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 1, Block B: Joe Bosco, senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in re: Beijing is barking mad. Beijing demands that Taiwan at the Olympics carry the moniker, “Chinese Taipei.” The Chinese Communists insist that any separate indent for the beautiful island of Taiwan would clarify that there are two Chinas. Dignify the independence of the genuinely democratic Taiwan. Eighty per cent of Taiwanese call themselves Taiwanese, not Chinese. The late-1940s Chinese invaders have died off. Of 192 countries in the UN, Taiwan has a pop of 23 mil and is larger than most members, but the International Olympics Committee (many of whose senior members have been convicted of eye-popping bribery and corruption) went along with this disgraceful and offensive name. If IOC began to use “Taiwan,” PRC probably wouldn’t do more than bark. PRC got the 2008 Olympics in exchange for a complete pledge to open up its political system – and now merely laughs at the rest of he world. The US uses the same offensive name because Washington is “overly anxious” about military conflict with China, and fear that the “US would lose the economic” competition. What?? The US lose? Compare economic size – not likely.
What's in a name? Anger in Taiwan over 'Chinese Taipei' Olympics moniker
Hong Kong (CNN)Tears rolled down Chen Shih-hsin's cheeks as, olive wreath atop her head and medal around her neck, she saluted the flag that rose above the stadium. Chen Shih-hsin was the first-ever Taiwanese athlete to win Olympic gold. But the anthem that played for the first Taiwanese athlete to ever win gold -- she won gold at the 2004 Olympics in the lightweight taekwondo competition -- was not the one Chen heard growing up, nor was the flag in front of her the red and blue of Taiwan.
Instead, Chen stood under the white banner of "Chinese Taipei," a nation that does not exist, the result of a political compromise stemming from divisions that have existed since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
That compromise, which allows Taiwan to compete in the Olympics but not use its own name, flag or anthem, is increasingly starting to rankle among Taiwanese far more assertive of their identity and autonomy, especially in the wake of the election of President Tsai Ying-wen.
In 1971, Taiwan -- officially the Republic of China (ROC) -- was forced to withdraw from the United Nations after the General Assembly passed a motion recognizing the People's Republic of China as the only lawful representative of China to the U.N.
Taiwan's free-wheeling democracy a sharp contrast to China's one-party state. However, a shared cultural and linguistic heritage mostly endures -- with Mandarin Chinese spoken as the official language in both places. Most countries do not maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, in deference to Beijing.
Any recognition of Taiwan as a separate nation is resisted forcefully by China, including in the world of sport. In a statement, the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee said Taiwan's membership of international organizations has been "marginalized by the Chinese mainland" since 1971.
Taiwan boycotted the 1976 and 1980 Olympics after the host nations refused to allow the ROC to compete under that name.
In 1979, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) passed the Nagoya Resolution, conferring on Taiwan the name "Chinese Taipei" and banning its Olympic committee from using the ROC flag or national anthem. After a series of forceful objections, Taiwan officially accepted the compromise in 1981, and the island competed in its first Olympics in 1984, at the winter games in Sarajevo.
Changing identities While Taiwan has participated in every Olympics for the past three decades, the compromise never sat well with many at home, and has grown more controversial as Taiwanese politics shifted in the direction of full independence from mainland China.
According to annual polls conducted by National Chengchi University, only 13.6% of respondents in 1991 self-identified as Taiwanese; by 2004, that number had risen to over 45%. A poll conducted this year by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation found that 80% of respondents described themselves as Taiwanese.
This is particularly true among the younger generations, many of whom participated in widespread protests against further economic integration with China — the so-called "Sunflower Movement" — and supported the candidacy of recently inaugurated President Tsai.
"We definitely want a peaceful relationship with China," lawmaker and Sunflower Movement activist Huang Kuo-chang told CNN in January.
"But that doesn't mean we have to sacrifice our way of life."
As Taiwan becomes more assertive of its identity at home, many are asking why it should not do so overseas as well.
Taiwan's rock star political candidate Freddy Lim, a death metal frontman and lawmaker elected at the same time as Tsai, says the name "Chinese Taipei" is "disrespectful."
"Taiwan's Olympic athletes come from all over the country and are of different ethnic backgrounds, so the best name for the team would be 'Taiwan'," he told CNN.
"I hope the global community could see how Taiwan is treated internationally and support our efforts to participate in international affairs as a normal country."
Coen Blaauw, executive director of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, which advocates for Taiwanese independence (Formosa is a historical name for the island of Taiwan), says the use of the name is damaging to Taiwan's international standing.
"Not only is the name 'Chinese Taipei' humiliating for the 23 million people of the democratic country of Taiwan, we are concerned that the name will stick," he told CNN.
"China's veto power and approval over Taiwan's role on the international stage should not be a prerequisite for Taiwanese participation in international organizations like the Olympics."
DK Dang, chairman of World United Formosans for Independence, says he hopes Tsai's administration will pressure the IOC to allow Taiwan to compete under its own name.
Tsai's office did not respond to a request for comment.
China has maintained that nothing is permissible on the international stage if it suggests there are "two Chinas."
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/05/sport/taiwan-olympics-chinese-taipei/ ; http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/editorials/archives/2016/08/03/2003652336
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 1, Block C: Aaron Klein, Breitbart Middle East bureau chief, in re: Russia and Turkey have been at odds since Catherine the Great but Erdogan went to visit Putin. Effort to invade Crime a by Crimean Tatars, paid for by Turkish intell (MIT). Happy Moscow kreml photos of the two, but they're in a proxy war: in Ukraine, and in Aleppo in Syria, where the two are at odds, and Hezbollah (Iran) with Russia. Erdogan has been sending in jihadists to Syria, but it's not an accident that in the last few days Turkey sent in fighters just before the Moscow mtg. He’s using Russia and a trump card in talks with both the US, and with Iran. Russia wants Turkey to seal its border (it’s been welcoming ISIS fighters to travel back and forth, along with countless tanker trucks of oil for Erdogan’s son); and Kurds: will Russia lessen its support for Kurdish independence? Deploy on Jordanian border with Syria? Jordan is letting itself be used as a staging base for rebels – seems to include US trainers. “Moderate” rebels? What's that?
Breaking of Aleppo siege: supported by arms and infrastructure of the US, Qatar, Saudis. Putin knows that Ergdogan is working w Obama, who’s working to defeat Russia in Ukraine. Manpads given by Qatar to the rebels. Secretly Erdogan is brokering oil deals with Iran. Erdogan has directed MIT to begin a silent assassination campaign against those he thinks were in the recent putsch: Mahmoud Dahlan (living well in UAE, billionaire); Fetullah Gulen (Pennsylvania); Gulen’s Jordanian comrades.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Wednesday it had discovered a group of infiltrators in Crimea close to the Ukrainian border. Explosive devices and ammunition used by the Ukrainian Army’s special forces were discovered at the scene, while more attempts by Ukrainian raiding and terrorist groups to break through had been prevented by Russian forces this week, the FSB said.
Kiev refuted the FSB report of a foiled terrorist plot, and instead accused Moscow of provocation. Blaming the “escalation” on Russia, Ukraine’s permanent representative to the Council of Europe, Dmytro Kuleba, said on Twitter that Moscow “tests West’s reaction.” https://www.rt.com/news/355419-putin-crimea-terrorism-kiev/
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 1, Block D: Aaron Klein, Breitbart Middle East bureau chief, in re: Sinai. NGO abuses. Abbas in the eleventh year of his four-year term. . . . et al.
*Hamas crackdown on Salafists – during ceacefire prisoner exchange – plus campaign larger campaign against Salafists..
*Syria: Turkey orchestrated Aleppo battle, wanted to bring Erdogan to Putin when in strong position re: Syria talks. Jordan knows 1000s fighters into Syria from east Turkey and Jordan; Turks deeply involved in Aleppo attack. Military goal – open siege, politics to allow Erdogan leverage with Putin.
Major final battle in Aleppo; might be decisive battle.
Internal public opinion in Erdogan camp not ready to accept shift in Errogan position re: Syria crisis, but Arab countries afraid of shift due to growing economic collaboration between Turkey and Russia.
Gas from Russia tp Turkey to be launched; Black sea cooperation; can be turning point on Miderast situation of US keeps criticizing Erdogan in Syria and not declare clear position against possibility of Kurd independent or larger autonomous antity in region between Stria and turkey.
*Amazed by pressure US on Abbas not to postpone elections in West Bank; Gaza. US raising arguments about democracy, etc, knowing Hamas will win. US conditioning $ to Abbas on elections taking place on time in Oct. Abbas afraid Fatah will lose.
*Turks might start silent assassination plan against people involved in coup. Mentioned Dahlan and people around him. Many people around world from closer teams of Gulen in USA. In Jordan, strengthened security around Turkey opposition institutions after hearing this.
Hour Two
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 2, Block A: Cleo Paskal, visiting Trudeau Fellow, University of Montreal and associate Fellow, Chatham House, in re: China claims it has an ancient history and massive population and because of its size must be a tyranny – but India has the same antiquity, soon to have a larger population, and is doing well as a democracy. This constitutes an existential threat to the Chinese Communist Party. Why does Xi Jinping make enemies of everyone in the hood but Cambodia and Laos? Why is it racistly offending India? India has recently evicted some Chinese journos from northern India because they were agitating along the Tibetans in exile. Could John Kerry help? [gales of laughter from the the guest, from the JBS staff] . . . Australian has been appeasing China for a long time; China scorns Australia, calls it “a paper cat.” “at the edge of civilization.” Oops – that ought to be, “a paper kitten”. http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/india-should-not-get-entangled-in-scs-dispute-china/article8964141.ece ; http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/global-times-spray-is-an-attempt-to-bully-us-out-of-south-china-sea/news-story/ebdf8f1f48cf62804a0a116dab4389c2 ; http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/we-must-learn-to-speak-carefully-at-a-tense-time-for-china-relations/news-story/d5809dc061517df79009096bc5a5d293
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 2, Block B: Mike Davis, Natl Endowment of Democracy & retired law professor in Hong Kong; in re: [Jason Bourne music] One of six persons living in KHK wants to be independent of China. Want to be an independent republic. Payback for years of foot-dragging in failing to implement China’s sworn agreement to allow certain freedoms. Legco [pron: ledge-ko], the HK legislative council; forbad some people from running. Statute required only that you uphold the Basic Law. An independentista went along with the new, egregious demands but also was kicked out of the elections: some bureaucrat said: He’s not sincere.” What? Intellectually, HK as much as Singapore could be independent; however, what HK people are doing is frustrated resistance. When someone comes along and advocates even stronger resistance, the populace goes along. Imagine Beijing: they keep a heavy boot on Tibetans and Uyghurs, who aren't even ethnically or linguistically Chinese; but Hong Kong people are considered to be Han, and even they want out. “Hong Kong people are ungrateful” – for not accepting a closed, manipulated society and using he same levers in an open society. Beijing doesn't get it; it just keeps ratcheting up repression, which of course engenders more anger and resistance. http://time.com/4440708/hong-kong-independence-china-localist/
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 2, Block C: Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, in re: http://www.stripes.com/news/chinese-ambassador-summoned-in-east-china-sea-dispute-1.423243
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 2, Block D: David Feith, WSJ Hong Kong, in re: Editorial: China’s Anti-Western Show Trials A dangerous turn in Beijing’s campaign against dissenters. Chinese authorities turned last week’s show trials of four legal activists into a multimedia sensation, with forced confessions airing nightly on prime-time news and propaganda videos online. Beyond vilifying the four men, who advocated for dissidents and religious minorities, the trials had a broader purpose: to paint the United States as China’s enemy.
The courtroom drama was highly choreographed, with four trials over four days, each lasting a few hours. The accused, who couldn’t use their own lawyers or have family in the courtroom, were arrested during last year’s sweep of nearly 300 lawyers and legal activists. When they surfaced in a courtroom in the port city of Tianjin after more than 12 months incommunicado, they denounced themselves, praised their jailers and condemned overseas influences for leading them astray. http://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-anti-western-show-trials-1470848088
A Pacific Admiral Takes China’s Measure America's top military commander in the Pacific says the U.S. can show support for the U.N. ruling on the South China Sea by ‘flying, sailing and operating everywhere international law allows.’
Beijing has a consistent explanation for the rising tensions in the South China Sea: It’s America’s fault. As Chinese leaders tell it, their country is the victim of a U.S. bullying campaign designed to keep China down by uniting Asian states against it. For proof they cite episodes such as the recent United Nations arbitration case filed by the Philippines and cheered by the U.S., Japan, Vietnam and others, which ended last month in a rebuke of China’s aggressive maritime claims and practices, including building artificial islands in international waters and harassing foreign ships.
Hour Three
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 3, Block A: Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: 1. Clinton campaign returns to the 1964 LBJ Daisy Ad: 50 GOP Officials Warn Donald Trump Would Put Nation's Security 'at ... At the time, most of Mr. Trump's Republican foreign policy critics were in think tanks, private consultancies or law firms, or signed on as advisers ... 2. Paul Ryan -- handling the regicide question: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/08/10/ryan-trump-second-amendment-remarks-a-joke-gone-bad/
Rick Klein: “On the day that Donald Trump said and then said he didn’t say that Second Amendment backers could stop Hillary Clinton from appointing judges, something remarkable happened in Wisconsin: Paul Ryan won his primary. By a lot. The House speaker won the GOP nomination by more than 46,000 votes out of 68,000 cast, for a ridiculous margin of 84-16. As is expected, and appropriate, Ryan was asked at his victory news conference to react to Trump’s latest. Ryan said he hopes Trump clears up what he said ‘very quickly.’ He also said something that you didn’t have to read between any lines to read as clearly anti-Trump. ‘It’s simple to prey on people’s fears,’ Ryan said. ‘That stuff sells, but it doesn’t stick. It doesn’t last.'”
“That’s Ryanism, which the speaker is presenting as an alternative to Trumpism – even now, post-convention, post-endorsement. If Trump has done something right in appealing to his base, so, undeniably, has Ryan. You don’t win by nearly 70 points in a primary, in the post-Cantor age, with Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter lined up for your opponent, if you don’t know what your voters want, in terms of style and substance. Ryan’s plan has been what it has always been: To still be standing, whatever happens at the top of the ticket.”
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 3, Block B: Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: --RUDY DEFENDS TRUMP: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani today defended Donald Trump's controversial comments about the Second Amendment that Hillary Clinton’s campaign interpreted as a suggestion of violence against her. "We know Donald Trump is not particularly indirect," Giuliani told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America.” "If Donald Trump was going to say something like that, he'd say something like that.” "You know how speeches go. He was talking about how they [gun rights advocates] have the power to keep her out of office. That's what he was talking about," he added. "With a crowd like that, if that's what they thought he'd meant, they'd have gone wild." More from ABC’s RYAN STRUYK: http://abcn.ws/2aLkFr4 REFRESHER -- WHAT TRUMP SAID YESTERDAY: http://abcn.ws/2aDInjf
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 3, Block C: Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: Josh Kraushaar: “Republican leaders are choosing to pretend that these differences don’t exist, preferring to naively proclaim that Trump will embrace Paul Ryan’s conservative agenda if he’s elected president. That’s not what his voters signed up for. It’s why Trump’s rote espousal of more-traditional GOP positions, such as his economic speech at the Detroit Economic Club on Monday, will fall flat.”
“More likely, he will continue to use his outsize public platform to settle old scores. He might even try and launch his own television network to broadcast the populism that propelled his candidacy. He’s not going away, and neither are his core voters. The only question is whether more traditional GOP leaders have the charisma and credibility to bring Trump partisans into a new-look GOP, or whether his supporters will continue to stir up trouble within the party.”
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 3, Block D: Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: 3. . Hillary Clinton's honesty doesn't get better: Emails Renew Questions about Clinton Foundation and State Dept ... ; Newly Released Emails Highlight Clinton Foundation's Ties to State ... 4. Democrats dream . Democrats See Chance at Winning the House “Hillary Clinton is trouncing Donald Trump in several swing House districts, Democratic Party officials say in a new memo obtained by Politico that touts the party’s down-ballot prospects in November but does not predict they’ll capture the chamber.”
Clinton is posting double-digit leads in several vulnerable Republican districts including Rep. Bob Dold in Illinois, Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, California freshman Rep. Steve Knight, Rep. Mike Coffman in Colorado and Rep. Erik Paulsen in Minnesota, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee memo states.
. . . http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-house-districts-democrats-226853#ixzz4GwzutFAW
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5. Republicans fret: Polls give GOP hope for holding the Senate, but Trump headwinds might be too strong https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/08/10/daily-202-state-polls-give-gop-fresh-hope-for-holding-senate-majority-but-trump-headwinds-might-be-too-strong/57aa8200cd249a2fe363ba0f/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_daily202-1120a-top%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Hour Four
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 4, Block A: Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack, in re:
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 4, Block B: Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack, in re: . . . cube sats. Alien life forms creating astronomical puzzle? (Probably not) . . .
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 4, Block C: Michael Balter, the verge, in re: Dog eat dog: is a troubled expedition to Kenya causing the Smithsonian to devour its young? A star scientist stands accused of misconduct, but colleagues say he’s being railroaded This time last year, Kris Helgen was climbing high. Helgen, curator of mammals at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, DC, was about to lead a team of scientists up Mt. Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa after Kilimanjaro. The team was following in the footsteps of Theodore Roosevelt, whose great East Africa expedition of 1909–1910, co-sponsored by the Smithsonian, gathered some 23,000 natural history specimens for the museum. It was an ambitious, some say audacious, project. But today 36-year-old Helgen, who was one of the fastest rising young stars in mammalogy, is in danger of losing his job. On July 1st, after a lengthy investigation into charges that he had engaged in research misconduct while in Kenya, Helgen’s department chair recommended that he be fired.
To some researchers, including some within the museum, this drastic conclusion must mean that Helgen did something seriously wrong. But to others, including his many defenders, the affair is an object lesson in what happens when a bright young person — in any profession — rises too fast and challenges slow-changing institutions with entrenched bureaucrats, like the Smithsonian and the NMNH. "What happens when the younger scientist already has more accomplishments than his much older seniors?" asks one NMNH scientist who asked not to be identified. "The museum has utterly failed Kris. http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/9/12405846/smithsonian-national-museum-of-natural-history-investigation-kris-helgen
“…But there is one researcher who is not being allowed to discuss it: Kris Helgen, one of the two corresponding authors. The reason is that Helgen has been on administrative leave from the NMNH since late May, and is under investigation for alleged research misconduct while on an expedition he was leading in Kenya. Yesterday, in an article in The Verge, I reported on a month-long investigation of the charges, which include attempting to export samples of an endangered species out of Kenya without proper permits. In that article, I concluded that the allegations were almost certainly false, and were more likely the result of--at the very least--misunderstandings and misinterpretations on the part of members of Helgen's staff, who were his chief accusers. (I was happy to see that the Washington Post picked up the story, in an article by its star science reporter, Joel Achenbach.)
“Helgen is not supposed to talk to the press while the disciplinary proceedings continue. I asked Sarah Goforth, the assistant director for communications at the NMNH, whether they would make an exception since Helgen is one of two corresponding authors on the paper and his Smithsonian email is listed there (which is he not allowed to use while on administrative leave.) It took Goforth some time to get me an answer on that, but it finally came earlier today. No exception: "Dr. Helgen is unavailable for comment." http://michael-balter.blogspot.fr/2016/08/kris-helgen-case-anatomy-of-botched.html (1 of 2)
Wednesday 10 August 2016 / Hour 4, Block D: Michael Balter, the verge, in re: Dog eat dog: is a troubled expedition to Kenya causing the Smithsonian to devour its young? A star scientist stands accused of misconduct, but colleagues say he’s being railroaded (2 of 2)
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