Photo, left:  Demagoguery: Huey Pierce Long, Jr. (August 30, 1893 – September 10, 1935), nicknamed The Kingfish, was an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. A Democrat, he was an outspoken populist who denounced the rich and the banks and called for "Share our Wealth." As the political boss of the state he commanded wide networks of supporters and was willing to take forceful action. He established the political prominence of the Long political family.
Long is best known for his Share Our Wealth program, created in 1934 under the motto "Every Man a King." It proposed new wealth redistribution measures in the form of a net asset tax on corporations and individuals to curb the poverty and homelessness endemic nationwide during the Great Depression. To stimulate the economy, Long advocated federal spending on public works, schools and colleges, and old age pensions. He was an ardent critic of the policies of the Federal Reserve System.
A supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election, Long split with Roosevelt in June 1933 to plan his own presidential bid for 1936 in alliance with the influential Catholic priest and radio commentator Charles Coughlin. Long was assassinated in 1935 and his national movement soon faded, but his legacy continued in Louisiana through his wife, Senator Rose McConnell Long, and his son, Senator Russell B. Long.
Under Long's leadership, hospitals and educational institutions were expanded, a system of charity hospitals was set up that provided health care for the poor, massive highway construction and free bridges brought an end to rural isolation, and free textbooks were provided for schoolchildren. He remains a controversial figure in Louisiana history, with critics and supporters debating whether or not he was a dictator, demagogue or populist.
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Co-hosts: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com & Daily Beast. Dr. David M. Livingston, The Space Show.
 
Hour One
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 1, Block A: Evan Ellis, professor of Latin American Studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, in re:  Despite the many promises and initiatives on Chinese investment, few have occurred- 90% not.   Projects either cancelled or not panned out. Sometimes the introduction of Chinese labor, or other factors, scotch the plan.  Chinese loans have climbed from $7 to $29 bil – to Venezuela and Brazil.    China is poor in doing risk assessment. Brazil: when oil was high, China aggressively moved to ingratiate itself with Petrobras; same with Chavez and Maduro.  Populist experiments have backfired. China is trying to back out of Venezuela. Chinese banks  have a lot of cash to lend with diminishing opportunities inside China. Look for a harder push into Latin Am construction projects. Big projects often don't pan out — Chinese can’t organize the fundamentals, incl the South American transcontinental railroad. A Nicaraguan canal – still laughing?  “An elaborate game of chicken.” China took a haircut. http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/16/news/economy/china-latin-america-projects-fail/
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 1, Block B: Lisa Curtis, senior research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, in re: In India at Nehru University (JBU), a student (Kumar) is under arrest for having  spoken against India?   At a commemoration of the death of a terrorist hanged for involvement in an attack on the Indian parliament in 2001. Controversial trial; hanged in secret, prevented from bidding adieu to his family, etc.   At the commemoration, differing descriptions of events; India is known for free speech; “If students can't protest, then who else can in the country?”  A heated issue.  Why would Narendra Modi prosecute a student and thereby create a foreseeable backlash? Home minister remarking that Kumar is linked to terrorists; a tweet from Lashkar-i-Taiba, a definitively violent terrorist group, claiming he’s behind the students [not necessarily likely].  Kumar still in custody, not a good decision buy the govt. Comes in the wake of other university problems: claims that the govt has tried to replace certain leaders, stifle free speech.  The Hindu nationalist govt. http://time.com/4230183/new-delhi-march-jnu-kanhaiya-kumar-arrest-protest/
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 1, Block C: Jerry Hendrix, Center for New American Security, in re: Daily Beast: The United States, which is worried by China's military buildup to assert dominance in the South China Sea, will increase freedom-of-navigation operations there, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday. "We will be doing them more, and we'll be doing them with greater complexity in the future and ... we'll fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows," Admiral Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Command, told a House Armed Services Committee hearing. "We must continue to operate in the South China Sea to demonstrate that that water space and the air above it is international," Harris said. /  Foreign Minister Wang: ”The islands in the South China Sea have been Chinese since ancient times.”  -- in fact, there are conflicting and some even stronger claims from other nations that have had continuous ownership over long periods.  Woody Island: China has put in mil radar in a square, bunkerlike facility.  Overhead imagery suggest hardened underground bunkers; also high-frequency radar, to give it a great picture of the South China sea; will have an integrated air and surface picture of the entire marine region. This type of awareness is for anti-access air denial environment -  a maritime ADIZ - precursor to weaponizing the region.   Lawfare for claims of legitimacy.  “Innocent passage” carries acknowledgment of someone else’s ownership, so the US has to walk backwards toward Freedom of Navigation.  China is playing for keeps, long-term. 
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 1, Block D:  Jerry Hendrix, Center for New American Security, in re: . . . we’ve re-entered an age of great-power politics. . . . In the long term, more reason for China and Russia to compete than collaborate. . . .
 
Hour Two
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 2, Block A:   Charles Burton, professor at Brock University, in re: The Cultural revolution didn’t end till Mao died in 1966; led to chaos and anarchy, stopped by PLA’s restoring order in parts of the country,  Xi Jingping will not review all intl media in China on a daily basis. Hsinhua et al.: “Our purpose is to represent and protect the Party [and Xi].”  New measures make it impossible for foreign firms to operate in China.   When Xi cam einto power in 2012, some thought he was a reformer. However, he’s demanded absolute loyalty; cult of personality of Mao Tse-tung.  Telling that Xi repudiated calling Cultural Revolution a disaster; trying instead to revert to a Leninist absolutism.  Scary.  Foreign Minister Wang in the US making odd statements; Chinese people will not be able to learn of this in any rational way. Reuters will be out, as probably will be this program.  Look for oppression and imprisonment. China is on the road to becoming a Maoist paradise, i.e., a failed state.  Intl community?  Yes, combined with China’s South China Sea actions – Mr Xi feels so insecure that he’s tightening up. Frog/flame/boil slowly in Chinese proverbs? – right now we're seeing so many adverse developments one on top of another – a China in danger of actually failing.  Does not look as though it’ll have a good ending. In Canada, our new liberal govt is strongly pro-Beijing and favors a trade agreement. “The train that’s just about to wreck.”  Also in China, a lot of concern.  http://www.engdget.com/2016/02/19/china-tightens-its-censorship-grip-on-foreign-content/
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 2, Block B:  Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, in re: … K  industrial zone was yielding about $120 mil per year; a North Korean report yesterday said that h missile launch was $1.5 billion – where a third of the children are malnourished. Regime is sacrificing its own people to prop up a [deathly] military program to protect its own power.  In South Korea even, a progressive has to see that all available resources are channelled to weapons.  A pastor from a Canadian church organizing food was jailed in North Korea; I believe that South Koreans are starting to see this.  The scale of the North Korean slave labor camps: massive. At least four huge camps, 120,000 prisoners detained, often three generations of the same family; forced labor, starvations. Terrifying death rates at the camps.  North Korean Human Rights Act in ROK: help to groups carrying human rights to DPRK.  Closure of the Kaesong Industrial Region (KIR) or Kaesong Industrial Zone (KIZ); then the North Korean Sanctions Enforcement Act, et al.  http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1965894-high-priority-city-the-republic-of-pyongyang/ ; http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/02/113_198756.html
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 2, Block C:  John Fund, NRO, in re: Possible nominations to SOTUS: Elizabeth Warren, Sri Srinivasan, and Brian Sandoval, the Republican governor of Nevada.  Sandoval is not an originalist; is flexible. The WH of course is interested in causing as much trouble for the GOP as possible and the president has a sense of humor.  Put Orrin Hatch’s name out to suggest that the President is casting a wide net.    Sri Srinivasan, unanimously confirmed by the Senate to DC District Court (which interprets Supreme Court decisions): former Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States in the Justice Dept, a very distinguished litigator.  Loretta Lynch?  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/17/5-possible-obama-supreme-court-picks-that-could-make-republicans-squirm/ ; https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/02/17/5-possible-oba...
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 2, Block D:  Allen Needell, Smithsonian, in re; produce a major data set, to be aired around the July launch; then a new gallery in the museum around the turn f he decade all with 3D components, incl virtual reality or flat-screen interactive; smart phone use, etc,.   First-level product will be data base with much detail.  . . http://gizmodo.com/smithsonian-uncovers-apollo-11-graffiti-not-seen-in-dec-17 58694322
 
Hour Three
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 3, Block A:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re:  last week, Cruz had $38 mil on hand; Rubio had $11 mil, with more flowing in as he looked like the last chance to stop the front-runner. The Trump campaign is an island unto itself; broken all rules, running as an independent entity. Establishment organs – WSJ and the donor class – have moved from denial to acceptance with stages of grief. Look at the map of upcoming states: hard to find a scenario where Cruz or Rubio or Kasich can take Trump down.  Everyone believes that Cruz must win in his home state (Texas) handily in order to stay viable.  Same for Rubio in Florida.  Rubio gives he best “I lost again” speech; you win not by winning states but by winning delegates. Victories beget victories. He’s trying to calm supporters and donors.  You can become the GOP nominee without winning any state – need 1237(?) Trump has 67 now, the others have fewer.  (1 of 4)
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 3, Block B:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: The Rubio and Cruz Delusion ; Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz claim they did well in Nevada, but they were soundly beaten in a ... ;  Cruz fires spokesman over 'inaccurate' Rubio video - ;  Nevada Was Great for Donald Trump, Bad for Ted Cruz  (2 of 4)
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 3, Block C:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: CNN town hall: Clinton, Sanders make pitch to minority voters ; Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders confronted issues of race Tuesday at a CNN town hall ... ; New Poll Shows Sanders Ahead of Clinton by Widest Margin Yet ; Why Clinton Is Connecting With Black Voters—and Sanders Isn't (3 of 4)
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 3, Block D:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor  (4 of 4)
 
Hour Four
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 4, Block A:  Aaron Klein, Middle East bureau chief, Breitbart, in re:  Russia takes concrete steps towards Syria ceasefire, Turkey continues shelling – MoD  ; Moscow has started taking concrete steps towards ceasefire in Syria, the Russian Defense ... ; The Latest: Obama Consults With Britain, France, Germany ; EU warns of possible Turkey-Russia 'hot war' over Syria
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 4, Block B:  Aaron Klein, Middle East bureau chief, Breitbart, in re:   Possible Jerusalem Attack Thwarted: Two Pipe Bombs Found at Herod’s Gate The Jerusalem Post reports: Security forces prevented a possible attack Wednesday after locating two pipe bombs and ammunition during searches at Herod’s Gate, which leads to the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, police reported. Police said two suspects in their . .  .
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 4, Block C: Ann Marlowe, Hudson, in re:  LIBYA - French special forces assisting anti-Isis efforts in Libya, say sources  Sources in Libya say French special forces are among those working against Islamic State ... ;  Signs grow of new Western urgency to stop Islamic State in Libya  ; A Radical Idea to Rebuild a Shattered Libya: Restore the Monarchy
Wednesday   24 February  2016 / Hour 4, Block D:   Adam Ereli, Forbes.com, in re: Armenia and Turkey.