Photo, left:  The Hui village of Menyuan sits at about 9500ft, on the northeastern tip of the Tibetan plateau. Stuck in time, villages like Menyuan allow us to travel back a few hundred years, where carriages pulled by donkeys are still the main means of transport.
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Co-hosts: Gordon Chang, Forbes.com & Daily Beast. Dr. David M. Livingston, The Space Show.
 
Hour One
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block A:   Charles Burton, professor at Brock University, in re:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/china-s-communist-party-gathering-set-to-empower-president-1.2840510  ;  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-24/alibaba-s-jack-ma-urges-china-to-use-online-data-to-fight-crime
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block B: Kelley Currie, senior Fellow with the Project 2049 Institute, in re:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/10/22/king-bhumibol-of-thailands-real-legacy-he-established-a-remarkable-degree-of-political-legitimacy/  ; http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2027670/thailands-king-deathbed-just-how-strong-are-chinas-ties
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block C:  Michael Balter, Science magazine, in re: Sexual Assault at the Smithsonian. Unacceptable Texas Tech. @MichaelBalter, @TheVerge.  Over the past year, numerous sexual harassment scandals have surfaced in the sciences. Geoff Marcy, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, was found guilty of kissing and groping his female students. (Marcy resigned his position when the story broke in BuzzFeed.) Jason Lieb, a molecular biologist at the University of Chicago, was said to have made unwanted sexual advances to graduate students; he also resigned. Caltech astronomer Christian Ott was suspended for harassment, a first in the university’s history. A paleoanthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History, Brian Richmond, was repeatedly investigated for sexual misconduct. Angie’s story is an example of how systemic sexism in the sciences leaves many administrators ill-prepared to deal with victims of sexual misconduct.
All of the administrators involved at the NMNH we contacted have declined to comment, citing confidentiality rules, even though both Angie and Pinto have told their stories publicly. (Angie is using a pseudonym to protect her privacy, to avoid retaliation, and so she will be known for her research and not her status as a sexual assault victim.)  (1 of 2) http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/24/13359794/smithsonian-sexual-misconduct-investigation-miguel-pinto
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 1, Block D:  Michael Balter, Science magazine, in re: Sexual Assault at the Smithsonian. Unacceptable Texas Tech. @MichaelBalter, @TheVerge.  (2 of 2)
 
Hour Two
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block A:  Jim Holmes, professor of strategy at the Naval War College and a former surface warfare officer, in re: Politics in the Pacific; Third and Seventh Fleets. FON act in South China Sea:  freedom of navigation operations show that we do not accept excessive claims by any entity on global freedom to sail open waters.
Third Fleet usu supplies forces to Seventh Fleet in Japan; here activated as a regular command, first time, ever. The ship was an Aegis destroyer, named for Stephen Decatur, a naval hero (took Intrepid in to Tripoli and was cited by Lord Nelson as one of the courageous sailors of the age).
Adm Tyson is the first female fleet commander in history; commands the USS Stephen Decatur!
US has been timid in its FON deeds. 
Note that Xi may proclaim long-term one-man rule at the Sixth Plenum and Duterte visits Beijing. For the last six or seven weeks China has been very quiet in the South China Sea. China has condemned the US “under intl and domestic law” – where the US is currently 100% legal internationally, and Chinese domestic law doesn't apply. Bad: Australia is scaling back, which is dangerous.  “Innocent Passage” within 12 nautical miles of Aleutians; US did not complain. The Decatur doesn’t even go within 12 miles of the Paracels but he Chinese go ballistic.  China has no intention of recognizing the rules of the road; want a second standard for waters near China, carve out a special preserve in which Law of the Sea doesn't apply. China will challenge the new president.  http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/10/22/us-navy-destroyer-conducts-operation-in-south-china-sea.html ; http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-usa-thirdfleet-idUSKCN12P0C4
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block B:  Richard Heydarian, professor at De La Salle University in Manila and author of Asia’s New Battlefield: The USA, China, and the Struggle for the Western Pacific, in re: Pres Rodrigo Duterte in Beijing and Tokyo; a colorful actor, raised eyebrows in Philippines by saying, “China has not invaded Philippines any time in history “  —inaccurate.  He keeps his reputation of talking big and entertainingly. He’s ridding Mindanao of US forces . . .  In Tokyo, he shifted: “Trip to China was not at al about any alliance, and of course I value Filipino alliances with US and Japan.” 
http://qz.com/807203/political-scientist-richard-javad-heydarian-on-rodrigo-duterte-us-bashing-and-the-south-china-sea/
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block C:  Sadanand Dhume, WSJ, in re:  Bollywood and cricket, where Bollywood actors wield political power.  The Line of Control, breached by China; India sent forces to respond. In retaliation, Indian producers swore no longer to employ Pakistani actors.  Tree’s a time and place for revulsion, but need to be careful. Example: imagine that after 9/11 there was a Saudi actor in Hollywood; deport him? No—focus on relevant persons. The wise response by Modi would be to attend to the [violent Pakistanis], not endorse a film boycott. 
[The India–Pakistan cricket rivalry is one of the most intense sports rivalries in the world.[1][2] An India-Pakistan cricket match has been estimated to attract up to one billion viewers, according to TV ratings firms and various other reports. The 2011 World Cup semifinal between the two teams attracted around 988 million television viewers.  The arch-rival relations between the two nations, resulting from the extensive communal violence and conflict that marked the Partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947 and the subsequent Kashmir conflict, laid the foundations for the emergence of an intense sporting rivalry between the two nations who had erstwhile shared a common cricketing heritage.]
       Earlier this week, Karan Johar, a prominent Indian film director, pledged in a video message to “not engage with talent from the neighboring country.” Only last month, Mr. Johar had struck exactly the opposite note. “Will banning Pakistani talent stop terrorism?” he asked anchor Barkha Dutt on television.
A theater-owners’ association has already pledged not to screen movies featuring Pakistanis in parts of India. Zee, a top television company, has dropped popular Pakistani soap operas from its lineup. Across the country, organizers have canceled screenings of Pakistani movies and performances by Pakistani singers. An association of producers has banned Pakistani actors and technicians from working in India.
In retaliation, Pakistani theater owners suspended the nearly decade-old practice of screening Indian movies. On Wednesday, Islamabad imposed an official ban on Indian programming on both radio and television.
Mr. Johar’s public reversal—prompted by threats from a thuggish regional party in Mumbai to forcibly block an upcoming movie of his featuring Fawad Khan, a dashing young Pakistani actor—accurately reflects a large swathe of public sentiment. An attack last month on an Indian army camp in Kashmir, allegedly by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad, killed 19 Indian soldiers. Unsurprisingly, for many people the wounds are still raw. http://www.wsj.com/articles/indias-song-and-dance-against-terrorism-1476...
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 2, Block D:  Gordon Chang, Daily Beast, in re: Muslims in China and persecution of minorities by Han. China is moving from authoritarianism to soft totalitarianism.  Dr Ma, Hui (a Chinese minority; similar to Han in almost all ways but Muslim) and his ten family members were forced to move from good farmland to deep desert – and pay for the privilege. All together were given 500-plus sq ft in the new house in the desert, and had to build a plastic-covered shelter as an extra room for his elderly parents. 
Beijing’s wicked ways are radicalizing big chunks of the population, making them enemies of the state.  China now has a grave desertification problem: 20% of the country is now desertic, and made worse by policies of trying to conquer nature, for which of course Beijing as no solution. 
China has a water problem it cannot solve. 
INTERJECTION:  Mososaur from southern Alberta; teeth left in his jaw.
Hour Three
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block A:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: Republican Senate in Peril. @MonicaCrowley, @Fox. “In an interview on Tuesday afternoon, Steven Law, Senate Leadership Fund’s president and a close McConnell ally, acknowledged Republicans have a tough road to keep their majority — and said the spending push was designed to close a growing funding deficit. In numerous Senate battles, Democrats are outspending Republicans by millions of dollars.
“Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen every liberal Democratic group descend on these races,” Law said. “Democrats feel like the presidential race is in the bag for them and are looking for fresh game in the Senate.”
With just two weeks to go until Election Day, the Democratic cash advantage, Law said, was starting to have an effect, hurting Republican prospects across  the board. He said the $25 million expenditure would narrow  http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/panicking-gop-makes-major-last-minute-senate-investment-230309#ixzz4OEznHjgM    ;  @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook”  ;  http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/panicking-gop-makes-major-last-minute-senate-investment-230309  (1 of 2)
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block B:  Monica Crowley, Fox, & Washington Times Online opinion editor; in re: Republican Senate in Peril. @MonicaCrowley, @Fox.  (2 of 2)
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block C:  Hotel Mars, episode n.  Tiffany Kataria, NASA JPL; in re: Hot Jupiters and Exoplanets. (1 of 2)
PTYS/LPL graduate student Tiffany Kataria was awarded the NASA Harriett G. Jenkins Pre-doctoral Fellowship (JPFP) award. This is a three-year fellowship which provides Tiffany with an annual stipend, tuition off-set funding, and an annual 10-week visit to NASA Ames Research Center. Tiffany will perform atmospheric circulation and climate modeling of super Earths and extrasolar terrestrial planets, with the goal of understanding dynamical regimes and their implications for observations and habitability. Her project will be in collaboration with Associate Professor Adam Showman (her Ph.D. advisor) and Dr. Bob Haberle at NASA Ames Research Center. 
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 3, Block D:  Hotel Mars, episode n.  Tiffany Kataria, NASA JPL; in re: Hot Jupiters and exoplanets. (2 of 2)
 
Hour Four
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block A:  Matthew Rosenberg, New York Times, in re:  The Pentagon’s ‘Terminator Conundrum’: Robots That Could Kill on Their Own.   The United States has put artificial intelligence at the center of its defense strategy, with weapons that can identify targets and make decisions.   “Terminator Conundrum,” or “I, Robot” Goes to War.
“…Yet American officials are only just beginning to contend with the implications of weapons that could someday operate independently, beyond the control of their developers. Inside the Pentagon, the quandary is known as the Terminator conundrum, and there is no consensus about whether the United States should seek international treaties to try to ban the creation of those weapons, or build its own to match those its enemies might create.
For now, though, the current state of the art is decidedly less frightening. Exhibit A: the small, unarmed drone tested this summer on Cape Cod.
It could not turn itself on and just fly off. It had to be told by humans where to go and what to look for. But once aloft, it decided on its own how to execute its orders.
The software powering the drone has been in development for about a year, and it was far from flawless during the day of trials. In one pass over the mosque, the drone struggled to decide whether a minaret was an architectural feature or an armed man, living up to its namesake, Bender, the bumbling robot in the animated television series “Futurama.”. . .  (1 of 2)  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/us/pentagon-artificial-intelligence-terminator.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block B:  Matthew Rosenberg, NYT, in re: The Pentagon’s ‘Terminator Conundrum’: Robots That Could Kill on Their Own.    (2 of 2)
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block C: Axel Timmerman,  Nature magazine, in re:  Twitter: @BatchelorShow   On the basis of fossil and archaeological data it has been hypothesized that the exodus of Homo sapiens out of Africa and into Eurasia between ~50–120 thousand years ago occurred in several orbitally paced migration episodes. Crossing vegetated pluvial corridors from northeastern Africa into the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant and expanding further into Eurasia, Australia and the Americas, early H. sapiens experienced massive time-varying climate and sea level conditions on a variety of timescales. Hitherto it has remained difficult to quantify the effect of glacial- and millennial-scale climate variability on early human dispersal and evolution. Here we present results from a numerical human dispersal model, which is forced by spatiotemporal estimates of climate and sea level changes over the past 125 thousand years. The model simulates the overall dispersal of H. sapiens in close agreement with archaeological and fossil data and features prominent glacial migration waves across the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant region around 106–94, 89–73, 59–47 and 45–29 thousand years ago. The findings document that orbital-scale global climate swings played a key role in shaping Late Pleistocene global population distributions, whereas millennial-scale abrupt climate changes, associated with Dansgaard–Oeschger events, had a more limited regional effect. ; http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v538/n7623/full/nature19365.html?cookies=accepted
Wednesday   26 October 2016 / Hour 4, Block D:   Axel Timmerman,  Nature magazine, in re:  Twitter: @BatchelorShow   On the basis of fossil and archaeological data it has been hypothesized that the exodus of Homo sapiens out of Africa and into Eurasia between ~50–120 thousand years ago occurred in several orbitally paced migration episodes.  (2 of 2)
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