The John Batchelor Show is an essential tool for understanding the new order in the 21st Century. The world is now facing a dangerous and fanatical enemy determined to destroy Western civilization on both political and military fronts. In this, the first great ideological battle of the new millennium, it is imperative to know the major players and the theaters in which they operate.
The John Batchelor Show features a multitude of distinctive elements. John's themes cover every detail - from military battles, presidential campaigns, planetary exploration, and Hollywood politicos to his own international travel. John has broadcast from many corners of the world and in his program he calls out to all points, including New York, Jerusalem, Des Moines, Kazakhstan, Orlando, Manchester, Morocco, Boston, Taipei, Washington, and Baghdad.
What follows is an example of the most recent show that aired last night and early this morning.
I have swiped the show notes and audio and have re-posted them here to whet your interest in the show:
Hour One, 9pm to 10pm
Co-host: Gordon Chang, The Daily and Forbes.com
Wednesday 905P Eastern Time (605P Pacific Time): Victor Shih, Northwestern, in re: Gordon Chang today was named by the Peoples Daily as "an enemy of the state." Congratulations are pouring in from all over the world. VS: Central Bank of China minting bushels of new money; slowed rate slightly in 2011: bankruptcies among smaller firms; fundamentals of economy are that it's highly addicted to money minted by the central bank. Borrowers are localities, don't generate enough cash to pay even the owed interest, let alone the principal. Borrowers cannot replay the state-issued loans; many defaults. Liquidity trap. People speculating in garlic, ginger. Rich are moving money overseas; significant putflows. M2 in China in November was 134% of US M2 - even though the total Chinese economy is less than half of the US. Only England and Switzerland are higher. Reforms run into huge resistance from vested interests: whose bosses often sit on the Central Committee. Bonds coming due this year from Beijing Olympics; govt estimate is 10 trillion RMB. Meanwhile, land sales - main way that local authorities raise money to repay - are now slowed. Beijing probably will just issue new bonds to replace the old ones- playing Monopoly. Caveat emptor.
Wednesday 920P Eastern Time (620P Pacific Time): Nury Turkel, past president of Uyghur-American Assn, in re: Radio Free Asia said that four of the people detained after the confrontation in Xinjiang were children, and that they had been part of a group trying to flee the country. Several dead - children and their mothers. Increased volatility day by day because the govt is growing more repressive; govt fighting local Muslim celebrations, also Rebiya Khadeer. Uyghurs are refused passports (as are Tibetans). Han Chinese get passports within two weeks. Beijing claims that the children were "being kidnapped to be trained in jihad." "Terrorism: was never part of the terminology historically; now used with abandone, as they even call HH the Dalai Lama that. Fifteen Uyghurs fleeing; intercepted in a village, authorities open fire and kill seven, then capture the children. "Punishment on the spot"policy: anyone with a Uyghur or Tibetan name will be shot on the spot. Pakistan helps China by jailing and deporting Uyghurs back to China - horrible track record, as do many of China's neighbors. Ethnic cleansing.
Wednesday 935P Eastern Time (635P Pacific Time): Hotel Mars. David Livingston, The Space Show, in re: On 23 Dec, unmanned Soyuz launch failed. Russia appointed a hard-liner, Deputy PM Dmitri Rogozin, to investigate and fix Russian rocket problems. Will use "harsh criminal penalties" vs those associaed with hardware failres. The Russians state "This [whether Rogozin succeeds or not] is not an academic question. The United States and its international partners are solely dependent upon Russia for access to the International Space Station. The American government should seriously consider ways of accelerating its schedule for fielding replacement vehicles to end that dependency." Russia has now blocked outsiders from seeing Russian space sites. Also: Republican candidates for the presidencey: What would a Pres Romney do about the space program? During one debate, all the candidates said "no such expenditures." Gingrich favors commercial space; Romney attacked him therefor. Safety: Soyuz isn't certified by anyone as it's totally Russian. We put astronauts on whatever the Russians put up.
Wednesday 950P Eastern Time (650P Pacific Time): Henry Miller, Hoover, in re: H5N1
Hour Two, 10pm to 11pm
Wednesday 1005P Eastern (705P Pacific Time): Naomi Rovnick, freelance journalist in Taiwan, in re: Taiwanese elections, 14 January.
Wednesday 1020P Eastern (720P Pacific Time): Bruce Bechtol, San Angelo State, in re: Lee Myung-bak willing to "open the door" but says North Korea's Kim Jong-un must be "sincere" and eschew provocation.
Wednesday 1035P Eastern (735P Pacific Time): Arif Rafiq, Pakistan Policy blog, in re: Taliban to open Qatari office in a step toward formal talks.
Wednesday 1050P Eastern (750P Pacific Time): Joseph Sternberg, business editor, Asia Wall Street Journal, in re: No foreign investment in Chinese car mfrg. Unfortunately, Chinese companies don't yet know how to bld cars as well yet as some foreigners do. "Lot rot" in 2009-2010, Beijing forced state enterprises and localities to buy huge numbers of cars - which hey couldn't use, so they just parked them in lots, where they sit and decay. Beijing can;t fathom 1.4 billion people making individual decisions. Gili bought Volvo; will have to make mountains of Volvos and then park them somewhere. Can we buy these cheap and move 'em out of China? Typical Chinese market distortion.
"Some foreign businesses have complained over the past year or two that the business environment in China has become less friendly. And now it might appear as though the auto industry is the latest addition to the 'not welcome' list. Beijing's National Development and Reform Commission, responsible for economic planning, recently announced it would stop supporting foreign investment in car manufacturing. But appearances can be deceiving. This is really a story of how, while the investment climate might not become 'better' or 'worse,' it does become different, and foreigners will have to adapt."
Hour 3, 11pm to midnight
Wednesday 1105P Eastern (805P Pacific Time): Adam Nossiter, NYT, in re: famine in Kinshasa, DR Congo.
Wednesday 1120P Eastern (820P Pacific Time): Bret Stephens, WSJ, in re; European Union eurozone fail; lessons to be learned for the US.
Wednesday 1135P Eastern (835P Pacific Time): Aaron Klein, WABC, in re: Hamas aggression in Cairo, Iranian aggression in the Middle East.
Wednesday 1150P Eastern (850P Pacific Time): Reza Kahlili, author, in re: Iran threatens the Fifth Fleet; turmoil in the IRGC.
Hour 4, Midnight to 1am
Wednesday/Thurs 1205A Eastern (905 Pacific Time):
Eisenhower: The White House Years by Jim Newton, 1 of 2
Wednesday/Thurs 1220A Eastern (920 Pacific Time):
Eisenhower: The White House Years by Jim Newton, 2 of 2
Wednesday/Thurs 1235A Eastern (935P Pacific Time): Hotel Mars. David Livingston, The Space Show, in re: On 23 Dec, unmanned Soyuz launch failed. Russia appointed a hard-liner, Deputy PM Dmitri Rogozin, to investigate and fix Russian rocket problems. Will use "harsh criminal penalties" vs those associaed with hardware failres. The Russians state "This [whether Rogozin succeeds or not] is not an academic question. The United States and its international partners are solely dependent upon Russia for access to the International Space Station. The American government should seriously consider ways of accelerating its schedule for fielding replacement vehicles to end that dependency." Russia has now blocked outsiders from seeing Russian space sites. Also: Republican candidates for the presidencey: What would a Pres Romney do about the space program? During one debate, all the candidates said "no such expenditures." Gingrich favors commercial space; Romney attacked him therefor. Safety: Soyuz isn't certified by anyone as it's totally Russian. We put astronauts on whatever the Russians put up.
Wednesday/Thurs 1250A Eastern (950P Pacific Time): Exeunt. Julie Jargon, WSJ, in re: fast food in China and Egypt.
For more information on The John Batchelor Show, please visit the following websites:
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