HOT5 Daily 4/3/2009

1. "Torture, War, and the Nasty Realities of Governing"  A good overall analysis.

Representative Sample: Torture, like war, is ugly. The reality is, governments sometimes are forced to go to war. And sometimes, in order to do what they perceive as necessary for national defense, governments engage in action which breaks civilian norms.

2. "China Invests In Pebble-Bed Technology" Moving forward with nuclear energy. Too bad we aren't doing the same.

Representative Sample: For all the talk about the “Republican war on science,” the Democrats remain in thrall to an environmental lobby that wants to push for forms of alternative energy that will never be able to meet America’s needs.

3. "KA-BOOM: "Ninety-Percent" Lie Goes Up in Smoke" Nonsense about U.S. guns being the main source of weapons for Mexican drug gangs debunked.

Representative Sample: Shockingly, cartels that exist to smuggle large quantities of illegal drugs internationally also have the ability to smuggle large quantities of illegal weapons internationally as well. Who knew?

4. "My top 10: books anyone interested in U.S. military history should read'" My list would be different, but I'd highly recommend two that Rick's mentions: Battle Cry of Freedom, and With the Old Breed. I've read each several times.

Representative Sample: These are my picks-books that I loved. Your choices may be very different. Keeping yourself to just ten, what would they be

5. "Donut Dipsh*ts" An interesting example of reading a news story, thinking one thing, and dramatically changing your opinion part way through.

Representative Sample: An Arab-American owner of a Chicago-area Dunkin' Donuts store has to give up his franchise after he lost his long-running legal battle with the restaurant chain over his religious objections to selling pork products.

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