HOT5 Daily 1/10/2010

1. "The Best We Are Going to Do?" Until we get a new administration, yeah, probably.

Representative Sample: Among Obama’s advisers (including his chief of staff and secretary of state) as well as his most dutiful pundit cheerleaders, the talk is still engagement-happy. Clinton says we are leaving the door open for the mullahs — just in case they want to give up their nukes and stop murdering their citizens. Rahm Emanuel speaks fondly of the Cairo speech as a great achievement, as if we are expected to avert our eyes from the results of their shockingly counterproductive Middle East policy.

2. "Unreal: US to allow thousands of “Diversity Visas” to be given out to immigrants from terror-sponsor countries" We wouldn't want to discriminate against terror supporters, would we?

Representative Sample: The State Department is planning to welcome thousands of immigrants from terror-watch list countries into the United States this year through a “diversity visa” lottery — a giant legal loophole some lawmakers say is a “serious national security threat” that has gone unchecked for years.

3. "Atheism or Critical Thinking" They don't necessarily go together. If they did, there wouldn't be so many atheists on the left.

Representative Sample: Is Atheism the same as Critical or Rational Thinking? Should atheists organise around atheism or around the ideas of rational thinking? It's a debate that crops up regularly in atheist circles. My view is that atheism and rational thinking are closely related but distinct things.

4. "Sea-Based BMD Gains Credibility"Advances in sea-based missile defense.

Representative Sample: A new direction for missile defense will continue to evolve in 2010, as what was once regarded as the stuff of fantasy becomes accepted as an essential component of defense and security.

5. "U.K.: Police Warns Woman Not To Defend Herself" Another example of why we don't need to be more like Europe.

Representative Sample: The United Kingdom, which once upon a time was a world power that ruled the seas and had colonies all over the globe, has made defending yourself and your two-year-old child from home intruders a crime.

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