HOT5 Daily 5/17/2010

1. "An obvious but muzzled truth: Islamist terrorism" Michael Barone analyzes why some think Americans need to be protected from the truth.

Representative Sample:these well-intentioned folk see the American people as a howling mob. They think that if Americans find out that Islamists are attacking us, they will go out and slaughter innocent Muslims. They think that Americans are incapable of understanding the simple truth that while most terrorists are Islamists, the large majority of Muslims are not terrorists.

2. "Left-Wing Think Progress Advocates Stripping Citizens of Constitutional Rights Without Benefit of Trial, Conviction, or Notice of Even Being A Suspect" The same people who support extensive "rights" for foreign terrorists.

Representative Sample: Their latest attempt is to use the fear of terrorism (without, of course, naming Muslims as the primary cause of terrorism, as that would not be politically correct) to advocate for the government to have the power to strip away the right of American citizens and resident aliens to purchase and own firearms with nothing more than the stroke of a bureaucrat's pen.

3. "Living in denial: When a sceptic isn't a sceptic" The difference between denial and skepticism, and why the two should not be conflated.

Representative Sample: Though the distinction between scepticism and denial is clear enough in principle, keeping them apart in the real world can be tricky. It has, for example, become fashionable in some circles for anyone who dares to challenge the climate science "consensus" to be tarred as a denier and heaved into a vat of feathers.

4. "Another Humiliation for the Obama Administration: Coddled Brazilian Regime Seeks Oil Deals with Iran" One foreign policy blunder after another.

Representative Sample: once again—as with Venezuela, Iran, Syria, and a lot of other countries, Obama’s efforts to suck up to radical regimes has backfired in making them more confident about defying U.S. policies and interests. At the same time, his backing, praise, and at times money has had no effect on making them more friendly to Washington.

5. "Science vs Norse Mythology" Where are the calls to teach this controversy?

Representative Sample: It's a cartoon.

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