HOT5 Daily 6/16/2010

1. "From Land Mines to Copper Mines" An optimistic look at the possible impact of Afghan resources.

Representative Sample: Countries with extraordinary mineral wealth -- think of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bolivia, and Iraq -- often have extraordinary economic and political ailments. Afghanistan has plenty of both, but that doesn't mean the country is irrevocably doomed to fall prey to what academics have dubbed "the resource curse" -- the idea that natural riches often create more problems than they solve.

2. "Great Thomas Sowell Essay: "Oil and Snake Oil"" Someone who sees right through administration bs.

Representative Sample: "This government is not about governing. It is about creating an impression. That worked on the campaign trail in 2008, but it is a disaster in the White House, where rhetoric is no substitute for reality."

3. "The Future Battlefield: The Advantage Has Now Swung Back in the Defender’s Favor" I'm extremely skeptical of that type of sweeping statement. But it's still interesting.

Representative Sample: Battlefield advantage has swung back in favor of the defender (see southern Lebanon, 2006; Route Irish, Baghdad, 2004-?), which is, after all, the historical norm. With the further maturation and proliferation of long-range precision guided weaponry and attendant open-source battle command networks, warfare may be entering the “post-power projection era.”

4. "UPDATE: The Lost Ark, Still Lost" Along with any evidence that there was ever a worldwide flood.

Representative Sample: This is far from the first claim that Noah’s ark has been found, and it’s doubtful that it will be the last. The search for the big boat is so neverending that a community of ark-search enthusiasts has grown around it, not unlike UFO enthusiasts who gather to rehash stories of Roswell and alien abductions. Some searches seem to crumble into nothing while others are revealed as deliberate hoaxes.

5. "Muslims in UK chant “British troops go to hell”, get hit with pork sausage!" Evidence that some people in Britain still have enough spine to resist radical Islamist internal enemies.

Representative Sample: The chants were drowned out by a large mob on the opposite side of the street who retaliated with jeers of ‘Traitors’ to the Muslim protesters.

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