HOT5 Daily 1/25/2011

1. "Morning Bell: State of Denial" Including the same unsupported claims about how all the spending saved or created jobs.

Representative Sample: This is only President Barack Obama’s second State of the Union, but his failed economic agenda has already forced him into early reruns. After more than $800 billion in Keynesian economic stimulus spending, our nation is still mired in a post World War II record 20th consecutive month of near double digit unemployment. Our national deficit stands at $14.06 trillion and we may hit the $14.29 trillion debt ceiling as early as this spring. Our country desperately needs a change direction, but that is not what we will get

2. "10 Global Issues Obama Won't Talk About But Should" I don't know. Asking for Obama to pay more attention to foreign policy issues is probably a bad idea given his incompetence in that area.

Representative Sample: Mexico: Arguably, the most important foreign-policy question to the United States isn't Iran or Afghanistan or China -- but neighboring Mexico, where nearly 35,000 people have died over the last five years as a result of the raging narcowar. Since Mexican President Felipe Calderón began his crackdown on drug cartels in 2006, Mexico has been transformed -- and not necessarily for the better. The United States is intimately involved in the conflict

3. "The Chronicle Review Highlights Trite Anti-Atheist Memes" Atheism isn't just attacked from the religious right, but also the religious left. This is a good response to one particular piece.

Representative Sample: Asma’s argument doesn’t have much credibility to preserve and his title is only the beginning of his ad hominem. In fact, his piece covers all the memetic bases when it comes to baseless critiques of atheism. He smears atheists with Marx’s endorsement, then hammers home the stereotype of amorality with Khmer Rouge and Red Guard, stopping just short of Nazism, but not before the damage is done.

4. "Accidental gun deaths vs. accidental medical deaths" Interesting link to a comparison.

Representative Sample: PoliFacts Florida checks out the NRA statement that more people die from medical accidents than do from firearm accidents and rates it mostly true. Their conclusion is that the statement made is entirely true, although the data is imperfect, and the comparison only includes accidents.

5. "Activists Find It’s Easier to Slur Peter King than to Look in the Mirror" What else is new? Smears are a first resort.

Representative Sample: Ever since Rep. Peter King announced his plans to hold hearings on the influence of radical Islam on the rise of homegrown terrorism in this country, he has been subjected to a furious backlash from groups purporting to represent American Muslims and their cheerleaders in the media.

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