HOT5 Daily 5/11/2010

1. "What do you learn at terrorist training camp?" If this article is correct, not much other than some rudimentary stuff.

Representative Sample: today's terrorist training camps are not what they used to be. Sprawling al Qaeda camps complete with such amenities as firing ranges, like Tarnak Farms near Kandahar, Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is believed to have plotted the 9/11 attacks, are largely a thing of the past.

2. "Dealing with Pirates - Russia Makes them Walk the Plank" Not exactly, but the Russians have more sense than most on how to deal with captured pirates.

Representative Sample: A number of pirates have been simply released, either back ashore or back to their boats, after being disarmed of any weapons that they didn't already throw overboard themselves prior to capture. The Russians have come up with a nastier version of this tactic, basically abandoning the pirates far at sea with only the most basic of supplies.

3. "Gallup: A majority of Americans want SCOTUS to head in a more Conservative direction." If so, maybe they should stop voting for Democrats.

Representative Sample: With the idelogical shift reported by Gallup earlier this year, this new poll shouldn’t be all that surprising.

4. "10 Biggest Oil Spills in History + How Oil Breaks Down in H2O" Interesting.

Representative Sample: while natural oil seeps spill far more oil every year than the total of all human caused oil spills, nature finds a way to clean up after herself. In fact, nature even cleans up after human-caused oil spills.

5. "Afghanistan Grapples with "Honor Rape"" Not just for women.

Representative Sample: The herdsmen allegedly stole the men's guns and money and gang raped them in retribution for the 'dishonor' they had committed by having sex with the two young women.

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.

Thoughts on the Elena Kagan Nomination

It's hard to get too worked up about this Supreme Court nomination. First off, since we are replacing John Paul Stevens, it's not likely that we are going be stuck with someone much worse. Second, with Obama doing the nominating, we know that we are going to get someone either bad, or really bad. The question is, which category does Kagan fall into?

As many are now pointing out, there isn't a huge amount to go on when evaluating Kagan as a potential Supreme Court justice. I've been skimming through the left-wing blogosphere, and I don't see anyone cheering. Some are outright disappointed. That's a good sign. Unless new information comes out, I view this nomination much as I did that of Justice Sotomayor. We are replacing one liberal justice with another. Unless there is some way for the GOP to block the nomination and force the president to send a more moderate nominee -- and I don't think there is -- there's no point of a major Republican fight against Kagan.

HOT5 Daily 5/10/2010

1. "War Termination: More Messy?" Don't look for clear ends to our wars.

Representative Sample: decisive wars that provide definite resolution are rare for the simple reason that the given victory must be both overwhelming and psychologically and ideologically shocking to deprive an adversary of the will to continue.

2. "Uncle Sam: Baby Daddy" Now the government is going to provide kids not just with lunches, but dinners too.

Representative Sample: If you want to make the poor miserable, make government their Baby Daddy.

3. "are we born with a sense of right and wrong?" It seems like "right and wrong" is a bit of an overstatement, but the latest research is interesting.

Representative Sample: Contrary to some popular beliefs, a baby’s mind isn’t just an empty canvas waiting to be painted. Instead, their little minds are busy making sense of the world around them and their instincts are advanced enough to start distinguishing fair and unfair, which seems to be an evolutionary basis for more complex concepts in morality and ethics.

4. "Picture This: The U.S. Army Marches on Red Square" An amazing sight for those of us who grew up during the Cold War.

Representative Sample: this year’s military parade in Red Square is particularly unusual: It’s the first time active-duty U.S. troops have been invited to march in the ceremony. Pictured here are soldiers of Co. C, 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, part of the 170th Brigade Combat Team, in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow

5. "Lord Jesus Christ hit by car in Massachusetts" Really.

Representative Sample: Christ, who lives in Belchertown, was taken to the hospital after being hit in a downtown crosswalk. He was struck by a 2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by 20-year-old Brittany Cantarella and suffered minor facial injuries.

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.

Cutting Government

I know, it will never happen with Mr. Big Government in the White House, and Democrats controlling Congress. But let's pretend that one day we'll have a government actually interested in cutting spending. What areas would be prime targets for cuts? I noticed a column/video in USA Today taking up that proposition. Interestingly enough, it features two people from opposite sides of the political spectrum, Bob Beckel and Cal Thomas, finding some common ground on things that should be cut.  Here are their proposals with my comments on each.

1. Department of Education. This would be a prime target for me. Slash the federal education budget to the bone. We get very little return on the massive amounts of money dumped down this particular hole. Education should be primarily a state and local matter, with the federal government doing little more than setting some national standards.

2. Department of Agriculture. Another fat, bloated waste of money. Here's Beckel's comment.

Absolutely. Between 1996 and 2002, federal subsides to farmers have grown to $121 billion. In recent years, 72% of those subsidies went to huge corporate agribusinesses and the largest privately owned farms. So you have a symbiotic relationship between government and big farmers, but the American people are left holding the bill.

Those subsidies should be eliminated entirely.

3. Faith-based initiatives. Extremely dubious from a church/state separation perspective, and totally unnecessary. One of Bush's really bad ideas. I agree with Thomas and Beckel. Scrap the whole thing.

4. Future Bailouts. Saying no future bailouts isn't exactly a cut, although it's still a good idea. Beckel wants an exception for an "absolute national emergency," and defends the auto industry bailouts. The problem with that sort of exception is that bailouts are always justified by claiming an emergency, and by dire predictions of doom. Let the market work.

5. Defense Department. This is normally the only area of government that liberals want to cut, while expanding all the rest. But national defense is one of the few clearly necessary and justifiable roles of government, and therefore more worthy of funding than many other things. Having said that, there is all sorts of waste and overspending on defense that could be cut. Defense is a pork-project repository within a government addicted to pork projects.

6. Entitlement Spending. I was glad to see Beckel call for major reform of social security, including means testing and raising the payout age to 70 -- both excellent ideas in my opinion. We should also privatize the system as much as possible.

I rarely read USA Today and I was not aware of Beckel and Thomas' Common Ground feature. It looks like it might be worth checking out in the future. 

Welcome Words from Karzai

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has a column in today's Washington Post. It has a far different tone than his words a month ago when he actually threatened to join the Taliban. Today he emphasizes the common struggle of Afghanistan and the U.S. against terrorism, and thanks us for helping his country.

The many sacrifices of both Afghans and Americans have led to tremendous achievements. We are grateful for America's contributions and will always remember your resolve in standing by us. Now and during my visit to Washington this week, I hope to convey my deepest condolences to families of those who lost their lives in Afghanistan.

There is a some mild criticism regarding the continuing civilian casualty issue, but overall his message is extremely positive. Karzai is meeting with Obama on the 12th, and is apparently looking for approval for certain peace moves toward elements of the Taliban.

I remain skeptical of Karzai as an ally, but it is definitely nice to hear him at least saying the right things and acting like a friend, instead of an increasingly annoying problem. We'll see what comes of his meeting with Obama.

HOT5 Daily 5/9/2010

1. "Don’t Look To Generals To Revitalize the GOP" Shooting down suggestions about Petraeus for president.

Representative Sample: Republicans need to get real about 2012. Assuming no huge change in the world situation – a big assumption – we need a truly conservative candidate who is fully and unambiguously committed to the free market, to traditional values, and to a small, limited government. We need to work on leaders who will lead us where we want to go, and not pin our hopes for salvation on a true American hero who may not be quite as conservative as we imagine him to be.

2. "Somalia: Pirates Vs. Islamists–A Dispute Over Business" Bad on bad. Hopefully they'll kill as many of each other as possible.

Representative Sample: Shabab has their ports, and Hizbul Islam wants their ports. It totally makes business sense, and strategic sense, if they want to capitalize on all the piracy related operations going on out there.

3. "Reshaping the Catholic Church" The future is Africa & Latin America?

Representative Sample: while the church will survive these widespread scandals, it will probably end up being reshaped by them. In particular, Jenkins suggests that the abuse scandals will hasten a shift in the church's power from Europe to Africa and Latin America.

4. "As if we didn’t have enough to worry about already" A terrifying new weapon.

Representative Sample: Homeopathic bombs are comprised of 99.9% water but contain the merest trace element of explosive. The solution is then repeatedly diluted so as to leave only the memory of the explosive in the water molecules. According to the laws of homeopathy, the more that the water is diluted, the more powerful the bomb becomes.

5. "Little Kitten – Darth Vader Does Voice-Over For Tom-Tom GPS" Pretty funny.

Representative Sample: It's a video.

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.

HOT5 Daily 5/8/2010

1. "Only Democrats Are Allowed to Exploit a Crisis" One of the many things that's only bad if done by Republicans.

Representative Sample: It's painfully obvious how weak and ineffective Democrats are at fighting terrorism, so why on earth would Republicans not use such weakness to their advantage?

2. "From The Department Of Lipsticking The Pig Department..." Happy talk about a rise in unemployment. If Bush were still president, the same people talking about recovery would be non-stop doom & gloom and blaming Bush.

Representative Sample:Well, official unemployment jumped to 9.9% and U-6 unemployment is now at 17.1%. Is that bad news? Not if you're one of the drones, it isn't.

3. "The Further Left You Are the Less You Know About Economics:" Yeah, that's a big surprise.

Representative Sample: Those identifying as “libertarian” and “very conservative” were the most knowledgeable about basic economics. Those identifying as “Progressive” and “Liberal” were the worst.

4. "The Appalling Media Double Standard on Reporting Political Violence" Provides examples.

Representative Sample:The message from the media was clear: any violence against their liberal allies will be broadcast far and wide, and any threat or slur will be published as fact, no matter how dubious the claim. The reverse, sadly, is not true, and that is not a recent development.

5. "The Next Admirals' Revolt?" Over the future of the fleet.

Representative Sample: There's a battle shaping up between Defense Secretary Robert Gates and one of the most powerful constituencies in the defense community. We're referring to the United States Navy and those who have a stake in the composition (and construction) of our fleet.

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.