Riveting

Thanks to a blog publishing a personal letter, the hairs on my neck stood up as I read what it's like to survive a car-bomb.

The smoke and confusion clear—not necessarily in that order. Then something strange happens, and it may have to do with the divine luck of non-casualty. You’re alive, others are alive, and the bad guys failed. More powerful than fear, your blood pumps with the joyousness of survival.

Swarm Warfare

Interesting post on the "swarm" tactics of terrorists. Finishes with a very salient point about the world's population trends vis-a-vis religion.

... the National Intelligence Council pointed out that as aging secular centers of Europe continue into eclipse, the world ratio of believers to nonbelievers will begin to shift dramatically in favor of Christians and Muslims in the Third World. God, who Marx confidently predicted would soon be out of business, has turned the tables on him.

Guess what religion will be growing much larger in China and Nigeria? Perhaps not the one you think.

Economy rolling in the mideast

Apparently, 2004 was a good year for the stock markets in the Mideast. This interesting summary of ecomonic performance presents an optimistic picture of economies climbing. Also interesting is the decades-long problems of income growth in the Arab countries:

The per capita income in Arab countries grew at an annual rate of 0.5% over the past two decades--less than half the global average. Despite vast natural resources, a good educational system, adequate skilled labor and plenty of capital, which has largely been exported from the region, the standard of living in the Arab East has declined relative to the rest of the world. With very high birthrates, the region's labor force is increasing by over 3% a year--the fastest rate in the world.

With 80 million people living in poverty and 15% to 20% unemployment rates, the urgency of economic growth and job creation to absorb the growing labor force is vital.