Until now, the Afghanistan economy has been driven in large part by the poppy crop…which yields such world-wide fan favorites as opium, heroin and a host of other illicit substances.

But now…things may be changing for the better.

US interests have identified over $1 trillion in natural resources and it could mean significant positive change for this war torn region.

From NY Times:

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.

The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.

But, of course, one wonders what the Taliban will do?

Here’s more…

The corruption that is already rampant in the Karzai government could also be amplified by the new wealth, particularly if a handful of well-connected oligarchs, some with personal ties to the president, gain control of the resources. Just last year, Afghanistan’s minister of mines was accused by American officials of accepting a $30 million bribe to award China the rights to develop its copper mine. The minister has since been replaced.

Endless fights could erupt between the central government in Kabul and provincial and tribal leaders in mineral-rich districts. Afghanistan has a national mining law, written with the help of advisers from the World Bank, but it has never faced a serious challenge.

“No one has tested that law; no one knows how it will stand up in a fight between the central government and the provinces,” observed Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business and leader of the Pentagon team that discovered the deposits.

More as it develops…

UPDATE:
This from commenter davidlosangeles:

That said, this is not really new. All that the USGS did was use maps developed by the USSR during *its* occupation of Afghanistan. The US government has known about these reserves for 20 years. The world economy is in the dumps, there is not really a huge demand for more iron ore deposits over the short term (maybe a decade or two in future things might be different).

I wouldn’t be so sure. Looks like a lot more than just iron has been identified and even though the US used USSR’s maps, that doesn’t mean it had been fully explored. They started in 2006 and just now have been able to estimate what lies beneath.

Regardless, this could be huge for the Afghanistan economy and we all know the Taliban wouldn’t have done anything about it. So the war could have a silver (or iron, or copper, or lithium…) lining after all.

(Photo: NY Times)

Over the past two years I wrote, produced and directed a film called “We Will Make You Whole Again” with my co-director, editor and cinematographer Trevor Hawkins of Mammoth Media. Some of you know this because a couple months back I shared the trailer for the film and told you a little bit about what it was all about.

So now I wanted to make sure you knew that the film is available for download for just $5.

Still, why should you spend your hard earned money to watch it? After all, it’s just another short film.

Well, here are some reasons why you should take the leap:

1. The themes of illegal immigration, sexual identity, domestic terrorism, the casualties of war and a post-racial society are definitely top of mind these days, and the film explores all of these through characters who are universally relatable yet also surprisingly unique.
2. In the increasingly noisy world of radio shock jocks and talking heads, the film only has one line of dialogue and is driven almost entirely by an original score, which has been described by the Kansas City Star as “melancholic, majestic, ethereal, ominous, somber and beautiful.”
3. The title of the film comes from a phrase an Exxon representative said to fisherman in Alaska during their very first meeting back in 1989. And our film premiered about a week before the current tragedy in the Gulf struck. Eerie timing to say the least.
4. Maybe I’m naive, but I believe the work I produce has value. In particular, when I work this long and hard on something, I think giving it away for free is silly. And I hope you know that I wouldn’t ask you to spend $5 to purchase this film if I didn’t think it was worth it. So while I won’t guarantee that everybody who watches it will enjoy it, I’m confident that the vast majority will.

But hey, don’t just take my word for it. The following are reviews from some folks who’ve seen it locally here in Kansas City…

The Pitch:

Strangers cross paths. They brush shoulders or hold a glance a beat too long. In that brief moment, lives can be changed. By now, this set up is familiar — it’s a theme routinely seen in movies because it speaks volumes about the human condition. Kansas City acts as the backdrop for another such film, the beautifully shot We Will Make You Whole Again.

Shane Adams:

The movie is really great. They’ve did a terrific job telling a compelling story about 6 strangers that feel disconnected from the world and each other because of things like age, race, sexuality, gender, language and culture, while revealing the common, everyday actions and emotions that unite them all.

kckimchi:

enjoyed the local short film We Will Make You Whole Again (@wwmywa) + the Q&A w/ @jpgardner last night. Check it out if you haven’t yet

strangegirl76:

Saw @wwmywa last night & thought it was amazing! You can download it for $5. DO IT!

inaki:

Wow. Beautiful work. Really well done.

platterscratch:

@wwmywa moving and brilliant. Bravo.

As mentioned, the film is available for download for just $5. That gets you both a high quality .mov file that you can view on laptops and HDTVs and a medium quality .m4v file that you can use on most any portable media player, the most common being the iPod and iPhone.

So, if you’re a fan on independent film consider buying a copy. And if you’re a blogger, please consider writing about the film.

Thanks much and I hope you enjoy, “We Will Make You Whole Again.”

The doomsayers are out in full force today…which I find puzzling.

After all, the jobs report today, while not overtly positive, was still nearly 200,000 better than the previous month and one would think it could be seen as either neutral or slightly positive.

Yes, many of the jobs added were seasonal and created by the government…but that’s still money going back into the economy and job experience that folks didn’t have before. And, trust me, that’s a good thing for those workers.

And now we get a sign that states, who were seriously suffering the last two years, are actually bringing in more than they were spending.

From USA Today:

The fortunes of many governments could improve dramatically this year if the national economic recovery continues, a USA TODAY analysis found. A flood of federal stimulus money and a modest upturn in tax receipts have improved the health of states after two years of financial havoc.

Revenue has grown faster than spending for three straight quarters, reports the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Tax collections are up, too, although they remain below the peak of 2008.

“The turnaround is here, thankfully,” says North Carolina budget director Charlie Perusse.

Most states, cities and school districts are still struggling to balance budgets whacked in a recession that began in December 2007. But most signs provide rays of hope.

And here’s a look at the states’ spending over the past decade…

Long story short…we’re headed in the right direction. And don’t let anybody tell you differently.

Okay, so help me out here…

The jobs estimate came in about 70,000 less than what was expected, but we still added nearly 200,000 more jobs than in the previous month…which was the highest job growth in 4 years…and this is bad news?

Yes, the government added a lot of new workers…but they’re still jobs and they’re keeping people off the unemployment rolls, contributing money to the economy, etc. Also, the private sector is still adding jobs. Not as many as the market had hoped, but let’s remember what happened in May…

First, we had Greece’s credit rating downgraded to junk status. Yes, that was in late April, but its effects were really felt in early May.

Second, we had the terrorist bombing attempt in Times Square. Enough said.

Third, the market experienced a 1,000+ point drop in one day due to computer error, which only served to reinforce how fragile/flimsy our economic stability is.

And on top of all that…we’ve had the largest man made natural disaster in our nation’s history unfolding in the Gulf. That one happened in late April as well, but we didn’t realize the impact until early May.

Long story short…I’d say we’re actually doing okay for everything that’s been going on. Obviously today’s report wasn’t “good news,” but to characterize it as a overtly negative doesn’t seem like a fair shake. At worst, it’s neutral. Nothing to get excited about and nothing to get upset about.

When they say markets are emotional…they aren’t kidding.

(Photo: Getty via Daylife)

Good news on the job front from the Labor Department.

Looks like the big cities, where many of our jobs are, have seen decent drops in unemployment. In fact, 346 cities saw job growth while only 12 cities saw job losses. 14 didn’t see any growth or losses. In March, big cities saw growth in 257 locations and job losses in 89. So this is definitely great news for the majority of us.

Meanwhile, planned job cuts have dropped considerably. In fact, they’re now at pre-recession levels.

This morning, the outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said that planned payroll cuts were 38,810 in May — roughly the same level as in April, when job cuts hit a four-year low. It’s good news: Planned layoffs have stabilized close to their rate before the recession hit. As long as employers continue to add jobs to already winnowed payrolls, the unemployment rate should start to cede in the second half of the year.

“Announced job cuts have, for all intents and purposes, returned to pre-recession levels. What makes the low job-cut totals we have seen this spring particularly remarkable is that we still have not reached what is the slowest downsizing period of the year, which typically occurs during the summer months,” John Challenger, the company’s chief executive, said in a release. “It is difficult to imagine the pace of downsizing slowing even further, considering that the economy, while recovering, is still in a relatively fragile state. However, monthly job cuts may indeed continue to fall during the summer, when many businesses hold off on making dramatic staffing changes.”

But will the unemployment rate change that much? Probably not…but that’s actually a good thing. Because all of those folks who had stopped looking for work are now looking…and since more folks are now drawing unemployment benefits…this drives up the rate. And do know that this is why the unemployment rate should have been higher under the Bush administration…because people simply gave up.

More as it develops…

(Photo: Getty via Daylife)