IDF soldiers describe killing civilians

* "...the company commander ordered that an elderly Palestinian woman be shot and killed..." Ha'aretz analysis, also.
* World's biggest military spenders

* Provigil/Modafinil may be addictive

* Australia's internet censorship allegedly includes Wikileaks, gambling sites, regular porn and a dentist. ACMA claims it was a fake, re-iterates secrecy of the blacklist, $11,000 fines for illegal links. Wikileaks.
* Internet breaking juries, or at least the rules to keep them in the dark.

* Iceland's libertarian anarchy.
* Hunter-gatherer monumental complex. This is unexpected.
* Photos of abandoned Detroit schools. The ruins of Detroit.
* Modern fatwas on sex

* Utah tops online porn subscriptions.

Crisis and Stimulus

* House Minority leader thinks gov't should tighten its belt
* House Speaker Pelosi open to more stimulus. Note the three economists worried that the plan isn't big enoguh.

Then there's Krugman:
* Savings glut. Obama still dithering on how to save the banks. Plan too small, while the GOP urges tax cuts (but that's their answer to everything.) Europe's structural problems -- one currency, 16 governments, they can't coordinate spending that helps the whole area, or devalue say the Spanish currency. OTOH, their welfare states help prevent abject misery and buffer spending.

* Japan Reconsidered -- whee, we're following their exact same path! And a decade of sluggish growth seems not so bad compared to mass unemployment (photos). Krugman used to say a lot about Japan, back in the day. Mostly "you need more Keynes!" They never really listened.

* More on too small. Note Obama talks about creating 3.5 million jobs in two years, when we've lost over 4 million. The US faces a shortfall of $750 billion in demand; the stimulus is $800 billion over two years, much of which will be saved, not spent. Actually, some of that $800 will be spent over the decade. Oh, and that's an advisor to Reagan writing; he also advised McCain, while calling for a big stimulus back in October.

links: torture, prostitution, evangelicals, urinals

Hmm, when I follow actual news sites, rather than picking up random links, I get a lot more things I want to share. Funny, that.

* Leaked Red Cross report alleges torture in CIA camps.
* GOP chairman Rush Limbaugh Michael Steele hosts Bennett's radio show, comparing Obama to Nixo and denying global warming. A critique.

* Europe's crackdown on prostitution, vs. New Zealand's legalization. Despite claims, the number of women working under force doesn't seem much different. 80% of workers may be foreign but only 4% seem forcibly trafficked. High, but not the epidemic perceived.
* Self-immolation by Afghan women

* Israel's post-Gaza isolation, and Jewish anti-Zionism.

* Bill Richardson abolishes the death penalty in New Mexico but only for newly convicted criminals. So, no new additions to Death Row, but if you're already on it they'll take their chances on killing you anyway? What?
* Waterless urinals

* The most religious -- those who most believe in Heaven? -- fight hardest to stay alive, dying in more pain and further from their homes. My atheist parents died at home, in hospice. Something's wrong with this picture.
* El Salvador's evangelicals shift left. The FMLN did win, leftist president now. Time will tell if he's more like Chavez or Lula.
* US evangelicals allegedly collapsing. Christine Wicker tracks them.