Saturday link dump

[tangaroa]

• The U.S. government is starting to oppose the common business practice of defining workers as "independent contractors" so as to avoid paying their wage taxes.
• The New York Times reports on judicial incompetence in small-town courts.
• Islamic terrorists have bombed a German bakery in the Indian city of Pune.
• A Texan man facing a tax audit burned down his house and flew his plane into the regional I.R.S. center, killing one.
• Christopher Hitchens slams Amnesty International for allying with Taliban supporters. Also, Amnesty Asia/Pacific director Sam Zafiri has written in support of Amnesty activist Gita Saghal, who was suspended for criticizing Amnesty's actions.
• Italian cooking show host Beppe Bigazzi was suspended for discussing his experience cooking and eating cats. Apparently it was not as uncommon for the poor to eat them back in his day.
• A school district in Pennsylvania gave students computers to take home and then used the computers' webcams to spy on the students.
• An Atlanta woman was jailed for questioning a questionable order from a police officer.