Saturday link dump

[tangaroa]

• A plane crash killed a large fraction of the Polish leadership and dozens of dignitaries who were on a ceremonial mission to recognize the Katyn Forest Massacre of 1940.
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ordered the jailing of a judge for releasing a political opponent of his who had been jailed before trial for longer than Venezuelan law allows.
• The Service Employees International Union is forming a new party in North Carolina.
• The British Army placed replica mosques on a firing range. Strangely, the Daily Mail has the best coverage of this story that I've found, with fellow worthless tabloid the Mirror adding a picture of the range in use. The mainstream sources seem to consider this a non-story.
• Israel is pressing espionage charges against soldier Anat Kam who sent Army documents to Ha'aretz journalist Uri Blau. Also:
  • Blau has fled the country and Israel has imposed a gag order on the press.
  • Lisa Goldman of the Forward reports on the state censorship order.
  • Yossi Melman of Ha'aretz questions the severity of the charges.
  • Dmitry Reider of Ha'aretz has translated the indictment against Kam.
  • The Forward has a statement from Blau who says the case regards published reports of his that had been approved by military censors.
• U.S. President Barack Obama has authorized the assassination of Anwar Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who is currently the spiritual leader of al-Qaeda and whose lectures on the Constants on the Path of Jihad are widely cited as justification for terrorism.
• Ta-Nehesi Coates blasts the Republicans as the party of intentionally stupid people.
• The Jerusalem Post has further clarification of Amnesty International's apparent endorsement of "defensive jihad", specifically referring to the Taliban's invasion of Afghanistan.
• The Washington Independent has a short interview with Federal Reserve Consumer Advisory Council member Diane Thompson who claims to have alerted Alan Greenspan to the housing market bubble as early as 2003.
• Muslim Aid, a charity endorsed by Prince Charles and Prime Minister Gordon Brown, is accused of spending over half a million pounds to fund terrorism. The suspect funding is one fiftieth of the organization's total income.
• Online retailer GameStation found that nearly 90% of their customers do not read the terms of electronic contracts. The importance is that people so easily agree to such contracts that have the same force of law as a written and signed contract.
• The Economist calls for copyright terms to be reduced.