* "This is above all a moment of new possibilities in the Arab world, and indeed in the entire Middle East."
* Yeah, the surge in Afghanistan is looking a little familiar.
* "Much of the billions of dollars U.S. taxpayers are spending rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq is likely being wasted because no one is ensuring the contractors involved are doing a good job."
* Good read: Kevin Drum on identifying government waste.
* Credit where it's due: Supreme Court rules corporations do not have 'personal privacy' rights.
* By the numbers: naming the biggest modern dictators.
* Nifty chart of social programs being cut versus tax breaks for the wealthy.
* Drug state: "Doctors in Florida prescribe 10 times more oxycodone pills than every other state in the country combined."
* Whoah. Tracking IEDs in Afghanistan by scent.
