* Rachel Bronson on whether Saudi Arabia is the next domino to fall;

* Razib Khan on content farms;

* as Dylan Matthews observes, one gets the strong impression from this old James Miller article that Theodor Adorno was a pretty unpleasant fellow;

* Walter Russell Mead offers deep thoughts on Madison that will resonate with many Agenda readers;

* Suzanne Daley’s reporting on Sweden is confirming my prejudices about social democracy, which makes me want to read strong arguments from the other side;

* Steven Greenhouse, also writing in the NYT, offers an account of Indiana’s recent experience with public workers, which includes observations from an Indiana welfare worker that strain credulity;

* I’m disappointed that Bill Gates didn’t attribute the following idea to Rick Hess and Olivia Meeks:

What should policymakers do? One approach is to get more students in front of top teachers by identifying the top 25 percent of teachers and asking them to take on four or five more students. Part of the savings could then be used to give the top teachers a raise. (In a 2008 survey funded by the Gates Foundation, 83 percent of teachers said they would be happy to teach more students for more pay.) The rest of the savings could go toward improving teacher support and evaluation systems, to help more teachers become great.

but perhaps it’s more important to get the Gates imprimatur on the idea.