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I almost have to laugh at this. But, a proposal is afoot to require all employed persons in America submit biometric data as a control against illegal immigrants. This is part of an Immigration Bill now wending its way though the Senate.
The Wall Street Journal writes ID Card for Workers Is at Center of Immigration [...]

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Daniel Kahneman says a refusal to admit complexity leads people toward a simplistic view of their own self image. He sees a difference between our "experiencing selves" and our "remembering selves" and how these two “selves” perceive happiness. His insights have implications for economics, policy and our own sense of self.
Take a look.

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There is an easy way to donate in order to help victims of Tuesday’s earthquake in Haiti. The American Red Cross has set it up so that you can make $10 donations by cell phone. From your cell phone, send a text message to 90999 with the word "HAITI". You will get a text back [...]

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I am reminded of the 2002 Spielberg movie “Minority Report” when I think of the digital age, terrorism and privacy concerns.  The movie is interesting not just for its Big Brother overtones, but also because of its prescience on technology (some of the technology used in the movie, like multi-touch screens, are now in use). [...]

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Hat tip FiveThirtyEight.

once you remove the U.S., there’s a strong correlation between spending and life expectancy, and this is super-clear from the scatterplot.

For more information behind this chart, click the link below.
Source
Healthcare spending and life expectancy: a comparison of graphs – Andrew Gelman, Columbia University

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I must be incredibly sleep-deprived because my last post overlooked a critical case in the financial blogosphere where the same issues of blogging and government coercion are at issue.
I completely forgot that the Implode-o-Meter sites are taking an enormous hit right now because of their coverage on the housing bubble. You may recall, back in [...]

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Michael Arrington, a prolific blogger in the Tech community, has written a thoughtful piece on bloggers’ right/duty to protect confidential sources in the face of government pressure to do otherwise.  I’d like to post a portion of that article here and ask you what you think of his arguments.  He says:
Last week two bloggers, Steven [...]

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See also FT.com – Berlusconi assaulted at Milan rally

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Via the Telegraph:
From the moment that President Barack Obama – who has won the Nobel peace prize – entered the Oval Office, he made clear that resolving the conflict in the Middle East would be a key priority of his foreign policy.
His very first phone call was to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, and [...]

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After the arrest of suspects based in Colorado and New York in an alleged ‘varsity level’ terrorist plot, the spectre of terrorism in the United States has re-emerged as an issue, one that also has economic overtones because of the fragility of recovery. President Obama is following his predecessor George W. Bush in restricting civil [...]