2009

Al Jazeera's live blog covers escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, including rocket attacks and bombings. via Al Jazeera

One pig was used to make 185 products, including both food and non-food items. The book "PIG 05049" documents the surprising range of products derived from a single source.

via kottke.org

Mario Rizzo critiques Joseph Stiglitz's argument for replacing GDP with a new metric for social well-being, arguing that such a metric would be inherently subjective and open to politicization. via ThinkMarkets.

Kottke.org shares humorous modern-day versions of classic book titles and invites readers to create their own book covers. via kottke.org

Economist Tyler Cowen discusses the results of a survey that reveals varying levels of consensus among economists on US tax code issues. via Marginal Revolution

Tyler Cowen reviews Mark Kleiman's book, "When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment," which discusses crime rates in the context of risk assessment.

Calculate your chances of dying: while we double our chances of dying every eight years, the actual likelihood of dying in the next year increases slowly with age.

via Freakonomics

Jason Kottke thinks this shot by Roger Federer at the US Open is the most ridiculous tennis shot ever.

TorrentFreak reports on a court decision against Serie A, the rise of manga piracy, and the impact of site blocking on pay TV subscriptions in Uruguay. via TorrentFreak

Tyler Cowen of Marginal Revolution shares several links, including one about business regulation reform in Rwanda.

Tyler Cowen explores the motivations behind universities awarding honorary doctorates, considering factors such as donations, publicity, and securing commencement speakers. via The source of this content is Marginal REVOLUTION.

Alex Tabarrok of Marginal Revolution shares a historical anecdote about the Mulford Act of 1967, which banned carrying guns in public. via Marginal REVOLUTION