Can "Honesty cafes" work?

In an effort to stop corruption in Indonesia, the government has been opening “honesty cafes” by schools and offices. These venues work on the honor principle; instead of paying at the cashier, customers put money owed for purchases into “honesty boxes” in the shops.

April 25: World Malaria Day

There is a disease that annually sickens over half a billion people and kills one million, mostly children. By the turn of the century, this disease will be the world’s most deadly contagion.

It isn’t AIDS or Ebola or SARS. It’s malaria, a devious parasite that kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds, despite it being both a preventable and treatable disease.

BAM kicks off housing plan

The Obama administration launched their effort to help families at risk of losing their homes today and officials estimate the plan will help up to four million people avoid foreclosure (losing their home). The plan is also the most ambitious attempt since the Great Depression of the 1930’s to help troubled homeowners.

The downside? It will cost taxpayers about $75 billion.

The plan is much bolder and much more expensive than any of the Bush administration’s attempts to help homeowners from losing their homes when the economic trouble began.