HOTT Newslinks December 16, 2008

Microsoft wants to get under your skin

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/04/ms_verimed/

Microsoft's HealthVault, the medical records database, is to be integrated with VeriMed's human-embedded RFID tags, allowing doctors to access the medical records of unconscious patients with a quick scan of the arm.
VeriMed consists of an RFID tag that is embedded in the arm of a hopefully willing participant, and responds with a 16-digital identity code when queried at 134KHz. This code can then be used to identify the person through VeriChip's website, and will soon be able to link to their medical records as stored on Microsoft's HealthVault system

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Evidence that the Fed Caused the Housing Boom

http://mises.org/story/3252

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Senate scandal snares Obama’s chief aide

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5337807.ece

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Federal Reserve sets stage for Weimar-style Hyperinflation

http://caps.fool.com/blogs/viewpost.aspx?bpid=119784&t=01006124249416869148

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Get ready for 'Toyota shock'

http://business.theage.com.au/business/world-business/get-ready-for-toyota-shock-20081215-6ydw.html

It will get even tougher as the yen bears the brunt of investors' fleeing risky assets. It is already at a 13-year high against the dollar. While governments in Jakarta and Seoul grapple with plunging currencies, Japanese policy makers are at a loss over how to stop the yen from approaching its postwar high of about 79 to the dollar.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4BE02720081215

Whether it's a Tiffany diamond or a three-year-old lawnmower, more and more Americans from all social classes are pawning their possessions to make ends meet.

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Many small banks waiting to access gov't funds

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Many-small-banks-waiting-to-apf-13826915.html

Many small community banks are growing frustrated about their inability to access the government's $700 billion financial rescue fund, nearly two months after large banks began tapping the fund for much-needed capital.

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