Tufte goes to Washington 

 In case you have not heard, Edward Tufte  has been appointed  to the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel by President Obama. The mission statement of the Panel is: 
 To promote accountability by coordinating and conducting oversight of Recovery funds to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse and to foster transparency on Recovery spending by providing the public with accurate, user-friendly information.  

 It is hard to imagine a better person for this panel than Tufte. As  Feltron  said, this is wonderful news for data nerds, designers, and the general public.