What pitbulls can teach us about profiling
Malcom Gladwell has an excellent article in the New Yorker about profiling, stereotyping, and generalizations. The cool thing about the article is that he intelligently talks about why so many people feel that profiling is a good idea (say by focusing anti-terrorism searches on Arabs) and also shows why it (unintuitively to some) really isn't a good idea, all during a engrossing discussion of pitbulls and fatal dog attacks. It's a fascinating a highly recommended.
Gladwell's talk at Pop!Tech 2004 is available for audio download at ITConversations and is also recommended. Amusing and educational, he talks about the birth of the Aeron chair.