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Consumer spending slowed and household finances weakened across all income levels last month. But households earning $100,000 a year or more reported shaving more off their spending than less well-off households did, according to a report released this week by Morning Consult, a decision intelligence company. The report also found that real monthly spending among U.S. adults fell by 4.3% from November to December. Even so, 21.3% of U.S. adults said their monthly expenses exceeded their monthly income in December, up from 19.2% in November. On average, households earning $100,000 a year or more said they spent about 10% less...

1) Good Christmas present for smart people. Somewhat complex sophistries are explained in simple terms. It’s fun knowing how this stuff works. 2) This book is a guidebook to what’s really going on in our public schools. Weird, unproven theories and methods are commonplace, such as Sight-words to teach reading, Constructivism to teach knowledge, Common Core Math to teach arithmetic, and so on. Once you understand these gimmicks, then you can fight back more successfully against the school system. 3) A group, whether 2 people or 20 people, can use this book to initiate and focus discussions. You can pick...

In which our host knocks down some of the myths surrounding Republicans and presents instead the Revolting Truth that they are smarter, kinder, more compassionate and more liberal than their Democrat counterparts. TRANSCRIPT: I’m Andrew Klavan and this is the Revolting Truth Everything you know about Republicans is wrong. That’s not because you’re stupid. Well, some of you are stupid. That guy over there looks like an idiot. But for the rest of you, it’s because the flow of important information in America has been largely monopolized by Democrats and Democrats lie. Because they’re Democrats. Reliable studies show that somewhere...

You know that line liberals love to lob at the Tea Party: you're stupid. Well, obviously that's not the case, nor has it ever been true. Now, a Yale professor has released some new research showing that the so-called "Tea Party radicals" are actually scientifically literate. Professor Dan M. Kahan of the psychology department at Yale says he was surprised to discover a positive correlation between science comprehension and members of the Tea Party: "Identifying with the Tea Party correlates positively (r = 0.05, p = 0.05) with scores on the science comprehension measure." "I've got to confess, though, I...

Over the past month, the crusaders at Zuccotti Park have braved the elements, tussled with police, and stood their ground against Mayor Bloomberg. But how much do the protesters actually know about the economic system that they're fighting to change? To find out, we asked 50 occupiers a series of questions about Wall Street, taxes, and government. The results were mixed. See if you can do better.

Dogs are cleverer than cats because their friendly character has helped them develop bigger brains, a study set to end the argument between pet lovers has shown. The intelligence of “a man’s best friend” has evolved at a greater rate than the less social cat over millions of years, scientists at Oxford University have claimed. It was often thought that the feline pet was smarter than its canine counterpart because it needed less attention but researchers have discovered that cat’s brains are smaller because they are less social.

Never again allow liberals to claim how brilliant and super evolved Obama is. Obama isn't even as smart as a 5th grader by his own admission. In His commencment speach at Hampton College he made a fact claim about his inability to operate standard devices as simple as an ipod and a Playstation. Kid's younger than the 5th grade are masters of such devices, and if we have a president who by his own admission is incapable of operating an ipod then I refuse to ever again make a claim as to Obama's proclaimed brilliance. Here's a short excerpt related...

LONDON – People playing computer games to train their brains might as well be playing Super Mario, new research suggests. In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive skills didn't get any smarter. Researchers recruited participants from viewers of the BBC's science show "Bang Goes the Theory." More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week. They were compared to more than 2,700...

Is Harry Reid Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? I wonder why it often appears that I know more about America's Constitution than the Representives who take an oath to uphold it on my behalf. This has never been more apparent than watching and listening to the House and the Senate Democrats attempt at passing unconstitutional legislation. What defines unconstitutional legislation? I would answer that any legislation the Constitution did not specifically grant Congress the power to legislate is unconstitutional. This definition begins with the very first passage in the Constitution after the preamble. Before examining that let’s review the preamble...

Much to the amazement of host Jeff Foxworthy, Barak Obama did not need to cheat off of his classmate's paper once or use any other help as he was able to correctly identify "2" as being a number and not an Egyptian hyrogliphic. This made Mr. Obama, "smarter than a fifth grader." Some controversy surrounds this result, however, as the network was not sure who to make the award check out to, Mr. Obama or his teleprompter. It is not clear what role the teleprompter played in the outcome. We had hoped to reach Mr. Obama for comment, but Mr....

Mitt Romney was credited with a political coup last Tuesday when it was announced that Wendy Long has joined his campaign as a senior legal advisor and vice chair of his National Faith and Values Steering Committee. Long is a familiar name to conservatives who follow the courts. She is chief counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, an organization of conservative lawyers that has played a critical role in the confirmation battles for appellate and Supreme Court judges including Sam Alito and John Roberts. She was a litigation partner with Kirkland & Ellis LLP and previously a law clerk to...

Smarter people are no better off 12:16 25 April 2007 NewScientist.com news service Roxanne Khamsi Contrary to common expectation, intelligence does not always predict financial wellbeing. Even though smart people earn more, on average, it does not protect them from financial difficulty. New research has found that people who score higher on intelligence tests end up with the same net worth as others when lifestyle factors are taken into account. And the study confirms that you don't have to be smart to be wealthy. The work reveals that while exceptionally smart individuals typically earn more, they are also more likely...

Lab mice with the mental retardation of Down syndrome got smarter after being fed a drug that strengthened brain circuits involved in learning and memory, researchers reported Sunday. After receiving once-daily doses of pentylenetetrazole, or PTZ, for 17 days, the mice could recognize objects and navigate mazes as well as normal mice did, researchers said. The improvements lasted up to two months after the drug was discontinued, according to the report in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Scientists said the study opened a promising avenue for research in a field that had seen little success.

A freedom-loving grizzly bear named Boo smashed a heavy steel door and barreled through two electric fences to escape a second time from a resort near this south-central British Columbia town. Boo was recaptured Friday, two weeks after breaking out of an artificial den at the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, but escaped from tighter confinement within a day, resort spokesman Michael Dalzell said Tuesday. "It's unbelievable," Dalzell said. "We thought there was no way, it was absolutely impossible, but he found a way. It was basically like breaking out of Fort Knox." He said the bear bashed a nearly 400-pound...

A large-scale study of brain development pinpoints the anatomical changes that are linked to IQ.The brains of more intelligent children appear to develop in a characteristic way, growing quickly over an extended period between the ages of 5 and 12. These findings -- some of the most detailed research on brain development and IQ -- resulted from a 15-year study done by the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH.) The study, which used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to gain a detailed picture of how the brains of children change over time, found that in kids who did better on standard...

Thursday, April 1, 2004 Home-schooled students win 'Envirothon' Winners move on in competition to foster environmental awareness By BERTRAND M. GUTIERREZ News Virginian STAUNTON - If your city had a river that constantly flooded, causing expensive property damage, what would you do about it? The question was one of many hurdles Valley high school students faced during the heated Envirothon competition in Gypsy Hill Park here Thursday. They may be students, but they could teach elected officials how to down-zone, hire an arborist or use hydroponics. These are the future stewards of communities, parks, lakes and forests, said Sandy Greene,...

****************************************** Sent in by listener Linda….. An eye-opener ... long, but well worth the read ... Yeah, those Hollywood celebs really know their stuff??? The Hollywood group is at it again. Holding antiwar rallies, screaming about the Bush Administration, running ads in major newspapers, defaming the President and his Cabinet every chance they get, to anyone and everyone who will listen. They publicly defile them and call them names, like "stupid, morons, and idiots." Jessica Lange went so far as to tell a crowd in Spain that she hates President Bush and is embarrassed to be an American. So, just...