- Pew Research Center: Unusually Wide Gap in ‘Satisfaction,’ ‘Right Direction’ Measures – Historically, a significant gap in this direction is far less common than the reverse. In the second half of 1991, as the economy deteroriated, the percentage saying they were satisfied with national conditions significantly outpaced the percentage saying the country was headed in the right direction. In the final years of the Clinton administration (March 1998 through January 2001), a period marked by particularly high levels of satisfaction overall, public beliefs that the country was headed in the right direction consistently lagged behind overall satisfaction. This gap was most pronounced in January 1999 in the midst of Clinton's impeachment trial: At that time, 70% said they were satisfied with the way things were going in the country (among the highest percentages in the 19-year period), while 49% said they felt the country was headed in the right direction.
- Gen Y Says: "I Want My Social TV!" – ReadWriteWeb – New research from Park Associates found that many Gen Y TV viewers are ready for a change when it comes to their television-watching experience. According to a recent report, over one-fourth of users ages 18-24 are interested in having more social media features integrated into their TV. This data should come as good news to companies like Verizon and Yahoo!, both of whom have been pushing their new social networking widgets. But it also has broader implications that go beyond kids just wanting Facebook on their TV. The study found that there's a desire to use social networking as a platform to actually enhance the TV-watching experience through interactive chats with other viewers and the ability to recommend shows to friends.
- Pew Research Center: The Phantom Recovery – A new Pew Research Center report finds that for the typical American household, the Great Recession that began more than a year ago came on the heels of a less dramatic but equally unusual economic phenomenon: a Phantom Recovery.
- GOOD » Our “Dead Pledge” Crisis» – “Mort” comes from the Latin for “dead” and “gage” from the Latin for “pledge.” So a mortgage is a “dead pledge.” It’s dead in two ways: the property is “dead” to the creditor once the debtor paid off the loan, and, if the loan is not paid off, the property was “dead” to the creditor.
- South of the Border—By Scott Horton (Harper’s Magazine) – If you track the same story from the Mexican side (reading La Reforma from time to time can provide that perspective), you get a far more realistic take. The problem, in their view, is us. Criminal syndicates based in Mexico have come to control the drug traffic inside the United States. They have gorged themselves on American cash and armed themselves with lethal assault weapons procured on the largely unrestricted American gun market. Mexican law enforcement is no match for them. And these problems would not exist but for the United States.
- Internet Slang Dictionary – If you are not sure what it means, try searching here.
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