On Friday, for the first time in history, ratings agency S&P downgraded America's credit rating from AAA to AA.

I believe it to be an ominous sign.  Ominous for those who lent to America's government, and perhaps ominous for lower and middle class Americans.

When was the last time you saw a news site that included:

Yes, one sentence.

And no, I'm not going to go the typical route and say something like "George Bush" or "Barack Obama" (although they have certainly contributed to the United States' current financial condition!)

I'm going to present a brief, concise argument.  Well, brief...at least by my standards! ;)

Recently, a very interesting study found a huge difference between the average IQ scores of users of different internet browsers.

Part One examined the results of the study.

These are the approximate average IQ scores associated with the identified internet browsers:

128:  Opera
126:  Camino
123:  IE with Chrome Frame
113:  Safari
111:  Chrome
107:  Firefox
  96:  IE 8
  90:  IE 9
  86:  IE 7
  83:  IE 6


How Do My Readers Compare?

Are my readers more intelligent than average, or less intelligent than average?

You'd probably like to get right to the results, right?  Well, I need to first provide some context! (And a bit of anticipation, hopefully!)

On Saturday, Fox News reported:

"An old geek adage has become much more believable as a new study has found evidence that Internet Explorer users are generally dumber than Chrome and Firefox users.

This article will shower some rare praise of mine on a journalist (for that matter, it's rare that I praise the logic of any public figure!), along with a bit of criticism.  Just a bit.

On July 15, 2011, Time Moneyland published an article by Zachary Karabell, titled: 

"The U.S. Is Not Drowning In Debt."

Karabell writes: 

Before I make my point, let me first provide some context:

Today, CNN reported: 

"Test results released in June showed that fewer than one quarter of all students are 'proficient' in American history.

Many of the fourth grade students asked about Lincoln on the tests could identify him, but few could say why he was an important president.

At the memorial in Washington, students who saw the president's image on a postcard identified the tall, bearded man as Lincoln. When asked why the 16th president was important, some answers were spot-on, some were entertaining -- and some were disheartening. 

One student said he was important because he had a beard.

Another said he was killed at a puppet show.

Their answers aren't surprising.

'The Nation's Report Card: U.S. History 2010,' the tests results report by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, showed 20% of fourth graders, 17% of eighth graders and 12% of 12th graders showed 'solid academic performance' on the tests."

Today, CNN reported: 

On Sunday, Joseph Curl of The Washington Times asked:

"Is Obama a Pathological Liar?"

He writes:

On Friday, The Washington Times reported:

"Organizers of a petition to suspend Maryland’s Dream Act collected more than 108,000 signatures, state elections officials said Friday.

Opponents of the law, which would allow in-state tuition for many illegal immigrants, collected 108,923 valid voter signatures in an effort to send the law to referendum, according to a final count by the State Board of Elections.

The total nearly doubled the 55,736 votes needed to suspend the law and force a November 2012 statewide vote, making it Maryland’s first successful statewide petition drive in 20 years."


So, let me get this straight.