Two kinds of bills run the world, or at least the American slice of it: appropriations acts, which give agencies their budgets, and authorization acts, which tell them how to use them and what they are allowed to do. The bill that authorizes all of the United States’ intelligence activities has been making its way through Congress all year, but now has hit a major roadblock in the Senate, as one Senator has taken a stand against some of its surveillance provisions. [More]
intelligence
Senator Holds Up Intelligence Authorization Bill Over FBI Digital Surveillance Provisions
By 6.28.16
Controversial Cybersecurity Bill Makes It Into Omnibus, Will Basically Be Law Any Minute Now
By 12.18.15
We are rapidly running out of 2015 left to spend, and so the two houses of Congress have been racing to pass an omnibus spending bill that will keep the government funded and the lights on. Because that bill is a must-pass piece of legislation, all kinds of crap has been added, taken away, and snuck back in as we come down to the wire. Among the other bills that have been tacked on is a controversial piece of cybersecurity legislation that has privacy and consumer advocates worried all around. [More]
Researchers Link Processed Food To Lower IQs In Kids
By 2.8.11
It could be that munching on processed foods packed with fat and sugar may make kids a bit less intelligent. British researchers have found 3-year-olds who munch on such grub tend to have a slightly lower IQ when they reach age 8. Meanwhile, 3-year-olds with healthier diets were shown to have higher IQs five years later. [More]
How To Raise A Smarter Kid
By 4.18.09
It turns out kids in wealthier homes have higher IQs, not because of genetics but because of environment. Surely you can be frugal (or just plain poor) and raise a smart one? A psychology professor suggests you focus on praising effort over achievement, and teach delayed gratification—something that also helps when it comes to financial responsibility, so it’s a win/win skill. You should also explain that IQ is expandable, not inherent: “Students exposed to that idea work harder and get better grades.”
Chocolate Makes Us More Mensa
By 5.31.06
When we reported that squirting the fudgy nourishment from the chocolate teat into your mouth by the gallon counter-intuitively , many of our readers, cramming a last 100 Grand Bar in between their cavity-laced teeth, immediately defenestrated themselves. This led to a marked plunge in our readership, so much so that we were commanded from on high to find something good and quasi-scientific to say about our pal the cocoa bean.
