The Daily Dozen

1. When economy sours, tootsie rolls soothe souls. "As unemployment has risen and 401(k)'s have shrunk, American adults have been consuming more candy." So is this an income effect or substitution effect? Is candy an inferior good or a low-cost substitute for high-cost comforts? What about the ice cream cone I ate after lunch yesterday?
2. Sunny side up. Optimism, it seems, is in the genes. And here I thought I learned to look on the bright side of things from my family.
3. Forensics fraud and evidence tampering?
4. Asus takes most reliable computer title from Apple. The only problems I've had with my Eee 901 have been due to software I installed. I just reinstalled XP on it and it works like a charm. Probably the least buggy computer I've ever owned.
5. Multisport adventure destinations from around the globe.
6. Rotary dials are gone, why not phone books? Hmm... maybe because not everyone uses a computer?
7. Brain images reveal the secret to higher IQ. The integrity of neural wiring is a big factor in determining intelligence. It's also inheritable.
8. Dead simple guide to beating procrastination.
9. Is legal scholarship dead? "American legal scholarship today is dead—totally dead, deader than at any time in the past thirty years. It is more dead, vastly and exponentially more dead, than critical legal studies was ever dead during its most dead period."
10. Do men and women read books differently?
11. In trouble times, vasectomies snip and prosper?
12. Oversaving does not lead to happiness. As I once heard someone say, "money is only good if it is spent." That doesn't mean never save, but whether it is for self-insurance, retirement, or to pass on to your heirs, the money you save is only useful if it spent at some point. Otherwise, it's just a pile of paper. Same goes for giving money away. Or to put it another way: "When you’re on your deathbed, how much time will you spend wistfully thinking, “If only I’d bought the smaller plasma TV. . . .”?" My basic financial advice is to live below your means and split the excess 1) practicing generosity; 2) saving; and 3) enjoying.