But for many of us in the media vagueness is worse than silence

But for many of us in the media, vagueness is worse than silence. Tiptoeing around the matter is only going to rouse our curiosity further.What did he actually do What was the extent of his cheating Now we're hearing about a third woman he was involved with Kalika Moquin , a club owner to whom Woods was introduced through Rachel Uchitel. We want rumors, crave details, confessions, pictures of Rachel Uchitel, what Kalika Moquin looks like in a bikini and with the internet, there's little stopping us from getting that information, least of all our own guilt.Tell us what the transgressions are, and we promise we will let you go. Reveal to us the extent of your cheating, and we'll consider backing down.Maybe.. Drop Leaves Monitor at 76.6; Economic Confidence and Spending Intentions ReachMonitor LowsRIVERWOODS, Ill.(Business Wire)The Discover U.S.

Spending Monitor fell for the fourth consecutive month inDecember, declining more than three points to a new low of 76.6 (based out of100). Both components of the monthly spending index - consumer confidence in theU.S. economy and consumer spending intent - reached new lows during the month,as concerns about the economy may be weighing on post-holiday spending plans. A record high 65 percent rated the economy as poor, and 70 percent said thingswere getting worse. A majority,55 percent, said their personal finances were getting worse in December.

The economic and financial angst consumers are feeling has them ratcheting downspending plans in January. Record Number of Consumers Plan on Cutting Back Discretionary SpendingAccording to the results of surveys conducted for the Monitor during December,the outlook for spending at the start of the New Year appears to be acontinuation of the belt-tightening consumers have been practicing over the lastfew months. Over one-third (34 percent) of consumers plan to spend less inJanuary. This compares to 22 percent in November and just 24 percent from a yearago. "While a post-holiday drop-off in spending intentions is expected, the 10-pointgap between this year and last years numbers may be an indication of howconsumers are feeling about the economy and the spending plans they are makingin light of the crisis," said Julie Loeger, senior vice president of brand andproduct management for Discover Financial Services. "The gap was a bitsurprising considering household expense expectations were much higher a yearago, but economic sentiment was clearly not as poor as it is now." Even as a record high 68 percent of consumers say they intend to have the sameor lower expectations for household expenses like gas and groceries in January,the relief from lower gas prices has not prevented a record high number ofconsumers from planning to pull back discretionary spending in every one of thespending categories tracked by the Monitor. Nearly 55 percent are trimmingdiscretionary and home improvement expenses, and 52 percent are holding off onmajor personal purchases.

All of these numbers were nearly three points higherthan last month. The only discretionary category that saw a planned increase inspending was savings and investing where 12 percent of consumers planned onsaving more, up 2 points from last month. More than 37 percent of the group claims that it willspend less in the first month of 2009. Thats up 17 points from last month andmore than 10 points from December 2007. Nearly 59 percent of this group intendsto cut discretionary spending in January 2009.