That’s the proportion of the public that thinks that so far the U.S. troop surge is making things better in Iraq; a slightly larger number, 34%, think it will do so in the long run. By contrast, a 46%-plurality thinks it is not having any effect and 20% see it making things worse.

That’s the proportion of the general public in France, where a new president will be chosen on Sunday, who say they are either very concerned or somewhat concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism in their country. A somewhat smaller majority of French Muslims (59%) share that concern.

That’s the number of Americans who agree that “we should get even with any country that tries to take advantage of the United States” — the lowest number in favor of getting even against other countries in 20 years.

That’s the portion of Gen Nexters — Americans ages 18-25 — who say they exercise on at least a weekly basis — though not all Gen Next pastimes are healthy ones.

Four years after President Bush declared that “In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed,” a solid majority of the public (59%) says that the continuing military effort in Iraq is not going well. And, for the first time, a 51%-majority expresses the view that the United States will probably fail, or definitely fail, in establishing a stable democratic government in Iraq.

That’s the percentage of internet users who say they have downloaded a podcast so they can listen to or view it at a later time. This finding, based on a Pew Internet Project survey, represents an increase from the 7% of internet users who reported podcast downloading in February-April 2006 — though few report downloading podcasts with great frequency.

That’s the percentage of the public who could name the current vice president, Dick Cheney, in a recent Pew survey; In 1989, 74% of the public were able to identify Dan Quayle as the vice president.

That’s the percentage of American adults who oppose making it more difficult for women to obtain abortions — 35% favor such a move.

That’s the percentage of Americans who think young people do not have as strong a sense of right and wrong as they did 50 years ago. While nostalgia for the old days is far from new, this finding is substantially more negative than those recorded decades ago.