] A Record Industry Association survey suggests that an
] astonishing 40 per cent of us have received homemade CDs
] as gifts, typically four each during the past year.
]
] The industry wants us to feel bad about this. It says we
] are guilty of theft (or at least of receiving stolen
] goods). When three university students were sentenced
] last month for their role in creating a music download
] site the industry claimed they should have been treated
] as common criminals. "Clearly, if you steal this much
] music from the store you go to jail," a spokesman said.
]
] But creating CDs is different from stealing CDs from a
] store, and the industry's figures bear this out.
]
] The recording industry survey was carried out by Quantum
] Market Research using a sample of about 1000 people. It
] suggests that 31 million homemade CDs are given away as
] gifts each year (about four for each of the eight million
] Australians it says receive them). If, as seems
] reasonable, 31 million homemade CDs are kept rather than
] given away, the total number created each year would top
] 62 million.
]
] When something is stolen there is normally something
] missing. A dent of 62 million in CD sales in stores each
] year should be easy to spot. Except for this problem. CD
] sales in Australian stores have hardly ever been that
] high. They peaked at 63 million in 2001.

Forget the spin, taping is not killing music - www.smh.com.au

] Starting with the new year, police officers will be
] required to query the database to check on insurance
] anytime they pull someone over.
]
] The system was supposed to go into effect in 2002 and
] again in 2003, but both times there were extensions
] because the database wasn't ready.

Mike has bad luck.

Atlanta,Georgia,11Alive Insurance Cards No Longer Enough

] Steve Spurrier's stormy tenure with the Washington
] Redskins took a bizarre turn Tuesday, with the team
] saying he resigned -- and the head coach saying he
] didn't.

What a strange way to end a strange tenure at a strange team. Guy's a jerk anyway. That and Dave Weinstadt was kept at Miami, so that's interesting. Wonder where Spurrier will go. If Washington wants discipline, I know a good old-school coach who needs a job (Dan Reeves).

SI.com - NFL - Spurrier resigns Skins' head coach - Tuesday December 30, 2003 1:55PM

] So if jobs are scarce and wages are flat, who's
] benefiting from the economy's expansion? The direct gains
] are going largely to corporate profits, which rose at an
] annual rate of more than 40 percent in the third quarter.
] Indirectly, that means that gains are going to
] stockholders, who are the ultimate owners of corporate
] profits. (That is, if the gains don't go to self-dealing
] executives, but let's save that topic for another day.)

Here's our so-called recovery. Paul Krugman is like smart or something. END My So-Called Life Reference.

Op-Ed Columnist: Our So-Called Boom

] FedEx Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire
] Kinko's, the business services retailer, for $2.4 billion
] in cash.

Holy @$*&(@^#*! And I thought the UPS Store deal was big!

FedEx to buy Kinko's for $2.4 B in cash - Dec. 30, 2003

Decius wrote:
] Here is a direct link to the recent Gallup results on American
] opinions about the Iraq war. What you think of those opinions
] probably has a lot to do with how closely they resemble your
] opinions. The exception is the one Ryan pointed out... Do you
] think Sadam was involved with the 911 attacks? He wasn't and
] this is a simple factual measure of how confused you are about
] what is going on.
]
] The rate is as high now as it has ever been. A slight decrease
] in the number occurred in September when Bush said he wasn't
] involved, but now its right back up again, proving that the
] only thing worse then our grasp of the facts is our attention
] span.
]
] Campaign finance reform attacks the symptom and not the
] disease. We don't need campaign finance reform, we need voter
] clue reform. As long as so many people remain completely
] incapable of independent thought they will always be the
] victims of big marketing budgets.

Ryan: I absolutely agree. I wish there were some way to penalize people for lying in the mainstream media. The media lies, the people running the show lies. I just wish I could stop idiotic arguments before they start.

RE: Gallup Poll Analyses - Americans are clueless

Here is a direct link to the recent Gallup results on American opinions about the Iraq war. What you think of those opinions probably has a lot to do with how closely they resemble your opinions. The exception is the one Ryan pointed out... Do you think Sadam was involved with the 911 attacks? He wasn't and this is a simple factual measure of how confused you are about what is going on.

The rate is as high now as it has ever been. A slight decrease in the number occurred in September when Bush said he wasn't involved, but now its right back up again, proving that the only thing worse then our grasp of the facts is our attention span.

Campaign finance reform attacks the symptom and not the disease. We don't need campaign finance reform, we need voter clue reform. As long as so many people remain completely incapable of independent thought they will always be the victims of big marketing budgets.

Gallup Poll Analyses - Americans are clueless

] # On June 13, 2001, the House Appropriations Committee
] voted down an amendment by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
] that would have provided an additional $50 million for
] the Food Safety and Inspection Service to increase
] inspection of imported meat. The amendment was voted down
] by conservatives. [Source: House Appropriations Vote,
] 6/13/01]
]
]
] # An amendment by U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) in May of
] 2002 would have provided $35 million "for the Animal
] Plant Health Inspection Service toincrease protections
] against foot and mouth and mad cow disease." At the time,
] Kaptur "said it was a `miracle' the United States had not
] suffered an outbreak given the problems this year in
] Europe." Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman
] Henry Bonilla, R-Texas "said there was no need for the
] amendment " and "the amendment then failed on a 35-27
] vote." [Source: Congress Daily, 5/11/02]

Daily Kos || Political Analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation.

] Slightly more than half of the American public now
] believes Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the
] September 11th terrorist attacks.

53% according to the Gallup poll. This is a new one, from December 15-16 of this year. Ridiculous. I can't believe this still hasn't been cleared up.

The Gallup Organization

] Second, Dean faces a unique political situation that
] makes his alienation of any wing or faction in the Party
] particularly risky. For even though Dean’s primary performance has been remarkably strong, the Governor is going to have a harder time than usual uniting the Party behind him. First, his rejection of the Washington policy consensus has put him odds with much of the established Party hierarchy. Second, because there have been so many other deep and talented campaigns, the sheer number of Party leaders – political, elected, financial – committed to other candidates is much greater than in a typical presidential race. Bringing these folks into the fold so they feel like they are part of the Dean team while not alienating his leaders from the primaries is going to require an incredible degree of political dexterity.

New Democrat Network Blog is going to be running a series of posts "Making Sense of Dean." Their aim, I believe, it to make sense of Dean's campaign for the normal Dem who may be misled by the media's portrayals of his campaign.

NDN Blog: Making Sense of Dean - A Series