]... The electronics industry's attitude toward the labels is summed
] up by an Apple slogan: Rip. Mix. Burn. Which, a music industry
] executive once told me, translates into "Fuck you, record labels"

A bunch of articles this month on this... the one on Sony is
particularly interesting -- the interests of its electronics and music units are inherently in conflict.

Apparently, Sony is getting ready to unveil a new version of
their OpenMG DRM tech at CES; they want to get some groundswell
and support from the rest of the industry before Palladium
gets into full swing. dmv notes that Sony has not been
really successful at this in the past.

CD sales were down 11% last year. I'd really like to see the
real breakdown as to how much is due to Kazaa and friends,
how much is due to the economy and how much is due to the
industry's product being increasingly poor.

Rip, Mix, Burn: The Fall of the Music Industry (Wired 11.02)

] ""The Defense Department claims 12 nations with nuclear
] weapons programs, 13 with biological weapons, 16 with
] chemical weapons, and 28 with ballistic missiles as
] existing and emerging threats to the United States. But
] only one of those countries sits atop the second largest
] oil reserves in the world."
]
] # Charles Peña, Senior Defense Policy Fellow of the Cato
] Institute, for The Chicago Tribune
]
] NEW YORK--The American invasion of Iraq promises to be a
] blockbuster. They've designed the logos, focus-grouped
] the test audiences, and run the trailers. At this late
] date Bush wouldn't dare disappoint us with a boring old
] peace agreement. There's just one thing still missing
] from the script: the happy ending."
]
] "What about oil?"

IRAQ: ANOTHER FAKE LIBERATION

] "The Massachusetts Institute of Technology walked away
] from a $404,000 study because the government wanted to
] restrict participation by foreign students. Other
] universities are balking at demands that the government
] check research in the name of national security before
] scientists can publish or even talk about it."
...
] "The Bush administration and scientists alike are
] struggling with how to balance openness against the fear
] that all sorts of research could help terrorists "

I still don't understand why we just don't stop pissing everyone else off. That might be a good first start to reducing terrorism. Duh.

Could fear of terror muzzle science?

] "Al-Jazeera, the Arab satellite television channel known
] to broadcast statements from Osama bin Laden (news - web
] sites), will reach out to the West starting in February
] with an English-language Web site. "

Yes!

I've been craving the opportunity to read the Al-Jazeera news stories directly, and not just be limited to excerpted bits from BBC and CNN. I have yet to find a good online translator that would convert Arabic websites into something English-readable. So it'll be great to get Arabic news from the source (or at least closer to the source).

Al-Jazeera to provide English-language Web site

] "The Saturday, the Hangyore newspaper in Seoul Korea
] carried a front-page article entitled, "Youth Politics of
] the IT Generation Won," on the role of network
] connectivity in the recent election. Young supporters of
] No Mu-hyon flooded the internet with e-mails and
] saturated text messaging services with calls to get out
] the vote for No Mu-hyon. The article noted claims by
] information technology columnist Sin Tong-nyo'k': that
] information and power in the mass media and
] representative democracy were in the past vested in a
] minority, but have been conferred on the majority by the
] internet."

Wow... Now South Korea is considerably more wired then the United States, so this is a window into the future.

Smart Mobs turn election in South Korea

] "Iraq's 11,000-page report to the UN Security Council
] lists 150 foreign companies, including some from America,
] Britain, Germany and France, that supported Saddam
] Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programme, a German
] newspaper said yesterday."

U.S. and Foreign corporations implicated in extensively assisting Saddam Hussein prior to 1991.

Independent - Leaked report says German and US firms supplied arms to Saddam

Decius wrote:
] ] "Hundreds of Iranian and other Middle East citizens were
] ] in southern California jails on Wednesday after coming
] ] forward to comply with a new rule to register with
] ] immigration authorities only to wind up handcuffed and
] ] behind bars."
]
] This is just stupid. If you were a terrorist would YOU show up
] for the INS roundup?

This is so unbelievably fucked up I can't believe it. I was just speculating yesterday that these rules reminded me of the Japanese internments and could possibly be a precursor. But, honestly, I didn't think they would actually go and put these people in jail. This is horrible. Our country is on the brink of some serious problems.

Please take action by expressing your feelings to your government representatives.

RE: Yahoo! News - Hundreds of Muslim Immigrants Rounded Up in Calif.

The Bush administration's position in California, it's worth noting, is in sharp contrast to its policy in Florida. Bush has pledged $235 million to buy out similar leases in the coastal waters of Gov. Jeb Bush's Florida. But Bush owes nothing to California, a state that not only went for Gore in 2000, but even eschewed the so-called Bush effect that dominated this year's elections in other states, electing Democrats to the state's highest offices from governor to treasurer.

Yet another example of the current administration pushing the agenda of their backers over the will and rights of the states and citizens of the United States. I would say "Re-Elect Gore in 2004" but he isn't running, so instead I'll fervently say, "Vote Anti-Bush in 2004."

Dolemite

[ Oil Fucks. --Rek ]

Bush to California: Choke on this

Good. Loser boy is gone. Not that there is much chance this commission will find anything, but at least a person with a known integrity problem isn't leading it.

Now, if only Poindexter would get dumped...

Yahoo! News - Kissinger Resigns as Head of Sept. 11 Commission

Comparing current government policy to bad television reception.

dubyadubyadubya.com - Technical Difficulties