Tucson man sued by music industry over downloaded songs | www.azstarnet.com ®

Tucson man sued by music industry over downloaded songs | www.azstarnet.com ®: "Jenni Engebretsen, a spokeswoman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said that since 1999 overall shipments of compact discs and other recordings are down 35 percent as a result of piracy."

Um... Jenni, have you heard about iTunes or any of the other legal music download services? Have you heard that legal music downloads now surpass CD sales?

Survey: XM, Sirius Should Pay More For Music - Forbes.com

Survey: XM, Sirius Should Pay More For Music - Forbes.com: "In a joint statement Thursday, XM and Sirius said: '?Consumers, artists and the recording industry all benefit from satellite radio's multi-billion dollar investment in a dynamic new promotional platform for music.

'?Together we have paid, and under our fair proposal, will continue to pay significant compensation to artists and their record companies. By contrast, our primary competition, terrestrial radio, pays nothing for the sound recordings it uses.'"


Maybe I'm missing something here, but how in hell is it fair terrestrialrial radio to pay no royalties for the music it broadcasts, while satellite radio has to pony up the bucks? Does exposure to the satellite audience cost the labels or artists anything? Puh-leeze!

And let's not forget that satellite radio offers its audience a much wider spectrum of music than is available on terrestrial radio. I reguarly and frequently buy songs from iTunes that I hear on Sirius. And the stuff I buy is stuff I will never hear on terrestrial radio.

This all smacks of yet another example that the major labels just don't have a clue. As a business move, their insistence on hanging on to the blockbuster mentality is flat-out stupid.

Bush says Rumsfeld is stepping down - Yahoo! News

Bush says Rumsfeld is stepping down - Yahoo! News: "And Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who had intervened in the past to shore up Rumsfeld, issued a statement saying, 'Washington must now work together in a bipartisan way — Republicans and Democrats — to outline the path to success in Iraq.'"

First things first: Good riddance Rummy.

As to Frist's comment...

OK, so NOW the strategy is bipartisan co-operation? Sheesh!

theferrett: Dear People In General

theferrett: Dear People In General: "Reach out. Part of whatever goodness we can manage to squeeze from government comes from creating bills that have to endure the give-and-take of debate, that have to acknowledge the other guy has a point, and - God forbid - even address that point sometimes. I'm not saying that you should be centrist, but rather common sensist. I think that's your only hope of retaining that precious power you've been granted, and my hope lies with you."

I wish I'd said that. I hope it will actually happen, but my breath-holding capacity is limited.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Editorial opens fire on Rumsfeld

BBC NEWS | Americas | Editorial opens fire on Rumsfeld: "In responses to the Vanity Fair article, several of those interviewed said they felt their comments were taken out of context - and had not expected them to be published until after the elections. "

Concerns over published comments taken out of context are legitimate. But the issue of the publication of the comments before the election is nothing more than another glaring example of party and ideological loyalty taking precedence over what's best for the country. And don't think for a moment that I'm so naive as to think that those on the Right are the only offenders.

An open, rational discussion about the difference between ideological loyalty and patriotism is long overdue.