I stand completely amazed that the average Salon reader does not know off the top of their head the ballpark price of loaf bread and gallon of milk. Nobody compares prices? Nobody else has groaned as they watched the price of once cheap staples steadly rise? No one else has decided to caught back on other items, because the price of staples is eatting away at the grocery budget? So much for the underlying prinicples that are suppose to drive a Capitistic society.

On second thought I'm not surprised. We are a nation in debt up to our eyeballs. I remain one of the very few American's who carries no debt other then my home and car. So why should I be surprised when my fellow American's think it is a silly idea that they, much anyone else, should have a clue how much some of the most basic and often purchased items cost. They figure it doesn't matter, because they will probably just charge it.

If the emails under question contained no evidence of illigal activies or were not themselves illigal because they used a non-government account for official business to bypass being eventually open to the public to read, then the RNC would have stopped at nothing to find to those emails. The RNC and Bush officials are well aware how bad this makes them look, and that it leads to the possiblity that Congress might end up subponening their email backups and go through them themselves if they don't produce something soon, which I would think is the last thing they would want.

My guess is that there is something pretty bad in those emails and the RNC is trying to figure out what is the least they can hand over and stop Congress from actually getting their hands on a whole lot more. I wonder who will be the next Presidential aide to take a bullet for Karl.

This article neglects the important question of when should copywrited works enter the public domain. Theodor Seuss Geisel aka Dr Seuss has been dead for over 15 years. The bulk of Geisel's most popular works were written in the 50's and 60's with the lions share being 50+ years old. At one point do we say that an author and his heirs have realized sufficient profit for the creative effort put forth and it is time to allow the works to be utilized by others in new and creative ways?

Corporations and Individuals who expand years of effort and major monetary investments are only allowed 20 years to realize profits before others are allowed to use their work. Why then do we protect works whose creation is often measured in months and sometime only minutes for the life of the author plus 70 years? While I am sympathetic to individual authors whose financial reward are often slim recieving royalties during their lifetime, I have little sympathy for the idea that their children, grand children, great grand childen and great great grandchilden are entitled to the royalties as well. At some point we need to say that the common good outweighs the claims of members of the lucky sperm club who happen to be decendents of an individual who produced popular works.

Reading this dishearting article reminded me of a scene from the early 80's cult classic, "Liquid Sky". A female character whose girlfriend is a very abusive and dominering women, listlessly recites, "Don't sleep with men because they will walk all over. Instead sleep with women. Then women will walk all over you."