"Rocks" -- yeah, something like that

Excellent expose of the ubiquitous "free iPod" "offer" which, if not a scam, is certainly a racket.

Also in the news, did you see the story about the planned Letterman baby kidnapping? Just another sign of the growing divide in the U.S. between the wealthy and privileged, on the one hand, and the increasingly desperate working-slash-lower class, on the other. I mean, where does this sort of thing happen? Brazil. Russia. Mexico.

In other words, this is a sign that the U.S. is becoming more and more like a third world country. Here's a free book title for somebody who wants to write a best-selling nonfiction book: Third World America. Subtitle: Desperation and Despair. Chapter headings: The rise in kidnapping. American brownfields. Public housing: the death of a dream. The disaster of public education. The angry working class. Spiritual escapism. Bread and circuses: celebrity trials, blockbuster cinema, and the decline of cultural literacy.

Okay, I'll stop.