Slashdot Mirror

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294779,00.html

Hugs and kisses!!!!

And the right has an entire channel of the same thing. What's your point?

he initially promised to destroy those (in)famous WMDs within 12 months, for example, but still had them in 1997 and some remnants were even found in 2003-4.

Nothing was found. There were no weapons.

I wonder, if you worked for the Iraqi government... Let me roast your lying stomach on the burning rays of facts:

1997 The UN disarmament commission concludes that Iraq has continued to conceal information on biological and chemical weapons and missiles (Oct 23). Iraq expels American members of the UN inspection team (Nov. 13).

And then:

Jan. 16, 2003 UN inspectors discover 11 undeclared empty chemical warheads in Iraq.

And then, post-invastion:

Since 2003 Coalitions forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent.

Didn't you just post: "Nothing was found"? Oops...

We now proceed to the cold void darkness of your knowledge of Economics:

What triggered the invasion was the decision Saddam made in 2000 to stop using the US dollar as a reserve currency. The whole US economy is based on the US dollar being the world reserve currency and that status was threatened by Saddam.

Khmm, it does not even puzzle you, what we were objecting to before 2000, huh? I don't just mean the battles of 1991, but also those later Clinton-style operations... But, whatever, the truth remains is that as long as that euro (or yen) currency remains freely convertible into dollars, we don't really care. As long as those Kuwaitis and Saudis continue to spend their earnings (in whatever currency) investing in our companies, on our planes and automobiles, we don't care. And even if they chose to Japanese electronics or a Mercedes — that's fine too. As long as nothing threatens the free markets, America will prosper along with the better part of humanity.

It is now threatened by Iran and Venezuela... Expect "regime change" of some sort in both countries fairly soon. Coup, revolution, civil war or perhaps even invasion.

Both are rather overdue for regime change. If you dislike Bush, you should abhor Chavez. But to "earn" an invasion, they have to be messing (or threatening to mess) with the neighbors militarily. Iran does, and may, indeed, get it... Chavez tried to (help FARC), but stopped years ago and now confines himself to domestic matters — such as removing term-limits on (his) Presidency...

I have only one thing to say to all you naysayers and administration fanbois: Oh how easily we forget.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,79450,00.html

Fox News
February 24th, 2003
Iraqi Drones May Target U.S. Cities

WASHINGTON -- Iraq could be planning a chemical or biological attack on American cities through the use of remote-controlled "drone" planes equipped with GPS tracking maps, according to U.S. intelligence.

The information about Iraq's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program has caused a "real concern" among defense personnel, senior U.S. officials tell Fox News. They're worried that these vehicles have already been, or could be, transported inside the United States to be used in an attack, although there is no proof that this has happened.

Secretary of State Colin Powell showed a picture of a small drone plane during his presentation to the U.N. Security Council earlier this month.

"UAVs outfitted with spray tanks constitute an ideal method for launching a terrorist attack using biological weapons," Powell said during his speech. "Iraq could use these small UAVs, which have a wingspan of only a few meters, to deliver biological agents to its neighbors or, if transported, to other countries, including the United States.

[...]

Fool me once once, shame on me, fool me twice, sham... WILL NOT BE FOOLED AGAIN.

[...]Among the technology companies founded by foreign entrepreneurs are Sun Microsystems Inc., Intel Corp and Google Inc.

The study pointed out the contributions foreign entrepreneurs make to the American economy. It found that 25 percent of the companies founded in those 10 years had at least one senior executive a founder, chief executive, president or chief technology officer who was born outside the United States. The study was based on telephone surveys of 2,054 companies. In 2005 immigrant entrepreneurs companies generated $52 billion in sales.

Great idea, we need to encourage more kids to become politicians and lawyers so that our workers and businesses can compete more effectively against the Chinese, Indians, and Eastern Europeans.

On March 6, 2006 an accident occurred at Nuclear Fuel Services in Erwin, Tennessee.

Probably because they are trying to maximize their profits rather than trying to please one group or another.

Google found this about the gun sales: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,191818,00.html

If they felt that offering non-edited music would increase profits, they probably would do so.

At least that's what I'd do if I were running WalMart...

The lack of proof just shows that we are trying to skip that process and go directly into religious conviction.

Obviously, you are the one engaging in religious conviction because you choose to ignore the opinion of the vast majority of scientists involved in climate change research. You are the church in this not-very-useful religious analogy of yours, with your head buried in the sand and unwilling to accept the data.

To give you a little bit of perspective on just how far out of the scientific mainstream your religious beliefs are, even Fox News considers you to be part of a fringe group of man-made climate change deniers. Once we start to feel the effects of climate change in more obvious and profound ways, I'm sure "fringe group" will be substituted with "cult".

Good luck with your prayers.

During the "Political Grapevine" segment of the August 10 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, guest host and chief Washington correspondent Jim Angle reported that NASA was forced "to admit it was wrong when it said that 1998 was the hottest year on record".

A quick search on Foxnews show they mention that it is about the US only a few times.
Also it does not make 1934,1998 or 2005(what ever of thoses 3 years) the hottest year as the OP says, it makes it the hottest year in recent recorded time, guess we better start a new topic about that.

I know it's hip to hate Fox News... But the actual article describes the people denying global warming is man made as a "fringe group" and includes quotes from British researchers pointing out that it really doesn't matter on a global scale.

Just because you're a civil engineering student doesn't necessarily make you qualified. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292809,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292245,00.html

Ask and ye shall receive :)

A bit anti-climactic really.

Fox claims 100,000 years old. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292450,00.html

grabbing the cat by the tail in the first place was an unwise maneuver

Yes, we lost a lot of lives at D-Day. Were all those lives worth it?

... It was the fault of the hippies and the blame-America-first leftists ...

I never said that. I merely noted that this exists in our society. Peter Arnett was practically working for the enemy even before the first shot was fired. If you ignore this fact, you are ignoring truth.

That doesn't mean that the answer is for our leadership to send people into the meat grinder ...

I do not disagree. However, let's put this into perspective. Around "2,500 Americans and 3,000 other Allied troops died on D-Day. More than 19,000 civilians in Normandy also died in Allied bombing before and after D-Day to soften up German defenses. And Allied air forces lost nearly 12,000 men in April and May 1944 in operations ahead of the invasion..." This was just in one day!

From:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,121829,00.html

It was JFK who said "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

1. John Burge and others tortured suspects; public still funding their defense.
2. Anthony Abbate beat a 110 lbs. female bartender for refusing to serve him more alcohol.
3. Six cops beat up four men in a bar because they wanted to play pool.
4. Police Commissioner Phil Cline resigns as a result of above two incidents.
5. Cops beat four after police cruiser runs red light and almost hits one of the men.
6. citizens demand police officers be accountable to the public and not Chicago Police Department.
7. More than 800 complaints by citizens filed against CPD's Special operations section.

The vast majority of police are honest, hard-working people, but they _will_ break the law when it suits them. I've been witness to a Driving While Black incident and have also been illegally detained and searched because I was watching two cops shake down a girl I had recognized from the University. Sadly, incidents of police brutality, police shooting unarmed citizens and police harrassment of certain communities is not an exception, it's common practice in Chicago.

"...later published on Slashdot exposed sensitive content to thousands of members of the public today. The data included names, phone numbers, and email addresses of at least 1.5 million people."

"...the FTP account that was discovered provided access to records for around 1.5 million individuals, along with access to sensitive ZDNet business documents."

I can certainly see how my personal decision to use marijuana, whose health effects are considered to be "nil"--as compared to drinking and overeating--by all but the most rabidly distorted medical studies

Dr Smith works for a subcontractor now? That Jupiter2 gig must have finished.

Not only that, but his even newer job at Scaled Composites doesn't seem to have worked out, either . Not to joke, though. Looks like some people died today out in the Mojave at that facility.

Time to cut out the crap food, the too-big portions, the second helpings, and start starving yourself, because nothing else will work.

this is absolutely, unequivocally wrong in the majority of cases. i'm on a moderate diet where i feel great (my worst day on the diet is better than my best day on the average american carbohydrate fest), i have excess energy to play basketball twice a week, do cardio twice a week (or more) and lift weights three times a week (a nice side effect of my diet is i don't over produce lactic acid so when i picked up weights for the first time in 20 years, i didn't get sore like i did 20 years earlier in the high carbo diet - it is funny to see my muscular friends get all sore after a workout and me, the skinny guy, doesn't get sore). I'm losing about a lb of fat per week (8 lbs in 8 weeks, some water loss, some muscle gain to offset some fat loss). i'm just shy of 5'11", i weighed in at 170.5 lbs this morning - not bad for 40+ year old. i can tell i have about more lbs of fat to go until i have gotten 100% rid of the fat around my waist and behind. yes, that's an 8 pack at 40 plus. ny time frame is jan 1, 2008 - so i have plenty of time to lose the excess fat and offset some of the fat weight loss with muscle mass gains.

i've never felt better and...

i. don't. starve. i'm rarely hungry.

the diet is the ultimate moderate diet, too. it is called the zone diet. there is a plethora of information on the web about it. the former heaviest man in the world chose the zone diet over surgery and he lost 400 lbs in the first year.

http://www.drsears.com/zonemondaysfeatureopen.page ?zoneMondayID=284
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,257620,00.html

PBS scientific american did a study on diets and the Zone fared very well...

http://www.pbs.org/saf/1401/features/robin.htm

A 47 year old woman went from 247 to 2002 lbs in 6 months and, when asked what she liked best about the diet, Robin responded, "What I really like is how good you feel when you are "in the Zone". You are rarely hungry, and you just feel really, really good - it has a tremendous impact on your mood - unlike other diets I've been on"

notice, she didn't mention the 45 lbs gone, rather, she mentioned how she felt great on the diet and how this diet didn't leave her feeling hungry. this mirrors my personal experience. my worst day on the zone is better than my best day on the average american diet (on a physical, well being level, all else being equal).

>blockquote>
And no, you don't have a glandular problem - you got that way one bite at a time, just like everyone else.


i don't believe all people are created equal in how their bodies process food. for example, i'd bet my wife has eaten more food than i have and i know she exercises less, yet she weighs 130 and change and i weigh 170 and small change. if our bodies handled food equally, she should weigh more than i do.

we all know people who can eat pop tarts all day and not gain a pound and we know others who seemingly just look at food and add a pound.

everyone's body is genetically UNIQUE. the variation might be small or might be huge, it just depends. surely there are nurture issues to go along with the nature issues - it isn't a simple issue. my experience is that the zone diet tends to equalize the playing field - at least as far as excess fat loss, creating energy and a general feeling of well being.

the press erroneously refers to the zone as a "high protein" or "low carb" diet. both these descriptions are wrong. it is a protein moderate, carb moderate, monounsaturated fat moderate diet.

lean meats, vegetables, fruits and nuts are the zone staples (duh, it just make

Oddly enough, obesity seems to be mostly a disease of first world societies. Could it be that human evolved to live in an environment of scarcity and that in 2-3 generations we haven't yet managed to rewire ourselves to adjust to living in an environment of plenty.

No, the U.S. has been mostly a nation of plenty for a couple hundred years or more. Depending on how you count, that's easily 6-8 generations. Mass obesity has only come in the last generation or so. Most people are obese not because of genetics, laziness, or overconsumption. Most people are obese because for years we've been taught to eat incorrectly and because the quality of our food has taken a substantial decline.

If the obesity problem were simply a result of us not being used to availability of food, we would have seen nearly constant levels of obesity for the past two or three generations. Instead, we're seeing an order of magnitude increase in morbid obesity (>40% BMI) since the mid 1980s. We weren't all struggling to find food in the mid 1980s. If this study were done in the 1950s comparing against the 1930s (Great Depression), I might believe that explanation, but it just doesn't make sense in this day and age.

In reality, the mass obesity problem coincides perfectly with the rise of processed foods. This got worse after the U.S. government started giving huge corn subsidies and putting high import duties on sugar to encourage use of high fructose corn syrup. Fructose is processed by the body very quickly, but does not trigger the same insulin response as glucose. Thus, your body A. does not feel satiated, so you consume more, B. does not gain the metabolic surge that normally occurs in response to elevated insulin levels, and so does not use all that energy, C. stores the resulting excess energy as fat. Replacing that same amount of fructose with glucose will cause a significant weight loss.

Similarly, when your body consumes a large amount of food at once, it can't use it all immediately, so much of that energy gets stored. That's why consuming proteins are better for you than consuming sugars and starches from a weight perspective. Note: you should not eat all protein. You do need other stuff to prevent lots of colon problems later in life, and many sources of protein bring fat along for the ride, which is even worse than (at least complex) carbohydrates.

However, without changing what foods you eat at all, you can significantly reduce your weight by spreading it more evenly throughout the day. Fix yourself a normal lunch, but instead of eating the whole thing, put aside a third of it and consume it in mid-afternoon.

Case in point, I've tried exercise and diet with no success as all. However, I recently lost a substantial amount of weight while consuming substantially more calories than before. I replaced my usual HFCS-sweetened beverage at lunch with an entire extra meal later in the day, drinking only water and fruit juices. I'm guessing I now take in half again more calories, but I weigh ten or twelve pounds less (depending on the mood my digital scale is in) and have kept the weight off for a couple of months now.

Your mileage may vary, but it has been my experience that total calorie consumption is only a very small part of the obesity picture, and not the most important part by any means.

Oh, yeah, and don't get me started on diet sodas. They're even worse than HFCS-sweetened sodas at causing people to gain weight. (Source: University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio.) If you're overweight, switching from "diet" sodas to regular sodas might actually cause you to lose weight.... Talk about false advertising....

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290633,00.html

A potentially relationship-ending addiction?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290502,00.html

Voila

All you have to do is try to view a directory in a browser. If you get an index, you know it's on. If not, you know it's off or there's an index file. Examples: http://www.foxnews.com/story/ and http://www.foxnews.com/i/.

All you have to do is try to view a directory in a browser. If you get an index, you know it's on. If not, you know it's off or there's an index file. Examples: http://www.foxnews.com/story/ and http://www.foxnews.com/i/.

On July 11, 2007, the posted an article that talked about FTP and why it's bad. But they were concerned about anonymous access. Doh.

http://www.foxnews.com/admin/xml_parser/zdnet/ Apache/2.2.3 (Ubuntu) PHP/5.2.1 Server at www.foxnews.com Port 80 This is the page the author of the article said he accessed to get the shell script which he would not have gotten if the settings had the directory tree turned off and I feel is the authors point.

A rational person would believe that such an interpretation would never be upheld by the Supreme Court. but then, a rational person would never believe that the Supreme Court would countenance seizure of real estate by the government to be turned over to developers for economic gain.

And if people haven't noticed, there seems to be a complete absence of rational people in the District of Columbia these days.

Finally, you're old enough to rent a car.

If soda pop leads to Parkinson's and cirrhosis, then smoking tobacco with your Sprite should ease the Parkinson's threat. Even better - switch from soft drinks to hard drinks - your liver is at risk either way, but now your Parkinson's risk is much lower.

Of course, if it's cancer risk you're concerned with, you might smoke pot instead. Those who smoke only pot have less lung cancer than those who never smoke anything (although not that much less), apparently because THC itself prevents cancer. Will genetic engineering give us a smoke in the future that's high in both THC and nicotine, while minimizing the cancer promoters in tobacco? Or would nicotine's blood-vessel-promoting nature, which helps cancers, overcome THC's protective effect and outweigh nicotine's many positive health effects?

In any case, isn't it nice to know that when people like something, there's a good, healthy reason for it - even if there can be unintended consequences. Our instincts, at root, are good. That's how we've gotten so far.

But try photograph and/or videotape a police officer, and see what happens.

(They can have my camera when they pry it from my cold, dead hands)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284075,00.html

Straight Talk: Videotaping Police

Tuesday , June 19, 2007
By Radley Balko

Last month, Brian Kelly of Carlisle, Pa., was riding with a friend when the car he was in was pulled over by a local police officer. Kelly, an amateur videographer, had his video camera with him and decided to record the traffic stop.

The officer who pulled over the vehicle saw the camera and demanded Kelly hand it over. Kelly obliged. Soon after, six more police officers pulled up. They arrested Kelly on charges of violating an outdated Pennsylvania wiretapping law that forbids audio recordings of any second party without their permission. In this case, that party was the police officer.

Kelly was charged with a felony, spent 26 hours in jail, and faces up to 10 years in prison. All for merely recording a police officer, a public servant, while he was on the job.

There's been a rash of arrests of late for videotaping police, and it's a disturbing development. Last year, Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly threatened Internet activist Mary T. Jean with arrest and felony prosecution for posting a video to her website of state police swarming a home and arresting a man without a warrant.

Michael Gannon of New Hampshire was also arrested on felony wiretapping charges last year after recording a police officer who was being verbally abusive on his doorstep. Photojournalist Carlos Miller was arrested in February of this year after taking pictures of on-duty police officers in Miami.

And Philadelphia student Neftaly Cruz was arrested last year after he took pictures of a drug bust with his cell phone.

As noted, police are public servants, paid with taxpayer dollars. Not only that, but they're given extraordinary power and authority we don't give to other public servants: They're armed; they can make arrests; they're allowed to break the very laws they're paid to enforce; they can use lethal force for reasons other than self-defense; and, of course, the police are permitted to videotape us without our consent.

It's critical that we retain the right to record, videotape or photograph the police while they're on duty. Not only for symbolic reasons (when agents of the state can confiscate evidence of their own wrongdoing, you're treading on seriously perilous ground), but as an important check on police excesses. In the age of YouTube, video of police misconduct captured by private citizens can have an enormous impact.

Consider Eugene Siler. In 2005, the Campbell County, Tenn., man was confronted by five sheriff's deputies who (they say) suspected him of drug activity. Siler's wife surreptitiously switched on a tape recorder when the police officers came inside. Over the next hour, Siler was mercilessly beaten and tortured by the officers, who were demanding he confess to drug activity. Siler was poor, illiterate and had a nonviolent criminal record. Without that recording, it's unlikely anyone would have believed his account of the torture over the word of five sheriff's deputies.

Earlier this year, Iraq war veteran Elio Carrion was shot three times at near-point-blank range by San Bernardino, Calif., deputy Ivory Webb. Carrion was lying on the ground and was unarmed. Video of the arrest and shooting, however, was captured by bystander Jose Louis Valdez. Webb since has been fired from the police department and is on trial on charges of attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a firearm. The video is the key piece of evidence in his trial.

While it's possible that police and prosecutors would have believed Carrion's version of events over Webb's even without the video, it seems unlikely. Webb is the first officer to be indicted in the history of the San Bernardin

And they might succeed again with the FOX Noise crowd.

Always best to know your enemy before you talk trash about them:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,273875,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286006,00.html

Two AP writers had this to say:

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jun30/0,4670,Sick oUSFactCheck,00.html

And they might succeed again with the FOX Noise crowd.

Always best to know your enemy before you talk trash about them:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,273875,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286006,00.html

Two AP writers had this to say:

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jun30/0,4670,Sick oUSFactCheck,00.html

And they might succeed again with the FOX Noise crowd.

Always best to know your enemy before you talk trash about them:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,273875,00.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286006,00.html

Two AP writers had this to say:

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jun30/0,4670,Sick oUSFactCheck,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120137,00.html has a nice little write up from May 04 regarding chemical weapons. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/21/iraq/mai n554912.shtml speaks to the trailers I will have to re dig up the sources regarding Warnings about chemical weapons from both the region and Europe. Anything else I can research for your lazy ass?

And it really is so apropos on this day of forgiving acts against the country. Is 200 so far from 205. And let us not forget that it is better to lie, knowing full well that the letter was phony, but also knowing that your fanbois will defend you to the end. And one can also take solace that one can just become incompetent during the presidency, and not recall any matter of importanct, and people will just forgive you for anything, even dooming a generation to drug addiction.

So kids, take it from your national leaders, when you lie, lie big. If Bill had said he had never taken drugs after a certain date, a lie that your current president made, he would have been off the hook. But he decided to only make little lies, which is why he got into trouble.

In case you haven't been following the news, George Bush has been pushing amnesty for 12-20 million people in the US illegally and for blowing the top off of the H1-B quotas. To make a long story short, two border patrol agents shot a cocaine drug smuggler (in the rear) and have been sent to prison for doing their job and protecting our country.

Bush has been asked to pardon and/or commute the sentences of these border agents but has made excuse after excuse. Bush has said the process to pardon someone is complicated and takes many years. However, when a real criminal is sent to prison, but potentially threatens the Vice President, the pardons come easy.

In my opinion, Bush is a disgrace not only himself but to our Nation and Democracy. The world press will run this story and it will further erode the credibility of US Democracy and show once again how corrupt our leaders truly are. I am angry, sickened, and amazed. I just wanted to scream today when I saw this news story. It's a very sad day for America, but it has been a very sad 8 years and undoing the incompetence and damage of the Bush/Cheney era is going to take another 20-years as we are still stuck in Iraq and the national treasure has been given to Haliburton. All we have left is debt and shame. Thank you Mr. President, now please resign and go live in Mexico!

If that were the case, there'd be news stories galore, all over CNN etc.

Talk about giving everybody the worst possible guide of everyday British life...

That's ok, it's not like we American's don't have anything to be embarrassed about either ;)

Well, given the treatment of your own citizens, as a foreigner who would get their fingerprint tossed into a huge database alongside criminals and terrorists and analyzed by the same process which has failed in the past, I don't much like the idea of being subjected to mistaken identity simply because my fingerprint resembles someone else's. But I can 100% avoid the risk of a false positive by not being in the database *at*all*, by not travelling to the U.S. In my country, the only reason I would be fingerprinted is if I was a criminal, and I'm not. Why should I travel to a country that will treat me as a criminal when I arrive at customs?

Of course, the unrealistic expectation that terrorists are already going to have their fingerprints on file makes the whole thing rather suspect as a tool for its claimed purpose. All they are going to be able to find are the terrorists they already have on file, and any sane person will realize that leaves wide scope for people visiting the U.S. for the very first time to get in without any problem, whether they have malicious intent or not.

Would having their fingerprints have stopped any of the 9/11 highjackers? I don't think so. If I recall correctly, they all flew with non-forged ID. Mohammed Atta, for example, checked in with his own name. The authorities knew who they were. So what's the damn point? You're going to stop the repeat terrorists or something? There isn't much point in knowing Mohamed Atta's fingerprints now, is there?

Ooops. Sorry. Here. Fixed the links: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6133190.stm, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,283032,00.html , and http://www2.jsonline.com/election2000/nov00/spot08 s1110800.asp

Why not? You can already vote for a dead body: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6133190.stm/ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,283032,00.html / http://www2.jsonline.com/election2000/nov00/spot08 s1110800.asp/

What's embarrassing is that my damn governor refused Federal help and let people die in their homes. Which (combined with the hugely incompetent recovery effort) is why she isn't running for re-election.

That's not what Heckofajob Brownie says.

However, it is not sensible to worry about bacteria. There are bacteria everywhere, all the time. Whether there are 100,000 bacteria on every key or 1,000,000 makes little difference.

Fully agree. Additionally, the "more bacteria on your keyboard then on a toilet" is particularly inane. A toilet is a smooth surface that's regularly doused with bleach or other bacteria killing compounds. A keyboard is full of nooks and crannies that get packed with Doritos crumbs and little bits of Taco Bell meat and sprayed with drops of Mountain Dew. Which one do you think is going to have more bacteria?

In at least one school, there are more germs on a water fountain than on a toilet.

Actually, you're absolutely wrong.

Filesharing has little to no effect on sales. In fact, very popular songs actually have a proportional increase in sales when they are shared frequently online.

In fact there are a host of other issues which the RIAA major labels completely ignore in favor of going after the one factor that irks them. You see to greedy assholes who routinely bite the hand that feeds them, the fact that anyone is listening to "their music" for free is galling. The ignore factors like entertainment diversification, the consistent growth of independent labels (yes, independent labels have increasing CD sales not decreasing sales), the negative publicity associated with lying, cheating, stealing, bribing, price-fixing being exposed to the public, the end of an upgrade cycle (sales declines are compared to the top ever sales level of the music industry ignoring the cyclical and temporary nature of upgrade cycles), and the narrowing of industry channels through the disappearance of retail music stores and do we even need to go into the general agreement that the major labels have been producing inferior albums for years?

There are plenty of reasons for falling revenues, the problem is the only reason that doesn't put the blame on the executives in charge of the music industry is the only one that given any credence by the music industry. That's in their own selfish best interest (not that of the music companies or the music industry), if they admit to making huge mistakes and covering them up years, then they could lose their cushy jobs. I understand why they do it, I just am not willing to tolerate it.

Hell, considering how little artists get paid for music the coming changes in the efficiency of music distribution are long overdue. The CD system of the music distribution is insane in a digital world. Completely insane and since the wholesale price of CD sales is the determining factor for the "size" of the music industry it's no wonder they're falling. At best the artists get to split $1 of a CD sale between them. Often it's less, I've heard of the musicians earning less than one cent per copy sold. So the rest of the $15-$20 of the CD price is overhead. That means 75%-95% of the "industry" revenues are waste.
We should expect the revenues to fall dramatically as they shift from traditional distribution to digital. However, these are professional money grubbers here, you can also expect profits to rise once they've finally admitted they have to do this and have begun to figure out how to work the system. Right now, the major labels all still appear to be in denial.