Balance Sheet

Assets

Political Poison

A survey of people aged 15-26 by the Representative Democracy in America Project finds the job of politician is held in low regard by young people. The most popular profession among respondents is businessperson.

Red Weddings

China abolishes the requirement that workers obtain their employers' approval before getting married. The change prompts a run on marriage licenses.

High-Stakes Chip

Companies such as Affymetrix, Agilent, and Applied Biosystems compete to perfect gene chips, the building blocks of a biotech revolution. Such chips, which are capable of holding ever larger portions of the human genome, will help researchers discover new treatments for a host of ailments.

Heavy Rotation

Rock stars blast record companies for filing lawsuits against music downloaders. Members of the Grateful Dead and Disturbed call for new music distribution models, and Chuck D of Public Enemy says the industry's legal threats are "pure Gestapo."

'Bama Boosters

Alabama voters overwhelmingly reject a $1.2 billion tax hike touted as the only way to save the state from certain ruin. Cutting unneeded state spending was the public's preferred solution.

Packer Pride

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle tells his own Department of Revenue to leave alone people who turn their yards into parking spaces for Green Bay Packer games. The state had sent letters demanding that anyone who charged for parking cough up a $20 license fee and collect sales tax on parking proceeds.

Liabilities

Cable Disservice