"Credit reports -- free for all"

From SFGate.com

"Starting Wednesday, residents of California and 12 other Western states can get a free copy of their credit report from each of the nation's three major credit bureaus once every 12 months.

By September 2005, at the end of a phased rollout, residents of all 50 states will have the same opportunity.

Free credit reports were mandated by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, the reincarnation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act."

"The Persuaders"

If you missed the latest FRONTLINE on PBS, be sure to check out the website.

Americans are swimming in a sea of messages.

Each year, legions of ad people, copywriters, market researchers, pollsters, consultants, and even linguists—most of whom work for one of six giant companies—spend billions of dollars and millions of man-hours trying to determine how to persuade consumers what to buy, whom to trust, and what to think. Increasingly, these techniques are migrating to the high-stakes arena of politics, shaping policy and influencing how Americans choose their leaders.

In "The Persuaders," FRONTLINE explores how the cultures of marketing and advertising have come to influence not only what Americans buy, but also how they view themselves and the world around them. The 90-minute documentary draws on a range of experts and observers of the advertising/marketing world, to examine how, in the words of one on-camera commentator, "the principal of democracy yields to the practice of demography," as highly customized messages are delivered to a smaller segment of the market.