wongb18c - This thread is getting out of control
You seem new here, so I'll just say that...buddy...we ain't even TOUCHED out-of-control yet...
Anyway, back to technical and eraser...
In layman's terms, a CD is just like a record, only instead of carving vibrations into the disk, we're poking holes in it. Now, a CD-R (non rewriteable) is like a record made of stone. A CD-RW (rewriteable) is like a disk made out of clay. With the CD-R, once you punch the holes, you can't smooth them back out. With the CD-RW, you can.
Okay, that's really a chinsy explanation...but it's sorta true.
Now, as for destruction...I mean...erasing...
Take a CD, wrap it in a single sheet of newspaper (or printer paper), dowse it with vodka or whiskey, light it with a match, and throw it. It'll dissintegrate right before your eyes like Haley's comet on crack.