Alaska Senator Ted–The Internet Is A Series Of Tubes–Stevens (mockingly so, listen) returned to find the FBI and IRS searching his Alaska home.

Ted Stevens, investigation, series of tubes, raid, IRS, FBI

Don’t worry. I’m right on top of whatever happens in Pravda, the leading newspaper of the Russian Federation. Or, at least, I’m right on top of whatever they report in their English language version. The thing that had me choking on my onion and boursin cheese bagel this morning was the story headlined FBI arrests another spy in the White House, ‘prevents’ Philippine revolution. The whole Philippine thing is entertaining and laughable on its own, but further down in the story the reader will find so many layers of irony and amusement as to spray their breakfast cereal about the room.

Both the US and Russia have had their McCarthies, their purges, and spies, so a harkening back to McCarthyism might be chuckle-worthy. But then the author, Ivan Shmelev, drops the hammer. Here it is:

The CIA’s and FBI’s “success” in the struggle against spies can probably be interpreted as an attempt of the services to put a good face on things against the harsh criticism of unprofessional work in connection with the investigation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. More and more reports about the background of the horrendous attacks surface in the USA, casting doubts on the official version of the tragedy. One shall assume that American special services are trying to display vigilance looking for spies in the White House.

If nothing else, I like Pravda as a guage of how the rest of the world sees us. Their glasses don’t have the same rosy lenses favored by American media.

tags: america, american, boursin cheese, cia, espionage, fbi, fbi arrests, mccarthyism, philippine revolution, politics, pravda, russia, spies, spy, terrorist attacks, usa, white house

The are few things as joyus as the excitement of discovery, so it was a great pleasure to learn that Stay Free! Magazine has a new blog: Stay Free! Daily. The blog has a number of stories about intellectual freedom and copyright oppression that resonated with me. Take a look at Silent Disobedience, Christo’s policy of photographing The Gates, and Wizard People screening in NYC. Anybody following discussion of the FCC’s broadcast flag mandate will be amused by an old movie studio and broadcaster PSA arguing against subscription TV services.

Like TiVo, But More Prurient, however, points out the irony of how so-called “decency” groups seem to collect more indecent material than the rest of us. Back in the day, J. Edgar Hoover would have his FBI G Men confiscate porn and other “indecent” materials for his private collection. Raise your hand if you think all this fuss is just a beard for those who don’t want to admit they’re interested in the stuff.

But we’ve known Republicans have been sexually repressed since long before Jeff Gannon/James Guckert became a household name.

Shifting back to the intellectual property discussion, however: It also turns out that Stay Free! is a founder of the Illegal Art Museum, a collection of works that got hit by the copyright bus at the intersection of art and commerce. The heading to the list of video works notes:

The films and videos below appropriate intellectual property, whether through the use of found footage, unauthorized music, or shots of copyrighted or trademarked material. (Filmmakers and videographers now have to get permission for just about every concert t-shirt, store sign, or other piece of intellectual property that happens to appear onscreen).

Illegal Art’s collection of related articles is a good place to start if this is the first time you’ve considered the wrongs of copyright. And there’s more of my own thinking on this in the Copyrights & Intellectual Property thread here at MaisonBisson.

[update:] This wasn’t the real point of this post, but Cliff is begging me to link to his roundup of the Gannon/Guckert affair at Spiralbound.net. It seems like the White House wouldn’t be what it is without some sex scandal, but I think we’d all be better off with more open gays there. My concern, however, is the repression that conservatives must live with. It’s unhealthy for them, and bad for us when they’re leading our country. Funny thing: the redder the state, the greater the consumption of liquor, beer, cigarettes, and porn, and the higher the divorce rate.

tags: broadcast flag, bush, christo, dubya, fbi, fcc, gannon, guckert, james guckert, jeff gannon, laugh, movie studio, movies, prurient, psas, repression, sexual repression, stay free magazine, stayfree, subscription tv, tivo

A friend of a friend says his life is made up of places he can no longer go (or is no longer invited). Sad, but somewhat true. He’s also a funny bastard.

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Sandee’s aunt had her 50th birthday not long ago. The aunt makes cakes on the side so it was no big thing when her daughters (who were planning the surprise birthday party for her) asked if she’d make a cake for some unknown group one of them was in. Later, after being appropriately surprised at her birthday bash, she was more surprised to recognize the cake there as the one she’d baked earlier.

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A hand signed photo of Herbert Hoover, the former and very scary head of the FBI, hangs at the top of my basement stairs. It was there when we bought the house and I have not heard a good explanation for how it got there or why.

Technorati Tags: 50th birthday, birthday party, birthday surprise, fbi, funny bastard, herbert hoover, signed photo, surprise party