Free Republic

What do you do if you're a street artist turned marketing phenom who uses other people's images when someone uses one of your designs? If you're Shepard Fairey, apparently, you call your lawyers. Fairey, of Obama HOPE poster fame, is defending himself against charges he infringed on an Associated Press copyrighted photo in making the poster. He's also been criticized by artists for using others' work without attribution. His lawyers claim in the AP case that he is protected by fair use provisions of the copyright law. It turns out, however, that the activist art appropriator is a wee bit...

Washington - Threats against a new president historically spike right after an election, but from Maine to Idaho law enforcement officials are seeing more against Barack Obama than ever before. The Secret Service would not comment or provide the number of cases they are investigating. But since the Nov. 4 election, law enforcement officials have seen more potentially threatening writings, Internet postings ...... SNIP One of the most popular white supremacist Web sites got more than 2,000 new members the day after the election, compared with 91 new members on Election Day, according to an AP count. The site, stormfront.org,...

"During an anti-war demonstration, protesters were allowed to spray paint graffiti on part of the west front steps of the United States Capitol building. FRC Radio correspondent Bethanie Swendsen reports from the Capital grounds."

Thanks for nothing Bill Clinton!

Vandals spray-painted gang-related messages across an area of Georgetown overnight, leaving an elementary school, a community center, a park and close to a dozen other buildings damaged. Residents woke this morning to find royal blue graffiti, most reading "Crips 4 life" or "Crips" in reference to the notorious gang, on buildings from East 14th Street to East 19th Street in the neighborhood surrounding San Jose Park south of U.S. 29. Portions of the walls of Annie Purl Elementary School, the Getsemani Community Center and buildings at the playground in the park were spray-painted. Some of the messages were as large...

O.K. I've recovered slightly from the marathon of 3 viewings of the new, and, BTW, great new movie Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I saw something during the previews that concerns me. It was subtle, but it was up there long enough for me to see it. The movie is the upcoming Steve Martin movie The Pink Panther. The trailer is viewable by clicking here. It looks very funny. In one scene, (and I'm not sure the trailer listed above is the same one I saw in the theater, I'm at work and can't get it through...

A pair of dim-witted graffiti vandals who videotaped their escapades were caught in the act by cops who only had to hit the rewind button to see them defacing a North End statue earlier this week, police said. ``Who does this? Where do these kids come from?'' resident Tony Guarino said after seeing the vandalism to the Christopher Columbus statue Thursday morning. ``Anything that's nice, they ruin it.'' Police believe the vandalism was inflicted by Waleed Zaiter of Randolph and George Cox of Jamaica Plain, who were busted with Krylon cans in hand during an ill-advised video shoot early yesterday....

Blood is boiling to the point of scorching explosion in some quarters of South Korea toward terrorist [and by extension], Islam, as news settles in that a South Korean man had been beheaded this week by Islamic fundamental terrorists in Iraq.Police cordons are being thrown up around Islamic mosques in S. Korea. The main mosque in Seoul has been flooded with death threats and bomb threats.Last night (US time), a building housing Islamic interests in Inchon, South Korea (about a hour from Seoul) was hit by vandalism. People are really pissed at these murders and decapitations. Koreans, (the "Irish of...

<p>Howard Dean's graffiti scrawler has been nabbed for practicing his "art" on subway cars in 1999. Blake Lethem, 36, known as "KEO," was hired by the Democratic presidential wannabe to spray-paint a backdrop at a Bryant Park rally in August. And that proved his undoing.</p>

Arabs, Muslims Report U.S. Hate Crimes Sat Mar 29, 4:12 PM ET By DEBORAH KONG, AP Minority Issues Writer Muslim, Arab and Sikh groups say reports of backlash crimes are trickling in, and they fear an increase if the war in Iraq (news - web sites) drags on. Advocates who track such incidents say they've heard about a dozen potential hate crimes — most involving verbal harassment or property damage to Arabs, Muslims and Sikhs — since the war began last week. "The longer the war goes on and the higher the number of American casualties there, I think probably...