We're a bit frightened by the fact that high-ranking political officials are told to leave their BlackBerrys outside in an unguarded basket during high-level meetings (really, it's "common practice"), but nevertheless, one chap who tried to take advantage of the situation didn't quite make it out undiscovered. During a recent political meetup in New Orleans, a Mexican press attaché managed to slip a half dozen or so BlackBerrys into his pocket before darting to the airport with visions of black market markups in his head. Before he could exit the country, however, Secret Service had tracked him down after catching him via surveillance footage. As it stands, the responsible individual has been fired from his post, but there's been no word on whether the US will take any further actions. Reevaluating the whole "leaving them out in the open" practice may be a good start -- just sayin'.

[Via The Boy Genius Report]

Talk about getting into some hot water. Reportedly, some 14 implike squirrels were recently "arrested by Iranian authorities for espionage," as the critters were apparently found to have various amounts of "spy gear from foreign agencies" on (er, in) their bodies. Some reports even mention that the animals were sporting embedded GPS sensors, but due to the high level of secrecy surrounding the capture, things are still a bit foggy. Nevertheless, Iran has apparently claimed that the "rodents were being used by Western powers in an attempt to undermine the Islamic Republic," and while it doesn't seem that anyone is really aware of the squirrels' fates, it looks like sending in the animals to do a human's dirty work isn't as effective as it once was.

[Via DailyWireless, image courtesy of UMT]

The days of countermining caller ID systems could be coming to an end, at least for those who prefer to live life lawfully. A recent bill introduced in the US Congress, dubbed the "Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007," seems to have ripped a line from Suncom commercials of days past, and also seeks to "make it unlawful for any person in the United States, in connection with any telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service, to cause any caller ID service to transmit misleading or inaccurate information." Of course, the bill definitely leaves loopholes for those involved in law enforcement, but for folks just horsing around, you could face penalties "of up $10,000 for each violation." Leave it to The Man to inhibit our fun.

[Via Slashdot]

While we've seen everything from brilliant engineering to run-of-the-mill hacks enable vehicles to squeeze every last inch out of a tank of fuel, it looks like the Senate is taking larger strides in order to raise the MPG bar. The US Senate has reportedly passed an energy bill that would raise fuel efficiency standards to an average of 35 miles-per-gallon, create additional provisions that make it unlawful to charge "unconscionably excessive" prices for oil products, and establish new appliance and lighting efficiency standards to accelerate the use of more efficient lighting in public buildings. Lastly, there was purportedly verbiage that provided "grants, loan guarantees, and other assistance to promote research into fuel efficient vehicles." Of course, the bill still has quite a ways to go before it gets set in stone, and while upping the standard sure seems novel, a quick glance around existing lots will show that quite a few whips sold today aren't quite living up to the 22.7 mpg standard that's already in place.

[Via Digg, image courtesy of MPGStickers]

Ah, the day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived -- well, sort of. Yeah, it is still a bill, but it's a refreshing start on a long overdue amendment. While content guardians (we're looking your way, MPAA / RIAA) have done their fair share of beating around the issue and insisting that DRM-laced content was the only way to go, consumers haven't exactly been thrilled about such limitations since day one. In yet another glorious case of red and blue coming together for the good of mankind, Rich Boucher (D-Va.) and John Dolittle (R-Calif.) introduced a breath of fresh air they call FAIR USE, or Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship. The idea, of course, is to simply "make it easier for digital media consumers to use the content they buy" by amending the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; according to the duo, the DMCA simply "goes too far by dramatically tilting the copyright balance toward complete copyright protection at the expense of the public's right to fair use." Boucher further substantiates his case for the most down-to-earth politician of all time by suggesting that if the DMCA remains unadulterated, "individuals will be less willing to purchase digital media" due to the unacceptable restrictions that come along with it. We'd ask for an amen, but we don't want to set off any minor earthquakes.

[Thanks, Kevin M.]

If you've ever wondered what happens when you run an entire nation into the ground, bar almost every type of contact with the outside world, launch nuclear bomb tests against the orders of outsiders, and still try to order an iPod, well, now you know. North Korea's highly dodgy Kim Jong-Il will reportedly be "doing without luxuries" such as iPods, jet skis (saywha?), jewelery, designer clothes, and fine wines as the US implements an all-out ban against selling these goods to the power-trippin' leader. The nation's elite often enjoy lavish luxuries of first-world countries while the vast majority of its people are left without bare necessities, and apparently, new sanctions are trying to put an end to it. While this case has certainly been made before, individual countries were previously allowed to "make their own decisions," however the United States has now taken a stand by barring all luxury sales to Mr. Kim and his constituents -- which will probably do nothing outside of producing a sudden swell in iPod knockoff orders to the DPRK, unfortunately.

[Thanks, SRW985]

Although bribery isn't exactly smiled upon here in the States, we've got a hunch that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party in India is on to something. In news likely to cause turmoil (or not) among culturally-planted Americans, the DMK promised a bevy of new electronics to folks who cast their vote for them, and apparently, it worked. After falling from power in 2001, the party has stormed back into prominence by offering poor citizens niceties (such as stoves and TVs) which most could never afford on their own. By wording the goodies as "social welfare" benefits, the sets they hand out supposedly aid the voters in receiving news critical to their life, health, and work, which in turn benefits society the DMK as a whole. While America hasn't had the best luck so far with all these e-voting implementations, and considering a good few don't even cast a passing glance at anything political, we'd bet a "Free HDTV" campaign would result in surefire admission into the Oval Office.

[Via Fark]