I am, no kidding, going to war with Benny Hinn.

Benny Hinn doesn't know what he just got himself into. Actually, neither do I. But I'm ready and willing to bring this battle to his doorstep.

This morning I received this e-mail from Youtube. You can click the link if you want to see the original, or you can just keep reading.

The e-mail informed me that Benny Hinn Ministries had demanded that YouTube pull the first video in our "Office Outcast" series off the internet on grounds of it committing copyright infringement against Mr. Hinn and the World Healing Church. Subsequent infringements would force YouTube to take action against me.

For those of you unfamiliar with copyright law (fine, I'm one of those people too, but stick with me for a moment), you aren't allowed to upload copyrighted material of any kind onto the web without the express permission of the copyright owner. This is a good law - it protects the interests of the creative parties so that people can't just go around with your creation and sell it for profit.

Since YouTube arrived, it's been tougher to enforce that law, and it's been a tricky legal situation for them. A lot of companies turn a blind eye to it, figuring that free publicity beats copyright infringement any day, and there's nothing really to lose by letting people post old video clips. On the flip side, some companies rigorously enforce these laws, hunting across the internet for people abusing the law, writing cease-and-desist letters or having the website pull the videos. People get angry at this, but this is fine, too. The web is too large to be policed effectively by an outside party or the FCC, and so personal responsibility is necessary in order for the internet to run smoothly. But that's not what this is about.

You see, I didn't violate any copyright laws when I mentioned Benny Hinn's name in the video. I didn't violate any copyright laws when I mentioned that the video was about Andy and Luis trying to get Benny Hinn on the phone. I simply didn't violate any copyright law that Mr. Hinn or the World Healing Church own. I didn't.

So, I didn't violate his copyright laws, I didn't commit libel against him, and if Mr. Hinn feels that my language was scurrilous or abusive, he should also be aware that the Sedition Act was overturned in 1921, and wouldn't have applied to him anyway. But now he and YouTube have pulled the video and blocked me from importing the same file, or similar files that might also mention mention Mr. Hinn's name.

In fact, the only rights that seemed to have been violated were mine - my First Amendment rights. And I'm no constitutional warrior and I'm not a fan of people who beat people over the head with it, but I object to the gesture and I don't feel like taking this lying down.

So, get ready, Benny. I'm bringing the battle to you.

Greatest Car Chase

If you'd like to vote for the Greatest Car Chase Ever, click here. Each one has the corresponding YouTube video, so you can make up your own mind right there on the spot, and maybe see a couple you've never seen before. Currently Bullitt has a commanding lead, but Ronin and The Blues Brothers are still in the mix.

I, personally, voted for Ronin. Bullitt is too gimmicky, and half the time you don't have any real concept of who's where in the chase.

Poor Dirk

It takes a special sort of player to lead your team in scoring (20 points), rebounding (12 boards), steals (3), and blocks (1), and still have to deal with the arena chanting "overrated!" at you Even the ESPN news story about the game refer to your night as "another poor performance."

Here's a link to the article. I do feel bad for Nowitzki, but still - go Golden State, huh?

The Sports Guy wrote an article stating once and for all why Doc Rivers should be fired, and hopefully Danny Ainge along with him. I'm willing to negotiate on keeping Ainge as long as Rivers goes, rather than giving him a contract extension like the management is talking about. Please, guys, it's just time for a change. Paul Pierce is turning into the Kevin Garnett of the East, and I just can't take any more of this waiting. We could be a Golden State next year if we let ourselves be.

In more cheerful news, the Red Sox are still destroying the Yankees, who look like the saddest group of A-list players to ever have one of their own guarantee that they'll win the pennant this season. Which is kind of a shame for A-Rod, since it's pretty much the only thing that's not going his way this year. Here's what we're learning from this: when you're the second-most hated player in baseball, don't talk trash unless you're really sure you're coming out of the gate strong, because instead you might have to suffer the ignominy of Tampa Bay fans laughing at you.

Let this be a lesson to all of us.

The Bathroom Sessions

Kevin found this and showed it to me today, and I thought I'd share it with all of you. Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies set up a video camera in his bathroom (for the acoustics, of course) and videotaped himself doing acoustic versions of virtually every BNL song he ever sang lead vocals to. There are currently 67 songs available, and on a good half dozen of them, Stephen Page sits next to him - in the bathtub - and sings along. Pure music geek fun. For showing me this, Kevin gets the honor of being added to the sidebar.

Here's the link, and here's the two of them doing "If I Had A Million Dollars," my favorite of the ones I've seen so far.

Garfield Silenced

Someone once turned to me and said "Hey, have you ever seen 'Garfield' with Garfield's thought bubbles erased? It becomes just this dude talking to his cat, it's a hundred times funnier." I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the phenomenon until Peracchio sent me a few more a coupla days ago, and gave me a jones to poke around online and find some more.

There are a lot of these sort of things online - click here for the Garfield Randomizer - but this is the best of the lot. And while whoever that guy was who opened me up to this new world, he was right, it's a hundred times funnier. Yet it's also a hundred times sadder and a thousand times creepier. Which somehow makes it funnier still. I hunted around all afternoon in my free time, and here are some of my favorites:

When you really think about it, this is how Jon's world really is. All that's being removed is Garfield's mental commentary, which supposedly Jon would never be able to hear. So this is really how sad a man Jon is.

Jon wasn't always like this. When the comic first started, Garfield was more playful with Jon than Jon was with Garfield, Jon went on occasional dates, he had a roommate and friend, Lyman. He wasn't the creepy schmuck he is today.

Of course, he's a lot funnier this way.

And, incredibly, this one is completely unedited:

If you find any good ones, or end up making your own, let me know. I love these.