In doing some research for a new website I am looking to begin, I ran across this listing of performance artists on the web. Now, the actual artists linked from this page interest me much less than the discussion of “What is art?” that a lot of their work creates.

I guess at some level, the fact that discussion occurs surrounding their work means that their art is truly that, art. I have always believed that the purpose of art was to provoke some mix of emotion, thought, and dialogue. I have found that the art that interested me most allowed for a common ground to be found between any two people. The most effective of pieces brings two or more people to a common and desired place.

I’m not sure if a lot of performance art does that but I certainly believe that the freedom to attempt to create that space is a cherished thing. So, as silly as some of these pieces seem, the freedom to produce them is perhaps the greatest piece of art ever created.

The FBI has admitted that they are missing 184 computers and 449 weapons. Another 265 weapons have been reported lost. 66 were reportedly taken by agents who had retired and not turned in their service weapons. The Justice Department has now reported that it wants an account of all weapons and computers used by federal law enforcement agencies.

This is after the FBI admitted a few months ago that they failed to turn over 1,300 pages of documents regarding the Timothy McVeigh case, even though they said it would have no impact on the outcome of the investigation.

I understand the FBI is huge and things fall through the cracks. But the FBI is tasked with one thing — to investigate domestic crimes. Their main tools are their computer technology and their field weapons. I’m not sure how they could let those items fall through the cracks. With a new FBI director to be named soon, and a congress hungry for a PR victory, I’ll be interested to see how this is taken care of.

I do find it unfortunate that the successes of the FBI are normally secret, while the foibles are public. In general I feel the respect shown to law enforcement is to low considering what we ask them to do. We don’t pay them much so we could at least respect them more. Why would anyone want to be a federal agent anymore? Other than it’s cool to say you’re a G-man.