“The Rev. Grant Storms, a Christian fundamentalist best known for his bullhorn protests of the [gay] Southern Decadence festival in the French Quarter, was arrested for allegedly masturbating at a Metairie park Friday afternoon.” [NOLA, via Towleroad]

Our guest columnist is W.C. Sullivan of the FBI, writing on December 28, 1961.

You may be interested in the following information which was furnished to the Bureau Agents during the course of the South America assessment survey:

As you know, a few weeks ago Ted Kennedy made a tour of several Latin American countries…

In Mexico, Kennedy asked Ambassador Mann that certain left-wingers be invited to the Embassy residence where interviews could be held. Mann took the strong position that he would not invite such people and stated that if any such interviews were to be conducted, all arrangements should be made by Kennedy himself.

Douglas Henderson, State official in Lima, confidentially advised that Kennedy had made similar requests in Peru. Henderson described Kennedy as pompous and a spoiled brat.

While Kennedy was in Santiago, he made arrangements to “rent” a brothel for an entire night. Kennedy allegedly invited one of the Embassy chauffeurs to participate in the night’s activities.

Judicial Watch Obtains Previously Redacted Material from the FBI File of the Late Senator Ted Kennedy [Judicial Watch, via Raw Story]

“‘I remember Martin Luther King came to town, in ’62. He spoke out at the old fairground and it was full of people, black and white,’ [Haley Barbour] said. But Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Garrow told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger this week that records show no signs of any such appearance.” [TPM] Update: MLK did go to Yazoo in 1966. [Politico]

Making the news in Sandy Eggo — and conveniently timed to the Oscar nomination for the very enjoyable documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop” — is this purported Banksy work that turned up on the wall overnight Friday at the Bull Taco shop in Oceanside, north of town.

Banksy himself has yet to authenticate it — apparently there’s a standard procedure for such things — and connoisseurs doubt its authenticity. But that’s what’s amusing about it: One word from the Master is the difference between a Valuable Work of Art, and, y’know, mindless vandalism.

Banksy or Fakesy in Oceanside? [Carlsbad Crawl]

Not a Banksy [Ape Flavored/Flickr]

Photo: Banksy in Oceanside [Hypebeast]

Yes, we’re going for the most obvious Oscar-broadcast joke imaginable, because if we don’t go there, Bruce Vilanch will. For that matter, he’d probably add a button about the Death Montage running long because of last-minute additions since the show began ages ago. Because Bruce Vilanch is a professional.

So let’s roll out the red — ummm, rockpet? — and have a gay old time at our Open Thread/Loyal Order of Water Buffalo Convention. Hey, everybody, let’s all give James Franco a warm hand!

NYT, Thursday:

After the publishing powerhouse Judith Regan was fired by HarperCollins in 2006, she claimed that a senior executive at its parent company, News Corporation, had encouraged her to lie two years earlier to federal investigators who were vetting Bernard B. Kerik for the job of homeland security secretary…

Now, court documents filed in a lawsuit make clear whom Ms. Regan was accusing of urging her to lie: Roger E. Ailes, the powerful chairman of Fox News and a longtime friend of Mr. Giuliani.

And what was the purported lie? Denying that “Ms. Regan had once been involved in an affair with Mr. Kerik.”

So, other than needing a strong dose of mind bleach, what’s the problem here?

Oh, right: federal investigators. Which leads to…

Read more »

Title: “The King’s Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy”

Authors: Mark Logue and Peter Conradi

Rank: 81

Blurb: “This official film tie-in is written by London Sunday Times journalist Peter Conradi and Mark Logue — grandson of Lionel Logue, one of the movie’s central characters.”

Review: “It is a non-fiction book, so you cannot expect the kind of entertainment that the film gives.”

Customers Also Bought: “William and Harry: Behind the Palace Walls”, by Katie Nicholl

Footnote: So that makes six nominated films we haven’t seen. (And one we haven’t even heard of.) Which won’t stop us from hosting our Academy Awards Open Thread/Marble-Swallowing Invitational at 8 pm ET.

The King’s Speech [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon kickback link]