While we’re on the subject of photography, this project just came to our attention and looks like a book worth checking out.

Karim Shamsi-Basha was born in Damascus, Syria, but moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1989 to work as a photographer for the now defunct Birmingham Post-Herald.

He has a new book out called Home Sweet Home Alabama and was featured on the local television news today.

He also has a couple of Web sites that I could find.

Karim Photography

Karimisms

The Birmingham News’s Bob Carlton featured him a few weeks back in this story: Pictures of Home.

If we are not mistaken, Karim was a friend of Spider Martin’s and we met him in the late 1980s when he was still working for the Post-Herald at the first newsstand-coffee bar in the American South, NewsBreak, at 30th Street and Highland Avenue.

He seemed like a nice guy with a lot of talent as a photographer. We’ll have to check out his book in the book stores during the holiday shopping season…

by Jeff Pierson

U.S. Attorney Alice Martin was on local television news yesterday to announce the indictment of local photographer Jeff Pierson, 43, of Brookwood, Alabama.

He was charged with conspiring to transport child pornography in interstate commerce using a computer from January 2003 through 2004.

Since the story was not even news enough to the local bureau of the Associated Press to move a story, apparently, here’s the press release.

FLORIDA ‘CHILD MODELING’ WEBSITE OWNERS INDICTED FOR CONSPIRING WITH ALABAMA PHOTOGRAPHER TO PRODUCE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.

CNetNews did run this story about the case today: Federal case may redefine child porn.

Here are the links to Pierson’s profile and solicitation and photography home page.

And here are some samples of his work.

This stuff may be fairly tasteless and appeal only to rednecks who like going to the races and driving fast cars.

But if this is the extent of what the Bush Justice Department has on the guy, then only in Alabama could this be considered pornography, and probably not even here.

Watch for a judge to throw this case out post haste.

Another loser case from Alice Martin.

That’s what you get when you put the Christians in charge of Justice…

I apologize in advance for this.

I said I would never stoop to running tabloid celebrity stuff on this Web site.

But hey, even the staid army guys over at the Associated Press A-wire must be incredibly bored tonight.

They moved this story for Thursday’s newspapers:

Britney’s Crotch Shots Take Web by Storm

It will be interesting to see how many so-called “family newspapers” run this story.

It’s a sure bet they won’t run the photos.

But since I once worked a stint for People magazine out of New Orleans and just once got assigned to the Britney beat back in her heyday, I don’t feel too ashamed to reprint this one photo here - especially since most of the Web sites now bragging about running them are getting so much traffic their servers are overwhelmed and you can’t get to them.

Don’t ask me who took them.

They are all over the Web on blog after blog.

The story has also already made Entertainment television and all kinds of cable news shows, although they covered up the crotch part.

And, the story is no doubt all over the European press, where they take a less than prudish approach to news anyway compared to the puritanical American press.

The story is that Britney and Paris Hilton have been out partying of late - wearing no panties. I think they do it as a joke to show how gullible the press is and how easy it is to get publicity - if you are among the idle rich and famous crowd.

You may find more by Googling “Britney Crotch Shots.”

Here are a few.

A federal judge struck down President Bush’s authority to designate groups as terrorists, saying his post-Sept. 11 executive order was unconstitutionally vague, according to a ruling released Tuesday and reported by the Associated Press

The Humanitarian Law Project had challenged Bush’s order, which blocked all the assets of groups or individuals he named as “specially designated global terrorists” after the 2001 attacks.

We can only assume this also means liberal activist groups, including environmental groups and peace groups. It’s a major setback for Bush’s authoritarian view of the world and a victory for Constitutional freedoms everywhere.

Don’t forget, the smartest show on network television is back, with new episodes on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. Central Time on ABC.

Boston Legal