Recent news about FBI busting into suburban homes and handcuffing couples they accuse of being Russian spies are quite intriguing and ridiculous. The Times has an article with a money quote:

Jessie Gugig, 15, said she could not believe the charges, especially against Mrs. Murphy. “They couldn’t have been spies,” she said jokingly. “Look what she did with the hydrangeas.”

Investigators have accused the 11 individuals of penetrating American “policy making circles.” Huh? Can we be more specific here? Regardless of what’s true, this is some serious spy novel/Tom Clancy stuff.

But the network of so-called illegals — spies operating under false names outside of diplomatic cover — also used cyber-age technology, according to the charges. They embedded coded texts in ordinary-looking images posted on the Internet, and they communicated by having two agents with laptops containing special software pass casually as messages flashed between them.

Meanwhile, Putin’s not happy about this.