Ah, at last I can stop relying on Dumbya for stupidity and get my supply locally. Well, from Ottawa, at least. Not exactly "local" for someone who lives on the west coast, but... Yep, Smirkin' Steve and His Sons of the Stupid have decided to persecute the already persecuted. To pick on the lowest of the low, the junkies. Canada is about to "get tough on drugs". Oh, boy. And, on the off chance that you missed this little extra bit of moronic irony, who's announcing our new national intent to pick on the sick? Our justice minister, Bouncing Bob Nicholson? Nope. How about our minister for foreign affairs, the ever-popular Pusillanimous Pete Mackay, who might at least have the excuse of kow-towing to Dumbya? Nope. Come on, think. This is the Ref..., er, Canadian Al....., oops, the Conservative party, remember? So, who would you least expect to announce a crackdown on some of Canada's most unfortunate, least healthy citizens? Yep - our health minister, Tony (The Enforcer) Clement. "How dare these people be sick on my watch?!? How dare these people pick an addiction not sanctioned by billions of dollars of advertising (and kickbacks to, um....well, you know who) from the alcohol and tobacco industries? I'll show these swine!" Go, Tony, go. I mean it. As far away from here as you can possibly get. Please. I'll buy your ticket. Just name a destination and promise never to come back.

It's just so humiliating to think that this guy is helping ru(i)n my country.

Wouldn't it be great? Just a few short stairs to enlightenment? Or is that the glow of the Heavenly Check-In desk? Uh-oh.

Went to see "In the Valley of Elah" today. Gooood movie. Which is sort of amazing, really, when you consider that Tommy Lee Jones has one character that he plays over and over - flinty-eyed, strong-jawed, unsmiling, cranky - and Charlize Theron, well, can't really act. She tries darn hard, though. Both, however, work very well in this movie. T.L.J.'s role is a flinty-eyed, strong-jawed, unsmiling, cranky guy, so, who better to play him? And Charlize's character is there, um, well, to provide a softer (in a tough kind of way) contrast to T.L.J. Regardless, this is most definitely a movie worth seeing. Well written, well directed, well photographed.

And, speaking of shadows, how about that U.S. dollar? Worth less than the Canadian dollar?!? Nice goin' Georgie!

Really - I just name files for whatever's in them that I might remember. This one's labeled "Pay Here". Wondering why the U.S. dollar has fallen 40% in value since Dumbya took office? Well, at least part of the explanation is here.

Or, after you've read this, perhaps "BA!" would be better. I hope Dawkins, Scott and the other folks who were tricked into being interviewed sue these lying swine (and note that, as usual, they're Christian lying swine) into the ground.

The one good thing about this, I realize upon further reflection, is that it refutes any notion that getting right with god will lead to an improvement in personal ethics. As if Newt Gingrich, George Bush, Karl Rove, the recently exposed Mr. Craig, and a host of other good god-fearing fellows hadn't already established the point pretty firmly.

I think these guys moved off-shore a looooonnnnngg time ago.

And, speaking of "Duh!"...

Though I have to admit I do like to see stupidity get what it deserves. Charlie Hilton (any relation, do you think, to Gay Paree Hilton? He seems to have the requisite low I.Q.) would be a prime case, just waiting to be hit with the Stupid Stick.

As the wind whistles through the vacant spaces...the health of America's citizens is uppermost on their Leader's "mind". Well, not "the health", exactly. More like how to ensure that insurers continue to profit obscenely from the sale of it.

Wandering around town at night used to be one of my favourite passtimes. Actually, it still is, but I don't get to do it much anymore. Darn this "having a job" thing!

All this stuff, just waiting for somewhere to go. Ain't we all?

Come on in! We got it all!

Trapped again in that abandoned library.

And (oh, what the hell - it's like shooting fish in a barrel, but...), how do you define "compassionate conservatism"? Do like George does - screw the kids! Why not? It's not like they'll be able to help "...refill the ol' coffers...", after all.

I'm just curious - can someone explain to me exactly why this man isn't in jail? Come on - somebody? (Imagine - George and O.J. in the same cell. Is that a picture, or what?)

Honest, when I picked this photo to post, I was not thinking about the following.

I know only a couple of Republicans, and I can't say as I count them among my close friends. Which is good, because it's always painful (I imagine) to have to sign the papers committing friends to a lengthy stay in a hospital for the mentally deranged. But, on the off chance that someone reading this might actually be a Republican, and might actually be considering voting for a Republican next fall, I'd ask them to pause and consider this. Bosh.....er, I mean, Bush, a Republican, took office in 2000. At that time, both the Senate and Congress were in Republican control. A clean sweep, as it were. Republicans - the party of fiscal responsibility - controlled everything. And George was taking over a country that was - what? billions? trillions? - of dollars in the black. The American dollar was worth, roughly, $1.40 Canadian. Wow! What an opportunity for the party of fiscal responsibility to really take off! Total control! A huge budget surplus! Zowee! Remember, that surplus was generated while a Democrat - the evil Bill "Blow Me" Clinton was President. Imagine what these folks could do now that they had COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THE AMERICAN ECONOMY. It had to be a dream come true for Republican voters all across America.

So? How'd they do? Well, they burned through that huge surplus and created a record-breaking deficit, for one. And before next week is over (heck - before this week is over!) the Canadian dollar will be equal to the American dollar, or maybe worth a little more. Yep, Americans owe the rest of the world (mainly China - the Commies, remember?) trillions of dollars and, on top of that, those dollars are now worth 40% less than when Bush took office. Nice going Party of Fiscal Responsibility!

I'd mention the war that's killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and a couple of thousand Americans, but that's not something that would actually concern the average Republican. Money, however (especially their own), tends to get their attention.

Doesn't everybody need a defect detector? Or, at the very least, old, really nifty machines that don't really have a use anymore?

My college got a new library this year, so the old one had to be emptied. I managed to get myself let into the abandoned building over the weekend to wander around taking pictures. Evidently, I'm drawn to abandoned things. Go ahead, make of that what you will. Meanwhile, once I was done, I found myself locked in. Uh-oh. Luckily the phones in the building were still working (Own a cell phone?!? Me?!?), so I was able to call Security. They told me to go out the door marked, "Do Not Open. Alarm Will Sound!", so I did. As you might imagine, the alarm didn't. Sound, that is.

Just more of the rapidly vanishing part of Vancouver's downtown.

Back to the alley. What can I say? It was pretty neat. Well, not in the "tidy" sense of "neat", but...

The orchids really spruce up the place, don't they?

Now that George has decided that maybe, just maybe, it'd be politically expedient to bring home a few troops from Iraq (note that that's "politically expedient" - as in, he's hoping to save the Republican's ass in the up-coming elections, not acknowledging his own terminal fuck-up), can't you just see him wandering into a pawn shop - "Um, what can I get for this slightly-used tank? Jes' to top up th' ol' coffers, you know?"?

Aren't we all?

I suppose, in this neighbourhood, you might be considered lucky to be able to afford a room in this fine establishment, but.......

Royalty just ain't what it used to be.

Well, there's architecture, and there's, um, well....

"Sophie Scholl: The Final Days". Haven't seen it? Go get it.

C'mon, everybody - sing along! "Inky, dinky spider......"

Gimme a break. I can't be cranky all the time.

Kind of reminiscent of one of those "after the bomb" movies, isn't it? Which, in a sense, it is. The "bomb", in this case, is money. It's sudden and rapid leaving sucked the life out of this area, causing more of an implosion, rather than an explosion. Don't worry, though. It's just waiting to come blowing back in again, with even more destructive force than its leaving generated. This place'll be gone in two years, tops.

Still in that alley. Did I mention the "atmosphere"? Well, when you're homeless, all the world's your home, right? And alleys, it would seem, are the world's bathrooms. With no maid service.

Since I spend a fair bit of time slagging American politicians, I'm happy to report that there are Canadian politicians just as stupid. Naturally, he's a Conservative (is there an I.Q. test for entry into the Conservative/Republican party? "Sorry - you scored higher than my pet frog, Ben. You're too smart for our party.") At least he's not standing up for "Intelligent Design". The irony would be too overwhelming.

You find nifty things in the strangest places. This wall is in the heart of one of Vancouver's major tourist attractions - Gastown - in an alley behind a bunch of restaurants and gift shops. Behind me is a large railway switching yard and, beyond that, the harbour. Atmosphere? Try never-been-cleaned-toilet. Yep. This is where folks with no homes, and, therefore, no bathrooms, come to........... Better art than most bathrooms, though, eh?

This is a "Same planet, different worlds" photo. Kids don't live in the same world as adults. You just know that Mom's mind, here, is more or less occupied with her errands, whatever they may be. Her son's mind, on the other hand, seems to be occupied, pretty much, at the moment, with his walk. He's marching. He's going somewhere, and it's not got anything to do with whatever's in Mom's mind. Mom's got a head full of adult responsibilities. He's got a head full of dreams. Lucky kid.

So sue me - I've got a thing for parkades. They're just such incredibly empty spaces. Voids. Even where they're full of cars, the cars are empty. We build big, empty concrete boxes in which we store big, empty steel boxes. Is this really the best use of our energy?

Meanwhile, Larry (I'm-Not-Gay! Really! Honest! Not that there's anything wrong with that) Craig has resigned. Denying all as he sinks like a stone, released by his Republican "friends" into free fall. Surely, after all these years in the party, Larry must have known that the slightest hint of reality would send his good pals running for the Nile. It's a wonder no one was killed in the stampede to get the hell away from him.

You know what would be great? Of course you do. Larry, getting on every network in the land and saying, "Fuck you, Republican hypocrites - I'm gay, and so are.....". Who knows? Maybe he'd find out that - incredible as it may seem to a staunch Republican - honesty really is the best policy.

And it goes on. The file name for this picture is, "It's All About Hair". Well, it seems Candy Rice is considering her "legacy". Let's see....what might her options be? Well, she was either truly stupid (she went to work for, after all, the dumbest man ever to serve as President of Anywhere), truly crooked (she went to work for Darth Cheney and Karl-the-Kreep), or a truly intelligent woman who nevertheless sold herself for a shot at fame and money (i.e. a hooker). Hmmmm, not looking good. The fact that she was completely ineffectual in office, of course, doesn't help.

On the other hand, an article in last month's "Atlantic" magazine did extravagantly praise her fashion sense and great legs. So, Candy's legacy? I'm seeing a return to the halcyon days of Jane Fonda workout videos!