O.K., for starters, go buy an Updike book. C'mon, just do it. His worst books are better than most writers' best. And, if you're so inclined, give a listen to Terry Gross's interview(s) with him on NPR (radio that CBC wishes it could be).

Next, the power of high-speed internet. Yeah, yeah - I resisted for ages. And for good reason! Now I'm hooked on all kinds of time-wasting net stuff. And, because of this, I'm forced to make an unsavoury confession.

O.K., here goes.......I love Jon Stewart. Yes, his name is misspelled (c'mon - it's "John", for crying out loud!), but, still... Why? you ask? Well, how about his take on the "Guantanamo Prisoner Problem"? Otherwise known as the "What the Fuck Are You Talking About?" problem. Republicans (who, as you'll undoubtedly recall, set up this whole thing in the first place), are waxing apoplectic over Obama's decision to close that joint. "What in God's name are we ever going to do with these murdering thugs?", they cry. Um, I don't know, maybe the same thing you've been doing with your home-grown murderous thugs? You know - throw them in jail? Tim McVeigh (prior to his execution) spent time in a U.S. prison and he murdered...what?...168 innocent people (O.K., it's no 3,000, but, let's face it, America's fallen behind in so many fields of endeavour over the past couple of decades). And some of his buddies are still in prison, right? In fact, 1 in 142 U.S. citizens live in prison (an area in which America is second to none, goddammit!). C'mon - if America doesn't know prisons, who does?

Frankly, I think the Republicans are overlooking a great job creation opportunity here. And, isn't that one of their main complaints about Obama's economic stimulus plan? Not enough job creation? Well.......

Are you as amused (bemused?) by the Republican party as I am? I mean, aren't they the party of "family values", "fiscal responsibility", "chastity", "rule of law", and all those other swell things? Sooooooo, how is it that one of their top-ranking members (well, he used to be, anyway) got caught with his pants down, as the saying goes, and his hand reaching into the toilet stall next door for a little "meet (yeah, you could spell it the other way, but this is a tasteful blog, right?) and greet"? How come they managed to rack up the biggest debt load in American history in only eight short years? How come they embrace unwed teenage mothers? And, how come, when one of their own is convicted on ethics charges (i.e. he's a criminal and he's unethical) they don't fire his ass? Could it be because they're the party of hypocrisy? Or are they just really (and I mean really) stupid?