Is it just me or is this whole Rev. Jeremiah Wright Scandal a bit of a farce? I mean, besides the fact that it's simply ridiculous to try and smear Obama with the words of his former pastor, the bigger issue, if you ask me, is that Wright is right. The man is telling it like it is. He may be saying some things that certain people don't want to hear, but, hell, I'd say that's a good thing. The man's not crazy. Nor is he the raving lunatic the media is trying to make him out to be. He's simply a guy speaking some truth.

A Legacy For The Ages As Bush Wraps Up Title Of "Worst President Ever" In New Poll Of American Historians

Talk about a legacy! Talk about a performance! Talk about a Presidency! After years and years of hard work, dedication to his own vision, passionate defense of his own personal war, brilliant fear-mongering initiatives and, let's not forget, brave indifference, if not outright disdain, for domestic and worldwide public opinion, George W. Bush has finally done it. He's incontrovertibly clinched the title. He's made his own distinguished mark on History. Yes, people, as you may have already heard, the man now has an insurmountable lead in the race for the title of Worst President Ever and from this day forward no one can deny him his rightful place in History. Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Fillmore, Pierce, Harding, Hoover and Nixon all put up a damn good fight, but in the end none of them could compete with the complete disaster, horrific train wreck and inane, inept, ideocracy/idiotcracy that is the Bush Presidency. But, hey, don't take my word for it, take the word of the 109 American historians who were recently surveyed on the topic by the History News Network.

So we're wandering around Lhasa for 5 days surrounded by warm, friendly Tibetans with the biggest warmest smiles we've ever seen anywhere and we're wondering how in the hell are we ever going to befriend any of them considering half the people on the streets are tourists. The answer: The World Basketball Tour, of course!

Last night Toronto musician Ken Whiteley played right here on the Sunshine Coast and man was it ever a great show! He was accompanied on stand-up bass by Gabriola Island's own Dinah D., who's been with him for his entire tour of B.C. this month. Anyone who loves roots music would have loved this show. The man's a guitar and mandolin virtuoso, a damn fine singer and a hell of an entertainer too. It was quite the performance.

I was just listening to a great 30-minute interview with Avi Lewis on CBC radio a little earlier and it reminded me of just what we've been missing with him no longer on Canadian TV, with him no longer entertaining and informing us with his progressive ideas, provocative interviews and passionate insistence on justice. It also reminded me of the letter I sent to the CBC last month:

After a night out at the cinema last night I'm dying to tell you all about two of my hands-down, flat-out favorite films of the last couple of years: "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood". "No Country" I saw twice at the theater within a three week period in February and March, but it wasn't until last night that I finally saw "There Will Be Blood". Both films were released in late-2007, of course, but neither made it up here to our local theaters until recently. But it was definitely worth the wait. Filmmaking this fine is a rare thing indeed.

Raw, gritty, intense and, in the case of "No Country", quite violent, both films also have their moments of humor and are, simply put, incredibly-well-acted, -written and -directed pieces of cinematic brilliance. In other words, in case I'm not making myself completely clear, I absolutely loved both of these films!

China's back at it again. Killing, oppressing, repressing, subjugating and enslaving, all the while attempting to crush the spirit of the Tibetan people. You've really got to wonder why they can't just get their army of occupation the f*ck out of Tibet and leave the Tibetan people to live peacefully on their own - forever!

It's a sad day for all serious fans of film. Anthony Minghella, the British screenwriter and director of such great films as "Truly Madly Deeply", "The Talented Mr. Ripley", "Cold Mountain" and "The English Patient" has just died at age 54. He still had another good 25 years of filmmaking ahead of him. What a loss!