Local "dashing young 20 something(s)... likely to be at Republic or Plaza on Saturday night", Vancouver Buzz, have come up with a scathing critique of my homeless plan. What homeless plan? Exactly. They also reject my comment, which took about a minute to write, without offering any of their own. Usually this kind of ad hominem attack doesn't need to back itself, its substance is purely vitriolic, but in this case I was goaded in an earlier post to "try to implement (your solution) and then come back and talk to me". I'm not going to list, as I did in the comments, the things I perceive as positive actions in response to Vancouver's homelessness, but I will repeat my assertion that, in response to the remark that "suggestions without action are just that... suggestions", the most valuable tool I have, is the power to create dialogue.

These are the fine people who have brought you such fine comments as "I'm sure the Mexicans don't mind $14/hr. How much would they earn in Mexico?", "The DTES needs to (sic) gentrification", "I'd like to make my debut by hailing the Liberal government with their pro-economic policies", and my personal fave; "The Urban Dweller is hoping that the homeless can get back on their feet, so he could kindly escort them to the nearest skytrain station. Next stop, the lower class suburb of Surrey! I feel that they should now go back to a place that is more akin to their natural habitat. What better place than the "armpit" of the Lower Mainland."

The number of major B.C. construction projects keeps growing. Spending some decent time on the streets of downtown Vancouver today, It almost looks like we're in the process of digging the entire city up in preparation for some kind of secret relocation to Mars. Yeah, I lingered too long on the library steps staring at a ripped-up Robson Square while inhaling secondhand pot smoke, sue me.

Vancouver's street people won't be hidden for the 2010 Olympics. Are we just gonna pull a Beijing-style replacement; some sober, cleanshaven lookalikes who sweep the streets and shine our shoes? I hear we've got a lot of under-employed actors kicking around... And are the Vancouver games bound to be overshadowed by the spectacle of Beijing, Mr. Campbell? "No. I think it's... uh... we're going to have spectacular mountains for sure, I guarantee it." Yeah, the view here works wonders for the peace of mind.

Slot machines are a go in Hastings Park. Gov just loves to keep those addictions flowin', so long as they help pad the bureaucratic beer bellies. Um, longterm social costs? These things are a cancer.

Holy Fuck, ya damn conservatives! Never judge a record by its cover.

Wanna see a real life tasering? Friday night might be your best chance: SkyTrain Pub Crawl! P.S. don't wear sandals.

I know Jon linked to the Cambell conference article yesterday, but I just wanted to point out to all those people who say the APC are a bunch of thugs whose message is lost in violence: "When one reporter from the China Daily, considered by Westerners to be a government mouthpiece, zeroed in how Campbell will handle "anti-Olympic groups such as the Anti-Poverty Coalition," Campbell gave a political lesson of his own. "In Canada we will be open to opportunities for people to express whatever views they have," he said. "There will not be opportunities to break the law, [but] we will make sure there will be full and equal expression throughout the 2010 Olympics." Yes, in Canada we pose as police officers and arrest you. In Canada, we close our VANOC meetings and surround it with secuirty forces. In Canada we throw our Native elders in prison to die. In Canada we tear up villages in favour of massive capital projects.

Woodwards Set To Revitalize Gastown. Awesome. A new blog for me to make fun of.

Kelowna rabbit exterminators call for RCMP protection. "Awk, that's ne ordinary rabbit. That's one of the most foul, cruel, bad tempered rodents ye ever set eyes on"

Starbucks opens in Uranus.

It's thus far evaded our linking, but Naomi Klein's short piece on how China is using the Olympics as an attempt to create a 'Police State 2.0' is essential reading. You may also want to check out the longer Rolling Stone article from may, China's All Seeing Eye.

A soldier from BC dies, along with a Brit and another four civilians, while the Tyee go all Tyee on the pandering in Afghanistan. If anything, military service does have the potential to harden our citizens into naked 78 year-old vigilantes.

If there's one good thing to come out of China's crackdown on free speech, Campbell's taken a retaliatory hard-line stance on freedom of expression for 2010. It was a 200-year event, ya damn Commies! If someone had mentioned drunk driving, do you think he would've promised free weed?

The Canadian government wages war on arts and culture. Hasn't CBC television been doing that for years?

Closing down Insite will bring out the angel of death. 'Angel of death' - that's 3 parts heroin, 2 parts coke, and 1 part lysol, right?

Because it just hasn't gotten weird enough in Canada recently,
Feuding Kitimat families decide to settle their differences by having a sword fight. Severed feet, greyhound decapitations, pride parade hammer attacks; what's next? Random shelaighleigh attacks?

Crash at my pad in 2010 - for $35,000

Vancouver won't get into budget battle with Beijing. "Instead, producers will stick with their original entertainment plan: Loverboy concert on an "ice" stage made to look like Superman's Fortress of Solitude". And if that doesn't wow them... maybe Vancouver's sex trade will.

Hey! Whaddya know? Apparently Vancouver has enough shelter space! Awesome news! "There is room at the shelters. Our shelters run at about 90-per-cent capacity. The issue is not really the shelter space; it is whether the people will go into them or not."

Commercial Drive is so vibrant it could form the hub of the separate municipality of East Vancouver. Yes, great idea. Great idea. That way all that Westside tax revenue can stay in Kits where it belongs.

The goalie mask has really evolved through the years from being something that protected a goalies mug, to something much more; a form of expression.

Back in the days it was a piece of unadorned fiberglass used to strictly to protect the goalie's face from the puck, kind of like the mask Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees runs around in.

Later a helmet/cage combination was en vogue--the same kind of helmets worn by Troy Gamble and Dan Cloutier.

These days a modern fiberglass helmet, that covers protects the entire head and chin, is what the cool kids wear and it gives the netminder the opportunity to get a little creative with the design.

Kirk McLean's Scottish horses, Corey Hirsch's homage to Hitchcock's Psycho, whatever the hell was on Felix Potvin's, Kay Whitmore's eagle and salmon, Luongo's current Johnny Canuck are some of the designs that Vancouver goalies have used.