Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the Bill Davenport's collection of thrift store paintings. Go visit. The power of kitsch compels you.

By now you have probably seen the Bush Arrested for War Crimes hoax page. The world-cnn.com page is registered to one "Phineas Liu" of New York - who doesn't exist. The fictional Dr. Phineas Liu has a weblog as part of the "RYU Hospital: Dwayne Medical Center" website. The Dwayne Medical Center, "synonymous with the world's most innovative and extraordinary healthcare," features "All the Miracles of Modern Medicine™" including genetically customized babies, male pregnancy, and a mouse as smart as  human (Mr. Frisby? Brain?), and is actually a work of "web art" belonging to Virgil Wong.

Now, even more interesting after all those layers of deception, is the fact that the fake CNN site is, in fact based on truth. Lawyers Against the War, based right here in Vancouver, actually filed torture charges against George W. Bush under Canadian Criminal Code exactly as mentioned Virgil Wong's art in B.C. Provincial Court on the 30th of November. The charges were accepted by a Justice of the Peace and the court date will be set on Monday the 6th for a hearing to determine if a warrant of summons will be issued. The Attorney General of Canada has to determine if the proceedings will continue and the question of whether Bush's diplomatic immunity will apply has to be determined. This is real and you can read the press releases and the detail of the case via the link above.

And now back to Virgil Wong... I did a great deal of digging and checking of references from his artist's résumé before becoming convinced that he is a real person. Kind of a weird way to spend the evening, but it got my mind completely off work, which is a good thing.