i think that what we delude ourselves as thinking of democracy requires people like medea benjamin to push for due process with drone strikes, or glenn greenwald to get information out, or ralph nader to keep corporations on their toes. if the system that exists is going to work at all, it needs these kinds of liberals and libertarians to ensure it holds up it's own axioms. "the rule of law", and all that other liberal stuff. they talk about king, and that's another good example of the kind of perpetual reformism that the system requires to fulfill it's own promises.

but, if i look around me, i don't think "we need a bigger movement". two reasons:

1) co-option. and you can't just blame this on the hierarchy, "the masses" have to take responsibility for this. they melted all over obama. i don't see a way to avoid that. sorry.
2) if it can't be co-opted, it can be destroyed much more easily if it's centralized.

i could talk about how al qaeda's decentralized structure (rather than it's ideology or tactics) is something to try and emulate. to me, that was the promise of occupy. unfortunately, not everybody on the ground saw it like that. but, i think it was a first step. overall, i think a more valuable historical example is the kind of secret societies that were dominant in the french revolution. they realized that open organizing would be brutally suppressed, so they did it underground. we're not yet at that point, we're quickly approaching it. we need to sort of get that loss of democracy that we've been experiencing over the last few decades and find a way to adjust to it.

that is to say that this discussion belongs to the 1960s. there's a long list of fundamental realities that have changed so deeply that we just can't hope that we can organize these kinds of popular protests and hope that the state will respond, except in the kind of small scale ways that define what reformism is.

so, there's a housing problem in detroit. do they need a large scale organization? no - that's either going to be co-opted or repressed. rather, they need to find ways to quietly create clandestine, decentralized squatting networks with no active leadership that actively reject any kind of media exposure.

and i think that's a big reason why these larger movements aren't happening: the resistance is now anarchist, not marxist.

the "temporary autonomous zone" is becoming a more attractive model than working through a hopeless system.

field of broken dreams: if you build it, they will co-opt.

24 hours from now, i will know whether this basement is unusually flood resistant or not.

there's about 20 cm of snow on the ground. it was 7 degrees today, which was warm enough to turn the neighbourhood roads into a series of interconnected ponds. starting around 10 am, we're going to get close to 50 mm of rain (tapering off about midnight tomorrow), around with temperatures rising to around 10 degrees at about the same time. the temperature is then going to drop back to freezing very quickly...

that's kind of an algorithm for flooding, so it seems to be a virtual certainty that there's going to be some water issues in the neighbourhood. the roads are going to flood and the sewers are going to back up. that's very easy to predict, and not really much to care about from my perspective. what i'm worried about is that water seeping in...

i'll find out.

awake, but still not fully alert.

you have to keep in mind that i'm somebody that has historically routinely gone well over 48 hours without sleep, on nothing but coffee and nicotine. nicotine is such a powerful stimulant, for me anyways. i'm well aware of the reality that if i just go buy a pack of smokes i can get some 36 hour days in. but i need to cut the reliance on it.

so i'm not used to this...

i'm hoping the flip of that is that the option for really long days will be there if i want it by just getting a pack.

drugs should be used as drugs, y'know?

producing humans that are naturally wired on caffeine - or that don't form a resistance, at least - strikes me as a worthwhile application of genetic engineering.

personally, i'd love to have that dna flipped...

c'mon, brain. you're supposed to like humidity.

the hypersensitivity is off the wall, but so be it. i think the pollen or whatever may have something to do with it (i've never been checked, but it's something that comes and goes). but, every little change in my surroundings produces these exaggerated responses. the atmospheric pressure changes, i get a stomach ache. the moisture level of the air changes, i get a headache. i'm starting to wonder if i was born with a swim bladder.....

in the end, it's just more proof that i am not a member of homo sapiens. sorry. like i've said - i don't mind being on the same clade. that's ok. but i'm not the same species as the rest of you.....

physically feeling snot harden at the top of your nose might be the weirdest shit ever.

actually, i feel a lot better since i woke up from a nap. weirdness, though.

it's actually the constant napping that's made me rather useless this month. awake for a few hours....zzzzz....again and again...

it's partly the fact that i keep putting myself in nicotine withdrawal. i realize this and realize i just need to make a fucking choice. as i've been stating for years, it's not the cigarettes that are stopping me from quitting altogether, it's the other things we smoke for recreational reasons. which i'm infrequent about. but it's putting me in constant withdrawal....

yet, i'm wondering if it has something to do with the weather, too, given how sensitive i seem to be to it. it's been so cold. and now my sinuses are thawing out.

coffee has stopped working, which scares me. i don't like the stronger options. maybe i'll switch brands.

those moments when you suddenly, without warning, have a "water up the nose" reaction (in error) as a part of the rehydration process that follows turning the heat down (and thereby moistening the inside air) in the spring....

"wait. i can breathe again. woah."