what's the update?

i finally got my package mailed on friday morning, and then spent another $80 on bathroom supplies on friday afternoon, before crashing early on friday night. also, my arctic silver got refunded due to poor packaging.

i spent the weekend cleaning out the back room, planning out how i'm going to remodel it and sorting through internet ads; all i got out of it was a couple of cheap lamps, but those are actually key to the room setups, too. i picked up my soundcard on monday, on a trip to detroit that also included a run to recycle here to get rid of film plastic and batteries, as well as a disappointing stop at whole foods (who refused my brita filters and razors). i had to throw them out as i didn't want to walk into the bar with a margarine tub of used razors and a bag full of cheese wrappers, which could not be recycled due to the lack of a number on the packaging.

and, as such, i am restarting the bag. i've made my point, which is that it is not at all difficult to keep personal waste down. but, i want to finish the experiment. i'm now even more conscious than i was then, and i have found ways to recycle things i couldn't previously recycle. if the issue with the cheese wrappers is that they don't have a number, perhaps i'll switch to a brand that has a number. and, i'm hoping that the issue with whole foods is site specific.

yesterday, i found a cassette deck and a table for my stereo, which will allow me to move the cabinet into the bedroom and flip it sideways, to use as an extended table. i'm going to keep looking for shelving solutions, but i've largely resigned myself to the need to build the shelving myself.

i spent today cleaning, mostly.

that brings me to...

updated total:
airwalk shoes (payless): $33
bicycle repair (city cyclery): $23
3x40 gb ide hds (kijiji):  $10
dell ultrasharp 1703 fp with dvi cables (kijiji): $20
two lamps, one table and one floor [kijiji]: $15
2x500 gb sshd laptop drives (best buy): $2x82
2 tb internal drive (best buy): $104
100 dvd-rs [best buy]: $30
50 bd-rs [best buy]: $45
2x2 gb laptop ram (amazon.ca): $2x15 + shipping, $47
8 gb sd ram for mp3 player (amazon.ca): $13
2 tb external drive (amazon.ca) : $123
50 cd-rs [amazon.ca]: $30
ps/2 to usb connector [amazon.ca]: $5
intel core i3-4710 [amazon.ca]: $243
atx mid tower [amazon.ca] - $52
asus p9d ws [amazon.ca]: $360
2x8 gb ddr3-1600 ram [amazon.ca]: $150
arctic silver [amazon.ca]: $11 $0
450 joule surge protector (amazon.ca): $9
600 watt psu (amazon.ca): $80
700 joule surge protector (amazon.ca): $10
laptop battery (ebay): $26
2x4 gb laptop ram (ebay): $2x33
ip68 phone (ebay): $128
m-audio audiophile 2496 (ebay) [used]: $60
250 gb ssd drive (newegg.ca): $135
200 jewel cases (newegg.ca): $117
bathroom supplies (food basics, walmart, loblaws, shopper's): $296
ps/2 keyboard (axxon computer corporation, windsor): $23
usb mouse (walmart): $15
universal battery charger + aaa batteries (canadian tire): $54
stereo table: $34  (antique store)
cassette deck: $23 (antique store)
==================
2535.57

officially halfway.

i'm going to at least nap. but i didn't sleep well last night. i'll need to sort through the loose ends in the living room when i wake up.

we will continue to focus on the recruitment and retention of under-represented groups within the Canadian Forces' ranks

the weird thing is that this is actually legit, and i know it. i just wish that we were at a stage of consciousness where we would see this as disturbing, rather than affirming.

i am personally exceedingly uncomfortable with the idea of the government specifically reaching out to minorities as cannon fodder - and think it's just surreal that they're promoting it under the banner of 'diversity'.

but, we live in a fascist war culture. the days where canada was outside of this are over. again: history will see this as the absurdity that it is, even if you're too damaged by the reigning culture of violence to see it, yourself.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-transgender-military-trump-ban-1.4222787

to be clear: the republicans have an absolute total majority across government, right now. the idea that they can't figure this out is asinine.

if you believe any of this nonsense, you're being played - just like they played their base for so long to get them into this conundrum.

historians will understand this properly. and, it may very well go down in history as the single greatest example of the absolute sophistry that defines american democracy.

are they going to fuck around on this for the next fifteen months?

probably.

but, which republican senator is volunteering their seat, anyways?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/obamacare-quick-repeal-republicans-fail-senate-1.4223115

i usually phrase it as too many old people, but it's good to see the analysts actually get the fucking point.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/07/26/cmhc-housing-market-assessment-not-enough-young-canadians_a_23049544/

awww.

poor wittle woblaws.

awww.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/07/26/loblaws-warns-minimum-wage-hikes-will-eat-into-its-profits_a_23048891/

the ndp is not a collection of independent parties, the way the liberals are, but a single organization. this is the reason that notley's - and mulcair's - support for the pipelines made it so clear that horgan was full of shit.

and, this is why canadians don't trust them.

it has nothing to do with a fear of socialism. the reality is that the party can't get anywhere because their recent history is full of nothing but persistent betrayal.

they lie. to your face. and, when they win, they're worse than conservatives.

i hope weaver takes them out.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/07/25/andrew-weaver-b-c-green-leader-bemoans-ndp-change-in-languag_a_23048020/?utm_source

fuck.

take him...

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/justin-trudeau-on-the-cover-of-rolling-stone/article35802832/

Many of the proposals, such as for digital economy and labour, resemble provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that have already been agreed to by Canada, the United States and Mexico, so these elements should be pretty easy to add to a new NAFTA text. 

umm. no?

the tpp was written in a different context, altogether. and, it's proposals were deeply unpopular - especially the ones about intellectual property. there's an argument that trump got a crucial slice of the electorate by opposing it, even if it was clear from the start that he was full of shit.

i don't expect trudeau to put up much of a fight. the guy is a tool. we're going to need to raise hell on the streets, instead.

if you opposed the tpp, the next round of fighting is in opposing trump's proposed changes to nafta. let's start organizing, now.

am i supposed to be upset about this?

fuck the troops.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-politics/trump-says-no-transgender-people-will-serve-in-us-military/article35802795/

i actually support scrapping these extra-territorial kangaroo courts and returning local sovereignty to the judicial systems of our respective countries.

canadian firms should abide by democratically enacted us law; in turn, american firms should abide by democratically enacted canadian law. i'm not going to wave a flag to stand up for an investor class with a maple leaf on it. i'm on the side of democracy, not on the side of special rights for the upper class.

trudeau is wrong on this point and standing up for the wrong principles  - that is, the ability of capitalist special interest groups to ignore democratically enacted laws - in doing so.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/nafta-renegotiations-what-do-trump-and-canada-want/article33715250/

i'm not going to challenge the basis of denial; it's an objective test, and if you're above it then you fail the criterion and don't get to stay. we can have discussions about whether the economy should be based on resources or finances, and argue that artificial scarcity should be abolished, but so long as we live in a society where bankers set the rules, we have limits that need to be abided by. i have to put some trust in the state to arrive at numbers, as i can't derive that myself; whatever the limit is, one should exist.

the problem here strikes me as a lack of communication between government departments. this family was brought here and settled here, then told at the last minute they can't stay. you can't do that. and, they'll win their court battles because of it.

i don't oppose the idea of setting limits on what the country accepts in terms of health care costs. the correct solution is that the united states - a much more populated country - should adopt universal health care. that's what's wrong here, on that level.

but, you can't bring people in and then kick them out - and the courts will uphold that point.

what should come out of this is a change in the process: the feds should be reviewing applications before the province pre-admits them. what that means is that they should not have been accepted in the first place; but, they were, and now you can't just kick them out.

http://globalnews.ca/news/3620003/family-in-shock-after-permanent-residency-denied-by-immigration-canada-due-to-daughters-disability

"The signing of the (free-trade agreement) is to provide a stable and anticipated institutional arrangement for mutual investment, so that investors won't worry (that) their investments may encounter some difficulties or problems."

well, at least he's honest. so, why not drop the orwellian "free trade" language, then? that's not a description of free trade, it's a frank statement of why people oppose these "free trade" agreements - we don't want to sign away our sovereignty to foreign investors, or give them the ability to override our laws in these wonky corporatized kangaroo courts.

what canadians want is a stable and anticipated institutional arrangement that ensures that foreign investors are held accountable under canadian jurisprudence, so that we don't have to worry about investors running rough shod over our democratically enacted laws and carefully arrived at judicial precedent.

again: we need a trade framework with china. we can't have free trade with the existing chinese economy; it's an incoherent proposition. so, what we need is to normalize relations in such a way that upholds our national sovereignty in the face of corporate irresponsibility. and, what you're smoking is stronger than what i'm smoking if you think that this government is on the side of canadian citizens in this matter.

expect the chinese to get everything they ask for.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/china-norsat-free-trade-canada-1.4190712