yes, they probably need to send a male.

but, he needs to be a little bit older.

and, he needs to have a decent grasp on policy, in addition to being sympathetic to the president's views.

you couldn't ask for a better guy than chretien. he's not a compromise. he's exactly what they need. if you were to imagine the guy, it would be him.

but, again: this government has a chip on it's shoulder in wanting to distance itself from it's own legacy.

and, the country is on the brink of suffering dramatically for this foolishness - this hollow pride.

how many people do you thin doug ford could feed, if they roast him outside the capitol?

our government's opinion of the president of the united states is so low that we've sent doug ford to talk to him, thinking he's the guy that fixes the impasse.

my friends....

(pause. looks towards cue cards.)

my...my...

*cough*

my friends!

*crickets*

my friends, that's not going to get us very far.

it's a function of the smug sense of misplaced superiority that we're projecting.

we're looking down on somebody that could wipe us off the map with the press of a button, and is actually demonstrating some restraint in not doing so.

any intelligent outside observer can see the truth: we're the idiots at the table.

the premise that donald trump is going to have any respect for doug ford at all is just further indicative of the stupidity that is driving the canadian side, and further evidence that much of what trump is saying about us right now is actually true.

donald trump is going to interpret doug ford as the complete fucking idiot that he is, and hold us in contempt for wasting his time pandering to him by sending the village idiot to talk to him.

the right person to send is jean chretien.

all throughout history, science has fought against - and sometimes lost to - superstition and ignorance.

and, that is how indoor smoking, or really smoking at all, ought to be approached: this is another battle for science to fight and win against superstition and ignorance.

there will be ups and downs, but history is on the side of abolishing smoking.

...eventually.

my misanthropism is not so great that i think this is beyond us. but, i know i need that caveat: eventually.

for, there are still people that will argue in favour of any manner of superstition and nonsense, aren't there? but, they are mostly waning, as the stupid is beaten out of them.

i was thinking about this the other day as i was walking. the smoking rates amongst young people are dramatically lower, indicating there is good reason to think i can hope to wait it out by waiting for them all to die. and, they will die young, and terribly - that is what the science informs us of.

that is some cause for optimism - that they will be dead, soon. that humanity is in fact winning this battle, however slowly.

but, in the process of waiting for them to die, i am also waiting myself out, for my own limits are finite, as well. it's a solution that leaves much to be desired...

i was up late last night fighting with the smoke. i'm going to eat and see what's available to look at.

excluding the second hand smoke, and the perpetual caffeine, i'm coming up on four months straight-edge, fwiw.

i intend to remain straight-edge until i can find healthy housing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/americas-invisible-pot-addicts/567886/