so, for tonight...

i think my stomach has settled a little.

i will now need to put those berries into tupperware, do some dishes, take a shower and finish the last four liner notes for november.

it's really biden v buttigieg, though.

if biden can hold on, he wins.

if he slips, buttigieg will take his place.

it's very unfortunate what's happened to bernie. really. it is.

but, he's started running with a bad crowd, and you have to react to what's in front of you.

it's not that sanders isn't the best option.

sanders is clearly the best option. but, i just can't do it. vote eco-socialist, instead.

even when they asked him the transgender question, he seemed weirded out and awkard about it, even while stating the right answer. see, and this is what i'm saying: i don't think that bernie has any problem with the queers. he's actually, historically, been a pretty good ally. it's more like somebody took him aside and told him "this queer thing. you gotta distance yourself.", and he's been fighting with it since. he thinks the queers are unpopular and are costing him votes....

but, the people that told him that were wrong, and the people he should be distancing himself from are them.

he might figure that out, in the end, and course correct. but, the damage is done, and it's going to take a long time before i can get over that, if i ever can.

come back here, and i'll insult you a second time!

i got my pizza and watched the debates.

i had too much pizza....need to sit down....

i may not have another full meal until january.

the debates were not exactly what i expected. bernie has, in fact, toned it down a little, and that's a good thing. rather, it was mostly warren that got into the tiff with buttigieg, and actually...

i think he handed her a death blow. she's done. and, in fact, i think she knows it. she seemed on the brink of tears for the rest of the debate; i think she knows she missed her chance. i'd expect her to withdraw relatively soon.

klobuchar didn't come off nearly as badly in her scuffle with buttigieg, but i do still think that he got the best of her. if anything, bernie seemed to know better.

most of what i saw and heard just reinforced that i'm substantively further to the left than this party is. i didn't like much of what i heard from any of them.

yang had some good opportunities, but he just reinforced the perception that he isn't actually serious. and, steyer is a billionaire running against billionaires? let's hope that's the last we hear from both of them.

biden's hawkish response on the china question was flat out frightening, but it seems to be in the mainstream of bourgeois left thought to be "tough on china" nowadays. the reality is that china has a sphere of influence in the region, and america is going to need to make a choice: pull back a little (ok, a lot.) or fight a war. the chinese are crystal clear that they don't want american weapons in their backyard, and i think they have every right to take that position. the yankee american imperialists need to go home.

in my mind, the field has narrowed to biden, sanders, buttigieg and klobuchar. don't be surprised if you start seeing klobuchar beating warren in some polls...

so, i got a bowl of fruit and actually passed out until almost noon. i guess the smell in here got to me.

he tends not to smoke when his kids are around, anyways.

as mentioned, i spent the morning (it was actually the afternoon) figuring out how to react to the oiprd's continual demands for more time, and i've decided to make an issue out of it by sending them two notices:

1) if they don't consent to let me add the file between now and friday morning, i'll need to file a motion without notice to add the file to the case.
2) if they don't get the application record in between now and friday morning, i'll have to file a motion without notice to the court to declare them late.

they talked about "early in the new year". based on past behavior, that suggests february or march.

the process of filing the motion will take some time as well, but i'm making a point - i'm sick of the delays and making a stink about it.

what i sent them will be slightly different than what i'm going to file, and i'll consequently have to re-serve them on friday. i won't actually send out anything until later in the day on friday. and, i'm going to need to call the post office and figure out what their hours are, actually.

for right now, i'm going to need to take a quick run down to get some berries, as that was the thing that i couldn't find when i went on friday. they were just expensive. i had a few day's worth still, though; now i'm done and need more. if i have to, i'll get frozen berries. and, i'm going to get a pizza on the way back. then i'm going to shower. and, i'll actually be in bed tonight.

my machine has not rebooted yet, which is a good sign. let's hope it survives my walk to get fruit.

i don't want to be stoned right now :(

read this if you want to understand what pete buttigieg is.

https://archive.org/stream/carrollquigley_angloamericanestablishment/Carroll%20Quigley%20-%20The%20Anglo-American%20Establishment_djvu.txt

yeah, here comes the drugs.

go for a walk, man. have some respect for your tenant. gross.

so, buttigieg is holding on in those early states, huh? he's consistently beating both sanders and warren in new hampshire, which neighbours both vermont and massachusetts. in a way, that's impressive.

and, you can see why everybody's going after him.

i didn't watch the debate, and i'm not going to, but if it was the moralistas ganging up on the gay guy like i imagine it was, and him basically calling them out on their hypocrisy for it like it looks like it was, they may have shot themselves in the foot and given him a boost. i don't know why bernie thinks his angry zealot routine is a winner; it's part of the reason he's losing.

the democratic party has entered a weird twilight zone where so many of it's talking heads grew up as republicans, and have a fundamentally different way to understand the world than most of their voters do. most people that lean democratic are basically nihilists, in practice if not in theory. this shit is just going to be weird to them. it's the kind of thing that you pull out after you win, and you need to go after swing voters, or disgruntled republicans that actually care about morals and don't see them in the existing right-wing paradigm. democrats are more prone to want to have a beer, smoke a bong, and tell you to fucking relax and stop judging people. harris at least realized that, even if the execution was so botched as to be comical. if the debate was angry bernie v chill & cool pete, i can tell you who won with actual democratic voters, regardless of what the polls say just right now.

again: this is why everybody's going after him. he has a cultural appeal in the actual party base that the other candidates just don't; he's the guy that the people that pay party dues and carry their membership card around with them are most likely to go for. and, like it or not, he's probably the future of the party.

he's still basically a log cabin republican from the all souls clique, working for a secret cabal of globalists connected to the legacy of cecil rhodes. he's not a good candidate for leftist voters. don't misunderstand me, here - i'm not endorsing this guy.

and he still has a hill to climb to beat biden, clearly.

but, the longer he sticks around, the scarier he gets.