it's interesting to note just how strong the parallels are between the german-roman struggle for europe and the mongol-han struggle for china. the ambush spoken of here around 51:00 reminds me much of the successful defence of the rhine by arminius.

but, let us stop and be empirical for a moment.

fact: canada is relying on a fund designed for third world countries in order to vaccinate it's citizens. it will be unable to do so, without relying on this fund.

if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, what is it? a mechanical duck, perhaps - but a duck, nonetheless.

and, the cause is clear - this is the devastation wrought by years worth of free trade, which is exactly what the british did to india.

the scandal here is that we have to dip into a supply intended for third world countries because free trade has destroyed our manufacturing capacity, not that we're putting ourselves ahead of other countries, which is simply acting rationally, and which every other country in the world is doing.

the fact that this is even a debate is reflective of the reality that something like half of the country is foreign born and sees themselves as transplants, and canadians second. we shouldn't even be debating this, and it's a reflection of where the country is in terms of immigration that we are. it's completely absurd to suggest that we ought to be more concerned about vaccinating citizens in other countries than we are about vaccinating ourselves, but here we are.

i just watched that byzantine documentary and was reminded of the battle of manzikert, where the emperor was forced to rely on turkish soldiers for defence, who defected and handed him over to the barbarians. canada is not only oblivious to these lessons of history, but seems focused on intentionally repeating the mistakes.

but, historical comparison aside, the focus from the left should be on how unchecked globalism has led us to this disaster, not a further embrace of it and a deeper articulation of globalist perspectives. i'm not surprised by anamie paul's reaction, as she is a perfect representative of the fake left. but, i am a little taken aback by stephen lewis' lack of commentary on the economic factors that led us here, while realizing that the cbc may have decided to cut him off in his response, or may have framed their questions in an intent to produce a specific response.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covax-anand-vaccine-timetable-1.5939270

so, i spent the whole day sleeping and skipped everything, which i'll now have to put off until monday.

i left on thusrsday afternoon to go to the dentist with the hopes of securing a low dose doxycycline rx, and what he told me was that my mouth was unusually clean and the recession simply isn't being caused by bacteria. so, antibiotics wouldn't make any sense. when i pointed out that i was requesting doxycycline to inhibit collagenase production and not explicitly for it's antibiotic properties, he responded that he did not accept the idea that the recession may be being caused by a host response to the bacteria (which, if true, would model some gum disease as a kind of cancer, or even a kind of allergic reaction; it would suggest your body is losing gum tissue because it is attacking itself, in overproducing collagenase, rather than being attacked by bacteria. but, i have to acknowledge that this is not the accepted science at this point - it is an alternative theory, and i shouldn't be surprised if most dentists tell me it's wrong.), and retreated back to the idea that i simply didn't have any bacteria in my mouth, and that an rx would consequently not be appropriate. he told me my recession was simply the result of aging combined with overbrushing. what i'm going to say is that i understand his diagnosis and respect his reluctance, as he has rules he needs to follow, as a licensed dentist; what i need to do is find somebody who has experimented with this previously, and is willing to go beyond the accepted science. like, i can't say for sure that this is going to work, but i kind of don't even care why because the other option is letting my gums rot away and watching my teeth fall out. whatever the reason for the recession is, i have to do something....or else....

he also argued that he wouldn't recommend a gum graft in my mouth, because the success rates for gum grafting is very low. i've looked into this a little, and the best way i can make sense of that claim is that he's arguing that gum grafting doesn't undo the causes of recession, so i'll just end up re-receding any grafted tissue (again with the causes). well, that's maybe true, but i want to be more optimistic than that, and i want to approach the root causes the best i can. i already quit smoking a long time ago, so we can rule that out - as much as i can control it, which is less than i'd like. i'm hacking through the guy's habits upstairs, even right now. if i'm having issues with over-brushing, we can correct that. the one thing i probably can't actually fix at this point is crooked teeth (and air pollution), but i'd rather regraft over and over if i have to than watch my teeth fall out...

but, i mean, it's not covered unless the tooth is about to fall out. so, the only way i can pay for a gum graft is to wait for it to get so bad that my teeth are going to fall out if i don't do it. and, i'm thankfully not there yet, so it's not a feasible approach, anyways. i can point out that this is legitimately flat out stupid, and even the ford government seems to be slowly realizing how stupid it is, but i can't undo the stupidity of capitalism via convincing rhetorical devices, as though the bourgeoisie would just give up if it only understood. so, there's no path there - but it uncovered the dentist's attitude, which is more pessimistic than i want. i was happy to get the more conservative diagnosis, granted. but i need somebody that's a little less risk-averse. so, i've found his analysis invaluably useful, but i'll need to call around looking for somebody that has done this before - and i may need to travel for it. that's fine. it's a race against time.

so, i left the dentist without what i wanted, but with a better grasp of reality than i previously had. i'm asking for an experimental treatment and need to be cognizant of that fact in approaching licensed practitioners. that's a step forwards

on the way back, i stopped at the grocery store to pick up a number of items that i would normally pick up at that store and in fact bought too many things to get my bicycle home, including some extra additions to the pasta bowl, namely tomato and broccoli, which i'm adding blindly as a temporary stop-gap. a temporary update to the meal plan will follow shortly, as i add a few things to plug known holes, until i can get back to it. i should point out that the weather on this day was deceptively cold, with the temperature itself not being so bad but the windchill making it seem much colder than it really was, so my decision to bicycle was in truth in error. nonetheless, i found myself forced to walk with two extra jumbo boxes of vector and a plastic carton of grapefruit juice, in excess to what i could fit in my bag.

i initially tried to cart it but found myself blocked from further movement at the exit to the plaza, and on the way home found a wasteland of locked carts along that strip of tecumseh, discarded every couple of metres. i walked by about ten of them, and tried a few, but it was the same thing with all of them. this clearly indicates that there is a strong demand for carts in the neighbourhood, and that the grocery store is performing a disservice in the community by putting these radio sensors in them. further, we're banning plastic bags and bringing in a carbon tax, when one of the simplest things we can do to reduce unnecessary pollution is encourage people to walk to the store to do groceries! again: i can convince you this is stupid, but it doesn't fix it. and, one of the things you learn studying history is that nobody listens to the people arguing the society is destructive and stupid...not even after it's too late...

when i was nearly home, i scored a walmart cart just past crawford, and it's a good thing i did, too.

and, a curious thing happened as i was walking, too - a woman with a bag of red onions and a bag of potatoes sneaks up behind me and drops them into the cart. her english was very broken, but she was able to get across the point that she reasoned that if we were walking the same route then i should help carry the load, and i quite frankly had no debate with the premise - i'm an advocate of community cart use, as i've pointed out repeatedly. so, i got her onions and potatoes a good way up the road for her, but then i had to turn off. i wish i could have left her the cart, but i knew i needed it myself - to bring a bookcase home.

when i arranged for the transaction in the morning. i figured i could get the bookcase home by putting the shelves in a knapsack and carrying the case home myself. i did not initially intend to cart it. but, once i found myself in the possession of a cart, i immediately realized the utility of it and subsequently immediately formed the intent to further utilize it. this woman was definitely disappointed, but i insist my claim on further use was justified. and, it turns out that it was actually necessary - my initial intent was starkly naive. 

but, this woman should have had access to a cart. she should not have been forced to carry this load on her own. shame on these stores for forcing her to walk home with a heavy load like that.

so, i got my food away and then took a walk up campbell to get get what was advertised as a 70" tall bookcase - and turned out to be made of solid oak and closer to 72" than 70" - a key fact given that the space i wanted to put it in is 70.5" tall. gah. good thing i had the cart, right? the seller had told me to pick the unit up from her porch and leave the $15 in the mailbox, presumably to avoid contact, which i did do, after i broke the top off getting it into the cart. oops.

the reality is that it's well more than $15 worth of wood, and i'll take it based on that fact alone, even if i end up leaving it here, in the end. i was only able to get it in here by sliding it down the railing, which converted nicely into an inclined plane. and, i have to put it in a different space than initially intended, because it's about an 1/8" too tall to fit where i want. well, one thing at a time, right? i needed two and now i need one.

so, i got my book case in here and then had to go get my bicycle. i left the cart where i turned off, and hope somebody else can find a use for it, although it was still there when i came home.

i got my bicycle home with a bag of avocados, some toilet paper and some ice cream and set immediately to making myself pasta, with the intent to get everything in order here over night, but found myself slow to actually eat due to the need to clean in the kitchen and put food in tupperware, and then needing to sleep as soon as i finished eating. i intended to nap, but i didn't wake up until after 10:00.

given my reliance on off-peak electrical, i need to be nocturnal in my habits and plan to sleep during the day. i can't be waking up at 10:00 am like this. so, i made the conscious decision to force myself to sleep - and did, quite spectacularly, getting some high quality sleep in, and not waking up until almost 17:00.

so, here we are then.

i'm going to catch up on eating, first. then, i'm going to clean all night and all day. so, here we go...