it's time for a repost of this, as i focus on using up items in the fridge or in the pantry before shifting back into my eating schedule by the spring. i went to the food bank three times - in may, in july and in october. i still have items the food bank gave me in july in the freezer and the pantry, and still have items they gave me in october in the fridge, freezer or pantry.

i appreciate the free food from the food bank, although it was often food i wouldn't usually eat and that i struggled to work into my meal plan. i put some amount of it aside (like the frozen chicken) until i could figure out what to do with it. 

i do not expect to need to go back to the food bank again soon, as i have rebuilt my savings and maxed out on social assistance, for a while. however, i'm going to eat through all remaining items they gave me before i even consider going back. one thing i can do is have the large amount of canned soup they gave me with my usual garden salads, which should often actually be a helpful iron supplement.

given that i went out of schedule starting in early april when i moved into the hotel, and i expect to get back into schedule starting with cycle 12 or 13 before the spring, it's looking like this set me out of schedule for a full year.

in fact, while i designed my meal plan for a reason, and it was intended to ensure i get enough of key nutrients, and it worked based on the blood test results, i enjoyed trying to figure out how to eat foods like potatoes and frozen beef that i would never buy and rarely eat. the food bank is for emergencies and i probably don't need it anymore but i'm actually going to miss the challenge of being given random ingredients and finding something to do with them.

when life gives you tamarind sauce, make hot and sour soup.

- june 16th: doubled up salsa with chick peas, cheese, spices and vitamins.

- june 17th: hot and sour soup bacon poutine

- june 18th: basic doritos nachos and french onon soup with bacon

- june 19th: doubled up salsa reprise

- june 20th: caesar salad without subs

- june 21st: 2nd hot and sour soup poutine with hot and sour soup and last chance salad

- june 22rd: 3rd hot and sour soup poutine with hot and sour soup with beets

- june 23rd: caesar salad without subs

- june 24th: caesar salad without subs

- june 25th: bacon and eggs without subs, no salsa

- june 26th: bacon and eggs without subs, no salsa

- june 27th: ad hoc pad thai

- june 28th: broccoli soup

- june 29th: fridge-clearing meal (oranges & garlic bread)

- june 30th: kd + chick peas + fridge clearing exercise

- july 1st:    kd + chick peas + fridge clearing exercise

- july 2nd:  kd + chick peas + fridge clearing exercise

- july 3rd:  10 packages of instant oatmeal, in 5 installments. spaghetti-os + spices & vitamins (cumin, cayenne, pepper, oregano, paprika, sunflower seed, hemp seed, nutritional yeast, frank's).

- july 4th:  a can of stew and a can of corn, plus spices & vitamins.

- july 5th: a package of jasmine rice i had put aside as a quinoa sub (it probably isn't), with a can of peas and a can of tomato soup, plus spices and vitamins.

- july 6th: a can of beans cooked in a can of vegetable soup, plus spices and vitamins.

- july 7th:  two cans of chicken noodle soup, plus spices and vitamins. tim's xl double-double coffee in morning. two builders protein mini bars in evening. 7-11 coffee with jalapeno taquito late at night.

- july 8th: food bank junk food eat through - two bags of "real vegetable chips" (one big, one small), a bag of goldfish crackers, one mini crispy crunch, some strawberry licorice, prime energy drink, two tim horton's donuts, little ceasar's pepperoni pizza with unlabelled chocolate milk product.

- july 9th: another prime energy drink with another unlabelled chocolate milk product, unlabelled food bank ginger bread (two loaves)

- july 10th: pasta with minor subs (1), third energy drink, sour cream n cheddar chips

- july 11th: sour cream 'n' bacon, sour cream 'n' onion chips

- july 12th: more licorice, pasta with minor subs (2)

- july 13th: jalapeno cheddar chips, pasta with minor subs (3)

- july 14th: 10 baby cookies, pasta with minor subs (4)

- july 15th: i ate most of the 14th pasta on the 15th and followed it with the remaining baby cookies (which are actually french butter cookies, not baby cookies. they look like baby cookies). i did not make pasta for the 15th.

- july 16th:.  pasta with minor subs (5)

- july 17th:  pasta with minor subs (6)

- july 18th (on the 19th):  pasta with minor subs (7)

- july 19th (on the 20th): cereal (one bowl of vector and all bran with paprika, flax, nutritional yeast, hemp seeds and soy, as per my normal diet and one bowl of instant oatmeal with a little real milk and an apple)

- july 20th (on the 21st): pasta with minor subs (8)

- july 21st (on the 22nd): pasta with minor subs (9)

- july 22nd: cereal day 2 in cycle 2 (final cycle 2 cereal day): one bowl of vector and all bran with paprika, flax, nutritional yeast, hemp seeds and soy, as per my normal diet and one bowl of instant oatmeal with a little real milk and two apples, one in the oatmeal and one standalone.

- july 23rd: cereal day 1 in cycle 3

- july 24: pasta with minor subs (10)

- july 25: cereal day 2 in cycle 3, same as 22 and 23, with the addition of 6 mini apple sauce containers.

- july 26: pasta with minor subs (11)

- july 27th - guac with white rice and canned corn. two pieces of white bread with plum better.

- july 28th: pasta with minor subs (12)

- july 29th: guac with white rice and canned corn. two pieces of white toast with olive oil margarine, and then two pieces of white bread with plum butter after. four more pieces of white bread, with plum butter and strawberry jam. 

- july 30th: pasta with minor subs (13), including fried chicken for salami.

- july 31st: a larger piece of fried chicken alone. pasta with minor subs (14), including a mix of buffalo and chicken for salami. six pieces of white bread for peanut butter and strawberry jam.

- aug 1st: four pieces of white bread and the rest of the peanut butter. quinoa without subs (on aug 3rd).

- aug 2nd: four marshmallows, two bananas and a chocolate bar. quinoa without subs (on aug 3rd).

- aug 3rd: pasta with minor subs (15), including the buffalo/chicken mix for salami (on aug 4th). two pieces of toasted italian bread.

- aug 4th: bacon and eggs (no salsa) (on aug 5th)

- aug 5th: pasta with minor subs (16), including the buffalo/chicken mix for salami. two pieces of toasted italian bread. (on aug 6th)

- aug 6th: guac with yellow pepper, homemade hot sauce and canned corn (on aug 7th).

- aug 7th: monterrey jack tuna salad melt with bowl of cilantro lime monterrey jack rice (on aug 8th).

- aug 8th: pasta with minor subs (17), homemade hot sauce and bacon for salami (on aug 9th). . two pieces of toasted italian bread.

- aug 9th: guac with yellow pepper, homemade hot sauce and canned corn wth cilantro lime monterrey jack rice (on aug 10th).

- aug 10th: bacon and eggs (no salsa) (on aug 11th)

- aug 11th: pasta with minor subs (18), homemade hot sauce and bacon for salami (early on aug 12th). two pieces of toasted italian bread.

- aug 12th: bacon and eggs (no salsa) (at midnight on aug 13th)

- aug 13th: pasta with minor subs (19), homemade hot sauce and bacon for salami (early on aug 14th). . two pieces of toasted italian bread.

- aug 14th: potatoes with gravy, cheese, sour cream, bacon and dill (early on aug 15th). no av.

- aug 15th: hot and sour soup + side salad (as posted) (late on aug 15th). no av.

- aug 16th: potatoes with gravy, cheese, sour cream, bacon and dill (early on aug 17th). no av.

- aug 17th: hot and sour soup (mid day on aug 17th) and side salad (as posted) with two pieces of toast (early on aug 18th). no av.

- aug 18th: pasta with minor subs (20), including bacon for salami (early on aug 19th). no av. no juice. no hot sauce. two pieces of toasted italian bread.

- aug 19th: pasta with minor subs (21), including orange/lime for pineapple and bacon for salami (early on aug 20th). no av. no juice. no hot sauce. two pieces of toasted italian bread.

- aug 20th & 21st: cereal day 1 & 2 from cycle 4 together in one big bowl. (mid-day on aug 20th)

- aug 22nd: pasta with minor subs (22), including orange/lime for pineapple and chicken for salami (early on aug 21st). no av. no juice. no broc. no hot sauce. two pieces of toasted italian bread.

- aug 23rd: pasta with minor subs (23), including orange/lime for pineapple and chicken for salami (early on aug 22nd). no av. no juice. no broc. no red pepper. no hot sauce. i had the rest of the italian bread, and four extra pieces of brown bread with cheddar cheese, on the morning of aug 23rd and otherwise didn't eat on the 23rd. this is the bread for use with cycle 7, eaten early. 

- aug 24th: pasta with minor subs (24) (early on the 24th). this was the last of the penne and shifted the pasta source to a box of kd, for now. no av. no juice. no broc. no red pepper. no hot sauce. no pineapple. no salami. no caesar. no dill. two pieces of toasted brown bread with margarine. one xl tim's double double.

- aug 25th: (early on the 25th)  tomato sandwich one from cycle 2 and a sidekick noodles instant meal. no av, as it's not ripe yet.

- aug 26th: pasta with minor subs (25). pasta source is a box of kd. bacon subbed for salami. two pieces of toasted brown bread with margarine. no av. no broc (forgot).

- aug 27th: second tomato sandwich meal from cycle 2 with a package of (cooked) chinese noodles.

- aug 28th: pasta with minor subs (26). pasta source is a box of kd. bacon subbed for salami. two pieces of toasted brown bread with margarine.  two avs.

- aug 29th: doubled up salsa with kidney beans, cheese, spices and vitamins. cycle 2 salsa. four avs. juice. 50 g broccoli.

- aug 30th: pasta with minor subs (27). pasta source is a box of kd. bacon subbed for salami. two pieces of toasted brown bread with margarine. two avs.

- aug 31st: first cycle 3 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa and a can of side baked beans. two avs. last extra juice.

- sept 1st: pasta with minor subs (28). pasta source is a box of kd. bacon subbed for salami. two pieces of toasted brown bread with margarine. two avs. not eaten until morning of sept 2nd.

- sept 2nd: first tomato sandwich meal from cycle 3 with a package of (cooked) chinese noodles. extra av in chinese noodles.

- sept 3rd: pasta with minor subs (29). pasta source is a box of kd. bacon subbed for salami. no bread. two avs.

- sept 4: doubled up salsa with kidney beans, cheese, spices and vitamins. cycle 3 salsa. four avs.

- sept 5th: pasta with minor subs (30). pasta source is spaghetti. bacon subbed for salami. two avs (avs caight up).

- sept 6nd: second tomato sandwich meal from cycle 3 with a package of (cooked) chinese noodles. 1/2 red pepper in chinese noodles from catchup. jello with catchup pineapple and one lime, one orange.

- sept 7th: pasta with minor subs (31). pasta source is spaghetti. bacon subbed for salami. 

- sept 8th: second cycle 3 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa.

- sept 9th: pasta with minor subs (32). pasta source is spaghetti. bacon subbed for salami. 

- sept 10th: doubled up salsa with cheese, spices and vitamins. cycle 4 salsa. 

- sept 11th: green beans that were intended for the 10th (eaten on the 12th), with mushroom soup and bacon. first skipped pasta. later, first cycle 4 guac with red pepper (eaten on 13th).

- sept 12th: canned corn that was intended for the 11th (eaten on the 13th) with bacon. 2nd skipped pasta. first tomato sandwich from cycle 4 (eaten on 13th) with a package of (cooked) chinese noodles (eaten on 13th). 1/2 red pepper in chinese noodles from catchup, last catchup. last chinese noodles.

- sept 13th: pasta with minor subs (33). pasta source is spaghetti. bacon subbed for salami. first skipped. (eaten early on 15th) 

- sept 14th: pasta with minor subs (34). pasta source is spaghetti. bacon subbed for salami.  second skipped. (eaten early on the 16th)

- sept 15th: first cycle 2 nachos (eaten late on the 16th). third skipped pasta.

- sept 16th: second cycle 2 nachos (eaten late on the 17th). fourth skipped pasta.

- sept 17th: first cycle 3 nachos (eaten early on the 19th). fifth skipped pasta.

- sept 18th: second cycle 3 nachos (eaten late on the 19th). sixth skipped pasta.

- sept 19th: second tomato sandwich from cycle 4 & poutine with canned potatoes (eaten early on 21st). seventh skipped pasta. 

- sept 20th: second cycle 4 guac & canned cream corn with bacon meal, eaten on 21st and 22nd. eighth skipped pasta.

- sept 21st: two for 1 bk whoppers (no lettuce, extra pickles) with added monterrey jack (melted), franks and caesar, with four of those cheesy jalapeno things and two apple turnovers. eaten late on the 23rd. ninth skipped pasta.

- sept 22nd: first cycle 4 nachos (eaten during day on 24th). tenth skipped pasta.

- sept 23rd: second cycle 4 nachos (eaten early on 25th). eleventh skipped pasta.

- sept 24th: first tomato sandwich from cycle 5 (eaten late on 25th). twelfth skipped pasta.

- sept 25th: second tomato sandwich from cycle 5 (eaten early on 26th). thirteenth skipped pasta.

- sept 26: pasta with minor subs (35). third cycle 9 pasta. pasta source is spaghetti. bacon subbed for salami. third skipped.

- sept 27th: pasta with minor subs (36). fourth cycle 9 pasta. pasta source is spaghetti. bacon subbed for salami. fourth skipped.

- sept 28th: first cycle 4 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa. eaten early on 29th. soy saved to be eaten with two pieces of toast with cheese, eaten midday on the 30th.

- sept 29th: pasta with minor subs (37). first cycle 10 pasta. eaten early on the 1st. pasta source is spaghetti. bacon subbed for salami. fifth skipped. two pieces of toast with cheese, eaten midday on the 2nd.

- sept 30th: pasta with minor subs (38). second cycle 10 pasta. pasta source is spaghetti. bacon subbed for salami. sixth skipped. eaten late on the 2nd. three pieces of toast with cheese, eaten late on the 3rd.

- oct 1st: -------

- oct 2nd: --------------

- oct 3rd: 7-11 pizza with taquito and two glasses of orange juice. eaten early on 4th.

- oct 4th: pizza crusts fried with bacon, margarine, cheese + caesar, brocolli, avocado. eaten early on 5th

- oct 5th: extra large pizza eaten on 5th,

- oct 6th: pizza crusts fried with bacon, margarine, cheese + caesar, carrot. eaten on 6th

- oct 7th: second cycle 4 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa. eaten on oct 7th.

- oct 8th: two nutrigrain bars, one half a container of cookies, 1st cycle 5 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa. eaten oct 9th/10th.

- oct 9th:  rest of cookies + small pizza pizza, including crusts. 

- oct 10th: two small crispers bags, one nutrigrain, one granola bar, big bag of "veggie straws" (which are cheeseless cheezies).

- oct 11th: big bag of cheeseless cheezies, six fruit rollups, one small container of apple sauce, two chicken sandwiches from food basics roasted chicken

- oct 12th: two chicken sandwiches from food basics roast chicken

- oct 13th: second cycle 3 caesar salad, with packaged lettuce subbed for kale and with two broken fried eggs and cucumber added. served with buttered sub bun. 

- oct 14th: first tomato sandwich from cycle 6 with chicken sidekick noodles. two apples, eaten later.

- oct 15th: first cycle 4 caesar salad, with packaged lettuce subbed for kale and cucumber and apple added. served with buttered sub bun. one apple, eaten later.

- oct 16th: second cycle 4 bacon & eggs. no salsa. two apples, later.

=================================================cycle 4 eaten through, except for four exceptions.

- oct 17th: first cycle 5 cereal, with two plain instant oatmeals, each with an apple and a touch of chocolate soy. also, two pop tarts to test the new toaster. 

- oct 18th: first cycle 5 guac, with added cucumber and with white rice, but as third component. first component was 75% of a pineapple (because it needed to be eaten) with a cup of apple sauce. second component was canned cream of corn with bacon, dill, cheese, caesar, frank's, nutritional yeast & hemp seeds.

- oct 19th: doubled up salsa with cheese, spices and vitamins, and cucumber and apple. served with one buttered bun. cycle 5 salsa. 

- oct 20th: second cycle 6 tomato sandwich, with chinese noodles.

- oct 21st: first cycle 7 tomato sandwich, with chinese noodles.

- oct 22nd & 23rd: doubled up salsa with cheese, spices and vitamins, and cucumber and apple. served with one buttered bun. cycle 6 salsa. this took me two tries.

- oct 24th & 25th: doubled up salsa with cheese, spices and vitamins, and cucumber and apple. served with buttered bun. cycle 7 salsa. this took me two tries.

- oct 26th: 6 pop tarts, one bag of goldfish chips and a can of mildly expired ravioli.

- oct 27th: first cycle 5 bacon & eggs. no salsa. served with last buttered bun. two pieces of white toast with peanut butter, later.

- oct 28th & 29th: second cycle 5 guac, with white rice, canned corn, cucumber and apple. served with one buttered hawaiian roll. two pieces of white toast with peanut butter, later.

- oct 30th & 31st: second cycle 5 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa and cucumber and apple. served with one buttered hawaiian roll. two pieces of white toast with peanut butter, later.  

- nov 1st & 2nd: first cycle 6 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa and cucumber and apple. served with one buttered hawaiian roll. two pieces of white toast with peanut butter, later.

- nov 3rd & 4th: second cycle 6 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa with apple. no orange.

- nov 5th & 6th: one piece of white toast with peanut butter, six hawaiian rolls with peanut butter, three hawaiian rolls with jam and four mini apple sauces, eaten over the course of multiple installments..

- nov 7th & 8th: first cycle 7 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa with apple. three pieces of brown bread with jam. no orange.

- nov 9th: tuna sandwich monterrey melt (as before) with uncle ben gumbo with cheese, caesar and frank's. four pieces of brown bread with jam.

- nov 10th: second cycle 5 bacon & eggs, no salsa.

- nov 11th & 12th: second cycle 7 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa with apple. no orange.

- nov 13th & 14th: first cycle 6 guac, with white rice, canned corn. no orange.

- nov 15th & 16th: second cycle 6 guac, with white rice, canned corn. two oranges.

- nov 17th & 18th: first cycle 7 guac, with white rice, canned peas. two oranges.

- nov 19th & 20th: second cycle 7 guac, with canned mixed vegetables and instant rice with bacon. two oranges. eaten in three meals over two days, with an extra orange and an extra avocado and a large bag of dill pickle potato chips.

- nov 21st & 22nd: hot and sour soup poutine &  hot and sour soup.

- nov 23rd: hot and sour soup poutine & hot and sour soup.

- nov 24th: pizza (bacon, olives, pineapple, double cheese)

- nov 25th: second cycle 5 cereal, including a bowl with two instant oatmeals and an apple with a touch of chocolate soy.

- nov 26th/27th: first cycle 5 nachos. 2x juice.

- nov 28th/29th: second cycle 5 nachos. 2x juice.

===================================cycle 5 eaten through, except for four exceptions

- nov 30th: first cycle 6 nachos.

- dec 1st : second cycle 6 nachos.

- dec 2nd: first cycle 6 bacon & eggs. with salsa. 

- dec 3rd: second cycle 6 bacon & eggs. with salsa.

- dec 4th: first cycle 6 cereal, including a bowl with two instant oatmeals and an apple with a touch of chocolate soy.

- dec 5th: second cycle 6 cereal, including a bowl with two instant oatmeals and an apple with a touch of chocolate soy.

==============================cycle 6 eaten through, except for four exceptions

- dec 6th: the salsas for the cycle 7 bacon and eggs, together, with cheese and yeast.

- dec 7th: first cycle 7 bacon & eggs. no salsa.

- dec 8th: second cycle 7 bacon & eggs. no salsa.

- dec 9th: first cycle 8 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa (to eat red pepper & broc)

- dec 10th: second cycle 8 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa (to eat red pepper & broc)

- dec 11th/12th: first cycle 7 nachos. 2x juice. plus subway, bmt with bacon.

- dec 13th/14th: second cycle 7 nachos. 2x juice.

- dec 15th: second cycle 7 tomato sandwich, with uncle ben gumbo with dill and garlic, monterrey jack cheese, nutritional yeast, hemp seeds, caesar and frank's.

- dec 16th: first cycle 7 cereal, plus two instant oatmeals with an apple with a touch of chocolate soy.

- dec 17th: second cycle 7 cereal, plus two instant oatmeals and an apple with a touch of chocolate soy.

===================cycle 7 eaten through, except for four exceptions.

- dec 18th: first cycle 8 cereal, plus two instant oatmeals with an apple with a touch of chocolate soy.

- dec 19th: second cycle 8 cereal, plus two instant oatmeals and an apple with a touch of chocolate soy.

- dec 20th: salsa for cycle 8 eggs, together, with cheese and yeast.

- dec 21st: first cycle 8 bacon & eggs. no salsa.

- dec 22nd: second cycle 8 bacon & eggs. no salsa.

- dec 23rd/24th: first cycle 8 nachos. 2x juice.

- dec 25th/26th: second cycle 8 nachos. 2x juice.

- dec 27th: first cycle 8 tomato sandwich with uncle ben gumbo with dill and garlic, monterrey jack cheese, nutritional yeast, hemp seeds, caesar and frank's.

- dec 28th: second cycle 8 tomato sandwich with sweet and sour chicken.

- dec 29th: first cycle 8 guac

- dec 30th: second cycle 8 guac

=========================cycle 8 eaten through, except for four exceptions

- dec 31st: first cycle 9 bacon and eggs (no salsa) and sweet and sour chicken from first cycle 9 tomato sandwich.

- jan 1st: second cycle four caesar salad, with added grilled chicken breast. (no tomatoes at store)

- jan 2nd: first cycle 5 caesar salad, with added grilled chicken breast.

- jan 3rd: second cycle 5 caesar salad, with added grilled chicken breast 

- jan 4th: second cycle 9 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- jan 5th: first cycle 6 caesar salad, with added grilled chicken breast. (remaining avs eaten through)

- jan 6th/7th: broccoli soup (1/6)

- jan 8th: first cycle 10 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- jan 9th: second cycle 10 bacon and eggs (no salsa) with sugary fruit rollup things.

- jan 10th: second cycle 9 tomato sandwich with added pickles and with strawberry jello (with one lime, one orange and full containers of blueberry, blackberry, raspberry - a jello fruit bowl purchased intentionally, and made of on sale berries and surplus citrus)

- jan 11th: smoked meat and bacon on sourdough with caesar, mustard, pickles, monterrey and cheddar cheese, pickles, mustard and hot sauce. with two extra slices of toast with margarine, some pickles and a large bag of jalapeno doritos, plain, later. 

jan 12th: even later, two pieces of sourdough with margarine, some more pickles, an avocado and an orange. still later, two pieces of sourdough with cheese.

- jan 13th: first cycle 9 tomato sandwich with added pickles (side eaten previously). mayo is done.

- jan 14th/15th: first cycle 10 tomato sandwich with added pickles and a side of beans with bacon, cheese, dill. beans eaten on 14th, sandwich on 15th.

- jan 16th/17th: second cycle 6 caesar salad, with added pickles, pickle juice, green olives and grilled chicken breast 

- jan 18th/19th: second cycle 10 tomato sandwich with green olives and a side of beans with bacon, cheese, dill. slice of toasted sourdough with margarine and cheese to start.

- jan 20th: first cycle 7 caesar salad, with added pickle juice, green olives and grilled chicken breast  

- jan 21st: first cycle 11 bacon and eggs (no salsa) (last of quinoa bread)

- jan 22nd: second cycle 7 caesar salad, with added pickles, pickle juice, green olives and grilled chicken breast 

- jan 23rd-24th: first cycle 8 caesar salad, with added pickles, pickle juice, green olives and grilled chicken breast 

- jan 25th: second cycle 8 caesar salad, with added pickles, pickle juice, green olives and grilled chicken breast. out of kale, for now. still have 1.5 chicken breasts, potentially for use with pizza. move to mini pizzas to use up tomato sauce and other items in fridge (pineapple, green peppers). 

========================cycle 2--->8 eaten through except for three exceptions

- jan 26: greek pita mini pizzas (1/8):  four greek pitas with one can of tomato paste, topped with bacon, green olive, pineapple, green peppers, avocado, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, dill, mozarella, franks, nutritional yeast. two pitas early, two late. with four oranges, after supper, for electrolytes, because i'm sick. 

- jan 27th: remnants meal: the last piece of brown bread with the last bit of mozarella in the opened pack, and four pickles.

- jan 28-29: greek pita mini pizzas (2/8):  four greek pitas with one can of tomato paste, topped with bacon, green olive, pineapple, green peppers, avocado, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, dill, mozarella, franks, nutritional yeast.

- jan 30-31: greek pita mini pizzas (3/8):  four greek pitas with one can of tomato paste, topped with bacon, green olive, pineapple, green peppers, avocado, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, dill, mozarella, franks, nutritional yeast.

- feb 1st: first cycle 9 caesar salad, with added pickles, pickle juice, green olives and grilled chicken breast 

- feb 2nd: second cycle 9 caesar salad, with added pickles, pickle juice, green olives and grilled chicken breast 

- feb 3rd: first cycle 10 caesar salad, with added pickles, pickle juice, green olives and grilled chicken breast. end of chicken breast.

- feb 4th-5th: second cycle 10 caesar salad, with added pickles, pickle juice, green olives. end of kale, again.

================================end of chicken breast

- feb 6-7: greek pita mini pizzas (4/8):  four greek pitas with one can of tomato paste, topped with bacon, green olive, pineapple, green peppers, avocado, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, dill, mozarella, franks, nutritional yeast.

- feb 8-9: greek pita mini pizzas (5/8):  four greek pitas with one can of tomato paste, topped with bacon, green olive, pineapple, green peppers, avocado, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, dill, mozarella, franks, nutritional yeast.

- feb 10-11: greek pita mini pizzas (6/9):  four greek pitas with one can of tomato paste, topped with bacon, green olive, pineapple, green peppers, avocado, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, dill, mozarella, franks, nutritional yeast.

- feb 12-13: greek pita mini pizzas (7/8):  four greek pitas with one can of tomato paste, topped with bacon, green olive, pineapple, green peppers, avocado, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, dill, mozarella, franks, nutritional yeast.

- feb 14: second cycle 11 bacon and eggs (no salsa) with two pickles

- feb 15/16: quesadilla leftover meal. quesadilla ingredients: 3 remaining pitas, mozzarella cheese, fried ground bison with chili mix and cumin, bacon, garlic, avocado, red peppers, tomato, sour cream, chives, jalapenos, dill.

- feb 17: first cycle 12 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- feb 18-19: greek pita mini pizzas (8/8):  four greek pitas with one can of tomato paste, topped with bacon, green olive, pineapple, green peppers, avocado, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, dill, mozarella, franks, nutritional yeast. 

===========================end of canned pizza sauce, greek pitas

- feb 20-21-22 & 24 & 26: broccoli soup (2/6)

- feb 23: first cycle 9 guac with frozen peas, two pickles and remaining pineapple

- feb 24: above

- feb 25: second cycle 12 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- feb 26: above

- feb 27: second cycle 9 guac with frozen peas and two pickles

- feb 28 & mar 2 & 4 & 6 & 8: broccoli soup (3/6)

- mar 1: first cycle 13 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- mar 2: above

- mar 3: first cycle 10 guac with two pickles

- mar 4: above

- mar 5: second cycle 13 bacon and eggs (no salsa) with a pickle

- mar 6: above

- mar 7: second cycle 10 guac with two pickles

- mar 8: above. end of sourdough.

- mar 9: first cycle 11 guac with two pickles

- mar 10th: second cycle 11 guac with two pickles

- mar 11th: make broccoli soup. first bowl of broiled broccoli soup.

================ ---> end of food bank broth. continue through four more bowls. 

- mar 12th: first cycle 9 cereal, in two bowls - 1. vector with two apples, hemp, sf seeds, yeast, paprika, wheat bran, flax seeds and choc soy, 2. all bran with paprika, yeast, hemp, flax seeds, wheat bran, sf seeds, normal soy with two slices of buttered toast

- mar 13th: first cycle 2 garden salad with bacon, olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (spaghetti-os) with cheese, bacon and spices and two pieces of toast

- mar 14th: first cycle 9 nachos with olives, jalapenos and double cheese

- mar 15th: first cycle 14 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- mar 16th: a package of peanut butter cookies with added chocolate and butterscotch chips and caramel sauce, and two packages of creme caramel made with soy milk, which seems like caramel jello.

- mar 17th: second broiled bowl of broccoli soup

- mar 18th: second cycle 9 nachos with olives, jalapenos and double cheese

- mar 19th: second cycle 2 garden salad with bacon, olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (spaghetti-os) with cheese, bacon and spices and two pieces of toast

=======================================end of cycle 2, except two fruit & ice cream mega bowls.

- mar 20th: broiled bowl of broccoli soup

- mar 21st: second cycle 14 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- mar 22nd: second cycle 9 cereal, in two bowls - 1. vector with two apples, hemp, sf seeds, yeast, paprika, wheat bran, flax seeds and choc soy, 2. all bran with paprika, yeast, hemp, flax seeds, wheat bran, sf seeds, normal soy with two slices of buttered toast

- mar 23rd: first cycle 10 cereal, in two bowls - 1. vector with two apples, hemp, yeast, paprika, sf seeds, wheat bran, flax seeds and choc soy, 2. all bran with paprika, yeast, hemp, flax seeds, wheat bran, sf seeds, normal soy with two slices of buttered toast

- mar 24th: first cycle 3 garden salad with bacon, olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (chunky chicken noodle soup) with cheese, bacon and spices  with two slices of buttered toast

- mar 25th: first cycle 15 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- mar 26th-27th: first cycle 10 nachos with olives, jalapenos and double cheese

- mar 28th-29th: 2nd cycle 10 nachos  with olives, jalapenos and double cheese

- mar 30th: 2nd cycle 15 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- mar 31st: broiled bowl of broccoli soup

- apr 1st: broiled bowl of broccoli soup

- apr 2nd-3rd: 2nd cycle 3 garden salad with bacon, olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (vegetable soup) with cheese, bacon and spices with two slices of buttered toast

=======================================end of cycle 3, except two fruit & ice cream mega bowls.

- april 4th-5th: 1st cycle 4 garden salad with bacon, olives and jalapenos but no broc, with can of soup (broccoli cheese soup) with cheese, bacon and spices with two slices of buttered toast

- april 6th-7th: 1st cycle 11 nachos with olives, jalapenos and double cheese

- april 8th-9th: 2nd cycle 11 nachos with olives, jalapenos and double cheese

- april 10th-11th: 1st cycle 12 nachos with olives, jalapenos and double cheese and no beets

- april 12th-13th: 2nd cycle 12 nachos with olives, jalapenos and double cheese and no beets

- april 14th-15th: 1st cycle 13 nachos with olives, jalapenos and double cheese and no beets

- april 16th-17th: 2nd cycle 13 nachos with olives, jalapenos and double cheese and no beets

- april 18th: 2nd cycle 10 cereal, in two bowls - 1. vector with two apples, hemp, sf seeds, yeast, paprika, wheat bran, flax seeds and choc soy, 2. all bran with paprika, yeast, hemp, flax seeds, wheat bran, sf seeds, normal soy with two slices of buttered toast

- april 19th:  1st cycle 11 cereal, in two bowls- 1. vector with two apples, hemp, sf seeds, yeast, paprika, wheat bran, flax seeds and choc soy, 2. all bran with paprika, yeast, hemp, flax seeds, wheat bran, sf seeds, normal soy with two slices of buttered toast

- april 20th  2nd cycle 11 cereal, in two bowls- 1. vector with two apples, hemp, sf seeds, yeast, paprika, wheat bran, flax seeds and choc soy, 2. all bran with paprika, yeast, hemp, flax seeds, wheat bran, sf seeds, normal soy with two slices of buttered toast

- april 21st: first cycle 9 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa 

- april 22nd: first cycle 11 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos, grilled chicken.

- april 23rd: 1st cycle 16 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- april 24th-25th: 2nd cycle 4 garden salad with olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (spaghetti-os) with cheese, bacon and spices with two slices of buttered toast

=======================================end of cycle 4, except two fruit & ice cream mega bowls.

- april 26th-27th: 1st cycle 5 garden salad with olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (tomato) with cheese, bacon and spices with two slices of buttered toast

- april 28th-29th: 2nd cycle 5 garden salad with olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (mushroom) with cheese, bacon and spices with two slices of buttered toast

=======================================end of cycle 5, except two fruit & ice cream mega bowls.

- april 30th-1st: 1st cycle 6 garden salad with olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (mushroom) with cheese, bacon and spices with two slices of buttered toast

- may 2nd-3rd: 2nd cycle 11 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos, grilled chicken.

- may 4th-5th: first cycle 12 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos, grilled chicken.

- may 6th-7th: 2nd cycle 12 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos, grilled chicken.

- may 8th-9th: 1st cycle 13 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos grilled chicken.

- may 10th-11th: 2nd cycle 13 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos grilled chicken.

=====================================================kale eaten through before it browns

- may 12th-13th: 2nd cycle 6 garden salad with olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (chicken noodle) with cheese, bacon, grilled chicken and spices with two slices of buttered toast

=======================================end of cycle 6, except two fruit & ice cream mega bowls.

- may 14th: 2nd cycle 16 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

- may 15th: 1st cycle 17 bacon and eggs (no salsa)

=========================================eggs eaten through until fall

- may 16th-17th: 1st cycle 7 garden salad with olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (chicken noodle) with cheese, bacon, grilled chicken and spices with two slices of buttered toast

- may 18th: 2nd cycle 9 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa 

- may 19th-20th: 1st cycle 14 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos grilled chicken.

- may 21st-22nd: two cans of mushroom soup with cheese, bacon and spices and four slices of buttered toast. weight at start: 73.45

- may 23rd-24th: 2nd cycle 7 garden salad with olives and jalapenos. weight at start: 72.45.

=======================================end of cycle 7, except two fruit & ice cream mega bowls

- may 25th-26th: 1st cycle 8 garden salad with olives and jalapenos. weight at start: 71.75

- may 27th-28th: 1st cycle 10 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa. weight at start: 70.70

- may 29th-30th: 2nd cycle 14 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos grilled chicken. weight at start: 69.

- may 31st-1st: 2nd cycle 10 quinoa, with lentils subbed for quinoa (last quinoa). weight at start: 68.

- june 2nd-3rd: 1st cycle 15 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos grilled chicken. weight at start: 67.

- june 4th-5th: 2nd cycle 8 garden salad with olives and jalapenos. weight at start: 66.

=======================================end of cycle 8, except two fruit & ice cream mega bowls. 

- june 6th-7th: 1st cycle 9 garden salad with olives and jalapenos, with can of soup (tomato) with cheese, bacon and spices with two slices of buttered toast. weight at start: 65.

- june 8th-9th: - two cans of tomato soup with cheese, bacon and spices and four slices of buttered toast. weight at start: 64.

- june 10th-11th: 2nd cycle 15 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos grilled chicken. 63.

- june 12th-13th: 1st cycle 16 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos grilled chicken. 62.

- june 14th-15th: 2nd cycle 9 garden salad with  olives and jalapenos. 61.

=======================================end of cycle 9, except two fruit & ice cream mega bowls.

- june 16th-17th: 1st cycle 10 garden salad with olives and jalapenos. 60.

- june 18th-19th: two cans of mushroom soup with cheese, bacon and spices and four slices of buttered toast. weight at start: 59.

- june 20th-21st: 2nd cycle 16 caesar salad, with added pickles, green olives, jalapenos grilled chicken. 58.

- have some broccoli soup at the end

- finish cycle 9, 10, 11 (except exception) while catching up on fruit/ice cream bowls for start of summer (alternate)

- then get back in cycle for cycle 12, minus already eaten through items.

- rdsp is transferred to new account with bonds and grants

- finish appeal docs asap

- check ltb processes

- waiting for order from karen case.

- appointment on may 15th rescheduled to video

- cat?

- pohb renewal

- clean, finish setting up apartment, catch up on email, get back to reading project from start

- laundry, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, garage mostly done.

- need to focus on hallways, listening room, studio

the reality in venezuela is that while the "opposition" has commanding support amongst the small upper middle class, which is far more vocal than it's numbers are, they have essentially no support at all in the much larger working class, and what just happened will make it harder for them to win an election, rather than easier. the idea that maduro rigged the elections reduces to a rejection of the proletariat's right to vote in a society that has historically suffered from immense class and wealth divisions, and has been one of the most unequal in the world. the bolivarian movement suffered from corruption at the top, but it did succeed in reducing the extreme levels of inequality that defined pre-chavez venezuela and in making the lives of the proletariat more manageable. this has been at the expense of the upper middle class, which form the opposition, and has been responsible for rioting and violence in the streets as a result of it. 

the numbers are simply not workable for the venezuelan right without a lengthy and sustained propaganda campaign intended to peel working class voters away from chavez' party, and that would be very difficult given the measurable improvements in their material conditions that have taken place over the last several decades. the opposition, the venezuelan right, has no argument and no chance to win.

it's consequently not clear how the united states might manage to steer it's own candidate into power without rigging the elections, themselves. as of the moment, the removal of maduro has not removed chavez' party from power, so there wouldn't appear to be a high likelihood of proletarian revolt. the most likely eventual cause of a shift in power is going to be an election in venezuela that returns chavez' party to power. it's not maduro himself that is popular in venezuela, and i agree he has been in power too long and should step aside for his successor. rather, it is the memory of chavez that has kept maduro in power, and that memory remains, and will likely carry forward to his successor, whether it is the vp or somebody else.

i have yet to see the slightest bit of evidence that maduro is a "narco-terrorist" and my understanding of the reality is that there isn't any evidence of the accusation because it isn't true. it's going to consequently be interesting to watch a trial unfold. it's really the american justice system being put on trial. if they convict maduro of charges that are clearly false based on collusion with the white house and state department, any lingering hope and belief in a functioning american judiciary will cease. that will be the true endpoint for american democracy.

however, if he wins the case (if the charges are even dropped...) there is little reason to think he won't just fly back to venezuela and call an election, and you can be sure he'll win that election, due to what just happened. nothing unites a society better than a foreign attack. you will see members of the upper middle class that despise bolivarianism vote for maduro to protect venezuelan sovereignty, which is more important.

presuming that the justice system in the united state remains functioning, the only way i would predict maduro actually remaining removed from power is if it is a part of a deal made with the justice department, and that might be the actual point. the charges might just be leverage in a negotiation that results in maduro stepping down from power in exchange for the charges being dropped.

if that is the case, delcy rodriguez will almost certainly win the next elections in venezuela, and in a very legitimate landslide victory with a coalition consisting of proles seeking to protect the gains of bolivarianism and bourgeois voters looking to protect venezuelan independence and sovereignty.

if this leads to decreases in car ownership in favour of more adoption of public transportation, it could be a net benefit to the planet.

housing is a right and the price of housing recently is a challenge. however, owning your own vehicle is a luxury, and it's not sustainable for every family to own their own car, or even two or three. the vast majority of people, particularly people that live in cities, should be forced to rely on walking, bicycling and taking the bus or subway.

making cars too expensive to own by hiking tariffs that put them out of the reach of young people is a step in the right direction in building a sustainable economy.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/autos/article/heres-why-car-prices-have-shot-through-the-roof-post-pandemic/

it's utterly baffling that washington expects israel to work with the islamic fascists that they installed in syria.

upon arrival in paris, mossad should immediately assassinate this nazi piece of shit that the americans are currently propping up in damascus.

that said, the united states briefly changed the monroe doctrine during fdr's presidency, and that is a change that should not have been abandoned and should be reconsidered.

it is a good idea for the various countries of latin america to form a common front, and canada and greenland should support that common front, but the spanish and portugese, let alone the french and english, need to not concern themselves with this, and be quiet.

The occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.

We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power, we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.

i have to point out that the indoor smokeless grill i bought a few weeks ago to cook the boneless chicken breast that i got at the food bank last summer (and has been in the freezer for months) is working quite spectacularly. the chicken cooks from a mostly unfrozen state (still very cold and a little icy, it's at the back of the fridge, near the vent to the freezer) very well, very plump and juicy and very grill-like tasting, but without any remote signs of char, burnt carbon, blackness, etc. it's a sandwich maker, too, so you pull the top down and squish it a little and it cooks right through in about five minutes. it produces almost no grease, but it's boneless chicken breast. i was initially wondering if i wasted the $30 and if i was going to use it, but i am sure i will use it. i haven't tried it for bacon yet because i actually want crunchy bacon bits for the chicken caesar but i could try it for the tomato sandwiches or bacon and eggs and see. i suspect it will cook salami/sausage and burgers quite well, as well.

i haven't post a recipe in a while.

this is my normal kale caesar salad, which i'm adding one half of a grilled chicken breast to, to make the chicken kale caesar salad:

- 110 grams of cut up green kale. it's usually curly, but sometimes it's not so curly.

- two cloves of garlic, chopped

- one avocado, chopped

- a handful of fresh dill, chopped

- one lime, chopped

- one orange, chopped

- 50 grams of broccoli florets, chopped (as topping)

- two pieces of whole wheat brown bread, cut up

- one cup of fortified, unsweetened soy milk

- one tbsp of nutritional yeast (with b12)

- three slices of slightly overcooked bacon, with the grease and oil it's cooked in

- one tbsp of olive oil margarine

- ten slices of cheddar cheese

- one tbsp each of paprika, hemp seeds, cumin, sunflower seeds, oregano, cayenne pepper, black pepper, dried dill

- as much as a half a container of store bought caesar dressing

- a lot of frank's hot sauce

+ a half of a boneless chicken breast, grilled on an indoor smokeless grill.

- served with a tall glass of grapefruit/orange juice

i realized the other day that it's just about the most nutritious salad imaginable.

notes:

- i am not into worcestershire sauce or dijon mustard, but who is? i find the mix of frank's (plus paprika and cayenne), nutritional yeast, cumin and soy, in addition to the store bought caesar, to be superior. the store bought caesar tastes like caesar and has a little egg and a little fish.

- i use chopped fresh limes, dill and oranges, not lime or lemon juice.

- i use whole wheat bread instead of croutons.

- i prefer the cheddar cheese to the parmesan

- the remaining seeds and spices are for iron and other nutrients and don't have a large effect on the taste

- i was using probiotic yogurt as a thickener at one point, but they removed all of the fortified vitamins after the trudeau government made fortification voluntary, so i stopped buying it. yogurt is a good medium for fortification but, without the added vitamins, yogurt is pretty useless, as food.

it's a big salad - a full meal. you might even need to split it. but give it a try.

i wasn't there and i don't know the details, but i don't imagine that chomsky would have thought that avoiding epstein may have in any way altered his behaviour. chomsky did not support bds because he didn't think it would work and he was probably right.

chomsky appears to have had his own self-interest at work in trying to develop contacts with wealthy members of the elite, and particularly wealthy jews. everybody knows who chomsky is, but it's not so easy to give them a call. chomsky appears to have been trying to leverage the contact with epstein to gain audiences with people that would otherwise not have called him back, for professional purposes. that's what the evidence i've seen suggests.

it's hard to know what was going through noam's mind when carol died, given that they had known each other their whole lives. chomsky was a pretty conservative guy, really. the premise that he'd be interested in little girls strikes me as absurd. but i don't really know.

it's probably not helpful to be too binary about this. might chomsky have gained something from this that was worthwhile to him, to his writing, to his audience? if so, what value would have boycotting epstein had, if it meant he lost access to source material?

https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/chomsky-epstein-and-the-responsibility-of-intellectuals

i'm not concerned about whether the maduro kidnapping breaks international law. there's not really any such thing as international law, unless countries decide to abide by it, and the united states has long chosen not to do that. it's sort of absurd to hold the united states to standards it rejects, under the force of no body that can enforce it. the cliche is that the state is a monopoly on violence. so, whose army will tell the united states to obey the law?

i'm more concerned about whether the kidnapping of maduro breaks american law, and whether there may be domestic ramifications in us courts.

i have suggested in repeated posts that the only way out of this mess is for the several universities in the area to buy these towers out and convert them into dorms. 

they legitimately look like decent dorm rooms. the universities can rent them out for 20 years and break even before they start turning a profit on them. this would pull large amounts of students out of the general housing market and open up more spaces for low income renters that want somewhere medium to longterm, rather than somewhere to sleep and study for 2-8 years.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqxq32zzq8eo

the recycling here in ontario is changing dramatically for the worse starting now.

the new blue bin in ontario now accepts the following items, in addition to the items (glass/plastic/metal) that it was previously collecting:

- red bin items (paper)

- all plastic, even plastic not considered recyclable

- composite materials

- plastic lids

- freezer bags

- chip bags, candy wrappers, etc

- plastic bags

we have, for years, had municipally run recycling in ontario, so the different boxes accepted different materials. what's happening is that a collection of multinational firms including loblaws, tim hortons and macdonalds are taking over the recycling program through a joint venture called "circular materials".

several of these companies, most notoriously tim hortons, have been caught repeatedly throwing recycle in the dumpster, but this is even worse than that. they're actually melting it all down and converting it to diesel using a process called "advanced recycling", which is using massive amounts of energy to melt the plastic down and compress it back into fuel, producing carbon emissions in the process. 

now, they are openly admitting that this is why they're collecting the freezer bags and junk food wrappers, but a number of other changes to the process are extremely concerning.

- they are telling us not to bother sorting anything. all of it - legitimately recyclable plastic, glass, metal and paper along with unrecyclable plastic and the other waste - just goes into the same pile

- they are telling us to recycle everything with lids and caps on, even though they're made of different types of plastic, and you just can't recycle much of it

what this tells me is that even the recyclable material is just getting burned, because the diesel is more profitable. this is consequently the end of public recycling in ontario and the beginning of burning garbage for fuel.

the idea that the manufacturers should be responsible for collecting and recycling their garbage was kathleen wynne's, but the idea was to force the manufacturers to take their garbage back and reuse it, not for them to profit off burning plastic into diesel, which is filthy and backwards. the conservatives, however, are famously disinterested in any sort of sustainability. they're even trying to get rid of the bicycle lanes in several major cities, which is just short-sighted and petty. profit is everything; sustainability is irrelevant. so, ford has let them do this, and might have even encouraged it. this was't what wynne imagined, bu she also should have known better, as this is the inevitable collusion for profit that happens when you naively hand over policy making and decision making power to the oligipoly, out of goodwill. oops.

but here we are, now, and if you give a fuck and don't want your plastic material turned into diesel for mcdonald's trucks, you need to stop using the blue bin. this is something that needs to be boycotted.

1) don't put your garbage, like chip bags and freezer bags, in the recycle. these items are not recyclable and should not be burned to create diesel in a process that creates terrible air pollution and contributes to carbon emissions. continue to throw them in the garbage.

2) use the green bins to their maximum ability. compost everything you can, including as much crossover from the red bin as it will take.

3) look around in your area for independent recyclers that will take your recycling material and actually recycle it. circular materials is not recycling your plastic, it is converting it into diesel for their trucks.

4) if you have to use the new blue bins at all, restrict it to glass and metal, which cannot be converted into fuel and should continue to be recycled.

something else that's going to change with all of these benefits i'm getting now is the frequency of money coming into the account.

i'm used to getting one check at the end of the month, and a small check on or before the 10th. there's another $110 check every three months on the fifth (i just got my january deposit).

i should now also get a $200 check on the third thursday and a $400 check on or before the 28th. this month, that's:

3rd: $110

9th: $75

15th: $200

28th: $401

30th: $408

february, that will be:

10th: $75

19th: $200

27th: $809

march, that will be:

10th: $75

19th (thurs): $200

27th (fri): $401

31st (tue): $408

april, that will be:

3rd (fri): $110

10th (thurs): $75

16th (thurs): $200

28th (tues):  $401

30th (thurs): $408

there's no example i can find where i get paid every week, unless there's a string of holidays pulling the 28th way back to the 23rd or 24th. it would maybe be better if the cohb was the 25th, but i'm not complaining.

as mentioned, it's a big change to expect to have money when i need something, instead of constantly budgeting around an expectation of $0, and i've already been living that here since oct 1st.

it seems like i lost a few days.

i wanted to get out on the 29th, then the 30th and finally the 31st to talk about my rdsp with my bank, and was able to get out on the 31st and transfer $3500 into the rdsp at the very last minute. so that should get tripled, and i'll have to get $4000 in over the next 12 months to max out on the further contributions.

i am also transferring the account to a different bank.

i tried to get out on tuesday afternoon, but wasn't able to get in the shower, and has to fall asleep in the afternoon, instead. i was able to take a shower and get out on wednesday morning, get some groceries (i've been eating through a pile  of kale since) and get the transfer done, but i haven't been able to do much of anything except sleep and clean, since. i've developed a bout of really bad acne all of a sudden and it won't wash off.

i have to get this court document finished and am now very far behind on it, far enough that i'm going to have to change my approach to it.

i've been quiet the last few days because i've been sleeping and cleaning with almost nothing else in between.

nobody understands what trump is saying when he says the pentagon will "run" venezuela.

is he intending on sending in ground troops? he's apparently answered that question by making it conditional on whether the new president is a puppet or not.

so, if delcy rodriguez does what she's told, there will be no invasion, and if she resists, she's out too, apparently; apparently, that's what that means.

it doesn't sound like much of a plan to me. this is looking more and more like an international embarrassment, especially if maduro just gets released and the charges get quickly dropped, as i would expect they will be. he'll be flying home in no time, and he'll still be president when he gets home.

wow.

what a sad joke.

this guy is worse than ignatieff.

all evidence from all valid sources is abundantly clear that maduro won those elections.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-political-leaders-venezuela-maduro-9.7032642

as for the situation in venezuela, i would expect the us administration to try to put the opposition in power because it's been claiming for years that the elections are rigged, but there's actually no good evidence supporting that claim. election monitors, notably including jimmy carter (who said venezuela's election system was the best in the world), have for years rejected claims of election rigging in venezuela. the state department is likely to face a fight and domestic unrest if it tries to install the opposition. the vice president should take over, and she should call an election.

maduro himself is innocent until proven guilty and the accusations against him are unproven in court. he's entitled to a fair trial and people should allow the court system to operate.

on the one hand, what just happened in venezuela is utterly ridiculous and it's not out of the question that donald trump is the one going to jail, not maduro.

on the other hand, the united states just demonstrated it can do something that it didn't do in iraq, couldn't do in afghanistan and has not done in iran and it's sort of an open question as to why it didn't do this there, when it just demonstrated that it could have. i've been pointing out for years that the israelis constantly embarrass the americans by performing the kind of special forces attacks that the americans seemed incapable of doing. the world should note the display of force. and the americans kind of had to do that, after so many years worth of failure.

the legal issues surrounding this are profound. this isn't an act of war, so what jurisdiction does trump even claim to have? it's the attorney general that's going to have to take the fall. does the united states claim jurisdiction to evade the democratic process by unilaterally writing laws over the entire western hemisphere? i might object to that. there's no legal authority to do what they did, but they're also not on us soil while they're doing it. pam bondi is obviously not going to arrest herself.

there should be charges laid against multiple members of the administration over this, especially if the charges against maduro are quickly dismissed, as i would expect they will be. nobody thinks that venezuela is the source of any serious amount of cocaine. a lot of it comes from columbia, but everybody knows that it goes through mexico.

what happens if maduro is acquitted, or even released on bail?

homer appears to drive a pink dodge scat.

don't look at me, i didn't name the fucking thing.

i believe the chrysler mentioned in love shack is the dodge scat.

there's a baldwin named hilarious baldwin?

this is indeed hilarious baldwin.

"hop in my chrysler, it's as big as a whale, and it's about to set sail"

https://globalnews.ca/news/11477094/alec-baldwin-stephen-crash-car-tree-hamptons/

i believe this is the new dodge scat.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/detroit-windsor-auto-sector-vehicle-two-front-ends-9.7030337

"but zeno demonstrated the truth of the parmenidean perspective, in truth."

zeno's so-called paradoxes were solved by the development of calculus.

it's important to understand the history if you want to call yourself educated, but you can't still be walking around confused by zeno in the twenty first century. newton and liebniz resolved that issue a very long time ago.

change is real.

you'll have to deal with that.

i need to reiterate this point i made the other day.

the claim that regions cannot secede from countries is extremely dangerous to the democratic order. never mind the fact that it's bullshit, that these same people that argue that catalonia or donbas or somaliland cannot secede no matter what will also argue that ukraine or scotland or kosovo or taiwan can secede unilaterally. they'll say something about circumstances, but it just demonstrates they're not to be taken seriously and that they support secession when it aligns with their politics and self-interest and oppose it when it doesn't. there's no principle of international law at play.

however, if there was a principle of international law at play, it would be ass backwards.

the particular argument they use - that an area cannot secede unilaterally without permission of the unitary state - is particularly egregious, as it reduces to a complete rejection of democracy and a total denial of self-determination. it is imperative that democratic actors in democratic societies aggressively seek to completely reverse this position. self-determination means that a region has no requirement to seek permission to secede from a country, so long as that secession has democratic legitimacy. secessionist decisions belong solely to the geopolitical entity in secession; the region being seceded from has no rights in the matter and no say as to the outcome. wars to prevent democratic secession via invasion, occupation or other types of force must be seen as illegal and undemocratic. conversely, intervention on the side of democracy to help a region secede is consistent with a rule of law and means standing in solidarity with self-determination, which is a human right.

it is easy enough to understand why dictatorships in the middle east would reject democracy and self-determination but harder to understand the reason that governments in european capitals are taking such a completely ass backwards position, even if it's complete bullshit, until you remember that history was declared over 35 years ago and the idiots in the european ruling classes actually believe that. the map is forever frozen, because history has stopped. attempts to alter the map mean kickstarting history back up, which must be prevented at all costs. the last thing the european elite wants is a return to history!

that is obviously utterly retarded, but it is clear that these people need to be told that, and that their biases and beliefs need to be aggressively and forcefully challenged as empirically wrong. history is not over. wars still happen. borders still change. there will be revolutions and changes in government and changes in the type of government. we have migration changing societies. religions collapse and evolve. science advances. language changes. it was democritus that successfully argued against parmenides, but the idiots sided with aristotle instead, and it triggered us into a dark age when they did. the great victory of europe was in casting aristotle aside and elevating democritus over parmenides. the irony is that parmenides would approve of us repeating our own mistakes and tell us we have no choice but to do so, as we are stuck in this endless sisyphean futility of reality and the empty and meaningless existence that follows from it, and we cannot change, and never will.

choose democritus over parmenides.

it's imperative.

we all lose if you don't.

who is the best comedy duo of all time?

abbott & costello?

lauren & hardy?

conan & norm?

no.

it's kermit & cookie.

don't ask.

2026 is going to be different than every year since 2019, which was the last time i had a good year.

i moved to windsor in 2013 and it started what became the most productive and happy period of my life, from 2013-2019. the period from 2006-2013 was unstable but broadly happy and positive but i lost my studio for a few months from 2011-2013 and it was a wakeup call that i'd better get to work, and i did. the period from 2002-2006 was a low point, for me, and mostly full of experiences and people that i'd rather forget. the period from 1996-2002 was very productive, coming out of a period of instability from 1993-1996. 

i lost 2020, 2021 and 2022 to the pandemic. some people found the pandemic useful; the social restrictions that my governments put in place completely ruined my social life, and i experienced no upside to it whatsoever. i got almost nothing done, in terms of art. i was fighting legal battles and focusing on my health. i won two small settlements and used it to buy some gear, but i didn't have the time to use it. the pointless and non-scientific based and mostly superstitious restrictions, which i refused to follow, generated massive problems for me that wasted huge amounts of my time, they didn't give me more time. in the long run, i gained resources to use to create with, but i lost massive amounts of my time, which was wasted in fighting the social order created by the restrictions, which i could not live with, and could not comply by.

things were set to turn over in 2023, but i realized my new landlords were parasitic investor-class rentier pieces of shit and gay drug addicts that lived a terrible lifestyle that they wanted to enforce on me but that i didn't have the finances to be able to move anywhere and would have to lock myself inside the place to both avoid getting evicted and avoid them and their lifestyle until the market improved, which happened in mid 2025, slightly after i got evicted due to the lies that they told the court. i lost all of 2023, all of 2024 and the start of 2025 fighting them off, and got absolutely nothing worthwhile done at all while i was doing so. i couldn't leave my place or i would have been evicted when i was gone and lost everything nd i didn't have time to get any work done.

after a challenging turn of events in the spring of 2025, i got lucky and landed on my feet, but the place i moved to was full of filthy pothead losers that insisted on smoking inside or directly under my window and i lost the summer again because i had to focus on getting out of there instead of on existing.

at the very end of the summer, the situation started to clear up. i first got a settlement from my new landlords, i then signed a new lease, i got approved for the cohb, i got approved for the cdb, i opened an rdsp and i'm still fighting off the landlords that evicted me, with the expectation of getting compensated for the costs i incurred as a result of this mess. i am financially stable, moving forwards; i will be ok, even if i need to find a new apartment again in the near future.

i expect to be able to get back to my normal lifestyle by the spring. i just need to finish a few things off, first.

first productive phase: 1996-2003

first bottoming out: 2003-2006

second productive phase: 2006-2019

second bottoming out: 2020-2025

third productive phase: 2026-2040

i had my shop vac delivered today; canadian tire. it was like 70% off, so i paid the $10 delivery fee. it's still cheap.

i went to sign for it. i'm wearing a little red tank top, and the guy looks at me,

here's your shop vac.

he's laughing at me. hot tranny wants a shop vac. is she working on her corvette down there?

i bought a vacuum and i bought it to clean my dirty basement, because it needs it. you fucking dick. 

but i want to actually take the opportunity to address this, and this really goes out to the cis-ladies more than anything else.

you have been taught to use your sleek lady vacs, with their curvy attachments and their slender bodies and you know the truth - they often don't work. you've been frustrated with these things, repeatedly. admit it.

is a shop vac a boy vacuum? is it for vacuuming like a man?

that's fucking stupid.

a shop vac is a high powered vacuum for very dirty spaces, for wet spaces and for messes that have larger items that you'd have to pick up with your dainty hands, no doubt in gloves, if you use your dainty lady vacs.

trust me, ladies - if you get a chance to use a shop vac, you should jump at it. if you have one in your garage, go get it. use it right now. it's the best fucking vacuum you'll ever find. you'll never go back. you'll be using it to suck up all that shit in your doorway and around your kitchen in no time.

and if some loser wants to challenge your femininity over it, you should kick him in the balls.

you know the one.

there is no such thing as somalia.

somalia does not exist.

somalia does not exist because the somalis do not want it to exist.

stop pretending otherwise. adjust to reality and create reality-based policy positions.

somaliland exists, it is a democracy and it should be recognized as such and supported by the west.

the status quo in east africa is unsustainable. claims of "somalian territorial integrity" are laughable. the closest thing to a government in somalia is the brutal, bloodthirsty islamic/fascist terrorist network, al-shebaab. 

i do not recognize the legitimacy of al-shebaab and i reject the territorial integrity of any islamic fascist group attempting to administer itself as a state.

somaliland declared independence 35 years ago. it's a sovereign country with a functioning democracy.

instead of blathering about "territorial integrity", the united states should be arming somaliland. the west should be picking a side in this war (which is dormant, anyways), but we won't do it, because we're beholden to the fascist governments in the region. they can go fuck themselves.

this small democratic enclave needs our help and we should have given it to them eons ago. we now have the opportunity to make the right choice and be on the right side of history, but we will fail to do that, as we have continually done since dhimmi joe biden flushed the foreign policy legacy of barack obama down the toilet in a startling display of orientalism and racism.

the old song gets it right.

if you arm eritrea then you won't have to pay her and everyone can go home.

we should not just recognize somaliland, we should arm it and even send it troops to help it fight the islamic fascists off and restore democracy to the region.

but we won't.

the underlying implication is that these muslim dictatorships are in full support of the fascist terrorist groups fighting to keep somalia in the dark ages.

the unstated context is that the arab world uses somalia as a source of slaves and that any sort of government, democratic or not, would upset the remaining arab slave trade, which continues to act as a source of necessary cheap labour in the gulf area.

israel is a taking a bold step, here, to advance democracy and human rights in the region and i would hope that canada would recognize somaliland in solidarity, but i'm not holding my breath.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/un-security-council-to-convene-emergency-meeting-on-israels-somaliland-recognition/

can't we at least lend it to them?

it's like we lost a war against ukraine and are paying them tribute payments.

"and, in other news, canada has decided to write itself a $500 billion check and then flush it down the toilet."

https://globalnews.ca/video/11592098/canada-pledges-billions-to-ukraine-as-fighting-intensifies/

this is why there is nothing north of ottawa, nothing northwest of ottawa for 2000 km, and only the city of quebec, on the gulf of st lawerence, to the northeast of ottawa. i grew up here. it's at the fringe of civilization.

canada is a really big country.

you can't live in most of it, and you can barely live in the southernmost 5% of it.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/freezing-rain-expected-to-hit-ottawa-area-sunday-night-9.7028666

spinning the toronto star back off into an independent company might be imperative to save the country from backwardsness.

and smart conservatives, as few and far between as they may be, should realize it.

so, the hard work involved in this is that you now have to undo decades of propaganda that nobody really took seriously by engaging in discourse.

i've realized recently that a big part of the problem is al jazeera, which is state controlled (states that are as extreme right-wing as you get) media targeting western opinion, and that this is accurately described as foreign interference by fascist arab governments. however, i'm not going to argue that al jazeera should be banned, and i strongly opposed and continue to oppose banning russian media. you don't change how people think by denying them access to information, you do it by maximizing access to information.

likewise, rounding them up and putting them in jail is just going to martyr them, and the idiots love martyrs. that's a non-solution. that doesn't solve anything. they just come out more resolved than ever.

engaging in discourse is hard work. it'll take a long time. it's a fight on our hands.

but this is what we're fighting for - the superiority of discourse. this isn't an ethnic conflict.

the biggest problem we have in front of us is that we've lost the small-l liberals, because the stupid conservatives took away all of their media. the toronto star, the globe and mail and dozens of smaller liberal media publications all got bought out and dismantled or demented by conservative publishing firms who thought doing so would hep them win elections, and the government did nothing to stop it. now, we have no liberal media left in this country, and what you're seeing here is the result of it. all we have left now in this country is failing old tory legacy media outlets that nobody wants to support. small-l liberals end up tricked into reading al jazeera instead, and it just confuses them with propaganda, because that is the purpose of it, it's the reason al jazeera exists in the first place, to interfere in western democracies by generating propaganda for naive liberals to consume.

if this turns into intolerant christians arresting intolerant muslims at gun point because the muslims are offending the christians, we've already lost.

you gotta get in the trenches and do the hard work and if i can find the time i'll help but i'm swamped. there's no easy answer to this.

but step one is that the small-l liberals need their local media back. you'll never get anywhere with this without that first.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/matthew-taub-eaton-centre-mob-wasnt-a-protest-it-was-a-warning

how much money do you have every month for disposable income after you pay all of your bills, including groceries?

is it more than $700?

is it more than $200?

i know this won't last, which is why i need to navigate this moment wisely to ensure i'm in a stable environment i can create in for years to come.

the way i've always looked at it is like this: in contemporary western culture, almost everybody (99% of us) is roughly equally poor and has roughly the same disposable income, but we have varying levels of debt and taxation depending on our salaries. the result is that increases in wealth in our culture get almost entirely eaten by the financial system, and nobody really benefits by making more money, in terms of actually having more money to actually spend.

as your salary increases, 

- your rent or mortgage increases, because you rent nicer places or buy bigger houses and you have to do that, too, it's not optional, really.

- your car payments increase, because you buy fancier cars

- your credit card payments increase, because you buy fancier clothes

- your taxes go up

- you pay off your lump sum debts

- you spend more on kids because you breed more, because you get laid more often, one way or the other

the result is that whether you make $30K/yr, $50K/yr, $100K/yr or $1000K/yr, you end up with the same amount of money to spend per month, but you live with different "grades" of belongings representing different classes of wealth.

but who gives a fuck?

your fancy mansion is made of the same wood and concrete and drywall that my below market rent basement is. it will crumble just the same. you chase off the same mammals, you kill the same roaches. the bank is better off, but are you better off? are you really better off?

you're not; not really.

so, why bother?

now, some libertarian capitalist douche bag will seize on this as an argument that socialism reduces productivity, but the point that i'm making is that nobody benefits from increases in productivity in a capitalist society except the banks, anyways, so your bogeyman is actually capitalism and not socialism, but why would i give a fuck about productivity if it just goes to the rentiers in the first place? why wouldn't i boycott that system on it's face? if rising productivity has no effect on my individual material conditions in the capitalist system, i have no reason to give the slightest fuck about whether i'm "productive" or not. it's just the rentiers bitching that their rent isn't rising fast enough and they can go fuck themselves. that's not even capitalism. it's actually feudalism, but it's the facade of capitalism that allows the feudalism to maintain itself and prosper. if you want to get at and dismantle the feudalism, you need to tear down the facade of capitalism. it has nothing to do with socialism, and you may find that socialism is actually good for productivity after all if you'd  just shut the fuck up for a second and give it a try.

i was born a prole and i understand it and i understand there's no way out and i seek to make the best of it.

maybe the fancy car and the fancy house is valuable to you, but it's not valuable to me, and i don't care. i want a clean, safe space that is big enough for me to work in, and i've got it, for now. i want practical shelter for functional use value, i don't want empty displays of wealth. all walls crumble, in the end; they're all made of the same thing, they're all the same. you're just the same pile of dirt and microbial shit, in the end.

the result is that i may be far less wealthy than you but i don't think i'm worse off. if you strip away the illusions of upgrades in material conditions that the banks hold your hand and lead you through as they elevate you through this ponzi scheme we call "class" and fuck you in the ass while doing it, the only differences between you and i are that you work harder for the same practical outcome, you have less fun than me and you have more debt and more responsibility than i do.

i spend almost nothing on maintaining my bicycles and $0 on gas. i avoid cell phones. my rent is cheap. i have no credit card debt.

am i actually better off?

my cohb money came in on christmas eve. it's $401. so i have enough for the $3500 transfer into the rdsp before dec 31st, after all, but i have to go in on monday to talk to them about my account. i should also get the extra $120 for gst this month.

i consequently just bought a shop-vac to help me clean up the dirtier parts of this place. it's a $50 five gallon shop-vac, on sale for a highly reduced price. this is an old house that tends to crumble and is in the process of being rebuilt on the spot from the inside and that will come in handy for a long time, i think.

my monthly income, after rent, is now going to be:

$408 odsp

$200 cdb

$401 cohb

$75 trillium

$120/3 gst rebate

=================

~1100

even if i put $400/month into the rdsp, that still leaves me with $700/month to spend on food and fun, which is a lot, considering i don't have any bad habits. i haven't been on an adventure to detroit in a while but i'm straight edge between them.

further, every single one of these payments increases every year because it's all tied to inflation. that $1100 will be at $1500 in no time.

i'm so used to being dirt poor that it's almost a culture shock. it's not going to change how i live day-to-day, as i am still focused on setting up my apartment in the immediate term and on my art for the rest of my life, but it will allow me to put some money in the bank, both in terms of short term and long term savings and to be able to just buy things when i need them. that is the real change, avoiding the need to save for things in advance. i should now have savings available, instead.

within a few months, when everything's set up, the money should mostly go into the studio.

at $2100/month,  my income is now over $25000/yr. i'm still comfortably in the lowest tax rate, but i have $100,000 in used tax credits from going to university for so long. that means i'll get $100,000 in taxes back before i pay any out.

i don't want to misrepresent the situation. i have now completely maxed out on social assistance without experiencing a substantive hike in rent but it's because i went through a horrible experience; i'm a disabled person that got thrown out on to the street by capitalist rentier parasites looking to feed on my rent payments, and is still fighting to rectify that in a court system that has swung so far right in recent years that it's flung itself off the cliff of logical discourse. the judges don't read a thing that's put in front of them, nowadays, they want you to summarize it in twitterspeak for them. they won't accept anything on appeal. the court system is broken. i applied for everything, and i eventually got everything. everything. and i'm not going to waste it on drugs because i'm not a drug addict, i'm going to use it in the way i'm supposed to use it. this level of assistance is unusual for a single person, in ontario, but it's because i went through an unusual circumstance. the system will take care of you here in canada, in the end, but you have to let it bludgeon you pretty badly, first.

i got unlucky, but then i got lucky. things were bad for a while, now they're going to be good for a while. 

things tend to work out for me.

again, it happens to be christians getting killed in nigeria. it's druze in syria. it was yazidis in iraq and, before that, it was armenians, assyrians, kurds. socialists. jews.

"when they came for the christians, i didn't say anything."

don't say nobody warned you.

you gotta fight fascism everywhere at all times and donald trump is a strange ally, but i'll take it, if he's up for it.

if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.

and if you support fascist movements, you're a fascist.

and, i still think that the only good fascist is a dead one.

if you're going to choose to align with the most right-wing, most conservative, most religious political movements that the world has seen in decades, that is your choice, but stop calling yourself a liberal and stop calling yourself a socialist.

you are a fascist.

if you have any intelligence, you should be able to pass the mirror test, to look at yourself and see yourself for what you are.

generate some self-awareness for the movements you are standing with and supporting and be honest with yourself: you are a fascist, and you support fascism.

if george w. bush had gone after the wahabi cultists and salafists, who were mostly in saudi arabia at the time, i would have supported that. i would have supported regime change in saudi arabia as a result of the sept 11 attacks.

however, he didn't do that; he launched a war against a state that did not listen to american demands and hadn't for decades in order to dismantle a difficult state that the militants that attacked the united states had long wanted removed. instead of going after the terrorists, he did exactly what the terrorists wanted him to do. that war eventually extended to a regime change process in syria, which had the same baathist political movement in power.

i did not oppose the iraq war because it was an attack on muslims and i actually don't know anybody that held to that position, at the time. there may have been some backtracking near the end, but the baathists were officially secularists and iraq, despite it's problems, was using the state to redistribute resources in ways that the other states in the area (except syria) were not. iraq had the least muslim government in the middle east, which is exactly why they were targeted.

the arguments at the time were not in solidarity with islamic fundamentalism, which doesn't even make sense, but arguments that toppling the government would create issues with islamic fundamentalism, and that you can't enforce democracy with tanks, you have to let the people do it themselves.

what's happened in the last 20 years is that the liberal media has abandoned it's previous position on iraq, which was correct and principled, and replaced it with horrific talking points written by state media from islamic theocracies, that are in support of the movement for islamic fascism in the area. they've completely flip-flopped from opposing the removal of saddam hussein because it would lead to islamic fascism, which was universally seen as worse, to supporting the islamic fascists themselves on grounds of "religious freedom" and criticizing attempts to bomb or contain them by force. in the process, the liberal media has thoroughly aligned itself with contemporary fascism, and today acts as a mouth piece for fascist governments and as a vector for fascist propaganda, and has even helped generate fascist movements on the ground in the west.

frankly, i'm not even convinced that bush even understood what he did, but his daddy's goons, which he let back into power, took the opportunity to advance the aims of the muslim extremists that bombed him in removing the godless, unislamic, socialist government in iraq, which led to the country being taken over by religious lunatics, which is exactly what the saudis wanted.

obama then had to come in and try to contain the pandora's box that removing the baath party opened up and that is still wreaking havoc across the world. the point was to oppose that pandora's box from opening, and to oppose the forces it would unleash; but, today, the liberal media is aligning itself with the consequences of that pandora's box, and standing in solidarity with, and not in opposition to, the forces it unleashed.

my support for bombing isis is because i opposed toppling saddam hussein, and opposed toppling assad, who, together, were preventing gulf-backed islamic fascists from militarizing the region. i had a clear understanding of that at the time, and i have a clear understanding of the issue now.

i have always supported using the american military to fight the terrorists and i entirely understand that this is a conflict that will last for centuries, as other similar conflicts in history always did. this isn't a three year war, it's a generational conflict. yes. that's a correct observation, and that's the point; they're not going to give up in three years, they're going to keep trying to take over our secular society and enforce their dark age value systems, until we're able to wipe them out and force them to stop. i don't know what to tell people complaining that the war to save them from being enslaved by islam is taking too long, other than that fighting for one's freedom is not like buying fast food, and that things that matter sometimes take a long time. the criticism that we should give up and stop fighting for freedom because it is taking too long to win is amongst the most shallow and stupid arguments that i've ever heard, but you get what you deserve, in the end. if you don't want to fight for your way of life, don't be surprised if it's taken away from you.

i would continue to support overthrowing the governments in saudi arabia and iran, and i now would support overthrowing the al qaeda backed fascist dictatorship that took over syria and i would support driving the taliban out of afghanistan. my solidarity is with the forces of secularism, socialism and modernism. my solidarity is with the apostates fighting for freedom and democracy. i have always and will continue to condemn the religious groups trying to enforce their laws on people that don't want to follow them.

our man in the white house, he won't even usurp the power of the purse on us. he expects us to do it. what's up with that? - said no republican, ever.

even as little as ten years ago, could you imagine we'd be standing here in 2025 and watching far right republicans complaining that the president isn't interfering enough in their exclusive constitutional jurisdiction?

this is actually a deflection by the outgoing representative:

She said she wants Trump to focus on spiking health-care costs and affordability concerns — not what's going on overseas.

"No one cares about the foreign countries. No one cares about the never-ending amount of foreign leaders coming to the White House every single week," she said in a recent interview with NBC News.

the president of the united states has no mandate whatsoever to deal with health care or the economy. these concerns are the exclusive concern of the congress, and particularly the house of representatives.

it's her decision whether she wants to do her job or quit and go home, but it is her responsibility to write these bills, and not his. the president's job is to oversee the military and interact with foreign dignitaries, not to concern himself with domestic policy.

the maga supporters should be asking why ms greene is abandoning her post rather than writing the legislation she campaigned on. it's her job. it's not his job.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-bombing-strikes-peace-president-9.7028340

tomatoes are actually fairly low in nutrients compared to other fruits for sale in the store. they aren't bad for you, so there isn't any good reason to restrict tomato consumption, and i eat a fair amount of them myself, but i eat them with more nutritious fruits like red peppers, limes and avocados, and/or with high nutrient roots like beets or carrots and high-nutrient greens like kale and broccoli. tomatoes are better thought of as a low nutrient spice, like pepper or salt, whose primary purpose is to add flavour, than as a nutritious part of the meal. however, they aren't quite as useless as lettuce or cucumbers; they're in a middle category, with apples and peaches and pears, of fruits that you can do better than and should if you can, but shouldn't necessarily be actively avoided, if you like them. have a pear or an apple or a tomato if you like, but realize it has almost no nutritional value. if you don't want to do the research, just make sure you always have a red pepper and/or an avocado in any meal you eat with a tomato in it.

i would also suggest buying hydroponic tomatoes to maximize nutrients and to avoid organic tomatoes, as the pesticides that organic farmers use are more dangerous than the ones conventional farming uses. 

adding more carotenoids won't do much good. these are very poor sources of vitamin a (your body will convert them to retinol, but only if it has to, and at a much lower efficiency rate than previously thought. humans are in truth actually not very good at converting carotenoids, like beta-carotene and lycopene, into vitamin a. it is advised to seek true retinol, which is only found by eating meat, or consuming milk products, like cheese. i eat a lot of eggs, partially for that reason.) and there is no good science upholding any sort of benefit of lycopene, despite many attempts to find one in order to market tomatoes as healthy fruits. at best, lycopene is a very low potency form of vitamin a. lutein has a more established role to play in eye health, but you're still better off eating an avocado or a bell pepper, or a carrot.

tomatoes don't have much vitamin c and adding more would likely make them more citrusy. that would be a better addition, in my opinion. i'd like that, myself, but americans like sugar in ways that i don't. i prefer tarty citrus foods over sugary cakes and candy, but i'm a little weird. i would drink fresca or sprite when i was a kid by preference and choice, and not coke or pepsi, and i still prefer caffeinated mt dew to any cola, and dr pepper to coke. i used to get key lime or lemon or rhubarb pies for my birthday when i was a little kid, instead of chocolate cake, which i found made me bloated and sick. i preferred a good fruit filling - apple or cherry or rhubarb or lemon or lime - over chocolate filling or icing or sugar. i have always liked sour and have never really liked sweet. i'd get big turks instead of sugary chocolate bars. i'd prefer sour patch kids to smarties.

there are lots of sources of vitamin c in western diets and we don't really need more, but it would still be a better option than trying to cram more low potency vitamin a into the fruit, with little to no actual benefit to it.

i'm not opposed to genetically modifying food if there's a potential benefit to it, but i don't see any value in this, and will stick to the red ones. 

the tomato industry has been struggling for decades to market it's product as healthy because it's a fruit and it has this perception that people want tomatoes to be healthy because they're fruits. it should abandon this. tomatoes will sell as flavouring without the need to try to market them as healthy. it's enough for them to not be unhealthy - for them to be neutral - for them to be good flavouring agents.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/article/why-you-might-see-purple-tomatoes-at-the-grocery-store-next-year/

from what i can see, these people are accusing each other of doing the same thing to each other, but it was the fake left (who are authoritarian conservatives masquerading as a left) that started the fight. now, when faced with a counter-attack, they respond as though they're being attacked without cause. but, they started the fight!

the root cause of the problem here that needs to be addressed is the false moral superiority of the fake left that led it to decide it had some objective basis to censor speech it didn't like that is somehow different than when the authoritarian right does the same thing to it.

i'm left with little to no sympathy for the groups being targeted, as they brought this on themselves, and would rather point to the centuries old lesson of free speech that real leftists learned eons ego: if you censor your opponents when you are in power, they will retaliate when they gain power. so, don't do that.

free speech is absolute or it doesn't exist. you can't moderate free speech. and, as chomsky said, free speech means free speech for your opponents, it doesn't mean free speech for you.

....and certainly don't bitch and complain when they do to you what you did to them, if you insist on censoring them, despite the lessons of history that are right in front of you and which you refuse to learn. get off your fucking cross.

these groups are not leftists and are not allies of the left, they are conservative groups in disguise that are seeking to control what you think, feel, write, sing, draw and believe. they can go fuck themselves, and i hope trump's cronies take them down a notch.

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/europe/europeans-push-back-trumps-authoritarian-sanctions-anti-disinformation-rcna250791

i support striking islamic militants everywhere and anywhere they are, for any reason, at any time. they are a scourge, a parasite, a disease, that needs to be eradicated.

the details of trump's claims about nigeria may be a little sketchy, but they are also more solid than the liberal media is claiming. if the basic claim is that isis is killing christians in nigeria, that basic claim is correct.

but it doesn't matter that they're christians. isis might instead be killing secularists, modernists, animists, buddhists, socialists, women, pagans, gays, gypsies, jews, slavs (all groups that isis would target), whatever; isis should be wiped out, regardless of what particular group they are targeting in whatever region. it is not the fact that the islamic fascists are killing christians that makes them a vile parasite that needs to be eradicated, it is the core of their religious beliefs, which have no redeemable qualities, and cannot be tolerated in a civilized global community.

it's not that polytheism is inherently less stupid than monotheism. i think the idea of multiple gods is logically superior to the idea of one god (if you can convince me that any god exists at all, you're going to have a hard time convincing me there is only one. an existence proof would be unlikely, and a corresponding characteristic theorem that shows uniqueness would strike me as incoherent. proof of the existence of many gods would follow instantly from proof of the existence of one god.), but this is really not the point i'm trying to make. an idea that is distinctly less stupid than another idea is still a stupid idea, and not to be championed because it's less stupid; less stupid is still stupid.

what i find more interesting and appealing about polytheism is the content of the stories, and not the question of existence, which i don't think is worth seriously considering at this point. if religion has any value, it isn't in the theological question (which is resolved. there is neither a monotheistic god nor polytheistic gods and that question should be abandoned and moved on from.) but in the cultural value of the underlying moral teachings and, in today's world, most importantly in the differences between how monotheistic and polytheistic societies see the place of human beings. i prefer pagan polytheism because it is culturally superior, and we do in fact see that in the syncretic forms of christianity that developed in europe and also, more recently, have been developing in south america, where they didn't completely wipe out their indigenous religions. the christians of constantine's time would call the lot of us a bunch of roman pagans, celebrating germanic rituals and holding to icons and romanic laws and cultural traditions. the pope is just a continuation of the office of the high priest of the sun god. da fuck is this? 

it's as though you stupid idiots don't even realize you're performing a cannibalistic ritual to dionysus every time you engage in the eucharist.

if you want to be objective about this, it's pretty clear that the greeks and romans, and germans and celts and slavs, eventually conquered the christians, from the inside out. there's almost no trace of the invading christian colonizers left anywhere. we have statues of the old gods everywhere, and people living the old ways everywhere. the pagans won. it's right in front of you. but you don't realize it.

the struggle is in preventing the victory of paganism over christianity from being engulfed in a new round of colonization by muslims, and the decrease in quality of life and enjoyment of existence that would follow from that. i don't want to have to spend my time fighting to save europeanism from encroaching orientalism, i want to spend my time enjoying being a european.

i watched a youtube video the other day about the origins of the flood myth. there's several earlier versions of this myth in sumerian and semitic mythology, as found on bits of clay tablets that are thousands of years older than the one in genesis. i'm not interested in the theological differences; there is no yahweh, there is no enki. it doesn't really matter how many gods are in the story. what is the lesson of the story? how does it change in the different cultures?

in my opinion, the jewish version is a dumbed-down version of a far more complex narrative in the older versions. in the jewish version, god wants to punish us all for not listening to him, so he kills us all. we're taught from a young age that this is a good story, with a good moral, but it isn't at all. it's a horrible story, and the version of god in genesis is a horrific asshole that should be condemned as what he is. we would chain this god up and bring him before the hague and sentence him to death. we would charge this god with hate crimes. this god has little to no redeemable qualities whatsoever; if such a god existed, it would need to be destroyed, and it would be the west that would destroy it, in an epic struggle to restore freedom and assert democracy over tyranny and backwardsness and barbarism. we could not coexist with such a horrible entity. but the jewish scriptures teach us that god's wisdom is infinite, that god made the right choice to kill us all, and we're not to question the wisdom.

well, ok, then.

but the older stories actually show disagreements amongst the gods and invite us to question their decisions. the reason that this one asshole god wanted to kill us all was that we were overpopulating the earth, and too loud, and too smelly and it's pissing him off, so he just seeks to crush us like we would stamp out gross roaches. hey, i can empathize with that a little; it's a far better reason to kill us than that we're gay, or worshipping a cow or something. but in the mesopotamian stories, there is criticism of that decision, and it is clear that the people were taught to question the gods rather than to obey them. was it a just decision? or was this god an asshole and should this god actually be punished for killing us? the mesopotamian stories, like the greek stories we are more familiar with, try to work out these more complex analyses, and subtle moral positions. the gods argue with each other. they can be right or wrong. the stories don't merely declare the monotheistic god infallible and decide it's judgement is unquestionable, they tell us to think for our ourselves and come to our own conclusions. the latter is culturally superior.

the direct analogues between roman, greek, germanic and celtic mythology and jewish mythology are less than the analogues between jewish and sumerian mythology due to the differences in cultural origin. eventual post-captivity judaism was heavily influenced by indo-european zoroastrianism, but that would be like if the greeks decided zeus slaughtered all of the other gods. it's still warped. the overlaps in stories don't really make sense until after alexander conquers the middle east, and they start speaking greek and reading greek literature and philosophy in the region, and jesus eventually emerges as this hebrew socrates. so, the comparison between the version of the flood story in genesis with the different and older flood stories is something that doesn't extend to a comparison between other jewish myths and corresponding stories in greek and roman mythology, more directly. the phoenecian mythology was more similar to the greek mythology, and probably influenced by it, but that doesn't make it's way into the hebrew scriptures, for whatever reason.

the analyses has to stand by analogy. i have to point out that the roman and greek stories are like the sumerian stories in assigning the gods personalities, in developing conflicts between the gods and in telling people to think for themselves, rather than obey their tyrannical lord and then argue that i would rather live in a society where the culture tells us to come to our own conclusions than a culture that tells us everything is burned into stone, and we do, because the pagans won, and that is worth protecting from another round of encroaching monotheism, which is always a massive cultural step backwards and yet is certainly currently pounding at the doors. rome went through a cultural collapse leading to the adoption of christianity, which took centuries to undo, and which we should fight hard to not let happen again.

however, the story of adam is even worse than the story of noah and an urgent and pressing reason to draw particular attention to the need to reconnect with indigenous cultural ideas, before we kill ourselves off. the monotheistic religions teach us that god created this all for us and we are to use it for our benefit. this is a distinct reversal of any indigenous belief system, and from any pagan system i'm aware of, which all teach us that we are a part of an interconnected system that we need to coexist within, rather than that we are in some way distinct from or outside of it. the idea that we are part of an ecological web and need to exist sustainably within it is a superior position to the backwards idea that we are at the top of the food chain, and this all exists for us to do what we want with it. many centuries from now, some smart race of aliens may tell the story of the destruction of human society and conclude that it was the stupid myth of adam that led the stupid humans to destroy their habitat, and destroy themselves. it is imperative that we find a way to undo the effects of the monotheistic religions on western culture in relation to this specific idea that we're outside of ecology and return to the indigenous european idea that we're a part of a ecology instead of being outside of it if we want to survive, and a return to cultural paganism is the best way to do that. the norse may have fought against the skraelings as much as they did against the christians, but they would have thought we were stupid for shitting in our own beds; the ideas of resource economy and sustainable growth were inherent to european culture, before the unsustainable middle eastern cultures, which had already ruined their own lands, brought their disastrous philosophies to us and enforced them on us with violence. whether we are able to reverse this one lingering and subtle but catastrophic and important position of monotheism and return to the indigenous position we once held will determine if we can survive or not.

i hope i've explained why i'm interested in returning to paganism. it's not about the theology. paganism is simply better aligned with freedom and democracy, and with sustainability and sustainable growth. these ought to be the three pillars of western society, moving forwards, if it is to survive the collapse of the global capitalist order.

the french had liberty, equality and fraternity.

we should have freedom, democracy and sustainability. 

monotheism has been our biggest retarding force for centuries in getting to a secular society and culture based in reason, and will remain our largest barrier to overcome for the near future.

i am not a cultural christian, i do not celebrate christmas and i do not see christianity as a way to somehow block other religions from infiltrating western culture. if anything, i am a cultural pagan, or a cultural europeanist, and i see little difference between christianity, islam and judaism in terms of their ideology, or their ability to destroy cultures and wipe out societies.

it is difficult to ignore the reality that christianity is a less extreme force for evil in this world than islam is, but that does not make christianity more moderate, and i would thoroughly reject that claim. there's plenty of victims of christianity out there. to the extent that christianity is less extreme than islam, it has little to do with their respective ideological frameworks, which are exactly the same thing, and more to do with differences in the underlying societies. white european culture experienced an enlightenment period that arab culture has not yet experienced and, for that reason, european culture has been able to extricate itself from the retarding influence of the religion and extirpate it from european society in ways that arab culture has to this point failed to succeed in accomplishing.

that is not a beneficial characteristic of christianity, it is a statement of the superiority of the underlying pagan european culture, that was able to throw off the yoke of jewish mythology and reconstitute itself, which is something that persians and others are still struggling with, in finding a pathway towards their eventual evolution out of islam.

as a cultural pagan or europeanist, i see christianity and islam as being identical to each other and equally threatening to the existence of freedom, free societies and democracy, which we can see from a broad view of history are indigenous ideas that, in eurasia, have only survived in northern europe. it would not take much for the tables to reverse.

i am not celebrating saturnalia this month, but if i were to celebrate anything, it would be the solstice, and the ways of the ancestors, and not christian mythology, which should be left behind.