no new listings today.

well, there's one that i'm going to hold off on for now, and put aside - it's just a little too expensive.

i saw something this afternoon, and while i feel it was acceptable, i didn't really want to jump on it. it's going to be a lot easier for me if i plan a month ahead so that i can just use last month's, rather than have to write a letter to demand it. they want july. if the existing landlord writes me a check for last month, it should be an easy move; if she doesn't, it's going to be...let's use the word tight.

if i get this sorted out in time, i will plan to reactivate the court date, which is on the 5th - and that could get me a large settlement, or a larger win. could. if that doesn't work - or they just don't pay - it's going to be tight, for the rest of the summer. and, moving, itself may prove difficult.

the one i'm seeing tomorrow night is for august and that's a lot better, in terms of finances - it means i'll have an extra $1300 to plan around, and i'll know the outcome of the court date by the time i move.

on top of that, it was just a little further out of town than i'd like. and, while the unit is convincingly non-smoking, it's also off what is really a highway through the middle of the city. the fact that i went in rush hour reminded me of this. the one tomorrow is in a cul-de-sac, with a park around the corner...

i mean, i don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. and, i could miss an opportunity on the first spot - which is maybe what i even subconsciously want. do i really want this space? it would be that much easier if i could take it for august...

if i don't get this worked out by july 1st, i'll need to pay my rent, and flip the process over to planning for september. but the $700 i have in savings should increase to closer to $1100, which will make the process a little less tight if i have to do a quick move for august. if i do absolutely nothing at all, i should be able to put aside about $300/month, and $400/month on gst months. so, if this drags on a while, the process gets easier to afford.

and, if i lose an eviction case without compensation, i may just stop paying rent to try to mad dash it out, too.

the easy solution is to move into the place i'm seeing tomorrow night.

how's the smoke situation, here?

they've both disappeared, apparently. or maybe they both sept all day. we'll find out soon enough....

i got a few months done last night and hope to finish off the rest of it tonight.

so, this is what they actually wanted - it saves money.

you idiots....

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/20/17484546/executive-order-family-separation-flores-settlement-agreement-immigration

"i never said he couldn't have ice cream.

it was melania that said he couldn't have ice cream.

what i...no, listen...what i said is that he can have the best ice cream, the greatest ice cream...ice cream so cold it'll turn his socks blue....he'll just have to wait until tomorrow. that's all."

"this just in...

.....we have footage of barron crying, because dad said he couldn't have ice cream. democrats are motioning for impeachment."

fuck.

when vox is the voice of reason, we're losing our collective minds.

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/20/17485488/executive-order-immigration-trump-families-together

i'm going to hope that we're just not used to this internet thing yet and we'll wise up to it in a generation or two.

'cause if we don't....yikes...

i guarantee somebody has a story of hadrian crying when justin got up to go to the bathroom.

should he be forced to step down, or what?

but, understand that the equivalent policy, here, is taking the crying kid into the bathroom with you.

kids will cry and yell and scream when you go grocery shopping without them.

aversion to that can't be a basis of policy decisions, or a determinant of what's in their best interests.

you do realize that the result of trump's executive action is that they're going to send these kids to jail, now, rather than to foster care...

i guess it's a reflection of the time; this is what rule by social media looks like.

let's hope that the experts prevail over ignorance and emotion, in the end, and these kids aren't left to languish in prison with their parents.

i think the ndp has this backwards - we should be emulating the policies in the united states, to get more kids into foster homes instead of leaving them in detention.

our practices appear to be far worse than theirs.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4283134/canada-migrant-families-children-detention/

no, i'm not going to stand up for an outdated, patriarchal institution that i've spent my whole life arguing against.

i'm going to stand up for the rights of the child.

birth parents do not own their children, and do not have rights to raise them, or really any special authority over them at all. all of the rights in this situation belong to the child. and, the court needs to always have the rights of the child at the centre of it's decision making. policy should be written to accommodate this, not frustrate it.

the reality is that separation is in the best interests of the child in the vast majority of these situations.

but, i will repeat that i understand that this is not the reason underlying the policy, either.

is separating kids from their parents at the us-mexican border a terrible inhumane thing that should stop?

there may be some problems with the policy as it's being implemented, but they aren't related to the idea itself. so, if the question is whether i think it's fundamentally wrong to break up families, the answer is that i don't, because i'm not a conservative, and i don't recognize the primacy of hetero-patriarchy in ordering society from the top down: i will argue that there are plenty of scenarios where it is in the best interests of a child to separate it from it's family.

one example of that would be if their parents are so reckless as to drag them thousands of miles into a foreign country, across deserts, and dodging traffickers and other criminals, with little access to food or resources. that would easily meet the definition of negligence under our laws - and, because i'm not a conservative, i'm very much in favour of taking kids away from negligent parents. and, you need to understand that your ideological views on this point are not absolute, and people have every right to disagree with you on them.

that said, the purpose of taking the kids away should be to act in the children's best interests, and i recognize that this is not exactly what the united states is doing. rather, the separation policies are designed to act as a disincentive towards migration, and tend to end up as a warehousing process.

if the intent of a person or a family is to enter into a country as a refugee, these people should be detained at their point of entry until they can be fully processed, and either granted status or sent back the other way. but, that detainment should be humane, and when separation does happen, it should be court-ordered and subject to due process.

but, not only do i not condemn the practice outright, but i largely encourage it, as it is usually going to be in the best interests of the child to take them away from these reckless, homeless & jobless migrant parents and put them in more stable situations.

i know: i'm evil, right? well, i'm a godless leftist that wants to abolish the family structure altogether. that's indeed pretty evil - if you're a conservative. sure.

this is such a stupid narrative...

there is no such thing as "happiness". it's just a meaningless label that people put on things. again: this is basic marxism. if you can trick a slave into thinking she's happy, she'll tell you she is; meanwhile, the most free person in the world can get suicidal over existential dread.

there was a group of philosophers many years ago called verificationists that argued that statements that cannot be verified are completely meaningless. now, godel throws a wrench in this, granted. but, i remain of the opinion that "i am happy" and "i am unhappy" are equally meaningless statements, because there's no way to understand what they mean.

it is generally understood, however, that people that refer to themselves as "happy" tend to avoid drug use - and that people that use drugs tend to refer to themselves as "unhappy".

i'm not irritated due to a low happiness quotient. i'm pissed off because the drugs are making me physically ill, and less productive than i could be, otherwise. and, it's that lack of productivity that is making me frustrated.

i would be much happier if i could get a reliable intake of fresh air.