conservatives just aren't very good at budgeting, huh?

i think the issue here is the time requirement. he appears to be arguing that he shouldn't go to jail over unpaid fines - which is what is about to happen - rather than that he should be allowed to pay the fines down personally. the payment option being presented is just a scheme to avoid jail time.

and, debtors' prisons would be a pretty unconstitutional - and pretty uncanadian - concept, for sure.

it follows that the judge can skip the issue discussed in the article by striking down the criminality around indebtedness, which is the more direct question. but, i might suggest that it is overstepping it's bounds by striking down the law, in the absence of a clearer breach - merely stating "but, i'm in debt and i can't pay it off" isn't a demonstration of a rights restriction so much as it is a demonstration of mr. leary's fiscal incompetence, and perhaps why it is that he was unsuccessful as a candidate. mr. o'leary made those choices.

there is a valid point, here - he shouldn't go to jail over this. that's too much. he should just be forced to raise the money, until he succeeds in paying it off - or until the parliament decides to change the law.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/powerandpolitics/pnp-tasker-oleary-suing-elections-canada-1.4905684

what?

it's a classical position on the anarchist left to suggest that stamping religion out by force is a nice idea, but it doesn't work, and that anarchists need to be very careful not to alienate themselves from a backlash by appearing to be too harsh on religion, even as they understand that they must be. this is a discussion that goes all the way back to bakunin.

the short answer is that you have to get the people to do it themselves, somehow - and not due to some moral opposition to the destruction of faith, but as a pragmatic reality. if you want a backlash, you use force; if you want to actually do away with faith once and for all, you have to use ideas.

hey, i didn't say i had a good solution, i'm just towing the party line, here.

obviously, when you're talking about xinjiang or tibet, there's a deeper geopolitical context at play.

but, most people don't know that.

it's no surprise - any halfways intelligent person could have predicted that a ford government would run an absurd deficit, as it hands out goodies to it's cronies.

try to get somebody to walk you through the argument that removing rent control will incentivize building low income units. i'm not sure i could even deconstruct that, because i'm not sure i could understand the logical errors built into coming to such a ridiculous conclusion in the first place. obviously, the exact opposite is true, and it's just a policy that awards developers for their generous campaign donations.

now, that said, i actually think that $30,000 is too low of a cut-off for taxation - that number should be something closer to $50,000. but, it should be offset by steep tax increases on the higher income levels. and, they're actually cutting taxes for high income earners...

is this a disaster? sure. but, you could only be surprised if you haven't seen this film before, and i've seen it more than once, already.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-pc-fall-economic-outlook-cuts-tax-lcbo-1.4906718

my only suggestion to the chinese government is that they learn from the mistakes of the past and ensure that their policies to root out religion are not counter-productive. they have made some good progress in rooting out the superstitious beliefs in the tibetan plateau, and should use their successes there as a model.

i've been repeatedly clear about this in the past - i see "religious freedom" as a contradiction in terms, and am in favour of destroying religion using any and all means possible. but, these kinds of tactics have historically not just been unsuccessful but have been counterproductive. today, religion is as powerful in russia as it has ever been. it is important that they don't overextend their hand and in the process produce a backlash against secularism.

and, it is disturbing to me that our prime minister is so intent on aligning himself with the religious right, and the forces of religious backwardsness, in stoking a reactionary push against secularist policies.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/china-canada-uighurs-letter-1.4906522

so, i sat down yesterday to take a nap and i ended up passed out instead. i've spent the morning tying together loose ends on some things, a lot of it focused on the question of recycling excess plastic.

back in july of 2017, i took a recycling run into detroit to try and get rid of a few things. the recycling complex on holden (near the marble bar) took a number of items, but i couldn't get the whole foods to take anything. i was on my way to a dj set by jello biafra, and didn't want to try and get into the bar with a bag full of used razors, so i gave up and tossed them out. i told myself i'd call ahead next time...

i still haven't called the whole foods, but i understand the situation better, now. what they have is a #5 plastic recycling program drop-off through their house brand, preserve. they should take razors, brita filters and toothbrushes - so long as they're #5. if the store in downtown detroit doesn't take it - and i'll call before i go again - i can try one of the other stores, or even mail it to new york. i didn't really know what i was looking for, i just asked around, and nobody knew what i was talking about. but, they should also take the plastic bottle caps, which is a problem i didn't have an answer to.

i knew they don't take them in the blue boxes, but i've been leaving them in there, anyways, as a kind of act of protest - because they are recyclable, and they should take them. there wasn't a better answer. this might be the answer i wanted.

so, i'll put aside a little box for #5 plastics and plan to take it to detroit, when i can.

i still don't know what to do with the cheese or plastic wrappers, but they may take it on holden if i can get a # for it. and, i have at least found a few places in windsor that will take soft plastic bags, so that i don't have to take them to detroit.

i'm going to put off constructing the other room until the 1st, and do it as a part of the end of the month cleaning.

and, i was going to do groceries today, but i'm going to put it off until monday, because i've cycled around on the meals - i have officially skipped a week of meals. *shrug*. i can wait until monday. so, i'll just wait until after 19:00 before i get everything in motion.

i'm going to try to get through september on the rebuild for monday.

i can't get through to that mental health unit to get a file destruction. but, besides that, the last thing to do is call my grandmother.