Wednesday, February 13, 2019

and, how is the air quality in here?

it's dry. it looks like we have one more cold snap, and then we might at least be back to seasonal weather - which is around freezing. it doesn't usually actually warm up until late april, but it's the cold that forces the dry air. it's too early to say, but let's hope we're past the worst of it, after one more snap next week.

besides that, i actually can't detect anything. i was getting some kind of second hand smoke up until a few weeks ago, but it seems to have lifted. i also left the fan in the bathroom running for about two weeks in order to clear a sewer gas smell out (i might need to clean the p-traps, which is a normal maintenance thing), and i'm not noticing it any more - although i'll admit that it might be because the ground is frozen. there's still some dust in here, but it's now my dust, if you understand, so it's not as bothersome.

i would rather the air moisten up a little, sure, but i don't have anything concrete to complain about, or to tie the health issues to. i haven't picked up any whiffs of pot in weeks.

it could be the weather; i'm known to react poorly to it sometimes, but not usually like this. i could be dehydrated, although i'm feeling like that would by a symptom rather than a cause. my skin tone has also fallen several shades since i've moved in; i'm back in a basement, with blinds, and not getting any sunlight. so, i could be going through some kind of vitamin d withdrawal or something.

i mentioned that it feels like i drank too much coffee and can't come down, and i want to stick with that - withdrawal is the right way to describe it. but, it's withdrawal mixed with some kind of upper. i've actually never done mdma (although it's in the list of drugs i would try if i knew the source...the problem is that they tell you it's molly, then sell you meth.), but i might imagine that what i'm feeling is not very different from a broken dopamine receptor. and, the nature of the experience of a stimulant is really clear - right down to the clenched teeth.

the weird thing is that i went through this last year, too, and initially thought it was a consequence of the neighbour smoking meth. fwiw, i never convinced myself that she wasn't smoking meth, at least at first - there was a nasty smell of burning plastic that moved from downstairs to outside, even as the stench of burning marijuana parked itself in place. i'm still convinced that i was dealing with a reaction to some kind of stimulant at the end of february of last year. and, if i were to describe what i'm going through right now, it would be relatively similar.

i don't have any reason to think it's true, but it almost seems like somebody spiked my water supply with meth.

all i can do is try to sleep it off.
"my new lung transplant is sinking, man - and i don't want to hack.

*cough*"
hey, i've got some ideas for strain names for the tragically hip's new marijuana line.

10. blown brain cells at high dumb
09. the tragic-saline drip
08. a head in the last century
07. systolic equipment attached to the back of a motorized wheelchair
06. 50 mission ct-scan
05. new lung transplant is sinking
04. saliva trickling down
03. disgrace, too.
02. an inch an hour
01. head cave

they were always too pompous to understand irony, and wouldn't understand it if explained to them, now. the band that lost their singer to cancer at 53 is now selling marijuana. astounding.

they've always been a microcosm of everything that is wrong with canada, so i guess this is kind of an expectation.
i felt a little better this morning, but i'm still woozy and slept most of the day.

i dunno
socialism has always been a means to an end, not an end to itself.

if you think that history ends with socialism, you've lost the plot.

and, we're increasingly entered a new economic reality where time has passed socialism by.
uch-o.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/mark-carney-marxism-automation-bank-of-england-governor-job-losses-capitalism-a8304706.html
so, what's the deal with communism, anyways?

we hear a lot about communists, but we don't really know who they are. who are these people?

communism is a theoretical social order where production is automated, and held in common. you might think it's a bunch of other things, but it isn't - it's automation. that's it. communism = automation.

so, if you're a communist, you support automation; if you support automation, you're a communist.

there's the caveat that you have to get rid of private property, but that's an inevitability, because private property is impossible in the face of automation; it's a redundancy to talk about "production being automated and held in common", it's enough to just talk about automation - and the inevitable struggle as a consequence of it.

automation is fast approaching. does that mean we're on the way to communism? by definition, yes.

now, nobody knows how we get there, or what happens in between, but if you adhere to any level of technological determinism at all then it's unavoidable by anything short of nuclear holocaust. so, not only are we quickly moving towards communism, but there's nothing that capitalism can do to stop it. the question is what kind of a path we take - and we have infinitely many choices.

we could end up killing 70% of the world's population, first, for example. but, if that's what happens, then what will be left will be communism...

or, the capitalists could step down without a fight. who knows.

we can be dialectical, but that would be silly - the actual outcome is likely somewhere in between.

but, that's the deal with communism - it's automation, it's happening and nobody can stop it.
so, why is israel so important in american politics? is it because of money? aipac? jewish bankers?

no.

the money flows the other way - we send them money. billions. and, the money that israel gets for "self-defense" is a downpayment on america's ability to control the region's oil supply. this is a policy that was designed by henry kissinger during the nixon presidency.

if you're concerned about gaza, and recognize that israel is only able to act with impunity because it is following american dictates, then you need to look at the root cause, which is the policy put in place by kissinger. it has nothing to do with benjamins, with aipac, with jewish bankers or even with the evangelical right - it is a harsh realpolitik around controlling the oil. reversing israel's impunity means reversing america's strategic reliance on middle eastern oil imports.

the best way to help people in gaza is to support renewable energy projects in the united states. and, that may very well mean asking some jewish bankers for some interest-bearing loans.
see, this was always the potential blowback, and it's essentially the same risk that the united states has always faced in pushing down sanctions on iran - it's imperative that you work with your allies to ensure that you aren't just redirecting oil away from the mainland, and ultimately isolating yourself.

russia is at this point actively acting against us interests, but they're also a major oil exporter, which is something that the countries that the united states isolates has in common. i mean, venezuela isn't going to get very far trying to export oil to iran, right. i figured the only way out was china, but that they'd buckle eventually. china likes to push buttons, but they remain reluctant and disinterested in challenging american dictates directly. that's bound to change, eventually.

india is even more of a wildcard than china, partly because of the rivalry between them and the complicated mess in pakistan. they seem to have reacted exceedingly negatively to hillary's asia pivot, which appears to have pencilled them into a security triangle with australia and japan without asking them, first. that seems to be the moment that the indians starting pushing back, in apparent concern over their sovereignty - and they are of course a rising power that doesn't appear to be keen on being told what to do. the indians were fundamental in unravelling the iran deal, too. we still tend to see them as being under us hegemony, i guess due to america's taking over the commonwealth after wwII, but this isn't really in line with reality, any more.

there is a large indian minority in that particular subregion - the north of south america and the islands off the coast - but i'm not sure if that's really important, here. it might be.

i'll clarify a point: i meant a literal oil embargo. like, sending the navy seals in, sort of thing. the kind of thing the british used to do all of the time...

regardless, i still can't imagine this actually working. but, if the indians are beginning to align more firmly with the sco, and willing to offer venezuela a market, that could have bigger implications in the long run.

there's a difference between an india that is distant and disengaged (non-aligned) and an india that is actively hostile.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-crude-exports/venezuela-turns-to-india-for-oil-exports-as-u-s-sanctions-bite-idUSKCN1Q12GI
just a quick life update.

i'm almost done organizing all of these things. i can't find about two year's worth of email. i'm about half done reorganizing books and files by year and think i lost a box somewhere between the last basement and this one. i'll probably organize the cds the same way and vaguely feel like some are missing but can't really tell.

the cds are probably all rotten at this point, anyways.

a few more days at most, hopefully. there's daylight, at least.

it seems like i'll need to wait until the very last moment until i get the report on the cop. i'm not doing anything else until i do.

i've also felt just awful over the last few days, like i drank far too much coffee and can't come down. my teeth are just clenched shut; my eyeballs are burning from the back in. and, my entire body feels like it's in a tension vice. i dunno what this is about, but i feel like i need to sleep it off.