honestly.

why shouldn't i have been able to borrow a few hundred dollars at a high usury rate between welfare checks in order to go drinking and dancing at a gay bar?

there's no rules in our society against any of that. and, i will fight you tooth and nail if you want to change it.

i will repeat: i would oppose any attempt by the government to place a prohibition on usury.

you hear about the horror stories with pay day loans, but you don't hear about the people that need access to quick cash with little collateral, and are able to responsibly pay it down quickly.

about this time in 2017, i decided at the last minute to go to movement, the large techno party in detroit. i hadn't planned for this, so i didn't have money put aside to do it. and, it's expensive. so, i took out either a $200 or $300 loan from a pay day loan service, in order to hit the parties in detroit. i carefully calculated what the interest would be and effortlessly paid the loan down on time.

i know this isn't the type of scenario you're used to hearing regarding pay day loans; i spent the money on beer, cover and cigarettes. crazy, right? well, i had fun. there are vlogs. regardless, i wouldn't have had access to the cash at a bank.

i don't think you should take away something that is actually useful to responsible people because irresponsible people abuse it. nor do i think that banning pay day loans is really going to have much of a useful outcome, as people that need the money will just go to loan sharks.

i might rather suggest a religious motive underlying an opposition to usury, and push back with the explanation that we live in a secular society, and don't want to legislate out of a bible or a koran.

see, the trust-busting may be populist, but it's the supply management that is an actual policy.

good to see.

https://www.motherjones.com/food/2019/05/how-can-dems-win-back-rural-america-bernie-sanders-and-elizabeth-warren-agree-on-the-answer/

ok, i'm going to get back to it, let's hope things are stable for a bit.

i was caught up. now, i need to catch back up...

i'll make another bold prediction, though: a ban on gun ownership is going to actually be a ban on black gun ownership.

they won't enforce these laws on white people.

i've said this before: in order to learn that gun bans don't work, and collectively move towards a more effective approach at ending gun violence, we'll probably need to go through the process of enacting gun bans, and watching them fail.

and, that's fine.

but, i'm still here to tell you it won't work. s'all. really.

anarchists are assholes, aren't we?

we don't think we have the obligation to stop you from making mistakes - we're happy to stand aside and watch you fail.

it's the prime directive, after all.

again: i wouldn't oppose a handgun ban. i have no interest in guns or gun culture at all.

but, i wouldn't expect it to be successful in reducing gun violence.

kenney's climate change policy actually sounds better than trudeau's.

cocaine, obviously.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-oilers-daryl-katz-sinus-infection-1.5131497

that was a lot of sleep, even if i kept trying to wake up. and, am i feeling better now? i'm feeling a little better than i was the last time i tried. if that continues, i may be at full strength by monday.

the air in here has cleared out substantively.

so, what happened?

i dunno. i'm going to ask him to add a check for stress hormones on thursday, but i'm operating under the assumption that i'm dealing with anxiety due to second-hand marijuana smoke exposure as a consequence of elevated cortisol levels. and, because it's not making me high, i'm not sure if the elevated stress levels are occurring due to the actual effects of the drug, or due to a psychological aversion to marijuana smoke. see, that's the trick, right: because i really, really don't want to be exposed to the drug, it would be almost impossible to know if the stress is a consequence of exposure or a consequence of the disinterest in exposure. it's just as likely that i could be freaking out at the premise of being exposed as i am freaking out at the actual exposure.

but, i mean, that's not going to change: 95% of the time, i don't want to be exposed to drugs, and i'm not going to chill out about it. if it's true that i'm freaking out at the idea of exposure, that's a constant that will never change.

for right now, the air is better and i feel a little better so i'm going to try and start the day off fresh by getting something to eat and showering. hopefully, i'm reading to get back to work afterwards.