and, they would even stone you in public for being stoned in public. 

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

i mean, i'm stoned and queer in public all of the time.

but, islam puts a new spin on the idea.

i should have the ability to avoid them...

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

it's more like 5%, maybe a bit more.

it just stresses my point.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

to be clear: i'd rather vote with my feet on this. that's the right option. if i walk up to the checkout line, i'd rather make the choice to avoid, at that junction. but, it's not just the case nowadays that i don't have that choice at the check out line in any specific store - it's the case that if i go to the store down the street, and then store down the street after that, i still won't be able to find somebody to ring me in without religious wear.

it's not like i'm not going to freak out or anything. i can handle it. i'm more annoyed than angry. and, i miss the stereotypical bubbly teenage checkout chick, which it seems like has been pushed out.

when every single cashier has a hijab in a region where muslims are maybe 20% of the population at most, whatever subsidies the government is providing are clearly working far too well.

i don't blame the cashiers, they're just trying to survive. nor do i blame the companies, actually, who are clearly profiting from the arrangement. but, i should have the ability to vote with my feet on this - i shouldn't be forced to go through the checkout line with somebody that probably thinks i ought to be crucified in public. and, i'd consequently support adjusting or abolishing those subsidies.

i'm not a free marketeer, you know that. but, this is doing more than balancing things - it's tilting things towards a specific outcome, and in the process has become corporate welfare. and, that really shouldn't be.

the liberals are supposed to do better than that

so, the gas was an issue again this evening.

i'm going to wash my sheets again. it's partly because i think i'm in for most of the month. it did warm up by the time i got home, but i was reminded of how far the temperature has fallen outside when i left the house this afternoon; even with a sweater, it was pretty miserable. it might be nice during the day on saturday, but it doesn't matter much if i don't leave the house until 22:00, when it's already ten degrees. and, i don't generally like day things, much. i could convince myself otherwise, and the weather could flip over, but i think we're down to more specific shows, at this point - chelsea wolfe near the end of the month, anamanaguchi, la dispute w/_ touche amore that one more last time...

but, we're taking a change in approach to the sewer, until i get a plumber in. previously, i thought i could fix this and put everything back together again and that would be that. now, i'm operating under the assumption that this is going to require constant effort to react to. so, we're going to keep the dresser disassembled until further notice, and jump on the issue as soon as it redevelops. if that means dumping 20 L down the hole every other day, so be it.

what do i need for this task?

1) tape. check.
2) 2 L bottle. check.
3) dish soap. check.

everything's set up now for easy access.

i just showered a few hours ago, but i'm going to need to take another one, now. well, i'm going to eat first, and then shower.

for the night, we'll be doing laundry, and we'll also be combo scratching out shows and working through the rest of the legal stuff. i got the document for the plumber printed this afternoon. once i get the other two things finalized, i can look at planning to serve and file them.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

it makes you wonder.

what happens when a pretty, friendly teenage girl applies for a job as a cashier nowadays?

it doesn't seem like anybody's hiring.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

there really does seems to be a monopoly of hijabed or niqabed muslim women on service industry jobs in this city, and if you don't believe me just walk around.

i guess it's probably some kind of government program - the employers probably get a deal on it. they're still a distinct minority, here, and you see it as soon as you leave the store. i might even go so far as to say that the only time i see muslim women anywhere is as cashiers at the store; if it wasn't for that, i wouldn't really know they were even here. i mean, you don't see them at concerts. you don't see them at the bars...

i've made a few comments about this before, along the lines of mentioning that i'd avoid them if i could, but it's actually kind of challenging at points. i went to three grocery stores today (not for that reason...), and it was the same face of conformity at all of them.

but, what i'm thinking about right now is what was there before them. i mean, i think about what's going to happen if they force me to get a job sometimes, and i'm going to end up applying for these jobs. i'm not going to want to wear a hijab or a niqab - i'm going to want to wear tight-fitting clothing and makeup. and, wasn't that the norm a year or two ago?

what happened to the pretty, friendly girl at the cash register?

she doesn't seem to exist anymore. what we have now is the drab conservatism of a religion that most of the people in this area don't care much for.

and, it does feel like you're getting invaded, even if the truth is closer to corporate welfare for businesses that hire women that cover-up - which is an incentive of exceedingly questionable merit.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

so, i'm walking by the school on the way home from doing errands and a young mom tells her kid "i can't hear you".

the kid tries to speak.

mom, repeats "i still can't hear you".

and, the mental jukebox kicks right in.

those damned politicians....

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

ok, so i've got the document for my landlord typed up, which sort of inserted itself as a priority.

i need to get pills before or around noon. it's actually hovering around the freezing mark right now, in windsor. but it's going to warm up; i have to go early, so i might miss it. but, i'm going to want to wait as long as i can, kind of thing, too.

this morning, i'll be scratching things off the list for the week, so the next thing to do is a couple of reviews.

remember: i'm not filing the review until november. so, i don't need to print it for a while.

what could i catch in toronto, though?

i'll see. i'm going to want it to be something that's not here.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

nanos doesn't seem to have polled yesterday, which was thanksgiving monday in canada.

this is the other daily tracking poll, and it is upholding the idea of little to no movement.

if the liberals both get a majority and lose the popular vote, how will they address electoral reform in the next parliament?

https://ipolitics.ca/2019/10/14/liberals-conservatives-once-again-in-statistical-tie-in-latest-mainstreet-polling/

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

"The American people and our allies expect and deserve real leadership from Washington," Pelosi said in the statement. 

translation: the american congress is bought and paid for by the saudi theocracy, and will jump at any opportunity to prop up it's financial interests.

again: this is stupid. there's no other way to describe it.

...unless you're invested in saudi businesses, who will reap the benefits.

never fail to take advantage of a crisis, right? it's disaster capitalism at it's worst...

it's a good time to invest in bin laden's construction company, though. for real.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/465784-pelosi-says-trump-sanctions-package-on-turkey-falls-very-short

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

rubio would have been infinitely worse than trump, trust me.

let us dispel with any notions otherwise.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

and, i guess i spent some time talking over turkey this weekend after all, didn't i?

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

listen: putin made obama look stupid, too.

this isn't a trump thing, it's a putin thing. and, perhaps, it's a congressional thing, and maybe a pentagon thing.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

and, i don't think that putting sanctions on the turks is very smart, either.

that means we have iran, turkey and russia all under sanctions. pushing these three countries together is the dumbest thing they could possibly do...

pushing the kurds out of syria was the right strategy. but, we don't want to be pushing for another proxy war between the turks and saudis, which is exactly what the sanctions are going to do.

i am usually in 100% diametrical opposition to the marco rubios and lindsey grahams of the world, so there's no real surprise here. but, that's my position - something needs to be done to put restraints on the turks, but sanctions are a dumb response. what putin is doing is the more intelligent approach to this...

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

marijuana and alcohol just aren't the drugs that have the effects that i'd be likely to get hooked on. they're fun here and there, and especially in social situations. but, i'm just not an alcoholic, just not a pothead - being drunk and/or stoned all the time would make me so depressed that i'd want to kill myself. broadly speaking, i can't stand being drunk and/or stoned at home, by myself. i need sobriety, need to focus.

i've beaten nicotine addiction, but that was my vice, not pot or booze. and, what's left is large amounts of coffee. huge amounts of coffee.

if i was ever going to get badly addicted to something, it would be an upper, not a downer. cocaine. meth. i've never done them, and don't want to, but those are the drugs that would "get" me, not alcohol or pot.

i've never done it, but i think i'd hate heroin. don't misunderstand me: i'm not interested in playing chicken with this. get that shit away from me - no thank you. i'm happy to admit i can't handle it. but, i actually suspect i'd try it and hate it so much that i'd never go near it again. if i ever found myself addicted to a downer, it would necessarily change me into an entirely different person - the person i am, and always have been, would just hate it, i'm sure of it.

that was a crazy summer. i'm almost 40. how many more will i have left?

but, most of the time, i just want more coffee, thanks.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this

i tried to sleep all day yesterday and couldn't. so, i was in a haze yesterday and couldn't really do anything - it was that awful feeling you get when you're exhausted, but can't actually sleep. so, i kept sitting down to do something and kept concluding "nope. too tired.", only to not be able to sleep.

i drink a lot of coffee. i guess that fighting off everything from last week - getting over strep throat, dealing with the hangover, and getting used to not smoking, again - all at the same time meant it lifting all at the same time. then, your body ends up under the dominant influence of large doses of caffeine without being strong enough to deal with it, and you just end up dragging. those moments of purgatory can both be incredibly rewarding if you're in the middle of something and are pushing your self to finish it and incredibly brutal if you're not. it's all context.

right now, i want to be fresh and able to think clearly in order to do legal writing. it's a bad time for me to be unable to focus. so, this was just a wasted day spent cleaning and ranting when i wasn't tossing and turning, and when i wanted to be focused and productive. *shrug*.

this is probably the new normal for me, until the spring. i tend to smoke and drink very, very little in the winter. last year, i was completely straight edge from october 1st (actually, since the end of may - movement, 2018) until mid-april (the acid mothers show at phog). it was a good 11 months of total abstinence. again - that's only usual for me in terms of it being 11 months instead of three or six months, these long period of complete sobriety are a normal part of my life. so, i could be straight edge for months, now. and, if i can buy legal marijuana on both sides of the border in the spring, i may have smoked my last cigarette, ever, too. the timing remains unclear, but that is something that will happen within the next little while....

in fact, it's imminent. date of last smoke: sunday, oct  6th, 2019. is that the end of smoking j? stay tuned.

but, i finally got some sleep this evening and think i might be awake. i'm going to get some fruit, to start, and we'll see when i sit down to do something - if i'm still unable to focus, it's back to sleep.

how's my health?

well, it seemed like i was just about there, but then the sewers reasserted themselves. i'll remind you that i was sick all week, so just how bad the p-traps were isn't totally clear. but, the initial symptoms i felt when this started last came back when i first noticed the smell - dried throat, dried sinuses, even the headache (although much weaker, as of yet). it makes you wonder what the actual cause was - did i actually catch strep throat when i was out, or did i get sick from breathing in sewer gas when i got home, unable to tell because i was smoking all weekend, and then not able to figure it out because it made me sick?

you need a swab to figure that out.

i mentioned previously that i'd go to a clinic if i was still sick on monday, and i didn't initially think it was necessary, but now i'm less sure. after waking up, the most pressing concern is that i have a very large "frog" in my throat, and a bit of a dry cough. i should be able to expel this with water and the sheer force of hacking, and then we'll see what's next. but, i feel congested again. i didn't yesterday...

it's unclear whether the lingering smell is a consequence of the previous sewer eruption or signs of a continuing problem. if the root cause of the problem is disuse, and he's been gone a few days, the lines upstairs may be too dry for anything i do down here to make a difference, in which case i just have to keep running the water until he gets back. if i could just get somebody up there to flush the toilet...

i need to go out and do some running around tomorrow. i'll get that letter printed when i'm out.

again: my intent here is not to drag this guy through court. i won't feel bad about it, if i have to, granted, and am preparing for it. but, what i want is for him to fix the problem, and i'm actually hoping that he's rational about it without being ordered to be - that he doesn't need a judge to tell him to do the right thing, here.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this