Health, Philosophy

Executive Function Of The Brain

This post is inspired by a post by “The Diary of a CEO”. Inherent to the piece is the debilitating effects of short form media on the brain. Studies are being done and apparently results are starting to roll in. What we are about to learn will be unsurprising to us people watchers who have been witnessing a degradation in human interaction.

The writing I’m doing today is in advance of a skating occasion booked for 135 minutes from now quite distant from my seated position. Since time is short, I could have decided to spend the time in passive short form but instead I chose an active pursuit requiring executive function. Consequently, there will be something more of value produced.

This blog has been active since 2009. That’s a fairly long time and has required a continual application of small bursts of periodic energy in context of what’s deemed to be a fair distribution of my time. I do it because I care. I do it because I know it my heart that I offer value for folks who are open. I know through experience and statistical history that few have an attention span for this despite my eloquence. I am gifted with the written word so others’ lack of attention in no way is attributable to a perception of poorly focused fodder. The technical connection between search engines and posts also plays a role but my intuition concludes that folks are more inclined to seek more immediate stimuli in quest of their appetite for gratifying brain nourishment.

The headline in Calgary this morning is that a toddler in a stroller was run down in a cross walk. Parents survived. It was in broad daylight on a Sunday. The child has died. I’ve witnessed impatient drivers all over town. There have been deaths and there is no question in my mind that the affects of technology is contributory. People are less compelled to engage in conversation because they now value text over voice. Folks are reticent to complain because of the gaslighting effect. Kids are isolated because this condition is preferential to being bullied. Then there is a school shooting and we rightfully mourn but carry on without implementing real change. The rate of which police officer are absent on stress leave is 30 per cent while infractions are unenforced because they are deemed innocuous. Those unenforced laws lead to the kind of behavior creep that emboldens 4×4 trucks to run intersections thereby killing kids. Is the retracement of our civil society going to continue or are we going to return to principled conduct exemplary of frontal cortex executive function?

Lifes Lessons, Philosophy

Deliberate or Reluctant – You Choose

Are you going after what you want or is life happening to you? Perhaps a combination of both? Conditioning plays a significant role and if you can acknowledge it for what it is and exercise presence in the context of backdrop built on apathy – you are one step ahead of most.  There is a propensity to turn to the routine first. However; the routine typically pays the least. Commerce reward the creative and the risk taker but particular cultures have an infused bias toward safety. Were you sporty in your youth? Then you have an advantage. Were you comfortable in the wilderness? Then you have an advantage. Were you effective at handling oppressive influences? Then you have an advantage. 

If you’re still concerned about others perception of you – you are disadvantaged because you hesitate. If all the puzzle pieces need  to be in place before you move – then you second guess and shutter. If you are worried about your retirement – then you’ll fall in line. 

An output requires the continual realization of regular inputs along with patience. You need to be able to “not see it to believe it” while also manifesting a visualization of seeing it within your mind’s eye. This output requires a keen affinity toward the merits of your individual uniqueness in context of a market which may not be readily apparent. 

As you go about your business, take a look around. There is so much that you don’t know but you are immersed in the psychodrama of micro problems of which the resolution of such may be immediately outside of your control. When you come to learn of the microcosm from which you operate and the limits of such space, then your curiosity evolves. Now…take it from there in a spirit of deliberate movement.   

Politics

Carney At Press Conference Jan 6, 2026

Mark Carney’s last exclamation upon exiting press conference today – “We stand with Denmark, we stand with Greenland…. “our closest partnership is with the United States”.

The statement is in context with him about to commit military resources to Ukraine in context of the Ukraine/ Russia peace plan. He also referenced the U.S. as being a “backstop” for the peace plan as if Canadian peace keepers would be aligned first in Ukraine ahead of U.S. military.

He looked charismatic as ever with exception to natural struggles with his second language. It was also interesting that his first question on Venezuela was handled in French. Mr. Carney is walking the tight rope on his handling of this U.S. expropriation of Venezuelan oil in context with obvious diplomatic negotiations on Ukraine and the trade war ongoing.

He has also offered that Canadian oil will be viewed as less risky on world markets without outright condemning U.S. oil in Venezuela. He definitely looked uncomfortable on this topic with a deep sigh upon taking the question. He did envision the prospect of a functioning democracy in Venezuela.

Philosophy, Politics, Uncategorized

Tepid Response To U.S. Invasion of Venzeuela

The chest beating continues as Trump produces a “narco-terrorism” argument against Maduro whilst at the same time in his mind righting a wrong of American business interests during decades past. What an inept mind fails to realize that countries have a responsibility to enforce law by prosecuting drug crimes. Americans have failed in its duty at its borders. It has failed in its duty in its streets and now turns outward for blame.

Shareholder of corporations should know the risk of investing in business outside its own borders. Geopolitical risk is inherent depending on what country one wants to invest. However; when you have an extortionist leading the charge in Washington, fair rules and fair risk are discounted. This is Donald Trump…the man who uses the courts to bully and has been named himself or on behalf of his companies in over 4,000 lawsuits between 1973 and 2016.

Right now, the first world is aghast and are treading lightly and diplomatically because they know they are not only dealing with a man of mal character but one who is emboldened and who has an extreme right wing cowardly group of politicians behind him. The first world is acutely aware of the stakes and will absolutely be convening in group like fashion in order to gain full appreciation amongst themselves whether his explicit threats will go further. Thoughtful democratic people of goodwill are wondering if political leaders are going to denounce the autocratic war mongering rhetoric spewed by Donald Trump or whether they are going to take a defiant stand against the Donald Trump White House and more aptly characterize it for what it is.   

Our world has become so vastly different since the October 7, 2023 atrocity in Israel. This particular slaughter based on hate has galvanized and radicalized and demented. Some 70,000 Palestinians have been killed of which almost half were women and children.

We must not fall prey to false narratives spewed as rationale for breaching international borders.  We must be vigilant to call out the determined effort of money motivated interests to lie and deceive. 

We must now do a hair pin turn in absolute terms and denounce evil for what it is. The annexation of countries and the exploitation of another country’s resources via threat and coercion shall not stand.          

Uncategorized

What Will You Change In The New Year

Instead of a “New Year’s Resolution” how about a return to the essence of who you are fundamentally., This means putting context to your character driven historically by commerce and responsibility sometimes artificially imposed. Seriously. I’m not talking about abdicating from roles. I’m talking about raising your bar for actualizing your uniqueness. The only way to make inroads is to discount absolutely the opinions of others. Nobody knows you like you know you. If you continue to live micro-cosmically with more attention on your dinner dishes and Black Friday Amazon discounts – those egocentric oligarchs may just stamp out the liberty and ambition of your descendants.

With the rise of Trump back into the Whitehouse, I’m flabbergasted by the lack of outrage on social media. You all fail to realize that with one mute voice, there is another and another and yet another. Then there is the establishment of a behavioral pattern and the evil doing deceivers start to drive the narrative in response to apathy. You start to even question your own power to form cerebral thought based on solid values built over decades.

The bad news online is that you must now protect yourself at every turn. This fact was going to transpire irrespective of the disappointing political backdrop. The good news is that strong security measures have been undertaken to protect you so long as you heed the measures. That is…double authentication along with virus and malware software. Additionally, you must now look at every stranger online or otherwise as a potential threat with an ulterior motive. You must make rules with respect to what you never do with someone you do not know.

Now back to the new year. I’m talking about letting your character shine through in a world requiring more lanes of navigation. This is an appeal to you that you and your thoughts matter and that your saviour sits within your four walls. Your uniqueness has value and we need to see it in 2026. An inward looking disposition is not going to cut it as we move forward. Our conscience must be harnessed for demanding accountability and change in absolute terms. Let the warmth of the holiday season carryover into civility and expression as 2026 takes hold.