So, I am an accountant with a bachelors degree in Physical Education and Sports Studies (now referred to as “Kinesiology”) so I’m qualified to opine on this subject. Also…I’ve just put out my own album having learned music with the benefit of only 8 paid formal lessons. In Canada, we are not as financially burdened to attend post secondary and this fact is a material difference between Canada and the U.S. which must be infused for analysis purpose. As an accountant, I speak frequently on the topic of “opportunity cost” and this cost should not always be interpreted in a financial sense. I’d like to express that higher learning in my opinion irrespective of the discipline in and of itself has a positive effect on an individual’s overall development. Placing a dollar cost on the general benefit that one achieves within the setting of academia is virtually impossible. However; one should be researched in the merit of the market for services versus the cost of training. This is where mentors / counselors drop the ball when engaging with prospective students if an engagement had been undertaken at all. It’s 10 months after this video went up and when I look around at the world order in March of 2026….it’s become quite apparent that had more people in positions of leadership been better trained in affordable higher education within that climate which instills ethics – we’d all be better off.
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?
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.
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.
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.