Music

Movie Review Springsteen – Deliver Me From Nowhere

Throughout the movie, there is an unexpressed gnawing at what was going on with Bruce and this is the movie’s biggest appeal. “The River” had been spun many times on my turntable as a teen so it was fitting for me that the film kicked off while winding up the tour supporting “The River”. He was primed to move into superstardom in 1981 with a follow up and everyone around him knew it. However;  Bruce became introspective.

He had found a platform of expression. He was now sitting in a sweet spot yet demons lurked. He had the freedom to shift with a loyal articulate manager at his side equipped to handle pleas from a label excited to produce the next platinum record. Bruce revisited darkness from his early Nebraskan days.

The sound needed rawness not appealing to recording engineers. Technology’s limitations arose as a subtext. Emotions ran hot. The label was not. Events all unfolded with drama backstage.

In particular, actor Jeremy Strong (manager / producer) was outstanding. The movie is worthwhile because it goes to a place where we all long. That is, the deeper construct of our manifested selves. 

Uncategorized

Common Courtesy Meet Technology

So I was walking up to my office entrance this morning at the street level and was delighted to see a cleaner taking care of the welcome mat by doing some sweeping. She was sweeping the top of the mat while also ensuring to sweep up underneath and other debris surrounding. I kept my distance deliberately because I didn’t want to disturb her given the brevity of such a short task. However; the next person on her cell phone wasn’t quite so aware. She walked right up to the individual expecting to be granted immediate access to the door. The cleaner naturally accommodated and given the interruption I followed along. Inside the door was another woman peering through the glass quite intrigued. We exchanged glances as if in agreement of how the encounter should have unfolded.

Philosophy, Politics

Thursday Morning Trump In Trouble


So…..a couple of more Republicans have figured out that the “Big Beautiful Bill” isn’t so beautiful. In the back of my mind upon learning that that Senate needed amendments in order to pass it, I pontificated that this could be just the opportunity for particular conscience driven House members to step up. The one name being floated as a flipper is Thomas Massie from Kentucky. The Republican hold outs stand at five into the very early hours of Thurs July 3rd. The interesting context is the timing in which Elon Musk has made a dramatic post indicating the establishment of a new party if this thing passes. Moreover, if these Republicans stand their ground in principle on subsequent legislative efforts, there would be a substantive mark finally driven on the idiot’s grip on power. Some fluttering from nightmare’s REM state tonight. Massie has an interesting background and doesn’t appear to be the quivering sort. A quote of from him tonight “There’s no reason to bankrupt the country because you want to go shoot off some fireworks.” An amusing adjunct…..I guess during the Senate’s negotiated amendments, a provision was included to restrict poker player losses at 90 per cent and ironically the World Series of Poker’s “Main Event” just got underway.

Lifes Lessons

The Pathetic Sadness Of Fraud – Magliocca Story

You have to dig real deep to find the root of why someone would attempt to defraud his neighbour (fellow city tax payers) of five grand by padding expense reports for reimbursement. This is the Joe Magliocca story – a municipal councillor in Calgary. He was convicted today.

As a tax accountant, it’s very rare that I encounter any individual who proactively engages in deceit in order to gain an advantage via the tax system. Whenever in doubt, folks will present a transaction in order to determine its treatment. Whenever I witness something questionable, in the vast majority of the time it has to do with an individual’s inattentiveness or carelessness. Some folks do not exhibit the requisite patience to record keep meticulous and accountants / bookkeepers become adept at sensing these personalities. If you are one of these personalities who believe that your time is too valuable to spend with the minutiae particular to your own personal finance and decide to delegate the tasks then ensure to deploy a control mechanism in order to ensure a quality output. Examples of such controls would be spot check and reports. 

It’s hard to conceive what a person would be thinking when purposefully conducting an act of fraud. Any perceived benefit far outweighs the penalties and loss of reputation. Here is one hard reality that every taxpayer should come to learn. If you habitually file late or if you draw money from a corporation and fail to file or if you represent a claim in which you are not eligible….you may be perceived no differently than Mr. Magliocca in the eyes of the law.  Income tax regulations deal with terms such as tax avoidance and tax evasion and penalties are applied in accordance with how you appear absent of a judge or jury.

Convictions failed to surface during the “Panama Papers” investigation but these off shore corporate directors likely have much deeper pockets for paying lawyers than you. I know of one class action tax case still unresolved some fifteen plus years on whereby you would have thought that a Statue of Limitations would apply. 

Mr. Joe Magliocca looks to appeal his conviction.

Never be anyone who wrongly accuses, gaslights someone in despair, purposely or accidentally commits a fraud. However; do hold people to account and look to build trusted warm relationships because we all need more of those.    

Free Enterprise, Lifes Lessons

Missteps At Retailer Target

The business model is fairly simple. Buy in bulk, leverage up with volume, and provide pricing at a discount to the market. When Target came to Canada, I was aghast at what they were asking of me at the checkout. They wanted more than what I was willing to provide for the transaction and I suspect I wasn’t the only one. I believe this one and only service related policy was central to the public backlash of Target here in Canada thereby prompting discomfort between consumers and management. The Americans seemed to have thought they could assume things of Canadians for which American discount shoppers were more easily complicit.

More recently, we see that there has been perception growing that Target through its silence may have changed course in regard to it policy around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Sales are off and the stock is down some thirty plus percent since the start of 2025. Certainly, there are other attributions causing the price to fall but I’m reminded tonight that you cannot treat people poorly and expect their loyalty. Big box shoppers will be particularly acute to any change in DEI policy whether perceived or otherwise. 

After my Target shopping experience in years back, I was little surprised that the company determined that they were mistaken in their quest to expand north. Indifferent management deaf to the culture of the customer will lose. This year, shareholders of Target unbeknownst to the inner dynamics of their company’s corporate culture have taken losses and have every good reason to be asking tough questions.