Numerous Narratives 🍁

You've discovered the emergency exit into the curious, a little chaotic, and sometimes interesting inner workings of my brain, you haven't just stumbled upon a blog! Think of this space as a garden, except instead of sensible plants like tomatoes and arugula, I'm growing a bumper crop of atomic essays, mini-essays, and a disorganized collection of varied ideas where, after a long night of marking papers and late-night writing, the distinction between reality and fiction is as blurry as my morning coffee or green tea with ginseng. It may sound strange, but I have a genuinely unhealthy obsession with reading and writing essays, the glorious, structured, idea-packed things! So wash your feet, get a piece of cake, and let's use a stick to poke some ideas! What's Inside This Mental Breakdown of Writing? Here, you'll find my wandering thoughts on economics and politics, and to the stuff that makes the world move, like culture and technology. Plus, I'll be dropping little peeks behind the curtain on my novel and nonfiction projects. My Secret (Open-Source) Writing Arsenal For the tech-curious among you, I confess my love for the open-source life! My words are forged with ZorinOS Linux, nestled in a cozy user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing design of the Gnome desktop, surprisingly, more pleasing then the Mac OS. My sidekicks include Standard Notes, the ever-secure Signal for chats, the wonderful free author's Reedsy Studio to plan, write, edit, and professionally format books. Yes, I'm a bit of a digital hippie, and I wouldn't have it any other way! Disclaimer – All content on this site represents my personal views only. It is created in my personal capacity, is unrelated to my employment, and does not reflect the views of any current, past, or future employer, organization, or client. The content is for informational and creative purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or professional advice. No Liability – While I make reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, I make no warranties or representations about its completeness, reliability, or suitability for any purpose. I am not liable for any losses, damages, or consequences arising from the use of, or reliance on, any content on this site. Readers use all information at their own discretion and risk. My perspectives may change over time. Posts are a snapshot of my thinking at the time of writing, and older content may no longer reflect my current views or knowledge. - - -

Exporting Hard-working Canadians: Why Canada Builds Innovators for Other Nations

It feels like Canada keeps accidentally kicking its own shins and then acting surprised and shocked when the best players limp south. The world's most sophisticated fighter jet, the Avro Arrow, was created here in 1959 by people who were essentially slide rules rock stars. The government then abruptly terminated the entire program one morning in February. Before lunch, 13,000 engineers and technicians received pink slips. They drove across the border, and (no joke) assisted Apollo in landing on...
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Canadian Brain Drain

Imagine a 34-year-old data scientist in Vancouver who was raised in Halifax and hopes to "make it" back home. After taxes, daycare for one child, and a mortgage on a 700-square-foot condo that somehow costs $1.2 million, she has less disposable income than her brother slinging code in South Carolina on $220k U.S. Date nights are long gone, groceries seem like a luxury, and every April she gives the government another five-figure check while she waits nine months to see a dermatologist. Her...
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Sunday, Errands, Reading, Writing, and Marking

Sunday’s rolling along like a soft, steady heartbeat. Nothing’s setting the world on fire, but nothing’s crashing either. Just a calm parade of decent essays marching across my desk, most of them sitting comfortably in that “hey, you actually get it” zone. A few nice turns of phrase sneak in every now and then, enough to keep me from going cross-eyed. The coffee’s still warm, the dog’s snoring under the table, and every check-mark feels like quiet proof that the week’s readings actually landed ...
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Six Floors of Freedom for a Black-and-White Pittie

A midday stroll and run around the school with my large black-and-white tuxedo pitbull. After navigating the shops where the welding sparks fly, we enter the actual adventure, which consists of six floors of pure joy (two down into the basements and four up). Over time, she wags her tail and prances like she owns the place. The sound of her joyful fingernails clicking down the deserted stairwells, the way she stops on each landing to see if I'm keeping up, and those large brown eyes staring ba...
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Proton End-to-end Encrypted Spreadsheets

I must admit that Proton recently released a feature-rich spreadsheet program that is truly end-to-end encrypted, something I was unaware I had been waiting for. Like Docs, it resides inside Proton Drive and is known as Proton Sheets. It has the same feel as Google Sheets or Excel, but no one can see your data, not even Proton. Pivot tables, formulas, importing CSVs, and sharing with particular individuals (or password-protected links for outsiders) are all helpful and not merely a privacy plo...
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Noose and Rhetoric Descending into Authoritarian Terror

The gas lighting language of the President of the United States of America on his Truth Social platform Donald Trump openly accused members of Congress of seditious behaviour punishable by death, branded them traitors who should be arrested and tried, and then amplified the threat by reposting a call to hang them in the manner George Washington supposedly would. Clearly, there is a mental health concern with Trump. This language and behaviour is distorted and dangerous for the American society...
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I Love Books of Essays

I just tore through some of Brianna Wiest’s 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think in a few hours flat (less reading, more mainlining thoughts I didn’t even know I’d been starving for). It’s not one of those preachy self-help books that lectures you from a pedestal. This book of essays feels more like sneaking into your own brain and finding someone already there, calmly handing you flashcards of every half-formed belief you’ve ever wrestled with. Some essays were four pages, other...
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Behind the Boards: A Contractor's Story

​You wouldn't believe the conversation I eavesdropped on the other day. It was between two local contractors, the kind of hardworking folks who keep this city running. And the subject? A group of incredibly wealthy, professional hockey players we'll leave nameless. ​The frustration was absolutely boiling over. One contractor, who handles landscaping and snow removal, was at his wit's end. He said, and I quote, literally every player on the team, except for the captain, hasn't paid him in over t...
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Venezuela's Lesson: When Politics Masquerades as Business and Sanctions Become Strangulation

The globalization era's belief described as a compelling gospel was that prosperous supply chains, trade, and investment would unite nations and make large-scale conflict unimaginable, resulting in shared wealth and peace. This ideal was a potent delusion that is now clearly broken by circumstances such as the one in Venezuela. What was once optimistically referred to as "interdependence" has turned out to be a very powerful tool for political influence rather than a preventative measure. A coun...
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Cold Air, Warm Companionship

I cherished spending time with my dog, an American Pitbull, who is also my best friend. Whether she's wearing a pitbull hoodie or not, I adore watching her run around the biggest high school in western Canada. It was a chilly day, -15 degrees Celsius. It was a wonderful day, as did Tux. ...
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Carney's $50 Billion Warning: Canada Rallies Against Trump's Economic Threat

As PM Carney somewhat said... Canadians, we will work harder for our country, we will work harder for Canada. PM Mark Carney, staring directly into the camera. He recently informed Canadians that Donald Trump's impending tariffs would deplete our Canadian economy by about $50 billion, or $1,300 for each individual. He insists Trump's administration does not want our oil even though 90% of it historically goes south at less than 50% of the cost. The oil and gas emissions cap has been lifted,...
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Beyond the US Market: Canada Prioritizes Pacific Oil Exports with New Bitumen Pipeline MOU

One of the most significant and multifaceted issues in Canadian energy politics at the moment is the proposal for a brand-new bitumen pipeline that would reach British Columbia's west coast. To make this happen, a significant Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was recently signed by the Federal Government and the Alberta government, led by Premier Danielle Smith. The objective is straightforward: construct one or more new pipelines to transport a minimum of one million barrels per day of "low-e...
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The Illusion of Safety: How Guns Quiet Fear but Undermine Trust

Life takes on a different emotional texture in societies where gun ownership is openly encouraged and gun laws are lax. Beneath everyday activities, a subtle tension permeates the air, as though everyone is preparing for an unknown threat. People frequently tell themselves that having more firearms makes them safer, but underneath that assurance is an unspoken fear that danger is always present and that survival depends more on personal preparedness than on group support. Widespread gun owner...
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Author Karl Ove KnausgĂĽrd's Flow of Ideas, Thought-Provoking

The Karl Ove KnausgĂĽrd book I'm currently reading has me completely engrossed; it's amazing! He is referred to as a "common day Proust," and to be honest, that description is accurate. His writing style is simply amazing; the sentences flow naturally and the paragraphs are long, meandering thoughts. He seems to be genuinely capturing the untidy, raw nature of the human mind. He can begin with something very commonplace, like driving the kids or preparing breakfast, and then that same sentence wi...
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The Not Real Indian, "Indigenous" Author Thomas King

Sometimes a person finds that they have been lying to themselves instead of trying to trick the world. Thomas King carried a secret claim from a distant parent that he carried like a charm, and he lived inside a story that he inherited as a child. That narrative eventually evolved into identity, purpose, and the cornerstone of a famous "Indigenous" author career worth over $5 million. We cling to anything that makes us feel like we belong, especially when our lives start with absence. This ...
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The Canadian Drug Kingpin - Ryan Wedding - Hunted By the FBI

Ryan Wedding's once powerful criminal empire is starting to fall apart in the underworld, where money is laundered and loyalty is always conditional. Rasheed "JP Morgan" Hossain, his reliable money man, has been taken into custody, and a former accomplice who trafficked drugs with Wedding and assisted in several murders has turned informant. This insider exposed the inner workings of Wedding's hierarchy and the cartel-style execution of longtime trafficker Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, who was kill...
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Gaza, Still Attacked By Israel - Nov. 22, 2025

When I look at the devastation in Gaza, I see more than just broken streets and shattered buildings. I see the painful layer-by-layer collapse of an entire society. It makes us face a more profound and disturbing question: is this a preview of our own future as well? I contemplate this question, how can we approve such inhuman disgusting genocide actions against people of colour, people of brown skin, people of Christians and Muslims, and still they are targets of such genocidal atrocities. ...
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Parents Talking Values, International Values

I remember from the time I was very young, as far back as my memory goes, my parents teaching us kids the values they held dear, values that reflected the best of both Canadian and American society. Being American themselves, they had a natural pride in where they came from and the ideals they'd grown up with. "Whenever there's trouble somewhere in the world," they'd tell us, "America and Canada are there, helping out." That's what they believed, and they wanted us to believe it too. But they ...
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Thinking Outside the Box: How Collaborative Knowledge Teams Transform Learning

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education." - Martin Luther King Jr. When intelligent, considerate, and well-educated colleagues get together to brainstorm with a common goal of improving learning experiences and expanding opportunities for students, it's a truly uplifting day. A room full of people who are concerned about the long-term success of students, families, and communities ...
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From Silence to Scramble: The Politics Behind Alberta’s UCP Sudden Classroom Complexity Audit

Particularly after 2019, when the UCP government decided not to collect any data from the school boards because they did not want to understand or fund classroom complexities due to the increase of hundreds of thousands of new Canadians in Alberta classrooms over the next five years, why is the Alberta government ordering school boards and teachers to gather data from their classrooms and schools about the complexity of the classroom so soon after the strike? In order to quickly restore a micro...
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Snow Drifts in Southeast Chicago

The streets of a southeast Chicago neighbourhood that I had no business driving through were buried under thick, white sheets of snow. The car let out a single groan before dying in a ditch so deep that the doors hardly opened. My family was in a panic behind me, their words were shaking, their breaths were sharp, and every sound was like a sharp needle piercing my heart. I pushed out into the cold, attempting to make my way through a storm that didn't give a damn about my family or destination...
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Reedsy Studio - For All Types of Writers Including, Professional Writers

If you are a writer in any of these areas, you should try Reedsy Studio, it is absolutely amazing: Blogger Essayist Magazine Article Writer Poet and Song Writer Short Story Writer Novelist Student - High School or College/University - Undergraduate or Graduate Students Researcher Beginner Writer Advanced Writer Professional Writer Multiple Writers that want to collaborate on an article or a book, extremely easy! Ghost Writer I’m currently working on two writing projects (3rd one coming), eac...
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Divide and Conquer: How Toxic Workplace Tactics Destroy Trust

Behaviours like intentionally creating mistrust, backstabbing, or setting coworkers against one another are blatant signs of a toxic workplace culture that is frequently driven by insecurity, unhealthy competition. Often such divide-and-conquer or triangulation strategies, manipulative techniques employ subtle acts of gossip, and deceit to obtain an advantage for themselves. Sorting blame to escape accountability, hiding important information to cause colleagues to miss deadlines or perform po...
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Hummmmmmmmmmmmm....

H.... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm ...
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CSIS - Foreign Interference Coming

A renewed interest in sovereignty is never the result of a single spark; rather, it is the result of a gradual buildup of grievances, identities, and aspirations that are waiting for the ideal opportunity to ignite. Discontent in Alberta is rooted in resource politics and economic pride. Sensing an opportunity, political elites blame federal energy and environmental policies for stifling provincial autonomy. New laws that empower citizen initiatives have given these resentments a tool to fight b...
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Restoring Balance, Not Power: A MĂŠtis Vision Against Machiavellian Leadership

“And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things, because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new” - Machiavelli "The Prince" “No task is more dangerous than creating a new order, because the innovator will encounter enemies am...
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The 6–18 Month Rule: How Short Seasons of Focus Create Lifelong Mastery

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” - Robert Collier “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.” - Malcolm Gladwell The simplest path to getting ahead in any academic or athletic pursuit is surprisingly down-to-earth, commit to a season of focused skill building. Give yourself six to eighteen months, and spend two to four...
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Power, People, and Balance: Machiavelli Meets Cree Tradition, Two Worldviews on Power

“The one who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.” Instead of starting with ideals, Machiavelli starts with the true core of human nature. He sees people for who they are, moulded by their changing circumstances, curiosity, fear, and self-interest. This is the first principle of influence. A ruler who understands these darker patterns can predict men’s actions, read them with cold proficiency, and manipulate their motivations to maintain the stability of the po...
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Power and Unchecked Destruction. The Global Fallout of U.S. military armaments and intelligence for Israeli Violence: What Happens When No One Stops a War Machine?

Here is a problem. When you have a country such as Israel, exterminating and creating a genocide of Palestinian people for 2+ years, destroying every house, every school, every University, and college, every government building, every garden, every beach, every soccer field, every playground, every building, every square inch, with the American Congress and the Trump Presidency approval of tens of thousands of bombs and ammunition and missiles, what do other countries do to protect themselves a...
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Venezuela - USA - Russia

American military continuity bombed two man boats, over 12 and counting. Ok, these two man boats are a threat to America. Trump's administration says they are not fishers, but drug runners. There are multiple nuclear submarines with 100s of nuclear warheads off the three coast of America, 5mins to 10mins of total annihilation of America. President Trump does not understand this whatsoever. In this situation, one country is being economically stifled while another has the ability to completely...
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