What's Inside This Mental Breakdown of Writing? Here, you'll find my wandering thoughts on economics, geopolitics, culture, technology, and daily ideas. Plus, I'll be dropping little peeks behind the curtain on my novel and nonfiction projects.
"A leader's lasting value is measured by succession." ~ John C. Maxwell
"Life is a succession of moments, to live each one is to succeed." ~ Corita Kent
"life is a succession of readjustments." ~ Elizabeth Bowen
"Great things do not just happen by impulse, but as a succession of small things linked together." ~ Vincent Van Gogh
In any organization, succession can have positive or negative consequences.
If individuals are retiring or departing or being promoted, succession is an important determining outcome for future success for the individual and organization.
The vast majority of…
There are few things more bizarre than watching people advocate that another country be bombed even while acknowledging that it will achieve no good outcomes other than safeguarding the 'credibility' of those doing the bombing. Relatedly, it's hard to imagine a more potent sign of a weak, declining empire than having one's national 'credibility' depend upon periodically bombing other countries. ~ Glenn Greenwald
[I]t's impossible to evade the fact that Endless War will inevitably degrade the citizenry of the country that engages in it. A country which venerates its military above all other…
"Encryption...is a powerful defensive weapon for free people. It offers a technical guarantee of privacy, regardless of who is running the government... It's hard to think of a more powerful, less dangerous tool for liberty." ~ Esther Dyson
"I believe that if you took privacy and you said, I'm willing to give up all of my privacy to be secure. So you weighted it as a zero. My own view is that encryption is a much better, much better world. And I'm not the only person that thinks that." ~ Tim Cook
Pavel Durov, the founder of telegram, in jail, in France.
The founder of Telegram is charged…
"Social networking is playing a huge role in creating awareness and mobilizing support for all kinds of common interests. What better way to use this remarkable tool than to change the world?" ~ Natalie Portman
"Networking is an enrichment program, not an entitlement program." ~ Susan RoAne
"Smart mobile phones connect you with 1 billion users worldwide, basically for free - you don't pay for the phone, you don't pay for the Internet, you don't pay for the wireless connectivity. Social networks let you add a new customer or a new agent, again for free." ~ Geoffrey Moore
Networks play an…
Depending on how you count, the 2024 conflict is Israel’s forth major war with Hamas in sixteen years, or its sixth with Palestinian groups since the Second Intifada, which erupted in September 2000 following the collapse of the Oslo Accord peace process. ~ Sebastien Roblin
Some Israelis refer to their periodic shelling of the Palestinian territory as “mowing the lawn.” It is a disturbing metaphor because it is so indiscriminate. They don’t talk about “weeding the garden” or “pruning the trees.” A lawnmower cuts down everything in its path—grass, weeds, wildflowers. Also, a lawn needs…
"DD, never dehumanize people of any culture!" ~ Maria (Englishished - Matilda) Campbell (My Kookum or Memere - Grandmother) and Frank Campbell my Moshôm (Grandfather).
My grandparents and parents lived and felt dehumanization... psychological dehumanization of a people makes them seem less than human and not worthy of humane treatment...
My siblings had a tremendous hate and anger toward this dehumanization against our parents and grandparents, Métis, and Cree families... we were willing to rebel against the racism and discrimination.
Mom and Dad said to us kids...
Learn from these…
New Canadians offer important benefits to Canada.
From economic growth to cultural enrichment, the positive impact of new Canadians strengthens Canada.
Economically, new Canadians play an important role in pushing growth. They bring different skills and knowledge, which help to promote innovation and increase productivity. New Canadians also contribute to the labour force, creating jobs and enrolling in colleges and universities. This increases consumer demand and leads to economic expansion in all career fields.
New Canadians' cultural diversity improves Canadian society, fostering…
Israel's Gaza bombing campaign is the most destructive of this century, analysts say...
Satellite technology reveals bombing more intense than in Ukraine, Syria or even the Second World War ~ Evan Dyer · CBC · Posted: Dec 30, 2023
Israeli Forces Dropped 2,000-Pound Bombs on Gaza “Safe Zone,” Killing 90...
At least one of the eight 2,000-pound bombs used in the massacre was made in the US...
In fact, the U.S. has provided Israel with thousands of JDAMs and 2,000-pound bombs since October, and has sent tens of thousands of these weapons to Israel over decades of Israel’s occupation and…
For this summer, besides working Summer School, which I just love, I immersed myself into reading, exploring, and understanding from a lateral thinking perspective on the Middle East, more specifically the Israeli conflict with its political factions and the Palestinian people.
Not being facetious at all, but being totally serious, if world leaders, such as presidents and prime ministers read these specific books, they would have a much broader perspective and understanding of the middle East and they would have ideas on how to help Israel and the Palestinian people with a balanced somewhat…
Politicide describes the deliberate destruction of a particular political group or ideology. It involves military actions to eradicate the political identity, influence, and existence of Hamas members and leaders. Politicide conveys a sense of targeted political violence, such as assassinations and repression, and it is used in discussions about political persecution, ideological suppression, or targeted campaigns against the Hamas movements and the political and military branches of the organization as a whole.
The term Politicide first used by the Israeli sociologist Baruch Kimmerling. He…
"If we have a biometric exit-entry system, we know on the day after six months has exceeded his visa.And with that exit- entry system, we can then send ICE, the law enforcement agents that exist, to go and get John and say, OK, you're here illegally now." ~ Ted Cruz
"We will finally complete the biometric entry-exit visa tracking system, which we need desperately. For years Congress has required biometric entry-exit visa tracking systems but it has never been completed. The politicians are all talk, no action. Never happens, never happens... In my administration we will ensure that this…
August 17, 2024
Over 50,000 Palestinian Gazans, majority civilians have been killed by the Israeli military in less than one year of constant bombardment of missiles and drone attacks; over 50,000 missiles have been dropped on the Gaza strip.
Here are some facts presently....
Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are not Israeli citizens and their rights are severely limited by the Israeli military occupation.
In the West Bank, Israeli military law governs Palestinian life, while Jewish settlers in the same area are subject to Israeli civil law. This results in an apartheid dual…
Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the deadly October 7 attack on Israel and appointment as the new leader of Hamas, has close ties to Iran.
Sinwar has been in Israel's sights since the beginning of the war, with Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari describing him as a "dead man" following the October attack. Killing Sinwar remains a priority for the Israeli army. ~ Kian Sharifi
Now appointed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Hamas military leader, Mohammed Deif are walking dead men.
The current situation involving the Israeli and Hamas leaders is very complex. It has a long history…
When I was 7 years old, I squeezed in between my parents, sitting at the kitchen table in between my mother and father, all three listening closely to my mother's father, Frank (my Nimoshôm—Grandfather), our family's WWII war hero who was only 19 when he began... he fought in Italy and into interior Europe against the Nazis for Canada and USA. He was injured by a Nazi sniper, sent back to England for medical attention, eventually sent back to mainland Europe to continue to fight against the Nazis, then captured by the Nazis and eventually escaped during a death march near the end of the…
"I used to think that the causes of war were predominantly economic. I came to think that they were more psychological. I am now coming to think that they are decisively "personal," arising from the defects and ambitions of those who have the power to influence the currents of nations." ~ B. H. Liddell Hart
"No war can end war except a total war which leaves no human creature on earth. Each war creates the causes of war: hate, desire for revenge and have-nots, desperate with need." ~ Zelda Popkin
"According to the first image of international relations, the locus of the important causes of…