This has gone from improbable, to doubtful, to laughable, to now possibly feasible.  Go ahead, say it out loud: President Donald Trump.  As I’ve written in the past, I’m somewhat of a political junkie, and for some inexplicable reason I find politics interesting.  Following politics today requires a sense of humour as well, because laughter beats the alternative, crying (unless of course the tears are a result of busting your gut from laughing).  Following the shenanigans today, the Republican and Democratic Primaries, can’t help but make you laugh. Yes, I include the Democratic Primary as well. On one side you have an elderly communist, I mean socialist, if I’m not mistaken he served with Abraham Lincoln as his Secretary of State, and on the other side you have a candidate where the majority of her own party doesn’t trust her. She’s also being investigated by the FBI. In fairness, the Democratic Primaries are the opening act for the wonderful vaudeville act playing nightly, the Republican Primary.    

Never, in my wildest dreams did I think that Trump had a chance.  I firmly believed that this was nothing more than a publicity stunt for him, and that Republican Party would do whatever was necessary to put a stop to him. Well, it hasn’t worked out that way. Donald Trump now believes he can become the president of the United States of America, and why wouldn’t he? His candidacy has now become a movement.  The more outrageous his claims become, the more his popularity grows. The more he changes his positions, on a daily basis, the more people lineup up to hear him speak. The angrier he becomes, the more American’s say “he’s our guy”. His road to the White House still has many miles to go. The American political system is a little convoluted. It’s not about the number states he wins, but rather the number of delegates he receives in each state. In many States the delegates are distributed by the proportion of votes the candidate received in the primary election. In other words, if you finish in second, you still win delegates.   To become the republican nominee, Trump would require (more…)

So far the New Year has a theme to it. Headlines suggest that we’re at a precipice, and good lord, don’t look down.  And yet millions of people every day leave their homes to experience the joys of riding on overcrowded buses and subways and other forms of less than adequate public transportation.  The roads are jammed during rush hour, which now seems to be extended into Saturday and Sunday.  I’m assuming all these people taking public transit in the morning, and those navigating city streets in the hopes of getting somewhere, all left their house for a reason. Like maybe, a job?

God bless the millions, and millions of people who say to themselves, every day, “the four horsemen of the apocalypse may be on the way, but I have bigger things to worry about”.  GDP growth forecasts being lowered, what do you think about that? Interesting, but I got to get Precious to daycare on time.  Price of oil crashes?  My fuel consumption costs just went down because I have to take the kids to hockey, indoor soccer, jazz lessons, piano lessons, Chucky Cheese, to see grandma and grandpa, acting lessons (strictly for my child because he/she is special) and all this by Wednesday of every week.  Stock market takes a beating in 2016? Yeah, that’s bad but I don’t have time to think about it because (more…)

I can only imagine what our newly elected prime minister’s schedule looks like. Given the scope of his responsibility it must be challenge to prioritize his time. Managing to attend summits in Turkey, Paris and Davos, Switzerland, while still tending to the nation’s business, must be taxing. The PM also has to balance the competing needs of the constituents in his riding, as well as every other Canadian in this country. Then, there’s the attention he has to pay to the party base, as well as to those who contributed financially to his campaign.  And then of course there’s the need to find time for legacy issues; the ones that get you into history books, and sometimes burned in the public’s psyche. The thing about legacies is that they are not necessarily created by design. Sometimes it doesn’t work out. For example, our prime minister’s father, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Canada’s 15th Prime Minister.  

Many Albertans still seethe at the mere mention of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. They think back to the early 80′s, and Trudeau’s National Energy Program, which laid waste to a good portion of Alberta. When you combine the words Alberta and Trudeau, you expect some form of combustion. It’s for that reason I was intrigued to see how our newly crowned Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, would do when visiting the beleaguered province. I suspect it must be a tough pill for Alberta to swallow, asking a Trudeau for help. But ask they should, and must.

I’ll say this about Jr.; he comes across as having far more empathy than his father ever did. That being said, his father was a man of depth; an intellectual, with an extraordinary wit and a sense of timing. He was the smartest guy in the room, and if you needed convincing, he relished the opportunity to prove it. What Alberta doesn’t need right now is a visit from an eastern elitist with an all knowing attitude. I think what they need is to hear some honesty, and to let them know their government won’t make things worse.

For all intents and purposes, the prime minister said all the right things when visiting Alberta. Frankly, there’s not much that neither he nor Ottawa can do at this time. It’s not like they can snap their fingers and set a new price for oil. Saying Ottawa is there to support Alberta is nice, but it can’t be just talk. There is something that could be done right now. (more…)

I came across an article that truly made me burst out laughing. It was an article from the Telegraph. The headline read as follows: “Islamic State forced to halve its jihadist’s monthly salaries in tough times”.  ISIL’s SLT, Senior Leadership Team, (honestly, I’m actually laughing while writing this) in Syria and Iraq released the following statement, “because of the exceptional circumstances that the Islamic State is passing through, a decision was made to cut the salaries of the mujahideen in half.  No one will be exempt from this decision, no matter of his position”. There was no clear explanation as to why terrorists would be forced to take a pay cut. Did the price of suicide vests go up? Was there a run on virgins in paradise, thus increasing the virgin acquisition costs? There was also no mention how those most impacted would respond.  No word if front line terrorists planned on withholding their services.  I guess they could all vote to strike or take some kind of work to rule action. So many unanswered questions.

There’s nothing funny about terrorism, and the ridicule, contempt and derision these mass murderers receive is justly deserved. Now they’ve earned the right to be mocked as well. The absurdity of the article should help all of us put things into perspective. (more…)

It’s the start of a new year. 

Sure, many were back to work on the 4th of January, but in our industry things get back to “normal” the second week of January.  So, here we are.  Like most people, I believe that what’s ahead will be better than the journey just travelled.  However, to be totally candid, 2015 was a very good year for me.  On all fronts, be it personal or professional.  Having a better year will be a challenge, but that’s life.  You push, you strive, and you never settle.  Frame of mind is critical, and over the last six months I’ve been working on just that.

Not to get all Tony Robbins on you, “awake the giant within…love yourself…blah, blah, blah”, your state of mind plays an import part of all your outcomes.  We all have to fight against a self-fulfilling prophecy.  If you think it sucks, it may not actually suck, but it will eventually suck.  In this day and age it can be challenge to stay positive.  We are constantly bombarded with predictions of doom and gloom.  Take this week for an example, the Canadian dollar dipped below 70 cents U.S., and a very respected economist is predicting it could drop to 59 cents U.S.  And as every info-commercial says, “but wait, there’s more”.  It’s now being suggested that oil could drop to $20 USD a barrel.  All this in the second week of January.  So, how does one pushback against all the white noise?

Here’s what I did.  Firstly, I was finally honest with myself, and I admitted that I was an information and news junkie.  I became obsessed, and needed my daily fix of bad news.  Trust me; it’s not hard to find bad news.  In today’s world it’s everywhere.  It takes a lot more work today to dodge the bad news assault.  Given the reality that we all live in an information world, I came to the conclusion that I had to change my information gathering habits. So no more Fox News, no CNN, and no MSNBC.  I would actually turn to MSNBC, knowing full well that within minutes I would want to throw something at the screen.   Like I said, I was addicted.  Here’s another thing, no more talk radio in the car.  Doesn’t matter if it’s sports or news.  I came to the conclusions that on too many occasions I would arrive at work with a less than pleasant disposition.  Why?  Because I invited mindless babbling into my car, which more often than not would just piss me off.  So things had to change.  There’s no excuse for waltzing through life being willfully ignorant, but given that news is readily available everywhere, I decided that I would control when and where I received my news.  The first real sign that my new approach was working was when someone asked me, “what do you think about David Price signing with the Boston Red Sox, and not the Toronto Blue Jays?”  I was relieved that I didn’t even know it happened. Me, not knowing about something that happened in sports?  That was big!

Here’s what else I did, I replaced information with music.  I know that may sound schmaltzy, but it works.  Truth be told my car played a major role in my musical listening pleasures.  The car has a feature that when you push a button, and say play “artist and song”, it searches the net and finds the song.  It also creates a custom radio station for me.  For example, Rolling Stones Start Me Up radio station.  From there it searches for songs from the same genre.  If I don’t like the song it found, I press next.  The cool thing about this is that it’s taken me out of my 70’s and 80’s musical time machine.  I didn’t know there were so many new artists out there, well, at least new to me.   Bands like O.A.R., James Morrison (not the old guy who sings like he’s got a mouth full of marbles) and Augustana.  Really talented bands and I love the fact that our 14 year old is shocked that I know who they are. 

This may not work for everyone, but I find that I’m in a better mood more often because I’m listening to more music, and not mindless chatter.  I still get my fill of information, but in a much more condensed fashion. More importantly, I decide when I’m ready for the info download.  My new approach doesn’t change the facts, and what’s happening around me.  But it will no longer control me.  Based on what’s happening in the real world, and how the year is starting off, I got my music cranked.  I also customized a new radio station in my car, David Bowie Ashes to Ashes.  Seemed appropriate.

Until next time.

Cheers!