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On Power to Persuade

Chapter three of the work I’ve been reading is mostly on precision and technology. It surmises how, for instance, someone like Ferdinand de Lesseps was able to persuade governors to start with the Suez Canal and then eventually Panama. I don’t think I concentrated much on the topic, but I want to tie it back to the documentary I just finished by Untold. I’ve written about it yesterday but this is maybe a fond, forward piece on it. But I also wanted to highlight the manager, Bob Whitsitt (I can’t pronounce it). He got that role because, for some reason, he knew Paul Allen. What he brought up was that he was managing not just this, but the women’s NBA, the other subsidiaries Allen owned which spanned from the Seahawks, and I think about five businesses overall that he was managing. And the question you would ask is: why is he doing all five of them for him? Why didn’t Paul hire more people, or at least delegate some of these. Maybe have him delegate these to other people? And I thin...
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On Untold - Jail Blazers

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So I just finished this documentary by Untold. I think I love Untold because they cover various industries and across various sports so it helps me get used to different spheres.  Yesterday I watched the one about chess, but today I decided, “Okay, let me try the basketball one again.” This time it was about the Trail Blazers, and coincidentally this same team was owned by Paul Allen.  Paul Allen is Bill Gates’ co-founder for Microsoft. He even coined the name from Microcomputers and Software. When I was reading about monopoly and financial markets and about Dr. Ola Brown's lecture on traditional and pure software companies valuations, I did further reading on Microsoft and I discovered that Bill Gates, in his very selfish behavior, wanted to oust his friend Paul Allen when Paul Allen was suffering from Hodgkin’s illness.  But that’s a bit of a digression; coming back to this post…  We have the scenario of, you know, the man Bob Whitsitt hiring all of these Black fol...
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On Control of Technology

I started reading this book yesterday that was recommended by Professor Gruber. The book was about technology and how the world has changed over time because of it. So I think the first comment I had was: you know, the whole “productivity” discourse.  Ever since this whole AI thing came out, I don’t know why tech billionaires are so obsessed with it. “AI is going to take your job; you’re not going to need to hire everyone.” And it’s going to make employees 10 times more productive; you’re going to get “100x engineers,” one person can do 100 jobs and deliver faster.  And then it brings me back to “policy congestion,” which is a term that I learned from a systems-thinking lecture. What “policy congestion” means is: when people go on and on about a new tool, at the end of the day it’s because of the newness, and it still creates congestion. For example, let’s say there’s traffic, and a new road is built to reduce congestion on some other roads.  Now, because the new road...
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On Interest in football and Ronaldinho

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When I was younger, I used to watch football with my brother and sisters. But my interest increasingly waned as I got older. My brother used to ask me why I am no more interested in watching games and for the longest time, I didn't know the right answer.  Until I started seeing some Ronaldinho's clips recently. I now know precisely why my interest waned. There was an art to football back then. It was all about how great you can dribble your opponent, play with the ball and Dinho was a god in that domain. He made football a beautiful beautiful game to watch so much so that even if the match ends with 0-0, it was just a great experience to have sat through. Now it's all about the stats. How many goals scored. Who won X and Y. Ronaldo vs Messi comparison. Plus the ever changing constraints they keep adding to the game. Love this video compilation attached. I remember practicing that right, left right again dribbling in the 30% mark. Not sure I'd get back to being a fan but...
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On 30kg Chrome Dumbbell Sets

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  Look what arrived and it's so pretty in silver. The way the dispatch dropped it for me on the floor outside😭😭 But I did carry it up stairs without heaving so yay for good cardiovascular health.  When I say the fear of osteoporosis got me into strength training, I mean that. Being helpless appalls me, so the sheer thought that my already weakened knees would get worse had me scampering for a solution. As long as I'm healthy, I refuse to allow this body not to be at its optimal state. In all, I'm really grateful to Caroline Girvan for making hypertrophy training effective and not dreadful. It's not all roses and sunshine but some days are definitely better than the others. Let's get the home workout pushing. 50kg set next? Maybe. Let's see how long we go before this becomes my normal. Meanwhile my lil gym corner has slowly come together over the course of 18 months
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On Trust me: The False Prophet

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  I had written about Keep Sweet, Pray and Obey documentary about 3 years ago but somewhere in the back of my mind, I always wondered what happened to the community when their head honcho (Warren Jeffs) was still manipulating from jail by sending these edicts.  Well, Netflix heard my inner thoughts because this new documentary, (Trust me: The False Prophet) is kind of a follow up. So because Warren Jeffs wasn't getting any action in prison, dude legit banned his followers from procreating. Yes, even married folks. This was someone who had earlier dictated that every year, there should be a new child in each family.  And no surprises, another man who thinks himself God assistant took on the community to continue the nuisance. Why? Oh because he couldn't keep it in his pants with the ridiculous edicts. So he branched off his new group called Samuelite. And I'm trying, really trying hard to have empathy for the older adults in the room but it's hard cos wow, this brain? T...
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On the Church as Business Venture

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  Ever since I started seeing the church primarily as a business venture, I stopped wasting my breath postulating about tithing and the role of the church in humanitarianism.  I mean, let's observe Pastor Jerry objectively. All that shouting and screaming praying sessions are amazing workout sessions. And they're HIIT sessions not even LISS. I estimate nothing less than 400 calories being expended per session. If only I can stand all the screaming, I'd probably even add to my fitness routine on days where I am not able to do road walk. His ministry being primarily digital from onset? Brilliant strategy. The community he's built, the devotion... I can't help but admire the business venture. That YouTube money must be very very long and I can't help but respect the hustle. Apart from oil and gas, traditional banks, and fintechs, I'm not sure there are booming sectors like the church in Nigeria.  And they're providing a service, let's be objective, they...
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