Showing posts with label Safety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Safety. Show all posts
May 7, 2026
May 3, 2026
The Illusion of Safety Is Fading Fast
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "The Illusion of Safety Is Fading Fast."
Jews in America have long lived with the mistaken belief that comfort equals security, but rising antisemitism is exposing how fragile that assumption really is. The threat now cuts across every kind of Jewish identity, because hatred targets Jews as Jews, regardless of observance, politics, or views on Israel. Jewish history warns that danger grows when people delay taking warning signs seriously, which is why Israel stands as the one sovereign homeland where Jews can protect their future. Aliyah should therefore be seen not as panic, but as a responsible and courageous act to secure Jewish continuity for the next generation.
(AI generated image via ChatGPT)
July 28, 2025
December 8, 2023
March 30, 2023
November 16, 2022
From Outrage to Action on Anti-Semitism
What is striking to me is that when it comes to hate against the Jews as opposed to hate against other groups, we continually see that “their” rights are immediately supported, while we have to prove that it’s really hate.Hopefully, our community leaders, police, FBI, and Homeland Security are paying close attention and will take appropriate preventive action so that we can avoid another incident like the shooting just four years ago at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. We need more intelligence, surveillance, officers, patrols, data-driven policing, self-defense and emergency medical training, synagogue protection, community outreach, beefed-up reporting systems, and tougher penalties to start with. We can’t expect the people who hate to stop, but we do need to keep raising the bar on how to keep our communities safe and stop hate crimes.
(Credit Photo: Laura Rosenberg Hosid)
October 31, 2022
May 22, 2022
@Maryland Iron Festival (Catoctin Furnace)
Fascinating to listen to stories from this former miner at the Maryland Iron Festival, near Cunningham Falls State Park.
Learned about the incredibly tough and dangerous working conditions in the mines.
He said everyone he knew who worked in the mines is already dead.
Working hundreds of feet underground, in the pitch black and dust, in cramped spaces of only 30" high, and with dangerous mining tools and explosives all for $75 per day.
This song is about the miners protesting for better wages and safer working conditions.
And if not, no more "fire in the hole!" ;-)
(Credit Video: Andy Blumenthal)
October 14, 2021
Fun Cars To Pretend
April 19, 2021
How Many Is Too Many?
October 29, 2020
Someone's Always Watching
Whether someone is peering at you from upstairs or around the corner.
Or there is a surveillance camera.
Or someone is recording you on their smartphone.
You are never really alone.
And even IF, and that's a big if, that no one person is watching.
Remember that G-d above still sees everything! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 15, 2020
Artsy Bike
Like a newspaper, it's black and white and "read" or actually rode all over.
How much time do you give a bike like this before it gets stolen on the streets downtown?
D.C. seems to be getting even worse than before, now with Coronavirus and the riots.
Doesn't feel safe, and it's in definite need of an urban makeover from all the horrible poverty and homelessness. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 22, 2020
Shopping Up A Pole
Shopping cart up a pole.
No one else up there.
Safe from Coronavirus, hopefully.
Maybe some illusive toilet paper to be found in the sky mall?
Desperate times calling for desperate measures or an anxious society is losing its mind. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
January 6, 2020
Story About Dressing Modestly
The friend of his daughter was wearing one of those cropped shirts which expose the belly.
She said that her dad told her to throw a party for her clothes, so that her shirt could meet her shorts.
I guess all dads worry about the modesty of their daughters.
This was a good tznius story that hammers home the point and is also pretty funny. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
December 30, 2019
Oh Deer!
Not good for the deer (dead meat!) and not good for your car.
My daughter and son-in-law just gave me Deer Warning Whistles.
They are supposed to emit ultrasonic sound waves that warn the deer away.
Anything that keeps the deer away is welcome in my neck of the woods. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
December 17, 2019
Eyewash Smiley
I suppose this is good if you get something in your eye(s) and need to flush it out.
Are the yellow caps supposed to be for keeping the faucets clean and unobstructed.
Whole thing looks a little like a face: the yellow caps are the eyes, the big center faucet is the nose, and the sink basic the big mouth.
Maybe just my imagination, but I think it's saying "there are too many cooks in this kitchen, get the h*ll out!" :-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 28, 2019
Card Ya
They have a digital calendar with the date from 21 years ago.
It says:
To Purchase Tobacco Products You Must Have Been Born On Or Before This Date.
Thank you for showing you I.D.
Ah, easy to match the DOB on the I.D. presented to the date on the calendar.
Nothing to calculate, no mistakes.
They raised the age for smoking (cigarettes and vaping) in Maryland to 21 on October 1, so it's the same requirement as for drinking alcohol.
Luckily for me (even though I'm over 21), I don't really do either--definitely not the smoking, and the drinking limited primarily to the Kiddush prayer on Shabbat. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
November 2, 2018
At The Border: Immigration Or War
In real life, we have a caravan of thousands of people marching from Central America (Honduras and Guatemala) to the U.S. border seeking asylum, mostly for economic reasons.
On TV, we have the Last Ship Season 5, where South and Central America are at war with the U.S., "no longer willing to sit at the children's table of international politics," and they are coming to the U.S. to fight.
In the U.S. today, there are over 40 million people that were born in another country. Of these, there are over 12 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S. (55% from Mexico), and we know that we need immigration reform.
In the truest sense, we are almost all of us immigrants to this country, with ourselves or our families coming over at one time or another, and we are grateful for the generosity and open doors that allowed us to come here and make a good life.
Of course, we want to pay it forward and give others the same asylum and opportunity that we had and which they as human beings deserve.
Yet, the country continues to debate the mix of compassion and giving to the oppressed and needy versus the merit principles for bringing in needed skills, talents, and investment, and how many is the "right" number to allow in at any one time.
In real life, we are beefing up border agents, building a wall, and calling in the military to halt the illegal flow of immigrants, so that we can channel immigrates through a process and vetting that leads to legal and safe immigration to this country
On TV, we are fighting in the air, on land, and at sea an alliance of countries from the south and central that want to take over the U.S., and we are also holding our own and holding them back.
In both cases, we need to have and maintain borders to be a sovereign country, to protect our country, and to ensure that caravans of illegal immigrants or foreign troops are not crossing the border and doing harm.
It's high time for true immigration reform that is compassionate yet principled, but overrunning the border isn't an option that is practical or fair. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 1, 2018
Superhero Work Gloves
"Ironclad Industrial Impact--Rigger Cut"
These were just hanging around the local clothing store.
They not only look like superhero gloves covered in orange, yellow, and black duraclad padding ready to WHAM BAM!
But they also feel that way when you put them on with all the rubberized ruggedized protection.
Hmm, wonder whether these would be good in the gym for weightlifting...
Now who actually goes to work wearing these things? Its probably got to be a pretty "macho" man or women job. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
February 16, 2018
Who Says Flying Can't Be More Enjoyable
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