February 5, 2020
Scary Model of Cancer
At first I wasn't even sure what it was.
Looks like a stomach.
What are those globs?
Oy, they represent malignant tumors (from what I understood reading the fine print).
Really makes it hit home when you see it in front of you on display like that.
So much suffering from illnesses like cancer.
G-d should have mercy.
We really need to find "the cure!"
Imagine what a day that will be. ;-)
February 4, 2020
Pay Attention To Space Force
It was signed into law by President Trump on December 20.
Space Force is the U.S. military's 6th service branch (separate from the Air Force).
While it is currently the smallest branch with 16,000 personnel and just a $40 million budget, I would look to this branch to move over time to one of the largest (if not the largest) branch of the military.
Let's face it, Earth is small potatoes in the realm of the Universe.
We will be expanding into outer space and colonizing it--we have to!
In addition, the weapons in space will be high-tech and costly relative to their earthly counterparts, and our dominance in space will not come cheap either in terms of aerospace and engineering talent or in terms of the systems and weapons that will assure our superiority.
In January, the new Star Trek aired on CBS, and as is long said on that preminiscent science fiction show, "Space is the final frontier" and the U.S. Space Force will become front and center in our defense.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Pay Attention To Space Force
February 3, 2020
Shave And A Haircut
Shave and a haircut, dum dum.
This statue of the guy in the chair getting the shave and haircut is sort of nostalgic to me.
Always sort of relaxing to sit back and get cleaned up!
Especially the hot lather on your face in that reclining position.
Then of course, all is well until the gunslinger barges in and ruins everything. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Shave And A Haircut
February 2, 2020
The Real Threat Is Surprise Attacks
The element of surprise can overcome most defenses. This can happen whether through an insider threat or through new and stealthy technologies. Already in August 2018, two explosive-laden drones were used to attack the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. Similarly, last year, in the movie, Angel Has Fallen, we saw the president of the United States attacked by a swarm of drones. While this is a great threat in and of itself, I believe that the greater threat lies in the miniaturization of the drones, in some cases, drones with the size, shape, and function of insects.
Unfortunately, Yigal Amir used the element of surprise to assassinate the prime minister of Israel. Now there are other high-tech threats like miniaturized, weaponized drones. There is no excuse for us not to be on the lookout for and to be prepared to defend against these, so that our leadership and our democracies are duly protected. Surprise is a big advantage in warfare, but we must be one step ahead, so that we are prepared to defend against these as well as to turn the tables and effectively employ the continued element of surprise against our relentless adversaries.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
The Real Threat Is Surprise Attacks
Business Case Scoring - Template
In evaluating various business cases, individuals can score each based on the following:
- Business Justification
- Analysis of Alternatives
- Technical Alignment
- Feasibility of Implementation Strategy
- Funding/Resource Availability
The ratings are done with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.
The scoring sheet calculate average, and identifies highest and lowest scores.
Then the individual scores can be summarized and used to rank the projects in your portfolio.
Based on overall funding, you can determine how many of the top-ranked projects are doable in the year, and then roll over the others for reevaluation along with new business cases next go around.
Capisce? ;-)
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Business Case Scoring - Template
February 1, 2020
Jew-Hate Shouted Aloud
We were walking to synagogue today for Shabbat services, and were taken aback when out of the window of a speeding car someone yelled, “Heil Hitler!”...While I value all the freedoms we have in this country, including the freedom of speech (especially as I am a writer), I am concerned that if the anti-Semitism can’t be addressed through law enforcement action when it’s at the verbal stage of offense then what does that leave—it has to escalate to violence for the police to be able to take action against the haters and perpetrators?
Just as it is illegal to yell “fire” in a crowded theatre and cause danger to the public, I believe that shouting vile hatred and incitement should be illegal for the same reasons. We don’t need to be able to punish people for thought crimes, but we do need to be able to protect people from hate-mongers who are openly leading up to violent expressions of their deep-seated Jew hatred, by identifying hate speech as a bona fide illegal and punishable crime.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Jew-Hate Shouted Aloud
January 31, 2020
Hope You Had A Good "Veek"
I guess sometimes it does sound like we say veek.
Someone else told me that they are divorced and that person is still a "dark force" in their life.
They said they have to pay child support but can't afford it.
It's not like I still earn $55,000 like I used to.
But if they don't pay...
Well my ex will just refuse to let me see my son!
People have tough lives.
So when you think about your week, hopefully in context, you can resolutely say that you had a good veek.
Shabbat Shalom! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Hope You Had A Good "Veek"
January 30, 2020
Your Expiration Date
And they said something that really hit a chord:
You never know what your expiration date is!
What an interesting way to say you never know when your time is up.
They used the phrase "expiration date" like we so commonly see on food and medicine products.
You know when you read the label and it tells you to discard after a certain date.
So people are like all these other goods that have a date stamped on them.
We have a date stamped on us (maybe it's on our forehead or some other less conspicuous place), and we just can't see it.
Yet, we need to live every day as if that expiration date is coming due.
Because like that stale food in your fridge or the old medicine in your cabinets, everything and everybody has a shelf life.
So you better live every day good and meaningfully before your expiration date comes due. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Your Expiration Date
January 29, 2020
Street Art Wow
This mural on the side of a building in Philadelphia is just amazing.
It takes a regular street (even next to an abandoned lot) and makes it eye-popping.
Some people seem to walk by and not even notice.
I'm not sure how. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Street Art Wow
January 28, 2020
Hand Pointer
Sort of unexpected sticking out of the wall like that.
But effective use of visualization.
The floating hand. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Hand Pointer
January 27, 2020
Life Equated With Hate
Pro-Life is Pro-Hate
Life Equated With Hate
January 26, 2020
Cannibals Love To Have You For Dinner
If you aren't invited for dinner, you're likely on the menu!
Yeah, we had my mother-in-law for dinner. And boy was she good!
Cannibals Love To Have You For Dinner
January 24, 2020
NJ Pollution--How Do You Ignore It?
The pollution and stink coming out of these smokestacks running up and down the Turnpike is enough to make anyone sick.
Personally, I had to cover my nose and mouth with my shirt just to try and filter this crap out.
What do people tell themselves that live near these?
Oh, it's okay because the government regulators wouldn't let them be here otherwise!
For real???
If you can see it's nasty, and you can smell that it's nasty, and there is a lot of it, then you better wake up as to what you are breathing, drinking, and eating.
How about these polluters put a cork in it once and for all! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
NJ Pollution--How Do You Ignore It?
January 23, 2020
Help Victims Of Terror (Warning Graphic Content: Not For Children)
Niv Nehemia was the victim of terror in 2017 in this Israeli grocery. He suffered "14 stab wounds to the head, chest, hands, and necks, including a cut in his esophagus."
The article appealing for help to cover his mounting medical costs appeared in the Jerusalem Post last week: Don't leave a hero behind.
I still remember this video from when it happened two years ago. Niv is truly a hero in fighting off his brutal attacker and in saving other store employees and shoppers!
Further, Niv and his wife, Sigal, have 5 beautiful children aged 18 to 4 1/2
If you can kindly open your heart to these victims of terror, here is the link for your donation as listed in the Jerusalem Post:
https://www.jgive.com/new/en/ils/donation-targets/24591.
May Hashem give a full and speedy healing to Niv and may He bless this family and all of us with peace! ;-)
Help Victims Of Terror (Warning Graphic Content: Not For Children)
January 22, 2020
How Are These Unlivable "Living Conditions" Allowed To Persist?
Makeshift tents line up and down under the train tracks to Union Station.
Spikes overhead make this an extra frightening looking arrangement.
People walking by and to/from work--after a while, is there a mixture of acceptance and indifference?
It's freezing outside and this is NO WAY for any human being to have to live.
Can we put partisan politics aside for any period of time to deal with the very harsh problems facing real people? ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
How Are These Unlivable "Living Conditions" Allowed To Persist?
January 21, 2020
Dunkin' Mugs
Got one in each color: blue and orange.
Inside the mugs, there is a finger sign "V" (for victory) and it says "Be Awesome".
These oversized mugs are so happy and I can't wait to fill 'em up.
And they really do make me ready to "Wake Up" for a brand new day. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Dunkin' Mugs
Visit Back Home
Visit Back Home
January 19, 2020
@Eastern State Penitentiary
@Eastern State Penitentiary
January 18, 2020
Project Governance and Gate Reviews
This aligns the Capital Planning and Investment Controls (CPIC) process of select, control, and evaluate phases with the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
There are 5 notional gate reviews with associated documentation for project conception, initiation, planning, execution, and launch.
Of course, this can be modified as needed based on the project threshold and governance stringency required and seeks to create strategic alignment with the goals of the organization.
(Credit Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
Project Governance and Gate Reviews
Anti-Semitism: Preparedness Can't Be Blind
As I'm standing there, I feel someone coming up behind me and then running into me. Of course, with anti-Semitic attacks prominent and growing, I may have been at a slightly higher state of alert, and I turn around ready for whatever or to give someone a few choice words...And then I see the cane from a blind person.
So even in these times, when there are gangs, drugs, violence, and anti-Semitism, and "we can't be careful enough" (especially given our long, deep history of religious persecution), at the same time, we need to judge our fellow man favorably first and foremost, and still we must be prepared for, G-d forbid, the worst at any time.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Anti-Semitism: Preparedness Can't Be Blind
January 17, 2020
Airplane Art
It would be so much more fun to get on a plane that displayed some pizzaz!
All we hear about are plane delays, cancelled flights, mishandled baggage, and involuntary bumping.
Oh, and don't forget the ever more cramped seating and the entertainment system that is habitually broken.
How does this industry get away with all this crap? ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Airplane Art
January 16, 2020
Sucking It Up
It almost looks like we're sucking up the whole ground with it!
After the warmest decade on record, we seem to be having the warmest year on record.
It's 52 degrees out, and we've been reaching up into the high 60's so far this month.
Global warming or the big fires in Australia or action with Iran are heating things up here in Washington, D.C. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Sucking It Up
January 15, 2020
G-d Hears Your Prayers
Even if a sharp sword rests upon a person's neck, he should not refrain from praying for mercy.
One can still hope for mercy from the Almighty even at death's door.
This is truly beautiful and uplifting--we can approach G-d anytime, and as long as we are alive, there is always hope.
The saving from G-d is like "the blink of an eye." ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
G-d Hears Your Prayers
January 14, 2020
I Say Upside Down You Turn Me
Like the faces, the colors, the upside down and right-side up orientations.
Seems cool, hip, with it.
Happy hippie times. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Michelle Blumenthal)
I Say Upside Down You Turn Me
January 13, 2020
Roosters or Homelessness?
Along the way, I saw this colorful artistic rooster.
I appreciate this quick pick-me-up from this.
Yet, all around the streets were homeless people.
One was literally collapsed on a narrow island between the opposing lanes of traffic.
Some horrible-looking food, rags of clothes, and two bottles of liquor lay next to him and one of his arm hang almost into the moving traffic.
This was just one of many that I saw in abject poverty and desperation.
So I really feel conflicted looking at this colorful rooster.
What good is it when the people are homeless, sick, and starving? ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Roosters or Homelessness?
January 12, 2020
EMP Attack-->Danger, Danger, Danger
Everyone needs to see this!
The explosion of a nuke(s) in the atmosphere over the country causes an electromagnetic pulse that fries all our electronics.
Nothing would work!!!
Think cyberattack on steroids with everything out of commission and basically little to no chance of recovery.
Prognosis is for mass riots, starvation, and illness that wipes out most of the population.
Easy then for the enemy to swoop in and conquer the country with no resistance and the basic infrastructure still intact for them to build on.
Just having mutually assured destruction is not enough!
We need to genuinely be able to counter these threats and not just say: "You'll die if we die."
How stupid and immature is that thinking?
There are more than a share of radical nuts out there who don't care if they die as long as they take us down.
These are the threats we need to pay attention to before...before...before...it's too late. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
EMP Attack-->Danger, Danger, Danger
January 11, 2020
Traveling Chasidim @AISH Greater Washington DC
(Credit Video: Andy Blumenthal and Credit Photo: Minna Blumenthal)
Traveling Chasidim @AISH Greater Washington DC
January 10, 2020
A Vision of Jewish Strength
With the rebirth of the State of Israel came the rebirth of the Jew. No longer the Jew cowering in the face of pogroms, Inquisition, Crusades, persecution, expulsions, and the Holocaust. The new Jew, as epitomized by the brave men and women of IDF, would be remade in the image of Moses who led the Jews out of Egyptian slavery, and King David who vanquished our enemies in our land, as well as the Jews of Purim and Hanukah, who fought ever so valiantly and to victory against the great empires of Persia and Greece or for us, whoever rises against us as the modern day equivalent.
But as important to the new Jew as our physical survival is that of our spiritual wellbeing. The persecution of Jews over thousands of years was not just a physical attack, as horrible as it was, but also a spiritual, religious, and cultural one, where Jews were prohibited from learning Torah, worshiping, and practicing as Jews. Thus, the second point of criticality in having the State of Israel is that it provides for Jewish sovereignty and ensures "the Jew as actor, determiner of his or her own destiny." The Jewish people to truly thrive must be able to express themselves through their own language and history, religiously and culturally, and practically through their own leadership and decision-making to forge their own future.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
A Vision of Jewish Strength
3D Printed Octopus: "Shabbat Shalom"
The bendable legs are cute.
It's sitting on a camera and tripod.
Soon 3D Printed Objects will even talk, and when they do, this one will say:
Shabbat Shalom!
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
3D Printed Octopus: "Shabbat Shalom"
January 9, 2020
Pacemaker No-No!
It generates very high voltage electricity.
The guy setting it up asks me:
Do you have a pacemaker?
I respond in the negative and ask what's the danger zone on this thing.
He says:
You probably wouldn't want to get within 10 feet of this!
Good to know. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
(Please note that blog is not to be taken as medical advice.)
Pacemaker No-No!
January 8, 2020
Ballistic Missile Attack A Sham
- The Iranians needed to make a show that they were getting revenge on the United States to appease their radical terrorist base for the killing of arch terrorist, General Soleimani.
- President Trump had already threatened 52 Iranian sites if they retaliated.
- Iran choose a very limited response hitting 2 military bases in Iraq --10 missiles striking one base, 1 missile striking another, and 4 missiles (26%) that failed!
- There were no American causalities!
- Iran immediately stated that the country had taken "and concluded proportionate measures" -- they are not looking for further escalation!
Ballistic Missile Attack A Sham
January 7, 2020
Donuts With Syringe
I get that they use the syringe to put the custard, jelly, and other fillings inside.
But leaving the syringe hanging out of the donuts like that conjures up images of addicts and junkies.
DESPITE that, these incredibly rich and overflowing donuts with gobs of toppings were some of the finest I've ever seen.
Takes more than a good dose of willpower to resist and not become an addict of these carbohydrate powerhouses.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Donuts With Syringe
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)
Story About Dressing Modestly
January 5, 2020
January 4, 2020
Gucci Bee Bag
Large decorated bee with expansive wings on the flap.
Beautiful pink with white pearl studs.
Brass chain and red, white, and blue shoulder strap.
Priced around $1500!
Small shoulder bag yet plush oversized and ornate make a big statement.
Nice gift for that special someone or to treat yourself to Gucci! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Gucci Bee Bag
January 2, 2020
'Uncut Gems' Cuts Deep
Yesterday, we went to see the new Adam Sandler movie, Uncut Gems....Ratner's life is full of shlemazel of his own making. While he has a good wife, kids, and extended family (maybe with the exception of his loan shark uncle), a fancy-schmancy home in the suburbs with a newly renovated pool, his own jewelry business that even caters to some big-league sports players, and a shiksa girlfriend on the side (who seems to love him), Ratner is never satisfied or happy and is always pushing for more!
In the movie, Howard Ratner was driven by greed and made bad life choices, and to me, it was a shame that the he was portrayed as a Jew, which can feed the vicious cycle of discrimination and hatred that has often been anchored around money. With the vicious machete attack on Chanukah at a Rabbi's house in Monsey this week (after a slew of other anti-Semitic incidents, including an attack on a student for wearing a yalmulke on the NYC Subway to beatings and tire slashings of Jews in Brooklyn), we are reminded that there is once again a resurgence of prejudice and hate against Jews, but also that it's the light of Chanukah that "drives out the darkness," and that money and materialism are a mere shabby substitute to finding true security and success whether you work in the dense NYC Diamond District or live in the sprawling suburbs of America.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
'Uncut Gems' Cuts Deep
January 1, 2020
Holiday SHOULD BE Giving To Children's Hospital
While it gets your attention (who sees three pink bears lite up on the street at night?), asking people with a small impersonal sign on the floor to remember to login and make the donation later isn't very effective.
People act on the spot, especially when it's an emotional appeal for charity for sick children that need help.
The children deserve for there to be a way for would be donors to actually give on the spot--where they can swipe or tap their credit card, write a check, or drop some money in for giving.
Later, later, later...and unfortunately, it may never happen for the Children.
Come on--it's the new roaring 2020s--we can create some urgency and convenience and do better than this! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Holiday SHOULD BE Giving To Children's Hospital
December 31, 2019
What REALLY Happened to Jeffrey Epstein
He was murdered!
How do I know?
It was on the coffee cup at Starbucks, of course.
Honestly, I don't really care that much how he died, but am just grateful that sick louse is a goner. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal, and no, it's not my coffee!)
What REALLY Happened to Jeffrey Epstein