Lucky Earrings

My daughter found these lucky European earrings today from France.

- Queen of diamond playing cards

- Roll of the dice take your chance

- Lucky in love hearts

- Spicy green lucky charm hot peppers

Reminds me of something a colleague told me the other day about when your ears ring...it's right for love, and left for spite. 

Anyway, thought this was pretty good luck just finding these special earrings. ;-)

Lucky Earrings

Goods AND Serices --> AMAZON

Really like what I read yesterday...Amazon is expanding from selling goods to also adding services.

Amazon is the #1 stop for just about any daily purchase (except things like cars and houses, which I think Amazon will eventually consider for an acquisition in the future as well). 

With their nearly effortless shopping experience, free shipping (for "Prime" customers), and easy returns, it is eCommerce as it was meant to be!

Now according to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is adding local service providers from plumbers to electricians.

The cross-selling possibilities are luring--so that as you purchase a household item, up pops local services providers for someone to install or service the item--it's all integrated.

Moreover, Amazon will do background checks on these service partners, determine if they have liability insurance, and offer a money-back guarantee on the services rendered (Oy vey to Craigslist and Angie's List).

Amazon is a brilliant retailer, once they have holodeck like virtual reality experience where you can simulate actually being next the goods to look at them, feel them, even try them (on), then we will achieve shopping nirvana and will never have to enter a Best Buy or other useless and obsolete bricks and mortar retailer again. ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Yo Mostro)

Goods AND Serices --> AMAZON

Pain Relief - SUPER SIZED!

This was funny at CVS today.

The "value size" extra strength Tylenol (equivalent)--1000 pills!

Think about it that's something like 500 headaches...

It reminded me when I worked in the financial service industry in New York City.

The Comptroller of the corporation has a mega size bottle of aspirin right on the front of his desk when you walked in.

It was clear he was quite S~T~R~E~S~S~E~D out.

From a personal branding perspective (my wife is the expert at this), I would imagine that this is not the image you would want people to have of you all the time.

Anyway, pain relief for some is a very big bottle of Tylenol and for others a nice bottle of wine or some time at the beach. 

My father used to tell me the joke, "If I have to give up wine, women, or song...I'll give up singing!" ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Pain Relief - SUPER SIZED!

This Is How You Do It Baby

The health club I’ve been going to has this thingamajig machine by the locker room.

A what?

That’s right--first no idea what it is, but I hear it making a lot of noise all the time.

Then one day, I put my curiosity to use, and stop to check it out. 

It’s a little square box called a Suitmate—and wow, cool, it's a mini clothes dryer that fits exactly one bathing suit.  Cute!  

Who would’ve thought…you put your wet bathing suit in, hold down the lid, and in seconds it spins it dry.

No more going home with a gym bag with wet laundry—Yeah, I’m liking this. 

Well, there is only one problem--it doesn’t just stop spinning by itself when you lift the lid.

So you end up scrunching up your fingers, putting them in the spinning basket, and pulling out the suit—trying to make sure not to get your hand spun out of whack. 

There has got to be a better way, right?

Well last night, this guy is at the machine spinning his suit dry.

He sees me waiting off to the side—I don’t rush him or anything.

So when he’s done, he motions me over to the machine.

He leans in and goes to me like he’s about to tell me this big, big secret.

He says, “You…you know how to make this machine stop...stop spinning?

I look up at him I suppose with a look like so many before me--communicating that I had no idea there was a way to make it stop

He nods in understanding and give me this smirk--ear to ear. 

He says in this broken English, “You don’t put your hand in the spinner and pull it out (motioning this dangerous way).  No! “

Then he points to this little cylindrical object jutting out the top of the machine on either side (it looks like something that just holds the lid in place).

He looks at me intently, and I knew this guy is getting ready now to tell me something he considers very important—something he wouldn’t just tell anyone. 

Suddenly, he lunges and grabs the cylinder on the machine and pulls--and almost like magic it stops spinning, just like that!

He looks at me again and nods like he just told me the secret to life itself.

This whole scene was so surreal and really funny, but you know what—it works.

Some things it’s good just to be told--this is how you do it baby. ;-)

This Is How You Do It Baby

Art In The Trees

Today, just sharing a photo that I took and liked. 

This is art in the trees.

A Renaissance child in gorgeous red and gold robes on an expansive scroll in the lush green trees is marvelous to me. 

Also, the contrast of the heavenly creation of the world and nature alongside the man-made art affirms to me how we, ourselves, are made in the image of G-d, and can contribute to the beauty of the world we live in. 

I hope you this like it too! ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Art In The Trees

Data 4 Ransom

The future of cybercrime will soon become the almost routine taking of your personal and corporate data as hostage. 

Once the hacker has control of it, with or without exfiltration, they will attach malware to it--like a ticking time bomb.

A simple threat will follow:

"I have your data. Either you pay for your data back unharmed OR your data will become vaporware! You have one hour to decide. If you call the authorities, you data is history."

So how valuable is your data to you?  

- Your personal information--financial, medical, legal, sentimental things, etc.

- Your corporate information--proprietary trade secrets, customer lists, employee data, more.

How long would it take you to reconstitute if it's destroyed?  How about if instead it's sold and used for identity theft or to copy your "secret sauce" (i.e. competitive advantage) or maybe even to surpass you in the marketplace? 

Data is not just inert...it is alive!

Data is not just valuable...often it's invaluable!

Exposed in our networks or the cloud, data is at risk of theft, distortion, or even ultimate destruction. 

When the time comes, how much will you pay to save your data?

(Source Comic: Andy Blumenthal)

Data 4 Ransom

In Case Of Emergency

Washington D.C. Metro Emergency Instructions

Ugh, long and boring.

How 'bout this instead:

- Don't Freak Out

- Don't Get Out 
(unless your in immediate danger)

- Don't Take Your Bulky Stuff Out

- Don't Fry When Your Out 
(stay away from the electrified 3rd rail--zap!)

Easy, smeazy. ;-)

[Note: Follow instructions at your own risk.]

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal - sorry so fuzzy, train was moving)

In Case Of Emergency

Dire Warnings On CyberSecurity

This week Adm. Michael Rogers, the Director of the National Security Agency and head of U.S. Cyber Command issued a stark warning to the nation about the state of cybersecurity:

With our cybersecurity over the next decade, "It's only a matter of the 'when,' not the 'if,' that we are going to see something dramatic."

The Wall Street Journal reports that he gave " a candid acknowledgement that the U.S. ISN'T yet prepared to manage the threat!"

China and "one or two others" [i.e. Russia etc.] are infiltrating our SCADA networks that manage our industrial control systems, including our power turbines and transmission systems,.

The cyber spies from the nation states are "leaving behind computer code that could be used to disable the networks  in the future."

Can you imagine...you must imagine, you must prepare--not if, but when. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Dire Warnings On CyberSecurity

A Fat Pill

So true story...

This guy at work goes to me today, "Hey, did you get a fat pill?"

I am thinking to myself DID I put on a few pounds...but still how totally rude. 

My colleague must've seen me looking at him with some disbelief and irritation that he would say something like that to me. 

Then he gets this look on his face like, oh sh*t {oops that wasn't what I meant!}

Immediately, he reaches down to the counter in one of our common areas and picks up a Dunkin' Donut from the box that someone had brought in for Friday munchies. 

He's holding up the donut to his face mouthing, "A fat pill," as he takes a big bite engulfing half the donut (or more) in that one mouth shot. 

Well, I never heard of a Donkin' Donut called a fat pill before...

Probably lucky for someone that is what he was referring to (LOL). ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

A Fat Pill

Homeless At Foggy Bottom

The homeless situation in Washington D.C. (as in other big cities in the U.S.) is horrible and tragic. 

The homeless person here is wrapped in a blanket trying to stay warm on her wheelchair. 

Further, her bucket, at her feet, for people to give is empty. 

The Thanksgiving holiday is this week, but where is the thanks and where is the giving?

Interesting...halfway down the block is GW Hospital and across the street behind this lady is a gorgeous, modern, brand new GW University engineering and science building (almost completed now). 

The haves, the have mores, and the have nots. 

Where are all the trillions of dollars of spending going..,that we can't feed, clothe, shelter, and educate our people. 

We need to do better as a society for providing care for the truly needy.

G-d is watching what we do and what we don't do.

Our test. and the test of our elected officials/leadership--will we/they stand up for those that can't? 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Homeless At Foggy Bottom

To Be A Free People

This week we saw an absolutely horrific terroristic attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem.

Two Palestinian cousins brutally hacked and stabbed to death 4 Rabbis's (3 American citizens) while at prayer and killed a policeman trying to stop them. 

I read  how one Rabbi actually had his arm wrapped in the holy Tefillin (phylacteries) completely severed from off his body. 

By the time the attack was done, the synagogue was filled with pools of blood of those in the middle of prayer to the Almighty G-d. 

I thought to myself of the Israel anthem, the Hatikvah, that speaks to the Jewish hope of being a free people in the land of Zion and Jerusalem (where this attack and many others have been happening):

"As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart, 

With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion,

Then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost:

To be a free people in our land,

The land of Zion and Jerusalem."

I wondered where is the yearned for "freedom" of our people post slavery; jailings and torture; destruction, rape, murder, and exile; from Crusades to Auto-da-fes, Pogroms, and Holocaust.

Indeed, our history is not only punctuated by discrimination, blind hatred and anti-semitism, but also by extermination and genocide.

Now in a beautiful Middle East democracy called the State of Israel--where the deserts bloom and technological innovation thrives, where people of three major religions worship in their Holy places, how can so much terror still exist:

- Tens of thousands of missiles targeting population centers
- Tunnels streaming with terrorists trying to kidnap and murder the innocent
- Suicide bombers striking buses, cafes, pizzerias, and more.
- Terrorists driving into crowds of pedestrians, stabbing people with screwdrivers, hitting them with lead pipes, throwing stones and firebombs, slitting the throats of babies, taking and murdering children from the bus stops, and hacking to death Rabbis at prayer...
- Moreover, with Iran, there is a stated existential threat from them to annihilate Israel [via Nukes]...the clock is ticking down.

No nation on Earth would live with this, and neither should the Jewish people!

Israel cannot have Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad as well as nation state terrorists striking at their heart from near, far, and from within. 

The immediate response should be a declaration of Jerusalem as the united Capital of Israel, period.

Subsequent decisions of borders, boundaries, and terms to be decided by the State of Israel to meet their security needs. 

Freedom to live, work, play, and worship without terror, non-negotiable. 

Peace underwritten with security by G-d's promise to the Jewish people...end of discussion. 

Finally, as to Iran (and others) who openly threaten Israel with WMD--Israel and the U.S. must preempt and hit them staggeringly hard--the best defense is an striking offense.

The terror must end here and now, once and for all. 

O' Lord, give us freedom from bigotry, hatred, and terror--O' Lord, give us peace. 

(Source Photo: here with attribution to zeevveez)

To Be A Free People

Turducken Is Real

So I thought Turducken was a joke (a fowl i.e. foul dish).

Everyone has regular turkey onThanksgiving, right--even if they don't like it!

Well maybe you get a pass if your vegetarian, vegan, or whatnot. 

But no, here a genuine advertisement at a lcoal eatery for--you got it--turducken.

Turkey, Duck, and Chicken--combined!

$130 bucks feeds 12...on second thought, I rather not. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Turducken Is Real

Say Little And Do Much

New Article by Andy Blumenthal here in Public CIO Magazine. 

"It's not what we say, it's what we do that really matters."

Hope you enjoy!

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Say Little And Do Much

Give 'Em A Choice

This is a funny sign from Germany for exiting...you can go this way or that.

I guess that's a choice...even if they both take you to the same place.

It's like my dad said to me the other day, "Give 'em a choice: take it or leave it!"

It's true--we can choose--and if leave it, then we have another choice, "Walk away or run!" ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Martin Fisch)

Give 'Em A Choice

Balloon Mug

Love this new balloon mug from Starbucks.

Most of their tchotchkes are so ugly or cheap looking, but this mug rocks.

Got this for my daughter, but I want one too.

Reminds me when we went air ballooning in Las Vegas together.

Great memories and a really beautiful mug.

Too nice to drink out of. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Balloon Mug

Didn't Do It

My elderly father retold a funny joke to us yesterday when we visited him at his assisted living home.

It goes like this...

A teacher in school asks the classroom of children, "Who killed Abraham Lincoln?"

One little child in the front of the room meekly raises his hand, and when called on by the teacher answers,"I didn't do it!"

The teacher is taken aback at the response, and after class calls the child's father and tell him to come in after school to discuss this. 

After school, the father shows up and sits down with the teacher, and listens to him repeat the story about what happened in class.

The father is visibly annoyed, and when the teacher is done staunchly says, "If my son says he didn't do it, then he didn't do it!"

Ah, I suppose one could take this as a sad commentary either generally-speaking on the state of our education system or in particular of this family that is quite clueless--and where it's clear that the apple does not fall far from the tree. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Didn't Do It

Anime Kicks Butt

Japanese Anime is so cool.

They have these amazing characters that any kid would like to have. 

With swords, shields, guns and well-honed fighting powers, these champions are ready for battle. 

This one was at Barnes and Nobles for $34.95 this holiday session. 

If I was still a kid, I could wrap my imagination around this, and help save the world from all the evil and stupid characters out there--unfortunately, both fictional and too often real.   ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Anime Kicks Butt

Guard Your Menorah

This was a funny picture I took of a zebra with the stripes that are in the shape of a Jewish menorah. 

The menorah has a center stem from which to light the branches extending upward to the left and right on the menorah. 

Last night at a Shabbat dinner, someone said something very interesting about keeping G-d commandments and staying innocent and holy.

He said a person face, which has 4 of our senses (mouth, eyes, nose, and ears) is actually like a menorah.

These start at the center of the face and then are emanating upwards and outwards:

- First, the mouth (speech)  is sort of the center stem--and our words needs to be carefully spoken so that we speak nicely to others and not to hurt them with what we say. 

- Second, our nose with 2 nostrils (smell)--we should smell holy things like the sacrifices and incenses to G-d, and not things that make us improperly attracted to worldly impurities, like inappropriate sexual partners, drug, smoking, and alcohol. 

- Third, our 2 eyes (sight)--we need to see the good in others and the world around us, but guard ourselves so that we do not see things that make us want, desire, and lead us astray after falsity. 

- Fourth, our 2 ears (hearing) --we work to avoid hearing "evil speech" about others and instead seek to perceive words of insight, spiritually and growth. 

I would add the following to complete our 5 senses:

- Fifth, our 2 hands (touch)---because if we but lift our hands up to heaven in prayer and servitude to G-d, then we use our sense of touch for helping rather than hurting people. 

So while this zebra has a menorah on his side, we have it built into our very faces and bodies. 

And with a little effort, we can use all our senses for doing good, and guard ourselves from the otherwise seemingly natural impulses to do otherwise.  ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Guard Your Menorah

Bring Us Peace

Amazing song "ONE DAY" by hassid Matisyahu--a light unto nations.

Sung by Public School (PS) 22 Chorus in New York.

One day...no more fighting--only love, peace, and brotherhood.

There should not be a dry eye out there.

Mashiach is almost here! ;-)

Bring Us Peace

Iran: Engagement or Containment

As the deadline for the now 2nd round of current negotiations with the dangerous Iranian mullahs fast approaches on November 24, we need to remember who we are dealing with over there.

Despite nearly endless negotiations that have gone on since 2002 (or for almost 13 years ), including yet another round of new talks that began 14 months ago and which were extended already once again...

Just this week, no less than Iran's Foreign Minister and lead negotiator made clear their position on nukes, and it is not favorable to coming to any real agreement:

Here in his own words:

• Iran insists that the U.S. must bow to Iran's "Inalienable Nuclear Rights."

• Despite our wanting to believe that a deal is possible, he states, "Some [Western] countries have fallen prey to miscalculations [about Iran's position] due to wrong analysis."

• He goes on to say, "U.S. sanctions against Iran "have left no impact" on their position. 

While our goal may be for a peaceful Iran without nuclear WMD, "a goal without a [genuine] plan is just a wish!"

Hmm...is this a real partner for peace?

It is recognized that:

1) Iran has one of the world's worst records of human right abuses of their own people! 

2) "Iran is the single largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world."

3) Iran threatens "annihilation" and Genocide to their neighbors in the West. 

We cannot fool ourselves anymore that Iran will ever voluntarily give up their desire or pursuit of The Bomb!

Enough rewarding Iran with billions of dollars in incentives just for coming to the table with no meaningful results. 

Yes ideally, we would all love to celebrate this Thanksgiving with a REAL deal for peace.

However, we don't need a bogus agreement or another meaningless extension that gets the Iranians that much closer to nuclear breakout capability and the world to the next major regional or even global war. 

Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Perhaps it's time to change the playbook then...

Engagement is an excellent opportunity with a partner that is willing to seriously negotiate, but containment and ultimately military intervention is necessary when talks are simply a long-running ruse or sham to dangerous nuclear WMD and world terror. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Iran: Engagement or Containment