A Neck Is Not Something To Step On

A neck is not something to step or kneel on. 


Justice for George Floyd!


Murder is murder. 


While I greatly respect and admire our law enforcement for the difficult jobs that they have, police brutality and racism is not something that can be tolerated. 


Our law enforcement is better than that!


Hold the responsible officers accountable, but also bring peace and civility back to our cities and streets. 😉


(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Three Sides (At Least) To Every Story

I liked this saying:

There are at least three sides to every story:

Yours
Mine
And the truth


Everyone sees the world through their personal filter. 


And they present their side of things in a distorted way to make themselves look right and righteous. 


Calls it what you will:  a slant, bias, twist, falsification, or a distortion or perversion of the truth. 


Sure, sometimes one person is right and the other is clearly wrong. 


But more often than not, there are elements of truth and of lies in each person’s story to greater and lessor degrees. 


Hence, the truth often is it’s own entity and exists independent of those presenting it. 


It’s not a bad mission to seek out and promote the truth in this world of many falsehoods. 😉


(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Assange, A Rat

Apparently, people will protest anything.


Here they are protesting against the extradition of Julian Assange of Wikileaks.


Assange allegedly published loads of classified documents stolen from this country.


That is NOT journalism or freedom of speech.


It is spreading stolen materials, endangering the nation, and maybe even espionage!


Freedom of speech is calling out a possible rat when we see one and having him brought to face justice. 😉


(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

What REALLY Happened to Jeffrey Epstein

It was incredible to find out today what really happened to that convicted sex offender, slime bucket, 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!)

Children’s Voices and Scars

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “Children’s Voices and Scars.”

Unfortunately, we are living in a time when many people are “destroyed” from various forms of abuse: physical, verbal, and emotional. This frequently occurs to those that are more vulnerable in society (e.g. exploited children). It is especially tragic that children–those that are still innocent and defenseless–are made to suffer at the hands of those that are bigger, stronger, and authority figures in their lives (teachers, clergy, etc.).

At the most basic level, we need to:

  • Listen (carefully), empathize, and be supportive.
  • Don’t be dismissive, make assumptions, or jump to conclusions.
  • Yes, everyone deserves a fair hearing and for the facts to be known.
  • No, we can’t as a community run from this uncomfortable issue any longer!

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

I Watch With Terror The Rockets Fly

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “I Watch With Terror The Rockets Fly.”

I watch with terror the rockets fly.
The plumes of white smoke in the sky.
Randomly, randomly where will they fall.
A car, a home, a factory, a kindergarten.
The shrapnel penetrating the flesh of its victims.
The rockets do not know the difference,
Between military and civilian, men and women, children and old.

Please pray for the peace and security for Israel. 😉


(Source Photo: Reposted here in video by Israel Foreign Affairs Ministry)

Trends In Homelessness

So the plight of the homeless in Washington, DC and other large cities like NY and LA is despicable. 


This photo is taken not far from the Capitol building in DC. 


The homeless are not living in tents in the dead of Winter. 


As the people pass by, under this particular overpass were no less than 4 tents. 


While millionaires and billionaires splurge on themselves, so many people continue to go without adequate food, shelter, clothing, plumbing, healthcare, education, and jobs in America. 


When G-d looks down and see the unsympathetic wealthy next to the downtrodden poor–and many of the wealthy act like insatiable pigs, while the poor go hungry and cold–shall the L-rd that judges all the earth not do justly?  


Yes, there should be incentives for people to work hard and contribute, but when the wealth is skewed so that more than 50% of all the wealth is owned by just the top 1% of people and the top 1% own more than the bottom 90% of the population–we have a system that is not just broken, but grossly unjust and inhumane. 


Corruption is alive and well, and who is there among our leaders to stand up and say and do what is right by G-d children? 


(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

A Social System that Inspires Pride and Shame

This story continues to fascinate me. 


China’s social credit system started in 2015. 


China scores individuals based on public data (social media, financial, insurance, health, shopping, dating, and more), and they have people that act as “information collectors” (i.e. neighborhood watchers) who record what their neighbors are doing–good and bad. 


Each individual starts with a 1,000 points. 


If you do good things in Chinese society–helping people, cleaning up, being honest–you get points added. 


If you do bad things in China–fight with people, make a mess, be dishonest–you get points deducted. 


Fail below 1,000 points and you are in trouble–and can get blacklisted!


A good score is something to be proud of and a bad score is something that shames people to hopefully change for the better. 


But more than that, your social score has tangible social impacts–it can determine your ability to get into certain schools, obtain better jobs, homes, loans/mortgages, high-speed internet, and even high-speed train tickets/airplane flights. 


While maybe well intentioned, certainly, this has the very real potential to become a surveillance state and the embodiment of “Big Brother”!


On one hand, it seems like a great thing to drive people and society to be better. Isn’t that what we do with recognizing and rewarding good behavior and with our laws and justice system in punishing bad behavior?


Yet, to me this type of all-encompassing social credit system risks too much from a freedom and privacy perspective. Should the government and all your neighbors be privy to your most intimate doings and dealings?  And should people be controlled to such an extent that literally everything you do is monitored and measured and counted for/against you?


It seems to me that the price of sacrificing your very personal liberty is too high to make in order to push people towards positive social goals.


Guiding people is one thing, and rewarding outstanding acts and punishing horrific ones is understandable, but getting into people’s knickers is another. 


This type of social credit system really borders on social control and moves us towards a very disturbing, dystopian future. 😉

Triad of Determinants: Nature, Nurture, and Soul

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Nature, Nurture, and Soul.”

We are not just what nature and nurture make us–but rather, there is a third leg of this triad of factors that make us who we are, and that third and most important element is that we each have a soul. The soul of each person guides us to choose between right and wrong, good and evil, and sacred and impure, and to not just give in to our weaknesses, which each person has.

Hope you enjoy the article! 😉


(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)