A quote from my role model Rocky:
It’s not about how hard you hit.
It’s about how hard you get hit.
And keep moving on.
That’s how winning is done.
Go Rocky!
And by the way, you should hit pretty (i.e. very) hard also. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So there is someone that I think the world of.
They are what we call “good people.”
But like all of us, have challenges and difficulties in life.
Maybe their load is heavier and more taxing.
But it is what G-d has given them to bear and to work with.
In talking with this person, at one point, they said, “It’s too hard!”
And I think we all feel that way sometimes.
Bret Stephens quoted Bernard Lewis in the Wall Street Journal today, that in trying times, some ask, “Who did this to us?” While others ask, “What did we do wrong?”
Maybe the question should be, “What can we do now?”
While some throw in the towel and can’t go on or go on in a bad way, others may get angry and bitter at their lot in life.
But yet like my inspiration, Rocky, some get up and fight for what they want.
The down is only a temporary down, but not a knockout.
The pain stings and hurts and leaves us blurry-eyed and dizzy, but our desire to succeed pushes the adrenaline through our coursing veins, and we get up again with even a greater determination.
“The eye of the tiger, the thrill of the fight, rising up to the challenges of our rivals…”
I take responsibility. I take accountability. I want to overcome.
I shall prevail in life and even ultimately in death, my life will mean something to somebody.
The end is the beginning again. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Over and over again the left AND the right try to get a knockout on Donald Trump.
But what happens?
He’s not knocked out.
He’s not even knocked down.
To the contrary, he is still standing and seems to become stronger!
What is going on with this phenomenon?
Some would like to call it perhaps a psychosis of the masses.
Other like to belittle those that like him by dissing their intellectual status and calling them stupid.
Many even seem to go to every extreme to to make him out as crazy, fascist, bigoted, hateful, and a con man.
Yet, for the most part it’s doesn’t seem to be working–people are still flocking to him.
It’s like the more they try to gang up on him, torment him, bash him, and zing him–and rather than buckle, he is still there standing and remains strong–perhaps, the more “proof” it is for people that he can and will stand up for America!
With dismal ratings for the President, Congress, and government overall, the outsider, the business man, the billionaire, the dealmaker, the one who isn’t afraid to speak his mind and to say to the people the non-politically correct thing is coming across refreshing to many who are seeking change from the the last 7 years, 15 years, or further.
With many seeing the current politics of the U.S. as leading from behind, appeasement, weak, divisive, and disengaged, it is not surprising to see bands across America yearning for something more.
Is Donald Trump strong and anti-establishment or truly bad and dangerous?
This is for America to seek the truth on and wisely decide.
What’s riding on this?
Whether Trump OR another candidate to be determined –(someone/anyone) — can potentially get things positively and constructively done in our large and complex political machine that has in many ways become increasingly stymied by bureaucracy, obstructionism, defeatism, game-playing, selfishness, pork barrel politics, (corruption,) sequestration, government closures, and political fighting across the aisle/behind the aisle/and in the aisle.
Let’s hope for America and the world’s sake the voters get it right.
But keep bashing Trump and you are keeping his message of superior strength and hope very much alive. 😉
(Note: This is not an endorsement for any candidate or political party)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
If you read the Wall Street Journal, then you heard today about the attack that took place last April on the power grid in San Jose, California.
Yes, “the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred” and in San Jose in 2013!
Some assailants cut the telephone cables in an underground vault and shot for 19 minutes at a electrical substation with more than 100 rounds from an AK-47 and “surgically knocked out 17 giant transformers that funnel power to Silicon Valley.”
In this isolated case, power was able to be rerouted around the damaged site, but it still took 27 days to make the necessary repairs.
What if this was a broader attack–what could have happened?
Firstly, since our roughly 2,000 nationwide giant transformers sit mostly in the open surrounded by nothing more than chain link fences and some cameras, an attack is possible, if not probable.
According to the then Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), “if a surprisingly small number of U.S. substations were knocked out at once that could destabilize the system enough to cause a blackout that could encompass most of the U.S.”
Further, since each transformer is custom made, weighs up to 500,000 pounds, costs millions to build and are hard to replace, a large scale attack could result in “prolonged outages as procurement cycles for these components range from months to years.”
Is this an isolated incident and nothing to worry about?
Uh, no! Domestically, there were 274 incidents of deliberate damage in three years. And overseas, between 1996 and 2006, terrorist organizations were linked to 2,500 attacks on the power grid.
“Utility executives and federal energy official have long worried that the electric grid is vulnerable to sabotage.”
The Former FERC Chairman said, “What keeps me awake at night is a physical attack that could take down the grid. This is a huge problem.”
Do you think the lights will be on forever or is it just a matter of time?
On a personal level, have you given any thought to how you will feed your families, light and warm your homes, run your businesses, gas up your cars, and send and receive information?
Our Achilles’ heels–and is anyone even paying serious attention?
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal; this is not an endorsement of this book, but rather symbolic.)
I remember as a kid, my grandfather lived down the block from us on the Upper West Side in Manhattan.
He was old and not in the best of health with a heart condition, hearing aids, and more.
One day, he was coming home from the bank, and he went into the elevator in his building.
He was followed by a punk, who after the elevator door closed, proceeded to grab my grandfather and choke him until he was unconscious.
The thug took his wallet and left my grandfather on the floor of the elevator.
Now, today I saw on the news about the Knockout Attack Game–and some “game” this is.
The attacker runs up behind the person unbeknownst and with full force slams their fist against a person head, knocking them unconscious, and when successful, this is done with one punch!
In other cases, an entire gang will attack, punching and kicking a victim until they stop moving.
While I couldn’t locate the exact video that happened in a neighborhood in NY to a Jewish woman, this video of an attack on a Muslim girl in London about a year ago, approximates it very closely.
While some victims of these attacks end up with broken jaws, skulls, shattered teeth, internal injuries, bleeding and more, others are not so lucky and end up dead.
I never forgot what happened to my grandfather and the cowardly schmuck that attacked this old, helpless man–but at least, he apparently did it for the money.
In these knockout attacks, when they ask the attackers why they do it, the response is for the fun and laughs.
What a commentary of our society, when people brutally attack other people–not for money, revenge, self-defense, or principle–but simply to see others needlessly suffer and to take a form of intense joy in it.
Perhaps, there are certain crimes for which the L-rd above must look down and mete out his own version of justice, in a way that restores order to this world of hope and despair.
Russia (and many others countries) develop some really kick-a*s weapons–especially, when they are so simple, yet so devastatingly effective.
Like this TOS-1A heavy flamethrower system–it is a multi-rocket launcher mounted on a T-72 main battle tank chassis.
The TOS-1A carries 30 (newer version 24) 220-mm incendiary or thermobaric unguided rockets that it can shoot up to 3 km (newer version 6 km), and it destroys everything within 300 square meters using high-pressure and temperature.
What is cool is that the technology seems boiled down to the basics–shoot and eliminate. And when multiple TOS-1As roll unto the battlefield–they unleash what looks like a ruthless barrage of destructive fire.
Of course, precision targeting weapons have the added benefit of mitigating civilian casualties–but from the looks of things, that is not what this weapon is all about.
The question is do you go half way or finish the job–do you hit below the belt or keep it a clean fight?
In war, if you leave the enemy intact or with fighting capabilities, then you may just have to fight them another day.
While the rules of war protect people from the cruelties of all out hostilities, we need to make sure that in the end, it keeps them safe over the long-term, and does not just prolong the inevitable cat-fight.
Good, kind, and just people often don’t feel comfortable delivering a knockout punch, but sometimes (not all the time) that is just what is needed to restore the peace. 😉
andyblumenthal 