So yesterday, there was a huge pouring thunderstorm and lightening.
After a bolt or two that must have hit our power line, ALL the power went out.
That was not fun when sitting in an La-Z-Boy electric recliner chair.
Where the f*** is the safety release on this thing when there is no power? 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So the progressive, alt-left have gone off the rails again with more nutty radical proposals.
This time to defund or dismantle the police!
While I am completely against corruption, racism, and police brutality, it is a BIG and STUPID mistake to hyper-generalize from some bad actors to the overwhelming number of good people that serve in law enforcement, who put their lives on the line to protect us everyday.
As with the health workers that protect us from Coronavirus and other horrible illnesses, so too with our police, we should be grateful for their protection and that they ensure some semblance of law and order and security in our society!
Yes the bad apples should be weeded out and punished, absolutely!
Also, after the latest incident with George Floyd, certainly reform is needed in terms of training and additional protections for the public.
But going alt-left crazy with proposals to defund and disband the police is completely over-the-top, irresponsible and destructive.
Hopefully, all the “normal” people out there will see the progressive folly for what it is and support the police in doing their critical mission, while also holding them accountable to do it with the integrity that they must. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
If anything screams wireless…
There has got to be a better way.
One day people are going to laugh their heads off at they way we did technology.
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I’ve seen the advertisement for Capital One (Bank) Cafes on TV for some time now.
Well I saw my first real one in Fort Lauderdale this week.
It was big, bright, comfortable and had children’s games and a host of meeting and breakout rooms.
They even gave us two cards for some free coffee at the embedded Pete’s Coffee.
It was a corner store in a large, expensive space.
It was great place to get some work done or relax.
But aside for a cash machine or so, there was nothing that I could see having to do with banking in this place.
Also, there were also almost no customers for the coffee.
Basically, it is totally confusing idea from a marketing and branding perspective–Is it a bank or a coffee house? And why would I go to Capital One to get coffee or to Pete’s Coffee to do my banking????
While I think that Capital One has literally outdone Starbucks in building a great cafe space, I don’t think anyone will actually get what this is or why it is!
My guess is that whoever came up with this idea is going to be looking for a job within about 6 big money-losing months. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I saw these two photos separately.
But I instantly realized that they belong together.
Like peanut butter and jelly.
Who is a bigger pee brain than AOC?
* She impulsively lost 25,000 jobs and $5 billion investment in NYC from Amazon (as well as about $27.5 billion in tax revenue over 25 years).
* Her ridiculous Green New Deal wanted to rid us of farting cows and airplanes and didn’t get a single yes vote in the Senate (even from her own party).
* AOC stated that the three branches of government are the “the presidency, the senate, and the house” (Uh, wrong!).
* Ocasio-Cortez boasts insanely that government deficit-spending doesn’t really matter (hmm, I wonder is that how she handles her personal finances too?).
* She allies herself with fellow anti-American and anti-Semites like:
– Ilhan “(Schmilhan) Somebody Did Something [on 9/11]” Omar
– Rashida “(Israel-Hater) They Forgot What Country They Represent” Tlaib
– Linda “Muslim Brotherhood” Sarsour
How did anyone actually vote for (or support) people like these to run this amazing country? 😉
(Source Photo: AOC is from Facebook and Impeachment is from me)
So when I saw this colored rock last evening, it made me think two things:
One, cool idea, looks nice and fun to make.
Two, it reminded me of the Pet Rocks in the 1970s that made millions (this one was hippie even though those back then weren’t actually even colored).
A business guy came up with the idea to sell smooth rocks from Mexico beach and market them as pets.
Yeah, they are so lovable and easy to care for!
It was one of the great branding and marketing events of the 20th century.
Who would think people would actually spend money on a plain dumb rock that you could basically pick up off the street?
But incredibly, putting the rock in a box with holes (so the rock could breath) and sitting it on a little stack of hay with an joke of instruction book for caring for your rock, SOLD.
And in fact, over 1,500,000 rocks were sold at a pop of $4 each.
The guy became a millionaire and got rid of a truckload of worthless rocks.
Yes, “One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure!”
But surely this was getting a little ridiculous.
Hey, I’ll give you a nickle for the shinny painted rock in the photo here. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I took these photos in Classic Motors of Washington, D.C.
This car is made of Victorian Pennies from the U.K.
The pennies are special (1837-1901) with an intricate design of British Queen Victoria.
This car is one of only 9 in the entire world.
The sign in the back window says, “This vehicle is not for sale.”
It’s got to be some job to get all those old pennies on this car.
I remember when we were kids my sister had this long green plastic container for collecting pennies.
Pennies already back in those days were worthless, and it was just a hobby to throw them in and see how many we could collect.
After some years, the thing was so heavy, I could use it for my exercise routine.
So why do we still make stupid pennies…for classic collector vehicles?
Old habits die hard, and the government is a big bureaucratic ship that doesn’t turn on a penny or dime or whatever–I think that’s the real reason we still do so many nonsensical things. 😉
(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)
I took this photo in the Washington, D.C. Metro today.
What do you think it is?
Lots of electronics, wires, lights–and in front of it and holding the door open is a “caution” pylon.
This is one of the faregates to get into the metro system for the Capital region.
Now how “smart” is it to leave the door wide open to this contraption.
Usually the basics of physical security is gates, guards, and guns–in this case, the gates part is broken.
The Department of Homeland Security was provided another week of funding to work out the immigration mess pitting Congress against the President…
But even with DHS still up and running, security is looking a little too wide open again. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I took this photo of an advertisement for the “I’m With Stupid” Minions movie released on February 2.
– Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine forcibly take over the besieged city of Debaltseve in Ukraine, after the ceasefire that was agreed to last week.
– China builds four new fortress artificial islands in the South China Sea projecting it’s military might in disputed waters.
– Iran threatens gas embargo on U.S., suicide missions on U.S. Navy, missile attack on Israel, and nuclear enrichment expansion, while negotiating for lifting sanctions.
– Syrian fighting leaves over 250,000 dead and includes their “systematically” using chemical weapons.
– ISIS burns another 45 people alive in Iraq, beheads 21 Coptic Christians abducted from Egypt, and commits mass “brutal and abnormal sex” on female captives.
– Boko Haram attack leaves another 2,000 dead in Nigeria (the world’s 4th largest democracy) with “bodies scattered everywhere.”
– Radical Islamists conduct terrors attacks in Europe in both France (Charlie Hebdo Magazine and a Jewish grocery store) and Copenhagen (a free speech event and a Synagogue).
– Dangerous terrorists apprehended and put away in Guantanamo detention facility are then released with about 28% (or more) returning to their chosen terror professions.
Daniel Henninger in the Wall Street Journal points to this sorry state of affairs and our retrenchment in world affairs, as a serious misalignment between the age-old guns and butter debate.
Maybe time for some smart people to get in on things. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Should I do it or is it too risky?
That’s a question we ask ourselves many times a day.
– Open our mouths at work or keep a lid on it.
– Run to catch that train or bus or slow down and go more carefully.
– Eat that greasy burger and fries or opt for a salad and smoothie.
– Invest in that highflier stock or put your money in the “G” fund.
The Wall Street Journal presents risk management as both quantifiable and qualitative.
For example, a MicroMort (1 MM, and sounds like micro fart) is “equal to one-in-a million chance of death.”
An average American has a 1.3MMs chance of a “sudden, violent end” on any given day.
However, climb to the base camp at Mount Everest (at 29K feet), that’s over 12,000 MM, base jump at only 430 MMs per jump, parachute 7 MM, and go on a roller coaster at only .0015 MM.
So there you have it–statistics tell the risk story!
But not so fast, our risk calculations also take into account our qualitative values. For example, we tend to lower the risk in our minds of postpartum depression (10-15% or higher) because we value having a baby.
Similarly, we tend to think driving (1 MM per 240 miles) is safer than flying (1 MM per 7,500 miles) because we believe we are in control of the automobile, as opposed to a passenger jet flown by a couple of pilots.
The result, “Scariness of an activity isn’t necessarily proportionate to its risk.”
That means that you can easily make a mistake and underestimate risk, because of your personality or cultural and social biases.
Rock climb at your own risk…BUT do you really understand what that risk even is or are you driven to do something overly dangerous and maybe stupid. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
andyblumenthal