Did you know that June 7 was National Donut Day? First celebrated in 1938 by the Salvation Army in Chicago, the holiday was established as a fundraiser for those in need during the Great Depression, and to honor the Salvation Army “donut lassies” who served deep-fried rounds of dough to famished soldiers during World War I. What began as a small c …
I was back in Home Depot on Monday returning the grates for my grill. I had bought the wrong size the day before. After making the exchange I decided to go down the lumber aisles. My grandfather and father owned a lumber company on West 18th Street and seeing and smelling the fresh wood reminded me of them and the days I spent there as a kid. O …
In the stadium where the San Francisco Giants baseball team plays, unusually large seagull invasions started earlier this year. Most times they appear after the seven inning stretch, scanning the park to see what tasty leftovers will be available. "Take me out to the ballgame" is their signal that dinner is being served. Giants first baseman Bran …
In Robert Heinlein's mid 20th Century classic "Stranger in a Strange Land" he invented the concept of the "Fair Witness, an individual trained to observe events and report exactly what he or she sees and hears, making no extrapolations or assumptions. I always thought he should have dubbed them the "Perfect Witness". Of course, today a good taping …
In an apparent sting operation, one hundred and four men were arrested in the past two months in Nassau County for solicitation of prostitutes. The District Attorney released the names and photographs of the men. Obviously an attempt - successful by all accounts - to embarrass and humiliate those arrested. We know one of the men on the list w …
Don's blog inspired me. We often look at technology, especially advanced technology to be riddled with fears and anxieties. While it is fair for Don to question what would/will happen when our robot technology becomes so advanced that it borders on gaining consciousness. Many often mention Star Trek when they speak of real life technological …
With graduation season upon us, it seems everyone has a word of advice for a college graduate. Oprah told the 2013 class at Harvard University “It doesn’t matter how far you might rise, at some point you're bound to stumble," she said. "And when you do, there is something I want you to remember. No such thing as failure. Failure is just life tr …
This blog is not about politics. This blog is about change. As a young adult, I was a left wing liberal. My father, on the other hand, was a right wing conservative. We used to love butting heads over politics. I was the “meat-head” to his Archie Bunker. My father would end every argument with these words, “You’ll see that I’m right when you get …
Do you think the characters in science fiction movies are all make believe? Like cyborgs and robocops and transformers and megazilla? Well think again. Just this week a United Nations expert called for a global moratorium on the testing and production of armed robots that can select and kill targets without human command. While no countries …
In an age where we, the American consumer, expect great service from every company we deal with there is one shining example of a company where their customer service standards are horrible. It's behaviours show that it could care less about being liked or respected. And people use them all the time. Spirit Airlines - the no-frills carrier. They …
Do you have an appetite for risk?Risk can take many forms: physical, financial, social, emotional, intellectual, creative, legal and (feel free to add more to fill in the blank). As one who espouses a "Dare to be great" philosophy I have taken risks in my career, but as I mature my wife perceives a growing tendancy towards risk aversion. Maybe I've …
I heard that the weather was abnormally cool in New York for the Memorial Day weekend. We were in Prague and the weather was about the same --- the coldest weather that they have had at this time of year in fifty years. And it rained. It was fitting weather for our visit to Terezin -- the site of a ghetto and concentration camp near Prague during …
It was a simple proposition that I generated from a variety of thoughts. Part of it came from the repeated Rutgers "scandals". Part of it came from conversations I've had with my sister who is both a teacher and a mother of a special needs child. Part of it was conceived throughout Memorial Day weekend as I watched episodes of MASH, a special o …
Driving around my neighborhood on Memorial Day, I made the following observation. My house was the only one displaying the American flag. A little disconcerting. Growing up, my father religiously put the flag out on our front porch in Brooklyn on Memorial Day, July Fourth and probably a few other holidays during the year. I don’t really remember …
I was asked to discuss at a meeting this week, how the South Shore was doing six months after Sandy. I talked about many of the businesses that still haven’t come back. I also spoke about all the homes that still haven’t or are just beginning to undergo construction. Without realizing that I would, I spent a lot of time discussing the color …
