I am hoping Haley doesn't drop out of the race - here's a couple of reasons why

I give Nikki Haley credit for guts for hanging in there while Trump keeps winning primaries. But better than guts from my point of view, somewhat left of center are the things she's doing. By staying in there, and continuing to contest the Republican Party's nomination for Presidential candidate she forces Trump and his campaign to spend money and a fairly large chunk of change it is that would be better reserved for the battle against Biden. Anyone reading the headlines knows that Trump’s a miser who hates to pay his bills, a six-time bankrupt but besides that he’s got more than half a billion dollars- that’s more than $500,000,000 for those who like to see the zeros, in judgements against him and his businesses hanging over his orange haired head and for the fraud judgement in NY he’s got thirty days to either find an accredited bonding entity or pony up. The campaign needs money too and Hailey’s making them drain their coffers. 

She also keeps the spotlight on herself at least part of the time and that causes the rather thin-skinned Mr. Trump, not known for impulse control to bristle. Not only does he have to keep attacking her, he's got to worry at least a little that enough undecideds and maybe-Trumpers will stay home come November.  The worst for him is that it's a woman cutting him. So, keep it up Nikki, Trump deserves you.

But I'm not done. Consider the vote totals in the primaries. Somewhere around 40% of Republicans in New Hampshire and South Carolina voted for her. Sure, most of those will vote for whomever the Republicans run but some, maybe many of those will choose to not vote for Trump even if they won't vote for Biden.

These are things to consider, loud-mouthed Donald Trump, even as you find other ways to shoot yourself in the foot with segments of the undecided.

And now, a few photos.

Washington Slept Here

This past weekend was President's Day weekend. On Sunday, 2/18 The Daughters of Liberty's Legacy (DOLL) ran a program at the Elijah Miller House in North White Plains, NY. The Miller House was built in 1738 and was home to several generations of farmers. Elijah Miller joined the local militia. He was killed at the Battle of Brooklyn and his two eldest sons perished from fever during the campaign. 

General George Washington stayed there three times during the Revolution and last Sunday he came back in the guise of an unnamed docent to tell us about his and the army's experience during the campaigns for New York and the Hudson.

I've lived in the area nearly 40 years and I've never been to the Miller House before. It was not open to the public for most of those years. It's restoration was begun in 2019 thanks to legislation sponsored by County Executive George Latimer. The Wikipedia article linked to above is a little out of date. The restoration is ongoing but the house is open for tours by appointment and special events such as this one. Visit this site for information: https://parks.westchestergov.com/historic-sites/the-miller-house

There's not a lot to see but it nonetheless is authentic and it's authenticity and historic importance permeates the place. here's a few photos of the event

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Remington Arms Closes it's NY factory - Stefanik spews BS, no surprise there - and a visit to Urban Space

In case you have not heard, Remington Arms is closing its Ilion, NY factory. It's been making guns there for more than 200 years but according to reports global competition and the aging of their plant has led to this. They've been given HUGE incentives to move to Georgia where they will have brand new, modern manufacturing facilities. During the past couple of decades they've been bought and sold, been in and out of bankruptcy and still hung in. What had been a workforce of a couple of thousand is down to a few hundred. Notice, none of this is about gun control. We are talking economic forces here.

Frank Brown, the president of the United Mine Workers of America Local 71, which represents the workers said, and I quote him in the NY Times, "We have been manufacturing firearms for over 200 years and never ever had a problem selling firearms. It's all about money and greed." But he did express sadness, perhaps even bitterness about the closing of the plant.

Michael Press, a consultant whose work is to find advantageous tax deal on new sites and has worked with Remington is quoted in the NY Times saying about several arms companies, "They have migrated to Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Georgia. It's mainly about the cost of doing business."

These quotes sound reasonable, recognizing that the bottom-line drives business decisions, not what happens to the stakeholders left behind. Since Remington's bottom line hasn't been good the past number of years, their owners - they are privately held - make decisions they believe are best for themselves.

On the other hand, ignoring business and economic forces, Elisa Stefanik, Trumpist Republican Congresswoman in whose district Ilion is located prefers politics and propaganda even when there's little truth in it. This, from her website, "it is because of New York Democrats' unconstitutional gun grab policies that the oldest gun manufacturer in the country has been run out of the state." Reading into that I guess she's got no problem with mass shootings since when one occurs, she will probably say she's praying for the victims and their families.

When you look to see what NY State's gun laws are, they aren't terrible nor overly restrictive. They ban assault weapons, put some limits on semi-automatic weapons including magazine size - do you really need to have more than ten bullets in your semi-automatic, require permits for pistols and to purchase semi-automatics and background checks including for private sales. Want a long gun or a shotgun? Have your background check and you are good to go, no permit required.

So Elise, where is that gun grabbing you are bitching about? Or are you just spewing more bullshit? Ms. Stefanik, go get stuffed!

I am pretty sick of her. She runs and hides from the insurgents of 1/6 and she now hails these convicted rioters as political prisoners. I'd agree on the political part if their crimes were thought crimes or political speech crimes but when you go from thought and belief to speech, and from speech to active acts of violence you lose the political part of the prisoner even if they acted out of their beliefs and you become, depending on the severity of your crime, a felon or - what do you call a person convicted of a misdemeanor? A misdemeanant perhaps - convicted of a crime.

I was involved in political activism at one time, demonstrating and protesting. Most of the people arrested around me - I was lucky enough to not get taken in - were charged with disturbing the peace or such and released usually with either charges dropped or violations. Those who went further and acted violently against people or property and were convicted, were they political prisoners or felons? I guess if they were on your side, they were political and if you opposed their beliefs, then they were just criminals.

I never breached the halls of Congress or physically assaulted the police. 

Elise Stefanik isn't a hypocrite even though to those opposed to her politics she may seem one. I think she believes the bullshit that comes out of her mouth. I think she mourns the victims of mass shootings but thinks they died to protect the right of the shooter to own and use an assault weapon, and for anyone who wants one to go and get one.

I get angry just writing this.

Now for something completely different from the above: photos.

I met my friend Ron at Urban Space this past Friday afternoon. We spent a couple of hours chatting with each other and some of the people around us. Perhaps it should have occurred to me that since we've been going there for a couple of years every other week or so, that the people who work there not only recognized us as semi-regulars but were pleased when we brought them into our conversation. If they were on break, they didn't need to rush back but if they were working, it was a bit of a pleasant how are you doing before they got back to work.

The last time I was there I posted a picture of Roland, one of the managers on the floor. He was there working on Friday and we kidded about the photo. A couple of the other people were interested and seemed to like the picture, so with their permission I took theirs as well. Today there's Paul, Ray and François.

Of course I'm not leaving there without a few pictures of the customer enjoying their food, their drink, their friends and the scene.

Ron may not like the photo I took of him but I think it's interesting.

To close, I've been watching the JPMorgan Chase headquarters being built the past few years. It's nearing completion. The exterior is being installed and though I can't see inside, I guess on floors that are ready interior work may have begun. This photo is part of the record.

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Feb 13, 2024, a snow day with photos in southern NY state and a rant against Trump.

 While I refuse to believe Donald Trump is an idiot I believe like an idiot, he doesn't know what's best for himself. For a man who claims on one hand that he supported some controls on firearms during his term as president to claim now that he did nothing during his presidency to curb the ownership of firearms speaks a cognitive problem that might be the onset of dementia, though I know many will argue he's been demented for quite a long time. One day saying he'll be a dictator on day one if elected to the presidency and then after seeing how poorly that went over, even among some of his base, announcing he's just kidding. Give me a break. It seems at times he doesn't know which way he's going, nor his left hand from his right. To have proudly claimed he was a sexual abuser in that famous though now often forgotten "Access Hollywood" tape and then to have claimed he never met Jean Carroll seems not only highly disingenuous but possibly another sign of a cognitive disorder. And then this week to have said he'd let Putin do whatever he wants makes me wonder if Putin has some seriously harmful evidence of Trump's sexual perversion, political indebtedness and general corruption. Could it be that Donald is working as an unregistered agent of a foreign power? Leave NATO, that's Trump.

I struggle as I write this to think of something nice to say about the man. Let me think. If you are a racist, then Trump's your man. If you think enabling antisemites and white supremacy is a way to make America great, then Trump's your man. If you think the best way for the USA to deal with a very dangerous world is by building a wall around the country and then burying your head in the sand, then Trump's your man. Remember, this is the man who praised President of the People's Republic of China as a great leader but wants to put tariffs of up to 60% on their exports to the USA, who said that he and Kim of the Peoples' Republic of North Korea were like lovers ... well you can finish that sentence. And did I mention climate change? I'm not sure Trump knows the difference between weather and climate, and I believe he doesn't really care.

He is a man who will say and do anything he thinks will get his followers riled up so that they'll show up at the polls.

I am sure among the several dozen people who read my blog there are some who will see Trump labeled a racist and say I'm wrong. There are people who will feel confirmed in their prejudices and feel good about it. Well, they ought to think about who they are. If they are God-fearing people, they should worry about how they as sinners will fare in the hands of an angry God.

And don't get me started about the bootlicking, brown-nosed Trumpites in Congress. And you do know how their noses got brown, don't you?

Enough ranting for the moment. It was a lovely, snow-filled morning here, 30 miles north of NYC. The snow started during the night and by the time I got up before sunrise there were several inches of the fluffy white stuff on the cars parked in the driveway, in the yard and even in the road. Though the plows were out it was snowing heavily enough that it was accumulating to keep the roads treacherous.

I started by taking pictures toward the road and then after sunrise, around the house. 

Do I think the pictures are good ones? Well, would I post them if I didn't? But ask me if I think they are boring or contemplative and I will say that's up to you.

Considering I was told this was to be a nor'easter I will only ask, where was the wind?

And what can be cuter than a kitty in the window watching the snow falling?

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A beginning for me - The Jews of Radom, Poland in North America

In May, 2023 I attended the unveiling for a cousin at  ago at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, Queens, NY. After the brief service we searched out the graves of other relatives. It was then I found for myself the gateway of the burial grounds of the First Radomer Congregation in New York City. I knew only they'd existed but otherwise, nothing. This gap in my knowledge led me to look for other traces of Radomers and their societies in North America. One of the things I found was a synagogue in Toronto Beth Radom Congregation, possibly the last active building in North America that bears the name Radom. They are the home to the small Beth Radom Museum.  

I recently made contact with the founder and curator of the Museum in Toronto, ON. Alan Fryman was and is determined to keep the history of Jewish life in Radom and the Radomers' migrations from Poland to the many places in the world where they settled, and provide documentation on the many societies and congregations they created after leaving Poland, many to provide aid to the Jews of Radom before and during the Holocaust, as best they could, and to offer aid to the survivors who arrived as refugees in their new homes. Many of these organizations also established cemeteries, such as the one I help manage and maintain with other 2nd generation at New Montefiore Cemetery at Pinelawn, NY and Cedar Park and Beth El Cemeteries in Paramus, NJ.

We had a lengthy phone conversation and we told each other something of our own stories. His grandparents emigrated to Canada, lived in Buffalo for a time before returning to Toronto where they were among the founders of the Radomer Mutual Benefit Society in Toronto, which later created the Beth Radom Congregation, described in the English language section of The Book of Radom as "a magnificent edifice erected in Toronto in 1952."

Of interest to me is sharing our different experiences as Radomers in North America, his as the 3rd generation, born and raised here in a family that was probably already establishing a  Jewish Canadian identity, mine as among those whose parents arrived in the USA and Canada as refugees and survivors. It will be interesting.

Today I also learned of a Radomer cemetery, and possibly two in Baltimore and another near Detroit. There are some photos online of the gateway for the Radomer Verein Cemetery showing an establishment date of 1903, and for a Progressive Radomer Verein established 1925. I am very curious. The one near Detroit is at Hebrew Memorial Park and only has a simple sign with the words, Radomer Cemetery.

I have much to learn.

Most of these photos were taken at the Radomer Mutual Culture Center cemetery at New Montefiore. I believe I've posted one. I am not satisfied with them but they are what I have and what I shared with Alan Fryman. He's adding them to the digital slide show at the museum in Toronto. His words to me after viewing them simply recognized our shared heritage as the names on the monument, memorializing many of those murdered in the Holocaust are the same family names of the Toronto Radomers.

I plan on taking new photos of the monuments, including details and will post them when I do.

I am also sharing a photo I took last year at Mt. Hebron of the gateway to the First Radomer Congregation's cemetery.

In times as trying for world Jewry as these, we most never forget that there are still many people who would find joy in our destruction. We must not only never forget what happened, we must continue to fight for our survival as well.

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