Blogs

‘Twas the week before Christmas, and over our house, four drones were stirring, with suspicions aroused. Like many of you who live in the northeast, these mysterious drones that continue to invade our skies are leaving me in an unsettled state of mind during the holiday season. And why federal authorities took so long to investigate the source of these drones really does not have me feeling festive heading into what is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. This modern-day...

To paraphrase a popular children’s cartoon of the past few decades, “If I had a nickel for every time I discussed an assassination on this blog, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice.”  Last week, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, was gunned down by an assassin on his way to an investor meeting. I could lay out the moral implications at great length in this blog, but that’s not terribly important...

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and reached their destinations safely, without having to stow yourself on an airplane. Yes, New York City is once again the dateline for the latest security fiasco in the place I call home. This latest security escapade took place at JFK Airport on Nov. 26, when an unidentified 57-year-old Russian national miraculously made her way through multiple security checkpoints without valid travel documents or a boarding pass and somehow snuck her way on to a Delta...

I was going to write about 2025 predictions this week, but in the spirit of not supporting Christmas music and decorations hitting stores before Thanksgiving is over, I’m going to let that topic stew a while longer. Instead, I wanted to touch briefly this week on tariffs. If you’ve been following any sort of news, then I’m certain that’s come up in some fashion. I don’t usually linger on political topics in this blog for the same reason you shouldn’t lick the...

After more than 14,000 miles in the air, three cities, three hotels, four train rides and four cab rides, I would say it was well worth the trip. My first journey across the world to Japan was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, a mixture of business and pleasure that made for a truly unforgettable week in the “Land of the Rising Sun.” The reason for my trek across the International Date Line and all states, countries and bodies of water along the way was the inaugural Global Press...

Not to distract the masses from any other topics that may be occupying their thoughts, but in the blog this week I really am going to talk about bread. There’s a new ransomware group making the rounds lately and if you’re wondering what they’ve done to be singled out among a sea of cyber ne’er-do-wells then I’d have to say, it’s probably their preferred form of payment. A group calling itself Hellcat has claimed to have compromised Schneider Electric, a French...

More security - or in this case, lack of security - news this week coming out of NYC, and this one falls in the category of “Can’t make this stuff up” regarding the facility where New York’s Finest recruits are trained. This inexplicable blunder took place in the wee hours of the morning on Nov. 2 at the entrance of the state-of-the-art building that houses the New York City Police Academy, which stands a mere three miles from my home. Vandals not only desecrated an...

In the last stretch of this year’s election cycle the candidates are really burning up the trail, at least the parts of it not already on fire. That’s right in several states political violence rose to the level of arson as ballot boxes were set on fire in Oregon, Washington, and even Arizona recently. The good news is, sometimes we learn our lessons and there were cameras monitoring a few of those sites. In fact, a suspect is already in custody in the Arizona case, and I expect...

More security-related news coming out of New York for this week’s blog - this time on the state level - and significant enough that security integrators and small business owners in NY State should really take the time to read about these important developments that will help protect employees and merchandise. Let me go back to April of this year, when the New York State legislature passed its annual budget measure for fiscal year 2025 which addresses multiple priorities and...

Anyone who would dare saunter up to me to complain about Christmas decorations going in the stores too early this year has never worked at a news desk in an election year. That’s right, every four years Santa delivers coal to a reporter’s inbox for 12-14 months straight. I cannot explain to anyone reading this the joy I feel knowing that I won’t be up all-night waiting for confirmation on results in local races, or God forbid, sitting at a campaign headquarters, or any of the...