ARI HERZOG

My Personal Blog

About Ari Herzog

Ari Herzog is a teacher and tutor with 20+ years of experience in education, government, and communications. He is blogging during the coronavirus pandemic to make the world a better place.

Normal Life

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The last time I wrote about “the new normal” was when I redefined the term in June 2020.

In that blog post, I explained that I began using the term because others used it. Recognizing that the pandemic wasn’t going away in the near future, I suggested that we describe our lives under the universal header of life.

Fast forward to Seth Godin who also shrugged off the term.

Using plain language, Seth explained why we live in a normal of now and why history will look back on our current lives as footnotes in a larger narrative. He suggested that it’s silly to say we live in a new normal when we will always live in new normals.

That’s life.

Why I Don’t Know My Password

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For the better part of a decade, I employed a mnemonic password system to remember every password for every website that required one.

In early 2020, I deleted every password that mattered and replaced them with a randomly-generated string of characters (comprising capital letters, lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols).

I use an open-source password manager called Bitwarden that creates the passwords and auto-logs me into websites that require them.

Additionally, I use a program called Authy which backs-up two-factor authentication codes into the cloud. This avoids needing my email address or my phone.

Now, it doesn’t matter if I’m logging into Facebook or the Washington Post because while I usually know my username, I definitely don’t know my password. But by logging into Bitwarden, it is pre-configured know when and where to input the correct login credentials. All I have to do is click a button to tell Bitwarden to do it.

Authy comes into play if the website (or I) want to verify I am the only person authorized to use that account. This is in place on everything from Gmail to PayPal to my blog. And if I don’t have my phone on me, I can still safely log into everything.

You should use password management in this age of Russian hacking, especially if and when using easy-to-guess passwords that might include dictionary words. Password managers such as Bitwarden, LastPass, 1Password, etc. will create and store your hard-to-guess website passwords and you only need to know the master password to access the application.

As for two-factor authentication, that might not be for you. But if you’re frequently (or rarely, for that matter) logging into websites or apps that can control your money or identity, then you should definitely set it up.

A New Republican Party

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CNN published a fascinating collection of opinions from 11 voices in the Republican Party with their speculations on the party’s future.

Doug Heye thinks the Republican Party is irrelevant. Mia Love supports increased diversity. Scott Jennings believes in common sense and simplicity. Sarah Isgur wants to see a set of policies. SE Cupp argues for reinvention. Tara Setmayer warns the Republicans may be banished like the Whigs. The list goes on.

I’m neither a Republican nor a Democrat so here’s my thought: Create a new party.

Many U.S. Presidents represented political parties that don’t exist anymore. Such as the Whig Party. Four U.S. Presidents were associated with it. Similarly, there’s no reason why today’s Republican Party needs to continue to exist. Let it die.

Bring together a spectrum of nonpartisan voices who are dissatisfied with the status quo. Make a list of what is needed and what is not. Then, launch the new party. Start small with local and state candidates around the country. If successful, go national. That’s how parties should be born.

The alternative is the GOP is reformed in pieces; but that runs the risk of unsatisfied incumbents, lost progress, and a still-divided America (and Party). Who wants that?

What If Anti-Trump GOP Groups Worked Together

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Republican Voters Against Trump, Republicans for the Rule of Law, and Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden are coalitions of lifelong conservatives and Republicans, and former Republicans, who are fed up with the Trump Presidency and support Joe Biden.

Each of these groups exist under the nonprofit umbrella of Defending Democracy Together. The leadership team is a who’s who of former GOP officials and strategists.

It’s great that a single organization exists to spearhead the initiatives of those three coalitions. However, there are many other groups that are working in tandem with the same goal — and could benefit from combining resources.

The Lincoln Project is creating amazing anti-Trump videos such as “Flag of Treason,” “The Wall,” and “Kamala.” The organizational founders are Republicans who believe that “defeating so polarizing a character as Trump will allow the country to heal its political and psychological wounds and allow for a new, better path forward for all Americans.”

Veterans for Responsible Leadership and Really American are among other anti-Trump groups with large social media followings who support Biden.

Then there are the political action committees including Unite the Country, American Bridge, and Pacronym.

Among the newer PACs is 43 Alumni for Biden comprising former government employees “who served President Bush and other Republican Presidents, Governors, and Members of Congress.”

Let’s not forget the growing list of Republican elected and appointed officials who are stepping forward seemingly every day to support Biden.

Instead of each group raising their own funds, releasing their own ads and videos, and competing for (social) media attention, wouldn’t it be amazing and game-changing if they existed under the same so-called roof?

The country is divided. These groups should unite today to pool their resources to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

My First Amazon Review

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I created my Amazon account in 1998.

Every time I search for a product, I sort the resulting list by average customer reviews. This enables me to peruse how many total reviews were written and which percentage gave four and five stars. Then, I click into product description pages and scroll down to read other people’s reviews.

If one product has fewer reviews than another product, I buy the item with more reviews. The first product might be better; but reviews are forcing my spending habits. I’m not alone. A 2017 article about the $400 billion online reviewing industry indicated that 50% of shoppers relied on Amazon for reviews.

Because I spend a significant amount of time to read what random people think about a product, it’s strange that I never wrote my own reviews.

I can’t explain it. I use Yelp to read and write business reviews, and I use Goodreads to read and write book reviews. Why don’t I do it on Amazon?

Once I determine what to use for a handle, I’ll start writing reviews for all of the products I’ve ordered during the pandemic.

My latest delivery was an 8″ ring light tripod that I’ll use to illuminate Zoom meetings. There’s already over 22,000 reviews; but mine isn’t there. After unpacking the product and trying it out, that will be my first review.