Steve Jobs, one of the most important entrepreneurs and innovators of both the 20th and 21st centuries, has died. Will he receive the sort of veneration reserved to politicians when they die? That’s unlikely, although Steve Jobs typically did more good for humanity every day before lunch time than any politician has ever done in his whole life.
Jobs should be considered a great American icon in the same way that Michelangelo is associated with Italy or Mozart with Austria.
When foreigners walk into “American-themed” gift shops in America, they should be greeted with commemorative plates bearing Jobs’s face.
Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen since we have to honor great humanitarians like nuker-in-chief Harry Truman instead.
And of course, Jobs did great things for all humans, and not just Americans.
Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs.
APPLE–Remembering Steve Jobs: “… Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built…”
Netflix upset its fractious, spoiled-rotten patrons by raising prices (which were at a rock-bottom low), and separating its on-demand internet streaming service from the DVD-by-mail business (now called Qwikster). No sooner did Netflix customers begin whining, than the company sprung into action—within weeks.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has been groveling to the only voters who count in the true democracy that is the free market: “I messed up. I owe you an explanation … we lacked respect and humility,” all ridiculous and untrue, but necessary if this shrewd businessman is to please his only lords and masters: the buyers.
Despite this Qwickster response, the same misguided patrons refuse to appreciate the wonders of free-market capitalism and will keep begging for more of Uncle Sam’s screw-you, coercive services.
Michael Scheuer is so predicable in his attempts to be unpredictable. I knew right away what Scheuer would say when Judge Napolitano, of Freedom Watch, brought up the matter of US spying on Israel. The Jewish State is no ally; it deserves what it gets, said Scheuer.
Oh the contradictions! The likes of Scheuer see the US as a bad actor everywhere around the world. Except when it comes to the Jewish State. When it concerns Israel, big bad America suddenly becomes poor little Empire.
Inconsistency in thinking is never a nice thing to behold.
Scheuer also claimed that Israel has been stealing America’s intellectual property, an assertion for which he offered no evidence.
Who do you think invented Microsoft’s “Kinect,” which is in the Guinness Book of Records as the “Fastest-Selling Consumer Electronics Device” ever? Scheuer would like to claim the invention for the US, but it belongs to an Israeli outfit called PrimeSense.
Jealously is as ugly as inconsistency. My sources in the high-tech industry confirm that Israel has been on the cutting edge for quite sometime. Significant is the trend. And it is unmistakable: “Emerging markets,” as Israel is, are becoming freer, whereas America is becoming less free. The devil is in that detail.
Moreover, there is the issue of education. Take Germany. It is socialistic like Israel, but has a splendid education system, which remains unburdened by political correctness. The Germans run the same sort of schools I attended growing up in Israel, where, because no pedagogue believes all kids are created equal, students are streamed into different tracks. Israel, I suspect, is unencumbered by the kind of education system that graduates retarded kidsas America does.
UPDATE: THE “SIR” THING. Kerry, it’s uncanny. I was thinking the same. Scheuer’s habit of saying “Sir” constantly is his way of appearing like a straight arrow. You know; like man with military discipline. “Take what I say to the bank, Sir.” It’s so phony.
The house virtuoso does not own a Gibson guitar; he dislikes them with a passion. Being one hell of a neoclassical, instrumental guitarist, Sean Mercer has his reasons. (Listen to the YouTube posted below.) He does, however, own the following fine instruments, which are crafted with assorted hardwoods, some rare, and possibly illegal:
The meek chief executive of Gibson Guitars, Henry Juszkiewicz, pleaded plaintively with the public: “We were not engaged in smuggling. ‘We have been importing fingerboard stock on a regular basis from India for 17 years.'”
He might have pointed to the fact that this is part of the feds’ ongoing criminalization of naturally licit behavior, and that, last he looked, ex post facto prosecutions were unconstitutional. In other words, when Gibson began importing these woods, the practice was legal. It is unconstitutional to criminalize actions that were legal when committed.
Business in the US is anything but Randian; it adopts an obsequious manner with the both the pitchfork-hoisting public and our DC Overlords.
As promised, here is a piece from the CD “Electric Storm,” by instrumental guitarist Sean Mercer. Sean’s compositions were featured in Guitar Player Magazine. Wrote the great Mike Varney:
Sean’s demo showcases his skills as a producer, engineer, writer, performer, and keyboardist. His set of neo-classical instrumentals are [sic] reminiscent at times of works by Tony MacAlpine. Complex arrangements, tightly played ensemble lines, and a grand display of thematic solo work should make this tape of particular interest to neo-classical fusion fans. [Mike Varney, Guitar Player, October 1991]
