WNU Editor: My Commentary And Analysis On The U.S. Election

WNU Editor: It's 22:45 EST, and it is time for me to go to bed. Even though the results are still coming in, it is clear to me that President Obama and the Democrats have done very well tonight. They have not only won the Presidency, but they have won a number of critical U.S. Senate seats that will cement their power on guiding U.S. foreign policy for the next 4 years. The Republicans will still control the House, and will be able to influence budget and financial decisions .... but this is a clear defeat for them, and they will need to "retire" their leadership for "new blood and ideas" to come in.

As I had mentioned in previous commentaries, it made no difference to me on who was going to win tonight (the advantages of not living in the U.S.). But what I expect  tomorrow .... and the next four years .... is the following, Sequestration will kick in on January 1, coupled with higher taxes and an economy that will continue to do what it has been going through for the past 4 years. Capital investment is going to freeze, and those individuals and institutions with money will be looking elsewhere to relocate. The US military is going to suffer some serious cuts in their budgets and programs .... I will post more on that in the weeks and months ahead. Internationally .... I see the hot spots in the world getting hotter, and more state players feeling more confident that they can now pursue goals and strategies that may not be in our main interests. That list is also long and many .... and I will post more on that later.

In conclusion .... as I see it .... the American electorate has chosen a leadership and government that will pursue a policy of more government involvement in the economy, more redistribution coupled with more social services, the preservation of Obamacare, a lesser military, selective international involvement, greater debt, and .... more to the point .... the continuation of a progressive agenda that many of President Obama's supporters were disappointed that he did not fully implement in his last term. Is this the right direction that the U.S. should take .... I believe not. But .... the American electorate has spoken, and this Canadian must respect that result.

Steve Jobs Of Apple Has Passed Away (A Personal Reflection)

Steven Paul Jobs, 1955-2011 -- Wall Street Journal

Apple Co-Founder Transformed Technology, Media, Retailing And Built One of the World's Most Valuable Companies

Steven P. Jobs, the Apple Inc. chairman and co-founder who pioneered the personal-computer industry and changed the way people think about technology, died Wednesday at the age of 56.

His family, in a statement released by Apple, said Mr. Jobs "died peacefully today surrounded by his family."

The company didn't specify the cause of death. Mr. Jobs had battled pancreatic cancer and several years ago received a liver transplant. In August, Mr. Jobs stepped down as chief executive, handing the reins to longtime deputy Tim Cook.

Read more ....

My Comment: My background and profession is in computers .... starting with selling computers in the 1980s. It was also in the 1980s that I had the good fortune of meeting Steve Jobs at McGill University (he gave a brief lecture on the virtues of the Mac to the computer science department) .... and since then I have been a keen follower of his career. I bought every book on Steve Jobs during the 1980s, and I even approached him to be Apple's representative in what was then the Soviet Union. Unfortunately .... before I got to meet him .... he was kicked out of the company by then Apple CEO Sculley who in turn was not interested in having someone like me selling their computers to communist bloc nations. Rebuffed ... I then went into making and selling regular PCs .... wondering even to this day the "what if" my path went down the road that I wanted to go 25 years ago.

Today .... I love my iPod, watch films on my 27" Mac, and use my iPad on a regular basis. This is all because of Steve Jobs and the people in Apple who made the decision to follow him, and to deliver the products that he dreamed about.

Yup .... this is a sad day for those of us who were involved with the personal computer revolution at the beginning .... and know the impact that Steve Jobs had on it. He will be missed. Correction .... he will be sorely missed :(