Wednesday, October 17, 2007

New Page Address !


My 2 Cents 4 the Day has moved to the following address:

http://my2cents4theday.blogspot.com

Thursday, July 12, 2007

New Blog Address


http://my2cents4theday.blogspot.com/ is the address for my new blog. For my latest blogs please go there.





Friday, May 25, 2007

America's Greatest Enemy?

Whether America looks to the north, west, south or east of her boarders she finds herself constantly surrounded by an ever-increasing hoard of enemies, both from within and from without, but which of these enemies is the biggest and the greatess threat to America?

If America is to defeat its foes history shows that it must first recognize who they are before it can ever hope to begin to deal with them. But just who or what is America's greatest enemy?

Could it be that America’s number one enemy is now what appears to be the never-ending, non-stoppable army of illegal immigrants, pouring in by the millions through the Mexican border and taxing every inch of its society?

How about the threats posed from every form of crime, be it domestic, personal, business, social and, of course, organized crime, including those associate with the illicit drug trade. Could this possibly be America's greatest enemy?

Or could America’s greatest enemy be an economic one, like that of its national debt, or that of it’s astronomical trade deficit, a monster that no matter how hard the government tries to tame, just keeps growing like a cancer until it now stands at a mind-boggling 64,091.6 billion dollars for 2006!

Maybe America’s greatest enemy is the ever present threat of terrorists attacks presented by groups like Al Qeida, who’s biggest desire is to bring down the great Satan and whose stated goals include even that of acquiring and using nuclear bombs or materials?

Or could the greatest enemy be any number of radically based governments such as Iran, Syria, or even Venezuela who daily rant and rage and thumb their nose's at the United States, denouncing it at every possible opportunity?

Another possibility for America's greatest enemy, incredibly, seems to be nature itself, which almost seems to have emerged with a destructive mind of it's own, a mind determined to inflict the greatest destruction upon America as she can and did with Katrina. Be it global warming or what, one can’t help but ask, if this too is also a candidate for the role America’s greatest enemy?

Actually, even though all of the contenders above are truly enemies which America must consider seriously, I firmly believe that America’s greatest enemy comes from within. Put another way: the greatest enemy of AMERICA, IS AMERICA ITSELF and the values it has abandoned and the flawed ones that it has replaced them with!

These fundamental beliefs, which made America great, included its beliefs in: hard-work; self-sacrifice; honesty, selflessness, thoughtfulness, determination, love of country, neighbor and the love and the worship of Almighty God, which have been sadly replaced with basically the very opposite values.

These new values include: laziness and the desire to get paid more for less work; unwillingness to sacrifice; rampant lying; self-center ness; inconsideration and rudeness, lack of motivation and a replacing of love of country, neighbor and the love and worship of Almighty God with the love and worship of the almighty dollar, which by the way, is becoming less almighty with the help of America's enemies on a daily basis!!

With America's adoption of the latter ideals, principles and values, America has lowered it ability to do those things that have to be done, those things that require determination and self-sacrifice to endure through-thick-and-thin.

This has further resulted in America becoming weak and ineffective in achieving its goals and objectives and America's traditional enemies are well aware of this and thus have no fear of saying or doing anything to attack this country.

Because of these new values, America not finds itself not only fighting a war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but a also war in its own backyard, with its own citizens, as they fight one against the other, on this issue or that. Politicians fight against politicians, who seem to be more concern in scoring popular support for its party then the good of the country; anti-abortionists against the right to choose; straights against gays, blacks against whites; Christians creationists against evolutionists and seemingly, Moslems against every one else! Blood touches blood from one part of the country to the other, as citizens, armed to the teeth, shoot it out from school campus’s such as Virginia Tech, to individuals shot at random by violent gangs such as, The Bloods and the Crips, and all for no apparent reason! America is truly at war and at war with itself!

Americans have become so absorbed into fighting their fellow Americans over this or that cause, that now; the very fundamental right of freedom of speech is in question! People are scared to say any thing, about anything, or anybody, less they be found guilty of a hate crime! Its total madness! The American Civil Liberty organization is doing its best to limit Americans right of speech on so many contentious issues such as the ability to use or express one’s religious belief in public that one can’t help but wonder why America’s traditional enemies are dancing in glee, as Americans fight, kill and maim each other! They see what America doesn't, that it has become its own enemy, so busy fighting one another that America has lost the will to fight, lost the very pride of its power and the ability to take a fully united stand on anything, be it Iraq or anything else. They know that America has become a house divided, but the question is, will America wake up and acknowledge the same before it is too late?

We have all heard the expression, 'United we stand, divided we fall,' but do we believe it? Our enemies do, they know we are a house divided and that we have become our own worst enemies, which embolden them, all the more, into thinking they can get away with anything they please.

If America is to be defeated it will have to be at its own hand, its own doing. No other enemy of itself has the power to bring down America, so they are content on us to do the job for them. By becoming a nation divided, on so many issues, America has weakened itself to the point that its other enemies are now within striking distance, just waiting for the perfect opportunity, of issuing the final knock-out punch themselves!

The new values of doing what is right in one's own eyes; the idea of getting the other guy first, before he gets you; the idea of taking care of number one first, has turned America into a nation far removed from the principles and values of its founding fathers and the consequences are here for the entire world to see, and they are not very pretty.

I love America deeply and it deeply pains me to see how the latter values have turned America into a lazy, self-centered, pleasure-seeking society, rather than that of its former self. America still has the power, the greatest history has ever known, but for how much longer? Surely the saying is true: 'A house divided, cannot stand!" Will that also be true of America?

Will America ever face up and realize that America has become its own greatest enemy, or more correctly, the abandonment of the ideals, principles and values of its founding fathers has, and will America yet return to embrace them once again, and then emerge as a stronger, better, brighter and more just society, a society that will shame its enemies, earning it the respect and admiration of the whole world, that it once did in the past?

I can only hope so.

And that's my 2 cents worth for May 25th., 22007

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Is Jimmy Carter a Traitor?

Former president, Jimmy Carter, indeed may be a sincere man, a compassionate, kind and very thoughtful man, but is he also a man guilty of treason? A common traitor to his own country? Some may think so with all of his recent and very public attacks on the sitting president, George W. Bush by this self same former president.

Its common practice for leaders, in office, to attack one another, but for a former president to viscously attack a sitting president is unheard of. What's the point? Is he trying to help America's foreign policy, improve the nation's security and increase the nation's prestige at home and abroad? Well, for one thing, if he is, he sure is going about it in an unusual, odd and strange way!

The truth of the matter, in my humble opinion, is that he is doing the exact opposite. On the security side, for example, Jimmy Carter is embarrassing not only the sitting president, but the whole nation in the eyes of the world and adding fodder to the fires of hatred burning across the entire globe for this mightiest of nations. The nations of the world look to the United States and its president for leadership and the remarks of this former president lowers both the prestige and sense of trust in America, as well as it's standing in the world.

One of the many things that Mr. Carter has said, in his attacks, was that Bush had made a "radical departure from all previous administration policies," Well, I say for starters Mr. Carter, is that you also have made a radical departure from any one who loves their nation by attacking and weakening the very role and prestige of the same high office that you once occupied! If any body should know this it is you.

Aso, Jimmy Carter was not exactly an outstanding example of what I would consider a great president, therefore, I find his vicious and public attacks even more uncalled for. They are childish, self-serving, unpatriotic and treasonous. A patriotic Jimmy Carter should either be making statements that support and help the current president, or this southern gentle man should just keep his mouth closed as a service to the nation.

My question, if only I could ask the man himself, face-to-face, is who are you trying to help with all your vicious attacks? Al-Qaeda and all of the other murderous terrorists of the world? How about the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? I'm sure he and the other enemies of the United States are dancing for glee at the words that have been issuing from the mouth of the ex-president.

When a former president attacks a sitting president the eyes of the world will take notice, and the perception of the nation in those same eyes can only be that of a confused, weary, unstable, weak and ineffective power. The ex-presidents words can only hurt the nation and its president by emboldening the hands of its foes, of which they have only too many. It needs no more. So why is he issuing these nasty, mean and ugly attacks? Seems to me that to attack a nation's president is to attack the nation, it's people's, its ideals and value's. Again, why?

However, Jimmy Carter is not just satisfied with attacking President Bush, of course. He also has to attack it's faithful allies like prime minister Tony Blair of Great Britain. Shame on you Mr. Carter, double shame.

Mr. Carter's presidency is now history, where it should remain. Is ex-president Jimmy Carter a traitor, well, that's something for the American people to decide. Mr. Carter is now out of the White House but seems to be acting like he is still in there, running the place. Get over it Mr. Carter, your term of steering this mighty republic is over, if only your nasty verbal attacks were likewise..... over.

Mr. Carter show your patriotism by either supporting your president, the same way you wanted people to support yours, or please, for the good of the nation... keep your nasty and unpatriotic statements to yourself. Give America a fighting chance, not America's enemies.

And that's my two cents for May the 23rd. of 2007.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Paris Hilton, give me a break!

Paris Hilton, rich, young and burdened with the fabulous job of being, well... fabulous, is getting to be a little too much. Give me a break already. She was facing up to 90 days in prison, which, luckily for the poor, rich thing was commuted to 45 days! The question is, is this really justice? Will she really learn from her ways, or will she just earn from her ways?

Yes, that's right. While the rest of us mere mortals would lose money from being in the can for 45 days, this lovely creature will just get more media coverage and earn more money from the whole affair. Paris claims that, "If I go to jail, even for just a day, my life will be over." But seriously, will it? I think not and neither should you.

If the past is any indication, Paris will do what Paris does best, being Paris! She will, as in the past, turn an ugly affair into a money making scheme, just like she did the time the embarrassing film footage of her having sex with Rick Salomon came out. She just used that notoriety to help land herself a money making deal for her reality TV series, The Simple Life.

After publishing a book about her dog Tinkerbell, the very week of its publication, the silly creature ended up mysteriously missing. The result, why, you guessed it, the publicity ended up in the sales of the book skyrocketing, making the poor little thing, well, not so poor. Hilton has made a profitable career out of the perception that she is dimwitted, but in the end, she ends up, "laughing all the way to the bank," as she, herself, once stated.

Friends of Paris even appealed to the governor of the great state of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to commute the sentence. Oh please.... spare me. This poor, defenseless creature, the daughter of the billionaire Hilton family has lead the most luxurious and pampered existence, that its almost criminal, in and by itself. Apparently, it's inhuman to treat the life of this celebrity just like the rest of us regular humans.

She did the crime and she should do the time. No special favors just for being a rich, spoiled, pampered brat.

As far as I'm concerned and I think many others as well, people like Paris, celebrities born with wealth, luxury and every thing else that we poor mortals could only hope and dream of, does not deserve any special treatment, but rather harsher treatment.

The reason is quite simple: Giving special breaks and treatment to spoiled, pampered, brats doesn't help them learn from their mistakes, it emboldens them! People, like Paris are sadly roll models for the younger generation and it is important that our children be impressed with this simple fact: That no one, be they rich, or be they poor, famous, or what have you, is above the law: if you break it, you pay, be you Paris or some down-and-out-bum, we must all be seen as equal in the law, other wise justice is denied.

Again, in conclusion, for Paris's sake, and for those young people who look up to her, justice must seen to be fair, equal, swift and blind. No exceptions, and that includes you miss Paris.

That's my two cents for Tuesday, 22nd of May.

Microsoft vs Linux

There have been lots of press coverage concerning Microsoft 's patent threats against the open source community and what it might mean to the good folks who work on the 10-million different flavors of Linux. Some people are saying that its nothing more than just bluster on Microsoft's part, a desperate attempt to try and slow down the slow, but rising growth of Linux, which is taking place at Window's expense. Others still think it could yet be a big deal. What's the truth?

Well, my 2 cents take on the whole thing is that I am not too worried about it, one way or the other, because for one thing, I'm a dedicated OS X user, and happy and content just to watch the two of them swing it out in the press, and who knows, maybe some day soon in the courts as well?

Regardless of what the out come of this whole sorted mess is, the fact remains that the both of them, Microsoft and the Linux boys are both trying to out do each other by ripping off the interface goodness of Apple's OS X. From Vista's Aero to Beryl, they both are trying to have you believe that they are simply the most and best source of innovation in the market place.

Well, the truth, though most of them won't admit it, is that OS X is the leading desktop innovator. Window's and Linux are just two copy cats trying their best to have you believe other wise.

Vista, after a much publicized half decade of fumbling and Beryl, XGL and others on the Linux side, will both be hard pressed, come this June, when Apple finally reveals, in all its glory, Leopard, the sixth major incarnation of its celebrated and ever so much copied OS.

What would be interesting is to see Apple going after the both of them for all of the patented GUI effects that they both copied from OS X, and which it has had for the past six years or more.

While these two duke it out, I and other OS X users, will just sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of the most innovative high-tech giant out there... Apple!

And that's my two cents worth!

Apple is really, really BIG!


A lot of my PC and Linux friends, out there, like to think of Apple Inc., that lovely bastion of really cool designs, you know the iPod people, is nothing more than that of a little, insignificant pip-squeak of a company. The reality is nothing short of the truth!

Just today, Monday, May 21, this so called little insignificant company hit a market cap of 96.87 billion dollars as its stock traded at a high, for the day, of $111.98! Truly, this is not what any one can call 'small potatoes!' Strangely, however, that's exactly what most people seem to think! The question is Why?

For comparison, lets look at some truly giant PC companies like Dell and HP, etc. As of the same trading day Dell stock hit a high of $25.94, equalling some 57.85B in market cap; HP on the other hand had its stock trading at S44.58 thus giving it a market cap of a whopping 121.03B. Gateway one of the big four PC companies also traded for the day at a measly $1.78 per share and a market cap, get this, of only 621.20M! That is less than One-Billion dollars, and this, remember folks is one of the big four PC companies. In fact, IBM that giant among giants, had its shares trading for a little less than that of Apple, with its market cap reaching 158.8B. Apple, as can be seen, is on the fast-track of even over taking this icon of the computer world!

One financial blog, not too long ago, projected at its current rate of growth, Apple Inc. by 2010 would mostly like surpass mighty Microsoft in annual revenues! Can you believe that? Where talking about a company with a market cap of some 297B and an annual income of approximately 44B!

I could go on and on, comparing Apple to other large PC firms, firms that we all know are huge! What most people who like to belittle Apple don't seem know or comprehend, however, is that Apple is not only big, but bigger, by far, than most PC companies!

With some 9,000 people switching to OSX from Windows, each and every single day of the week, and revenues that are not simply growing, but growing exponentially, a market cap that is through the roof, revenues and enormous financial power to boot, like some 12-17 Billion in cash, I would like to know one little thing: Why do PC and Linux users constantly belittle Apple, its size and market position, etc?

Could it possibly be that they fear, that maybe, just maybe, Apple's computer and OS designs really are superior to that of their own, thus forcing them in a defensive posture, or is it because of some anti-Apple subliminal marketing campaign designed by its competitors, or what?

Personally, as much as I would love to know the exact reason or reasons why people belittle Apple and its influence in the market place, I do know this, the next time some one tries to tell you that Apple Inc. is just some two-bit, insignificant, little, also-ran-of-a-company, DON'T BELIEVE THEM, BECAUSE IT'S NOTHING SHORT OF THE TRUTH!

The facts speak for themselves, that Apple Inc. is a giant among giants and is worthy of more than the back stabbing, ignorant and, frankly, down-right and jealous belittling that it gets from the PC and Linux crowds, both of which have benefited enormously from Apple's past, present and, no doubt, future innovations and contributions!

I'm Don Williams and that's' MY 2 Cents Worth' for May 21, 2007!