Apple’s New Macbooks: A Missed Opportunity

Apple unveiled the next iteration of their Macbook, Macbook Pro, and Macbook Air laptop lines yesterday, but what was most notable about the announcement wasn’t new technology, features, or cosmetic changes, but rather what is lacking from the line. Apple has always been a manufacturer of high end computers with matching prices, but as they continue increasing their market share through a push into the mainstream, it makes sense to lower the barrier of entry for the brand. If they hope to continue expansion among students and consumers who don’t identify as tech enthusiasts, they need to extend their product line into a lower price bracket – not into netbook (low cost, modestly configured laptops designed for light tasks such as web browsing and basic word processing) territory, but low enough to compellingly compete with entry level offerings from PC manufacturers such as Dell, Acer, and HP.

CA Proposition 8: Bigotry on the Ballot

On November 4th California residents will vote on proposition 8, which will add the following 14 words to the state constitution: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California”. Not only is this a thinly veiled attempt at socially condemning same-sex relationships, but it’s (incredibly) a measure that serves to do nothing beyond limiting the rights of a group of people. Proponents of the measure argue that this addition is important for several reasons, all of which are ridiculous.

The Truth About Our Taxes Under a John McCain Presidency

Under the McCain tax plan, John and Cindy McCain will recieve as large a tax break as almost half the town of Wasilla, Alaska.

John McCain has made taxes one of the major talking points of his campaign. The problem with this is that he’s lying to your face. While many of his claims that Barack Obama is going to raise various taxes are true, his is leading people who will NOT be affected to believe that they will. The vast majority of us will actually pay MORE under a McCain-Palin administration. Let’s take a look at each claim individually:

“Drill Baby Drill” is “Stupid Baby Stupid”

It’s alarming to me that 80% of the population now favors increased drilling offshore and in currently restricted areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Of all proposed solutions to our crippling foreign energy dependence, increased drilling is poised to make the smallest impact on our level of oil imports, and will serve to do nothing more than delay an imminent change. By focusing on alternative energies, we can dramatically cut our oil imports – a move which will strengthen our economy, improve national security, boost national morale, and preserve some of our most important national treasures.

Opting Out of the American Dream

The American Dream: that intangible, nebulous mashup of ideals and lifestyle that’s credited with everything from driving millions of people to risk their lives and illegally move to this country, to our oft-vehemently self clamored superiority in most every conceivable area, over pretty much every other nation on the planet. There was a time when it’s mere mention conjured up visions of a bootstrap-led rise through the social and economic hierarchy; a move from roots to goals, driven by hard work, self sacrifice, and the freedoms afforded only by the great American beacon of liberty and democracy. Unfortunately this luster has worn thin, and entire generations are beginning to see the mascot of American opportunity and accomplishment for what it has become: a life defined by the attainment of material possessions, empty workplace ambition, never ending competition with our neighbors and perceived benchmarks of achievement, and a pervasive, soul crushing undercurrent of suffering, unfulfillment, and apathy.

“John McCain” – Republican for Hypocrite

Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain

The republican party seems to bestow upon its candidates the incredible ability to turn their stunning weaknesses into perceived strengths, and to thrust them upon their opponents. At this point anyone with even a passing interest in this year’s election is familiar with the talking points about the republican nominee and his running mate: He is presented as the national security candidate, the moral values candidate, the fiscally conservative candidate, the America first candidate, the “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” candidate, the straight-talking candidate, the “character” candidate, the low taxes candidate, the “service to one’s country” candidate, the maverick candidate, and an all around media whipping boy, among many other things. All of these characterizations are laughable, as I’ll outline in a series of upcoming posts.

John McCain has nothing to say…

Last night the presumptive presidential candidates took the stage at the Saddleback church in Lake Forest, California. The appearance was billed as an open forum, where the senators would be given a chance to express their views on faith, as well as a number of secular issues. Both men answered many of the same questions, and the differences in both ideology and approach between Senators Obama and McCain have become abundantly clear.

Face the facts, prohibition doesn’t work

In this video, National Drug Czar John Walters laments about the escalating violence surrounding the illegal cultivation and sale of marijuana, and the tenacity of Mexican drug cartels. He stresses that the people behind huge cannabis cash crops are not “Cheech and Chong” types, but are serious criminals, and that the general public (specifically baby-boomers) have too lackadaisical an attitude about drug use, marijuana in particular. The problem with this position is that the ENTIRE black market for marijuana, and indeed all illegal drugs, exists only because of their illicit status.