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 :(

Why I Edit This Blog

Media Gatekeepers Decide What's News -- The Politico

Which is more newsworthy — the murder of an abortion doctor in Wichita, Kan., by an alleged anti-abortion activist or the murder of an Army recruiter and the wounding of another in Little Rock, Ark., by an alleged Muslim convert who is said to hate the U.S. military?

Most people not involved in news-placement decisions would probably say they were equally newsworthy. But those in the news media actually making those decisions had a different view.

Read more ....

My Comment: This article is so true .... it also illustrates why the main stream media is declining in influence. The internet is the tool that is killing the message that our media gatekeepers are trying to control, and this should not be a surprise ..... for how can you compete with the many witnesses and observers who are already there on any particular story, and who can comment on it ASAP.

This blog has always been an attempt to provide these alternative points of view a means to get there message across .... particularly on issues of national defense, intelligence, security, and covering the many wars and conflicts that are occurring at any given time.

Has this venture been successful .... I would have to say yes. People are hungry for news, and they do want to be informed. They do not want their information to be controlled by someone else .... and dammit .... like myself .... I do want to know what is the meat behind any story.

And now you know why I do this blog.

My China Experience During The Tiananmen Square Massacre

In this June 5, 1989 file photo, a Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Cangan Blvd. in Tiananmen Square. The man, calling for an end to the recent violence and bloodshed against pro-democracy demonstrators, was pulled away by bystanders, and the tanks continued on their way. (AP Photo/Jeff Widener, File)

From The WNU Editor:

In the mid 1980s I was involved with a number of Canadian businessmen and Chinese officials who were exploring the possibility of developing business projects between China and the West. We formulated the idea of establishing a company called the Canada-China Trade Center, and it was to be used as a focal point for North American and Chinese business. Contracts were signed, and I found myself in China in the summer of 1988.

The experience was surreal .... and one that I will always remember. On the one hand we knew that we were doing something revolutionary, but on the other hand I was witness to the dissent and anger among many of the young .... especially in the Universities. I knew a year before it happened that an explosion was going to happen ... and so did our Chinese hosts.

When the Tiananmen Square massacre occurred, I was in Montreal with our Chinese partners. We had just opened our office, but news from China overshadowed what we were just starting to do. In the end, our Chinese associates were glued to the TV during this entire time. The dream for Democracy was broken .... and they knew it. To say that they were depressed is an understatement.

The project collapsed when our Canadian partners bailed out a few weeks later. Our Chinese partners went back home a few months later. And for myself .... I had my experiences and a $100,000 debt.

The Tiananmen Square massacre stopped China's business/economic development for about 5 years. The resentment and anger against the Chinese central government is still there, but it is muted with the fact that people in China are now more preoccupied with working hard and trying to make ends meet.

Will China find there way .... I do not know. The problems and the resentment that produced the Tiananmen Square protests are still there, and I know that if times get tough some of this resentment will start to become public with much of it directed at the Communist Government. The Chinese Government knows this ..... and because the stakes are now even higher than what they were 20 yeras ago .... their eye on the public pulse is more intense than ever. But this can go only so far .... and I can only hope that the men who now rule China know this.

North Korea Does A Nuclear And Missile Test .... What Now?

Osama bin Laden (l.) and Kim Jong Il. 'Could this guy believe he could sell a nuclear bomb to Osama bin Laden? Why not?' says one expert, referring to the North Korean dictator. Photo AP

Will North Korea Use Its Nuclear Bombs - Or, Possibly Worse, Let Them Fall Into Terrorists' Hands? -- From The New York Daily News

WASHINGTON - North Korea's nuclear test makes it no likelier that the regime will actually launch a nuclear attack, but it adds a scary dimension to another threat: the defiant North as a facilitator of the atomic ambitions of others, potentially even terrorists.

It also presents another major security crisis for President Barack Obama, already saddled with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a nuclear problem with Iran.

Read more ....

DMZ and a look into North Korea

My Comment:

Twenty Years ago I had the opportunity to visit the DMZ in Korea.

That image will always stay in my mind.

When I looked at North Korea I saw poverty, harshness, and a heavy military presence .... and complete silence. Even the birds were quiet.

Since then I have had the good fortune of visiting scores of countries in my life. I have seen wars and revolution. Conflicts big and small. But my impressions of North Korea has always stayed the same.

If there is ever a war that will cost tens of thousands of American lives ... it will not be from Russia or China. Iraq or Afghanistan .... and I can even add ... Iran. Nope .... it will be because of North Korea. They have the military and infrastructure to cause a great deal of destruction and carnage in a very short period of time. Having tactical nukes will only make this scenario more possible and probable.

The reason why is clear .... because the message from North Korea is also clear. North Korea has the missiles and the ability to install small tactical nukes on them. Give us what we want, or we will be selling this technology abroad.

Unfortunately for all of us, the international community has been totally useless on this issue. In fact, one can argue that countries like China and Russia .... with smaller countries like Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and Bolivia ... have all been complicit in this event. Russia providing technology and the education to North Korean scientists on nuclear technologies, China feeding North Korea with the staples that it requires to exist as a state, and countries like Bolivia and Venezuela to provide the material to produce and refine fissionable material.

What will come out of this should trouble all of us. Japan is positioning itself to reassert itself militarily. Iran now knows that no one (with the exception of the Israelis) will stop its nuclear program. Smaller powers are now seriously looking at developing their own nuclear deterrent, with much of this focus now happening in the Middle East.

Stopping nuclear proliferation is not possible in this international environment. The Russians and Americans may cut back their stockpiles in talks this year, but scores of smaller powers are now looking at positioning themselves to develop their own nuclear programs .... nuclear programs that can be quickly converted to nuclear weapons programs.

Can we stop this .... the answer is no. What is different this time is that everyone now knows that a certain line has been crossed ... and what will happen after this is anyone's guess.