America Needs Healing … No Time To Spare …

We are in the age of a technological revolution. no longer are we stuck to the constraints of a computer tied to a desk. Nowadays starting at $99 you can have a Tablet PC with limitless capabilities. You can run a full business, covering every aspect from scheduling to payroll to paying bills or your taxes. With all of this technology I think it is time for a change to our political system. No longer should we have to rely on politicians who are backed by corporations to represent our interests. It is about time we start representing our own interests. It is about time we truly give the power to the people. 

Just as our senators and congressman can convene to take a vote on issues, with the technology available the people themselves should be given the ability to vote on the same bills, be able to take a more active roll in the laws passed and decisions made that in essence affect each and every American. 

As we have seen over the years, politicians can be corrupt, CEO’s of large companies can also be corrupt, hell even our religious clergy have been found to be corrupt. 

The system as we know it has failed, democracy as we know it has failed. Yes we have done a lot of right things, but we also have done a lot of wrong. Our leaders have involved us in wars, and have run covert operations that most Americans would never have agreed to. In our leaders quest for power, money and respect they have Alienated us from the rest of the world. Although America may be a country where the poor and impoverished want to come it is because they believe in the fairy tales that our streets are paved with gold, when the reality of it is most Americans are struggling to get by, those who aren’t trying to come here ‘hate us’ for our arrogance and for our lavish lifestyles. 

On a day to day basis it is hard to see the true American People, but we do get a glimpse of how Americans truly are, how we truly act whe we are approached with tragedy. On 9-11 you saw a real glimpse of True Americans, yes we were outraged at the events of the day, but instead of fall apart, instead of riots, and panic, we showed our true spirit, we stood tall, we helped one another, our neighbor was no longer our neighbor but they were our family, we all became connected by one powerful incident and we rose to the occasion as a people, on that day we inspired the world with our actions and reaction to the situation. We as Americans led by example, where other societies would have broken into widespread outrage and chaos, we came together and we worked as a cohesive unit and we prevailed, with the utmost dignity. 

I believe if given the opportunity, we can rise again. I think we have come to a point where people want change. President Obama’s election is proof of that, but due to politicians and politics, he has not been given the proper chance to give us that change that he promised us. I truly believe if were were to take the power away from the politicians and put it in the hands of the people we would see a drastic yet great change, not only in our country but how we are perceived. We would be able to lead by example, and show what a truly democratic society is capable of. 

We are running out of time. We have environmental issues that cannot wait to be resolved, by politicians who are being funded by corporations who are only interested in their own coffers but not the welfare of the planet as a whole. 

We have an economic system that is crumbling because of crooked politicians and CEO’s. Legislation doesn’t get passed because of such fundamental disagreements on both sides. You also have politicians using bills to push their own agendas using riders as bargaining chips to get a bill passed. Lobbyist have too much power and influence and the people not the proper representation or oproper over site of our politicians. Plus politicians have a very big tendency of making promises to win an election that can’t keep or don’t intend to keep. 

It is time we let the people have a bigger voice. The technology is available to make this happen. The problem is the only way it will happen is if we as a people speak up and speak loud enough to make it happen. Our politicians will not help to make this happen, they wouldn’t want to be out of a job. There is no incentive for them to make this happen, if we want change, we have to come together as a people and demand it. If we speak loud enough they will have to listen, they will have no choice but to listen

Can we really afford to gamble on change coming from the the same politicians and corporation heads who got us into this mess to actually get us out if this mess? Are you truly willing to risk your future and your children’s futures on the hope that the corrupt all of a sudden do the right thing?

2012 … The year ahead …

Whether people realize it or not, this year is going to be extremely important historically. Osama Bin Laden, Kin Jon-il & Muammar Gaddafi all died in 2011. These were all some of the most evil men of the past 50 years for large scales of death, pain and suffering over many many years. These are people with whom the world are better off without. Hopefully with these people out of the picture the regions affected most by these men can begin to heal, and grow and prosper. Hopefully with a little less hate ruling those regions there will be a little more peace and progress.

Now only are certain evil figures gone, but there are big battles for leadership about to begin, probably the most important of which is our own Presidential election in November. Barack Obama will be running for re-election as the Democratic candidate for President, while the Republican field is still too close to call with Mitt Romney having barely won the first official primary yesterday. With the United States still in the midst of a recession with no sign of recovery in the near future, this is looking to become a very important election.

Technology is also going to be playing a major role, as Apple is expected to release it’s next generation iPhone 5 sometime in 2012. Also based on history with Apple we will see another major product release or upgrade this year, another game changer, the question is what will it be. This is also set to be a huge year for the automotive industry with a record amount of hybrid or hybrid performing vehicles being released into the market. Expect companies like Hyundai to do extremely well offering 4 cars that offer 40 mpg highway and come pretty well equipped for a low base cost.

2012 has the promise to be a great year for progress, the question is will it meet up to it’s potential.

It’s only a matter of time …

It’s only a matter of time before Apple becomes the last man standing. Yes, Android is doing extremely well and Nokia & Microsoft have started a strategic alliance, but in the end it will all be for nothing. Apple will win out in the end, as Apple creates and integrates newer and better technologies, they also are locking in more and more customers. All it takes is 1 person in a family to go Mac and before you know it, the whole family will have gone Mac. I am a prime example of this.

I am and always have been a huge cell phone geek, having had over 1o0 different cell phones over the past 18 years or so. I would change out cell phones every couple of months always wanting and getting the next big thing. That all changed with the iPhone. I had been resistant to touch screen phones at first, not liking the overall menus system designs until I got my hands on an iPhone to play with. The clunky non responsive touch screens were a thing of the past, Apple had created a beautiful device and an amazingly simple yet functional operating system, and Apple all of a sudden was a contender once again. Steve Jobs was a genius … that genius had me hooked. The second I played with my first iPhone I knew immediately that the world had just been changed forever … the way we lived life, and how we did things was never going to be the same again.

So back to my story, Apple has a way of drawing a family in and connecting them more easily than ever before. I made the switch to the iPhone first in my family and was addicted to it immediately, my wife still had her blackberry and was hesitant to give it up, it was like pulling teeth to get her to make the switch, and once she did she was miserable … at first. For the first 5 days, my wife begged me to let her return the phone before the trial period was up, she made my life miserable constantly complaining about the phone. Finally I realized that maybe if I showed her some of the cool things it could do, she would be more inclined to give the phone a chance. I spent 30 minutes with her teaching her all the cool features of the phone and then left her to play. Two days later on the final day we could return the phone I said to her, “so if you really want to return the phone we have to do it today.” She thought about it for half a second and said with a hint of embarrassment that No, she wanted to keep it. I laughed realizing that the phone had won her over.

It wasn’t long before my family started adopting Apple, first with an iPod, then Apple TV’s, as of today between my immediate family of Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Sister in Law Brother In Law, Mother In Law, Wife and Daughter, we have between us 9 iPhone 4’s, 3 iPad 2’s, 2 iPad 1’s, 7 Apple TV’s, 2 Mac Mini’s, 1 Mac Book Pro, 1 iPod Nano, 1 iPod Shuffle, 1 Classic iPod, 1 iPod Touch, 1 Time Machine and there must be more slipping my mind. The end story is my whole family has gone Apple and will not go back. As old electronics die out, they are being systematically replaced with Apple products. Sooner or later, everything that can be will be 100% Apple in our family. Apple products work with less complications and have the best support of any company out there. I have never disappointed by the quality and care you receive from the amazing people at the Apple stores.

Just as my family has gone the way of Apple, I promise you that slowly but surely the rest of the world will too. It is only a matter of time, and will only take 1 conversion from each family to start the domino effect.