Steve Jobs: 1955-2011

Matt Margolis20 Comments

It’s a sad day.

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…We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.”

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

“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being,” Mr. Cook said in a letter to employees. “We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.”

I grew up using Apple computers, had to switch to PC for college (architecture’s industry standard CAD software AutoCAD was PC only then) and switch back to Mac after graduation. I own various incarnations of iPods. I use my iPhone like my life depends on it. I will get the next iPad. Last year I started running with the encouragement of software that would not exist had it not been for his vision.

Jobs was a man of genius and vision. May he rest in peace.

Sarah Palin Will NOT Run in 2012

Matt Margolis30 Comments

Thank you, Sarah, for making the right decision.

After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States. As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.

In general, I have no problem with Sarah Palin. Hell, I’d take her experience over Obama’s any day. I remember watching her give her speech and the 2008 Republican National Convention and being 100% convinced we would win.

Hey, things change. And there is a reality to face, and that she is as divisive a political figure as Barack Obama. Even within the Republican Party she’s a poison pill. Canonized and demonized by various factions that are equal in their convictions that is the right person to lead the party, and the wrong person.

I consider myself part of the latter camp. In the past few years since the election, I have not been convinced by her efforts that she has elevated herself past the level of a pundit, because that’s what she sounds like to me… a pundit, not presidential caliber. Like Obama, who sounds like a pundit when scripted and a fifth grader when off the cuff, Sarah just doesn’t fit bill for me anymore. I accept the fact that as a Republican who wants to see this country back on track that I have to be happy with the filed we got, and you know what, I trust any of the Republican candidates to do a better job than we’ve seen done the past three years, and I will do everything I can to help that candidate win.

But for now, I thank Sarah Palin again, for stepping aside, and realizing that this was not her time.

From The Pew To The Podium, Obama Tight With Anti-Semites

Matt Margolis11 Comments

In case you missed this story…

New photographs obtained exclusively by BigGovernment.com reveal that Barack Obama appeared and marched with members of the New Black Panther Party as he campaigned for president in Selma, Alabama in March 2007.

The photographs, captured from a Flickr photo-sharing account before it was scrubbed, are the latest evidence of the mainstream media’s failure to examine Obama’s extremist ties and radical roots.

In addition, the new images raise questions about the possible motives of the Obama administration in its infamous decision to drop the prosecution of the Panthers for voter intimidation.

So, whether it’s sitting in the pew for 20 years listening to anti-American anti-Semites like Jeremiah Wright, or sharing a podium with the New Black Panther Party, we have to ask ourselves not only how do we tolerate this from Obama, but also, why the media ignored it.

Big Brother Is Reading Your Medical Records

Matt Margolis5 Comments

See, this is scary.

As part of its implementation of Obamacare, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a new federal regulation to require private health insurance companies to give the government all of the health records of every person they insure. The rule is shrouded in the usual bureaucratese, but, as Huelskamp pointed out in a Washington Examiner op-ed, “abstract terms are used to distract from the real objectives of this idea: no matter which ‘option’ is chosen, government bureaucrats would have access to the health records of every American — including you.”

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius claims the government must have the records in order to evaluate the performance of health insurers. Aside from the absurdity of having federal health bureaucrats judge the job performance of anybody else, the proposal raises a gigantic red flag: Federal and state governments have proven repeatedly in recent years that they are all but incapable of fully protecting sensitive records of individuals.

Seriously, who can read this and think Obamacare was a good idea? How much more Orwellian nonsense is there?

Investigating Holder

Matt Margolis23 Comments

There’s a lot of investigating to be done. House Republicans need to keep up the pressure.

House Republicans are calling for a special counsel to determine whether Attorney General Eric Holder misled Congress during his testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on Operation Fast and Furious, Fox News has learned.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, was sending a letter to President Obama on Tuesday arguing that Holder cannot investigate himself, and requesting the president instruct the Department of Justice to appoint a special counsel.

The question is whether Holder knowingly made false statements of fact under oath during a Judiciary Committee hearing on May 3. At the time, Holder indicated he was not familiar with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program known as Fast and Furious until about April 2011.

Speaking of Holder, check of this video of DOJ whistleblower J. Christian Adams discussing the politicization and radicalization he witnessed at Eric Holder’s Justice Department.