It’s an early battle, so it is premature to say who will win in the long run. Apple appears to have created an ingenious and obviously superior mobile payments system. But retailers control their own checkouts — they get to say who pays with what, not Apple. And Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is backing the retailers’ system via a company it is partnering with called MCX. Apple Pay is an elegant, universal, simple-to-use system that can be used by any retailer. You just touch your finger on the iPhone Touch ID fingerprint scanner, wave your phone near the NFC … Continue reading Wal-Mart Is At War Against Apple…

While I was writing tomorrow’s post I had to get into my NYC trip portfolio. When I saw this picture of the Empire State building I had to include it in my SearchOfAmerica. I still remember the pictures of all the steelworkers who seemed to dance around on those iron beams. It is hard to believe that only five men were killed during its construction. If you ever get to NYC be sure to go to the observation deck for an awesome site of the city. It is very much a part of the heart of America… Continue reading Empire State Building…

I have taken leave of politics. I think little of them and say less. I have given up newspapers in exchange for Tacitus and Thucydides, for Newton and Euclid, and I find myself much happier. Thomas Jefferson in a letter to John Adams January 21,1821 I always get a certain degree of pleasure to find that my recent decisions were tried by my heroes before me. About a year or so ago, maybe longer as time seems to be flying by lately, I decided to take my leave of politics. To me that venue has taken a dark turn that … Continue reading I Find Myself Much Happier…

Without the South, the country could very well be renamed the Democratic States of America. Secession would have numerous policy implications. The deficit would likely shrink, since despite the South’s fondness for anti-government rhetoric and ideology, the region benefits substantially more from federal programs than it pays into the federal treasury. Serious gun control legislation might actually make it through Congress. ObamaCare would probably work better (the South has led the way in refusing to expand Medicaid), but it might also be possible to pass the kind of sweeping reform of the health-care system (single payer) that proved impossible for … Continue reading Imagine: The Democratic States of America

“Apparently Republicans really are either stupid or insane, since they seemed surprised to learn that their rightward lurch into an all-white, anti-everything party of fear was a big loser in the 2012 presidential election. They promised to lick their wounds and think hard about immigration and ‘the Latino vote,’ but that did not prove to be necessary, since they now find themselves in another midterm election with a bunch of spineless purple-state Democrats on the defensive and an electorate of ‘highly motivated’ base voters, meaning the old, the frightened and the deeply Caucasian. Ebola and ISIS are pretty much the … Continue reading Its All About Fear….

You know the more you read and observe about this Politics thing, you got to admit that each party is worse than the other. – Will Rogers, 31 December 1922 You know Will it took me a lot of years to discover what you did. I finally gave up on both political parties after it was obvious that those yahoos in congress were not going to allow President Obama to accomplish anything beyond ACA. Forget that it would have made us a better nation. Forget that much of it would have solved many of the driving issues of today. They … Continue reading Each Worse Than The Other….

Statue of Liberty, NJ – Liberty State Park I guess it is about time I included this one in my search of America. It has become endemic of what it means to be American. Of course the famous words are: … Continue reading Lady Liberty…