Couldn’t Help But Notice (061207)

Apple Keynote Report — from Steve Jobs’ address yesterday at the company’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference:

• The biggest news is Apple’s Safari browser (NY Times link may require registration) is now available for Windows Vista and XP. The stock market was not impressed with the idea; Apple fell over $4 on Monday, supposedly because of this news. Jobs demonstrated that Safari twice as fast as IE at running HTML pages and Javascript, and used iBench testing before his live audience to prove it.
• Electronic Arts is coming back to Apple with its games. It will do simultaneous releases of four biggies with the PC versions in June, July, and August.
• Apple will release OSX 10.5 in October with 300 new features (if you don’t use a Mac, you won’t care about ‘em for another two or three years - haha).
• The .Mac service will have the equivalent of a Go-To-My-PC that works between both Mac and PCs.
• Unlike Vista, which has (banging head against wall) separate 32- and 64-bit versions, there is one version of Leopard that handles all applications.
• Unlike Vista, which has a ridiculous number of versions ranging in cost from $99 to God knows what, OSX 10.5 will be $129 for everyone.
• The iPhone is being positioned as a platform for software development with a Safari underpinning that appears to have blowaway potential. The key question, of course, is whether people are going to buy the iPhone in the first place.

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You Had It Right the First Time, Hugh — On Saturday, he pointed approvingly to this National Review editorial, which wrapped as follows:

….. we would be willing to debate these (guest worker and amnesty) policies in a few years’ time. They are not even worth debating, however, until we know that we are not merely legalizing millions of illegal immigrants while inviting millions more to be legalized in some future round of “reform.”

Last September, the Secure Fence Act, designed “to establish operational control over the international land and maritime borders of the United States,” passed the Senate on an 80-19 vote. It was supported by every Democratic candidate running for president and by Republican senators McCain, Martinez, and Graham. Mr. President, build on that overwhelming bipartisan support. Build that fence.

Unfortunately, yesterday Hewitt decided that the existing bill can be rewritten and “make an immigration reform package much more acceptable to centrists on the issue.”

One word, from a center-righter who would like to expand legal immigration once I’m confident that the flow of illegals has been slowed to a trickle — Nope.

Yesterday was last-straw day at BizzyBlog on this issue. This garbage and this intimidation, and the economically bankrupting rubbish in last year’s bill that is surely still in this one (such as this and this), all conclusively show that we have people in the executive and legislative branches who will not bargain in good faith, and who will not enforce the law unless they are either forced to, or are replaced by people who will. This means THEY have to prove that they’ll secure the borders, and actually achieve it, before anything else gets discussed.

Update: Earth to Hugh — “Nope” means “Nope.”

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Harry Reid – Rapidly turning into the Bob Taft of the US Senate:

OK, Taft’s unfavorables at the time (late 2005) were 77%. Give ol’ Harry more national exposure, and he can get there.

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Press Paranoia Watch — The instant someone with right-leaning credentials gains control of a government, you can count on something like the following to gain play in the world press. And it has:

Czar Nicolas? Opponents say president has too much power

PARIS, June 10, 2007 (AFP) - Opponents of French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday that his latest election triumph risks giving him a concentration of power even though he is one of the most popular leaders in decades.

Sarkozy’s rightwing UMP was poised to take a whopping majority of up to 501 seats in the 577-member National Assembly following a first round of voting in parliamentary elections on Sunday.

The main opposition Socialists, still reeling from the defeat of their candidate Segolene Royal in last month’s presidential vote, could lose more than half of their 149 seats, according to some polls.

A big victory in the runoff vote next Sunday would give Sarkozy free rein to push through the programme of bold reforms that was the centerpiece of his presidential campaign.

This second AFP story makes it clear that it’s not just the opposition politicians airing these fears.

Imagine that: The guy might actually do what he was elected to do.

Update: You have to remember this from 2005 to appreciate just how sweet Sarkozy’s victory is, and how bitter the far-left-dominated French press and elites have to be these days –

(from News[very]weak, 11/14/2005) The first and most obvious casualty was the reputation of French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. He’s been angling for the presidency in 2007, posturing as France’s most confident can-do politician. During the first days of violence, Sarkozy denounced the gangs burning cars as “scum” and told them in effect to bring it on. They did with a vengeance, and didn’t stop.

At the time, Mark Steyn wrote (link no longer available), “As is the way with the political class, they seem to see the riots as an excellent opportunity to scuttle Sarkozy’s presidential ambitions rather than as a call to save the Republic.”

Last Laugh Dept. — Too bad it didn’t work. In fact, as is the case so many times when the leftist press misreads the obvious, this “damaging” episode probably helped Sarko more than it hurt him.