9/11 Terrorist Attack’s 8th Anniversary
Today is the 8th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York against the World Trade Center. On September 11, 2001 suicidal jihadists flew fully fueled airplanes into the World Trade Center, the pentagon, and other targets. America’s most gut-wrenching 21st century moment cost 3,000 lives, and permanently scarred the memories of New Yorkers:
In light of the anniversary, it’s worth spending some time to ask yourself “what has America done to make them hate us so much?” Consider the recent imperialist unjust wars fought in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia and the illicit actions of the CIA around the world, or the hundreds of military bases we maintain in other countries. The aid dollars we dole out to dictators to preserve the status quo, our arbitrary tariffs and immigration policies that alienate foreigners, and the eroding of Americans’ own civil liberties in the name of “freedom” and the “war against terror.”
America was once respected as a nation of justice, wisdom, and opportunity. Perhaps over time the Obama administration can repair America’s reputation.
“So, let’s imagine how [the September 11th attacks] could have been worse for example. Suppose that on September 11, Al-Qaeda had bombed the White House and killed the President, instituted a murderous, brutal regime which killed maybe 50,000 to 100,000 people and tortured about 700,000, set up a major international terrorist center in Washington, which was overthrowing governments all over the world, and installing brutal vicious neo-Nazi dictatorships, assassinating people. Suppose he called in a bunch of economists, let’s call them the ‘Kandahar Boys’ to run the American economy, who within a couple of years had driven the economy into one of the worst collapses of its history. Suppose this had happened. That would have been worse than 9/11, right? But it did happen. And it happened on 9/11. That happened on September 11, 1973 in Chile. The only thing you have to change is this per capita equivalence, which is the right way to look at it. Well, did that change the world? Yeah, it did but not from our point of view, in fact, who even knows about it? Incidentally, just to finish, because we [the U.S.] were responsible for that one.” — Noam Chomsky.
iTunes 9: Custom Mixes
Apple released a new version of iTunes 9 today, and it’s chock full of new features. Check out the official What’s New in iTunes page to learn about iTunes LP, Extras, and more. I want to tell you about another new feature–my favorite–called Genius Mixes:
Perfect mixes come automatically.
Meet Genius Mixes. This new feature searches your iTunes library, finds songs that go great together, and creates multiple mixes you’ll love. All automatically. These mixes are like channels programmed entirely with your music. You may discover songs you never knew you had — and rediscover forgotten favorites.
They’re actually as good as Apple claims they are. To get started with genius mixes, first update your iTunes to version 9, then click on Store->Update Genius:
Then you’ll see a new “Genius Mixes” under the Genius bar on the left hand side:
This brilliant feature then scans your library, clusters your music into your favorite styles, and mashes them together into a continuous listening experience. My iTunes has suggested Rap, R&B, Metal, 4 Pop Mixes, Rock, Alternative, Latin, Japanese, and Electronic. Too bad there’s no Chinese mix, because I have an absolute ton of Japanese music:
