Sunday, September 19, 2010

Tangier Island - A Beautiful Place to Visit


Tangier Island
Tangier Island is a remote island that was advertised on ESPN recently.
It is one of the smallest islands in the world with a population of only 700 residents, and the island itself is only 1 mile wide and 3 miles long. It has a long and colourful history.
Captain John Smith first visited in 1608 and in 1620 settlers arrived from Cornwall, England.
True Tangier Island people speak elizabethan english, and as it's steeped in history,
on arrival you can feel that you've stepped back in time. It's a beautiful place to visit as these
following images suggest.



Saturday, September 11, 2010

The Best of 9/11 Quotes






Our enemies have made the mistake that America’s enemies always make. They saw liberty and thought they saw weakness. And now, they see defeat.
- George W. Bush, President of the United States

“Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a

friend whose name it never knew. “
- President George W. Bush, December 11, 2001


“Today, we gather to be reassured that God hears the lamenting and bitter weeping of Mother America because so many of her children are no more. Let us now seek that assurance in prayer for the healing of our grief stricken hearts, for the souls and sacred memory of those who have been lost. Let us also pray for divine wisdom as our leaders consider the necessary actions for national security, wisdom of the grace of God that as we act, we not become the evil we deplore.”
- Rev. Nathan Baxter, Dean of Washington National Cathedral from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/july-dec01/remember_9-14.html

I don’t think contributors to the various September 11th funds thought that their donations would be caught up in so much red tape and become a source of frustration to families.
- Elizabeth McLaughlin, September 11 widow

Am I the only one who has noticed the same people who complained that we didn’t ‘connect the dots’ prior to 9-11, are now complaining that we connected the dots in Iraq?
- Rush Limbaugh


“Terrorism against our nation will not stand.”
- George W. Bush - Remarks at Emma Booker Elementary School. Sarasota, Florida - delivered 11 September 2001, 9:30 A.M. EDT

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children. “
- President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

Our enemies have made the mistake that America’s enemies always make. They saw liberty and thought they saw weakness. And now, they see defeat.
- George W. Bush, President of the United States

“Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a friend whose name it never knew. “
- President George W. Bush, December 11, 2001

I don’t think contributors to the various September 11th funds thought that their donations would be caught up in so much red tape and become a source of frustration to families.
- Elizabeth McLaughlin, September 11 widow

Am I the only one who has noticed the same people who complained that we didn’t ‘connect the dots’ prior to 9-11, are now complaining that we connected the dots in Iraq?
- Rush Limbaugh


"Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed; Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers To stay home that day Why did Sharon stay away? Who? Who? Who" -- From a now notorious poem by New Jersey poet laureate Amiri Bakara


"This president is trying to bring to himself all the power to become an emperor to create Empire America. If you go along like sheep that is what will happen." -- Jim McDermott (D - WA)

"The government] plays off [Americans'] relative innocence, or ignorance to be more precise. This is probably why geography has not really been taught since World War II -- to keep people in the dark as to where we are blowing things up. Because Enron wants to blow them up. Or Unocal, the great pipeline company, wants a war going some place." -- Gore Vidal in the LA Weekly

"The current junta in charge of our affairs, one not legally elected, but put in charge of us by the Supreme Court in the interests of the oil and gas and defense lobbies, have used first Oklahoma City and now September 11 to further erode things." -- Gore Vidal in the LA Weekly


"When I see an American flag flying, it's a joke." -- Robert Altman

"Now [African Americans] are supposed to fight and die for a racist corrupt government in yet another imperialist war, when it is the U.S. which has clearly brought on this attack. We are supposed to fight for a country where we still have limited social, economic and political rights, and where we are still subject to death by any racist cop or citizen, where there is widespread poverty, mass imprisonment of the youth, and massive unemployment concentrated in the Black community. The obvious question is what the hell are we fighting for? To avenge America? To mourn America? Why, we don't owe this country anything." -- Lorenzo Komboa Ervin, CounterPunch

"Patriotism threatens free speech with death. It is infuriated by thoughtful hesitation, constructive criticism of our leaders and pleas for peace. It despises people of foreign birth. It has specifically blamed homosexuals, feminists and the American Civil Liberties Union. In other words, the American flag stands for intimidation, censorship, violence, bigotry, sexism, homophobia and shoving the Constitution through a paper shredder. Whom are we calling terrorists here?" -- Barbara Kingsolver, novelist, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 27

"America has an almost obscene infatuation with itself. Has there ever been a big, powerful country that is as patriotic as America? And patriotic in the tinniest way, with so much flag waving? You'd really think we were some poor little republic, and that if one person lost his religion for one hour, the whole thing would crumble. America is the real religion in this country." -- Norman Mailer

"Of course, Mr. Hannity was outraged that any American would not cross her hand over her heart and repeat the hypocritical words, one nation. Whenever we come up on the Fourth of You Lie, I think of Frederick Douglas and his masterful oration, The meaning of the Fourth of July to the Negro. Pledge the flag? I think not!" -- Julianne Malveaux

"My daughter, who goes to Stuyvesant High School only blocks from the World Trade Center, thinks we should fly an American flag out our window. Definitely not, I say: The flag stands for jingoism and vengeance and war." -- Katha Pollitt, The Nation, October 8

"While the rest of the country waves the flag of Americana, we understand we are not part of that. We don't owe America anything - America owes us." -- Al Sharpton at the "State of the Black World Conference" in Atlanta

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Ping: First Look at the iTunes Social Network

Part of the new iTunes 10 software, announced and launched yesterday, is a significant new social networking feature for iTunes called Ping. It allows you to comment on music, 'like' it a la Facebook, or rate it. Ping is also very similar to Twitter, in that you can 'follow' people and music stars. All of this happens inside of the iTunes application, either on your computer, iPhone or iPod Touch.




We took the new feature for a spin and came away intrigued, despite some initial flaws. We do however wonder at the overly commercial focus of Ping. Is this really about social networking, or mostly for Apple and artists to sell more music?



How to Get Ping



To access Ping, you first need to download iTunes 10 onto your computer. You'll need to also download 300+ MB worth of iPhone Software Update, to get it on your iPhone or iPod Touch.



On the computer, once you've downloaded iTunes 10 click the iTunes Store link in the sidebar. You'll see a "Get Started" link in the top right of that page (also 'Ping' appears as a menu option in the sidebar). You'll need to turn on the Ping feature and agree to Apple's privacy policy. After that, create a profile.



Note that you may encounter issues with uploading a profile photo and connecting to Facebook. If you wait for about 10 minutes, eventually your photo will upload. However Facebook Connect appears to be broken at this stage. We assume these are technical teething issues.



Once you have your profile set up, you're invited to follow other people and also stars like Lady Gaga and U2. This is very similar to how Twitter works, except that it's all happening inside of iTunes (on your computer or on your iPhone or iPod Touch).


Richard Macmanus is the founder and CEO of ReadWriteWeb, a leading tech blog.