Steve Jobs

Eleven Years Since September 11: What It Has Done To America

Eleven years ago, on a bright, sunny New York morning, just as today it is in New York, and on the same day of the week, Tuesday, America was struck by Al Qaeda and forces backed by Osama Bin Laden, causing the deaths of about 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, along with those slaughtered at the Pentagon in suburban Virginia, and those on the plane bound for the US Capitol or the White House, and forced into a crash by its courageous passengers in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

This is a day of commemoration and mourning for the loss of life, plus the deaths of over 6,000 Americans in unsuccessful wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since then, and the nearly 50,000 young men and women wounded, many of them severely, as a result of those wars.

We also mourn the loss of innocence that we had, that somehow, as the super power of the world, we were immune from such a shocking attack, and the sense of insecurity that it brought upon all of us.

Our lives have been transformed in so many ways that we can never reverse, and we can say that we have become ever more divided in the years since, politically, economically, and socially, and that we have a divided America more so now than ever since the Civil War and Reconstruction period in the middle to late 19th century.

We are a more stratified society economically, and we have become, more than ever, a nation of the coastlines versus the massive interior, a nation of blue versus red in political terms, and our country is rapidly changing in a way that worries us about the future, as to whether there is the potential for internal violence in the future, that might make the terrorism of September 11 seem like something minor, as compared to what could happen between the sections of the nation, the religious groups, the racial groups, the age groups, the gender groups, and the cultural groups that make America a complex nation in the 21st century.

Imagine going back to the year 2000, before the divisive Presidential Election of 2000, at a time when most Americans had never heard of Osama Bin Laden; when the World Trade Center dominated the Manhattan skyline; when there was no Facebook, Twitter, or Steve Jobs technology; when unemployment was only 3.9 percent; when the national debt was only $5.7 trillion; when gasoline was only $1.79 a gallon; and when the previous year, the biggest controversy was Bill Clinton’s sex life and his impeachment trial.

As America was entering the new century, we were extremely naive, worrying more about the effects of “Y2K” on computers, than the reality of what we were going to face in the first decade of the 21st century, which has worsened the outlook for America’s future in a dramatic way.

Oh, for the “good old days!”

Florida Governor Rick Scott And Education Goals: War On The Social Sciences And Humanities!

Florida Governor Rick Scott and other Republicans in the state legislature have declared “war” on the Social Sciences and Humanities areas of the college curriculum, claiming that they wish to emphasize areas of knowledge, including science and technology majors, which are easier fields to promote job growth in the state.

Since when is it the role of politicians to dictate fields of study for students, as if that is the only purpose of education and learning? Scott’s suggestion to work against anthropology as a major, and other legislators’ attempts to undermine psychology and political science fields, is only the beginning of the promotion of mind control by people who do not give a damn about the purposes of higher education!

One should pursue his or her dreams and interests in colleges and universities, as the purpose of education is to open up one’s mind to new ideas, and the ultimate reality is that, as Steve Jobs said in his Stanford University commencement speech in 2005, that pursuit of one’s interests has a role in making one happy, that one must love what he or she does to be productive!

Times may be difficult now, but to work to destroy or de-emphasize whole fields of learning is anti intellectual and anti education to the extreme! Not everyone is motivated to go into the areas of science or technology, and society needs a mix of people with all kinds of interests and passions!

Education is not just based on job needs, and politicians should not have the power or authority to dictate budget cuts, which should be left to faculty and administrators at the institutions!

Universities that would gut whole programs because of the issue of money or immediate employment would be a travesty of the whole concept of education, which is to prepare for LIFE, not just employment!

Two Billionaires: Steve Jobs And Donald Trump–One Constructive, One An Embarrassment!

With the death of Steve Jobs, one of the most significant business tycoons of all time, on the level of Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Alexander Graham Bell, we have lost one of the great business leaders of all time, not just for his innovations in technology, but also as a model for keeping out of the public spotlight!

Jobs, a perfectionist often difficult to relate to in private, was a person who avoided publicity like the plague, but whenever he uttered his thoughts or introduced new technology, he always came across as a person with a good heart and instincts. His commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005, in which he said one should follow his dreams as we all eventually will die, was a brilliant example of the decency and vision of this man!

At the same time, we have Donald Trump, best described as a publicity hound, a person who wants constant attention, has had three wives, gone bankrupt a couple of times, loves to fire people on his TV show, enjoys being courted by Republican Presidential candidates, and makes a habit of saying and doing things that divide us in a difficult time. He is, without question, a real “character” with a tremendous ego that he loves to display!

This is not saying that Steve Jobs has not done anything in his private life that is questionable, since anyone is capable of having a so called “skeleton in his closet”, but Jobs avoided publicity, while Trump savors it to the extreme, showing he has a problem with his own self esteem! Nothing embarrasses him, but he is, without question, a real embarrassment!

And ultimately, Jobs changed America! When Trump passes from the scene, will anyone be able to say he made a difference in the same manner? The answer is clearly NO!

The Death Of A Technology Genius At 56: Steve Jobs Of Apple, Inc.

Tonight, it was announced that one of the technology geniuses of modern times, Steve Jobs, who co-founded Apple, Inc, has passed away at age 56 of pancreatic cancer.

The man who introduced Macintosh Computers in 1984, and later the IPod, the IPhone, and the IPad, left active work a couple of months ago, after battling cancer since 2004,

For a brief period, Apple, Inc. became the number one company in total value, this year surpassing Exxon Mobil.

The world is much enriched by his contributions, and will mourn his death and its impact for a very long time! May he rest in peace!