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I actually had something related to Macs, but a little while before I was ready to send it, the events that took place on Tuesday happened. I felt it more appropriate to not write about iMacs this time, but rather write regarding the terrorist attacks. I will warn you know - this article is a bunch of ideas and opinions put together in a semi-sloppy way. I apologize for this, but I'm writing this as I go along, rather than planning like I do with most of my articles.

What Happened Where I Was...

9/11 - Early Morning (about 7:00 a.m. CDT)

This was much before the attacks, but I had to include it since it relates to the title of the article. When I was on the bus going to school I was listening to the first Smash Mouth CD. When it finished, I couldn't get the last song, "Why Can't We Be Friends?" out of my head. You know how that goes....

9/11 - A Little Later (about 10:00 a.m.)

We were in the middle of class when the principal interrupted and told us the situation over the loudspeaker. She told the teachers to turn on their TVs, so we watched NBC's coverage almost all day. Some people think that we should have not known what happened when it did, but should have found out when we got home. Personally, I think the school did the right thing. This is an event that won't be forgotten, and we'll all know where we were when it happened. It gave us a chance to discuss it with other students and hear other viewpoints. I couldn't help but think how the song that was still stuck in my head described the situation well.

At Home (about 3:00 p.m.)

When I got home, I read the usual news sites (like everyone else), and, also, I have to say that the Mac Web has done an excellent job with this situation, suspending all Mac stuff, all Windoze stuff, and everything else.

One thing did stand out in my mind...

I noticed one thing when all this was going on - when the rescuers were working to get people out of the World Trade Center, it didn't matter what race, ethnic background, etc. a person was, but rather that everyone was Americans helping Americans. I'm getting rather sick of certain ethnic groups wanting special treatment, just as I'm sick of racism and hate groups.

In closing

Well, this article may get me a bunch of angry emails, but I just want to say that I think that we should find out who was responsible and take care of them. I think the whole time the Middle East situation was going on (for the last few years), the U.S. should have taken more action.

We did let our security get wimpier, because the United States is arrogant in the fact that we didn't think anything would happen to us. Well, it did, and the way all the politicians seem to be talking, things are going to be taken care of. It's still incomprehensible that buildings that big can completely be leveled by an airplane (I do know how big the 757/767s are, too).

My condolences go out to all the people who have loved ones who were on those planes, in the Pentagon, or in New York.

Eric Schwarz has been using Macs and other computers for a few years. His personal website - dealing with Macs (of course) - is at <http://schwarztech.macweekly.com/>. You can learn more about his current computer setup in Eric Schwarz's iBook.

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