The worlds poorest 1 billion people are ignorant.  No really, among populations making less than $2 a day hardly any of them have been to college.
Many of them can't read.  Most don't have access to the wealth of education on the internet.

For $15 we can change all that.

$15 is what it would cost in volume to put a computing device capable of receiving a one way shortwave connection to the internet and displaying it along with audio to the user.

For $15/ea every child could learn to read regardless of school.  For the same $15 every child could get rudimentary education.  For the same $15 basic health information could be broadcast to those who need it most.  For the same $15 business information such as farming techniques, construction information etc can be sent to those who need it the most.

$15 and the worlds poorest can be heard.

Today a machine could be built for $15 in bulk to connect the poorest to the internet.

It would be based around the worlds cheapest touch screen with black and white TV level resolution.

Here is an LED fan
http://www.flashingblinkylights.com/prog rammableledmessagefans-p-1728.html

here is an example using a waved pen
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/ 81ff/

The display is simply a larger version of this, a large fan like display made from a single strip of LEDs.  The touch screen aspect comes from adding magnetic proximity sensors that detect a magnet stylist as the "fan" rotates and map the stylist touch onto the screen based on the current angle of the fan and position on the strip that the stylist was detected.  Its the same concept as the LED fan but instead of broadcasting angle dependent information the computer is receiving angle dependent information.

End effect touch screen display for ~$3/ea in million unit quantity.

Power is via a human mechanically rotating the fan and a small generator captures some of the energy and turns it into electricity to run the LEDs and computer.  No batteries or AC power needed.  It may require 2 people to use, 1 to spin and 1 to be the computer user making it unattractive to those rich enough to use something else.

$12 is the remaining cost for shortwave antenna, custom ASIC CPU that contains an apple 2 or ibm pc level computer+ram+flash + shortwave tranceiver + power rectification from the motor and lastly a cheap speaker/microphone.

Downloading would give old dial up modem speeds and content would be controlled 100% by the broadcaster like TV is with everyone getting the same data.  Multiple text streams may allow different channels within a single shortwave channel that the user could choose.  Limited TV would be possible over the shortwave channel with imagines being slower than real time.  A second channel could be used for very limited uploading with ~150 million people sharing a channel and each getting ~20 bytes upload a month

20 bytes a month is a lot of data.  It allows grades to be recorded thus certifying an education or national voting or any manner of things with enough encryption, this is enough data for example to choose from among 2^20 detailed resumes or letters which exceeds the total number ever written by all of humanity.  So a great deal of personal information could be maintained (1 per month) such as resume, adding an email address to a friends list, personal detailed form letters etc.

The whole computer would be a small flexible style printed circuit board taped onto a spoke of a wheel with the shortwave antenna being the outer wheel.

16 billion would buy 1 billion of these and have 1 billion left over to set up the broadcasting programming for educating the world.

Thats 1 month of the iraq war and would have more impact at fighting terrorism worldwide.

The time has come to end poverty and the internet is the answer.

Before this all started there were two camps

Camp 1

There is a new 50 state strategy the old battle ground states don't matter anymore.  Ohio, PA,  Florida  you can win without them.  We won't win Florida anyway, the battle is in the midwest.

Camp 2

Lose Florida and Ohio and PA and you lose

Its too early to see who was right but look at the popular vote and the electoral votes.

If McCain had won Florida and Ohio this election would not be called at this point.

Camp 1 was correct with regards to making Virginia, Indiana, colorado and several other states interesting.

But camp 2 was largely right in that if Florida and Ohio (or Pa) were clearly McCain states going into this election we could easily have lost due to lower turnout etc.

Obama has done a great thing, defeated Hillary, McCain and won a landslide victory with a massive mandate.  90% support from AAs may never happen again as racism is largely defeated and some are naturally conservative and will gravitate to the GOP.

Don't learn the wrong lesson.

Kerry could not have done this.
Gore could not have done this.
Carter could not have done this.
Mondale could not have done this.
Dukadis could not have done this.

Even my beloved Clinton could not have done this.

Don't let the first AA president magic blind you into thinking that its the 50 states strategy that created the magic.  

Obama deserves the credit.

Obama has listed his priorities

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/31/o bama.blitzer/index.html

If he had made an earlier clear list it would not be news today...

I do like his list however.

Personally I think #5 is his real top priority but I am fine with that.

50 years from now when I am an old man my grandchildren or greatgrandchildren will ask me about this election.

They will ask me if I voted for Obama.

I will answer of of course I did.

They won't need to hear that I was opposed to the Obama movement and at best lukewarm to Obama.  By then he will be a mythic character totally unrelated to how he governed.

But they will understand the history of it.

They will look to me and say dtaylor2 did you vote for the first AA president?

Did you own that moment in history?

I would never lie to my grandchildren...

How about you?

Will you make it to the ballot box so that you won't have to lie to your great grand children?

GOTV GOTV GOTV

I was raised in a liberal democratic family.  Well relatively conservative christian by most moral standards but VERY democratic party and I was raised thinking that Liberal meant the good guys in pretty much all cases.   I was raised hating reagan, bush sr, quayle etc.  The rest of my family was for Obama even before Clinton was defeated for example.

When I was 16-17 I got a job with Voter Revolt in California.  Door to door raising money.  I was very excited as I used to want to be in politics and I was very much a democrat and hoped to use this job to move into the political sphere (which didn't pay any more it was just a stepping stone towards political work).  Anyway long story short the individuals were such assholes I stopped being a liberal.

I have never since that day viewed liberals as having a monopoly on being the good guys.  I had that job for 1 week.  In 1 week my world view took a DRAMATIC change of course.

Why am I telling you this?

Many of you are damaging the values you hold dearly in the same way that those who ran the voter revolt chapter I worked for and in doing are making built in trouble for yourselves in the future.

Anyway my story with voter revolt.  I signed on and was told that promotions to the management inner political circle would be based on performance measured in dollars raised.  We were all driven to the same neighborhood and expected to pull in $80-90 a day or so.  I pulled in $220 my first day which was the highest by >$50 and asked how long I would need to maintain that level to get the promotion and was given a very fuzzy answer.  Another person there who started with me and was a sub par performer was being groomed for the job.  Now I know many of you think I am an ass but keep in mind raising $220 in a day from strangers involves being fairly friendly and devoid of assholedness.  I was not impressed with the dishonesty where a below average performer was given a raises that was supposed to be based on merit, there was a very attractive girl who started after me who out raised me but she wasn't the one who got the job.  Honesty from people selling honesty is a REQUIREMENT.  You can't be the good guys while lying.

What shocked me most however was how the leaders would brag about baiting people who didn't want to support voter revolts political cause.  I was raised that if you are asking someone for their money and they don't want to give it to you thats their right.  The christian thing is to go to the next door, do unto others etc.  But the political members of Voter revolt wanted to taunt the opposition.   They HATED the people who didn't agree with them.  SNARK is bad for any movement.

So why should you care?

Obama may very well lose this election.

Gore lost

Kerry lost

There is a very real demographic shift to the conservative based primarily on family size as a larger and larger percentage of the population is being born into conservative families.

Obama may very well lose this election.

And sooooooooo many on the left wing believe that if their LOVE,  CRAVING, PASSION, DESIRE, LUST for Obama is denied that it must be because the GOP cheated, or people are racist or some other cosmic injustice has occurred.

America is a free country.

Part of living in a free country is you often lose.  If you never lost how free would it be for the other guy?  But don't worry he often loses too.

America is a free country.

Even Obama can and will lose if the people who vote against him are numerous enough in enough states to give McCain 270 electoral votes.

If that happens try and understand that those people who vote against you, they live in a free country too.  Their opinions as to what is important are relevant just like yours are.  Their love of an inexperienced know it all is just as valid as your love of an inexperienced know it all.   Their view that she is qualified is just as relevant as yours that she isn't, just like your veiw that Obama is qualified is just as relevant as mine that he isn't.

If you respond with dishonesty and start to believe that you were robbed by the voters rather than conned by the media who wanted SOOOOOOOO much for Obama to win...

If you respond with Snark and try and invalidate the freedom and rights of the people who disagree with you...

If you do those things you will lose regardless of if McCain loses.

I raised a lot of money for Voter Revolt in that week.  I helped them meet their target for the week.  But liberals lost me in that week.

Your behavior in the upcoming likely Obama win will have a lasting effect on how long liberals have in power.

If you are snarky, dishonest, unsympathetic to those who will never vote with you, then realize that some of those who grew up planning on voting with you all along may find that they have a change of heart.

I was raised to be a liberal like my sister and vote for Obama.

1 week working for voter revolt in the late 80s changed my world view.

None of the people I worked with would be out of place on daily kos.

People just like them are present on Mydd.

There may even be one in your mirror...

"The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided."

Where is the ACLU this week?

Seems there is a big to do about wether or not the Vice-President suddenly magically lost the role of president of the Senate that is specifically spelled out in the constitution.

Or is it that there is some question as to wether the Vice-President lost the traditional role of presiding over the senate that all vice presidents in modern memory have exercised when they are present in the senate?

Can someone explain to me what aspect of the Palin statement was actually factually wrong?

It seems to me that if a VP wanted to sit in the senate every session that the role of the VP is both specifically mentioned as president of the senate in the constitution and also clearly understood by tradition...

Watching MSNBC tonight it would appear that Mr Hardballs doesn't read the constitution much.

Look its ok to hate Palin.  Its ok to think she isn't qualified.

But when the press of our nation in unison ignores facts to go after a member of one political party you should fear for your very freedom.

They won't always agree with you and if they don't follow rules you will have no defense when that day comes.  Resist now or kneel later.

I am open to hearing what aspect of Palin's comments were foolish or factually wrong.  But so far it sounds to me like she expressed that if she was VP she would sit in on every session of the senate which would break tradition but give her essentially as much extra power as Pelosi has over a regular representative.  I can understand if the senate said well we are also going to break tradition and not yield the gavel to you if you do.  Now this would have some pretty serious ramifications and is not possible in practice which I suspect is why its such a sore spot with the press (which is strange if they really think the election isn't close).  But to pretend like she is foolish in saying the VP presides over the senate when it is expressly stated in the constitution has me pretty pissed off.  

I am warming to Obama the individual but MSNBC and the greater Team Obama movement really has me worried that we are losing our freedom and the ACLU, Democratic party and other traditional defenders of freedom (even on stupid things) has taken a breather on this one because they like the idea of sticking it to an opponent.

If MSNBC is the liberal Fox and Fox is the conservative MSNBC where will anyone get  real news from in the future?

If the ACLU only defends the constitution for liberal causes will we need the NRA to protect the constitution for conservative causes?

What happened to old school democrats that actually cared about the truth even when it meant they didn't get to stick it to the opponent every single time?

Those of you who backed Obama in the primary wars do you understand that this isn't really about Obama the individual?

Team Obama doesn't value DEMOCRATIC party values.  This is anti-Bush.  We are entering the same cycle the Neo-Cons brought to the GOP.  The values this movement are bringing are not traditional party values and have the potential to hurt us in EXACTLY the same way Neo-Con values hurt real conservatives.

Repent embrace a free fair and un politically biased press before its too late...

=p

Just read this on CNN

"For those of you who are feeling giddy or cocky and think this is all set, I just [have] two words for you: New Hampshire," the Democratic presidential nominee said during a fundraiser breakfast in New York. "You know I've been in these positions before where we were favored and the press starts getting carried away and we end up getting spanked. And so that's another good lesson that Hillary Clinton taught me."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/16/c ampaign.wrap/index.html

This is the first I have read Obama expressing something positive about Hillary when it wasn't at all mandated and seems to come from the heart.

He could have just as easily talked about it without saying anything positive about Hillary.

He could have put it on thicker and I would have liked that but I respect what he said provided it was sincere in audio as it seemed in text.

Watch how a generic issue of involvement with Freddie and Fanny is turned into Race by Obama supporter Harry Reid.

http://www.breitbart.tv/html/192383.htm

Made me want to repost this letter that I saw in a previous diary

Its interesting you can see the race card being played and rejected in the video and then ponder on how the race card has affected your decision making...