...The concept behind the project, which Negroponte unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, less than two years ago, is as simple as its name: give all children in the developing world laptop computers of their own. If we achieved that, he believes, we could bridge what's usually termed the "digital divide." The laptops would offer children everywhere the opportunity to benefit from the Internet and would enable them to work with and learn from each other in new ways. OLPC, the nonprofit organization that Negroponte set up to manage the project, has taken responsibility for designing the computer and engaging an outside manufacturer to produce it. But the nonprofit is not going to buy the computers. That, at least for now, is the responsibility of governments, ...   more »

... All across this country, the voices of the American people have called out for peace. All across this country, the American people's votes have registered a strong vote of confidence in a process that will take us out of Iraq. We have to now harness this energy. Let's continue to work together to take steps towards organizing this powerful peace movement in this country so that, not only do we get out of Iraq, but we stop the wars of the future. ...   more »

I'm posting below an item recently placed by my brother Brian into his blog on MySpace.com. It's about the impact the Internet has had on his life.

Brian was born, when I was 7 years old, with severe asthma, excema, and many allergies to both foods and inhalants. I'll always remember going to visit him on the second floor of our parents' home, in his special bedroom outfitted with air conditioning and electrostatic dust filters. The room felt cold and had a strange ozone smell from the dust filter, which would crackle and pop as it zapped dust particles. -- Brian was a tiny child and had to sleep in a special jacket; its sleeves were tied to his crib and it had stiff balsa wood inserts to keep him from scratching and infecting his allergic skin rashes. I could only imagine what it must have been like for him not being able to scratch what the doctors described as some of the most intense itches humans can feel. -- His doctors predicted for many years that Brian would never live out the next year. But Mom and Dad never gave up on him, sacrificing much to pay for his medical expenses and frequent emergency trips to specialists at the Children's Hospital 25 miles away in Boston. -- And Brian never gave up either. ...   more »

The tummies of US teens and children have 65% more fat than in 1999, say researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. ... Belly fat is more dangerous for health than overall weight gain, there is a much closer link between visceral fat - the fat around your internal organs - and serious diseases. ...    more »