Jonathan Springston, a senior reporter for the Atlanta Progressive News, was fired from the online news service because, according to an email from the site’s editor to Creative Loafing magazine, Springston
“held on to the notion that there was an objective reality that could be reported objectively, despite the fact that that was not our editorial policy at Atlanta Progressive News.”
Objective reality is so old-school.
This just in:
Mia Farrow has ended her hunger strike to show solidarity with the people of the war-hit Darfur region of Sudan, because of “health concerns”.
In a statement posted on her website the 64-year-old said: “I have been instructed by my doctor to stop my fast immediately due to health concerns.”
Of course, the point of a hunger strike is precisely that it does put the striker’s health at risk. The most devoted hunger strikers have died in the process, a move certain to bring embarrassment and change when directed against a humane opponent. And oh yes- people have to know you’re actually on a hunger strike.
I’m sure that upon learning of Ms. Farrow’s brief hunger strike Sudan President Omar al-Bashir was moved to say, “Mia who?”
Press releases from One Laptop Per Child indicate that the much-ballyhooed $100 laptop will soon be shipped, except it will cost $200. Unless you factor in all the donated hardware, software, shipping and other factors, in which case the true cost is around $1,000 per laptop, or about twice what a good low-end laptop from Dell costs. The OLPC people say this isn’t true- but they are still restricting sales to government and charitable agencies, which does suggest that they’re selling them at a loss.
Putting aside the question of why having a laptop will help students in countries where few complete the sixth grade, I still wonder why a country that won’t spend $2 for mosquito netting to prevent malaria or $20 for AIDS treatment would be expected to spend $100 or $200 to buy students a computer.
I’d love to be proven wrong, but I’m guessing that no more than a few tens of thousands of these will ever be distributed, and most will end up on the black market But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up hope. I am anxiously awaiting the One Car per Family project, which will deliver basic transportation throughout the Third World at a cost of only $40,000 per.