IPW

Back From Poland

Well we're back from Poland. I can't quite summarize the trip in one sitting but it needs to be recounted. Certainly the highlights should be recapped, but how? I could/should probably write a novel about an American's reintroduction into the old country since it is a little hard to convey how on so many levels it is different from the average American's reality. Especially Seattle's reality. New York is a little more similar to Poland in many respects foremost being its sort of controlled chaos at any given moment. The longer I live away from Seattle, the more I realize what a relaxed, ivory tower it is. No, "Ivory Tower" gives it a negative connotation, I don't mean to do that, but it does seem like it is far removed from many harsh realities that plague so many more dense or more underdeveloped places.

This is a whole other subject entirely. Seattle is really a utopian place, let's leave it at that.

Actually my main point was to give you all a reading assignment. There is a debate about giving kids in the third world cheap laptops. I am not sure why there is a debate, but there is, and you can read about it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/technology/30laptop.html?hp&ex=1164949200&en=65317907d3a0f6d7&ei=5094&partner=homepage

I will weigh in with my opinion, and stories from the Old Country next time. It is not all entirely unrelated see, note that one voice of opposition to the laptop program is Bill Gates who lives in Seattle (Medina), although he is hardly removed from the harsh realities of the third world, he is an amazing philanthropist*, but he does get to go home to Medina at the end of the day and dive around in his money bin like a porpoise.

Read up, and we will reconvene shortly.

*Bill Gates will probably go down in history as the man who saved the planet. Take a quick look at his wikipedia entry concerning his acts of philanthropy and it will bend your mind, especially if you can get your head around the amounts of money involved.

Posted by ian at November 30, 2006 08:41 AM