Poverty = lack of access to information - Charles in Space Blog

Q. Can spaceflight be justified with the extent of world poverty?
Mike, Ireland

A. I am not certain if it can be justified to your satisfaction. Nor am I certain that it needs to justified any more than hundreds of other human activities and industries that take up much more space and human resources than space, from higher education to rail transport, need to be justified. These days the concept of poverty includes the lack of access to information resources that are frequently space based. We should not try to eliminate poverty by eliminating those things that people strive for.
Charles Simonyi, blogging from outer space
http://blog.charlesinspace.com/category/ask-charles/?&paged=2

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/04/09/russia.space.ap/index.html

See my earlier post at:
http://wonderlane.blogspot.com/2007/03/charles-in-space.html

Bono's Acceptance Speech NAACP End Extreme Poverty

Absolutely riveting and sensitive speech - NAACP Chairman's Award to Bono. Quincy Jones kisses and hugs Bono before he goes on stage. Bono's acceptance speech - "preach!" - brought the crowd to it's feet with a roar!

"This is true religion. True religion will not let us fall asleep in the comfort of our freedom. 'Love thy neighbor' is not a piece of advice, it's a command. ... This is not a burden, it's an adventure. Don't let anyone tell you it can not be done; we can be the generation that ends extreme poverty."
- Bono, March 2007