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Is it interesting that the Clinton Foundation has no measurable results?

Most charities can say "we received $x amount of money, and spent $y on cancer research" or similar. The dollars can be traced to studies or hospitals or doctors' salaries or aid workers in conflict areas.

Not so with the Clinton Foundation. Their purpose is to "lobby" for good causes.

Totally unmeasurable, there is no way to judge whether a donation to the Clinton Foundation is more or less effective than a donation to the "Save the Children Foundation".

With "Save The Children", you know that 1 child is helped, you know how they are helped, and you see whether the help does any good over time.

But with the "Clinton Foundation"... ?

You can say what you like about his past, but you don't know what credibility he has been building in 2013. Tanja did not give anyone anything - it was just a stunt to show the absurdedness of the election process. I think we can say "Whoosh" to you.
Here is Athene's credibility for the 10M$. www.savethechildren.org
Now go to his AtheneWins channel and watch his interviews on Bloomberg TV Fox CNN CNBC Wall Street Journal
It would be great if Steam and others took over the idea and donated many millions to charity as a default. Props to Athene for tirelessly kickstarting something great.

Here is financial info for Save the Children if anyone is interested. 2012 operating revenue was $597mil.

Congratulations to everyone involved. The few Athene videos I saw when he started were lowest common denominator attempts at shock value, but I'm glad something good is coming out of it.

I follow your argument, and I agree that there's a place for charity spending beyond providing food aid.

Still, providing basic services to the neediest people is going to have an impact beyond "next Tuesday."

Providing $200 worth of fertilizer, for example, could have a more positive impact on more people than $200 worth of OLPC laptop -- it would help feed people in the short term, and in the profits from a good crop would enable the reinvestment in fertilizer and seed needed to make a farmer more productive for years to come.

Similarly, $200 worth of medications costing only a few cents a dosecould save the lives of hundreds of children -- a few of whom might grow up to be contributors to a strong, sustainable economy.

There's a need for interventions like the OLPC project. However, I can't imagine that a single XO Laptop will improve the lives of as many people as $200 dollars worth of more basic aid. Just my 2 cents, though. Now to go put my money where my mouth is.

I think he does make a good point that donating money to feed those poor people is a good initiative but giving them a laptop opens up a whole world the poor can connect to that otherwise would never get that opportunity. I think that both initiatives are good. OLPC is doing a great thing and I am rooting for them. There are already other organizations that donate food and money towards hunger relief http://www.savethechildren.org/emergencies/africa/africa-hunger-relief-1.html... Google search has more... Why should OLPC have to do both? Just pick one and do it a good job at one.

I think that Dvorak is angry his keyboard layout never took over Qwerty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard... I made a funny :-P

"I'm raising a family of 4 on 16.75/hr @ 4hr/day (that's $17420/yr). "

Pfft! That's nothing. Sally Struthers is raising my kids on 80 cents a day.

Who are the imprisoned people with no access to lawyers?

People in poverty? Look at the studies- the average family in poverty has a color tv and other ammenities. The poorest people in the U.S. live better than 99% of the people in some countries.

No easy access to medical services? Where did you get that from? Anyone in the U.S. can walk into a hospital, and they will be treated.

Have you ever been to the U.S.? Where are you getting your facts?

Save the Children Gift of Hope
Give a gift that inspires hope. Donate, sponsor, shop or join Save the ...
http://www.savethechildren.org/

What more can I say?

There are children starving because of me. Dying. Seriously. I either have to not think, be okay with that, or go insane. I'm wavering between the first two.

Then I'm glad to offer you a way out: You could support: Oxfam, or Save the Children, or Medecins Sans Frontiers, or any of countless others.

Seriously, $10.00 can buy the antibiotics to save someone's life in for example, Bangledesh. Give that once a month and at the end of the year think to yourself there are twelve people alive because of you.

Sure, I'm preaching, but don't pretend there's nothing you can do. :)

Every time a dollar value is placed on a piece of research, some idiot comes along and say "Hey! This could be spent providing clean drinking water, and food and shelter", as if only research that directly provides clean drinking water or food or shelter is worth funding. Quite frequently the idiot making this statement is in a perfect position to provide money to ensure that more people have access to these facilities, and just as frequently that idiot isn't doing so.

I'm sure that when America and Russia were engaged in the space race there were people saying "Hey! This money could be better spent on disaster relief!". And where are we now? Only a few short decades later we have sattelites that tell us where hurricanes are going so that we can evacuate areas and people who would otherwise die surviveWe have a global reliable telecommunications satellites so that disaster relief agencies in third world countries can inform people of what supplies are required, and people who would otherwse die survive.

Without the massive investment in jet airline technology that could otherwise have been spent "saving the starving", we would not be able to travel to disaster areas within hours of an incident. And so the list goes on.

If you personally want to see more money invested in agencies that provide disaster relief, or reliable shelter or clean water then you only have to donate to the right charities, and encourage others to do the same. It doesn't take many people to donate out of their pockets to provide $1 million. You can start here.

And I suppose since you're so very concerned about our world's problems, that you're doing your part by scanning slashdot and reading all the articles whose headlines hint at possibly divulging solutions, right?

This particular article was a great place to start.

I just find all this techno-wankery that slashdot likes to promote is somewhat distasteful. I like to think that one day, Americans will wake up from their orgy of self-centered consumerism (of which this over-specced PC is just one example) and see the wider world out there.

You're right. Anyone reading or posting to this article is truly distasteful.

Its not about having a fast PC, its all about what you are like as a human being, relating to other human beings as equals.

Again, you're right. And I'm sure you're a fabulous human being to know, since you have such hardened principles that would never allow you to try to simultaneously mingle with and discredit a group of people.

Is it any wonder slashdot readers seem to have so much trouble getting laid, when they are all obessed with PC hardware and flight simulators ?

Well, as long as you're into treating us as equals, I'm sure you get laid several times daily, probably by condescending to your dozens dates like this.

Man, these things bother me too, but just like you, I have things to get done and obligations to fulfill. I've stopped in a suit and tie to help push a car out of an intersection, and I've waited an extra minute to help elderly women through the door at the mall, but I'm too selfish to volunteer at the soup kitchen. I love my comfort too much to join the Peace Core.

In between all the things I claim take up all my time, sometimes I like to relax. Just like you, one of the ways I'll do that is reading slashdot. I know I could do more, and I should. Right now, my son is asleep, my girlfriend is out with her friends, and I could be doing so much more with my time, but I'm watching the Man Show.

I hope you'll reconsider once you read this, but I doubt you'll ever see this post, because you're too philanthropic, and right now you're spending the money you were saving for next month's Internet access on the children.

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Let this guy have his 13 monitors. No, it won't cure hunger or cancer, but it's still an accomplishment.

Some Dads are not entirely self-centered. Go figure. Some Dads are even (gasp!) socially aware. If your Pop fits the profile, try a gift in his name to one of these: Habitat for Humanity Save the Afghan Children RAWA The Heifer Project Southern Poverty Law Center Adopt a Solar Family in Guatemala Palestinian Red Crescent Maen David Adom

It's great seeing dotcomscoop.com (which is a faction of Stile Project ) being sponsered by Save the Children!!!!

It makes my heart just a little warmer.