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I haven’t really done an AAP lately mainly due to the fact that I meet some very interesting people and it’s hard to know where to start.

I think today I might hit up one of my bromances to go and find the picture of the dog that was buried with his master that has on glasses. Why, you may ask? Because it’s just one of those things I need to do where I don’t feel like I’m going nuts. I love Hoots but there are times that I feel very geographically challenged. It’s part of it, you know, but it’s not like I can just pack up the PT and head to parts unknown.

If you were wondering what I’ve been doing lately other than avoiding all the news coverage of Carrie Prejean (who had replaced Jon and Kate for annoying me during my television news time), I’ve been studying up on broadband access to rural counties.

Guys, if you don’t live in your very own Hoots, it might not make a difference. As I do live in a Hoots, it’s extremely important to understand how this is a big deal to those of us here. I went to a meeting last week sponsored by the Businator and listened to some very important developments (and how communities need to be working together) in bringing access to places that may not have it. This is a multi-level affair. One, manufacturing booms are over and have been in west Tennessee for more than 40 years. We have too much offshore (and we even discussed sending our technical intellectual property over seas. Dumb, America, very dumb to just save a little dough.) That’s changing though. I’ll get into that later.

The thing is that the best way to bring an area up by their bootstraps is to look into new ideas and see where they will be in 20 years, not in 20 days. We are a society that thinks short-term a lot of times. If we can look at the positives we have, cultivate entrepreneurship (and not beat people down with negatives or statements like “That’ll never work here”) then we might be able to find new possibilities.

Why? Because it’s happening all over the place. And here is an example of how a century-old business less than a mile from me has transformed their business. (pdf, sorry.)

In the county of Hoots right now there are countless places that only have dial-up. There are kids that are being left behind sometimes because they don’t have the access to the information highway. It’s that simple. I will add that sometimes kids are … wait for it … geographically challenged too. Broadband access will  open up the playing field.

Economically, industries seeking out areas to locate need a broadband infrastructure in place to run their businesses. It’s just the way it is. But lets remember one thing, small business employees 85 percent of American workers. Not just big corporations and small businesses are everywhere. And we are losing students everyday in a “brain drain” to where they go where the technology is. The numbers are staggering.

So why not work on ways to make it available to everyone?

You are going to hear politicians and candidates talking about this. This entire state benefits when we all have broadband.

So, yeah, that’s what I have been working on if you were wondering. I have a hell of a lot more to learn I assure you.

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