Not many folks could get away with this stunt:
Microsoft founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates released a glass full of mosquitoes at an elite technology conference to make a point about the deadly disease malaria.
"Malaria is spread by mosquitoes," Gates said while opening a jar onstage at the Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference — a gathering known to attract technology kings, politicians, and Hollywood stars.
"I brought some. Here I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected."
The mosquitoes were malaria-free, a reassurance Mr. Gates offered a minute later.
JUST MUSING OUT LOUD: Angelina Jolie is wild enough to try and top that. People who might be spending time with her, be forewarned.
There was a hilarious old Sargent Bilko sketch involving Phil Silvers and his guys thinking they were auditioning for a radio show (singing "We're heading for the last roundup") when, in fact, they were in a malaria experiment.
Posted by: clarice | February 05, 2009 at 10:58 AM
People who might be spending time with her, be forewarned.
I'll risk it.
Posted by: bgates | February 05, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Well, he certainly is a world leader on the topic of bugs.
Seriously, why can't Gates take up sailing or golf like any other self respecting billionaire? You can grouse all you want about The Gilded Age and "Robber Barons", but at least folks back then did not have to put up with this noxious posturing.
Got some nice libraries out of it too.
Going after Gates in the 90's must have really warped his brain.
Hey Bill, you have already given them your protection money, go collect oils or something.
Does he really think that he is going to end do away with malaria or mosquits in Africa?
He should look close to home first: Check out his QA department.
Posted by: Amused bystander | February 05, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Hopefully they all landed on Gates and started biting away.
I do wonder if he is so far removed from reality he thinks everyone in that room hasn't been bitten by mosquitoes in their lifetime (or traveled to places where they'd been exposed to malaria).
Posted by: MayBee | February 05, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Sad thing is, there is a cure. It's called DDT. But left-wing crazies won't allow its use. It doesn't need to be applied in the high concentrations of the 1950s and 60s.
Posted by: jorod | February 05, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Also got the state of Florida developed--including the city of Miami--by John D. Rockefeller's partner, Henry Flagler, after he retired from Standard Oil.
Posted by: Patrick R. Sullivan | February 05, 2009 at 11:23 AM
The mosquito magnets in the crowd were probably pretty miserable. Mosquitoes are much more attracted to some people than others.
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 11:26 AM
WaPo via the corner: LUN
Catherine Reynolds and Educap are related to some of Daschle's ongoing tax issues. This chick gets around.
Is there a groupie club for ex-politicians feeding at the DC trough?
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 11:36 AM
WSJ has more on Catherine Reynolds and Educap, Panetta and Daschle. LUN
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 11:43 AM
To bad DDT isn't legal anymore, especially in third world countries. Malaria was on its way towards extinction before, "Silent Spring" came along. Thanks to Rachel Carson!
Posted by: CH | February 05, 2009 at 11:47 AM
CH,
She was only following the progressive agenda and it worked - there are a lot more dead minorities today because of her work. She'd be proud of Obama. He's going to kill more innocent blacks, browns and yellows than anyone in history and the vast majority of those whom he is killing would have been born into reduced circumstances - a progressive's dream! It's a wonder the progs haven't nicknamed him Black Death yet.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | February 05, 2009 at 11:54 AM
NRO lists the specifics of wasteful billions in the porkulous bill. LUN
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 11:55 AM
The mosquito magnets in the crowd were probably pretty miserable. Mosquitoes are much more attracted to some people than others.
I'm allergic to mosquito bites. Each bite swells to a several-inch diameter hot red lump. Most summers of my childhood were spent with one eye swollen closed. Too many, and I get sick. Same for one of my sons.
It was a stupid stunt.
Posted by: MayBee | February 05, 2009 at 11:57 AM
c'mon;
Gates is taking up a worthwhile issue. Malaria kills millions overseas for no good reason. Limited use of DDT is one solution, but there have to be others as well. It seems he's funding a lot of this. His stunt made a dramatic point and heightened awareness of the issue. Having had malaria, it sucks.
Posted by: matt | February 05, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Mosquitoes used to love me beyond all reason. But I haven't been bitten since starting chemo. Blessings in unexpected quarters...
Are mosquitoes a problem where you live, Maybee?
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Given all the entertainment types at the conference, what do you think are the odds that there were quite a few HIV and Hepatitis-C infectees in the room?
Lawsuits?
Posted by: MikeO | February 05, 2009 at 12:04 PM
If it had been me, I would have started shrieking at the top of my lungs, clutching my heart and rolling on the floor. There's some money to be made in that room and just the man with the deep pockets to get it from. I truly, truly have a deep fear of mosquitoes, Mr. Gates. ::grin::
Posted by: Sue | February 05, 2009 at 12:05 PM
I would be PO'd to be in a room where mosquitoes were deliberately released. West Nile is carried by mosquitoes and can be deadly to someone with a compromised immune system.
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 12:08 PM
"Limited use of DDT is one solution, but there have to be others as well."
DDT and mosquito nets are the most cost effective means for combating malaria.
Posted by: davod | February 05, 2009 at 12:14 PM
bad,
It was beyond stupid. But, because of the audience and who it was, he will get away with it.
Posted by: Sue | February 05, 2009 at 12:15 PM
Bill practicing up on his "evil genius" persona? I wonder if he carries around a white cat with him.
Posted by: Mike Huggins | February 05, 2009 at 12:16 PM
Is this another tire gauge speech?
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 12:19 PM
I used to cut Gates some slack because every IT bigwig that criticized him was pretty much a jealous loser and when Slick sicced the Justice Dept on Microsoft that was definitely dirty pool. But something has softened his head subsequently that's led to idiotic stunts like this
Posted by: Captain Hate | February 05, 2009 at 12:20 PM
bad- thankfully, SoCal is too dry for mosquitoes. When I go back to visit family over the summer, I get eaten alive.
Oddly enough, the mosquitoes in Asia didn't cause the same allergic reaction in me although their bites took forever to heal.
Posted by: MayBee | February 05, 2009 at 12:21 PM
It's not very green to toss out appliances and cars that are working. Why not wait till they need to be replaced THEN purchase the more energy economical item.
O was nagging, scolding and belittling in his speech. Not a good tone.
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 12:23 PM
Captain, I agree with you on defending Gates. Me too. My guess is he has been made to feel he has to compensate for his lack of educational credentials by embracing "elite" causes.
We all know capitalistic success is nothing to be proud of.
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 12:27 PM
Actually making Windows work properly would do far more good for humanity. I can just see a beleagured malaria researcher hitting the computer screen, "Damned Windows! I could have cured malaria by now."
Posted by: Barry Dauphin | February 05, 2009 at 12:28 PM
lol Barry
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 12:29 PM
"There is no reason only poor people should be infected."
There is no reason that only poor people should suffer cholera.
What was on the menu?
Posted by: drjohn | February 05, 2009 at 12:31 PM
I'm tired of being preached at by that 48 year old pipsqueak who has never done anything in the real world in his life. Academia and politics are all he knows and he has the audacity to moralize to all of us. Tiresome guy. I am already weary of seeing him and it has only been two weeks. Apparently we are getting a prime time news conference Monday night now. Anything on cable worth watching??
Posted by: bio mom | February 05, 2009 at 12:33 PM
matt: All gates is doing is pandering to the tranzi's and paying his tithe to the international socialist elites to protect what cash he has left. That and making a darn fool out of himself. That money goes mostly to keep NGO's in the pink and the elites they employ in the purple. Very few of these projects amount to much else. It is a completely fake world , completely fake charity, and those that lounge around in it are only out to help themselves. Ask the Israelis about Gate's "Project" in Gaza.
Next you will be telling me that we should continue funding the UN because "it does some good". These things do much more harm than good, and one of the greatest harms causedis that in enables to whole parasitic (and tyrannical) Davos crowd and their ilk.
The best way to help Africa and African health is to open up some profitable businesses there and develop the economy as an honest business person.
Maybe Gates should consider golf courses over there and drag his Davos buddies out on the greens. Make that bunch spend their own money for a change. We can all hope that he would not opt for another software company. Should he do so, He would certainly have to look for a better class of staff than the current company he keeps.
Posted by: Amused bystander | February 05, 2009 at 12:36 PM
gates does all this nonsense because of the fleecing he got from the Democrats and their Eu counterparts. It is a protection racket.
Had he started along these lines earlier it would have cost him much less money and humiliation.
Posted by: Amused bystander | February 05, 2009 at 12:39 PM
We all know capitalistic success is nothing to be proud of.
bad, I think you've hit on the root of all the problems. Where's John Galt and why's he kept so goddamn quiet?!
Posted by: Captain Hate | February 05, 2009 at 12:44 PM
Well, he certainly is a world leader on the topic of bugs.
LOL
Posted by: Captain Hate | February 05, 2009 at 12:48 PM
Anytime Gates gets all preachy or too big for his britches I just think back to the time he and Paul Allen tried to sell their OS to IBM for a song and were turned down.
He's the richest guy in the world not because he's smart, but because some doofus at IBM was even dumber than he is.
Posted by: Barney Frank | February 05, 2009 at 12:52 PM
And I don't even think he's the richest guy in the world anymore is he?
Posted by: Barney Frank | February 05, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Oh gates was a good business man, he earned his money. It took real courage to take on IBM when he did.
We should give him credit for being a smart businessman. Can't say much for the company he keeps these days though.
Posted by: Amused bystander | February 05, 2009 at 01:02 PM
MayBee, me, too, though gnats are even worse.
Posted by: clarice | February 05, 2009 at 01:03 PM
Bio Mom, you can bet there are focus groups being polled as we speak so the proper tweaks can be made to the Monday night speech. It will be interesting to see the changes from today's utterances in the prime time address.
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:06 PM
"The best way to help Africa and African health is to open up some profitable businesses there and develop the economy as an honest business person."
Not without a decent justice system which applies the law indifferently and impartially - you remember, we had something similar in the US at one time. Without it, the best bet is to rent pols (vide Chicago, Machine). Otherwise the pols just steal every damn dime (vide Mugabe, Chavez, Obama).
Posted by: Rick Ballard | February 05, 2009 at 01:07 PM
lol drjohn
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:08 PM
Ruth Bader Ginsberg had surgery for pancreatic cancer. That is a very scary variety of the abomination.
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:10 PM
RB: right you are. Big players from the outside can be a catalyst for this though.
I can tell you that if that whole Davos crowd had to put their own bucks into these places we would see secure property right fall into place, and pronto.
Posted by: Amused bystander | February 05, 2009 at 01:12 PM
Porkulous!! from NRO
1. $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
2. $380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program
3. $300 million for grants to combat violence against women
4. $2 billion for federal child care block grants
5. $6 billion for university building projects
6. $15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships
7. $4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion to provide “youth” summer jobs for people up to the age of 24
8. $1 billion for community development block grants
9. $4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”
10. $650 million for digital TV coupons, including $90 million to educate “vulnerable populations”
But wait, there's more...
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:13 PM
B. Frank: I do not think anyone can make more than Obama now. Don't know how gates will fit into that.
We will have to check the Forbes 6 billion list.
Posted by: Amused bystander | February 05, 2009 at 01:14 PM
Yes, bad, but mercifully the end is usually near thanks to pulmonary embolism.
=================================================
Posted by: kim | February 05, 2009 at 01:15 PM
11. $15 billion for business-loss carry-backs
12. $145 billion for “Making Work Pay” tax credits
13. $83 billion for the earned income credit
STIMULUS FOR THE GOVERNMENT:
14. $150 million for the Smithsonian
15. $34 million to renovate the Department of Commerce headquarters
16. $500 million for improvement projects for National Institutes of Health facilities
17. $44 million for repairs to Department of Agriculture headquarters
18. $350 million for Agriculture Department computers
19. $88 million to help move the Public Health Service into a new building next year
20. $448 million for constructing a new Homeland Security Department headquarters
21. $600 million to convert federal auto fleet to hybrids
22. $450 million for National Aeronautics and Space Administration
23. $600 million for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
24. $1 billion for the Census Bureau
But WAIT!!! Thre's more....
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:16 PM
INCOME TRANSFERS:
25. $89 billion for Medicaid
26. $30 billion for COBRA insurance extension
27. $36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
28. $20 billion for food stamps
PURE PORK:
29. $4.5 billion for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
30. $850 million for Amtrak
31. $87 million for a polar icebreaking ship
32. $1.7 billion for the National Park System
33. $55 million for Historic Preservation Fund
34. $7.6 billion for “rural community advancement programs”
35. $150 million for agricultural commodity purchases
36. $150 million for “producers of livestock, honeybees, and farm-raised fish”
RENEWABLE WASTE:
37. $2 billion for renewable energy research
38. $2 billion for a “clean-coal” power plant in Illinois
39. $6.2 billion shall be for the Weatherization Assistance Program
40. $3.5 billion shall be for energy efficiency and conservation block grants
41. $3.4 billion shall be for the State Energy Program
42. $200 million shall be for state and local electric-transport projects
43. $300 million shall be for energy-efficient appliance rebate programs
44. $400 million for hybrid cars for state and local governments
45. $1 billion for the manufacturing of advanced batteries
46. $1.5 billion for green technology loan guarantees
47. $8 billion for innovative technology loan guarantee program
48. $2.4 billion for carbon-capture demonstration projects
49. $4.5 billion for electricity grid
REWARDING STATE IRRESPONSIBILITY:
50. $79 billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:21 PM
bad- you are engaging in the old politics. The American people have rejected your ways.
Posted by: MayBee | February 05, 2009 at 01:24 PM
Why do we need to spend $87,000,000 for an icebreaking ship when global warming is melting everything?
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:26 PM
Maybee -The mosquitoes in my inland So CA city don't think it's too dry. We had to buy a machine to fight the pests. Of course, the city, in *improving* the alleys, created breeding pools. The crow population was almost wiped out from West Nile virus, and we've had human fatalities close by.
Barry sure figured out the way to possible reduction of time in purgatory for Gates. I just spent 3 weeks in Microsoft's backyard and everything bad from traffic to weather is "Bill's fault."
Posted by: Frau Jedöns | February 05, 2009 at 01:29 PM
you are engaging in the old politics. The American people have rejected your ways.
Guilty!! but not as guilty as ressurecting the failed policies of the great depression. My old politics are newer than O's.
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:29 PM
$4,000,000,000 on a jobs training program
I rather see the jobs first. Without the jobs, how do we know what to train for?
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:35 PM
Bad - there was this moment last summer when the waters began to recede, and refreeze.
Also, quit engaging in the old politics. This is, like, a whole new deal.
Posted by: bgates | February 05, 2009 at 01:40 PM
lol bgates
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:41 PM
Without the jobs, how do we know what to train for?
It's cross-training. Like O-bomb's cycling/hoops/cigarette regimen - what he's done for his body, he wants to do for our minds.
Posted by: bgates | February 05, 2009 at 01:42 PM
$4,000,000,000 on a jobs training program
I could use an extremely small part of that to finance a program I investigated this morning; if only I was an "at risk urban youth".....
Posted by: Captain Hate | February 05, 2009 at 01:43 PM
Well, Captain, it's not like it takes much to become one...
Go for it!!!
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 01:49 PM
I just cannot wait until some hacker comes up with Gates.Malaria.2009 that cracks Windows some other way! Man, that stunt was weapons-grade stupid.
Here in MICHIGAN, we have about 50 different species of Mosquitoes, otherwise known as the Michigan Air Force. Here is just some of the fun they spread when they are not carrying off young children and small animals:
* West Nile Virus
* Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis
* St. Louis Encephalitis
* Eastern Equine Encephalitis
* Western Equine Encephalitis
* California Encephalitis
* Dog Heartworm
I sure hope Gates tested those mosquitoes before he released them (features, not bugs sir).
But, mosquitoes pale in comparison to Michigan Black Flies - LUN. Mosquitoes simply drill for lunch, whereas black flies strip mine for it.
Posted by: PDinDetroit | February 05, 2009 at 02:05 PM
PD-
The mosquitoes and other flying fauna are one reason I no longer live in MI. The snow and grey winters didn't help either.
Posted by: DrJ | February 05, 2009 at 02:11 PM
amused;
Bill's wife, Melinda, is a committed Catholic, and this was an issue which they identified several years ago as something where they felt they could make a difference. Bill is most likely high functioning autistic from what I can tell, bu the way. Not much with the social graces.
He does own the evil empire, but nevertheless, I think his motives on this are honorable. She has pushed him into new and different directions.
Posted by: matt | February 05, 2009 at 02:13 PM
we have very little in icebreaking tonnage right now, bad. With the Russians trying to make a play for the Arctic, it's not a bad idea. As long as the ship is built in the USA. The Finns build the best icebreakers, so I'm hoping the work stays here.
Posted by: matt | February 05, 2009 at 02:16 PM
Bill is most likely high functioning autistic from what I can tell, bu the way. Not much with the social graces.
Maybe, but Bill is easy to slam.
A colleague of mine had Bill on his board of directors when he founded and ran the biotech company Icos in the Seattle area. He said Bill was the smartest guy he ever met. This means a lot coming from George Rathmann, who also founded Amgen.
Posted by: DrJ | February 05, 2009 at 02:21 PM
DrJ - I will be here only as long as I have to. In 2 years, I will be 45 and my kids will be older than 18 and most likely in college (and me somewhere warm like Arizona). I made Chief Architect for a Global Business Unit here recently, a full year ahead of schedule. Hopefully, I will make CTO/CIO within 3-7 years from now.
Make no mistake, Bill Gates is a smart guy. But, I believe that the smarter and more gifted you are, the likelihood is that you will make bigger mistakes.
Posted by: PDinDetroit | February 05, 2009 at 02:39 PM
I admire Gates's charity work.
I don't admire his mosquito-releasing stunt.
It was condescending and irritating, because nothing is more irritating than mosquitoes.
Posted by: MayBee | February 05, 2009 at 02:41 PM
...somewhere warm like Arizona
Make sure you spend some time in August there before you commit. I found the heat to be oppressive. Obviously a lot of others have made peace with it, but it is not for everyone.
Posted by: DrJ | February 05, 2009 at 02:44 PM
So, just slightly off topic...
LUN lists some really interesting facts about MI.
Enjoy!
Posted by: PDinDetroit | February 05, 2009 at 03:05 PM
Amusing, PD! A bit over-the-top, but amusing.
Posted by: DrJ | February 05, 2009 at 03:28 PM
I'm kind of disappointed, PD; I was hoping that Kwame would merit at least a paragraph.
Posted by: Captain Hate | February 05, 2009 at 03:57 PM
I'm kind of disappointed, PD; I was hoping that Kwame would merit at least a paragraph.
Your wish is my command - see LUN.
Posted by: PDinDetroit | February 05, 2009 at 05:31 PM
If Bill Gates truly wants to help Africans he should hire an army, take over a country, setup legal and educational systems as well as capitalism. In two generations he can hold elections.
Doing anything else is just throwing good money after bad.
Posted by: Fritz | February 05, 2009 at 05:46 PM
zzzzt! smack!
Posted by: matt | February 05, 2009 at 05:51 PM
Stop, Bad, stop!
You're killing us!
Posted by: Old Lurker | February 05, 2009 at 06:13 PM
What did I do?
I know NUTTING...
Posted by: bad | February 05, 2009 at 07:02 PM
bad:
REWARDING STATE IRRESPONSIBILITY:
50. $79 billion for State Fiscal Stabilization Fund
Unfortunately, Spruiell doesn't list an email over at NRO, because he missed a big piece of this one. It's the cornerstone for federalizing education.
Mosquito wise, I finally switched to a lemon eucalyptus repellant because when the weather warms up here, I can't even step out on my porch without getting bitten. I save the DEET for places where malaria is a risk. I set a can of a DEET based spray with a slightly leaky nozzle down on a bookcase last summer, and it ate a ring right through the enameled surface to the bare wood below.
At least most mosquito bites stop itching in a reasonable amount of time. It's flea bites which last for endless days (and nights!) that drive me out of my mind. You can't have kids without pets, which means there's no escape, because no matter what you do, you end up with fleas inside the house. It's a special little corner of hell for people with a strong reaction to the bites.
Posted by: JM Hanes | February 05, 2009 at 10:09 PM
Get a life, guys, he was just trying to make a point with a few mosquitos. I can't believe nobody goes outside in late summer anymore.
Look, I've sheltered, fed and clothed my family since 1989 working with Microsoft products, and so have millions of others. Gates is probably responsible for the creation of more good-paying jobs than anyone in the last 50 years.
Posted by: Steve Rosenbch | February 07, 2009 at 07:32 PM