It's Good To Be Rich

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.

[END OF THREAD]

Comments

[clarice]

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.

[bgates]

People who might be spending time with her, be forewarned.
I'll risk it.

[Amused bystander]

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.

[MayBee]

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).

[jorod]

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.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Got some nice libraries out of it too.

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.

[bad]

The mosquito magnets in the crowd were probably pretty miserable. Mosquitoes are much more attracted to some people than others.

[bad]

WaPo via the corner: LUN

Panetta's largest director's fee last year, $170,000 in cash and stock options, came from Zenith National Insurance, which promotes safety on the job but specializes in protecting businesses from the financial consequences of workplace injuries. Other board members include Catherine B. Reynolds, head of EduCap, a controversial student loan company that is under investigation by the IRS.

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?

[bad]

WSJ has more on Catherine Reynolds and Educap, Panetta and Daschle. LUN

[CH]

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!

[Rick Ballard]

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.

[bad]

NRO lists the specifics of wasteful billions in the porkulous bill. LUN

[MayBee]

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.

[matt]

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.

[bad]

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?

[MikeO]

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?

[Sue]

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::

[bad]

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.

[davod]

"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.

[Sue]

bad,

It was beyond stupid. But, because of the audience and who it was, he will get away with it.

[Mike Huggins]

Bill practicing up on his "evil genius" persona? I wonder if he carries around a white cat with him.

[bad]

Is this another tire gauge speech?

[Captain Hate]

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

[MayBee]

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.

[bad]

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.

[bad]

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.

[Barry Dauphin]

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."

[bad]

lol Barry

[drjohn]

"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?

[bio mom]

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??

[Amused bystander]

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.

[Amused bystander]

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.

[Captain Hate]

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?!

[Captain Hate]

Well, he certainly is a world leader on the topic of bugs.

LOL

[Barney Frank]

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.

[Barney Frank]

And I don't even think he's the richest guy in the world anymore is he?

[Amused bystander]

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.

[clarice]

MayBee, me, too, though gnats are even worse.

[bad]

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.

[Rick Ballard]

"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).

[bad]

lol drjohn

[bad]

Ruth Bader Ginsberg had surgery for pancreatic cancer. That is a very scary variety of the abomination.

[Amused bystander]

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.

[bad]

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...

[Amused bystander]

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.

[kim]

Yes, bad, but mercifully the end is usually near thanks to pulmonary embolism.
=================================================

[bad]

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....

[bad]

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

[MayBee]

bad- you are engaging in the old politics. The American people have rejected your ways.

[bad]

Why do we need to spend $87,000,000 for an icebreaking ship when global warming is melting everything?

[Frau Jedöns]

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."

[bad]

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.

[bad]

$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?

[bgates]

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.

[bad]

lol bgates

[bgates]

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.

[Captain Hate]

$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".....

[bad]

Well, Captain, it's not like it takes much to become one...

Go for it!!!

[PDinDetroit]

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.

[DrJ]

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.

[matt]

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.

[matt]

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.

[DrJ]

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.

[PDinDetroit]

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.

[MayBee]

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.

[DrJ]

...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.

[PDinDetroit]

So, just slightly off topic...

LUN lists some really interesting facts about MI.

Enjoy!

[DrJ]

Amusing, PD! A bit over-the-top, but amusing.

[Captain Hate]

I'm kind of disappointed, PD; I was hoping that Kwame would merit at least a paragraph.

[PDinDetroit]

I'm kind of disappointed, PD; I was hoping that Kwame would merit at least a paragraph.

Your wish is my command - see LUN.

[Fritz]

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.

[matt]

zzzzt! smack!

[Old Lurker]

Stop, Bad, stop!

You're killing us!

[bad]

What did I do?

I know NUTTING...

[JM Hanes]

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.

[Steve Rosenbch]

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.