In effort to help the millions of people displaced due to the massive tsunami which struck the region around the Indian Ocean, Bill Gates has donated three million dollars in aid. Amazon has donated another $3.5 million:

Microsoft's company offices in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India are working with relief organizations, a spokeswoman said. The company also is encouraging employees to contribute. Under an existing program, Microsoft matches charitable donations by its U.S. employees.

Does this mean that the 'Devil' himself has a heart, It would seem so.

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Actually, Microsoft is a well-known contributor to charity as a whole. Several of its executives contribute millions to charity on a regular basis. Former Microsoft employees have went into the business of finding good places for those who make money to give it. Contrary to popular belief, a LOT of US CEOs donate money for causes like this on a regular basis.

because many people doesn't agree with microsoft business model doesn't mean microsoft is evil though ^^

Bill gates is giving money becuase thats where he has all his biz located at having those little make our shit .... damn he still evil

- He is good on some stances - Like this project for exampel. And the cancer research (I mean his´ also supporting that)

Anyway India is also far ahead with the technology, and most of his business lies there. So theres a connection :-)

Nah, I guess the man is okay. I'm just glad I aint his child.

Regards,
LS

Hm. Lets see. Bill Gates contributes 3.0 Million Dollars of his ... what was it? 30 Billion Dollar? fortune in order to rebuild necessary facilites in these countries.

Sure he does, this Tsunami thing caused a considerable amount of public awareness. Everyone sees the endless generous EU/US and the big companies + unbelieveable rich CEOs helping in such a bad Situation. Sure, it helps, but in the end its lots of positive publicity for a cheap price, thats what I call it.

If any of these rich bastards and nations would be humane in any form - they would have stopped globalization and exploitation of these countries in time so that they could have afford a pre-warning system for the earthquake - or modern medical facilites that dont collapse after a wave - or whatever. Nobody would care if our tourists wouldnt have been there during that disaster. If it happened in 6 months from now during saison-morte, not a quarter of the publicity that has been reached now would have been reached.

Besides, i would call him "not so evil" if he - just out of his mind - would contribute a quarter or the half of his fortune to this..... he'd still have enough- THEN id say: "what a character"... but this way .. thats peanuts for him.. as sad as it is, but these three million dollars dont make the world a better place, much larger amounts are necessary to do so ... especially in these regions

dev'

Dell and his wife donated another $3m.

I don't know what I have to says, but as a victim of tsunami, I want says thanks for everyone who have care to us. I from Aceh, Indonesia

Well, one thing to keep in mind is that just because someone has money doesn't mean they aren't contributing. It's just the nature of money itself. If he invests in a new technology, that creates jobs. Like someone else said, maybe it's a job in India. If he puts it in the bank, the bank invests it in the form of a loan to someone like you or I. If he invests in bonds, it's in a government, which could be student loans or utilities projects.

The only thing he can do that doesn't "contribute" is get the cash out of the bank and like burn it or just sit on it or something. Also, if money is given to someone that isn't productive, or doesn't contribute to society in some way, then it's also kind of wasted.

I guess the deal is that greed is what drives *some* people. Someone like Gates that dashes competition to become the best can do a lot of damage along the way, but for every job lost, a new one is created. Those that lose their jobs struggle for a while, but if they don't lose hope, they can get yet another job and contribute more.

What he's doing by donating money here is helping out those who may have lost their homes and food (losing their fishing ships is going to be a huge problem). He's donating now in hopes that some future genius will rise out of the tsunami's wake and maybe one day work for his company. A lot of people see it as goodwill, but in reality, when you run a corporation as large as Microsoft, the fact of the matter is that your next great talent could be ANYONE, so contributing to society may, in fact, help you in the future.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not defending who he is or what he has, but that the money that he owns isn't "lost". If he buys toys then someone is making those toys. I think the problem is that our envy of his massive fortune leads us to believe that money is being wasted. That is clearly not the case. It's being invested in God knows what right now!

Everyone who gave even 1 Dollar to any charity project this Year did at least one thing right. People seem to forget that in others Countries people die of hunger and wars...

Spend money

Btw: The checkie chan guy spend some millions, too...

i don't mean to be rude over here.... but just to give you a statics:
EVERY-DAY! 30 thousand children die due to starvation,poverty or various disease. DID YOU KNEW THAT!!! Moreover, if i start talking about the countries that has long been in civil war... where streets are mine feilds you'll get scared!

huh! i wounder, why natural disaster etc... get such a huze global attension, while other issues that have been-there-for-dicades are still unsolved.

well the german F1 driver michael schumacher gives about 10 million , although he doesnt have such a huge fortune as billy. 3 million are just peanuts

usch

ring0 you are right. But in this case the people see something new, and they see how their money can change the situation. But in critical zones like south afrika or countries with civil wars the people would need to spend MUCH more money to even change the life of those peoble to the better a lil' bit..

hehe the first chick on this whoul forum and shes here just to say thanks we call
bill gates on a trail
hehehe

Will you say the same thing if I said I donated $25 dollars. Will you bicker until I donate $25,000? I mean $25 is just peanuts to me as well.

Don't make double standards for people who have money. Every dollar counts.

There is Asia vs. REST OF WORLD cricket match in australia with most of teams participating in it . 3 MObile comany is givin $1000 for every run scored in this match while toyota is giving $50000 for every 6 hit also many more sponsors are giving.

Very true dissolutions every $ counts . Ofcourse he might be giving to get some more publicity but that isnt important at present . Most impotant is that those who have survived shouldn't die wuith hunger and epidemics and should get at least their houses back .

Double standards for people with money are reality you cant deny that. And no i wouldnt say that since you probably dont have an income of the same amount as Billy Boy and you're probably no big player in world economy either who exploits third world countries.

What I dont understand are your double standards concerning other regions in the world where the situation is much worse than in the regions of the recent tsunami. I dont expect anybody to understand what I mean as I dont expect anybody to believe that 24 of your 25€ donation will end in the moneybag of a big player/local warlord/corrupt politician/help organization whatever. Believe me or leave it. Its your 25 bucks, not mine. If they make you feel better - they at least served any purpose (besides making the wrong people rich)

dev'

WEll all the money is good for this kind of cause

Devon, I'll give you another chance to reiterate what you mean. Make it understandable, possibly include facts and no slandering please.

First off clearly explain what situation is worse than the Tsunami right now. Considering that the Tsunami killed more people than Nagasaki and Hiroshima COMBINED. And current World Hunger statistics puts 30,000 deaths per day on world hunger. Exactly what situation is worse than this?

Is that the double standard you speak of? If it is not please explain to me.

As well considering the amount of global aid to world hunger/poverty this is pocket change.

As I said though explain yourself. I am not condemning your beliefs or your opinions I'd like to hear what you have to say about it, because frankly I don't quite understand what situation is worse in the world at the moment.

As well, I know of several International health and Help agencies that as a requirement to be able to recieve funds are audited yearly, how is it that they are corrupt? That they will give money to warlords etc.

-dissolutions

To put it in a nutshell with 2 concise examples: Darfour and Iraq. In Darfour everyday people suffer from hunger caused by the sanctions off the USA und other Industry-Nations. Besides from civil war and ethnic cleanings. That is the double standard I speak of. But not the only one, it was more a generalization.

About Iraq I dont have to say a word I believe.



And I wrote a judical essay about the loopholes in austrian law for these donation-financed organizations. Loopholes for the usage and taxation of these donations and I can tell you: there are lots, and we have strict laws. Unlike most of the other Billion-Donating Nations. We just dont know where this money goes. In most cases.

What I say is that i wont donate and I wont feel bad about it because I know that the people who need it - would never get it. Under any circumstances. Most donations made by nations and worldbanks go to the governments anyway or are made in form of acquittals and are thus of no use for the people of these countries.

I'm not condemning help organizations at all, that would go too far. There are for sure trustable ones out there who really intend to make the world a better place. I just want to say that I dont trust them. And donations made by governments of industry nations are ... useless and very dishonest.

dev'