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Here we can read an article by Susan Sontag's son about three people of South Asian heritage talking about African agriculture.   more »

This podcast is full of fun quotes --- "I think every foundation would probably be better off if they took on a narrower set of things and they took them on in a deeper way and a longer term way. What you’re providing is not just money. You’re providing a voice. You’re providing expertise. You’re creating jobs. And when you first get into an area, you’re naïve. You make mistakes.” -------- Read the first sentence carefully. Someone should tell Bill to get his own house in order and not prescribe how other Foundations should conduct their work. ------ Bill also thinks that increased HIV testing will lead to behaviour change. There is no evidence that testing leads to behaviour change except among people found to be HIV positive: it does not among the majority of people who test negative. He is paying many experts in HIV to advise him. Someone should tell him this.   more »

An interview ---   more »

Read all about Jesuit school support by the Gates Foundation, President Bush, and George Will.   more »

"I love the Millennium Development Goals". ----- He gives them an A.   more »

Here is a postcard fluff piece on Raikes, including bullet points on the values he says he lives by to illustrate how good he is. Actions will speak louder than words. --- Is 'conservative spending' a positive value at the Foundation?   more »

One Gates Keeper has read all the material that has come out of three organisations about this much-trumpeted initiative. All that she can understand is that World Food Programme food will be procured locally. Sounds like a good market-replacement idea that the WFP might have been doing all along. The rest of it she cannot comprehend.   more »

Here is a good idea ...   more »

Bill Chill may also rule above the 49th Parallel. "Cozying up to Gates" gives a warm feeling on those cold winter (and summer) nights.   more »

Do they have an equivalent of 'Bill Chill' south of the border? Something like 'Frio Frenk'? ... Though this article shows that it is not impossible to develop an analysis of and criticise Frenk's ideas. His use of tobacco money is an example.   more »

On the commemoration of his/her state's independence, one Nigerian writer has a radical idea for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.   more »

It is worth going back to look at the website Tactical Philanthropy nineteen months ago. There is now more public discussion about the Gates Foundation than there was at that time. But the Foundation has responded by expanding their public relations efforts. In order to have a true analysis of the pros and cons of their activities, more voices need to be raised.   more »

A former Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation staffer goes public.   more »

An Alaskan journalist catches up with Melinda French.   more »

This grant announcement appears inconsistent. First it says that the grant will support networks of people living with HIV to design and monitor prevention strategies. Then it says these strategies are "microbicides, pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis, and other antiretroviral-based prevention strategies, as well as male circumcision". Aren't HIV negative and untested scientists competent to run trials for these medications and roll out adult circumcision? Do they not allow people living with HIV to participate? ...... BTW isn't 'male circumcision' a tautology? There is no female circumcision - just female genital mutilation.   more »

Tobacco control is one of the Gates Foundation's few forays into the world of noncommunicable disease. A corporate social responsibility or soft approach is not going to work with China. Here you can hear what they have in mind.   more »

Does it take the Gates Foundation to pay people to recognise that (global) health and (global) education are the backbone of a foreign policy?   more »

Here the Gates Foundation gives an award to an organisation that Microsoft supported. Pretty cosy, huh?   more »

Now here is a real philanthropist. I wonder if the Gates Foundation has invited him to their offices to see how he does effective work.   more »

Here is what Patty will be doing in her spare time. Can she bring transparency and accountability to the Smithsonian? Can she do it at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?   more »

This man's correspondent thinks it is ... but he concludes that MS and the BMGF are separate.   more »

With respect to Patty's spouse, the media hype over creative capitalism is a yawn: corporate social responsibility with a new face.   more »

Gates Keepers are not Gate Keepers. We welcome your comments and they will appear unmoderated on the site. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation media relations people, on the other hand, are gate keepers. They decide what we can read and what we cannot read about the Foundation ---   more »

A hundred thousand dollars won't go far ... and neither will trying to spread a nonsmoking 'enlightenment' to the world's oldest continuous civilisation. Bill needs to use his insider knowledge of how monopolies work to tackle the Chinese government's tobacco monopoly. Is he up to it?   more »

The Foundation will benefit from this young man's experience with the Rabbit Project.   more »

One Columbia student presents one solution to the sustainability dilemma faced by those who believe malaria eradication is possible. Melinda is quoted: "if high energy and high expectations don’t lead to success—it saps money and morale. People give up. Governments, foundations, and corporations cut their funding, malaria surges back—and gains can be quickly wiped out.".   more »

The less written about the loony contradictions of so-called creative capitalism the better. But the Gates Keepers cannot resist posting this graphic and the quote: "If Gates is serious about good corporate citizenship and enlisting government as a partner, perhaps Microsoft should start paying its fair share of taxes to the State of Washington."   more »

You can hear what Tachi thinks about HIV in this podcast from the International AIDS Conference in Mexico. It is a bland interview.   more »

The ETC Group has published an analysis of the 'second green revolution'. It examines the role of the Gates Foundation. Attached. Read it.   more »

Andy Ho opines, "But one thing is certain: everything the Foundation does will be scrutinized, evaluated, and debated like no other." Perhaps it is debates within the Foundation. We don't know. But there is little public debate. And unless the Foundation itself puts the issues out into a forum where the public can debate them, they cannot. --- How does Andy Ho know that many Asian Americans are admirers of Gates? Has there been a poll? Or is he speaking for himself?   more »

Interesting findings ...   more »

There is no doubt that "America's current public education system is failing to give our students the skills they need to succeed in today's global economy". The Measure of America confirms this. Can the Gates supported activity by Rockefeller Philanthropic Advisors change this?   more »

"I know! “X” marks the spot where the treasure is buried! It’s in the Walla."   more »

Gates Keepers don't know about the SAA but the ASAP is reported to be brain dead.   more »

Bill says about Don Sadoway of MIT, the "best chemistry lessons everywhere. Unbelievable." High praise for a battery builder from Oshawa. --- But how would Bill know? Has he ever attended or seen any other chemistry lessons? What is his basis of comparison? --- Bill is not a scientist yet.   more »

Not everyone is happy with plans for scaling up adult circumcision for HIV prevention in southern Africa. This letter write certainly isn't. Is Bill cut or uncut?   more »

The article on Jeff Raikes taking over from Patty Stonesifer appears differently in the Seattle Times and the LA Times. The Seattle Times says the the Foundation has dropped a 'cone of silence' over Raikes. The LA Times omits the cone. Gates Keepers wonders whether there is frustration among journalists closest to the Foundation at the excessive secrecy that surrounds the Foundation and the increasing role of public relations 'minders' who intercalate between Foundation staff and the media. --- Can you picture Bill Gates as Maxwell Smart and Jeff Raikes as the Chief on two ends of a Cone of Silence?   more »

Here is an example of Bill Chill in action.   more »

Gates Keepers echo this query ...   more »

Gayle for Vice President? How about Surgeon General?   more »

It will be interesting to see what technical solutions the Gates Foundation will pull out of their tool kits when going head to head with the China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration. This is more a monopolists' war than a marathon.   more »

Andrew Jack usually writes clearly. But not in this case. Who said the Gates Foundation call for malaria eradication was "bonkers"? 'One official' or David Heymann of WHO?   more »

have accepted an offer to join the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the Global Health Discovery Group, and will be starting my new job on October 6. As a Senior Program Officer, I will work with my Discovery colleagues to shape strategy and develop and manage grants to fund basic research in areas of life sciences critical to the Foundation's mission ...   more »

"Microsoft looks at new ideas, they don't evaluate whether the idea will move the industry forward, they ask, 'how will it help us sell more copies of Windows?'" --- This quote from Bill Gates got a Gates Keeper thinking, "What is the Foundation paradigm for evaluating new ideas?" We read about the values and we hear about impact and partnership. But that sounds overly complex for the simple mind of the Foundation's leaders.   more »

This is one of the most informative live discussion interviews that have been produced about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Patty would do us all a favour by consenting to this process once every six months. THAT would be transparent.   more »

Julio Frenk lasted a little over a year at Gates. Sepulveda will probably be the next to go.   more »

The rich have often maintained power by giving their money away. The concentration of wealth in few hands and new media make it much more visible. Is Sean correct that "people in all walks of life" have changed?   more »

Only one comment on the link to the Seattle Times article over at the Chronicle of Philanthropy's 'Philanthropy Today'. Does Bill Chill work there, too.   more »

Tobacco capitalists are creative. And the Chinese government as a tobacco monopolist makes a lot of money from tobacco. How wonderful that one monopolist takes on the challenge of attacking another's interests. Stay tuned. ... Gates Keepers think this grant is a good one. And it is done in partnership ...   more »

This interview shows Patty to be a thoughtful leader. Too bad she is leaving.   more »

Gates Keepers want no holes in their hands. As Phil says, "I don't mind telling the truth to power, but I would rather not get crucified." Don't miss the rest of Phil's note over at Gift Hub.   more »

Marilyn Case of the Wall Street Journal has seen an advance copy of this "pungent chili-colored' tome in Mexico. And it is out in Delhi bookstores. When will the rest of us be allowed to see it?   more »

Doughton (and Heim) deserve credit for their bravery in researching and writing this article. And the Times in publishing it the same week that the Foundation bought an issue of Time. ... Even braver are Kane, Gloyd, and Stansfield. They must feel secure in their jobs. ... But the quote of the day award goes to the brilliant young Advisory Panel member Kavita Ramdass who echoes a Gates Foundation motto with her pithy: "You only criticize those from whom you expect much." ... GK wonders whether Patty Stonesifer has the Gates Keepers RSS feed directly into the startup page on her work computer. Probably not.   more »

Academics have been slow to publish their analyses of the Gates Foundation. Here are three linked articles from Michael Barker that examine a few issues.   more »

Now here is creative capitalism at work. ... William Dalrymple usually writes and sells his books. But in this case he was, as I understand it, paid in advance by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Avahan to write this story. It has little to do with HIV. ... Except in the last few paragraphs, when the NGO worker acts unprofessionally by breaking confidentiality and telling him that his informant is HIV infected. And Dalrymple follows suit by telling us. Does the Gates Foundation fund this NGO? What does the Gates Foundation think about the breach of confidentiality that took place during development of this story?   more »

The only Gates Foundation idea that made it into this Economist article is Tachi's launch of the Snip Corps: sending volunteers from the west to perform circumcisions in Africa. This is an absurd idea. It takes a couple of days to train a paramedic to perform adult circumcision. Too bad Avahan was not featured in the article. It is a better idea than Snip Corps.   more »

Here is a bit of rare critical analysis of microcredit.   more »

Here someone asks whether the Gates Foundation could hire journalists to write about the Foundation's interests. The Foundation appears to have hired journalists and has recently bought an issue of Time.   more »

A socialist view ...   more »

Did You Know? My Son is Entertaining Bill Gates ...   more »

As Tachi comes from the drug industry there is a lot of interest from R and D people in the activities of the Gates Foundation. Here is a blog posting on drug development.   more »

Xinhua the Chinese News Agency has this report on Bill's last day on the job at MS. There is a remarkable photo gallery to accompany the article on the web. I love Bill's quote: "The depth of IQ in this company is phenomenal." IQs are usually described as high, not deep.   more »

Ah, China. So many people. So much to do. Will the Gates Foundation do anything about the exclusion of children with hepatitis B from school? About job discrimination against hepatitis B carriers?   more »

Here is critical analysis from the 'citizen media' on the Gates Foundation and coal.   more »

Public criticism of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is rare. ... A lame duck United Nations virologist turned bureaucrat has the courage to be quoted: "The Gates Foundation has been wonderfully successful putting global health on the agenda," Piot said. But it still appears to be suffering from a fairly self-defined decision-making process and lack of adequate outside input, he said, "partly, I suppose, because so many people are afraid to criticize them publicly. Everyone wants a grant." ... And a tenured professor at Duke can privately ask what mistakes the Foundation has made. He was then invited to speak at the Foundation. One hopes he told them what he says here: "I think it's fair to say the Gates Foundation is not yet very transparent or accountable ".   more »

Bill was asked a simple question about whether he would talk so bluntly in the foundation world as he did in his job at Microsoft. He didn't answer the question. He almost never answers difficult questions about his Foundation work. But he did come up with one humdinger of a phrase: "sit and iterate". Is that how he really talks?   more »

No one I know. And how can anyone not have heard of Jane Jacobs? What planet is Pisani from?   more »

Here is criticism out of Africa on the Gates-funded AGRA and its ilk. The report referred to is attached.   more »

It is all about growth ... and the private sector.   more »

What will her new role be at the Foundation?   more »

These nongovernmental organisations helped by the Gates Foundation over the past five years ought to be able to show their increased capacity to respond to Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. CARE, Catholic Relief Services, International Rescue Committee, Oxfam, Mercy Corps, Save the Children, and World Vision. Can they?   more »

The United Nations is so short of money that the Food and Agriculture Organization needed a small grant from the Gates for a better database.   more »

The staid journal gives us an understated gem: "reaction to the call for a new global eradication campaign has been mixed."   more »

It is best to hedge your bets in an election year ...   more »

A tabloid picks up a nonstory about the Gates.   more »

A racist view of the Davos speech.   more »

It is interesting that the Foundation has chosen two middle income nations to support microfinance in. Usually it is offered to poor nations. Mercy Corps (a favorite Northwest NGO) will need to be very careful about their targeting or the nonpoor will end up capturing all the benefits. One wonders how this decision was made.   more »