http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog Civil society voices on the activities of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation en-us Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:00:08 -0700 Main Page Blogware gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2007/10/18/3299955.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2007/10/18/3299955.html Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:36:15 -0700 If you would like to receive email notices of new posts on this blog or to contact the Gates Keepers, send an email to Gates.Keepers.blog [at] gmail [dot] com. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/12/3926772.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/12/3926772.html Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 Here we can read an article by Susan Sontag's son about three people of South Asian heritage talking about African agriculture. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/11/3926118.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/11/3926118.html Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/10/3924637.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/10/3924637.html Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 An interview --- Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/9/3922611.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/9/3922611.html Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 Read all about Jesuit school support by the Gates Foundation, President Bush, and George Will. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/8/3921604.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/8/3921604.html Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 "I love the Millennium Development Goals". ----- He gives them an A. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/7/3919432.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/7/3919432.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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? Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/6/3917632.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/6/3917632.html Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/4/3914427.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/4/3914427.html Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 Here is a good idea ... Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/3/3913085.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/3/3913085.html Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 Bill Chill may also rule above the 49th Parallel. "Cozying up to Gates" gives a warm feeling on those cold winter (and summer) nights. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/2/3911401.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/2/3911401.html Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/1/3910041.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/10/1/3910041.html Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0700 On the commemoration of his/her state's independence, one Nigerian writer has a radical idea for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/30/3906068.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/30/3906068.html Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/29/3906155.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/29/3906155.html Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 A former Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation staffer goes public. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/28/3904494.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/28/3904494.html Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 An Alaskan journalist catches up with Melinda French. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/27/3903302.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/27/3903302.html Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/26/3901735.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/26/3901735.html Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/25/3900405.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/25/3900405.html Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 Does it take the Gates Foundation to pay people to recognise that (global) health and (global) education are the backbone of a foreign policy? Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/24/3898537.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/24/3898537.html Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 Here the Gates Foundation gives an award to an organisation that Microsoft supported. Pretty cosy, huh? Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/23/3897098.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/23/3897098.html Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/22/3895559.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/22/3895559.html Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:21:34 -0700 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? Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/20/3892885.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/20/3892885.html Sat, 20 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 This man's correspondent thinks it is ... but he concludes that MS and the BMGF are separate. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/19/3891332.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/19/3891332.html Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 With respect to Patty's spouse, the media hype over creative capitalism is a yawn: corporate social responsibility with a new face. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/18/3890133.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/18/3890133.html Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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 --- Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/17/3888784.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/17/3888784.html Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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? Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/16/3887197.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/16/3887197.html Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 The Foundation will benefit from this young man's experience with the Rabbit Project. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/15/3885416.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/15/3885416.html Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 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.". Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/14/3884492.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/14/3884492.html Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:00:00 -0700 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." Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/13/3882735.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/13/3882735.html Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 You can hear what Tachi thinks about HIV in this podcast from the International AIDS Conference in Mexico. It is a bland interview. Main Page gatekeeper 1 http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/12/3881135.html http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org/blog/_archives/2008/9/12/3881135.html Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:00:00 -0700 The ETC Group has published an analysis of the 'second green revolution'. It examines the role of the Gates Foundation. Attached. Read it. Main Page