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Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

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Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#91

Post by zby »

jdc wrote: post #6
Solstinox wrote: post #2

A quick, cheap, non-invasive test that is less accurate (in the direction of more false positives) would be far more effective than a more accurate but slow, expensive, and intrusive test.

Right - see the MedCram lectures on the topic: How to Beat COVID-19 with At-Home, Rapid Result Testing: 5 Min. Summary by Dr. Mina (Antigen Tests) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZWuyvBAWWQ Coronavirus Pandemic Update 98: At Home COVID-19 Testing - A Possible Breakthrough (~ 15 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7Sv_pS8MgQ At Home, Cheap, COVID-19 Tests with Results in 15 Minutes: How to Fix Testing with Dr. Mich…

Only videos? No text?

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#92

Post by olivermarks »

Upvoter33 wrote: post #81
olivermarks wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gates was born wealthy and connected and is now one of the richest humans on the planet, and owns or controls multiple corporate media companies (his foundation funds UK media company the guardian 'global development', the UK BBC 'world service trust as european based examples, Conde Nast in the US (Wired etc) are effectively Gates PR mouthpieces). As an oligarch he can pronounce as a 'philanthropist' on global publi…

This is misleading at best. Sure, his dad was a lawyer and he was raised in a well-off househould. But he made something -- Microsoft -- through his own ingenuity, effort, and business acumen. I didn't agree with his business ethics, but to pretend he just fell into MS because of his connected family is fairly ridiculous. Amazingly, he has since turned his fortune into one of the most successful philanthropy projects…

It's not misleading at all, you've just grown up in a warm bath of Bill Gates PR. Gates is a very shrewd business man from a very shrewd and well connected family. There is nothing 'amazing' about his monopolistic practices, which he is now focusing on global bigPharma. Gates hides behind a 'giving it all away' trust based (aka tax avoidance) philanthropy but his wealth has doubled in the last few years. I wouldn't normally waste time on this but Gates is a dark character once you look beyond the pr veneer and fawning media coverage. We are in a very serious global pandemic where transparency and solutions by, of and for the people are needed, not for profit 'philanthropic' capitalism and social controls.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#93

Post by ani-ani »

He is easily one of the least bullshit-y sources when it comes to handling of COVID. But then there's this right in the middle of the interview: "And when you have [posts] encrypted, there is no way to know what it is. I personally believe government should not allow those types of lies or fraud or child pornography [to be hidden with encryption like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger]". Quite literally, encrypted communication should be illegal and the government should read everyone's private messages. What motivates a statement like this?

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#95

Post by lordofgibbons »

>And when you have [posts] encrypted, there is no way to know what it is. I personally believe government should not allow those types of lies or fraud or child pornography [to be hidden with encryption like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger].

WOW. Why would someone in the tech industry like Gates be anti-encryption for the public? The only argument I can think of against it is "You have nothing to worry about if you have nothing to hide"

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#97

Post by blocked_again »

Upvoter33 wrote: post #81
olivermarks wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gates was born wealthy and connected and is now one of the richest humans on the planet, and owns or controls multiple corporate media companies (his foundation funds UK media company the guardian 'global development', the UK BBC 'world service trust as european based examples, Conde Nast in the US (Wired etc) are effectively Gates PR mouthpieces). As an oligarch he can pronounce as a 'philanthropist' on global publi…

This is misleading at best. Sure, his dad was a lawyer and he was raised in a well-off househould. But he made something -- Microsoft -- through his own ingenuity, effort, and business acumen. I didn't agree with his business ethics, but to pretend he just fell into MS because of his connected family is fairly ridiculous. Amazingly, he has since turned his fortune into one of the most successful philanthropy projects…

Gates mother introduced Microsoft to IBM for the contract by speaking with the then Chairman of IBM, who she was an acquaintance of. How many of your parents can do something like that?

Sure, Bill is a very smart person. But it's kind of impossible to say for sure whether he could have been as sucessful, if he was born in a different family. Parents play a major role in shaping the mind of children. For what we know Bill would not even have gone for a programming career and might have been a TV news reporter was he born in some other family.

If he is born in some other family, is he even Bill?

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#98

Post by bmsleight_ »

Upvoter33 wrote: post #81
olivermarks wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gates was born wealthy and connected and is now one of the richest humans on the planet, and owns or controls multiple corporate media companies (his foundation funds UK media company the guardian 'global development', the UK BBC 'world service trust as european based examples, Conde Nast in the US (Wired etc) are effectively Gates PR mouthpieces). As an oligarch he can pronounce as a 'philanthropist' on global publi…

This is misleading at best. Sure, his dad was a lawyer and he was raised in a well-off househould. But he made something -- Microsoft -- through his own ingenuity, effort, and business acumen. I didn't agree with his business ethics, but to pretend he just fell into MS because of his connected family is fairly ridiculous. Amazingly, he has since turned his fortune into one of the most successful philanthropy projects…

>And now my life is complete: here I am, trying to defend Bill Gates, on the internet.

I feel the same way. Talk about full circle, it goes from a point in time where Mr Gates appeared to be set on destroying [internet/open source/linux] to now being one of the leaders I actually want to get behind.

In what every role (Mr Gates Villian, Bill the philanthropist) he is at least well informed.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#99

Post by amelius »

blablabla123 wrote: post #75
refurb wrote: post #36

Maybe it’s just me, but I find it odd that Gates is the go to source for public health issues. His biggest contribution is money, which pays for really smart people to tackle these issues. So why not talk to the really smart people he hired?

Yes, it's really weird, also that he is actually supporting the WHO financially. But here's the reality: U.S. doesn't spend enough to WHO (in fact now they even want to leave), so he gives them money - which is actually possible for everyone. Also Bill Gates wasn't the only "Cassandra", practically every popular science magazine (and probably also HN) has written about the possibility of a future pandemic since years…

> I think the summary is: this is really odd but it is even more odd how governments are unable to work on long-term topics unless shit hits the fan.

This is just because there is no incentive for any politician. It's just like how security is at the bottom of the budget list for most IT companies. Unless we have a framework where people are accountable, nothing will change.

Re: Interview with Bill Gates on Covid, social media

#100

Post by fanatic2pope »

codebolt wrote: post #79
mdoms wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bill Gates is a public health expert. He has been working on these problems with some of the smartest minds in the field for decades now. How long does someone need to be working on a problem before they're worthy of being a "go to source", in your opinion?

Like it or not, he's become a highly controversial figure for a large fraction of the population, particularly within the societies that his foundation works. In my opinion, they'd do good to pick a figure whose name is less tarnished if they want the message to be more broadly accepted.

Makes no difference. Ohio had Amy Acton, a medical doctor who specialized in public health. She did a great job but the right wing nutcases still sent her and her family death threats to the point where she was forced to resign.
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