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Bill Gates, Time Magazine "Person of the Year"

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the charity-gets-you-far dept.

klubar writes "Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, were named Time Magazine "Persons of the Year". He was joined in this honor with Irish rocker Bono-all being named for being "Good Samaritans" who made a difference."

6 of 751 comments (clear)

  1. cancel my subsc... oh wait, never mind. by yagu · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Bill Gates amassed a fortune through ruthless and merciless and eventually illegal practices. That he has chosen to give some back, and I tip my hat to him for that, anc for all the good he is now doing I liken to the mafia giving ill-gotten gains to charities and somehow being anointed for that. It is misguided. Unfortunately, I have no subscription to Time to cancel.

  2. Islamic charities contribute too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Al-Qaeda gets a lot of funding from various Islamic charities. Besides Al-Qaeda and its satellite organisations, these charities do indeed contribute large amounts of money to various humanitarian causes. Does that mean we have to like them now?

  3. Flame War by Gryle · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Bill Gates, Peron of the Year
    Let the flamewars begin!

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
  4. Nigg0wn'd by OMGtehRed · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    HA HA HA! All you stupid little black people now are going to be whiped out in a hurricane and stuff and die because Geoge W. Gates is gonna fucking ass nigger rape you hahahahhahahahhahahhahahhahahhahahahhaha!

  5. At least $60 billion lost... by Futurepower(R) · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    At least 60 billion dollars lost because of Microsoft Windows viruses. He gives back 1/4 billion, and now he's a hero?

  6. I doubt it surprises anybody by penguin-collective · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    This should prove... once and for all, to the teeming masses of Slashdot kids, that people, by and large, DO NOT hate Microsoft and Bill Gates.

    I don't think that surprises anybody. In fact, there are lots of historical figures that were perceived positively by their contemporaries and later turned out to be great villains. Besides, you're confusing cause and effect. Stories like the Times story are PR tools to create images; they don't necessarily reflect public opinion.

    As for Gates, I suspect in the long run, history will judge him for what he is: a monopolist who has cheated the public out of hundreds of billions of dollars, stolen intellectual property wherever he could, and who has held back progress by decades. Donating a small fraction of his earnings for his pet projects and PR stunts doesn't change any of that.