Why Oprah is a phony.

[wombat2u2004]

And another thing..... what about Bill Gates...naming a foundation after him and his wife. I mean...come on! How much attention and publicity does that man need? And what does his wife have to do with it anyway???

And spending all that money in third world countries promoting learning and global health. With their faces plastered all over their website.

What's next for these egotist blowhards? Curing cancer or something?

Where is their common sense? Why are they fighting malaria?

And I saw Bill interviewed on the Jon Stewart show and ....the family doesn't have a pet!!!!!

Malaria kills a lot of people !!!!! Need there be any other answer to that question ???

[jackie]

Malaria kills a lot of people !!!!! Need there be any other answer to that question ???

AHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHH x10000!!!!

I just choked on my juice.

I think what Oprah has done is nothing short of amazing. You may not like the woman, but how can you fault her generosity?

[sasvermont]

For all these years I found your ideas and opinions interesting. Not today.

I don't know too many people as generous as Oprah. I just don't understand what infuriates some folks when it comes to someone else's generosity. You should be so lucky to have that kind of money and be able to give so much of it away, to profoundly poor people.

Go back to bed Richard.

[columbine]

When people have money to burn, they burn it - do what they personally think will help the most, without getting relevant advice. Oprah's heart is in the right place. It's her information deficit that led to an inefficient use of her wealth.

It's a perpetual problem of philanthropy. The people who are in a position to make a real difference don't have a whole lot of clues about what differences need to be made.

Who here doesn't have an "if I win the lottery" idea about what you'd do to make things better? And where did that idea come from? Your own heart, right? Since you haven't won the lottery yet, of course you haven't done any research about whether or how well it would actually work. Well, people who have boatloads of money think that if they're smart enough to get all that money, they're smart enough to figure out how to put it to work. But it's a different flavor of smart, and a fairly rare one, and most rich people don't know much at all about the world outside of their own experience. So huge amounts of money end up going down inefficient holes because the rich people don't know that they don't know everything.

There's nothing wrong with bragging, in my book. If you do something, and present it honestly and in its entirety, there's nothing wrong with putting your name on it. And I like the recent trend for the rich to show off by trying to help the poor. But it's the ones who start with good solid research who actually succeed.

Love, Columbine

[Cataholic]

Columbine, very interesting post! Thanks for expanding my brain.

[gini]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16396343/site/newsweek/

This is just one article that I researched about this subject. Yes, she went way overboard - oversized closets - fireplaces everywhere - 200 count bedsheets -
great mattresses - so what?

I still see that Oprah did her homework and she is banking on the initial 73 (?) students to get a great education and then start making a difference in South Africa - and the next group of students will do the same.

Read the article from her point of view - why not give her a chance and look for the results of her efforts down the road?

I for one, hope that she has created an environment that will be a huge success in terms of educating young women that are from a background not unlike her own.

[carole]

well put Columbine, i found your post interesting too and something i had not given much thought, personally i don't give a toss if they want publicity or their name put on anything ,bragging as such, if it helps people that is all that matters to me.,and who are we to say where their money would be best spent, the simple fact is, it is their money, end of story, to do with as they wish,I would not take kindly to people telling me what to do with my wealth, if I had any ,I would probably help animals, and there would be people saying i should be helping human beings first,we should be thankful i think that they indeed are generous enough to share it , even if it is not what we think it would be best spent on,they could be complete miser's and keep it to themselves, so i say good on ya oprah.

[lizbud]

When people have money to burn, they burn it - do what they personally think will help the most, without getting relevant advice. Oprah's heart is in the right place. It's her information deficit that led to an inefficient use of her wealth.

Love, Columbine

I think it's very presumptuous of you to make a comment inferring Oprah
"has to much money and not enough sense". As a very successful business
woman who has very good council to help her make the most of the funds
she chooses to distribute. You certainly have an opinion, but so do the
people who see what a blessing she is to many people.

[catland]

What if Oprah is right?

What if these girls, having been given the best education that money can buy, go on to do great things and really help their country? Then we will look back at this and say "that was money well spent".

who knows?

[RICHARD]

I lost my dial up connection just as this thread was hot and heavy and I wanted to revisit it now that HARPO has the looset purse strings on the planet.,


I had left off with Dean Kamen.

The Techo Stud who refined that stupid engine -Stirling is the name- You know, the one that makes eleck-trcity off of Methane/Poop fumes at night and makes clean drinking water during the day...

In a Sundance Channel special he invited Isabella Rossellini to his home and showed her his invention. It was a wonderful look into his operation. Without the pompous guests, doctors and phone number for tickets to his show!


The gist of the convo was that people are dying becuse of the lack of clean water.


A machine like that will purify water so that it can be used for drinking and irrigating crops....Funny how a little fecal matter in water can ruin a whole village's outlook!

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Kamen went on to stae that politics is the main reason that his refined engine is not being shipped to areas that need it!

It's way too expensive for Kamen to donate machines to every area that needs them, and the governments are way too crooked to let those machines go to the people..

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A few Sterling/Kamen engines would be far more practical in some areas than a 150 person school.


But hey, Dysentery, explosive diarrhea, starvation and E coli are not as important as education.


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When the coup, junta or other civil problem breaks out I wonder which buildings will be plundered by the 'have nots'?


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I apologize to you all that have no patience for my opinions.


I do respect yours!

Going back to bed now!

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BTW,

LH, Where is your sense of helicopter adventure?

It's not like the chopper was burning the whole 50 gallons in one trip!