So it turns out Bill Gates is kind of an Asshole . . .

From The Daily Mail:

Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft and a renowned philanthropist, let loose a swarm of mosquitoes at a technology conference in California to highlight the dangers of malaria.

‘Malaria is spread by mosquitoes,’ the Microsoft founder yelled at a well-heeled crowd at a technology conference in California.

’I brought some,’ he added. ‘Here, I’ll let them roam around – there is no reason only poor people should be infected.’

He let the shocked audience sweat for a minute or so before assuring them that the freed insects were malaria- free.

But that didn’t satisfy all the attendees.

‘That’s it. I am not sitting up front anymore,’ eBay founder Pierre Omidyar said

Seriously? What a jerk. If I were there, I'm sure that I would have known, obviously, that they weren't infected mosquitoes, but I would have still been pissed! Mosquitoes are gross, and they bite, and it itches. Plus, mosquitoes are attracted to some people more than others, and one of those people is me- I can slather myself in OFF and only be outside for a few minutes, and I'll still come back with bite after bite, while they completely ignore my husband.

How much pain and suffering is an intentionally inflicted mosquito bite worth? In some jurisdictions, punitive damages can be based on the defendant's net worth, you know.

Anyway, the point that I wanted to make is that Bill could do a lot more for poor people in Africa if he just used his clout to get DDT policies changed. Heck, with his cash, he could probably just go over there and start releasing it in remote locations and see what happens. But no, I'm sure scaring and guilt-tripping rich people is a lot more fun.