Soros to Donate $100 Million to Rights Group (Human Rights Watch)

[jefferson_dem]

Source: NYT

By STEPHANIE STROM

George Soros, the billionaire investor and philanthropist, plans to announce on Tuesday that he is giving $100 million to Human Rights Watch to expand the organization’s work globally.

It is the largest gift he has made, the largest gift by far that Human Rights Watch has ever received, and only the second gift of $100 million or more made by an individual this year, according to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. “We’re seeing noticeably fewer charitable gifts at the $100 million level from individuals reported than we did just a few years ago,” said Patrick Rooney, the center’s executive director. “Between 2006 and 2008, an average of about 13 gifts a year of that size by individuals was reported. In 2009, it dropped to six, and this year, we know of only one other.”

The largest known gift in 2010 was $200 million pledged by an anonymous Baylor University graduate, to be dispensed upon the donor’s death, for medical research at the university.

Uncertainty about the direction of the economy has made even the wealthiest individuals more cautious about making big philanthropic commitments, Mr. Rooney said.

Contrariness, however, is a hallmark of Mr. Soros, both as an investor and as a philanthropist. While others have held on to their money, he has made bigger gifts than ever. And he said in an interview that the gift to Human Rights Watch is the first of a series of large gifts that he plans to make.

“This is partly due to age,” said Mr. Soros, who celebrated his 80th birthday last month. “Originally I wanted to distribute all of the money during my lifetime, but I have abandoned that plan. My foundation should continue, but I still would like to do a lot of giving during my lifetime, and doing it this way, with such size, is a step in that direction.”



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/business/07gift.html?src=twr

[depakid]

1. Outstanding

[rpannier]

2. He should give money to a group that Bill-O is always touting

That'd make o'lielly crazy...crazier
(Center for Missing and Exploited Children)

[Joanne98]

3. What about us?

[Brother Buzz]

14. Human Rights Watch keeps an eye on the US, too

and that pisses off the conservatives.

As Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing".

[nxylas]

22. They don't know the proper function of human rights

In Teabagistan, concern for human rights is supposed to be a justification for war. Remember how the teabaggers suddenly became concerned about women's rights and warrantless wiretapping...in Iraq?

[valerief]

4. I wish he'd buy a teevee network to be the anti-Fox. Fax with "just the facts". nt

[Bette Noir]

5. Beck's not going to like this.

But it'll be fun to watch what Jon Stewart will do with Beck's response.

[nxylas]

21. I thought conservatives approved of private charity?

They're always telling us how we don't need gubmint welfare, and how we somehow have more "liberty" if we exist solely on the crumbs that fall from the rich man's table in the form of charitable donations. Yet giving money to charities that help the poor is sinister when Soros does it. He should know that charitable giving is supposed to mean paying to have an opera house named after yourself and giving just enough away to help the rank-and-file Republicans boast about how they give more to charity on average than Democrats, because Democrats think the government should do everything.

[pinto]

6. "the first of a series of large gifts that he plans to make."

:thumbsup:

:thumbsup:

[Ramulux]

7. Where has Soros been this election?

I haven't heard about him making any big contributions to the dems this year and I dont know why. Rights groups are great and everything but I think keeping the republicans out of power is a pretty big fucking deal and time is running out.

[alp227]

9. The right wing hates Soros's guts, maybe intimidation? n/t

[WorseBeforeBetter]

12. LOL George Soros is intimidated by the right wing?

Yeah, I don't think so.

[alp227]

16. Soros has been falsely linked to Media Matters, which debunks rightwing smears

http://mediamatters.org/research/200704130012

Matt Drudge has associated Soros and Media Matters

Right-wing sources claiming Soros donates to MM:
http://www.newsrealblog.com/2009/11/12/george-soross-media-matters-for-america-the-pc-language-police-demonize-traditional-marriage/
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/Media%20Matters%20for%20America%20Treasurer.html
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23079

Or maybe the Democratic Party now is too right-wing for Soros??

[Shining Jack]

17. +1 n/t

[xchrom]

8. Awesome. Nt

[Bozita]

10. This article should be read alongside another LBN post ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4530346

Enjoy!

[w4rma]

11. Very good news. Thank you, Mr. Soros! (nt)

[Tx4obama]

13. Here's a link to a nice short article Alan Colmes wrote regarding Soros

http://www.alan.com/2010/09/06/to-the-angry-george-soros-haters-what-have-you-done-for-society-lately/

Excerpt:

Last year, in the depths of the recession, Mr. Soros gave the Robin Hood Foundation, a charity that fights poverty in New York, a $50 million contribution that helped it raise significantly more than that amount. He also gave every family with children on welfare in New York State $200 to buy school supplies, a grant worth $35 million that enabled the state to gain access to some $175 million in federal money for which it would not otherwise have qualified.

So far this year, Mr. Soros has donated about $700 million to various causes, including the gift to Human Rights Watch.

[grahamhgreen]

15. Blessings to George!

[flamingdem]

18. Soros is a force of nature, would love to know if he's involved in the midterms nt

[naaman fletcher]

19. They have been doing some good work in Venezuela

http://www.hrw.org/americas/venezuela


*
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*
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Jul 21, 2010
*
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Apr 8, 2010
*
Venezuela: End Prosecutions of Dissenters
Mar 25, 2010
*
Venezuela: Stop Abusing Broadcast Powers
Jan 26, 2010

[SkyDaddy7]

20. This is nice BUT...

I really wish someone like Soros would build a media empire to combat with Murdoch's so that the Democrats could have a way to get their message out!

I don't want a propaganda machine I want a media that does their job! Without a proper media we the people will continue to lose!

[catgirl]

23. Soros versus Whitman

George Soros donates $100 million to Human Rights Watch. Meg Whitman spends $100 million on herself.