The Awareness Web

Spidey received a tip about an animal "rescue" group he wasn't aware of - the World Animal Awareness Society.


The WAAS is registered with the state of Michigan and was incorporated in January 2010. The address is listed as 32 N. Washington Avenue, Suite 7 in Ypsilanti, entity ID No. 70640K. Thomas E. McPhee Jr. is the head duck and was the former owner of a business called Gutter Kings. As you will soon see, this wizard of high tech imagery is also a master of self promotion

McPhee is also the contact person for MultiDynamics, Inc. in Oak Park MI (313-548-2291) and has an AOL email name - CDIMaster. This business deals mainly in educational and periodical publishing for consumers. Services include audio encoding, authoring systems, multimedia design, software engineering, video encoding using Balboa Run-Time System (code development at the heart of CdI technology) and MediaMogul.

Other telephone numbers listed on the WA2S website are for New York 646-546-5640 (unpublished cell phone number) and Louisiana 310-734-6886 (unpublished land line in Beverly Hills, CA)

I remember seeing promos for a film about the Katrina "pet rescue." This film was directed by McPhee and featured on the "rescue party tour" produced by Man Smiling Moving Pictures.  McPhee is also the contact person for another independent film production company - the Cave Studio, 2531 Jackson Rd., #246 in Ann Arbor, MI. [phone: 313-510-1444 - an unpublished cell phone number in Detroit.]  On a March 2008 post to the ARSL-L email list,flixtour (website coming soon!) is also listed with McPhee's other sites.  He has videos on YouTube as well.
According to the filing document with the Michigan Secretary of State, the two main goals of WAAS are to produce over 1,000 hours of "human-animal interaction" footage and to raise $250,000 to accomplish that goal.

Have you taken a look at the WAAS BOD yet? John Phillips, founder and executive director of the New York League of Humane Voters (NYLHV) . . . Kenneth Shapiro, cofounder of Animals and Society Institute, formerly Psychologists for the Ethical treatment of Animals (PSETA), founder and editor of Society and Animals: Journal of Human-Animal Studies; cofounder and coeditor of Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science (JAWS); and editor of the Brill Human-Animal Studies book series. We've been in this part of the web before!

Also on board are Jamie Downey, the Founder and Publisher of The American Dog Magazine. Of course, the focus is on subjects like the alleged "nationwide pet overpopulation epidemic, the horrific cycle of animal abuse in puppy mills, the need to promote adoption of pets from our shelters and rescue groups and the importance of spaying or neutering your dogs and cats whether you adopt from a shelter or buy a puppy from an ethical, responsible, reputable breeder." Please note the quotes around their words, not mine.

The American Dog Magazine was formerly called the Colorado Dog. The Colorado Dog was a registered entity with the state of Colorado (now expired). Spidey could find no registration for the ADM. Downey now lives in Arizona and has a new website - called The Arizona Dog.
But here is bit of very interesting info. Jamie advertises franchises for magazine publishing.

"Become a Successful Magazine Publisher and Own a Magazine! Choose your city or state now and live the dream. Pre-release specials at fabulous introductory prices to start your own business for as low as $18,000. The American Dog Magazine is now releasing select cities and states so you can enjoy life, while making money doing something you love!"

Spidey could find no business entity in CO or AZ for either The Arizona Dog or the Dog Publishing Corp. A back issue of The American Dog featured Barack Obama on the cover. The issue focused on NOT buying from breeders. Breeders, they say, are costing American taxpayers thousands of dollars to care for shelter animals and euthanize the unwanted ones. What??? !!! Who is it that is always looking for problems where none exist? Who is it that seizes dogs from their owners at whim?

The magazine tells readers to never buy from a breeder but to adopt from a shelter. Needless to say, reputable dog breeders are not allowed to advertise in this publication. Enough said, for now.

Dorothy Davies is a founder and director of SASHA Farm  in Michigan. The secretary/treasurer of Second Chance Humane Society in Ridgway, Colorado is also part of the WAAS crew.

The website says that McPhee "began his professional career in 1984 working as a marketing specialist in Delaware politics. Following a few highly successful years in mid-range computer hardware and software sales for a Fortune 100 service company, 1991 saw the advent of Tom’s cutting edge digital interactive software company MultiDynamics, Inc., with a focus on the development and production of multi-language interactive software." I guess he owned Gutter Kings before his "marketing career in politics."

Click here to watch his ten minute promo of the Rescue Journal. He wasted no time flying to Haiti, via the Dominican Republic, to join in the ARCH - Animal Rescue Coalition for Haiti mission. He hasn't even set up his federal 501c3 yet. After several career changes over the years, the independent, high tech film wizard  has found his niche. Notice the WAAS logo? It's all about the "I."

(ARCH is headed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare -IFAW and the World Society for the Protection of Animals - WSPA and includes American Humane Association, Best Friends Animal Society, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), In Defense of Animals, American Veterinary Medical Association, American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF), Antigua and Barbuda Humane Society, ASPCA, United Animal Nations, Kinship Circle, One Voice, Swiss Animal Protection, Palo Alto Humane Society (PAHS), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Finnish Federation for Animal Welfare Associations, Animal Medical Care Foundation (AMCF), Petfinder.com Foundation, Mayhew International, and Last Chance for Animals.)



Back to the video.  OK, he is looking out the window of a commercial plane - on his way to the Dominican Republic. That checks out since commercial flights were just recently resumed to Haiti. He narrates that they arrived 3 weeks after the disaster first struck. Apparently they took a truck over the mountains from the Dominican in order to reach Haiti's borders.  They would have had to have had customs clearance and proper visas and passports in Santa Domingo [or another checkpoint, perhaps] before driving to the Haitian border. 

Next, we see some brief shots of earthquake damage and of the people.  Canned film?  Or real time?  Then we see a black shiny "truck" with SODOPREC written on it. This is the animal control unit of the Dominican Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  Is this the truck they drove from Santa Domingo, over rough mountain terrain, to Haiti?

SODOPREC, according to their website, was created for the defense of animal rights. Interestingly, they maintain a national register of pets on this website.

The clip ends with "thanks to" two pages of names: Dick Green (IFAW), Marcos Polanco (SODOPREC), Alison Pittman (HSUS National Council), Sandi Corado (Kinship Circle), Jamie Downey (publisher, American Dog Magazine), Kathleen Hoffman, Michele Way, Humane Society International, ASPCA, AHA, HSUS, Ross Hammer, Director of Animal Content in Entertainment (ACE) program for The Humane Society of the United States Michael Markarian (HSUS Legislative Fund), Dave Pauli (HSI and HSUS), Lloyd Brown (Wildlife Rescue of Dade County, Florida and part of HSI field assessment team) and Rich Crook of Best Friends.

Really??? Rich Crook???   You can't make this stuff up!

By way of Michigan and Haiti, The World Animal Awareness Society made it to Dallas the other night (March 26th) so they could film Wayne Pacelle, Arthur E. Benjamin, Kristina Bowman, Bernie Berlin  and others.  This group gets around. Can you guess what they are raising money for at their $200-a-ticket dinner and a silent auction? I'll give you a hint - it rhymes with guppy gills.

Spidey just happens to have a few notes about Arthur Benjamin, self avowed animal rights activist, businessman and founder of the American Dog Rescue.

Benjamin gave $1,000,000 to the HSUS for the "Haitian effort". His website also asks for donations for the "cause". Numerous press releases about his donation stirred up a great deal of concern and quite a few people tried to alert him about HSUS.  At that time, his website did not refer to him as an animal rightest nor were his connections to the AR crowd so obvious.  He has since come out of the closet.  In fact, one of the first - if not THE first - press release was released in Worth magazine(NYNY), a publication of Sandow Media (Boca Raton, FL). My what a tangled web. Boca Raton just happens to be the home place of Nanci Alexander.  Benjamin has connections and spends time in Boca Raton, too.

It's a small world after all.

Benjamin is the VP/CEO of ATI Enterprises. ATI Enterprises, Inc. owns and operates vocational schools and training centers. The institute offers courses in areas such as automotive repair, graphic design, business administration, electronic engineering, massage and respiratory therapy, information technology, and welding. ATI Enterprises, formerly known as American Trades Institute, was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Arlington, Texas

Benjamin also spends time in Sandy, Utah and  Dallas. His Gail L. and Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation gave $30,000 to No More Homeless Pets and $25,000 to the Utah Animal Adoption Center in 2007 and $28,000 to the Wasatch HS in Utah in 2006. He also gives generously to Smiling Dog Farms, a 37 acre farm also located in Wharton.

This was just a quick drive around the web on a Saturday afternoon. We are sure to travel these roads again!

A few more notes:

National Center for Disaster Fraud to Coordinate Haitian and Chilean Fraud Complaints. Shortly after the earthquake in Haiti last January, the FBI and the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) established a telephone hotline to report suspected fraud associated with relief efforts. That number, (866) 720-5721, was initially staffed for the purpose of reporting suspected scams being perpetrated by criminals in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake. Since then, with the recent earthquake in Chile, our efforts have expanded to identify similar fraud activity emerging from that disaster. Therefore, the public is encouraged to call this same number—(866) 720-5721—to report suspected fraud from either disaster. The telephone line is staffed by a live operator 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Additionally, e-mail information can be directly sent to disaster@leo.gov.

The National Center for Disaster Fraud was originally established by the Department of Justice to investigate, prosecute, and deter fraud in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when billions of dollars in federal disaster relief poured into the Gulf Coast region. Now, its mission has expanded to include suspected fraud from any natural or manmade disaster. More than 20 federal agencies, including the FBI, participate in the NCDF, allowing the center to act as a centralized clearinghouse of information related to Haitian or Chilean relief fraud.

Pets of Haitian earthquake victims entering into the U.S.

News from Animal Wrongs
"GOAL, an international humanitarian agency dedicated to alleviating the suffering of the poorest of the poor, recently lost a large donation that was meant to assist victims of the Haiti earthquake because an animal rights organization argued against the source of the donation.

The Irish Coursing Club, a century old greyhound sporting club, and Bookmaker Boylesports raised money at its events this past month towards the relief efforts being made in Haiti. The victims of the earthquake, however must have seemed insignificant to the self-righteous animal rights activists. Members of the misleadingly titled animal rights group, the Irish Council Against Bloodsports protested against the source of the donation, and ultimately prevented it from ever reaching Haiti." (see link for entire story)

Bosack and Kruger Foundation Contributions

Dallas Animal Cruelty Presentation

Beating Us into Submission

The Relationship between Animal Rights Cruelty Dogma and Ever Restrictive Legislation

Slowly, ever so slowly, the public has been led to a steady stream of misinformation and propaganda that has trickled down from the annals of the animal rights movement's leadership. However, the original good intentions have became polluted over time as they made their way through the ranks of all-too-human agendas and motivations. The resulting ground level reality is anything but ideal and has caused pain and grief to countless animal lovers. Yet, the masses still drink the toxic waters that cloud their minds and impair their judgment, and still the indoctrination continues.

One more example of this ongoing lockstep march to trample the Constitution and "we the people" is a presentation to the City of Dallas by Yolanda Eisenstein , the chair and CLE director of the Animal Law Section of the state Bar of Texas, member of the Dallas Animal Cruelty Alliance and board member of the infamous Texas Humane Legislation Network. (See November and December 2009 posts in this web's archive) Fellow ALS council members include Skip Trimble and Donald Feare. In the name of education, animal rights propaganda is being furthered in Dallas and numerous other cities and states across America.

The animal rights' social engineers have coined hot- button phrases such as “animal hoarder”, “pit bull”, “puppy mill”,  “meat is murder”, “save lives - spay and neuter” and “better dead than bred” to name only a few. They bank on these catch phrases to capture the attention of a gullible public, create fear, mold public opinion and cash in on guilt-induced donations. The animal rights movement has invested a great storehouse of time and wealth into their political machine.

When the public reads and hears these slogans over and over and over again, they consciously and subconsciously incorporate that information until it is deeply rooted into their own belief system. No one in the history of mankind has ever believed they were brainwashed and none of us are completely immune, but in reality, a politically correct infrastructure of such beliefs has been erected to imprison us.

Is a person with X number of pets an animal hoarder? Is there such a breed as a pit bull? Is every commercial breeding operation with more than 15 animals considered a mill? Are animals better dead than bred? No, no, no, no and no. The focus of the today's presentation at the Dallas city hall will focus on the black umbrella catch phrase - "animal cruelty."

What exactly is animal cruelty?  Common sense tells us what it is, but common sense is not always employed in the animal rights' ventures. You might be surprised to learn that ARs believe that "Abuse occurs whenever the animal's basic needs are not met, regardless of whether the abuse is inflicted intentionally or out of ignorance...." This is a very broad definition and could be, and often is, construed to mean whatever the powers that be want it to mean.  The presentation today was put together by the American Humane organization  based in Englewood Colorado.

The ideas being presented are not new. They originated years ago and since then, reams of articles of pseudo scientific studies have been bought and paid for by the AR movement (via government grants of your taxpayer dollars and donations from a well meaning public) in order to further their ultimate agenda which is  NO more animal ownership - period. They have made great strides in their goals by using kind hearted, but unsuspecting people to do their dirty work.
Consider just two of these highly emotional arguments - Violent criminals were nearly three times more likely than nonviolent criminals to have abused animals as children and nearly four times more likely to abuse their own pets. Perhaps.... Perhaps not.

Though Animal Therapy net  and other like-minded organizations recognize that there can be a link between animal abuse, violent behavior, child and spousal abuse, they also include this statement on their homepage: "A wide range of human health professionals and practitioners recognize what many people in the animal caregiving fields and everyday pet owners have known for years: that pets can be good for our health and well-being. Companion animals are being introduced into the therapeutic regimens of many health care institutions: nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, psychiatric institutions and others. Therapeutic riding programs improve the motor skills and coordination of the physically challenged. Pets help inmates in correctional facilities and juvenile offenders to learn empathy and compassion. Autistic children swim with dolphins. In short, wherever people have special needs, someone with creativity and an animal with the proper temperament can probably create an imaginative way to being pets and people together for mutual benefit."

The picture is not as bleak or black and white as some would have us believe. Many many people who have been cruelly treated and abused as children often find they are able to express the love and compassion they never received by caring for and loving an animal. In other words, the opposite of what the ARs preach, is often true.

The Roots of Deception - PeTA
Do any of you remember the non-profit propaganda press of Psyeta - Psychologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals? They have cranked out reams of questionable literature and pulp fiction over the years

The new Animals and Society Institute (ASI)  was formed in 2005 as a result of a merger of the Institute for Animals and Society and the Society and Animals Forum where a mountain of this type of information is cited and provided. IAS was the former Animal Rights Network (The Animals’ Agenda magazine) and SAF was originally called PYETA. ARN and PSYETA were originally incorporated in respectively the State of Connecticut and the State of New York. ASI operates under PSYETA’s original 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt, not-for-profit status (tax ID#: 22-2527462 ).

Their objective? According to the website: "In order to transform these commercial, religious, academic, and other interests, the movement must put forward credible economic, political, legal, philosophical, and scientific arguments. A major player in this new stage of development is the Animals and Society Institute."

Ranking members include Jane Goodall , Peter Singer  and  Ken Shapiro PhD who is the executive director and co-founder. Shapiro was also the co- editor of The Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science (JAAWS)  You can find out more about him and the others on a google search. The arguments are compelling and may contain a grain of truth - but are mostly written with a definite prejudice. 

Read what Skip Trimble (see picture#25 and others) ALDF , THLN animal rights attorney and a Texas lawmaker describes as animal cruelty:

    "I'm a former animal abuser. I used to own racehorses, raise roping steers, hunt and eat meat."

WHAT!?!?! In the article found on page 5 of the Winter 2002 issue of the ALDF's Animals' Advocate, he further writes that ". . . one evening friends in Ruidoso, NM (Trimble owns a $5 million dollar ranch in nearby Glencoe) told him about a new town ordinance that encouraged spaying and neutering . . . " So he began his animal law career" by actively supporting the same measures in Dallas. His NM friends "started telling [him] about vivisection and circuses and farming abuses and everything else . . . the more I learned, the more I wanted to do something. . . The laws need to change if animals are going to be given the respect they're due on this earth and there's nobody better equipped to change laws than lawyers."

God help us all! This is right out of the radical animal rights agenda! Certainly animal abuse does exist, but to include farming practices, hunting, animal research, racing, rodeos and eating meat is subjective (based on emotions) at best and unjustified at worst.  There is little room for common sense in such an agenda.

Page 41 of the AHA slide show is entitled "Strategies" and these include training police, prosecutors, animal control, lawyers and judges. Note that these groups of people, organizations and infrastructures often have financial and political reasons for being influenced and led by AR forces. Animal control officers, along with certain types of rescue organizations, justify their very jobs, future promotions and raises on the number of animals they can collect and the number of charges they can bring against animal owners. To put it as mildly as possible, the conflict of interest is out of balance and sets up an unfair playing field that creates many victims.

Page 42 stresses the need to pass stronger laws including animal protective orders. There are numerous laws already on the books -- federal , state and local.  Page 43 states that there needs to be greater enforcement of existing laws. However, what is actually needed is fair and impartial enforcement of the laws that already exist. Therein lies the problem and controversy at issue.

Attendees of the presentation will be told that "veterinarian reporting" needs to be mandatory and receive the benefit of immunity. But reporting of what? That is a large gray area that could include nearly anything from an owner's request to have their dog's tail docked and ears cropped to refusing to have them spayed and neutered or wanting to use a three year vaccination protocol.  The reporting is once again subjective and based on the opinion of the vet.

"They" want to streamline and expedite the processes. What processes? The processes of warrantless searches? Undercover and biased investigations? Unconstitutional bonding requirements? Declaring people's guilt before they have the opportunity to be proved innocent in a court of law? Distributing a person's pets and animals at a kangaroo court hearing - before the matter even goes to trial? These processes, already in place, need to be dismantled and reworked in order to protect the innocent who have been, and will continue to be victimized by them.

In the meantime, the witch hunts will continue. Many animal owners will turn against each other in the confusion that the AR movement has deliberately created and so the already toxic waters will be further muddied.  Take a closer look and test the waters before you blindly drink from them. Animal welfare is strictly about protecting animals - not punishing people. Animal rights is about taking animals away from people who care about them.

The Discovery Channel connection to Petfinder dot com

Some Information about Petfinder dot com

Some of you may be surprised to find out that the Petfinder.com website is registerd to  Discovery Communications, Inc., One Discovery Place,  Silver Spring, MD 20910.

Related domains held by the Discovery conglomerate include: Ahn dot com (digital news for a global world), AKamai (global internet platform), Animal Planet and a host of Discovery channel websites including  DiscoveryEducation,  DiscoveryEducatorNetwork,  DiscoveryHealthConnection, DiscoveryHolding,  DiscoveryHoldingCompany (DHC is a holding company for its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ascent Media Group, Inc., and 50%-owned Discovery Communications, Inc.), DiscoveryHospital,  DiscoveryKids,  DiscoveryLearningConnection, DiscoveryScience, DiscoveryTv as well as  Hawaii.edu, PanCanal.com, TheHumanBodyFilm.com and WindowsMedia.com and TreeHugger.

The Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership, Inc. is a non-profit organization (EIN 52-2043740), also with teh Silver Spring, MD address.  Its net assets in 2008 were $15, 748,553.

Partners of the Discovery Global Education (sometimes called Fund) organization include Coca Cola, Chevron, Mars, Inc.(Mars manufactures Pedigree and Whiskas brand pet foods.  Also see Mars Veterinary), Motorola, Allstate Insurance, Bank of America, AT&T and  CBS Corporation.  See the website for the entire list.

Click this link for all of the Discovery Corporate and International Management bios

John S. Hendricks is the Founder and Chairman of Discovery Communications. Hendricks created Discovery Channel in 1985 as the first cable network in the U.S. designed to provide high quality documentary programming.  Discovery's current global operations include more than 170 countries and territories with more than 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers.  Discovery encompasses more than 100 networks representing 27 entertainment brands including TLC, Animal Planet, Science Channel and HD Theater. Discovery’s other properties include Discovery Education and Discovery Commerce.

The Ark Trust (aka HSUS Hollywood)  named him a recipient of the Genesis Award for lifetime achievement for his efforts in raising awareness around the globe about animal issues. Hendricks serves on the board of directors of a number of non-profit organizations including the United States Olympic Committee and the National Forest Foundation.

Jack Fields, a Texan who was born in Humble (now Kingwood) in 1952, is also on the Discovery BOD.  He is best known for serving the eighth district of Texas 1981-1997 and being considered for the Senate seat that Kay Bailey Hutchison eventually won. 

He received his Juris Doctor in 1977 from Baylor University and was admitted to the Texas Bar after graduating. Fields then began working as a lawyer and was vice president of his family's business, the Rosewood Memorial Park and Funeral Home.

After retiring from Congress, Fields joined Administaff, Inc. as a director in January 1997. At that time Fields also started
the Twenty-First Century Group, Inc. The company is based in Washington, D.C. and calls itself "a bipartisan consulting
Fields currently serves on the board of directors of AIM Mutual Funds, Administaff, and the Discovery Channel Global Education Fund. He served as a trustee of Baylor University for nine years.

Willard O. Freeman has more than 25 years experience in representing numerous developers, corporations, law firms and government agencies in complex real estate transactions. He successfully completed the leasing of 800 Ninth Street, SW to the General Services Administration; the acquisition, development and project management of the 550,000 square-foot Discovery Communications Headquarters in Silver Spring , MD ; and the relocation of City offices to make way for development of the MCI Center in the East End of downtown Washington .

Willard is co-founder Freeman Group which now operates as the Washington DC area office of Concordis Advisors. Willard's managerial expertise includes serving as Regional President for the Galbreath Company of Ohio , an organization absorbed into the company now operating as Jones Lang LaSalle. Throughout his career, Willard has been consistently recognized as one of the top ten brokers in the Washington DC area.

Donald M. Payne  (D- NJ) US House of Rep.  Appointed in 2003 and 2005 to serve as a Congressional delegate to the United Nations. In this role, he has met with the U.N. Secretary General, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and regularly attended sessions of the U.N. General Assembly and other high level meetings. In the 110th Congress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed Congressman Payne to serve on the House Democracy Assistance Commission, which provides procedural, technical, and material assistance to legislatures and their members in developing democracies around the world. Representative Payne co-founded the Malaria Caucus which was launched at an event with First Lady Laura Bush. He successfully secured $50 million for prevention, control and treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis. The Congressman also helped secure passage of a bill authorizing $50 billion for HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. He is also a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, where he serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health and as a member of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight.

Johnathan Rodgers is President and CEO, TV One.  TV One is a venture of Radio One, Inc., the largest radio broadcaster primarily targeting African American and urban listeners, and Comcast Corporation, the largest cable operator in the country, along with Bear Stearns, Constellation Ventures, Syndicated Communications and Opportunity Capital Partners.

Prior to joining Discovery Communications, Inc. in 1996, Rodgers had a successful 20-year career at CBS, Inc., where he held a variety of executive positions including serving as the President of CBS’ highly profitable television stations division. During his career at CBS television, Rodgers also served as an award-winning News Director and General Manager, and as an Executive Producer for CBS News.

Rodgers began his professional career as a print journalist working as a Writer-Reporter for Sports Illustrated; he later worked for Newsweek magazine as an Associate Editor. He received his undergraduate degree in journalistic studies from the University of California at Berkeley, and his Masters in Communications from Stanford University.

William Asiko  is the Kenyan Director of Public Affairs and Communications for The Coca-Cola Company in Africa. William Asiko started his career with The Coca-Cola Company in 1995 as in house corporate attorney in his home country, Kenya. In this role, William held various positions of increasing responsibility in a number of countries including the United States, Morocco and the United Kingdom, rising to the position of General Counsel for Africa in 2001.

William has served on the boards of The Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Egypt and The Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Barcelona, Spain and currently serves on the board of Beverage Services Kenya. He is also the President of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation (See also Coca-Cola Foundation, Inc.) and chairs the Coca-Cola East & Central Africa Limited Staff Provident Fund board of Trustees.  Prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company, William served 5 years as State Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General for Kenya and 2 years as a partner in the law firm of Hamilton Harrison & Mathews in Nairobi, Kenya.

William was educated in Kenya, where he earned a law degree from the University of Nairobi and in the United States, where he graduated with an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. He is also admitted to the Kenya Bar.

Gail Ifshin is the President of the Global Education Fund.  She has worked in the international arena in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors for many years, serving as chief economist for the Hungarian-American Enterprise Fund and as program director for the Institute for Democracy in Vietnam. She also has worked in the White House for the Council of Economic Advisers and was later appointed to the US Department of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Emerging Democracies.  She is the widow of David Ifshin who was an anti-Viet Nam War activist.

Several of the BOD of the non-profit "Global Fund" are also on the BOD of Discovery Communications, et al.  Check out their fourth quarter 2009 financial highlights. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK)

Their revenues increased 2% to $3.52 billion; their free cash flow increased 18% to $1.46 billion dollars; fourth quarter revenues of $964 million increased $60 million, and the net income available to Discovery stockholders increased to $552 million.  Business is obviously GOOD.

2008 net income also included $128 million of minority interest primarily associated with the Advanced Newhouse ownership prior to the transaction that resulted in Discovery Communications, Inc. becoming a public company.