Bono - give him a break!

Sony

Ok first of all I DOOOO like U2 but not enough to hang their posters on my wall etc...

I was listening to ray darcy today and they had Ian whats his face doherty on as I think they usually do every tuesday morning(he writes for the independent)

Anyway in light of the new campaign launched yday by Motorola/bono and co, Ian-o starts on Bono for being too "in your face" agaaaaain and boring the nation/world with his same old song.......save africa

What pisses me off is the begrudgery people seem to have for the man - Its not just mr doherty but even the joe soap on the street seems to have the opinion these days that bono's some sort of crusading gob****e whos full of himself - where did this come from? I mean Bono IS full of himself fair enough and he does ramble on in concerts but I can think of very few people-world leaders even that have been as influencial , passionate and considerate to such a major issue as bono himself

so while bono launched yet another campaign against aids and poverty yesterday the only person that seemed to give him coverage on the radio today slated him for being boring?? I mean whats this got to do with it - the reason bono is'nt going away is because neither has the problem

True that giving the african government money is probably not very wise with the way the "organisation" is run but that doesnt mean he should stop with the fundraising

just cant understand when people complain about him still being "at it"---am I the only one?

aidan_walsh

While his Red campaign is IMO a good idea, I couldn't help but snicker at the irony of the fact that during the original launch a few months back, Bono was sitting before the press with a nice big pair of rose tinted glasses on...

Slippin Jimmy

I must admit I like U2. The man is a legend. But he is only trying his best to make this place better for people, who may not be as well off as you or I. I don't think he gets enough credit for what he does.

Sony

well that was my point donny

Jonny Arson

Ok he's a great musician IMO and does raise awareness about poverty in the 3rd world but there's something about Bono that annoys me badly...

His court case over his pair of trousers and his hat. Seriously, going to court over that IMO is simply wasting Irish tax payers money.

U2 concerts at Croke Park last summer. They cost the Irish tax payer an extortionate amount of money in policing costs (Obviously not exclusive for U2). Why couldn't have Bono who earned millions from those gigs, have paid the policing costs? That 300K or so could have been better spent on the poor of his OWN country.

TBH I on these incidents I think he has been hypocritical towards his anti-poverty morals. Good money wasted as far as I'm concerned. Would he have done this in Africa? Not a chance!

I'll give him his dues for been one of few celebrities who actually give a toss about other people but at the same time him being in your face all the time grates on me.

Sony

Nobodys perfect - Ive personally done F ALL fundraising of any kind I can think of, and Im finding it hard to think of anyone I know that does it often or at all--so IMO ANYONE doing any kind of good for other ,charity etc deserves a pat on the back and NOT to have their wrong doings pointed out when theyre doing something right and positive...I dont think thats fair

the point of this is that bono is doing an unbelievable amount for the third world ( which I know youre not disputing ) but he doesnt seem to get credit for it anymore and instead what we're hearing now is that bono sounds like a broken record if you like

meldrew

Bono has become a parody of a rock star but I suppose its no harm if he makes people aware of whats going on in the world

tintinr35

ill give him a break alright.....id love to break his face!!!

he never shuts up and at this stage every time i hear him or his music i turn it off because he is vomit endusing tbh

Narcissus

tintinr35 wrote:

ill give him a break alright.....id love to break his face!!!

he never shuts up and at this stage every time i hear him or his music i turn it off because he is vomit endusing tbh

Thats a bit harsh.

I couldn't agree more with the OP

rondeco

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

His court case over his pair of trousers and his hat. Seriously, going to court over that IMO is simply wasting Irish tax payers money.

U2 concerts at Croke Park last summer. They cost the Irish tax payer an extortionate amount of money in policing costs (Obviously not exclusive for U2). Why couldn't have Bono who earned millions from those gigs, have paid the policing costs? That 300K or so could have been better spent on the poor of his OWN country.

He was dead right to sue the bird who took his stuff and attempted to sell it as merchandise and the liek. If she got away with it, what is to stop every roady from nicking stuff and selling it on e-bay.

Would you believe that u2 would have had to pay for some of the policing costs? Its true.

godfather69er

u2 suck they are not a rock group they are a pop group like the chilli peppers, their music sucks and bono has totally lost the plot however... i have full respect and support for what he does for africa

mickd

Sony wrote:

the only person that seemed to give him coverage on the radio today slated him for being boring?

Ryan Tubridy did a good feature with John Waters on this story today.

darkman2

Sony wrote:

Ok first of all I DOOOO like U2 but not enough to hang their posters on my wall etc...

I was listening to ray darcy today and they had Ian whats his face doherty on as I think they usually do every tuesday morning(he writes for the independent)

Anyway in light of the new campaign launched yday by Motorola/bono and co, Ian-o starts on Bono for being too "in your face" agaaaaain and boring the nation/world with his same old song.......save africa

What pisses me off is the begrudgery people seem to have for the man - Its not just mr doherty but even the joe soap on the street seems to have the opinion these days that bono's some sort of crusading gob****e whos full of himself - where did this come from? I mean Bono IS full of himself fair enough and he does ramble on in concerts but I can think of very few people-world leaders even that have been as influencial , passionate and considerate to such a major issue as bono himself

so while bono launched yet another campaign against aids and poverty yesterday the only person that seemed to give him coverage on the radio today slated him for being boring?? I mean whats this got to do with it - the reason bono is'nt going away is because neither has the problem

True that giving the african government money is probably not very wise with the way the "organisation" is run but that doesnt mean he should stop with the fundraising

just cant understand when people complain about him still being "at it"---am I the only one?

Errrrrrrrr Bono. He is so up his own ar*e its unreal:mad:

MrJoeSoap

Sony wrote:

joe soap on the street seems to have the opinion these days that bono's some sort of crusading gob****e whos full of himself

I sure do!

Do I know you?

tunaman

Give Bono a break?

That's a good joke alright, I mean here he is promoting some scheme where you give money to the big corporations, at the same time a measly 10% of your cash will supposedly go to help out the Africans. :rolleyes:

Hypocrite much?

Then when he was asked what his motivations were he claimed his and the corporations motivations were not important and completely irrelevant.

Yeah right.

Binomate

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

His court case over his pair of trousers and his hat. Seriously, going to court over that IMO is simply wasting Irish tax payers money.

Well let's just abolish the small claims court then. I mean, what value does anything small have to anyone? Surely the value to them is hardly worth wasting other tax payers money on, right? Those Items being U2 memorabelia would probably be worth more than just a normal hat and pair of trousers. Well worth going to court over if you have the resources.

Degsy

Binomate wrote:

Well let's just abolish the small claims court then. I mean, what value does anything small have to anyone? Surely the value to them is hardly worth wasting other tax payers money on, right? Those Items being U2 memorabelia would probably be worth more than just a normal hat and pair of trousers. Well worth going to court over if you have the resources.

He's a hypocrite...telling everybody to cancel the debt and yet he takes somebody to court over a pair of jeans and a hat.He's a cnut plain and simple.

Ag marbh

Give Bono a break?

A man thats seen walking hand in hand with George Bush in the free Metro this morning. Along side his lovely picture was a column about the gifts he has bought George Bush and other powerful leaders. His band are worth 690 mil, why doesnt he give it all away.

The only break i'd like to give him would be a broken neck.

Degsy

Totally.He's a multi-multi millionaire and he has more money than some countries,yet he's in bed with Dubya whose administration is the cause of so much poverty.Let him die roaring.

ciaran76

The fact he goes on about world poverty and has houses and apartments in loads of cities !!!

Ciaran500

So for someone to talk or try and help world povert they have to give up all their worldy posessions? :rolleyes:

ciaran76

Mother Theresa did

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

all she did was take lots of money from people to build nunneries, then she built buildings to hold sick and dying people and... did'nt really do an awful lot to help them.
lovely woman.

Ciaran500

She also praised the supression of civil liberties in India

Ag marbh

Ciaran500 wrote:

So for someone to talk or try and help world povert they have to give up all their worldy posessions? :rolleyes:

Absolutely not, that would be insane.

Buying world leaders that cause alot of this poverty gifts is a different story...

Ciaran500

I assume he went to see Bush to try and rasie awarness about poverty.

ciaran76

Ciaran500 wrote:

I assume he went to see Bush to try and rasie awarness about poverty.

I am sure Bush already knew about poverty and doesn't need Bono to tell him this !!!

Ciaran500

But going to see world leaders about it puts it into the news which will rasie awareness

Heinrich

Ciaran500 wrote:

But going to see world leaders about it puts it into the news which will rasie awareness

Oh yes, the awareness is there but what is being done about it? Pontificating rock stars might make their fans feel better but the sad fact is that Africa is still going downhill. Poverty, aids, corruption, despots are just a ststus quo in those beleagured lands.

Talk is cheap. The day Bono put the paw into his sewn up pockets to withdraw a few millions to build aids clinics or social facilities I might become mildly impressed!

Ag marbh

Ciaran500 wrote:

I assume he went to see Bush to try and rasie awarness about poverty.

That is possibly one of the funniest things I have ever heard in my life.


"Mr.Bush you're a very bad man!!"

padi89

The sh1tbag has already got tens of millions ,why doesnt he pledge 10% of their next tour earnings to poverty.........not likely!

ciaran76

Ciaran500 wrote:

But going to see world leaders about it puts it into the news which will rasie awareness

So since Bono and Co have visited the G8 crew has the debt gone ?

As long as the G8 crew can exploit Africa for all its oil,silver,gold, etc etc there will be no intrest in helping Africa from them. On top of all this these same countries are selling guns and other such war machines to these same countries.

Degsy

And waht about this crappy "red" mobile phone initiative he's helping to launch?Who gets the profits from that i wonder?I think its also safe to say that most mobile phones are made from materials that have been mined from poor countries,contain toxic batteries and are assembeled in sweatshops.

Terry

oh sweet irony.
i think this thread is a testament to the mans work.
like him or not, he has you all talking and isn't that the point?
nobody is forcing you to give any money away. in fact, none of this money will come out of your pocket unless you are a tax payer in one of the g8 countries.

Heinrich

julep wrote:

oh sweet irony.
i think this thread is a testament to the mans work.
like him or not, he has you all talking and isn't that the point?
nobody is forcing you to give any money away. in fact, none of this money will come out of your pocket unless you are a tax payer in one of the g8 countries.

I think you are missing the point! THe testament to the man's work is talk. Africa will never benefit from talk alone and it seems that the only action there is ravaging the continent of it's mineral wealth and burying corpses!

Terry

and isn't that what he is trying to put a stop to?
why is bono the bad guy in all of this?
what about the people benefitting from the ravaging of this mineral wealth?
that would include most of us here.
i don't own any jewellery. how many of you do and do you know where the silver/gold/diamonds come from?
what about the gold used in pc's as a conductor?
where does that come from?
you are all very quick to put a man down for trying to help people. what would you have him do? go to africa and perform the miracle of renewing the minerals and bringing people back from the dead?

he's a man with a public platform and he chooses to use this platform to bring the plight of the african people to our attention.
it was easier when you didn't have to think of all those starving people, wasn't it?

Degsy

julep wrote:

and isn't that what he is trying to put a stop to?
why is bono the bad guy in all of this?
what about the people benefitting from the ravaging of this mineral wealth?
that would include most of us here.
i don't own any jewellery. how many of you do and do you know where the silver/gold/diamonds come from?
what about the gold used in pc's as a conductor?
where does that come from?
you are all very quick to put a man down for trying to help people. what would you have him do? go to africa and perform the miracle of renewing the minerals and bringing people back from the dead?

he's a man with a public platform and he chooses to use this platform to bring the plight of the african people to our attention.
it was easier when you didn't have to think of all those starving people, wasn't it?

Coz he isnt giving any of his personal wealth to the cause thats why.I honestly dont know how he cant see himself what a bloody hypocrite he is.
Why didnt he give the profits from his last gig in croke park to africa?Because he's a money grabbing louse with a brass neck.

Terry

Degsy wrote:

Coz he isnt giving any of his personal wealth to the cause thats why.I honestly dont know how he cant see himself what a bloody hypocrite he is.
Why didnt he give the profits from his last gig in croke park to africa?Because he's a money grabbing louse with a brass neck.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/entertainment/9190405/detail.html

about half way down the page.

Lunar Junkie

I'm wondering how you all managed to get personal access to Bono's banking statements.. I bet he gives a thousand times as much money to charities as any of the people complaining about him on this thread do. Just because you don't see him with a giant novelty cheque in the newspapers every day doesn't mean he doesn't contribute to anything. I agree the guy is a bit insufferable and I think U2 should have probably stopped ten years ago but I hate the bile directed at him for attempting to do something positive. He's been working in the area of aid for Africa for at least 20 years (he went out to Ethopia in 1986 with his wife to do voluntary work) so I believe his concerns are totally genuine.

Terry

if he was in the paper with giant novelty cheques, degsy, heinrich and the others would no doubt be complaining about how he flaunts his generosity in public.
it's a no win situation.
forbes magazine listed him as one of the ten most charitable entertainers of last year, but that will never be enough for some people.

funky penguin

He tries to help when he doesn't have to.

In my opinion he doesn't deserve the critisism he gets.

EDIT: I occasionally read Ian Doherty's column in The Independent, and while I do find myself sometimes agreeing with his comments, more often then not I wish he'd keep his opinions to himself.

Heinrich

julep wrote:

if he was in the paper with giant novelty cheques, degsy, heinrich and the others would no doubt be complaining about how he flaunts his generosity in public.
it's a no win situation.
forbes magazine listed him as one of the ten most charitable entertainers of last year, but that will never be enough for some people.

*cough* The people are still tarving and dying, the multi nationals are still milking the place and Bono and Company are promoting themselves! Tax breaks and publicity...

When we start getting good news on famine relief, hospital building, progress on aids eradication, deposition of despots and the like I might change my views. For the moment we have a rock star churning out bland music who for some unfathomable reason appeals to the masses playing Ghandi.

AngryAnderson

I love these threads. They really do show what a bunch of begrudging, bitter s**theads Irish people are. In this age of economic prosperity it seems we just can't let go of the fact that we're all emotionally repressed, nasty wasters. Hilarious.

Ciaran500

Heinrich wrote:

*cough* The people are still tarving and dying, the multi nationals are still milking the place and Bono and Company are promoting themselves! Tax breaks and publicity...

When we start getting good news on famine relief, hospital building, progress on aids eradication, deposition of despots and the like I might change my views. For the moment we have a rock star churning out bland music who for some unfathomable reason appeals to the masses playing Ghandi.

So you won't like him untill he save Africa?:rolleyes:

And the fact that he has helped people over there doesn't mean sh*t?

Heinrich

Ciaran500 wrote:

So you won't like him untill he save Africa?:rolleyes:

And the fact that he has helped people over there doesn't mean sh*t?

I don't think I would ever like him nor hate him for that matter. I don't like his bland music and I am never impressed with opportunism!

There's this clergyman who calls next door. He spent many years in Africa helping unfortunate people to die with some sort of dignity. I doubt if he would be let within 5 kilometers of the mass murdering GWB.

I have the utmost respect for the hands-on priest. He is a lousy singer as well.

godfather69er

well if he gave it all away then wed have more people in poverty, bono and his family

Heinrich

godfather69er wrote:

well if he gave it all away then wed have more people in poverty, bono and his family

...from the sublime to the riduculous

Degsy

Heinrich wrote:

*cough* The people are still tarving and dying, the multi nationals are still milking the place and Bono and Company are promoting themselves! Tax breaks and publicity...

When we start getting good news on famine relief, hospital building, progress on aids eradication, deposition of despots and the like I might change my views. For the moment we have a rock star churning out bland music who for some unfathomable reason appeals to the masses playing Ghandi.

He's doing it for his own self-agrandisement,the lipless,smirking hypocrite.

Ciaran500

:rolleyes:

and whats that based on?

funky penguin

Heinrich wrote:

I don't think I would ever like him nor hate him for that matter. I don't like his bland music and I am never impressed with opportunism!

There's this clergyman who calls next door. He spent many years in Africa helping unfortunate people to die with some sort of dignity. I doubt if he would be let within 5 kilometers of the mass murdering GWB.

I have the utmost respect for the hands-on priest. He is a lousy singer as well.

The fact that you dislike his music shouldn't make any difference to your opinion of his charity work.

Terry

Heinrich wrote:

*cough* The people are still tarving and dying, the multi nationals are still milking the place and Bono and Company are promoting themselves! Tax breaks and publicity...

When we start getting good news on famine relief, hospital building, progress on aids eradication, deposition of despots and the like I might change my views. For the moment we have a rock star churning out bland music who for some unfathomable reason appeals to the masses playing Ghandi.

tax breaks?
artists in this country don't pay tax.
publicity?
for what? U2 have no new album or tour to promote. what has he got to gain from doing charity work? other than helping people. but that part of it seems to have slipped your mind.
the 'drop the debt' campaign was mostly successful. the only country unwilling to participate was the u.s. perhaps this is why bono was visiting bush this week.

what is your problem with a man with some influence devoting his free time to helping people? is it because he is successful? you're not a musician by any chance, are you?

which would you prefer:
bono continue his charity work and possibly help people in africa.
or
bono get back in his box and completely ignore their plight, when he has the opportunity to help them?

are you going to take his place?

The people are still tarving and dying, the multi nationals are still milking the place
things don't change overnight.
and Bono and Company are promoting themselves!

at least he's not squirting a blood filled syringe at people.