Bono - give him a break!

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.

Sony

Someone said there about ian dohertys thread- I agree with ya , I actually like reading his column most of the time but dont agree with him for the rest of it but sure nones prefect - he's still an alright read


1. For a start - Anyone talking about u2s music has totally missed my point

2. anyone talking about bono being full of himself is also off the point

3. Bono and U2 both give money to their respective charities and I cant believe people are led to believe otherwise - where do you get your information?

4. With this new motorola campaign YES we are giving money to a big corporation but we're also donating money to africa that wouldnt have been donated onlly for this campaign in the first place - its an excellent idea and 10% is very very substancial

5. The point of this topic was that Bono was getting slated for his charity work (nothing else) , the most part of this thread is proof of that - for anyone thats been slating him here I think you need to take a good look at yourself- are you spending your spare time highliting someone elses plight? are you commited to raising money for them that wouldnt be there otherwise ? ...Ill tell you for one that Im not but at least I have the decency to recognise the progress he has made and is still making instead of jumping on this bandwagon going around begrudging everything he does.....

and for whoever said that about him not giving ALL his money to the cause - exactly what do you give?