New U2 video

You either love or hate U2, and i love them. Was brought up with them in the 80's as a nipper, and adore their material from that period. My favourite U2 song is 'The Unforgettable Fire'. Jesus, i'm starting to sound like Andy Ison, i'm that bored folks!
 
Someone gave me the link.

Oh, and I like U2. I'm not a lover or hater, but an in-betweener. Boy, Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby are records I couldn't bare to live without. But some days I do have enough of Bono's face. ;)
 
Someone gave me the link.

Oh, and I like U2. I'm not a lover or hater, but an in-betweener. Boy, Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby are records I couldn't bare to live without. But some days I do have enough of Bono's face. ;)

Nooo, I better call my buddies at the Spanish Inquisition!
 
What a brilliant video, such clever synching.

Morrissey, Elvis and Hendrix all in one vid, I can die happy:)
 
Bono's a hypocrite? How so?

I can't speak for Kickstand, but a lot of people, myself included, considered him an outrageous hypocrite for insisting that working class people donate and governments tax more to pay for actually mostly meaningful causes when he has millions that he refuses to let go of. To me that just seems evil.
 
Pretty cool video, and song is okay. Not for me, but it's not terrible.

I think it's easy to call Bono a hypocrite, but we can't wait for pop stars to save the world, and he does spend a lot of his time, the most valuable commodity, trying to change things for the better. I think most of us, in his position, would spend our time doing things that weren't so worthwhile, whatever it is that turns you on personally.

Also, even though he is rich, the amount of difference he can make with his money is not even a percentage of the amount that average people can make if they direct their energy towards positive change.

I also get sick of Bono, and he's always been a little too dramatic for me. I've liked U2's music for a long time but they've never been a favorite. I can't really fault the way he lives though, as he does get a lot of attention directed in the right areas, and he does have access to people like George Bush, and actually seems to be heard. What he might think privately is a different thing; he knows how to play the game.

So I don't mind if anyone doesn't like him, but I don't think it's really fair to say he is a hypocrite.
 
I don't think Bono's problem is hypocrisy, it's stupidity.

I think he's surrounded by too many people who bolster his ego and tell him how intelligent he is and how by sucking up to politicians he's really making a difference.

Whereas in reality the politicians and their advisors are laughing at him and thinking up new ways to use him to get some good publicity and then backing out of actually doing anything that will change things.

He's totally out of his depth.
 
Quite nice of them do to that really...not a fan of them but nice nevertheless.
Also spotted the Ramones too....they didn't really leave anyone out did they.
 
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Interesting video, LOVE the Moz clip they've picked, Morrissey at his pale-est!

I've lost "Actung Baby", good album
 
Pretty cool video, and song is okay. Not for me, but it's not terrible.

I think it's easy to call Bono a hypocrite, but we can't wait for pop stars to save the world, and he does spend a lot of his time, the most valuable commodity, trying to change things for the better. I think most of us, in his position, would spend our time doing things that weren't so worthwhile, whatever it is that turns you on personally.

Well the thing is Bono has a lot of free time because of his status. He doesn't have a normal job with a normal schedule, he doesn't have to worry about a budget and has time to waste not working beyond that. His heart seems to be in the right place, but he still has money. Time is very valuable, but why, in the midst of all his talking with politicians and trips to Africa, does he not donate some money too? What makes a very big hypocrite is that, I guess with the exception of Live 8 which, supposedly, was not about asking for donations, he is asking for poor people to donate money and be taxed more so governments can donate more while he has millions.

Also, even though he is rich, the amount of difference he can make with his money is not even a percentage of the amount that average people can make if they direct their energy towards positive change.

Money can do a lot of things. The point is still that he is asking for people to donate money to his causes while acting like a martyr because of it when he doesn't use his money towards anything.

I also get sick of Bono, and he's always been a little too dramatic for me. I've liked U2's music for a long time but they've never been a favorite. I can't really fault the way he lives though, as he does get a lot of attention directed in the right areas, and he does have access to people like George Bush, and actually seems to be heard. What he might think privately is a different thing; he knows how to play the game.

So I don't mind if anyone doesn't like him, but I don't think it's really fair to say he is a hypocrite.

I like some of U2's songs but have neveer been a real fan, and while Bono does have access to people in high places, he also has access to a fortune. And he also has access to the fortune of others, and no, governments are not sources of fortune. They are sources of taxes, and that money just comes from the people, when you tax more it isn't a rich government donating something, it is hardworking, budget-following people having to give up more money that they don't have. All his friends like Oprah and Bill Gates could be making a lot of difference, but they are greedy, greedy people who don't seem to deserve much respect despite some good they've done because of it.
 
Bono has not slammed capitalism. He is a partner in a $2B private equity firm. Yes, he is rich, and gets richer every day. Bono has slammed capitalism that has no conscience.

I don't see where Bono is asking "working class" people to foot the bill for his projects. Are you talking about the "working class" folks who shop at Gap and Armani who might buy the Red products? Because I don't see these people hurting for disposal income. Are you talking about his program for the world's richest countries to increase aid and forgive debt? Because I doubt that works out to a whole lot of money out of our pockets in the form of higher taxes.

When the Live Aid song came out, Morrissey heaped scorn on it, dropping the quip we've all heard a thousand times: "One can have great concern for the people of Ethiopia, but it's another thing to inflict daily torture on the people of England". Later he also clarified himself, saying that it was outrageous that governments were asking their citizens to help with famine relief when it was obvious governments could solve these humanitarian crises very easily if they wanted to. He was correct.

Bono has taken Morrissey's position but instead of leaving it at dropping a funny line to the NME, he's gone to the highest officials in the U.S., England, and elsewhere to make his case. He's founded organizations. He's given a lot of time and energy to traveling the world promoting his causes, so much so that the other band members of U2 are often annoyed that touring and making records are #2 on his to-do list.

Why people are giving U2 so much grief about their tax shelter is stunning. All of us, if asked about how well our taxes are used by our governments, would instantly laugh and retort cynically that most of it was probably flushed down the toilet. I suppose Bono is supposed to say, "Here, tax me, I'd love to pay $500 for a socket wrench?" They're trying to save themselves money, which ANY of us would do if we could. Trying to do this would only be horrible if Bono and U2 didn't give money to charities, and no one seems to have any proof that they don't. In fact, they probably do give millions-- they make enough that they can give millions and still live like kings, you know. Anyway, for example the band gave proceeds from "One", their biggest single ever, to AIDS research. I'm sure they've helped other causes with cash too.

I'm not surprised about the anger about Bono, since he is obnoxious at times, their music has passed the sell-by date, and in general people just like to resent the famous and the rich. What bugs me is that his work on behalf of his pet charities is THE model of what such work must look like in this era. He went beyond all the white flag-waving and canned idealism of the 1980s and actually went out and got involved right at the top, meeting with everyone he could in the major Western governments. I'm almost relieved that Bono is so rich, because he is making an example of himself. He's letting people know that, yes, you can live and thrive in a capitalist country without feeling guilty, so long as you try and give to the less fortunate when and where you can.

Since the Sixties humanitarian compassion for other people has looked like hippies, anarchists, and bleeding heart liberals. The backlash to the Sixties, and to the charitable drives in the 80s like Band Aid and so on, was enormous. You won't find many people who aren't deeply cynical about charities, who believe they're being swindled, lied to, guilted into acting, or who just dismiss the whole affair as an illusion. Bono isn't telling anyone to get on a plane to Africa to hand out some HIV meds. He's not asking you to go and buy a special CD single. He's telling a society full of people who pay $5 at Starbucks every day to go ahead and be as freewheelingly selfish as they always are, just that if they HAPPEN to be in a store to spend their cash, maybe buy a Red product, or use a Red credit card, or if they HAPPEN to want to see some popular bands performing, maybe pay a little more for a ticket to a benefit concert. These are the only appeals he's making, and they are a good blend of the realistic and the idealistic.

Whatever money they make, it's chump change. The real work is done at the government level, and that is not passing around a hat to "working class" people.

This is what Bono can do. He's a rock star. He's not a culture critic or an academic or a "serious" artist. He's not a revolutionary. He's also understandably keen to profit from his music, just like every other artist out there, Morrissey included. To hate the man personally I can accept, but I'm amazed that people don't look at him and see an example of a real, working solution for solving important problems. I look at him and I don't see a saint by any means, but I do see someone whose real world efforts put most of rock and roll's ineffectual and outdated mantras about "love" and "social change" to shame.
 
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I am a bit drunk after seeing my team record a (rare) momentous victory in the premiership.

I am generally (although not totally) of the opinion that U2 are dogshite.

That is all.
 
Bono's a hypocrite? How so?

According to the BBC news site, the cheapest ticket for their February 2006 show in Brazil was 200 reais (£50, $88) - about two-thirds of Brazil's minimum monthly wage. He's such a good person. Not.
 
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