BONO speaks out on Wall Street.....

[bobbolink]

It's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases.
- Bono, rock star and anti-poverty activist. (Source: The American Prospect blog)

posted on SOJOMAIL 9-25-08

[bushmeister0]

1. Hmmm . . . now I wish he had agreed to meet with Palin.

[AlCzervik]

13. He canceled, Grumpy and Dopey wanted it open door for the media, Bono said no

and that was that.

[caseycoon]

2. K&R It does boggle the mind.

This administration isn't noted for doing anything whatsoever for our citizens. (except the rich ones, of course)
:grr:

[Jeanette in FL]

3. That statement brings tears to my eyes.

It is so freaking true. There is enough money to go around this world many times over, yet there are greedy people who just want more and more and more.

His words are so true and so damn sad.

[ailsagirl]

4. the voice of reason... kick

[Muttocracy]

5. K&R

[crickets]

6. Kick -nt

[spanone]

7. or health care for poor and dying americans

[bobbolink]

10. Or HOMES!!

That's simply not on the list of ANYONE.

:cry:

[katty]

8. me too Bono

[maryf]

12. K&Rnt

[Lex]

9. of COURSE there was money for those things

there always has been

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. Yes indeed, there always has been and probably always will be.

The Rich and Greedy will always find a way to keep from going under.

Right georgie, you hideous little bastard.

[prayin4rain]

14. hahahaha

you hideous little bastard!!!!!!!! ROFLMA :rofl:

[snot]

15. Link? googled, found a blog by that name, no post re- Bono on that subject . . .

I'm not doubting you, but why not make credibility easier . . .

[bobbolink]

17. Because, SNOT, as I said right in the post, I got it from SOJOMAIL

Nevermind the people who are suffering from poverty, do your little looking down your nose and casting asparagus crap.

DAMN! What is it with you people????

Is it EVER possible for you to care about those who are barely surviving???????????

Yet, you just LOVE to blame it all on the RW. If You CARED, it wouldn't be this bad, so, SNOT, grow a heart, eh?

[snot]

21. HOLD IT.

All I did was ask for a link. I love the quote and hope it's accurate. I wasn't trying to cast doubt or be snarky. Please forgive me for missing your reference to sojo.net -- I'm always pressed for time.

I was asking because I thought this might be something I'd like to publish. But I like to source my info.

I do not understand the hostility my post evoked. I have given many thousands of dollars earned with personal blood sweat and tears, and many thousands of hours of hard effort, to helping the poor or under-represented. Are you sure you should kick me?

Re- your link, I note that it was posted by Dana Goldstein, who also does not source the quote. I do not know Dana; do you? Maybe she's a totally reliable source. But we have already been Rathergated, and the *cons have given us plenty of reliable, sourced shit to work with; we do not need to undermine our credibility by propagating info that's not well-sourced.

This is NOT an emotional issue for me. It's an issue of doing what I think will best help further our cause.

I want accountability for ALL of us, not just the guys I don't like.

[dajoki]

23. Thank you for all you have done...

for poverty. One thing I don't understand is how can this NOT be an emotional issue for you if you have done all that? I'm not doubting you at all, I'm just saying that from the perspective of someone living in poverty and bad health, this is the MOST emotional issue I can think of. If you can give so much of yourself and your money to help "further our cause", as you say, without feeling, I commend your actions but wonder what motivates you.

[snot]

24. thank you.

i've suffered a bit myself; and i have no god to tell me what to do. so it's not easy to stay motivated.

but i believe we have the power to make the world better, and nothing better to occupy ourselves with.

i wouldn't push that on anyone else, but i count myself lucky beyond all odds to have come up with that much.

um, it's not that it's not emotional for me; it's just that while i believe emotions are the root of compassion and perhaps even wisdom, they are often used to manipulate us; and in any case, we need reason, too.

[dajoki]

29. I am...

truly sorry for the suffering that you have experienced and hope you will never go through that again. I don't want to get into a debate about religion with you, I respect your right to not have a God, and would never attempt to push my beliefs on you, but I do have God, and I expect you to give me the same benefit I give you. Although He doesn't tell me what to do, my faith allows me to sustain my and my family's lives in troubled times. It also helps me have compassion for all people, especially those who are struggling to survive.

However I don't think people can be manipulated unless they are willing because I do not believe compassion is exclusive to religion just as I believe emotion and reason do not have to be incompatible. An issue can cause a person to have great emotion yet still be able to use reason and wisdom in making choices and decisions.

[bobbolink]

20. Here ya go, SNOT:

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=09&year=2008&base_name=bono_on_the_bailout

You're welcome.

Next time, before you start casting doubt and changing the subject, do a bit of a search, OK?

So long.

[postmanisu]

16. guess Bono isn't touring here anytime soon wait who can afford it

[bobbolink]

18. You too? Feeling sorry for yourself that you can't get to a concert, when

the POINT is that there are people suffering and DYING who could live if we had the right priorities?

Grow a heart.

[prayin4rain]

19. your tubman quote makes me so sad :( n/t

[Zomby Woof]

22. So why does he reside in the Netherlands?

Clue: Because it's a major tax shelter.

Bono is the biggest hypocrite jackoff in rock history. He is basically a multimillionaire tax dodger. Who the fuck is he to lecture anyone about the disbursement of government funds? He should try paying some taxes once in a while.

[dajoki]

25. I also find it extraordinary...

why they always start at the top and the people at the bottom get NOTHING!!
K&R

[marmar]

26. Friday Bloody Friday.....

:scared:

[mike_c]

27. wish I could recommend this 10,000 times....

Memo to congress: who do you serve? The people or the bankers? The needy or the fabulously wealthy? Why can we bail out Wall Street investment bankers but we cannot find money for health care, education, seniors, housing the homeless, feeding the hungry, or caring for the least among us?

[faithfulcitizen]

28. I get the point, but it's not really a fair comparison.

[OakCliffDem]

30. kick

[Waiting For Everyman]

31. Well passing the hat among mega-wealthy celebs might do it.

[calimary]

32. Kick!

Amazing where our priorities are, 'eh?

[judasdisney]

33. Funny story about Bono -- he supports ASSASSINATION of a certain anti-poverty President

Whoops.

Some call Hugo Chavez a "demogogue" -- but if there's one President on the planet who would give Bono his fonde$t wi$hes, it would be Hugo.

Instead, Bono financed a videogame about invading Venezuela and ASSASSINATING Chavez.

Religious leaders asked Bono to stop.

But the great man of faith Bono seems to be a FASCIST in friendly rocker clothing.

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2318

Religious Leaders Ask U2's Bono To Stop Video Game Targeting Venezuela
April 4th 2007
WASHINGTON D.C. - Fifty religious leaders sent a letter to U2’s Bono today asking him to “do whatever is necessary to see that ‘Mercenaries 2’ is pulled from stores and not sold anywhere.”

Mercenaries 2 is a realistic, violent video game in which the player leads a mercenary force into Venezuela with the objective of killing a “power hungry tyrant” who has taken over the oil industry. Bono’s investment company, Elevation Partners, has invested $300 million in Pandemic Studios, the game’s creator. Mercenaries 2 is scheduled to be released this year.

The letter, which was signed by Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim leaders denounced the violent and realistic nature of the game and told Bono, “We feel your connection with this game detracts from your image as a human rights defender.”

Gunnar Gundersen, a spokesperson for the Venezuela Solidarity Network (VSN), a US-based grassroots organization that is pressuring Bono to stop the game said, “Anyone who has spent time in Caracas can immediately recognize the city’s streets and landmarks in the game. The aim of the video game is full devastation, so any person who moves should be shot, and all the buildings, such as the headquarters of PDVSA, the Venezuelan public oil company, can be destroyed. Gundersen, who lives in Oregeon, is married to a Venezuelan and has family who live in Caracas.

The Venezuela Solidarity Network believes that a violent video game attacking a country that has been targeted for “regime change” by the Bush administration, is more than just a game. VSN Interim Coordinator Chuck Kaufman stated, “Pandemic Studios has designed training videos for the army and the CIA. We don’t believe they just happened to pick Venezuela at random as the site of their new video game.”

The religious sign-on letter to Bono was written and distributed by the Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns in Washington, DC. Director Marie Dennis also objected to the realistic violence in the game. “Our faith traditions motivate us to confront the international debt problem that robs human dignity and calls us to counter the culture of violence that pervades our society today,” she said. “The celebration of violence in much of our media, music and video games is poisoning our children.”