Bono on CBC News

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GypsyHeartgirl said:
On 60 min. the lady asked him if he could make politics 'sexy' and he laughed and said he didn't know if he could deliver that. But he does, he does, he makes it sexy. He's the only one I can think of who does!

I think I remember a few Pleba girls thinkin Prof. Sachs was cute. :)

gala-013.jpg


;)

SD
 
Yes, Sachs is a cutie! Bono is a beauty!

I am also very discouraged at the recent turn of events but we will continue on as long as necessary. Bono and Sachs will lead us and we will be at their backs!
 
Sherry Darling said:


I think I remember a few Pleba girls thinkin Prof. Sachs was cute. :)

gala-013.jpg


;)

SD

Thank you Sherry! I love that pic! They are beautiful in so many ways, beautiful hearts, souls, minds, and exteriors too! Hubba hubba! :tongue: :yes:
 
What a pair, that is one lovely pic! Have you seen the video of them on u2.com discussing DATA? They both look so nice! :love:
 
Bono can make ANYTHING sexy. Politics and esp AIDS is NOT sexy, but as the spokesperson, he makes ANYTHING look sexy. I just hope people appreciate what he's doing. The stupid Government should be taking this more seriously. Poor Bono looks exausted though, he really needs a loooong vacation IMO, I'll gladly go with him :drool:
 
LMAO! Don't tell me King B's got competition. :) Hey, smart is sexy. So is compassion. And those blue eyes... :)

What a great team! Anyone else think they actually look a bit alike?

SD
 
the_fly2002 said:
Bono can make ANYTHING sexy. Politics and esp AIDS is NOT sexy, but as the spokesperson, he makes ANYTHING look sexy. I just hope people appreciate what he's doing. The stupid Government should be taking this more seriously. Poor Bono looks exausted though, he really needs a loooong vacation IMO, I'll gladly go with him :drool:


Well, we couldn't have a better spokesperson. It could be worse--what if our spokesperson had good intentions and stuff, but was boring as hell? That's an activist's nightmare. Fortunately, that's not true. Hey, that picture is pretty cool. Sexy, indeed! I'll bet he's *terribly* upset about the summit though. It must be terrible to feel like you've worked yourself to the bone in vain.
*punches pictures of politicians in the newspapers, taking care to hit the noses*

:( :( :madspit:
 
the_fly2002 said:
Bono can make ANYTHING sexy. Politics and esp AIDS is NOT sexy, but as the spokesperson, he makes ANYTHING look sexy. I just hope people appreciate what he's doing. The stupid Government should be taking this more seriously.

I agree

Poor Bono looks exausted though, he really needs a loooong vacation IMO, I'll gladly go with him :drool:

Huh? :huh: :confused: I just don't see that. What's wrong with him???? He looks fine and gorgeous to me. I'm very impressed with this pic. SIGH:love:

bono_09.jpg
 
I think he looks OK, just disappointed and shocked. If they're even getting calls from corporate big shots in the U.S. then all's not lost, that's for sure. It's going to be tough for Bush and Co. to ignore them.
 
Sherry Darling said:


What does?

*confused*

Cheryl


BONO: No. No, I'm not looking at that at all. And it's, there's a lot of people's hopes and not dreams, but real work dashed here as far as I'm concerned. And you know, it was an inspired thing, I think of Prime Minister Chretien to have the African leadership
present. It was inspired to have as a centerpiece at this year's G-8 but really, what I'm looking at is a lot of rhetoric, a lot of the old numbers just kind of fiddled with. There is, I mean maybe I'm being disingenuous. I'm feeling disappointed. There is some progress here. There is some smart things on the debt they've done looking at debt sustainability in this. There's a little bit more money going around but no, none of the vision we were hoping for. Basically, the scale of the response does not match the scale of the problem.


I just thought they'd have the imagination to make
a giant, giant leap here.


etc..
 
Just found this story, I won't bother to post the pic, Bono's not in it. So, what is it he's touting? Is he bragging on what little they did or promising more?

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, left, meets with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill at the U.N. headquarters Monday, July 1, 2002. O'Neill touted the administration's proposals to help Africa, emphasizing that aid can work as long as there is accountability. O'Neill spent nearly two weeks traveling to four sub-Saharan nations in Africa with U2's Bono in late May. On the trip, O'Neill repeatedly questioned the impact that billions of dollars in aid have had on poor countries over the past 50 years.
- Jul 01 10:10 AM ET
 
U2Kitten said:
Just found this story, I won't bother to post the pic, Bono's not in it. So, what is it he's touting? Is he bragging on what little they did or promising more?

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, left, meets with U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill at the U.N. headquarters Monday, July 1, 2002. O'Neill touted the administration's proposals to help Africa, emphasizing that aid can work as long as there is accountability. O'Neill spent nearly two weeks traveling to four sub-Saharan nations in Africa with U2's Bono in late May. On the trip, O'Neill repeatedly questioned the impact that billions of dollars in aid have had on poor countries over the past 50 years.
- Jul 01 10:10 AM ET


Basically it's about what they promised. The UN has started another campaign, headed by Prof. Sachs, to try to cut world poverty in half. Needless to say, this includes alot of the Africa stuff. I imagine that Washington is going to be getting a big time piece of Sach's mind soon.........not a day too soon!
 
Oh, wait, there's a report on O'Neill's UN speech in the news forum. He said something about a $5 billion aid package for Africa. Also, it sounds like they actually signed a "mini-treaty" with some of the African leaders. I don't know the particulars. Of course he got into the results thing......which, let's be fair, makes some sense. If we give the aid, we want to make sure it goes for health care, education, shelter, etc, etc, not into some bureaucrat's pocket. There has to be a systematic process....basically, the implementation of "transparency". I think it's been drowned out a bit that Bono agrees with this in principle, he doesn't want the wrong people getting the money, either. Being careful about the right people getting it is fair play. Some of the other stuff....I can't believe this nonsense about "people won't take the medicines because they don't wear wristwatches".......how stupid.......basically, we can't let them use anything as an excuse for saying "we're not giving the aid because.......fill in the blank". It's an emergency, it needs work now, not later, and I'm just afraid this plan is "later". But I'm confused, what with the proliferating reports of plans, promises, and now a what, a treaty?
 
I also think Bono looks gorgeous, I just meant he looks a little tired, and I can't blame him. He must never know what time zone he's in. He's such a good man to be doing this, he must miss his family tremendously
 
verte- I think he's trying to confuse us all with a lot of political double talk and talking in circles. He must be trying to cover up what wasn't done, and that must mean he knows we're mad!!

fly2002, I still don't see what you mean by tired. He's flustered by all this like we all are. I don't think he misses his family, it's summer and I'm sure he's with them! He's been in Ireland a lot, then Edge's wedding, the villa in France, Monte Carlo and London. I'm sure he's got them with him most of the time. They're so lucky to get to go anywhere and do anything they want. Financial security really does give them a lot of freedom. They are fortunate indeed. No need to feel sorry for Bono. Unlike us no one is forcing him to do anything he doesn't want to do.
 
You're right, Kitten. Furthermore, Bono *knows* this "job" of his is frustrating. This is very difficult, and my hat's off to him for doing something very tough that he doesn't have to do. It's only human and natural to say "damn, I'm frustrated" when the going gets rough. But he knows this sort of thing happens. Yeah, it stinks for alot of people, but as the French say, c'est la vie.
 
Desire4Bono said:
I just heard on NBC news that the stats on global AIDS were staggering. They said 70 million will die in the next 20 years, and 40 million are sick. They said that the key was to get wealthy nations to help the health situation in Africa- gee where have we heard that before? ;)


I saw the report. Yeah, it's familiar. This really is like the Black Death in the Middle Ages--only they couldn't have stopped the Black Death, but they can stop the modern Deadly Pandemic From Hell. They just are acting like they don't know it's the Deadly Pandemic From Hell. It's because it's going on on another continent, as much as I hate to say it. This scares the daylights out of me. They should put that report in every newspaper, on every newscast, everywhere. I have a feeling people aren't going to have much more of a tolerance for this than they did for the war in Vietnam, and then the politicos really will have hell to pay--and not just at the ballot box, although it will impact that. It will impact more than just ballot boxes. I hate to think about the whole nightmare.
 
Amen, Angels.

"People are dying for the stupides of reasons...money!" ~Bono

Makes ME ill! I do like the idea of getting corporate America involved, too, that I've been hearing from Bush and Sachs. The only thing I know to do, like I've said, is keep speaking up!

(((Bono)))

(((Prof. Sachs)))

SD
 
People got mad about the Vietnam War because of graphic coverage on the news. They didn't like it. It was alot of unnecessary death, bloodshed, just a total waste. It got to be terrible and many political careers were screwed up because the electorate was mad as hell. The same stuff could happen with this. If people see those people in Malawi eating dirt, for crying out loud, because of debt stuff and bad trade laws and all of that stuff, well, they're going to put up a stink at the ballot boxes, in petition drives, and other political activities. If even corporate America is getting into the mix, gosh, that heat on Washington will be too hot not to change their ways--especially if enough of the dunderheads who are in the way get pink slips.
 
The Philadelphia Inquirer
July 1, 2002

Bush Backtracking on AIDS a Slap in the Face for Bono

By David Corn


So this is the thanks Bono gets?

Just weeks ago, the U2 front man was jetting through Africa with Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and exploring the deep poverty of the
continent. Media in tow, the unlikely duo visited cities and villages, often inspecting hospitals, orphanages and clinics where the tragic effects of the AIDS pandemic could be witnessed.

By conducting high-visibility public appearances with O'Neill and George W. Bush, the rock star has shared his hipness with the Bush squares. Not since a decked-out Elvis Presley posed with President Richard Nixon has there been such a lopsided transfer of cool in Washington.

To be fair, Bono has probably prompted the misers to open the purse more than they otherwise would. But when Bush the other day announced a supposedly "important new" anti-AIDS program for Africa, it was not only an insult to the millions being killed overseas by this plague, it was a slap in the face to Bono.

At the White House, Bush said, "In Africa, the disease clouds the future of entire nations...In the hardest hit countries of sub-Saharan Africa, as much as one-third of the adult population is infected with HIV, and 10 percent or more of the schoolteachers will die of AIDS within five years." He proposed "to make $500 million available" to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to children.

Stopping inherited AIDS is one of the best bang-for-a-buck components of an assault against AIDS. A single dose of medication given at birth
will work half the time. This is also one of the least controversial aspects of AIDS prevention because it has nothing to do with sex or condoms. It focuses on newborns, not adults. Consequently, it does not offend the religious right and cultural conservatives.

So what's the catch? First, Bush was proposing funding that does not meet the actual need. Second, he was taking credit for money already
approved by Congress. Finally, he was covering up the fact that his administration had pressed Congress to lower spending for this activity. Bush was spreading it thick in the Rose Garden.

The President expects his project to prevent nearly 150,000 infant infections over the next five years. The problem is, there are about
800,000 children born with AIDS each year, according to the United Nations. That means the Bush initiative is aiming at helping less than
4 percent of this population. Moreover, $200 million of this supposedly "new" initiative was approved for use this year by Congress days before
Bush's announcement. What he added was $300 million for this type of AIDS prevention in the following two years. Which averages out to $150
million a year -- a cut from the current level.

It gets worse. At the start of June, several Republicans -- notably, Sens. Bill Frist and Jesse Helms -- were trying to raise overseas AIDS funding this year by $500 million. But the White House leaned on Frist and Helms and got the pair to slice that to $200 million.

When Bush hailed his initiative as one that would save lives, he could have as easily said, "Thanks to me, this program will save fewer lives than it would have had Frist and Helms gotten their way." As Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat who has worked with Frist and Helms to increase global AIDS funding, griped, "Just as we've achieved bipartisan momentum to make a real difference on the toll this devastating disease is taking on Africa, the administration announces a retreat and pretends it's a forward charge."

Bush boasts that his administration committed nearly $1 billion to global HIV/AIDS assistance this year and has sent $500 million to the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. That sounds like a healthy contribution. But relief and medical groups argue this is far from sufficient. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been pressing the international community to kick in $7 billion to $10 billion a year to the global anti-AIDS fund, with the United States covering about one-fifth of that. Catholic Relief Services has called for a $2 billion increase in U.S. funding for the effort against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, of which half would go to sub-Saharan Africa, where anestimated 28 million people have AIDS.

Bush shows no signs of rising to the challenge.

Hours after making his disingenuous AIDS announcement, Bush attended a black-tie Republican fundraising extravaganza that collected $30
million or so, with a major portion coming from pharmaceutical companies. In fact, Robert Ingram, GlaxoSmithKline's chief operating officer, was the numero-uno fund-raiser for the event. This drug
company not too long ago tried to prevent the South African government from manufacturing lifesaving anti-AIDS drugs. This event was, sadly, a true Washington moment.

That day, Bono issued a statement in response to Bush's "new" AIDS program. "This crisis urgently demands an historic presidential AIDS initiative," the U2er observed. "This isn't it but could be the
beginning of it."

Bono deserves credit for pushing the tightwads of Washington and the West to acknowledge publicly the problems of global poverty and global AIDS. How long, though, can this Irish musician sing a song of hope regarding Bush, O'Neill and the rest, when he still hasn't found anything close to what he -- and those African mothers -- are looking
for?

(David Corn is the Washington editor of the Nation.)

? 2002, Philadelphia Inquirer.
 
Something that really bugs me is the self righteous attitude that throwing money won't help, they claim that private enterprise is the answer and 'teaching them how to fish' instead of just feeding them. Well all that might sound noble, but guess what? It's not helping anything now while those people are dying!!!! The only thing that's going to help is to get rid of all the red tape and all the attitudes and just start saving lives!!!!

It kind of reminds me of a neighbor I once had. Her husband had lost his job, she was slightly disabled mentally and physically and couldn't drive or hold a job. They had a kid who was hyper. Us neighbors donated hot dogs and canned food and clothes, but we didn't have the money to save their phone and electric, and water from being cut off (this in the hot of summer) or their only vehicle, and eventually their home, from reposession. Their relatives had money, lots of it, but they would not help or give one cent because they looked at the situation with the attitude that they were stupid, not doing enough to help themselves, could work harder, etc, and maybe in some ways that was true. The man weighed 350 pounds and said he couldn't find a job that paid enough to pay the bills so why kill himself in the heat when it wouldn't stop the inevitable? So, these relatives thought them so worthless that they did nothing until the day the people were evicted. Did this haughty, self-righteous attitude help? No, it hurt. They lost everything. They should have been more concerned with the child than some kind of lesson they were trying to teach. When people need help NOW, save them NOW and then start preaching to them about what failures they are and how they did wrong. Just sitting there watching them go under is tragic, and a burden on everyone in the long run.
 
Gosh, that's a heartbreaker. You're right, all of this judgmental stuff is ignoring the fact that people are dying, there are millions of people too sick to work and it's not through any fault of theirs......it's horrible. Some Congress people are starting to pester the Administration about debt relief. Thank God someone in Washington is talking! Some of them are mad, too!
 
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