← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Quantrill
Thread ID: 14000 | Posts: 11 | Started: 2004-06-01
2004-06-01 18:42 | User Profile
According to Bono, the nations of Europe owe the Africans 0.7% of their GNP, because the Africans can't stop giving each other AIDS.
[url="http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3004525"]http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3004525[/url]
**Bono Attacks EU over Broken Aid Pledges **
By Victoria Ward, PA News
[color=Red]Rock star Bono today condemned EU governments for failing to keep promises on aid for Africa.
The U2 singer, in Dublin to address development ministers from all 25 EU states, said charity was no longer enough.
ââ¬ÅWe are after billions, not millions,ââ¬Â he said. ââ¬ÅAnd thatââ¬â¢s what itââ¬â¢s going to take to sort out the problems of our next door neighbour.ââ¬Â
Bono is calling on all developed nations to honour pledges to give 0.7% GNP in aid to the worldââ¬â¢s most deprived countries.
ââ¬ÅThereââ¬â¢s a general feeling in some camps that because they are doing well their economies canââ¬â¢t afford the commitment of 0.7% and itââ¬â¢s going to be more money than they thought,ââ¬Â he said.
ââ¬ÅA lot of these people are doing some great things, but there are promises being broken and thatââ¬â¢s unacceptable. You canââ¬â¢t make promises and not keep them.
ââ¬ÅThere are some laggards hanging out here and Iââ¬â¢m just going to be putting my hand in their wallets. We are getting there, but we just have to hurry them along.ââ¬Â
The star dismissed rumours of plans to stage a Live Aid 2 concert.
ââ¬ÅAt this point there are no plans for a Live Aid 2,ââ¬Â he said.
ââ¬ÅIt would help but it wouldnââ¬â¢t fix the problem.
ââ¬ÅContinental Africa is bursting into flames right now, thereââ¬â¢s an emergency going on and for me itââ¬â¢s not really about charity at this point, itââ¬â¢s about justice.ââ¬Â
He said he did not want to see again the shocking images from Africa that were beamed around the world 20 years ago.
ââ¬ÅThere are plans being discussed here today that would mean we wouldnââ¬â¢t have to see those awful pictures again,ââ¬Â he added.
ââ¬ÅThere are bureaucratic bottle-necks going on. People have pledged 14 billion dollars to the EU but the EU havenââ¬â¢t found a way of spending it.
ââ¬ÅAt a time when 6,500 Africans are dying every day of Aids thatââ¬â¢s not the Europe I want to be in.ââ¬Â
The singer said this was a dangerous time and would showcase European governments to the rest of the world.
ââ¬ÅThis is where we meet the rest of the world outside of the military and trade,ââ¬Â he added.
ââ¬ÅThis is who we are, who we are as Europeans and do we really believe that giving people 0.7% is too much to ask? I donââ¬â¢t think so.ââ¬Â
Bono was also due to speak to Hilary Benn, International Development Secretary, about imminent decisions on the UK budget which campaigners claim could see increases to overseas aid affected by competition from domestic and defence spending.
Data (Debt, Aids, Trade, Africa), the organisation co-founded by Bono and Sir Bob Geldof, is calling on the UK to announce a large increase for the Department for International Development to tackle the Aids emergency and extreme poverty in Africa.
Activists have also called on the Government to announce a timetable by which the UK will meet the O.7% target.
Bono and Geldof have written to all UK MPs calling on them to urge both Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown to dramatically increase the aid budget beyond 0.4% GNI in the next budget.
The letter highlights Britainââ¬â¢s chairmanship of the G8 next year, describing it as a ââ¬Åa unique opportunity to lead an historic initiative for Africaââ¬Â.[/color]
2004-06-01 20:12 | User Profile
That piece of shit deserves the trash can - and the sooner the better. Its a statement of our utter decadence that ignoramuses and scum like that get showered with millions of dollars.
2004-06-01 20:13 | User Profile
Actually I have a better idea. He should simply be dropped from the sky with a parachute into the Congo. He can do as much good work as he wants to. And wed be rid of that piece of garbage once and for all.
2004-06-01 20:14 | User Profile
Bono should be given to the African cannibals as humanitarian aid.
2004-06-01 21:26 | User Profile
I think Bono should look at an atlas. Africa is anything but Europe's next-door neighbor.
:dung:
2004-06-01 21:51 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Robbie]I think Bono should look at an atlas. Africa is anything but Europe's next-door neighbor.
:dung:[/QUOTE] Provided he can read an atlas. Hes probably functionally illiterate. A creation of the modern televitz.
2004-06-01 22:35 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Peter Phillips]Provided he can read an atlas. Hes probably functionally illiterate. A creation of the modern televitz.[/QUOTE] Bono is the living embodiment of the suicide of the west. I loathe him, his preachy music. his self-righteous posturing, and his self-hated. And I hate hearing what a holy man this little creep is.
2004-06-01 22:43 | User Profile
This loudmouth takes limos everywhere.
What do you want to bet the closet he ever gets to negroes is in the dining room?
2004-06-01 23:24 | User Profile
Frankly, I preferred Sonny.
2004-06-03 18:21 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Paul Kruger]Bono is the living embodiment of the suicide of the west. I loathe him, his preachy music. his self-righteous posturing, and his self-hated. And I hate hearing what a holy man this little creep is.[/QUOTE] If you hate Bono, then you have to hate half the "entertainment industry", which teems with ignoramuses and self appointed "saints".
2004-06-04 09:55 | User Profile
Seeing the jumped-up bog-trotter posing as The Conscience of Guilty White Man is enough to make anyone spew. Someone needs to smash the omnipresent oh-yeah-I'm-a-rock-star shades off that nigger-lovin' runt's fashionably unshaven mug post haste.