Bono is a tax-dodging, arrogant @#%^ and I can't stand him.

Just wanted to say that.

NO!!!!!!!!!! It can't be!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you notice the part about tax-dodging?

Just wanted to say that.

Vertigo baby.... Vertigo.

:evilgrin:

n/t

to get out of it entirely.

They're based in the Nethds now.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0304/p12s01-wogn.html

" millions of dollars in taxes worldwide "

Not in Ireland, not on royalties. They saw to that. Greedy bastards.

And how insulting to try that ruse... 'but we pay taxes!'... can't believe they just pretend to miss the point and mislead people.

Ugh, what utter pricks! :puke:

I dunno, I'd have an issue with that, too. Not every artist is a multi-millionaire like Bono.

They can pay... they can afford it... but instead got out of it.

Lovely.

Try asking yourself that, if you can.

Your point seems to be that because he promotes world responsibility that means he can never take advantage of any legal tax strategy. I suppose by the same logic if Ted Turner were to move some of his businesses to a more tax advantageous state, he would be a hypocrite in your book despite giving billions to worthwhile causes.

Congratulations on buying into the Bloomberg "news" article on Bono. They reeled you in hook, line, and sinker. Naturally organizations like Bloomberg have to demonize people like Bono so they don't have to feel so guilty about their own greed and irresponsibility.

Sorry, I didn't know there were that many that saw tax-dodging as a reasonable and helpful thing to do.

I don't share that view, TYVM.

So either you read about it there, or you're simply parroting someone who did.

And by the logic you are parroting, any wealthy figure MUST do business in the area in which they are taxed the most heavily or they are a hypocrite if they are an advocate for the poor.

BTW, that's the same logic Limbaugh uses on a daily basis to demonize anyone who dares to speak up for progressive causes.

The defensiveness displayed by some posters on this subject is weird.

You do know there are other papers who covered the story, some of them extensively. Some of them are even *gasp* IN IRELAND!

:eyes:

Bloomberg reported the story first, and it's quite old news, BTW.

But you are at least partially correct in that it really doesn't matter where the story came from, it's still the same line of bullshit.

Anyone who advocates for progressive or liberal causes, but is wealthy MUST be an elitist hypocrite. If I wanted to hear that particular flavor of crap I could just as easily tune into Limbaugh or Hannity or O'Reilly.

In fact, all of the above ALSO parroted out the Bloomberg story, so at least you're in good company, no?

Do you hear yourself?

This isn't because he's progressive, but that does make it worse.

This is about him moving offshore to avoid taxes. That's all. Anything you want to read into it... well have fun manufacturing an argument for yourself...

I guess if Bill Gates moved to Hawaii that would mean he moved "offshore", right?

You're trying to compare moving from Ireland to the Netherlands with an American company moving to the Cayman Islands. Pardon me if I'm not so myopic. Both Ireland and the Netherlands are EU states, so it's actually more akin to an American business moving from Massachusetts to Washington state.

Again your arguments are pure unadulterated horseshit. It's the same Hannity/Limbaugh/O'Reilly nonsense that says unless a person gives all their money away to taxes and charity they can't speak up for the poor without being a elitist hypocrite. Sorry, I don't buy into that crap. If you do, that's your business, just don't be so offended when someone sends up the bullshit flag.

I'm not even going to bother trying to enlighten you any further... clearly it would only be wasted effort.

Thanks for the laugh though. :)

Thanks, but no thanks.

I do get a good chuckle out of those who try to pass off day-old-dog-turd arguments as "enlightenment". Thanks for the comic relief.

Not that you care. You're too busy trying to explain how dodging taxes is fine and dandy.

Go on with your bad self!

Thanks, but no thanks.

And being called "bad" by someone who chooses to parrot out wingnut nonsense is something I guess I'll just have to weather.

Have a nice day.

You too.

Well that would make them assholes as well.

Bono didn't move anything to a 'tax haven' like the "Jersey Isles", the Cayman Islands, or any other. He moved some of his businesses to Amsterdam because Ireland decided to greatly increase his taxes. The Netherlands can hardly be considered a tax haven. Bono makes income from all over the world. So if you can explain how and why Ireland is entitled to tax all of his income which most certainly comes from places other than Ireland, then perhaps there might be an argument for tax dodging. Otherwise it's just a sound business decision. Ireland is still free to tax any income U2 makes in Ireland which I'm sure they do, so Ireland still gets their fair share just as any country in which U2 performs or sells merchandise is free to tax them as well (and they do).

This entire argument that just because someone is an advocate for the disadvantaged, they can no longer make sound business decisions (which are perfectly ethical to begin with) is quite the crock of bullshit.

for years, for the same valid reason as redqueen. And Marsh is a major lefty. So much for trying to smear her POV based on her source.

I made no claims about her "source". I made an assertion regarding where the story originated which is 100% true.

And as far as her POV goes, at least I took the time to read hers and address it directly rather than taking part of it completely out of context, eh?

But he also says that they pay millions in taxes all over the world.

http://www.irishtimes.com/theticket/articles/2009/0227/1224241848766.html

Back in the '70s certain English bands became tax refugees because the progressive rate took all or almost all of their earnings. The Rolling Stones left England for awhile, as I recall. And I remember Ingmar Bergman, the famous Swedish film director, got taxed at 110% of his income!

Much of this story on U2 is missing, however.

According to the biography I read about them.

They were also being taxed at something close to 100%.

A social statement, you know, like 3rd Word debt relief.

Got it.

Exactly.

Ireland still exempts the first 250,000 euros, so any "struggling" artist would still be well covered.

However that doesn't change the larger picture any. The fact is Ireland gave significant tax breaks to artists specifically to attract them because they knew the net effect would be more revenue. It had nothing to do with supporting artists. The exact same tactic is employed here in the states every single day with all sorts of businesses.

If anything Bono was a "tax dodge" for staying in Ireland all those years and enjoying the tax breaks rather than spreading his businesses throughout Europe (and the rest of the world for that matter) where he was creating his wealth, but that argument would also be just as much horseshit.

is not the same as not supporting artists.

Really, WHO listens to them?

I've only known ONE person to
even admit liking them, let
alone have their CDs.

But hey, if people keep buying their music, I guess they're going to keep making it.

I just wish he'd either stop the do-gooder act or come correct and do right by his country. The asshole.

I never really "got" their music. I don't think they are terrible or anything, just not my cup of tea.

:)

I just don't like 'em and truly
have only met ONE person who did!

(I'm in the mid-west, so maybe it's
a rustbelt thing....)

The below from a 2005 article would seem to belie any claim here that this band is somehow unpopular.


http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2005-01-23-u2-tour-dates_x.htm

U2 tour has the concert business getting dizzy
By Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY

"After bolstering 2004's flagging record sales with its hit album, U2 is now poised to revitalize the ailing concert business with a world tour starting March 28 in San Diego. Vertigo 2005, the year's most hotly anticipated tour, could gross up to $250 million from roughly 110 shows, according to Billboard. "It should be as big as U2's Elevation Tour, and that was the third-biggest tour of all time," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar. In 2001, Elevation racked up $109.7 million in ticket sales in North America, with tickets priced at $45 to $135. This time, admission averages $90 with a range of $49.50 to $165. The lowest-priced ducats allow general-admission floor access. U2.com subscribers can reserve tickets before public sale dates.

Kings of Leon will open shows on the 13-city first leg, which ends in late May in Boston. After a stadium jaunt in Europe, a second U.S. swing is expected in mid-August. Given U2's unchallenged status as one of the world's best live rock 'n' roll acts, sellouts are almost certain. "Even without a hit record, people would want to see U2," Bongiovanni says. "Equally as important, they continue to attract new fans, so they're not just appealing to the baby boomers. The setup for the new album has been incredible." Vertigo, the Grammy-nominated single heavily promoted in iPod ads, has sold nearly 300,000 downloads. Since its No. 1 debut two months ago, the How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb album has sold 2.3 million copies in the USA and 8.5 million worldwide. Even with speculation about possible treks this year by the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, "the first half of the year is U2's ballgame," Bongiovanni says."

Just sayin’

robdogbucky

And talked about the possible future
without any facts.

I guarantee you that if they played
"The Palace" here in Michigan....no one I know
would be in the audience.

I SERIOUSLY doubt it would be a sell-out
here--or in Ohio or Indiana.

Just sayin...

From the data collected below in a quick sweep of the metro areas you mention, it is clear that U2 is a big band in the rotation, and any of these cities would no doubt sell out a U2 concert in a very short period of time. Knowing what the industry is all about, no act gets advanced promotion if they are not bankable. My guess is Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis are not big enough for this upcoming tour.

Just to check, I researched the Detroit radio market, and there about 9 or so religious stations and only about 5 rock stations that I could identify as such. Was surprised in the home of Motown there were not more R&B stations, etc. A couple of hip-hop, but that is not really the same. When I tried to click to station WRIF there, to see what they might have about their playlist, listeners, upcoming concert schedule, etc., it went nowhere. That was true from the home page and that was the case from the master list of radio station links in Detroit. The on-line station looks hip, but again, there were no links to anything that might reveal what the current concert market in Detroit was.

The other stations that I could link to in Detroit seemed to feature U2 today alright.
-Top Story today on Detroit’s 94.7: http://wcsx.com/news/
-4th story on Detroit’s 89X, along with Green Day, Metallica and Sublime: http://www.89xradio.com/newrocknews.htm

-From Cleveland’s rock station 92.3, 2 of the top 5 stories are U2: http://www.radio923fm.com/
-The #2 story on Cleveland’s http://www.wmms.com/pages/wmms_concerts_calendar.html?feed=104691&article=5090777 about the U2 - announced free concert at Fordham U in NYC this week, following their free rooftop concert in London last week.
-Cleveland’s 98.5: http://www.wncx.com/ today lists 3 of the top 7 rock news stories are about U2.

In Indianapolis, the rock stations today list
-U2 as lead rock news story on Q95: http://www.wfbq.com/main.html
-At 92.3, http://www.wttsfm.com/, U2 is today’s top story at their website.

From the band’s website, there is no tour schedule announced yet, but even the likelies only list Chicago and Philadelphia as being anywhere near Detroit, Cleveland or Indianapolis.

“2009 U2 Tour Update
U2 played on Late Night with David Letterman last night (video to the right) and will be playing every day this week! GoTickets will repost the videos each day, so check back through Saturday to watch the entire collection! Also, the band has announced that tour dates for the 2009 tour will be released on March 9th.
It’s hard to believe that U2 has been around for nearly 30 years, but they’re here and still going strong with performances at the 2009 Grammy Awards and David Letterman among others. Of course, their longevity has made U2 concert tickets ultra-tough to find, but GoTickets.com always has the best U2 seats available for all U2 concert dates. So if you want to see Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., then just check out the U2 tour schedule and order your U2 concert tickets now.”

And in response to current raw data you got...........

Just sayin’

robdogbucky

from person in Michigan who likes U2, and saw them in concert once.

OK, we've identified one person from
Michigan who once saw U2 in concert.

Color me wrong!

whether or not U2 is a popular band in Detroit, could draw fans to a concert if they played Detroit. For Passing, don't know why you are so obtuse, but to each his own. For everyone else reading, I add these bits of data to my contention that U2 would draw in Detroit, like they have before, like they do everywhere:

"10.24.05 Detroit, Michigan
Posted by SPun2U in News & Rumors on October 26, 2005 | no responses

City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, I Will Follow, The Electric Co., The Ocean, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For - In a Little While, Beautiful Day, Miracle Drug, Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own, Love and Peace or Else, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky, Miss Sarajevo, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name, One - Ol’ Man River. Encore: Walk On (acoustic), Stuck In a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of, With or Without You, All Because of You, Yahweh, 40

Media Review:
U2 brings message of peace to The Palace
by Adam Graham, Detroit News
No one goes to a U2 concert expecting an evening free of political soapboxing. Peace, unity, yada, yada, yada — but hey, you’re still going to play “Where the Streets Have No Name,” right?
Even so, the Dublin quartet took its message of “Love and Peace or Else” to the edge — pun intended — Monday night at the band’s sold-out show at The Palace of Auburn Hills."
http://www.u2exit.com/2005/10/102405_detroit_michigan.php

"Why Book A Detroit U2 Tribute Band through GigMasters?
GigMasters helps you hire professional U2 Tribute Bands in the Detroit area. Whether it's a wedding, corporate event, or private party, you'll easily find a qualified U2 Tribute Band in Detroit and throughout Michigan. Thousands of professional performers in the U.S. & Canada.
Learn more
Related
Detroit U2 Tribute Bands

Browse and compare 5 professional Detroit U2 Tribute Bands and U2"
http://www.gigmasters.com/Search/U2TributeBand-Detroit-MI.html

http://events.detnews.com/groups/show/945552-u2-fans


Friday, October 21, 2005
"Preview
It's a beautiful two days for U2 fans with tickets
By Adam Graham / The Detroit News
Too often, rock and politics go together like peanut butter and scissors, and bands who try to mix their music with a message come off sounding pompous. But U2 is one of the few bands that meld the two gracefully……..

U2, which plays the Palace of Auburn Hills Monday and Tuesday nights, is undoubtedly the biggest band in the world, and one of the most politically influential bands of our day. Just Wednesday, lead singer Bono sat down to lunch with President George W. Bush to discuss world issues. Bono is so renowned for his charity work with Africa- and AIDS-related causes that he was a front-runner for this year's Nobel Prize……..

The band has sold 120 million albums and won 16 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for 1987's "The Joshua Tree" and back-to-back Record of the Year awards in 2000-2001 for "Beautiful Day" and "Walk On." U2 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. Further proving the band's muscle, 2004's "Atomic Bomb" sold 840,000 copies its first week in stores, the best first-week sales tally of the band's career and one of the year's biggest debuts overall. Apple even created U2 Special Edition iPods, which come preloaded with more than 400 of the band's songs……………

U2's concerts don't just attract teens or baby boomers either.
Fans of all ages -- teens, college kids, parents -- have packed arenas during the current tour, which started in March. "They're the kind of band that's not losing old fans, but gaining new fans," Krim says.
The band's best-known songs -- "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "Where the Streets Have No Name," "With Or Without You," "One" -- are personal enough to make individual connections with listeners and are universal enough to resonate across their entire fan base.
"(U2) speaks for generations of people who caught them at different times in their rise to becoming the world's greatest rock band," Brookshaw says. What makes U2 the biggest band in the world? Partly because they refuse to believe they're not, and they still believe music can change the world.
And because they believe, we believe in them, time and time again."
http://www.detnews.com/2005/events/0510/25/F01-355897.htm

You can reach Adam Graham at (313) 222-2284 or agraham@det news.com.


robdogbucky

I love their music.

I own their CD's. :hi:

I hate his stuiped pink glasses too. I knew a guy who only liked him because he was from Ireland and had his junk all over the office. I started disliking him when his song about still not having found what he's looking for came on. All that money and he's still a whiney punk.

17 Courics

That's likely a South Park bit I might actually enjoy.


Edit: :rofl:

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/08/bono_loves_own_voice_so_much_he_blasts_new_u2_album_loud_enough_for_fan_to_record_leak_it-2.html

then I posted a spoiler

http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/111250

season 11, "More crap" if the link doesn't work, which it might not because it's fucking flash!

to live there.

My family is originally from Ireland (I'm a first-generation Irish American) and they actually looked into buying a vacation home in Belfast (also a house they would like to retire in). My parents left Ireland in the late seventies (just before Bobby Sands but after the brunt of the Troubles, and both my parents witnessed the carnage) and they loved how Belfast had improved since the troubles.

However, the Celtic Tiger had grabbed ahold and houses such as my grandparents house near the Belfast City Centre were going for millions of pounds (my dad was shocked as it was a modest house and his parents weren't rich at all, quite stringy with money). My parents have now decided to wait it out until the market cools down some more.

Now the Celtic Tiger has been tamed, hopefully more people can afford houses. House prices here have been insane in both the UK and Ireland.

Also you're wrong about Bono, as we know him. He's a very nice man and does a lot for charity.

Don't assume that the Republic and the North are separate, they are actually quite alike. I drove from Dublin to Belfast and the only way I knew that we had arrived in Northern Ireland was when the advertisement billboards had changed to pounds from euro. Northern Ireland and Ireland were called the Celtic Tiger in terms of the Irish economy. The Bank of Ireland (a bank that was collapsing) had a lot of business in Northern Ireland.

I know and we do know him actually. He's a very sweet guy. Went out for dinner and went to one of his concerts and went backstage! :-D He gave the tickets/passes to us and I've got mine in a safe place. We Irish stick together regardless of where we're from.

I fail to see what point you're trying to make here. The housing bubble there and the economic growth that has since ceased... these have nothing to do with U2 relocating to avoid paying taxes on royalties.

And it isn't the Irish tax rates that made it pricey.

I'm glad for you.

I just figured that if anyone here was unaware of these shameless tax-dodgers' status as tax-dodgers, that I'd inform them.

Thanks for participating.

musicians used to complain about (or flee the country...)


When a musician sets him or herself up as a do-gooder, there is always some risk that the truth will not quite fit the image.

Those high tax rates pay for social services for British and Irish citizens that we don't get here.

I'm not sure which way things are headed... but it'd be sad if governments there adopted our low-taxes / low-social-safety net style of governing, IMO.

countries.


A social safety net is badly needed.



:hi:

I just can't get worked up over where they have their business set up; it has about as much relevance in my life as Yakov Smirnoff's career. If it does for you again, I'm glad for you.

And I read the news from there.

If you don't care, well good for you. No skin off your nose right? Move along, nothing to see here.

My Father's side of the family is from Ireland; Galway, mostly. I email them semi-regularly and I don't his U2's name has ever come up, except my cousin asking me to play "Sunday Bloody Sunday" a couple of times. They really like Mike Scott, though.

Jesus didn't spend his time walking around Nazareth acting like he's God.

:spray:

:loveya:

While neglecting the problems in their own backyard.

Chartity begins at home.

This is like the anti-Angelina Jolie, or anti-Oprah threads.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ONE_Campaign



[

No it's not... did either of them move their companies offshore to avoid taxes?

FFS.

Your hatred of Bono is off the deep end.

What did he do to you, piss in your cereal?

What the Stones and Bergman did was EXACTLY the same thing; they were trying to reduce their tax burden. No differennce.

As for you thinking I'm 'off the deep end'... uh... I posted a thread.

like I said, your hatred knows no bounds.

What did they ever do to you?

you crack me up.

I'm going to abandon this thread to the drama queens. :hi:

If you are trying to find one.

All she did was start a thread. She didn't call the presses.

If she wishes to hate him, fine, but don't slander the guy based on incomplete information, which is basically what she has done. That is my objection.

as to annoyance versus hatred, if this is how she behaves when she is merely annoyed .... it certain comes across as strong anger, not annoyance.

Ireland (the republic, not the north) removed a tax break, and in response U2 moved to get out of paying any more taxes. These are no starving artists we're talking about... they can afford the damn taxes.

Please... tell me what I missed.

Can you tell me what percentage of their income would be taxed? What is their tax bracket, after all?

Can you tell me how much they are currently earning?

Can you tell me how much they pay in taxes around the world?

Without this information, which you don't have, your assertion that they can afford it is simple bullshit. You have zero to base that on. You are just making shit up. I expected better from you.

Got it? Understand? Or do you need additional clarification?

Ireland removed the tax break, they promptly relocated in another country, where they'd pay less taxes.

It's as simple as that. You can play the "but we don't know that's why they moved" game if you want to, but the fact is they pay no taxes on royalties now, a situation they benefited from greatly in Ireland for years.

The band is resident in Ireland for tax purposes... they only moved the part of their business that would benefit from the move to the Netherlands.

I'm sure you're aware of the libel laws there (cause this would be libel, not slander).

Guess who hasn't sued any papers for libel?

...for absurdity above and beyond the call of duty.

I'm sure the sheer hypocrisy of your last pot/kettle statement in a drama queen thread in which you accuse someone else of being a hypocrite was also completely lost on you.

Still the sheer entertainment value was well worth the read and you should be well commended for your efforts. Wear your award proudly as you so richly deserve it.

I'm awarding you the Idiocy badge, for failing to be able to tell the difference between hatred and annoyance.

You know where to shove it, d-bag! :*

Than a drama queen who pledged to abandon her own thread to the "drama queens", no?

Not to mention it's anyone's guess why you chose to associate me with any hatred/annoyance differential.

Sweet Jebus, you're more entertaining than watching Seinfeld reruns.

A sad tale indeed.

but hey... why should people who can afford it have to pay taxes they don't want to?

there are already way to many people to dislike/hate. Why starting looking in other Countries to expand the pool?

I have Irish friends, I read Irish papers. Excuse the fuck out of me for not limiting myself to only knowing what goes on here.

but I am having a hard time caring one way or the other, who Bono pays his taxes to.

:hi:

That's a difference from actually being Irish. No, you have to actually go there to know what goes on. I suggest you read more about the Celtic Tiger (it affected both Northern Ireland and Ireland).

Well, I'd like you to read the Irish constitution sometime, they include the North so as a result anyone born in the north has dual citizenship (British and Irish). Anyone from the North can run for politics in the south, as evidenced by Mary McAleese. Their economies, despite having different currencies are quite entwined.

Really, redqueen.

So you don't really know what's going on in Iraq then, right? Cause you haven't actually gone there? Or is that a special rule just for Ireland?

I already know about the Celtic Tiger thanks... but that tiger is dead now. Ireland's caught in the same global downturn everyone else is.


Also - does anyone born in the Republic automatically have the right to run for office in Northern Ireland?

I think there are actually some politicians who were born in the Republic who are serving in Sinn Fein or SDLP in Northern Ireland. I'm more a Fianna Fail girl as I don't like the Sinn Fein/IRA connections. That does inspire me to do more research on Irish politics!

I didn't go to Ireland very often when I was younger as there were still aftereffects of the Troubles in the eighties and the nineties (I was in Bangor when the Omagh bomb happened, the police told us to go into the mall ASAP as they didn't know if the Provos had planted a bomb in the shopping centre) but it's so much better now. I was shocked to see the tricolour flag of Ireland being sold alongside the bloody hand flag of Ulster.

There are still some prejudices against Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland but those are just the old fogeys who just won't let go. I hope to explore the Republic a bit more when I have the time! :-D

I have for years now... cause I was thinking of moving there someday.

As for the Red Hand flag... it's like the swastika... sure it was used by the unionists but it's a much older symbol and I might be mistaken but I think most Irish people recognize it more as a historical / mythological symbol than as a symbol of that crap.

But it does symbolise the Troubles because of Ulster. However, Ulster still has it as its flag. I love the story that's attached to the flag. It's Irish folklore so take it with a grain of salt, there were two men who had a boat race and whoever got there first won the land. Well, one cut off his hand and threw it onto the beach so he won.

Gory story but probably not how the flag came around! I kept mistaking the Isle of Man's logo as a swatiska when I was younger (visited grandparents in 1988 before popping over to Belfast).

I studied a bit of Irish politics when I took a course in Irish History at BU, I had a wonderful professor who was from University College Cork. It renewed my love of Irish History and I devoured books by Maire mac an tSaoi and her husband Conor Cruise O'Brien (may his soul rest in peace), Emir Estyn Evans, and many others. I wrote mainly about the Troubles (the 2nd set) and Irish women, focusing on my relatives (aunt works in one of the first integrated schools in Northern Ireland, great-aunt worked in Long Kesh as a volunteer (met Bobby Sands), my mother (Taig) and father (Prod) encountered difficulties as a mixed religion couple during the Troubles and other experiences from my family members.

I did more research and found out my godmother's family was very good friends with Eamon de Valera (he often popped over to have a cup of tea). From her experience, he sounded like a nice man but on paper he sounded awfully misogynist.

I love Ireland but I wish they didn't ban abortion, Northern Ireland follows that stupid law as well. It's very disappointing although I think times might be changing though, fingers crossed.

U2 is good and all but Bono is a douche. I agree with South Park he is the biggest turd in the world. 45 Curics. Or whatever it was until Randy crapped one bigger. Anyway my point is that trying to make everyone think youre good doesnt not make you a douche.

:applause:

“…I see you standing on the other side
I don't know how the river got so wide…”

"Tower of Song"
Leonard Cohen


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdbpamsaAY8


robdogbucky

Weeee! Isn't this fun?

:rofl:

:wtf: :rofl:

Have you no compassion for a :dunce: who skied into a tree?

Oh, wait a minute...

He may be immensely pompous, but that only makes him more entertaining.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1001931-4,00.html

At 1:30 A.M., exactly five hours after his bravura Super Bowl show, Bono is exercising the rock star's fundamental right to be ridiculous. At a celebratory post-game dinner in the French Quarter with his band mates, the U2 management team and actress Ashley Judd (an old friend), he throws back some red wine, tells a few stories about Frank Sinatra, leaves a rambling cell-phone message for Judd's husband gently informing him that his wife has been kidnapped by a rock band, and then sneaks off to the bathroom for a cigarette. (Bono thinks the rest of U2 doesn't know he smokes; they know.) After 15 minutes, guitarist the Edge, who adopts a kind, paternalistic role toward his childhood friend and band mate, glances toward the bathroom and says nervously, "Bono's allergic to red wine." Sure enough, Bono has passed out on the bathroom floor. U2's deputy manager, Sheila Roche, is unconcerned and continues sipping her drink. "He's probably just taking a nap. He's an excellent napper," she says.

A few minutes later, Bono emerges rumpled but renewed. As he exits the restaurant and makes his way through the mob on Bourbon Street, he throws his hands in the air and screams to no one in particular, "No, I will not do the snake dance for you!"

good stuff. :)

or should I say "U2 Way"??

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090303/ap_en_tv/people_u2_6

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is temporarily renaming part of West 53rd Street in New York City as "U2 Way" on Tuesday, the day the group's latest CD is being released.

The band is performing an unprecedented five consecutive times this week on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman."

It's the first time a musical guest has performed a full week on the show, which is taped at The Ed Sullivan Theater near the intersection of West 53rd Street and Broadway — near the spot being renamed.

I have no problem with him moving his business to another country to avoid high taxes, simply means he has more wealth to spread around 3rd world countries.

eta: I'm not here to get into a fight, just registering my likey for U2.

There's got to be more to it than that.

I'd hated him for a long time, but then when U2 had a song where the refrain was "what you don't have, you don't need now", or something like that, I started praying for him to fall down up escalators. There's nothing in life that I like more than a guy who owns a private jet telling me that I don't need anything that I don't already have.

when you have almost everything.

He does do good deeds, and I appreciate that about him. I don't care for their music.

All the more reason to hate the guy! Hate hate hate!

:D

I agree it is a scumbag move....

Silly me.