Showing posts with label bono. Show all posts

Bono, Wealth-as-Power, Gaza (Give to the Rich to Help the Poor!)

Give to the Rich to Help the Poor!

As an introduction to this item, a short TikTok on the courage of the Al Jazeera reporter Anas Al-Sharif, recently slaughtered in his tent, trying to catch up on some sleep, among with four of his colleagues.

@leiatard
♬ original sound - leiatard🍉

This blog essay refers back to piece of polemic about Bono and his 'charidee' efforts which was written in 2009... and I decided to update it after U2 released statements on The genocide that fell far short of being honest and viable.

Bono and Label Red, a 'well meaning' scam?

Back in 2009 I had been doing a lot of reading on the American Express and Bono founded Label Red campaign.

Label red was founded in 2006. The idea was that 1% of sales of goods using the Label Red marker would go to AIDS charities working in Africa. Young people were exercised on the issue of African impoverishment. Companies were seeking young people as evolving consumers....

In 2008 American Express joined the campaign, issuing new car scheme targeting younger consumers. The business objective of their campaign was to enrol a million new young customers, hopefully as life long users of the service.

What I found as I read more and more was quite disturbing, yet not at all surprising. More about that below.

Celebrity is a weapon of Wealth-as-Power.

Seeing pop stars who are incredibly wealthy stand next to political leaders who cause great harm makes sense.

Celebrities are not really real people - they are performance theatre, actors performing for the purpose of extracting wealth, and when they join the Wealth-as-Power Class they enter the class war, because they stay silent on the causes of impoverishment, warfare, racism, misogyny that emanate from the process of Wealth-as-Power extraction of wealth from exploited populations.

Update to 2025...

Bono and the Band U2 release public statements on The Genocide, having supported Israel and America all the way these past two years and more... their statements protect Israel, lay all the blame on Netanyahu and Hamas, evade confronting USUK and EU Governments directly, they silence the voices of Palestinians by exclusion of any mention of their voices and they amplify the bands public hand wringing escapism. Bono accepted a medal from Biden, in the midst of the Genocide - he should have rejected it publicly, if he really was going to support the Palestinian people as a public voice.

Here is just one example of the kind of false, bland, unexamined narrative Bono deploys in his 'opinion piece'. clearly he has made no effort any all to understand the details of the complexity and see what is it that complicates the Western response - what complicates the Western response is that Israel is a British Empire Weapon, since 1915 and the first insertion of European Jewish refugees...

Bono is an Honoury Knight Commander of the British Empire. Bono's words ring hollow, masked propaganda most of his fans ought to see right through.

"Yahya Sinwar didn’t mind if he lost the battle or even the war if he could destroy Israel as a moral as well as an economic force. Over the next months as Israel’s revenge for the Hamas attack appeared more and more disproportionate and disinterested in the equally innocent civilian lives in Gaza… I felt as nauseous as everyone, but reminded myself Hamas had deliberately positioned themselves under civilian targets, having tunneled their way from school to mosque to hospital."

1. Bono has no idea what Yahya Sinwar 'minded'. Furthermore Sinwar was a representative of a larger body of people than himself, and was quite clearly not driven by self interests of any kind. His last moments demonstrated the courage that the 1916 Rising fighters, including who were executed by British Military order in 1916. Yahya Sinwar's writings and public utterances, which no doubt Bono has not pored over with any great interest, and his actions throughout his life, all of which are quite well documented, support that contention. A philosophy of courage, resistance and service to his people. Bono's sentence implies Sinwar was casual about all of this. As if he could't care less. Bono's self serving attitude leaks out.

2. The 'disproportionate' quality of the Israeli response was obvious within the first month of the Military assault. Israeli leaders had already publicly committed to a genocidal war, with leading politicians in the cabinet declaring their intent and espousing their view of Palestinians in Gaza (and the West Bank) as 'human animals'. A registry of comments by leading Israeli legislators that are quite blatantly genocidal exists and can be verified. This is not a compilation of anti-Israel propaganda. It is the self incriminations of the Israeli political leadership supported by 90% of the Israeli population.

3. "I felt as nauseous as everyone" awe, didums... Bono remained silent, as we who protested immediately, aware of what was being done, were turning sleepless nights, nursing broken hearts, trying to calm our outraged minds, witnessing horrors on our media streams we did not know were possible. Our hopes dashed repeatedly as the West refused to act according to international law. And what we were experiencing was a luxury compared to what the people of Gaza and West Bank and the Palestinian diaspora were living through. Bono's claim that the complexity of the situation barred him from public commentary is banal, effete and ludicrous. His claim to being emotional afflicted is gaslighting.

There was no sign of nausea as he accepted an award from Biden, who was participating in the Genocide.

4. There is no reliable evidence anywhere what Hamas military wing deliberately placed themselves behind, within or under civilian infrastructure. Bono was not reminding himself of anything other than his acceptance at face value of Israeli lies, as if they were the honest truth, so cross my heart... Yes, there were tunnels, no there is not one shred of evidence of them linking civilian or religious infrastructure to evade Israeli surveillance and its bunker busting bombs, or of using civilians as shields.

I could go on. If I am wrong here, please point it out in the comments.

Here's a link to their full statements on their own website - readers can read. Make up your own minds. I'm clear on where I stand.

Here follows the rest of the original blog posting...

Marina Hyde, writing in the Guardian 'comment is free' web pages outlines a fantastic new philantrophic concept designed by elites themselves, the super-duper rich.

"Give to the rich to help the poor? An idea worthy of Bono."

Satire? No - a genius really has concocted a tax proposal to put our aid budget in the hands of the super-rich"

"On Tuesday night, 100 billionaires will gather at London's sumptuous Dorchester hotel, to watch Mr Ted Turner in conversation with Ms Carol Vorderman. Ms Joss Stone will sing, and some model or other will be in attendance. Can you guess the aim of this evening, which I trust you would cross continents to avoid in the infinitely unlikely event that you had been invited? No? Then allow me to assist. The aim is to make the government give tax breaks to the super-rich, in order to tempt them to give the same percentage of income to charity as the poorest 20% of people in this country already do.

Feel free to be taken unwell.

Marina continues to explore this fantastic fantasy escapist world ... I think she doesn't go far enough. Like George Monbiot, she holds back the full fury of common-sense empathy and outrage.

Nonetheless, 'It' has to be said. And both are saying it with some subtlety.

Read Full Article Here

I have re-written the song 'streets with no name' as 'thieves with no shame', as a parody. I don't sing the song, as I find the melody irksome. I do sing 'I don't like geldof' and parody of 'I don't like Mondays'..... Goldloaf at least wrote some catchy tunes...

Both have done more harm than good.

http://www.corneilius.net/songpages/theives.htm Thieves With No Shame, a re-write of 'Streets With No Name' by Corneilius

The song - 'I don't like Geldof' by Corneilius

There's also background info on Geldof and Bono business dealings and investments, and an analysis of Label Red, sponsored by Bono, American Express and the large pharmaceutical companies who control aids medicine patents.

Article on Label Red - Bono and Africa, and the clever little scam. The information on AIDS assistance is horrifying.

I have sent this out before, it's not my own research, so blessings to all the various people and ways that info flows.

And it's worth repeating, it's worth all the effort to expose these fools to their own folly, and show them how they can help, if they seriously want to help, if it is to do with their experience of their common humanity, common soul, common nature and common sense!

We'll show them how by doing it ourselves, as many are already doing. Ask Jane Goddall....

Ask the lovley people, voluteers all, who facilitated The Spike community centre evicted by Southwark Council from their home in Peckham! A home the Council are selling to property developers, handing it over to the private sector for profit.... wealth is transferred, from poor to rich yet again, another drop in the constant flow.

One the one hand the rich have charidees, and on the other hand their ideology keeps shutting these grass roots initiatives down.....!

Kindest regards

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's your gift to universe

https://patreon.com/corneilius - donations gratefully received

https://www.reverbnation.com/corneilius - .mp3 songs

https://www.soundcloud.com/coreluminous - .wav Songs

https://www.corneilius.net - Archive

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Awards, Medals, Life and Death in the 21st Century

I choose to spend my time learning as much as I can about the 'civilisation' I was born into simply because I don't want ANYONE to go have to through what I went through, as an infant, as a child, as an adolescent, as an adult .... the years I have spent struggling with the trauma, the abuse patterns, the low self-esteem, the anger, the fear, the confusion, have not made me any stronger; they have been a waste of my precious time here on Earth. I am not alone in this.

That is not to say that my life is wasted, it is to say that oh so precious time will never return. The joys of being a loved child, in a loving family home did not happen, and will not happen. The scars and wounds are slowly healing. I am not alone. That comforts me as much as it horrifies me. And that's quite weird.

And so I study Civilisation, and it's psyche because Civilisation metes out much, much more trauma than it heals or delivers 'peace'. To human and non-human alike. Wars. Clearfells. Dustbowls. Poisoned rivers. Pesticides in Breast Milk. 200 Toxic Synthetic Chemicals Coursing Through The Veins Of Every Foetus. Global Warming. Global Warring. Global Vaccinations. Pandemics. Wealth amassed by a few. Poverty for the vast majority. The balance is tipped towards the dark side, big time! Running out of fuel. It is slowly collapsing. Let it go.

A Madman Speaks Truth

Today, also in New York, Muamarr Gadaffi, the Libyan 'leader'spoke to the United Nations General Assembly. A sort of International State of The Nation adress. He asked some questions many are asking. Who killed Martin Luther King? Who killed JFK? Who protects the Palestinians? Why are the Pharmaceutical Corporations, who are responsible for creating the 'Swine-Flu' virus itself, set to make so much money? Why is Medicine a business? Why is not Medicine free? Why is the Security Council dominated by states with Nuclear Weapons? Is that not a threat in itself? Good questions. Most unfortunate that it is he who asks them in public, before the UN. Quite surreal.

While I watch this I have a fantasy about the impossible. What if Gordon Brown made that speech to the UN? Jaws would surely drop. Hearts would flutter, a few might even stop. Many would cheer!

A Murderer is Honoured

Back to reality. Today Gordon Brown was presented with an award. It was "presented on behalf of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, an interfaith organisation which campaigns for religious freedom and human rights, by the veteran US former secretary of state Henry Kissinger.

Rock star Bono, Queen Rania of Jordan, and the Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak were among the audience as Kissinger praised Brown for his "vision and dedication" in handling the world economic crisis.

"His leadership has been essential to our ability to overcome the moment of danger," said Kissinger."

High praise indeed from such an ignoble and foul war criminal. Birds of a feather.

The above piece of 'reporting' (propaganda) was culled from The Guardian. The 'reporter' (propagandist) forgot to mention that Gordon Brown was instrumental, though not alone, in creating the grounds for the financial 'moment of danger'. Deregulation, selling the UK stock of Gold Bullion at knock down prices. The War on Terror. Extending the age of retirement to 'protect pensions'. Promoting Homes, and therefore Mortgages as a method of investment (which can increase or decrease in value). Thats small print for ya!

The 'reporter' (propaga... you get the point!) also missed the irony of an interfaith organisation (Appeal of Conscience Foundation) which campaigns for religious freedom and human rights presenting such an award for economic reasons, as Kissinger pointed out (as opposed to human rights reasons - Brown is a war criminal, who is presiding over the routine slaughter of Afghans and others, young men from villages, towns and cities across Britain, the dead and the maimed.). The whole thing is utterly surreal, though for those at the front-line, all too real... What can one say of Brown's conscience? Does he have one? Kissinger?

Back to reality.

A searing documentary was screened on the BBC today. Wounded. The camera/story follows 2 young boys, UK Troops who were injured, severely, in Afghanistan. There's shocking footage of one boys incident. He was hit by an IED : Improvised Explosive Device. His right leg was blown off, severe damage to his left, his eyes were also badly damaged by the blast flare (a burn) of the explosion and he sustained many other wounds. Trauma.

Far from new York. Far from Gordon's daily thoughts today, or Bono's. What of that boys human rights? And those of his Afghan 'enemies', his Afghan comrades and the now ubiquitous innocent by-standers. The kill rate in Afghanistan is 100 to 1. In Favour of 'our boys'. So what happened to his and their human expectations to live a happy healthy life? Human Rights indeed!

He was returned to Britian, fighting for his very life and in hospital was kept under sedation for a few months while the surgeons worked on him. His left leg was amputated, as the damage had been too severe. A horrendous trauma.What an ordeal to waken to! We see these boys receive their medals, for their 'tour of duty', for combat in Afghanistan. I found that very hard to watch - Prince Charles voice droning on about 'sacrifice' and 'resilience' in the background - on the same day Gordon Brown receives his award.

I urge you to watch this documentary. See through the propaganda. Some of it is grisly stuff. Look to the human beings caught up in all this horror. Needless to say the boys are portrayed as honestly as such a programme by such an organisation in such a system can. Needless to say they fight back with all they have got, and for each, it is a personal and unique struggle. And one that will in all probability be endless. They have the support of loving families. Strong families. They will need all that and more. There are those who have no such resources to draw upon. What lies ahead for them? Does any of this bother the people who design, build and make weapons? Does it bother the cleaners and janitors who tend such people?

And none of their trauma was necessary. They did not fight for 'our' freedoms. They fought for the 'freedom' of certain Statesmen and their corporate buddies to 'rule' over the Earth, for Manifest Destiny, for the Free Market, all obnoxious ideologies if ever there was.

Serious Side-Effects

Like mine, their injuries are a by-product, a side effect of 'civilisation'. And it certainly won't make those boys any stronger than they already were. They found the strength within, so young, to fight through triple limb loss from combat; theirs is a struggle and hurculean task the likes of which our dear statesman of the year, and his buddies, Bono and Henry Kissenger would never knowingly undertake. They know their limits. They could care less about breaking the limits of others.

They are willing parties to a System that does force others to 'endure', and to does so on their behalf. For their Money. For their Power. For their Hubris. They create the conditions of Poverty that leave young boys in our towns and cities with enlistment in the the military as the only decent 'job' option. Join up and train as a soldier AND get a trade, education, travel, respect etc, etc..... can look good if one has no prospects of a decent job ... and one is burdened with aspirations that have been crafted to make one feel inadequate...and especially so if one has no idea what combat is really like....... strangely enough the recruitment of soldiers has seriously gained from the financial 'moment of danger'.

They (the politicians, marketing gurus, industrialists) create the media stereotyping (advertising, movie's) and role models (impossibly rich footballers, mythical retouched cine warriors and 'realistic' computer war games) that set boys up to be tough muscled warriors, Their Military training turns them into professional killers.

Performance Politicians

For an insight into the 'performance' aspect of politicians, I suggest a look at the following : BBC screened a short clip of a Liberal Party shadow minister rehearsing her speech for the Liberal Party Conference. By performance I mean the kind Derren Brown does. The Grand Illusion. The clip shows just how well trained these 'rulers' or 'rulers to be' are. Autocues, rehearsals, re-writes, directors and producers, make-up

These actors actively participate in creating the conditions of state that justify wars. They fund and procure for these wars. With our money. And the same corporations always, always, always make a tidy profit. All of this is coercive, abusive, insane.Criminal.

And the Kissengers, Browns, Blair's and their many colleagues : they receive these get awards, awards that they actually accept; do they believe it all? You can see from some of the photos that Brown is actually enjoying himself! How pleased he must be! (though it might be because he knows he's gotten away with murder and will be well paid for it! A part-time job working with Tony, at Morgan Chase, perhaps?)

How pleased Mr. Kissinger must feel. How smug.

Pleasure

How pleased would how many millions, nay billions of people around the world feel if Kissinger were instead to be sharing the dock with Blair, Bush, Brown, Straw, Cheny at the International Criminal Court? Think about it. That's a heck of a lot of pleasure. And it would go on for a while. What a trial that would be. Saddam was on trial for two years. His crimes were great. Yet no greater than those of Kissinger. Brown is a beginner by comparison. I wouldn't be for hanging them. Or shooting them.

It would be enough to have them see the dismantling of their precious 'civilisation'.

It would be enough to have them see the collapse of Central Government and it's replacement with strong grass roots communities, aware and informed, who were looking after their own land-base, for themselves and all other inhabitants, and for their children.

It would be enough to have Brown see the collapse of the so called 'Free Market' which is neither free nor is it a market in the traditional sense of the word, where real people exchange real goods of real value and everyone wins, as it is in nature.

It would be enough to have Kissenger witness the decomissioning of all nuclear reactors, warheads etc etc....

Guantanamo Holidays for War Criminals?

And if there was a remote Island somewhere, previously used to dump some toxic waste, I'd build few houses there, all mod cons, lawns, garden space, a natural water filter system, and set the boys up there.I would hand over a few tools and plenty seed for food growing. If they showed good behaviour, and a willingness to do some useful work, I'd give them a permaculture course.They can fend for themselves.On the Island. They would not be welcome anywhere else.

And we, the people of Earth, diverse, localised and deeply embedded in the land-base could fend for ourselves.Quite well. We have done it before, for millennia. We will do it again. It is innate. It would be enough that we are left to get on with the real work of life. Being happy, loving and sustainable on the land we are born to.

Back to reality.

None of this will happen as things stand. The peace/green/change movement refuses to tackle the problems of intentionally adverse psychological conditioning, of psychopathology in Politics and Business which is the root cause, and prefer to cry and protest about symptoms. I conclude that most people in the Developed World, (middle class utopia), are psychologically damaged. Emotionally Blind. Those elsewhere are suffering from PSTD. No-one is talking about this. We are fucked. Seriously. We are.

Seriously

Abusers run the show. Abusive Psychopaths are running this thing called 'civilisation', and managing it, and labouring for it. The abused appeal to the abusers, who feel even more powerful, and surge onwards with 'progress'. Some abused say 'Stop what you are doing, I'm frightened you are going to hurt me' and that makes the abusers ANGRY? Some of the most abused fight back, in self -defence, (a natural enough tendency) and they are demonised as TERRORISTS?

I am told that People in pubs talk about Islamic Fundamentalism...or Terrorstorm or 2012... or .The Bilderbergs or 'Conspiracy Nuts'. and ignore the real and unmitigated horror of the wars their friends lives are sacrificed in. There are those who are proud of 'our boys', who then have to be proud back, must wear their medals and wounds like warriors, to protect this great lie. The 'public' don't get that the sacrifice was for power and wealth, according to the mainstream media, which is still being consumed. There's a sick dynamic going on here. I for one feel that the mainstream media's current role is to carry on the illusion that most people don't get it. To look like they have a majority audience that believes their lies. To keep the middle class Utopians in line. I feel a lot of people do get it. And they have no mass media voice or presence. The masses are shrinking.

Some of my friends in the 'movement' visibly blanch when the concept of a possible collapse of 'civilisation' is mentioned. They don't get it. Their fear clouds the vision and imagination. This is understandable. However it is not viable. Civilisation is not where clean water comes from. Nor is it a source of clean air. And as for the food..... it's toxic from producer to shop to sewage system. Let it go!

Those who do not deal with their shit, who do not metabolise their abuse, will dump both onto others. In great quantity. Forever. Poisoning all they touch. So let it go. Let the extractive, toxin producing civilisation go.

Of the 6.5 billion people who stands to benefit the most from the end of this conceptualisation of civilisation? All indigenous peoples for a start. All subsistence land users - they would be able to grow food rather than crops for cash. All the rural poor, for they would have more freedom to access land and grow food. All those at the receiving end of civilised armies on the march. The urban poor would fare better than the urban rich, who would be by far most affected. Women, in general, would fare better, for in strong communities abuse is harder to hide or disguise. Children, in general, would fare better for the same reasons.

Let us metabolise what we can from our experience, from our trauma and make it so that we return nutrients to all living processes, between ourselves, and within nature. And that means honestly facing Civilisation. Within and Without.

They won't fix it : We must end it.

We need no more boys blown to bits, to live a limbless life. We need no more wars for peace, democracy, profit, power. We do not need TVs and Cars. We need to be growing food. Recycling all that can be recycled, re-processing all that can be reprocessed or re-using materials.. We do not need international trade in other peoples land bases or 'resources', in other creatures very homes and lives. We need clean water in all our streams, rivers and lakes more than we need Alan Sugar or sugar itself.

We need time to be with our families, our friends, our communities, our beautiful habitat more than we need jobs and careers that keep us away from all that or that are embedded in the cycles of abuse.

The long journey out of abuse starts with recognising that the abuse is happening, recognising the signs of 'normalisation' of abuse, and then with giving the abuser no purchase, no further possibility of abusing, and then with grieving for what has been lost and for what has been endured, and then the healing and new growth can start. All of these run concurrent. It is a long journey, one we must all of us make. We must make this journey if we are to survive, never mind thrive, in the long run. The alternatives are too terrible to be considered as options. We must make this journey for our children's futures, for their clean water, for their peace, for their abundant land-base.

Kindest regards

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's your gift to universe

some links :

Muammar Gadaffi's speech : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/6224056/Muammar-Gaddafi-delivers-100-minute-speech-to-UN-general-assembly.html

Godon Browns Award : http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/sep/23/gordon-brown-world-statesman

'Wounded' : http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mzs74/Wounded_Part_1/

Performance Politicians Exposed : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8268072.stm

Give To The Rich To Help The Poor

This blog piece of polemic was written in 2009/10... I had been doing a lot of reading on the American Express Label Red campaign. What I found was quite disturbing, yet not at all surprising. Seeing pop stars who are incredibly wealthy stand next to political leaders who cause great harm makes sense.

Update to 2025...

here's a link to a their statements on their own website - readers can read. Make up your own minds. I'm clear on where I stand.

here follows the rest of the original blog posting...

Marina Hyde, writing in the Guardian 'comment is free' web pages outlines a fantastic new philantrophic concept designed by elites themselves, the super-duper rich.

"Give to the rich to help the poor? An idea worthy of Bono."

Satire? No - a genius really has concocted a tax proposal to put our aid budget in the hands of the super-rich"

Feel free to be taken unwell.

Initially I assumed the Fortune Forum, for so it is named, was an elaborate living satire, designed to highlight practically everything that is wrong with contemporary life. Alas, The Fortune Forum is all too real. It was dreamt up by an heiress called Renu Mehta, as a kind of vaguely benevolent mini-Davos."

Marina continues to explore this fantastic world ... She doesn't go far enough. Like George Monbiot, she holds back the full fury of common-sense.

Nonetheless, 'It' has to be said. And both are saying it with some subtlety.

Read Full Article Here

The hubris of these immensely rich people, often from long lines of generations of wealth, has become, for the majority of people, an almost pathological issue, in that it is an attitude that informs many of the practices which we know are harming rather than assisting life, geared towards gathering and hoarding 'resources' and wealth, and often with great violence, and these super rich people know this, and they continue nonetheless, sitting on charitable boards, with all that is going on around the world, driven by their pride in their immense wealth and paranoia about their 'strategic interests'.

I have re-written the song 'streets with no name' as 'thieves with no shame', as a parody. I don't sing the song, as I find the melody irksome. I do sing 'I don't like geldof' and parody of 'I don't like Mondays'..... Goldloaf at least wrote some catchy tunes...

Both have done more harm than good.

http://www.corneilius.net/songpages/theives.htm Thieves With No Shame, a re-write of 'Streets With No Name' by Corneilius

The song - 'I don't like Geldof' by Corneilius

There's also background info on Geldof and Bono business dealings and investments, and an analysis of Label Red, sponsored by Bono, American Express and the large pharmaceutical companies who control aids medicine patents.

Article on Label Red - Bono and Africa, and the clever little scam.

I have sent this out before, it's not my own research, so blessings to all the various people and ways that info flows.

And it's worth repeating, it's worth all the effort to expose these fools to their own folly, and show them how they can help, if they seriously want to help, if it is to do with their experience of their common humanity, common soul, common nature and common sense!

We'll show them how by doing it ourselves, as many are already doing. Ask Jane Goddall....

Ask the lovley people, voluteers all, who facilitated The Spike community centre evicted by Southwark Council from their home in Peckham! A home the Council are selling to property developers, handing it over to the private sector for profit.... wealth is transferred, from poor to rich yet again, another drop in the constant flow.

One the one hand the rich have charidees, and on the other hand their ideology keeps shutting these grass roots initiatives down.....!

Kindest regards

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's your gift to universe