Quote from jem:
it has happened to me... its not that i consciously decide... but it just happens.
For instance I still like many U2 songs... but now I associate the music with Bono's two faced activism... moving to a tax haven.
I doubt I will ever see a matt damon movie in the theater again.
They just remind me of two faced idiots.
Bono is one the best men in the world, acting as a Christian should, and you choose to nitpick on some minor tax point so to you he is "two-faced idiot"
Someone is an idiot, and it's not Bono. You are such an ignorant, warped asshole.
Bono has become one of the world's best-known philanthropic performers and was named the most politically effective celebrity of all time by the National Journal.[80][81][82] He has been dubbed, "the face of fusion philanthropy",[83] both for his success enlisting powerful allies from a diverse spectrum of leaders in government, religious institutions, philanthropic organisations, popular media, and the business world, as well as for spearheading new organizational networks that bind global humanitarian relief with geopolitical activism and corporate commercial enterprise.[84]
In 1984, Bono sang on the Band Aid single "Do They Know it's Christmas?/Feed the World" (a role that was reprised on the 2004 Band Aid 20 single of the same name).[86] Geldof and Bono later collaborated to organise the 2005 Live 8 project, where U2 also performed.[16] Bono and U2 performed on Amnesty's Conspiracy Of Hope tour of the United States in 1986 alongside Sting.[15] U2 also performed in the Band Aid and Live Aid projects, organised by Bob Geldof.[87]
Since 1999, Bono has become increasingly involved in campaigning for third-world debt relief and raising awareness of the plight of Africa, including the AIDS pandemic. In the past decade Bono has met with several influential politicians, including former United States President George W. Bush and former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.[88] During a March 2002 visit to the White House, after President Bush unveiled a $5 billion aid package, he accompanied the President for a speech on the White House lawn where he stated, "This is an important first step, and a serious and impressive new level of commitment. "...This must happen urgently, because this is a crisis.".[88] In May of that year, Bono took US Treasury Secretary Paul H. O'Neill on a four-country tour of Africa. In contrast, in 2005, Bono spoke on CBC Radio, alleging then Prime Minister Martin was being slow about increasing Canada's foreign aid.[89] He was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, 2005, and 2006 for his philanthropy.[17][90][91]
In 2004, he was awarded the Pablo Neruda International Presidential Medal of Honour from the Government of Chile.[92] Time Magazine named Bono one of the "100 Most Influential People" in its May 2004 special issue[93] and again in the 2006 Time 100 special issue.[94] In 2005, Time, named Bono, with Bill and Melinda Gates, a Person of the Year.[21] Also in 2005, he received the Portuguese Order of Liberty for his humanitarian work.[95] That year Bono was also among the first three recipients of the TED Prize, which grants each winner "A wish to change the world".[96] Bono made three wishes,[97] the first two related to the ONE campaign and the third that every hospital, health clinic and school in Ethiopia should be connected to the Internet. TED rejected the third wish as being a sub-optimal way for TED to help Africa[97] and instead organised a TED conference in Arusha, Tanzania. Bono attended the conference, which was held in June 2007.
In 2005 he recorded a version of Don't Give Up with Alicia Keys, with proceeds going to Keep a Child Alive.[98] On 3 April 2005, Bono paid a personal tribute to John Paul II and called him "a street fighter and a wily campaigner on behalf of the world's poor. We would never have gotten the debts of 23 countries completely cancelled without him.".[99] Bono spoke in advance of President Bush at the 54th Annual National Prayer Breakfast, held at the Hilton Washington Hotel on 2 February 2006. In a speech containing biblical references, Bono encouraged the care of the socially and economically depressed. His comments included a call for an extra one percent tithe of the United States' national budget. He brought his Christian views into harmony with other faiths by noting that Christian, Jewish, and Muslim writings all call for the care of the widow, orphan, and stranger. President Bush received praise from the singer-activist for the United States' increase in aid for the African continent. Bono continued by saying much work is left to be done to be a part of God's ongoing purposes.[14]
Bono at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, 2008.
Also in 2005, Bono, Ali Hewson and designer Rogan Gregory co-founded the Edun fashion label ("nude" spelled backwards, to suggest both "natural" and the Garden of Eden).[100] It was intended to help bring about positive change in Africa through a fair trade-based relationship rather than by direct aid.[101][102]
On 15 December 2005, Paul Theroux published an op-ed in the New York Times called The Rock Star's Burden (cf. Kipling's The White Man's Burden) that criticised stars such as Bono, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie, labelling them as "mythomaniacs, people who wish to convince the world of their worth.". Theroux, who lived in Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer, added that "the impression that Africa is fatally troubled and can be saved only by outside helpânot to mention celebrities and charity concertsâis a destructive and misleading conceit.".[103] Elsewhere, Bono has been criticised, along with other celebrities, for "[ignoring] the legitimate voices of Africa and [turning] a global movement for justice into a grand orgy of narcissistic philanthropy".[104]
In 2007, Bono was named in the UK's New Years Honours List as an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.[20][105] He was formally granted knighthood on 29 March 2007 in a ceremony at the residence of British Ambassador David Reddaway in Dublin, Ireland.[106]
Bono after accepting the Philadelphia Liberty Medal on 27 September 2007.
Bono also received the NAACP Image Award's Chairman's Award in 2007.[107] On 24 May 2007, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia announced that Bono would receive the Philadelphia Liberty Medal on 27 September 2007 for his work to end world poverty and hunger.[108] On 28 September 2007, in accepting the Liberty Medal, Bono said, "When you are trapped by poverty, you are not free. When trade laws prevent you from selling the food you grew, you are not free ... When you are a monk in Burma this very week, barred from entering a temple because of your gospel of peace ... well, then none of us are truly free". Bono donated the $100,000 prize to the organisation. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala accepted the award for the Washington-based Debt AIDS Trade Africa.[109]
The organisation DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) was established in 2002 by Bono and Bobby Shriver, along with activists from the Jubilee 2000 Drop the Debt Campaign.[110] DATA aims to eradicate poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa.[110] DATA encourages Americans to contact senators and other legislators and elected officials to voice their opinions.[110]
Bono was a special guest editor of the July 2007 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. The issue was named "The Africa Issue: Politics & Power" and featured an assortment of 20 different covers, with photographs by Annie Leibovitz of a number of prominent celebrities, political leaders, and philanthropists. Each one showcased in the issue for their contributions to the humanitarian relief in Africa.[111]
In an article in Bloomberg Markets in March 2007, journalists Richard Tomlinson and Fergal O'Brien noted that Bono used his band's 2006 Vertigo world tour to promote his ONE Campaign while at the same time "U2 was racking up $389 million in gross ticket receipts, making Vertigo the second-most lucrative tour of all time, according to Billboard magazine ... Revenue from the Vertigo tour is funnelled through companies that are mostly registered in Ireland and structured to minimise taxes.".[112]
