Nothing to see here..

So, hopefully everyone has seen this on the news.

Oh yeah, they did roll over people in tanks about 17 years ago. Too bad this can't happen for the other 1.25 billion people she represents, even though from what I here most are so brainwashed that they don't even know they can't speak freely.

Bono paper

Below I've pasted my paper on Bono, which focuses on his leadership in debt relief for Africa. I wasn't the biggest U2 or Bono fan before I looked into this, but I found a motivation behind his work and the band's that really seems to come from the right place.

A great deal of my info on Bono came from this book, Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas.

"Bono's Leadership"

Bono, the rock star-activist from the enormously popular rock group U2, was born as Paul Hewson in Dublin, Ireland on May 10, 1960. His father, Bob Hewson, was Catholic and his mother, Iris Rankin Hewson, was Protestant—a mixed marriage that had tremendous impact on the boy growing up in the religious terror of Ireland. He attended the Mount Temple High School, “Ireland’s first nondenominational coeducational school,” designed to bring students from the two dominant religions together for learning (Falsani, p.38). When he was 15 Bono’s mother died tragically and unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm while attending her own father’s funeral. In the years following Bono was drawn to music and religion and pulled the two together in the band that became U2.

Bono steered the band toward activism, which over the years brought attention to groups such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International. Bono’s religious roots are at the very core of his social consciousness and lately he is most well-known for his global campaigning for debt relief and fair trade practices in Africa. In recent years he has been at the center of various campaigns, organizations, and efforts which together make Bono one of the most prominent leaders of our time.

Family and Friends
In a series of interviews with Michka Assayas, Bono describes his father as cynical and jaded--“the world just couldn’t impress him”(Assayas, 2005, p.8). Bono’s reaction as a youth was to be as far opposite this attitude as he could become. “My father’s advice to me, without ever speaking it, was, ‘Don’t dream. To dream is to be disappointed,’ which would be a pity wouldn’t it, never to dream….To never have a big idea was his thing. That’s all I’m interested in”(Assayas, p.16). After his mother’s death, Bono, his brother Norman, and his father lived in a cramped Dublin house with strained father-son relationships. “The death of my mother really affected my confidence. I would go back to my house after school, but it wasn’t a home. She was gone”(Assayas, p.12).

Bono sought companionship and warmth in his school friends who formed a club called Lypton Village--“a surrealist street gang”(Assayas, p. 47). “We used to put on arts installations…performance-art things”(Assayas, p. 114). The group made a practice, as so many collectives of young people do, of nick-naming each member. After several short-lived monikers, the name Bono was given by a friend from an advertisement seen in a hearing aid store in Dublin. “Bono Vox,” meaning “good voice” in a rough Latin translation was eventually shortened to Bono (Byrne). Within the Lypton Village group Bono explored his own artistic and creative energies. He and guitarist Dave Evans (known as “The Edge”) answered a posting on a bulletin board by drummer Larry Mullen Junior about forming a band. Adam Clayton later joined the band playing bass (Byrne). The band signed a deal with Island Records relatively quickly and went on tour in England.

Bob Hewson never believed in his son’s dreams to succeed in a rock band, but he gave Bono one year after formal schooling which included room and board to make the attempt, before he would be forced to get a “real” job or leave the house. The most interesting thing about Bono’s relationship with his father is Bono’s extreme devotion in every aspect of his life as juxtaposed with his father’s cynicism and loss of faith. Bono’s father had a keen interest in Bono’s idealism. “’There’s only one thing I envy of you” Bono quotes his father as saying about his son’s belief in God, “lots of people are Catholic [religious]. It was a one-way conversation. You seem to hear something back from the silence.” (Assayas, p.25) This two-way conversation with God can be seen throughout Bono’s life, and is clearly the ethical foundation for all that he does.

Religion
Bono, The Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. were all involved in a nondenominational group known as Shalom during their high school years. They each shared a dislike of organized religion. “One of the things I picked up from my mother and father was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.” (Assayas, p.31) As the Shalom movement began leaning toward an organized structure, the guys left the group to pursue their faith within their musical gifts. “This is how we worship God” (Assayas, p.147). Without pushing doctrine or even being evangelical, U2 has in every album and almost every song an obscure, hard to put your finger on sometimes but still there, underlying faith in God. This has led many Christian groups to questions their motives and motivations, and could very well have alienated them from the entertainment industry. “There was something original about our point of view, even if it wasn’t very well expressed” (Assayas, p.62).

This point of view has been prevalent throughout Bono’s career with U2. "I think they have been clear — for nearly 25 years now — about the role Christian faith plays in their music. They're not hiding anything,” says Rev. Steve Stockman, author of Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2 (Mattingly, 2002). At Superbowl XXXVI’s halftime show in February 2002, Bono quoted Psalm 51 repeatedly, as the names of those lost on Sept. 11 scrolled up giant screens in the center of the stadium. “Oh Lord open my lips that my mouth shall show forth thy praise.” This, while being broadcast to 131 million viewers around the world, takes a certain amount of courage.

But Bono’s religious views can be seen in his music throughout his entire career. On the early albums, such as October and Boy, he reveals a message of salvation that turns to political consciousness during the mid-80s release of War. Sunday Bloody Sunday is an example of Bono’s condemnation of “intra-religious violence in Ireland” (Hinlicky). On The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, nearly every song has direct scriptural references, as well as underlying allusions to a Christian faith. Critics would say that during the 90s on Zooropa and Pop albums, the band strayed from their religious roots. Bono denies this. “I thought it was a tough relationship with God that was described….My father used to say to me, ‘Have you lost your way?’” (Assayas, 25), but even though those albums have more questions than they do answers, the allusions to God are there, and reflect what the band was going through in reinventing themselves and dealing with media critics.

All that You Can’t Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, are described by Bono as being very much like their first albums, the band having come full-circle. The former was adopted by many as an anthem of hope after September 11, 2001. “Practically every track reflects confident hope and trust in the God of the Bible” (Powell, 2003). Their most recent release deals with how to find God in a world where terror is rampant. “Atomic Bomb is the sound of a band that's playfully examining where it's been…it's also a thoughtful examination of larger, more forward-looking themes” (Hunt, 2004). It’s the ever-presence of these themes, without overstatement, that have given the music a timeless quality. Bono recalls that their first album was called Boy and this one could very well be entitled Man. “Bono has come full circle with his writing. He has grown up. There is a spiritual maturity infused here that surpasses any of U2's other work” (Stratton 2005). Bono revels carving out his faith within rock’n’roll telling Michka Assayas, “I’m a scribbling, cigar-smoking, wine-drinking, Bible-reading band man” (2005, p.43). These dichotomies that Bono seems so comfortable with appear in his songs, but also in other aspects of his life.

Not only in subtle or subverted lyrics, but Bono’s personal interviews have strikingly frequent comments about spirituality that one wouldn’t expect from a rocker. “The idea that there's a force of love and logic behind the universe is overwhelming to start with, if you believe it….I'm a believer,” (Falsani, 2003). With that said, Bono is often self-deprecating about his faith. “I don't believe in preaching at people….I'm not telling everybody that I have the answers. I'm trying to get across the difficulty that I have being what I am” (Mattingly, 2002). His intent has always been to create an atmosphere of questioning, even if that involves raising questions of doubt. “Irony and tongue-in-cheek humor is common throughout the work of the band and is a very effective way of bringing people to think about the good and evil in the world” (Bowden and Stewart). After getting people to think about such weighty issues, Bono also sets himself up as an example of what people should do as a result of that thinking—they should try to change the world.

Politics
Bono’s political activism has become more prominent than his endorsement of the Christian faith. "You can't escape the politics if you're Irish. It's like the two subjects you can't talk about anywhere else in the world: religion and politics. It's all Irish people talk about," (60 Minutes II, Feb 20, 2002). “I am very much a traveling salesman….In my political work, I sell ideas” (Assayas, p.17). In their earlier work, U2’s music reflected their dislike of the religious division in Ireland. “We had this highfalutin' idea to contrast or make the connection between the blood of the crucifixion on Easter Sunday and the blood of the victims in Derry on Bloody Sunday. The idea of Jesus dying to save us from death is a painful irony to both Catholic and Protestant in the light of the Troubles” (Kearney, 1989). In 1985 the band brought their Unforgettable Fire exhibition to Dublin, a presentation of global atrocities, from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the American civil rights movement, to prove to their kinsmen that Ireland could overcome “the demons of violence and hatred…peacefully” (Stokes and Stokes, 1985). This message of peaceful revolution resonates on the Unforgettable Fire album, particularly in songs such as MLK and Pride (In the Name of Love), in which Bono uses Martin Luther King Jr. and the American civil rights movement as examples of how Ireland can overcome it’s crises.

Bono’s recent attention to debt-relief for Africa demonstrates the greatest examples of his skills in leadership, motivation, persuasion, and salesmanship to date. But this isn’t a Johnny-come-lately affection for Africa’s problems. In the 80s, when starving children in Ethiopia were on television news reports every night, Bono decided to get involved. After a performance at LiveAid in 1984, that many claimed stole the show, Bono and his wife, Alison Stewart, traveled to Wello, Ethiopia to see the famine-stricken country for themselves. “You'd walk out of your tent, and you'd count bodies of dead and abandoned children” (Tyrangiel, 2002).

Bono’s experience in Africa stayed with him throughout the years and his advocacy for debt relief became his central message in 1999 when he joined with the Jubilee 2000 campaign. “Jubilee 2000's aim was to get the U.S. and other wealthy nations, as well as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to erase the public debt of 52 of the world's poorest countries, most of them in Africa” (Tyrangiel, 2002). The campaign’s goal was to free up the money those countries spend on debt to be used on health and education. After 2000 the group adopted the name “Drop the Debt.” “The issue of poverty in the poorest countries in the world is completely bound up in health and education” (Bono, CNN, January 2, 2002). In the summer of 2002 Bono made a trip to Africa with the US Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’neill. “"I refused to meet him at first," says Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill who later changed his mind about the rock star. “He's a serious person. He cares deeply about these issues, and you know what? He knows a lot about them” (Tyrangiel, 2002).

In 2002 Bono founded a group called DATA—Debt, Aids, Trade, Africa. Funded by Bono, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and other notables, the groups mission is “to raise awareness about, and spark response to the crises swamping Africa: unpayable Debts, uncontrolled spread of AIDS, and unfair Trade rules which keep Africans poor” (Why DATA?). Its purpose is to bring attention to the disparity of the world’s poorest nations who are not able to spend money on their own health and education matters while repaying old debts to the wealthiest nations, debts they incurred during the cold war. At the core of the organization’s mission are Bono’s ethical beliefs-- “these issues are not about charity, but about equality and justice” (Assayas, 2005). Bono believes that helping Africa is not only a “moral imperative,” but a practical and pragmatic solution to fighting the extremism in Africa and the Middle East. “Africa is forty percent Muslim. For the price of the war in Iraq, the world could have been changed utterly” (Assayas, p.265).

When pressed about the issue of the war in Iraq, Bono expresses his lack of trust in the administration’s vision of establishing an example of democracy in Iraq for the Middle East. “I only have to look at my own country to see what the presence of a foreign military can do for swelling the ranks of terrorism” (Assayas, p. 235). But he leaves these concerns aside when meeting with President Bush and other world leaders so as not to confuse the message about Africa. “You become a single-issue protagonist….I’ll let somebody else be war watchdog” (Assayas, p.94). Bono believes in maximizing the impact of his leadership by staying focused on his core beliefs.

Many of Bono’s ethical principles were displayed in catch phrases on giant screens at each of the Live 8 concerts on Jul 2, 2005. “We don’t want your money,” the screens read, “we want you.” “It’s about Justice, not Charity.” Although the 1985 Live Aid concert and fundraising that followed raised $100 million, this time concerts were free and the focus was on educating voters and asking them to call on their leaders to support debt relief initiatives. Taking place just a few days before the G8 economic summit on July 6th, Live 8 is the culmination of several years spent seriously studying the issues facing Africa. “This is not Live Aid 2,” says Bob Geldof on the Live8 website. Geldof, Bono, and others realized that any real, meaningful change would not be in the form of handouts. “Aid should support poor countries' and communities' own plans and paths out of poverty” (Trade Justice).

One of the key concepts of DATA is trade justice. Bono refers to “economic slavery” that goes on today when the poorest countries are not allowed to trade globally with wealthier nations. “It’s a shock to discover that for all our talk of the free market, the poorest people on Earth are not allowed to put their products on our shelves in an evenhanded way” (Assayas, p.263). Bono believes that it is the duty of nations with power to lead the way to create a level playing field for developing nations. “For a start, we hope that the leaders of every developed nation will resolve to take four crucial steps in 2005” (Gates, 2005). These four steps are doubling aid, debt cancellation, removing unfair trade rules—tariffs that promote wealthier nation’s buying domestic-only products, and providing funding for research into developing an HIV vaccine. Bono believes that these steps are very much a social responsibility for the developed world, to care for their neighbors in a global village.

Africa isn’t the only cause Bono has spoken out about. In 1993 during their Zooropa tour, U2 projected a live satellite feed on screen from the besieged city of Sarajevo. The audience hears that “two bombs have killed a child and injured five others within the hour” and they see “local residents in front of the camera who give a personal account of the war between the Muslims, Serbians, and Croatians” (AtU2.com). In 1998 Bono took played a minor role in the signing of the Northern Ireland Peace Accord. “They played a brief concert in Belfast in May, 1998, three days before the public voted in favor of the agreement. Later that year, U2 would perform on Irish TV during a tribute show and fundraiser for victims of the Omagh, Northern Ireland, bombing which killed 28 and injured hundreds more earlier in the year” (McGee, Dotmusic, @U2 bio).

Throughout the years, social consciousness and political activism have been at the forefront of Bono’s career. But underlying it all is his faith in God, which Bono readily acknowledges time and again. “For U2 the days of being ‘insufferable little Jesuses’ (Bono’s term for the Joshua Tree period of U2) are over, but the days of being simple men in search of God are just beginning, and it’s refreshing to hear” (Stratton 2005).

Bibliography

Assayas, M. (2005). Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas. London: Riverhead Books.

Bono. (2002, Feb 20). Bono. 60 Minutes II, Retrieved Jul 27, 2005 from CBS News website, http://www.cbsnews.com.

Bowden, T. and J. Stewart. (1994). U2's mysterious ways. Sides Magazine. Retrieved Jul. 8. 2005, from @U2 website, http://www.atu2.com.

Byrne, K. (n.d.). Biography: Bono. Retrieved Jul. 09, 2005, from @U2 Web site: http://www.atU2.com.

Bono (2002). U2 Star Bono: Drop the Debt. Retrieved July 10, 2005 from CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com.

Falsani, C. (2003). Bono's american prayer. Christianity Today, 47(3), 38.

Gates, B. and Bono (2005). Time to make history for the poorest countries. Retrieved Jul. 5, 2005, from U2.com Hearts and Minds Web site: http://www.U2.com.

Hinlicky, S. (n.d.). I believe in god... do u2?. Retrieved Jul. 5, 2005, from Boundless Webzine Web site: http://www.boundless.org.

Hunt, B. (2004). Review: how to dismantle and atomic bomb. Retrieved Jul. 27, 2005, from MusicTap Web site: http://www.musictap.net.

Kearney, R. (Ed.). (1989). Across the frontiers: ireland in the 1990s. Fairfax, CA: Learning Links.

Mattingly, T. (2002). Mock the devil: U2, christian?. Retrieved Jul. 1, 2005, from National Review Online Web site: http://www.nationalreview.com.

McGee, M. (n.d.). U2 biography. Retrieved Jul. 1, 2005, from @U2 Web site: http://www.atU2.com.

Powell, M. (2003). Pop music with brains. Christianity Today, 47(3), 42.

Stratton, C. (2005). U2 dismantles bomb with love. Retrieved Jul. 15, 2005, from http://www.explorefaith.org.

Stokes, N. (1985). The unforgettable fire. Retrieved Jul. 15, 2005, from Hotpress Web site: http://www.hotpress.com.

Trade justice: Robbed, ripped off, ruined. (n.d.) Retreived Jul. 18, 2005. from http://www.makepoverty history.org.

Tyrangiel, J. (2002, February 23). Bono's mission. Time, Retrieved Jul 1, 2005, from http://www.time.com.

Why data? (n.d.). Retrieved Jul. 8, 2005, from http://www.data.org.

What’s it all about? (n.d.). Retrieved Jul. 8, 2005, from htt

Tell me who to vote for: Part Two

The latest survey I've taken from, oddly, Minnesota Public Radio, yields these results:

I've almost completely ruled out Kerry, so can I, would I, possibly, vote for Nader?

The issues important to me in this survey were:
Iraq Tax breaks Abortion Gun control Energy

Do I want to vote for a radical? All in all, I do feel Nader has done more as a public watchdog for everyday domestic life than either of the two big-party candidates. Mulling it over..

I wonder how many other folks would be surprised by actually thinking about the issues and dropping the party line. Chris Rock said in Never Scared something to the effect of, If you vote for what some party tells you to, without knowing the issues, you crazy. Crazy and ignorant.

Of course he also said, "You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named 'Bush', 'Dick', and 'Colon'. "

Tell Me Who To Vote For...

So far, most online quizes are telling me to vote for Kerry, but ugh.. I don't know if I can bring myself to do it.

My overall theory on voting is balance. I want checks and balances, and if they have to come in the form of a Republican in the White House and Democrats in majority in congress, or vice-versa, then so be it. I think that's why the 90s were so prosperous, not because either party had a monopoly on governing. Therefore, I should vote for Kerry, since the Rs have taken over congress.

But, and this is a big "but," the Supreme Court is ultimately composed of justices of the Exec. branch's choosing. The Supreme Court is fairly balanced now, though slightly leaning left. There are potentially 2 justices stepping down, and with balance in mind, I'd rather see it swing 6 to 3 conservative to liberal vs. 7 to 2 liberal to conservative. This may not seem like a big deal, and certainly doesn't get much press, but the big decisions are ultimately decided here, and as much as I dislike their lifelong appointments and bizarre system of being chosen by the president, scandalized by the opposing party, and ultimately railroaded into office--the justices control this country's moral, ethical, and legal standing. This to me to vote for Bush--idiot that he is.

The other issues that are important to me are:

No more tax cuts for rich people - I could even pay a little more if necessary..

More environmental regs for fuel ifficiency and clean air emissions - Come on, who needs or even wants to burn that much fuel?

Limiting medical malpractice suits against docs - our whole healthcare system/drug company needs big overhauls, but this is a start.

Caps on social security payments to the wealthy. Why do they need a check anyway?

Background Checks on Gun Show Purchases. Have you seen these things? ESPECIALLY with the assault rifle ban lifted... (Dems were sleeping on this one. Did they really think laying low was going to get them more NRA votes?)

A big change in my thinking lately is on abortion. For a long time I was somewhat apathetic about abortion, in that I do believe it's wrong, but several things kept me from feeling like we should do anything to overturn Roe v. Wade. However, thanks in small part to a guilt trip laid on me by the conservative co-host of Teens Talk, I've come up with an analogy that changes my opinion. If the KKK, or any hate-group were driving around in their pickups randomly shooting black people (or gays, or the minority of your choice) I would have a pretty big problem with that. I would do everything in my power to make it stop. Why not the same thing for unborn babies?

Many born people feel like the unborn are not people, but just living tissues. I disagree, but I can (unfortunately for my political inner-wranglings) see the argument. People are who they are due to nature and nurture. We are formed by our experiences, the majority of which happen post-birth. However, it all comes down to whether you believe the unborn are in fact people, and if so, do they have rights. I support the passage of the double-homicide for killing a pregnant mother (burn Scott Peterson--j/k!) which accepts the unborn as actually being a person. Doesn't the whole thing remind you of blacks only having three-fifths of a vote?

Another related probelm is a woman's right to choose. Where's my rights as a father? Half that DNA is mine. That child is mine. Guilt-trip I laid on my wife: Someone gets an abortion because the child is unwanted and it will screw up their life. Well, my son is 14 months old and my life is radically different. I happen to love every change parenting has brought, but what if I didn't? Would my father's right to choose allow me to get rid of him? Certainly not. I hear that men and women see abortion differently, but I don't understand how. I'm sure it's because I'm a man.

That whole argument brings up our constitutional right to LIFE, liberty, and to pursue happiness. This brings to my mind the issue of gay marriage, which I believe is ALREADY PROTECTED by the US Constitution. I disagree with gay marriage, I believe homosexuality is against God's will, but I do believe that it is completely protected by our existing laws.

Do I want my son to grow up in a world where gay dudes are kissing on the street? Hmm, guess what, he already is. Wouldn't protecting their right to do so encourage this lifestyle--yes. But do I want to limit other people's rights because I don't like them or their lifestyle? No. People don't want their kids exposed to homosexuals because they don't like them. Guess what, Hitler had the same feelings about Jews.

I want my son to do everything HE can do to show people God's truth. That may include but is certainly not limited to voting his conscience.

Finally, the war in Iraq. I wish we hadn't gone there. If Gore had narrowly tipped the scale (though I'm glad he didn't) we would never have gone. Not that I don't see some positive in it. People are free. But hey, guess what? They don't want to be. They want extreme muslim shar'riah law, which is very much akin to the Taliban where you could be arrested for not having a beard, women couldn't go to school and had to walk around in a sheet, and music--yes ANY music, was illegal to own or play. Which country had the most rights for women and other civil liberties (except occasional being dragged to torutre chamber by the Baathists)? Yep, Iraq. (I guess that's why the administration thought thaey would feel liberated and accept democracy.) Turns out they hated it. They want to go backwards. Well, now they can.

Not that I blame Bush. The military and CIA cook up wars. Take the Cuban Missile Crisis--we could have invaded. We came very close. But we didn't. Those missiles were a few hundred miles off the coast of Florida... I feel sure if Bush had been president we would have invaded Cuba (and possibly completely devalued the treasured cuban cigar industry). But Kennedy masterfully/luckily/diplomatically solved the problem. We could have done the same with Hussein. But every part of our administration fell for the cooked up lies of WMDs and mobile chemical factories. Were these reports completely untrue, exagerrated, or what? Nobody knows, because all this administration can do is stick to their guns and say, "It was the right thing to do." I supported it then. I'm just not sure anymore.

No I don't condone Saddam's torture, rape, and murder of his people. I hate it. I hope he pays dearly for it whenever they prosecute. But it's no more than I hate genocide in Rwanda, starvation in Haiti, or any other dictator depriving people of freedom. But were there missiles pointed at us? No. Would there have been? Maybe. There are now possibly in Iran and N. Korea...

BTW. I'm not concerned about WMDs in the hands of terrorists. I'm concerned about anything in the hands of terrorists. Terrorism is my number one concern in this election. WMDs are just another piece of a much bigger pie. The DC sniper caused more alarm over the last four years than any "Duck and Cover" educational film from the Cold War.

Well, spelling all this out helps me think through the issues. But, I don't know who to vote for. I could make a list, then pick the candidate who I agree with on more issues. Yippee! I could also go to McDonald's and order 3 out of 5 items I enjoy and 2 that would make me vomit. What I wish is that we could vote for the issues, and not the morons who these two ridiculous parties put before us.