Lectured By Pop Stars

[Carrera]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who forms a small minority of skeptical people who, with regard to Live Aid, dare to say:
"Hold on a minute!"
There's something about all of this I find just a touch irritating. On Breakfast Time T.V. this morning, I took some comfort in seeing a British moslem woman (forget her name) voice similar skeptical tones, especially with regard to Madonna. And not only the Moslem lady but Bianca Jagger got stuck in too when she had the chance to chip in during an interview.
This is what makes people skeptical:
Here we have this organised sing song by multimillionair pop stars such as Paul Mcartney and (God help us all) Madonna who trampled on more people to get rich than I drank pints of guiness. Now she's taken to lecturing all of us about moral values (based on her jet-set fashionable religion) and happily hops on the bandwaggon as saviour of Africa.
This is profoundly irritating.
As Bianca Jagger so rightly pointed out, Bob Geldof seems to have said bugger all about an Iraq war that's crippled a Middle Eastern country and killed thousands of Iraqi children. Instead we see the noble Sir Bob sucking up to George W Bush and Tony Blair, together with a bandload of spoiled, mega rich pop stars, who have so much cash in their bank accounts their accountants can't keep track.
I apologise for my skepticism when it comes to being lectured by the likes of Madonna and Bill Gates. And it made me cringe to hear how all these folks were battling for prime time on stage and making sure they looked good when they performed. Don't forget to comb your hair, folks!
I'd like to see the whole bunch of them (Bill Gates included) parted from their flashy cars, glittering jewelry and luxury villas and spend just one week in Africa without their butlers and footmen.
Don't get me wrong. At least something is being done for the benefit of Africa and there has been some awareness of world poverty through all of this but I just see a lot of double standards and too much glitter in all of this. And I think Bianca Jagger was right to point out Geldof has been sucking up to Bush and Blair and giving them ample opportunity to just walk away from the Iraq carnage and misery with a halo beaming over their heads.

 

[Batesy]

There's something about all of this I find just a touch irritating.

Not to mention the fact that they wear a £1.50 wristband to "make poverty history" on one wrist, and a glitsy Bling Bling rolex on the other...

I'm not going to knock them [popstars] for trying to make a difference, because regardless of whether it is out of genuine concern or shameless self-promotion, some good will come of it somewhere. If one less child starves to death because some wrinkly old has-been wouldn't mind a brief career revival then it is an achievment.

The only other thing I have to say on the subject is that Paul McCartney is a weird and dangerous character.

 

[Carrera]

Yeah, I take your point that something good has come of it and that's better than nothing. But there's something here that leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.
I stated before that the person I admire the most for several reasons is Muhammad Ali and I'll tell you why: The thing is, when Ali was making all those millions out of boxing, he was giving a hell of a lot of his money to causes he believed in (Africa being one of those causes). It was often the case that, soon as Ali had fought a world title fight), 80 per cent of his takings would go into a hospital, a synagogue or mosque that would have closed. Ali also visited and spent time in Zaire, talking to real, dirt-poor people. On many occasions Ali had no money in his pocket to speak off and was broke - because he wasn't materialistic and gave so much to good causes. He also had the guts to stand up to the establishment and face losing everything due to his beliefs.
Now, compare that with today's crowd.
You have Madonna (saviour of Africa) with her 100 dollars a bottle holy Kabalah water), plush homes in the U.S. and London and what have you. Macca was so tight he sent his kids to a normal school to save cash (yet he's richer than the Queen). Bill Gates and the Blairs involvement makes me cringe.
Cherie Blair spends most of her time lecturing at 1000 dollars a seat in the U.S. and it was Cherie who phoned European diplomats during the Iraq war to drum up support for Bush's policy.
Not a word from Bob Geldof, of course, who refers to Bush flatteringly as "Mr President".
Why be taken in by this b+++++s?
It would find it quite hilarious if world leaders turned to all these spoilt brat pop stars and said something like:
"O.K., folks. We take your point. We're gonna hike up your income taxes and and tax your homes per square metre on a yearly basis and we'll use the proceeds to send directly to Africa. We'll also move our oil companies and military bases out of the Third World so you can all sell your limousines and cycle to work."
I wonder what the reaction would be to that?

Not to mention the fact that they wear a £1.50 wristband to "make poverty history" on one wrist, and a glitsy Bling Bling rolex on the other...

I'm not going to knock them [popstars] for trying to make a difference, because regardless of whether it is out of genuine concern or shameless self-promotion, some good will come of it somewhere. If one less child starves to death because some wrinkly old has-been wouldn't mind a brief career revival then it is an achievment.

The only other thing I have to say on the subject is that Paul McCartney is a weird and dangerous character.

 

[Don Shipp]

If the pop stars gave everything they owned to the poorest countries, it would all be squirrelled by the crooks who run them. The same thing happens to a lot of that aid. What Bush & all refused to do was cut back on the aid and relief and start trading fairly. It's about the one thing that would help but it would upset the farmers in America and Europe and therefore cost votes. More money is given to the rich farmers in developed countries in the form of subsidies than is given to the poor in Africa as aid.

 

[Carrera]

I would like to see the money handed out directly to the poor in Africa. If Geldof could assure that is the case, I'd be happy to humour all the glitter and double standards. I quite like Madonna, Elton John and Macca as talented musicians but the fact is these people are quite pampered and rich. The way these guys lead their lives makes the rest of us seem like the Third World, I think. It's odd to hear them lecturing us as savious of the African poor (designer trainers and all).
The worst case is David Beckham. It amazes me the masses are so content to see these footballers paid thousands of pounds an hour for kicking a ball around a field, when doctors and nurses have to make do with a miserly income.
When I think about it, this is like the incarnation of the old Soviet criticisms of the materialistic, soft, pampered West. That's why they had those revolutions back at the turn of the nineteenth century. In fact, even in the West, during the sixties I think all of this would have been criticized. Geldof would have been seen as a sell-out for standing shoulder to shoulder with Bill Gates and praising George Bush. I mean, Bill Gates, come on!
The Stones in their day really were anti-establishment as was John Lennon in his own way.

If the pop stars gave everything they owned to the poorest countries, it would all be squirrelled by the crooks who run them. The same thing happens to a lot of that aid. What Bush & all refused to do was cut back on the aid and relief and start trading fairly. It's about the one thing that would help but it would upset the farmers in America and Europe and therefore cost votes. More money is given to the rich farmers in developed countries in the form of subsidies than is given to the poor in Africa as aid.

 

[Carrera]

Here's a saying to go with the one you included in your own post:

Quare ergo, inquis, tam male vestitus es?' Propter hoc ipsum. Amor ingenii neminem unquam divitem fecit.

Deinde qui solas exstruere divitias curant, nihil volunt inter homines melius credi, quam quod ipsi tenent.

If the pop stars gave everything they owned to the poorest countries, it would all be squirrelled by the crooks who run them. The same thing happens to a lot of that aid. What Bush & all refused to do was cut back on the aid and relief and start trading fairly. It's about the one thing that would help but it would upset the farmers in America and Europe and therefore cost votes. More money is given to the rich farmers in developed countries in the form of subsidies than is given to the poor in Africa as aid.

 

[davidmc]

What Bush & all refused to do was cut back on the aid and relief and start trading fairly. It's about the one thing that would help but it would upset the farmers in America and Europe and therefore cost votes. More money is given to the rich farmers in developed countries in the form of subsidies than is given to the poor in Africa as aid.

Agree. I heard the same argument on "The Prime Minister's Question Time" the other day. They are at a disadcantage because of our subsidies & superior technology of our farming industry. If we want to give them an equal chance, we need to level the playing field.

 

[jaguar75]

Agree. I heard the same argument on "The Prime Minister's Question Time" the other day. They are at a disadcantage because of our subsidies & superior technology of our farming industry. If we want to give them an equal chance, we need to level the playing field.

The whole thing sickens me...the Concert, the aid...etc. Whenever the world starts to feel guilty about not giving enough they organize some stupid friggin drive to give the starving kids in Africa some food that some warlord is going to come kill that child and take away anyway. It is so cliche' to always go to Africa. It makes me laugh when I see these idiots decend from their ivory towers (Thanks Garth) and try to rally people to give up their hard earned money for THEIR misguided cause. And when all is said and done everyone can go home and feel good about themselves for another decade until some rich celebrity develops a conscious and needs to have their accoutant transfer $10 from their 10million dollar "rainy day" fund. I have nothing against the poor little starving children in Africa but I would rather give my money to the local drunk, atleast I know HE will be consuming the alcohol. This ofcourse is in regards to just giving food away...

I would, on the other hand, give my money to help the people of Africa by teaching them how to construct irrigation systems to help fertilize the desert and ultimately how to help themselves. As the old poverb goes..."give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"

Gee, you think I feel strongly about this?

My 2 cents...

 

[Carrera]

It may be I'm being a bit hard on Geldof. Some people like Bianca Jagger have been irritated by him but at least some awareness of poverty is in the public mind.
I confess, though, much as I like Madonna, her preachings on morals tend to get right up my nose. The Kabalah thing is a rich man's religion that seems to be the cool thing for a pop star to adopt. In it you pay, 100 dollars for a vial of (probably tap water) and large sums for the ribbons and bands.
It makes me squirm when Madonna lectures us on selfishness, ego, jealousy e.t.c. with these childrens stories she's taken to composing.
Madonna has trampled on more managers and music industry professionals than I cycled miles on my bike. She became rich by clawing her way to the top in a dog eat dog society. That was the ethic that made her rich. Now Madge is truly rich she's taken to lecturing us all about not being selfish e.t.c. e.t.c. But had she adopted that creed (not being selfish e.t.c.,)she'd not be where she it today. This is something I believe upset Boy George and George Michael, especially the Kabalah view on morality.
And Bill Gates jumping on the bandwaggon is like a punch in the proverbial gut.
But like I said. Bob Geldof has done something positive and it's a start.

 

[Don Shipp]

The next concert should be aimed at getting clean water and sanitation to Sir Bob.

 

[jaguar75]

It may be I'm being a bit hard on Geldof. Some people like Bianca Jagger have been irritated by him but at least some awareness of poverty is in the public mind.
I confess, though, much as I like Madonna, her preachings on morals tend to get right up my nose. The Kabalah thing is a rich man's religion that seems to be the cool thing for a pop star to adopt. In it you pay, 100 dollars for a vial of (probably tap water) and large sums for the ribbons and bands.
It makes me squirm when Madonna lectures us on selfishness, ego, jealousy e.t.c. with these childrens stories she's taken to composing.
Madonna has trampled on more managers and music industry professionals than I cycled miles on my bike. She became rich by clawing her way to the top in a dog eat dog society. That was the ethic that made her rich. Now Madge is truly rich she's taken to lecturing us all about not being selfish e.t.c. e.t.c. But had she adopted that creed (not being selfish e.t.c.,)she'd not be where she it today. This is something I believe upset Boy George and George Michael, especially the Kabalah view on morality.
And Bill Gates jumping on the bandwaggon is like a punch in the proverbial gut.
But like I said. Bob Geldof has done something positive and it's a start.

Actually Carrera, I will disagree with you on Gates...His foundation donates more money annually then Madonna's net worth. Gates foundation actually supports my argument in that he donates technology/money to educate/teach...Gates realizes that the cure to poverty is education...Please don't join the bandwagon that attacks all rich people who donate...attack only the ones that do it occasionally and to stupid fuc#ing causes...Gates does not shove his **** down peoples throat, in fact, this only time you ever hear about gates in the news is when he is being attacked...

 

[Carrera]

Good point. If Gates isn't tight and uses some of his money to help the poor, then that's fine by me. I don't envy someone only for being rich. It just gets up my nose if someone gets rich by fighting a dog eat dog career battle and then comes over all moralistic.

Actually Carrera, I will disagree with you on Gates...His foundation donates more money annually then Madonna's net worth. Gates foundation actually supports my argument in that he donates technology/money to educate/teach...Gates realizes that the cure to poverty is education...Please don't join the bandwagon that attacks all rich people who donate...attack only the ones that do it occasionally and to stupid fuc#ing causes...Gates does not shove his **** down peoples throat, in fact, this only time you ever hear about gates in the news is when he is being attacked...

 

[Chance3290]

Strange, I agree with a lot that was said here.
Jagar75 talks of the money being stolen locally, and he's right. I spent time in Somalia, seeing the warloads killing their own for the rice that was donated. Then the great mighty u.n. sends in their 'muscle' who stood around, waving a finger saying; "Hey, if you don't stop killing those children, we'll wave our finger harder." Then the U.S. and others went in and started controlling the food and helping it get out to the ones that needed it. But when the pressure started and our people started dying, president clinton (remember him?) said. "Gosh darn, Monica...er, I mean hillary, those people are killing our people. That's no place for an army. We'd better run away." Today, Somalia is worse than ever.
Ruwanda was worse. There is little peace in Africa.
And do not blame George Bush, Tony Blair, Albert Einstein, or Madonna. (OK, you can blame Madonna)
All the money and whiny stars in the world will not help a continent that doesn't want to help anyone but themselves.
There are many good and wise people in Africa, but not enough. Nelson Mandela could only do so much. And Winny, or Whiney, Mandela was a big crook.
For more then 20 years, we (the civilized world) have been raising money and sending people to Africa to educate them and make them aware of things like AIDS. But the rate of AIDS related deaths in Africa keeps going up. What's wrong? Are we saying something wrong? "If you stick your schmecky into a strange woo-woo, you will die!
Stop poverty? Its a simple case of supply and demand. If a country without resources or prospects has a supply of far too many people, then death will demand his fair share.
If you have enough food to support you, your wife, and three children, then why did you have 10 children?
By the way, this also happens here in the U.S.

 

[zapper]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who forms a small minority of skeptical people who, with regard to Live Aid, dare to say:
"Hold on a minute!"
There's something about all of this I find just a touch irritating. On Breakfast Time T.V. this morning, I took some comfort in seeing a British moslem woman (forget her name) voice similar skeptical tones, especially with regard to Madonna. And not only the Moslem lady but Bianca Jagger got stuck in too when she had the chance to chip in during an interview.
This is what makes people skeptical:
Here we have this organised sing song by multimillionair pop stars such as Paul Mcartney and (God help us all) Madonna who trampled on more people to get rich than I drank pints of guiness. Now she's taken to lecturing all of us about moral values (based on her jet-set fashionable religion) and happily hops on the bandwaggon as saviour of Africa.
This is profoundly irritating.
As Bianca Jagger so rightly pointed out, Bob Geldof seems to have said bugger all about an Iraq war that's crippled a Middle Eastern country and killed thousands of Iraqi children. Instead we see the noble Sir Bob sucking up to George W Bush and Tony Blair, together with a bandload of spoiled, mega rich pop stars, who have so much cash in their bank accounts their accountants can't keep track.

Yeah it is almost as bad as being lectured by a nightshift parking lot attendant huh crappy????

 

[davidmc]

Just heard, on the radio news, that 100 person's were arrested at the G-8 conference in Edinborough. What's going on over there Also heard that the gov't (Scottish?) was banning attendence by demonstrators in the other city where it is being held.

 

[jaguar75]

Just heard, on the radio news, that 100 person's were arrested at the G-8 conference in Edinborough. What's going on over there Also heard that the gov't (Scottish?) was banning attendence by demonstrators in the other city where it is being held.

Hopefully they were protesting how incredibly stupid the whole conference is and what a complete waste of time it is...

 

[davidmc]

Hopefully they were protesting how incredibly stupid the whole conference is and what a complete waste of time it is...

No, I believe they are the "anti-globalist's" faction whom also protest WTO Conferences. They are against the IMF & other western influences. Am I right

 

[zapper]

Just heard, on the radio news, that 100 person's were arrested at the G-8 conference in Edinborough. What's going on over there Also heard that the gov't (Scottish?) was banning attendence by demonstrators in the other city where it is being held.

Was lim there? I hear he is a seasoned demonstrator....

 

[Don Shipp]

No, I believe they are the "anti-globalist's" faction whom also protest WTO Conferences. They are against the IMF & other western influences. Am I right

They are "Class War"....Violent Anachists who will go anywhere to fight policemen.

 

[Chance3290]

They are "Class War"....Violent Anachists who will go anywhere to fight policemen.

I knew a few of the cops that were at the G-8 in Georgia, last year. One talked about his dealing with the 'anachists.'
He talked about how these little varmints were running around, talking about how our rules do not apply to them and they don't have to listen to the police because they belong to the 'new order,' or something like that.
Apparently, one kid got started spouting this stuff right in the face of one cop. (By the way, in Georgia getting in someone's face like that is considered Assault by Intimidation.) The cop slapped the kid. Not hard, not even a '***** slap', but enough to get the kid's attention. Then, this anti-society, anti-rules, anti-laws anachist, started whining and demanding the cop's name and badge number so he could report him to his superiors. Strange how their 'new order' works.
These varmints are violent little ***** who want to cause trouble wherever they go. But step on their toes and watch them scamble for mommy.