My timeline is full of effusive tweets about #BHL‘s appearance in #TCD last night. I’ve always personally thought of him as the Bono of French philosophy: over-rated, egocentric, deeply Orientalist and all too comfortable within the power structures he claims to critique. pic.twitter.com/iLhEBM7OjM
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is addressing both houses of the Oireachtas and Bono.
Said Ms Pelosi:
“This month we mark the anniversary of one of the greatest achievements of that spirit of hope and a faith that a better future is possible.
The signing of the Good Friday accords in 1998, ending centuries of conflict. On that holy day, the world saw the dawn of peace in Northern Ireland, which few had ever dared to dream.
With the diplomatic leadership of President Bill Clinton who sends you his regards, when he found we were coming….”
FIGHT!
Pics: Maxwell
UPDATE:
From left: Ali Hewson, Bono, Nancy Pelosi and Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl in Leinster House.
Ms Pelosi said of Bono:
“In modern times, another purveyor of the word from Ireland, Bono and U2 – one of Ireland’s most beloved exports, whose music and mission [applause] – [looks up at Bono in the gallery] oh, there you are, I’m not finished – whose music and mission of advocacy stirs the spirit of the world, while embracing the pride of the Irish…
“We’ve learned so much at U2 concerts about what’s going on in Ireland. And we were delighted to see Bono in the gallows of the GPO last night – a picture of David Trimble and John Hume at a U2 concert in Belfast in 1998.
“Bono is here with his wife Ali Hewson, who is there. Thank you both for being here [applause].
“I take pride in saying that I’m one of the members of Congress who’s been to more of Bono’s, U2’s concerts than anyone.
“Now, he’s in the audience. Thank you Ali, and thank you Bono, for being here, and give my regards to the rest of U2, The Edge and others.
“Something I learned from my children, from Michael Keneally and then my grandchildren, we all know, I usually do not intrude on music of my children. That does not apply to U2.”
Bono announcing a new organisation with his private equity firm TPG that will help investors “effectively understand the impact of their decisions” and that money given to benefit society actually benefits society.
Vulture: “Is Hollywood as bad with race as the rest of the country? I know that when you started scoring films, you’d hear producers say things like they didn’t want a “bluesy” score, which was clearly code-speak. Are you still encountering that kind of racism?”
Quincy Jones: “It’s still fucked up. 1964, when I was in Vegas, there were places I wasn’t supposed to go because I was black, but Frank [Sinatra] fixed that for me. It takes individual efforts like that to change things.
It takes white people to say to other white people, ‘Do you really want to live as a racist? Is that really what you believe?’
But every place is different. When I go to Dublin, Bono makes me stay at his castle because Ireland is so racist. Bono’s my brother, man. He named his son after me.”
Ausra shopping centre, Lithuania (top) part owned by Bono (above) in an elaborate tax avoidance scheme
Bono has expressed horror that a Lithuanian shopping centre business he invested in may have fallen foul of the country’s tax rules.
In a statement, the U2 frontman said he would be “extremely distressed if even as a passive minority investor … anything less than exemplary was done with my name anywhere near it”.
He reacted after Lithuania’s tax authorities said they were preparing to examine the details of the business over concerns that it avoided profit tax.
Documents from Malta’s business registry reveal Bono’s hidden stake in Utena’s Ausra (Dawn) shopping centre in Lithuania (top). property developer Paddy McKillen
The 3,700-square-metre mall, which opened in 2006, was built by Eika, one of Lithuania’s leading developers. In April 2007, the developer announced it had sold the mall to an unnamed “foreign investor”.
The buyer was UAB Nude Estates 2, a Lithuanian company. Records show the company was ultimately part-owned by Bono, via a series of confusingly named offshore companies.
Between 2007 and 2012, UAB Nude Estates 2 was owned by a similarly named Maltese offshore company, Nude Estates Malta Ltd. Leaked registry documents show Bono is listed as one of three owners of Nude Estates Malta, along with a man named Robin Andrew Barnes and Patrick Gerard McKillen.
Mr McKillen is an Irish businessman who also co-owns a luxury Dublin hotel [The Clarence] with Bono and U2 guitarist David Howell Evans, also known as The Edge.
In 2012, ownership of the Lithuanian company was transferred to another offshore company, this time in the British Crown Dependency of Guernsey, called Nude Estates I Ltd.
It is unclear how large Bono’s investment in the Utena mall is, or how much it has earned him. In its 2007 financial records, the Lithuanian company, Nude Estates 2, stated its fixed assets were valued at 19.6 million Lithuanian litas, then worth about $10 million.
from left, Bill Shipsey of Amnesty Internatonal and U2’s Bono look on in Dublin Airport; Aung San Suu Kyi with then Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore (right), as Irish/Burmese Sophia Kelly presents flowers
Further to reports that more than 420,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled violent attacks by Buddhists in Myanmar.
it is now time to rescind Aung San Suu Kyi of ALL the honours she picked up on her Bono-led tour of Ireland We cannot and should not honour apologists for genocide.
UKIP launched their manifesto for the UK General Election yesterday. A friend of mine has the misfortune of having to read it for his nub and has been sending me the “best” parts. It’s as mad as you’d hope. As well as saying burquas should be banned because they deprive the wearer of vitamin D they are also looking to Bono for policy advice…
