Bono visits Washington

Bono / U2TOURFANS

Bono will appeal to Democrats and Republicans during a visit to Washington this week to spare U.S. development assistance programs from cuts as Congress tries to avert the looming "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending reductions early next year.

he U2 lead singer's visit comes as the Obama administration and congressional leaders try to forge a deal in coming weeks to avoid the economy hitting the "fiscal cliff" - tax increases and spending cuts worth $600 billion starting in January if Congress does not act.

Analysts say the absence of a deal could shock the United States, the world's biggest economy, back into recession.

Kathy McKiernan, spokeswoman for the ONE Campaign, said Bono will hold talks with congressional lawmakers and senior Obama administration officials during the November 12-14 visit.

During meetings he will stress the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance programs and the need to preserve them to avoid putting at risk progress made in fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, she said.

Bono, a long-time advocate for the poor, will argue that U.S. government-funded schemes that support life-saving treatments for HIV/AIDS sufferers, nutrition programs for malnourished children, and emergency food aid make up just 1 percent of the U.S. government budget but are helping to save tens of millions of lives in impoverished nations.

The One Campaign would not elaborate which lawmakers and senior Obama administration officials Bono will meet.

Amnesty International and U2 Fans

Eric Shivvers Chicago :

When U2 played here in Chicago two nights ago, I was asked to take some pictures of the show and I did. Yeah, I have a great shot of Larry playing his djembe and a couple of the Edge, both of which will make great mementos but as I stood against the rail behind the stage taking in the show, I turned around and observed a group of One campaigners and Amnesty International volunteers lining up to go onstage.  I thought to myself, if Bono Edge, Adam and Larry are the generals of philanthropy and we are the army of followers, then these are the lieutenants. Night in and night out on this tour, local volunteers give up their time to sign up us fans for these causes. Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry know that we are a community of good-hearted people, willing to join a cause they promote. 

As stage crew handed out the props that these good Samaratins were going to walk with onstage, I knew this would be the one photograph that no one else would take. The smiling happy volunteers were excited to go onstage, even if it was just to stand for five minutes or so, representing their great organizations. It didn’t matter that they weren’t going to play along with Edge or sing with Bono. What they were doing was more important. They were speaking to us in silence for those who don’t have a voice. The people they represent are the AIDS patient waiting to die in a hospital in Central Africa or a political prisoner such as Aung San Suu Kyi. Both of whom need these organizations to set justice straight.

I thought it was a little camp the first time I witnessed this on the 360 tour, but after seeing their smiling faces in these pictures, I have greater respect for this spectacle during the show. U2 keeps teaching me something new about the world every time they go out on the road. With these volunteers and our passion for the band, we have made a difference. Aung San Suu Kyi was finally freed from house arrest and 4 million lives were saved from AIDS with anti-retroviral drugs. These two accomplishments came from rock stars that didn’t have to take up these causes, but they did and they made a believer out of me when I joined their army 25+ years ago.   

In closing, these pictures will never grace the entertainment section of the Chicago Tribune, but the opportunity to represent their cause for five minutes onstage will last a lifetime. They will tell their friends and family about standing shoulder to shoulder with U2 on a hot July night in 2011. There may be no photographs of witness to their triumph but that’s okay. They are volunteers who will slip back into their day-today world unrecognized as the rockers they shared the stage with, but recognized, through their passion, as the keepers of the flame, telling us that we can change the world one U2 fan at a time.

Bono says financial woes hurting AIDS fight

U2 TOUR FANS 360 Show SYDNEY (Reuters) - Financial tough times in developed economies are undercutting efforts to stop the global spread of AIDS, U2 lead singer Bono said on Tuesday.

“Times are hard in the Western world,” the Irish rock star and campaigner told Reuters after launching World Aids Day, marked around the world on December 1, at Sydney’s Opera House.

Bono said agencies established to arrest acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) “were fighting hard for funding” nearly three decades after the disease was first diagnosed.

He added that more money was needed to meet a target set by the Global Fund to eliminate the transmission of HIV from pregnant mothers to their unborn children by 2015.

According to the United Nations children’s fund UNICEF, over a thousand babies are born each day in Africa with HIV and about half of the HIV-positive women in Africa do not get the drugs they need to prevent transmission of the virus to their babies.

“In recessionary times, people have to tell their politicians this is important to them,” Bono said.

An estimated 33.3 million people worldwide had the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS in 2009, according to the latest figures issued by UNAIDS. There were 26.2 million in 1999.

There is no cure and no commercially available vaccine but combinations of drugs called antiretrovirals can keep patients healthy. However, the virus stays in the body forever and can reactivate if people stop taking the drugs.

“Some people think that the pandemic is on its way out and it’s job done,” Bono said. “It is really not so.”

(Reporting by James Regan, editing by Mike Collett-White and Paul Casciato)



Bono News, Rumors and Tickets

Oprah Update: New Series Include Oprah’s Next Chapter, Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind, Your OWN Show: Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star, Gayle King Live! and Why Not? with Shania Twain

Jay-Z, Bono, Simon Cowell, Lorne Michaels, Toni Morrison and Condoleezza Rice Confirmed to Appear in Oprah Presents: Master Class 

Oprah Winfrey, chairman of OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, today announces new original programming for the channel’s January 1, 2011, launch to members of the advertising and media communities at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. Five new series are joining the 10 previously announced, for a total of 15 original series coming to OWN.

Rumors: In recent days we have seen movement of the band at the studios in Dublin but no sighting of the band, only a few technical crew The technician said that U2  in 2011, the band will new concerts in Ireland and the United Kingdom, seen in 2010 will perform only festival Glastorbury as a headliner on June 25, this date is given as the only site U2.COM for 2010 in UK and Irish territory. This statement tends to confirm the rumors of recent months that they want a postponement of the new album ‘Song of Ascent’ </ strong. This news is a rumor and should be treated as such, any announcement by the official organs of the band will be reported as soon as possible *  U2Place.com

More Cash: Bono looks set to make a mint from the sale of troubled smart phone maker Palm.

Bono’s private equity company Elevation Partners is a major investor in the company currently seeking buyers. In December 2008, Elevation bought $100 million (£64.8 million) of Palm shares at $3.24 (£2.10) a pop to take its stake up to 41 per cent. These investments jumped up 32 percent in value last week to $5.16 (£3.34) a share.

Palm originally made PDA devices and recently launched the Pre and Pixi smartphones, as rivals to the iPhone. While the handsets received critical acclaim, sales have failed to match expectations. Palm has posted losses for the last 11 financial quarters, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Elevation bought a 25 percent stake in the firm in 2007 and helped install Jonathan Rubinstein, former head of Apple’s iPhone division, as chairman. The Irish rock star joined the US-based company shortly after its creation in 2004, when it was named after the U2 song.

While Bono is more associated with causes such as AIDS and debt relief, Elevation specialises in new media and entertainment with $1.9 billion (£1.23 billion) of assets under its control, the Telegraph reported. Last month, online publication 24/7 Wall Street called him the “worst investor in America” due to Elevation’s “unprecedented strong of disastrous investments.”

Tickets:  We want to be sure that everyone has had a chance to be updated on the promotion. We have launched on Monday. The details can be found here or on our facebook fan page. Two tickets to the show of your choice.