Mr. President, Africa Needs Us

Bono contributes an article to today’s Washington Post: “I’m in the business of making music; I know about screaming crowds. President Bush is in the business of making history. I’m convinced that if he stands before Congress tomorrow night and declares that Africa’s AIDS epidemic is an emergency, people watching in America and around the world will stand up, cheer and volunteer to help.”

Dutch Labour’s Beautiful Day

Wouter Bos, Dutch Labour-leader, took to the stage to the sounds of U2′s Beautiful Day at his party’s post-election celebration in club ‘Escape’ in Amsterdam tonight. Labour became the second largest party in the country, with 42 seats, just behind the Christian Democrats who took 44 seats.
Left Wing Bounce Back in Dutch Elections (Washington Post)

Beating around the Bush

David Corn, at TomPaine.com thinks President Bush’s ‘supposedly important new Anti-Aids program’ for Africa is an insult to those plagued by the disease, and a slap in the face to Bono: Bush was proposing funding that does not even come close to meeting the actual need. Second, he was taking credit for money already approved by Congress. Finally, he was covering up the fact that his administration had pressed Congress to lower spending for this activity. (thx Kevin)

115 pints of Guinness

As female students mob Tucker at an Addis Ababa vocational school, Bono approaches O’Neill and asks plaintively: “Do you want my autograph?”
The Washington Post covers the entire Africa trip in this entertaining and informative article: Treasury Bonds With Bono. We learn that Bono orders everybody around. (Get it? GET IT?)

Political Politics

The New Yorker’s kind to Bono the politician: Some of the songs that Bono has written are “political,” in that they refer to events like the Irish troubles and the “disappeared” of Central America. But what is really political about Bono is his politics. As a celebrity trying to change the world, he has no peer.

Don’t forget to check out the New Yorker’s homepage, which features a cute illustration by Tom Bachtell.

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Just The Facts

Hope you’re not tired of reading about foreign aid yet, since there’s not much else to link right now. The New York Times gives a good rundown of the facts and figures involved in the foreign aid crisis, if you want to know the numbers Bono’s been spouting at anyone who’ll listen… courtesy of YouTwo.net.

What’s The Use?

Anthony DeCurtis at Rolling Stone has written the first non-puffy piece about Bono’s trip to Africa that we’ve seen, with some interesting points and some new info…

Pun-Ish Him

CNN has still more on Bono & O’Neill in Africa, in one of their “On The Scene” reports. We learn that Bono came straight onto the trip from “a weekend-long bachelor party” for The Edge in NYC, and are subjected to some miserable punning on the part of O’Neill –

”I still haven’t found what I’m looking for,” the secretary said when talking about finding a solution for solving Africa’s problems. ”But maybe we will on this trip. And that will be a ‘Beautiful Day.”’

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, these are the people Bono hangs out with now…

Walking On

You may’ve heard already, but speculation is mounting that Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed from house arrest by the military government of Myanmar sometime in the next few days. For the story, click here, which includes a profile of Suu Kyi. (Suu Kyi is, of course, one of the lyrical inspirations for “Walk On.” Tired of hearing that factoid yet?)

UPDATE 05.06.2002 (GMT): Suu Kyi has been released.

Big Noise

The Big Noise is a rather interesting twist on the old sign-a-petition school of activism; it’s an interactive web project by Oxfam to register public opinion on the issue of fair global trade. Bono endorses it:

“Away from calamity and physical circumstances, there’s often a structural aspect to poverty in the developing world. We’ve had some success raising awareness about the burden of old debt, and we must now also focus on the unfair trade status of these most fragile and seedling economies. Oxfam has got it right. It wouldn’t cost much to change the rules of trade so that poor countries can work their way out of poverty. But the world’s leaders won’t act unless they hear enough people telling them. And every day they fail to act, thousands of people die because they can’t afford the basics of survival.”