Bono is a hypocrite.

[roody]

Religious Leaders Ask U2's Bono To Stop Video Game Targeting Venezuela
Wednesday, Apr 04, 2007
 
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=2009
By: Venezuela Solidarity Network

April 2, 2007

For more information contact:
Gunnar Gundersen
[phone]
[e-mail]

WASHINGTON D.C. - Fifty religious leaders sent a letter to U2’s Bono today asking him to “do whatever is necessary to see that ‘Mercenaries 2’ is pulled from stores and not sold anywhere.”
Mercenaries 2 is a realistic, violent video game in which the player leads a mercenary force into Venezuela with the objective of killing a “power hungry tyrant” who has taken over the oil industry. Bono’s investment company, Elevation Partners, has invested $300 million in Pandemic Studios, the game’s creator. Mercenaries 2 is scheduled to be released this year.
Well known Caracas landmarks, including the headquarters of the national oil compnay PDVSA are featured in the video game.
Credit: Aporrea.org
The letter, which was signed by Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim leaders denounced the violent and realistic nature of the game and told Bono, “We feel your connection with this game detracts from your image as a human rights defender.”
Gunnar Gundersen, a spokesperson for the Venezuela Solidarity Network (VSN), a US-based grassroots organization that is pressuring Bono to stop the game said, “Anyone who has spent time in Caracas can immediately recognize the city’s streets and landmarks in the game. The aim of the video game is full devastation, so any person who moves should be shot, and all the buildings, such as the headquarters of PDVSA, the Venezuelan public oil company, can be destroyed. Gundersen, who lives in Oregeon, is married to a Venezuelan and has family who live in Caracas.
The Venezuela Solidarity Network believes that a violent video game attacking a country that has been targeted for “regime change” by the Bush administration, is more than just a game. VSN Interim Coordinator Chuck Kaufman stated, “Pandemic Studios has designed training videos for the army and the CIA. We don’t believe they just happened to pick Venezuela at random as the site of their new video game.”
The religious sign-on letter to Bono was written and distributed by the Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns in Washington, DC. Director Marie Dennis also objected to the realistic violence in the game. “Our faith traditions motivate us to confront the international debt problem that robs human dignity and calls us to counter the culture of violence that pervades our society today,” she said. “The celebration of violence in much of our media, music and video games is poisoning our children.”
For more information visit www.vensolidarity.org. Religious leaders who wish to still sign on to the letter can do so by sending an email to [e-mail]. There is also a secular sign-on letter on the web page for people who are not religious leaders.

[ClassWarrior]

1. This is old news, and...

...like most creative people who are well off, he probably had no clue that he'd invested in that particular company.

:shrug:

Considering that this article is two weeks old, perhaps you can find a response from Bono? Google is your friend...

NGU.

[roody]

5. I used my friend Google and do not see that

Bono has responded.

[ClassWarrior]

6. Well, then he must be busy cackling and rubbing his hands together and...

...plotting what he can do next to undermine all the good he's done for the world.

:eyes:

NGU.

[quispquake]

8. And U2 is WELL known for not paying attention to things being done in their name...

Back in 1991, the band Negativland released a single called U2 with a picture of a spy plane, (a GREAT single with Casey Kasem outtakes where he swears up a storm). Island records SQUASHED SST records (who released the 12"). Yes, it was a media event gone bad...

All the singles were recalled, and the band (Negativland) & label both spent a LOT of money on lawyers. U2 said at the time, they had no idea this was being done. I probably believe them, although I know they eventually heard about it (The Edge was being interviewed one time, and it turns out the interviewer was one of the Negativland members who asked the Edge for money to pay the lawyer fees!!!).

As an aside, I worked in an indy store in the DC area back then...the Island Records rep came in, and SOLD US a bunch of the recalled 12" singles for a LOT of money...Sleazy bastard...So, Island did this, took the records, and gave them to their henchmen to sell at inflated prices...Corporate media at it's finest...

[xchrom]

2. so you've done as much good for people as bono has done?

for aids vitims in africa?

so and so forth.

hypocrite is a highly overused word -- and this may well be the most perfect example.

[Neshanic]

4. Sorry. In the PC world there is NO middle ground.

[roody]

7. Can you imagine being a billionaire and

investing your money in things that are good for the world? I can. Maybe Bono can too. It starts with the thought.

[xchrom]

10. actually i'm pretty much a pc advocate -- but there's no such thing perfection, either.

[Neshanic]

3. Sounds like Bono needs a call from Ms. Clinton and Ms. Edwards.

He is obviously unPC. He needs re-education.

Anyone who owns videogames of this nature is suspect.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Why would any musician...

get involved in censorship?

[roody]

11. I did not know that Bono is such a sacred cow.