October 17, 2006--Et Tu, U2?
For years I’ve stifled my aversion to Bono’s sunglass fetish, thinking that, though I hate all those pretentious shades, if they contribute to his image and fame and he in turn uses that fame to promote good causes such as AIDS research and treatment, so be it. If he can live with them, then so can I. Anyone who can get George Bush’s Treasury Secretary, whichever one it was, to spend two weeks in Africa experiencing poverty first hand can’t be all that bad.
Well, maybe.
Did you catch the report in today’s International Herald Tribune (owned by the NY Times) about U2 moving its music publishing business from Ireland to the Netherlands? (If not, it is linked below.) Sounds benign enough since both countries are a part of the borderless European Union.
But when we learn they did this to avoid Irish taxes, which for royalty income is twice that of Holland’s, their decision deserves a closer look. Especially since Bono and other members of the band have been excoriating the Prime Minister of Ireland for spending only 0.5 percent of the country’s budget on foreign aid.
Where does Bono think the money to do that would come from? From taxes don’t you think? And with U2, which earns about $110 million a year, avoiding Irish taxes that of course means less is available for the beleaguered Irish government to contribute to African aid.
Bono refused to comment about their tax moves and so there was only U2’s guitarist The Edge available to speak for them. He said, “Of course we’re trying to be tax-efficient. Who doesn’t want to be tax-efficient?” Maybe those folks who would like to see more of their taxes directed to the alleviation of poverty.
Hypocrisy is not one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Perhaps it’s too modern a concept to have been included when the list was originally composed. In those days Lust and Greed and Envy better suited the times. I, though, vote to modernize it by adding Hypocrisy. If you are a purist and want to keep the sins to seven (I’m sure Ingmar Bergman, for example, doesn’t want to change the title of his remarkable film to The Eight Deadly Sins) I suggest dropping Gluttony—leave it to McDonald’s and others to deal with that one. But we need to elevate Hypocrisy. It’s too important not to be considered Deadly.
Who after all deserves Eternal Damnation more—Al Roker or Bono?
Well, maybe.
Did you catch the report in today’s International Herald Tribune (owned by the NY Times) about U2 moving its music publishing business from Ireland to the Netherlands? (If not, it is linked below.) Sounds benign enough since both countries are a part of the borderless European Union.
But when we learn they did this to avoid Irish taxes, which for royalty income is twice that of Holland’s, their decision deserves a closer look. Especially since Bono and other members of the band have been excoriating the Prime Minister of Ireland for spending only 0.5 percent of the country’s budget on foreign aid.
Where does Bono think the money to do that would come from? From taxes don’t you think? And with U2, which earns about $110 million a year, avoiding Irish taxes that of course means less is available for the beleaguered Irish government to contribute to African aid.
Bono refused to comment about their tax moves and so there was only U2’s guitarist The Edge available to speak for them. He said, “Of course we’re trying to be tax-efficient. Who doesn’t want to be tax-efficient?” Maybe those folks who would like to see more of their taxes directed to the alleviation of poverty.
Hypocrisy is not one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Perhaps it’s too modern a concept to have been included when the list was originally composed. In those days Lust and Greed and Envy better suited the times. I, though, vote to modernize it by adding Hypocrisy. If you are a purist and want to keep the sins to seven (I’m sure Ingmar Bergman, for example, doesn’t want to change the title of his remarkable film to The Eight Deadly Sins) I suggest dropping Gluttony—leave it to McDonald’s and others to deal with that one. But we need to elevate Hypocrisy. It’s too important not to be considered Deadly.
Who after all deserves Eternal Damnation more—Al Roker or Bono?
posted by Steven Zwerling at
10:24 AM
2 Comments:
so what did al roker do?
That's why Learned Hand (where did he ever get that name?) never made it to the Supreme Court! And Al Roker used to exemplify the Deadly Sin I want to expunge to make room for Bono.
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