Countdown to Live8 Begins

[Darthtiki 0]

This whole event pisses me off.

 

I don't want my tax money going to Africa.  If people want to give money, fine but don't use my money just so the warlord fucks can take it.

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Not to mention all of these concerts are free admission when you could charge like 20 a head plus what ever you make on swag and give that money to end poverty. Secondly all these artists are getting a thanks for coming out bag valued at 12K.

[cbacon 0]

Live 8 artists to play for free, but take home pricey gifts

 

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Live 8 performers are playing for free, but local organizers plan to shower the celebrities with a Hugo Boss duffel bag loaded with high-fashion trinkets valued at about $3,000 US.

 

They'll also be able to add to their goodie bags with big-ticket items including Hugo Boss suits, valued at $800 to $1,000 each; XM satellite radios and subscriptions, $500; Gibson guitars, $2,000; Bertolucci watches, valued between $1,500 and $6,000; and other items. In all, a celebrity could walk away with a bag of gifts worth as much as $12,000.

 

"We want this to be a thank-you to the celebrities who are giving up their time and energies," said Nicole Cashman, whose firm was tapped by Larry Magid's Electric Factory Concerts to put the bags together.

 

One ethicist said there is a disconnect in the fact that the rich gifts are being offered at a concert whose aim is bringing attention to poverty in Africa.

 

"It's not unethical, but it falls into the middle grey zone," Loyola Marymount University business and ethics professor Thomas White told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Because on one hand the motivation is to help other people, while on the other hand the motivation is to help yourself, and that doesn't seem to go hand in hand."

 

Another ethics expert said he wonders why the companies who donated the gifts wouldn't just give the money to charity.

 

"There is nothing stopping the businesses from taking a stand, saying, 'No, we are going to take this money, and we are going to give it to the charity,' " said Rushworth Kidder, president of the Institute for Global Ethics in Camden, Maine.

[cbacon 0]

This whole event pisses me off.

 

I don't want my tax money going to Africa.  If people want to give money, fine but don't use my money just so the warlord fucks can take it.

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At the Barrie show, Bruce Cockburn made note of the hypocrisy of our leaders who help to prop up such corrupt regimes. Herein lies one of the root causes of developing world poverty.

[JustJoe2k5 0]

I didn't have a problem with this show because I thought it was a good cause and everything, but when I found out that they weren't raising money and instead were "raising awareness" of poverty in Africa, I can't believe how stupid the whole concert was. You get all of this great talent together, draw some of the biggest crowds any event is going to draw all year, and you can't ask for a few dollars in donations from each person. The fact that the people who performed on the show got gift baskets full of luxury items makes it that much worse. Not to mention that if just the people booked for the concerts gave .01% of their yearly income to charity, we probably wouldn't be talking about poverty in the first place.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I listened to the replay on XM all day at work today. It was pretty cool, although I hated having to spend so much time flipping between channels.