Monday, March 28, 2016

Bono Speaks Out on Solving the Refugee Crisis




U2 frontman Bono is using his spotlight to shine a light on the plight of refugees, calling the refugee crisis a "global problem."

"We now know that what goes on in the Middle East or North Africa this year will spill onto the streets of Paris or Brussels next year and, God forbid, onto the streets of America," Bono said today on "Good Morning America," referring to the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris.

"We cannot separate ourselves from what’s going on in the outside world anymore. It’s our world. That’s what comes with globalization," he said. "With global impact, we’ve got responsibilities."

The 55-year-old rocker spoke to "GMA" from the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, home to approximately 80,000 refugees, mostly from Syria.
"The government here has told us they think one-quarter of their population are refugees," Bono said of Jordan. "Their generosity is right at its elastic limit."

"We need to get behind them and countries like them that are looking after us and trying to represent our values and I think that’s very important for Americans to hear that they have an ally in Jordan," he said.

Bono said the refugee crisis's explosion in growth means that all countries and citizens, "need to get more on top of it."

"This was a problem that was just a few years ago, 10,000 people a day were forcefully displaced from their homes," he said. "At the moment it’s 40,000 people per day displaced from their homes."

Bono is working with the One campaign he co-founded to activate the group's seven million members to help and encourage others to act.

The musician has taken to Instagram to document his experiences meeting with refugees. Bono and his U2 bandmates have also highlighted the crisis while on tour, showing footage of refugees on concert screens.

The band's message is that if a solution is not found for the refugee crisis, Europe will be no more.

"If what happened in Syria were, God forbid, to happen again to another country, it’s happening already in Libya but, God forbid, Nigeria, Europe is no longer viable," Bono said. "That’s a big problem for America."

"As well as being a big trade partner, Europe is America’s greatest ally," he continued. "Jordan, where I’m standing, is a really critical ally of America and, as it happens, a lesson of grace in the way they’re treating the refugee crisis."

As Bono spoke at the refugee camp, children could be seen running and playing behind him.

"Remember, all these kids, all these lives, they want to be friends of America. They want to be friends of liberty," Bono said. "These places can be sort of universities in teaching people our values or else they can be places that are dangerous to our ideas and who we are so let’s take the first course, not the second."

http://abcnews.go.com/

'ON GUITAR, THE EDGE'




Edge has collaborated with legendary guitar company Fender on the design and production of 'The Edge Signature Stratocaster' and 'The Edge Deluxe Amplifier'.

"The Stratocaster is one of those instruments I've always had an affection for," he explains. "To me, it's a creative tool with a raw personality, a spirit of innovation and discovery that continues to drive my writing and guitar playing."

In a beautiful short film produced for the launch, Edge remembers, as a teenager, hearing Rory Gallagher on guitar ("If I picked up a guitar I wanted it to be able to sound like that." ), joins Dallas Schoo on a visit to the design team at the Fender workshop and muses on what he's thinking when he picks up a guitar: "It's like, OK, I know there's songs in here i just need to find them…"

THE EDGE STRATOCASTER
'The Edge Strat is engineered for top-notch performance FS-1 bridge pickup, stable quartersawn maple neck with "C"-shaped profile and 9.5" maple fingerboard, modern two-point synchronized tremolo bridge with pop-in arm and fully adjustable saddles. The Edge's signature is also included on the front of the large '70s-style headstock.
The elegant guitar combines the classic curves, appointments and effortless playability of the Stratocaster with modern enhancements and materials to create a dream instrument for players and U2 fans alike.'

THE EDGE DELUXE
'The Edge Deluxe signature model is an updated take on the classic '57 tweed Deluxe used to craft the Edge's sonic identity. This amp also produces the tone and articulation of the vintage Fender Deluxe amps that are an important part of the artist's complex multi-amp effects setup.
This 12-watt hand-wired amp features modified circuitry for tighter low-end response and high-impact tone, a 12" Celestion® Blue speaker, custom-tapered volume control and altered component values that tighten up low-end frequency response. The Edge himself also hand-designed the special grille logo badge, which distinguishes the traditional tweed amp as a distinctive tool for guitarists everywhere.'

More at Fender - www.fender.com.  



Thursday, March 17, 2016





https://www.facebook.com/cedarwoodbook/
http://www.cedarwood-book.com/

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Happy birthday, Master Bassman!!!

Happy birthday, Adam Clayton!!!


Happy birthday to me...Adam via Instagram


Tuesday, March 8, 2016

To celebrate International Women's Day , Join the ONE campaign!!!



Sexism is global. The fight against it should be too.

Sir Elton John and Jessie J are among more than 70 celebrities who have urged world leaders to tackle poverty by addressing gender inequality.

The pop stars joined U2 singer Bono, boxer Muhammad Ali and actress Charlize Theron in adding their voices to the call by the ONE Campaign ahead of International Women’s Day.


In an open letter to government, the campaigners said “poverty is sexist” and some 155 countries have laws which discriminate against women.

Read the letter here. You can also be part of it by signing it!! 


Join ONE and  29,518 others who have come together to send a powerful message: we won’t end extreme poverty without ending global gender inequality.



Read the report here: http://one_org_international.s3.amazonaws.com/international/media/international/2016/03/05003440/PovertySexist_2016.pdf


http://www.one.org/international/

Friday, March 4, 2016

U2 BACK IN STUDIO


Adam Clayton spoke with Alison Curtis on Ireland's TodayFM yesterday ahead of presenting a Choice Music Prize Award in Dublin. Adam started the interview saying, "I'm really good. I'm a little spaced out just 'cuz I've come from recording with three other people and I just arrived in a room here with, I don't know, a 1,000 people so it's bit of a shock, but there's a good vibe here."

Adam went on to state that being in the studio is their natural habitat: "We're gonna finish off this second half of the album. We always said we'd do that. Now we're working on Songs Of Experience."

He explained how U2 has stayed together all these years: "Tolerance and humility. One is you learn that tolerating yourself and everyone else is really important. The other is humility in that you're never as great as you think you are ... It worked for us; hopefully it'll work for everyone else." 

The full interview can be heard on the TodayFM site, starting around the 29-minute mark.

http://www.atu2.com/