dagblog - Comments for "Why Jay-Z and Beyonce? Oh, For The Money"

Inflation adjusted? 110.

Michael Maiello — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:24:10 +0000

In reply to So how many Dalmatians do you

Inflation adjusted? 110.

So how many Dalmatians do you

Donal — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:10:27 +0000

In reply to Why Jay-Z and Beyonce? Oh, For The Money

So how many Dalmatians do you guys have?

True. Almost didn't write

Michael Maiello — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:35:29 +0000

In reply to Well, if Bush, Cheney, Rummy,

True. Almost didn't write this for that reason. But, no... they're still ticking me off.

I agree with you, of course,

Michael Maiello — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:34:32 +0000

In reply to Destor, as a guy who puts up

I agree with you, of course, that the issue of multinational corporations and of our government officials appeasing these guys is far more serious. But there's a social aspect to these celebrities that I think is important, too, and I'd like to think that they know that and would do the right thing and outright shun the world's worst offenders.

But, yeah, I almost didn't write this column for fear that I was missing the real point. Halliburton is causing far more damage around the world than Beyonce and Jay-Z. But, you know, I like Beyonce and Jay-Z. I gave an emotional connection to their work that I don't have to Halliburton's.

Destor, as a guy who puts up

NCD — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:46:28 +0000

In reply to Why Jay-Z and Beyonce? Oh, For The Money

Destor, as a guy who puts up photo's of what appear to be TV wrestling stars in full costume with every post I assume you are, like most Americans, someone who may go overboard a bit following the latest news or gossip relating to celebrities and entertainers. There are many who have profited over Quadaffi and his oil money, they are mostly corporations, and the corporations making money off Quadaffi are not as reported by news as much as are the entertainers. I noted the links on a Canadian corporation doing business in Libya, below, from a NYT comment at this link.

BTW, Beyonce has said she donated the LIbya money to Haiti relief, the same cannot be said for the big Canadian construction firm, SNC-Lavekin, which was making a new prison for Quadaffi to lock people up in, and which had some difficulty in extracting their personnel from the site during this revolt. The company touts its Libya work in a twitter feed from 2/24:

SNC-Lavelin- We believe that building a prison that complies with international human rights standards is a major step forward for this country.

In 1996 there was a massacre of over 1200 inmates in Abu Salim prison in Libya. There was never an international investigation perhaps due to oil interests, see Wiki link,

Its one thing performing for a tyrant and apparently donating the money to charity, another making profits by building prisons for dictators, while bragging about human rights standards and 'major steps forward'.

Well, if Bush, Cheney, Rummy,

CVille Dem — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:11:45 +0000

In reply to As for the Beyonces and Jay

Well, if Bush, Cheney, Rummy, and Wolfowitz don't suffer that fate, I think we can leave Bionce and JayZ alone for now. At least they can carry a tune.

Only problem with that,

CVille Dem — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:09:04 +0000

In reply to Sounds fair, quinn. I started

Only problem with that, Quinn, is that they'd starve to death before they planted the first tree. Unless some "socialist" gave them food to eat. Other than that snag, I like your plan very much.

I was making a similar point

kgb999 — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 06:12:46 +0000

In reply to Why Jay-Z and Beyonce? Oh, For The Money

I was making a similar point to a friend last night. We have also allowed money to sort of become a proxy for "ability" or whatever. Whereas we used to actually go through and seek the best and brightest for most civil service jobs - now the logic has become either "The financial system is really complex" -> "This guy has a lot of money, he must be able to navigate the financial system" -> "This guy must be able to handle real complex things" -> "Government is complex" -> "This guy must be the best selection to run important bits of our government" or "Hey, this guy just gave me $250K - his kid should get an important-sounding job."

Thing is. It really doesn't take much skill to inherit $10 billion. So, Iraq gets fucked up traffic signals - because we're letting people who very well could be morons (and in some cases this is demonstrated as the case) to do *everything* important.

Yeah. They needed that

quinn esq — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 05:52:01 +0000

In reply to Or at least tell them:you

Yeah. They needed that Quadaffi money to feed the kids.

Sounds fair, quinn. I started

acanuck — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:55:28 +0000

In reply to Hey, acanuck. What boggles my

Sounds fair, quinn. I started reading Matt Taibi's Griftopia a week or so ago. It filled me with such negative thoughts I had to set it aside. My first job out of school was in a bank PR department. Banks weren't even all that evil yet, but after a couple of years I just had to buy a motorcycle and go for a long, long drive. Peace.