Ed Sheeran/Macklemore

[WallyHilloughby]

what are your thoughts on this whole debacle?
quite frankly I’m sick and tired of artists using concerts etc as some political forum

That post was to @Tootyfilouwasn’t it?

I was quoting Tootyfilou not you. They had tagged you. Hence the confusion. Unless of course you are upset with my response to them at what they said to you.

Yes

Little confusion there

Thank you for trying to correct

I should have made it clearer

God I'm so sorry. I did not read that properly.

No it was my fault for just responding to the notification and not reading properly.

To be fair I hate the founding of Pakistan. More than a million people have died because of it. 80 thousand women and girls were kidnapped. Then forced into marriages (raped and madeto be domestic slaves plus forces converted) or kept to rape. Some ran away from these men eventually, some were found in later years returned to families and freed but many had to stay because of they the stigma of what had happened to them. The founding of Pakistan is still causing deaths and still hurting women and their children.

I thought it a good post

Goodness, the early paramilitaries in what is now Northern Ireland, were the UVF or Ulster Volunteer Force, who were willing to fight against the introduction of the Irish Home Rule Bill (home rule whilst still part of UK). The Ulster Unionist Council formed the Ulster Volunteer Force. Edward Carson (Ulster Covenant) was a major figure. Asquith had introduced the third Home Rule Bill for Ireland and it was passed into law in September 1914, but suspended because of WWI. Events leading to Irish Independence then took over, and the division of the island. Probably it would have entailed even less powers than the current devolved gov’t’s of Wales, and Scotland. So, they (Edward Carson inc), were willing to violently fight against much less than even Irish independence. Even if the will of the majority of people on the Island. And, indeed legislation passed by the parliament in Westminster. So much for democracy.

The Ulster Unionist Council secretly smuggled thousands of German weapons in April 1914 to arm their UVF paramilitary group. The ‘Larne gun running’ operation involved the smuggling of almost 25,000 rifles and between 3 and 5 million rounds of ammunition from the German Empire, with the shipments landing in Larne, Donaghadee, and Bangor in the early hours between Friday 24 and Saturday 25 April 1914.

So, yes. That’s over and above democratic, or non-violent objections.

Currently, the Good Friday Agreement allows for a referendum on the issue.

@Neverstopwonderingyours was good I mean (for clarity!)

Hating Zionism is a horrifying phrase.

Of course one can hate a current government of a nation. Trump is pretty hate worthy IMO. Putin. The Taliban. But hating ‘the current regime’ is quite different to hating the entire concept of a country’s existence.

When the Jews were being slaughtered in WW2 it’s not like the world opened its arms. If they made it to the Uk, most of them were put in internment camps. After ww2, the British mostly tried or succeeded to send them back to Europe. Who had generally stripped their citizenship and sent them to be murdered. So if most countries in the world think a Jewish person’s citizenship is something that can be removed, and there is no country to go to when that happens… where do people want Jewish people to be? Are we meant to meekly wander into the sea as per the hateful chanting? Are we meant to start a new country somewhere else?

This happens in cycles. 1200s blood libels in England, 1492 expulsion from Spain, 1670 expulsion from Vienna, 1800s pogroms all over Russia and Eastern Europe (why my direct ancestors escaped to the states, all the siblings who stayed died there or in ww2), 1940s horror show. Every single era has stories of this and the only difference nowadays is there’s somewhere to go. Someone to take us in.

I can absolutely see a version of this happening in my children’s lifetime and no one has offered me a solution besides Zionism. Zionism in its present government? No thanks from me. I don’t particularly love the current British government either but still think the UK can continue to exist and maybe better days will come.

Yes that was obscene and is still causing a lot of hatred and pain.

That is just some background in response to statement that no one objects to a united Ireland. Even the idea of home rule was anathema to some, and gave rise to the Northern Ireland paramilitaries. Interestingly, I don’t think the unionist paramilitaries are ever really recognised or condemned in the way nationalist paramilitaries were/are.

A plague on both their houses, of course, and those they terrorise.

I agree and it was the unionist paramilitaries that gave rise to division in the first place. Things are often conveniently forgotten. I find myself rather grateful that despite being an innocent child during the troubles - for the most part the British Gov did not feel it was ok to bomb the shit out of us and open fire on us to catch a terrorist.

Some deflecting on this thread since I was last on here.
Just a reminder of Kraft - friend of Epstein, Trump and Netanyahu.

Ed Sheeran is a client of Casey Wasserman. Wassetman was a friend of Ghislane Maxwell and Epstein.

Sexual abuse including minors, prostitution, human trafficking.

What is your point?

Are you suggesting Ed is into abusing women and young girls?

Or are you saying he has a low moral compass?

Or both?

Sorry I think ive misread you, are you saying the British government didnt open fire in NI? Just the British army?

I'm saying the British Gov/army - same. And I'm saying mostly - we all remember Bloody Sunday.

A perfect example of the Streisand effect. A few hundred thousand people would have gone to the concerts, most would probably have ignored what was being said or maybe not even heard properly as usually happens at big concerts. You always find yourself clapping along when other people clap. It would have gone completely under the radar.
Now it's on every news channel and the spotlight is firmly on Gaza again.
And, everyone knows that Robert Kraft is in the Epstein files.

Same. He will have tour managers, publicity people, HR etc who are paid very well to organise these huge events. At no point did they do basic background checks on the supporting artists and think 'hang on, this guy has a history of politicising his own gigs, lets draw up a contract to make clear that he can't do that if he wants to be attached to this one?'

I don't understand why some causes and issues become cultural touchstones to the point where it's de rig for literally every single celebrity to have to comment on it, no matter how uninformed or unoriginal their view, while others go completely unremarked.

I don't have strong feelings one way or another for ES, but he was between a rock and a hard place here. He didn't have any contract with Macklemore, the promoters did, so HE didn't sack him. His only option was to say 'if you don't let him play, then I'm not playing either,' in which case he could probably be sued for tens, even hundreds of millions, and let down all the fans who, let's face it, have all come to see HIM, not Macklemore, or any of the other supporting artists, many of whom would lose out financially to the tune of hundreds of dollars (even if they got their actual tickets refunded) in non-refundable travel and accommodation costs.

Not to pull on the heart strings or anything but he will be well aware that, like with any very popular artist with mass appeal, particularly among younger people, there will be kids with tickets to his concert who are seriously ill, who have gone through hugely distressing life events or whose parents have scraped together every last penny to afford to see him - to refuse to play those shows just because a different artist decided to take advantage of ES's larger fanbase to air his political views would be wrong, imo.

Ed Sheeran has been dropped from the playlist of a radio station in Ireland - Classic Hits Radio.

Didn’t he choose Macklemore himself? What a way for that to all backfire.

Maybe not - it has brought this issue to the front of the daily news - reaching a much wider audience than an ES concert. If Macklemore truly cares about getting the message out there about the Palestinian cause, ES actions have helped more than allowing Macklemore to perform.

No I mean on ES. I agree Macklemore has likely prospered and got awareness.

But ES asked him to play didn’t he? And now ES is losing supporting acts and radio slots. Be more careful who you ask I guess. Other non political acts might learn from ES.

Bet they still play Michael Jackson.