Sting Stung

Musician Sting may have stepped in the middle of big ol’ steaming pile of something:

O Sting, where is thy sting?

It is not where his principles lie, according to human rights activists who are demanding that the superstar stinger donate to charity the more than $2 million dollars “in blood money” he received for playing a secret concert for the daughter of one the world’s most brutal dictators, Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan.

Sting’s response:

“I have come to believe that cultural boycotts are not only pointless gestures, they are counter-productive, where proscribed states are further robbed of the open commerce of ideas and art and as a result become even more closed, paranoid and insular.”

You know, he’s kind of got a point here. Name one boycott that’s brought a dictator to his knees. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Yeah.

Boycott’s don’t work. Dictators only understand brute force and while I’m not saying Uzbekistan should be miltarily invaded, we can accomplish quite a bit with a cultural invasion. Let the people get a taste of freedom and they’ll take it from there.

Sting Offers ‘Slightly Different’ Seasonal Album

First, let’s note the PC police (heh) are in force at the headline writing department at MSNBC; Sting is putting out a “seasonal” album, not a Christmas album. Though the album is brimful with Christmas songs. (Thankfully, they’re not so bashful in the interview where they courageously use the word “Christmas.” Good for them.)

But it wouldn’t be Sting without some painful sincerity, would
it?

“I wanted to present something slightly different,” explains a bearded Sting, talking about the album while sitting in his Upper West Side apartment.

“There’s a fault with a lot of Christmas songs; they are a little bit triumphal: ‘Isn’t life wonderful, God’s in his heaven and I’m rich,’” laughs Sting. “They sort of forget a lot of people aren’t.”

Yes, yes, thanks for reminding us, Sting. Until you came along, I didn’t realize there were other people out there who weren’t as fortunate as I am. And it’s good that you, a wildly successful artist, sitting there in your Upper West Side apartment, one of many homes you have scattered around the world, are there to remind me.