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U2 and its frontman Bono, known for their global poverty-fighting efforts, were accused of dodging taxes in Ireland by activists who crashed their performance at England's Glastonbury festival. The anti-capitalist group Art Uncut inflated a 6-metre balloon emblazoned with the message "U Pay Your Tax 2." Security guards wrestled them to the ground before deflating the balloon and taking it away. About 30 people were involved in the angry clash. "Tax(es) nestling in the band's bank account should be helping to keep open the hospitals, schools and libraries that are closing all over Ireland," Art Uncut member Charlie Dewar said...

Obama or Bono? While Obama addressed the nation Wednesday night to lay out plans for troop reductions in Afghanistan, it appears that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi rocked it out at a U2 concert in Baltimore... Pelosi reportedly was watching the famed Irish band sing “Beautiful Day”

[snip] Before Thursday's vote, commission staff reports twice recommended the project be rejected, saying it would disturb sensitive habitat and scar a scenic hilltop visible from much of the Malibu coast. Staff members also had expressed concern that the 156-acre development, if approved, could have paved the way for other earth-altering housing projects throughout the Santa Monica Mountains. Evans' house is planned as a 12,785-square-foot contemporary abode, called "Leaves in the Wind," so named for the undulating green roof meant to emulate fluttering leaves. A website explains that the five houses were designed to meet the highest environmental standards by...

MILITARY PHOTOS2009 Military Photo Index   2008 Military Photo Index   2007 Military Photo Index   2006 Military Photo Index   2005 Military Photo Index Gary Sinise in the Dragon Lady Posted 6/12/2011 Gary Sinise looks out the cockpit window of a U-2 Dragon Lady June 8, 2011, at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., after returning from a high flight at 70,000 feet. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Sarah Brown)

R.I.P. Hervey Stockman, First Pilot To Fly A Spy Plane Over Soviet Territory retweet By Adrian Covert on February 24, 2011 at 2:12 PM Hervey Stockman passed away today, leaving behind a legacy as the first man to pilot a dedicated spy plane in Soviet airspace. Taking the Lockheed U-2 into Communist territory in the middle of the Cold War, Stockman was able to collect data on the USSR while evading MiGs trying to intercept him. Stockman also happened to be the uncle of Giz reader Willy Pell, who has graciously shared some personal anecdotes told to him by Stockman.

"The Edge" wants to build five ridge-top homes in the mountains above Malibu, but the California Coastal Commission staff says the project would violate state law by ruining a wild area and scarring hillsides visible from Pacific Coast Highway. In an analysis released late Friday, the commission's staff said the 156- acre project north of Malibu's landmark pier would violate the Coastal Act in several aspects. Among other problems cited by the state is that nearly 50,000 cubic yard of rock and soil must be mined and moved. A proposed private access road up the mountain would have a 19...

There goes U2's Bono again, imposing his will on the Major League Baseball schedule. As it attempts a reboot of its canceled 2010 tour, the world's biggest rock 'n' roll band is booting the Seattle Mariners and Florida Marlins from Sun Life Stadium for their interleague series on June 24-26. Instead of home games in Miami Gardens, the Fish will take on Ichiro(notes) at Safeco Field in Seattle using National League rules. This apparently means 84 home games for the M's and 78 for Florida. Uneven! It also could mean that AL Cy Young winner King Felix Hernandez(notes) (pictured holding...

British officials complained to U.S. diplomats about secret American spy flights using foreign U.K. airbases, fearing that the data collected during those missions could implicate their country in potential human rights violations, according to secret diplomatic memos released by WikiLeaks. The British officials demanded from American diplomats that all such flights in the future be cleared by London, according to the cables sent by U.S. Embassy in London in 2008, and which were released by WikiLeaks on Wednesday. American officials dismissed the British concerns and demands as burdensome and obstructive to counterterrorism efforts, the cables showed.

Bono in Tokyo in 2008: My prayer is that we become better in looking after our planet.And the Keen for Green group applauds: If your (sic) looking for an environmental role model, Irish rockstar, Bono (born Paul David Hewson, May 10, 1960), of the band U2 is a good place to start. Bono ... participated in a tree planting ceremony in Tokyo Bay, Japan, in 2008, where efforts are being taken to turn a landfill into an 88 hectare forest. Bono has also been active in the Greenpeace community since 1993 when his entire band participated in a protest against...

On May Day, 1960, Francis Gary Powers left the US base in Peshawar on a mission to photograph ICBM sites inside the Soviet Union. It would be the twenty-fourth U-2 spy mission over Soviet territory. Although it was a Soviet holiday, all units of the Soviet Air Defence Forces were on red alert as they suspected a U-2 flight and Powers was subsequently shot down. The United States used NASA to issue a statement saying the plane was a research vessel, but soon Moscow was full of rumors of a downed American spy plane. THe American story was made up...

1962 the Soviets swapped a U.S. airman to the Americans in return for their spies, but they kept the pilot's plane. Here's what happened to it. By Joe Pappalardo It looks like Russia and the U.S. are negotiating the biggest spy swap since the Cold War ended, as accused and convicted spies in both nations are set to be bartered, and some being moved from prisons in America to Vienna in anticipation of a deal. The episode harkens to the 1960s, when spies were traded to maintain the brittle peace between nations. The most famous of these cases involved Francis...

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- In the first three months of 2010, Airmen supporting the U-2 Dragon Lady deployed operations with the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing flew nearly 200 combat sorties in support of operations in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. When averaged out in flight time, that means a U-2 is flying in the AOR 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In those 200 missions, U-2 Airmen supported more than 70 "troops in contact" events where deployed ground forces were supported by the U-2's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, said Mr....

MOSCOW (AFP) – Fifty years after his father was shot down by the Soviets in an incident that marked a turning point in the Cold War, Francis Gary Powers Jr on Friday visited the wreckage of his dad's U-2 spy plane. "It's a wonderful display," Powers Jr said while standing in the hall of the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow which holds the wrecked plane and other material commemorating the so-called "U-2 incident" of May 1, 1960. On that day, Francis Gary Powers, a US pilot carrying out a secret mission for the CIA to photograph Soviet nuclear sites,...

MOSCOW — Fifty years ago Saturday, U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down while flying a U-2 spy plane over the Soviet Union, a dramatic episode of the Cold War that pushed the rival superpowers closer to confrontation. Now his son has come to Moscow on a mission of his own: By telling his late father's story, he hopes to help preserve Cold War history and prevent future generations of Russians and Americans from ever again facing the threat of nuclear war. On May 1, 1960, Powers was in the cockpit of the world's highest-flying plane, concentrated on keeping...

The Pentagon was on the verge of retiring the U-2 spy plane four years ago, but Congress blocked the mothballing, saying the plane still had plenty of life and utility. The plane, which was designed to detect nuclear missiles during the Cold War, is now playing a greater role in spotting roadside bombs in the war in Afghanistan, according to an article in The New York Times. The plane can fly at twice the height of commercial jets to evade anti-aircraft missiles, but its sensors can detect spots where dirt has been disturbed to plant roadside bombs. This capability, which...

Ride along on a Lockheed U-2 spyplane and check out the amazing view cruising at 70,000ft as the sky above turns black

Deployed U-2 pilot achieves rare feat of 100 combat missions by Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs 3/15/2010 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- For Maj. William Gottenberg, he's been helping the Dragon Lady breathe a lot of fire lately. The 16-and-a-half-year Air Force veteran and pilot recently achieved 100 combat missions in the U-2 in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. "It's a good feeling because it's an awesome mission and the fact that I was able to have the opportunity to come out here enough to get the chance to get 100 is great,"...

Bono's Investment Firm Still Hasn't Found What It's Looking For By Rachel Bailey 24/7 Wall Street recently had some strong words to say about U2 frontman Bono. Namely, based on a string of disastrous choices made by his investment firm, Elevation Partners, that he’s the Worst Investor in America. Among the companies Elevation has poured money into is Palm, maker of the unsuccessful Pre smartphone. “There is a 90% chance that they go bankrupt or get acquired within a year," a hedge fund managing partner told 24/7 Wall Street. Then there’s the restaurant review site Yelp, which was sued for...

The U-2 spy plane, the high-flying aircraft that was often at the heart of cold war suspense, is enjoying an encore. Four years ago, the Pentagon was ready to start retiring the plane, which took its first test flight in 1955. But Congress blocked that, saying the plane was still useful. And so it is. Because of updates in the use of its powerful sensors, it has become the most sought-after spy craft in a very different war in Afghanistan. As it shifts from hunting for nuclear missiles to detecting roadside bombs, it is outshining even the unmanned drones in...

February 24, suddenly Chinese official media CCTV for the first time published shock screens of shooting down U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft in June 1958, to warn B-2 of the United Stites. In these short-range high-definition screens, the moment of Sam missile into the sky shot down U-2 high-definition instant pictures are very stunning！