Are you on the LIST?

[TripleRLtd]

If not, then do it now. It's for a good cause:

http://www.live8live.com/


I've been watching with baited breathe all day just to see Pink Floyd again.
Talk about WOW!!!

[confus-ed]

I done sent my message, like so :-

To :The 8 most powerful leaders in the world

50,000 people are dying, needlessly, every day of extreme poverty.

At this year's G8 summit meeting, it is within your power to put an end to this tragedy. It is an extraordinary opportunity which it would be shameful to ignore. We urge you to take these 3 steps to make extreme poverty history...

double the aid sent to the world's poorest countries,
fully cancel their debts,
change the trade laws so that they can build their own future.

Already ! .. but ta for reminding everybody else

COSTS NO MONEY (big letters required for 'tightwads' ), just an email & a real name, they want signatures ..

[Ferrit]

Done

[TripleRLtd]

COSTS NO MONEY (big letters required for 'tightwads' ), just an email & a real name, they want signatures ..

Thanks for mentioning that -ed.
And it's not too late even though the concerts are over with. The G8 Summit starts on July 6th, so the more names the better.

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Leaders of a small group of major industrialised democracies have met every year since 1975 to discuss big issues facing the planet, but this week's Group of Eight summit in Scotland promises to be a bit different.

The massive Live 8 concerts around the world, staged to raise pressure on the G8 to attack African poverty, mean many people will be watching a summit they might never otherwise have noticed.

Aye: "We'll be watching you...every step you take..."



btw:
was the ending of the London show great or what!!!?? I wished I could have been a Londoner for a day yesterday:
The Who, followed by Pink Floyd, followed by Paul McCartny!!!
And, for the first time in my life I can give kudos to AOL...EEEK.
Yeah, they were the ones broadcasting every venue uninterupted and live and FREE. MTV could have learned alot from AOL. Too many talking heads and too many commercials...
More on this:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...n_tv/live_8_tv

[Duke of Rezin]

I watched about an hour and a half of the London concert and I was wondering how long into that broadcast does one have to watch to see Pink Floyd? I also wonder how many signatures have been collected. This all was a nice effort and all, but I don't think the G8 leaders really give a rat's a@# for what anybody thinks about social issues. All they want is $ and your vote.

[TripleRLtd]

I watched about an hour and a half of the London concert and I was wondering how long into that broadcast does one have to watch to see Pink Floyd? I also wonder how many signatures have been collected. This all was a nice effort and all, but I don't think the G8 leaders really give a rat's a@# for what anybody thinks about social issues. All they want is $ and your vote.

Well, it turned out that you had to watch about eight hours: almost to the end!! But, it was worth it.
At last count, and correct me if I'm wrong, it was over 23 MILLION!
Whether or not the G8 leaders give a rat's arse? Well, one does, and his name is Tony Blair. Give credit where credit is due. Does that make a difference? We'll see....

[confus-ed]

..Whether or not the G8 leaders give a rat's arse? Well, one does, and his name is Tony Blair..

nope Trip he cares about votes & his 'legacy' - waaaaaaaaaaaaaay bad example there dude, Blair changes his policies to suit the trend of the day, the only thing imho he's ever said that's 100% true, is that he's a popularist leader - read that as I'll say 'whatever' to get a few more votes

Stand by to see a few cosmetic changes in an effort to appease the masses, as those G8 guys will have had a few 'policy meetings' about this subject for sure, (I saw a figure estimating 4.5 billion folks {2/3rds of the planet ?}, had at least seen/heard a clip from this ? - 'lots' anyway !) - I think them unlikely to ignore this, they can make political capital by appearing to do things ..

But the western ecconomy keeps fat off the back of 'iffy trade practices' based on the exploitation of the rest of the world, & the power behind all that 'ecconomy' isn't gonna let go too easily .. too much money at stake quite simply.

Edit :hang on .. that's the wrong 'message' - too cynical - sign the petition anyway whether you think it'll 'really' do any good or not, I think 'more noise' on this means more chance of more concessions, both bush & blair would love to be able to write 'sorted africa's problems' in their diaries, so they can sell some memoirs

[Duke of Rezin]

I do like Blair's oratory though. Sometimes the UK Parliament is on C-Span here and the guy can at least speak with authority and intelligence. BTY, I also like the way one person will get up and say his/her thing and then someone else will get up right after and respond. I don't know if this is regular business of the day or if we are just seeing select sessions but I also like the way everybody is actually present. Here, you will see a congressman or senator giving his/her rhetoric and then the camera will pull back and he'll be the the only person in the entire room.

[TripleRLtd]

Almost let your cynicism get the best of you there, huh -ed?
btw:
updated link:

http://www.live8live.com/list/

[confus-ed]

Almost let your cynicism get the best of you there, huh -ed?

I Got confus-ed ! what can I say ?

Still a bit of time left for this .. the G8 meeting doesn't break up until the 8th..so make your feelings known

[TripleRLtd]

Still a bit of time left for this .. the G8 meeting doesn't break up until the 8th..so make your feelings known

Indeed.
And on a side note about the MTV/VH1 lack of coverage. Check this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ADME:B:LC:US:1

[Major Kong]

is this petion thing for proteting how much western gov't are giving in aide to africa dictater's and crimanals? help me a little bit? major is leting me use his computer. i discavered this site while sorfing so I am tring to undarstand.

[confus-ed]

Try Here which goes through the why's & wherefores of the proposals - Sir Bob -wants a bit more, same basic stuff, link debt relief to reform..

Listen to Nelson Mandela tell you here

& if you have questions .. it'll give me chance to bump this again !

I don't think there's much disputing, that what we do now (trade practices & existing aid for debt relief) keeps Africa poor, even the G8 guys have realised this, hence how come its on their agenda already, all this is aimed at persuading them to be generous & not just produce yet another 'fudge' which won't particularly help Africa or us in that our 'aid' will continue to be wasted on corruption or military capabaility when its supposed to get spent on infrastructure & food & medical aid.

[NooNoo]

is this petion thing for proteting how much western gov't are giving in aide to africa dictater's and crimanals? help me a little bit? major is leting me use his computer. i discavered this site while sorfing so I am tring to undarstand.

Boy is that one can of worms you just found.... the "for the people by the people" lot want all debt cancelled and can't seem to see that people in africa don't spend the money - only the politicians and business people do... and if you had say your mortgage cancelled... do you go out and buy healthcare for your whole family or do you go "whooohooo" and buy a nice holiday and a new tv?

On the other hand, if you attach conditions like "make sure that you spend this money on xyz" there are a million reasons why this won't be done - not least of which is us telling them how to run their countries... so they won't take the offer of cancellation... sigh.

As Ed has pointed out - do we, the western fat cats want to pay $10 for a fair trade plain white Tshirt when you can get 6 for $5 from a Walmart endorsed sweatshop?

[confus-ed]

Boy is that one can of worms you just found.... the "for the people by the people" lot want all debt cancelled and can't seem to see that people in africa don't spend the money - only the politicians and business people do...

Hang on, they realise that completely ! Many of the Liveaid proposals are aimed at removing control of budgets away from trade deals on aid (so we'll give you a $300 million loan if you buy our mining equipment or tanks to pay off that $250 million loan from last year etc) - live aid want voluntary organisations like the red cross etc to have input both on monitoring what gets spent but on deciding about what it should be spent on too..

This is all a very complicated arguement, as its not about 'what' - we all know that; 'african aid' .. but its about the fine detail of how & why - some of which you can find here D_A_T_A (debt, aids, trade, africa).

I don't know if I'm convinced of all the practicalities, but I'm most definately convinced of the moral rightness of this over what we do now !