NEWS: Live 8, The Greatest Show On Earth, Begins !

Enjoy the looping broadcast of the concert. Come back soon to watch the entire show, song by song, on demand

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Originally posted by Netchicken
Oh what babble.
Pity to ruin a great concert with such ideological nonsence. I am sure that any terrorists you care to name don't give a crap about a western music concert aiming to end poverty. The music itself would be vindication enough to bomb it, they hate it.

As I said "Conditioned".

It's your lack of belief that makes ideological, I can only look at it as logical.

You enjoy the lovely music, let everyone else worry about the real issue.

the_oleneo I think you need to do a little research as to why poverty still exists in the modern world. Being non-materialistic does not mean you condem yourself to poverty. I'm sure there are plenty of people starving to death who would prefer not to be an inconvenience to you.
Live8 is also about giving African countries a chance to trade and therefore earn there own keep so they don't have to depend on western countries continuing to exploit them.

[edit on 2-7-2005 by Koka]

Originally posted by Zipdot

Where does that shot come in that you're speaking about? After Pink Floyd?

No, its after the "Hey Jude" group hug at the end.

The bands were great - they had to be - the slick production - whatever was it with the African bands secluded to the depths of Cornwall
How horrible are the likes of Geldorf and Bono sucking up to the Great Eight
The Lennon and McCartney of world debt - these mass murderers liars thieves? People who should be put away for a long time are being lionised through this snake swallowing its own tail G8 live
Lets hope the actual conference is chaotic, although contrived. Go you black blocs

Did he give me a voice so that someone could silence me

Did he give me compasion so I could help my fellow man

Very strong words.

I love neils music

Originally posted by Zipdot
At the end, Roger got them all together to kinda hug or whatever, and Dave seemed like he was against it. Roger walked off the stage quickly at the end, with what I think was a pissed off look on his face. ...

Damn, guess we can't be counting on a US reunion tour.

Originally posted by Koka

Originally posted by Netchicken
Oh what babble.
Pity to ruin a great concert with such ideological nonsence. I am sure that any terrorists you care to name don't give a crap about a western music concert aiming to end poverty. The music itself would be vindication enough to bomb it, they hate it.

As I said "Conditioned".

It's your lack of belief that makes ideological, I can only look at it as logical.

You enjoy the lovely music, let everyone else worry about the real issue.

the_oleneo I think you need to do a little research as to why poverty still exists in the modern world. Being non-materialistic does not mean you condem yourself to poverty. I'm sure there are plenty of people starving to death who would prefer not to be an inconvenience to you.
Live8 is also about giving African countries a chance to trade and therefore earn there own keep so they don't have to depend on western countries continuing to exploit them.

[edit on 2-7-2005 by Koka]

You have voted Koka for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

Its hard to know if it will make a difference, but it can hardly hurt trying can it?


As for Pink Floyd, a days rehearsal after 21 years and they unleash themselves like that? What a preformance, what a band, unfortunately i really can't see them touring together, there is way to much animosity between Roger and the others for the tour to last more than 10 minutes.
And the idea they did it for money (from touring or record sales or whatever), is a bit ludicrous, they have probably more money than they could ever need, even Syd Barrett is living comfortably off his royalties and he was not around for the big money releases like DSotM and The Wall (his solo releases were not exactly earth-shatering), never mind their solo careers, also I can't really see Waters, Gilmour, Mason, or Wright exploiting situations in that way, especially with songs like Have a Cigar.

Originally posted by Koka
the_oleneo I think you need to do a little research as to why poverty still exists in the modern world.

I don't need to research poverty. I'd experienced it myself. How did I get out of it? I worked hard to get out of it instead of expecting someone do something for me and waiting for a handout. I've never receive an unemployment or supplement check in my life and I don't intend to.

Originally posted by Koka
I'm sure there are plenty of people starving to death who would prefer not to be an inconvenience to you.

That's why I'm for eliminating famine, not poverty. If people wanted to eat something, they need to get their butts off and work to produce something in order to eat and share with what they have produced instead of waiting for handouts.

Originally posted by Koka
Live8 is also about giving African countries a chance to trade and therefore earn there own keep so they don't have to depend on western countries continuing to exploit them.

There are plenty of African-oriented stores in the US have imported materials straight from Africa, managed by actual African immigrants and African-American citizens. African nations have already been trading with other nations with its resources in exchange for something. South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and few other African nations are the largest African traders in the world and within Africa.

Interestingly and quite ironically, the biggest and most profitable trade in Africa is slavery. Yep, slavery haven't even been eradicated.

the_oleneo, pity pity. A waste of a brain.

Originally posted by the_oleneo
I don't need to research poverty. I'd experienced it myself.

How did I get out of it? I worked hard to get out of it instead of expecting someone do something for me and waiting for a handout. I've never receive an unemployment or supplement check in my life and I don't intend to.

I'm sorry, I wrongly made the assumption you were from a more fortunate, maybe western country, what part of Africa are you from?

What sort of work did you manage to find in the refugee camps, that enabled you to take that first step toward a less impoverished life?

Seeing as you speak from experience, I will bow to your superior knowledge and I guess accept your informed perspective regarding the laziness of those I originally regarded as being born into an impoverished existence......not...!!

[edit on 3-7-2005 by Koka]

Raise awareness for African debt relief - yes

Allow the G8 to make it conditional - NO!

Making Poverty An Industry?

Originally posted by cryptorsa1001
the_oleneo, pity pity. A waste of a brain.

cryptorsa1001, pity pity... a waste of oxygen and water for you.

Why Africa? What makes Africa No.1 on the list of charity? How many countries in the world are in the same boat? I'm with the cynics on this one. We have been giving along with the rest of the world to Africa for how long and what have they done to better themselves? I see nothing significant. We shouldn't send money, food or health supplies. We should send birth control aids so the population isn't starving. Why have 20 kids when you can't feed yourself? I mean think already. Don't give me a it's a nature thing. The people of Africa need to want to help themselves before I think about helping them. I've seen nothing to support that they want change. By airing starving children all over the TV (who should not have been concieved in the first place knowing they can't feed them) to make us feel bad and asking for charity does not show they are trying to do anything. I can't write anymore about this it drives me crazy. You people need to be honest and not try to be so nice about what you say. Say what's really on your mind w/o worrying about what others think. I help my family and myself first not some african country who does nothing for themselves.

Originally posted by Koka
I'm sorry, I wrongly made the assumption you were from a more fortunate, maybe western country, what part of Africa are you from?

North America. That's a huge African country, you know?

Originally posted by Koka
Seeing as you speak from experience, I will bow to your superior knowledge and I guess accept your informed perspective regarding the laziness of those I originally regarded as being born into an impoverished existence......not...!!

Look, nobody deserved to be poor and everybody wanted to live a good or better life but that is up to every person who makes the effort himself or herself. We aren't born with silver spoons or wooden spoons and nobody hands us a book on how to live a life on entitlements alone. There are actually lazy people around the world who don't make the efforts to do something about themselves or improve their lives nevertheless and that can affect or annoy other people in positions of trying to improve the welfare/health of the community or the society in general. You'll find plenty of the lazy in every country in the world, including the USA.

Just for the record, we have over 35 millions Americans who live in poverty or below that (ranging from extreme poor to low-income poor along with welfare benefits from the state governments).

21 years ago a singer/songwriter named Bob Geldoff came home from a day promoting a album his band was about to release. He settled down to watch a bit of TV and saw something that would change his life. It was a documentory made by a reporter named Michael Buerk. It was a film highlighting the plight in Africa, and contained images so disturbing it hit at the soul's of a nation. After a phone call to Midge Ure they started to phone as many singers as they could. The result was the Band Aid single and it reached number 1 at christmas 1984.

Other contries followed suit and released their own singles which also were well received in their respective countries. An idea spawned from this to go to the next stage quite literally. On July 13th 1985 a concert was held that ended up lasting over 16 hours. At the time it was a monumental achievement both physically and technically. It didnt go off without a hitch for sure, but it did achieve its objective. It raised money, alot of it. With hindsight though it did something more more important. It was the catalyst for the start of a change in the mindset of a lot of people. People around the western world started the process that would wake them up to the fact that what we consider poverty is considered luxury in many countries.

20 years later Bob was about to do it again, however this time he wouldnt make the mistake he made the first time. He now realised that no amount of money raised would do anything significant to change an entire continent. For that sort of change something different was needed. For real change it needed a change in mindset not from the people but from the governments of the nations who controlled the the debts of these countries. More importantly the countries that controlled the trade of the world.

I dont know how many people reading this understand why trade is such a big problem. So I will try to summerise it briefly.

When these nations apply for financial assistance, these loans come from the IMF and World Bank. However they dont just hand over the cash, these loans come with conditions. Countries are forced to become heavy exporters of products in order to meet the financial repayments. Now this wouldnt be so bad accept for one major problem, they all are exporting the same thing. This results in price wars, with everyone trying to export for prices cheaper than the next country. This forces these countries into an inescapable downward spiral that they cannot escape. They are forced to cut back on expenditure in social areas such as health care and education, thus stunting their growth as a nation.

Carrying this on, when a nations export as compared to its import is as completely unbalanced as those of the third world nations, then the value of its currency goes down. So the interest rates on the loans they have out go up, meaning they have to export even more product just to meet their payments.

So what does this mean to individuals, well for me and you it basically means cheap banana's. However to the people living in these third world countries, it means working for almost none existant wages under conditions which would get a business shut down so fast their feet wouldnt touch the ground here.

This right here is the real problem. The reason these people are in such a mess is because of the way they are treated by the Western World. Ive seen people here say, why dont they get themselves out of their own mess.

****NEWSFLASH****

THEY CAN'T,

Why not?

BECAUSE WE WONT ALLOW THEM TO


We live in a society that is ruled by capitalism. It very notion of capitalism means some people get rich and others get poor. Over time the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and this is the way it is going to change until something is done to change the mindset of the entire western world.


So moving on to yesterdays concert. It is now almost 20 years to the day since the first Live Aid concert. The people behind that event are smarter and wiser to the problems. So instead of asking for money from you and me they decide to do something different. They want to educate the people, make them realise what the problem is. Only once you understand the issues, can you begin to accept that real change is needed. However most people reading this cannot accept the fact that they can do anything about it. Well this time we can make a difference to the lives of an entire continent. Maybe not so much those that are there now, but certainly those that are their in 20 years time. This is not going to be a quick fix, but a gradual change of attitudes over time.

History tells us that this is possible, it is by its very nature the one thing that makes us stand out as humans. We have this ability to change and adapt very easily. We are not driven by instinct but by intelligence, we have the capacity to make choices, to decide our own futures.

In the last 100 years, we have all but eliminated slavery, we have cut down racism and sexism to a fraction of what it once was. The lives of most of you would be completely unrecogniseable to those people who were in our places even 30 years ago. Every day that goes by, the less important national boundries become. We are now starting to wake up to the fact that the futures of people thousands of miles away, is just as important as your next door neighbour. That every human should be born with equal rights to a basic standard of life.

Yes it true that even Western Nations have their own problems with poverty and hunger.

However how many of those people are on the streets were destined to spend their lives from the day they were born?

How many of them have absolutely no escape from the way they live?

How many of them have no access whatsoever to clean water?

How many of them live in a nation where they have no access whatsoeve to drugs which we can buy in the local supermarket for next to nothing?

Make no mistake on this, Western World Poverty and Third World Poverty are NOT the same thing. Poverty in the West is an indivdual thing. It is not the norm, the majority of the people in the countries we live in have access to all the basic requirements to life.

In the third world, it is the norm and it is poverty on a whole new scale. That is the difference right there.

This is what yesterdays concert is trying to tell us. That we as people cannot allow this to continue, we must not let this continue. 8 Concerts held at the same time throughout the world is not going to change anything, but it was never meant to. Whether change happens or not is up to us, we have to decide whether or not yesterdays events are just a moment, or the start of a movement. A shift in attitudes towards a more global understanding.

If everything that happened yesterday is forgotten tomorrow then it was a total waste of time. However if you like I, watched that moment when Bob Geldoff walked onto the stage, just before Madonna was due to come on and watched a film from 20 years ago about the plight in Africa. A film that I had seen so many times and yet was still affected by the suffering that was shown in it. Then the moment straight afterwards where a picture of a baby girl, minutes from death was shown. When that same girl (now a beautiful young 20 year old university graduate) was led onto the stage. A moment where I unashamedly broke down in tears, a moment that has brought tears to my eyes as I recall that image whilst writing this. A moment that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

A moment that made me realise that change is possible.

You have voted Slowpoke for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have one more vote left for this month.

Its extremely selfish to say "there is people in my country who are in poverty" but that is totally different to africa.

50,000 people die in African each day, every 3 secs a child dies....

Every member of the G8 has said they will give more money to Africa, even the EU said it will increase aid and live8 wasn't about putting pressure on them.

The world has woken up, its notice the blood on its hands, we have to help Africa

I'm by far a heartless person but if a child in Africa dies every 3 seconds then why do they have children knowing this?? Stop having children if they can't be taken care of and then a child won't die every 3 seconds. They are only adding to the problem. They need to wake up and start helping themselves. The problem escalates because they don't see a need to fix it.

The reason why they continue to have children is quite simply religion. Catholisism if widespread in Africa and as a religion it forbids the use of contraceptives. This is also one of the main reasons for widespread AIDS on the continent.

By the way even if this wasnt the case? what should they do? go down and by a 3 pack from the local chemist? Maybe they could get the local doctor to put them on the pill? Or should they all stop having any form of sexual relations altogether?

Try thinking before you post nonsense

why just africa.poverty is worldwide problem.if we cant take care of our own how can we take care of others.sir bob needs to define the word poverty better. government define poverty by this...The state of being poor; lack of the means of providing material needs or comforts.
Deficiency in amount; scantiness: “the poverty of feeling that reduced her soul” (Scott Turow).
Unproductiveness; infertility: the poverty of the soil.
Renunciation made by a member of a religious order of the right to own property. you notice the words staving to death is not there or having a home to live in or proper health care.gee no wonder governments dont get the true meaning of poverty.we need to teach leaders it has a undefined meaning. in the dictionary it is misleading and i get its like that for a reason.governments want us in debt. want us to have low wages. not to have good health care and of course be homeless. the trend right now is massive homeless agenda to bull doze the poor into the ground keep them confused.the meaning needs to be changed.governments need to be policed and above all stop leaving people behind.white collar people dont get it.so lets take there little worlds and pour reality into there heads.if this does not work we need to change the money to a credit system of value of people of honest behaviors it would kill greed.value of people instead of value of money......



[edit on 3-7-2005 by flukemol]