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Sunday, July 03, 2005Sunday StarFor one week only, a special entry - The Sunday Star. Yesterday, I travelled to Manchester. Whilst there, I figured that I would maybe drop in and watch a wee bit of Live8 on the Big screen. I turned up at about 3pm, figuring that I'd stay for an hour or 2, before wandering off and catching a film at the cinema. I left at 10:30, my feet aching and my bladder bursting. 7 1/2 hours, no sitting down, nothing to drink and no "comfort" breaks. I'd have stayed longer if my bladder was bigger and I didn't have a long bus ride home. Scruffy, foul-mouthed and bloody-minded he may be - but there is a damn good reason that this man is called "Sir" Bob, by the British people, despite not being a British citizen. He is a legend and we love him. BandAid, Live Aid, BandAid20 and now Live8. He has begged, lied, cajoled, demanded and shouted on behalf of the world's poorest people. Despite an alcohol ban in Manchester city centre, I ended up in conversation with a drunk. Amongst the incoherent ramblings about how much he wanted to shag Annie Lennox when he was a teenager, profundity eventually emerged. "You can't argue with Geldoff. 'cos he's always fucking right. Everything that man says is the truth and you can't argue a single point. It isn't just a shame that these people are dying - it's a fucking embarrassment. And if I weren't so macho, I'd fucking cry." He's absolutely right. You can't argue with Geldoff (Maggie tried once and came off second best - a rare accomplishment to be sure). For the past two months, critics have sneered at Geldoff's vision. Yesterday he answered his critics spectacularly.
Africa needs Aid. It needs Free Trade so it can sell it's goods and support itself. It needs it's debts cancelled. And it needs proper leadership. If it was right to invade Iraq and depose Saddam - why do we do no more than mildly chastise fuckers like Mugabe or the genocidal leaders of Sudan? Why don't we press the other African leaders to actually criticise these bastards? Mr Blair, Mr Bush, Mr Chirac, Herr Schroeder, Mr Martin, Sr Berlusconni, Mr Koizumi and Mr Putin - we are watching. Don't you dare let us down. |
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