G8 — African nil. Make Poverty History is in disarray following the disastrous Geldof hijacking. (Via.)
Archive: G8
George Monbiot reminds us about Bob Geldof — The Man Who Betrayed the Poor.
“Right from the beginning,†says Kofi Mawuli Klu of the Forum of African Human Rights Defenders, “he has acted in his own selfish interests. It was all about self-promotion, about usurping the place of Africans. His message was “shut up and watch meâ€. Without even understanding the root causes of the problems, he used his role to drown the voices of the African people and replace them with his own. There are many knowledgeable people – African and non-African – who could have advised him, but he has been on his own, ego-tripping.â€
Of course, without African poverty Bob Geldof would probably be a nothing.
Paul Mason writes about the very un-BBC Newsnig8t blog. I never read the blog, but it sounds like Mason found it very useful for himself. He seems to understand blogging very well too. (Via.)
Comments closed
It’s difficult for me to blog about the big story of the day. Anything I say will probably be banal and obvious.
The feeling I had when I woke up to the news was very similar to the one I felt when Madrid was attacked. There was the initial shock which very quickly subsided to be replaced by a sense of, “oh well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.” I don’t think many people can have thought that London is immune to terrorist attacks. Of course, it’s had more than its fair share of terrorist attacks in the past. It’s just that this time round, the terrorists happen to be Muslim (assuming that they were indeed al-Qaeda attacks).
Also, London is so far away from me it might as well be Madrid. I’ve only ever been to London once, and I can’t remember it. I can’t think of anybody that I personally know who might be in London. It’s different when it’s London though, because it affects the behaviour of the government of this country. The worst case scenario would be for the London attacks to be used as an excuse to bring yet more authoritarian legislation.
Good blogging today:
- Perspective: No to terror, no to war
- Chicken Yoghurt: From under stones…
- Shot by both sides — all of it
- Backword
I’ll end with a joke that somebody on my MSN Messenger list had as their screen name:
What’s the difference between Gleneagles and a hedgehog?
The hedgehog has pricks on the outside.
There have been chinook helicopters flying over us today. How different.
Comments closed