Geldof Vs Ebay: A case for Hypocrisy?

I admire Sir Bob Geldof.

He's done a lot for the poor in Africa. I believe that the benefits he accrued personally along the way were incidental to him. I'm even ambiguous about whether or not he got Ultravox bumped down the running order at Live Aid so he could perform in front of the Royals rather than Midge Ure.

I also thoroughly believe that Midge Ure's role in the whole thing has been totally unappreciated, but that's another matter. It is, though, time that he was knighted too. Just because he's not a loud-mouthed, bullying egotist (not my description, but from many who know him and quoted from the recent BBC documentary about Live Aid) doesn't mean that he's not actually done more for the cause than Sir Bob.

However, for all my admiration of the man I have to say that his reaction to people selling Live8 tickets on eBay is pure hypocrisy. Why? Several reasons.

I understand his disdain for people trying to make money on these tickets. What Bob fails to take into account is the number of those selling these tickets who may actually be rather short of the readys themselves. In some areas of the UK 1 in 4 children presenting at A&E departments are suffering from symptoms of malnutrition. Many people live on or below the poverty line here. Who knows how many of them saw this as a way to get some money of the type of wealthy charity-plonker who supports causes only because they are trendy and who would not for one second actually consider doing something to help a real person? You know, the ones eBaying the charity wristbands for hundreds of pounds and wearing them without the slightest clue what they mean or concern for those they're ostensibly supporting.

Worse, though, is the fact that Sir Bob made no complaints about the multi-national telecoms giants who made a real fortune out of all those who appplied to his text lottery at full price. Even when asked directly about this he just shrugged & evaded the question. If he'd gone onto the news and slagged off O2 et al who made a profit on the back of his lottery you can bet that they'd soon have donated at least a fraction of those profits to Africa. A few ordinary people taking advantage of charity-plonkers with more money than sense, however, raises his ire to a white-hot level previously only turned on the BBC for not getting enough money in during the original concert and the journos who followed him to Ethiopia and and tried to make him pick up dying children for photo' op's.

Sir Bob, you don't know who these people are or why they are selling their tickets. You don't know how many texts they sent or how much their tickets cost them. You refused to either impose or advise a cap on the number of texts sent, taking advantage of parents whose children may well have run up large bills trying to get tickets they almost certainly wouldn't be able to use. For all you know some of these "scum" are genuine people who spent a lot of money trying to win these tickets and can now not make it to a concert. Hell, they may even be genuine enough to have been planning to donate the proceeds of the sale to your charity.

Doubtless there are profiteers out there with no legitimate reason for re-selling their tickets.

O2, Vodaphone & Orange spring to mind.

What makes it all right for the phone companies to profiteer on your charity and not for ordinary people?

Target your righteous anger at those with real power and money. The multi-national corporations who helped to engender the situation in Africa in the first place.

1320

For those who don't recognise the date it's the year the Declaration of Arbroath was signed in Scotland. A truly important historical document as it was one of the first statements of nationhood in the world. Where are the likes of its signatories now?

The G8 is coming and what is happening in our land of the free?

Our police are the first in the UK to threaten the use of the new 'anti-terror laws'. These laws were brought in under the proviso that they would not be used to stifle legitimate protest. What are the plans of those protesting at the summit, but a legitimate protest?

Yet it seems that there are already plans to arrest and imprison protestors for up to seven days without trial just for daring to protest. There are stories circulating about people wearing G8 protest t-shirts being questioned by police officers and even having follow-up 'interviews' conducted in their homes by detectives. The notion of an al-qaieda terrorist advertising their presence in Scotland by wearing one of these anti-globalisation t-shirts indicating that 'Police Intelligence' just may be an oxymoron. People have been pulled over & questioned just for being in the area of Gleneagles, and it's just been announced that 2,000 American troops have been flown into Scotland to 'protect' the delegates.

Who the fuck do they think they are?

Please excuse the profanity, but I'm so angry about this. Foreign troops being flown in to suppress our citizens' right to protest? Yes, we are now one of the countries America has seen fit to bring peace to. So much for our 'special relationship'. Don't we have our own troops? Or are they too busy fighting Tony & George's war in Iraq? Not that troops should be required there in the first place. But foreign troops? It's an abomination. And there's been almost no comment on this. That's the Big Brother generation for you.

I think much, if not all, of the protest is going to be wasted. These people don't listen for one thing. For another, the complaints of the protestors about not being allowed to march past the hotel as part of their activites stikes me as a combination of foolish and pointless. Have any of them ever been there? The gates are nearly a mile from the hotel and it's surrounded by trees. Even if they were allowed to march none of the delegates would see or hear them. Even if they did, I remind you that they don't give a toss what you say. The only people who will be affected will be the residents of the village you plan to descend upon instead.

This Live8 pish about coming to Edinburgh, too. Do you know how far Edinburgh is from Gleneagles, Sir Bob? What's the point in screwing up life in Edinburgh? By the way, do you know how many children live in poverty in Scotland? Are you aware how many children fetching up in casualty are also diagnosed as suffering from either borderline or even full-blown malnutrition? Where's the concert for them?

However, the use of these laws and foreign troops to enforce them is a disgrace. That the Scots police should be the first to even consider using these laws in this way makes me ashamed. These laws were put in place to 'protect' us from people who wanted, we were told, to take away our freedoms. The only people threatening my freedoms today are my own government and some 2,000 American marines.

The Declaration of Arbroath talks about how grateful the Scots were when Robert Bruce delivered them into freedom from the English, but went on to state that if he, or any of his descendents betrayed Scotland or her people or became a tyrant then they would 'cast him down' using any means neccessary.

Our leaders are permitting this to happen in Scotland today.

Where are the likes of the men who signed that document in 1320?

It STILL wasn't me.

I see Donald Rumsfeld has finally admitted what we all knew; that Iraq is no safer now than it was under Saddam Hussein. Since it has also been all but admitted that the reason for the attack on that beleaguered country was regime change, who's going to invade it now & kick us & the U.S. out? I mean, if Saddam had to go because his regime was unsafe for his people what about this one?

Yeah, I know, he was actively killing people, but it seems fewer people were dying at his hands than aredying there these days. At least under him the Iraqi's knew who to watch out for. True, that's facetious & beneath me but it is, sadly, still true.

Microshaft again

Do we really believe that periodically signing in to MSN Hotmail is an anti-spam measure?

No, of course we don't. If it was about that it would be a less frequent activity and after you'd had the account for a while it would no longer be neccesary. Hell, they could monitor the use patterns and only make people who were sending out mail-list e-mails sign in.

This is just a way to be fucking irritating and try to force us all onto the paid-for service. They've already stopped people from opening new free accounts. How long before they close the existing free ones? What tight-fisted corporate clone came up with this one, 'cos I don't believe it was the uber-geek himself.

Too darn late!

I was loking for a really good excuse for those times I couldn't be bothered making an effort for years. Why does it turn up now that I'm married & off the market?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050608/12/fknzc.html

That of course was not true, I never needed an excuse. It's only there now for those of you who need it.

More knee-jerk politics

Our wonderful government has followed its usual course in responding to figures stating that violent crime is on the increase: it's going to ban replica hand-guns.

Well, whoopee-doo! I feel so much safer knowing that criminals will be going out and getting hold of the real thing instead to hold up the local corner-shop. Really, guys, do you actually think that banning the sale or manufacture of replicas will do anything to curb violent crime? We all know that it's easy to get your hands on illegal firearms. All the regulations brought in after Thomas Hamilton's rampage did diddly-squat to to curb their availability to the criminal fraternity.

The average ned planning to hold up a post-office or some-such will not go to the trouble & expense of obtaining a real gun. Nor will any casual criminal of the type these new regualtions are supposed to be targeting. No, they'll go down to the local version of Victor Morris and buy a replica. With this they will attempt to scare some shop assisstant into handing over some money. Remove this option and they'll be forced to get something else. Whilst this may not be an actual real-live hand-gun it will be an actual real-life weapon. Ask the teenage wage-slave which they'd rather these thugs have in their possession and I can bet you they won't be asking for the real weapon.

And where do you draw the line? Which of the fairlt realistic toy guns do you ban? What about gun-shaped cigarette lighters? "Don't be silly, " I hear you cry "No one could mistake those for the real thing." Let me tell you one day of the security alert a friend of mine once caused on a flight with a 1/4 scale Derringer-shaped lighter he had in his hold -not hand - luggage.

I agree with much of the called-for legislation regarding knives. They should be restricted to places like Scout-shops and fishing shops and these places should only be allowed to sell items which can clearly and legitimately be used for a purpose. Wall-hanger replica swords should not be sold sharpened or ever made from tempered steel. Knives which can only be used to slash or stab another human should be banned from general sale.

Oh, and could someone please tell the Strathclyde Police spokesman that hunting knives, by their very definition, have another use than violent crime? True, it is unlikely that anyone in the UK will be using them to hunt with, but don't bugger up your own argument with the use of poor semantics.

An article about the legislation is here:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050608/325/fkp1y.html

Ding Dong the witch is dead

Which old witch? Lynn Bains.

Well, okay, not dead, but retired. And, to be honest it's not something I'm actually happy about.

All right, she's got some issues and so on and thre have been times when she was a complete bitch, but QMUC's acting course was exactly nowhere before her. It was a joke before Lynn took it over and now it's one of the most respected courses in the country. The way she was treated was shameful if some of the things I've heard were true.

Hope things go the way you hope, Lynn. Thanks for the good stuff.

x