Mr Shankly

I dont think it possibly can be influential as I believe that the basis of the summit, I.e. what is going to be discussed etc, has been written for a while now. Therefore, I cant possibly see how todays concerts are going to influence decisions that have essentially already been made. As Dave correctly points out, the Live Aid organisers should have been attempting to influence politicians in the run up to the US and UK elections in 2004 and 2005. However, in the US, neither Bush or Kerry would have received extra support for talking about poverty in Africa, therefore neither of them did. During campaigning in the UK General Election, Tony Blair brought up the subject of Africa and discussed strategies to alleviate the problems there, but me and my fellow cynics believe that was merely a gambit to try and win back key supporters, like readers of The Guardian and The Independent, who deserted Blair and New Labour because of the Iraq War. In response to the person who states sarcastically, Yes, drop the third world debt and lets see all those corrupt African dictators spend their new found wealth on more guns to kill each other with, where do you think these dictators buy their weapons from? Tesco? According to The Guardian, since Tony Blair came to power in 1997, the number of weapons sales to Africa, and the number of export licenses for weapons granted has increased significantly. I believe the issue of G8 Countries selling armaments to underdeveloped African Countries and human rights abusing regimes should be one the most important issues being addressed at the G8 summit, but unfortunately the issue has barely been raised. This is probably because Bono and Geldof know that if they raise that issue they will upset Bush and Blair, which they do not want to do, which leads me on to my final comment about the Make Poverty History Campaign. As George Monbiot pointed out in The Guardian a few weeks ago, Bono and Geldof have never ever criticised Bush and Blair. Bono even called Blair and Brown the Lennon and McCartney of global development, which raised a few smiles from NGOs. Last Sunday, Bono was interviewed on Meet The Press and was asked to respond to some of the comments made by George Monbiot, and Bono replied that if Bush, Blair, Brown et al Mess up the chance to end global poverty, which Bono thinks they wont do, he and his fellow philanthropists will criticise them immensely. However, I am sceptical that will happen as he hasnt criticised them for carrying out policies that has crippled Africa. For example, the US subsidising cotton. Another issue that I have with the Make Poverty History campaign is the fact that the words Make History are highlighted in their emblem. Therefore, the organisers of Make Poverty History are more or less saying, Hey, you can make history and change the World. Be Proud of yourself. Am I the only person who finds that distasteful? Surely ending poverty in Africa and in the World should be about helping innocent people who have had to face the utmost difficulties in life, not about massaging ones own ego and thinking, I am a great person etc. It is ridiculous!

No, but I do have a bass silencing function on my stereo, which I used whilst listening to The Kingdom of My Exile. What I meant originally was that by listening to Primal Scream on CD I could pretend that Gillespie is not the singer. Conversely, I could only listen to tracks he does not sing on or better still, not listen to them at all!

K by Kula Shaker. It was turned off and thrown in the bin as soon as I heard the vast amount of cat noises coming from my speakers!

You would expect them to be quite good considering they got their name from a line in a Sylvia Plath poem ("The Couriers), but unfortunately for people with perfect hearing, they are awful!

I loathe Charlotte Church immensely. Voice of an angel? I think the voice of a drunken girl staggering out a nightclub at 3am on a Saturday night is a better description. Regarding her looks, I would rather spend a night with Dr Condoleeza Rice!

There is a marked difference between a group swelling their ego with false cheers by telling the crowd that theyre the best crowd they have ever played to and a group being downright rude to large quantities of people. I dont understand why they would want to play Glastonbury if they dislike it and the people who attend it so considerably. Bobby Gillespies joke about the Stone Roses may have been funny, but telling Kylie fans to Fuck off was rather insensitive considering Kylies illness.

Did the BBC coverage of Primal Scream at Glastonbury show them being booed by the crowd? According to todays Guardian, Bobby Gillespie showed yet again why he is one of the most annoying and idiotic front men in music, through his berating of the Glastonbury crowd. I dont expect anything better from an imbecile who usually dedicates the song, Swastika Eyes to anyone that opposes the State of Israel.

Thanks for clearing that up for me and sorry for the typo!

Here is another question that may or may not challenge the football buffs out there: What football victory was the filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard referring to when he said it was The last great triumph for socialism?

Ah, The Arab Maradonna, as he was known. I cant remember his name, though, but I remember the goalremarkable!

Was it the Italian player Lentini(Sp?)?

The answer is..."Drumroll" the 1934 World Cup final between Italy and Czechoslovakia, which incidentally was held in Mussolinis Italy. It is quite well known now, and was documented in a BBC documentary called, Football and Fascism, that referees who refereed Italys matches were personally chosen by Il Duce himself. The Swedish referee who refereed the final was shown to have met with Mussolini before the final and subsequently, when he returned to his Country he was suspended by the Swedish football authorities.

Not 1966. Try again.

I will try to redeem myself with the following question: Name the World Cup final that was said to be fixed? Very easy question when you think about it. Although, I guess, more than one final could have been classified as being fixed.

I was sure it was Thomas Ravelli of Sweden, but maybe I am wrong...again! Is the player that has represented his Country the most Dunga of Brazil?

Not who I was thinking of. Try again!

No, I wasnt thinking about Campbell again! Although, he has scored a hat trick with three different clubs: Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, and Everton. Here is a difficult question for you then Who was awarded Fifas goalkeeper of the tournament award for his performance in the 1994 World Cup?

Yep. The Mexican player Borgetti nearly matched Palermo's feat by missing two penalties against Brazil in the Confederation Cup.

Although celebrities, and in particular Hollywood movie stars, are desperate for publicity and column inches, I do doubt that someone would actually get married just to get publicity. Surely there are various other ways to gain publicity, which do not have the repercussions that marriage does. For example, playing Live8 and talking about poverty in Africa seems quite popular in celebrity land today.