Well this is one up for the Scousers I must admit.

We Scots thought we were doing well when we had the G8 heads of government here at Gleneagles in July 2005 and I suppose we were doing well.

Lobbyists lobbied the G8, protestors protested and the G8 heads of government made some more promises.

But Liverpool and Blackburn have gone one better than Gleneagles G8 and that one is Condoleezza Rice, the leader of the free world.

“But hang on”, I hear you say, “isn’t Condi only Bush’s number 2, just the US Secretary of State?”.

Well yes and no. Constitutionally, the US Secretary of State is actually only number 4 in the US pecking order.

But the free world does not take its lead from the US Constitution - venerable though that is.

The love for freedom lives in the minds of men and women and each of us decide for ourselves in whom we place our trust and hopes for the future.

Increasingly, people who have heard Condoleezza Rice speak are looking to her to lead the free world at this time of challenge and opportunity. Many are actively pressing for Condi to run for President of the United States of America in 2008.

So Gleneagles G8 was like an orchestra without the conductor, a ballet without the ballerina or the Beatles without John Lennon.

Imagine a free and democratic Iraq with no dictators and no suicide bombers and a future of peace and prosperity for the people there.



That’s what happens when a war is won by the good people. It happened in Germany, in Japan and in Italy when World War 2 was won. So it is not too hard to imagine it happening in Iraq too.

Some may say that Condi and her Condistas are dreamers but we’re not the only ones. I hope some day they’ll join us, and the world will live as one.

Peter Dow,
Owner, Rice for President Yahoo Group

I can only hope the Braggies who live in the area will get out there to protest the arrival of that lying warmongering scumbag Condaleeza Rice. Horrible dreadful murdering piece of shit, she is.

This is the stupidest thing I have ever seen in my life. I'm sure Condi is a huge John Lennon fan. She just doesn't like all that "peace" and "love" stuff.

I can not think of two more dissimilar individuals and I consider an absolute insult to Lennon's legacy to link him in any way to a perpetuator or war.

I said it before in another thread, but as much as Springsteen attempted to influence the political process during the last election, and as much as Bono is involved in world issues, I truly believe that if John Lennon were still alive, the world we be a very different place. And it wouldn't be a place that Condi and other war mongers were particularly happy with.

While senior citizens in New Orleans were drowning in their own beds, that vicious uncaring cunt was buying shoes. Cold hearted bitch.

Please someone, tell me this was parody. Please!!?

Sounds like there's some good protests organised around Condi's visit up North, I know Lindsey German of the Stop The War Coalition is heading up there. Here are the meet up details if anyone's interested:

LIVERPOOL
Friday 31 March 2006
Assemble: Steps of Liverpool's Catholic Cathedral at 5.00 PM
March to Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street at 7.30 PM

BLACKBURN
Saturday 1 April 2006
Assemble at 12 Midday
venue to be confirmed

thanks! thanks! thanks!

Condi/across the Mersey/

lalalala...

(apologies to Gerry and the Pacemakers)

Babs what planet you on??? She went out and bought some shoes....So..does that make her uncaring?

While it was going on down in new orleans did you happen to go out and do some shopping or did you stay at home in respect.

Now yes there were some HUGE fuck ups in how the situation was handled and no one would dispute that but to come out with what yopu say is just OTT.

Lets face it anyone who isnt as left wing as you is-

A/ Plain old wrong

and

B/ An evil racist, bigot.

Regards

LeftintheUS: if John Lennon were still alive the world would be a very different place. You are kidding. (Aren't you?).

Bono?

No Damon, I am really not kidding. I truly believe it. Neither of the last two elections in the US were decided by that many votes.

Bono.

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020304/story.html

OK, if that's what you think.
To me it sounds quite a far fetched idea.

Edited to say, I just saw your Bono link.
Come on, he's a prat. (What's with the sunglasses?).

Is that because you believe individuals can not change the course of history, or just John Lennon himself could not?

Prat or not, his work on behalf of Africa is impressive, to say the least.

I don't think John Lennon would have made much of a difference in anything, other than making a FEW half decent records.
I quite liked 'merry merry christmas' (war is over), and 'nobody told me there would be days like these', that's about it for me.
Wasn't he a bit of a paranoid recluse in his last years?

Edited to say, I actualy like, 'Merry Christmas - and a happy new year', very much.

I believe individuals can make a difference.
But all this Live 8 stuff, doesn't do much for me.
I was listening on the radio to Neil Young singing: 'Keep on rocking in the free world'. And then at the end, the crowd in Ontario sang, 'O Canada'.
Great concerts, (perhaps), but the politics?
Obviously it depends on what politics you have.

I flew here, to Riga, Latvia yesterday. (Who cares?). But I will be knocking around these parts ( from here to Copenhagen) for the next two months.
My fiight on Ryanair cost 1 pound 50. Plus 15 pounds tax.
It costs more to get to Stanstead airport.
That's another thread though.

I think you may not realize the profound impact he had on people's lives. And, while it is an extremely small N, I know of many he touched deeply and were considerably impacted by his death -- people of multiple generations.

musicians cannot change the world...

but one thing they're very good at is influencing their fans and raising awareness of todays issues... even if they look like a prat. (bono)

sorry, lennon would NOT make the world a different place, but given his popularity, his words would reach a lot of people.

with some bands however, i can't help but feel they're cashing in on political issues... eg. SOME bands on the live8 bandwagon.

Ahhhh but Cartoonists can!


www.myspace.com/robjelliott

Hate to bring this thread back, but I could not help myself:

"Condoleezza Rice is the most popular member of the Bush administration. Experts say that claiming to be the most popular member of the Bush administration is like claiming you got the 'good' kind of Herpes."
---Conan O'Brien

I am still imagining it. It just seems less and less likely. What an absolute reign of error Condi's efforts in this part of the world have been.


I wonder if the Condistas are as currupt as Condi.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/business...eELKjwebGbqm8hA

Chevron, the second-largest American oil company, is preparing to acknowledge that it should have known kickbacks were being paid to Saddam Hussein on oil it bought from Iraq as part of a defunct United Nations program, according to investigators...

The $64 billion program was set up in 1996 by the Security Council to help ease the effects of United Nations sanctions on Iraqi civilians after the first gulf war. Until the American invasion in 2003, the program allowed Saddam’s government to export oil to pay for food, medicine and humanitarian goods.

Using an elaborate system of secret surcharges and extra fees, however, the Iraqi regime received at least $1.8 billion in kickbacks from companies in the program, according to an investigation completed in 2005 by Paul A. Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

By imposing surcharges on the sale of crude oil, the Iraqi regime skimmed about $228 million from its oil exports.

A report released in 2004 by an investigator at the Central Intelligence Agency listed five American companies that bought oil through the program: the Coastal Corporation, a subsidiary of El Paso; Chevron; Texaco; BayOil, and Mobil, now part of Exxon Mobil. The companies have denied any wrongdoing and said they were cooperating with the investigations.

As part of the deal under negotiation, Chevron, which now owns Texaco, is not expected to admit to violating the U.N. sanctions. But Chevron is expected to acknowledge that it should have been aware that illegal kickbacks were being paid to Iraq on the oil, the investigators said...

Thus far, only former United Nations officials, individual traders and relatively small oil companies have come under scrutiny in the United States.

According to the Volcker report, surcharges on Iraqi oil exports were introduced in August 2000 by the Iraqi state oil company, the State Oil Marketing Organization. At the time, Condoleezza Rice, now secretary of state, was a member of Chevron’s board and led its public policy committee, which oversaw areas of potential political concerns for the company.


I visited the site and nearly wet myself from laughing so hard. Someone is surely taking the piss (just to mix metaphors).

And speaking of herpes...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7090500829.html


There is so much good material in those four short paragraphs that I'm going to refrain at the moment. It would be like taking the first piece of a wedding cake with the bride and groom looking on. So, have at it Zippy!!