Photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Blair cross the tarmac to board a plane in London as he begins his African tour. (AFP/Leon Neal/Yahoo May 29, 2007)
"The cause of poverty and disease are poor education and bad governance. Fight poverty and climate change to stop conflict." - PM Tony Blair.
(Source: BBC video of Blair speech May 31, 2007)
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THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT
Bob Geldof and Bono's ongoing global campaign to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY
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MELTING ICE: A HOT TOPIC, NEW YORK: JUNE 5, 2007
Events to mark World Environment Day, which is held annually on 5 June, will kick off on Friday in New York. This year's theme is "Melting Ice: A Hot Topic". For events being scheduled, see UN Pulse.
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CONCERT FOR DIANA, LONDON: JULY 1, 2007
Status Quo will be playing at the Concert for Diana, Wembley Stadium, London, Sunday July 1, 2007, organised by Princes William and Harry for their late mother (who would have been 46), broadcast by the BBC.
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SOS CAMPAIGN AND LIVE EARTH CONCERTS: JULY 7, 2007
The mission of the SOS campaign is to trigger a mass movement to combat the climate crisis. The SOS campaign will engage people in every corner of the planet through solutions-based short films, celebrity PSAs, books, an interactive web experience, and most importantly, through Live Earth, a 24-hour concert on 7/7/07 spanning all 7 continents that will bring together more than 100 of the world’s top music acts.
Photo: Madonna has written a new song called "Hey You" for the Live Earth concert, Saturday July 7, 2007, Wembley Stadium, London.
Live Earth alone is expected to reach an audience of more than 2 billion people through concert attendance and worldwide broadcasts.
The Live Earth audience, and the proceeds from the concerts, will form the foundation for a new, multi-year global effort to combat the climate crisis led by The Alliance for Climate Protection and its Chair, Vice President Al Gore.
The SOS campaign was founded by Kevin Wall, who won an Emmy as Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8.
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"INSTANT KARMA - MAKE SOME NOISE"
Photo: "Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur", the new global “Make Some Noise” project from Amnesty International, aims to raise awareness and mobilise millions around the urgent catastrophe in Darfur, Sudan.
Amnesty's album, a collection of John Lennon songs, will be released on CD and as digital downloads on June 12, 2007. It features songs by The Flaming Lips, Regina Spektor, U2 and Snow Patrol. All the songs are available on iTunes right now.
The single from Green Day will be released on Warners Records on June 25 and will be the second single to be unveiled from the Amnesty International's CD of John Lennon covers ‘The Campaign To Save Darfur' (the first was R.E.M.’s version of ‘#9 Dream’).
The track, 'Working Class Hero' which appears on Lennon's 1970 album ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ is considered one of his most overtly political songs, and the Green Day version – for which the band are expected to make a new video - features a clip of Lennon’s original vocal.
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ANOTHER 300,000 DEAD. DEFEND THE WHALES!
Photo: Greenpeace activists display dead whales and dolphins and a banner reading "Another 300,000 dead. Defend the whales!", in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on 21 May 2007. The fate of the great whales hung in the balance Monday as officials from 75 nations gathered for talks amid pressure, notably from Japan, to reverse a 20-year ban on commercial hunting of the mammals. (AFP/John MacDougall/Yahoo 28 May 2007)
Photo: Greenpeace activists dressed as whales parade 27 May 2007 around the Captain Cook Hotel, site of the 59th annual International Whaling Commission meetings, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AFP/Michael Conti/Yahoo News 28 May 2007)
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Email Chancellor Merkel and MP
Recently, via the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY website, I emailed Chancellor Merkel and my MP. It took just a few seconds. Here are the replies:
Thank you for emailing Chancellor Angela Merkel and Tony Blair. Your name has been added to an international petition that will be handed over to the Chancellor before the G8 Summit at Heiligendamm on 6-8 June. We will contact you after the G8 and EU summits in June to update you on the outcome. Your details will not under any circumstances be shared with any third parties.- - -
Make sure you come to London on 2nd June to deliver your voice against poverty in person.
Thank you for emailing your MP about urgent action needed on global poverty. We will contact you after the G8 and EU summits in June to update you on the outcome of the meetings and to let you know how many MPs have signed the EDM.
Please now spread the word and get your family, friends and colleagues to visit the website www.yourvoiceagainstpoverty.org.uk and to add their voice against poverty.
Come to London on Saturday 2nd June to make your voice heard and tell political leaders that the world can’t wait.
Your details will not under any circumstances be shared with any third parties.
THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT: END THIS! NOW!
Bob Geldof guest-edited today's (June 1, 2007) issue of Germany's biggest-selling daily newspaper, Bild. Geldof wrote a front-page commentary stating that Germany's leaders could "end the misery" in Africa and that they had the power to "change things and people if you want to".
The paper also published an interview with Chancellor Merkel by Geldof.
Photo: Bild - the cover carried a picture of an emaciated child with the headline 'End this! Now!'
Other contributors to the paper included US president George Bush reiterating his commitment to fighting Aids in Africa, U2 singer Bono echoing Geldof's aims and George Clooney highlighting the violence in Sudan's Darfur region.
(Source: MediaGuardian.co.uk, Mark Sweney, June 1, 2007)
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SOS films at Tribeca Film Festival
Excerpt from SOS liveearth.org:
Seven SOS short films will premiere at Tribeca Film Festival's opening evening of April 25, 2007.For more information on the SOS campaign and Live Earth concerts, visit:
SOS campaign’s identity is based on the international Morse code signal for distress: three dots, followed by three dashes, followed by three dots. SOS is the world’s most urgent, universal message, and the campaign will use that signal as a continuous “call to action” to prompt individuals, corporations and governments around the world to respond to our climate crisis with sustained action.
www.SaveOurSelves.com or www.liveearth.msn.com
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If everyone on this planet declared World peace on 7 July 2007 there would be World peace, no?
See this blog's listing, cached by Google, May 28, 2007:
Sudan WatchThis call to action for WORLD PEACE is dedicated to the late great Mahatma Gandhi and John Lennon.
Sudan Watch. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. ...
sudanwatch.blogspot.com/ - 27 May 2007 - Similar pages
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Further reading
June 23, 2005 - Sudan Watch: The Greatest Show on Earth: Geldof's Live 8 concerts July 2, 2005 to promote G8 Summit and Make Poverty History campaign.
Note, a box in the top left hand corner of this page enables a search of Sudan Watch archives, i.e. Geldof
Wikipedia on Peace and World peace - an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations: It is the professed ambition of many past and present world leaders.
Snippets from blogosphere (more here, later)
June 1, 2007: 40 years ago today - the wonderful world of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper - see BBC report and Harry's Place, a British blog, discusses 40 Years ago Today, and asks, Who's right? The surviving Beatles or the rest of the world?
June 1, 2007: Word from Germany About the G8 - via The ONE Blog - posted by Michelle Dixon, ONE's Deputy Director of Outreach.
June 1, 2007: Oxfam's BLOG8 will be live blogging the G8.
June 2, 2007: Lenin's Tomb insightful blog entry How Not To Save Darfur.
June 2, 2007: The Angry Arab News Service blog links to NY Times and other news reports on the shake up at Save Darfur Coalition.
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Tags: Technorati Live Aid Africa Commission Blair Gordon Brown G8 Gleneagles Bob Geldof Make Poverty History Live 8 John Lennon George W Bush Kyoto Merkel Mandela Live Earth Madonna Peace World Peace Green Day ONE Darfur BBC Princess Diana Amnesty International Status Quo Instant Karma Bild Al Gore Sudan AIDS Greenpeace Whales Prince William Prince Harry Africa Climate Change European Union Bono Music Global Warming SOS Nelson MandelaHarry's Place