G 8

[Paul Rollason]

I competed in the Scotish round of the British championships of Mountain Boarding just down the road from Gleneagles a couple of years ago in a place called Glendevon.

Fantastic Pub

Very scary hill

paul r

[Brian Little]

you want great scenery in Scotland Paul …..you got to go up the west coast …..or my personal favourite place Gairloch……were preaty flat chested in Perthshire ……you want mountains …..head for the west coast 😀 😀

[Paul Rollason]

I will be trvelling down a small part of the west coast in september during my cycle from JOG to LE

paul r

[Ivan Morley]

I would have thought a summit where the debt of Africa is being talked about should be held in Africa – let the politicians see for themselves!

Besides it would be much cheaper than holding it at one of the UKs top hotels.

Ivan

[Brian Little]

good point ivan

[Lynn Normington]

Quite agree Ivan why do we (tax payers) need to pay so much for them to discuss poverty in Africa, why indeed can they not go and witness it them selves but that would subject them to something they they don’t think exsists, sorry to be a bit negative here but surely we have enough poverty in our own country that needs sorting out before we get more involved with other countries poverty 🙁

Lynn

[Nicola McIntosh]

quote signs elite:

were preaty flat chested in Perthshire ……you want mountains …..head for the west coast 😀 😀

hey i’m pretty flat chested here in finavon…….and i have loads of mountains here too!! :lol1: :lol1: 😉

nik

[Carrie Brown]

I agree with Ivan … why not hold it at the centre of the problem …. right under everyones noses where they can see it face on not just take info from reports.

Debt is everywhere and I agree aswell with sorting out our own problems first but also want to see problems in other countries sorted out too …. It really hits me when I watch tv progs or the news … especially seeing the kids in desperate need ….. puts a lump in my throat!! 🙁

quote niknaxpc:

hey i’m pretty flat chested here in finavon…….and i have loads of mountains here too!! nik

:lol1: Aww bless Nik …… well Im the opposite, I have my own valley and twin peaks 😛

[Nigel Pugh]

Charity begins at home, so lets get our own peeps off the street and looked after before we go sending money over to countries who’s leaders couldn’t give a t*ss about the UK but are more than happy to pay us lipservice.

Sorry to seem like a complete wan*er but how much more do you have to see the UK been used as the toilet for every other countries unwanted before you decide to say something (hot)

You show me a nation in trouble and you will find a dictator at the helm, more interested in lining their own pockets.

Just my own humble opinion, but sorry to say I feel more& more like the minority each day in my own country.

Nigel

[Simon Kay]

Man we should be sorting out poverty and starvation EVERYWHERE.

It’s not like there are not huge surpluses of food.

Let’s face it, governments and poly’s suck. Full Stop. Doesn’t matter where you are.

No matter how willing the average person is, it never seems to make a difference – wonder why?

Aaagh 😕

Scozzie.

[Shane Drew]

quote Jobe:

You show me a nation in trouble and you will find a dictator at the helm, more interested in lining their own pockets.

Just my own humble opinion, but sorry to say I feel more& more like the minority each day in my own country.Nigel

I agree Nigel.

It is the same here in some ways.

The problem is all these ‘poor’ countries want our aid, but have no respect for us at other times.

Like Indonesia here, OZ gave 1 billion dollars in aid since the tsunami, but the indonesian government believe that, as a christian country, we are the worshipers of the devil, and alied to the yanks. If they think we are so bad, give back our money!

I don’t say they should change their faith, but a little repsect would be nice.

All these countries that are destitute could be traced back to greed and corruption. Look at what mugabie is doing to his own people. The man is mad. He advocates that eveyone who does not support him is the enemy. But guess who they will expect help from when mugabie flees to a neutral country with all his millions – America and England.

I am not political or racist. But at the end of the day, nothing will change until the people rorting the treasury of these countries are removed.

As far as being a stranger in our own land, here now, laws are changing to accommodate the arab population. Our theme parks must have prayer rooms, they must change their scheduals to accommodate their prayer meetings, our schools excuse them from certain situations, the list goes on.

Shop keepers report a rise in shop lifting in areas that the arabs congregate, but they are not allowed to search the woman wearing full burkas because it will offend them, even tho they are suspected of having hidden goods under them.

If I were to go to their country and want a beer while i am enjoying the sunshine, I’d be flogged. If my wife didn’t wear a head covering, she’d be viewed as ‘undesirable’

Why do we have to change our way of life to accommodate them, when they will not budge to accommodate us in their own land?

Thats my rant, I am off to bed.

Shane

[Andrew Butler]

Just done banner for church steeple at Crieff “make poverty history”
You can view the banner being erected by steeple jacks at the link

http://www.bigsmoke.com/mph/gallery/photoindex.asp?gs=steeple

This banner is 20.515 metres x 2.5 metres and one of many we have produced for this protest

I will post pics in show us your stuff when i get them, if anyone would like to see them.

First time I’ve added a link to a post 😀

[Hugh Potter]

i agree with Jobe (and some of the other comments), we have more than enought mess in the Uk that needs sorting out, many people, in fact most people, live hand to mouth every week, do not take loads foreign holidays etc ! too many people are on the streets, for varying reasons,

it does sadden me to see these people in africa and other parts of the world, i guess we’re partly to blame for some of it, i mean, look at the tribes of south america, they still get on just fine without out influence, then we go in and introduce the common cold which can kill em ! africa is an odd one really, yes we went in there and exploited the place, as we did with australia, new zealand, america and many other places,

whilst we did exploit them, we at least introduced education and other beneficial programs, independence from us (including other european countries) is where it started to go wrong, look at zimbabwe, the white rulers hand back the country to the people, in zimbabwe’s case, to a sellf obsessed and corrupt Mogabe, who kicks out any white farmers (who are providing education and medical care for the people who work for them, and who provide a stable income for the country) and then slams the country into utter poverty and destruction within a few years, how can we help those countries wh’s own leaders won’t even make the effort,

lok at the recent ethiopian troubles, we releive them of their debt and they then go and prove that they’re still not a democracy, despite all the shiny teeth and handshakes for the cameras.

damn, dont get me started !!! I’m half sheep, sorry, i mean half welsh, and half english, and i’m deeply patriotic when it comes to the UK, personally i’d stop handing out 30 odd billion a year to europe and start to rebuild this country, we can still help others while we do that, all our money does in europe is to fund an extravagant life style for a bunch of self elected idiots, and are supporting other economies who flooding us with cheap produce so our farmers, miners and fisherman can’t compete, leading to decimation of our own industries,

who are they, to tell us, how to run our own country !

hmmmm, I’ll get me coat !

[Brian Little]

yeh well perhaps “sir Bob” would be intrested in doing a big charity event for the UK ….now theres a thought 😀 😀

Brian

[Keith Nilsen]

In my opinion, as long as you keep giving aid and assistance the longer there is disinclination for Africa to sort itself out.

Put it this way, if we were all just given loads of money to alleviate our day to day costs and requirements, how many of us would go out and work an 8-12 hour day? I would guess not many.

Naturally this does not apply to the man on the street in Africa, it applies to the governments, but governments only change when the citizens have had enough.

Conditions in Africa will need to get a lot worse before they get better, and the West needs to lose their colonial guilt and let Africans sort out Africa. All the money in the world won’t save it, until it decides to save itself.

[Hugh Potter]

Well said Dude !

[Shane Drew]

you’re right keith, well said

[Peter Normington]

The only reasons Goverments give aid is to have a country in debt, finacially and morally.
Sounds good when the west say they will cancell debts, not that good really, it’s like a loan shark, they cancell the original ammount borrowed, but they have already been paid back several times over in interest. and goods
Its like when you bomb the crepe out of Iraq, then insist they give you the re-building contracts, that way they have to pay the west in oil at extortionate exchange rates.

Rant and rave won’t change a thing I know. But it makes me feel better. 😀
Peter

[Keith Nilsen]

Similarly, the only reasons Governments take aid in Africa is because those countries have been driven into the ground by narrow minded dictators. When their citizens decide to take there future into their own hands then some things might change.

Africa does not need to depend on the West for handouts, it chooses to. It is geographically richer in minerals, resources and arable land than large parts of the rest of the world, yet they are constantly broke.

IMHO the continent should be left alone. Sure, the process of stabilizing itself and deciding its course will be messy and bloody but only Africans can do it. The West should butt out completely and stop trying to interfere in a continent they haven’t got a clue about in the first place.

[Hugh Potter]

you should look into geting on the UN committee Keith, you’re right on !! i reckon most of the worlds probs could be sorted the same way, we’re all so woried about other countries business, that we dont look in our own back yard, sure we’ve learned lessons about nuclear power etc, and i think that we should be pushing restrictions on certain countries, but we cant do everything for them,

i’ve long been tired of the constant chain of charity things that come through the door, or on tv, begging for money all the time, i used to give loads, but now restrict my donations to a healthy donation to the british legion poppy appeal and the macmillan nurses, occasionaly i’ll also put money in the collectors pots in the high street if i agree with the cause. I also do a few hours a fortnight at a local home for adults with learning difficulties, i like to do my bit, but so many constant appeals just seem to get on my nerves now !!

btw, my dad was born in kenya, a brit national, he spent his first 18yrs out there, parents owned a farm, his dad was a national park game warden and railway inspector, when he left, things were good, fields green, schools full, medical centres stocked etc, he went back for the first time last year and was near to tears over how it had changed, roads all shot to hell, crime rate gone mad, schools in ruins etc etc, whislt kenya isnt a particularly bad example, it des show what corruption does !

tough call, i agree with keith, and as strict as i now am about where my money goes, it still remains hard to turn your back, could the world do it i wonder ?????????

[Simon Kay]

That’s the thing, mate. How can you / we turn our backs on the normal folk in whatever country is falling apart.

It could so easily be us. A shift of the poles. A terrorist strike somewhere. A Tsunami!!! All not a million miles away from any of us.

Would we not hope that someone out there would come and help us. Somehow.

I agree with what Keith, Drag on, Shane, and Peter are saying but Jeez if you and I can’t influence our governments into helping those worse of than ourselves in our own countries and elsewhere then I think it’s about time we changed things.

Scozzie.

[Shane Drew]

The problem with so many of these places like africa, is that the problems come down to tribal differences. If the leader is of a different tribe to the masses, they don’t cooperate. It is the same in Iraq with the sunnis, africa with the tutsi… it goes on. And when they do try and change leadership, it always turns into a blood bath.

The hate they have for other tribes is instilled into them from birth. Iraq is a typical example of this. It will take generations to change. It is upto them to make it work as a nation, money will not resolve the issues here alone. The people have to WANT to change as a nation, and that involves looking beyond race or tribe.

Until that happens, it will be more of the same.

Cheers

[Brian Little]

my main concern is that the money we give to these country ….go to the people on the street….the people that need it the most . Watching the news last night on its preaty obvious it aint as theres so many people still living in tents after the tsunami which happened new year 2004 !! 🙁

[Shane Drew]

quote signs elite:

my main concern is that the money we give to these country ….go to the people on the street….the people that need it the most . Watching the news last night on its preaty obvious it aint as theres so many people still living in tents after the tsunami which happened new year 2004 !! 🙁

2004? 😮 Wasn’t it 6 months ago? new year 05? or was I missing somthing, or have you opened that bottle of bundy? 🙄 😛

[Brian Little]

a Shane ….go to the top of the class ..you noticed my cunning plan to make sure that everyone was awake !!!! 😀 😀 😀 😀

[Shane Drew]

quote signs elite:

a Shane ….go to the top of the class ..you noticed my cunning plan to make sure that everyone was awake !!!! 😀 😀 😀 😀

Do I win a bottle of Bundy now? 😛

[Brian Little]

well the compotition is tuff …illl get back to you on that one maty ….were roasting here but they tell me is preaty cold there just now 😀

[Simon Kay]

Yeah man, we heard that Stanthorpe (100kms away) got snow the other day.

[Shane Drew]

cold and wet today 18 deg c.

But we have water shortages here, and on restrictions, so the rain is always welcome.

[Jayne Marsh]

Having read this thread for the first time I think I have to agree with Keith, he has some very valid points.
Also I wonder if the shoe was on the other foot and we were the poor country, would Africa help us? I don’t know……………

[Keith Nilsen]

Poor countries have to take responsibility for their development. Neither China nor India have been renowned for being “rich” countries, yet both these countries are massively emerging economies. No one has forced them to take the required steps to become the global markets they so clearly are.

Of course you can always argue that this progress is at the cost of the poor within those markets, and that there is extreme advantage being taken of the underclasses in those societies. But in the scheme of things it doesn’t take long for the playing field to level out.

Japan entered manufacturing post WWII and their goods were seen as a second rate cheap option. But low cost was its selling point, and while the initial and accurate downside was poor quality, the natural evolution now has Japan manufacturing some of the most cutting edge technology at global market prices.

As I said before, Africa has everything it needs. It just has to do it…