People Before Profit... Before The Sodding Live8 Line-Up

Today was a day when the developed world told the G8 leaders that they would no longer put up with such greed, corruption, and two-faced lies. People participated in a Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh to demand trade justice, debt cancellation, and more and better aid for the world's poorest countries. As the leaders of the world's richest countries gather here in Scotland for the G8 Summit, the demonstration was to draw the world's media attention, and focus awareness that the G8's plans for the developing world are not good enough. This is the start of a movement for putting people before profit. We want change, and we want it now.

The day had long been planned to hold a peaceful protest in Edinburgh. It is one of a handful of demonstrations happening in Scotland in the run-up to the G8 summit. I feel proud to have been one of a quarter of a million marchers, each of us dressed in white, to take part in this, the largest ever political demonstration to be held in Scotland. Unfortunately though, despite the fact that this had been the scheduled main event for the Make Poverty History campaign for months now, media attention was somewhat hijacked by some other events happening around the world. Our protest march became relagated to the brief "in other news" section of most news programs, while the bulk of news coverage was spent watching various "well meaning" musicians perform in live concerts around the globe...

Bob Gelfdoff's Live8 has only served to take media attention away from the real protest, and to instead create a media circus about which headline acts would be performing. He has completely confused the essence and meaning of the whole campaign. The coverage of the whole Live8 event has sickened me. The day was not about being the greatest live music event in history - it was about sending a message to the G8 leaders that we demand change. The various interviews with gig-goers only confirmed that most of them didnt really have a clue, or care about why they were getting a free gig ..only that it was free, and had probably a better line up than Glastonberry.

Its so nice to see that the message wasn't lost on them then.

Ways I do not like to spend my Fridays part one: Covered in pus

Imagine my surprise when I went to pet my cat, Leo, who was sleeping soundly on my bed, when I discovered that his neck was covered in putrid smelling pus. On closer inspection I found that it seemed to be coming from an absess on his neck which we had somehow been oblivious to. Until now. Leo is always getting in scraps with other cats, and I had noticed that he had a healing wound, but had no idea that there was an absess forming below it. I am such a bad mother.

So I wrapped him into a bundle using a towel (for fear of being covered in the foul smelling goo), and whisked him away to the vet's. Sarah had cunningly managed to orchestrate it so that I was the one left holding the pus-ey cat while she kept a safe distance. Stupidly, once in the car, with a growling Leo on my lap, I let me grip slip. Cue: wildly scrabbling kitty and spurting amounts of unspeakablness as the wound kept getting squeezeed out. By the time we actually reached the vets both Leo and myself were in a state of shocked horror.

You will be relieved to hear that Leo's prognosis is good, in a few days his wound will have drained and he will fully recover. I, on the other hand, have been mentally scarred by the whole affair. I may never be able to eat custard again. On top of this I was virtually made to strip naked and be hosed down outside before Sarah would let me back in the house, and even now she still wrinkles her nose in disgust whenever she comes too close.