'Act Honestly, Love Tenderly, Walk Humbly' words of wisdom from one of the Catholic churches I pass by every day on my way to work. Actually, come to think of it, it may be one of the only Catholic churches in Edinburgh. In any case, wouldn't it be nice if we all followed these simple guidelines?

OK, so the G8 Summit is coming to town in the first week of July. OK, specifically it is coming to Gleneagles, which is 30 miles outside Edinburgh, but all the protests and events being planned in line with this meeting of the most powerful are going to happen in Edinburgh.

I wonder, does anyone over there (in North America) know just how MUCH is going to go down in that week?

OK, for startes Sir BOb GEdolf (creator of Live Aid and former member of Boomtown Rats, who really could use with a haircut), has arranged for a number of MASSIVE concerts to be held during theG8 Summit. Appropriately, the concerts will be called Live8. There will be one in Hyde Park , London, Paris, Rome (i think) and a few other European locations. There is only one being held in N American, in Philly. Superstars lined up to perform at the concerts include Madonna, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney to naem but a VERY few. And these concerts are meant to raise awareness of the plight of poverty in Africa first and foremost, so tickets are being given away in a lottery. People text in to a number and a random lottery distributes the tickets. Each text cost £1.50, which is donated to the charity Make Poverty History.

THen there is the MAke Poverty History March, also organized by Bob. HE has called for 1 MILLION people to march the streets of Edinburgh to raise awareness of the poverty in Africa. 1 Million people! !How is that going to work - the population of Edinburgh is only hlaf a million!!

Anywho, I know its a noble and worthy cause- marching to eliminate poverty , but wouldn't a March to Make GREED History be so much more productive??? I mean, really, the main reason we have such devastation in Africa is because the Western world is unwlling to give up its lifestyle, which is heavily reliant on third-world labour wages, being able to exploit the environment in far off lands such as Asia and Africa and living a disposable lifestyle. I'm sorry, but throwing money into the pot for poverty hardly sems the place to where we could make a major difference. Because, you konw, if we gave $5, $10 or $100 towards the cause of poverty, what would it really mean to our lifestyle in the long run? Nothing. Without sacrifice, I can't see change happening. But that's just one girl's opinion - and what do I know? I am, after all, drinking a Diet COke as I write this, so am being rather hypocritical aren't I?