WHITEY ON THE MOON

Much as it gladdened my heart to see Live 8 put added celebrity / moral pressure on the G8 there's something that made me shift uncomfortably in my seat as I watched the press conference yesterday (watch the launch here)

First of all there is SOMETHING good about the fact he's not just asking for money – the effect is to galvanise a protest plan that has already been outsmarted by the authorities geographical and media manipulation.

Now the press is totally confused by the series of ethical conundrums it presents. Is Sir Bob Jesus or Satan?

The press flips as you turn each page. The trash-press (see this mornings hilarious hysterical Daily Mail) will continue with the ‘anarchists are coming!’ line but most of the media is genuinely wrong-footed by Geldof’s call to arms. It will also significantly boost the numbers going to Auchterarder (even the ‘Long Walk for Justice’ needs a destination).

But the all-white line-up for Live 8 (both of the organisers and of the bands) is extraordinary. It adds to the recurring theme of the infantilism of Africa and the de-politicisation of the event. I’m not looking for tokenism here but where are the radical Afro-American and Afro-European voices? Apart from Youssou N'Dour the line-up looks like a Persil ad. And no Mariah Carey doesn’t count. In general she just doesn’t count, okay?

Dido, Annie Lennox, Madonna and Elton? This is the guy who once admitted spending £25,000 on flowers, now he’s urging us to listen to him talking about poverty. They're taking the piss?