Lexi, as a good Catholic, perhaps you can give Carindal Pell
a ring and tell him to start flogging off some of the huge amount
of property that the church owns in Australia. The church
carries a huge amount of blame as a major cause of the starving
babies, let them put their money where their mouth is.

Peoples legacies leaving property to the church, has been a
great money spinner for them. Some think they can buy the
alleged ticket to heaven, I guess.

Houellebecq - nice to see you posting again... did you have a good holiday?

Anyone who has managed to either grow grey hair or possibly loce it will remember Bob Geldof

Dear old Bob, one time lead singer with the Boomtown Rats. These days probably working as a poster boy for skin diseases

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Aid that was back in 1985... 26 years ago - cripes and I was nearing middle aged then

2005 "Make Poverty History"... yeah, another Irish idiot, Bono strutted his pompous stuff for that one

Same old story.... or maybe same old song

Guess what....

In between fighting and murdering one another, either by design or rape women still have children and

children still starve in the Horn of Africa.

And then when the lucky few get come to Australia they have problems fitting in....

maybe it is in the genes

because it seems to me... regardless the amount of welfare aid which is thrown at it.... the "Starving Kids of Africa" problem remains

I wonder which Band will be next to seek self promotion on the bones of dead kids ?

Dear Antiseptic,

If you don't feel animosity towards anyone -
why do you posts things like -

1) Has anybody in your family missed a meal
so that some starving African child might
get a bite to eat? Thought not.

2) When was the last time you and your family went off
to volunteer to assist these people to get somewhere?

3) ...All a bit dirty and small for you?
And there's people sitting around drunk? The Horror!

4) You're right, you're much better off giving some
spare change to a group of people who will at least
use a little of it than to go to the dirty, nasty
places and do something...It would just be too much
to expect anyone in your family to get their hands
dirty...

If that's not animosity then you must think a lower
standard of ethics or personal behaviour is
acceptable in cyberspace because surely you don't
communicate with people in this manner normally.

As for my "frequently exhibiting streaks of pretension...?"
That's your assumption - people who know me well would
say that you're showing bias here.

I should hope that your family means the world to you.
Mine means the world to me. But that doesn't mean that
we can't make room for others who are less fortunate than
ourselves.

As for our meeting and liking each other.
I wouldn't be at all surprised. There's very few people
that I dislike.

Cheers.

Lexi:"why do you posts things like"

Because they express what I feel very simply and clearly. What on earth would you think was the reason?

And yes, there is room for others in our lives, but it's very much easier when those others are on the other side of the world and someone else has to do the dirty stuff. I note you didn't actually answer my question vis a vis the local Aboriginal communities...

Dear Yabby,

I'm afraid that I'm not a very good Catholic at all.
To me the sum of the actions of Cardinal Pell are
the antithesis of Jesus. I don't think that I'm
in any position to influence those ruthless and
powerful men who currently run the Church.

Dear Col,

Thank You for your input into this thread.
I was interested in your take on Bono.
Tor Hundloe in his book, "From Buddha to Bono:
Seeking Sustainability," had this to say on the
subject:

"Today we are familiar with the rock
concert-for-peace, or concert against poverty.
Bono is a crusader for a better world. The genesis
for using popularity as a pop star for the common
good was the 1968 Broadway for Peace event which
featured major Hollywood stars such as Harry Belafonte,
Barbara Streisand, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Newman and
Joanne Woodward. The year before there had been the
Monterey music festival - music, flower power, peace
and love (there and everything). In 1969 - Woodstock.

Today we are a wee bit sceptical when the next Hollywood
celebrity rushes to Africa - with an entourage of cameramen
and publicists in tow - to illustrate their humanity and
environmental consciousness. Before Angelina and Madonna,
well before - there was Robert Redford. He talked and
walked green before the rest. This is not to argue that
Bob Geldof, and then Bono, were late-comers. Twenty-odd
years of using popular music, and the vanity of politicians
to be connected (photographed) with humans who are genuinely
admired, deserves recognition.

Had Bono been nothing more than a rock star and mindlessly
idle when not performing he would not have dragged the
politicians into his camp. He studied, he read, he talked to
good development economists. He has become far more
knowledgeable of poverty and the environment than the world
leaders who have come to count on him."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jun/25/u2-bono-tax-protest-glastonbury

Lexi, Bono might want a better world as you claim, but he seemingly
does not want to pay for it. Ah, the hypocrites in this world,
do as I say, not as I do