Re: Philanthropy

The G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, has ended with a pledge of $50 Billion for development in Africa. The world leaders who signed the accord were no doubt bullied into action by various performances at July 2nd's Live 8 concerts. Prime Minister Paul Martin, in a show of solidarity with the literally dozens of people watching the Barenaked Ladies in Canada, vowed to fight the economic inequities represented in "If I Had A Million Dollars." While watching Shakira sing "La Tortura" in Paris, Jacques Chirac commented that the real torture is poverty. And Silvio Berlusconi, in tears during Duran Duran's "Wild Boys" in Rome, declared "It is time for we world leaders to act like Wild Men."

The videos for these performances and more can be found here.

Be sure to watch the Robbie Williams "Angels" video; about halfway through, there's a close-up of a girl sitting on someone's shoulders, arms in the air, in the classic "We Love You Robbie" concert pose. She waves her arms back and forth but realizes that something stinks, buries her nose in her armpit, then decides "Fuck it. They're Robbie Williams fans. They'll deal." You'll have to endure some corny crowdplay and some worse cameraplay to get there, but it's a brilliant moment where one fan affirms her commitment to helping poor Africans.