At the G8 summit in Scotland, Bono and Bob Geldof heaped praise on Tony Blair and George Bush, who were still mired in the butchery they had initiated in Iraq.

I never listen to what the G8, G9, G10, G15, G20, G25 G-Whatever have to say.

They are not legitimate by any means, it is just a club of rich nations that think they have the right to decide the future of the planet on their own!

Let them speak and feed their self-importance. With no secretariat, no treaty or legal instrument to back up its decisions and no power to force member nations to do anything,

The decisions made on a global scale should be with the participation of all countries, not just the rich few. 

Anyway the G20 in Brisbane are certain not to find a global response to Ebola, the conflict in the Ukraine, the International Action against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria and Russia’s response to the downing of MH17.

Will it Boosting growth, infrastructure, tax enforcement and free trade not on your Nelly.  In reality it’s just an other gossip shop with 4,000 delegates and 3000 media. An excuse for a party.

The members of the G20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

While the G8  is a divisive body made up of the seven most powerful economies of the world, (United States, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Canada, Italy) and Russia. The world’s “elite” economic and political countries make up the G8. Acknowledged by some as a casual forum for the world’s leaders to discuss matters of mutual concern, while derided by others for being ineffective and for excluding important nations (China, for example) in their affairs.

One of the most pressing questions for these G Clubs, is their relevance – with many arguing that there are now so fewer international superpowers, that any power remaining in the hands of ‘powerful’ nations is diluted to the point of irrelevance.

The Clubs represent about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85 per cent of global gross domestic product and over 75 per cent of global trade.

For me they create policies in order to have the authority to exploit developing countries resources. The policies are not “optional”  they are indirectly mandatory in forms of trade agreements.

Together, these countries are able to push policies and agendas in formal world institutions. For example, G8 countries have nearly 50% of the vote in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). G8 countries also have enormous influence in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Security Council of the United Nations (UN). World Bank, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

This is the case despite the fact that, unlike the above institutions, (Today, these institutions are plagued with identity and representational crises and find themselves ineffective in the face of new global challenges, such as responding to the outbreak of intrastate conflicts, stopping financial crisis contagion, and regulating transnational corporations. Structural reform is necessary if the WTO, World Bank, IMF, and UN are to meet some of these challenges, while other global problems will require new, visionary agendas of global governance — and new institutions. See previous Postings) the G8/G7 has no permanent staff, no headquarters, no set of rules governing its operations, and no formal or legal powers.

For those negatively impacted by the policy agendas advanced by the G8/G7, and for countries excluded from its deliberations, the G8/G7’s influential role in global governance is highly resented and frequently criticized.

Unfortunately, the G8/G7 has shown little leadership in addressing the deepening crisis of global governance. Indeed both have contributed to this crisis by supporting policy solutions that bypass the UN and that favor transnational corporations over public welfare. 

A yet more fundamental challenge to global governance in the post-9.11 era is failure of Japan, Russia, and European nations to mount a challenge to the increasingly assertive U.S. expressions of hegemony and supremacy in military, economic, cultural, and diplomatic affairs.

But we don’t have to worry.

A worldwide estimates suggest that as many as 36 million people live today with dementia, with just over 40% of them in high-income countries. And these numbers… are set to triple… by 2050. And according to Alzheimer’s Disease International… every day every 4 seconds someone somewhere develops dementia., which Putin will have done by the time he lands in Moscow he will have invented another G Club.

    

Slavery is illegal in every country, yet millions are enslaved by vicious criminals, archaic traditions and brutal greed. As news media uncover shocking stories of modern day slavery, more and more people are waking up to the need to take action.The reasons why slavery still exists are complex. In many countries the fight against slavery is not a priority. In some countries, existing laws are not being enforced. In some countries, certain forms of slavery are so common that they are almost considered normal.

This would have being worth discussing.