How many pop stars does it take to change a light bulb?

There's been some speculation about the amount of carbon expended on "Live Earth" in order to warn us of the danger of global warming. It may have had some effect, as I decided to keep my television "carbon neutral", via the off switch, lest I should accidentally become exposed to James Blunt. Organisers offered a lame statement about the event being "as carbon neutral as possible", in much the same way as the 2003 invasion of Iraq aimed to kill as few civilians as possible.

I'm intrigued by the way that, it seems, young people can only grasp political issues in terms of pop concerts. Do teenagers only understand the Common Agricultural Policy in terms of Foo Fighters albums? When the government wastes millions of pounds on a hare-brained IT scheme, does the Daily Mail, tell us it's the equivalent of 300 Arctic Monkeys concerts?

Maybe that's where the Stop The War coalition went wrong four years ago. Instead of organising a million people to march through London, they should have got Joss Stone on stage to denouce the American political hegemony through the medium of limp soul music. That would have showed 'em.