Concept: Link to Friends of the Congo.

I am proud to link today to Friends of the Congo. With the economic discomfort we're feeling here in the U.S., it might be tempting to think that the distress stops at our borders... to be come reclusive and inward looking. In fact, the opposite is true. Whatever tension the United States is experiencing, it is still in a very advantageous position compared to most of the world. Our economic oversights and shortcomings, our failed economic policies have dragged the developing world along with us. This would be a terrible time to close our minds and borders.

It should not be lost, then, that Africa is in the midst of its own "world war," a conflict over money and economic resource that is often disguised or simply interpreted as a wave of "ethnic cleansing." This conflict is rooted in the same issues that prompted the Rwandan genocide over a decade ago, and has involved a number of states (the actual number is in dispute). Over five million have been killed, making this the deadliest conflict since World War II. The Friends of the Congo are committed to sharing this information and working towards a favorable resolution.

Please find this link added to the sidebar under the "cool people" section.

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What's with all of the Africa links?

While this link in particular represents an immediate and pressing concern, I've been reading about Africa recently as part of the research I'm doing for my novel Urbantasm. I'm am researching the roots of all characters; since the setting of the novel is like Flint, many characters are of African extraction. I have the added benefit of learning about a part of the world I know little about; the history courses I've taken so far have treated Africa only briefly and tangentially. Zambia, Mozambique, Congo-Kinshasa... in many ways this is my first exposure.