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I woke up at 7:28 this morning and said to myself, "~~Ari~~ Self, wasn't George supposed to be on Today this morning talking about Darfur? When does Today come on? Isn't it like 6-9? I'll never catch him -- but I should check anyway, right? RIGHT."

So, I turn on the telly, and -- "Our next segment is George Clooney and his father, journalist Nick Clooney, talking about their trip to Darfur, where mass genocide has displace 2 million of the nation's 6 million inhabitants. Where inhabitants have to decide who will go out to collect supplies, the men -- who will be killed -- or the women, who will be raped."

They didn't say that part in the teaser, but it was in the interview. It's in the papers that aren't US papers. It's been said a lot. Can you imagine making that sort of decision? Can you imagine HAVING to make that sort of decision? Be glad you don't. Be thankful that you don't live in Darfur. Be horrified, be angry, be mindful of those who do.

I try not to politicise in this journal, but I've talked about Darfur once before, about a year or two ago, and things haven't changed. They've gotten worse. If you can donate just a little, the price of a pack of cigarettes or that third beer at the bar, that helps. It helps a lot. If you don't have any money, then please, PLEASE, at least sign a postcard, just to let people know that you're not going to pretend that everything's okay when it's not.

It's easy to wake up in the morning and say I'm just one person; I can't change the world; I can't really do anything -- I can't even pay my bills! I know how easy it is to feel helpless or apathetic, or say that's not my problem, but it never hurts to try, just a little bit.

Maybe if we all try a little, we can make a little difference, and a little difference is a lot better than no difference at all.

ETA:

phaballa helpfully pointed out that for people in the D.C. Metro area Save Darfur is holding a rally this weekend at the Capitol, so going out there and showing your support would up your karma points to some infinite area. Also, George Clooney will be there, and he will be SPEAKING. I know how much you guys love George. Plus, good cause.

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One person can TOTALLY make a huge difference. If you keep at it and don't shut up and act like a total ass about it all the time when people just want to talk about porn.

Personal experience? *laughs*

George, George! He uses his power for good, and for that he might end up going down as the best celebrity ever.

I think the whole rape thing also needs to be clarified to indicate that in this case "rape" doesn't just mean a simple sexual assualt but gang rape by soldiers who also inflict as much pain and torture on the victims as possible, and the fact that the women are then ostracized by their own men.

Oi! You! Off my soapbox, Ari save me.

Also, did you see the interview, because George was sitting next to his dad, doing the thing that all kids -- no matter how old you are -- do when they're in awe of their parents and was just staring at him like OMGyouaresosmaht!

I'm allergic to mornings. Maybe it will be on youtube soon.

Actually, George and his dad normally don't get along. They must have made up.

It's on the Today site, which is linked to in my post.

And I think it should be clarified that this is GOVERNMENT SPONSORED rape and genocide. And that the US didn't bother to even call it genocide until very recently, completely ignored the situation until a few months ago, and has now decided it is too late. And the Sudanese government is also waging war on a neighboring country (Nigeria maybe? Can't remember). And last I heard, nearly all the blacks in Darfur had been murdered or displaced, so the genocide was sort of over.

OKAY. Right, so the issue of the "civil war" in Sudan is one of the myriad where the entire problem was created by the vacuum of post-colonialism combined with religious warfare. It's been going on for FOREVER, with child slavery, child conscription, systemized rape, displacement of peoples, and western indifference to the plight of Africians. In other words--snafu.