Africa
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The future of Africa will affect us all so learn the truth about Africa and the hell that many children are going through.  Africa has valuable resources that are being measured and coveted by many greedy eyes.  If you read the two very short stories called War & Money and Terrorism is not new you will grasp some idea of why Africa is in turmoil.

Many Africans are going through turmoil because they have resources that the world wants to steal.  If individual Africans suggest that they should have a right to their natural wealth they are labelled as terrorists or insurgents and duly dealt with, often by a despot that is strangely in place to keep the booty flowing.

The despot usually has an equally despotic underpaid army to support and protect him so, because the regulars in the army are often as desperate as the civilians, corruption is rife; so everybody suffers except the despot and his few henchmen.

Once a despot is overthrown it is usually only a person of an equal caliber to the previous dictator that seems to get the top job.  So of course it is business as usual.  It is strange that the leaders of the so-called great democracies never refer to such regular shenanigans; perhaps it�s because their own vulture mates are the ones that are extracting the loot.

This does not happen in every African country but it is a rule of thumb and every country that is rich in resources has this common trend.  Many thugs that rule neighboring countries are usually left to their own devices, so now and again we do hear of some little dictator who treats the people that he controls so cruelly.  Let�s not delve too deeply however or the penny might drop.

Oh yes, and we have all heard of the trickle down effect from those jobs that are created by the extraction of a countries wealth.  The problem with the trickle down effect is that it always seems to trickle in the wrong direction.  But a few crumbs here and there always look good for PR.

Paradoxically most intelligent and educated people know this story too well as it is recurring and familiar, however, there are many intelligent people who are in denial; but there is nothing new about it and it has all been said before.

If this story upsets you and if you think this story is too simplistic, then by all means do come up with a more complicated one and it can go here with your name beside it.

Many large newspapers deal with the aforementioned issues by employing the services of a Shock Jock Journalist.  A shock jock can make anything look whiter than white; and has the skills to look �oh so balanced�.

African Maps
It may seem unbelievable but there are millions of Americans who think that Africa is a country.  That�s right; there are Americans who refer to �The Country of Africa�; so obviously they have never seen it on the world map.

Now there is a market just waiting to be tapped, selling atlases and globes of the world to Americans; if you can find one that is interested.  We all need the Americans but what hope does the world have if the Americans themselves are not interested.

Some tell me that the problem is that Americans do not learn geography in school.  That argument does not hold much water because most people learn most of their geography after they leave school.

It is so strange however that they don�t learn basic geography in school because their government and corporations are doing lots of things around the world, so you�d think that they would be interested in what is actually going on and where.

Their president will not tell them because he would not really know himself; he is only given little sets of words to say every now and again so the public think they are being kept up to date on world affairs.

Americans should also try to find out why they are so unpopular on the world scene when most Americans are very likeable and friendly people.  As a matter of fact some Americans i�ve found to be the most polite people you could ever meet.

Also, Australians, it might be worthwhile taking note that on the world scene for personal generosity Americans will leave Australians for dead.

The problem is that if anybody tries to explain to many Americans what is really happening around the globe many just go into denial.  So perhaps it is up to Americans to educate Americans.  The good thing about America is that they have many good alternative media outlets; that is if anyone would care to look at them.

African Maps
The Africa Guide
Perry-Casta�eda Library Map Collection (A great set of maps on Africa)
Africa � World Atlas
Africana Map (A good map of Africa in relation to Europe)
War & Money - How to make lots of money out of war
Terrorism is not new (A short history of terrorism beginning at the Crusades)
The Horrible but true Story of Child Soldiers in Africa

If we call ourselves civilised then we must make this horror story become history as soon as possible; the Media could do it, if they cared to embarrass enough politicians into speaking out.  The President of America does not care and it appears by the silence from Canberra, nor does our own Prime Minister.

Perhaps watching Cricket is much too important than to be wasting time worrying about such trivia as the murder and brutalisation of little children; after all we are Christians aren�t we?  Using children as cannon fodder and live mine sweepers can�t be seen as terrorism can it?  They are only kids after all; so let�s keep it in perspective hey.  What do you think Mr. Prime Minister?  And what do you think Mr. Leader of the Opposition?

So where is our media?  Turn on the evening news and what do you get?  You will get: cops and robber stories, car accidents and lots of sports; just what you need for the �The News!� to keep a country nice and ignorant.  Well what do you know; it�s about the same recipe used by the ancient Romans to keep the citizens ignorant.

The ancient Roman recipe for control was to give the people �Bread and Circuses�; that is what the ancient Roman arenas were about; Brutal Circuses and then make sure that the population had a full belly.

In Australia we mostly have �Sport�, car accidents and Soapies.  In America they have the �Ball game�, Sitcoms, Religion and patriotism; and in the eighties about one in seven adult Americans could not even find their own country on the world map.  Let�s hope that the statistics have ameliorated at least a little; for the sake of everyone.

Useful sites about Africa
Wars for Africa�s wealth
All Africa
Africa Confidential
Human Rights Watch - Africa
iAfrica.com
Royal African Society
Internet African History Sourcebook
School Net Africa (A great site for schools in Five Languages)
African Studies Quarterly
The Republic of Congo (World Fact Book � The Congo)
Congo � African Studies Center
As alluded to previously the President of America and the Prime Minister of Australia are big on terrorism.
However, you�ll notice that they never mention these poor kids.  The use of Child Soldiers in Congo
Children at war in the Congo � Amnesty International
More about Child Soldiers - There are at present about 300 000 of these brutalized kids in the world


DARFUR � SUDAN - Genocide at its Worst
Over two hundred thousand murdered and millions flee from their homes.

Should Al Jazeera not be doing more to enlighten the Muslim World about Darfur?

Many Muslims are blaming the Americans for the disaster in Darfur and there are many that just go into denial and say that there is no problem in Darfur and it is nothing more than western propaganda.

The American War Machine has a lot to answer for but it cannot be blamed for what is happening in Darfur.  The horror in Darfur is about oil, nothing more; and in this case it has nothing to do with the Americans; except for their silence about the real reasons for this ongoing tragedy.

The people at Al Jazeera know the truth about Darfur, so with the prestige enjoyed by Al Jazeera in the Muslim world, it must be their job to inform the Muslim world about it.  If you ignore a fact it still remains a fact and sometimes the truth must be known before justice can be done, or the truth will come back to haunt you.

Perhaps The Friends of Al Jazeera could initiate an honest campaign at Al Jazeera on the issue of Darfur in Sudan.  Of course, if Al Jazeera is receiving funding from Sudan then they may never tell the truth about Darfur. Friends of Aljazeera

The Chinese are not likely to tell the world about Darfur, because if they do, Sudan might kick out the thousands of Chinese workers that are there for Sudan�s oil.  The Russians are not likely to say much about Darfur, because the word around the traps is that Russia is selling weapons to the Sudanese.  So, if that is a fact then the Russians are bound to remain silent as well.

Save Darfur
Darfur � Human Rights Watch International
Doctors without Borders - Darfur
Sudan � Darfur
Sudan Darfur still a conflict zone � Amnesty International
The killing fields of Africa
Genocide in Darfur



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