25 November 2008

Getting a Few Things in Order

This semester has really flown by as I have spread myself thinner and thinner. As such, I have not been able to devote the attention deserved to any one thing in which I am involved - this blog, classes, extracurricular activities, or even friends I don't usually see. And things will only get busier before I leave for another Christmas in South Korea.

In an effort to organize myself more readily for the last few weeks of class, followed immediately by finals, I am suspending this blog until the beginning of the year. Hopefully, by that time, I will have some well-thought-out posts that will receive the attention they deserve. I have several posts I've been tinkering with - hopefully, they will see the light of day.

In the meantime, please read this article about the resurgence of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda and the neighboring Congo. After coming so close to ending the war, new abductions and massacres threaten to plunge the war into its darkest period yet. The twenty-year-long civil war has taken a turn for the worse. While the world watches the situation in the Congo, few realize that the LRA, the cult-based rebel militia from Uganda, is steadily contributing to the turmoil in both countries. Please, write to your Senators and Representatives, to both the President and the President-elect, and to the Department of State. We should have acted years ago, and every day longer we do nothing, more children are put at risk, their futures taken from them in the name of death, destruction, and despair.

Please, visit Invisible Children and Resolve Uganda for more information.

Rock on.

Edit - 29 November 2008: For those unaware, LRA leader Joseph Kony has, to date, refused to sign the peace treaty because the ICC has issued his arrest warrant. While I have in the past and do continue to support the efforts of the ICC, I have spoken with Ugandans who say that they are more than willing to forgive the LRA if it brigns about an end to the war - following in the steps of post-Apartheid South Africa before them. As such, the Ugandan government has stated they will have the ICC lift the warrants if Kony signs the final treaty, ending the war. This article, posted by the BBC today, suggests that peace may still be within reach.

Watch and pray.
Edit - 30 November 2008: Kony was a no-show.