I don't think we need a right to be sad; I think emotions just are what they are. I think the problem comes when "being sad" is considered to be some sort of Hugely Important Thing, such that we don't need to do anything more, because it's so weightily important that we Are Officially Sad.

Being sad changes nothing. One can, for example, be completely eaten up with the weighty feeling of the White (Wo)Man's Burden... and be doing nothing productive, because the sadness is shot through with poisonous contempt.

Yes Trin of course human emotions are a primal fact. I chose those words to make a point. As you said, too often for too many sadness is seen as enough - as a conclusion rather than the beginning of an effort to make things better.

First of all, I would like to thank you for being a conscious, informed person because by just writing about the genocide in Darfur, you are helping to educate so many people around the world who have let this crisis go unseen. As an international relations student, I have read so many articles and studied so many books about what is going on in Sudan, yet I have also increasingly come in contact with dozens of people who are wholly unaware of the magnitude of the situation. Outside of Darfur, few people are willing to recognize that such brutalities are still going on; many believed after Hitler massacred six million Jews that the world would never have to endure and be a witness to another genocide. However, as you believe too, we have let this go on far too long. I have written a few papers about how to stop this atrocity, but it never occurred to me to boycott the Coca-Cola Company in light of the Olympics in Beijing this summer. While this may be effective for hurting their revenues short-term, after the games are over in August the company's name will no longer be as synonymous with China, let alone the Chinese policy towards Sudan. Thus I have to wonder if you have other ideas that are just as direct in addressing Chinese policy but that also incorporate a longer time dimension. You briefly mentioned letter writing in petition to the Internal Olympics Committee, do you legitimately think this is something that will make a difference in changing Chinese policy? I have always been of the mindset that there are actions more powerful than stacks of papers and emails. With all this being said, it is heart rendering that any country, especially a permanent member of the UN Security Council, would help a government that is executing a genocide. However, perhaps the silver lining to this cloud is that in light of the Olympics this summer, massive global attention is now being directed towards Darfur, forcing China among others to reconcile with their current policies.

What an interesting blog you have! Very unique!
Blessings to you for joining the collective effort to bring attention to the genocide in Darfur.

Peace & Love
Regina

There are a million reasons not to drink coke.

TNH, I get your point about the temporary nature of the coke/China relationship...except that after the hype, Coke will still feel the sting of a boycott. It is a small step, but it's a step. As I said, I am not using any Coca Cola owned products until they at least sign a letter.

From www.miafarrow.org

"We didn't ask much. We didn't ask them to quit. We asked so little of them. When we initially approached them, asking if they could use their positions of leverage with their host, they had ALL replied (in similar language) "this is not our job, it's the UN's job". So then we asked them to write a joint letter to the members of the UN Security Council urging them to make good on UN Resolution 1769 which they all signed in July -- when China headed the S. C. It authorized the deployment of 26,000 peacekeepers into Darfur. Although it stated that the force should be "predominantly"of African origin, the Government of Sudan, perpetrators of the crimes in the region, continue to insist that the troops be EXCLUSIVELY African."

Also TNH, we, the USA are China's biggest trading partner. We have some sway with them. They hold our debt, but we control the rate of their economic expansion (through our consumption of their exports.) As a frequent letter writer and phone caller when SaveDarfur.org sends out the word, I've sent out about a dozen blast emails over the years to get friends involved too when specific bills were up for vote in congress or the president needed to sign something. You know what? Each of these Save Darfur campaigns worked. But now Sudan must allow peacekeepers and only China can exert the level of pressure needed to have that happen.

True enough, Elaine! But no more Daisani, Fresca, MinuteMaid, Fruitopia, Sparkletts, Powerade, STELLA ARTOIS (arrghh!) or Schweppes for me either.

Wow. I had no idea that Coke sponsored the Nazis. Not that I drink them or any of thsoe products they make. Sometimes Schweppes. Easy to cut that one out, tho it won't be much of a bite in their pocket.

This is so huge and horrible. I feel so helpless in all of it. Thanks for posting this here with all the links.

The world is half-drowned in crime, violence, and sorrow. I wish I could do so much more.

Dear Nez, thank you for welcoming the post here. I have decided to live in a little bit of denial. I will deny my sense of helplessness for awhile, for as long as I can.

"The world is half-drowned in crime, violence, and sorrow. I wish I could do so much more." Never a truer thing said, my friend.

we can be sad at the state of the world, sad at the hatred and disease that infuses fellow human beings and causes them to do things like this. sad, maybe even angry... and hopefully constructive with our rage.

so true, dori.