Africa

As I've blogged here before, I've recently delved into the "Africa" topic. I've always had a fascination with the black continent, but lately it's grown.


I've started a book called "The Heartless Stone" by Tom Zoellner. It's about the diamond trade, which includes Africa, Japan, the U.S., etc. So far it's a fascinating look into how the diamond, and diamond mining has caused problems in several African countries, and even in Japan, how in 20 years time, through intense marketing, the diamond entered Japanese cultures so that now almost every Japanese woman is given a diamond engagement ring, where as 40 years ago it was 60%, and 20 years before that, it was 1%.....but I digress.



We recently watched "Beyond the Gates", a movie about the Rwandan genocide, that eerily parallels what I believe is happening in Kenya.








Also, as I've mentioned before, the book "When A Crocodile Eats the Sun" is a good inside look at the problem "white" Africans face, as people (an many times farmers) who have lived in Africa their whole lives, and are descendants of Europeans. However, when push comes to shove, they are often forcibly removed from their land, creating even more economic and social problems.