so it's 11:56 on wednesday night... day three of the fast. I'm planning on breaking my fast at midnight.

I've just received word that the sudanese forces carried out a bombing raid on North Darfur today. And then this: In an IDP camp in west Darfur they ran out of water completely. I feel tremendously sad. Frustrated by the injustices and and feeling ridiculously small in the face of it all.

Tonight I pass the baton to a hero of mine, peter gabriel who be fasting for the next three days. It's a sobering thought, the luxury of being able to go back to food and while millions cannot. 

I might be an idealist. I might not have a political mind. But I do know that something is off. 

And I take a look at a nation of excess, (including my own) and I wonder why we as a nation aren't involved in what many are calling the paramount international human-rights crisis -- the Darfur genocide. Speaking of Darfur during his campaign,  Obama said: "As president of the United States, I don't intend to abandon people." Yet he is. About genocide,  he said,  "We can't say 'never again' and allow it to happen again." But it is happening again. 

With the U.S. budget deficit on track to rise to a record setting 1.84 trillion dollars in the current fiscal year, we remain uncommitted to Darfur. As a nation we are literally living on borrowed money, borrowing from the future to pay for the present.  And yet, the staggering loss of human life in Darfur is not on our national priority list. With our budget we are declaring what is most important to our nation. In our excess we are abandoning Darfur. 

Mother Theresa said this: "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish." I am so convicted by her words.

I want to be a part of the solution. I want to laugh with those who laugh, weep with those who weep, and suffer with those who suffer. I have lost much of my childlike faith in the government, but I have a hope for justice still. Maybe God alone can bring about final justice, but in this life I feel we are called to pursue it with our flesh and blood. If Christ was best known for his death, "laying down his life for his friends" then shouldn't his followers do likewise? serving and loving those in need? These are not things I can do on my own. I need your help. we all need a community to thrive in, to challenge us... to threaten us with abundant living. 

This is our world. It's what you and me and the millions of other souls on our planet make it. This is your darfur, my darfur... Our chance to act or pretend that we don't care. Whatever your personal religious convictions may be, the tragedy in Darfur is impossible to ignore. 

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fastdarfur.org

here's a few things online that I found informative:

Civil Society Urges Obama to Adopt New Peace Strategy
AngolaPress - Luanda,Angola
... press for a settlement of what they describe as Sudan's “multiple, interlocking conflicts” – the war Darfur, the proxy war between Chad and the Sudan, ...
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Egypt dispatches official to Sudan for discussions on CPA
Sudan Tribune - Sudan
Egypt and the US also discussed Darfur and tensions between Chad and Sudan which they both agreed is a key element in resolving the crisis in the Western ...
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George Clooney Reacts to Mia Farrow's Fast
TheInsider.com - San Francisco,CA,USA
"I ran into Mia in Chad this January. She'd been living in the camps and villages on the border of Darfur for weeks," Clooney said of the actress. ...
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MOSSAD Active in Stalling Equipment on Sudanese-Chadian Borders
Sudan Vision - Khartoum,Sudan
Ma'areef Newspaper quoted military sources close to Chadian opposition as saying that the area along Sudanese –Chadian borders is witnessing intensified ...
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US calls on Sudan, Chad to stop support for violence in Darfur
Xinhua - China
The Sudan-Chad relations have been in tension due to the conflict in Darfur and a civil war in Chad, which both governments accuse the other of supporting. ...
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French, Canadian aid workers freed in Darfur
The Associated Press
France has been active in international diplomatic efforts with Sudan to end the conflict in Darfur. The semiofficial Sudan Media Center said 13 kidnappers ...
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First 100 Days - Obama African Report Card: D
Ethiopian Review - Washington,DC,USA
John Kerry's visit to Khartoum pushed the Sudanese government to agree to allow some of the expelled humanitarian and aid agencies back to Darfur. ...
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DARFUR: THE SHOCK OF RESPONSIBILITY
World War 4 Report - Brooklyn,NY,USA
Al-Turabi has a good number of people influenced by his thinking in all sections of the Sudanese elite, including among the Darfur insurgencies. ...
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Sudan peace accord at ..critical stage'
eTaiwan News - Taiwan
Rice said the United States is also concerned about the deteriorating relations between Chad and Sudan, saying the relationship between the neighbors ...
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Bono Questions George Clooney On Darfur

Look To The Stars - Chester,UK
... asked: “What went through your mind the first time you saw the squandering of human life that's an everyday experience in Darfur andSudan or in Chad? ...
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Mia Farrow Blogs Her Hunger Strike
New York Times - United States
Ms. Farrow's blog is otherwise devoted to what is happening in Darfur and in the refugee camps in Chad she visited for four weeks earlier this year. ...
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Darfur rebels resume talks with Khartoum
Africasia - London,UK
Sudan and Chad, whose relations are seen as key to ending the Darfur conflict, on Sunday signed a Qatar-brokered deal to end hostilities after the two ...
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Rebels clash with govt forces in Chad
RTE.ie - Ireland
... is regarded as essential to any lasting settlement to a six-year-old uprising in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, where Chad's rebels have bases.
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Hope & Despair
Santa Fe Reporter - Santa Fe,NM,USA
While “Darfur” has become a buzzword in current talks of genocide and human rights, few people truly understand the roots of the conflict in Sudan. ...
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Solidarités denounces its expulsion from Darfur
ReliefWeb (press release) - Geneva,Switzerland
We denounce the political instrumentalisation of humanitarian aid in Darfur. SOLIDARITES is still active in this region, in South Sudan, Chad and Central ...
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Sudan, Darfur rebel group resume peace talks
Reuters - USA
Wednesday's meeting follows reconciliation talks between Chad and Sudan that were held in Doha last week. The porous border between the two African ...
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'Exposing Darfur' Features Ann Curry Photographs
Washington Post - United States
The journalists, who are expected to attend, took the photographs while reporting from Chad and the Darfurregion of Sudan. The images illustrate the Darfur ...
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AFP

Peacekeepers patrol lawless Darfur nights
AFP
EL GENEINA, Sudan (AFP) — The peacekeepers' convoy enters the alleyways of Ardamata refugee camp, stirring up a cloud of dust amid the last rays of the ...
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Washington Times

Bashir defies war crimes process
Washington Times - Washington,DC,USA
In the meantime, the US is placing its hopes on negotiations, including talks between Chadand Sudan that are being mediated by Libya and hosted by Qatar. ...
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Mbeki Says AU Panel on Darfur To Meet ICC Prosecutor
Voice of America - USA
"For instance, a strong view that it's critically important that relations between Sudan and Chad governments, that those relations should be normalized. ...
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SUDAN: Too Many Tribes, Not Enough Cash
Strategy Page - USA
The representatives were protesting the war in Darfur. The congressmen also demanded that the Sudangovernment let NGO food and medical relief groups return ...
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Kids Collect Paperclips to Fight Genocide
KGMB9 - Honolulu,HI,USA
To understand project paperclip you first need to know about Darfur. "You see right here by the border ofChad and Sudan," said Tim Plick, 8th Grader. ...
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STAND simulates refugee camp to protest genocide
UNR The Nevada Sagebrush (registration) - Reno,NV,USA
The group hosted the demonstration in order to raise more awareness about genocide in countries such asDarfur, Sudan and East Burma. Photo by Amy Beck. ...
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