YOUR COMPUTER HAS BLOOD ON IT

Yummmy blood! OK, I shouldn't be quite so dark about this. But that thing you're reading this text on has this stuff in it called coltan--coltan is what they call columbite-tantalite in Africa and it's used to make a number of basic computer parts that are also common in just about any gadget you own. What does this have to do with yummy blood? Well, it turns out that coltan is mined in the Congo and illegal mining operations have been used as financial sources for the military occupation of the Congo. Think of it like Blood Coltan, you know, like Blood Diamonds, only no Leonardo DiCaprio. According to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coltan|the Coltan page] at Wikipedia.org:

Owing to the difficulty of distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate mining operations, several electronics manufacturers have decided to forgo central African coltan altogether, relying on other sources. All three countries named by the United Nations as smugglers of coltan have denied being involved. Austrian journalist Klaus Werner has documented links between multi-national companies and the illegal coltan traffic.

I'm still using my computer and you should too. I just think it's important that those of us who can afford computers (and other gadgets) understand where they come from and part of why they are affordable to us. Sure, some of the coltan in your electronics may not be Bloody, but like the diamond in any piece of jewelry, you can't be completely sure someone didn't die for it. This is still true even if the company that made the device promises that they didn't get the coltan from the Congo. Personally, I'm going to assume my laptop is bloody and use that quiet guilt to further inspire my continuing work to change things, even if I am only able to change things a little. Any change is better than nothing, right?

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