Hope

For many Americans, the Sonora Desert conjures up images of a summer vacation replete with tequila shots and sunshine with Toby Keith's "Stays in Mexico" song blaring in the background.

There's been a lot of fascinating coverage of the protest in Egypt today. Here's a round up of links and videos you may have missed:

Last summer's financial reform bill included something the world has long needed: a requirement that electronics manufacturers disclose whether their products include conflict minerals from Congo. Money from conflict minerals helps fund militias' reign of terror and rape in the country's eastern region. (See activist site Raise Hope for Congo's listing of how 21 leading electronics companies are doing at voluntary disclosure -- no one gets a gold star, but some are worse than others. Yeah, we're talkin' to you, Nintendo.)

In observance of http://www.facebook.com/pages/Human-Trafficking-Awareness-Day-Global-Obs..." target=

The horrible shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others is an important American moment.