So, as I was drinking my coffee and combing through my Facebook feed this morning (because I just don’t get the Google+ thing), I stumbled across this article and found it most interesting:

South Sudan has become the world’s newest nation, the climax of a process made possible by the 2005 peace deal that ended a long and bloody civil war.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are among international dignitaries attending celebrations in the capital, Juba.

Sudan earlier became the first state to officially recognise its new neighbour.

The south’s independence follows decades of conflict with the north in which some 1.5 million people died.

Celebrations in Juba began at midnight (2100 GMT). A countdown clock in the city centre reached zero and the new national anthem was played on television.

South Sudan became the 193rd country recognised by the UN and the 54th UN member state in Africa.

However, despite all of the celebration, the new nation has some heavy challenges ahead:

The new country is rich in oil, but one of the least developed countries in the world, where one in seven children dies before the age of five.

Unresolved disputes between the north and south, particularly over the new border, have also raised the possibility of renewed conflict.

Still, independence rarely comes easily.

Now, call me crazy, but this seems like the type of news that I should have seen on the teevee or heard on the radio — not found haphazardly via a friend on Facebook.

Given our own nation’s tumultuous start in 1776, followed by a bloody war for independence against our colonial parent country, I would think that the story of South Sudan might have gotten a bit more attention in American media.

Then again, this was no Casey Anthony trial.

From a NY Times Article…

One of the most enduring symbols of equal rights and freedom had these words for Obama today…

In a letter delivered to Obama before the ceremony, the former South African president described the election of America’s first black president as “something truly historic not only in the political annals of your great nation, the United States of America, but of the world”.

“We are in some ways reminded today of the excitement and enthusiasm in our own country at the time of our transition to democracy,” Mandela said in the letter.

“People, not only in our country but around the world, were inspired to believe that through common human effort injustice can be overcome and that together a better life for all can be achieved.”

Mandela told Obama he represents a “new voice of hope” in a world still beset by inequality and division.

“Your election to this high office has inspired people as few other events in recent times have done. Amidst all of the human progress made over the last century the world in which we live remains one of great divisions, conflict, inequality, poverty and injustice,” said Mandela.

“You, Mister President, have brought a new voice of hope that these problems can be addressed and that we can in fact change the world and make of it a better place.”

Agreed.