this & that

• "African leaders are getting better at rigging elections." (HT: Chris Blattman)
• Global Witness is suing the British government over conflict minerals.
• Some excellent thoughts on China's development of Congolese infrastructure from Deborah Brautigam. Definitely check this one out; she responds to a number of comments on my post about the newly paved Beni road. If you were involved in that debate, it's well worth a read.
• Glenna Gordon's incredible, heartbreaking, uplifting pictures from a senior citizens' home in Sierra Leone.
  
• Jason Stearns updates us on the latest about the ADF-NALU situation.
• Duncan Green on improving the ways we measure poverty.
• Reading Van der Post on a bus ride to Botswana.
  
• Jack Snyder on the folly of pushing for elections when democratic institutions are not in place (plus a great plug for Severine Autesserre's outstanding new book, which you absolutely must read if you're interested in the DRC, peace building, and post-conflict situations).
• AFRICOM might want to start evaluating the impact of its "hearts and minds" activities.
  
• Ha!!!
• A great blog: Awesome Tapes from Africa (HT: @TalesfromthHood)
  
• Archbishop Tutu in his own words (HT: Wronging Rights)
• Live Aid's real legacy.
  
• Tales from the Hood argues that elitism in aid isn't a bad thing.
  
• In related news, Jason of One Million Shirts calls it quits.
  
• It's Groundhog Day for Sudan activism.