Underfocused

Twitter me this Iranian~

Bo — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:23:43 +0000

While Iran government has forced all journalist to leave their country, Iranians have taken it into their own hands to broadcast what’s currently happening there. Twitter and YouTube are two websites that are being used to spread the word.

Iranian students protest for what they believe in

Iranians are protesting against their government after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the landslide victor in Iran’s presidential election -less than 24 hours after polls closed-.

Resources and Info:
Live-Tweeting Revolution Week 1
Live-Tweeting Revolution Day 11
Iranian Riots Videos
Global Voices On-line
Payvand’s Iran News
Iranian university students protesting
BBC – Suspicions behind poll

Stolen Generation

Bo — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:18:32 +0000

Stolen Generation – children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal & State government agencies & church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments.

Is it safe?

Period of removal happened approximately between 1869 – 1969. Reasoning behind their removal consists of multiply ideals.

“Documentary evidence, such as newspaper articles and reports to parliamentary committees, suggest a range of rationales. Motivations evident include child protection, beliefs that given their catastrophic population decline after white contact that black people would “die out”, fears of miscegenation and a desire to attain white racial purity.”

Links for resources and more information:
St. Angela’s Peace and Justice Web-site
Paper on Aboriginals
Australian Aborigines
Stolen Generation
Aboriginals: Foreigners in their own land?
BBC World Service Documentary – Culture not colour

A Genocide or not a Genocide

Bo — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:27:44 +0000

While the war raged on in Darfur, in 2004 the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur government bodies gathered to debate whether the situation happening in Darfur should be labeled as a genocide or not.

Body of a dead man

In May 2006 International Commission,

“concluded that the Government of the Sudan has not pursued a policy of genocide … [though] international offences such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be no less serious and heinous than genocide.“

But the United States government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individual wordl leaders have chosen to use the world “genocide” for what is taking place in Darfur.

Links for more info and resourses:
Commission of Inquiry on Darfur – Wikipedia
Report from International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur Meeting
International Response to the War in Darfur
Declarations of genocide

Organizations:
Darfur Scores
Genocide Intervention
Darfur Challenge
Save Darfur
Stand Now

Darfur War

Bo — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:12:34 +0000

Death toll estimates differ between UN & Sudanese:
UN 400,000+
Sudanese: 9,000
Displaced estimates:
UN 2,000,000
Sudanese: 450,000

NRF gather their weapons

NRF (National Redemption Front) reliance fighting group that opposes the Abuja Agreement. The war in Darfur began in February 2, 2003. It’s believed to be an ethnic war unlike previous wars that have happened in Sudan. This war is still going on today.

Links for further information:
News24 – War in Darfur
Crimes of War – Darfur Conflict
Sudan Tribune – Darfur Topics
Wikipedia – War in Darfur

Guns VS Education

Bo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:10:03 +0000

Children across the world have been taken hostage and given the choice to either serve their kidnappers or die. Uganda is one of the countries that has had this happen.

Children who are given guns instead of education

For the past 20 years the Ugandan rebel Lord’s Resistance Army has abducted more than 30,000 boys and girls as soldiers. Some children are even younger then 13 years old. Girls are often forced to be sex slaves.

Links for further information:
child-soldiers.org
Amnesty.org
Women News Network – Uganda Girl Soldiers
Wikipedia – Military use of Children

Welcome!

Bo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:22:20 +0000

“Underfocused’s goal is to educate ourselves and others about issues we think deserve more coverage and in the process pass the word or picture onto others.” – Mr. Dictionary Man

Welcome to the first post for Unfocused! This post shall be one of the few posts that don’t have actual photos in them.

To the main point, we hope you enjoy this blog. ^A^