Hooped Up

Of course things are bad in the Darfur Region. Unfortunately, until television faces start talking about things important in this world to people take a second to realize what’s going on.

But even such good fortune can’t dull the pain of having seen young children draw pictures of their parents being murdered, or erase the horror of hearing a young woman talk about being raped night after night. And it doesn’t dim the image of a young man whose eyes were gouged out.

Newble saw all that and more last summer when he made a trip to a refugee camp in Chad to see victims of the conflict in neighboring Darfur.

“The stories are so saddening,” Newble said. “I’m from Detroit and I’ve seen some of the worst things there and in other parts of this country, but it doesn’t begin to compare to the living conditions of the people from Darfur.”

The Darfur region, located in western Sudan, has been engulfed in a devastating conflict for the last five years. Government troops and militia units have been battling rebels opposed to a government they say persecutes the non-Arab population. The government-backed militia units have targeted civilians, and an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 have been killed, with some 2.5 million people displaced.

LA Times

Please use the link above to read the entire article. I truly have a new found respect for Ira Newble, for taking the time to educate himself as so many others should on this topic.

Democrat Barack Obama announced his bid for president Saturday, and that created an interest in the 2008 election for Cavs forward Ira Newble.

Obama is a black senator from Illinois and the youngest candidate at 45.

“This is the best time in this country for him to run, but I still don’t believe this country is ready for an African-American president,” Newble said. “I don’t think this country is ready for a woman to become president either, but I’m sure Hillary Rodham Clinton is as, if not more, intelligent than many men with power in our government.”

Cleveland Plain Dealer