MEDIA ROOTS – Thomas Morton of Vice travelled to the Issyk-Kul region of the Kyrgyz Republic to document bride kidnapping, a practice whereby young men seek marriage through abducting women off the street. Vice acquaints us with this process by documenting a groom, Kubanti, as he kidnaps his teenage girlfriend, Nazgul.

This startling documentary raises many pressing questions. To what extent, if any, can members of one society judge those living half a world away? Why does bride kidnapping occur primarily in rural areas of Kyrgyzstan? Why do female members of the groom’s family aid and abet the kidnappers? And lastly, how can we empower the women of Kyrgyzstan?

Although this type of bride kidnapping is virtually non-existent in the United States, we still suffer from phenomena with parallels to Kyrgyzstan: the banes of patriarchy inundate our political and social milieus; many U.S. citizens twist religious text to suit individual desires; female virginity is often seen as a sign of purity and righteousness; domestic violence ravages families across all U.S. socio-economic strata; and tradition is rarely questioned, no matter how harmful.

Geostrategic concerns loom large behind these social issues. Kyrgyzstan is a key U.S. transit point into the Afghanistan battlefield. Realists argue Washington ignores issues of human rights in exchange for military convenience. Can U.S. assistance to Kyrgyzstan be wielded with greater benevolence in order to promote women’s rights?

Reflection about Kyrgyzstan can engender introspection into issues affecting us all. As this documentary conveys, Vice excels at piquing our curiosities and encouraging us to dig deeper.

Christian Sorensen

***

VICE TV on bride kidnappings in Kyrgyzstan

***

Photo by flickr user Meredith Farmer

MEDIA ROOTS — Reminiscent of the December 2010 act of self-immolation in Tunisia by Mohammed Bouazizi, which helped inspire the globally influential “Arab Spring,” a Chinese man surnamed Wang has undertaken this extreme form of protest at China’s Tiananmen Square on October 21.  Whereas, Mr. Bouazizi’s act of protest was widely covered around the world, Mr. Wang’s act of self-immolation was quickly wiped from public record, consciousness, and memory per China’s state-censored media in Orwellian fashion. 

A state-issued report narrated the action as an isolated case of personal dysfunction.  But the fact that such reports leak out every year in China points to Mr. Wang’s frustration with China’s justice system as being indicative of larger structural problems, similar to the conditions of corruption which led Tunisia’s Bouazizi to commit the ultimate form of protest. 

Censorship in America over such selfless acts of protest exists as well. In 2004, a man named Malachi Ritscher publically burned himself to death in protest to the Iraq War. In the statement he released before self-immolating, he explains that he would rather die than to pay taxes to kill others abroad. The corporate press painted him as a lone lunatic instead of giving heed to his powerful and eloquent message.

MR

***

THE TELEGRAPH— The incident – which happened on October 21 – appeared nowhere in China’s censored state media, but was also witnessed by a Daily Telegraph reader who photographed the aftermath as Chinese police rushed to douse the flames using fire extinguishers.

“The man did it right in front of me. He stepped over the low railing in front of the cycle-lane that runs past the picture of Chairman Mao. He was only two or three metres away from me,” recalled Alan Brown, a retired RAF Engineer from Somerton, Somerset.

“He said something quickly and a policeman nearby was suddenly agitated, but this chap whipped out his lighter and set himself on fire. Without being melodramatic, he looked straight at me and set himself on fire.

Despite being witnessed by several hundred other Chinese bystanders there is no record or mention of the incident either in China’s heavily censored state media, or on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, where news deemed sensitive or undesirable by the state often leaks out.

Chinese authorities in Tibet have also been dealing with a wave of self-immolations this year, with 11 monks and nuns setting themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule in the Tibetan region since March.

Read more about Chinese man sets himself on fire in Tiananmen Square.

© 2011 Telegraph Media Group Limited

Photo by flickr user Gary Lerude

MEDIA ROOTS- An extremely harrowing aspect of the Fukushima meltdown is the amount of radiation that has been expelled and will continue to be released into the atmosphere as a result. A recent report from the Japanese government states that the amount of radioactive caesium-137 released by the disaster is so far equivalent to that of 168 Hiroshima nuclear bombs, and that 34 different locations around Fukushima already exceed the radiation standards of inhabitability used for the Chernobyl disaster. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) states the following about caesium-137:

“External exposure to large amounts of Cs-137 can cause burns, acute radiation sickness, and even death. Exposure to Cs-137 can increase the risk for cancer because of exposure to high-energy gamma radiation. Internal exposure to Cs-137, through ingestion or inhalation, allows the radioactive material to be distributed in the soft tissues, especially muscle tissue, exposing these tissues to the beta particles and gamma radiation and increasing cancer risk.”

As scary as this seems, it’s important to put it into perspective. There is nothing much we can do about what is going on in Japan right now, but there are things we can do to reduce the risk of over exposure to our bodies by continuing to be healthy and conscious consumers.

Abby

***

AFP– The amount of caesium-137 released since the three reactors were crippled by the March 11 quake and tsunami has been estimated at 15,000 tera becquerels, the Tokyo Shimbun reported, quoting a government calculation.

That compares with the 89 tera becquerels released by “Little Boy”, the uranium bomb the United States dropped on the western Japanese city in the final days of World War II, the report said.

The estimate was submitted by Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s cabinet to a lower house committee on promotion of technology and innovation, the daily said.

The government, however, argued that the comparison was not valid.

While the Hiroshima bomb claimed most of its victims in the intense heatwave of a mid-air nuclear explosion and the highly radioactive fallout from its mushroom cloud, no such nuclear explosions hit Fukushima.

There, the radiation has seeped from molten fuel inside reactors damaged by hydrogen explosions.

“An atomic bomb is designed to enable mass-killing and mass-destruction by causing blast waves and heat rays and releasing neutron radiation,” the Tokyo Shimbun daily quoted a government official as saying. “It is not rational to make a simple comparison only based on the amount of isotopes released.”

Read more about Fukushima Caesium Leaks ‘Equal 168 Hiroshimas’

© 2011 Agence France Presse

Photo by Flickr user RINKRATZ

MEDIA ROOTS- Anna Hazare is a social activist who is leading the anticorruption movement in India by following Mahatma Gandhi’s  principles of nonviolence. He received worldwide attention with a four day hunger strike in early April that led to the Indian government conceding to his demand of enacting an anti-corruption law (based on the Lokpal Bill) for those holding public office.

On July 28, the Parliament approved a draft of the Lokpal Bill, which excluded the Prime Minister, judiciary and lower bureaucracy from the scope of proposed corruption. Hazare discounted the draft and announced that he would embark on an indefinite hunger strike starting August 16 until proper provisions were made to the legislation. After a brief arrest, Hazare started his strike a week ago and he is garnering support from millions across the country. Regardless of what the outcome of the strike may be, it is exciting to see a figure making corrupt politicians pay attention by practicing Gandhi’s satyagraha methods. Hopefully his method starts a ripple effect…

Abby

***

THE HINDU– Over 100 supporters of social activist Anna Hazare staged a dharna in front of the rented house of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Sarumotoria here on Monday. They beat drums, shouted slogans Anna Hazare zindabad and in support of the demand for tabling the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.

The rented house of Dr. Singh, a Rajya Sabha member from this State, is owned by Hemoprova Saikia, former Assam Minister and wife of the former Chief Minister, Hiteswar Saikia.

Police arrived at the spot but Anna’s supporters dispersed peacefully after about half an hour. The protesters included Guwahati BJP MP Bijoya Chakravarty’s daughter and award-winning filmmaker Suman Haripriya and son Ranajit Chakravarty, a lawyer.

Security has been beefed up at Dr. Singh’s residence in the wake of the protests.

Anna’s supporters staged a dharna in front of the residence of the BJP MP also. However, there were no reports of demonstration in front of the houses of other MPs from Assam.

© 2011 The Hindu

Photo by Flickr user vm2827

MEDIA ROOTS– America’s industrialization is what catapulted the American dream for millions of people. However, as globalization consolidated production and corporations greedily sought out slave labor wages to maximize profits, most industry moved to Asia long ago. What does this limited production of goods mean for America’s economic standing and future prosperity? The Economic Collapse points out 19 harrowing facts about the deindustrialization of America that paints a not so pretty future.

Abby

***

THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE reports:

The deindustrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and child in the country.  But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them. The following are 19 mindblowing facts about the deindustrialization of America:

#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. 

#2 Dell Inc., one of America’s largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.

#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November.  Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.

#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cellphones were sold worldwide.  So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States? Zero.

#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.

#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18% compared to the same time period a year ago.

#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.

#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.

#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28% of U.S. economic output.  In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.

#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford’s new “global” manufacturing strategy.

#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing.  The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent in services.

#13 The United States has lost 32% of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

Read the rest of the 19 Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind

© 2011 The Economic Collapse

Abby

Photo by Flickr user nyrk03