Some films about quality of life--or lack thereof--in the "Bottom Billion." Films about the Central African Republic, Madagascar, and Bolivia follow.
Watch them and think about the four internal traps Collier mentions--and the fifth external trap, 'missing the boat'.
1. CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Guns in All Hands -Central African Republic
10:00 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htv0ydlBOgw
"January 2009 - The Central African Republic has been wracked by violence for years. Now villagers, with the support of the government, are forming militias to defend themselves against the Zaraguinas and rebels."
2a. MADAGASCAR
Crippled by Power - Madagascar
22:01 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8f1QU34yRo&feature=fvwrel
"July 2002 - Self-made millionaire Ravalomanana [claimed to have] won elections last December on an anti-corruption ticket. But after two counts and two inaugurations he was recognised neither by his defeated opponent, nor, crucially, by ex-colonial power France. We chart the dispute as it descended into near civil-war, with ex-government employees dragged from their desks and bridges blown up by the retreating President. Trains stopped running, the port was blockaded, and food and petrol became scarce. Ratsiraka still calls it a "coup d'etat," but whilst he laid siege to the capital, children began dying of hunger. Care International says living standards have regressed by ten years. Even Western businesses have gone bust, like the Floreal clothes manufacturer, which employed tens of thousands of people. Now its factories stand empty. France finally recognised the new government this month, long after the damage has been done."
2b.
Diary of a Coup - Madagascar
25:40 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FLpxZt-m78
"April 2009 - [Now it is time for] President Ravalomanana [to be] scared. [Unlike how he was supported in 2002 [in his own coup and civil war],...[h]is people are protesting and former DJ Rajoelina has declared himself President. Yet with so much bloodshed and rioting can media shy Rajoelinas coup ever succeed?"
3a. BOLIVIA
Bolivian Blues
22:40 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbT75DRfayU&feature=relmfu
"February 2000 - Bolivia is at the heart of South America. It extends from the high Andes to tropical jungle. It's culturally, ethnically and geographically very diverse and potentially rich. Yet it ranks lowest of all South American countries in the UN's Human Development Index. Twenty per cent of children are undernourished. Average school attendance is less than seven years. Entrenched vested interests hamper foreign investment in the economy, while the landlocked geography of the country itself limits access to export markets. But there are signs of change. Annual inflation fell from a peak of 23,500 per cent in 1985 to less than 4.5 per cent by the close of 1998, and Bolivia's huge external debt burden has been substantially eased under new debt redemption programmes."
3b.
Coca or Death - Bolivia
26:50 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-B-fGT8l-Q
"10 October 2001 - Sandra Jordan delves into Bolivia -- a country torn apart by the demands of the West [and the world] for the coca plant."
3c.
Two Bolivias - Bolivia
23:17 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NycGsSKgoY
"August 2007 - Bolivia's [tiny] white elite claim they're tired of propping up the nation's economy [when they are only propping up themselves]. They're demanding political autonomy for their city [from the national distribution for the massive poverty in this country] and say they're ready to fight for it."
3d.
Bolivia transfers land from rich to poor - 16 March 2008
2:55 min.
http://youtu.be/s9XjiqFMAGA
Evo Morales, Bolivia's [first indigenous] present, has handed over thousands of hectares of land taken from large-scale owners to indigenous farmers and the country's ethnic Guarani Indians. Al Jazeera's Teresa Bo reports from southern Bolivia in Tarabuco where residents are celebrating their leader's generous acquisition.
3e.
Bolivian Doctrine - Bolivia
5:18 min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKX_m04fRCQ
December 2009
1.Park Kyu Hwan
ReplyDelete2.A serious dispute about Dokdo
3.A serious dispute about Dokdo is consistently remaining. So, there's a lot of works to get Dokdo in Korea as well as Japan. Why does Japan persistently want to get Dokdo? I think there's no ending to this.
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The Korea Times and the Northeast Asian History Foundation invite foreigners as well as Koreans to participate in an English-language essay contest on the territorial sovereignty over the Dokdo islets.
The essay contest is aimed at exploring Korea’s and Japan’s claims, and the root cause of the territorial dispute over the rocky islets sitting halfway between the two neighboring countries.
Applicants are required to submit an essay of about 800 words on the theme “Was Japan’s incorporation of Dokdo to Shimane Prefecture in 1905 legitimate or an act of aggression?”
The deadline for submissions is June 5 and will be accepted online through email to lim@koreatimes.co.kr. Entrants must also submit a passport-size color photo in jpg format and a 50 word self-introduction. Inquiries will be answered through the above email.
A total of 12 winners will be selected. The Gold Prize winner will receive 1.5 million won; two Silver Prize winners will each receive 500,000 won; and three Bronze Prize winners will each receive 300,000 won. There will also be 6 notable mentions with a prize of 50,000-won culture goods coupons for each.
The winners will be announced on June 20 and will be individually informed of the schedule for the award ceremony.
The winning essays will be published in The Korea Times and in a booklet.
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http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/05/261_85001.html
1. Yeo Min Sook
ReplyDelete2. genetically modified organism
3. I don't trust agricultural produce imported from China. Because China frequently export salt and powdered red pepper increased the quantity by added un eatable chemicals. I don't know they cultivate modified agricultural produce for Chinese people. I wonder China get in trouble from consume modified food in future.
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Fields of watermelon burst in China farm fiasco
Watermelons have been bursting by the score in eastern China after farmers gave them overdoses of growth chemicals during wet weather, creating what state media called fields of ``land mines.''
About 20 farmers around Danyang city in Jiangsu province were affected, losing up to 115 acres (45 hectares) of melon, China Central Television said in an investigative report.
Prices over the past year prompted many farmers to jump into the watermelon market. All of those with exploding melons apparently were first-time users of the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron, though it has been widely available for some time, CCTV said in the report broadcast Monday night.
Chinese regulations don't forbid the drug, and it is allowed in the U.S. on kiwi fruit and grapes. But the report underscores how farmers in China are abusing both legal and illegal chemicals, with many farms misusing pesticides and fertilizers.
Wang Liangju, a professor with College of Horticulture at Nanjing Agricultural University who has been to Danyang since the problems began to occur, said that forchlorfenuron is safe and effective when used properly.
He told The Associated Press that the drug had been used too late into the season, and that recent heavy rain also raised the risk of the fruit cracking open. But he said the variety of melon also played a role.
``If it had been used on very young fruit, it wouldn't be a problem,'' Wang said. ``Another reason is that the melon they were planting is a thin-rind variety and these kind are actually nicknamed the 'exploding melon' because they tend to split.''
Farmer Liu Mingsuo ended up with eight acres (three hectares) of ruined fruit and told CCTV that seeing his crop splitting open was like a knife cutting his heart.
``On May 7, I came out and counted 80 (burst watermelons) but by the afternoon it was 100,'' Liu said. ``Two days later I didn't bother to count anymore.''
Intact watermelons were being sold at a wholesale market in nearby Shanghai, the report said, but even those ones showed telltale signs of forchlorfenuron use: fibrous, misshapen fruit with mostly white instead of black seeds.
In March last year, Chinese authorities found that ``yard-long'' beans from the southern city of Sanya had been treated with the banned pesticide isocarbophos. The tainted beans turned up in several provinces, and the central city of Wuhan announced it destroyed 3.5 tons of the vegetable.
The government also has voiced alarm over the widespread overuse of food additives like dyes and sweeteners that retailers hope will make food more attractive and boost sales.
Though Chinese media remain under strict government control, domestic coverage of food safety scandals has become more aggressive in recent months, an apparent sign that the government has realized it needs help policing the troubled food industry.
The CCTV report on watermelons quoted Feng Shuangqing, a professor at the China Agricultural University, as saying the problem showed that China needs to clarify its farm chemical standards and supervision to protect consumer health.
The broadcaster described the watermelons as ``land mines'' and said they were exploding by the acre (hectare) in the Danyang area.
Many of farmers resorted to chopping up the fruit and feeding it to fish and pigs, the report said.
(AP)
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http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/05/261_85001.html