Guns in the Sun
An investigation by VICE editor-in-chief, Rocco Castoro, into the reason why Americans are stockpiling firearms, especially after so many recent mass shootings. In response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Conneticut, VICE visits Sarsota, Florida to investigate the gun debate. Florida was the first state to issue over 1 million concealed weapons permits and continues to have a culture of exchanges with no real paperwork. Although some types of guns require licenses, they are lenient and exchanges/gun shows are legal ways to bypass these restrictions. Every year there are over 30 thousand gun related deaths. There are laws issued, such as the controversial Stand Your Ground law, where someone is able to shoot to defend oneself. This was a factor in the controversial death of Trayvon Martin. There are 24 states with this law and there has been evidence that there is a 7-9% greater homicide rate in these states than others. There have been numerous mass shootings, such as:
Zimbabwe: State of Denial by AlJazeera (The Rageh Omaar Report)
This is a documentary about the failure of Zimbabwe politics since independence in 1980. Zimbabwe was supposed to be ruled by a Marxist party fighting against British colonial rule, but these same colonial tactics are used by the government to crush dissent. The city of Matabeleland, led by Zapu, was opposed to the Mugabe regime, so Mugabe's 5th Brigade (which was trained by North Korea) killed the resistance in Matabeleland, leading to a death toll of 20,000.
In the 1990s there was economic decline due to the one-party state and the major corruption that ensued. Mugabe enacted a law to stop paying the veterans' pensions. The war veterans marched on Mugabe with the support of security officials, threatening to oust him, saying "we made you president and we can change that". As a result in 1997, Mugabe agreed to give Z$50,000 to each veteran in gratuities. This was about $2000 dollars each. These payouts made the currency collapse in one day, referred to as Black Friday. The economic condition of Zimbabwe deteriorated. Inflation became out of control as a result of hyperinflation, caused by the continuous printing off of money. As a result, Zimbabwe abandoned their currency in favour of the US dollar. Zanu PF says that the economic collapse was caused by the economic sanctions surrounding the aid given to Zimbabwe. They want to manage their affairs independent of external interference.
In 1999, Zanu PF wanted to escape the protests so they created a new constitution and promised to redistribute white commercial lands. The MDC was created as a response by white commercial farmers and black trade unionists who were united against the constitution. In 2000, the constitution was rejected. This led to land invasions ordered by Mugabe. He told the war veterans that in exchange for the monthly allowances from 1998 they had to invade the farms and they were allowed to keep 20% of the farms.
The farm invasions were meant to be a correction of colonial wrongs but it became a major political failure.It was intended to be used to create a land balance but the acquisitions that took place were solely political. Farms were seized, stripped, and abandoned. It was an unsuccessful policy because it was not maintained. There was also a lot of corruption, where the land was being distributed to party loyalists. Land was being given to individuals, such as generals, judges, etc., instead of groups. White landowners also faced tremendous discrimination and lost titleship just based on their race. Zimbabwe was supposed to have buried the racism of white minority rule and during independence, Mugabe said that he did not have an ideological problem with them. but now racism continues to exist against the white population in Zimbabwe, where their farms are seized just because of their skin colour. Agriculture was the most important industry (used to be 40% of exports) but now the state relies on food aid. The decline was attributed to the politicizing of the land issue and the flawed, unequal and unsuccessful land reform policy.
There was supposed to be national unity between MDC and Zanu in the party Zanu PF (Zimbabwain african national union patriotic front), which is led by Robert Mugabe. But now MDC is merely a puppet and it is becoming a divisive party, torn apart by different factions. In 2008 an opposition movement for democratic change (MDC) earned a higher percentage of votes than Mugabe. But in the second runoff, the opposition, Morgan Tsangvirai, decided not to run because security was not guaranteed. Violence was pervasive towards the opposition. The results of the election was that Mugabe was re-elected. However, he knew he did not have major support from the public so he brought on Tsangvirai as Prime Minister, while Mugabe stayed as President. This created the united party, Zanu PF; however, it is far from being united. The control of the police are with Zanu PF and MDC is often referred to as a puppet. There is unbalanced power and the lack of a real union. There are 2 factions of the party that are struggling to suceed Mugabe and there is no faction that supports him staying in power.
In summation, Zimbabwe continues to be in a state of turmoil and decline. The farm seizures continue and the war veterans still are demanding concessions. They said that the government was meant to give them Z$500,000 and they want parliamentary seats, and diamond mining concessions. Basten Beta, Chairman of the Zimbabwe War Veterans' Trust argued that they want 30% representation. They now continue to get monthly allowances of $165. Zimbabwe continues to be torn apart by conflicts over power, land, and now the alluvial diamonds that were found in Eastern Zimbabwe. The finding of diamonds has never not resulted in war, and in this case there is also major controversy over the fact that it is unknown who has been benefiting from the profits.
Conclusion: Decline in economic position, due to hyperinflation caused by paying off war veterans. Decline in agricultural position, due to failed land reform policy. Increase in racism due to land reform policy. Continuation of colonial tactics and brutality by the Mugabe administration. Continuation of political instability due to a weak MDC party. Decline due to alluvial diamonds and the conflict surrounding it.
http://report.globalintegrity.org/Zimbabwe/2009/timeline
The Facade of the American Dream by PressTV:
This is a documentary about how the US removed Africans and took them as slaves and how today systematic racism is brainwashing them to believe that they are inferior. Some interesting points in the documentary were the views on reparations for black people and some individuals' view of themselves as prisoners of war. Dr.King came to Washington to collect reparations, saying that America has issued us a bad cheque and we have come to collect on that debt. His movement alongside of that of Malcolm X had a major bearing on the improvement of the rights of African Americans. Malcolm X made the civil rights issue into a human rights issue."Needs to be an issue which is internationalized and should be taken to the world court. That is the only way. Not a civil rights struggle."
There are quite a few things that I disagree with about the documentary. One of them is the anti-university rhetoric. I understand the need to educate outside the american education; however, my view is that the education system needs to be improved but not disregarded. They argued against the value of education, which I oppose. The views about metal detectors in schools is another disagreement I had. Nonetheless, there were many interesting quotes in the documentary:
"the past always has a bearing on today"
"accumulative disadvantages that get passed down"
"most despised because they are legal and will not leave"
"the country was built on the backs of slaves"
"I am an african that was kidnapped long before I was born and I have been imprisoned since"
Divorce Iranian Style by Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini:
- the film follows 3 women attempting to divorce their husbands
- although iranian religious law frowns on divorce, a man is allowed to claim the priviledge without needing to show cause, provided he pays his wife compensation
- a woman can only sue for divorce if she can prove that her husband is sterile or mad or if he agrees to let her out of the marriage contract
- the man will sometimes give his wife her freedom if he doesn't have to pay
- the women are assertive, demanding, and persistent to a degree that confounds stereotypes of oppression
- they challenge the judge, badger the uncooperative clerk for misplaced files, and chew out their husbands
- at one point the judge tells the little girl that he has a man picked out for her who is not like the riffraff that cam in here. the girl's response is that "I won't marry ever, now that I know what husbands are like"
Couple 1:
- he is jealous of her telephone relationship with her uncle
- he lists as one of his disputes that she leaves the house without permission
- the judge says that you can change this with "good behaviour"
- she doesn't have the right to answer the telephone
- "you must make yourself attractive so that he returns to your marriage" "you must make yourself pretty at home"
- when separated they still have to live in the same house for 3 months and 10 days.
- she asks "what if he does something to me during that time" he tells her then you can petition for divorce but she outlines that she would lose all her rights and compensation. The law encourages men to be abusive
- a girl is rebuked for having toomuch makeup on
- women have limited grounds to petition for divorce. 1) if men can't have children
the men are frisked for weapons while the women are told to take off lipstick. As if both are equally criminal
-
- one of the women gave up her claim to the marraige gift in exchange for her husband's consent to divorce
-"since he says he didn't there is no point in witnesses"
- a girl can be married at 9
- man needs a wife's consent to take another wife. response of the judge is "he's got two wives, so what."
- women rarely acceopt a situation with 2 wives
- a very touching display of how mediation can work. The mediator didn't have to say anything but allowing them a forum to discuss their issues appeared to be a much needed healing for the family. It showed how divorce affects children as well. The father was crying too....
there is a scene where it shows how much respect this garbage gets. People move out of the way.
- the husband gets the children, especially if she remarries but it was not an issue if he remarries. When you remarry you lose your child.
- the clerk looked down on the mother for leaving the husband and not caring about the future of her children
- they try to make the women feel guilty by saying "when you are a mother you must sacrifice everything
- another girl gave up her claim to her marriage gift to get her divorce
An investigation by VICE editor-in-chief, Rocco Castoro, into the reason why Americans are stockpiling firearms, especially after so many recent mass shootings. In response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Conneticut, VICE visits Sarsota, Florida to investigate the gun debate. Florida was the first state to issue over 1 million concealed weapons permits and continues to have a culture of exchanges with no real paperwork. Although some types of guns require licenses, they are lenient and exchanges/gun shows are legal ways to bypass these restrictions. Every year there are over 30 thousand gun related deaths. There are laws issued, such as the controversial Stand Your Ground law, where someone is able to shoot to defend oneself. This was a factor in the controversial death of Trayvon Martin. There are 24 states with this law and there has been evidence that there is a 7-9% greater homicide rate in these states than others. There have been numerous mass shootings, such as:
- Mcdonald's shooting on July 18, 1984 = 22 deaths in San Ysidro
- Edmond, Oklahoma = post office shooting = august 20, 1986 = 15 deaths
- Killeen, Texas = Luby's massacre = Oct 16, 1991 = 24 deaths
- Columbine, Colorado = high school shooting = april 20, 1999 = 15 deaths
- blacksburg, virginia = virginia tech massacre = april 16, 2007 = 33 deaths
- Aurora, Colorado = July 20, 2012 = 12 deaths
- Oak Creek, Wisconsin = Sikh Temple shooting = July 20, 2012 = 7 deaths
- Newtown, Conneticut = sandy hook shooting = december 14, 2012 = 28 deaths
Zimbabwe: State of Denial by AlJazeera (The Rageh Omaar Report)
This is a documentary about the failure of Zimbabwe politics since independence in 1980. Zimbabwe was supposed to be ruled by a Marxist party fighting against British colonial rule, but these same colonial tactics are used by the government to crush dissent. The city of Matabeleland, led by Zapu, was opposed to the Mugabe regime, so Mugabe's 5th Brigade (which was trained by North Korea) killed the resistance in Matabeleland, leading to a death toll of 20,000.
In the 1990s there was economic decline due to the one-party state and the major corruption that ensued. Mugabe enacted a law to stop paying the veterans' pensions. The war veterans marched on Mugabe with the support of security officials, threatening to oust him, saying "we made you president and we can change that". As a result in 1997, Mugabe agreed to give Z$50,000 to each veteran in gratuities. This was about $2000 dollars each. These payouts made the currency collapse in one day, referred to as Black Friday. The economic condition of Zimbabwe deteriorated. Inflation became out of control as a result of hyperinflation, caused by the continuous printing off of money. As a result, Zimbabwe abandoned their currency in favour of the US dollar. Zanu PF says that the economic collapse was caused by the economic sanctions surrounding the aid given to Zimbabwe. They want to manage their affairs independent of external interference.
In 1999, Zanu PF wanted to escape the protests so they created a new constitution and promised to redistribute white commercial lands. The MDC was created as a response by white commercial farmers and black trade unionists who were united against the constitution. In 2000, the constitution was rejected. This led to land invasions ordered by Mugabe. He told the war veterans that in exchange for the monthly allowances from 1998 they had to invade the farms and they were allowed to keep 20% of the farms.
The farm invasions were meant to be a correction of colonial wrongs but it became a major political failure.It was intended to be used to create a land balance but the acquisitions that took place were solely political. Farms were seized, stripped, and abandoned. It was an unsuccessful policy because it was not maintained. There was also a lot of corruption, where the land was being distributed to party loyalists. Land was being given to individuals, such as generals, judges, etc., instead of groups. White landowners also faced tremendous discrimination and lost titleship just based on their race. Zimbabwe was supposed to have buried the racism of white minority rule and during independence, Mugabe said that he did not have an ideological problem with them. but now racism continues to exist against the white population in Zimbabwe, where their farms are seized just because of their skin colour. Agriculture was the most important industry (used to be 40% of exports) but now the state relies on food aid. The decline was attributed to the politicizing of the land issue and the flawed, unequal and unsuccessful land reform policy.
There was supposed to be national unity between MDC and Zanu in the party Zanu PF (Zimbabwain african national union patriotic front), which is led by Robert Mugabe. But now MDC is merely a puppet and it is becoming a divisive party, torn apart by different factions. In 2008 an opposition movement for democratic change (MDC) earned a higher percentage of votes than Mugabe. But in the second runoff, the opposition, Morgan Tsangvirai, decided not to run because security was not guaranteed. Violence was pervasive towards the opposition. The results of the election was that Mugabe was re-elected. However, he knew he did not have major support from the public so he brought on Tsangvirai as Prime Minister, while Mugabe stayed as President. This created the united party, Zanu PF; however, it is far from being united. The control of the police are with Zanu PF and MDC is often referred to as a puppet. There is unbalanced power and the lack of a real union. There are 2 factions of the party that are struggling to suceed Mugabe and there is no faction that supports him staying in power.
In summation, Zimbabwe continues to be in a state of turmoil and decline. The farm seizures continue and the war veterans still are demanding concessions. They said that the government was meant to give them Z$500,000 and they want parliamentary seats, and diamond mining concessions. Basten Beta, Chairman of the Zimbabwe War Veterans' Trust argued that they want 30% representation. They now continue to get monthly allowances of $165. Zimbabwe continues to be torn apart by conflicts over power, land, and now the alluvial diamonds that were found in Eastern Zimbabwe. The finding of diamonds has never not resulted in war, and in this case there is also major controversy over the fact that it is unknown who has been benefiting from the profits.
Conclusion: Decline in economic position, due to hyperinflation caused by paying off war veterans. Decline in agricultural position, due to failed land reform policy. Increase in racism due to land reform policy. Continuation of colonial tactics and brutality by the Mugabe administration. Continuation of political instability due to a weak MDC party. Decline due to alluvial diamonds and the conflict surrounding it.
http://report.globalintegrity.org/Zimbabwe/2009/timeline
The Facade of the American Dream by PressTV:
This is a documentary about how the US removed Africans and took them as slaves and how today systematic racism is brainwashing them to believe that they are inferior. Some interesting points in the documentary were the views on reparations for black people and some individuals' view of themselves as prisoners of war. Dr.King came to Washington to collect reparations, saying that America has issued us a bad cheque and we have come to collect on that debt. His movement alongside of that of Malcolm X had a major bearing on the improvement of the rights of African Americans. Malcolm X made the civil rights issue into a human rights issue."Needs to be an issue which is internationalized and should be taken to the world court. That is the only way. Not a civil rights struggle."
There are quite a few things that I disagree with about the documentary. One of them is the anti-university rhetoric. I understand the need to educate outside the american education; however, my view is that the education system needs to be improved but not disregarded. They argued against the value of education, which I oppose. The views about metal detectors in schools is another disagreement I had. Nonetheless, there were many interesting quotes in the documentary:
"the past always has a bearing on today"
"accumulative disadvantages that get passed down"
"most despised because they are legal and will not leave"
"the country was built on the backs of slaves"
"I am an african that was kidnapped long before I was born and I have been imprisoned since"
Divorce Iranian Style by Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini:
- the film follows 3 women attempting to divorce their husbands
- although iranian religious law frowns on divorce, a man is allowed to claim the priviledge without needing to show cause, provided he pays his wife compensation
- a woman can only sue for divorce if she can prove that her husband is sterile or mad or if he agrees to let her out of the marriage contract
- the man will sometimes give his wife her freedom if he doesn't have to pay
- the women are assertive, demanding, and persistent to a degree that confounds stereotypes of oppression
- they challenge the judge, badger the uncooperative clerk for misplaced files, and chew out their husbands
- at one point the judge tells the little girl that he has a man picked out for her who is not like the riffraff that cam in here. the girl's response is that "I won't marry ever, now that I know what husbands are like"
Couple 1:
- he is jealous of her telephone relationship with her uncle
- he lists as one of his disputes that she leaves the house without permission
- the judge says that you can change this with "good behaviour"
- she doesn't have the right to answer the telephone
- "you must make yourself attractive so that he returns to your marriage" "you must make yourself pretty at home"
- when separated they still have to live in the same house for 3 months and 10 days.
- she asks "what if he does something to me during that time" he tells her then you can petition for divorce but she outlines that she would lose all her rights and compensation. The law encourages men to be abusive
- a girl is rebuked for having toomuch makeup on
- women have limited grounds to petition for divorce. 1) if men can't have children
the men are frisked for weapons while the women are told to take off lipstick. As if both are equally criminal
-
- one of the women gave up her claim to the marraige gift in exchange for her husband's consent to divorce
-"since he says he didn't there is no point in witnesses"
- a girl can be married at 9
- man needs a wife's consent to take another wife. response of the judge is "he's got two wives, so what."
- women rarely acceopt a situation with 2 wives
- a very touching display of how mediation can work. The mediator didn't have to say anything but allowing them a forum to discuss their issues appeared to be a much needed healing for the family. It showed how divorce affects children as well. The father was crying too....
there is a scene where it shows how much respect this garbage gets. People move out of the way.
- the husband gets the children, especially if she remarries but it was not an issue if he remarries. When you remarry you lose your child.
- the clerk looked down on the mother for leaving the husband and not caring about the future of her children
- they try to make the women feel guilty by saying "when you are a mother you must sacrifice everything
- another girl gave up her claim to her marriage gift to get her divorce
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