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| All the news that Syria made unfit to print | All the news that Syria made unfit to print |
| (4 days later) | |
| In the past few weeks, the western world has received a crash course about Syria, its sectarian conflicts, and the world's skittish alignment around those issues. Last week, the Pew Center for People and the Press found that 68% of those polled were following news about Syria either "very closely" or "fairly closely". (Perhaps we will get better at finding it on a map!") | In the past few weeks, the western world has received a crash course about Syria, its sectarian conflicts, and the world's skittish alignment around those issues. Last week, the Pew Center for People and the Press found that 68% of those polled were following news about Syria either "very closely" or "fairly closely". (Perhaps we will get better at finding it on a map!") |
| It is somewhat embarrassing, if not surprising that it took an alleged chemical weapons attack to draw sustained media attention to a crisis that already killed about 100,000 people and included the targeted killing and torture of children. Even now, however, the story lives as a narrative of the White House versus Republicans, Putin versus Obama, libertarians versus conservatives. There are other, more complicated stories beyond the political one tucked into the Syrian crisis: the slow-moving catastrophe of its refugees, for instance, which has garnered relatively little mention in mainstream media. | It is somewhat embarrassing, if not surprising that it took an alleged chemical weapons attack to draw sustained media attention to a crisis that already killed about 100,000 people and included the targeted killing and torture of children. Even now, however, the story lives as a narrative of the White House versus Republicans, Putin versus Obama, libertarians versus conservatives. There are other, more complicated stories beyond the political one tucked into the Syrian crisis: the slow-moving catastrophe of its refugees, for instance, which has garnered relatively little mention in mainstream media. |
| And, of course, the newfound interest in this years-old cataclysm has meant that loud but flawed coverage of Syria pushed out of the spotlight other, compelling, and just as important stories. This is perhaps a glass-teat-half-empty point of view. Lord knows, it's better that people know more about humanitarian crises than less. But it's also important to know what's slipped through the cracks, as Americans have been staring into the abyss. | And, of course, the newfound interest in this years-old cataclysm has meant that loud but flawed coverage of Syria pushed out of the spotlight other, compelling, and just as important stories. This is perhaps a glass-teat-half-empty point of view. Lord knows, it's better that people know more about humanitarian crises than less. But it's also important to know what's slipped through the cracks, as Americans have been staring into the abyss. |
| 1) Iraq's slide into sectarian conflict | 1) Iraq's slide into sectarian conflict |
| Hey, there's still a war going on there! A milder, less deadly one, but sectarian conflict did not end with the official US military exit (over 5,000 armed private security contractors remain). Of all the other stories Americans should be aware of as the Syria debate continues, this is the most significant – and not just because the disaster looms so large in American memories, but because of the disaster that continues today – and has recently escalated. Car bombings and suicide attacks were killing a manageable 200-300 people per month last year; in July, that number was 900, and 700 in August – the deadliest months in five years. While far less than the 2,500 per month that died at the height of US involvement, the higher tolls are linked to Sunni extremists morbidly encouraged by the chaos next door in Syria. | Hey, there's still a war going on there! A milder, less deadly one, but sectarian conflict did not end with the official US military exit (over 5,000 armed private security contractors remain). Of all the other stories Americans should be aware of as the Syria debate continues, this is the most significant – and not just because the disaster looms so large in American memories, but because of the disaster that continues today – and has recently escalated. Car bombings and suicide attacks were killing a manageable 200-300 people per month last year; in July, that number was 900, and 700 in August – the deadliest months in five years. While far less than the 2,500 per month that died at the height of US involvement, the higher tolls are linked to Sunni extremists morbidly encouraged by the chaos next door in Syria. |
| Arming or aiding the Sunni rebels in Syria could give Iraqi Sunnis even more reasons to react with greater violence to the repressive techniques of the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Reports that Assad is moving Syrian chemical weapons to Iraq would make for a grotesque historical irony: one of the great indictments of the US's conduct in the Middle East thus far is that it supplied Saddam Hussein with the ingredients for chemical weapons, which he used to unprecedented effect – even as his use of them later became part of the justification for invasion. | Arming or aiding the Sunni rebels in Syria could give Iraqi Sunnis even more reasons to react with greater violence to the repressive techniques of the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Reports that Assad is moving Syrian chemical weapons to Iraq would make for a grotesque historical irony: one of the great indictments of the US's conduct in the Middle East thus far is that it supplied Saddam Hussein with the ingredients for chemical weapons, which he used to unprecedented effect – even as his use of them later became part of the justification for invasion. |
| 2) Poverty in America | 2) Poverty in America |
| Young, white, poor women in America are dying young, white and poor. The American Prospect reported out the findings of a longevity study that showed one of the steepest declines ever recorded for a single demographic group in modern times. Today, white women who are not high school graduates will die five years earlier than the generation before them, many in middle age: | Young, white, poor women in America are dying young, white and poor. The American Prospect reported out the findings of a longevity study that showed one of the steepest declines ever recorded for a single demographic group in modern times. Today, white women who are not high school graduates will die five years earlier than the generation before them, many in middle age: |
| The last time researchers found a change of this magnitude, Russian men had lost seven years after the fall of the Soviet Union, when they began drinking more and taking on other risky behaviors. | The last time researchers found a change of this magnitude, Russian men had lost seven years after the fall of the Soviet Union, when they began drinking more and taking on other risky behaviors. |
| With no wars, pandemics, or societal collapse (at least as usually defined) to explain it, researchers have had to look at small-bore, quality-of-life factors to explain the tragedy – one thrown into especially high relief by the revelation that young, high-school dropout black women now outlive their white peers. At the moment, the thinking is that white women, concentrated geographically in the American south, face a future of diminishing possibilities; black women can see an upward historical trend (albeit because the history of black America is so grim, in comparative terms). As Monica Potts concludes: | With no wars, pandemics, or societal collapse (at least as usually defined) to explain it, researchers have had to look at small-bore, quality-of-life factors to explain the tragedy – one thrown into especially high relief by the revelation that young, high-school dropout black women now outlive their white peers. At the moment, the thinking is that white women, concentrated geographically in the American south, face a future of diminishing possibilities; black women can see an upward historical trend (albeit because the history of black America is so grim, in comparative terms). As Monica Potts concludes: |
| More and more, data show that poor women are working the hardest and earning the most in their families but can't take the credit for being the breadwinners. Women do the emotional work for their families, while men reap the most benefits from marriage. The rural south is a place that often wants to remain unchanged from the 1950s and 1960s, and its women are now dying as if they lived in that era, too. | More and more, data show that poor women are working the hardest and earning the most in their families but can't take the credit for being the breadwinners. Women do the emotional work for their families, while men reap the most benefits from marriage. The rural south is a place that often wants to remain unchanged from the 1950s and 1960s, and its women are now dying as if they lived in that era, too. |
| 3) Bangladesh garment business | 3) Bangladesh garment business |
| You may have heard of the clothing factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1,000 workers. In its aftermath, the government passed legislation giving workers the freedom to form unions, but that promise – along with other improvements outlined in the law – has not materialized. A Wall Street Journal report this week found that union members and potential members have been threatened, beaten, and bribed, while owners have dangled cash in front of their colleagues to oppose unionization. | You may have heard of the clothing factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1,000 workers. In its aftermath, the government passed legislation giving workers the freedom to form unions, but that promise – along with other improvements outlined in the law – has not materialized. A Wall Street Journal report this week found that union members and potential members have been threatened, beaten, and bribed, while owners have dangled cash in front of their colleagues to oppose unionization. |
| One "pro-management staff attacked one of the unionizing workers with cutting shears" and management sent men to the homes of agitating workers to "warn" them of consequences should they succeed. Less direct forms of intimidation included docking pay of union workers who spoke to each other while working, barring union activists from break areas, and increasing production targets for union members to unreachable levels, moving, for example from 200 shirts a day to 900. | One "pro-management staff attacked one of the unionizing workers with cutting shears" and management sent men to the homes of agitating workers to "warn" them of consequences should they succeed. Less direct forms of intimidation included docking pay of union workers who spoke to each other while working, barring union activists from break areas, and increasing production targets for union members to unreachable levels, moving, for example from 200 shirts a day to 900. |
| The unrest matters: Bangladesh manufactures almost 6% of all clothing sold in the US, is the fourth-biggest supplier overall; the country's share of the market is twice as much as it was in 2003 (from just under $2bn to around $4.5bn) – and all of that growth is through the sale of absurdly cheap clothing: Americans spend a lot on a lot, but clothing is one category where Americans spend less and less (3% of income today versus 7% in 1970). For now. | The unrest matters: Bangladesh manufactures almost 6% of all clothing sold in the US, is the fourth-biggest supplier overall; the country's share of the market is twice as much as it was in 2003 (from just under $2bn to around $4.5bn) – and all of that growth is through the sale of absurdly cheap clothing: Americans spend a lot on a lot, but clothing is one category where Americans spend less and less (3% of income today versus 7% in 1970). For now. |
| 4) An HIV breakthrough? | 4) An HIV breakthrough? |
| Some good news: this week, Nature published the a study by Oregon researchers about their work on a vaccine that completely eradicates an Aids-like virus in monkeys; the monkeys that responded to the vaccine for simian immunodeficiency virus were still SIV-clear three years after the treatment. Clinical trials for humans could start in two years. | Some good news: this week, Nature published the a study by Oregon researchers about their work on a vaccine that completely eradicates an Aids-like virus in monkeys; the monkeys that responded to the vaccine for simian immunodeficiency virus were still SIV-clear three years after the treatment. Clinical trials for humans could start in two years. |
| Also this week, Science reported a less dramatic but just as important stride in eliminating the disease: an international scientific team mapped the molecular structure of an HIV attack on white blood cells. The ability to visualize the precise way an antiviral attaches to a receptor site and prevents HIV from entering a cell will improve existing HIV inhibitors and lead to more effective new treatments. | Also this week, Science reported a less dramatic but just as important stride in eliminating the disease: an international scientific team mapped the molecular structure of an HIV attack on white blood cells. The ability to visualize the precise way an antiviral attaches to a receptor site and prevents HIV from entering a cell will improve existing HIV inhibitors and lead to more effective new treatments. |
| 5) California's prison hunger strike | 5) California's prison hunger strike |
| The California prisoner hunger strike that you probably didn't know about has ended. For the past four months, about 30,000 prisoners in California correctional facilities have refused food in order to draw attention to degrading group punishments and extensive use of solitary confinement. Ironically, the most attention the protest received (despite it being the largest mass hunger strike in history) was due to a judge approving prison officials' request to force-feed "unresponsive" protesters – an intervention largely necessary because of officials' refusal to provide strikers with liquids beyond water or prescribed medication. | The California prisoner hunger strike that you probably didn't know about has ended. For the past four months, about 30,000 prisoners in California correctional facilities have refused food in order to draw attention to degrading group punishments and extensive use of solitary confinement. Ironically, the most attention the protest received (despite it being the largest mass hunger strike in history) was due to a judge approving prison officials' request to force-feed "unresponsive" protesters – an intervention largely necessary because of officials' refusal to provide strikers with liquids beyond water or prescribed medication. |
| Outside the prisons, supporters noted that force-feeding allowed officials to practice a form of torture (just read this grisly description from the US military's method for dealing with Guantánamo hunger strikers) instead of compelling officials to negotiate. Organizers say that they've ended the strike because the California legislature has agreed to hold hearings on conditions. | Outside the prisons, supporters noted that force-feeding allowed officials to practice a form of torture (just read this grisly description from the US military's method for dealing with Guantánamo hunger strikers) instead of compelling officials to negotiate. Organizers say that they've ended the strike because the California legislature has agreed to hold hearings on conditions. |
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