cotton at Brave New Films

Falling demand for cotton in Turkey - 14 oct 08

2008-10-18T14:54:01Z

The fall out from the financial crisis is spreading far and wide.

Turkey is being hit by the falling demand for cotton.

As Mohamed Vall reports, it means more people are finding themselves without a job.

Children Harvest Cotton in Uzbekistan 2008

2008-12-04T22:54:08Z

Uzbekistan is the worlds second largest exporter of cotton and up to one third of the countrys workforce labors on cotton farms. While the cotton industry is very profitable for a few large landowners and political elites, the vast majority of cotton farmers live in dire poverty. Independent union representation is almost nonexistent for workers. Thousands of children as young as seven work in the cotton fields instead of attending school in order to meet government-imposed cotton production quotas. Even children who are enrolled in rural schools are often dispatched to work in the fields when their schools are closed down during harvest time by government officials. Some children are conscripted to work in remote areas where they are forced to stay in dormitories while they pick cotton. Children are even compelled to apply toxic pesticides in parts of Uzbekistan without appropriate protective gear.

While the government of Uzbekistan has made public commitments to ending these brutal practices, this video made by Uzbek activists shows children still working the cotton fields in the spring of 2008.

ILRF is working with human rights organizations, socially responsible investors, and businesses to pressure the Uzbek government to stop child labor immediately.

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War On Comedy: Why I love Qtips!!

2008-10-28T18:26:41Z

Check out another great joke form our original series War on Comedy!!
Want more laughs, come to www.crushedplanet.com

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The Problem with Subsidies

2008-10-18T03:29:50Z

Meet Ibrahima Coulibaly from Mali and James Macha from the U.S. Both are cotton farmers, but with vastly different experiences. The American farming subsidies that support James have a negative impact on farmers like Ibrahima, who are trying to climb out of poverty. The result is communities in poor countries face conditions that make them more vulnerable to crime, conflict, or even terrorism. How can rich and poor countries work together so that there is a level playing field?

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Newsnight investigates the Uzbek cotton industry (1 of 3)

2008-10-19T21:31:01Z

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Newsnight investigates the Uzbek cotton industry (2 of 3)

2008-10-19T21:31:00Z

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Newsnight investigates the Uzbek cotton industry (3 of 3)

2008-10-19T21:31:00Z

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Racism – Alive And Well In Texas And The USA

2008-10-26T18:42:30Z

In light of the publicity that has surrounded the case of the Jena 6 recently, we should all take the time to think about the state of race relations in our country. It won’t take long to realize that what happened in Jena was no isolated incident. Racism is alive and thriving in America today, no matter what the right-wing would have you believe.

It was African-American bloggers, who first picked up the story of Shaquanda Cotton, a 14-year-old black girl from the East Texas town of Paris who was sentenced to up to seven years in prison for shoving a hall monitor at her high school. The judge who heard her case had given probation to a fourteen year old white girl charged with arson. After the bloggers and their readers bombarded the Texas governor with protest letters and petitions, Texas authorities freed Cotton, days before Al Sharpton had scheduled a rally on her behalf.

This is but one of many racial injustices that happen every year in this country. Most go by unnoticed. I am sick and tired of the pseudo intellectual racist pundits like Michelle Malkin and Sean Hannity and the many other bigots of Fox Noise railing against people of conscience and fairness like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, as well as against affirmative action and other efforts that fight the institutional racism that still permeates this nation. This country was built upon pillars of racism and we still haven’t addressed the root causes. First we slaughtered the Native Americans, then we enslaved, abused and killed African-Americans, today we vilify Latinos.

It’s time all people stood up to end the disease of racism once and for all. Things are not better today, No, racists are just better at hiding who they are and what they do.

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White Gold - The True Cost Of Cotton

2008-10-19T21:30:59Z

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Cotton - Child Labour & Human Rights Abuses

2008-10-19T21:30:59Z

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