Mark & Olly: Living with the Machigenga was aired on BBC Knowledge and the Travel Channel A series about an Amazonian tribe that aired on the BBC has been accused of “faking” scenes and mistranslating interviews to negatively portray the tribe as “sex-obsessed, mean savages”, according to accusations made by two eminent experts. The show, called Mark & Olly: Living with the Machigenga, was shown on BBC Knowledge in South Africa in June and July last year and by the Travel Channel, owned by broadcasting giant Discovery, in the US in 2009, and made by Paddington-based Cicada Productions. The six-part series followed travellers Mark Anstice and Olly Steeds journeying to live in the remote Matisgenka Indian village in the Amazon rainforest over a period of several months. However, the show has been called “staged, false, fabricated and distorted” by Dr Glenn Shepard, an anthropologist who has worked with the tribe for 25 years and speaks their language fluently, and Ron Snell, who grew up with the tribe as the son of US missionaries and also speaks their language. Dr Shepard has written an article in the latest issue of Anthropology News outlining the alleged misrepresentations and in a longer piece on his blog he argues that the show is an example of “reality TV reach[ing] new depths of irresponsibility”. Shepard accuses the show of “fabricating” many of the translations in order to present a “false and insulting” portrayal of the tribe. Examples include inaccurate references to the sex life of the tribe as well as their supposed hostile attitude to outsiders. Other accusations include “staging” events, such as a pig dance which Snell says on his own blog he has never heard of in 35 years of living in the tribe’s villages, and scenes such as initiation trials, being forced to sleep outside and taking a psychoactive drink before going on a “phony” pilgrimage. “I am shocked by Mark & Olly’s narcissistic antics, their gross misrepresentations of Matsigenka culture, and their disregard for consequences inflicted on native communities,” said Shepard. “I wonder what Living with the Machigenga was modelled on. Borat comes to mind.” BBC Worldwide said it had acquired the show from Fremantle Media and that there were no plans to air it again. “BBC Worldwide is committed to the highest editorial standards and will examine the claims made,” said a spokesman. “We have only just been made aware of these concerns and we are in discussion with Fremantle to establish the full facts.” FremantleMedia Enterprises, which distributes the show, said the series was made by Cicada Productions. “FME did not make this programme. However, we are investigating the claims made earlier today,” said a spokeswoman for FME. A spokesman for Cicada Productions said that the company was not aware of the issue and did not have a statement at this time. Survival International , the human rights organisation which has released the information about the discrepancies in the making of the show, said it was a “depressing example” of the way tribal people are routinely portrayed on TV. “One stereotype followed another, with the [tribe] variously portrayed as callous, perverted, cruel, and savage,” said Stephen Corry, director of Survival International. “TV is now getting away with portrayals which wouldn’t be out of place in the Victorian era.” The same series also courted controversy in 2008 when a scouting expedition among the Matsigenka tribe prior to filming was said to have provoked a flu epidemic killing four . Cicada Films denied the accusations, claiming at the time that when they arrived in the area local people were already ill. •
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David Norris drops out of race over revelation he pleaded for clemency for former partner over rape of 15-year-old boy The prospect of Ireland electing Europe’s first gay president is over after the leading candidate dropped out of the race following a scandal involving his former partner’s rape of a 15-year-old boy. David Norris announced he was withdrawing from the contest after it emerged he had written to the Israeli authorities in 1997 appealing for clemency for his former partner, Ezra Yitzhak Nawi. The Israeli peace activist was later found guilty of the statutory rape of the Palestinian boy and served time in prison. On the steps of his Dublin home, Norris acknowledged the enormous damage inflicted on his campaign after appearing to be the popular choice with a consistent poll lead over his rivals. While his decision to enter the race had made it possible for a gay candidate to stand for president, the independent senator said it was time to bow out. “I would have loved to have had the opportunity as president of Ireland to extend that to the service of the entire people but that is no longer possible.” He said he had always conducted himself with the dignity and decorum that would be expected of any potential president. “The recent frenzy threatened to erode that principle and it is now time for me to reassert as far as possible control of my life and destiny.” Norris’s fate was sealed on Tuesday night when members of the Irish parliament withdrew their support for his candidacy. Under the Irish constitution, a candidate cannot stand for the presidency unless he or she has the support of 20 TDs or senators, or command the backing of a number of county councils. Norris had won the backing of one council while some councillors had refused to even meet him. His campaign was also damaged by the resignation of several election workers over the Nawi scandal. They were angered over being kept in the dark about Norris’s letters on Irish parliamentary notepaper to Israeli authorities, giving a character reference to his former partner and pleading for clemency. Norris, Ireland’s leading James Joyce scholar, refused to answer questions from the media outside his house on the street where he established the James Joyce Centre. Defending his record, Norris said, speaking from a script: “I deeply regret the most recent of all the controversies concerning my former partner of 25 years ago, Ezra Nawi. The fallout from his disgraceful behaviour has now spread to me and is in danger of contaminating others close to me both in my political and personal life. It is essential that I act decisively now to halt this process.” With characteristic flourish, he added: “As I came across the Samuel Beckett bridge today into my mind came his words about humanity and frailty: ‘Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.’ ” Struggling to be heard among the media throng outside the house, a middle-aged woman cried out: “Stay in the race, don’t let the media drive you out.” But Norris had already gone back inside, his attempt to succeed Mary McAleese as the head of the Irish state this October in ruins. Ireland Europe Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Gabrielle Giffords’ triumphant return to Congress was a rare moment of bipartisan joy—and it even brought Joe Biden a little warm-fuzzy time with fierce Obama critic and 2012 contender Michele Bachmann, reports the Washington Post . “Here I’m hugging Gabby and Michele Bachmann,” Biden recounted to reporters last night. “Seriously!…
Continue reading …Jon Stewart arrived back to from a trip to Afghanistan to find a “Ramadan miracle:” A deal on the debt ceiling. The Daily Show host, however, made it clear that he doesn’t think much of President Obama’s negotiating skills—or the people he was negotiating with. Stewart played multiple clips…
Continue reading …Newt Gingrich might be way behind in the GOP polls, but he’s kicking butt on Twitter—with 1.3 million followers to the fewer than 70,000 Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann each claim. A former staffer says the reason for the discrepancy is simple: The Gingrich campaign has hired…
Continue reading …A fight promoter in Massachusetts is looking for a volunteer willing to deck not only a woman, but a mother of 14. “Octomom” Nadya Suleman will be the featured fighter in a celebrity boxing match in Springfield later this month, reports the Republican . The controversial mom and her opponent will…
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Home secretary’s proposal angers officers, some of whom already expect to lose £4,000 a year through pay reforms Senior police officers are facing up to £2,800 extra a year in pension contributions as a result of the Whitehall public spending cuts drive. The home secretary, Theresa May, told the police service on Tueday that rank and file officers should expect annual rises in contributions of £349 for a new constable to £1,169 for a senior PC. The increases are being introduced as part of the government’s target of cutting the public sector pension bill by £2.8bn a year and follow detailed announcements last week on the additional contributions facing teachers, nurses and civil
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Agreement to increase US debt limit gains enough votes to pass in Senate – with Obama expected to sign it into law immediately Congress has buried the spectre of a US debt default after it finally passed a deficit-cutting package – but the shadow lingered of a possible painful downgrade of the top-notch American credit rating. Just hours before the Treasury’s authority to borrow funds ran out, the Senate voted 74 to 26 to pass a hard-won compromise to lift the US government’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling to last beyond the November 2012 elections. President Barack Obama, who will seek a second term next year, was expected to immediately sign the deal into law. His signature is set to draw a line under months of bitter partisan squabbling over debt and deficit strategy that had threatened chaos in global financial markets and dented America’s stature as the world’s economic superpower. There was little suspense about the outcome of the vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The bill overcame its biggest hurdle late on Monday when the Republican-led House of Representatives passed the $2.1 trillion deficit-reduction plan despite some resistance from Tea Party conservatives and liberal Democrats. Uncertainty remained, however, over whether the budget deal goes far enough in reining in deficits to satisfy major ratings agencies, which have threatened to downgrade the United States’ AAA credit rating. Such a move would raise borrowing costs and act as another drag on the stumbling economy. Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s said in mid-July there was a 50-50 chance it would cut US ratings in the next three months if lawmakers failed to craft a meaningful deficit-cutting plan. S&P could downgrade US ratings soon after the bill is signed by Obama, given that the agency will have all the information it needs to make a decision. Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner said he expected the ratings agencies to take a “careful look” at the situation but he was not sure whether the United States would be spared from a downgrade. “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell,” he told ABC News. The plan calls for $2.1 trillion in spending cuts spread over 10 years, and creates a congressional committee to recommend a deficit-reduction package by late November. That appears to fall short of rating agency S&P’s previous assertion that $4 trillion in deficit-reduction measures would be needed to avoid a downgrade by showing that Washington was putting the country’s finances in order. US Congress US economy US politics United States Barack Obama Economics guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …For the fifth straight year, Islamic militant group al-Shabab used the start of Ramadan to launch attacks in Somalia, reports CNN . Despite one of the worst famines in 60 years , al-Shabab fighters attacked African Union forces in northeastern Mogadishu yesterday with suicide bombers, guns, and mortars. “In the midst of…
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Dragons’ Den star calls in police and deletes tweets appearing to solicit violence after Russian threatens to harm daughter The Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne has been forced to delete tweets after offering a £50,000 reward for anyone who broke the arms of a man who used Twitter to threaten his daughter. Someone going by the name of Yuri Vasilyev tweeted Bannatyne three days ago, saying: “I’m looking for a £35,000 investment to stop us hurting your Hollie Bannatyne. We will bring hurt and pain into your life. We are watching her. She is very attractive. Want photos?” After revealing that police had been informed of the threat, Bannatyne told his 371,653 Twitter followers: “I offer £25,000 reward for the capture of the coward who calls himself @YuriVasilyev_ Double if his arms are broken first.” He added: “I am serious btw [by the way]. I think he is in Moscow.” Bannatyne’s strategy appears to echo the plot of the film Ransom , in which a millionaire, played by Mel Gibson, puts out a bounty on the criminals who have kidnapped his son. A number of Twitter users were quick to take Bannatyne to task for appearing to solicit violence. “Just read it thought it was a bit irresponsible of @DuncanBannatyne. Some nutter will take it seriously,” wrote one . Bannatyne replied: ” Good I want you to. ” Another user went further , asking: “You are seriously trying to pay someone, to break someone’s arms, on an incredibly public forum? Fair enough … Just to clarify, you 100% want everyone to know you are seriously doing this. Despite it being illegal?” The criticism appeared to bring about a change of heart, and Bannatyne deleted the offending tweets and amended his offer to ” £30,000 reward for info leading to his arrest “. However, he kept up the pressure, telling his followers he had tracked the alleged criminal to an internet cafe in Moscow. “@YuriVasilyev_ My people are getting closer to you every minute, run and hide you little coward in Moscow,” he tweeted . ” Go home to your mum and cry we are closing in on you little boy.” The saga was picked up across Twitter, leading parody – ” I offer £25 for the capture of my 3-year-old. Double if her toenails are clipped ” – and more serious points. Many users made comparisons with the Twitter joke trial in which Paul Chambers was convicted of “menace” for threatening to blow up Robin Hood airport in a humorous tweet. “I hope Bannatyne doesn’t threaten to blow Russian chap sky high if there’s any snow in Moscow. Then he’ll be in trouble,” wrote David Allen Green , the New Statesman’s legal correspondent who also represents Chambers. Bannatyne’s agent confirmed that the police had been informed. On Tuesday afternoon, Bannatyne released a statement saying: “My family is well protected but I take any threat to them very seriously and will do all I can to ensure the person or people involved are caught.” The entrepreneur, author and philanthropist made no mention of the deleted tweets. Dragons’ Den Twitter Internet Crime Sam Jones guardian.co.uk
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