Egypt Unfinished Business

Egypt Unfinished Business Following a successive revolution in Tunisia where protesters forced the then president Ben Ali out of position, it seemed as what people called an Arab revolution. However, in perhaps the most unexpected development in the modern Egypt history, the Egyptians also decided to follow the road used by Tunisia to end the 29 years dictatorship of President Hosni Mubarak.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Egypt Unfinished Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On 25th January 2011, young protestors came to the streets in the wake to push Mubarak to announce his intention not to participate in the coming election and these protestors used the social media to organize a great number of people that culminated to the ever-larger nationwide protests (Sharp 2). On 28 January, thousands of protestors throughout the country were on the streets in what they called peaceful demonstrations where approximatly100, 000 protestors turne d up in Cairo alone (Sharp 2). After a few days, the government learnt the role of the media and internet during the protests and the magnitude of the protestors’ growth; they put limits all media including internet (Sharp 2). The government arrested Gael Ghonim, a young Google executive who created a Face book group Khaled, the main protestors’ social networking site (Sharp 10). The protests further continued until the resignation of Mubarak on February 11. However, the status in Egypt even after the resignation of Mubarak is not at rest. In the past few weeks there has been instability in Egypt as the citizens are not contempt with the army’s rule and the preparations for 28th November elections. In this paper, the focus is on the view and the role of the tactical media and the media activists in these protests. What do you think about tactical media and media activism in relation to Egypt protests? Rita Raley (1) describes tactical media as â€Å"interventio nal media art practices that engage and critique the dominant political and economic order.† The practitioners of this media engage in well crafted politics of disruption, intervention, and education. The tactical media practitioners use media away from the mainstream media. They spread information that is not in the mainstream news commonly referred as media activism (Rita 5). In addition, media activism involves the use of media and communication technology for social movement as well as the attempt to change media and communication policies (Rita 6).Advertising Looking for essay on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Tactical media and media activism featured highly during the Egypt protests. During the protest, it is evident through the attempts of the government to stem the media coverage of the protest. The recent protest is characterised by use of media activisms, which comes out throu gh the issues that caused the protests. As mentioned earlier the practitioners use political disruption. In this case, the protests are on the proposed principles of constitution, and the worry that the military would be shaped as a state within a state. In the January’s protests, the government blocked the internet access, traffic as well as SMS but this did very little. The protestors used mobile phones, social networks such as Face book, twitter and You tube to pas information, videos, images, and stories. They also used other web, third party apps, proxy websites, software, and VPN where this tactical media passed information that had little truth in Egypt and to rest of the world. Dotson A, 2011 in strategic social media J412 at the University of Oregon asserts that even long before the newscast reported of the protest in Egypt, people in New York new about it through social media and therefore social media played a great role during this protests. What Are The Roles Pla yed By Tactical Media And Media Activism In Egypt During Protests? The tactical media and media activism played a great role during the Egypt’s protests. First, the initial start of the protests started through the social media. People sent incitement information through the social media against the Mubarak’s rule and his failure to declare his stand not to participate in the next elections. Further, after the eruption of the protests the number grew larger due to communications through the social media. The protestors used mobile phones, Face book; You tube and twitter to pass information and this aggravated the situation in Cairo as well as in Egypt. This media was used to pass information from the ground that was more exaggerated in order to catch the attention of the World and therefore played a role in seeking sympathizers from other parts of the world. The media passed pictures and video of the inhuman acts by the riot police to the protestors, which called for t he nations like USA to intervene. The intervention of other nations to the situation in Egypt even made things worse as this media encouraged the protestors of the worldwide support. In addition, the use of social media gave the protestors the confidence to continue as it made them aware that they were not alone in this fight. They therefore, believed even if they suffer, they would not suffer alone. Thus, the media acted as a tool of encouragement.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Egypt Unfinished Business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion Media and communication technology is of great importance to the world because it keeps the world in touch of the happenings as well as enlightening the people. Further, it used to unite the people for a common goal such as the fight against drug abuse, environmental conservation and HIV/AIDs control. However, it is dangerous if used for the long purpose as it causes a s table country to be ruined as for the case of Egypt. Rita , Raley. Tactical Media. New York. University of Minnesota. 2009. Print. Sharp, Jeremy. Egpyt: The January 25 Revolution and Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy, Washington DC, USA. Congressional Research Service. 2011. Print

The Origins of Rice Domestication in China

The Origins of Rice Domestication in China Today, rice (Oryza species) feeds more than half the worlds population  and accounts for 20 percent of the worlds total calorie intake. Although a staple in diets worldwide, rice is central to the economy and landscape of wider East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian ancient and modern civilizations. Particularly in contrast to Mediterranean cultures, which are primarily based on wheat bread, Asian cooking styles, food textural preferences, and feasting rituals are based on consumption of this vital crop. Rice grows on every continent in the world except Antartica, and has 21 different wild varieties and three distinct cultivated species: Oryza sativa japonica, domesticated in what is today central China by about 7,000 years BCE, Oryza sativa indica, domesticated/hybridized in the Indian subcontinent about 2500 BCE, and Oryza glabberima, domesticated/hybridized in west Africa between about 1500 and 800 BCE. Origin Species: Oryza rufipogonFirst Domestication: Yangtse River basin, China, O. sativa japonica, 9500-6000 years ago (bp)Paddy (Wet Rice Field) Invention: Yangtse River basin, China, 7000 bpSecond and Third Domestications: India/Indonesia, Oryza indica, 4000 bp; Africa, Oryza glaberrima, 3200 bp Earliest Evidence The oldest evidence of rice consumption identified to date is four grains of rice recovered from the Yuchanyan Cave, a rock shelter in Dao County, Hunan Province in China. Some scholars associated with the site have argued that these grains seem to represent very early forms of domestication, having characteristics of both japonica and sativa. Culturally, the Yuchanyan site is associated with the Upper Paleolithic/incipient Jomon, dated between 12,000 and 16,000 years ago. Rice phytoliths (some of which appeared to be identifiable to japonica) were identified in the sediment deposits of Diaotonghuan Cave, located near Poyang Lake in the middle Yangtse river valley radiocarbon dated about 10,000-9000 years before the present. Additional soil core testing of the lake sediments revealed rice phytoliths from rice of some sort present in the valley before 12,820 BP. However, other scholars argue that although these occurrences of rice grains in archaeological sites such as Yuchanyan and Diaotonghuan caves represent consumption and/or use as pottery temper, they do not represent evidence of domestication. Origins of Rice in China Oryza sativa japonica was derived solely from Oryza rufipogon, a poor-yielding rice native to swampy regions that required intentional manipulation of both water and salt, and some harvest experimentation. Just when and where that occurred remains somewhat controversial. There are four regions that are currently considered possible loci of domestication in China: the middle Yangtze (Pengtoushan culture, including such sites as at Bashidang); the Huai River (including the Jiahu site) of southwest Henan province; the Houli culture of Shandong province; and the lower Yangtze River Valley. Most but not all scholars point to the lower Yangtze River as the likely origin location, which at the end of the Younger Dryas (between 9650 and 5000 BCE) was the northern edge of the range for O. rufipogon. Younger Dryas climatic changes in the region included the increase of local temperatures and summer monsoon rainfall amounts, and the inundation of much of the coastal regions of China as the sea rose an estimated 200 feet (60 meters). Early evidence for the use of wild O. rufipogon has been identified at Shangshan and Jiahu, both of which contained ceramic vessels tempered with rice chaff, from contexts dated between 8000–7000 BCE. Direct dating of rice grains at two Yangtse river basin sites was reported by Chinese archaeologists led by Xinxin Zuo: Shangshan (9400 cal BP) and Hehuashan (9000 cal BP), or about 7,000 BCE. By about 5,000 BCE, domesticated japonica is found throughout the Yangtse valley, including large amounts of rice kernels at such sites as TongZian Luojiajiao (7100 BP) and Hemuda (7000 BP). By 6000–3500 BCE, rice and other Neolithic lifestyle changes were spread throughout southern China. Rice reached Southeast Asia into Vietnam and Thailand (Hoabinhian period) by 3000–2000 BCE. The domestication process was likely a very slow one, lasting between 7000 and 100 BCE. Chinse archaeologist Yongchao Ma and colleagues have identified three stages in the domestication process during which rice slowly changed eventually becoming a dominant part of local diets by about 2500 BCE. Changes from the original plant are recognized as the location of rice fields outside of perennial swamps and wetlands, and non-shattering rachis. Out of China Although scholars have come close to a consensus concerning the origins of rice in China, its subsequent spread outside of the center of domestication in the Yangtze Valley is still a matter of controversy. Scholars have generally agreed that the originally domesticated plant for all varieties of rice is  Oryza sativa japonica, domesticated from  O. rufipogon  in the lower Yangtze River Valley by hunter-gatherers approximately 9,000 to 10,000 years ago. At least 11 separate routes for the spread of rice throughout Asia, Oceania, and Africa have been suggested by scholars. At least twice, say scholars, a manipulation of  japonica  rice was required: in the Indian subcontinent about 2500 BC, and in West Africa between 1500 and 800 BCE. India and Indonesia For quite some time, scholars have been divided about the presence of rice in India and Indonesia, where it came from and when it got there. Some scholars have argued that the rice was simply  O. s. japonica, introduced straight from China; others have argued that the  O. indica  variety of rice is unrelated to japonica and was independently domesticated from  Oryza nivara. Other scholars suggest that  Oryza indica  is a hybrid between a fully domesticated  Oryza japonica  and a semi-domesticated or local wild version of  Oryza nivara. Unlike  O. japonica, O. nivara  can be exploited on a large scale without instituting cultivation or habitat change. The earliest type of rice agriculture used in the Ganges was likely dry cropping, with the plants water needs provided by monsoonal rains and seasonal flood recession. The earliest irrigated paddy rice in the Ganges is at least the end of the second millennium BC and certainly by the beginning of the Iron Age. Arrival in the Indus Valley The archaeological record suggests that  O. japonica  arrived in the  Indus Valley  at least as early as 2400–2200 BCE, and became well-established in the Ganges River region beginning around 2000 BCE. However, by at least 2500 BCE, at the site of Senuwar, some rice cultivation, presumably of dryland  O. nivara  was underway. Additional evidence for the continuing interaction of China by 2000 BCE with Northwest India and Pakistan comes from the appearance of other crop introductions from China, including peach, apricot,  broomcorn millet, and Cannabis.  Longshan  style harvest knives were made and used in the Kashmir and Swat regions after 2000 BCE. Although Thailand certainly first received domesticated rice from China–archaeological data indicates that until about 300 BCE, the dominant type was  O. japonica–contact with India about 300 BCE, led to the establishment of a rice regime that relied on wetland systems of agriculture, and using  O. indica. Wetland rice–that is to say rice grown in flooded paddies–is an invention of Chinese farmers, and so its exploitation in India is of interest. Rice Paddy Invention All species of wild rice are wetland species: however, the archaeological record implies that the original domestication of rice was to move it into a more or less dryland environment, planted along the edges of wetlands, and then flooded using natural flooding and annual rain patterns. Wet rice farming, including the creation of rice paddies, was invented in China about 5000 BCE, with the earliest evidence to date at Tianluoshan, where paddy fields have been identified and dated. Paddy rice is more labor-intensive then dryland rice, and it requires an organized and stable ownership of land parcels. But it is far more productive than dryland rice, and by creating the stability of terracing and field construction, it reduces environmental damage caused by intermittent flooding. In addition, allowing the river to flood the paddies replenishes the replacement of nutrients taken from the field by the crop. Direct evidence for intensive wet rice agriculture, including field systems, comes from two sites in the lower Yangtze (Chuodun and Caoxieshan) both of which date to 4200–3800 BCE, and one site (Chengtoushan) in the middle Yangtze at about 4500 BCE. Rice in Africa A third domestication/hybridization appears to have happened during the African Iron Age in the Niger delta region of west Africa, by which  Oryza sativa  was crossed with O. barthii to produce  O. glaberrima. The earliest ceramic impressions of rice grains date from between 1800 to 800 BCE in the side of Ganjigana, in northeast Nigeria. documented domesticated O. glaberrima has first been identified at Jenne-Jeno in Mali, dated between 300 BCE and 200 BCE. French plant geneticist Philippe Cubry and colleagues suggest that the domestication process may have been begun about 3,200 years ago when the Sahara was expanding and making the wild form of rice harder to find. Sources Cubry, Philippe, et al. The Rise and Fall of African Rice Cultivation Revealed by Analysis of 246 New Genomes. Current Biology 28.14 (2018): 2274–82.e6. Print.Luo, Wuhong, et al. Phytolith Records of Rice Agriculture During the Middle Neolithic in the Middle Reaches of . Quaternary International 426 (2016): 133–40. Print.Huai River Region, ChinaMa, Yongchao, et al. Rice Bulliform Phytoliths Reveal the Process of Rice Domestication in the Neolithic Lower Yangtze River Region. Quaternary International 426 (2016): 126–32. Print.Shillito, Lisa-Marie. Grains of Truth or Transparent Blindfolds? A Review of Current Debates in Archaeological Phytolith Analysis. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 22.1 (2013): 71–82. Print.Wang, Muhua, et al. The Genome Sequence of African Rice (Oryza . Nature Genetics 46.9 (2014): 982–8. Print.Glaberrima) and Evidence for Independent DomesticationWin, Khin Thanda, et al. A Single Base Change Explains the Independent Origin of and Selection for the Nonshattering Gene in African Rice Domestication. New Phytologist 213.4 (2016): 1925–35. Print. Zheng, Yunfei, et al. Rice Domestication Revealed by Reduced Shattering of Archaeological Rice from the Lower Yangtze Valley. Scientific Reports 6 (2016): 28136. Print.Zuo, Xinxin, et al. Dating Rice Remains through Phytolith Carbon-14 Study Reveals Domestication at the Beginning of the Holocene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114.25 (2017): 6486–91. Print.