Tidbits

-Love this song by Tanzanian Danish band Mzunga Kichaa . (HT to Mo'dernity, Mo'problems)

-Saudi Arabia has an "American-Idol-esque" show where contestants compete by reciting poetry instead of singing. Thumbs up! Thumbs down for the scary response female contestants get.

-"The Lady Gaga" of first ladies.

-The Rise of Islamo-Erotica. 

-Just no.

-50 things you didn't know about Africa! Or maybe you did and this is just a list of 50 things I didn't know about Africa.

Tidbits

-No, you don't know anything about Mexican food. Especially, as it turns out, Salsa.

-Nepal: It's okay to be Gay! If you're rich! Three cheers for equality!

-Somali pirate business model. It's a real thing. 

-Africa's growth chart! Look how big they're all getting! ...kind of.

-Harsha Bhogle gives us the story of cricket in India and how it's shaped the country. Totally worth the long run-time for the "Mumbai Style" advert for the sport. (Hattip to Spam)

- Recently, I've been revisiting the incredible Bela Fleck's 2009 album "Throw down your heart". In it he teamed up with musicians in Africa and the States to create a very very cool project. Check it out. 

Okay, I'm not walking up a 39-story building.

Two interesting articles on Land and Home- and maybe the relationship between the two.

- The Urban Think Tank, an architecture practice based in Caracas with strong ties to the US, focuses on ways to build up slums/barrios. The approach is interesting as they aren't trying to rid cities of slums, but rather figuring out ways to enable communities to better them. (For everyone doing the cringe right now, just keep reading!) By "respecting" the growth and need for barrios they have developed various projects, arguing that slums present a would-be-standard model of living and instead of being destroyed should be improved. Recently they helped develop the Metro Cable system, a cable car system that connects barrio communities to the Caracas subway. Pretty awesome considering the alternative would be an unwieldy thirty minute climb equivalent to walking as high as a 39-story building.

True, slums are usually seen as an unwelcome byproduct of various events and the product of poor governing. However UTT argues, it gives communities a chance to proactively create their own homes and thus bear responsibility for them.

I like the idea of improving slums versus cutting them down- in the past that has just led to displacement of entire communities who inevitably will have to go and build housing elsewhere as the people who get rid of the slums rarely build apartments in their place. But I got a little squeamish when the architects seem to dismiss issues of safety:

" John Mutter, Director of Graduate Studies in Sustainable Development at Columbia University, says there is not enough focus devoted to safety in settings like Venezuela's barrios. "Earthquakes kill people because buildings collapse," he points out. The tragedy in Haiti illustrates this risk. The aftermath of natural disasters in rapidly urbanized areas makes most professionals shake their heads and point to poor planning and policy, but Mutter [The architect in question] considers this a typical "outsider" perspective, one that runs contrary to the trend in development toward empowering locals. "

-Awesome post from Tales From The Hood (Swoon!) about the fundamental importance of land to people and its place in sustainable aid/development work. Brings up issues of refugee/IDP camps and that whole can of worms.

Hurrah! Huzzah! Brava & Bravo!

Oh hey, remember when South African President Zuma was accused of rape by his deceased friends daughter? And Prez Z was all "Yeah we had sex but it was consensual. Oh and yeah, I totes know she's HIV positive and I didn't use a condom, but no worries because I took a shower afterwards*". And remember how Zuma supporters carried signs that said "How much did they pay you,nondindwa [bitch]?" Don't forget about how Z assured the court of her desire to sleep with him as was surely indicated by her "wearing a knee length skirt". And then remember how Zuma was cleared of all charges? 


Well last January, Z's bff (and the powerful ANC Youth League Leader) Julius Malema told a group of 150 university students that it was obvious that the woman had enjoyed having sex with Z and it must have been consensual since she asked for taxi money and spent the night. Then he shared some words of wisdom:


 "When a woman didn't enjoy it, she leaves early in the morning. Those who had a nice time will wait until the sun comes out, request breakfast and ask for taxi money."


Gee thanks Julius! I had been wondering if there was a surefire way to tell. 


Obviously this kind of rhetoric is horrifying on it's own, but even scarier when taken in context. It's estimated that 1/3 South African women are rape survivors. A recent survey showed that 1/4 men admitted to raping someone with most having raped more than one person. As is the case in most nations, a small fraction of those rapes are reported and only 7 percent of those reported lead to conviction. So when a well-known and influential politician publicly conveys rape stereotypes and supports survivor stigmatization, it seems ehhh...irresponsible. 


Enter The Sonke Gender Justice Network which works to actively engage boys and men in the promotion of gender equality and the prevention of sexual violence. (By the way, how cool is it that they work specifically with boys and men?) Sonke bravely brought up formal charges of hate speech against Malema for the above gem-of-a-quote. And yesterday a South African court ruled that he is in fact guilty of hate speech and discrimination. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


EPIC! EPIC! EPIC!  


Watch this video on Sonke's journey and reason for bringing charges against Malema.  Fast forward to 5:13 for serious inspiration. 


Brava and Bravo!
___________
* As a former sex educator and current human being, I feel compelled to remind Z and all his cronies, that surprise! Showering after sex is exactly 0% effective at preventing any STI or HIV transmission. But you already knew that. 

Israeli advertisements are very... Israeli.

Alright so I haven't blogged about the Dubai-assassination scandal because it has literally overwhelmed me with it's hilarity. The costumes, the CCTV footage, the passport forgery and the general sloppiness of the whole thing have led me to believe that this might have been a bad BBC-mini series gone wrong. I'm thinking the hired B-list actors went a little wild and crossed the line.

In any event I continue to revel in the unfolding events of this story and have little to no desire for the truth to be "confirmed" lest it get in the way of the ever growing vault of resulting absurdities. Like this! There is  a short list of countries who could get away with this kind of humor...

p.s- This isn't about the Dubai "mystery" but it is about really hilarious/ridiculous Israeli adverts.

Tidbits

-That would be Chile's new President Sebastian Pinera getting licked on the face by his granddaughter. Poor Esperanza's got her family blackmail photo on the interweb. 

-Almost 100,000 UN peacekeepers and you'll never guess where most of them come from. (And here for why that's so) Hattip @ Texas in Africa.

-The US sells a lotta lotta guns.

-The Lemba people of Zimbabwe say what New Yorkers have been saying forever.

-Q always always wins. 

Tidbits

-Oh wait, you mean everyone can access facebook? Whoops!


-Check out this online campaign from ARASA (AIDS&Rights Alliance for Southern Africa). (Click on the bills) There's one for my bf Mugabe!


-More things in China that can make you uncomfortable! 


-Jessica Simpson has been getting some criticism for her new reality show on VH1, "The Price of Beauty" since it's centered around her "western perception" and blah blah but um, she's from Texas okay? So yeah, it's definitely centered around her western perception of culture. Anyway, I think this looks pretty cool.


-Apparently Kim Jong Il is totes into Austria (sidenote: if you know me, you know that this article had me in stiches)


-Photo Essay: The Real Hurt Locker


-Alanna Shaikh is right on the money in the classic vein of "Knowing what's best for poor people". 

Fun with Voting!

I love love love elections. Even though they tend to be corrupt, totally undemocratic, and deeply flawed in some way or another- well, they just give me the feel good goosebumps. Today, Togo and Iraq get it on.

Well, Hello Togo! You tiny-country-of-just 6.6 million! Today more than 500 observers from the AU, ECOWAS (The Economic Community of West African States) and the EU will be monitoring elections for a new head of state. So far things are looking peaceful as people take to voting between Faure Gnassingbe and um the opposition (there are 6 other candidates). Faure Gnassingbe is the current President and son of Papa Gnassingbe Eyadema who ruled Togo from 1967 until his death in 2005. Papa G was the longest ruler of an African nation at the time of his death- what a telling little BONUS! Baby G was installed as leader right after his father died by the chief of Togolese army. People didn't like that (weird) so Baby G stepped down for two months until elections were held and SURPRISE!- he won. Some things are just meant to be. (Subtext if you didn't get it already: many believed these elections were not, you know, legitimate and the post-election violence led to hundreds of deaths of protesters by the military.)

Signs of a fair election are relatively strong and there is an independent electoral commission. However during a press conference on wednesday the head of said commission dropped the following bad boy "We must all keep in mind that our chosen candidate may or may not be the one chosen by the majority." That sounds suspiciously like the American electoral college, or other things that don't make democratic sense but we'll see.

Today also marks the early elections in Iraq. Actual election day is on March 7th, today gives those who will be working for security (members of the security forces and medical workers) a chance to vote. There are 6,200 candidates for 325 seats in the new Parliament. Which seems like too much of a good thing but I have a hard time making simple decisions so. The elected Parliament members than pick the Prime Minister. There's been a ton of run-up drama including the disqualification of about 500 candidates (they had "ties" to the now-illegal Baath Party, that would be good-ole Saddam's party). It was eventually overturned by the courts-they said they would deal with any issues of disqualifications after the elections, which seems like a really really terrible idea. A monumentally terrible idea in fact. Here and here are two pretty decent basic overviews of the elections. Here's a bit on the coalitions.

And now a toast. Let us all raise our champagne glasses to Togo and Iraq. May your elections be actual free and fair elections, may your people not feel obliged to protest in the streets due to election corruption, but still have the government sanctioned right to do so if they please! Cheers!

________________
Update: There's already been a series of bombings at polling stations killing at least 20 people. If you check out AlJaz they have a "Latest updates from Iraq" twitter feed where you are invited to refresh the page every ten seconds.

Tidbits

-The Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism has a new website with a searchable database of all known instances of suicide terrorism between 1981 and 2001( it will eventually be brought up to date). It has a ton of filters including gender and campaign type. So ummm...have fun.

-Afghani model search- Drama! 

-Guess which country has the highest incarceration rate in the world? You get one guess.

-The incredible winners of the world press photo awards

-Makes the healthcare debates easier to swallow

-This article freaks me out. Partly because of the irritating "Alice in Wonderland" metaphor and partly because of it's actual substance re: Afghanistan/Pakistan.

The UN and the Shabab party hard. Just not together.

Today the top UN envoy to Somalia praised the government as being "strong" and "united" in recognition of it's one-year anniversary. (Please hold your snickers and eye-rolling). The always festive Shabab* jumped on the party bus and decided to celebrate by banning UN food aid (and here). Pretty tacky timing. 

The UN as always, is right on the money by congratulating a government which has presided ( I use that word loosely as the government can be described as "ineffectual") over a country which has been called the "Worlds worst humanitarian crisis" and "The Most Failed State**". So I'm not sure congrats are in order here. Perhaps a subdued floral arrangement. For more on Somalia check out the BBC's country profile and Human Rights Watch's World Report on the country. 

The UN's World Food Program responded by saying that they will continue to provide aid to Somalia "however possible". Whatever that means.


Food aid in Somalia has been a hot topic for a while now. Recently the US set restrictions on aid  to Somalia resulting in less than 2/3 of promised aid being delivered. Somehow they got the notion (some would say they "realized") that American donations were being partially funneled to the Shabab. Not surprising considering how many people live in Shabab-controlled territories. Also, In January the UN World Food Program suspended food deliveries to parts of Somalia after the Shabab continued to make demands including a "security fee" and the dismissal of female staff members.

Looks like the Shabab crashed the UN's party again today. Perhaps in the future both sides should consider employing new methods of communication to keep each other in the loop. Twitter might work. 

_________

*The main insurgency group in Somalia since 2006. Al Shabab or Harakat Al-shabab Mujahdeen is a sharia-seeking organization of fighters who control much of Somalia, are affiliated with Al Qaeda and have generally helped push the country on it's current path of havoc and no meaningful central-government since 1991. They are often referred to as the Somali Taliban thanks to their hard-core shenanigans which include cutting off the hands of thieves, forcibly removing gold fillings from peoples teeth and the now infamous stoning of a 13-year old rape survivor who was accused of adultery. 

**The New Yorker wrote a great piece on Somalia and the president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed from December of 2009, called (not surprisingly ) "The Most Failed State". Here's the link if you have a subscription or access.

In which I further declare my love for Qaddafi

It's no secret that I think Q should have his own reality show. Fellow participants on said reality show could include Mugabe, Ahmadinejad, and for purposes of rounding things out Karzai, but we all know who would take front and center. Q continues to earn his keep on my top-5-dictators list by just being himself. Bravo Q. Bra-vo. In the latest installment of "Why I would get cable for a reality show about Q":

A squabble developed in 2008 between Switzerland (She of delicious chocolate, neutrality, and the scary banning of Minarets) and Libya when 

Q's wife and son were arrested in Geneva. It seems their "servants" complained of being physically assaulted- 

a misunderstanding I'm sure. They were released and charges were dropped but Q decided it was time to rumble 

and called Switzerland out on the playground. A series of mildly amusing events followed in which Q had some 

Swiss businessmen arrested in Libya, cancelled oil supplies to the o-holy-neutral one, denied visa's to Swiss citizens,

recalled its diplomats and (my favorite) withdrew billions of dollars from Swiss bank accounts. 

Anyone else imagining Q pacing back and forth muttering " But how can we get to the Swiss!? 

What do they have besides delicious sweets and three official languages? Hmmmm....yes, I know! BANKS!" (angry fist shake here)

In the latest Switzerland-Libya middle school brawl, Q announced during a recent meeting that "Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against (the Prophet) Mohammad, and God and the Qur'an." Ehhh...I'm relatively certain that he doesn't have the religious credentials to make that kind of declaration, but let's move on.

He also stated that "The masses of Muslims must go to all airports in the Islamic world and prevent any Swiss plane landing, to all harbours and prevent any Swiss ships docking, inspect all shops and markets to stop any Swiss goods being sold." What he didn't address was what said citizens of the "Islamic world" were supposed to do when faced with row upon row of the delicious Swiss confectionary goods- purchase and devour it all in order to save their fellow citizens from a life of dissent and shame? Sounds about right.

No word yet on Switzerland's proposed method of retaliation though my gut tells me that Q's got the wedgie of a lifetime coming to him.