Mashada Blogs » May 23, 2008

Welcome to Mashada Blogs! Read all your favourite blogs in one place.

« Expand/Collapse

May 23, 2008
15:42
Mapping Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa
From: White African

Tags: Africa
Read This Entry & More At White African
The Ushahidi engine (version 1) is being used to map reports of the current xenophobic attacks happening in South Africa on a site called UnitedforAfrica.co.za. The attacks are a product of foreigners moving across the borders, especially Zimbabwean, and encroaching on the lives of South Africans. I suggest reading this BBC article for more information.

Quirk, a web marketing agency in Cape Town is leading this charge, with Tim Shier, Rafiq and David Kobia all pulling VERY late nights last night to make this come together. Quirk will act as administrators on this build, and the Ushahidi team will step away from it as soon as the build is done.

The most important part of this type of campaign is to get the word out. SMS, email, call your friends and family all over South Africa and get them to tell their friends so that more reports come in. The more that come in, the better the tool.

A couple resources for this crisis in South Africa:
- A list of organizations that can/are helping in this situation
- Afrigator’s xenophobia page aggregating blog posts and news articles on the crisis
- BizCommunity’s aggregation of online coverage of xenophobia attacks
- The Times “Flames of Hate” video
- Recent Google News results
So, what’s up with this “Ushahidi engine”?
As you might/might not be aware, we’ve worked up a plan for a new version of Ushahidi (v2) that would replace what we’ve done as a free and open source tool for crowdsourcing crisis information and then visualizing that on a map. We’ll be presenting that idea next week at the NetSquared challenge in California, and are already building the basic architecture for that. This collaboration with the guys in South Africa ends up being a perfect example of the need for a rapid deployment tool like Ushahidi.

What we could use is more developers from around the world to help us. We already have a good dozen who have committed to helping in some way or other, ranging from the Bay area in California to Kenya to South Africa and Malawi. If you’d like to take part, please get in touch!

14:56
Asiyekuwepo na lake halipo
From: Kikuyumoja's realm

Tags: kikuism

Read This Entry & More At Kikuyumoja's realm

“This private blog is presently not open because it is closed” JKE

…for some reasons I just love this pic above [via, thx!] and maybe also because it perfectly helps to illustrate my silence aka blog-abstinence earlier this week - due to this:

Approx. 4kgs of papers related to the beautiful subject of hydrof******mechanics - an exam I had been procrastinating since 2004 (!) and eventually maneeeeegehhhd to passssss. :-)

Can u imagine I even carried this material to EAK the other day?

Kawia ufike.

12:04
Stuff African People Like: Meat
From: The Displaced African

Enclosure: [download]

Read This Entry & More At The Displaced African

Whereas Westerners now have to be convinced to even touch red meat, Africa would need the propaganda of the Nazi empire doubled over to convince them to leave their precious cows, goats and chickens for even a week.

Africans love meat. Always have! By the looks of things, always will. In almost all African communities, since centuries gone by, the slaughter and consumption of animals is always a special event in and of itself. Africans even have a hierarchy on how special the day of slaughter is and it goes a little something like this:

The bigger and fatter the animal and the redder their meat, the more special the occasion.

That means that to slaughter a chicken is basically an indirect way of insulting a man; slaughter a baby chick and you are declaring war. On the other end of the spectrum, slaughter your fattest cow and it is clear to your invited guests that you mean business and your house is one to be returned to.

For those misguided souls who for a variety of reasons chose to go without meat, such as yours truly, we are met with looks that can only be described as:

bewilderment-mixed-with-a-feeling-of-being-bamboozled-and-

inability-to-understand-such-an-alien-concept.

For you see, a diet consisting of fruits and vegetables has always been an indication of either poverty or getting by. If you can afford many cows AND you have so many that you can slaughter some on a regular basis and you are the King Mswati of your constituency. You should know by now how much Africans love to keep with the Jones. And never forget dowry was paid in cows, not wheatgrass.

The key to this one is simple. Don’t EVER bring up your veganism or vegetarianism unless asked. This will cause the African to look down on you with such pity and aching in their heart that they will immediately work to “bring you back to the light” in the same way a Jehovah’s Witness would.

In addition to that, never ever blame any health problems on meat. By now you should have learned of a great Scape goat (me likes that pun) in the statement, “It’s the work of Satan !” Use that liberally.

Finally, the African has built entire societies and communities around meat. Learn how to cook meat right like only the African can.

If this meaty article has added some knowledge or entertainment to your bones, consider becoming a regular by subscribing to the site’s free RSS feed or email update list.

11:16
Movie Time!
From: Mount Kirima

Read This Entry & More At Mount Kirima
I remember by this time last year I was salivating at the prospect of big movies that were being released for the summer season. There was a lot of buzz around the following movies. Spiderman 3 Pirates of the Caribean 3 (At Worlds End) my personal favourite Die Hard 4 The Bourne Ultimatum The Transformers 300 I eagerly awaited the release of [...]

9:20
Pain at the Pump
From: What An African Woman Thinks

Read This Entry & More At What An African Woman Thinks
There's much being made of the fact that Americans are paying 3.50 US dollars a gallon for their 'gas'.

Well, I see your pain and I raise you mine.

Or, hey look over here.

I drove into a petrol station this morning and the pump price was 99.99 Kenya shillings. A litre. At the current dollar exchange rate, that means I'm paying 6.10 US dollars a gallon.

This is madness. This is pain.It's my window, but I don't own the view.

8:59
This Stupid thing called XENOPHOBIA!!
From: You Missed This

Read This Entry & More At You Missed This

This is the picture of an African Immigrant in South Africa being burned alive as South Africa Police watch and have a GOOD time! Look at the policeman at the centre (isn't that a smile?)
God save our continent...
Ritch Invites You

Check out Kasarani.com, a new way to meet and keep in touch with Kenyans worldwide. You can even start your own blog on Kasarani! Click here to go to Kasarani.com now
8:54
Manchester Hoyeeee!
From: You Missed This

Read This Entry & More At You Missed This

Ritch Invites You
5:13
By-Elections; ODM in Focus
From: You Missed This

Read This Entry & More At You Missed This
Even as ODM holds its parliamentary group meeting at the Safari Park Hotel this morning, this blogger is informed that ODM is facing a daunting task in assuring its supporters that the party remains united and will emerge victorious following today's party nominations for the by elections.

There have been rumours of shadow-boxing in ODM and supporters fear that PNU and KANU have indeed infiltrated the ODM ranks including up to the Prime Minister's office. The anxiety peaked when ODM announced it had disbanded the National Elections Board previously headed by Justice (rtd) Richard Otieno Kwach and replaced it with a new team headed by former Rangwe MP Philip Okundi. No explanations have been forthcoming from the party why the Kwach team has had to be disposed.

Today, the public is singularly focused on ODM with all the mainstream media currently broadcasting regular updates on the on-going ODM nominations and the party's PG meeting.

As in the 2007 general elections, the ODM is once again showing political parties in Kenya why and how to conduct primaries in electing representatives to face opponents in the main elections.

Considering PNU, NARC-K, FORD-K, KADDU, etc have all intimated that they will be fielding independent candidates for these elections, it is strange that for the last one week, newspapers, TV and radio stations are only reporting on the ODM nomination exercise as it is the only political party in Kenya and its nominee will be the automatic MP.

For undisclosed reasons and not surprisingly, the ODM-K is not fielding even a single candidate in the by-elections and will instead support those of the PNU. Whereas Raila's ODM is in cabinet by right, Kalonzo's ODM-K owes cabinet positions to PNU and it is avoiding antagonistic actions that might be misinterpreted by its senior partner as a challenge to authority. Whichever way one looks at it, ODM-K MPs in cabinet are at the mercy of PNU - whatever the political subject in question! One would have expected a decision as to whether or not to field candidates to be made at a party National Delegates Congress, and certainly not at some backyard office in Nairobi as ODM-K is doing.

4:10
Democracy, reforms can end fear of instability
From: The Benin Epilogue Part I: Africa-Ready for Business

Read This Entry & More At The Benin Epilogue Part I: Africa-Ready for Business
By Raila Odinga
It is now three months since the National Accord and Reconciliation Agreement mediated by former United Nations Secretary-General Dr Kofi Annan was signed.

But Kenyans are still savoring and expressing their relief over the restoration of peace.......READ MORE CLICK HERE

3:12
When we get cholera we must be educated about washing our hands when in fact we need clear water.
From: Black Looks

Read This Entry & More At Black Looks
No one is illegal - Abahlali baseMjondolo comment on the Xenophobic Attacks in Johannesburg We condemn the attacks, the beatings, rape and murder, in Johannesburg on people born in other countries. We will fight left and right to ensure that this does not happen here in KwaZulu-Natal. We have been warning for years that the anger of [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "When we get cholera we must be educated about washing our hands when in fact we need clear water.", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/05/when_we_get_cholera_we_must_be_educated_about_washing_our_hands_when_in_fact_we_need_clear_water.html" });
3:01
- *No one is illegal -*
From: Black Looks

Read This Entry & More At Black Looks
Social Movements Indaba action against hate The Social Movements Indaba (SMI) - a co-ordinating national body of social movements, civil society and activist organizations - is organizing with its affiliated organizations and immigrant communities to roll back the groundswell of xenophobia. In the years since its formation in 2002, the SMI [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "- *No one is illegal -*", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/05/-_no_one_is_illegal_-.html" });

Read the complete article at

← May 22 (13 items) May 24 (6 items) →

Feeds

Mapping Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa

Tags: Africa

Asiyekuwepo na lake halipo

Tags: kikuism

Stuff African People Like: Meat

Enclosure: [download]

Movie Time!

Pain at the Pump

This Stupid thing called XENOPHOBIA!!

Manchester Hoyeeee!

By-Elections; ODM in Focus

Democracy, reforms can end fear of instability

When we get cholera we must be educated about washing our hands when in fact we need clear water.

- No one is illegal -