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What's New in Club Afrika?
We apologize for the delay in publishing this newsletter.
Over the last few weeks we have had to devote a lot of time in
fortifying this website due persistent attacks by 'hacker hoodlums'.
We have also installed a backup forum at this
location. Both forums can be accessed from one
convenient location.
If you have any comments or wish to be a contributor to
this newsletter, please let us know. Also, if you own a
website and would like to
promote it in this
newsletter, please forward your info to us. As of today our database contains
718 subscribers, up from 606 of last month - consisting of
forum members,
portal members and others from our network of websites.
....Now read on
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Black History Month - A Celebration of African
American History in The United States.
What should the month of February mean to every Black American?
Many have embraced it and some have rejected it for varying reasons.
Within the four short February weeks are the anniversaries of the Montgomery
bus boycott arrests (February 22, 1956), the ratification of the 15th amendment
guaranteeing that race would not prevent a man from voting (February 3, 1870),
the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth lunch-counter sit-in (February 1,
1960), Abraham Lincoln's approval of the 13th amendment abolishing slavery
(February 1, 1865) and opera star Marian Anderson's birthday (February 27,
1897). Coincidentally, the first lady of civil rights passed on in February
2006, adding even greater significance to the month of February. At Club
Afrika we embrace this celebration and we hope it will be expanded to cover the
millions of Sub-Saharan Africans and those from the islands of the Caribbean, Europe
and other parts of the world. It is critical that African Americans tie their
history to that of Africa and use the opportunity to identify and educate
themselves about the many important contributions made by Black people
throughout the ages......and there is a lot to learn.
Over the years our history has been distorted and
grossly mis-represented. Some of these imprecision's have been corrected but
there is still much work to be done. It's therefore imperative that we build a solid
historical foundation, a necessary pre-requisite for a stronger
future.
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'Pop idol' fever sweeps Ethiopia
Ethiopia is the latest country to be caught up in "Pop Idol" mania, as
hopefuls of all ages audition every week to win the coveted title.
Contestants are encouraged to highlight Ethiopia's traditions
Of the 2,000 people who registered for Ethiopian Idols, some 600 contestants
have made it through to the second round.
Although the Ethiopian version does not have official rights to use the Pop Idol
name, the show has gained massive ratings for state-run TV and broken new ground
in this rather conservative country.
As in the UK, where Simon Cowell made a name by ruthlessly tearing into the
contestants' performances, the Ethiopian judges believe you sometimes have to be
cruel to be kind.
Some singers have been told that they have voices like donkeys or dogs.
Others, however, have been given constructive advice and the four judges have
tried to help those who are nervous about performing in the spotlight.
....Continued. ------------------------------------------
Who are you according to Google?
By Jason L. Miller
A Google search can be a good barometer of how pervasive some stereotypes are in
the world. If a search spider could sum up a nationality, a race, a religion in
a few words, what would it say? What are Americans known for? What are the
Europeans like?
Google Blogoscoped's Philipp Lenssen, a German resident, recently put together
"The Prejudice Map," a world map with descriptions of world citizens based on
Google searches. Using search queries like ["Americans are known for"] and
["Germans are known for"], Lenssen extracted descriptive phrases from the
results.
According to the map he created, Americans are known for their strength, dislike
of walking, geniality and hospitality, guarding their rights, and anti-Muslim
politics; Russians are known for brutality, passion, tough negotiations, and
soulfulness; and Mexicans are viewed as friendly, resourceful, rule-bending, and
foul-mouthed.
On the whole, these results spin positively (save for the occasional unpunctual
Bolivian and "extremely unclean" Brit-see map).
That positive spin is much different than what one may find from
Google Suggest,
a feature in beta that completes your keyword queries based on the most popular
searches. Intended to make searching quicker and easier with real time
artificial intelligence, Google Suggests automatic guessing about the
completion of some phrases may leave your jaw agape at the seemingly inherent
negative viewpoints out there.
Type in [Europeans are] into the query bar and you'll see the world may often
describe them as stupid, lazy cowards. Americans don't fare much better.
Beginning a query with [Americans are] finishes with them being fat, ignorant
terrorists. And it doesn't shy away from race, either. The same experiment works
for completing phrases about blacks, whites, Jews---you name it.
The writer of the blog
questineverything believes the auto-complete function is
a reflection on the world society, not on Google.
"Google is not to blame. They are only the medium; we are the message," reads
the weblog.
Google Suggest more closely matches
Wikipedia's account of negative national
stereotypes, but the optimist can hope that Lenssen's more positive list is a
better measure of world sentiment.
About the Author:
Jason is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. ------------------------------------------
Humor Zone | Strange News
Twin Zimbabweans Wear Loin Cloths in Court, get charged with indecent
exposure.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (01-27-2006) -- Twin Zimbabwean brothers, who dressed in
goatskin loincloths to promote traditional African values, were charged with
indecent exposure and jailed to await psychiatric tests, court officials said
Friday.
Harare magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe ordered the 22-year-old twins, Tafadzwa and
Tapiwanashe Fichiani, held in custody to reappear in court on indecency charges
Feb. 2 when psychiatric reports will be considered.
The pair went to court Thursday wearing the loin cloths, known as nhembe,
covering only their genitals.
They face a fine of Zimbabwe $25,000 (less than 30 U.S. cents).
The twins were arrested, but freed on bail earlier this month, after complaints
over their attire by shoppers at a suburban mall in northern Harare.
Police said the brothers claimed to have a religious calling to return to the
traditional dress of animal skins worn before the colonial era in southern
Africa.
The brothers said they refused to sleep on Western-style beds and were
vegetarians.
Zimbabweans generally favor conservative Western clothes. Colorful and flowing
African robes are seldom seen.
The state Herald newspaper
Friday quoted experts on culture and tradition saying animal skins were only
worn in some ceremonial and tribal rites. Animals know stupid when they see
it
JOHANNESBURG (01-03-2006) - A South African mugger fleeing the scene of
his crime hides in a tiger enclosure.
On the country's coast, a woman attempts to be a good Samaritan by pushing a
young seal into the sea, believing the poor thing is stranded.
Both people paid heavily for their stupidity, underscoring one of nature's
truisms: humans do dumb things around wild animals.
"I blame it on Walt Disney, where animals are given human qualities. People
don't understand that a wild animal is not something that is nice to pat. It can
seriously harm you," said James Cameron, a South African professional hunter.
The cartoon image of wildlife may have prompted a 49-year-old South African
woman in October to try to help a seal which she believed was stranded, allowing
her 1-year-old grandchild to stroke the creature in the process.
The seal responded by biting off the woman's nose.
Cape Fur Seals are common on South African shores and many have become
accustomed to humans.
They are a popular tourist attraction and can be viewed playing in the sea by
Cape Town's waterfront -- which may also give a false impression of placid
friendliness.
"Cute" seal pups have also been used as potent symbols by groups such as the
International Fund for Animal Welfare, further enhancing the animal's "cuddly
status."
But they can in fact be dangerous and sometimes attack people who venture too
close -- as South Africa's noseless do-gooder discovered to her horror.
TIGER TROUBLE
Then there was the South African robber who made the mistake last month of
taking refuge in an enclosure which turned out to be home to a pair of
unimpressed tigers.
He had fled into a nearby zoo after security guards heard the screams of a
couple he had just mugged in Bloemfontein, about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of
Johannesburg.
Not surprisingly, he was mauled to death by the big cats.
The mugger was not the first South African criminal to err in hiding among zoo
animals.
Max, a 200 kg (440 lb) gorilla, won fame in 1997 after being wounded by a
terrified gunman who jumped a moat into his space in Johannesburg's zoo while
fleeing police.
Max pinned the fugitive against the wall of his enclosure and guarded him even
after being shot until police arrived, making him an instant folk hero in
crime-ridden South Africa.
Other people don't realize that you shouldn't get between a mother and her
offspring -- especially when dealing with the world's largest land mammal.
In April of this year, an elephant gored a tourist to death in a Ugandan
national park after the man, carrying an 8-year-old boy in his arms, approached
the animal's calf.
"I think many people are just far removed from nature. People who live in cities
often see nature as something that is tame and manageable," said Sue Lieberman,
director of the global species program for conservation group WWF International.
"And wrongly so. We don't need to tame nature, we need to keep the wild out
there," she told Reuters.
SHOW-OFFS
Then there are the show-offs.
Lions mauled a South African teen-ager in March who came too close to their
enclosure while trying to impress his girlfriend.
The sixteen-year-old, his girlfriend and his mother were having lunch with the
lion keeper when he ignored advice and went off with his girlfriend to see the
lions in the breeding section of the park just north of Johannesburg.
The boy went into an area off-limits to the public and touched a lion through
the mesh fence.
The lion quickly sank its teeth into his arm and dragged him under the fence
before the curator came, drove the four adult lions in the enclosure away and
rescued the teen-ager.
"It just shows a total disregard and disrespect for wild animals," said Cameron.
The boy was luckier than a couple from Taiwan in 1993, who got out of their car
to photograph lions up close at a South African game park -- and who were
quickly savaged to death by the beasts.
Quote Zone
"It's one thing for Ringera to say he has teeth to fight corruption, how can he
investigate the people who appointed him. Parliament was bribed to appoint
Ringera. A dog can have a thousand teeth but cannot be sent to catch a
lion. Ringera does not have the capacity to investigate let alone taking action
against these people," he said. 01/29/2006 -
Raila Odinga
(Kenyan Opposition Leader), as he demanded that President Kibaki resign from
office.
In politics you must always keep running with
the pack. The moment that you falter and they sense that you are injured, the
rest will turn on you like wolves. - RA Butler
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