Cape Town needs a visit from Anthony Bourdain
Foodyism and obscure ‘ethnic’ food are trendy these days. So, it is odd that South Africa hasn’t received more attention.
Somalia
London calling … to the faraway towns of Somalia
Talk about efficiency, how’s this for a developmental scheme. First, encourage, both directly and by ‘principled non-engagement,’ a civil war in a mineral rich area. Make sure thousands are displaced, especially the rural populations. Help to build so-called refugee camps which are located a great distance from everyone’s homes and which are places in and […]
50 Cent goes to Somalia
So rapper 50 Cent (accompanied by American journalists) was in Somalia and Kenya this week to visit people living in refugee camps displaced by the civil war with Islamic militants. Expect lots of ’50 in Somalia’ reports on US television. 50 Cent, who joins a long line of celebrities helping Africans (he is being touted […]
Music Break. Mufasa
Somali-Canadian R&B Singer A’maal Nuux wants to be Mufasa. The description of the song on Youtube says, “This song touches on the devastation and upheavals afflicting Somalia… offers a message of hope calling on the people that a devastated nation can actually rise from the ashes of war!” A little Somali pride in your radio R&B. I […]
"The Somali Neurosis"
14-minute clip from a recent TV profile by Norwegian television of a visit by Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah to Norway. I never imagined book TV could look this good and informative.
Gandhi in Somalia
A mild mannered historian and anthropologist takes over as President of an autonomous Somali republic.
Jeffrey Gettleman in Somalia
By Abdourahman Waberi* Jeffrey Gettleman will not run the risk of being seen as ‘a nobody, a cockroach, a gangster,’ unlike the Somali pirates he depicted in the columns of the New York Times Magazine last weekend (‘Taken by Pirates‘, Oct 5, 2011). In that particular piece of reportage, a totally asymmetric treatment is set […]
Drones in Somalia
The US, which has misread the political situation in Somalia before, is again pursuing short-term military gains there at the risk of long-term blowback.
The Transformation of K’naan
How a political song about the aftermath of the Cold War, refugees and statelessness was defanged, first for FIFA and then for Coca Cola.
Too many films about the 2010 World Cup
Here's some things I did not have the time to blog about properly or link to this past week. It's Weekend Special.