The most solid advice for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough. – Ernest Hemingway

What are Apple thinking?

The title of Naomi Wolf’s new book, which explores why the vagina is still thought of as “slightly shameful” even today, has been censored by Apple.

Apple’s iTunes store has starred out part of the title of Wolf’s new book Vagina, calling it instead V****a, and replacing the word throughout the book’s description. So, according to Apple, Wolf’s book is “an astonishing new work that radically changes how we think about, talk about and understand the v****a”. The author, writes Apple, “looks back in history and show[s] us how the v****a was considered sacred for centuries until it began to be cast as a threat”, and asks why “even now in an increasingly sexualised world, it is thought of as slightly shameful”.

Amazon and Waterstones’ online stores both allow the word to be seen in full. And unfortunately for Apple, a picture of Wolf’s book jacket clearly displays the title on iTunes just centimetres to the left of the starred-out version.

Wolf herself was startled to hear about the censorship. “You won’t believe it – I gather Apple is censoring Vagina: A New Biography on iTunes though expletives get through – think different?” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Readers were also shocked. “Are Apple worried that people are going to discover that ‘lady parts’ have a name?” wrote Kevin Hayes in a review of Vagina on Apple’s online store. Another reader wondered why, “if it has radically changed the way we talk about something three billion people on the planet have, why is it that we can’t even see the medical term for it in print?”

Wolf is not the only writer to have had her title censored by Apple: Eve Ensler’s play has become The V****a Monologues on iTunes, and an “A to Z guide” becomes V is for V****a. The word is also starred out in the titles of numerous other books and songs, as is penis.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment before going to press.

From the Guardian

Zimbabwe’s youth getting active … from Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (YETT) latest newsletter:

A group of about 30 young people from Gweru have painted potholes white in protest of council’s slow pace in fixing them.

“We have painted the potholes white as they have become an eyesore and it helps to ensure their visibility so that at least if they are not fixed then drivers can be able to see their presence from a distance so that accidents are minimized,” said Nyaradzo Madzikura, one of the participants in the exercise.

“It gave me a great pleasure when I went into town the following morning and heard a number of rank marshals talking about it and council officials were debating the motive of the exercise as I could feel that people had noticed hence such activities should be carried out regularly,” she added.

Had a laugh yesterday. Wandering through a sports store Radio 702, or some other South African radio station, was giving handy traffic advice, ie “if you can, avoid xxx intersection because the traffic lights aren’t working.” Imagine ZBC doing the same in Zimbabwe. With every second traffic light out of order … no-one would ever get to work.

The Zimbabwe urban transport system has had touts for the past donkey years and all these years the authorities have known of their existence as well as the fact that they are illegal elements of society but they did not take any action against them. The authorities wake up one September morning and the touts are beaten like hell and rounded up in army vans and it’s headlines everywhere. It’s like these touts are aliens that have just landed in Zimbabwe from some far away planet and we are all amazed about them. The Harare City Council says it now wants to control kombis and one wonders why they have, for all these years, let touts control the kombi ranks.

Two (2) internships: Local NGO
Deadline: 17 September 2012

A local non-profit that is involved in citizen participation, governance and capacity building programmes mostly at the grassroots level is seeking 2 interns for 1 year internships starting in October 2012.

Specific tasks and duties
The successful Interns will work under the direct supervision of the Senior Programmes Officer (SPO) in the implementation of peace-building and governance programmes. The interns will support Programme Officers in project implementation.

The Interns will be required to perform the following tasks:
-Facilitate dialogue between different stakeholders including civic/community leaders, residents, women & youths
-Conduct field visits, liaise with our local-level structures, Community Working Groups and compile field information
-Compile monthly and quarterly reports for partners and the Board
-Collect most significant stories of change and photographs for sharing with the organization’s publics
-Liaise with Community Working Groups and provide information on the political context
-Monitor project implementation at the field level in line with agreed work plans and M & E frameworks
-Advise on capacity building and training needs of project participants
-Play a lead role in capturing, organizing and storage of project information

Skills
-Must have a professional, courteous and analytical penchant
-Must be proficient in English, Shona and Ndebele
-Gender and cultural awareness and sensitivity
-Flexible, adaptable and ability to work long hours including weekends
-Works well to deadlines

Qualifications
The internship programme is open ONLY to students currently registered for BA/BSc (Media/Sociology/ Political Science/ Development Studies) or LLBs at a reputable local university.

Applications
All applications to be accompanied by a detailed CV showing the courses completed and grades obtained in 1st and 2nd years of study. If interested send your application by email clearly marked ‘Internship Programme’ to: director [at] ccdz [dot] co [dot] zw