w o r d s

P.W. Botha died Tuesday evening. As the president of South Africa from 1978 - 1989, he was a champion of the system of institutional racism in South Africa known as apartheid. When black South Africans asked for freedom and demanded to be heard, he told the Afrikaners not to listen. He refused to free Nelson Mandela. And P. W. Botha said he had no regrets.

On our trip to South Africa almost three years ago we stayed in Pretoria for a few days and we got a glimpse of Afrikaner culture, especially on our visit to the Voortrekker Monument. Learning about Afrikaner history from their perspective made it much clearer why the Afrikaner people in particular were so vulnerable to the idea of apartheid. Not all Afrikaners, of course, and there were, and are, many other racists.

To be clear: none of what I learned in any way justified or even completely explained apartheid, or any form of institutionalized racism. But I found it worthwhile to learn more about Afrikaner culture.

Beyond the Voortrekkers and the apartheid legacy, I found a resourceful, modern, complex people that’s slowly adapting to a new social and political reality. But I also clearly recognized the shadow of the “old South Africa” in the looks we got when our kids played with a gaggle of black kids on a Pretoria playground, or when we showed up as a mixed-race group on a beach in KZN.

I see Botha’s death as another milestone on the path to the new South Africa, and to a new Afrikaner culture. A culture that contributes its patriotism and resourcefulness to the leadership in South Africa. And a culture that cheerfully shares playgrounds and beaches with all South Africans.

One of Africa’s most successful entrepreneurs, Dr. Mo Ibrahim, has set up a foundation and announced a $5 Million prize for the most effective, least corrupt, and all around best-of-the-best African leader. (HT to BRE)

In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper, Mr Ibrahim, 60, said leaders had no life after office.

“Suddenly all the mansions, cars, food, wine is withdrawn. Some find it difficult to rent a house in the capital. That incites corruption; it incites people to cling to power.

“The prize will offer essentially good people, who may be wavering, the chance to opt for the good life after office,” said Mr Ibrahim.

Prize offered to Africa’s leaders, BBC News, 26 October 2006

Pretty clever. Pay them to be good. I think that, in general, politicians are underpaid - and not just in Africa. I am not so naive to think that money is a cure-all for corruption. But if the salaries of public office were halfway competitive with the industry, there’d be fewer nutcases running for office. OK - nevermind that - not fewer nutcases, just more halfway sane, pragmatic technocrats.

In Africa this problem is much worse. Not only is politics extremely dangerous in some parts, but there is also very little in terms of retirement benefits, beyond what you can squirrel away during your time in office. That’s not a situation that provides a lot of incentive to most sane, intelligent people to chose public office as a career.

This initiative deserves the spotlight also because it highlights the key problem Africa faces: leadership, and the lack thereof. Just the other day I asked a Togolese friend “Mon frère, what is Africa’s biggest problem?” I explained that if he could solve one problem on the continent, what would it be? Malaria? AIDS? Hunger? Poverty? Celebrity adoptions?

“Leadership!” He said. Without decent leaders democracy cannot work. Without democracy, there cannot be much progress, social or economic. Without progress we can never solve poverty, hunger and the public health crises. And there will always be another genocide somewhere.

This is why I am skeptical about those “big money” campaigns by Americans and Europeans to raise huge sums for development aid for Africa. It’s like they are refueling and changing the tires on a racecar that’s going the wrong way on the track because the driver is drunk. Dr Ibrahim says: let’s reward the driver who can drive well! Congratulations!

See Jewels in the Jungle for more info.

Here is a recent update about the cleanup from the Probo Koala toxic waste scandal:

‘We do these kinds of operations all around the world, but this is big,’ Alwin Booij, managing director Tredi Internationale, the French firm contracted to handle the cleanup told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Thursday.

So far, Booij said, his teams have removed more than 6,000 tons of contaminated soil and toxic liquids from 18 sites around Abidjan, a city of around five million inhabitants. The 141 tanker and box containers aboard the MN Toucan constitute only the first of an expected four shipments.

[…]
Today, Ivorian authorities are carrying out no fewer than five inquiries into the affair. Two top Trafigura executives are among ten men currently being held in an Abidjan prison pending the results of a criminal inquiry. And police in the Netherlands are looking into an attempt by the Probo Koala to offload its cargo in Amsterdam in July.

The Ivorian government is also concerned with recuperating cleanup costs, which are likely to run well into the millions.

‘We’re talking about six thousand tons of very hazardous waste to repack, transport, and incinerate,’ Tredis Booij said Thursday. ‘There are big bucks involved.’

[…]
The MN Toucan left Abidjan late Friday night with its poisonous cargo bound for Le Havre, France. From there the tankers and containers will be transported to an incinerating facility outside Lyon for disposal. But it leaves behind it unanswered questions.
Ivory Coast toxic cleanup nears end, but questions remain, by Joe Bavier, Oct 28, 2006

Ten innocent people dead, thousands of people sick, and millions of Euros/Dollars wasted in cleanup cost. At least two of the executives of Trafigura are sitting in a prison in Côte D’Ivoire! If they are found to be responsible for this mess they deserve to rot in the deepest, darkest hole in that prison for the rest of their lives.

Can microbrewing save the world? In a recent article on Alternet, Chris O’Brien looks at the global and historical perspective of microbrewing: revolutionary America and the colonies’ dependence on porter from England; the rich variety of local brews of Africa and South America being replaced by imported mass-produced beer, and the rich brewing tradition in Germany due to the Reinheitsgebot (purity law) of 1516.

O’Brien puts forth the popular “buy locally” anti-globalization argument, that equates globalization=big beer=bad beer. I do like his “beerodiversity” point. I am all for supporting local brewing diversity. But I also do appreciate a globalized selection in the local(ly-owned) beer store. Most of the beer I drink is made in North Carolina. This state has some fine brews, like Highland and Foothills, and there are some very good local micro-brews as well.

But I also like having a large selection of imported and US beers available. I like my Weihenstephan weizenbier, or a Celebrator, or even just a Guinness. The latter in particular, is a great example of “big beer” not necessarily being “bad beer.”

To me, beer and life is all about diversity. Diversity grows locally, but it can also spread globally. So yes, microbrewing can safe important aspects of the world, like local tradition and flavor. So let’s save the world - one pint at a time.

Prosit!

Ramadan is ending and the Muslim world is getting ready for Eid al-Fitr - perhaps the most cheerful Muslim holiday.

I have great memories of celebrating Eid with friends in Morocco in 1990. I had been biking around the country for most of Ramadan, and got back to Fès just in time for Eid. I had mostly observed the fast voluntarily, and because I found it - uh - awkward to light up, or eat during the day and torture everyone around me. When traveling on the bike, I did drink water during the day, as this was a total necessity. Also, travelers are actually exempt from the fast. Not that strict observance rally mattered to me on religious or other grounds. It was rather a point of cultural sensitivity and curiosity to take part in this amazing phenomenon of Ramadan.

Celebrating Eid with my friends in the medina in Fès was one of the greatest experiences and privileges of my traveling days. I’ll never forget the sights and sounds of the Fassi decked out in their finest, the hospitality and the great food!

Happy Eid!

The ship that was involved in the deadly toxic waste scandal in Ivory Coast has left the Baltic port of Tallinn, after unloading toxic waste similar to what turned up in sewers and municipal dumps in Abidjan a few months ago. According to the Baltic Times, the Probo Koala pumped 600 cubic meters to another vessel, to have it processed by EcoPro in the port of Sillamae.

In the meantime, two executives of the charter company Trafigura were arrested in Côte D’Ivoire. The company still rejects direct responsibility for the disaster, but has promised full cooperation with the investigations.

Reportedly, the Probo Koala was used (illegally) as a floating refinery, to use chemical processes to extract fuel from low-grade crude oil.

On our trip to Iceland last year, I fell in love with this unique country, with its stark, fragile natural beauty and its friendly, quirky inhabitants. I learned a bit about the Icelanders, and I think I understand why they want to resume whaling.

Please don’t do it, Iceland.

There are many better ways to assert your independence and cultural heritage. How about exporting Icelandic beer or brennevin. Why not put all this effort you put into whaling into, say, making hákarl a hip, sexy appetizer for yuppies. That would make basically the same point, and it would not harm a sentient species.

I’d love to visit Iceland again, one day. But I won’t, until you call back your whalers. And I won’t recommend Iceland as a tourist destination until you leave those poor whales alone. Sorry.

Last weekend I got my latest batch of homebrew ready and I made some modifications to the reactor. I added a intake valve, so that I can easily use the pump as a transfer pump from the washtank to the drying tank and from the drying tank to the storage tank (on the right). I also moved the the temperature gauge up a bit; in front of the intake for he methoxide, so that I get better temperature readings while I am adding the methoxide to the process.

The additional intake valve was called for because the oil intake is gravity fed from the oil storage and the intake is at the lowest point, so I cannot easily unhook it to use that intake for transfer. So instead, I leave it alone and plug another hose into the new one and conveniently pump from one tank to the other. I can also use it to completely drain the entire plumbing, which is useful.

One of my fellow biodieselers started calling this setup the “apple turnover” design, when I described it. That is because it is an appleseed reactor with the water heater installed upside down to facilitate better, more complete draining of the reactor.

Click on the image for a closer look at the plumbing.

Looks like I found a good source of methanol for my fuel production. Last Thursday I drove out to the Roxboro Motorsports Dragway and procured a 55-gallon drum of this critical ingredient for biodiesel. Racetracks have methanol supplies because they use it as a racing fuel - “racing alky.”

So this German guy and this African guy show up at this drag strip way out in the country in a Volkswagen Jetta, load a drum of “racing alky” on their trailer and talk about making diesel fuel out of used fryer grease. I bet that was the cross-cultural experience of the month for the guy who sold us the methanol. However he did mention that they do use quite a bit of fryer oil at their concessions, and that we could have it if we wanted it. Next time I go there, maybe I’ll drop off a plastic drum for them to collect the fryer oil.

One thing that worked great for transporting the 55-gallon drum was laying down a crate upside-down, and then dropping the drum sideways into one of the two openings at the bottom of the crate. Secured with a couple of straps, this was a great way to transport the methanol.

So that night I worked from 8 to 11 to start a new batch of biodiesel, which I am washing right now.
Praise the lard!

Liebes Deutschland - Ich hoffe Du hattest einen schönen Tag der Deutschen Einheit!

On October 3, 1990, the states of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) adopted the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and thusly Germany was reunited after 41 years, and the GDR ceased to exist. That day was proclaimed German Unity Day.

Photos of the former Iron Curtain in Germany by Marco Bertram
Bundesministerium des Innern