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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]