On March 4, voters in Togo for the first time ever will have a choice between two young-ish leaders, as a new generation of politicians is slowly emerging from the shadows of the aging post-colonial crop of politicians. At least they are supposed to be able to choose. Considering that the election committee that oversees […]
The last few days we had a bit of a spring-teaser and I was able to go out and run on some new and interesting ground. Friday (50F/10C sunny, dry) I did another lunch run in town, from my office to my favorite bar. And today (65F/18C sunny, dry) I did my first real trail […]
Last Thursday around lunchtime a truck with a huge industrial freezer crashed into the Gregson St railroad trestle – the “truck guillotine” as some are calling it. This time I was there and I had my camera with me, so in addition to the actual crash footage I also shot some footage of the crash […]
The North Carolina constitution actually bars atheists from public office – in Article VI, Section 8: Sec. 8. Disqualifications for office. The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God. (…) NC Constitution, Article VI, Section 8 This, and all other religious tests for public […]
It was bad enough when the convoy of Togo’s national football team was machine-gunned by a rebel army in Angola’s Cabinda Province as the team was traveling to the Cup of African Nations. Two staff members and the Angolan driver died. Several are still in the hospital and it seems clear that the whole team […]
On January 21, the Supreme Court of the United States produced a ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that removes any regulation of what corporations can say, and when they can “say” it to influence elections in the United States. Corporations are now free to pump as much cash into the political process […]
… this year has been a bit of a pisser! Most of all in Haiti, of course. Please contribute what you can afford to relief organizations who work in Haiti. My favorite is Doctors without Borders; they seem quite efficient, appropriately god-less, and they were helping in Haiti before the earthquake. And also reach out […]
2010 should be a great year for African football, but so far it has come off to a bad start, after Friday’s attack on the bus of Togo’s National Team in Angola’s Cabinda Province. The team was traveling to the CAN venue in Cabinda City in a bus with a police escort. The convoy was […]
… took a lot of energy. This was not a bad year for me, but it did wear me out a bit. The first half was dominated by our trip to Togo and Ghana. It took a lot of preparation to get ready. The trip itself was great, but quite exhausting. Work turned a bit […]
I am getting cold feet. I knew this was going to happen – it’s the fundamental reason we do wear shoes. They protect our feet from the elements. And I am a wimp that way … I hate it when my feet are cold. Cold, wet feet is the worst. So yesterday I did just […]
A few weeks ago our bathroom flooded and the cheap, beige linoleum flooring was completely destroyed. So we ripped out the linoleum and we ended up ripping out the vanity and the toilet as well. We got new bamboo flooring and a new dual-flush toilet from Costco, and a great bamboo vanity from bathandgranite4less.com. Last […]
Less than Six Months to the Doughman – the race is on May 29 – so I figured I’d kick off Doughman Season with a nice lunch-run to Dain’s Place. Oh yeah, baby! Lunchtime rolled around on Friday, I got into my running shorts and jogged the 1.1 Miles to 9th Street. Barefoot, of course. […]
Photo of Scott Jurek and Arnulfo Quimare in Copper Canyon, 2006. Courtesy Luis Escobar. Do humans suck at running? Apparently that’s what many experts in sports medicine think. Or is the human body actually perfectly adapted to endurance running and a lot of the running injuries are due to bad technique and expensive running shoes? […]
Not sure if this is funny or just sad … a middle school in Goldsboro, NC had the brilliant idea to try selling grades as a school fundraiser. Yes – $20 gets you 20 point on your next test. That can turn a B into an A or an F(ail) into a D (=pass). Jay […]
Twenty years after the border between East Germany and West Germany was breached, we now know that in that fateful press conference Schabowski simply read the wrong memo. But after Schabowski, a member of the Central Commitee of the SED, had announced that all travel restrictions had been lifted for all East Germans – effective […]
Congratulations to Ghana’s U20 football team! At the U20 Worldcup final in Cairo on Friday Ghana beat 4-time champion Brazil despite being one player down due to a red card in the 37th Minute. Neither team scored during regulation time and overtime, and so penalty kicks decided this game. This is the first time Ghana […]
Last weekend I made batch #40, which means that over the last 3 years I turned 2000 Gallons (8000 liters) of fryer oil into fuel for my cars, using my fuel production setup in the basement. Currently I collect oil from these restaurants in Durham: ElRodeo, Piazza Italia (at Brightleaf), Dain’s Place and the Down […]
Today, I ran 3 one-mile stretches on the beach. Sand is a great training tool because your feet give you instant feedback at every step. On asphalt you get feedback, but sometimes only too late, when you already got that blister. In sand you can feel how deep your feet sink in and where. That […]
Not sure if this is good news or bad news: Trafigura, the company responsible for the Probo Koala toxic waste scandal 3 years ago, settled with the lawyers representing the Ivorian victims for $46 Million – that’s a little over $1,500 per person. Yes, that’s real money for most folks in Cote d’Ivoire – a […]
Next Tuesday, on the sidelines of a meeting of the UN General Assembly, President Obama will meet with several African heads of state for a working breakfast. According to (fr) the Togolese state news website RepublicOfTogo.com, President Faure Gnassingbe has been invited, too. Apparently the criterion for the invitation is troop contributions to UN peacekeeping. […]
