Academic freedom

I mentioned that the CSIR in South Africa was having a conference last week, and bemoaned the lack of media publicity about it. I probably spoke to soon, as a media frenzy broke out shortly after that. One of the keynote speakers, Dr Anthony Turton, had his talk withdrawn, and was subsequently suspended by the CSIR pending an internal investigation. The content of his talk is still freely available off the CSIR webpage, so it is a bit baffling as to why the CSIR felt the need to withdraw the talk at the last minute, particularly as it apparently, according to the media, had been circulated for some time before the conference.

The official version is that there were some unsubstantiated facts in the talk, and that some of the figures used, which showed some of the victims of the recent xenophobic violence in South Africa, may have caused distress. Dr Turton was suspended due to his decision to talk directly to the media, rather then following internal CSIR channels. At this point it’s rather moot as to what the reasons are, as the CSIR is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. This has now been portrayed as a freedom of speech issue, and an example of censorship by the CSIR and government. My gut feeling as to the “unsubstantiated claims” that the CSIR was reluctant to have presented is the data showing the level of government funding, and staff employment at the CSIR. This work was published in the South African Journal of Science in 2006, and part of it was reproduced as Figure 1 in Dr Turtons talk. The drop in funding is actually incredibly scary. Science in SA is in a fairly precarious state as it is – if a council that should be the premier research institute is battling to attract funding, what hope is there for the rest of us scientists in this country?

Cynicism

Our big boss at work has decided to set up meetings with each of the groups. It's probably not a good sign when the first response of most people is to wonder how many times the meeting will be shifted before it finally happens.

South African Science

The CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) in South Africa is (theoretically) the flagship for South African science, as well as for African science. It's currently having a conference highlighting its research. Number of newspaper / web articles on this - One... Unfortunately, science isn't an attractive career here for a variety of reasons. Things like this don't help though.

SA politics, II

And as I post the previous point, I check the news only to see that the provisional election date is the 25 March. It will be interesting to see if this will be the case next year

South African Politics

South Africa is holding its presidential elections next year. This is probably of less importance to most of the world then the most recent one held in the United States, but it holds the potential to be one of the most significant held in Africa in recent years. It’s an unfortunate reality that liberation movements in Africa have often come to resemble the worst aspects of the governments that they sort to replace. Often, the promise rapidly degenerates into dictatorship and one party rule. One just needs to look north of the Limpopo river to see a textbook example in the rule of Zanu-PF and Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. South Africa has, thus far, managed to escape the threat of an elder statesman hanging onto power through the decision of Nelson Mandela to serve only one term as President, and then the recent recalling of Thabo Mbeki as President. Currently we have an acting President, Kgalema Motlanthe, with the likelihood that he will be replaced by the President of the ANC, Jacob Zuma.

However, it looked like South Africa would be governed by the ANC for the foreseeable future. Having one political party dominate for an extended period of time is not healthy for any democracy – hence the strong likelihood that the Labour government in the UK will be replaced by a Conservative government after their next election. The chief opposition party in SA, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is still predominately white, and, realistically speaking, will never be a viable opposition party in the sense of being able to beat the ANC in an election. However, the recent recall of Thabo Mbeki has contributed towards the formation of a new party, COPE, mainly comprised of disenchanted former ANC heavyweights, led by the former premier of Gauteng, Tokyo Sekwale, and Mosioua Lekota, the former Minister of Defence. The big question is whether they will be able to pull sufficient votes from ANC supporters in rural areas to put a dent in the ANC majority. It is highly unlikely that they will be able to do more then that, however, reducing the ANC majority will send a message to the ANC that they are not entitled to be in power for ever. The big losers in my opinion however are likely to be the DA. There are a significant proportion of voters who will vote for a party other then the ANC in order to have some semblance of opposition. A predominately white party will inevitably become nothing more then a curiosity in South Africa. A strong opposition party in South Africa is a necessity if South Africa is to survive as a democracy. It remains to be seen if COPE can become that.

Sundry irritations

Idiots who don't pay attention when driving. I had a minor bumper bashing on Friday - thankfully no serious damage, but it's still a bit frustrating. My chief peeve was the fact that the idiot responsible just sat in his car, as though I should just drive off without checking for damage.

Lawyers responsible for our patent who managed to submit it with completely the wrong set of figures. I spent hours last week fixing them all, and now the majority of our figure legends don't match the figures.

The water quality at work. This has been a continual problem for several months now, and still doesn't seem to be anywhere near getting resolved. Of course, this affects the water that we drink during the day, and the purified water we use in all our cultures and chemical solutions. Sigh.

Facebook chat. Why, oh why, oh why doesn't it indicate that you have a new chat message when you're working in a different tab? Would this be so difficult to sort out?

My complete inability to get a simple cloning strategy to work.

Sigh. Next year can not come soon enough.

Reflection

A friend of mine sent me this statement that someone else said to them:
“Christians are only saved when they die for someone else. Christians need to take the pain/punishment for someone else.”

On first glance this struck me as something I disagree with. Ultimately, that whole statement has messianic overtones, but there was only one Messiah, and we can never hope to live up to His standard. Also, while we are called to die to self, to die for someone else isn’t a prerequisite to be a Christian (that has echoes of the human sacrifice practiced by the Aztec religion). However, in the context that taking on someone elses burdens often implies dying to self, the statement has some validity.

Anyway, I did a quick scan for some relevant verses, and these ones struck me (all from the NIV).
John 10:10-12
10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.

John 15:12-14
12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command.

1 John 3:15-17
15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. 16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

So maybe the initial statement needs to be re-worked a bit. Firstly, we are required to give up everything, even our life if necessary, if it will help someone else. However, not everyone will be called to that level of self-sacrifice. No one would be able to argue that Mother Theresa of Calcutta is any less of a Christian then St Maximillian Kolbe, who did give up his own life to save a stranger. There are many Christians who will never die to save someone else’s life. Yet in terms of a death to self, of a giving of ones being, of all ones possessions to help a stranger, isn’t that in many instances a fate that many people would regard as worse then death?

I think I may to think about this a bit more…

Thoughts on elections

Well, to the surprise of absolutely no one, Senator Barack Obama has become the first African-American president of the USA. For me personally, I hope that this does not become an instance of be careful what you wish for. The President-Elect has always struck me as being glamorous, in the original sense of the phrase - someone who you can project all of your hopes onto. I hope the glamour doesn't fade. However, the one thing that has struck me personally - whole racism seems to be on its last legs in the US political system misogyny still seems to be going strong. Many of the comments directed against Sen Clinton and Gov Palin would be unaceptable if made towards a man. Hopefully the next election will give rise to a viable female candidate.

However, South Africa is also holding elections in the next year. It promises to be a very interesting election, with the possibility of a viable alternative to the ANC competing. Let us hope that it isn't also a case of be careful what you wish for.

Blows off some dust

Hmm, now where did I put that duster...

I got my first comment ever, and realised that I've been very slack with this, so onward!