I was wonderin'...

Table Mountain [3.5MB]

...what to do tomorrow.

Passing for Penguin

Simonstown, Cape Town.

A most terrible tale of bigotry and prejudice in a small coastal village.

The Origins of AIDS

Hilary Koprowski: The Man Who Sold The World?

We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when | Although I wasnt there, he said I was his friend | Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes | I thought you died alone, a long, long time ago.

"While AIDS may be one of the deadliest and most feared diseases of modern times, there is still a degree of scientific debate over the subject of just how the disease originated, and how the first cases spread. Peter Chappell and Catherine Peix, two filmmakers with a background in science, directed this documentary, which explores a controversial theory about the beginnings of the disease. In the 1950s, American and Belgian missionaries in the Belgian colonies of the Congo widely distributed polio vaccine to children in a bid to wipe out the crippling disease; however, evidence now suggests that Hilary Koprowski's oral vaccine may have been tainted, and that the first instances of the disease may be linked to these inoculations. Using interviews, newsreel footage, and documented research experiments, The Origins of AIDS examines how a combination of benevolence, careless lab procedures, and the need of a desperate few to cover their tracks could have led to one of the most serious pandemics of the 20th century."

New York Times | The Origins of AIDS

Oh no. Not me | I never lost control | You're face to face | With the man who sold the world.

"Despite the many international awards it has won, and its substantial reputation (much of it via word-of-mouth recommendation), many people have found that it is very difficult to access (let alone purchase) The Origins of AIDS documentary, in any of its formats.

"Feedback from visitors to this site who wanted to buy The Origins of AIDS on DVD indicates that despite the official line from the producers that they are marketing the documentary, The Origins of AIDS is frequently listed as "not available for sale", or else is offered for sale at a ridiculously inflated sum (such as $195).

"Experience over a number of months [see below] suggests that the producers may not be interested in actively marketing the documentary, but that they may be collaborating with an attempt to suppress it. By contrast with their lackadaisical approach to selling the DVD, they have been judicious about threatening legal action against the owners of different web-sites that have broadcast The Origins of AIDS. Usually this approach has persuaded the web-site-owners to remove the film from their schedules."

Ed Hooper | Author of The River — A journey back to the source of HIV and AIDS 1999

I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home | I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed | I gazed a gazely stare at all the millions here | We must have died alone, a long, long time ago...

Watch the movie. Decide for yourself. Umm... read this first. Why the hell not?

"That the Belgium Congo was chosen as the location for the first mass testing of what was an experimental polio vaccine also speaks reams about the attitude of the West toward people of colour. We should also remember that the Congo was still a colony of Belgium at the time and a major source of uranium for US nuclear weapons. As one Congolese employee at the Stanleyville laboratory said of the time, 'you didn’t question [your colonial masters].'

"The history of the emergence of the deadliest disease ever to afflict humanity, AIDS, should be an object lesson for us all, especially those in the so-called civilised world who call themselves scientists, for what is clear is that we produced a disease which will over the next fifty years be responsible for the deaths of perhaps 100 million people, most of them in the under-developed world.

"There are those who claim (and not without good reason) that the AIDS retrovirus was created as a deliberate act aimed at exterminating people of colour, after all, the history of colonialism, for example in the Americas, reveals the deliberate infection of the indigenous peoples’ with diseases like smallpox, but what is revealed is in many ways far worse, for it’s the history of denial, indifference and downright lies about the way the West behaves toward people of colour, using them as unwitting guinea pigs."

William Bowles | See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Who knows? Not me | We never lost control | You're face to face | With the man who sold the world.

David Bowie | The Man Who Sold the World

GUTs

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Well, that's my theory anyway.

The exception proves it...

An impoverished surfer has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which has received rave reviews from scientists. Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide and bridge builder (when he slept in a jungle yurt). ...

The new theory reported today in New Scientist has been laid out in an online paper entitled "An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything" [pdf] by Lisi, who completed his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1999 at the University of California, San Diego.

He has high hopes that his new theory could provide what he says is a "radical new explanation" for the three decade old Standard Model, which weaves together three of the four fundamental forces of nature: the electromagnetic force; the strong force, which binds quarks together in atomic nuclei; and the weak force, which controls radioactive decay.

Telegraph | Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything


Surfer dude's picture of everything...

Thanks Doc, Frank...maybe he's on to something or just on something. The dissenters are already slinging everything from names to boiled frogs at each other.

Surviving neoliberalism...

Happy Birthday Chris Locke

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...unless, of course, you reverse the entropy gradient — which, God knows, you have done.


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60? Who'd a thunk you'd make it? Here's hoping you give us many more grey hairs and a 70th to remember.

Reservoir Blogs

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What do you give a girl who has everything? And I mean that in nicest possible way. Yeah, Jeneane. Her sixth blogday came and slipped by a couple of days ago and I was left gawping. I call her BlogSister because, well, she is kind of like a sister to me. Smart, sassy, clued, generous, loving, quick, sharp, insightful... and Sicilian. Not that I have any Sicilian blood, you understand. I just respect those who do.

I enjoy life and intend to continue doing so.

As does BlogSister. And she has shared hers since 2001 when a perfect intellectual storm hit the blogs in a never-to-be-emulated surge. So what does one give someone who continues to epitomise what blogging was 'back in the day'? I couldn't think of anything worthwhile...

...until just now. The girl who has everything gets four of everything. And there they are, the Reservoir Blogs. Ugly bunch of fuckers, aren't they? Well, for those wondering who the hell these evil looking bastards are, they are not Al Gore or Dave Winer. They did and do, in fact and theory, lend substance and meaning to the Net, the Web, and blogging.

By 2001, we'd been reading these guys for years.

OK, so maybe JP Rangaswami wasn't there at the outset but, when he wandered into the Jesus Bunker (Operational HQ, Boulder, CO), he slipped in like the key to the proverbial well-oiled Locke.

I say 'proverbial' because BlogFather Chris Locke (fast closing on sixty and blogging at his best) was last conventionally well-oiled sometime around 1984. Doc Searls is a renowned BlogBabe aficionado of discernment and repute and David Weinberger is a miscellaneous philosopher loosely joined.

Locke is into loosely joined philosophical BlogBabes.

They form a killer team. And they'll clip your ear (metaphorically, of course) if you mess with them or their friends. That said, we are fortunate to have direct access to them. And they, like many of us, are fortunate enough to call Jeneane their friend. She can clip their, our, or anybody's ears whenever she feels like it. She's that kind of girl.

Note: Given my propensity for light-hearted banter, I should point out to those who've not been blogging that long that these guys are the real deal. Without them, you'd probably have a life (as well as a job, a house, a car, a family and all that other good shit).

Life's a Beach...

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Two days at Platboom, lousy weather, a howling gale, and close on five-hundred shots shots later, I get two I like — those at the top; the panorama is of Diaz Beach, on the False Bay side; last weekend's break from city life.


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I must be doing something right...


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My growing addiction to the place is but a pleasant spinoff.

Down here, one can sometimes almost believe overpopulation's an overrated issue.

Almost...

Note: I've trundled across the Peninsula for close on two years now. Few places remain unvisited or unphotographed. I'm filling in the blanks as I return to old haunts. Wherever I've been, I've walked sturdy, secure, and clearly demarcated paths or boardwalks built by labourers working for Table Mountain National Park.

Ostensibly, these paths — the result of often back-breaking labour, lead nowhere. Practically, they've led me everywhere, and I owe those who built them enormous thanks. I've no idea who you are — I have some idea you seldom, if ever, get to enjoy what your work gives me.

Cops Admit Defeat

A risk-free activity?

Police have finally admitted that they have not made a significant impact on crime. This admission is contained in a document outlining a new policing plan by National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi. ... Some of the wide-ranging proposals of the plan include:

• a comprehensive 12-point plan detailing how investigations should be conducted and improving the ability of police detectives to assess crime scenes
• providing a 24-hour service, with proper management of crime scenes and ensuring that police take quality statements from witnesses and complainants
• decisions on case dockets being taken within 24 hours, and
• addressing the number of dockets with investigators that are not court-ready and monitoring new and outstanding cases to ensure investigations are completed within a reasonable time frame

Selebi said the strategy would become official only once he and his management team had adopted it. "It’s designed to get the maximum out of commanders and police officers." He said if the strategy was implemented it would make a huge difference to reducing crime levels.

Between April last year and March this year there were 19202 murders, 21142 attempted murders, 52617 rapes, 467 cash-in-transit heists and 14491 hijackings.

The Times | Criminals rule the roost, cops admit

Cool potatoes. Should we adopt this plan, cops will be trained to assess crime scenes, take statements, file dockets, investigate criminal activity, keep an eye on outstanding cases, and be available 24/7.

So, yes, you might well ask: "What the fuck have they been doing to now?"

A man who was allegedly beaten up badly by a group of policemen on Thursday night after making a U-turn on the N12 highway, died of his injuries two days later.

Koos Myburgh, 51, of Upington was allegedly assaulted at about 00:30 on Thursday night when between four and six policemen forced him to stop between the Groenfontein and Balmoral exits, on the section between Delmas and Ogies, after he had made a U-turn and driven his truck on the wrong side of the road.

News24.com | Man beaten to death for U-turn

Ho hum... I don't have it in for the cops, by the way (not that I condone them beating motorists to death, you understand). I was speaking to one Friday night. He pitched up to kick us off the mountain. They shut it down at night. Too many dead tourists.

An Angolan war vet with sixteen years on the force, he's joining Blackwater and heading off to Iraq. South Africa's presence there is third only to the U.S. and Britain.

My cop buddy reckons it's a good gig. "I'll score ten times my salary and, considering the number of cops killed in Cape Town so far this year, it'll be way less risky."

Conditioned by the media, I'd not considered Iraq a haven of safety and prosperity but, forced to look at it from a local policeman's point of view, I can see how it must look like Heaven on Earth.

Pap Snuki

The SABC would not have broadcast stories about Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang’s behaviour during her hospital treatment, or on her conviction for theft for stealing a watch from an unconscious patient — because the public broadcaster only carries stories that aid the country’s development.

"We are guided by the constitution not to incite violence or hatred in our reporting," said Snuki Zikalala, the SABC’s chief of news yesterday.

"Publishing such a story is disrespectful."

The Times | No news is good news, says Comrade Snuki

Snuki, you're a bent and twisted boy. Such casuistry might work in corridors lined with the offices of those whose boots you lick, but it won't wash my old Cats. You're being fucking disrespectful to me and, may I remind you, I pay your salary as well as those of the knuckleheads whose interests you so assiduously protect.

Face it, Snuks, as a state apologist of note you've passed your sell-by date and you're starting to smell like a well-known Cape fish left too long in the sun. Your redeployment as news commisar to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation might lift standards there but anywhere else, your presence is bad news for good news.

The main ZBC TV News bulletin opens with a guy in traditional costume beating a drum. You'd fit right in. Think about it.

"As a journalist, I am going to expose all forms of corruption in government and the private sector. Seventy percent of the people of this country have voted for the ANC. I lost my youth fighting for this country. Why would I allow this organisation to disappoint so many people who voted for it?"

Snuki Zikalala

Indeed. Why should you?

An Empty Cup?

That Zapiro can righteously draw parallels between a time we'd rather forget and now is a fucking disgrace. What the hell has happened? Who's going to take the rap for this one? Thabo? You up to it? Like it or not, it's your baby.

Given time's passing, that most cannot remember the horror of Vorster and Kruger rampant is a fact. They should be grateful for it. They're spared terrible memories, nightmares, cold sweats, and sudden bouts of nausea. And maybe a bar of soap or three.

That year, it started with COSAS. Immediately thereafter, a host of organisations, movements, groups and individuals were banned. Many were locked up, not a few were tortured, and some were disappeared. This just a month after Steve Biko's murder and a year after Soweto. It was the start of a filthy, all-out war that was to last ten years.

Today, journalists — facing repressive legislation and under constant threat of intimidation or arrest, work to extricate meaning from the obfuscatory shroud of smoke and mirrors that our 'transparent' government has become. Subject to vitriolic personal attacks by cabinet ministers appointed on a jobs-for-pals basis and myriad other political opportunists from the public and private sectors, theirs is an unenviable task.

Vorster's Minister of Police was a smug, mean, vicious, corrupt and murderous thug. The sclerotic alcoholic's cabinet comprised apparatchiks of the first order. So-called intelligence agencies run by Calvinist warlords permeated society, running hitsquads for pecuniary gain. State propaganda was obediently and incessantly broadcast from Auckland Park by mediocre masters of slime, epitomised by the unctuous and oily Cliff Saunders.

Little has changed. Sure, we've rid ourselves of apartheid, but social engineering and weasel words remain our stock in trade. A cynical eye on the run up to the rugby world cup final had me marvelling at the short-term genius of our perpetually bent and twisted overlords. A country desparate for good news was primed for and pumped to hysteria by every arm of the broadcast media and, as the seconds ticked away for England on Saturday night, the push to impose a new order on an old sport became crushingly inevitable.

With victory imminent, the commentary changed to Xhosa. Immediately after the game, TV cameras opened their eyes on festivities countrywide. Not a white in sight. A moment to celebrate? Nah, it was so contrived it might have backfired. But it didn't. And won't. Propaganda is an ugly business more frequently wielded with the finesse of a club than that of a rapier. No matter how it's conveyed, an image or idea persists. And we will lend it whatever meaning we are told it has.

The push for 'transformation', i.e. the transfer of power from one power elite to another, is remorseless. Driven by neo-liberal economics, it's a high-profile, high-stakes game of take and take. The poor are becoming increasingly poor; the rich, ever more greedy, corrupt and voracious.

There'll be no more World Cups after this one. In four years' time though, we'll not have B.J. Vorster or Jimmy Kruger to blame. We'll have isolated ourselves. Madiba offered us a shot at glory and we failed him and the old men at his side. Sadly, with Thabo at the helm, we've risen only to new lows. We need radical change.

It might yet come.