Formerly Known As...

On Jamaican rationalizations of homicide.

2010-10-21T13:03:00.003-04:00

In case you didn't know, Jamaica is a terribly, horribly violent place. Naturally, we've developed mental means of coping with it. Chief among those is a rather ugly form of rationalization.

Every time someone dead under violent circumstance, people seh "a supmn inna supmn", i.e. "is because him did mix up with rae-rae or did do so-n-so why it happen." All it serves to do is to make the victim The Other. The subtext is, of course, that the victim somehow brought it on themselves and it couldn't happen to decent people who mind dem own damn business. That is: "it could never happen to me!"

Wrong. It could.* Murder isn't just something that happens to the corrupt or the wicked or the careless or those dutty naygas from Tivarlee and other points south of Half Way Tree. The rationalizations remove the urgency from moral or political reactions to our crime, and for that reason are unhelpful. The sooner we realise that the murdered are people too, the sooner we can get to fixing this terrible problem.

* That said, while this piece is really a moral statement re: the ugly public attitude towards homicide victims, there is a grain of truth to it. There certainly is a demographic element to murder in Jamaica: the vast majority of victims and perps are, indeed, young men under 30 from poorer backgrounds. Furthermore, one is much more likely to be killed by folk you know that folk you don't. I've done field research into this previously as part of my job and for a WHO project. Of course, that doesn't change my opinion as stated here. Just sayin'.

Who's the boss?

2009-10-20T12:38:00.002-04:00

The conference in MoBay was unreservedly fantastic. We'll see in coming days/months/years whether I made the absolute best of it, but I'm happy with the networking I did and the things I learned.

Now, about that latter item.

One of the lingering fears I've had is that I'd end up someone's paid lab monkey. It always irked me a bit that scientists and engineers - big brains all - end up being treated as commodities by the managerial types who, unkind as it may be to say, probably aren't nearly as clever (or perhaps they're self-evidently smarter?). Nevertheless, I'm not about to suffer through a PhD so some schnook with an MBA can make more money than me while doing less.

I confess to avarice. A deep, abiding obsession with accumulation and power. Or, at least, I want to be the guy with the purse strings and the executive control, rather than the well-meaning scientific type who has to run around fighting for funding for the rest of his life.

That's one thing I learned - or rather - reaffirmed - at the conference. I could be Earl Jarrett, buffeted between politics and power regulators and not breaking even despite herculean effort and a noble and innovative agenda; or I could be the JPS, or the Minister, or the IFC private equity mogul or any other of the many incarnations of The Man (tm) that I met there.

Bad News for Nuclear?

2009-09-03T11:49:00.002-04:00

Some interesting challenges to nuclear power loom.

Long lead up times, political/economic/environmental constraints and high capital costs are conspiring to scuttle nuclear power.

New plant require long lead up times - 10 years or so. The lead up time is more for countries that don't have the grid capacity, technical know-how and regulatory framework. And while nuclear power is dirt cheap once you get a plant started on its (industry average) 40 year lifespan, the start-up costs are perhaps THE most expensive of any variety of electricity.

Key quote:

Assuming an average lifetime of 40 years for all operating and in-construction reactors, in order to maintain the same number of operating plants the report concludes that an additional 42 reactors (16GW) would have to be planned, built and started up by 2015 – that is one every month and a half. An extra 192 units (170GW) would need to be commissioned over the following 10-year period – one every 19 days, according to the report.

That's not a rosy picture.

More reading:

Wikipedia on nuclear plant economics

The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2009

A report on that report, from Nuclear Engineering International

Japanese Orbital Death Ray - er, I mean Solar Plant

2009-09-03T11:42:00.003-04:00

apparently the Japenese are planning a solar power plant that will collect 1GW (!) of power for consumers.. in SPACE.

not having to worry about night or atmouspheric conditions should make the whole thing pretty efficient. More interestingly, the energy will be beamed down to earth somehow. Gonna look into the physics of this, but I keep imagining a pillar of searing light, a la Goldeneye or Independence Day or the Death Star. Surely this will end well.

Via Bloomberg

B. Bibens on Biochar

2009-07-28T22:23:00.003-04:00

My colleague / group member on a possible way to sequester carbon, improve soil quality and get a bit of bio-energy to boot.

Read it here!

Caribbean Energy Forum

2009-07-28T13:38:00.004-04:00

http://caribbeanenergyforum.com/index.php

Looks good... REAL good. Sadly, I doubt I'd get funding for a non-scientific conference that I won't be presenting at.

I'll be getting a copy of the minutes or proceedings though, by hell or high water.

EDIT:

Bah, I'm going even if I have to pay for it myself. It's too good an opportunity to pass up. I'll just consider it an investment in myself, a worthwhile one. People spend more money than that on foolishness anyway, so why not?

Potpourri

2009-07-27T20:45:00.004-04:00

A few things:

--Pitch A Tent weekend has come and gone. It was a marvelous time in some ways (good rugby, good friends, laughs, fireside chats), awful in others (obnoxiousness, gratuitous nudity). I played very well, and my teammates did too, and telling each other as much was comforting. I feel myself getting a little older.

-- For added perspective on the whole Gates thing, listen closely to this:

Content warning: Contains mild language and an incorrect album label (it's from Black on Both Sides, sillies!)

-- Where did the summer go? Good Lord. I'll be scampering around in the next two weeks trying write up these these damned results for publication.So many things to do... just need to try and tackle one at a time, for sanity's sake.

What do you call a black man with a PhD?

2009-07-21T10:02:00.002-04:00

Nigger.

This is something that affects people like me (i.e. higher-level students who are foreigners and/or people of colour) in a pretty profound way. On the one hand, we love this country - so many resources, so much opportunity, so much to learn. We come here because we'd NEVER get to do what we do staying at home. But at the back of our minds is the creeping fear that we'd always be outsiders.

I don't want to live my life as a man without a home.

Another thought on Solazyme

2009-05-22T20:08:00.002-04:00

... one that makes me wonder about the greenness of it all.

Where are they getting the feedstock for their algae?

What these clever folk are doing is using algae to convert a carbon source to a more user-friendly molecule (i.e. a usable oil). It seems to me, then, that what they're feeding them matters. The level of sustainability of the whole project is entirely dependent on it. If they're being raised on, say, sugars derived from waste cellulose, then great; if they're being fed, say, glucose derived from corn kernels, then that's not quite as green is it?

In my mind the dream of biofuels was to harness photosynthesis to fix carbon in a useful form. Solazyme has the useful form bit down cold, but they've passed on the fixation/photosynthesis part, it seems.

I'm still impressed, but a little less so. More reading needs to be done, I suppose.

How are Jamaican businesses surviving the times?

2009-05-22T20:06:00.001-04:00

By laying off workers and embracing government paper and speculation instead of production.

Source

key paragraphs (i.e. the paragraphs that aren't corporate press releases):

The picture is patently clear. Despite the global financial crisis, a downturn in the local economy, flat consumer spending, rising interest rates, a weakened currency and escalating inflation, many of Jamaica's leading companies are prospering. So what accounts for this anomaly?

It could be the case that many of these companies are not profiting from their core operations but are taking advantage of the high interest rate regime, and are therefore getting a bump from their investments portfolio. While the country winces from the devaluation of the Jamaican dollar against the US greenback, it has provided a boon to many listed companies, spelling exchange gain on net foreign cash balances.

"To the untrained eye, many of Jamaica's leading companies seem to have struck gold," said Anthony Minvielle of Barclays Capital. "Come to think of it, the economy is tanking, the country may well have to go cap in hand to the IMF, but yet companies are making a killing. There's something wrong with that picture."

That's good business, folks!

Solazyme just canged my life.

2009-05-21T14:59:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting in a convention hall in Atlanta right now, in recovery. A gentleman from Solazyme just made a presentation that almost makes me want to change the entire direction of my PhD.

Basically, he's doing something with algae that I've never thought about. As a matter of fact, I didn't know algae - or any organism, really - could even do that.

People eat food; plants and some organisms absorb energy and make food. Some creatures consume food (heterotrophs), while others capture and create food (autotrophs). For the longest time, I thought that all the organisms in the world were kinda one or the other. Algae, I thought, were the latter kind of entity.

It turns out that while you can grow lots of algae like plants, feeding then light and nutrients, they act like plants and make oil for you. But if you treat them like animals - feed them carbohydrates and skip the light and fertilizer bit - they make about 8 times as much oil on the order of ten times quicker. They're kinda like plants, but it seems treating them like animals - or, more scientifically, treating them as heterotrophs - is a lot more profitable.

I've seen algal ponds at UGA, looking like pondwater. This guy showed a pic of an algal growth so thick with oil it became an unmixable green butter. And unlike most, who have to do all manner of fancy extractions to squeeze the oil out, these guys are just gonna sell it to an oil refinery. Astonishing.

They've already run vehicles on their product unblended, which is better than most can say. They'll be selling price-competitive fuel in 2 years or so.

Online presence

2009-04-28T12:24:00.004-04:00

Imagine my astonishment, friends, when I received an invitation to a panel discussion based off a blog post.

Apparently, someone slipped one of my old energy-related posts ( I don't even think it was here, might have been IL) to someone at the US Consulate in Kingston, and they thought enough of it that that they sent an invite. I'm humbled.

I'm also driven, now. Apparently, one's online presence matters - obvious, I know, but I'm slow. Expect more frequent updates and a more professional demeanor (yet with all the impressionability you know an love).

p.s.: In case you were wondering, I've been both swamped with school and overwhelmed by family events. But all things are heading in the right direction.

UGA Bio-Energy Group on CNN

2009-03-30T13:38:00.002-04:00

Congrats to Brian and KC in particular. Hopefully it'll be my name in lights soon...

A certain fallacy of so-called independent thought

2009-03-22T12:27:00.002-04:00

It is often said that one should not care about what people think - whoever "people" might be - when making decisions. To thine own self be true, stand out from the crowd, dare to be different and all that.

That's all well and good. But oftentimes this stance is conflated with stubborn incorrigibility and (that deepest of intellectual vices) a refusal to be persuaded.

It's only reasonable, I think, to be open to the possibility that one might be wrong about something. You do have to care, in a sense, about what people think. If one finds that everyone thinks differently about a subject than oneself, one should reassess the matter to see if one's thinking is correct. If one is convinced after reassessment, fine and dandy. But it is insufficient to brush it all off, saying "It's my opinion" or "I can live the way I want" without any reflection.

Chickens, Eggs, etc.

2009-03-20T10:58:00.002-04:00

Does sociopathy precede a tendency to solitude, or does a tendency to solitude allow sociopathy to grow?

Shane Battier

2009-03-13T14:17:00.003-04:00

I read this marvelous piece on Shane Battier. It's all about how simple numbers and sensible thinking trumps flash and hype. It really made me rethink the sport of basketball, my own approach to problems, the nature of fame and the nature of analysis/proof.

The No-Stats All-Star.

Escapism

2009-03-10T13:57:00.007-04:00

Things I do (or used to to do) to escape bad moods:

1) Exercise

Pretty productive. Recent events might finally send me to the weight-room in a hardcore way, rather than the usual blend of running, rugby and martial arts.

2) Drinking

Part of why I decided to forswear alcohol for Lent. Not as alkie as it sounds - after all, drinking is a 6000+ year old social tradition, and social traditions = party time. I never thought it would have been as much of a change as it is.

3) Driving

Not paired with #2, of course. But even when stone sober, I don't like to do it as much as I used to.

4) Women

See # 3. I think I'm more into #5 these days.

5) Solitude

Opposite to #4, you'd think.... but I guess I'm odd like that. Going to movies alone, going to restaurants alone, mysteriously disappearing for extended periods, that sort of thing. I haven't decided yet whether it's healthy - historical evidence is decidedly mixed.

6) Cooking

A rather delicious habit that I think I need to cultivate. The world would be a better place if bad moods resulted in pancakes.

7) Impulsive shaving

Side note: I miss the ridiculous mullah beard I was growing.

Delenda Est Paskistan

2009-03-03T09:58:00.002-05:00

There's the nuclear threat, the constant sniping at India, the fomenting of terrorism, and now they shoot up a bus full of visiting cricketers.

Pakistan is a threat to the world and must be contained.

Side note: I admit, I'm racist against Pushtuns. I honestly think they're a bunch of raging barbarians whose culture must be expunged.

Why does everyone make a big deal about earmarks?

2009-03-02T21:08:00.003-05:00

They're less that 2% of the budget. How is this a big deal?

link

Serious question.

Get Safari 4

2009-02-24T20:27:00.000-05:00

Now, please.

A return to dust

2009-02-24T19:48:00.003-05:00

It's Ash Wednesday tomorrow, and it seems like a good time to restart.

It's odd to think that I was once an aspirant to the priesthood - I've changed so very much. Notwithstanding this, a number of things have been pointing me back to my older ways, and I'll use the 6 weeks as a time to refocus and meditate a bit. We'll see what a return to the old magic yields. Restricted meat, no strong drink, and more rigorous mental and physical exercise.

And for those who might not understand the point of a sudden outburst of austere living, especially when it punctuates this life... well, come and talk to me about that.

God help them today

2009-02-21T08:43:00.002-05:00

I'm in a rather foul mood, and the sickness is largely over. All the crankiness of being sick, none of the reduced strength. Plus I should have a few fans out on the pitch.

UNC gon' get MUSHED.

In other news, I think I'm returning to Church in some sorta way. Lent's a good time for returning, after all. I wonder sometimes if the Church calendar was timed to correspond with the flow of natural affections, because it always seems to be the right time. I feel debauched, it's the Season of Fast. I nearly die, and it's the Season of Birth.

Is Gangsta Rap Dead?

2009-02-20T20:43:00.003-05:00

... or niggarish rap in general, even?

Deh yah a pre some recent hip hop - the commercial stuff (Jay, T.I. Weezy, Kayne), the internet-buzz indie hotness (Wale, Drake, Charles Hamilton, joe Budden, Cool Kidz) and the underground consciousness (Mos Def, K'Naan, Q-Tip).

The common theme in all of this is a drift away from the keepin'-it real goon persona towards a kind of cosmopolitan urban cool. Errybody doing colabs with M.I.A and Santi White and whatnot. The kind of mash-up of modernity that Diplo and Girl Talk are pushing

By contrast, the beef between Ross and 50 - the self-styled superthugs - is falling flat. Similarly, southern crunk dance music seems to have fallen off like (with?) Soulja Boy's Career. And no, dear reader, I've never really dug Young Jeezy.

Flossing certainly ain't dead, but the thuggishness seems to be going the way of hammer pants.

Whaddya think?

ADDENDUM:

Can't believe this slipped my mind, since I just created a new playlist for the whip. There is a brand of gangster that still knocks hard - that Wu Tang brand of goonery. When Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 drops, it's gonna be ridiculous (judging from the strength of "Wu Ooh" and other leaks). But does one fit the Ghostface brand of criminal rap with the rest of the gangstas? doubt it... Ghost was always more of a storyteller and lyricist than a chest thumping "realist." But ey, what do I know. And maybe when Clipse drops the Casket, crack rap will be back in a big way.

But for now, the opinion stands.

Infinity Bio-Energy, or How NOT to write an article

2009-02-12T13:04:00.002-05:00

From today's Observer.

How not to do a deal: The Infinity Bio-Energy boondoggle

Raulston Nembhard

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The failure to clinch the Infinity Bio-Energy sugar deal is a source of great disappointment for the government, but a tremendous relief for the country. The government now has a good opportunity to go back to the drawing board and secure a deal which is in the best interest of the country. Not being privy to the negotiations, one is not able to speak with great authority on this deal. This limitation notwithstanding, from what has been revealed to the country, my first reaction, to put it plainly, was that there was more that the country could get from this prized asset and that Infinity Bio-Energy was getting the deal of a lifetime. I also had misgivings about the seemingly indecent rush on the part of the government to divest the industry to Infinity Bio. What careful consideration was given to other bidders for the industry, especially Jamaicans who had an interest to invest in it?

The sugar company is not an asset. it is a rather substantial financial burden, and has been for a long-ass time.

There were no bidders locally. I remember that the bidding was open for a while and no local investors took it up (typical, eh?). Everyone was going crazy over Olint etc. at the time, so I guess they had better things to do with their money.

I did not get the impression that Jamaica exercised enough scepticism and due diligence about Infinity Bio in negotiating the deal. The government seemed to have been overawed by what the company was presenting as their ability to purchase and run the industry. Even when it became obvious that the potential buyers could not find the money to conclude the deal, the government seemed hogtied in giving them more time to come up with the money until the whole thing blew up in their faces on January 31, 2009.

It's pretty well known why this happened. International credit markets went crazy, and the financing was not available at a reasonable rate anymore. perhaps if the deal had been concluded in a timely manner, instead of the usual amaican style of endless, pointless delays, financing could have been secured before the rates go jacked up.

The way in which the deal was conducted and its tragic conclusion on January 31 is a textbook example of how not to do a deal. That it has fallen through might be a good thing for Jamaica. The government is now given a second chance to get it right for the people of Jamaica. To get it right there is the need for transparency in conducting every aspect of the deal. The people do not expect that every detail of a deal should be outlined to them. The reason that we elect political representatives is to empower people to act on our behalf, to make decisions which an entire country collectively cannot do.

The process was exceedingly transparent - I had no problem getting tons of data on it, and I was satisfied that the people weren't screwing around (remember that letter I wrote to the gleaner? I had all my concerned answered). A number of stakeholders - government, private sector, universities/academics - were kept well in the loop for the entire, overly-lengthy process. perhaps Raulston vex because nobody never come to him door and tell him directly?

In doing so, our representatives have to understand that they are representing the best interests of the people of Jamaica and not their own personal ambitions which often issue into self-aggrandisement. A grandiose preoccupation with self, with a view to ensuring that a deal has one's imprimatur is simply not on. At some point this is bound to come into a collision course with the interests of those that should be given the highest priority. I cannot understand why politicians are so reluctant to take people into their confidence and talk to them. In political campaigns, they will tell them of the great things they will do on their behalf; that they will be open and transparent and hide nothing. Yet, when they get into office, they grow strangely quiet and back-door deals are entered into without any sunshine being allowed into the room. You hear of these deals only when they go sour or when the contractor general turns his searchlight on them. In the annals of bad deal-making, the divestment of our Heathrow Airport slots to Virgin Atlantic must surely go down as one of the saddest events of deal-making undertaken by any government in the history of this country. Yet I am sure the former minister who was at the epicentre of this deal has no apologies for the people of Jamaica for this egregious "mistake".

This is a mix of personal griping and baseless conjecture. Lets keep it on target, eh?

Talk to the people. You have nothing to lose if you take them into your confidence. It will at least demonstrate that you have a modicum of respect for them and that you are not the repository of all intelligence which no one certainly is.

In addition to transparency, every effort must be made at collaboration with the chief players in the industry. Apart from its slave past, the historical pedigree of sugar as an important contributor to the economy of Jamaica is well established. It is one that provides a livelihood for many, a livelihood that is often fiercely defended by the trade unions which represent sugar workers. The lot of sugar workers has been vastly improved as a result of this vigorous representation.

Again, the people were kept in the lop. Anyone who was interested in the whole thing (as opposed to people who feign interest later on so they can write blustering opinion pieces masquerading as analysis) could get lots of info. There was plenty of collaboration.

And BTW, whence this inaccurate view of economic history? Augar was a big deal during slavery days, but it's been in decline ever since. Sugar workers live like slaves. The whole industry is a drain on the national purse in the name of rural vote-buying.

Of equal importance are the Jamaica Sugar Cane Growers Association (JSCGA) and the Sugar Company of Jamaica. It is true that they were involved at some level in the negotiations, but one gets the distinct impression that their presence at the table was not given the prominence that was deserved. It appears that once the government zeroed in on Infinity Bio all other considerations were removed from the table, even though the JSCGA was willing to come to the rescue of the industry. Politicians come to these deals with a notion of how much political capital can be gained. Those whose bread and butter are determined by the survival of the industry come to it from the standpoint of survival. They do not have time for political games.

The industry is very plainly dead. the JSCGA have done nothing, and can do nothing. if they could have, they could have made a local bid, or retool, or modernize, or do any number of other things. I don't mean to be critical of the JSCGA, because I'm not even sure if the writer's depiction of their position is accurate. I'm pretty sure the JSCGA would have an interest in this deal happening.

In this second chance that it has been given, it would behove the government to look more keenly, patiently and diligently at the Jamaican stakeholders with a view to divesting the industry to local entities. Give them the same concessionary treatment, such as tax breaks and duty concessions, as were being offered to the Brazilians. The Jamaica Broilers Group has amply demonstrated Jamaican competence in ethanol production. The Brazilians do not have a proprietary right on this. Whatever decision is made, one hopes that in the next dispensation the interests of the Jamaican people will be fully considered and that anything contrary to this interest will be discarded. After all, it is the people's patrimony that is at stake.

stead6655@aol.com
www.drraulston.com

Wrong. It would behoove the gov't to get off their asses and stop allowing folk to hold things up. We WANT to get rid of this thing. It's costly, unproductive and altogether pointless for us. The failure of this deal was a BAD thing, for very plain economic reasons.

We have NOT demonstrated competence in ethanol production. JB and Petrojam dehydrate ethanol produced in Brazil. THEY DO NOT PRODUCE ETHANOL, THEY PROCESS OTHER PEOPLE'S ETHANOL.

The bid process was open and NO LOCALS BID. If they had stepped up, of course the government would have given concessions - after all, is a fren and company thing, so if a local big man did step up he would have easily gotten in. BUT NO ONE DID.

For goodness' sake, I wish people would get their facts straight.things like this is why I read the Observer less and less.

The Plan

2008-06-24T16:44:00.000-04:00

a. Effect of torrefaction temperature on pyrolysis kinetics, TGA-MS (top priority)
i. Keys – Normalization of the TG-MS data – mass and/or He signal

b. Effect of torrefaction temperature on gasification kinetics, TGA-MS (medium priority – more like mid July, early August)

c. Effect of torrefaction temperature on pyrolysis oil stability and composition – two phase process (top priority)
i. Characterization of bio-oil – water content, pH, viscosity, GC/MS analysis, FTIR
ii. Draft Manuscript by end of July

d. Effect of torrefaction on tar levels during gasification (two phase process) – (medium priority)
i. TGA-MS
ii. Bench Scale
1. Keys – Normalization of the TG-MS data – mass and/or He signal
2. Tar sampling method and analysis for bench scale reactor

e. Catalytic cracking of tar using biomass char as a catalyst (long term goal – Sept 2008 to Jan 2009)
i. Concept – alkali metals are mobilized during pyrolysis and can deposit on the surface of the char; these metals can act as tar cracking catalysts
ii. Perform a literature analysis on the use of alkali metals to remove tars
iii. Perform literature search on mobilization of metals in biomass during pyrolysis; what are the key parameters effecting metal mobility and deposition
iv. We may want to perform a study where we determine the effect of pyrolysis temperature and holding time on metal composition and surface distribution on the char
1. SEM/EDS analysis of char
2. XRD analysis of the char
3. In reality we may already have a range of chars derived from different biomass sources at different temperatures. It might be worth it to perform a detailed SEM/EDS analysis of the chars and XRD analysis as well. I suggest you talk to Dr. Das about this since his group has generated a range of char, as well as performed a range of analysis on the char.
v. Design and set-up a continuous flow packed bed reactor where pyrolysis oil vapors and/or gasification vapors are passed across the bed and tar reduction measured.
1. Keys – a) tar sampling, b) tar analysis methods, c) catalyst characterization

A few problems with Jamaican Energy Policy

2008-06-11T10:08:00.005-04:00

The prices at the pump have sent the world into a bit of a shock, these days. What can we, in Jamaica, or as a region, or as people of the Global South, do about it?

The prevailing wisdom is that the price of energy (and the goods we produce with it, i.e. everything) is due in large part to geopolitical and economic events that are beyond our control – war, unrest, speculation and the like. Personally, I’ve never liked the kind of arguments that say everything is out of our control – they aren’t very helpful, after all. So lets look, briefly, at some of the things that we CAN do – or at least some of the things we’re doing wrong.

Efficiency

Conventional wisdom is that the US and other developed nations are energy hogs – andt it's true, they do use a lot more per capita than the rest of us. But, truth is, they actually use it very well. According to The UN and statistics presented in Jamaica’s own Energy Policy paper, Jamaica in 2003 used the energy equivalent of 734 kg of oil per USD$1000 of GDP generated, compared to the USA (typically thought of as a big energy consumer), which used only 222 kg equivalent per $1000 in the same year. The UK and Japan use slightly less. That is to say, developed nations are a lot more productive than we are with the tons of energy that they use. Inasmuch as they’re creating wealth that enters the global system, I’m not sure we can begrudge them their appetite.

Political Policy

The wastefulness of Jamaican energy consumption, it seems to me, has its origins in political pragmatism. The recent political history of Jamaica is filled with instances of political unrest related to gasoline prices and energy availability via electrical utilities. As such, it has been the policy of the Jamaican government to ensure stable, cheap energy supplies to as many members of its population as possible.

As such, Jamaicans enjoy relatively low gasoline prices on par with prices in the USA – it has been the policy of the government to peg our prices with those in the US. Given that US prices are heavily subsidized via tax breaks to the oil companies, Jamaican gasoline is dirt cheap – mostly because we, too, subsidize to keep up. Similarly, it has been government policy to ensure electricity supply to rural communities and poorer consumers, by subsidizing smaller consumers at the expense of larger customers. This allows widespread consumption, but increases the cost of energy for the productive sectors by leaps and bounds.

Note, these policies are not particularly nefarious – the government wants to keep people happy so they supply cheap energy at all times to almost all persons. But the price is a heavy load on the economy, on taxpayers and on the productive sector. The upshot is that energy should really cost a lot more than it does, but it doesn’t; the result may be a retardation of the economic pressure towards efficiency, which perhaps explains our outsized energy consumption. And in case you were wondering, we do use a lot more energy than the rest of the Caribbean (with the exception of T&T)– we use 3 times as much per capita as St. Lucia, for example. But Jamaica is hardly alone: estimates are that about half the world uses subsidized gasoline. Some say that this created a market distortion that led to runaway consumption and a lessened incentive towards efficiency or improved technology.

New Technology

Let me declare my biases right up front: I’m pursuing energy technologies as a career, so I’m all about R&D. But it remains true that we are not pursuing newer technologies as aggressively or as sensibly as we should. This is in large part due to the market distortions mentioned earlier (as well as other factors such as the brain drain and the ineffectiveness of our local intelligensia). We need to devote more effort to technological improvements as a matter of political policy – as it stands, our current energy policy is much more focused on preventing unrest than anything else (have a read if you like, and see where most of the words are spent). It might be sensible to put a tax on energy and divert some of that to research or to capital expenditure on more efficient forms of energy generation, or on renewables that we won’t have to spend our foreign exchange importing. This will of course have to be balanced with the practical concerns of the potentially riotous man on the street; but so far the balance has been tipped too far in one direction.

More on this, perhaps, at another time.

Further reading:

http://www.mct.gov.jm/Energy%20Green%20Paper.pdf

http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=MDG&f=seriesRowID:648

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0611/p08s01-comv.html

http://www.forbes.com/energy/2008/06/04/energy-gasoline-subsidies-biz-energy-cx_pm_0604notes.html

Told ya so

2008-05-23T10:15:00.002-04:00

The writer of one of my favourite blogs is coming around to a position I've long held. It's good that the facts are finally getting wider airplay.

How the World Works on the ethanol basklash-backlash

Boundaries, and how they dissolve.

2008-05-17T11:01:00.002-04:00

Rather quietly – perhaps because of the underlying banality of it all – Cornel University scientists created a genetically-engineered human embryo.

I say banality because, in truth, the step didn’t represent a large leap in science. The Cornell Researchers used a common, established technique for gene insertion. The study itself had rather modest goals – to see if a gene, once inserted, would be passed to daughter cells (duh). This is perhaps why the research didn’t create any big waves in the scientific community, or get very much attention when it first debuted.

The only thing really striking is that this was done on a human embryo - and that’s pretty striking. To quote:

“It’s an important ethical boundary that scientists have been observing,” said Marcy Darnovsky, associate director of the Center for Genetics and Society, a watchdog group in Oakland, Calif. “These scientists, on their own, decided to step over that boundary with no public discussion.”

One wonders if that boundary probing was really the only goal of the research – a moral and political goal, but not really a scientific one. The goal – perhaps one that was achieved – was to make this kind of thing no big deal. Hannah Arendt might recognize this for what it is

Slippery slope arguments are inherently misleading, so I won’t engage in them in this space. In reality, it’s not so much a slip down into an abyss as it is a slow, easy ride down to a plain. Thereon, one doesn’t have the clear vision one has when one sticks to the high ground, but at least all is on the same untroubling moral level.

To be more explicit - we are entering a future wherein the modification of human flesh is no big deal, so I'm not even sure it mek sense kick up over it.

Bad Mind

2008-05-12T10:19:00.001-04:00

She cannot win unless they find the man molesting a 12 y.o. boy, or having dinner with Bin Laden. Or maybe it would take something slightly more mundane, like an assassination. Simple mathematical truth.

Yet she continues to run up and dung, telling people why dem mustn't vote for him and not-so-subtlety sowing the seeds of racial animus.

So wah she a go do next? turn around in 3 weeks and tell people fi vote fi him now, because all he stuff she said before was just election talk, and (as always) she was just being power-hunger and insincere?

She's a real termite... undermining and hollowing out the whole structure of the party.

NHT

2008-04-23T12:48:00.002-04:00

I'm a young adult, soon-to-be professional, so buying a house is on my mind. As such, I'm very concerned with the fate of the NHT.

It was with some dismay that I read of the increase in interest rates for the morgages offered by the agency. I wasn't surprised because of the looting of the NHT that has been going n since at least 2005. Politicians were using NHT money to build houses for non-contributors in their constituencies, essentially buying political points at my expense.

Btu what really got me, today, was the way one politician turned around and acted as if he wasn't a part of it.

From today's Gleaner:

The prime minister also blasted the former People's National Party government for using the Trust's funds to build houses under the Inner-City Housing Project (ICHP) and Operation Pride projects.

"I believe it is wrong to use NHT funds to provide houses for persons who have never contributed to the Trust, while many who have contributed are still waiting for a benefit," Golding said.

More than $2 billion in NHT funds has been spent on the ICHP of approximately $5 billion committed for the project. Another $3 billion of the trust's funds has been spent on Operation Pride projects.

Funny that he'd make that criticism, since the very fist set of these political sops - sorry, I mean houses - were distributed in Mr. Golding's constituency. He should know that, since he was there at the time and smiled while handing out keys.

Solar Grade Silicon

2008-04-21T14:30:00.002-04:00

On of the big problems with solar power, I understand, is the cost of the solar cells and the high grade silicon that makes them.

Apparently, there's a solution.

Bully for them. It gets me thinking, though... I'm spending time on the science, but what about the business plan? Perhaps I should take a stroll over to the b-school and see what I can see.

Food prices, again

2008-04-15T15:43:00.002-04:00

Confirmation and more discussion in the NY Times today.

I suppose the question now is: why is this being framed as the fault of biofuels? why is the issue of demand, or of high energy prices, or of the unbalanced way we produce meat not at the fore?

Food prices and biofuel are not really connected

2008-04-14T17:25:00.002-04:00

It's popular these days to blame biofuels for the high price of food. The math however, does not add up.

This is just a cursory treatment, but bear with me:

By 2015, mandates in different countries will require about 100 million hectares to be planted up with biofuel crops. According to the FAO, total arable land is 1.4 billion hectares; current agricultural acreage is about 140 million hectares. So even in the future, about less than 10% of land will be biofuel. How does the increase in biofuel production that translate into 30%-80% increases right now?

Perhaps you could say that it's producing scarcity in the food market - as more acres are used to grow fuel, less is used for food. But the acreage of corn overall has been increasing, so it's not a zero sum, either/or scenario. One source has it that by 2015, the increase in prices in the US due to the drain from biofuels will be about 7%... again, not as much as current increases, much less future ones.

I need to look into this further to satisfy myself, but I want to say that the increases have more to do with agricultural inputs than with biofuel production. I've read a few pieces recently on fertilizer prices - these not only take energy to produce, but rely on finite and dwindling supplies of phosphorus and potassium (nitrogen is still pretty cheap).

And even if food inputs - grain, for example - shoot up by 50%, is that really the big cost here? Let's remember, after all, that most of the cost of food is not the actual cost of the food itself. Most of the cost of a loaf of bread has nothing at all to do with the cost of wheat.

Do it yourself: on April 14, wheat cost about US$13 per bushel. There are 37 bushels per ton. Thats $481 per ton for wheat. Now, go down to your supermarket and look at how much a loaf of bread weighs, and see how much a ton (1000 kg, 2200 lbs) of bread would cost.

Conclusion: it's not really the cost of food that's at play here.

Its a hunch - I need to get the numbers to satisfy myself - but I think the real reason for the increase in the cost of food is the cost of fuel - fuel used to refrigerate food and move it around.

You can't count, Thelma Ferguson.

2008-04-14T08:01:00.000-04:00

Second entry on this page, regarding vehicle fuel efficiency:

I think SUVs are more economical.

Atlas

2008-01-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

I dunno, but I felt really heavy today.

Lost two friends; two friends married married and one with new life; nearly died and was shocked to see who called and who didn't; still alive by the grace of God; got close to my father, close to my sister. A baby being born same time a man is murdered - the beginning and end.

Maybe I'm just being dramatic, but I'm real emotional right now. It's been really eventful.

And The Winner Is....

2008-01-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

Sony.

That said, victory had a price.

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T18:09:00.000-05:00

I realized a while a go that people love cycles. That's why we treat each new year as a chance for renewal and change as opposed to one more turning of the earth arbitrarily chosen as counting marker (I mean, why not an equinox? or a solstice?)... or even less sexily, Tuesday. In that context, celebrations and resolutions are a fun way to dress up our grand entrance into the midweek, but not really purposeful.

That said, the cycle does divide time into manageable units, and unity lends itself to consideration. All things considered, it's been fantastic. The next unit seems that it will be even better.

Much respect and love goes out to you all. Much success to you, and good health.

Old Man

2007-12-28T09:01:00.000-05:00

I was walking with a cane at church, hobbling around stiffly. It hurts to get up and sit down. Everything has to be done slower. I wonder if this is what it's like being old?

Much Love

2007-12-26T18:56:00.000-05:00

Respect an honour to all the well-wishers and the true friends. Unnu show yuhselves, and God know mi love unnu fi dat.

Much respect to those who didn't as well. Much success to you.

Still here.

2007-12-26T01:14:00.000-05:00

Getting dumber

2007-12-22T19:21:00.000-05:00

I am.

... In the sense that I find, more and more, that I can no longer speak.

It's troubling. I'm very articulate in writing, and I'm generally a pretty thoughtful guy. But when I speak it's totally different- my voice is soft, I mutter, and I try correcting myself 5 times before the words come out of my mouth (there's no backspace in real life).

This only seems to be happening when it's unscripted. When I speak during presentations, I do perfectly well - I'm told that I'm one of the better grad students in my department in that regard. But catch me a little bit before I have a chance to organize my thoughts and I can seem like a shy fool.

Now, I know that I'm NOT a fool - decidedly so. I'm going to have to put some thought into why this is happening.

A remark I was not meant to hear may be revealing: Gerry thinks and operates on such a different level that he has real problems speaking to everyone else (paraphrased from MC).

On Epilogues

2007-12-16T13:17:00.000-05:00

Someone I love left a distressing postscript on her blog.

She's an incredibly capable and incredibly useful person, so she deserves the most of things and to chance to make the most of herself professionally... so I understand. Jamaica's poorer for it, though. I guess I'll just have to employ her from time to time.

One more thing... I liked the idea so much that, in a blatant act of plagiarism, I added a little postscript to the page. Scroll down to see what pithy phrase is on my mind... because we all know how much you care about what I think, dear reader!

Well, fancy that...

2007-12-16T03:55:00.000-05:00

I'm 25 now. I hardly noticed, honestly.

In review... it's been a hell of a year up until this point, with extreme lows and what looks like a high. As of this writing, apart from a curable disease of the pocket (studentitis), things are exactly as they should be. I can no longer pretend to be completely young and carefree, and I feel more and more that this new life stage, unnanounced but real, will reflect this growing sobriety. Still, I am vibrantly, happily alive.

I think I'll have a drink... to the future!

Brick Top wasn't joking.

2007-12-12T01:54:00.000-05:00

From Snatch:

"And when you got your six pieces, you gotta get rid of them, because it's no good leaving it in the deep freeze for your mum to discover, now is it? Then I hear the best thing to do is feed them to pigs. You got to starve the pigs for a few days, then the sight of a chopped-up body will look like curry to a pisshead. You gotta shave the heads of your victims, and pull the teeth out for the sake of the piggies' digestion. You could do this afterwards, of course, but you don't want to go sievin' through pig shit, now do you? They will go through bone like butter. You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, 'as greedy as a pig.' "

Translation:

2007-12-05T16:14:00.001-05:00

"I have reached my intellectual limits on this issue."

God helps those who help themselves.

Balance

2007-12-05T09:02:00.000-05:00

The gov't of Jamaica is looking into making a cruise shipping port near Negril.

Considering the vulnerability of that particular habitat, I'm concerned. More tourism jobs is a good thing, but how many people will want to come if the natural beauty is not maintained?

Alternative energy and Google

2007-12-02T12:49:00.000-05:00

Google's next frontier: alternative energy

“We see technologies we think can mature into very capable industries that can generate electricity cheaper than coal,” said Larry Page, a Google founder and president of products, “and we don’t see people talking about that as much as we would like.”
...
The company also said that Google.org, the philanthropic for-profit subsidiary that Google seeded in 2004 with three million shares of its stock, would invest in energy start-ups.

Good news for me.

The most interesting part of it all, for me, is that Google isn't attacking this from some wild let's-save-the-world perspective. It's driven by a desire to reduce energy costs.

Perhaps the corporate world is coming around?

It always sounds smarter when you say it with a British accent.

2007-12-01T18:33:00.000-05:00

No place for the weak

2007-12-01T01:32:00.004-05:00

One of the famous pastimes of many Jamaicans is bemoaning the state of Jamaica. Usually the chin-music starts with crime, riffs on government corruption, reaches a crescendo on the matter of education, employment and/or parenting, and then kind of ends where it began. Everyone generally agrees without really knowing what they're agreeing with. Then everyone sips his lemonade and thinks solemnly of emigration, feeling oddly unsatisfied.

I've long since stopped entertaining these conversations, and I sincerely hope other Jamaicans do too.

Yeah, nuff things in Jamaica WELL pop-dung. But for some, this doesn't equal a compelling argument for apathy, or despair, or for packing up and leaving. For some, general crappiness means there is a lot to fix and develop. It means there are lots of opportunities for PROFIT.

Digicel, for example, made money here because telephone service was so god-awful that the market cried out for a better provider. The foreign firms who are building housing scheme after housing scheme are doing what they're doing because the locals wanted houses and no one was building them - presumably, people were too busy complaining about how hard it was and how many obstacles they faced to get on with business. The French came here to build roads because roads were needed and the wutliss local contractors and engineers couldn't hack it. The Canadians at BNS and NCB continue to make money hand over untanned fist. These foreigners look at the same situation the tongue-waggers are looking at, but they see something most don't.

Even a few of our own see it. Michael Lee Chin is buying everything in sight, and guess what, it's NOT because he loves Jamaica. Butch Stewart bought his first hotels for cheap because people thought the sky was falling in the seventies so they sold assets for a song.

It's clichéd wisdom, but solid nonetheless: crisis is opportunity.

Granted, time abroad can be very VERY useful. I'm getting yet another degree up North. A certain someone I know will be learning a lot about business and making a lot of money to boot. Both of us plan to take what we can and then come back - SOONER rather than later - and build the future.

So if all the chicken littles want to flee the country so they can work for someone else for the rest of their lives, building up something they will never truly own, dem can gwaan. I've got a different plan.

It's a lot harder in the wilderness that is Jamaican society than it is in the shelter of the more developed world... but there is so much uncharted land to tread, such clear skies. This frontier is no place for the weak.

Bad bad BAD piece a shoes.

2007-11-30T09:36:00.000-05:00

Smaddy buy these for me nuh.

Blerdneet, bwoy.

Weight and health

2007-11-29T11:51:00.000-05:00

A conversation I had today reminded me of a slightly old piece in the New York Times, but a good one:

Linking, for the first time, causes of death to specific weights, [sceintists] report that overweight people have a lower death rate because they are much less likely to die from a grab bag of diseases that includes Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, infections and lung disease. And that lower risk is not counteracted by increased risks of dying from any other disease, including cancer, diabetes or heart disease.

Think about that the next time people say you're too fat. More and more, it's evident that conventi0onal wisdom on diet and health is mostly baloney.

BTW, my BMI is 25.7. Yes, I'm overweight, and apparently I should be worried. Apparently, all the rugby and the excercise aren't helping, despite my low blood pressure and heart rate. Silliness.

Breakthrough

2007-11-20T21:10:00.000-05:00

Finally, we catholic scientists can have it both ways:

Human skin cells have been reprogrammed by two groups of scientists to mimic embryonic stem cells with the potential to become any tissue in the body.
The breakthrough promises a plentiful new source of cells for use in research into new treatments for many diseases.
Crucially, it could mean that such research is no longer dependent on using cells from human embryos, which has proved highly controversial.

The best part is, the moral issues surrounding the usage of embryos for this kind of work can be put to rest. We can do this research without abusing human life.

A joke without a punchline

2007-11-20T07:04:00.000-05:00

How many Cubans does it take to screw in a light bulb?

After this energy thing...

2007-11-19T13:58:00.000-05:00

The situation in the American Southwest has me thinking very seriously about desalination.

Water, like energy, is an essential and increasingly scarce economic input. I'd love to be a part of the solution.

I wonder what the situation is at home? Jamaica is "the land of wood and water," but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful with our ecological resources. And yes, it's been raining for 3 months straight, but still. Better to look about these things now than shortly before a crisis.

Such exciting times to be a scientist!

It just occured to me...

2007-11-18T22:39:00.000-05:00

...from a quick skimming that this little patch of the internet is as somber as a dead Russian (colour scheme notwithstanding).

It's not that I'm not a jolly person (I'm not); I just think a lot, and my thoughts tend to drift to unresolved problems since the resolved ones are nothing to worry about. It lends one to heavier things, I guess...

But among those resolved and certain things, there really is much to make one marvel. Transcendent things. The sublime, as E.J. might have said. Perhaps, instead of being so dour, I should think on these things which I brush into the corner. They're heavy too, after all... quite worth the time.

Here's to letting the sunshine in.

BOO!

2007-11-18T19:19:00.000-05:00

A funny thing happened on the way back from Doc Chey's.

I got off the bus stop and started back to my room. A small Asian woman came off at the same stop and was maybe 15 feet in front of me.

We happened to be going in the same direction, and she kept glancing at me over her shoulder.

After maybe half a minute, she broke out into a full sprint across the road and off around the corner. Granted, it was a clumsy run of only middling speed, but I suspect she was trying her best to get out of what she thought was danger.

Believe it or not, this was not the first time (this weekend) that I've been mistaken for some kinda dangerous black raper-man. Must be the leather.

It does't add up

2007-11-16T12:52:00.000-05:00

I think it was Jack Welch who said somethign to the effect of "don't invest in businesses you don't understand." That in mind, let us turn to the bumper-crop of "alternative investment" scemes that keep popping up in Jamaica's financial sector.

On the face of it, there is the obvious question of how in blue blazes these folk can pay out 10% or soon prinicipal PER MONTH to their investors. OLINT, who seems to be doing some kind of FX trading, might be able to do it if they were extremely lucky for a very long time. Cash Plus, another sceme which trumpets huge and highly illiquid investments, simply can't be doing what they say their doing. How does buying a hotel - a highly illiquid asset in an industry that's seen bette days - return 10% per month CASH on investment? or a struggling airline? or real estate? it doesn't compute.

Suffice to say that there's a lot going on that the public isn't being told. It doesn't help, either, that the head honcho of CP was convicted of fraud in the US.

Another question mark popped up today. According to the Observer, OLINT is the presenting sponsor of the annual Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival 2008. Now, this company has heretofore been framing itself as a private investment club which is not taking on new customers (unlike Cash Plus). They say they're doing it to be good corporate citizens, which is bull. Why are they dropping big bucks on this? is it promotional? is it to write off some money? what's up?

I ain't mad at all the people who are getting crazy money off these schemes... and believe me, they are legion. But there's much amiss here. Call me a fool while you drive off in your new CL, but it just doesn't add up.

The Gender Gap

2007-11-09T17:17:00.000-05:00

The World Economic Forum put out its gender gap report. A snippet:

Jamaica, which held the 24th position last year, fell to 39th position, mainly due to a drop in the ratio of women and men’s labour force participation rates and a widening gap on women and men’s estimated earned income.

So I guess the last year under Portia was not, contrary to popular belief, "Woman Time." Still, we were ranked pretty highly for a good while, so let's not take that away from the PNP administration. Let's see what develops.

The right direction

2007-10-22T12:34:00.001-04:00

People are making snide comments about Jamaica's new finance minister, Audley Shaw, saying he doesn't have the technical wizardry of his predecessor. But at least his goals are clear, and he's moving towards them. He's engaged the World Bank to do an audit of corruption in Jamaica's public sector so the government can work on clogging money leaks.

According to Mr. Shaw, he had previously raised the issue in Parliament some four years ago with the then government, but his request was ignored.
"I had stated to the then government that the World Bank has a programme where they would come and carry out a diagnostic study on corruption.
"I said to the then Minister of Finance that it cannot be triggered unless it is requested by the Prime Minister or the Minister of Finance, however they did not request it," he said.
"Bear in mind that each year since that time, Transparency International among other institutions have consistently been ranking Jamaica in unfavourable terms, in regards to our corruption index," the minister added.

Once again: you can be smart as all hell, but if you aren't committed to good things you make matters worse. Thank you, Audley.

More than you know.

2007-10-22T09:42:00.000-04:00

One thing that strikes me whenever I read on a number of developmental, environmental and health issues is the lack of perspective many writers and academics have.

It would be best for all of us to remember that climate change and environmental harm are not just about economic balance - they are about life and death.

WIKIPEDIA-RELATED CONSPIRACY THEORISM ADDENDUM

Wangari Maathai, Nobel laureate and the writer of the op-ed above, was criticised because she was reported to have said that white people created AIDS to kill blacks. She denied having said this. The report of these alleged comments was carried on Radio Free Europe, a former (?) instrument of the CIA.

Hmm... African woman working for the betterment of her people is smeared by former CIA asset. Ain't that somethin'.

A room of one's own

2007-10-19T12:35:00.000-04:00

Doubtless you're heard of the comments of notable scientist James Watson.

I am neither outraged nor surprised.

I suppose I have a much lower opinion of American and English elites than most - a byproduct of where I went to school, maybe, or perhaps because of what history I know. When I consider the debauchery these folk practice in their young days and the crimes they commit in their elder ones I have less awe for them than is perhaps socially acceptible.

Watson himself is not much different. He has a Nobel Prize, which probably means he's smarter than many. On the other hand perhaps he was simply more slick than the person who did the real work. Add that to the antediluvian racial attitudes and it really takes the shine off, doesn't it?

These folk do not inspire awe.

They inspire something though. They speak to us folk who don't look like the Establishment, or who don't speak like them, or who have different genitals: this is not your home. You will never be one of Us.

This is why, above all else, I must go home to Jamaica. Maybe even Africa. A man needs his own spot, where he can be king. A woman needs a room of her own. We all need a place where we can be FREE to realise our power without doubting questions or murmurs of affirmative action.

Eh. Marcus Garvey said it better than I can.

Crooked thinking, but fast talking

2007-10-17T11:58:00.000-04:00

I've been reading a few analyses of the financial woes that have followed in the wake of America's sub-prime crisis - particulalrly one in the Financial Times - and trying to make sense of it all as a non-economist.

What gets me is that these major financial institutions - banks and such - were trying to make off-the-books money from inherently risky investments (i.e. betting that people with bad credit will be able to pay off high rate mortgages).

Wasn't this the same breed of foolishness that put Enron in trouble?

I tell you it's hard to understand. All these weird credit instruments seem to be a series of three card tricks, and it seems they're finally running out of room to maneuvre.

It's also kinda surprising to hear of these huge, long-standing institutions engaging in what looks like (to my untrained eye) reckless shadiness. But no one thought Enron was going down either...

Can't trust people at all, bwoy... no matter how high up they are, they might not be that clever.

Big Brother is Watching

2007-10-15T15:14:00.000-04:00

In case you'd forgotten.

It's not just the governemnt - it's private entities too. But with a smidge of marxist analysis, this is unsurprizing. Funnily enough, Orwell was a rabid anti-communist.

Progress so far

2007-10-10T23:36:00.000-04:00

I got my first B grade today, and I was pretty livid. Gonna go see the prof early tomorrow to dispute a few of the points and see where I went wrong.

That said, I guess I've been doing well. I am certainly more focused than in previous academic outings, and it's been showing (last grade notwithstanding). The key is to maintain - this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Still need to stay up on my reading to get my research proposal (budget and all!) and other little things just the way they need to be.

4 more years.
4 more years.

E Tenebris

2007-09-21T21:31:00.000-04:00

Come down, O Christ, and help me! reach Thy hand,
For I am drowning in a stormier sea
Than Simon on Thy lake of Galilee:
The wine of life is spilt upon the sand,
My heart is as some famine-murdered land
Whence all good things have perished utterly,
And well I know my soul in Hell must lie
If I this night before God's throne should stand.
'He sleeps perchance, or rideth to the chase,
Like Baal, when his prophets howled that name
From morn to noon on Carmel's smitten height.'
Nay, peace, I shall behold, before the night,
The feet of brass, the robe more white than flame,
The wounded hands, the weary human face.

- Oscar Wilde

6 Hours Later...

2007-09-18T01:59:00.001-04:00

On the bright side, I've learned an awful lot about my computer, Unix, fink, Octave, Gnuplot and AquaTerm.

Grad school really does stretch you.

Bloc Party

2007-09-13T23:54:00.000-04:00

Not only one of the best names I can think of, but a fine band as well. They never get old.

Maybe there's something about a soulful black man in an unexpected context that speaks to me. Maybe they just funky.

Pain

2007-09-12T01:31:00.000-04:00

This is what get for ignoring that problem tooth of mine.

It isn't unbearable, because I'm bearing it right now. But it's pretty much the worst thing I've ever felt, ever.

I cannot sleep.

I can barely think.

What's worse, I'm in the Land of the Free-Asterisk-Footnote-Not-Healthcare. Root canals cost like $1000 dollars. For that price I could fly home, get the same procedure done and fly back. Twice.

I think I'll just make an appointment to have it pulled. It won't be visible when I smile, barely visible when I laugh, costs about a tenth and offers a quick solution to this agony.

Strange duck

2007-09-07T20:45:00.000-04:00

I often wonder why someone as charming, well-spoken, quick-witted and (dare I say it?) attractive as myself is so anti-social.

Honestly. I puzzle myself.

A New Age?

2007-09-05T22:23:00.000-04:00

Jamaica recently had an election, and the JLP won. I won't bother going over all the details; other people already have, and they've done a better job than me. Try The Gleaner or The Observer if you like.

But there is one thing that no one seems to have said - this election might have been a turning point in our political history.

Jamaica has a long history of violent, corporatist, tribal politics. It has been a long, bloody, largely pointless struggle between two parties, the JLP and the PNP, that has basically screwed us for 40 or so of our 45 years of independence. But there have been interesting developments.

The JLP, who won the recent election, built its platform around the vision of Bruce Golding, who has been pushing for political reform for the last 12 years (and nearly ended his political career in the process... how times change). The PNP, the loser of this election, was in power for the last 18 years and in their reign had perfected the politics of patronage. It was 18 years of almost perfect politicking and very little good governance. The leader of the PNP, Portia Simpson, is perhaps the worst of Jamaican politicians with respect to patronage and underhanded violence; with this loss, her political career is now over.

One party was turned around; and in the other, an icon of the bad old days was cast down from her throne.

I say, with what I think is realistic hope, that the political culture of Jamaica has reached a great turning point.

I pray that Bruce doesn't let us down.

Motivation

2007-09-03T08:29:00.000-04:00

"Things are only impossible until they're not." - Jean Luc Picard

Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen.
"When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day.
Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." - From Alice in Wonderland

"We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing." - Mother Teresa

"It is our duty as human beings to proceed as though the limits of our capabilities do not exist." - Teilhard de Chardin

A source.

Humility

2007-08-31T21:42:00.000-04:00

It's good that I'm here in the States again. I was too used to being the big dawg when I was back home - being a poor car-less student in the land of conspicuous consumption will keep me grounded... it'll make the days cruising around MoBay, looking criss like biscuit and partying until 6am (days past and future) that much deeper.

I remember looking at the sky one evening coming back from Ochi, and wanting to weep with joy. I feel it now.

Shave and a Haircut

2007-08-30T11:55:00.000-04:00

Hello dear fans (both of you),

Some of you may remember a time when I was dreadlocked. One morning in the fall, quite abruptly, I wasn't any more.

Some of you were shocked; some liked it; some cursed my loss of all coolness and demanded the head of whatever Delilah made it happen. That is to say, a lot of people missed the point.

I felt like making a new start. So I did it on a whim.

So too with the blog.

Yes. It's all gone. New school, new mindframe, new life, new blog. To those who missed the old wit and the epic tirades, well, you have my most insincere apologies.

Stay tuned!