The potential danger of mixing politics with religion

In a BBC Radio documentary released in April 2014 titled The Rise of the Arab Spring Prof. Eugene Rogan of the University of Oxford comments on the danger faced by politicians who use religion to advance political ends. He says:

The moment you begin to play on religious sentiment, you set in motion forces well beyond your control. And any ruler, foreign or domestic, who believes they might control the religious impulse and contain it to advance their own goals and go no further, has been shown to be deeply wrong. And they have almost, without exception, had to pay a high consequence for making that mistake.

While the subject of the documentary is the rise of Political Islam in the Arab World, the lessons can be applied to other religions as well.

2013 in review: 29 July

I am continuing to post my "2103 in review" series. I need to explain why it's taking this long to complete this series. I live in Butiama where I do not have broadband access and I have to wait until I travel to Mwanza or Musoma to get that access where posting with images is faster.

I am making more frequent visits to Mwanza now and hope to conclude the 2013 postings and start with the 2014 in review series.

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The first day of the epic 877 kilometre bicycle ride with Ross Methven.

Barely 20 kilometres into the ride and after my second climb, I already knew I wasn't fit enough for this. But not bad enough not to be able to pause and take a photo.

Read about the entire journey here.

2013 in review: 26 July

This is the beginning of the story of how I got myself in trouble, and cycled 877 kilometres from Butiama to Dodoma with Ross Methven.

It began when Ross was taking a break in Butiama on his Edinburgh to Cape Town cycling trip and was looking at route options from Arusha, where he had left his bicycle, towards Dodoma and southern Tanzania. I told him if he brought his bicycle to Butiama to resume his onward trip to Cape Town, I would accompany him with my mountain bike through central Tanzania. He did.

In the photo, he arrives in Butiama and within the next few days we began one of the toughest physical challanges I had faced.

2013 in review: 16 July

I am continuing to post my "2103 in review" series. I need to explain why it's taking this long to complete this series. I live in Butiama where I do not have broadband access and I have to wait until I travel to Mwanza or Musoma to get that access where posting with images is faster.

I am making more frequent visits to Mwanza now and hope to conclude the 2013 postings and start with the 2014 in review series.

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Leaders and players of Dar es Salaam's Simba Sports Club visited Butiama and paid a courtesy call on Mama Maria Nyerere, widow of Tanzania's founding president, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere.

In the photo (above), Team Manager Jamhuri "Julio" Kihwelo (now Mwadui FC Team Manager), gave some introductory remarks before some of the players lined up to take photos (below) with Mama Maria.

When science is not entirely science

I have to admit that science is not my forte'. Thus I confess I still have not figured out why, living just below the Equator and while standing at a right angle, I do not fall off the face of planet Earth.

I have some vague understanding of the word gravity, describing how some unseen forces pull me in proportionate measure in all directions and, in consequence, I remain standing where I should not. The important point is I am not missing any sleep over my failure to fully understand gravity.

And yet I am not cowed enough to read scientific writings without a critical eye. I have read in more than a few occasions writings by scientists, people who should apply the most rigorous tests to scientific claims, using language that is closer to prose than science. In these writings I have seen words such as "most likely", highly likely", or "probably" used to lend support for outcomes that would, in my opinion, require backing from real scientific research instead of wishes on some attempt to link desired outcomes to some remotely-related scientific research.

I believe not a year goes by without some scientist revealing how some space probe "might" provide clues to the origin of the universe. Space research gets substantial funding from advanced nations and I suspect the beneficiaries of these funds inevitably run out of justification for some of their projects and fall back on recycling the probability that some space probe "may" finally solve the mystery of the origin of the universe.

I am eagerly waiting 14th July 2015 when the New Horizons spacecraft is scheduled to reach Pluto from where it "may" send back information of a huge scientific discovery. That should satisfy the scientists, but I would settle for much much less. That a spacecraft millions of kilometres away is controlled from Earth is thrilling enough for me. It might be basic science for the scientists behind the project, but I am likely to recount that momentous event to my grandchildren one day. I find no need for the scientists to promise me the "possible" unlocking of the mysteries of the universe. But, my way would be, at the very least, acceptance of the notion of funding science for science's sake but providing nothing practical in return to humans.

Have you figured out why a glass of water does not spill at the Equator? Without turning to Wikipedia? Please enlighten me.