In any case, of particular interest, I’m quite sorry I’ll miss this one, they’ve invited Dr George Claassen! He’s quite an outspoken atheist (or should I call him an agnostic? not sure…), slightly vitriolic by some accounts, blogging at Prometheus Unbound. What would make this so interesting, is to see how he presents himself in person, when talking to a… “sophisticated” religious group, i.e. not fundamentalists, not anti-science evolution-deniers.

I’m blogging this in the hopes that some of my blogging friends might attend.

Date and Time: Tuesday 10 February from 17:00 to 18:00 (lecture) followed by discussion of the subject, until 18:30.
Title: Religion and Science: Dialogue or Duel?
Place: Stellenbosch
Language: Afrikaans… (Geloof en Wetenskap: Dialoog of Teenstryd?)

Let me know if you’re interested in going (drop a comment and fill in your email address correctly), and I’ll pass on the details!

Also interesting is the next lecture/discussion:

Ons volgende lesing en gesprek sal o.l.v dr. Jurie van den Heever (spreker) op 24 Februarie plaasvind oor die onderwerp: “Darwin se windhond ontmoet Darwin se Engel … Hoe om Richard Dawkins op die vingers te tik”. Almal welkom.

Dr Jurie van den Heever is a paleontologist, I had a good chat with him when I was still in Stellenbosch. This one has me equally curious, if I were in town, I’d be there! He’s a good scientist with a really good head on his shoulders, and has grappled with creationism/creationists on Stellenbosch. It sounds to me like he’s also playing an important role in helping South African teachers get the teaching of evolution right. As such, he surely has a good sensitivity to South African culture and what it means to introduce greater scientific knowledge within our culture.

The title of his talk is something like “Darwin’s greyhound meets Darwin’s Angel … How to rap Richard Dawkins over the knuckles”. (“Darwin’s greyhound” refers to Dawkins, like “Darwin’s Bulldog” refers to Thomas Henry Huxley from way back when.) Anyway, based on the title, I wouldn’t be surprised if the talk touches on the kind of material mentioned in Darwin’s Angel. And it is always good to get a discussion going, with multiple viewpoints, assuming the viewpoints are well thought out, well considered, thorough… and Jurie’s will be!

Oh, and if someone can make a recording (especially of Claassen), I’ve heard back from one friend that can’t attend, who’s as eager as I to find another way of hearing Claassen in that context. Are there legal issues involved with doing that? For something other than “personal use”?

Through Elana Meyers foundation, JAG, www.songo.info is raising funds for the construction of a BMX track in the Stellenbosch Township through donors buying virtual kilometers of the 950 kilometers. These are to be ridden by current World Marathon Champion, Christoph Sauser and South Africa’s own golden boy, Burry Stander. The proposal includes the track, bikes, helmets, a storage container, clinics and maintenance.

The cost of one such kilometer is R1000.00 (currently just over $130)

• If you decide to make a donation of less than R1000.00, we would love to give you a write up on the blog (http://www.songo.info/)
• If you decide to by Kilometres, we would love to write on the blog about it as well as send you a virtual certificate showing the amount of kilometres you have purchased.
• If you donate R10 000.00 or more we will give you a limited edition, signed, UCI World Champion, Christoph Sauser riding top (Photographs attached-we only have a few).

Partner with songo.info and the JAG Foundation, in building the future, in building a world class BMX track for the children of the Kayamandi community.

Simply follow this link to the JAG Foundation website, fill in “Songo” in the reference block, and follow your track building contributions on the blog. Buy your kilometer now, buy your kilometer here.

Help us to virtually complete the 2008 route of the ABSA Cape Epic. For more information please visit www.songo.info

Regards
Ruth and Elana

Elana Meyer
elana@jagfoundation.com

Ruth Bird
songo.info@gmail.com

So now you have three courses of action to choose from: (a) go make a donation, (b) spread the word, especially to those that may be interested in this project, (c) discuss!

More photos of Kayamandi on flickr.

(Indicated on Google Maps below the fold.)

Video by Johan Swarts and Stephan. They say the stats are quite accurate, but are not based on outside research. “It is merely a projection”. Don’t quote them on it. (Slight squashing, 16:9 video displayed as 4:3 by YouTube.)

UPDATE: The Kayamandi stats are based on a report from a few years back, and adjusted for inflation. If Johan remembers correctly, that income is not per person, it is per “address”, per “house”. Now I wonder how many people live in each shack…

View Larger Map

Don’t pay any attention to this paragraph, unless you’re Johan, you run the risk of missing the point if you get too caught up in the irrelevant details. Johan: I’d guess it was a quick survey among students. Where did the Kayamandi stats come from? Who is included? Is it income per adult, or are children included?