Parallels between Rwanda and Sri Lanka

I have started reading Imaculée Illibagiza’s book “Left to Tell”. It is her personal account of the Rwandan Tutsi massacre. There were some erie parallels between the situation in Rwanda and Sri Lanka. The British in Sri Lanka placed to minority Tamils into positions of power. The Belgians did likewise to the minority Tutsis. The result was discontent and resentment, a short term split of the people and over the long term the development of hatreds and resentments.

Back in Canada

My wife and I returned back to Canada from India - two weeks ago. I can’t believe that much time has passed. Finally the snow is melting - plus 7 Celsius. Well melting until tomorrow. If I can get organized, hopefully I can blog about our trip.

Anti Cancer Drug that is too Cheap

DCA (dichloroacetate) is capable of of suppressing the growth of of cancer cells without affecting normal cells.

Investigators at the University of Alberta have recently reported that a drug previously used in humans for the treatment of rare disorders of metabolism is also able to cause tumor regression in a number of human cancers growing in animals. This drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), appears to suppress the growth of cancer cells without affecting normal cells, suggesting that it might not have the dramatic side effects of standard chemotherapies.

Cancer cells, unlike normal cells produce their energy through glycoloysis - the anaerobic breakdown of sugars. This is because most cancer cells function in an oxygen deprived (anaerobic) environment. The DCA activates the mitochodria in the cancer cells. The mitochondria in cells are responsible for producing energy in oxygen rich environments, but they also activate apoptosis (cell death). Cancer cells with reawakened mitochondria wither and die.

The next step is to run clinical trials of DCA in people with cancer. These may have to be funded by charities, universities and governments: pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to pay because they can’t make money on unpatented medicines. The pay-off is that if DCA does work, it will be easy to manufacture and dirt cheap.

Loneliness and Society

Adbusters had an interesting article on Loneliness and Technology. The focus of the article was despite how many people were connected through technology, we are still cutting ourselves from the full human interaction. I admit that I have this sickness as well — far better to email than actually converse with a person and have to deal with the minutiae of conversation. But, in that isolation we lose what makes us human; that fleeting contact where you have the opportunity to SEE that person you are dealing with - not some number, or job, or role (wife, mother,husband, etc…). To actually see that person, acknowledge their feelings, and empathize;in short be mindful of their presence. But, technology traps us in our own minds.

Edit in Textmate

I’ve been playing with a Textmate, a text editor form Macromates. In fact that is what I am using to blog this post. I like the simple interface but there is a great deal hidden under the surface. There is a new series at Circle Six design that I hope will explain the intricacies of Textmate for the rest of us(non-coders).

But, one feature which I really like is “Edit in Textmate”. All the articles I found told me how great the feature was but not how to install it and how to use it. In the Textmate bundle, there is an `Install “edit in Textmate”’ function. Click it to install - how simple is that. Then for any Cocoa textbox, you can call up Textmate - either frorm the edit menu or type control-command E. Textmate is summoned to edit the text. To paste it back into the textbox, just save the file. The text is magically transported returned to the originating textbox. A fancy cut and paste, but I like it.

Christmas 2006

A glorious late start to the day - 9pm. There was a time when this was noon, but the older I get, the less time there is left to do anything. Christmas lunch - traditional rice and curry with family. The meal was good and the company pleasant. Here are a few pics…

CHRISTMAS 2006

Amazing Story-Immaculee Ilibagiza

I was listening to Wanye Dyer’s Inspiration when he started talking about the 1994 Rwandan massacre. One million people died. One percent of the Tutsis women in the country survived. At the time the massacre started I was in Costa Rica - insulated from the world by Spanish television and the rain forest. Yet, news of the white Ford Bronco and OJ’s chase made it through; news of Rwanda did not. Even afterwards, I willfully remained ignorant of the full magnitude of the situation, it was too painful. I even rented “Hotel Rwanda” but never watched it. I had not realized the magnitude of the massacre, the completeness of the killing and the horror of people turning on their neighbors. Neighbors that they had grown up with - taught, married, and loved. But out of this wretched time, Dyer told the story of Immaculee Ilibagiza, a tutsis woman who survived 91 days in the cramped bathroom of a pastor’s house shared with seven other women. During that time she prayed, learned english but could never speak. Her family and school friends were massacred. The amazing thing is that she came out of this ordeal with not hatred and vengeance but only forgiveness and love. She had seen through the hatred and killing and connected to something a great deal more powerful. Shortly, after she had been released, she had to walk to the safety of a refugee camp. A few hundred meters from safety she was met by a machete wielding killer. At 68 lbs, with rank clothing and bones sticking out , she was no match for the hatred filled man. Yet, when confronted by her absolute calm, love and forgiveness, he dropped his machete. This I think is a real connection with God or spirit — no righteous vengeance, no smiting of enemies but pure and simple acceptance and love. I am looking forward to reading her book.

Just a Start

I wanted a place to write and to think outside my head. To say all those things that should be said but remain unsaid because of fear - fear of comment, fear of rejection or just plain fear of people thinking you are stupid. These are my first few fear filled words. What will people think ? Will I still have friends ? Talking out loud just isn’t done. But, here goes the first post out into the world.