Archives for January, 2003
Rwanda launches ‘rehab’ for killers
The BBC is reporting about the rehab for killers program in Rwanda
Ceremonies have been held across Rwanda to mark the opening of rehabilitation centres for people who admit taking part in the 1994 genocide.
Thousands of prisoners are being released from jail to go to the re-education centres and then back to their communities.
Prime Minister Bernard Makuza told one ceremony that the controversial policy was just the latest stage in the post-genocide justice process.
But the BBC’s correspondent in Kigali, Ishbel Matheson, says human rights groups are concerned the move could simply undermine the slow process of justice.
Serious overcrowding in Rwandan jails was one factor behind the initiative, she says.
Up to a million people were killed over the course of 100 days in a government-orchestrated campaign aimed at eradicating the country’s Tutsi minority.
The prisoner-release plan is being targeted at people who have confessed to lesser crimes, although our correspondent says these include murders which would be seen as horrific by normal standards.
I can’t see how releasing people who committed genocide into the public after a three week rehab course can be a good move. It seems to be minimizing and even accepting the racial division and hatred behind the crimes. I know there is no easy answer but this seems to be the worst possible approach.
One Year Ago Today…
My friend Kelly Graham was laid off from Lakeview Church. He blogged about the experience today.
I don’t ever say much about that day…but maybe it’s time I did. It was awful. I was angry and confused and broken hearted and I felt betrayed. I loved the church and the job and the Upper Room and the people I got to work with and minister to. Some people don’t know this but Brooke and I were going to go that night and meet with our realtor and make an offer to buy a house…exciting. Instead I had to tell my wife that I lost my job.
I remember the day well. A couple other people were laid off from Lakeview that week. It seems a lot longer than a year ago. Being let go at a church is a lot different than a lot of other jobs. I think one invests more of themselves in a church context and to be cut of from that, is really hard. Kelly and Brooke have gone on from that to a great ministry in the Dominican Republic. I hung out with Kelly and Brooke at Christmas and I miss them a lot. Kelly and I had the worst hotel experience ever last summer (can’t give out any details, too horrible) and I miss having him around. Along with Mike Gingerich, Kelly is one of the few people I know who can pull out obscure sports references to little known NFL quarterbacks that no one has ever heard of. I miss working with him and having him around Saskatoon a lot. Our friends Todd and Korina Peters are in the Dominican Republic visiting them for a couple of weeks (or longer). I wish I was there.
Dennis replies
Dennis used my list and blogged about #4 on yesterday’s list. His wife Wilda left a really funny reply in his comments box that made both Wendy and I laugh.
Ideas to Blog to…
I was talking to Dennis Camplin today and as he was talking to me about what to blog about, I had to run. I decided to post a list of topics Dennis can write about on his blog.
1) How Jordon’s preaching changed my life (or that have had to been rebuked)
2) Funeral wreaths I have tied to Gloria Reimer’s car.
3) Inappropriate comments that made Gloria angry.
4) Church porches I have tied to my car to and then torn down.
5) Several ways to avoid making food for myself when my wife is away.
6) Bloggers I have worked with.
7) Ways Johnny Maxwell has changed my life.
Coffee Shops I have loved
9) V.E.T. meetings I have enjoyed
10) Cars I have bought and sold before Wilda even knew I had them.
Thanks for stopping by…
Just spent some time glancing at the log files of The Hockey Pundits and I noticed that most of the other major sports media outlets in Canada are reading us. Some people from ESPN are wandering by sometimes too. Most suprisingly are the hits that are coming from the offices of the United States Senate and Congress. It looks like a couple of congressional offices like to keep up to date with Hockey Pundits which is kind of cool because they aren’t surfing the web on my tax dollar.
Hockey Pundits has kept growing through readers word of mouth. We have been helped with our friendly takeover of PuckHog, long regarded as one of the best written hockey blogs on the net. When I suggested it to John and Jeb, I suggested we go to the end of the Stanley Cup finals and see what happens after that but I can’t any reason why we won’t do it for at least another season.
Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Hope Diamond
Wendy and I spent last night curled up in front of the television watching a great documentary on the Hope Diamond. The Smithsonian has it now and has some great information about it. We also watched a disturbing documentary about the contruction of the Three Gorges Dam. It will raise water levels by 77 stories and will flood the river valley which hope to over a million people and thousands of ancient sites of archeological interest. They will also lose thousand year old temples and buildings.
Facts from the Chinese Embassy
Overview of the Project from China Online. Talks of the criticism and the rebuttals about the project.
Hold off on the Viking Funeral
Our van’s transmission was read its last rights today. After some serious consultation we are going to get it fixed. I can’t sell it in good concious with a bad transmission and it is worthless if I tell someone. Lloyd’s dealerships have nothing in stock right now that I can afford so to the repair shop it is.
Healing Our Spirit
Mike Todd post this site in response to my post about AIDS in Native Canadians. It is the B.C. Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Society. Some resources there on how to help.
Agh!
Someone stole my Palm III. Left it in the car for second while running in someplace. Came back and it was gone… (sob)
Worship Trick #29
Johnny Baker has been posting these amazing worship tricks since he started his blog. I really like this one for prayer.
heh
Canada’s Native Population Hard Hit by Drugs, HIV
according to new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal
“At least in this particular area, the aboriginal people who use injection drugs are experiencing HIV infection rates that we wouldn’t normally see even in sub-Saharan Africa,” said study co-author Dr. Martin T. Schechter of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. “So we have a developing world situation right here in North America.”
In the January 7 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the researchers report that among indigenous men and women an increased risk of becoming infected with HIV was associated with frequent cocaine injections and frequent speedball injections–the latter being a combination of cocaine and heroin.
Native Canadian women who went through periods during which they injected an illicit drug more often then usual–referred to as “bingeing”–were at higher risk for HIV infection, while a similarly elevated risk was seen among native Canadian men who frequently used heroin.
Schechter and his colleagues concluded that the Vancouver-based native Canadian population is at particularly high risk for HIV infection, given that injection drug use is known to be higher in this group than among non-natives.
Interview with Dr. Patrick Dixon
Dr. Dixon is a noted futurist and global change guru (according to the WSJ). He talks about the post 9/11 world, cloning, and privacy. You can find it here.
$15 Billion
is doing something about AIDS and was a welcome part of the State of the Union address. Rudy asks the question, “Let’s now think of some next steps in mobilizing our own people to be a part of the AIDS fight.” As much as $15 billion is, it is a drop in the barrel if the church ever wakes up about the problem. My own thought is micro projects like building home at God’s Golden Acre or attacking some of the economic problems by contributing to some micro projects that make huge differences for some villages and communities. I would love to get a list of organizations and websites that we can help out with. If you have one, leave it in the comments box below. I will start a list on the site on places where we can give money or support…
Ryan Hale left a comment about Living Water. There website says
The world’s number one killer is unsafe water. This killer takes the lives of more than 25,000 people each day and is responsible for 80% of all sickness in the world. Today, in developing countries, more than 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water (World Health Organization, 2000).
Jason Evans left another comment reminding me about God’s Golden Acre.
GGA is a great group and having had personal concact with what they’re doing I can really vouch for what they’re about. Anyone that would like more info about them can feel free to contact me. We’re organizing a home building project w/ GGA in about 18 months for whoever wants to tag along.
I have heard Heather Reynold’s speak (the head of GGA) and Jason just spent some time in South Africa with them. GGA provides housing and support for those infected and orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
Mike Todd sends us to the Hope Initiative by World Vision and the One Life Revolution. Both a great resources.
The Great Divide
Paul Krugman said this today in the New York Times and is an interesting look at the Enron scandal
It was a shocking event. With incredible speed, our perception of the world and of ourselves changed. It seemed that before we had lived in a kind of blind innocence, with no sense of the real dangers that lurked. Now we had experienced a rude awakening, which changed everything.
No, I’m not talking about Sept. 11; I’m talking about the Enron scandal.
One of the great clich�s of the last few months was that Sept. 11 changed everything. I never believed that. An event changes everything only if it changes the way you see yourself. And the terrorist attack couldn’t do that, because we were victims rather than perpetrators. Sept. 11 told us a lot about Wahhabism, but not much about Americanism.
The Enron scandal, on the other hand, clearly was about us. It told us things about ourselves that we probably should have known, but had managed not to see. I predict that in the years ahead Enron, not Sept. 11, will come to be seen as the greater turning point in U.S. society.
Krugman is not the first to suggest that Enron and WorldCom may have a longer impact on American values then 9/11 did. It will be interesting to see.
Our Cabin Weblog- Recently listened to music
- David Gray – Be Mine October 19, 2008
- David Gray – December October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Knowhere October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Real Love October 19, 2008
- David Gray – Last Boat To America October 19, 2008
- Recently additions to my library
- Messy Faith: Daring to Live by Grace by A. J. Gregory October 28, 2008
- Rediscovering Church: The Story and Vision of Willow Creek Community Church by Lynne Hybels October 26, 2008
- The Teeth of the Tiger, A Novel by Tom Clancy October 26, 2008
- The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell October 26, 2008
- The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy October 26, 2008
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