HAPPY VALENTINE'S! (Feb 14, 2006)

"We taste and feel and see the truth. We do not reason ourselves into it."

– William Butler Yeats

Mozambique Trip! (Feb 3-6, 2006)

The fish I caught (and by “I”, I mean me plus 3 other people pulling on the rod) from deep sea fishing in a channel off the coast of Pemba in northern Mozambique. These are two King Fish (8kg and 5kg). We hooked another 3 which got away (and the one that got away was of course enormous - it must have been as it broke the 100kg line!). Crew from left to right: Paolo (skipper), Chris, Me, John (fisherman who set up the rods and pulled hardest).


Mozambique girl on Ibo Island, an old trading and slave post. Ibo is still inhabited by locals but much of it is a ghost town, with old colonial building broken down with trees growing through the walls. Amazing island.


Mangrove Kingfisher, apparently a rare species.

News Articles (Feb 11, 2006)

1. AIDS in the news
Researchers presenting at the 2006 CROI conference found that the earlier treatment is initiated, the slower a patient progresses to AIDS and the fewer side effects they have. The article mentions that there were significantly fewer side effects for patients who were started on ARVs at a CD4+ cell count of 350 or higher. The researchers attribute this difference to decreased inflammation in patients with higher CD4+ cell counts. “This suggests there is no reason to delay HAART treatment, and no reason to delay getting tested for HIV”, Lichtenstein (the researcher) said. Tshedimoso’s got it right!

2. Stanford in the news
Tiny Woman Gives Birth to Healthy Son
In brief, a 37 lb woman suffering from Type 3 osteogenesis imperfecta gave birth to a normal baby, at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.

3. Thailand in the Torino Winter Olympics
Our single contender, Prawat Nagvajara, is 46 years old and will again be participating in the Men’s 15km Classic Cross-Country Skiing event! We wish you well.