From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:32 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Ethiopian Democratic Action League is launching weekly demonstrations and rallies every Monday in front of the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC starting April 2 until May 21, 2001. The purpose of the demonstration is to demand the immediate resignation of Meles Zenawi and the setup of an all-inclusive transitional government composed of all political parties and civic associations, as well as elder statesmen until fair and free elections are conducted within a reasonably short time. After ten years of disastrous rule causing unspeakable suffering upon the people of Ethiopia and selling out Ethiopia's national interest, and in light of the current crisis in the ruling TPLF regime, it's time for Ethiopians around the world to mobilize to end the Meles era. THE SUFFERING OF OUR PEOPLE MUST END! THE BETRAYAL OF OUR COUNTRY MUST STOP! IT'S TIME FOR MELES TO GO! We call on all Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia to join us at the weekly demonstrations and help us make a strong demand for the resignation of the anti-Ethiopia, anti-democratic dictator Meles Zenawi. We also call on Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia around the world to mobilize to bring about the end of Meles Zenawi's brutal dictatorship. The next scheduled demonstration: Date: Monday, April 2, 2001 Time: From 12 noon - 1 PM Place: Ethiopian Embassy (3506 International Drive, NW Washington DC - Next to the University of the District of Columbia) ETHIOPIAN DEMOCRATIC ACTION LEAGUE Spokesperson: Gashu Habte, Ph.D. mailto:ec@tegbar.org * http://www.tegbar.org From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:33 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: assassination has been launched in a futile bid to win more support to one= =E2=80=99s=20 own side while disfiguring the other. This move is not only immoral but also= =20 contemptuous of the expectations of our people who had placed their trust in= =20 the leadership. We believe we are part of the domestic constituency in our=20 country, and have every right to demand the leadership to heed our plea for=20 peace and reconsider its decisions before the turn of events further compoun= d=20 an already explosive situation. As a result, we are of the conviction that w= e=20 can be part of the solution to the looming crisis by presenting the followin= g=20 demands to the pertinent body in power:=20 We demand the unconditional reinstatement of those TPLF officials who have=20 been illegally sacked and purged from their government and party positions.=20 We demand that the government respect the constitutional rights of the=20 officials to exercise their freedom of expression; call on the government to= =20 bear the responsibility of safeguarding the safety of the officials and thei= r=20 families.=20 We demand that the government send us one representative from each side so=20 that we would have fair, accurate and objective views over what is emerging=20 as a distorted picture of the rumor mill.=20 We call for the convening of a general congress to be presided over by a=20 group drawn from both sides.=20 We demand that the entire conduct of the general congress be transmitted liv= e=20 on TV and radio for the Ethiopian public.=20 We call for an immediate end to the hostile media propaganda.=20 We demand the postponement of any meeting between the governments of Ethiopi= a=20 and Eritrea until the suspended officials resume their public=20 responsibilities.=20 We believe the TPLF Audit Commission=E2=80=99s decisions are fair and legiti= mate.=20 We call for an immediate end to the propaganda barrage and threats political= =20 cadres hotly pursue to force our people approve of decisions made without=20 their free and democratic participation.=20 Peace and Justice to Our People=20 Ethiopian Tigrians in Seattle, Washington=20 USA=20 --part1_6f.13bbc932.28022176_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en Source: Ben's News Page
Protest message continues


Ethiopians in Seattle Call For:=20
<= SMALL>=C2=B7 Unconditional Return of TPLF officials to their posts=20
=C2=B7 Postponement of any meeting between Ethiopia and Eritrea

- Statement by Ethiopian Tigrians in Seattle, Washington State, USA=20

Whethe= r in time of peace or war, it has been a public secret that we=20
Ethiopians living in the city of Seattle have been contributing our mode= st=20
share for the well-being and development of our people and country. Once= the=20
dust of war began to settle down, we held our hopes high because we beli= eved=20
our suffering people would start to heave a sigh of relief, and start to= =20
re-build their shattered lives.=20
Unfortunately, a chilly wind has once again blown our own way -- leaving= us=20
bewildered and truly dismayed. We heard, from bits and bytes of news, th= at=20
the Woyane organization, a tenacious organization that over the years ha= d=20
triumphed over challenges that were insurmountable for many others, has=20= spilt=20
into two for failing to resolve differences within itself.=20
From bad to worse, a shameful campaign of blackmail and character=20
assassination has been launched in a futile bid to win more support to o= ne=E2=80=99s=20
own side while disfiguring the other. This move is not only immoral but=20= also=20
contemptuous of the expectations of our people who had placed their trus= t in=20
the leadership. We believe we are part of the domestic constituency in o= ur=20
country, and have every right to demand the leadership to heed our plea=20= for=20
peace and reconsider its decisions before the turn of events further com= pound=20
an already explosive situation. As a result, we are of the conviction th= at we=20
can be part of the solution to the looming crisis by presenting the foll= owing=20
demands to the pertinent body in power:=20

We demand the unconditional reinstatement of those TPLF officials who ha= ve=20
been illegally sacked and purged from their government and party positio= ns.=20


We demand that the government respect the constitutional rights of the=20
officials to exercise their freedom of expression; call on the governmen= t to=20
bear the responsibility of safeguarding the safety of the officials and=20= their=20
families.=20


We demand that the government send us one representative from each side=20= so=20
that we would have fair, accurate and objective views over what is emerg= ing=20
as a distorted picture of the rumor mill.=20


We call for the convening of a general congress to be presided over by a= =20
group drawn from both sides.=20


We demand that the entire conduct of the general congress be transmitted= live=20
on TV and radio for the Ethiopian public.=20


We call for an immediate end to the hostile media propaganda.=20


We demand the postponement of any meeting between the governments of Eth= iopia=20
and Eritrea until the suspended officials resume their public=20
responsibilities.=20


We believe the TPLF Audit Commission=E2=80=99s decisions are fair and le= gitimate.=20


We call for an immediate end to the propaganda barrage and threats polit= ical=20
cadres hotly pursue to force our people approve of decisions made withou= t=20
their free and democratic participation.=20

Peace and Justice to Our People=20
Ethiopian Tigrians in Seattle, Washington=20
USA --part1_6f.13bbc932.28022176_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:34 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Ethiopian Democratic Action League (TEGBAR) is organizing demonstrations every Monday until May 21 in front of the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC from 12 Noon - 1 PM. The next demonstration will be held this coming Monday, April 16. Purpose of the demonstration: 1) Condemn the vicious attacks on Addis Abeba University students by Meles Zenawi's armed thugs. 2) Express solidarity with the brave students at Addis Abeba University who have refused to surrender their rights to the brutal dictatorship. 2) Demand the immediate resignation of dictator Meles Zenawi and his murderous regime. Join us. Say NO MORE! THE SUFFERING OF OUR PEOPLE MUST END! THE BETRAYAL OF OUR COUNTRY MUST STOP! IT'S TIME FOR MELES TO GO! . From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:34 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: trying to softly, softly breaking the news to us Ethiopians what they=20 intend they will do in the next --part1_91.95baec1.280c1454_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Writing on the wall, who i= s the most gullible of them all?

by Haileselassie Girmay   April 14, 2001=
=20

Yes, it is now almost three years gone, since the incident took place.
Remember it was May 1998 when Ethiopia was dishabille and mortally=20
flogged. It was not small an incident to be blocked out of anyone's memo= ry.=20
It=20
was a brutal attack, no less than all the other attempts done in the pas= t. It=20
was well worked out a plot to see Ethiopia fractured and humiliated=20
forever, if only the dreamers' plan had materialised.

And materialised it almost did. For over two years the Eritreans=20
managed to hold sovereign Ethiopian territories and began vaunting to th= e=20
world at
large that they were here to stay for good. No force, certainly any
Ethiopian force in any form and shape, would dislodge them from the=20
Coveted lands they so dear cherish as war booties.

It took long and hard struggles to put ours acts & pull our resource= s
together and redirected our actions to the war front. Then, once the=20
war, began in earnest, we taught the Eritrea and their foreign masters a= =20
lesson not only they would wish not to forget but what Ethiopians are ma= de up=20
of now, as they were in the past - the unwavering iron will not only to=20
win but also to die rather than live like dogs licking colonial masters'= =20
boots.

Like the in the past, this time round, in May 1998, Ethiopia was also=20
caught ill prepared for the task by surprise. Ethiopia is by nature less
suspecting; it harbours little or no negative psychology about others.=20
Sad to say, Ethiopia takes on board things as they unfold on ground to h= er=20
cost for her seraphic innocence. Ethiopia is and has also been a peace-l= oving
country. It has never gone to war against anyone unless provoked and in
self-defence. These two factors appear to be the Achilles heels of the=20
country.

Following the debacle of the Eritrean forces in Badema, the Eritreasns
should have heeded to our pleas and retreated with their dromedaries=20
from Ethiopian territories. But they did not; they remained obdurate as=20= the=20
rocks behind which they dug in for their trenches. It remained for the=20
Ethiopians to follow hot on the retreating heels of the disgraced Eritre= an=20
army to
drive a long forgotten lesson home. Subject taught, chapter closed you w= ould
have thought it was the end of the matter - but hold on, there is more=20
to come.

It appears Eritrea and our classical enemies have prepared a trident att= ack
on Ethiopia. If one fails, and it had, they have the other two to try=20
out their lucks and bring the country to its knees.

Like the May 1998, these internal mayhems of April 2001 seem to have=20
been designed, by divine will or human, to take Ethiopia by surprise. Th= e
internal conflict among the EPRDF/TPLF members is, without going in to
details, a case in point how our enemies work to see our demise from=20
within and without.

One feels that Ethiopia has been, despite its backwardness, able to=20
ward off external aggressions and invasions and recovered from its ordea= ls.=20
However, many people, including our leaders, feel this is an internal pr= oblem=20
they can cope with - how wrong they can be? It is the internal conflict=20
that Ethiopia has been and will be unable to shrug off and still stand t= all=20
on its feet. This one is an ankylosis that lies in wait to attack as an
opportunist, on top of the Achilles heels Ethiopia gravely suffers from.

It is too early to pass judgement; there is still room to work out and=20
bring this internal conflict to a peaceful solution where no one should=20= feel=20
that one is hard done by. This approach of mending fence should be done=20= on=20
an organisational level and the sooner the better. In the end, however,
ultimate decision should be left to the people to find out as to who=20
was
right and who was at fault during the terms these group, now estranged,=20
as a whole collectively administrated the country.

Talk of corruption at the higher level is one-thing rich people complain= of
being robbed or embezzled of their resources. At lower level, the=20
political cadres of the day, who are now being, it seems, pampered to wi= n=20
over=20
their much soughed after votes in favour of one as opposed to the other
conflicting ruling groups within the TPLF, are as bad corrupted and doin= g
the damage to the economy and morale of the ordinary people. This=20
conflict and their role to decide who is to stay and who is to exit will= give=20
them a much wider opportunity to continue their bad practices.

The conflict among the groups of the ruling party surfaced shortly=20
after Eritrea was comprehensively defeated. Such a resounding victory of= the
country against unprovoked enemy, ought to have given the members of=20
the ruling group the courage to recognise failures of each individual=20
leading and up to the Eritrean invasion and mend their differences, at l= east=20
in
recognition of the efforts put and the resolute determination manifested= by
the Ethiopians people at large who are not politically affiliated to=20
this group but gave their lives to reverse the aggression.

Instead of accommodating their differences and strove for a workable
relations in the interest of the country and the people who shed their=20
blood to see a better system in operation, they blew their differences o= ut of
proportion on procedural matters and with it brought the country close t= o a
danger. And still we have not heard the real essences of their differenc= e.

We have seen in the past some of the veering and careening of the
TPLF/EPRDF, but now they say there is more to come. Recently, the EPRDF/= TPLF
appears to have or is about to abandon all its ideological=20
manifestations it vowed it would put in to practice once it came to powe= r.

It wants to follow free market economy. There is no problem here, so be=20= it.
Come to think, for the last ten years the Government was in fact=20
following free market economy. No one seemed to have bellowed and jumped= from=20
a
skyscraper in protest. It seems the Government will continue to
practice/implement its free market economy unabated and full blast- Amen= .
However, there will not be a new miracle that will auspiciously surface=20
as a
result of the extension of the intended declaration. The practice of fre= e
market economy outside the agrarian economy has been in Ethiopia before=20
the coming of the Derg to power. Emperor Haileselassie was a much safer=20
hand to foreign investors than the present government. But foreigners we= re not
interest in him as they did elsewhere. What new developments/substantial= ly
and miraculous discoveries of oil, gold and diamond, etc has happened fo= r
foreign investors to coming rushing in their drove to our country to our
delight to see market economy flourished? Just because our leaders are=20
now educated and speak English better?

Hitherto, the most significant production and construction developments=20
that have taken place are those carried out by the central and local=20
governments. The rest of the much-talked about investment manqu=E9 that=20= took=20
place by=20
the private sector are in the peddling of the same old commodities of th= e
production and provision of alcohol and hotel.

It is noted that the government owned and run projects may have been pro= ne
to corruption and inefficiencies. This may have triggered the central=20
and local governments to sell them off the projects, as they could not r= an=20
the mat loses, at knock prices, to private (foreign or/and local, if the= re=20
are any) investors who would ran them better for profits, and there is n= o=20
doubt they may do just that. However, if the private sectors were to be=20= asked=20
to invest and set up those projects at will in the first place, at the=20
FULLSTART UP COSTS, they would not have dreamt setting the projects at a= ll.=20
Why come to Ethiopia and set business in the most inconvenient and land=20
locked places, for humanitarian sake? So there would not have been any c= ement
factory or ring road in the country but probably more liquor houses with= beds.


Likewise going private in the agrarian area of the economy may have its=20= own
pitfalls. There may be though some problems in some places where land is
communal owned and tilled. If the land in such places were taken away fr= om
rich/medium rich peasant in the past, and given to the others because th= ey
did not have some or they had little of it, is it going to be given back= to
the former land owner on the bases of the right of property ownership
retrospectively, or is it to be kept with the new owners, and they in tu= rn
would make a meal out of it? If then what justices can there be for=20
land to be owned and sold by the current holders at the expense of the f= ormer=20
owners who are still alive and struggle to make ends meet? Is there any=20= logic=20
for making those who legitimately owned it for several generation poor a= nd=20
the new ones rich? But a peasant is peasant you can manipulate your way=20= out=20
and there may not be grave danger of losing control, unless one is not=20
troubled
by his/her conscientious.

The other issue is subscribing to free market economy does not mean=20
bending over to imperialist exploitations and subjugation. You can be a=20= free
marketer up to your neck and still object imperialistic aggression and
exploitations when and if it occurs. You can still say down with
imperialism, couldn't you? Any country in collaboration with the big
powers, like Eritrea did to undermine Ethiopia's sovereignty and=20
territorial integrity, should and indeed be vigorously opposed, even if=20= it=20
means=20
that you have to lose benefits of their inward investments and internati= onal=20
aid.

We should not be frightened to say no to imperialistic moves when it=20
comes to violation of our long-term interests and survival as a nation.=20= There=20
is no point of advocating a free market economy if you have not got a=20
sovereign country to stand on and make a deal. At this point, when this=20
happens=20
there is no any other word you can substitute in place of Imperialism, s= o you=20
say" down with imperialism!" It is not scary word you do not want be=20
heard saying it in case Big Brother is around. Like some wanted us to be= lieve=20
and run away from the person who uttered the slogan. India, Pakistan and= =20
others are free market economies and yet you hear them accusing big powe= rs
interfering in her region affairs and call them imperialists.

It is not only for lack of resources that we may not survive as a nation
that we should always seek their co-operation, but we could also perish=20
as a result of direct and indirect imperialist interventions in=20
collaboration with local enemies of our nation. The Red Sea and Nile Bas= in=20
waters are two strayed daughters of ours that still are the causes of ho= odoos=20
to the
country.

Last but not least, if the TPLF/EPRDF has abandoned almost all its
ideological believes and now stands republished with capitalistic holy=20
water, how is that the believes of self-determination, Eritrean colonial= =20
question, long held believes, remain unadulterated and intact? Shouldn't= they=20
also be abandoned as outmoded and anachronistic communist views like the= =20
rest?=20
Once this done, the TPLF/EPRDF sip from the stoup a transubstantiation t= hat=20
would help wake it up to the call and work for Ethiopia on the bases of=20= the
survival of the fittest, an ideology that congruently fits with doctrine= of
capitalism? This brings me to the main point why I wanted to write this=20
article.=20
Scott Stearns of the VOA, 14/4/2001, see Ben's New Page for detailed aud= io=20
record.
In this audio record the Eritrean Asseb port manger, Mengistab, tells=20
Scott that the existing number of port workers is more or less the same=20= as it=20
was before the port was effectively closed. That is to say when Ethiopia
abandoned the use of the services of the port. There is no work but the
Eritrean government subsidy keeps them going. The machines and cranes,=20
them too, are also continuously greased and oiled to keep them in good n= ick=20
and operational. "Because we believe," and this is reinforced by=20
Issayiase's views as expressed in the same audio interview, "the Ethiopi= ans=20
will=20
sooner than later come and ask for the use of the port's services. It is= only=20
a question of time, the Ethiopian have no choice they have to come to=20
Asseb," both Issayas Afewerki and Mengistab asserted. Alas, it is fait=20
accompli. The Eritreans know more about us than ourselves about us. But=20= if=20
this is=20
true, how could it be, long before the blood of our brothers and sisters= =20
split has dried on the grounds they lay fallen and those who are still a= live=20
their wound healed that we are rushing to make a deal? Wouldn't any earn= ing=20
made from such a deal on the graves of our dead brothers and sisters be=20= a=20
frog in a throat? A huge bony frog indeed.

Besides, the port of Asseb was abandoned long before the conflict=20
started on the bases of commercial viability. We were told that Ethiopia= can=20
shop
around for ports and use the cheapest and there was no need for=20
Ethiopia touse the services of Asseb. Why then are we coming back now an= d=20
argue a=20
causewe abandoned long before on commercial visibility bases unless we=20
wanted to help out Eritrea from its financial crisis it crassly created=20= for=20
itself? Besides Djibouti and Asseb are geographically the same distances= to=20
the=20
rest of Ethiopia. If we can use Djibouti will there be a need to look fo= r=20
Asseb,after all the bloodshed added to it? It is not only the Eritreans=20= who=20
Are arguing that we should come back to Asseb - it even sounds on the au= dio
record like the Eritreans will declare war on us if we fail to toe the l= ine
and use Asseb from the ways they talk both issyas and the port manager.=20
The UN Deputy Representative to Ethiopia and Eritrea, Ian Martin, is als= o
arguing we should forget and forgive and use the port of Asseb, a port=20
no win the hands of the Eritrean, for the benefits of all. Yes all, smal= l=20
power and big powers. We cannot tell them what we wanted, they know want= is=20
good for us all the time and they have been providing us just that - pov= erty=20
and war.

One Ethiopian writer, Alemu Taye, in his article, " Seye or Melese,"
14/4/2001, posted in Ben's New Page, appears to sit on the fence and=20
try to hitch up the rope on fellow Tigrayans. He seems to gloat over wha= t he=20
calls the downfall of rule of TPLF, and with it the Tigrayans domination= . At=20
a time when the input of everyone is required to steer the country from
danger, unless every Tigrayan, as he put it, come to Washington DC=20
where helived for the last thirty years presumably in comfort, unless th= ey=20
joinedhis party, this writer wont listen, wont have any thing do with
Ethiopians/Tigrayans whatsoever. Well Mr. Writer, I will tell you this=20
for I know for sure. Tigray gave the TPLF, EPRP; EDU and other would be
liberators, when liberation front was the right steps to walk about,=20
the same chances of material and human resources to be used against Derg= .=20
Tiraygave all the liberation fronts without any exception safe sanctuari= es=20
and shelters in its caves, mountains and human dwellings at enormous ris= k=20
to itself to operate. What more could the pe --part1_91.95baec1.280c1454_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:34 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Dedicated to Asrat Woldeyes, Foe of Ethnic cleansing and Homelands, Martyr of Ethiopia and other victims of Ethnic cleansing( hopefully Sileshi won't sue me for publishing part of his beautiful poem;>|) ...Keingdih amara melkeskes yikribet keingidih abeka, Asrat yemote let. Imbi kalem yihe mergem yihunibet tigdelew inatu, mistu bitisasa tigdelew set-liju, wend-liju keressa keHone hod amlik, kehone timb-Ansa Tiyit yifjew yimut,silet yiblaw yirad yiweledu leloch yemihonu kassa Beshita sitena derso Yastamemenin zer bilew siwegun derso yastalenin Guma Dem melisen, bedem kaltatebni lemitefaw tifat, bidir kalmelesni kal semay, kal lemidr biret kalchebetni inesu indenakun, igna ketenakni iwnetim, iwnetim Ahya yibeluni ..." -Sileshi Balima ___________________________________________________ GO.com Mail Get Your Free, Private E-mail at http://mail.go.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:40 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Domestic discontent threatens Ethiopia's ten-year-old government AT THE height of the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, Issaias Afwerki, Eritrea's president, predicted that the fighting would bring down his rival and former ally, Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi. He was wrong. Mr Meles won the war last year. But now, after victory, his government is in trouble. Divisions at the heart of his administration are exposing the fragility of his rule. Some say it is imploding. Mr Meles has been a reformer, bringing the market to a centralised state-run economy. The economy shows a healthy growth rate and the harvest will be good this year. But prices for coffee, Ethiopia's chief export, are low, and the government spent millions of dollars on the war and lost millions in aid from disapproving donors. Now the urban poor cannot afford basic goods, and unemployment is at an all-time high. In April thousands of university students demonstrated for academic freedom on their campuses. Unemployed youths took the protest to the streets where the demonstrations degenerated into the worst public disorder for years. The government, seeing political plots behind what appears to have been a spontaneous uprising, responded brutally. Some 130 people were killed-only 31, said the government. On May 8th Mesfin Wolde Mariam, a veteran human-rights campaigner, and Berhanu Nega, an academic, were arrested, accused of stirring up the students. The two men, and hundreds of opponents of the regime, are in prison but uncharged. On May 12th Mr Meles had more genuine grounds for fear when his head of security, Kinfe Gebre Medhin, was shot and killed at the officers' club in Addis Ababa. His death removes a close ally who kept the army subordinate to the government. This, in turn, has exposed divisions in the government. At the administration's core are Mr Meles and his friends from Tigray, who once formed the Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray. That grew into the Central Committee of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). After a long war, and in alliance with Eritrean rebels, the TPLF overthrew the Soviet-backed regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. Originally a small separatist movement, the TPLF was suddenly faced with ruling this vast, disparate country. Tigray is far from Addis Ababa, whose Amharic residents resented the invasion of northerners. But the TPLF created like-minded parties among each of Ethiopia's main ethnic groups until they had constructed what looked like a multi-layered, multi-party national political system. This coalition, known as the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has ruled ever since. But the point on which the whole rests is the secretive, all-powerful TPLF Central Committee. This committee is now looking wobbly. When a ceasefire and peace agreement were signed with Eritrea last December, the TPLF Central Committee split and 12 members were expelled because they felt Mr Meles had sold out to western capitalism and had been weak on Eritrea. Many felt that Mr Issaias should have been crushed completely. A similar division splits the army. The prime minister has tried to roll with the pressure, showing toughness by creating problems for the UN peacekeeping force, and by dragging his feet on the creation of a neutral buffer zone between the two countries. But that upsets Mr Meles's western allies and the UN. He needs good relations with them to get a deal out of the IMF. Mr Meles is caught between international pressure and the demands of some of his oldest and closest allies. He tried to win support from other parties in the EPRDF, but each wanted its pound of flesh in return. His reinvented political structures have not grown deep enough roots to give him an alternative power base. Next month the TPLF and all the other parties in the EPRDF should hold congresses to celebrate ten years in power. But the dissenters are strong in Tigray, and could give the prime minister a hard time. --part1_bb.eb9374e.2840c6f0_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ethiopia

Post-victory turmoil
May 24th 2001

From The Economist print edition

Domestic discontent threatens Ethiopia's ten-year-old government
AT THE height of the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, Issaias Afwerki,
Eritrea's president, predicted that the fighting would bring down his rival
and former ally, Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi. He was wrong. Mr
Meles won the war last year. But now, after victory, his government is in
trouble.
Divisions at the heart of his administration are exposing the fragility of
his rule. Some say it is imploding. Mr Meles has been a reformer, bringing
the market to a centralised state-run economy. The economy shows a healthy
growth rate and the harvest will be good this year. But prices for coffee,
Ethiopia's chief export, are low, and the government spent millions of
dollars on the war and lost millions in aid from disapproving donors. Now
the urban poor cannot afford basic goods, and unemployment is at an all-time
high.
In April thousands of university students demonstrated for academic freedom
on their campuses. Unemployed youths took the protest to the streets where
the demonstrations degenerated into the worst public disorder for years. The
government, seeing political plots behind what appears to have been a
spontaneous uprising, responded brutally. Some 130 people were killed-only
31, said the government. On May 8th Mesfin Wolde Mariam, a veteran
human-rights campaigner, and Berhanu Nega, an academic, were arrested,
accused of stirring up the students. The two men, and hundreds of opponents
of the regime, are in prison but uncharged.
On May 12th Mr Meles had more genuine grounds for fear when his head of
security, Kinfe Gebre Medhin, was shot and killed at the officers' club in
Addis Ababa. His death removes a close ally who kept the army subordinate to
the government.
This, in turn, has exposed divisions in the government. At the
administration's core are Mr Meles and his friends from Tigray, who once
formed the Marxist-Leninist League of Tigray. That grew into the Central
Committee of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF). After a long
war, and in alliance with Eritrean rebels, the TPLF overthrew the
Soviet-backed regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. Originally a small
separatist movement, the TPLF was suddenly faced with ruling this vast,
disparate country.
Tigray is far from Addis Ababa, whose Amharic residents resented the
invasion of northerners. But the TPLF created like-minded parties among each
of Ethiopia's main ethnic groups until they had constructed what looked like
a multi-layered, multi-party national political system. This coalition,
known as the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has
ruled ever since. But the point on which the whole rests is the secretive,
all-powerful TPLF Central Committee.
This committee is now looking wobbly. When a ceasefire and peace agreement
were signed with Eritrea last December, the TPLF Central Committee split and
12 members were expelled because they felt Mr Meles had sold out to western
capitalism and had been weak on Eritrea. Many felt that Mr Issaias should
have been crushed completely. A similar division splits the army.
The prime minister has tried to roll with the pressure, showing toughness by
creating problems for the UN peacekeeping force, and by dragging his feet on
the creation of a neutral buffer zone between the two countries. But that
upsets Mr Meles's western allies and the UN. He needs good relations with
them to get a deal out of the IMF.
Mr Meles is caught between international pressure and the demands of some of
his oldest and closest allies. He tried to win support from other parties in
the EPRDF, but each wanted its pound of flesh in return. His reinvented
political structures have not grown deep enough roots to give him an
alternative power base. Next month the TPLF and all the other parties in the
EPRDF should hold congresses to celebrate ten years in power. But the
dissenters are strong in Tigray, and could give the prime minister a hard
time.

--part1_bb.eb9374e.2840c6f0_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:41 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: with an onslaught of outrage and condemnations. The Bostonians bitterly accused the "yes men" for being the instrument of dictatorship and for condemning our people to the jaws of totalitarianism. The Bostonians also condemned the "ration-for-petition" swap used by the "Palace Group" to expel elected parliamentarian, and for using food as a weapon to coerce people, against their will, to say what they do not believe in! On occasions, these "yes men" tried to practice bonapartistic intimidation. Ambassador Tewolde threatened to call the police unless he has it his way. Despite being reminded that he is here in a democratic country and not in Ethiopia where he could get his way with the barrel of the gun, he nonetheless called the police. But the Bostonians told the police who the "yes men" were and resumed to honor our martyrs, our people and country by standing tall against these "yes men" without souls, and by putting to shame these and those other disciples of Bonapartism and Shaibian mercenaries! Indeed Tigray has been honored. Indeed Ethiopia has been honored. And Bonapartism smashed! Back to NewsPage _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:41 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: an onslaught of outrage and condemnations. The Bostonians bitterly accused the "yes men" for being the instrument of dictatorship and for condemning our people to the jaws of totalitarianism. The Bostonians also condemned the "ration-for-petition" swap used by the "Palace Group" to expel elected parliamentarian, and for using food as a weapon to coerce people, against their will, to say what they do not believe in! On occasions, these "yes men" tried to practice bonapartistic intimidation. Ambassador Tewolde threatened to call the police unless he has it his way. Despite being reminded that he is here in a democratic country and not in Ethiopia where he could get his way with the barrel of the gun, he nonetheless called the police. But the Bostonians told the police who the "yes men" were and resumed to honor our martyrs, our people and country by standing tall against these "yes men" without souls, and by putting to shame these and those other disciples of Bonapartism and Shaibian mercenaries! Indeed Tigray has been honored. Indeed Ethiopia has been honored. And Bonapartism smashed! --part1_105.4957443.28532fce_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Deki-Alula

Boston humiliates group of Meles cadres

By members of Tigrai Community in Boston

Tigreans in Boston and vicinity have made history today. Meles Zenawi's
Bonapartistic foray into the Americas was smothered in to smithereens. In a
meeting called by Meles' "yes men" sent to the Diaspora to preach
bonapartistic lies, the Tigrean residents of Boston and vicinity resolutely
spoke on behalf of our martyrs, our people and our country, and killed
Bonapartism dead on its tracks! Meles' "yes men," who in effect are Tigreans
indirectly working for Shaibia, were confronted and overwhelmingly rejected
as traitors who betrayed the memory of our martyrs, and the cause of our
people and country.

The team of "yes men" otherwise known as cadres of Bonapartism, consisted of
Zemichael Geberemedhin (head of the economic office for the State of Tigray,
and the most notorious cadre who spoke against Chekol of the Audit Commission
on the video of the debacle in Mekele, and possibly in line to become a
Central Committee member of Meles' Derg),Tewolde Agame (Meles' Ambassador to
Sweden), Gebremeskel (manager of Mesfin Engineering), Birhane Maret (Meles'
globe trotting cadre) and Werede Gessesse (Head of Walta Information Center).
The team's host is the Boston based cadre of Meles, Hailekiros
Gebreegziabher.

These Meles "yes men" were greeted with an avalanche of rage and lambasted
for their betrayal of TPLF, the sixty thousand strong martyrs, the people of
Ethiopia and for their sell out of our national interest to Shaibia and
others bent on destroying our beloved Ethiopia! The "yes men" were also
bitterly castigated for serving Meles and his "Palace Group" currently
destroying the most revered and able leaders of our country and exposing our
country to danger of colossal proportions!

From the outset, the meeting was highly charged and the "yes men" pelted with
an onslaught of outrage and condemnations. The Bostonians bitterly accused
the "yes men" for being the instrument of dictatorship and for condemning our
people to the jaws of totalitarianism. The Bostonians also condemned the
"ration-for-petition" swap used by the "Palace Group" to expel elected
parliamentarian, and for using food as a weapon to coerce people, against
their will, to say what they do not believe in!

On occasions, these "yes men" tried to practice bonapartistic intimidation.
Ambassador Tewolde threatened to call the police unless he has it his way.
Despite being reminded that he is here in a democratic country and not in
Ethiopia where he could get his way with the barrel of the gun, he
nonetheless called the police. But the Bostonians told the police who the
"yes men" were and resumed to honor our martyrs, our people and country by
standing tall against these "yes men" without souls, and by putting to shame
these and those other disciples of Bonapartism and Shaibian mercenaries!
Indeed Tigray has been honored. Indeed Ethiopia has been honored. And
Bonapartism smashed!


--part1_105.4957443.28532fce_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:43 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: including the Ethiopian Commentator guys. >From: Hadish@aol.com >Reply-To: pol.ethiopia@lists.sn.apc.org >To: Multiple recipients of list >Subject: Re: What did we get under Mr. Zenawi? Nothing >Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999 04:32:10 +0200 > > > >Selam Abdisa: >It looks like you are chewing too much Chat these days, or you just came >back from nice vacation in South America. > >Haddish >----------------- Abdissa Wrote > ><< What did we get under Melese? Nothing, we lost our access to sea, our > resource pillaged, our brother and sisters arrested and killed. Even our > right to defend our country is denaied. > > Hear and there, we read Prime Minster Melese Zenawi said this and that, > talked to this and that. I am sick and tired of him. I mean it! > > May I ask TPLF supporters, how out of 4 million Tigrawis that Melese from > dodge family background and Eritrean family has to be elected to >represent 4 > million Tigrawis? > > Is it because there is no educated, articulated or committed Tigrawi? >There > may not be as many educated Tigrawis but Melese too is a high school drop > out. Not to say, he had played active part, he didn't. He was a coward >cadre > in political indoctrination school. Not to say has charisma to represent > Tigray he ugly creature between human being and something scary. He has >no > manner. He is rude and vagabond. > > Then why he has to represent 4 million people, with his clear >pro-Eritrean > stand and contribution to the independence of Eritrea? For heaven sake, >what > is going in the mind of the so-called Tigrawi intellectuals? Why do you > allow him to destroy the bond that existed between the Ethiopia people >and > Tigrawi for centuries? Is he indispensable guy? > > By cooperating with this murder, you are narrowing your choice. There is >no > way we will be ruled by him. No way! Even it means fighting tocreat >Melese > free independent states. You are forcing us to make hard choices. I for >one > prefer to live under independent Oromia or Ogaden than united Ethiopia >under > Melese. You have to seriously think and make your choice between Ethiopia > and your Eritrean leader who is causing us great misery. If it were >possible > to open and see our heart, you would have realize how disgusted we are >about > your blind obedience to Melese. Our love and respect for you going down >as > day count under Mr.Zenawi. > > The way he handled this conflict could have been enough to remove him. Or > tell us, why do we have to suffer as a result of your bad choice? We do >not > know him, we did not elect him and even we don’t know he existed. For us >he > is nothing but Shabbia. That is our country, that is our land and this is > our right. In our country, in our village, in on our country why some > unknown alian should be imposed on us! > > AD > > > > > >> _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:43 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: before the court due to health problems. Mr. Hiraier, the Court was told by=20 his lawyer, has a serious kidney problem and was currently hospitalized. The Daily Monitor's Publisher Ato Fitsum Zeab also failed to appear before=20 the court because, the lawyer said he was sick. Ato Fitsum Zeab also has a serious case of sinusitis. Copyright =A9 2001 The Daily Monitor. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media=20 =20 --part1_e0.17b0626f.2887efdc_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Supr= eme Court Adjourns Corruption Case Hearing for Three Days

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ab= aba)
July 17, 2001=20
Posted to the web July 17, 2001=20
Staff Reporter
Addis Ababa=20
The Supreme Court was adjourned yesterday for three days in order to mak= e a=20
ruling regarding the application by Police for an additional 14 days in=20= which=20
it said it needed to examine the cases it was trying to make against=20
detainees including former defense minister Seye Abraha, his brothers an= d the=20
publisher of The Daily Monitor Ato Fitsum Zeab Asgedom, among others. Po= lice=20
petitioned the detainees should remian in custody until then.
Investoigator Major Ashagre Ayalew on behalf of the Central Investigatio= n=20
Department said an additional 14 days were needed in order to talk to=20
experts, witnesses as well as examine documents it has come across.
Lawyers of the accused, against whom no single or concrete charge has be= en=20
made yet, argued to the Supreme Court that "this was the sixth time the=20
police has asked for an additional 14 days and that the accused who have= the=20
Constitutional right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty,have so= far=20
been in detention for 50 days."
The lawyers argued that Police should not use the 14 days as a pretext t= o=20
keep the detained under its custody but rather should utilize it effecti= vely=20
as it was "from the lives of human a beings that these days are being=20
deducted every day."
The lawyers who yet again demanded that a specific case be made against=20= each=20
specific detainee, said it was very difficult to speak in amorphous term= s,=20
and defend a broadly termed case against a group of people.
The detainees on their part argued that the additional 14 days requested= were=20
not necessary and appealed to the Supreme Court to give them justice.
Ato Seye Abraha said, "My case has nothing to do with corruption. It is=20
purely political. I am kept here because the people who put me behind ba= rs=20
are people who have power. They want me behind bars because if I am set=20= free,=20
I will use my constitutional right to speak and write freely, I will use= my=20
right to assemble, to unite. I am a politician. And if I am set free I w= ill=20
exercise this right, because this is what my country needs. My country i= s at=20
a time when it needs consultation, reconciliation and free discussion. I= f I=20
am set free I will do that. This is the right that I fought for for a qu= arter=20
of a century of my life. And it is precisely this that my captors want t= o=20
prevent. The Police are troubled because they cannot find a case of=20
corruption against me. This is my 49th day in prison and 8th appearance=20
before the court. My captors' problem should not be the problem of the c= ourt.=20
The Supreme Court should give me justice. This is a question of justice.= Will=20
my country's judges give me justice or not? That is the question. What t= he=20
court will decide and this case-being watched by many-will create a=20
precedence. The precedence is "will my country's judges serve justice=20
irrespective of politics?" More arguments were heard for the other detai= nees.
The five-judge court was full to capacity. According to a count made aro= und=20
112 people-including relatives, employees and journalists- were present.
When the detainees argued their point, most of the people following the=20
proceedings were quietly weeping.
The argument put forward by the police was the same argument that had be= en=20
brought since the detainees were brought before the court. The Supreme C= ourt=20
recessed twice in yesterday's session. After the second recess, the Cour= t=20
said it required three more days to make a ruling whether the additional= 14=20
days were warranted or not.
From the total number of accused, Mr. Hiraire Vahsnilian, could not appe= ar=20
before the court due to health problems. Mr. Hiraier, the Court was told= by=20
his lawyer, has a serious kidney problem and was currently hospitalized.
The Daily Monitor's Publisher Ato Fitsum Zeab also failed to appear befo= re=20
the court because, the lawyer said he was sick.
Ato Fitsum Zeab also has a serious case of sinusitis.

Copyright =A9 2001 The Daily Monitor. Distributed by AllAfrica Gl= obal Media=20
=20

--part1_e0.17b0626f.2887efdc_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:44 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Addis Tribune (Addis Ababa) OPINION July 20, 2001 Posted to the web July 20, 2001 Maimire Mennasemay The Democratization of Killils It must be noted that the issue of the de-ethnicization and democratization of Killils is qualitatively different from that of the federal level. The problem with the present Killils is not the fact that people professing the same origin, or speaking the same language, or belonging to the same culture inhabit them. Ethiopia already had some such provinces in the past. The problem is that the Killils are based on the anti-democratic principle that makes an ethnie the primary subject of self-determination and subordinates therefore the rights of the individual to those of the group. The offshoot of this subordination of the individual to the collective is the permanent violation of human rights in the name of ethnic rights, so prevalent now in Ethiopia, the politicization of ethnic identity, the polarization of ethnic and national interests, and the proliferation of ethnic conflicts. This may be an excellent recipe for ethnic divide-and-rule, but it subverts the birth and growth of democratic institutions and culture by subordinating the ideals of freedom, equality, justice, and national solidarity to the putative organic interests of the ethnie. The issue is not denying the existence of ethnies; rather, it is to point out that considering the Killil as a space of ethnic identity is incompatible with considering it as a space of citizenship. The democratization of the Killil requires that one distinguish between the Killil as a territory inhabited by citizens from the political criteria the various political parties adopt to organize the lives of the inhabitants of this territory. The Killil cannot be the embodiment of a single political ideology, as it is now under ethnic ideology. The democratization and de-ethnicization of federal political institutions and organizations will have a locomotive effect on the political systems and cultures of the Killils. Since the relations between the national and the infra-national governments take place within the de-ethnicized and democratic federal framework, they will create conditions that will lead the Killils into considering themselves as spaces of citizenship rather than as embodiments of ethnic identity. This disjunction between citizenship and ethnic identity will disengage political from ethnic identity thus opening the door to differing political options, therefore parties, claiming to represent best the interests of the inhabitants of the Killils. Such a development provides a fertile ground for a democratic competitive political system within each Killil and reduces the creation of permanent political minorities or majorities, and it will, in a ricochet effect, strengthen democracy at the federal level. Another locomotive effect of a democratic and de-ethnicized federal political system will be in the domain of the democratic equality of the Killils. A democratic federal system works equitably and produces democratically validated outcomes only if the federated Killils enjoy equal political weight in their relations to federal organs and institutions. That is, the relation between the national and the infra-national governments should be such that permanent majorities and minorities are not created either at the federal or the Killil level. From this perspective, it is undemocratic to have some federated states with 5 to 20 times the population of the other federated states. Such a lop-sided federalism can be maintained only through force and repression, as is the case now in Ethiopia. Thus the context of a democratic and non-ethnic federal government will inevitably generate a political dynamics that will put on the democratization agenda the need to create a system that ensures that all Killils will enjoy comparable political weight at the federal level. The democratic concern of comparable political weight of all Killils at the federal level can be met only if the ethnic principle of identity representation is replaced by the democratic principle of citizen representation. This means the reorganization of the present Killils into units with demographic weights that will make them equitably comparable to each other as federated states. To achieve this, the criterion for defining the political space of the Killil has to change from ethnicity to demography. A reorganization of the federated states that guarantees them comparable political weight at the federal level will in turn reinvigorate and reinforce the democratic nature of the federal state. The specificity of local politics However, one should not expect the total elimination of ethnic politics at the local level. De-ethnicization at the federal level is conceptually different from de-ethnicization at the local level. At the federal level, ethnic politics must be discredited and eliminated, for at this level, all institutions must represent the common interests of all Ethiopians and serve all Ethiopians equally, and this is possible only within a democratic framework. Local governments are accountable to and serve the interests of those who live in the Killil. At the local level, the demographic characteristics of the area - one of which could be ethnic composition - necessarily enters into political calculations. However, the existence of ethnic politics at the local level should not be a cause for dismay as long as it is conducted in accordance with the principles, procedures and values of democracy. As the example of democratic countries such as Canada and India shows, ethnic politics is an aspect of the demographic specificity at the local level. It is precisely this specificity of local politics in multi-ethnic societies which demands a full de-ethnicization and democratization at the federal level, as is the case in all democratic multi-ethnic societies. The ethnic politics that may arise at the local level will find in the de-ethnicized and democratized federal system the political and institutional limits beyond which it cannot go without violating the rights of citizenship of the inhabitants of the locality. It is this crucial difference between national and local politics that justifies the primacy and the importance given to the de-ethnicization and democratization of the federal level. An Opportunity for Change Is it realistic to think that such a peaceful democratization of Ethiopia is possible? The present crisis strongly suggests an affirmative answer to this question. As noted earlier, a crisis is a sign of danger as well as an opportunity for change. Democracy has been the dominant aspiration of Ethiopians since the 1960's. Both the ruling party and those in the opposition pay lip service to this aspiration, recognizing therefore the political force that could be mobilized by a party that sincerely commits itself to this goal. Opposition leaders and parties capable of subordinating their personal and party interests to the democratic aspirations of Ethiopians could unite and seize the present opportunity and push for a peaceful transition from ethnic to democratic federalism. Of course, one may object that those in power may not be interested in facilitating such a transition. But to them also, the crisis spells danger and opportunity. The TPLF/EPRDF leaders should know that the history of contemporary Ethiopia is the history of failures of all those who have tried to stay in power against the will of the people. Behind the new rhetoric of "renewal of democracy" that is presently bandied around by those who seem to have the upper hand in the current power struggle, one sees a desperate search for a solution. But a crisis is not overcome by verbal fiat. Political pragmatism should make it clear to the TPLF/EPRDF leaders that the present crisis offers them a golden opportunity to extricate themselves democratically from the present crisis without losing face. One does not learn from experience that one refuses to examine. The present crisis is the outcome of ten years of failure on the part of both the ruling party and the fragmented opposition to meet the democratic aspirations of Ethiopians. It is time that both sides reflect on this monumental experience of failure, learn something beneficial from it, and act accordingly to create a durable democracy. --part1_55.18a52f54.288b3cf2_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From Ethnic to Democratic Federalism


Addis Tribune (Addis Ababa)
OPINION
July 20, 2001
Posted to the web July 20, 2001
Maimire Mennasemay

The Democratization of Killils

It must be noted that the issue of the de-ethnicization and democratization
of Killils is qualitatively different from that of the federal level.
The problem with the present Killils is not the fact that people professing
the same origin, or speaking the same language, or belonging to the same
culture inhabit them. Ethiopia already had some such provinces in the past.
The problem is that the Killils are based on the anti-democratic principle
that makes an ethnie the primary subject of self-determination and
subordinates therefore the rights of the individual to those of the group.
The offshoot of this subordination of the individual to the collective is the
permanent violation of human rights in the name of ethnic rights, so
prevalent now in Ethiopia, the politicization of ethnic identity, the
polarization of ethnic and national interests, and the proliferation of
ethnic conflicts. This may be an excellent recipe for ethnic divide-and-rule,
but it subverts the birth and growth of democratic institutions and culture
by subordinating the ideals of freedom, equality, justice, and national
solidarity to the putative organic interests of the ethnie. The issue is not
denying the existence of ethnies; rather, it is to point out that considering
the Killil as a space of ethnic identity is incompatible with considering it
as a space of citizenship. The democratization of the Killil requires that
one distinguish between the Killil as a territory inhabited by citizens from
the political criteria the various political parties adopt to organize the
lives of the inhabitants of this territory. The Killil cannot be the
embodiment of a single political ideology, as it is now under ethnic ideology.
The democratization and de-ethnicization of federal political institutions
and organizations will have a locomotive effect on the political systems and
cultures of the Killils. Since the relations between the national and the
infra-national governments take place within the de-ethnicized and democratic
federal framework, they will create conditions that will lead the Killils
into considering themselves as spaces of citizenship rather than as
embodiments of ethnic identity. This disjunction between citizenship and
ethnic identity will disengage political from ethnic identity thus opening
the door to differing political options, therefore parties, claiming to
represent best the interests of the inhabitants of the Killils. Such a
development provides a fertile ground for a democratic competitive political
system within each Killil and reduces the creation of permanent political
minorities or majorities, and it will, in a ricochet effect, strengthen
democracy at the federal level.
Another locomotive effect of a democratic and de-ethnicized federal political
system will be in the domain of the democratic equality of the Killils. A
democratic federal system works equitably and produces democratically
validated outcomes only if the federated Killils enjoy equal political weight
in their relations to federal organs and institutions. That is, the relation
between the national and the infra-national governments should be such that
permanent majorities and minorities are not created either at the federal or
the Killil level. From this perspective, it is undemocratic to have some
federated states with 5 to 20 times the population of the other federated
states. Such a lop-sided federalism can be maintained only through force and
repression, as is the case now in Ethiopia. Thus the context of a democratic
and non-ethnic federal government will inevitably generate a political
dynamics that will put on the democratization agenda the need to create a
system that ensures that all Killils will enjoy comparable political weight
at the federal level.
The democratic concern of comparable political weight of all Killils at the
federal level can be met only if the ethnic principle of identity
representation is replaced by the democratic principle of citizen
representation. This means the reorganization of the present Killils into
units with demographic weights that will make them equitably comparable to
each other as federated states. To achieve this, the criterion for defining
the political space of the Killil has to change from ethnicity to demography.
A reorganization of the federated states that guarantees them comparable
political weight at the federal level will in turn reinvigorate and reinforce
the democratic nature of the federal state.
The specificity of local politics
However, one should not expect the total elimination of ethnic politics at
the local level. De-ethnicization at the federal level is conceptually
different from de-ethnicization at the local level. At the federal level,
ethnic politics must be discredited and eliminated, for at this level, all
institutions must represent the common interests of all Ethiopians and serve
all Ethiopians equally, and this is possible only within a democratic
framework.
Local governments are accountable to and serve the interests of those who
live in the Killil. At the local level, the demographic characteristics of
the area - one of which could be ethnic composition - necessarily enters into
political calculations. However, the existence of ethnic politics at the
local level should not be a cause for dismay as long as it is conducted in
accordance with the principles, procedures and values of democracy. As the
example of democratic countries such as Canada and India shows, ethnic
politics is an aspect of the demographic specificity at the local level.
It is precisely this specificity of local politics in multi-ethnic societies
which demands a full de-ethnicization and democratization at the federal
level, as is the case in all democratic multi-ethnic societies. The ethnic
politics that may arise at the local level will find in the de-ethnicized and
democratized federal system the political and institutional limits beyond
which it cannot go without violating the rights of citizenship of the
inhabitants of the locality. It is this crucial difference between national
and local politics that justifies the primacy and the importance given to the
de-ethnicization and democratization of the federal level.

An Opportunity for Change

Is it realistic to think that such a peaceful democratization of Ethiopia is
possible? The present crisis strongly suggests an affirmative answer to this
question. As noted earlier, a crisis is a sign of danger as well as an
opportunity for change. Democracy has been the dominant aspiration of
Ethiopians since the 1960's. Both the ruling party and those in the
opposition pay lip service to this aspiration, recognizing therefore the
political force that could be mobilized by a party that sincerely commits
itself to this goal. Opposition leaders and parties capable of subordinating
their personal and party interests to the democratic aspirations of
Ethiopians could unite and seize the present opportunity and push for a
peaceful transition from ethnic to democratic federalism.
Of course, one may object that those in power may not be interested in
facilitating such a transition. But to them also, the crisis spells danger
and opportunity. The TPLF/EPRDF leaders should know that the history of
contemporary Ethiopia is the history of failures of all those who have tried
to stay in power against the will of the people. Behind the new rhetoric of
"renewal of democracy" that is presently bandied around by those who seem to
have the upper hand in the current power struggle, one sees a desperate
search for a solution. But a crisis is not overcome by verbal fiat. Political
pragmatism should make it clear to the TPLF/EPRDF leaders that the present
crisis offers them a golden opportunity to extricate themselves
democratically from the present crisis without losing face.
One does not learn from experience that one refuses to examine. The present
crisis is the outcome of ten years of failure on the part of both the ruling
party and the fragmented opposition to meet the democratic aspirations of
Ethiopians. It is time that both sides reflect on this monumental experience
of failure, learn something beneficial from it, and act accordingly to create
a durable democracy.

--part1_55.18a52f54.288b3cf2_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:44 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: twisted mind; wearing different hats to satisfy his evil dreams and after al= l=20 he his the champion of playing Chameleon role. In Lusaka he did exactly the=20 same thing. He claimed to be Pan-Africanist . In a point form, he reminded=20 the African leaders the role that Ethiopia played in helping ANC during the=20 struggle for freedom. He asked the leaders =E2=80=9Dwho trained Nelson Mande= la?=E2=80=9D He=20 went further and challenged the African leaders about the contribution made=20 by Ethiopia during Zimbabwe=E2=80=99s anti colonialism struggle. He said,=20= =E2=80=9CMengistu=20 was a butcher at home but when it comes to the unity and solidarity of Afric= a=20 he played a positive role.=E2=80=9D When the founding fathers of the OAU dec= ided that=20 the headquarters of the organization should be located in Addis Ababa, it=20 wasn=E2=80=99t merely a matter of convenience or a random selection. They lo= oked at=20 different historical and political factors, which made Addis the ultimate=20 venue. Ethiopia=E2=80=99s refusal not to surrender to the European Coloniali= sm and=20 any form of foreign aggression was one of the points why the African leaders= =20 decided to choose Addis as their headquarters. Despite being one of the elde= r=20 statesmen of the continent, Emperor Haile Sellassie was widely respected=20 around the world. He demonstrated great diplomatic skills, which brought=20 Ethiopia at the forefront of the Pan =E2=80=93African movement. As a result=20= of this=20 Ethiopia stood tall and strong in at the regional and global political arena= .=20 In the early 1960s when African countries began to gain their independence=20 from colonialism they began to adopt the green, yellow red colours of the=20 Ethiopian flag. This has been documented in numerous history books. In the=20 recent edition of HarperCollins book =E2=80=9CFlags=E2=80=9D Carol P. Shaw d= escribes the=20 importance of the Ethiopian flag. =E2=80=9C As a model for the Pan-African c= olours of=20 African Unity, the Ethiopian flag is one of the most influential in the=20 world. Ethiopia was one of the first independent African states of modern=20 times and grew in stature after the election as emperor of Ras Tafari. The=20 colours were in use in the 1890s, when the country successfully resisted=20 Italian invasion=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D (Collins, Gem, Flags HarperCollins Publis= hers 1999=20 edition). It is true that over period of time we had gone through difficult=20 times. Bad governance, economic hardship, political crisis and natural=20 disasters tested our ability to survive as one people and one nation.=20 Proudly, we did survive. As a matter of fact that is the common factor of ou= r=20 leaders. In our history no leader compromised our territorial integrity and=20 national sovereignty. Except of course Meles Zenawi . Now, Meles is talking=20 unity. African Unity. Does Meles know what the word unity means? The very=20 foundation of the OAU charter was conscious of the fact that freedom,=20 equality, justice and dignity are the essential objectives for the=20 achievement of the legitimate aspirations of the African peoples. Why is it=20 that the African leaders are contemplating about moving the OAU headquarters= =20 from Addis? I don=E2=80=99t think there is a need to be a scientist to answe= r this=20 question. In my opinion the African leaders may have a legitimate reason to=20 worry about.=20 They may be asking how a government, which doesn=E2=80=99t believe in the un= ity and=20 territorial integrity of its own country, could help promote the African=20 union.=20 After all when the founding fathers chose Addis Ababa as their head quarter=20 our leaders demonstrated a great deal of diplomatic efficiency charisma and=20 pride on their Ethiopian as well as African identity.=20 Back then we were one of the first countries to participate in international= =20 peace keeping along side with other stable and strong nations. To the=20 contrary Meles brought peacekeepers to our country.=20 In the past our leaders refused to sign a peace of document, which questions= =20 our very existence on the other hand, Meles signed countless documents, whic= h=20 endangered our existence.=20 Our past leaders never hesitated to call themselves an Ethiopian Meles never= =20 uttered the word saying he is an Ethiopian because he is not.What is ironic=20 is that Mengistu used the same tactic during his last days. He wrapped=20 himself with our glorious flag and he called the names of Yohannes, Menelik=20= ,=20 Theodros and Alula. Well, the Angeles didn=E2=80=99t respond. They told him=20= =E2=80=9Cyou are=20 on your own=E2=80=9D. Meles has tarnished our glory and pride. His divisive=20= policy=20 created suspicion and fear among the people of Ethiopia. He destroyed our=20 national symbols. From day one he carefully engineered the destruction of=20 Ethiopia. To this minute he is doing it. Now regional leaders are questionin= g=20 our role in the OAU. Ethiopia=E2=80=99s role in the social and political lif= e of=20 Africa has declined in the last ten years. Now, we are in the verge of being= =20 eliminated from the role, which our fore fathers carefully and intelligently= =20 bestowed on us as. Meles has done enough damage to our country. He,=20 successfully carried his mission as an Eritrean. Economically , socially and= =20 politically he brought our country to the very bottom of the world. In his=20 usual =E2=80=9CU=E2=80=9D turn his now attempting to play a role of an Ethio= pian. This time=20 he is insulting us as a nation and as a people. Meles leave our for fathers=20 alone . Let them sleep peacefully and quietly. They have done their share an= d=20 they always made us proud. You don=E2=80=99t have the right as well as the c= ourage to=20 call their names. African leaders perfectly know the place of Ethiopia in an= y=20 social and political structure of the African continent. They know that=20 Ethiopia is the symbol of freedom .Their message is clear=E2=80=9Dwe don=E2= =80=99t like what=20 Meles is doing to Ethiopia and to the continent of Africa as well. Regardles= s=20 of the damage and shame Meles brought to our country soon we will reclaim ou= r=20 pride and dignity and we will restore our constructive role in the African=20 continent.=20 >> =20 --part1_a4.1726c0ab.288bed54_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en Ethiopi= an history-bashing Meles Zenawi digs into Ethiopia's past to credit=20
himself at African Summit

By Mikre Momo - July 21, 2001

In his speech at the 37th OAU Summit in Lusaka, Zambia Meles Zenawi cal= led=20
for help. This time from the past, not from the present or the future.=20
Addressing the issue of where the headquarters of the new African Union=20
should be, he sounded like a historian who specialized in Ethiopian hist= ory.=20
He called on Emperor Haile Sellassie and Mengistu Hailemariam to help hi= m.  

From the day one of his political career, Meles Zenawi is known for his=20
twisted mind; wearing different hats to satisfy his evil dreams and afte= r all=20
he his the champion of playing Chameleon role. In Lusaka he did exactly=20= the=20
same thing. He claimed to be Pan-Africanist . In a point form, he remind= ed=20
the African leaders the role that Ethiopia played in helping ANC during=20= the=20
struggle for freedom. He asked the leaders =E2=80=9Dwho trained Nelson M= andela?=E2=80=9D He=20
went further and challenged the African leaders about the contribution m= ade=20
by Ethiopia during Zimbabwe=E2=80=99s anti colonialism struggle. He said= , =E2=80=9CMengistu=20
was a butcher at home but when it comes to the unity and solidarity of A= frica=20
he played a positive role.=E2=80=9D When the founding fathers of the OAU= decided that=20
the headquarters of the organization should be located in Addis Ababa, i= t=20
wasn=E2=80=99t merely a matter of convenience or a random selection. The= y looked at=20
different historical and political factors, which made Addis the ultimat= e=20
venue. Ethiopia=E2=80=99s refusal not to surrender to the European Colon= ialism and=20
any form of foreign aggression was one of the points why the African lea= ders=20
decided to choose Addis as their headquarters. Despite being one of the=20= elder=20
statesmen of the continent, Emperor Haile Sellassie was widely respected= =20
around the world. He demonstrated great diplomatic skills, which brought= =20
Ethiopia at the forefront of the Pan =E2=80=93African movement. As a res= ult of this=20
Ethiopia stood tall and strong in at the regional and global political a= rena.=20
In the early 1960s when African countries began to gain their independen= ce=20
from colonialism they began to adopt the green, yellow red colours of th= e=20
Ethiopian flag. This has been documented in numerous history books. In t= he=20
recent edition of HarperCollins book =E2=80=9CFlags=E2=80=9D Carol P. Sh= aw describes the=20
importance of the Ethiopian flag. =E2=80=9C As a model for the Pan-Afric= an colours of=20
African Unity, the Ethiopian flag is one of the most influential in the=20
world. Ethiopia was one of the first independent African states of moder= n=20
times and grew in stature after the election as emperor of Ras Tafari. T= he=20
colours were in use in the 1890s, when the country successfully resisted= =20
Italian invasion=E2=80=A6=E2=80=9D (Collins, Gem, Flags HarperCollins= Publishers 1999=20
edition). It is true that over period of time we had gone through di= fficult=20
times. Bad governance, economic hardship, political crisis and natural=20
disasters tested our ability to survive as one people and one nation.=20
Proudly, we did survive. As a matter of fact that is the common factor o= f our=20
leaders. In our history no leader compromised our territorial integrity=20= and=20
national sovereignty. Except of course Meles Zenawi . Now, Meles is talk= ing=20
unity. African Unity. Does Meles know what the word unity means? The ver= y=20
foundation of the OAU charter was conscious of the fact that freedom,=20
equality, justice and dignity are the essential objectives for the=20
achievement of the legitimate aspirations of the African peoples. Why is= it=20
that the African leaders are contemplating about moving the OAU headquar= ters=20
from Addis? I don=E2=80=99t think there is a need to be a scientist to a= nswer this=20
question. In my opinion the African leaders may have a legitimate reason= to=20
worry about.=20

They may be asking how a government, which doesn=E2=80=99t believe in th= e unity and=20
territorial integrity of its own country, could help promote the African= =20
union.=20
After all when the founding fathers chose Addis Ababa as their head quar= ter=20
our leaders demonstrated a great deal of diplomatic efficiency charisma=20= and=20
pride on their Ethiopian as well as African identity.=20

Back then we were one of the first countries to participate in internati= onal=20
peace keeping along side with other stable and strong nations. To the=20
contrary Meles brought peacekeepers to our country.=20

In the past our leaders refused to sign a peace of document, which quest= ions=20
our very existence on the other hand, Meles signed countless documents,=20= which=20
endangered our existence.=20

Our past leaders never hesitated to call themselves an Ethiopian Meles n= ever=20
uttered the word saying he is an Ethiopian because he is not.What is iro= nic=20
is that Mengistu used the same tactic during his last days. He wrapped=20
himself with our glorious flag and he called the names of Yohannes, Mene= lik ,=20
Theodros and Alula. Well, the Angeles didn=E2=80=99t respond. They told=20= him =E2=80=9Cyou are=20
on your own=E2=80=9D. Meles has tarnished our glory and pride. His divis= ive policy=20
created suspicion and fear among the people of Ethiopia. He destroyed ou= r=20
national symbols. From day one he carefully engineered the destruction o= f=20
Ethiopia. To this minute he is doing it. Now regional leaders are questi= oning=20
our role in the OAU. Ethiopia=E2=80=99s role in the social and political= life of=20
Africa has declined in the last ten years. Now, we are in the verge of b= eing=20
eliminated from the role, which our fore fathers carefully and intellige= ntly=20
bestowed on us as. Meles has done enough damage to our country. He,=20
successfully carried his mission as an Eritrean. Economically , socially= and=20
politically he brought our country to the very bottom of the world. In h= is=20
usual =E2=80=9CU=E2=80=9D turn his now attempting to play a role of an E= thiopian. This time=20
he is insulting us as a nation and as a people. Meles leave our for fath= ers=20
alone . Let them sleep peacefully and quietly. They have done their shar= e and=20
they always made us proud. You don=E2=80=99t have the right as well as t= he courage to=20
call their names. African leaders perfectly know the place of Ethiopia i= n any=20
social and political structure of the African continent. They know that=20
Ethiopia is the symbol of freedom .Their message is clear=E2=80=9Dwe don= =E2=80=99t like what=20
Meles is doing to Ethiopia and to the continent of Africa as well. Regar= dless=20
of the damage and shame Meles brought to our country soon we will reclai= m our=20
pride and dignity and we will restore our constructive role in the Afric= an=20
continent.=20
--part1_a4.1726c0ab.288bed54_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:46 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: difficult businesses to get into in Ethiopia. To start with one has to impor= t=20 practically everything that is required to produce exportable quality flower= =20 to the west. These include pesticide, herbicide, green house, flower seeds,=20 cooling units, packaging material and even experts. Try to get these items=20 freed from Ethiopian Customs Authority without loosing your sanity! If and=20 when all this is done and actual flower is produced one then needs special=20 types of trucks with cooling machine to bring the product to the airport.=20 Each time the driver leaves the farm with the product you drop on your knees= =20 and pray he would make it to the airport with out an incident. Because a=20 slight delay or glitch could mean missing the cargo plane or flower welting!= =20 Once at the airport you hope and pray there will be cargo space if there is=20 none =E2=80=A6 tough=E2=80=A6 your flower boxes will be left out in the sun=20= at Bole=20 International Airport. And this is an everyday affair. This business is=20 definitely not for the faint-hearted dude like me! Eskender never complained= =20 about all these; he always preferred to point to the positive aspects and=20 minimized the enormous burden he is shouldering to run such a difficult=20 business that employed over three hundred people. On his last trip to the US we met at the Starbucks caf=C3=A9 in Washington a= nd=20 talked a lot about his business .. he sounded upbeat. He told me that he has= =20 applied for a business expansion loan and when that is approved he will plan= t=20 more varieties of flower and would hopefully be financially in the black. He= =20 was more interested in talking about his new bride. He recently got married=20 to a beautiful and gregarious young lady. I was happy to hear that things=20 were going well for him and made plans to see each other on my next trip to=20 Ethiopia.=20 You can almost imagine how shocked I was to hear that Eskender was among the= =20 people that were accused of corruption and thrown to jail. My initial though= t=20 was=E2=80=A6..It must be some kind of big mistake =E2=80=A6 when they check=20= the facts they=20 will certainly realize they got the wrong person and will immediately releas= e=20 him. I waited for couple of weeks and called friends to inquire about him,=20 they told me that there was nothing new they have heard from home. I was tol= d=20 they bring them to court every two weeks to be told by the judge that the=20 police have not yet finished gathering evidence and sent back to jail. Those= =20 of you who live outside Ethiopia reading this must be saying =E2=80=A6 it= =E2=80=99s a joke!=20 How can they throw a person in jail without having sufficient evidence on=20 hand to prosecute?=20 His alleged crime, as stated in the media, is that he secured a second loan=20 from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (a government owned bank) while the=20 initial loan is still outstanding and has not been paid off. And the=20 authorities are convinced that he must have made a special deal with the ban= k=20 officials to get such treatment! I find this very disturbing. It is obvious=20 that the authorities have little or no expertise on how projects are=20 financed. I am not a businessman, but I have, not counting my credit cards=20 debts, three currently outstanding loans all from the same bank! If this wer= e=20 Ethiopia, I would have ended up in jail! And so would 90 percent of the adul= t=20 American population. I was even more disappointed to learn that he never eve= n=20 got the expansion loan - second loan. It was approved but was never=20 transferred to his company account. This was the loan that he anticipated=20 would bring his business out of the red! So where exactly is the crime? It has been over three months since our friend has been thrown in the cage o= n=20 a charge that would not see light of day in any civil court much less in a=20 criminal court. I have come to learn that the business that he had worked so= =20 hard to build is on a verge of financial ruin. His flower has lost its=20 quality because of lack of fund and expertise to control the spread of plant= =20 disease. The company has virtually stopped exporting and has lost its hardly= =20 won clients maybe forever and the saddest part of all his workers, whom he=20 treated like his family, all but few have been laid off.=20 So who benefits from all this? No one. The country loses the foreign=20 exchange, however small, the company brought to the country. Furthermore,=20 Eskender=E2=80=99s story has sent chill through the Diaspora community who h= ad plans=20 to return home and play their part in building their country by bringing muc= h=20 needed capital and skills. Eskender=E2=80=99s story has also cast a shadow o= ver the=20 much-talked about democracy and the "rule of law" that our leaders have been= =20 talking about for the last few months.=20 I hope and pray that the authorities will review his case and free him soon=20 before all his efforts are lost forever. And as for my friend, Eskinder, he=20 has every reason to keep his head high and be proud of his achievements and=20= I=20 know when this is over and done he will come out being a better man. Before=20= I=20 put down this comment, I contacted some of his friends to gather information= =20 and it was interesting to note that all of them admired his determination an= d=20 effort to help build a country that most, by their own admission, have now=20 pushed to the back of their minds.=20 I urge readers that know Eskender=E2=80=99s situation to write and let the c= ommunity=20 know what is going on. And if you have ideas and suggestions as to how we ca= n=20 help, please post it on one of the various Ethiopian web sites. --part1_d1.b4ad9ee.28b4d5e4_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en

A Br= oken Dream


By G. Mezgebu
Flushing, NY

This is a story of a young man whose dreams, aspirations and hard work h= ave=20
simply gone down the tube for reasons no one can explain! Some who know=20= him=20
from afar speculate that he may have done something wrong. But those who= know=20
him well, including the author of this article, say that his only crime=20= is=20
the unstoppable love he has for his country and his people. It is this l= ove=20
that brought him out of his comfortable life in the US and exposed him a= nd=20
his family to the harsh and unkind realties of today=E2=80=99s Ethiopia.

His name is Eskender Yoseph, a jovial and friendly kind of fellow who wo= rks=20
hard and plays hard. He is known among his friends for his honesty,=20
uprightness and for all the qualities one would expect in a man brought=20= up by=20
a devout Christian family. His passion is sports and activities that an=20
average person would not even dare try. I knew Eskender from our days at= St.=20
Joseph School but I really got to know him well after I returned back to= =20
Ethiopia in the early 90=E2=80=99s. I went back home for a brief stay af= ter the firm=20
I had worked for in the US closed down. I had no clue as to what I wante= d to=20
do so I spent some six months exploring various opportunities but could=20= not=20
find anything that caught my imagination and so I chose to return back t= o=20
good old USA. But, while I was in Addis, I spent a great deal of my free= time=20
with Eskender. He, being the adventuring kind, saw opportunities everywh= ere.=20
He tried to convince me of that. When that did not work, he would try to= =20
appeal to my human side and talk to me for hours on end on our=20
responsibilities to contribute toward building the country. I must say=20
Eskender is the most optimist person I ever met in my life. Only he coul= d see=20
a brighter future in a country where poverty, disease, corruption and al= l the=20
social ills you can think of are displayed everywhere as if they are tou= rist=20
attraction or some time honoured tradition.=20

After finishing high school in mid-seventies Eskender joined the Ethiopi= an=20
airlines as a pilot trainee. He completed his training and served the ai= rline=20
as co-pilot for few years. True to his nature, Eskender felt that being=20= a=20
pilot was not enough and that he wanted to do something different. He ca= me to=20
the US in the early 80s and after a brief stay in the East Coast he mana= ged=20
to secure admission to the prestigious Claremont College in California k= nown=20
for educating the children of America=E2=80=99s elite. He graduated from= Claremont in=20
the late 80s with a Liberal Arts degree. While at the collage Eskender=20
developed sophisticated tastes and hobbies such as playing tennis, glidi= ng,=20
playing polo, diving and other sports and activities. When he went back=20= to=20
Addis he continued playing in the various sports clubs and became a know= n=20
figure around town.

After he completed his education he spent a great deal of his time, in t= he=20
US, researching and reading on the subject of flower production and=20
marketing. He even made numerous trips to Holland and other flower produ= cing=20
and importing countries to learn about the business. When he returned to= =20
Ethiopia, Eskender committed all his time and resources to bring his dre= am of=20
building his own horticulture business come true. After a long delays an= d=20
difficult negotiations he managed to lease land from the Oromia region.=20
Having secured the land he approached the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia fo= r=20
loan to start his operations. The bank approved the loan after he put do= wn=20
his family=E2=80=99s only retirement house as collateral and started the= business=20
around 1997.=20

From what he has described to me, horticulture has to be one of the most= =20
difficult businesses to get into in Ethiopia. To start with one has to i= mport=20
practically everything that is required to produce exportable quality fl= ower=20
to the west. These include pesticide, herbicide, green house, flower see= ds,=20
cooling units, packaging material and even experts. Try to get these ite= ms=20
freed from Ethiopian Customs Authority without loosing your sanity! If a= nd=20
when all this is done and actual flower is produced one then needs speci= al=20
types of trucks with cooling machine to bring the product to the airport= .=20
Each time the driver leaves the farm with the product you drop on your k= nees=20
and pray he would make it to the airport with out an incident. Because a= =20
slight delay or glitch could mean missing the cargo plane or flower welt= ing!=20
Once at the airport you hope and pray there will be cargo space if there= is=20
none =E2=80=A6 tough=E2=80=A6 your flower boxes will be left out=20= in the sun at Bole=20
International Airport. And this is an everyday affair. This business is=20
definitely not for the faint-hearted dude like me! Eskender never compla= ined=20
about all these; he always preferred to point to the positive aspects an= d=20
minimized the enormous burden he is shouldering to run such a difficult=20
business that employed over three hundred people.

On his last trip to the US we met at the Starbucks caf=C3=A9 in Washingt= on and=20
talked a lot about his business .. he sounded upbeat. He told me that he= has=20
applied for a business expansion loan and when that is approved he will=20= plant=20
more varieties of flower and would hopefully be financially in the black= . He=20
was more interested in talking about his new bride. He recently got marr= ied=20
to a beautiful and gregarious young lady. I was happy to hear that thing= s=20
were going well for him and made plans to see each other on my next trip= to=20
Ethiopia.

You can almost imagine how shocked I was to hear that Eskender was among= the=20
people that were accused of corruption and thrown to jail. My initial th= ought=20
was=E2=80=A6..It must be some kind of big mistake =E2=80=A6 when they= check the facts they=20
will certainly realize they got the wrong person and will immediately re= lease=20
him. I waited for couple of weeks and called friends to inquire abou= t him,=20
they told me that there was nothing new they have heard from home. I was= told=20
they bring them to court every two weeks to be told by the judge that th= e=20
police have not yet finished gathering evidence and sent back to jail. T= hose=20
of you who live outside Ethiopia reading this must be saying =E2=80=A6 i= t=E2=80=99s a joke!=20
How can they throw a person in jail without having sufficient evidence o= n=20
hand to prosecute?=20

His alleged crime, as stated in the media, is that he secured a second <= I>loan=20
from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (a government owned bank) while the= =20
initial loan is still outstanding and has not been paid off. And the=20
authorities are convinced that he must have made a special deal with the= bank=20
officials to get such treatment! I find this very disturbing. It is obvi= ous=20
that the authorities have little or no expertise on how projects are=20
financed. I am not a businessman, but I have, not counting my credit car= ds=20
debts, three currently outstanding loans all from the same bank! If this= were=20
Ethiopia, I would have ended up in jail! And so would 90 percent of the=20= adult=20
American population. I was even more disappointed to learn that he never= even=20
got the expansion loan - second loan. It was approved but was nev= er=20
transferred to his company account. This was the loan that he anticipate= d=20
would bring his business out of the red! So where exactly is the crime?

It has been over three months since our friend has been thrown in the ca= ge on=20
a charge that would not see light of day in any civil court much less in= a=20
criminal court. I have come to learn that the business that he had worke= d so=20
hard to build is on a verge of financial ruin. His flower has lost its=20
quality because of lack of fund and expertise to control the spread of p= lant=20
disease. The company has virtually stopped exporting and has lost its ha= rdly=20
won clients maybe forever and the saddest part of all his workers, whom=20= he=20
treated like his family, all but few have been laid off.=20

So who benefits from all this? No one. The country loses the foreign=20
exchange, however small, the company brought to the country. Furthermore= ,=20
Eskender=E2=80=99s story has sent chill through the Diaspora community w= ho had plans=20
to return home and play their part in building their country by bringing= much=20
needed capital and skills. Eskender=E2=80=99s story has also cast a shad= ow over the=20
much-talked about democracy and the "rule of law" that our leaders have=20= been=20
talking about for the last few months.=20

I hope and pray that the authorities will review his case and free him s= oon=20
before all his efforts are lost forever. And as for my friend, Eskinder,= he=20
has every reason to keep his head high and be proud of his achievements=20= and I=20
know when this is over and done he will come out being a better man. Bef= ore I=20
put down this comment, I contacted some of his friends to gather informa= tion=20
and it was interesting to note that all of them admired his determinatio= n and=20
effort to help build a country that most, by their own admission, have n= ow=20
pushed to the back of their minds.=20

I urge readers that know Eskender=E2=80=99s situation to write and let t= he community=20
know what is going on. And if you have ideas and suggestions as to how w= e can=20
help, please post it on one of the various Ethiopian web sites.

--part1_d1.b4ad9ee.28b4d5e4_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:47 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: there are a number of things to do and improve. But why bother - as long as=20 there is a bumper harvest in Canada or Kansas, we can always beg! =A0 Let us look at our energy situation. We were told last year that the level o= f=20 water in our hydroelectric dams had become so low that we could not generate= =20 sufficient electric power. The reason given was the low rainfall in the=20 preceding months. And so, because of lack of rainfall, there was drought and= =20 famine; because of lack of rainfall, we could not generate enough energy and= =20 hence there were blackouts of 2-3 days per week, thereby also seriously=20 affecting industrial production. If both our agricultural and industrial=20 output is so much dependent on rainfall, what are we doing about it? Why did= =20 we face such a problem? Why were there not forecasts of our growing energy=20 needs? Why did we stop building more and more dams - even after some had=20 started construction and gone a long way before being abandoned on some=20 flimsy excuse? Why did we not do enough to harvest the abundant rainfall=20 during the rainy seasons? Yet, two big natural lakes have recently been=20 formed in the Egyptian desert as a result of the water run-off from the=20 Ethiopian highlands. We are glad for Egypt. We also mourn for our country,=20 Ethiopia. Potentially a land of plenty, but reduced to starvation and=20 extinction, while the educated elite is wallowing in a state of apathy! A=20 land where politics has taken precedence over development and a sense of=20 belonging, where working for the good of the community or the country as a=20 whole has taken a back seat to narrow-minded, clannish and individual=20 well-being. I cry for Ethiopia, a land of apathy, a land betrayed by its=20 people! =A0 --part1_28.1a0dfbc8.28c2a211_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable ADDIS TRIBUNE

http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2001/08/24-08-01/Welcome.htm


Welcome to the Land of Apathy
=A0
By Melaku Michael

=A0
I would like to suggest that we change our slogan: "Welcome to Ethiopia=20= - The=20
Land of 13 Months of Sunshine" to "Welcome to Ethiopia - The Land of Apa= thy".
=A0
The degree of indifference to the problems of the country, the lack of a= ny=20
long-term vision on any of the socio-economic sectors, the zombie-like=20
performance of our civil servants are all manifestations of a trait that= is=20
beginning to be an identifying characteristic of the people and its lead= ers.=20
If we excuse the vast majority of the people because of ignorance, the=20
remaining-especially the educated, including the merchants, industrialis= ts,=20
factory workers, teachers, civil servants, etc. are, in large part, a=20
disgrace to the nation.
=A0
We should pay tribute to single individuals such as Aberra Molla and Cha= chi=20
Tadesse who, by sheer personal conviction and stamina, are trying their=20= best=20
to alleviate some of the chronic problems of Addis Ababa. Mention should= also=20
be made of others like W/o Abebech Gobena who are doing something=20
constructive in taking care of orphans. Why don't we hear of any organiz= ed=20
attempt to tackle serious national problems?
=A0
There is presently a favorite phrase one hears in many public forums: ".= .it=20
is not possible for the government alone to solve such problems.." That=20= may=20
be so, but the government should lead. It should set an agenda or progra= m of=20
action and mobilize forces. But not enough of this is being done at pres= ent.=20
It appears as if we are waiting for somebody - as usual, foreign bodies=20= such=20
as the World Bank or the IMF - to tell us what our priorities should be.
=A0
Recently there was quite a bit of media coverage about a "Civil Service=20
Reform". I wonder whether the government is aware of what sort of reform= the=20
public expects. The ordinary person on the street regards government off= ices=20
as useless, dirty, old structures inhabited by ignorant, narrow-minded,=20
bureaucratic and corrupt individuals who occupy the buildings for only o= ne=20
purpose - to cause misery to those that foolishly go there. From the sim= ple=20
guard at the entrance, to the secretary, to the designated official, the= y all=20
act as if any person who comes to the premises should bow down to them.=20= The=20
complete disregard and disrespect accorded to one who expects some servi= ce is=20
hard to believe. Those in government offices have forgotten that they ar= e=20
there to serve, not to dictate or boss around. The Civil Service Reform=20= that=20
we hear about has to address attitudinal changes of the individuals work= ing=20
as civil servants, as well as issues related to how we do things. One of= the=20
greatest problems in may government offices - and, indeed, in many local= =20
organizations - is the lack of an efficient working system. We do not se= em to=20
know how to expedite tasks, or how to go about doing things. There are f= ar=20
too many desks that a piece of paper has to pass through, each of which=20= some=20
sort of official signs or gives a directive to the next desk. The net re= sult=20
is that the person who wants to get some service from that government of= fice=20
will end up spending hours, if not days, running around from one desk to= =20
another. But then, who cares about or for the public? The office is not=20= meant=20
to serve the public, only the office bearer! When I occasionally see the= =20
words: "The Customer is the King" in some hotels or bars, I usually wond= er=20
whether a government official sees these and relates the words to his of= fice.=20
Most definitely not!
=A0
=A0Let me give some examples of the types of disservice given to the pub= lic. I=20
was recently told that electric power used to be regularly interrupted i= n a=20
certain part of Nazareth City every Saturday, when those on holiday from= =20
Addis Ababa converge on this city. The reason was that the person respon= sible=20
for restoring power needed to be persuaded to do so - of course, through= some=20
generous financial donations. How low can we descend in public trust? An= other=20
example. Water supply is interrupted continuously for about a week or mo= re in=20
an entire district in Addis Ababa. How is this possible? Why is it allow= ed?=20
How callous and insensitive can one be?
=A0
How many times have we heard of situations where our nationals residing=20
abroad want to send aid to Ethiopia in terms of machinery, books, etc, o= r in=20
general want to invest, and who have been discouraged by the poor recept= ion=20
they receive from government offices? How many examples are there of pro= jects=20
all around the country costing millions and yet abandoned after or neari= ng=20
completion? How many times have we heard of millions of the tax-payer's=20= money=20
allocated to a region and either unused, misused or misappropriated? Why= =20
don't we see our leaders in our midst, counseling or encouraging the poo= r,=20
the homeless, the starved and the dying? Is there nobody who cares? Have= you=20
seen the state of neglect in the multi-storey buildings nationalized / o= wned=20
by the government? The lifts have stopped functioning or, even if they=20
sometimes do work, do not inspire confidence among users. The corridors=20= are=20
dirty, there are no corridor lights either there are sockets with no lam= p, or=20
the switches are missing- and the whole inner building smells offensivel= y.=20
Doesn't anybody care?
=A0
What of the city planners? They are so busy driving potential home owner= s=20
outside the peripheries of Addis Ababa that they have forgotten that the= y are=20
thereby making it increasingly difficult for their own administrators to= cope=20
with the laying down of the necessary infrastructure such as roads, powe= r,=20
water and telephone lines. Is anything being done to stem the tide of pe= ople=20
flowing into the cities? The focus on rural development proclaimed by th= e=20
government is not sufficiently backed by action. Investors shy away from= the=20
rural areas for several reasons, not least of which is the unwieldy=20
bureaucracy, coupled with errant political thoughts of government offici= als.
=A0
The developing world is fast catching up with the fact that knowledge is= the=20
key to development. And knowledge is now so easy within reach due to mod= ern=20
information technology. Are we doing enough? Again, the answer is a=20
resounding NO! The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation lags so far=20
behind the times that it is a disgrace to the nation. Normal waiting tim= es=20
for a telephone line in Addis Ababa is close to ten years - unless you h= appen=20
to own a small kiosk illegally built in a small corner, in which case a=20
telephone line appears mysteriously overnight. Many African countries ha= ve=20
gone so far ahead that we wonder whether our concerned officials are eve= n=20
aware of what and how much we are losing. At a time when the Internet is= a=20
useful instructional tool elsewhere, it is said that our older higher=20
education institution, Addis Ababa University (AAU), benefits from the=20
Internet only through thinly scattered direct telephone lines in few=20
department offices. The sense of apathy seems to have pervaded even this= =20
institution, while the recently established Civil Service College is rep= orted=20
to have a direct satellite link to the Internet. But then, AAU is not th= e=20
Civil Service College!=20
=A0
A few years ago, I wouldn't have been surprised at this glaring sense of= =20
apathy in the country. What could one have expected when human life was=20= so=20
cheap that human corpses were thrown all over the city in the government= -led=20
"red terror" campaign. But now, have we learnt anything from that horrib= le=20
experience? Are we wiser, kinder,=A0 more compassionate? Or are we perpe= tuating=20
a new evil?
=A0
Now let us look at bigger issues. We are a country known for famine. We=20= are a=20
nation unable to feed ourselves. Yet, it is in our power to alter this=20
situation dramatically. Are we doing enough to change situations? Again,= No!=20
From the land tenure system to water harvesting and farming technologies= ,=20
there are a number of things to do and improve. But why bother - as long= as=20
there is a bumper harvest in Canada or Kansas, we can always beg!
=A0
Let us look at our energy situation. We were told last year that the lev= el of=20
water in our hydroelectric dams had become so low that we could not gene= rate=20
sufficient electric power. The reason given was the low rainfall in the=20
preceding months. And so, because of lack of rainfall, there was drought= and=20
famine; because of lack of rainfall, we could not generate enough energy= and=20
hence there were blackouts of 2-3 days per week, thereby also seriously=20
affecting industrial production. If both our agricultural and industrial= =20
output is so much dependent on rainfall, what are we doing about it? Why= did=20
we face such a problem? Why were there not forecasts of our growing ener= gy=20
needs? Why did we stop building more and more dams - even after some had= =20
started construction and gone a long way before being abandoned on some=20
flimsy excuse? Why did we not do enough to harvest the abundant rainfall= =20
during the rainy seasons? Yet, two big natural lakes have recently been=20
formed in the Egyptian desert as a result of the water run-off from the=20
Ethiopian highlands. We are glad for Egypt. We also mourn for our countr= y,=20
Ethiopia. Potentially a land of plenty, but reduced to starvation and=20
extinction, while the educated elite is wallowing in a state of apathy!=20= A=20
land where politics has taken precedence over development and a sense of= =20
belonging, where working for the good of the community or the country as= a=20
whole has taken a back seat to narrow-minded, clannish and individual=20
well-being. I cry for Ethiopia, a land of apathy, a land betrayed by its= =20
people!
=A0

--part1_28.1a0dfbc8.28c2a211_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:48 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: careful and remain vigilant as Aite Meles may hate the colour of the eyes of the Oromos to the extent that he starts deporting them. I know that he does not like the Oromos but am telling you that there may be the limit when he will start deporting the Oromos also. Thanks, GH __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger http://im.yahoo.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:49 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: September 13, 2001 September 13, 2001. The third day of the inhuman and horrifying carnage in=20 the United Sates of America committed by terrorists that do not have any=20 respect for humanity. The whole world is angered by the cowardly act of the=20 terrorists and extending its support and condolence to the American people.=20 It is extremely saddening to hear that on this third day of the terrorist=20 attack on Americans the Ethiopian government has sent one American of=20 Ethiopian origin to its dungeon. His name is Solomon Mezgebu. Solomon is an American development professional= =20 of Ethiopian origin who left for Ethiopia from Boston-- a historically famou= s=20 place for freethinking and good schools, like Tufts his alma mater-- and who= =20 was denied to exit Ethiopia in August 26 and detained in September 13, 2001.= =20 He earned his Masters from the School of Nutrition Science and Policy of=20 Tufts University (Boston) in 1997, and he is still a PHD student at the same= =20 university and went to contribute his expertise and give something back to=20 the people of Ethiopia. His safety is now threatened by the repressive regim= e=20 in Ethiopia=E2=80=94one of the worst governments in the world for an atmosph= ere of=20 social and political intolerance. In November 1999, he volunteered to work as CEO and Chairman of Tigray=20 Development Association (TDA), an indigenous Non Governmental Organization=20 (NGO), in Ethiopia that operates in the northern part of the country called=20 Tigray. Solomon was elected by the General Assembly of TDA to serve as the=20 chairman of the organization for monthly pay of about 300 Dollars! Against=20 the will of his close relatives and friends he accepted the challenge and=20 started working full time for TDA in the town of Mekelle starting March 2000= .=20 He left the USA with strong enthusiasm that he will contribute, even if it=20 meant delaying his research for his PHD, for improving the living condition=20 of the people in Tigray where poverty is the norm for millions of families.=20 He was even using his meager savings earned in the USA to cover his costs of= =20 living in Ethiopia. His own willingness to sacrifice material benefit and to= =20 go beyond the call of duty was a continual example to people who knew him=20 closely.=20 Solomon is a development worker both by training and occupation and not a=20 politician. However, over the last five months he found the overall milieu=20 extremely hostile for anyone who wants to have an independent working=20 atmosphere. Government officials became a stumbling block to discharge his=20 duties. Despite his determination to work for the three years term, the=20 stifling condition forced him to resign from the institution he worked hard=20 to ensure its independence and focus only on development challenges such as=20 HIV-AIDS which he champions. He informed the Board members his intended=20 resignation effective October 2001 and agreed that they will be calling for=20= a=20 General Assembly (GA) meeting.=20 =20 Meanwhile he wanted to come back to the US and pursue his studies till the G= A=20 meeting. On Sunday August 26, 2001, the day he was suppose to catch the=20 Ethiopian Airline plane heading for USA, he contacted the Ethiopian Airlines= =20 to reconfirm his flight which he booked weeks earlier, only to find out that= =20 his booking was canceled-presumably by the security forces of the government= .=20 He then bought another ticket when the airline officer told him that they=20 still have a seat in a Business class. On Sunday August 26, 2001, he went to= =20 Bole airport in Addis Ababa. Three cars and a sport utility, all with privat= e=20 plates and with security forces inside them were following the car he was in= .=20 After arrival at the airport and got a boarding pass he headed for the=20 passport control where the immigration officers were waiting for him, took=20 his passport without any court order and told him he can not board the plane= .=20 He recollected his luggage and went back home-still being followed by the=20 same security forces.=20 After denying him his right to exit the country, government officials starte= d=20 pounding their propaganda to confuse the public that he is leaving before=20 being audited and handing over property. The only property of TDA he had in=20 his custody were a cell-phone, a car and a laptop, which he has already=20 handed-over before his intended departure. This is an excuse and a design fo= r=20 public consumption and would not stand a simple scrutiny. In addition,=20 government agents and their operatives within TDA intimidated TDA employees=20 not to give him receipts for the properties he has handed over.=20 In the afternoon of September 13, 2001, security agents of the rogue=20 government in Addis Ababa detained him and took him to the infamous=20 "Maekellawi" (meaning Central) prison where they keep prisoners of=20 conscience. For his family and friends in the United States to hear this new= s=20 on the third day of the terrorist attack is extremely saddening; and we neve= r=20 thought the Ethiopian government will do such unlawful act on a difficult=20 time to all Americans.=20 No one can be certain regarding the next move of the government. It is not=20 the first time for the Ethiopian government to jail intellectuals who went=20 from the US to the country to contribute their expertise and give back to th= e=20 community they grew-up. Dr. Berhanu Nega, an economist who was trained in th= e=20 United States and went to Ethiopia in 1994 was jailed in May 2001 "for=20 inciting a riot". It took several weeks of international pressure for the=20 Ethiopian government to release him on bail. Another young man, Eskinder=20 Joseph, a florist and who went to Ethiopia in 1991 with the ambition of=20 helping his country through his expertise acquired in the USA for ten years=20 was arrested on unsubstantiated charges of corruption about fourteen weeks=20 back and has been denied bail. Eskinder was earning millions of dollars in=20 export money for his hard-press and debt burden country. We call upon the State Department and the US Embassy in Addis Ababa to use=20 every means possible to persuade the Ethiopian government to release Solomon= =20 Mezgebu, and guarantee his travel rights to the USA. We also call upon the=20 Ethiopian government to stop its wanton assault on freedom of humankind and=20 join the civilized world! =20 Concerned Americans of Ethiopian Origin =20 =20 --part1_25.1b38bf82.28d453df_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en A Ca= ll for the Release of TDA Chairman Solomon Mezgebu!

From Concerned Americans and Ethiopians Living in USA
September 13, 2001

September 13, 2001. The third day of the inhuman and horrifying carn= age in the United Sates of America committed by terrorists that do not have=20= any respect for humanity. The whole world is angered by the cowardly act of=20= the terrorists and extending its support and condolence to the American peop= le. It is extremely saddening to hear that on this third day of the terroris= t attack on Americans the Ethiopian government has sent one American of Ethi= opian origin to its dungeon.
His name is Solomon Mezgebu. Solomon is an American development professi= onal of Ethiopian origin who left for Ethiopia from Boston-- a historically=20= famous place for freethinking and good schools, like Tufts his alma mater--=20= and who was denied to exit Ethiopia in August 26 and detained in September 1= 3, 2001. He earned his Masters from the School of Nutrition Science and Poli= cy of Tufts University (Boston) in 1997, and he is still a PHD student at th= e same university and went to contribute his expertise and give something ba= ck to the people of Ethiopia. His safety is now threatened by the repressive= regime in Ethiopia=E2=80=94one of the worst governments in the world for an= atmosphere of social and political intolerance.

In November 1999, he volunteered to work as CEO and Chairman of Tigray D= evelopment Association (TDA), an indigenous Non Governmental Organization (N= GO), in Ethiopia that operates in the northern part of the country called Ti= gray. Solomon was elected by the General Assembly of TDA to serve as the cha= irman of the organization for monthly pay of about 300 Dollars! Against the=20= will of his close relatives and friends he accepted the challenge and starte= d working full time for TDA in the town of Mekelle starting March 2000. He l= eft the USA with strong enthusiasm that he will contribute, even if it meant= delaying his research for his PHD, for improving the living condition of th= e people in Tigray where poverty is the norm for millions of families. He wa= s even using his meager savings earned in the USA to cover his costs of livi= ng in Ethiopia. His own willingness to sacrifice material benefit and to go=20= beyond the call of duty was a continual example to people who knew him close= ly.=20

Solomon is a development worker both by training and occupation and not=20= a politician. However, over the last five months he found the overall milieu= extremely hostile for anyone who wants to have an independent working atmos= phere. Government officials became a stumbling block to discharge his duties= . Despite his determination to work for the three years term, the stifling c= ondition forced him to resign from the institution he worked hard to ensure=20= its independence and focus only on development challenges such as HIV-AIDS w= hich he champions. He informed the Board members his intended resignation ef= fective October 2001 and agreed that they will be calling for a General Asse= mbly (GA) meeting.=20
=20
Meanwhile he wanted to come back to the US and pursue his studies till t= he GA meeting. On Sunday August 26, 2001, the day he was suppose to catch th= e Ethiopian Airline plane heading for USA, he contacted the Ethiopian Airlin= es to reconfirm his flight which he booked weeks earlier, only to find out t= hat his booking was canceled-presumably by the security forces of the govern= ment. He then bought another ticket when the airline officer told him that t= hey still have a seat in a Business class. On Sunday August 26, 2001, he wen= t to Bole airport in Addis Ababa. Three cars and a sport utility, all with p= rivate plates and with security forces inside them were following the car he= was in. After arrival at the airport and got a boarding pass he headed for=20= the passport control where the immigration officers were waiting for him, to= ok his passport without any court order and told him he can not board the pl= ane. He recollected his luggage and went back home-still being followed by t= he same security forces.=20

After denying him his right to exit the country, government officials st= arted pounding their propaganda to confuse the public that he is leaving bef= ore being audited and handing over property. The only property of TDA he had= in his custody were a cell-phone, a car and a laptop, which he has already=20= handed-over before his intended departure. This is an excuse and a design fo= r public consumption and would not stand a simple scrutiny. In addition, gov= ernment agents and their operatives within TDA intimidated TDA employees not= to give him receipts for the properties he has handed over.=20
In the afternoon of September 13, 2001, security agents of the rogue gov= ernment in Addis Ababa detained him and took him to the infamous "Maekellawi= " (meaning Central) prison where they keep prisoners of conscience. For his=20= family and friends in the United States to hear this news on the third day o= f the terrorist attack is extremely saddening; and we never thought the Ethi= opian government will do such unlawful act on a difficult time to all Americ= ans.=20

No one can be certain regarding the next move of the government. It is n= ot the first time for the Ethiopian government to jail intellectuals who wen= t from the US to the country to contribute their expertise and give back to=20= the community they grew-up. Dr. Berhanu Nega, an economist who was trained i= n the United States and went to Ethiopia in 1994 was jailed in May 2001 "for= inciting a riot". It took several weeks of international pressure for the E= thiopian government to release him on bail. Another young man, Eskinder Jose= ph, a florist and who went to Ethiopia in 1991 with the ambition of helping=20= his country through his expertise acquired in the USA for ten years was arre= sted on unsubstantiated charges of corruption about fourteen weeks back and=20= has been denied bail. Eskinder was earning millions of dollars in export mon= ey for his hard-press and debt burden country.

We call upon the State Department and the US Embassy in Addis Ababa to u= se every means possible to persuade the Ethiopian government to release Solo= mon Mezgebu, and guarantee his travel rights to the USA. We also call upon t= he Ethiopian government to stop its wanton assault on freedom of humankind a= nd join the civilized world!
=20
Concerned Americans of Ethiopian Origin

=20
--part1_25.1b38bf82.28d453df_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:55 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: 23 November 2001 - In temperatures nearing 80 degrees, Haile Gebrselassie=20 today put the finishing touches to what he hopes will be one of his greatest= =20 athletics moments. On Sunday along the streets of the city of his home in Addis Ababa,=20 Gebrselassie will compete in the Great Ethiopian Run, a 10k race and the=20 first of its status to be held in the country. A host of his fellow Ethiopians =E2=80=94 and even his wife who is running i= n the=20 event will join him. His countrymen Million Wolde, the Olympic 5000m champion, Hailu Mekonnen and= =20 Ayele Mezgebu are just a few who will be in action along with Mexican German= =20 Silva in a world-class field. In the women=E2=80=99s race, Ethiopia=E2=80=99s Berhane Adere, who was secon= d in this=20 summer=E2=80=99s 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Edmonton, will=20= meet=20 Joyce Chepchumba of Kenya. A field of 10,000 people was secured within four hours of entry for the race= =20 being opened up to the general public such has been the interest. And the women=E2=80=99s event also includes the legends of former marathon w= orld=20 best-holder Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway and Portugal=E2=80=99s Rosa Mota, t= he former=20 Olympic and World marathon champion. They both insist they are running for the pleasure of being part of the=20 occasion, which Gebrselassie is too =E2=80=94 but he is going out to win. The people of Addis Ababa, his people, would expect nothing less. =E2=80=9CIt is a dream come true for a race of this size to come here,=E2= =80=9D said=20 Gebrselassie, the double Olympic 10,000m champion. =E2=80=9CI always hoped t= hat one=20 day a race like this might be staged here but I never expected it would=20 happen. =E2=80=9CIt is most important for the country, we want to show the world wha= t=20 Ethiopia is doing, what it looks like and from this event, we could bring=20 more runners to athletics.=E2=80=9D The race is an =E2=80=98international partner=E2=80=99 of the Great North se= ries of events=20 which take place in Britain each year. They are culminated by the autumn event of the Great North Run itself, a rac= e=20 which was the brainchild of Brendan Foster, the 1976 Olympic 10,000m bronze=20 medallist in Montreal. He was attending a sports reception party in London when the idea was=20 suggested to him of staging a race in Ethiopia. That was in February this=20 year and in a matter of weeks the event had been created. Foster said: =E2=80=9CWhen I was 12, I became so interested in athletics aft= er=20 watching Abebe Bikila win the marathon at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. =E2=80=9CSince then, Ethiopian runners have always come to us to compete. We= have had=20 the pleasure of watching them perform to such incredible standards. It is=20 fitting we have now come to their country for this event.=E2=80=9D Richard Nerurkar, the British marathon runner, is based in Addis Ababa and=20 has been the local event manager. Gebrselassie said: =E2=80=9CI expect there will be thousands on the streets=20= watching=20 the race, it will be something special.=E2=80=9D Gebrselassie is preparing for his debut at the marathon, which he will make=20 in London in April before returning to the track for the summer season. =20 The opinions and content of this article are those of the author and are not= =20 attributable to the IAAF, nor do they reflect or represent any official=20 position of the International Association of Athletics Federations.=20 =C2=A9 1996-2001 International Association of Athletics Federations IAAF - All Rights Reserved.=20 --part1_cc.23cad54.293288fe_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en INTE= RNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ATHLETICS FEDERATIONS

http://www.iaaf.org/News/Articles/getnews.asp?Code=3D4382

Gebre puts finishing touches to Great Ethiopian Run

From our correspondent in Addis Ababa

23 November 2001 - In temperatures nearing 80 degrees, Haile= Gebrselassie today put the finishing touches to what he hopes will be one o= f his greatest athletics moments.

On Sunday along the streets of the city of his home in Addis= Ababa, Gebrselassie will compete in the Great Ethiopian Run, a 10k race and= the first of its status to be held in the country.

A host of his fellow Ethiopians =E2=80=94 and even his wife=20= who is running in the event will join him.

His countrymen Million Wolde, the Olympic 5000m champion, Ha= ilu Mekonnen and Ayele Mezgebu are just a few who will be in action along wi= th Mexican German Silva in a world-class field.

In the women=E2=80=99s race, Ethiopia=E2=80=99s Berhane Ader= e, who was second in this summer=E2=80=99s 10,000 metres at the World Champi= onships in Edmonton, will meet Joyce Chepchumba of Kenya.

A field of 10,000 people was secured within four hours of en= try for the race being opened up to the general public such has been the int= erest.

And the women=E2=80=99s event also includes the legends of f= ormer marathon world best-holder Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway and Portugal= =E2=80=99s Rosa Mota, the former Olympic and World marathon champion.

They both insist they are running for the pleasure of being=20= part of the occasion, which Gebrselassie is too =E2=80=94 but he is going ou= t to win.

The people of Addis Ababa, his people, would expect nothing=20= less.
=E2=80=9CIt is a dream come true for a race of this size to=20= come here,=E2=80=9D said Gebrselassie, the double Olympic 10,000m champion.=20= =E2=80=9CI always hoped that one day a race like this might be staged here b= ut I never expected it would happen.

=E2=80=9CIt is most important for the country, we want to sh= ow the world what Ethiopia is doing, what it looks like and from this event,= we could bring more runners to athletics.=E2=80=9D

The race is an =E2=80=98international partner=E2=80=99 of th= e Great North series of events which take place in Britain each year.

They are culminated by the autumn event of the Great North R= un itself, a race which was the brainchild of Brendan Foster, the 1976 Olymp= ic 10,000m bronze medallist in Montreal.

He was attending a sports reception party in London when the= idea was suggested to him of staging a race in Ethiopia. That was in Februa= ry this year and in a matter of weeks the event had been created.

Foster said: =E2=80=9CWhen I was 12, I became so interested=20= in athletics after watching Abebe Bikila win the marathon at the 1960 Olympi= cs in Rome.

=E2=80=9CSince then, Ethiopian runners have always come to u= s to compete. We have had the pleasure of watching them perform to such incr= edible standards. It is fitting we have now come to their country for this e= vent.=E2=80=9D

Richard Nerurkar, the British marathon runner, is based in A= ddis Ababa and has been the local event manager.

Gebrselassie said: =E2=80=9CI expect there will be thousands= on the streets watching the race, it will be something special.=E2=80=9D

Gebrselassie is preparing for his debut at the marathon, whi= ch he will make in London in April before returning to the track for the sum= mer season.
=20

The opinions and content of this article are those of the author and=20= are not attributable to the IAAF, nor do they reflect or represent any offic= ial position of the International Association of Athletics Federations.=20

=C2=A9 1996-2001 International Association of Athletics Federations
IAAF - All Rights Reserved.=20
--part1_cc.23cad54.293288fe_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:58 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: By Dr. Feleke Eshte, December 13, 2001 The disguised Dr. Beyene Petros The state terrorism that started about a year ago is still going on at full throttle in Southern Ethiopia. " I am seething with rage as I speak to you. Members and supporters of my party are subjected to flagrant repression by EPRDF forces", decried Dr. Beyene Petros, leader of an opposition party, right to the face of Prime Minister Meles, in front of diplomatic corps and foreign dignitaries at the recent opening session of parliament. The recalcitrant Meles, towards the end of his long lecture that was more appropriate to kindergartners rather than to members of parliament, repeating very obvious facts over and over again, rebutted Dr. Beyene's charges with the usual lame excuse - lawlessness, that his army is down there to contain the lawlessness of unemployed youth and former soldiers of Derg. (The same excuse was invoked to go after university students and the opposition in Addis Ababa.) A Reminder In the midst of all this terror, EPDRDF is calling local elections to be held in a couple of weeks. These local elections were supposed to follow on the heels of the May -June 2000 national and regional assemblies. They did take place in other parts of the country but in the South where EPRDF was routed at the polls in the national and regional elections. Instead of accepting defeat gracefully, EPRDF embarked on a reign of terror. It deployed several divisions of the army against peaceful citizens. The local militia, backed by the army, went on a rampage after members and supporters of the opposition (The Southern Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Coalition). EPRDF Picks and Chooses as It Wishes When it suits its devious schemes, EPRDF could hold elections on the face of a looming war. Remember, this is a government that went ahead and held the May - June 2000 elections while waging a full - scale war against Eritrea. (Actually the war was, to the surprise of many, was launched on the eve of the elections). But somehow when it came down to holding the local elections in the South, EPRDF kept on postponing, twice, for obvious reasons - it knew darn well that it wouldn't win the elections. Then, right after the elections, momentum was on the side of the opposition. There was jubilation everywhere in the air at the humiliating defeat of EPRDF. Its candidates were loathed; being part of EPRDF became a badge of dishonor. So it called off the elections twice Democratic Tradition The agony of defeat is hard to bear, in elections or otherwise. But if it is the verdict of the electorate at the polls to cast out a party, the losing party should honor the outcome of the elections, should be morally mature enough to uphold the constitution, and for the sake of the country must swallow the bitter pills of defeat. Magnanimity in defeat is a noble aspect of democratic tradition. It is only with such a sublime exercise in the rule of law and in governance, reflecting the will of the people, that a country could be assured against bestial struggles to grab power by one warlord or another, or by one liberation fighter or another, resulting in irreparable destruction of a country as in Somalia or Afghanistan or Rwanda or former Yugoslavia. Could The Reign of Terror Pay Off? For those who came out of the foxholes of guerrilla warfare, from archaic, provincial, feudal traditions and from glorification of Albanian communism just a decade ago, the rules of democracy are nothing but mere words enshrined in the constitution, not to be bound by when the going gets tough. What they gained though the barrel of a gun is hard to relinquish, even after ten years at the helm. Instead, they engage in insidious ploys of retaining power at any cost rather than yield to the will of the people. The peasants, students and teachers, young and old, in the South, have all gone through hell at the hands of EPRDF thugs; they have paid very dearly for very simple democratic exercises that are taken for granted in democratic societies. Now that EPRDF, most likely, thinks it has broken the back of the opposition with relentless reign of terror, it is calling elections to be held on short notice. It is bent on holding the elections on its own terms -under strict supervision of polling stations by its security forces, which probably will intimidate voters and assure elections of its members. The opposition, on the other hand, wants its members in prison to be set free, and the army to evacuate the region for free and fair elections to take place. How the political dance and shenanigans will unfold is anybody's guess. If EPRDF gets its way, if the wicked political manipulations pay off, it is not just the gallant warriors for democracy from the South who will be the losers, but all those Ethiopians that yearn for democracy. It will be a sad chapter in the fight for justice, equality and freedom, and the repercussions could reverberate in other parts of the country. No Turning Back, But Crocodile Tears are Not Enough EPRDF's shenanigans for legitimacy through sham elections should not be left unchallenged despite all odds stacked against fair elections. This is a catch - 22: if left alone, EPRDF would love it; it would go ahead with the elections anyway. On the other hand, participating in its sham elections costs a heavy price, and it is the ordinary folks at the forefront of the battle that pay the price. And they need all the support they could get from those of us who are lucky enough to have the means to alleviate their suffering in this noteworthy struggle. But the support afforded to the families of those who sacrificed their lives, to those who have been displaced from their homes in thousands and to those who are languishing in prisons is paltry by any measure. Ethiopians of good will must step up to the plate and extend a more generous hand to mass movements for democracy. Otherwise words not backed with deed are tantamount to shedding crocodile tears. From his prison cell in Birmingham city jail to fellow ministers, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of bad people, but for THE APPALLING SILENCE OF GOOD PEOPLE" The Dai Lama of Tibet, in one of his interviews says, "Wherever there is suffering, I will be there to serve." Another Nobel peace laureate Ellie Weisel underscores an assertion form the Bible : "Thou shall not stand idle"; standing idle when others are being brutalized is dehumanizing according to Mr. Weisel, who is a survivor of the holocaust. These words call on all of us to rise up to the challenges of our time and our beloved country rather than wallow in cynicism of ineffectual consequence. Back to NewsPage --part1_20.20bfccb8.294c7302_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From an Insider's Perspective
Elections in Southern Ethiopia: A Watershed in the Struggle for Democracy
By Dr. Feleke Eshte,
December 13, 2001
The disguised

Dr. Beyene Petros
The state terrorism that started about a year ago is still going on at full throttle in Southern Ethiopia. " I am seething with rage as I speak to you. Members and supporters of my party are subjected to flagrant repression by EPRDF forces", decried Dr. Beyene Petros, leader of an opposition party, right to the face of Prime Minister Meles, in front of diplomatic corps and foreign dignitaries at the recent opening session of parliament. The recalcitrant Meles, towards the end of his long lecture that was more appropriate to kindergartners rather than to members of parliament, repeating very obvious facts over and over again, rebutted Dr. Beyene's charges with the usual lame excuse - lawlessness, that his army is down there to contain the lawlessness of unemployed youth and former soldiers of Derg. (The same excuse was invoked to go after university students and the opposition in Addis Ababa.) A Reminder In the midst of all this terror, EPDRDF is calling local elections to be held in a couple of weeks. These local elections were supposed to follow on the heels of the May -June 2000 national and regional assemblies. They did take place in other parts of the country but in the South where EPRDF was routed at the polls in the national and regional elections. Instead of accepting defeat gracefully, EPRDF embarked on a reign of terror. It deployed several divisions of the army against peaceful citizens. The local militia, backed by the army, went on a rampage after members and supporters of the opposition (The Southern Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Coalition). EPRDF Picks and Chooses as It Wishes When it suits its devious schemes, EPRDF could hold elections on the face of a looming war. Remember, this is a government that went ahead and held the May - June 2000 elections while waging a full - scale war against Eritrea. (Actually the war was, to the surprise of many, was launched on the eve of the elections). But somehow when it came down to holding the local elections in the South, EPRDF kept on postponing, twice, for obvious reasons - it knew darn well that it wouldn't win the elections. Then, right after the elections, momentum was on the side of the opposition. There was jubilation everywhere in the air at the humiliating defeat of EPRDF. Its candidates were loathed; being part of EPRDF became a badge of dishonor. So it called off the elections twice Democratic Tradition The agony of defeat is hard to bear, in elections or otherwise. But if it is the verdict of the electorate at the polls to cast out a party, the losing party should honor the outcome of the elections, should be morally mature enough to uphold the constitution, and for the sake of the country must swallow the bitter pills of defeat. Magnanimity in defeat is a noble aspect of democratic tradition. It is only with such a sublime exercise in the rule of law and in governance, reflecting the will of the people, that a country could be assured against bestial struggles to grab power by one warlord or another, or by one liberation fighter or another, resulting in irreparable destruction of a country as in Somalia or Afghanistan or Rwanda or former Yugoslavia. Could The Reign of Terror Pay Off? For those who came out of the foxholes of guerrilla warfare, from archaic, provincial, feudal traditions and from glorification of Albanian communism just a decade ago, the rules of democracy are nothing but mere words enshrined in the constitution, not to be bound by when the going gets tough. What they gained though the barrel of a gun is hard to relinquish, even after ten years at the helm. Instead, they engage in insidious ploys of retaining power at any cost rather than yield to the will of the people. The peasants, students and teachers, young and old, in the South, have all gone through hell at the hands of EPRDF thugs; they have paid very dearly for very simple democratic exercises that are taken for granted in democratic societies. Now that EPRDF, most likely, thinks it has broken the back of the opposition with relentless reign of terror, it is calling elections to be held on short notice. It is bent on holding the elections on its own terms -under strict supervision of polling stations by its security forces, which probably will intimidate voters and assure elections of its members. The opposition, on the other hand, wants its members in prison to be set free, and the army to evacuate the region for free and fair elections to take place. How the political dance and shenanigans will unfold is anybody's guess. If EPRDF gets its way, if the wicked political manipulations pay off, it is not just the gallant warriors for democracy from the South who will be the losers, but all those Ethiopians that yearn for democracy. It will be a sad chapter in the fight for justice, equality and freedom, and the repercussions could reverberate in other parts of the country. No Turning Back, But Crocodile Tears are Not Enough EPRDF's shenanigans for legitimacy through sham elections should not be left unchallenged despite all odds stacked against fair elections. This is a catch - 22: if left alone, EPRDF would love it; it would go ahead with the elections anyway. On the other hand, participating in its sham elections costs a heavy price, and it is the ordinary folks at the forefront of the battle that pay the price. And they need all the support they could get from those of us who are lucky enough to have the means to alleviate their suffering in this noteworthy struggle. But the support afforded to the families of those who sacrificed their lives, to those who have been displaced from their homes in thousands and to those who are languishing in prisons is paltry by any measure. Ethiopians of good will must step up to the plate and extend a more generous hand to mass movements for democracy. Otherwise words not backed with deed are tantamount to shedding crocodile tears. From his prison cell in Birmingham city jail to fellow ministers, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of bad people, but for THE APPALLING SILENCE OF GOOD PEOPLE" The Dai Lama of Tibet, in one of his interviews says, "Wherever there is suffering, I will be there to serve." Another Nobel peace laureate Ellie Weisel underscores an assertion form the Bible : "Thou shall not stand idle"; standing idle when others are being brutalized is dehumanizing according to Mr. Weisel, who is a survivor of the holocaust. These words call on all of us to rise up to the challenges of our time and our beloved country rather than wallow in cynicism of ineffectual consequence. Back to NewsPage

--part1_20.20bfccb8.294c7302_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:58 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: more responsive and supportive to the efforts of ethiopianism.com than most Ethiopians. When I was seeking comments on the approaches of Ethiopianism.com, it was the Eritreans, not Ethiopians, that provided the most critical opinions. It wouldn't surprise me that the Eritreans will rule Ethiopia for the next century because they are capable of opening dialog. God bless Eritrea. Maybe in the afterlife it will be revealed they are the true Ethiopians, not the highlanders. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Need new boots for winter? Looking for a perfect gift for your shoe loving friends? Zappos.com is the perfect fit for all your shoe needs! http://us.click.yahoo.com/ltdUpD/QrSDAA/ySSFAA/PaOolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ethiopiawinet-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:59 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: e can learn that anything in the holy scriptures --the holy Bible or the holy Quran- if the story sounds it contradicts with science, it must be symbolic= .. Its spiritual meaning is what makes religion and science harmonize. As it is a clich=E9 to say =91history repeats itself=92, I see identical pa= rallel here in American civilization and ancient Egyptian civilization. Shoghi Effendi, the guardian of the Bahai faith, describes the dethronement of religions in the West: =93The recrudesce of religions intolerance, of raci= al animosity, and of patriotic arrogance; the increasing evidence of selfishness, of suspicion, of fear and of fraud; the spread of terrorism, of lawlessness= , of drunkenness and of crime; the unquenchable thirst for, and the feverish pursuit after, earthly vanities, riches and pleasures; the weakening of family solidarity; the laxity in parental control; the lapse into luxurious indulgence; the irresponsible attitude towards marriage and the consequent rising tide of divorce; the degeneracy of art and music, the infection of literature, and the corruption of the press; the extension of the influence and activities of those =91prophets of decadence=92 who advocate companiona= te marriage, who preach the philosophy of nudism, who call modesty an intellectual fiction, who refuse to regard the procreation of children as t= he sacred and primary purpose of marriage, who denounce religion as an opiate = of the people, who would, if given free rein, lead back the human race to barbarism, chaos, and ultimate extinction =96these appear as the outstandin= g characteristics of a decadent society, a society that must either be reborn or perish.=94 P.S. As always, questions, comments, and/or critics are most welcome. Barnabas (Barnie) A. Yohannes=20 http//yohannes.faithweb.com=20 "Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart"=20 =20 =20 ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Call any Phone in the World from your PC with CrystalVoice -LOW rates world-wide - $0.039/min in U.S. FREE trial. Click here. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Ib1xVB/IxbDAA/ySSFAA/PaOolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ethiopiawinet-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com =20 Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/=20 ------NetAddressPart-00--=_ouvO9200S0079ea2989 Content-Type: text/html Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline
Barnabas (Barnie) A. Yohannes
=20 http://yohannes.faithweb.com=
=20=20 "So powerful is the power of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth"

Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com ------NetAddressPart-00--=_ouvO9200S0079ea2989-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:14:59 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Ethiopia's Monarchy, as a constitutional, not an absolute, monarchy. Its believed that restoring the monarchy to Ethiopia will help Ethiopia's image and restore some stability in this region. But there is some issues I imagine are of major concern such as who is the rightful heir to the Ethiopian Crown? Some voice support that the heir is Prince Zere Yacob, the son of Amha Selassie I, and the grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie. Others voice support that the position be given to Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, also the grandson of Haile Selassie, and current president of the Crown Council of Ethiopia. There is also the question of whether there are other monarch families in Ethiopia worthy of attention, especially those that come from Tigrinya and Orominya speaking families that have regional claims to the Crown. I’m also curious to know what has become of the descendents of the dynasties of Ras Alula and Yajju? Please send your feedback… __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Need new boots for winter? Looking for a perfect gift for your shoe loving friends? Zappos.com is the perfect fit for all your shoe needs! http://us.click.yahoo.com/ltdUpD/QrSDAA/ySSFAA/PaOolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ethiopiawinet-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From ghidewon_haile at yahoo.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: ghidewon_haile at yahoo.com (ghidewon_haile@yahoo.com) Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:02 2007 Subject: [Pol.ethiopia] Interesting story from News24 Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.sn.apc.org/pipermail/pol.ethiopia/attachments/20020118/c11be451/attachment.html From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:03 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: like to relate certain actual incidents and encounters as they are saved in my memoirs during my life experiences and careers in Ethiopia and elsewhere. Such initiation, I hope, will motivate others to do the same to fill the grey area left by the dire shortage of popular literature. I may venture to say that we are truly in the "dark age" of our nation in the context of the subject I am talking about. The only book which came to my cognizance recently published and written in Amharic and partly dealing with certain aspects of our national character was Ato Amanuel Abraham's memoirs titled "Ye Hiwote Tizzita" (Addis Ababa University Press, 1999). In it, the author describes in several places, particularly from page 98-102 how much envy and insolence, treachery and power rivalry there was around the palace of the emperor Haile Selassie I. Especially, given the personal favors he forged from the emperor, and due to his being considered as "outsider" in origins (a Wollega Oromo) from the traditional class of the nobility, how vulnerable he was to the various traps of envies, negativities, intrigues and conspiracies. Call it "culture" or "national character" there are certain apparently irrevocable and constantly recurring national traits both in the old regime (the monarchy) and the new regimes (the revolutionary era). I am now in my forties. Perhaps due to the incredible life through labyrinth in the Ethiopian drama, I feel like I lived four hundred years! I bet there are so many others with similar feelings. In my life time and my own experiences, I have certain observations pro and contra to such traits. I shall be limited to sharing experiences on some aspects of the contras for now. First, how often do you assure yourselves that what you hear from ordinary conversations, even during spontaneous communications, with friends or acquaintances or fellow countrymen/women in general, is what they truly (sincerely) think or believe? Look at by way of example, how we falsely adulate personas with some authority in public office. We praise them, even prostrate ourselves in front of them even if we truly believe they are villains! In Addis Ababa, I used to have a friend who was holding a high ranking position in public office during the Derg regime. One day he offered me a ride in his car. While driving he started to talk about the despicable character of his superior. We began what we call "Hamiet"! (a little gossip). He bragged how he despises him, how much he ridicules him. How much he criticizes him. He vilified him as base, ingrate, scoundrel, contemptible and so forth. No sooner than he made those remarks than we suddenly came face to face to that very individual, the superior my friend was talking about. To my surprise and chagrin, my friend almost fell down when he was rushing out of his car and nearly prostrated himself in front of that "contemptible" boss! We have many people who "wag their tails" in the face of public officials either only when they want some personal favor from them or just out of sheer fear, not because of their actual merits or sincere admirations they might have have in their hearts! Second, there's an irrational and chronic envy in our blood, as described by Ato Amanuel Abraham in his book mentioned above. There is a saying that where there is envy, there is hatred. Perhaps, all interpersonal and inter ethnic hatreds and animosities prevailing in Ethiopia today emanate mainly from one source: envy. May be, nobody talks about it overtly, but attitudes and conducts say it loud. How many envious persons, especially from among the modern "cadres" and politicians, are secretly undergoing the agonies of severe gnaws in their hearts at the sight of the successes of others, by virtue of their natural talents including their own friends? How many faces, on the other hand, glow with pleasure without explanation at the news of mishaps or even miseries at the objects of their envy? Like venomous snakes from dark corners, envious persons secretly vent their poisons now and then incognito, if and when opportunities arise. Third, there is an overwhelming, almost shocking cultural attitude of brutal limitation to the present. Yesterday and tomorrow seem to have very little relevance in the Ethiopian outlook. One mark of civilization is to maintain a proper perspective of these three time dimensions: the past, the present and the future. This kind of irrational attitude can be manifested in many facets of the Ethiopian life. As bygones are bygones, lessons from history seem to have insignificant application both in politics and jurisprudence. The main reason for this appears to be the absence or indifference of well educated and well meant, experienced citizens in the cockpit of leadership. The intelligentsia were always denied due opportunity to apply their talents to the fullest extent in their own country, in many areas of activity. Look at for example, how little use there is in reviewing court cases so as to enrich the scope of case analysis in actual trials. How often stupid mistakes in politics are repeated over and over again! The ancient Roman adage "dum ego salvus sim, pereat mundus" ("so long as I am safe, let the world perish") seems to haunt at our midst. When we see that some naked and outrageous injustice is being perpetrated against a fellow citizen in the hands of tyranny, our conscience fails to be irritated by it, much less to act upon. For the most part, we prefer to stay as passive spectators so long as it does not directly affect us. That way, we forget the implications upon us for tomorrow. Brutal limitation to the present can also be manifested in our economic life. For the most part, there is an illusion that sensual pleasures and empty vanities have paramount value, even from among the priests and monks or even from among the traditionally ascetic class. There are so many cases in which we face future needs and misery just for squandering extravagantly those limited resources at once for sensual pleasures and just for boasting! In our stupid self-conceit, for example, we spend for expensive luxury items far beyond our real purchasing powers or for the extravaganza of food and drinks for Gibzha (banquets), Zikirs and the likes, in which we invite and entertain passers-by, apparently to enjoy the vanity of mob-gaze at our glamor and munificence! Stop for a moment and think about how much money is the government borrowing and how colossal is the national debt!! This, of course, shall not imply as derogatory remark to our cherished cultural values of generousity, easy life and sociabilities nor advocating avarice and mean-spiritedness of other cultures, but just to recommend rationality and wisdom. We insist on haphazardly paying for all those parasitic 'friends' who accompany us in the Coffee Houses and Bars, who might secretly laugh at our follies! while at the same time we don't even earn enough to satisfy our basic domestic necessities! Rational? In this connection, I had one encounter: it was a sort of 'culture shock" in England. I was sharing an apartment rent with an English gentleman. One day, in the manner of we Ethiopians, I invited this friend for a drink. He knew that my only income was a student stipend from a scholarship grant. He asked me to give him time to think about it. Time to think about my generous Gibzha?! What does he have to lose? I waited wondering. After a while, he looked at me on the eye and said, can you give me the money instead so that it can be considered with your next month's rent? What a practical man!! This might, of course, have been taken as down right rude in our culture, but it taught me a valuable lesson, any way. Till next, all the best. Yohannes Chane Metiku, Adjunct professor of International Studies. E-mail: chanejohannes@hotmail.com N.B.: The opinions expressed in my various articles are just that: opiniopns, observations, thoughts, reflections. From among letters written to me personally, there are many, many encouraging compliments and also constructive criticisms, which I appreciate for that is the whole purpose of dialogues. There are also letters from certain individuals sounding like they are hurt by what I am saying, and even I see inclinations to use abusive language. Urging everyone to keep up proper civilized boundaries in using language for expressing opinions, I never intend to offend anyone or group. And I do not intend any reading "between the lines", obviously because I did not say anything there! --part1_10f.b2b4a30.29845c68_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ADDIS TRIBUNE

THE WEEK OF 01-25-02

http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2002/01/25-01-02/Some.htm

Some Aspects of the National Character

By Yohannes Chane Metiku

In the land of poverty, there are less favorable circumstances for the opportunity to use one's talents to an extent as one needs, for primarily there are overwhelming menial needs which deny us sufficient leisure time to think.

The Eighteenth- Nineteenth centuries famous German poet Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe ( 1749-1832) once said in his "Wilhelm Meister" that "[a] man who is born with a talent which he is meant to use, finds his greatest happiness in using it." The ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes Laeritius had also remarked when he was writing about Socrates that "Socrates praised leisure as the fairest of all possessions."

The removal of the leisure class in Ethiopia during the revolutionary era (1974-present) had meant an almost brutal limitation of the use of the intellect or talents just for meeting the basic needs of the belly or at most to the satisfaction of such baser sensual desires. For the most part in today's Ethiopia there is less interest and practically no personal devotion to promote the world of popular literature. Sublime expressions in poems and philosophy have been clouded by the insipid political doggerel. Spectacular writers and thinkers like Afework Gebre Yesus (Tobia), Girmachew Tekla Hawariat (Araya), Haddis Alemayehu (Fikir Eske Mekabir), Mekonnen Endalkachew (Alem Woretegnia), Kebede Michael, Abbe Gubegnia, Berihanu Zerihun and many others used to enlighten the public at large in their own peculiar ways of subtle expressions, on, among others, the various aspects of our national character. A society with no popular literature and sublime expressions invariably relapses to barbarism and the age of ruffians, as being witnessed everywhere.

From my part here, being far from the gifts of such talents, I would rather like to relate certain actual incidents and encounters as they are saved in my memoirs during my life experiences and careers in Ethiopia and elsewhere. Such initiation, I hope, will motivate others to do the same to fill the grey area left by the dire shortage of popular literature. I may venture to say that we are truly in the "dark age" of our nation in the context of the subject I am talking about.

The only book which came to my cognizance recently published and written in Amharic and partly dealing with certain aspects of our national character was Ato Amanuel Abraham's memoirs titled "Ye Hiwote Tizzita" (Addis Ababa University Press, 1999). In it, the author describes in several places, particularly from page 98-102 how much envy and insolence, treachery and power rivalry there was around the palace of the emperor Haile Selassie I. Especially, given the personal favors he forged from the emperor, and due to his being considered as "outsider" in origins (a Wollega Oromo) from the traditional class of the nobility, how vulnerable he was to the various traps of envies, negativities, intrigues and conspiracies.

Call it  "culture" or "national character" there are certain apparently irrevocable and constantly recurring national traits both in the old regime (the monarchy) and the new regimes (the revolutionary era). I am now in my forties. Perhaps due to the incredible life through labyrinth in the Ethiopian drama, I feel like I lived four hundred years! I bet there are so many others with similar feelings. In my life time and my own experiences, I have certain observations pro and contra to such traits. I shall be limited to sharing experiences on some aspects of the contras for now.

First, how often do you assure yourselves that what you hear from ordinary conversations, even during spontaneous communications, with friends or acquaintances or fellow countrymen/women in general, is what they truly (sincerely) think or believe? Look at by way of example, how we falsely adulate personas with some authority in public office. We praise them, even prostrate ourselves in front of them even if we truly believe they are villains! In Addis Ababa, I used to have a friend who was holding a high ranking position in public office during the Derg regime. One day he offered me a ride in his car. While driving he started to talk about the despicable character of his superior. We began what we call "Hamiet"! (a little gossip). He bragged how he despises him, how much he ridicules him. How much he criticizes him. He vilified him as base, ingrate, scoundrel, contemptible and so forth. No sooner than he made those remarks than we suddenly came face to face to that very individual, the superior my friend was talking about. To my surprise and chagrin, my friend almost fell down when he was rushing out of his car and nearly prostrated himself in front of that "contemptible" boss! We have many people who "wag their tails" in the face of public officials either only when they want some personal favor from them or just out of sheer fear, not because of their actual merits or sincere admirations they might have have in their hearts!

Second, there's an irrational and chronic envy in our blood, as described by Ato Amanuel Abraham in his book mentioned above. There is a saying that where there is envy, there is hatred. Perhaps, all interpersonal and inter ethnic hatreds and animosities prevailing in Ethiopia today emanate mainly from one source: envy. May be, nobody talks about it overtly, but attitudes and conducts say it loud. How many envious persons, especially from among the modern "cadres" and politicians, are secretly undergoing the agonies of severe gnaws in their hearts at the sight of  the successes of others, by virtue of their natural talents including their own friends? How many faces, on the other hand, glow with pleasure without explanation at the news of mishaps or even miseries at the objects of their envy? Like venomous snakes from dark corners, envious persons secretly vent their poisons now and then incognito, if and when opportunities arise.

Third, there is an overwhelming, almost shocking cultural attitude of brutal limitation to the present. Yesterday and tomorrow seem to have very little relevance in the Ethiopian outlook. One mark of civilization is to maintain a proper perspective of these three time dimensions: the past, the present and the future. This kind of irrational attitude can be manifested in many facets of the Ethiopian life. As bygones are bygones, lessons from history seem to have insignificant application both in politics and jurisprudence. The main reason for this appears to be the absence or indifference of well educated and well meant, experienced citizens in the cockpit of leadership. The intelligentsia were always denied due opportunity to apply their talents to the fullest extent in their own country, in many areas of activity. Look at for example, how little use there is in reviewing court cases so as to enrich the scope of case analysis in actual trials. How often stupid mistakes in politics are repeated over and over again! The ancient Roman adage  "dum ego salvus sim, pereat mundus" ("so long as I am safe, let the world perish") seems to haunt at our midst. When we see that some naked and outrageous injustice is being perpetrated against a fellow citizen in the hands of tyranny, our conscience fails to be irritated by it, much less to act upon. For the most part, we prefer to stay as passive spectators so long as it does not directly affect us. That way, we forget the implications upon us for tomorrow.

Brutal limitation to the present can also be manifested in our economic life. For the most part, there is an illusion that sensual pleasures and empty vanities have paramount value, even from among the priests and monks or even from among the traditionally ascetic class. There are so many cases in which we face future needs and misery just for squandering extravagantly those limited resources at once for sensual pleasures and just for boasting! In our stupid self-conceit, for example, we spend for expensive luxury items far beyond our real purchasing powers or for the extravaganza of food and drinks for <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Gibzha (banquets), <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Zikirs and the likes, in which we invite and entertain passers-by, apparently to enjoy the vanity of mob-gaze at our glamor and munificence! Stop for a moment and think about how much money is the government borrowing and how colossal is the national debt!! This, of course, shall not imply as derogatory remark to our cherished cultural values of generousity, easy life and sociabilities nor advocating avarice and mean-spiritedness of other cultures, but just to recommend rationality and wisdom. We insist on haphazardly paying for all those parasitic 'friends' who accompany us in the Coffee Houses and Bars, who might secretly laugh at our follies! while at the same time we don't even earn enough to satisfy our basic domestic necessities! Rational? In this connection, I had one encounter: it was a sort of 'culture shock" in England. I was sharing an apartment rent with an English gentleman. One day, in the manner of we Ethiopians, I invited this friend for a drink. He knew that my only income was a student stipend from a scholarship grant. He asked me to give him time to think about it. Time to think about my generous <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Gibzha?! What does he have to lose? I waited wondering. After a while, he looked at me on the eye and said, can you give me the money instead so that it can be considered with your next month's rent? What a practical man!! This might, of course, have been taken as down right rude in our culture, but it taught me a valuable lesson, any way.

Till next, all the best. Yohannes Chane Metiku, Adjunct professor of International Studies. E-mail: chanejohannes@hotmail.com

N.B.:  The opinions expressed in my various articles are just that: opiniopns, observations, thoughts, reflections. From among letters written to me personally, there are many, many encouraging compliments and also constructive criticisms, which I appreciate for that is the whole purpose of dialogues. There are also letters from certain individuals sounding like they are hurt by what I am saying, and even I see inclinations to use abusive language. Urging everyone to keep up proper civilized boundaries in using language for expressing opinions, I never intend to offend anyone or group. And I do not intend any reading "between the lines", obviously because I did not say anything there!





--part1_10f.b2b4a30.29845c68_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:04 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: --part1_123.b7d8d79.29972493_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit BBC World Service

Friday, 8 February, 2002, 15:39 GMT

Nile brings Ethiopia closer to Egypt

Ethiopia and Egypt have promised to work together to develop the potential of the River Nile. Ethiopian government sources said the commitment came during high-level talks in Addis Ababa. They called it a turning point in relations between the
two countries, which have been soured by rival claims on the resources of the Nile. They said the agreement would cement plans for the development of the Nile basin, which the Ethiopians see in particular as a vital element in their economic development.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service


--part1_123.b7d8d79.29972493_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:09 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Andualem Beshah Aboye 8/7/2000 abeshah@go.com The Teflon Crown The buzz in Washington DC these days is that Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi, in the US for the United Nations Millenium summit, has scheduled three important meetings in DC. The first, for select members of the Ethiopian community, the second with the merry men of EAC, as ever clueless to what their supposed "constituents" really feel about Meles. The third and last is with some of the more obliging "Royals", though which ones will attend Zenawi has not been confirmed. Meles is supposed to give his blessing for Haileselassie I's burial at this last meeting. I won't begrudge anyone, especially Haileselassie's family, an opportunity to bury their dead. A man revered not just by Ethiopians but also by a multitude all over the world should in fact have a funeral of equal consideration, I am surprised Meles lacks the cerebral fuel to assess the propaganda bonanza it could be considering the battering the Eritreans gave him. And indeed it is strange times we live in when any Ethiopian, let alone the beloved former Emperor, have to beg former rebel's for their Ethiopian birthright. In the tradition of Haileselassie given to rewarding his worst enemies, Meles has chosen, rather than the Emperor's surviving daughter or grandchildren, an avowed enemy both to him and Haileselassie, self-styled "Comrade-Prince" Mengesha Seyoum, a Tigrean and the originator of the Woyane movement. With all due respect to Yohannes IV, even if we were to ignore all of the above, Mengesha knowing throughout the circuit for his alcohol swilling marathons than Diplomacy at receptions is that much poorer a stand-in. Perhaps Meles, while both were in Ethiopia three weeks ago, instructed Mengesha to travel to DC with his children to publicly prostrate himself, counting on the old turncoat's greed to undo the dignity preserved the crown by the personal sacrifice of countless others. That would be typical Meles Zenawi, dancing on the grave of an enemy while the dead man supplied the music. Mengesha, who had wangled a lone seat in the Ethnic parliament of 1991, lost it in the 2000 elections putting him in the unenviable position of being a has-been, no more Embassy invitations. And if indeed Meles had been after simple approbation, couldn't he have gotten his feet kissed in Addis, for U.S. consumption, for us in the Diaspora ? Well, truth be told, both. The Tigrean Abune long a champion of his Royal kinsmen has always taken pains to insert them into his "state" appearances. Professor Asrate's funeral, though neither either helped Dr. Asrat while he was suffering in Meles' prisons denied medical, made sure they looked pious and sad for the Camera's. AS I said earlier a typical Meles Zenawi move performed by his acolytes, dance at the dead mans funeral with music he supply's from the grave. Meles, late victor of the "Bald Man's War", wanting 1.0 Billion yearly stipend of US taxpayer money released. You see, while he and Issayas were kicking sand at each other, Congress took the laudable precaution of requiring, for the stability and security of a region they had already poured $6.5 Billion into, the return of the Ethiopian Crown, what is a Woyane to do? "Flipping the script" on congress, Meles is holding a meeting or two in DC to show off Mengesha allowing congress the illusion that he is at least "considering", their requirements with a Crown candidate albeit one fitting his ethnicist agenda, giggling himself silly all the way home if he succeeds. These days Meles' men can be seen talking him up in regards to the war that just concluded. That it would not have occurred if he had not been leading or that it would have been concluded with diplomacy is of course of no importance to them. That it was to the combined might of Ethiopians, the charge of the lion and its cubs, not Ethnic supermen whose magic bullets never miss, that fortifications of Badme, Forto and Aymoker fell has been forgotten unlike earlier when it was paraded with every government pronouncement. So slyly, while young men died to right the ill he wrought, Meles plotted getting his hands on American money by stealing the Crown via his mercenary kinsmen to add to what he had already stolen: the Church, the parliament and the flag. Our own Ethnicist kings courtesy of our Ethnicist Premier and his Ethnicist Abune, a veritable freak show. Other signs of the resurging popularity of Haileselassie I would have prevailed on Meles in time to heed his Abune's advice. Inspite of the Derg's and now Woyane's best efforts, it is apparent that to borrow the title from Helen Sanford's 1947 book "The Lion of Judah hath prevailed". Haileselassie I's likeness, his words and speeches adorns virtually every home in Ethiopia and Eritrea, the dorm rooms of Ethiopian and none Ethiopian students. To put this in mild presepective in regards to Meles who has never lost an opportunity to murder the mans name, it is akin to a victim returning from the grave as the town Sheriff. The "Teflon Crown" of Haileselassie I, surprisingly back from the dead. ___________________________________________________ GO.com Mail Get Your Free, Private E-mail at http://mail.go.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:12 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: March 26, 2002 Ethiopians From all Over Europe Will Hold Protest Rallies on=20 the 12th & 13th of April in The Hague, The Netherlands. =20 April 13, 2002 will go down in Ethiopian history as the day that our nation=20 and its people were finally thrown to the wolves - courtesy of the traitor &= =20 sworn enemy of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi, with the connivance of the long=20 standing enemies of Ethiopia and the blessing of the United Nations!!! We=20 Ethiopians have, therefore, decided that we will not give our internal &=20 external enemies the pleasure of basking in the malicious act of sacrificing= =20 Ethiopia at the altars of calumny!!! To add insult to injury the same partie= s=20 have set the113Th of April as the day they will legalize their ignoble=20 machinations! History is and shall be our witness when we declare: "Let the=20 world know that Ethiopians wherever they are, neither endorse nor feel bound= =20 or obliged by any and all illegal deals whose sole intent is to strip us of=20 our legal & historical rights and whose major objective is to undermine our=20 existence as a nation and people!!!" We, Ethiopians living in Europe have=20 therefore vowed to let the enemies of Ethiopia know, that the Ethiopian=20 people have declared the illegal deals due to be signed in the Hague are NUL= L=20 & VOID!!! We, the members of the Swedish chapter of TISJD [The Tigrean=20 International Solidarity for Justice & democracy], in Cooperation with other= =20 Ethiopian civic and political organizations In Sweden, call upon all=20 Ethiopians in Europe to come down on the Hague on the 12th & 13Th of April=20 and send a RESOUNDING message of NO to our foes!!! The first rally will be=20 held on the 12th of April 2002, 12:00 [in the Hague] The Second rally will b= e=20 held on Saturday, to coincide with the date when the illegal deal is to be=20 signed [in the Hague] The Hague Next!!! For further information please contact: VEN [Voreningen fanEthiopi=EBrs I Nederland e-mail: venethiopia@wff.nel telefax: +31+20-6106984 Amsterdam=20 =20 --part1_154.b2c8271.29d19850_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Ethiopi= ans in Europe

THE HAGUE NEXT!=20

From Ethiopian Taskforce in Europe=20

March 26, 2002 Ethiopians From all Over Europe Will H= old Protest Rallies on the 12th & 13th of April in The Hague, The Nether= lands.  

April 13, 2002 will go down in Ethiopian history as the day that our nat= ion and its people were finally thrown to the wolves - courtesy of the trait= or & sworn enemy of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi, with the connivance of the lo= ng standing enemies of Ethiopia and the blessing of the United Nations!!! We= Ethiopians have, therefore, decided that we will not give our internal &= ; external enemies the pleasure of basking in the malicious act of sacrifici= ng Ethiopia at the altars of calumny!!! To add insult to injury the same par= ties have set the113Th of April as the day they will legalize their ignoble=20= machinations! History is and shall be our witness when we declare: "Let the=20= world know that Ethiopians wherever they are, neither endorse nor feel bound= or obliged by any and all illegal deals whose sole intent is to strip us of= our legal & historical rights and whose major objective is to undermine= our existence as a nation and people!!!" We, Ethiopians living in Europe ha= ve therefore vowed to let the enemies of Ethiopia know, that the Ethiopian p= eople have declared the illegal deals due to be signed in the Hague are NULL= & VOID!!! We, the members of the Swedish chapter of TISJD [The Tigrean=20= International Solidarity for Justice & democracy], in Cooperation with o= ther Ethiopian civic and political organizations In Sweden, call upon all Et= hiopians in Europe to come down on the Hague on the 12th & 13Th of April= and send a RESOUNDING message of NO to our foes!!! The first rally will be=20= held on the 12th of April 2002, 12:00 [in the Hague] The Second rally will b= e held on Saturday, to coincide with the date when the illegal deal is to be= signed [in the Hague] The Hague Next!!!

For further information please contact:
VEN [Voreningen fanEthiopi=EBrs I Nederland
e-mail: venethiopia@wff.nel
telefax: +31+20-6106984 Amsterdam=20

=20

--part1_154.b2c8271.29d19850_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:18 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: victory=20 for Ethiopia and demonstrates that justice has prevailed over aggression.=20 After effectively quashing the Eritrea regime=E2=80=99s feeble attempts at r= ivalry by=20 the gallant Ethiopian forces, the government shows that Ethiopia has=20 triumphed over the aggressor in both the diplomatic and military fronts.=20 Quite an achievement indeed in the opinion of many. =20 And as with the military campaign, the government claims that strenuous=20 efforts have been launched to win on the diplomatic side too. In a series of= =20 statements issued through the government media, the public has been told tha= t=20 the government has deployed every conceivable effort that led finally to the= =20 favourable ruling reached by the court. Lawyers of international repute, as=20 well as documents of historical and scientific relevance have been gathered=20 and presented to the court, leaving it but with only one choice- that the=20 disputed territories, namely Badme, Zalambessa, Irob, Alitena, Bada and=20 Edemrug belong to Ethiopia, and Ethiopia only. =20 In another side of the whole saga are views aired by members of the various=20 opposition parties and the private media, whose reservation with the ruling=20 has much more to do with the colonial treaties of the 1900=E2=80=99s on whic= h the=20 ruling is based. Signed between the governments of Ethiopia and then=20 colonial Italy, these treaties, the opposition say, were signed under variou= s=20 forms of acts of swindling and intimidation by the colonial government on=20 Ethiopia. Even then, the opposition continue, the treaties were later=20 nullified as illegitimate by the international community because the Italian= =20 government launched a second act of aggression on Ethiopia in contravention=20 to the dictates of these same treaties. They are thus irrelevant to the case= =20 at hand. =20 At the center of the reservation by the opposition is the question of Assab.= =20 In accepting this ruling based on defunct colonial treaties, the government=20 is hitting the last nail on the coffin to any claim by Ethiopians of the por= t=20 of Assab and thus making the country land-locked once and for all, a mistake= ,=20 they say, of Historical proportions. One of the opposition political parties= ,=20 the Ethiopian Democratic unity Party went further in this regard and=20 collected close to 100,000 signatures of petition and submitted them to the=20 office of the Secretary General of the United Nations- pointing to the=20 dangerous move that is about to make this nation land-locked for ever. =20 But all this opposition may be to no avail. For one thing, the international= =20 community cannot act otherwise than in accordance with the claims made by th= e=20 legitimate governments of both countries, and the Ethiopian government has=20 long since swore that any claim to the port of Assab is out of the Question.= =20 In fact, the government has lately issued statements warning all parties=20 engaged in =E2=80=98unrealistically raising the expectations of the public o= n Asab to=20 refrain from doing so because it is only obvious that it is now impossible=20 for the country to make Assab its own by peaceful or other means.=E2=80=99 A= ny=20 surprises. =20 --part1_9e.253c6b91.29f1c221_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en

The=20= Ruling And The Public Mood

=20
It is now two years since the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea waged=20= a fierce battle that claimed immense human and material losses. And what do=20= they get by way of the ruling from an international arbitration court in The= Hague that has been toiling for the past six months to determine a peaceful= solution to the crisis? Nothing out of the ordinary except that nearly all=20= the territories that were under Ethiopian administration prior to the commen= cement of the war would remain Ethiopian. Why thus all that loss and fuss th= en? After all, Lewis Carol wrote a century and a half ago that it requires a= ll the running one could make to keep on the same point.
=20
If anything, the ruling that was reached at by the court and announced a= t a press conference on Saturday by Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin has left=20= the public even more bewildered than before. So much so that most members of= the media, both public and private, found themselves at a loss to determine= if they have any surprises to tell the public. A confounded reporter for a=20= national daily struggled for words as, on the occasion, he asked the foreign= minister how he should write the story only to be told to =E2=80=98tell the= public that aggression never pays=E2=80=99.
=20
From the government=E2=80=99s point of view, the ruling constitutes a ma= jor victory for Ethiopia and demonstrates that justice has prevailed over ag= gression. After effectively quashing the Eritrea regime=E2=80=99s feeble att= empts at rivalry by the gallant Ethiopian forces, the government shows that=20= Ethiopia has triumphed over the aggressor in both the diplomatic and militar= y fronts. Quite an achievement indeed in the opinion of many.
=20
And as with the military campaign, the government claims that strenuous=20= efforts have been launched to win on the diplomatic side too. In a series of= statements issued through the government media, the public has been told th= at the government has deployed every conceivable effort that led finally to=20= the favourable ruling reached by the court. Lawyers of international repute,= as well as documents of historical and scientific relevance have been gathe= red and presented to the court, leaving it but with only one choice- that th= e disputed territories, namely Badme, Zalambessa, Irob, Alitena, Bada and Ed= emrug belong to Ethiopia, and Ethiopia only.
=20
In another side of the whole saga are views aired by members of the vari= ous opposition parties and the private media, whose reservation with the rul= ing has much more to do with the colonial treaties of the 1900=E2=80=99s on=20= which the ruling is based.  Signed between the governments of Ethiopia=20= and then colonial Italy, these treaties, the opposition say, were signed und= er various forms of acts of swindling and intimidation by the colonial gover= nment on Ethiopia. Even then, the opposition continue, the treaties were lat= er nullified as illegitimate by the international community because the Ital= ian government launched a second act of aggression on Ethiopia in contravent= ion to the dictates of these same treaties. They are thus irrelevant to the=20= case at hand.
=20
At the center of the reservation by the opposition is the question of As= sab. In accepting this ruling based on defunct colonial treaties, the govern= ment is hitting the last nail on the coffin to any claim by Ethiopians of th= e port of Assab and thus making the country land-locked once and for all, a=20= mistake, they say, of Historical proportions. One of the opposition politica= l parties, the Ethiopian Democratic unity Party went further in this regard=20= and collected close to 100,000 signatures of petition and submitted them to=20= the office of the Secretary General of the United Nations- pointing to the d= angerous move that is about to make this nation land-locked for ever.
=20
But all this opposition may be to no avail. For one thing, the internati= onal community cannot act otherwise than in accordance with the claims made=20= by the legitimate governments of both countries, and the Ethiopian governmen= t has long since swore that any claim to the port of Assab is out of the Que= stion. In fact, the government has lately issued statements warning all part= ies engaged in =E2=80=98unrealistically raising the expectations of the publ= ic on Asab to refrain from doing so because it is only obvious that it is no= w impossible for the country to make Assab its own by peaceful or other mean= s.=E2=80=99 Any surprises.
=20

--part1_9e.253c6b91.29f1c221_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:19 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: --part1_29.2658f5ac.29fda7a4_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/world/africa/newsid_1951000/1951612.stm

BBC News Online

Thursday, 25 April, 2002, 21:13 GMT 22:13 UK

Kenya anti-corruption courts set up


The authorities in Kenya have set up two new courts that will deal solely with cases of corruption and fraud. The move comes after pressure from international donors for the government to do more to combat official corruption. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspended a loan package to Kenya in 2000 after accusing the authorities of failing to effectively tackle fraud. A spokesman for a Kenyan anti-corruption campaign group, Joshua Rajuwayi, welcomed the establishment of the Nairobi courts as an important first step.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
--part1_29.2658f5ac.29fda7a4_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:23 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Take the BAY BRIDGE/OAKLAND Merge onto I-80 E. Take the I-580 E exit towards CA-24/DOWNTOWN OAKLAND/HAYWARD-STOCKTON Merge onto I-580 E. Take the BROADWAY/WEBSTER ST exit. Turn LEFT onto WEBSTER ST. Stay straight to go onto HAWTHORNE AVE. From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:23 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: I-880 N Take I-980 E towards CA-24/WALNUT CREEK Merge onto I-980 E. Take the 17TH ST exit towards SAN PABLO AVE Merge onto CASTRO ST. Turn LEFT onto MARTIN LUTHER KING JR WAY Turn RIGHT onto W GRAND AVE. Turn LEFT onto NORTHGATE AVE. Turn RIGHT onto 27TH ST. Turn LEFT onto TELEGRAPH AVE. Turn RIGHT onto HAWTHORNE AVE. From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:23 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Take I-80 W. I-80 W becomes I-580 E. Take the I-580 E exit on the left towards DOWNTOWN OAKLAND/HAYWARD/STOCKTON Merge onto I-580 E. Take the BROADWAY/WEBSTER ST exit. Turn LEFT onto WEBSTER ST. Stay straight to go onto HAWTHORNE AVE. __________________________________________________ From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:23 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: --part1_8a.1cb0cb92.2a88cd1c_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Saturday, 10 August, 2002, 15:45 GMT 16:45 UK

Drought kills Ethiopian cattle


The Ethiopian Government says nearly 180,000 cattle have died in the districts of Afar, Oromiya and Somali in the past three months because of severe drought.

The Ministry of Agriculture said the late arrival of rains last year and the failure of the rains this year have led to a shortage of water and grazing.

Correspondents say the death of the cattle will have a devastating impact on peoples' livelihoods.

The United Nations World Food Programme has warned that millions of people in the east, north and south of Ethiopia are facing food shortages.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

--part1_8a.1cb0cb92.2a88cd1c_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:27 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Ethiopia faces a famine worse than the catastrophe of 1984, according to the= =20 country=E2=80=99s prime minister. Bad weather is partly to blame. But, as el= sewhere=20 in Africa, so too is bad government =20 ON NOVEMBER 11th, Ethiopia=E2=80=99s prime minister, Meles Zenawi, said that= his=20 country faces a famine even more destructive that the disaster of 1984 which= =20 so appalled western television viewers. Some 15m Ethiopians, he said, will=20 need food aid by early next year, out of a population of about 65m. He=20 appealed for help, pleading that =E2=80=9Cwe cannot cope on our own=E2=80= =9D. Africa faces two separate food crises. Until now, the consensus has been tha= t=20 the shortage in southern Africa was more serious than the one in Ethiopia,=20 situated in the north-east. Foreign donors have not delivered enough to feed= =20 all the hungry in either region, but they have shown more willing to help ou= t=20 in the south=E2=80=94hence the prime minister=E2=80=99s unusually blunt appe= al. Both food crises have complex causes, among them bad weather. In much of=20 Ethiopia, the rains have failed, withering crops, killing cows and even=20 camels, and forcing millions of peasants to run down their meagre stores or=20 beg for maize from neighbours or relief agencies. In southern African=20 countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho and Swaziland, a drought= =20 of exceptional severity has had the same effect. =20 But bad weather is rarely enough, on its own, to kill large numbers of=20 people. Famine usually requires bad government, too. In southern Africa, AID= S=20 is another factor, weakening millions and making it harder for them to cope=20 with hunger. There is nothing that can be done about the weather, at least i= n=20 the short term, and those who are already infected with the HIV virus that=20 causes AIDS cannot be cured. So the best hope, for now, lies in better=20 policies, more competently implemented.=20 In Ethiopia, the food crisis has been aggravated by the legacy of=20 a senseless border war with neighbouring Eritrea between 1998 and 2000. This= =20 killed tens of thousands, forced 350,000 to flee=20 their homes, blasted both countries' infrastructure and prompted foreign=20 donors to freeze a lot of aid. In all, it cost Ethiopia an estimated $2.9=20 billion=E2=80=94almost a whole year=E2=80=99s output for every farmer in a c= ountry where 80%=20 of the population live on farms. Such a monumental man-made disaster has mad= e=20 it harder for=20 the country to cope with a natural one. On the plus side, the current Ethiopian government is not indifferent to its= =20 people=E2=80=99s suffering, unlike the Marxist military regime that presided= over the=20 famine of 1984, refusing to allow foreign aid in until, for multitudes of=20 Ethiopians, it was too late. That regime was overthrown in 1991, and since=20 then food production has steadily increased. But half the population remains= =20 desperately poor, a plight made harder to escape by insecure land tenure and= =20 the government=E2=80=99s failure to abolish the old feudal system of extract= ing heavy=20 taxes from peasants.=20 In southern Africa, too, it is notable that well-governed countries, such as= =20 South Africa and Botswana, have not suffered food shortages, despite the=20 drought. The hungriest countries are all, to varying degrees, misruled.=20 Swaziland=E2=80=99s absolute monarch tried to spend more than the food-aid b= udget on=20 a private jet. (His advisers stopped him, but not before he had made the=20 first down-payment.) Senior members of Malawi=E2=80=99s government sold off=20= the=20 country=E2=80=99s entire emergency grain reserve, and appear to have pockete= d the=20 cash. They then tried to blame the International Monetary Fund, which had=20 advised them to sell some of the grain reserve, but had not suggested that=20 they should pinch the money. Zambia has also had trouble with officials=20 stealing from the food-aid budget, and has rejected food aid from America=20 that may be genetically modified, on the ground that although it is good=20 enough for Americans, it is not safe enough for starving Zambians. Warehouse= s=20 full of American maize sit locked and undistributed in some of the worst-hit= =20 areas of Zambia.=20 But by far the most egregious case of state-induced hunger is in Zimbabwe,=20 where cereal production has fallen by two-thirds over the past two years,=20 largely because the government of President Robert Mugabe is waging war on=20 the most productive farmers. He wishes to crush white commercial farmers, in= =20 part because they helped to fund the opposition in an election he stole in=20 March. Mr Mugabe=E2=80=99s henchmen have tried to control the distribution o= f food=20 aid, to make sure that his supporters are fed and his opponents are not. His= =20 cronies do not even trouble to disguise what they are doing: a deputy=20 minister said that =E2=80=9Cthe [ruling] party will start feeding its childr= en before=20 turning to those of the [opposition]=E2=80=9D.=20 Aid agencies insist that they will not allow their supplies to be abused in=20 this way, but they have failed to stop this sort of behaviour in the past in= =20 Sudan, Somalia, Angola and elsewhere. And Mr Mugabe=E2=80=99s government has= a legal=20 monopoly on grain sales within Zimbabwe. It has used this as an excuse to=20 confiscate private stocks of food, which, if large, are clearly =E2=80=9Cint= ended for=20 sale=E2=80=9D and can therefore be legally taken.=20 As always, donors wishing to stave off famine in Africa will have to deal=20 with some awful politicians in the countries that need help. But what choice= =20 have they, when the alternative is to turn away while people starve? =20 --part1_1a6.beaea01.2b04c65d_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Language: en http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story= _id=3D1440625

THE ECONOMIST =20

Bad weather, bad government

Nov 11, 2002

From The Economist Global Agenda

Ethiopia faces a famine worse than the catastrophe of 1= 984, according to the country=E2=80=99s prime minister. Bad weather is partl= y to blame. But, as elsewhere in Africa, so too is bad government
=20
ON NOVEMBER 11th, Ethiopia=E2=80=99s prime minister, Meles= Zenawi, said that his country faces a famine even more destructive that the= disaster of 1984 which so appalled western television viewers. Some 15m Eth= iopians, he said, will need food aid by early next year, out of a population= of about 65m. He appealed for help, pleading that =E2=80=9Cwe cannot cope o= n our own=E2=80=9D.
Africa faces two separate food crises. Until now, the cons= ensus has been that the shortage in southern Africa was more serious than th= e one in Ethiopia, situated in the north-east. Foreign donors have not deliv= ered enough to feed all the hungry in either region, but they have shown mor= e willing to help out in the south=E2=80=94hence the prime minister=E2=80= =99s unusually blunt appeal.
Both food crises have complex causes, among them bad weath= er. In much of Ethiopia, the rains have failed, withering crops, killing cow= s and even camels, and forcing millions of peasants to run down their meagre= stores or beg for maize from neighbours or relief agencies. In southern Afr= ican countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho and Swaziland, a dr= ought of exceptional severity has had the same effect.
=20
But bad weather is rarely enough, on its own, to kill larg= e numbers of people. Famine usually requires bad government, too. In souther= n Africa, AIDS is another factor, weakening millions and making it harder fo= r them to cope with hunger. There is nothing that can be done about the weat= her, at least in the short term, and those who are already infected with the= HIV virus that causes AIDS cannot be cured. So the best hope, for now, lies= in better policies, more competently implemented.=20

In Ethiopia, the food crisis has been aggravated by the= legacy of=20
a senseless border war with neighbouring Eritrea between 1998 and 2000.=20= This killed tens of thousands, forced 350,000 to flee=20
their homes, blasted both countries' infrastructure and prompted foreign= donors to freeze a lot of aid. In all, it cost Ethiopia an es= timated $2.9 billion=E2=80=94almost a whole year=E2=80=99s output for every=20= farmer in a country where 80% of the population live on farms. Such a monumental man-made disaster has made it harder for=20
the country to cope with a natural one.

On the plus side, the current Ethiopian government is not=20= indifferent to its people=E2=80=99s suffering, unlike the Marxist military r= egime that presided over the famine of 1984, refusing to allow foreign aid i= n until, for multitudes of Ethiopians, it was too late. That regime was over= thrown in 1991, and since then food production has steadily increased. But h= alf the population remains desperately poor, a plight made harder to escape=20= by insecure land tenure and the government=E2=80=99s failure to abolish the=20= old feudal system of extracting heavy taxes from peasants.

In southern Africa, too, it is notable that well-governed=20= countries, such as South Africa and Botswana, have not suffered food shortag= es, despite the drought. The hungriest countries are all, to varying degrees= , misruled. Swaziland=E2=80=99s absolute monarch tried to spend more than th= e food-aid budget on a private jet. (His advisers stopped him, but not befor= e he had made the first down-payment.) Senior members of Malawi=E2=80=99s go= vernment sold off the country=E2=80=99s entire emergency grain reserve, and=20= appear to have pocketed the cash. They then tried to blame the International= Monetary Fund, which had advised them to sell some of the grain reserve, bu= t had not suggested that they should pinch the money. Zambia has also had tr= ouble with officials stealing from the food-aid budget, and has rejected foo= d aid from America that may be genetically modified, on the ground that alth= ough it is good enough for Americans, it is not safe enough for starving Zam= bians. Warehouses full of American maize sit locked and undistributed in som= e of the worst-hit areas of Zambia.

But by far the most egregious case of state-induced hunger= is in Zimbabwe, where cereal production has fallen by two-thirds over the p= ast two years, largely because the government of President Robert Mugabe is=20= waging war on the most productive farmers. He wishes to crush white commerci= al farmers, in part because they helped to fund the opposition in an electio= n he stole in March. Mr Mugabe=E2=80=99s henchmen have tried to control the=20= distribution of food aid, to make sure that his supporters are fed and his o= pponents are not. His cronies do not even trouble to disguise what they are=20= doing: a deputy minister said that =E2=80=9Cthe [ruling] party will start fe= eding its children before turning to those of the [opposition]=E2=80=9D.
Aid agencies insist that they will not allow their supplie= s to be abused in this way, but they have failed to stop this sort of behavi= our in the past in Sudan, Somalia, Angola and elsewhere. And Mr Mugabe=E2= =80=99s government has a legal monopoly on grain sales within Zimbabwe. It h= as used this as an excuse to confiscate private stocks of food, which, if la= rge, are clearly =E2=80=9Cintended for sale=E2=80=9D and can therefore be le= gally taken.

As always, donors wishing to stave off famine in Africa wi= ll have to deal with some awful politicians in the countries that need help.= But what choice have they, when the alternative is to turn away while peopl= e starve?
=20
--part1_1a6.beaea01.2b04c65d_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:28 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Tel (202) 291-4217 Fax (202) 291-7645 For eleven long years opposition parties, both at home and abroad, have been demanding the EPDRF (Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Revolutionary Front) regime to live up-to its promise of upholding democracy. However, from the outset, the regime has ignored the call for democratic process, good governance and political pluralism. It outlawed and persecuted political opposition. Locked up journalists and muzzled press freedom. Consistently carried out carefully planned, selective assassinations, disappearances and imprisonment of political opponents. Still worse, wrought incalculable damage to the identity and national psyche of the people by adopting poisonous policies that promote ethnic animosity and destroy national cohesion. Witness the war with Eritrea, the massacre of University students in Addis Ababa and very recently the killing of peasants in Southern Ethiopia. Since its inception, political repression and abuse of human rights characterize the regime. Currently it has 15,000 political prisoners behind bars. Apart from the internal strife, which is consuming it, the current regime has proved itself unwilling and unfit to protect and promote the interest of the country and its people. The combined calamities of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, famine, poverty, war and environmental degradation are decimating the people. The lofty dreams of peace, prosperity and democratic rule that accompanied the fall of the military dictatorship in 1991 have turned into a nightmare of political repression, abuse of human rights, ethnic polarization and untold corruption. Worse still, the regime is fracturing within; in April 2002, the TPLF split into two camps and members of the losing group were jailed en-masse. Currently another split is brewing within the Prime Minister's group, preparing the country for untold political disaster. Having considered the gravity of the situation, the opposition is calling for the formation of an all inclusive transitional government. In order to achieve this goal, the opposition needs a) to forge a common platform around core national issues and b) to engage the ruling group in constructive dialogue leading to reconciliation and peaceful transition. Along this route, representatives from opposition political organizations, both at home and abroad, have formed a Conference Preparatory Committee, which will organize a conference in order to synchronize the position of the opposition forces for a second phase conference involving the regime. However at this point the opposition cannot undertake such a formidable task without the active involvement of the public. We strongly rely on the support and assistance of all peace loving Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopians to attain the task. The Committee has a tentative plan to hold the conference in early next year, and we trust that the public will support us in this endeavor. All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP, the former AAPO) Council of Alternative Forces for Peace and Democracy (CAFPDE) Ethiopian Democratic Union -Tehadiso (EDU- Tehadiso) Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Party (EPRP) Gambella People's Democratic Movement (GPDM) Ethipian People Federal Democratic Unity Party (Hibrehizb) All Ethiopian Socialist Movement (MEISON) Oromo National Congress (ONC) Southern Ethiopia Peoles Democratic Coalition (SEPDC) Tigrian Alliance for National Democracy (TAND) --part1_140.2f31647.2b0a90cb_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Press Release

The Need For An All Party Conference in Ethiopia
From the Conference Preparatory Committee
E-mail: allpartycoc@yahoo.com
Tel (202) 291-4217   Fax (202) 291-7645

For eleven long years opposition parties, both at home and abroad, have been
demanding the EPDRF (Ethiopian Peoples Democratic Revolutionary Front) regime
to live up-to its promise of upholding democracy.  However, from the outset,
the regime has ignored the call for democratic process, good governance and
political pluralism.  It outlawed and persecuted political opposition.  
Locked up journalists and muzzled press freedom.  Consistently carried out
carefully planned, selective assassinations, disappearances and imprisonment
of political opponents.  Still worse, wrought incalculable damage to the
identity and national psyche of the people by adopting poisonous policies
that promote ethnic animosity and destroy national cohesion.  

Witness the war with Eritrea, the massacre of University students in Addis
Ababa and very recently the killing of peasants in Southern Ethiopia.  Since
its inception, political repression and abuse of human rights characterize
the regime.  Currently it has 15,000 political prisoners behind bars.  Apart
from the internal strife, which is consuming it, the current regime has
proved itself unwilling and unfit to protect and promote the interest of the
country and its people.  The combined calamities of the HIV/AIDS pandemic,
famine, poverty, war and environmental degradation are decimating the
people.  The lofty dreams of peace, prosperity and democratic rule that
accompanied the fall of the military dictatorship in 1991 have turned into a
nightmare of political repression, abuse of human rights, ethnic polarization
and untold corruption.

Worse still, the regime is fracturing within; in April 2002, the TPLF split
into two camps and members of the losing group were jailed en-masse.  
Currently another split is brewing within the Prime Minister's group,
preparing the country for untold political disaster.

Having considered the gravity of the situation, the opposition is calling for
the formation of an all inclusive transitional government.  In order to
achieve this goal, the opposition needs a) to forge a common platform around
core national issues and b) to engage the ruling group in constructive
dialogue leading to reconciliation and peaceful transition.  Along this
route, representatives from opposition political organizations, both at home
and abroad, have formed a Conference Preparatory Committee, which will
organize a conference in order to synchronize the position of the opposition
forces for a second phase conference involving the regime.  

However at this point the opposition cannot undertake such a formidable task
without the active involvement of the public.  We strongly rely on the
support and assistance of all peace loving Ethiopians and friends of
Ethiopians to attain the task.  The Committee has a tentative plan to hold
the conference in early next year, and we trust that the public will support
us in this endeavor.

All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP, the former AAPO)
Council of Alternative Forces for Peace and Democracy (CAFPDE)
Ethiopian Democratic Union -Tehadiso  (EDU- Tehadiso)
Ethiopian Democratic Party  (EDP)
Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Party (EPRP)
Gambella People's Democratic Movement (GPDM)
Ethipian People Federal Democratic Unity Party (Hibrehizb)
All Ethiopian Socialist Movement (MEISON)
Oromo National Congress (ONC)
Southern Ethiopia Peoles Democratic Coalition (SEPDC)
Tigrian Alliance for National Democracy  (TAND)
--part1_140.2f31647.2b0a90cb_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:28 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Ministers of Education and by the Speakers of the Houses, except Ethiopia. The Woyyane Minister of Education, Genet Zewdie avoided humiliation by sending her poor Vice Minister to face the music. The Speaker of the House of Woyyane, Dawit Yohannes avoided listening to his shame by sending Petros Wolango, his Deputy. However, that did not stop delegates from discussing the horrendous abuse of human rights in Ethiopia by the Ethiopian regime. In particular, the regimes repressive actions against teachers were pronounced more than anything. The regime has still prosecuting teachers and their union. The ETA offices are still sealed. ETA bank account is still frozen. ETA members are still harassed and terrorised. The regimes failure in implanting the Dakar Resolution was more openly declared by pointing out to the tribal education policy of Woyyane. The Woyyane regime was exposed for turning a generation in a bunch of ignorant by ignoring the teachers while drafting the policy. Woyyane representatives tried to defend the Bantustan Education policy as a blameless but wanted to blame the teachers who failed putting it into practice. However, they couldn't prevent the Conference from announcing Ethiopian achievements in light of Dakar Resolution as Quantity of None. That infuriated Woyyane thugs. Dr Taye returned to Addis Ababa on 03 December 2002. The ETA has been organising a Conference for teachers on Sunday 08 December 2002 on the Dar Es Salaam Resolutions. Teachers have been preparing themselves to travel to Addis over the weekend anxiously to listen to their President, Dr Taye Woldesemiate on the topics covered on the Conference. Woyyane thugs who came from the bush started acting wild again. In order to sabotage and spoil the planned weekend Conference of ETA they did the unthinkable. WOYYANE THUGS ARRESTED ATO ABATE ANGORE. As soon as Ato Gemoraw Kassa, the ETA General Secretary heard the dreadful news he called Addis and talked to Dr Taye Woldesemiate only to confirm that Ato Abate Angore, Acting General Secretary of ETA was arrested yesterday on 03 December 2002. He is now on detention at Maekelawi Criminal Investigation Bureau (MCIB) prison cell, Addis Ababa. He has no access to colleagues and relatives. Ato Gemoraw Kassa reminds us that Ato Abate's warrant for investigation at MCIB was initially sent to the ETA head office while he was in Amsterdam to take part at the FNV annual congress held in June 2001 at Utrecht. Upon his return to Ethiopia he was detained without charge at Maekelawi for three days and released on bail. During the investigation, he was told that the police wanted him because the press release he gave, in connection to the Addis Ababa University students+IBk- strike for academic freedom in April 2001, was considered as inflammatory to the regime. They accused him of instigating the public against the government. Since then Abate has been appearing at Maekelawi whenever they want him. He was summoned to court on 18 November 2002 but the judges were not available and he had to wait for the next hearing for which he was told by police that the date would be disclosed to him through registrar office. While Ato Abate was waiting for the next court hearing, the police from MCIB arrested him yesterday without giving him any explanation for their current act. The news that reach us from Addis confirms that The ETA strongly condemned this act of the police and kindly requested EI and its all member organizations as well as all friends of Ethiopia to urgently write to the Woyyane Prime Minister Meles Genawi's office asking for the unconditional release of Ato Abate Angore, Acting General Secretary of Ethiopian Teachers Association. Personally, I don't see any point of writing to Woyyane dictator's office to demand the freedom this heroic son of Ethiopia, who stood up to Woyyane all these years. We need to approach all international trade and human rights organisations and alert them. By exposing Woyyane+IBk-s flagrant violation of trade and human rights we can rescue Ato Abate Angore. Wondimu Mekonnen London, United Kingdom --part1_162.182f5945.2b20f355_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit WOYYANE THUGS ARRESTED ATO ABATE ANGORE, ACTING GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE ETHIOPIAN TEACHERS ASSOCIATION (ETA)
==========================================================
Subj: [EthioForum] - HUMILIATED WOYYANE THUGS ARREST TOP ETA LEADER
Date: 12/4/02 11:26:27 PM Pacific Standard Time
From:    Wondimu.Mekonnen@BTInternet.com (Wondimu.Mekonnen)

HUMILIATED WOYYANE THUGS ARREST TOP ETA LEADER

The President of Ethiopian Teachers Association has returned to Addis Ababa
after attending two International Conferences in Dar Es Salaam, the
Tanzanian capital. The Conferences were on:

Education For All organised by Education International, MINEDAF
and conducted by UNESCO.

MINEDAF- refers to the Fast Track Incentives embracing of 20 countries.
The Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa opened the Conference. The UNESCO
Director, Koichiro Matsuura, chaired it. It was a Tri-Partite Conference,
attended by the Government, Employers and Labour.

The Conference acknowledged 4 countries amount the 20 as successful in
implementing the Dakar Resolution and improving the education, development
and standard of life of their people. Those successful countries were:

Tanzania
Zambia
Niger and
Uganda

The other 16 were criticized for failure in implementing the UNESCO
resolution tainted with human rights violation, corruption and abuse of
power. The Ethiopian Regime toped the list of failures of the test.

From the Governments' side, 19 of the 20 countries were represented by their
Ministers of Education and by the Speakers of the Houses, except Ethiopia.
The Woyyane Minister of Education, Genet Zewdie avoided humiliation by
sending her poor Vice Minister to face the music. The Speaker of the House
of Woyyane, Dawit Yohannes avoided listening to his shame by sending Petros
Wolango, his Deputy. However, that did not stop delegates from discussing
the horrendous abuse of human rights in Ethiopia by the Ethiopian regime. In
particular, the regimes repressive actions against teachers were pronounced
more than anything. The regime has still prosecuting teachers and their
union. The ETA offices are still sealed. ETA bank account is still frozen.
ETA members are still harassed and terrorised.

The regimes failure in implanting the Dakar Resolution was more openly
declared by pointing out to the tribal education policy of Woyyane. The
Woyyane regime was exposed for turning a generation in a bunch of ignorant
by ignoring the teachers while drafting the policy. Woyyane representatives
tried to defend the Bantustan Education policy as a blameless but wanted to
blame the teachers who failed putting it into practice. However, they couldn't prevent the Conference from announcing Ethiopian achievements in light of
Dakar Resolution as Quantity of None. That infuriated Woyyane thugs.

Dr Taye returned to Addis Ababa on 03 December 2002. The ETA has been
organising a Conference for teachers on Sunday 08 December 2002 on the Dar
Es Salaam Resolutions. Teachers have been preparing themselves to travel to
Addis over the weekend anxiously to listen to their President, Dr Taye
Woldesemiate on the topics covered on the Conference. Woyyane thugs who came
from the bush started acting wild again. In order to sabotage and spoil the
planned weekend Conference of ETA they did the unthinkable.

WOYYANE THUGS ARRESTED ATO ABATE ANGORE.

As soon as Ato Gemoraw Kassa, the ETA General Secretary heard the dreadful
news he called Addis and talked to Dr Taye Woldesemiate only to confirm that
Ato Abate Angore, Acting General Secretary of ETA was arrested yesterday on
03 December 2002.  He is now on detention at Maekelawi Criminal
Investigation Bureau (MCIB) prison cell, Addis Ababa.  He has no access to
colleagues and relatives.

Ato Gemoraw Kassa reminds us that Ato Abate's warrant for investigation at
MCIB was initially sent to the ETA head office while he was in Amsterdam to
take part at the FNV annual congress held in June 2001 at Utrecht.  Upon his
return to Ethiopia he was detained without charge at Maekelawi for three
days and released on bail.

During the investigation, he was told that the police wanted him because the
press release he gave, in connection to the Addis Ababa University students+IBk-
strike for academic freedom in April 2001, was considered as inflammatory to
the regime.  They accused him of instigating the public against the
government.

Since then Abate has been appearing at Maekelawi whenever they want him.  He
was summoned to court on 18 November 2002 but the judges were not available
and he had to wait for the next hearing for which he was told by police that
the date would be disclosed to him through registrar office.  While Ato
Abate was waiting for the next court hearing, the police from MCIB arrested
him yesterday without giving him any explanation for their current act.

The news that reach us from Addis confirms that The ETA strongly condemned
this act of the police and kindly requested EI and its all member
organizations as well as all friends of Ethiopia to urgently write to the
Woyyane Prime Minister Meles Genawi's office asking for the unconditional
release of Ato Abate Angore, Acting General Secretary of Ethiopian Teachers
Association.

Personally, I don't see any point of writing to Woyyane dictator's office to
demand the freedom this heroic son of Ethiopia, who stood up to Woyyane all
these years. We need to approach all international trade and human rights
organisations and alert them. By exposing Woyyane+IBk-s flagrant violation of
trade and human rights we can rescue Ato Abate Angore.

Wondimu Mekonnen
London, United Kingdom --part1_162.182f5945.2b20f355_boundary-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:33 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Dear all, The story of Chandra can be quite illuminating. It helps us dispell the = myth that some want us to believe in that the Ethiopian farmers or their = children are not wise enough to comphrehend complicated stories, or to = apply modern approaches. It also helps us dispell the notion that some = might want us to separate the achievements of the west, whom they may = tink is up there and not be usefully interacted with others from the 3rd = world. Most western countries have the custom and tradition of calling people = by their presumed family names. They wrongly believe that all people of = the globe have family names similar to what the western people have. = Chandra is the shortened form of the name of the father of an oustanding = Indean Astronomer Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Subrahmanyan calculated = and arrived at profound astronomical observations even while he was = sailing from India to England. Bellow I qoute a rendition from a book: = "The Theory of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe" by = Professor Stephen Hawking, New Muillenium Press, 2002, p. 48 to 53. In 1928 an Indean graduate student named Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar set = sail for England to study at Cambridge with the British Astronomer Sir = Arthur Edington. Eddington was an expert on general relativity. There = is a story that a journalist told Eddington in the early 1920s that he = had heard there were only three people in the world who understood = general relativity. Eddington replied, "I am trying to think who the = third person is." During the voyage from India, Chandrasekhar worked out how big a star = could be and still separate itself against its own gravity after it had = used up all its fuel. The idea was this: When the star becomes small, = the matter particles get very near each other. But the Pauli exclusion = principle says that two matter particles cannot have both the same = position and the same velocity. The matter particles must therefore = have very different velocities. This makes them move away from each = other, and so tend to make the star expand. A star can therefore = maintain itself at a constant radius by a balance between the attraction = of gravity and the repulsion that arises from the exclusion principle, = just as earlier in its life the garvity was balanced by the heat. Chandrasekhar realized, however, that there is a limit to the repulsion = that the exclusion principle can provide. The theory of relativity = limits the maximum difference in the velocities of the matter particles = in the star to the speed of light. This meant that when a star got = sufficiently dense, the repulsion caused by the exclusion principle = would be less than the attraction of gravity. Chandrasekhar calculated = that a cold star of more than about one and a half times the mass of the = sun would not be able to support itself against its own gravity. The = mass is now known as the Chandrasekhar. This had serious implications for the ultimate fate of massive stars. = If a star's mass is less than Chandrasekhar limit, it can eventually = stop contracting and settle down to a possible final state as a white = dwarf with a radius of a few thousand miles and a density of hundreds of = tons per cubic inch. A white dwarf is supported by the exclusion = principle repulsion between the electrons in its matter. We observe a = large number of these white dwarfs discoveree in the star that is = orbitting around Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. It was realized that there was another possible final state of a star = also with a limiting mass of about one or two times the mass of the sun, = but much smaller than even the white dwarf. These stars would be = supported by the exclusion principle repulsion between the neutrons and = protons, rather than between the electrons. They were therefore called = neutron stars. They would have had a radius of only ten miles or so and = a density of handreds of millions of tons per square inch. At the time = they were first predicted, there was no way that neutron stars could = have been observed, and they were not detected until much later. Stars with masses above the Chandrasekhar limt, on the other hand, have = a big problem when they come to the end of their fuel. In some cases = they may explode or manage to throw off enough matter to reduce their = mass below the limit, but it was difficult to believe that this always = happened, no matter how big the star. How would it know that it had to = lose weight? And even if every star manged to lose enough mass, what = would happen if you added mass to a white dwarf or neutron star to take = it over the limit? Would it collapse to an infinite density? Eddington was shocked by the impliations of this and refused to believe = Chandrasekhar's result. He thought it was simply not possible that a = star could collpase to a point. This was the view of most scientists. = Einstein himself wrote a paper in which he claimed that stars would not = shrink to zero size. The hostility of other scientists, particularly of = Eddington, his former teacher and the leading authority on the structure = of stars, persuaded Chandrasekhar to abandon this line of work and turn = instead to other problems in astronomy. However, when he was awarded = the Noble Prize in 1983; it was at least in part, for his early work on = the limiting mass of cold stars. Chandrasekhar had shown that the excusion principle coul not halt the = collapse of a star more massive than the Chandrasekhar limit. But the = problem of understanding what would happen to such a star, according to = general relativity, was not resolved until 1939 by a young American, = Robert Openheimer. .... Eventually, when a star has shrank to a certain critical radius, the = gravitational field at the surface becomes so strong that light cones = are bent inward so much that the light can no longer escape. According = to the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than light. = Thus, if light cannot escape, neither can anything else. Everything is = dragged back by the gravitational field. So one has a set of events, a = region of space time, from which it is not possible to escape toreach a = distant observer. This region is what we now call a balck hole." -------- A special not to Dr. Belai Some may not subscribe to the KISS faith. Different strokes for = different folks. Another point> you have very useful question when you asked How does = this Geography matters knowledge or hypothesis to be exact relate to the = current crisis is my focus? Focus on solutions. Unfortunately, you did not give opportunities for exploring it, for you = jumped to solutions. HG ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus=20 To: EEDN List Member=20 Cc: Ethioforum@Ethiolist.com ; Pol.Ethiopia@lists.sn.apc.org ; = larry@slight.org ; globalbelai@yahoo.com=20 Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 9:26 AM Subject: [EEDN] 6/18/03: Extrinsic Heavenly Climate Drivers and = Intrinsic Climate Modifiers {02} Dear Patriotic Ethiopians and Friends of Ethiopia: Greetings to you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Congratulations but focus on solving current crisis. I would like to = congratulate Dr Habte-Giorgis for his attempt to educate us about the = need to understand the overall galactic and geographic principles that = impact the weather and the climate in general. Scholarly hypothesis need to be realistic to the current crisis. = Thhis article is is good and we need to appreciate some of the scholarly = basis of the assumed climate changes that is taking place around us. I = have some critical doubts about the veracity of these theories. Since I = do not hold an alternative hypothesis or explanation, I do not have = problems with thereticians articulating thier perceptions. Some of it = sounds rational, some of it far fetched and some difficult to understand = and verify. =20 How does this Geography matters knowledge or hypothesis to be exact = relate to the current crisis is my focus? Focus on solutions. KISS concept. Keep it Simple and Short. My point in writing is let us = keep it simple, short and most importantly relevant to the current = global ecological crisis and man's response to change it for the better = or accelerate the development of ecological waste land. =20 Habte Giorgis wrote: ******************************************* * * * Welcome to EEDN * * Ethiopian Electronic Discussion Network * * * * One Country, One People, One Flag * * EEDN@1ETHIOPIA.ORG * * * ******************************************* Dear all: (General Education:continued) 6/18/03: Extrinsic Heavenly Climate Drivers and Intrinsic Climate = Modifiers INTRODUCTION The Sun's rays impinge on the Earth at different angles, near = vertically in the tropics, and at shallower angles in high latitudes. = Such insolation affects the temperature of the planet. Insolation is low = near the tropics. Moreover the albedo (sun's rays reflected back to = space) from glaciers at the poles further reduces temperature. Hence the = tropics are warmer than the polar regions. In general, temperature = decreases steadily from the equator to the poles. Due to an inclined = spin axis of the Earth, the Sun is in the northern hemisphere during = summers, and in the southern hemisphere during winters. The combined = effect of insolation and inclined spin of the Earth yield higher = variability of temperature at higher latitudes than at the tropics. This = result would be easy to assess if the surface of the Earth was = homogeneous, and the Sun was the only extrinsic climate driver. But the = surface of the Earth is not homogeneous, neither is the Sun the only = extrinsic climate driver. The Earth's surface is covered by water (71%) and land (29%). The = distribution of land and the oceans is not systematic in regard to = latitude, indicating that it is not the extrinsic drivers (e.g. the Sun) = that affect such distribution. The interior heat of the Earth is the = driver, which controls the distribution of land and oceans. The top = rock layer (lithosphere) of the Earth of both land and ocean shift and = drift, guided by intrinsic heat of the Earth. Currently, Ethiopia lies = within 4 to 17 North Latitude and is part of a huge landmass that we = might call Afrosia (Africa and Eurasia), with the Indian Ocean extending = only up to 20 degrees North Latitude. The geographic setting is such = that Ethiopia would have predominantly monsoon climate. As explained in = a previous posting, the huge Pacific Ocean has a bearing and modifies = the monsoon climate. The Atlantic Ocean also has a bearing on the = climate of Ethiopia. =20 We may quickly note that, while Ethiopia is currently north of the = Equator, that was not the case through out its history. Ethiopia used to = be south of the Equator (Dalziel, 1999). There were times when Ethiopia = was far south and was covered by advancing glaciers of the South Pole. = The construction of Ethiopia as a landmass involved the rotation of its = ancient rocks (of the southern Ethiopia) counterclockwise in the = Southern Hemisphere, and as seen from the Southern Hemisphere (Van = Stall, 1998, Dalziel, 1999). The northern part of Ethiopia was = constructed by addition of islands and ocean floor rocks to older rocks = of southern Ethiopia (Shackleton, 1979), before Ethiopia moved north and = to its current position. This is the plate tectonic history of Ethiopia. = Only until 245 million years ago the landmass that is now = Afghanistan-Iran was a coastal region of Somalia, separating what is now = Ethiopia-Somalia from an ambient ocean called the Tethys Sea (Sillitoe, = 1979). At that time, India and Australia were coastal "states" of = Mozambique and South Africa. Afghanistan-Iran, India, and Australia = drifted away from Africa creating the Indian Ocean of the present day. = These drifted continental fragment rammed against Eurasia creating the = mountain belt that extends from north of Australia, through Western = Malaysia, the Himalayas, and the Zagros. At any rate, the modification = to climate from intrinsic (to the earth) sources varied over the = millions of years the Sun shone on Earth with increasing brightness = (luminosity). Geography matters.=20 (Anecdotally, I might mention that while Ethiopia was far in the = southern Hemisphere, with South Africa being north of Ethiopia, North = America and Europe were in the tropics receiving lush vegetation. = Later, the buried wood, through pressure and microbial activity, turned = into the coal fields of the Appalachians of North America and the = caledonides of Great Britain. Coal is the back bone of the Industrial = Revolution, which catapulted Europe and America to economic and military = prominence. Geography matters. ) Everything is made of elements. The identity of an element is the = number of protons in its nucleus. The nucleus contains protons and = neutrons. An element can have heavy or light isotopes depending on = whether or not the nucleus has many or few neutrons, respectively. The = ratio of heavy to light isotopes of an element is dependent on = temperature and pressure. Geologists have measured oxygen isotopes in = sedimentary rocks and have determined the ancient climate of the planet = from such data. Perhaps, the most striking aspect of the climate change = of the globe is the variation in cold (icehouse globe) and warm = (hothouse globe) periods of the whole globe, which recurs with a period = of about 135 million years (Veizer and others, 2002). Working = independently, astrophysicists have found that the solar system passes = through an arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, every 137 million years (Shaviv, = 2003). Shaviv (2003) has described that cosmic ray flux (CRF) produced = from supernova relate to global cooling. { It should be noted that the = Solar System revolves around the center of the Milky Way galaxy. As it = revolves it also moves in and out of the galactic arm, much as horses on = merry-go-round bob up and down.} The cosmic rays strip electrons from = neutral molecules in the atmosphere and make them charged ions. The = ions serve as nuclei for condensation of water vapor and cloud = formation. The colder global temperature (icehouse globe) occur when = the solar system passes the galactic arm. It follows then that there = is a Milky Way or celestial forcing of climate on planet Earth (Shaviv = and Veizer, 2003). Currently, we are in an icehouse condition, with the = solar system having began the arm crossing 55 million years ago, 30 = million years before the highest CRF value was reached. Further, = evidence for supernova (star explosion) is that ocean sediments contain = 76Fe (Shaviv and Veizer (2003). All elements with isotopes higher than = iron 56 are formed by fission during supernova. HG ************************************************* To Unsubscribe from EEDN LIST send an email to: EEDN-UNSUBSCRIBE@1ETHIOPIA.ORG Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH Global Belai Enterprises, Inc www.SolomonicCrown.org e-mail:globalbelai@yahoo.com Telephone: 703 933 8737 -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ----- Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! ------=_NextPart_000_0027_01C34EA6.42E13920 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
 
From the desk of HG:
 
Dear all,
 
The story of Chandra can be quite=20 illuminating.  It helps us dispell the myth that some want us=20 to believe in that the Ethiopian farmers or their = children are=20 not wise enough to comphrehend complicated stories, or to apply = modern=20 approaches. It also helps us dispell the notion that some might want us = to=20 separate the achievements of the west, whom they may tink is up = there and=20 not be usefully interacted with others from the 3rd world.
 
Most western countries have the custom = and=20 tradition of calling people by their presumed family names.  They = wrongly=20 believe that all people of the globe have family names similar to what = the=20 western people have.  Chandra is the shortened form of the name of = the=20 father of an oustanding Indean Astronomer Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.=20 Subrahmanyan calculated and arrived at profound astronomical  = observations=20 even while he was sailing from India to England.  Bellow I = qoute  a=20 rendition from a book:  "The Theory of Everything: The Origin and = Fate of=20 the Universe" by Professor Stephen Hawking, New Muillenium Press, 2002, = p. 48 to=20 53.
 
In 1928 an Indean graduate student = named=20 Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar set sail for England to study at Cambridge = with the=20 British Astronomer Sir Arthur Edington.  Eddington was an expert on = general=20 relativity.  There is a story that a journalist told Eddington in = the early=20 1920s that he had heard there were only three people in the world who = understood=20 general relativity.  Eddington replied, "I am trying to think who = the third=20 person is."
 
During the voyage from India, = Chandrasekhar worked=20 out how big a star could be and still separate itself against its own = gravity=20 after it had used up all its fuel.  The idea was this: When the = star=20 becomes small, the matter particles get very near each other.  But = the=20 Pauli exclusion principle says that two matter particles cannot have = both the=20 same position and the same velocity.  The matter particles must = therefore=20 have very different velocities.  This makes them move away from = each other,=20 and so tend to make the star expand.  A star can therefore maintain = itself=20 at a constant radius by a balance between the attraction of gravity and = the=20 repulsion that arises from the exclusion principle, just as earlier in = its life=20 the garvity was balanced by the heat.
 
Chandrasekhar realized, however, that = there is a=20 limit to the repulsion that the exclusion principle can provide.  = The=20 theory of relativity limits the maximum difference in the velocities of = the=20 matter particles in the star to the speed of light.  This meant = that when a=20 star got sufficiently dense, the repulsion caused by the exclusion = principle=20 would be less than the attraction of gravity.  Chandrasekhar = calculated=20 that a cold star of more than about one and a half times the mass of the = sun=20 would not be able to support itself against its own gravity.  The = mass is=20 now known as the Chandrasekhar.
This had serious implications for the = ultimate fate=20 of massive stars.  If a star's mass is less than Chandrasekhar = limit, it=20 can eventually stop contracting and settle down to a possible final = state as=20 a white dwarf with a radius of a few thousand miles and = a=20 density of hundreds of tons per cubic inch.  A white dwarf is = supported by=20 the exclusion principle repulsion between the electrons in its = matter.  We=20 observe a large number of these white dwarfs discoveree in the star that = is=20 orbitting  around Sirius, the brightest star in the night = sky.
 
It was realized that there was another = possible=20 final state of a star also with a limiting mass of about one or two = times the=20 mass of the sun, but much smaller than even the white dwarf.   = These=20 stars would be supported by the exclusion principle repulsion between = the=20 neutrons and protons, rather than between the electrons.  They were = therefore called neutron stars.  They would have = had a=20 radius of only ten miles or so and a density of handreds of millions of = tons per=20 square inch.  At the time they were first predicted, there was no = way that=20 neutron stars could have been observed, and they were not detected until = much=20 later.
 
Stars with masses above the = Chandrasekhar limt, on=20 the other hand, have a big problem when they come to the end of their=20 fuel.  In some cases they may explode or manage to throw off enough = matter=20 to reduce their mass below the limit, but it was difficult to believe = that this=20 always happened, no matter how big the star.  How would it know = that it had=20 to lose weight? And even if every star manged to lose enough mass, what = would=20 happen if you added mass to a white dwarf or neutron star to take it = over the=20 limit?  Would it collapse to an infinite density?
 
Eddington was shocked by the = impliations of this=20 and refused to believe Chandrasekhar's result.  He thought it was = simply=20 not possible that a star could collpase to a point.  This was the = view of=20 most scientists.  Einstein himself wrote a paper in which he = claimed that=20 stars would not shrink to zero size.  The hostility of other = scientists,=20 particularly of Eddington, his former teacher and the leading authority = on the=20 structure of stars, persuaded Chandrasekhar to abandon this line of work = and=20 turn instead to other problems in astronomy.  However, when he was = awarded=20 the Noble Prize in 1983; it was at least in part, for his early work on = the=20 limiting mass of cold stars.
 
Chandrasekhar had shown that the = excusion principle=20 coul not halt the collapse of a star more massive than the Chandrasekhar = limit.  But the problem of understanding what would happen to such = a star,=20 according to general relativity, was not resolved until 1939 by a young=20 American, Robert Openheimer.  ....
 
Eventually, when a star has shrank to a = certain=20 critical radius, the gravitational field at the surface becomes so = strong that=20 light cones are bent inward so much that the light can no longer = escape. =20 According to the theory of relativity, nothing can travel faster than=20 light.  Thus, if light cannot escape, neither can anything = else. =20 Everything is dragged back by the gravitational field.  So one has = a set of=20 events, a region of space time, from which it is not possible to escape = toreach=20 a distant observer.  This region is what we now call a = balck=20 hole."
--------
 
A special not to Dr. Belai
 
Some may not subscribe to the KISS = faith. =20 Different strokes for different folks.
 
Another point> you have very useful = question=20 when you asked How=20 does this Geography matters knowledge or hypothesis to be exact relate = to the=20 current crisis is my focus?  Focus on=20 solutions.
 
Unfortunately, you did not give = opportunities for=20 exploring it, for you jumped to solutions.
HG
 
----- Original Message -----
From:=20 Belai FM=20 Habte-Jesus
Cc: Ethioforum@Ethiolist.com = ; Pol.Ethiopia@lists.sn.apc.o= rg=20 ; larry@slight.org ; globalbelai@yahoo.com
Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 = 9:26=20 AM
Subject: [EEDN] 6/18/03: = Extrinsic=20 Heavenly Climate Drivers and Intrinsic Climate Modifiers {02}


Dear Patriotic Ethiopians = and Friends=20 of Ethiopia:=
 
Greetings to you in the name of = the=20 Father, Son and Holy Spirit:=
 
Congratulations but=20 focus on solving current crisis.  I would like to = congratulate Dr=20 Habte-Giorgis for his attempt to educate us about the need to = understand the=20 overall galactic and geographic principles that impact the weather and = the=20 climate in general.
 
Scholarly = hypothesis=20 need to be realistic to the current crisis.  Thhis article = is is good and we need to appreciate some of the scholarly basis = of the=20 assumed climate changes that is taking place around us.  I have = some=20 critical doubts about the veracity of these theories. Since I do not = hold an=20 alternative hypothesis or explanation, I do not have problems with=20 thereticians articulating thier perceptions.  Some of it sounds = rational,=20 some of it far fetched and some difficult to understand and=20 verify. 
 
How does this Geography matters = knowledge=20 or hypothesis to be exact relate to the current crisis is my = focus? =20 Focus on solutions.
 
KISS = concept. Keep it=20 Simple and Short.  My point in writing is let us keep it = simple,=20 short and most importantly relevant to the current global ecological = crisis=20 and man's response to change it for the better or accelerate the = development=20 of  ecological waste land. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Habte Giorgis <churneth@comcast.net> = wrote:
*******************************************
*                                         *
*          Welcome to EEDN                *
* Ethiopian Electronic Discussion Network *
*                                         *
*   One Country, One People, One Flag     *
*          EEDN@1ETHIOPIA.ORG             *
*                                         *
*******************************************

Dear all:

(General Education:continued)

6/18/03: Extrinsic Heavenly Climate = Drivers and=20 Intrinsic Climate Modifiers

INTRODUCTION

The Sun's rays impinge on the Earth at different = angles,=20 near vertically in the tropics, and at shallower angles in high = latitudes.=20 Such insolation affects the temperature of the = planet.=20 Insolation is low near the tropics. Moreover the albedo (sun's rays=20 reflected back to space) from glaciers at the poles further = reduces=20 temperature. Hence the tropics are warmer than the polar regions. In = general, temperature decreases steadily from the equator to the = poles.=20 Due to an inclined spin axis of the Earth, the = Sun is in=20 the northern hemisphere during summers, and in the southern = hemisphere=20 during winters.  The combined effect of = insolation=20 and inclined spin of the Earth yield higher variability of = temperature at=20 higher latitudes than at the tropics. This result would be easy to = assess if=20 the surface of the Earth was homogeneous, and the Sun was the only=20 extrinsic climate driver.  But the = surface of=20 the Earth is not homogeneous, neither is the Sun the only extrinsic = climate=20 driver.

The Earth's surface is covered by water (71%) and = land=20 (29%).  The distribution of land and the oceans is = not=20 systematic in regard to latitude, indicating that it is not the=20 extrinsic drivers (e.g. the Sun) that affect such = distribution.=20 The interior heat of the Earth is the driver, which controls the=20 distribution of land and oceans.  The top rock layer = (lithosphere)=20 of the Earth of both land and ocean shift and drift, guided by = intrinsic=20 heat of the Earth. Currently, Ethiopia lies within 4 to 17 = North=20 Latitude and is part of a huge landmass that we might call Afrosia = (Africa=20 and Eurasia), with the Indian Ocean extending only up to 20 degrees = North=20 Latitude. The geographic setting is such that Ethiopia would have=20 predominantly monsoon climate.  As explained in a=20 previous posting, the huge Pacific Ocean has a bearing and = modifies the=20 monsoon climate.  The Atlantic Ocean also has a bearing on the = climate=20 of Ethiopia. 

We may quickly note that, while Ethiopia is = currently north=20 of the Equator, that was not the case through out its = history. Ethiopia=20 used to be south of the Equator (Dalziel, 1999).  There were = times when=20 Ethiopia was far south and was covered by advancing glaciers of the = South=20 Pole.  The construction of Ethiopia as a landmass involved the = rotation=20 of its ancient rocks (of the southern Ethiopia) counterclockwise in = the=20 Southern Hemisphere, and as seen from the Southern Hemisphere (Van = Stall,=20 1998, Dalziel, 1999).  The northern part of Ethiopia was=20 constructed by addition of islands and ocean floor rocks to older = rocks of=20 southern Ethiopia (Shackleton, 1979), before Ethiopia moved north = and to its=20 current position. This is the plate tectonic history of = Ethiopia.  Only=20 until 245 million years ago the landmass that is now = Afghanistan-Iran was a=20 coastal region of Somalia, separating what is now = Ethiopia-Somalia from=20 an ambient ocean called the Tethys Sea (Sillitoe, 1979). At that = time, India=20 and Australia were coastal "states" of Mozambique and South Africa.=20 Afghanistan-Iran, India, and Australia drifted away from Africa = creating the=20 Indian Ocean of the present day.  These drifted continental = fragment=20 rammed against Eurasia creating the mountain belt that extends from = north of=20 Australia, through Western Malaysia, the Himalayas, and the=20 Zagros.   At any rate, the modification to climate = from=20 intrinsic (to the earth) sources varied over the millions of years = the Sun=20 shone on Earth with increasing brightness (luminosity). Geography = matters.=20

(Anecdotally, I might mention that while Ethiopia = was far in=20 the southern Hemisphere, with South Africa being north of=20 Ethiopia, North America and Europe were in the tropics receiving = lush=20 vegetation.  Later, the buried wood, through pressure and = microbial=20 activity, turned into the coal fields of the Appalachians of North = America=20 and the caledonides of Great Britain. Coal is the back bone of = the=20 Industrial Revolution, which catapulted Europe and America to = economic and=20 military prominence.  Geography matters. )

Everything is made of elements.  The identity = of an=20 element is the number of protons in its nucleus. The nucleus = contains=20 protons and neutrons. An element can have  heavy or light = isotopes=20 depending on whether or not the nucleus has many or few neutrons,=20 respectively. The ratio of heavy to light isotopes of an element is=20 dependent on temperature and pressure. Geologists have measured = oxygen=20 isotopes in sedimentary rocks and have determined the ancient = climate of the=20 planet from such data. Perhaps, the most striking aspect of the = climate=20 change of the globe is the variation in cold (icehouse=20 globe) and warm (hothouse globe) = periods of=20 the whole globe, which recurs with a period of about 135 = million=20 years (Veizer and others, 2002). Working independently, = astrophysicists have=20 found that the solar system passes through an arm of=20 the Milky Way Galaxy, every 137 million years (Shaviv,=20 2003). Shaviv (2003) has described that cosmic ray flux = (CRF)=20  produced from supernova relate to global cooling. { It = should be=20 noted that the Solar System revolves around the center of the = Milky Way=20 galaxy. As it revolves it also moves in and out of the galactic arm, = much=20 as horses on merry-go-round bob up and = down.}  The=20 cosmic rays strip electrons from neutral = molecules  in=20 the atmosphere and make them charged ions.  The ions = serve as=20 nuclei for condensation of water vapor and cloud = formation.  The=20 colder global temperature (icehouse globe) occur when = the solar=20 system  passes the galactic arm.  It follows then that = there is a=20 Milky Way or celestial forcing of climate on planet = Earth=20 (Shaviv and Veizer, 2003).  Currently, we are in an icehouse = condition,=20 with the solar system having began the arm crossing 55 million years = ago,  30 million years before the highest CRF value was = reached.=20 Further, evidence for supernova (star explosion) is that ocean = sediments=20 contain 76Fe (Shaviv and Veizer (2003).  All elements with = isotopes=20 higher than iron 56 are formed by fission during = supernova.

HG

*********************************=
****************

 To Unsubscribe from EEDN LIST send an email to:
       EEDN-UNSUBSCRIBE@1ETHIOPIA.ORG


Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, = MPH
Global Belai Enterprises, = Inc
www.SolomonicCrown.org
=
e-mail:globalbelai@yahoo.com
=
Telephone: 703 933 8737

Do you Yahoo!?
SBC=20 Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! = ------=_NextPart_000_0027_01C34EA6.42E13920-- From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:34 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Natural Products Research Network for Eastern and Central Africa, and since 1992 he has been the coordinator of the Network for Analytical and Biological Services for Africa. IOCD values his participation since 1990 in its Senior Advisory Council. Ermias Dange is a professor of organic chemistry at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. His main research is in the area of natural products chemistry. In particular in the isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds. In 1997, Dagne was the recipient of the IFS/Danida Award. Currently, is leader of the African Laboratory of Natural Products, honorary president of the Horticultural Society of Ethiopia and chairman of two charity organizations: the Getachew Bolodia Foundation and the Lucy Mother and Child Care, the release said, John Bradley is a professor in the Faculty of Science of the University of the Witwaters-rand in South Africa. In the early 1980s, (when South African higher education was still strongly white oriented), out of concern for educationally disadvantaged students, he spearheaded initiatives at his university to provide such students access to science education. These initiatives included entry-level programmes for the disenfranchised and a research programme in chemistry, which has enabled 7 Ph.D. and 14 M.Sc. students to complete their studies under his leadership. Marking the 20th anniversary of its founding the International Organization for Chemical Sciences in Development (IOCD) has established this award in honour of its founder, the Late Pierre Crabbe, a Belgian scientist who was strongly committed to supporting research among scientists in developing countries. November 7, 2003 Ethio-Eritrea 20th military coordination commission meet held in Nairobi ADDIS ABABA (WIC) - The 20th Ethio-Eritrea Military Coordination Commission (MCC) Meeting was held on Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya. A press release from United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said the meeting was chaired by the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), Major General Robert Gordon. Brigadier General Elliot Kamteni represented the African Union (AU). According to the press release, Ethiopia's military delegation was led by Brigadier-General Yohannes Gebremeskel while Eritrea's delegation was led by Brigadier-General Abrahaley Kifle. In the course of the meeting, the parties have expressed their respective differing positions in a frank and honest manner. However, there was a strong common desire expressed by all present to ensure that the existing military stability was maintained, it said. In his opening remarks, the force commander reemphasized the importance of continuing the MCC process as a key component of maintaining military stability at this crucial stage of the peace process. He added that the parties continued commitment to the MCC process was of great reassurance to the international community and to the peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Force Commander thanked the two Parties for their continued cooperation with the MCC process. Brigadier-General Yohannes Gebremeskel reaffirmed Ethiopia's commitment to the peace process and the continued maintenance of military stability. While Ethiopia had difficulties with elements of the Boundary Commission's decisions there was nothing that could not be resolved by negotiation, he said. He assured the Commission that Ethiopia was committed to seeking a peaceful solution for the long-term benefit of the peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea. He also expressed his satisfaction with the conduct of UNMEE and differences with Eritrea through negotiation and dialogue, the release said. The press release said, the MCC meeting reviewed the current military situation and noted with approval that all the measures of stability, such as border incursions, cattle rustling, and mine incidents, within the Mission area had improved. The Commission was given a short report on the recent shooting incident in Fowling, the first in many months. The report on this shooting incident mirrored the detail contained in the recent released press statement. Both parties agreed to cooperate with UNMEE to avoid the reoccurrence of such incidents. The Commission agreed to meet for the 21st MCC Meeting on 15th December 2003, with the caveat that should any significant developments occur a meeting would be convened as required. Ethiopia, Tanzania urged to consolidate bilateral cooperation ADDIS ABABA (ENA) - The longstanding relations that exist between Ethiopia and Tanzania should also be reflected in the economic sector as both countries have a lot in common to share, President Girma Wolde-Giorgis said. During talks held at the national Palace here yesterday with the departing Tanzanian Ambassador Charles Skileo, President Girma said the two sisterly countries have many ample opportunities where they could cooperate for the mutual benefit of their peoples. He said Ethiopia and Tanzania should consolidate their bilateral cooperation in trade and development sectors. The president has also requested the departing ambassador to convey his greetings to his Tanzanian counterpart, President Benjamin William Mkapa. Briefing reporters after an audience with the president, Ambassador Skileo said during his term of office in Addis Ababa, he had tried to raise the friendly relations of the two countries to a high level. He said presently many Ethiopians in Tanzania and Tanzanians in Ethiopia are pursuing their studies at the higher learning institutions giving additional impetus to the cooperation in the education sector. He said he was hopeful that the development programmes designed by the incumbent Ethiopian Government would bring about sustainable economic development and social progress. Regional organizations play leading role in resolving conflict ADDIS ABABA (ENA) - Regional and sub-regional organizations in Africa are expected to assume primary responsibility for managing and resolving conflicts in the continent, officials of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said. After participating in a capacity building, project designing and leadership training of Africa's regional organizations for peace building her on Monday, the officials told journalists that the organizations have been doing their level best for durable restoration of a peaceful environment for sustained development within the respective regions. Regional organizations established in various areas of the continent have been contributing a great deal in resolving conflicts in Congo and Burundi. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says it has organized a programme that would help strengthen Africa's regional capacities for peace building. UNDP Peace Building Initiatives in Africa Regional Programme Director, Dr. Sam. G.Amoo said the programme was aimed at supporting African regional organizations to enhance their strategies and capacities for regional peace building and stability. Reduction in incidence and recurrence of conflicts, increased levels of sub-regional organizations' effectiveness in the analysis of regional conflict issues and greater involvement of civil society in peace building and reconciliation activities were also the long-term objectives of the programme. The programme would also support regional organizations to develop effective policies, strategies, methodologies and tools for sustainable peace in the region. =============================== Pol.ethiopia November 7,2003 =================== __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:37 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: the relevant Ethiopian authorities all the available information on the circumstances of the death, also handing over a copy of the certificate issued by the appointed physician of the Embassy and informing the relevant authorities of what had happened. The Italian Embassy, responding to a request of the Ethiopian authorities, has agreed - based on the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations - to allow experts of the Ethiopian Federal Police to conduct an on-the-spot investigation, with modalities to be agreed upon, in the premises where Tesfaye resided. While there modalities were being defined, the Ethiopian authorities decided to make public declaration which had prevailed until then, reiterating in unacceptable terms, the old question of the persons who had taken refuge in the Embassy. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs points out that the Ethiopian Authorities are well aware of the position of Italy in this issue. Italy is obliged to deny the request to handover the other two officials on the basis of applicable principles of international law according to Article 10 the Italian Constitution; European Legislation on human rights as interpreted by the Strasbourg Court; principles affirmed in sentences of the Italian Constitutional Court. The acceptance of the Ethiopian request is also prevented by the 2nd Voluntary Protocol of the International Agreement on Civil and Political Rights regarding the abolishment of the death penalty. The two former officials are accused in Ethiopia of crimes for which the death penalty is provided for. In the above-mentioned declaration, it has been confirmed that "the Ethiopian Government cannot guarantee the exclusion of the death penalty for persons accused of genocide and war crimes." ==================================== Pol.ethiopia June 22,2004 ========================== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:37 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: Are you ready for the Athens Olympic? We are! and will have an update game scores and we will have an latest update on other happenings . We hope you are one of these courtiers, if your country is not listed here, we apologize and we will gladly list you country as soon as we receive your email Acadiana Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Basque Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia-Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Canary Islands Cape Verde Catalonia Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christian Colombia Comoros Conch Republic Congo - Dem. Rep. Of Congo - Rep. Of Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curacao Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (St. George) Equatorial Guinea Erin-Go-Bragh Estonia Ethiopia European Union Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia - Rep. of Haiti Honduras Hong Kong (Xiangang) Hong Kong - old Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Morocco Mozambique Myanmar (Burma) Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea Northern Cyprus Norway Oman Organization of American States Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Poland w/eagle Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda San Marino Sao Tome & Principe Saudi Arabia Scotland Scotland (Lion) Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sicily Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia - Rep. of Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Vietnam Spain Sri Lanka St. Helena St. Kitts/Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines St. Vincent/Grenadine Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Tibet Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad/Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United Nations Uruguay USA USSR Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican (Papal) Venezuela Vietnam Wales Western Samoa Yemen Yugoslavia Zambia Zimbabwe Accomplished Athletics Athletes Worldwide Men: Jesse Owens (USA) 100m, 200m; Carl Lewis (USA) 100m, 200m; Alberto Juantorena (Cuba) 400m, 800m; Paavo Nurmi (Finland) 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m; Emil Zatopek (Czechoslovakia) 5,000m, 10,000m, marathon; Vladimir Kuts (USSR) 5,000m, 10,000m; Lasse Viren (Finland) 5,000m, 10,000m; Abebe Bekila (Ethiopia) marathon; Dick Fosbury (USA), high jump; Bob Beamon (USA) long jump; Viktor Sanyeyev (USSR) triple jump; Sergei Bubka (Ukraine) pole vault; Al Oerter (USA), discus; Jan Zelezny (Czech Republic), javelin; Daley Thompson (UK), decathlon. Women: Fanny Blankers-Koen (Holland) 100m, 200m, 80m hurdles; Wilma Rudolph (USA), 100m, 200m; Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) 100m, 200m; Irena Sewinska-Irszentstein (Poland), long jump, 200m, 400m; Iolanda Balas (Romania), high jump; Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA), heptathlon; long jump; Marion Jones (USA), 100m, 200m, long jump. Medal winning Greek athletes Spyros [Spyridon] Louis: marathon, 1st, 1896, Athens Harilaos Vasilakos: Marathon, 2nd, 1896, Athens Miltiadis Gouskos: putting the shot, 2nd, 1896, Athens Panagiotis Paraskevopoulos: discus, 2nd, 1896, Athens Sotirios Versis: discus, 3rd, 1896, Athens Evangelos Damaskos: pole vault, 3rd, 1896, Athens Ioannis Theodoropoulos: pole vault, 3rd, 1896, Athens Vasilis Ksydas: pole vault, 3rd, 1896, Athens Ioannis Persakis: triple jump, 3rd, 1896, Athens Georgis Papasideris: putting the shot, 3rd, 1896, Athens Dimitrios Golemis: 800 m, 3rd, 1896, Athens Konstantinos Tsiklitiras: standing long jump, 2nd, 1908, London and standing long jump, 1st, 1912, Stockholm Mihalis Dorizas: two-handed shot put, 3rd, 1912, Stockholm Georgios Roubanis: pole vault, 3rd, 1956, Melbourne Voula Patoulidou: 100 m hurdles, 1st, 1992, Barcelona Niki Bakogianni: high jump, 2nd, 1996, Atlanta Kostas Kenteris: 200 m, 1st, 2000, Sydney Katerina Thanou: 100 m, 2nd, 2000, Sydney Mirella Maniani: javelin, 2nd, 2000, Sydney Anastasia Kelesidou: discus, 2nd, 2000, Sydney From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:38 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: to confront and defeat HIV/AIDS and its impact. He called on the public to intensify the fight to bring about gender parity in education, access to health services and to empower women in decision-making. President Girma said encouraging results have been gained over the past year in the efforts to tackle the problem of Discrimination and Stigma associated with the virus. Meanwhile, First Lady W/ro Azeb Mesfin, wife of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and other distinguished women ambassadors in Ethiopia took a voluntary HIV/AIDS blood testing yesterday at Zewditu Hospital. In connection with World AIDS Day, which is being observed this year under the theme: "Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS," distinguished ladies appeared for the VCT to encourage women and the public as a whole to follow suit them. Other distinguished women included in the group were: Mulu Ketsela, State Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Aurelia Brazeal, U.S Ambassador, Mrs. Jordana Diengdoh-Pavel, Ambassador of India, Mrs. Mette Knudsen, Royal Danish Ambassador, Mrs, Kirsti Aarnio, Charge d'Affaires of Finland Embassy and Nieema Noble, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP. W/ro Azeb Mesfin on the occasion, said that violence against women such as rape, abduction and early marriage are aggravating the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Knowing our status should not be once in life, but it should continue from time to time, she said. We must make a breakthrough and make a difference in protecting women and girls from HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, Azeb added. Ambassador Aurella Brazeal on her part said: "I decided to join W/ro Azeb Mesfin and other colleagues today to make our testing a public matter because we believe that doing so is the best possible way to sensitize the advantage of being tested as widely as possible because it is safe, simple, and confidential, when combined with private counseling by a trained professional. It is also an effective way for individual people to empower themselves through knowledge," she added. Girls and women, 18 and above would get a VCT service free of charge as of December for a month in all Addis Ababa government health institutions, it was learnt. EC to support Ethiopia's MDGs effort by Yemane Terefe ADDIS ABABA - The European Commission said yesterday it would strongly support Ethiopia's effort towards access to save drinking water as this support would complement the Commission's international initiative to halve the number of people who do not have access to basic sanitation in 2015, according to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Briefing journalists on the press conference held at EU office, European Union Delegate, Ambassador Timothy Clarke said that EU Water Initiative Programme has earmarked 500 million euro for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries for provision of safe drinking water. According to him, the 1st 250 mln. euro agreement was reached between EU and ACP at European Development Fund Committee meeting last week. He also added that the grants include three components which ate identified as improving water management and governance, co-financing water and sanitation infrastructure and co-financing of civil society initiatives. Clarke also said that 25 mln. Ethiopians don't have access to safe drinking water mainly in rural areas due to financial constraint. Finding resources to meet the tremendous demand of the people is a great challenge for Ethiopian authorities, he added. According to Clarke, European Commission has been managing the programme for Addis Ababa water sanitation with 25 mln. euro beginning from 2001 and that will continue up to 2006. "We hope the project would bring 400,000 people to safe drinking water," he remarked. Russia, China welcome Ethiopia's new peace initiative ADDIS ABABA (ENA) - The Government of the Russian Federation has expressed belief that the peace initiative of the Ethiopian Government is a step forward on the way of normalization of the situation in the Horn of Africa. Russian Embassy in Ethiopia told ENA in a press release yesterday that Russia supports the new peace proposal on starting political dialogue between Ethiopia and Eritrea. On November 25, the Government of Ethiopia accepts in principle the 2002 decision of the Boundary Commission on delimitation of Ethio-Eritrea border and stands for immediate launch of dialogue with Eritrea in the interests of strengthening peace and restoring friendly ties between the two nations, the release said. Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry welcomed Ethiopia's peace proposal on resolving the border dispute with Eritrea, according to Xinhuanet. Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman, Zhang Qiyue told a regular press conference yesterday that China has always paid much attention to the peace process in Ethiopia and Eritrea and supported the two countries in holding consultations and dialogue on the basis of the Algiers Agreements. China backs settling the border dispute by a peaceful means, Zhang said. China sincerely hoped that the two countries could make joint efforts, dispel differences as early as possible and restore neighborly amity, according to the spokesperson. Together with the international community, China will, as always, make active endeavours, Zhang said. The United Nations special envoy to the Horn of Africa also called upon the international community to seize the opportunity created by Ethiopia's apparent readiness to end the border dispute with Eritrea once and for all. "If we are not able to get some positive steps or actions in the next two or three weeks I think an opportunity will be missed," Lloyd Axworthy, a former Canadian foreign minister said. The new peace proposal is the only first step on a long road to peace, Axworthy told the associated press by telephone late Sunday night. Until 25 November 2004, Ethiopia had refused to respect the April 2002 ruling by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, part of the permanent court of arbitration based in The Hague. The government now says it accepts the ruling "in principle." He said "… it could be the beginnings of a new chapter for peace but there has to be another step which is how the two countries begin engagement." Axworthy said he is sending a team to Ethiopia in the next 10 days to see how they can capitalize on Ethiopia's offer to work within the boundary commission framework. December 2, 2004 WB provides 50 mln. USD to combat food insecurity in Ethiopia ADDIS ABABA (ENA) - The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Tuesday approved a 50 million USD credit to help reduce vulnerability to famine for millions of people in Ethiopia. The Productive Safety Net Programme, as the project is known, will fund efforts over the five years, ending in 2009, aimed at attaining food security for between 5-6 million people considered to be chronically food insecure in Ethiopia from the cumulative effects of repeated droughts, deforestation, soil erosion and degradation. It is estimated that about 5 million people are chronically food insecure in Ethiopia, and that between 10 to 15 million people are at risk of starvation in especially bad years. In 2003 for example about 13 million people required emergency food aid. However, this kind of assistance has not managed to protect livelihoods, generate community assets or preserve household assets to the extent that households and communities could continue to engage in productive activities. The Productive Safety Net Programme will address immediate and emergency human needs by providing food to the population in chronically food insecure local government areas, known as woredas. It will, in addition, provide grants to households and communities to encourage them to engage in production and investment. The programme is also expected to promote market development by increasing household purchasing power and supporting the transformation of the rural economy. The programme signals the determination of the government of Ethiopia and development partners such as the World Bank, to shift the financing of the programme from food aid to grants/cash that promote production and investment and should, in the long run, diminish reliance on annual emergency food aid. The programme recognizes that the use of food as a transfer resource, while valuable for ensuring survival, is not an effective long-term development tool. The project, therefore, aims at moving from a relief-oriented to a development-oriented safety net by providing predictable, multi-annual resources for critical capital and strengthening community involvement through participatory planning of the core activities of the programme. The programme will also address some of the underlying causes of food insecurity, especially with respect to soil and water conservation. The major causes of food insecurity in Ethiopia include land degradation, recurrent drought, poor and inadequate management of risks, population pressure (twice the average for Sub-Saharan Africa) and subsistence agricultural practices, dominated by rain-fed farming, and characterized by low inputs and low outputs. The Productive Safety Net represents substantial investment of which the bank is providing only a portion. The budget for the first year of implementation is estimated to be 215 million USD. This represents over 50 per cent of all resources being channeled towards addressing food security in Ethiopia. The resources being made available are not additional but are being subtracted from the emergency appeal the government funds each year from donor pledges. The programme will be funded by several donors who have committed to a multi-annual framework and have pledged resources for up to five years. The donors include aid agencies of the G-8 group of countries. Most of the agencies involved will provide both cash and food resources, with the expectation that all financing will be in the form of cash in the future, which is also the preference of the government. The credit is on standard International Development Assosication terms, with a commitment fee of 0.5 percent, a service charge of 0.75 per cent, and a maturity of 40 years, including a 10 year period of grace. CUD rejects new peace proposal ADDIS ABABA (ENA) - The new peace initiative proposed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, which is based on the principle of give and take, is unlikely to foster suitable peace and stability between the two countries, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) said. Coalition President Engineer Hailu Shawl flanked by other executive members told a press conference here yesterday that the motive of Prime Minister Meles is not to bring peace between the two countries but to gain time and in doing so win the favour of the international community to conduct the election in ways that do not accord with accepted democratic standards. He said the sudden and unexpected peace initiative is one more example of an untenable strategy of the Meles administration's pursuit of lasting peace between the two countries, it said. We believe that the real motive of the initiative lies in its flagrant effort to prolong its hold on power. Peace cannot be manufactured through alchemy, CUD said. "… Sustainable peace is possible is only through dialogue in which the government, political parties, the public and most importantly the people living in the disputed localities participate with the objective of developing ways and means in and through which the conflict would be resolved to the satisfaction of all," it said. The CUD would organize a nationwide mass rally to reject Meles' peace initiative and to demand a more holistic approach capable of generating a lasting and sustainable peace, Engineer Hailu said. =============================== Pol.ethiopia Dec. 2,2004 ======================= __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:39 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: discharge its responsibilities in building confidence and creating the sprit of decency by teaching the public to fend off hearsays and rumors, while on issues relating to legal affairs the concerned government bodies would follow the developments. He advised the opposition to however abandon inciting turmoil since it is not in the interest of the public. Responding to the taxation during the past years, Meles said tax is lower in Ethiopia as compared to most Sub-Saharan countries. He however said tax officials at all levels were levying unreasonable rate and indulged in bribery and similar practices which obviously infuriated the tax payers. He also said late implementation of the civil service reform programme and unsatisfactory nature of tax reforms made to cultivate the culture of tax payment were some of the major problems observed. Asked on the backlash of labeling opposition parties as Inter Hamwe group during election campaigns as being one of the reasons for the defeat of EPRDF in Addis, meles defended his position saying that the opposition parties were in fact promoting Inter Hamwe’s attitude, but said the failure was in getting the message across to the public and the EPRDF’s failure to address the deep-rooted problems in the city. He also said the measure taken on the banning of demonstrations was useful and banning of demonstrations was useful and a normal practice that has been acclaimed by foreign observers, adding that such move would by no means contravene the constitution of the country. Meles said the putting of the security forces in Addis under high alert and one command would help in ensuring peace in the city, while sending the message that the government is impatient to violence instigators. ====================================== Pol.ethiopia May 26,2005 ============================ __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 From bogus@does.not.exist.com Tue Feb 27 14:14:28 2007 From: bogus@does.not.exist.com () Date: Tue Feb 27 14:15:40 2007 Subject: No subject Message-ID: will not be acceptable to criticize Ethiopia and Ethiopian people in their struggle to be self-sufficient in food supply by few who live in the comfort of Washington, London, Minneapolis, Copenhagen, Brussels and other Western Cities. Ethiopia does not need fault-finders. By its very nature fault finding is the easiest job the world can offer as it does not require any intuitive thinking. What it requires is a categorical negation of ideas and policies with out any thorough investigation. Therefore, we urge those who make a living by simple fault finding, exaggerations and critics, it is time to see in ward and assess what positive contributions you have made to the development of Ethiopia. As President Kennedy once said “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”. Let us not be hypocrite! “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Hypocrites have only a lip service, they like to say many words but do nothing. They justify themselves as the most righteous one like the Pharisees and the Scribes. If we sing Ethiopia, we demonstrate holding banner of Ethiopia, if we dressed and wrap up ourselves in the tri-colour flag of Ethiopia, but if we did not make any tangible contribution in the real life of an Ethiopian, we are not Ethiopians. If our lip is not where our heart is we are nothing but hypocrites. As the good book says “This people honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me”. Ethiopia does not need children that sing in their lips Ethiopia! Ethiopia! in the street of the West, but their heart and mind are away from her. Ethiopia requires citizens that make real and genuine contribution on the life of our fellow countrymen, and we believe more than ever the time is now to make that contribution. It is easy to oppose and criticize an individual or a political party, but it is difficult and challenging to propose viable and alternate solutions. Ethiopians need citizens that can positively contribute to their day-to-day life rather than telling them their fault from far across the oceans. As our country Ethiopia is diverse, our views can differ in many respects. For example, we may differ in the form of unity we should have in Ethiopia, we may differ in the question of the right of nation and nationalities and so on. Some of us argue that our unity should be based on the free will of the people and should reflect our diversity. On the other hand, some of us argue that our unity should be uniform and be imposed on us. These are ideas and approaches that different people follow to attain the unity that we dreamed for our country. However, we should agree to disagree and respect the view of one another in the best interest of the people and the country. That is the only way we can build a better Ethiopia worth of for its children. Regardless of our political difference and stand, in post-election Ethiopia it is in the best interests of the country that we able to support our political leaders and our country. It requires that we rally behind our political leaders and our Prime Minister. We should be able to cherish and celebrate for the international recognition and attention our political leaders got. When the world is rewarding our leaders for their vision and leadership, it is un-Ethiopian to oppose it by flooding a foreign government server by non-sense emails. Let us use the same technique of email storming to alert the West about the urgent needs of the Ethiopian people. Let us redirect our time and energy for something that is worthwhile for the Ethiopian people and for our own satisfaction. If we are genuine Ethiopians, I do not understand why we are irritated by the fact that our leader is sitting in Tony Blair’s African Commission. Or I can not understand why some opposition and their website are organizing anti-Yara movement to protest PM Meles award for “his contribution to improved food security and nutrition”. To oppose a political party and its idea is one thing, but to criticize the most democratic foreign countries, under whose shelter we took refuge, regarding their decisions is undemocratic and in fact violets individual and group rights. In fact the award and recognition of our leader received and nominated to should have been a source of pride for the country and its citizen. For one thing indiscriminate opposition of ideas and policies is the easiest job this world can offer as it does not require any serious thinking and intelligence. In addition such kind of approach does not help the country and its image at the international stage. In the post-election Ethiopia, if we are calling ourselves Ethiopian, it requires that regardless of our political views, we have to support the country’s paramount contribution to the security of the Greater Horn of Africa, East Africa Region, and the whole of Africa continent and in the global fight against terrorism. If we want to see Ethiopia as a strong and viable nation worth of itself and at the international stage, we have to work together, irrespective our differences. What we have to realize is that Ethiopia belongs to more than 80 ethnic groups and no one has entrusted Ethiopia to one or other group of people. Therefore, we have to work towards building a nation that is acceptable and beneficial to all Ethiopians and Ethiopian only. Therefore we call all concerned citizens, at home and in Diaspora, to support the country’s stride towards democracy, peace, stability and struggle in food-sufficiency. We call on the private press to discharge their noble responsibility by informing the society the facts. As Abraham Lincoln said “Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe.” For the last fourteen years the private press has enjoyed a freedom previously unknown in Ethiopian history. Following the press freedom which came with the advent of EPRDF into power more than dozen news papers are in print every week in Ethiopia. However, instead of making a positive contribution to the democratic process, except few private news papers, all have immersed themselves into hate politics. Instead of becoming the free voice of the people, they became the sole voice of hate politics for power monger politicians. They became the source of news and at the same time the reporter of the news. In effect they fabricate a kind of news as the Amharic proverb goes “Bere welede”. If we want Ethiopia to be peaceful, stable and more democrats the private press has to discharge its responsibility by informing the society the facts than fabricated news. Therefore, we urge the private press to take its responsibility seriously and inform the society the facts and make a positive contribution to the democratic development of the country. Few Ethiopians in Diaspora made it their life time commitment to oppose whatever comes from the current Ethiopian politics. However, we do not think one has to oppose the current government to live in the West. We have to distinguish between to live in the West and to participate in Ethiopian politics. Living in the west does not necessarily imply that we have always to oppose the current government. Rather than blindly following one extreme political view of the few academicians and rich tycoons who live in the Western capitals, that does not help anyone; we can participate in positive political engagement of Ethiopia. As we have already said, the easiest thing in politics and for that matter in any field is, to indiscriminately oppose both good and bad ideas. Indiscriminate opposition of ideas does not require any serious thinking or intelligence, but only negation of ideas and policies. Therefore, we urge all so-called politicians in Diaspora to refrain from any kind of negative thinking and destructive politics. Specially, we urge the so-called intellectual people who are in the shield of Western universities and disseminate hate politics in Ethiopia to refrain from their hate politics. We urge the hate internet sites to make their forum a balanced medium that works for the interest of the Ethiopian people. We are not asking them to support the government or the opposition, but we are requesting them to be a media where balanced views are shared and discussed. We ask them to refrain from fabricating news that never happened and agitate the innocent people. As we successfully completed the third election and look for the fourth one in five years, we are hoping the democratic culture already started will be rooted deep in the country. We are hoping the private press will engage in positive atmosphere and take there responsibility of informing the society the facts seriously in the coming five years. We urge political parties to have clear vision of the country and engage in the positive sprit and mobilize the public in the strengthening of the already started democracy. We request them to separate the few bad apples from their political party. We request both the private press and the extreme elements in the opposition to refrain from hate politics. We request the politicians from both spectra to leave a legacy of political tolerance to the young generation. We had enough of violence and chaos, now we need to strengthen the already started peace, stability and democratic system. If we continue in this sprit it is our hope the 4th Ethiopian election in 2010 will be far better than the one we have conducted now. by Seifeselassie Sibhatu (PhD) ______________________________________________________ Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/