Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 1/3/2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/why-do-things-always-fall_1_b_803445.html Copycat Dictators and Cartoon Democracies in Africa Ivory Coast, December 2010. Laurent Gbagbo says he won the presidential election. The Independent…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 12/27/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopian-groundhog-year_b_801384.html Groundhog Year in Prison Nation In December 2008, I wrote a weekly column entitled “Groundhog Year in Prison Nation” summarizing some…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 12/20/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-so-what_b_798882.html “So what! Soo what!! Sooo whaaat!!!” was the repetitive mantra of dictator Meles Zenawi recently in response to pesky questions lobbed…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 12/11/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-the-anuaks-forgo_b_795330.html A Conversation With Obang Metho[1] Note: A report by the Harvard Law School Human Rights Program on the Anuak concluded[2]:”From December…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 12/5/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/the-fantastic-somalia-job_b_792234.html The Tangled Web of Lies “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive,” said Sir Walter…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 11/29/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/reflections-on-thanksgivi_b_789011.html In 1620, one hundred and two prospective settlers left England and set sail for over two months to come to the…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 11/22/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-talking-trash-sp_b_786650.html The View From the Sewers Looking up from the sewers, everything must look like garbage! Last week, dictator Meles Zenawi ripped…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 11/14/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-profiles-in-jour_b_783372.html Honor Thy Independent Journalists I often write about the trials and tribulations of Ethiopia’s independent journalists, sometimes in tones of lamentation[1],…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 11/07/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-remember-the-sla_b_779996.html Cruel November November is a cruel month. Bleak, woeful, and grim is the month of November in the melancholy verse of…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 10/31/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-education-unbann_b_776758.html Distance Learning in Ethiopia Un-Banned? Last week, it was quietly announced that the official wholesale ban on distance learning educational programs…