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 New World. They landed in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. Nearly one-third of them were religious dissenters escaping persecution. A group of English investors had…
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 the final election report of the 2010 European Union Election Observer Mission to Ethiopia (EU EOM) as “trash that deserves to be thrown in the…
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], other times in wistful philosophical reflection[2]. I have always defended the constitutional and human rights of Ethiopian citizens “to seek, receive and impart information and…
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 Thomas Hood: No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, No comfortable feel in any member– No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits,…
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 in Ethiopia has been lifted. In August 2010, the ban was imposed out of the blue “because of quality concerns”. According to one report[1], following…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 10/25/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-feed-them-and-bl_b_773201.html Western Donors as Accessories to “Democricide” in Ethiopia The helping hand that feeds Ethiopians is the same hand that helps bleed Ethiopia. Every year, the U.S., U.K, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, Japan and other Western countries hand out billions of dollars in “humanitarian” and “economic” aid…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 10/18/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/let-ethiopians-hear-ameri_b_765947.html Ethiopian Citizens Have the Absolute Constitutional Right to Listen to the VOA So many lessons to learn from Columbia University! When dictator-in-chief Meles Zenawi spoke unceremoniously at Columbia on September 22, he was talking trash about the Voice of America (VOA). He said he decided to…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 10/10/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-birtukan-unbound_b_757501.html An October to Remember The great American novelist Thomas Wolfe wrote: “All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he…
Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on 10/03/2010 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/lessons-from-columbia-u_b_748623.html “Let Ethiopians Debate Ethiopia” Following Meles Zenawi’s speech at Columbia University on September 22, Prof. William Easterly of New York University expressed his delight in seeing Ethiopians “participating in a debate about Ethiopia.” In his AID WATCH blog under the title “Lessons after the Meles Speech…
Alemayehu G. Mariam After the Dust Settled After the dust settled following Meles Zenawi’s speech at Columbia’s World Leaders Forum, a dark shadow and glowing light were visible on stage to behold. The dark shadow was cast by the ghost of the erstwhile Ethiopian junta dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. The glow of light was radiated…
