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 of my weekly columns for that year. I used the “groundhog year” analogy following the title of the motion picture “Groundhog Day” in which a…
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 at him in parliament about his so-called Growth and Transformation Plan[1] (GTP), which will presumably make Ethiopia self-sufficient in food production in the next five…
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 2004 to at least January 2006, the ENDF (Ethiopian National Defense Forces) attacked and abused Anuak civilians in Gambella region – wantonly killing, raping, beating,…
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 Scott, the English novelist and poet. It looks like the U.S. of A is really in a pickle tangled in a web of lies, deceit…
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…
