Message to: Oromo Leadership Convention Organizers and Participants

by Alem Mamo
 
“Tedros Adhanom is a member of an ethnocentric clique that promotes hate intercommunal violence and the domination of one group over others.”
 

The 21st century is already turning out to be punctuated with political turbulence, economic uncertainty and social upheaval. In various parts of the world the struggle between the status quo led by a few and the marginalized people is taking unprecedented shape and form. While the determination of the people to make the world more just, more peaceful and inclusive intensifies, demagogues, proto-fascists and charlatans posing as populist leaders are appearing and attempting to appear on national as well as international stages. These peddlers of divisive politics are opportunistic career seekers whose values and ideologies are not in line with peace, tolerance and inclusion in the political, economic and social sphere. They incubate and hatch hatred and demagoguery that profits from the suffering and injustice of people.

We live in time of great challenges requiring mature leadership emanating from wisdom not just a university diploma amplified with sequential administrative resume.  The troubling state of world peace, impending environmental catastrophe and economic disparity are three main issues facing humanity today. Effective response to these monumental problems requires our collaboration and collective action. Most importantly, our troubled world needs leaders who can see beyond their small stations and work towards a better world for all of humanity. Those who made their political careers out of slicing and polarizing people, promoting intercommunal violence hate and bigotry shouldn’t be allowed to get close to any international platform. Tedros Adhanom made his political career and rose to his current Foreign Minister status by taking part in a political ideology that made dividing communities, peddling intercommunal hate and violence its official policy.

The turbulence and discontent we see in Ethiopia today is the result of such a policy. Thousands of unarmed and peaceful protesters across Ethiopia have been killed, some by regime snipers positioned on roof-tops and high grounds. In addition, tens of thousands are rounded and locked up in prison camps with out proper sanitation, sufficient food and healthcare. Per the regimes own numbers, in the last month alone more than eleven thousand peaceful protesters were rounded up and sent to various prison camps across the country[1]. Human rights organizations, both local and international, put the number of political prisoners in Ethiopia to be four five times higher. Tedros Adhanom represents a regime with a deplorable human rights record of mass killings. Promoting violence regardless whether it is done by the state or any other group it directly and negatively harms human health.

Furthermore, Tedros Adhanom lacks two key requirements that are crucially important for the WHO high post. The first one is all around experience with an understanding of the complex challenges facing the health of the world in the 21^st century. More importantly, his personal and his Party’s ethnocentric views and ideologies are not compatible with WHO’s approach of looking after humanity regardless of race, ethnicity, creed or religious affiliation.

When asked about Tedros Adhanom’s candidacy for WHO top position, a front-line health care worker in Ethiopia said, “Tedros Adhanom is a member of an ethnocentric clique that promotes hate intercommunal violence and the domination of one group over others. Given this fact, his candidacy is incompatible with WHO’s values and missions of looking after humanity regardless of race, ethnicity creed or religious affiliation. In addition, Tedros Adhanom doesn’t even represent Ethiopia let alone Africa. There are such countless voices across Ethiopia and elsewhere frustrated with the fact that he is even allowed to put his name forward for this prestigious global position. An agency of a great global stature such as WHO needs a great leader and leadership that has the mind set of our collective humanity. Treating all fellow human beings with respect and dignity. This is a time for an extraordinary leadership, not just a meager self promoting pretender.

The argument that “its Africa’s turn” to run WHO is shallow and doesn’t even understand the complexity of the responsibility that comes with the post. If African nations want this high post, they should have identified the right candidate capable of performing at the highest level. Which I believe there is a long list of qualified and competent leaders across the continent. By supporting Tedros Adhanom’s candidacy once again Africa lost an important opportunity.

Finally, imagine for a moment if Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany from 1938 until 1945, is competing for the same position. Imagine if Gian Galeazzo Ciano, Foreign Minister of Fascist Italy from 1936 until 1943 and Benito Mussolini’s son-in-law, was competing for the WHO top post. Imagine Idi Amin’s and Pol Pot’s foreign ministers are competing for this position. What would the international community do? Would it allow their candidacy to go through or would it be denied from the start? The people of Ethiopia who suffered under the reign of TPLF terror deserve an answer and will leave it to those who make the final decision on Tedros Adhanom’s candidacy.

The struggle for truly democratic and inclusive Ethiopia is at its final stage and the only force standing between freedom and the resilient and resourceful people of Ethiopia are Tedros Adhanom and his violence addicted TPLF. Global health cannot be viewed or accomplished through just a professional lens. Instead, it must be understood in a holistic manner including peoples right to live in peace with each other and in their communities. Promoting violence or participating in a violent and hateful ideology negatively affects human health. Tedros Adhanom’s career is built on advancing institutional and state violence. He is the embodiment of polarization and a messenger of a fragmented and divided world. It is beyond imagination how his candidacy got this far. Tedros Adhanom is not just unqualified, he is the wrong candidate for this prestigious and daunting task.

Alem6711@gmail.com

[1] http://www.waltainfo.com/news/editors_pick/detail?cid=25706

Hail to the Grief (Chief) to Come!?

Donald Trump is now President-elect of the United States.

He was elected by the same rigged system he so vociferously complained about: “I’m afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest.”

Well, honestly, a rigged election has made Donald Trump president!

On January 20, 2017 at 12 p.m., Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45^thPresident of the United States.

When the clock strikes 12 on January 20, 2017, will it be darkness at noon in America?

Trump is elected president but the American people chose Hillary Clinton.

Hillary received 630,877 more votes than Trump. (Clinton- 60,981,118 (47.79%); Trump- 60,350,241 (47.3%) There are a total of 7 million votes left to be counted nationwide!

Only in America is it possible for the winner of the popular vote to lose the election.

How the framers of the American Constitution managed to set up a system of electing president by an “Electoral College” instead of popular vote is a “riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”.

Suffice it to say that the Electoral College is to electing an American president as the College of Cardinals is to electing a pope.

But that’s beside the point.

It is an understatement to say Hillary Clinton’s supporters were stunned, shocked and deeply disappointed by her defeat. She did her best and she was best qualified for the job, but she got tripped by the Electoral College system.

I am disappointed she lost, but not shocked.

I read the tea leaves very early on and decided to endorse Bernie Sanders in my February 2016 commentary, “Why I am Supporting Bernie Sanders for President (and Why You Should Too)”.

But after Bernie dropped out, I cast my fate with Hillary; and certainly not because she is St. Hilary of Poiters.

I stated my reasons for supporting her in my November 6, 2016 commentary, “Why I am Voting for Hillary Clinton on November 8 and YOU Should Too!”

I was also not shocked because I had a clear understanding of Trump’s electoral strategy.

In my July 2016 commentary, I argued:

Donald Trump believes he can mobilize disaffected White voters  by exploiting their fears and prejudices.  Trump’s strategy is to stoke the anger of certain white voters so that they will come out in massive numbers to vote for him and offset the demographic shifts in the United States that have handed Democrats electoral victories in the last two presidential elections. He thinks he can best accomplish that by spreading fear and loathing (Islamophobia) against Muslims and undocumented immigrants (xenophobia) and exploiting the racial fault line.

That’s exactly what Trump did in winning the presidency.

Truth be told, I would rather write-in Ronald McDonald or Donald Duck for president than vote for Donald Trump.

I now understand what the wise Donald Duck meant when he said, “Sometimes, I look at people and think, somewhere out there there’s a village (country?) missing its idiot!”

Donald Duck, don’t you be worried. The village idiot is now in the White House!

No matter.

Mencken’s prophesy finally came to pass

Mencken, (the “sage of Baltimore”, the “Voltaire of America”) was an iconoclastic commentator with extraordinary insights into the American people and American politics.

In his book Notes on Democracy (1926) [an absolute must read for anyone interested in taking a hard look at American democracy], Mencken warned Americans against the kind of empty-headed demagogue who would preach pseudo-patriotism (“Make America Great Again!”) and become president.

Mencken prophesied,

As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

Mencken knew American voters and politicians better than most. Sadly, he did not think much about either.

Mencken thought the American political process mainly attracted quacks and charlatans. He lamented for American voters who were easy prey for the demagogue “who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.”

Mencken observed that demagogues in American politics “not only know how to arouse the fears of the mob; they also know how to awaken its envy, its dislike of privilege, its hatred of its betters.” The aim of the demagogues “is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Mencken had an equally cynical view of the American voter whom he believed had little interest in liberty and “is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. He longs for the warm, reassuring smell of the herd, and is willing to take the herdsman with it.”

Exactly 60 years after Mencken died, his prophesy has come to pass!

In Donald Trump, we now have a glimpse into the “inner soul” of some of the people who voted for him because of his racism, xenophobia, misogyny and religious intolerance.

The creature of make-believe reality television who became famous telling actors they are fired and a self-admitted sexual predator who proudly talked about grabbing women by their private parts is now adorning the White House.

We now have a man adorning the White House with no political, diplomatic or military experience.

We now have an apprentice (how ironic!) from a television show playing the real role U.S. President in the West Wing of the White House.

We now have a man whose fingers are trained to shoot off twitter messages holding the nuclear briefcase controlling intercontinental ballistic missiles.

To add insult to injury, we now have in the White House a constitutional ignoramus.

Not long ago, the political pundits said the Republican Party was using Trump “as a clown to attract more voters for GOP.”

Trump was the butt of all jokes. They said, “It is possible to take him seriously and also remember he’s a clown. Yes, he’s a dangerous clown. He’s a clown with a knife, but at the end of the day, he’s still a f–ing clown.”

Seth Meyers at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner said, “Donald Trump said that he was running for president as a Republican. That’s funny, because I thought he was running as a joke.”

That “joke” is now the American president. Meyers said, “I cried when I told my daughters Donald Trump will be President.”

The question now is not who is the clown, but who are all the fools who underestimated the clown.

The same miscalculation and underestimation was made when Nazism was on the rise in the 1920s.

American journalists who met Hitler were saying dismissively, “This guy is a clown. He’s like a caricature of himself.’ And a lot of them went through this whole litany about how even if Hitler got into a position of power, other German politicians would somehow be able to control him. A lot of German politicians believed this themselves.”

I never thought Trump was a “joke” or a “clown”.

As I have argued in my previous commentaries, I have always believed Trump to be a dangerous and demagogic  Mencken-style narcissistic moron who preached pseudo-patriotism to get votes.

During his campaign, Trump clothed his racism, sexism, chauvinism and sectarianism  with “populism”. He advanced a veiled neo-fascist agenda. He propagated paranoia about an America in crises and decline and a dystopic America ridden by crime, violence and poverty. He fed the American public a constant diet (with the active support of the mindless media) of paranoid conspiracy theories, disinformation and misinformation. He demonized Muslims, criminalized Mexicans, condemned immigrants, dehumanized women, mocked the disabled and scorned the poor.

Trump sought to rise to power from the abyss of American despair riding the white horse of the Apocalypse “out to win many battles and gain the victory”.

Trump’s vision of making America great is by increased militarism globally to vindicate America’s lost honor and glory and restoring American imperial power, cracking down on racial, ethnic and religious minorities and immigrants and flouting civil liberties and constitutional principles.

In his acceptance speech at the Republican Convention, Trump promised “all Americans tonight, in all our cities and towns” that “We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again!”

He assured the American people: “I alone can fix it.”  I alone can fix the broken and shattered America.

That’s how Trump rode a white horse to the White House to save America from the darkness that envelopes it.

Trump the wizard- “I alone can fix it!”

Trump says he is going to save America from the Apocalypse of domestic decay and international ignominy. He is going to save America by “cutting taxes significantly for businesses” and for the rich, repealing Obamacare which provides health care for the not so rich, overturning environmental regulations and withholding funds for efforts aimed at dealing with climate change, cancelling the North American Free Trade Agreement and other agreements with the World Trade Organization, cutting defense spending, increasing spending to build infrastructure and rebuilding the inner cities while reducing the national debt all with one stroke of the pen.

Of course, when Trump said “I alone can fix it.”, he was speaking metaphorically.

I have it on authority from a highly placed Trump source that Trump, in saving America from itself and the world, will get a lot of help from members of his cabinet consisting of The Wizard of Oz, Merlin the Wizard, Gandalf of the Lord of the Rings, Albus Dumbledore of Harry Potter, Prospero of the Tempest (Shakespeare) and, of course, Yoda who will bless each cabinet meeting with the words, “May the Force be with you!” Or is it farce?

All it takes to save America is to wave a wand and command, “Shazam! I alone can fix it!” It is fixed!

Oh! What have the American people done?

Over the past few days, I have been asked by many overseas, “What have the American people done? What were they thinking?”

I cannot explain what has happened.

But Mencken had an explanation why American voters would one day elect a moron to the White House. “The mistake that is made always runs the other way. Because the plain people are able to speak and understand, and even, in many cases, to read and write, it is assumed that they have ideas in their heads, and an appetite for more. This assumption is a folly.”

In the end, even Mencken gave up trying to figure out the American voter. He registered his frustration:  “No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”

In other words, “no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.”

Donald Trump became president because some of us underestimated the intelligence of some of the American people, and now we have gone broke.

Pro nobis, ut Deus. (May God help us!),

The paradox of some American voters

After observing, studying and teaching American politics and teaching and practicing American constitutional law for decades, I remain fascinated by the robust constitutional process and the resilience of the American people. Few aspects of American politics fascinate me more than the tendency for so many millions of Americans who keep voting against their rational self-interest election after election.

This tendency seems to be particularly true for poor and working class whites who vote for the Republican Party which manifestly represent the interests of the wealthy and corporate interest. It seems they vote more out of “tribal loyalty” than the class and economic interests they share with other racial and ethnic minorities. It seems many poor and working class Republicans seem to get enormous vicarious satisfaction from seeing the financial prosperity and success of the rich and upper classes. They also seem convinced that social issues are more important than economic issues; they spend their efforts railing against abortion, affirmative action, prayer in public schools and limitations on immigration than demanding economic equity.

But poverty and inequality are the least common denominators for more than 40 million Americans today.

According to the September 2016 U.S. Census Bureau report, over 42 million Americans live under the poverty line. Broken down by race, 17.8 million of this population is white, not Hispanic, followed by 10 million Black, 12.1 million Hispanic, any race and 2.1 million Asian.

Acting in rational self-interest would suggest that poverty would trump race and ethnicity. But for many poor and working class whites, race is more important than class. They perceive an existential threat of loss of privilege of being white in America. They see people of color as “enemies” rather than allies in the struggle for economic equality. They view unions with hostility. They feed on the fear, loathing and resentment propagated on the airwaves of conservative media.

But there is a real problem we must all face regardless of race, ethnicity and gender.

The establishment Democrats and Republicans sucking at the teat of the corporate cash cows have forgotten and ignored American working families of all demographic backgrounds.

I enthusiastically endorsed Bernie Sanders out of concern for working families.

For decades, politicians of both parties kept silent and often actively supported the corporate bosses shipping out manufacturing jobs to various low-wage countries.

I confess that I am for free trade, that is trade free of tariffs or other restrictions. But I also believe measures must be taken to mitigate the effects of free trade on poor and working American families who lack the education and skills to compete on the global level. These Americans find themselves on the horns of a dilemma. They see their jobs exported and outsourced elsewhere; and they have little opportunity to retool and find alternative trades and professions. They see the rich getting richer and themselves getting poorer. They cannot send their children to college and struggle daily as the top 1 percent of Americans made 25 times as much in income, on average, as the bottom 99 percent. That is a doggone shame. It must change.

Is Trump the one to change it?

What would change look like?

When I supported Bernie, I agreed with him that rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure could  create millions of well-paying jobs. I believe what is needed is a living wage not just a minimum wage. I believe wholeheartedly in providing young people afford college. In nearly three decades of university teaching, I have seen my students, first in their families to go to college, start their own business and become local and regional leaders in business and politics.

Nelson Mandela was right on point when he said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Instead of affording young Americans opportunities for affordable higher education, the political bosses in both parties have provided billionaires like Trump loopholes to avoid paying taxes and buy elections with unlimited campaign contributions. The game of “Who pays the piper calls the tune.”  must change.

Rise of the Trump-aryans?

In my December 2015 commentary, I voiced my deep consternation over the “Rise of the Trump-aryans!” and Donald Trump’s rhetorical exhortations to “make America great” by creating the Aryan State of Trump or Trump-aryana.

Is America going to be Trump-aryana for the next four years? Trump himself does not know.

Trump said, “When I’m president, I’m a different person. I can be the most politically correct person you’ve ever seen.” Does that mean he will no longer be the race-baiting, Muslim-hating and Mexican-demonizing presidential candidate? Does that mean Trump does not mean what he says and says what he does not mean?

No one knows what Trump will do, including Trump.

To paraphrase the memorable conundrum of Don Rumsfeld, “There are things that we know that we know (known knowns) about Trump.  We also know there are known unknowns about what Trump; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know about what Trump wants to do. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know about what Trump wants to do.”

It is a known known that Trump talked his way to the White House talking neo-fascism (a combination of ultra-nationalism, populism, anti-immigrationism, nativism, anti-Muslimism, and total contempt for liberal democracy and civil liberties and rights).

It is a known known that Trump said he will change libel laws in the United States so that people like himself can have an easier time suing news organizations. “I’m going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We’re going to open up those libel laws.”

Thomas Jefferson said, “The only security of all is in a free press.” He added, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” True as that may be, I confess my agreement with Mencken who said, “American journalism (like the journalism of any other country) is predominantly paltry and worthless. Its pretensions are enormous, but its achievements are insignificant.” Touche!

It is a known known that Trump wants to build a wall between Mexico and the U.S. Trump proudly declared, “I will build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me –and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”

It is also a known known the Mexicans will pay for no wall, no fence, no barrier  and no blockade.

There are known unknowns about Trump. During the campaign, he said he just can’t wait to shred Obamacare, but it is unknown if he will actually deprive over 20 million Americans without health care with a stroke of the pen. It is known that Trump’s health-care plan is “something terrific” that will take care of everybody at no cost to anybody. It was unknown until a couple of days ago that Trump will keep Obamacare and just make a few amendments.

It is a known that Trump wants tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement, but it is unknown if his pro-free trade Republicans in Congress will let him do that.

It is a known that Trump will insist on throwing out all of the deadbeat NATO members on their rear ends, but it is unknown whether he will make America safe by scaring the hell out of Western Europe and making them anxious, panicky, distrustful and hostile to America. It is an unknown whether Trump will force Western Europe to flee from the protective wings of the American Eagle into the welcoming hands of the Russian Bear.

It is known that Trump will bomb the hell out of ISIS and tear up the Iran Nuclear deal. It is unknown if he will also bomb Iran, along with ISIS, Al Qaeda, etc., out of existence, or seek to reinstitute sanctions against Iran. It is unknown if Iran and ISIS will take it all lying down. It is a known that Trump has refused to state that the U.S. will unconditionally defend allies in Asia against a North Korean nuclear attack. It is unknown whether that will embolden North Korea to undertake a preemptive strike, or spur Japan and South Korea to launch a full-scale nuclear weapons development program.

There are a lot of unknown unknowns about Trump. The fact of the matter is that Trump himself does not know what he does not know. He does not know how he is going to bring back millions of manufacturing jobs from China or anywhere else. He does not know how he is going to provide massive tax cuts, increase defense spending and cut the deficit and national debt at the same time. Trump does not know how he can suddenly change trade policies and impose tariffs and in the process avoid massive job losses. Trump does not know how he will be able to impose retaliatory tariffs on China, Mexico and other countries without risking a trade war and completely upending the international trade rules of the World Trade Organization. Anarchy in the global economy will not only lead to a global recession but also contribute to job losses in America.

Trump don’t know diddley!

No one knows or can be sure what America under Trump will be like.

All we know and can be sure of is, “Everything is negotiable.” So, we don’t need to know anything. Just prepare to negotiate the unknown unknown.

Is it darkness at noon in America? Is America AmeriKKKa now that Trump is president?

I have railed against Trump for a better part of a year.

It is hard for me to respect a man who talks about grabbing women by their private parts. To me that is the ultimate expression of man’s inhumanity to woman. A man who thinks of his mother, wife and sister as a collection of body parts is a contemptible creep.

A man who says it is ok to call his daughter a “nice piece of ass” is a fiendish degenerate, a pervert and a monster.

How can one expect a man who does not honor his own daughter be expected to honor other peoples and nations?

It is hard for me to respect a man who criminalizes an entire ethnic group and says he will build a spite wall to keep Mexicans out.

I never supported Ron Reagan but I appreciate him for calling out Gorbachev on the Berlin Wall.   In the summer of 1987 Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate and shouted out, “Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall.”

In 2016, Trump says he will tear up NAFTA and “build a great wall — and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me… I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”  Trump will build a spite wall to separate us from our southern neighbors.

I don’t understand the logic of making enemies of 123 million Mexicans on our southern border, especially when they are our third largest trading partner with $531 billion in total goods and services exchanged.

I don’t understand the mental state of a man who literally terrorizes 2 billion followers of the Muslim faith worldwide by telling them that they will all be turned away within view of the Statute of Liberty because they are presumed to be guilty of terrorism until they can prove themselves innocent. I do not know how a total ban on Muslims entering the U.S. is different from those preaching hate against America as the “The Great Satan” or those seeking to establish the “Great Caliphate” to exclude all infidels and Crusaders.

I don’t see how America can win this race to the bottom.

I cannot imagine how a man who lacks basic civility and humanity can serve as a role model for American citizens, particularly young people.

What is equally concerning to me is how the American president is perceived throughout the world. Whether Americans like it or not, America sets the standard for music, culture, science, technology and even politics. The huddled masses throughout the world believe that America is a land of opportunity and a bastion of democracy. Billions of people watched the elections throughout the world than in America.

At the risk of sounding nostalgic, Ronald Reagan said, “America is a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere.”

Will darkness now descend on the shining city upon the hill as Trump rises?

Noblesse Oblige

It is easy to declare that at exactly 12 p.m. on January 20, 2017, there will be darkness at noon in America.

It is easy to imagine the Trump years will be horrific. It is easy to proclaim that in the Trump years the  poor will become even poorer; the homeless population will increase; the sick will spend days waiting to get care in the emergency rooms and the environment being destroyed and the world will be a dystopia.

That would be giving into fears.

It would also denigrate the strength of American democracy and disregard the resilience of the American people.

America has undergone trials and tribulations before. Richard Nixon tried to subvert constitutional government and ignominiously left office. Others have plunged the country into a war where 50 thousand Americans died. Eight years ago, the American economy faced total collapse as a result of the actions of a reckless and clueless president. But America is still here.

As a scholar and a gentleman, it is my obligation to see not only the darkness but also the light behind the darkness.

I subscribe strongly to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. prescription: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

NO, I do not believe it will be darkness at noon on January 20, 2017 at 12 p.m.

On January 20, 2017 at 12 p.m., America will remain a shining city upon a hill despite a Trump penumbra.

Here are my reasons why I believe there will be no darkness at noon:

Reason #1: What you see and hear is not always what you get.

George Bush Sr. said, “No new taxes. Read my lips.” He got elected and could not keep his promise and his 1992 reelection bid collapsed.

Barack Obama promised to promote human rights in Africa and even went there and lectured the African thugtators that Africa needs strong institutions and not strong men. Five years later, Obama invited the most bloodthirsty African thugtators to the White House and wined and dined them. Exactly a year later, he went to Ethiopia and pronounced a regime that claimed to have been elected by one hundred percent (100%) of the vote as “democratically elected”.

Trump promised to build a wall, keep Muslims out of the U.S., dump NAFTA and NATO and a whole bunch of other things. Can he keep his promise?

Reason #2: Trump may have more bark than bite.

During the campaign Trump said he will deport 12 million undocumented immigrants. Such an effort would cost the US government an estimated $400 billion to $600 billion and possibly a decade. I would also cause private sector output to decline by between $381.5 billion and $623.2 billion according to a study by American Action Forum study.

Now he is saying he will immediately deport 2-3 million aliens with criminal records. That’s exactly what the Obama Administration has been doing over the past 8 years.

Trump says he will bring back the millions of outsourced jobs. American companies chose to outsource their production and manufacturing. That’s how many working class Americans became jobless. But those jobs are not coming back from China, Mexico or anywhere else.

Trump has bitten more than he can chew.

Reason #3: For every action equal and opposite reaction.

If Trump wants to build Fortress America and wall out the world, the world will wall out America too.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte recently travelled to China and announced his military and economic “separation” from the United States. He said, “America has lost now. I’ve realigned myself in your ideological flow. And maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world: China, Philippines and Russia. It’s the only way.”

The Turkish government is warning its citizens travelling to the U.S. “to be careful due to protests”. Should American citizens in the Muslim world also be careful “due to Trump being elected”?

Does Trump want our Latin American neighbors to whip up anti-Americanism and Americanophobia and ramp up their own nationalism?

Does he want to feed the hatred of all the terrorist groups who demonize America as the “Great Satan”?

Reason #4: Political infighting in the Trump transition will blunt a quick start to a Trump administration.

Trump will soon find out that he cannot run government by barking you are fired.

The grapevine says there is intense and bitter infighting between rival factions of the Trump campaign.  Mike Pence is the transition team chief after Trump dumped Chris Christie. There will be more casualties in the Trump transition period.

Reason #5: Trump is unlikely to have a cakewalk in Congress.

The Republicans now control all three branches in large part because its voters are overrepresented in the House, the Senate, and the Electoral College. Trump became president railing against establishment Republicans who disagree with him on entitlement programs, immigration, the deficit and other issues. Will they follow Trump lockstep now that he is president?

Reason #6: It is easier said than done.

Talk is cheap and campaign rhetoric is not worth a damn. But action speaks louder than words.

Over the past several years, Congressional Republicans have voted more than 50 times to scrap Obamacare. Trump said Obamacare is “a total disaster” and “a catastrophe”.

Two days after he was elected, Trump announced that he will keep the ban on insurers denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and continue the provision allowing young adults to be insured on their parents’ policies. Exactly which part of the “total disaster” Obamacare will he be repealing? I shall bet that he will do the same thing with NAFTA, NATO, tariffs, Iran deal, etc., etc.

Harry Truman lamented for Dwight Eisenhower:  “He’ll sit here, and he’ll say, ‘Do this! Do that!’ And nothing will happen. Poor Ike—it won’t be a bit like the Army. He’ll find it very frustrating.”

Poor Don! Running the U.S. Government will not be anything like running The Apprentice. Or the Trump Organization for that matter.

Reason #7: Trump will get many tastes of his own medicine as his former victims of sexual assault and harassment and business partners look for a quick payday.

Trump is one man who is lawsuit-happy. During the campaign, he threatened to sue the N.Y. Times, the Washington Post and so many others. He even threatened to sue his ghostwriter Tony Schwartz for criticizing him.

Over the past 30 years, Trump has been a party to some 4,000 lawsuits. He is  currently facing 75 active lawsuits in cases involving  fraud, unpaid bills, contract disputes and sexual discrimination.

In 2010, a class-action fraud lawsuit was filed against the now-defunct Trump University alleging  that Trump University swindled students by giving them worthless informercial type seminars   pressuring them to spend up to $35,000 for mentorships. Unless settled, that matter will go to trial on November 28.

Trump is facing another civil lawsuit for rape in N.Y. federal court. (To read the Complaint click HERE.) That lawsuit alleges that in the “summer months of 1994”,  Trump and his friends committed “acts of rape, sexual misconduct, criminal sexual acts, sexual abuse, forcible touching, assault, battery, intentional and reckless infliction of emotional distress, duress, false imprisonment, and threats of death and/or serious bodily injury”.  The matter is scheduled for a hearing in Manhattan (N.Y) Federal Court on December 16, 2016.

Just like Paula Jones was able to sue President Bill Clinton in her civil sexual harassment suit, I suspect there will be many more women and others who got a raw deal from the Master of the Art of the Deal looking for a quick payday. I can foresee President Trump spending a lot of time in depositions if not in court, unless he finds a way to settle them all out of court.

I suspect his tax records will now be open for public inspection.

Reason #8: If Trump insists on implementing a radical agenda, he will face fierce opposition from Democrats in Congress and the people in the streets.

The battle lines are already being drawn. The two “revolutionary” leaders of the Democratic Party, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have expressed their readiness to work with Trump in rebuilding infrastructure and paid family leave to new mothers. Warren said on other issues it will be a battle to the end: “We will fight back against attacks on Latinos, African Americans, women, Muslims, immigrants, disabled Americans – on anyone. Whether Donald Trump sits in a glass tower or sits in the White House, we will not give an inch on this, not now, not ever.”

Plans are underway to have a million woman march in the capital a day after Trump is inaugurated.

If Trump insists on his dog whistle agenda, there may, after all be, an American Spring in 2017.

Reason #9: Trump cannot “alone fix it.”

Whatever it is that Trump wants to fix, he cannot do it alone. He will need the support of the various factions in his own party and reach out to the democrats who could stymie his efforts and give him monumental headaches. That should be easy street who brags that he is the Master of the Art of the Deal.

Let’s make a deal, Don!

Whether Trump can succeed in making deals depends upon the people he chooses and not chooses. I tend to believe that a president should be judged by the company (cabinet) he keeps. If he is going to have Rudy Guiliani, Chris Christie, Sara Palin and the rest as his team, then it’s “Ciao bambino”.

Reason # 10: The more things change the more they remain the same. To have any chance of success as a president and avoid gridlock-as-usual, Trump will have to govern from the middle.

Trumps populism built around rhetoric of economic nationalism and nationalist trade policies, severe immigration restrictions and exclusion of Muslims, a “terrific” universal health care system and a robust defense of social security and Medicare and guarantees that “we’re going to take care of the people on the street dying” could prove problematic in implementation.

Republicans in Congress are committed to drastic reductions in entitlement programs across the board and even giving larger role in Medicare to private insurance companies. Free trade Republicans are likely to resist strong protectionist policies as anti-growth and hurting American global competitiveness and increasing the cost of imports in American markets which in turn hurts the poorest Americans. In a trade war, America will not only lose its global leadership on trade but also jobs.

Trump’s plan to deport over 11 million undocumented immigrant is simply impractical, prohibitively costly and take years to accomplish given the legal process and lack of institutional capacity to process so many such immigrants.

The preliminary evidence shows Trump is already realizing that. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus said Trump “is not calling for mass deportation” of illegal immigrants, but “wants to protect the sovereignty of America, and be a partner throughout the world.”

Trump said he will immediately deport “people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, probably 2 million, it could be even 3 million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate [them]”.

How different is that from Obama who said that his deportation will focus on “felons, not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mom who’s working hard to provide for her kids.

Trump has also said he will amend and not repeal Obamacare.

The more things change the more they remain the same.

Reason #11: The people who put Trump in office will soon be disillusioned as he forgets about them.

Last July Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of Donald Trump’s best-seller “The Art of the Deal” warned that if Trump is elected President, “the millions of people who voted for him and believe that he represents their interests will learn what anyone who deals closely with him already knows — that he couldn’t care less about them.’”

Is buyer’s remorse the ultimate reward for those who voted for Trump?

Reason #12: Republicans can’t govern. Period!

Republicans can make a big mess for democrats to clean up, but they can’t govern worth a damn. Exhibit A: The mess left over by George #2 for Barack Obama. The Democrats cannot govern because they are spineless; but they are a great cleanup crew.

Reason #13: Trump is basically a narcissist and he will be overwhelmed.

This is purely a personal impression. I believe Trump wanted to become president to feed his ego. He does not know much about governance or politics. He certainly does not know much about the Constitution and its fundamental principles. He has no clue about the Bill of Rights as evidenced in the fact that he wants to muzzle the press with libel laws, detain citizens and others on suspicion that they belong to a certain faith and separation of powers as he tried to intimidate a federal judge into ruling in his favor. In this regard, Trump is no different than African thug presidents who are clueless about the rule of law.

Trump is also thin skinned. His ghostwriter Tony Schawrtz said, “It is axiomatic that when Trump feels attacked, he will strike back. That’s precisely what’s so frightening about his becoming president.”  That will be Trump’s Achilles’ heel. There will be many who would love to distract him with attacks and counterattacks.

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, who correctly predicted Trump’s victory said Trump’s first term  will end in either in his resignation or impeachment because his narcissism and vindictiveness will cause him “unintentionally, break laws. He will break laws because he’s only thinking about what’s best for him.”

Did somebody say they are fleeing to Canada: In the Spirit of Churchill- Never Give up!

As the elections drew near and as shock of a Trump presidency set in, some people were talking about moving to Canada and elsewhere.

Ain’t nobody going nowhere!

When Britain faced blitzkrieg by the fascist Nazi war machine in 1940, the British people did not cut and run. They stood up in resistance and fought back.

Churchill inspired his people with a  speech in the House of Commons on May 13, 1940. Churchill said the British people will fight “by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us” for “however long and hard the road may be”.

That is the defiant spirit we must have in continuing our democratic struggle.

We must fight for justice, equality, fairness in the White House, the statehouse, the courthouse, the clubhouse, the jailhouse, the poorhouse and in the city and town councils.

On October 29, 1941 Churchill gave a speech at a school. The lesson he imparted on those pupils then is relevant to all who commiserate today over Trump’s victory:

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Democracy is not just about presidential and national elections.

Democracy is about what we do in or local communities every day. We can stand up against racism and discrimination in our communities. We can get engaged to help end brutality by rogue police.  We can aid the victims of religious intolerance and make them feel at home. We can join efforts that help  immigrants and new Americans become productive citizens. We can all join hands to defend civil liberties and civil rights and help young people fulfill their potentials.

The great American revolutionary Thomas Paine wrote, “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”

Freedom ain’t free. It comes with a price. That price is eternal vigilance and unending labor of love in the cause of justice and equality.

Best wishes for President Trump

There is an old African saying which goes along the following lines: “Playing the drums looks very easy when the drum is in the hands of those who play it well; but it is very hard and confusing once it is in your untrained hands.”

It may seem easy for “Mr. I Alone Can Fix It” to be the leader of the free world and run the greatest nation on earth. Trump thinks he can negotiate everything and make a deal.

There is the master of the art of the deal and wheeler-dealers.

Trump’s situation reminds me of a character in Ayn Rand’s book “Atlas Shrugged”.  It is a book that depicts a dystopian and collapsing United States in which  many of society’s most prominent and successful industrialists abandon their fortunes and even the nation, in response to oppressive government regulations.

In a conversation between the two leading characters in Rand’s book, d’Anconia asks:

If you saw Atlas — the giant who holds the world on his shoulders — If you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling, but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength.  And the greater his effort, the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders, what would you tell him to do?”

The other character unable to answer flips the question back to d’Anconia who answers his own question:  “To shrug!”

Donald Trump to me is Atlas Donald now. He must carry the entire world on his shoulders.

So in the end Atlas Trump, unable to bear the woes and burdens of the world might, might simply shrug it off.

Let it all go to hell in a handbasket!

That is my greatest fear.

But I ain’t afraid of no darkness!

“Democracy is beautiful in theory; in practice it is a fallacy. You in America will see that some day.” Benito Mussolini.

Oromo Leadership Convention Press Release in Atlanta

New Movement in Ogaden: Somali Region Justice and Democracy Movement (SRJDM) Reports of serious human rights violations are continuously coming from Ogaden, a large region in eastern Ethiopia. A new movement, the Somali Region Justice and Democracy Movement (SRJDM) aims to bring the locals together and to work for implementation of human rights.

Many reports coming from the Ogaden region tell about conflict and crimes against humanity, but due to the media blockade, no one knows the full extent. On paper, the regional states of Ethiopia are autonomous, but in reality, the Ethiopian government, the EPRDF (Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front), has the power. Ogaden has a president, Abdi Mohamoud Omar, but the president is under EPRDF. The president is notoriously known for performing serious abuses against the locals, who predominantly are Somali.

The Somali Region Justice and Democracy Movement (SRJDM) was presented during a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden on November 7. According to chairman Jemal-Dirie Kalif, there is a great need of change in Ogaden.
Spokesperson Ahmed Ali Abdille.

Spokesperson Ahmed Ali Abdille.

– The past regime, and the current regime, have been killing people for the last 50 years. They have done whatever crime you can think of. People were burned alive, buried alive and raped systematically. Genocide has been committed. Go today to Ogaden to ask them what they think. They are, to this day, crying for their rights. They are saying: “No, we want our rights, we need to be free, we want to govern ourselves”.

According to a statement presented by spokesperson Ahmed Ali Abdille, the movement aims to mobilize the people of the region to transform their “struggle for self-determination into a new phase”. Their mission is to mobilize the people to “resist the systematic denial and violation of their political, economic, social and human rights and to enable them to regain their dignity and cultural values”. In the future, they hope to see a Somali region where the citizens lives, safety and human dignity is respected and where people can make their own social, political and economic decisions without external interference.

– We have actually been doing this individually before the movement. We stood up for human rights. Now, coming together as a movement, we are pushing it forward to raise awareness about human rights violations in our region and in other parts in Ethiopia. We have a lot in common with human rights organizations, said Abdullahi Hussein, vice chairman of foreign relations.

An important discussion is how to unite the Somali people in the region.

– How we are going to unite the Somalis? How are we bringing them together? Because there are different views, and traditionally we are also a divided people. The first issue to be addressed was: How do we bring our people, irrespective of their views, into this movement so that they can support? said Jemal-Dirie Kalif.

Abdullahi Hussein explained that the movement is not political.

– We are not a political party. We are a movement of citizens, of the people in the Somali region. Our interest is in mobilizing the people, bringing people together despite of their different political views and different… whatever views they have. In short, we are not a political party and we are here only for the interest of our people – in order to mobilize our people and raise the awareness of our people.

Ethiopia is divided into different regions and consists of over 80 ethnic groups. According to the statement, the movement is “committed to join hands with other marginalized and oppressed nations, nationalities and peoples in Ethiopia in the pursuit of justice, freedom and democracy”. Jemal-Dirie Kalif commented on the topic. According to him, the problems in Ethiopia is not only restricted to the current regime, but to a deeply rooted culture of tyranny and dictatorship. To make a real change, people need to work together.

– It is very important to have connections, to have relations with the rest of the Ethiopian people, be it Amhara or Oromo or whatever they are. It is only if we cooperate that we can bring change. Oromo alone will not bring a change, that’s for sure. The Amhara alone will not bring a change. The Somalis have already tried it for a very, very long time. To this day, we are still in the same situation that we have been for the last 30-40 years.

Mohamed Hassan, secretary general, hoped that the new movement will help bringing the people of Ethiopia – and the Horn of Africa – together, no matter their ethnic group. He said that one of their objectives is to bring young people together no matter what ethnic group they belong to, and that it is important that they meet and talk to each other.

– The Somali people in Ethiopia will be a pillar of bringing a bigger democracy in the Horn of Africa. Because our brothers, who are Somali, also lives in the republic of Somalia. They live also in Djibouti. They live also in Kenya. We could build a bridge of bringing all Ethiopian people, and all people in the Horn of Africa, to pacify the horn of Africa; to integrate the Horn of Africa.

The board of SRJDM knows that their work will be challenging.

– It is very challenging to work in Ogaden now. It is a place where ideas and the dissemination of information is considered to be a crime. What we are going to do is a design that we have been discussing for the last two years, considering the dangerous situation that we are in. There are strategies that we have designed so that we can bypass the information blockage that was imposed in the region, says Jemal-Dirie Kalif.

According to the statement, SRJDM’s program will be shared with the public in subsequent weeks.

Riyot – Interview with Ato Kidane Alemayehu

 
DANA Episode 47

ESAT Radio Mon 14 Nov 2016

Ethiopian government is set to cede 75 per cent shareholding of Beles Sugar Project located in Amhara region, to Turkish company Bedisa Group for $ one billion.

The Chairperson of Bedisa Group, Binai Boran said that he was negotiating with the government to form the joint venture for the last three years. “The negotiations are bearing fruits and we are going to take over 75 percent of Beles I and II,” he noted.

The total value of the two projects are estimated to be around $1.4 billion and Bedisa will invest a little over one billion of this amount to secure the JV deal. The Group is planning to finance a portion of the investment project by its own while the remainder of the project cost is expected to be paid for by accessing loans from local and international banks.

According to Boran, the agreement between Bedisa and the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation will be signed at the end of this year and the sugar factories will start crashing sugarcanes at the second quarter of the next year. A total area 50,000 hectare is expected to be covered by sugarcane plantation serving the two sugar crashers. Both the plantation and other water requirements are expected to be supplied by Beles River through a diversion weir built on it.

He further that he decided to invest in Ethiopia based on the directions that he got from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Turkish Ambassador to Ethiopia, Fatih Ulusoy.

The Ethiopian Sugar Corporation data reveals that the country’s annual sugar consumption is more than 700,000 ton, from which only 440,000 tons of sugar is produced in the country. The Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) not only needed to fill the demand and supply gap that has existed in the market for many years. But, it also aspires to export sugar to earn foreign currency. That is why the Sugar Corporation made a deal with the Metals and Engineering Corporation (Metec) to construct ten sugar factories at a time. Since Metec failed to deliver the projects, seven of them were snatched from it by the government.

The Chairperson of Bedisa Group also noted: “We know that the Ethiopia government have challenges to build the sugar factories. They were looking for international partners and that is why we want to form this joint venture” He also pointed out that the Group’s experience in international market will bring success in the joint venture by exporting sugar to African countries and the rest of the world.

The Group also has an intention of exploring other sectors in Ethiopia; but at first it wants to achieve in Beles project. The Chairperson also stressed the roles of Ethiopian Embassy and the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation officials in encouraging them to invest in Ethiopia.

Bedisa Group was founded more than half a century ago and constructed several tunnels, galleries and dam all over Turkey and Saudi Arabia during 1965-1986. Besides Bedisa together with group companies, works actively in the fields of international business and investment. Bedisa Group also prefers products and reputable partners from United States of America to China across 59 countries in six continents.

In a related news, Molino Mechanical Industry and Trade Inc. is looking a partner to set up a food city complex in Ethiopia. The company’s Vice President, Salim Alaybeyi, said that his company is looking for well established and knowledgeable companies that is specialized in the sector. He believes that the food city complex will address the market need in Africa. The complex will be established with a $55 million capital and produce wheat that are going to be exported to Africa.

“Since the transport cost from Turkey to Africa is expensive, I want to set up a food city complex in Ethiopia so that I can be competent in the African market,” noted the vice president. He promised to start the project as soon as he was done with the partner selection process. He said that the Industry Minister, Ahmed Abitew, promised to help him in connecting with the right partner as well as in facilitating the bureaucratic process to set up the food complex.

Molino was founded in 1995 and manufactures flour milling technology. Molino performs its activities in a wide-range, such as flour and semolina mills, grain silos, seed cleaning units, pulse sieving and packaging plants, pneumatic and mechanical conveying systems.

Information is slowly trickling out of the much hyped about Atlanta Leadership Convention, despite organizers’ plea not to record video and audio and the tight security to enforce the rule. We anticipate that they will release some kind of a resolution declaring the convention was very successful and that it laid a foundation for the formation of an Oromo Freedom Charter. We wanted to reflect upon pieces of information that we gathered thus far about the convention and present our own prediction of the next phase of the Oromo struggle.

Our struggle for freedom failed to succeed for over a century not because of the strength of our external enemies but the damage caused by our internal enemies. What made the current phase of Oromo revolution unique is the fact that it was able to break the myth that Oromo cannot be united and to mobilize our people from all corners of Oromia. True there were still traitors who spied for the enemy camp and resulted in deaths of precious Oromo sons and daughters but they were defeated and their spy rings were destroyed.

Despite such glorious achievement of unifying our people in Oromia, divisions and bickering remained among the diaspora. Some attribute the lack of unity among Oromo diaspora to regional and religious differences. We strongly disagree. All of us in diaspora understand that we were all Oromo and descended from the same root before we settled in different regions and before we adopted different religions. We also understand that we were subjected to the same atrocities irrespective of our region and religion.  In our opinion, the division among the diaspora is the result of self-righteousness among the elites and egocentric drive to put themselves in leadership positions by some individuals. We declared the Atlanta Leadership Convention as a blessing in disguise in the title of this document because it exposed the kind of people that we believe created the division for their personal gains.

Early last week, we posted a cautionary note about the planned Atlanta Leadership Convention and disclosed what our investigation revealed regarding the motives of the organizers (http://oromiapress.com/questioning-motives-atlanta-leadership-convention/). We concluded at that time that the convention is being organized by groups who wanted to hijack the raging Oromo revolution in Oromia and change its course. We believe we were vindicated because information reaching us from Atlanta shows that the document that was prepared by an individual and presented for discussion received a pushback from the participants because it does not address the needs of the Oromo people. In fact, the document was written to appease the Ethiopianist camps by declaring that we will form a democratic system that will benefit everyone. Rumor has it that it was tabled for further discussion with in Oromo communities and religious organizations and civic associations. We believe this is good because a charter about the future of the Oromo nation should have been written by the Oromo people to begin with, not by an individual or groups of individuals with personal agenda.

Although the original document about the convention stated the objective of the meeting was to create unity among the Oromo people, a video that leaked out of the conference hall indicates that the participants were literally insulting Oromo groups that were not participating in the convention. The attack dog who was picked for this task was groomed by none other than the OMN and, like many of the organizers of the convention, has ties to the OPDO first and KWO currently. He surely received the loudest cheers and laughs from the audience showing that most of the attendees were handpicked to rubberstamp the document as that of the TPLF’s parliamentarians. It was also easy to discern from the reaction of some of the innocent participants that such attacks were unexpected. Equally laughable, however, is the fact that the leaders, after clapping loudly for the poem, took the stage to appeal to the participants that attacks against other Oromo groups need to stop. It appears the leader forgot that it was already announced on stage that the poem has been heard somewhere else before and producers knew its content beforehand. So, how is it the Atlanta Convention is going to create unity among Oromo groups while insulting groups that were not present at the convention?

Another interesting observation was the format of the conference itself. Participants were placed in different discussion groups and trusted leaders were assigned to each group to lead the discussion in the direction the organizers wanted.  Basically, the format was meant only to discuss the contents of the document and make minor edits. Participants did not get a chance to ask why the document was needed and who wrote the document, among other things. It does appear that the leaders have learned a thing or two from the TPLF about manipulating audiences to get the outcome that they wanted.

In the name of mobilizing resources for the struggle, they also discussed how to coordinate the effort in the diaspora. On the surface, this appears to be a noble idea. The fact of the matter, however, is that the group who wants to put itself in charge of this activity has no clue as to who is leading the struggle on the ground. They might assume that receiving notices from the “Qeerroo” on social media entitles them to lead the revolution but they are dead wrong. Their greed and inflated ego has been noted by “Qeerroo” and the only group they can fool now is the few uninformed and hateful individuals in diaspora.

When we thought we have seen and heard all the political maneuvering and behind the screen manipulations, a document that was being distributed outside the meeting hall made its way to social media. We also heard that the leaders, using their usual childish tactics, asked the audience not to distribute any document outside or inside. This tactic is similar to the use of the attack dog and then denouncing his actions so that they appear true leaders and unifiers before the audience. We truly hope that the leaders were truthful in their denouncement of distributing documents and the document that we read on social media was not prepared and secretly distributed by them because it is the most divisive document that any Oromo group ever published, not to mention its lack of substance. If it is determined that the leaders of the Atlanta Convention drafted and distributed this document, however, it proves without the shadow of doubt that they are interested in power grabbing so that they can change the course of Oromo revolution as leaders. What is more interesting is the fact that they place Bekele Gerba, a person who is in TPLF prison, as the leader of what they call Oromo Council.  This is just an attempt by the group to use the good name of true Oromo revolutionary for their sinister motive of taking over the Oromo struggle.  This may also prove true the rumor that was going around about the alleged letter from Bekele Gerba, while he was in Kilinto prison, was in fact not written by him. Of course, only Bekele Gerba and his comrades can verify if this is indeed the case.

Finally, we would like to make it clear that we do not, for a moment, believe that every Oromo person who attended the Atlanta conference was there to hijack the Oromo revolution.  The fact that the audience pushed back on the so called Oromo Freedom Charter indicates that most of the attendees were there to find a true solution to the quagmire that we are in here in diaspora.  We are convinced, however, that most of the organizers of this convention were motivated by personal and selfish interests. We believe this is a big lesson for true Oromo nationalists and a blessing in disguise because we now know what we did not clearly know before. What remains now is to tighten our belts and focus on fighting the enemy by supporting our gallant people in whichever way we can. Lastly, are we coming to an era where we condemn the group that actually working on the ground but praise the group that has been killing Oromo’s for the last 25 years?

Oromia Shall Be Free!!!

Concerned Oromo Group.

Addis Standard

Addis Abeba Nov 15, 2016 – The federal first instant court Arada branch has today jailed journalist Getachew Worku, editor-in-chief of the Amharic weekly independent Newspaper, Ethio-Mihidar, for one year.

Getachew was taken into police custody last week on Nov. 4th after the same court found him guilty of ‘defaming’ senior clergy members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The court passed the guilty verdict in an ongoing lawsuit brought against Getachew by the church. The lawsuit followed an article the newspaper ran in May 2015 detailing the conduct of corrupt practices by senior members of the clergy at the precincts of the Saint Mary’s Patriarchal Monastery here in the capital Addis Abeba.

Subsequently, prosecutors have charged Getachew with Ethiopia’s criminal code article 613 under “defamation and spreading false information.” During the hearing last week, prosecutors have originally sought a jail term of up to three years. Getachew was taken to the Qilinto prison on the southern outskirt of the capital where he spent the week. AS

ESAT Radio Tue 15 Nov 2016

ESAT RADIO NOV 16 WED 2016

The US elections are over and I have not met anyone happy with the outcome. All the dirty linen was was washed in public and the winner was the one with the most stain. The opinion polls malfunctioned spectacularly. I followed the election process as told by what is called the ‘liberal’ media. Huffington Post, Slate, The New Yorker among many convinced me it was going to be a ride in the park for Secretary Clinton. HP even gave the Democrats a 91.5% percent of winning the Presidency. In case you forgot the Donald won bigly.

It is almost a week now and things are sort of returning back to normal, if there is such thing as normal anymore when you have the Donald in charge. How fast the Donald learns the awesome responsibility of being The President is the talk of the town. The Democrats are licking their wound but the Republicans have a leader that is indebted to no one except his ability to con. I am sure the Republican leadership is afraid of him than they are of the Democrats. God help the human race is what I think.

Ethiopian Americans mostly if not all supported the Democratic ticket. I am always envious when my family and friends vote. It is a source of wonder to think an Ethiopian upon Naturalization can participate in choosing the most powerful office holder in the world. That same Ethiopian is not trusted or considered mature enough to make a choice of who leads him/her when at home. The Tigrai based regime has turned the civic responsibility of voting into a farce.

It is also a little strange to see a few Ethiopian Americans that participate in the voting process when over here pretend not to notice when the regime they support and coddle denies that right to their cousins back home. Democracy and rule of law are in short supply among Ethiopians.

Currently even that little semblance of ‘emerging democracy’ is put aside. Today Ethiopia is being ruled by the troika of Samora, Abay and Debretsion with Abbay Woldu the Tigrai warlord and Security chief Getachew playing a supporting role. The new organization they have created named Command Post (it is true, not a joke) has openly admitted to have arrested eleven thousand five hundred citizens. It has named six mass prisons (concentration camps) in Yirga Alem, Zuai, East Harerge, Bahr Dar and Tolay Military camp where the young people are kept.

We are one amazing people. We have travelled so much but we have come back to where we started from. We got rid of the Monarchy to replace it with a Military Junta that gave way to Ethnic laced pseudo democracy and today we are back to Military Junta in charge. The illegal act by TPLF Party which supposedly is one of the members of the EPRDF coalition to have its own Army and kill and detain citizens from a different Kilil could be considered a little bizarre by a foreigner but believe me we Ethiopians have the capacity to explain it or the discipline to ignore it.

Eleven thousand five hundred young people in detention camps, over fifteen hundred killed in Oromia, thousands more in Amhara, Konso and other Southern regions are numbers we are familiar with and they don’t even evoke anger. The more harsh our rulers are the less resistant we become. We have become desensitized to mental and physical violence by TPLF thugs. The election of Trump seems to upset us more than the thousands that are corralled in concentration camps like animals.

The Oromia region has been the epicenter of the war between the people and the TPLF controlled Army. Thousands have been killed. We do not know exact numbers because no independent reporting is allowed. The conflict moved to the Amhara region three months back. It has resulted in more loss of life and property.

The current upheaval is different from all others before. The last few months the alignment of forces against injustice has showed a remarkable shift. The two most populous and largest  groups have realized the virtue of coordinating their activities against the common enemy and have formed a Movement to start the process. Please notice the current conflict and mass arrest is not applicable to the Tigrai region that is enjoying the fruits of freedom.

Thus the war that was started by the mafia group with its land grab in Addis Ababa and the redrawing of borders in Wolkait-Tsegede is still raging each in its own peculiar way. The damage to Oromia is extensive. The killing has been wide. On the other hand the resistance has woken up plenty. The Amhara region engaged woyane army not long ago. Bahr Dar has been hit hardest. Many are convinced the conflict has entered a new stage.

All indications are the Woyane economy is showing plenty of stress. At home it is denied raw materials from both Amhara and Oromo regions including the South.. The ongoing unrest has disrupted farming activities. Transportation has become a hazardous business. Be it Selam Bus or Dashen Beer or Cement and timber carrying trucks the Ethiopian roads are turning into battle fields. That is one aspect of the struggle for Freedom.

Tourism has taken a nose dive and the regime is scrambling to pretend all is well. Many have cancelled planned visits. Ethiopian Airlines the Woyane playing toy could be next to feel the pain. The Diaspora is afraid to travel and is shamed from investing in Woyane land. The military ventures deep in Amhara and Oromo homeland is a costly enterprise. The solders have to be fed and paid while facing hostile population and subject to ambush.

Perseverance in the pursuit of freedom determines the winner. The regime will soon display contradictory behaviour. It is stretched thin while Inflation, unemployment, and government spending are destabilizing the weak economy. What is needed here is tightening of the screw by the Democratic forces.

The unity among Ethiopia’s children is what is giving many hope. Unity is what will undo the mafia ethnic group quest to stay in power a day longer. When the Amhara feel the pain of the Oromo and the Konso feels the pain of the Afar and the Sidama and the Tigrai show empathy to the plight of the Gambelan-that is when ethnic mentality disappears from our land. We are moving towards that. I have not seen many that stand strong when alone. Together is the way, especially in our country where the mixture makes us look like a salad bowl. I am sure the future generations will mix it up some more and even bring more diversity from all the places in the world we have settled.

This is the perfect moment to get rid of village mentality. Thinking in terms of a Nation to be forged standing on equality is a better challenge. The Bantustan model attempted by Meles is not sustainable nor visionary so why copy failure? That is what is surprising about our country. Everytime we have the TPLF on the ropes there emerge some from our midst trying to reinvent the wheel. They insert their confused and useless philosophy of ‘ethnic’  yellow card into the mix.

The last forty years we have been watching the trials and tribulations of our Oromo leaders trying to define the Oromo struggle in their own narrow and dysfunctional way. It is always sad to witness the so called liberators cause untold damage to the constituent they are supposedly trying to free. It was also disheartening to watch the Woyane group playing them like a fiddle inviting and disinviting them in the same sentence. What is giving us hope today is the fact our Oromo cousins have come to realize our fate is interwound and one section of Ethiopia can not be free without all Ethiopia being free. Experience is the best teacher. We now realize that there is nothing like having a big family.

So we thought we have jumped over that hurdle and we started to look forward to taking our struggle onto to a higher level. Please hold on, things do not work like that in Abesha land. Travelling in a straight line is not our cup of tea. Today we have some in the Amhara group trying to emulate the old Oromo method. They have not gone to the deep end of ‘Independence’ yet but they have stepped on the slippery road and all it takes is one unhinged ethnocentrist to sit behind the wheel and drive the bus off the cliff.

The current TPLF regime has been in power for twenty five years. One thing you can say about our Tigrai masters is that they are an equal opportunity abuser of all of Ethiopia’s children. They have driven the Gambelan off their ancestral land, grabbed Oromo land bigger than Tigrai, starved and pushed the Amhara to be refugee in his own country, committed war crimes to punish our Somali people on behalf of foreign powers and used the south as their backyard and destroyed the people and the environment. Any Ethiopian claiming to have suffered more than another is just playing a numbers game. Settle down my friends Woyane is focused on all of us.

While the abuse was going on Ethiopians in the Diaspora did not look at ethnic origin when they went out protesting and marching in all the capitals of the world. We cried when the Gambelan was hurt we shouted when our Amhara people were pushed out of Gura Ferda or Benishangul, the war on Waldeba monastery became a personal attack on all Ethiopians, the war on our Muslim citizens was unwarranted and we stood together and the Addis Master plan to confiscate Oromo land held our attention. We Ethiopians came out regardless of ethnic origin to protest injustice against our people.

So what is this scramble by our Amhara family to form a new organization every few days to draw maps and define our country from a single perspective. Why is it when associations based on ‘ethnicity’ as a core value did not work when it was tried by others (Oromo) or caused much damage when practiced by some (Woyane TPLF)  what makes you think it is a brilliant idea this time around? I have noticed the ones that come up with such zero sum proposals have usually tried and failed to create a vibrant inclusive associations working with the many. In the marketplace of ideas one has to compete with not only being an expert in a certain field but show respect, difference and develop the ability to bring diverse groups together. The people decide who wins and who has to go back and revise their proposal and outlook and come back.

It is a tall order to try to please the many but real leaders have the ability to do just that. Abraham Lincoln plunged his nation into a civil war because he believed preserving the Union was primary and that is leadership with a price. Madiba Nelson Mandela was a patient leader. He knew good would always prevail over evil and bid his time. He was also a magnanimous winner. Reverend Martin Luther King saw the alignment of the forces and chartered a winning road at a small cost to his people. He was a smart leader. Chairman Berhanu Nega of Arbegnoch Ginbot 7 is such leader. He studied his people and drew some important and correct conclusions a long time ago. He has been implementing that vision and it is bearing fruits. Starting with his teaching career, the Kinijit years and the birth of Ginbot 7 he has shown qualitative leap in his organizational skills. His quiet style has served his organization and our country very well. Leadership is earned.

It is the wannabe leaders that are always draining our forward momentum. Like a shooting star they show up bright and dazzling but their own brightness consumes their miniscule energy. So when the majority refuses to listen to their baseless trash talk they get miffed and put up a little ethnic tent on the side of the road. Of course they are the brightest light in their little Gojo. Becoming what you hate in others is what comes to mind when confronted by folks cursed with blurry vision. They do not seem to grasp that we Ethiopians are not good at forming ethnic based organizations. Why it worked for the Tigrai group will make a good study.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. The situation back home is moving in a very promising direction. Today we are all feeling empowered by the coming together of our Oromo and Amhara cousins attracting the Afar and the Sidama into the fold. It is undeniable proof our Patriots are doing the job in a scientific manner. Our smart leaders are dismantling the feeble system one step at a time. It is surgery without anesthesia. Good luck evil Woyane.

The coalition being built is not meant to look good from far like Woyane condominiums but is constructed on the bedrock of trust and goodwill. All Ethiopians congratulate the visionary leaders that put faith in the virtue of working together. It is a big win for our country. That is what all leadership is about. We are especially grateful to Chairman Berhanu of AG7 and thank all the leaders of the Oromo, Afar and Sidama people that choose unity. This is another aspect of our struggle.

Building a ‘Free Press’ for the future Ethiopia is one of the primary tasks towards winning freedom. ESAT is becoming a proven asset that has survived Woyanes onslaught. It is further proof that it is all about credibility not about unlimited budget and resources like Woyane employs in the pursuit of telling a lie. ESAT is showing how to use one’s scarce resource in a very prudent and responsible manner. Today ESAT is beating Woyane mouthpieces by a mile both in credibility and quality of programing. That is another aspect of the struggle for Democracy and Freedom. It is clear the little things we have been doing are adding up to be one big thing.

That is how a successful movement is built. Now if you are interested in a big ‘look at me’ type of action I am afraid it is not going to happen. That is unless of course it is called for. Circumstances determine that. For example the recent murder of a member of Parliament from the Amhara region is very troubling, what does it signal?

What we see here is a war of attrition. The opposition is working to wear down the Woyane mafia that is used to employing overwhelming force to make a statement and make us question our ability to fight back. That saps our morale and we disperse easy. It is easy to win small battles but one can not win a war in such manner. That is the reason we are frustrating the enemy in many different ways. Political, diplomatic, economic and grassroots organizations are being employed to effective results. We already have forced the regime to reassess its relationship with our people. It was forced to shed crocodile tears but this time no one bought the drama. We are writing the agenda today and we ask a few to kindly do whatever they feel compelled to do but leave us alone and aim your fire a different way. Slandering those in the unity side only gives heart to the common enemy, that is of course assuming we are on the same side my friend.

WRITTEN BY Lily Kuo/ Quartz Africa
Ethiopia’s internet is among the least free in the world. According to a new index released by the nonprofit Freedom House, Ethiopia ranked ahead of only Iran, Syria, and China, out of 65 countries in terms of access to the internet, censorship, and freedom of information. It ranked the worst of any country in Africa.

Anti-government protests have gripped the country over the last year, gaining extra global attention when Ethiopian marathoner Feyisa Lilesa held his hands up, crossed at the wrist– an anti-government gestureused by protesters– at the Olympics. In response, Ethiopian authorities have intermittently shut down mobile phone and internet connections. They have also blocked social media like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter.

Last month, a six-month state of emergency was declared, making it illegal to post or access information about the protests on social media as well as communicate with “outside forces.” Social media is also used to implicate dissidents and critics. Charges against protesters and opposition leaders often rely on evidence taken from social media, according to Freedom House.

Ethiopia’s heavy-handed approach to the internet goes further back than this last year. The country has passed counter-terrorism laws over the last five years that make it easier to pressure journalists and bloggers. The blogger Zelalem Workagenehu was sentenced to five yearsin prison this spring for running a course on digital security that authorities said was a cover for terrorist activities. Authorities have blocked news sites reporting on topics aside from the protests, like a severe drought that has left 18 million people in need of food and water supplies.

The situation is likely to continue. Government-owned EthioTelecom has a monopoly on internet access. Only 12% of the population has internet access and few people can afford it, given mobile access costs $85 a month compared to $30 a month in neighboring countries like Uganda or Kenya. Telecommunication infrastructure in rural areas, where most of Ethiopia’s population lives, is almost entirely absent.

Nor has the government opened the sector to competition. Chinese telecom firms ZTE and Huawei have been contracted to upgrade broadband and other networks in the country. But critics worry that Chinese investment is only helping EthioTelecom maintain its hold on the sector and continue censoring and surveilling citizens.

One bright spot is the growing network of bloggers and journalists in the Ethiopian diaspora who have been using their contacts within the country provide coverage of the country.

The BBC World Service will launch 11 new language services as part of its biggest expansion “since the 1940s”, the corporation has announced.

The expansion is a result of the funding boost announced by the UK government last year.

The new languages will be Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Gujarati, Igbo, Korean, Marathi, Pidgin, Punjabi, Telugu, Tigrinya, and Yoruba.

The first new services are expected to launch in 2017.

African languages:

• Afaan Oromo: Language of Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic group
• Amharic: Ethiopia’s official language
• Tigrinya: The main working language of Eritrea, along with Arabic. Also spoken in Ethiopia
• Igbo: An official Nigerian language. Also spoken in Equatorial Guinea
• Yoruba: Spoken in south-western Nigeria and some other parts of West Africa, especially Benin and Togo
• Pidgin: A creole version of English widely spoken in southern Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea

Asian languages:

• Gujarati: Native to the Indian state of Gujarat but found around the Indian subcontinent and the world
• Marathi: From the Indian state of Maharashtra, including India’s commercial capital Mumbai
• Telugu: Huge numbers of speakers, like many Indian languages, primarily in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
• Punjabi: One of the world’s most populous languages, it is widely-spoken in Pakistan and parts of India
• Korean: Spoken in North and South though the dialects have diverged. Pop culture slang and foreign loan words are notably more common in the South

“This is a historic day for the BBC, as we announce the biggest expansion of the World Service since the 1940s,” said BBC director general Tony Hall.

“The BBC World Service is a jewel in the crown – for the BBC and for Britain.

“As we move towards our centenary, my vision is of a confident, outward-looking BBC which brings the best of our independent, impartial journalism and world-class entertainment to half a billion people around the world.

“Today is a key step towards that aim.”

‘Relevant as ever’

The plans include the expansion of digital services to offer more mobile and video content and a greater social media presence.

On Wednesday the BBC launches a full digital service in Thai, following the success of a Facebook-only “pop-up” service launched in 2014.

Other expansion plans include:

• extended news bulletins in Russian, with regionalised versions for surrounding countries
• enhanced television services across Africa, including more then 30 new TV programmes for partner broadcasters across sub-Saharan Africa
• new regional programming from BBC Arabic
• short-wave and medium-wave radio programmes aimed at audiences in the Korean peninsula, plus online and social media content
• investment in World Service English, with new programmes, more original journalism, and a broader agenda

Fran Unsworth, the BBC’s World Service director, said: “Through war, revolution and global change, people around the world have relied on the World Service for independent, trusted, impartial news.

“As an independent broadcaster, we remain as relevant as ever in the 21st Century, when in many places there is not more free expression, but less.

“Today’s announcement is about transforming the World Service by investing for the future.

“We must follow our audience, who consume the news in changing ways; an increasing number of people are watching the World Service on TV, and many services are now digital-only.

“We will be able to speed up our digital transformation, especially for younger audiences, and we will continue to invest in video news bulletins.

“What will not change is our commitment to independent, impartial journalism.”

The new language services mean the BBC World Service will be available in 40 languages, including English.

Lord Hall has set a target for the BBC to reach 500 million people worldwide by its centenary in 2022.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

ESAT Daily News Amsterdam November 17,2016

Humanity has in many ways come quite far, but it’s also clear that it still has a long way to go.

Prejudice is one such area where we have much room for improvement. It continues to create problems among people, and at worst, our bigotry leads to wars and conflicts where countless innocent lives are lost.

Still, these massive problems often begin with the first impressions we make about others based on their skin color, physical appearance, and perceived nationality.

In an effort to contrast the prejudices we all have with the facts about who we actually are, travel company Momondo gathered 67 people from various ethnicities and offered them a DNA test.

All of the test subjects had one thing in common: they were proud of their nationality, ethnicity, and heritage.

But they were also full of bias against people from other races, who in their eyes are totally different from themselves.

Sound a little bit familiar?

The whole thing starts with a question: “Would you dare to question who you really are?”

Then, Momondo gave each of the participants a DNA test. And two weeks later, the test subjects returned to see the results.

The results left the participants in tears… and shattered everything they ever thought about themselves.

This video is an important reminder for all of us to accept others regardless of their nationality or skin color. Because we actually have a lot more in common than we think!

I really hope that this thought-provoking video helps people look beyond appearances and take a step closer toward each other.

We must never forget to love our fellow human beings for who they are, regardless of their appearance, origin, or nationality.

Please share this important video, so that more people can learn this valuable lesson for themselves!