Bad goes when Worse comes

In my 31^th year on earth one of the greatest that I consider as an achievement in the past 12 months was the verity that I met BirtuKan Mideksa. As toxic, as her audacious and loving nature is one thing that I have made a habit of is to hold on each conversation that I have with her so meeting her at the Amnesty Write-A-thon event was just warmth to add to my treasure.

“የሚፈቱት ይመስልሻል ?” She asked me looking at case story of the Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo I was holding, “ነገሩ ይመስለናል እንጂ” She continued “ዓለም ላይ ታሪክ circumstanceና ሁኔታዎችን እንጂ end resultsን ደግሞ አያሰየንም ወይም መቶ በመቶ እርግጠኛ እንድንሆን አያደርገንም”

Her words and this picture I came across just remind me of the great words of Cornel West

“The country [World] is in deep trouble. We've forgotten that a rich life consists fundamentally of serving others, trying to leave the world a little better than you found it. We need the courage to question the powers that be, the courage to be impatient with evil and patient with people, the courage to fight for social justice. In many instances, we will be stepping out on nothing, and just hoping to land on something. But that's the struggle. To live is to wrestle with despair, yet never allow despair to have the last word.” 

 

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer

Reading this made my worry become a dire prophecy and this is not that I am happy about my anticipations but knowing this just makes everything fall into place and reveal the real motive of why the Rich held the International Conference on AIDS and STDs in the famous capital of the poor.

It was all about the aid and a way to open another channel for the underminers who live of the video of the ribs of a hungry African child. The funny excuse is that they say homosexuals’ criminalization is extreme to a level exceeding proportion as compared to the urgency of the number of people who are in need of the aid that they are indirectly threatening to cut the aid they give.

Yeah the rich get richer and the poor get poorer

On the other hand, the US says, “The people of Ethiopia are being bled dry,” and that no matter hard we try we will only be swimming upstream against illicit capital leakage.

They pity us, that we are the people don’t know why we are not able to escape the viscous cycle of poverty.  While they clearly say that it is not skeptic to say that corrupt African leaders have stolen much of the money given to help Africans. Stolen aid money helps keep such leaders in power, and that aid that does get to the people undermines their ability to fend for themselves.

So where is the missing link called common sense that the only thing that one with an average brain would understand is that Ethiopia is actually in a desperate need of good governances.Nothing else

Yeah the rich get richer and the poor get poorer

አይ ድሃ መሆን መጥፎ - እንደ ሴት ልጆቻችን ወንድ ልጆቻችንን አሳልፈን ልንሰጥ ይሆን ?

አንቺ ደግሞ ምነው አበዛሸ ተሉኝ ይሆናል ግን ወድጄ አይደለም ከዚህ በፊት ኢትዮጲያ ውስጥ ‘በቀላሉ’ የገቢ ምንጭ የሆኑ ማንኛውም አይነት ሥራዎች በትክክለኛው መንገድ ኅብረተሰቡንና ሥራውን የምትሠራው/የሚሠራው ላይ  ያላቸው ተጽኖና ጉዳት ከግንምቱስጥ ሳይወሰድ እደሰደድ እሳት አገራችንን ማጥለቅለቃቸውን ሰለማስታውስ ነው።አንዱን እና ዋነኛውን ላንሳላችሁ

So Gay Activists are not Terrorist

Weeks back, we found ourselves aching from the arrest of several journalists and politicians accused of terrorism. These individuals have shown and proven that their struggle is to see the respect of human right, the end of oppression, the reign of the rule of law and the installation of the freedom of individuals. But were thrown in prison and are still being prosecuted for terrorism for claiming what is rightfully theirs and of the people they are committed to serve. These were individuals are teachers, journalist and lower working class who could not afford to get a lawyer that would represent them in court .So watching their court trail had me fascinated about our ruling party and the meek individuals that have caused it to be so apprehensive. But then again an Elephant’s biggest scare is a rat and that is not ironic but Mother Nature.

Yenesew: A vigil to cry for tomorrow

      A coworker of mine asked me why there aren't many smart kids in Africa. What he meant was, he doesn't see many African kids getting awarded for their special talent or for their genius minds or for the extra ordinary school project they did. Obviously I could not disagree and above all I became dispirited to explain as I know the rationale that he had developed this from and I did not have a straight outright answer that would make him comprehend what I wanted him to understand – the African reality and what it means to be a typical African in Africa –.Some feel poverty and repression are nothing more than an African taboo that the world can indulge on to satisfy its humanitarian thirst and that it is a problem but is exclusive of life of Africans in Africa as a whole or that it is an inheritances that Africans are bound to live with.

   

Holy Hypocrisy but መስቀሉ ግን ሁሌም ዘለዓለማዊ ነው

Seeing these two pictures of our leaders I could only see that same Cross, one that was symbolized by the cane of Moses; healed those who saw and recognized it and the one on which Christ was wounded for my transgression, bruised for my iniquities and carrying the chastisement of my peace in his stripes.Nothing more nothing less.


Society deserves to see pictures of leaders revealing good gesture and in a way showing some kind of loyalty to God but oftentimes history has taught us that leaders use such presentations to essentially justify or back up their wrong doing with something that society can simply relate to. This is what we call Holy Hypocrisy and I doubt people be fooled by presentations as such any more because action speaks more than words.PERIOD!!!

Transgression of reality

Words

Words can kill
words can give life
Words can bound the mind
Words can pierce the heart
Words can bore hope
Words can crush the spirit
Words can build
Up character and principle

አጋጣሚውና ተጋጣሚዎቹ

Sorry for dragging you into my ጉራማሌ view with a ጉራማሌ writing but I had seen these two interviews in the past and noticed a surprising likeness and had always wanted to share it. So that is where I am taking you.

I don't even think I ought to try to use words to describe how hard it is for me to follow Syria’s story .The cruelty of the government and the ambience is beyond the threshold of what my gut can take and even beyond the adjectives I know to describe the fear and the annoyance I feel so I have been avoiding the news as much as I can but on one particular show on AC 360, Anderson hosted an interview with Syrian ambassador for the US which for some reason I found to be interesting. Listening to one of the prominent individuals of Assad is one thing but in fact what makes it more interesting is the guy is an outright liar and he does it with such level of confidence that it became intimidating for Anderson who squirmed throughout the interview.

But I can tell you the most striking, jarring thing about this particular interview is it just does not sound as if you are seeing or hearing it for the first time, may be not a 100% déjà vous but a very familiar setting.  And then aha...

I have seen a similar interview two weeks back. The intriguing similarity is both interviews were held by two of the biggest news broadcasters (CNN and BBC) by two of the most known journalist with the Ambassadors for UK and USA from countries, whose records deference for human right  is in question both denied the finds of the investigation and essentially the outcome reported.It is very entertaining to see the similarity. Here is Bashir and Abdirashid

                 

You Are Not Powerless

Even though you feel your hands are tied with iron chains.
Even though your mind filled with frustration from the voiceless screams.
Even though loneliness becomes the dawn shine that wakes you up
Even though your hope replaced with darkness as cold as ice.
Even though the air you breathe become as heavy as a rock.
Never stop dreaming because no one or nothing can kill your dream and that dream is your power that reigns over all the weaknesses.

You are never powerless

A Mother is a Mother at heart

As I look at you
All innocent and brand new
Free of the world
And all its unclean influences
I wonder
Can I really say no
Except give you my all 
To teach you
To love you
To protect you
You are so dependent upon me
I don't want to fail
You are too precious
  To disappoint



Life in a jiffy

Our past can fill our souls with anguish for what we should or should not have done or it can be filled with gratitude for the very fact that we tried our best of our abilities. And life is not always about the card game neither is choosing the right card is not in our hand but the will of the unchangeable fate. This is the look of life that makes me look at how I live and how I value the moments and the opportunities that had made me the architect of my own life.

Would you change?

If you knew that you would die today,

Saw the face of God and love,

Would you change?

If you knew that love can break your heart

When you're down so low you cannot fall

Would you change?

How bad, how good does it need to get?

How many losses? How much regret?

What chain reaction would cause an effect?

Makes you turn around,

Makes you try to explain,

Makes you forgive and forget,

Makes you change?

If you knew that you would be alone,

Knowing right, being wrong,

Would you change?

If you knew that you would find a truth

That brings up pain that can't be soothed

Would you change?

How bad, how good does it need to get?

How many losses? How much regret?

What chain reaction would cause an effect?

Makes you turn around,

Makes you try to explain,

Makes you forgive and forget,

Makes you change?

Are you so upright you can't be bent?

If it comes to blows are you so sure you won't be crawling?

If not for the good, why risk falling?

Why risk falling?

If everything you think you know,

Makes your life unbearable,

Would you change?

If you'd broken every rule and vow,

And hard times come to bring you down,

Would you change?

Would you change?

If you knew that you would die today,

If you saw the face of God and love,

Would you change?

If you saw the face of God and love

If you saw the face of God and love

Would you change?






~Tracy Chapman

An Ethiopian day on Cyber

after 15 mins...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14880418

የዩጋንዳ መንግስት በጉንም ፍየሉንም ሰብሰቦ ሰብሰቦ ። የክበበው ፌደራል አይነት ነገር ሆነ

ፌደራሉ(ለሊት ሰከም ሰከም እያለ የሚሄድ ጎረምሳን): አንታ!!! ወዴት ኖ የምትሂዶ
ልጁ (በመበርበትበት): ወወወወደ ቤት
ፌደራሉ: ሎምሆኑ ስምህ ማኖ ? ማስታወቂያ አምጣ
... ልጁ (በመቀጥቀጥ መታወቂያውያውን እየሰጠ): ደስአለኝ
ፌደራሉ: ደስአለኝ ? ለምንዱኖ ደስ ያለህ ሎዚ ሎቡጡቡጥ ሎጫጫታ?
ፌደሩሉ (መታወቂያው ላይ ያለውን ሰም እየሰረዘ): ጉዳዩ እስኪጣራ ድረስ ስምህ ደስአላለኝም ሆኗል

New hope for New Year

I was struggling to get myself out of the daunting mood from the retrospect filled with so many undone tasks and unattained goals to get myself into the vibe of a new year spirit because looking back at 2003 was not that much entertaining rather overwhelming. I don’t mean this in a negative way rather that each day had added a value and experience to my little and not really exciting life. In the midst of this the sight of the mourning faces of former US presidents in one of the memorial service of the 9/11 victims – Flight 93, which was being shown on TV, caught my attention; putting into my incompleteness to be precise.

President Bush, President Clinton and many other officials, one after the other poured their hearts with their tearful eyes in front the families of the victims. I have seen leaders speak to their people about people’s lives lost in tragic moments but not in such a manner. This is so different to the set up I am used to as an Ethiopian. My mind and conscience was made to accept the excuse of lack of tear gas as the justification for the death of civilians. A tear from the eyes of my leaders or moments where they embrace and honor humanity with the people they lead is something that I have never seen.

This is not a political remark but where my moral dilemma lies, as a person with feet in two worlds and having a mind with so many voids but living in the collective dream of others who thrive to achieve their own void. Will my incompleteness ever end or my voids go away? I shall wait and see. But no matter what everything I see tells me that it is a New Year, a new spirit but the same old problem I won’t refrain from hoping for hope because I believe that fear, distress and hope are the only courage that keeps us going and one day that courage will summon for the good.

Moving forward with hope and good wishes is not an optional pursuit but a necessity so here is mine.

Let the New Year be when our common human principles prevail, where our wealth comes from our hard work, our pleasure preserved with our conscience ,our knowledge with character, our businesses led with morality ,our beliefs and religion vested with sacrifice and our Politics with positive principles.

Happy New year Every one

Reasons why I like a Tiger

A low key:                                                                     Tigers live in solitary ,they are not of the crowd and obviously not attentions seekers unlike a lion,which all its entire life would struggle to live up to meet the expectation of its clan and always struggle to kept that leader title to himself by all means necessary that including killing his own cubs. 

Brave but modest: 

Lions are smaller but strong yet are known to be the king of the jungle because of its bravery .A Tiger is bigger and stronger yet most likely would back out from a fight with a lion just to avoid injury and dispute .But if the Lion insists it is most likely that the Tiger would win the fight.

Humble:

A Tiger reminds me of a humble person with honesty at heart not afraid to make mistakes,not afraid to show its scares and sins and not afraid to lose

In a world where act of humanity is inhuman

To Shewaye who was horrendously tortured for refusing to beat a toddler and the voiceless that she , in effect, represents

I came to live, to fight, to conquer, to thrive

 I came to win, to survive, to prosper, to rise     

to shine

I wish today it will rain all day

maybe that will kinda make the pain go away

trying to forgive you for abandoning me

praying but I think I’m still an angel away

angel away, yeah strange in a way

maybe that is why I chase strangers away

they got their guns out aiming at me

but I become near when they aiming at me

me, me, me against them

me against enemies, me against friends

somehow they both seem to become one

A sea full of sharks and they all see blood

they start coming and I start rising

must be surprising, I’m just summising

win, thrive, soar, higher, higher, higher

more fire

I came to live, to fight, to conquer, to thrive

I came to win, to survive, to prosper, to rise

to shine

Everybody wanna try to box me in

Suffocating everytime it locks me in

paint they own pictures than they crop me in

but I will remain where the top begins

cause I am not a word, I am not a line

I am not a girl that can every be defined

I am not fly, I am levitation

I represent an entire generation

I hear the criticism loud and clear

that is how I know that the time is near

so we become alive in a time of fear

and I aint got no time to spare

cry my eyes out for days upon days

such a heavy burden placed upon me

but when you go hard your nay’s become yay’s

Fly - Lyrics

For a Reason or a Season ?

Some times I have trouble dealing with people. I used to blame myself if people act up, if I read some bitterness in  their face, or if they do not respond to my call .Me saying this, might be a surprise for most who know me as a serial facebooker which I don’t deny. I am a social-networker but not a social animal. My aunt used to tell me “ሰውን ምን አደረኩት ብቻ አትበይ ምን አድርጎኛልም በይ” that did not work either as you can't always make others at fault just to feel better and it is not always that people grow apart because of what happened between them or of dispute or of disagreement. Sometimes it is just the time and the truth of the matter is relationships are not straight forward rather a two-way thing and very dynamic.

Here I have shared a Yoruba inspirational writing which in some way gave me the perfect answer about people that come to and leave out of my life.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrong -doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But only for a season.

ሪክ ፔሪ ቱ ቱ ቱ

ለካ GPA የተፋበት በየቤቱ ብዙ አለ:: 

ሪክ ፔሪ (Rick Perry) ከሁለት ባለ ሁለት ክሬት (Credit) ትምህርት ውጪ ካፒታል Aን በፊደል ገበታ ላይ ካልሆነ በግሬድ ሪፖርት አይቷት አያውቅም  በትምህርት እንዳያውቃት ትምህርት እንደማይማር በቀሩት ግሬዶቹ ማየት የቻላል:: እኔማ ሹቀቱን ሳይ ሪካችን Bahir Dar University ነው እንዴ የተማረው ብዬ አሰብኩኝ:: 

ታዲያ ይሄ ልባም ባለማጭድ ከHarvarዱ ባለ Magna  ኩም ላዴ ጋር መፎካከር ደግሞም ማሸነፍ እችላለሁ ብሎ ለውድድር ቀርቧል አይ አሜሪካ የሰው ልክ የማታውቅ::

ሪክ ፔሪ ስሙ ራሱ የወንዶች ሱፍ መሸጫ የመሰለው Texas A&M University ቱ ቱ ቱ ብሎ 2.22 ግሬድ ሰቶ ከሸኘው ጀምሮ ኑሮን ለማሸነፍ ደፋ ቀና ሲል ቆይቷል እኛ አገር ቢሆን የሆነ ነገር አባል ሆኖ የሆነ ቦታ ይቀጠር ነበር :: 

ነገሩ America በዚህ አትታማም ይሄው በአሳማኝነት ሳይሆን በስሜታዊነት የሚመራ ፓርቲ ውስጥ ገብቶ ይሄው እኔ ነኝ መድሃኒታችሁ እያለን ነው::
ሌላው ሪክ ፔሪን ለየት የሚያደርገው ሃይማኖተኛነቱ ነው ግሬድ በጸሎት ይቀየር ይመስል ነገሩ የደምበላው ቱርኩ ሚስት ሽሽጌ “እዛው ያማይናገረው ጋር ልሂድ” ያለችውን ሰምቶ ሊሆን ይችላል::
አዋ! ሰው እንደ ቫይረስ በመሞት እና በመኖር መካከል ያለ ግሬድ ይዞ በኪነ ጥበቡ እንጂ በእውቀቱ የት ይደርሳል:: 

ለማንኛውም የምታውቁት ካላችሁ ንገሩት Church እና State ተለያይቷል አንተ የEconomics ባለDው ስልጣን ብትይዝ ደግሞ State እና Economics ይለያያል ያባይሆን ግን Ayn Rand ራሷ ከሞት ትነሳለች::