Was that it, Congressman?

I see the long awaited H.R. 4423 Mark Up was finally unveiled, such as it is with skimpy cladding but lots of makeup, and paraded to the public being hailed as a great success by the Ethiopian Diaspora. It seems to have done the job for many, but I must say, it didn’t do it for me. I hate to rain on everyone’s parade, but I wasn’t impressed by it at all. From what we heard the last few months, HR 4423 was supposed to practically smoke Meles and his cohorts right out of his palace, but what we got was a whole lot of fluff and no substance. Like they say, ‘the devil is in the details.’ A close examination of the Resolution reveals that it is nothing more than a grandstanding by Mr Smith. No wonder Mr Payne and the other Dem’s were not too impressed. I suppose the oohs and aahs the resolution received should not come as a big surprise given that we live in the age of instant gratification and all. What was even more shocking than the accolade the proposed Resolution received was how some the Diaspora misunderstood it. Some even concluded that the bill had already passed! Well, not so fast, bubba. Here’s how the Senate Congressional glossary defines ‘Markup’.

markup - The process by which congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.

Key words? ’Proposed Legislation’. This jumping into conclusion by some reminded me of a recent incident with my 4 year old who, seeing the sun briefly after a whole day of rain but a sky filled with dark cloud, signifying more rain said ‘See, it’s sunny! We can go for a swim!’.

First, a couple of points about the committee itself. Any committee that has Tom ‘Let’s Nuke Mecca’ and ‘let’s deport Mexicans/terrorists’ Tancredo as a member should send chills through every Ethiopian’s back. Second, why do we allow them (them being the US lawmakers) to treat us like step children or worse as some colony of an old British Empire? I am serious. This irritates the hell out of me! To me, the whole document sounds rather paternal and condescending with all the ‘training’ and ‘assistance’ that it proposes and the hand holding it promises to do. Besides, do we really want to take any lessons from this current Republican Congress and administration that has proven itself to be incompetent and clueless? A Congress more corrupt than Addis gumruk or a Nigerian airline, and a president, yes a small ‘p’, whose mental capacity is that of a 6^th grader, with apologies to all 6^th graders around the world. Why is that we do not put our efforts in other alternative areas for solution? Why do we insist on hitching our wagon to a horse ridden by a bunch of failed neo-cons?

Mr Smith we have always been independent people, we do not need the babysitting and handholding. The leaders who are languishing in jail today like Dr Berehanu Nega, Prof Mesfin, and Bertukan Mideksa have shown that they have what it takes to do the job. Sir, these people can play with the big boys. All they are asking for is a level playing field with impartial referees, or umpires if that works better for you.

OK, time to examine this precious document.

Sections 1 and 2 blah blah blah something about democracy and human right in Ethiopia. Hey, wait a minute. This sounds interesting. Someone is talking about … oh, wait. It’s a member of US Congress. And a Republican at that! This should be interesting. OK. let’s humor the man.

Sec. 3. SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN ETHIOPIA
(b) Support for Human Rights Training- The President, acting through the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall revise the Agency’s country plan for Ethiopia to provide support for capacity building for more effective independent human rights monitoring operations in Ethiopia and provide training for government officials on international human rights standards.

What standards, Mr Smith? Is this one of those ‘do as I say not as I do’ deals? In addition to being a good example of the ‘big brothery’ tone of the Resolution, it also oozes with utter hypocracy. Where does the US get off trying to preach others about human rights? We have seen time and time again the US thumbing its nose at the world community by violating treaty after treaty and international law after international law by kidnapping people all over the world and detaining them without any charges. I realize Mr Smith is not the president Vice president, but I have not heard the Congressman taking Bush and his criminal administration to task for all the atrocities it committed and continues to commit. Would the appropriate word here be a hypocrite?

(c) Training for Police, Security, and Prison Personnel- The President, acting through the head of the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program of the Department of Justice, shall provide necessary training for Ethiopian police, security, and prison personnel in recognizing and maintaining international standards for arresting and interrogating suspects and otherwise handling prisoners and detainees.

All can say here is that if this ever comes to pass, I hope the trainers will not be the same as the ones that trained the prison personnel at Abu Graib prison in Iraq.

Enough said!

(d) Training for Court System Personnel- The President, acting through the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall support programs directed at increasing the independence and competence of the Ethiopian judicial system, especially training for Ethiopian court personnel on handling suspects and defendants throughout the pre-trial and trial process in order to ensure their human and civil rights as defined by international accords.

Again Mr Smith, don’t you think this would have reverberated louder if we practiced what we preached? A human rights training from the US of A? This would have been really laughable, if it wasn’t serious. The kings of torture, extraordinary rendition , and violators of the habeas corpus law preaching about human rights? Give me a break!

(b) Transparency of Election Results- Congress urges the Government of Ethiopia to allow and facilitate a transparent review of the May 15, 2005, election results and to support a legal review of those results that are credibly shown to be questionable.

At this point sir, don’t you think the evidence would be so compromised that it would render any possibility of a re-count meaningless? I have this wild idea. How about a provision in there about say uuuhhh a REVOTE?!! Amazing!

(c) Readmittance of United States Democracy Organizations- Congress urges the Government of Ethiopia to readmit the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems which were expelled prior to the May 15, 2005, elections and expeditiously work out any legitimate issues involving their registration.

There is nothing international about the Republican Party sir, especially this one. A closer look at the board of directors shows that Sen. John “I will support you to death Dubya, just don’t smear me an my family like you did in the 2000 campaign” McCain as chairman, Dr Jeane J Kirkpatrick , Brent Scowcroft, Sen. Chuck Hagel, just to name a few. I didn’t see a Jose, or a Schmidt or a Kebede in there. All these are staunch Republicans who could care less about the rest of the world. The National Democratic Institute doesn’t fair much better with a list of who is who’s in the Democratic Party. Why don’t we keep them where they belong in the US, and allow the International Foundation for Electoral Systems in, which is at least a bit more international? Just a suggestion.

(d) Training of Political Parties and Civil Society Election Observers- In order to better ensure continued progress in the conduct of the electoral process in Ethiopia, the President, acting through the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall revise the Agency’s country plan for Ethiopia to provide support for training political parties on organization building and message development and for training political parties and civil society groups in election monitoring.

Is it just me or the rest of you shudder as well, every time you read ‘…the President, acting through…’ But I digress. Again sir, in the unfortunate God awful possibility that this resolution may come to pass, please make sure that these ‘trainers’ don’t come from the Election Board of Palm Beach County, Florida, especially the guy they always show on TV every time there is a story about the 2000 elections. You know, the one with those thick eyeglasses who kept holding up the one of the butterfly ballots and kept squinting at them? He is sure to scare a lot of Ethiopian kids. You know what kind of mess they put us in 2000, don’t you? Yes, I know it helped your side, but it gave the rest of the world, oh God, G W Bush!! Now I remember why I shudder every time I read….

SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN ETHIOPIA.

1. According to the World Bank Institute’s governance ratings for 2004, the rating of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is measurably worse than its last rating in 2002 in government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and control of corruption, which examine a government’s capacity to formulate and implement economic policies.(b) Economic Policy Assistance- Utilizing training and other technical assistance programs offered by the Department of the Treasury, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, and the Department of Justice, the President shall assist the Government of Ethiopia in developing policies that will address key economic obstacles, including such areas as budgeting, taxation, debt management, bank supervision, and anti-money laundering, that inhibit private sector development and limit participation in donor programs such as the United States Millennium Challenge Account.

And what circumstances would those be, sir? Globalization? The US trade policies? Perhaps the policies of the World Bank? Is this the same World Bank led by the failed neo-con Paul Wolfowitz, who is as qualified as I am to be a nuclear physicist? And what kind of economic policy should we expect? One that condones and even encourages the constant pressure by multinational corporations, with the help of Meles’ regime, to patent our own indigenous seeds like teff and coffee? Or Globalization, an international economic policy specifically crafted to enslave the majority of the people around world for the benefit of few multi national corporations? And let’s not even start about corruption in government. Tom DeLay, Randy ‘The Duke’Cunningham, Bill Frist, Conrad Burns, Rick Santorum …shall I go on? All of these Republicans have been involved in some kind of corruption scheme legal or illegal.

And then there was the Markup statement!

There is a requirement that all military cooperation not connected with either counter-terrorism or peacekeeping be suspended until the U.S. certifies that the government of Ethiopia is respecting human rights and the rule of law. Although the overwhelming amount of current military cooperation between our nations would be exempted, this prohibition would prevent future expansion of U.S.-Ethiopia military cooperation until the specified conditions are met.

OK, where in the world does US have a military or non-military for that matter, cooperation with any other country in the world that is not connected to terrorism or ‘peacekeeping’? What is the number one issue the US has been preaching about the last 4 years? Yep, terrorism! Does the US have its military training anti terrorism personnel in Ethiopia? To steal a line from D Rumsfeld, ‘you betcha!’ Folks, can’t you see this what’s going on here? Weren’t we told that the ‘war on terror’ recently amended to ‘The Long War’ will probably last for generations? So what does that mean regarding the relationship between the US and Ethiopia? To me, it means that those Hmvees that were used to gun down innocent citizens in the streets of Addis will keep flowing in the guise of fighting terrorism. Besides, how do we reconcile the above statement with these?

(1) SUSPENSION- The President shall suspend all joint security activities of the Government of the United States with the Government of Ethiopia, including activities through the U.S. East Africa Counterterrorism Initiative until such time as the certification described in paragraph (2) is made in accordance with such paragraph.

(2) CERTIFICATION- The certification described in this subsection is a certification by the President to Congress that the Government of Ethiopia is observing international standards of human rights and enforcing the principle of the rule of law, especially by conducting a credible investigation of the killing of civilian protesters by security forces, as well as trying or releasing detainees and granting access for detainees to their families, counsel, and the International Red Cross.

Can you see now that there is a catch to the most important part of this legislation, which is the physical security of the Ethiopian people? Oh and wait. Didn’t we just have a wave of explosions in Addis recently? Hmmm… interesting. So, are we to believe that Al Qaeda is finally settling an old score with Meles regime? Please! Or is this a work of our friends from north of the border? I don’t know, but it seems to me that they have a bigger fish to fry over there and I doubt if picking another fight with the Ethiopian people is top on their agenda these days. Well, I have my own theory (Please refer to ‘Last Straw?’ on this same blog) about this whole thing, but people we need to start putting 2 and 2 together here.

How about the question of vote recount, although at this point that seems to be an impossible thing to do? OK, how about a revote? Has anyone explored that option? Did I miss the bullet point about these 2 issues? How about the legality of the Agazi units running around still terrorizing innocent people? Are we saying that the lives of those innocent Ethiopians was lost in vain? I didn’t see anything about that. Instead, we get a one liner about restricting travel to the US of some poor souls who can’t even afford to bus tickets to Addis? How patronizing?!

The intent of H.R. 4423 has always been to hold accountable those who were involved in the shootings, as well as the government that has failed to fully investigate or prosecute its forces involved in two sets of shootings. Over the past few weeks, we have been able to strengthen this bill, with the help of good suggestions and input from colleagues on this Subcommittee and our friends in the human rights community.

Please sir, stop it! This is too much to take at this point. Sir, ‘those who were involved in the shootings’ ARE part of the government! Have you heard what Meles said about those involved in the shootings? He defended them. That’s right! He said they were doing their jobs. Now, are you asking the fox to guard the hen house? You actually expect the government to investigate it’s own police force? Let me give you an analogy here that may work for you. This is the same as Mr Bush announcing a few months back that he would lead an investigative committee in regards to the mess in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. You remember the roar of laughter that comment solicited? Do you get it now? But in this case sir, it is not funny at all. See, we can’t afford to let our ‘leaders’ stay in power after committing such atrocities. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t see anything being strengthened here. Meles is still in power and our people are still oppressed. Sir, there’s another Charles Taylor in Africa, and he’s not even hiding in Nigeria.

There also is a travel ban that prevents travel to America by those government officials and forces involved in the shooting of demonstrators, as well as those civilians determined to be involved in the unfortunate deaths of seven police officers.

Well, thank God for small favors! I was starting to worry about those 200 birr a month Agazi units lined up at the US embassy in Addis were going to get their visas! Thank you Mr. Smith. That must have been a tough decision to make. We owe you one. Are you kidding me? And where in the Resolution was this ‘restriction’ mentioned? Did I miss something here?

Well, I think enough points have been made here. I will mercifully skip the rest of the bullet points and the hypocrisy in them, such as the call for journalistic freedom like the US is a shining example, or the call for reconciliation between political groups etc. No need to prolong the agony.

Here is a fundamental point that seems to have been overlooked by people who are going gaga over this sham of a Resolution, which is the question of governance. HR 4423 makes a huge and dangerous concession (I actually tend to believe that it is quite deliberate) that the current regime should stay in power. Quite frankly, it sounds like the Resolution intentionally fails to address this critical issue and rewards this criminal regime with 5 more years of tyranny! I don’t get it. Does this mean that the innocent lives lost, the imprisonment, and the terrorizing of innocent is all forgotten? Now, who dropped the ball on this? Was this not addressed in the hearings?

Peolpe, as long as there is this fake war on terror and G W Bush with his lap dog Republican Congress are in power, there will not be a meaningful solution to our problem by the US. Let’s get that in our collective consciousness and then maybe we will start heading in the right direction. As I said above, we might be better served to put our effort in order to save our country.

The Resolution wasn’t a total failure, I suppose. One good thing I got from it was this.

(c) Resource Policy Assistance- The President, acting through the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, shall provide assistance for sustainable development of Ethiopia’s Nile and Awash River resources, including assistance to help Ethiopia with the technology necessary for the construction of dams, irrigation systems, and hydroelectric power that might prevent future famine.

Now you’re talking sir, this is the kind of assistance we need. Assistance so we can stand on our feet and we will not bother you again, we promise. While you’re at it, can you talk to your allies in the north, no not those; they have their own issues. I am referring to the Egyptians who have made some kind of a shady deal in the cover of night with Meles in regards to this issue. It’s a matter of life and death, literally.

Chereka

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

I have been meaning to put in my two cents about the Ethiopian community’s plea for U.S. administration interference in the current political unrest that has gripped our country.   After reading Ms Meron Ahadu’s March 8^th article entitled Forging Alliance with the Democratic Party , I was compelled to respond and make a point or two about the much-maligned Democratic Party.  I also want to use this opportunity to share my views on the current US administration and its foreign policy.  

As an unapologetic liberal, (whatever that term has morphed into these days) I actually recoil in horror when I hear some of the well-deserved criticisms hurled at the Democratic Party these days. But I also feel that some of the criticisms are unwarranted and deserve defending.  This defense does not emanate from some sort of blind loyalty to the Party, but from a liberal point of view, which is reflected more in the Democratic Party, which admittedly needs a healthy dose of Cortisone shot for the backbone and a swift kick on the behind to stir it back to its core democratic ideals. But let’s not throw the baby with the bath water.  

It is true, as Ms Ahadu indicated that the Ethiopian community has identified more with the Democratic Party for decades.  However, lately it seems like this relationship might be souring as more and more Ethiopians have become disenchanted by what they perceive as unresponsiveness by the Democrats to the issues that are facing Ethiopia today.  However, there are valid reasons for this lack of immediate action by Democrats that have not been recognized by many, which I will address below.

Incidentally, ever since former President Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to immigrants back in the mid 80’s, there has been a misconception about Republican Party being a better ally to the Ethiopian community than the Democratic Party. To hear some misinformed fellow Ethiopians tell it, it sounds like President Reagan specifically had the Ethiopian Diaspora in mind, when he came up with the amnesty.  But this calculated plan did not come as a good will gesture for immigrants, but instead as part of a larger political plan to bring cheap labor to the U.S. from Mexico and other poor countries to destroy the labor unions, a major contributor to the Democratic Party and a big thorn on the side of the Republican Party for years. The amnesty also provided the corporations, major Republican contributors and supporters, the ability to employ undocumented workers for cheap labor with no benefits.  It is my opinion that the Republican Party’s interest only goes as deep as its lobbyists’ pockets instead of a genuine concern for others albeit the myth that had been building up in the Ethiopian Diaspora. But I digress.  My goal here is not much to trash the Republican Party nor is it to defend the Democratic Party to no end, but instead to remind people that there are some factors that we need to consider before putting the blame squarely on the Democrats and that there is often a great peril in forging unholy alliance with the U.S. as even the un-holiest of tyrants like Bin Laden and Saddam learned recently.

The first and most important point overlooked by many is that today the Republican Party is in control of all 3 branches of government. Congress has a Republican majority in both the House and the Senate, the president, as everyone knows, is not just a Republican but a certified Neo-Con, and the Supreme Court, with the recent appointment of Judge Sam Alito, has solidified its ultra conservative position.  Looking at Congress, what this means is that every bill or resolution introduced by a member of either party is basically at the mercy of the Republican majority in that Republicans have the final say whether the bill is moved up the legislation ladder or is killed prematurely in a committee.  More so now than any time in the recent history of Congress, the Republican Party has made the legislative process ideological and extremely partisan.  Any bill that does not promote today’s extreme conservative ideology or further enriches corporations is either killed immediately in committee or is shoved under a pile of beauracratic garbage not to see the light of day again.  Republicans decide what is brought up for debate in the different committees as well as the House and the Senate floors.  All committees and sub committees are chaired by Republicans, since their majority affords them this privilege. Democrats have been practically shut out of the legislative process unless it is a bill that Republicans believe it has a wide bipartisan support.  Democrats have a list of legislative proposals waiting in Congress, but they have not been able to push it through, because of the Republicans’ arrogance and lack of respect for the institution. In fact, the first order of business by the Republicans, as soon as they assumed the House majority in 1994, was to set up the ‘K-Street Project’, which is a brainchild of the disgraced former House majority leader Republican Tom DeLay, who was recently indicted for a number of unlawful activities such as illegal campaign financing. Tom DeLay and Grover Nordquist, a Republican Party strategist, made it clear to all lobbyists in Washington that, if they wanted any bills passed by Congress, they must first wet the beaks of the Republican vultures in Washington.  So, we can put that insinuation by Ms Ahadu about the Democrats and the K-Street lobbyists to rest at this point.

So it strikes me as odd why Congressman Smith did not put Resolution 4423 to a vote within the sub-committee in the first place, if he genuinely believed in the Resolution and the wide support it garnered from his constituents, the Ethiopian community. Rep. Smith certainly has the votes to move it up the legislative ladder without buckling under the pressure or ‘hostility’ towards the Resolution by any Democrat on the committee.  I mean who is yanking whose chain here?  Frankly, the Congressman comes across as somewhat disingenuous when he blames the ‘obstructionist Democrats’ as usual, as this seems to be the standard Republican Party decorum these days. Blame the Democrats for any and everything.  Why, after all, listen to any suggestion by a Democrat whose Party, according to today’s Republicans, stands for nothing and has no solutions to any problems?  I mean, since when did the Republicans start taking their marching orders from the meek Democrats?  If this is not the prefect example of political grandstanding, I don’t know what is.   I swear one of these days a Republican will forget to put the toilet seat down and when confronted by the wife, he will say ‘Well, it was the Democrats’ fault!’ 

Secondly, even if we were to believe Rep. Smith and accept his reason that Rep. Donald Payne from NJ, a ranking Democrat on the committee, requested further discussion, what is so terribly wrong with such an idea?  Shouldn’t every Ethiopian who wants the best for his country appreciate and welcome a further discussion instead of a hasty decision we all might regret later? Doesn’t the issue deserve a close scrutiny, given the utter incompetence and deviltry of this administration and its number one ally as well as enabler, the Republican led Congress?   In fact, I say we should embrace the idea given this administration’s response to real democracy around the world. Can someone say Haiti or Venezuela?  Perhaps Hamas’ recent victory in the Palestinian territories gives a better picture of what the US feels about genuine democracy. 

As for the outright hostility Ms Ahadu claimed Rep. Payne has shown towards this Resolution, a proof of such behavior would have helped her accusation. Ms Ahadu, also criticized the Ethiopian Caucus founded by Rep Mike Honda of California to promote the relation between the US and Ethiopia.  But this group is nothing more than a goodwill organization with no real political influence whatsoever.  What else can Congressman Honda and his group do except condemn the actions of this Meles regime through an official press release  

I get a chuckle every time a fellow Ethiopian quotes Bush’s State of the Union speech and his ‘promise’ to spread democracy around the world.  If there is an Ethiopian out there who actually believes Dubya’s pledge, I have this bridge in Mekele I’d like to sell them. But in all seriousness, I doubt if Bush and his Neo-Con buddies have a genuine concern for the well being of people around the world. I doubt if they even care about their own people - well, at least a certain ethnicity of it, if the response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was any indication. Hell, it took some major arm-twisting just to hear Colin Powell admit that there was genocide in Darfur. Just to utter the word genocide!  And last time I checked Powell was a black man.  How can we honestly believe that these Republicans have our best interest in their minds?    

What the world sees in America today is an administration that bombs first and asks questions later. Their idea of spreading freedom and democracy is by the barrel of an M-16. This is a renegade group of individuals whose official foreign policy includes attacking a sovereign nation preemptively. Haven’t we been paying attention to what has been happening in Iraq and Afghanistan the last 3 years? Are we really that naïve to buy into the ‘freedom is on the march’ propaganda by president Bush?  I’d hate for the president to one day give a speech about Ethiopia and declare, in his ever-charming southern drawl ‘Our qoouurrrrel is not with the people of  uhhh uuhh, Atiopian.  It is with the dictatorial regime of Maaleses Zoynaiwee’.  Next thing you know 2000-pound daisy cutter bombs are dropping on the streets of Addis under the headline ‘Shock and Awe-The Sequel, The Ethiopian Version’.  No thank you Mr. President, one dictator at a time, please. 

My friends, this is not your father’s America or your grandfather’s, for that matter.  There may have been a time, a long time ago, when it seemed like America cared about others and always came to the rescue.  At least it may have succeeded in giving that impression to the rest of the world.   But September 11, we are told by our new bold ‘leaders’, who are out to change the world to their liking, has changed everything.  This is the new America whose Constitution has been replaced the Neo-Con doctrine known as Project for the New American Century PNAC , a document that explains the  absurdity by this administration as well as answers to other questions many people are afraid to ask about this administration.  I encourage my fellow Ethiopians to read this document.  

Ms Ahadu asked a fair and logical question, “How can the Ethiopian Diaspora combat the above challenges?” The problem our country faces today requires the involvement of all of us inside and outside the country, and requires the active participation of all Ethiopians in the political process. But far be it from me to suggest to anyone how to vote or what political party to register under. My only hope is that people look into the facts carefully and do their own research before pledging alliance to a certain political party and casting their votes. Believe me, I realize that today’s Democratic Party leaves a lot to be desired in way of courage and effective organization, but when I look at the immediate alternative, I get this uncontrollable urge to break my fingers into a million pieces in order to stop myself from voting for a Republican candidate.   So until there is a viable third or fourth party, I will hold my nose and vote for a Democrat or an Independent any day whose core ideals are a bit closer to mine rather than cast a vote for any of today’s Republican candidate. 

 IMMIGRATION

My goodness! Did you see all those people in the streets in all major US cities? From NY to LA to Dallas… and that hot bed for undocumented workers… Salt Lake City!!!?? Now, I have seen everything. It was unbelievable!!  I am glad I have been a part of history.  Not even the 60’s Civil Rights march garnered this many people. 

Were there any Ethiopians demonstrating alongside the rest of the undocumented immigrants? I am curious to hear what the feeling of the Ethiopian community on this.  After all, we can learn a thing or two from how these poor brave people made such a huge noise enough to affect policy.  Yes, there is way too many of them compared to our community, but think about it.  They were composed of many different countries, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Haiti etc… How about Africans in the US joining forces and making sure that our voices are heard like this? I realize there is a political component to it, that is more complicated, but we can take this as an example to what people can accomplish when we are organized.   

 Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou

I thought I had heard every tale told about the love of music.   This is as interesting a story as it is unusual. 

Move over Mulatu Astatke and Girma Yifrashewa.  Wake up the echoes of Prof Ashenafi Kebede.  There is an old but new, no, not a sheriff, but a nun in town. Yes, you read right,  a nun. This is the story of Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou, a musical genius. Her talent has been compared to Jazz and classical greats like, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, and Jelly Roll Morton, and even Eric Satie as well as Beethoven in some of her works.

I guess genius comes in many shapes and forms.  This unheralded musical talent, however, has such an interesting tale, it almost makes her musical talent the side story.  I accidentally stumbled into her CD last weekend at a store and decided to do a little research on her, as I sometimes do before purchasing the CD.  The short bio I found was absolutely amazing.  Here are a few excerpts.

The latest installment in the Ethiopiques series is a brilliant, gorgeous and captivating record: solo piano compositions from Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou, whose warm, gentle touch evokes everyone from the work of Debussy to Fats Waller to Bill Evans. Born in 1923 into a learned Ethiopian family, Guebrou was educated in Switzerland (where she first learned piano) and Cairo as well as in her native country.   Soundfix

http://www.soundfixrecords.com/artists/ethiopiques/vol21/

Meditations on bible themes and the beauties of nature were her favorite subjects and her compositions were often built around recognizably Ethiopian melodic structures. But they also reveal refracted shards of what would certainly be cited as influences if only it could be established she had ever heard the works of Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett, Abdullah Ibrahim and especially, Eric Satie. But ultimately, Sister GuÈbrou seems to be a lone reed — but a very beautiful one.  Christina Roden

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000BU9FOQ/ref=pd_bbs_null_1/102-2135978-6169741?v=glance&s=music 

The 21st volume in the grand Ethiopiques series (not bad for a country that has no musical tradition of its own to speak of) is dedicated to the solo piano works of the outstanding composer and performer Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou , a daughter of Ethiopian high society who chucked it all to become a nun in the nation’s Orthodox Church. Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou was educated in Europe. She played violin (under the tutelage of Polish émigré Alexander Kontorowicz ). She took up her piano studies while in the convent and teaching at an orphanage.  Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

http://cdconnection.com/bin/nph-search?part=77826&source=robot

“Not bad for a country that has no musical traditionof its own…”?  Well, somebody done told you wrong, Mr  Jukrek. I think you need to do some homework about Ethiopian music. But that will be adressed at a later date on this blog.  For now, your kind review serves our purpose.

Well people, I hope y’all will get a copy of the CD for your listening pleasure and also help the orphange at the same time.

Enjoy!

Dr Strange Love in the White House?

Seymour Hersh is one of the most respected veteran journalists around the world.    He broke several important stories in the past, which have proven to be true.  According to Hersh, the Bush administration is already conducting military operations in Iran already and is planning to nuke the country, despite the rest of the world’s insistence that Iran is at least 5 years away from developing ‘the bomb’.   If he does go with the attack, many experts believe that it will de-stabilize the whole region and what happens next?  Who knows, but I don;t think it is anything good! But it sounds like what these fanatics in power in the US have been dreaming of.  Reagan believed the end was near back in the 80’s, but lost his mind to Alzheimer for most of his second term.  So, he was unable to execute his plan.  GW, on the other hand, does not have Alzheimer, but he sounds sick all right!  He actually believes and even boasts that he has a ‘messianic vision’ for Iran and the rest of the world.

This is too scary people. It could easily be the start of World War III.  Why are people quite about this?  Why aren’t people out in the streets demanding that this man step down?  What is wrong with Americans?  We see undocumented workers marching by the hundreds and thousands on a weekly basis asking for citizenship, we see the young in France marching on an almost daily basis demanding that the new oppressive law be replaced with a more equitable one, which it looks like they succeeded by the way, and we have others around the world making a difference.  And what do Americans do?  Oh that’s right, they’re busy watching American Idol!  What in the wide wide a world of sports is ah goina’ own here? Read’em and weep.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060417fa_fact

Last Straw?

So, it came down to this with Meles and his cohorts, huh? It’s a shame and shameless at the same time. Recently, while listening to my favorite radio program, a caller who has been disenchanted by the ‘war on terror’ that the US has embarked on mentioned the term ‘Demagogue’ and read its definition to the host.

Demagogue – A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace.

It is obvious to many that the Bush administration has been using this tactic for the last 5 years effectively-so effectively in fact, that they were basically given a free pass to implement all their domestic and international agenda’s and even managed to ‘win’ another term. No need to go into detail what these agenda’s are, but why does it feel like the Meles regime has taken a page or 2 from America’s playbook and maybe even putting the real training on ‘anti terrorism’ to work. Not the kind of training where a GI captain from Toledo, Ohio trains an Agazi from Adigrat how to shoot an M -16 into a group unarmed civilians and treat them much like the My Lai Massacre where they made a “tactical decision” to “destroy the village in order to save it”. I know, it hasn’t gotten to that stage yet. I’m of course referring to the training conducted by, most likely by the CIA and custom made for the dictator in the region which happens to be Woyane’s in our case.

The recent wave of explosions in Addis are a major cause for concern in that it may lead to a political abyss we may never be able get out of. Who knows, the Woyane regime may have resorted to the backup playbook seeing that it is running out of options. Is it really beyond the realm of possibility, given what they have done in the recent past?

It may be my cynical side which loathes this current menacing US administration, but I have this sick feeling that the recent atrocities in Addis may have some invisible had of the US as it is usually the case. What better way to turn public opinion by demagoguery that screams ’see, what these terrible kinijit people are doing to you? They are killing innocent people in the streets!’ Well, haven’t we heard that song before? I myself have heard it in a few languages in the short time I followed US politics. It has this strange resemblance to ‘Taps’. You know, that American military haunting melody from a bugle? Uh huh! Countries all over have, at one time or another, been victims of a US war machine and the CIA. Now, it may be a little too early to fully speculate on the possibility of a few ‘good men’ from the office of John Negroponte who is an expert in such chaos, but people, be warned. Wherever America goes with its military, the outcome is often far from pleasant. They say, ‘if you lay down with dogs, you wake up with fleas’.

Sure, the blame game is in full swing jumping from one LF (Liberation Front) to another and even to a neighboring country, but the goal is to keep people in disillusioned and in constant fear. Make ‘Big Brother’ the unquestioned protector of the people, who are otherwise helpless. Unfortunately for the Woyane’s, they once again mis-calculating. They misjudged the intelligence and political savvy of the the Ethiopian people.

WHY?

I blog therefore I am.

OK OK, it is not original, but I did think of it before I found out it wasn’t original. Really..I did.. I really really did!

So, what finally did it? What finally made me start a blog? What finally pushed me to place the fingers on the keyboard? Well, why not? I am just as egotistic and full of myself as the next guy or gal. I have something to say too - be it nonsense. But, isn’t that what life is all about, nonsense?

OK, enough about me. Please come in and enjoy yourselves by tapping in on any of the several topics listed for your reading pleasure. Did I mention I accept contributions too? No no no, not that kind! What? You think I am Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell? No, I am referring to the contributions in the form of ideas, comments, suggestions etc…within reason, of course. I know I said life is about nonsense, but even I have my limits.

So, enjoy and I hope we will learn from one another.

Chereka

Write?

So I am to write

A Poem, of all plights!

I, who can’t create even if I were God!

A discreet, introvert little lad

Why? I ask

Should I bring this undue strain?

Upon myself like the pouring rain?

Is it for fame? Iis it for shame?

Should I take part in such a game

Racking my brain day in day out

Searching for stuff to write about

Am I inspired yet?

No, I better wait

For that moment that is perfect!

All these “writers” have dreamt about

Why should I write when I can talk?

Causing those words run amuck?

I’m no writer, I’ve never been

Can’t miss a place you’ve never seen.

“Writers are born, never made!”

Echoed the words inside my head.

And then one day I sat alone

Thinking about where life had gone

I often did in pensive mood

Staring blank eyes all glued

Began forming words and phrases

And feeling them with all my senses

“This is it”, I said

“What kept me up laying in bed

The muse, that elusive muse,

All good writers are bound to use”

Started to write with joyous laughter

And all the passion I could muster

I realized then we are all writers

We just need to put those words to papers

CHEREKA

WATCH IT!

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become characters.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

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