Why Africans think they are poor?

Good Governance & Patriotism

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Why is the African continent poor?



By Mark Doyle
BBC world affairs correspondent

The desolate, dusty town of Pibor on South Sudan's border with Ethiopia has no running water, no electricity and little but mud huts for the population to live in.
You would be hard put to find a poorer place anywhere on earth.

I went there as part of a journey across Africa to ask the question "Why is Africa poor?" for a BBC radio documentary series.

We have oil and many other minerals - go name it

Barnaba Benjamin, South Sudan regional co-operation minister
I was asked to investigate why it is that the vast majority of African countries are clustered at or near the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index - in other words they have a pretty appalling standard of living.
In Pibor, the answer to why the place is poor seems fairly obvious.

The people - most of whom are from the Murle ethnic group - are crippled by tribal conflicts related to disputes over cattle, the traditional store of wealth in South Sudan.

The Murle have recently had fights with the Lol Nuer group to the north of Pibor and with ethnic Bor Dinkas to the west.

In a spate of fighting with the Lol Nuer earlier this year several hundred people, many of them women and children, were killed in deliberate attacks on villages.
There has been a rash of similar clashes across South Sudan in the past year (although most were on a smaller scale than the fights between the Lol Nuer and the Murle).
And so the answer to why South Sudan is poor is surely a no-brainer: War makes you destitute.

Why is there so much war?

And yet South Sudan is potentially rich.

"It's bigger than Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi combined," the South Sudan Regional Co-operation Minister Barnaba Benjamin, enthused.

"Tremendous land! Very fertile, enormous rainfall, tremendous agricultural resources. Minerals! We have oil and many other minerals - go name it!"

Our leaders, they just want to keep on being rich. And they don't want to pay taxes
Fisherman on Lake Victoria

Blog: Why is Africa poor?
The paradox of rich resources and poor people hints at another layer of explanation about why Africa is poor.

It is not just that there is war. The question should, perhaps be: "Why is there so much war?"

And the headline question is in fact misleading; Africans as a people may be poor, but Africa as a place is fantastically rich - in minerals, land, labour and sunshine.
That is why outsiders have been coming here for hundreds of years - to invade, occupy, convert, plunder and trade.

The spectres of slavery and colonialism hover in the background of almost every serious conversation with Africans about why most of them are poor.
It almost goes without saying that, of course, slavery impoverished parts of Africa and that colonialism set up trading patterns which were aimed at benefitting the coloniser, not the colonised.

But there is a psychological impact too.
Hajia Amina Az-Zubair, the Nigerian president's senior adviser on poverty issues, told me that colonialism "was all about take, not build", and that this attitude "transferred itself into a lot of mindsets".

Even today, Ms Zubair said it was sometimes difficult to design poverty-reduction programmes that were inclusive:
"You sit round a table and ask 'What are your needs?' and you get an absolute blank. Because for years, they've been told what they're going to have. So even the ability to engage has been difficult for us."

The resources of South Sudan have never been properly developed.
During colonial rule South Sudan was used as little more than a reservoir of labour and raw materials.

Then independence was followed by 50 years of on-off war between the south and north - with northerners in Khartoum continuing the British tactic of divide and rule among the southern groups.
Some southerners believe this is still happening today.
Corruption
On my journey across the poorest, sub-Saharan swathe of the continent - that took in Liberia and Nigeria in the west, Sudan in the centre, and Kenya in the east - people explored the impact that both non-Africans and Africans had had on why Africa is poor.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says she underestimated the problem of graft
Almost every African I met, who was not actually in government, blamed corrupt African leaders for their plight.

"The gap between the rich and the poor in Africa is still growing," said a fisherman on the shores of Lake Victoria.

"Our leaders, they just want to keep on being rich. And they don't want to pay taxes."

Even President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia came close to this when she told me she had underestimated the level of corruption in her country when she took office.
"Maybe I should have sacked the whole government when I came to power," she said.
"Africa is not poor," President Johnson-Sirleaf added, "it is poorly managed."
This theme was echoed by an architect in Kenya and a senior government official in Nigeria.
Both pointed out that the informal sector of most African economies is huge and almost completely unharnessed.

Eastleigh has the most expensive real estate in Nairobi

Marketplaces, and a million little lean-to repair shops and small-scale factories are what most urban Africans rely upon for a living.

But such is their distrust of government officials that most businesspeople in the informal sector avoid all contact with the authorities.

Kenyan architect and town planner Mumo Museva took me to the bustling Eastleigh area of Nairobi, where traders have created a booming economy despite the place being almost completely abandoned by the government.

Eastleigh is a filthy part of the city where rubbish lies uncollected, the potholes in the roads are the size of swimming pools, and the drains have collapsed.


Africa is not poor. Africa is just poorly managed
Architect Mumo Museva

But one indication of the success of the traders, Mr Museva said, was the high per-square-foot rents there.

"You'll be surprised to note that Eastleigh is the most expensive real estate in Nairobi."

He added that if Eastleigh traders trusted the government they might pay some taxes in return for decent services, so creating a "virtuous circle".
"It would lift people out of poverty," he said.

"Remember, poverty is related to quality of life, and the quality of life here is appalling, despite the huge amount of wealth flowing through these areas."
Then the young Kenyan architect echoed the Liberian president, some 5,000km (3,000 miles) away on the other side of the continent.

"Africa is not poor," he also said.

"Africa is just poorly managed."

You can hear the first of Mark Doyle's programmes Why is Africa poor? on the BBC World Service on Monday 24 August 2009 at 0906 GMT, 1406 GMT and 1906 GMT. It will also be available on the website.

Changing the image of Africans and Ethiopians

on for the crime that was waged on its people.

Here comes the Genius Kenenisa and he is a superb athelte but cannot compete on the showmanship of a fellow short distance runner who dominates the field and media blitz.

It is time for Ethiopia and Ethiopians to change our image and do some transitioning into modern Marketing Extravagnza, if not for a show but to add value for our values and get respect from the world we live in.

Here is an interesting story worth considering as we try to improve the ever changing image of Ethiopia in the 21st Century.

Our moment has come and we need to utilize modern communication strategies to improve our Great Image which needs to be Greater!

With respect to your alternative perspective and creative views!

Dr B

http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-08-19-voa4.cfm

VOA

August 19, 2009

Eritrea Ruled by Trigger-Happy Government, Says Ethiopia’s Minister

Peter Clottey
Ethiopia says it is vindicated after an international commission ordered neighboring Eritrea to pay about $10 million as compensation for the destruction in both countries during a two-year war.

Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi
The Hague-based commission awarded Eritrea about 161 million dollars, while Ethiopia received 174 million dollars.
Eritrea accepted the ruling, but Ethiopia complained, describing the amount as too small.
The awards, announced Tuesday, concluded a complex arbitration that was part of the 2000 peace agreement closing out a border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea that left tens of thousands dead.
Ethiopia's communications minister Bereket Simon told VOA that his government is pleased the commission blamed Eritrea for instigating the war.
"Once again this is a vindication of Ethiopia because the commission in their previous ruling had obviously ruled that Eritrea has been the one who had caused the war and caused harm to Ethiopia,"Simon said.
He said Eritrea was ordered to pay the money after the commission faulted Asamara for being the aggressor.
"Eritrea has to pay certain amount of money because of the damage that it had inflicted upon Ethiopia," he said.

Eritrea's President Issaias Afeworki
Simon reiterated that Addis Ababa is not pleased with the amount of money Eritrea was ordered to pay.
"Ethiopia believes the fines against Eritrea were lesser than what we expected. Nevertheless, this is another vindication of Ethiopia's position," Simons aid.
He said Eritrea embraced the ruling because it started the war.
"Of course Eritrea must be happy because this cannot be equivalent to what it has brought in terms of damage to (Ethiopia)," he said.
Simon accused Asamara of warmongering.
"Eritrea is ruled by a government, which is trigger-happy. I think this ruling is much lesser than what it should have been under normal conditions," Simon said.
Ethiopia had sought more than $14 billion for damages, but the commission rejected the claim.
Simon said the damage caused by Eritrea is real for all to see.

A Canadian UN peacekeeper (L) monitors the redeployment of Ethiopian tanks leaving from the Eritrean town of Senafe, 2001

_______________________________________________________________________________________

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/sports/20track.html?_r=1

NY Times

August 19, 2009
Bekele’s Greatness Hidden in Bolt’s Shadow

Christopher Clarey

BERLIN — It is the age of Usain Bolt in track and field, as Bolt reminds us by showing off before and after he blows away world records and fields of fast, muscular men. But there is a more subtle message and athlete equally worthy of our attention at these world championships.
“What more can I do?” Kenenisa Bekele asked on Wednesday.
On the track, Bolt and Bekele, — Jamaica’s finest and Ethiopia’s finest — are polar opposites. Bolt dominates the shortest distance, 100 meters. Bekele dominates the longest, 10,000. Bolt is tall and wired for self-amusement. Bekele is small, not muscular and, despite some recent attempts to summon his inner showman, comfortable keeping his thoughts to himself.
But they are both on historic romps, racking up Olympic and world championship gold medals and thwarting inspired opposition. Bolt did it to Tyson Gay in the 100 meters on Sunday and Bekele did it to Zersenay Tadese in the 10,000 on Monday when Tadese took the only tactically sound option available and tried to wear out Bekele before the final lap.
Bekele, smooth to the point of hypnotic, continued to glide comfortably along on Tadese’s heels, brutally fast lap after brutally fast lap. And when it was time for the last lap, the 25th, the Ethiopian accelerated on command to win his fourth consecutive world championship in the 10,000.
“When he kicks like that, there’s nothing you can do,” Tadese said.
Many athletes hit the finish and shut down, having timed their effort and measured their reserves to the meter. But Bekele looked capable of continuing to run if some mischievous soul had extended the finish line. It is his hallmark, apparent when I first saw him run and win the world cross country championships on a converted horse racing track in Dublin in 2002.
“The man has a special talent for someone so young,” said Wilberforce Talel, one of the Kenyans whom Bekele beat that weekend.
More than seven years later, Bekele, who is still only 27, has not squandered that talent. He has never lost at 10,000 meters and holds world records in the 5,000 and the 10,000 that once belonged to his Ethiopian measuring stick, Haile Gebrselassie. In a sign of his versatility, Bekele has won 11 individual gold medals at the world cross country championships, which matter to Ethiopians.
Like Bolt, Bekele pulled off a rare individual double at last year’s Olympics in Beijing, winning the 5,000 and 10,000. And like Bolt, who cruised comfortably into the 200 final on Wednesday night by winning his semifinal in 20.08 seconds, Bekele will be trying for another double in Berlin. On Wednesday he confirmed that he will try to become the first man to win the 5,000 and 10,000 at a world championships.
Bekele may make it look easy, but it should not be taken lightly. Consider Tirunesh Dibaba, the Ethiopian woman who doubled in the 5,000 and 10,000 in Beijing and who was unable to start either race here because of a left foot injury.
“The timing is right; it’s a good challenge for me,” Bekele said. “Nobody’s done this, and I like the chance to be the best in history.”
But Bekele and his camp know that even if he pulls off the double, he will not steal much of Bolt’s thunder.
“It’s a pity, because it’s like a Bolt party,” said Bekele’s manager Jos Hermans.
“People like the 100 meters more maybe,” Bekele said. “If you are a successful fast man, you are getting more attention. But I can’t do anything about that. I really don’t know what else I can do.”
Winning the 5,000 on Sunday would help. So would following the Gebrselassie template by enduring, excelling and continuing to test negative. There is more oversight now than in the 1990s when there was no testing for EPO, the performance-boosting drug abused in many endurance sports.
But what separates Bekele, like Gebrselassie, from the pack is not just his medal count. It is his elegant style, which makes you forget just how demanding distance running at this level ought to be.
It has not always been easy for Bekele. In 2005, his fiancee Alem Techale collapsed and died during a training run with Bekele in Ethiopia and Bekele carryied her lifeless body in a vain search for help. Bekele is now married to Ethiopian actress Danawit Gebregziabher.
After his triumph in Beijing, he pushed himself too hard in an attempt to set a 15-kilometer road record, developing a bone bruise in his ankle in November. “It was close to a stress fracture,” Hermens said. “He missed three or four months of proper training.”
But after skipping the world cross-country championships in Jordan, he looks to be back in peak form and may even go after his 5,000 world record of 12 minutes, 37.35 seconds in the one-night meet in Zurich later this month.
He and Gebrselassie, friendly but not friends, represent a continuum. Bekele’s plan is to stay on the track through the 2012 Olympics and then move on to the roads and the marathon, where Gebrselassie now makes his living and where he set the world record of 2:03.59 last year.
“It’s good that he has Haile to compare himself with,” said Hermens, the Dutchman who manages them both.
Their paths overlapped early in Bekele’s career, when he beat Gebrselassie in the 10,000 at the 2003 world championships and in the 2004 Olympics, it is unlikely that they will overlap much on the road.
So Bekele is still looking not just for a challenge but a challenger. “I’m still waiting to see who is beating me?” he said.
For now, fair or unfair, he is losing only to Bolt.


Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Thu, 8/20/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: The Need to Improve Priavate sector productivity in Ethiopia; The Need to establish Global Ethiopian/African Defence Intelligence Command- Lessons from Totalitarian and Secretive System that starves its own people and School Drop out Diaspora Somalies turned Jihadists and Ethiopian Airlines to the Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yahoo.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com, ben@ethiopiafirst.com, wyefru@tnstate.edu
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethioforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net, aateferra@gmail.com, tedtekle2003@yahoo.com, aabedje@voanews.com, l_royce@hotmail.com
Date: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 10:08 AM



Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

As we celebrate opportunities of the potneital African Commodities Exchange evolving in Ethiopia and its potential impact in the future, we have to settle on the assumptions and judgement of few i n the business.

We should have such report from a centralized federal office that produces such comments supported with research and documentation. Yet, the news percolates from insiders and this time it looks it is close to the truth.


Our story maker of this communication is the Eyesus Work of Addis Chamber of Commerce. He does not tell us the source of his information and yet makes very fundamental and rather challenging accounts of developments of the private sector in the country.

Here is the list of challenges that many are not discussing:

1. Power outages
2. shortage of foreign exchange
3. Contracting manufacturing sector
4.. Capping Bank lending
5. Increasing reserve requirements of banks
6. Rationing of Foreign exchange by Central bank: Dr Eleni needs to see to this
7. Diminishing Diaspora remittances and Foreign Aid
8. Government initiative to collect more tax from businesses


The private sector considered the engine of a nation's economy in the capitalist world is diminishing in the emerging transitioning economies such as Ethiopia at the times of
Global Economic Collapse.

It appears that Ethiopia's negotiation skills with the IMF, not its gold reserve nor its prodcutivity output is going to be the maker and breaker of the future of 80 million people.

May the Lord help the effective trio (Economic Advsior to the PM, Finance Minister and Bank Governor of Ethiopia) in their attempt to convince to milk some good policy and funds from the IMF and world Bank.

We need to negotiate from strength, and that strength should be a flourishing Private Sector which in effect is diminishing or contracting.

Would the fabled Developmental State encourage or hamper the flourishing of the Private Sector?

We need to see if the Economical Space is expanding or contracting in modern Ethiopia. This will be a great analgoy to the changing political space and economical expansion taking place that determines the future of 80 million people.

This is our moment to demand an expanding political and economic space that unleashes the productivity of the 80 Million Giants just waiting for miracle to happen so that they can be engaged in the economic activities of the country.

The time is ripe for active debate and soul searching on how to jump start this contracting economy.

Synergizing the potential of Energy, Economy, Ecology and Education are critical

Dr B


Ethiopia’s Business Climate Worsening, Chamber of Commerce Says
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By Jason McLure

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Power outages, shortages of foreign exchange and limits on bank lending resulted in Ethiopia’s business climate deteriorating over the past four months, the chairman of the country’s largest business association said.

The Horn of Africa nation’s manufacturing industry has probably contracted during the past year and profit at banks and insurance companies has been hampered by inflation and government restrictions on lending, said Eyessus Work Zafu, president of the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association.

“The private sector definitely is in a very sad state,” Work Zafu, said in an interview today at his office in the capital, Addis Ababa. “Manufacturing is already on its knees. Small as it may be I would say it would have shrunk because of the power outages.”



Manufacturing accounts for about 5 percent of Ethiopia’s output, according to the World Bank.

Supply shortages led the state-run Ethiopian Electric Power Co. to begin blackouts in February and since June, the utility has provided power to customers only every second day.

At the same time, Ethiopia’s central bank has been rationing foreign exchange in an effort to defend its currency, the birr. The resulting shortage of foreign currency has cause delays in imports of raw materials and consumer goods.

The government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has also capped lending and increased reserve requirements for banks in an effort to slow inflation, which peaked at 64.2 percent in July 2008. Consumer prices declined by 3.7 percent last month, the country’s Central Statistical Agency said Aug. 11.

Tax Collections

A government initiative in the past year to collect more tax from the business community has also hurt growth of the country’s private industry, Work Zafu said.

While government and business leaders had initially believed the global financial crisis would have little impact on Ethiopia’s “relatively isolated” economy, “experience has shown that we were not entirely correct in that,” he said.

Remittances from Ethiopians living abroad and aid from foreign donors has been affected by the economic crisis, he said.

Ethiopia’s economy may be strengthened if the government negotiates a financing deal with the IMF, Work Zafu said. The IMF and Meles’ government are currently discussing a package to help the country cope with the global economic crisis.

A deal would improve Ethiopia’s foreign currency reserves and encourage other international lenders to provide financing to the country, Work Zafu said.

The IMF projected Ethiopia’s economy would grow by 6.5 percent or less in the fiscal year ending July 7, 2009.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 19, 2009 06:59 EDT

Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Tue, 8/18/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: The Need to establish Global Ethiopian/African Defence Intelligence Command- Lessons from Totalitarian and Secretive System that starves its own people and School Drop out Diaspora Somalies turned Jihadists and Ethiopian Airlines to the Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yahoo.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com, ben@ethiopiafirst.com, wyefru@tnstate.edu
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethioforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net, aateferra@gmail.com, tedtekle2003@yahoo.com, aabedje@voanews.com, l_royce@hotmail.com
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 5:58 PM


Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

Three people of Ethiopian descent are featured in the following stories. All three are fairly successful in their chosen field and yet some have abused their success and others are trying to build on the good will of the time and people to promote a better future for Africa.

The young Kenenisa is using his spiritual, emotional and physcial fitness to excell in the field of atheletics.

He succeeded in his 4th successive 10,000 meter world title. This is a unique fit ever attempted by any human being before him.

Fellow Gebre Selassie of Ethiopia had achieved this excellence before him. He has won all 12 successive events which is a fit of its own.


Bekele, who is also the world record holder at both 5,000m and 10,000m will now attempt to win the 5,000m in Berlin and to add to the distance double he achieved at the Beijing Olympic Games last year.

This is a special distinction for which Africa will be forever greateful! Welldone Bekele!

One cannot say the same about the next person, who just won his life when his comrade bullet missed him. What a shame for a man who promised so much and delivered so little or may be even nothing at all except the humiliating experience of our people for generations to come.

The recent treatment by Ms Hilary Rodham Clinton where his envoy was deported in 24 hours will remain one of the most touching legacy of the Obama Administration in the Horn.

There comes Dr Eleni, another new Giant evolving to the African Commodities market.

This is a very interesting continent where the good, the bad and the promising can all be written in one page and his email proves that.

I look forward to more interesting times!


Dr B



http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/08/17/athletics.worlds.100m.women/index.html

CNN

August 17, 2009
Legend Bekele powers to fourth world title
Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele secured his fourth successive men's 10,000 meter world title with another gold medal winning performance at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

Bekele is counting up his world titles after another superb display of distance running to claim another gold.

Bekele equalled the record of compatriot Haile Gebrselassie, who also won four world titles at the distance, after sprinting away from Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea on the final lap.


Triple Olympic champion Bekele crossed the line in 26 minutes, 46.31 seconds with Tadese taking silver in 26:50.12 and Moses Dniema Masai of Kenya securing bronze in 26:57.39.

The 27-year-old Bekele added Berlin gold to his victories in Paris (2003), Helsinki (2005) and Osaka (2007) to continue his remarkable 100 per cent record in the event having won all his 12 races so far.

Bekele, who is also the world record holder at both 5,000m and 10,000m will now attempt to win the 5,000m in Berlin and to add to the distance double he achieved at the Beijing Olympic Games last year.

Jamaica continued their dominance in the sprints when Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser followed in the shoes of compatriot Usain Bolt by following up her Beijing win by claiming the women's 100 meters.

Fraser led from the gun to pip compatriot Kerron Stewart in a time of 10.73 seconds. Stewart finished just two-hundreds of a second back in 10.75 with American Carmelita Jeter third in 10.90.

Double Olympic and world champion champion, and world record holder, Yelena Isinbayeva lost her five-year stranglehold on the women's pole vault -- as she failed to register a height.
The Russian had won all major titles since the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, but she has been out of form so far this season and failed to clear her final height of 4.80 meters.
Poland's Anna Rogowska cleared 4.75 meters to secure gold from American Chelsea Johnson, who vaulted a season's best of 4.65m, for silver. Another Pole, Monika Pyrek, claimed the bronze.

On a night of shocks, there was a futher one when Kenya's Olympic women's 800 meters champion Pamela Jelimo failed to reach the final after failing to finish in her semifinal.

The 19-year-old -- who dominated the event last year culminating in her stunning Beijing win -- had complained of having a problem with her ankle after Sunday's first round heat.

The teenager was never going well on Monday and finally gave up the ghost down the back stretch of the second and final lap.

Jelimo's compatriot and Olympic silver medalist Janeth Jepkosgei also failed to win her semifinal, and was fortunate to progress as one of the two fastest losers after easing up far too soon before the line.

South African teenager Caster Semenya is favorite to win Wednesday's final as she qualified fastest, winning the first semifinal in a time of one minute 58.66 seconds.

Meanwhile, Spanish veteran Marta Dominguez finally claimed her first gold medal when taking the women's 3,000m steeplechase.

The 33-year-old, who won 5,000m silver at both the 2001 and 2003 World Championships raced past Yuliya Zarudneva of Russia in the final 100 meters to cross the line in nine minutes, 7.32 seconds.
Zarudneva took silver with Milcah Chemos Cheywa of Kenya picking up the bronze. Russia's defending Olympic champion Gulnara Galkina finished out of the medals in fourth position.

In other events, Slovenia's Olympic champion Primoz Kozmus won the men's hammer title with a throw of 80.84 meters. Szymon Ziolkowski of Poland took the silver with Aleksey Zagornyi of Russia in bronze.

Cuba's Yargelis Savigne successfully defended her women's triple jump crown with a leap of 14.95. Compatriot Mabel Gay took silver with 14.61m while Russia's Anna Pyatykh claimed bronze with 14.58m.
____________________________________________________________________________
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article32162
Sudan Tribune
August 18, 2009
Eritrean president barely escapes assassination attempt – report
Tesfa-alem tekle
(ADDIS ABABA) — The Eritrean President, Issayas Afewerki narrowly survives an assassination attempt at the outskirts of the capital, Asmara. An exiled opposition website claims.

Isayas Afewerki wondering who will make it at last!

The UK-based website, Asena-online.com said that the attempt on the life of President Issayas Afeworki was carried out by members of the Eritrean Defense forces on 13th of August 2009 around 4 pm (local time) on the road between Asmara and the port city of Massawa at a local area called Atal.

In the failed assassination attempt, the president barely escaped death, it said.
The man who tried to kill the president, recognized as former freedom fighter and first lieutenant Daniel Habte Yihdego, after an exchange of fire with president’s personal body guards, was shot to death, it added.
The president’s vehicle is said to have been damaged with several sniper shots but no harm is reported up on the president or members of his convoy.
Sources of the website from Asmara indicated that, the president is in a state of shock and panic, following the attempt on his life.
Eritrean opposition groups in Addis Ababa told Sudan Tribune that the assassination attempt is an indication of a beginning to an end of an almost two decades-long dictatorship in Eritrea.

The oppositions believe that unless the president steps-down, time will witness more assassination attempts, for the fact that even president’s most loyalisrs have sided to refrain backing his orders as are based on ill policies.

Opponents added that such assassination attempts or military measures will remain to be the only and only means for the peoples of Eritrea to depose the rouge regime for once and for all.

In less than two decades of independence, the government of President Isayas Afewerki has established a totalitarian grip on Eritrea. Increasing numbers of citizens are fleeing oppression and seeking refuge in neighboring countries and beyond.

According to recent Human rights watch annual report, President Isayas’s government controls all levers of power: political, economic, social, journalistic, and religious. A constitution approved by referendum in 1997 remains unimplemented.

No national election has ever been held, and an interim parliament has not met since 2002. The judiciary exists only as an instrument of control. The press is entirely government-owned. No private civil society organizations are sanctioned; all are arms of the government or the sole political party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). International human rights organizations are denied entry.
Isayas uses Ethiopia’s failure to permit demarcation of the border with Eritrea as the excuse to justify his repressive rule, claiming that the country must remain on a war footing, opponents said.

In 2008 he said that elections will not be held for decades because they polarize society "vertically." He declared he will remain in full control until Eritrea is secure, "as long as it takes."
Under a 1995 decree, all men between ages 18 and 50, and women between 18 and 27, must serve 18 months of military service. In fact, men serve indefinitely and boys under 18 years of age increasingly report being conscripted.

In 2008 the World Bank estimated that 320,000 Eritreans are in the military. Conscripts are used as labor on infrastructure and projects benefiting military commanders. Working conditions are severe.
Dozens of conscripts have died from intense heat, malnutrition, and lack of medical care; female conscripts are often victims of rape.
Eritreans flee the country by the thousands despite "shoot-to-kill" orders for anyone caught crossing the border. In Ethiopia alone over 35,ooo Eritrean refugees are sheltered in 3 camps.

In 2008, President Isayas claimed that international reports of increasing Eritrean refugees are deliberate distortions and that defections are caused by an "orchestrated, organized operation financed by the CIA."
_________________________________________________________________
http://www.addisfortune.com/Eleni%20to%20Tip%20African%20Stock%20Market%20Players%20on%20Viable%20Exchanges.htm
Fortune, Ethiopia
August 17, 2009

Eleni to Tip African Stock Market Players on Viable Exchanges
MOSES MICHAEL-PHIRI

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), Eleni Gebre-Medhin (PhD), is expected to tip other African exchange markets on a viable commodities market at a regional capital markets’ conference expected to be held from September 14 to 18, 2009, in Accra, Ghana.

Ghana will host this conference, which is expected to bring together gurus from capital markets across the world.

Eleni is invited to deliver a paper on a topic, highly placed, on the agenda - ‘Commodities sector in Africa: Opportunities and challenges of developing a viable commodities market in Africa’.

“ECX is ready to share some experience in the area of commodity markets at the forum,” Eleni told Fortune. “We have been engaged with these partners for some years now and this invitation is not a particular honour as such, but we are ready to be there and report on success and challenges, our plans and current situation,” Eleni said.

The influential CEO of the Commodities Exchange resigned from a well paying job in Washington D.C. with International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and moved back to Ethiopia to set up a Commodities Exchange in the country. She promises to transform the country into a net exporter of grains within a short period of time.

Ethiopia’s Commodities Exchange, praised as the only one of its kind in Africa, was launched during the first week of April 2008, following a ceremony held at the UNECA and opened by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The Exchange, however, started its operation three weeks later. It has a supervisory authority under Addisalem Balema (PhD) and a board of directors chaired by Mekonnen Manyazewal, state minister for Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED). The board comprises members from private and public sectors.

Six commodities - coffee, sesame, haricot beans, teff, wheat and maize - are trading on its floor at its headquarters at the Al-Sam Tower in Lideta.
It also runs six warehouses and over 20 electronic price boards in major towns across the country.

Eleni will share her experience during the formative years and the operations of over a year to conference participants.

Experts to grace the forum will include Robert M. Fisher (PhD), a kingpin in the regulation of the financial sector. He is expected to speak on the difficulties of regulating securities market in emerging economies. Charles Asembri (PhD), former director general of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), of Ghana, will also be one of the speakers at the conference.

The conference will take a look at current capital market development issues in Africa, and highlight regulatory issues in a post financial crises era, according to organizers. Regulators from the insurance, banking, and securities industry the world-over are expected to participate in the high-profile meeting which will take place at the plush La Palm Beach Hotel in Accra, according to Ghana’s Security Exchange Commission (SEC).


Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Fri, 8/14/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: The Need to establish Global Ethiopian/African Defence Intelligence Command- Lessons from Totalitarian and Secretive System that starves its own people and School Drop out Diaspora Somalies turned Jihadists and Ethiopian Airlines to the Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yahoo.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com, "Ben EthiopiaFirst"
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethioforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, merkatousa@aol.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net, "Asratie Teferra" , "Ted Tekle Tibebu"
Date: Friday, August 14, 2009, 9:32 AM

Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

Re: Africa: You are on your own- the Iron Lady has spoken!

It is interesting that we are considering the Global Defense Intelligence Command for people of African Descent as the Iron Lady duped by Liberians is more or less saying the same thing: You are on your own, manager your own challenges and opportunities.

The response from Africans is also very interesting. The students in the Congo were more proactive attacking back America as America is trying to tell them to stop the genocide and female desecration.

Nigerians are even worse they are saying Ms Clinton, you are misinformed, your sycophants are telling you their illusions.

So, the question remains, it is up to Africans how they plan to utilize their Green Energy Resources and market it in the Global Market where the Chinese, Russians, Japanese and Europeans as well as the North Americans will have to compete.

You are on your own means, go to the market and access the best value for your resources and we will purchase in at the Market value.

As to the Global Warming and its impact on poor communities, you too have to be on your own and make your respective governments and communities accountable to your own problems.

It is interesting the very administration, where many Africans had high hopes for is telling point blank, Africans, wake up and manage your own issues.

So, our job at the Global Defense Intelligence Command is very clear. Look at the challenges and opportunities of Africans all over the world and suggest solutions by looking at the market that empowers Africans for their skills and resources.

The message is clear. Let us take inventory of all our resources and challenges and see if we can match our challenges with opportunities.

Now, our task is clear, the question is where do we start. It is clear the Obama Administration has some great ideas, so do the Chinese, Russians and Europeans and the African Union and the Diaspora community.

We will research and put forward some interesting lessons learned experiences of how the Chinese, Indians, Koreans did it and may be the Africom could do the same level of investment they did in South Korea for starters. If not we can ask the Japanese and Chinese to do to to access the vast African lands and resources and may be even win-win partnerships.

No more Mobutus, No more Dutch and German and Anglican settlers experience in the South Africa, South West Africa (Angola) and Kenyan-Nigeria experience to be repeated. Africans will be in charge of their destinies.

So, the work begins and here is an interesting story on the African trip by the US Secretary of States as starters of understanding the new paradigm for Africa and Africans at home and in the Diaspora.

Good reading and look forward for your alternative and interesting perspectives.

Dr B


Clinton sets new US tone on Africa: experts
By Shaun Tandon (AFP) – 1 day ago

SAL, Cape Verde — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has set a new tone in US relations with Africa on a whirlwind seven-nation trip, sometimes ruffling feathers with a message that Africans must tackle their own problems.

On her longest trip yet as the top US diplomat, Clinton crisscrossed the continent for 11 days from an AIDS clinic in rural South Africa to the war zone of Democratic Republic of Congo to a roundtable with Nigerian faith leaders.

To the diverse audiences, Clinton delivered a consistent message -- the fate of Africa is up to the Africans and that the United States, while ready to work with them, has no "magic wand" to solve endemic problems.

She was taking on the road a message delivered by President Barack Obama on a visit last month in Ghana, where the first African-American US leader urged Africans to stand up and take charge of their future.

Clinton, who ended her trip Friday here in the small Atlantic archipelago of Cape Verde, tailored the theme to each country -- urging Kenya's rival leaders to reconcile and warning Nigeria that corruption was threatening the government's very legitimacy.

"We have not shied away from raising the difficult problems that exist and stand in the way of the people of Africa realising their potential," Clinton said Wednesday in Liberia.
While Clinton faced little outright hostility on her trip -- in Liberia, she was greeted by hundreds of cheering women calling her "our iron lady" -- she faced some tough questioning.

Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga bristled at US "lecturing," although a US official dismissed his remarks as public posturing. In Nigeria, This Day newspaper quoted the ruling People's Democratic Party condemning Clinton, saying she was being misinformed by political rivals with an "axe to grind."

And in the DR Congo, students grilled her on past Western exploitation of Africa in a testy exchange in which Clinton made her now famous remark snapping at a student who sought her husband's views.

Tom Wheeler, research associate at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said that the new US administration has produced "a shift in style and substance" with Africa.
"Africans have always expected countries outside the continent to solve their problems, while simultaneously resenting that -- aid dependency," he said.

"Blaming foreign exploitation for Africa's woes is a cop-out. Africans have to accept responsibility for their own destiny and I think the Obama-Clinton messages are correct," he said.

Clinton came armed with examples she repeated throughout the trip -- pointing to India as proof that democracy works in developing countries and hailing Botswana for ensuring its mineral wealth funds a first-class infrastructure.

Unlike many Western visitors, Clinton came with no major funding promises although she stepped up money to fight AIDS in Angola and to help stop a rape epidemic in DR Congo.
Aides said that the Obama administration's signature initiative for Africa was a 20 billion-dollar plan by the Group of Eight rich nations to boost agriculture and let Africans end their own hunger problems rather than rely on aid.

Most of the money, however, is yet to be appropriated.

AIDS activists have also criticized Obama for not raising the level of funding to treat and prevent the disease. Former president George W. Bush allocated 15 billion dollars in an emergency AIDS plan that even his rivals praise as a major accomplishment.

Stephen Morrison, an Africa expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that Bush had started setting the new tone on Africa but that it carried a new force coming from Obama.

He said it was now up to US officials to work with Africa on moving ahead with reforms.
"The reception in Africa will be mixed," he said, but added: "I believe the tough messages, if followed with consistent policies, will win applause in much of Africa."

Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Thu, 8/13/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: The Need to establish Global Ethiopian/African Defence Intelligence Command- Lessons from Totalitarian and Secretive System that starves its own people and School Drop out Diaspora Somalies turned Jihadists and Ethiopian Airlines to the Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yahoo.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com, "Ben EthiopiaFirst"
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethioforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, merkatousa@aol.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net, "Asratie Teferra" , "Ted Tekle Tibebu"
Date: Thursday, August 13, 2009, 11:52 AM

Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

Re: Re-colonizing African land the new investment opportunities.

As Africa is the only continent that is less densely populated than any global community settlement, due to the genocidal wars in the Congo; and , Arab Genocide in the Sudan; and other small ethnic war lords in Somalia, Erob land and Kemetic Civllizations, etc.it is attracting crowded and desert nations to its green and organic farm lands.

Ethiopia is leading the new Neo-colonization drive that makes Africa truly the global center of attraction. The qustion is can Ethiopia attract investors like Europe and USA do , with strict laws and regulations that protect and promote the local citizen interests?

Are these farm lands in Tigrai or Wollo? Are they in the Southern People's territory or the Great Ormia land mass? Are they planning to inhabit the Amhara Highlands or the Afar lowlands.

Where is the new Colonization Farm land? Has there been pilot research projects and legal documents that specifiy, SMART contract regulations of Specificity, Measurable, Appropriate, Realistic and Time Sensitive. How long is the contract for?

Remember! the Djibouti and Afar contract the French and Italians did with Emperors Menelik and Yohannes for 99 years and the next generation never read the contracts and allowed their respective so called indpendence (the Communist Junta and the EPRDF) in 1976 and 1995 respectively, and what resulted as the state of Djibouti and Mereb Melash?

Are we going to give away our central farm lands? or do we have specific contracts? that protect the local population and future generation interests? Can we read these contracts and see the immediate, short and long term consequences? that is if they are available to the public? If not/ why not?

Has the Ethiopian Parliament, or Cabinet and Federal Parliament approved this? Has there been any Referendum like the one that took place for Eritrea and Djibouti or Ogaden in 1976, 1995 and now in 2009?

As the OLF is trying to make Addis Ababa the capital of its liberated Ormia, do people who reside in Addis, like the AU, ECA and those tenants of Addis Ababa whose homes were nationalized by the Communit Junta and now are homeless, tenants, do they have a say in this great transaction? My mind wonders and sure enough, it should because many owners became beggars, thanks to the misguided Communist revolution that is still unleashing in the minds of many revolutionaries.

Are the democratic processes in place to make such great massive investment ventures?. If so, can we see what the contracts look like and who do they pay their rent's too.

I remember, all the rent money for the houses that were nationalized by the Derg or Communist Junta were handled by mengistu's uncle who now lives in America and is using all the foreign exchange dollars that were accumultated for 17 years for their personal gain and Diaspora funding of all the series of Addis Dimtse, Addis Zena, Addis Neger, Addis culture, Addis TV, Addis Tewahido, Addis Catholic and Addis Pente and Addis Kinijit and Addis Guinbot 7 and Addis Chapter/Meraf and Addis Tewlid and Addis Mahibere Kidusan and Addis Enterprises, etc.

How can we be sure that these sets of new investment opportunities are truly part of the Development States new strategy to promote Ethiopian Farmland.

As the US and Europe is tapping the talents and resources of the world, it is a very good opportunity that Africa is attracting Farmland and Mineralland investors. The real question is what is the deal like the small print deals.

As Africa is going to be the source of the new Green Energy, ; with its great researve of alternative biofuels and mineral fuels such as Cobalt, Nickel and other trace minerals needed for nano technologies and alternative rechargeable batteries that makes the Oil Industry obselete, we need to discuss the What? the Why? the How? the Who? Where and When questions now.
The time is now to ask and to strategize. Ethiopia might have the solution for the negative impact of Global Economic Crisis. Is this solution honoring the interest of the people, Do we need tohave a referundum on it in 2010?

This and other relevant questions should be asked by all of us at home and Diaspora?

Please read the attached articles for your information and I look forward to learn fom your alternative perspective and genuine dialogue.

Dr B
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/639004/-/1382s0sz/-/index.html
Daily Nation, Kenya
August 13, 2009
Foreign states in race to take up Ethiopia's farmland


Top of Form
Bottom of Form
ARGAW ASHINE
ADDIS ABABA
Ethiopian government has defended its plan to offer 2.7 million hectares of farmland to foreign companies despite millions of citizens who need food aid from the international community.

According to Ethiopia's Agriculture Ministry officials, the country delineated around 2.7 million hectares of land, available for foreign companies from Middle East and East Asia countries.

The government will hand over 1.7 million hectares of arable land to the foreign investors before the coming harvest season.

World's top oil producing countries including United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and giant economies like India, China and South Korea are queuing in Addis Ababa to start big commercial farming to feed their own people.

The competition among “land grabber” states has become fierce, with the overall number of companies applying for land in Ethiopia reaching 8,000. However, only 2,000 foreign companies, including medium size agricultural projects, have already secured farmland.

India leads the "land grabbing" race and so far Indian agricultural investment has been more than $2.5 billion. India's total investment in Ethiopia was $300 million three years ago and has now grown to $ 4..3 billion. It is double the amount of Western aid offered to Ethiopia.

Departing Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Gurjit Singh, believes Indian investment will reach eight to 10 billion dollars in the coming few years.

“I don't think this is the end of the story, but just the beginning” He added.

Currently, more than 5.2 million people need emergency food aid from international community in the southern and eastern parts of the country. Another eight million rural poor are also supported by regular productive safety net aid scheme.

Esayas Kebede, Director of Agriculture Investment Support office argued that large scale foreign commercial farming is a way to end poverty and hunger.

“We have abundant land and labour but we don’t have a finance and technology to feed our people” Esayas said.

"Its not land grabbing; we are looking to generate foreign currency to support our development effort. It’s better than begging" He added.

Esayas downplayed the size of land allocated for the investors. He said the size was small compared to the entire country's arable land, which is estimated at 74 million hectares.

So far, only 17 million hectares of land is being used by Ethiopian farmers.

Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, is also enthusiastic. After welcoming a Saudi agriculture delegation recently, he said: “We told them [the Saudis] that we would be very eager to provide hundreds of thousands of hectares of agricultural land for investment.”

Some critics, including Jacques Diouf, head of the FAO, warned against “neo-colonialism” but others say the investments can boost economic growth in Africa.

Ethiopia's ruling party Ethiopian People Democratic Front (EPRDF) is now reconsidering its firm ideological land use policy and is now allowing private investors to farm, along with the more than 14 million Ethiopian peasant farmers.

The ruling party will meet to revisit the proposed land-use policy shift on the upcoming annual meeting next September.


Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Thu, 8/13/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: The Need to establish Global Ethiopian/African Defence Intelligence Command- Lessons from Totalitarian and Secretive System that starves its own people and School Drop out Diaspora Somalies turned Jihadists and Ethiopian Airlines to the Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yaho.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethioforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, merkatousa@aol.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net, "Asratie Teferra"
Date: Thursday, August 13, 2009, 9:58 AM

Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

Re: The need to establish a Global Defense Intelligence Command:

In this disturbing economic times, it is becoming apparent that economic pressure is bringing the worst in human beings and old forgotten and rather outdated human frailties are surfacing again.

The experience of Professor Gates at the hands of a police office at Harvard University and subsequent media and White House coverage has unleashed what is termed as the August Recess Political terrorist in the American town halls.

Birther Movements that do not respect facts and reason have been initiated by Corporate lobbyists and they are raging havoc in the American Civil life, never seen before the Civil Rights Movements days.

Now, we have this racist diatribe from an alleged Jewish bus driver on an Ethiopian Jew. The remarks and his behavior is just abominable.

The recent Senate apology to the Native Americans after 500 years of decimation of their heritage is just too late and so non consequential as the people have perished and their civilization is no more and even the young generation do not recognize it as they live in the Reservations and may never even appreciate the content and context of the apology.

Now there is a great lesson for the rest of us. We need to follow the recent US- Africom or Africa Command and intelligence and we need to establish a synergistic win-win partnership Global African Defense Intelligence Command. (GADIC).

The Vision:

Research and develop strategies to preserve the safety and security of People of African descent and Ethiopians in particular all over the world.


Strategy:

Create a series of GADIC institutions where ever Ethiopians/Africans and Diaspora Community live and work.

Goal:

Protect and preserve the cultural heritage, safety, and well being of Global Citizens of African Descent and especially Ethiopians

SMART Objectives

Specific: Focus on safety, well being and culture preservation

Measurable: Develop a series of communication dialogue networks about the status of African/Ethiopian Diaspora wherever they live and report actively in their security and well being.

Appropriate:

Ensure all the GADIC activities are legal, professional and are operational within the framework of the civilization of the community they live in.

Realistic:

A Rapid Deployment Force (Using legal and social tools for win-win partnerships that addresses any challenge before it becomes a crisis in any situation, especially where there are lots of Diaspora communities.

Time Sensitive

Develop a strategic work plan that is time sensitive and report on a regular basis the State of the Global Status of People of African Descent once a year to all 1 Billion Africans in their respective languages.

The time to organize is now, before it is too late and we become victims like the Native Americans or Ethiopians in Israel and Africa.

We need to think, discuss and act now by evaluating events unfolding all over the world.

Please read the attached material for your information.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3760647,00.html

Israeli bus driver to Ethiopian: No blacks allowed

Posted in August 12th, 2009
by Editor in Current News

Woman recounts humiliating experience in which bus driver told her, ‘Kushit, in Ethiopia you didn’t even have shoes and here you do, so why don’t you walk?’; Egged to investigate incident

A 23-year-old woman of Ethiopian descent claimed that the driver of an Egged No. 5 bus in Rishon Lezion refused to allow her to board his bus because of the color of her skin.
Speaking to Ynet, Yedno Verka recounted last Wednesday’s incident: “As I prepared board the bus, the driver suddenly shut the door. I banged on the glass, but he ignored me. Then a young woman came running towards the bus, and he opened the door for her. I stayed close to her and boarded the bus.

“When the driver saw me he said, ‘what, don’t you understand that I don’t allow Kushim (derogatory term for black people) on board? Are you trying to smash my door in? Were there buses in Ethiopia? Why don’t you walk? In Ethiopia you didn’t even have shoes and here you do, so why don’t you walk?’ I was shaking all over; I couldn’t even speak,” she said.

At this point Verka handed the driver the bus fair, but, according to her, he refused to accept it and said, “Kushit hold on, what’s your hurry? Since you (Ethiopians) made aliyah you’ve become arrogant.”
Verka said she responded by saying, “You can’t treat me this way. Treat your mother this way.”

At this point, she said, “He grabbed my skirt and yelled: ‘You don’t talk like that about my mother. A Kushit will not talk about my mother like that.’ I was afraid he was going to hit me, and explained that I did not curse his mother. But he continued: ‘Go back to Ethiopia! You are not even Jews; who brought you all here anyway? You’re ruining our country; you are a stupid people.’

Only then did the other passengers intervene and call the driver out for his racist behavior, said the woman, adding that the driver continued his tirade even after she made her way to the back of the bus.

“I told myself that I would not cry in front of him. As we approached the college I rang the bell and got off. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and began to weep.
“It was such a humiliating experience, and what scares me most is the thought that he’ll continue to act this way. I would sue him had jotted down the names and numbers of some of the passengers, but I didn’t even think about it,” said Verka.

Knesset Member Shlomo Molla (Kadima) turned to Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud), who in turn instructed his office to demand that the Egged bus company investigate the incident and see to it that the driver is punished if it is found that he acted inappropriately.

Egged said in response that it “condemns any expression of racism and services all people, regardless of race, gender and creed. The details of the incident have been forwarded to Egged’s control committee for an in-depth investigation. Should the allegations prove true, Egged will act accordingly.”
Source; ynet news

URL: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3760647,00.html




http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3760647,00.html

Israeli bus driver to Ethiopian: No blacks allowed

Posted in August 12th, 2009
by Editor in Current News

Woman recounts humiliating experience in which bus driver told her, ‘Kushit, in Ethiopia you didn’t even have shoes and here you do, so why don’t you walk?’; Egged to investigate incident

A 23-year-old woman of Ethiopian descent claimed that the driver of an Egged No. 5 bus in Rishon Lezion refused to allow her to board his bus because of the color of her skin.
Speaking to Ynet, Yedno Verka recounted last Wednesday’s incident: “As I prepared board the bus, the driver suddenly shut the door. I banged on the glass, but he ignored me. Then a young woman came running towards the bus, and he opened the door for her. I stayed close to her and boarded the bus.

“When the driver saw me he said, ‘what, don’t you understand that I don’t allow Kushim (derogatory term for black people) on board? Are you trying to smash my door in? Were there buses in Ethiopia? Why don’t you walk? In Ethiopia you didn’t even have shoes and here you do, so why don’t you walk?’ I was shaking all over; I couldn’t even speak,” she said.

At this point Verka handed the driver the bus fair, but, according to her, he refused to accept it and said, “Kushit hold on, what’s your hurry? Since you (Ethiopians) made aliyah you’ve become arrogant.”
Verka said she responded by saying, “You can’t treat me this way. Treat your mother this way.”

At this point, she said, “He grabbed my skirt and yelled: ‘You don’t talk like that about my mother. A Kushit will not talk about my mother like that.’ I was afraid he was going to hit me, and explained that I did not curse his mother. But he continued: ‘Go back to Ethiopia! You are not even Jews; who brought you all here anyway? You’re ruining our country; you are a stupid people.’

Only then did the other passengers intervene and call the driver out for his racist behavior, said the woman, adding that the driver continued his tirade even after she made her way to the back of the bus.

“I told myself that I would not cry in front of him. As we approached the college I rang the bell and got off. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and began to weep.
“It was such a humiliating experience, and what scares me most is the thought that he’ll continue to act this way. I would sue him had jotted down the names and numbers of some of the passengers, but I didn’t even think about it,” said Verka.

Knesset Member Shlomo Molla (Kadima) turned to Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud), who in turn instructed his office to demand that the Egged bus company investigate the incident and see to it that the driver is punished if it is found that he acted inappropriately.

Egged said in response that it “condemns any expression of racism and services all people, regardless of race, gender and creed. The details of the incident have been forwarded to Egged’s control committee for an in-depth investigation. Should the allegations prove true, Egged will act accordingly.”
Source; ynet news

URL: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3760647,00.html

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3760647,00.html

Israeli bus driver to Ethiopian: No blacks allowed

Posted in August 12th, 2009
by Editor in Current News

Woman recounts humiliating experience in which bus driver told her, ‘Kushit, in Ethiopia you didn’t even have shoes and here you do, so why don’t you walk?’; Egged to investigate incident

A 23-year-old woman of Ethiopian descent claimed that the driver of an Egged No. 5 bus in Rishon Lezion refused to allow her to board his bus because of the color of her skin.
Speaking to Ynet, Yedno Verka recounted last Wednesday’s incident: “As I prepared board the bus, the driver suddenly shut the door. I banged on the glass, but he ignored me. Then a young woman came running towards the bus, and he opened the door for her. I stayed close to her and boarded the bus.

“When the driver saw me he said, ‘what, don’t you understand that I don’t allow Kushim (derogatory term for black people) on board? Are you trying to smash my door in? Were there buses in Ethiopia? Why don’t you walk? In Ethiopia you didn’t even have shoes and here you do, so why don’t you walk?’ I was shaking all over; I couldn’t even speak,” she said.

At this point Verka handed the driver the bus fair, but, according to her, he refused to accept it and said, “Kushit hold on, what’s your hurry? Since you (Ethiopians) made aliyah you’ve become arrogant.”
Verka said she responded by saying, “You can’t treat me this way. Treat your mother this way.”

At this point, she said, “He grabbed my skirt and yelled: ‘You don’t talk like that about my mother. A Kushit will not talk about my mother like that.’ I was afraid he was going to hit me, and explained that I did not curse his mother. But he continued: ‘Go back to Ethiopia! You are not even Jews; who brought you all here anyway? You’re ruining our country; you are a stupid people.’

Only then did the other passengers intervene and call the driver out for his racist behavior, said the woman, adding that the driver continued his tirade even after she made her way to the back of the bus.

“I told myself that I would not cry in front of him. As we approached the college I rang the bell and got off. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and began to weep.
“It was such a humiliating experience, and what scares me most is the thought that he’ll continue to act this way. I would sue him had jotted down the names and numbers of some of the passengers, but I didn’t even think about it,” said Verka.

Knesset Member Shlomo Molla (Kadima) turned to Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud), who in turn instructed his office to demand that the Egged bus company investigate the incident and see to it that the driver is punished if it is found that he acted inappropriately.

Egged said in response that it “condemns any expression of racism and services all people, regardless of race, gender and creed. The details of the incident have been forwarded to Egged’s control committee for an in-depth investigation. Should the allegations prove true, Egged will act accordingly.”
Source; ynet news

URL: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3760647,00.html




Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Mon, 8/3/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Lessons from Totqalian and Secretive System that starves its own people and School Drop out Diaspora Somalies turned Jihadists and Ethiopian Airlines to the Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yaho.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethioforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, merkatousa@aol.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net
Date: Monday, August 3, 2009, 5:18 PM



Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

It is indeed a great shame for our people to be treated like this!

I am ashamed for all those idiotic dictators who sacrifice the next generation in such a humilitaing manner.

I cannot believe it that this can happen to our people intoday's world.

Some thing has to happen and the VoA Amharc Web site has this stupid picture and propaganda language the Terrorist of the Horn challenging Pres Obama!

Just imagine, what has come of us. Ethiopians working at the VoA declarinig that the man who is behind these pictures deserves a spot under the Amharic Program of the VOA more or less taunting the American president.

It is just a shame and look at this sad story below. Pictures mean a lot and one cannot hide this fact.

Dr B
http://en.ethiopianreporter.com/content/view/1454/26/

Reporter, Ethiopia

August 1. 2009
High-level food insecurity continues to grip country
Melaku Demissie
Ethiopia continues to face a high level of food insecurity. It is estimated that 6.2 million people will require emergency food assistance from July 2009 until the end of the year, an increase of 1.3 million people over the January figures.
Based on current estimates by the government and donors’ multi-sectoral team, the total food requirement from June to December is 462,500 metric tons. Both estimates are expected to be revised based on the findings of the belg/gu assessment, which are expected in August.
Rising malnutrition and food insecurity are a growing concern in the country, where up to 6.2 million people may require relief food aid in the wake of a second consecutive year of poor secondary rains, according to the federal Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Sector (DRMFSS).
The belg rains, which normally fall between mid-February and mid-May, performed poorly, leaving many vulnerable families in an even more difficult position.
Increasing admissions to therapeutic feeding programmes have also been recorded in several regions, including in SNNPR, Oromia, Somali and Amhara regions, since May 2009.
Food security in the belg-crop producing parts of the country, as well as the eastern meher crop producing areas, is expected to deteriorate further during the July-September period, following the poor belg harvest and depletion of stocks http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2009/jul/30/eritrea-refugee-squat-calais from the pervious meher harvest.
In the pastoral region of Afar, the southern areas of Oromia and most of zones of Somali region, rains during the past three seasons have been below-normal, including the sugum (March to May) of 2009. Food security is poor and is expected to deteriorate further as the main season karma/karran (July to September) rains are forecast to be below–normal.
Over the next six months, food security in the southern zones of Somali region, neighboring lowlands of Oromia and South Omo Zone of SNNP Region is expected to improve with the onset of the deyr (October–December) rains. However, the respite will likely be short-lived and food security will continue to heavily depend on external assistance.

__________________________________________________________________________

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2009/me_egypt0614_08_02.asp

World Tribune, US

Monday, August 3, 2009
Facing drought, Egypt reaches out to Sudan, Ethiopia
CAIRO Egypt is reviewing its regional water strategy during a severe drought.
Officials said the regime of President Hosni Mubarak has intensified efforts to prepare for a major water shortage in Egypt and the surrounding region. They said
the Cabinet has discussed Egypt's water policy and coordination with Ethiopia and
Sudan, all of which share the Nile River.
Egypt has opposed regional efforts, particularly by Ethiopia, to redivide the Nile waters. In July 2009, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said it would not abide by any agreement that would affect Egypt's allocation of 55 billion cubic meters of water per year.
"We are calm and there is no tension," Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said during a Cabinet session on July 27.
Officials said Egypt has recruited Sudan's support for Cairo's position on the sharing of the waters of the Nile. They said Cairo has also been working with Ethiopia on research projects to conserve the Nile and link electricity grids in cooperation with Sudan.
At the same time, Egypt was said to have warned Ethiopia and Sudan against revising any regional agreement on the Nile. Officials said Egypt would adhere to the division of the Nile set more than 30 years ago.
"Egypt's position on water-related issues is consistent," Egyptian Water Resources Minister Mohammed Nasser Alam said.
But officials acknowledged that the Cabinet has been examining scenarios in which Ethiopia would unilaterally violate the Nile water-sharing agreement. They said the World Bank has been encouraging the members of the Nile Basin Initiative to cooperation in regional development efforts, including the preservation of Egypt's High Dam Lake.
"A single signature may torpedo current and future projects," an official said.
____________________________________________________________
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2009/jul/30/eritrea-refugee-squat-calais

Guardian, UK

August 1, 2009

Photo-essay on Eritreans asylum seekers in France

Photos available at the link, above.



1 / 8
Inside Africa House in Calais, so called because it's where the Eritrean asylum seekers are squatting







Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Fri, 7/17/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Lessons from Totqalian and Secretive System that starves its own people and School Drop out Diaspora Somalies turned Jihadists and Ethiopian Airlines to the Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yaho.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethiforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, merkatousa@aol.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net
Date: Friday, July 17, 2009, 4:36 PM



Dear Patriots:

After talking to the Russians, the Pope and Italians and Africans, the President is back to African Americans at the NACCP Centennial.


His tone and content is rather interesting. He almost sounds like a Baptist Preacher with a touch of Harvard and Africa.

I enjoyed watching a completely different Obama! He is a real actor and orator.

The content of the message is similar to what he told the German Pope, and Russian President and PM as well as the African leaders in Rome ane in Ghanaa.

Responsibility and accountability with a sense of identity!

Please read on

Dr B

Transcript
Obama Delivers Speech at NAACP Centennial Convention





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Friday, July 17, 2009; 11:38 AM
SPEAKER: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

[*] OBAMA: Thank you. What an extraordinary night, capping off an extraordinary week, capping off an extraordinary 100 years at the NAACP. (Applause.) So Chairman Bond, Brother Justice, I am so grateful to all of you for being here. It's just good to be among friends. (Applause.)

It is an extraordinary honor to be here, in the city where the NAACP was formed, to mark its centennial. What we celebrate tonight is not simply the journey the NAACP has traveled, but the journey that we, as Americans, have traveled over the past 100 years. (Applause.)

It's a journey that takes us back to a time before most of us were born, long before the Voting Rights Act, and the Civil Rights Act, Brown v. Board of Education; back to an America just a generation past slavery. It was a time when Jim Crow was a way of life; when lynchings were all too common; when race riots were shaking cities across a segregated land.
It was in this America where an Atlanta scholar named W.E.B. Du Bois -- (applause) -- a man of towering intellect and a fierce passion for justice, sparked what became known as the Niagara movement; where reformers united, not by color, but by cause; where an association was born that would, as its charter says, promote equality and eradicate prejudice among citizens of the United States.

From the beginning, these founders understood how change would come -- just as King and all the civil rights giants did later. They understood that unjust laws needed to be overturned; that legislation needed to be passed; and that Presidents needed to be pressured into action. They knew that the stain of slavery and the sin of segregation had to be lifted in the courtroom, and in the legislature, and in the hearts and the minds of Americans.


They also knew that here, in America, change would have to come from the people. It would come from people protesting lynchings, rallying against violence, all those women who decided to walk instead of taking the bus, even though they were tired after a long day of doing somebody else's laundry, looking after somebody else's children.

(Applause.) It would come from men and women of every age and faith, and every race and region -- taking Greyhounds on Freedom Rides; sitting down at Greensboro lunch counters; registering voters in rural Mississippi, knowing they would be harassed, knowing they would be beaten, knowing that some of them might never return.

Because of what they did, we are a more perfect union. Because Jim Crow laws were overturned, black CEOs today run Fortune 500 companies. (Applause.) Because civil rights laws were passed, black mayors, black governors, and members of Congress served in places where they might once have been able [sic] not just to vote but even take a sip of water. And because ordinary people did such extraordinary things, because they made the civil rights movement their own, even though there may not be a plaque or their names might not be in the history books -- because of their efforts I made a little trip to Springfield, Illinois, a couple years ago -- (applause) -- where Lincoln once lived, and race riots once raged -- and began the journey that has led me to be here tonight as the 44th President of the United States of America. (Applause.)

Because of them I stand here tonight, on the shoulders of giants. And I'm here to say thank you to those pioneers and thank you to the NAACP. (Applause.)

And yet, even as we celebrate the remarkable achievements of the past 100 years; even as we inherit extraordinary progress that cannot be denied; even as we marvel at the courage and determination of so many plain folk -- we know that too many barriers still remain.
We know that even as our economic crisis batters Americans of all races, African Americans are out of work more than just about anybody else -- a gap that's widening here in New York City, as a detailed report this week by Comptroller Bill Thompson laid out. (Applause.)

We know that even as spiraling health care costs crush families of all races, African Americans are more likely to suffer from a host of diseases but less likely to own health insurance than just about anybody else.

We know that even as we imprison more people of all races than any nation in the world, an African American child is roughly five times as likely as a white child to see the inside of a prison.

We know that even as the scourge of HIV/AIDS devastates nations abroad, particularly in Africa, it is devastating the African American community here at home with disproportionate force. We know these things. (Applause.)
These are some of the barriers of our time. They're very different from the barriers faced by earlier generations. They're very different from the ones faced when fire hoses and dogs were being turned on young marchers; when Charles Hamilton Houston and a group of young Howard lawyers were dismantling segregation case by case across the land.

But what's required today -- what's required to overcome today's barriers is the same as what was needed then. The same commitment. The same sense of urgency. The same sense of sacrifice. The same sense of community. The same willingness to do our part for ourselves and one another that has always defined America at its best and the African American experience at its best. (Applause.)

And so the question is, where do we direct our efforts? What steps do we take to overcome these barriers? How do we move forward in the next 100 years?

The first thing we need to do is make real the words of the NAACP charter and eradicate prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination among citizens of the United States. (Applause.) I understand there may be a temptation among some to think that discrimination is no longer a problem in 2009. And I believe that overall, there probably has never been less discrimination in America than there is today. I think we can say that.

But make no mistake: The pain of discrimination is still felt in America. (Applause.) By African American women paid less for doing the same work as colleagues of a different color and a different gender. (Laughter.)

By Latinos made to feel unwelcome in their own country. (Applause.) By Muslim Americans viewed with suspicion simply because they kneel down to pray to their God. (Applause.) By our gay brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied their rights. (Applause.)

On the 45th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination cannot stand -- not on account of color or gender; how you worship or who you love. Prejudice has no place in the United States of America. That's what the NAACP stands for. That's what the NAACP will continue to fight for as long as it takes. (Applause.)

But we also know that prejudice and discrimination -- at least the most blatant types of prejudice and discrimination -- are not even the steepest barriers to opportunity today. The most difficult barriers include structural inequalities that our nation's legacy of discrimination has left behind; inequalities still plaguing too many communities and too often the object of national neglect.
These are barriers we are beginning to tear down one by one -- by rewarding work with an expanded tax credit; by making housing more affordable; by giving ex-offenders a second chance. (Applause.)

These are barriers we're targeting through our White House Office on Urban Affairs, through programs like Promise Neighborhoods that builds on Geoffrey Canada's success with the Harlem Children's Zone -- (applause) -- that foster a comprehensive approach to ending poverty by putting all children on a pathway to college, and giving them the schooling and after-school support that they need to get there. (Applause.)

I think all of us understand that our task of reducing these structural inequalities has been made more difficult by the state and structure of our broader economy; an economy that for the last decade has been fueled by a cycle of boom and bust; an economy where the rich got really, really rich, but ordinary folks didn't see their incomes or their wages go up; an economy built on credit cards, shady mortgage loans; an economy built not on a rock, but on sand.

That's why my administration is working so hard not only to create and save jobs in the short-term, not only to extend unemployment insurance and help for people who have lost their health care in this crisis, not just to stem the immediate economic wreckage, but to lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity that will put opportunity within the reach of not just African Americans, but all Americans. All Americans. (Applause.) Of every race. Of every creed. From every region of the country. (Applause.) We want everybody to participate in the American Dream. That's what the NAACP is all about. (Applause.)

Now, one pillar of this new foundation is health insurance for everybody. (Applause.) Health insurance reform that cuts costs and makes quality health coverage affordable for all, and it closes health care disparities in the process. Another pillar is energy reform that makes clean energy profitable, freeing America from the grip of foreign oil; putting young people to work upgrading low-income homes, weatherizing, and creating jobs that can't be outsourced. Another pillar is financial reform with consumer protections to crackdown on mortgage fraud and stop predatory lenders from targeting black and Latino communities all across the country. (Applause.)

All these things will make America stronger and more competitive. They will drive innovation, they will create jobs, they will provide families with more security. And yet, even if we do all that, the African American community will still fall behind in the United States and the United States will fall behind in the world unless we do a far better job than we have been doing of educating our sons and daughters. (Applause.)

I hope you don't mind -- I want to go into a little detail here about education. (Applause.) In the 21st century -- when so many jobs will require a bachelor's degree or more, when countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow -- a world-class education is a prerequisite for success.

There's no two ways about it. There's no way to avoid it. You know what I'm talking about. There's a reason the story of the civil rights movement was written in our schools. There's a reason Thurgood Marshall took up the cause of Linda Brown. There's a reason why the Little Rock Nine defied a governor and a mob. It's because there is no stronger weapon against inequality and no better path to opportunity than an education that can unlock a child's God-given potential. (Applause.)

And yet, more than half a century after Brown v. Board, the dream of a world-class education is still being deferred all across the country. African American students are lagging behind white classmates in reading and math -- an achievement gap that is growing in states that once led the way in the civil rights movement.

Over half of all African American students are dropping out of school in some places. There are overcrowded classrooms, and crumbling schools, and corridors of shame in America filled with poor children -- not just black children, brown and white children as well.
The state of our schools is not an African American problem; it is an American problem. (Applause.) Because if black and brown children cannot compete, then America cannot compete. (Applause.) And let me say this, if Al Sharpton, Mike Bloomberg, and Newt Gingrich can agree that we need to solve the education problem, then that's something all of America can agree we can solve. (Applause.) Those guys came into my office. (Laughter.) Just sitting in the Oval Office -- I kept on doing a double-take. (Laughter and applause.) So that's a sign of progress and it is a sign of the urgency of the education problem. (Applause.) All of us can agree that we need to offer every child in this country -- every child --

AUDIENCE: Amen!

THE PRESIDENT: Got an "Amen corner" back there -- (applause) -- every child -- every child in this country the best education the world has to offer from cradle through a career.

That's our responsibility as leaders. That's the responsibility of the United States of America. And we, all of us in government, have to work to do our part by not only offering more resources, but also demanding more reform. Because when it comes to education, we got to get past this whole paradigm, this outdated notion that somehow it's just money; or somehow it's just reform, but no money -- and embrace what Dr. King called the "both-and" philosophy.

We need more money and we need more reform. (Applause.)
When it comes to higher education we're making college and advanced training more affordable, and strengthening community colleges that are the gateway to so many with an initiative -- (applause) -- that will prepare students not only to earn a degree, but to find a job when they graduate; an initiative that will help us meet the goal I have set of leading the world in college degrees by 2020. We used to rank number one in college graduates. Now we are in the middle of the pack. And since we are seeing more and more African American and Latino youth in our population, if we are leaving them behind we cannot achieve our goal, and America will fall further behind -- and that is not a future that I accept and that is not a future that the NAACP is willing to accept. (Applause.)

We're creating a Race to the Top fund that will reward states and public school districts that adopt 21st century standards and assessments. We're creating incentives for states to promote excellent teachers and replace bad ones -- (applause) -- because the job of a teacher is too important for us to accept anything less than the best. (Applause.)

We also have to explore innovative approaches such as those being pursued here in New York City; innovations like Bard High School Early College and Medgar Evers College Preparatory School that are challenging students to complete high school and earn a free associate's degree or college credit in just four years. (Applause.)

And we should raise the bar when it comes to early learning programs. It's not enough just to have a babysitter. We need our young people stimulated and engaged and involved. (Applause.) We need our -- our folks involved in child development to understand the latest science. Today, some early learning programs are excellent. Some are mediocre. And some are wasting what studies show are by far a child's most formative years.

That's why I've issued a challenge to America's governors: If you match the success of states like Pennsylvania and develop an effective model for early learning; if you focus reform on standards and results in early learning programs; if you demonstrate how you will prepare the lowest income children to meet the highest standards of success -- then you can compete for an Early Learning Challenge Grant that will help prepare all our children to enter kindergarten all ready to learn. (Applause.)

So these are some of the laws we're passing. These are some of the policies we are enacting. We are busy in Washington. Folks in Congress are getting a little tuckered out. (Laughter.) But I'm telling them -- I'm telling them we can't rest, we've got a lot of work to do. The American people are counting on us. (Applause.) These are some of the ways we're doing our part in government to overcome the inequities, the injustices, the barriers that still exist in our country.

But all these innovative programs and expanded opportunities will not, in and of themselves, make a difference if each of us, as parents and as community leaders, fail to do our part by encouraging excellence in our children. (Applause.) Government programs alone won't get our children to the Promised Land. We need a new mind set, a new set of attitudes -- because one of the most durable and destructive legacies of discrimination is the way we've internalized a sense of limitation; how so many in our community have come to expect so little from the world and from themselves.

We've got to say to our children, yes, if you're African American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that somebody in a wealthy suburb does not have to face. But that's not a reason to get bad grades -- (applause) -- that's not a reason to cut class -- (applause) -- that's not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school. (Applause.) No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands -- you cannot forget that. That's what we have to teach all of our children. No excuses. (Applause.) No excuses.

You get that education, all those hardships will just make you stronger, better able to compete. Yes we can. (Applause.)

To parents -- to parents, we can't tell our kids to do well in school and then fail to support them when they get home. (Applause.) You can't just contract out parenting. For our kids to excel, we have to accept our responsibility to help them learn. That means putting away the Xbox -- (applause) -- putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour. (Applause.) It means attending those parent-teacher conferences and reading to our children and helping them with their homework. (Applause.)

And by the way, it means we need to be there for our neighbor's sons and daughters. (Applause.) We need to go back to the time, back to the day when we parents saw somebody, saw some kid fooling around and -- it wasn't your child, but they'll whup you anyway. (Laughter and applause.) Or at least they'll tell your parents -- the parents will. You know. (Laughter.) That's the meaning of community. That's how we can reclaim the strength and the determination and the hopefulness that helped us come so far; helped us make a way out of no way.

It also means pushing our children to set their sights a little bit higher. They might think they've got a pretty good jump shot or a pretty good flow, but our kids can't all aspire to be LeBron or Lil Wayne. (Applause.) I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers -- (applause) -- doctors and teachers -- (applause) -- not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court Justice. (Applause.) I want them aspiring to be the President of the United States of America. (Applause.)

I want their horizons to be limitless. I don't -- don't tell them they can't do something. Don't feed our children with a sense of -- that somehow because of their race that they cannot achieve.

Yes, government must be a force for opportunity. Yes, government must be a force for equality. But ultimately, if we are to be true to our past, then we also have to seize our own future, each and every day.

And that's what the NAACP is all about. The NAACP was not founded in search of a handout. The NAACP was not founded in search of favors. The NAACP was founded on a firm notion of justice; to cash the promissory note of America that says all of our children, all God's children, deserve a fair chance in the race of life. (Applause.)

It's a simple dream, and yet one that all too often has been denied -- and is still being denied to so many Americans. It's a painful thing, seeing that dream denied. I remember visiting a Chicago school in a rough neighborhood when I was a community organizer, and some of the children gathered 'round me. And I remember thinking how remarkable it was that all of these children seemed so full of hope, despite being born into poverty, despite being delivered, in some cases, into addiction, despite all the obstacles they were already facing -- you could see that spark in their eyes. They were the equal of children anywhere.

And I remember the principal of the school telling me that soon that sparkle would begin to dim, that things would begin to change; that soon, the laughter in their eyes would begin to fade; that soon, something would shut off inside, as it sunk in -- because kids are smarter than we give them credit for -- as it sunk in that their hopes would not come to pass -- not because they weren't smart enough, not because they weren't talented enough, not because of anything about them inherently, but because, by accident of birth, they had not received a fair chance in life.

I know what can happen to a child who doesn't have that chance. But I also know what can happen to a child that does. I was raised by a single mom. I didn't come from a lot of wealth. I got into my share of trouble as a child. My life could have easily taken a turn for the worse. When I drive through Harlem or I drive through the South Side of Chicago and I see young men on the corners, I say, there but for the grace of God go I. (Applause.) They're no less gifted than me. They're no less talented than me.

But I had some brakes. That mother of mine, she gave me love; she pushed me, she cared about my education; she took no lip; she taught me right from wrong. Because of her, I had a chance to make the most of my abilities. I had the chance to make the most of my opportunities. I had the chance to make the most of life.
The same story holds true for Michelle. The same story holds true for so many of you. And I want all the other Barack Obamas out there, and all the other Michelle Obamas out there -- (applause) -- to have the same chance -- the chance that my mother gave me; that my education gave me; that the United States of America has given me. That's how our union will be perfected and our economy rebuilt. That is how America will move forward in the next 100 years.

And we will move forward. This I know -- for I know how far we have come. Some, you saw, last week in Ghana, Michelle and I took Malia and Sasha and my mother-in-law to Cape Coast Castle, in Ghana. Some of you may have been there. This is where captives were once imprisoned before being auctioned; where, across an ocean, so much of the African American experience began.

We went down into the dungeons where the captives were held. There was a church above one of the dungeons -- which tells you something about saying one thing and doing another. (Applause.) I was -- we walked through the "Door Of No Return." I was reminded of all the pain and all the hardships, all the injustices and all the indignities on the voyage from slavery to freedom.
But I was reminded of something else. I was reminded that no matter how bitter the rod, how stony the road, we have always persevered. (Applause.) We have not faltered, nor have we grown weary. As Americans, we have demanded, and strived for, and shaped a better destiny. And that is what we are called on to do once more. NAACP, it will not be easy. It will take time. Doubts may rise and hopes may recede.

But if John Lewis could brave Billy clubs to cross a bridge -- (applause) -- then I know young people today can do their part and lift up our community. (Applause.)
If Emmet Till's uncle, Mose Wright, could summon the courage to testify against the men who killed his nephew, I know we can be better fathers and better brothers and better mothers and sisters in our own families. (Applause.)
If three civil rights workers in Mississippi -- black, white, Christian and Jew, city-born and country-bred -- could lay down their lives in freedom's cause, I know we can come together to face down the challenges of our own time. (Applause.) We can fix our schools -- (applause) -- we can heal our sick, we can rescue our youth from violence and despair. (Applause.)

And 100 years from now, on the 200th anniversary of the NAACP -- (applause) -- let it be said that this generation did its part; that we too ran the race; that full of faith that our dark past has taught us, full of the hope that the present has brought us -- (applause) -- we faced, in our lives and all across this nation, the rising sun of a new day begun. (Applause.)
Thank you, God bless you. God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)


Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Thu, 7/16/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Lessons from Totqalian and Secretive System that starves its own people and School Drop out Diaspora Somalies turned Jihadists and Ethiopian Airlines to the Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yaho.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethiforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, merkatousa@aol.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2009, 3:21 PM


Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

It has now been almost 18 years since Ethiopia lost its former province and one of the Fountains of its civilizations according to HIM Haile Sellassie at the Re-unification Decision of the then Eritrean Parliament with mother Ethiopia.

At the time, it was considered a smart move as the problem of Eritrea will be in the hands of the so called rebels who fought for almost 30 years to lead their own home community.

Now, almost 18 years after the fabricated referendum, it is becoming apparent that the so called rebels funded and supported by the Arab league in the person of Sadam and Bhuto of Iraq and Pakistan as well as the Syrian and Egyptian brotherhood, has succumbed to total starvation as the report below indicates.

Where is good governance, transparency and accountability in Eritrea where the misguided policy of self reliance is leading to total starvation of the whole population.

Who is going to make the Junta in Asmara accountable? Can Ethiopia and African Union demand the modicam of good governance and accountability for the eventual decimation of the Eritrean people?

The lesson is that who ever claims to represent the people needs to get a frquent authorization of the mandate of its people. Now, Eritrea will never see that mandate exercised under the current totalitarian system. So, should we keep quiet and see a people perish?

That is the question of the day. Our other brothers in the South are not faring any better either. Who is going to ask for transparency and accountability from the Jihadists?

Some one has to read the Quoran to these fools and let them know, the Quoran deos not support the cirminal activities they are engaged in. It is a crime to lable criminal activities as Jihad, where the world knows better.

If we keep quiet because it is not diretly impacting us today, Evil has its way of coming to those who did nothing when they could.

We can make a difference and should not keep quiet in the face of such gross human genocide among our people in Eritrea and Somalia.

We need to act soon!

Dr B

Just imagine how the US is going through the process of appointing a Supreem Court Judge and the Heatlh Care Reform and compare it with us who have ignored our responsiblity in making our governments or terrorists accountable.

Are we in the same planet?


http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=25809

The Media Line (Mid East News Source), US

July 16, 2009

Eritrea Famine Devastates Half Its Population
Rose Foran

Eritrea’s famine has devastated nearly half its population and is steadily worsening due to the government’s refusal to cooperate with NGOs.

According to an Amnesty International report, about half of Eritrea’s population is undernourished as a result of the widespread drought affecting the country.

Famine has plagued the country for nearly seven years, when the first major drought in 2002 bled the country’s food resources dry.

However, Eritrea’s stringent policies against NGO presence in the country severely limit relief organizations from providing much needed food and medical supplies.

“In September 2005, the government suspended general food aid in favor of food-for-work,” Peter Smerdon, Public Information Officer of the World Food Programme based in Nairobi, told The Media Line.

“While we would like to be working in Eritrea, we’ve had no food assistance operation there since April 2006, when the government announced the new cash-for-work policy.”

NGOs have long been at odds with the Eritrean government: in 2005, the national media launched a smear campaign against NGOs, claiming the various organizations providing aid were corrupt and trying to promote a culture of laziness among Eritreans.

In September 2005, the government initiated a shift in policy that drastically affected the already dire nutrition situation: direct food aid was banned in favor of a “work for food” program, and later cash-for-work, intended to counteract what Eritrean officials thought to be an NGO-cultivated culture of dependence. Only five NGOs officially remain in the country.

The rising cost of food cripples Eritreans from buying their own food, which the government advocates to promote ‘self-reliance’.

“Work permits for international humanitarian staff have not been issued; there are restrictions of movement,” Smerdon said. “Some of our key partners have had their activities curtailed – it’s hard to get an accurate portrait of the situation there.”

Because aid organizations have been shut out, it has become difficult to collect data on the degree of devastation. Before they were expelled, international organizations and NGOs partnered with the Eritrean Ministry of Health to provide statistical data on the famine; however, since 2006 this has been difficult for organizations to do on their own.

When asked if he knew the extent of the population affected by the famine, Smerdon replied, “We don’t know. We don’t know that it’s a famine either. In technical terms it’s widely used by the public to mean the lack of general availability to food, but we can’t say whether the situation even meets the technical definition of a famine.”

“Historically, they have had a large proportion of the population that in previous years has needed food assistance,” he said.
___________________________________________________________________________

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/world/africa/16somalia.html?_r=2&ref=africa

NY Times

July 15, 2009

Jeffrey Gettleman
Somali Group Said to Hold 2 Frenchmen

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali authorities tried to send a reassuring signal on Wednesday that they were closing in on kidnappers who had marched two French security advisers out of their hotel at gunpoint the day before.

“We know who abducted the Frenchmen,” said Somalia’s interior minister, Sheik Abdulkadir Ali Omar. “We are trying our best to release them soon.”

But it was not clear where the two Frenchmen were being held — or who was holding them. Residents of a neighborhood in south Mogadishu, the lawless Somali capital where the Frenchmen were abducted, said that a militant Islamic group, Hizbul Islam, now has the two men. If so, Western diplomats said, the two men may be in grave danger.

The Frenchmen arrived in Mogadishu several days ago to help train the government’s special forces. Workers at the hotel where the men were staying said that the Frenchmen were posing as journalists. The French Foreign Ministry has said they were on an “official mission of assistance to the Somali government.”

The men were originally abducted by renegade soldiers who were part of the government’s security forces, Somali officials said. On Tuesday, the transitional government discussed paying the kidnappers several hundred thousand dollars in ransom.

It is not clear if the kidnappers have handed the men over to Hizbul Islam or if the kidnappers switched their allegiance and now consider themselves part of Hizbul Islam. In recent months, many militiamen who had been fighting for the government have defected to join the insurgency.

One wildcard is Hizbul Islam’s leader, Hassan Dahir Aweys. The American government has accused Mr. Aweys of being a terrorist. He chafes at that label and denies being connected to Al Qaeda or any other terrorist group. United Nations officials have discussed ways of enticing Mr. Aweys to lay down arms and join the transitional government.
A Somali journalist contributed to this report from Mogadishu, Somalia


Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Tue, 7/14/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Lessons from School Drop out Diaspora Somalies turned Jihadists and Ethiopian Airlines to the Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yaho.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethiforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, merkatousa@aol.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net
Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 4:43 PM

Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

Re: Lessons of School Drop out Somali Jihadists

It is evident both communists and Jihadists recruit young men who are drop outs or have challenges in their school, home and community.

The story of Somali School Drop out turned Jihadists and their fate in the streets of Somalis is reminiscent of what has happened in Ethiopia during the revoluton and now in Diaspora.

It is important that we have serious youth programs at home and in the Diaspora to assist those children who fail in the school system and who become pray by terrorists who live their perverted dreams at the expense of the lives of disposable youths in their world view.

The attached story is very telling that the Jihadists and terrorists are active amongst us and we as the Diaspora Community need to know what and where and with whom our children are engaged.

The story of Michael Jackon is very similar when his family was rough on him, he excelled in music but lost his life and family by befriending Medical Doctors who prescribed to hime illegally.

At the end of the day, regardless of where we are and what we do, we need to care for each other and protect our youth.

Looking for your alternative and intelligent observation and perspective, here is the story of some American Somali Jihadists fate.

with regards

Dr B
Death of U.S. jihadist in Somalia shocks family
Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:43pm EDT Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page[-] Text [+]
* Mother collapses after seeing images of son's corpse

* Americans among foreign rebel fighters in Somalia



(Adds background on Somali U.S.community)

By Abdiaziz Hassan

NAIROBI, July 14 (Reuters) - The mother of an American national of Somali origin killed fighting for Islamist rebels in Mogadishu collapsed after seeing images of her dead son being paraded in the street, the man's uncle said on Tuesday.

The body of Jamal Ahmed Bana, 20, was displayed semi-naked with a bullet hole in his head in Mogadishu at the weekend after battles between al Shabaab insurgents and government forces backed by African Union (AU) troops.

Relatives in Minneapolis, a city in the U.S. Midwest that is home to the largest Somali-American community, identified him from photos on the internet taken by Somali media.

The Somali government says foreign fighters are leading the Islamist insurgency, and there is increasing international concern at the influx of hundreds of jihadists into Somalia -- from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Gulf region and western nations including the United States and Britain.

Some, like Bana, are immigrants of Somali origin. Bana was fighting for al Shabaab when he was killed along with roughly 40 other rebels on Saturday, said his uncle, Omar Ahmed Sheikh.

Sheikh said his nephew, a former engineering student at Minnesota's Hennepin Technical College, was misled by clerics in Minneapolis and persuaded to go to Somalia in November 2008.

"They told him they would teach him Islamic religion ... But they are terrorists and cannot claim they are Muslims."

Sheikh said Bana's mother, Somali-born Abayte Ahmed Sheikh, was rushed to hospital on Monday after seeing the pictures.

"She was very shocked when she got the news of her son," he told Reuters by telephone. "She is in a serious condition."

TEENAGERS WENT TO SOMALIA

Many Somalis fled their homeland after factional fighting began in 1991; an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 live in the United States. Other Somali-American population centres include Seattle, San Diego, Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio.

In March, officials of the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center told Congress that "tens" of Somali-Americans, primarily from Minneapolis, had returned to Somalia to fight with al Shabaab.

Omar Jamal, director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Centre in Minneapolis, told Reuters Bana was one of 18 teenagers who ran away to Somalia last November after attending a youth programme at a local mosque.

"They (the clerics) convinced some of these teenagers to drop out of school, go back home and wage jihad," he said.

Jamal said the families of the 18 youths were shocked when they heard they had run away to join al Shabaab.

"They stayed in the mosque for a week, day and night," Jamal said. "They did not go to school in that week.

"When we questioned the Imam on where the children were, and the content of the lessons that were going on, many people accused us of being against Islam." (We have began to hear this often in the Washington DC area. One senior muslim community leader ( A medical Professional) was heard saying this at the Ethiopian Embassy!

Three of the group have since died, Jamal said, adding that al Shabaab was active in the United States and Canada.

"They are here, recruiting young children and brainwashing them," he said. "They do it in an intelligent way, by offering incentives to hopeless street children and teenagers who drop out of schools. They have supporters in Minneapolis. Some are financing them."

Reuters reporters were unable to contact representatives of the Minneapolis mosque by telephone.





Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Tue, 7/14/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Lessons from Ethiopian Airlines to the Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yaho.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethiforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, merkatousa@aol.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net
Date: Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 10:02 AM


Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

Re: Can the Ethiopian Birr and Economy learn from Ethiopian Airlines?

What makes the Ethiopian Airlines succeed in an atmosphere of chaos in the Horn and Economic collapse in Addis?

Congratulations to the Ethiopian Airlines Crew, Board and managers for such great success story amid the storm of economic and electricity or energy challenges in the Horn.

I just wonder, what makes Ethiopian Airlines succeed and every thing including the religious institutions that have lasted millennial have began to collapse.

Can the Ethiopian Airlines salvage the Birr? In the past the Birr was supported by Gold Standard, and now can we turn the economy around using the success leadership and market competency of the Ethiopian Airlines?

It appears it is only Maitre Afework Tekle and Ethiopian Airlines that is the good news coming out of Addis these days. We need good governance in the economy where the corruption and cronism of this class, this tribe and this village is gone and our economy is based on competecy and competitiveness of each individual.

President Obama advise to the African leadership at G8 meeting and Ghana trip is simple, allow good governance and competency to prevail in Africa and get rid of the old men and the old tribe and replace them with smart institutions that serve every one without discrimination.

Long live the Ethiopian and all the great competent leadership. You are a beacon of light amidst the crisis of the Birr and the economy and the electricity and the series of jihadist terrorists in Somalia etc.

The Horn and Africa needs an Ethiopian Airlines styles management!

I look forward to your perspective as you read yet again the Ethiopian Airlines success stories.

Congratulations Afewrok Tekle and Ethiopian Airlines for bearing the torch of excellence and we need to take our example from you.

with respect

Dr B

http://www.addisfortune.com/Ethiopian%20Top%20Airline%20at%20African%20Business%20Awards.htm

Fortune, Ethiopia

July 12, 2009

Ethiopian Top Airline at African Business Awards

Compiled by Hilina Alemu

Ethiopian Airlines has been chosen over four other major African airlines to win the "Airline of the Year 2009" title.

Ethiopian was chosen at the African Business Awards last Monday, July 6, 2009, organized by the London based African Business and the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC). Ethiopia's flag carrier stood first among nominees for this category based on solid financial results coupled with distinctive customer service, punctuality, innovative products and services for consumers. A press release, sent to Fortune, revealed that the 2009 judging panel of the African Businesses Awards especially lauded Ethiopian for initiation of new routes.

The nominees that competed with Ethiopian Airlines were Afriqyiah of Libya, Arik Air of Nigeria, Kenyan Airways and South African Airways; the latter won last year's award for the "Airline of the Year" category.

Amadou Ba, president and director of AllAfrica Global Media; Jean-Louis Ekra, CEO of Afrexim Bank; Stephen Hayes, chairman of the Corporate Council on Africa; Yvonne Ike, regional director for West Africa at JP Morgan Chase International; Omari Issa, CEO of Investment Climate Facility for Africa and Tim Turner, director for the Private Sector at the African Development Bank were the panel judges.

"We rejoice in winning the award and gained the recognition of our overall excellence among other African airlines," Yeneneh Tekleyes, director for Advertising and Promotions of the Ethiopian Airlines declared. "It motivates and encourages us to provide and deliver even more products and better services."

Ethiopian, which made its maiden flight to Cairo, Egypt, in 1946, now travels to 34 cities in Africa and 55 destinations worldwide.

In 2008 alone, it won the Corporate Achievement Award of Aviation and Allied Business, the Brussels Airport Company Award, for its distinguished long haul operations seen through the introduction of new routes, new products and close operations with the Brussels Airport in marketing activities. At the African Travel Awards held in Lagos, Nigeria, The 2008 Best Airline in Africa Award was presented to Ethiopian for superiority in network and convenient connections.

__________________________________________________________________

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/07/13/somaliland-fragile-democracy-under-threat

Human Rights Watch

July 13, 2009
Somaliland: Fragile Democracy Under Threat

Electoral Crisis Underscores Broader Human Rights Concerns

Link to complete report: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/07/13/hostages-peace

© 2003 Getty Images
In Hargeisa a Russian MiG fighter of the old Somali air force stands as a monument to the atrocities Somalilanders suffered during the Siad Barre era. Somaliland has struggled to maintain peace and nurture democracy in a volatile region.
(Hargeisa, Somaliland) - The Somaliland government's disregard for the law and democratic processes threatens the territory's nascent democracy, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The administration of President Dahir Riyale Kahin has committed human rights violations and generated a dangerous electoral crisis.
The 56-page report, "‘Hostages to Peace': Threats to Human Rights and Democracy in Somaliland," says that Somaliland's government has helped create a measure of stability and democratic governance even as Somalia has remained mired in armed conflict. But Somaliland's gains are fragile and currently under threat. The administration of President Riyale has regularly flouted Somaliland's laws and has twice delayed elections that were originally scheduled for April 2008, through processes of questionable legality. A further delay of elections, now slated for September 2009, could prove disastrous for democratic rule in Somaliland.
"Somaliland has spent 18 years trying to build stability and democracy, but all its gains are at risk if the government continues to undermine the rule of law," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The electoral crisis has laid bare the need to create functioning government institutions that will respect human rights."
The Human Rights Watch report is based primarily on a two week visit to Somaliland in March 2009 in which researchers interviewed government officials, opposition leaders, civil society activists, local analysts, and victims of human rights abuses.
Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia in 1991 after the demise of Somalia's last functioning government. No country has recognized Somaliland's claim of statehood. Human Rights Watch takes no position on whether Somaliland should be internationally recognized as an independent country. But international actors should engage more deeply with Somaliland, press Somaliland's government to respect human rights and the territory's emerging democratic norms, and provide assistance tailored to bolster key government institutions, the media, and civil society.
In recent years the Riyale administration has regularly treated the opposition-controlled legislature as an irritant, refusing to respect its role in the legislative process or in overseeing opaque government expenditures. Little has been done to build the capacity of the nominally independent judiciary; the lower courts are often incapable of applying the law while the Supreme Court has acted as though it is entirely beholden to the president.
Government actions in violation of domestic and international law have directly infringed upon the rights of Somalilanders, Human Rights Watch said. The Riyale administration has circumvented the courts and trampled on the rights of criminal defendants by relying on "security committees" that are entirely under the control of the executive and that have no legal basis under Somaliland law. The security committees sentence and imprison Somalilanders, including people accused of common crimes and juveniles, without any pretense of due process. They regularly sentence defendants en masse on the basis of little or no evidence after truncated hearings in which the accused are given no right to speak. When Human Rights Watch visited Mandhera prison outside of Hargeisa in March, over half of the prisoners there had been sentenced by the security committees, not the courts.
The government has also engaged in other repressive practices that are common in the region, but relatively rare in Somaliland. A former driver for the president's family was imprisoned after publicly accusing the first family of corruption, and only released after photos surfaced of the man lying shackled to a hospital bed, gravely ill. The leaders of a dissident political association called Qaran, which challenged the existing three parties' legal monopoly of electoral politics, were sentenced to prison terms and banned from political activity, though they were released before serving their full terms. And Somaliland's leading independent human rights group was dismantled during a leadership struggle in which government officials blatantly intervened.
But patterns of low-level harassment targeting journalists, opposition activists, and others are the most common. On numerous occasions government officials have detained, usually for brief periods, individuals who have publicly criticized the government or provided press coverage deemed to be unfavorable.
Somaliland's precarious situation in the region has deterred Somalilanders from protesting loudly when their rights are abused for fear of damaging their territory's hard-won stability and its quest for international recognition. Many people told Human Rights Watch that they are effectively "hostages to peace" - unable to confront Somaliland's deepest problems effectively for fear of upsetting the fragile balance that has kept the territory from going the way of Somalia and other countries in the region.
The repeated delay of Somaliland's presidential election threatens the foundations of its emerging democratic system. President Riyale has twice been granted lengthy extensions of his term by Somaliland's unelected House of Elders. The election is currently scheduled for September 29, but there is considerable uncertainty whether it will take place and under what circumstances.
"Somaliland is at a dangerous crossroads," Gagnon said. "Eighteen years of progress towards democratic governance and general respect for human rights will either be consolidated or endangered, depending on President Riyale's next moves."

Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Mon, 7/13/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Challenges and opportunities of Ethiopian Birr and the new Agazi Operation to Salvage all of us!
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, Nwmariam@yaho.com, Mered_Michael@yahoo.com, Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com
Cc: ben@ethiopiafirst.com, Ethiforum@ethiolist.com, tamiru@merkatousa.com, merkatousa@aol.com, Mulugetatsegaye@aol.com, nbiratuy@verizon.net
Date: Monday, July 13, 2009, 10:57 AM

Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

Re: The Ethiopian Birr Devalued Again to Birr 12.444; I remember when it was Birr
2.07 to the Dollar when I left Ethiopia some 33 years ago on July 4, 1976!


I am writing to express my concern over such level of devaluation and the policy strategy that it demands from Ethiopian Government and the support that Ethiopia needs from all public and private sector instititons across the world including the Diaspora Remittances and business transactions.

All aleged politicians and nationalistic instituions need to know that a devalued currency is not going to help them in their political and economic as well as social interactions.

I believe we need to so some thing to support the Ethiopian Birr at all cost. I request all Ethiopains and friends of Ethiopia at home and aborad to engage in a Birr boosting economic and social and political activities to assist our economy.

The trade defecit of $4.5 Billion is very close to the national annual budget. So we have to do something.

Start buying Ethiopian coffee, and demand local shops to have Ethiopian coffee in their stores. Where is Tamiru Degefa of Abol Coffee when we need you most?


All Ethiopian institutions at home and aborad have to engage in activities that promote our economy by boosting the Birr. We need the Agazian Operation of this weekened to rescue our Ethiopian Birr.

Can we generate the brain and competency of General Hayalom to rescue the Ethiopian Birr from the IMF, like the Agazian 15 minute operation rescued 1,300 Prisoners of the Totalitarian and Genocidic Derg Regime in Mekele.

We need General Hayalom type, Economic Operatives, to rescue the Birr.

I hate to see the Birr go like the Zimbabwean Shilling where its costs a Qatrillion and two to three Donkeys load o f Birr to buy bread.

Now is the time to act to avoid Economic Catastrophe in the Horn!

with respect to your creative and alternative views, I remain

Dr B



Bloomberg

July 13, 2009

Ethiopia Devalues Birr 9.9% After Foreign Currency Shortages
Jason McLure
Ethiopia devalued its currency, the birr, 9.9 percent against the dollar on July 10 after difficulty obtaining foreign exchange led to shortages of imported goods such as auto parts and medical supplies.
The country’s official exchange rate fell to 12.444 against the dollar from 11.3247 on July 9, according to the Web site of the National Bank of Ethiopia, the country’s central bank.
Ethiopia has been in talks with the International Monetary Fund over loans to help it cope with the global economic downturn. In an interview on June 19, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the country was likely to devalue the birr as a condition of getting IMF financing.
The Horn of Africa nation’s trade deficit was $4.5 billion last year, according to the World Bank.
_______________________________________________________________
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/622962/-/138sywxz/-/
Igad wants peacekeepers to engage in combat



ARGAW ASHINE


Somali government fighters stand on their vehicles near the frontline in clashes between government forces and Islamic insurgents in Mogadishu July 12, 2009. REUTERS
Eastern African regional bloc Igad wants the Somalia peacekeepers’ mandate reviewed.
Igad wants AMISOM allowed to engage in “fighting role” with the militants.
Igad, at an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of six member countries, urged both the Africa Union and United Nation Security council to review AMISOM rules of engagement in Somalia.
Igad member states are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. Eritrea has been suspended from Igad membership.
Nearly 4,500 AMISOM peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi are in Somalia with a limited mandate of protecting the palace and parliament buildings, sea and airport routes.
Igad member states also called for the removal of UN Security Council resolution 1725(2006), which prohibits neighbouring states from intervening in Somalia.
IGAD says the crisis in Somalia is “clear aggression” and no longer just a fight between and among Somali people.
The Ethiopian Government estimates that nearly 2,500 foreign fighters, are operating on Somali soil to topple the transitional government.
____________________________________________________________________
http://af.reuters.com/article/ethiopiaNews/idAFLC36221420090713
Reuters
July 13, 2009
Delayed Somaliland polls threaten stability - group
Jack Kimball

NAIROBI - A delay in Somaliland's presidential poll threatens the breakaway enclave's stability and democratic credentials, and the government continues to ignore its own laws, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

Somaliland has enjoyed relative peace compared with other parts of Somalia since the Horn of Africa nation plunged into anarchy in 1991. It has held elections before, but officials say new polls have been put off since 2007 due to technical issues.

"Somaliland has spent 18 years trying to build stability and democracy, but all its gains are at risk if the government continues to undermine the rule of law," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director for the group.

"The electoral crisis has laid bare the need to create functioning government institutions that will respect human rights," she said in a statement.

The polls are seen as an acid test for the former British protectorate, which has been clamouring for international recognition since declaring independence after dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown.

The enclave in northwest Somalia is governed by an opposition-led house of representatives elected directly by the people and an upper chamber, or Guurti, consisting of traditional elders representing different clans and sub-clans. The rights group said that President Dahir Riyale Kahin has used the Guurti to extend his rule beyond its limit and that claims the poll was delayed for issues like inadequate voter registration and planning time were "disingenuous".

"A further delay of elections, now slated for September 2009, could prove disastrous for democratic rule in Somaliland," the group said in a 56-page report entitled "Hostages to Peace".

"REAL PUBLIC ANGER"

The New York-based organisation said that Riyale's administration was flagrantly acting outside laws established by the constitution and restricting civil society and the media.

"The most important caveat to everything Somaliland has achieved -- and the one thing that threatens those gains in the short term -- is the presidency's consistent and brazen refusal to abide by the rule of law," the group said.

"Perhaps the most glaring example of the government's extralegal practises is its use of security committees to usurp the role of the courts."

The committees, comprising of government officials and security officers, flout due process and routinely sentence suspects en masse, it said.

Riyale, who was in Siad Barre's dreaded security apparatus, won the presidency in 2003 in the first multi-party elections.

Somaliland was briefly independent in the 1960s, but then chose to join the rest of Somalia. Its capital, Hargeisa, was devastated in the 1980s when the then dictator battled an insurgent group there.

Since 1991, the region -- about the size of England and Wales -- has failed to gain recognition, which some analysts say is due to fears that rewriting colonial borders may open a Pandora's Box of other secession claims.

HRW argued in its report that much of Somaliland's stability was due to its consensus-driven approach to resolving conflict.

"The president and his party have successfully exploited this widespread aversion to direct confrontation to occupy a space well past the legal limits of their power, but short of what would trigger real public anger." (Editing by Wangui Kanina)





Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Sat, 7/11/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Challenges and opportunities of the Universal Health Care System
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, "Negus Wolde Mariam" , "Michael MERID" , Globalbelai@Yahoo.com, globalbelai7@gmail.com
Cc: "Ben EthiopiaFirst" , "Ethioforum Ethiolist"
Date: Saturday, July 11, 2009, 2:13 PM



Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

Re: President B Obama Speech in Ghana, Africa

It is interesting, President BHO has chosen Ghana as a final stop over in his mainly Russian, Roman and Vatican trips this time around.

It is claimed Ghana was chosen for its new good governance and democratic credentials as well as its historic African American connections with its Slavery Prison Castles to which Michele and his two daughters can connect with more than Obama himself who is the son of a Harvard educated PhD father from Africa who came on his own free will and did not suffer slavery as such.

However, the message is very important and timely for African nations. Avoid blaming others for your problems and avoid those old strong men dictating and stealing away your challenges andopportunities. Take charge of your destiny is his main message. He also made a very remarkableappreciation that Africa has been a Patron of Western Civilization rather than a partners. This is rather sad, as Africa did not choose the West over its own interest and became a patron by its choice, it was really exploited and continues to be exploited today. But it was an interesting choice of word, a Patroon instead of a colony.

Win-win partnerships is what Obama is preaching. Partnership demands equal playing field, and that is what Africa lacks big time.

The real issue is building institutions that allow egalitarian and equitable partnerships. That is really the challenge for Africa. The African Union has not been empowered by Pres Obama as he did not address AU Meeting in Lybia or at its headquarters in Africa. That is a huge statement he is making. In effect not respecting African institutions but demanding American made institutions for Africa. That is the real challenges for African new generation leaders that he refers to.

Do we have new African leaders emerging? That is the challenge Ethiopia and Somalia are facing today. As the youth of Somalia are demanding their place in history via Saudi Jihadist Movement, the Ethiopian Youth are completely emasculated and dis empowered as they do not have institutionsto allow them to build a better future. The Geriatric Revolutionaries are not giving opportunitiesto the new generation as they are busy transforming themselves from a Marxist Leninist cadres of their bush years to their new Developmental State, Capitalism in their geriatric age.

Smooth, institutional transition is highly needed in Africa and perhaps Obama is referring to this great hole in the Governance institutions of Africa .

All the same, this is a good Road show like that of Clinton and Bush but we need more win-win partnership with the movers and shakers of Africa.

This is the new challenge for Obama to show some difference between the AID oriented approach of his predecessors to that of Win-win Development and Investment partnerships that requires some integrated and collaborative partnerships.

We need to build that partnership by providing avenues that respect the culture, tradition and competency of African countries at home and Diaspora.

Please read and give your alternative perspective.

Dr B


Ghaana Reuters
By The Associated Press – Sat Jul 11, 8:50 am ET
Text of President Barack Obama's speech Saturday in Accra, Ghana, as prepared for delivery and provided by the White House:
___
Good morning. It is an honor for me to be in Accra, and to speak to the representatives of the people of Ghana.

I am deeply grateful for the welcome that I've received, as are Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama. Ghana's history is rich, the ties between our two countries are strong, and I am proud that this is my first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as President of the United States.

I am speaking to you at the end of a long trip. I began in Russia, for a Summit between two great powers. I traveled to Italy, for a meeting of the world's leading economies. And I have come here, to Ghana, for a simple reason: the 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra as well.

This is the simple truth of a time when the boundaries between people are overwhelmed by our connections. Your prosperity can expand America's. Your health and security can contribute to the world's. And the strength of your democracy can help advance human rights for people everywhere.

So I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world — as partners with America on behalf of the future that we want for all our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility, and that is what I want to speak with you about today.

We must start from the simple premise that Africa's future is up to Africans.
I say this knowing full well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world. I have the blood of Africa within me, and my family's own story encompasses both the tragedies and triumphs of the larger African story.

My grandfather was a cook for the British in Kenya, and though he was a respected elder in his village, his employers called him "boy" for much of his life. He was on the periphery of Kenya's liberation struggles, but he was still imprisoned briefly during repressive times. In his life, colonialism wasn't simply the creation of unnatural borders or unfair terms of trade — it was something experienced personally, day after day, year after year.

My father grew up herding goats in a tiny village, an impossible distance away from the Americanuniversities where he would come to get an education. He came of age at an extraordinary moment of promise for Africa. The struggles of his own father's generation were giving birth to new nations, beginning right here in Ghana. Africans were educating and asserting themselves in new ways. History was on the move.

But despite the progress that has been made — and there has been considerable progress in parts of Africa — we also know that much of that promise has yet to be fulfilled. Countries like Kenya, which had a per capita economy larger than South Korea's when I was born, have been badly outpaced. Disease and conflict have ravaged parts of the African continent. In many places, the hope of my father's generation gave way to cynicism, even despair.

It is easy to point fingers, and to pin the blame for these problems on others. Yes, a colonial map that made little sense bred conflict, and the West has often approached Africa as a patron, rather than a partner. But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants. In my father's life, it was partly tribalism and patronage in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career, and we know that this kind of corruption is a daily fact of life for far too many.

Of course, we also know that is not the whole story. Here in Ghana, you show us a face of Africa that is too often overlooked by a world that sees only tragedy or the need for charity. The people of Ghana have worked hard to put democracy on a firmer footing, with peaceful transfers of power even in the wake of closely contested elections. And with improved governance and an emerging civil society, Ghana's economy has shown impressive rates of growth.

This progress may lack the drama of the 20th century's liberation struggles, but make no mistake: it will ultimately be more significant. For just as it is important to emerge from the control of another nation, it is even more important to build one's own.

So I believe that this moment is just as promising for Ghana — and for Africa — as the moment when my father came of age and new nations were being born. This is a new moment of promise. Only this time, we have learned that it will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta who will determine Africa's future. Instead, it will be you — the men and women in Ghana's Parliament, and the people you represent. Above all, it will be the young people — brimming with talent and energy and hope — who can claim the future that so many in my father's generation never found.

To realize that promise, we must first recognize a fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That is the change that can unlock Africa's potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by Africans.

As for America and the West, our commitment must be measured by more than just the dollars we spend. I have pledged substantial increases in our foreign assistance, which is in Africa's interest and America's. But the true sign of success is not whether we are a source of aid that helps people scrape by — it is whether we are partners in building the capacity fortransformational change.

This mutual responsibility must be the foundation of our partnership. And today, I will focus on four areas that are critical to the future of Africa and the entire developing world: democracy; opportunity; health; and the peaceful resolution of conflict.
First, we must support strong and sustainable democratic governments.

As I said in Cairo, each nation gives life to democracy in its own way, and in line with its own traditions. But history offers a clear verdict: governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable and more successful than governments that do not.

This is about more than holding elections — it's also about what happens between them. Repression takes many forms, and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the port authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end.

In the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent institutions are the key to success — strong parliaments and honest police forces; independent judges and journalists; a vibrant private sector and civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in peoples' lives.

Time and again, Ghanaians have chosen Constitutional rule over autocracy, and shown a democratic spirit that allows the energy of your people to break through. We see that in leaders who accept defeat graciously, and victors who resist calls to wield power against the opposition. We see that spirit in courageous journalists like Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who risked his life to report the truth. We see it in police like Patience Quaye, who helped prosecute the first human trafficker in Ghana. We see it in the young people who are speaking up against patronage and participating in the political process.

Across Africa, we have seen countless examples of people taking control of their destiny and making change from the bottom up. We saw it in Kenya, where civil society and business came together to help stop postelection violence. We saw it in South Africa, where over three quarters of the country voted in the recent election — the fourth since the end of apartheid. We saw it in Zimbabwe, where the Election Support Network braved brutal repression to stand up for the principle that a person's vote is their sacred right.

Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs stronginstitutions.

America will not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation — the essential truth of democracy is that each nation determines its own destiny. What we will do is increase assistance for responsible individuals and institutions, with a focus on supporting good governance — on parliaments, which check abuses of power and ensure that opposition voices are heard; on the rule of law, which ensures the equal administration of justice; on civicparticipation, so that young people get involved; and on concrete solutions to corruption like forensic accounting, automating services, strengthening hot lines and protecting whistle-blowers to advance transparency and accountability.

As we provide this support, I have directed my administration to give greater attention to corruption in our human rights report. People everywhere should have the right to start a business or get an education without paying a bribe. We have a responsibility to support those who act responsibly and to isolate those who don't, and that is exactly what America will do.
This leads directly to our second area of partnership — supporting development that provides opportunity for more people.
With better governance, I have no doubt that Africa holds the promise of a broader base for prosperity. The continent is rich in natural resources. And from cell phone entrepreneurs to small farmers, Africans have shown the capacity and commitment to create their own opportunities. But old habits must also be broken. Dependence on commodities — or on a single export — concentrateswealth in the hands of the few and leaves people too vulnerable to downturns.

In Ghana, for instance, oil brings great opportunities, and you have been responsible in preparing for new revenue. But as so many Ghanaians know, oil cannot simply become the new cocoa. From South Korea to Singapore, history shows that countries thrive when they invest in their people andinfrastructure; when they promote multiple export industries, develop a skilled work force and create space for small and medium-sized businesses that create jobs.

As Africans reach for this promise, America will be more responsible in extending our hand. By cutting costs that go to Western consultants and administration, we will put more resources in the hands of those who need it, while training people to do more for themselves. That is why our $3.5 billion food security initiative is focused on new methods and technologies for farmers — not simply sending American producers or goods to Africa. Aid is not an end in itself. The purpose of foreign assistance must be creating the conditions where it is no longer needed.

America can also do more to promote trade and investment. Wealthy nations must open our doors to goods and services from Africa in a meaningful way. And where there is good governance, we can broaden prosperity through public-private partnerships that invest in better roads and electricity; capacity-building that trains people to grow a business; and financial services that reach poor and rural areas. This is also in our own interest — for if people are lifted out of poverty and wealth is created in Africa, new markets will open for our own goods.

One area that holds out both undeniable peril and extraordinary promise is energy. Africa gives off less greenhouse gas than any other part of the world, but it is the most threatened by climate change. A warming planet will spread disease, shrink water resources and deplete crops, creating conditions that produce more famine and conflict. All of us — particularly the developed world — have a responsibility to slow these trends — through mitigation

, and by changing the way that we use energy. But we can also work with Africans to turn this crisis into opportunity.
Together, we can partner on behalf of our planet and prosperity and help countries increase access to power while skipping the dirtier phase of development. Across Africa, there is bountiful wind and solar power; geothermal energy and bio-fuels. From the Rift Valley to the North African deserts; from the Western coast to South Africa's crops — Africa's boundless natural gifts can generate its own power, while exporting profitable, clean energy abroad.

These steps are about more than growth numbers on a balance sheet. They're about whether a young person with an education can get a job that supports a family; a farmer can transfer their goods to the market; or an entrepreneur with a good idea can start a business. It's about the dignity of work. Its about the opportunity that must exist for Africans in the 21st century.

Just as governance is vital to opportunity, it is also critical to the third area that I will talk about — strengthening public health.
In recent years, enormous progress has been made in parts of Africa. Far more people are livingproductively with HIV/AIDS, and getting the drugs they need. But too many still die from diseases that shouldn't kill them. When children are being killed because of a mosquito bite, and mothers are dying in childbirth, then we know that more progress must be made.

Yet because of incentives — often provided by donor nations — many African doctors and nursesunderstandably go overseas, or work for programs that focus on a single disease. This creates gaps in primary care and basic prevention. Meanwhile, individual Africans also have to make responsible choices that prevent the spread of disease, while promoting public health in their communities and countries.

Across Africa, we see examples of people tackling these problems. In Nigeria, an interfaith effort of Christians and Muslims has set an example of cooperation to confront malaria. Here in Ghana and across Africa, we see innovative ideas for filling gaps in care — for instance, through E-Health initiatives that allow doctors in big cities to support those in small towns.

America will support these efforts through a comprehensive, global health strategy. Because in the 21st century, we are called to act by our conscience and our common interest. When a child dies of a preventable illness in Accra, that diminishes us everywhere. And when disease goes unchecked in any corner of the world, we know that it can spread across oceans and continents.

That is why my administration has committed $63 billion to meet these challenges. Building on the strong efforts of President Bush, we will carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS. We will pursue the goal of ending deaths from malaria and tuberculosis, and eradicating polio. We will fight neglected tropical disease. And we won't confront illnesses in isolation — we will invest in public health systems that promote wellness and focus on the health of mothers and children.

As we partner on behalf of a healthier future, we must also stop the destruction that comes not from illness, but from human beings — and so the final area that I will address is conflict.

Now let me be clear: Africa is not the crude caricature of a continent at war. But for far too many Africans, conflict is a part of life, as constant as the sun. There are wars over land and wars over resources. And it is still far too easy for those without conscience to manipulate whole communities into fighting among faiths and tribes.

These conflicts are a millstone around Africa's neck. We all have many identities — of tribe and ethnicity; of religion and nationality. But defining oneself in opposition to someone who belongs to a different tribe, or who worships a different prophet, has no place in the 21st century. Africa's diversity should be a source of strength, not a cause for division. We are all God's children. We all share common aspirations — to live in peace and security; to access education and opportunity; to love our families, our communities, and our faith. That is our common humanity.

That is why we must stand up to inhumanity in our midst. It is never justifiable to target innocents in the name of ideology. It is the death sentence of a society to force children to kill in wars. It is the ultimate mark of criminality and cowardice to condemn women to relentless and systematic rape. We must bear witness to the value of every child in Darfur and the dignity of every woman in Congo. No faith or culture should condone the outrages against them. All of us must strive for the peace and security necessary for progress.

Africans are standing up for this future. Here, too, Ghana is helping to point the way forward. Ghanaians should take pride in your contributions to peacekeeping from Congo to Liberia to Lebanon, and in your efforts to resist the scourge of the drug trade. We welcome the steps that are being taken by organizations like the African Union and ECOWAS to better resolve conflicts, keep the peace, and support those in need. And we encourage the vision of a strong, regional security architecture that can bring effective, transnational force to bear when needed.

America has a responsibility to advance this vision, not just with words, but with support that strengthens African capacity. When there is genocide in Darfur or terrorists in Somalia, these are not simply African problems — they are global security challenges, and they demand a global response. That is why we stand ready to partner through diplomacy, technical assistance, and logistical support, and will stand behind efforts to hold war criminals accountable. And let me be clear: our Africa Command is focused not on establishing a foothold in the continent, but on confronting these common challenges to advance the security of America, Africa and the world.

In Moscow, I spoke of the need for an international system where the universal rights of human beings are respected, and violations of those rights are opposed. That must include a commitment to support those who resolve conflicts peacefully, to sanction and stop those who don't, and to help those who have suffered. But ultimately, it will be vibrant democracies like Botswana and Ghana which roll back the causes of conflict, and advance the frontiers of peace and prosperity.

As I said earlier, Africa's future is up to Africans.
The people of Africa are ready to claim that future. In my country, African-Americans — including so many recent immigrants — have thrived in every sector of society. We have done so despite a difficult past, and we have drawn strength from our African heritage. With strong institutions and a strong will, I know that Africans can live their dreams in Nairobi and Lagos; in Kigali and Kinshasa; in Harare and right here in Accra.

Fifty-two years ago, the eyes of the world were on Ghana. And a young preacher named Martin Luther King traveled here, to Accra, to watch the Union Jack come down and the Ghanaian flag go up. This was before the march on Washington or the success of the civil rights movement in my country. Dr. King was asked how he felt while watching the birth of a nation. And he said: "It renews my conviction in the ultimate triumph of justice."

Now, that triumph must be won once more, and it must be won by you. And I am particularly speaking to the young people. In places like Ghana, you make up over half of the population. Here is what you must know: the world will be what you make of it.
You have the power to hold your leaders accountable and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease, end conflicts and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can. Because in this moment, history is on the move.

But these things can only be done if you take responsibility for your future. It won't be easy. It will take time and effort. There will be suffering and setbacks. But I can promise you this: America will be with you. As a partner. As a friend. Opportunity won't come from any other place, though — it must come from the decisions that you make, the things that you do, and the hope that you hold in your hearts.

Freedom is your inheritance. Now, it is your responsibility to build upon freedom's foundation. And if you do, we will look back years from now to places like Accra and say that this was the time when the promise was realized — this was the moment when prosperity was forged; pain was overcome; and a new era of progress began. This can be the time when we witness the triumph of justice once more. Thank you.

Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Thu, 7/9/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Challenges and opportunities of the Universal Health Care System
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, "Negus Wolde Mariam" , "Michael MERID" , Globalbelai@Yahoo.com
Cc: "Ben EthiopiaFirst" , "Ethioforum Ethiolist"
Date: Thursday, July 9, 2009, 9:53 AM


Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of African Union and Ethiopia:

It has been a busy week in the Horn and Africa. The following is a very interesting interview and comment to the interview that some how, Reuters manages to get and yet the local and African Media seem not to bother about.

Aiga Forum had a discussion on it to its EPRDF supporters and reading it looks like what will amount to like the future September EPRDF meeting disucssion.

The most interesting thing is that the rest of the Ethiopian population, nor the opposition are raising and discussing them openly.

It reminded me of the Badme Fiasco where the TPLF leadership was discussing the issue amongst themselves without the Ethiopian Populous and even other EPRDF members and the result was ugly.

There was no input from the real stakeholders and the members of the TPLF who did not agree with the top leadership were sacrificied without any procedure or modicum of moderating the discussiions.

It appears now the discussion is between Rueters and TPLF top leadership and even the party operatives are not given opportunity to voice their opinion. Only, the select few Aigaforum readership were commenting the same thing as though they were told to scan the discussion for the rest of us.

I believe the secrecy, and rather totalitarian approach that only a few select group will be allowed to discuss critical issues about whether a PM can be for life, or for term limit, or should be elected by the General public like US presidents so that he or she is accountable to all is not been raised at all

I personally believe the party totalitarian approach should be open and national leaders should be elected both by their respective parties n the primaries and the general public at large at national elections.

Additionally, power transfer should be documented in the constitutions and it should be clearly understood by all citizens. We shoul not allow such rumors and disucssions by the international media without the local citizenshiop participation that makes the fate of the nations dependent on one or two single individuals regardless of their competencies and credentials.

The country shoulld be run by the good will of the citizens and not one or two individuals who have access to foreign media or of this and another person should not define the fate of a nation of more than 80 million people.

We are still in transition. The EPRDF itelf is transitioning from Albanian style communism to Marxist lenninst League ot Tigrai and then Revolutionary Democracy and now Developmental States and even univesal Capitalism, etc. I wonder if the rank and file cadres and even top leadership have really understood nor comply with this transformational changes that the top leadership is feeding the international communities.

Some of the policies are just PhD thesis, translated into Amharic and the Great BPR itslef needs a lot more tunning up for it to accommodate all these fundamental changes.

So, progress is being made, but that progress shoud be shared with all 80 Million people who are the real stake holders. Even assumptions about radical Jihads in Somalia need to be challenged when you have literally very different situations on the ground and claiming to invade Ethiopia.

Every thing is in flux, and the general Ethiopian public should be informed, and actively participate on how to change its top leadership under such volatile circumstances where a small miscalculation like what happened during the Badme Fiasco should never be repeated again.

I would say, Ethiopians in general should be the first to disucss and participate in the determination process of their future. No single person, nor single party or foreign journalists should have such level of advantage against the interest of Ethiopian people.

All the same, the discussion should be wide, open and transparent to all.

Dr B






http://af.reuters.com/article/ethiopiaNews/idAFL82162120090708?sp=true

Reuters

July 8, 2009

INTERVIEW-Ethiopia's Meles eyes "long rest" post-retirement
Andrew Cawthorne



* PM says ruling party to determine his intended departure

* Meles sees up to 2,500 foreign jihadists in Somalia



ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia's long-serving Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday he was looking forward to relaxing after a retirement from power that he hopes will be agreed soon with his ruling party.

"Having a long, good rest would do," the 54-year-old former rebel leader said of his plans after relinquishing the power he has held for 18 years.

In an interview with Reuters, Meles also said the arrival of jihadists from Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Gulf region had lifted the number of foreign fighters in neighbouring Somalia to anywhere between 1,000 and 2,500.

"It is a continuing influx," he said of the men coming to fight alongside Somalia's hardline insurgents.

Meles has said repeatedly he is ready to step down from the helm of sub-Saharan Africa's second most populous nation.

Most analysts believe that will be some time after an election scheduled for May 2010.

They say Meles may retain a senior post in his party or take a prominent position at an international institution given his high profile on pan-African affairs.

Declining to say when he might go, Meles did emphasise that he hoped to effect the first peaceful transition of power in Ethiopia's bloody modern history.

"It would be very important for everybody, particularly for the fledgling democratic institutions of this country."

Leaders of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) are to meet in September in what could be a determining moment.

"The party is in the process of dialogue, and sooner or later it will make its decision, and that will be it," Meles said, adding he was unlikely to act without EPRDF blessing.

Diplomats expect the EPRDF to win the 2010 election, and for one of Meles' senior Cabinet members to take over.

"We have a large leadership pool, any one of whom could take the mantle," Meles said.

The prime minister dismissed fears of ethnic rivalry.

"That is not a prime consideration. The party has gone beyond that," said Meles, whose Tigryan community accounts for just 6 percent of the population yet dominate the country's political and military establishment.

The ethnic Amharas, who used to be Ethiopia's elite, and the country's most populous group, the Oromos, may feel it is their turn, analysts say.

PEACEFUL POLL?

Meles said he hoped a code of conduct, which the government wants to agree with the opposition, would help prevent a repeat next year of post-election violence in 2005 when 200 protesters were killed by security forces.

Media air-time and public funds for opposition parties, plus monitors from at home and abroad, should also help "level the playing-field" and ensure fair elections, said Meles.

Rights groups and opposition leaders say Meles, however, oppresses opposition, with key figures exiled or in jail.

Long anxious about the threat from Islamist militants in next-door Somalia, Meles said he did not think al Shabaab rebels would oust President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's government even though it was close to his palace door in Mogadishu.

The presence of a 4,300-strong African Union (AU) peacekeeping force, Amisom, and the gradual building of national security forces should turn the tide, he predicted.

"There is a very serious threat to the government ... but I don't think it's about to be toppled any time soon," he said.

"I don't think al Shabaab has the capability to ride over the Amisom presence there. And together with the forces of the TFG (Transitional Federal Government), I think they will be capable of resisting the so-called final onslaught."

Meles disputed accounts from the United Nations and others of several hundred foreign fighters in Somalia.

"It's much more than that, anywhere between 1,000 and 2,500 is the estimate we have," he said.

But "it's very difficult to categorise some of these so-called foreign fighters," he said. "There are, for example, American passport holders in the Shabaab ranks, but of Somali origin. Are these foreign fighters or Somali fighters? That is a tough issue to answer. There are Canadians, and so on."

Ethiopia lost "several hundred soldiers" during its 2006-08 intervention, and has no plan to return unless there is a major threat, most notably on its border, Meles said.

The prime minister said he had conveyed that message to visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, who was in Addis Ababa this week with a message for Ethiopia to be restrained.

"He was pushing at an open door," Meles said.

________________________________________________________________

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=87&art_id=nw20090709064124352C419888

IOL, South Africa

July 9, 2009

Bloc calls for sanctions against Eritrea


Addis Ababa - Six-nation east African body IGAD on Wednesday called on the UN Security Council to impose sanctions against Eritrea which is accused of arming Islamist insurgents in Somalia, an Ethiopian government statement said.

Ethiopia, which currently holds the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) presidency, called a meeting on Tuesday in Addis Ababa to discuss the situation in Somalia where the insurgents are waging a deadly offensive.

"IGAD calls on the UN Security Council to take urgent measures in order to achieve lasting peace and stability in Somalia," said the statement released on Wednesday by the Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The African Union last week at a summit in Sirte, Libya, called on the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Eritrea.

The final declarations of the AU summit voiced the bloc's "full support" to Somalia's internationally backed government, which is battling the insurgency led by the hardline Islamist group Shebab.

The 53-member grouping called on the UN Security Council "to take immediate measures, including the imposition of a no-fly zone and sea blockade, in order to prevent foreign elements from entering Somalia."

________________________________________________________________

http://carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=23286&prog=zgp&proj=zie

Carnegie Endowment, US

June 2009

International Economic Bulletin,
Uneven Crisis in Africa


Shimelse Ali
The global financial crisis has put Africa’s hard-won economic gains under threat. While all countries have been adversely affected, the enormous diversity of the continent’s 52 countries makes it especially difficult to generalize. This article gauges the impact of the crisis by reviewing the experience of three countries: South Africa, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, respectively Africa’s largest, second-largest, and ninth-largest economies. These economies, which represent 30 percent of Africa’s population and 40 percent of its GDP, include a diversified middle-income economy (South Africa), an oil exporter (Nigeria), and a low-income agricultural economy (Ethiopia). Together, they are fairly representative of different situations on the continent.
In what follows, the impact of the crisis is assessed in light of several characteristics: economic structure, quality of institutions, importance of the financial sector, policies in the run-up to the crisis, and policies after.
The poorest, most agriculturally dependent economies in Africa emerge as less affected by the crisis, due in part to their relatively low level of integration into global markets.
The poorest, most agriculturally dependent economies in Africa, such as Ethiopia, emerge as less affected by the crisis, due in part to their relatively low level of integration into global markets. However, the lesson is not to withdraw from globalization, but to strengthen resilience to international shocks.
South Africa
Of the three countries examined in this note, South Africa has been the most affected by the crisis, which has dragged it into its first recession since apartheid. GDP, which grew by 3.1 percent in 2008, is expected to fall by 0.3 percent in 2009.

South Africa’s vulnerability is primarily due to its reliance on exports, which account for 65 percent of the country’s GDP. Diminished global demand has taken a severe toll on the economy, with the most notable declines occurring in manufacturing, down by more than a fifth, and mining, down by nearly a third.

A large trade deficit and double digit inflation at the outset of the crisis have severely constrained growth. However, macroeconomic policies put in place before the crisis have mitigated the impact of the downturn. Through tighter monetary policy, the country achieved low public debt and high revenue collection. Conservative fiscal policy kept the budget deficit between 1.5 and 0.4 percent of GDP. Rising capital inflows attracted by good economic prospects resulted in historically high foreign exchange reserves.
South Africa’s vulnerability is primarily due to its reliance on exports. Diminished global demand has taken a severe toll on the economy.
Luckily, South Africa has had only limited exposure to the toxic assets of developed countries. Bad debts have risen only slightly, from 1.1 percent in 2007 to a manageable 3 percent in 2008. However, risk aversion in global markets has put downward pressure on the rand (which has depreciated by around 9 percent against the U.S. dollar since August) and the South Africa All Share Index has plunged by 17.4 percent since last fall. Still, the stability of the foreign exchange reserves ($30 billion), a slight decline in the trade deficit in the first quarter of 2009, and recent signs of recovery in portfolio inflows has shielded the country from the worst financial impacts.
The government’s prompt policy response has increased the likelihood of recovery. The central bank cut its benchmark rate to 7.5 percent. It has adopted expansive fiscal policy, doubling its borrowing in 2009 to 3.8 percent of GDP to finance infrastructure building and create jobs. Further, until these policies and a broader global recovery bring relief to South Africa, the nation’s democratic institutions will hopefully enable the country to protect its most vulnerable citizens.
Nigeria
Nigeria has been directly affected through the financial sector. The NSE All Share index has plunged by 42 percent since September. The naira has shed about 20 percent against the dollar over the same period. The estimated ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans will reach 7.4 percent by the end of 2009, up from 6.2 percent at the beginning of the year.

Nigeria’s dependence on oil, which accounts 90 percent of exports and three-fourths of government revenues, exposed the country to the full brunt of the crisis, as oil prices plummeted. Violence in the oil-producing Niger Delta region added additional stress by paralyzing the country’s oil production, causing losses of about $25 million a day in the last two weeks of May. Oil revenues are projected to drop sharply from 21.0 percent of GDP in 2008 to 12.4 percent in 2009.

The government has, however, taken important steps to mitigate the effects of the crisis. The policy interest rate has been gradually reduced from 10.25 percent to 8 percent. To improve liquidity in the banking system, the Cash Reserve Ratio was reduced from 4 percent to 1 percent. With a large accumulation of foreign reserves, Nigeria has more fiscal space to conduct counter-cyclical policies. However, the 2.9 percent growth predicted for 2009 is too slow to reduce unemployment and poverty in light of Nigeria’s quickly growing population.
Ethiopia
In some respects, the financial crisis has been a blessing in disguise for Ethiopia. Lower oil, steel, and food prices have eased inflationary pressures and improved terms of trade. Further, remittances have not declined as expected. Growth is expected to slow from its double-digit pace of the past few years, but will likely remain at a strong 6.5 percent in 2008/2009.

Ethiopia has been extremely isolated from the financial impacts of the crisis. Its economy is one of the least monetized in the world and over 85 percent of the population has little access to financial services. Still, the birr has depreciated by 13 percent since September, hinting at future debt-service burdens.

Ethiopia has, however, been impacted by the global slowdown in demand for most of its exports. Export revenues are expected to fall over a billion dollars short of the country’s $2.5 billion target for the 2008/2009 fiscal year. Exports of coffee, which last year accounted for nearly two-thirds of the country's export earnings, are down as much as 40 percent this year. Foreign exchange reserves are just enough to cover a few weeks’ imports.

The government has done little to mitigate these impacts, constrained by limited room for fiscal stimulus and inadequate foreign reserves. The government’s budget may be further diminished as aid and loans from more-impacted developed countries slow.
Policy
While these three countries have been impacted to varying degrees by the financial fallout of today’s crisis, all have been hit by the downturn in global demand. Still, the implication is not to retreat from globalization, but to build stronger defenses against shocks coming from abroad.

Weaknesses in the operating environment of financial institutions were a source of vulnerability. More must be done to improve transparency and accountability in the financial sectors of all three countries. There is also a need to carry out deeper and more comprehensive financial stability assessments and to intensify cross-border cooperation to minimize financial contagion.
The lesson is not to withdraw from globalization, but to strengthen resilience to international shocks.
With respect to monetary policy, the crisis makes it doubly important to maintain realistic exchange rates, adequate reserves, and sound macroeconomic fundamentals. These countries did many things right during the boom years: building up reserves, improving budgetary discipline, and investing in infrastructure, all of which will help them weather today’s economic storm.

Still, given the possibility of the downturn becoming even more protracted, greater efforts are needed to strengthen safety nets to protect vulnerable groups. While South Africa and Nigeria have some fiscal room to do more of this, donor support will be critical for Ethiopia.


Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Wed, 7/8/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Challenges and opportunities of the Universal Health Care System
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, "Negus Wolde Mariam" , "Michael MERID" , Globalbelai@Yahoo.com
Cc: "Ben EthiopiaFirst" , "Ethioforum Ethiolist"
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 11:29 AM





Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Africa and Ethiopia:

Here comes the summer season of terrorist activities and their surrogate supporters in the west in the person of Terrorists Human Rights Watch

As I was contemplating how one can change the lives of people like Aklog that was brought to my attention by the British, now I have another sad news by the American Human Rights Group that tell us the Ethiopian Government can do nothing to prevent terrorism.

Imagine, the US is in Afghanistan and Iraq way far into the Eastern part of the globe to protect its interests, and these goons tell us that we cannot even have anti-terrorism law unless they draft it for us.

Wow, I wonder what Putin will say to such level of arogance and ignorance. Imagine! Then comes the usual perpetual terror reporting about Ogaden, where the terrorist claim to have terrorized our people for the sake of redressing human rights.

One wonders! how can we stop all this nonesense. Ofcourse, Ethiopia needs anti-terror rules drafted by its people, for its people from its people, not from these goons counter intelligence officers posing as human rights operatives.

I can see the frustration that can be generated from such incessant campaign aginst the Ethiopian people.

In the end, we have to do what is right for our people and for our region and the goons need some intelligent counter intelligent operation on a regular basis.

Just imagine, what President Obama is saying in Moscow and what these goons are telliing Ethiopians.

Which planet are they coming from? We need to establish our own Human Rights Watch who watches the activities of these goons!

What about Human Rights Watch and the IDF in Israel. I wonder if these goons follow events in Gaza and now in Southern Israel. Some one needs to give them direction and look for human right abuse at the right places.

All the same, we have to defend the image, and prospect of all Ethiopians and here is a very interesting story for us to digest and act on.

With appreciation of your alternative perspective.

Dr B



http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090706/wl_africa_afp/ethiopiaunrestogadenrebellion

AFP/Yahoo

July 6, 2009
Ethiopian rebels, government claim gains in restive region

ADDIS ABABA – Ethnic Somali rebels in Ethiopia's Ogaden region claimed Monday they killed 90 government troops in recent clashes, but the government denied any losses, claiming victory instead.
In a statement, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) said it had "conducted a coordinated military operation" in Kebridehar, Degahabur and Jijiga, in response "to increased harassment and war crimes being committed by the Ethiopian Army".
The ONLF "conducted coordinated military operations ... killing 90 soldiers and wounding more than 100 others", the group said, before adding that six Ural military vehicles were destroyed and dozens of assault rifles captured.
The group did not disclose when the incidents took place, but said "engagements are still going" on in one locality of the vast region.
Government spokesman Bereket Simon admitted "incidents", but said it was the rebels who sustained heavy losses.
"They are trying to hide their losses. Once again the militia managed to get them and inflict heavy damage on the ONLF," he told AFP.
Bereket said the group sustained around 80 deaths during the fighting.
Ethiopia's military launched an offensive against the ONLF after they attacked a Chinese-run oil venture in the Ogaden in 2007, killing 77 people, including nine Chinese nationals.
Addis Ababa recently announced that the rebellion was on "its last knees" as a result of "successful" campaigns against them.
"It was the first time they were trying to regroup since the campaign in the region," Bereket said.
The ONLF is fighting for the independence of ethnic Somalis in Ethiopia's oil-rich Ogaden region. They say the local people have been marginalised by Addis Ababa.
__________________________________________________________
http://en.ethiopianreporter.com/content/view/1305/1/
Reporter, Ethiopia
July 4, 2009
Arguments on anti-terrorism law
“The anti-terrorism bill will not affect those who have a different political opinion” – PM Meles

"Ethiopia may well need a fair and effective law to combat terrorism, but this is not it" – Human Rights Watch

Melaku Demissie

Currently the anti-terrorism bill is in parliament awaiting endorsement. The bill, which was passed to parliament by the Council of Ministers is considered by many local political groups and international organizations as an instrument aimed at violating human rights. Both groups are pushing for revision of the draft law before it is enacted into law anytime very soon.

This week, Human Rights Watch came out with a statement by saying that Ethiopia's draft anti-terrorism law could punish political speech and peaceful protest as terrorist acts and encourage unfair trials if enacted. The government and members of parliament should amend the draft law, which could otherwise be imminently passed as it is by parliament, to meet international human rights standards, it said.

Human Rights Watch's detailed analysis of the draft anti-terrorism proclamation concludes that the bill violates fundamental freedoms of speech and peaceful assembly, and strips defendants of important due-process protections. As drafted, the law could provide a new and potent tool for suppressing political opposition and independent criticism of government policy, Human Rights Watch said.

"Ethiopia may well need a fair and effective law to combat terrorism, but this is not it," said Joanne Mariner, Terrorism and Counterterrorism Program director at Human Rights Watch. "As drafted, this law could encourage serious abuses against political protesters and provide legal cover for repression of free speech and due-process rights."

However, in his press briefing last week Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said political differences ought to be resolved by political means; that is perfectly correct. Which means, if that is the position the opposition accepts, which means political differences will not be terrorism, the anti-terrorism bill will not affect those who have a different political opinion.

“So I do not see how their logic leads to the conclusion that our country does not need an anti-terrorism law,” he said, adding that all countries need anti-terrorism laws; they are required to have such enactments by international agreements. “This is not because all of these countries do not have a mechanism for resolving political differences by political means. Some of them have centuries-old and very refined mechanisms of resolving political differences by democratic and political means.”

Human Rights Watch says that the measure ignores well-established standards embedded in both international law and Ethiopia's own law. The draft law's overly broad definition of terrorist acts could be used to prosecute peaceful political protesters and would in some circumstances impose lengthy prison terms and even the death penalty as a punishment for damaging property or disrupting public services.

Even those who merely express support for a peaceful political protest could be deemed terrorists under the law, as well as any member of the group who had engaged in the protest. The law would even eliminate protections against the use of confessions obtained after torture.

According to Human Rights Watch, among the draft counter-terrorism law's most worrying provisions are:

“The definition of terrorist acts, which could be used to prosecute a very wide range of conduct - far beyond the limits of what can reasonably be considered terrorist activity.

Besides violent acts and kidnapping, an act that "causes serious damage to property" or "disruption or interference of a public service" may be deemed terrorist under the law if carried out for a specified purpose. This definition is so broad that a nonviolent political protest that disrupts traffic might be labeled a "terrorist act." As the UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism has explained, the concept of terrorism should be limited to acts committed with the intention of causing death or serious bodily injury, or the taking of hostages, and not property crimes;

“The expansion of police powers to search, arrest, and restrict movement of individuals and destroy property without judicial oversight, in many cases based solely on the belief that terrorist activity, 'will be' committed. The law also provides for "terrorist suspects" to be held for up to four months without charge;

“The approval of using hearsay or 'indirect evidences' in court without any limitation. Official intelligence reports would also be admissible, even if they do not disclose their source or how their information was gathered. By making intelligence reports admissible in this way, the law effectively would allow evidence obtained under torture - if defense counsel could not ascertain the methods by which intelligence was collected, they would not be able to show that it was collected in an abusive way;

“The criminalization of speech 'encouraging,' 'advancing,' or 'in support' of terrorist acts even if the speech is not directly inciting acts of terrorism. The law would even criminalize providing 'moral support' to someone who is alleged to have engaged in a terrorist act. Coupled with the extremely broad definition of terrorist acts, this could result in a conviction for encouraging or giving moral support to participants in a nonviolent political protest that disrupts traffic or causes minor property damage.”

Human Rights Watch said the approval of imposing the death penalty for certain offenses cannot be considered among the "most serious crimes," as required by international law. Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because it is inherently cruel and irrevocable.
Human Rights Watch urged the Ethiopian government to seek input from human rights experts and to ensure that civil society and the public are given a fair opportunity to review and comment on any draft counterterrorism legislation.

"If the government really wants to produce a solid piece of legislation that can help combat terrorism, then it should immediately seek input from civil society and international experts, and amend the law's worst provisions," Mariner said.

Meles said that there is no contradiction between that principle and that political differences can and should be resolved by political means and having an anti-terrorism law, because the assumption is that those same political groups who have political differences will not resort to terrorism.

Several bombings and grenade attacks in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and elsewhere have claimed Ethiopian civilian lives over the years, and the Ethiopian government has alleged that these attacks were carried out by armed opposition groups. Most recently, in October 2008, the Ethiopian trade mission in Hargeisa, Somaliland, was one of the targets of multiple suicide bombings that killed at least 20 people; the attacks were blamed on al-Shabaab, a Somali armed group with alleged links to al-Qaeda.

Although Ethiopia has legitimate security concerns over terrorism, Human Rights Watch said that Ethiopia's increasing repression of political opposition and independent civil society since the controversial 2005 elections, when scores of individuals protesting the election results were killed and injured by security forces, raises special concerns.

Meles also said that terrorism is unacceptable as a means of pursuing any objective that justifies terrorism. There is no objective that justifies terrorism.
__________________________________________________________________________
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-07/07/content_11669256.htm
Xinhua, China
July 7, 2009
Report: Thousands of African migrants illegally entering Israel

JERUSALEM -- Southern Israel is being inundated with thousands of illegal migrants from Africa and the influx has resulted in a noticeable rise in violence and inter-communal tensions, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.
Police figures show that so far this year, 1,602 migrants have breached Israel's borders, said the report, adding that 7,703 illegal migrants entered the country in 2008, up from 5,201 a year earlier.
Some 80 percent of the migrants who arrived over the past two years come from Eritrea, and contrary to popular perception, only a minority of these illegal migrants is Sudanese. Others come from Somalia and Cote d'Ivoire.
In 2006, only 751 illegal migrants crossed into Israel, while 502 arrived in 2005. Most of them entered from Egypt after traveling through the Sinai desert, often led by Bedouin smugglers.
Israel's Southern Police District head, Commander Yohanan Danino, is concerned about the growing crime and violence that police have linked to the migrants, and the lack of solutions to their communal needs in southern Israel.
In May, after receiving requests for assistance from local authority heads, Danino called a meeting with representatives of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), mayors, government officials and welfare workers to discuss ways of dealing with the problem.
Danino believes that as time passes, police will be increasingly involved in dealing with illegal migrants, as unsuccessful job seekers turn to crime and alcohol.
In 2008, 160 recorded criminal offenses committed by illegal migrants took place, while in 2007, 140 incidents were documented.
The IDF has stepped up attempts in recent weeks to return the migrants to their entry points, expelling 122 people from Israel since June, soon after they were caught.


Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Wed, 7/8/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Challenges and opportunities of the Universal Health Care System
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, "Negus Wolde Mariam" , "Michael MERID" , Globalbelai@Yahoo.com
Cc: "Ben EthiopiaFirst" , "Ethioforum Ethiolist"
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 10:54 AM



This is an amazing story that no amount of revolution or developmental state or capitalism can help!

Wow, it is amazing how nothing is changing for some people in Ethiopia!

The story of Aklog is so compelling and deserves our attention on how to change the paradigm of global climate change once for all!

I am impressed by the British Journalist who persisted to follow up the life of Aklog and wonder how many like him are scattered through out the Horn and around the world.

I wonder what President Barack Obama will say to such level of abject poverty that has become the destny of Ethiopians.

I wonder if all that revolution made any difference to the likes of Aklog? Should we have a different type of revolution based on educaiton and technology and move away from the peasant agrarian system to some form of collective farming and diversity of work towards cottage industry.

Ijust cannot believe that Agricaltural led industrialization is not touching the lives of people like Aklog?

What should we do to change this paradigm of hopelessness!

Let us think and not shoot again, because these problems willnot go away with slogans and ill thought ideas from east, west, north or south.

This is a fundamental problem that needs fundamental research and creative thinking.

Here is the story of Aklog:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8128395.stm
BBC
July 8, 2009
Man's 25 years on film chronicle Ethiopia's struggles


Stewart filmed as Aklug Adarge bid goodbye to his dying mother
For 25 years British documentary maker Charles Stewart has filmed Ethiopian man Aklug Adarge. The BBC's Adam Mynott reports on one man's life, beset by the challenges of famine and conflict, which is emblematic of the lives of so many Ethiopians.

In 1984 at the height of the worst famine in living memory thousands of people clinging to life in the highlands in the centre and north of Ethiopia were resettled. Some were forcibly moved, others went voluntarily.
One young man Aklug Adarge was amongst those who decided to leave. He lived with his mother, sister and younger brother near the village of Arb Gebaya.
The land in this remote, mountainous region had been farmed for generations, but growing numbers of people, deforestation and drought had rendered large tracts of the highlands incapable of supporting human life.

A British documentary-maker, Charles Stewart filmed Aklug at a large gathering in Arb Gebaya where regional members of the Marxist government told villagers that their only hope of survival was to leave the barren Ethiopian mountains and go to unoccupied lowland areas.
Poignant goodbye

Stewart was also filming when the young man had to bid goodbye to his mother, who was dying.

His distressed mother spoke of her unhappiness at him leaving:
"My God, do you think I could be happy about that? My family is scattering."

With a handful of possessions Aklug left his home village
Aklug replied: "When the day becomes darker, it is not a bad thing to go away until things improve."

It was a heart-breaking moment and the last time Aklug saw his mother alive.
But to have stayed in Arb Gebaya could have meant death - more than one million people died in the 1984 famine in Ethiopia.

Aklug set off with his few possessions - which he could easily carry in one hand - in search of a future, and Stewart was on hand to film this important moment.

Little government help
Under the Marxist government of Mengistu Haile Mariam a programme of resettling highland villagers had started in 1975.

In 1984 the programme stepped up and the government in the capital Addis Ababa announced that one and half million people would be moved.


The Ethiopian highlands have been left arid by deforestation
Aklug was part of this programme. He moved hundreds of kilometres to a co-operative farm at Metema, close to the border with Sudan.
He was promised help from the government, but received little assistance.

Lowland areas settled by the villagers had rich soil and better water supplies, but they were also rife with disease.
Thousands are reported to have died, but there has never been a reliable assessment of the human toll of resettlement.
Ongoing struggle

Aklug managed to carve out a living and spent 13 years at Metema. Charles Stewart returned there in 2000 to find Aklug.
He tracked down Aklug's sister, Enane in Metema and his younger brother Andarge, but Aklug had gone. Restless and unhappy he had set off again in search of land elsewhere.

Charles Stewart and his Ethiopian guide eventually tracked Aklug to the district of Arjo, about 500km (311 miles) south east of Metema.

Aklug Adarge tries to support his family of six children through farming
Aklug had left the resettlement programme. He had divorced and remarried and was trying to farm new land, but he was struggling.

Aklug is a farmer - he plants and harvests crops to sustain his family of six children and sells what little excess he produces.

But his efforts have brought him into direct and occasionally violent conflict with the indigenous tribes in Arjo who are pastoralists and move their herds of cattle and goats from place to place in search of grazing.

Culture clash
Aklug had spent a lot of money buying an ox and had begun to clear the land to plant crops, but the pastoralists saw him threatening their way of life.

The trees he chopped down to make way for his plough were trees that the pastoralists collected honey from.

He was seized by the locals and thrown into prison, and his wife was forced to sell their ox and other possessions to raise enough money for him to be freed. Aklug and his family were repeatedly told to leave the area, their home was burnt down and they lived in constant fear of being attacked. He received little protection from the authorities.

Aklug says he would like to return to his home village
Charles Stewart returned to Arjo a few weeks ago to visit Aklug again. He is still farming and life remains tough.
He is making more than a subsistence living - but only just - and his relationship with the indigenous people remains precarious.
Aklug told Stewart that he longs to go back to his birthplace, Arb Gebaya. But there are problems in the highlands once more. Two years of severe drought and successive years of below-average rainfall have plunged Ethiopia into food crisis again.
The United Nations has warned that the whole of the Horn of Africa faces a severe food crisis with nearly twenty million people in need of emergency food aid.
In Arb Gebaya farmers are having to sell their stock, a sure sign of desperate times.

Adam Mynott's film about Charles Stewart's chronicling of Aklug Adarge's life in Ethiopia will be on Newsnight on Wednesday 8 July 2009 at 10.30pm on BBC Two.

Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Wed, 7/8/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Challenges and opportunities of the Universal Health Care System
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, "Negus Wolde Mariam" , "Michael MERID" , Globalbelai@Yahoo.com
Cc: "Ben EthiopiaFirst" , "Ethioforum Ethiolist"
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2009, 10:37 AM





Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Africa and Ethiopia:

I cannot help but compare and contrast African and Ethiopian leadership with that of American in the current person of President Barack Obama:

Here is an excellent example, of yet again, how a perspecive and vision of win-win partnership for historical conflictual nations can be resolved.

I am amazed by how the challenges of the present can change opportunities in the future.

I wonder if Horn of Africa nations can get the message. I look forward to see what Barack will do in Ghana, West Africa. Would he make such remarkable speeches or visit the gate way to slavery and come back.

I wonder why Africa is not engaging him at African Union Summit or at some other great African Millennia challenges.

I just wondered why African does not get the best of Barack Obama. Yes the Egyptian speech was great but it was not directed at Africa it was mainly an Arab issue.

I wonder some times, Why Africa always becomes a non issue for US Presidents be it Clinton, Bush or Obama!

All the same, I continue to admire the President on how he deals with issues and would have liked to see him address the African Union or even IGAD or Somalia and Eritrea and the challenges of poverty and ignorance.

For some reason, his Chief of Staff or Secretary of State of Natiional security agencies, who ever runs his calendar does not have African on the agenda for his day, weeks, months and years.

Remember how long it took him to appoint Jonny Carons as his Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs.

If the African Diaspora can blame any thing on any one on planet earth, we should blame ourselves for our incompetency not having one African in the White House who will at least prepare some agenda for the president to address.

All the same, The President made an excellent speech in Russia and trust his trip to Ghana will not be just a road show like that of Clinton and Bush.

Here is a very important speech to review.

Dr B



Obama Calls on Russia to Work With US on Terror, Nukes
Tuesday 07 July 2009
by: Christi Parsons and Michael Muskal | Visit article original @ The Los Angeles Times


President Barack Obama called for Russian cooporation on ending the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Moscow, on Tuesday. (Photo: Haraz N. Ghanbari / AP)
In a far-reaching speech in Moscow, the president said it was up to the new generation of leaders in both countries to put aside differences and tackle international issues including terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

Moscow and Los Angeles - President Obama today called on Russians to put aside their former roles as Cold War foes of the United States and join together to work to curb nuclear weapons and to improve the economic and social lives of people around the globe.

In a far-reaching speech to graduates of the New Economic School in Moscow, Obama said the old Cold War rivalries that marked the second half of the 20th Century were gone and it was up to the new generation of leaders in Russia and the United States to decide how to solve the world's woes.

Also see below:
Transcript of Obama Speech •

"You get to decide what comes next," Obama said. "You get to choose where change will take us. Because the future does not belong to those who gather armies on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground - the future belongs to young people with the education and imagination to create.

"Look to the future that can be built if we refuse to be burdened by the old obstacles and old suspicions," Obama said. "Look to the future that can be built if we partner on behalf of the aspirations we hold in common. Together, we can build a world where people are protected, prosperity is enlarged, and our power truly serves progress."

Obama is completing his second day in Moscow, part of a weeklong trip to Russia, Italy for economic talks with the G-8, and finally to Ghana. He exchanged pleasantries this morning with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, considered by many to be the real political power in Russia. On Monday, Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Today's speech echoed themes that Obama sounded in Cairo, where the president made his case to Muslims around the world to challenge extremism. As in the Egyptian forum, Obama chose to address an audience of the young and educated he hopes will be open to his message of economic and political liberalism.

Throughout his time here, Obama has stressed curbing the spread of nuclear weapons to countries such as North Korea and Iran and limiting U.S. and Russian arsenals. He sounded the same theme today at the New Economic School, founded after the collapse of the Soviet Union and specializing in the study of pro-Western economics.

"You are not old enough to have witnessed the darkest hours of the Cold War, when hydrogen bombs were tested in the atmosphere, children drilled in fallout shelters, and we reached the brink of nuclear catastrophe," Obama said.

"Your lifetime coincides with this era of transition," Obama continued. "But think about the fundamental questions asked when this school was founded. What kind of future is Russia going to have? What kind of future are Russia and America going to have together? What world order will replace the Cold War? Those questions still do not have clear answers, and so now they must be answered by you - by your generation in Russia, America, and around the world."

Obama insisted that the U.S. wanted "a strong, peaceful, and prosperous Russia." He also sounded the kind of note he has used before when discussing the need for political modernization and for the expansion of democracy.

"In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonizing other countries. The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chessboard are over," Obama said. "The pursuit of power is no longer a zero-sum game - progress must be shared."

"In the short period since the end of the Cold War, we have already seen India, Pakistan and North Korea conduct nuclear tests. Without a fundamental change, do any of us truly believe that the next two decades will not bring about the further spread of nuclear weapons?" he asked.

In addition to securing the world's most dangerous weapons, Obama called for the defeat of terrorism, including Al Qaeda. He thanked Russia for allowing military supplies to be moved through its airspace to Afghanistan.

Obama also went beyond security issues, calling for global prosperity in the face of the current economic downturn.

"We meet in the midst of the worst global recession in a generation," Obama said. "I believe that the market is the greatest force for creating and distributing wealth that the world has known. But wherever the market is allowed to run rampant - through excessive risk-taking, a lack of regulation, or corruption - then all are endangered, whether we live on the Mississippi or the Volga."

Lastly, Obama reminded the audience of America's role in spreading democracy and what he called universal rights.

"By no means is America perfect. But it is our commitment to certain universal values which allows us to correct our imperfections, and to grow stronger over time. Freedom of speech and assembly has allowed women, minorities, and workers to protest for full and equal rights. The rule of law and equal administration of justice has busted monopolies, shut down political machines, and ended abuses of power. Independent media have exposed corruption at all levels of business and government. Competitive elections allow us to change course and hold our leaders accountable," Obama said.

"If our democracy did not advance those rights, I - as a person of African ancestry - wouldn't be able to address you as an American citizen, much less a president," he said.

Earlier, Obama met with Putin, who acknowledged that "there were periods when our relations flourished quite a bit and there were also periods of, shall we say, grayish mood between our two countries and of stagnation. With you we link all our hopes for the furtherance of relations between our two countries. We are very glad to see you here, and welcome you here in Russia."

Obama thanked Putin and in a slight slip seemed to catch himself while mixing up the formal titles. "I'm aware of not only the extraordinary work that you've done on behalf of the Russian people in your previous role as prime minister - as president, but in your current role as prime minister," Obama said.

Obama is scheduled to meet with Kremlin critics later today.



* * *


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Remarks by the President

At the New Economic School Graduation
Gostinny Dvor
Moscow, Russia
Tuesday 07 July 2009

Thank you so much. Well, congratulations, Oxana. And to the entire Class of 2009, congratulations to you. I don't know if anybody else will meet their future wife or husband in class like I did, but I'm sure that you're all going to have wonderful careers.

I want to acknowledge a few people who are here. We have President Mikhail Gorbachev is here today, and I want everybody to give him a big round of applause. (Applause.) I want to thank Sergei Gurief, Director of the New Economic School. (Applause.) Max Boiko, their Chairman of the Board. (Applause.) And Arkady Dvorkovich, who is the NES board member, President of the Alumni Association and is doing an excellent job for President Medvedev, because he was in our meeting yesterday. (Applause.)

Good morning. It is a great honor for me to join you at the New Economic School. Michelle and I are so pleased to be in Moscow. And as somebody who was born in Hawaii, I'm glad to be here in July instead of January. (Laughter and applause.)

I know that NES is a young school, but I speak to you today with deep respect for Russia's timeless heritage. Russian writers have helped us understand the complexity of the human experience, and recognize eternal truths. Russian painters, composers, and dancers have introduced us to new forms of beauty. Russian scientists have cured disease, sought new frontiers of progress, and helped us go to space.

These are contributions that are not contained by Russia's borders, as vast as those borders are. Indeed, Russia's heritage has touched every corner of the world, and speaks to the humanity that we share. That includes my own country, which has been blessed with Russian immigrants for decades; we've been enriched by Russian culture, and enhanced by Russian cooperation. And as a resident of Washington, D.C., I continue to benefit from the contributions of Russians - specifically, from Alexander Ovechkin. We're very pleased to have him in Washington, D.C. (Applause.)

Here at NES, you have inherited this great cultural legacy, but your focus on economics is no less fundamental to the future of humanity. As Pushkin said, "Inspiration is needed in geometry just as much as poetry." And today, I want particularly to speak to those of you preparing to graduate. You're poised to be leaders in academia and industry; in finance and government. But before you move forward, it's worth reflecting on what has already taken place during your young lives.

Like President Medvedev and myself, you're not old enough to have witnessed the darkest hours of the Cold War, when hydrogen bombs were tested in the atmosphere, and children drilled in fallout shelters, and we reached the brink of nuclear catastrophe. But you are the last generation born when the world was divided. At that time, the American and Soviet armies were still massed in Europe, trained and ready to fight. The ideological trenches of the last century were roughly in place. Competition in everything from astrophysics to athletics was treated as a zero-sum game. If one person won, then the other person had to lose.

And then, within a few short years, the world as it was ceased to be. Now, make no mistake: This change did not come from any one nation. The Cold War reached a conclusion because of the actions of many nations over many years, and because the people of Russia and Eastern Europe stood up and decided that its end would be peaceful.

With the end of the Cold War, there were extraordinary expectations - for peace and for prosperity; for new arrangements among nations, and new opportunities for individuals. Like all periods of great change, it was a time of ambitious plans and endless possibilities. But, of course, things don't always work out exactly as planned. Back in 1993, shortly after this school opened, one NES student summed up the difficulty of change when he told a reporter, and I quote him: "The real world is not so rational as on paper." The real world is not so rational as on paper.

Over two tumultuous decades, that truth has been borne out around the world. Great wealth has been created, but it has not eliminated vast pockets of crushing poverty. Poverty exists here, it exists in the United States, and it exists all around the world. More people have gone to the ballot box, but too many governments still fail to protect the rights of their people. Ideological struggles have diminished, but they've been replaced by conflicts over tribe and ethnicity and religion. A human being with a computer can hold the same amount of information stored in the Russian State Library, but that technology can also be used to do great harm.

In a new Russia, the disappearance of old political and economic restrictions after the end of the Soviet Union brought both opportunity and hardship. A few prospered, but many more did not. There were tough times. But the Russian people showed strength and made sacrifices, and you achieved hard-earned progress through a growing economy and greater confidence. And despite painful times, many in Eastern Europe and Russia are much better off today than 20 years ago.

We see that progress here at NES - a school founded with Western support that is now distinctly Russian; a place of learning and inquiry where the test of an idea is not whether it is Russian or American or European, but whether it works. Above all, we see that progress in all of you - young people with a young century to shape as you see fit.

Your lifetime coincides with this era of transition. But think about the fundamental questions asked when this school was founded. What kind of future is Russia going to have? What kind of future are Russia and America going to have together? What world order will replace the Cold War? Those questions still don't have clear answers, and so now they must be answered by you - by your generation in Russia, in America, and around the world. You get to decide. And while I cannot answer those questions for you, I can speak plainly about the future that America is seeking.

To begin with, let me be clear: America wants a strong, peaceful, and prosperous Russia. This belief is rooted in our respect for the Russian people, and a shared history between our nations that goes beyond competition. Despite our past rivalry, our people were allies in the greatest struggle of the last century. Recently, I noted this when I was in Normandy - for just as men from Boston and Birmingham risked all that they had to storm those beaches and scale those cliffs, Soviet soldiers from places like Kazan and Kiev endured unimaginable hardships to repeal - to repel an invasion, and turn the tide in the east. As President John Kennedy said, "No nation in history of battle ever suffered more than the Soviet Union in the Second World War."

So as we honor this past, we also recognize the future benefit that will come from a strong and vibrant Russia. Think of the issues that will define your lives: security from nuclear weapons and extremism; access to markets and opportunity; health and the environment; an international system that protects sovereignty and human rights, while promoting stability and prosperity. These challenges demand global partnership, and that partnership will be stronger if Russia occupies its rightful place as a great power.

Yet unfortunately, there is sometimes a sense that old assumptions must prevail, old ways of thinking; a conception of power that is rooted in the past rather than in the future. There is the 20th century view that the United States and Russia are destined to be antagonists, and that a strong Russia or a strong America can only assert themselves in opposition to one another. And there is a 19th century view that we are destined to vie for spheres of influence, and that great powers must forge competing blocs to balance one another.

These assumptions are wrong. In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonizing other countries. The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chess board are over. As I said in Cairo, given our independence, any world order that - given our interdependence, any world order that tries to elevate one nation or one group of people over another will inevitably fail. The pursuit of power is no longer a zero-sum game - progress must be shared.

That's why I have called for a "reset" in relations between the United States and Russia. This must be more than a fresh start between the Kremlin and the White House - though that is important and I've had excellent discussions with both your President and your Prime Minister. It must be a sustained effort among the American and Russian people to identify mutual interests, and expand dialogue and cooperation that can pave the way to progress.

This will not be easy. It's difficult to forge a lasting partnership between former adversaries, it's hard to change habits that have been ingrained in our governments and our bureaucracies for decades. But I believe that on the fundamental issues that will shape this century, Americans and Russians share common interests that form a basis for cooperation. It is not for me to define Russia's national interests, but I can tell you about America's national interests, and I believe that you will see that we share common ground.

First, America has an interest in reversing the spread of nuclear weapons and preventing their use.

In the last century, generations of Americans and Russians inherited the power to destroy nations, and the understanding that using that power would bring about our own destruction. In 2009, our inheritance is different. You and I don't have to ask whether American and Russian leaders will respect a balance of terror - we understand the horrific consequences of any war between our two countries. But we do have to ask this question: We have to ask whether extremists who have killed innocent civilians in New York and in Moscow will show that same restraint. We have to ask whether 10 or 20 or 50 nuclear-armed nations will protect their arsenals and refrain from using them.

This is the core of the nuclear challenge in the 21st century. The notion that prestige comes from holding these weapons, or that we can protect ourselves by picking and choosing which nations can have these weapons, is an illusion. In the short period since the end of the Cold War, we've already seen India, Pakistan, and North Korea conduct nuclear tests. Without a fundamental change, do any of us truly believe that the next two decades will not bring about the further spread of these nuclear weapons?

That's why America is committed to stopping nuclear proliferation, and ultimately seeking a world without nuclear weapons. That is consistent with our commitment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That is our responsibility as the world's two leading nuclear powers. And while I know this goal won't be met soon, pursuing it provides the legal and moral foundation to prevent the proliferation and eventual use of nuclear weapons.

We're already taking important steps to build this foundation. Yesterday, President Medvedev and I made progress on negotiating a new treaty that will substantially reduce our warheads and delivery systems. We renewed our commitment to clean, safe and peaceful nuclear energy, which must be a right for all nations that live up to their responsibilities under the NPT. And we agreed to increase cooperation on nuclear security, which is essential to achieving the goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear material within four years.

As we keep our own commitments, we must hold other nations accountable for theirs. Whether America or Russia, neither of us would benefit from a nuclear arms race in East Asia or the Middle East. That's why we should be united in opposing North Korea's efforts to become a nuclear power, and opposing Iran's efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon. And I'm pleased that President Medvedev and I agreed upon a joint threat assessment of the ballistic challenges - ballistic missile challenges of the 21st century, including from Iran and North Korea.

This is not about singling out individual nations - it's about the responsibilities of all nations. If we fail to stand together, then the NPT and the Security Council will lose credibility, and international law will give way to the law of the jungle. And that benefits no one. As I said in Prague, rules must be binding, violations must be punished, and words must mean something.

The successful enforcement of these rules will remove causes of disagreement. I know Russia opposes the planned configuration for missile defense in Europe. And my administration is reviewing these plans to enhance the security of America, Europe and the world. And I've made it clear that this system is directed at preventing a potential attack from Iran. It has nothing to do with Russia. In fact, I want to work together with Russia on a missile defense architecture that makes us all safer. But if the threat from Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program is eliminated, the driving force for missile defense in Europe will be eliminated, and that is in our mutual interests.

Now, in addition to securing the world's most dangerous weapons, a second area where America has a critical national interest is in isolating and defeating violent extremists.

For years, al Qaeda and its affiliates have defiled a great religion of peace and justice, and ruthlessly murdered men, women and children of all nationalities and faiths. Indeed, above all, they have murdered Muslims. And these extremists have killed in Amman and Bali; Islamabad and Kabul; and they have the blood of Americans and Russians on their hands. They're plotting to kill more of our people, and they benefit from safe havens that allow them to train and operate - particularly along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

And that's why America has a clear goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We seek no bases, nor do we want to control these nations. Instead, we want to work with international partners, including Russia, to help Afghans and Pakistanis advance their own security and prosperity. And that's why I'm pleased that Russia has agreed to allow the United States to supply our coalition forces through your territory. Neither America nor Russia has an interest in an Afghanistan or Pakistan governed by the Taliban. It's time to work together on behalf of a different future - a future in which we leave behind the great game of the past and the conflict of the present; a future in which all of us contribute to the security of Central Asia.

Now, beyond Afghanistan, America is committed to promoting the opportunity that will isolate extremists. We are helping the Iraqi people build a better future, and leaving Iraq to the Iraqis. We're pursuing the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living in peace and security. We're partnering with Muslim communities around the world to advance education, health, and economic development. In each of these endeavors, I believe that the Russian people share our goals, and will benefit from success - and we need to partner together.

Now, in addition to these security concerns, the third area that I will discuss is America's interest in global prosperity. And since we have so many economists and future businessmen and women in the room, I know this is of great interest to you.

We meet in the midst of the worst global recession in a generation. I believe that the free market is the greatest force for creating and distributing wealth that the world has known. But wherever the market is allowed to run rampant - through excessive risk-taking, a lack of regulation, or corruption - then all are endangered, whether we live on the Mississippi or on the Volga.

In America, we're now taking unprecedented steps to jumpstart our economy and reform our system of regulation. But just as no nation can wall itself off from the consequences of a global crisis, no one can serve as the sole engine of global growth. You see, during your lives, something fundamental has changed. And while this crisis has shown us the risks that come with change, that risk is overwhelmed by opportunity.

Think of what's possible today that was unthinkable two decades ago. A young woman with an Internet connection in Bangalore, India can compete with anybody anywhere in the world. An entrepreneur with a start-up company in Beijing can take his business global. An NES professor in Moscow can collaborate with colleagues at Harvard or Stanford. That's good for all of us, because when prosperity is created in India, that's a new market for our goods; when new ideas take hold in China, that pushes our businesses to innovate; when new connections are forged among people, all of us are enriched.

There is extraordinary potential for increased cooperation between Americans and Russians. We can pursue trade that is free and fair and integrated with the wider world. We can boost investment that creates jobs in both our countries, we can forge partnerships on energy that tap not only traditional resources, like oil and gas, but new sources of energy that will drive growth and combat climate change. All of that, Americans and Russians can do together.

Now, government can promote this cooperation, but ultimately individuals must advance this cooperation, because the greatest resource of any nation in the 21st century is you. It's people; it's young people especially. And the country which taps that resource will be the country that will succeed. That success depends upon economies that function within the rule of law. As President Medvedev has rightly said, a mature and effective legal system is a condition for sustained economic development. People everywhere should have the right to do business or get an education without paying a bribe. Whether they are in America or Russia or Africa or Latin America, that's not a American idea or a Russian idea - that's how people and countries will succeed in the 21st century.

And this brings me to the fourth issue that I will discuss - America's interest in democratic governments that protect the rights of their people.

By no means is America perfect. But it is our commitment to certain universal values which allows us to correct our imperfections, to improve constantly, and to grow stronger over time. Freedom of speech and assembly has allowed women, and minorities, and workers to protest for full and equal rights at a time when they were denied. The rule of law and equal administration of justice has busted monopolies, shut down political machines that were corrupt, ended abuses of power. Independent media have exposed corruption at all levels of business and government. Competitive elections allow us to change course and hold our leaders accountable. If our democracy did not advance those rights, then I, as a person of African ancestry, wouldn't be able to address you as an American citizen, much less a President. Because at the time of our founding, I had no rights - people who looked like me. But it is because of that process that I can now stand before you as President of the United States.

So around the world, America supports these values because they are moral, but also because they work. The arc of history shows that governments which serve their own people survive and thrive; governments which serve only their own power do not. Governments that represent the will of their people are far less likely to descend into failed states, to terrorize their citizens, or to wage war on others. Governments that promote the rule of law, subject their actions to oversight, and allow for independent institutions are more dependable trading partners. And in our own history, democracies have been America's most enduring allies, including those we once waged war with in Europe and Asia - nations that today live with great security and prosperity.

Now let me be clear: America cannot and should not seek to impose any system of government on any other country, nor would we presume to choose which party or individual should run a country. And we haven't always done what we should have on that front. Even as we meet here today, America supports now the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies. We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not.

And that leads me to the final area that I will discuss, which is America's interest in an international system that advances cooperation while respecting the sovereignty of all nations.

State sovereignty must be a cornerstone of international order. Just as all states should have the right to choose their leaders, states must have the right to borders that are secure, and to their own foreign policies. That is true for Russia, just as it is true for the United States. Any system that cedes those rights will lead to anarchy. That's why we must apply this principle to all nations - and that includes nations like Georgia and Ukraine. America will never impose a security arrangement on another country. For any country to become a member of an organization like NATO, for example, a majority of its people must choose to; they must undertake reforms; they must be able to contribute to the Alliance's mission. And let me be clear: NATO should be seeking collaboration with Russia, not confrontation.

And more broadly, we need to foster cooperation and respect among all nations and peoples. As President of the United States, I will work tirelessly to protect America's security and to advance our interests. But no one nation can meet the challenges of the 21st century on its own, nor dictate its terms to the world. That is something that America now understands, just as Russia understands. That's why America seeks an international system that lets nations pursue their interests peacefully, especially when those interests diverge; a system where the universal rights of human beings are respected, and violations of those rights are opposed; a system where we hold ourselves to the same standards that we apply to other nations, with clear rights and responsibilities for all.

There was a time when Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin could shape the world in one meeting. Those days are over. The world is more complex today. Billions of people have found their voice, and seek their own measure of prosperity and self-determination in every corner of the planet. Over the past two decades, we've witnessed markets grow, wealth spread, and technology used to build - not destroy. We've seen old hatreds pass, illusions of differences between people lift and fade away; we've seen the human destiny in the hands of more and more human beings who can shape their own destinies. Now, we must see that the period of transition which you have lived through ushers in a new era in which nations live in peace, and people realize their aspirations for dignity, security, and a better life for their children. That is America's interest, and I believe that it is Russia's interest as well.

I know that this future can seem distant. Change is hard. In the words of that NES student back in 1993, the real world is not so rational as on paper. But think of the change that has unfolded with the passing of time. One hundred years ago, a czar ruled Russia, and Europe was a place of empire. When I was born, segregation was still the law of the land in parts of America, and my father's Kenya was still a colony. When you were born, a school like this would have been impossible, and the Internet was only known to a privileged few.

You get to decide what comes next. You get to choose where change will take us, because the future does not belong to those who gather armies on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground; the future belongs to young people with an education and the imagination to create. That is the source of power in this century. And given all that has happened in your two decades on Earth, just imagine what you can create in the years to come.

Every country charts its own course. Russia has cut its way through time like a mighty river through a canyon, leaving an indelible mark on human history as it goes. As you move this story forward, look to the future that can be built if we refuse to be burdened by the old obstacles and old suspicions; look to the future that can be built if we partner on behalf of the aspirations we hold in common. Together, we can build a world where people are protected, prosperity is enlarged, and our power truly serves progress. And it is all in your hands. Good luck to all of you. Thank you very much.
»
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COMMENTS
This is a moderated forum. It may take a little while for comments to go live. Be civil and on-topic, don't threaten or advocate violence, please keep it under 300 words. Thanks for participating.
Where American Presidents
Tue, 07/07/2009 - 18:28 — Bruce (not verified)
Where American Presidents continue to fail is in understanding that the Russians view us with historically justified suspicion. Wilson sided with the Czar against the socialists and the communists as the Czar represented traditional support for corporate capitalism. The USA provided support for Nazi Germany up through 1941 in spite of the bombing of London and the invasion of the Soviet Union. After the fall of Berlin the Soviet government seized countries to create a buffer around it, which is now being converted to NATO countries aligned with the US corporate interests and the establishment of missile bases within easy striking distance of Moscow. But we pretend they are only for defense after having invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and with active plans to attack Iran and to most likely establish an occupying military presence in Pakistan as well. The American government always supports the dictators when it is in the interests of American corporations, as with the Philippines, Indonesia, Argentina, Spain, Dominican Republic, Chile, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Burma, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Haiti, and now Honduras where the military coup would not have taken place without the prior consent of the American government.
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Sanity has prevail, at least
Tue, 07/07/2009 - 18:42 — Fermin Torres (not verified)
Sanity has prevail, at least for now. It must be hard for the neo-conservatives in America to find a leader who has some kind of savvy where the world is going. For eight whole years, America under conservatism, the GOP, the right Christian wing of the republican party was bent on greed, picking on defenseless little countries, destruction of the planet, wars and more wars. They are trying to undermine with lies, falsification, deceit the accomplishment Obama has done in less than six months what they destroyed in 8 years. Today, then can't fight the opposition or the truth, so they turn to on each other. Must be the water they drink. In just less than two weeks, the republican party lost two governors, one who knew what was coming, and the other who thought he could fool the people.
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Sheer imperialist garbage
Tue, 07/07/2009 - 20:03 — Anonymous (not verified)
Sheer imperialist garbage and empty rhetorical flourishes in the all too typical Obama style of fake sincerity. With Obama, nothing is as it seems, or indeed, as it sounds. His speeches amount to little more than disingenuous grandstanding for the propagandistic American media to riff off and amplify– all in the service of iron clad American hegemony. Similar to the disgraceful Cairo speech, Obama's recent nonsense, fools only the hopelessly näivé. Does he plan to dismantle the 'first strike' anti missile systems in Czechoslovakia and Poland? Will that Cold war anachronism called NATO be abolished? Will the meddling in the Ukraine and Georgia be ended? The answer to all these questions is, a resounding no. Obama's speeches are becoming ridiculously easy to parse: When he says something, he means just the opposite, despite the seeming high-mindedness of his oratorical finesses. –(Jill Bains)
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Want to improve relations
Tue, 07/07/2009 - 21:22 — dr wu--the last of the big-time thinkers (not verified)
Want to improve relations with Russia? 2 steps will do: 1. don't base US missiles in Poland and Ukraine. (this gives US first strike nuclear survivability--we can destroy them totally before they can destroy us. Puts Russia at a huge disadvantage and alters the MAD equation--mutual assured destruction --that McNamara developed and kept the world at relative peace. 2. No NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine-- Russia feels threated by NATO's aggressiveness. NATO, by definition is anti-Russia.
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First, remember that speech
Tue, 07/07/2009 - 21:53 — Robb (not verified)
First, remember that speech acts are actions, too, and second, I want to express my support for this speech and the Cairo speech, and the President Obama's transformative vision which is coming through loud and clear. This is the right president for America at this precise time in history; perhaps in a strange way we had to weather the Bush-Cheney years in order to be able to see the urgency of this moment and vote into office this genius. I did not hear the speech today, but I have read the transcript with careful attention--well done, Obama, well done.
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Obama is a silver tongued
Wed, 07/08/2009 - 00:38 — Anonymous (not verified)
Obama is a silver tongued empty mouth piece puppet for the global elite. He just sounds so much more than that idiot Bush that he just makes you WANT to Believe... It is all empty words. We are living in 1984. Read it, you'll recognize it immediately. End the war! Ha, he has sent more in. Transparency, HA! Ignoring the rightful prosecution of the guilty parties that put us in this ILLEGAL war. Bailout HA! He has given out far more than Bush. Close Guantanamo Ha. Think people! It is all slick talk. He is a puppet...Groomed for the post. Research his background. Think!
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My understanding is that
Wed, 07/08/2009 - 04:39 — Anonymous (not verified)
My understanding is that Putin and company have not allowed Obama's speeches to be widely carried in the Russian media, so it doesn't matter in Russia about what he said, only about what Putin says.
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Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
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--- On Tue, 7/7/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Challenges and opportunities of the Universal Health Care System
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, "Negus Wolde Mariam" , "Michael MERID" , Globalbelai@Yahoo.com
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Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 4:08 PM



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President Tries To Put Out Fire From Emanuel's Health Care Remarks
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First Posted: 07- 7-09 12:02 PM | Updated: 07- 7-09 02:43 PM

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In an effort that seemed designed to appease concerned progressive advocates, President Barack Obama issued a clarifying statement about the administration's commitment to a "public option" for health insurance while traveling in Russia on Tuesday.

"I am pleased by the progress we're making on health care reform and still believe, as I've said before, that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices, and assure quality is a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest," read the statement. "I look forward to a final product that achieves these very important goals."

The vague reassurance came hours after Obama's own chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel suggested that the White House would be comfortable with legislation that had a public plan "triggered" in only by worsening economic conditions.

"The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private insurers honest," Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal. "The goal is non-negotiable; the path is" negotiable.

It was, White House aides insist, far from a commitment to a trigger option. But a source close to the administration, who has been in contact with the White House on health care matters, said that Emanuel has been "floating" the trigger compromise since January.

"Rahm's problem with this is he is on the more conservative end of the Democratic Party and he is a very political guy," the source added. "He is working for a way out without a bloody fight. The problem is he doesn't mind taking that fight to the left. And what I worry could happen is the left will just quit."

Certainly Emanuel's remarks to the Journal presented a pill too big to swallow for many Democrats. "It is actually the most ludicrous of the compromises on the table," explained one activist. "It says we should wait until the health care crisis gets worse before it gets better."

And in the hours after the interview was published, the White House clearly sensed concern bubbling. Moving with haste, aides put out a statement from the president before any major firestorm erupted.

Story continues below
"I think it's more of a 'progressive groups don't freak the f*** out' statement," said one health care strategist.

In private, White House officials are concerned that the debate over a public option has become so volatile that it could end up derailing the entire health care package. The president has remained loyal to such a plan, but has not demanded the same from Congress.

"The President and every member of this Administration have been consistent," said one administration official. "They aren't drawing any lines in the sand that would give people an excuse to walk away from the bill, but the President's strong support for the public option is clear - and it shows in both the Senate HELP bill and the House tri-committee bill."

The real sticking point in the health care reform debate will come once the Finance Committee releases its bill -- which likely won't include a public option -- and is forced to merge its final language with that of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

That should happen relatively soon. Lines are already being drawn in the sand. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Sen. Chuck Schumer, (D-N.Y.), said the trigger option was unlikely to get the type of support it needs from Democrats to pass through the Senate.

"My bottom-line criteria is that it has to be strong, national, and available to everyone on day one, to keep the insurance companies honest and I'm not sure we can get there," he said. "I've been talking to [Sen.] Olympia [Snowe] about this," he added, referring to the trigger option's main champion in the Senate, "but I'm not sure we can bridge that gap."

Outside government, activists seconded Schumer's statement, adding that if any compromise were to make it through Congress, it would be for a co-op plan that had robust purchasing and negotiating power.

"I think there could be some push for a co-op plan if it was national," said the strategist. "I'm not sure state-by-state will fly by itself."

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-Belai Jesus I'm a Fan of Belai Jesus permalink
This comment is pending approval and won't be displayed until it is approved.

Dear Patriotic Health Care Reform Protagonists:

The real issue is value driven and performance based health care system

The Challenge:

A very in efficient, expensive and worst practice health care system that does not promote wellness, prevention and access to all those who need them most (the sick, the poor and unhealthy) and yet serving few insurance agents and few procedure and medical test pushers who make billions from the system.

The Opportunity

The wellness and prevention oriented health care system will be competitive, inolving private and public institutions based on perfromance. So, the insurance agencies will be payed according to their performance. If they do not keep American people safe, well and healthy, they go down! That is the American way of Free Enterprises and Competitive value drivnensystem.

Forget Public and Private Competition! Let us get the reform agenda right. Wellness and Prevention driven heatlh care that pays performance and not connections and all this talk about the Public Option and trigger is none sense.

This is not about horse trading or pleasing some incompetent geriatric senators or congressmen who by the way have the public option. Let them go private and show us the way. They like the best, but do not want to share it with the rest of us.

I believe Emanuel has to tow the line. We the public want competition and value driven performance based heath care system.

Thank you.

Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
www.globalbelai7.blogspot.com
globalbelai7@gmail.com

Marked as favorite Flag as abusive Posted 04:01 PM on 07/07/2009
-CaScientist I'm a Fan of CaScientist permalink
Without at a bare minimum, a "public option", there is no healthcare reform....just more of the same Orwellian double-speak that we've had for the last decade. Our president has a few simple choices ahead for him: Either he brings party congressmen together to force through a public insurance system, or those congressmen will not be re-elected. If congress passes anything that doesnt have a public system, he either veto's it, or he doesnt get re-elected. Congressional democrats and the president stand to lose 99% of the progressive vote and 70% of the middle class vote if they dont actually deliver on that "hope and change" that they campaigned on. If the president and congress insist on Neil and Bob for the insurance industry thats been raping the US populance for decades...we will refuse to vote for them...simple.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:49 PM on 07/07/2009
-jmpurser I'm a Fan of jmpurser permalink
WITH a "public option" you don't really get health care reform. You just get the IRS hunting people down and making them buy policies from commercial health insurers.

That's what you're fighting for at this point.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:50 PM on 07/07/2009
-UsofA I'm a Fan of UsofA permalink

C'mon Rahm, put those legendary steel cojones to good use on something other than "political consensus." Think about your legacy and your children's future. Go to the mat on this one and help get us a no trigger, single payer, public health care option.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:48 PM on 07/07/2009
-jmpurser I'm a Fan of jmpurser permalink
Rahm is less confused than you are. At least he knows what the President wants.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:51 PM on 07/07/2009
-MSaxe I'm a Fan of MSaxe permalink
Why doesn't the Obama team just position the argument as either:

1) Public Option /OR /
2) Single Payer.

Public Option: No tort reform, malpractice stays as is; medical education as is
Single Payer: Tort reform, Cap on malpractice claims; USA pays for medical education, all tiers

Both: minimum of Drug Re-importation; gov't negotiated prices

Let the Republicans and the Blue Dogs pick their favorite. Nebraskans...you've really got to do something about Ben Nelson.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:48 PM on 07/07/2009
-mathme I'm a Fan of mathme permalink
Nelson is the senator from Mutual of Omaha.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:49 PM on 07/07/2009
-jmpurser I'm a Fan of jmpurser permalink
Because the Obama team doesn't want Single Payer.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:51 PM on 07/07/2009
-outragedkar I'm a Fan of outragedkar permalink
People have no idea what is truly happening behind the scenes and I think people need to just breathe a little. Make your desires known to the appropriate representatives, but stop ignorant rantings that are going to freak out those who are having trouble taking the journey to a public option.
I really think the people who can get this done will push to have it done without things going nuclear. Right now, the chatter has gotten so ugly that I think it could go nuclear with al of the accusations flying.
Rational discussions with numbers and personal stories along with pointed questions can and will get the job done - name calling, idle threats, and various speculation will not.
The public has a responsibility as much as the administration, but the ignorance and ugliness so often seen here shows the long-standing irresponsibility of the American public. Educate yourself and those who are involved in the lawmaking process, but stop spewing stupidity. Leave that to hardnosed GOPers who could care less about people.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:47 PM on 07/07/2009
-Hare I'm a Fan of Hare permalink

The whole healthcare system need to be changed from the top down or the bottom up, structural change needs to happen not band aids and promises of future actions.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:44 PM on 07/07/2009
-mjeffn I'm a Fan of mjeffn permalink
Universal Healthcare NOW!!!

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:43 PM on 07/07/2009
-COPerez I'm a Fan of COPerez permalink
The POTUS needs to call every Democrat, Independent and center-leaning Republican (are there any of these left?) onto the carpet in the Oval Office. He should look at each one and tell them to vote for a strong Public Option. His "stick?" He'll release records showing the amount that each one took from insurance and healthcare lobbys. The "carrot?" He'll support each yes-voter full out in their next campaign.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:42 PM on 07/07/2009
-flapjack I'm a Fan of flapjack permalink
Will he release how much he got from healthcare and insurance lobbies too?

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:44 PM on 07/07/2009
-barkrudedog69 I'm a Fan of barkrudedog69 permalink

That is not much stick. They need to release that info anyways.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:46 PM on 07/07/2009
-hark I'm a Fan of hark permalink
All Obama had to say was that he continues to be committed to a robust public option and won't back down. He didn't. It's dead.

They are simply kicking the can of progressive outrage down the road with these weak statements that still fill us with naive hope.

Unfortunately, we are a minority in this country, no more than 20%, according to Gallup polls.

The trigger, however, is an outrage. Anyone should be able to see through it. It is an insult to everyone to even mention it. It means nothing at all. It's no different from saying we'll take another look at the situation down the road, which of course we won't do at all, anymore than we did with the Medicare prescription drug trigger. It's a just a euphemism for slamming the door in our faces on the public option.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:41 PM on 07/07/2009
-JHancock I'm a Fan of JHancock permalink

Any state or regional public plan/co-op is worthless. It would just mean medical Assistance for more people and the state run Medical Assistance plans are pretty much worthless. It has to be a national public plan.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:40 PM on 07/07/2009
-Andreams I'm a Fan of Andreams permalink
They're right about one thing - no public option or no nationwide pool and this lefty is out of it. My personal economy is just about as bad as it gets already and I can't wait for a "trigger". I want to pay but not the 77% of my income that it costs now. It nauseates me to know the very premium I'm paying is being used to keep me from getting a fair price. As far as I'm concerned, that's the trigger and we're all being shot by the same gun.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:40 PM on 07/07/2009
-bigandbad I'm a Fan of bigandbad permalink
to you 'Righty's' out there. The expense of the 'government run insurance program will be paid for by the $250K Plus per year crowd who pay less in taxes than the middle class NOT the middle class. Listen. And you Righty's are pretty delusional or do you just believe everything you hear? As a Medical Professional I can attest to the fact that the state of our health care is pathetic. It is overly expensive and out medical outcomes ( a measurable determination of the effect our medical interventions have on disease) is poor compared to many other countries including I might add Canada. Have you right wingers been told how great America is so many times that you believe it despite fact??

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:39 PM on 07/07/2009
-flapjack I'm a Fan of flapjack permalink
I hate to break this to you but...

1) the "rich" pay far more in taxes than the middle class
2) there are not enough "rich" people to pay for your healthcare
3) didn't your mother teach you that stealing is bad?

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:42 PM on 07/07/2009
-ratface I'm a Fan of ratface permalink

This is a crock of $hit..........90% of the Country's money is in the hands of the 1% who don't want to pay for anything. Stealing is bad, and it should be obvious to you that if you are in that 1%, you have been stealing........big time !

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:46 PM on 07/07/2009
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-MoeB I'm a Fan of MoeB permalink
The "rich" also benefit more. They also make more money and benefit the most from tax cuts, so in effect, it is a wash. Please don't try and make us believe that these poor "rich" folks are just being taken advantage of by us lazy middle-class and working poor folks.

I'd also argue that while middle-class income was being drained, we managed to accumulate a large increase in multi-million and billionaires during the same time frame.

At any one given moment there is only so much wealth to be had in this country. If it is being shuffled towards the top, clearly there are many masses of people who suffer as a result. Asking the "rich" to pay more only begins to put things back in balance. Unless you are of the naive belief that EVERYONE can be millionaires if we just worked as hard as...uh, millionaires?

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:50 PM on 07/07/2009
-barkrudedog69 I'm a Fan of barkrudedog69 permalink

Canada's wait time for CT and MRI's ? 17.7 weeks.

I had 9 surgeries on private insurance and now with the beautiful government healthcare I cannot take medicine I have taken for two years as it is not on the list. I cannot see the local specialists that have seen me for two years. I cannot get tests at the local facilities but have to travel 2.5 hours to some back door place that will take medicaid. You live in a dream world.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:44 PM on 07/07/2009
-edva I'm a Fan of edva permalink
Yeah, well my wait time is FOREVER since I can't afford those tests. Get it?

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:47 PM on 07/07/2009
-retreadite I'm a Fan of retreadite permalink
The plan would require people who don't want or need insurance to purchase it, or be fined. The plan is also considering taxing people's insurance who already have it through their employers. If you think "taxing the rich" is going to pay for this, that is not true.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:46 PM on 07/07/2009
-Grannysue I'm a Fan of Grannysue permalink

Rahm needs to have a nice little trip to the wood shed or leave! If he's going to carry the Insurance company and GOPERS water!

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:37 PM on 07/07/2009
-barkrudedog69 I'm a Fan of barkrudedog69 permalink

He has been saying this since Jan. The president has had plenty of time to tell him to be quiet. I wonder why he has not told him to be quiet?

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:41 PM on 07/07/2009
-NickConrad I'm a Fan of NickConrad permalink

His father was a pediatrician. Mine, actually. He's compromised emotionally on the topic. That's why he has to tiptoe around with the issue behind closed doors when discussing his position here: because he knows he is on the wrong side of the issue, but just can't help himself. That's my read, at least.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:46 PM on 07/07/2009
-jmpurser I'm a Fan of jmpurser permalink
President Obama just backed him up. It's you who has seriously misunderstood the President's goals, not Emanuel.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:46 PM on 07/07/2009
-smchp I'm a Fan of smchp permalink

More media manufactured drama. Is some of that 1.4Million per day the healthcare industrial complex is spending lobbying washington finding it's way into getting these sorts of stories out??? Divide and conquer seems to be their latest tactic.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:36 PM on 07/07/2009
-julius1n I'm a Fan of julius1n permalink
Everyone knows that corporations and the state uses health care as a tool to make people either work or receive no health care, unfortunately if you are too sick to work and you loose your job does not gaurantee that you will get medical care that you need. Why does a person need a job to be entitled to health care? Is a person a free loader and deserve no health care because they can not keep steady employment? Should we continue condemning people who are jobless to Death and dispair? I am ready for universal health care for everyone in the world. Health is a fact of life like death and taxes.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:35 PM on 07/07/2009
-mjeffn I'm a Fan of mjeffn permalink
co-sign absolutely!

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:39 PM on 07/07/2009
-Jonni Rae I'm a Fan of Jonni Rae permalink
I agree. Healthcare should not be tied to employment. What sense does that actually make?

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:43 PM on 07/07/2009
-jmpurser I'm a Fan of jmpurser permalink
Agreed. Unfortunately the Socialist party is the only party that agrees with you.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:47 PM on 07/07/2009
-mjeffn I'm a Fan of mjeffn permalink
Rahm, you're not sounding like you are working for us. Re-evalute your position and if you are against what we want, be an honorable man and resign.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:34 PM on 07/07/2009
-barkrudedog69 I'm a Fan of barkrudedog69 permalink

Rahm works for the President and does his dirty work. One day you will wake up and understand that the President speaks through him like minime.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:37 PM on 07/07/2009
-mjeffn I'm a Fan of mjeffn permalink
I have to admit that I am getting tired of hitting the snooze button.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:41 PM on 07/07/2009
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-naschkatze I'm a Fan of naschkatze permalink
Exactly. Just as it is not up to Eric Holder to start war crimes prosecutions and restore constitutional liberties on his own. He takes his cue from the boss.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:44 PM on 07/07/2009
-YewNeekId I'm a Fan of YewNeekId permalink
Rom was never working for you. He is Obama's Svengali

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:43 PM on 07/07/2009
-jmpurser I'm a Fan of jmpurser permalink
He's not working for "us". He's working for President Obama and he's doing an excellent job of that.

You're under the delusion that Obama is working for "us". Get over it.

Reply Favorite Flag as abusive Posted 03:47 PM on 07/07/2009
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Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Mon, 7/6/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Fw: A day to celebrate and aspire
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, "Negus Wolde Mariam" , "Michael MERID" , Globalbelai@Yahoo.com
Cc: "Ben EthiopiaFirst" , "Ethioforum Ethiolist"
Date: Monday, July 6, 2009, 3:03 PM


Macroeconomic News
Monday, 6th July 2009

Ethiopia budget looks for local funding as slowdown hits aid

6-JUL-2009 17:47



By Tsegaye Tadesse

ADDIS ABABA, July 6 (Reuters) - Ethiopia on Monday passed a 64.5 billion birr ($5.6 billion) annual budget that looks more to domestic sources to funddevelopment as the global slowdown squeezes donors' ability to give aid to the poor country.

The Horn of Africa nation is the world's seventh largest recipient of foreign aid, receiving more than $1.94 billion in 2006, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

'We cannot have a budget based on foreign loans and foreign aid,' Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told parliament. 'Our budget must be covered by our own income.'

'We cannot say foreign aid and loans are reliable.'

The 2009/10 budget is up 18.8 percent from 54.3 billion birr a year earlier. For the first time, the budget includes funding from local loans to cover a shortfall from other sources -- equivalent to 16.6 percent of the total budget.

Ethiopia has been attracting investors, many from China and India, interested in agriculture, oil and gas exploration and other sectors with strong growth potential such as telecoms.

But a combination of high world commodity price s and the world economic slowdown have dented demand for agricultural exports, pushed inflation higher and led to more frequent power cuts that are hurting businesses.

Although Ethiopia is still one of the fastest expanding economies in Africa and sees double-digit growth this year, the negative external influences have left it with a crippling foreign exchange shortage.

Meles said the majority of the budget would be spent on infrastructure development. Others in the region such as Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda also focused on infrastructure in their 2009/10 budgets to help sustain economic growth.

'Seventy percent of the budget will be allocated for road construction, agriculture, health, water and rural electrification,' he said.

Of the total, 29.1 billion birr will go on development spending, an increase of 24.2 percent while regular spending climbs 7.9 percent to 14.5 billion birr. Some 21 billion birr will go to Ethiopia's nine federal regions to spend locally.

Meles defended the country's 4 billion birr ($350 million) military budget, unchanged from the previous year. During debate in parliament, the opposition called on him to cut it.

'The region is not stable,' said Meles. 'Since we live in an unstable region our defence forces have to be ready for any eventualities from the jihadists in Somalia or the threat from Eritrea.'

Ethiopia is the key U.S ally in the Horn of Africa and invaded neighbouring Somalia in 2006 to oust an Islamist group that had taken control of the capital Mogadishu.

The budget report anticipated that 18.2 billion birr would be covered by external loans and grants. That amount will be covered from domestic sources if Ethiopia does not receive the foreign support. Meles did not detail the domestic sources.

'We hope the economic crisis will be stable by 2010,' said Meles. 'Ethiopia's export income will improve and help the inflation and foreign currency crisis we're facing.'

Parliament approved the budget by 407 votes in favour, 19 abstentions and none against.

(Editing by Barry Malone and David Clarke) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://af.reuters.com/) Keywords: ETHIOPIA BUDGET/

(Email: nairobi.newsroom@reuters.com; tel: +254 20 222 4717)

Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Mon, 7/6/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: Fw: A day to celebrate and aspire
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, "Negus Wolde Mariam" , "Michael MERID" , Globalbelai@Yahoo.com
Cc: "Ben EthiopiaFirst" , "Ethioforum Ethiolist"
Date: Monday, July 6, 2009, 12:48 PM



http://af.reuters.com/article/ethiopiaNews/idAFL451282220090704?sp=true

Reuters

July 4, 2009

INTERVIEW-U.S. will urge Ethiopia to stay out of Somalia

David Clarke



* Djibouti to help African peacekeeping force AMISOM

*Washington undecided on tougher force mandate



NAIROBI - The United States will encourage Ethiopia not to return to Somalia as it would be against the interests of both Horn of African nations, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson said on Saturday.

Ethiopia invaded Somalia in late 2006 to topple an Islamist movement in the capital Mogadishu. The intervention sparked an Islamist insurgency which is still raging despite the fact Ethiopian troops pulled out in January.

"The Ethiopian government continues to look very closely at developments in Somalia," Carson told Reuters in Kenya ahead of a visit to Ethiopia on Monday.

"Given the long-standing enmity between Somalis and Ethiopians I will encourage the Ethiopians not to re-engage in Somalia. It is not their interest to so and their efforts might in fact prove counterproductive to the government," he said in an interview.

Neighbours and Western governments fear that if the Somali administration is overthrown, the lawless nation will become a safe haven for al Qaeda to train militants to destabilise the region and attack developed nations.

Residents in several regions of Somalia have reported seeing Ethiopian soldiers in the past two months. Addis Ababa initially denied this but later acknowledged it had made "reconnaissance" missions. It still insists no combat troops are in Somalia.

"Ethiopia has a right to defend its borders, should do so vigorously if individuals cross into their territory, and their efforts should be directed at defence of their territory and not necessarily involvement inside of Somalia," Carson said.

NO DECISION ON TOUGHER MANDATE

Carson held talks with senior officials from all Horn of Africa countries, including the Eritrean foreign minister, during an African Union summit in Libya this week. Washington has accused Eritrea of supporting the hardline al Shabaab insurgents who are fighting to oust Somali President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. It says Eritrea has aided the movement of weapons and foreign fighters into Somalia.

Carson said Eritrea strongly denied the accusations.

The rebels, who have links to al Qaeda and want to impose their own harsh version of sharia law throughout the country, control much of southern Somalia and parts of the capital Mogadishu close to the president's palace.

A 4,300-strong African Union peacekeeping force (AMISOM) from Uganda and Burundi is protecting key sites in Mogadishu but appeals for more troops and a stronger mandate allowing them to go on the offensive have yet to bear fruit. Carson said a battalion of soldiers from Burundi, about 800 troops, was ready to deploy as soon as an airlift is provided and that Djibouti had pledged to help with military force.

"They are a small country with a small military but they have indicated that they believe the situation is serious enough to warrant their support," Carson told Reuters.

"They believe that it is important to support Sheikh Sharif and to prevent his government from falling and they are prepared to provide more support than they have in the past, including manpower," he said.

Carson said Washington had yet to decide whether the AMISOM mandate should be beefed up. There had been hopes African leaders would agree to this in Libya but wording to that effect in a draft resolution was dropped.

"We will study it closely in Washington and make a determination as to whether it is in our interests to encourage an expanded mandate as this goes forward," he said.

Washington helps fund the AMISOM force and has sent weapons to the Somali government to support its fight against the rebels. Carson told reporters it would send more.

"The United States will continue to look for ways to provide support," he said. "This will include military support in terms of arms and munitions and material resources, but not manpower."

(Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

____________________________________________________

http://en.afrik.com/article15876.html

Afrik

July 6, 2009

Ethiopia’s mega Gilgel Gibe III Hydropower project makes a headway

Major fundings have been approved for the mega project

DESALEGN SISAY



The African Development Bank (AfDB) recently accepted the Environment and Social Impact Assessment of Gilgel Gibe III Hydropower project in Ethiopia; a move that throws more light on the much debated mega power project.
In a recent interview, AfDB’s director in charge of infrastructure, Mr Gilbert Mbesherubusa, told the Kenyan Business Daily that the bank has been conducting technical, economic and financial assessments on the Gilgel Gibe III Hydropower project to enable works to begin by the end of the year. This comes after the approval of the project’s most debated environment and social impact assessment.
Commenting on the AfDB move, Mehret Debebe Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) said, “If the financial institutions evaluated the impact assessment with independent experts, we have no doubt over ours (...) the AfDB reached this decision after making its evaluation with independent experts”.
Challenge
According to Mehret, the European Investment Bank also agreed last week to evaluate the Environment and Social Impact of the project with independent experts. The EEPCo chief said that he is so far "very confident about our impact assessment" although "environmental activist groups" still posed a "challenge".
The hydropower plant, which is being constructed in the Welyeta Zone of Southern Nations and Nationalities Peoples Region, will generate 1,870 megawatts of electricity upon completion. The source of the hydropower plant, the Omo River, flows into Lake Turkana in neighboring Kenya.
Environmental activist groups have claimed that the project will adversely impact the livelihood of the surrounding communities, while other militants have embarked on dissuasive strategies including lobbying to prevent funding for the project. According to the militants the dam will minimize the volume of water that enters Lake Turkana.
Kenya: Joint Committee
Considering the importance of the dam on Kenyan communities, a Kenyan fact finding delegation on the project, led by Mr John Nyaoro, water ministry director in charge of water services, two weeks ago visited the project and held talks with top Ethiopian officials. After their deliberations, the delegation returned convinced about the importance of the power project to Kenya itself.
However, a proposal to form a joint committee between the two governments to oversee execution of the project was rejected by the Ethiopian government.
Sovereignty
In a press conference last week, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi explained that the Kenyans do not doubt the importance of the power project, but rather fear a possible redirection of the river for irrigation purposes, which is why they suggested of a joint committee. According to the PM, Ethiopia is a sovereign country and is under no obligation tp bow to their proposal.
The AfDB fully accepted the project that led to the evaluation of the financial and technical aspects of the project only two weeks after the delegation visited Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian government needs about 1.5 billion Euros to fully complete the Gilgel Gibe III Hydropower project. The AfDB is expected to direct a 250 million Euro fund to the electro-mechanical part of the project according to the government project proposal, the Italian government is expected to cover a similar amount directed towards the main construction work, while the European Investment Bank is expected to make 100 million Euros available. Other funds are yet to be confirmed by the government of Ethiopia.
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http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Somalia_27/Somalia_Somaliland_opposition_warn_government_against_election_delay.shtml

Garowe Online, Somalia

July 5, 2009
Somalia: Somaliland opposition warn government against election delay

HARGEISA, Somalia - Two opposition parties in Somalia's separatist republic of Somaliland issued a joint statement Sunday warning the government not to delay the presidential election again, Radio Garowe reports.
The joint statement from the only opposition parties in Somaliland, Kulmiye and UCID, stated that the presidential election has been "delayed four times" and that the opposition has "no confidence" in the Somaliland election commission.
"[Election delays] has created a political dispute and lack of confidence…for Somaliland democratic progress by worrying [world] governments, donors and the Somaliland public in general," the statement read.
The statement warned that another election delay would be "sole responsibility" of the election commission and the current administration. Further, the opposition parties recommended that the Somaliland election commission be "expanded by four new members," while calling for "changing four members of political mediation committee."
The opposition parties called on Somaliland's ruling UDUB party to "immediately present its case regarding the election commission."
Somaliland's political crisis began in May 2008 when incumbent President Dahir Riyale's five-year term in office was extended by an additional year by the upper house of parliament, the House of Guurti. Opposition parties condemned the extension and called it unconstitutional. A year later, President Riyale received a second term extension after the House of Guurti to allowed him to remain in office until the presidential elections slated for the end 2009 are held.
Somaliland is located in northwestern Somalia and unilaterally declared independence from the rest of the country in 1991 but has not been recognized internationally yet.
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Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Sat, 7/4/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:

From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Fw: A day to celebrate and aspire
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, AbigailBelai@yahoo.com, "Negus Wolde Mariam" , "Michael MERID"
Cc: "Ben EthiopiaFirst" , "Ethioforum Ethiolist"
Date: Saturday, July 4, 2009, 4:39 PM

Happy 4th of July
Saturday 04 July 2009
by: Barack Obama


President Obama used his weekly address to call for a renewal of the American spirit. (Photo: Time Magazine)
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
Saturday 04 July 2009

Hello and Happy Fourth of July, everybody. This weekend is a time to get together with family and friends, kick back, and enjoy a little time off. And I hope that's exactly what all of you do. But I also want to take a moment today to reflect on what I believe is the meaning of this distinctly American holiday.

Today, we are called to remember not only the day our country was born - we are also called to remember the indomitable spirit of the first American citizens who made that day possible.

We are called to remember how unlikely it was that our American experiment would succeed at all; that a small band of patriots would declare independence from a powerful empire; and that they would form, in the new world, what the old world had never known - a government of, by, and for the people.

That unyielding spirit is what defines us as Americans. It is what led generations of pioneers to blaze a westward trail.

It is what led my grandparents' generation to persevere in the face of a Depression and triumph in the face of tyranny.

It is what led generations of American workers to build an industrial economy unrivalled around the world.

It is what has always led us, as a people, not to wilt or cower at a difficult moment, but to face down any trial and rise to any challenge, understanding that each of us has a hand in writing America's destiny.

That is the spirit we are called to show once more. We are facing an array of challenges on a scale unseen in our time. We are waging two wars. We are battling a deep recession. And our economy - and our nation itself - are endangered by festering problems we have kicked down the road for far too long: spiraling health care costs; inadequate schools; and a dependence on foreign oil.

Meeting these extraordinary challenges will require an extraordinary effort on the part of every American. And that is an effort we cannot defer any longer.

Now is the time to lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity. Now is the time to revamp our education system, demand more from teachers, parents, and students alike, and build schools that prepare every child in America to outcompete any worker in the world.

Now is the time to reform an unsustainable health care system that is imposing crushing costs on families, businesses, large and small, and state and federal budgets. We need to protect what works, fix what's broken, and bring down costs for all Americans. No more talk. No more delay. Health care reform must happen this year.

And now is the time to meet our energy challenge - one of the greatest challenges we have ever confronted as a people or as a planet. For the sake of our economy and our children, we must build on the historic bill passed by the House of Representatives, and make clean energy the profitable kind of energy so that we can end our dependence on foreign oil and reclaim America's future.

These are some of the challenges that our generation has been called to meet. And yet, there are those who would have us try what has already failed; who would defend the status quo. They argue that our health care system is fine the way it is and that a clean energy economy can wait. They say we are trying to do too much, that we are moving too quickly, and that we all ought to just take a deep breath and scale back our goals.

These naysayers have short memories. They forget that we, as a people, did not get here by standing pat in a time of change. We did not get here by doing what was easy. That is not how a cluster of 13 colonies became the United States of America.

We are not a people who fear the future. We are a people who make it. And on this July 4th, we need to summon that spirit once more. We need to summon the same spirit that inhabited Independence Hall two hundred and thirty-three years ago today.

That is how this generation of Americans will make its mark on history. That is how we will make the most of this extraordinary moment. And that is how we will write the next chapter in the great American story.

Thank you, and Happy Fourth of July.

Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential




--- On Sat, 7/4/09, President Barack Obama wrote:

From: President Barack Obama
Subject: A day to celebrate and aspire
To: "GlobalBelai Jesus"
Date: Saturday, July 4, 2009, 4:11 PM

GlobalBelai --

This weekend, our family will join millions of others in celebrating America. We will enjoy the glow of fireworks, the taste of barbeque, and the company of good friends. As we all celebrate this weekend, let's also remember the remarkable story that led to this day.

Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, our nation was born when a courageous group of patriots pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the proposition that all of us were created equal.

Our country began as a unique experiment in liberty -- a bold, evolving quest to achieve a more perfect union. And in every generation, another courageous group of patriots has taken us one step closer to fully realizing the dream our founders enshrined on that great day.

Today, all Americans have a hard-fought birthright to a freedom which enables each of us, no matter our views or background, to help set our nation's course. America's greatness has always depended on her citizens embracing that freedom -- and fulfilling the duty that comes with it.

As free people, we must each take the challenges and opportunities that face this nation as our own. As long as some Americans still must struggle, none of us can be fully content. And as America comes ever closer to achieving the perfect Union our founders dreamed, that triumph -- that pride -- belongs to all of us.

So today is a day to reflect on our independence, and the sacrifice of our troops standing in harm's way to preserve and protect it. It is a day to celebrate all that America is. And today is a time to aspire toward all we can still become.

With very best wishes,

President Barack Obama

July 4th, 2009

P.S. -- Our nation's birthday is also an ideal time to consider serving in your local community. You can find many great ideas for service opportunities near you at http://www.serve.gov.






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