New Year 2014

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Band of Armenian Orphans

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Haileselassie's Band of Armenian Orphans A bond forged through a common Orthodox faith left a lasting imprint on Ethiopia’s music Irina Costache |  October 10, 2025 The 40 Armenian orphans with their leader, Kevork Nalbandian , in the middle holding a violin. (From the archives of St. George Armenian Apostolic Church in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia) In the spring of 1924, Ras Tafari Makonnen , Ethiopia’s crown prince, regent plenipotentiary and de facto ruler, embarked on a diplomatic world tour. His country had just become the first African nation admitted to the League of Nations , and the prince (later to become Emperor Haile Selassie ) wanted to thank the countries that had supported Ethiopia’s candidacy, display his country’s modernity and ensure its sovereignty would be respected. Before continuing toward Europe, Tafari made a stop in Jerusalem. Back home, the Ethiopian Church questioned the prince’s religious devotion, so the visit was meant to be a symbolic demonst...
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Home of the Shy

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Home of the Shy, Land of the Brave By Mitiku Adisu Ethiopians are often portrayed as "shy" people. We are told that athlete Kenenisa is not quite the marketable commodity that Usain Bolt is because he is 'shy’ or to be more precise, ‘diminutive and shy’. It is not surprising that the world has little patience for the long distance; instant gratification is what really mattered. Farm life agrees with "this shy Ethiopian girl." Or "a shy and beautiful Bodi woman from Ethiopia"; "A shy Borana girl from Ethiopia"; "Two shy girls from Aksum." We don’t want to take the "shy thing’ too far, but according to Ortolani et al., most dogs observed in four Ethiopian villages surveyed "are shy and prefer to avoid human contact." Not to confuse men with dogs, "Ethiopian men are generally shy"; "Birdlife abounds and indigenous animals, from the rare Walis Ibex (sic) to the shy wild ass, roam free just as nature in...
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In Russian

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Abiy's Medemer መደመር book in Russian language for 12 Su-35s & 4 S-400 air-defense batteries is quite a deal. For Russia. For Abiy. No one knows how much this is going to cost poor Ethiopians: for parts, for training, for hiring Russian pilots. And for imported grain. There IS a hell of soft power! Abiy is now requiring members of his personal Party including cabinet ministers to line up for military drills. He says it is war preparedness. He must have come across the phrase "dual approach" online and might well try it on his ministers. In other words, joining civilian governance with military discipline. Abiy is both a civilian and member of the military. Go figure. This could be the prelude for Mengistu-style dictatorship. No need for stupid elections (not even the sham ones he's conducted in the past decade). Guess what? anyone could be sent to jail on account of "terrorism" and for a breach of 'national security'. Abiy is hungry for more power ...
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Power at All Costs

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Comrades-in-arms Isaias and Meles bartering Assab port In the early 1990s, Isaias and Meles suddenly found themselves owners of Ethiopia—including its geographic space, its resources, and its people. How did this come about? In their own narrative, it came about because they defeated the mighty Derg. That narrative could only be partly true. The real story is that the US and Britain wanted them in power to advance their own regional agenda.  Let's not forget that this was two years after the Cold War and Soviet collapse. Victory over Communism had so inebriated the Capitalist West it looked forward to once again reshaping the world in its own "democratic" image.  Meles Zenawi and Isaias Afwerki, favored in the eyes of the West (and good at deception), were acclaimed as "new breed" democrats!  The other aspect of their success was that a vacuum had to be filled following Mengistu slipping away to Zimbabwe--itself engineered by the West. Mengistu's government ...
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SIN

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SIN By Mitiku Adisu Emergence of a set of problems often point to a deeper problem. There was, for example, a debt ceiling confrontation that went on for weeks between US political parties and the President. Each knew what needed to be done to resolve the problem but none were prepared to do the right thing. Instead each blamed and maligned the other side - and history - to get a sizable segment of the public behind them. Each side engaged in a deadly fight for what is right in their own eyes. It is all about self-interest (pride, greed, hate-mongering) couched in ever creative patriotic, legal, religious, and refined phrases. We bet you know what that is called? S-I-N. SIN. And just last week there were riots and looting in Britain where children as young as ten were observed taking part. With economic downturn and the Cameron government slashing funding to social services, it is not surprising that poor neighborhoods are relatively hit hard and hence the locus of the incident. What i...
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