The Coolest Couple!

Here are cool and funny couple....I enjoy the clip....I hope u will do. Kudos to Mabel and Tsige as well as to Iseyas and Roma...I wish you Happy and Joyful life!

Welcome Back Asmarino

Just an info for those who love Asmarino. The web site is now up and running again with all its sharp Blogers. Watch out for a series of articles coming from Yosief Gebrihwet. The guy is exceptionally articulate in his writing, but very controversial at the same time. His series of articles last year on “Romanticizing Ghedli” was the most controversial one stirring a wave of response and discussion among Eritreans. I hope this series will also do the same.
Asmarino has also kept its old plat form of allowing comments from readers. Because of the sensitive of Eritrean politics, most ERN websites don’t allow readers to comment on posted articles…Asmarino is the exception. I have a mixed feeling towards that policy… Most of the comments are trash (although there are some good) …people deliberately posting divisive and degrading comments….and my initial reactions was what is the point of allowing such trash? But now I am leaning in favor of allowing the comments….why would any one decide what trash is and what is good to the readers? Let the choice be there and readers will decide whether they want to read the comment section or not.

Fighting in EU’s Court: an Update on the Controversy of EU’s Aid Plan to Eritrea

In my previous post, I have indicated how the news about EU’s aid plan to Eritrea has generated so much controversy among Eritreans. This post is an update on those controversies. So far, over 290 comments are posted on the website. These comments are both from supporters and opponents of the government. But the comment section on the news website was not the only place the contriversy surfaced. Eritrean websites from both camps have also joined into the fight, with blogers from either side calling for EU' attention. The following is a partial list of the inventory of articles produced by the controversy over EU’s aid plan to Eritrea.
On the Opposition side:
1. Awate.com editorial
2. Daniel Rezene
3. Seyom Tesfay
4. Tesfay Degiga
5. Michael Abraha
6. Selam Kidane
7. Berhane Neguse

On the supporters side:

1.Tesfay Aradom
2. Amanuel Bidenemariam
3. Daniel S
4. Berhane Alazar
5. Samsom Negasi
6. YPFDJ Europe
7. Dawit Ghebre-medhin
8. Meskerem.net

Now, the fighting has once more escalated from articles into pettition. Right now, two competing petitions are running to be submitted to EU. The first one is by Amnesty International on behave of Eritrean prisoners of conscience and the other is by Bidho.com, a pro-government website.
In face of all these controversies and pleas, it has to be seen on how EU will respond. The controversy is not over whether the aid should be given to Eritrea or not: rather it is on what conditions should be placed on the aid. Opponents are calling for EU to put strict condition of human right improvement on the aid plan. Supporters of the government are fighting to avoid any preconditions.

Why Did a President Keep 20 Cats?

The buzz words around the opposition websites this week is coming from the words of former Iseyas Security chif Mr. Girmatsiona Baire Zere. The guy throws every mud on Iseyas. (listen to his interviews here). Even though I agree Iseyas has to go for the problems in Eritrea to end, throwing every evil you can think of on him will reduce the credibility of real stories.

From the list of evil things Mr. Ghirmazion blamed Iseyas include, the death of Abraham Afewerki, death of Yemane Barya, death of Ali Said Abdela, death of OMO factory owner, assasination attempts on Colonel Simon, etc...

The most difficult thing to believe is Iseyas has over 20 cats!

“Sefera” on the Air

Assenna.com reported this week(Feb 23) that residents of Segeneiti are officially informed that they will be reallocated to Barka. Assenna compared this with sefera campaign of the Derge regime. This is a disturbing news….and I just hoped the news is false! But Hadas Ertra confirmed the news(albet, in its second page and not reported in shabait.com). In today’s edition (Feb 27), the paper reported “Residents of Zban Soyra (Senafe sub zone) have expressed their readiness to reallocate to a more fertile and productive areas of eastern and western lowland”. Check page 2 of the paper here …..Even though the residents reported in Hadas Eritra are different from those reported in assenna.com, the disturbing fact remains that the government may have plan to reallocate people from selected areas of highland to lowland. This could have a damaging long term effect on the country. How will the lowlanders react to the new comers? The following carton from awate.com can give what the reaction would be……





Source: Awate.com cartons

Funny Commedian

EU Plans to Give €122 Million in Development Aid to Eritrea

The European Commission is planning to give €122 million in development aid to ER. The news has created a mixed response from ERNs. Opponents of the government are crying that the aid will send a wrong message to DIA. EU’s plan to provide the money despite the grave human right records of the government is what makes it controversial. EU says engagement with the government is the best way to improve Human Right situation in ER. The aid plan will be reviewed by the advisory committee of the European Development Fund before it gets released. Comments from both supporters and opponents of PIA are flooding the website in an effort to influence the commissions’ decision. Check the comments here.

Eritrea: Least Appealing Country for Investors

A recent index about investment prospects in Africa puts ER as one of the least appealing countries in Africa...just a head of Somalia and chad. However this is not a surprising news to any ERN who follows the government's practice and attitude towards business. Almost all ERN business men are now outside the country operating in other African countrone, as so many restrictions by the government wouldn't allow them to work in their country.

Assenna Radio Went on Air

The Assenna Team have upgraded their radio program from online to on air starting this week. This means their program will directly broadcast to Eritrea, to those who have no access to internet and computer. It will add momentum to their struggle against DIA. If there is real movement in the army, as is reported in Assenna.com, this radio program will give them a means to bring their message directly to the people and the army. The program airs three days a week for half an hour a day. The program also broadcast in Tigrigna and Arabic. check their website here.

An ERN Mother is Blessed with Four Babies

The news that dominated the U.S. media for the last two week or so was the the octuplet mom story...the mother who delivered 8 babies at one time. But that was a medically implanted embryos. How about natural? An Eritrean mother has delivered 4 identical boys Yesterday! The mother, Ms. Saedia Mohammednur, was her self a twin and had already seven children before. May God help her in raising them. Read more.........

Can Gadafi Help Settle the EThio-Eritrea Stand Off?

Gadafi assumed the AU chairmanship for next year in the AU conference held in Addiss last week. Immediately after his election to the chairmanship, he flew to Massawa to visit PIA. After the visit, Ghadafi told reporters in Massawa that he has discussed the issue with both Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and President Iseyas Afewerki (PIA) and vowed to settle the long stand off. Can he do it?
I am very optimistic! Gadafi is a very ambitious and egotist leader. Currently he is working hard to transfer the AU into the United States of Africa and has resistance from other skeptic leaders who doesn’t like his ambition. There is a good incentive for him to try to solve the Ethio-Eritrea stand off. The Ethio-Eritrea stand off is one of the most difficult problems in Africa and it will be a great diplomatic victory to add to his resume, if he can do it. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes this as one of his top priority in his chairmanship.
He has also the leverage and timing on his side. The main problem on this issue is Ethiopia’s insistence on dialogue before implementing the court decision and Eritrea’s rejection of any dialogue regarding implementing the court issue. So, by definition, if Gadafi started to negotiate between the two countries, there is no problem for Ethiopia (of course, Ethiopia may prefer another negotiator for sure, but they know they will not get it- he is their best shot). Also, Ethiopia doesn’t seem to have the same degree of backing from Washington as it did under Bush. The problem will be for PIA, who refused any sort of dialogue on the issue. At the same time, it will be difficult for PIA to say “NO” to Gadafi – who has been his best friend and ally for the last 11 years. Another last point is that people in both countries are sick and tired off this conflict and the leaders know it. They may bend they stand and reach some compromise! May God solve this problem for our people!

Update: Gadafi made the interview in Massawa. I have looked the government media out let for the last two days and they have escaped that part of the report. This is a good indication of the government's satnd on the issue. .....no dialogue

PIA and Muammer Al-Gadafi on Hunting Trip

photo: courtesy of shabait.com

Photo: courtesy of shabait.com

The Competition b/n Awate.com and Assenna.com

Starting from the end of 2008, assenna.com has appeared as the main source of news for those looking a change in ER. The news reported are daily and one wonders the reliability of their reports. Most of the news reported is also big events that most readers found hard to believe, giving the political reality in ER. Nevertheless, they have managed to attract the attention of the public. Unfortunately, this seems to have created unexpected reaction from a would-be-friend of assenna.com
In a series of news/articles, awate.com has reported to the effect of “These news in assenna.com are false.” Check the following two news reports by awate.com and a third article from one of their regular contributors.
1. The Case Of The Commando Units In Segeneity
2. The Iranian-Eritrean Relations
3. When The Hand Stretches, The Back Bends
The two news are not actually news….they seem an implicit effort to disprove assenna.com. The article, whose author claims to be inside ER, explicitly warns us not to believe the news and asks those who are reporting such news (assenna.com) to stop from fooling the public.
When I read these articles in awate.com, I wondered why awate.com went all the way to question assena.com? I am not saying the reports in assenna.com are true. Frankly, I don’t believe them. But, what I am questioning is why is awate.com doing this? Are they really trying to save us from fabricated drams? If so, they haven’t done it before for other websites. Asmarino.com used to report sometimes false news, but I haven’t seen awate.com stretching their hand to disprove it. In fact, after reading their continuous effort to disprove assenna.com, my impression was that awate.com felt treated by the attention assenna.com is getting or may be awate.com were looking for the change to come from different direction than those implied by assenna.com. Well, anyways, that is my weired way of questioning though!!

Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe

As the economic tragedy of Zimbabwe continues with Mogabe's refusal to step down, the country's hyperiflation is now breaking all records. The inflation rate as of last july was 231 million percent. Or a better figure may be that one U.S. dollar is trading above 300 trillion Zimbabwe dollars. If you want to understand what that means, write the zeros on paper and think what it means. Because of this high iflation, the value of the currency have literally become useless.The highest bill they have so far is 100 trillion dollars and is not enough to buy a loaf of bread! To read more about the story check here.

Solomon Abera is Back to Radio

The former sport news reporter for Dimtsi Hafash and later for ERI-TV is now with an opposition online radio assenna.com. Solomon was also the director of radio Zara, the FM radio of the MOI, before he left Asmara. Solomon brings experience and familiarity to the new radio. He has also excellent narrating ability. Both Solomon and Amanuel, founder of assenna, were working for the Ministry of Information. Assenna.com is a new online news service creating a lot of buzz with controversial news which yet has to be proved. They seem also likely to go on air from online. Check their radio here.

Angesom Isaac and His Team working on Tigrigna Folklore

This is a nice collection and well researched original work of Tigrigna folklore. The peice combines the folklore behind the tigrigna music we normally know as traditional songs.
Great work Angeson and your team....I hope more work will document and revive our culture.

Great Instrumental Music

This youtube clip contains great instrumental music composition. The first is Yemane Barya's "sdetegna gerkani" ...and it goes right into my heart. ....Thanks Girls for getting Barya Back. The second is Wedi Duraf's hidarb song...nice music. I can't wait to get the entire CD.

Happy Holidays

Is Something Cooking in Eritrea?

In the last couple of weeks, asena-online.com has been reporting what it seems a growing confrontation and upraising by the Eritrean Defense Forces against the government. However, these reports are not confirmed by other opposition websites or opposition news sites. Since asena-online.com is relatively new, the credibility of its reports has yet to be established (unlike websites like awate.com, which have relatively established credibility among their readers). But it is also possible that asena-online.com may have access to high powered insiders in the army.
Another aspect of this website’s reports is that, it is not only reporting an incident in the army. Before these reports come, there was a continuous article (and is still continuing). This article seems a conspiracy theory in nature and accuses PIA all sort of dirt work. The article cites a couple of other development such as NATO’s movement into the gulf of Red Sea, Iranian movement into the port city of Asseb, and claims a cloud of change is hanging around Eritrea. It then asks Eritreans (in an editorial page) to prepare for it.
This article is now followed by continuous reports of incidences of confrontation between the army and the government. All this makes the website’s recent move like a more coordinated and organized campaign rather than reports of incidences.
The fact that these reports are only coming from asena-online.com and have the nature of coordinated campaign raises special curiosity. May be some organized groups in the army are behind all these reports. Also to note here is the background of the founder of the website. He is a veteran of Betmhrti sewra and is possible that he can have special connection to some groups in the army than other websites. All this makes one to wonder if some thing is cooking in Eritrea.
Check the website for all of the recent reports on the website: asena-online.com

Why Do We Love Advising Presidents-Elect?

Freakonomics, asked the question on the title to its readers. The question was put as follows:
“Everyone seems to have advice for President-elect Obama these days: physicists, economists, Willie Nelson — even Freakonomics commenters are getting in on the act.
Why are we always so eager to advise new presidents? Rarely do new congressmen, major league sports coaches, and corporate executives generate the same flood of unsolicited advice. So why are we so eager to share our ideas about how the president should govern?”

And so many people suggested a possible answer. One of these answers was so appealing that I decided to use it for Friday Night. Here is his/her answer:

“ I’m so glad you asked, for I know the answer.
Very simply, we all feel we have great ideas that, for one reason or another, never get a hearing outside the barber shop or coffee shop.
……..I have ideas all the time (as does everyone, I imagine). Yet there is often no real place to get them heard–or at least no where that can actually put those ideas in motion…….”

Questions: We all will agree that many Eritreans have great ideas about how to tackle the problems their country is facing. What do they do to share their ideas? And who advices the president?

Nominate an ERN hero of the Year 2008

Last night I was watching CNN’s Hero of the Year program where they recognize the works of exemplary humanitarian activists from through out the world.
As I watch the program, I raised the same question that always comes to my mind. Why don’t we have such an award system where we recognize exceptional achievements and deeds of Eritreans?
I don’t think any one would doubt the relevance of such recognition for wellbeing of a society – It is such a common sense concept. Recognition is an incentive system and people respond to incentives. This not to say those who do exemplary works will do it to get recognition….No! But recognizing their work and cause will boost their effort and encourage others to follow their steps. And there are many Eritrean individuals doing extraordinary things who deserve recognition from their society. But often, we don’t even know them, let alone to award them…..simply because we don’t have a mechanism to recognize their achievements and causes. The only such annual recognition (award) system that I am aware of is the RaymaK award given to artist. But don’t we need Raymoks in academy? In Business?, in humanitarian activities? Yes we do! We need more RymoKs...in many other fields. We have Eritrean individuals doing commendable work helping Eritrean refugees who deserve recognition. We have exceptionally successful Eritreans in academy and business who could serve as role model to Young Eritreans. By recognizing the achievement of those individuals, we as a society will benefit a lot.
I hope to see some sort of organizations that would organize these wards in different fields ….and I hope it will not be late.
Till then, let’s assume here such a hypothetical organization exists and it is going to award an ERN hero of the year 2008 at the end of this year. The award, according to the criteria of this hypothetical organization, will be given to any Eritrean who have:
1. Done exceptional works in humanitarian activities helping Eritreans, or
2. Have achieved exceptional success in any field and can serve as role model to young Eritreans.

To that extent, if you were asked to nominate your ERN hero of the year 2008, who would he/she be?

Happy Thanks Giving From Friday Night

Dear Visitors- today is thanks giving: an American tradition of expressing gratitude for all the good things one have over the year (and for the harvest in the old days). And on this occasion, I would like to express my gratitude for where I am now and what I have been able to do on my life. I would assume, every visitor of my blog have also a good reason to be thankful…..for many of our friends and classmates are not yet lucky enough to have access to read blogs let alone to own their own blog and have the freedom of expressing their views.
So please take a moment to take a deep breath and be thankful for what you already have…and HAPPY THANKS GIVING for all of you.

The Article I Forwarded to my Friends

It is rare to get a positive article (by positive I mean non-political article) about Eritrea in the big media these days. If any thing the name Eritrea pop-up in the news, it is most likely related to the conflict with Ethiopia, or with the problem in Somalia, or the human right abuses by PIA. ….it is a depressing picture always….and I hate it. I hate it because I know what picture these reports create here. I hate it because it is always skewed…only the bad things are worth of news! I hate it because the good sides never show up to the front page. I am not trying to deny the reality…. but when all you see is these news, you get fed up….It makes it seem as if there is nothing more than conflict down there…. I always hope, at least some times, they show also there is normal life down there…..it is not only war and conflict…it is not only aid and drought….it is not only refugee and camps. We have normal life too…we have hospitable society, we have hardworking society, we have peace loving society…we have harmony…we have a beauty to offer to the rest of the world too…. But these good qualities never make it to the front page, and if some how they make it…they soon will be overwhelmed and covered by the depressing reports.
It is only with such thirsty for these few moments, that you can understand why 5 of my friends forwarded me the recent article by Jeffery Jenttleman of the New York Times in one day….it seems they were running to capture that moment and capitalize the opportunity…The article, which appeared in the travel section of the paper, is one of the rare opportunities which account the other life and beauty in Eritrea.
It was also an opportunity for most of us to forward it to our friends from other countries. You can tell your friends all the good thing in the world about your country, but when the only thing they can find when they google Eritrea is war and conflict, it is not a convincing effort. It is more credible when a third party reports and shows the things you wanted to show the world that would have the credibility. In that case, the New York Times report was a rare opportunity…and like many of you, I forwarded it to my friends from other countries and my advisor. …Even though it doesn’t tell all the good things I would tell about Eritrea, it was the best report I can find to introduce him with my country.

So if some of you missed the article, or if you wanted to show your friends the other life in Eritrea, here is a link to the article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/travel/05journeys.html?_r=1&oref=sloginAnd there was also a similar article in Reuters earlier this year. Here is the link.

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSLD39903620080822

PIRATES VERSUS WEAPONS DEALERS

There is an interesting development that comes from the coast of somalia. agroup of pirates highjaked a ship----a routine exercise in the coasts of somalia for years now. But this time, it drew the attention of world supper powers, unlike other pirates....an attention the death of hundreds of Somalis didn't get. Th estory also reveals a dirt work of international diplomacy. The story below details all the ins of that in an interesting way. Below is the link to the full story.
The pirates that captured the freighter Faina didn't know the ship was full of tanks. They also were unaware that by hijacking the vessel, they had ruined an international weapons deal that may have been illegally sending arms to Sudan

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,582513,00.html

also look the link below for a similar story from BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7656662.stm

Reading Dr. Russom

I am a big fun of Dr. Russom’s poems….I love them. But I didn’t get a chance to own his books until recently. I would get one poem from here and one from there. Finally, I got one of his books from Amazon (I wonder why I didn’t search in Amazon till now). Anyways, I got the book “we have our voices”…a selected Poems of Reesom Haile. The book has 56 poems along with their English translation by Professor Charles Cantalupo of Pen State University. For any one who has some interest in art/poetry, it is a great book to have it on your shelf. I didn't get his other books, and I hope I will get them, especially the one with the audio (and if you know how to get it, pls tell me).

Why I love Dr. Russom’s work:
I love them, because they are full of art; they have beauty in them, there is creativity in them. They have full of humor. They are not a full page essay like other….they are short and precise. Unlike other Tigrigna poets which are usually loaded with heavy words, Dr. Russom’s poems are constructed from the words of the ordinary guy. They are simple, yet they always have powerful message. They are original and you wonder how he used them to tell his message.
Well, I may not be good enough to explain the power of his work. You have to read them for your self to appreciate them. So, I encourage you to get the book. But for now get some flavor from the following two of my favorite (from among many in the book).

Quan-qua-na
E’zi quan-qua-na
E’zi Tigrigna
K-t-ea-m
Chew a’lewo!
K-lm-lm
Te-s-mi a’lewo!
K-qe-m-m
Ber-bere a’lewo!
K-f-g-m
A’xmi a’lewo!
Q-re-bwo qu-re-b’wo
Ae-s-te-ma-q-r’wo!
The message here is clear. The beauty is on how he creatively constructed the lines to express the message. It looks he is responding to those who claim ‘Tigrigna dereq eyu, n’fkri kgelx ayk’aln eyu…can’t be used to express …this and that”. Here, he is not only telling us that their claim is not true, that Tigrigna has all the qualities, but is also showing us it has the qualities through this poet and his choice of words.
The Second of my favorite is Desta. Here is a PDF version of it.

Here, besides the beauty of the poet, there is a hidden message. But, it depends on how you wanted to interpret it. And different people may see it differently…only him self knows what he wanted to say. To me, the message is in the last lines of the poem, as is in most of his work. What did he want to say by the last lines? You can stretch your imagination
Finally, to fully appreciate his work; you have to listen to and see his performance…his dress, his art of his performance makes him the legend poet. Here is what I found in youtube…performing in Festival 1998 with Fihra… his signature poem, alewuna/alewana.

The Greatest Olympian of All Times

For many people getting the chance to participate in the Olympic is a dream. For many others, getting a medal, even a bronze one, in this grand competition, is a life time achievement. For Michael Phelps, one gold medal was not enough, two was not enough,…,five was not enough.....it was only being the grandest Olympian of all times that was enough. He broke the all time record of 7 gold medals in one Olympic held by Mark Spitz for 36 years. Phelps has collected 8 gold medals in one Olympic, making him self the champion of all times Olympic and he will keep that record for years to come. What an achievement!!!
How is that possible for some people to achieve so much more than others? Michael Phelps has the answer,
“Nothing is impossible," Phelps said. "With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination, and that's something I learned and something that helped me.”

The Tom Campbell Story Telling

Last week a headline in one of the ERN websites took my attention. It was about an interview Tom Campbell made….one of the few American scholars and politicians sympathetic with Eritrea. Tom Campbell is a professor and dean of Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley. He was former state senator, former US congress man and recently he is planning to run for a governor.
The Professor was a visiting professor at the University of Asmara in 2001 and 2002 and I had I chance to meet him in person once while he was there. So it is this small knowledge of him that gave me the curiosity to briefly look his interview, wondering what he will say about ER. What I found was shocking. Here is the excerpt that relates to UOA:
'”..And there are things you learn. Eritrea has, sadly, a long history of civil war with Ethiopia. They got their freedom in 1992. There are lot of land mines. As a result, at the University of Asmara in Eritrea, I'd say maybe 25 percent to a third of the students are missing a limb. Those who are missing legs cannot get up the stairs to the second floor or the third floor. No questions asked, the students just carry each other. I've never seen anything like it. Very naturally, somebody offers you his back and you climb on it and he takes you up to the next floor….”
Here is the full interview for you to see( http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10085062?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com).
At the time the Professor is referring, the UOA had approximately around 5000 students. 25% to one third of them would be equivalent to 1250 to 1630 students. I don’t know where he saw all those people missing their limbs. If you want to extend the story, it is equivalent to saying one fourth to one third of Eritreans were missing their limbs( Because, the landmines are not to hit selectively kids who have the potential to join the university).
Such false stories that misinform are not an unusual in the net. But this is Tom Campbell: a professor, a dean at Berkley, a former state senator, a former U.S. Congressman, a wonna be governor, and some one who spent two semesters at the UOA. To an outside reader, this is a first hand observation from a credible source. And it creates a depressing image of ER…. the kind of picture you see in TV about the victims of barbarian rebels of Sierra leone.
I don’t understand why such a prominent and pro-Eritrea figure makes this remark. My initial reaction was may be this is some sort of editing error. So I emailed the Professor explaining my reservation regarding the figures he made and asking him to correct it. However, one week later, he didn’t respond me. The damage might have been already done and there is little to do to change the perception it created. But, I felt he should at least acknowledge he made a mistake and try to make correction to the story. So, in an effort to make some correction, I also emailed the journalist and the professor a follow up email, again asking to make correction for their story. I guess, that is how far I can go for now. I don’t expect them to respond me. But if they did, I will let you guys know.

The New Gold Rush

This is not a comment about the new gold rush in Eritrea by mining companies…it is a comment about the gold rush by Eritrean mothers of late 40’s and 50’s.
********
Last Saturday I was in philly for a wedding party of one of my friends. The wedding ceremony was fantastic…. I only wish you the same (of course, if u can afford it only). There was a very huge Eritreans and we had a festival like party, which I enjoyed very much, as such events are rare opportunity for me at this time. But, I have also seen some trends that I couldn’t make sense….so, I am commenting about it here, in a hope some one will explain to me the rational of it or how it makes sense.
One of the mothers sitting in front me in our table would be a good example to explain the point. This beautiful mother in her 50’s had put an elegant Zuria, a nice albaso kuno and a have stunning beauty that didn’t faded yet. But, as she sits in front of you, what first takes your attention is not her stunning beauty and elegance, but the tons of Gold she was carrying. A gold mido inserted over her hair, dozens of big gold benajir covering both of her arms, a big discs of kutusha hanging from her ear, and a gold collar covering her entire neck ( this is not a brace let…it is like a collar you put on Gofar kelbkum), and her albaso was covered with a cap of gold…..in short every part of her body that was not covered with cloth was covered with Gold. Those expensive metals have completely dominated her beauty, her elegant zuria and her artistic kuno…so when you see her, you don’t see the beauty…you see the gold,…you will not say “what a beautiful mother!”….but rather you will say “nay endamen e’nda eya bejaka!”. …
in short, those tasteless and artless expensive metals have dominated the fine lines of her beauty and style….and make her look like a decorated X-mass tree.
As I look across the entire hall, the case of the mother sitting in front of me was the rule of the day rather than an exception. It is seems an implicit dress code for those women in their late 40’s and 50’s these days. …it is like the Jontra days…when every kid was cutting his hair Jontra. This trend is not actually restricted to the Diaspora community. I have been seeing those in Asmara, though, for obvious reason, was limited in degree and extent to those with the means to afford them. But, for certain, this new gold rush, seems a new fashion in the circles of Eritran mothers….
So, the question is, how is this fashion making sense for our mothers? Even though I don’t claim to have a good test of style, I found it tasteless. It actually is destroying their beauty rather than adding value. A typical Eritean mother with her modest traditional gold collection has more style than those buried with tons of gold….well, at least with my tests.
But, if you find it the other way, please help me explain how it makes sense.

WelCome Baby Ab-Ynabi!!!

Thanks be to God, the Hidrue family are blessed with a new member…..my cousin Yonas and his wife Rahwa are blessed with a new baby last week. Congratulations Yoni and Rahwa!!! They have named their son Ab-Ynabi! Ab-Ynabi is such an adorable baby and I am so happy!
Welcome Ab-Ynabi to the world…..and Welcome to the Hidrue Family!! We wish you all the best in life…..and may this be the beginning of many more blessing to come to the Hidrue family!!

























Baby Ab-Ynabi Yonas

Shrek in Tigrigna!!

While browsing the Internet in between my studies, I came through this youtube clip of Shrek in Tigrigna. Shrek is an animated feature film which won the Academy of award in 2001. And some one has translated to Tigrigna and make it available in youtube. So, here is the link to my readers. Enjoy it…….

Reflection From July 4

It was a perfect summer day…but the streets of my town were empty …so quite. People were gathering inside their house with family members and friends and having barbeque…. part of the tradition in celebrating July 4, the nation’s birthday. Later in the day, people started to come out and were heading to the stadium, where the city I live celebrates July 4.
I closed my books and decide to join the crowd…. after all it is Independence day…and I will share the joy of the day with the people. By the time I reached the stadium, it was already crowded. Families were making groups everywhere with their kids, balloons and flags in their hand. On four corners of the crowd, there was small stages with musicians playing Independence Day songs. Some people were dancing, others were taking pictures and others were walking around.
I walked between the crowd and took a sit on one corner, where I can get a good view. The atmosphere was so colorful and people were happy…. celebrating their nation’s 232 birthday!!! And I enjoyed it…I almost felt part of them. I said almost, because I was a little bit uneasy…....it seemed like I am missing something. ….I don’t know what it is….
…Oh! I remembered. I know what it is now. It is the Independence poem. I usually write one for independence day….and read to the crowd in my small town on May 24. Oh yea…. the joy, the pride and the glory of Independence Day. And how I enjoyed reading my poem to the crowd. Now I don’t have Independence Day poem and I will not read to the crowd ….I wondered if I will read once again…
Most of the time, I blame my self for having such intense nationalistic view. But, today I assured my self I shouldn't. People here are celebrating 232th independence day ….232 years later and yet their pride is so intense as if it was only a few years. To me, the meaning of independence day is a first hand experience…it is not something from the history books. I have seen the ugly and cruel face of colonialism with my own eyes…..I have prayed for Independence at an age I shouldn’t pray. I have seen first hand the sacrifices made to it…I have lost my own classmates for it….and I have seen the joy my people felt when we get our independence….And yes, I should have a special feeling for it. The connection is right there…. not 232 years back.
As I thought about the pride that comes with Independence day, I thought about being immigrant. The immigrant communities and their children and grand children. What do they celebrate on July 4? How do they get the sense of pride I feel on may 24 or the sense of pride the people here are having? Take, for example, the “Eritrean Americans”. Do they celebrate July 4, like the other Americans? And if they do, what feelings do they have on July 4? how do they connect them selves with the real owners of the story?…..I mean…I asked my self. Perhaps, now as long as their parents are around, they will celebrate May 24. But two generations later, their grand children will nor more be ERN American…rather they will be African American…..and then, they will celebrate July 4…not May 24. I thought may be it is all the same …it is Independence day. But, then how will they be able relate to July 4? Will it generate the same sense of pride as Independence day does for me? Or will they feel the same sense of pride as the rest of nation? Will they say “this is the day our founding fathers declared….”? I got confused with my own question….
And it was a huge applaud from the crowd that took my attention away from the questions and back to the stage. A young girl, may be 9 to 11 years old, with a flag on her cap, was taking the stage. She sang “independence song” and the crowd applaud her…..and another young girl of similar age, took the mic and read a poem…..it was Independence day poem!
She praised her grand…grand … grand fathers for their courage and vision that created the present day America and the freedom and opportunity it provide to her…. and she promised to keep the sprit of their goal.
The crowd, once again, roared with a huge applaud and the girl beamed in smile. Her father was taking a picture …..trying to capture the precious moment of her independence day….
I smiled with my self…. imagining, one day, my little girl will also read independence poem to the crowd and I will be taking the picture…
But then, I asked my self, if that will happen…... if she will read independence day poem….and if she does, what will the lines of her poem read……

.........../// and here is ur mek'shish...........///

Yes We Can!!!!

Ayatolah of Iran Prayed for ERN independence during Friday Prayer! OMG!!

These days PIA has started an extensive media campaing by giving interviews to any media outlet that cares to listne. In this series of interviews, he has been making an outragous remarks...remarks that irritate when u hear them. In this another latest interview he made with Aljezira International, it seems he is now completely insine. Listen for your self....I don't know what in his mind is. God save ER and its people.

Making Discipline Your Self

This article is by Dr.Kardi Teknomo taken from...(http://teknomo.org/content/view/14/9/).
I felt it may interest some one out there.
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What is discipline? Many people think that to be a discipline person is very difficult. In this short article I will show you that it is not the case. Discipline is very simple.

Discipline is ….
tidy up your own bed right after you wake up
give a place for your things and put everything back in their own place after you use
do not make many promises and always try hard to keep the promises
do the work as fast as possible and do not postpone any work today for tomorrow
eat and drink regularly, not too much or too little, preferably almost at the same time
go to sleep regularly and wake up almost at the same time every day.Do not sleep too much or too little, do as you need.
go to work or school or your routine business regularly
take a bath and move your bowel regularly
urinate as soon as you need to
brush your teeth after you eat or before you sleep regularly
clean your face and hand and feet before go to bed
prepare well long time before exam
studying and working almost at the same time every day
say a little prayer and thanksgiving anytime and anywhere
You can add up your own list there. In principle, being discipline is not as hard as you may think. It is just being clean & neat, honest, regular, well prepare and be early. You do everything regularly and you will gain control your over your own emotion, feeling and thinking and knowing where you are and where are you heading to.
Isn't that boring to do everything regularly? Well, the answer is yes and no. Boring or not is just a perception and you can change that perception. If you believe it is bored to do everything regularly, then you will feel bored. In the other hand, if you can see the challenge that it is not easy to do things regularly and if you can see the benefit of discipline, then you will eager to put this principle into practice.
"I have read your list and I cannot do it because I am a messy person and my work demand me to do more work in one time and less work in the other time. " Firstly, do not feel guilty if you cannot do things regularly. Keep trying and if you cannot make some part of your life regular enough, do the other part of your life as regular as possible. To begin is always hard but if you keep working on it, you will eventually gain control over yourself. Being a messy person is your own perception and it can be changed if you want to. You feel that the external force, the work, is demand so much from you so that you have no control over yourself. Again, this feeling is your own perception. It is not real as you believe it is. You can change your perception over it and you will gain control over yourself more. Read the perception part of this book to change your perception.
The benefit of discipline is really great. It ranges from a simple things up to great things. You will not forget where your keys are because you put them in the same place every time. You will not be late to go to work because you can set your body alarm clock to wake you up at the same time every day. You will never get difficulty to sleep. You will never get constipation or difficulty to move your bowel. You know where to look for the things even if you are very forgetful. Since you are well prepared, your self confidence will be higher and you can do more work and gain more happiness to work because you now you can accomplish many things much more than before you learn discipline. Of course you may also gain money as you need. You can create your own new habit and erase your undesirable habit. In the long run, you will gain control your over your own emotion, feeling and thinking and knowing where you are and where are you heading to.

The Secret for Success

The Most Controversial Article So Far

Yosief Gberihwot is one of the talented bloger’s in Asmarino.com’s Hidmo Wufyat. His analysis focus in critics and usually are based on grounds of logic. However, in his recent article- Romanticizing Ghedli- he has gone too far, too controversial and too provocative. Provocative writing is good, in the sense forces society to see many questions from other angle. In this article, although there are some truth to some of his arguments, there are are wild and un reasonable arguments. Yosief went too far questioning every thing Eritrea has and tried to destroy the pride of Eritreans. He questioned the wisdom of our socity, the existence of Eritrean identity and the scarifies of our martyrs. Here is the full article to judge for your self.
http://zete9.asmarino.com/?itemid=1310

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As expected, the above mentioned article have got some response and I hope more response will come responding to the points raised in Yosief's article. For the record and reference, I will post all the responses that came in the order of their publication.
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1. The First reponse is by Amanuel Eyasu, who presented a very strong response for many of the points. Here is the link to his article.
http://asena-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=725&Itemid=104

2. The Second response was from Amanuel Hidrat. This article is a reply to a particular point of the many points Yosief has made. Yosief has questioned the existence of Eritrean Identity and nationality. Amanuel Hidrat's response is specifically targed to that point. The link to his article is here:
http://zete9.asmarino.com/?itemid=1326

3. Yosief G has now provided another explanation for his article. In this explanation, " Identity through equality by subtraction", Yosief says the myths of Eritrean identity he refered in his first article refers to the identity developed in Gedli era. here is his full article:
http://zete9.asmarino.com/?itemid=1332

4. The third response " In defence of Gedli" comes from Habtom Yohanes. Habtom promises to provide case by case response to Y. G's article and to disproof Y.G. Part one of his response is here:
http://zete9.asmarino.com/?itemid=1341

5. Another response comes from Awate's page....and indication that the discusion has expanded to other websites. in this article, "Eritrean identity: My Amicus Curie " , Simon A. Woldehaimanot provides a littreture review of studies regarding Eritrean National Identity. here is his full article:
http://www.awate.com/portal/content/view/4810/5/

6. Merhawi Mesghina: provide a brief summary of the development of Eritrean identity into what seems another response to Yosief. His article: A Cursory and Partial Historical Account on Eritrea as an Entity of Collective Identity , can be accessed in the following link.
http://zete9.asmarino.com/?itemid=1360

7. Y.G provided the second part of his article: Romanizing Gedli II and he indicated part 3 will continue. Here is the link for part two.
http://zete9.asmarino.com/?itemid=1365

8.Habtom Yohanes presented part two of his article: In Defence of Gedli II. Here is the link:
http://zete9.asmarino.com/index.php?itemid=1352

9. Habtom Yohanes again presented part three of his "In Defence of Gedli III" article.
http://zete9.asmarino.com/index.php?itemid=1375

10. Y.G's part three of Romanizing Gedli:
http://zete9.asmarino.com/index.php?itemid=1400

11. Y.G. came with an extention of his series article: this one focusing on the Orthodox church and the Tigrigna Ethnic group.
http://zete9.asmarino.com/index.php?itemid=1429

12. The discusion is now joined by Petros Batay in Assenai.com. Petros has promised to provide a series of article in response to Y.G's article. Petros told Y.G. Don’t agonize organize. Here is the first part of his article:
http://asena-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=775&Itemid=207

13. Petros Batay's part two of " Don't agonize Organize" series is here:
http://asena-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=809&Itemid=207

DISTRUCTIONS AND RESPONSES:
while the discussions generated by by Y.G articles and the responses are mainly focusing on issues, Fessehaye Woldu came on awate.com with a rude and arrogant evaluation of the blogers and the discussion. His article came shortly under critisim from one of the bloger's in Asmarino.com.
14. Here is Fessehaye Woldu's article from awate.com:
http://www.awate.com/portal/content/view/4844/12/

15. And here is the response: Criticism or Personal Attack! a response to Fessehaye Woldu's article:
http://zete9.asmarino.com/?itemid=1439

and the discusion seems will continue......Y.G. deserves for generating this discusion.

Did She Like the Zurya?

Hilaary And Chelsi in ER

Incentives Do Matter

The name of the building where my department is located is called Purnell Hall. The Building to the left of it is called Lerner Hall. The building to the right of my department is called Smith Hall…then Gore Hall… Mitchell Hall…. and the main library which is called Morris Library…….All the names are names of people…. people who have made significant contribution in the university during their life time and name of people who made significant financial contribution to the construction of the building…. the buildings are named after them in recognition of their contribution.
The name of the buildings in my undergraduate university, the university of Asmara, are….Main Campus, Dogali Campus, New Hall…College of education…….none of them are name of people…… …………

some of the most popular TV sows here are, Operah…Larry King live, the Colbert Report… all name of people… ….
the name of the TV programs on ERiTV are Bgahdi, Mozaic,…Reemna,…….none of them are named after the hosts.

Isn’t that time for us(ERITREANS) to realize that incentives do matter…. that outstanding contributors deserve recognition…that recognition is one of the best incentives…that people do respond to incentives?

Obama for Eritrea????????

As I have indicated in my previous article, the USA election has a very important impact on the lives and future of many nations through out the world. And this is especially true for Eritrea. Literally, we have waited 8 years to get a favorable administration in the white house. Some one who will give us a fair treatment…some one who will not take side with Ethiopia at the cost of justice. Some one who would build a positive relationship with our government. Now as the USA primary election shapes out, it is natural to ask which one of the primary candidates has the best menu for Eritrea.Against this background, my first choice is Congressman Ron Paul (unfortunately, he will not succeed to get the nomination, let alone the presidency. Nevertheless, if I were to vote, he would still get my vote.)

But my Eritrean fellows seem comfortable with Sen. Barak Obama. They are very enthusiastic supporters of the junior senator from Illinois. Almost all the Eritreans that I know here are his supporters. A cursory browse of the young Eritreans on facebook repeats the same story. Their facebook pages read:
Go for Obama…..Yes we can….one million strong supporters of Obama….etc,

Another an informal poll(of Eritrean visitors) in awate.com shows the following figures: Barak Obama 73% Hillary Clinton 16.9% John MacCain 3.4% Ron Paul 2.8%By all measures, Obama commands an overwhelming support among Eritreans. If only Eritreans were the electors, Obama would be the next president. But where does all this support come from? As any immigrant communities, one would expect that Eritreans would go for the candidate who would offer the best menu towards their home country. Add to that; the fact that most Eritreans support the Eritrean government and blame Washington for the worsening of the US-Eritrea relationship. Thus one would expect, from the Support of Eritreans in the USA for Obama, his presidency would bring hope for a better US-Eritrea relationship: an end to the deteriorating relationship between Washington and Asmara. But is that so?So far we haven’t heard any detailed policy of the candidates towards Africa. But we can learn a great deal of what their presidency offers from the composition of their foreign policy advisory teams. These are the people who will set the foreign policy and priority of his presidency. They are the people who will dominate the state department.
On Obama's top list of foreign policy advisory team are two familiar names to all Eritreans: Susan Rice and Anthony Lake. And that is where the hope messages disappears.

Susan Rice was Assistant Secretary of State for Africa during the Ethio-Eritrea border war(Clinton administration). And we don't have a good memory of her time in the state department. At least, the government of Preseident Iseyas Afewerki(PIA) has accused her for complicating the border conflict and for taking side with Ethiopia. In fact PIA him self has publicly dismissed her as “a 35-year old immature, inexperienced intern diplomat.” Certainly, Susan Rice will not have any sympathy for PIA.

Anthony Lake was also a special envoy of President Clinton for the Ethio-Eritrea conflict. During the two years of the conflict from 1998 to 2000, Anthony Lake has carried out a countless shuttle diplomacy between Addis Ababa- Asmara- Washington. He was the top diplomat dominating the diplomatic mission to solve the conflict. But his effort didn’t produce any fruit. Nor does it left a good memory of him. In fact, Anthony Lake, like Susan Rice, was dismissed by the Eritrean government for complicating the border conflict and the peace process. If you don’t remember some of these statements defaming Anthony Lake, I am sure you will remember the famous comedy “Enkilalo!!”

Anthony Lake was not only accused of complicating the border conflict, but after the 2001 crisis in PFDJ, he was also accused for using his shuttle diplomacy for conspiring against the Eritrean government....the kind of CIA spy behind G-13 and G-15!!!!

And now, with Obama’s presidency, both Susan Rice and Anthony Lake will be back to the sate department and to Washington. Clearly, this is not a hope menu for Eritrea and for PIA.So why do Eritreans overwhelmingly support Obama? May be they haven't paid attention to the people behind him. Or may be they like the idea that an immigrant son from East Africa is a good model for their kids. But as far as for Eritrea (and the government of PIA) is concerned, Obama provides the worst menu of all the candidates.

What is the Bigest Problem the world is facing?

It was in August 2005. I was taking English class as part of my orientation program for my TA position. We were all new international students. One day the professor asked us to ask questions with each other. So I found my self asking every student the following question:
“What is the biggest problem the world is facing?”
The response was shocking to me. But I will give u a chance to get your own response.
More than half of my classmate told me the largest problem facing the world is “Rapid population growth!” and no one said poverty or AIDS. By now you will be able to know where the majority of my classmates come from. At the beginning of the orientation, when all the international students were gathered, I felt as if I am in the national assembly of China……and I couldn’t think any thing but wish if many young Eritrea’s were there getting higher education.

In this opening statement, I am trying to show an obvious fact….that in the area of higher education, we r lagging way behind. The consequence of this lag in this era of rapid globalization is devastating. Globalization can be explained like a Darwinian theory of “ the Survival of the fittest”. And for countries, there is no better way to survive in this competition than by arming their people with science and technology…..that is why we see thousands of Assians in western universities. To arm them selves with the knowledge necessary to compete in the global economy….and of course, as china and India, they have started to reap the fruits. Their economy is growing with more than 10%.It is such unfortunate then to see our only university is closed. I can’t understand the rational for closing the university(if there is any). But I understand the consequence of it….AB ZELATA TEWESEKETA…. We will further lag in the competition and it will not be easy for us to compete in the global economy…and it will take more time to solve our problems.
When I ask my class mates what the bigest problem the world is facing....they told me the problem their home country is facing.....and now I am wondering if there were more Eritreans there, what would be their response.