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Paul Collier on the "bottom billion" | Video on TED.com

Paul Collier on the "bottom billion" | Video on TED.com

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Eritrea football team 'absconds' in Kenya

.....But when the team plane landed back home, it was reportedly only carrying the coach and an official.

The government, which is frequently accused of repression, denies any players are missing.

But the country's football federation confirmed to Cecafa head Nicholas Musonye that the players had not returned. For full report, follow the link here...

A Must Read Article

Semere Tesfai responds to the articles of Ali Salim and his colleague. I thought this is the best response I read so far. Read it here...

Check This Document

Eritrea a Nation Held Hostage

Eritrea a Nation Held Hostage

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Private Colleges Will be Allowed in Eritrea....

In an interview with sbaebia.com, Dr.Tadese Mehari indicated private colleges will be allowed in Eritrea. This would be important as it will introduce competition both among the students, teachers and colleges. However, he says the private colleges are not allowed to recruit professors from the public colleges.....they are required to bring their own Professors. This, ineffect, will undo the benefits of having private colleges in the country. Read his interview here.

Top ten Nobel Prize rows

As the controversy over whether President Barak Obama deserves this year's Peace Noble Prize award continues, Timesonline has published the top ten rows involving the award of Noble Prize in the history of Noble Prize. These include from a cases of two physicist who were awarded to share the award, but refused to receive because of the row between them, Adolf Hitler's nomination for peace Noble Prize of 1939, and the 1998 Nobel Prize for Medicine which went to a scientist whose work led to the discovery of Viagra. Read the complete 10 list here.

Avoiding Resource Curse in ERi

As Eritrea prepares to starts its first Gold production and with so many foreign companies rushing to get hold of Eritrea's undiscovered Gold, Mewael Frezgi provides advise on how Eritrea can avoid the so called 'resource curse". Read his suggestions here.

Measuring Economic Progress

French president Sarkozy and Nobel prize winners Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen. propose a change in measuring countries economic progress. The current metric which focuses primarly on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is often ctiticized for ignoring other factors vital to the well-being of society. The new proposed measure will include broad catagories such as meaures of hapiiness and welbeing, environmental protection and work/life balance as well as economic output. To read more follow the link.

The Gold are Coming Soon!

The finacial times has the following report on Eritrea's Gold production...

The first commercial production is due to begin in the third quarter of next year when the Bisha mine opens on a site in western Eritrea that contains nearly 1m ounces of gold, said Alem Kibreab, director-general of mines at the Ministry of Energy and Mines.

Bisha is being developed by Nevsun Resources, a junior mining company listed in Toronto, which has a 60 per cent stake in the project. The remaining 40 per cent is held by Eritrea’s state-owned mining company. Beneath its layer of gold the site has about 700m pounds of copper and 1bn pounds of zinc.

The eight companies awarded new exploration licences this year include Andiamo Exploration and London Africa from the UK; South Boulder Mines from Australia; India’s Spice Metals & Minerals; and Zhongchang Mining of China. A total of 14 foreign companies are now in the country.

Eritrea is “highly prospective ground”, said Kevin Tomlinson, managing director of the mining practice at Thomas Weisel, an investment bank. “It’s in a very prolific geological corridor that runs from Egypt along the Red Sea, down through Sudan to Eritrea, and then to Somalia and the northern tip of Madagascar. That’s where a lot of the pharaohs’ gold came from,” he said.

Eritrea’s deposits are not likely to be larger than those in South Africa or the Democratic Republic of Congo, but income from royalties, taxes and new jobs could ease the government’s fiscal problems and spread more wealth among its 5m or so people, many of them living on the margins of survival. To read more click here.

In The Name of the People.....

The prime minister of Ethiopia has lied for his people and the world for 5 years...saying this is his last term and he will step down in 2010. Now, he will stay in power because his people wanted him! Really? there is no one like Meles in the 80 million Ethiopians? in the name of the people? What an insult! of course no one expect him to giveup easily, but it still drives me nuts to read the following...

Ethiopia Prime Minster Meles Zenawi will seek for a new five-year term, his ruling party announced on Tuesday. The 54 year-old former guerrilla leader, who has been in power for 18 years, was convinced by party members to stay on. The Ethiopian People Democratic Front (EPRDF) council underlined that the Ethiopian people and his party need Mr Zenawi for one more term at the end of a two day annual gathering. "Meles is playing a key role in transforming Ethiopia...." EPRDF said in a statement.

African Entrepreneurs

The freakonimics blog of the NY Times has some interesting stories about creative African Entrepreneurs, who also believ entrepreneurship rather than food aid is the way out for Africa. Follow the link to read those stories.

Friendship between a Man and Lions

Should English be a Working Language of Eritrea?

Mogos Tekeste proposes English to be the working language of Eritrea. He argues this will have two advanatages. First it avoids politiciazation of the language issue and second it provides Eritrea a comparative advanateg in the glabal economy. I think his proposal deserves consideration. Read his article here.

Leading Eritrean Politicians of the 1950's

Somehow, browsing over old pages of awate.com, I came through a list of leading Eritrean politicians of the 1950's. The list and information about the persons was provided by the British administration in Eritrea to the government of the United Kingdom (1950).I found it interesting. I thought some people may also want to read it. If you are, follow the link here.

Eritrean Green Movement?

Did anyone know how many movements and political parties are in the opposition camp? So many.... that they have to take all the names in the dictionary of political parties. Here is one name that catched my eyes...

Eritrean Green Movement for Social Reconciliation, Justice and Ecological Wisdom! mknay trah mknay...

So many Reasons to be Thankful

The Good Life

Ethiopia's First Commodity Exchange Market

Pbs has run yesterday one hour story about Ethiopia's first commodity exchange market(well, actually it was more about the founder than about the market it self- I wish the reporter focused more about the market than about the founder, but a nice story for Pbs to go there and do that). It is very interesting to see the experiment- introducing a Chicago style commodity exchange market to rural Ethiopia. If the theory works, the increase in efficiency of the market should benefit the poor farmers. This should be a good step for Ethiopia in terms of monetizing the huge rural sector ann linking it to the main stream economy.
One also has to notice how the market in Eritrea and Ethiopia are diverting. One facilitates the move towards a modern market based economy and the other closes all the markets and replaces them with an old "Kebele" system....
Here is the Pbs story

I Hate Wedi-Tuqabo Now

I was a strong wedi-tuqabo fan...until I read this story. I hate him now.

Dehai to Write Petition to Ali Abdu

A group of hard line dehaiers are writing a petition to Ali Abdu to ban hip hop and Amharic music from ERi-TV. Below is part of the petition...(as a mater of fact, I agree with them).

Sorry for bothering you but, I am writing you this e-mail as I am
watching "BET-MTV", I mean Eri-Tv. The Music Video it is shown right now
is so despicable to say the least. Could you please draft a petition
letter to be signed by a concerned citizen and ask Ali Abdu to put his
house in order. I will be the first person to sign it. Self reliance
should not be limited only to infrastructures. Why complain about the
CIA trying to corrupt the minds of the youth while you doing it yourself
on your national TV for free?

The Rise of Neo-Andnet and Neo-Alrabita

These days, reading the Eritrean websites seems like reading the 1940’s Eritrean news papers…even though it has been 70 years now. I thought those periods produce their own momentum and were closed with a dear blood. I thought the 1940’s was history…keman eka Alem Seged wrote a two volume history on those days? isn't that long enough or is history repeating it self? Here is some of the GNAMGNAM…

The Neo-Andnet Group:
This group is led by Professor Tesfazion Medhanie, Professor Tekeste Negash and their student Yosief Gebrihiwot…all Eritreans.

1. Professor Tekeste Negash continues to argue Eritrean nationalism was based on false premise and prescribes Eritrea to go back to her mother Ethiopia(and not to Sudan). Read his article to see his degree of hate. But Caution: he is Historian and he can mislead you with his narration:
2. His student Yosief Gebrihiwet continues his hate of Ghedli and asks “Is it worth the sacrifice we made for our independence?”…actually reading the article by Yosief after reading Tekeste Negash’s article shows you where he is getting the lecture. Without any shame, Yosief argues our founding fathers were wrong to ask for independence of Eritrea and if they have the wisdom and foresight he has, they would have never wanted independence.
3. Professor Tesfazion Medhanie proposes a confederation with Ethiopia.
4. Shaleqa Dawit Weldegerghis, a former governor of Eritrea under the Derge regime, warns his Ethiopian fellow to avoid the mistakes Haileslasie and Derge did…” don’t rush now” and adds “we have to accept Eritrean independence and work together with our Eritrean brothers”…As if we don’t know their strategy of “mekormeyi zrekebes’ mesafihi neysin”

The above are those visible in the neo-Andnet group, but there others too.

The other group on the rise is the Neo-Alrabita. Read Some of the articles here:
1. Uncharted Territory by Ali Salim
2. Hade Hizbi K'ilte Lbi by Ali Salim
3. Shifta Ghebre on the Move Again by Mohammed Ahmed

Prof. Asmerom Legesse: Ageb Ayfalkmun!

A friend of mine forwarded me the following link. Prof. Asmerom Legesse was on ERi-TV's open Mic and I can't believe what the good professor was talking about. The discussion was in relation to a conference held in Asmara about "Democracy in Africa" sponsored by Libya to sell Gadaf's Green Book. (for those of you who are not familiar with green book, it is Gadafi's version of democracy or Gadafi's manual of how to rule for life). Prof. Asmerom have presented a paper on this conference. That was the first mistake he made: by presenting a paper in the conference, he has effectively endorsed the the tone of the conference. The second mistake was what he said on the Interview. For that, I don't even want to comment. I will let you hear for your self. Click here to watch the interview.

Some Good News!

The following report from WHO's report indicates Eritreans now are living much longer than they use in the 1990's:

Eritrea in East Africa increased its average life expectancy during that period by 33 years to 61 for men and by 12 years to 65 for women. On the other side of the continent, in Liberia, the figure for men jumped 29 years to 54, and rose 13 years to 58 for women. Angola, Bangladesh, Maldives, Niger, and East Timor also increased average life expectancies for both sexes by a full 10 years.

Check the report here

The Power of Overconfidence

INFO....

If any one is looking on some background info about ERN economy, the Non-aligned movement news network has some dry facts. It is not an updated and complete, but can serve as a starting point. Here is the link...

Great Cartoons Peter

I found great cartoons by Peter Kahsai in meseley.net. Peter is a graduate of University of Asmara and a great artist. I had a chance to see one of his exibitions in Asmara.


To see more cartoons of Peter, click here

The Value of Education in Traditional ERN Society

I was reading an article in awate.com by Bereketeab Habtemariam and found an interesting story he relates. The story is about how village elders (traditiona leaders of Eritrea) value education. Since the article is not about value of eucation and the story is in the middle of the article, many people may not read the story if they didn't read the entire article. so I decided to give it another visibility here........

About a dozen years ago in Asmara, I remember meeting a former teacher by the name of Ato Gebremikael who told me this beautiful story. It was during the federal administration in Eritrea. At that time he was a fresh graduate of the then Teachers’ Training Institute and, as the rule would have it then, his first assignment was at Keshe’At, a village off the road to Zalambesa. He was the only and the first teacher to be assigned there. On his first day, as was customary, he was ushered into the house of the village chief where he meets the chief and the head village priest. The room, where the chief received his guests, was simply furnished with two locally made armchairs and low lying clay sitting-beds, clad wish sheepskin, extending along the inner walls. One of the armchairs was for the chief and the other for an honoured guest; others sat on the clay sitting-beds even if the guest armchair may have been vacant – village protocol. So, when Ato Gebremikael was received by both gentlemen, the village priest stands up and offers him the armchair he had been sitting on. In total amazement and shock, Ato Gebremikael refuses to sit on the armchair saying that would be an act of disrespect. But the village priest insists and, after the chief strongly expressed his agreement, Ato Gebremikael reluctantly accepts the offer and sits. Then, the priest gives him a piece of advice telling him that it was not because he was a teacher that the armchair was offered to him, it was rather because of the knowledge he carried in his head.


Such was the respect that our parents used to render to education and the educated. Next to a priest’s, himself an educated person, the positions of a teacher and that of a physician were revered in Eritrea. When they spoke, people listened and followed. Now! Who is not willing to listen and follow our elite group had it not compromised and undermine its own position?



To read the entire article, click here.

Question: This story demonstrates how leaders in traditional ERN society value education. How does the current leader value education? ---> "Ezom Temahirna Zblu Cheletat..."

President on Hunger Strike

Hunger strikes are a common means of getting attention and demanding justice by prisoners. But hunger strike by sitting President is worth of news. President Evo Morales of Bolivia went on a hunger strike this week when his country's congress rejected his new proposal. The president went on hunger strike for five days and ended the strike only after Bolivia's congress approved election code changes he had demanded. Read more on the story here

Question: What would PIA do if the Eritrean Parlament refused
to approve his legislation?

Fighting in EU's Court: the Rulling

The opposition camp has lost the fight on EU's 122 million Euro aid plan to Eritrea. EU has decided to give the aid without any precondition despite all the cries from the opposition. I think this can be considered as the opposition's failure to convince EU than a victory by the pro-government efforts.

The Instruction on EastAfro.com

Here is the instruction on eastafro.com.....

ONLY FOR NETWORKING - NO POLITICS, RELIGION, REGIONALISM, or BAD LANGUAGE is allowed. VIOLATORS will be BANNED.

and another one....

What did you think about Maere Movie? Did it meet or exceed you expectations? What kind of movies would you like to see from ERI-TV next? Leave your non-political comments for the producers of Maere and ERI-TV below.

The Top Blogs

If you are a fun of the blog sphere and wanted to follow some of the top blogs on earth, check the ranking of blogs by wikio.Among the thousands of blogs, those who make it to the top ranking are mostly political blogs with some technology and sport related blogs. check the ranking here.

Ente Zeyt Nwn'weni Men Mexdefeni!

Another sad news of last week is the death of Eritreans in Sudan by an unknown air strike, possibly by Israel. Assenna.com on Saturday March 28 reported the following:

Nine Eritrean army officers were killed in a surprise air attack on January 12 while traveling to Egypt, leading a convoy of 17 trucks full of arms that was to be smuggled to Hamas, late reports coming from Asmara indicated. The report disclosed that a colonel, Afwerqi Mosazgi, six Majors and two captains…

Hadas Eritra on March 28 denied the killed Eritreans were army officers. instead, it stated the air strike killed human trafic crossing boarder to Egypt and among the killed were Eritreans...(check here page 2 of the news paper).

To me, whether they were army officers on a mission or Eritreans crossing boarder for better life, they are fellow Eritreans.....who have families and friends, mothers and children...it is VERY SAD we lost them forever and for nothing.
as for the government "Ente Zeyt Nwn'weni men mexdefeni" eyu negeru....
....even if these ERitreans were crossing boarders in search of better life, like thousands of others, it is because they couldn't find it in their own home country.

Friday Night is Surprised with an Offer!

I just got this email below and I am thrilled! Thanks my visitors for your frequent visits have attracted the attention. It was fun to see we make it through. But get assured Friday Night will continue Add free. So my response was “Thanks but No Thanks”
…………………………………………………………………………………………

From: "karima.b@wikimetro.org"
Subject: Friday Night, Newark Wikimetro BlogAd Inquiry
Date: Friday, 27 March, 2009 7:54:23
To:XXXXX

Michael,
We want to know if you'll partner with us to accept advertising on your blog Friday Night? We have received 20 page views this week for your blog Friday Night, and our BlogAd total for Newark, Delaware area blogs is 530 this week.

Our website, www.wikimetro.org, is the largest online BlogAd marketplace with more than 50,000 blogs in more than 2,300 US cities and towns. Ads on blogs that partner with wikimetro have replaced newspapers to become the best choice for advertising by local businesses, and many bloggers listed on wikimetro now make their full income by writing blogs that carry ads for local businesses.

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

Remember the controversy around the EU’s aid plan to Eritrea and how Eritreans are fighting to influence EU decision which will be signed officially on May of this year? The fight is continuing, but it is taking a different strategy. The pro-government website Bdiho.com has taken a petition to support EU’s aid plan (development aid in cash as is the original plan from EU). Given the extreme famine in ER, totally opposing any form of aid is morally and strategically an attractive position for those in the opposition. Pro-government websites such as meskerem.net has already started exploiting the opposition’s stand on the EU aid plan. Now Asmarino.com and Awate.com has come with a new petition….Yes to Food Aid but No to Cash. This looks a smart move…. And it will be interesting to see which camp will collect the highest petition signature.
To sign the petition, click here or on the picture above.

Obama Appoints New Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

President Obama has a pointed Johnnie Carson as the next US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs to replace Jendayi Frazer. With little interest given to Africa in US foreign policy, this is the most important position where US policies towards Africa are shaped. This is specially true for Ethio-Eritrea issues. I didn't get any information if he has any different position on Ethio/Eritrea than his predecessor. However, his resume shows he has extensive career related to Africa and is more familiar with Ethio-Eritrea issues than two of his predecessors. He was also the principal deputy of Assistant Secretary to Africa during the Ethio-Eritrea border conflict (1997-1999).His resume includes three term Ambassadorship to Kenya (1999–2003), Zimbabwe (1995–1997) and Uganda (1991–1994), Peace Corp Service in Tanzania and many other positions related to Africa. He is currently the national intelligence officer for Africa on the National Intelligence Council. Read more on his background here

PIA Continues his Show-off Defiance to the International Community

Today president Omer Al-Beshir made his first visit outside his country to Eritrea after convicted by the ICC. The New York Times reported

“In a snub of the International Criminal Court, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan traveled on Monday to Eritrea, barely three weeks after the court issued a warrant for his arrest on war crimes charges for atrocities committed in Darfur, news agencies reported.”

To ERNs, the question should be what do we gain by showing such defiance to the entire international community? Is it to our benefit? It should be remembered that the good diplomatic relation between Eritrea and the west, especially with U.S.A, started to deteriorate after PIA disobeyed the ban on Libya and visited Gadafi on summer 1997….and today’s defiance may also vanish any hopes that PIA will improve his diplomatic approach with new USA administration.