Los Angeles
Ginbot 7 Movement officials Ato Andargachew Tsege and Ato Muluneh Eyuel will hold a town hall meeting in Los Angeles on July 20.
Place: Aroma Wilshire Center, Sky Hall
Address: 3680 Wilshire Blvd. #501, Los Angeles CA 90010
(Intersection of S. Sorrano Ave and Wilshire Blvd.)
Date/Time: Sunday, July 20, 2008, 2:00 PM

Dallas
UDJ representatives Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam and Ato Asrat Tasse will be in Dallas, Texas, for a public meeting.
Place: The Radisson Hotel
Address: 1981 N. Central Expressway, Richardson TX 75085
Date/Time: Sunday, July 27, 2008, at 3:00 PM
More info: Tel 972 375 1334 or 972 333 5466

San Jose
The Committee will hold a public meeting in San Jose, California, on Saturday, July 26
Guest speakers: Dr Daniel Kindie and Prof. Alemante Gebreselassie
Place: 2500 Massonic Drive, San Jose, CA 95125
Date/Time: Saturday, July 26, 2008, at 3:00 PM
More info: (408) 874-5168 or (408)719-0631

Seattle
UDJ Public meeting
Guest speakers: Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam Ato Asrat Tasse, Ato Obang Metho, and Prof. Alemayehu Gebremariam
Place: Garfield Community Center
Address: 2323 E. Cherry Street, Seattle WA 98122
Date/Time: Sunday, July 20, 2008

Executive Committee members of the Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) have decided to take a 3-day retreat in Debre Zeit, a small town about 45 km south of Addis Ababa, from July 25-28.

According to ER sources, the retreat is for the executive committee members to attend a training course on organizing, managing and leading a political party.

Meanwhile, the Woyanne-controlled National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) told UDJ leaders that they are not allowed to use the name “Andinet.” The NEBE secretary said that since there are individuals who are named “Andinet”, it cannot be used for an organization. (Don’t laugh yet. There is more.)

The UDJ executive committee is now conducting emergency meetings to try to come up with another name that the NEBE will accept. One of the suggestions they have received from Addis Ababa residents is “Union of Dancers and Jokers” (UDJ).

Meanwhile, the UDJ executive committee has appointed a 6-person inquiry committee to investigate who leaked to the media the party top leadership’s recent secret retreat in Sodore.

Going back to Debre Zeit, some council members who have found out about the planned retreat are angry that only executive committee members are going… stay tuned for more.

By Alysia Patterson, The Medill Reports

WASHINGTON — In the world of African affairs, Ethiopia and Eritrea are historically unfriendly neighbors. But in the fashion world style transcends geopolitical tussles. Three young African immigrants — one from Eritrea and two from Ethiopia — joined forces to create a t-shirt line that fuses together their old and new cultures. And they’ve just found out it’s a winning combination… Watch the video below >>

Ethiopian Review reader Ato Ayele Tena Kassa has translated the controversial article by Irish columnist Kevin Myers as follows.

Dear Editor,

I have read the commentary by Kevin Meyers you posted on July 11th — Africa is giving nothing to anyone — apart from AIDS). I have found it very important that it should also be read in Amharic by your readers. I think this helps us understand how degrading and shameful it is to live on hand out given by Westerners.

Thanks.
Ayele Tena

አፍሪካ ለዓለም ያበረከተችው ነገር ኤድስን ብቻ ነው

በ ኬቭን ሜየርስ (አይሪሽ ኢንዲፐንደንት ኒውስ)
(ትርጉም:- በአየለ ጠና ካሳ)

አይሆንም ሊጠቅምም አይችልም::የአፍሪካ ሃገሮች ዝንባብዌ ላይ ስልጣኔን የተከተለ እርምጃ ለመውሰድ እያንገራገሩ ባሉበት ባሁኑ ወቅት ኢትዮጵያ የለማኝ አቁማዳዋን ወደ ምእራባውያን ማዞር ጀምራለች:: አሁንም እንደ አምና እንደገና:: ዝነኛው ቦብ ጌልዶፍ ከ25 ዓመት በፊት “ዓለምን እንመግብ” በሚል የበጎ አድራጎት እንቅስቃሴን ከጀመረ ጀምሮ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ቁጥር ከ33.5 ሚሊየን ወደ 78 ሚሊየን አድጎዋል::

ይህ የቢል ጌትስ መርሓ ግብር ከተሳካ በሚሊዮን የሚቆጠሩ ህጻናት በጨቅላ ዕድሜ ከመቀጠፍ ይድናሉ በማለት በጉራ ይናገራሉ:: በጣም ጥሩ ግን ከዚያስ? ሁሉም ወደ እኛው ወደ ምእራቡ ዓለም ይምጡ? አዎ ይህም አንድ ሃሳብ ነው::

By CHARLIE TAYLOR, Irish Times

The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) is to make an official complaint to the Garda Síochána today about the publication of what it considers to be a racially offensive article that appeared in the Irish Independent last week.

The ICI said it believed the publication of the article, “ Africa is giving nothing to anyone – apart from AIDS ”, which was written by columnist Kevin Myers and published last Thursday, breached Section 2 of the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989.

Section 2 of the Act says it is an offence to publish or distribute written material if it is threatening, abusive or insulting and intended to, or having regarding to all of the circumstances, is likely to, stir up hatred.

In the article, Mr Myers questioned whether it was moral to save an Ethiopian child from starvation, given that it could grow up to face poverty, hunger, violence and possible sexual abuse.

He also described Africa as “almost an entire continent of sexually hyperactive indigents, with tens of millions of people who only survive because of help from the outside world.”

The ICI said it also intends to lodge an official complaint about the article with the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism.

“We believe the published article does not just overstep the boundary of common decency – it triple jumps right past that – but it also crosses the legal boundaries,” said the council’s chief executive, Denise Charlton.

“The issue at stake here has nothing to do with freedom of speech or expression. It is about respect for, and the upholding of, Ireland’s laws.

“Journalism, like any other profession, operates within the framework of the rule of law in Ireland,” added Ms Charlton.

Read the article by Kevin Myers below

Africa is giving nothing to anyone — apart from AIDS

By Kevin Myers

(Independent.ie) No. It will not do. Even as we see African states refusing to take action to restore something resembling civilisation in Zimbabwe, the begging bowl for Ethiopia is being passed around to us, yet again. It is nearly 25 years since Ethiopia’s (and Bob Geldof’s) famous Feed The World campaign, and in that time Ethiopia’s population has grown from 33.5 million to 78 million today.

So why on earth should I do anything to encourage further catastrophic demographic growth in that country? Where is the logic? There is none. To be sure, there are two things saying that logic doesn’t count.

One is my conscience, and the other is the picture, yet again, of another wide-eyed child, yet again, gazing, yet again, at the camera, which yet again, captures the tragedy of . . .

Sorry. My conscience has toured this territory on foot and financially. Unlike most of you, I have been to Ethiopia; like most of you, I have stumped up the loot to charities to stop starvation there. The wide-eyed boy-child we saved, 20 years or so ago, is now a priapic, Kalashnikov-bearing hearty, siring children whenever the whim takes him.

There is, no doubt a good argument why we should prolong this predatory and dysfunctional economic, social and sexual system; but I do not know what it is. There is, on the other hand, every reason not to write a column like this.

It will win no friends, and will provoke the self-righteous wrath of, well, the self-righteous, letter-writing wrathful, a species which never fails to contaminate almost every debate in Irish life with its sneers and its moral superiority. It will also probably enrage some of the finest men in Irish life, like John O’Shea, of Goal; and the Finucane brothers, men whom I admire enormously. So be it.

But, please, please, you self-righteously wrathful, spare me mention of our own Famine, with this or that lazy analogy. There is no comparison. Within 20 years of the Famine, the Irish population was down by 30pc. Over the equivalent period, thanks to western food, the Mercedes 10-wheel truck and the Lockheed Hercules, Ethiopia’s has more than doubled.

Alas, that wretched country is not alone in its madness. Somewhere, over the rainbow, lies Somalia, another fine land of violent, Kalashnikov-toting, khat-chewing, girl-circumcising, permanently tumescent layabouts.

Indeed, we now have almost an entire continent of sexually hyperactive indigents, with tens of millions of people who only survive because of help from the outside world.

This dependency has not stimulated political prudence or commonsense. Indeed, voodoo idiocy seems to be in the ascendant, with the next president of South Africa being a firm believer in the efficacy of a little tap water on the post-coital penis as a sure preventative against infection. Needless to say, poverty, hunger and societal meltdown have not prevented idiotic wars involving Tigre, Uganda, Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea etcetera.

Broad brush-strokes, to be sure. But broad brush-strokes are often the way that history paints its gaudier, if more decisive, chapters. Japan, China, Russia, Korea, Poland, Germany, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the 20th century have endured worse broad brush-strokes than almost any part of Africa.

They are now — one way or another — virtually all giving aid to or investing in Africa, whereas Africa, with its vast savannahs and its lush pastures, is giving almost nothing to anyone, apart from AIDS.

Meanwhile, Africa’s peoples are outstripping their resources, and causing catastrophic ecological degradation. By 2050, the population of Ethiopia will be 177 million: The equivalent of France, Germany and Benelux today, but located on the parched and increasingly protein-free wastelands of the Great Rift Valley.

So, how much sense does it make for us actively to increase the adult population of what is already a vastly over-populated, environmentally devastated and economically dependent country?

How much morality is there in saving an Ethiopian child from starvation today, for it to survive to a life of brutal circumcision, poverty, hunger, violence and sexual abuse, resulting in another half-dozen such wide-eyed children, with comparably jolly little lives ahead of them? Of course, it might make you feel better, which is a prime reason for so much charity. But that is not good enough.

For self-serving generosity has been one of the curses of Africa. It has sustained political systems which would otherwise have collapsed.

It prolonged the Eritrean-Ethiopian war by nearly a decade. It is inspiring Bill Gates’ programme to rid the continent of malaria, when, in the almost complete absence of personal self-discipline, that disease is one of the most efficacious forms of population-control now operating.

If his programme is successful, tens of millions of children who would otherwise have died in infancy will survive to adulthood, he boasts. Oh good: then what?I know. Let them all come here. Yes, that’s an idea.

The author can be reached at [email protected]

By Tedla Yeneakal, The Capital

Major towns throughout Ethiopia have been hit by a major shortage of diesel fuel, starting Thursday, July 10, 2008 this week, gas stations were congested with vehicles queuing to fill up their tanks. Damenu Kibret, Public Relations head of the Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise (EPE), told Capital that the shortage occurred from reduced supply at retail companies.

Relevant government officials are discussing with oil retail firms to particularly identify the main factor behind the shortage. However, an official of one of the oil companies blamed EPE for the shortage saying that the enterprise has restricted supply of diesel by setting quotas to limit the amount that enters the country. “The amount was not restricted before, now there is a limit on imports that has been put in place,” said an official from one of the retailing companies.

During the first nine months of the current Ethiopian year, the country spent slightly over 10 billion birr on fuel imports of 1.37 million tons, an increase in the volume of fuel imports during the same period by 10 percent.

The cost of fuel import has been a major element offsetting gains in the export sector, where it has been consuming up to 80 percent of foreign currency secured from international trade previously. Although export earnings were said to grow by about 30 percent, the rate at which fuel import bills have increased has offset the gains. With world oil price hikes continuing unabated, fuel import bills for the current fiscal year are expected to hit well over the amount of export earnings expected to be secured during the same period.

The outcome of the meeting between the Ethiopian government and oil retailing firms did not finalize as Capital went to print.