The Obama Administration has requested Congress $583.5 million in assistance for Ethiopia’s genocidal junta for FY 2011, according to the U.S. Department of State, Office of Foreign Assistance.
This amount does not include grants and loans from other U.S. Government branches.
The U.S. Congress has not approved the budget yet. The new Congress under Republican leadership is well-advised to reject the budget request since most of the money goes into the pockets of TPLF junta leaders Meles Zenawi and wife Azeb Mesfin. The rest goes to buy weapons that are used to brutalize the people of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia’s Aselefech Mergia wins the Dubai Marathon in the Women’s field today and her fellow Ethiopian Eshetu Wendimu finished third in the men’s field. In both fields Ethiopians dominated the course. In the women course 6 out of the top tens finishers are Ethiopians, while five Ethiopian men were in the top ten.
Men
Place name /country time/prize in US$
1 David BARMASAI, KEN, 2.07.18 250k
2 Evans CHERUYIOT, KEN 2.08.17 100k
3 Eshetu WENDIMU, ETH 2.08.54 50k
4 Deressa CHIMSA, ETH 2.09.08 25k
5 Stephen KOSGEI, KEN 2.09.27 15k
6 Berhanu BEKELE, ETH 2.09.54 14k
7 Emanuel SAMAL, KEN 2.10.27 13k
8 Adil ANANNI, MOR 2.11.15 12k
9 Dereje TESFAYE, ETH 2.13.26 11k
10 Alebachaw DEBAS, ETH 2.13.39 10k
Women
1 Aselefech MERGIA, ETH 2:22:45 250k
2 Lydia CHEROMEI, KEN 2.23.01 100k
3 Isabella ANDERSSON, SWE, 2.23.41 50k
4 Atsede HABTAMU, ETH 2.24.26 25k
5 Atsede BAYISA, ETH 2.25.08 15k
6 Diana CHEPKEMOI, KEN 2.26.53 14k
7 Genet GETANEH, ETH 2.27.13 13k
8 Werknesh KIDANE, ETH 2.27.15 12k
9 Helena KIROP, KEN 2.27.41 11k
10 Feysa BORU, ETH 2.30.23 10k
DUBAI (IAAF) A torrid early pace put paid to a really fast time in Dubai on Friday morning, and after three consecutive victories for the most famous marathoner in the world, Haile Gebrselassie, it was the relatively unknown David Barmasai of Kenya who won today’s Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, in 2.07.18.
On a temperate morning for the Emirate, just 21C with low humidity, it was nevertheless a strong headwind in the second half of the race that robbed Ethiopian Aselefech Mergia of the women’s course record. She won in 2.22.45, five seconds outside her best (3rd in London 2010), and just three seconds short of her compatriot, Berhane Adere’s record of 2008. But first place prize money of $250,000, for both winners, will go a long way towards softening that disappointment.
The men took off in assault of Gebrselassie’s World record 2.03.59, and a group of 20, including race favourite Eliud Kiptanui of Kenya were within reach for the first 15km, which took 44.38. But by halfway in 62.46, the possibility had already gone, as had nearly half the contenders.
Shortly afterwards, pacemaker Stephen Kibet only had Kiptanui and Barmasai for company, and when Kibet throttled back at his allotted 30km, and Kiptanui shot away, the race looked settled. But the 21-year-old, who had run 2.05.39 in Prague last May suddenly clutched his side less than a kilometre later, and dropped out, leaving Barmasai to struggle through the final kilometres alone.
Despite his pace dropping considerably, from under three minutes per kilometre to 3.38 by the final one, the 22-year-old had done sufficient damage to his pursuers, to maintain a minute advantage by the end.
This was Barmasai’s third marathon, and his first trip outside Kenya. His only previous claim to fame was in winning the Nairobi Marathon in 2.10.31, at around 1600 metres (one mile) altitude last October.
Today’s result seemed as much of a surprise to himself as to his experienced opponents and the onlookers. “I didn’t really expect to win,” he said in the finish area, immediately after the race. “I was thinking to finish in the top ten. That’s why I kept behind the leading group up to halfway.
“I was afraid of Kiptanui, I was surprised to leave him behind, I thought he’ll come again later. Then I looked for him, and couldn’t see him. It was tough finding myself alone after 30km, and at 35km the wind was really affecting me. But I’m happy to win on my first trip outside my country”.
After two years of injury following his win in Chicago 2008(2.06.25), Evans Cheruiyot rallied into the headwind, and finished second, in 2.08.17, relegating Ethiopian Eshetu Wendimu to a third consecutive third place here, this time in 2.08.54.
After winning a bronze medal in the IAAF World Championships in Berlin 18 months ago, Mergia said that she suffered, “a lot of leg problems”. They were still evident when she finished clutching her left thigh, which went into spasm immediately afterwards.
But she had held the problems in check long enough to outpace the now veteran Lydia Cheromei of Kenya, who had shocked the athletics world exactly 20 years ago, when she won the World Junior Cross Country title at the tender age of 13.
“I was just a baby then,” said a cheery Cheromei, who is now a mother of five year old Faith. “I did not expect still to be running, at 33”.
It was her fourth marathon, as it was for Mergia, who reckoned that but for favouring her legs, she might have clocked closed to 2.20, a time she has always looked capable of doing since her first marathon two years ago.
She eased away from Cheromei with two kilometres to run, and said through an interpreter that it wasn’t until another kilometre later that she knew she would win. Cheromei clocked a personal best by close to three minutes, with 2.23.01. And the Kenyan born former orienteer, Isabella Andersson took another minute and a half off the Swedish record, finishing third in 2.23.40.
A young Ethiopian movie producer who worked as a store clerk to supplement his income was shot and killed early Thursday in Atlanta.
(WSBTV.com) — The robbery occurred just after 3 AM on January 20, police said. Store owner Narendar Kour said the clerk, Jagama Beyene (also known as Jack Wizzy), opened a screen glass window above the counter and was met by 3 robbers.
Police surrounded the Citgo Glenwood Food Mart at 2315 Glenwood Avenue, which was marked by several bullet holes and shattered glass. Officers were talking to at least two witnesses.
Jagama Beyene, 26, was then shot in the stomach, and the robbers took the drawer from the cash register and ran, according to authorities.
“At some point during the robbery attempt we believe the suspect discharged his weapon at least four to five times,” said Atlanta police Lt. Keith Meadows.
Officers said they found money scattered on the floor of the business along with shell casings.
Paramedics took Beyene to the hospital, but authorities said he later died at the hospital.
Detectives said they were working to get the store’s surveillance cameras.
Kour was upset and said the killing was senseless. “If you want money, just take the money and go,” she said.
A witness, Vernon Owensby said he was sitting in his car outside the store at the time of the robbery. He said he saw two young men go into the store. A third man stopped at the door, as if to stand watch, he said.
“Then I heard shots. Then they broke out the door running and started shooting out here,” Owensby said.
He said once they left, he ran in to check on the clerk.
“I thought he was just ducking down or something, and I called him, and he was laying on the floor, so I called the police,” he said.
Another witnesses told police the men got away in a burgundy pick-up truck.
Jagama, or Jasck Wizzy as most of his friends call him, had recently launched a new documentary film titled “Habeshan Filega.”
In his Facebook page Jagama’s friends are expressing their shock and grief at the senseless killing of such a hardworking and talented person.
Here we are celebrating New Year in Tahesas. Accepting January, as Meskerem is a tall order. Enqutatash or Adis Amet is Adey Abeba blanketing the mountains with its vibrant bright yellow colors and the sun shining with all its strength. We are in the middle of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere. It is dark, cold and gloomy.
That was a weak ago. Last Friday the sun shone a little brighter. It felt like spring. We Ethiopians gave each other a knowing smile. We all felt empowered. Guess who was generating this intense feeling of a new beginning. It is no other than little Tunisia, electrifying Africa and the Middle East. Last Friday Tunisia got rid of a malignant tumor.
It was only a year and three months ago Tunisia’s President Zinedine Ben Ali won a landslide victory, with 89.62%. Last Friday the honorable President was forced to flee for his life. How does an 89.62 percent winner turn into a refugee so fast? That is the nature of the dictatorship business. Just like an earthquake, it is unpredictable. Ben Ali is just a new inductee into that infamous Hall of Fame for “Scumbags of Humanity.” He follows the footsteps of Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko, Shah of Iran, Augusto Pinochet, Mengistu Haile Mariam and my personal favorite Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena.
As you read this, political refugee (actually fleeing criminal) Zinedine Ben Ali and former first lady Leila are camped in Saudi Arabia unsure of what tomorrow is going to bring. It will not be far fetched to say that the former mafia bosses are shell-shocked unable to comprehend what has unfolded and definitely under sedation. Unfortunate for the duo this is not some bad dream or a bad acid trip. It is real baby! How did they get into this mess?
Tunisia is located in North Africa between Libya and Algeria and has a population of ten and a half million. It got its independence from France in 1956. The first President Habib Bourguiba became the first dictator and stayed in power until doctors declared him ‘unfit to rule’ in 1987. Mr. Zinedine Ben Ali who was the Prime Minster became the President. That was twenty-three years ago.
Former dictator president Zinedine Ben Ali is a crafty fellow in the sense of being devious and cruel. He knew how to talk the language of Democracy, Human Rights, freedom of expression and free enterprise. That was for foreign consumption. It gave his enablers a fig leaf to hide behind. Ben Ali’s Tunisia was one big prison.
Dictator Ali went to military schools both in France and the USA. He worked his way up from Security Chief to being the Prime Minister. His style of leadership is the envy of every African dictator. Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia has mentioned him plenty of times as an example of good leadership and stability. Zambia has awarded him its highest medal. Tunisia has even won the United Nations E- government Award for ‘excellence in serving the public interest. I told you he was good. With Algeria on his left projecting symptoms of a ‘failed state’ and Libya to his right run by a poster child for ‘grandiose delusion’ symptoms, Ben Ali looked like an oasis of stability. To prove it Tunisia never failed to hold elections since Ben Ali came to power. The elections held in ’89, ’94, 04, and as recent as 2009 were all won By Ben Ali and his party with over 90% approval.
The real face of Tunisia was completely different than the picture presented by Ben Ali and family. The real Tunisia was a one Party State belonging to Zinedine Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi. Economic regulations, and legal procedures did not apply to the Ben Ali clan. First Lady Leila was the most hated person Tunisia. She even deserved her own report on Wiki Leaks. Here is a quote:
“Corruption in the inner circle is growing. Even average Tunisians are now keenly aware of it, and the chorus of complaints is rising. Tunisians intensely dislike, even hate, first lady Leila Trabelsi and her family. In private, regime opponents mock her; even those close to the government express dismay at her reported behavior.
Her greed was so legendary she was dubbed the Imelda Marcos of the Arab world and the ‘Regent of Carthage’ for her power behind the throne and her love of money, luxury cars and shopping spree.
The one party state did not allow dissent, banned political parties unless approved by the state, closed all independent media outlets and used Cisco filters to block free web sites. The prisons were full of political opponents and the most educated and those that have connections first impulse was to leave. The safest option for investment for those with money was real estate or off shore account. Both do not contribute to sustainable economic growth. The rampant corruption, unemployment, inflation and general hopelessness was spiraling out of control.
Mohamed Bouaziz a 26-year old unemployed college graduate became the flash point that started a prairie fire. When the police confiscated his fruit cart regarding permit issue, Mr. Bouaziz drew the line in the sand and said enough. He set himself on fire. The day was Friday December 17th. The people of Tunisia felt a jolt of ‘anti fear’ laser tease. Twenty-eight days later on Friday January 17th. Coward Ben Ali and cruel and mean Leila fled not knowing who will welcome them. Shock is an understatement.
Today, the interim government is hunting down former officials and palace lovers and state television reported the arrest for “crimes against Tunisia” of 33 members of Mr. Ben Ali’s family, many of whom grew rich from their connections. Let justice begin.
Is what happened to dictator Ben Ali out of the ordinary? Can it be duplicated? Both are valid questions. What happened in Tunisia is not unique. The saying ‘where there is oppression there is resistance’ is a universal truth. The human spirit soars when it is free. It is also true that dominance over others is an aphrodisiac. There will always be a few individuals that will shine brighter than others. Most will leave a lasting legacy and generations will utter their names with fondness and admiration. A few are considered a curse. Poverty of mind and spirit is their making. What happened in Tunisia has happened in Iran, Ethiopia, Philippines, Poland, East Germany, Romania, Zaire and more. Dictators never learn.
No one has been able to predict the ‘tipping point’ where fear is replaced by empowerment. Not political scientists, sociologists or human behavior psychologists. What opens the floodgates of discontent could be anything.
Rosa Parks’s refusal to give her seat to a white person is considered the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, the firing of Anna Walentynowicz, a shipyard worker in Gdansk, Poland gave birth to the Solidarity Movement that ushered in the unraveling of the Soviet System, and now Mohamed Bouaziz’s personal protest is felt all over the world.
Ethiopian television, radio, newspapers, websites have made it a policy not to mention Tunisia. Controlling the flow of information is job number one of any dictatorship. The regime spends millions of hard earned currency to misinform, jam, block use physical coercion to keep the population in ignorance. It is a futile attempt. Where there is oppression there is resistance.
I am sure crafty Ben Ali must have tried all kinds of gimmicks to turn away the tide of discontent. Sitting in his palace isolated from daily life he was sure that his people like him. The fool probably believed it too. I am sure he blamed the Diaspora, Islamists or other perceived enemies for the problem he created.
Our Ethiopia has its own uniqueness. Our country has been in turmoil since the early ‘70s. The over forty years of chaos have rendered us numb and confused. Killing, lying, cheating and using each other has become the norm. Fear has become our middle name. We don’t not only trust the government but mistrust among friends, neighbors or family has taken away our ability to unite. Our psych has been scared and requires careful handling. We are a very wounded people.
Ben Ali and Meles Zenawi are two different animals. The TPLF boss has his own private army, his own private Federal Police and boasts of emasculated Bantustan chiefs. Meles Zenawi can also count on the citizens he drove out of the country to turn around and contribute heavily to his welfare. According to the World Bank the Diaspora contributes over $3 billion US to prop up the ethnic junta. In a nutshell we are contributing for our own slavery.
That being said, fortunate for us ‘dictatorship’ carries its own destruction in its womb. No amount of Party organized bullying, Kebele based spying, Federal Police killing, fostering inter-ethnic strife will interfere with the inevitable collapse of a totalitarian state. As I said no one can predict when but all agree the system will explode. It is not a matter of if but when.
Oppressed people approach the problem from two fronts. The first is building up organizations that will act as a catalyst to hasten the inevitable collapse of the dictatorship. We are doing that. The many Diaspora organizations involved in doing community work in exposing the ethnic based regime are the source of our pride. Since the stolen elections of 2005 our force have shown both maturity and muscle. Such Organizations as Ginbot7, Andenet, OLF, SMNE, ONLF and others are doing a good job. The second front is winning the hearts and minds of our people. The best example of that is ESAT. Ethiopian Satellite TV is working hard to level the playing field when it comes to unfettered information. ESAT is our lethal weapon. ESAT will inform our people so they can make a smart decision based on facts not Berket Semeon’s concocted lie. ESAT and our independent web sites are the future of Ethiopia.
I will not try to guess where Ato Meles will go when ‘the rubber hits the road’ in other words when the mob breaches the palace walls. Will he be ready, will he have time to pack, will his security guard betray him and other questions will arise. Then comes the issue of where to go? Eritrea, definitely no, Sudan, out of the question, USA and Europe, very dangerous that leaves China, North Korea or Rwanda with his buddy Kagame. None of the choices are enticing. The question Ben Ali is contemplating today should be is life imprisonment a good investment for a mere twenty years of bullying. Being a dictator is a thankless job!
A plane carrying the Archbishop of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Jos Punt, and several other passengers to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa made an emergency landing in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik today after the pilots detected smoke in one of the aircraft’s engines.
RKK reported that Bishop Jos Punt of Haarlem-Amsterdam, Deacon Fennis, and diocese spokesman Wim Peeters were heading for Ethiopia to attend the Baptism of the Lord (Timket).
According to Peeters the airplane made a few loops over the Adriatic Sea and the pilot then decided to make an emergency landing in Croatia. The pilot had “two of the four engines off. Therefore it seemed as if we were floating. Everyone held his breath. We obviously have said some prayers.
The trio arrived Wednesday morning in Addis Ababa. The Catholics were at the so-called Timket celebrations, the Ethiopian version of the commemoration of the baptism of Christ.
Bishop Punt, Fennis and traveling press secretary will fly later this week to Kenya to visit a number of projects run by the diocese.
While families of the new ruling elite, Woyannes and their opportunist allies, poison themselves with alcohol, khat and drugs, average young Ethiopians seem to be embracing religion more than ever. This is a pleasantly surprising development since they have almost no role model as the top leaders in the country — the patriarch, imam, pastor, president, prime minister — are all crooks. The moral bankruptcy of Ethiopia’s elite is having little effect on the average Ethiopian.
The following are photos showing how young Ethiopians celebrated Timket today in Addis Ababa at St. Urael Church.
The Obama Administration has requested Congress $583.5 million in assistance for Ethiopia’s genocidal junta for FY 2011, according to the U.S. Department of State, Office of Foreign Assistance.
Police surrounded the Citgo Glenwood Food Mart at 2315 Glenwood Avenue, which was marked by several bullet holes and shattered glass. Officers were talking to at least two witnesses.
A plane carrying the Archbishop of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Jos Punt, and several other passengers to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa made an emergency landing in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik today after the pilots detected smoke in one of the aircraft’s engines.
