Coronal Rain

NASA released this beautiful video of the solar flare that happened in July of 2012 a couple of months ago. Enjoy!

A Talk by Raymond Jonas on the Battle of Adwa

Prof. Raymond Jonas is author of the book The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire from Harvard University Press.

Physicians Galore!

This report by PRI from a couple of months ago is very surprising to me. The last time I checked (which was about ten years ago) there were only 3 medical schools in Ethiopia: Addis Ababa (Black Lion), Gondar and Jimma. Now there are 13! Ethiopia was producing about 300 doctors in 2005 and that number is slated to rise to 8000 by 2015. This is a 2567% increase! It is good that the government is trying to expand healthcare training, but this level of expansion will only come at a huge cost to quality of training as the report alludes. I guess the golden days of Ethiopian medical education is history.

Kudos to Mekane Yesus Church!

http://www.eecmy.org/

EECMY Terminates her Partnership Relations with ELCA and CoS

The 19th General Assembly of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, held from January 27 to February 2, 2013, passed several important resolutions related to the life and ministry of the Church including election of leaders, formation of a Judiciary Commission, establishment of new synods and above all, fellowshipping in prayer and worship. Among the agenda items that received endorsement of the General Assembly were issues related to marriage and human sexuality – topics that extensively called the attention of the Church’s policy-making bodies at different levels, over the past several years.

It is recalled, earlier in 2006, two of the major partners of the EECMY, namely the Church of Sweden and later, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, passed decisions that favor Homosexual practices and blessing of same sex marriage. The EECMY noted this as a surprise and immediately reacted against and earnestly requested for reconsideration of their decisions. To the contrary, these two Churches, going further, resolved to legalize same sex marriage and calling of gay persons into ordained ministry. As a result of this, the EECMY was compelled to engage with an intentional theological reflection and deeper search of Scripture as well as legal and cultural perspectives of the Ethiopian Context. The outcome of this study was critically reviewed and taken as the basis for the decisions of the 6th Church Council — which resulted in the writing of Pastoral Call to the two Churches to reverse their decisions, lest the EECMY would be forced to terminate her relationship, with prior notification of one year as per the Standard Partnership Agreement. Sadly, the repeated endeavors of the EECMY on this line, failed to obtain the expected positive response from the two Churches.

Subsequently, the Council of the Church at its 8th regular session held in July 2012, was obligated to implement the decision of the 6th Council, i.e. termination of the partnership relations and setting of exit strategy to realize the decision. Having heard and thoroughly reviewed the report presented on the actions so far taken on this Issue, the 19th General Assembly of the Church unanimously endorsed the Resolution passed by the 8th Council.

Being cognizant of the fruitful and long-standing relationships with the ELCA and the CoS, the EECMY expresses her very deep and sincere appreciation of their historic contributions in God’s Mission.

We will continue to pray that, one day, the relationships will be restored.

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY)
February 11, 2013
Addis Ababa

When Dr. Ben Carson speaks...people listen

The Armenians of Ethiopia

Sheka Forest

Only less than 3% of Ethiopia is covered with high forest! A greater portion of this forested area is found in the south west part of the country. This is where Sheka Forest is located, and the story in the video below is about how the Shekacho people, assisted by a local NGO, are attempting to reclaim and rejuvinate the forest.

This Music is Good for You - IX

A great song, a beautiful video, a superb delivery. This is Eyerusalem (Jerri) Negiya, a rising star in the Ethiopian Christian music scene. Simply the best Ethiopian song of the past few years!

America will survive this bad decision

Congratulations to the redistributor-in-chief and his supporters. They campaigned on more of the same policies of the last four years that did not bear fruit, but they have won. What this means is that, with two distinct choices in front of them, Americans chose more government dependence and higher taxes as a solution to their problems.

Mitt Romney would have taken us on a different path, a path where the government's role is limited in size and scope and a government that stays clear of stifling economic growth. Romney had the experience which uniquely qualified him to help rekindle the animal spirits of the American economy, but that was not to be.

There were many other important issues on which voters based their decisions, but the economy was the most important. We shall see what happens in the coming months and years, but I believe America will survive this bad decision by an electorate that has increasingly become more dependent on government. One way or another, this trajectory must and will be reversed. May God Bless America!

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 (The Bible)

A little lesson from the Gipper

A little lesson from the Gipper on why socialism (redistribution of wealth) does not work. Funny and instructive.

To my Wisconsin friends...

A week from tomorrow, you will be casting your vote to help decide who our next president will be for the next four years. There are a few states, including yours, where the incumbent (Mr. Obama) and the challenger (Mr. Romney) are closely contesting the election. All of them are important, but Wisconsin is more important for the same reasons that you re-elected your governor, Scott Walker, a few months ago in that closely watched recall election. By giving Mr. Walker a bigger margin of victory than he got when he was first elected in 2010, you gave him a clear mandate to continue his reforms efforts to bring fiscal sanity to Madison. It's now time to bring that kind of fiscal sanity to the federal government in Washington, DC.

Thanks to your decision, Wisconsin has become a model state in reforming the role and size of government. You showed the nation that it is critical to check the power of labor unions and reign in on their unholy alliance with politicians. You have also made the principle of living within one's means a cool idea and gave us hope that our elected officials will embrace this principle as their governing credo. Isn't it immoral for our governments at all levels to spend far beyond the ability of its citizens can afford? America needs your help to reverse the out-of-control spending habits of our federal government. Help us by voting for the challenger on November 6th. As a bonus, you will get your favorite son, Paul Ryan, to be our next vice-president and play a critical role in reforming our national government.

Same speeches, same promises

The old proverb "Fool me once, shame one you. Fool me twice, shame on me." is apt for those of us who voted for this guy in 2008.

Quotes from Thomas Sowell

A disorganized opposition

Ambassador David Shinn, a former US ambassador to Ethiopia, and Jennifer Cooke, Director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies discuss the leadership transitions in Ethiopia and Somalia. Find it here.

I am in agreement with their analyses that the Ethiopian opposition is disorganized and is unable to present a cohesive alternative vision for Ethiopia.

An olive branch to the new old rulers

There is a discussion going on among Ethiopian opposition circles on the possibilities of a change occurring in Ethiopia as a result of a new leadership taking over the reigns of the ruling party. It is natural to expect a change when there is a change in leadership. Unfortunately, the new leaders of the Ethiopian government have already stated that they are going to stay on the same course that was chartered for them by their former leader.

What is the opposition to do? In my opinion, the opposition groups would be better off if they keep their focus on only what THEY can do to precipitate a change, instead of expecting a change to originate from the ruling group. They can do many things, but here is one suggestion for them: find an area where they have a common objective with the ruling party and offer their cooperation to achieve that objective -- in other words, offer the new old rulers an olive branch.

The building of a dam on Abay (Blue Nile) River, which is dubbed the Renaissance Dam, could be one such an objective where there is a common goal among all Ethiopian political groups, since there is a near unanimous consensus that building a dam on Abay is not only in Ethiopia's national interest but it is also necessary for her survival.

There were and still are some legitimate questions on whether or not sufficient financial planning had taken place prior to the commencement of the building of the dam in April of 2011. There were also questions on the timing of the dam building announcement. Some had suggested that the timing was designed to divert the attention of Ethiopians from the so-called Arab Spring that was happening in the region. This is now a mute question since construction of the dam is already underway. But Ethiopia's ability to raise the necessary financial resources to carry out this project to completion without external loans is still in serious doubt. This is where the opposition comes in.

It is important that the Abay dam project continue at full speed and is completed as scheduled in 2017 regardless of whether or not Ethiopia is able to get external loans for the project. The reason Ethiopia has been unable to secure external loans for this project is because of opposition from Egypt. Egypt has stymied all good faith efforts by Ethiopia and other Nile riparian countries in their attempt to create a mutually beneficial framework of understanding on the use of the Nile waters. Egypt has also been blocking loans to Ethiopia from multilateral institutions to build a dam on the Nile for a long time and she is continuing the same belligerent practice today.

The Woyane regime had made a bold effort to raise the required resources for the Abay dam project through the issuance of treasury bonds from domestic resources and the Ethiopian Diaspora. The estimated cost for building the dam at the time of the announcement was 4.8 billion dollar. The final cost of the dam will most likely exceed the initial figure, and the government is far from raising the funds it needs.

The only way the dam project can come to fruition as scheduled is if the government can bring all Ethiopians together for this common objective irrespective of their political affiliations. This can be done only if the government can persuade the Diaspora to wholeheartedly support the project. And the only way to have the full support of the Diaspora is through the endorsement of the dam project by opposition groups.

This should be a win-win proposition for both sides. At the end of the day, everyone will get a credit for playing a role in the project. The Woyane regime will get the credit for starting it, and the opposition groups will get the credit for getting the critical funds that will enable Ethiopia to circumvent Egypt's bellicose actions. If this proposal comes to pass, Ethiopians may finally usher in an era of real renaissance.

On the face of it, such a proposition for finding a common ground would seem a no-brainer idea. But the Ethiopian culture of suspicion may get in the way of capitalizing on opportunities for a positive change as has been the case way too many times in their history.

Hailemariam Desalegn

The selection of Hailemariam Desalegn as the Prime Minister of Ethiopia is now official. Here is his 18 minute acceptance speech that is heavy on adulation of the late dear-great-visionary leader. It also strikes me that the speech is devoid of his personal input. Could this be the clearest signal yet that Hailemariam will be a puppet leader? I hope not.

Long live entrepreneurial wealth creation!

Yesterday was the first anniversary of a fad movement that is known as "occupy this or that place." One would hope that these people have learned a few good lessons about why the profit/loss instruments of a free enterprise society is the most efficient and fairest way by which wealth is created and allocated. In case they have not, here is a clip from a year ago that explains to them how the real world works.

Should America Promote Democracy Abroad?

This is about an hour of good discussion with Elliot Abrams and Nicholas Burns on how best to use American foreign policy as a tool for promoting democracy. They talk at length about the illusive balancing act between US interests (economic, geopolitical, etc) and the ideals of America (democracy, freedom, etc) in the process of conducting US foreign policy. They both agree on the need to balance between what is "just" and what is "practical," but they differ on how and when the US should use its hard/soft power to promote democracy and freedom.

Henock Temesgen

An improvised presentation of Jazz with a good message. There is hope for Ethiopian music!

The unbridled secularism of Bill Nye

There is a Bill Nye YouTube video that has gone viral where Nye expresses his disdain for those of us who do not conform to his belief system. He ridicules parents who teach a Biblical view of creation in the video and says they are holding back scientific progress. I find his logic to be deficient and his type of secularism to be an intolerant one, almost bordering on bigotry. Here is an article ("Bill Nye the Pseudoscience Guy") that does a pretty good job of refuting his pontification.

Why is Bill Nye so obsessed with our kids' minds anyway? I'll still get his old videos at the local library to help teach my kids about basic science, but I will have to start advising them about a class of scientists, like him, who have a craving to indoctrinate our kids in their secularist faith. Neil deGrasse Tyson's agnostic views are much more palatable to me and a lot more consistent with a free society than Nye's secularism.