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5 Views
17:41:03 10/25/11
Bloodforge - Official XBLA Debut Teaser
[LESS INFO] 5 VIEWS | ADDED 17:41:03 10/25/11
Bloodforge - Official XBLA Debut Teaser
Decapitate. Eviscerate. Maul. Chop. Slice. Dice. Skewer. Lacerate. Pound. Cleave. Hack. Sever. Stab. Kill. That's genuinely what Climax has to say about its XBLA game Bloodforge. ABOUT THIS GAME ************************ Bloodforge is a dark and brutal action combat game set in an ancient Celtic world. The fate of the ruling gods will be decided at the hands of one man - our hero, Crom. With an empowering brutal combat system, stunning standout art style, driven by a deep and compelling story, Bloodforge thrusts the player into a viciously dark world where Crom must fight his way through hordes of twisted servants and evil followers of the gods to seal his fate. Bloodforge ************* GENRE: Action RELEASE DATE(S): + US: Q4 2011 + EU: Q4 2011 PLATFORM: XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) EXCLUSIVELY ON: XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) WEBSITE: n/a AVAILABLE @ AMAZON: n/a PUBLISHER: Microsoft Studios DEVELOPER: Climax Studios ESRB: RP for Rating Pending XboxViewTV on FACEBOOK *********************************** www.facebook.com XboxViewTV ON TWITTER ******************************* www.twitter.com From: XboxViewTV Views: 1974 55 ratings Time: 00:30 More in Gaming
4 Views
19:00:39 11/26/10
Right Wing Revises History with 'Socialist Pilgrims' Myth
[LESS INFO] 4 VIEWS | ADDED 19:00:39 11/26/10
Click here to view this media
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you didn't have to spend any time arguing with your right-wing relatives about this nonsense.
Right Wing Continues to Push “Socialist Pilgrims” Myth : >
Despite a comprehensive repudiation by historians of the belief that the original Pilgrims were socialists who only began to succeed and prosper once they turned to capitalism, on this Thanksgiving conservative leaders and writers continue to spread the urban legend that the settlers were almost doomed by their socialist-ways.
Some background: according to real historians , the Pilgrims held their land in common “in the interest of realizing a profit sooner, and was only intended for the short term; historians say the Pilgrims were more like shareholders in an early corporation than subjects of socialism.” But the settlers, who came from different part of England, “spoke different dialects and had different methods of farming, and looked upon each other with great wariness.” Because of such difficulties, the colony scrapped the land arrangements in 1623, yet the colony held the first Thanksgiving in 1621 and the original “arrangement did not produce famine.”
But that hasn’t stopped the Right from propagating the myth that the failures of “socialism” forced them to embrace capitalism. In order to make the myth seem true, Fox News commentator John Stossel simply moves the date of the first Thanksgiving from 1621 to 1623.
And Rep. Todd Akin continued to embarrass the state of Missouri with some similar nonsense as well.
Rep. Todd Akin: The Pilgrims Came To America To Flee ‘Unbiblical’ Socialism In The 1620′s : >
Today, millions of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. To mark this holiday, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) took to the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday to explain its history. At one point, he opined, “It might be helpful to think back and say there’s more to Thanksgiving than the Pilgrims.” He explained that they were “a group of people who were willing to change the system, to think of different ideas.” Akin continued, “They came here with the idea that after trying socialism that it wasn’t going to work. They realized that it was unbiblical, that it was a form of theft, so they pitched socialism out. They learned that in the 1620s”: >
AKIN: It might be helpful to think back and say, there’s more to Thanksgiving than the Pilgrims. They were a group of people who were willing to change the system, to think of different ideas. They came here and separated civil and church governments. They came here and created the model of a written constitution, the idea that the government should be the servant of the people. […] They came here with the idea that after trying socialism that it wasn’t going to work. They realized that it was unbiblical, that it was a form of theft, so they pitched socialism out. They learned that in the early 1620’s.
And as TPM noted, the teabaggers and Glenn Beck have been getting in on the act as well.
Happy Thanksgiving! Right Jabs Pilgrims For ... Communism? (VIDEO) : >
It's reasonable to assume that tea partiers, Fox News hosts and conservative bloggers look forward to today for the same reason most Americans do: the turkey (or tofurkey , depending on your preference) and the football (or cable TV marathons , depending on your preference.)
But those folks also look forward to Thanksgiving for another reason that it's equally reasonable to imagine most Americans don't : the celebration of capitalism's final victory over communist-leaning Pilgrims.
"Sadly, few Americans know the real story of the early colonists," FreedomWorks' Julie Borowski wrote yesterday. "For evidence of the failures of communism, we do not need to look to disastrous experiments in foreign lands. In fact, the Plymouth Plantation is one of the most apparent examples of the failures of collectivism." [...]
As the New York Times reported last week, the story is part of Rush Limbaugh's yearly Thanksgiving broadcast, and it's part of the course load at Glenn Beck's online university .
And last but not least Steve Benen did a nice write up on Akin's hackery as well -- J ust in Time for Thanksgiving .
11 Views
19:00:39 11/26/10
Right Wing Revises History with 'Socialist Pilgrims' Myth
[LESS INFO] 11 VIEWS | ADDED 19:00:39 11/26/10
Click here to view this media
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you didn't have to spend any time arguing with your right-wing relatives about this nonsense.
Right Wing Continues to Push “Socialist Pilgrims” Myth : >
Despite a comprehensive repudiation by historians of the belief that the original Pilgrims were socialists who only began to succeed and prosper once they turned to capitalism, on this Thanksgiving conservative leaders and writers continue to spread the urban legend that the settlers were almost doomed by their socialist-ways.
Some background: according to real historians , the Pilgrims held their land in common “in the interest of realizing a profit sooner, and was only intended for the short term; historians say the Pilgrims were more like shareholders in an early corporation than subjects of socialism.” But the settlers, who came from different part of England, “spoke different dialects and had different methods of farming, and looked upon each other with great wariness.” Because of such difficulties, the colony scrapped the land arrangements in 1623, yet the colony held the first Thanksgiving in 1621 and the original “arrangement did not produce famine.”
But that hasn’t stopped the Right from propagating the myth that the failures of “socialism” forced them to embrace capitalism. In order to make the myth seem true, Fox News commentator John Stossel simply moves the date of the first Thanksgiving from 1621 to 1623.
And Rep. Todd Akin continued to embarrass the state of Missouri with some similar nonsense as well.
Rep. Todd Akin: The Pilgrims Came To America To Flee ‘Unbiblical’ Socialism In The 1620′s : >
Today, millions of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. To mark this holiday, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) took to the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday to explain its history. At one point, he opined, “It might be helpful to think back and say there’s more to Thanksgiving than the Pilgrims.” He explained that they were “a group of people who were willing to change the system, to think of different ideas.” Akin continued, “They came here with the idea that after trying socialism that it wasn’t going to work. They realized that it was unbiblical, that it was a form of theft, so they pitched socialism out. They learned that in the 1620s”: >
AKIN: It might be helpful to think back and say, there’s more to Thanksgiving than the Pilgrims. They were a group of people who were willing to change the system, to think of different ideas. They came here and separated civil and church governments. They came here and created the model of a written constitution, the idea that the government should be the servant of the people. […] They came here with the idea that after trying socialism that it wasn’t going to work. They realized that it was unbiblical, that it was a form of theft, so they pitched socialism out. They learned that in the early 1620’s.
And as TPM noted, the teabaggers and Glenn Beck have been getting in on the act as well.
Happy Thanksgiving! Right Jabs Pilgrims For ... Communism? (VIDEO) : >
It's reasonable to assume that tea partiers, Fox News hosts and conservative bloggers look forward to today for the same reason most Americans do: the turkey (or tofurkey , depending on your preference) and the football (or cable TV marathons , depending on your preference.)
But those folks also look forward to Thanksgiving for another reason that it's equally reasonable to imagine most Americans don't : the celebration of capitalism's final victory over communist-leaning Pilgrims.
"Sadly, few Americans know the real story of the early colonists," FreedomWorks' Julie Borowski wrote yesterday. "For evidence of the failures of communism, we do not need to look to disastrous experiments in foreign lands. In fact, the Plymouth Plantation is one of the most apparent examples of the failures of collectivism." [...]
As the New York Times reported last week, the story is part of Rush Limbaugh's yearly Thanksgiving broadcast, and it's part of the course load at Glenn Beck's online university .
And last but not least Steve Benen did a nice write up on Akin's hackery as well -- J ust in Time for Thanksgiving .
45 Views
22:33:49 05/08/09
Video The Journalists Memoir By Tesfaye Gebreab (Ye Gazetegnaw Mastawesha) (Part 3 4)
[LESS INFO] 45 VIEWS | ADDED 22:33:49 05/08/09
VIDEO: The Journalists Memoir By Tesfaye Gebreab (ye gazetegnaw mastawesha)Reflections on Tesfaye Gebreab's "The Journalists Memoir" By Neamin Zelleke I have been following like many the great interests generated by "የጋዜጠኛው ማስታወሻ" (The Journalists Memoir), a book written by Tesfaye Gebreab. While many have raised legitimate points regarding the Tesfaye Gebreab’s past and his role as a press/propaganda official within the TPLF dominated ethnocentric regime, others have hammered on his book Ye Burka Zimeta, an apparently “inflammatory” work written by Tesfaye Gebreab more than a decade ago. As argued by few with an intent to incite the Oromo ethnic group against the Amhara, as part of the grand conspiracy of the TPLF to perpetuate its rule by pitting one ethnic group against the other. I have not read “Ye Burka Zimeta”. Therefore, I will limit myself to commenting on the relevance and importance of “የጋዜጠኛው ማስታወሻ”, the very book he wrote recently and the cause for continued interest and heated debate in countless circles in Ethiopia and outside.Pundits of propaganda and public relations often argue that the power of a literary piece is measured by the level of noise it creates in the enemy’s camp. If we gauge the value of Tesfaye’s book by such yardsticks, i.e., by the degree with which it has created much anger, significant discontent, and much wailing and yelling that we hear from the quarters of the ruling Tigrayan elite and its supporters worldwide, it could well be compared to a surprise military blitzkrieg by a guerrilla force right at the heart of TPLF’s power center and its leaders, somehow caught by surprise as they slumber due to their blotted hubris. The TPLF ruling gang and their cronies everywhere are indeed fuming left and right, both inside and outside of Ethiopia. Why in deed are they raving and ranting everywhere?Although his language and style are very powerful and enticing, the power of Tesfaye Gebreab’s book stems from its vivid and picturesque storytelling with a Chekhovian streak, realistic assessment, and expositions of the nature and culture of the ruling TPLF and its leaders. It gives an insight in to what has come to dominate the nature and character of the Ethiopian state. It tells stories about the personalities, the culture and mentality of the leaders of the ruling TPLF/EPRDF and their cadres. These features of the book give us the clue as regard to the reasons for the TPLF gang and their supporters raving and ranting.They are furious because he unveiled them. They are now naked more than ever. Much of their pretensions have been debunked, shown for what they are. Some make believe stories, others delusions and illusions. As the saying goes in Amharic “Ye mayinega meslwat bequat”. They are exposed for what they are — noting but a bunch of crooks that have no vision that goes beyond their nose. Their only agenda and vision if that is worthy of being called a "vision” is the hegemony of the TPLF/Tigrayan elite in perpetuity by all means at the expense of any and all things in and of Ethiopia. This too has come out loud and clear in the book.Their dirty laundry is out there for Ethiopians to see. The degree of deceit and treachery that infests the ruling cadres of TPLF, all their banality, all their crooked and vindictive personalities are laid bare. Think of characters like Bereket Simon and others who emerge from the book. Top it all with a glimpse of the deeply hidden plethora secrets of crimes committed against the Ethiopian people. Recall OPDO’s General Abadula Gemeda's conspiracy and the operation he lead, ending up to the tragic assassination of a respected Oromo elder named Ato Derara in Ambo. We now have the tip of the ice berg as to who committed what crimes during the last seventeen years of TPLF’s tenure.A small thank you is due to Tesfaye Gebreab just for bringing to the fore such vital pieces of information and clues to their criminality and massive corruption. I would argue that Tesfaye has done us a favor compared to others who defected from the TPLF camp in the past. That the TPLF and its cronies are wasting oceans of inks and tons of paper in a futile attempt to kill the message by attempting to kill the messenger should not be surprising. An all out rampage to paint him with all sorts of narrow and broad brushes should not deter from his expose’. Hence, great care should be taken by all those within the opposition camp not to follow suit by endlessly harping on blunders of those who were once working for the enemy camp like Tesfaye.We find in Tesfaye’s book what we otherwise knew at rumor and hearsay levels. There is also much that he has told us we did not know. Aside from the hilarious incidents and episodes scattered all over his book, the book has given us an additional knowledge as regard to the inner working of the regime, the mind set of leading cadres, how they think and what they think behind the appearance of their public persona.The books also tells much about the relentless quest for power and hegemony, the TPLF/Tigrayan elite enjoy in all aspects of the Ethiopian state machinery and the public sphere at large–economy, politics, military, foreign affairs, security; and the list goes on and on. It was Voltaire, the French thinker and political satirist of the Enlightenment era, who once said that the Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy nor Roman nor Empire, quipping as regard to the impotence of the byzantine edifice that once stretched across the Mediterranean. By the same token, no political piece of work coming from a once time insider of the TPLF regime has affirmed without a shadow of doubt–with so many incidents and data found in the book– to the fact that the so-called EPRDF claiming to be the ruling “Front” is nothing but a zombie that is used by the TPLF at will and whim. In short, the so-called EPRDF is none other than a bunch of stooges and a Trojan horse under the mercy of their creator, The TPLF, the Tigrayan organization ruling over Ethiopia under the guise of being a member of a front of other “Ethiopain organizations” constituting the “EPRDF”. Here too their stale and utterly cruel joke has been busted once again and big time.All the information, personal experiences, daily encounters , observations packed and recounted in Tesfay's book, are first hand accounts coming from a person who was a one time insider and official of the TPLF/EPRDF regime. That is the difference and the reasons for its vital relevance. Even the higher ups like Gebru Asrat, Seye Abraha, and many higher or mid level officials who dismounted the TPLF horse–for one reason or another and at one time or another–have not given us the kind of insight, information, into the inner working and relationship that exist among the leading cadres and officials of the TPLF and so called EPRDF. They did not provide us with what exactly went on within the TPLF and its satellite organizations like the ANDM, OPDO at various sages during the course of the past decades. But Tesfaye Gebereab has filled in many blanks for us.He has confirmed what many in the opposition have been saying all along buttressed by hitherto unavailable data and valuable information. It is for sure and by all means, not a complete picture and information. But it is a very good and promising start where others like him coming from the Intelligence, the foreign affairs, the military and others sectors of the TPLF regime can fill in the gaps.Prudence dictates that one should encourage such individuals who choose to leave the ruling ethnic party and its coterie of appendages parties to write and expose what they know like Tesfaye Gebreab did in his work. We should accord them due welcome while urging them to also apologize if they indeed engaged in acts that were once harmful to the people of Ethiopia.I find it utterly disagreeable; both from tactical and strategic considerations, the urge by some of our compatriots in engaging to demonize and pound on ad infintum against individuals like to Tesfaye who dared to write a piece of themselves, availing their historical memory and recounting their personal encounters. Perhaps, we may expect more that they did not tell us, but we should welcome their writing forays as a good start for more to come. In the past, there we have witnessed many who defected from, or had a fall out with the TPLF and the so-called EPRDF, but have not heard nor read what went on while they were part of the political system. Save for few exceptions that left at very early stages.We should therefore give credit where it is due. For Tesfaye has opened at least one door among the gates of the flood. If managed wisely the discontented and disconcerted middle and lower echelons of the TPLF/EPRDF regime may defect in droves. Such happenings will further expose and bankrupt the decaying and ethnocentric Tigrayan gang ruling over Ethiopia.On the flip side of the coin, the path of endless demonization for what one did once as part of an oppressive system does not give incentive for others to follow suit. Such acts do not encourage many discontented individuals in the enemy’s camp to leave the TPLF regime, and leave it for once and for all, followed by publicly exposing it for its many crimes of human rights abuse stemming from the ethno-terrorist features and political culture of the Tigrayan dominated ethnocentric gang. Such a trend is surely not a strategically wise move if viewed from our political objectives of exposing, weakening, and further exacerbating the contradictions and bankruptcy of an already decaying regime at the brink of collapse. It suffices to recall that the Derg regime was further weakened and the moral of the then Ethiopian army declined when heavy weight officials and functionaries such as Col Goshu Wolde, the then Foreign Minster Maj. Dawit Wolde Girogis, the then Commissioner of Relief and Rehabilitation, and scores of others to abandon and expose much of Col. Mengistu’s and his regime’s misguided policies, human rights abuse, and other excesses.However legitimate the criticism leveled against Tesfaye for being a willing participant of TPLF’s ploy to pit one ethnic group against the other by writing the book under the title “Ye Burka Zimita”, I find his current book infused with a very good vision for Ethiopia and the Ethiopain people. Foremost, the recognition of lack of freedom and justice. Freedom for the writer, the journalist, the civil servant, businessman, peasant, etc to realize their potential. For self expression unhindered and unburdened by either the custom of the land or the powers that be ruling/miruling the land.Indeed “የጋዜጠኛው ማስታወሻ” is pervaded by a deep recognition the lack of freedom and an arrested and stultified development the human mind and spirit, and in this case the Ethiopian personality. The glaring lack of it in Ethiopia during the successive regimes, including the TPLF, the very regime the author served close to a decade even from the authors early ordeals of life starting from his inability to find a work as a journalist, his passion, despite his demonstrated talent and abilities as a writer.Contrary to what many impute to him, we also see the author’ s deep love for Ethiopia and an umbilical love and attachment to Bishoftu/Debrezeit, his place of birth and coming of age. His love of people and places extends to far away place like Gondar and other regions too. Writers and poets are artists after all, they have a unique angle with which they see and envision humanity, nature, and the world. Tesfaye has shared a piece of himself, including deeply personal matters with the world in his own attractive use of language and poetic style. One can argue that as far as what is expected of writers and poets; he has fulfilled his role of literary creativity in a work meant as a true story, a journal cum memoir. This argument does not mean that we have to agree with all his ideas and assertions, including characterization of individuals who have established a long and consistent track record in the struggle fro Human rights and democracy in Ethiopia, like for instance, Ato Abraha Belay of Ethiomedia. We take what we think are important when it comes to such assertions and “revelations” about personalities as well as events.(The writer can be reached at Neaminz@aol.com)
50 Views
14:53:55 04/17/09
Video The Journalists Memoir By Tesfaye Gebreab (Ye Gazetegnaw Mastawesha)
[LESS INFO] 50 VIEWS | ADDED 14:53:55 04/17/09
VIDEO: The Journalists Memoir By Tesfaye Gebreab (ye gazetegnaw mastawesha)Reflections on Tesfaye Gebreab's "The Journalists Memoir"EthiopianReviewBy Neamin Zelleke I have been following like many the great interests generated by "የጋዜጠኛው ማስታወሻ" (The Journalists Memoir), a book written by Tesfaye Gebreab. While many have raised legitimate points regarding the Tesfaye Gebreab’s past and his role as a press/propaganda official within the TPLF dominated ethnocentric regime, others have hammered on his book Ye Burka Zimeta, an apparently “inflammatory” work written by Tesfaye Gebreab more than a decade ago. As argued by few with an intent to incite the Oromo ethnic group against the Amhara, as part of the grand conspiracy of the TPLF to perpetuate its rule by pitting one ethnic group against the other. I have not read “Ye Burka Zimeta”. Therefore, I will limit myself to commenting on the relevance and importance of “የጋዜጠኛው ማስታወሻ”, the very book he wrote recently and the cause for continued interest and heated debate in countless circles in Ethiopia and outside.Pundits of propaganda and public relations often argue that the power of a literary piece is measured by the level of noise it creates in the enemy’s camp. If we gauge the value of Tesfaye’s book by such yardsticks, i.e., by the degree with which it has created much anger, significant discontent, and much wailing and yelling that we hear from the quarters of the ruling Tigrayan elite and its supporters worldwide, it could well be compared to a surprise military blitzkrieg by a guerrilla force right at the heart of TPLF’s power center and its leaders, somehow caught by surprise as they slumber due to their blotted hubris. The TPLF ruling gang and their cronies everywhere are indeed fuming left and right, both inside and outside of Ethiopia. Why in deed are they raving and ranting everywhere?Although his language and style are very powerful and enticing, the power of Tesfaye Gebreab’s book stems from its vivid and picturesque storytelling with a Chekhovian streak, realistic assessment, and expositions of the nature and culture of the ruling TPLF and its leaders. It gives an insight in to what has come to dominate the nature and character of the Ethiopian state. It tells stories about the personalities, the culture and mentality of the leaders of the ruling TPLF/EPRDF and their cadres. These features of the book give us the clue as regard to the reasons for the TPLF gang and their supporters raving and ranting.They are furious because he unveiled them. They are now naked more than ever. Much of their pretensions have been debunked, shown for what they are. Some make believe stories, others delusions and illusions. As the saying goes in Amharic “Ye mayinega meslwat bequat”. They are exposed for what they are — noting but a bunch of crooks that have no vision that goes beyond their nose. Their only agenda and vision if that is worthy of being called a "vision” is the hegemony of the TPLF/Tigrayan elite in perpetuity by all means at the expense of any and all things in and of Ethiopia. This too has come out loud and clear in the book.Their dirty laundry is out there for Ethiopians to see. The degree of deceit and treachery that infests the ruling cadres of TPLF, all their banality, all their crooked and vindictive personalities are laid bare. Think of characters like Bereket Simon and others who emerge from the book. Top it all with a glimpse of the deeply hidden plethora secrets of crimes committed against the Ethiopian people. Recall OPDO’s General Abadula Gemeda's conspiracy and the operation he lead, ending up to the tragic assassination of a respected Oromo elder named Ato Derara in Ambo. We now have the tip of the ice berg as to who committed what crimes during the last seventeen years of TPLF’s tenure.A small thank you is due to Tesfaye Gebreab just for bringing to the fore such vital pieces of information and clues to their criminality and massive corruption. I would argue that Tesfaye has done us a favor compared to others who defected from the TPLF camp in the past. That the TPLF and its cronies are wasting oceans of inks and tons of paper in a futile attempt to kill the message by attempting to kill the messenger should not be surprising. An all out rampage to paint him with all sorts of narrow and broad brushes should not deter from his expose’. Hence, great care should be taken by all those within the opposition camp not to follow suit by endlessly harping on blunders of those who were once working for the enemy camp like Tesfaye.We find in Tesfaye’s book what we otherwise knew at rumor and hearsay levels. There is also much that he has told us we did not know. Aside from the hilarious incidents and episodes scattered all over his book, the book has given us an additional knowledge as regard to the inner working of the regime, the mind set of leading cadres, how they think and what they think behind the appearance of their public persona.The books also tells much about the relentless quest for power and hegemony, the TPLF/Tigrayan elite enjoy in all aspects of the Ethiopian state machinery and the public sphere at large–economy, politics, military, foreign affairs, security; and the list goes on and on. It was Voltaire, the French thinker and political satirist of the Enlightenment era, who once said that the Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy nor Roman nor Empire, quipping as regard to the impotence of the byzantine edifice that once stretched across the Mediterranean. By the same token, no political piece of work coming from a once time insider of the TPLF regime has affirmed without a shadow of doubt–with so many incidents and data found in the book– to the fact that the so-called EPRDF claiming to be the ruling “Front” is nothing but a zombie that is used by the TPLF at will and whim. In short, the so-called EPRDF is none other than a bunch of stooges and a Trojan horse under the mercy of their creator, The TPLF, the Tigrayan organization ruling over Ethiopia under the guise of being a member of a front of other “Ethiopain organizations” constituting the “EPRDF”. Here too their stale and utterly cruel joke has been busted once again and big time.All the information, personal experiences, daily encounters , observations packed and recounted in Tesfay's book, are first hand accounts coming from a person who was a one time insider and official of the TPLF/EPRDF regime. That is the difference and the reasons for its vital relevance. Even the higher ups like Gebru Asrat, Seye Abraha, and many higher or mid level officials who dismounted the TPLF horse–for one reason or another and at one time or another–have not given us the kind of insight, information, into the inner working and relationship that exist among the leading cadres and officials of the TPLF and so called EPRDF. They did not provide us with what exactly went on within the TPLF and its satellite organizations like the ANDM, OPDO at various sages during the course of the past decades. But Tesfaye Gebereab has filled in many blanks for us.He has confirmed what many in the opposition have been saying all along buttressed by hitherto unavailable data and valuable information. It is for sure and by all means, not a complete picture and information. But it is a very good and promising start where others like him coming from the Intelligence, the foreign affairs, the military and others sectors of the TPLF regime can fill in the gaps.Prudence dictates that one should encourage such individuals who choose to leave the ruling ethnic party and its coterie of appendages parties to write and expose what they know like Tesfaye Gebreab did in his work. We should accord them due welcome while urging them to also apologize if they indeed engaged in acts that were once harmful to the people of Ethiopia.I find it utterly disagreeable; both from tactical and strategic considerations, the urge by some of our compatriots in engaging to demonize and pound on ad infintum against individuals like to Tesfaye who dared to write a piece of themselves, availing their historical memory and recounting their personal encounters. Perhaps, we may expect more that they did not tell us, but we should welcome their writing forays as a good start for more to come. In the past, there we have witnessed many who defected from, or had a fall out with the TPLF and the so-called EPRDF, but have not heard nor read what went on while they were part of the political system. Save for few exceptions that left at very early stages.We should therefore give credit where it is due. For Tesfaye has opened at least one door among the gates of the flood. If managed wisely the discontented and disconcerted middle and lower echelons of the TPLF/EPRDF regime may defect in droves. Such happenings will further expose and bankrupt the decaying and ethnocentric Tigrayan gang ruling over Ethiopia.On the flip side of the coin, the path of endless demonization for what one did once as part of an oppressive system does not give incentive for others to follow suit. Such acts do not encourage many discontented individuals in the enemy’s camp to leave the TPLF regime, and leave it for once and for all, followed by publicly exposing it for its many crimes of human rights abuse stemming from the ethno-terrorist features and political culture of the Tigrayan dominated ethnocentric gang. Such a trend is surely not a strategically wise move if viewed from our political objectives of exposing, weakening, and further exacerbating the contradictions and bankruptcy of an already decaying regime at the brink of collapse. It suffices to recall that the Derg regime was further weakened and the moral of the then Ethiopian army declined when heavy weight officials and functionaries such as Col Goshu Wolde, the then Foreign Minster Maj. Dawit Wolde Girogis, the then Commissioner of Relief and Rehabilitation, and scores of others to abandon and expose much of Col. Mengistu’s and his regime’s misguided policies, human rights abuse, and other excesses.However legitimate the criticism leveled against Tesfaye for being a willing participant of TPLF’s ploy to pit one ethnic group against the other by writing the book under the title “Ye Burka Zimita”, I find his current book infused with a very good vision for Ethiopia and the Ethiopain people. Foremost, the recognition of lack of freedom and justice. Freedom for the writer, the journalist, the civil servant, businessman, peasant, etc to realize their potential. For self expression unhindered and unburdened by either the custom of the land or the powers that be ruling/miruling the land.Indeed “የጋዜጠኛው ማስታወሻ” is pervaded by a deep recognition the lack of freedom and an arrested and stultified development the human mind and spirit, and in this case the Ethiopian personality. The glaring lack of it in Ethiopia during the successive regimes, including the TPLF, the very regime the author served close to a decade even from the authors early ordeals of life starting from his inability to find a work as a journalist, his passion, despite his demonstrated talent and abilities as a writer.Contrary to what many impute to him, we also see the author’ s deep love for Ethiopia and an umbilical love and attachment to Bishoftu/Debrezeit, his place of birth and coming of age. His love of people and places extends to far away place like Gondar and other regions too. Writers and poets are artists after all, they have a unique angle with which they see and envision humanity, nature, and the world. Tesfaye has shared a piece of himself, including deeply personal matters with the world in his own attractive use of language and poetic style. One can argue that as far as what is expected of writers and poets; he has fulfilled his role of literary creativity in a work meant as a true story, a journal cum memoir. This argument does not mean that we have to agree with all his ideas and assertions, including characterization of individuals who have established a long and consistent track record in the struggle fro Human rights and democracy in Ethiopia, like for instance, Ato Abraha Belay of Ethiomedia. We take what we think are important when it comes to such assertions and “revelations” about personalities as well as events.(The writer can be reached at Neaminz@aol.com)
3 Views
22:12:08 11/30/08
WALL 'O DEATH - Walmart Worker Killed / Reverend Billy
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 22:12:08 11/30/08
from the gothamist.com:
"Nobody was trying to help him. They were rushing in the store, rushing, rushing, rushing." A cop said that cops performing CPR on Damour were also stepped on by shoppers. Another shopper said that Wal-Mart employees' pleas to shoppers were ignored, "When they were saying [shoppers] had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been on line since Friday morning!' They kept shopping."
So, another crazy BLACK FRIDAY.,,
can remember momma spidr trying to drag me outta bed years ago to get a TV at one of these madhouses.. luckily my lack of ability to rise early may have saved my life...
Ye Olde Team Spider had a good time on Black Friday, sleeping late, hanging with Rev. Billy and the Choir, shooting some Video w/ Leanne and VLAD from GLASS BEAD COLLECTIVE,
getting dinner with THE STOP SHOPPING CHOIR,
***had to wonder if ==eating out== counted against "not shopping"...
but thought to the movie: BREWSTER'S MILLIONS, when BREWSTER (RICHARD PRYOR) bought the Million Dollar stamp, breaking the "you can't have anything to show for what you spend," and the rich white guys thought he was dumb, but Brewster then used the vintage stamp to mail them a post card... well, I'm using that as a precedent..
meanwhile...back @ dinner>>>>> MIKE DEE
and XRIS chilled with their respective special Lady friends... as the Ladies probably wondered what they were getting themselves into...
SO, missed most / all of critical mass, BUT did get to see the NEW TiMes-UP! Soundbike....
((((WE HOPE TO MAKE A TEAM SPIDER / TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK MOBILE SOUND SYSTEM SOUND BIKE IN 2009 !!!! ))))
thanks to the MADE IN QUEENS crew for making this thang rock...
and.. looking to the future:::
got to see the new kidz on the block, hold down the forts / courts as they got worthless tickets // "ensuring their own safety" ***
***same message the "Public Servants" were sending to the REV,
>>>,.
while Ye Olde Spiders... retired to home, to have lots of excellent sex.
see ya in 2009...
sucka's
