Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Do Ethiopians in US celebrate Halloween?
Is Halloween a holiday for pagans who believe in Ghosts and celebrate dead people? or is it related to religion? What is wrong to dress up like James Bond or Rambo or one of your favorite TV character on Halloween?
Halloween holiday is a holiday celebrated by most of the western countries on October 31 annually. On the day adults and children dress or act like some other person or character for one day. On this day people dress up like their favorite person, TV personality, cartoon character, animal, plant, insect or even expressions such as ሲሮጡ የታጠቁት ሲሮጡ ይፈታል.
This can be explained easily if it is related with Ethiopian characters. So for one day someone can dress, talk and act like one if this characters: Senzero or Kebebew Geda or Ababa Tesfaye or Atse Tewodros or Birhanu(La fontene singer) or one of your friend or former teacher or Engeda Zer Nega or Meseret Mebrate (Gemena actress) or Tilahun Gessesse or Meles Zenawi or Haile Gebre sellassie etc. you got the idea :)
It is also possible to dress for expressions such as ሲሮጡ የታጠቁት ሲሮጡ ይፈታል by dressing a trouser/pants that hangs half way on the leg.
Halloween is a creative and fun holiday. Foreigners who live in US consider Halloween holiday seriously, interpret the acting and dressing in religious views and do not see the creative and fun side. Most people who celebrate Halloween plan and rehearse about their character for weeks and months. Then on the holiday people show up as someone else and that makes is fun and creative.
You can dress and act like the most likable or popular person for one day. But most of the time the more scary the personality, the better. That is why a lot people chose to act like a dead person or characters from scary movies such as Michael Jacksons Triller.
So did you start getting ideas about what character to become next year?
Happy Halloween.
Haile Gebrselassie to receive $400,000 just for showing up at the New York City Marathon next week
Should Athletes Compete For Records Or Glory?
Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie has set world records at almost every running distance above 5,000 meters, including the marathon, which he broke two years ago at Berlin.However, the Berlin Marathon is run on a flat course that's designed to re-write record books and doesn't necessarily attract the top competition. Gebrselassie has taken criticism for focusing on records instead of titles and has faced charges of ducking the top competition to chase personal glory.
Gebrselassie makes no apologies for his strategy. Why? Because that's where the money is.
Records equal fame and fame equals endorsements, sponsorships, and hefty appearance fees. Gebrselassie will get $400,000 just for showing up at the New York City Marathon next week. The prize for winning is only $130,000.
If he sets a course record, on the other hand, he gets a bonus of $60,000 to $70,000.
Other runners think that besting tough competition on hellish courses is where the real honor is. But few casual sports fans know the name of Sammy Wanjiru, who won the grueling marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
So what do you think? Are fast times meaningless if they aren't set against the best competition?
Source: Business Insider
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable?
![[SB10001424052702303341904575576330230566158]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-KP183_1026EX_D_20101026124429.jpg)
Conservation efforts have helped a few species avoid extinction, but the impact hasn't been broad enough to stem the long-term decline in biodiversity, new research finds.
WSJ
New Book talks about the harmful effect of Aid in Ethiopia
From Live Aid in the mid-1980s to today, Western attempts to help famine-plagued Ethiopia have had little effect. Peter Gill explains why in "Famine and Foreigners."
Will Ethiopia make it to the Rising Stars In Global Trade?
"The excitement around emerging Africa is propelling it into the spotlight," the report said. "Countries with young, entrepreneurial and well-connected populations like Ghana and Ethiopia have particularly strong commitments to change and therefore big opportunities to pursue speedy growth."
Forbes
Forbes
Ethiopia ranked 13th in the 20 poorest nations in the world
Population: 88 million
GDP (PPP): $70.9 billion
GDP per capita: $954
Summary: One of the largest and poorest of the African nations, Ethiopia relies heavily on agricultural exports (particularly coffee) to sustain GDP. Heavy droughts, poor farming practices, price fluctuations, and a two-year war with Eritrea hurt the industry, causing many coffee growers to switch to other crops. In 2005, the IMF forgave the country’s debt, which has led to improved conditions.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/poorest-countries-in-the-world-2010-8#13-federal-democratic-republic-of-ethiopia-8#ixzz13h4z7OWm
Haile Gebreselassie to run New York marathon on Nov 7
Having won world championships or set world records from the metric mile to the marathon, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia is considered by many the greatest distance runner of this or any generation.
New York Times
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Ethiopia is on the verge of overtaking China in kids adopted by Americans
Adoptions from Ethiopia rise, bucking global trend
NEW YORK — As the overall number of international adoptions by Americans plummets, one country — Ethiopia — is emphatically bucking the trend, sending record numbers of children to the U.S. while winning praise for improving orphans' prospects at home.
It's a remarkable, little-publicized trend, unfolding in an impoverished African country with an estimated 5 million orphans and homeless children, on a continent that has been wary of international adoption.
Just six years ago, at the peak of international adoption, there were 284 Ethiopian children among the 22,990 foreign kids adopted by Americans. For the 2010 fiscal year, the State Department projects there will be about 2,500 adoptions from Ethiopia out of fewer than 11,000 overall — and Ethiopia is on the verge of overtaking China as the top source country.
The needs are enormous; many of Ethiopia's orphans live on the streets or in crowded institutions. There's constant wariness, as in many developing countries, that unscrupulous baby-sellers will infiltrate the adoption process.
However, a high-level U.S. delegation — led by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Susan Jacobs, the State Department's special adviser on children's issues — came back impressed from a visit to Ethiopia last month in which they met President Girma Wolde-Giorgis.
"What's encouraging is they want to work with us, they want to do it right," Jacobs said in a telephone interview. "Other countries should look at what Ethiopia is trying to do."
The global adoption landscape has changed dramatically since 2004. China, Russia and South Korea have reduced the once large numbers of children made available to foreigners while trying to encourage domestic alternatives. There have been suspensions of adoptions from Guatemala, Vietnam and Nepal due to fraud and corruption.
In contrast, Ethiopia has emerged as a land of opportunity for U.S. adoption agencies and faith-based groups. Several have been very active there in the past few years, arranging adoptions for U.S. families while helping Ethiopian authorities and charitable groups find ways to place more orphans with local families.
Buckner International, a Dallas-based Christian ministry, has about three dozen Ethiopian children lined up for adoption by U.S. parents, but it's also engaged in numerous programs to help Ethiopia build a domestic foster care system.
In one village visited by Jacobs and Landrieu, Buckner has built a school and housing for teachers while beginning a slow assessment of the orphan population to determine which children can be cared for locally and which might benefit from U.S. adoption.
Randy Daniels, Buckner's vice president of international operations, said the children who do head to adoptive families in the United States generally seem to flourish.
"They're some of the warmest, most loving kids of any I've worked with in the world," he said. "It's amazing to how quickly they adjust to the families stateside, to the language, the culture."
Buckner's clients include David McDurham and his wife, Amy, of Mansfield, Texas, who adopted their daughter, Ella, from Ethiopia in 2008 and are preparing to pursue a second Ethiopian adoption. Unable to have a biological child, the McDurhams had been considering adopting from China. But that can now be a four-year process, and they became increasingly intrigued by Africa.
"They were just opening up the Ethiopia program," said McDurham, a Baptist minister. "We were thinking, where did the needs of children and our needs coincide?"
McDurham said Ella, who just turned 3, is thriving in their Dallas suburb. They've become popular customers at a local Ethiopian restaurant and have forged ties with several other families who adopted from Ethiopia.
"We want her to see other families like hers — to know other people who have that same story," McDurham said,
Other agencies active in Ethiopia — both with adoptions and developing local alternatives for orphans — include Bethany Christian Services and the Gladney Center for Adoption.
Gladney only registered with Ethiopian authorities in 2005 and since then has completed nearly 500 adoptions by U.S. families. J. Scott Brown, Gladney's managing director of African programs, said the agency also is working with government-run orphanages in Ethiopia, trying to improve living conditions and develop job-training programs to benefit youths who won't move to homes abroad.
"There are still some bad players in Ethiopia who need to be removed," he said. "But if we can work closely with the government, this can be a leader for other countries to follow."
Some Ethiopian officials remain skeptical of international adoption, but Brown said he's seen doubters won over after visiting the United States to view firsthand how Ethiopian children are thriving in adoptive homes.
Landrieu, one of the leading adoption advocates in Congress, said Ethiopia deserves praise — compared with many developing countries — for recognizing that its orphans would be better off in a family environment such as foster care or an adoptive home rather than in an institution.
But resources are limited. She said there was only one judge assigned to process adoption cases and make sure that children are indeed legitimate candidates.
Heather Paul of SOS Villages-USA, which runs overseas programs supporting orphans and abandoned children, said it's critical that potential adoptions be closely scrutinized.
"Having better regulations protects American adoptive parents too," she said. "There's no worse heartbreak than finding a child had been sold away."
In contrast to Ethiopia, there's uncertainty and frustration over adoption developments in two other countries.
In Kyrgyzstan, the government suspended adoptions in 2008 because of suspected corruption, leaving more than 60 U.S. families with pending adoptions in limbo. Plans to resume the process have been disrupted by recent political upheaval, though Jacobs said she remains hopeful that a new adoption law could be passed whenever a newly elected parliament is able to convene.
Adoptions of abandoned children from Nepal have been suspended by the U.S. government until Nepalese authorities implement procedures to curtail corruption and mismanagement. Jacobs said 80 pending U.S. adoptions are under review by the State Department.
The suspension has been criticized by some U.S. adoption advocates.
"When you close a country, you end up causing more problems than you prevented," said Chuck Johnson, CEO of the National Council for Adoption. "What happens to the kids who aren't adopted in Nepal? Some will end up as prostitutes and slaves."
State Department: http://www.adoption.state.gov/
Buckner International: http://www.beafamily.org/country-ethiopia.shtml
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Ethiopian runs for a good cause in the Marine Corps Marathon 10K race
Before, when she pumped her legs and pushed hard up that incline on 15th Street NW toward Meridian Hill Park, Etayenesh Asfaw was running for herself.
For a better time, for a clear mind, for her own health.
"Running is a luxury for me," said Asfaw, 29, an environmental policy analyst from Rockville who will compete Sunday in the Marine Corps Marathon 10K race.
Ethiopian runs for a good cause in the Marine Corps Marathon 10K race
For a better time, for a clear mind, for her own health.
"Running is a luxury for me," said Asfaw, 29, an environmental policy analyst from Rockville who will compete Sunday in the Marine Corps Marathon 10K race.
Ethiopian runs for a good cause in the Marine Corps Marathon 10K race
Ethiopia Used Aid Money for Repression, Human Rights Watch Says in Report - Bloomberg
Ethiopia’s ruling party used international aid to suppress dissent before elections in May, which it won with a landslide, Human Rights Watch said in a report on its website today.
The New York-based group said Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front used “donor- supported programs” to “control the population, punish dissent, and undermine political opponents.”
Ethiopia Plans to Rent Out Belgium-Sized Land Area to Produce Cash Crops - Bloomberg
Ethiopia will lease a land area about the size of Belgium to private investors for growing rice, cotton and other crops aimed at generating foreign-exchange, an Agriculture Ministry official said.
The Horn of Africa nation plans to rent out 3 million hectares (5 million acres) of farmland over the next five years, Abera Deressa, minister of state for agriculture, said in an interview in Addis Ababa, the capital, on Oct. 22.
Ethiopia Plans to Rent Out Belgium-Sized Land Area to Produce Cash Crops - Bloomberg
The Horn of Africa nation plans to rent out 3 million hectares (5 million acres) of farmland over the next five years, Abera Deressa, minister of state for agriculture, said in an interview in Addis Ababa, the capital, on Oct. 22.
Ethiopia Plans to Rent Out Belgium-Sized Land Area to Produce Cash Crops - Bloomberg
Marcus: Ethiopian born chef
Marcus Samuelsson is a world-renowned chef, and the co-owner of a number of pre-eminent restaurants including C-House in Chicago's Affinia Hotel, and Aquavit in New York. Among many other honors, he was the guest chef at President Obama's first state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/22/marcus-samuelsson-they-ha_n_772587.html
BEST JOBS IN AMERICA 2010
America's best jobs offer great pay, work that's satisfying, and big growth opportunities. Here are the 100 with the best prospects in the years ahead.
World-Cup predicting Paul the Octopus died.
The English-born Paul died of natural causes in his tank Tuesday at the aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany. He gained fame by predicting all seven of Germany's World Cup wins and Spain's victory over the Netherlands in the final.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/27/successor-to-paul-the-oct_n_774747.html
Top 5 USA universities that accept Ethiopian students for under graduate and graduate (Masters) studies
1. Maharishi University of Management, Iowa
www.mum.edu
2. University of Northern Virginia, Virginia State
www.unva.edu
3. Bowling Green State University, Kentucky
www.bgsu.edu
4. Schiller International University, Florida
www.schiller.edu
5. Stevens Henager College, Utah
www.stevenshenager.edu
The list will be updated regularly
Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Inter Milan vs. Tottenham Hotspur
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Monday, October 18, 2010
What is a Treasury Bill - T-Bill?
A short-term debt obligation backed by the a government (Eg. In this case Ethiopia government) with a maturity of less than one year. In US, T-bills are sold in denominations of $1,000 up to a maximum purchase of $5 million and commonly have maturities of one month (four weeks), three months (13 weeks) or six months (26 weeks).
T-bills are issued through a competitive bidding process at a discount from par, which means that rather than paying fixed interest payments like conventional bonds, the appreciation of the bond provides the return to the holder.
For example, let's say you buy a 13-week T-bill priced at $9,800. Essentially, the U.S. government (and its nearly bulletproof credit rating) writes you an IOU(I owe you) (a note saying that the government owe you money) for $10,000 that it agrees to pay back in three months. You will not receive regular payments as you would with a coupon bond, for example. Instead, the appreciation - and, therefore, the value to you - comes from the difference between the discounted value you originally paid and the amount you receive back ($10,000). In this case, the T-bill pays a 2.04% interest rate ($200/$9,800 = 2.04%) over a three-month period.
Source:Investopedia
Source:Investopedia
Sunday, October 17, 2010
The proposal
Kebede wrote:
Most worthy of your estimation
After a long consideration
Please consider my application
To become your relation
As to my educational qualification
It is no exaggeration or fabrication
That I have passed my matriculation
Without any hesitation
What do you say to the solemnisation?
On your approval of the application
You will get my picture for adoration
I shall make further preparation
And such obligation is worthy of consideration
To the joy of our joint dissimilation
Thanking you in anticipation
To remain victim of your fascination
AND
Almaz replied:
Dear Mr victim of my fascination
Congratulation of your lengthy narration
Of course full of affection
Aimed at an affiliation
I find a fine explanation of your ambition.
You have passed your matriculation
No further education?
So improve your situation
Post graduate is the minimum qualification
A fat salary as remuneration
Mercedes or BMW for transportation
A villa in Bole for accommodation
And before taking your photo for circulation
Undergo beautification
Stop botheration
No touched by your affection.
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