inaar, waa nabad. hargeisa is the greatest city in the world, walle. it has amazing weather and there's always something new to discover. the people are friendly and hospitable.

Safferz;938752 wrote: Amaseginalehu T-MINUS 7 HOURS hey Saffz, how does it feel, knowing full well, that you're going to flop, in tonight's eagerly anticipated performance.....

*Blessed;938739 wrote: Alpha, I'm curious what's the motivation? a tigray chick, inaar. she owns a small tourist shop in addis. we didn't understand each other the first time we met, you know. the last time i saw her, i wooed her with basic Amharic. she's convinced i'm tirgay too, especially with my accent, you know. i've been told i have the tigray look about my person. i now tell them i'm from mekele and use the name Zageye.

NGONGE;938736 wrote: ^^ You safely made it to the other side and are not smelly any more. not that i was ever a smelly let alone a student, but i remember this poignant comment NORF made once....... about the benefits of earning your first salary and then suddently realising the sky's the limit and there's more to life, inaar. many years of being a smelly student were terrible for Al but he made it out alive in the end somaha?

NGONGE;938731 wrote: Students? somaha, inaar? i'd hate to be a student.

^ believe it or NOT, i'm able to string together some basic Amharic these days.

*Blessed;938725 wrote: Oh.but..you'll live. Me’elkam edil hon. from the refugee camps miyaa?

i've been resisting the urge to restart this thread again. i had a terrible day and i'm highly volatile. there is no-one to discuss these 'matters' with. these cantarbaqash have been fictionalised for dramatic effect but if ever, you were smart, and read between the lines, as it were, you'd realise 96% of these cantarbaqash are real. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

An African Summer? GEORGE AYITTEY George Ayittey, president of the Free Africa Foundation compares the Arab Spring with Africa's village revolutions in the 1990s and explains what is needed to make democracy sustainable. After the Arab Spring erupted in North Africa in the Spring of 2011, there was widespread speculation that it will spread to sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, it sparked sporadic street protests in Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Sudan and several other African countries. But they quickly fizzled -- thanks to brutal crack-down by security forces. Actually, sub-Saharan Africa’s “Village Revolutions” in the early 1990s pre-dates the Arab Spring but since the outcomes are strikingly similar, it would be more useful to compare the two and ascertain what lessons can be earned from them. During the struggle against colonialism, African nationalist leaders made democracy their rallying cry and demanded its establishment across Africa. But suddenly after independence in the 1960s, the same nationalist leaders rejected democracy as a “Western institution.” Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, for example, dismissed it as “imperialist dogma.” They then proceeded to establish Soviet-style one-party socialist state systems and declare themselves “presidents-for-life.” Statues of Marx and Lenin graced the capitals of Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. In 1990, just 4 of 53 African countries were democratic. After the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1989, Africa’s emperors suddenly found themselves with no clothes. “Village revolutions” swept across Africa, toppling many of them. From 1990, ordinary Africans, including women with babies strapped to their backs, braved bullets and staged street demonstrations, demanding democratic pluralism and resignations of their presidents. Dictators met the protesters with tear gas, stun grenades, arrests, kidnappings, bullets and curfews. But the revolutionary ferment, which began in Benin, spread to Cape Verde Islands, Mali, Malawi, Togo, Zaire, Zambia and eventually ending in South Africa with the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994. In all, Africa’s village revolutions produced six outcomes: 1. Peaceful, non-violent transition to democracy: Benin (1991), Cape Verde Islands (1992), Sao Tome & Principe (1992), South Africa (1994) and Zambia (1991); 2. Ferocious resistance to change, resulting in civil war and carnage: Somalia (1991), Burundi (1993), Rwanda (1994), Zaire (now Congo DR, 1996); 3. Successful ouster of dictators but subsequent hijacking of revolutions by groups that were not part of the revolution: Ivory Coast (1992), Nigeria (1993), Tanzania (1995); 4. Reversals of the revolution with dictators replaced by crocodile liberators: Ethiopia (Mengistu Haile Mariam by Meles Zenawi, 1991), Gambia (Dawda Jawara by Yahya Jammeh, 1994), Liberia (Samuel Doe by Charles Taylor, 1990), Niger (Mahamane Ousmane by Gen. Ibrahim Mainassara, 1996), Sierra Leone (Gen. Joseph Momoh by Capt. Valentine Strasser, 1992) and Uganda (Milton Obote by Yoweri Museveni,1986); 5. Ousted dictators clawed their way back to power: Benin (Mathieu Kerekou, 1996), Congo-Brazzaville (Denis Sassou-Nguesso, 1997), Madagascar (Didier Ratsiraka, 1996); 6. Dictators learned new tricks to beat back the democratic challenge: Angola, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, Ghana, Sudan, Togo and Zimbabwe. Only the first of the six was desirable. The rest produced a serious set-back for the democratic struggle and a descent into chaos and civil wars. Black Africa’s village revolutions were marginally successful. The number of democracies increased from 4 in 1990 to 12 in 2004 and has remains stubbornly stuck at 15 today. Africa is still not free. Lessons A few lessons can be drawn from Africa’s Village Revolutions that can be discerned elsewhere. First, not all revolutions succeed. The Iranian 2009 Green Revolution flopped; the 2005 Cedar Revolution of Lebanon self-immolated and the flower revolutions in Eastern Europe wilted. Second, not all revolutions produce desired outcomes. They can be hijacked – as has been the case in Tunisia and Egypt, They were started by the youth but have been hijacked by senile clerics, some in exile for decades. Libya is fractured and in turmoil while the horrific slaughter of civilians by Syria’s Bashar al-Assad continues; over 60,000 dead so far. Elsewhere, a deadly stand-off has settled in Yemen and Bahrain. Third, toppling a dictator is only the first step in establishing a free society. The next step is dismantling the dictatorship itself. It is analogous to having a bad driver with a defective vehicle. After sacking the driver, the vehicle itself must be fixed; else the new driver would land in a ditch. In far too many countries, the second step was either not attempted, debauched or manhandled, which leads to a reversal or hijacking of the revolution. Sub-Saharan or Black Africa’s village revolutions in the early 1990s, which occurred in over 40 countries, provide a treasure trove of revealing insights as to why some succeed while others fail. Four factors determined their success or failure: The receptivity of the dictator to change; the body managing the transition; duration of the transition process; and implementation of constitutional and institutional reform. Much bloodshed was avoided when dictators accepted the need for change and the transition was managed by a broadly representative body. For example, Benin's 9-day "sovereign national conference" in Feb 1990 convened with 488 delegates, representing the broad spectrum of Beninois society and elections were held in 1991. South Africa employed the same vehicle – Convention for a Democratic South Africa or CODESA – in July 1991, with 228 delegates andculminated in the election of Nelson Mandela in March 1994. [For the Arab Spring, a Grand Majlis or a Loya Jirga as was the case for Afghanistan in 2003, would be more appropriate.] Third, a hasty transition period proved counter-productive. It took the US 13 years (1776-1789) to transition from independence to democratic rule. South Africa took three years. A short transition period – say, 6 months – does not give new parties time to organize while giving old opposition parties an edge – as occurred in Tunisia and Egypt. Finally, after the transition a whole battery of reforms must be implemented. Dictators manipulated the Constitution and packed all key state institutions with his supporters and cronies. For a revolution to be sustained, the constitution must be revamped and institutions cleansed of the “nomenklatura.” Sadly, in many countries, real reforms were not implemented, allowing the return of authoritarianism: Ethiopia (under Meles Zenawi), Liberia (under Charles Taylor), Uganda (under Yoweri Museveni), Russia (under Putin), Kyrgyzstan(under Kurmanbek Bakiyev), Georgia (under Mikhail Saakashvili) and Ukraine (under Viktor Yanukovich). In all cases, however, one lesson stands clear: Wherever the transition was managed by the military or a rebel group, the outcome was disastrous: Military dictators simply manipulated the process, created their own parties (Ghana, Uganda and Myanmar),shooed in their favorite parties (Mali, Nigeria) or “civilianized” themselves by shedding military uniforms and donning civilian clothes (Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia, Ghana, Niger). Nigeria’s transition by its military dictators was the most egregious. General Ibrahim Babangida began the transition in 1985. After frequent interruptions and devious maneuvers, he created exactly two parties for Nigeria in 1992 because the US has two major parties. Then he wrote their manifestoes too: “One a little to the left, the other a little to the right.” And when the June 12, 1993 presidential elections produced a winner he did not like, he annulled the elections altogether. Next to manage the transition was General Sani Abacha. He called a Constitutional Conference in 1994 with 396 delegates, who were "guests of the military." A fourth of their number (96) was selected by himself. When in 1997 he finally allowed five political parties to be registered, they all immediately chose him as their presidential candidate! General Abdulsalam Abubakar was the next to attempt constitutional engineering but he played “hide and seek” with the exercise. For Nigeria’s 1999 transition to democracy, he had TWO Constitutions prepared and held them closely to his chest. Which to release depended upon the election results. If the results went one way, Constitution A would be released; if they went the other way, Constitution B would be released. Thus, Nigerians went to the polls in March 1999 without knowing whether or not there was a Constitution, nor its contents. The outlandish chicanery was matched by Myanmar’s (Burma’s) military junta of Than Shwe in 2010. The military wrote the Constitution, reserved a quarter of the seats in national and local assemblies for itself, created its own party, Union Solidary and Development Party (USDP), and blocked other parties from participating in the Nov 7, 2010 elections. Then three days before the vote, it declared “victory.” Similarly in Egypt, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forced (SCAF) so bungled the transition that street protesters are now demanding its resignation. It is tough to start a revolution and topple a dictator. Formidable still is managing the transition and implementing reforms. Bungling either allows crocodile liberators and quack revolutionaries to take over. As Africans are wont of lamenting, “We struggle very hard to remove one cockroach from power and the next rat comes to do the same thing. Haba! (Darn!). http://www.fairobserver.com/article/african-summer ------------ interesting read.

haha...you're going to flop. i'm quite certain of this. a BIG massive FAILURE awaits your performance. you think Amharic language is easy? if only i was there to observe your FAILURE. do let us know how you get on, inaar.

Xaaji Xunjuf;938584 wrote: Very sad my god protect the American people from these terrorists. + 1,000,000 i'm literally in shock.

Chimera;938580 wrote: You overstepped the boundaries inaar, I don't care what you say about me, my personality or posts, that's fair game. The moment you insulted my hero is the day you made me a permanent enemy, I don't give a damn how low-key or cute you thought your joke was, my reply was appropriate.

be dhexdhexaad in your views on this incident. we don't know who or what is browsing this site.

Chimera;938559 wrote: That's what the Japanese said after Pearl Harbour, inaar. that's beside the point. i don't deny for a second that i eluded to your father drinking. you, on the other hand, expressly called my mother a whore who is pimped out by my father because of an addiction. that's grossly over-stepping the boundaries of a joke and indeed the standards expected on this forum. now, you may want to keep up appearances and maintain an unwitting charade of muteness over your OTT grave insult, laakin..... be that as it may, i'll be the better person here and let this slip.

Che -Guevara;938545 wrote: MMA, people hit like on FB and youtube without paying much attention. perhaps it was the gruesome coverage of these Somali Channels that upset some people. let's not be hasty here.

Chimera;938541 wrote: Boohoo, cry me a river warya. Next time you call someone's father a consumer of alcohol, you better have a stronger chin, and thicker skin 'ee sida ula soco'. your vicious attack wasn't proportional to my initial slur.

inaar, freedom of speech is more important than what you think of such matters ee sida uula soco, ma garatay?

Chimera;938527 wrote: Who the hell is this little crybaby, and what happened to the real Alpha-Blondy? (You can dish it, but you can't take it, inaar?) let's be civilised inaar. you called my mother a lapdancer and then call me a crybaby? there's a limit to tolerance ee sida uula soco.

Faheema.;938297 wrote: Good afternoon Alpha. ...and I am year 4, 10mins and counting forth year and still without a promotion? esh fooqal esh, inaar! 3 mins and counting!

NGONGE;938296 wrote: ^^ I'm glad you changed your mind warya. Almost forced me to employ drastic measures. but why? its not like i'm a someone anymore? i don't have any value nor benefit.......marka for you, The NG, SOL's finest to even entertain such things, makes Al wonder, that, maybe, just maybe, he might have some value, after, all is said and done?

Faheema.;938292 wrote: I wish it was Thursday 30mins till home time at least Afternoon all. Good Day to you Faheema, its a Thursday, everyday, here in the nation's capitals. LOOOOOOOL@home time. are you in year 5, inaar?

^

Chimera;938204 wrote: This is just the start Alpha, more such documentaries and films coming your way. Well you're too young to remember that your mother had no such curfew when she performed lapdances in the basements of Croce del Sud and Al-Uruba to 'kickstart" a fund for your daddy's jaad addiction. learn how to take a joke or learn how to tell a joke in a none-offensive way.

Cambuulo iyo bun;938134 wrote: wow inaar, i'd personally pay this voyeur $700/month to make tea...LOOOOOOL

Chimera;937401 wrote: yet another pathetic attempt to present a rose-tinted view of a country in the autumn of a 'golden era'. Adamsoow, these are figments of a by-gone glorious era, ma istidhi?. how i sometimes wish we were all afforded such lofty leisures in the xamar-caddey of the 1980s. inaar, you ought to be more sensitive to those who endured curfews after 6pm as your daddy drank moet in curubo.