Wey gud!

My mother would say, "YeqoTun awerd bila yebibitwan Talech". Or maybe she'd be more pithy and come up with a better one liner.

Here are a series of events that just ... hurt when one tries to make sense out of.

a) August 6 : The 'Islamists' take full control of Mogadishu, and start advancing north, increasing areas of Somalia under their control. The government of Ethiopia starts saying 'i'rrrreeeee!', and warns that if they advance withing 60 km of the Ethiopian boarder, then Ethiopia will take action. Let me clarify, in case there's any misunderstanding. We're talking 60 km inside Somalian territory. Apparently EPRDF is high on whatever their papa Bush is on, and think that they can pull the same shit America's pulling in Iraq (never mind the fact that Iraq has now degenerated into a state of civil war ... perhaps for Ethiopia that's no issue since Somalia has 'always' been perpetual a state of civil war).

There were reports of Ethiopian solders inside of Somalia. The Ethiopian Government denied it. The Somalian transitional government denied it. But the Islamists were convinced that Ethiopia wanted a hand in this. They finally declared jihad on any Ethiopians found in Somalia. (Ok, I'm Ethiopian but really, who can blame them?)

2) August 7/17 : Floods hit parts of Ethiopia, especially in the south and south east. The first of major reports coming from Dire Dawa suggested that about 200 people were estimated dead. A couple of weeks later another river overflowed killing 125 more people in southern Ethiopia. Thousands are reported missing or trapped.

Rescue workers claim that their efforts were hampered by the fact that helicopters couldn't fly to the disaster regions due to weather conditions, and the boats they were able to send in were very small. "We are trying our best", they said.

3) Aug 20 morning : The United States sends in its army reserve stationed in Djibouti to help with the rescue operations. Oh, how nice! (yes, as much as I like to sit and bash American foreign policy and its global irresponsibility, the US does have its many kind moments.)

4) Aug 20 evening : Ethiopian troops are finally openly present in Somalia. The BBC reports that they were seen approaching the city of Baidoa, the seat of government of the transitional government of Somalia.

We've people and villages getting swept away, lives being taken and destroyed by the hundreds and what is the Ethiopian army doing? Yelela swe guada gebto yifetefital. Ihis? We've other people's armies coming into our country to deal with our disasters.

"We're trying our best", they said. Best? Best? Does that imply there could be worse? Mts.

Swift Summer and a Balcony

My apartment has a pathetic excuse for a balcony. I noticed the wooden thing they called a floor was only partially painted when I first came by to look. Oh, well. I figured it would be very unlikely for me hang out on a balcony to ... tan? Or something.

Anyway, I put a Walmart $15 hammock on two opposite railings and for a while it was pretty cool. It lasted me the fall (used a couple of times) and winter (forgot it existed). Spring came and I tried it out once. It looked shaky, but it was fine. Then a friend, who happened to be twice as tall and weighed twice as much, decided to try it out. Needless to say, he ended up on the semi-painted 'floor' with one side of the railings on top of his head.

He was okay. I promptly removed the hammock and anything that might indicate recreational used of the balcony and called the manager. Really. There was nothing in my agreement that said not to use the balcony as a hammock hanger. The next day somebody came by and put caution tape around it.

A month passed. The caution tape started discoloring, too. Considering I don't live on the first floor, I called the manager again with the friendly reminder that one can easily fall off my balcony in its current state. I was assured it would be fixed. Another month passed. I called again. This time a new lady told me the other manager got fired. OK. And the balcony? She asked me how long it's been, then proceeded to chide me for not having reported it earlier. Um. Hello? Caution tape? After a little barking she promised it would be fixed. It's been another month and a half.

Maybe I'll fall off the balcony and sue them.

In the mean time, I just received a strongly worded notice 'reminding' me that I haven't renewed my lease. If i do not sign and return the form by late August, they'll be forced to take legal action. M*****F****RS!

So I proceeded to log in and type here instead of signing my lease.

Anyway ...

Is 'agramot' a word? How? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TMfKVP-7Cg

Must listen, why not see ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxG0bl7DFiM
I could do with a CD, actually.

Whoa!I first heard about her at bernos.org, and now she's all over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlje9TApVH8&mode=related&search= (video to song mentioned in bernos)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZFJrAB0Czw (Interesting)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWSK2jAa8Ns&mode=related&search= (man in an apron!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?search=&mode=related&v=flxyUueeYUU (for some reason, its content was considered offensive to/by some and you've to log in to see it. Perhaps it's a lil' yemeteqe kelemednew stuff, but really, is freaking youtube!)