Where there is division there will be conflict. In a country such as Ethiopia with dozens of ethnic/tribal groups, the need for tolerance, cooperation and unity is essential if there is to be peace and social harmony. Where these are absent, where differences and historic grievances are enflamed by ideologically ambitious individuals/groups, fear hate, … Continue reading Ethnic Terrorism Continues to Stalk Ethiopia 

As we look at the various interconnected crises facing humanity, from poverty war and displacement to the environmental emergency, it becomes clear that they all stem from the same source, from a particular approach to life and way of living. An extremely narrow, largely false view that has led to wholesale environmental vandalism, acutely divided … Continue reading From Excess to Simplicity of Living and Social Justice

As COP 27 drew to a pitiful close with no action on emissions or reparation, I met a friend in a cafe in West London. Distracted by our discussion, we failed to notice his Earl Grey being served in a takeaway cup; aghast, I requested a china mug for mine. Blowing and sipping, we grumbled … Continue reading Copout In Cairo: ‘They’ Just Don’t Care

Faced with imminent defeat, on 2 November the TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) finally agreed to stop their vicious attack on Ethiopia. They had little choice in the end, the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) had taken TPLF strongholds in Tigray, and encircled the regional capital Mekelle.  The great tragedy is that fighting could have … Continue reading Ethiopia: Peace Agreed The Work Now Begins

Nobody, well nobody in their ‘right mind’ can anymore deny, ignore or escape the burning fact that the natural world is being battered and vandalized by humanity; not all of humanity, just a certain subset. Air, water and soil polluted, forests levelled, ecosystems disrupted, animals species killed off, climate patterns altered. And yet, and yet, … Continue reading Crisis Or Catastrophe: Nothing Changes

First things first: as I write so-called peace talks are underway between the democratically elected government of Ethiopia and The Terrorist TPLF. That in itself is a bizarre sentence, and prompts an array of related questions, and issues around law and order, justice, national governance. To be clear, the TPLF have never wanted peace, and … Continue reading A Loud and Clear Lesson – For Ethiopia and the World

As Ethiopians celebrated the new year on 11 September, the TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) issued a Stance on a Peaceful Resolution of the Current Conflict. Choking on hypocrisy it states that they were, are, will one day be, prepared to “participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the African Union (AU)”. … Continue reading Ethiopia: Peace Is Impossible While TPLF Roam The Land

Frustrated and angry, people everywhere are mobilizing, protesting, striking, demanding change, screaming out against injustice, suppression and control. The unprecedented global movement expands week on week; it will not be stopped, no matter the level of violence or intervention state bodies employ to silence people and maintain the corrosive status-quo. In a dramatic Sign of … Continue reading Women Life Freedom

Much like individual change, societal developments happen gradually, often painfully; even when sudden shifts take place, seemingly ‘out of the blue’, they are the result of an accumulation of incremental steps – the last straw on the camel’s back as it were. Small developments may slip by unnoticed, major events scream out and demand our … Continue reading Universal Tipping Points: Change is Coming

After 12 bleak years ofvarious Conservative governments, led by inadequate Prime Ministers, the UK is on its knees. Democracy is under attack like never before; the disaster of Brexit, which has resulted in a catalogue of negatives including social polarization, isolationism and rabid tribalism. Years of grinding austerity, underinvestment in public services, frozen wages and … Continue reading UK: Fragmentation and Decline Under Conservative Rule