Khao Insixiengmay: Royal Lao veteran

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With the creation of a newly independent nation in 1954, the Kingdom of Laos saw the formation of a modern military. The Royal Lao Armed Forces included a Royal Lao Army, Royal Lao Air Force, Royal Lao Navy, and a creation of a national police force; the Royal Lao Police. These branches of the military and police force were composed of young men and women, tasked with defending the newly formed kingdom from enemies, foreign and domestic. Their training, fight, and expertise were to win the long war against perceived Communist aggression in Southeast Asia. Continue Reading

Every flavor of black person you can imagine

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In appearance, there is every flavor of black person you can imagine here in Ethiopia. There is also interesting is the mix of Euro folks, too, which includes indigenous Armenians who have a long history here and love this land. Just about every European country has an embassy here. The British and U.S. Embassies look like armed fortresses. (Well, maybe that’s exactly what they are.) Continue Reading

Babalou as ferengi (foreigner)

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Today it rained for the first time since I have been here in Ethiopia. It didn’t last long, but it felt like some kind of blessing for even that brief while. It’s the dry season. I mean we are all in dry season… I say this knowing it’s snowing like hell in the U.S. now. Continue Reading

Kenyan Member of Parliament, public health advocate looks to Minnesota, “my second home” for partners

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Honorable Shukran Gure, one of the first women elected to Parliament in Kenya, has been in Minnesota since January 23rd networking with local non-profits, non-governmental organizations and city governments to create partnerships aimed at improving the lives of the people she represents in Garissa County, Kenya.Building maternity clinics, creating education and youth empowerment opportunities have been key goals of her foundation, which she created when she was elected to office in March 2013. She quickly realized that the government didn’t have any funds allocated to support programs for women and youth. So she decided to do something about it. “I created my foundation to mobilize resources so that I could help (the) people that I represent, women and youth,” she said.Gure has strong Minnesota ties, dating back to 2000 when she first came to the Minneapolis with her husband and began working at Fairview Health Services. She enrolled at St. Continue Reading

Reflections of New Minnesota: Understanding the Ukraine crisis

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Two months ago, Ukrainians took to the streets to protest President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision not to sign a major partnership deal with the EU. The protests have Ruslana Westerlund is a Ukrainian living in Madison, Wisconsin. She joins Julia Nekessa Opoti to discuss the conflict and how the protests are an indictment of the current administration by Ukrainians. [Audio below]

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Optimism on dealing with the Trans-Pacific Partnership

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If you’re reading this, you very likely already know more than a little about the proposed “Trans-Pacific Partnership” trade agreement. Now, I have seen claims from the left about this that likely cross the line into hyperbole; if it goes into effect as it exists now, it won’t really mean total corporate world takeover and the end of all hope. But it unquestionably is a very bad deal, and needs to be blocked, or at least cut way, way down to size. Thankfully, there are growing grounds for optimism. Continue Reading

Is this where Showtime at the Apollo started??

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Last Wednesday, my sister Elsa took me to a funky little two-room nightclub, a “tej bayt” or “ honey wine house” that specializes in traditional Ethiopian music and dance. We arrived around 8:45 p.m. and tonight’s’ show was to start at 10:30. We found a perfect “Malcolm X type” position in the room. We had a clear unobstructed view of the entrance and could always see who came in and who left. We walked through the first room through an archway to the second room that held the bar and beyond that a short walk lead to the “shunta bayts” or toilets. Elsa and I sat right behind the DJ and owner of the club. Elsie knew him and they greeted one another warmly with a full embrace and the traditional three to four kisses from cheek to check. Continue Reading

Reality check 2014

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In 1959 President Eisenhower identified the “Military Industrial Complex” as a crucial challenge to true democracy, but he also sent in 6,000 troops, six weeks before JFK took office. What is the arc of history here? This political entity known as the United States has been an exploitive presence on the globe that began when the first Europeans landed on the shores of what was incorrectly called America or the New World. Industrialization sped up the conquest of the planet and plunder of the natural world and ultimately fed into the Capitalist/Communist struggle to control the natural resources of the world. The so-called communist system has fallen. The other shoe is now slipping from the foot of the Capitalist West. As any economic system is fed by what it hopes is an endless supply natural resources, it is rather dramatically clear that is coming to an end for the Western industrial way of life. Or is that really an unconscious way of death? This is like seeking refuge in a burning house. Continue Reading