Indeed You alone know Yourself by Your internal potency O Supreme Person Origin of all Lord of all beings God of Gods Lord of the universe The Supersoul You are the Supreme Primal Objective You are the ultimate resting place of the universe You are inexhaustible and You are the oldest You are the maintainer of the eternal religion, the Personality of Godhead Oh master of the senses Oh Primal Lord O Limitless One God of Gods Refuge of the universe You are the invincible source The cause of all causes You are the knower of everything and all that is knowable You are the supreme refuge above the material modes O limitless form This whole cosmic manifestation is pervaded by You O unbounded power You are the master of limitless might You are all-pervading and thus You are everything Omniscient The ancient The Ruler of the whole world Minuter than the atom The supporter of all Of form inconceivable Effulgent like the Sun and Beyond the darkness There is nothing whatsoever higher than you You are the Sapidity in Water The Light in the Moon and the Sun You are the syllable OM in all the Vedas Sound in ether You are the Virility in men You are the sweet fragrance in earth and the brilliance in fire You are the life in all beings The austerity in the austere You are the eternal seed of all beings The intelligence of the intelligent You are the Splendor of the Splendid You are the Strength of the Strong Guest

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Glorious
Meet The World's Most Unlucky 'luckiest' Man Who Cheated Death 7 Times
~4.2 mins read

According to a research I once made an average of 150000 people die per day from both natural and artificial causes, We all know that whenever a crash of any caliber occurs it usually comes with damages ranging from mild injuries to severe injuries, and sometimes can lead to the death of a person or people, I pray we don't fall victim of crashes or accidents.

Our case study today is a man called Frane Selak whom I can say is not a usual human being as he has cheated death several times and in his early 70s he won a lottery that stamped him as the "luckiest man in the world".

Who is Frane Selak?

Frane Selak is a Croatian man who was born on June 14th 1929, who was popularly known for his death escapades and he was known as the world most unluckiest man before what happened on his 73rd birthday that changed people's orientation about and made them to change his alias to "The world's most unlucky luckiest man"

See his death escapades

Frane Selak who is also a music teacher have had many brushes with death and I'll list them below

1. In January 1962, he started his brushes with death when the train he was on flied off track and crashed into a river as it was raining that day, Selak was lucky to have escaped that day as someone pulled him to safety, 17 passengers drowned that day and Selak wasn't spared too as he suffered a broken arm and hypothermia.

2. His second encounter happened a year after the first in 1963 where he was blown out of a malfunctioning plane door during his first and only plane ride but was lucky to land on a haystack, the plane which later crashed caused the death of 19 other passengers.

3. In 1966, the bus he was riding swayed off the road into a river where four of the bus passengers were drowned, Frane Selak swam to shore with a few bruises.

4. His car caught fire in 1970, but he was lucky to have escaped from the car before the fuel tank blew up.

5. Three years later, in 1973, the engine of his car was doused with hot oil from a malfunctioning fuel pump which caused flames should fly off through the air vents, he lost his hairs in this accident, but was not harmed apart from the hairs he lost.

6. In 1996, he was hit by a bus in Zagreb, Croatia, he was lucky to survive as funny enough he sustained only minor injuries.

7. A year after in 1996, he had a head-on collision with a United Nation's truck on a mountain, where he was thrown out of the car as he wasn't using seatbelt when the car was thrown off the cliff and he hanged on to a tree and watch his car fall of the 90m distance between the mountain and the ground.

His lucky experience

In 2003, he had an encounter which changed his life for good forever where he won a lottery that is worth 9,000,000, he won this lottery just 2 days after his 73rd birthday. At the time he won the lottery, he married again for the fifth time and purchased two houses and a boat, in 2010, he decided to give out the rest of the money to his relatives and friends after he decided to live a frugal lifestyle.

Source : Wikipedia

I pray for me and you that the Lord will change our story to Glory in Jesus name.

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Ugobaby
All The Reasons Your Relationships Never Last
~23.7 mins read

If you ask people what the key to making a relationship last is, one of the most common answers youll get is:

Communication.

(That, as well as trust, or respect, or whatever)

But the thing is

Communication is not the secret

And whoever thinks it is needs to do a real gut-check on this one.

Folks who think this do so because they struggle with it. They struggle with emotional boundaries whats theirs, whats their partners, what they should own, what their partner is to blame for. They think sharing is the same as solving, as though talking about it means things are going to be fixed. They also struggle with anxiety and passive-aggressiveness especially when, shocker, communication alone doesnt work.

And, yeah, a point of personal growth for them is definitely communication.

But that doesnt make communication the key to a lasting relationship.

I truly and deeply loathe you sometimes
There are moments I regret marrying you
I have sexual fantasies about your best friend
I sometimes I think about cheating on you
etc.

Which may seem like an exaggeration. But its not far from:

I need ___
I want ___
I feel __
You make me feel___

If youre thinking: whats wrong with the second set?
The same thing thats wrong with the first set: its poor emotional boundaries.

I know experts everywhere say that communication is the solution, but its not. And sure, if you struggle to share, or get passive aggressive, then yeah, work on that but as a you thing. Not as the secret to making a relationship work. Because sharing is great, but relationships are about much more than handing off our feelings, wants and needs to our partners.

If youre thinking: uh I would definitely want to know the first set!
Sweetie. no you would not. All of it is super common, and saying it out loud causes more problems than it solves. Its not our partners problem. Its not even really ours. Its just a reality for us to handle and move through.

So. Beyond communication

Depending on what you want out of a relationship, you have two options:

OPTION 1: A GOOD RELATIONSHIP, WHILE IT LASTS

however long that is.

This is you if: youre not necessarily hellbent on staying together til death do you part. You understand that people change, and needs and wants and values change, so relationships change and, either upfront or deep down inside, youre okay with that. You just want it to be good in the meantime.

Okay. Fine. Respect.

But. This is also you if: you think staying together forever means youll always feel exactly the same.

If youre the sort of person who insists on defining love as a feeling rather than a choice, then you are, in fact, also exactly the sort of person who intends to stay together only for as long as that lasts.

(And thats what this post is about.)

But either way, heres how to do Option 1 and make it good while it lasts:

Develop (Your Own) Emotional Maturity

This includes other words people use to describe a good partner: kind, respectful, trustworthy, honest. (As one person put it: reasonable and rational and not selfish or petty.)

Uh, yeah emotionally mature. Yall mean emotionally mature.

But its not just about finding someone who is because we dont control other people.

Its also about being someone who is.

I wrote about this recently. But effectively,

Love is acceptance just as much as ourselves as others. Loving and caring for ourselves first means that we develop the self-respect and strength necessary that we dont bury our self-worth in others, either in subjugating them or winning their affections.

I mean, duh.

When divorced couples are asked what would have made it work. They say communication. Married couples (over 10 years) when asked what makes it work. Say respect. the_obstinate_maw

I write about this A LOT. Its the number one thing you need to understand to make a relationship work, and if youre not getting it, you are going to fail (or suffer so hard, which frankly is still failing, breakup/divorce or not.)

Take responsibility for your own emotions, wants, and needs. Take ownership of your own happiness (or unhappiness), and dont hang it on your partner.

Neither person is the alpha in a healthy relationship. Neither wins (or loses) a fight, because fights arent what they have. Mature couples have discussions, or disagreements. Not verbal boxing matches or duels of the wit.

a.) Healthy couples dont fight not because they avoid conflict, but because they discuss, or disagree. They both seek to understand before being understood, listen, show compassion, etc. They both hear their partners side as much as sharing their own. They both know the difference between a mature, adult discussion, and an immature fight with a winner and loser.

b.) Understand how to apologize. (Note: Im sorry that you and Im sorry, but are not apologies. Those are bullshit, emotionally immature statements.)

And all of that? That will get you a good thing for as long as it lasts.

OPTION 2: A FOREVER LOVE

A love that truly lasts a lifetime.

This is what most of us say we want, but most of us dont actually know how to make it happen.

Because:

If you define love as a feeling rather than a choice, then you are also directly putting love at risk of not lasting forever.

Heres what forever actually requires:

Step 1. Develop (Your Own) Emotional Maturity

(See above)

Step 2. Reset Your Expectations (Of Love & Feelings)

I am continually amazed at the number of people who end their marriages or longterm relationships because they fell out of love or developed feelings for someone else.

Because, like duh!

People are messy, imperfect human beings.

And, over the course of years:

Feelings change.

Hard Reality #1: Our feelings for our partners will ebb and flow

And/but: they usually come back again.

You have to be patient. And compassionate. And mature. Real love is not the eyeball-bursting, heart-struck romance we see in rom-coms and experienced in the beginning.

Love changes. And good love grows.

If youre relying primarily on staying in love to stay together, youre banking your forever on something inherently fluid. Many people think their feelings now will go on lasting forever (or just get better, wee!), but theyre wrong.

If your gameplan is to always feel the same, then you are in denial of how humans work.

When I was 18, I went to a 50th wedding anniversary party. After dinner, the couple stood up and said:

Sometimes people ask us how we stayed together for so long

They chuckled to themselves, then said:

The real secret is: we never fell out of love at the same time.

And thats it. All of it including the very real, unpleasant implications, which are: sometimes, one of you will fall out of love.

Sometimes it will be you. Sometimes it will be them. And sometimes it can last for months, or a year not days.

There will be tough times and sour notes and shit years in your relationship. There just will be. If you want it all at the end, you have to stick through it.

Feelings come and go, and we have to decide whether were going to chase the highs and temptations and relinquish our relationship, or relinquish the chokehold that feelings have on us and hold our relationship together.

Human beings are messy! And as Winton from Five Year Engagement put it:

Underneath all that polite bullshit were all running on caveman software

One woman (and seriously, respect, sister ) was faithful for decades. She resisted temptation and stood by her vows,

Married 20+ years happy normal ups and downs like any marriage. Children are in college I love my husband and have never ever considered cheating. I have had many offers over the years but have always refused. I have never even been tempted I am still happy in my marriage; I am not angry or upset with my husband... I have NEVER planned this, I didnt look for this, I did not seek this out I never had any intention of ever cheating.

But then she felt something. From the moment she met the guy:

I was flooded with a feeling I had not had before This man completely took my breath away. I felt like a teenager again. My stomach was in knots and my mouth was dry I was blushing constantly and could barely form a coherent sentence. Oh I wanted him so bad but I refused. I told him I was married and just could not do this

Eventually he kissed me. I said I couldnt but then just went with it. Needless to say we never left the house. We talked and played for hours, the best part was just being in his arms and talking, I wanted to stay there forever.

I have not been able to stop thinking about him. He pops into my head out of the blue and I catch my breath and get butterflies. I cant explain it and I figure in time this will stop and these feelings will go away, but they never do, it has been a year.

I started seeing a therapist because I felt so guilty I am happy and comfortable why cant I stop thinking about this man?

Why would I be so stupid as to ruin a perfectly good and until now happy marriage, risk everything, and in the end hurt my family and possibly wind up alone? On the other hand we only have one life to lead so why shouldnt I take this chance and possibly end up with someone who makes me so happy and who I want to make happy in return?

And look guys, at its core, that is beautiful. It really is.

In a vacuum, all by itself, that is some real beautiful emotion right there. So many people go through life never having that, and if you thought you did but then experienced a whole new level of happiness, I feel you. I get it. It sounds a lot like the love were all taught to revere.

And that is my damn point.

If your plan for staying together forever your insurance against a divorce/breakup is to never develop feelings or attraction for anyone else, youre gonna have a bad time.

Because, statistically speaking, you almost certainly will.

So the real thing is: you have to choose. You have to reset expectations. You have to redefine what it is you want.

From a guy whos been married for over 20 years:

Be on guard with our hearts, and eyes, so as to not have an affair of the heart or physical affair. Oldschool52

If you build a relationship based entirely off of feelings and expect to stay together, you are mistaken. The couples who stay together for decades know this. They last not because they were never tempted, or never fell out of love, but because they valued their commitment more

Step 3. Commit (Yourself, To Your Partner)

Because: see above.

If you want to be together forever, YOU HAVE TO DELIBERATELY CHOOSE. Every day.

Even when youre not feelin it, or are feeling somethin for someone else.

Love is a choice, an investment, something of which we are the active agent not something we feel or fall into.

Because if you define your love and your relationship by how you feel, youre gonna fall out of it at some point. If you want to stay together, you have to commit even when you dont feel it at times.

There will be times when your feelings directly challenge your commitment.

If you ask people the secret to a happy, longterm relationship, younger couples, divorced couples, and unhappy couples will all say communication.

But older couples and long-haul couples all say:

Commitment.

This is a huge wake-up call to a lot of people. But successful couples know

Contrary to popular belief, being married isnt happily ever after. It takes a great deal of work. thehumanscott

Marriage is rarely two strong people, its about taking turns being strong for each other. sdub99

You must contribute more than a paycheck and not cheating. You have to proactively work to better your marriage by doing things around the house without being asked and conceiving of kindnesses on your own intentionally and spontaneously. In first marriage I traded my mom for another mom, my wife didnt want to be my mom and resented having to act like one. TocchetRocket

Marriage done well is hard work. OldSchool52

If anything, a long-term relationship means you put in more energy, not less.

We have to unpack the baggage of our youth We have to allow our spouse the space to grow as a person and this many times takes patience and understanding. oldschool54

Over the years, I have dated my spouse regularly, gone on trips with just her and marriage retreats together to be better people and spouses. Marriage is like a see saw, it is either going up or down. oldschool54

The work of keeping a marriage solid should be split 80/20 with both sides doing 80%. Super cheesy right? Totally works. squizzix

But really, the ratio always changes. So the real secret is: just put in work.

Marriage isnt always a 50/50 partnership. Sometimes, its 70/30. Sometimes its 80/20. Sometimes its 100/0.

Do the work.

Not resentfully. Not passive aggressively. Not on auto-pilot, or to check a box, or just to safeguard. Thats not the point. The point is love, remember?

And just damn, guys love so hard.

But I dont mean hot, which offers an excuse to go cool.

Dont love hot and cold. Love warm. Love consistent. Love everyday. Make the choice.

Love is a choice and an action not a feeling.

Make that choice every single day.

Id give specific examples here, but frankly I dont have any, because it differs by person and couple. But one thing is true: keep on doing it.

Very often, marriage and longterm relationships creates what I call:

The Gremlin Effect

The Gremlin Effect is that phenomenon where people just kind of change once theyve been together a while. They change their effort, or their expectations. Sometimes they change both. They stop trying.

If youre not actively growing and building your relationship and your love, then youre actively letting it die.

Keep dating the person they grow into, not the person from x years ago, whom you wish theyd stay. This goes back to the previous point on realistic and healthy expectations.

People change.

And love means changing, too hopefully in the same direction.

As your partner changes, you need to learn to appreciate and fall in love with the new person they become. Most simply become resentful and hurt. You used to. Avoid any thought that begins with those words. They are poison. Focus on love, appreciation and getting to know your partner over and over. kuzushi

Written by Kris Gage

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Victor21
Wired Things Women Do When They Live Alone
~4.0 mins read

1. LOOK SUPER GROSS IN THE MORNING.

Let’s face it, ladies, if you don’t have to leave the house, you’re probably lounging around looking gross all morning. If you’re not participating in morning sex , no one’s around to see that you still have last night’s mascara on at 11:30 and are wearing that 10 year old oversized shirt that has stains and holes in it. Rock on and stay comfy.
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2. OBSESS OVER HOME DECOR.

When you live alone, the pressure is ON for each decorative accent you purchase to be a complete and total reflection of your taste and who you are as a person. Are you more shabby chic or rustic modern? Better watch 48 hours of straight HGTV and make 1,000 trips to Home Goods before you commit to the perfect lamp.
.

3. PUT OFF CHORES UNTIL THE ABSOLUTE LAST MINUTE

. People who live alone tend to be out and about most of the time, not noticing the piles of laundry and dishes that are building up. You don’t realize you’re living in a disgusting pile of filth until someone texts you that they’re stopping by later. Cue wine enhanced mad panic of cleaning.
 

4. BINGE WATCH GUILTY PLEASURE SHOWS.

No one around to share the remote with or judge your sloth like behavior? Sounds like a perfect opportunity to watch an entire season of Gilmore Girls or Friday Night Lights.
 

5. TRY EVERYTHING ON PINTEREST.

You’ve got plenty of “me time” on your hands to hot glue gun 500 wine corks to your Ikea dresser, make a face mask out of whatever is in your fridge, and attempt to cut your own bangs. Why buy something when you can spend twice as much on supplies you saw on Pinterest?
 

6. HANG OUT IN THEIR UNDERWEAR.

Yup, this actually happens. Whether you’re trying to avoid getting make up or food on your clothes, or it’s SERIOUSLY laundry day, or you’re just super comfy in your skivvies, you enjoy the privacy that enables you to hang out in your underwear.
 

7. SPEND EXORBITANT AMOUNTS OF TIME IN THE BATHROOM

. Living alone means no one will judge you for staring at your pores in the mirror for an hour or doing getting ready “trials” in the middle of the day to test out new looks or hair and make-up techniques.
 

8. MASTER EVERY NEW BEAUTY TREND.

If you live by yourself, you were probably the first in your group to perfect winged liner, or master stobing, or perfectly file your kitty cat claws. Your friends don’t need to know you failed a dozen times first while you were getting ready alone.
 

9. LISTEN TO THE SAME PLAYLIST ON REPEAT.

You’re the only one in the apartment who is trying to sleep or get work done, so it’s party time whenever you want it to be party time! Plus silence is a little bit creepy, especially at night.
 

10. CHECK OUT YOUR BOD, OFTEN.

You’re the only one around. Go ahead and check out your abs and booty 100 times a day to check if those 20 crunches you just did are noticeable yet, or if anyone will be able to tell you had an entire Domino’s Pizza by yourself last night.
 

11. PASS OUT ON THE COUCH.

If you’re curled up on the couch late night, you’re probably already with your true love, Netflix . Sleeping next to the back of the couch might be the closest you’ll get to sleeping next to a real human body. Also, the couch is a much easier destination than your bed when you come home alone schwasted.
 

12. EAT REALLY ODDLY.

For a lot of people, grocery shopping for 1 doesn’t really make sense. Your at home diet consists of random snacks, a variety of items from leftover containers, and crap you bought at the gas station drunk at 3 am. With no one around to ask you if you’re hungry, you sometimes forget a meal and compensate by ordering so much take out that the deliver guy gives you 3 plastic forks with your order.
 

13. BUY THE VALUE SIZED BOTTLE OF WINE.

Olivia Pope had the right idea about settling in for a night alone with a large glass of red wine. Since you’re on a first name basis with your local liquor store owner who has long since stopped IDing you, you’ve upgraded to the value sized bottle to make the awkward exchange of him giving you a judgmental look while you put another bottle of discount wine on your credit card slightly less frequent.
 

14. BUG EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO COME OVER.

Why waste money going to a night club when you have a perfectly good apartment to hang out in? Living alone means a larger percentage of your income is going to rent, so you need to get your moneys worth. Bottle service is so much cheaper in your living room, guys!

15. TALK TO YOUR PETS

. Maybe you’ve tried to fix your loneliness with a pet or you had one before you lived alone. Either way, you begin to fill the void of human contact by chatting it up with your fury friend. If you can’t seem to stop yourself when you have company over, it may be time to look in to getting a roommate.
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Mkeji27
OFFICIAL: Manchester United Complete The Signing Of Donny Van De Beek From Ajax
~2.3 mins read
Manchester United have announced the arrival of Donny van de Beek from Ajax after the midfielder signed a five-year contract at Old Trafford.
Van de Beek has forged a reputation as one of the most exciting young midfielders in European football having starred for Ajax in recent years and he played a pivotal role in their march to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019.
The 23-year-old has attracted interest from a number of top European clubs with Manchester United among those to have scouted the Dutch international extensively over the past few years.
The Red Devils finally made their move last week after opening talks with Ajax and Sky Sports News claim that van de Beek completed his medical in Holland after a deal was agreed between the two clubs.
Sky Sports says Man Utd have agreed to pay Ajax 34.6m up front with a further 4.4m due if various add-ons are met, meaning the entire deal could be worth up to 40m, which is a superb piece of business for a player of his quality.
United have now formally announced the deal on ManUtd.com after confirming that van de Beek has joined the club from Ajax on a five- year contract with the option of another year.
After completing his move, van de Beek said its an incredible opportunity to join such a big club and expressed his excitement at being part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaers team following talks with the Norwegian coach.
The midfielder told ManUtd.com:
I cannot begin to explain how incredible an opportunity it is to join a club with such an amazing history.
I would like to thank everyone at Ajax. I grew up there and I will always have a special bond with the club.
I am now ready to take the next step in my career and perform at the highest level and there is no higher standard than Manchester United.
Everyone has told me how amazing the Old Trafford atmosphere is and I am looking forward to experiencing that, once it is safe for the fans to return.
This team has some of the best midfielders in the world and I know that I can learn from them and also bring my own strengths to the group.
Having spoken to the manager about his vision for this team, the direction that the club is going in is hugely exciting and I cannot wait to be a part of that.
Van de Beek becomes Man Utds first major signing of the summer and he should prove to be a very shrewd piece of business by the club if he settles into life in the Premier League.
The Dutchman contributed 10 goals and 11 assists in 37 appearances for Ajax last season so hell provide extra creativity to Solskjaer and he could form an exciting midfield trio alongside Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes this season.
As United have announced the signing before Hollands Nations League games against Poland and Italy, van de Beek wont need to quarantine when he arrives in the UK next week. The midfielder can now apply for an exemption on sporting grounds and should be available for selection for Man Utds Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on the 19th.
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Johnmoon

Free Business Opportunity (Online Business And Offline Business)
~0.4 mins read

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Eric123
CHAOS IN ETHIOPIA
~6.4 mins read
Following the reported capture of the strategic towns of Dessie and Kombolcha by the forces of the Tegray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), the world is abuzz with the imminent fall of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

CNN and the rest have been describing the events in lurid terms. The US embassy has issued an advisory to all non-essential staff to leave the country.

This is not surprising, as the US state department has chosen to side with the TPLF from the outset. Yet, indications from the front are that the ride is not going to be an easy one for the TPLF forces.

Apart from the Ethiopian National Defense Force, they will have to contend with Amhara and Afar militia as well as Amhara fanno (guerrillas). They will also have to protect their overstretched rear, which is exposed to a resurgent Amhara force as well as potential attack by Eritrean forces.

The context

Since the outbreak of the war in Tegray exactly a year ago, the world has been inundated with misinformation and disinformation.

What is abundantly clear but is deliberately ignored by Western media is that the war started not on November 4, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered the military operation, but on the night of November 3, when Tegrayan elements of the elite Northern Command treacherously murdered their non-Tegrayan comrades while they were asleep, and tortured others. The murderous attack was accompanied by a seizure of the sophisticated weaponry of the command.

In a recent interview, General Tsadkan Gebre Tensai, the commander of the Tegrayan forces, tried to convince the audience that it was a pre-emptive strike to avert an impending invasion by the government. Assuming that this had some validity, should the midnight attack have been conducted in such egregious fashion? A lengthy TPLF document that was issued one month before the attack makes its objectives clear.

It included the removal of Abiy and the setting up of a transitional government. Thus, the attack on the Northern Command might well have been a prelude to the march on Addis Ababa. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to show that TPLF supporters both in Ethiopia and in the diaspora were gearing up to celebrate the imminent victory.

Yet, for the Western media, what could be more newsworthy than a Nobel laureate waging war?

As if winning the Nobel Peace Prize comes with an obligation to turn the other cheek. As if he was not the prime minister of a country and commander-in-chief of its armed forces!

For the record, Barack Obama won the prize in the middle of the infamous surge that he had just authorised in Afghanistan.

Another thread of Western media reportage highlighted atrocities committed by the Ethiopian and allied Eritrean troops. The CNN even went into the trouble of staging a simulation of a reported massacre at a place called Dengelat.

Atrocities are to be deplored under any circumstances. And the recently released joint report by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has come up with graphic details of the atrocities committed by all sides, including the Tegrayan Special Forces.

Indeed, the first case of an egregious massacre (reported by both Amnesty International and EHRC) was conducted by TPLF-affiliated youth (with the connivance of Tegrayan militia and police). It took place on November 9 in the border town of Mai Kadra. The victims, numbering more than 200, were Amhara seasonal migrant labourers.
Yet, it was the massacre in Aksum of more than 100 Tegrayans by Eritrean forces on November 28 that was selectively beamed across Western media.

Many Western governments, led by the US, have chosen to side with the TPLF against the Ethiopian government.

It is largely thanks to the Ethiopian diaspora (particularly the large component in the US) and a few foreign friends of Ethiopia (Jon Abbink, Jeff Pearce, Lawrence Freeman) that the alternative voice has been heard in some measure.

Recently, a powerful voice has been added in the journalist Hermela Aregawi, an Ethiopian-American of Tegrayan origin, who, totally disgusted by the brazen bias of mainstream media, took the courageous step of distancing herself from the tight Tegrayan network and began speaking the truth.

History not repeating itself

Some facile parallels have been made with the TPLF march to Addis Ababa in 1991 soon after the fall of Dessie. Yet, 2021 is not 1991. Then, it had the full support and collaboration of the forces of the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front, which was waging a parallel war to achieve Eritrean independence.

Now, the two former friends have become sworn enemies. Then, the Amhara people, who had their own grievances against the ruling Derg, paved the way to the capital for the TPLF. Now, the TPLF seems determined to march over Amhara corpses. The TPLF spokesperson is on record for saying, on more than one occasion, that they still have accounts to settle with the Amhara elite.

From its inception, the TPLF has harboured a visceral hatred of the Amhara. The manifesto with which it launched the armed struggle in 1976 bristles with anti-Amhara rhetoric.

The strategic document cited above sees the period from the ascent of Emperor Menilek in 1889 to the TPLF/EPRDF (Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front) takeover of power in 1991 as the Age of Darkness. Two years had not elapsed when it sacked 43 academics (a number of them at the professor and associate professor levels) in 1993 for no other tangible reason than that most, if not all, happened to be Amhara.

The current situation

The current phase of the war began last July, after the government withdrew its forces from Tegray and declared a unilateral ceasefire. Rather than reciprocating, TPLF called it a sick joke and set out a number of preconditions before it could agree to a ceasefire. If there was a will to end the conflict and bring much-needed humanitarian assistance to those in dire need in Tegray, it could have brought the issues that it set as preconditions to the negotiation table.
Instead, it began an offensive into the Amhara and Afar regions. 

Its strategy has been one of a total war, mobilising children and the elderly. In the process, thousands (both combatant and non-combatant) have died and hundreds of thousands displaced.

The humanitarian disaster that began in Tegray has now spilt over to the two neighbouring regions. The situation is becoming unmanageable. True to its promise, TPLF has massacred hundreds of Amhara peasants, refugees and youth in the areas that it came to occupy.
The Afar have not been spared either, with the shelling of a refugee camp that claimed hundreds of lives, including children. The latest report is the execution of over 100 youth in the recently occupied town of Kombolcha.

The endgame

In a situation so filled with many variables, it is difficult to predict the final outcome. This is especially the case with a complex country such as Ethiopia. 

     The TPLF commander wants us to believe that the war is over and what remains is the setting up of a transitional government. Indeed, the TPLF has assembled a handful of organisations (just as it did in 1991) and set up an anti-government alliance, presumably as a stepping stone to the projected transitional government.
The fact of the matter is that TPLF faces the united opposition of almost all Ethiopian nationalities. This is because the organisation has such a dismal record of governance in the nearly three decades that it was in power (1991-2018). And they do not want a second edition of it.

The only election that was openly contested was the third one in 2005, which the opposition almost won.

Thereafter, the TPLF vowed to itself never again and promulgated a series of laws crippling the opposition, muzzling the media and shackling civil society.
That was the background to the widespread popular protests of 2016-2018 that brought Abiy to power.

Soon a standoff developed which reached its climax when Abiy scrapped the EPRDF in favour of a new party, Prosperity Party, which the TPLF refused to join. Various efforts were made to bring the two estranged parties to the negotiation table, to no avail.

Things took an almost irreversible turn when TPLF conducted its own elections in September last year, in defiance of the federal government and the National Election Board, which has been forced to postpone them because of the outbreak of Covid-19 as so many other countries have done.

A great national tragedy

Whichever way you look at it, the situation in which Ethiopia currently finds itself is tragic in many respects. Tegray has been an integral part of Ethiopia, indeed a vital component of its culture and civilisation.
Yet, now, Tegrayans are pitted against non-Tegrayans. Old friends are no longer on speaking terms. The possibility of living together in peace and harmony is receding.

The war should never have come to pass. And it should have been halted at the first opportunity.
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