It is written in Genesis that Adam and his helpmeet were told not to eat of the forbidden fruit. “And the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall … more
What a combination! A reckless regime and a mountain of gold. But some combinations can be unstable like glycerin and nitric acid. Booom!!! And it is the end of Eritrea as we know it. Una brutta fine! According to the tyrant, the country will go the way of Somalia in … more
Our world is fast shrinking thanks to the Internet, mobile phones, sat dishes and high-speed planes. Now, in this small village, people can simply stick their necks out from their respective windows and shout at each other, hurling curses and complaining at the world’s deplorable situation. Those with shady characters … more
A Persian sage once said that the greatest oppression a person experiences in life is mental oppression. The body is but a chariot and takes us to where the mind or soul leads it; it executes thoughts and aspirations and as it finally crumbles down into dust, the soul merges … more
Some countries are very unlucky to find themselves on the wrong side of the globe. Poland had been one of these in the past with Austria and Russia mauling it from time to time. The nightmare happened one day and this country, for all intents and purposes, disappeared from the … more
What could be the reason for the mushrooming of nicknames in our society? Is it a long-standing tradition? The other day someone told me that nicknames are as old as the history of our country with nobles who went around with embarrassing monikers such as Abak (suffering from scabies) and … more
What does the earth need to start quaking, for the elements to unleash their wrath and for the tyrant to crush us under his feet? According to tradition, the main ingredient that activates the doomsday machine is our sin which comes in many shapes, sizes and colors. Girls wearing miniskirts … more
Conflict is a sign of life. The only place you don’t find conflict is probably in the grave where everybody lies in eternal quiet and calm undisturbed by the noise and clamor of the surrounding world. Every organism harbors some sort of conflict within it, as the forces of opposites … more
I remember it as if it were yesterday, as we sang them aloud till our lungs ached, as the headmaster waved his baton frenetically to keep the tempo, with rivulets of sweat running down his face. Louder! Louder! He would shout. How much loud? Do you think our lungs are … more
One day I was invited to present a paper on a certain Abyssinian king who was almost worshipped by the learned and laymen of the conference participants. It was his centenary. The opening ceremony, which I didn’t attend for some technical reasons, was very vibrant and highly charged, as the … more
When Europeans flocked to the New Continent following its discovery in 1492, the idea was to get as much gold and silver as possible from the land they mistook for India or the China of Marco Polo. Their kings wanted to stock their coffers with gold for an everlasting war … more
Dr. Heiner is a scientist who never goes out of his way to admire flowers much less beautiful women. His garden is the lab filled with flasks and test tubes. To him people are homo-sapiens with a tortuous evolution behind them, while society is simply a collection of humans living … more
Some wit has said that religion is too sensitive and too vital a subject to be left to the church alone. It is time to come boldly forward and look it in the face, the face of total mystery and enigma. Religion may be the last bastion of collective faith, … more
This story was originally presented in four series at Eripost, awate.com. It is condensed from a not yet published manuscript of the same title by Amanuel Sahle. .In the 1980s Asmara was a sort of military garrison. The Derg (the communist oriented Ethiopian military junta) soldiers seemed to have lost all … more