Thinking about ethics and current events (Began 1 April 2008)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Quote of the Week - David Mills
David Mills writes that church bureaucrats are "the sort of friend who “for your own good,” weeds your library, changes the settings on your computer, replaces your furniture, and rearranges your finances—and then charges you a large fee for doing so because 'we’re all in this together.'” From here.
US Vacates Bases in Pakistan as Relations Chill
ISLAMABAD, June 29: Pakistan has asked the United States to withdraw its forces from the Shamsi airbase. It will be vacated soon, while the Ghazi airbase has already been handed over to the Pakistan Air Force.
This was stated here on Wednesday by Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar. Talking to a group of journalists, he said the Americans had started moving equipment and materials from the Shamsi airbase which had been leased to the UAE. The Ghazi airbase located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has already been vacated.
The Shamsi airbase in Balochistan has been used by the Americans for supplies to ISAF forces in Afghanistan and for launching drone attacks in tribal areas.
(According to AFP, a US embassy spokeswoman said there were no US military personnel at the Shamsi base.)
A defence ministry official told Dawn that the government had decided to get the base vacated because of a significant reduction in the flow of US funds and the growing trust deficit between the two countries.
The defence minister admitted that trust deficit had grown significantly, especially after the May 2 US Abbottabad raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.
“One year ago they (Americans) thought differently; now they are not recognising the sacrifices and cooperation of the Pakistanis,” he said.
About the Abbottabad operation, he said: “They (Americans) have demoralised the whole nation only to kill one man.”
Chaudhry Mukhtar said the policy on war on terror needed to be revised because of the rising cost of military operations against militants on the western border and also because the US might further delay or reduce financial support for Pakistan. “Although the eastern border is currently quiet and tensions are at the border with Afghanistan, we need deterrent at the east and ISAF can take care of the western side,” he said.
The minister said the country was facing serious social impact of the war. He said that 3,000 youths who had been trained by terrorists were in the custody of armed forces, but the serious issue was their prosecution.
The youths have been arrested during military operations in Swat and other areas.
“We are still not clear which courts will hear their cases,” the minister said. He accused the US of not cooperating with Pakistan in plans to rehabilitate these youths, envisaged after the first Afghan war and the post-9/11 war.
Chaudhry Mukhtar said the trust deficit could be reduced if both Pakistan and the US took the matter seriously. “It cannot be done unilaterally.”
He said that negotiations should be held with saner elements on both sides of the border to bring peace to the region. “We will have to sit on the table to end the war and the US also has to do that. If the US wants peace with good Taliban they will have to talk in a room and not engage at mountain tops.”
Chaudhry Mukhtar claimed that the US had not even given Pakistan the required quantity of equipment, including the military hardware, while the quality of equipment supplied was also not up to the mark.
“Even the helicopters they (Americans) have supplied have not been A-class equipment which was promised at various stages of negotiations; and not to speak of their number,” he said.
However, he said, the US had agreed to provide three P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft. Pakistan lost three such aircraft; two were destroyed during a terrorist attack on the PNS Mehran in Karachi and another plunged into sea.
Answering a question, the minister said that widows and children of Osama bin Laden would be repatriated to their home countries in 10 days. “One of his (Osama) wives will go to Yemen and others to their native countries.” However, he added, the government had not received any formal request from any foreign country for their return.
Chaudhry Mukhtar rejected the US claim that Mulla Omar is in Pakistan. “First of all, it is absurd to say that Mullah Omer could have taken refuge in Pakistan, but still it is obvious that he would have left Pakistan after Bin Laden’s killing.”
From here.
This was stated here on Wednesday by Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar. Talking to a group of journalists, he said the Americans had started moving equipment and materials from the Shamsi airbase which had been leased to the UAE. The Ghazi airbase located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has already been vacated.
The Shamsi airbase in Balochistan has been used by the Americans for supplies to ISAF forces in Afghanistan and for launching drone attacks in tribal areas.
(According to AFP, a US embassy spokeswoman said there were no US military personnel at the Shamsi base.)
A defence ministry official told Dawn that the government had decided to get the base vacated because of a significant reduction in the flow of US funds and the growing trust deficit between the two countries.
The defence minister admitted that trust deficit had grown significantly, especially after the May 2 US Abbottabad raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.
“One year ago they (Americans) thought differently; now they are not recognising the sacrifices and cooperation of the Pakistanis,” he said.
About the Abbottabad operation, he said: “They (Americans) have demoralised the whole nation only to kill one man.”
Chaudhry Mukhtar said the policy on war on terror needed to be revised because of the rising cost of military operations against militants on the western border and also because the US might further delay or reduce financial support for Pakistan. “Although the eastern border is currently quiet and tensions are at the border with Afghanistan, we need deterrent at the east and ISAF can take care of the western side,” he said.
The minister said the country was facing serious social impact of the war. He said that 3,000 youths who had been trained by terrorists were in the custody of armed forces, but the serious issue was their prosecution.
The youths have been arrested during military operations in Swat and other areas.
“We are still not clear which courts will hear their cases,” the minister said. He accused the US of not cooperating with Pakistan in plans to rehabilitate these youths, envisaged after the first Afghan war and the post-9/11 war.
Chaudhry Mukhtar said the trust deficit could be reduced if both Pakistan and the US took the matter seriously. “It cannot be done unilaterally.”
He said that negotiations should be held with saner elements on both sides of the border to bring peace to the region. “We will have to sit on the table to end the war and the US also has to do that. If the US wants peace with good Taliban they will have to talk in a room and not engage at mountain tops.”
Chaudhry Mukhtar claimed that the US had not even given Pakistan the required quantity of equipment, including the military hardware, while the quality of equipment supplied was also not up to the mark.
“Even the helicopters they (Americans) have supplied have not been A-class equipment which was promised at various stages of negotiations; and not to speak of their number,” he said.
However, he said, the US had agreed to provide three P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft. Pakistan lost three such aircraft; two were destroyed during a terrorist attack on the PNS Mehran in Karachi and another plunged into sea.
Answering a question, the minister said that widows and children of Osama bin Laden would be repatriated to their home countries in 10 days. “One of his (Osama) wives will go to Yemen and others to their native countries.” However, he added, the government had not received any formal request from any foreign country for their return.
Chaudhry Mukhtar rejected the US claim that Mulla Omar is in Pakistan. “First of all, it is absurd to say that Mullah Omer could have taken refuge in Pakistan, but still it is obvious that he would have left Pakistan after Bin Laden’s killing.”
From here.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Baroness Cox on Sharia Law in Britain
From The Christian Institute. Hat Tip to Anglican Mainstream
Sharia law is inherently discriminatory and is causing women in Britain to suffer, a prominent humanitarian campaigner has warned.
Baroness Cox was speaking on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour about her Bill which is designed to curb the problems caused by Sharia courts operating in England and Wales.
She decided to table the Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill after hearing the “heartbreaking” stories of women who have gone through Sharia courts.
Read and listen to the debate here.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Russian Orthodox Church's Position on Euthanasia
The Russian Orthodox Church has condemned euthanasia as a combination of murder and suicide. If a person is not ready to endure sufferings until the end, that’s not a position to be delinquent.
At the same time, we know many cases where people, who were not given any hope by their physicians, were cured by God, often by miracle. And that teaches us to keep hope till the very last moment, to obey the will of God and to continue fighting for life. And I think in this case it’s much more ethical in a way to maintain man’s life and to encourage a person to fight for his life.
It’s important to understand that in the modern society there’s a serious danger of turning euthanasia into a sort of means of solving economic and social problems.
It’s easy to imagine a situation where pressure would be put on patients, who are not economically profitable, in order to persuade them to end their life. Such pressure is absolutely immoral. But there have been voices who were actually calling for such pressure.
From here.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Gay "marriage" in NY but no LGBT advancement at UN
By Terrence McKeegan, J.D.
GENEVA, June 23 (C-FAM) “Gay rights have arrived at the United Nations as of today,” proclaimed a senior US official during a triumphant briefing. Her boss, Hilary Clinton, called it a “historic moment” for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered” (LGBT) persons.
What they were referring to was a non-binding resolution passed last Friday by a vote of 23-19 in the UN Human Rights Council, which represents less than a quarter of all UN member states. The resolution expressed “grave concern” at acts of violence and discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.
The breathless declarations of a landmark victory for “gay rights” by the US administration, Western governments, media, and homosexual activists disguised the ugly truth. What actually happened was that a significant draft resolution that was tabled by South Africa morphed into a feeble adopted resolution that merely requested a study to be commissioned by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The resolution did not mention LGBT persons. It did not in any way call for a new human rights category for sexual orientation or gender identity, but focused only on “discriminatory laws and practices” and acts of violence.
The ensuing and baseless claims of a “gay rights” victory were predictable for a movement that has been based on misleading terms and gross misstatements of international law. The approach of the US and its allies to the sexual orientation issue represents a déjà vu for international observers regarding the liberal positivist human rights project.
The approach began by deliberately misstating international human rights law. In this case, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was reinterpreted to include the new and undefined concepts of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”, an initiative launched by UN experts in 2006 with the Yogyakarta Principles. The very separate issues of sexual acts versus sexual inclinations or thoughts were then deliberately conflated into the concept of sexual orientation. By doing this the activists created a problem where none existed – namely, by claiming that there was a gap in protection in international human rights law based on sexual orientation.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and national criminal laws protecting persons against violence already apply to all persons, regardless of their situation. No criminal law exists in any country that allows for derogation based on a victim’s sexual orientation. Therefore, the claim that new non-discrimination laws are needed to protect individuals against violence is specious. The major sponsor of the UN resolution unwittingly revealed this reality in their statement prior to the vote last week: “In South Africa non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is constitutionally guaranteed, yet we still have challenges related to violent acts against individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi properly placed these issues in context in his March speech to the UN Human Rights Council:
For the purposes of human rights law, there is a critical difference between feelings and thoughts, on the one hand, and behavior, on the other. A state should never punish a person, or deprive a person of the enjoyment of any human right, based just on the person’s feelings and thoughts, including sexual thoughts and feelings. But states can, and must, regulate behaviors, including various sexual behaviors.
From here.
ED Note: Clinton and the NY connection, added to Obama's recent declaration about Gay rights... Looks like a concerted effort to push this forward fast. If not in fact, then through rhetoric.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Fascinating Glimpse into the Mind of Clyde A. Winters
Clyde A. Winters is a ground-breaking scientist whose research has been instrumental in constructing an accurate picture of the ancient Afro-Asiatic Dominion, which he calls the NKSD Civilization. He holds a Ph.D and a Masters Degree in Social Science from the University of Illinois-Urbana, with minors in Linguistics and Anthropology. He taught Linguistics at Saint Xavier University for three years. In 1981, he founded an educational program to enable those interested in tracing African contributions to the world, the Uthman dan Fodio Institute.
Here he speaks candidly about himself, his ideas and his methods.
Clyde Winters
To understand the Nubian Kametian Sumerian and Dravidian (NKSD) civilization you have to understand that Afrocentric researchers are falsificationist. We either confirm or disconfirm a theory.
Linguistic evidence suggest that there is a Sumero-Tamil connection. Yet Eurocentrists reject this evidence without comment and counter eduttukkaadu (evidences). This makes their discussion of ancient history in my opinion untrue.
I am a product of Western Civilization. As a result, I was indoctrinated from an early age via TV and books that blacks were inferior. Although I was provided this indoctrination many adults during my socialization and induction into the community in which I grew up in , on the Southside of Chicago (i.e., 47th and Evans) taught me at an early age that Blacks were the founders of civilization based on their reading of the Bible, and the story about the Children of Ham.
As a result, when I undertook the acquisition of abstract sign systems during my forming schooling/instruction I had already acquired a metacognition (awareness of your own thinking) that filtered the bias teachings out of me during my years of schooling. I knew who I was based on the truth of the ancient model of history.
Science is hypothesis testing. We either confirm a theory or disconfirm a theory based on eduttukkaadu. A true scientist would never dispute a theory without offering counter eduttukkaadu in support of the counter hypothesis, but Eurocentric researchers get away with this unscientific attack on the ideas of Blacks, Native Americans and Asians everyday due to Eurocentrism.
Science goes out the window when theories are advocated by researchers that are not accepted by the Academe. We like to believe that schooling broadens our knowledge base and makes us wiser but this is not the case.
Schooling provides an environment that constructs the cognitive structures, we use to interpret our environment. If that environment teaching us falsehood, we will learn untruths instead of the Truth. This results from the fact that the growth of the mind is strongly influenced by the cultural sign system in which we live. It is the sign system presented via culture that provides first the child, and later the adult the psychological tools to interpret the world.
To understand the NKSD cultures it requires more that one's racial status and being. Being a African, African American or Dravidian will not gain you entry into understanding these cultures. You can only understand these cultures if you find cognitive and psychological engagement with the study of ancient history based on the Truth covering law, of the Ancient Model of History.
Cognitive engagement is an internal indicator. These indicators are process, recognition and desire.
Firstly, cognitive engagement requires that you learn how to process information from a self-based approach. This information is processed both by neurological processes, genetics and the mind. The neurogic system helps us understand the mechanics behind our learning.
It makes clear the processes involved in thinking. The mind allows us to interpret knowledge. We don't know where this mind is, but we do know that it has a physical and a meta-physical base. The physical mind is structure by or experiences that form representations or schmata to interpret the experiences we have had and explain what we find in the environment.
The mind is also metaphysical. This part of the mind helps us to find information and answers to the questions we may have about phenomenon through our dreams. (I can not number the times I went to bed with a question about ancient history that was answered in a dream that directed me to sources/evidence to support my inquiry.)
Seeking truth is also genetic. We often discuss the genes and how they make us unique. But no one really discusses the possibility that a genetic memory also exist. This genetic memory would consist of the memories we obtain from our both our parents up to the time of our birth, and the memories of our parents' parents, and so on up to the time of their birth. This memory may even go back to the first human ancestors.
This genetic memory would allow us to tap into the memories of our ancestors.
The second feature of cognitive engagement in our quest for the Truth is recognition. Recognition, simply refers to the way you think, learn and process information. Your ability to find Truth will result from three factors, a) your ability to access genetic based knowledge; b) interactions with known knowledge (via multiple intelligences); and c) desire to know the Truth.
A good example of accessing the Truth genetically, was made clear by a Western scholar who said he did not understand Greek philosophy until he studied Ethiopian civilization. He even claimed that he formerly may have been an Ethiopian. A Eurocentric scholar would belittle the idea expressed by this scholar, but in reality, maybe he was able to access knowledge relating to the Ethiopians from his genetic memory from his ancestors who may have lived in Ethiopia, because he kept himself open to Truth and Truth came his way.
Finally, to complete your quest for cognitive engagement the heuristic used for task analysis and completion must include a self-monitoring process guided by Truth Seeking based on the Ancient Model of History.
Psychological engagement is both an internal and external indicator used to interpret the truth. You need psychological engagement of the NKSD culture to understand the phenomenon. Psychological engagement has three parts 1) identification with an intellectual school of thought ( in this case the Ancient Model of History); a sense of belonging and connection to a group; and 3) a positive relationship with teachers and peers.
It is easy to find identification with a research model, but finding a sense of belonging and positive relationship with teachers is more difficult. You must love yourself and your ethnic group before you can use the ancient model of history to discovery aspects of the past. Yet, you can not be racist. You have to recognize that there is one mankind, even though we have different colors, because we all came from God.
Finding teachers is also difficult. It is hard to find teachers for the study of NKSD at Universities and Colleges because most of the faculty members at these institutions maintain the status quo. As a result, your teachers will be scholars who are outside the Academe. Scholars who provide the necessary eduttukkaadu (evidences) to support and test their hypotheses.
In summary, Truth seeking is the result of cognitive and psychological engagement along with socializing agents who provide us with the schemata we use to recognize Truth in our research. Truth is like beauty, it is only recognized by the eyes of the beholder of what ever one believes to be true, and interpreted via the Model of History you chose to understand the past.
From here.
Here he speaks candidly about himself, his ideas and his methods.
Clyde Winters
To understand the Nubian Kametian Sumerian and Dravidian (NKSD) civilization you have to understand that Afrocentric researchers are falsificationist. We either confirm or disconfirm a theory.
Linguistic evidence suggest that there is a Sumero-Tamil connection. Yet Eurocentrists reject this evidence without comment and counter eduttukkaadu (evidences). This makes their discussion of ancient history in my opinion untrue.
I am a product of Western Civilization. As a result, I was indoctrinated from an early age via TV and books that blacks were inferior. Although I was provided this indoctrination many adults during my socialization and induction into the community in which I grew up in , on the Southside of Chicago (i.e., 47th and Evans) taught me at an early age that Blacks were the founders of civilization based on their reading of the Bible, and the story about the Children of Ham.
As a result, when I undertook the acquisition of abstract sign systems during my forming schooling/instruction I had already acquired a metacognition (awareness of your own thinking) that filtered the bias teachings out of me during my years of schooling. I knew who I was based on the truth of the ancient model of history.
Science is hypothesis testing. We either confirm a theory or disconfirm a theory based on eduttukkaadu. A true scientist would never dispute a theory without offering counter eduttukkaadu in support of the counter hypothesis, but Eurocentric researchers get away with this unscientific attack on the ideas of Blacks, Native Americans and Asians everyday due to Eurocentrism.
Science goes out the window when theories are advocated by researchers that are not accepted by the Academe. We like to believe that schooling broadens our knowledge base and makes us wiser but this is not the case.
Schooling provides an environment that constructs the cognitive structures, we use to interpret our environment. If that environment teaching us falsehood, we will learn untruths instead of the Truth. This results from the fact that the growth of the mind is strongly influenced by the cultural sign system in which we live. It is the sign system presented via culture that provides first the child, and later the adult the psychological tools to interpret the world.
To understand the NKSD cultures it requires more that one's racial status and being. Being a African, African American or Dravidian will not gain you entry into understanding these cultures. You can only understand these cultures if you find cognitive and psychological engagement with the study of ancient history based on the Truth covering law, of the Ancient Model of History.
Cognitive engagement is an internal indicator. These indicators are process, recognition and desire.
Firstly, cognitive engagement requires that you learn how to process information from a self-based approach. This information is processed both by neurological processes, genetics and the mind. The neurogic system helps us understand the mechanics behind our learning.
It makes clear the processes involved in thinking. The mind allows us to interpret knowledge. We don't know where this mind is, but we do know that it has a physical and a meta-physical base. The physical mind is structure by or experiences that form representations or schmata to interpret the experiences we have had and explain what we find in the environment.
The mind is also metaphysical. This part of the mind helps us to find information and answers to the questions we may have about phenomenon through our dreams. (I can not number the times I went to bed with a question about ancient history that was answered in a dream that directed me to sources/evidence to support my inquiry.)
Seeking truth is also genetic. We often discuss the genes and how they make us unique. But no one really discusses the possibility that a genetic memory also exist. This genetic memory would consist of the memories we obtain from our both our parents up to the time of our birth, and the memories of our parents' parents, and so on up to the time of their birth. This memory may even go back to the first human ancestors.
This genetic memory would allow us to tap into the memories of our ancestors.
The second feature of cognitive engagement in our quest for the Truth is recognition. Recognition, simply refers to the way you think, learn and process information. Your ability to find Truth will result from three factors, a) your ability to access genetic based knowledge; b) interactions with known knowledge (via multiple intelligences); and c) desire to know the Truth.
A good example of accessing the Truth genetically, was made clear by a Western scholar who said he did not understand Greek philosophy until he studied Ethiopian civilization. He even claimed that he formerly may have been an Ethiopian. A Eurocentric scholar would belittle the idea expressed by this scholar, but in reality, maybe he was able to access knowledge relating to the Ethiopians from his genetic memory from his ancestors who may have lived in Ethiopia, because he kept himself open to Truth and Truth came his way.
Finally, to complete your quest for cognitive engagement the heuristic used for task analysis and completion must include a self-monitoring process guided by Truth Seeking based on the Ancient Model of History.
Psychological engagement is both an internal and external indicator used to interpret the truth. You need psychological engagement of the NKSD culture to understand the phenomenon. Psychological engagement has three parts 1) identification with an intellectual school of thought ( in this case the Ancient Model of History); a sense of belonging and connection to a group; and 3) a positive relationship with teachers and peers.
It is easy to find identification with a research model, but finding a sense of belonging and positive relationship with teachers is more difficult. You must love yourself and your ethnic group before you can use the ancient model of history to discovery aspects of the past. Yet, you can not be racist. You have to recognize that there is one mankind, even though we have different colors, because we all came from God.
Finding teachers is also difficult. It is hard to find teachers for the study of NKSD at Universities and Colleges because most of the faculty members at these institutions maintain the status quo. As a result, your teachers will be scholars who are outside the Academe. Scholars who provide the necessary eduttukkaadu (evidences) to support and test their hypotheses.
In summary, Truth seeking is the result of cognitive and psychological engagement along with socializing agents who provide us with the schemata we use to recognize Truth in our research. Truth is like beauty, it is only recognized by the eyes of the beholder of what ever one believes to be true, and interpreted via the Model of History you chose to understand the past.
From here.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
China Helping Block Ethiopian Broadcasting
(EFJA/IFEX) - June 16, 2011 - The Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA) has demanded that China put an end to its complicity in jamming the Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) and other reputable broadcasters such as the Voice of America and Deutsche Welle Amharic Services.
ESAT, which recently resumed transmissions to Ethiopia after nearly two months of interruption, drew the attention of the EFJA to the fact that the People's Republic of China has been providing technology, training and technical assistance to the regime in Ethiopia to enable it to jam ESAT's transmissions to Ethiopia. After investigating the matter, EFJA has confirmed the veracity of the allegations from many credible sources inside and outside of Ethiopia.
Kifle Mulat, President of EFJA, noted that stifling freedom of expression and undermining efforts to spread democratic values in Ethiopia sets a bad precedent in the whole of Africa.
"Ethiopia is not only the seat of the African Union but also a historic symbol of freedom in Africa as the only African nation that has never been colonized. Aiding tyrants to stifle their people and block the free flow of information is tantamount to committing unwarranted crimes against the freedom-loving people of Africa that are making sacrifices to exercise their inalienable rights and free themselves from corrupt tyrants who are hampering progress in the continent," Mr. Mulat said.
The President of EFJA also urged international organizations and nations promoting freedom and democracy to provide resources and support to the ESAT to overcome the China-backed jamming challenge that has seriously threatened the survival of ESAT, a unique grassroots media project totally funded by the Ethiopian Diaspora.
BACKGROUND:
The Meles regime is currently blocking independent news websites and jamming the signals of dozens of broadcasters with the help of the Chinese government. Since its launch in April 2010, ESAT has faced intense signal interference that has disrupted its transmissions six times within the last year. Mr. Mulat further noted that the government of China must realize the fact that collaborating with African tyrants and exporting tools of repression to countries like Ethiopia is an inexcusable act that will further tarnish the image of China as a sponsor of tyranny and oppression.
ESAT was set up by a group of Ethiopian exiled journalists and pro-democracy activists to create an alternative media outlet for the people of Ethiopia, a country where freedom of expression has been criminalized. EFJA is seriously concerned over the collaboration of oppressive regimes to make life difficult not only for media organizations and journalists but also ordinary citizens who are denied a voice in their own country.
Article 29 of the current Ethiopian constitution stipulates: "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression without any interference. This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any media of his choice." But the Meles regime routinely violates the letters of its own constitution. Hundreds of journalists have been forced into exile to escape illegal detention, harassment, torture and attacks.
EFJA takes note of the fact that ESAT has been forced to change satellite service providers at least four times in the last year. It started broadcasting its programs to Ethiopia on Arabsat but was forced off air due to intense signal interference and diplomatic pressure. According to ESAT, a similar effort to continue broadcasting on Thaicon was frustrated after a few months again because of intense diplomatic pressure. But ESAT's team continued transmissions on Intelsat, an American satellite company. While a diplomatic effort to disrupt ESAT transmissions failed, the Meles regime managed to jam ESAT's signals using the jamming equipment provided by the Chinese government. EFJA expressed it solidarity and admiration for ESAT for its unrelenting efforts to create a powerful media platform for Ethiopians denied of the right to access uncensored news and information.
ESAT, which has studios in Amsterdam, Washington DC and London, is currently transmitting 24/7 on ABS1 Satellite, C-Band at 75 East Downlink: 3.480 GHz Vertical (3480), Symbol: 1.852 Msps (1852), FEC 2/3. It has plans to transmit on a Ku-Band and shortwave radio with a view to reaching a wider audience in Ethiopia. ESAT also webcasts its transmissions on http://www.ethsat.com/
For more information:
Ethiopian Freepress Journalists' Association
5445 Braesvalley Dr. #724
Houston, TX, 77096
USA
ESAT, which recently resumed transmissions to Ethiopia after nearly two months of interruption, drew the attention of the EFJA to the fact that the People's Republic of China has been providing technology, training and technical assistance to the regime in Ethiopia to enable it to jam ESAT's transmissions to Ethiopia. After investigating the matter, EFJA has confirmed the veracity of the allegations from many credible sources inside and outside of Ethiopia.
Kifle Mulat, President of EFJA, noted that stifling freedom of expression and undermining efforts to spread democratic values in Ethiopia sets a bad precedent in the whole of Africa.
"Ethiopia is not only the seat of the African Union but also a historic symbol of freedom in Africa as the only African nation that has never been colonized. Aiding tyrants to stifle their people and block the free flow of information is tantamount to committing unwarranted crimes against the freedom-loving people of Africa that are making sacrifices to exercise their inalienable rights and free themselves from corrupt tyrants who are hampering progress in the continent," Mr. Mulat said.
The President of EFJA also urged international organizations and nations promoting freedom and democracy to provide resources and support to the ESAT to overcome the China-backed jamming challenge that has seriously threatened the survival of ESAT, a unique grassroots media project totally funded by the Ethiopian Diaspora.
BACKGROUND:
The Meles regime is currently blocking independent news websites and jamming the signals of dozens of broadcasters with the help of the Chinese government. Since its launch in April 2010, ESAT has faced intense signal interference that has disrupted its transmissions six times within the last year. Mr. Mulat further noted that the government of China must realize the fact that collaborating with African tyrants and exporting tools of repression to countries like Ethiopia is an inexcusable act that will further tarnish the image of China as a sponsor of tyranny and oppression.
ESAT was set up by a group of Ethiopian exiled journalists and pro-democracy activists to create an alternative media outlet for the people of Ethiopia, a country where freedom of expression has been criminalized. EFJA is seriously concerned over the collaboration of oppressive regimes to make life difficult not only for media organizations and journalists but also ordinary citizens who are denied a voice in their own country.
Article 29 of the current Ethiopian constitution stipulates: "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression without any interference. This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any media of his choice." But the Meles regime routinely violates the letters of its own constitution. Hundreds of journalists have been forced into exile to escape illegal detention, harassment, torture and attacks.
EFJA takes note of the fact that ESAT has been forced to change satellite service providers at least four times in the last year. It started broadcasting its programs to Ethiopia on Arabsat but was forced off air due to intense signal interference and diplomatic pressure. According to ESAT, a similar effort to continue broadcasting on Thaicon was frustrated after a few months again because of intense diplomatic pressure. But ESAT's team continued transmissions on Intelsat, an American satellite company. While a diplomatic effort to disrupt ESAT transmissions failed, the Meles regime managed to jam ESAT's signals using the jamming equipment provided by the Chinese government. EFJA expressed it solidarity and admiration for ESAT for its unrelenting efforts to create a powerful media platform for Ethiopians denied of the right to access uncensored news and information.
ESAT, which has studios in Amsterdam, Washington DC and London, is currently transmitting 24/7 on ABS1 Satellite, C-Band at 75 East Downlink: 3.480 GHz Vertical (3480), Symbol: 1.852 Msps (1852), FEC 2/3. It has plans to transmit on a Ku-Band and shortwave radio with a view to reaching a wider audience in Ethiopia. ESAT also webcasts its transmissions on http://www.ethsat.com/
For more information:
Ethiopian Freepress Journalists' Association
5445 Braesvalley Dr. #724
Houston, TX, 77096
USA
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