Another change was the way trees were regarded by law. From colonial times, all trees in Niger had been regarded as the property of the state, which gave farmers little incentive to protect them. Trees were chopped for firewood or construction without regard to the environmental costs. Government foresters were supposed to make sure the trees were properly managed, but there were not enough of them to police a country nearly twice the size of Texas. But over time, farmers began to regard the trees in their fields as their property, and in recent years the government has recognized the benefits of that outlook by allowing individuals to own trees. Farmers make money from the trees by selling branches, pods, fruit and bark. Because those sales are more lucrative over time than simply chopping down the tree for firewood, the farmers preserve them. This was the key to preserving the trees. Only a society that has a sense of ownership of the land would learn to better manage its meager resources. Sadly, the nomadic Somali hardly have a connection to the land.

When you've been in a bubble of certainty your whole life uncertainty is a biij It is not that bad once you force yourself to get out of the circle, and learn to accept life is ever evolving animal. What's more scary to me is the divinely introspection which leads you to find out you don't have much of faith in God (that's you believe in Him at all).

Feb 22nd 2007 | ADDIS ABABA Should the West go on helping a repressive Ethiopia? THE second most populous country in Africa and one of the poorest, Ethiopia is a test case for the West in its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty on the continent. But its government's undemocratic leanings have presented donor countries with a dilemma. Should they continue to funnel their taxpayers' money to a country that routinely jails and tortures its critics or should they turn off the tap and thereby hurt the blameless poor? Most donors are keeping up or even increasing their giving. Britain, with qualms, is upping its aid from $180m last year to $260m this year. Some donors have harmonised and even pooled their support. Many have signed up to schemes to promote transparency and hold the government to account. Whether the nastier bits of Ethiopia's government will co-operate fully is moot. So the donors—Western governments and charities—think that on balance they should continue to improve farming, health care, education and access to water in the rural areas where 85% of Ethiopians live. There are signs that the government's ambitious poverty-reduction strategy is working. Infant mortality is down, school attendance and literacy are up, though only 40% of Ethiopians can read and write. Farming practice may be improving. In Ethiopia's wet highlands farmers may try to diversify crops. Ethiopia hopes to export hydroelectricity to neighbouring Djibouti and Sudan. Some agronomists think that, with enough investment, Ethiopia will be able to feed itself. That may be optimistic. The population of 75m-plus is growing by about 2m a year. Food prices in Addis Ababa, the capital, rose last year by 27%. In any event, Meles Zenawi's government is finding it hard to run the show. Some 80% of the people in Addis Ababa probably back opposition parties. In response, the government has become harsher, muzzling free speech and forcing independent newspapers to close. Many journalists are in jail on trumped-up charges. Dissidents have been disappearing, along with critical websites. Telephones are often tapped. For more than a year, text messaging on the country's small number of mobile phones has been hampered by “technical difficulties”. The government keeps up a hum of fear with attacks on opposition supporters. Teachers are a favourite target. Some have been beaten so badly in detention they could not stand up in court. Even schoolchildren have faced the authorities' wrath. In Ambo, west of the capital, some 14 of them in a secondary school were detained; some were allegedly tortured. The usual charges, if brought at all, are sabotage or treason. Suspects are often “found” to have links with familiar bogeymen: neighbouring hostile Eritrea; the Oromo Liberation Front, a movement in the centre and south; or, in the heartland of the once-ruling Amhara around Addis Ababa, “terrorist groups” whose existence is fuzzy. The opposition's lot may be worsening. Dissidents say as many as 250 supporters were rounded up on terrorist charges after the African Union summit last month; some have disappeared. The opposition's main leaders have been in prison for over a year. Torture, especially against lesser-known prisoners, is common. If rural areas are taken into account, extrajudicial killings may run into thousands. But the opposition is divided, often has regional rather than national allegiances, and tends to take its cue from radicals in exile. Moreover, despite help from abroad, the economy is struggling. Exports are worth $1 billion against imports of $5 billion. Sales of coffee and flowers to the West have increased but not enough. Mr Zenawi has applied for membership in the World Trade Organisation. He has also asked China for loans—some say for $3.5 billion. But most of all he is banking on keeping up his friendship with the EU and the United States, whose administration was delighted by the Ethiopian armed forces' recent success in invading neighbouring Somalia, capturing its capital, Mogadishu, and smashing the Somali Islamists who had taken over there. Still, there are conflicting attitudes to Ethiopia in Washington. Congress has lambasted Mr Zenawi's human-rights record and demanded cuts in aid. The Pentagon, on the other hand, is dead keen to boost his armed forces. In September, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians from their vast and far-flung diaspora are expected to visit their homeland to celebrate the coming of the third Christian millennium, according to their ancient church's calendar. Some hope Mr Zenawi, in a gesture of conciliation, will free some of his opponents from jail before then. But do not bet on it. Mr Zenawi has got used to wielding an iron fist. Source: Economist, Feb 22, 2007

Rudy.......Why wish just choas on Somalia?

^^^LoooooooooL...Soomaalidana kuma sii jirto.

Seriouly people, Muslimiinta habaar iyo xanaag kasoo hara. No wonder we are getting screwed all over.

Why are the Mullahs always so angry. It is simple question Khyar.

I have the right to judge their actions.

I have seen Somali men reproducing well into their seventies with no noticable side effects to their offsprings. But it is more healthier to have kids at younger age.

There is another thread here where people are trading bunches. Why start another Jimcaale?....Nasiib daro umadeena isma dhageystaan!!!

War JB goormaad Duke noqotay ninyahow!

^^^^LooooL...how about if he cites Sland sites. That would help Jay?

What has he accomplished to warrant any celebration?

M-Jeen Naceeb maa waxaas kaa kaynaya...Isdaba qabo saaxib. Hadalka badan jooji, hadaad wax qabaneesid doo xamar aad hadii kale nacnacda micna darada naga daa.

^^^^bootada badan ma fiicna. Afka lee ka nooshahe adiga.

MOGADISHU (AFP) - Gunmen in Mogadishu on Tuesday shot dead a brother-in-law of Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi in one of five killings in the past 24 hours in the lawless capital, witnesses said. Four heavily armed attackers followed Yusuf Mohamed Dhisow, a businessman, as he left his house in northern Mogadishu before overtaking him, blocking his car and opening fire, an AFP journalist witnessed. A member of the prime minister's family confirmed that the husband of Ayan Mohamed Gedi was killed in the Bakara market, the main Mogadishu market in the south of the city. "We do not know who is behind this killing, but it was apparently a planned execution," Abukar Gaal, one of the slain man's cousins, told AFP. "We think he was targeted because of his relationship with the prime minister and there are widespread fears that government officials and their relatives are being targeted." The high-profile death was one of five separate killings reported in Mogadishu in the past 24 hours. The coastal city has seen a surge in attacks and fighting since joint Somali-Ethiopian forces ousted a powerful Islamist movement late last year. Thousands of terrified residents have fled and dozens have died since the start of the year. At least 10,000 people have fled violence in Mogadishu since the beginning of February, according to latest report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "It could be as high as 15,000 people," spokeswoman Molly McCloskey told AFP. Somlia is now awaiting the deployment of an 8,000-strong African Union force to try to help the interim government restore order in Mogadishu. The country has lacked an effective government since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. Source: AFP, Feb 27, 2007

The only entity that benefited from the war in Iraq is the big multinational companies whose only aim is to fill the pockets of the shareholders. Neither the Americans (Public), or Iraq have gained anything in any meaningfull way. There is also seem to be a race to secure all the world's energy resources as these companies are feeling the heat from the rival Asian competitors namely the Chinese and the Indians who no longer feel the need to depend Wester expertise for oil exploration and production. Even America's little misadventure into Somali proper might partially motivated the need to locate new and profitable new oil resources. web page

How come no hot chicks taking part in the demo?!!

Alla Ha unaxariisto

Alla Ha unaxariisto

Alla Ha unaxariisto

Raadamiir....Who are you talking to? Khalaf......You don't have to respond if you don't wanna, but atleast be sincere in your discourse. Your support for one group or the other has everything to do with how you present your thoughts on the Somali issue. Denying that doesn't help anyone reach a useful conclusion.

^^^Understood Aw Tanug Yu Jay

^^^Good riddance. Why not just come out say I support the TFG in the first place. See hade meel laguu raaco aa leedahay.

^^^It is legitimate question Red. It is something liberating about running naked. Maybe Jaylaani should try it before he opens his mouth again.