In any militarized nation, the sale of the body becomes a lucrative trade. Regimes that own huge armies produce huge numbers of prostitutes, torn families and moral decadence. From the Italian period of militarism, we have a legacy of large dirty quarters in almost all Eritrean towns; and we adapted many lexicons, Aprirre is one.

Drunken Italian colonial soldiers knocked at doors and called Apri La porta, Aprile. Women of habit would open the doors and sell their bodies to the soldiers. The neighborhood would disgustingly say of such women, she is an aprile, later corrupted again to become APRIRRE.

The Aprirres flourished under Haile Sellasie, Derg, and finally under the PFDJ, a liberator that was supposed to improve the lifestyle of women and save them from oppression and humility. But no saving from that entity: the PFDJ itself thinks like a whore and its satellites are acting like desperate pimps trying to sell an overused Aprirre. The Eritrean ambassador is even pimping Eritrea without the usual heavy gold necklace, the bling-bling and flashy bright colored suit, a big hat and a silver tipped cane. No one seems to be interested in the�

A long time ago, the PFDJ became a "Wushuma", a faithful mistress of the Weyane. Now that it has been dumped, it doesn�t want its former Wushuma to deal with anyone else. Weyane-bashing went beyond a border-war-instigated hate to became a religion in the beliefs of a number of Eritreans, the gullible; those exposed to the PFDJ�s heavy propaganda doses. What they didn�t know is that in Eritrean politics, we have only one such immoral organization: the PFDJ. The rest might be incompetent, a little stained by the PFDJ culture of arrogance and wicked; but they are not whores. The PFDJ thinks that everyone else is after the bed they wetted for years while serving as the Weyane�s wushuma. Those who want to advance the cause of the opposition, should spread their diplomatic wings everywhere; the PFDJ doesn�t have any say on their itinerary. And the �.

Those are better ignored; yet, one reply for every hundred provocation they throw would not hurt. Here is an oldie:

afki msay lbkhi ms debesay (Alamin)

afka msay lbkha ms mahazay (Tbereh)

Among the many outrageous confusing messages in the Internet, there was a document issued by a sole outcast member who was expelled by the EIDM for his unbecoming chauvinistic character and others who follow his path�

There are cadres, remnants of the Labor Party, mischievous spoilers, who still feel sad they were not part of Nehnan Alamanan spoils. They are identified by their chauvinist attitude, and they are proud of it! Their advice to the Weyane, in their most recent masterpiece: the strategic alliance in our region should be between The Tigrigna-Tigre on the Eritrean side and the Amhara-Tigrai on the Ethiopian side. Never mind the inclusion of Tigre for appeasement and other motives: the grand design, rather the grand malady that existed since Eritrea was created, is the despicable two-tier citizenship. Internally, a call for the making of a clearly chauvinistic bloc with the exclusion of most of Eritrea to stand face to face against the ENA, which they consider an amalgam of sub-nationals including, Moslems, Kunamas, Afars and yes, Sahos- could this be in preparation for a neo-Tigrai-Tigrigni project?

I am sure many of you know of the story of a kid whose mother warned him not to cross the road without looking for cars. The kid took his mom's words literally and waited for hours on one side of the road determined not to cross the road until he saw a car. Waiting to see cars on roads in small towns is a long wait. The intents are all clear; no more waiting is needed for more clarity.

A super bigot warning his compatriots, the ones he thinks are aliens, once said, �it will not take the Kebbessa a day to mend fences with Tigrai and beat the hell out of you.� Albeit a bit sophisticated in the Tigrigna language, the Lebekhi-ms-debesays, the exclusionist chauvinists, (luckily, one of them knows he is one) are not different. Unfortunately for them, Tigrigna is not alien to those who are not supposed to read it and read between its lines!

The above-mentioned call was not courageous enough; it didn�t call for the unity of the Habesha nation: Amhara and Tigrai in Ethiopia, and "Tigrigna" in Eritrea. Schizophrenia dictated that he calls himself Tigrigna in public politics and Habesha in private. Remember, the Tigre, are of both Habesha and non-Habesha stock, and they were included just to give his chauvinistic message some weight and cover up.

Did you see the noisy, unmistakable red car cross the road or you are still waiting? You couldn�t have missed that glaring red car that was followed by �

A few months ago, I wrote about the Basenjis, the Pharaohs favorite breed of dogs. The Pharaohs are long gone but a few stray Basenjis, the human kind, still wonder around. Let�s see the insults by a certain Basenji who this time again, carries a PhD title�

The first time I saw a derogatory remark against one�s own compatriots is when this Dr. wrote "Akwar!" in the violent den, Dehai. In this time and age? In this time of Awet Nhafash? In this time of hade hzbi hade lbi?� Indeed, it was in the relatively na�ve days of 1997. Very few were appalled by the outrageous remark and the bigot was forced to apologize, reluctantly.

Later, the same person made a defamatory remark and I publicly asked him to retract his statement and he did. Still, sometime ago, that same Dr. called for the PFDJ to take "swift action" against its opponents at awate.com and others. The call for the elimination of life in a free country is filed with concerned entities. Again, that same Dr. made outlandish defamation against myself and those who heard his remarks are willing to testify- Don�t you think it is time that those criminals are brought to court to get what they deserve based on justice, the process they so much hate?

Three years ago, I asked a renowned man of law to help assemble Eritrean law professionals so that they can give pro-bono services in writing case papers, advice, consultations and court proceedings for Eritrean victims of the PFDJ. I believe justice has a way of taming the wild who think they live in a jungle. The gentleman chose to get entangled in hard-core politics. That is his choice. But we still need to have a body of law professionals to protect individuals to enjoy their God-given freedoms and at the same time teach the violent, and the uncontrolled among us, a lesson on Justice and freedom.

When the Pharaohs and their legacy came to an end, the basenjis became stray dogs until they were adapted by Pharaohs of the modern age. And then�

A Knock at the door

A young boy was sitting in front of a door. An out-of-town guest jumped off a taxi and recognized the boy and asked if his parents were in. The kid nodded and the guest kept knocking at the door but no one answered. He asked the kid, "didn't you say your parents were in?" Innocently the kid replied: "yes, they are in; but this is not our house."

Knocking at the wrong door takes you nowhere!

For some people, the whole Eritrean predicament boils to one supposedly decisive factor: Who rules! It is nothing but obsession with power. The preferred tool of achieving the goal is even worse. Those who accuse others of sectarianism end up practicing worse forms of the same ailment. True patriots struggle selflessly for the benefit of the whole society. No one has the right to run Eritrea according to his individual, or group�s, whims. Haven�t we seen this drama for the umpteenth time? This is not the first time. How can someone repeatedly "condemn" ethnic politics and advance regional agendas in one breath. One would think Halal and Kosher are the same, aren�t they!

Let's see the kid sitting on the door steps: Are your parents in or you are an orphan with protector? Keep knocking the wrong door, if you insist. But you risk a ghost opening the door and slapping your face! No sane Eritrean would wish his knock to be answered by a ghost. Again, reconciliation from the heart is needed. This knock should be answered properly.

What is the conflict of Eritrea within itself? Is it sectarianism, regionalism or ethnic politics? Is it Jebha-Shaebia? Is it the old guard versus the young? What is it?

I have heard many theories and explanations. I think the Eritrean crisis is one concerning democratic rights and rule of law. While the system is bent on using injustice to oppress Eritreans, the oppressed are resisting. That is the simple explanation of the crisis. Many would have a problem addressing other issues before this comes to an end. And more simply, for the benefit of the lighthearted, traces of the PFDJ should be eradicated before anything else. Many, including myself, are not willing to work on any other task before the current tyranny and authoritarianism is gone. No cosmetic changes. No. Isaias and a few generals presented as a sacrificial lamb is not enough; the whole system, the whole infrastructure of oppression must go. The PFDJ must be destroyed.

The mode of struggle, peaceful or otherwise, is just a distraction purposely thrown into the equation � and we have seen so many projects of distraction, stalling of activities, loosening the pressure valve. The conflict has two faces now: those who want to maintain the status quo and those who want to rework the whole arrangement of our social contract.

The PFDJ and their sattelites are working on excluding whole Eritrean segments: ethnic groups, regions, -- without going too far into the list, you have an idea of an Eritrea without a big chunk of Eritreans. It is a deformed Eritrea that the PFDJ, and their satellites, want. And who would accept that kind of Eritrea? For what?

This is why this humble soul has been advocating reconciliation for years. Reconciliation of willing and equal partners. All of Eritrea, and not its parts. That is why this writer supports the ENA, it is the closest face that resembles the face of Eritrea. Groupings of people from a radius of a few kilometers cannot and will not represent Eritrea. If that is so, every ethnic group in Eritrea has a right to author its own Nehnan Alamanan. And you have the blackmail�

Sovereignty: A Buzz Word

People forget that it was not the PFDJ that created Eritrean nationalism. In fact, the PFDJ is the most serious risk to that nationalism. Patriotism is not displayed to appease the PFDJ; it is a natural reaction, it is also a process of choice and will. And importantly, you cannot see Eritrean nationalism in separation from rights of a citizen and his dignity. You cannot take a citizen�s right and dignity out of the sovereignty equation and have a nation. The two are inseparable. You can�t have Jesus without Mary. The whole Eritrean nationalism revolved around the citizen and his right. Whenever those rights are tampered with, the whole arrangement of nationalism would be revisited.

It is the dilemma of two thoughts: those who give priority to people and those who give priority to the land. Talking about the sovereignty of land while trampling over the rights of man is our crisis. Those who care about man would emphasize on it, the others would emphasize on the land. A middle ground? None. The exponents of MAN-FIRST philosophy would tell you: only people with protected rights are able to effectively protect the land. The exponents of LAND-FIRST would say: Weyane, war, treason, jail, kill, chapter closed!

That is our crisis �

In Brief

The Weyane insult comes from those who see Ethiopia only as their Wushuma and want to have a last say on who gets to visit their wushuma. They haven't graduated to regional politics and think in terms of Wushuma because that is what they always have been: the mistresses of Ethiopia. Now they are jealous and think that anyone who deals with Ethiopia must be the mistress of Ethiopia... it is the old adage: whores believe that all women are whores.

Proof? Why aren't they making such noise about Yemen and Sudan? Because we fought with Ethiopia and we can't trust them? Really? But these are the same people that told us "we can't dwell on the past" when people asked for acknowledgment of our wounds. We even heard of solo declaration, intents to erase the border by no other than Isaias himself. "Dob tergums nab zeyblu kunetat�"

The forces that are victimizing strugglers by stressing on the Ethiopian-connection are the same forces that victimized the strugglers of the sixties and seventies by stressing on the Arab-connection. Isolationists of the sixties and seventies, like Isaias and his clique, tried to isolate Eritrea from the Middle East, then they used the back door to make deals with the Middle East, and still do shady deals through Gulf-Arab nationals details of which will come out in due time. Isolationists of today, under the leadership of the same Isaias' vision, are working hard to isolate Eritreans from the neighboring countries, so that they can go through the back door when they are ready. In the meantime, some in the opposition are still waiting for the Isaias-green-light to sanction and bless and normalize relations with Ethiopia.

End note: To the most ambitious character in the Internet