A guy called chubby just left this comment:

hey, i was just wondering are there any pro-meles or government websites? all i can find is one sided against the gov't, would like to see the other side…

There are pro-government websites a plenty - try the Hmbasha Commentary Page or The Ethiopian Herald or the Walta Information Service.

As far as I can tell, however, there are no pro-government blogs. I just had to add the following paragraph to balance out the latest Ethio blog round-up on GlobalVoices (this one about diaspora bloggers pushing for the US Congress to pass House Resolution 5680 - the ‘Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights Advancement Act of 2006′):

The political debate in Ethiopia’s blogosphere is dominated by anti-government voices. No posts arguing the government’s case turned up in a search of Technorati and other sources.

Personally, I think that is a shame. Sometimes the one-sided commentary gets a bit over-powering. Take the story 'Breaking News:Thousands of Soldiers swarm the Meskel square as revolutionary spirit engulfs Addis' on seminawork.

All I can say is that I must be living in a different Addis. There were lots of riot police and a handful of stone-throwers (far fewer than last year). But as for a "revolutionary spirit engulfing Addis" - all I was able to detect from the people I spoke to was a general desire to keep their heads down and celebrate Meskel. The Middle East Times summed up the non-story best with the headline Ethiopia religious holiday unusually quiet.

Original post by aheavens

Ethiopia has been having a troubled economy for a long time and remains a very poor African country. Coffee holds central importance in Ethiopia's economy because 60 % of all the export earnings of Ethiopia comes from its export of coffee.

Ethiopian Coffee through History

While some people believe South America as the birthplace of coffee, many credit Ethiopia with the origin of coffee. Some experts regard the indigenous coffee trees in Ethiopia as the only native coffee trees existing today. Ethiopian coffee tradition is at least as old as more than 1000 years, i.e. dating back to 10^th century when coffee trees, called Kafa, used to grow in Kaffa area which today is part of Ethiopia. At that time, coffee was used as food. Perhaps, the Ethiopian nomads were the first to gather coffee beans for large-scale use.

They would ground the beans down to form small balls that could serve as ration on journeys. Other Ethiopians used coffee beans in form of porridge or fermented wine. By the 13^th century, the whole Islamic world knew about coffee and within the next two hundred years, Ethiopian Coffee made its way throughout the Middle East. It had, by now, started to be used as a restorative medicine. Soon Ethiopian coffee became popular in Europe, India, and America as well. Today, this coffee has an irresistible demand in the coffee business.

Production of Ethiopian Coffee

Almost all of the coffee in Ethiopia is produced by farmers on small farms. Only two percent of all the coffee produced comes from state farms. Coffee is exported worldwide and the government of Ethiopia presses so much on controlling countrywide sale of coffee that it costs Ethiopians two to three times more to buy the same quantity than those who import it.    

Coffee Tradition in Ethiopia

Ethiopian coffee is an enjoyable item among beverages used today. Still interesting is the tradition that gives coffee a sacred place in the daily life of Ethiopians. Tradition has it that a shepherd of Kaffa once discovered that his goats were overly excited, playing and dancing on their hind legs. He was curious to see some mangled branches with red berries of the coffee tree hanging nearby. He ate a few berries and ran home where his wife sent him to tell the same to the monks.

Thinking of the coffee beans as sinful drug, the monks threw them into fire. This produced the characteristic smell of coffee we experience today. They also crushed some beans and mixed the substance in boiling water. The aroma produced from this attracted other monks who enjoyed the energy of this strange new drink, and thus coffee became a known commodity.

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee, yet it is not a country that comes to mind when the average consumer thinks of coffee. The South American countries are much more synonymous with coffee production but coffee did not come to these countries until the early 1700’s, nearly a thousand years after it was discovered. As legend has it, Ethiopian coffee was originally discovered around 600 A.D. by a young boy tending goats. It is not known when the name coffee was applied to the strange plants but an interesting legend places it around 900 A.D.

Shortly thereafter coffee found its way across the Red Sea to Arabia and what is present day Yemen. Arabs embraced coffee and for almost a thousand years were the sole producers and exporters of the highly sought-after product. Today Ethiopian coffee is specialty coffee and favorite among connoisseurs around the world. It is known for its smooth body, delicate acidity and delightful flavor.

The original Ethiopian coffee plant that made its way to Yemen is said to be the plant that was propagated throughout the Arab world and cuttings were eventually transplanted into every main coffee growing region of the world. So, in a sense Ethiopian coffee is in every can and every cup everywhere in some form or another.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

You can find more articles on coffee such as Hawaiian Coffee, Coffee and Asthma and Coffee Colonics.