Advertisements in North America – Prey Upon Fear – With An Ethiopian Eye

The holidays are around the corner and advertisements are now seen and heard everywhere – on radios, TV and online. Therefore, I decided to discuss about advertisements and marketing in North America. Yes, in North America, I noticed that the advertisements are not the same as what I grew up with. The ads here are intended to scare people into action. So, here is my rant about advertisements from my point of view.

Ethiopian Ads
Growing up in Ethiopia, I really enjoyed watching advertisements on TV. For instance, I remember a Pepsi commercial featuring Pele, the greatest soccer player of all time. We would watch the slow motion kick of Pele and how he enjoyed drinking Pepsi after the game. I and all my friends consumed so many bottles of Pepsi during our teens, just to imitate Pele. Yes, the ad worked for Pepsi. It was innocent – kids and grown ups fell for it.

Cool Things You Can Do with the Internet

In my first tech post, I discussed about the magnitude of the Internet. Yes, the Internet is huge. In fact, the word “Internet” is so huge that its first letter “I” is capitalized all the time. So, you might ask, how do we get the best out of the Internet? What can I use the Internet for?

A recent survey showed that the vast majority of people use the Internet for only email communications and searches. This means, a lot of people don’t use the Internet to its full potential. So, I have decided to post this article and give you some ideas on how you can further use the Internet.

Some of the things I personally use the Internet for include, but not limited to:

The Contribution of Ethiopia and Other African Nations for World Peace During the WWII

Last week, I published a post regarding Remembrance Day.

This week, I came across an article by BBC regarding the over 1.3 million African troops that helped fight Nazis and Fascists. The article, written by Martin Plaut, BBC Africa analyst, shows Africa’s contribution to World Peace during the Second World War by fighting aggressive invaders with in Africa and even going to Europe fighting the Nazis and the Fascists.

Thanks to Martin Plaut and the BBC for brining this to its readers’ attention. I hope that the West will remember Africa’s forgotten soldiers and patriots, who fought for World Peace side by side with peace loving nations.

Ethiopian Patriot Jagamo Kello (shown in the middle) left home at just 15 to fight Italian invaders
Photo Circa 1936

Remembrance Day in Canada

What is Remembrance Day?

Remembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day (the event it commemorates) or Veterans Day – is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. It is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.) The day was specifically dedicated by King George V, on 7 November 1919, to the observance of members of the armed forces who were killed during war; this was possibly done upon the suggestion of Edward George Honey to Wellesley Tudor Pole, who established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917.

But, what is the brief history of Remembrance Day in Canada?