What should be resisted and why? And who should resist? Of course, the natural sequel to these is; what should come after the resistance? Understandably, debates on the alternatives have yet to coalesce. But one thing is clear; the alternatives cannot endorse or follow the old ways! Amongst the non-negotiable that should be incorporated in all the various alternatives, we can easily include the two main principles. a) The principle of natural rhythms and limits, particularly as they pertain to the ecosphere/biosphere. b) The primacy of life. Only life is sacrosanct, everything is secondary. c) Anything that goes against the above two principles, directly or indirectly, should not feature in the alternatives. As a corollary to the above, we get the following obvious result: the prevailing stupid notion of non-stop economic growth (on a finite planet) is a definite non-starter!
What should be resisted are all the various derivatives of the prevailing modern world system, as they are diametrically opposed to the above life sustaining principles. The greed system that obtains all over the world today is a result of, amongst other things, fear and lack of awareness about the natural world. The fixation that the world out there is hostile and need to be continuously conquered by humans is passé. This view is certainly outdated in the current geological era of Anthropocene! In the social realm, the existing order, for the most part, perpetuates fear, inequality and conflicts. Consequences are already suffocating humanity. For example, international discourse, almost invariably, revolves around power and domination, under the guise of parochial ‘national interest’. Since modern societies are geared only to the satisfaction of the lunatic (non-sustainable) dogma of non-stop economic growth (which is imposed on all humanity by dominant powers and their institutions, at the service of transnational capital), salvation is only possible by resolutely resisting the prevailing very destructive paradigm!
Besides the obvious problematic associated with seemingly myriad alternatives, there is also the formidable challenge posed by the power that be (TPTB). Not willing to allow any and all reflections to take root across the globe, dominant interests are using all in their power to frustrate the emergence of harmonious coexistence, both within humanity and outside of it! For example, the climate change conferences that take place regularly under the auspices of the UN are mostly to hoodwink the sheeple (human mass) so that serious alternatives will not be forged by the committed! Naturally plenty of the ‘useful idiots’ (educated) do not understand the whole machinations of the ‘deep state’ and have become willing accomplices to the destructive world order. Don’t forget the ‘deep state’, the state behind the formally elected state of the powerful countries do not want to see any development undermining the status quo. Recall our definition of the ‘deep state’. It is the ‘military-intelligence-industrial-banking-media’ complex of the collective empire. The deep state literally sets the agenda for the whole world, insidiously emanating from the institutions of the core countries of the modern world system. The educational institutions, the entertainment industries, including spectator sports, and many other entities/gimmicks that are employed to numb the global sheeple operate under the strict and effective supervision of the ‘deep state’!
Resistance is growing all over the world. See the various articles on page 25 & 44. Resistance should include, amongst other things, civil disobedience. When the power that be is intransigence to logic, reason, ethics, morality, etc., etc., the sheeple has no alternative but to resort to civil disobedience, a la Gandhi! Boycotting goods and services of corporations that are visibly ruining the planet’s life support system becomes justifiable. These creations of greed only understand one thing, profit; ‘they don’t get life’, to use the vernacular of the newer generations! Refusal to bow down to neoliberalism is also growing in the very womb of the beast-the core countries of the prevailing system.
Neoliberalism at the global scale took off during the reign of Margaret Thatcher (UK) and Ronald Reagan (USA) in the late 1970s. Thatcher proclaimed ‘There Is No Alternative’ to the unfettered universe of the market. The TINA syndrome and its consequences, both natural and social, have drastically undermined harmonious collective existence. Unfortunately, neoliberalism still holds sway amongst the global elites and their dying institutions. No matter; we need to discard TINA and replace it with: “TINALT-There Is No Alternative To Life.” Good Day!
RESISTANCE & ALTERNATIVES
A new cleaning initiative
A new cleaning initiative was launched in Addis Ababa on Saturday December 9, which is one of the most daunting challenges urban centers in developing countries like Addis Ababa face.
Addis Ababa aspires to be a clean model city for cities of the continent by 2020, claims the City Government of Addis Ababa Cleansing management Agency’s vision. But considering the few years left to hit that deadline, imagining a clean Addis Ababa seems out of horizon.
During the initiative over 70,000 residents of the city participated including Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn (pictured above). 
Doraleh Port reduces prices
The government of Djibouti has decided to reduce the price of service at Doraleh Multipurpose Port (DMP), the biggest ever sea port facility in the Gulf of Aden. They are able to reduce their price because they have modernized services and thus minimized operating costs according to Wahib Daher Aden, CEO of DMP. 
DMP was inaugurated May 24 by President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti and other top government officials from the region. It is capable of handing many cargo vessels at the same time.
During the press conference held at DMP compound, Wahib Daher Aden, announced the surprising port service charge reduction.
“I have very good news for you,” he said when he was asked about the price from a journalist that attended the press conference.
“The government of Djibouti has decided to decrease the prices of the DMP,” he told an Ethiopian media crew.
“So really there is a big decrease, it has been decided by the government of Djibouti and every forwarder and client in Ethiopia will get a notice,” Wahib added.
He explained that the decrease was applied to every cargo type including general cargo, vehicles, and dry bulk.
Experts said that it is a huge decrease. The CEO said that the government wanted to cut some of the costs from the operation at the port so it would remain sustainable.
He said that some of prices have gone down as much as 45 percent. In general the reduction is between 20 to 45 percent, according to the CEO.
He said that the new port will never be congested since the discharge is undertaken by the port owner itself.
“It is easy for the vessels and truck drivers to just come to the yard and load the cargo,” the CEO added.
The port, which is considered as one of the most advanced in Africa, was completed in March this year and received the first vessel in mid April.
DMP, which is under Port of Djibouti S.A. (PDSA), targets boosting the logistics activity in the region. It has consumed USD 590 million.
At the inauguration, Saad Omar Guelleh, General Manager of PDSA, said that the new 690 hectare facility is equipped with ultra-modern facilities that can accommodate 100,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt) vessels.
The project was started in 2015, and jointly financed by Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) and China Merchant Holding (CMHC), which bought a 23.5 percent share of PDSA about four and half years ago. The state of the art port equipment was all manufactured by the Chinese firm ZPMC.
The geographical location of Doraleh Multipurpose Port provides a naturally deep large quay and 6 berths (to reach 15 berths in the second phase) at 16 to 18 meters in the first phase. The DMP will serve all conventional cargo vessels and related services. It will be linked to rail transport developing an integrated transport and economic corridor.
DMP is able to process 220,000 TEU and 8.2 million tons of non-containerized goods. So far the port has given service to 220 vessels and 1.7 million tons of cargo since it commenced operation about six months ago.
DMP has four separate terminals for handling containers, ro/ro, break bulk and bulk cargos.
Lawyers look at harmonizing regional business relations
The forum to harmonize business regulations in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) was held at Palace Kempinski Hotel in Djibouti, on December 6 and 7, 2017.
The forum that was organized by ABLE Network/Club 54 came up with legal ways to harmonize business regulations in the regional common market area.
The event held under the title: ‘Forum for Harmonization of Business Regulations in the COMESA Area’ included several legal actors from the region and lawyers from Djibouti.
Souleiman Ali Djama, Prosecutor General of Djibouti, told Capital that the forum is very interesting because it is talking about how to create African regional integration laws.
“It is specifically interesting because it is the first time that this kind of initiative has been hosted by a private network of lawyers,” he added.
“It is a good approach when talking about economic integration, it is in fact about business and contracts that automatically lead to lawyers and people who can help you and of course there is a lot of systems in different countries in the COMESA region so this kind of network of lawyers can help to make it easier to connect business people with different legal systems,” the Prosecutor General said.
“We have been working hard to unify on the common base in different countries on legal integration including the criminal cases,” he added.
The COMESA arbitration court ratified by many of the members is based in Djibouti and it is expected to be effective, according to Souleiman.
The forum includes several participants from different nations and has positively influenced integration and arbitration.
“Meanwhile Djibouti is the only Francophone country in COMESA, Anglophone and Arabic speakers are growing which makes the integration very easy for us,” the Prosecutor General said.
Maitre Ahned Abdourahman Chelk, who is one of the organizers of the forum said, “we decided to move on with the entire subject as the harmonization and facilitation of the economical and business law within the COMESA.”
ABLE Network/Club 54 is a leading Pan-African network and think tank, with members in 45 African countries and a dozen non-African countries.
