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After eighteen months of the pandemic’s new normal, I often hear people complain about the restrictions of their freedom and violation of their human rights. Road rage shooting and increased murder rates are common in parts of the USA. Sexual assaults and teenage pregnancies in countries like Uganda are rising astronomically. Such complaints and talks  got me thinking about the good old days. Were the old days as good as people say they were? This note and the other articles will address this question.

The Ethiopian Dam currently under construction on the Abbay river, otherwise known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), has great benefits for Ethiopia as well as the two downstream countries: Sudan and Egypt. One major benefit is that it mitigates flooding in Sudan. Notwithstanding that, in recent weeks the Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi has been quoted to the effect as saying that the dam will endanger the livelihood of over 20 million Sudanese people.

Every four years, the world is treated to a sport’s extravaganza–the summer Olympics. It is replete with scandals, drama, exhilaration, utter failure, disappointment, etc. The organizers, the country and city hosts, the athletes, the trainers, etc., are all in the mix at the Olympics. While the Olympics is marketed as an international sporting activity aimed at cultivating excellence, friendship, and respect, and to contribute to world peace, it is all that and more.

Our last issue was dedicated to change which comes with happiness, uncertainty, and sadness. This issue is dedicated to learning lessons from history. The just concluded Tokyo Olympics was fairly successful despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no massive infection of athletes and no boycotts and no massive doping scandals. Thanks to lesson learned from past experiences. However, it is regrettable that there is still some doping among athletes as well  as corruption within the International Olympic Organization (IOC).