Declaring for Dion All the Way from Addis

Have just arrived in Ethiopia. Have a one night stop over before heading to Nairobi for a conference this week. Feel sad that all I will get to see of the country is a quick dip in the Sheraton's beyond opulent swimming pool and the drive back to the airport. And wish that I knew more about the country. All I know is: it is the oldest independent country in Africa (other than a couple of years when it was occupied by Italy); the currency is call Birr and sadly I might manage to go my whole 12 hour stay here without even laying eyes on one; and of course I can't stop thinking about the famine...

...The fly in over Addis was really interesting though, looked fairly lush (at least compared to Namibia where I lived at one point in time, that's not too hard though because everything looks lush incomparison to Namibia.)

The hotel is crazy - I mean just so widly opulent down the street from corrogated iron roofed houses, that I don't quite know what to do....

I flew Ethiopian airlines - which was great. But I swear for I was convinced that I was sitting next to a corrupt african dictator, I mean the suit, and the rings, and the demeanor, especially when he pulled a card out of his wallet that had the name of some weapons dealer in the States...Who he was though, I'll never know. We spent the whole 15 hours of the journey in silence.

Anyway, imagine my delight when I arrive in my mecca of opulence hotel room and discover a wireless connection! A chance to catch up on the latest numbers on the leadership race and to write an empassioned plea to all those who haven't voted: VOTE DION! There we go, I've declared. I haven't written the lengthly blog entery that I had wanted to elaborated all the reasons why, but perhaps this is better. In a nutshell: he has actual Liberal Party experience, he's been in cabinet with both Chretien and Martin, he was the first candidate to put forward a policy on getting more women elected, his work at the Climate Change conference: getting over 162 countries to agree on future commitments on the sometimes abstract beast that is climate change, his Clarity Act.... just a few of many reasons to support Stephane.

Anyway, I have to sign off...I neglected to pack an adapter for my laptop plug in and don't want to risk running out of juice...