^No, Ahura, he is right. A great part of the male brain is used to figure out if his honey has been messing around, who the culprit could be, how he can outwit him next time, etc. Another evolutionary pathway would (according to the theory) offer competition at the gonads. Bigger testicles allow for more sperm, some of which can actually attack another man's sperm. Like Caano Geel suggests, this may only be a coincidence. Though correlation becomes strongly suggestive of causation when so many different species of mammals have a similar set-up (monogamous pairings/small testicles relative to the size of the animals vs. promiscuity/large testicles). There could be a third unknown factor, but it's much more fun to think it's because male mammals are just insecure!

Atlas, what about the moment of the Big Bang?

^Sounds good. Hope it has concrete benefits for those who need it. I have a penpal who runs a warshad in San Diego who tells me he doesn't bother to tell Somali women employees to get a drug test. Reverse discrimination?

Originally posted by LaVie: Castro, are you finally hinting something concrete here. Ok here is the maths, you were able to love when you were 30 years of age. Lets see, it probably took you, say another 3 years to hook that perfect and like-minded HalimaCastra. You probably honeymooned for another year before the little NiñosCastros were let loose to cause havocs in Middle earth. Now you are in your confort zone and at ease with yourself pushing you to the 45 years treshold. And then BANG! Mid-life crisis. Really, that's the life-cycle of men for ya.

Ahura, come on, you know by "looking after", we would mean overwork and underfeed. It's practically synonymous. As for deprivation of tea, I think that had more to do with the scarcity or expense of sugar in the baadhiye than adherence to an Atkins diet. Anything that is low supply is gonna be hogged. The older ladies just used "dhex-yar" as an excuse.

Violent revolutions, Castro? It's not that I don't like the idea of "power to the people". It's just that bloody revolutions haven't been working out so well lately. The example of Somalia is a little close to home.

I check The Onion religiously and this was the funniest "news" I've read there since they broke the story about dolphins evolving opposable thumbs. Maverick Hunter's 'Human Beings As Prey' Plan Not As Challenging As Expected January 17, 2006 | Issue 42•03 PERIL ISLAND—Big-game hunter Baron Hugo von Urwitz conceded Tuesday that his theory that human beings are the most cunning and challenging of quarry is seriously flawed. "Perhaps I gave my fellow man too much credit," said von Urwitz, looking on as his servants carried three lifeless human beings bound to poles by their hands and ankles. "Admittedly, there are fewer kills today than yesterday, but only because the herd is thinning." Bored with netting such elusive and dangerous prey as Bengal tigers, white rhinos, and Cape buffalo, the 51-year-old adventurer said he had thought it would be "capital sport" to hunt humans on his uncharted, densely forested private island. "My huntsman's heart thrilled at the prospect of bringing down a live human, who alone in the animal kingdom has the capacity to outwit and even best his enemies through sheer intellect," von Urwitz said. "What I neglected to consider is that man is also alone in the capacity to tumble straight into quicksand while fleeing from a swarm of yellow jackets after trying to steal honey from their nest." more laugh-out-loud details

Thanks atheer. Funnily enough, neither kind of beer appeals to me. Some oodkac, maybe?

Hi MMR, Hadee qolada ee la dagaalameyso bari nin ka dhashay guursado maxee ciyaalkeeda ugu sheekeynee? "Waaya ayaa jiri jirtay aan reerihiin baroon ku leyn jiray?" Ma waxaa sahlan in uu nin carruurtiisa ku yiraahdo, "reer abtigiin ayaan dili jirey waa hore?" You say "reerihiin", when we should be hoping that our children would not feel that kind of qabyaalad anyway. But I think it's true that most women don't get involved in qabyaalad, but there are exceptions to every rule. A couple of my aunts were baroon-carrying members of a guerrilla group in the 1980s. One was wounded, and shows it off with that mixture of pride and chagrin common to people who took risks as youths.

kix kix kix. That's awful.

I don't know. An interesting article, but far too many unsubstantiated claims and improbable links. The first that had me worried: Also strangely enough, the most important Sumarian deity, MARDUK, literally meant in Somali ‘The one who was once buried’. So what? Did the Sumarians name their deity after a Somali two-word concept? Or did the Somalis arrive at two different words ("mar" and "duug") from the name of another people's deity? I think what Atlas is trying to say is the same thing. There are a lot of coincidences in languages. Etymology is an inexact "science" at best but it does more to prove links between cultures than this author shows. The Somali word for teach is "bar" which is, strangely enough, the same as the English word for an establishment where alcoholic drinks are served. Furthermore, the Somali word for liver is "beer", which is, in English, a kind of alcoholic beverage. Obviously, the two words "bar" and "beer" indicate that Somalis were aware of the detrimental effect of alcohol on the liver and were attempting to teach it to others!

^That's code for "it was outside under the stars".

Hi Ducaqabe, Originally posted by Ducaqabe: Westerners feel proud of the openness in their society more than they are with values and morals. Such behavior is considered important and a freedom of some sort, so don’t tell us they don’t consider it important. It defines their system and speaks volumes of their society. Ask them and they would utter these words, it’s a free country, so you can do whatever. I think that the average Westerner would find the idea of spouse-swapping just as distasteful as you do. BUT, and this is a big but, Westerners value individual freedom. As long as your actions harm no one, you are free to do as you wish. This ability to dissociate personal taste from public governance is what distinguishes secular democracies from the theocracies and dictatorships that bring untold misery to billions. Having the courage to say "to each his own" is a value. It implies a level of maturity that, for some, is inconceivable. The same impulse that allows these Canucks to consider "open marriages" none of their business is the same impulse that suggests to them that polygamy should not be illegal. Celebrate one and abhor the other if you wish, but don't misunderstand the root, common intention.

There are plenty of other more accomodating employers, surely? One's hardly at risk of starving because they quit one job.

Interesting observations MMA. Could you elaborate on what you meant by the ciyaal xaafada phenom.? nacayb-qabiil, The only way to combat qabiilnimo is to bring up kids to be like you. Don't worry, the kids today do not have the deep-rooted qabyaalad that our parents and grandparents suffer from. They play-act, but mostly they don't pay attention to the "insurmountable barriers" our parents took for granted. A quick review of my younger sister's friends shows her closest friends are a remarkably complete cross-section of Somali tribes. Same goes for my little brother. It's the wave of the future.

Well, it seems like we just can't agree within ourselves. Say two people (a woman and her husband, two brothers, two neighbors) are fighting, and neither wants to be reasonable or to listen to the other. Wouldn't it be prudent to bring in a disinterested third party? Someone to objectively arbitrate between the two?

Thanks for the poem, Nur (it was an opportunity to pun you could not resist, eh?). And for the able exposition, Xiin.

Welcome back Nur. I see you're returning with blazing guns. Love the title.

Is there anyone so sentimental as Khayr? I recall a certain someone bemoaning the discussion of things like honor killings, hoping to sweep all bad things under the rug and pretend they don't exist. Then there's the rather nostalgic references to a certain all-male band... Seems pretty sentimental.

Maybe a trade with China is in order.

LOL, down boy. And when a baby boomer generation of curiously Asian-looking Somali kids are born soon after?

JB, Lolita is no masterpiece. It is controversial, though. Socod_Badne is just being Socod_Badne. The Heidi I'm thinking of is a Swiss fictional character in a children's book written long ago. Whenever I talk to Europeans about Canada, they always ask about an American celebrity or landmark. And I didn't know that yodeling was a Lapp thing.

Wow, that was brilliant. She really must be the Einstein of the bird world.

CW, there's no contradiction there. You just do it in the dark. I suspect men would be no worse at it than they already are, and women would find it easier as the urge to point and laugh would not be as strong

Originally posted by Castro: And just how do you know about all this good Callypso? Besides your uncle I mean. Like I said, I didn't know it was an aphrodisiac, I thought my uncle's proclivities were inborn or a natural consequence of bottling up normal human feelings. I knew about xabad sowda, though. My granny used to bake it in bread, it has a slightly pungent but pleasant scent, but kind of bitter.