^Hiya Val. Can't wait to see Wolverine, and yes I'm a Gambit fan too... Used to love the cartoon chemistry with Rogue, and how he never quits chasing after her, even though her touch is deadly... *Nerd hat off*

LOL @ Adam. Saying nayaa is gay!

Wuxuu ma fending machine baa? Congratulations A&T. Spring is a good time to bring forth new life.

^ Let's see, she has just the prerequisites for your course? Welcome LS. I HAVE to ask, what spelling of Einstein's first name did you use that triggered the asterisks? I've tried out several plausible variations and none of them is a hit :confused: For learning Somali, I suggest hanging out with the fadhi-ku-dirir at coffee shops but make sure to get a rabies shot first...

Think about it, Lily. We eat kidneys, they filter urine! Livers dispose of dead red blood cells and neutralize poisons. The stomach is really just a layer of epithelial cells surrounded by a wall of muscle and connective tissue. Delicious

^LOL. It was a more innocent time huh? Thanks Adam, I used to hate and love that show. Now go away! {on the way out you're permitted to post ONE picture of Hercules. For balance, you understand.} How are the ladies doing?

^Math doesn't lie. I was reading this rant about fashion models and the author described one model as "skinny as a Somalian child." Sad really.

^Exactly. And his depictions of A. Yusuf irritated yet another cohort on here if I recall right. The only I find offensive is the design of his website. The number of flashing ads would give an epileptic fits. He should set up a paypal account and ask for donations. It would be a different group of impulsive donors each week though

Paragon, I usually check "today's active topics", then click on an interesting link. If I get enraged, disgusted, disillusioned or dismayed, I know I'm in the Politics section But sometimes a topic flies just below the radar and I respond before I realize I've stepped into the mire. I think we'll just have to disagree on Amin @ you and Norf. I support Sharif too, but I think an annoying gadfly that caricatures him and any other Somali official is welcome and necessary.

Norf, I think you ask a fair question, but we must remember that Amir is a political satirist. Painting rosy pictures is not in their job description, and shouldn't be. Instead, a political satirist's job is to highlight the sometimes unspoken truths of the disgusting process of governing a nation. And you know it's truth because it angers the supporters of whoever he pokes fun at, as well as those who are naturally given to repressive thoughts I have not seen a political cartoon by him that was not spot-on.

Actually, I find the "Chinese are coming!" comments a bit more interesting. Have the right-wing nutjobs latched onto China as the new Big Bad? Whatever happened to Iran?

Nonsense. Letting each company regulate itself is what led to this mess in the first place. Toxic waste dumping and overfishing off the Somali coast wasn't any government's mandate. If companies decide to "provide their own security", it will make the US's actions last week seem like a Valentine's day gift. The last thing we want is some multinational deciding the best solution is to bomb any "suspicious" vessel, threatening peninsula, or aggressive island off our coasts. Or perhaps they will happily pay ransom money to the pirates and flood Somalia with young men flush with ill-gotten gains. Anyway, some of the ships being taken hostage include humanitarian aid ships paid for by taxpayer money. And there's a distinct difference between "violation of property rights" vs. taking people hostage and demanding ransom for their safe return. Imagine waiting for your neighbor to leave for work, breaking into their house and stealing their flat-screen TV. Sounds bad? Compare that to waiting for your neighbor's kindergartner to get off the school bus, kidnapping her, and demanding money in return for her safety. I can chalk up the first to common criminality but the second is miles beyond "a violation of property rights". Let's not confuse sympathy with justice or good sense.

^It thought he was marinading eh? Speaking of snakes, where's Ngonge lately?

^This is making me feel a lot better about the big slice of cake I just had... On a cosmic scale it's immeasurably small!

My jaw dropped when I saw this: Somali pirates hijack 4 ships, take 60 hostages

In that case, my understanding is that about 15-30 minutes per day, exposing the arms and face to direct sunlight (preferably between 10 am and 4 pm, when UVB rays best penetrate the atmosphere) will have you all set for the winter. Of course, these are recommendations for the melanin-impaired, might be insufficient for the rest of us.

Lily, if the intent is to sun-bathe (for tanning or to put highlights in your hair), then you don't need to put sunscreen, and it would actually be counter-productive as far as tanning goes. Just make sure not to get a skin-burn. Aside from that, exposure to moderate sunlight is good for you mentally and physically. The skin cancer outbreaks of the last couple of decades has given sunlight an unnecessarily bad rap. Although Cawo is right about skin aging, I'd rather be wrinkly with healthy bones and teeth than baby-faced but bed-ridden

So you should have made those new year's resolutions after all

See Shehe? Stop with this talk of pulling hair and making him scream, you're scaring some people

Pretty amazing, the Dabbahu fissure split open in September 2005 after an earthquake, and after about a million years or so, will form an ocean that separates the Horn from the rest of Africa... somehow on that timescale it's hard to imagine what kind of tourism industry Ethiopia will have Gheele, maybe it's because the young man can probably take another wife of his choosing at a later time, or he can get divorce with less societal disapproval, etc. Depending on how young the girl is, even getting pregnant can be a life-threatening outcome, not to mention the probable end to her educational and career goals if she had any!

That's more like it I couldn't find the 4th article. http://dl.getdropbox .com/u/872946/158882 .pdf http://dl.getdropbox .com/u/872946/301149 3.pdf http://dl.getdropbox .com/u/872946/273632 .pdf http://dl.getdropbox .com/u/872946/177168 0.pdf

Good for her. The closest I got to holding public office was the day the homeroom teacher had me take the class roster to the Principal in 6th grade. Good luck with exams Stoic.

The Guardian has really outdone itself. This really cracked me up: A mammoth project is also under way to rewrite the whole of the newspaper's archive, stretching back to 1821, in the form of tweets. Major stories already completed include "1832 Reform Act gives voting rights to one in five adult males yay!!!"; "OMG Hitler invades Poland, allies declare war see tinyurl.com/b5x6e for more"; and "JFK assassin8d @ Dallas, def. heard second gunshot from grassy knoll WTF?" And Currently, 17.8% of all Twitter traffic in the United Kingdom consists of status updates from Stephen Fry, whose reliably jolly tone, whether trapped in a lift or eating a scrumptious tart, has won him thousands of fans. A further 11% is made up of his 363,000 followers replying "@stephenfry LOL!", "@stephenfry EXACTLY the same thing happened to me", and "@stephenfry Meanwhile, I am making myself an omelette! Delicious!"

Wow Sheh, that disgusting yellow stuff might be dangerous. You should consider cleaning up once in a while! **It sez pictures, real trollers don't to read explanatory prose**

Guess what? The Guardian has decided to switch to Twitter! After nearly 200 years of newsprint, the Guardian has discovered that any story can be told in 140 characters or less. As a Twitter-only publication, the Guardian will be able to harness the unprecedented newsgathering power of the service, demonstrated recently when a passenger on a plane that crashed outside Denver was able to send real-time updates on the story as it developed, as did those witnessing an emergency landing on New York's Hudson River. It has also radically democratised news publishing, enabling anyone with an internet connection to tell the world when they are feeling sad, or thinking about having a cup of tea. Printing presses will fall silent in brave new Twitter-based future.