^But they make us laugh so all is forgiven

Naden, I'll have you know that some of us not-so-hairless Africans await the day tweezers are confiscated and melted down to make guillotines to use on every beautician who has ever performed an underarm wax...

In thematic contrast, one of my favorite poems: A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning John Donne As virtuous men pass mildly away, And whisper to their souls to go, Whilst some of their sad friends do say, "Now his breath goes," and some say, "No." So let us melt, and make no noise, No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move ; 'Twere profanation of our joys To tell the laity our love. Moving of th' earth brings harms and fears ; Men reckon what it did, and meant ; But trepidation of the spheres, Though greater far, is innocent. Dull sublunary lovers' love —Whose soul is sense—cannot admit Of absence, 'cause it doth remove The thing which elemented it. But we by a love so much refined, That ourselves know not what it is, Inter-assurèd of the mind, Care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss. Our two souls therefore, which are one, Though I must go, endure not yet A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to aery thinness beat. If they be two, they are two so As stiff twin compasses are two ; Thy soul, the fix'd foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if th' other do. And though it in the centre sit, Yet, when the other far doth roam, It leans, and hearkens after it, And grows erect, as that comes home. Such wilt thou be to me, who must, Like th' other foot, obliquely run ; Thy firmness makes my circle just, And makes me end where I begun.

Do not go gentle into that good night Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

^LOL. I would defend myself from food-based missiles by saying that I meant Africans in the strictly geographical sense. Or maybe they would be happy with a primus inter pares designation...

If you're going to be a poor African and have 10 children, this might be the best way to go about it. Diaper companies will give them free diapers, doctors will take special interest, neighbors will want to be photographed with them and hence bring food and toys, etc etc.

It's a challenge Ibti! Secrets of a Green Sahara By Rachel Zelkowitz ScienceNOW Daily News 15 August 2008 About 5300 years ago, near the center of modern-day Niger, a woman and two children died; how it happened is unclear. They were buried carefully on a bed of flowers--the woman, the 8-year-old, and the 5-year-old cuddled in a last embrace. Millennia later, paleontologist Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago in Illinois and his team were looking for dinosaurs when they discovered the trio's remains. "It brought tears to our eyes," Sereno said at a press event yesterday at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C. Carbon dating revealed that the skeletons belonged to Tenerians, a people who lived in a region known as the Gobero when the Sahara was a lush savanna. Further excavation unearthed an entire cemetery--the Sahara's largest. The team also found the remains of Kiffians, who lived in the area 5000 years earlier, Sereno said. The Gobero site also contained pottery shards, flower pollen, jewelry, and fossils that should help scientists fill out the picture of both groups. For example, skull measurements show that Kiffians stood more than 2 meters tall. And marks left by muscle attachments reveal that the Tenerians and Kiffians were fairly healthy, said team member Christopher Stojanowski, a bioarchaeologist at Arizona State University in Tempe. The findings are reported online this week in PLoS ONE.

It's OK Pucca. The Winter Olympics will be here soon AND they will be held on your turf. Canada will be the one laughing all the way to the podium.

LOL. What's another name for Canada? Not America.

Xiin ha masabidan Emperor. Adigaa af-carabiga ku takhluusaye As for the "head of feminist movement of SOL" label, I guess Rebecca West said it best: I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute.

Goodness, the sparks sure are flying here Tone it down a bit Che, the Troll Corner is starting to smoke

Well she's got girl bits, obviously. Why don't you go out? There's still time left to paint the town red.

^Look at my avatar Sheh. How can you be bored in her vicinity?

Ngonge, you don't have to fake it anymore: A Literary Stylistic Analysis of a Poem by the Somali Poet Axmed Ismaciil Diiriye 'Qaasim'

Oh dear, this is like that nightmare I used to have as a child. See, I watched this Egyptian film when I was 8. It was a romantic comedy, but I didn't know that. So the story is about this beautiful but rather conceited young woman who means this rather ugly and obnoxious guy. Naturally, she doesn't give him the time of day at first and I could totally understand why. But inexplicably, there is some chemistry, and the more annoying and uncool he is, the more irresistible she finds him. Finally, she falls in love with him. At eight, chemistry is not even a class in high school, so I was completely flabbergasted. I thought she was possessed, that some strange thing happens to drive women insane without warning. So I spent the next 10 years vigilantly watching myself for signs of incipient madness, sure that it would strike at any moment and I would start to fancy my addle-brained cousin, or the family milk goat, or front gate. So now, witnessing this strange interaction between Ibti and this Unknown1, my 8 year old self is screaming out warnings. It always starts with contempt, Ibti! Then playful banter, then before you knowing you'll be imagining how your babies will look! (Ugly as sin of course). Just be careful.

^What, you think he should participate in something he finds immoral, and THEN preach against it? That's how you know you're getting old.

I really don't know either. I thought I would be like my aunts and say something and then start laughing and hooting and not tell you what it means. Used to drive me insane... P.S. I just remembered that fortune cookie game where you read out your fortune and then add "...in bed" to whatever it says. Eg, "You will make friends today...in bed." I'm wondering if Ibti's advice can be modified the same way

Psst @ Ibti. She means the MOST serious bit Otherwise you could be describing a pet cat or dog...

Originally posted by Cabdiyo Cabdi: ^LOL@miirato...bad image comes to mind Her name is starting to make sense!

^LOL. But let's face it, there's no lower limit on appeal, while there's an upper limit for the persuasion amount necessary. As a 45 year-old midget with acute elephantiasis, I should hope so. The original poster watches too many torrid soaps methinks.

Hmmm, I read this before but overestimated my comprehension of it.

^CG, and if they didn't have internet access I'm sure you could get a connection using burnt toast, dental floss and bubble gum Xiin, these are also more or less very random thoughts that have very tenuous connections. Markets are not as bad as they would seem, despite all the noise and hubbub. A market place is where a merchant, artisan or other individual seller displays their wares with often no middleman between seller and buyer. They are far more "human" than Wal-Mart or other big box stores in which clean aisles, endless packaging and matching uniforms remove the consumer from a real perception of the true cost of that shirt/toy/etc made in China. In a marketplace there's no such thing as a marked price, everything is negotiable because the seller is actually aware of the value of their product and can see a clear link between selling it at a certain price and feeding their family. Compare that to the indifferent cashier at a store for whom there's no real connection between their take-home pay and the disposal camera beside the cash register. Lining up in queues is a peculiarly Western obsession, maybe it comes from the Roman emphasis on military orderliness... Apparently even the Chinese are unfamiliar with the concept, and had to practice for the Olympics in Beijing! There's no denying that queuing is a necessity of the modern world though. As for the neglect and destruction of public spaces, I think this stems in part from our nomadic roots. Permanent settlements are still new to us. We are used to grazing our animals in a tract of land until all the grass is gone, and then moving on to the next field. When we returned the next year the grass would be there again, and any waste generated was biodegradable for the most part. Even our presence is foreign countries is seen as a temporary exile, with no real sense of ownership for a flat in London or a hut in Garisa. Why should we care about the street outside a house we have no intention of passing on to our children? Environmentalism is often dismissed with a similar conviction that our presence is temporary. Why should we be concerned with the polar ice caps melting in 50 years if the world might not even be here next week?

^They are not allegations, the Chinese officials admitted to it. I feel sorry for the lip-syncing one. That kind of thing can't be good for self-worth. The not-so-cute one will lose the baby fat and milk teeth, but her talent will stay with her.

^But an egg gets released from the ovaries every month, whether pregnancy takes place or not. Whereas the release of the male progenerative emissions requires some amount of activity, pleasurable as it may be I think CL assumed you knew that

You are a very patient person Ibti.