I know like the original GTA, hated Vice City, and San Andreas – but True Crime: Streets of LA was out of this world – that’s a good drive/mission/shoot game – not to mention the music is intense.

It’s been couple of days now since we been on this boat, and we’re runnin out of food. I’M VERY HUNGRY, I NEED TO EAT SOMETHING, WHO DO WE SACRIFICE?

The military assimilation games are too serious for me to indulge in – I remember Resident Evil, now that game was good, followed by Metal Gear – those two shooting games are nice.

Total kids 9 4 Boys, 5 Girls

The mother of objectivism was an atheist, anticommunist and anti-left. Not being a capitalist, I’m somehow enchanted by Ayn Rand’s theory of objectivism. Its individual based somehow, I remember coming across an article in the Atlantic monthly, titled I believe ‘Ayn Rand goes to Somalia’ its was talking about the economics of Somalia I believe. Nonetheless, here’s a summary of objectivism. My [Ayn Rand] philosophy, Objectivism, holds that: 1. Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes or fears. 2. Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses) is man's only means of perceiving reality, his only source of knowledge, his only guide to action, and his basic means of survival. 3. Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the means to the ends of others. He must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life. 4. The ideal political-economic system is laissez-faire capitalism. It is a system where men deal with one another, not as victims and executioners, nor as masters and slaves, but as traders, by free, voluntary exchange to mutual benefit. It is a system where no man may obtain any values from others by resorting to physical force, and no man may initiate the use of physical force against others. The government acts only as a policeman that protects man's rights; it uses physical force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use, such as criminals or foreign invaders. In a system of full capitalism, there should be (but, historically, has not yet been) a complete separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.

American children grow up to be valuable citizens. Bangladeshi children grow up to be part of the world population problem. O'Rourke, P.J. (1994), "Imagine a weight-loss program at the end of which, instead of better health, good looks, and hot romantic prospects, you die. Somalia had become just this kind of spa. - O'Rourke, P.J. (1994), All the trouble in the world. The lighter side of famine, pestilence, destruction and death. Sydney (Picador), 65 You can find more of his other quotes on this website. http://www.ldb.org/rourke.htm

Tasmanian Devil [that's me] "Taz" for short, is described as: "A strong murderous beast, jaws as powerful as a steel trap, has ravenous appetite, eats tigers, lions, elephants, buffaloes, donkeys, giraffes, octopuses, rhinoceroses, and moose." However, this definition is only partially accurate. He also eats chickens, ducks, and especially rabbits. Whirring around like a tornado, slicing through trees like a rotary saw, and feasting on an entire ecosystem of jungle creatures, Taz has but one thing on his mind: Eating. Somedays I'm Wile E. Coyote

Zeph Your not alone, were all going mad, good to know its not only me. Speaking of cell phones, I almost left my cell phone at a metro station in Montreal, when I saw the ticket guy yelling, hey you forgot your cell phone. I came back to Ottawa on Monday, and that night I literally lost my friends phone. @ McDonalds, while waiting for everybody in car to get their order through the drive thru – when it came to paying for my meal, since the car was full and there was no room to move, I got out of the car to take money out of my pocket – I had the cell phone in my hand, I put the phone on the roof of the car, and went back in the car without removing it from there. My friend kept asking me while we was waiting for the order where his cell phone was, and I kept on saying that I didn’t have it, and it be between the seats or below someone’s feet. He bought the story, 3 hours later after 2 games of Ludo we soon realized that his phone was not there and stubid me….. I realized it afterwards that I had left the hone on the roof, we went back.. five of us grilling the McDonalds workers where the phone was, and CSI’n MdDonalds. The phone is now lost and I’m out couple of hundreds to pay for a new one.

Nur you have got cleverly witty political analyses, although many of the people or political situations in which you illustrate seem unrealistic. A Somali political humorist, who writes entirely in English, its really rare. Have you read or heard of O’Rourke, P.J?

Currently reading Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness, A book about imperialism, exploitation, consumption, and material madness - its a novel.

10 Things I Hate About Somalis 1.Talking like they’re the experts of all things known to man. 2.Thinking that they’re smarter than you because they’re older 3.Only praying when they’re around religious people. 4.Using ‘af-arabi’ too much. 5.Supporting clan politics when they know nothing about the past, simply because they overheard their father b!tch about another clan over the phone with his khat-addicted coffee time friends. 6.Youth who hate their peers because they drink/do drugs/ and party hard, get some excitement in your lives. 7.Pray or Party – there is no balance. 8.Gossip folks – young and old 9.People who assume that because you’re in university you’ll be someone in the future, no some of us will be working at McDonalds. 10.People who hate on drug dealers and pimps, but they like spending their money and buying punani from them. PS. and those claiming that they're not Somali, when everything about them is.

Somali girls are always claim that they want a nice guy – but girls don’t like nice guys, they like assholes – sot he good guys are forced to be bad – and after couple of attempts in the end, they like being bad, and when you treat Somali girls bad, ignore them, talk down to them, they love you more, need I say more. If you want nice guys you need to be nice when we approach you – nowadays Somali girls have a lot of standards – good luck finding your ‘ideal man’ ladies til your marriage clock starts to run out than you end up settling with the first asshole you can find, usually within the clan line or from the immediate family marriage potential bin.

A school friend of mine was Christian, matter fact his entire family, I didn’t even know that, I though the fact that he was Somali he would be Muslim. His family was not different from other Somalis, except they had the bible and cross here and there, but on a cultural note, they ate rice and bananas, they spoke Somali, except the children spoke French most of the time, but they were Somali and you could not tell the difference. But so what? We associate with kufars everyday too, at least Christian Somalis have our culture, and we have a similar understanding in many other issues. Those who are promoting separation and hate against these people are hypocrites – because many of them have Christian/Jewish even Atheist non-Somali friends, but they’d rather disown their own race based on religion, is if clan cleansing was not enough for them – at least if you’re going to do that, refrain from befriending all kufars, not just the Somali ones. However, I would be against Somalis who are promoting Christianity or other faiths in Somalia in exchange for food – similar to the tactics in which the Christian right uses to increase membership and donations around the world.

Olef may be pulling the legs of nomads here, but, there are Somalis with similar beliefs. They’re breaking down cultural taboos and they are doing so by self-referencing, and manipulating cultural and religious protocol. There are many Somalis who drink, and commit other major sins such as taking Riba – which comes no close to drinking in terms of sin size. There are also many Somalis who never practice the religion and are only in it for the name – I call them ‘sleeper cell’ worshipers – they react when someone says something towards the deen. Olef is now dealing with web-jihadists and forum insurgents. Olef, I think your attempts are at best a poor imitation of Ayan Hersi – do you have similar ideas as her? Are you fed up with reactionaries? Are you imposing liberal indoctrination, the “I m okay your okay†doctrine? Are you suggesting that we accept the universal humanist movement [anti-Islam at its core, since Islam has been branded inhumane through the media] – Sxb, if you’re going to engage nomads, do it in a rational manner, not with one-two step controversial confessions [ooh you drink, so what? :rolleyes: ]– come correct and display your arguments in more clear and concise manner.

LOL @ Northener I can’t argue if he is Somali, or not, but I mean he looks Somali, his name is Somali, but I think he was adopted at a young age, becuz some of his paintings depict him living with non-Somalis, or so they seem. Athena, I might have jumped to conclusions by assuming that he was Somali who had converted to Christianity – I’m trying to find his contact info, I been trying to interview him for a magazine and clear the debate up, becuz we had a similar debate with another nomad. PS. Sky do you have it out for Olef or what?

I came across a similar letter no too long ago accusing the BBC of airwave terrorism and warmongering propaganda. I have looked into the issue more, and it seems to me that a lot of people have similar opinions in regards to Been Been C [LOL @ Haddad] Instead of writing letters, the activists of this cause should look into gaining support from media watch organizations in order strengthened their claims.

First off Ayan Hersi has taken advantage of 9/11 – than she began to discredit Islam because those attitudes began gaining popularity at that time. As a politician in terms of career – think she used her triple threat affirmative action rights to get in. But I won’t hate on her personal achievements further. As an intellectual – I really question her ability and the kind of rational she uses. How can you advocate cultural genocide when you’re a minority yourself? She fails to understand that there are many Muslims who are unable, and unwilling because they’ve got a strong faith, to give into kufar tendencies. Than if she is advocating the destruction of socially stigmatized minority groups – she needs to start with herself. On a personal note, I think it is irrelevant to continue this debate, because it seems to be one sided, aside from Olef’s support for her personal achievements and in which many of you agree on – but her political beliefs are not defended her, so we’re only backbiting so lets end it. Unless there are nomads who believe in cultural integration, assimilation, and who are secularist, and support Ayan Hersi for her accomplishments becuz whe happens to be a refugee from Somalia [the feminist camps argument]--- then, please stand up and state your case --- you won’t be harassed for having those believes.

I don’t know if he has a personal website, I took this information from the scholarship website – maybe googling his name might turn something up? But just in case here’s the link http://www.artsawards.org/alumni/awardee05/VisualArts/index.cfm that’s the link, if you scroll down you might see the same info that you see in the forum, apart from that there’ isn’t more on about him.

LOL @ Sky Olef I think your discursive methods are a bit overwhelming for some nomads here. You seem to have angered the tradionalist Somalis on here. I think many of us have forgotten that Somalis are part of the human race, and that we will have our differences of faith and ideology. I was rather shocking to see a young Somali artist wanting to create a Christian comic book to advance Christianity. A friend of mine who was searching for scholarships for Animation school came across the following link – the kid got a scholarship… PS. Sky is your friend the same guy who took down the Radio Baranbaro guy, who posted pics of Somali girls ?? =============================================== Abdullahi M. Farah ARTS Winner in Visual Arts Owings Mills, MD $3,000 (Level I) Award Presidential Scholar in the Arts Abdullahi (Abdi) Farah, a painter and sculptor, is a senior at Carver Center for the Arts and Technology. Since sophomore year Abdi has been winning local and national art competitions. In 2004 Abdi won a Scholastic Art and Writing Awards National Gold Key and was exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC during the summer of 2004. Abdi won the National NAACP ACT-SO Gold Medal in Painting for two consecutive years, and in 2004 he also won a National Silver Medal in Sculpture. Additionally in 2004, Abdi was selected to participate in the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation Summer Seminar held in Colorado Springs. Other junior year accolades include being named only one of 81 Maryland Distinguished Scholar finalists, and having his award-winning ACT-SO painting exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Furthermore, Abdi is very serious about his studies, currently ranking third in his class of 177 students. He has also earned varsity letters for basketball and cross-country. Abdi greatly admires the American master painters, including John Singer Sargent, Henry Ossawa Tanner, and Thomas Eakins as well as painter and sculpture Elizabeth Catlett. Abdi will attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall. He also wants to create his own Christian comic book and to do short term missions incorporating art to teach and encourage. Finally, Abdi loves his family deeply and he believes that his mother’s limitless encouragement and support for his art has been critical.

One morning I'd like to wake up and read about a warlord, or two, who has been shot dead in Somalia. Why do we have to wait for these ba$tards to serve out the terms of their natural lives? Surely we have unemployed assassins in Muqdisho who would take care of this. Anyone know anybody? Olef, warlords will cannot be killed by civilians, impossible – that person will have their entire family wiped out for even attempting – only anther warlord can kill becuz he would have the resources to deal with the aftermath. People die in Somalia everyday that’s the sad part, but when people who are contributing to the development of Somalia are murdered, whether they be aid workers, journalists or civilian advocates of peace and stability – to hear this is really discouraging. Very sad, I wish all the best for his family and friends in dealing with this tragedy.

I think we should deploy less reactionary, or violent tactics to battle people like Ayan Hersi, we can’t use physical or verbal threats against her, we can only change her through rational means – lets not forget she is very dangerous – unlike many Somalis, she follows the process – she can change policy and impact lives. I have no problem with her being an Atheist, but I do have a problem when you decide to dismantle the Islamic way of life through policy. It is crucial that we engage people like Ayan in more civilized dialogue, and perhaps convince her that she is wrong to be thinking that way.

Rokko I was only kidding of course to make a point – merely illustrating the shifting of roles in the Diaspora – I’m not suggesting that this was a reality for all women, but certain women. My statement is not a generalization of all Somali women – but some.

At the end of the day we will be coming together so what ‘s the point – knock up a Somali girl and she’ll be obedient and her dreams will fade away – while the guys become addicted to khat, alcohol, and money – its safe to assume that we’re all headed for an eternal unhappiness – so what’s the point. On this forum most of the girls tend to be laughable feminists – who are ready and willing to call out PTA assholes at any given moment --- although I have yet to meet a conservative feminist who wants to uphold traditional gender roles. We can’t accept that the revenge movement has begun – our women will advance us, educationally and financially. Let’s face it, there are many more girls in post-secondary than men – we are losing the fight. We’re not in Somalia anymore where we can beat them, and chain them to the bedroom and use them as sexual slaves. The revenge revolution has begun long ago with our parents – look at the damn divorce rates in the post-Qax era. That is why most of us guys have turned into either insecure self-analyzing socially inept geeks who think we can achieve sexual gratification through intellectual and financial bondage or khat addicts/drifters that are sperm donors to angry Somali women. Hey but than again, there are prostitutes and the coalition of the willing [traditional Somali women] to boost our egos.

As Somalis we tend to be reactionary most of the time, especially when someone from our own culture uses inadequate discourse against the religion. Ayan Hersi is an idealist, propagandists and a mouthpiece for cultural colonialists. She believes that other cultures within Europe should assimilate and adapt to western culture – Ayan Hersi has waged war against Islam by suggesting that Muslim families should not force the hijab on girls [at a young age], and those girls should have voice and exist – I think religion becomes a choice for us at some point – but she’s suggesting that muslim families should not teach the religion to their children at a young age – than what should they learn Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, but not Islam – or should they simply become godless academics like her? Should they believe in human spirituality and that nothing exists out there - and the ‘we are here now’ attitude does not work for all of us. If she is advocating human agency within Islam, I think it’s a bit pathetic to assume that it didn’t exist in the first place. She portrays islam as a hostile religion, when its not. I think we give her a sense of defeat and purpose who we deploy reactionary tactics against her ideology. Ayan has waged war against multiculturalism in her own nation – did she forget that she is a minority to begin with and that her host nation will always see her as a minority. Again we have to ask ourselves, whether she is intriguing, or is she a mouthpiece for the the anti-Islamic movement – girls stay away from radical feminism.

Which magazine(s) do you read? I find that I spend too much money on magazines, or anything in print. I was wondering what sort of magazines the nomads on here read occasionally [buy once every 3-6 months] or subscribe to it regularly. Are you a big spender when it comes to magazines? How much was the most expensive magazine that you bought? I once bought Print magazine for $25 Canadian + Taxes, which cost me like 30 bucks.