Thanks, for posting this, waryaa Xaaji. C4 have always been trailblazers.

^^haday football tahay, aniguna tuuneer weyn aan kaa dhaliyey.

^not to mention the fact that he hasn't done much in the capital that he has been running for years now. Fella can talk the talk, but can't walk it. Isagoo kale waa Af-miinshaar.

Somaali waa wada qaraabo; waxa meesha ka dhacayna wax fiican ma aha; but this is satire and it is indifferent to time and pain. Adiguse MMA yoow, Soomaalinimada iyo wadaniyada kaligaa baan kugu ogeeyn in dhaweeyde dheg ha dhigin wararka Daa.r.oo.dka!!!! Soomaaalinimadaada aan Banadir iyo Bay dhaafsaneeyn ayaa sax ah; dadka kale ee wada dulliga ah ee shisheeyaha la shaqeeysta waa in la cidhib tiraa. Soo sidaa ma aha? Ileen waxaan beeraleey aheyn somali ma ahee. Waxba MMA iyo Soomaalinimadiisa ha ku kaftamin, anigaa marqaati u ah inuu kaa Soomaali san yahay, laakiin the so-called game and fun you having with your K.a.b.t.a & L.a.x.d.a (you've used it and I surely will) kinfolk will come to a speedy end when your Kikuyu backers vacate their positions. Amay Soomaalinimadu fiican tahay iyo in Xamar la wada fadhiisto oo la wada hadlo, iyada oon cidna iska dhigin in ay cidda kale ka adag tahay, saa Soomaali baanu nahay waana ognahay inaanu kala xoog badnayn'e? Au revoir.

^Dude, yeah I'm a dude, innit? Waar waaxay dee? Adeer maadigoo yar baa dooro kaa dul booda, dee? Waa sidee?

^Adigaa ku watee, Wallahi if it wasn't the Deen of Allah, these folks would have been, to put simply animals. Remember, these people are the very people that use to bury their daughters alive before Islam. And now that most of them know Islam as some sort of culture and a way of life to practice, we're seen them going back to their old, ugly ways. I cannot for the life of me blame all of Arabs what these sick people are doing, but the reality is that most of them nowadays are blinded by 'Juhl' (ignorance).

^ Stop being pessimistic, man. Africa is on the up and mending. I was reading/seen earlier today an article in the Economist mag about big multinationals (Google, IBM, Microsoft etc) moving their African headquarters to Nairobi. Why, because the future is in Africa and Somalia is in Africa. Did I also tell you that we're mending and on the up too. Yes, we are. Okay, we might not be in the same league as Nairobi but we will get there. I am sure it will take us less time than it took them to get where they're today knowing Somalis being fond of getting things done bi surca. You know what we are like. Some of those dreams will be realised soon enough, insha Allah.

Cuz, I can almost taste it, seriously. It is infectious. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21551614" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen> What a wonderful young lady. We need more of her in our country. We really need to see our girls as strong and as good, if not better, as our boys. Sorry couldn't link the video directly as it is not supported. You will have to click.

Austerity = is nuug. Beautiful. Wallaahi, the answer to the first question should printed and passed on to dear George, Osborne that is. Everyone is telling him waar austerity ain't working. Austerity waa is nuug ee wax dhaqaalaha kobciya doono. But to no avail. Soomaalidii hore dad genuine ah bey ahaayeen, unlike the current lot.

The following is written by a freelance writer. I don't know and I cannot tell you how they've done their research, but this is the info they presented on the subject very succinctly. It's only natural for a parent to want to hold their newborn baby, but do you know what happens if an infant is not held or touched? Believe it or not, they die. Now, I realize that it is unlikely any parent would purposely neglect touching their infant, but some parents are hesitant to pick their baby up too frequently. The fact is, you can't touch or hold your infant too much. The more skin-to-skin contact they receive, the better. This is especially true at the early developmental stages. Infants who do not receive any skin-to-skin contact within the first few days or weeks of being born are at the greatest risk for health problems as a result. The Benefits of Skin-to-Skin Contact There are numerous benefits of skin-to-skin contact for newborn babies. Studies have found that infants who are touched frequently are more relaxed and sleep better because they produce less of the stress-hormone cortisol. Infants who are touched also begin breastfeeding more easily and gain weight and grow faster than infants that are not touched enough. Why is Touch So Important? The reason why touch is so important to newborn babies is actually quite simple: When a mother first picks up her newborn baby, a chain reaction of hormones are set off in the infants body. These hormones are responsible for triggering all of the benefits mentioned above. If an infant is not touched enough in the early stages of development, they will not go through the necessary hormonal changes they need to be healthy, both physically and psychologically. Do Both Parents Have to Touch the Infant? It is not absolutely necessary for both the mother and father to touch the infant in order for it to be healthy and survive, but both parents should. It is not uncommon for the mother to touch and hold their baby more than the father, but the father's touch is still very important, especially for forming a bond between the parent and child. What Happens if an Infant is Never Touched? The answer to this is quite simple: Eventually, the child will die. I know it sounds hard to believe but this is a fact. If an infant is completely deprived of skin-to-skin contact, they will die from marasmus , which is basically a severe form of malnutrition. In fact, in certain cases, doctors have been able to reverse marasmus simply by moving the infant into a more nurturing environment. How Much Touching is Necessary? There is no exact measurement of touching that is considered adequate or necessary, but you should at least touch your infant several times per day. You don't always have to pick them up and hold them, either. The most important thing is that it is skin-to-skin contact, which can be as simple as rubbing their forehead or brushing their cheeks with your fingers. There is also a published info on the subject and can be read on the link below, it seems to come to the same conclusion: http://www.benbenjamin.net/pdfs/Issue2.pdf Also check at Wellspring.com article on the subject quoting 1920's US research on the subject. http://www.thewellspring.com/wellspring/sensing/1927/need-for-touch.cfm Salaam.

"I think you're taking it too literally" - It is literal. I don't that gibberish you just wrote up there. Let me give you an example. If a child is born and its eyes are not exposed to light, they will be blind. Therefore, no touch = no life. Simple. Check it out. "Odd" - What is so odd?

...as an infant, when you're born, you will die". Just ponder. That true statement left me dumbfounded. If you ever happen to have child born prematurely, please do make sure you caress their head when they're in the incubator. It makes a lot difference in their survival. Just passing it on.

It doesn't have to be on TV, bro. It can be via radio, and to be fair, one month is long enough for staff and himself to put together 15min or half an hour broadcast for the nation on the most important tasks accomplished/planned or needs to be dealt with.

...folks, the president of the Republic of Somalia must give once a month state of the nation address that covers almost all the important things that the his government achieved, their plans, what needs to be done and general info. I throw this into this forum with the hope that one of the young guns who might have an access to the Villa might pass it on and make a presidential routine á la US weekly presidential address. This would be broadcast locally as well as internationally via the Internet. It would minimise/eliminate 'maxaa la yidhi' and would come from the horse's mouth, so to speak. What do you think?

^Mogadishu seems to own the top slot in the most dangerous, I was hoping for once there might just be another city that takes that spot, and a western one, at that. Way too hopeful (even though it is wrong to hope misery for others).

How ridiculous! You logged on to this forum, navigated to this thread, spent at the minimum 5 minutes reading what Abtigiis published and you have the audacity to feel offended? You had the option, at each stage, to opt out of being "offended" yet you, at your own will, chose to move forward and arrived, by your own volition, a point of distress. If you want to be disgusted, be disgusted with yourself for being weak willed. And what moral high ground are you occupying jesus? At the risk of being rude, I am not going to honour your cantarabaqash with a response.

^Man, you're an eloquent man. However, you don't have to necessarily write a Halal story for any audience. By all means, challenge people's stereotypes or their inability to own up to their faults, but the question is, can you deliver your beautifully crafted piece in a way that befits a society like ours, or are you going to challenge and see how far you can push the social, cultural and religious boundaries? Speaking of the poetry and Somali folklore, theirs was beautifully clothed and subtle form of adult conversation. It may have been public, out there, but it wasn't as obvious as you have laid yours out (example, 'ani lee baraakadaa bukeen karaa'). I Stand to be corrected if otherwise. The graphic picture that you have given us here of a Somali mother (there's still a social, familial bond between 'maalis, despite our conflict) fornicating openly, going behind her husband and betraying everything we are is, to me, insensitive. Xaaji waa cuntami la'dahay bahashu.

...heesaha qaraamiga ah that I use to hear on the radio back home leave me devastatingly nostalgic. My mind is taken back in time, and body and soul long for my land. For some reason that does it for me. What triggers your nostalgia?

So, if we were to compare Chicago to Mogadishu (the city with the unlucky token title of the most dangerious city in the world), is it worse or does it fair better? Does anyone know the number for Mog '12?

There has to be a red line, culturally, where if crossed, penalties are handed out, of course, through court of law and judicial process. I don't mean to sound easily offended, but the vulgarity of the tale left me disgusted, Wallee. What next, the 'Verses from the Quran to read when imitating dogs'? Times like these, my soul reluctantly longs for the rule of YOU-KNOW-WHO! I don't mean to take a higher moral ground, and I know this sort of thing does occur, after all we are all human, but we are not and we DONT want to be (through culture and deen) the sort of society that publishes and distributes these sort of stories. That is my view.

It's a common grumble that politicians' lifestyles are far removed from those of their electorate. Not so in Uruguay. Meet the president - who lives on a ramshackle farm and gives away most of his pay. Laundry is strung outside the house. The water comes from a well in a yard, overgrown with weeds. Only two police officers and Manuela, a three-legged dog, keep watch outside. This is the residence of the president of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, whose lifestyle clearly differs sharply from that of most other world leaders. President Mujica has shunned the luxurious house that the Uruguayan state provides for its leaders and opted to stay at his wife's farmhouse, off a dirt road outside the capital, Montevideo. The president and his wife work the land themselves, growing flowers. This austere lifestyle - and the fact that Mujica donates about 90% of his monthly salary, equivalent to $12,000 (£7,500), to charity - has led him to be labelled the poorest president in the world. "I've lived like this most of my life," he says, sitting on an old chair in his garden, using a cushion favoured by Manuela the dog. "I can live well with what I have." His charitable donations - which benefit poor people and small entrepreneurs - mean his salary is roughly in line with the average Uruguayan income of $775 (£485) a month. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20243493 Click here for the rest..

We have the power to change the rules Source: Aljazeera (opinion) By, Alnoor Ladha, Firoze Manji, Thomas Pogge. Tax havens are are allowing a "tiny global elite" to "extract trillions of dollars" from rich and poor countries alike. The ancient Mayan civilisation's Long Count calendar ends in December 2012. This fact has sparked debate in recent years about whether our generation was the one that would experience humanity's final days. Whatever your reading of that debate, you certainly don't need to look far today for evidence that the human race is in serious trouble. But amidst all the grim realities, there are also significant signs of hope: signs pointing to new opportunities for positive, lasting change. In recent years, we saw dictatorships toppled across North Africa and the Middle East. There was hope that nations could chart a common course to tackle climate change. We seemed on the verge of reining in the unchecked greed of the banking system. Back in 2008, America surprised the world by electing a black president to the White House. Yet cynicism can so quickly fill the space where hope had bloomed. In nations where dictators were toppled, old elites reassert their power. Today, while the warming oceans rise, even the prospect of a global climate plan is beyond the horizon. While there are fewer banks now, they are richer and more powerful than ever before. A black president has been re-elected, but financial elites have never had more of a stranglehold on American priorities. The greatest hope for progress on such vast challenges is in the democratic impulse now taking shape in many nations. Coordinated movements of ordinary citizens have emerged as a major force from Tahrir Square to Wall Street. Across the world we are seeing millions of ordinary people joining citizen-powered movements, determined to overwhelm the power of entrenched elites. They are harnessing new technologies and social networks and seeing themselves as the agents of change. These movements are still half-formed and often flawed, but they are getting stronger. Changing the rules The challenge now is for these new movements to grow, to work together and to focus their energies. Lasting change requires more than overthrowing a dictator or firing a few CEOs. It requires changing the rules themselves - the national and international laws, policies and practices that allow injustices to endure while regimes rise and fall. The rules as they stand today have created a world in which inequality is vast and growing. The world's 1,226 billionaires have more combined wealth than 3.5 billion people - half the entire planet's population. The richest 10 per cent of the world's population takes 90 per cent of the world's income. The scale of inequality and poverty can appear overwhelming and unchangeable. Yet it is not inevitable. It is the outcome of active choices by people who make and enforce the rules we all live by: rules about global trade, banking, loans, investment, taxes, working conditions, land, food, health and education. These rules are made by people and people can change them. Frederick Douglass, a leader of the 19th century abolitionist movement which brought an end to slavery, once said, "Power concedes nothing without a demand". If we want to change rules that have been written by the few and for the few, we must look outside existing power structures to the power of the many. We know from history that when people demand their rights, they can move mountains and change whole systems. Right now, there is a special moment of opportunity. Throughout the world, citizens have access to information in ways once unimaginable. Affordable technologies are revolutionising our ability to communicate with one another and act collectively. The opportunities for new citizen-powered movements to become catalysts for change have never been greater than today. Powerful elites are losing the structural advantages they once enjoyed of being able to maintain secrecy, restrict information and suppress popular movements. Offshore tax havens This month, we are launching a new platform called /The Rules, to help mobilise action by ordinary citizens around the world to challenge and change the rules - the most basic drivers of inequality and poverty. We have a special focus on organising with people and grassroots movements in countries such as Brazil, India, Kenya and South Africa. We are creating new ways for people to speak up using simple, cheap technologies like basic mobile phones. The first campaign for /The Rules will target the system of offshore tax havens, starting with one of the biggest and most connected of all, the City of London. Tax havens are the product of rules that have been rigged by powerful corporations, lobbyists, lawyers, bankers, accountants and government officials. They are allowing a tiny global elite to extract trillions of dollars from rich and poor countries alike, starving our nations' treasuries and choking off funds essential for schools, medicines, social programmes and infrastructure. New research has blown the lid on this secretive shadow economy, with at least $21 trillion estimated to have been stowed away in these tax havens - 10 per cent of all the world's privately held wealth. This is also more than 10 times the total value of development aid given to the world's poorer nations in the past 20 years. The few who benefit from these rigged rules will fight long and hard to preserve them, but they can be defeated. Rules express and entrench much of the injustice in our world today. But rules can be changed and the opportunity to make those changes has never been greater. Instruments of power once only in the hands of elites are now available to ordinary citizens - and we are beginning to use them. That gives us reason for hope.

^Really? And who the heck are the crew? Care to name them, too.

Not one to exaggerate things, but the: Somali TV fund - raising programmes for the needy is fishy to say the least. There are rumours that the TV's are milking the money, the so-called 'wadaado' are taking their cut, whilst very little reaches the needy. Let me make one thing clear, I have nothing against raising funds for people who need it, but we've to question when things are not what they seem to be. They're rumours, possibly true, (I have nothing concrete here, that is why I am putting it out there) that this people are fiddling these funds and there is a widespread abuse. My intention and my conscience here is to get this out there and if this is found to be true that people are notified. The intention is those who are donating for the sake of Allah to donate to channels that will deliver their donations to the needy. Correct if I am wrong.

Does it show that the future belong to folks who are starting to consume now and the future compared to those who have been there and done it! Of course, with a caveat that the developing world folk work very hard on their governance, tackle corruption, tap into their people's potential otherwise, they will be game. Remember, no one gives up the crown easily, and the West won't do it easily.