Norf, Rauf, is a long time prayer leader of the Sufi Masid-al-Farah which is another mosque around the area. Men and women worship together at Masjid Farah, a mosque on West Broadway that is about 12 blocks from ground zero. Sheikha Fariha started the zikr, the Sufi ritual of chanting and prayer, inviting the congregants to still their minds and drop “into the vastness of the heart that has no boundaries.” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/14/nyregion/14mosque.html?src=mv Hayam, Manhattan City Council, if I am not mistaken.

That is a Sufis mosque which is probably why it was approved.

I am positive Guru Oodwayne, after crucifying the rest of us poor Sub-Saharans, is not quite happy with the news that Riyaale has now disappeared into the woods.

It is evident Atam didn't enjoy much support among the locals in the area. At every setback, there is an opportunity. Reform must be the next step. The PIS monster must be tackled.

Originally posted by Nassir: LST, in 1992, was there such thing as the "State of Puntland" unless you meant it the small city administration of Bosaaso? Nassir, it is all semantics Awoowe. The name of the authority at the time is not crucial in order to convey the message. The leadership and foot soldiers on both sides of the conflict were from the same "sub-sub-sub clan". My own relatives perished in that conflict. The substance of my narrative is that the Galgala conflict is not a conflict between “clans” Awoowe, and that the region as a whole experienced similar conflicts between existing authority and organized militant groups. Ilaahay hakala qaboojiyo dadkaa walaalaha ah ee is laynaya Awoowe. This is a tragic conflict in any way you look at it.

Originally posted by Nassir: No one is siding with any group. True. It is heartbreaking to see Puntlanders fighting against one another, but this is not "clan war". These are skirmishes between insurgents vs. the State of Puntland. We have seen similar conflicts between the government and other insurgency groups regardless of clan origin: -- The 1992 Al-Itihad Uprising against the State of Puntland (most of the insurgents being from Nugaal and Mudug). The State crushed the insurgents killing many of them inside Garowe. -- The 2002 Karkaar insurgency against the State of Puntland (All the insurgents being from Karkaar and Bari). The State crushed this insurgency and chased them all the way to CeelAfweyn, Somaliland. Whose "clan interest" was the government serving on both of the above conflicts?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1300852/Spanish-police-close-public-beach-Michelle -Obamas-250k-Spanish-holiday.html

Alle-ubaahne, welcome back awoowe. Weli ma Libreville baad joogtaa?

A well-known Somaliland politician driven to distraction after pretending to listen to hundreds of these talks once told me, almost in tears `the worst ones are the ones who raise your hope by starting with the famous opening line ‘everything I ever wanted to say has already been said by the last speaker..’ you sit up a little.. and then he dashes all your expectations by proceeding to say “but I will only add one or two things...” you sink back into your gloom.” lool. That was funny. Reminds me of few weddings I went to.

lool@Thug. NGONGE ka daa awoowe. It is not an overstatement to suggest Faroole had “difficulties” navigating through the tribal dynamics of the State. But to suggest Faroole is “the problem” is largely ignoring the intricacies of the current institutional setup. Such viewpoint merely focuses on symptoms rather than the problem. Faroole’s past blunders (the biggest being the SSC issue) are significant and should be highlighted, but the security issue Puntland is experiencing at the present time is largely born out of the shortcomings and inadequacies of the PIS he inherited. Faroole is, in a lot of ways , a victim of a monster he neither created nor able to control effectively with a sound strategy. The President needs a bold strategy. When this conflict subsides, Faroole needs to reform the agency in order to address the grievances of the religious community and some of the clan actors. One can't emphasize enough the importance of the religious community in the state of Puntland. A crucial step to reforming the PIS is to rebuild the multi-clan comprehensive Darwiish Army /Police of which the State is its sole authority. The young lads shadowing the PIS bigwigs are only seeking economic benefits to feed their families. The State needs to seize influence away from the parallel authority known as the PIS by empowering the Armed forces and the local Police units. As such, the activities of the PIS should eventually be curtailed to “intelligence gathering” only as was habitual in the past.

Hehe. That is indeed the Duke. Rudy is right behind him.

Originally posted by Peace Action: Let us be realistic, PIS's mandate is to fight terror and with shabaab getting a base in Galgala, Faroole will be foolish to dismantel the most effective counter terrorism unit in Somalia. Peace, Awoowe how did "Al-shabaab" which the PIS is against, get a base in Galgala in the first place, if the PIS is "the most effective" security organization as you put it?

Google Wave: Promised a Tsunami, Delivered a Ripple Google has pulled the plug on Google Wave. The communication and collaboration tool promised to revolutionize communication--with Google arrogantly asserting that Wave would supersede e-mail the same way the computer made the typewriter obsolete once upon a time. Unfortunately, nobody really understood what to do with Wave, and Google never gave any useful guidance to clarify it. More ...

This new minister must be very careful. It is an accepted practice for the state to borrow money from wealthy citizens. If the state legitimately owes money, that debt must be honored.

Marxuumka Siyaad hala daayo. Waa inaga hooseeya, caydiisuna waxba keeni mayso awooweyaal. Debating politics without facts is a mindless game. Like I said earlier, political corruption is a trivial problem to have bearing in mind where we are at today. I kindly urge the youthful bucks on SOL, who seem only familiar with the regimes of the recent past, to get acquainted with their country's golden era. We had a functioning democracy and united country full of hope and promise. Just to dispel the myth of clan bias, here is a great paper by two Northern scholars whom few have insinuated in the past to be "anti-Puntland". Somalis as Africa’s First Democrats: Premier Abdirazak H. Hussein and President Aden A. Osman by Ahmed Samatar and Abdi Samatar. Aadan Abdulle Osman Aden was so strict with the taxpayers’ money that he saved enough from the presidency annual budget to build a presidential retreat in Afgoi while others were pocketing public money. Four issues underscored Aden’s low popularity with many parliamentarians: his refusal to offer personal favors to many MPs who sought such help; his strict adherence to the constitutional division of labor between President and Prime Minister; his brutal frankness in telling things as he saw them; and his indifference to his reelection campaign. Abdirisaaq Xaaji Xuseen: Another preoccupation of Abdirazak was curtailment of the theft of state property, and the curbing of corruption. Abdirazak’s respect for the law and his anti-corruption effort has no parallel in our history. Aden and Abdirazak lost, in hindsight, what was the major watershed in Somalia’s modern social and political history. Abdirashiid Cali Sharmarke Even Abdirashid had his old house rented and made a decent profit. However, he was not a corrupt Prime Minister and, therefore, did not gain wealth as a result of his position.

Originally posted by General Duke: Whats the conference for exactly? I have the same question.

the English will say they have Rooney so will win it hands down lool. Ingiriisku inaba xishood maleh.

Obama is already working with Puntland. He is paying the salary of the PIS.

Obama is already working with Puntland. He is paying the salary of the PIS.

Sarreeye Alamagan, maad naga dayso marxuumka wuu naga hooseeyaaye? Ilaahay ha u naxariisto, dambigiisana ha dhaafo. Note: political corruption is a minor problem to have.

Lots of fools out there, and they all want to lead the masses.

Arabic is cool. I would suggest one visits Dubai and start saying Na'am, La, Xilwa and Nacalatulah every time someone utters something in Arabic. Keep pretending you are the master and eventually you will learn.

It is interesting how a sizable number of Faroole supporters are Somalilanders. Hawl fiican buu u hayaa nimanka.

Originally posted by Beer-Gaal: strangely this was the first time he has attended the assembly house after Puntland election!! Is that a fact?