The hijab does nothing to undermine a passport photo as hair colour/style is not an important aspect of long term photo I.D. I'm for secularism, but not through Ataturk style governance. The niqab on the other hand shouldn't be tolerated anywhere near a secure facility in Somalia.

walaalkis;889408 wrote: To get all that oil going they would need the ocean water, no regular water can get that much oil. Now this is next stage dry up the oceans for oil That was a joke right?

Although now many not be the best time to recover property, we'll have to deal with the elephant in the room eventually. It'll be be difficult to encourage foreign investment in the future if you don't enforce property laws.

Narniah;887875 wrote: I don't care what you are, or where your from but you better show my religion some respect. I won't tolerate you insulting my deen in my thread, Do that elsewhere! I will also remind you that it's against the forum rules to insult Islam. So you better watch yourself. How was that an insult? In the context of this thread, an expensive pilgrimage which isn't required of those unable to afford it does seem like a rather useless use of money.

I regret not going with my father last year. There's something awe-inspiring about northern towns after a recent rainfall.

Here I was thinking I was going read a thoughtful conversation about the economic success of China.

Is there really any country in the world that's worse off than Burundi? It's like Rwanda without Kigali.

I'm loving the look of the city! The architecture is incredible and pulls from similar styles so that the buildings don't clash. Some of the older buildings need to be repainted/bleached but that's easily manageable.

What is this fascination with the social lives of others in the United States? You folks need to deal with your fiscal mess somehow or you'll drag Canada down with you. The absence of Ron Paul in this election tells me not much will change regardless of who wins. Our Prime Minister understands this, which is why he has been focusing his efforts on Asia (he just signed a Uranium trade deal with India yesterday). With that said. May Neptune have mercy on your souls.

What's going on in this thread? Did someone accidentally merge two topics together? Edit: Never mind. It's just off-topic banter.

There is no magical political system that will suddenly bring about peace in Somalia. Communism, Islamic etc. All of these ideologies would be dependent on Somali leaders, and that's were the problem lies. I prefer federalism as it is a form of damage control. It limits the extent to which federal f**k ups will be felt throughout the country and allots us a few extra years to rethink our future as a nation.

This is ridiculous. If she in anyway attempts to use her position to push for secession, then any government official who allows this appointment to stand should be tried for treason.

I think the best thing a parent can do is stoke their child's quest for knowledge, whatever their interestss may be. There are activities like kite flying, model airplane/ train building etc. My younger brother is only 13 and he's already certain of his career in mechatronics (specifically robotics).

Apophis;885348 wrote: I hope to one day visit this land. A successful Somali country. You're forgetting about a large portion of the country which isn't Somali:D

For the fourth time in 2 years, I've heard gunshots ring out in the dead of night near my home. The thing that pisses me off is the fact that it always involves someone from outside the neigbourhood. Man, 32, dies in Malton shooting TORONTO - Peel Regional Police are on the hunt for three suspects following a fatal shooting in Malton Thursday night. Police spokesman Const. Erin Cooper says they received several calls Thursday night at 10:30 p.m. about shots fired at an apartment building at 7170 Darcel Ave. "When we attended, we located the victim deceased," she said. "He was pronounced (dead) at the scene." Dwayne Alexander Thompson, 32, of Brampton, was found in a parking lot next to the building, which was still taped off Friday morning. "We had three suspects that fled, unknown whether it was in a vehicle or on foot," she said. Police were searching for Thompson's missing vehicle, a grey 2007 Nissan Altima with licence plate BNCH 717. Area resident Ryan Pelletier heard of the shooting early Friday morning. "It's Malton, it doesn't really surprise me," he said. "There's a lot of gang violence around here." Living with his family on a street nearby, he says he has no plans to move. "It doesn't involve me so I'm safe, you know," he said. The investigation continues. Source: Toronto Sun It's probably not a Somali though as the shooting victims here are almost always Jamaican.

Replace the role of a renewable resource with a non-renewable resource? Sounds like an incredible economic policy. The energy minister is essentially saying they're sitting on their asses until they gain access to oil revenues. Not a good look for a government.

Apophis;884157 wrote: What kind of a party is this where the men are dancing while the women Holla. It should be the other way around. As Che would say, we need to contextualize. Perhaps this a new mating ritual within the region. I know just the man we need to sort this out:

I have a storage room for all of my terrible ideas. I recommend that you invest in one as well.

Che -Guevara;884104 wrote: My area is not badly hit and my residence is looking away from wind direction, infact my windows are open. Seems like an average windstorm so far here in Toronto. The winds are between 60-80 km/h and we'll be getting 100+ winds tommorow but that's still not too bad. The media was being a bit too apocalyptic for my tastes, but it's understandable considering what happened with Hurricane Hazel in Toronto.

The silly infidels are trying to keep Islam out of Canada.

Raamsade;883371 wrote: Cities have been built, destroyed and rebuilt again since time immemorial, Mogadishu is no different. But please spare us the hyperbole about glorious Mogadishu. Event in its heyday Xamar was a shidhole of city despite its natural beauty. I actually lived there unlike many of you and let me tell that much of what we take for granted in the typical city in Europe, N. America, Australia, et al wasn't available in Xamar. Power was intermittent at best so generators were common place. Ditto with water, most people relied on water delivered on donkey carts or trucks. Telephone and postal system were virtually non-existent. The seaport had no cranes for unloading cargo containers and no handling and storage capacity of those containers. The airport had only 1 runway with no taxiway whatsoever, no jet bridges and of course the actually airport building looked like some kind of Mausoleum. Exactly! We should go far beyond restoration and look towards building completely different cities. The simplest of things like waste management are essential to creating a healthy, viable city. My mother told me stories of how residents would chuck their garbage in to the nearest empty lot.

Raamsade;882450 wrote: ^Astronomically but the old Somali shilling is surprisingly still in use. Chimera, remember that GDP (whether at official exchange rates or at PPP) is grossly understated for developing countries since GDP only captures market activities and totally side-steps the informal sector. The informal sector, which isn't captured by official economic activity indicators, is huge in developing countries sometimes accounting for nearly half of all economic activity. The actual GDP of our neighbours are probably double what you posted. Agreed. There is really little information on African economies due to lack of intergration, no one earns more than the minimal amount needed to surve and even if they do, there isn't much of a business community with whom they may exchange services and expand. It'll be years before anyone has any idea of what Somalia's economy looks like, here are Somalia's exports according to MIT and Harvard:

I wouldn't describe my parents as being backwards, but my mother is rather conservative in comparison to my father.She considers the 'secular' constitution a more urgent matter than hunger in Somalia.

Che -Guevara;882692 wrote: Considering every criminal will have the backing if his tol, a sub-hazard process and vigilant justice will only create more problems. A well out process is required. Fair enough. I'm just at a loss as to how they will be dealt with. The clan system is supposed to hold a criminals entire family accountable for their action, causing peer pressure to regulate unlawful behaviour. It seems like that feature is malfunctioning at this point (has it ever really worked outside of small towns?).

Those of us in the diaspora can wait years for the proper institutions to be established, but what about those who have to live with these animals?