Originally posted by SomericaN: I just payed $254 on tickects I don't simply pay like that; I contest all tickets I get. Just pay attention to the information written on the ticket. There's a +60% chance at least one information (time of violation, car make, year of expiration, personal infos and etc) is inconsistent. Going to the hearing, there's a +50% chance the officer will not show up; which will lead to an easy dismissal. Plus, you don't need a lawyer for that; just upto an hour (mostly under 30ms) of your time. For parking & camera tickets, don't go to the court where most people go (downtown); go to others. I have beaten 90% of the tickets I got (including moving violations, parking near a fire hydrant).

Nationalism is like rooting for your local baseball/basketball team. It's also like changing clothes. Some Somalis confuse it with tribal or clan allegiance. Some also confuse it with ethnicity. It's very possible an American/Ethiopian/Kenyan of Somali ethnicity isn't loyal to Somalia or Somalis. Just like when you move to a new city, you begin to root for the local baseball/basketball team. Yeah.

Some of those pictures are indeed powerful.

Let me correct myself: It wasn't Togane's poetry that was pulled out from Banadir.com, it were the article by Ali Mahdi's son and Togane's apology. This is Togane's poetry. Check the line where it says: Ali Mahdi who turned Somalia into a nuclear garbage dump.

Originally posted by Guhaad: I am interested in today's Somali nationalists. Define who or what a Somali nationalist is.

Originally posted by OG_Girl: ياطÙيلي Sister OG_Girl, it has been quite a while since I come across the above term. Just to refreshen my memory; is that what is defined in the Arabic grammar as:تصغير ?

Originally posted by OLOL: as I previously posted, the Italian magazine L'espresso's interview with one anonymous dragnet boss named all the individuals involved in this environmental crime. Signor OLOL, I remember reading your translation of L'espresso's interview, which if you recall I commended. ...the warlords in question here are their excellencies Ali Mahdi ( ex- president), Yeey ( current one) and the shadowy Munye ( a MP ). These tree stooges should be brought to court. Somehow, M. M. Afrah is avoiding to name those behind this ugly affair. I guess he's trying to avoid polemics. But, I remember Banadir.com once published a Togane poetry about the toxic wastes and Ali Mahdi's involvement. Within days, there was an article in which Mahdi's son was threatening to sue Togane if he didn't pull out the poetry and officially apologize. Togane complied. I agree with you those responsible should be brought to court, but I am skeptical if that's realistic.

As usual, M.M. Afrah's eloquence & bluntness never cease to amaze me.

TALKING POINT BY M.M. AFRAH© Mafia syndicates in the payroll of giant industries under a notorious godfather and a local warlord are making millions of dollars by dumping toxic wastes on our coastal regions and territorial waters, while United Nations officials responsible for the protection of the environment and the international law of the sea, are dragging their feet. Is this a cover up, or the proverbial three monkeys-see no evil, say no evil and hear no evil? I mean those who never open their mouth on this grave matter, never lift a finger against the Mafia syndicates and their godfathers, even after they knew their names and nationalities. Not even when they operate this apocalyptic business openly under their very nose. Hey, what the hell is going on out there? Toxic wastes are the most harmful form of pollution. The effect on humans from contaminated seafood includes birth defects and premature death. The result made our sea life synonymous with environmental disaster, pressing new problem in chaotic Somalia. Again it baffles me and some of my colleagues in the media why action were not taken against these thugs, even after their names were known, thanks to the local human rights organizations. It is no longer secret that some of these criminals include one of the notorious warlords who have been bankrolling at the expense of our environment during the last decade. This warlord does not want to understand that a war to exterminate what is left of a country once called the Somali Republic is on the rampage. As he is blinded by the myopia of making a quick money, he does not realize or do not want to realize that the country is facing a war of extermination worse than the civil/clan wars-a war that aims the country to disappear from the face of the earth. This warlord (the appropriate prefix is The Vulture) reminds me of the German-Jewish bankers and industrialists who in the 1930s, hoping to save themselves, lent Hitler money, instead of organizing insurgents against the Nazis with that money to carry out hit and run operations. Few years later, these same Jewish bankers and industrialists ended in Hitler's crematory ovens. Hiroshima, Pearl Harbour, the holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda, the Twin Towers in New York City, the Iraq quagmire and Darfur would look like a picnic compared to what is in store for the long suffering people of Somalia. Independent investigators discovered that pollution in the Somali coast is a major problem that is affecting the coastal areas and the rest of the country, too. It affects ocean organisms and directly affects human health and resources. Somali fishermen told the investigators that they are witnessing the toxic wastes in Somalia's territorial waters are killing the fish population and many plants in the ocean, and have huge impact on the health of the inhabitants. They had witnessed deformed babies and premature deaths in the coastal regions, which is fast spreading to the hinterland-and to the entire country. They told the investigators that no amount of sweet talk and diplomacy could save Somalia. It is not as simple as that, they said. Meanwhile, the vultures, as we read some times during the last 3-4 months, have problems of their own. In sorting out this problem, new signals have been emerging from Mogadishu. They are wasting a lot of time over trivialities, circumventing the crucial problem-that of disarming their own militia and removing all road barricades without exception. Now it emerged that the militia of one of the warlords refused to disarm and dismantle their roadblocks from the main arteries of the capital. Because of these inequities, donor countries are disinclined to support the disarmament project as they are doing in Somaliland and Puntland. It is worth mentioning here that Osman Atto has taken the long awaited step to remove his militia from the Afgoi/Mogadishu road during the week, but the lingering question is: Would he stay on course and stick to his guns? I hope so. One political analyst was quoted as saying that some of the warlords are not serious in the business of disarming their militia. "We are dealing with the struggle for power and media hype between rival gangs," he said. Of course, the original intention to disarm the militia and dismantle the string of barricades was noble, but the great impression created is an exercise knocked together in ad hoc manner by certain individual warlords and their paymasters intent on reinsuring themselves, never to commit themselves finally to a single course, but forever contriving to hedge and lay off. Sixth sense (that's if you believe in telepathy) would tell you that whatever they say or do would turn out to be their typical baloney and hogwash. It is a world of incurable hate and mistrust. Simple every day disputes escalate into bloodshed because of the presence guns. We in this website have said before and are saying it again, and again that the country requires a broad effort to try to get people to give up their stash of weapons, so that the gun culture would not effect next generation, but the lingering question is: "If they surrender their cache of weapons who will guarantee their safety? Many honest citizens kept their guns close to their hearts for no other reason than to defend their family from the marauding ******** . The simple reason is that they could not afford hiring private army and that there is no central government to protect them. It is as simple as that. ILLEGAL FISHING Going back to the toxic wastes that are being dumped on Somalia's coastal regions, it is obvious that the Mafia syndicates and their godfathers have been taking advantage of the chaotic situation in Somalia and the cash-starved warlords. As a result, the country's territorial waters, the longest in Africa, became free for all. In addition to toxic wastes, fishing trawlers from a number of countries vacuum clean the ocean floors with impunity, scot-free. One irony is that whenever young militias try to apprehend a foreign trawler for illegally fishing within the 200-miles of Somalia's territorial waters, the foreign media cook words such as "pirates of the high seas." A recent case in point is a Korean cargo ship, registered in Panama, and was apprehended as the seamen, mostly Africans, were discharging dozens of barrels containing toxic wastes off Adale coast. This is just a tip of the iceberg from the coastal area, and there were many more during the last decade or so. It is estimated that in Puntland alone, several hundreds factory trawlers illegally fish off the ocean floors of Bossaso, Hafun, and Las Qorey as there has been steady increase in demand for the red lobsters and other seafood in affluent societies. I could go on and on with this frightening story, but I feel like being stonewalled by those who were supposed to take action against those responsible for these monstrous crimes. For people like me who have seen and reported too many horror stories and got used to them at certain points, this particular one gives me sleepless nights. One has the right to ask this legitimate question: "Where are the officials from the United Nations responsible for the protection of the environment? Are they waiting for manna or karma to fall from the sky to help them do their job? Mr. Kofi Annan, where art thou, brother? By M.M. Afrah©2005 Email: afrah95@hotmail.com Source

Originally posted by bilan: i just have one question,will we ever ever stop talking about arabs The answer is no. It's obvious some Somalis have a love and hate affair with Arabs.

Originally posted by Johnny B: I hope i´m making sense this time . Your elaboration made sense.

Originally posted by Johnny B: ...hedonists... Definition; Hedonist: n : someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures I don't see where or how hedonists fit in this topic. At least the relativity theory has some application.

Originally posted by Ducaqabe: They did all those horrible acts to Somali refugees that no nation on earth did to us. Elaborate.

Originally posted by ofleh: Otherwise, and as Darwin's Natural Selection would predict, we will (should) become extinct for we are not fit to survive in this world. Darwin would have revised extinct, were he alive. Simply, species evolved rather than having gone extinct. Example; yesterday's dinosaur evolved to today's iguana. To that effect, Somalis will (should) evolve, possibly by merging with other societies.

Originally posted by Harvard-Mafia: were you a baby sitter or just going with the current? Either choice would be fine.

Originally posted by ofleh: Socialism is great. Secularism is good too. Islamic system of governance (Sharia') is the best. Most Somalis are conservatives, they want to assert it, but the bigger guns of the West is denying them.

Originally posted by Mutakallim: It shall appeal to all critical and understanding minds. One can only hope it shall appeal to all critical and understanding minds. What you're essentially saying in your above statement is; if it shall (a form of must) not appeal to me, I am not of critical and understanding minds. That's an illogical intellectual imposition, for there's a chance it shall not appeal to at least one critical and understanding minds.

Originally posted by Hibo: Thought the topic was about wat city we would love to livein? Well, the author also talked about Arabs and how they deal with the white man. But yes they do kiss a$$... who wouldn't?? I am 100% positive the author wouldn't. He probably never did that.

Originally posted by OG_Girl: For me an Arab person is who speaks arabic (as mother tangue) share the culture,principles, present and the future also our enemies are ONE. True. Some Somalis confuse it with race and/or ethnicity.

Originally posted by amatillah: Is that in Harar? I plan to visit one day Harar and Qalafe (two important Islamic cities), insh'Allah.

Originally posted by Guhaad: I asked whether your analysis of this party was an assumption Most of the time, I in advance state when an analysis of mine is an assumption. So, the answer is no, because I haven't in advance stated it so.

Originally posted by The Resistance Movement: If, and I say if because I need to read more, the S.S.U.P. claimed to a socialist then it lives up to the definition given. So equality and the right ownership of everything in the country to the state is a possible structure for Somalia. Somalia has underwent a socialist and Marxist-Leninist systems; it's nothing new to it. The only thing new is; those failed systems are in reinvention mode. We have had anarchism and religiouis-based ruling Somalia hasn't had a religiouis-based ruling, at least since the day it was colonized. Before that, religiouis-based ruling was the only successful system that has worked for the longest time in the history of Somalia. Originally posted by Guhaad: Haddad, these are your own assumptions, could they be? You're assuming that?

Furthermore, Socialdemokraterna, SSUP's parent party and sponsor, explains the roots of its ideology: The ideology of Social Democracy has several different roots. The basic values can be expressed in the slogans of the French revolution: freedom, equality, brotherhood. These in their turn can be traced to the idea of the equal value of all men. The ideology of the new labour movement was, however, not only a question of values, it was based on an analysis of society: a model which could be used to explain why injustices had arisen. In its basic form this analysis was formed by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx and it was a mixture of the philosophy of history, economics and sociology. Different lines of thought within the political belief expressed in the idea of socialism – an expression which can be highly misleading since the different lines of thought differed in very marked ways – have later on developed this model of thought, adding to it or drawing from it. One of the main points in the Marxist model is the materialistic view of history. What is meant by this, to express it simply, is that it is the development of the forces of production, (technology and the organisation of labour), which determine the possible development of society, (â€the social superstructureâ€). This led to the conclusion that the realisation of the goals of socialism required basic changes in the structure of the economy: only when the means of production were controlled in the interests of the many who worked in industry, and not in the interests of private profit on the part of a few owners of capital, would mankind be able to achieve freedom and equality. Source; page 5.

Originally posted by The Resistance Movement: In fact there is not single mention of marxism in there site and no connections to marxist political and non-political organisations. So I doubt your theory here. It's not my theory here. The party's ideology is based on Karl Marx's theories of socialism. Karl Marx is the father of socialism. SSUP's middle name is Social from Socialism. The S.S.U.P. main structure for there party is the principles of dialogue, discussion, power-sharing, equality, justice, freedom of expression and the development of the prestige of the Somali nation among the familiy of nations without infringing on their cultural values. Bright and shining main structure, but not practical, because Socialism is an Eastern European ideology that worked a little bit for some periods. S.S.U.P and other organisations who are not influenced by qabil and tribalism and whatnot S.S.U.P, like most (if not all) Somali organizations, is a family or clan-based organization. Such parties mirror the reality on the ground. Political and international pressure with military invasion can sort out Somalia by night. The only remaining superpower, with the help of others, tried that and failed. You didn't know?