What are you grateful for?

Uhh.... what are the statistics on the number of live burnings and public stonings of women in Canada? :eek:

^^^ I guess there's no excuse for polygamy then

10 years of hitshow Friends in 30 secs Russell Peters - one of the funniest standups I've ever seen (long, 45mins) Song miming - the Japanese way

^^^What the hell, thanks to you, my whole library thinks I've got mental problems. :mad: Worst thing is, I knew exactly what was coming and it gets to me every time

My mum always says that Somalis are so hardcore, their children use snakes as skipping ropes. Any truth in that?

I saw the thread title and I thought that my dream of the first Somali Sci-Fi convention had come true. Then I clicked on it, and realised it's more about politics and less about Faraaxs dressing up as Spock. :mad:

The "you're so lame" comment pissed me off too. The mosque wasn't really segregated either, but maybe that's understandable considering they only had one room. But man, I couldn't help but laugh a lot of times. A lot of the things felt real to me, including the debate about the moon sightings, getting fatter during ramadan stuff etc. Or the "Why doesn't he go back to Toronto" comment. I mean, it's easy to achieve a balance of entertaining the audience as well as educating them, and I don't think they should sacrifice that for the kind of cheap laugh you get from cliched 'sitcom situations'. There are a lot of things Muslims do that lend themselves for great comedy, as people who operate sites like Maniac Muslim manage to exploit for great effect. Also there's more to play with than the mistaken suicide-bomber/terrorist/'fundementalist' confusion that's probably bound to appear. But this first episode was overall enjoyable.

I like the two tracks I heard on her myspace....and she is gorgeous. She looks a bit like a black version of Tricia Helfner (Caprica Six) from Battlestar Galactica in that last picture. As I do with any Somali person pursuing a career in the Arts and Entertainment industry, I hope she does well and becomes successful, and people would do well to judge others on the merits of their work rather than their private lives.........you silly somalis

Almost any one of those points could be applied to Somalis.

Originally posted by The children of crappy poetry: Hey, hey. I'd rather you didn't call me crappy. Just call me CoCP That sounds slightly dirty. When you mentioned bad poetry I was expecting something that included the following words/phrases: darkness, hell, sorrow, black heart, black blood, black night, yonder window and pumpkin pie. Sadly, I failed to find any of the above in your poem. You are the worst bad poet....like ever! Also, welcome to our little SOL; make sure not to visit the Politics section (eventually if enough people ignore it, they might shut it down).

^^^ it's just a season break, it'll come back on in January

Thanks for recommending that book Hizb, I'll check it out. On a slightly different note, does anyone know of Islamic psychologists? Or more specifically, someone who provides therapy which combines Islamic guidance and psychotherapy? Someone based in the UK would be more helpful.

Originally posted by Djib-Somali: How could an upright believer, occupied with Salats and various forms of Dikr, be more depressed through reading Qur'aan sincerely, is this not the supreme oxymoron? Is it possible to have a sense of lack of purpose and unnecessary suffering while at the same time pondering with faith on the most clear and comprehensive explanation of the creation's purpose, including humankind, and the unimaginable reward awaiting upright believers who endure trials patiently and support each other in faith and obedience? At any rate, many psychologic and their associated medical symptoms are directly linked with lack of sense of purpose and this sense of unneccessary suffering compounded by Western solitary lifestyle condemned by Islam (marriage, strongly encouraged, have a protection role, alongside benevolence and generosity); there are also some other cases which may have other additional causes such as Jinns possesion ect... I already mentioned that such behaviour might even be irrational, but you are disregarding the fact that anything you read is tainted by your state of mind. For example: A woman is severely depressed, often feels that the world isn't worth the suffering it inflicts, as a result she doesn't find any joy in life. Then she picks up the Holy Quran and reads a passage that speaks of the temporary nature of the world, that holding onto worldly things is pointless. She will then take this to mean that anything in this life is pointless. She fulfills her obligations regardless, but the life that you and I so enjoy, she finds is just a means to an end. Like you said, merely trials to test one's reward for the afterlife. Who are you to say she isn't enduring her trials like a faithful believer? She knows Allah is testing her, she is obedient to his commands, but she finds no joy in it. Instead she seeks refuge in the Quran, hoping for death so that she may shed the trappings of this life. In the meanwhile, she has to go on living, hopeless and joyless while this world lasts. -------------- This is just an example of how one's state of mind colours anything it comes into touch with. The point isn't that depressed people have no sincere faith; the point is that unlike all you well-adjusted people, they need help in finding some happiness and the ability to tolerate life positvely instead of negatively. Maybe they need to learn how the Quran can help them find joy in this world. They could benefit from someone helping them find out how Islam can guide one to happiness about the conditions of this life. However, to dismiss their religious sincerity out of hand and assume that their mental condition is a result rather than the cause of their world view is completely unhelpful. After all, nobody chooses to feel this way.

I have family members who suffer from manic depression, and frankly I find it insulting when people presuppose a lack of faith as a cause for this condition. I understand the Quran is the most comforting thing we have, but remember the reading you take from it depends also on your dispostion. A very close relative of mine reads the Quran every day, she is deeply faithful and yet there are times when she wants to die or remove herself from the world, and finds that the Quran sometimes confirms her pessimistic view of the world. That might not be right, and it might be slightly irrational, but someone who is clinically depressed doesn't always have the advantage of a neutral point of view. It's a sickness. Reading the Holy Quran could be helpful, of course, but it could just as easily backfire on its own, and end up confirming the dark world view they are already experiencing. That's why you just can't assume that someone who's depressed simply doesn't have any faith in Allah, or that just by being a Muslim, one is automatically immune to any illness of the mind.

^^^ but they like breaks and minimum wage...too much hassle

Originally posted by Valenteenah: Hey, I'm interested in this Heroes show, but I don't have the time or space to download all the episodes. Con/Xu, could one of you send me the whole series? I would pay. Funny you should ask that, I was just burning off a couple of copies for some people I wanted to force into watching Heroes. Well don't forget to read the comics once you get them from Conspiracy, like I said, each episode has a corresponding issue. Enjoy!! EDIT: Oh, if you get the show before monday, make sure to watch or d/l the new episode after monday, it's the last one we're gonna have for a while I think. Originally posted by Jamelia: Do any of the Ex/Dutch Nomads remember 'Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden'??....I thought that was pretty AWESOME..Lol Oh my, I used to love it when I was younger, you know, when I was really young I left the old country back in 2000, so last I know is Stefano was being incestuous with his stepmother Janine. Oh man, remember Arnie? Did he ever come back from the 'jungle'? It was a cracking show, silly storylines I admit, but still good.

If I were a politician I'd want to swear on the bible too. Makes the job easier.

^^^ who's going to clean the house if you don't have kids? :confused:

^^ I thought it meant 'prayer', at least that's what I remember from the Hindi films.

As I see it you have to decide quickly for either of the two options: 1. Have children now, get it out of the way, so they'll grow up quicker and leave, allowing you to start enjoying your life. 2. Put it off for as long as you can, enjoy your youth without the little buggers wearing you down, and then when you've achieved most of what you wanted to, buckle down to spend the next 20 years living entirely for someone else.

^^^ ooh, have you guys been following the online Heroes comics? They release a short one after every episode, explaining a little more background about the characters during a particular episode. Don't read a comic if you haven't watched the corresponding episode, it might be spoilery. I agree, poor Hiro, I choked up a bit ulaXu, who's that? Not bad, though I don't go for blondes [big Grin] That's Sawyer from Lost, the single most delicious thing to ever happen to TV It's so weird you Americans have all these insane breaks between episodes. It's annoying since I've started getting the episodes straight after it appears on TV over there, I have to wait like the rest of the US. .. stopped watching battlestargalagtica kinda got boring FRACK!!! I agree, at the moment I'm not sure where the story is going and it's a bit slow. But it seems they're taking their time to go more into every character's background, it won't be as action packed as last season. However overall, I'd say that Battlestar Galactica is one of the most thought provoking, mature and complex dramas around, it might be worth catching up later. And hopefully Balthar will die a horrible death soon, not likely, but still.

Originally posted by Hayam: Heroes is very good. Hiro is just so cute. and should be interesting now that they caught Sylar. If you can't watch the show each week. download Bittorent and register at Demnoiod(sp?) (google it) you can download each weekly eposide of almost all the shows on tv now and even some past seasons.. Yeah they don't show Heroes over here, so I usually try to get it from Uncle Bittorrent. And yes, Hiro is too adorable, easily the best and most original thing about the show. Can't wait to see how he turns out like that cool ninja version of him from the future..... Sylar stealing people's power? :eek: As for Grey's Anatomy, the writing is pretty bad, most of the characters are selfish (especially Meredith) and the love triangles are getting old......but I...just...can't..stop..watching...it's too good. As for delicious gaals almost worth sinning for, take a look at this ...doubt anyone can top this

So what TV shows are you guys currently following? Me, I usually get the shows on DVD instead of watching them on TV, so I don't have to wait a week to see what happens next. As a result I have been watching way too many shows in quick succession. I'm crazy about House at the moment. Does anyone watch that? Hugh Laurie is too brilliant for words. Is it bad that a disabled anti-social doctor is my idea of the perfect man? I'm really liking a show called Heroes. We don't get it here in the UK yet (I had to get it from 'a friend'). It's amazing, if you like that sci-fi, x-men type of thing.