Sigh. Who are "they" and what makes "them" so threatening that civil liberties can be suspended for illegal and humiliating stop and frisks? How does one "look suspicious"? I don't understand how you can justify the treatment that young man in the video received, particularly as a black man yourself.

So you are serious. *headdesk*

Chimera;945392 wrote: Just tired of having to play bodyguard for my female relatives and their kids who just want to play in the park or shop in peace without these weed clowns stinking up the place. I'm extremely biased, so don't expect objectivity from me, I have no sympathy for them, be they Somali or non-Somali. Thugs are despicable creatures. These are nice neighbourhoods and areas being ruined by groups that dress like the men in that video. I think more patrols around those areas would be a great deterrent. Just to make sure -- is this a serious comment? I have a hard time believing it to be your position, when you come across as more socially conscious and thoughtful than this.

Chimera, did you miss the part about how every single young black male in NYC statistically was stopped and frisked in 2011? What makes you think they (and "they" includes people just like you) are doing anything but minding their own business before becoming subject to police harassment?

Alpha Blondy;945388 wrote: is NYC representative across the board? Stop and frisk is a program specific to the NYPD, but racial profiling is certainly policing practice across the US (and Canada). Chimera;945389 wrote: We need more of them doing stops and searches at the parks and malls. Why do you say that? Everyday people are stopped and frisked everywhere, and not just outside on the street.

... and statistically every single young black man in New York City was stopped and frisked in 2011. "In an interview on ABC's "Nightline" last night, NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly elaborated on a point Mayor Michael Bloomberg made in a speech this week, about the racial breakdown of stop-and-frisks conducted by city police officers. Bloomberg said NYPD critics are unfairly compare the number of black and Latino men stopped to the number of black and Latino men in the general population, whereas they should be comparing the numbers of stops to the descriptions of suspects. Kelly, in his interview, said that if you use that methodology, "African-Americans are being understopped." A year ago, Kelly went even further, telling reporters people in "communities of color" actually "want more" stop-and-frisks."

Alpha Blondy;945367 wrote: i didn't realise they had siestas in the Great Satan of American States. Just doing my part to help popularize the practice

Alpha Blondy;945363 wrote: horta, did i tell you about the time i was employed as a human-goat conflict expert. i was tasked to undertake the root causes of the ever-growing conflict between goats and people. the project was funded by the UN. but the UN required an expert to assess the situation, before releasing the funds to the local NGO, who would implement the project. for the duration of the short contract, i spent my days writing reports, doing needs assessments etc...... BUT i was NEVER allowed to visit the conflict prone areas, as per strict UN regulations. after haphazardly writing a ''neither here nor there spiel'' .... which was so far removed from the reality on the ground........ i passed the report on to my colleague in our regional HQ to have it approved......in one of those emerging middle-income countries, which....as i'm sure, you could appreciate has ostensibly benefited from the conflicts between goats and people issues. after several months........ just before the end of the financial year and my contract, i received a response from my colleague.. .... cautiously proposing we ought to send the report to our HQ in New York to have it ''rubber-stamped'' . unfortunately, the financial year ended and the project was scrapped due to 'timing constriants'' . 2 weeks later, i found another short-term contract.....i was handsomely paid to be a human-sheep conflict regulatory framework consultant ........

How safe is it in that region now?

nvm I need a nap lol

Safferz;944758 wrote: I logged in, but unfortunately I only have electronic access to articles from the journal from 1995 onwards (this article is from 1987). But if you guys are really interested in reading it, I can put in a scan request at the library and they will scan the hard copy and email it to me in a day or two Here it is: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3nbt8g9f0qk2hgb/blood%20groups%20in%20somali%20pop.pdf

Alpha Blondy;945325 wrote: Saffz, besides american newspapers and their stance....... what do you think of las geel? and why hasn't it been granted this UN seal of approval/status yet? also and more importantly, why aren't you support cultural heritage programmes in SL? Who said I don't support cultural heritage programs in SL? I was just remarking on how clever the PR firm is to take this angle to publicize SL's diplomatic situation. I don't know the process of attaining UNESCO world heritage site status, so I can't comment on why Laas Geel and other sites haven't been declared world heritage sites but I'd imagine if the SL government really cared about protecting these sites they would include it in their dialogues with Somalia (since they can sign the UNESCO treaty). What I don't like is the politicization of history and Somali cultural heritage as a diplomatic tool.

Nin-Yaaban;945181 wrote: Well it's certainly not read by policy makers, i could tell you that much. That's also not true.

Nin-Yaaban;945162 wrote: Ummm, the Washington Times isn't read by anyone (well, except for the weirdos). You probably mean the Washington Post (WaPo) which is completely different from the Times. I know both papers, and that's not true. It's a conservative paper and doesn't have as wide circulation as the Washington Post, but it has a loyal readership and appeals to certain types.

lol it looks like the PR firm the Somaliland government recently signed a contract with is doing their job. A well placed article (The Washington Times is read by all the policy folks) and taking the heritage site preservation angle to bring up the recognition question is clever work.

Naxar Nugaaleed;945146 wrote: Safferz they're Hindi words via arabic shaah/shaahi/chai lol Some words certainly are, but I'm not so sure about these ones... for instance, we know that soap (at least the what we know as soap today) has its origins in the Middle East, so it makes sense that the word sabuun is Arabic. I also don't agree that Arabic is not foreign to us, and the Arabic imprint on our language is much less than most people think. The African language with the most Arabic vocabulary is Swahili, and even then the words of Arabic origin only make up something like 20% of the Swahili lexicon. SomaliPhilosopher;945129 wrote: There are many Somali equivalent to these words, though the imported words have become the de facto norm for such terms A society's vocabulary is always limited to its social horizon and historical experience, so the vast majority of the foreign words in the Somali language (like any other language) will be words that describe concepts, objects, etc that are new to us and incorporated into our society as a result of cross-cultural contact. For example many words relating to literacy are Arabic, because our first encounter with writing was with Islam -- qalin, waraaq, kitaab, etc.

Naxar Nugaaleed;945142 wrote: more hindi: Sabuun sanduuq sambusa kursi babuur(sounds indian) All of those except sambuusa are Arabic

SomaliPhilosopher;945135 wrote: Safferz/Wadani-you guys familiar with hindu/urdu? When did Somalis have contact with the hindus? I've never studied the language, but I'm familiar with them as borrowed words. Somalia has always had Indians - southern Somalia is part of the Swahili coast, with centuries of trade and cultural exchange in the Indian ocean trade networks - but most of these Hindi and Urdu words came with the British, since Indians made up many of the officers/soldiers in the British Empire (called "askaris," another word we borrowed from the British who borrowed it from the original Arabic) and many also arrived as traders, shopkeepers and merchants with the colonial state. Hargeisa still has an area called the "Indian line" (colonial cities always had a segregated geography, reflecting the British distinction between whites, Asians (usually Indian) and Africans/natives). A long time ago my mom told me a song kids in Hargeisa used to yell at Indians on the street -- "Hindi baa baa/Bariis kaagii//Ma bislaaninay/Baada joogso/Ku baarooro"

A few Hindi and Urdu words off the top of my head - surwaal (pants), sargaal (officer), gaadhi (car), laangadhe (crippled person)

I don't think I've ever posted in this thread Happy May Day (International Workers' Day) everyone... here's an interesting political poster from 1981 Somalia for the occasion, featuring Marx, Engels, Lenin and... Siad Barre:

Great video work. Is this going to be a full length documentary?

Coofle;944906 wrote: Since I am talented in writing somali poetry, I tried English poetry too....I posted few on poetry website and got some good and bad reviews...loolz...But frankly speaking english poetry is boring and easy. No way Coofle, English poetry can be just as structurally complex and full of symbolism and depth. Maybe what you're thinking of are simple rhymes like "roses are red/violets are blue"

Coofle;944890 wrote: By the way I always thought you are XY rather than XX...your posts gave the impression of masculinity ..no offense meant. None taken, but it did give me a laugh.

Insanity.

Alpha Blondy;944821 wrote: ^ you werent there, dee... lol I've never tried it but I don't think I would be very good at writing poetry. But I've always wanted to write a novel