This made me chuckle.

No -- I haven't seen Captain Philips so maybe it's not fair for me to say that, but I have seen 12 Years a Slave, Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club, and I'd be surprised if Michael Fassbender doesn't win it. If seasoned actors won Oscars, Leonardo DiCaprio would have won an Oscar a long time ago

^ watch what you say about my friend Tallaabo, sxb

<cite> @Tallaabo said:</cite> This upgrade of SOL was a disaster. It feels so different and is more troublesome. The mobile site is great, but I don't like how narrow the regular forums are... the stuff on the right is unnecessary and should be left on the main page for articles, not on the boards. I've gotten used to it though.

I'm always baffled by stories like this. How can you get away with hiding a pregnancy from your family and everyone you know? And how could her family have been so oblivious to the signs? That said, she is a moron... Ohio and many other states have safe-haven laws to prevent this type of scenario, you can leave your newborn at a hospital without getting into trouble.

Yes, I love the Olympics and I'm looking forward to tuning in for the opening ceremonies tomorrow. Let's go, TEAM CANADA!

Stuck inside during yet another snowstorm. I don't have much food either, but it would be cruel of me to order takeout in these conditions. (Just kidding, I don't care... still ordering)

What are the ethics of paying people for a research study of this kind? Your university's ethics committee approved that?

<cite> @Mooge said:</cite> you see safferz, if you can stand next to Barkhad, hold his hand and let him stick his long skinny arm around that beautiful waist of yours, Barkhad is a pimp. loool. doesn't matter if you after-party with some baboon called Idris Alba. lol. Careful how you talk about my future husband Idris, Mooge

<cite> @Mooge said:</cite> saff, if he asked you to be his date for the oscar night, would you say YEEEEEEEEES? be honest. Hell yes. I'm not interested in him or his money, but I'd love to get dressed up in a beautiful gown, go to the show and the afterparties, and leave with my real boo, Idris Elba.

I've been a hater all my life Mooge, I'm not gonna stop now.

<cite> @BusDriver said:</cite> The real question is, is he a one hit wonder? I cant even think of other movies that can utilize him other than horror movies who would love to take advantage of his mouth structure and his body mass I belly laughed at this, thank you.

<cite> @SomaliPhilosopher said:</cite> I shared Safferz's stance initially, but this certainly changes things. I'm a little confused as to why the state is even involved in selecting a foster/adoptive home for the children in the first place, which leads me to believe there's more to the story that we're not aware of. You would think a mother who cannot care for her children would have extended relatives take over for her much earlier than this - private custody agreements and adoptions exist, where the parent signs over her rights to the children - but here it seems the children were taken away. But I don't know enough about the UK's system to comment.

Oh I see what you're getting at -- I think you can be anti-excision in the sense that you believe it's a harmful practice that should be eradicated, but have a more sensitive viewpoint that holds that change must be generated from within the communities that practice it, through education and (indigenous) activism. That's how I feel about it, I abhor the practice but I also resent Western discourse about it (I don't even like the term FGM because it's so loaded with meaning and assumption) and the histories of intervention in Africa over women's bodies and reproductive capacities that targeted excision and politicized the practice in the way we see it today. I wrote a paper on this once I called it "The African Body in Western Feminist Discourse" or something like that. <cite> @Alpha Blondy said:</cite> can i send you a list of items i desperately need via the PMs, walalo macaan? I don't know if I'll be in Hargeisa this time though, it turns out my ayeeyo and the entire family will all be going to London for July and August, which is when I'll be nearby and thought to visit. Unless of course I decide to go to Hargeisa alone, in which case I'll be in an empty house and have no relations to protect me from your stalking

In other news, I booked my flight to Ethiopia today. Chyea! *eskestas* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g6_ERuvYrA

<cite> @SomaliPhilosopher said:</cite> Can modernaist hijabis be anti-fgm, is this contradictory? What does hijab have to do with FGM?

^ I do, I also know about half the task force members. They're all remarkable people who have done great work in the community, and I'm well aware of the work they've put into the task force and its recommendations, so it's been frustrating to see the misinformation circulating in the Somali community about them and the recommendations they've made. Just before leaving TO a few weeks ago, I spoke to a Somali lady who said she was told that the task force is made up of white people and she was surprised to learn that wasn't true. That's what they're up against. Re: the CSC, I've been following them and their president for a number of years now, and I don't like them. But that's a topic for another thread I think, I was just responding to DK's earlier suggestion.

<cite> @ElPunto said:</cite> ^They did try to foster/adopt - I read an article where it said 4 or 5 of the relatives of the family tried and failed to meet the 'criteria' for foster parents. Sadly - in western countries any idiot can have a child but - the family of a child put out for foster must be subjected to arbitrary criteria in order to care for their own. If the policy was proper and fair and taken to its proper conclusion - we would have committees to determine which individuals fit the appropriate criteria and allow only them to conceive and have children. What's "arbitrary" and unfair about the criteria for fostering children?

<cite> @Homunculus said:</cite> Hmmm, why didn't they adopt the kid before all this? or do they prefer that the kid remain a ward of the state? Exactly. If they didn't offer to adopt the child when they knew his/her mother was sick, they can STFU.

Inane. The CSC has a particular narrative about Somali Canadians, almost assimilationist in its understanding of Somalis in Canadian society, and they have a need to mold us into a community that can be perceived by dominant society as successful, respectable and responsible citizens. It makes perfect sense that someone like Ahmed Hussen sees Jewish Canadians as a model for Somalis to aspire to. The problem here is that they are willing to sweep issues like the high dropout rate under the rug to focus on the "successes" of Somali Canadians. Honestly I wish I still lived in Toronto right now, I'd offer my services to the Somali task force to manage their optics in the Somali community and beyond in the short term, as well as launch a longer term project of annihilating the CSC lool

<cite> @DoctorKenney said:</cite> Safferz if you're in Canada, I suggest you directly confront the Canadian-Somali Congress. Contact that organization and give them your side of the story. Go directly to the President of that Organization and tell him of the benefits of his Task-Force, unless he himself is protesting the existence of the Somali Task-Force. Because the way I look at it, this Task-Force is about to be shut down. It's getting too much negative media attention and it doesn't look like it's dying down anytime soon. I'm not in Canada. And the CSC and its president are useless, and if I remember correctly they've also spoken out against the task force (presumably because they weren't asked to spearhead it). These are the fools who created a Somali-Jewish mentorship project once where Jewish professionals 'mentor' Somali students while in return the Somali community - one of the poorest immigrant communities in Canada - would RAISE MONEY TO ESTABLISH A SCHOLARSHIP FOR JEWISH STUDENTS. LOL, I'm not kidding. But I can assure you, the Somali task force is not under threat by this backlash, but it's worrying to see them losing the PR war here. Like LayZie said in the other task force thread, "waxaa la yidhi" news portal is strong in our community and I think the task force needs to be making a stronger effort in community outreach so that people understand what the task force is all about and what recommendations they've made for the school board. Although their meetings and presentations were all public, the question of access is important here - everyday Somali hoyos are just not going to attend a public school board meeting held in English or participate in the deputation process - what needs to happen are townhall style information meetings where Somalis are, at heavily Somali masjids and community centres, hell they could even be handing out flyers door to door with the recommendations translated into Somali in Somali areas of the city.

He's more of a self-appointed spokesperson... has absolutely zero credibility among Muslims but manages to insert himself in controversies as a professional troll. It's not so much that Muslims haven't disowned him, but the media constantly allowing him to emerge as a voice on these matters, and you can't blame them when he has worked hard to position himself as such.

That's the one, DK. Basically his MO is shoring up panic among Canadians about "sharia law" creeping into Canadian society, so he tends to target things like Islamic schools, Islamic banking, the niqab, etc and appear during whatever given islamophobic episode is taking place in the country. Right now he's not so much in the public eye (and the Toronto Sun is a notoriously right wing newspaper no one cares to read, I should add), but if, say, Quebec is trying to pass controversial laws to affirm 'secular values' using coded xenophobic and islamophobic language? Tarek Fatah is everywhere. I find it fascinating that he's now become an ally of the Somalis against the TDSB Somali task force, but I suppose it makes sense when one considers his anti-immigrant and islamophobic stances -- for him, efforts made to help Somali children is the school board "accommodating" an immigrant Muslim minority, treating them differently from "regular Canadians," etc. It's perfectly rational and logically consistent with his public persona.

^ Hawdian, many of the task force members ARE Somali parents, and the process has been open to public feedback since the task force's formation. They have had community hearings where Somalis have been able to give their views, and meetings have been open to the public. <cite> @Khayr said:</cite> saff, xiishood maalahiid. If someone disagrees with you then respond back and defend your position but don't insult them. P.s. Committees and Task Forces are always formed to say that people are being engaged and opinions are being taken into account. The question is whose opinion is taken and implemented. Everyone has a self-interest and no one really cares about your particular under-employed and poverty ridden community. Saff, your belly has always been well fed so you don't understand nor can you relate to those that are hungry (an analogy) Khayr, I am livid over this and I don't apologize for calling out the fools who are responsible for the campaign to derail one of the few positive things to happen for Somali students in Toronto. The fact remains that Somalis have one of the highest dropout rates in the entire CITY. And what you're seeing from people like Madoobe is the compulsive need to sweep sh*t under the carpet and pretend there are no problems, accuse the TDSB as "labeling" Somali students as dropouts despite the fact that these are known and documented statistics, and insult the members of the Somali task force who have *volunteered* their time and expertise to get the ball rolling and strategize on how to fix this systemic issue. Yes, I was one of the Somali students in Toronto who "succeeded," and its precisely for that reason I feel so invested in making sure those left behind aren't ignored or obscured by people in our community who have no idea what the hell they're talking about.