Good for her, but her years of morbid obesity have probably already strained her heart/organs and damaged her health permanently How do people even get to this point?

SomaliPhilosopher;987034 wrote: Why so angry? Perhaps it was a legitimate arrest. Are the Somali police not capable of proper due diligence? Naga daa SP, I hope you're being sarcastic. How could this possibly be a legitimate arrest? Not only is this a terrible trend for women's rights in Somalia because of how the government has been responding to victims of sexual violence, but also for freedom of the press in the country.

Again? :mad:

DoctorKenney;986970 wrote: Doesn't Chimera deserve a spot on this cabinet? I thought about making him my minister of culture, but he's been MIA for months now. But if he returns, I will instead appoint him chief historian and head of the national archives.

Cadale;986964 wrote: Breaking news: Cadale, the leader of United Somaliaonline congress (USC), Alpha Blondy,leader of somaliaonline national movement (SNM) and Haatu, leader of Somaliaonline Patriotic Movement (SPM) has decided to form an alliance to overthrow safferz and her regime. warbaahinta runsheeg.com Plot twist: "Berberawi" Cadale revealed to be of HAG origin and immediately expelled from the tripartite coalition, leaving him to become Mayor of the Politics thread, with limited influence outside of it. Former women's minister Alpha Blondy throws his hands up and says "f*ck it, and f*ck these guys," and declares the secession of the Women thread, which the international forum community refuses to recognize. With the prime minister position now vacant after the defection of Wadani to Alpha's sovereign Women thread, Safferz enters negotiations with Haatu to re-stabilize her centralized SOL state, offering him the position as PM. Once again, Safferz' regime comes out ON TOP and stronger than ever. Having now *won* the inter-SOL civil war, with the temporary concession of the mayoralty of the Politics forum and the Women Republic, Safferz and Haatu now strategize on how to successfully incorporate the adjacent Somali forums into Greater Somaliaonline. Stay tuned. guleed_ali;986965 wrote: Where's the Minister of Religious Affairs (Awqaf) and the Grand Mufti? Guleed the ministry is yours, as long as you are loyal to Safferz' Republic. Updated cabinet: President-for-life: Safferz Prime minister: Haatu Deputy prime minister: Ibtisam Defence minister: Tallaabo Minister of Internal Affairs: Reeyo Minister of Women's Affairs: Che_Guevara Propaganda minister: Apophis Minister of Foreign Affairs: Somaliphilosopher Minister of Justice: Nin-Yaaban Minister of Religious Affairs: guleed_ali Culture minister: Miskiin-macruuf-aqiyaar Finance minister: LayZie G Transportation minister: Nuune Communication minister: N.O.R.F Public works minister: Maqane Minister of Natural Resources: Blackflash

According to WHO? :mad: Reshuffled cabinet after my coup in two days: President: Safferz Prime minister: Wadani Deputy prime minister: Ibtisam Defence minister: Tallaabo Minister of Internal Affairs: Reeyo Minister of Women's Affairs: Alpha Blondy Propoganda minister: Apophis Minister of Foreign Affairs: Somaliphilosopher Minister of Justice: Nin-Yaaban Culture minister: Miskiin-macruuf-aqiyaar Finance minister: LayZie G Transportation minister: Nuune Communication minister: Cadale Public works minister: Maqane Minister of Natural Resources: Haatu

Great analysis of media coverage and framing of the Ford crack scandal from Africa is a Country: Rob Ford and Canada’s “Somali Problem” No matter where in the world you are, by now you have likely heard about Toronto mayor (to some a human trainwreck) Rob Ford and the infamous video in which he appears to smoke crack cocaine while making racist and homophobic remarks. Like many right wing populists, Ford’s racial insensitivity is, for a certain segment of his supporters, part of his blue collar “down home” appeal. (Of course, like many politicians of his ilk, Ford isn’t actually blue collar at all.) Whether intentionally or not, however, Ford’s critics are also guilty of racism. In their attacks against the mayor, they have played on the prejudice against Somalis that is prevalent in Toronto and other major Canadian cities Fleeing civil war, over 55,000 Somali refugees, arrived in Canada between 1988 and 1996, more than doubling the country’s Somali population. More than half of these new arrivals settled in Toronto, many in the high rise apartment buildings on Dixon Road—now often referred to as “Little Mogadishu”—where the Ford crack video was allegedly shot. There are also significant Somali populations in cities such as Edmonton, and in my hometown of Ottawa. What followed is, regrettably, a familiar story: Alarmist media reports about the “swarms” of Somalis arriving on Canadian shores. A small segment of the Somali community, mostly young men, responding to their socio-economic marginalization by becoming involved in ethnicity-based criminal gangs. Media sensationalism and police profiling which exaggerated the scope of Somali criminality. And lastly, but most of all, the age old truism that, when presented with a group of people who look, speak, and think much differently than we do, many of us tend to fall into the seemingly comforting embrace of stereotyping and prejudice. It is difficult, here, to pull apart cause and effect. I feel the need, at this point, to admit my own complicity. When I was in eleventh or twelfth grade a number of new students, many of Somali background, arrived at my high school. Faced with an unfamiliar group that we couldn’t immediately understand, some of my friends and I succumbed to stereotyping. One day, a friend who was particularly adept at impressions saw a group of Somali students loudly mocking one another for wearing counterfeit brand name clothing and turned it into a comedy bit. I soon joined in. We would walk up to one another in the halls and, sucking our tongues between our teeth, make a show of examining one another’s polo shirts, jackets, backpacks. “Yo, dis is fake!” we would shout in exaggerated accents, sometimes snapping our limp index fingers against the side of our hands for effect. “This is the fake one!” As racism goes it was mild, Saturday Night Live sketch type racism, but it was racist all the same. I’m completely ashamed of it. Our youthful shenanigans, however, didn’t begin to approach the ugly, biting racism that I frequently heard directed at Somali Canadians: A friend who is normally a big fan of hip-hop dismissed my recommendation that he check out K’naan by saying, “Isn’t he a f*cking Somalian?” An inebriated older acquaintance who encountered Somalis frequently in his work referred to them as “chocolate covered q-tips.” And all of this is before we get to the structural and institutional racism faced everyday by Somali immigrants and refugees. A 2011 article in Taki’s Magazine, titled “Canada’s Somali problem” provides an extreme example of such attitudes, which are nevertheless more widespread that one would like to believe. In a few paragraphs, the author manages to invoke nearly every stereotype commonly affixed to Somali Canadians, painting them as khat-chewing, female genital mutilating criminals sucking at the government teat all the while destroying Canadian society from the inside. She concludes with the following: “No offense, guys, but we’d rather you stuck with murdering your own kind—and doing it somewhere else.” All of which brings me back to Rob Ford. The first newspaper to report the existence of the crack cocaine video this past May was The Toronto Star. (The Star article followed an earlier report on the website Gawker.) The Star justified its decision to publish the allegations against the mayor on the grounds that the information was in the public interest. By doing drugs and getting “mixed up” in “the underworld of Toronto,” Ford had “opened himself up to blackmail.” His actions “called into question his judgment, his state of mind, his health.” All of this is true. A look at the text of the original Toronto Star article, however, reveals something more insidious. The sub-headline of that article reads: “A video that appears to show Toronto’s mayor smoking crack is being shopped around by a group of Somali men involved in the drug trade.” The article goes on to use the descriptor ‘Somali’ so many times that, a few weeks later, the paper felt compelled to print an apology. And it wasn’t only The Star. Time and again, in the weeks that followed the allegations against mayor—in the news, on social media, and in conversation—the ethnicity of those supposedly in possession of the crack video came up in way that it simply wouldn’t have if Ford’s drug dealer friends had been, say, Irish. In short, I think that many of the people who claim to be disturbed by the fact that Rob Ford does drugs are, on some level, actually disturbed by the fact that Rob Ford (allegedly) smokes crack with Somalis in Little Mogadishu. If the Ford video showed him snorting powder cocaine in the back of a fancy restaurant with white guys in nice suits (which, incidentally, Ford is now also alleged to have done) would people still think that it was as big a deal? (I am reminded here of André Boisclair, a Québec politician who admitted snorting cocaine while a provincial cabinet minister and was subsequently elected leader of his party.) Would the initial reports of Ford’s illicit activities have been as alarming had they not been accompanied by the photo (above) of a glassy-eyed, red-faced Ford posing with three young black men? (Those shopping the video provided the photo, which shows Ford with three accused gang members, one of whom was later murdered, to Gawker and The Star. It remains the visual most closely associated with the crack allegations. The video itself is in the hands of the Toronto Police and has not, as of yet, been made public.) Would the violence allegedly linked with attempts to recover the video before it became public be of more concern if those affected were less “typical” crime victims? If the public wasn’t already conditioned to think, on some level, that shootings and assaults were “the kind of thing that happen” in Little Mogadishu, and to Somali Canadians, anyway? Of course none of this is to say that Ford is even a little bit in the right. And the attempts by Ford and his city councilor brother, Doug to evade accusations about the mayor’s activities by painting those making them as racists have been transparent and self-serving. Make no mistake about it, though. Racism against Somali Canadians is a real problem. It is present not only on the right, but the left as well. And it is playing an important role in conditioning the public response to the mayor’s actions. As someone is hopefully telling Rob Ford right now, the first step is admitting you have a problem.

OdaySomali;986941 wrote: This new SOL is useless. Why: - Cannot scroll properly browing on mobile (WBOM) - SOL pages & even individual posts do not fit the screen WBOM - Cannot see or vote on polls when WBOM And other things I usually browse SOL on mobile and I'm having none of these issues, except for the last point about not being able to see polls. I think the SOL mobile site is great.

Hawdian;986948 wrote: Is that Islam or Christianity which one as they both from Middle East . He said Arabian Peninsula, not the Middle East broadly. Here's a teaser for the song by the way, it's hardly a Christmas song... he's just taking advantage of the Christmas season to raise money for his charity, with the funds going towards building an orphanage and sports academy in Hargeisa. Horta why hasn't Presposterous been deleted yet?

Khayr;986928 wrote: Saff, Your answer came easy to you. If I told you that those 5 people were all mothers and that one person on the other track was a single male - would you answer differently? Why would that change my answer? I said I'd save the five by switching the trolley to the other track with one person on it. I don't really care who they are, saving as many people as possible would be my priority. I agree with your earlier statement that choosing not to act is an action in itself, with the consequences of allowing five people to be killed. I was curious about whether there are legal consequences for not doing anything, so I asked my brother and another law student I know, and both said neither option is considered murder but a trolley driver can be held liable in civil action for the wrongful death of five lol. Killing one would be considered negligence at most, and even then the action would be against the trolley company, not the driver.

Cadale;986792 wrote: Rageedi the best Mayor in the world lmao The jokes are just writing themselves at this point lol

Rob Ford fitness consultant a convicted steroid trafficker, banned from coaching in Canada A trainer who consulted with Rob Ford as recently as Tuesday night on a health “game plan” was convicted in the U.S. for steroid trafficking and is currently in the midst of a 12-year ban from coaching in Canada for administering steroids. The Toronto mayor has repeatedly said he is working with a team of health professionals following his admission of smoking crack while in a “drunken stupor.” Ford has not specified what that team includes other than to say it includes advice about his weight and he is not in an alcohol treatment program. Ford’s criminal lawyer, Dennis Morris, has said the mayor is spending up to two hours a day exercising, has revamped his diet and has received support from a medical doctor. Valerio Moscariello, the owner of Team Body Pro Athletics, tweeted a picture Tuesday night of himself in the gym with Ford with the captions: “Toronto Mayor Rob Ford joins forces to get in shape with “Teambodypro.com” and “#teambodypro Toronto mayor Rob Ford killing him on cardio today! Man on a mission.” On Instagram he said: “Putting Toronto mayor Rob Ford through a Valerio workout. The BodyPro training system!!!” The posts were deleted not long after he was contacted by the media. He deleted his entire Twitter and Instagram accounts later Wednesday. The tweet was sent out under Moscariello’s alias “Valerio Mosca,” the name he uses with the Team Body Pro Athletics website, the bodybuilding supplement company Mutant Nation and on several socia media accounts including Facebook Youtube, Twitter and Instagram. However, Moscariello’s full name is used several times in various pages of Team Body Pro Website and in other Internet postings. Responding to an email from the National Post asking about the steroid conviction and coaching ban, Moscariello wrote: “It was a joke picture and has been blown up for no reason. I do wish him luck. I should not have posted a joke picture like that I didn’t realize what this caused. I’m sorry. I wish [the] mayor luck on his journey.” He declined to directly answer any questions about the conviction and ban and did not confirm if the relationship with Ford is ongoing. However, in an earlier telephone interview Wednesday, Moscariello was enthusiastic about training the mayor, who was sweating it out on a treadmill the night before, weighing in at 336 pounds. “He’s got the discipline and he’s got the drive. I really think he can lose the weight, but he has to give it his all. I want him to give me 100%, not even just 99%. Without 100% I won’t take him on. But if he gives me 100%, if he comes to the gym, I’ll beat him up [through a rigorous workout]. I’ll beat him up until he can’t take anymore,” Moscariello told the National Post. “With Rob, I think the problem is what he eats. He’s on the go, he’s here and there and he doesn’t eat what he should. If Rob eats proper food, he will change. But you need to do this every day. Every day.” No amount of working out can make up for poor food choices, he said. “You are what you eat. “You’d be amazed how agile he is. He knows how to move 300 pounds around easily.” The mayor’s office, which is undergoing a massive shuffle after Monday’s council vote to strip Ford of much of his budget, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Moscariello is also linked to the Ford’s office through aspiring bodybuilder Jerry Agyemang, who Ford hired as a driver earlier this month. Agyemang is also a member of Mutant Nation, winning its “Monthly Mutant of the Month” in October 2011. He is also featured in pictures on the body supplement company’s website. Agyemang was previously a security guard at City Hall. Moscariello since-deleted Twitter reveals that he was speaking of training Ford as early as November 16. He referenced training the mayor in a conversation with Canadian porn actress Nikki Benz. “What times are your show? I’m calling Mr. Ford now,” Moscariello said to Benz on Twitter last Saturday. “Yo, @TomayordFord, come to Whiskey A GoGo tonight. @ryanmclane and I have shots of Remy Martin waiting for you. #416,” Benz’s verified account responded. “You seriously want me to bring him? I just started training him,” Moscariello responded. Benz appeared at the Whiskey A Go-Go on November 14, 15 and 16, according to the adult nightclub’s webpage [Warning: link includes nudity]. There is no indication the mayor took up the invite. Drug charges Moscariello pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute anabolic steroids in October 2005, according to United States Attorney for the District of Nevada. “Valerio Moscareillo, age 31, of Toronto, Canada, pleaded guilty in August to the felony offense. He admitted to unlawfully possessing 27 units (270 cc) of anabolic steroids, Schedule III controlled substances, and to operating a website at []www.juiceworld.com], that was accessible to the general public for the purpose of distributing these anabolic steroids,” a November 1, 2005 press release said. “In February 2005, U.S. Postal Inspectors tracked a steroid distribution operation to the defendant’s residence in Henderson. In June 2005, law enforcement officers executed a search of the residence and seized a quantity of anabolic steroids, including Primobolon Depot, Deca Nadrolone Decanoate, and Trenbolone Acetate. They also seized “buy-owe” sheets, materials such as small bottles and syringes consistent with the repackaging of these substances, and approximately $16,000 in cash.” He was sentenced to five months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. The press release said he was in immigration custody for a removal hearing. In January 2010, Moscariello received a 12-year ban from Canadian sport for administering steroids to national-level boxer Amanda Galle of Mississauga. Galle received a two-year ban. “His 12-year sanction means that he is ineligible to participate in any sport at any level and in any role. This prevents him from coaching, training or competing, and restricts competitive athletes from associating with him as a coach or trainer,” the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) said in a press release. The CCES is an independent body “responsible for the implementation and management of Canada’s Anti-Doping Program,” according to its website. Moscariello told the CCES he “mistakenly injected Galle with deca-durabolin, a steroid that he used personally.” Moscariello is described by the CCES as a “conditioning coach, personal trainer and nutritional consultant.” According to his Instagram account biography, “Mosca” is a “Mutant Sponsered athlete Trainer of champions owner of Teambodypro.com have trained with 4 Mr.Olympians the best bodybuilders in the world.” Team Body Pro is heavily linked to bodybuilder Jay Cutler, a four-time Mr. Olympia. His last title was in 2010. Moscariello describes him as a “good friend” and Team Body Pro has sponsored Toronto events starring Cutler. According to its website, Team Body Pro was founded in June 2009. “Would you like to work with TeamBodyPro? We are professionals who can build you a proper diet and give you a proper training program designed just for you and your sport,” the website says. Team Body Pro says it has worked with bodybuilders Cutler, Phil Heath, Dexter Jackson and Ronnie Coleman. It sells a variety of clothing on its website for up to $100.

Tallaabo;986833 wrote: Thanks Saff, your wise advice is at last heeded I don't understand why he hasn't been deleted for spamming the forum.

Looks great, Alpha Tallaabo;986820 wrote: These products are expensive, aren't they?:eek: I think I should set up a cosmetics business as there is big money to be made from Saff and co;) It's a profitable industry, but you'd have to compete with the giants I prefer higher end makeup over drugstore brands because the quality and range are much better. Not that drugstore brands are much cheaper anyway *resumes no-buy*

Alpha, how is Khayr's post a cryptic riddle? It's a pretty straightforward scenario. I think the only ethical answer is to flip the switch... regardless, someone will be killed, and it seems unconscionable to me to allow the train to keep moving towards five people. Five killed, or one? I would choose the latter.

Haatu;986751 wrote: How are these people voting for Apo when he's not even on the list? The poll doesn't show up on SOL's mobile site, so that may be it. Although not reading is still a possibility, I've seen plenty of people participate in threads here without actually reading the original post and discussion, so who knows.

LayZie G.;986693 wrote: I kid not..here is a clip from lastnight's show... " frameborder="0" allowfullscreen> Canceled after one episode, lmao!!

It's now 16 new threads in less than 7 days.

Haatu;986686 wrote: I don't see the outrage of people dressing up to look black. If they want to paint their faces, let them. In North America, it has a specific and racist context and history as a way to degrade black people though, so it's never been as simple as painting your face black.

Haatu;986592 wrote: This is from another group of students somewhere up in those barren highlands Wow, that vid and the blackface costumes Alpha posted is the stuff I'd expect from frat 'bros' at American colleges. When I was an undergrad, we actually had a blackface Halloween costume incident as well, where some white guys decided to dress up as the Jamaican bobsled team from Cool Runnings and they were actually awarded 'best costume' at a campus event. We had a university-wide townhall meeting to discuss it and wider issues of racism on campus, and it was the biggest sh*tshow ever, with white folks showing up just to defend the morons. Unfortunately this sort of thing happens every Halloween, and the sexist/rape chants are not unusual in frat culture. Not sure how similar the UK is in this, though.

Safferz;986289 wrote: I'm officially on a no-buy until mid-December... when I hand in my last paper of the semester, I intend to spend an ungodly amount of money on makeup If I can hold out that long lol. Tallaboww, I didn't even last 24 hours YOLO!

*dead*

The Dead Sea Scrolls are the 972 earliest surviving texts of the Old Testament (produced between 408-318 BCE), found between 1947 and 1956 in several caves in the West Bank, along the coast of the Dead Sea. They are written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Nabatean. I went to the exhibit a few months ago, if they pass through your city, it's definitely worth checking out.

Earlier this year, archaeologists discovered 35 small pyramids, grave sites and a number of artifacts in Sudan, dating back 2000 years or so to the kingdom of Kush. But what struck me the most while reading about it at the time was this discovery, an inscription in ancient Meroitic at one of the graves they found -- archaeologists believe "aba-la" means grandma. The further removed we are from the past, the easier it is to forget they were regular people who lived and grieved just like we do: Oh Isis! Oh Osiris! It is Aba-la. Make her drink plentiful water; Make her eat plentiful bread; Make her be served a good meal.

You should have seen his speech just now, I'll post a vid as soon as it's up. He said he's Kuwait under attack and the city councillors are Iraq, and that the next election will be war, among other incoherent things.