QansaxMeygaag;980637 wrote: Even Nuruddin Farah stopped traveling on the Somali passport after years of valiantly trying to use it - harrowing, harrowing. He wrote movingly about it, I forget which essay it was. It is difficult enough if you are Somali and traveling on other passports.... Can you find this essay? I'd love to read it.

Apophis;980612 wrote: Anyone can participate in a marathon dear. Your trolling is boring. Bye!

Apophis;980603 wrote: OK fattie, rationalise it which ever way hides the reality. Just trying to add to my finisher medal collection, dear

Apophis;980598 wrote: All done and more. A strong mind and will makes everything possible. PS: to the fatties, no amount of gyming will cut that blubber. Start by being less gluttonous and eat no more than 1 or 2 meals a day. Some of us have actual fitness goals (building/maintaining muscle and endurance, improving cardiovascular health, speed, etc) that you can't achieve with the starvation diet of a skinny Faarax like yourself. You impress no one with your negativity.

Sorry Khadafi! There's still time, think positive Now to review my resolutions again (red was my mid-year update, will do this review in blue)... Safferz;957506 wrote: 1) distance myself from or cut off unhealthy/toxic people - yes ; still staying strong and continuing to surround myself with great people/positivity 2) get my summer body back - LOLOLOL ; on it! not in time for summer 2013 unfortunately, but since getting back from Ethiopia I've totally transformed my eating habits and I'm back to working out 5-6x a week after a year or so of being pretty inactive. currently considering joining a Crossfit box... 3) get an oud and learn to play - working on it ; was working on getting one, which still hasn't happened. will look into it but I'm less interested these days. 4) overall commitment to self-care (ie. sleep 8 hours a night, drink more water, etc) - somewhat ; YES! 5) cook more often - fail ; hell yes, #2,4,5 all sort of fell into place together. I've only bought two meals in the last 6 weeks or so. 6) host people for get togethers at my apartment more often - somewhat ; no, I've become a antisocial recluse since going back to school this fall, too busy preparing for my comprehensive exams. 7) use reference management software to keep track of my reading and citations - fail ; fail 8) win at least one research grant to travel this summer - BALLIN' ; so that trip is over, but I'm currently working on a few other grant applications due this fall and should hear back about in the spring *fingers crossed* 9) start training for a half-marathon in spring 2014 - to be resumed after epic research trip ; so now that I'm running again, I'm planning to enter the draw for the Nike Women's half in DC in April, and if not, will be doing the Goodlife Fitness half in Toronto in May

*bump* As of tomorrow, it's three months + 1 day until 2014! A perfect 12 weeks. It's an entire quarter of a year. A lot can happen. How are things going three quarters into 2013? Any plans/goals to accomplish in the next three months?

Tallaabo;980572 wrote: Saffy, babies can twerk;) I love it Incidentally, this morning's workout playlist:

Alpha Blondy;980550 wrote: i'm contemplating whether i should take a 'sickie' from work tomorrow. maxa tala ah, y'all? p.s - the bloody internet connection doesn't work there. I'm all for skipping work, but I've also never held a job longer than three months so I'm probably not the best person to listen to.

Oiler;980450 wrote: I didn't dismiss their research but rather wanted to know more about that research. How was the information/data collected and what methods were used. That's why I linked you to sources from the organizations themselves detailing how they compile their data. I don't work for them, so I don't know the specifics of how they collect information (and every organization will do it differently), I only have a general idea of what statistical/quantitative research entails. fdama;980456 wrote: I only have 2 kids Alhamdullilah. Two boys and that is it. I am a Software Consultant, the wife is currently a housewife getting back to work soon. We have a nice house in a nice neighbourhood, a Mercedes for me and recently a VW for the wife. I send the boys to private, fee paying schools. I also pay for private tuition to ensure their success. We go for holidays abroad twice a year,most recently to Malaysia. I buy for them, what they need, but make sure never to spoil them. You may think we are your typical Western family. This is the life. You generally cannot have this lifestyle with 5, 6,7+ children. You'll have to buy a bigger house and put them into state schools. Not to mention the headache of running a large household. For get about the holidays too. It's just a holiday, but it adds to the well-being and the bonding of the family The family will generally be happier and the kids will have more of a chance in life than their counterparts who have numerous siblings. Personally, I detest those men who use their wives as baby-making machines. And worst of all, when they are needed, they are nowhere to be found. And I hate those women who starve their households for the monthly Ayuuto/Hagbad. This is why a lot of Somalis are in the shit here in the UK. Large families, living in inner city ghettos with kids attending some of the worst schools. Its a cruel vicious cycle. Finally, some sense in this thread. Reeyo;980474 wrote: Allah will provide, You all sound like you swallowed a whiteman's family guide book. I grow up in a big family and every day I am thankful. Probably the most abused and distorted Islamic belief by Muslims to justify their irresponsibility, as though it's Islam that tells them that faith alone is enough and that life doesn't require planning and foresight. "Trust in Allah, but tie your camel" - Prophet Muhammad (to a man who left his camel untied and when asked why, said because I trust Allah)

Alpha Blondy;980435 wrote: inabti, you're the one being a smartass. the calabashe is from Sidam, Ethiopia. after king Meneleke II's great southern expedition, it was exported to the South and subsequently to Lake Tukana region and to then eventually north-western Kenya. you found it in a nairobi tourism shop ee naga aamus.

I was wondering how many of them were Somalis when I heard the news yesterday. Sad

Alpha Blondy;980430 wrote: purchased in Nairobi probably but not indigenous to Kenya. Southern Ethiopia, actually. it seems someone ought to do their homework better, ma istidhi? Of course it's indigenous to Kenya, there are many societies that make use of calabashes as containers and instruments. Stop trying to be a smartass :mad: Day 2 of sleeping/getting up early, I was up at 7am, got a workout in and cleaned my entire apartment before 8:30. Like a BOSS

Wadani;980404 wrote: Uff..kaasi cilaawi birkimo qaniin ah buu ahaa. Balse kamuu macaashin oo wuxu ka mid noqday dadkii ugu horayay ee u dhinta cudurka xun. And besides his writing was super dense and almost impenetrable. Who cares? His personal life is irrelevant, it's his work and ideas that matter and there are few theorists who have had the impact of Foucault in the humanities and social sciences.

Haatu;980399 wrote: Schooling is fine but what the hell are you talking about sxb? SomaliPhilosopher reads Michel Foucault (and others)

Wadani;980391 wrote: Saffz this is why you stay up so late. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200911/intelligence-the-evolution-night-owls :D There was also this interesting study that came out the other day, there are actual physical differences in the brains of early birds and night owls. "Chronic jet lag" is such a great term to describe how I feel during the day usually

Day 1 of trying to condition myself out of my extreme night owl ways, I was up at 7am this morning after actually going to bed last night 7am used to be my bedtime. Let's hope this sticks.

Cambuulo!!!

Oiler;980290 wrote: There are many that don't exactly follow what media is telling them and following information they're reading from authority figures. In the future if you're using some authority body to back your arguments, please break it down for the skeptics. Thanks That's not how it works. I have no problem citing figures from UNICEF or the WHO, neither do any of my colleagues or professors. It's not some uncited Wikipedia sentence, it's the United Nations. If you're the one who for some strange reason decides their research is faulty, then the onus is on *you* to show the flaws in the data. Haatu;980309 wrote: I don't understand why Safferz is equating poor maternal healthcare with large families. The former is the result of lack of health services due to state collapse. Simply saying "well they should have less kids if there's no health clinics" doesn't solve the problem, it just delays its impacts. Y'all need to stop reading selectively -- I didn't equate poor maternal health with high birth rate, but there is certainly a correlation.

Alpha Blondy;980333 wrote: one word: rudimentary voyeurism, for the lack of a better term of disgust. :mad: inabti, adigo mudane, please tell us the ethnic names, the intended uses and the symbolic values of the circled items above. i'm quite sure they weren't mean to adorn and enhance the appearance of your somewhat impressive bookshelf. we don't want to hear your reasons for displaying. there's no need to justify why you've bought them or how you came to own or where you purchased these items. we know that. we don't have the time to hear, in one of those classic Frank Gardner moments, the BBC's Security correspondent, and his ethnicised tone of 'been there, done that, bought that.... uppity BS' , particularly, in over-pronouncing local terms, local places in their local dialects, as thought somehow privy, to local activities. do you think you've gained a vantage point in appearing to be more 'cultured' by displaying these items for all to see? are you trying to tell us you've traveled to remote markets in the darkest depth of Africa, where people barter goods for US Dollars, to secure their ownership? quite frankly, it's disgusting. it's not impressive and i think the gallery would agree........ when i say oorad oo isaso aas. bloody voyeur! :mad: That would be a dhiil from Somaliland on the left, and a calabash from Kenya on the right. I have a lot more stuff too that would piss you off, most recently I've added some beautiful wood sculptures from Ethiopia Don't hate because my apartment looks better than your furniture and art-less house :mad:

Coofle posted a thread below, with a radio interview with the mother. Unfortunately true

It's a beautiful day outside, and I'm stuck here at my desk doing work, writing at the speed of what feels like ten words an hour :mad:

Oiler;980266 wrote: Who is yo say I'm not a phd student in chemical engineering? But that's beside the point. Please do tell us how they gathered those stats (specific to those you provided in your previous relpy to Norf) Because a PhD student in chemical engineering knows better than to dismiss statistical data and the integrity of an entire discipline and the many that rely on it for research methods. I don't have time to do your homework for you (some of us aren't just hypothetical PhD students), go read the links I provided from UNICEF, UNESCO and the World Bank on their methodologies and they will tell you exactly how they've compiled and analyzed their data.

Tallaabo;980261 wrote: Made up?? What, you didn't know all those PhD holding statisticians, demographers, economists and epidemiologists who work for the United Nations and the World Bank just make sh*t up?

Oiler;980251 wrote: Hi, I would like to better understand this since I don't buy into stats. Would you happen to know how they gathered those stats, and who were asked? what was the sample? few people or the entire population? Can you be more specific about why you "don't buy into stats"? Do you have the background in theoretical and applied statistics and other quantitative research methods to debunk what people with PhDs in those fields have compiled and analyzed? I'd love to hear more. You can look up how individual NGOs and government agencies conduct research and collect data, but to give you an idea, here's UNICEF, UNESCO and the World Bank on their methodologies.

N.O.R.F;980243 wrote: The discussion was broadly on the economic reasons for family planning (home or abroad) before you threw in the health reasons (granted this more of a concern back home). My argument was focused more on the economic aspects of large families (home or abroad). Culturally, kids are an asset whilst in other countries kids can be portrayed as a burden (even with free schools). It is inevitable things will change for those of us living in the diaspora but more so for adoption of the local culture, lack of support (no village support) reasons rather than economic (the welfare state remains). And my angle was quality of life, of which health, financial resources, education, etc are all interrelated factors. You can't just talk about economics without talking about health, you can't talk about health without talking about education, you can't talk about education without talking about economics. I'm not disagreeing that Somalis value children (as social capital), what I'm disputing is your point that children generate actual economic wealth back home, when all the indicators point to the contrary. There is a correlation between high birth rate and poverty (and the trend is similar for large families in Western countries, though there are exceptions), that's not really up for debate.