Cambuulo iyo bun;954792 wrote: loool true lacagta shalay bey timi :D http://www.arabinstruments.com/112730/Turkish-Acoustic-Oud-CAT-T1114 I want pics of the real thing! I emailed a guy I know in Jordan for the summer and another in Egypt to keep an eye out for an oud for me, since I expect them to be cheaper in Arabta. But if they can't do it for me, I'm going to buy the one on the site too

Haatu;954750 wrote: Saff, this is all for fun sis. I know ur joking.

Great thread. Does anyone have any suggestions for not losing fitness and staying healthy while back home (Somalia/Somali territories)? It's not like I can just go out for a run (as a woman), and the two months I'll be away is a long time to be inactive. I also don't eat Somali food as my regular diet lol, way too many carbs for me.

Back to sleep.

I don't like hurting people's feelings dee, even those with crusty, black feet.

Sorry Haatu

I have two organizations I donate to once a month.

Tallaabo and I can talk about whatever we want :mad: And you are the one who sexualizes every comment I make, even a comment about your ugly foot is reinterpreted as something more, foot fetish kulaha :mad: Anyway I'm going to a birthday party tonight and haven't yet picked a gift... I'm considering a gift card to my favourite curly hair salon because this girl needs help wallahi, but the question is will she appreciate that or will she know I'm telling her she needs to fix her hair? lool

Tallaabo;954680 wrote: Dear Saf, you will get away from the boys but then how would you deal with the girls? And I don’t mind being judged soo daa baan ku idhi. lol I don't know about the gay clubs where you are, but the ones I've been too have been full of men. Plus I'm sure it's easy to detect a group of girlfriends out for the night are straight I don't go anymore though, I think these clubs are supposed to be safe spaces for gay people to interact and enjoy themseves and I don't want to take up space. Haatu's thighs are fine, it's the dhuxul foot he has in common with Alpha that troubles me

A beautifully absurd political fracas, replete with heroin dealers, gunplay, KKK members, a plot to overthrow the island of Dominica, and of course our crack smoking mayor. Good morning Toronto.

BOOM! The Globe and Mail delivers their bombshell: Globe investigation: The Ford family’s history with drug dealing GREG MCARTHUR AND SHANNON KARI The Globe and Mail Published Saturday, May. 25 2013, 3:00 AM EDT Last updated Saturday, May. 25 2013, 2:54 AM EDT This investigative report reveals that: Doug Ford, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s brother, sold hashish for several years in the 1980s. Another brother, Randy, was also involved in the drug trade and was once charged in relation to a drug-related kidnapping. Their sister, Kathy, has been the victim of drug-related gun violence. In the 1980s, anyone wanting to buy hashish had to know where to go. And in central Etobicoke, the wealthy Toronto suburb where Mayor Rob Ford grew up, one of those places was James Gardens. In the evening, the sports cars often wound along Edenbridge Drive, past the gated homes and the lawn-bowling pitches, until they reached the U-shaped parking lot. By nightfall, the public park was a hash drive-thru. One former street dealer, whom we will call “Justin,” described the scene as “an assembly line.” There were usually a number of dealers to choose from, some of them supplied by a mainstay at James Gardens – a young man with the hulk-like frame and mop of bright blond hair: Doug Ford. “Most people didn’t approach Doug looking for product. You went to the guys that he supplied. Because if Doug didn’t know you and trust you, he wouldn’t even roll down his window,” Justin said. Today, Mr. Ford is a member of Toronto’s city council – and no ordinary councillor. First elected in 2010 as his brother was swept into the mayor’s office, he has emerged as a truly powerful figure at City Hall –– trying to overhaul plans for Toronto’s waterfront less than a year after arriving. He also has higher aspirations, and has said he wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, Doug Ford Sr., by running in the next provincial election as a Conservative. Meanwhile, he serves as his brother’s de facto spokesman. As Toronto is gripped by allegations that its mayor was captured on a homemade video smoking what appears to be crack cocaine and his office descends into disarray – his chief of staff was fired on Thursday – Doug Ford has been the only person to mount a spirited public defence of his largely silent sibling. On Friday, after the Mayor finally made a statement about the accusation, he was the one who fielded questions from the press. Well before the events of the past week, The Globe and Mail began to research the Ford brothers in an effort to chronicle their lives before rising to prominence in Canada’s largest city. Over the past 18 months, it has sought out and interviewed dozens of people who knew them in their formative years. What has emerged is a portrait of a family once deeply immersed in the illegal drug scene. All three of the mayor’s older siblings – brother Randy, 51, and sister Kathy, 52, as well as Doug, 48 – have had ties to drug traffickers. Ten people who grew up with Doug Ford – a group that includes two former hashish suppliers, three street-level drug dealers and a number of casual users of hash – have described in a series of interviews how for several years Mr. Ford was a go-to dealer of hash. These sources had varying degrees of knowledge of his activities: Some said they purchased hash directly from him, some said they supplied him, while others said they observed him handling large quantities of the drug. The events they described took place years ago, but as mayor, Rob Ford has surrounded himself with people from his past. Most recently he hired someone for his office whose long history with the Fords, the sources said, includes selling hashish with the mayor’s brother. The Globe wrote to Doug Ford outlining what the sources said about him, and received a response from Gavin Tighe, his lawyer, who said the allegations were false. “Your references to unnamed alleged sources of information represent the height of irresponsible and unprofessional journalism given the gravely serious and specious allegations of substantial criminal conduct.” There’s nothing on the public record that The Globe has accessed that shows Doug Ford has ever been criminally charged for illegal drug possession or trafficking. But some of the sources said that, in the affluent pocket of Etobicoke where the Fords grew up, he was someone who sold not only to users and street-level dealers, but to dealers one rung higher than those on the street. His tenure as a dealer, many of the sources say, lasted about seven years until 1986, the year he turned 22. “That was his heyday,” said “Robert,” one of the former drug dealers who agreed to an interview on the condition he not be identified by name. Read the six page article HERE.

I came across this the other day, the storyline strikes me as the same poverty/war/disaster porn typical of films about Somalia, but K'naan is critical and intelligent so I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Word on the street is that the Globe & Mail will be dropping a bombshell Rob Ford story tomorrow.

Wadani;954618 wrote: Im more upset now after reading this bullshit from the Star than I was before. If I wasn't already thoroughly disillusioned with the myth of multiculturalism, integration and tolerance I would be mind boggled by this piece. Racist original article, followed by an ironically racist apology, from a racist newspaper. Disgusting. I need to get writing.

Chimera;954597 wrote: Their justifying it, then apologize in the same article? Strange logic. They missed the point of the critique, it's not about the frequency of their use of Somali, it's about the context and relevance of its very mention. Glad to see people are already following up and holding the Toronto Star to an even higher standard. And thanks Haatu, will send my baby brother your regards

Love Vietnam and southeast Asia, a friend of mine just went backpacking through the region and the photos were breathtaking. I think the countryside is far more beautiful than their cities though.

A response to the editor's column from Rima Berns McGown: Email to Kathy English, Public Editor of the Toronto Star, about her rationale for the Star’s use of “Somali” in its story about Ford and the crack video Dear Ms. English, Please understand that it is not just the Somali community that is upset by your reporters’ story on the Ford video, and that the issue goes far beyond the number of times the descriptor “Somali” is used. In brief, the real issue is that there is no context around their use of it. The reporters claim that given the paucity of details, it was important to provide as many as possible. The problem, again, is that without context, the one they did provide gives a very problematic impression: By “Somali”, did the men mean that they are Somali citizens with PR or shaky immigration status? Or did they mean that they are Canadian citizens, born in Canada or here since they were preschoolers? Or have they been in Canada since they were toddlers but without Canadian citizenship? These differences matter — and all of those people could be called “Somali” and be equally afraid of deportation, whether or not they are right to be fearful. It is important that your reporters bear in mind, every single solitary time they write a story about this community, that the barriers its members face are largely barriers that the wider Canadian society has created and that the media, including your paper, play a large part in nurturing: http://www.irpp.org/pubs/IRPPstudy/IRPP_Study_no38.pdf Every time your paper writes another story that blurs context, or perpetuates stigmatizing stereotypes (gangster, drug dealer, terrorist), you exacerbate the problem, and it’s ridiculous, because there are more Abdi Aidids (i.e., successful, caring young people) in the community than there are drug dealers or crackheads, but one wouldn’t know that from reading the Toronto Star — and if you asked most Canadians about the Somali community, what do you think they would say? That is a stereotype that you and other media outlets have created and for which you have to take responsibility. Context is everything, and it’s not only the Somali community that is noticing. I would be happy to discuss this further. Your paper’s reporting needs to get better. Best wishes, Rima Berns-McGown, PhD Adjunct Professor Department of Historical Studies University of Toronto Research Director, Imported Conflict Study The Mosaic Institute President Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs

Star overdid ‘Somali’ references in first report of drug dealers peddling Rob Ford crack video Members of Toronto’s Somali community were understandably distressed by the many mentions of “Somali” drug dealers in the Star’s first report of Rob Ford crack video allegations. By: Kathy English Public Editor, Published on Fri May 24 2013 As a member of a Toronto District School Board task force aimed at curbing the dropout rate for Somali students, Abdi Aidid well understands the sting of negative perceptions and the role the media can play in creating those perceptions. Aidid, 21, who begins studies at Yale University law school this fall, aims to make a difference in his community. Last week he sent a thoughtful email to the Star to express his concerns about our explosive May 17 Page 1 story about a cellphone video that appears to show Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine that is being shopped around Toronto “by a group of Somali men involved in the drug trade.” Aidid and numerous others in his community were distressed greatly by the many references to “Somali” drug dealers in the Star’s first report of the Ford crack video. They believe reporting that fact contributes to negative stereotypes and “criminalizes” the entire community. “At every stop, they point out that the individuals involved are Somali. ‘Somali’ appears 11 times in the article, exactly as many times as the word ‘crack,’ ” Aidid said. “I am deeply hurt by this. “Is it so salient a fact that it warrants mention as often as the drug in question?” That is a fair question. While there was no intent to hurt the Somali community overall, the Star’s journalists do understand the concerns that have been raised by the community this week. Certainly, further explanation from the Star is called for. As I told Aidid in a subsequent telephone call, three points are important: 1) The newsroom believes (and I agree) the fact that the men described themselves as part of the Somali community is relevant to the responsible reporting of this story; 2) the reporters and editors involved acknowledge the Star included too many references to that fact in its initial report written on deadline; and 3) most critical, in subsequent stories and columns, the Star rightly pulled back significantly from reporting the drug dealers’ background. Let’s look first at why the Star considers the Somali references fair to report here, in line with its “fair play” policy that “No reference, direct or indirect, should be made to a person’s colour, race, country of origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation or religion unless it is pertinent to the story.” The requirements of responsible journalism call for reporting as fully as possible on the sources. Given that these men are unidentified sources making serious allegations and peddling strong visual evidence of Ford apparently smoking crack, it was important that the Star give readers as much information as it can at this point about who these people are and what their motivation might be. A story with such far-reaching implications about the city’s mayor demands providing the facts that show readers that the Star has done its due diligence. As the story states, reporters Kevin Donovan and Robyn Doolittle had several meetings with these anonymous sources who frequently referred to themselves as Somalis. One of the men described himself repeatedly as an organizer in the Somali community. In discussions about making the video public, the men expressed fears about deportation. These are the facts. But I think in its zeal to make clear to readers that the story has been reported responsibly and give you as much information as possible, the Star went overboard with the many “Somali” references in its first story. I understand why Aidid and others in the Somali community were upset by that. As Aidid pointed out to me after I explained to him why the Star reported the details the drug dealers told reporters, there is journalistic responsibility on one hand and social responsibility on the other. “It is important that the Star not fall into the trap of criminalizing any certain community,” he told me. “Yes, we struggle as a community, but our lives are made harder by this sort of callousness and insensitivity.” We all agree greater sensitivity was called for. While the newsroom stands by its judgment of the relevance of the “Somali”references, numerous reports this week have made little mention of the sources’ background. That first troubling story, which was written in great haste on deadline, was revised shortly after publication with half of the “Somali” references edited out. “We realize the first version of the story used ‘Somali’ too heavily,” Managing Editor Jane Davenport told me. “We understand why the community is upset and we apologize.” Read here.

Haatu;954535 wrote: Cam, it's waay more comfortable than trousers man I feel that way about duruuc, it's the only clothing I'll wear at home and I even run quick errands in one if I'm too lazy to get dressed A girl at the grocery store complimented me on a purple dirac I was wearing with a cardigan last week lol

loool Haatu Apophis;954528 wrote: Fck this

Haatu;954503 wrote: Safferz, that's some nasty ish. What are we, Tallaabo? Alpha, I take the piss outta these Indians but I ain't gonna lie that Bangra thing is the shit. Just meant to show you that straight men don't twerk Oba showed me this vid, I thought it was an interesting mix of Indian and Somali lol 1:50 makes me miss oba

Haatu;954487 wrote: Safferz, I was dancing in class during a class party and there were screams of twerk from a few girls. I had no idea guys did it before I asked them afterwards (I was dancing Banghra the Punjabi dance, Alpha should give it a go ) I've never seen a straight man twerk.

Alpha Blondy;954480 wrote: can you shake 'that', laakin.......... Only on Twerk Tuesdays :mad: lool I recorded myself singing along to Shakira and just fell off the couch laughing at myself, I will NEVER post that here :D

Oba is the love of my life, ee siida ula soco :mad: Alphow I do a pretty good Shakira impression but I'm not prepared to Vocaroo myself singing like oba used to, he was so funny

Alpha Blondy;954466 wrote: can you PLEASE stop laughing at my attempts to show you affection.......its DESTROYING me, ma garatey.....:mad: I wasn't laughing AT you love, I think you're so funny sometimes Can someone please help me get this song out of my head, it's starting to interfere with my ability to function normally :mad: