Mr Johnny B called and here I come (albeit late). I have missed this place and missed all of you. But social media seems to have rendered discussion forums obsolete, more so that the type of propaganda you complain about is more prevalent here than in social media (there it's a simple line, here an essay). Still, since Holac's idea of summoning ghosts works, how about we call more back? @N.O.R.F @Juxa @Serenity @Abtigiis @xiinfaniin @Jacaylbaro @nuune @STOIC @Valantinah (well that didn't work)

So, in typical geel jire style, I joined everyone else that ran away to Facebook. It's great. You get to see people, be open and post selfies while standing next to someone's elses expensive car. Alas, it's not SOL. There is no mystery to it and I am starting to miss that. I want to have a heated argument with a random name only to discover later that he was made a minister in Somalia. I want to interact with school kids and watch them grow up to be parents. I want to talk to Sweedish rascals about god and the universe. I want SOL. So here's me sending an SOS to all the scattard nomads; come back, it's raining here. (hello all).

2016 - Hargeisa, Somaliland Members of the Kulmiye Party have complained to the British Government about the level of aid and assistance it provides to the Somaliland Armed Forces. Mr Hersi Ali Haji Adan, a former minister in the Kulmiye Government and a current opposition MP, complained that the administration of Mr Faisal Ali Warabe’s UCID party has led the Somaliland people down the garden path. “When we ruled the country, we were fair and listened to the complaints of our opposition. However, Mr Warabe with the subtle collusion of the Wadani Party, has refused to listen to any of our experienced misgivings about his unconstitutional use of our armed forces in curbing demonstrations all around Somaliland”. Muse Bihi Abdi, the chairman and current leader of the party has also expressed his annoyance with Mr Warabe’s actions. “This government is trying to destroy everything we worked hard to build in the last six years. They have already disbanded the RRU, are attempting to reverse the free school attendance for primary school kids and want to renege some of the treaties and memos of understanding that we have with some of our friends abroad. Our sources also tell us that they have been having secret correspondence with the administration in Somalia regarding a covert plan for reunification”. Both the Somaliland and British governments refused to make a comment. 2022 – Hargeisa, Somaliland Jamal Ali Hussein who recently won the elections as the leader of the Kulmiye Party has denounced the actions of his former colleagues in attempting to force the UK government to take sides on the dispute over the Naaso Hablood 18 May decorations. “This is a celebration of our independence and as the president of this proud country, I believe there is nothing wrong with colouring those two erectly proud mountains with the Somaliland flag” said president Jamal. Muse Bihi Abdi, the current Ucid Party leader (and former Kulmiye chairman) expressed his bemusement at the reactions of the president. “We are not opposing the celebration of 18 May or the draping of the flag on those two mountains. What we object to is the involvement of the UK government in providing funds for such a trivial action. Somaliland has a national annual budget and the government should be using that instead of begging for outside assistance. Alas, we believe that this government has squandered most of its Budget when building the new presidential palace on the outskirts of Berbera”. Hersi Ali Haji Adan, the leader of the Wadani Party has joined Mr Bihi Abdi in condemning the government for its actions. “Why beg from the UK when we can borrow from Dahabshiil?” asked Mr Hersi. Both the Somaliland and British governments refused to make a comment. 2045 – Hargeisa, Somaliland Ali Tafara the leader of the small Somaliland Oromo Party (Orom-Somali) has been elected as leader of the breakaway tiny Horn of Africa state. In his acceptance speech he highlighted the hard work and dedication of the Somaliland people and thanked the many previous leaders that made it possible for him to be the first Oromo to be elected as leader in this blessed land. “We were an oppressed minority” he said “we didn’t have a voice and couldn’t defend our interests. But the wise leaders of Somaliland, by implementing laws and procedures that forbade discrimination and racism along clan, gender and ancestral lines allowed our small community to flourish and take full part in the Somaliland political process. We won this election because of our vision for a healthy and hopeful future for this great country of ours. We won because we opposed oppression and have promised to disband the dreaded RRU that was and remains a British fifth column”. The British government refused to make a comment. 20100 – Hargeisa, The United Yemeni Republic In a hotly contested election, Mr Fadi Abu Shanab of the Kulmiye Party beat Mr Bashar Al Hadrami of the UCID Party by 80 votes. The UCID party have demanded a recount and accused the British Government of colluding with Mr Abu Shanab. The British government refused to make a comment.

Oh look, a monkey! Ama dhakar, ama daa. Sheikh Coofle, waan ku salaamay saaxib.

Heh. Sayid, one must move with the times. (Eid Mubarak by the way).

If you build it, they will come.

Tallaabo, for one day only I plan to bring most of them back. Watch this space. Heh.

We are not dead, Tallaabo. We were on a break. I am now back.

^^^^ I've only been away for a few months. Yes, Underdog. We should. Heh.

Thanks guys. GT, can anyone do business with JB & Nuune? One is always on his phone and the other has no address (last time I spoke to him he was in Russia). Heh.

I heard Xiin abandoned everything to do with Somalia and is not concentrating his energies on becoming a US Senator. Ma run baa? A&T ran away with a buxom NGO and is now living in South Africa under the assumed name Adam Joseph (he changes his last name to Yusuf whenever he meets Somalis). Xaaji Xundjuf has been arrested by the Siilaanyo adminstration for mistakingly posting fale news about a new cabient reshuffle. LST's been deported for tourturing a house cat that turned its nose up at him. Inta kale war o ma hayo (except for Jacaylbaro and Nuune; lakin taasi waa top secret).

These are the first lines from an ancient Arabic poem by Imru Al Qays. The poem describes him returning to an old place in the desert where the lady he loved used to live. However, as is the custom of beduins, her clan had moved away by the time he and his companions had returned. Today is the second days of Eid and as is my habit in all happy occassions, I always look back on older days and places (like the poet) and remember people I liked, places I've missed and memories I loved. So, here I am you bunch of rascals. Is anyone still here or have you all moved away like Imru Al Qays's disloyal lover? Eid Mubarak to whomever is left.

The plot thickens!

It wasn't enough that he went strolling around town and walking into random mosques to pray. Now, Xaaji Siilaanyo has pushed it one further and went for a swim in Berbara. Peace is going swimmingly. Heh.

Khayer, it probably is. But that has nothing to do with Clan being EVERYTHING. Wax fahan. <cite> @Reeyo said:</cite> Ngonge, you have guessed right, I did sit through the Somali one and left disappointed, swearing never to 'expect' and demand a logical analysis of Somalia from him, naturally I didn't bother with the other, especially as it was held in that 'oriental' mental slavery uni. I felt deceived and felt I was participating in an intellectual hoax. Now you tell me he was playing the whiteman disguise?? So his performance in front of a Somali audience, speaking in his native tongue was watered down on purpose? He went out of his way to ensure we (Us poor average Somali) couldn't not engage with his 'research' nor his high rational analysis of the current economic situation of Somalia? So he gave us the makhayad talk instead believing we couldn't comprehend anything? He was suppose to share findings, actual objective data and evaluation of various developments in SL, local/national political trends, education, trade, cultural? I think you made my opinion of him grow worst, he 'preforms' in English in front of 'scholars and students'. Like I said, different subjects and different approaches. I didn't reply in order to change your opinion about his personality, approach or politics. I simply wanted to challenge the idea that he was NOT an intellectual. And again, if you expected him to be whiter than white or that all his listeners would agree with every word he says, it wasn't an intellectual you needed but a prophet. Wax fahan.

By referring to "Wahabi" hats, he left himself open to any attacks from Kheyr or anyone else. My hat, my choice indeed. Heh.

Hassan, it's not "elitism" you oaf, it's simply being literate. <cite> @Reeyo said:</cite> Awoowee I think we were both in the same audience but have heard two very different man. Maybe I had high expectations but he made little if any logical arguments. His speechs were predictable and I can easily sit in Somali shaah shop and get better explanations of issues that face Somalis. As for the 'serious questions' and people's egos, he fell in the same category, little sense, no coherence and nothing FACTUAL or OBJECTIVE. I honestly don't care what country he promotes or about his politics, I just wanted a Somali intellectual to make an appearance. You must have gone to his Somali lecture. I too felt that one was watered down and didn’t offer any new insights. After all, he was preaching to the converted and didn’t need to exert himself much, they would have lapped up any old tosh anyway. However, even with the lack of original ideas, I still felt he was eloquent and erudite enough to listen to for another hour or two. The English lecture at SOAS was much better. Obviously, I didn’t take notes (though the students around me were frantically typing every single word in their laptops); however, I got the gist of his lecture and enjoyed the very scholarly presentation. This one was about answering the question concerning Somalis being partners for development. It wasn’t one about allegiance to Somaliland or Somalia and he used his experience and knowledge of political economy to reach the (obvious) answer. It was full of statistics, facts and details about the economies of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. It attempted to view the Somali economy from Hobbesian and Keynesian perspectives (in a downwards scale that goes from one to the other). This was the main body of his lecture and I’m sure it was illuminating even for students of Development and Economy, never mind the average Somali. Here, he was also forthcoming with his answers because his audience was not a Somaliland one that would clap every time he said the word “Somaliland” (I exaggerate of course). He knew his audience was mainly made of scholars and students and he delivered better thought replies and expanded on unclear ideas. For example, someone asked him about his old Hiil Qaran party and the reasons of abandoning it. He, of course, repeated the same answer about losing faith with the current Somali government and how he discovered the chronic level of clannism that exists in the Somali capital. However, he still insisted that he fully supports the party and hopes those that are running it today will someday see their efforts come to fruition. He was very scathing about Hassan Sheikh and Somali politician in general (including those in Somaliland). He used the Yusra story to illustrate their shortcomings and gave a hint that but for this he probably would not have abandoned the Somali cause. Now, if such delivery, such rhetoric, such ability to entrance in audience with reasoned and cultured discourse is not your idea of a heavy weight intellectual, I fear you’ve mistaken intellectuals for prophets my dear.

The professor recently visited London and I had the fortune of attending both his lectures (one in Somali and another in English). The Somali lecture was, obviously, about Somaliland and Somaliland’s future. The English one was to answer a question about Somalia being a useful economic partner in the Horn (or something along those lines). I am usually not one that gets swayed by personalities or suffers from pangs of hero worship. However, I did find the professor an interesting, eloquent and logical man. I enjoyed both lectures (for different reasons) and, at times, believed him to be chasing a futile dream. Still, the reason I took the trouble to log in and reply was that I found myself tickled by the originator of this thread and his promise to ask a “serious” question (I recently picked up the habit of only reading the site rather than participating; call it a sabbatical). In both lectures that I attended, there were lots of people with their hands up and all were dying to ask their versions of these “serious” questions. In the Somali one, when the question and answer session began, a man put his hand up, was asked to speak, stood up waving a couple of books in the air (and giving us the impression that he’ll dive straight into a long and convoluted history lesson) only to say “Professor, labadan buug baan qoray, ma ku siiyaa?” In the English lecture, another guy got up and gave a long rant about the inviolability of Somali Unity. The professor and the chair of the meeting kept asking him “what’s your question” and he strung them along with the words “It is coming, it’s coming” without asking a single question at the end of a tediously predictable and dull tirade. So, my advice to you is to go to and listen to the man speak. If you’re serious and dispassionate, you will actually enjoy his delivery and style (regardless of his somewhat idealistic political opinions). p.s. I, of course, disagree with the man because he still has not grasped the fact that Clan IS Everything.

^^ War why can't I search for older topics? Waxaan qornay oo dhan ma hawoo noqday, duqa?

Can one access older topics?

Fantastic Farole - A Nomad's Perspective on Puntland's Former Leader The past five years in Somali politics have been amazing and full of major changes. We had the whole drama of preparing to move Somalia from having a transitional government to the one it has now. We had the ugly emergence of Al Shabab. We had the endless problems with piracy and the awful interest it attracted from other parts of the world. We’ve had the (proper) elections in Somaliland and the hope they gave to others that Somalis are able to conduct FULL, peaceful and real elections. We also had all those conferences to work towards a peaceful and functioning Somalia.Sheikh Sharif may claim to have played a big part in all of this. Farmajo may point to his own short reign as PM and try to claim some of the glory for himself. The new PL president may argue that it was all down to him. In fact, almost every other prominent Somali politician can brag about their part in all of this. However, the one and only constant that towers above all is the troublesome Imam.Farole had a hand in everything and tried to have a say in every subject concerning Somalia (and a few that didn’t). They may call the great Imam, Farole, but his hand reached all parts of Somali politics.He played a major part in creating the Somali Constitution. Played a part getting rid of incompetent Somali administrations and he even managed to fight and defeat his own version of Al Shabab.Farole was troublesome, prickly and quarrelsome. He was not short of an enemy or two (up to and including comedians and caricaturists) but he seemed to relish his job and enjoy the conflicts. It was also very clear that he had Puntland’s interest at heart and would fight tooth and nail to ensure PL got what it deserved.Some might argue that the Imam hindered the political process and slowed Somalia from achieving its goals. This, in time, may turn out to be true. However, as it’s still an unproven supposition, I choose to go the other way and argue that his clashes and tussles with other Somali politicians and leaders may have actually helped in speeding up and advancing the reconciliation process.The Imam exposed their incompetence, showed up their naivety and put them all on the spot whenever they trod on his toes with some ill thought argument or policy. He alerted the Somali public and the International Community to the various shortcomings of whomever was in charge of Somalia at the time. Yet, he also praised, met, shook hands and smiled in photo opportunities with his various foes whenever he met them.So now, the Imam’s job is done (prematurely in his opinion) and he has to sit back and watch how Somali politics will unfold without him to prod, cajole and push it into shape. Will his successor manage to build up the same gravitas and have a similar aura to that the Imam has? Will Somali politics start to operate a couple of octaves lower than it did when the Imam was at its centre? Will PL keep its autonomy in the same way it did under the Imam or will his successor throw his lot fully in with Somalia?The one thing that I am sure about is that the Imam will keep on following Somali politics very closely and will be shouting at his TV screen the words “Ma Dhici Karto” every time a new Somali scandal or event takes place.By NGONGENGONGE is a Somalia Online contributor and a long time member http://www.somaliaonline.com/bulsho2/fantastic-farole-a-nomads-perspective-on-puntlands-former-leader/

Alle-ubaahne;981321 wrote: Waryaa Ngonge, waan ku salaamay. Haye, ma baratay sida af-soomaaliga loogu hadlo, mise wali sidii baa laguu turjumayaa? lol Ii waran duqa. Xagaanan ka baran? Heesaan qora nooh!

^^ Thanks xaaji.

^^ I plan to go to Haj next year inshaallah.

^^ Ismaan fasaxin, waa qaxaay ninyaho. But I thought I'd come back and see if things have improved. It's nice to take time out from things from time to time.