The respect party has created an interesting but futile debate about Muslims and voting in the Western world. Our brothers at Hezb-Et-Tahrir have already gate-crashed one of George Galloway’s speeches and threatened him with death (allegedly). I’ve had a strange conversation with two Somali residents of the contested borough on Saturday. They pray at different mosques and each was following the line set by his Imam! One Imam apparently told the people in his mosque not to take part in this election and to ignore all the parties (even if they’re fielding Muslim candidates), while the other Imam told followers that there is no harm in voting and that they should do whatever they think will benefit the Muslims in that area! A logical man would probably choose to participate in this election and hope that his vote would make a difference. A cautious man would probably decide to take the safer option and abstain from voting! A militant will probably go round scaremongering and promising undecided people eternal damnation. While the extremist ‘moderates’ will be trying to convince people that Islam is a religion of fairness and ease and that it should not be allowed to be hijacked by the fundamentalists in our midst! The logical and cautious men will only be relying on their intellect to make a choice; the others will all have proof from the Quran and Sunna! Who really is right and who is wrong? Is there middle way whereby all could be right? Could they all be wrong? If this was not enough, the Labour candidate (Ms Oona King) is accusing the Respect Party of spreading vicious rumours about her! Allegedly, some Muslim supporters of that party are informing resident Muslims of her Jewish origin and attempting to dissuade them from voting for her on that basis alone! We’re yet to receive orders from our Salafi, Wahabi, Ahlo-Ul-Sunna-Wal-Jamaaca, Hezb-Ut-Tharir, Muslim-Brotherhood, Mahajroon, Shica or even Al Qaida mentors on how to vote for Jewish members of parliament! Of course, this whole saga is not that important and the Muslim vote might probably make no difference even if it was cast! The serious problems stem from the fact that Muslims seem to be confused and that many opportunists, dogmatists and well-intentioned individuals are sending out all sorts of conflicting messages to the ordinary people living in that borough. Such a charade makes one question his own faith. Are we following the correct sect? Are these so-called Mullahs knowledgeable enough or are they bamboozling us all with selective verses from the Quran and Sunna and hoping that we will not notice? How should one proceed? Like the topic about shaking hands with strangers, would good intention alone suffice here? Though the issue is an Islamic one, it’s quite ironic that both candidates contesting this election are not.

The powers that be in SOL have decided to let in 155 new souls into this rickety little place. Now, it’s not my place to criticise the admin’s wisdom in this nor am I here to do that. However, if every new person started a thread announcing their arrival into this site, we will be overrun with topics of ‘I’m new on this site, can everyone welcome me’! I’m not sure if any of these new people know that I like to be the centre of attention here and that I refuse to surrender my prom queen title to any of them. Those that don’t know now know so cut it out and if you have to announce your arrival, have the good grace to run it by me first. We really don’t want to start on the wrong foot on our first day at school, do we now? Aha! Before I sign of this thread, I would like to also request (newbies can read it as ‘order’) all those that take part in this thread to give more information about themselves and what they hope (or know, if you’re the cocky type) that they’ll bring into this forum. Be imaginative, be straight and show us what you’ve got. PS I suppose, for face sake, I’ll have to reluctantly say welcome to you all. PPS Notice all the strange adverts appearing at the bottom of the screen as you read this thread? What’s that all about? If the site receives any commission when the Nomads click on any, I think the admin should inform us. We’ve got 155 new victims to blood here.

To be honest, these days there is a total lack of good players not only in England but the world over. It's a real shame. As for this cup final, I have a feeling that the North London boys are going to win it. United, despite all of the great players they have, have really not be that good this season. If we judge them on form alone, most people will have to agree that Wenger's boys seem to be the in-form team. Should be a good final but not as good as the one between Liverpool and Milan (notice how I've been sticking my neck out lately?).

I thought my joke was x-rated! :rolleyes: That poem comes across as very blunt (almost bordering on vulgar)! *whispers* that’s the way I like them. Sue, it’s N-GONE-GAY (with a soft emphasis on the final part).

quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Really? This is news to me. What evidence do you (or anyone else) have to prove your aforementioned statement? For example, were you present the day the Yemenis miraculously invented the 'dirac'? More importantly, how do you explain the prevalence of the 'dirac' in Somali culture? How prevalent is the 'dirac' in Yemeni culture today? P.S. Since we Somalis like to eat bananas with our lunch, does this tradition also come to us from across the Gulf of Aden? Just curious.. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sometimes sarcasm is a very accurate way of replying. Wind, thank you for showing just ludicris that assertion was. This is an inane subject that I would not normally condescend to address, however, every once in a while the thoughtless sneering and the misuse of sarcasm manage to bug me and draw me into such topics. Why do you suppose it to be a ludicrous assertion, saaxib? It might not prove true or even a proof might not be found, but it’s in no way a ludicrous assertion, saaxib. In the absence of any proof (from either side), one has to make an educated guess. As far as I’m aware, there does not seem to be any literature or history regarding the origins of Somali ‘diracs’! What we do know is the origin of the word itself (dirac). In classical Arabic (or Fosxa) Dirac for females was a form of dress shaped exactly in the same way as a Somali dirac (though not necessarily of the same material)! A dirac for a man on the other hand, was the metal armour that they wore when going to war. The female application of the word is still widely in use today. In addition - and I’m still on my guessing trail by the way – Somalis when referring to traditional female clothing (all that dhaqan stuff), usually cite some other ghastly attire as being our cultural form of dress. Of course I might be mistaken here and I’m sure that you’ll gladly correct me, but in my experience, I’ve never come across ‘dirac’ being lumped in the same category as those half naked dresses (traditionally speaking). The Arabs of southern Yemen wear diracs, call them dircas and treat them as their traditional clothes! I’m humming an old favourite whimsical love song of theirs in which the lover is describing the beauty of his beloved’s grey dirac and malkhamd! (Yes, that too seems to be a word they use – though they pronounce it ‘maq-rama’) Still, none of the above proves that this form of dress is of Yemeni origin, but, if anything, it only shows that the sister’s contention above was not as implausible as you seemed to think.

^^^ An organisation to enlighten people about sexual diseases is always needed. This is all I could really say in regards to this thread. For I know that if I started to question the article and speculate, I’ll end up blaming David Livingston for abusing the snake that in turn bit a monkey, which was eventually eaten by the pigmy tribe. I don’t want to go there, do you?

Originally posted by Northerner: ^^^did i get it wrong?? Or was it her sharing the toothbrush :confused: not a medical expert :mad: This reminded me of the joke about the young boy who walked into a brothel clutching a frog, saaxib. Those that suffer from a nervous disposition can look away now. The boy strolled in and demanded that the Madam pairs him with her filthiest, most disease-ridden lady of the night. The madam was shocked and exclaimed ‘ but you’re only a young boy, son’! The boy took a bundle of crisp dollars out of his pocket, waved it in her face and demanded she summon the harlot. Faced with so much money, the madam could not resist the boy’s offer. She called her sweetest looking girl and asked her to accompany this young gentleman but to be gentle with him. The next day, the boy returned. He was still clutching the dead frog and was real angry. He accused the madam of cheating him the previous day and demanded to be paired off with her filthiest girl. The madam tried to reason with him by telling him how he’s throwing his whole life away and that if his urge was that strong, she wouldn’t mind pairing him off with one of her best girls. The boy took out an even bigger bundle of money and waved it in her face. He demanded that he be shown the filthiest girl in the establishment and that if he got cheated again, he’s going (with his money) to another establishment. The old madam finally relented and brought out her worst girl. This girl was so disease ridden that she was a mere pale shadow of a woman. The boy was ecstatic! He followed her to an upstairs bedroom and half an hour later, emerged with a beaming smile on his face. The madam sarcastically asked him if he was happy now that he too was as contaminated as her working girl was. He told her that he indeed was, and started walking towards the door. Just as he was reaching the door, the Madam called him and asked him to do her one final favour. What do you want? Said the boy! I want to ask you why did you want a diseased girl, she said. Oh, that? Said the boy. I wanted to sleep with this diseased girl, so that when I got back home and got in bed with the nanny, she’ll catch my disease and pass it on to my dad when he sneaks into her bedroom at night. He in turn will pass the disease to mummy later on; and she, that painted jezebel; she will pass it on to the milkman! Madam’s don’t shock too easy, but this one was astounded by the boy’s story. She superstitiously fanned herself, gulped and then said: but where does this dead frog come into all of this? The boy, now looking miserable and trying to control his tears said: the S.tupi.d milkman is the one who murdered my frog :mad: ----------------------------------------------- Heh. This joke was in response to Northerner’s story above. But I can also appreciate how it, unintentionally might add, fits in with the whole theme of this thread.

QL pointed out that HIV/AIDS doesnt come about from sex only. I heard a story about a wadhaad and his family who all became infected. It was a mistery for a few years how they could have become infected. Then it was realised that they had a maid/servant back home. This maid/servant cooked for the family each day. She had a tendancy to cut her fingers whilst cutting the various meats/vegs etcs. The family unknowing kept eating her food for years and got HIV/AIDS. It was only at a GP check up that the father was found to have the disease then the whole family were found also to have it. The family were not Somali but this shows that NO ONE is 100% safe.

^^^^ I'm good, real good. The sidekick thing is shared equally between you two. PS I like the way that when your cooking ability was exposed, you tried to compensate by 'showing off' your Somali ability.

Tsk tsk! Young women these days, they all can't cook anymore (I'm including your sidekick here by the way). I bet all your curries are watery and people usually mistake them for soup! Here is an idea; when you finally find your Somali restaurant, ask the Chef to throw in a demonstration on how to cook a certain dish (one that you don’t know how to make yourself :rolleyes: ). Many restaurants do that you see. Your colleagues will be impressed and you’ll learn how to cook. PS Take your sidekick with you.

^^^ go on, me son.

Pfffft! At least if you cooked (if you can cook that is) you'll be able to take the glory of a meal well made, instead of the reflected glory of using a Somali restaurant. I knew you were beyond any help. :rolleyes: Some people are just not practical enough. Oh, well, we can’t all be the same I suppose. :cool:

^^ I notice the 'edit' did not include me? Why you no talk to me? :mad:

Originally posted by Phantasma: ^ For a minute there I thought you were actually going to help me. Oh well...no matter. I know wembley isnt in ur part of the world. :cool: I didn’t think you needed much help there, silly. If you’re mad enough to take your work colleagues to a Somali restaurant that you have not been in before, who am I to try to help you? I would not take my own father to one of those (not unless I’m 100% sure that it is a good place). Can you imagine it turning out all rubbish and dirty? He’ll disown me and assume that these are the sorts of faaraxs I mix with. :rolleyes: My advice to you is to cook at home (you can cook, can’t you? ) and bring the food to work. It works out cheaper too and a couple of pots won’t break your delicate back either.

Shujui-1, I know I'm a whole year late saaxib but the penny finally dropped.

Oh! OoOoOh! The temptation to make half a dozen blasphemous comments! Still, liked your intention.

@Seeker..I knew I’d flush you out. You do me an injustice by claiming that I had a different take on this same scenario. If I recall our previous discussion correctly; the riddle you set me last time had two possible answers; I chose the more reasonable of the two. This one here has four possible solutions (your solutions). It’s not as clear either. If this were a real person asking for advice on such a situation and talking cryptically about navigating a relationship, I’d tell them that they’re mixed up and that this relationship is doomed. One has to choose between two possible solutions, not three or four. They either have to be with or without (what transpires from choosing either is another matter altogether). North, East and West are all the same! The decision here is to marry and worry about consequences that are not in one’s control. It’s a classic way in which many young people love to tie themselves in knots to avoid making serious decisions. The decision of course is marriage (no conditions, assumptions or speculations – just simple, straightforward marriage). In the situation you’ve invented, South is the only other option. For some reason, in your eyes, it seems that South is very straightforward! There are no assumptions here, no conjecture and whatever might emerge in the future is left in the hands of god! If this story was real and it was related to you in the exact way that you’ve expressed it above, wouldn’t you choose South too?

Plans! Plans! Plans! A lovely couple in love; three years of courting; they’ve reached a crossroad! The poor girl is confused. She’s not sure what to do next. He’s got her swinging like a compass! She’ll be singing: (Together) We will go our way (Together) We will leave someday (Together) Your hand in my hands (Together) We will make our plans (Together) We will fly so high (Together) Tell all our friends goodbye (Together) We will start life new (Together) This is what we'll do (Go West) Life is peaceful there (Go West) In the open air (Go West) Where the skies are blue (Go West) This is what we're gonna do (Go West, this is what we're gonna do, Go West) While he’ll be sitting somewhere carelessly cutting pieces of his Jaat and muttering: ‘she loves me, she loves me not’.... Anything that takes three years to be decided upon is doomed.

^^^^Now whose sugarcoating things, wind? Can you please read your last post again? As Baashi told you, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt did help Somalia in its war with Ethiopia. Syria also played a big part in that war (albeit covert one). The amazing thing is that both Iraq and Syria were Soviet clients at the time. The Soviet Union as you already know, dropped Somalia from its client list and supported Ethiopia in that war. These Arab countries in effect, were fighting against their own boss! Saaxib, I’m not here to argue for Somalia being an Arab nation. Nor am I here to banish your unreasonable hatred of anything Arab. I was only pointing out what took place in history, not opinion but indisputable facts. I do hope that you would accept them as such and not revert, like others did, to questioning the most obvious of things.

Originally posted by Amethyst: ^ I know smart aleck! Still, English is the international language. And Somalis dont speak arabic but Somali. When the Arab league was established, it was set up for the main reason, which is to represent, defend and further the goals of Arabic speaking countries. Somalia and Djibouti both joined because they probably claimed to be Arabs and have the Arabic language as the second official language (ahead of English and Italian or French). English might be the international language in the halls of the UN, Europe or in individual dealings. However, when the Arab league meets it would be absurd that they discuss their issues in English when they’re all supposed to be Arabs, wouldn’t you say? This is not about the tired old argument of whether Somalis are Arabs or not. This is simply about the way that organisation functions. Somebody above mentioned that Mauritania and Comoros are not Arab countries when both of these countries confess to having Arabic as their main official language (they’re not making short cuts like Somalia and Djibouti). As for the case of Eritrea, even that was not as simple as it sounds. Back in the early 90s when Eritrea was begging to join the Arab league (after it turned it’s back on the Arabs who helped her gain her independence from Ethiopia), many Arab states rejected and were opposed to her entry. The simple reason? Eritrea was NOT an Arab country. I know it’s strange, but Arab countries regard both Somalia and Djibouti as being Arab (this might have something to do with our governments being true to their fraudulent past and selling the Arabs a few white lies). Be that as it may, Somalia is part of the Arab league and it’s extremely embarrassing that the president of a full member of the Arab league can’t speak the official tongue of that organisation. At least the previous president spoke passable Arabic and justified the inclusion of his country in that league. The Arab league has refused requests from Iran, Turkey and a few Asian countries that wanted to join the league in the past. The objection has always been that these countries were not Arabs and that should they join, the name of the organisation should change to something other than The Arab League. This was a short explanation to tackle some of the absurd arguments presented on this thread. History did not begin after 1990; If people wish, I could go all the way back to the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire, the Pan-Arab movement of Jamal Abdul Naser and the Arab support of Somalia in its war against Ethiopia! (The Pan-Arab movement I’m told was enthusiastically supported in and around Somalia back then – Jamal Abdul Naser was a popular name for Somali babies back then).

This thread calls for a history lesson. It's late at night right now and I'm feeling sleepy. Watch this space.

^^^^

Joseph Satlin once said: "One death is a tragedy. One million deaths is a statistic."