Originally posted by Johnny B: there is no such a thing like bible updating , or text removals or text refinings . these cheap shots on christianity which many Somali "wadads" practice, has to give way to the ever lasting true blue fact that.... There are ONLY two versions of the bible the old testament and the new testament. Walaal, no need to get so offensive, you could just have asked me where I got the information. Let me enlighten you, the new version of the Bible, called Bibel 2000 was released a couple of years ago in Sweden. It was a huge thing, don't know how you could have missed it... This is what the people (members of the swedish bibel society) that actually updated it wrote on the hompage bibeln.se. "När bibeln har översatts har diskussionerna i arbetsgruppen stundvis varit intensiva. Än fler reaktioner blir det naturligtvis när läsarna tar del av den nya texten. Frågorna blir många, gamla kära texter låter plötsligt helt annorlunda, vissa texter är borta. For the non-swedish speaking people I will do my best to translate. "The discussions have within the working party been somewhat intensive now that the bibel has been translated. More reaction will ofcourse come when the readers take part of the new text. The questions will be many, old and dear text will all of a sudden sound totally different, and some text is gone" Dear brother Johnny B, please tell me, have I missunderstood anything?

P_508, to understand the scam may be difficult, but when the business idea is presented to you it is very simple and very attractive. It's not like the Nigerian letters, in a pyramid scheme you're recruited and you must recruit others in order to become rich. Therefore it has devastating effect on a society. No, alhamdullilah, I've never been scammed, my philosophy is; if it's to good to be true, then it's not true. Here are some more things I found out about QuesNet a.k.a GoldQuest. "GoldQuest is a scam. I have watched the rise and collapse of it in Sri Lanka and seen many people I have know lose money. It has been banned in Nepal and Bhutan and has collapsed in the Phillippines, Sri Lanka, India and a number of other countries. The authorities concerned may be unaware of the scheme. Please inform your local consumer protection bureau, police or other relevant authority. You will be performing a valuable public service, to many poor countries. They are currently scamming people in Cambodia, Somalia, Tanzania and Vietnam. They deliberately target poor countries because the legal systems are outdated (pyramiding is therefore very often not a crime), the law enforcement authorities corrupt (when action is eventually contemplated, authorities can be bribed) and the people gullible and innocent not having encountered these schemes (which are often touted as 'poverty alleviation' and "self employment" schemes . GoldQuest used this ploy in Sri Lanka to defend themselves when the Central Bank tried to take action.)"

Shirwac, thank you for the link. I have just glanced through Boyd Graves homepage. He claims that the HIV virus was developed by scientists with the aim to minimize the black population. I find this assertion to be a bit thick. I know history have shown us how cruel scientists can be, but I don’t think they can be that unintelligent. You simply cannot control how virus spread or mutate, and you simply don’t design something deadly you won’t be able to master. Jamaal11, I agree with you, if this turns out to be true the consequences are immense. When so much is at stake, every effort will be made to oppose any further investigations.

If you would ask a Christian whether they believe in any of the things you wrote that’s in the bible, they would probably say that is obsolete opinions, and have therefore actively distanced themselves from such views. In Sweden every now and then a new version of the bible is released, some text are removed, reformulated or added in order “to simplify and keep the text updatedâ€!! Can such a book be titled holy?? This is what I had read before regarding the female veil in the bible. “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.†(1Cor 11:7-9) Astaghfirullah, God is reduced to a human entity! Of course, there is a reinterpretation of this text as well. The current view is that both men and women are images of God. Okey, they may ignore or alter their own holy texts, but how can they ignore the fact that virgin Mary is ALWAYS depicted carrying a veil – like a muslim woman! We muslim women are actually their role models. Totally agree with you that we defend ISLAM by argumentation and communication. But the most important is through our own action.

HIV in humans developed from contaminated polio vaccines? A highly interesting theory! The scientific community has rejected this theory, not because (according to me that is) they have solid proof that contradicts it, but rather because scientist tend to back one another up and now in particular when the advocates of the theory was first introduced by laymen. It doesn’t take a scientist to come to the conclusion, based on the circumstances, that maybe there could be a link between the polio vaccine and the emergence of HIV among humans. Nonetheless, to test the hypothesis requires scientific investigation. This has the scientific community uncared for until a highly respected biologist considered that the probability for when the polio vaccine first developed and where the HIV first appeared, to be merely a coincidence is almost equal to zero. This man died before any tests were made, but to honour his memory a test was made, and it was done on a US-made vaccine, not African! Shouldn’t it have been more relevant to test the African-made vaccine?? And by this non-satisfactory test they concluded that the Polio vaccine did not give rise to the HIV epidemic. Why are the scientists so reluctant to properly investigate this theory? Are they afraid of the outcome that it could be so that one of the worst epidemics is caused by a scientist? I'm not saying that the theory is true, but I think it raises some interesting questions. More information about this theory: "One theory of the origin of AIDS is that it developed from contaminated vaccines used in the world's first mass immunisation for polio. There are a number of reasons why this theory is plausible enough to be worthy of further investigation. * The location coincides dramatically. The earliest known cases of AIDS occurred in central Africa, in the same regions where Koprowski's polio vaccine was given to over a million people in 1957-1960. * The timing coincides. There is no documented case of HIV infection or AIDS before 1959. Centuries of the slave trade and European exploitation of Africa exposed Africans and others to all other diseases then known; it is implausible that HIV could have been present and spreading in Africa without being recognised. * Polio vaccines are grown (cultured) on monkey kidneys which could have been contaminated by SIVs. Polio vaccines could not be screened for SIV contamination before 1985. * Another monkey virus, SV-40, is known to have been passed to humans through polio vaccines. A specific pool of Koprowski's vaccine was later shown to have been contaminated by an unknown virus. * In order for a virus to infect a different species, it is helpful to reduce the resistance of the new host's immune system. Koprowski's polio vaccine was given to many children less than one month old, before their immune systems were fully developed. Indeed, in one trial, infants were given 15 times the standard dose in order to ensure effective immunisation. If this theory is correct, it has serious ethical, health and policy implications. In particular, it points to the danger of interspecies transfer of material through vaccinations, organ transplants, etc., which could lead to new variants of AIDS as well as other new diseases. As well, studying the theory may lead to insights about responding to AIDS and preventing new diseases. However, there has been no sustained attempt to test the theory. This could be done, for example, by testing stocks of polio vaccine for the presence of SIV. An offer to undertake tests was made as early as 1991; only in 2000 were some samples tested, and then only US-made vaccine. Another possibility would be to test stored blood samples in Africa from before 1950. If HIV is found, this would undermine the theory. Although the theory has not been properly examined, many people seem to believe it has been refuted. Hilary Koprowski published a letter in Science in 1992 attacking the theory. In 1993, Rolling Stone, which had published a widely publicised article by Tom Curtis about the theory, published an "update", interpreted by Science as a retraction. The public record thus suggests that these contributions have been the final word. Actually, this appearance of "refutation" was due to the exercise of power, not scientific judgement. Science refused to publish a reply to Koprowski's letter by Curtis and, later, another reply by eminent biologist W. D. Hamilton. Nature has received substantial submissions about the theory from at least six scholars but has not published any of them. Rolling Stone's "update" was the aftermath of a legal action for defamation by Koprowski against Rolling Stone and Curtis. Thus, it has been editorial prerogative and legal action that have given the impression that critics of the theory have been unanswered. To help rectify this situation, provided here are a number of key documents presenting the theory and commenting on it. Also given is a list of publications about the theory. This material is provided by Brian Martin who as a social scientist has been following the theory since 1991. It is part of a page on suppression of dissent. Comments and additional contributions are welcome." http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/AIDS/

A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from a man, John, who said to be a representative of a company called QuestNet Ltd. In the letter John said that QuestNet is a well-established interactive world-wide marketing company. He is the head of the division focused on marketing the company in Africa, and that they are about to start business in Somalia. John has already gathered a couple of Somali people that are interested in and he asked me to join to “build a strong Somali groupâ€. After visiting their homepage I realized that there had to be something wrong with this network marketing company. I googled QuestNet and added words like fraud, illegal, scam etc. and I got several hits! It turned out that this company, which used to go under the name GoldQuest, is a pyramid scam. I have below some information about pyramid schemes. http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/other/dvimf16.htm “Pyramid schemes now come in so many forms that they may be difficult to recognize immediately. However, they all share one overriding characteristic. They promise consumers or investors large profits based primarily on recruiting others to join their program, not based on profits from any real investment or real sale of goods to the public. Some schemes may purport to sell a product, but they often simply use the product to hide their pyramid structure. There are two tell-tale signs that a product is simply being used to disguise a pyramid scheme: inventory loading and a lack of retail sales. Inventory loading occurs when a company's incentive program forces recruits to buy more products than they could ever sell, often at inflated prices. If this occurs throughout the company's distribution system, the people at the top of the pyramid reap substantial profits, even though little or no product moves to market. The people at the bottom make excessive payments for inventory that simply accumulates in their basements. A lack of retail sales is also a red flag that a pyramid exists. Many pyramid schemes will claim that their product is selling like hot cakes. However, on closer examination, the sales occur only between people inside the pyramid structure or to new recruits joining the structure, not to consumers out in the general public. Pyramid schemes are illegal because they inevitably must fall apart. No program can recruit new members forever. Every pyramid scheme collapses because it cannot expand beyond the size of the earth's population. When the scheme collapses, most investors find themselves at the bottom, unable to recoup their losses.†And here is an example of how bad it can go; http://www.investopedia.com/university/scams/scams1.asp “ Pyramiding at its Worst: The Albania Example One of the most notable examples of a pyramid scheme sprung up in 1996 in Albania, where the nominal value of the pyramid scam's liabilities equaled half of the country's GDP (gross domestic product), while two-thirds of the population invested in the companies orchestrating the scam. This was a transitory time when the country was in the midst of moving from a communist, or controlled, economy to a capitalist one, with their banking sectors and financial markets short on regulations and long on inefficiencies. With little or no experience in an open-market economy, Albanians began to entrust their money to deposit-taking companies that had begun to spring up. In turn, these companies took the depositor's funds and "invested" them. These firms evolved into pyramid companies once they realized there was no legitimate way to provide the kinds of returns that would attract large amounts of capital. They began to offer absurd rates of return -- sometimes as high as 100% within a two-month period [a very clear indication of fraud]. In a rush to get ahead and catch up with their well-to-do cousins in Europe, Albanians sold-off everything from their homes to their livestock in order to invest in these companies and see their savings grow. When the companies' liabilities began to outstrip their assets (ie: new investor's money), the whole scheme came crashing down by the end of 1996 and early 1997, sending the economy into a downward spiral. The people who had lost everything took to the streets, bringing the country to the brink of civil war. Two thousand Albanians perished in the rampage.†In the letter I got John wrote that he already successfully had established “network teams†in several African countries, such as Kenya and Uganda, and he was now targeting Somalia, which he claims to have great potential! This got me really worried so I accepted a meeting with him in order to find out more. I met him in their fancy office downtown, and everything looked very professional. Since I didn’t wanted him to suspect my intentions I put on the role as a naïve, ambitious young lady, this way I hoped I could get as much information as possible – which Somalis were involved, what are the plans for Somalia? To my relief QuestNet haven’t opened up anything yet in Somalia, however mr John is planning to visit Mogadishu anytime soon. Their goal is not only Somalia, but also Somali people in the Diaspora. I’m thinking, if Albania went that bad, what will happen to Somalia? Do I need to worry, is there anything I can do? I have the names of the Somali men who are about to launch the thing in Somalia together with mr John. Do I contact them, how will they react, do they know what kind of business they are dealing with? Can anyone offer some good advice?

England girl, I'm sorry for the loss of your biological family. I think you're doing the right thing searching for your roots. Finding ones biological identity is as important as the air that we breath, without context, we are truly adrift, therefore without meaning. I think Ducaqabes suggestion was good. Go to a mosque, you'll definately find a couple of somali women. Make contact with them, and they will probably embrace you as their sister, and introduce you to the wonderful, warm somali society you've been missing out on all these years. From there you can decide wether you want to contact any relatives or not.

Animal Farm, I'm doing research. Trust me brother, when I'm done I'm definately leaving the academics for good...

Well I started at a university in Stockholm Sweden, then to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and ended up at University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Never seem to be able to leave the academic world...

Just wanted to announce the Somaliland conference that will be held in London this september. For more information visit their homepage. http://www.sse4.com

Babysteps in the right direction, and inshaAllah we’ll be our own sovereign nation one day... we just need to have patience and we’ll get there. I was wondering by the way, if a non-somali wants to enter the country, does he have to have visa, because my japanese colleague might join me next year when I go to somaliland.

Economics and buisness isn’t my field at all, and I’m especially ignorant to how billionaires have built up their empires, so bare with me. But common sense; isn’t it so that these men had some kind of passion for something, which they realized they could make money on if they played their cards right? The money they earned was a secondary effect , meaning that just, know-how and want-to-make-millions won’t make it unless you have a very good idea (and off-course vice versa). There are probably alot of people that have made it without any education. However the probabilty of that is much smaller than if you actually DO have one! Off topic... money should be a mean not a goal in itself, therefore striving towards becoming rich can be destructive.

So in other words waryaa_liibaanow, we all God fearing muslims should just lean back, cross our arms and just await when Allah brings us better times?? Ever heard of Allah Helps Those Who Help Themselves! You need to put in an effort, brother, for Allah to take you all the way.

Why does nothing suprise me anymore in this surrealistic world, where muslims have become the easiest target for any nation. Read and weap, or preferable read and become active. "A Warning From Israel What May Come After the Evacuation of Jewish Settlers from the Gaza Strip By URI DAVIS, ILAN PAPPE, and TAMAR YARON We feel that it is urgent and necessary to raise the alarm regarding what may come during and after evacuation of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip occupied by Israel in 1967, in the event that the evacuation is implemented. We held back on getting this statement published and circulated, seeking additional feedback from our peers. The publication in Ha'aretz (22 June 2005) quoting statements by General (Reserves) Eival Giladi, the head of the Coordination and Strategy team of the Prime Minister's Office, motivated us not to delay publication and circulation any further. Confirming our worst fears, General (Res.) Eival Giladi went on record in print and on television to the effect that "Israel will act in a very resolute manner in order to prevent terror attacks and [militant] fire while the disengagement is being implemented" and that "If pinpoint response proves insufficient, we may have to use weaponry that causes major collateral damage, including helicopters and planes, with mounting danger to surrounding people." We believe that one primary, unstated motive for the determination of the government of the State of Israel to get the Jewish settlers of the Qatif (Katif) settlement block out of the Gaza Strip may be to keep them out of harm's way when the Israeli government and military possibly trigger an intensified mass attack on the approximately one and a half million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, of whom about half are 1948 Palestine refugees. The scenario could be similar to what has already happened in the past - a tactic that Ariel Sharon has used many times in his military career - i.e., utilizing provocation in order to launch massive attacks. Following this pattern, we believe that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz are considering to utilize provocation for vicious attacks in the near future on the approximately one and a half million Palestinian inhabitants of the Gaza Strip: a possible combination of intensified state terror and mass killing. The Israeli army is not likely to risk the kind of casualties to its soldiers that would be involved in employing ground troops on a large scale in the Gaza Strip. With General Dan Halutz as Chief of Staff they don't need to. It was General Dan Halutz, in his capacity as Commander of the Israeli Air Force, who authorized the bombing of a civilian Gaza City quarter with a bomb weighing one ton, and then went on record as saying that he sleeps well and that the only thing he feels when dropping a bomb is a slight bump of the aircraft. The initiators of this alarm have been active for many decades in the defence of human rights inside the State of Israel and beyond. We do not have the academic evidence to support our feeling, but given past behavior, ideological leanings and current media spin initiated by the Israeli government and military, we believe that the designs of the State of Israel are clear, and we submit that our educated intuition with matters pertaining to the defence of human rights has been more often correct than otherwise. We urge all those who share the concern above to add their names to ours and urgently give this alarm as wide a circulation as possible. Circulating and publishing this text may constitute a significant factor in deterring the Israeli government, thus protecting the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip from this very possible catastrophe and contributing to prevent yet more war crimes from occurring. Please sign, circulate, and publish this alarm without delay! Please send notification of your signature to Tamar Yaron tiyaron@hazorea.org.il WE WOULD ALSO APPRECIATE RECEIVING NOTIFICATION IF THE ALARM WAS PUBLISHED IN ANY MEDIA AND/OR IF IT WAS SENT TO A GROUP DISTRIBUTION LIST. Uri Davis, Sakhnin, uridavis@actcom.co.il , Ilan Pappe, Tiv'on, pappe@poli.haifa.ac.il, and Tamar Yaron, Kibbutz Hazorea, tiyaron@hazorea.org.il "

What Iman has done during her lifetime is something between her and her creator on the day of judgment . As human beings we all do wrongs and have our shortcomings, so who am I to judge another person? As I understand the issue here is whether she should be regarded as a good role model or not? As such that person's actions are carefully scrutinized and everyone has an opinion about it. Just keep in reminder, no one is entirely good and vice versa. Why not just embrace the positive aspects of her actions, and leave the rest to Allah? Now, having said that, some of you speak of her generousity towards Somalia. So a rhetorical question is whether a person who gives 100 and only has 1000 is less generouse than a millionare giving 1000? Of course not! Just look around in your neighbourhood and you'll find that the average somali is a very generous person, and that there are alot of somalis you could be proud of. A bit off-topic but... whoever find pleasure in watching a half naked woman, would you be proud if other men used your sister or daughter that way???

Dear brothers and sister, thank you! When I wrote the thread I was in the midst of my frustration, I felt I had to work it off somehow, which resulted in sharing my thoughts with you SOL members. I wasn’t expecting anything, but masha’allah I must say I’m grateful for your sincere and good guidance. Some of the things that were said are things that I should know of, but is nevertheless, because of sheytan, things that are surpressed and therefore need constant reminder. Thank you for reminding me. Shehrezade sis, most of the things you wrote went straight to my heart, subhan’allah it’s as if you know exactly where I’m coming from. I was really moved when reading the death of a family member of yours. I hope you’ve made peace with yourself, because at the end it was Allah subhana wata’allahs will, I guess it’s how you continue you’re life that’s important. As you said it helped to put things in perspective, and insha’allah I hope sharing your story I can also learn a lesson from it. I actually love what I do. I never wanted a 9-5 job, I wanted a stimulating job where I had to use my brain cells and constantly develop. I have all of that now, but with it come many other things, which I don’t like. At this time point of my life I won’t give up what I’ve struggled for so many years. However at the same time I realize now I can’t continue like this. I will have to find a middle way!! I will take baby steps. I’ve downloaded the Quran and I have it on cd now (I know I should have bought it, but then it would have taken me ages… insha’allah Allah will forgive me). I will have it in my cd-player all the time. I will try to start everything in the name of Allah, and regardless of how things go I know Allah has a purpose for it… I will need sabr. I will try to put the salat as my priority #1, that’ll be the toughest thing… When I’m worn out all my thoughts turn negative. But your encouragement brought some light and I could see things a little bit clearer. I’m able to think more positive thoughts, make some constructive changes to my life, and insha’allah get back on the right path. I know this won’t be the final answer, but whenever I face such troubles I know where to turn. Jazakum allahu khairan

Aah, childhood memories… nice topic, time for some nostalgia. I always look back at my childhood through thick embellishing glasses… a very selective memory. But I do remember one thing that I was really afraid of, when I was about seven. I had one evening overheard someone talk about the world war I and II. After that I then came to the conclusion that the first war was between two countries, the second between two continents, and soon, the inevitable world war three would start, and in that war every nation on the globe would HAVE to join. For a long time my mental capacity was focused on how to save my family and myself. I imagined us back in Africa, somewhere deserted, nobody would care to look, we would dig really deep into the earth and only come up during the night for food. Another thing that used to concern me around this age was that I thought we were inside the earth, not on top of it (hadn’t heard of Newton’s gravity law yet). So I thought that each time a rocket was send to outer space it made a hole on earth. And I figured if they kept on doing that it would destroy the earth shell, and we would float out into space. Weird thoughts for a little girl, huh… I won’t go into all the mean stuff I used think of and actually do sometimes…

I had a meeting with my professor the other day, who is by the way an old japanese lady with a tired pale face, who if she hadn’t coloured her hair black (she has lost all the pigments in her hair) would become transparent. The fact that she has similar walk like Quasidimo, because of to much time bend over books and articles, reinforces her looks of a ghost. Anyway she told me that it was time to sum up my research and get it ready for publication, so that we could apply for more grants (in her world everything is always in a hurry for this or that reason). I informed her of what I had left to do, and she nodded her semi-transparent face in understanding. She looked out the window as if her eyes had caught something out on the sky. Without looking at me she continued “…well that’s good, while you do research start writing on the article in the evenings, we have to finish this soonâ€. I wish she had looked at me when she uttered those words, then she would have seen my distress, but instead her eyes were fixed somewhere beyond this dimension. I left her office in a state of bewilderment. I had given a promise to my family and friends which I now knew I couldn’t keep, I wouldn’t be able to have an entire weekend off and I would probably continue to come home just prior to bedtime. The practical part of my research work took this much time, how would I fit in the writing??? Reduce my sleeping hours, no more exercise… or maybe I could just skip the sleeping part since it’s an overrated thing?? As I understand Islam has taught us that Allah has divided the day into three parts: eight hours for worship, eight hours for earning a living and eight hours for sleeping. Islam emphasizes on keeping everything in balance or in other words in keeping it in harmony. Unfortunately there is no time for worship in my life right now, I do my five prayers just in time if I’m lucky, but that’s it. No dhikr, no reciting the quraan, no reflection over my existence whatsoever! I’m in a field that gives one little time over for other things than work. Competition is the driving force that is constantly escalating the pace. I could ignore it, and make my own bubble with my own set of rules and live in perfect harmony, but then I would probably not get any funding, and that would be the end of the story. What will my life be like within the nearest future, will I have time to settle down, find a suitable husband and start a family? Will I still have my friends, whom I’ve been neglecting, will they still be there at the end of the tunnel, and will I be able to cope with my bad conscience for not being able to be there for my family???? Will I at the end of my carrier look like my professor, maybe not at a first sight, since I’ll be a 6ft tall African lady who won’t have to dye her hair every other month. But a second glance will reveal the characteristic walk of a damaged back, the deterioration of short-term memory, and a loss of contact with reality. And all of this for what reason?

OG-Moti wrote I would not wish to meet any of them in this world, InshaAllah in Jana, I said so because who knows I might be the wrong side, and be doomed forever.. I AM so fortuned being a muslim and i stick to that.. meeting them and believing them would be nice, but again I might disappoint them.. Caleehum al salaam.. My exact thought Moti. Although I try to do my best I'm light-years away from the kind of imaan the saxabaa used to have. So just the thought of meeting with the prophet s.c.w. is terrifying. If Muhammed s.c.w. would come and visit the muslim ummah today, would he recognise us as people of his belief?

Shyhem, brother, it’s not as simple as it looks like. As a developing country you don’t have so many options. To highlight what I mean let me give you an example. Back in the late eighties the European farmers had become so productive that they produced more than what was consumed… a lot more. So in order to prevent price dumping of their products they had to destroy the leftover food, and this was made in a large scale. I remember they used to show on the TV how these huge trucks would dump tons of liters of butter into these big holes in the ground. Of course any human being with a common sense would react to seeing food thrown away while at the same time millions of people are dying of starvation. People got upset and demanded a stop, which actually put an end to it. So what happened to the food then if it wasn’t thrown away?? Well the Europeans sold it to African countries. No problem with that one would think, huh, but the problem was that the food the Europeans were selling to the African countries was so cheap that it actually out-competed the home market. Poor African farmers could no longer sell their products in their own country. What a country usually does in this situation is to raise tariff barriers against foreign goods. And so some African governments did so… what happened? The Europeans replied by saying something like “If you don’t stop the tariffs, we’ll cut our financial aid to youâ€. At the end, as an African government, the money you get through aid is more important, and therefore the tariffs were gone. Why are the Europeans doing this - one hand is feeding (the aid to the African countries are actually used to help farmers), while the other hand is plundering?? Never underestimate the European farmers; they have a huge and powerful lobby group. Ever seen a demonstration outside the headquarters in Brussels… they are almost every time farmers.

I’m not a big fan, or maybe I should say I wasn’t a big fan of animation until I saw Spirited away. It was like Alice in the wonderland but with a flavour of south-eastern culture and traditions, which makes it a BIG difference compared to the hollywood productions. Thanks for the tips, now I have more animations to watch :cool: I know the subject was about manga, but since we’re talking about japanese productions, I’d just like to recommend two films by the famous Akira Kurosawa. Rashomon (1950) and Seven Samuraj (1954) Rashomon is kind of a post-modernistic movie, with a very different way of storytelling, which is by the way used by filmmakers today… but this guy did it already back in the 50’s! Seven Samuraj is a looong beautiful comedy, definatley worth watching. (I guess since you guys are so into japanese stuff you've already watched these movies...)

that was well said... thanks sister for reminding us. Insha'allah we will gain some ajar and not extra weight.

Mutakallim wrote: Actually, I would not desire that most people reply to my threads. The replies are often a bane and not a boon. Thusly insofar as the thread is read I am satisfied. If that's the case then it's maybe good to have a counter for number of visitors... I mean so that one knows if someone actually bothered to open the topic or not. I'm new to this forum so I'm not that familiar yet with the system, if there is already a function like the one I just suggested then pls just ignore. I have a question though, should you post topics b/c you find it interesting or b/c you think it'll be interesting to other ppl and therefore sharing it has a purpose. And maybe depending on why you posted a topic (referring to my question above) you will react differently if no one replies.

I heard a couple of days ago on the radio, before they had announced the Noble prize winner in litterature, that a somali was one of the candidates for the prize. I was surely surprised to hear that! Unfortunately I'm not familiar with somali writers, the only one that came to my mind was Nuruddin Farah. Do we have other internationally well known writers? If whoever suggested the somali person for the Noble prize keep doing that each year and the somali guy have a long life who knows he might win a beautiful day. ps. An austrian called Elfriede Jelinek won this year, she has social phobi so she wont come to stockholm to receive her prize... The litterature prize winners seem to be shy people, last year's winner barely made it to the stage. Maybe that's what it takes for the somali guy to win, become a hermit...

S/aleykum I'm in a state of despair, not because most of you disagree with me, but I don't seem to have made my point clear although I've tried my best. Should I give up? Well I'll give it one more try... Politically-Inclined gave us different definitions of race. Race can be defined as: A group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution: the German race. A genealogical line; a lineage. Humans considered as a group Biological defination:An interbreeding, usually geographically isolated population of organisms differing from other populations of the same species in the frequency of hereditary traits. A race that has been given formal taxonomic recognition is known as a subspecies. The first definition is a social constructions of the concept race, and the third is a biological definition. According to the biological def. WE ARE NOT OF DIFFERENT RACES. Subhanallah, we're not interbreeding if we marry other people! There is no medical or biological scientific research today that will support the concept of different races among human being. If you ask a researcher they'll tell you that we once did interbreed with another race, the Neanderthals, but they're extinct now! So why am I making such a big deal out of a thing that is just a word? well it makes us feel more different than we really are.