These new Taxi companies in Mogadishu and Hargeisa really press home the point to any diaspora entrepreneur that you have to generate the necessary capital as soon as possible, or your ideas will be materialized by others. I'm happy that these services are available, but I feel a strong pain as well. Since 2009, this idea has been circulating in my head, and now I can cross it off from my list. Its like finding the girl you liked in high-school has a crush on your best friend kind of feeling, your happy for them but you feel terrible, terrible, terrible. (The only consolation I get is - that true to the Somali character - these entrepreneurs limited themselves to regional blocks/cities, rather than nationwide, and the car types they have chosen are tacky and not iconic) I still have a chance, baby girl! :cool:

Love through Drone..

A people with too many myopic hecklers and spoilers, and not enough dreamers.

Dr Osman is right. Admin needs to keep an eye on this tit for tat business.

You gotta love this Federal government, real-politics indeed.

Xaaji Xunjuf;955242 wrote: Fair point but again the timing was different the Sassanid Empire exited more than 400 years while Adal Empire existed only fore 150 years. So they had more time to develop their political identity. Most empires don't make it past 50 years, the Mongol Empire, the Hunnic Empire and the Macedonian Empire are good examples. Also, Sassanian culture in modern Iran is very limited, the Iranians use Arabic to write Farsi instead of Avestan. Their religion is Shia Islam instead of Zoroastrian. Therefore regardless of that empire and its duration, small significant periods like the Qajaris and the Pahlavis are truly responsible for Iran's survival as a country. Not true they had both Somali and Arab Sultans some times of both ancestries and mixed They might have claimed such pedigrees, but there is little evidence of actual origins. I dont disagree with this but they still exist as two separate empires Through which all major clans known to us at one point in time migrated to and from, and intermingled. You misunderstood me here i meant if Adal won the war against the Abyssinians, they would have moved into the center of Ethiopia and conquer other groups and let other groups assimilate into the Somali culture. Yes, it would have been very nice to see what their overall plan had been if the Portuguese had not intervened, but Adal's armies consisted of all the major clan families of the time, and they contributed to the current Somali culture and identity, and would have done so even if they permanently subjugated Abyssinia and expanded further into Sudan from their base in Suakin. I agree it would have been different it would have been stronger because Somalis would have been ruling other groups and would have a more richer culture Or we might have had a bad reputation in the region, much like the Amharas of today. Somalis haven't turned many Ethnic groups into Somalis only small galla groups and bantu groups and smaller rendile groups and Arab communities around the coast if they were exposed to other groups and conquered them it would have have influenced our language if the Somalis won the war in the 16 century this would have been totally different. Somalis drove other groups into new lands, while those that remained were absorbed as clients. The state mostly operated as a movement although it had a capital and resources and revenues but it was during its existence at war with Britain Italy and Menelik forces. It had a capital, a standing army, and maintained foreign relations, as well as achieved recognition as a polity by the Central powers, while at the same fought a war on multiple fronts. You are right shared history is shared history but it was a short period of time if we are talking about forming a political identity in a country the short lived dervish state hasn't really shaped the Somali political identity, it was more an Islamic Somali uprise against the colonialists Come on Xaaji, the Dervishes were used as a vehicle for Somali nationalism by the SYL, the democratic governments and the socialist state, and continues to be considered as such by the vast majority of Somalis. They enriched our heritage with fortresses, and poems in a time-period when 99% of Africa was under European domination. Problem is we Somalis never really ruled each other with the exception of the Adal and A.juran Empire the latter had some Arab vassal states under its control. But after their demise. We basically became Somalis who ruled each other in a clannish way adopting the Somali Xeer. Somalis are similar to the Phoenicians of ancient times, or the Venetians of the Middle Ages, or the Germans of the early modern period. I don't deny that we are a people used to a fragmented civilizational network, I'm just highlighting that there are more than enough ingredientsi in the Somali cauldron to justify the existance of the current Somali political identity. If Somalis had created a kingdom and a proper structure of state in much of the Somali peninsula and expanded into other territories and ruled those people. Somalis have Somalisized many groups indigenous people to the Somali peninsula and others but they never ruled the place as a Somali King , we were more like Somali nomads fighting other shisheeye people and when we defeated them they became basically Somalis. Your last point would have been great the afars are close to Somalis For these reasons those African ethnic groups that were linked to a literate high culture through conversion to a world religion, Islam or Christianity, were better equipped to develop an effective nationalism than the others. The region in which the struggle between these two faiths had traditionally gone on without a decisive victory for either, the Horn of Africa, is also the area with the best examples of what may be called classical nationalisms. It has been said of the Boers that the only things which really distinguished them from their Bantu enemies, when both were entering South Africa from different directions, was the possession of the Book, the wheel and the gun. In the Horn of Africa both the Amharas and the Somalis possessed both gun and Book (not the same Book, but rival and different editions), and neither bothered greatly with the wheel. Both the Somalis and the Amharas were aided by these bits of equipment in state-formation. The Somalis created a few of those characteristic Muslim formations based on urban trade and tribal pastoral cohesion brought together by a religious personage; the Amharas in Ethiopia created the only convincing African specimen of a feudalism, a loose empire with local territorial power-holders, linked to a national Church.The gun and the Book, with their centralizing potential, enabled these two ethnic groups to dominate the political history of this large region, though neither of them was numerically predominant. --- Nations and nationalism Pg 81 and 82 By Ernest Gellner

D.O.C;955214 wrote: Scuffle between 4 muslim women and EDL was reported in north London today. Around 20 EDL members legged when they saw few Muslim men running towards to them in helping these sisters. I have this video in whatsApp, it's ridiculously funny:D. Its a terrible experience for the women in question, a similar thing happened to my sister a while back when she was out with her kids. She called me and I completely destroyed those racists. When the Police came they took my side based on the 1967 section 3, and took them away bloodied. These characters are cowards, big ones. You take the ring-leader down, and they loose all sense of confidence.

90% of rapes are committed by men the women know, at least here in the west, only 9% are strangers. Since Hargeisa is not a warzone, outside of a more visible police presence, and stronger punishments there is very little that can be done from a Law & Order perspective, and more has to be done in terms of workshops, tv and radio awareness as well as a change in cultural perception towards women in Somali society. That is my unqualified 2 cents on this issue.

Xaaji Xunjuf;955219 wrote: You are really comparing apples to oranges the Adal Empire was not entirely a Somali Empire it was an Islamic Empire with different ethnic groups including Aderi afar Arabs Shewans and Somalis You are really comparing apples to oranges the Sassanid Empire was not entirely a Persian Empire it was an Zoroastrian Empire with different ethnic groups including Assyrians, Egyptians, Himyarites and Persians. they overall leaders were Somali/Arabs. Arab contribution was mainly scholars, and traders. But even walashma and adal although it kept relations with other Islamic Empires in the south it didn't share much of a history with the rest of the Somalis. The Barkhadle Alliance tied the Mogadishu ruled South with the Zeila ruled North. Had Adal Empire won the war they would have expanded into much of the center of Ethiopia. Adal didn't have to expand into the South, because that area ruled by a different dynasty was already allied to it. In such a scenario, a simple wedding between a Prince of Zeila and a Princess of Mogadishu could have tied together the north and the south, permanently. To be honest, our literary history has been given abysmal attention, and such alliances of convenience most likely did happen. And the Somali political identity would have been totally different than what is today. I disagree, I think it would have been even stronger, similar to the Turks. The Somali language would have been much different that what they speak today. I disagree again, the Somali people expanded through much of East Africa and turned other ethnic groups into Somalis, whom adopted the dominant language, the same would have happened in this case. Yes the dervish movement operated all over the Somali peninsula, but the problem here is timing the time the dervish movement was a political Islamic up rise. Italy and Germany were given birth to only two decades before the Dervish, it was the perfect time for the establishment of a strong independent Somali state. iThe dervish movement existed for only 21 years. It outlasted the scramble for Africa and WW I. It shows that Somalis can unite when there are external forces. But they fall back when they are left alone. The Dervish State wasn't left alone, it was destroyed with a new technological weapon: airplanes So the dervish era was a short period of time of the history when compared to the overall Somali history. Shared history is shared history. You are right about the SYL but even their struggle was flawed because their struggle was not based on a country nation like any other country in Africa but more on ethno nationalism to unite the Somalis in the horn under one nation, Their struggle was perfect, and admirable, however the odds against them was too big. something that never existed in the first place. Most countries in the world never existed in the first place, there comes a process before it actually exists in the first place. Chimera Somali political identity would have been much better if Somalis expanded into other peoples ethnicities territories and ruled over them like Afars oromos Habeshas and nilotic groups. If Somalis were ruling other groups. It would have been much better. LOL, that's actually what Somalis did, however in a ironic twist of fate the Somalization campaign of our ancestors was far more successful than the latter day colonialism practiced by the Europeans, because we actually turned other groups into Somalis, as we expanded further and further in the region. What would have been better is if we emulated the shaky European nation-states by importing a German prince or princess and made them monarchs of our country. The Kingdom of Somalia ruled by an Afar monarchy would bypass the clan-system, and prevent the zero-sum politics so common when a specific individual from clan A or clan B becomes President or PM. At the same time the Afars in their own homeland are not a threat, economically or politically, while they are phenotypically the closest in looks to Somalis in Africa, so it would be easier to create a bond between them and their Somali citizens.

warsamaale;955216 wrote: What I want is a fully deregulated, laissez faire,free market system where the government gets out of the way and does not choose winners and losers, with a few caveats of course, we don't want a dated socialist system that is inefficient and unaccountable. It worked for them, and precisely because it worked after a brutal war, important lessons can be drawn from that example. Secondly the Somali government definitely has to play a significant role in regulating the currency, the form of FDI that is allowed, and practice a form of resource nationalism. We are not early Switzerland or Sweden that were allowed to develop without the clear-cut exploitation of its resources at the expense of its people, no we are in Africa, where such practices are the norm. I agree with you that we might have had a head start on them in some sectors, but remember even Ghana was at one time ahead of Korea, so don't read much into it. water will find its own level. Has nothing to do with my reply, or your previous one, your missing the point that Somalia can easily be where Vietnam is today if it succeeds in establishing nationwide stability, and maintains this for at least a few decades. The Somalia of the past did this, hence it was ahead, the Somalia of today doesn't, hence its behind. Let's be civil please. Using discredited IQ lingo in a economic debate can be considered uncivil, when we know the figures used are ridiculous, and non-applicable. In-fact this so-called source your depending on based its IQ figures for East Africa entirely on the Beta-Israeli of 70s Ethiopia. A group traditionally isolated, and with little education to boot is hardly a good representative for 150 million people, 25 million of which being Somali. All Mongoloids or more politely N.E Asians, originally evolved in temperate, cold climes thousand of years FYI, hence the light skin. i was alluding to that. Yet, they are as degenerate in conventional and civil-wars as the rest of human kind, including Africa. Whatever point you're attempting to make, just give it up, its not working. I will write about this when i have more time. I hold you to that.

You're ignoring the disastrous political events of the last twenty years. If this was the early 20th century, or the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and even 80s, you would get similar answers with regards to a Somali political identity, and what it entails. Somalis do have a shared history, including a political one. Mogadishu and Zeila maintained economic relations and provided political support towards one another in their struggle against the Abyssinians or the Portuguese. All of the major clans participated in the Conquest of Abyssinia. The origins of the major medieval power in the region, the Ajuuran Empire is traced to the North of Somalia in Berbera. Northern Islamic movements had followers in the South, and vice versa. The Dervish State had followers and hubs of power in all of Greater Somalia, in the form of settlements, ports, fortresses and alliances. The Somali Youth League had members all over the peninsula, and the Somali Republic opened its schools, universities and cities for every Somali citizen in East Africa, and fought for their rights. This is more shared history than the Belgians have, this more shared history than the vast majority of countries in Africa have. If I were to ask a Balochi in Iran about his people's history it will be very different from that of his subjugators the Persians. If I asked an Kurd in Iran about his people's history it will be very different from that of his subjugators, the Persians. If I asked an Arab in Iran about his people's history it will be very different from that of his subjugators, the Persians. There is no argument to be made here that can discredit the Somali political identity in favour of the Iranian one. The former is based on a actual language, on actual ethnic group, an actual culture, but could not consolidate these common features due to geopolitics. The latter is not based on any language, on any ethnic group, or any specific culture, but had the fortune to receive the political space to consolidate its country and received support in the process.

warsamaale;955190 wrote: Chimera, firstly, the Vietnamese market socialist system of big state corporations and cheap export manufacturing is hardly the model to emulate, even if we could. Check this report about Vietnam: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-09/vietnam-s-star-is-dimming.html The report says the economic model for Vietnam is dated because it has to adapt to the new economic level its finds itself in as a middle income country due to the Doi Moi reforms i.e it has to upgrade those reforms. Somalia and most of Africa is not on that level yet, hence that model is very much still applicable to our situation. I also think its fanciful that a feckless and lazy people like us could achieve anything close to what Vietnam has achieved. Somalia had a successful national airline when Vietnam didn't. Somalia had a lively tourist sector, when Vietnam didn't. Somalia was self-sufficient, when Vietnam wasn't. Somalia enjoyed domestic peace when Vietnam was in a civil war. Somalia maintained prestigious festivals and international tournaments, when Vietnam was a no-go zone. If we applied your logic, once upon a time the same could have been said of the Vietnamese in comparison to us. The Bell curve and IQ Studies are real. Rubbish, maybe you have an IQ of 65, but I certainly don't. People in temperate climes have an edge over their tropical counterparts. Vietnam is a tropical country, einstein. Farmers are smarter and have better work ethic than nomads. Different religions also imbue different outlooks and values to countries, obviously if your religion forbids modern banking as we know it, then you simply have no chance of catching up. There are a lot of variables and and you can't copy and paste something as complex as economic system. You're making a lot unsubstantiated claims, you better back them up. Start with the farmers vs nomads statement, provide a source. Secondly, in Somalia nothing suggests religion will play a role in the economy outside of the obvious principles of no trade in alcohol and pork. Thirdly, the Islamic Banking sector actually grew bigger during the global recession when the established Western banks were rescued by taxpayer's money.

Modern Iran is primarily the fruit of the Safavids and the Qajarites, the Sassanid political identity came to an end with the conquest of Persia by the First Muslims. If the Safavids or the Qajarites, and the pseudo-dynasty of the Pahlavis had failed in consolidating their fluctuating state, there wouldn't be a Iran to speak of, in-fact prior to the 1930s, there wasn't one on the international map. They are lucky that the Soviets and the British didn't divide them permanently during WW II, or all that history of empires would have amounted to little in changing this situation, as can be seen from the Korean experience.

^

You're confusing a political identity, with a state-apparatus. The Somali political identity exists, but for two decades suffered a black hole situation with the absence of a strong backer in the form of a state. Secondly, the Seleucid Empire was a Greek ruled state, and the Parthians were a Hellenic influenced dynasty, far from what one would consider authentic Iranian or Persian, you should have used the Sassanids or the Achaemenids, In either case, few countries on earth have a history like that of the Persians, or the Chinese, in-fact the vast majority of Europe doesn't, yet this doesn't discredit the newly created nation-state identities found there. Iran btw is not a nation-state, unless Ethiopia is one too.

There is word of the EDL attacking Muslim women in Central London, and that three boys have been stabbed by a gang of white and black racists. Another 150+ attacks have happened on Muslims across the UK since the murder. This is crazy, the extremists have won if this continues, because now the Bengali, Somali, Sikh, Turkish, Moroccan and Pakistani youth gangs will probably be seeking revenge, as previous incidents in the past have sparked such retaliation.

Somalis are at the last quote. A political Somali ethnic identity was achieved, it simply was not sustained, its comparable to the achievement of a German political identity, but which due to war, and geopolitics suffered a period of serious regression in the form of East and West Germany, and in the form of new states such as Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Another example would be Korea, whose political identity is older than most countries in Europe, yet geopolitics divided this identity into two states.

warsamaale;954884 wrote: Improbable, the Somali stock does not have the wherewithal nor the the acumen to achieve what Vietnam did. if Somalia can feed itself, is it peace, sovereignty secure then that would be equal to what Vietnam has achieved. I used Vietnam because its hardly Japan, and their economic reforms can be applied to Somali economics. The rest of your post is just self-underestimation, which you're entitled to, but which has little truth to it. There was a time when Somalia was peaceful, and self-sufficient, and Vietnam was at war and starving. The future isn't static.

^If he had caught that joker that would have been even funnier LOL

British Cops don't play.

The Fund for the Somali Armed Forces needs to keep in mind soldier tags, the country will need between 30 thousand of them during the reconstitution period, and more afterwards as it expands its manpower. That's roughly $500k to import them, or you'll need at least 40 tons of steel and a pressing machine. This will systematize the new military and a proper data-base can be created as a result.

Best invention of the last 25 years. No longer do you need to prepare a shake between class, or during break at work, Liquid Protein is ready for consumption on the go and packs a lot of protein in one serving. (Watermelon tastes the best :cool:)

I agree, a great example, Vietnam was in a terrible state of war in the 70s, reconstructed in the 80s and flourished in the 90s/00s. If we cut the degenerate petty stuff today and get to developing, the current 2010s could be our reconstruction period, and the 20s/30s the decades we flourish, because we have several times more resources and arable land per capita than they have, so the impact of economic reforms and lobbying will have a far greater effect on the population of Somalia. The way Vietnam is taking jobs from its much bigger neighbour is incredible. Vietnam is the only Asian country nobody bullies, not China, not the US.

The paper's website is cluttered as hell, I can't even locate the article from the front page. An apology hidden between a million stories, damn.