Sayid*Somal;694356 wrote: First of all - i don't belong to a tribe - i am the proud progeny of powerful and well respected clan in Somalia with settlements stretching across the Somali peninsular (indian ocean side) from Ras Hafun to Kismayo with its ancient metropolis aptly named Qardho in mountains ranges of Karkaar. Is that clear to you now - good - don't let me read such staff and nonsense about monkey business in here again. Is that it? I'm from the clan called SOMALI, a warrior race whose historic conquests combined stretched the size of Western Europe, to this day immortalised in all the good history books. A people whose seaborne trade empire voyaged to the Pharoahs of Egypt with incense, to the Emperors of Rome with Chinese vases, and to the Shahs of Persia with exotic animals. A people who maintained world famous ancient metropolises of Mogadishu, Barawa, Kismayo, Merka, Berbera, Zeila, Maduna and many more across the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea where commerce, culture and art flourished, and on top of that we have the great QARDHO!! LOL and yet you still have some of our people in the diaspora & back home holding their little fairy-tale qabiils dear to their hearts when they could claim and be part of something so much bigger than that. This article btw is filled with outdated theories, which i'm to tired of destroying since its almost midnight, therefore bed-time.

One should not underestimate the power an older generation has on the new one, be they parents, older siblings or relatives. From analysing myself I resemble my mother more in terms of discipline and organisational skills, while in terms of culture and social skills i'm more like my father and eldest brother. The latter has always been the coolest dude on the planet in me and my younger brother's eyes, from our clothing style, to our taste in music & film, to our sense of humour and mannerism, we're just bootlegged versions of him. The fact that he didn't smoke, hung around in clubs, or involved himself in criminal activities, made all of these things lame in my eyes, while they could be considered cool by my generation. I can see the same influence being projected by me onto my younger relatives, the most prominent case being my five year old nephew who is a spitting image of me, and the both of us are spitting images of our paternal grandfather(great-grandfather in his case). As a young uncle, i'm more like a big brother to him, and though he has a great caring father, I think the more male-rocks he has in his life the better his development will be. Things like I want the same shoes and jacket as Uncle [..my name..] is him choosing a sub-culture that is not destructive to him as a person the way Hip-hop culture is, the fact that he doesn't adopt this style and the whole sick way of life that comes with it, is because none of his male relatives do so. Our parents' generation that came to the diaspora had many households with dead male relatives or ones stuck in the old country, ok fair enough, their absence is understandable , but with our new generation, there are no excuses! We must preserve or restore the Somali family Unit at all cost if we want to succeed as a community. While Amin's picture is spot-on in revealing the double standards of parents, I do think some sort of project needs to be created to teach mothers and fathers new skills that could return them to the workforce. You will have alot of parents, specifically fathers who used to lead successful and prestigious jobs in Somalia only to have their hard-earned qualifications rejected by their new host countries, which pushed alot into a state of disillusionment and some found solace in the Maqayaads.

All women say that, but then after a year they forget the agony & pain and go for a second, which eventually makes them remember the first one, but then its to late Success btw, hope the little one is healthy, and everything goes well.

One day Nasruddin went to a banquet. As he was dressed rather shabbily, no one let him in. So he ran home, put on his best robe and fur coat and returned. Immediately, the host came over, greeted him and ushered him to the head of an elaborate banquet table. When the food was served, Nasruddin took some soup with spoon and pushed it to the his fur coat and said,- Eat my fur coat, eat! It's obvious that you're the real guest of honor today, not me!

A thief went into Nasrudin's house and carried away almost all the possessions of the Mullah to his own home. Nasrudin had been watching from the street. After a few minutes Nasrudin took up a blanket, followed him, went into his house,lay down, and pretended to go to sleep. The thief asked Mullah, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Mullah replied, "Well, we were moving house, were we not?" 'When I die', said Nasrudin, 'have me buried in an old grave.' 'Why?' Asked his relatives. 'Because when Munkir and Nakir, recording angels of good and bad actions, come, I'll be able to wave them on, saying that this grave has been counted and entered for punishment already.'

Hilarious tales of the 13th century Satirist from the East: Nasrudin dreamt that he had Satan's beard in his hand. Tugging the hair he cried: "The pain you feel is nothing compared to that which you inflict on the mortals you lead astray." And he gave the beard such a tug that he woke up yelling in agony. Only then did he realize that the beard he held in his hand was his own. Once Nasreddin was invited to deliver a sermon. When he got on the pulpit, he asked, "Do you know what I am going to say?" The audience replied "no", so he announced, "I have no desire to speak to people who don't even know what I will be talking about!" and left. The people felt embarrassed and called him back again the next day. This time, when he asked the same question, the people replied "yes". So Nasreddin said, "Well, since you already know what I am going to say, I won't waste any more of your time!" and left. Now the people were really perplexed. They decided to try one more time and once again invited the Mullah to speak the following week. Once again he asked the same question - "Do you know what I am going to say?" Now the people were prepared and so half of them answered "yes" while the other half replied "no". So Nasreddin said "Let the half who know what I am going to say, tell it to the half who don't," and left.

Malika;693845 wrote: ^huh@thousands of homeless in host countries?? - What has that got to do with anything we are discussing? There is significant difference between our host countries which are wealthy/developed to our poor, war torn country yakhii. There is no comparison between the homeless in London to the thirsty, hungry, under siege Somali in Somalia. They are both desperate, they both go to bed hungry, they both are neglected by their countries' governments, why can't I shift responsibility of these poor & desperate in the aforementioned host countries on diasporic Somalis too? I still think your missing the point with this cartoon and pysche behind it - let me try to explain again - Somalis have never been about individualism, especially in times of need. I pray this positive cultural-social norm stays on despite all the changes that will come with time and circumstances Somalis find themselve in. This cartoon is spitting on the hundreds of thousands of hardworking Somalis in the diaspora that are literally sustaining an entire country back home. This collective guilt to do something for those who have nothing is very much evident in the UNDP figure of $2 billion being remitted anually, and this is a diaspora where the majority are children, so that figure will easily reach the $5-7 billion region in 5-10 years time. I have a feeling you have no back ground knowledge of how Somalis operate, if you did you would have understood AA's dig in this cartoon. No disrespect Malika, but you don't know me, you have no clue who I am outside this forum, what I do, and what I'm part off, so lets not speculate or get personal. I said what I wanted to say, no need for further debate on my part.

-Serenity-;693741 wrote: I know you're a nifty googler, What's that supposed to mean? You asked for a source, I gave it to you, no need to get frustrated when it coroborrates my point. so go ahead and google the latest news coming out of Somalia. You will notice that this very harvesting and cultivating the lands that can feed them is the very thing thats at risk here and the cause of the food shortage crisis at the moment because of the failure of the rains in the last 3months of 2010. Failure of rains? Please spare me! Somalia has two large rivers, plenty of water there. Create a fund that will revive the Bardera Dam project and in less than two years that fund will be filled, build grain storage facilities costing less than a million dollars and more than 80 000 tons of food will be saved from waste each year, which would neutralize a bad harvest. Your solution is myopic and will see us having this same conversation in 2012, 2013, 2014 etc. Malika, God gave me a brain, how boring life would be if everybody knod their heads in agreement for fear of creating and defending an argument. Secondly there are hundreds of thousands of homeless in the host countries Somalis live in, should they now split their spare money and spend it on those back in Somalia, and the "have nots" in these new countries, and not live a social life at all? Aren't they Americans, Brits, Australians, Canadians too today? Amin Amir's point is lame, trying to shift responsibility on a exiled people who do not have the power to change the situation on the ground, and despite that still spend billions on that country.

-Serenity-;693692 wrote: I really would like to know where you got that figure of 2 billion. Please, source and reference. Thanks! I'm not a fabricator: Remittances to family members inside the country are a well-established practice and according to UNDP report 2009 remittance flows were estimated at up to US$ 2 billion in 2004 but could be higher. Remittances represent 23% of household income with up to 40% of households receiving some assistance. - Source Secondly, you again seem to miss the point of this particular picture at this particular time. There is a time and place to discuss putting Somalia on the right tract long term and all the political maneuvering and who should do what, however there is a crisis in Somalia at the moment where an estimated 2.4 million Somalis require emergency humanitarian assistance, some literally dying of starvation as we type while others are pretty close. This is no time to discuss how the fire started, this is a time to put out the fire, and thats what he wants people to do. Reach out and help, put the extravagance on hold for a month or two, your people need your donation. This is where you are wrong, for as long as I have been following the conflict there have always been several million people in crisis, 10-15 million in the wider region. The current figure used to be above 3 million, but Somalis in Somalia took matters into their own hands and started cultivating their own lands resulting in a bumper harvest, Somalis could feed half of Africa if they continued in such ways. No amount of fundraisers could ever come close to the agricultural wealth that is in Somalia, and these same fundraisers could never result in a million Somalis suddenly dropping off the food-insecurity list the way one bumper harvest has done. The food-aid dependence is a disease that Somalis in Somalia must shake off, otherwise Amin Amir will continue making the same drawings over and over again, and I will repeat the point that this out of the hands of those living in the diaspora, they cannot change the situation on the ground, to state so, is basic deflection from the real core issue. The solution is with Somalis in Somalia, not Somalis in the diaspora. The latter groups already send back more than they should, for they are barely established communities struggling with their own issues, and if Hamdi, Hanan and Ruqia want to dress up nicely once in while after labouring around the house for months and raising five ungrateful kids, they have every right to do so. This is not being "lavish", not by a long shot.

No Serenity they don't! Its Somalis in Somalia that need to step up, its Somalis in Somalia that need to wake up and realise supporting a clan, a warlord, a crooked organisation will not ensure stability and food-security for them and their children in the long run. The fact that Somalis in the diaspora pump 2 billion dollars anually to Somalia, which btw is higher than the Foreign Direct Investment of all of Somalia's neighbours combined, shows you Somalis in the diaspora are doing their best to aid those back there, but there is only so much they can do, if Somalis in Somalia want change on the ground then they need to emulate the Tunisians & Egyptians and stop fearing their oppressors. What Amin Amir is basically saying with this picture is that me buying a Playstation 3 for my nephews is a waste because I could have send that money to Somalia, that my brother's purchase of an expensive necklace for his wife last year is a waste because he could have send that money to Somalia, that my friend's gift to his pregnant wife in the form of a car is a waste because he could have send that money to Somalia. He's emotionally blackmailing us and trying to force us not to have a life. Somalis are far from extravagant or lavish, I have seen examples of both definitions, trust me we are nowhere near that. His point is a non-sequitur, diasporic Somalis live in new countries, where they raise their kids, if Amin Amir had instead drawn a Somali kid with no school materials on the left, then his point would make sense, since there are those who neglect their own right here in the diaspora, where they DO have chance to make a difference on the ground.

LMAO, I said painless compared to the past. Go ask any older relative/friend that did it 10-15 years ago, now that was Child-Birthesque.

Ibti, you summed up the thousand similar conferences in just one post, bravo. Sayyid, accept the reality sxb.

Do what?

Alcohol wa Haraam.

Ibti, I had a root canal filling last year to prevent more swelling in my gums. At the dentist, I didn't feel a thing. Their new method is painless compared to the past. Throws shoe @ Jacaylbaro.

Haha, tiny Darth Vader

Stubid point. Somalis in the West should not be denied something everyone around them is doing. Just because they originally come from Somalia doesn't mean they can't spend money on themselves or their weddings, just because they come from Somalia doesn't mean they have an obligation to send money there, they do this voluntarily, 2 BILLION DOLLARS annually!! Creating thousands of jobs and new businesses. They are not the cause for the situation on the left, no they left that situation to live better lives and that's exactly what they are doing. This emotional blackmail is exactly the reason why our youth have such trouble fitting in their host countries. Those who want to help the people of their/parents birth country will do so, those who don't, should live their new lives the way they want to!

Lol, miskiin:D

I am a woman, hear me roar! Hair on my chest, i'm ready for war Shaving it though is such chore I am a woman, equalled by none With my strapon I have so much fun Who said we need that son of a Gun? I am a woman, bow down for me No such thing as equality Understand our mentality We seek to dominate regardless of this blatant form of hypocrasy. .... Cynical Lady sings this every morning in front of the mirror.

Sayid*Somal;692605 wrote: Samir iyo iimaan to nuuen & AUN marxuumka. Yesterday, an Asian neighbour was getting her shopping out of the car - she put some of the shopping at front of her door and went back to the car to get rest of her shopping - when an opportunistic thief decided to help himself to her shopping - and legged it with two bags. She let out a massive scream;- "HELP, HELP - he is stealing my shopping" - when i opened the door - i saw her - frozen still whist semi shaking - pointing towards the direction the thief went - "the ******* took my shopping" she says as she almost chokes. I look towards the direction she was pointing to and what do i see - an elderly man struggling to run with two shopping bags - about couple hundred meters away. I told her to call the police as I took after him in hot pursuit .......... To be continued...... We all know how the story ended, you and NGONGE split the bounty; one bag for you and the other bag for him. In the meantime you left the poor Asian woman back at her car, completely confused & schocked. hehe

Malika, A Lion is a ultra-masculine beast, and highly chauvinistic, which is uncommon and almost non-existant in the vast Animal Kingdom, from the Giraffes to the Rhinos, to the Elephants, to the Tigers; the male and females have a complimentary system of being partners and a way of life that has sustained them throughout the ages as equals, in the Lion Kingdom however, the male rules with an Iron claw, and forces the females to do all the hard work, like slaves. He is a polygamous creature that has an harem of females that he impregnates whenever he feels like it, and these female Lions do not in any way seek to change this situation, or acquire the same rights as female Tigers, they are instead docile. To some of the disgruntled human males living in the modern world experiencing the changing tide towards universal equality between the sexes on every continent, a male Lion in their chauvinistic eyes is the last bastion of masculine pride, they see in the Lion a glimpse of the past that their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers enjoyed, so the Lion is indeed a symbol, but not really one "a woman" should adopt. Just my opinion.

Juxa weird system, Jacaylbaro has 200 lol wyre;692201 wrote: Rep power haddaad dooni dad badan ku darso threads badanna qor yaa chimera PS. I don't think you understood a word I said, coz I've never seen you writing in somali OR EVEN READING BAAN DHIHI KARAA:D Qoraalkeygii wa Saddex kuun ka badan, intaas kuma filno? btw, you entered SOL in 2009, I have been here since 2006, who the hell are you, and what do you know about me? LOL

Hardworker, high paid, well educated, ambitious aren't masculine/male traits they are human traits. This article is useless. cynical lady;691858 wrote: I am a woman, hear me roar Roar? Are you an animal? Is that what you're promoting here on SOL? That women should act like beasts? Wow!

Anyone here fear the next 5 to 10 years? Are you ready? damn everyone above me has a higher rep power, this is a hierarchy thing isn't it?

Sorry to hear of your loss brother Oz, I wish the best for you and your family, may your father rest in peace.