^LOL! This might come as a surprise, but Mekkan ladies do wear undies. true, highly inappropriate if they didnt, i must admit. But there's something profoundly 'wrong' about a lingerie store slap bang right in front of the Ka'ba.

a lingerie shop - has been built directly across from Islam's holiest site.

Taliban , you have been nominated, for best Newbie.

Welcome to the SOL 2007 Award Ceremony! The Poll was a huge success, with 70 citizens taking part. Hopefully next year we can build on this, with the introduction of new categories, and of course a host of new characters on SOL. Nur collects an impressive 3 awards, including Best Male Citizen, and Most Knowledgeable citizen. Valenteenah also deserves a mention, she's won (convincingly) the 'Best Female Award' and features in both the 'Best couples' of SOL In other news, many members have shown their disdain for the state of the Politics Forum by refusing to vote for the Best poster. Lessons aught to be learned from that. Otherwise, the results are hardly shocking, albeit a number of big names have lost out. To them i say, Better Luck next time! Here is the final result of the Poll: Best Citizen Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar Best Male Citizen Nur Best Female Citizen Valenteenah Best Newbie Centurion Most Knowledgable Citizen Nur Most Eloquent Citizen NGONGE Friendliest Citizen Stoic Craziest Citizen Lazygirl Funniest Citizen Rudy Best Poster Nur Best Poster in the Politics forum Castro Best Thread Boredom Best Screen Name (nick) Libaax-Sankataabte Best Thread Hijacker Jaceylbaro Most Helpful Citizen Conspiracy SOL's Best Duo Rudy/Valenteenah Valenteenah/NGONGE

This one always makes me snigger Also, check out this fantastic Somali Weatherman Somali weatherman

Lool, its not often a senior foreign corespondent gets his ear pulled , that was hilarious, and so was his akward laugh. when i looked at the video i also got this sad feeling cause Somalia used to be like this, nice and peacefull people doing their day to day stuff no worries on their heads, sunshine and sandy beaches Yes, it makes you wonder where Somalia would've got to by now, i mean i have no doubt whatsoever that we could have been (and were for a while) a major African success story.

Iran is definitly on my list of countries i want to visit I see i'm not the only one who's showing an interest in Persian women No, seriously, Iran is a fascinating nation, so admirable yet so alien. Their religious life is very different to what we are used to, and sometimes makes you contemplate whether they are 'with us' or just a totally foreign entity. Rageh Omaar has been somewhat of an icon, and he's doing us proud. I was especially happy to see he's a devout muslim.

Good old Ares does the trick.

Although not one for poetry, i must say Puuja and BOB i am impressed! Puuja, Congrats May you long remain intertwined with your one true love!

Are you reviving these old circus threads for the fun of it? Its a miracle the title wasn't misspelled.

I hope the nominations are finished by now ,, it is the 5th of March. Can't wait to see the finals ,,,,,,,,,,,, lool, some of you are not with it at all! THIS is the final Poll. BOB, well lets hope more of your inadeers vote for you next time!

lol, Naden what have i done? I didnt decide who got nominated, those who sent me the PM's did. Do you really live in Estonia?

i just came back from Salat Al Kusoof, and my back aches

...and who is this Certurian fellow? I should like to meet him Btw, is anybody else looking at the Lunar eclipse, right now?

It's like saying its okay to assume most Somalis are savages because of what happened in Somalia. It is okay to assume many of them are. And it so happens that TFG supporters are suddenly righteous non-racists..

Ameen sxb, surely your dial-up isnt so slow that it'd take a week to send me your nominations? Anyway, this was the first such award, so there were bound to be glitches, and people caught at unawares (although the nominations thread was up a week earlier). Next year's nominations? ...lets wait 'till next spring. I will create another 'nominations' thread then IA. Perhaps by then you'll have upgraded to broadband

It is okay to assume many of them do have AIDS, and that they are capable of horrible deeds, which have always been rife during peacekeeping operations(especially by African forces).

Violet, the world isn't black and white, and neither does the world divide into racists and non-racists. There's no such animal as the 'non racist' we are all racists to a greater or lesser degree, some hide it from themselves, others embrace it..

why not? Why can't I nominate myself? You are making up the rules, where did it say you can't nominate urself? These awards are rigged, nix sxb ik ben boos! Centurion I demand you give us your PW and we check your account for all the PM's that came in. WE have lost faith in you! lool, me, are you perhaps trying to make up for not winning the 'funniest citizen' award? About the self nominating, check the first page of the nominations thread, i cant be bothered to give a link. Self nomination is dumb, full stop. Yes, Valenteenah, you only have yourselves to blame if you don't like the nominations, since all of you could've nominated those you deem worthy. Still i suppose it's a good lesson for next year.

Ameen sxb, on the 9th (if i remember rightly), when the Poll closes, i will post in the final results. me you weren't allowed to nominate yourself, and unfortunately for you no one else nominated 'me' as favourite nick.

Their achievements are commendable, but seccession is unacceptable Words of Wisdom, Sky

Centurion, you need to think in a broader context. We are facing a bitter enemy in Ethiopia. Who is growing like a locust. One can only imagine what size it will be tommorow, let alone in 2050. A Somali state of potentially 50million, gives a state a strategic barrier to counter a bigger enemy and a context within which internationally, Somalia can hold up and taken notice of. Currently, the USA has designated, 4 countries in Africa ''consultative status'' you can guess, which 4 they are, who is also in it. Nevertheless, if we remain in the political situation we are currently in, it just means more anarchy, and chaos at a grander scale. A stateless nation of 50 million people can do nothing against local rivals. I didn't quite understand what you meant when you were referring to the US.

Not good news if we remain in the mess we are in, it'll only been more displaced, more hungry mouths, more deaths.

ah i see i have it wrong, perhaps the sources i looked at meant those actually living in the country. Here's the enlarged map of the Diaspora:

it’s ever a time to separate politics from religion! lol, if you mean never a time, i agree with you there xiin. In an nutshell.. For a real Islamic nation, Islam should be the political system, and the more we adhere to the rules and regulations set in the Quran, the more succesful the political atmosphere in a country; they are directly proportional. The Quran contains (if properly understood) what Western philosophers and political scientists have been looking for all their lives: Utopia. If administered to the best of our knowledge, Islam's guidelines will guarantee us that. But of course as humans we are inherently erronous, so we will never quite reach a state of Utopia (ironically we cannot even reach the level of 'State') however we can come close to it. Secularism is a western tool designed to initially prevent the political and social alienation of different sections of European populations (be they Christinian denominations, or whole different religions) and it is increasingly appearing as an alternative for naturally Islamic nations who bow down to Western political and economical pressure. Secularism is a faulty political ideology which will never suit any major Islamic nation, let alone a totally Islamic nation such as ours.