LoL @ dhagax. Nuts. JB - that concoction actually sounds yummy - just hold the eggs and add some cheese.

The song? Here it is.

Ideas. Policies. know-how. Ingenuity. Integrity. Dignity. Honesty. Charisma. Some of the things lacking in Somali politicians.

Allah Yarxama.

It seems like a good film - Sunday afternoon in bed type of film. Can't recall any recent sad films and not much makes me cry movie-wise.

Yeah, IWD doesn't seem to have much impact these days.

Yes, especially that track.

I liked the whole soundtrack to 500 Days of Summer.

Is the author commenting on Somali bigotry in general or just the true story of one woman's experience? Either way, it sounds very cliched.

That was surprisingly brilliant, Blessed. She made me feel like reading the Qur'an right now.

I suspected as much but I didn't expect Malika to be the one putting the arrangements in place! Also I assume you watched enough CSI episodes not to leave any evidence behind?

Taleexi;700111 wrote: War yarka Xaaji ha la ii daayo. Horaa loo yiri ilaa wan weyn la gawraco indhihiisu cirka ma arkaan . PL bay Xaaji kaga dhigtay, habar dhali weyday aleelo ku waalatay.... D block inuu dhinto oo dhulkiisa xoraysto diyaar buu u yahay intaa ka dibna derisnimo wanaag idinkula noolaado balse hadda xabad uun baa inaga dhexaysa. Them be fighting words, Taleex! Beyond politics and war, dadkani maaha dad si fudud u kala hadhaya. I pray that Allah cools down the bloodlust, waayo meel Muslim dhiigiisa lagu daadiyo meel khayr leh maaha mana noqonayso (Exhibit A: Somalia). May Allah give the people the control, vision and foresight to realise their goals without further bloodshed.

^ What's the likelihood that Somalina's 'shaah' will be safe for our visitor to drink?

Hehehe...good reaction. If he was American, he would probably have reached for the gun under his pillow and shot her.

Zack, who knew inaag geerida saa uga baqdo? What a morbid topic. I'm sure I'll be long dead before anything that interesting transpires, God willing.

Uff indeed @ Axmed-inajaad. I wonder though, ma dhakhtarkeedaad tahay, saad u ogaatay in alaabteedu dhulka marayeso? Istakhfurulah.

LoL..Glad to know we are not all useless after all, NG. Yes, I agree SL has been making very good progress. Desperately needed financial avenues are opening up and hopefully the administration will take full advantage for the betterment of the people. I mentioned the past because it has a direct and significant impact on what happens next. This isn’t just about what’s economically and politically beneficial for the SSC. It’s about what the people actually want and what they don’t want. In the past the regions weren’t put under any pressure to choose allegiance, SL may have thought they already had the allegiance due to geographical proximity but the question was never put to the people and the answer never given by the people. However, the bold rhetoric we have been hearing from SL in recent years has inadvertently put that question to the people and the people in turn have answered unintentionally. SL has managed to achieve what I thought was the impossible – an almost unanimous consensus in the region. Unfortunately for SL, the consensus is against the state’s singular vision – independence from Somalia. This was why I highlighted the causes that brought us to where we are today because these, along with the inherent tribal distrust that exists in Somali society, ensured the SSC’s rejection of the SL cause. I think this was bound to happen once any pressure was applied, and if it hadn’t happened now, it would have down the road. I think we can really only talk about economic and political incentives if SSC is meaningfully part and parcel of Somaliland. At the moment that’s not the case. The question is, will the administration listen to the resolve of the people or will it continue either burying its head in the sand as was the case in the past or waxing philosophical about international borders as it is doing now? In 2009 I had the chance to chat to an old friend of my grandfather's (Allah Yarxama) in New Zealand. I was mainly questioning him about the history and struggle of OG’nia but we got to discussing about Somaliland and I asked what he thought about the struggle for independence there. He said “Allah gave us all the right for self determination. If the people want to be independent, no one can deny them”. And I agreed with him because it made sense to me. The unity and determination the people of SL have displayed in fostering peace and actively seeking to control their own destiny is truly admirable. Whatever the future holds, that’s a legacy they can be proud of. In conclusion, Somaliland is already in the driving seat, seeking its own path to the future. The same consideration needs to be given to SSC, and SL shouldn’t be surprised if SSC doesn’t want to ride shotgun in the passenger seat. *Waves to Spadez*...Definitely a long time. Hope all is well with you and your family!

Adam, there are no old or ancient manuscripts written in Somali. The written form of the language was only introduced in the 1970s. Education before then was provided in Arabic, English and Italian. Also, further back in the 18th century through to the early 20th century, scholarship was mainly sought in the Islamic religion from Arabic institutions in The Sudan, Egypt and Arabia. Our society was wholly oral for the majority of our history. Literature and poetry was memorised and passed down through the generations. Anything written in the old days would have been in foreign languages.

Brilliant!

^ Amiin, BOB. This is very embarrassing. Maxaabiista la xidhnaa maxay uga takhaluusi waayeen dayuuska tolow?

Chimera;697791 wrote: ^Thanks, I wasn't aware there was Objective as well, so much left to explore. Oh yes, definitely. After the Bourne Legacy, there's also the Bourne Betrayal, Bourne Sanction, Bourne Deception and finally the above-mentioned Objective. Happy reading!

^ LoL. I suppose it's a symptom of being an unwritten society that we grasp at everything written about us by foreigners. A flattering opinion nonetheless.

^ Ma ogid miyaa in dumarku qaarkood u ululeeyaan dagaal walba? It's something a lot of Somali women share.

NGONGE, your analysis is insufficient in terms of what brought about the current situation. The confrontation has been coming for a long time. Your suggestion that SL need only offer an economic incentive to lure SSC back (the carrot) and Ibti’s assertion that SL need only ignore the regions economically to make them crawl back (the stick) makes me think you both need to reassess SL’s economic capacity along with its track record in dealing with the SSC regions in the past. You might be surprised to hear this but Somaliland never offered much to the regions in question in the past. What little taxes the administration collected and what aid it received didn’t get past the election and army budget, numerous ministers’ salaries and oiling of hands unknown. Forget about the SSC regions, SL wasn’t even in an economic position to develop their capital city – the progress and developments that have been happening in Hargeisa and other cities have been steered solely by residents, businessmen and women hailing from both inside and outside SL and, of course, the Diaspora. Granted, this boom of enterprise was engendered by the peace and calm enjoyed in SL, but the admin had very little to do with it in a practical sense. Moreover from the beginning there was a lack of political accessibility and an in-ward driven attitude in Somaliland, so much so that those people from SSC (however few or many) who might have wanted to support SL found it difficult to engage with its political mechanisms. If the early economic and political processes and initiatives in SL are analysed you’ll find the regions of SSC never had much involvement or engagement. The few times previous administrations mentioned these regions were usually to reiterate how they were part of the former British Protectorate boundaries and therefore part of SL. SL wanted the SSC regions to join (perhaps because this would go some way in legitimising the struggle for independence) but was also somehow afraid of involving them in their governing structures (perhaps because of tribal distrust). As it happens, you can’t have everything as you want it and so the people of SSC together with their kinsmen built another governing alternative, Puntland. An entity that could be autonomous and take strides in developing the combined Northern and Eastern regions, without the need to abandon or break away from Somalia. The best of both worlds as could be had at that time. The interesting thing is, whilst most people from SSC supported Puntland and felt SL wasn’t politically viable for them, they still saw the cities and the people of SL as theirs, still sent their kids to schools in Hargeisa, still moved there to live and opened businesses and travelled freely between the regions. Despite the differences in political opinions, there wasn’t any tension, ill feeling or fear regarding SL’s objective. Fast forward a number of years and we come to a situation where everything has changed. Where Somaliland’s rhetoric and actions have both become increasingly proprietary and aggressive, where Puntland has somewhat veered from its political aspirations and failed to deliver the anticipated potential, but more damagingly has been unable to protect the people and the lands of SSC. All of a sudden the people of SSC came out of cruise mode and found themselves under siege. Their neighbours and clan equals were declaring ownership in no uncertain terms. They were part of the British aligned boundaries and were therefore legally owned! (An unacceptable and provocative claim in the eyes of the SSC people.) Perhaps if the posturing remained purely rhetorical things wouldn’t have deteriorated to the current level, however SL chose to follow up with the ill-advised, underhanded occupation of Laas Caanood. Suddenly the picture was very clear, SL was no longer just talking the talk, they were walking the walk (albeit with home-grown support)! What was SSC to do? Could they trust and rely on Puntland to act effectively on their behalf? Alas, the answer proved to be a solid NO. What next? A flurry of meetings, conferences and get-togethers ensued. Men talked and women collected money. A multitude of politically-inclined groups formed. Finally, some sort of consensus was reached. If SSC was to survive, the people had to organise themselves. They had to build a political consciousness as a region. They had to create and install their own administrative and governing structures. The many garaads and generals with the many agendas had created too many partitions and too much confusion. If the SSC people couldn’t organise and administer their own affairs, if they couldn’t negotiate on their own behalf, if they couldn’t secure their own people and lands, if they couldn’t raise funds and rebuild their civil infrastructures, they would not only continue to be neglected and degenerate but they might altogether disappear into another country! And so Ololaha SSC began. There were more meetings and conferences. Decisions were made and leaders chosen. SSC finally had something to believe in – themselves! They wouldn’t, couldn’t rely on others to do for them what they could do themselves! SL with its mounting threats and newly uniformed soldiers was not going to sweep them into their political ideology. The importance of this revival, this new believe in SSC as the beginning of an administration is the desire for a chosen local leadership which can speak for the people, source funds from both the Diaspora and from within the regions to implement initiatives that can make direct impact, encourage entrepreneurs to invest in their cities and towns, and actively lead the regeneration of the region. For in order to advance and make any effective contributions to the overall region (Puntland) and to greater Somalia, the SSC regions would need to be in a strong unified position. And so, with the new fervour blazing through people and with the threat of ‘border-closing’ hanging over the regions, the tension, suspicion and fear ratcheted up and up. And then one day, there was a small conflict over watering holes and those newly-uniformed SL soldiers arrived in all their glory. Boom! We could all predict what happened next. Considering all of this, is there a shadow of a doubt that SL has lost any and all prospects in these regions? There is no comparison or competition with Puntland in this case, because Puntland was always a means to an end – a united and stable Somalia. Being part of Puntland and being for a Greater Somalia weren’t and aren’t mutually exclusive. But Somalia and Somaliland, on the other hand, ARE mutually exclusive - this is what’s at the core of the resistance in SSC. It’s less about support for the TFG and much more about the ideology of a united Somalia. In conclusion, "Nothing has changed. And yet Everything has changed".

Everyone's loyal to something and some are loyal to nothing. Nina, looks like you're ruffling some masculine feathers around these parts. I have a blowtorch at hand if you desire to do more that mere ruffling.