Che -Guevara;691126 wrote: Thanks God for modern media-check the Egyptian TV and contrast it with Al Jazeera.God Che, what exactly are you grateful for? A borrowed feed that is focused on a burning car and contrasting to the Egyptian TV camera angle that is overlooking a section of the city? Their live coverages is not so live when their whole agenda is to piss on Egypt's face. Today, the damning clips that they are calling "latest pictures" that show state police vehicles entering crowded areas, showing sympathetic clips of the "savages" who took to the streets, attacking police officers, vandalizing private and public property masqueraing as peaceful protest, all along reporting rumors of live ammunition, planting the seeds that the government is out to wipe the protests, which really would not be too bad if you think about, all serve the purpose of Al jazeera's questionable and calculating coverage. In any case, dont lie to yourself che about the Al Jazeera coverage, their agenda is clear to anyone who is watching it today and who watched it during the flotilla attack, dominate coverage and have mass appeal. Shift wherever the wind is blowing, thats Al Jazeera's mandra. This network does not have a problem when it comes to comprising their journalistic integrity(if they have any) in order to give voice to few hundred people who should be sanctioned altogether, while also being a force to reckon with in the 24 cable news environment. Look how many major networks are using Al Jazeera feed in order to bring the "so called revolution" to the global world. The source of information happens to be Al Jazeera because they put themselves in the right places and doing so, they create a place where honest reporting is thrown out of the window and unwarranted coverage is given to the goons who start the conflict. As far as the United States is concerned, EGYPT WILL NoT BE ABANDONED. The military will further impose its will on the people of egypt, the goons will get what's coming to them in the next few days, weeks, months.

I was first introduced to TED discussions with the story of Adichie and her discussion about the "DANGER OF A SINGLE STORY"..... thought provoking, sometimes humorous discussions which I have since come to appreciate about TED TALKS.... For those of you who do not know Adichie, she is a young, brilliant writer of african descent, Nigeria to be specific. Below is adichie's discussion about the "DANGER OF A SINGLE STORY":- http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

^Islamira, I think you need to put a lid on your assertions about the northern enclave being a "secular government". Waayo, there is no such thing as a government. I think you meant to say maamul gobol not "secular government". @ISlamira, dont you get tired of hearing yourself? One day, shiiqad aad iska dhigee, the next siyaasiyad yar in the making aad no noqotay. Gormaad taqtaraq yar noqonee? Waan ujeedaa inaad lawyer in the making aad noqotay too. Marka kale, maxaa "kill yourself" meesha keenay? Waad ubaratay inaad dadka aad buufis about killing themselves aad la imaatid. Now on to the business of the topic... Both "5" and "Bob" have raised valid points about Somalinimo and dulinimo. This news is not only disheartening as much as its distasteful and utterly contemptuous to our good Somali name. That being said, Somalinimo is what makes the Somali people unique and exceptional with the exception of the muggers who occupy VILLA MORGAN as our good duke would say. The crime family who call themselves "JSL" have demonstrated repeatedly their incompetence. Unable to protect the northern population from pedophiles and sex traffickers just to name a few... I'm speechless that this type of business is happening right in Silanyo's backyard while his head is focused on appeasing the "tea and biscuit crowd in "diaspora" who pray and eat secessionism. Lately, the populated areas, in Hargeysa and its surroundings are under siege. Folks are either kidnapped or violated by pedophiles, sex traffickers, and porn producer. Where is the priority of the so called "SILANYO administration"??? What are they telling these families who are looking for their four year old daughters? What are they telling to the husbands who find the naked photos of their wives on the internet?? Day after day we hear ugly news coming out from lawless Hargeysa masquerading as a peaceful enclave when in fact, criminals or foreigner entities are getting a slap on the wrist. And if that is not bad enough, the good citizens of Hargeisa who bravely speak against Silanyo's injustices are in fact throw in jail and sometimes given the same sentences as the german pedophile. Time for the Silanyo administration to buckle up and deal with local issues. This story is once more a reminder why these "muggers" occupying villa morgan will never get recognition. This is another reminder that just as the British handed the trusteeship to southerners, we will continue to assure shacabka in waqooyi galbeed that its the south who will protect them not the muggers and the senile silanyo who looks forward to his retirement in the Caribbean. Finally, our brother J-Baro's b-day has arrived early...500 words and counting, what a surprise?... never in the history of SOL have I witnessed j-baro writing more than 10 words, this is a first for me and I must take a moment to digest this shock... 500 words, quite impressive for you j-baro...but I cant help wonder what triggered this sudden "original" piece? Indeed, we are witnessing history in the making. ...filed by LayZieG.

kix kix@Somalina with the obvious....BTW, you forgot to add Xabashi to the list of non-arabs.... @@@kamiiva, JABHADA needs your attention more than I do, go wire your minimum wage salary, its friday after all...

lol@NUUNE and jiinkii.... Nuune, jinni iyo Islamira isku meel ma maraan As for ISLAMIRa, kaalay, maxaa ku daaray? you come across as a scorned woman, wallaahi I promise to undo whatever it is you think I DID, just iisheeg magaciisa and I will get to the bottom of it ya canadien PS: Somalina, yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious, it was indeed a typo on my part and the fact that I'm living in the 21st century not the 15th century suggests otherwise, so its natural to get those 4's and o's mixed up.....and infact was referring to the hijra calendar of 1432

lol@KK, wallaahi inaadan caadi aheyn...lol@AAMINA CADEY....tani isxaan aa loo falay, she was handed a generous gift, imprisonment..that being said, she deserves the death penalty.....What a despicable human being In any case, the bad news is that she will be out in a few short years, which means that she will be back on the streets, doing what she does best, steal for a living....but the good news is that the hundreds of Aamina's who are currently scamming the system will think twice before they cash their next welfare check..

^I didn't know Ethiopia or Somalia was an arab state? Did anybody bother to read the title of the thread? Did Sanka bother to correct the title? What does tunisia's political turmoil have to do with the next "arab state collapse"? Do any of you know what maghreb means? Lets get the basics straight people, basics@kamaavi. PS: I blame JULIAN ASSANGE for the latest news....he should get the electric chair for this latest fiasco

Ciyaalka xaafada aka Tuujiska, gabadha ka qalee, tani hadda aan arkay iney Canada nala joogto ee u qalee.... marka kale, marka aad meesha waabsiga ula imaatay oo dhaheysid "dugsi quraan nooc kastena waan soo dhigtay" (if you do nt have christian friends, you know have suufi friends and if not suufi budhism), waabsi mabanidaa.....sounds more like you shopping for shaati at suuqa...lol, how many school of thought aa taqaanaa, marka kale, dadka aa la hadleysid xataa waxa ay wahabbism tahay ma ya qaanaan, ee tani canadianka eh dhaaf....or atleast aniga ii daa... ps: HAPPY belated 4032@ISLAMIRA..... or was it 2011?

Hi there dukey..........I'm in search of a secessioner today........I dont know what you did to them but they better come out of hiding soon...... Abwaani, you have to learn to read carefully, waayo, you would have known had you read my post that I was talking about you not at you, hence, there was no reason to address me or seek a vocalist but as always, you could not help yourself, so I'm here to tell you to learn how to read...and yes, Now i am talking to you directly, not about you...see the difference? If I wanted to address you, you would have known by now. In any case, you didnt object to what I said about you, which means I was right.

Abwaan seems to be suffering from a mild case of puntite.....his recent logs from ancestry.com reveal that his trees go back as far as the border town of garowe and even there, it came back inconclusive, hence his hostile tone(his frustrations got the best of him)....that being said, ABWAANi was on target when he said abwaanland or as he likes to call "fatuudland" does not exist but what does exist and what continues to exist is the "land of the punt".:p:p On a side note, brr, brrr, brrr to BANADIR team.......(where are the secessioners? lets hope you are not locked in a farmhouse somewhere while xaaji xundi leads the charge to unleash poisonous gas and ngonge plays the part of chief negotiator in the scene for aabo silaanyo)

^First of all, salaama ya Nuurini Marka kale, due to time constraints, I will be brief. Truth me told ya nuurini, you are upset and I dont know why.....not sure if you are upset with yourself because you had a bad day or you were upset with my line of questioning, either way I didnt except you to react this strongly.(I hope I am wrong) but how else do you explain your brief but lengthy irritant post...??? The afghan war question was not asked to elicit a response but ofcourse you knew that, which is why you used this opportunity to shift the focus of earlier post, which was about you....you and your position on the afghan war...... and as for you insisting on recycling views from the blogsphere, its something you have done regularly and retather intentionally if I may say so myself.......(you asked who objected to it), I did, many times over and each time you turned a deaf ear.......but ofcourse, I expect you to deny but only for me to come back and dig up the thread where we had that very same discussion and ofcourse you will come back and deny the discussion in its entirety. I asked you if you believed that alqaeda in the arabian peninsula existed and you came back with its a runaway trade mark...I didnt ask you what it was, I asked if you believed its existence....? lol@"someone I hate for their sin".... I have no problem with glen's lifestyle, after all, its his life. He made the choice to be with a man and not a woman but thats beside the point.... and furthermore, its not compulsory to know what an author does in his private life but its essential to the reader to understand the author's motivations, what draws out his conclusions on any number of subjects and whether or not a subject thats overemphasized has an underlying theme...i.e domestic and foreign policy topics and etc...... and lastly, textual criticism need not always have opposing views(especially from a reader in a forum) and in most times, the content is persuasive and in coherent and logical order, for this reason, the reader need not form an opposing view, they can just state why they disagree with the opinion expressed by the author...... the onus is not with the person reading the material but the one presenting it as a topic of discussion to show why the article/essay is persuasive, B, to recognize the biases and C, know the purpose of the text.(all of which can be effectively acknowledged by reading the text without forming an opinion. Marka kale, the author is not here to defend his/her work, so why would I initiate a discussion with a ghost? Ya nuurini, when I decide to share good reading material, I create threads and forward the source material and I follow it up with brief synopsis of the article, followed by my own commentary.....and I do this so the reader knows the reasons why I posted the topic and overall what I took from reading and this in turn generates a discussion(dry articles are just that, dry).....see, i am not a jaceylbaro, who goes around posting every trash he can find in the internet as news worthy......your articles have to have a substantive element to them.......but ofcourse you would want to take the focus off yourself because you were never comfortable with stating your position....rather, you led others speak for you, righT? ........until next time ====================================== ====================================== My dearest Islamira, while I am inclined to agree with you on the matter of personal notes and lifestyle choices, your inability to grasp with the simple know how that my post was directed at Sheik Nuur and not (anyone else) puts your comment out of place and makes it rather redundant..... In layman terms, I am saying that I agree with you entirely ya Islamira; YOU ARE PREACHING TO THE CHOIR.

Generally speaking ya CHE, a sting operation is defined to being a "deceptive operation". The purpose of a sting operation is to catch the perpetrator in the act .....in short, its meant to catch him or her committing a criminal act and put him behind bars, preferably a cage where he can never get out and thats exactly what the FBI personnel involved in this case did........thus, the sting operation aka 'set up' was a success and today we have one less "Islamist thug" in the streets.....(but ofcourse you knew all of this) On Page 1, Che, when you exclaimed "This is set up" was that more closely supported by facts or was it oversimplification on your part? Dont you think its rather moronic to comment on others remarks and reactions about the arrest of one Muhammed---Muhammud when you yourself stated part of the truth out of context....and formed an opinion based on that partial truth, one that is neither supported by facts nor explained in depth as to why you felt the arrest of the young "Islamist Thug" was, generally speaking a " set up"? Belief me when I say that my intent is not to make you the focus of this topic but it just so happens that your response was the first among many moronic misstatements made here and for this reason, I have decided to single you out in order to make you an example of everything wrong with the somali community today. We went from being proud people to making news headlines every other month about something as serious as "attempting to commit violence act" against innocent civilians who did no harm to anyone. Just imagine walking down the street today, knowing that one of your brethren is ready to blast the whole block just because he is fed up and wants to make those around him suffer just as he is suffering. Ideally, a disgruntled youth takes his anger and shortcomings on everyone but himself. He is angry and resentful and he is swimming in his own self-pity. Similarly, you have folks who cheer terrorist organizations and talk about martyrdom like they are talking shop. In our community today, to have a radical view is the same way as having mainstream views. Discussions ranging from "who has this block under their control" or who planted the lasted bomb blast is so prevalent in our community that we forget to realize the loss of life, the blood thats shed in the name of ayeeyo or adeer, or abti hebel and habaryar heblaayo.....you couple that with a toxic environment of today and you wonder how contemplating suicide one day can be replaced with homicidal tendencies and sometimes the two thoughts can be interchangeable. Thus, thoughts turn into action and a case example is one Mr Muhamud. In short, communities such as ours, especially in our mosques and internet forums and coffee shops made it possible for this young man to dislay his resentment and self-hating style in such a grant scale as to cause the death of thousands in an instant........(if he had his way) Lastly, the anti-american, pro-shabaab rhetorics have consequences and today this young man fell victim to your very own politicization of Islam, so, in part, you and others are to blame for this young man's inaction.....tomorrow, we might not be so lucky...... ...and just so that you do not misunderstand me, I'm in no way saying that you will intentionally harm a human being or anyone else here for that matter but cheering for the shabaab camp when they have the blood of your brethren on their hands is the same way as you pulling the trigger....if the shabaabs didnt enjoy the warm reception of the somali community, Shabaabs would not be in operation today...another child would not lose a limp from the enemies mortar....and until we can collectively say KILLING OR HAVING THE INTENTION TO KILL PEOPLE IS WRONG(not setup/entraptment etc) but that killing is wrong, full stop, WE WILL FOREVER HAVE BLOOD ON OUR HANDS........ and below is what a "SET UP" is not.....for che's eyes only.... What a 'set up' is not is when a person wakes up on the morning of november 26th, praying and hoping to maim and kill thousands of people, mostly families with children. Innocent people, who wish to gather under the square and celebrate while watching the lighting of a christmas tree. A 'set up' is not reaching out to paki comrades abroad for the sole purpose of establishing contact with alqaeda operatives overseas in order to operate sleeper cells in the United States and plan and carry a domestic attack. A 'set up' is anything but having desires to develop, operate andn carry an attack in the middle of an American city. Having the intent to carrying an attack on a mass scale, perhaps as much as ten thousand lives being at risk and wanting to take a lead in the operation, supply materials, gather intel, pick location all for the purpose of causing havoc, that my friend is anything but a "set up". A 'set up' is not putting the trigger at your fingertips and attempting to set off a car bomb...... A 'set up' is not a trigger happy teenager.... ......This sting operation is anything but a "set up" ya Che.......

Nur, how long ago did you create this thread? How much time has passed since the United States invasion of Afghanistan? Why do you insist on recycling views of bloggers more so than your own? For example, the article above is entitled, "there is no alqaeda" etc etc, does that mean you agree with the views of its author? Do you believe that the Alqaeda branch of the arabian peninsula is nonexistence? A phantom of sort? Why is it that when you go out of your way to recycle sources, almost always there is one written by the gay blogger, glen greenwald? If you post an article without a commentary or a follow up, an observer almost always reaches the conclusion that you are in full agreement with the points raised by an author on a particular subject, so much so that you left the work of the author to speal for itself....If you agree with his views(the disgruntled gay blogger who has a chip on his shoulder), who has a long history of being critical about U.S policy, both domestic and international, you are in a way supporting his lifestyle, in and outside of print, so which is it? (surely, a man doesnt get up in the morning wanting to crisis his government for its policies unless one is livid about his own role in the fabric of american society) Do you not read with critical eye whenever you come across a sensational piece that has you falling off your chair? Why not question the motives of the author, why not provide me(the reader of this thread) a commentary...give me more to work with, dont let me reach my own conclusions ya NUR. Finally, this brings me back to the reason why I keep coming back to this thread, which is that I'm looking to read something of value, which will start a healthy discussion about afghanistan/iraq/alqaeda, if there is one to be had but I can not tolerate reading recycled material from nugotary sources repeatedly, which is why I had to voice my concern over your selective reading. In addition, I dont know if your remember, you and I got into 'it; a while ago over similar thread about a 9/11 conspiracy theorist who you very much respect and you were in support of his position about 9/11 theories, you found his arguement to be compelling. It was difficult to reason with you much less caution you aout questionable sources. Finally, what is interesting is not what a blogger says but how convincing he is in his art and my question to you is how much of the trash posted above do you buy into? Do you deny Alqaeda's existence? If the answer is yes, on what grounds? ...and on my last point, which is to say that we are not the tea party movement, we do know take things at face value. We do fact checks, we use logic and reason to reach our conclusions. We do not embrace views of others just because they mirror our very own biased. We have the right to be a skeptic, unless ofcourse, you are a tea bagger who reads a blog or two and reaches a decisive conclusion. sincerely, LayZieG

Che, che che, I have not known you to be this flamboyant about anything,what gives comrade? Its one thing to have pity party for yourself, its another thing when you make mistatements and represent your views as facts. For example, in your log above, you stated: TFG is non-entity-this is not my opinion. It is fact as confirmed the reality in the Xamar. For something to be factual, it has to be undeniable, no room for speculation and it has to be existing in fact, in which case it can not exist in mere possibility. It can not be disputed, it can not be fabricated, it can not be stated as an opinion and thats exactly what you did when knowily and provocatively said the TFG WERE "nonentity". The fact of the matter is that you are wrong. You are wrong to say that TFG IS "NONENTITY", waayo TFG does exist, its not planted nor is it imagined in the minds of people. That being said, you can argue and say the TFG is a government entity, an ineffective, powerless entity at that, whose legitimacy is questioned by many, nevertheless, existence for all intends and purposes. Because of their weakened position, they do not control all of mogadishu and surrounding areas but more or less, mostly is due to failure in leadership and not failure in the government institution who we have come to call TFG. However, you can not say the TFG is nonentity just because you imagine them to be nonentity does not make it so. Just because you want something to not exist it doesnt make it so, things dont solely disappear because you have disdain for one thing or another. TFG is a government institution that enjoys the recognition of the international community, not limited to the United nations. It was established according to the federal parliament accord of 2004. It represents majority of the Somali population, both at home and abroad. However, the TFG does not enjoy the support of all its important constituents, which are the people who currently reside in the capital. The TFG has a charter, it is far from perfect but enjoys substantial support from the Somali diaspora, for this reason, TFG is an entity rather than a nonentity. Lastly, comrade, remember the saying, "YOU ARE ENTITLED TO YOUR OPINIONS BUT NOT TO YOUR OWN FACTS"? Do your best to make the distinction between facts from fiction, facts from opinion and you and I and the rest of soler gang will get along better. Dont you want us to be one big happy family who listen to one another and take ques from one another and you say, "yes sir, no madam", "aye aye captain"? Other than that, the reading content in your log can still make headaways for as long as you present the evidence at equal proportion. Your loving and beholden comrade in arms, LayZieG

^some would argue that the change mantra is just a fallacy and in fact she is cut from the same cloth as her soon to be predecessor....he hand picked his woman from the little I read, in which case, it remains to be seen just how effective she can be on her own or under his guidance away from preying eyes....will she keep her promise to her women folk? As a woman, I find that all women should be rallying behind her and others like her who really have not only cracked the ceiling (in the case of my beloved hillary Clinton) but have actually reconstructed the ceiling.......women leaders are on the rise(latinas or otherwise), the time has come when you will see women taking over permanently...but much doubt clouds the state of middle east women.....specifically, arab women. GOD BLESS ARAB WOMEN

^My dearest Che, I didnt ''jump the gun'' as you colorfully noted above, matter of fact, I didnt jump any gun. Just as I was posting my thread, news from yemen had multiple sources confirming that the suspect was being released, even then it mattered very little, which is why I added that he bomb maker or in the case of the Islamist, she was setup as a front to transport these packages. However, this doesnt take from the fact that she is linked to the young saudi stud or has relations and that he set her up to take the fall. He knew what he was doing... as you are hinting,.lack of evidence does not translate to innocence ya che, the extend of her involved is something thats still developing and one can not conclude that she is innocent of all charges..(one is never innocent when they are in bed with terrorists) All in all, my grievances lie with the women protestors more than the Islamist.(this much is evident in my writing) You do agree that the protestors are women righT? Friendship matters little here. They are women, protesting the arbitrary arrest of their woman folk but somehow they have been absent from the global terrorism debate, specifically that which concerns them, until now. My question still stands, why now and why over the one arrest? Unless ofcourse you are saying these muslim women are not really women, they are in fact men who are disguised as women behind the veil, in which case, I have prematurely judged these 'women' and their fellow Islamist? Maybe the woman arrested was not really a woman? To the poster who is revolted by the sight of these arab women, I would caution you to use some restraint and at the same time, I would plead with you by urging you to forgive these unsuspecting women for they are not responsible for their outerwear, in which case, they can not be held accountable for the choice of their attire.

Today, it was reported that a crowd of Burka wearing women took up to the streets near the Sana'a University in Yemen to decry the 'arbitrary arrest' of a Islamist woman who is believed to have ties with Al-qaeda operatives in Yemen. The burka crowd decried the arrest of the Islamist woman but not the 'Al qaeda operatives of the yemeni branch operating from their backyards, whose operation and plots have nearly destablized the country and is in near danger of destabilizing the region. Here, these Islamists go about their daily business of plotting attacks against the United States, Europe, you name it, they have their hands on the trigger and if I may say so myself, right from the backyard of some of these protesters houses, so why now, why today? Why the rage of the Islamists arrest? Why are these yemeni women concerned about the arrest of one female plotter? Their attention should be focused on the the yemeni branch of alqaeda, who are moving freely and who are about to bring the yemeni government to its knees. Instead, we have seen less show of support and solidarity for the yemeni government in crushing these militants by destroying their terror cells. Instead of taking a stand against these forces of evil for hijacking their government and destablizing the region, they cry wolf over one lone Islamist who just happens to be a woman? SHAME ON U burkhawis! The women protesters were nowhere to be seen when reports of the underwear bomber and his time in yemen were front and center, or when al-Awlaki was producing his videos from Yemen, not one protest not one condemnation. Over and over again we see that these women keep to themselves on matters that they deem unimportant, i.e terrorist taking over their country, recruitment of their impressionable young men and marrying into their families and planning attacks from yemen thats bound for EUROPE AND Unites STates. Today, these hypocrites have not only decided to take us back in time as women but have decided to come out to speak as one voice in defense of a Islamist woman who may have ties to the bomb maker(ie 'we are all hanan'), and the bombs he may have made and hidden in the packages found via UPS/FEDex via doha-dubai-midlands-uk-all bound for Jewish synogogues? For Muslim women, its not whether or not they have taken a sudden turn for the worse when it comes to progress but just how far back they have turned the clock. Just so that no one wonders how far they have come along, Yemeni women want you to know that they have no plans to move forward, away from 'primitive arab practices' and 'jahiliyya mentality', which is why they took it to the streets to 'decry the arbitrary arrest' of one of their woman folk who just happens to be an Islamist. Not only that, she might have had relations with the saudi bomb maker, who just happens to be a young, saudi stud who probably was responsible for putting her contact name in the packages found in the UK and Dubai and ultimately setting her up for the fall. It makes sense that a woman is involved in this latest plot, it also makes sense that she was the first one the authorities identified and arrested. I'm certain that she, like all the others before her will have her day in court and more detail will come to surface. At the same time, I dont believe that a terrorist should get the benefit of the justice system, instead, he/she should be locked up in a dark hole and never to be heard from. Speaking of dark holes, we as women have come along way, today we are celebrating women achievements and rejoicing over the success of women all over the world(the number of women world leaders keep rising), while some women folks, especially those who profess the Islamic faith and who are vehemently opposed to the ban of burka in western civilizations are the first ones ready to walk arm in arm with fellow women over a protest of an arbitrary arrest. Finally, I dont know what is more troubling, a woman islamist (reported to have been 22 yr old medical student) who is in bed with the terrorists or the ones who are decrying her 'arbitrary arrest', either way, you as a Muslim woman should be troubled by this news, yes you, women folks. Source:http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Yemen+frees+student+held+over+parcel+bombs/3754729/story.htm l, BBC and other media outlets.

MMA, on october 8th, you wrote and said that 'the candidate who had the best chance of winning the ward 2 seat' was Mrs Ali, so my question to you is if Mrs Ali didnt win in 06, did you think she would run a political campaign with her hands tied behind her back by overcoming the failures of the last election cycle and still have a good chance at beating her opponents? I dont know about the city of toronto but in my tuulo, you have to meet the following requirements to run for municipal elections: 3.1 Qualification of Candidates You can run for Council if you meet the following qualifications: • A Canadian citizen; • At least 18 years of age; • A resident of the City of the city; • The owner or lessee of property in the City, or the spouse; • Not legally prohibited from voting; and • Not disqualified by any legislation from holding municipal office. • Candidates must be qualified on the day they file their nomination paper. • A Member of Council must maintain their qualifications throughout the entire term of office or their seat will become vacant. (as u can see, most qualify to run but so few win) With that said, I don't see why Mrs Ali couldnt change her tactics this election cycle? Did she actually think she could beat anyone, much less the political power of the 'Ford's' running the same campaign as '06? What in the world does being a 'doctor' once in ITALIA have to do with running for municipal elections? Instead, Mrs Ali failed the basics of political campaigns 101. Know your issues, get the message out, get big endorsements and out spend your opponent, all of which she failed to deliver. Regardless of the vacant seat in her ward, she should have known that in order to create jobs, people want you to talk about the issues, they want to know how your so called "civic service" experience will help create jobs, instead they heard you say "you know what the community is going through" and I will be your voice to represent you, which was uttered so many times to toronto star. (sure, send a minority to city hall but how will that help them get the constituents get the jobs they need in their district or how will it help them curb the high taxes) Instead of talking to property owners, who are mostly affected by the decision of city hall, she limited her message to the minority groups, as thought that will win you a seat. That was bold move on her part but she should have known that it was a gamble. Another failure is getting endorsement from the toronto star, that was toxic. Mrs Ali as a candidate lacked political depth, she obviously has not learned the '06 lessons and her loss was inevitable, even if the winner didnt have the ford name and money behind him, she would have still lost. Lastly, Mrs Ali, if you are reading this and have convinced yourself that Mr Ford, the senior ford beat you because of his brother's political base, think again. YOU BEAT YOU. Your message resonated with the poor and the disfranchised and not everyone in that constituency is poor and disfranchised. If you are considering running again, just change your message, its that simple, CHANGE YOUR MESSAGE.(if you dont believe me, visit doug ford, the winners website and read his message)

lol@ngonge For the life of me, I can not be bothered to go back and read 4 or 5 pages written by boneheads but I will, if I can be useful, make a suggestion or two: One concerning our SOL SHREW AND OUR BELOVED MAYDAY. There is no doubt in my mind that our beloved mayday, namely one of Maaaaadey farabadno as he is commonly known is in need of a wife, presumably a shrew, which got me thinking: Mayday needs a Katherine, every man should have a Katherine in his life and since Mayday is lacking in that department(quite literally), I was thinking inaan khaaraan isugo soo darno sida aan Katherine proposal ula tagno. If this works, and I suspect it will, I promise to help mayday tame his shrew in Katherine. So much so that I am willing to aid him in beating her to submission. Here, Katherine will belong to him, both in body and spirit. Finally, mayday will live his fantasy of having a perpetual minor for a wife just as the house of Saud prescribed it. Heck, when I am done with mayday, Shakespeare will roll over his grave, biting his lips over the missed opportunity and instead settling for the more timid Petruccio, the lead character in "The Taming of the Shrew". .....and to the rest of the boneheads, leave the mob mentality at the door. Refrain from engaging personalities, if at all possible. The poster isn't the one who ruled on the said verdict, the UAE supreme court handed the verdict but thats if you actually took the time to read the post. source of entertainment: "The Taming of the Shrew" by WIlliam Shakespeare

First, I'm no fan of 'political correctness', especially if it concerns itself with Islamists. Secondly,truth me told, the National Public Radio, commonly known as NPR crossed the line when they decided to part ways with one of their prominent television personalities/political commentator, namely one Mr Juan Williams who is employed by fox news as well as NPR.(as recently as yesterday being thursday) On the subject of NPR, a media company should not get into the business of either purging free speech nor should they give lessons on morality to their employees. Instead, NPR should keep its executives occupied in the boardrooms. Here, atleast they can do some good by drawing a plan to extract more funds from the public, either through government subsidy or prostitute themselves to both public and private donors. Marka kale, who here has not taken a flight recently, either domestic or international? The answer is that flying is more common and unusually peculiar. For frequent flyers, airline travel can be more annoying than enjoyable. Moreover, the stakes are higher with flying, risk taking with take offs and landings and not to mention how upsetting turbulence can be are all too dangerous for most people. Besides, most times you are stuck in long lines. More importantly, as you wait in the line to board a flight or go through a security check, you can not help yourself as you look over your shoulder, even scan the big crowd for unusual behaviour. In essence, you are your own security at the airport, not to mention the alarm going off in your head that says "travel at your own risk". Getting back to scanning the crowd, here, as you move the big crowd, briefly getting the glimpse of the crying baby to the businessman in the suit waiting patiently for his turn at the security check, wondering whether he packed his good tie for the meeting tomorrow. From the businessman and the crying baby, you scan closely the people around you and here is where you lock your eyes with a mullah omar looking dude, the 'gardheere' type, looking nervous as he anxiously waits his turn at the security check, or in my case, waiting to board the same flight as me. So much so that he makes you and the others around you nervous. Here, everyone has the same expression on their face, atleast the ones who are paying attention to this nervous creature. This is where it gets dicey and you start to contemplate on your next steps: Should I stay still and not do anything? Should I exit the line to search for other flights? or should I just exit the line and get help? Maybe alert airline security ? What would come of me? Am I ready to testify if this nervous creature is really dangerous and he was in fact blaming to blow up the airport or maybe blow himself up in mid air? What would he think? What if this story makes to the news? Can my worries turn to holding bigoted views or am I just a concerned traveller looking out for number#1? Can I really afford to alienate an entire group by racially profiling them? It all comes down to whether you should go with your gut or maybe purge your own anxiety? I dont know the answer and neither do you reader. Sure, some would read this and say, no, LayzieG, you have every right to feel the way you do. Matter of fact your thoughts are hardly malicious and any rational person could see that. Unfortunately, Juan Williams was not so lucky. Juan Williams's contract with NPR was terminated because he expressed his 'anxieties' on national television(where as I am expressing them on SOL), which is why he stated: "People in Muslim garb make me nervous...." while explaining that not all Muslims are terrorist to Mr. Bill O'Reilly First, it was the ladies of the view who were outraged by Bill O'Reilly commentary on islamists when he stated: "muslims attacked america on 9/11", Joy and Whoopta whoopi walked out of their own show as most of you come to know or watched it on youtube or something. Why the outrage? Have we really come as far as viewing 'Islamists' as mainstream that we are ready to throw good people under the bus in the name of "appeasing the "mainstream islamists"? The reality is that the men who drove the aircrafts into the twin towers professed the Islamic faith, they called themselves muslims, not Bill O'reilly, not Juan Williams. Matter of fact, Juan Williams refuses to be one of the victims of the "10-10 " (as in october 2010), neither do I want to be a 10-10 victim, which is why Williams should be praised for his courageous commentary not be ostracized for it. They dont make them like Juan williams of today or the Bill O'Reilly's like they use to, speaking about "his own anxieties" on national television, not to mention, similar 'anxieties' are shared across the board. Yes, even muslims have 'anxieties' about travels in general but more specifically they have 'anxieties' about "Islamists" and the danger they present on air travel, however mainstream they may appear to NPR and the ladies of the view. I hate to admit it but "Islamists" are so mainstream that they now have the backing of established media, namely NPR and the ladies of the view. (I will call it the 'GLENN GREENWALD movement') Lastly, I will leave you with this final note: Know that Muslims are more likely to stereotype fellow muslims but it does not mean that all muslims are one thing or another and my friend SHEIKH NUR OF SOL will concede to this very point. Likewise, know that there is no universally held conspiracy against Muslims or Islam. No one is out to get anyone, unless ofcourse you identify yourself as 'mainstream Islamist', in which case there is an opening at NPR at this very moment. They need to fill Williams old position. HURRY! ...filed by LayZieG

Abu_S, beenta noo tartiibi. No such meeting took place today nor will such a meeting ever take place, which makes you privy to such intimate gathering of any kind with state officials. Marka kale, weren't you the same man who posted a similar post over a year ago, writing in the same manner, discussing how you will shortly meet with Sharif and co to discuss the issue of the day and were soliciting our input? What came of that meeting? Why is it that every year around this time, you just happen to create these phantom meetings, where you are part of a small circle of men selected to hold discussion with high ranking officials or even President of Somalia. Are you delusional or what? Adeer, beentaada has no bound and frankly speaking, I am disgusted by it, ee wax kale meesha la imow and dont let me catch you in another lie a year from now. signing off, LayZieG

Ibti, its simply not good enough to say that "SL is not in bed with the shabaabs" and leave it at that. AS you know, the job of the speculators is to speculate and simply put, your job is to vigorously challenge their assertions. Speaking of the enclave, do you deny that silaanyo is the crime boss of the family? All in all, speculators may give Silanyo "too much credit" but you are not giving him nearly enough credit and its because of that Silanyo will have the last laugh.

For Mohammed Dheere and Co., christmas has arrived early and there is no turning back, let them feast on little boys and if that isn't in the up and up, pay off the parents for their children's innocence. Shame on the parents for putting the faith of these little children in the hands of these monsters, allowing insurgent top-dogs to pick and choose and do as they please with little boys. Very SHAMEFUL I am not kidding when I tell you that I shivered in disgust as I looked into the blank faces of these little children, staring into their innocent eyes, draped over cimaamad and khamiis, being auctioned off to the highest bidder and not knowing what is to come after their departure from the auction house. It pains me to see these children this way, it really does. In this case, bid for $2000 went to mohamed dheere and godane respectively as they take turns. May Allah ease the pain of these children, AAMIIN.

The developers of new game called "medal of honor" are underfire for creating a controversial game that glorifies the taliban and Islamists worldwide in the eyes of children. This october, Canadian children and gamers worldwide will be presented with the difficult choice of siding with either the Islamist insurgents or the heroes who fight them, which side would gamers support and what are the ramifications for Canadian children playing the role of 'taliban insurgent' when their older brothers and sisters are out in kandahar fighting the very same game character that their younger siblings play as they wage their 'joystick jihad', planting away road side bombs. Peter MacKay, our very own Defense Minister, weighted in on the controversy with outrage, criticizing the developers of "medal of honor" and the unbecoming culture of gaming who will go as far as putting canadian soldiers at risk and bringing insurmountable pain to the families of the fallen soldiers. On the other hand, writer Richard Poplak of Global and mail takes opposite view and believes "medal of honor" is harmless to children and gamers worldwide. At the same time, Poplak believes .joystick jihad. should be waged by everyone, in fact, he says children should be able to .wage in joystick jihad., wherever and whoever they maybe. So, will you let your child wage 'joystick jihad' this fall? ....Filed by LayZieG For further readings and source material, read Poplak's take on the controversy. Why it's okay to wage Joystick Jihad By Richard Poplak The Chinook lands in a whirlwind of dust. A team of bearded, Ray-Banned Special Forces warriors sprint into a ramshackle town, weapons at the ready. We're in Afghanistan in the thick of the Taliban insurgency, and as we wave our H&K MP7s, we're wary of insurgents driving wildly in pickup trucks, trying to kill us before we kill them. This is the hyper-violent, dust-mote-detailed world of Medal of Honor, a new video game set slap bang in the middle of the war on terror and due for release in October. It has a multiplayer function that allows you to join as the tattooed heroes of the Tier 1 Special Forces unit, or to don a virtual keffiyah and kick NATO butt as a member of the Taliban. The game, in particular the I'm-A-Talib function, has sparked a Silicon Valley controversy, with big implications for Canadians jittery at the links between a faraway war and the new, homegrown terrorist threat bubbling in our nation's capital. “ I find it wrong to have anyone, children in particular, playing the role of the Taliban. I'm sure most Canadians are uncomfortable and angry about this. ” — Defence Minister Peter MacKay Since Pong first dropped, we've been warned that video games will deep-fry our brains and rot our morals. (Grand Theft Auto has, after all, alerted us to the fine art of beating on hookers.) But games and war have forever been linked. And Medal of Honor, like so many current battlefield video games, may provide insights into the Afghan conflict that we'd otherwise be blind to. The controversy erupted this week, when publisher and developer Electronic Arts, a U.S.-based company with offices in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Montreal, came under fire from Fox News for its heavily hyped title. The station interviewed the grieving mother of a dead soldier, who very reasonably insisted that the war in Afghanistan is not a game, a fact her son's death irrevocably proves. Her sentiment is shared by defence ministers the world over, including our own Peter MacKay, who blasted the game this week. “The men and women of the Canadian Forces, our allies, aid workers and innocent Afghans are being shot at, and sometimes killed, by the Taliban. This is reality,” Mr. MacKay's statement said. “I find it wrong to have anyone, children in particular, playing the role of the Taliban. I'm sure most Canadians are uncomfortable and angry about this.” But, as everyone engaged in this debate knows, Medal of Honor detractors are butting up against freedom of speech laws. What's more, the argument against Medal depends on the assumption that those playing as Taliban will identify with the insurgents' point of view, thus legitimizing it. Unsurprisingly, that's not a position Electronic Arts agrees with. “Most of us have been doing this since we were seven,” says the company's PR manager, Amanda Taggart. “Someone's gotta be the cop, and someone's gotta be the robber.” Speaking from the position of a frequent playground ersatz robber, I can confirm that role-playing doesn't necessarily imply empathy and attachment. There is, after all, no appreciable evidence suggesting that children who play Indians are likely to grow up as advocates for Indians' rights. During World War II, British kids played at Jerries in blitzed-out London neighbourhoods, processing fears that otherwise would have gone unarticulated. I've gamed with teenagers in Old Sana'a, Yemen, and Ramallah, in the West Bank, who see nothing wrong with playing the American hero in Counter-Strike, despite their rabidly anti-American views. As the academic and video game nut Ed Halter puts it, “Gametime and wartime have never been far removed. As long as humans have waged war, they've played at it.” The venerable Medal of Honor franchise is part of a long line of war-themed video games. The first iteration, released in 1999, had a Second World War theme and took cinematic cues from Saving Private Ryan and HBO's Band of Brothers, with artful lighting and an emphasis on veracity and research, all married to the wartime tribulations of square-jawed heroes. The game's selling point, though, was its obsessive detail. The DreamWorks Interactive developers pored over maps and documents, and consulted with veterans, trying to render D-Day with blood-soaked verisimilitude. It felt, at the time (the graphics have since staled), as if the dust had been blown off the history books, and the Second World War was once again thrust into living rooms to be debated, lived. The same OCD-like focus has been employed in the making of the Medal reboot. Real Tier 1 soldiers were brought in as contributors, and in the promotional material, they insist that the experience is as good as being there, minus the inconvenience of having your brains blown out. “It's the human side that they're bringing to the soldier,” says one Auto-Tuned Tier 1 warrior on the game's website, his voice and face disguised. “[They're] bringing back respect.” Perhaps. But some of us may find this close interaction with U.S. military operatives troubling, especially after viewing the Linkin Park music video/trailer, in which bearded, tattooed Tier 1 soldiers, along with members of the band, shoot their way through Anytown, Afghanistan. It hews uncomfortably close to a recruitment video. Indeed, despite all the supposed veracity, Medal of Honor is a stunningly rendered, awesomely bloody, gorgeously choreographed extended action sequence. As disquieting as this may be, it's nothing new: Game developers and the military have long been bedfellows. There is the Kuma War series, whose tagline, “Stop watching the news and get in the game,” suggests the pointlessness of sanitized mainstream news when Kuma takes you onto painstakingly re-created, gore-soaked battlefields. For their part, the U.S. Marines have an 18-year history of creating games for recruitment and battlefield training purposes; their America's Army: Special Forces was so well-regarded that Hezbollah countered by developing its own version, called Special Force, heavily promoted in the ubiquitous gaming shops in south Beirut. Military games, in one of those information-age ironies, have even been used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers back from battle. When it comes to pop culture, however, one never knows where the line will be drawn. With military games, it was the recent Six Days in Fallujah. The game depicts, in detail, the 2004 campaign that claimed over 6,000 lives and transformed a once-flourishing city into a bloody parking lot. What outraged veterans' advocacy groups, such as the Gold Star Mothers Club, was not only the speed with which Fallujah became rock-'em sock-'em entertainment, but the fact that developers Atomic Games, in their quest for accuracy, used Iraqi insurgents as consultants on the project. “We question how anyone can trivialize a war that continues to kill and maim members of the military and Iraqi civilians to this day,” the Gold Star Mothers Club said in a statement. The game still hasn't made it to the shelves. The question becomes one of ethics. Do enemy combatants deserve a say in the development of video games in which they play a starring role? Should they help make game developers rich? But beyond these considerations, playing games is how we deal with war, how we conquer our subconscious terror of battle. Conversely, it is how we become better warriors. It doesn't help relatives of soldiers and civilians who have died at the hands of the Taliban. And it doesn't provide succour for Canadians who must once again consider the links between Afghanistan and the homegrown terror threat on their doorstep.

This thread is beyond shameful, its beyond belief and comprehension. Nonetheless, I would like to know which of the speakers are more intoxicating to maadey to listen to, is it "sheikh" Osama's incessantly filled harangues or does he favour the soothing and boozed filled pitch of the unconscionable and unapologetic lunatic in the audio? If I didnt know any better, I would say maadey-madiido is undecided and why shouldn't he? Admittedly, the lunatic in the audio has a soothing voice that just makes madiido weak at the knees, a xabeeb that can bring a pregnant lady to her knees as she straps the suicide belt onto herself and her unborn child just as she is heard saying 'allahu akhbar' is serious business, which is the more reason why madiido is confused as ever thinking this maniac deserved the red carpet treatment over his other idol aka "sheikh" osama. It's just an observation, just an observation.