Cg, Blah! Waxaad igu haysatid mabaan garan. ThePoint You'll find that this indoctrination has been going on for decades. It’s just made it to storybooks. Also, it does boil down to rights as far as the secular system is concerned.

Originally posted by Caano Geel: kimiya Alxamdulilah They did well. i'm proud of them, and they are of me and I will also defend your rights also. Its sad that you see your rights as human being to be a special case LOL! I can annoyingly scream for my own rights, which includes my opinions on homosexuality. I don't need the defense of others. Coincidentally, I've had gay colleagues, they were very aware of my religious views and accepted it. Whereas, I maintain what isn't my business, isn't my concern attitude. They are free to do whatever their free will and the law of the land allows them to do. As long as they keep it out of my face and faith.

State schools impart secular values. Muslims parents send their children knowing that they will be exposed to many unIslamic teachings and values. It's upto you to either take your child out of these schools or to counter the miseducation that they recieve. Your parents must have done well because there are Muslims who not only tolerate but defend gay rights.

@ Bob and Puuja. I feel busted :mad: Valenteenah, You in my opinion have worn the most sophisticated diracs on these shores. :cool:

^Lol! What's with the abtirsi, ayeeyo? I'm not proud Somali anymore. *waves the Union Jack* Please return to last paragragh of my initial post, I didn't deny that there are problems and that we have work to do. My contention is with people who look down on Somalis in general because they are discontent with our current situation. I remember being advised to say that I'm Zanzibari / Sudaani when I get to Dubai because there are some Somali prostitutes in Dubai. This is an extension of the we have nothing to be proud of attitude. p.s I didn't know 5 Swedes sent wheel chairs... great stuff

^No! They mean 7 of Nine and Ahura. The regulars are easy to pick out, it's those who disappear for years and return with new nick, avater, attitude that are hard to figure out...

^I second North. Best riwaayad I've attended. The SYC crew were beautiful but they need to learn Somali. Anyway, was C/Raxmaan 'Xaliimo' played by Hunguri by any chance? Ibtisam We are not worthless ethnic group but at the same time we are not contributing as a community but rather as individuals (too many individuals working alone) and we have never grasped the essence working together as one/ or at least an organized contribution that can be attributed to Somali people rather than one individual. I disagree. Whilst, disunity exists, it didn’t take just one individual to build those much needed facilities. The building of just one university was due to the collaborative efforts of the expatriate community across the globe and the people working on the ground back home. Legend of Zu So if I go by your statement - it is not that we are proud of the Somaliness but the act of self-appreciating of the Somaliness! No! Well yes, kind off. You make it sound silly when you put it like that. I’ve read the question to be asking if we are still standing tall in the face of this adversity or if we’ve joined the many self-loathing folks that have jumped ship. In other words does your Somaliness embarrass you, maka khashaaftaa? Laakin, as they say, hadal sina loo yidhi, sikalena loo qaaday. Peacenow should come back and clarify the question for us. NGONGE Those achievements would be small pickings for a man sitting behind a laptop in his cosey, central heated house in Ingriis care. Afaa caleej! I haven’t said anything about being content about our situation, Ayeeyo. My point is for every blood-sucking warlord there a few men and women who are working in developing the country. You can choose and play with the words to attach to the positive feelings their actions stir but I choose to be proud of the dignified, resilient majority. If you guys want to be one-track minded in your analyses of the happenings in our homeland, it’s your prerogative but spare us the generalised self contept. quote: Originally posted by -Lily-: doesn't being Proud in essence mean focusing on the good things? Proud has nothing to do with focusing on the good things. It's optimism that's about focusing on the good things. Being proud is about pride, egoism, looking down at others and their achievements, discrimination, racism, iwm. What makes particular Somalis to look down at Somalis they consider low caste or inferior? Pride that they are superior, of better stock, better physical features, nobler lineage or genealogy, iwm. Bal ninkan yaa ku dhaarta? Anagoo Balad Xaawa joogna, yaa ku yidhi Burco nooga hees?

^I think it's lack of attention. Full stop. Most of these kids are cared for by their maids and so aren't even exposed to maternal love. I don't think girl on girl experimentation can be blamed on segregation alone, you get that in colleges in the west. The problem in Saudi is that these kids are exposed a lot of mushy and raunchy material on the internet and satellite TV and not many adults that understand teenage problems so don’t get any guidance on these issues. The elitist get away with many things whilst women are not well treated. True! Lakin, they mistreat men too.

^Afkaaga caano geel lagu qabay. People need to put their Criticism into context, politics and politicians do not represent all things Somali. Any one, who bothers to look, will see that Somalis have made tremendous progress during these dark years. We see the building of schools, universities, hospitals and many commercial enterprises using the hard earned cash of individuals. Considering that this takes place in the direst of circumstances without a central government, is it not something to be proud of? There are oil rich nations whose people live in circumstances far worse than our people. We have people that are faced with hardship after hardship, trial after trial yet they still have the strength and iman to say ‘eebaa mahadle’ and to carry on finding survival mechanisms, doesn’t that make you proud? And then we have our art, our stories and our supportive nature for family members. Sure, some people misuse these noble traditions and warlords are given undue financial backing and hype. However, the great majority of our people are innocent bystanders who try to do their best at a very difficult time. The greatest nations on earth today have gone through years of bloodshed and misery. It’s not exclusive to Somalis. I totally understand Dabshids frustration. We have too many self loathing Somali hating individuals which often makes me wonder if they are cadaans trapped in Somali bodies. I’ve actually seen people claim to be half Somali and those that actually brag about being ignorant of the language and culture. Read any thread in any section of SOL (the most intelligent web portal) and you’re faced with constant attacks of our intelligence, ways, lack of love, fatness of our women are backwardness and so on… insults coming from Somalis. I'm not saying that we ignore our (many) social ills. What I find disheartening is our willingness to accept the notion we are worthless ethnic group. This only lowers our expectations of fellow Somalis and our effort. I dread to think what the second generation of Somalis in Diaspora will be like… P.s Cambarro and LOZ, whilst being Somali isn’t an achievement, being self-accepting is…

My current favorit is; Cumar C/nuur Nuux - Nabaddoon who is a bit of a newbie. He wrote this about the xabash invasion.

^LOL! I'm proud to be Somali. The politics is another issue, but it doesn't define my Somaliness.

I remember an old inseparable couple that lived near my hooyos house. They would always visit together and seemed to go everywhere together – walking side by side in deep conversation. One day, their daughter came to us in search of her mother saying that her father has refused to eat without his wife. They were most beautiful couple I've ever seen, there was nothing showy about their demeanor but their love was apparent to all. I found their whole vibe romantic.

^Women are more understanding about some of the issues you go through as a woman. In my field, I think it necessary to have a lady as a boss as they bring a certain amount of warmth and tlc to the environment. I've always been blessed to have had some really lovely ladies in my professional life. The types of women that want to build you up and support you in doing the best in your job. I absolutely admire my current boss (owner) and still keep in touch with my last- who was more of a big sister to me. I think this has a lot to do with the field you work in. It is said that Youth Work and Teaching tends to attract people with heart. *beeb, beeb* Can’t say that about the retail morons, I’ve had to endure in my college days. :mad:

I think it's pointless. You get hideously obvious results and you still have to deal with the pathetically insecure Xaliimo in your head. Which is why they keep going back for more.

Sheherezade, Thanks for the info. They ship abroad too. :cool: I got call yesterday from a woman who was advertising a Salon that only uses 100% natural products. She said that they even do home vists if I couldn't make it to the Salon. Is nature calling to me or what? To answer your Q: Tinted moisturizers, give you a more natural look. They don’t clog or dry out your skin like foundation whilst it provides sun / pollution protection. It's basically a day face cream with the added colour to even out your skin tone. Here’s a top ten list . As for it being cadaan girl territory, that would only be the case if you live in city where shops don't bother stocking shades for darker complexions.

Degrees continue to pay off for graduates Read the full text of the report here (pdf) Rebecca Smithers Wednesday February 7, 2007 EducationGuardian.co.uk Graduates can expect to earn about £160,000 more over a working lifetime than those with just A-levels, says new research from the vice-chancellors' umbrella group Universities UK. The difference is even more striking when broken down by subject, with the so-called graduate 'premium' soaring to £340,315 for those who have studied medicine or dentistry and falling to just £34,494 for those with degrees in the arts. Graduates typically earn to up to 25% more than their peers who choose not to go to university after A-levels, says the research, which was carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers in association with London Economics. Despite the huge expansion of higher education in the 1990s, leading to a big increase in the number of university graduates - currently 260,000 enter the workplace every year - the graduate 'premium' has not been eroded, the report claims. Financial benefit is greatest for men from lower socioeconomic groups or families from lower levels of income, and benefits increase as graduates get older. Women do relatively well irrespective of their family background or circumstances. Researchers believe this may be due to the relatively low earnings of non-graduate women. The graduate premium associated with qualification in a certain subject rises from the gross £160,061 lifetime average to £340,315 in the case of medicine and £243,730 in engineering, and falls to £51,549 for humanities and £34,494 for arts. Significantly, the report claims that the controversial new student support funding regime involving 'top up' tuition fees which came into force at the beginning of this academic year is a better deal than the previous arrangements, because although the visible price has gone up, the real cost has gone down. Reasons for this include the removal of the need to pay for fees upfront, the reintroduction of maintenance grants for the poorest students and the wider provision of bursaries. Diana Warwick, the chief executive of UUK, said: "We already know that graduates in the UK enjoy one of the highest financial returns of any OECD country. This report provides evidence that despite the expansion of higher education, the graduate premium has been maintained. Higher education is still clearly a worthwhile investment for the individual. "While we know of course that the vast majority of graduates don't measure the value of their degrees in purely economic terms, the enhanced career opportunities and employability that a degree brings in nevertheless is a key factor in deciding whether to go on to higher education." The higher education minister, Bill Rammell, said: "This report ... confirms what we have been saying for some time now - that graduates, on average, earn more and are more likely to be in a job than those without degrees, and that higher education is likely to be the best investment a student will ever make. "After tax, and compared to those with the equivalent of two A-levels, graduates earn, on average over their lifetime, comfortably over £100,000 more when put in today's valuation. And when you add in the tax benefits this increases to around £160,000." Source

^Totally sister! What they do in a day wouldn't be equal to what many of us manage in a lifetime. I was watching the GPU and subxaan Allah I was amazed at how they managed to bring all those Muslims together and present in such a way that all those people reverted on the spot.

I’ve only discovered istikhaara a few years ago myself. But honestly, it’s the best discovery I’ve made. I’ve might have ended up marrying a jaajuus if I didn’t consult with Allah. Mantras, what kind of signs were you expecting? From what I’ve read, when you pray for guidance towards what is khayr for you with right attitude [i.e suppressing your own inclinations and having complete conviction that Allah will respond] then Allah will respond by making the path to the route, which brings you the most khayr easier for you or you may stumble upon information that you didn’t have before. It may not necessarily be what you were inclined towards. I remember praying istikhaara when I was torn between returning to work or not. About two weeks later out of the blue a lady from an organization that I’ve never heard of called saying that they had vacancies; someone gave her my details would I be interested. I didn’t take the job because we moved but I was like – wow! Even my current job found me. Xaliimopatra, May Allah it easy for you. All the best!

^You are right! We should also extend that same spirit of forgiveness to brother Mohamed and his team. Besides, I think the sister is both vocal and eloquent enough to stand up for herself.

^LOL You poor thing! She scares me anoo gurigeyga fadhiya and here you are getting her ‘you bad Muslim’ rants first hand. A classic case of ‘convertitis’. It's a shame though because she is a very intelligent sister.

LOL! There she goes again. Yvonne Ridley cracks me up. If you believe the rumors, Al-Jazeera apparently sacked her after getting aggressive on the boss for drinking Starbucks coffee. I'm not a fan of Islam channel, but is it wise to use a satirical piece written by a gaal as evidence of foul play by Mohammed Ali?

Did anyone see Tyra’s 5-Minute Makeup Routine . If you didn't, check it out. Though it's a bit too much for me, it's cool. Seeing Tyra without makeup makes me feel so pretty I'm interested in the mineral makeup too. Nature, is truely a darling

Reading the responses to this and similar topics in SOL the terms; radical, extremists and liberal jump out at me but somehow I don't think that they mean the same to us all. I would like to know how you guys (Taliban, Khayr, NG and others) define these terms and what standards you use to categories people. Taliban Well, according to the report, these women priests or Mourchidat are set to promote a more liberal brand of Islam. Priest in the sense of what applies to Western priests or priesthood, because the term or function of priest doesn't exist in Islam. I think that the BBCs mis-interpretation of the word Mourshidah, which basically means a female guide, is misleading you. We've had too many notable female scholars in our history to question the role of these women. There's nothing new about it, it’s a revival in a sense. There is also nothing new about calling for following the middle path in Islam. Ngonge, I agree but I also think that they can do more for the youth. These sisters will be working mainly with women- how many female terrorists are there? They are in a sense dealing with a different set of problems and I commend them for that. However, to say that this initiative will eradicate terrorism is a mistake. The road to terrorism for young men is very complex. I agree, it is instigated by a lack of access to sound knowledge but there are other factors at play here- you have to deal with all of them.

^Heheehhee! LOl@ Serenity. I was just laughing at that myself. It's interesting.

Salaams Xaliimo Edit Discard inta hore..(shoulda reviewed the topic) I also find praying istikhaara to be extremely effective. The companions prayed istikhaara even for the smallest decisions like buying shoes (wish I did that yesterday :mad: ) we make life altering decisions without consulting Allah. The beautiful thing about istikhaara is that you are asking Allah to make the decision with you – it immediately lifts a lot of weight of you garbo…