Originally posted by NGONGE: P.S. Sherban, stop being too sensetive about the use of West/Gaalo warya. LOL! I'm not sensitive about being called a "gaal", I never once reacted negatively to being called that. After all, I am Shabeel, the gaal with the caano geel. I just think this East/West concept is BS, not in the least because I belong to neither side.

I was going to start a thread about interreligious marriage but I don't yet have the strength.

Rampage, one day you will get banned. You won't even see it coming. Ibti, I now see the point you were making about telling customers you have HIV. I have to say, it might just work, but it might also scare people off. To C&H, and all the prostitution-hating folk in here: Prostitution is a field in which I am sure I have more experience than most people on this board. My occupation might even discredit me as a credible advocate, but I have always argued fairly and I ask you to listen to what I have to say. Prostitution has always existed, and will always exist, whether you like it or not, whether you think it's evil or not. Let me repeat that: it will ALWAYS exist. You can try and stop it, you can persecute those who work in the field, you can persecute the customers, you can try to "educate" people, won't work. Prostitution exits in the US, and it exists in Saudi Arabia. It exists everywhere in the world. Trying to rid the world of prostitution is trying to change human nature. As long as the primal urge to mate exists in man and woman, nothing will change. Because people will always be ready to give something of value in order to satisfy their urges. If you had to go really, really bad and you couldn't find a toilet anywhere, wouldn't you pay to use a toilet? Note that I said "something of value", because not everyone pays using money. You can pay with a chicken, a cow or, dare I say, even a camel. Those who condemn prostitution, and who judge it as a deviant/base/aberrant behaviour GROSSLY UNDERSTIMATE the scale of the phenomenon. They would probably cry if they knew how many people in this world have sex for money, or indeed for favors, or in some very sad cases for food. Prostitution isn't some dark little bogey man of mankind. It's one of its base characteristics: use what has been given to you to make a better life for yourself. It's not the exception, it's the rule. (If you want me to develop this more, I will) Now that we've understood how deeply ingrained this practice is in the human mind, and how it will never disappear, let us examine why we shouldn't be alarmed. Let's take a look at female prostitution: The greatest myth is that prostitutes are poor, broken creatures who can't look after themselves, who were forced into this practice by horrible men, who are frequented by horrible men and must be helped out, because that's what they really want. A way out, because anything is better than prostitution. And if they don't see it, they must be shown the light, because they don't know their own interest. Pretty patronizing, don't you think? Like all good, enduring myths, this one has some seeds of truth in it, but let me tell you why it's fundamentally wrong. A real, professional prostitute (not refugee girls in Yemen) is a woman who is in charge of her life and her body. Her soul? God knows, but I can tell you this woman is no victim. She's better than you in math. She knows more about life than you do. She understands mankind more than you do. She knows how to have witty conversation than you do. She is kinder than you are. In many respects, she is a better human being than you are. Still, you look down on her and want to "save" her. Prostitution is, above everything else, a CHOICE. It's very important that you understand this, despite all the tragic stories of kidnapped girls from Eastern Europe, IDPs giving head for food, etc.. Those are the exception, not the rule. I am as much an enemy to human smugglers and tormentors of women as much as you are, because a man must only play a small part (or none) in a woman's decision to enter the game. A woman chooses to sell herself, and will do so until she is too old or too tired to go on. I have come across many girls who, because of their upbringing, couldn't possibly fathom that this is a job people CHOOSE to do. They said it's impossible, they said no woman would do that. Well, guess what! Women enjoy sex, and women enjoy money. Some women decide to combine the two, and enjoy getting money through sex. Some women develop friendships with their tricks, they gain influence and suddenly find themselves in high society. The game can be beautiful just as easily as it can be ugly. There are girls who make as much money as surgeons here in Canada. There are girls who live a better life than you do. Still, there are girls who have it bad, and I'd be a fool to deny that. What is needed is for society to ONCE AND FOR ALL accept prostitution as something that will never go away, and work on improving conditions for those who work in the field. The tendency has already gained momentum in Europe, and I hope it will spread all over the world. I was pleased to see that video from Morocco, and I hope I managed to bring you a perspective which will allow you to look upon this profession with a softer eye. P.S.: Did anyone watch the damn video?

Not only is the sentence too long, but since when does the US (or any other country for that matter) have the jurisdiction to try a citizen of Somalia for piracy? It's a clear violation of international law. It's sad to see that international laws don't mean anything anymore.

Originally posted by chocolate & honey: What they need to do to protect themselves is STOP whoring. DONE! Everyone is safe and sound then. What you need to do to be pleasant is STOP judging. DONE! Everyone can have a good time then.

It's not that far fetched now, is it? Loyalties seem to change like the colours of a chameleon, something that one can even witness on this forum, so how can this fire be extinguished in a civilized manner? I'm a non-violent person who would like to see reconciliation between all Somalis. But I think the only way is to force this reconciliation, through whatever means necessary. Otherwise, South Somalia is just going to split into little city-states, followed by the Northern enclaves shortly after.

I agree with you, but prostitutes who already have HIV have nothing to do with this topic Why are you bringing it up? As for what you said to JB, I won't even get into that lol (unless you want me to)

APPEAL!

Who, me?

Maybe I didn't express myself correctly. She is teaching prostitutes how not to catch HIV from clients, not the other way around. I'm kind of confused as to what your point is. P.S.: I actually read the articles you post before replying to your threads, so it would be nice if you could watch the video

Here's a neat little video I first saw on Facebook, that's been drawing a vast array of reactions from people. For those who don't speak French, this is a Moroccan lady who's teaching prostitutes from that country how to convince their clients to use a condom, so that they can protect themselves from disease. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=115214538502677&ref=mf

A Somali official has criticised the US for prosecuting a man over a piracy incident off the Horn of Africa. Jamaal Cumar, a US-based Somali official, told the BBC there were "serious concerns" over jurisdiction in the case of Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse. Mr Cumar questioned the authority of any foreign country to try Somali pirates active off East Africa. Muse, from Somalia, faces 27 years in a US jail after admitting an attack on the Maersk Alabama in April 2009. He was captured by the US Navy, whose sharpshooters killed three other pirates trying to escape on a lifeboat, saving the captain. He is due to be sentenced in October. 'Extrajudicial practice' Mr Cumar told the BBC's Network Africa he had been trying to work out why the US would have any authority to try Muse's case and those of several other suspects in custody in the US. "The Somali government's position has always been that we questioned the jurisdiction of this case," he said. "We felt that it was an exercise in extrajudicial practice of the law and we asked the US to return those pirates back to Somalia." Mr Cumar says he wants a UN-backed international tribunal to deal with piracy cases. Somali pirate suspects have been tried in various countries across the world, as Somalia has no functioning central government. Legal experts have been struggling with the problem of where to try piracy cases for years. Foreign forces have frequently caught pirates off Somalia, disarmed them and then put them back to sea because there is no local authority to deal with them. Previous attempts to form an international tribunal have failed because of a lack of funding. 'Very sorry' During Muse's trial in a federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors described him as a ringleader of a gang of four pirates who seized the Maersk Abalama some 450km (280 miles) off the coast of Somalia. Court documents said Muse was the first to board the vessel, firing his AK-47 assault rifle at Captain Richard Phillips. On Tuesday, Muse said through an interpreter: "I am very, very sorry about what we did. All of this was about the problems in Somalia." It is said to be the first piracy trial in the US in decades. The vessel, which was carrying food aid, was seized by the four pirates in April 2009. Capt Phillips then told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin and surrendered himself to safeguard his men. He was later taken hostage in an enclosed lifeboat that was soon shadowed by US warships and a helicopter. The stand-off only ended several days later when the US Navy intervened. (BBC NEWS)

The President is just taking another step closer to autocracy. And it's about damn time. Somalia doesn't need a Prime Minister. It doesn't need a Parliament with 9 million MPs. It doesn't need a big, lumbering beast of bureaucracy. What Somalia needs is someone who is strong and will whoop the asses of anyone who commits treason. You laugh at him now, but soon you'll be scared to even say his name.

Why is that nasty newscaster *** making a sour face when the guy mentions the pole dancing contest? Jealous much?

I will take a respectful bow out of this argument because I don't want it to seem like I'm hating on the US. I stand by my one viewpoint and opinion, which is that the US - although a nice country - is inferior to Europe in many, many ways.

Originally posted by ailamos: quote:Originally posted by *Ibtisam: Ailamos: Are you offended I think he was joking, dont be so sensative. My bad if he was it's lunch time and I've so far had a rough day at the office :rolleyes: ... besides I'm not a big fan of the European-inspired generalizations about the US... I was half-joking. I am a European after all and don't see any problem with making sweeping generalizations about a country which makes sweeping generalizations about the entire world.

I think it's about time to re-introduce the death penalty for treason.

Ok, I'm calling you out on it right now. What is East, what is West? And a bonus question: am I from the East or the West?

Btw, do you really have to use that word again? West? One day I'm gonna call you out on it, so you can explain it to me.

Originally posted by *Ibtisam: Sherban Shabeel: I think a cohesion center (as seeker and me said above) is just what that area needs and more appropriate than just a prayer place. I don’t think it is acceptable to build anything as such on ground zero itself, but I think a center for cohesion and understanding will be ideal somewhere it that area, because it signifies for the west at least the impact and influence of misinformation and misunderstanding between communities. The average American doesn't even know where (and what) Europe is, so don't get your hopes up too high.

The UK is the best place in the world. Stop hating

No one is keeping the area Muslim free, that's just ridiculous. People of all faiths can go there. But why the decision to build the mosque so close to Ground Zero? Is it a coincidence? I don't think so. There's a message behind it, and I can bet you my life the average American isn't going to understand it, and will find it encroaching and disrespectful. Try to build a mosque at Auschwitz, and you'll encounter just as much resistance, even though Muslims had nothing to do with the Holocaust. People want their tragedies untouched by something they perceive as foreign. You are more than naive if you don't see how this project will increase tenfold the hatred of Americans for Muslims.

Some people are lashing out against this project for all the wrong reasons, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what a silly and tactless move this is. In a place where so many people died, you don't build an "Islamic cultural center", or a mosque, or a church, or anything like that. You build a memorial, a park, a garden at most.

lol

In that case, take off your Somaliweyn signature