Originally posted by rudy: how many somali lives were lost that day!! & nobody gave a damn!! n why!! Poor people's lifes are cheap and hence expendable!

The whole thing is a farce! Who gives a hoot what flag some jock waves? Actually I do. Would've prefered if he waved Burkina Faso flag.

Oh stop whimpering you bunch of bitter cry-babies! The best team won the day! Order has been restored; eternal justice served; the reigning football pecking order has been restablished; the Gods placated! YOu gotta agree the Azzuris created plenty of chances and had it not been for the woeful finishing of their front pair, could've wrapped up the game before the intermission. How many chances have they carved up that they failed to capitalise on? Italians should've been up 2 or 3 nil by half time. About the penalty call, that's just the Law of Averages at work. The Azzuris were done wrong with Matarrazi 'The Matrix' send-off... so it was really ineluctable that a little bad luck would come the way of the Kangaroos.

I find it amusing that the man by the name JB (the heck with da name?) who announced to all not long ago to making his living from the Simony business, strives so hard to undermine it's Intellectual underpinnings. I'm alluding to Islam; for which JB worked so unremittingly to discredit... to no avail! This character, who I like to think of as impiety personified, has been made to eat his own words more times than McDonalds dished out BigMacs. So why does he bother? Why fight a losing fight? My advice to our dear friend JB is: if you can't beat them, join 'em! SB, From one reprobate soul to another

Originally posted by FirstLady: When some people say I am brave....that doesn't mean I don't have Xishood because I do. Of course not, you have Xishood in plentiful... Profusely enunciated in your posts. Also agree with ya that many of the 'brothers' are pack of craven wimps, who should all be castrated. I'm the exception -- obviously! -- as I have my own one-of-a-kind Sultana who sends my gyroscopes spinning every time she calls me her Sultan. Personally I have my own theory concerning 'brave' women. I strongly believe that there is negative correlation between fecundity and pluckiness. Not trying to besmirch you in anyway but that is what I believe minus statistical support. My advice to you is to scribble down a disquisition clearly spelling out what you want from prospective partner and your attributes. Good luck!

Cautiously with the TFG. With them I believe, as fervid revanchist, there is whisker of a chance I might get back the land stolen from me. Or shall I say from my sub-sub-sub-sub^n clan who have biggest wieners, deapest pockets and prettiest women. The Islamic courts are too oblivion for me and far worse driven by jarring idealogy.

Originally posted by Zakina: Socod_badne, yes u may marry whomever you want. But who wants to marry you really? The same person that has an avatar of a man showing off his behind. Yes you sure seem mature and like a real man. In-freaking-effable! I go out of my way to comport my self in both speach and manner hoping for reciprocity. What do I get in return? Prepubescent girls questioning my worth! Absolutely appalled! Sorry for derailing your topic, I'm officially out now.

Originally posted by Cawralo: Socod Badne...oh no you didn't just take it there! War heedhe i maqal, what has the Quran to do with the fact that some somali men thin it's perfectly OK to run of and marry whom ever they wish, without even informing the first wife? The sahabas married widdows and older women, if you would compare it with todays situation, it would be like marrying a 50 year old with agoon children. There's no comparison :mad: Take it down a notch before you blow a gasket! Clearly you're wallowing in material way over your head. First, elegant wordsmanship won't help you wriggle out of the Catch-22 you're in. You bear allegiance to Islam and yet object to one of it's edicts? My sympathy you have but not my concordance. Unless you admit to being Procrustean, you can't slice and dice what you disagree with into small pieces till they appeal to your fancy. God said in the Quran we can marry up to 4 wives. Period. Some men, of which I am one, hold having 4 wives to be raison d’etre of life. Nothing wrong with that, in fact we love it very much. You don't , tough luck!

^^It's there... you have to stare long enough and you'll see. Originally posted by The Rendez-vous: This will do him.......................Come Back Oh SB, Come Back............... You have just started "BAROWZING"..No wonder If that was meant as ecumenical gesture, it leaves alot to be desired. 1 brownie point for the effort.

Originally posted by Alle-ubaahne: So, are you suggesting Naag-buuryo qab ah inaan guursano? War ninyahoow, would you please stop spreading your disgusting miasma around... you're poisoning the air every time you open your contemptable mouth.

Originally posted by Zakina: Now, I am not a baby and I am not crying over my father leaving us(but insha'ALLAH that wont happen though). But what a complete jerk...I officially hate somali men. Was that really a laughing matter? And we all know that if someone was to marry you mister it would only be for cash!! No young one, you're not a baby only expressing genuine concern over your father possibly leaving for another woman. But young one, you got it all wrong, bent out of shape, inside out, upside down and sideways... polygamy is religiously ordained for Muslim men. Somalis are muslims in case you're unaware. It's delineated in the Quran by Allah. So if you have issues with multiple wives, take it up with Allah not poor somali men. Who are only doing it was religiously permissible. Marrying upwards of 4 wives is rite of passage for every Somali man and speaking as a non-somali somali, it's 1 of the few good things about being somali. Mever in my life have iI had the intention to marry a somali Me too!

Bisinka! The title gave me all the wrong ideas!

Originally posted by Jimcaale: The Somali communities need awareness and education about the horrors of FMG. What for? The persistance of FMG has little to do with ignorance of it's pernicious effect on women. Afterall, those most familiar with female clitoridectomy and infibulation -- Somali Women -- are among it's staunchest perpetrators. You can educate somalis till come hell or high water but FGMed somali women with vivid memories of the whole harrowing ordeal brashly intent on putting their own daughters through the same horrific experience kinda takes the wind out of educate somalis about FGM sail, doesn't it? FGM like all other inveterate and deleterious social mores will evanesce only once fair balance is reached between societal and individual welfare. Which will come with time. Somalis place little value on the individual and greater importance on societal welfare. Thereby skewing the balance between individual liberties and societal in favour of the latter. This is the source for why FGM is still widely practiced among Somalis, not lack of knowledge.

Originally posted by Nura: “To a Saudi male, romance is only allowed if written in English or by a male. It definitely isn't tolerated if it's written by a Saudi female, let alone in Arabic." This does not make sense…a little hypocritical don’t you think? Yes, I do. Hypocracy is often what you get when you try to rationalise the palpably wrong. This article aptly underscores where draconian and downright sexist laws, billed as Allah's laws, foisted on people without their consent ultimately lead. In most Sharia Law countries, obligatory attire for females (usually in the form of Hijab) has as much to do with religious observance as it does with conformity. A fact borne out by the requirement for nonmuslim women to wear a Hijab (or closely resembling figs) in S. Arabia, Iran and other places under Sharia Law. Don’t you think it is about time their faults were displayed. Yes but I would add they are. Just turn the TV and watch Saturday Night or one of the Late Night shows. It really gets on my nerves, it seems that Islamic nations are continuously ridiculed. You mean more than ALL the immediate and overwhelming problems facing Islamic nations? Ridicule rarely if ever gets my hackles up. Hunger, war, corruption, abysmal human rights standards and stuff of the sort is what bothers me most. Ridicule you can survive. Wars, famines, corruption threaten your life. There is fine line between the 2 and I have no problem noting. “Saudi women unveil opinions online†How is utilizing the world wide web unveiling Saudi women? [/QB] It's simile (a figure of speech) and I didn't write the article.

Eskimos face hard times after Iraq call-up By MARY PEMBERTON, Associated Press Writer Mon Jun 19, 2:29 PM ET ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Military families across America often endure hardship when a loved one ships out. But there are not many places in the U.S. where those left behind have to chop ice out of the tundra for drinking water and make sure the freezer is well-stocked with walrus and seal meat. The first major call-up of National Guard reservists from rural Alaska since World War II could mean sacrifice and upheaval for Eskimo villages that practice subsistence hunting and gathering in some of the most remote and unforgiving spots in the nation. Eric Phillip's job in the small Yup'ik Eskimo village of Kongiganak in southwestern Alaska is to hunt walrus, seal, mink, otter, geese, ducks and other animals to provide food for his immediate family and other relatives. With Phillip shipping out, his wife and their two young sons will be moving to the city of Bethel, about 70 miles away. "Out here it is harder for them to live alone," Phillip said. "In the village we don't have water. We have to go to the tundra and chop ice for water and melt it, and we don't have flush toilets. It is hard for a single parent to live around here in the village." Similar stories are being told in Eskimo villages across the vast state, in places with names like Alakanuk, Emmonak and Manokotak, as 670 soldiers from some of the most hard-to-reach places in the nation head to Iraq and Afghanistan. Six men headed to Iraq are from Scammon Bay, a Yup'ik Eskimo village of about 520 people in western Alaska where residents rely mostly on subsistence hunting and fishing. Families left behind will now rely more on each other, another time-honored tradition in rural Alaska. The village will take care of them. "Everybody shares food really well out here. It is a custom," said Darlene Cholok, whose husband, Thomas, is one of those going to Iraq. "Our community is so close-knit and everyone is practically related in some way that there is a lot of support." While Alaska's National Guard does an excellent job of helping its military families, it will be particularly tough for these soldiers and their families, because they live in such inaccessible areas, said Pete Mulcahy, executive director of Armed Services YMCA of Alaska. That makes it more difficult to arrange help for them, he said. "These guys have a bigger challenge," he said. "Even a remote village in Texas is still on the road grid." Amy Chikigak of the Yup'ik Eskimo village of Alakanuk is preparing to say goodbye to her husband, Vernon. She said she is not worried about food. Their freezers are full of seal, whale, fish, geese, swans and berries. The village store also is pretty well-stocked. "We have vegetables and stuff like that, mashed potatoes for our fried moose," she said. "We have macaroni and cheese, and that always helps, too." She and the three children, ages 12, 9 and 7, are going to remain in the village. If she runs short of anything, her mother and father and brothers will provide, she said. Chikigak is more concerned about learning how to use the chainsaw to cut wood to heat the steam bath. She also wants to be able to run the boat so she can take the children on summer picnics: "I will have to force myself to learn and I will still panic." Before leaving for Iraq and Afghanistan, the troops will get three months of training, which will include getting used to hot weather at Camp Shelby in Mississippi. Maj. Stephen Wilson, who returned from a one-year stint in Iraq in 2005 and is overseeing the deployment of seven soldiers from Barrow, 340 miles north of the Arctic Circle, said the Alaskans should do well once they adjust to the 120-degree heat in Iraq. In Barrow — the northernmost city in the United States — the temperature doesn't get much higher than the low 50s in the summer, and often drops below freezing at night. Maj. Mike Haller, a Guard spokesman in Anchorage, said about 35 percent of the approximately 4,000 National Guard members in Alaska are Native, well above their 19 percent share of the state's population. Being in the National Guard is a rite of passage for many young Alaska Natives, Haller said, a tradition that started during World War II when Alaska was still a territory. In that war, the state's National Guard troops fought in both Europe and the Pacific, and some were stationed in Alaska's Aleutian Islands to guard against the Japanese. Besides honor and tradition, service in the Guard brings in money that comes in handy in the villages, where jobs are hard to come by and food and other goods are expensive. As for the dangers that await the troops in the Mideast, Staff Sgt. William F. Brown, the leader of the Barrow troop and 29-year guard veteran, said he has faced fear before and beaten it. Brown recounted a whaling trip about 10 years ago when a polar bear came within about 30 feet. Brown was about to grab his gun when the whaling captain told him to relax. "He said, `Don't show no fear, don't be scared. They're like dogs, they pick up your scent and take advantage of your fear,'" Brown said. The polar bear "just stood up, sniffed and walked away. Ever since then I've been teaching myself not to be scared, to show no fear." Source

Originally posted by Amelia: I am B.O.R.E.D. Considering the fact your company is as joyful as a toothache, why should any sane person allay you from the grating doldrums? Further, confessing to being unabashed slouch, why should boredom get to you? And what happened to your royal court jester, you said you is a queen of some Sultanate, that regales you at your beck and call? I don't understand you... you is bonafide walking, breathing, shiding oily glop of contradictions.

Saudi women unveil opinions online By Rasheed Abou-Alsamh, Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor Mon Jun 19, 4:00 AM ET JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - In this country where women are forced to completely cover themselves in public, are barred from driving, and need permission to travel abroad, it's small wonder many are embracing the freedom of anonymity on the Internet. As Internet usage continues to climb here, so do the numbers of women who have started Web logs, or blogs, to express themselves in ways they might never do in public. "I love blogging because it helps me to express myself and I like to write in English," says Farah Aziz, a translation student at King Saud University in Riyadh who started blogging in January 2005. The content of Ms. Aziz's blog (http://farahssowaleef.blogspot.com), which chronicles the life of a college student, would probably do little to cause alarm among government censors. But other women bloggers are drawing the attention of the state as well conservative male bloggers who have taken to policing the Internet for bloggers acting in ways that they perceive as inappropriate according to Islam. Saudi Eve, who regularly writes about her love life and religion, and who declined to be identified by her real name because of the sensitivity of the issue, woke up on June 2 to find that her blog (http://eveksa.blogspot.com) had been blocked. "Back and blocked," she wrote on her blog on June 2. "I'm temporarily back in Saudi only to find that 'Saudi Eve is officially blocked in Saudi.' " The closure of her site signals the beginning of a cyber battle between liberal Saudi bloggers and their more conservative counterparts. Blogging under the name Green Tea (http://www.g-tea.com/), Riyadh law student Mohammed al-Mossaed recently formed a conservative group of Saudi bloggers called the Official Community of Saudi Arabian Bloggers (OCSAB). "I am not responsible for the blocking of any website," says Mr. Mossaed. "OCSAB also has nothing to do with it. Maybe [saudi Eve] broke [the state's] rules by sometimes talking about God and sex." Response and sympathy from fellow bloggers was swift, with many urging the Kingdom's Internet watchdog, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), to unblock the site. Deeply conservative, Saudi Arabia is among the most restrictive countries in regard to Internet access in the world, with most traffic going through a central hub at KACST in Riyadh. The biggest number of sites blocked are pornographic sites, followed by sites that discuss drugs, religion, and terrorism. But KACST itself admits that it sometimes blocks benign sites by mistake. "The blacklist we use is a combination of an international commercial blacklist and a local blacklist," says Mishaal Al-Kadhi, the head of KACST's Internet Service Unit, in a phone interview from Riyadh. "Ninety-five percent of blocked sites are pornographic. But we do make mistakes sometimes and urge people to e-mail us with their unblock requests." Saudi Eve, who is in her late 20s, single, and often travels abroad on business, says she was singled out for being female and for daring to write about her love life and God in the same post. "My blog wasn't blocked because I wrote about romantic escapades, for as you know there are so many blogs on the Internet – both Saudi and non-Saudi – that write/blog about 'romantic escapades' among other Saudi taboos but aren't being blocked in Saudi," she said an e-mail exchange. "In my opinion, my blog was singled out and blocked because I – a Saudi female – wrote about romantic escapades in Arabic, plus I committed the 'ultimate sin' by mentioning the name of God in those posts," she explained. "To a Saudi male, romance is only allowed if written in English or by a male. It definitely isn't tolerated if it's written by a Saudi female, let alone in Arabic." Saudi Eve is not the only blogger to feel the wrath of conservative bloggers. Aziz, too, has had her run-ins with OCSAB and Green Tea, saying that they have threatened her in comments left on her site. "First, they say that a blog cannot disrespect Islam in any way in order for it to be included in OCSAB," says Aziz. "Second, they say that they don't accept blogs that are personal diaries, which is ridiculous as most blogs are just that." Yet Aziz admitted that OSCAB's aim to spread the culture of blogging among Saudis was working, though perhaps not to her liking. One female blogger (http://www.classic-diva.blogspot.com/) said that she was stopped from using the Internet at home for several months after her conservative brothers grew suspicious about why she was spending so much time online. "I've been blogging since April 2005. It's a way to vent out my frustrations and to write," said Jo, who asked only that her first name be used. "My family knows that I have a site, but they don't have a concept of what blogging is." Jo was forced to sneak out of her house to use the Internet at the house of friends or at a local Starbucks, and still has limited access to the Internet at home. She says that the blocking of Saudi Eve signals a battle that has already started between liberal and conservative bloggers in the Kingdom. "We have this clash going on between us liberals and the conservatives in the blogosphere. I think that OCSAB is trying to scare us," says Jo. For her part, Saudi Eve has not decided yet whether she will start a new blog to overcome being blocked in Saudi, or whether she will send KACST a request to unblock her site. "I haven't decided yet whether to react to this block or just to ignore it. There are readers in the rest of the world you know!" she said in an e-mail shortly before leaving the kingdom on yet another business trip abroad. Source

Oh how I now regret missing the game. Apparently, it was a sizzler!

Originally posted by Naxar Nugaaleed: Do you, Got it captain? Loud and clear!

Ethiopia denies sending troops to Somalia By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press Writer Sat Jun 17, 11:22 AM ET JOWHAR, Somalia - The leader of Somalia's increasingly powerful Islamic militia accused Ethiopian troops Saturday of crossing into the country — a charge Ethiopia denied. Ethiopia said its forces only massed near the border to monitor the situation and had not entered neighboring Somalia. "Ethiopia has a right to monitor its border," Bereket Simon, an adviser to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, told The Associated Press in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His comments came after Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, said 300 Ethiopian troops entered Somalia through the border town of Dolow in the southwestern region of Gedo on Saturday morning. "We want the whole world to know what's going on," Ahmed told journalists. "Ethiopia has crossed our borders and are heading for us. They are supporting the transitional federal government." Ahmed's interpreter initially said the Islamic leader accused the United States of encouraging an Ethiopian intervention. But Ahmed later said that was a mistranslation and he had not made that accusation. In recent days, Ethiopian troops have been crossing into Somali border towns and leaving, Ahmed said. "They have deployed a lot of soldiers around the border towns, which is why we have been saying that Ethiopia is going to send in troops to Somalia," the cleric said. The Islamic Courts Union is the group behind the militiamen that have swept across southern Somalia, installing clan-based, religiously oriented municipal administrations. It captured Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, on June 6 after months of fighting with an alliance of warlords backed by the United States. More than 330 people died in the fighting, most of them civilians. The Islamic group now controls most of southern Somalia. The group, accused by the United States of harboring al-Qaida fugitives, portrays itself as free of links to Somalia's past turmoil and capable of bringing order and unity. But the future of a country accustomed to moderate Islam would be uncertain under hard-line Islamic rulers. Ahmed denied Saturday that any foreigners were involved in its Islamic courts or that anyone in the courts had ties to al-Qaida. Somalia has been without an effective central government since the fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Ethiopia has intervened in Somalia in the past to prevent Islamic extremists from taking power. Ethiopians also were key power brokers in forming President Abdullahi Yusuf's transitional government in 2004. Yusuf, himself a former warlord, had asked for Ethiopian troops to back his government. The Islamic group's only competition for control of southern Somalia is Yusuf's transitional government. That government is supported by Somalia's neighbors, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union, so opposing it could mean regional and international isolation and possibly crippling sanctions for any administration the Islamic forces try to build. Yusuf said Saturday he was willing to hold talks with the Islamic Courts Union if they agree to mediation by Yemen. He said they must stop their advance, agree not to enter any more towns and recognize the legitimacy of the government and the constitution. Ahmed said his Islamic group was ready to meet with what he described as the "illegitimate government," but he would not agree to any conditions. Meanwhile, Islamic Courts Union spokesman Abdi Rahman Osman said the last two main warlords who lost the Somali capital to the militia — Muse Sudi Yalahow and Bashir Rage — fled the country on a boat and were picked up by a U.S. warship early Saturday. U.S. officials have acknowledged backing the warlords against the Islamic group. But the U.S. Naval 5th Fleet, which patrols international waters off Somalia and is based in Bahrain, said it had no reports that any of its ships had picked up the warlords. ___ Associated Press writers Mohamed Olad Hassan and Salad Duhul in Mogadishu, Somalia, and Leslie Neuhaus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed to this report.

Canada unveils new anti-terrorism measures By ROB GILLIES, Associated Press Writer 59 minutes ago TORONTO - Canada unveiled on Friday anti-terrorism measures aimed at bolstering security at the country's airports, railway systems and marine ports in the next few months. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the government also would spend more than $224 million to beef up the country's ability to detect potential terrorist attacks as part of the $1.3 billion approved in the federal budget for security. "This is how the fight against terrorism will be won ... plugging the holes, filling the gaps," Harper told a news conference at a Toronto airport cargo bay. " Some in Washington have criticized Canada's immigration laws as too lax and have long called on their neighbor to tighten regulations at airports, border crossings and ports. That criticism has been heightened in the past few weeks with the arrest of 17 suspects in the Toronto area who are charged with plotting bomb attacks against targets in southern Ontario. The new anti-terrorism measures include more thorough screening of passenger luggage and more resources for scanning passports. Security at marine ports also will be increased, including more thorough background checks for port workers, Harper said. He said his government would review the country's anti-terrorism legislation and look at options to improve security along the 4,000-mile border with the United States. The government is also considering the possibility of requiring air marshals on selected flights, much like the United States did in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Harper conceded it was no accident that Friday's news conference took place in Toronto, which has been uneasy since the terrorism arrests on June 2. But he said the measures were more in response to those being adopted by transportation systems in other countries, specifically the United Kingdom and Spain, which have both been recent terrorist targets. "We're giving (the measures) more attention, and they're obviously more newsworthy for the average person because of the recent arrests," he said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced earlier this month that authorities had foiled a terrorist plot against targets in Ontario, saying the suspects had obtained three tons of ammonium nitrate, three times what was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. The 12 men and five teenagers arrested are all from the Greater Toronto Area and some police sources have told Canadian media that their targets included the Toronto Stock Exchange and downtown headquarters of the country's spy agency. Two youths charged in the terror case were in court Friday in Brampton, just west of Toronto, for bail hearings. The lawyer for one, a 15-year-old Canadian, said he is just a scared kid from a good family. Lawyer Michael Block said his client was raised by a hardworking, liberal family and he suggested that any evidence he has seen indicated his client had a minimal role. "Some people may prove to have different involvement," Block said outside the courtroom. "He's a very frightened 15-year-old boy who has a very good idea of the downside risk he's facing," Block added. "He is just hoping that at some point life will be normal — back eating Mom's food with the rest of his family." Details of the hearings cannot be released under a blanket publication ban imposed by the court that prevents the public from learning of any further evidence in the stunning case. The names of the five teenagers also cannot be released due to federal privacy laws. A decision on whether bail will be granted is not expected until Monday at the earliest. Anser Farooq, the lawyer for the other youth, said he believes his client could be granted bail. "I think we've got a good chance," he said outside the courthouse. Source

Very thought provoking!

Jimcaale, Why don't you enlighten me? Just for the heck of it!

Originally posted by Naxar Nugaaleed: Possibilities for an atheist are two: 1 turns out there is God and they go hell. 2 God does not exsit and you cease to exist after death Not necessarily! Why must there be only 2 options? I wonder, do you have problem counting past 2? Other options may include: -a committee of Gods -lesser Gods with designated roles -a God that doesn't send his creation to hell -a God that doesn't demand worship ... and so on and so on ad infinitum. Got it captain?

Originally posted by Amelia: Men have biological clocks for fatherhood Naah! I say it's just Amelia trying to stir shid. And when shid hits the fan, she goes on walk abouts. Very cloying!