lol @ Norfsky. There should be a preamble abt him switching languages His rhyme needs work noh

I have four days off and don't know what to do with myself.......

:rolleyes: whats a wan? I don't think you can call that freestyle its only three sentences

Ngonge, lol @ calling me cow. Is that how you greet me these days and to think I was going to buy you icecream at the zoo..... I agree I tend to be stubborn and I have control issues hence why I want to have an attack plan I should talk to someone about a big brother/big sister program in the greater TC. I know a woman who does an after school program in Cedar Riverside area and she is mashallah from the older generation. She makes me cry everytime she speaks of what she encounters on a daily basis with the kids she works with. Inshallah kheyr when it comes to the future

^ahem....you accuse me of the same thing you are doing when you pigeonhole me as people who create these type of topics have a similar MO.........and its a simple superiority complex towards one own community. I understand your grievance with my query because I once stood where you are standing. It is difficult to have an objective perspective when you are emotionally tied to a topic. Self reflection and self criticism are the only way a society rights the wrongs that they have committed. You ask why I criticize when there are plenty of sinister characters of non-Somali origins doing it? Perhaps because I don't want someone else diagnosing my patient when I am a doctor myself. Ngonge, are you suggesting that we should wait till the problems get bad to tackle the problem? The topic is aimed at both present and future parents because it is the same reaction that I meet whenever I talk to the older generation (no offense) They simply believe the problem will resolve itself. I just want to know who is this mysterious figure who will solve this problem if not ourselves :confused: As for the stories you posted yes definitely we hold purchasing power and we hold degrees and what not but like I said we also have a perfect bad apple being advertised everywhere we go. I will illustrate this, recently the U of M did a study and asked campus students about region around campus. The campus is both on the East and West bank. The students weren't told what the study was about but what the study showed was that over 80% of the student respondents associated cedar riverside area with crime-somalis-lawlessness whilst associated the area across the bridge as peaceful. For those unfamiliar with the area there is no border in that area. It is all one but to the U of M students there is a stark border Historically this behavior has happened to another immigrant group in MN;the Hmong. It is a period we will go through as a community and hopefully if we are active in stemming the blood trickling out now we can live for another day.

"Listen to a woman speak at a public gathering (if she hasn't painfully lost her wind). She doesn't 'speak', she throws her trembling body forward; she lets go of herself, she flies; all of her passes into her voice, and it's with her body that she vitally supports the 'logic' of her speech. Her flesh speaks true. She lays herself bare. In fact, she physically materializes what she's thinking; she signifies it with her body. In a certain way she inscribes what she's saying, because she doesn't deny her drives the intractable and impassioned part they have in speaking. Her speech, even when 'theoretical' or political, is never simple or linear or 'objectified', generalized: she draws her story into history." **excerpt from the Laugh of the Medusa**

Helen Keller by Langston Hughes She, In the dark, Found light Brighter than many ever see. She, Within herself, Found loveliness, Through the soul's own mastery. And now the world receives From her dower: The message of the strength Of inner power.

Afadhali huyo mfupi kushinda yule mwengine.... Huyu Derek anaweza kuwa chips funga wangu He is working for his future dude. He is a free agent after this season and he needs Lakers to renew his contract.

Lol my bad i haven't been to the Oz shores since 2008 I can't tell what time it is there. As for taking it like a man most people in here think I am a man so don't spoil my fun Ps:- the pic you should have posted was Derek Fisher not that over blown caricature

lol yea I was telling that to my collegue when I looked at the gamecast in the first two minutes and he had missed even a layup. I said F Allen is not with us tonite What? You hate NFL? Oh H to the No.....someone should strip u of your man card and Americano citizenship

lol @ Oz......nenda lala isn't it late/early in Aussieland Che, its weird seeing it in action because it takes the fun out of the game lol. You know where fans blame officials for wrong calls......hehehe

Seriously whats with this series players being so darn inconsistent :mad: Derek cried. I would too, he busted a$$ to make Lakers win but still inconsistent. I want one game when both teams are present uff! 2-1 we are back to Fakers territory!

Can't believe I am being bribed to not support USA by friends for their support in hating lakers I am picking up my jersey tomorrow and can't wait for the WC kick off party with the Nigeria-Argentina game. Love Messi but I gotta support my African brudas Ps:- Layzie Ronaldo is so vain......you can't possibly like him can you? :eek:

^ You are awfully sensitive lately. Something the matter? Valenteenah lol I take it you believe in spare in spare the rod spoil the child

^too busy at work I was just able to check the scores three times. I am home now and I am just picked up the second half. KG finally showed up and Allen checks out This game is nail bitingly good in the 4th quarter

C&H lol @ take a deep breath. I wasn't mad at the experience but more irritated. I don't think I am exaggerating by and by and here is why. Forget abt what is in the media. I said that the media is going to crucify our image and that is expected. I am speaking of normal everyday run in with Somali kids. Apart from once in a blue moon occasion every time I run into Somali kids they are either talking disrespectfully back to an elder, harassing someone or just being ignorant. Once I remember stopping into a shop to buy xalwo and a woman sitting at one of the tables went outside to ask some boys to leave because they have been lollygagging in front of the premise bothering people. One of the boys starts cussing at her and I was mortified! This woman could have been his grandmother and here he was talking in such a manner. Its a problem and it needs a solution from within. A journalist once told me that there are some parenting classes given to the Riverside-West bank residents and the only people that turn out from the somalis are the women. She was puzzled as to why the men never thought it important to learn how to parent. I am not saying the problem is men alone. It is many things, things that individually we can't fix all at once but as a community we can. What I am saying is individually there is something you and I can do. We can give time to any child we see who is crying out for attention. They are many of them and perhaps they might not find it easy to talk to their parents or guardians but a stranger who is from their own background might just fit the bill. Perhaps I am advocating for some big brother/big sister program in a way

^Ibtisam, I understand that people adjust to environs accordingly but can we really discount the effect of community? It is only because we choose to isolate ourselves that we are not housed under a community framework. Karl, I take it you can't see the problem or perhaps can't figure out a solution? :confused: Its an FYI bulletin and I don't expect everyone to use one solution to the problem. Each person has his own unique way of parenting and with each child you learn new ways of doing things. I am not a parent biologically but I have raised children who are not mine and when I see them I smile at their ever present quirks. The influences one can have on a child are great. They only need someone who cares enough about their life be it the next door neighbor, green grocer at the corner or their grandmother. My solution is to pay attention to the children. Listen to them and how they articulate their needs whether they throw a tantrum, start a fight, cry or write a hate filled letter. What is your solution to the problem I posed?

^Whats with the snakes? I will be at work the first half but I will have the computer updating. Your words are marked Mr BOB

^You really are something else. Did you read the article you posted?? It clearly shows what IGAD shortcomings are It was not a good read by the way but that's a personal opinion.

I was going to start of with a tirade but I think I rather just present information. Recently there has been a trend emerging within our children in the Diaspora and even back home. I am going to pull from experiences in MN and Kenya. Yesterday as I was walking to a graduating ceremony I saw four young Somali men crossing the street at an intersection. A motorcyclist waited patiently for them to cross to continue on his way when one of them yelled at the top of his voice and lunged at the motorcyclist. The poor guy held his tongue and watched the boys as they got to the side of the street laughing their heads off. An hour and half later as people walked out of the graduation ceremony that was 90% Somali (a charter school) a fight broke out between a group of young boys. The cops had to make arrests and patrol the area for an hour as the crowds dispersed. This is only one day in MN. There are more and more cases of Somali young men and women who have somehow gotten into their heads that they are not expected to follow laws (their cultural, societal, secular or religious laws). The media is quick to build a public image of the typical Somali and this is not the image you want people to have as you seek to apply for a job. It is disheartening when in a reality there are milestones being made in the other direction as my grandmother succinctly said, "I never thought I would see the day that a Western graduation stage would be filled with Somali girls and boys and the highest GPA is held by a niqabi girl." I think parents have failed these children and the close Somali community we knew has also failed them. No longer do we care when we see another child commit a wrong because it is not our child. No longer do we have a family unit that sees each other daily and recounts their day's events daily. Our mothers are trying to make a living because our men have flown the coop. The TV and radio babysits our children as we eagerly pursue the mighty $. Where does it all end? Do we not see the writing on the wall? If we fail our young kids and do not ready them to be positive contributing members of society we truly have lost everything.

LayzieG I beg to differ I think she knew what she was doing. She has been around the block enough times to know what her action would result in. She is old yes, but perhaps it is her age that makes her not care what people will think of her anymore. She has nothing to lose by telling the truth. I think its too little too late. The media is succeeding in painting her as a senile old woman who doesn't know what she is talking about By the way, has anyone heard the latest conspiracy theory of the fact that Israel attacked on the Flottila was orchestrated to move back the bar for concessions. The CIA is said to have warned Israel against attacking the Flottila but they went ahead and did it anyway........why? Israel intelligence knows better! They are the same people that went into Dubai and assassinated someone and walked out of the hotel. So now when they come to the negotiating table its going to be with a new set of demands, thus succeeding in reseting the bar for the peace process.

Che I understood that after abt the second time he took a roun****ut, but I still maintain that he should try to read the article I posted

^ Nice to see you back in the sports section LayzieG. Doc rivers is not hammering it into his team about the importance of boards otherwise KG wouldn't be talked down by Pau Gasol. He would have made Gasol eat his words, but he has been here before. In '08 finals there are games he completely wasn't there, but he finally showed up and the championship was there. Lets hope the next three games at home will do something for his game As for Wallace, he has never been a consistent player. His game waxes and wanes with each game the only way he is in top form is when he is pissed off. He is a Detroit player through and through and when his back is against the wall he will come through. Finally, Celtics need to shut down Lakers in third quarter. That is when they are the most explosive and if they can keep Lakers under twenty points, they have a chance to beat Kobe and his band of misfits.

lol no mine is actually purple.... yellow=coward

I concur, we exist on different universes. Yours has a red sky