Is it methali central all of a sudden? Waranle, like all good things once mass produced lose their luster its lamentable but sadly expected.

I am actually not reading but merely listening to audiobooks recently. After finishing the Harry Potter series a few years ago, I had a thirst for books in series so I dived back into J.R. Tolkien series, Gregory Maguire series, recently the Hunger Games series and now I am reading the Game of Thrones series. Since I can't write about a series of books I suggest wikipedia the books or better yet, buy the books. What other series have SOLers found interesting because I am about done with Game of Thrones series?

Just realized that I haven't earned my stripes on this forum. How does one earn seniority ranking anyways? Number of post or length of membership? Ps:- Admin should consider putting that answer also in the FAQ.

Wadani and Chimera: I think your thoughts converge on the premise that we don't appreciate whats at hand until its gone, right? If we operated under this premise, I can then surmise that you believe that we inherently can't differentiate what is harmful or beneficial to us without the passage of time. Recollecting what choices you have made in the past, I am sure that at key points of your lives you were at a fork and you had to sacrifice something to follow a path. The decision to follow a certain path was perhaps quick or perhaps took a lot of soul searching. I rather wager that when you look back at that decision and have a nostalgic moments about it you are actually looking back with regret not nostalgia per se. Memories of good times coming to an abrupt end through life choices are regrettably not nostalgic but rather reside in the realm of what ifs, no? XX: People we love are usually stuck in our past because we fail to accept they are hurting us in the present. Its human nature to long for the calming effect of a mother's voice when they have left us alone. It is in our refusal of our present that we look in the past with longing. Malika : Thanks dear, I still stop by to dip my toes in the sanctified waters of SOL, it soothes my soul when the world turns dark I can buy into part of your thinking which is perhaps there is a biological use for our memories stores. Our brains invest a ton of man power to program our short term memory into long term ones. The circuit used to program that memory is complex and only recently been cracked open. I am creature of science with philosophical tendencies, If its to survive then what selection process occurs to allows us to cast some memories as good old days and some as bad? Finally, Aphophis, I would agree with you on the matter that memories serve as a reflection of life lived. It is meant to provide a foundation on which we base our identity as individuals and society. Therefore our nostalgia does have a way of mitigating our present follies. We are making choices and living our lives based on an inaccurate version of the past. A version that was perhaps sold to us by the media or perhaps our own communities. Even looking back at the Civil War of USA, we see how the south through their letters and textbooks overruled the north's account of what really happened (painting themselves in a much favorable light compared to what must have really been back then). Memories are fickle things and are commonly relied on with very little evidence to support them. If I say something long enough it will be true noh? My lineage will accept it as gospel and repeat to their children and soon it will be the eternal truth that they swear upon. "We’re constantly changing facts, rewriting history to make things easier, to make them fit in with our preferred version of events. We do it automatically. We invent memories. Without thinking. If we tell ourselves something happened often enough we start to believe it, and then we can actually remember it."......S.J Watson.

Perhaps but then does it merit the question why we do it and if we can exploit this ability? If we as humans can manipulate our memory stores then can one say guard or break into someone's memory stores and tell a different version of their history? Make our enemies into friends or vice versa? I don't mean to jump down the rabbit hole but the possibilities are endless in what one can do once they break into your memory banks don't you think? Plenty of studies show the memory is malleable and can be falsified easily, yet most of us would believe a witness on the stand saying she saw so and so shoot a man especially if collaborated by another witness. What then separates a true memory from a false one, or are all memories a false construct?

Sometimes I get the urge to relive certain moments of my life. There are very few and far in between moments I'd like to revisit but, those moments are, as the young ones call it, epic. I have recently noticed that with age I revisit these moments more and more and always with a bit of nostalgia. This has lead me to the question, " What is it about the past that we hold on to?" Remember your old uncle or even grandpa talking about the good old days. The days when people knew how to act, had proper values etc. It is always brightest on that side of the memory storeroom. Life is so much more joyful but is it really? Are our memory banks corrupted and thus coloring our perception of life? My theory is that if you were taken back to that moment you wouldn't enjoy yourself as much as you claim. That if we were to question observers of your life then, they wouldn't remember the appreciative smirk on your face as you got drunk for the first time, snuck into a club with a fake ID or even set fire to a building just to get back at the mean land lord who evicted you! No, they would talk about how you cursed those moments and wished them gone from your life. So, what is it about them that makes you appreciate them decades down the road? Perhaps its the comparison between the past and the present. The present that seems complicated and unsure versus the past that is tried and true. Psychologically are we losing ourselves in what had been, minus the bad parts? Does this make life much more bearable in the present. Throughout history masses of people have had atrocities committed to them and if collectively asked about the time before the evil befell them, they are quick to point out the beauty, happiness and peace they used to experience. Sometimes when I listen to my parents and grandparents talk about Somalia, I hear this nostalgic pull. Do they really believe life was much better during the era of Siyad Barre or even pre-Siyad Barre? See I wouldn't know because all I have to go off is their recollection and at times I am not sure I can trust their minds. So I pose a question, should we trust our nostalgic memory that is a reconstruct of what really happened?

Thanks Coofle for the feedback. Are you still in your basic sciences courses? Lol @ Somalia.

Oz;890193 wrote: Wyre, we wacha kutupa mbao abti..nini tena Oz I have never met a nai person shenging with the word abti? That sounds like NEP sheng ama.............. Malika shikamoo bi mdogo *Waves**

^Point taken Alpha. I'll file it away in the necessary spot. Che lol @ only know one kid and he a dentist. I wonder who . I am still on track but I was speaking to a few friends and I was hoping to poll the malis in the vicinity. The live ones have given their take but I need to remove my bias so I need online view points too. How are things in your end anyways? He perfeccionado vuestra espanoles?

Lets not derail the topic Alpha shall we? I was pointing out the fallacy in the poster's logic and I would like to leave it at that please. SOL topics have a way of disintegrating into nothingness and I would rather prefer this one doesn't cause it could be potentially useful for the youth.

Oh you would be suprised what vocations and degrees your fellow fadhi ku dirir's have

I am hoping there are some docs and med students in the forum. I am wondering if there are any who have taken the USMLE in the past few years. If so, how much preparations were there? length of studying? how long the results took to come back? Did results reflect effort? For the more established docs, how have you aided young somali medical students into securing residency positions in excellent hospitals? Looking online I ran across the somali doc association but there wasn't any information in regards to their work in the communities. So I am hoping this will help me in securing answers quickly

Hey Bob and Ngonge! Alhamdullilahi mola amenibariki :-) Ngonge that means I am grateful to the good Lord for everything. How are you both doing? Did I miss any milestones? Ngonge I believe you used a key word to explain what the miniscule amt of people that go back do i.e. they create miracles. What I believe the conversation between the bwana and the mtu was hinting at was innovation and sustainable progress or lack there of. Whilst I agree with you on use of generalization, statistically speaking the trend would seem to favor bwana and bob`s thoughts. I was wondering what argument would one use in the face of such stark contrast between the west and Africa. Mind you I am not trying to reenact the Orientalist argument but we seem to have been shooting ourselves in the foot and hemmorraging out more than we can infuse. So what say you ngonge were you the African on trial would that be your only line of defense? Sensei, while its admirable to be reactive to certain things one has to be able to decipher truth from fluff. Find the truth in the article and respond to it in kind :-)

I love traveling and I have the most interesting conversations when I am traveling especially on long flights but when I read recount of this flight conversation, I just had to share it. It was written by a Zambian media practioner and PhD candidate. He 'allegedly' sat next to a whiteman on a LA-Boston flight and this was his experience. Forgive me if I don't paste the entire article and exercise my discretion in what I quote. If you wish to read the entire article google the name you should get lots of hits. I grinned. “There is no Lake Zambia.” He curled his lips into a smug smile. “That’s what we call your country. You guys are as stagnant as the water in the lake. We come in with our large boats and fish your minerals and your wildlife and leave morsels—crumbs. That’s your staple food, crumbs. That corn-meal you eat, that’s crumbs, the small Tilapia fish you call Kapenta is crumbs. We the Bwanas (whites) take the cat fish. I am the Bwana and you are the Muntu. I get what I want and you get what you deserve, crumbs. That’s what lazy people get—Zambians, Africans, the entire Third World.” The smile vanished from my face. “I see you are getting pissed off,” Walter said and lowered his voice. “You are thinking this Bwana is a racist. That’s how most Zambians respond when I tell them the truth. They go ballistic. Okay. Let’s for a moment put our skin pigmentations, this black and white crap, aside. Tell me, my friend, what is the difference between you and me?” “Every white person on this plane feels superior to a black person. The white guy who picks up garbage, the homeless white trash on drugs, feels superior to you no matter his status or education. I can pick up a nincompoop from the New York streets, clean him up, and take him to Lusaka and you all be crowding around him chanting muzungu, muzungu and yet he’s a riffraff. Tell me why my angry friend.” For a moment I was wordless. “Please don’t blame it on slavery like the African Americans do, or colonialism, or some psychological impact or some kind of stigmatization. And don’t give me the brainwash poppycock. Give me a better answer.” I was thinking. He continued. “Excuse what I am about to say. Please do not take offense.” I felt a slap of blood rush to my head and prepared for the worst. “You my friend flying with me and all your kind are lazy,” he said. “When you rest your head on the pillow you don’t dream big. You and other so-called African intellectuals are damn lazy, each one of you. It is you, and not those poor starving people, who is the reason Africa is in such a deplorable state.” He looked me in the eye. “And you flying to Boston and all of you Zambians in the Diaspora are just as lazy and apathetic to your country. You don’t care about your country and yet your very own parents, brothers and sisters are in Mtendere, Chawama, and in villages, all of them living in squalor. Many have died or are dying of neglect by you. They are dying of AIDS because you cannot come up with your own cure. You are here calling yourselves graduates, researchers and scientists and are fast at articulating your credentials once asked—oh, I have a PhD in this and that—PhD my foot!” I was deflated. “Wake up you all!” he exclaimed, attracting the attention of nearby passengers. “You should be busy lifting ideas, formulae, recipes, and diagrams from American manufacturing factories and sending them to your own factories. All those research findings and dissertation papers you compile should be your country’s treasure. Why do you think the Asians are a force to reckon with? They stole our ideas and turned them into their own. Look at Japan, China, India, just look at them.” Though the beginnings of the article seem anecdotal to me, I am wondering if we really have beaten this horse to death; the whole Africa is backward and that our intellect is being pimped out for other uses other than to uplift ourselves. I have read lot of replies to this article but I am wondering if a SOLer were to respond how would they defend the intellectual African??

Asamoah Gyan is known for his talent on the football pitch but I was pleasantly surprised to discover he has skills in other departments.

Ibti how did you gather from my sentence I felt sorry for them......is it the use of the term taking advantage of. My context for usage hinges upon the knowledge of the men that they are being provided 'free' services only to realize that it is blackmail. As for scapegoating the community, lets be real here. Somalis in Mpls cannot be termed as individuals because everyone is in everyone's else business. I once made a comment about the mentality of not snitching that is very prominent at the moment. The neighbourhood where this ring works is somali that means over 80% of the people there are somalis. You want to tell me that in a bowl of rice you can pick out one unique grain of rice? Allahu ya3lam........for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We turn our blind eyes to too much in MN that even the obscene has become normal. Perhaps it is time that people spoke out against acts such as these way before they require law enforcement. Community action center and crime watch are good organizations to join in the neighborhoods we all live in. Sayid .....why would prostitution be a surprise. Wasn't there a red light district in Somalia? What doesn't surprise me about the story is that it has grown large enough to catch the attention of Federal agents. its been an all around downer of a day!

Is this really a surprise for MN residents? I don't even live in the cities and know about the prostitution ring especially around the Cedar Riverside and Seward neighborhood. According to the grapevine the girls are usually transported in a white van with tinted black windows. Sometimes the johns get to do whatever they want in the van or the girls meet them somewhere. Most of the girls are kept under wraps with violence and drugs. Not to mention the ring has branched out into some sick game of taking advantage of old men by blackmailing them after the deed is done. Its enough to sicken you definitely when you know that most Somalis do have some idea on who is who in their community. :mad: :mad:

Ina Lilaahi wa ina ileehi raajicuun I was just thinking of him today because of some paintings I saw of Amir Amin. May his soul find peace

ewwww @ hairy men! Yuuuuuk! CL share tips if you have been there Ibti that sounds like a story for the books. I am off to get ready for work. Can't wait for tomorrow......my weekend starts!!

Sounds like an adventure then! Speaking of unwarranted/unwanted attention I remember running across a website a few years back where women snapped photos of men who harassed them and wrote about the experience with details on where it happened. I thought it was innovative and smart. Sounds like I should shoot Sheh a PM. Inshallah will do after Eid. Thanks Edit: lnd version of Hollaback- women against street harrassment

lol @ twitter stalkers. Just bask in the fame hon. I didn't know Sheh went to Turkey, as for guys I don't think I will have problems there lol. I usually have my face buried in a book or behind a camera plus I have a travel partner who ensures I keep to an itinerary so no chance of side trips

lol @ commie.Ah the good old days with the good old boys

and thank God it is! I am tired of my siblings in the house and I want the house back to peace and quiet on my days off Asc/Morning all! Planning a trip to turkey inshallah in a few months. Anyone been there and what is a ball park figure budget-wise for two weeks going around the country?

Che hmmm actually the mindset I explained goes for most Africans too. Its tied to the fact that labor to run family farms/family business was provided by the number of children one has. Thusly, the more children you have the more labor you have to run your business. Times have changed but unfortunately we haven't changed with it. Education as a whole is needed and not only sex education. FB lol @ njaa.... are you sure you were not shrubing

^I remember a time when someone once said 'the eagle has landed' I didn't know you moonlighted as a crowd dispersal agent these days NG......