I fell from galool tree in a g'u season, the year was Caanaacle.

Raboow unaxariisyo adoomadaan. Ilaahayoow awadankeenii xasilooni iyo nabad nooga dhali. Fadlan markaad kuligiin salaada taraawiixda aad tukaneysaan, waxaad uduceysaayaan walaaheen idinkooo sujuudsan. Sophist

Xagaayo ayaa ka dhacdey Somnet miyaah walaakiis Nur (assuming you are the same jolly Nur), soo dhowoow, meeshan naq ayaa ka jira wali deyr ayaan ku jirnaa. Geela daran keen. Sophist Ex SNet

Ceyda waa laga fiican yahay.

Salamu Alaikum, Ramadan Karim I am happy to be able this afternoon to write one of the insidious force, part of self-nourishing coterie of aggravated nonintentities who swirl ill-naturedly in the vortex of their own making- making that ends with a paramount shunt. Well now this is not a fight as such, but merely words that will illustrate the harebrained notion that Sophist gains pleasure out of the ridicule of his brethrens. Apparently he does this because he uses words that some people are not familiar with. The question one wants to ask is why does he go out of his way to employ such archaic words that even second rate university professor would have difficulty understanding? I indeed feel incumbent to respond to this freakish charges; though I have already tried to do so-perhaps my words were not SIMPLE enough. Firstly, it is not for me to read motives of the purest disdain or in fact inverted admiration into what may, after all have been a squalid and bungled affair. On a legal note, one can never be committed an act which is emphatically impossible to materialise (you just have to think hard to decipher what I am eluding to here) but that does not mean we should ignore the potential incitement it may cause, hence my legal right to clarify this feeble attempt of…… Now, do Sophist look down to his forum people? The answer to that is no. I don't look down unto my fellow people, actually there are couple of people whom I greatly admire, Bee, Samurai, Zallici (I hope my lady would not mind me saying this-whichever lady you want to interpret that is for your own doing). But that does not mean I enjoy reading all of the posts that find their way into our forums. Quite frankly, some of them are ingeniously vulgar others plain down insipid. But this of course does not mean I look down on them. It just means that I have different taste to some of the postees here. On the language issues: Walahi, I was never aware of the alleged posh (as one said, though ironically, I never new the meaning of such word at the time) words and style I write. My first trivial (but I hope much fun) post was on the subject of HOW TO DUMB YOUR GIRLFRIEND. It received mixed reviews from the OTHER PLACE's (other place= Somnet) pundits. Some found it entertaining and the language a freshly edible fruit to their much famished minds, others found it simply haughty. They accused me all sort of things, mainly that I was too ENGLISH. The meaning of which I have never discovered-- perhaps the SOL writers would be more clever to define the meaning of such allegation. I was too Posh one complainer wrote, another said, I was out of Shakespearean Play. All of these allegations were quite alien to me. Never have I been told that my English was passé, or anything approaching superannuated. On the contrary my friends sometimes teased about my lack of rich vocabulary. That was great astonishment to me. What I saw moderately simple others saw it erudite and or worse pretentious. I have since tried to tailor my writing to my intended readers-- apparently I have suceeded yet; is it because I expect my fellow Somalis to be on par with me or perhaps better read than I? Now, I think the whole thing is subjective, What I may find archaic may be quite simply too modern to some and vice versa. This does not mean I intentionally try to alienate my readers-what sort of writer would one be;;; Strangely enough, a voice behind my head had just let me know that some of the best books are quite simply difficult read--- perhaps Ulysses comes to mind. Most of these people never occurred to them that I don't use Dictionary. They were quite good at imposing their limitations about the new commer. One such a accuser was the grotesque Basra with her self-indulgence. She had this weird notion that she was the top DOG and out of nowhere this Somali guy with ceratin capacity in wiriting………………………….. Now the same group of people with different attire seem to permeate into our cossy little corner of the net-- I wonder where would this lead to. Also, the highly esteemed fellow Zaylici stated, eloquently I might add, I write about ideas, cultural observations etc. These darling need certain lexis, it won't wash if I write cockney (I never tried, I think it would be tragedy trying that-the result would only be failure from my part.) I hope this matter ends, and walaashis, sorry if I have crossed you in any unknowing way. Thus Spake the Old man Sophist

Originally posted by Sophist: Salaams, Looks like someone is insecure about something and is trying to hide whatever that is by using some big *** words!!! I have never met anybody talking or writing like this ever.. and yeah.. including university professors !!! :rolleyes: uuh, perhaps that says great deal about the infelicitousness of the university you attend dear

Salaams, As I read these responses I am capitulated by a sense of merriment. Perhaps I should inadvertently feel incensed with intense heat to the extent that I should rebut her false allegations-that would not be the right thing perhaps. As the honrourable chaps above (Zaylici and Samurai in particular) have articulated rather superlatively their verdicts on the subject matter, I shall leave it with their able analysis. However, I feel duty-bound to elucidate one matter that is annoying me like a small stone in my overworn shoe. It must be said, that it is not because I feel the unmerited words that came from the first lady (no chance of that happening that she had now slighted a potential first man ); they are quite discordant in comparison to the habitual mantra I use to hear a while ago. The matter is, What are the big words my lady speaks about? To be entirely sincere with you I don't feel I am using words that I deem to be "BIG WORDS". If one finds words like verdict big because one is used to hearing decision or ruling, then that is their shortcoming from their part. Anyhow, Guys don't be hard on the poor lady, she thought she was on a right track. My dear, no harm is done. Sophist PS: is this too common for you? I indeed took a lot of time to simplify this-still quite subjective thing. Sophist

Salams to you all, Underdog Interesting thoughts overwhelm me but at the thought of them penning them down makes me shrivel with the potential outcome. But I tell myself, a good writer (which am certainly not) aspires to write in fashion that would not (to borrow your word) ignite the fire that will engulf the soul of our continuation (contributing to this fine xero rageed-excuse the manly aphorism ) and perhaps divest ourselves of the mainstay of this reasonably practicable forum.::::-perhaps such task would not be realised in this post; nevertheless that should not be a deterrent. In the first part of this thread I speak of what I termed Intellectual debauchery. Without repeating myself, this profligacy is indeed permeating into our young minds without the much notice of the parts concerned. This is a objective fact. The saturation of licentiousness (used here in negative fashion) is one that boggles my tired mind- tired because of great effort paid to-without much expectation of material gain- to this matter. I don't criticise out of whim. But indeed I observed certain facts that is corrupting our 'culture'. You say our culture is vibrant. I agree entirely with negative effect. Where is this vivaciousness you speak about. An energetic and pulsating culture does not rid itself off its core elements, but what it does is to take what is what positive from that which they see in others. This is not the case in our society. The majority (no pedanticism is needed here) is assimilated to the negative aspects of western culture-MacWorld culture, as they term it recently. People accuse me of looking down my fellow brothers, that is an utter tosh. I speak about those truths because I feel bad about the state of our society. This is nothing to do with self-aggrandizing-never have I proclaimed that I am not partly westernized (of course it must be said Without my knowledge ). On the point of showing them rather than telling them (whoever they and me are ); as I said just moments ago, I don't regard myself better than "them". Likem Socrates, I see the faults, and I am trying to discover HOW we can break this newtonian inertia. Upon writing this, I don't expect anyone to embrace what I have written but only to ignite (to borrow your word again) the fire in their intellectial capacities. Here I retire for the morning; perhaps return later this afternoon-- if Allah permits me to. Sophist

I indubitably don't deem myself as a erudite neither do I avail myrself to cumbersome words that may not be comprehended by my fellow SOL readers. Perhaps this is so because I have been in Britain merely eight years! may be if I had been in this country longer I would have employed the alleged big words some of us cling to Sophist

hmmm! read this seemingly innocent article! The global hierarchy of race *LINK* Posted By: News Date: 20, September 03, at 4:56 a.m. As the only racial group that never suffers systemic racism, whites are in denial about its impact Martin Jacques Saturday September 20, 2003 The Guardian UK I always found race difficult to understand. It was never intuitive. And the reason was simple. Like every other white person, I had never experienced it myself: the meaning of colour was something I had to learn. The turning point was falling in love with my wife, an Indian-Malaysian, and her coming to live in England. Then, over time, I came to see my own country in a completely different way, through her eyes, her background. Colour is something white people never have to think about because for them it is never a handicap, never a source of prejudice or discrimination, but rather the opposite, a source of privilege. However liberal and enlightened I tried to be, I still had a white outlook on the world. My wife was the beginning of my education. But it was not until we went to live in Hong Kong that my view of the world, and the place that race occupies within it, was to be utterly transformed. Rather than seeing race through the prism of my own society, I learned to see it globally. When we left these shores, it felt as if we were moving closer to my wife's world: this was east Asia and she was Malaysian. And she, unlike me, had the benefit of speaking Cantonese. So my expectation was that she would feel more comfortable in this environment than I would. I was wrong. As a white, I found myself treated with respect and deference; my wife, notwithstanding her knowledge of the language and her intimacy with Chinese culture, was the object of an in-your-face racism. In our 14 months in Hong Kong, I learned some brutal lessons about racism. First, it is not the preserve of whites. Every race displays racial prejudice, is capable of racism, carries assumptions about its own virtue and superiority. Each racism, furthermore, is subtly different, reflecting the specificity of its own culture and history. Second, there is a global racial hierarchy that helps to shape the power and the prejudices of each race. At the top of this hierarchy are whites. The reasons are deep-rooted and profound. White societies have been the global top dogs for half a millennium, ever since Chinese civilisation went into decline. With global hegemony, first with Europe and then the US, whites have long commanded respect, as well as arousing fear and resentment, among other races. Being white confers a privilege, a special kind of deference, throughout the world, be it Kingston, Hong Kong, Delhi, Lagos - or even, despite the way it is portrayed in Britain, Harare. Whites are the only race that never suffers any kind of systemic racism anywhere in the world. And the impact of white racism has been far more profound and baneful than any other: it remains the only racism with global reach. Being top of the pile means that whites are peculiarly and uniquely insensitive to race and racism, and the power relations this involves. We are invariably the beneficiaries, never the victims. Even when well-meaning, we remain strangely ignorant. The clout enjoyed by whites does not reside simply in an abstraction - western societies - but in the skin of each and every one of us. Whether we like it or not, in every corner of the planet we enjoy an extraordinary personal power bestowed by our colour. It is something we are largely oblivious of, and consequently take for granted, irrespective of whether we are liberal or reactionary, backpackers, tourists or expatriate businessmen. The existence of a de facto global racial hierarchy helps to shape the nature of racial prejudice exhibited by other races. Whites are universally respected, even when that respect is combined with strong resentment. A race generally defers to those above it in the hierarchy and is contemptuous of those below it. The Chinese - like the Japanese - widely consider themselves to be number two in the pecking order and look down upon all other races as inferior. Their respect for whites is also grudging - many Chinese believe that western hegemony is, in effect, held on no more than prolonged leasehold. Those below the Chinese and the Japanese in the hierarchy are invariably people of colour (both Chinese and Japanese often like to see themselves as white, or nearly white). At the bottom of the pile, virtually everywhere it would seem, are those of African descent, the only exception in certain cases being the indigenous peoples. This highlights the centrality of colour to the global hierarchy. Other factors serve to define and reinforce a race's position in the hierarchy - levels of development, civilisational values, history, religion, physical characteristics and dress - but the most insistent and widespread is colour. The reason is that colour is instantly recognisable, it defines difference at the glance of an eye. It also happens to have another effect. It makes the global hierarchy seem like the natural order of things: you are born with your colour, it is something nobody can do anything about, it is neither cultural nor social but physical in origin. In the era of globalisation, with mass migration and globalised cultural industries, colour has become the universal calling card of difference. In interwar Europe, the dominant forms of racism were anti-semitism and racialised nationalisms, today it is colour: at a football match, it is blacks not Jews that get jeered, even in eastern Europe. Liberals like to think that racism is a product of ignorance, of a lack of contact, and that as human mobility increases, so racism will decline. This might be described as the Benetton view of the world. And it does contain a modicum of truth. Intermixing can foster greater understanding, but not necessarily, as Burnley, Sri Lanka and Israel, in their very different ways, all testify. Hong Kong, compared with China, is an open society, and has long been so, yet it has had little or no effect in mollifying Chinese prejudice towards people of darker skin. It is not that racism is immovable and intractable, but that its roots are deep, its prejudices as old as humanity itself. The origins of Chinese racism lie in the Middle Kingdom: the belief that the Chinese are superior to other races - with the exception of whites - is centuries, if not thousands of years, old. The disparaging attitude among American whites towards blacks has its roots in slavery. Wishing it wasn't true, denying it is true, will never change the reality. We can only understand - and tackle racism - if we are honest about it. And when it comes to race - more than any other issue - honesty is in desperately short supply. Race remains the great taboo. Take the case of Hong Kong. A conspiracy of silence surrounded race. As the British departed in 1997, amid much self-congratulation, they breathed not a word about racism. Yet the latter was integral to colonial rule, its leitmotif: colonialism, after all, is institutionalised racism at its crudest and most base. The majority of Chinese, the object of it, meanwhile, harboured an equally racist mentality towards people of darker skin. Masters of their own home, they too are in denial of their own racism. But that, in varying degrees, is true of racism not only in Hong Kong but in every country in the world. You may remember that, after the riots in Burnley in the summer of 2001, Tony Blair declared that they were not a true reflection of the state of race relations in Britain: of course, they were, even if the picture is less discouraging in other aspects. Racism everywhere remains largely invisible and hugely under-estimated, the issue that barely speaks its name. How can the Economist produce a 15,000-word survey on migration, as it did last year, and hardly mention the word racism? Why does virtually no one talk about the racism suffered by the Williams sisters on the tennis circuit even though the evidence is legion? Why are the deeply racist western attitudes towards Arabs barely mentioned in the context of the occupation of Iraq, carefully hidden behind talk of religion and civilisational values? The dominant race in a society, whether white or otherwise, rarely admits to its own racism. Denial is near universal. The reasons are manifold. It has a huge vested interest in its own privilege. It will often be oblivious to its own prejudices. It will regard its racist attitudes as nothing more than common sense, having the force and justification of nature. Only when challenged by those on the receiving end is racism outed, and attitudes begin to change. The reason why British society is less nakedly racist than it used to be is that whites have been forced by people of colour to question age-old racist assumptions. Nations are never honest about themselves: they are all in varying degrees of denial. This is clearly fundamental to understanding the way in which racism is underplayed as a national and global issue. But there is another reason, which is a specifically white problem. Because whites remain the overwhelmingly dominant global race, perched in splendid isolation on top of the pile even though they only represent 17% of the world's population, they are overwhelmingly responsible for setting the global agenda, for determining what is discussed and what is not. And the fact that whites have no experience of racism, except as perpetrators, means that racism is constantly underplayed by western institutions - by governments, by the media, by corporations. Moreover, because whites have reigned globally supreme for half a millennium, they, more than any other race, have left their mark on the rest of humanity: they have a vested interest in denying the extent and baneful effects of racism. It was only two years ago, you may remember, that the first-ever United Nations conference on racism was held - against the fierce resistance of the US (and that in the Clinton era). Nothing more eloquently testifies to the unwillingness of western governments to engage in a global dialogue about the problem of racism. If racism is now more widely recognised than it used to be, the situation is likely to be transformed over the next few decades. As migration increases, as the regime of denial is challenged, as subordinate races find the will and confidence to challenge the dominant race, as understanding of racism develops, as we become more aware of other racisms like that of the Han Chinese, then the global prominence of racism is surely set to increase dramatically. It is rare to hear a political leader speaking the discourse of colour. Robert Mugabe is one, but he is tainted and discredited. The Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamed, is articulate on the subject of white privilege and the global hierarchy. The most striking example by a huge margin, though, is Nelson Mandela. When it comes to colour, his sacrifice is beyond compare and his authority unimpeachable. And his message is always universal - not confined to the interests of one race. It is he who has suggested that western support for Israel has something to do with race. It is he who has hinted that it is no accident that the authority of the UN is under threat at a time when its secretary general is black. And yet his voice is almost alone in a world where race oozes from every pore of humanity. In a world where racism is becoming increasingly important, we will need more such leaders. And invariably they will be people of colour: on this subject whites lack moral authority. I could only understand the racism suffered by my wife through her words and experience. I never felt it myself. The difference is utterly fundamental. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ · Martin Jacques is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics. The death of his wife, Harinder Veriah, in 2000 in a Hong Kong hospital triggered an outcry which culminated in this summer's announcement by the Hong Kong government that it would introduce anti-racist legislation for the first time. http://www.guardian.co.uk/race/story/0,11374,1046113,00.html

Northere, perhaps.

This is alot of tosh especially that I am authorotarian Leftist- occupying same sphere of that of Arafat and Mandela, actually between these two men lies a vast........... Sophist

Northener, Thanks for your contribution. On te Point of Community. I think one can argue (so far as he has a command on sophistry) that the problem (not the wholesale problem, if one could identify it then we would be relased from our self-incurred inertia: of course the genarality is lack of Islamic erudition and practice) is there is no self-decipline. The whole culture is based upon commuinty concious or as my departed friend called it-- communal pride. Meaning that there is no individualised self-esteem. Whether this is good or not is debatable, I indeed think in this case it is quite problamatic. We the young men and women of our society need self-tailored selfsteem. Not something that is a clifhanger. Cheers again for your contr.. Sophist

Dichotomy? There isn't one dear. Our mothers had excercised this in order to tame the potential sexual misdeamnor with terrible failure. Assuredly, if the intended pupose of the issue had indeed been realised fully it would have been victory for FGM. Quite unfortunately it had an adverse reaction to the whole purpose-- many ladies going thier way to pretend that they can enjoy the savagery, that is sexual freedom. Of course there are no religious basis; and I have never heard a responsiby respectable Imam endorsing the matter religiously. Rudy, come on lady, what is with the imagary, are you trying to make us all fell...........! Sorry ladies hadaan hawl aan la iidirsan galay. Sophist

The chap above, you don't seriously think I would respond to such drivel? Sihuwi: Humility is a good thing, but it is a word that is overused in this forum. Northener My fellow, out of pity I feel these sentiments, it troubles me because it is an state of concious that is almost like insomnia!. One hopes with little expection, what would happen to these boys and girls. You say this will snap out of it but the thing is they have passed that age of trivial existence. I concern myself with these problems because I would like to think I care about the state of our social standing. We are acommunity and as such we all should indeed practice that cohetion. Sophist

On a matter of fact; every custom is Law though every Law is not a custom. All the laws that are not divine have thier basis in customs. You just have to go back to the earliest semi-modern codified laws in Rome. The 12 tables were based upon the xeers of the tribs of Rome. This was the first codified secural Law in the history of mankid-- so far as history permits us to know. On the matter at hand, I think the article is loaded with anarchic sentiments of which I don't subscribe to it with greatest respect (when a Sophist says With Greatest Respect he means I give no tosh about it) though it was quite interesting to read someone's bizzare views trying to find a place to implement it-- Somalia seems to a vertile land to sew lots of variant idiologies, some good others weird say the least.

Acuudu Billaah!.

Great man Indeed.

On the margin Breaking through taboos about Aids held by the UK's African community makes the sufferers hard to reach and therefore hard to treat, reports Mary Braid Wednesday November 28, 2001 The Guardian In a packed little room at an east London health centre, Mohamud Yasin is telling his story to a dozen Somali women. The group, previously restless, is suddenly hushed and still. Yasin, 27, who fled the warlords of Somalia two years ago, is describing how he went to a GP after he arrived in Britain with what he thought were symptoms of malaria. He speaks slowly and confidently in his mother tongue, but he swallows now and then. For this is the first time he has told this story in public to members of his own community. Stigma has, until now, kept him silent. "The doctor sent me to St Mary's hospital for tests," he says. "Three days later the hospital told me I was HIV positive. The relative I was staying with in London was with me. By three that afternoon, he had put all my belongings on the pavement outside his house. He had telephoned everyone I knew to tell them I had Aids and I was dying. I was so shocked by everything and I had no one." Yasin tells the women he felt suicidal during those dark, early months. The women have never met someone from their own community brave enough to admit to being HIV positive. In Britain, new HIV infection rates are now higher among heterosexuals than homosexuals, and the majority of the new heterosexual infections are within African communities, but stigma and denial within those communities is hampering this latest battle with the virus. A bad situation is exacerbated by fear among HIV agencies that publicity highlighting African communities as a high risk group could cause a racist backlash, particularly against asylum seekers and refugees. Meanwhile, too many Africans, whether infected in Africa or Britain, are presenting so late with symptoms that they are beyond the help of the antiretrovirals that can remove the automatic death sentence of Aids. "The communities will not let us in," complains the woman health specialist leading this Somali Aids session. Originally from Uganda, the specialist, employed by the local authority, is fed up with imams who think sex education only encourages promiscuity and who insist that there is no pre-marital sex in their communities. She is frustrated also with communities which deny the Aids threat and - despite the sympathetic response of the women today - generally ostracise those infected. She sighs at the widespread reluctance of men to wear condoms. At the previous week's session, when condoms were produced, one woman stormed out, shouting: "Disgusting". At the end of this session, at least one woman still thinks that Aids is "a punishment from God". Part of the trouble, according to this health worker, who needs to remain anonymous, is that Somali refugees - unlike Ugandans - saw few cases of Aids back home. Uganda was among the first African countries to see its population ravaged by Aids and among the very few to introduce a successful national campaign of sex education. And in Britain, the Ugandan community has the most well established anti-Aids groups. Social marginalisation and poor English makes newly arrived Somalis hard to reach. "At first I thought I was the only Somali with HIV," says Yasin, who was encouraged by St Mary's Paddington, west London - his main support when he was rejected by his community - to set up his own Horn of Africa HIV support group two years ago. It now has 60 members and every one of them, according to the founder, has their own story of rejection and stigmatisation. But Yasin is the only one who will talk at public meetings. Yasin set up the group from home but he now works out of the Globe Centre at Stepney Green, east London, trying to shake up his community's complacency by arguing for sympathy, acceptance and understanding. "People like me are not coming forward because the community does not show support or love and so they are bearing the burden alone," Yasin tells the Somali women. Later, he says that Somalis have kind hearts and he knows they would respond better if they had more information about HIV. Lisa Power, head of policy at Aids charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, agrees that the huge stigma surrounding the disease in African communities is helping the virus spread. The trust is battling against evangelical churches that advise black people with HIV to give up treatment, as well as the tendency of African refugees to delay HIV testing because of the widespread assumption that a positive test will not help an asylum application. But Power also acknowledges a reluctance among Aids organisations to highlight the high risk in African communities. "I understand the fear about increasing prejudice, but it is doing no one any favours," says Power, who sees strong parallels with another "denial of the reality" in the 1980s. "Then there was a fear that if gay men were targeted in particular, it would fuel anti-gay prejudice," she says. "It did the gay male community such a disservice. I hear that same view now in relation to African communities." If all this was not enough, there is an additional difficulty. In Britain, expertise in fighting HIV rests in the gay community, but African men in particular are wary of being associated with anything gay. Graeme Parker, project manager of the Globe, says that only a few years ago the centre was "a place where gay white men waited to die". Now half the Globe's clients are black heterosexuals. Parker admits there are tensions in trying to serve both groups, though centres like the Globe must find a way if they are to secure future funding. At Terrence Higgins, Power recognises that black men especially are not accepting of gay expertise. But she adds that prejudice works both ways. "Racism doesn't stop just because you are gay," she says. The Ugandan health worker talks with sympathy about the rejection of her boss, a gay man, by some African communities. "Think how hurt he feels," she says. "He has all that experience and he wants to help." However, she adds that to have maximum impact in the Somali community, Yasin may have to distance himself from the Globe. "The Somali community still sees the Globe as a gay centre and homosexuality as a sin," she says. Consultation on the government's long-awaited national strategy on sexual Health and HIV ends on December 21. In her submission, Winnie Sseruma, who chairs the African HIV policy network, will ask the government to channel more money for HIV and Aids education through African community groups. "People listen to people who speak a language they understand," she says. She is torn by the question of greater openness about the high risk in African communities. While she believes publicity would help get the message through to the vulnerable, she also fears increased prejudice. "It is tricky," Sseruma says. "I wish I could say there was one answer." · Public health special report to coincide with Word Aids Day, at SocietyGuardian.co.uk/publichealth

Once again it seems some of my fellow gents have misundertood what I meant in it's entirety; it would indeed be folly to follow up the error. Miskiin Macruuf: Walaalkiis, arinku maaha in dadka qaarkiis ey kobtan uyimaadaan cayaayir iyo haasaawey; tani waa xaal dhalinyaro. Laakiin waxaa aniga shaqsiyan amakaag igu ridey in ku dhowaan kuligeen in aad moodo inaan cayaayir ku jirno. Umadeena Soomaaliyeed xaalka ey hada kusugan tahay, marka dhinacyo badan laga eego, waa arin runtii ubaahan laab kac iyo kashaqeyn. Goloyaashan bandhigeed (Forums) waxaa larabey iney ahaadann meelihii tiiraanyada iyo xusniga laga dareemi lahaa; laakiin markaad timaado waxaad arkeysaa dad aad moodid in umadoodu ey dhaqan tahay. Tan weeye waxa aniga iga yaabiyey. Maalin kasta waxaan maqalnaa warar laga naxo, dadkeenii oo kumilmey dhaqan hoosaadka ka jira wadamadaan galbeedka (low- brow culture). Waxaa muuqata in dadku aaney dareensaneyn arinkaan mugdigiisa-- amabase aaneyba danba kalaheyn, labadan xaalba waa xaalal ba'an. Zaylici, uuh, I Platonic revolution huh? You remind me of the lectures I had in social engineering. Akhii, the lack of transition from pastoral nomadism to modernity has had immeasurable effects upon our society. But that is not the only problem. I am nomadic by nature, but I would like to think myself as someone who has indeed integrated (not assimilated) into positive tenets of modernity--- I think this has nothing to do with one's intellectual capacity, but perhaps it is fundamentally part of how one is nurtured by his parents. Walahi, the lack of ambition and respect of thyself is rife in our youth. If they see someone with a beacon of hope to make IT, they look at that person in what reasonably looks like an scornful stare. One wonders, what is happening with the families of these kids. Look at these forums I speak of my dear fellow, you will be reduced to shame how insipid and futile the subjects discussed are. They mostly revolve around issues that are stripped from any moral or intellectual attire-- I hope the excessive utilization of the word intellect will not irritate the people I speak about. Zaylici, with frank inquisition; may I enquire how you survived this low brow and embraced the high culture which you certainly speak so fondly of. Perhaps with clear step by step menu will indeed provide the rescue of our fellow youth who are indeed in greater need for such action. ENlighten us, and Allah will guide you insha Allah. To all, once again no hard feelings. Be YOU AND SHINE ABOVE OTHERS. Sophist

Have you wondered what grime filled the Somali forums are. Have you pondered what is exactly the cause of this staggeringly horrendous intellectual debris? Many complain about the utter barren that our social gatherings has become. The so called educated young Somalis who write in foreign language (Intrinsically not indicative of intellectual refinement- but can be a sign of ) are reduced to engage their time in trivial matters- matters pertaining nothing short of social vomit; arbitrary relationships held in the most ad hoc fashion. Men in their twenties acting like a savage boys who had never seen a female; and in turn women with considerable age behaving as though they want to reclaim (that is if they ever had) their 'joyous' youth. By god, I am angry and by rationality and universal objectivity I have bloody every right to be cross with our young minds. Every day, I study with young boys and girls not yet to be adult age (the adult age being 21 in Britain) but have embraceable social intellectual standing-notwithstanding when they consume the drink that robs their reason. These people who suppose to be inferior to us (in spiritual matters) are indeed in better stance. When I cited this example, my friends who though saw the decadence of our moral and intellectual fabric argued that apples can not be compared to cheese- assuming we are the later) But such argument can be refuted by the mere citation of other societies that the Somali nation have a lot in common with. The Sudanese come to mind. Where I study, I have met young girls and boys with immense intellectual breadth and great potential in succeeding in life. One thinks, being such a toph filled place these people will lose sight of their being. But to may utter astonishment-and of course delight- these young, ambitious and academically successful men and women are true to their Sudanese being. They are part of the mainstream but they also have their actual heritage-of course there are exception to the rules; some of you may find some Sudanese boys and girls are worst off then us. Also, our arch enemy Ethiopians seems to be better off. Their forums (or so I was told, after a fellow student saw me surfing this forum-with great derision I hurried to close it down without further humiliation) have by far more socially acceptable. In almost of the Somali forums subjects (and I speak from personal experience for I have been member of the infamous Somalinet forum for considerable time and the so relatively better SOL) are heave filled shite. The only things that pretends to be intellectual but fails miserably are the political sections. It is terribly late where I am now, so I shall leave you by saying WHAT YOU WRITE IS DIRECT REFLECTION OF OUR INNER BEING-Some of you may right out of humour but such humour and 'filling the time' is the exact actuality of what resides within you. May dearest brothers and sisters take this not a destructive criticism but indeed nothing short of a brother angered by his brethrens for he saw them not fulfilling their potential. Be You, shine above others. Sophist.

Hi there, without sounding old fashioned sod with sexist trait, i will say this: THE BEST career for inteligent lady is to nurture her children. Of course this does not mean ladies should not go to higher education and get mental stimulation-- these days the later is indeed in scarcity. I think what the above sister had said about health issues should be thought about too-- though I hardly think there is much difference of getting married when you are 23 or 26 years of age. Sophist

Salamu Alaikum Safi, It would be a great honour if you could confer upon me the task of reviewing your upcoming book. I shall with lucid prose review with objective-though I suspect fictional works have little intrinsic objectivity in them. ( Of course all these being my subjective evaluation independent from universal reality) Sophist

Entre, interesting choice. Farah is brilliant writer and -those of you who may not know him, exceedingly good metaphysician- I have read almost all of his books and find them enchanting as far as the prose goes. When I met him at the School of Oriental and African studies in London while back, he struck me a mand who is indeed gallant but with a bit of western in him-those of us who read anything to do with Social Science in higher education is infected some sort of western poison (as my friend use to say- Alah bless his soul, amin); albeit not puritan in that sense. Farah should carry on what he is excellent at and that is enthrall us with his moving prose. I remember reading his non fiction book- Yesterday tomorrow- I was indeed reduced with a sense of self-loathing, I almost had great derision of being Somali. Good books should indeed have such an effect upon its trained readers. I hope he continues to write. Salafi Akhii fil Caqiidah, Good is a generic term in this sense. We are not saying all he writes about are jolly good, but indeed in the way he conveys his forceful massage simply first rate. Secrets (the award winning book) is vile, vulgar and demoralizing read as he depicts Somalis in rather shady light; but it is the book I enjoyed reading most-his writing skills rivals with that of James Joyce; he is simply ravishing to read. Morally wrong but the technique is briliant-- I hope I am not punished for saying such a murky thing. Sophit

Shaqsii, as usual your insightful questions begs not superficial responses but indeed answers that need to summon up deep-seated ponderings-these days I am indeed no position to flex my muscles for such enlighteningly intellectual endeavors for I have been subjected the most mind-numbingly laborious study the mankind has ever known alas; My once fertile man has become an arid land. Indeed, opinionated has shed light upon the dim and gloomy high way we are threading. It is positively true that the "cultural" transformation we are experiencing is not something that is natural not to mention it's abruptness. It certainly bears great deal with newness-- new things aresometimes fancifuly problamatic. I shall retire here, for my brain is becoming tiresome wit painful ache. Shaqsi, I hope things are going rather jolly with your end. I tried to send you PM but it was not fucntioning for some peculiar reason--- perhaps you have tons of admirers so your account has been flooded. Anyhow, email me on my school email: asj27@cam.ac.uk Your rather un-agreable chap Sophist