What an odd thread. The TFG has many faults and has killed many, many Somalis. While the 'electoral' sytem that comprises it is deeply flawed - it is about the most representative governing body that is trying to rehabilitate the Somali state. Given this basis for legitimacy - it has the right to use violence against those that refused all offers of talks and compromise and inclusion in the political process. To compare it to the Somaliland war effort to force clans that don't want to participate in the secession project is a bloody joke. Literally. As to the effort to get Somaliland citizens out of Libya - it's a classic case of looking to capitalize on an international crisis to raise donations.

Prometheus;701195 wrote: US Congress holds radicalization hearings all the time. And it is only reasonable that Muslim radicals garner copious attention given the political realities of Islamism and jihadism. When Somali- Americans or Pakistani- Americans go back to their countries to fight alongside other religious maniacs, it’s a serious problem. You would have to be delusional (and perhaps pious) to deny that some US Muslims are radicalized. Al-Shabaab is a terrorist organization, not a Somali nationalist movement; Lakshar-e-Taiba, in Pakistan, is more interested in the revival of the defunct Caliphate than reclaiming Kashmir. Which brings me back to my initial query: Why have these hearings become so controversial? It has everything to do with hysterical conservatives and rabid right-wing nut-jobs. Such conservative demagogues have tarred these hearings with xenophobia and bigotry. Why is it a serious problem for the US if Somali-Americans go back to their own country to fight what they see as an illegimate occupation/invasion of Somalia? Are you really claiming these folks are going to come back and detonate themselves in American malls? Don't confuse Muslim country specific violence with the hysteria inducing specter of Islamic terrorist attacks in the US. So what if some US Muslims are radicalized - so are some redneck white Americans. The proper action is a law enforcement one - watch and monitor and move in if things are progressing to the point of acting on the radical views. The mere presence of some radical US Muslims shouldn't result in national hand-wringing and hysterical commentary. But then Americans aren't known for rationality. The primary reason that these hearings have attracted condemnation from so many is they are based on the premise that American Muslims have done little to prevent radicalization. A premise that lends itsefl to bigoted scapegoating rather than an examination of facts. It's also a premise that is not provable. If this was yet another hearing on radicalization and attempts to understand it and counter it - it would have attracted as little attention as the previous ones you've pointed out.

Good article about Cuba's excellent healthcare outcomes. Though I suspect that if you ask Cuban doctors if they're satisfied with their salary and lifestyle = most would say no.

I believe the best policy is to support one's bank account. My loyalties are up for the bidding - TFG - nothing less than a junior ministry at suggested minimum 'salary' of 5% of the ministry budget or $200k whichever is more and sufficient (say every other week) 'working' meetings in Nairobi and other civilized parts of the world Al-Kabaab - nothing less than a 50% cut from the 'taxes' levied on a medium sized Somali town. Oh and 4 of the finest ladies of the South - maximum age 18 years of old - to be traded in after a maxium of 3 years. Oh - and mangos at breakfast daily. I do love mangos.

Yes - I'm Somali. We let no man best us - in anything. Including ruinous wars and pointless debates. Horrific language that. No wonder they put such an emphasis on English language skills.

^Jag har sista ordet

^Så vad?

I can't say I feel sorry for the Americans. Canada is the number 1 exporter of oil to the US but our prices are higher. Bloody taxes.

^(S)He who herds the camels owns them. Unless you're gonna be among the few and proud women camel herders - I'm afraid it's a losing proposition. I respect the animal - its stamina and usefulness. But I don't like them. They're very ornery.

^Obliqueness is not a virtue. For you I think it bears repeating. According to Mr Google: Lutningen är inte en dygd

I'm in full agreement with the ban. The network has a cheesy feel to it. Somaliland and cheesiness cannot coexist in the same habitat.

^Easy with the finger wagging. Don't you get enough of it from those annoying theists. Honesty is the best policy. Unless we want to parrot the west. Yeah - we're helping girls go to school in Afghanistan - oops we mistakenly dropped a bomb on them there kids. Shorry bout that. Darn Talibs made us do it. Amisom and TFG troops are killing civilians in their battle against Al-Shabaab. That battle is correct IMO but this nonsense about no one living in certain neighbourhoods is really rather desperate.

man this is becoming funnier. in their desperation to justify Amisom bombardment, shariif supporters are now arguing Dayniile and Warshada Area have no citizens living there. Funny! ---Breaking News--- Somali pirates and Islamists are learning from each other and al Qaeda could hijack oil tankers to be used in September 11-style attacks, Somalia's prime minister said Thursday. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed told a U.N. Security Council debate on Somalia his embattled nation faced "two evils, the scourge of piracy and the plague of terrorism" with common roots in lawlessness, poverty and religious fanaticism. "Not only are these two ills working in tandem, but they are learning from each other," Mohamed said. "It will not surprise us if al Qaeda's agents in Somalia start hijacking tankers in the high seas and use them as deadly weapons," along the lines of the September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington using hijacked airliners, he said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110310/wl_nm/us_somalia_un -------- Even funnier! What a wanking joker! DESPERATION.com

Peter King is a horse's a$$. The Muslims of the New York state area should support his opponents and unseat the SOB. The people who supposedly are representing the Somali community must be careful about not misrepresenting the threat from Al-Shabaab. There is no practical risk to the US of terrorism from Al-Shabaab including those who have fought with them from the West. Al-Shabaab is a misguided nationalist movement and this rubbish about Al-Qaeda affiliation is pure propaganda and a recruiting tool. Sadly - there are a lot of Somalis who wish to use what's happening back home to peddle agendas and misrepresent the situation. Listen to this young fool, who claims, that unless the Canadian government or companies hires young Somalis they will be 'hired' by Al-Shabaab. As if. http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/1221254309/ID=1768103718

Wake me up when this game ends. No more than the usual skirmishing dressed up as some sort of tipping point.

I don't know how many Oromos but there are many thousands and they are very visible all over Northern Somalia. This story is the new twist on the asylum application. People can't just say I ran away from Al-Shabaab - getting old that. But if you claim religious persecution - presto voila. Expect them to be whisked quickly out of Kampala - if they get there.

Ali Abdullahi Hassan found his calling working with three camels in rural Sweden March 9, 2011 — Gyttorp, Sweden (Reuters) A Somali immigrant finds work tending to a trio of Bactrian camels in rural Sweden and discovers that while camels might be the same, the climate is not. A Somali camel herder has come to rescue in the rural Swedish town of Gyttorp. Ali Abdullahi Hassan, 40, was working at odd jobs shovelling snow and working in supermarkets when one of his relatives mentioned that a local couple, Inger Haglund and her husband Per-Ola Magnusson, were in need of a camel attendant. Their three Bactrian camels, Kalle, Anna and their son Karlsson, were difficult to ride and had developed a taste for the berry bushes and flowers. Ali, who grew up on a farm in Somalia, came to Gyttorp in central Sweden in 2007. Shortly after meeting the couple, Hassan started to work with the three camels at the couple's country property. “I never imagined that I would work with camels in Sweden because I had never seen a camel here since I arrived. But when I came to Gyttorp I saw the camels and now I hope that camel herding will increase here,” Hassan said. Hassan spends most of his time training the camels to become accustomed to carrying riders. At this time of year the fields are covered in snow, making it a bit more challenging than in his native Somalia. “Somalia and Sweden are very different. Sweden is snowy for six months and Somalia has sunshine the year around, so in Somalia you are able to work outside all the time. But here in Gyttorp, I am not able to work outside everyday for six months, so that is a big difference. In spite of the weather, we continue to work with the camels, thanks to God,” Hassan said. Hassan thinks his vocation as a camel attendant will turn out well. “The Somali camel and Swedish camels are the same and I know this work well. I hope for this job to be lucrative for me and take me to a higher standard of living,” he said. Haglund and her husband purchased the animals several years ago and hope one day to offer camel rides to visitors into the surrounding forest. With Hassan's help with the camels, that might be sooner rather than later. “He knows what to demand of the camels, so they have been much easier to ride on and we can ride out in the forest. It's much easier to handle them and they have developed very much with the riding. So we are so lucky to have found Ali,” Haglund said. Hassan said he hoped camels would become more common in this part of the world and that one day they could be seen as more than exotic pets - and that perhaps one day there might even be camel racing in Sweden. http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=a_camel_herder_from_somalia__090311?ref=ccbox_weather_category2

Not sure how politically useless a tool this campaign is if the Somaliland 'ambassador' is part of the halgan.

Good one Blessed. Amazing how detailed understanding or admiration doesn't translate into faith. God guides whom he wills.

^Xus iyo fadl maxaa isku keenay? If xus is remembrance and remembrance is good - then have more xus for the other prophets. It doesn't have to be as big as the main event though.

What a sad person. If you don't believe that God made Adam from clay and breathed life into him - why believe in any of the rest of the religion. Is the Isra w'al micraaj any less 'children's madrasa-level understanding' than the creation of man?

I don't know why you guys don't have xuus for the other prophets. Surely you can't have too much of a good thing. Why not celebrate the Islamic xuus for Jesus on Dec 25th - show the Christians how it's really done! And earn us some good PR points.

Che -Guevara;697406 wrote: ^This is not AS. It's about crimes in Somaligalbeed. There's clear enemy. If you want help the people of Somaligalbeed, help them without dragging the messy Somali politics into the situation. Exactly - there are clear enemies. So who does AS blow up - future doctors, innocents - Somalis! In fact they really are no different from the Ethiopians who did. They kill, maim and destroy other Somalis who don't agree with their dictates. I can understand why you're ultra sensitive to any injection of the group in discussions tho

^They wrap themselves in the Islamic flag and claim they want to free Somalis etc - go and do a suicide bombing on the Ethiopians who did this. Stop killng ppl in Xamar. But then they are lying sh*its and always have been.

This injustice is going on and you have those 'patriots' Al-Shabaab blowing up other Somali ppl. Truly a cursed ppl Somalis.