Che - you've got to know a minimum of popular culture to get the in jokes! Come on.

^Good luck. Housing is too expensive there for my taste. Hopefully - the financial crisis will lead to a glut of housing and a drop in rents and prices.

Muhanad :rolleyes: See what you've started Sheh!

^And what keeps you in grey London?

Oh shut it!

Everyone and their dogs wants to go there. Is this a contrary indicator? Hmmm - Was planning to visit next January myself. This was interesting from a few days back: Boomtown Feels Effects of a Global Crisis By ROBERT F. WORTH Published: October 4, 2008 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — On the surface, this glittering Arabian boomtown seems immune to the financial crisis plaguing the global economy. The skyline still bristles with cranes — an estimated 20 percent of the world’s total — and the papers are full of ads promoting spectacular new building projects. On Sept. 24, tourists from around the world flocked to the opening of Atlantis, a gargantuan, pink, $1.5 billion resort hotel built on an artificial, palm-shaped island. There was no shortage of people willing to pay as much as $25,000 a night for a room, to gaze at the sharks and rays in a vast glass-lined aquarium in the lobby and to dine at marquee restaurants like Nobu and Brasserie Rostang. But as recession looms in the West, cracks are appearing in the oil-fueled boom that has made Dubai, with its futuristic skyscrapers on the turquoise waters of the Persian Gulf, a global byword for unfettered growth. Banks are reining in lending, casting a pall over corporate finance and building plans. Oil prices have been dropping. Stock markets across the region have been falling since June. After insisting for days that the oil-rich Persian Gulf region was fully “insulated” from financial troubles abroad, the Emirates’ Central Bank made about $13.6 billion available on Sept. 22 to ease credit problems, in an echo of bailout measures in the United States. Already, some bankers are saying it is not enough. Some of Dubai’s more extravagant building projects — the ever-bigger malls, islands and indoor ski slopes — are likely to be dropped if they do not already have financing lined up, bankers say. The credit crisis could also reduce demand from buyers, who will have a harder time getting mortgages. The shrinkage will be more severe if the financial crisis worsens in the West. Property prices and rents, which have remained steady until now, are widely expected to start dropping soon. At the same time, investor confidence has been harmed by a long string of high-level corporate scandals, jeopardizing Dubai’s long-term ambition of becoming a regional financial capital. “Plenty of people are worried,” said Gilbert Bazi, 25, a real estate broker from Lebanon who moved here a year ago. “They are waiting to see if what happened in the United States will happen here.” When he first arrived, Mr. Bazi said, making money was almost absurdly easy. “Iranians, Russians, Europeans — everybody was buying,” he said. “I didn’t have to call people; they were calling me.” Now, Mr. Bazi stalks the lobbies of hotels, trying to find clients. Continued.... New York Times

^Maxaa meesha bantu soo galiyey?

Originally posted by Cara: Of course there are exceptions one way or another, but the question is general outcomes. If there's no difference in overall achievement and well-being between children raised in daycares and those with stay-at-home mothers, then all this guilt-tripping must stem from ignorance or arrogance. You're using the wrong metric. When you get your little bundle of joy - the goal is to help fulfill his/her maximum potential by investing time and energy to help him/her grow up in the formative years of 0-5. One can hardly compare a mass daycare with harried workers there, for the most part, for pay to an attentive, loving parent. The truth is that children have never had mommy staying home to take care of them. It's a modern, largely Western conceit. Women stayed home to take care of the house and the farm, and children were free labor when they came along. When everything from making food to washing clothes to preparing for winter is an all-day full time endeavor, then it made sense to have some division of labor. But modern conveniences like baby foods in single-serving jars, washers and dryers, vacuum cleaners, etc have suddenly freed women from unending and largely underappreciated labor, but have also made children the center of stay-at-home moms' lives, and I think the kids suffer from all that neurotic over-attentiveness. And the rest of us suffer from all the moralizing of women who fantasize their children will someday say "I would be a drug addict if you had followed your dreams." :rolleyes: Yes and no. It wasn't soley about children but children were at the heart of the whole entreprise. What was the point of keeping up the farm if you couldn't pass it on to your children who would then care for you in your old age(as you cared for them in their formative years) I agree that there can be too much time devoted to the children because of all the time saving conveniences. But ultimately daycare I think is just 'good enough' - but never equivalent to a stay at home parent. And if some women feel guilty about that - tough noogies.

Asleep on the caravan. Tell us when we finally arrive. In the meantime - keep it down

^So you, presumably, balance the lazy-arses and low IQ-ers - the best of both worlds. Macawiis time here.

^Hehe - you should work for Heritage Canada.

^That's where the extended family common in non-western countries could step in and alleviate the burden. But life in the West seems to encourage people to be constantly harried. Edit: Xiin - is there ever a case for the father staying at home or is it always the mother who must? Originally posted by Faynuus: I think CL, hardline feminist she is, didn't compare daycare with stay at home parents but she compared the outcome. do kids raised by parents at home grow up to be scccessful and disceplined than the daycare ones. Which is a mistake - in that case - we have legions of orphans who grow up to be decent and successful people - let's simply abandon our kids to the state and I'm sure they will be alright.

Gosh - it's so easy to wind up Ibti! It's comical. I'm truly saddened that Marcus has been banned. At least he posted topics that got a conversation going. It seems that the trolls have taken over the site lately. Nary a decent conversation around.

^Listen to wise MMA! If the Conservatives would do all that for you thanks to Liberal surpluses - imagine what the NDP/Liberals would dole out to parents and families. Time for a rethink! Cadaan - I doubt Dion is gonna crater Alberta and its oil economy - with the Green Shift. Economically - the parties are the same - except that the left wing parties would spend more on families. And if the economic crisis of the States starts to really affect Canada - you want tight fisted tax cutting conservatives in charge?

Sarah Palin is a female Bush. The poor woman should stick to field dressing moose. She was lucky the format of the debate allowed little follow up questions and allowed her to get away with completly avoiding the answers to questions.

Women are individual human beings apart from a common biology. Some are happy with simply staying at home ; some want more than that. Some like chocolate ; some don't etc. If a couple does have kids - that implies you have to take care of your kids - and hard choices must be made. I find disturbing the sentiment that daycare is equal to a stay at home parent. It's not! Only those with heads in the sand would believe that.

Ciid Mubarak to everyone and their families

It's bursaliid - case closed.

^You're doing yeoman's work! Only 66 more pages for 1000!!!!!!!!! Allez-y Trolls!

Cimamadi ma turtay marka rap no tirinaysid bil ramadan. Fake wadaads iga dheh

Somalians are aliens to me. I can't say enough bad things about them. I hate them like I hate Black Russians.

Thanks Nur. Many items were cleared up. However steps 2 and 3 of they buy the property and resell it immediately is not a major difference although a difference nonetheless. I think more of a discussion about how an Islamic economic system works at a macro level would be interesting. To see how one moves along the community economically but also ensure Allah's commandments are observed. JZK.

Angola is doing much better - that is heartening but where is the spending on social services like health and education. Infrastructure spending tends to compliment and enhance existing economic activity not really lift people up out of misery like social service spending would. Add to that the toll corruption takes - and what you get is bad recipe to move the country forward. As for Somalia - :rolleyes: In 30 years of war Angola, Mozambique and Eritrea did not destroy their capital cities the way Mogadishu was destroyed in the few short years after Siyad's overthrow. We are in whole other league boys and girls.

^You felt nearly physically ill(exactly what the 'nurse' was going for) while rubbing his/her hands with glee thinking 'Exceeeeeellllllllllllleeeeennnnnt - another one for pot?'

Who wants to vote for Liberal leader Dion?! Behind his back even his own caucus calls him MR. Bean I'm sitting this one out.