How Patriotic are we. As we all know it has been some 13 long years since we had some sort of central administration, our country is divided into separate tribal based states, our towns and cities are controlled by short sited warlords with short sited interests backed by foreign powers, our sees became tip for foreign wastes, our people scattered around the world, our dignity and nationhood no longer exists. Every Somali I ever spoke to about this issue claims to be nationalist, but if it is so why are we in this difficult situation, are we loyal to our respective tribes more than to our beloved country???? ur opinion counts Miskin-Macruf #2

(hadhka galey hurdadu wey xuntee hoheey maxaa iseexshey, bal-inaan habaar qabo maxaa Hodan i weydaarshey). Based on Cilmi's poems (Songs) like this one thing is clear and apparent to all, that Cilmi Bodheri died coz he starved him self, and he starved him self coz of love. He loved this woman (Hodon) so much he couldn’t even eat or sleep properly (so I read). One of his other songs reads like this (Hadii ili wax qabaneyso oo lagu qaboobayo, aniguba qadraan soo arkiyo qaararkii Hodane. Inaan eebahay idin qarabin qariya laabtiina). Again based on this poem (song) it is clear that Cilmi did actually seduce Hodan coz if he didn’t he wouldn’t have said (aniguba qadraan soo arkiyo qaararkii Hodane). I could be wrong but this is what I gather from listening to his songs. Miskin-Macruf

It is true that this problem is a universal one Jeenyo, but the problem goes lot deeper than these young people who are trying to fit in. I think the problem lies at the heart of our society as a whole; you see brother surprisingly those who respect other opinions and choose to be modest in their daily lives are regarded as the foolish ones, while those who disrespect and misbehave are the smart and brave ones. Ours is a culture in crises. Worse, it is quite hard to oppose some Somalis' points of view and remain their friend at the same time. One is either with them or against them. This dictatorship mentality is an evident phenomenon in our daily dealings and discussions. The bygone Somali generations used to sit under trees, and they would talk and oppose each other, but that did not mean they were foes to each other. The opposite is true now. There are neither trees to sit under nor free expressions to convey. Ours is a culture in crises. Many children defy the orders and advices of their caring parents, and the regrettable parents do invariably see and experience their offspring stepping out of their homes. Consequently, parents are disheartened and dismayed because their children do not obey them anymore. Our culture is unquestionably in crises. Our wives, sisters and daughters can stay up the whole night if they want to. Also, they defy the advices of their husbands, brothers and those who advocate for their well-being. Wives call police on their husbands. Consequently, the poor and powerless husbands are commanded to vacate their homes and children for a long period of time, if not once and forever. It is a culture in crises. Married couples go to courts so that one wins and puts the other behind bars. These are the problems that I am disturbed about and I am I truly believe ours is a culture in factual crises.

I agree with sister Haseens that assassinating the warlords will not solve our problems neither will it better our country. As some the posters already suggested I think education is the only forward, but education must be coupled with real patriotism. Miskin-Macruf

Lefty. First of all I didn’t blame men in particular for this unfortunate situation although there is no doubt in my mind that men are to blame. As men we should be responsible for the wellbeing of our families and the minute we passed that to the authorities (the welfare system) we shot our selves right in the head and we just have to live with consequences. I only know the situation in Europe and the main cause to this problem is the refusal by men to face their duties and take care of their families. You see brother traditionally men had the task of taking care of all the external matters and women had the task of taking care of the internal matters, so if men didn’t/couldn’t perform their obligations how on earth do we expect women to perform theirs. You have talked about women challenging their men, do we as men rally blame them for this after all the majority of us aren’t fulfilling our obligations. I think if there was a deeper understanding between spouses and if we men have lived up to our expectations then the situation could have been much better. What do you think?????? Miskin-Macruf

to those of you who say that we nothing in common with the african continent, can i ask you a queston "how will we identify our selves?? not as Arabis i am sure,but how????? some somalis claim to be of Arab origin, some claim to be an African origin, some claim to be an Ethiopian origin, soma claim to be of a mixed race origin (between Arabis and Africans), much to the confusion even some claim to be an Asian origin. these are some of the miths we somalis believe, but what is the truth??? i guess Najmo will tell us come on sister over to you very keen to learn miskin-macruf

i agree with the original poster that there are communities that claim to be of somali origin in other parts of Africa. i lived in Rwanda for quite a while in the early 90s and i saw this (Tribe)the TUTSI's. but what is quiete amazing is that this community doesn't only have our distinctive feature but believe that they are of somali origin, not only that but even the other main tribe in that country namely the HUTUS olso refer to them as being of a somali origin. miskin-macruf2

Kool-Kat you may have a point there, but why didnt you ask your self "what is the motive behind it" i personally think there is fear of non acceptance, so in order not to be singled out they have to lie about thier identity.

interesting but not quite true!!!! Demos do make a difference, atleast they show that there are ppl in the world who dont agree with bush and blair's war. as one poster said silence counts as agreement so you would rather be counted as anti war instead of pro war.

although i appreciate and respect all your opinions, see if you agrre this with me!!!!!! Learned people are constantly envied, and they are prone to numerous dangers. They are butchered on a daily basis for the sake of their degrees and knowledge. Doctors who simply treat the sick ones of the society are murdered for no apparent reasons to mention. Why are they killed? Some envy them and the services they give to the destitute society. Couple of months ago a friend of mine’s father who is doctor went to Somalia as a volunteer; but surprisingly this resulted in him being targeted, and he had to be arm guarded day and knight for the duration of his stay. Surely ours is culture in crises. If the wise-people are put aside, and the knowledgeable ones are exterminated, who will remain and benefit this disadvantaged society of ours? Ours is a culture in crises! Does not the reader agree with me?

muslim safety kit read the holy Quran, and the Sunna, pray regularly, stop all the Haram things, prepare your self for the day after. fear Allah. Peace

wonderful, absolutely wonderful sis, how did you do this. you must be one of those who look deep into things, i can never imagine writing such an article. very creatve of you sister, keep it up we need ppl like you. next time you post can you write about Asia pls coz there are lots of interesting staff to be said about them especially the Arabis, The Chinese and Afganese. peace

Thanks to all the brothers and sisters for their kind remarks, although I am strong willed it kind of helps to get encouraged by understanding young Somalis. It also shows how the inhumane attitude towards the midgans is gradually dying out. Brothers and sisters it is had to come to terms with the sort of behaviour that subjected to the midgans, even Somali sayings are full of remarks that disgrace the midgaans. If we are to flourish and prosper as a nation we will need to abolish these disgraceful manners and be more tolerant and accepting to each other. Peace miskin-macruf

Well, this shows how fragmented and desperate we are becoming as a community, sending our future to the hands of the enemy, (our future being our children). It also shows how ill-informed these families are. Let us pray for peace in our home land. Peace & love Miskin

well brovs and sis's as i have siad in my previous posting, this is a serious question that needs a serious consideration (HOW LONG CAN STAY AS REFUGEES). (NOLASHA QAXOOTINIMADU WAA MID KA CAAGAN SHARAFTA UU LEEYAHAY QOFKA IBNU ADANK AHI)because as a matter of fact if you are a refugee you are always classed as a low life, un-educated, not being able to support him/her self, regardless of your educational qualifications or personal wealth. so i have a question for you my fellow somalis HOW CAME WE CHOICE THIS LIFE OUT OF THE ONE WE CAN HAVE BACK HOME? and please say it is not safe back home OR we dont have financial means OR i am scared i will be targeted. because all these things are baseless. salaam Miskin-Macruf

Since you have scrutinized more thoroughly on the issues surrounding wars its causes and sources, can I ask you brothers and sisters in your opinion what do you think are the basis for the civil war in Somalia. One might argue it is driven by greed (power greed), another might say it is driven by revenge (on what, on who); another of you might say it is driven by hatred (what is the cause). In my opinion it is base less, because if it had a reasonable basis then there would have been agreements or at least some sort of compromise. Let your opinions be heard Salaam Miskin-macruf

Islam, Democracy, Tribalism!!! Which is the solution to our problems? As Somalis we are born Muslims as well born tribal men and women, each Somali person you speak to will tell you how great his own tribe is. Take for example the tribe based self declared regions of Somaliland and puntland. Somalis talk about a democratic government based on tribal power sharing as the future to our problems, but this asks for the question “is Democracy compatible with tribalism and the vice-versa? Islam on the hand is certainly not compatible with democracy or tribalism. Now I ask you my fellow Somalis which one of these do you see as the solution to our problems?

Traditionally, Somalis respected their elderly, religious people, scholarly, women and the weak. Now, all these are truly nonexistent, and our culture is in genuine crises. It was extremely vital for the bygone Somalis to keep their pledges, and they often preferred safeguarding those promises to losing their precious lives. What about now? Where are those pledges and promises? What happened to the love and the respect that used to between the Somalis? Ask the experienced nation, and your question will satisfactorily be responded. As far as one can tell, nowadays people spy on each other, and neither promises nor friendships are kept at all. Is not this a culture in crises? Your sincere response might be of a paramount help to some people. In the olden days of the Somali nation, people were proud of their learned ones, but the contrary is rather true at the present time. let us cry for our culture in crises.

SINGLE MOTHERS “THE NEW INDUSTRY” Gone are the days of mutual respect between family members. Gone are the days of reciprocal understanding between close relatives. Gone are the days of respecting shared family values. Gone are the days of compromising for the sake of the family unity. Gone are the days of loyalty between spouses. Gone are the days of tolerance and endurance. Gone are days of obedience and commitment. As Somalis and/or as Muslims men should be responsible for looking after their families. In other word the onus is on the men to feed, cloth, discipline and look after the wellbeing of their families. Women on the other hand should have the responsibility of looking after the house hold. But sadly many of men didn’t/couldn’t perform their tasks and so women became the fathers and the mothers of many families. Because of this unfortunate situation we have seen the rise of divorce, separation and other un Islamic/un cultural activities. From the rise of divorce and separation came the so-called single mothers (divorced ladies with young children), and from the rise and popularity of single mothers came the rise of the so-called single mother hunting, this rather peculiar scenario led to the rise of young men seeking single mothers for materialistic purposes that we can all guess. These young men go by the name of (Rough and Ready). Now what is making matters worse is that these young men are only after shelters and milk tokens provided by the DSS. Now what is even more shocking is the success of these young is based how many single one can get at any given time. In other words the more milk tokens one can get the wealthier he is, at least in their perception of wealth. And this is where the name of this topic is derived from. Miskin-macruf

even though numerous people do not like to tell and admit the truth. As it happens, whenever a certain society ceases adhering to the good components of its traditional culture, its extinction and obliteration are obvious and looming indeed. Let us cry for a disappearing culture and abandoned values. Let us cry for subdued wise people and victimized learned siblings. Let us cry for a lost family values. Let us cry for our forsaken Somali routes. Let us cry for our lost dignity and formality. Let us cry and let us cry. to be cont-------- miskin-macruf

the midgaans are being descriminated against, as a midgaan man i must admit that i prefer to marry a non somali than a somali sister, and the only reason is that i have suffered racism within my somali community. i couldn't have a normal relationship with a somali sister without being abused by her relatives, and even if i am not abused physically the girl will be told to ditch me or else she will be dishonered by her family. these same sisters who are dishonered by seeing a fellow somali brother may later marry a non muslim non somali man and she will not be dishonered. how unfortunate, how ignorant, how cruel is to despise a fellow somali muslim brother or sister. but things are not all negative, i have some positivity amongast the younger people and things are gradually improving because no use to talk about midgaans and their rights to be accepted as equals. keep up the good morale, i see some changes in the future. your brother in blood miskin macruf

we do have a rich language, and we need to appreciate it. just look at the following and see if you can translate them to other languages. MAANTA = TODAY SHALY = YESTERDAY DARAAD=? BERI = TOMORROW SAA-DAMBE = ? (dont say the day after tomorrow) SAAKUUN = ?

Gone are the days of respecting the elderly. Gone are the days to return to wise and old people in order to resolve disputed matters among the member of the society. Gone are the days to respect and love parents. Gone are the days to shay away from bad things. Gone are the days to respect people for what they are good at? Gone are the days of loyalty and obedience. Gone are the days to fulfil promises and pledges. Gone are the days to respect religious men and women. Gone are the days to spare innocent lives for Allah 's sake. Gone are the days of unity and mutual love among the society's members. Truly, ours is a culture in crises because all the above stated matters are quite true and apparent to all.

well guys, this is a serious question that needs a serious consideration. but i think the answer is simple and straight forword, we will remain refugees as long as we choose to remain refugees. in other words the sooner we decide to take matters in our own hands ans start rebuilding our country the sooner we stop being refugees. the sooner we stop waiting for the outside world to come rescue us the sooner we get out of this refugee cage that we are in.

Kissima, that is interesting brov. but i think it will even be more interesting if you have shared with us your knowledge on sayid mahammed abdulle hassan, ahmed gurey, hawa tako, dhagax tuur and other somali freedom fighters.