Che -Guevara;697145 wrote: I find it hard they just shot the captives. This is failed attempted operation by the navy seals. Definitely the more likely scenario.

What I don't understand is, why are there "supporters" from the community?

Did they have to make his voice sound vaguely HAL9000-ish, or am I being paranoid?

Here's an interactive map from The Telegraph of cables in which Somalia is mentioned, spanning October 2007 to January 2010. Quite interesting!

The Telegraph received this cable sent by the US embassy in Cairo: Passed to the Telegraph by WikiLeaks 8:21PM GMT 15 Feb 2011 Ref ID: 10CAIRO171 Date: 2/8/2010 14:39 Origin: Embassy Cairo Classification: CONFIDENTIAL Destination: 10CAIRO137 1.© Key Points: -- According to Zeid Al Sabban, African Affairs advisor to Arab League (AL) SYG Amr Moussa, the AL entered into an agreement with the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to share information to combat Al Shibaab. -- Sabban said the AL is working with the Italian Government to formalize a plan to provide Somalia with security, humanitarian aid and reconstruction assistance. -- Radicals in Somalia, according to Sabban, are connected to those in Afghanistan and Yemen and the international approach on these three countries should be coordinated. -- Sabban said the AL is working to improve the situation in Sudan. SYG Moussa will discuss Sudan with Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and AU Representative Thabo Mbeki during the week of February 7.The AL will hold a meeting of its permanent representatives in Darfur on February 13-14 and an Arab Investment Conference in Juba on February 23. -- Sabban praised USG efforts on Sudan-Chad rapprochement and Fur reconciliation, but criticized recent statements blaming Khartoum for the lack of progress in South Sudan and Darfur as counterproductive. -------------------------------- Information Sharing with the TFG -------------------------------- 2.© Zeid Al Sabban, African Affairs advisor to Arab League (AL) SYG Amr Moussa told us on February 4 that the AL has entered into an agreement with the Somali Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to share information in order to combat Al Shibaab. ------------------------------------------ AL Working with Italy to Stabilize Somalia ------------------------------------------ 3.© Sabban said that the Arab League was working with the Italian Government to formalize a plan to provide security and humanitarian aid in Somalia. (Note: AF SYG and Italian FM Frattini co-authored an article on "An International Conference to Launch the Pact for Somalia," which was published on January 31. End Note). According to Sabban, the joint plan calls for cooperation between the AL, EU, UN, African Union (AU) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to take immediate action to support TFG and AMISOM forces so they can provide security to allow the World Food Program (WFP) to restart the distribution of humanitarian aid. He stated that the AL was mulling over the idea of asking its member states to provide troops to aid in AMISOM's mission. Sabban said the two parties also discussed holding an international conference this year to address the reconstruction and development of Somalia. He told us that reconstruction would start in the near future in Puntland, Somaliland and other stable areas. Sabban said Spain has also expressed interest in working with the AL on Somalia. CAIRO 00000171 002 OF 003 --------------------------------------------- ------ Radicals in Somalia Linked to Afghanistan and Yemen --------------------------------------------- ------ 4.© Sabban expressed disappointment that the London conferences on Afghanistan and Yemen did not address the situation in Somalia. He said that Somalia, Afghanistan and Yemen comprised an "axis of crisis" where many radicals in Somalia came from Afghanistan and had close ties with groups in Yemen. Due to the "close relationships between radicals in Yemen and Somalia," Sabban believes there is a need to coordinate the strategies. He said that the AL was "shocked" not to be invited to the London meeetings on Yemen as it is a "core Arab League state" (reftel). Sabban urged not taking a "NATO-style" approach to address the crisis in Yemen, but to involve Arab countries and the Arab League. ------------

stem Hehe.

Che, this is really offensive and rude. To compare beasts that are constantly throwing poop at one another and can't function in polite society without embarrassing themselves to the gentle and noble gorilla is just incredibly inappropriate.

Why Minnesota Mothers Are Doing Pretty Good by Edie Larson on January 27th, 2011 Nobody wonders how Minnesota parents raise such stereotypically stereotypical kids. They never wonder what these parents do to produce so many nice children or what it's like inside a nice family. Well, I can tell them anyway, because I've done it. If it's not too much trouble and you have a minute, here are some things my daughters, Jenny and Cristi, were never allowed to do: • Skip doing their homework • Put their elbows on the table while eating supper • Miss church (except for the day after prom, during deer hunting season, and on Super Bowl Sunday) • Go to school in April without a jacket • Get into a van with a strange man • Use swear words in the house • Forget to call grandma on her birthday I'm using the term "Minnesota mother" loosely. I know some Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowan and Minneapolis parents who qualify too. Conversely, I know some mothers of Minnesota heritage, almost always born out of state, or Catholic, who are not Minnesota mothers, by choice or otherwise. All the same, even when other parents think they're being nice, they usually don't come close to being Minnesota mothers. For example, my Chicago friends who consider themselves nice only apologize to guests about how badly prepared the mashed potatoes are. At most, they'll include the carrots. For a Minnesota mother, apologizing for the potatoes is the easy part. It's asking forgiveness for everything from the poor selection of cheese and crackers, to the dry turkey, to the weakness of the pie due to the poor selection of apples at Byerly's that's tough. (To say nothing of how the coffee could be better.) Despite our squeamishness about comparing ourselves to others in public, there are tons of studies out there showing marked and quantifiable differences between Minnesotans and others when it comes to parenting. In one study of 50 non-Minnesota mothers and 48 Minnesota mothers, almost 89% of the non-Minnesota mothers said that "if a person mispronounces your name you should immediately correct them." By contrast, roughly 0% of the Minnesota mothers felt the same way. Minnesota parents can get away with things that other parents can't. Once when I was young—maybe more than once—when I was extremely disrespectful to my mother, my father angrily went to the basement to look for something for over two hours without coming back upstairs. I felt terrible and deeply ashamed of what I had done. But neither I, nor anyone else ever spoke of it ever again. Minnesota mothers can say to their daughters, "Oh, you're going to wear that dress?" By contrast, other parents have to directly address the issue, talking in terms of "sluttiness." If a Minnesota child gets a B, well, good for them! Room for improvement. Other parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions, supporting their choices, and providing positive reinforcement and a nurturing environment. Minnesota parents would surely do this too if we knew anything about the passions or feelings of our children. Here's a story in favor of niceness, Minnesota-style: Aunt Lena is about 84, still using the restroom and driving by herself. She was a real firebrand. After she lost Ole, her husband of 61 years, we were over at her house for meatloaf. It had been just a month and we were worried about how she was coping, alone in an old farmhouse far from anyone else. In the middle of ice cream, Lena became very quiet and looked as though she was going to cry. I immediately mentioned how we were supposed to get some snow by Friday, but that I wasn't sure if it was going to be three or five inches. Lena clicked on the local news, and, wouldn't you know it, we caught the end-of-program forecast. It was five inches. And we got to talking about if it would be wet and heavy or the good light stuff we've been getting lately which is really easy to sweep and not much of a hardship at all, in fact, it makes it nice to get out there and get some exercise, especially if the wind isn't blowing. Even my husband Carl gave me credit for that one. Without nice, Lena would have had to face her crushing grief in front of us. Thanks to the Minnesota style, Lena was able to avoid an embarrassing expression of her emotions. Don't get me wrong: It's not that Minnesota parents don't care about their children. Just the opposite. They would sacrifice anything for their children, even if it was out of their way and they weren't already sacrificing something anyway. That's just who we are. But if you don't agree with the Minnesota mother's approach, well, I'll look into that. Maybe you're right.

How come I can't see any of these pictures?

You know nothing about my world Sayid. But in fact, I find do it humorous that a man can sleep with 4 different women in the same week and not be considered to be promiscuous in YOUR world, but if a woman leaves one man for another, and does this only once in her life, than she's promiscuous. Self-interest much?

^It's a terribly written article! I've been seeing the 8 million figure for quite some time, can't possibly be up to date. According to the CIA World Factbook, the Somali population is at 10 million, and about half are under 20, so at most 5 million would have been born since 1991. But many of those would be under 5 years old, and not expected read even by Chinese mother standards.

Somalis mark 20 years of war since government fell By Mohamed Sheikh Nor and Katharine Houreld, The Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia — Aweys Abdullahi Ali has never known a day of peace in Somalia. Gunmen have killed his mother, set his home on fire, driven away his friends. Ali, who is 20, sees no end to the violence. Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of Siad Barre, Somalia’s socialist dictator whose overthrow ushered in years of brutal clan-based conflict. This arid Horn of Africa nation is now home to a generation of people who have known nothing but war. Some have seen neighbors beheaded by al-Qaida-linked insurgents or killed in U.S. missile strikes. “I’ve woken up to the crack of gunfire ever since I was young,” said Ali, a dark-eyed young man. “I never believed Somalia was ever peaceful and I used to wonder what my parents were talking about when told me about the old days.” Ali, like most of Somalia’s 8 million citizens, was born after Barre’s fall. Even though Barre had his opponents imprisoned and tortured, Ali imagines the dictatorship as a long-vanished golden age compared to the anarchy that is now affecting all of Somalia except for the northern regions of Somaliland and Puntland. Government forces and al-Qaida-linked insurgents have carved up the battle-scarred capital of Mogadishu. Temporary roadblocks, some just rusting barbed wire stretched across the cratered roads, mark constantly shifting front lines. Gunmen scan the waiting citizens: Are their beards too long? Not long enough? Is that one a spy? What clan are they from? Do they have any money? The lucky passers-by are just told to pay a bribe. “Once I refused, and they showed me the body of a dead young man and said if I don’t pay something they will kill me,” Ali recalled. Not even home is safe. Last year, the gunmen came to rob Ali’s neighbors. The woman screamed. Ali’s mother ran outside to help. They shot her. “We rushed her to Medina hospital but she died,” Ali recalled. Medina, considered one of the better-equipped hospitals in Mogadishu, is frequently so full of war casualties that the overflow of patients are treated in tents outside. These days, Ali and his father live in a ruined house near an African Union peacekeeping base. There’s no water or electricity. The afternoons are sweltering and dull. There are no jobs. They have no money for school. Those with money fled long ago. “Imagine being 20 and never having been to school,” said Denise Shepherd-Johnson, a spokeswoman for UNICEF. More than two-thirds of Somali children have not completed even primary school, she said. “Imagine in the future you’re asked to run a country and you have no idea what a government even does. Imagine trying to dream when the world of possibilities is so limited you are just trying to survive,” she said. Ali can’t picture a better future or remember a better past. The mandate of Somalia’s government, which has failed to provide security or services, is due to run out in August. The U.N. envoy to Somalia said that it is unclear what will happen once the current government’s term ends because the process of writing a new constitution for Somalia will not be complete by then. “I do not know what a government is or what it does for people,” Ali said. The only future he sees is more fighting. “This war will not end before my son is grown,” he said. “And I will be a very old man.”

Meth is one hell of a drug... The women are Swedes not Brits, Stoic. In the morning all the Londoners will be screaming for your head

Val, I gave you a thumbs up and was then planning to knock off a coupla xidig from Ngonge but it turns out you can only vote on anyone's "reputation" once every 24 hours :mad: Oh well, you earned it, don't spend it all in one place ya hear? Ngonge, FYI it's shan-xidigleh now! Is it me or are there different hues of green as well? *Starts a conspiracy theory about secret meanings in forest green vs lime green*

The original iPads

:confused:

I can't decide if I find the idea of a skinny Faarax going skiing more improbable, or that he apparently didn't know Canada has full moons too. I've never liked downhill skiing. The skier's labors are as futile as those of Sisyphus -- the same pointless up and down on the side of a hill -- only they're done for fun, the ennobling sense of tragedy thus sacrificed on the altar of frivolity. And this, in freezing cold weather. No wonder the sport leaves me as glum as a boulder. But my wife loves skiing and I love her and she had been planning this holiday with friends for months. So the cozy domestic routine had to be interrupted, my writing studio in the backyard boarded up, my current play put on hold and barbaric skiing in the Rockies endured for ten days. By the third day, I had managed to ease myself out of my wife's icy boot camp of pleasure, waving her and our friends on, and I had retreated to a café bearing the name Shangri-La. It was the highest resting place in the resort, perched atop a bluff just below the top ski lift. The view from its terrace was splendid and the coffee and sandwiches were passable. I found myself a warm, sunny corner and settled down with a book, taking breaks to enjoy the alpine panorama. It was there, incredulous, that I heard for the second time of Abdikarim Ghedi Hashi. The name was what ticked me off.

^When I used to translate at the doctor's office everything that wasn't "wadno", "beer" or "kili" was "mindhicir".

"The initial marriages in Wodaabe culture are arranged when the bride and groom are very young, so Gerewol is the chance for a love match," she says. This is not a polygamous culture - marrying a new partner means leaving the old." Seems sensible enough.

Happy New Year SOLers!

Nice story Kamaavi, but let's not forget that a fisherman's livelihood is in fishing daily, and if something goes wrong (his boat is stolen, the fish swim away to fish utopia) he won't be dancing for long. Whereas the retired lawyer is just faffing around, if the weather looks bad one day he doesn't have to go haul in a catch to be able to send his children to school. Same difference between a farmer and someone who gardens as a hobby. Let's not over-romanticize sustinence-level living

LST, I would never have taken you for a Twilight fan

This is the first TED talk I watched and still my favorite. I love data presented in innovative and interesting ways. Hans Rosling's new insights on poverty

^Also, doesn't that contradict #4?

Well then Ngonge, why are you asking Juxa and Ibti if they know him? They are uptown girls Soo dhawaada akhyaarta cusub (ama akhyaarta shaatiyo cusub qaba anyways).