Any 'absurdness' in the respective claims is debatable Mr JB. But ,in my opinion, an athiest is just that simply out of convenience.

kixkixkixkixkix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

looooool

^^So its an expression to a god you dont know (ie still in search of/for) or an expression to a god you dont believe in? A little confusing your last post.

only beneficial vids mate soon IA but 10mins is a little brief

erm,,,,,erm,,,,,,erm,,,,,,,erm,,,,,,,,never mind

^^i have no idea thats why asked you. Do you use the 'oh my god' words when surprised/shocked?

Very good post ya Ridwaan. Would you move back?

How do i place recordings (videos/dvds) onto you tube? What software do i need to record onto the PC?

Wait a minute, is it a Somali event?

Welcome back Cuban You know you are right in some respects but i cant cook (it would be an embarrassment to the men of my sub-tribe ). I was surprised by this event but its ecouraging to see is it not? I think parenthood would have been better as it would promote both mother and father figures.

Ridwaan, Knowing your rights and responsibilities and not shunning them is a good start. One's mind should go from the 'dalinyaro' mode to that of a married man/woman. The late nights with the boys/girls and 'chillin' no longer takes up your time (playing football is an exception ). Your primary focus is your family and everything (literally) becomes associated with that. Your work (you gotta make ends meet), your relationship with your new family, your kids, etc. It will be difficult for some to adjust and thats where the danger lies. The husband is to spend most of his time with his family and have an away time with his freinds (limited) but some people get that twisted and this can lead to problems. I have seen this happen on more than one occasion. So to our 'guurdoon' SOLers, note that marriage is a process of compromise in terms of your usual routine/actions/attitude. The rewards heavily outweigh what you have compromised and you grow into the father/mother/husband/wife role (cant expect to know it all on the first day).

Dabshid, will be glad to mee up IA. You dont have a day off? Banks :rolleyes: Baashi, glad you liked the place. The weather has been good (its that time of year) and its been raining this week alxamdullilah. But the heat in the summer can be a little bit too much. Its a matter of staying in doors as much as possible but you get used to it. I'm sure you can negotiate something (family status) but just make sure any allowances they give for school kids is sufficient ie that your not paying on top of that for the little one(s) to go to a decent school. Same with housing, healthcare etc. Let me know how it goes IA.

explain?

Good analysis but who is Dheg-dheer ina Hawo?

^^yes but swearing by it means accepting it right?

Originally posted by NGONGE: quote:Originally posted by Northerner: Before we continue can someone define a mujahid/mujahideen? Does defending your land from Ethiopia (gaalo) and their corroborators make you a mujahid? Then we can at agree on something nice and early. If you read all the reports about the situation in Somalia today you must already know that it’s not only Ethiopia that is involved. Eritrea is also involved and is alleged to be supporting the Courts. As far as I’m aware Eritrea has never been a Muslim country! Does that mean that those in the TFG could also claim to be fighting a jihad against Eritrea? The situation in Somalia is really not as black and white as some of our hasty brothers here are painting it out to be. These Courts have been calling for a holy war against African troops since 2005 (way before they took power). The call for deploying African troops was in response to the stubbornness of the warlords of the capital (back when most of the brothers here used to support them or at least act indifferent). Now you’re all acting as if you’re dealing with simpletons and as if the issue of African troops was brought about as a response to the Court’s emergence! It’s not Ethiopia that is calling for a holy war. Ethiopia merely wants to support their lackeys in the Somali political scene. This, as you and I know, is not a new position or policy. It has always been thus. I am not siding with the TFG here for I consider them as rotten as the next group. However, I find this jihad nonsense to be insulting to any sane person’s intelligence. So far and from the way things stand it really looks like all sides are taking us for a nasty ride. If the Courts and the TFG are genuinely interested in the fate of Somalia they will both make concessions and trash a deal in their next scheduled talks. Ethiopia and Eritrea should not be the ones that call the shots here. It should be the Somali politicians (on both sides). However, I doubt that either side is willing to make any concessions and for that reason I’m reluctant to consider this coming war (should it come) as anything different to what we had before. Well, maybe the only difference would be is that Tigrey would be fighting other Tigrey on Somali soil. Stuff the lot of them. NG, good points. But, if there is a war between Somalis and Ethiopia what are the Somalis fighting for? In my opinion they are fighting for their freedom from outside interference and the establishment of an Islamic state whilst the TFG will be fighting for their pockets and further corruption. The fact that Eritrea (gaalo) is helping Somalia does not make the jihad (fighting for freedom and Sheria is a jihad in my view) cause redundant. When all is said and done what are the UIC fighting for?

MC Xamar, good points.

but my disappointment with Northren's sluggishness in terms of contributing and expostulating his stance has been a source of disapointment I'll take that as a compliment ps i once heard an athiest say "thank god i'm an athiest" what did he mean by that?

A question to all the yet to be married folks on this thread. After all the nonesnse talk, do you know your rights and responsibilities as a Husband/Wife in marriage? Do you know the parametres of choosing a spouse? This is a good time to look into,,,,, The main reason for divorce among Somalis is that they simply did not do their homework before hand and did not act upon any of their responsibilities during the marriage.

LOL I started using my plastic. But somehow for some reason unknown to me all six of my credit cards declined!!!!!!!! I think our boy Dabshid needs to answer that one. I didn’t like Dubai. It’s too noisy, too crowded, and too metropolitan for me. In a way it is a city under construction. There is a gap, I thought, between the ongoing projects which are impressive by any account, and the transportation infrastructure. The city doesn’t have a car pool lane or for that mass transit lane. Once you get into the highway particularly the one that connects Sharjah to Dubai, you are at the mercy of the pace of the traffic. I haven’t seen any bypass lane that can take some of the traffic congestion off the main one. Dubai is a metropolis with too many projects all going on at the same time (there are more mega projects about to start) and the transport problem is something they are finally going to sort out (so we are told). They will charge to use Shiekh Zayed road (dubai to Sharjah road)from July which i'm actually glad. But once you find a route to and from work its fine. Since we were kinda short for cash we didn’t do many of the things that we had planned to do. We wanted to go to Sohar, Oman. I put that in the backburner. But I managed to go to Abu Dubai. The contrast between the two cities could not have been more pronounced at least to me. Abu Dubai is cleaner, less traffic, and overall much calmer. Abu Dhabi is noicer and more developed, they went through there boom phase in the eighties. Sorry you didnt drive down to Oman. The Hatta mountains are a great sight on the way down. The upside of this trip was I got much needed encouragement from the business nomads in Dubai. I met old friends who made it big (by nomad standards). I like what I saw and find them to be risky takers numero uno. It is amazing how these folks do what they do in a country where there is no safety net whatsoever. They pay the school fee, healthcare, etc with no help from the State. They rely on themselves and that’s a big plus. Overall UAE Somali community are more self-reliant bunch than the folks in my neck of the wood. True! One more thing. The first thing my wife and I noticed is the Athan. The masjids are everywhere literally every block or so it seems. Ahhh, the athaan sounding from one mosque to the other is a blessed moment five times a day. So whats up? Are you leaning towards moving here? Taking a vacation here is really not an eye opener unless you visited and stayed with people. Lets get it straight i dont you will be living in Diera if you did find yourself in the UAE. ps you should have called me man i could have shown you around other parts of Dubai. I was actually donw at the gold souk last week when a cousin was in town.

Why lock the topic Admin? Cant we discuss fatherhood here for those of us who can attend? Interesting though. I can see Ngonge and Duke having a discussion on how to best change nappies at the conference

By Hassan Yare MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali Islamists blew up an Ethiopian army lorry with a landmine, killing several soldiers travelling from the town of Baidoa to a military camp nearby, residents said on Thursday. If confirmed, the attack would be the latest in a series of small clashes reported in the Horn of Africa nation that diplomats fear could escalate into all-out war at any time. Residents said the attack happened on Wednesday evening and reported seeing ambulances driving to the scene, between Baidoa, the seat of the interim government, and Manaas town where some of its troops are based. "I saw an Ethiopian lorry pass the town of Goof Gaduud. A few minutes later I heard a big explosion and I saw lots of smoke," resident Abdullahi Abdi told Reuters by telephone. "I also saw vehicles carrying the injured and the dead." The number of casualties was not immediately known. Neither the Islamists, nor Ethiopia, nor the interim Somali government had any immediate comment on the reported incident. The Islamists, who control the capital Mogadishu, say Ethiopia has sent thousands of troops into Somalia, while Addis Ababa insists it has only sent several hundred military trainers for President Abdullahi Yusuf's Baidoa-based administration. Amid the heightening tension in Somalia, the U.N. Security Council pledged on Wednesday to consider steps to tighten a widely ignored 1992 U.N. arms embargo on the chaotic nation. Continued... That surprised some diplomats, who suggested Washington was pushing for the embargo to be modified to allow an African-led peacekeeping force into Somalia. The Islamists -- who seized Mogadishu and much of the south in June in a direct challenge to the government's authority -- bitterly oppose foreign fighters operating in Somalia. Yusuf's virtually powerless government voted on Wednesday to support proposals that would let east African peacekeepers enter Somalia. Somalia has been without a functioning government since the fall of former dictator Siad Barre in 1991 sparked the collapse of the country into a patchwork of quarrelling fiefdoms.

Diamond industry defends itself after DiCaprio film Published: 25 Nov 2006 By: Stephanie West The diamond industry forced to defend itself against accusations the trade is still causing conflict and misery. They're described as a girl's best friend - but a controversial new film is promising to show the less glittering role diamonds have played in bringing bloodshed and violence in southern Africa. "Blood Diamond" is set against a backdrop of civil war during the nineteen nineties, in it Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a mercenary. Charities say the plot shows the real cost of the trade in so called conflict diamonds. But the industry says there are now strict checks on where the gems come from - and warns that any sales slump caused by the film may damage the African economy. Stephanie West reports. Watch the Channel 4 Report