Continued... We value multiculturalism, not assimilation We have Coffee Crisp We were the first to patent peanut butter We have beavers A Canadian invented basketball And insulin (at the University of Toronto, braaap!!) And the telephone We make maple syrup Our landscape is beautiful

Che -Guevara;979370 wrote: 'The Canadian is not an American – at least, not entirely, not yet' Alistair Horne I saw this somewhere while back, you are almost there Safferz. Forget this Canadian thing and join us:) We are already "Americans," it is only USian imperialist tendencies that enable your people to claim two continents as your national identity. Secondly, my legal status here is "non-resident alien," which is dehumanizing and reminds me of my foreignness by the day, moreso than when I get laughed at by Panera cashiers for asking for the "washroom" code :mad: Blackflash;979371 wrote: What would make Canada even better is a new Dominion Lands Act, **** the greenies and their national parks! I want to settle down near the rockies. It's an absolutely beautiful country, and I wish I could have seen more of it (I have yet to travel outside of Ontario and Quebec). I've had a cross-country road trip on my bucket list for some time, and it's apparently doable in 2 weeks on 400km of driving a day.

Oiler;979368 wrote: A collection of all the stereotypes of Canada. C'est le point.

Che -Guevara;979365 wrote: Canada, America's attic:D Horta do you know why the White House is white? Because we torched it

We're the home of Tim Hortons, a national icon We have ketchup chips Our money is multicoloured, and we call our $1 and $2 coins the loonie and the toonie We have mounties who ride horses and look awesome We invented the glorious cheesy goodness known as poutine We're the first nation of hockey We're polite and say sorry a lot We have universal healthcare Our milk comes in bags God bless Canada, que Dieu bénisse le Canada

Point well taken

Tallaabo;979269 wrote: ^ True but then the ordinary man and woman on the streets of New York and Toronto would hardly recognise the faces of such celebrated authors like Amos Oz or Philip Roth. Very true, but they're certainly still more prominent than say, Anderson Cooper

Tallaabo;979262 wrote: I did not know whether to put Nuraddin Farah or Rageh Omar at no five as both are internationally known for their work. However, I chose Rageh because I thought his appearance on TV would make a lot more people recognise his face where as Nuraddin would be known more intimately by a more affluent, educated, but smaller audience. I think Brits have a distorted idea of Rageh Omar's importance and recognizability lol. No one in North America except Somalis would know who he is, and those of us who get BBC don't even see him because we only get the international news-based version.

Wadani;979229 wrote: Y? Because Nuruddin Farah is better known internationally, which is what I took this thread as asking.

Piss off, Apophis. I may be a lot of things, but a moron isn't one of them.

Tallaabo;979212 wrote: Mo Farah Imaan Abdul Majid Ayaan Hirsi Ali K'naan Rage Omaar Frankly, these are the Somali faces the world is familiar with. Agree with this list, except I'd replace Rageh Omaar with Nuruddin Farah.

Wadani;979200 wrote: Safferz, the power dynamics at play don't give use the luxury of remaining silent. Members of a community can retain their right to individuality only from a position of relative strength. Somalis are implicated in this crime by association regardless. Putting aside ideals, which will have a better outcome in the real world; a swift condemnation or silence? It's simple really. I know it's humiliating, but we as a people chose humiliation when we toppled our government and unleached hell upon each other and we're now facing the music. Actually, the idealism is coming from those of you who seem to believe that underscoring collective Muslim responsibility for terrorism through community condemnation of terrorist acts does anything to improve perceptions of Muslims in the West. I'd love to see evidence of any positive outcome for the Muslim community apologizing for the actions they've had nothing to do with. If anything, statistically there's been a rise in anti-Muslim hate crime in recent years, this after years of Muslims appearing in the media post-9/11 - just as the Somalis above - to condemn terrorism. It doesn't work, and it's amazing people think it does when it's the very strategy demanded of us by anti-Muslim bigots. The onus is not on us to make ourselves, our community and our religion more palatable to xenophobic Westerners.

Hobbesian_Brute;979198 wrote: your haatu's sister when it comes real politique, both of you are utterly clueless. It's realpolitik, but thank you -- when what I've said provokes this type of response from our resident islamophobe, I know I'm doing something right.

lol how has Alpha radicalized me? Funny video, NY. I can confirm Alpha's responses check out, laakin the trolling will always be inexplicable.

Hobbesian_Brute;979189 wrote: and what lies at the heart of it safferz ? That's a different conversation for a different thread, I think And there's certainly no clear answer, but it seems most analysts agree that it is more than ideology, and includes structural factors (ie. poverty, weak governance, war/military intervention, exclusion/social inequality) as well.

Apophis;979180 wrote: @ the woman: A bunch airy fairy liberal nonsense with no life outside the mind of the well heeled middle class. Such idiotic thinking doesn't work in the real world. You are not more intelligent that those in the video. Their condemnation is just and apt (and reasonable to anyone who can think practically). I have yet to see you contribute anything remotely intelligent or of substance to an SOL thread in my time here. Hop off. ElPunto;979178 wrote: ^Safferz - You know - in general I agree with you and I understand your frustration but given the scale of this - we can't be silent. And these folks use Islam as the motivation for their bloodthirsty murder - other Muslims have to speak out against it. And as Somalis - our community faces extra hurdles that require be tackled if reports of foreign passport holding Somalis are involved in this attack prove to be true. We're going to have to agree to disagree then. I don't see anything productive in these theatrics, it does little to change perceptions of Muslims or get at the heart of why extremism exists (a necessary precondition for ending it, and with that its association with our community).

ElPunto;979170 wrote: Condemnation does not equal apology. Obama had condemned this - is he apologizing for it? Nope. And let's face it. Somalis are associated with a major and sensational terrorist attack. You gotta distance your community from it - and if it means apologizing so be it. It certainly isn't the time to be defensive. Your comparison doesn't work here -- Obama is a head of state, condemning an attack is part of his job as president and a leader in the international community. On the other hand, a community like ours (and Muslims more generally) is expected to condemn terrorism because it's assumed that terrorism is *our* collective problem and every Muslim is a latent supporter of terrorism that must publicly disavow their connections and (assumed) support in order to be trusted. We don't have the privilege of being individuals in this society because islamophobia and xenophobia treats us as a monolith, one where the acts of a few become the acts of an entire community. I'm not being defensive, I'm just frustrated with Somalis (and Muslims) for falling into this racist trap.

Abbaas;979160 wrote: Nothing.. but we 're condemning this heartless attack against defenseless civilians in the name of Somalia/Somalis. Right, which is an act of apology and an acceptance that we're responsible for the actions of a few lunatics as a collective. Embarrassing, really.

What do we have to apologize for?

OdaySomali;979099 wrote: Is there anywhere we can vote for him? If so link pleaese thanks in advance No, Nobel Prizes are selected by the Swedish Academy, after a pretty intense nomination and review process.

Morning folks, I'm about to head to a meeting with my prof and I am NOT prepared. It will be hard to BS through a discussion of a 600+ page book I haven't read.

I root for Assia Djebar each year (one of my favourite novelists, ever). I don't like Nuruddin that much, but I would be thrilled if he won for what it would mean for Somalia and Somali literature.

Mad_Mullah;979004 wrote: ^ That was denied officially and is false. Denied by who? And who confirmed the AS twitter was fake?

Some reports are also saying the leader of this attack is a British woman named Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of 7/7 suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay.

War Haatu, I thought you were a teenager in the UK? *raises eyebrow*