Norf, how about the following facts? Sweden 2010: Integration minister Nyamko Sabuni said on Monday that the fight against khat, a herbal drug popular with the Swedish-Somali population, must be intensified, reports Dagens Nyheter (DN). "Khat abuse causes a lot of suffering. It leads to unemployment and counters the integration of many Swedish-Somalis into Swedish society," said Nyamko Sabuni to the newspaper. The Local reported back in May 2008 on the widespread use of khat, which was outlawed in Sweden in 1989. The report also revealed that prohibition is not strictly reinforced and that police turn a blind eye to the drug which can be found sold openly in areas where immigrants from the Horn of Africa live, such as the western Stockholm suburb of Tensta. Johnny Lindh at Tensta-Rinkeby police appeared to confirm the view in an interview with DN on Monday. "The customs plug away on their watch, but within the police and among national politicians no one cares. The problem is within a small ethnic group which lives outside of mainstream society, and as long as abuse does not spread to your average Swede then those in power are obviously not interested," he told the newspaper. Sabuni rejected accusations of racism but said that if the situation was true, it was "unacceptable" and that much more can be done. The minister also expressed concern that funds from the sale of khat could be finding their way into the hands of terror groups such al-Shabab. "It is the first time that I have heard about this (the connection to al-Shabab). This is very serious if revenues from drug smuggling go to terror groups. I am presuming that the security police are investigating the issue," Sabuni told the newspaper. http://www.thelocal.se/25408/20100308/ Like I told you, do some research first, adeer. Muranka jooji.

^^ Kaa maca xita aniga og.

^^ Norf is saying that we already know what the consequences will be and that Khat is bad for you (he later added xaraam).

Sayid*Somal;773396 wrote: is not somali response - but rather yemeni marqaansan response Are there any right reasons to ban khat horta? Yes. It's a bad habit, it's a waste of time & money, it's not healthy and causes problems for many families. It would be great if we didn't have to suffer this drug. However, to ask for a ban without researching the consequences is a million times worse than all of the above.

^^ :D

^^ Maya, alxamduliallah, gudadka la ii qodo way ii muuqdaan intaanan talaaba qaadin (waa hawlihii aan isla ogeen iwm).

^^ I saw what you posted. That too is a silly petition (typical Somali response ). If Khat must be banned it should be banned for the right reasons and the ban should have an overall benefit for all. If, however, the hasty demand for a ban gives those with a grudge the chance to turn it into a political decision (such as in Holland) and the benefits are minimal, I blame Norf.

^^ Heh. Miya no news on that front. However, on my front and the sarbeeb, dee I am making sure that no wrong idea is understood by it. Meeshan waxa ka buuxa Juxa iyo qolyinka (dumar) jecel in aan kufo, saaxib.

^^ I am still at it not for Norf's sake or for the defence of Khat but because I fully reject and oppose hasty decisions that can have a knock on effect on entire communities. Look at those racist Dutch and their ban. 27,000 Somalis are said to live in that country. Out of those a small proportion chews khat (if we argue that the majority are women and children). Out of those that chew, and according to the Dutch, 10% are suffering from the effects of addiction. Yet, the loving Dutch government thinks a ban is needed. Yet, Norf & his OMG crew think this is beneficial. Yet..yet..yet...war naga daaya dee.

Sayid*Somal;773376 wrote: ^carabkaan yaa sarbeebta bara? war wuxuu ku yidhi "hawshaan ogaa" - maxay tahay hawshaad ogeyd ma shiisha? joke aside - hawshaan anigu ku dirsaday xaggee maraysaa? Taada maba garanayo waxay tahay. Tiisa boqol nooc ayaay noqon karta ee waan hubsanayay (and pushing accusations away). Waliga badwonimda ma joojinaysid, warya. The place is SL, odayda noocaygi howlahay meesha o tagaan way badanyhiin (qaarkood waaba x-rated). Marka waa inaan hadalka cadeeyo. Wax fahan.

^^ Hawshaad ogeed ma shiisha ba? Hadaba waan so socda.

Jb, I am thinking of going on holiday this April. Ma Norf baan o taga mise adaan kuu imaada, saaxib? I don't want to impose nooh.

^^ Naga daa dee. There is more to this than meets the eye, methinks. War did A&T try to recruit you for the next patch of ONLF fighters? Ma tanaad ku jawaabtay? Fariid!

^^ Not heresay. I am reporting facts. Germany recently arrested a guy transporting 1.7 tons of Khat through their borders (that's just one man). Sweden (which does not share a border with Holland) reported a guy crashing his car in a high speed chase with custom officials who was carrying at least 200 kilograms of the stuff (http://www.thelocal.se/38234/20111230/). People still chew in Norway, even though it's banned. It's all to do with the open borders between European countries (with random customs checks every now and then). The supply is not likely to dry out, saaxib. Wax fahan. Still, this ban in Holland (a country that considers weed legal) is going to criminalise lots of people and the cose of Khat for these junkies is only going to increase by mere euroes rather than hundreds. In addition, because of the amount of money that Kenya makes from the export of Khat, Air Kenya is not likely to think twice about starting direct flights to Lisbon, Prague or Athens. Marka where would that leave it all? What did the ban achieve, a moral victory? Wax fahan.

Abtigiis;773346 wrote: Fair enough, NG! That sounds logical. And probable given the self-destructive propensity of the half-crazy folks in SSC. But, you are counting on its failure. What about if it works? Is the scenario projected of the secession agenda being weakened correct? I think this conclusion is not celebratory. I am not counting on anything, yet. I am waiting to see what comes from this conference and what resolutions they have before I could (with any reasonable logic) think about, reply or choose a position to have. Right now, all I can see is a tribal meeting of the SSC clan and, in all honesty, I can't get excited or worried over a meeting. The SSC predicamant remains and the questions remain unanswered. Lets wait and see if they get answered and then I promise to wax lyrical with you and anyone who wishes to discuss the topic. p.s. Hedge your bets, adeer. Don't do a Xiin.

^^ Like I said, you're speaking too soon and gloating over the fact that the SSC folks are having a meeting. A MEETING! It's embarrassing. This is different than Carta but is it different that the Khasuusi stuff and all before it/after it? War wait and see what they come up with first before going on a song and dance over a meeting.

^^ Custom control in Europe? War how long have you been in Dubai for? p.s. I was using Poland as an example (Khat is banned there anyway). The point being, a trade that is worth that much is not going to struggle to base itself in those European countries that regard it as legal and working its way from there. Wax fahan. p.p.s The supply to Germany and other countries that banned it did not drop (go ask the people that live there).

Maaddeey;773234 wrote: Naciimo yareey, he'll know!. Waa dadka reer Waqooyi, Reer bari, reer Koonfur, Gobolada dhexe, Kenyan & Caddaan isu keenay!. Xamaasadaad ka heshay, so maaha?

^^ Did it not travel from Holland to as far as Norway? Why not the other way round, Poland borders Germany, Germany borders Holland. My Geography teacher in carabaha taught me that only the UK (and Ireland) have a sea keeping them apart from Europe. As for the rest of the nonesense you wrote. War read the article you posted and look at the language, you stubborn Somali.

What I find amusing in all of this premature gloating is that it all rests on the fact that the SSC clan have had a conference! Nothing solid has taken place yet, nothing has been finalised and no results are visible. However, every last nobody with a grievance against SL is ululating for what is nothing but a clan conference. Slow down, boys. Like I’ve been telling you from day one, let us wait for the verdicts first. Do not patronise the SSC with all this silly talk of historic this and monumental that. It is only a clan meeting and, surely, the SSC were always capable of convening a clan-wide meeting, or were they?

^^ Dee aniga ha ii sheegin; ciyaarta oo wali socota ayaad i leedahay "waan guulaystay". Gelinka danbe aan wada sugno, adeer. (I am quitely confident).

^^ As ever, yours is a triumph of hope over experience. Just don't disappear when it's time to put the dot the i's and cross the t's. The minister should have waited for the full resolutions of this conference and then replied to all questions accordingly.

I have never been the kind of person that falls asleep on a sofa, chair or train. It does not matter how tired or bored I am, I just could never have a quick nap whilst sitting upright. However, as with every rule, there is one exception. My exception is that I almost always fall asleep in the cinema. I am not sure why I do this; is it the comfortable chairs or the dimmed lights? Regardless, I only know that I have never left the cinema having watched an entire movie or even knowing how the movie ended. In fact, on several occasions, my companions would nudge me to stop me from snoring or start an argument about the reasons for my visit to the cinema. Still, the topic of discussion here is not the cinema, it is sleeping upright. I read somewhere (though I can’t remember where and would not want you to take my word for it) that horses sleep upright. Now I know that some of might blow a raspberry and claim that you could have told me that, had I only asked. But I am also sure that horses do sleep on the floor too (I just didn’t read about it like I did the ‘upright’ part). At any rate, horses are not what I wanted to talk about, sleeping upright is. I have problems with sleep, I always did. In my mind, sleeping is like a bank account. I keep withdrawing sleep until I run out and then I’d struggle for sleep for weeks afterwards. I am overdrawn at the moment and have only been sleeping for three or four hours per day. Even then, to actually fall asleep requires the endless counting of the proverbial sheep jumping over fences (of course, I usually vary it and swap the sheep with camels, trained dogs and, sometimes, pretty girls). Nonetheless, sheep is not what I wanted to talk about, sleeping upright was. Last night was one of those when my sleeping account was in the black. I got back from work, sat myself on the sofa and was ready to watch the Carling Cup semi final between Crystal Palace & Cardiff City (yes, I watch lots of football). The kids were running about and the wife was fixing something or other. Just before the game was about to start, I fell asleep! I woke up two hours later to an empty room and silent house. It was only ten o’clock. I knew the kids go to bed by eight thirty and was not surprised not to find them there. But where was the wife? I got up and took a hasty tour around the house whilst dark thoughts kept on circling above my head; “she ran away with my laptop” (the laptop is my only valuable possession), “she went to throw the rubbish and locked herself out”, “there was an emergency and she had to rush out”, “she has been abducted by the jinni in the fridge”, etc, etc. At the conclusion of my tour of the house, I discovered that all was well. The kids and their mother were all fast asleep and my laptop was still where I left it the night before. The only thing out of place was the jug of drink on the kitchen table. It was a jug, full of what looked like orange juice, and it was sitting proudly on an otherwise clean and empty kitchen table. Some of you might wonder why am I mentioning such a normal and routine thing. Some of you probably leave such full jugs on your kitchen tables all the time. That’s you though. I am married to an obsessive person who likes to put everything where it should be and would never ever go to sleep and leave a full jug on the kitchen table. I was thirsty. Thirst is natural after two hours of sleep (I don’t think I am the type that sleep with their mouth open, though I never had the opportunity to ask someone to observe my sleeping style). Anyway, there was a jug full of drink sitting on my kitchen table and I was thirsty. The question that presented itself here was if I should have a drink from that jug or shouldn’t! What if it were a contaminated drink? What if it was poisoned so that the witch could run away with my laptop? I couldn’t just stroll to the jug and have a drink without giving the action itself some thought first. I opened the fridge and had a look inside. There were other drinks there but, more importantly, there was also plenty of space for this jug to fit in. Why did she not put the jug in the fridge? Why was it left outside? And why did I suddenly have an unquenchable thirst for orange juice? I thought about waking the wife up and asking her about this stray jug. But, since I am a sleep victim myself and know the value of one finally falling asleep, I could not bring myself to attempt such a serious act for such a frivolous issue. So, I sat down in front of the jug and thought of all the reasons why I shouldn’t have a sip (just a sip to see if it is actually orange juice). I couldn’t think of one reasonable objection, so, I had a sip. It was orange juice and it tasted sweet. So, I had cupful of the stuff. For the rest of the night, I carried on going back and having some more until I emptied the entire jug. This morning, I woke up, got dressed and went to work. There was no mention of the empty jug or the orange juice! However, I have a bad stomach ache and my tummy is making thundering noises. Could it be the orange juice? Was it really poisoned? My only consolation is that I hid the laptop before leaving for work.

Carafaat;773029 wrote: I have been telling this for years. Why wont nobody listen?? What, you mean you have been stating the obvious and nobody listened to you?

N.O.R.F;773011 wrote: So where we? The Netherlands to ban drug khat http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16508238 This quote makes you smile? The article also informs us that Khat is banned in 15 of the European Union's 27 countries (meaning it's legal in 12). Therefore, the smuggling is not likely to stop. Worse still, the language used in the article and the quote from the immigration minister shows that this was not done on grounds of health or even proper research (lethargic? Make noise?). EVEN WORSE, the report says that Holland has 27,000 Somalis! How many of those are men and how many of the men chew? Does such a small number really require a government to institute a ban? Still, Norf and his OMG crew are right. Allahu al mostcaan.