The good news is that despite Liverpool's rubbish form we are still thirteen points of the top. I say thirteen becuase it's really the top two we need to catch, the rest are even worse than us formwise.

^^ Lets blame it on the two hour lecture then.

A&T, You were criticising Nigeria because they had a bad qualifying campaign. So the assumption is that you judge teams by their qualifying results. Well, England finished top of their group and eliminated Croatia and Ukraine in the process. On the other hand, if we are judging teams by their history and previous results, then, like I said in my prediction, England lost the last three world cups in the knockout stages (all against South American teams). Therefore, I expect more of the same. So, go on, tell me what are YOU basing your predictions on? (other than xaasidnimo of course).

Ibti, Say: We've had 'more' sons since. MORE sons. To say few defeats the whole point. ------------ Guru, imagine an early spring evening in Burco. Imagine the ladies of the house and few others from the neighbourhood sitting in the front yard and having an entertaining chinwag. You stroll in with your collar up and a strategically placed toothpick in your mouth. You came to ask for some change for your evening session. But the ladies are already in full flow and cannot spare you the time to talk about your change. Instead, they want to ask you about a recent arrival in town. “Dubai buu ka yimid ba la yedhi” says the lady of the house ‘Yes I heard..now..about that money...’ you reply ‘Horta Norf waa qolama’ asks you the lady of the house as she brushes your own question aside You grunt and make it clear that you think this discussion is beneath you (even though you were just discussing the same thing with Cabdi Ilko earlier). ‘Waxa la yedhi, hoteelko ka bixi waayay’ continues the lady as she, again, ignores your grunts and signals of dissatisfaction ‘haa, waa la ii sheegay’ you patiently say ‘Why is that do you think?’ she pointedly asks ‘Allah og!’ you dismissively reply A young, short girl with what seems like the dried remains of a long eaten cake stuck all around her mouth, who always sits in these female gatherings and listens to everything that has been said, jumps up and says: ‘Norf waa reer London’ ‘Shafeeel’ says the old lady ‘haa Shafeel’ repeats the young girl shyly ‘Dubai ayuu ka shaqeyaa’ ‘Reer Shafeel ma qabiil cusub ba?’ you ask incredulously The young girl giggles and replies ‘maya, waa ingreeska’ The older lady asks ‘Did he come alone or is there someone staying with him in that hotel?’ You give up waiting for her to give you the money and start to walk off as you loudly mouth off your displeasure about this house and how nobody cares about you. The lady calls you back and gives you some money. You take it and stroll off happily. As you walk away, you hear the young girl with that screeching voice of hers telling the rest of the company about Norf, his family history, his lineage and even the scar above his right brow and how he got it. Do I need to tell you who the girl is?

^^ Lily and Faheema are not here so there is no cake talk. I'm not sure what that says about Ibti and Juxa though.

Group A is really the group of death. All the teams in it are as bad (or good) as each other. England will win their group with full points. They'll lose in the semis to a latin country. This is the way it has always been.

Today is the meat day miya? Still, do you blame the butcher or the customers who like their meat cut in huge chunks?

^^ A Yeti is a mythical creature that is said to live in Nepal. I heard of people questioning the existence of the Yeti but I never heard them question Nepal. Don't try to tax your brain this early in the morning, Marx (you just woke up, didn't you?).

Heh@JB..dee isago miyo hadlay? Wan in loo hadla marka. P.S. This one is almost a carbon copy of what King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia did after the recent floods in Jeddah.

Heh@JB..dee isago miyo hadlay? Wan in loo hadla marka. P.S. This one is almost a carbon copy of what King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia did after the recent floods in Jeddah.

We, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed President Of Somalia After reviewing section 3A of the Somali constitution (including all recent additions) After examining rule 4G of the Municipal legislation (regarding the suitability and safety of buildings). After scrutinising the laws on security arrangements (August 2006 amendments). After investigating the laws guiding Ministerial and Military misdemeanours (1987 & 2008 editions). After poring over the compensation laws. After consulting with international and regional advisors. After taking into account similar occurrences elsewhere in the world After presiding over an emergency and extraordinary cabinet meeting (less the deceased minsters). And after witnessing the sad and tragic events of the third of December 2009, with all its accompanying loss of lives and livelihoods, we have decided the following: The creation of a committee of minsters and experts to dedicate its time to the unravelling of this tragedy and report back directly to the president with all the lessons learned. The tightening of security arrangements around all major meeting areas and hotels in the capital. The creation of a second committee of minsters and civil servants to send to Baghdad and Kabul to meet with both administrations and report back all lessons learned with regard to suicide bombers and Whabist agitators. The creation of a compensation department within the Finance Minstery to calculate and oversee the payment of rightful compensation to the families of the deceased. In addition, we have also decided the following: All presidential security arrangements should be tripled on all outings within the confines of Mogadishu city. All minsters shall have their security doubled and may have it tripled in cases where they have to venture outside the green zone. The green zone to be examined and reasons put forward as to why its boundaries should be reduced. In order to keep hold of our world-class minsters and civil servants, we have decided that a security allowance should be included in all governmental workers’ monthly pay. Each employee shall be paid according to his/her grade and this allowance should not exceed fifty percent of an employees’ total pay. The above does not apply to the president and prime minster of course. In the case of these two vital positions, we have decided to set up another Finance Ministry Committee to study and report back on suitable security budgets. We condemn and abhor all terrorist atrocities and assure all our loyal citizens that this government, along with all our friendly neighbours, will not stand idle whilst our students, people and members of government are massacred in such a cowardly way. We send our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and promise them that we shall do all in our power to apprehend and try all those responsible. Long Live Somalia. President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Villa Somalia 7th December 2009

We, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed President Of Somalia After reviewing section 3A of the Somali constitution (including all recent additions) After examining rule 4G of the Municipal legislation (regarding the suitability and safety of buildings). After scrutinising the laws on security arrangements (August 2006 amendments). After investigating the laws guiding Ministerial and Military misdemeanours (1987 & 2008 editions). After poring over the compensation laws. After consulting with international and regional advisors. After taking into account similar occurrences elsewhere in the world After presiding over an emergency and extraordinary cabinet meeting (less the deceased minsters). And after witnessing the sad and tragic events of the third of December 2009, with all its accompanying loss of lives and livelihoods, we have decided the following: The creation of a committee of minsters and experts to dedicate its time to the unravelling of this tragedy and report back directly to the president with all the lessons learned. The tightening of security arrangements around all major meeting areas and hotels in the capital. The creation of a second committee of minsters and civil servants to send to Baghdad and Kabul to meet with both administrations and report back all lessons learned with regard to suicide bombers and Whabist agitators. The creation of a compensation department within the Finance Minstery to calculate and oversee the payment of rightful compensation to the families of the deceased. In addition, we have also decided the following: All presidential security arrangements should be tripled on all outings within the confines of Mogadishu city. All minsters shall have their security doubled and may have it tripled in cases where they have to venture outside the green zone. The green zone to be examined and reasons put forward as to why its boundaries should be reduced. In order to keep hold of our world-class minsters and civil servants, we have decided that a security allowance should be included in all governmental workers’ monthly pay. Each employee shall be paid according to his/her grade and this allowance should not exceed fifty percent of an employees’ total pay. The above does not apply to the president and prime minster of course. In the case of these two vital positions, we have decided to set up another Finance Ministry Committee to study and report back on suitable security budgets. We condemn and abhor all terrorist atrocities and assure all our loyal citizens that this government, along with all our friendly neighbours, will not stand idle whilst our students, people and members of government are massacred in such a cowardly way. We send our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and promise them that we shall do all in our power to apprehend and try all those responsible. Long Live Somalia. President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Villa Somalia 7th December 2009

^^ A&T already did his Somaliland attacks a year ago. Not once during those 'attacks' of his did we try to deflect attention by talking about PL. Marka, reer PL, iska adkeesta. He'll soon move on to some new area to attack. P.S, Cowke, remember that house-come-mosque in the middle of nowhere where some PL legend was said to reside (you know, the tiny picture you were boasting about a few months back), is that not a 'memorial'?

A Gorilla can not survive in Somaliland. There is not enough rain to sustain it and the trees it relies on. This mystery 'animal' is more likely to be a Yeti.

^^ When was the last time either of you spent a minute in Burco? I managed four hours you know.

Norf, you're right. You don't need to know any of it. As long as you ensure that you know my lineage and understand it, you’ll be ok.

Heh@Ibti. I have been taught the darn thing a million times but never found any of it interesting enough. Abokor Omar has explained himself now and I can vouch for him. P.S. JB doesn't know this stuff. Aniga wax o sheegayaay in the week I was there. Now Norf will go and mess it all up with his fish & chips version of events.

Lily, that 'youngster' comment of yours finally helped me catch an idea that was floating around my head for a few days now. Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by -Lily-: I heard married people pay less tax...so if your marraige isn't registered you will not benefit. The married couple allowance was abolished almost ten years ago, old lady. You can only get it now if you or your partner are over 70 years old.

Ibti, as I understand it, both have to be in by the 31st of Jan. I still don't see why you need all this hassle if you're doing a full time job already. Are you employed as some sort of consultant or something? CL, I did not actually go out of my way and buy a Blackberry, I'm too lazy for such a thing. It's an upgrade that my Mrs didn't want.

Faheema, she has no faith in you. Iska soco. Mera laddo, is it really? You mean I shouldn't show off and stuff?

Ibti, e-mail what you filled to me and I could get our tax accountant to have a quick look at it for you. As for islan yar, my point exactly. By the way, as of today, I have joined the ranks of the hip kids. I got me a Blackberry! It's still hip, right? (no idea how to use it though).

^^ I'm letting off steam too. He's the nearest I could get my claws into.

Ibti, you're better off getting Faheema to help. I have not had the chance to deal with the self employed and would not know where to begin. Dee like I said, waxaygo waa indho adeeg not qualification. P.S. You remind me of the old Somali ladies who come to ask me about mortgages and loans because they believe I work for a bank (bal adigu o fasir Investment Companies).

Ibti, I'm not a qualified accountant dee. But why would you need to fill a tax return anyway? Are you not in a full time job and doesn't your company already deduct PAYE? Oooh! How loaded are you, woman?