We can safely say that I fully hijacked this thread now Here is another mosque (you both must have seen this one). More here

^^ Sharja City. It's only ten miles away from where North is but I bet he has not been. Fish fooqal baradho

^^ No offence but the pictures are not that clear and do nothing for me. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that such far off images would bore the hell out of a Geography teacher. But since you ask, here is a photo of one of those mosques

I have a feeling that both Xiin and Baashe would consider this one a girly topic and decide to leave you to it. I would fully concur.

If you closely observe the squiggle above, you can in fact spot the precise instant when it dawned on me that this thread is worthless. So much effort, so little reward!

Oh look! Someone went to Somaliland and actually managed to take photos of PEOPLE! You're the last person I would have expected to start this thread. Watch and learn.

Originally posted by Valenteenah: quote:Originally posted by rudy: when i got married while ago, i did cheat within a month... and i blame her for it since she started acting up. I agree, she's to blame. Not for your adultery, but for marrying you in the first place. God knows what she was thinking. :rolleyes: You always look at the negative side of things, you do! At least give the man some credit for lasting a whole month without cheating. Rudy, are you planning to marry two now? Don't be boring saaxib. Marry three. Marry them on the same night, dawg.

^^ From that response I can easily conclude that you're not a fat person and you don’t like cake that much. Ok, say you have these nice shoes. You hurry down the street to catch a bus when you suddenly stop on some dog shit! Your shoes will still remain the same shoes but they’ll smell of dog shit.

^^^ Xaaji waa ku sidee? I saw her first

^^^^ Say you have a cake in a nice cardboard container; you take the cake out to have a taste when you suddenly see Azmaya hurtling towards you! Now you, Lily, are a greedy person and you don’t want to share your cake with Azmaya! You quickly hide the cake in your pocket. Azmaya sees the empty container and assumes you scoffed the whole cake. She walks away all angry and disappointed (surely this part is not hard to imagine). You take the cake out of your pocket and try to eat it but notice that lots of bits of fluff from your pocket got stuck to the cake! Could have been a strawberry cake but now it has a distinct pocket flavour. THIS is exactly what happens to eggs and surrogate mothers I think.

^^ I want to marry you Eeew..eeew not you, not you! I meant the hairy ball girl

I personally doubt if I would ever marry twice. It just seems like a lot of headache and hassle to be honest. In addition, there is that whole responsibility to go with it! When people talk about getting married, they talk about having a soul mate and to stop worrying about what your future spouse is going to be like, etc. Once you're married you're off the shelf, out of the rat race (save for the occasional self-indulgence) and in that golden cage. You might not be free to chase skirt but you're at least free to worry about other things in life. However, once you marry TWO that freedom disappears and (if you're a responsible person) you saddle yourself with the discomfort of fairness, equality and justice! Even in your daydreams you start thinking to yourself that wife number one has lovely eyes then start feeling guilty and convince yourself that wife number two's eyes are also lovely! But whom are you kidding, you didn't marry wife number two for her lovely eyes, you married her for her great figure. But ooh! Wife number one has a great figure too; only she needs to put on a bit of meat in the right places. I feel sorry for responsible men with multiple wives, they're forever trying to walk a tight rope with each wife sat on either shoulder! Irresponsible men with two wives on the other hand are the luckiest creatures alive. They ignorantly go through life without a worry about the responsibilities they have. Aaah, what I'd give for such bless. Having said all of that, I still think the idea great. It's a beautiful stick to tease the wife with from time to time. Whenever you have an argument with her over the remote control, the car keys or her awful habit of suffocating the rest of the house with her blinding uunsi, threaten her with an upgrade. She'll soon mend her ways.

^^ You bloody tease You already know that Xiin and Kashafa will say the only acceptable choice is Mullana-Xazrat-Imam-Most-Good-Most-Pious-Sheikh-Shareef-Hebel-Hebel! Rudy is not too fussy; he just wants the xabash out. Baashi is the most intriguing one. If I had to guess I'd say his perfect choice would be Abdullahi Yusuf with a beard. This one, truly, is a non-topic. There are only two opposing sides in Somalia today (I’m deliberately ignoring Somaliland here). It’s not hard to make a choice between the two. You either choose the Xabash-loving-civilian-killing government or the Eritrean-loving-civilian-killing Courts. We spent a whole year discussing the qualities and flaws of both. There are no great leaders hiding in the shadows that’ll come out and rescue Somalia. These two sides are all that you have. So come out and make a choice! Is it going to be the so-called terrorists or the supposed turncoat?

^^ In the longer term it WILL help acknowledge and address some of these problems. In fact, ten years ago, you would have struggled to see one Arab (Khaleegi) journalist talking about the plight of Asian workers in the Gulf. Now, it’s an issue that is discussed in most ‘intellectual’ circles. Of course, one is never sure about government promises and if they’ll ever materialise. After all, the employment laws were always there but offenders were hardly ever tried or punished. There is a possibility now that things might change (in Dubai in particular). Women’s rights are also being addressed and they’re not accepting any lip service anymore.

^^ Read the sentence before it warya :mad:

Saudis are really like any other society. They have their faults and strengths. They have their extremes on both sides and they have a middle ground (some people like to call those moderates but apparently this word is a myth nowadays). I may be wrong and things have changed dramatically since I last paid any attention to Saudi affairs but I don’t think those TV shows are Saudi made. Most are made in Lebanon, Egypt and Dubai! But thanks to all the great technological advances (like satellite TV and the internet) the Saudis too get to watch them like everyone else. Sometimes (some would say most of the time) Saudi male participants take part in those shows. Saudi Arabia has some of the best singers in the Arab world (with Bu Nora – that’s Mohamed Abdu to you and me - being the undisputed king of khaleegi music). On the other hand and as you already know they also have some of the best scholars in the Muslim world! Many argue that exposure to the rest of the world (through the mediums I mentioned earlier) has opened up Saudi eyes and made them want to move with times. This is why (they argue) women want to drive, young men want extra freedoms and there are deafening calls for equality! I personally don’t believe that’s the reason. I suspect it has more to do with the increasing number of educated people in the Kingdom (and Gulf at large). They’re finally catching up with their other Arab brethren. Now that they have started and though it’s taking place slowly I really can’t see anything standing in the way of change.

^^ You're the one who wrote the letter, IN HIS LANGUAGE

What a cringe worthy, laughable, ridiculous and embarrassing piece of writing you had there, Nayruus! If you must write a letter to the man and air your frustrations, at least attempt to make it interesting and witty, saaxib. All you needed to have done was to show a bit of courtesy (by showering him with false praise), ridicule (by pointing out where he went wrong) and opposition (by gently stating your position). I'll admit that you tried to do all of the above, but, like a child baking cookies, you were too eager and burned the lot. Would have been much better had you thanked him for his concern and subtly told him to bugger off out of Somali affairs. All your letter achieved there (apart from bringing a smile to an old man's face) was reinforcing his support for Somaliland. Oh! Maybe that was your aim all along. You do show flashes of genius every now and then. ps Write him another one, saaxib.

^^ Don't be in a hurry for that, saaxib. I can see and understand why you wont vote for UDUB. But what's really important is why you would vote for either of the other two? What promises turned your head?

A well meaning but slightly patronising letter! Still, I have no problem with Rayale being patronised. He deserves to be.

Caamir, Still not good enough really. Those same excuses were used as the reason not to be part of Somaliland. If you notice above, I talked about what Baashe told me in the past about the disputed areas. I think it was in early 2005 when a staunch Somalilander claimed that 2005 was the year when great things will happen in Somaliland (I think he meant recognition). I had a long discussion with Baashe back then over the disputed territories (check a thread with the title: 2005 a great year for Somaliland). Back then, I asked why the people of those parts did not revolt against the creation of Somaliland and refuse to be part of such an entity. I got lots of answers and many (as is obvious now) excuses. These areas, Baashe and others argued, are part of Puntland, always have been and always will be! The people of these areas did not go to the Burco conference and have never approved of Somaliland. They only kept quit because they had no power to resist (or something along those lines). They waited patiently for seven years until Puntland was created and a few years later, when they were sure of themselves, were happy to throw their lot with their H cousins. Because after all, as I was led to understand, blood is thicker than water! Well, now and with the creation of this new State, it seems that all that was nothing but outrageous spin! You can't be a diehard Puntlander one day and the next; you create your own State with a PRESIDENT and CABINET! Any rational and sane person looking at this would easily conclude that the people of this new State have no faith whatsoever in the State of Puntland! Now, of course one can see the positive things about the creation of this State (should have been done sooner if you ask me). It will mean that the people of that sub-clan (for lets be honest, this is more of a clan thing than anything else) will be in charge of their own destiny without having to be broken into different groups kowtowing to different masters (Somaliland and Puntland). It may mean that they will no longer be regarded as a disputed area and some international aid may reach those parts. In fact, as a separate State it will most undoubtedly mean that they'll have a bigger say and more weight when dealing with the TFG (since they confess to still be a part of the Somali Republic). Alas, the negatives are much more worrying. With the number of times these boys have changed their minds in the past seventeen years (First with Somaliland, then with Puntland and then some went back to Somaliland, and yet later the exact same people back to Puntland!) one wonders if they'll finally stick to their guns and stay with this new State. Lets assume no international aid is forthcoming and they're still (internationally at least) regarded as part of Somaliland, will they abandon this new toy State? Will they run with their tails between their legs back to Puntland or will they stick it out? If their argument is to do with the progress the TFG is making, one will have to honestly ask WHAT PROGRESS? It's quite obvious that whatever steps forward the TFG is making it will still be a long time before it's ready to deal with less pressing backwaters such as Makhir State! How will the Makhir entity cope? And, as I already hinted on my first reply above, has it really any hope when it chose a former General as its president? In fact, how long before we see threads in these pages referring to him as a warlord or former Siyad spy? I really don't mean to rain on your parade or come across as unnecessarily harsh but I'm not fully convinced with the whole idea of Makhir land. The whole thing reminds me of the story of the man that went to the Zoo and told the animals a joke. All the animals found it funny and laughed their heads off. A week later, the same man went to the Zoo and as he was passing by the various cages he noticed that the donkey was happily chuckling away! The man was amused and asked the other animals about the reason that's making the donkey laugh. The animals said: HE FINALLY UNDERSTOOD YOUR JOKE!

It's not Somaliland or Puntland that really confuse me in this. What I can't understand is what the other clan in this disputed area are going to do now? Will they stick with Puntland? Will they declare their own land? Surely the same reasons that led to the creation of Makhir also apply to them! Maybe this is the way forward for all! Small groupings (lets call them sub-clans for argument sake) that live in certain areas (lets call them states) and defend these areas with all they've got! When there is a dispute amongst themselves, the elders gather under a tree and trash a solution out (lets call these......). You know, this might just work. Seventeen years late but it may just work. I mean: all they have to do is look at the godfathers of Somali enclaves. The Somaliland president is being criticised by almost everyone and the Puntland one is not loved by many! Everyone complains of corruption and fraud. The only thing that keeps it all intact (in Somaliland's case) is the more urgent drive for recognition. I don't think anything is keeping Puntland intact! The H thing that Baashe was telling me about all those years ago obviously stands for something else now, Hologram? I wonder how much influence AY has in all these sideshows?

Took them sixteen years to finally work out the obvious. But is it going to be a real state or just a protest state to annoy the Puntland president?

80s and 70s I remember, as a kid, trying to get into the building so that I can go to the top floor and look at the world beneath. The Indian security guard chased us away. Heh Heh Heh

I just ME