Edit In most cultures yes, mainly because there's a virtual window of age where its deemed a woman should be getting married in (usually late teens- mid twenties in ours), men of course can get married whenever- although ppl start talking after 35 Are you a dreamer, or do you just get on with life?

lol, yes- but everybody is in my field- the training is like a prison sentence. Luckily it takes years to realise just how much of a commitment you've made What was the last historical novel you read?

If one were to settle scores with Baashi fishing for lapses is understandable and dare I say part of the game. But I still believe the man made a very unassailable point! For those who are able to put the pen on a paper so to say it would be wise and worth of their time to contribute in a meaningful manner and forgo the urge to nitpick and find faults----that’s a cowardly habit adeer ! My dear man, i have no reason to nitpick- nor have i decided to highlight his self-dissembling writing to settle some kind of cyber-score. His message of reconciliation is hardly revolutionary, and he contradicts himself by then using offensive language against another qabiil, whilst exhibitng the possessiveness associated with qabiilists. Dont look so suprised he is being criticised for this.

A revealing momentary lapse no matter if we're ignorant of Baashi's life-story , Xiin. It is ridiculous to maintain that his writing still has some integrity(in any context) after he argues for reconciliation but manages to do some serious qabiil name-calling on the side.

How shameful to descend to crude qabiil name-calling. A good example of how one can mouth 'reconciliation', yet still maintain bitter qabiilist sentiments. Hardly something new, certainly not something an enlighted individual can harbour.

I might be jumping the gun, but this is the latest on the BBC news website: Teenager dies after park attack Police believe the attack happened after the man got off a bus A teenager has died in hospital after an attack with a "blunt instrument" in a west London park. Police found Fuad Buraleh , 19, from Hayes, after they were called to Dean Gardens, West Ealing, in the early hours of the morning. He was taken to hospital but died 40 minutes later from head injuries. A murder inquiry has been launched. Dean Gardens and part of Uxbridge Road have been closed while forensic experts examine the area. Bus dispute A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said detectives believed the victim had been out socialising in the Ealing area before he was attacked. He is believed to have been making his way home with a friend when they got into a dispute after getting off a bus on Northfield Avenue, close to where he was found. A post-mortem examination is taking place at Uxbridge mortuary and his next of kin have been informed.

^^ His reason for ignoring the plight and facilitating the continuing massacre of Somalis is probably to do with qabiil (and a good salary). It is a sign that we have reached an ultimate low.

Addressing the deep seated clan grievance is the key to all other problems. To do that folks have to convene genuine and all inclusive reconcilliation process. They need to understand that the dirrin approach is not an event. It is a process. I think we can safely say that the overwhelming majority of Somalis know(or will if we see another decade of hopeless turmoil) that a transparent and genuinely inclusive process is required. The real problem is finding the right people to initiate and deliver this process.

Not a chance Are you squeamish, do you think for example you could keep your cool when confronted by a mutilated corpse?

what holiday, i've just come from a 3 hour exam, and i'm doing it all over again tomorrow You any good at chess?

Ghanima if you ask me, you've got the ideal candidate for your project

You want a pat on the back?

Dutch National team of '98. what does 2008 mean to you?

edit

Basically a Somali mother took her 9 year old daughter to Hajj with her, during the course of the Hajj she lost her. After a period of desperate searching and seeking help, she want back to Australia on her own- awaiting news from the Australian and Saudi ministeries. Three years later she returned to Hajj, once there she happened to walk past a group of mutilated street beggars(common sight, they're also invariably black), and lo and behold one of them was actually her daughter- missing both her hands. The mother started crying and screaming and was confronted by the 'father' of the children, the police promptly took them all to the police office. The girl was questioned, she told them she had lost her mother 3 years ago during Hajj, a DNA test confirmed this was her mother. The Sudanese 'father' (i think pimp is a more suitable word) was duly executed,the mother returned with her maimed child to Australia.

One other note - I think people should be careful about distinguishing what really matters. It matters not whether you get married at 15 or you or your spouse are uneducated and unskilled. What matters is your character and work ethic. Yes, and the 'character' of underachieving teenagers are quite developed. We are not talking about teenagers who work and have set their eyes on marriage, we are talking about parents urging and pursuading their underachieving teenagers to get married sooner- so as to get settled, and perhaps lead a more passive life(they hope). The old somali proverb 'Qofka tiisa daryeela ba tukale ku dara' is definately true here, how can we expect teenagers (15-19) to get married and raise kids, when they themselves do not have the maturity or the sensibility to make something out of their own lives? Large families is what we've brought with us to the West, it hasn't been ideal for our households- nevertheless at least the number of children per household should decrease with this generation. The more worrying issue which can come under this umbrella of 'family planning' is that of increasing numbers of teenage marriages. The disparity between the sexes, is significant and we can assume the lack of a genuine father-figure is perhaps to blame coupled with greater exposure to 'the streets'.

I’m not sure where you reside, but here in Australia it is still an issue. Basically our generation is repeating the mistakes of the ones before us. Just the other day I ran into an old neighbour, a few years younger than I who now has three children, the eldest is two. Her husband is a labourer with no education, she hasn’t finished high school and they live in the same housing complex her parents live in. All of this doesn’t surprise me really because I see it on a daily basis here. Young girls, 15 year olds are aspiring for marriage. Very true Rahima, i can think of several such individuals where i live, but on the whole whilst they aren't horribly good at planning their lives yet- i think they'll baulk at the idea of 6 or more children. Another worrying trend is that of parents encouraging their teenage kids to marry early, to get them 'settled' as soon as possible. Especially those they think are under-achievers or are easily led astray.

Family planning is not an issue of today though, not for this current generation who will be more or less adopting the Western(or should that be 'modern')values of limiting the number of mouths to feed. An issue which still poses a threat is that of identity and the meager amount of Somali culture that rubs off on todays youths. It seems that the more accustomed they are to their Somali heritage and Islamic culture, the lesser the likelihood of them roaming the streets acculturising with the undesirable aspects of British society. Secondly the issue of malfunctioning families, some of the underlying causes were to be expected- The first generation of Somali immigrants are in the majority unemployed or unemployable. Mothers are busy with child-rearing, leaving a large population of unemployed fathers-many of whom in our community have inevitably turned to qat-chewing and the like. Not the best of father-figures. So kids grow up in a single mother environment, with the addition of a bad father-figure. It all boils down to responsible parenting at the end of the day, parents who will see to it that their kids receive the academic,islamic and cultural education they need to establish their identity - and who will inspire them to achieve.

Lost Boys By: Rageh Omaar & Paul Sapin Lost to their community and lost to their faith, young Somali men of London are turning to ever more violent forms of street crime. Victims of their own alienation But it was only when 18-year-old Somali Mahir Osman was murdered in Camden by a 30-strong Somali gang in January 2006, did Somali clan elders realise that things had spiralled beyond their control. The police got involved and the outcome was three gang members sentenced to life imprisonment, with five others sentenced to lesser jail terms. Somalis today form the largest ethnic group among young offenders incarcerated in the notorious Feltham Young Offender Institution south of London. In this powerful authored documentary, Rageh Omaar pursues the stories of three recent murders – in Woolwich, Camden and Southall - to try to understand why this new generation of young Somali men are underachieving in education - and what makes them turn on each other. He speaks to Mahir Osman’s mother, Asha, who believes that the boys struggle because they don't identify with any culture. "They haven’t got Somali culture, they haven't got English culture. They don’t know what they're doing. Really, they don't know. They're a lost generation." Rageh also goes on the airwaves at a local Muslim radio station to appeal for insight. A mother grieves for her lost son Through personal meetings with disgruntled Somali boys, with elders who have taken to patrolling the streets by night for loiterers, and with an extraordinary reconciliation between the parents of Mahir Osman and his killer's parents, Rageh learns that a lack of guidance could be the basis of the youth falling astray. "Quite a lot of things struck me about what they said," he explains, "But two things stand out. One of them was when one of the boys said: 'You see them, the older Somali guys? They're here day and night, chewing qat, they're spending the family's money, they're not with the kids, they're certainly not giving us any guidance…how on earth can we respect them? And if they dare to try and discipline us, none of us would stand for it.' "And just as I was leaving," Rageh continues, "one of the boys said something that was really powerful. He said: 'Why are we talking about this when it's ten years too late?'" It is a sobering thought that a genuinely 'lost' generation is upon us, although these issues of identity and general social disintegration are always endemic in any Diaspora.

Nehanda, you remind me of this Witness episode:

I have access to it, PM me what you need

maar waarom alleen in Nederlands?

With the hundreds who perished when she arrived in Karachi, and with the general situation in the country, It was very unwise of her to refuse the government's offer. She must have thought it would either be a farce or that it would seriously impede her strong public performances or both. Then again this happened in Rawalpindi, apparently a garrison city, so it would be interesting to know how much the regime knew about this.

I was watching BBCNews24 online as this story broke. Her security was horrendous.

The theme was probably written by a non-Soomaali It sounds distinctly Somali, i don't know what made you think otherwise, Ayoub thanks for clarifying. GG, i'm afraid i'm allergic to Sci-fi