1. Long live the burcad badeed! 2. The name-calling in the politics section is nothing compared to the cloud of noxious unpleasantness that has recently descended upon the General Section.

The best way to enjoy a country is to not go to a tourist area in the first place, be it a xalaal or xaraam tourist area. Just do some independent traveling, it's SO MUCH more worth it.

Hamas is not Salafi, nor evil, nor none of the stuff people lump on them. Go to Gaza (if Israel&Egypt let you in of course) and go see how the people live. Christians worship openly, the church bells ring, you can see women wearing their hair uncovered, and there is harmony between Christians and Muslims. I don't know where you get your info on Hamas, Raamsade, but if you followed the BBC or Reuters, or any reliable news source (I'd also say Al-Jazeera English, but you'd probably object), you'd know they're nothing like Shabaab & co.

^I'm sure Allah knows better than us who will and won't get into heaven. Talking with such certitude of what people go where when they die is usurping the Lord's authority. The decision is His in the end.

<3 BBC

^that's right. There are drugs to treat leprosy, you don't need children's blood.

^He was being sarcastic

^I concur

^Maybe men just get bored with one woman.

As a matter of fact Rayyan, the Politics section used to be a lot more savage in the past. Now, as the war has yet again winded down to a stalemate, there isn't so much to talk about anymore, except the usual "X civilians dead, X village taken over by govt troops, re-taken by Shabaab". Oh and the scandalous handovers of certain freedom fighters of a certain clan, whom members of other clans think they "had it coming". So the clan element is still there, but it's not as bad as it used to be.

OK, let's get down to what this all is REALLY about. There is NO WAY Al-Shabaab is going to remove the President from power. If it was to be done, it would have been done in May of last year. All momentum has been lost and you (Shaakirullaah & co.) know that very well. It is equally unlikely that the government is going to take over Shabaab territory. So what we have is a stalemate. No one is winning, and only the innocent people caught in the middle are suffering. Sounds to me like the perfect time to negotiate. You can cry "apostate" all you want, it isn't going to get you anywhere. Even in the unlikely event that you DO manage to take over Somalia and put it under the black flag, Ethiopia or perhaps even the US will bomb everything into the ground. So this never-ending war has no winners. Stop being stubborn, and take advantage of your superior negotiating position (you hold the territory, you hold most of the cards). The government has said it will talk (and it has little choice anyway), now it's your turn to talk. We all know that there are international interests for this war to continue, but it's a pity Somalis have to play into this scheme.

I'm doing good alxamdulillah You?

The Guardian has always been a top quality paper.

Nice toenails.

oh dear

Not a day passes by without us arguing over some silly thing on SOL. What happened to all the music/book/movie threads?

Originally posted by Geel_jire: ^ are you aware that shabeel doesnt actually mean leapord. Shabeel = tiger I'm preeetty sure it means leopard. Isn't that where the river Shabeelle got its name? To my knowledge, there are no tigers in Africa.

That low resolution picture just burnt through my cornea. Seriously though, why do you cry "pirateland" all day, when you yourselves are run by a gigantic crook? At least the pirates don't steal from their own people.

LOL I'm down!

LOOOOOOOL Sayid I saw that this morning on BBC and saved it on my computer so I can send it to my dad. Khayr, my favorite animal is the leopard. It's not the strongest, it's not the fastest, but it can haul prey twice its own weight up in a tree. You can find leopards almost all over Africa & Asia. It's an incredibly versatile animal, and I thought to myself, if I could be in my music like the leopard is in its life, that would be a good goal to set for myself. And I don't think there is a language in the world that has a nicer name for leopard than Somali.

My somali alias goes waaay back before this forum. And yes, I have Somali friends, and yes, I can read Somali. But I can't understand it very well. Any further questions officer?

I don't think there's anyway you can compensate (financially or through apologies) for all those lives that were destroyed. You just have to live with the knowledge that it happened.

wandering on google lol

Originally posted by Khayr: what language is that? Romanian.

Maybe it's cuz they eat coud to give them superhuman strength. Anyway, that dude is ugly. Now HERE is a handsome man: