Tigger ??? ,,,

Tigger ??? ,,,

Have a nice weekend North ..... Hello Lily and Ibti ......

Nothing ,,,, i'm just questioning about the intensions behind the decision.

This is another act under the "war on terrorism" category. They want to control even the Zakat so that certain organizations/groups might not get the benefit when it is put under the government. It means the government will give this Zakat to whoever they want.

True ,,,, last time i read "The Day of the Jackle" the book was excellent ,,, then i couldn't wait to see the movie which was the most boring movie i've ever watched.

Dear Co-Workers, As many of you probably know, today is my last day. But before I leave, I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know what a great and distinct pleasure it has been to type “Today is my last day.” For nearly as long as I’ve worked here, I’ve hoped that I might one day leave this company. And now that this dream has become a reality, please know that I could not have reached this goal without your unending lack of support. Words cannot express my gratitude for the words of gratitude you did not express. I would especially like to thank all of my managers: in an age where miscommunication is all too common, you consistently impressed and inspired me with the sheer magnitude of your misinformation. It takes a strong man to admit his mistake - it takes a stronger man to attribute his mistake to me. Over the past three years, you have taught me more than I could ever ask for and, in most cases, ever did ask for. I have been fortunate enough to work with some absolutely interchangeable supervisors on a wide variety of seemingly identical projects - an invaluable lesson in overcoming daily tedium in overcoming daily tedium in overcoming daily tedium. Your demands were high and your patience short, but I take great solace knowing that my work was, as stated on my annual review, “mostly satisfactory.” That is the type of praise that sends a man home happy after even a 10 hour day, smiling his way through half a bottle of mostly satisfactory scotch. And to most of my peers: even though we barely acknowledged each other within these office walls, I hope that in the future, should we pass on the street, you will regard me the same way as I regard you: sans eye contact. But to those few souls with whom I’ve actually interacted, here are my personalized notes of farewell: To Rudy: I will always remember sharing lunch with you, despite having clearly labeled it with my name. To Steven: I will miss detecting your flatulence as much as you will clearly miss walking past my cubicle to deliver it. To Eileen: Best wishes on your ongoing campaign to popularize these “email forwards.” I sincerely hope you receive that weekend full of good luck, that hug from an old friend, and that baby for your dusty womb. To Felix: I left a new wristwatch on your desk. It is so that you might be able to still tell time even without your hourly phone call to let me know the copier is jammed. (Call Steven – he’ll come by.) And finally, to Kat: you were right - I tested positive. We’ll talk later. So, in parting, if I could pass on any word of advice to the individual who will soon be filling my position, it would be to cherish this experience like a sponge and soak it up like a good woman, because a job opportunity like this comes along only once in a lifetime. Meaning: if I had to work here again in this lifetime, I would sooner kill myself. Very truly yours, Chris Kula

which movie ??

haa dhamaantood way fiicnaayeen markii iigu dambaysay ,,

Odayaashii Beesha Jaamac Siyaad oo dib Xoriyadoodii uhelay saddex casho kadib Waxaa maanta lasii daayay oo dib xoriyadoodii loogu soo celiyay Odayaashii Beesha Jaamac Siyaad odaayshaas oo saddex maalmood ku xidhnaa duleedka magaalada Laascaanood ayna xidheen ciidamada Somaliland kadib markii ay kasoo kicitimeen dhanka magaalada Garowe. Odayaashan ayaa waxaa lagu eedeeyay inay wadeen hawlo ka dhan ah abaabul iyo kicin dadwayne oo ay ka samayn lahaayeen magaalada Yagoori oo ka socotay hawl xasaasi ah oo ku aadan Hub yaalay Xerada Tima waynta oo oo la isku hayay qaabka looga saari lahaa goobtaasi looguna wareeajin lahaa ciidamada Somaliland qaybta Mahad Canbaashe. Waxa ay goobtaasi ku xidhnaayeen muddo saddex casho ah iyadoo maalinimadii shalay lasii daayay Oday Caaqil Axmed Cabdi Gaas Cawke uuna ukicitimay dhanka magaalada Hargeisa oo uu kasii galayay safar dhanka dibada ah oo uu u aadayo caafimaad ahaan iyadoo ay goobtii ay Odayaashu ku xidhnaayeena ay ku hadheen afar Oday. Hadaba waxaa manta lasii daayay afartii Oday ee kale oao kala ahaa Caaqil Siciid Cashuur Abyan,Caaqil Salaad Xuseen,Kayse Maxamuud Indhataag iyo C/laahi Bilaale kadib markii ay masuuliyiinta Somaliland ee Gobolkla Sool ay cafis ufidiyeen ayna ka codsadeen Odayaasha inay isaga baxaan hawlaha ay ku jireen ayna xor uyihiin inay joogaan Gobolkooda. Mar aan wax ka waydiinay Odayaashii laga sii daayay goobtaasi qaabkii loola dhaqmay markii ay ku xidhnaayeen saldhiga ciidamada military ga Somaliland ayaa waxa ay sheegeen inaysan wax dhib ah arag si wacana loo la dhaqmay ayna ciidamadii iyo saraakiishii gacanta ku hayay waxba ugaysanin. Isku soo wada duuboo Odayaasha Beesha Jaamac Siytaad ee kau xidhnaa Saldhiga military ee duleedka magaalada Laascaanood ayaa waxa ay maanta dib uheleen xoriyadoodii waxaana markii lasii daaayay ay masuuliyiinta Somaliland ee Gobolka Sool ay shir kula qaateen Hotel Xamdi halkaas oo ay kaga wada hadleen xaaladaha ka jira Gobolka.

Hon. Siilaanyo is talking in response to the so-called vice presiden of bugland's press conference on the creation of new regions in Somaliland. Siilaanyo said it is up to Somaliland government and its people to create regions if they want and that call from Afqudhac is a desperate call with a jelousy. He mentioned his support of the new regions but questioned the timing and the intenstion behind the action.

There is a difference between qabiil and qabyaalad ,,, we can say we lifed with qabiil in the somali history but qabyaalad is not something we cannot proud of. Exercising qabiil/qabyaalad doesn't mean it is part of our culture even if that is such long long time. It is something we have to be ashamed of and try to change. Qabyaalad waa waxa soomaali halkaas dhigtay and yet you believe it is our culture.

Last week the Federal Register, the official journal of record for the acts of the United States government, carried notice that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in consultation with Attorney-General Michael B. Mukasey and Secretary of the Treasury Henry M. “Hank” Paulson, had formally designated al-Shabaab (“the youth”), the one-time military wing of the Islamic Courts Union which controlled much of Somalia for six months before being driven out by an Ethiopian intervention force in December 2006 and which has since spearheaded a brutal insurgency, “a Foreign Terrorist Organization under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (as amended) and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224 (as amended).” The legal consequences of the designations include a ban against providing material support or other assistance to the organization by individuals and groups within the United States as well as by U.S. persons. Politically, according to a media note published by the State Department’s spokesman, “designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to renounce terrorism.” The note also explained that “al-Shabaab is a violent and brutal extremist group with a number of individuals affiliated with al-Qaeda,” including many of its senior leaders who are “believed to have trained and fought with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.” Accompanying the press release, the State Department made available a pamphlet containing photographs of and brief notes on nine prominent leaders of al-Qaeda in East Africa and al-Shabaab. The figures singled out by the State Department are familiar to readers of this column as their names have appeared here repeatedly over the past two years, including as recently as three weeks ago when I summarized: The “high value terrorists” currently thought to be operating in Somali territory include Hassan Dahir ‘Aweys, former shura council head for the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) who was pm the original list of 189 terrorist individuals and organizations specially designated by the U.S. government under Executive Order 13224 in the wake of 9/11; his kinsman, Adan Hashi ‘Ayro, the al-Qaeda-trained militant who originally led al-Shabaab (“the Youth”), an extremist group within the ICU that is now spearheading the insurgency; Fazul Abdullah Muhammad, a long-time member of al-Qaeda in East Africa who figures on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list with a $5 million bounty on his head for his role in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya; Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan al-Qaeda operative wanted for his involvement in the embassy attacks as well as the 2002 suicide bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, that killed fifteen people and a simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner; Hassan Abdullah Hersi al-Turki, a veteran of the ICU’s pan-Somali precursor group, al-Itihaad al-Islamiya, as well as the ICU council who is reputed to head al-Qaeda’s East Africa cell; Mukhtar Robow, a.k.a., Abu Mansur, the former deputy defense minister of the ICU who fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan; Issa Osman Issa, another al-Qaeda member wanted for his role in the East Africa embassy bombings; Ahmad Abdi Godane, an al-Shabaab leader trained by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan wanted for his role in the murders of Western aid workers in the Republic of Somaliland; and Ibrahim Haji Jama, a.k.a. “al-Afghani,” another al-Shabaab leader who trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and is a veteran of terrorist campaigns there as well as in Kashmir and in Somaliland. The State Department enumerated a number of reasons for the designation of al-Shabaab at this time: Al-Shabaab has used intimidation and violence to undermine the Somali government and threatened civil society activists working to bring about peace through political dialogue and reconciliation. The group scattered leaflets on the streets of Mogadishu warning participants in last year’s reconciliation conference that they intended to bomb the conference venue. Al-Shabaab promised to shoot anyone planning to attend the conference and to blow up delegates’ cars and hotels. Although al-Shabaab did not carry out these particular threats, the group has claimed responsibility for shooting Deputy District Administrators, as well as several bombings and shootings in Mogadishu targeting Ethiopian troops and Somali government officials. Al-Shabaab’s leader, Adan Hashi ‘Ayro, has ordered his fighters to attack African Union (AU) troops based in Mogadishu. ‘Ayro has also called for foreign fighters to join al-Shabaab in their fight in Somalia. Consequently, the State Department spokesman concluded, “Given the threat that al-Shabaab poses, the designation will raise awareness of al-Shabaab’s activities and help undercut the group’s ability to threaten targets in and destabilize the Horn of Africa region.” Achieving this goal, however, will require much more than a mere legal designation that was quickly mocked by the intended targets. Mukhtar Robow, for example, told South Africa’s Naspers newspapers that “We are happy that the U.S. put us on the list of terrorists, a name given to pure Muslims, who are strong and clear in their religious position, by the West…We would have been happy to be the first but now we are unhappy that we are the last.” To prove that they were not deterred by the American designation, just two days after the announcement, insurgents linked to al-Shabaab overran two bases near Mogadishu’s storied Bakara market belonging to the internationally-recognized, but otherwise utterly ineffective “Transitional Federal Government” (TFG) of Somalia. To the cheers of hundreds of sympathizers who poured into the street, the militants forced government soldiers to retreat, abandoning several armored vehicles in the process. More than a year ago, even as the Ethiopian offensive against the ICU forces was still underway, I warned in this column space: “Unless the al-Qaeda-linked ICU leadership is utterly and unambiguously defeated – or, in all frankness, better yet, eliminated – they could turn the region between Kismaayo and the Kenyan border, into a terrorist hub that exports the conflict from Somali territory across the subregion. It is certainly conceivable that, having been beaten in conventional fighting but not quite destroyed, the Islamists and their foreign supporters could adopt the same non-conventional tactics that foreign jihadis and Sunni Arab insurgents have used to great effect in Iraq.” All of this has, unfortunately, come to pass, including the establishment of a terrorist training base near the Kenya-Somalia border by al-Turki which has attracted the high-value terrorists who were the target of a U.S. Navy strike at the beginning of the month (see W. Thomas Smith Jr.’s report on the incident for Human Events). Dealing with this threat will require a comprehensive strategy, the elements of which will include: ▪ Cutting al-Shabaab’s foreign sources of assistance. While there is evidence – including some originally published in this column nearly two years ago – that the Somali Islamists have received some support from U.S.-based sources, most of the material assistance they receive comes from Islamists in either the East African subregion or the Middle East. More concerted efforts must be made to cut off the militants’ access to these channels. However, like terrorist groups everywhere, al-Shabaab also needs at the very least the tacit support of a territorial state in order to carry out its logistical operation. As reported here last year, both United Nations and U.S. officials confirmed that Eritrea has played a key role in delivering “an unknown quantity of surface-to-air missiles, suicide belts, explosives with timers and detonators, and other armaments to the Islamists and other insurgents” in Mogadishu. Furthermore, as I likewise chronicled, Eritrea also plays host the anti-TFG political coalition, the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (originally the Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia), which is directly linked with some components of al-Shabaab. Hence, it would not be surprising if the designation of al-Shabaab as a terrorist organization is eventually followed by the designation of one of its principal enablers as a state sponsor of terrorism. ▪ Addressing the question of political inclusiveness. While all al-Shabaab militants are Islamists, it does not follow that all Islamists are members of al-Shabaab. However, as I have reported previously, the TFG has not only proven itself utterly unwilling to reach out to moderate Islamists like the exiled Ibrahim Hassan Adow, onetime foreign secretary of the ICU, but also even to enter into constructive dialogue with non-Islamist members of rival clans, including the ******, who predominate in Mogadishu. Irrespective of whether TFG “president” Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, a ********** subclansman of the ***** clan from northeastern Puntland, likes these groups or not, they represent considerable constituencies which need to be brought into the search for a political solution. A forceful signal needs to be sent to the TFG that it is entirely dispensable: if it cannot manage a process which gives the international community the modicum of stability it requires out of southern Somalia, there is no reason to maintain the expensive political life support for this fourteenth attempt at a Somali government since 1991, an entity so risible that the fact that it actually does precious little governing of any kind did not prevent TFG “prime minister” Nur Hassan Hussein from appointing last November a cabinet of 31 “ministers,” 31 “deputy ministers,” and 11 “state ministers” to engage in the farce. ▪ Deploying in an interim security force. Despite a formal African Union commitment to and UN Security Council authorization for the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), so far only about 1,600 Ugandan soldiers who deployed more than a year ago and roughly 400 Burundians who joined them earlier this year have arrived. Unfortunately, this paltry force renders impossible any drawing down by the Ethiopians whose very presence in Mogadishu remains a sore point with many Somalis, despite the service the neighboring state’s timely intervention did everyone by ousting the ICU,. Although I noted over a year ago that “even if U.S. and European envoys manage to cajole [African] countries into contributing the rest of the 8,000 peacekeepers to take the place of the withdrawing Ethiopian intervention force, it is beyond delusional to think that such a modest contingent of Africans can succeed where the infinitely more robust UNITAF and UNOSOM II forces, with their 37,000 and 28,000 personnel respectively, failed barely a decade ago,” with respect to their “nation-building” ambitions, the full deployment of AMISOM would at least help ensure the flow of humanitarian aid to the estimated 2 million Somalis – roughly one-third of the population – that require assistance due to the cumulative effects of conflict, drought, and displacement. Unfortunately, the spectacle of the assault on the Bakara market last week while a delegation of Nigerian military officers was visiting probably did little to persuade Africa’s giant – or anyone else for that matter – to step up to the plate. (In this context, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s report to the Security Council last week outlining four scenarios under which a UN military force of up to 27,000, complemented by 1,500 police, would be sent to Somalia is, at best, a rhetorical exercise.) ▪ Recognizing the reality of the situation. As I have repeatedly argued, given that the international community is both unlikely to use force to impose order on Somalia and unwilling to support extensive nation-building efforts, its primary strategic objective must therefore be to prevent terrorist groups like al-Shabaab from spreading their extremist ideology throughout a geopolitically sensitive theatre. This will require, among other things, the U.S. and its counterterrorism allies dealing with effective subregional authorities who would be part of a “coalition of the willing” in such an effort, including the stable northern Republic of Somaliland, a road map for engagement with which I presented last month. In short, while the terrorism designation is a significant step, if it is to have any real effect, it must be followed up with a comprehensive program of resolute and sustained political, diplomatic, and security action aimed at quarantining and, eventually, eliminating the threat posed by al-Shabaab and other sources of instability that have found in the ungoverned space of the former Somali state a congenial operational environment. web page

Axmed-siilaanyo oo daadafeeyey hadal ka soo yeedhay madaxda Puntland Hargeysa (Jam)- Guddoomiyaha xisbiga mucaaridka ah ee KULMIYE Md. Axmed Maxamed Maxamuud (Siilaanyo), ayaa hadal bilaa macne ah oo meel waayey ku tilmaamay hadal uu Madaxweyne-ku-xigeenka Maamulka Garoowe Xasan Daahir (Af-qudhac) uu ku dhaleecayey magacaabista Madaxweyne Rayaale ee gobolladda iyo degmooyinka cusub ee Somaliland. Md. Axmed-siilaanyo oo shalay u waramayey talafishanka madaxa-bannaan ee SLSC, waxa uu sheegay in aayo ka talinta dhulka Somaliland ay u taalo ummadda iyo qaranka Somaliland, basle aanay ahayn mid u taala Puntland iyo cid kale toona. “Waa hadal meel waayey, taasi mid meesha taala oo uu xaq u leeyahay maaha, gobollada iyo degmooyinka dalka Somaliland ku dhawaaqayso waxay u taalaa dawladda iyo qaranka Somaliland, markaa waxa uu hadalkaasi iska ahaa mid meel waayey oo aan lahayn wax ka soo qaad, hisaane ku fadhiya,” ayuu yidhi Md. Siilaanyo oo ka hadlayey hadalka ka soo yeedhay Madaxweyne-ku-xigeenka Puntland, waxaanu intaa ku daray, “Somaliland maanta waa mid, waa Somaliland-tii taariikhdu dhigaysay ee dadka walaalaha ah ee taariikhda iyo xuduud midaynaysay, sida waddamada kale ee Afrika ay u midaynaysay, ayey maanta isku soo noqday oo isku dan ah. Markaa taasi waa arrin Somaliland u taala ee maaha arrinta qolodaa [Puntland] u taala.” Waxa kale oo Guddoomiyaha xisbiga KULMIYE Md. Axmed-siilaanyo ku taageeray waraysigaasi go’aankii Madaxweyne Rayaale ku magacaabay gobolada cusub ee dalka, isla markaana ay iminka ka hor iyagu soo jeediyeen in gobolo cusub meelo ku munaasib ah loo magacaabo waddanka. Md. Siilaanyo waxa uu xusay in mar walba xisbi ahaa ay taageerayaan wixii shacabka dan u ah, balse la iswaydiin karo ujeedada, qaabka loo abuuray iyo waqtiga lagu soo beegay magacaabista gobolladan cusub, taasi oo uu ku tilmaamay inay tahay mid deg deg ah oo aan qorshe lahayn, iyadoo hadalkii Wasaaradda Arrimaha Gudaha ka soo baxay ee ahaa in deegaanka aan u qalmin degmo ama gobol laga noqonayo wixii loo magaacay uu xusay inay ka habboonayd in intaan la magacaabin deegaamadaasi lagu sameeyo samahin ballaadhan. Jamhuuriya Online

Waa lagu salaamay DD ,,,, ma fahmayo waxan kele eed ka hadlaysaane ,,,, sow lama fiicna uun ,,

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Founded with the express purpose of "ingathering of the exiles" — but with no more large groups of Jews to save — Israel is facing the end of the era of mass aliyah. Recent reports that the Jewish Agency for Israel was considering shutting down its flagship aliyah department have prompted discussion about the future of immigration to Israel even as agency officials quickly denied the department was closing. "Israel cannot throw away the idea of aliyah because it is one of basics of the ideology of having a Jewish state," said David Raz, a former Jewish Agency emissary abroad. "You have to create a situation that people will want to come, from the element of being together with Jews. But it’s not simple. There is a trickle, but basically from the free world the majority does not want to come.” The crux of the matter is that immigration of necessity — also called “push aliyah” — is largely at its end, with few Jews left in the Diaspora who need the Jewish state as a haven from persecution or dire economic straits. The Jews of the Arab world fled to Israel in the 1950s, Russian-speaking Jews flocked here in the 1990s and Ethiopians came over the course of the past 25 years. With nothing pushing mass immigration of Jews today, all that remains are the few immigrants of choice — also known as “pull” immigrants. Officials involved with aliyah say they expect no more than 15,000 or so new immigrants to Israel this year. "You have Jews in the West who live very comfortably under pluralistic governments that give them unprecedented social and economic opportunities and let them live Jewish lives,” said Uzi Rebhun, a demographer at Hebrew University’s Institute of Contemporary Jewry. “In turn, aliyah to Israel has gone down.” With the pool of potential push immigrants drying up, officials like Oded Salomon, the director-general of aliyah and absorption for the Jewish Agency, are thinking about how to pull Jews to Israel in new and different ways. Salomon says the focus now is on educational programs that bring young Jews to Israel in the hope of fostering lifelong connections to the Jewish state and creating new immigrants. The Jewish Agency wants to create a special visa for visiting Diaspora Jews who want to explore the idea of aliyah by living in Israel for a few months. Such arrivals would be assisted with finding volunteer or work positions and Hebrew study. Aliyah officials also are embracing the notion of “flexible aliyah” in which immigrants split their time between Israel and the Diaspora. About 10 percent of immigrants who have made aliyah with the assistance of Nefesh B’Nefesh, which facilitates aliyah from North America and Britain with cash grants and assistance, divide their time between Israel and jobs abroad. Other ideas to attract a new kind of aliyah being discussed include retirement communities near Eilat for American Jewish retirees to the creation of an all-French-speaking town. Israel has experienced other periods of sluggish immigration, such as the 1970s and 1980s, but in those eras there were large communities of Jews unable to emigrate and come to the Jewish state, such as those in the Soviet Union. Today, however, the Jews who remain in the former Soviet Union are either too old to immigrate or prefer to stay put in countries where improved economies and more democratic freedoms have made life in the Diaspora more attractive. Mass immigration from Ethiopia — where politics, economics and religious ideology sent tens of thousands of Jews to Israel over the past quarter century — is expected to end some time this summer. The Jewish Agency plans to shut its Ethiopian offices and bring home its staff when the last arrivals come. Yuli Edelstein, the former Soviet refusnik and prisoner of Zion who later served as Israel’s absorption minister, said Israel must make sure it can provide both meaningful professional opportunities and meaningful Jewish life if it wants to see significant immigration to the country. "This is a real period of rethinking," Edelstein told JTA, noting the economic and professional opportunities Jews have in the West. "Without a Jewish motivation for being here, it will be much more difficult to attract people." Among Israelis, too, the ethos of aliyah has dampened in recent years, a far cry from when it was described by the drafters of Israel’s Declaration of Independence in 1948 as the part of the vision of "the prophets of Israel.” "I don’t think aliyah is on the agenda of Israeli society," Rebhun said. Despite the country’s founding mission, he said, "Sixty years after the State of Israel was established, most Jews still live outside of Israel." Sergio Della Pergola, a demographer from Hebrew University who also is associated with the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, a Jerusalem think tank, says many potential immigrants are put off by the bureaucracy and difficulties of Israeli life, not to mention Israel’s security situation. DellaPergola says major reforms are needed to help ease the path of immigrants, especially when it comes to accepting degrees and professional credentials earned abroad. Despite plans for a new set of tax breaks for new immigrants and other ideas to help pave the way for potential immigrants, at the end of the day immigrants will come to Israel only if they see in the Jewish state the promise of a fulfilling Jewish life, DellaPergola said. "If it’s a country just like any other,” he said, “then why come here?" Dina Kraft Source: http://www.jta.org

THERE has been some quite interesting reaction arising from the piece in this column last week on Somaliland titled: Somaliland: A Viable state but unrecognised. IN an SMS text message to me one reader wrote: “Rarely do I agree with what you write but today I do. The African Union as well as the United Nations must recognise Somaliland to prove that they are not rubber stamps of George W. Bush. If America has recognised Kosovo, the AU should recognise Somaliland. Otherwise, Somaliland should seek Iran and Russian support!” I did allow myself a little grin having read the unsigned telephone text message from a reader of this column. I have since been consulting the super information highway, the Internet and have come to discover that among frequent visitors to Somaliland of recently has been Gendayi Fraser, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. I really do not know what this African American lady has been up to in Somaliland. But if these visits to the little country in the Horn of Africa has been aimed at striking a quid pro quo -- “become our small outpost here - and we will prop you up to gain international recognition” - fine. What matters for me as a bottom line is how leaders of Somaliland will want to play their cards with the Americans. The Americans have their interests as a nation and Somaliland leaders must know their interests as a small country! And frankly, it is not true that practically everything the Americans do is wrong: No. I was among the first who applauded the American led NATO initiative to reverse ethnic cleansing in the Balkans during the presidency of President Bill Clinton. The recognition of Kosovo is therefore a logical and appropriate response to that initiative. But what is of remarkable misnomer here is when the international community looks away at a toddler nation born out of impossible circumstances - the disappearance of an erstwhile unitary state of Somalia into anarchy and chaos. As we saw last week, Somaliland was a British Protectorate for over 80 years while Somalia was Italian-ruled. At Somaliland independence in 1960, it went into a hasty Union with Italian ruled Somalia in the south to create a unified Somali Republic. But the eras of coups in the mid-sixties brought catastrophe to this unified Somali Republic when General Mohamed Siad Barre pulled his coup. As a result of Siad Barre’s undemocratic move, there was resistance in Somaliland aimed at reasserting itself as in the days at independence in 1960. But the overthrow of Siad Barre himself in 1991 plunged Somalia deeper into further chaos, which is yet to recover. But Somaliland has since the mid-nineties reasserted itself as a separate country from the erstwhile military government of Siad Barre. The other day, I allowed myself a little research on what Somaliland government looks like. I have since discovered Somaliland is a constitutional multi-party state, comprising the president, vice-president, and the legislature - parliament. Legislative power is vested into the House of Representatives and House of Elders (senate). With a population of 3.5 million people, Somaliland runs competitive politics with three major political parties. The last vote was taken in 2003 and the next vote is due July and August of this year. In the last vote, Mr Dahir Riyale Kahin of the Unity, Democracy and Independence Party won the presidential vote over two competitors. He presides over a 27-man cabinet. What is most instructive about Somaliland’s form of democracy is its capability to fuse western-style institutions of government with its own traditional forms of social and political organization. Its bicameral parliament reflects this fusion of traditional and modern, with the Senate consisting of traditional elders and the House of Representatives consisting of elected representatives. But how has Somaliland survived without international recognition and therefore without “international donor support” most African countries enjoy? Hard information coming my way reveals that Somaliland, an essentially livestock economy, is doing very well in its bilateral trade with countries such as Saudi Arabia. It has managed to make its capital Hargeisa function normally like any other city of a modern country, with working traffic lights and has put up even two universities of international standards. Today, according to hard information, Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland is among the safest towns in Africa. But the irony here is that while there is no government worth its name in Mogadishu (Somalia) but it is the “government” of the Ethiopian occupied capital that is recognised by the United Nations, keeping a blind eye on a Somaliland government that is democratically elected and doing wonders without donor support except the efforts of the people themselves. So Somaliland is soldiering on with virtually no external help. Whilst Somalilanders in the diaspora have heavily supported economic development, lack of international recognition has meant that Somaliland does not qualify for bilateral aid or support from international financial institutions. But according to observers, this isolation has not however resulted in isolationism. Lack of access to external aid has forced this country of 3.5 million people to become more self-reliant than many African states. Along with self-reliance, Somaliland is succeeding to unite its people above clannish divides, which have seen its southern flanks in the name of the former Italy-ruled Somalia disintegrate and disappear as a cohesive state. As I argued in the last perspective, the very reason that Somaliland has managed to evolve as a sustainable state is an adequate reason to reward it with immediate international recognition to serve as a spur and catalysts to its southern brethren now at each other’s throats. The same reasons that may have spurred the United States and its western allies to offer recognition to the newly born state of Kosovo cannot be contradictory to what Somaliland deserves today. Tanzania Standard Newspaper

KARATE QUOTES: "Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now put water into a cup, it becomes a cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water into a teapot, it becomes a teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water my friend." ~ Bruce Lee Karate-Do is a lifetime study." ~ Kenwa Mabuni "A punch should stay like a treasure in the sleeve. It should not be used indiscrimately." ~ Chotoku Kyan "The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants." ~ Gichin Funakoshi "To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest skill." ~ Sun-Tsu ~The Art of War When you look at life think in terms of karate. But remember that karate is not only karate -- it is life. ~ Gichin Funakoshi "Karate practice is for the whole life; while one breaths, one practices." ~ Unknown "Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom" ~ Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching "Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know." ~ Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching "Using no way as way. Having no limitation as limitation." ~ Bruce Lee "Karate begins and ends with courtesy." ~ Gichin Funakoshi "Even after many years, kata practice is never finished, for there is always something new to be learned about executing a movement." ~ Shoshin Nagamine "No matter how you may excel in the art of te, and in your scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior and your humanity as observed in daily life." ~ Teijunsoku (Nago Oyakata) "Karate-do is definitely a martial way, and its identity lies in do or principles. Any martial art without proper training of the mind turns into beastly behavior." ~ Shoshin Nagamine "Karate-do may be referred to as the conflict within yourself, or a life-long marathon which can be won only through self-discipline, hard training, and your own creative efforts." ~ Shoshin Nagamine

It is called ISKU DHEX KARIS ,,,,,, Aniguna NIN baaban moodayay oo waan yaabay ,,,, cajiib ! ! ! ! !

burning his two-month-old daughter in a microwave oven Yaa huba inuu dhalay ?? ,,,, i think waa loo dhalay hadii kele sidaa muu yeeleen ,,

yaa dhalay ,, yaa loo dhalay ?? Hello Mr. Coach ,,,

qabiil & qabyaalada is at the core of Somali culture How so ???

Malika, i'm talking inside the country can't talk about those in the west. Seems they're far far away and can hardly understand the real life here in SL. I'm close to Rayaale that he is my President. North, i know it has its political move in an election year but i'm not concerned the intenstion as every President would do the same thing at this time ,,,

Well, i can't be your teacher for this. There are plenty of other members from that region who can enlight you. Somaliland is there to stay no matter what someone accuse it.

well, ppl have different thoughts on this. The majority goes with the new action. I believe it is a good move indeed although it will need more efforts and money at first.