From the BBC:

“The winners of a quiz organised by Somali Islamists [in Kismayo] have been given weapons and ammunition as prizes…..Prizes included AK-47 assault rifles, hand grenades and an anti-tank mine.” Even the losers get prizes, “the runners-up did not go home empty-handed, taking away an AK-47 and bullets.” According to Al-Shabab spokesman, “The reason the young men were rewarded with weapons is to encourage them to participate in the ongoing holy war against the enemies of Allah in Somalia,” which, ladies and gentlemen, are the women and children of Somalia.

I wonder if the winners, with their heavier firepower, would try to kill and rob the runners-up.

Earth

As it is officially Blog Action Day ‘09 now, and the topic of this year being Climate Change, how about we care for our Mother Earth a little more, eh? We haven’t been exactly visiting her often even as She continues to look out for us (how about that wonderful Oxygen we can’t live without?), provide us food to fill our bellies (those of us fortunate enough to have such a luxury) and no matter what kind of seriously crap we dump onto Her, still looking out for us – isn’t time we give back to our Mother Earth?

Granted, we don’t all agree on the cause of climate change but we sure all love the air we breath, the fresh water we drink, and the magnificent natural landscapes that surrounds in all forms and manifestations. Do your part, my friends. Give some love to Mother Earth.

It is the 22nd anniversary of the assassination of Capt Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, orchastrated by France and its puppet tools for his stances against neocolonialism, anti-IMF/World Bank, and debts. But the most threatening thing about this 35 years old leader were his ideas that threatened both internal and external parasites. His progressive policies, social and economic, were ahead of their time to say the least.

Sankara

He was the first African leader to emphatically promote women’s rights and declare HIV/AIDS public health priority. He also stripped tribal chiefs the “right” to get forced-labor from their “subjects,” among other revolutionary policies during his military rule. He was the first and last African head of state to declare IMF/World Bank “aid loans” illegal and should not be paid by any poor country. They don’t make ‘em like that any more. Big up to all those who died for a cause!

If only Africa had leaders like him…

Somali pirates are not much liked these days; for a good reason many would argue. But we all know before the original pirates were hijacking commercial ships, they were lowly fishermen. Besides keeping toxic and nuclear waste dumping ships from the Somali coast, it turns out that they have also successfully kept illegal trawlers at bay from the coast. Now comes the insanely unexpected: Somali pirates have saved the livelihoods of not only Somali fishermen, but Kenyan fishermen as well. The further these pirates have gone out to the high seas to hijack ships, the more the ships (both legitimate and illegitimate ones) have stayed further away – resulting in almost no illegal trawlers entering in Kenya’s (as well as Somali’s, obviously) economic zone (200 miles from the coast) and territorial waters (12 miles) as these industrial illegal trawlers used to do before the rise of pirate hijackings in the horn.

Ironically what the government of Kenya could not do, that is protect its fisheries and marine life, has been done for them by Somali pirates – by accident. Now both Kenyan and Somali fishermen are catching more fish and have a decent life. More importantly, the ecosystem is returning to normal cycles, and fish population has dramatically increased, leading to two-fold benefits for the humans who rely on the ocean for livelihood and the marine life that is now healthy. Now, before I get any hate-mail on this subject, remember the smile on these happy fishermen…

PS: 20,000 Kenyan Shillings is about 250 U.S. dollars.

Tiken is a nightmare for corrupt politicians and oppressive governments around the world. More importantly, he is the voice of the oppressed everywhere. “If the people want to say something and they don’t have the right to say it, reggae music must do it.”

In December of 2006 Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, currently only-in-name president of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, was on the run from the Ethiopian army, the CIA, and the U.S. Rangers. He was hiding in the muddy swamps of Ras Kamboni at the southernmost tip of Somalia, recently kicked out from Moqadisho by Ethiopia. He and his Islamic Union Courts were considered to be terrorist by the Bush Administration and were hunted down by the U.S. and its allies. How time changes!

This week Sheikh Sharif is in Minneapolis, MN (and the home of this crazy congresswoman) meeting with Congressmen, Governor, and city councilmen/mayor. Couple of months ago he had a meeting with Secretary Clinton in Nairobi during her Africa trip. From terrorist to president for Sheikh Sharif in just two years. That, friends, must be a first.

To me this says a lot about the U.S.’s awful foreign policy than anything else.

As anyone who has had the misfortune of heartbreak knows there are some nasty side effects that cupid doesn’t tell his victims before they fall in love. I’m no expert on this topic but few side effects of love’s end I’ve noticed include:

• Absent-mindedly deleting your entire school work from your computer’s hard-drive (or other comparable important data)
• Many of those people who you curse at for crossing the red-light are not after all drunk or running away from a crime scene. They’re a victim of cupid; so give them a pass, will ya!
• Really cheesy one-hit wonder love songs from the 1980s all the suddenly become Shakespearean poetry to you
• You take a nap at 11:30am, only to realize sleep has also abandoned you as well
• Short-fusing and loss of appetite are a “collateral damages”

Now I wonder why anyone would choose a medicine that has these side effects.

So I went to pray Eid-ul-Fitr at the State Fair grounds as it is capable of providing enough space for everyone. This being a Sunday also meant that the State Fair is also home to our local flea market on the weekends. It just so happens that this particular weekend there is a “Military Antique Guns and Collectors” show right next to the building where over 7,000 terrorist-looking people and their children have come to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Call me schizophrenic nomad but I know certain things just don’t mix – not after 9/11. Good thing the prayer was over by 10am, before the concession stands were opened for alcohol serving with lots of fire arm around.

Eid Mubarak ya’ll.

As I watched the early NewsHour on Aljazeera this morning, I learned about the Palestinian women who are subjected to the humiliating and degrading internal body search at the hands of Israeli prison guards, suspected to be males. Also I learned about mothers in the Central African Republic who are struggling to save their malnourished children. An illness caused mainly by the loss of income as a result of the disturbed diamond mining operations in the region by the current global economic crisis. Also on previous news headlines, we come to learn of Afghans women’s role on the election. The Sudanese journalist arrested and jailed over wearing trousers. And the list go on about women struggling with diseases, such as breast cancer and HIV. Others who are struggling with domestic abuse, Female Genital multination, and drugs. Also we find great achievements of women holding higher governmental offices, women breaking a world record on sports, or conducting a highly valued scientific research. And fortunately we also find a headline story of a woman over the age of 100 who feels lonely and fearful that her 30 something years old husband would leave her (true story).

So with all of this in mind, I came to the following conclusion:

I found out that nothing would be more fascinating, at least to me, than to devote ones academic career to closely examine WOMEN. These complex, weak yet powerful creatures who shape almost every aspect of humans life. And to be brutally honest from the start, anyone who would argue against this fact is an idiot (just a personal opinion that does not represent the views of this blog owner). If one make the argument that women are not as influential as men, I simply say to you that a child’s character and behavior is fashioned by their mothers as early as the first trimester.

Every aspect of women life could seriously serve as an independent field of study (no joke). For example, their excessive concern with trends, fashion and cosmetics. Their unquestionable devotion to love. Their compassionate views. Their religious, political, economical, and social contributions. Their struggle for survival through wars, poverty, and the historically persisting unjust gender inequalities. Their obsession with soap operas and gossip. Their tender feelings and strong will. Their weakness which is itself a powerful strength. And most importantly is the indescribable mystery of motherhood.

would there be a more interesting earthly science worth pursuing in life than this? It is life itself.

Between Bobby Mugabe and the European Union, that is. Seven years it has been since an EU representative met with Uncle Bob. Oh what time does! Or lots of mineral resources that did the trick? After all, the Chinese were perfectly willing to give Uncle Bob all the money and political muscle to keep him in power in exchange for Zimbabwe’s vast mineral resources without all that democracy and rule of law crap that the West keeps blabbering about in public pronouncements.

Yes, Robert Mugabe all along knew that Western corporations would eventually put the pressure on their respective governments to not let the Chinese suckle all that mineral resource honey from Zimbabwe. Do I hear an State Department meeting with Mugabe? Oh yes – it is coming.