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Archive for October, 2008

Somali President Storms out IGAD meeting

In East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia on October 28, 2008 at 9:12 pm

Even though I quit following and reading about the farcical and primitive Somali politics, i just heard from friends and acquaintances that Yeey – that is the nickname of the Somali warlord-cum-president, Abdullahi Yusuf, is as mad as hell and stormed out of the silly jamboree of the Somali MP dummies in Nairobi. His master puppeteers told him that he would be dethroned and replaced with another useful idiot to lead Somalia to the eventful Abyssinian subjugation and hegemony. Close to 200 TFG parliamentarians were told to sign the resignation petition or otherwise lose their UNDP monthly stipend of $1200 and they loyally and willingly obliged to follow the orders of their masters. Who else would pay and support their Qat chewing addiction in the provincial town of Baidao ? The ploy and handling of this meeting by Ethiopia could be interpreted that Ethiopia is serious about its desire to withdraw Somalia. It also wants to groom new puppets and that is why it is ditching the warlords of the TFG. The assembly was chaired by the Ethiopian foreign minister.

Who would replace Yeey is gonna be revealed in the later stages of this divine Somali comedy orchestrated by the Tigrean twins of Melez and Mesfin. They want to extend the term of the warlord transition and maybe integrate some moderate Islamists into this mockery.Let us just follow this mysterious machination of Meles and Company even though it’s gonna be tough to keep up with the messy Somali politics. Onkod has a piece of this in Somali

Ethiopia blames

Somali leadership

for peace failures

NAIROBI (AFP) — Ethiopia, whose forces toppled an Islamist regime in Mogadishu two years ago, on Tuesday blamed the failure to restore stability in Somalia on the transitional rulers it helped bring to power.

“Somalia’s problems are not security, but political,” said Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin at a meeting of governments in the region focused on Somalia.

Seyoum said President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and his successive prime ministers had “not managed to create any institutions of governance to speak of” since they came to power in December 2006.

“The continuing feud within the leadership … had contributed to the paralysis of the TFG,” he added in reference to the transitional federal government.

The TFG, headed by the one-time warlord Yusuf, was formally established in 2004 but its remit never extended beyond the backwater of Baidoa until the Ethiopian army invaded Somalia nearly two years ago.

The toppling of an Islamist group that had taken control of large parts of the country and started to impose a tough form of Sharia law brought Yusuf to power but did little to restore calm to a country that has been wracked by violence since the 1991 ouster of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre.

Somalia’s transitional federal charter expires next year when a new constitution is to be drafted and elections held although there is widespread scepticism over whether polls can take place amid the rampant insecurity.

Despite pledges from some African governments, only Uganda has contributed significant numbers to a peacekeeping force which has failed to halt a campaign of guerrilla warfare being waged by an even more radical Islamist faction.

“In all honesty, the international community can hardly be proud of its record in Somalia,” Seyoum said.

“But this is no excuse for the kind of egregious lack of responsible behaviour that we continue to witness on the part of all those in positions of authority in Somalia.”

Yusuf was in open disagreement with Ali Mohamed Gedi, the TFG’s first prime minister who eventually had to resign exactly a year ago.

Gedi’s successor Nur Hassan Hussein has also had his differences with the president and survived a no-confidence vote last month.

On Sunday, a UN-sponsored peace process in Djibouti announced that a deal had been signed by the transitional government and the main Islamist-dominated political opposition group.

The agreement provides for a ceasefire and an Ethiopian troop pullback to begin next month, with security responsibilities gradually handed over to Somali police until a UN peacekeeping force is deployed.

The main Islamist insurgent group, which now controls most of southern and central Somalia, rejected the announcement and vowed to continue its armed struggle.

The Shebab, the main insurgent group, accuse the conservative Christian regime in Addis Ababa of being engaged in a crusade against Muslim Somalia and have refused to negotiate before a full withdrawal is completed.

In recent weeks, Ethiopian troops have been less visible on the streets of Mogadishu and Addis Ababa has been sending mixed signals on the future of its presence in the country.

Experts say Ethiopia is mulling its exit strategy from the Somali quagmire and argue that a pullback has effectively already started.

“The Ethiopians have definitely been planning some form of military pullback. We just don’t know exactly on what scale,” said one expert, who did not wish to be named to ensure his security when he travels to Somalia.

The expert believes the pullback announced on Sunday could entail a redeployment to a handful of locations in Somalia, with a handover of security duties in Mogadishu to the African peacekeeping force and Somali police.

“Of course no one could assume that, speaking now on behalf of my country, Ethiopia will continue to keep its troops in Somalia,” Seyoum said in Nairobi.

Yet Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who is not attending the Nairobi summit, said earlier this month that he would not hesitate to send his army back in if the Islamists took power.

Stonning in Somalia – Shame of I"slamism" and Al-Shabaab

In Blogroll on October 28, 2008 at 7:43 pm

In Kismayo, in lawless Somalia a group of men who hide behind the beautiful and peaceful religion of Islam stoned young Somali women to death. Why? Because she had sex. That is it. That was the alleged crime. I am sure that some of these fanatics were ex-militia men who raped many innocent women before. They said she confessed to it and but when she was dragged to the spot or the bloody spectacle. She was crying and screaming. They tied her hands and legs and stormed her with stones until she died. One would have to ask?

Even if they want to kill someone and implement their perversion of Islam, can’t they use bullets? We must ask ourselves is this really what our religion dictates or just a misogynistic interpretation of the Shariah by fanatics, by charlatans, by warlords? Why is it women who have to be sacrificed and punished first? how many evil men commit acts of crime daily in that town? countless! These barbaric men are corrupt and hide behind religion. They know no Islam and not representative of the religion. They are thugs, ex-warlords and roadblock bosses. We all know them. They were clan militias who now call themselves Islamic militants. It’s a ploy to usurp power and scare people. Stoning a human being to death in this age is incomprehensible and inhumane. No religion or GOD condones or commands such act of barbarism.Isn’t GOD merciful and compassionate? How could they miss that? isn’t religion supposed to nourish the spirit and purify the soul? these fanatics have no spirit or soul. they are blood-thirsty and cruel.They work for the devil and not Islam or GOD. The men who did this are manifestation of the diabolical cruelty of men. – my two cents.

Islamists stone to death Somali woman for adultery

Reuters

KISMAYU, SOMALIA — Somali Islamists have stoned to death a woman accused of adultery in the first such public killing by the militants for about two years.

The 23-year-old woman was executed late on Monday in front of hundreds of people in the southern port of Kismayu, which the Islamist insurgents captured in August, witnesses said.

Guards opened fire when a relative ran forward, killing a child, they said.

“A woman in green veil and black mask was brought in a car as we waited to watch the merciless act of stoning,” one local resident, Abdullahi Aden, told Reuters.

“We were told she submitted herself to be punished, yet we could see her screaming as she was forcefully bound, legs and hands. A relative of hers ran towards her, but the Islamists opened fire and killed a child.”

The Islamists last carried out public executions when they ruled Mogadishu and most of south Somalia for half of 2006. Allied Ethiopian and Somali government forces toppled them at the end of that year, but they have waged an Iraq-style guerrilla campaign since then, gradually taking territory back.

As when they ruled Mogadishu in 2006, the Islamists now controlling the Kismayu area are again providing much-needed security, but also imposing fundamentalist practices such as banning entertainment seen as anti-Islamic.

Relatives of the woman executed in Kismayu, whom they named as Asha Ibrahim Dhuhulow, said she was unfairly treated.

“The stoning was totally irreligious and illogical,” said her sister, who asked not to be named. “Islam does not execute a woman for adultery unless four witnesses and the man with whom she committed sex are brought forward publicly.”

Islamist leaders at the execution said the woman had breached Islamic law. They promised to punish the guard who had shot the child in the melee around the execution.

“We apologize for killing the child. And we promise we shall bring the one who opened fire before the courts and deal with him accordingly,” one unnamed Islamist leader told the crowd.

Can They Speak Here?

In Blogroll on October 28, 2008 at 6:43 pm

Dol Hassan protested the school’s policy on political speakers at the College of St. Catherine by putting duct tape on her mouth. She and other students protested in front of Derham Hall.

Published March 14, 2000

About 30 students decried the school’s decision to keep politics in “balance” and, in the process, decline to host appearances by Hillary Clinton, Bay Buchanan and Al Franken.

Last update: October 28, 2008 – 12:13 AM

So when the women’s school denied a request to have former presidential candidate Hillary Rodman Clinton speak on campus, the 22-year-old senior was angered and disappointed.

“I think it sends a message when St. Kate denies having strong, influential leaders, male or female, on campus to speak,” she said.

On Monday, Knutson protested the college’s refusal to host a handful of political figures — including Clinton, conservative commentator Bay Buchanan and Minnesota’s Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken — in its effort to show neutrality during a tense election season.

About 30 students stood on the steps of Derham Hall, the school’s administration building, holding signs and wearing pins that read: “We do not lead neutral lives.” Some wore tape over their mouths as a gesture of being silenced.

The women argued for more student involvement in campus decisions and read a petition, signed by more than 220 people, that denounces the St. Paul school’s “embarrassing” decision.

Protesters will discuss their issues with college administrators today as part of a student government meeting, said Brian Bruess, vice president for enrollment and dean of student affairs.

Administrators have defended their actions, saying the decisions were made based on each request’s individual merits, in accordance with well-worn policies and often on very short notice.

“We didn’t ban anyone from campus,” said Colleen Hegranes, senior vice president for academic affairs. She pointed out that when the college declined Franken’s request to speak, they suggested he distribute campaign literature in the atrium of its Coeur de Catherine, as its “Political Activity Policy” outlines. His staff declined.

In East Africa, Ethiopia, IGAD, Kenya, Somalia on October 28, 2008 at 6:07 pm

News

IGAD ministers fault Somalia leaders

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Somalia’s president Abdullahi Yusuf speaks during a news conference inside his palace in Mogadishu August 12, 2008. REUTERS/Feisal Omar (SOMALIA)

By LUCAS BARASA and JAMI MAKANPosted Tuesday, October 28 2008 at 16:08

In Summary

  • Kenya’s foreign minister Wetang’ula accused some Somali leaders of benefiting from insecurity in the horn of Africa country.
  • Countries accuse Somali leadership of failing to set up governance institutions
  • Somalia MP Awad Ahmed Ashareh said peace in the country could only return with the removal of the current leadership

Five countries Friday took to task Somali Transitional Federal Government leaders over failure to end turmoil in the country.

Inter-Governmental Authority on Development Council of Ministers chairman Seyoum Mesfin who is Ethiopia’s Foreign Affairs Minister and Kenyan Moses Wetang’ula led the countries in lambasting the Somalia leadership saying it was to blame for the instability in the country.

Mr Wetang’ula accused some of the leaders of benefiting from the insecurity in the horn of Africa country.

The other countries are Djibouti, Uganda and Sudan.

Mr Wetang’ula and Mr Mesfin regretted that Somali’s President, Prime Minister and National Assembly Speaker often engaged in unnecessary political competition and thus letting down Somalis who had hoped 14 years of war following the ouster of dictator Siad Barre could have ended following the formation of TFG in Nairobi four years ago.

The countries accused Somali leadership of failing to set up institutions of governance that could have seen Somalia return to its feet per the Transitional Federal Charter.

“Little has been accomplished in last four years,” Mr Wetangula said of the charter that expires in September next year and thus rendering all governance institutions in the country null and void.

The TFG was to have developed a new constitution to take over from the charter, set boundaries of federal states, enact Political Parties Bill in readiness for elections in 2009.

The new constitution was supposed to be in place two and half years after the signing of the Somali peace deal.

Calling for collective international effort to end Somalia crisis, Mr Wetangula also called on the UN to takeover AU forces in Somalia as the Africa’s body lacked funds to sustain them.

He said Kenya wanted a peaceful, stable and prosperous Somalia that it can do business with.

“Time is now for all of us to realise we don’t have more time to discuss Somalia crisis in capital cities. We should pick new momentum. Somalis have suffered for too long- 18 years,” Mr Wetangula said.

Igad executive secretary Mahboub Maalim said the security situation in Somalia was deteriorating and called for the strengthening of ongoing peace efforts in Djibouti. Fourteen previous attempts to ensure peace in Somalia, failed.

On Tuesday, Somalia MP Awad Ahmed Ashareh said peace in the country could only return with the removal of the current leadership. He however said, parliamentary term of current MPs should be extended.

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In East Africa, Ethiopia, IGAD, Kenya, Somalia on October 28, 2008 at 6:07 pm

News

IGAD ministers fault Somalia leaders

Share function CreateBookmarkLink() { var title = “IGAD ministers fault Somalia leaders”; var url = ‘http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/484822/-/tlhswr/-/index.html’; if (window.sidebar) { // Mozilla Firefox Bookmark window.sidebar.addPanel(title, url, “”); } else if (document.all) { // IE Favorite window.external.AddFavorite(url, title); } else if (window.opera) { // Opera Hotlist var elem = document.createElement(‘a’); elem.setAttribute(‘rel’, ’sidebar’); elem.setAttribute(‘href’, url); elem.setAttribute(‘title’, title); alert(‘opera not yet completely supported’); elem.click(); } } Bookmark Print Email

Somalia’s president Abdullahi Yusuf speaks during a news conference inside his palace in Mogadishu August 12, 2008. REUTERS/Feisal Omar (SOMALIA)

By LUCAS BARASA and JAMI MAKANPosted Tuesday, October 28 2008 at 16:08

In Summary

  • Kenya’s foreign minister Wetang’ula accused some Somali leaders of benefiting from insecurity in the horn of Africa country.
  • Countries accuse Somali leadership of failing to set up governance institutions
  • Somalia MP Awad Ahmed Ashareh said peace in the country could only return with the removal of the current leadership

Five countries Friday took to task Somali Transitional Federal Government leaders over failure to end turmoil in the country.

Inter-Governmental Authority on Development Council of Ministers chairman Seyoum Mesfin who is Ethiopia’s Foreign Affairs Minister and Kenyan Moses Wetang’ula led the countries in lambasting the Somalia leadership saying it was to blame for the instability in the country.

Mr Wetang’ula accused some of the leaders of benefiting from the insecurity in the horn of Africa country.

The other countries are Djibouti, Uganda and Sudan.

Mr Wetang’ula and Mr Mesfin regretted that Somali’s President, Prime Minister and National Assembly Speaker often engaged in unnecessary political competition and thus letting down Somalis who had hoped 14 years of war following the ouster of dictator Siad Barre could have ended following the formation of TFG in Nairobi four years ago.

The countries accused Somali leadership of failing to set up institutions of governance that could have seen Somalia return to its feet per the Transitional Federal Charter.

“Little has been accomplished in last four years,” Mr Wetangula said of the charter that expires in September next year and thus rendering all governance institutions in the country null and void.

The TFG was to have developed a new constitution to take over from the charter, set boundaries of federal states, enact Political Parties Bill in readiness for elections in 2009.

The new constitution was supposed to be in place two and half years after the signing of the Somali peace deal.

Calling for collective international effort to end Somalia crisis, Mr Wetangula also called on the UN to takeover AU forces in Somalia as the Africa’s body lacked funds to sustain them.

He said Kenya wanted a peaceful, stable and prosperous Somalia that it can do business with.

“Time is now for all of us to realise we don’t have more time to discuss Somalia crisis in capital cities. We should pick new momentum. Somalis have suffered for too long- 18 years,” Mr Wetangula said.

Igad executive secretary Mahboub Maalim said the security situation in Somalia was deteriorating and called for the strengthening of ongoing peace efforts in Djibouti. Fourteen previous attempts to ensure peace in Somalia, failed.

On Tuesday, Somalia MP Awad Ahmed Ashareh said peace in the country could only return with the removal of the current leadership. He however said, parliamentary term of current MPs should be extended.

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Rageh Omaar of Al-Jazeera: Islam in America

In America, Islam, Omaar, Rageh on October 28, 2008 at 1:50 am

In the second part of his journey across the US, Rageh Omaar looks at how America’s Muslims have coped with the aftermath of the events of 9/11, exploring the demands of patriotism and belief.

In Blogroll on October 28, 2008 at 1:29 am

Obama’s loss traced to Bradley Campbell

Filed under: Politics

obamaloss.jpg

Jesus. I thought I had a bad dream. Stayed up too late on Nov. 3 and slept right through the election. Didn’t vote and cost the country our chance to elect a black dude with a soft three-point touch and an ultra-tight Caesar. Then this video came in the mail. Sent from, like, the future and stuff. It completely messes with my head:

This Obama-leaning video is like the Philip K. Dick version of rock the vote: if you don’t vote, you set in cycle some dystopian nightmare situation where half the country wants your balls and the other half wants your digits. And even though I know that vid was some clever joke, it feels like yak dung to know I just disappointed some dude named Kipu Lobsang.

Or maybe it’s the lack of sleep from the red-eye last night. Or maybe it’s the nausea from non-stop political advertisements, editorial endorsements or these freaky hallucinations I keep having of Lou Dobbs coming at me shirtless, carrying a jar of massage oil and a bag of Funions.

Anyhow. This thing does makes you want to vote. Not necessarily for Obama. But just to avoid the potential nightmare of becoming the main character in a half-assed Kevin Costner flick.

Prank away at CNNBC. Seems like this is the only worthwhile thing moveon.org has done in the last eight years…

Posted by Bradley Campbell at October 27, 2008 4:30 PM

In Blogroll on October 28, 2008 at 1:29 am

Obama’s loss traced to Bradley Campbell

Filed under: Politics

obamaloss.jpg

Jesus. I thought I had a bad dream. Stayed up too late on Nov. 3 and slept right through the election. Didn’t vote and cost the country our chance to elect a black dude with a soft three-point touch and an ultra-tight Caesar. Then this video came in the mail. Sent from, like, the future and stuff. It completely messes with my head:

This Obama-leaning video is like the Philip K. Dick version of rock the vote: if you don’t vote, you set in cycle some dystopian nightmare situation where half the country wants your balls and the other half wants your digits. And even though I know that vid was some clever joke, it feels like yak dung to know I just disappointed some dude named Kipu Lobsang.

Or maybe it’s the lack of sleep from the red-eye last night. Or maybe it’s the nausea from non-stop political advertisements, editorial endorsements or these freaky hallucinations I keep having of Lou Dobbs coming at me shirtless, carrying a jar of massage oil and a bag of Funions.

Anyhow. This thing does makes you want to vote. Not necessarily for Obama. But just to avoid the potential nightmare of becoming the main character in a half-assed Kevin Costner flick.

Prank away at CNNBC. Seems like this is the only worthwhile thing moveon.org has done in the last eight years…

Posted by Bradley Campbell at October 27, 2008 4:30 PM

The Endorsement From Hell

In Bush, Ethiopia, Obama, Somalia, Terror on October 27, 2008 at 12:14 am
Op-Ed Columnist

The Endorsement From Hell

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Published: October 25, 2008

John McCain isn’t boasting about a new endorsement, one of the very, very few he has received from overseas. It came a few days ago:

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Barry Blitt

“Al Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election,” read a commentary on a password-protected Islamist Web site that is closely linked to Al Qaeda and often disseminates the group’s propaganda.

The endorsement left the McCain campaign sputtering, and noting helplessly that Hamas appears to prefer Barack Obama. Al Qaeda’s apparent enthusiasm for Mr. McCain is manifestly not reciprocated.

“The transcendent challenge of our time [is] the threat of radical Islamic terrorism,” Senator McCain said in a major foreign policy speech this year, adding, “Any president who does not regard this threat as transcending all others does not deserve to sit in the White House.”

That’s a widespread conservative belief. Mitt Romney compared the threat of militant Islam to that from Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. Some conservative groups even marked “Islamofascism Awareness Week” earlier this month.

Yet the endorsement of Mr. McCain by a Qaeda-affiliated Web site isn’t a surprise to security specialists. Richard Clarke, the former White House counterterrorism director, and Joseph Nye, the former chairman of the National Intelligence Council, have both suggested that Al Qaeda prefers Mr. McCain and might even try to use terror attacks in the coming days to tip the election to him.

“From their perspective, a continuation of Bush policies is best for recruiting,” said Professor Nye, adding that Mr. McCain is far more likely to continue those policies.

An American president who keeps troops in Iraq indefinitely, fulminates about Islamic terrorism, inclines toward military solutions and antagonizes other nations is an excellent recruiting tool. In contrast, an African-American president with a Muslim grandfather and a penchant for building bridges rather than blowing them up would give Al Qaeda recruiters fits.

During the cold war, the American ideological fear of communism led us to mistake every muddle-headed leftist for a Soviet pawn. Our myopia helped lead to catastrophe in Vietnam.

In the same way today, an exaggerated fear of “Islamofascism” elides a complex reality and leads us to overreact and damage our own interests. Perhaps the best example is one of the least-known failures in Bush administration foreign policy: Somalia.

Today, Somalia is the world’s greatest humanitarian disaster, worse even than Darfur or Congo. The crisis has complex roots, and Somali warlords bear primary blame. But Bush administration paranoia about Islamic radicals contributed to the disaster.

Somalia has been in chaos for many years, but in 2006 an umbrella movement called the Islamic Courts Union seemed close to uniting the country. The movement included both moderates and extremists, but it constituted the best hope for putting Somalia together again. Somalis were ecstatic at the prospect of having a functional government again.

Bush administration officials, however, were aghast at the rise of an Islamist movement that they feared would be uncooperative in the war on terror. So they gave Ethiopia, a longtime rival in the region, the green light to invade, and Somalia’s best hope for peace collapsed.

“A movement that looked as if it might end this long national nightmare was derailed, in part because of American and Ethiopian actions,” said Ken Menkhaus, a Somalia expert at Davidson College. As a result, Islamic militancy and anti-Americanism have surged, partly because Somalis blame Washington for the brutality of the Ethiopian occupiers.

“There’s a level of anti-Americanism in Somalia today like nothing I’ve seen over the last 20 years,” Professor Menkhaus said. “Somalis are furious with us for backing the Ethiopian intervention and occupation, provoking this huge humanitarian crisis.”

Patrick Duplat, an expert on Somalia at Refugees International, the Washington-based advocacy group, says that during his last visit to Somalia, earlier this year, a local mosque was calling for jihad against America — something he had never heard when he lived peacefully in Somalia during the rise of the Islamic Courts Union.

“The situation has dramatically taken a turn for the worse,” he said. “The U.S. chose a very confrontational route early on. Who knows what would have happened if the U.S. had reached out to moderates? But that might have averted the disaster we’re in today.”

The greatest catastrophe is the one endured by ordinary Somalis who now must watch their children starve. But America’s own strategic interests have also been gravely damaged.

The only winner has been Islamic militancy. That’s probably the core reason why Al Qaeda militants prefer a McCain presidency: four more years of blindness to nuance in the Muslim world would be a tragedy for Americans and virtually everyone else, but a boon for radical groups trying to recruit suicide bombers.

I invite you to comment on this column on my blog, www.nytimes.com/ontheground, and join me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/kristof.

In Somali mataano, oprah on October 26, 2008 at 1:01 am
Millionaire Moguls

Ayaan and Idyl, twin sisters from Brooklyn, New York, are trying to launch their own fashion label, and they have a question for Mary-Kate and Ashley. Though they say they’re best friends as well as sisters, Ayaan and Idyl sometimes clash when creating pieces for their line, Mataano, which means “twins” in Somali.

“Ayaan likes to micromanage, and I like to divide the work so we can be more productive,” Idyl says. “Do you guys ever have arguments like that?”

Their website: Mataano

In Somali mataano, oprah on October 26, 2008 at 1:01 am
Millionaire Moguls

Ayaan and Idyl, twin sisters from Brooklyn, New York, are trying to launch their own fashion label, and they have a question for Mary-Kate and Ashley. Though they say they’re best friends as well as sisters, Ayaan and Idyl sometimes clash when creating pieces for their line, Mataano, which means “twins” in Somali.

“Ayaan likes to micromanage, and I like to divide the work so we can be more productive,” Idyl says. “Do you guys ever have arguments like that?”

Their website: Mataano

The Somalian Doctor Of Rome 60BC

In Roma, Roman, Somalia on October 23, 2008 at 9:37 pm

This Clip is from the Rome TV show, it is the Episode 08 of the second season. This cute tale about Rome can never get its facts right against the history check, but any way it is for entertainment not for teaching history. The funny thing about this part is when one of the slave girls poisons the pregnant wife of her master, and in the middle of the night he come crying and send for the doctor and here I was shocked to know that Romans used to bring their doctors from Somalia !!! Thats a good one or shall I say too much!!

Check when the guy calling for help from his Somalian Doctor!

Buraanbur – Somalia-Italia

In Buraanbur, Italia, Somalia on October 23, 2008 at 9:30 pm

Cristina Ali Farah spiega al festivaletteratura il significato dei Buraambur, canti poetici della tradizione letteraria somala.

Cristina explains the significance of Buraambur, poetic songs of the traditional Somali Literature to the Literature Festival

In Blogroll on October 22, 2008 at 7:16 am
Op-Ed Columnist

Moved by a Crescent

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Published: October 21, 2008

Colin Powell had been bugged by many things in his party’s campaign this fall: the insidious merging of rumors that Barack Obama was Muslim with intimations that he was a terrorist sympathizer; the assertion that Sarah Palin was ready to be president; the uniformed sheriff who introduced Governor Palin by sneering about Barack Hussein Obama; the scorn with which Republicans spit out the words “community organizer”; the Republicans’ argument that using taxes to “spread the wealth” was socialist when the purpose of taxes is to spread the wealth; Palin’s insidious notion that small towns in states that went for W. were “the real America.”

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Maureen Dowd

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But what sent him over the edge and made him realize he had to speak out was when he opened his New Yorker three weeks ago and saw a picture of a mother pressing her head against the gravestone of her son, a 20-year-old soldier who had been killed in Iraq. On the headstone were engraved his name, Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, his awards — the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star — and a crescent and a star to denote his Islamic faith.

“I stared at it for an hour,” he told me. “Who could debate that this kid lying in Arlington with Christian and Jewish and nondenominational buddies was not a fine American?”

Khan was an all-American kid. A 2005 graduate of Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin, N.J., he loved the Dallas Cowboys and playing video games with his 12-year-old stepsister, Aliya.

His obituary in The Star-Ledger of Newark said that he had sent his family back pictures of himself playing soccer with Iraqi children and hugging a smiling young Iraqi boy.

His father said Kareem had been eager to enlist since he was 14 and was outraged by the 9/11 attacks. “His Muslim faith did not make him not want to go,” Feroze Khan, told The Gannett News Service after his son died. “He looked at it that he’s American and he has a job to do.”

In a gratifying “have you no sense of decency, Sir and Madam?” moment, Colin Powell went on “Meet the Press” on Sunday and talked about Khan, and the unseemly ways John McCain and Palin have been polarizing the country to try to get elected. It was a tonic to hear someone push back so clearly on ugly innuendo.

Even the Obama campaign has shied away from Muslims. The candidate has gone to synagogues but no mosques, and the campaign was embarrassed when it turned out that two young women in headscarves had not been allowed to stand behind Obama during a speech in Detroit because aides did not want them in the TV shot.

The former secretary of state has dealt with prejudice in his life, in and out of the Army, and he is keenly aware of how many millions of Muslims around the world are being offended by the slimy tenor of the race against Obama.

He told Tom Brokaw that he was troubled by what other Republicans, not McCain, had said: “ ‘Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.’ Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no. That’s not America. Is something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?”

Powell got a note from Feroze Khan this week thanking him for telling the world that Muslim-Americans are as good as any others. But he also received more e-mails insisting that Obama is a Muslim and one calling him “unconstitutional and unbiblical” for daring to support a socialist. He got a mass e-mail from a man wanting to spread the word that Obama was reading a book about the end of America written by a fellow Muslim.

“Holy cow!” Powell thought. Upon checking Amazon.com, he saw that it was a reference to Fareed Zakaria, a Muslim who writes a Newsweek column and hosts a CNN foreign affairs show. His latest book is “The Post-American World.”

Powell is dismissive of those, like Rush Limbaugh, who say he made his endorsement based on race. And he’s offended by those who suggest that his appearance Sunday was an expiation for Iraq, speaking up strongly now about what he thinks the world needs because he failed to do so then.

Even though he watched W. in 2000 make the argument that his lack of foreign policy experience would be offset by the fact that he was surrounded by pros — Powell himself was one of the regents brought in to guide the bumptious Texas dauphin — Powell makes that same argument now for Obama.

“Experience is helpful,” he says, “but it is judgment that matters.”

In Blogroll on October 22, 2008 at 7:16 am
Op-Ed Columnist

Moved by a Crescent

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Published: October 21, 2008

Colin Powell had been bugged by many things in his party’s campaign this fall: the insidious merging of rumors that Barack Obama was Muslim with intimations that he was a terrorist sympathizer; the assertion that Sarah Palin was ready to be president; the uniformed sheriff who introduced Governor Palin by sneering about Barack Hussein Obama; the scorn with which Republicans spit out the words “community organizer”; the Republicans’ argument that using taxes to “spread the wealth” was socialist when the purpose of taxes is to spread the wealth; Palin’s insidious notion that small towns in states that went for W. were “the real America.”

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But what sent him over the edge and made him realize he had to speak out was when he opened his New Yorker three weeks ago and saw a picture of a mother pressing her head against the gravestone of her son, a 20-year-old soldier who had been killed in Iraq. On the headstone were engraved his name, Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, his awards — the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star — and a crescent and a star to denote his Islamic faith.

“I stared at it for an hour,” he told me. “Who could debate that this kid lying in Arlington with Christian and Jewish and nondenominational buddies was not a fine American?”

Khan was an all-American kid. A 2005 graduate of Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin, N.J., he loved the Dallas Cowboys and playing video games with his 12-year-old stepsister, Aliya.

His obituary in The Star-Ledger of Newark said that he had sent his family back pictures of himself playing soccer with Iraqi children and hugging a smiling young Iraqi boy.

His father said Kareem had been eager to enlist since he was 14 and was outraged by the 9/11 attacks. “His Muslim faith did not make him not want to go,” Feroze Khan, told The Gannett News Service after his son died. “He looked at it that he’s American and he has a job to do.”

In a gratifying “have you no sense of decency, Sir and Madam?” moment, Colin Powell went on “Meet the Press” on Sunday and talked about Khan, and the unseemly ways John McCain and Palin have been polarizing the country to try to get elected. It was a tonic to hear someone push back so clearly on ugly innuendo.

Even the Obama campaign has shied away from Muslims. The candidate has gone to synagogues but no mosques, and the campaign was embarrassed when it turned out that two young women in headscarves had not been allowed to stand behind Obama during a speech in Detroit because aides did not want them in the TV shot.

The former secretary of state has dealt with prejudice in his life, in and out of the Army, and he is keenly aware of how many millions of Muslims around the world are being offended by the slimy tenor of the race against Obama.

He told Tom Brokaw that he was troubled by what other Republicans, not McCain, had said: “ ‘Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.’ Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no. That’s not America. Is something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?”

Powell got a note from Feroze Khan this week thanking him for telling the world that Muslim-Americans are as good as any others. But he also received more e-mails insisting that Obama is a Muslim and one calling him “unconstitutional and unbiblical” for daring to support a socialist. He got a mass e-mail from a man wanting to spread the word that Obama was reading a book about the end of America written by a fellow Muslim.

“Holy cow!” Powell thought. Upon checking Amazon.com, he saw that it was a reference to Fareed Zakaria, a Muslim who writes a Newsweek column and hosts a CNN foreign affairs show. His latest book is “The Post-American World.”

Powell is dismissive of those, like Rush Limbaugh, who say he made his endorsement based on race. And he’s offended by those who suggest that his appearance Sunday was an expiation for Iraq, speaking up strongly now about what he thinks the world needs because he failed to do so then.

Even though he watched W. in 2000 make the argument that his lack of foreign policy experience would be offset by the fact that he was surrounded by pros — Powell himself was one of the regents brought in to guide the bumptious Texas dauphin — Powell makes that same argument now for Obama.

“Experience is helpful,” he says, “but it is judgment that matters.”

In Blogroll on October 20, 2008 at 3:24 am

Colin Powell Invokes Image Of Fallen Soldier

October 19, 2008 03:29 PM


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Colin Powell has officially endorsed Barack Obama for President. But the big news is that this was not even his most important endorsement of the day. As it turns out, the most important thing endorsed by Colin Powell today was an America that’s worth leading and worth fighting for, an America that encapsulates the idea of what some might call a “more perfect union.” To that end, Powell invoked a picture to illustrate his point.

“Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.


I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards – Purple Heart, Bronze Star – showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn’t have a Christian cross. It didn’t have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life.”

This is the picture of Elsheba Khan, taken by Platon for the New Yorker:

So, yeah. Sometimes, America does benefit when we share our wealth with one another. And some people, in fact, do have it harder than Joe The Plumber.

In Blogroll on October 20, 2008 at 3:24 am

Colin Powell Invokes Image Of Fallen Soldier

October 19, 2008 03:29 PM


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Digg this article.”; document.write(‘‘ + message + ‘‘); } } )()

document.write(‘

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Colin Powell has officially endorsed Barack Obama for President. But the big news is that this was not even his most important endorsement of the day. As it turns out, the most important thing endorsed by Colin Powell today was an America that’s worth leading and worth fighting for, an America that encapsulates the idea of what some might call a “more perfect union.” To that end, Powell invoked a picture to illustrate his point.

“Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.


I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards – Purple Heart, Bronze Star – showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn’t have a Christian cross. It didn’t have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life.”

This is the picture of Elsheba Khan, taken by Platon for the New Yorker:

So, yeah. Sometimes, America does benefit when we share our wealth with one another. And some people, in fact, do have it harder than Joe The Plumber.

In Minneapolis, Somali Gangs, Somalia on October 6, 2008 at 3:16 am

Wareysi aan la yeelanay

Cabdulqaadir Maxamed Caato

oo aan kawareysanay Dhibaatooyinka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed ee ku dhaqan Magaalada Minneapolis ee Dalka Markeykanka

DHAGEYSO

October 04, 2008

Related Article

Minneapolis: Somali Gang Violence out of Control by Abdulkadir Ato

In Minneapolis, Somali Gangs, Somalia on October 6, 2008 at 3:16 am

Wareysi aan la yeelanay

Cabdulqaadir Maxamed Caato

oo aan kawareysanay Dhibaatooyinka Dhalinyarada Soomaaliyeed ee ku dhaqan Magaalada Minneapolis ee Dalka Markeykanka

DHAGEYSO

October 04, 2008

Related Article

Minneapolis: Somali Gang Violence out of Control by Abdulkadir Ato

In Italia, Roma, Somalia on October 5, 2008 at 5:24 am

La storia di Amina, un’italiana nata in Somalia umiliata dalla polizia

Amina Sheikh Said

Ancora accuse di razzismo e soprusi da parte di stranieri alle forze dell’ordine italiane. Dopo il caso del ragazzo di colore, che denuncia di essere stato picchiato e insultato dai vigili urbani di Parma, ora una donna somala di 51 anni, Amina Sheikh Said, sposata con un italiano, Luigi Mancuso, e cittadina italiana, denuncia di essere stata “umiliata, maltrattata e oltraggiata, tenuta nuda per ore all’aeroporto di Ciampino”. A raccogliere le accuse della donna è l’associazione Antigone.

“La donna, che tornava, a fine luglio, da un viaggio a Londra con quattro nipotini, è stata accusata prima di rapimento di bambini, poi di traffico di clandestini, infine di essere un corriere della droga, è stata tenuta nuda per ore”. Dopo quattro ore in cui personale dell’aeroporto ha cercato “ingiuriandola, chiamandola ‘negra’ di convincerla ad una ispezione corporale la donna”, prosegue Antigone, “è stata portata in ambulanza al Policlinico Casilino. La perquisiscono e non si trova niente. Nessuno le rilascia alcun verbale, delle perquisizioni effettuate non rimane traccia”. Amina, sostenuta dall’associazione, ha sporto denuncia mercoledì.

Sposata da molto tempo con Luigi Mancuso, Amina ha quattro figli che abitano a Londra. Lo scorso 21 luglio tornava a Roma dopo avergli fatto visita e portava con sé quattro dei suoi nipotini, tre di un figlio e uno di un altro, di età compresa tra i sette e gli 11 anni, racconta l’associazione Progetto Diritti che aiuta legalmente la donna. Arrivati all’aeroporto di Ciampino, la Polizia di Frontiera esamina i documenti dei bimbi e decide che qualcosa non va. I minori hanno cognomi diversi tra loro. “Luigi Mancuso, giunto all’aeroporto a prendere la famiglia, viene fatto entrare nell’area doganale”, spiega l’associazione. “Lo si accusa con spregio di essere correo nel reato di favoreggiamento dell’immigrazione clandestina”.

I coniugi vengono interrogati sulla composizione del nucleo familiare e sugli spostamenti effettuati. Si ispezionano i bagagli. “Nel frattempo anche i bambini sono trattenuti, a nessuno è permesso chiamare i genitori o il Consolato britannico a Roma, che tutto avrebbero potuto spiegare. Poi Amina è condotta in una stanza e fatta spogliare per un’ispezione corporale. Le resta addosso solo il reggiseno. Due donne”, racconta ancora Antigone, “le chiedono di assumere varie posizioni atte a osservare meglio le cavità del corpo. Amina acconsente. Ma quando le dicono di dover procedere all’esplorazione anale e vaginale, Amina rifiuta. Chiede almeno che sia un medico a farlo. Le donne la ingiuriano e la minacciano: ‘ti spedisco in carcere’, ‘come sei nera fuori lo sei dentro’, ‘daremo i bambini all’assistente sociale’. Il reato ipotizzato a quel punto muta: da ladra di bambini a corriere della droga. Glielo dicono in faccia, sprezzantemente. La chiamano ‘negra’, minacciano di spedirla al centro di igiene mentale se non acconsentirà all’ispezione corporale”.

Per oltre quattro ore rimane svestita di fronte a un numero imprecisato di persone che entrano ed escono dalla stanza, poi viene ammanettata e distesa su una barella, sul corpo nudo qualcuno posa un telo di cellophane da imballo. Viene portata in ambulanza al Policlinico Casilino. Dalla perquisizione non emerge niente. “Nessuno le rilascia alcun verbale”, dicono le associazioni, “delle perquisizioni effettuate non rimane traccia. Le si comunica solo l’avvio di un procedimento penale nei suoi confronti per la resistenza opposta a pubblico ufficiale”.

Ora ad assistere Amina, la cui storia appare sul sito delle associazioni www.linkontro.info, è l’avvocato Luca Santini. Amina Sheikh Said, “ha precedenti specifici per traffico di stupefacenti”. Lo dichiara Remo De Felice, dirigente dell’ufficio della polizia di frontiera aerea di Ciampino. “La donna è stata sottoposta ad approfonditi accertamenti in aeroporto”, spiega De Felice, “perché aveva con sè quattro minori. Dai controlli è emerso che aveva precedenti specifici come ‘ovulatrice’ (chi trasporta droga nascosta in ovuli ingeriti). Per questo le è stato chiesto di sottoporsi a un’ispezione corporale. Anche il marito”, prosegue De Felice, “era noto all’autorità giudiziaria per traffico di sostanze stupefacenti”.

“La signora Said”, spiega il dirigente dell’ufficio della polizia di frontiera aerea di Ciampino, “è arrivata in aeroporto da un volo extra Schengen e, come sempre in questi casi, ha subito il controllo del passaporto. Nell’interesse dei minori che erano con lei, così come si fa se a viaggiare con quattro bambini è una cittadina italiana, gli accertamenti sono stati particolarmente approfonditi. È emerso che, per due volte, nel 2007 e nel marzo 2008″, aggiunge De Felice, “la donna era stata fermata all’aeroporto di Fiumicino mentre trasportava droga nel bagaglio”.

Al rifiuto della signora di sottoporsi a ispezione corporale, “mentre Amina Said dava in escandescenze”, la polizia ha chiesto l’autorizzazione al magistrato che ha stabilito fosse sottoposta a radiografia in ospedale per individuare l’eventuale presenza di ovuli. “Il trasporto in ospedale”, conclude De Felice, “è stato particolarmente travagliato avendo la donna rifiutato di rivestirsi prima di uscire dall’aeroporto. Per questo, una volta sulla barella, è stata coperta alla meglio con un telo di plastica”.

Il legale di Amina Sheikh Said, l’avvocato Luca Santini dell’Associazione Progetto Diritti, ha smentito queste informazioni. La mia assistita, ha detto, “non ha mai avuto precedenti come trasportatrice di droga nascosta in ovuli ingeriti, non ha mai subito condanne per traffico di stupefacenti. La signora Said è stata soltanto destinataria di un’indagine in quanto avrebbe utilizzato la sostanza denominata ‘catha edulis’, una pianta tradizionalmente usata per la masticazione nella cultura somala”.

Dopo i neri, anche un cinese: secondo voi l’Italia sta diventando un paese razzista?
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In Italia, Roma, Somalia on October 5, 2008 at 5:24 am

La storia di Amina, un’italiana nata in Somalia umiliata dalla polizia

Amina Sheikh Said

Ancora accuse di razzismo e soprusi da parte di stranieri alle forze dell’ordine italiane. Dopo il caso del ragazzo di colore, che denuncia di essere stato picchiato e insultato dai vigili urbani di Parma, ora una donna somala di 51 anni, Amina Sheikh Said, sposata con un italiano, Luigi Mancuso, e cittadina italiana, denuncia di essere stata “umiliata, maltrattata e oltraggiata, tenuta nuda per ore all’aeroporto di Ciampino”. A raccogliere le accuse della donna è l’associazione Antigone.

“La donna, che tornava, a fine luglio, da un viaggio a Londra con quattro nipotini, è stata accusata prima di rapimento di bambini, poi di traffico di clandestini, infine di essere un corriere della droga, è stata tenuta nuda per ore”. Dopo quattro ore in cui personale dell’aeroporto ha cercato “ingiuriandola, chiamandola ‘negra’ di convincerla ad una ispezione corporale la donna”, prosegue Antigone, “è stata portata in ambulanza al Policlinico Casilino. La perquisiscono e non si trova niente. Nessuno le rilascia alcun verbale, delle perquisizioni effettuate non rimane traccia”. Amina, sostenuta dall’associazione, ha sporto denuncia mercoledì.

Sposata da molto tempo con Luigi Mancuso, Amina ha quattro figli che abitano a Londra. Lo scorso 21 luglio tornava a Roma dopo avergli fatto visita e portava con sé quattro dei suoi nipotini, tre di un figlio e uno di un altro, di età compresa tra i sette e gli 11 anni, racconta l’associazione Progetto Diritti che aiuta legalmente la donna. Arrivati all’aeroporto di Ciampino, la Polizia di Frontiera esamina i documenti dei bimbi e decide che qualcosa non va. I minori hanno cognomi diversi tra loro. “Luigi Mancuso, giunto all’aeroporto a prendere la famiglia, viene fatto entrare nell’area doganale”, spiega l’associazione. “Lo si accusa con spregio di essere correo nel reato di favoreggiamento dell’immigrazione clandestina”.

I coniugi vengono interrogati sulla composizione del nucleo familiare e sugli spostamenti effettuati. Si ispezionano i bagagli. “Nel frattempo anche i bambini sono trattenuti, a nessuno è permesso chiamare i genitori o il Consolato britannico a Roma, che tutto avrebbero potuto spiegare. Poi Amina è condotta in una stanza e fatta spogliare per un’ispezione corporale. Le resta addosso solo il reggiseno. Due donne”, racconta ancora Antigone, “le chiedono di assumere varie posizioni atte a osservare meglio le cavità del corpo. Amina acconsente. Ma quando le dicono di dover procedere all’esplorazione anale e vaginale, Amina rifiuta. Chiede almeno che sia un medico a farlo. Le donne la ingiuriano e la minacciano: ‘ti spedisco in carcere’, ‘come sei nera fuori lo sei dentro’, ‘daremo i bambini all’assistente sociale’. Il reato ipotizzato a quel punto muta: da ladra di bambini a corriere della droga. Glielo dicono in faccia, sprezzantemente. La chiamano ‘negra’, minacciano di spedirla al centro di igiene mentale se non acconsentirà all’ispezione corporale”.

Per oltre quattro ore rimane svestita di fronte a un numero imprecisato di persone che entrano ed escono dalla stanza, poi viene ammanettata e distesa su una barella, sul corpo nudo qualcuno posa un telo di cellophane da imballo. Viene portata in ambulanza al Policlinico Casilino. Dalla perquisizione non emerge niente. “Nessuno le rilascia alcun verbale”, dicono le associazioni, “delle perquisizioni effettuate non rimane traccia. Le si comunica solo l’avvio di un procedimento penale nei suoi confronti per la resistenza opposta a pubblico ufficiale”.

Ora ad assistere Amina, la cui storia appare sul sito delle associazioni www.linkontro.info, è l’avvocato Luca Santini. Amina Sheikh Said, “ha precedenti specifici per traffico di stupefacenti”. Lo dichiara Remo De Felice, dirigente dell’ufficio della polizia di frontiera aerea di Ciampino. “La donna è stata sottoposta ad approfonditi accertamenti in aeroporto”, spiega De Felice, “perché aveva con sè quattro minori. Dai controlli è emerso che aveva precedenti specifici come ‘ovulatrice’ (chi trasporta droga nascosta in ovuli ingeriti). Per questo le è stato chiesto di sottoporsi a un’ispezione corporale. Anche il marito”, prosegue De Felice, “era noto all’autorità giudiziaria per traffico di sostanze stupefacenti”.

“La signora Said”, spiega il dirigente dell’ufficio della polizia di frontiera aerea di Ciampino, “è arrivata in aeroporto da un volo extra Schengen e, come sempre in questi casi, ha subito il controllo del passaporto. Nell’interesse dei minori che erano con lei, così come si fa se a viaggiare con quattro bambini è una cittadina italiana, gli accertamenti sono stati particolarmente approfonditi. È emerso che, per due volte, nel 2007 e nel marzo 2008″, aggiunge De Felice, “la donna era stata fermata all’aeroporto di Fiumicino mentre trasportava droga nel bagaglio”.

Al rifiuto della signora di sottoporsi a ispezione corporale, “mentre Amina Said dava in escandescenze”, la polizia ha chiesto l’autorizzazione al magistrato che ha stabilito fosse sottoposta a radiografia in ospedale per individuare l’eventuale presenza di ovuli. “Il trasporto in ospedale”, conclude De Felice, “è stato particolarmente travagliato avendo la donna rifiutato di rivestirsi prima di uscire dall’aeroporto. Per questo, una volta sulla barella, è stata coperta alla meglio con un telo di plastica”.

Il legale di Amina Sheikh Said, l’avvocato Luca Santini dell’Associazione Progetto Diritti, ha smentito queste informazioni. La mia assistita, ha detto, “non ha mai avuto precedenti come trasportatrice di droga nascosta in ovuli ingeriti, non ha mai subito condanne per traffico di stupefacenti. La signora Said è stata soltanto destinataria di un’indagine in quanto avrebbe utilizzato la sostanza denominata ‘catha edulis’, una pianta tradizionalmente usata per la masticazione nella cultura somala”.

Dopo i neri, anche un cinese: secondo voi l’Italia sta diventando un paese razzista?
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In Blogroll on October 4, 2008 at 5:47 am

Italiani di merda, Italiani bastardi

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NoiVoi non riuscite nemmeno a immaginare quanto sia difficile per me scrivere, tentando di non ferire le vostre povere sensibilità di piccoli bianchi, totalmente ignoranti del loro passato di carnefici di neri, ebrei e musulmani.

Non conoscete nulla di quello che avete nel vostro DNA storico, vi riempite la bocca di ebrei solo per salvarvi la coscienza, raccontando di come gente tipo Perlasca – un fascista di merda che dovrebbe morire mille volte solo per essere stato fascista ed aver sostenuto fossanche per un solo minuto quel regime – ne ha salvato alcuni.

Siete un popolo senza futuro perché siete un popolo senza memoria.

Me ne fotto degli italiani brava gente. Anzi, mi correggo, me ne fotto degli italiani bianchi e cristiani, naturalmente brava gente.

Non lo siete.

Siete ignoranti, stupidi, pavidi, vigliacchi.

Siete il peggio che la razza bianca abbia mai prodotto.

Brutti come la fame, privi di capacità e di ingegno se non nel business della malavita organizzata e nella volontà delle vostre donne (studentesse, casalinghe, madri di famiglie) di prostituirsi e di prostituire le proprie figlie.

Anche quando dimostrate un barlume di intelligenza, questa si perde nei rivoli del guadagno facile e del tirare a fregare chi sta peggio di voi.

Nessuna delle vostre battaglie ha un senso per altri se prima non produce un tornaconto per voi stessi.

Dalla politica alla religione, dal sociale alla cultura, siete delle nullità.

Capaci di raccogliere firme e manifestare, salvo poi smentire con ogni vostro atto quotidiano quello che a grande voce dichiarate pubblicamente. Andate a marciare da soli, che marci siete e marci rimarrete e non vi voglio profumare.

Non avete una classe media, siete una penosa e noiosa classe mediocre, incivile e selvaggia. I giornali più venduti sono quelli che trattano di gossip e i programmi televisivi più gettonati – al fine di vendere le proprie figlie come bestiame, come le vacche che sono destinate inevitabilmente a diventare, vista la vostra genia – sono i reality.

Avete acclamato qualsiasi dittatore e sottoscritto qualsiasi strage, salvo poi dimenticarvene ed assurgere come vittime di un élite. Non avete un’élite, coglioni, fatevene una ragione: i vostri deputati e senatori sono delle merde tali e quali a voi, i vostri capitani d’azienda sono dei progetti andati a male dei centri di collocamento, ma che o avevano buoni rapporti famigliari o il culo l’hanno dato meglio di voi.

Non solo quelli al governo (o che fanno capo all’area governativa), anche e soprattutto quelli che fanno capo all’opposizione.

Da quelli oggi al governo non ci aspettiamo nulla se non quello che da anni ci danno: razzismo, esclusione, spedizioni punitive, insulti ed umiliazioni.

Ma da quelli all’opposizione, quelli che si sono arricchiti con anni di Arci, Opere Nomadi, Sindacati Confederali, e sempre sulla nostra pelle, facendoci perdere diritti che ormai davamo per acquisiti, ci aspettiamo che si facciano da parte.

Sono ormai troppi anni che deleghiamo le nostre lotte a persone che in teoria dovrebbero averle fatte proprie, dimenticandoci l’infima qualità dell’italiano pseudobianco e pseudocristiano: non vale un cazzo perché non ha valori che valgano.

Un popolo di mafiosi, camorristi, ignoranti bastardi senza un futuro perché non lo meritano: che possano i loro figli morire nelle culle o non essere mai partoriti.

Questo mondo non ha bisogno di schiavi dentro come lo siete voi, feccia umana, non ha bisogno di persone che si inginocchiano a dei che sia chiamano potere e denaro e nemmeno di chi della solidarietà ha fatto business.

Ha bisogno di altro, che voi non avete e quindi siete inutili.

Dite che non è così?

Ditelo ai Rom perseguitati in tutta Italia, ditelo ad Abdoul, ditelo ai 6 di Castelvoturno, ditelo a Emmanuel, ditelo ai gay massacrati da solerti cristiani eterosessuali.

Ditelo a mio fratello, bastardi.

Ditelo alle decine di persone vere, non zecche e pulci come voi, che non denunciano perché sanno che se vanno dalla vostra polizia bastarda e assassina li umilieranno e magari li picchieranno di più e forse li uccideranno come l’Aldro [ammazzato come un cane perché pensavano fosse un extracomunitario], e se sono donne le violenteranno, e non avranno nessuno a cui rivolgersi per essere difesi.

Ditelo a quelli che rinchiudete per mesi nei vostri campi di concentramento senza alcun genere di condanna, solo per gonfiare le casse di qualche associazione che finanzierà un qualche partito, generalmente di sinistra, ditelo a quelli che lavorano per i vostri partiti e sindacati da lustri senza avere un contratto ma in nero, ditelo a quelli che si sono fidati di voi per anni, ditelo a quelli che raccolgono l’ultimo respiro di quei maiali dei vostri vecchi, e a quelli che si sfilano dalle fighe delle nostre ragazze per infilarsi in quelle larghe e flaccide delle vostre donnacce, ditelo ai nostri ragazzi che vincono medaglie e che saranno il futuro di questo paese, ditecelo, figli di puttana.

Ditelo col cappello in mano, e gli occhi bassi, cani bastardi. Ma sappiate che la risposta ve l’hanno già data a Castevolturno: Italiani bastardi, Italiani di merda. Io ci aggiungo bianchi, perché il discrimine è questo. Valete poco perché avete poco da dire e nulla da dare.

Dacia Valent

In Roma, Somali, Somalia on October 4, 2008 at 5:35 am
La denuncia-choc di una somala:
“Ero nuda e la polizia mi insultava”
«Agenti mi dicevano “sporca negra”.
Pensavano avessi droga nei bagagli».
La replica: «Falso. Aveva precedenti».
Il fatto sarebbe avvenuto a Ciampino
ROMA
Ha denunciato di essere stata «ingiuriata e tenuta nuda per ore» dalla polizia nell’aeroporto di Ciampino. Per questo una somala di 51 anni, con cittadinanza italiana, ha presentato il 30 settembre una denuncia per un fatto accaduto il 21 luglio scorso. La polizia, che respinge tutte le accuse, l’ha denunciata a sua volta per calunnia.

La donna, che tornava da un viaggio a Londra con quattro nipotini – riferiscono le associazioni “Antigone” e “Progetto Diritti” che oggi hanno reso nota la vicenda – sarebbe stata accusata dagli agenti prima di rapimento di bambini, poi di traffico di clandestini, infine di essere un corriere della droga. Durante i controlli «sono stata in piedi quattro ore, nuda, soltanto con il reggiseno addosso», ha raccontato la donna ai cronisti nella sua abitazione. «Sono stata apostrofata dal personale della Polizia di frontiera e dell’Agenzia della dogana con frasi come “guarda questa pazza negra, mò ti meniamo” e “se non fai quello che ti diciamo, ti mandiamo al centro di igiene mentale” e ancora “sei nera dentro e fuori”». È incredula Amina: «Sono rimasta scioccata, non me lo aspettavo» e poi la sua unica certezza: «mi hanno tolto la dignita».

La polizia ha invece precisato che i controlli e le ispezioni corporali sono stati necessari perchè la donna «ha precedenti specifici in materia di stupefacenti»: in un primo momento era stato detto come “ovulatrice”, poi è stato precisato che fu fermata per foglie di khat; anche il marito – ha aggiunto la polizia – era noto all’autorità giudiziaria per traffico di sostanze stupefacenti. Amina Sheikh Said «non ha mai subito condanne per traffico di stupefacenti», ha però ammonito il difensore della donna, Luca Santini, dell’associazione ’Progetto-Dirittì. «La mia assistita è stata soltanto destinataria di un’indagine in quanto avrebbe utilizzato la sostanza denominata ’catha edulis’, una pianta tradizionalmente usata per la masticazione nella cultura somala. All’episodio non è conseguito alcun dibattimento, nè tanto meno una condanna».

«Ma quali precedenti?», ha quindi liquidato l’episodio Luigi Mancuso, marito di Amina. «Questa è una storia vecchia, io sono stato assolto con formula piena perchè il fatto non sussiste». Ma la storia non si ferma qui perchè gli operatori della polizia di frontiera di Ciampino, presenti all’episodio che ha riguardato Amina Said, annunciano di aver presentato «informativa di denuncia» all’autorità giudiziaria per calunnia e diffamazione, dopo le dichiarazioni della donna. La loro ricostruzione dei fatti è che la donna, il 21 luglio scorso, durante i controlli di polizia ha dato in escandescenza e si è privata da sola degli abiti gettandoli addosso agli operatori. Una volta rimasta solo con il reggiseno ha rifiutato di rivestirsi per tutto il tempo della sua permanenza in aeroporto. Contro il personale femminile che cercava di riportala alla calma avrebbe inveito con urla e minacce.

In Roma, Somali, Somalia on October 4, 2008 at 5:35 am
La denuncia-choc di una somala:
“Ero nuda e la polizia mi insultava”
«Agenti mi dicevano “sporca negra”.
Pensavano avessi droga nei bagagli».
La replica: «Falso. Aveva precedenti».
Il fatto sarebbe avvenuto a Ciampino
ROMA
Ha denunciato di essere stata «ingiuriata e tenuta nuda per ore» dalla polizia nell’aeroporto di Ciampino. Per questo una somala di 51 anni, con cittadinanza italiana, ha presentato il 30 settembre una denuncia per un fatto accaduto il 21 luglio scorso. La polizia, che respinge tutte le accuse, l’ha denunciata a sua volta per calunnia.

La donna, che tornava da un viaggio a Londra con quattro nipotini – riferiscono le associazioni “Antigone” e “Progetto Diritti” che oggi hanno reso nota la vicenda – sarebbe stata accusata dagli agenti prima di rapimento di bambini, poi di traffico di clandestini, infine di essere un corriere della droga. Durante i controlli «sono stata in piedi quattro ore, nuda, soltanto con il reggiseno addosso», ha raccontato la donna ai cronisti nella sua abitazione. «Sono stata apostrofata dal personale della Polizia di frontiera e dell’Agenzia della dogana con frasi come “guarda questa pazza negra, mò ti meniamo” e “se non fai quello che ti diciamo, ti mandiamo al centro di igiene mentale” e ancora “sei nera dentro e fuori”». È incredula Amina: «Sono rimasta scioccata, non me lo aspettavo» e poi la sua unica certezza: «mi hanno tolto la dignita».

La polizia ha invece precisato che i controlli e le ispezioni corporali sono stati necessari perchè la donna «ha precedenti specifici in materia di stupefacenti»: in un primo momento era stato detto come “ovulatrice”, poi è stato precisato che fu fermata per foglie di khat; anche il marito – ha aggiunto la polizia – era noto all’autorità giudiziaria per traffico di sostanze stupefacenti. Amina Sheikh Said «non ha mai subito condanne per traffico di stupefacenti», ha però ammonito il difensore della donna, Luca Santini, dell’associazione ’Progetto-Dirittì. «La mia assistita è stata soltanto destinataria di un’indagine in quanto avrebbe utilizzato la sostanza denominata ’catha edulis’, una pianta tradizionalmente usata per la masticazione nella cultura somala. All’episodio non è conseguito alcun dibattimento, nè tanto meno una condanna».

«Ma quali precedenti?», ha quindi liquidato l’episodio Luigi Mancuso, marito di Amina. «Questa è una storia vecchia, io sono stato assolto con formula piena perchè il fatto non sussiste». Ma la storia non si ferma qui perchè gli operatori della polizia di frontiera di Ciampino, presenti all’episodio che ha riguardato Amina Said, annunciano di aver presentato «informativa di denuncia» all’autorità giudiziaria per calunnia e diffamazione, dopo le dichiarazioni della donna. La loro ricostruzione dei fatti è che la donna, il 21 luglio scorso, durante i controlli di polizia ha dato in escandescenza e si è privata da sola degli abiti gettandoli addosso agli operatori. Una volta rimasta solo con il reggiseno ha rifiutato di rivestirsi per tutto il tempo della sua permanenza in aeroporto. Contro il personale femminile che cercava di riportala alla calma avrebbe inveito con urla e minacce.