Sheikh...the most beautiful part of Somalia. I have been there three times as in many years. It is just one of the most beautiful places of the world. Period. So while sitting under a qurac tree, drinking a nice cup of Somali tea...one can also check their email using fast wireless internet access. Life is good.

The above is a photo of the Sheikh Vet School and next to it is the historical sheikh secondary school (not shown in this photo).

As I write this article there is a conference taking place at Lund, Sweden organised by Somalia International Rehabilitation Centre (SIRC), and probably there are many more conferences about Somalia or by Somalis taking all over the world (except in Somalia). Why Lund? why not Shiekh?

Here is a suggestion for all Somalis around the world...can we please consider organizing next Somali meetings, conferences in places like Sheikh? The Sheskh school is an ideal place to hold a conference during the holiday breaks. This will give many of us in the diaspora an excuse to visit home, not to mention the impact it will have on the local economy. Let us think big and dream large!

HARRY POTTER comes to Somalia!

 RADCLIFFE CALLS FOR SOMALI CO-STARS

HARRY POTTER star DANIEL RADCLIFFE has called on the producers of his upcoming movie about Somalia to cast actors from the African country to keep the project authentic. The 20 year old is preparing to film The Journey Is The Destination, in which he will play Dan Eldon, the British photojournalist whose work brought global attention to the Somali civil war in the 1990s.

And he's hoping the movie's casting directors will maintain respect for the country by hiring actors of the correct ethnicity.
He tells Empire magazine, "I don't want to do that horrible Black Hawk Down thing of filming in one part of Africa and then casting actors from a completely different area and doing that awful, 'Oh, they look the same, no one will notice the difference.'
"It's this form of very subtle racism that seems to happen sometimes and it's horrible. So I'd hope we can get extras who are Somalian (sic), rather than from South Africa or Zimbabwe, for example." Ridley Scott's 2001 war movie Black Hawk Down came under fire for failing to feature Somali actors despite the fact it focused on a battle that occurred in the African country.

More on this story, please visit.http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/radcliffe-calls-for-somali-co-stars_1110670

Somali Websites - The Good, The bad, The Ugly and beyond 

A soon to be published paper about the history and the evolution of the Somali websites reveals an amazing hidden cultural phenomenon that escaped the attention of many researchers in this field. There are close to thousand websites about Somalia many owned by Somalis. Abdirahman Aynte of Hiiraan Online wrote about this topic sometime ago...but things have really taken off since then. A related but not directly connected to this issue is the possibility that one can study how we Somali communicate (or not communicate) from the quality and content of our websites.

The major problem with many of the Somali websites (the bad and the ugly category) is the design, the layout and presentation of the content. Many of the websites are just too loud, too many unnecessary whistles and bells that distract the reader. Many have no motive or purpose for their existence, apart from the low nomadic competition of 'me too'...my town, my tribe, my village, my camel, etc. Some are so bad that it is hard to believe they are created or owned by Somalis (the beyond redemption category)- these category really degrade the Somali culture and tradition (if there is anything left of that).

I do not want to give too much away....this is just a kind of announcing about the soon to be published paper. If you can't wait and want a copy in advance, email me ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and I shall do the right thing. 

AUSTRALIA is considering offering Somali students scholarships in Malaysia - rather than inviting them to study here - to increase the chances that they will return home rather than resettle in Australia.

A senior government MP has written to Foreign Minister Stephen Smith with the proposal, after the Somali ambassador to Indonesia raised the idea on his recent visit to Australia.

Parliamentary secretary for multicultural affairs Laurie Ferguson said ambassador Mohamud Olow Barow was concerned to ensure that more talented young Somalis would return to help rebuild their war-torn homeland.

 Australian Parliamentary secretary for multicultural affairs Mr Laurie Ferguson and Ambassador Mohamud Olow Barow

They shoot camels don't they? - The Australian 25th July

In Australia, that is. Not in Somalia, no, no...in Somalia we shoot each other first while the camels watch and probably wonder what the fight is all about! And if it is not about camels, then we fight for...eh, can someone tell me why? waterholes, presidential seat, religion, whatever.