#Somali New Year

[panafrocore]

Instunka: The Mock-Combat Ritual of Somali New Year

In the vibrant tapestry of Somali culture, Instunka stands out as a captivating tradition that combines martial arts, ritual, and community celebration. This mock-combat ritual, contested during holidays in Somalia, particularly during Somali New Year, has deep historical roots, tracing back to the Sultanate of Geledi between the late 17th and 19th centuries. Let’s take a closer look at this…

[necomanma]

HAPPY NEW YEAR！

[historyhermann]

Cherry Magic! Spoiler-Filled Review

Cherry Magic!, also known as Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!, is a comedic boy’s love series, adapted from a manga of the same name by Yuu Toyota. There were previously TV drama and film adaptations. The anime is directed by Yoshiko Okuda and written by Tomoko Konparu. Tomoki Hasegawa is the music composer. The animation studio Satelight, known for Macross…

[ur-mag]

Somali gang rapist finally deported five years after plane passengers staged mutiny to stop him being kicked out of UK

A MIGRANT rapist whose deportation was thwarted by woke airline passengers five years ago has finally been sent home – at a cost of £1million to taxpayers. Yaqub Ahmed, 34, racked up the mammoth bill in legal, prison and deportation costs before finally being sent back to Read Full Text

[reasonsforhope]

"The first and only fungus on a global conservation outfit’s ’25 Most Wanted List’ has been found in the rain-soaked mountains of Chile, almost 40 years after it was first documented.

The big puma fungus is actually quite small, and despite being on the ’25 Most Wanted List’ it’s also rather unremarkable, being slightly greyish brown, and no bigger than a shitake.

GNN is always abreast of updates to the brilliant conservation initiative Search for Lost Species which has rediscovered several wondrous species of plants and animals through collaborative scientific expeditions to look for forms of life not seen in over ten years.

The big puma fungus (Austroomphaliaster nahuelbutensis), an enigmatic species of fungi that lives underground in Chile’s Nahuelbuta Mountains had only ever been found in the wild once.

An expedition team from the Fungi Foundation in Chile set out for the temperate forests of the Nahuelbutas in May 2023 to retrace the footsteps of Chilean mycologist Norberto Garrido, who discovered the big puma fungus and described it to Western science in 1988.

They timed the expedition to coincide with the exact dates in May that Garrido had hiked the mountains more than 40 years earlier.

“It’s possible that the reproductive parts of the big puma fungus—the mushroom—are only fleetingly visible above the soil on the same few days each year, which made the timing of the expedition a crucial factor,” said Claudia Bustamante, a mycologist, and member of the expedition team.

The expedition was captured in a documentary called In Search of a Lost Fungus, in which viewers can see how a last-minute day hike organized near a local Nahuelbutas community led to the big puma fungus’ eventual discovery.

On the last day of the expedition, the Fungi Foundation led a workshop and a community hike to look for fungi in a nearby forest. During that hike, two of the local participants found a group of about four mushrooms that all matched the description of the big puma fungus.

The expedition team carefully collected the mushrooms, leaving the mycelium in the ground, and took the mushrooms to the Fungi Foundation’s fungarium (FFCL). Although the mushrooms matched the physical and microscopical description of the big puma fungus, it was a DNA analysis that eventually confirmed the team had found the correct species.

“We knew it was going to be hard to find the big puma fungus and that the chances of finding the mushrooms were low, considering their colors and how they blend with the fallen leaves,” said Daniela Torres, programs lead at the Fungi Foundation and leader of the expedition.

“It was truly a unique moment when we managed to be in the right place at the right time to see the mushrooms. Understanding the biodiversity that exists and interacts within a specific area helps us comprehend its behavior and its potential to adapt to ongoing changes and underlying threats.”

Since 2017, the Search for Lost Species has rediscovered 13 of the world’s most wanted lost species. In addition to the big puma fungus, Re:wild, working with partners across the world, has confirmed the rediscovery of Jackson’s climbing salamander in Guatemala, both Wallace’s giant bee and the velvet pitcher plant in Indonesia, the silver-backed chevrotain in Vietnam, the Somali sengi in Djibouti, the Voeltzkow’s chameleon in Madagascar, Fernandina giant tortoise in the Galápagos, Sierra Leone crab in Sierra Leone, the Pernambuco holly tree in Brazil, Attenborough’s echidna in Indonesia, De Winton’s golden mole in South Africa and Fagilde’s trapdoor spider in Portugal."

-via Good News Network, September 13, 2024

[f1ghtsoftly]

All The Women’s News You Missed Last Week

10/21/24-10/28/24

A female journalist of color breaks the story that the former CEO of Abercrombie was running an international prostitution business alongside his work at the teen retailer. The global spotlight again shines a light on fresh atrocities in Sudan, which led to the deaths of 120 women. With Election Day only a few weeks away, reproductive rights remain a defining issue in the presidential race. 

Have a Happy Halloween everyone, and keep it safe(ish). 

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US Presidental Election: 

What’s really behind America’s men v women election

Michelle Obama makes fiery abortion pitch as Trump courts Muslim vote

Abortion is on the ballot in 10 states this year

In a rare political speech, Beyoncé endorses Kamala Harris at a Houston rally

Inflation changed these women’s lives. Now, they will vote.

An elections worker wanted to serve her country. A stew of conspiracy theories and vitriol awaited

Male Violence: 

Taliban minister declares women’s voices among women forbidden

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO pleads not guilty to sixteen counts of sex trafficking and international prostitution

How my investigation led to sex trafficking charges against ex-Abercrombie boss

Chinese child trafficker with 17 victims sentenced to death

Gisèle Pelicot takes stand in French mass rape trial

More than 120 killed in paramilitary rampage in east-central Sudan, UN and a doctors group say 

Women in the News:

Missing woman found with snake bite after six days in mountains

Florida woman found guilty of murder for leaving her boyfriend to die in a suitcase

A melodic greeting between women in Burundi is at risk of being lost

Ilona Maher's Female Safety PSA Shows the Power Of Women Helping Women

Miscellaneous:

Backlash over photos of Somali men at UN women’s conference

Papal summit ends with call for leadership roles for women

Culture: 

Disease: Why Lady Gaga's comeback hits the spot

GloRilla conquers self-doubt on her path to becoming one of hip-hop’s most promising voices

Movie Review: ‘Memoir of a Snail,’ a stop-motion charmer, examines the shells we build around us

Music Review: In illness, Halsey tells deep truths on ambitious, reflective ‘The Great Impersonator’

Music Review: Muna frontwoman Katie Gavin makes her solo debut with folky, evocative ‘What A Relief’

‘Rivals’ star Nafessa Williams on favorite ‘80s fashion and music 

As always, this is global and domestic news from a US perspective covering feminist issues and women in the news more generally. As of right now, I do not cover Women’s Sports. Published each Monday afternoon.

[lixenn]

OCtober 2024 day 4: Underappreciated OC

While I have plenty of OCs that I don't talk about enough (simply because there are a lot and the day only has 24 hours) let's focus on Cilmi today! ( @dreamieparadise I'm tagging you because Cilmi info drop)

Cilmi is Varia's librarian. He hoards knowledge like a dragon and while he's generally a pretty rational person if you mess with his library or his best friend René, then there's hell to pay! (Death! Death to the intruder!)

When he was a teenager one of Cilmi's many cousins told him about the Varia library, a leftover from before the Mafia took over the castle. Ever since then Cilmi had been obssessed with gaining access to all these books, just rotting away, unloved. They needed him! What would assassins know about proper archive maintenance? Nothing! So Cilmi planned and prepared and schemed. And after a few years he sat in Chief's office, holding a two-hour presentation on why he would be the best possible candidate for the librarian position. Meanwhile Dan zoned out after the first ten minutes and was just using the lecture presentation as a way to relax for a bit (Cilmi has a soothing voice). At the end of the talk, he just said: "Look, kid, I'm too busy to care what's going on with the library and clearly you know your stuff. So... just get cleared by Mammon, don't make a mess for me in the future and the library is all yours. My assistant will handle the paperwork." On the one hand Cilmi was elated to get the position but on the other hand... He never got to use all his arguments! He had been prepared for a full-on debate but Chief didn't even ask questions? Disappointing. Anyways, Mammon confirmed that Cilmi had no ulterior motives and after dealing with Dave's puppy like excitement at a new member (*cough* victim *cough*), Cilmi signed his contract and the waivers and became the first Varia librarian. Soon after René joined Varia Housekeeping, because he couldn't handle being separated from his best friend. It didn't matter that he wasn't suited for Varia's version of excitement, he'd rather face that than go out and make new friends. He only needs Cilmi, no one else ಥ_ಥ (René has extreme attachment issues).

A rough sketch of Cilmi and René under the cut 🫡

I can only offer this analogue sketch for now since I don't really know how to draw texture hair digitally but it shows the gist of his appearance. Pretty sure I mentioned it already but Cilmi is Somali, his hair is black and his eyes and skin are dark brown. I haven't fully settled on an age yet but currently I have it at 19 or 20 but this might change in the future.

Also bonus René! I'm actually not a hundred percent decided on his design yet but it's something in this direction. Once again, only a rough analogue sketch because it's honestly what I prefer for designing characters, the flow is better somehow.

[ninyard]

The Scriptures aka towning according to nin. (subject to change)

can’t do this without acknowledging the descriptions of them by @rekikiri which are just perfect plus some more stuff on them here and this wonderful background by @tara-the-star

(I owe everyone like a million socmed posts just for putting up with my shit re: this. enjoy!)

austin michael browning

- southern boy. has a soft southern accent. i was thinking something like southern georgia, but his parents have a stronger accent than he does. he didn't want to be known as the sweet darlin' southern boy when he moved to virginia for his FBI training, so he tried his best to speak a bit more neutral

- it didn't last long

- 6’2, soft brown hair, beautiful brown eyes. he’s covered in freckles and has the most gorgeous warm skin with some terrible tan lines. when he tans, he tans.

- he’s quite built but you can only tell when he takes off his suit jacket or he’s wearing just a shirt/t-shirt. if he could’ve gotten an a+ on the fbi fitness test he would’ve. he’s incredibly strong and goes to the gym most mornings (at like 6am. he’s a real early bird)

- has a bachelors degree in law/criminal justice

- was a detective for two years in georgia until he went to quantico. worked on criminal intelligence cases, but occasionally worked on juvenile crime cases. he had one particularly difficult case involving both departments (organised crime involving a minor) which inspired him to work for the FBI.

- has four siblings. he's the middle child with two older sisters and two younger sisters.

- he’s a somalier without being a somalier. literally knows anything and everything about wine. always has the right bottle of wine for any occasion or meal. recommending wines and opening his favourite wines is his love language.

- his family live by strict traditional values - two of his sisters were married by the time they were 22, and the other two followed suit at 21 and 23. he has a couple of nieces and nephews that he doesn’t get to see too often but he’s their fun uncle. he had a lot of pressure to find a nice girl and settle down, and always brushed off the girlfriend question (he even made up a fake girlfriend when he was in college, just to get his parents off his back) ((they didn’t “date” for very long))

- his dad worked on a farm his whole life and his momma has always been a housewife. his sisters were the only ones his mom taught to cook and clean. he had to teach himself a lot of life skills in college. he still occasionally ruins his clothes by washing them wrong but he’s learned to get his work suits dry cleaned. it’s much cheaper to do that than have to get new ones when he inevitably shrinks them.

- his mom never teaches him how to cook/bake, but she gives him a handwritten book of recipes when he moves to maryland for work. it sits on a shelf in the kitchen of his apartment but he’s never used it

- (until towns visits his apartment for the first time and tells him that he has to make him some of his ‘momma’s recipes’ someday. browning falls in love, naturally, and tries a couple dishes and treats)

- he didn’t really know or acknowledge that he was gay until he was in college. he’d had a few “girlfriends” here and there in highschool but he always felt like he was forcing himself into liking them. he kissed a boy for the first time when he was 19, and everything made sense for him, but even still he buried it down quite deep and focused on his studies instead of relationships.

- his family are not accepting at all. He grew up around a lot of homophobia and slurs and disrespect of lgbt+ people, and so that made it really hard for him to come to terms with his sexuality. he started to distance himself from them when he went to college, and the weekly phone calls with his mom turned to once a fortnight, into once or twice a month, into whenever she eventually didn’t take no for an answer and kept calling until he picked up.

- the only person who knew that he was gay was his oldest sister, who he came out to when he was in the third year of his degree. she was honest and told him that their mom and dad wouldn’t be supportive of him, but she wasn’t going to tell them either.

- she always changed the topic when the “girlfriend” conversation came up when he would go home for thanksgiving or Christmas or some other occasion. he appreciated that a lot

- started smoking cigarettes in college and struggled to give it up. he barely smokes anymore but every now and again on a tough case he finds himself reaching for a packet of cigarettes (towns hates it)

samuel arthur towns

- new york new yooorkkk. he was born somewhere in new york that i haven't figured out yet.

- 5’11, mixed with a white dad and a black mom. he wears glasses. he’s not as big or strong as austin is, but he’s in really good shape. he has gorgeous dark brown eyes and spends way too much time on his hair.

- has a tattoo on his thigh.

- he’s an only child to his absolutely amazing mother and father. they’re SO supportive of him and have always trusted him to make good choices in life - he tells his mom everything. he calls her almost every other day and visits home as often as possible.

- has a double bachelors degree in psychology and law from Columbia

- was a backliner on his high school exy team but never had any intentions of becoming an athlete/going pro. he was a TOTAL jock back then

- when he graduated college he pretty quickly knew he wanted to do something good that wasn’t necessarily becoming a cop. he waited until he turned 23 and on the day he finished his two years of working in an attorney’s office, he applied for a job with the fbi

- came out as gay pretty young. his parents have always been fairly liberal (his mom was a hippie back in the day) so he came out as a teenager and they’ve always been cool with it

- right when he was in the middle of his FBI training in quantico, he was dumped by the man he’d been dating for like two years. he had to put it to the back of his mind to focus on the academy, but it was one of the things that made him and austin first start speaking

- he’s kept journals since he was a kid. he has a full shelf of journals and sketchbooks from the age he was 10 or 11 until the present. he always carries a little black notebook with him and writes down his thoughts and little sketches. (its full of doodles of browning)

- his parents also have books and boxes full of photos of him from birth. it’s like an INSANE number of photos. their attic is just full of boxes and boxes of pictures. (austin’s favourite is one they have on the wall in the living room of sammy as a teenager in his exy gear)

- in turn he’s really into photography too and always takes photos. he shoots on film, so he has loads of boxes full of photos too. his dream is to have a dark room in his home.

- his mom really is his best friend. she’s his biggest fan, and the reason he studied psychology. she’s a holistic therapist, and gives the BEST advice. his dad is a food critic.

- when he was younger a friend of his was killed after because he became involved with the wrong people and ended up in a gang. it totally changed a lot for him, and seeing the way the case was handled really inspired him to get into law/want to go into the fbi. he saw all these young black boys from underfunded and underprivileged backgrounds finding themselves caught up in gangs and when things would happen to them - it was clear the effort to stop the feuds and the violence was not as important as if a young white man had been killed, or indoctrinated because he had no choice.

- his mom was worried when he told her that he’d applied to be in the fbi. they had a very long conversation about the realities of what he would see working with the fbi, why he wanted to do it, what it would mean for his future, and the things he couldn’t do. he knew all of it already, having researched it all as soon as he realised it was the career path he wanted to go down, but she really wanted to be sure he knew what he was getting himself into. it scared him, for a little bit, but he knew it was the right choice for him.

- he has a license, but doesn’t drive that much. he didn’t really need to drive much living in new york, and 90% of the time, in maryland, austin drives him around.

- he’s partially deaf in one ear from a crash that happened during a car chase a few years into working with the fbi.

- the hardest part about working where he does was learning how to shoot a gun. he hates it. like he’s good at it and smart with it but he hates having a gun. the first time he shot a real person he held it together until he got home later and was practically in shock. (he wasn’t sure if telling his mom broke confidentiality or not, so because he was on the case with austin, he invited him over and he ended up staying the night just to keep him company)

- austin and sam only lived in seperate apartments for about six months when they moved to maryland until they decided to move in together. austin was already renting a two bedroom apartment, whereas sam was in a studio, and it just made more financial sense for them to move in together. ("financial")

- he started crushing on austin so early on in their friendship, but he had no idea that austin was pretty much the same.

- austin and sam met when they both started their training in quantico together. they were roommates at the academy but didn’t really interact too much. they only really started talking after one of the first weekends they were allowed to leave the campus - towns went home to visit his boyfriend on the Friday and came back trying to hide the fact he was a wreck on Sunday. he tried not to talk about it, because they’re judging their emotional maturity in the academy, but when browning asked if he was okay, he spilled a little too much.

- even after that, they weren’t really friends. they talked, of course, about their classes and the academy itself, but that was mostly it. towns didn’t know browning was gay, because he never mentioned it, even when towns told him he was gay. most evenings austin would sit at his desk with headphones on while studying, and sammy wouldn’t usually interrupt.

- then one time when they’re both at the gym at the same time, austin notices sam working out, and his form isn’t quite right for the work out he’s doing. austin corrects him after telling him he’ll hurt himself working out the way that he is, and he helps him through a couple of other sets that he does himself. they go to the gym together most days after that, spotting each other when they’re doing weights. they start running in the mornings, too.

- during the course of training there’s a couple of occasions where students at the academy are expected to wear business attire. they’re both getting dressed up in their suits, and austin is kind of embarrassed because he doesn’t really know how to properly tie a tie. his dad usually tied them for him, and for some reason even though he swore he knew how to do it, he’s just really struggling. sam offers to help and austin ends up talking a little bit about his family, but not giving away anything about how shitty they really are.

- one of the weekends they’re allowed off campus, later on at their time in training, towns asks browning if he wants to go out for dinner and a drink. it’s not a date, and neither of them think it is, but neither of them were going home for the weekend and they both wanted to do something. austin ends up picking a restaurant based off their wine list, and they talk about their lives outside of quantico for a little bit. they can’t exactly go out and get drunk - or they’re both afraid to do so in case they get kicked out of the academy - but they sit and talk and share a bottle of wine.

- they get closer, and when they graduate, towns’ mom and dad show up, and browning’s family doesn’t. they take pictures together (one of towns’ favourite photos ever) and sam introduces austin to his mom and dad. they’re going out for a celebratory meal, and sam’s dad invites austin along so he’s not celebrating by himself. he refuses, but when they insist, he comes along.

- oh and it’s SUCH a nice evening. he fills any rare awkward silence by explaining his wine choice to sammy’s dad, while sam’s mom nudges her son and raises her eyebrows like oh, he’s cute.

- they exchange phone numbers before they both head home to wait for their offers.

- (austin spent most of those 18 weeks smiling because of how close him and sam got. sam spent about half of that time thinking damn. am I falling for another straight guy?)

- austin calls sam first the day they find out where they’re being stationed. they tell each other on 3 that they’ve both been stationed in maryland and oh my god. Austin didn’t even know he was going to feel so relieved but he’s like holy shit. I didn’t even realise i was secretly really hoping that we were going to work together.

(there’s more but. I have to stop myself. The brain rot is setting in deeper and deeper)

[bastardtrait]

10 random fax about me

i'm stealing this from @papermint-airplane because the yappening is from midnight to midnight baby. please feel free to do this if you see this and you're bored.

i've had some form a tumblr account since 2010. 14 years ago!! dude i was 15 omfg ew! i've seen entire empires rise and fall, do not quote the scripture to me witch etc.

i can speak a few languages (english, tagalog, japanese, some fr*nch) but i can understand better if i'm reading. i also know how to read a few languages idk how to speak, such as korean, greek, and anything written with cyrillic.

tumblr and instagram are the only social media i spend any time on. i haven't had twitter since it was bought by apartheid clyde. i have a reddit account but i actively avoid it unless i need advice from some reddit sage from 7-10 years ago, otherwise it's a hate-filled echo chamber inside a septic tank.

i LOVE karaoke (i will never escape the filipino allegations). if u invite me to karaoke i will literally rise out of a deep cryogenic sleep to fuck up some hozier i swear to god n jesus.

my spotify is a churning mess. my current daylist is called "pink pilates princess shojo evening", filled with: noise, energetic, fresh, sticky (????!!!!). tell me why xg, chungha, megan thee stallion, and babymetal are on this bitch together.

i drink an exorbitant amount of water a day. i drink between 4-5 litres on a normal day.

my favourite alcoholic drink is a gin and tonic with citrus juice. any citrus, but lime is chefs kiss and grapefruit is bitter in a good way.

i love to cook and bake! you guys already knew that though. i firmly believe that if you have a good understanding of a wide range of techniques, you can make anything you want without needing a recipe. just feel it in your heart n soul.

my top 5 cuisines in the world are thai, mexican and korean tied for 2nd, chinese-filipino, indian, and somali. i love FLAVOUR baby!!! and spice. i just love spice.

my favourite movies are horror movies. me and my one friend pretty much exclusively go out to watch new horror releases. the last one we saw was longlegs. i kind of hated it.

[aposterous]

Don't come at me, I'm the main character and you have to like me.

Rambling under the cut

The character here is Firestar from Warriors. I'd tentatively recommend reading the books if you haven't read them, but I'm not confident people will like them as they have their problems. Although most of the problems show up after the books that feature Firestar. He's supposed to be a Somali cat here. There wasn't any reason for drawing him. I just default to cats with my art experiments because they're easy to draw. And I did a study last night and I wanted to put the stuff I remembered to good use.

I'm trying to experiment with art that mimics traditional art, specifically the doodles I like to draw in class and stuff. This was really my first attempt and I think it turned out good so yeah!

Also, this is my first art piece of the year! Well, the first finished one. The New Year's Redraw is coming... eventually... I'm not too fussed about that coming out on time because I'm not usually on time with them anyway. One of them took four months and another was just never finished because it looked so ugly. This year's version will hopefully turn out very good, but I'll have to see. Anyway. Thanks to all my followers and stuff, and here's to a good year. Maybe I'll even open commissions.

[thoughtlessarse]

The American military has been carrying out a continuous military campaign in Somalia since the 2000s, launching nearly 300 drone strikes and commando raids over the past 17 years. In one April 2018 air attack, American troops killed three, and possibly five, civilians with a pair of missiles. A woman and child were among the dead, according to a U.S. military investigation, but the same report concluded their identities might never be known. Last year, my investigation for The Intercept exposed the details of this disastrous attack. The woman and child survived the initial strike but were killed by the second missile. They were 22-year-old Luul Dahir Mohamed and her 4-year-old daughter, Mariam Shilow Muse. For six years, the family has tried to contact the U.S. government, including through an online civilian casualty reporting portal run by U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, but they have never received a response. “They know innocent people were killed, but they’ve never told us a reason or apologized,” Abdi Dahir Mohamed, one of Luul’s brothers, told me last year. “No one has been held accountable.” A new report by the Center for Civilians in Conflict, or CIVIC, shared exclusively with The Intercept, underlines what Mohamed told me: Civilian victims and survivors of U.S. drone strikes in Somalia say that attaining justice in the form of official acknowledgment, apologies, and financial compensation would help them move on from the trauma they experienced. But after almost 20 years of drone strikes, even in cases in which the Pentagon has admitted to killing innocent people, the U.S. has failed to apologize to any Somali survivors, much less offer amends. “The civilians we interviewed described not only devastating physical harm, like deaths and injuries, but also significant economic burdens and long-lasting psychological trauma,” Madison Hunke, CIVIC’s U.S. program officer, told The Intercept. “Most respondents agreed that justice comes down to a perpetrator of harm being held accountable for their actions and the victims being treated with the dignity they deserve.”

continue reading

[jihadibaddie123]

I do think that i should aim to be more reserved and have 0 friends (unless they're somali, which is still shaky grounds). This upcoming year, I'll start my life from scratch. I just need to do some washing and cleaning for the new year.

[necomanma]

実は、待てからの食べてる図なんですけどね😸

[foster-the-world]

Ethiopian Dinner

A new Ethiopian place opened a few blocks from us a few months back. I walk by on my way home from work and rarely see people. Which makes me nervous. I think its so brave to start a business and am always afraid it won't succeed. Admittedly, weird to be worried about people I don't even know.

Took the kids last night. Rebel loved it. Bee a little less so but was still happy. Baby boy did pretty well. It's a little small/open for his loud self. I prefer places with booths or more distance between tables for him. But we gave him a phone about 15 minutes in and he was quiet as a mouse. Of course, he ate a ton. He eats a ton of everything. I'm so glad my kids are into trying lots of different kinds of foods. They def aren't totally healthy but they are very adventurous eaters.

The restaurant was busy as we were leaving. It has a nice vibe. They were playing Ethiopian music videos and had an area for Ethiopian coffee ceremony. I lived in Ethiopia about 5 months at least 10 years ago. Its a beautiful place. I was working in a refugee camp on the Somali border. I was lucky to do a vacation with my boyfriend at the end of work schedule. They have these amazing churches built in the ground. The food is amazing. Although at the refugee camp we had to beg for injera/Ethopian food. The local ladies who cooked for us wrongly assumed we want the Italian food - that is also common due to Somalia's colonial history. Except they didn't have real Italian food just nasty canned pasta sauce and plain noodles. For obvious reasons it was difficult to get food in so we at plain jarred pasta sauce and noodles for meal after meal after meal after meal. We each had a tent. The threat of kidnapping was real. It was an interesting time. I'm happily still friends with that ex-boyfriend. He came and stayed with us when the girls were little. Nice guy with a lot of his own demons he struggles with. My husband also liked him. Its funny how little I think about the almost ten years I spent traveling the world to places like that. Whenever something brings back the memories i'm always so thankful for that time while being glad its over. Maybe we will do it again when my kids are out of the house. My husband is always up for an adventure.

[ur-mag]

Somali gang rapist finally deported five years after plane passengers staged mutiny to stop him being kicked out of UK

A MIGRANT rapist whose deportation was thwarted by woke airline passengers five years ago has finally been sent home – at a cost of £1million to taxpayers. Yaqub Ahmed, 34, racked up the mammoth bill in legal, prison and deportation costs before finally being sent back to Read Full Text

[estellaestella]

Why does Arrakis have another name? And why is that (native) name the title of the book?

So DUNE (novel)'s wiki page cites a quote where Frank Herbert said he chose the title DUNE because it sounds like "Doom", you know , in line with the ecological message of the books.

In addition, I would like to suggest that DUNE is yet another word that he borrows from Arabic, as with so many other references throughout the saga. Just as FREMEN is a worn down version of FREE MEN I believe DUNE is a time eroded version of DUNIYA. According to Google Translate DUNIYA means world in Arabic, Turkish, Corsican, Swahili, Somali, Twi, Zulu, Hausa, Sanskrit, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, and Yiddish. (I might hv found more instances if I kept on looking.) It seems like a good fit as the Fremen language is full of words with Arabic roots.

Given that Dune is the lesser known name of the planet, it would also make sense to call the novel DUNE if it meant world to Frank. Unless the word DUNE made a big statement (like announcing he's about to give you a whole new world) it makes no sense for Frank to unnecessarily complicate things by giving Arrakis a second name.

Sidenote: the Fremen who initially landed on Arrakis (thousands? of years before the first novel starts) were technicians, scientists, mathematicians, etc who were fleeing the oppression of a slaver- scientist. They couldnt go back to the planet they were captured from and had to make Arrakis their new homeworld out of necessity. In light of that, calling this place their DUNIYA makes sense.

Postscript: there is another layer to the word DUNIYA in that it also refers to the transient nature of the world we live in. In Arabic, it can mean this world as much as it can mean this temporary world. And the original Fremen had initially thought that they would find a way to go back to their home planet and that Arrakis would be a temporary home. So yeah, DUNIYA makes sense in that way too.

Share your thoughts, please!