User talk:Scoobycentric/Archive: 1

Re:

Sorry about that man; I mistook you for a troll (they've been a couple of them around lately). It's just that most Somalis and people familiar with Somalia know that Mogadishu was founded by Persians & Arabs. There's no shame in that. Mogadishu really does mean "The Seat of the Shah". Middayexpress (talk) 20:27, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Firstly, thanks for actually trying to discuss things over with me this time instead of biting my head off on the article's history page! lol I'll admit that you have a point with regard to the Somali Civil War Black Hawk photo, so I am not opposed to removing it. Your Taleex photo, for its part, is exquisite so I've re-added it. However, I must disagree with your contention that the colonial period is not worth delving into, photographically-speaking. The photo currently featured in the article of Mogadishu in 1936 is exceptional, and provides a snapshot into a part of Somalia's rich past that many don't get to see. All they see is the Somali Civil War and hardship, as you have correctly pointed out. Next, I don't have a problem with either the Cal Madow forest camel photo or the hartebeest one. It's just that Somalia is a mostly semi-arid land, and I think that visually-arresting Hadaaftimo photo better captures this aspect of Somalia's environment. Lastly, I've re-incorporated the Kismayo photo, mainly because it wasn't yet represented anywhere in the article despite being an important city in Somalia, and also because it is repeatedly discussed in that part of the text. Middayexpress (talk) 03:20, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

I agree with you that Somalia never really was colonized. In fact, I was alluding to this very fact not too long ago in a conversation I had with this one other exceptionally annoying editor. I told him to have a look at pp. 68-69 & 75-76 of this book to get an idea about the true nature of Somalia's colonial period. I've been thinking about ways to incorporate this information into the Somalia article, but haven't gotten around to it yet. For the rest, I think your reasoning makes sense. I especially like the idea about tables & cities like on the Saudi Arabia page. However, the images of the Saudi cities look pretty darn impressive. Do we have any comparable skyline photos of Somali cities other than Mogadishu? Middayexpress (talk) 04:26, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Those are without question gorgeous photos, particularly the Merca one. We need to find a way of grouping all of the similar skyline images that are either in the public domain or are freely available to us for use from Flickr or elsewhere and select the best ones from among them. I know that one particular editor User:Abdirisak is very good about producing novel photos not available elsewhere. He was the person who added all of the great images of Sheikh Darod's tomb to the Darod page, for example. I believe the Hadaaftimo photo was his contribution as well (but don't quote me on that). Perhaps if we coordinate our efforts with him we can come up with a more optimal roster of images. The problem, however, is that he only shows up once in a blue moon. Middayexpress (talk) 05:17, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

In an unrelated note, there has been a little bit of a struggle lately between myself and an Ethiopian editor over the Ahmed Gurey article. He has added some original research, which basically appears to insinuate that Gurey wasn't Somali despite just about every source explicitly describing him as such. If it's not asking too much, could you also keep an eye on that page just to make sure things don't get out of hand? Middayexpress (talk) 03:37, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

I have been following that aswell and if you look at the history page further down below, you will notice that this individual has tried to insert this same highly biased OR in the article before but was corrected in the Administration page by a member with name Causteau and several other admins and members, i think it would be best if you alerted Causteau of the recent changes. Personally i have something big in store that will refute every single one of his biased points but that's not finished yet.

I suspect that the editor won't try anything further, as he has already more or less been warned. But it's still imperative in future we don't let this kind of thing pass unchallenged. For example, there's this other Italian editor who for a while there kept adding all sorts of rubbish on both the Italian Somalians and Italian Somaliland articles about Somalis basically being under Italy's thumb during the colonial period. He claimed, among other things, that 10% of Somalis were converted to Christianity, that 50,000 illegitimate children were born of illicit unions between Italian colonialists and their Somali concubines (that's the exact word he used: concubines), that Mussolini was behind the Greater Somalia concept (!), and it wasn't Siad Barre's government that was responsible for the implementation of the Latin script for the Somali language but the "influence" of Mussolini's Fascists. What's worse is that he actually had sources (unreliable Fascist ones, obviously) which supported his claims! I struggled with him alone for a while there as well, but thankfully, things seem to have calmed down since. Then there's the ever-present Somaliland-is-an-independent-country crowd. These guys show up periodically, and I state with no exaggeration that they're probably the worst. Middayexpress (talk) 04:54, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

I noticed that aswell sometime back, it's just a delirious individual with somekind of obsession towards the Saba Anglana(sp?) character and seems to project his fantasies onto the article. I have read sources that state that the only women Italians were allowed to marry were former slaves and concubines of Somalis(these were Gosha and Oromo) and Somalis were also excluded from labour in plantations(again former slaves were used for the then and now illegal practice) I will look them up and provide them for you so you can rectify these lies(i'm still struggling with the 'ref' system). I also recall sources of individuals writing that the steadfastness of the Somalis towards their religion of Islam was so strong that there were only a dozen native converts after the European powers left. The script issue is well documented so i don't even know why he bothered with that lie, it will be allright brother, i'm currently completing my website and gathering a team of knowlegdeable compatriots so we can thoroughly address the problems on wikipedia as a significant force in the near future --Scoobycentric (talk) 05:12, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, that guy's a joke; lucky Saba Anglana! lol And you're right. I also read some place that most of the concubines were from among the minority groups in Somalia. It's also common knowledge that only orphans that were raised by the Church became Christians, and the former can be counted on two hands, if that. At any rate, on Wikipedia, the unstated dictum is that majority rules. It really does. The more people are behind an idea no matter how inane, it goes through. And this is precisely why I think a team of knowledgeable contributors to Somali-related articles is absolutely vital for the future growth and, indeed, the factual accuracy of the Somali English Wiki. Do keep me posted on what you come up with (BTW, is that you Warsame?) Middayexpress (talk) 05:35, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

I'm not a S-netter brother if that's the Warsame your referring to, but i will keep you posted! --Scoobycentric (talk) 05:39, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Alright bro. It's been a long editing day for me, so I think I'll sign off now. Anytime you wanna talk again about what to do next or anything, you know how to contact me. Take care, Middayexpress (talk) 05:47, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Same here bro! and i will, thanks!--Scoobycentric (talk) 06:06, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Your recent edits

Hi there. In case you didn't know, when you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion, you should sign your posts by typing four tildes ( ~~~~ ) at the end of your comment. If you can't type the tilde character, you should click on the signature button located above the edit window. This will automatically insert a signature with your name and the time you posted the comment. This information is useful because other editors will be able to tell who said what, and when. Thank you! --SineBot (talk) 04:51, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

I'm fully aware of the symbols ( ~~~~ ) but the problem is: when i press it on my keyboard i get this symbol instead | that is why i haven't been able to sign my posts. Thanks for telling me about the signature button which i hadn't noticed before, you've been a great help! --Scoobycentric (talk) 04:57, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

Waris Dirie

Hey bro. I uploaded a photo some time back of Waris Dirie, but it was a non-free image, so it was used on a fair use basis. However, another editor has just nominated that image for deletion under the pretext that since she is alive, a free image of her must be available. Thing is, I've searched all over, from Wikimedia Commons to Flickr, and there is literally none to be found. Your input on the matter here would be greatly appreciated. Best, Middayexpress (talk) 00:07, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

Awesome response there brother! Much obliged, Middayexpress (talk) 21:25, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

The photo was deleted, Scoobycentric. They didn't even have consensus but deleted it anyway. That's Wikipedia for you. *shakes head* By the way, how are those Somali city images coming along? I think it would be great if we could implement them soon. Middayexpress (talk) 20:34, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

You'd be surprised at how often that sort of thing happens around here. I've even had an administrator lock an article in a version of the page that he preferred while he and I were in the midst of an edit war (which I lost, btw; outnumbered as usual). That was a blatant case of administrator abuse, but all he got was a slap on the wrist. And guess what else? So did I! At any rate, you can reach me anytime by using the "E-mail this user" feature under the 'toolbox' set of links on the left hand side of my talk page. Middayexpress (talk) 01:30, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for contacting me bro. The 'Email this user' feature should be on the left-hand side of my talk page. It's right under the 'toolbox' box of links. Can you see it? Because on my computer, it's right there. Whatever the case, if you still don't see it, you can contact me directly at the following email address: swimminggoggles456@yahoo.ca. Middayexpress (talk) 20:45, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Okay Scoob. I'll be waiting for your message. There's also some sensitive stuff I want to discuss with you, but that can wait. Take care, Middayexpress (talk) 21:12, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Hey bro, thanks for contacting me. Yeah, I got the message. I've been meaning to contact you, but I've been pretty busy lately at work & home, and when I'm online, I constantly find myself caught in the most retarded edit wars on this silly site. Right now brother, there are two I'm involved in. The first I've pretty much got under control and that's on the Piracy in Somalia page. However, the second one could be a major problem. Some Afrocentrist has just targeted the Horn of Africa page, and he's been adding things that don't really jibe with reality and that are too pro-Ethiopia (you know how they're obsessed with Habesha! lol). I've re-balanced the page, but he'll probably be back soon enough. Please keep an eye on the page, will you? I'll send a detailed response to the email you sent me within a few hours. I like what I see so far though; it's definitely in the right direction! Middayexpress (talk) 04:22, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Way to go with the Somali Studies article bro! I've been revamping the pages of prominent scholars in the field (e.g. Said Sheikh Samatar, Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi) and creating new ones (Martin Orwin) these past two months for this purpose, but you beat me to it! Props! Middayexpress (talk) 04:48, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

I hear you man! lol I'm currently planning on expanding the Nuruddin Farah & Fatima Jibrell articles. Luckily, the annoying edit war on the Piracy in Somalia page seems to have subsided, so I may actually have the time to realize this now. I also plan on creating one for the late B.W. Andrzejewski. He did a lot for Somali Studies, and should be appropriately commemorated (check out this awesome tribute Said Sheikh Samatar wrote for him). I'll brief you on some of my upcoming plans in the email. Look out for it within the next 24 hours! Middayexpress (talk) 05:07, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

I've never seen photos of either Muusa Haaji Galaal or Andrzejewksi, but they could certainly enrich the article. I think emailing their families is a definite possibility we should look into. I think I'll start working on the message now bro as I have some time. See you in a bit. Middayexpress (talk) 05:46, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Nice edits bro. The page was too Ethio-centric, so I tried to add some Somali info to it to balance it out a bit. I didn't realize Mo Farah won gold though! So he's finally come of age it seems. By the way, I just noticed the template we talked about; the images look different from the ones you showed me though. Was there a problem with copyright? Middayexpress (talk) 20:33, 25 April 2009 (UTC)

Gotcha sxb. By the way, our friend left a complaint on this board. Your input on the matter would be greatly appreciated (I just copied and pasted my earlier response). Middayexpress (talk) 03:22, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

WOW! Awesome response there brother!!! Middayexpress (talk) 05:39, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Speedy deletion of Archive: 1

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I've moved it to your a sub page, as it seems to be an archive of your talk page - User talk:Scoobycentric/Archive: 1. If you want it elsewhere, let me know. —  Tivedshambo  (t/c) 09:22, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

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Hello, Scoobycentric. You have new messages at Ludwigs2's talk page.
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