underWater desert Blogging

I'm a lawyer & a social entrepreneur working in Somaliland. I am the Managing Partner of @watershedlegal. This is my long form site, otherwise I'm around.

Compromise & Governing: On Reading @ryanlizza’s The Obama Memos

Ryan Lizza has again written a marvelous piece on Obama and his team. Just as he did with his watershed piece on the Obama campaign, he has written a long and worthwhile piece on Obama’s first term to date. If you want to understand the fundamental contradictions that come with governing, and if you want to learn what you elect a President to truly do, read it – after you read my thoughts.

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My Barber in Den Haag

We are smack in the middle of a heck of a travelling ten days. Left Chattanooga where we had Christmas for Glasgow where we had New Years via Atlanta (shuttle), London (plane), and Edinburgh (rental car). Then down to L’s farm in Southwest corner of Scotland. Then up to Edinburgh for a nap then to [...]

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Its 3 AM and I know where One of My Friends is

Sitting in a concrete cube, impersonal and loud with tiled floor and cinder walls that echo his fears, frustrations, and rage my friend is pacing in a provincial town in Somalia. He waits for a call that he hopes will end the worst purgatory he has ever felt. He waits for a call that will [...]

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The Preacher is Back. That’s What I’ve Been Waiting For.

I just finished watching Obama’s job speech, I haven’t read or listened to any of the punditry and here’s what I think. I’m happy because FINALLY the human I hoped I was voting for is emerging.

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What Spotify Means for our Consumptive Tendencies

I have been using Spotify for only a couple of days but already it seems that it is supporting rather than detracting from the way the world is going. These days it is less about what you’ve bought and more about what you’ve created. It’s a great time to be alive.

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On The Somali Famine: A Thought Collage

This post is a compilation of sources, commentary and thought. It is a collage on the famine in the South of Somalia, the media storm which is surrounding it, and possible things to do.