[SheLion]

But, she cautioned, ''I don't do miracles.''

Maine. One of the poorest states in the nation.

Azeb Hassan, a Somali woman said: "But, I can't do miracles."

Hundreds of Somali families have moved to Lewiston over the past year, and more families are expected this summer.

Excuse me. But they are on welfare. Jobs are very scarce. We are having a hard time finding JOBS for our OWN people and FEEDING our OWN people.

Anne Kemper of the Adult Education department said the city has applied for thousands of dollars in grants to pay for more English classes and other types of assistance.

Thousands of dollars in grant money. From where? Gov. King is cutting back on programs. Where is this money coming from? What grant money??!!

Who took all these people in? Is that a fair question?

[SheLion]

Maine jobless rate drops to 4 percent in April

The next story is about how our jobless rate dropped 4 percent in April.

[pyx]

Hassan said the new support network is called the Women and Children's Advocacy Group. Hassan said plans are in the works to create a full-time office where pressing issues can be discussed women to women.

A fulltime office at taxpayer expense ?

''We cannot talk to a man for some of the things we need,'' said Roda Abdi, one of the group's leaders. ''Women need to talk to women in our culture.''

Are these lesbian feminists ?

Abdi, who has lived in New England since the late 1980s and is a U.S. citizen, said other Somali women call her a dozen times a day. She hears the same questions again and again, and tells them about city services and hospitals and where jobs might be had.

The taxpayer could be saved a bundle on a "fulltime office" by someone simply printing a bunch of flyers, with phone numbers and addresses of these services, in the Somali (Urdu ?) language and passing them arond the Somali community. But no. The taxpayer will likely have to fund a "fulltime office" so someone, paid by the taxpayers, will be available 24 hours per day, no doubt, for this "fulltime" occupation of telling people over the telephone, the phone number and address of these Somali services.

The cost of one solution is many thousands of taxpayer dollars, year after year to provide a service for a people claiming they want to get off welfare. Why should they have to look up things in their local phone book like the rest of us ? The cost of the other solution is a at most a hundred bux every couple of years by the Somali community itself.

Which one do you think these moslem wefare recipients who don't speak Englsh, will choose ?

[wbill]

I'm from Maine. Born and raised just outside of Bangor. I got out 8 years ago.....driven out by lousy salaries and high taxes. Sometimes I miss it, but then I read articles like this and decide that I did the right thing.

Isn't this the same Somali community that had several stories written about it in the BDN? I rememeber one article talking about how wonderful it was to bring diversity to the state. The next week, it was talking about rampant drug use (something called 'khat') in the Somali community.

Diversity. Be careful what you wish for.....

[dokmad]

Maine is currently in a $90 Million dollar ((( Budget Shortfall ))). This is just what the taxpayers need. We'll be forever recovering from a 2 term Liberal governor. Lewiston is a former mill city. Jobs are scarce and housing is nearly non existent. Boston is better equipped to handle mass immigration!

[remaininlight]

Azeb Hassan, a Somali woman who has spent the past 12 years in the United States, said Somali women want to work, but often can't find jobs.

Because there are no ******* jobs in Maine. Why are we letting in these unemployables ?

[iconoclast]

Who took all these people in? Is that a fair question?

IMHO, WHY? is an even better question.