Is Islamic Finance The Answer?

I stumbled upon this article this morning and thought I might share it with you.

Experts in Islamic finance believe their way of doing business has shielded them from the global credit crisis. But how does it differ from conventional Western finance?

A former executive director of the International Monetary Fund, Dr Abbas Mirakhor, says wider Islamic economics relies on God's guidance, handed down almost 1,400 years ago.

There is a "consciousness of a supreme creator and a system that he has provided", he says. What we know as the conventional Western way does not have that, which is "really the major difference between the two", he adds.

In practical terms, the most significant difference is that charging interest is not allowed in Islamic finance. Neither are most forms of speculative investment permitted, such as hedging or derivatives trading.

[source]

George Galloway On Israel

George Galloway was always a great man who stood up for the Arabs when they were attacked by Israel and the United States. But what made him great was that he knew how to talk and defend his opinions. Here is a video that was made popular back when Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006.

The Terrorists Win

[source]

One of the best passive aggressive notes I seen in a while. What a rather creative way of getting people to replace toilet paper. Then again, I imagine it must be a pain when nature calls and there is no toilet paper in sight. Oh, dear.

Now, imagine the Jordanian version of this note. Post your version in the comments below. The best one will get a pat on the back! I have a feeling Garfan will win this one though.

If you don't replace the toliet paper rolls, you will be accused of cursing his majesty! Do you hate your entire family?

Xbox Live Renewal

If the Xbox 360 was not good enough when it first came out, people would have been won back by the multiplayer feature, Xbox Live. This feature is not just another way to get more money into Microsoft's account, but it rather makes the multiplayer experience much smoother and enjoyable.

For example, Xbox Live lets you use one account - your profile, for every game and through your profile you can connect to friends and talk to them via a headset, or invite them to parties through which you can move together from one game to another with ease.

Its a rather hard job to find an Xbox Live membership in Jordan, due to the fact its not really supported by Microsoft. Instead I hooked up with a freelance modder for the Xbox 360, who turned out to be a great person who modded my Xbox and sold me a three month membership to Xbox Live.

The guy himself is a little younger than my father, and for some reason is a dad but mods Xboxs. I can now play on the Xbox online without having to worry about buying more games from abroad for high prices.

For those of you wanting to game with a fellow blogger, my gamertag is InboundSage. I use that one for online gameplay, but for offline gameplay and talking to friends I use the rather creative gamertag of NotAnotherBlog.

You'll find me playing either Call of Duty 5, Far Cry 2, or Sid Miers Civilization: Revolution. Sorry, but no Halo 3 people - I never liked the game and Call of Duty is better than it in multiplayer. Add any multiplayer suggestions to the comments!

Israel Inflicted Wanton Destruction

A report released earlier this day by Amnesty International details many war crimes carried out deliberately by Israeli soldiers during the twenty-two day war on the Gaza strip. Here are a few excerpts from the news articles describing the war crimes. I leave it to you to choose if Israel will ever be punished for these crimes or if this report will collect dust in the United Nations archives cabinet.

Hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed using high-precision weapons, while others were shot at close range, the group Amnesty International says.

Amnesty cited evidence that Israeli troops put children and other civilians in harm's way "by forcing them to remain in or near houses which they took over and used as military positions".

Amnesty said: "Much of the destruction was wanton and deliberate, and was carried out in a manner and circumstances which indicated that it could not be justified on grounds of military necessity."

It says "disturbing questions" remain unanswered as to why children playing on roofs and medical staff attending the wounded were killed by "highly accurate missiles" whose operators had detailed views of their targets.

The document also gives details of several cases where it says people - including women and children posing no threat to troops - were shot at close range as they were fleeing their homes in search of shelter.

Although rockets fired by Palestinian fighters from the Gaza Strip rarely caused casualties, they often sowed fear and panic amongst Israeli citizens and their use was "indiscriminate and hence unlawful under international law," the report said.

Amnesty said it found no evidence to support Israeli claims that Hamas fighters deliberately used civilians as "human shields" during the conflict.

[source: bbc news, al jazeera english]

Arab Stereotypes

People have been manipulated by the media into believing what they see in films about Arabs. There has been an Arab stereotype in the West about how they think Arabs are. To a majority of Westerners, an Arab...

• Lives in a tent in the middle of a vast desert filled with sandstorms.
• Has ten wives each of which wears a burqa and has ten children.
• Wears a red keffiyeh and has an uncombed beard from one ear to the next.
• Goes around his daily life with a suicide vest strapped to his chest.
  
• Rides on a decorated but smelly camel from one village to the next.
• Has wives that go around the tent holding large pots of water on their heads.
• Lives on nothing but falafel for his breakfast, lunch and supper.
• Carries a sword on his back or on his waist and uses it to behead people.
• Has extremist views on killing all the West and burning their bodies.
• Earns a living by robbing nearby villages late at night.
• Writes in hieroglyphics and worships large statues of ancient pharaohs.
  
• Has a name of "abu" followed by either "abdul", "mohammad", or "mustafa".
• Come to the west with the only intention of blowing up a crammed bus.

Here's a video from Queen Rania's Youtube channel about Arabs in the west and how people there see them.