Mover Mike

Thanks to Chicago Ray for this .gif:

Update:

From the Financial Times,

Britain looks set to become the first western country to introduce a regulatory regime to support the domestic issuance of sukuk so-called "Islamic bonds", or those which do not pay overt interest.(Emphasis added)

Now 85 percent of all bonds issued in the [Gulf region] are sukuk. So what are sukuk so-called "Islamic bonds"? In a story from Ocnus.Net

the Swiss investment bank will launch an instrument that claims to be the world’s first sharia-compliant investment product linked to commodity prices.

[...]

...the proposed note will be linked to the copper, nickel and US oil benchmark price, West Texas Intermediate. Or as Peter Ghavami, global head of commodities at UBS, adds: “Commodities is something real and something that is understood very well in the region, so it made a lot of sense to look to develop sharia-compliant products that are linked to commodity prices.”

Banker Middle East has this to say about Sukuk:

Sukuk are securitised assets and therefore belong to the category of Asset Backed Securities. Unlike conventional ABS structures, Sukuk need to have an underlying tangible asset transaction either in ownership or in a master lease.

Expect to see more Sukuk as more money flows East in exchange for oil. It may mean that one source for purchase of treasuries will dry up if investors in the Middle East want asset backed securities. Slowly, whether the U.S. likes it or not, we are being drawn inexorably back to money backed by assets and away from fiat currencies. Wouldn't that be great!

Sukuk Islamic bonds securitised assets Mover Mike

From The Washington Times, Bush hits 'Islamic radicals' by Bill Sammon, we are finally getting down to what this war on terroeism is all about.

Mr. Bush felt it was time to reassert himself as the war's chief prosecutor and, for the first time, began to regularly substitute the term "Islamic radicalism" for terrorism. He also unleashed a scathing attack on Iran and Syria for their ongoing support of terrorism.

The president said Damascus and Tehran "share the goal of hurting America and moderate Muslim governments and use terrorist propaganda to blame their own failures on the West and America, and on the Jews." (emphasis added)

The American people have long known this to be true. That's why we don't understand why security frisks grandmothers and women with children in airline terminals. That's why we get nervous on planes when a group of middle eastern men ride with us. We profile and we don't understand why our government doesn't!

Bush Islamic radicalism

Hat tip to Kirby's Reports. Mother Jones has a good recap of the arguments before the Supreme Court re Kelo v New London in Why eminent domain is nothing to fear — so long as its abuses can be curbed.

and Redevelopment has some people on uneasy street in San Diego.

They fear the city might resort to eminent domain if they refuse to sell their properties to make way for what some officials describe as the most significant redevelopment project proposed for Midway.

The proposal includes 124 condominiums in an area where civic leaders have lamented a lack of residences.

Mover Mike

This week's Carnival of the Capitalists is up!

Mover Mike

I have started a new blog, Landfair Furniture which will be devoted only to items of interest to entrepreneurs, interior designers, people interested in home improvements and home decor, marketing, retail, and interviews with top Portland, Oregon interior designers.

Mover Mike

Yesterday, I posted about Muslim parents agitating for Islam to be taught in the public schools. Today, Milt's File has found an excellent article in the Middle East Quarterly titled The Muslim Brotherhood's Conquest of Europe

First Germany, Then Europe

While the Muslim Brotherhood and their Saudi financiers have worked to cement Islamist influence over Germany's Muslim community, they have not limited their infiltration to Germany. Thanks to generous foreign funding, meticulous organization, and the naïveté of European elites, Muslim Brotherhood-linked organizations have gained prominent positions throughout Europe. In France, the extremist Union des Organisations Islamiques de France (Union of Islamic Organizations of France) has become the predominant organization in the government's Islamic Council.[69] In Italy, the extremist Unione delle Comunita' ed Organizzazioni Islamiche in Italia (Union of the Islamic Communities and Organizations in Italy) is the government's prime partner in dialogue regarding Italian Islamic issues.

Mover Mike