Sunday, November 30, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Islamic Finance 101
*YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK*
U.S. Treasury teaches 'Islamic Finance 101'
Advisers, scholars to promote controversial Shariah funding
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: November 05, 2008
10:45 pm Eastern
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
U.S. Department of the Treasury
The Treasury Department has announced it will teach "Islamic finance" to U.S. banking regulatory agencies, Congress and other parts of the executive branch today at 10 a.m. in Washington, D.C. – but critics say it is opening a door to American funding of Islamic extremism.
*'Islamic Finance 101'*
According to its announcement, the "Islamic Finance 101" forum is "designed to help inform the policy community about Islamic financial services, which are an increasingly important part of the global financial industry."
The Treasury Department has collaborated with Harvard University's Islamic Finance Project to coordinate the event. The department says it expects about 100 people will attend the seminar.
Some speakers include Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Neel Kashkari, senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr.; Harvard Business School professor Samuel Hayes; Mahmoud El-Gamal, chair of Islamic economics, finance and management at Rice University and Islamic finance adviser to the Treasury Department; Sarah Bell of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, Shariah adviser and Islamic scholar; Michael McMillan, chair of the Islamic Legal Forum at the American Bar Association and professor of Islamic finance; and Rushdi Siddiqui, global director for the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes and vigorous advocate for Islamic finance.
Islamic finance is a system of banking consistent with the principles of Shariah, or Islamic law. It is becoming increasingly popular, having reached $800 billion by mid-2007 and growing at more than 15 percent each year. Wall Street now features an Islamic mutual fund and an Islamic index. However, critics claim anti-American terrorists are often financially supported through U.S. investments – creating a system by which the nation funds its own enemy.
*Aiding the enemy*
In his essay, "Financial Jihad: What Americans Need to Know <http://www.stopshariahnow.org/f/FINANCIAL_JIHAD.pdf>," Vice President Christopher Holton of the Center for Security Policy <http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/> writes, "America is losing the financial war on terror because Wall Street is embracing a subversive enemy ideology on one hand and providing corporate life support to state sponsors of terrorism on the other hand."
Holton refers to Islamic finance, or "Shariah-Compliant Finance" as a "modern-day Trojan horse" infiltrating the U.S. He said it poses a threat to the U.S. because it seeks to legitimize Shariah – a man-made medieval doctrine that regulates every aspect of life for Muslims – and could ultimately change American life and laws.
Shariah-compliant finance is becoming a major movement, because American banks and investors are seeking wealth from oil profits in the Middle East. Some advocates claim Islamic finance is socially responsible because it bans investors from funding companies that sell or promote products such as alcohol, tobacco, pornography, gambling and even pork.
However, Islamic financial institutions also require all industry participants to adhere to tenets of Shariah law. According to Nasser Suleiman's "Corporate Governance in Islamic Banking, "First and foremost, an Islamic organization must serve God. It must develop a distinctive corporate culture, the main purpose of which is to create a collective morality and spirituality which, when combined with the production of goods and services, sustains growth and the advancement of the Islamic way of life."
Three nations that rule 100 percent by Shariah law – Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan – hold some of the most horrific human rights records in the world, Holton said.
"This strongly suggests that Americans should strenuously resist anything associated with Shariah."
*Tenets of Shariah*
In his essay, "Islamic Finance or Financing Islamism <http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/modules/newsmanager/center%20publication%20pdfs/islamic%20finance%20or%20financing%20islamism.pdf>," Alex Alexiev outlined the following tenets of Shariah taken from "The Reliance of the Traveler: The Classic Manual of Sacred Law":
* A woman is eligible for only half of the inheritance of a man
* A virgin may be married against her will by her father or grandfather
* A woman may not leave the house without her husband's permission
* A Muslim man may marry four women, including Christians and Jews;
a Muslim woman can only marry a Muslim
* Beating an insubordinate wife is permissible
* Female sexual mutilation is obligatory
* Adultery [or the perception of adultery] is punished by death by
stoning
* Offensive, military jihad against non-Muslims is a religious
obligation
* Apostasy from Islam is punishable by death without trial
* Lying to infidels in time of jihad is permissible
*'Useful idiots'*
Alexiev writes that many Islamic financial institutions claim Shariah-Compliant Finance "derives its Islamic character from the strict observance of the ostensible Quranic prohibition of lending at interest, the imperative of almsgiving (zakat), avoidance of excessive uncertainty (gharar) and certain practices and products considered unlawful (haram) to Muslims …" However, he said, "[E]ven a casual examination of the reality of Islamic finance today reveals it to be a bogus concept practiced by deceptive ploys and disingenuous means by practitioners that are or should be aware of that, but remain predictably silent."
Shariah finance institutions that have funded militant Islamism for more than 30 years. Alexiev cites Islamic Development Bank's hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions to Hamas in support of suicide bombing. Bank Al-Taqwa and other banks and charities run by Saudi billionaires have funded al-Qaida activities.
Additionally, Shariah law mandates that Muslims donate 2.5 percent of their annual incomes to charities – including jihadists. When 400 banks regularly contribute to such charities, potential financial sums can be virtually limitless.
If Western banks endorse Shariah, they will "end up becoming what Lenin called useful idiots or worse to the Islamists," Alexiev writes. "And it is a very thin line between that and outright complicity in the Islamist agenda."
Sharia Compliant Financing Forum
/US Treasury to Host /
Concerning the global financial problem the “West” is looking for answers. Our very own U.S. Treasury Dept is holding a forum */this week/* regarding the introduction of Sharia or Islamic banking to the United States prior to the meeting on Nov 15th!
You need to verse yourself on Sharia banking <http://community.icontact.com/p/wwwelshaddaiministriesus/newsletters/twiceamonth/posts/feasts-of-the-lord-in-prophecy-newsletter-issue-9-november-5-2008/link?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bankersonline.com%2Fvendor_guru%2Fedcomm%2Fedcomm_mkt_100107.html>now. I am not trying to scare anyone or bring fear. As watchmen and watchwomen we need to see what is coming to warn others and to get them to repent and come to God. Our trust is in God alone and not in our finances. Be strong and of a good courage knowing the time is short. This is a time to pray and fast as never before.
Please read the profiles of the speakers <http://community.icontact.com/p/wwwelshaddaiministriesus/newsletters/twiceamonth/posts/feasts-of-the-lord-in-prophecy-newsletter-issue-9-november-5-2008/link?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.saneworks.us%2Fuploads%2Fnews%2Fapplications%2F7.pdf>(page 4-7 of linked resource) at this event. Notice how it is directed toward the policy makers as if we have no choice? Encourage people to sign up for the newsletter and I will try to be more diligent in getting them out.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Commentary
Obama and Ahmadinejad
10.26.08, 1:33 PM ET
Is Barack Obama the "promised warrior" coming to help the Hidden Imam of Shiite Muslims conquer the world?
The question has made the rounds in
According to the tradition, Imam Ali Ibn Abi-Talib (the prophet's cousin and son-in-law) prophesied that at the End of Times and just before the return of the Mahdi, the Ultimate Saviour, a "tall black man will assume the reins of government in the West." Commanding "the strongest army on earth," the new ruler in the West will carry "a clear sign" from the third imam, whose name was Hussein Ibn Ali. The tradition concludes: "Shiites should have no doubt that he is with us."
In a curious coincidence Obama's first and second names--Barack Hussein--mean "the blessing of Hussein" in Arabic and Persian. His family name, Obama, written in the Persian alphabet, reads O Ba Ma, which means "he is with us," the magic formula in Majlisi's tradition.
Mystical reasons aside, the Khomeinist establishment sees Obama's rise as another sign of the West's decline and the triumph of Islam. Obama's promise to seek unconditional talks with the Islamic Republic is cited as a sign that the
Obama has abandoned claims by all
Obama has also promised to attend a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference within the first 100 days of his presidency. Such a move would please the mullahs, who have always demanded that Islam be treated differently, and that Muslim nations act as a bloc in dealings with Infidel nations.
Obama's election would boost President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's chances of winning a second term next June. Ahmadinejad's entourage claim that his "steadfastness in resisting the American Great Satan" was a factor in helping Obama defeat "hardliners" such as Hillary Clinton and, later, it hopes, John McCain.
"President Ahmadinejad has taught Americans a lesson," says Hassan Abbasi, a "strategic adviser" to the Iranian president. "This is why they are now choosing someone who understands
A number of Khomeinist officials have indicated their preference for Obama over McCain, who is regarded as an "enemy of Islam." A Foreign Ministry spokesman says
Ahmadinejad has described the
Seen from
During the World Without America conference, several speakers speculated that Obama would show "understanding of Muslim grievances" with regard to
Judging by anecdotal evidence and the buzz among Iranian bloggers, while the ruling Khomeinists favor Obama, the mass of Iranians regard (and dislike) the Democrat candidate as an appeaser of the mullahs.
Amir Taheri is the author of 10 books on
Saturday, November 1, 2008
TattooU...?
Cover up tattoos, some employees told
Cities and school districts across the country are forcing their employees to cover up tattoos if they want to keep their jobs.
The edicts have been issued to maintain a good image, say the communities, and they have been applied to teachers, janitors, firefighters and others.
"We didn't want to offend some people in the community," says Capt. Armando Hogan, spokesman for the Los Angeles City Fire Department, where employees were ordered last spring to cover all tattoos while on duty. "I have been on drills and on scene where someone has said, 'I wouldn't want that person working on me,' and we've had to educate the individual who made the comment."
Among the cities:
• Bountiful, Utah, decided in August that new employees must not show any tattoos.
• The Pasco County School Board in Florida has ordered employees to hide "offensive" tattoos.
• In Missouri, the Joplin School Board will vote on a no-visible-tattoo policy this year.
The orders to cover up have been growing as tattoos become more popular, especially tattoos on the face, neck, hands and fingers. Some workers feel the policy is unfair.
"We don't allow discrimination based on skin color, yet we came up with a policy that discriminated against people with color on their skin," says Steve Tufts, president of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City.
Joplin Schools Superintendent C.J. Huff says students are getting teaching degrees, getting tattoos, and then applying for jobs. "We're saying before you get a tattoo, you have to think about how big it is and where it's located before you think about getting a job in our school district," he says.
The rule in Bountiful was passed after applicants with hard-to-conceal tattoos showed up for interviews for jobs in the police, streets and sanitation departments. City Manager Tom Hardy says city leaders had to decide: "Either we're going to do nothing about it, or we're going to do something about it."
In each community, officials cite the exploding popularity of tattoos.
Bob Baxter, editor in chief of Skin & Ink magazine, agrees with the restrictive policies. Baxter says neck and face tattoos used to appear only on heavily tattooed people who ran out of space.
"What's happening (now) is that a lot of young people figure that the best way to show that 'I'm in the tattoo community' is to get tattoos in very conspicuous places," Baxter says. "I don't think it's a good idea. It's hard to get work."
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