Entries from December 2007 ↓

The General Manager of the Bank of International Settlements recently gave an interesting speech on Islamic finance. The abstract reads:

Although there are differences between Islamic banking and “conventional” banking, there are some fundamental principles that apply equally to both. In particular, rigorous risk management and sound corporate governance help to ensure the safety and soundness of the international banking system. In the light of the growing importance of Islamic banks and Sharia-compliant financial innovation, the increasing integration of Islamic financial services into global financial markets serves to strengthen this point.

The Basel II framework improves the risk sensitivity and accuracy of the criteria for assessing banks’ capital adequacy. This framework is fundamentally about stronger and more effective risk management grounded in sound corporate governance and enhanced financial disclosure, the importance of which has been underscored by the recent problems that have arisen in the banking industry worldwide. The guidance provided by the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is a useful contribution to the realisation of these global goals. It will support the establishment of resilient financial market infrastructures and sound and robust core Islamic financial institutions operating according to safe and sound risk management practices.

For those who do not know, the Bank of International Settlements is, “an nternational organisation which fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks.”

(Thanks to Ozrisk)

Here’s some interesting holiday reading material courtesy of Wikileaks:

• Leaked copy of Camp Delta Operating Procedures;
• Fascinating analysis of differences between 2004 and 2005 versions of the Guantanamo Bay Standard Operating Procedures manual;
• Leaked copy of Camp Bucca, Iraq Standard Operating Procedures;
• Leaked list of all military equipment in Afghanistan;
• Leaked list of all military equipment currently deployed in Iraq;
• International Police Policy and Procedure Manual for Iraq

Osama Saeed links to a BBC investigation into the recent Policy Exchange “study” of literature in British mosques.

He summarises some of the program’s findings with respect to the receipts for “hate literature” provided to the BBC by Policy Exchange as follows:

• Receipts from North London mosque’s bookshop, when the mosque doesn’t have a bookshop. Forensic examination revealed that the receipt’s heading had been printed on an inkjet printer – when usual procedure for such pieces of paper would be mass printing
• Receipts from other mosques printed entirely on inkjet printers
• A receipt for Euston Mosque with the address on it being for the mosque next door to it on North Gower Street (who would have thought that two mosques next door to each other would be an advantage one day!)
• Forensic tests that found handwriting matching on two separate receipts for different mosques
• Forensic tests showing that the writing on one receipt had been done on top of another receipt for an entirely different mosque

Incidentally, Policy Exchange have also published the scribblings [pdf] of the Sydney Institute’s Gerard Henderson on how the former Australian government supposedly “confronted” militant Islam.

Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi is visiting France and he has a few special requests:

“I want my tent to be erected near Elysee Palace. I want to meet 200 attractive French women there.”

And:

“I want to go to Renault plant to see the laborer section and to meet 200 attractive French women.”

(via The Other Cheek)

First, poor Mrs Gibbons is imprisoned for letting the children in her class choose an inappropriate name for a teddy bear and now this. An Australian citizen — also living overseas in a violent and primitive society — now finds himself facing injustice meted out at the end of a gravel.

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Now, here’s an interesting use of technology. Islam Online have created a ‘virtual Mecca’ in Second Life that people can visit and interact with, as a tool for teaching people about the hajj.

Have you ever dreamed of being able to be part of the full hajj experience without leaving your home? Today, that is possible with the launch of IslamOnline.net’s educational hajj program on the virtual world of Second Life.

I think this would be an unparalleled experience for anyone who is going to go to hajj and is unsure of what should and should not be done,” says Breathe Swindlehurst, IOL’s coordinator in Second Life.

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David Friedman has a fascinating series of posts up about the education of his children: he covers both  theory and practice.  Worth a read.

The ABC’s Lateline Business ran a piece last night on Islamic finance in Australia. The program featured Andrew Reynolds, occasional Austrolabe commenter but, more importantly, one of the few people in Australia to have given serious thought to Islamic banking models in this country.

Of particular interest is this quote from the reporter Sue Lannin:

Several major and regional Australian banks are conducting business case studies to see if Islamic banking is feasible here. Earlier this year, one of the world’s biggest Islamic finance institutions, Kuwait Finance House, carried out a country study on Australia, and ratings agency Standard & Poor’s says it expects a stock market index that complies with Islamic law will be operating here over the next 12 to 18 months. That means it won’t invest in sectors like gambling, tobacco or alcohol.

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There is nothing more precious than one’s children; for a parent to lose a child must cause pain beyond imagining. It must therefore have been extremely distressing for the parents of Private Luke Worsely to receive a letter purporting to be from an Islamic leader, “Sheikh Haron”, taunting them on the day they buried their son. A copy of the same letter was sent to News Limited, extracts of which they published online.

It remains to be asked: who is “Sheikh Haron”? To begin with, the sheikh would be more convincing (as a Muslim) if he could spell his own name correctly. “Haron” is how I would imagine an imbecile not conversant with Muslim names would spell “Harun’ or Haroon”, the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew “Aaron“. It resembles the comical fraud perpetrated by Liberal Party goon squad in the seat of Lindsay. How could one forget the “ALA AKBA” which resembled Alo Alo, more than Allah Hu Akbar.

The mystery of the fake sheikh is further clarified by a visit to his webpage. For a religious Muslim, it is clear that Sheikh Haron is fraudulent.

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