A Political Refugee From the Global Village : Romania publishes as many books as all the Arab countries put together

Well, here is some depressing news about just how little publishing takes place in the Arab world. Sheesh...

Check it out at:

A Political Refugee From the Global Village : Romania publishes as many books as all the Arab countries put together

Economics and Jihad

I hope this quote will give us some insight regarding the growth of the Islamic State and why people are attracted to it.

"We are at a time of Jihad; Jihad for the sake of Allah is a pleasure, a true pleasure. Mohammed’s followers used to compete to do it. The reason we are poor now is because we have abandoned jihad. If only we can conduct a jihadist invasion at least once a year or if possible twice or three times, then many people on Earth would become Muslims. And if anyone prevents our dawa or stands in our way, then we must kill them or take as hostage and confiscate their wealth, women and children. Such battles will fill the pockets of the Mujahid who can return home with 3 or 4 slaves, 3 or 4 women and 3 or 4 children. This can be a profitable business if you multiply each head by 300 or 400 dirham,. This can be like financial shelter whereby a jihadist, in time of financial need, can always sell one of these heads (meaning slavery). No one can make that much money in one deal (from hard work) even if a Muslim goes to the West to work or do trade. In time of need, that is a good resource for profit."

--Abu Ishak al Huweini

Pakistan Disintegrating?

Bad news for the world, as Pakistan is one of the most populous countries in the world (fourth, I think, after the India, China, and the US, but don't quote me on that). This is a fine article about why Pakistan has no future.

But fear not, they will go to the UK.

The great fear of the West is Pakistan falling under the control of radical Islamists. The great fear of Pakistan’s leadership is the state fracturing (this is probably #2 for the West – a nuclear Yugoslavia.) But the endemic low level violence suggests another possibility, the state dissolving – a nuclear Somalia.

Medium and Long-Term Dangers
Meanwhile the terrible flooding is testing the capabilities of Pakistan’s institutions and they are failing. Their record at providing immediate relief is mediocre. But the floods have destroyed Pakistan’s crops, so that the country (which is already broke) will be forced to buy or beg food abroad. It will be several years before Pakistan’s agricultural production will return to their previous levels – so food shortages will be an ongoing problem. Even without the crisis food security was a problem in Pakistan. In addition, cotton crops, essential to Pakistan’s major export industry – textiles – have also been devastated. All of this can only further weaken an already precarious economy.

From The Terror Wonk, a blog that is new to me.

On the Relation between commerce and mission and Providence

Note that this is from way back in 1863:

And has not He made Britain and America great in [merchant] ships for this end? Let our rich merchants beware of boasting that the arms of their own skill and enterprise have done all this. God has assuredly done it, in order, among other things, to provide means and afford facilities for the setting up of his Kingdom. But it does not follow from this that the missionary is to be, in any sense, an auxiliary to the trader.

p 77, The Heathen World and the Duty of the Church
Alexander Robb
Edinburgh: Andrew Elliot 1863

More on the fake prosperity of the UAE

(HT to Secret Dubai Diary)

These days, despite defiant protestations of resilience, no one seems to know when the sweet breeze will return. The UAE is still in the doldrums. For the first time since the seven Gulf statelets joined together as a union in 1971, people are beginning to mutter—rather quietly, for sure— whether there may be something amiss with the autocratic, opaque system that hitherto seemed to work so well behind closed doors. “Nobody really knows what any of the statistics are,” says a Western analyst. “We haven’t seen the half of it yet,” says a Western banker, referring to the debt and the possible defaults. It is notable that almost nobody in business or government is prepared to talk publicly. Cohorts of public-relations people surround the bigwigs and shield them from scrutiny.

From The Economist

See also a previous story HERE.

Kingdom of Jordan has plans for new railway

Well, Jordan has some great new plan, it really could work I think. If--and this is a big if--the bidding process is really transparent and honest. Which is a big IF in Jordan. That having been said, I wish the Kingdom the best of luck in this new endeavor. Heaven knows they have a real problem with unemployment (25%) and rising fundamentalism.

AMMAN (AFP) — Jordan plans to begin work on a six-billion-dollar railway next year to bolster trade with its neighbours and create jobs for its cash-strapped population, Transport Minister Sahl Majali told AFP in an interview.

"The 4.5-billion-dinar project is vital to Jordan because it will make freight movement faster and easier, cut transportation costs and boost trade," Majali said on Tuesday.

"It will also create massive job opportunities for Jordanians."

The railway would link the Red Sea port of Aqaba with the Syrian border, through Amman and then the industrial city of Zarqa -- the two largest cities in the largely desert country.

Extending some 1,600 kilometres (about 990 miles), the railway would also link the Saudi and Iraqi borders with Jordan's northern city of Irbid and the northeastern towns of Mafraq and Azraq.

Work will begin next year and is scheduled to be completed by 2013, Majali said. The focus will initially be on freight services, with passenger trains planned for the future. [...]

AFP.

Unemployment in Arab World a 'Time Bomb'

This is what Sam Huntington called the demogrpahy time bomb I think. A large number of unmarried young men looking for jobs all at once, and now the job market is actually shrinking. What will the be the first government to fall? It will happen sooner or later, unless they all just leave for Europe, which may well happen:

Unemployment in Arab world a 'time bomb'

Head of Arab Labor Organization warns of growing layoff rates in Gulf states, says staggering unemployment projections may prove perilous to some of region's governments.

The global financial crisis has had a serious effect on job demands in the Arab world, as experts define the bleak employment situation in many Mideast nations as a "ticking time bomb" for some of the region's regimes.

Future projections as to the job market's prospects, as noted in an Arab Labor Organization conference held in Jordan this week, were dismal. Ahmed Luqman, director general of the group, predicted that 2009 and 2010 may see as many as 3.6 million to 5 million Arabs become unemployed.

Arab countries' growth rate in 2009 to be lower than 4%, according to estimates voices at a financial conference in Dubai. However, Gulf states will be able to overcome crisis due to high foreign currency reserves accumulated in 2008

According to Luqman, unemployment rates in the Arab world may reach 17% by the end of 2010 – spanning 22 million people. [...]

From HERE.

HT to John Stringer

Yemen, the poorest Arab country

Yep, even a lower per capita GDP than Mauritania or Djibouti. Ouch.

SANA'A, Dec. 10 (Saba) – Yemen ranked last among Arab states in terms of the Gross Domestic Product per capita with $ 901, a report has said.

The report of the Arab Economic Unit Council, released on Sunday said Yemen recorded the lowest per capita income behind Mauritania whose GDP per capita reached $ 909.

Djibouti came ahead of the two states with GDP per capita of $977.

However, Qatar came in first place with $ 72.376, Emirates was in second place with $ 42.273, Kuwait third with $ 33.646, Bahrain fourth with $ 24.151, Saudi Arabia $ 15.158.

While the per capita GDP in Libya is $ 8903, in Lebanon $ 6243, in Algeria $ 3976, in Tunisia $ 3423, in Jordan and Iraq $ 2343, in Morocco $ 2290, in Syria $ 2136, in Egypt $ 1759 and in Sudan $ 1543.

The report said average per capita income in Arab states for the current prices raised to $ 4661 in 2007, up from $ 4188 in 2006, at a growth rate of 11.3 percent.

Salafi Islam growing throughout MENA and the world

From the AP:

[...] Sara Soliman and her businessman husband, Ahmed el-Shafei, both received the best education Egypt had to offer, first at a German-run school, then at the elite American University in Cairo. But they have now chosen the Salafi path.

"We were losing our identity. Our identity is Islamic," 27-year-old Soliman said from behind an all-covering black niqab as she sat with her husband in a Maadi restaurant.

"In our (social) class, none of us are brought up to be strongly practicing," added el-Shafei, also 27, in American-accented English, a legacy of a U.S. boyhood. Now, he and his wife said, they live Islam as "a whole way of life," rather than just a set of obligations such as daily prayers and fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

A dozen satellite TV channels, most Saudi-funded, are perhaps Salafism's most effective vehicle. They feature conservative preachers, call-in advice shows and discussion programs on proper Islamic behavior.

Cairo's many Salafist mosques are packed on Fridays. Outside Shaeriyah mosque, a bookstall featured dozens of cassettes by Mohammed Hasaan, a prolific conservative preacher who sermonizes on the necessity of jihad and the injustices inflicted on Muslims.

Alongside the cassettes, a book titled "The Sinful Behaviors of Women" displayed lipstick, playing cards, perfumes and cell phones on the cover. Another was titled "The Excesses of American Hubris."

Critics of Salafism say it has spread so quickly in part because the Egyptian and Saudi governments encouraged it as an apolitical, nonviolent alternative to hard-line jihadi groups.

These critics warn that the governments are playing with fire — that Salafism creates an environment that breeds extremism. ...

Two points for Truth

Well, these two stories may seem to be totally unrelated, but they are.

First, Texas billionaire T Boons Pickens is spending millions of $$$ on what may end up being the largest wind plant in the world. Why is that good for one point for Truth? Because of wha it DOES NOT do, namely shovel money into the coffers of such pacifist countries as Saudi Arabia and Iran. And here's what he says about wind power:

It will be located in [the] central part of the United States, which will be the best from a safety standpoint to be located. You have a wind corridor that goes from Pampa, Texas, to the Canadian border. And it has -- the wind, it's unbelievable that we have not done more with wind. Look at Germany and Spain. They have developed their wind way beyond what we have, and they don't have as much wind as we do. It's not unlike the French have done with their nuclear. They're 80 percent power generated off of nuclear, we're 20 percent.

Second, Andrew Bostom's new book has come out to some very positive reviews. It is called The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism. Here is a section of one review:

...this amazingly prolific writer has completed [a] collection of sources, Islamic and others, which testify to the long and sorry history of anti-Semitism in Islam. This too had never been undertaken before on such a scale, mainly due to the constrictions of political correctness that posited that Islam, unlike Christianity, had not entertained a systematic persecution of the Jews.

This apologetic for Islam has now been shattered by Andrew Bostom, who painstakingly but thoughtfully collected and collated this documentation that would have been a stunning and innovative undertaking for any scholar of Islam to pursue, let alone for a professional in medicine whose research on Islam has been merely a secondary career.

Two points for truth.

Black Iris: How Denmark Became a Jordanian Distraction

Excellent comments here from a guy in Jordan, who is trying to help that country move forward. He makes these comments after describing various efforts to start a boycott of Danish goods.

How Denmark Became a Jordanian Distraction

[...]I find boycotts ironic sometimes, especially in Jordan. But forget about the shooting-yourself-in-the-foot quality that comes with hurting local businesses here in Jordan more than the Danish media in Denmark. Forget about the fact that people are boycotting Danish butter but are still taking their insulin shots (80% of which are imported from Denmark). Forget about the irony of the pirated DVD shop, Hammudeh, posting “Don’t buy Danish products” on its door. Instead, think about this:

Why is no one boycotting local goods by local producers whose prices have skyrocketed, some of which have gone unchecked by the consumer protection society (in my opinion)? Isn’t that the natural reaction? Why were no boycotts issued for Israeli products or more specifically American products, over the massacres happening in Palestine?

I ask these questions not to urge such boycotts but to point out the irony of Jordanian’s having chosen to boycott something utterly ridiculous in light of much more serious issues.

Produce prices have gone up.

Bread prices have gone up. We even have to pay for the plastic bags they put them in now.

Fuel prices have gone up.

Dairy prices have gone up.

Real wages have stayed the same.

Where is the outcry there? Where is the outrage over an issue that hits closest to home? Where is the mass mobilization and campaigns and vibrant speeches in the Parliament by our “representatives”?

Nowhere.

So you’ve gotta ask yourself: what the hell is going on here? [...]

Bread in Egypt and Corruption

Very nice article here on Egypt and her bread subsidies and how that affects peasant life there:

[...]So the bread subsidy continues, costing Cairo about $3.5 billion a year. Over all, the government spends more on subsidies, including gasoline, than it spends on health and education. But it is not just the cost that plagues the government. The bread subsidy fuels the kind of rampant corruption that undermines faith in government, discourages investment and reinforces the country's every-man-for-himself ethos, say government officials and political experts, not to speak of bakers and their customers.

"The most corrupt sector in the country is the provisions sector," said a government inspector who asked not to be identified for fear of punishment. His job is to go to bakeries to ensure they are actually using the cheap government flour to produce cheap bread that is sold for the proper price. "There is a great deal of corruption. The amount of money in it will make anyone accept to be bribed." [...]

Slavery in Islam still lawful

From the indefatigable Islam Q&A:

When the question is asked: why does Islam permit slavery? We reply emphatically and without shame that slavery is permitted in Islam, but we should examine the matter with fairness and with the aim of seeking the truth, and we should examine the details of the rulings on slavery in Islam, with regard to the sources and reasons for it, and how to deal with the slave and how his rights and duties are equal to those of the free man, and the ways in which he may earn his freedom, of which there are many in sharee’ah...

Islam limited the sources of slaves that existed before the beginning of the Prophet’s mission to one way only: enslavement through war which was imposed on kaafir prisoners-of-war and on their womenfolk and children.

Shaykh al-Shanqeeti (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The reason for slavery is kufr and fighting against Allaah and His Messenger. When Allaah enables the Muslim mujaahideen who are offering their souls and their wealth, and fighting with all their strength and with what Allaah has given them to make the word of Allaah supreme over the kuffaar, then He makes them their property by means of slavery unless the ruler chooses to free them for nothing or for a ransom, if that serves the interests of the Muslims. End quote from Adwa’ al-Bayaan (3/387).

IHT: A Friendlier North Korea

I have said before that I think the opening of North Korea is very important for Christianity in general. Specifically, because once it happens there can be no doubt that the energetic South Koreans will evangelize thousands and bring in a large harvest of new believers. South Korea is already second place in the world in terms of most missionaries sent per capita, after the USA.

Pray that North Korea would be opened to the Gospel and that the people would experience greater liberty. Pray for the salvation of the leaders of North Korea.

And read the article here:

North Korea shows South a friendlier face

Inflation in Jordan

While this is not generally covered in the international press, there has been some pretty heavy inflation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan over the last few years. Prices on basic goods--flour, water, gas, lamb, chicken--have all gone up considerably. The price of real estate has increased rather steeply. Gas prices are set to increase in January as the government continues to eliminate subsidies. Here is a recent example from a Jordanian blogger on the difficulties this is creating in their society:


What’s Worse Than The Government?
30Dec07

…heartless people…

AMMAN - The authorities said they will intensify measures to prevent retailers from stockpiling oil derivatives as several distributors of fuel and gas were reportedly arrested and referred to court Saturday…Officials said the new measures are meant to curb a trend among some petrol station owners and gas cylinder distributors to turn back customers claiming that they ran out of supplies in a bid to sell what they have early next month at higher prices. [source]

Sarkozy in Algeria: A Mediterranean Union

Interesting development here that, if it comes to pass, could really change the dynamic of the whole Mediterranean region:

[...] Mr. Sarkozy arrived Monday in an effort to cool decades of tense relations and ink new business contracts with France's ex-colony, which gained independence in 1962, as well as pitch his idea for a Mediterranean Union, a regional community that would unite the 21 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

The union, an initiative that Sarkozy proposed soon after becoming president, would focus on security, immigration, and environmental and cultural linkages among all countries, from Morocco to Malta to Israel, and help coordinate trade between this region and Europe. But his message in the region is reaching many skeptical ears, both those wary of a former colonial master as well as those concerned such a formal compact would simply open the door to European imports and guarantee hydrocarbon-hungry Europe a reliable supply of energy. [...]

Gingrich: Who funds Al Qaeda? You

Sleepwalking into a Nightmare
by Newt Gingrich

[...] And let's be honest: What's the primary source of money for al Qaeda? It's you, re-circulated through Saudi Arabia. Because we have no national energy strategy, when clearly if you really cared about liberating the United States from the Middle East and if you really cared about the survival of Israel, one of your highest goals would be to move to a hydrogen economy and to eliminate petroleum as a primary source of energy.

Now that's what a serious national strategy would look like, but that would require real change.

So then you look at Saudi Arabia. The fact that we tolerate a country saying no Christian and no Jew can go to Mecca, and we start with the presumption that that's true while they attack Israel for being a religious state is a sign of our timidity, our confusion, our cowardice that is stunning.

It's not complicated. We're inviting Saudi Arabia to come to Annapolis to talk about rights for Palestinians when nobody is saying, "Let's talk about rights for Christians and Jews in Saudi Arabia. Let's talk about rights for women in Saudi Arabia."

Abu Daoud says: wow, this article by Gingrich is chock-full (sp?) of useful information. I recommend a complete reading of it. Hat tip to what has become one of my favorite blogs about KSA (The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Wahaudi.

Islam-mobile!

Well, you asked for it! An Islamic car, to be produced by that leader of automotive technology, Malaysia:

Report: Malaysia's Proton Plans to Make 'Islamic Cars' With Iran, Turkey

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysian automaker Proton plans to team up with companies in Iran and Turkey to produce "Islamic cars" for the global market, a news report said Sunday.

Proposed by Iran, the collaboration would include installing features in automobiles such as a compass to determine the direction of Mecca for prayers, and compartments for storing the Quran and headscarves, Proton's Managing Director Syed Zainal Abidin told national news agency Bernama.

"What they (Iran) want to do is to call that an Islamic car," he was quoted as saying while on a visit in Iran. "The car will have all the Islamic features and should be meant for export purposes. We will identify a car that we can develop to be produced in Malaysia, Iran or Turkey."

The report didn't give further details. [...]

From HERE.

Interest on you bank account forbidden

Islam is not simply a "religion" as I have pointed out many times. It is a complete system that is religious and political and military and economic. One of the main points of Islamic economics is that making money from interest (riba) in an account or paying interest on a loan is immoral. I am not talking about usury--excessive interest--here, by the way. Even the 1.5% I get on my checking account is illegal and haraam (forbidden). Here is an example of Islamic thought on the topic:

It is not permissible to put money in riba-based banks except in cases of necessity in order to protect it when there is no Islamic bank. In that case one should only use a current account (i.e., without interest), on the basis of doing the lesser of two evils. The interest that is taken for depositing money in a riba-based bank is haraam and it is riba which has been forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger in emphatic terms...

The US Dollar; Myanmar

Two interesting headlines here from the Christian Science Monitor, which is a great news source IMHO:

How the falling dollar affects Americans

The falling dollar means that money sent to missionaries abroad will not go as far, generally speaking. So those of you who support missionaries in other countries, please consider increasing your giving to them.

Protests swell against Burma's military regime

Myanmar (Burma) is one of the most closed countries in the world in terms of Christian missions. Changes to a more open government would be beneficial for the spread of the Gospel in that mostly Buddhist country. But I think the evangelization would not be done by Americans and Europeans, but by other folks from S. Asia and SE Asia.

Check out the Joshua Project's profile on Myanmar.