Must watch video

Really informative documentary/lecture. Its about the perceieved power that government has over us. In essence, their power lies purely in the use of words - and equally our ignorance.

- Think Free : Bursting Bubbles of Government Deception (88min)
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-7040453665540929835

- ThinkFree Presents : The Magnificent Deception (121min)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6729904244308031068

Islamic banking - the future?

The fastest growing banking sector in the world, operates in 70 countries and will soon have a $1trillion of assets.

Islamic banking acts in accordance to the islamic principles and is completely different to western banking. Islam prohibits riba, interest earned by moneylenders and denounces gharar which is any type of speculation. Money is supposed to be an instrument of productivity (not a commodity in itself to create more money). Gambling is banned so hedge funds and private equities and all those derivatives are frowned upon. Instead the money needs to be linked to real investments. Additionally, investors are supposed to share the risk of the lender - effectively making them a partnership - in contradiction to western banking which is risk averse meaning it diversifies or transfers the risk.

Alhamdul'llah... It also incorporates other principles such as helping the poor, (quite the opposite approach to here) and funding the pilgrimage to mecca.

Supposedly, it challenges rogue economics because it doesnt fund gambling, drugs and alcohol (the devil is in the bottle, as the koran says) or - I guess you could argue the ultimate by-product of western capatalism- porn and prostitution.

I know that the bank of Oman offers a monthly raffle instead of interest. You can win a phat four wheel drive! But the best thing, in my opinion, is that islamic banking avoids speculation which is already starting to affect food prices in a big way. It also avoids trading in debt which led to the big subprime melt-down last summer. Lastly, without interest there would be no student loan with compound interest and, much more importantly, no third world debt (poor countries are paying off more interest than the loan itself).

Insha'allah, we'll see how altruistic the principles stay, after all they are dealing with money.

Staying clean

or How to wash without buying lots of chemicals

In india, we washed the dishes with wood ash, for some time. It works quite well and historically, people used ash as a lye when making soap. Taking a half burnt log is a good way of cleaning the BBQ. Ash isnt reconmended to wash hands because it leaves the skin quite dry.

Another cool thing is reetha soap nuts. They are nuts from a tree (only grown in hot countries) and when soaked in water they release a soapy sap. Proven to be as effective as normal detergents, with the advantage that they are inexpensive, reusable and environmentally friendly (and suitable for people with senstive skin). You can throw them in the washing machine, dishwasher or bath tub. You wont find them in the shops so you will have to order online (someone usually sells them on ebay but make sure they are the shells only - nuts removed)

Alternatively, make your own ghanan soap with coconut oil:

www.modernghana.com/lifestyle/333/16/soap-making.html