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October 2006 Archives

October 30, 2006

Bollocks

Bloody bastsrds ask for a motherfucking memo on the bloody PPM's outstanding issues, in detail. I bloody write the fucking thing, exec summ and gruesome detail about damned issues like attribution of the off shore structure, advisory boards and other mind-numbing nonsense they've avoided deciding on for I have no idea how many conference calls .... and I stay up to the wee hours working on this. To do the call, and they haven't read the bloody thing, nor decided on any of the issues, nor any goddamned thing at all.

Fucking useless clients. No wonder lawyers bill by the fucking hour. Concentrates the mind of the useless fuckers. Ah well, the fee will pay for the entire goddamned production of Cuba, I can kill my brain cells later.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 02:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Perso Biz Notes

October 29, 2006

France, Immigration: On Delusions & Ignorance

Clive Davis has drawn my attention (in some ways I curse him) to a new round of utterly idiotic ignorant American whanking on about the problems in the French immigrant and native-born ethnic minority ghettoes.

While the violence infesting the immigrant and native born ethnic minority ghettoes is clearly reaching grotesque proportions, I have to question the sanity (or in the alternative honesty and/or intelligence) of writers that can send off missives characterising this as an issue of "Islamic militias" or of mass (white) emmigration to North America (the later proposition rather clearly racist).

Posted by The Lounsbury at 03:16 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Politics , Religion , Society & Culture , The Maghreb

October 28, 2006

Private Placement Memorandum

I am trying to overcome the urge in writing this stunningly long, detailed masterpiece of marketing to insert phrases in the boilerplate such as "And I know Actual Investors Never Read This Rubbish So Go Fuck Yourself Stupid Lawyers for Forcing Us to Write Lots of Utterly Useless and Unenforceable Rot."

I bet I could and it would get by.

Continue reading "Private Placement Memorandum"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 09:11 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Perso Biz Notes

Valueless perso commentary

I am told that even when I dress down, I look like I am going to an investment committee meeting. This came when I mocked some nerdlish Indian Expat type w family on outing today, who looked bizarrely like he was taking the family to a business meeting.

Well, at least I am stylish.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 09:08 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Perso-Expatedness

October 24, 2006

Eid Moubarek Said

A little tardy, but I am working flat out.

However, the partners insist I go to some Eid hoopla and the woman has dressed me up in a new Eid outfit - look like a bloody Emir, although I do like the nice wool felting, so off I am.

So, Eid Moubarek Said to all - heathens, kufar, idiots and so forth.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:56 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Perso-Expatedness

October 22, 2006

Bedou Scum & Destination Aqaba - Incentives and Disincentives to Investment

A peculiar article from The Financial Times on a new emergence of little old Aqaba, that almost famous Ottoman fort, "Incentives make Jordanian port investor haven".

Never liked the place myself, but more interesting than the somewhat hypish headline is the discussion of barriers:

Continue reading "Bedou Scum & Destination Aqaba - Incentives and Disincentives to Investment"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 08:01 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Biz - Policy & Development , Biz - Private in MENA , Business , Economics , Sham-Levant

Undoing the Right Bolsheviks

My favourite US center-left blog read, Kevin Drum has a fine little paragraph that has nice clarity without too much - indeed hardly any - partisan political content on the disaster of the Right Bolsheviks

Continue reading "Undoing the Right Bolsheviks"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 06:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Politics - Foreign Policy

Maghrebine Rap - Mashreqi Complexes

I was just listening to some Maghrebine rap sent by a friend and I have to say I was impressed - by the quality of making Maghrebine Derrija fit into the newest styling of Ragga style rap, of which I am generally a great fan of actually as it recalls my dissolute youth (which I suppose I can write as someone some of the last maneuvers of the Red Army as an adult) and my obsession at the time with Carribbean things, from the music to the clubs to the chicas.

I also thought of a conversation I had a number of years ago with a Jordanian friend who was quite the Rap fan and despite being a banker also spent much time working on his little Rap group. However, he refused to do it in Arabic. For which I constantly mocked him, with the prediction that the Maghrebines would adopt the form and nativize it into Arabic to the point that they'd be as good or better than its origins.

Indeed they have. And my amigo is still rapping in Arabo-English. (Of course he really is quite fluent in English)

Posted by The Lounsbury at 05:58 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Society & Culture

What to make of unpoverty

I have to engage in some Eid time bribery to make my JV partner and associates comfortable with my generally heathen habits, which includes coughing up some Zakat and some added bonus Zakat to make amends for said behaviours (which I shall spare the more faithful from enumerating during this holy season).

Continue reading "What to make of unpoverty"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 05:49 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Perso-Expatedness

October 14, 2006

We don't trust you but we want to invest in you...

Some thoughts on a conference call I just participated in with respect to an American group with some kind of US Gov backing (to be frank not sure the nature, but apparently some US G capital went into the Fund) and some MENA region investors.

The best moment in the call came when the American group came out with the phrase, "you realise if we put our capital in, you have to personally engage to be subject to the US Patriot Act." What that means in an effective legal sense to a bunch of MENA investors who are off-shore is unclear to me, although given the increasingly imperial ambitions of American law enforcement (The brit banker thing still sticks in the craw of us people off-shore, for example) it might have real impact. The silence that followed spoke volumes. Now, mind you the MENA investors side are all clean people (well most of them I know to be clean, I have confidence in the remainders). But who the fuck wants to sign on to being subject to the highly political vagaries of American "anti-terror" legislation. Especially if one has the handicap of being Muslim in an increasingly hysterical anti-Muslim atmosphere in "Patriot" circles?

But what was queerest is (i) it is the Americans who are making the approach - I presume under official pressure to put US Gov capital to work in the MENA region, but (ii) all the riders and attachments to their efforts (using those terms metaphorically) say "We don't trust dirty Muslims and Arabs, goddamned terrorists..." Any one measure doesn't seem inherently unreasonable, but the overall package - non-negotiable - smells. I am no longer surprised by an opinion I recently heard from an American investment banker based in the Gulf who said to me, in talking about investment opportunities "I no longer want to touch anything with US government association, bad for my business."

There are real concerns for the Americans to address, but if they want to engage in the MENA region, their approach at present is counter-productive to their real aims. But in an atomosphere of magical thinking, what can I expect. Need to find a Sterling paid job, however.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 01:56 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Politics - US FP

A Fine Illustration of MEMRI Mendacity

Quickly, an item illustrating MEMRI's mendacity and clear game of agitprop. We at Aqoul have touched on this, and myself for the past several years.

Beware ye who rely on the lies of interested parties.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 01:43 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Politics

October 12, 2006

MENA Blogs - Abu Aardvark introduces Qahwa Sada

Afraid I have to focus on a fund deadline (hoping to effect the closing of a nice 60 m deal, not bad at a 1% fee basis. All mine if it closes), but I wanted to draw attention to an excellent effort announced by Abu Aardvark, our friend and if I may say academic colleague, a MENA Experts blog of a very serious nature (perhaps what Aqoul would be were I not around to give it its scurrilous tone) Qahwa Sada, named after his favourite beverage - although in the Eastern style (I prefer to name this benzene beshri, although in the Maghreb one need not say Sada as they say, qahoua m3ndhash ila louan, hiya noire.

I encourage readers to drop by, I do hope that it will prove a success. We need more informed and non-idiot commentary on MENA.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 09:10 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Blog Notes - Admin

Madness, Maps & Dickey

Without any comment, I share this fine arty by veteran journo Chris Dickey, Bordering on Insanity: Does the Middle East need to be destroyed in order to save it?.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 12:30 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Politics - US FP

October 11, 2006

Movie Myths and Intel Sadness

Reading the Washington Post this morning, I cam across one of the typical articles on the American intel and security services bemoaning the fact that "[a]gents Still Lack[...] Arabic Skills"

In short, the Hollywood image of super sleuths with language skills etc. is entirely fictitious, no surprise there. However, I find continuing American puzzlement over their own lack of capacity to be, well, rather dim witted. Let me quote the key item:

"It is easier to get a security clearance if you don't have any interaction with foreigners, which is not what you want if you want better interaction with foreigners," Byman said.

I have time and time again heard from friends in the US services that it is well nigh impossible for persons with overseas experience and connexions to get clearances in any good time (not impossible to obtain, but in good time, meaning candidates move on), and difficult regardless.

Continue reading "Movie Myths and Intel Sadness"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 11:01 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Politics

October 10, 2006

Soup Operas

Drawing attention to an amusing arty in the FT on the annual Soup Opera scandals. I previously was interested in the Tash Ma Tash Soup Opera, although initially for its sardonic imagery re the 'War on Vague Abstractions in the Place of Concrete Policy'.

Continue reading "Soup Operas"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 11:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Filed Under: MENA Region General , Society & Culture

Bolsheviks

I have little to add to this, draw to my attention by Roger Bigod, discussion of another book on the incompetent and frankly Bolshevik approach of the Bush Administration. The observations meet mine, and ones I made at the time when I worked on Iraq financing. However, I can add that Dan Senor's editorial is typical of that lying Right Bolshy ideologue scumbag. People like him caused Iraq to fail. His commentary is typical, either utterly mendacious or delusional. Or both.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:13 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Iraq

October 08, 2006

Al Hurra and Market Driven Advice

Related to Tom's recent note on the TV in the Middle East, our old Aqoul amigo Abu Aardvark has some Advice for al-Hurra which I found quite on point, being at once driven by a good understanding of American interests and the media market in region.

I am sure longer term readers will recall some commentary back in the old livejournal days regarding the supposed al Jazeerah privatisation and related Arab Media Policy. Some simple minded commentators cheered without understanding the media market.

The Father of Aardvarks has what I consider rather savvy market-oriented advice, which I am sure this current American Administration will not heed, despite their faux-Conservatism with their magical Right Bolshy inclination to unrealistic Bolshy type transformationalism. Real, honest market driven evaluations and pragmatic market driven policy utterly escapes them.

Continue reading "Al Hurra and Market Driven Advice"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 07:31 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Business , MENA Region General , Politics - US FP

Introducing Ramadan

Amusing intro to Ramadan: Ramadan, When Less Is More - from the Washington Post, but evidently an Egyptian-American journo. Only an Egyptian would feature snot soup as a Ramadan meal.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 03:30 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Society & Culture

October 07, 2006

Maghreb Economics

A quick note on some recent items from FT regarding investment flows, which will be of interest to some readers. Fund to invest $100m in African real estate, on the CDC fund for Africa (North and sub-Saharan) which is intersting as there are now also relatively substantial Gulf funds heading into real estate in North Africa as well.

And then Algeria, where supposed reforms seem to be going nowhere: Algiers turns up nationalist heat in oil and gas industry, one step back after a half step feint forward.

Algiers is reasserting control over its oil and natural gas fields barely a year after the North African country wooed international energy groups with friendlier investment terms.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 10:32 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Biz - Private in MENA , Business , Economics , Politics - Local , Politics - Other FP

Mr Straw & The Niqab

It appears that For. Sec. Straw's comments on the Niqab, the face veil, have set off a bit of a storm. From The Financial Times to The Times coverage of his original comments regarding prefering women not wear the face veil as divisive through to coverage of The Poodle's craven and inconsistent pandering and on to coverage (the sooner he is gone the better, I await with impatience The New York Times (but British official, I am come on, how about Brit For. Sec.?).

I am not sure if that is good or bad, but it bears some commenting on. First, when I first saw the comments I wasn't sure if he meant the hijab, which would have been annoyingly tedious, or the niqab, which I agree with. I am pleased to see it is about the covering of the face. There is a vast and important difference between the ninja get-ups that are so very Saudi Wahhabite neo-Islamic rot, and a woman covering her hair with a scarf.

Continue reading "Mr Straw & The Niqab"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 05:32 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: MENA Region General , Politics - Islam(ic) , Politics - Local , Religion , Society & Culture

October 04, 2006

Dubai, the Attraction

A quick note to draw attention to a recent arty by Roula Khalaf of FT on Dubai and the why behind its success to date: Dubai cultivates oasis of calm where Arab business life can flourish

The main thrust of the article is to highlight some of the why behind Dubai's success to date, beyond just stupid amounts of capital. Although that is a clear major condition, it is not a sufficient one as the other petro-giants of the region never managed to achieve Dubai's success (even if we mitigate our appreciation of the success by noting a definately unsustainable aspect doped by too much liquidity chasing too few quality assets).

Despite my own critical attitude towards Dubai - much is clearly illusion and can not survive, there are also clear lessons with respect to the ability of the Arab/MENA region entreprenurial classes actually being able to flourish when a moderately liberal (quite liberal for the off-shore aspects) business environment is established. I do note that some of - indeed in some ways much of Dubai's liberalism is rather Potemkin liberalism insofar as it is all of a very temporary, Enlightened Despot Suffrage quality. That being said, if one takes Dubai with a grain of salt, it does illustrate via its off-shore business services sector the degree to which Arabo-Muslim entrepreneurship is seeking a place to flourish away from the dead hand of the state, and the degree to which even in the temporary, Prince-dependent liberalism of Dubai seems vastly attractive in a world where the West is growing stupidly more hostile to Arabo-Islamic money.

Continue reading "Dubai, the Attraction"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 03:38 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Biz - Policy & Development , Biz - Private in MENA , Economics , Jazeera-Arabia

October 03, 2006

On Nation Building & American Magicalism

Prompted by an somewhat typical George Will column, The Leaders [Americans] Have

Aside from this amusing closing (whose connexion with the remainder of the opinion piece is a bit obscure)

"Where's the leader?" Bush, according to Woodward, has exclaimed in dismay about the Iraqi government's dithering. "Where's George Washington? Where's Thomas Jefferson? Where's John Adams, for crying out loud?" For a president to ask that question about Iraq, that tribal stew, is enough to cause one to ask it about the United States.

there is Will's foolish comment:

Continue reading "On Nation Building & American Magicalism"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 04:33 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Iraq , MENA Region General , Politics - EU FP , Politics - US FP

Queer

Well, I just was approached to raise 15 million for a second closing. Strange. I wouldn't trust me to raise 15 million Euro, but it is flattering. Why they think I can do this for them escapes me, but obviously I am more convincing than I think I am. Hell, I wasn't even pimping this.

Of course I realise I know fuck all about raising 15 from Khalijis or HNWs.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 01:40 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Perso Biz Notes

October 02, 2006

Iraq Despair, Bis: The American Revelations

Following up on my personal note regarding Iraq Despair as noted with respect to despair among specialists, I have been intrigued to see the explosion of materials documenting the Bush Adminstration's gross incomptence in Iraq and the Middle East. Quite an array of articles, from the BBC, The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph (which for my money in covering a reported Saudi massive security fence to wall out Iraq speaks for itself with respect to the Americans utterly delusional happy talk) although their article on Americans considering cutting off funding to Iraqi (Shia) police operating as death squads is almost as good in highlighting the swamp in which the Americans have blundered into, a swamp of their own making.

Perhaps at some point Americans will realise that to win their goals, they need to grapple with the world as it is, not as they would wish it to be. Of course that means getting rid of the Right Bolsheviks.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 12:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Iraq , Politics - US FP

Tariq Ramadan

Tariq Ramadan has an interesting Op Ed on his effective banning from the United States. The Right Bolsheviks seem to be like the old Left Bolsheviks.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 12:11 AM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
Filed Under: MENA Region General , Politics - US FP , Religion

October 01, 2006

The New Month Open Thread - Sep and Oct edition

I missed last month - first time I believe - due to business crises which are ongoing but less severe, so let me return this month to my ancient tradition of an open thread for comments, questions and suggestions, most of which I will duly ignore. However, I sometimes do in fact respond substantively.

Posted by The Lounsbury at 01:54 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Blog Notes - Admin

Violence, Christians, Muslims - Fallacious Framing, bis:

I caught an interesting article in The Washington Post on Somali shopkeepers and violence which I think is a decent point of illustration of the easy, fallacious framing that often occurs.

Now, in this instance, the article focuses on the xenophobic reaction of Xhosa to Somali shopkeepers, telling known by a name derived from Islamic and Somali vocabulary - baraka, which as many readers know is simply the Arabic for "blessing(s)," although not as the journo incorrectly puts it "God's blessings" as a phrase, merely understood, as in English low church usage that it's God that does blessing. Somalis are known as barakas. Now, the article, aside from some ethnic superficialities, is quite good. However, in reading it and reflecting on how such stories get framed I rather thought it typical of, in particular, Western journo reporting in Africa and elsewhere on violence where an ethno-religious cleavage exists.

Continue reading "Violence, Christians, Muslims - Fallacious Framing, bis:"

Posted by The Lounsbury at 01:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Filed Under: Religion , Society & Culture