If you're Muslim, it's against your religion to make or receive interest. It's against Sharia’a. Now, do you think there are no banks in Islamic countries? Of course there are. They use loopholes to ensure money is made without violating Islamic law. Despite that, the city of Minneapolis has a program to spur economic development, part of that plan offers no interest loans to people whose religion prohibits them from traditional loans. Economic development is important, and small business loans can get struggling businesses off of the ground, but should someone's religion play a part in whether that loan is interest free or not?
From the latest mayoral update:
Growing an Economy That Works for Everyone
Mayor Rybak also promoted Minneapolis’ strong, growing economy and pledged more than $11 million in workforce development and economic development strategies in 2008, including:
* $1.5 million for job training and placement programs that successfully placed 14,000 hard to employ city residents into unsubsidized private sector jobs last year
* $4.7 million dollars of small business financing tools, including innovative loans with no interest to business owners whose religious beliefs restrict them from receiving traditional interest-based financing
* $2.1 million for the Great Streets Neighborhood Business District program that focuses economic development on key commercial corridors like West Broadway and Franklin Avenues
* $16 million to improve housing options and strengthen Minneapolis housing market, including $6 million to continue implementing the City’s strategy to address the foreclosure crisis
Showing posts with label Minneapolis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minneapolis. Show all posts
Monday, September 24, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
I'm Alive
I'm alive. I wasn't in danger of dying from the freeway collapse, because I was at home taking a nap. Notable tragedy seems to happen while I'm not following my typical routine, and happen to be asleep. 9/11 happened while I slept in. Maybe I shouldn't sleep. I appreciate everyone's concern. I look forward to driving on a new, safer bridge in a few years.
Update: I was reading the Wiki about the I-35W bridge, and the one thing I'll miss about the bridge is its anti-icing system which would squirt a blue potassium acetate on the road during the winter. It was a nice view of downtown Minneapolis on the way home. Now I'll have to drive through crummy 280 to get to work. Maybe there will be a fancy new cable bridge like this project in Illinois.
Oh, and to all you able bleeders out there, go donate some human juice. I can't because I just donated a month ago.
Update: I was reading the Wiki about the I-35W bridge, and the one thing I'll miss about the bridge is its anti-icing system which would squirt a blue potassium acetate on the road during the winter. It was a nice view of downtown Minneapolis on the way home. Now I'll have to drive through crummy 280 to get to work. Maybe there will be a fancy new cable bridge like this project in Illinois.
Oh, and to all you able bleeders out there, go donate some human juice. I can't because I just donated a month ago.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Wireless Minneapolis
Minneapolis is going wireless. This came as a surprise to me, because government moves slowly, and I remember reading about this project in 2004, and thought we'd all have hover boards before municipal wireless would get off the ground. It's a good thing, for a few reasons:
The Good
- Lowers the cost of communication, if it works reliably, for the city. For example, cop cars, which are online all the time, don't have to use expensive cell phones to hook into the network.
- At $19.95 a month, a rate set in a 10 year stone, it's cheaper then broadband.
- $500,000 will be spent to provide low cost hardware, internet, and training for low income residents. This is the digital gap which separates someone from getting a $10 an hour entry office job, and someone working at KFC for $6 an hour. OK, it's not the simple, but I would like to see kids on poor homes have access to the internet, a good working computer, and training for the family.
The Strangely Optomistic
- As part of the marketing the city used to justify wireless city wide, was the image of firefighters heading to a fire, looking up the floor plans for the building on the way to the fire over wifi. Neato. But, I don't know how realistic that scenario is, or how common that would be.
- The massive security camera network the police would have access to instantly. This is another pie in the sky dreams of the city. Tie all the public and private security cameras into the network, so the cops can view security camera footage in the car on their way to a scene. Great, but how common would that be?
The Bad
- $19.95, while cheaper then my bill currently, is still high for a lot of people. And, USI has to charge enough money to make a profit. Because the city doesn't own the network, USI must charge enough to make money. They are projecting $12 million in losses in the first year, out of a $27 million total operating cost.
- While there is a contract in place, if USI ever had to pull out, the city would be screwed. Sure, the city would buy out the contract, but would they be able to manage the services they didn't have to touch before?
- It's not free, and it should be. While there is a cost to provide internet service, it's something that should be funded through taxes, and given free to everyone. Their current model charges everyone, even visitors, except in certain areas, like plazas, or parks, and there is free access, but it's in a "walled garden" of city specific sites, I'm sure with advertising.
The Good
- Lowers the cost of communication, if it works reliably, for the city. For example, cop cars, which are online all the time, don't have to use expensive cell phones to hook into the network.
- At $19.95 a month, a rate set in a 10 year stone, it's cheaper then broadband.
- $500,000 will be spent to provide low cost hardware, internet, and training for low income residents. This is the digital gap which separates someone from getting a $10 an hour entry office job, and someone working at KFC for $6 an hour. OK, it's not the simple, but I would like to see kids on poor homes have access to the internet, a good working computer, and training for the family.
The Strangely Optomistic
- As part of the marketing the city used to justify wireless city wide, was the image of firefighters heading to a fire, looking up the floor plans for the building on the way to the fire over wifi. Neato. But, I don't know how realistic that scenario is, or how common that would be.
- The massive security camera network the police would have access to instantly. This is another pie in the sky dreams of the city. Tie all the public and private security cameras into the network, so the cops can view security camera footage in the car on their way to a scene. Great, but how common would that be?
The Bad
- $19.95, while cheaper then my bill currently, is still high for a lot of people. And, USI has to charge enough money to make a profit. Because the city doesn't own the network, USI must charge enough to make money. They are projecting $12 million in losses in the first year, out of a $27 million total operating cost.
- While there is a contract in place, if USI ever had to pull out, the city would be screwed. Sure, the city would buy out the contract, but would they be able to manage the services they didn't have to touch before?
- It's not free, and it should be. While there is a cost to provide internet service, it's something that should be funded through taxes, and given free to everyone. Their current model charges everyone, even visitors, except in certain areas, like plazas, or parks, and there is free access, but it's in a "walled garden" of city specific sites, I'm sure with advertising.
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