How'd we miss this one?

Rambix scours the Red Star (Minneapolis Star Tribune) fairly thoroughly, rooting out bias and attempts at socialist brainwashing. We almost missed this unbelievable item in the business section, 7/25/05, "Caribou won't sell pork, beer or lottery tickets". Why? Because of Islamic Shari'ah law. For those not familiar with Caribou Coffee, they are a large and growing coffee chain started in Minnesota. From their website:

Today, Caribou Coffee still calls Minneapolis home, but has grown to more than 300 stores across the central and eastern U.S. Caribou is owned by a group of investors, management, employees, the company's founders, and many of the company's original investors.

In December 2000, a majority of shares in the company were sold to Arcapita, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

What is Arcapita, you ask?

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Arcapita, Inc. is a private equity investment firm that seeks to acquire significant equity interests in successful growth companies. Arcapita owns a majority of shares of Caribou Coffee Company.

That's great, but where are they based?

Arcapita, Inc. serves as the U.S. private equity arm of Arcapita Bank B.S.C., headquartered in Bahrain.

What does this mean? According to the Red Star story:

Porn, pork and Pabst -- you're safe from them at Caribou Coffee. In an SEC filing last week for its initial stock offering, the Brooklyn Center-based coffeehouse chain noted that it operates its business according to the Islamic principles known as Shari'ah.

Oh boy. If you've been to a Caribou, you know that they appear as American as apple pie, and are homey and designed kind of like a cabin in remote Alaska or somewhere similar. In short, there are no overt signs of Islamic control. But here is an MSM news story breaking this incredible finding with no fanfare. Does it concern anyone that a mainstream (formerly) American business is controlled by Islamic Shari'ah law? It gives Rambix the shivers.

By the way, does anyone recall a group of folks in the news over the past few years who practiced Shari'ah law? Does the "Taliban" ring any bells?