ConservativeINC

Just in case you can’t make out what is going on here I will tell you. Here you have some Muslims and Christians putting up a cross together. And here’s what the photographer, Michael Yon, has to say from his perch in Iraq:

“I photographed men and women, both Christians and Muslims, placing a cross atop the St. John’s Church in Baghdad. They had taken the cross from storage and a man washed it before carrying it up to the dome. A Muslim man had invited the American soldiers from ‘Chosen’ Company 2-12 Cavalry to the church, where I videotaped as Muslims and Christians worked and rejoiced at the reopening of St John’s, an occasion all viewed as a sign of hope. The Iraqis asked me to convey a message of thanks to the American people. ‘Thank you, thank you,’ the people were saying. One man said, ‘Thank you for peace.’ Another man, a Muslim, said ‘All the people, all the people in Iraq, Muslim and Christian, is brother.’ The men and women were holding bells, and for the first time in memory freedom rang over the ravaged land between two rivers. (Videotape to follow.)”

Where is all the footage of this on the regular news? I would think that this type of cooperation would be the type of news story that any journalist would love to cover. But things are different now and we are only exposed to the horrible things that go on in Iraq. AP ran a story the other day saying how we’ve lost more soldiers this year than any other. Of course they should have put it into context; the surge put us at greater risk for a short time so we can have longer lasting security and a comparison to previous wars would be nice. Anyways, Michael Yon is doing yeoman’s work in Iraq and I commend his efforts.

Elsewhere in the wide, wide world of the Middle East there seemed to be an iota of hope coming out of Pakistan earlier today. Musharraf declared today that elections would only be delayed one month to February, which gives some hope that he will step down as general and become solely a civilian. But then later on today Pakistani police put Bhutto, the West’s darling, under house arrest. This goes along with the thousands more who have been rounded up by the government because they oppose Musharraf.

Joe Biden and Bill Richardson, both Democrats with extensive foreign policy experience (according to Yahoo!), warned today that history may be repeating itself with Pakistan going down the same road that Iran did more than two decades ago. They both say that we need to vigorously support democracy and human rights (where were they on Iraq!) and without this steadfastness we’re going to get a radicalized nuclear state. My only problem with their scenario is the fact that there are no black and white solutions here.

Sure, we could bring our military into Pakistan and hope all goes well. But that is not going to happen because we just don’t have the forces available to do something like that. All we can do is give aid both in money and political support. We all want democracy to take place in every country in the world. It’s just going to take longer in some locales for our wishes to come true. But if we don’t back Musharraf now we’re inviting another situation like we have with Iran. Real democrats would never ally themselves with radicals like al Qaeda and the Taliban. Bhutto (and Musharraf) has done just that in the past. Nothing is perfect and yet there is an option that is the most correct. Support the current regime any way we can and hope for the best.

There was some really exciting news for every politician in America today. The golden goose of taxes is still breathing! Yup, that’s right, the number of smokers as a percentage of the population is no longer decreasing. This is great news for everyone in the government because their money pinata is not running out of candy as quickly.

See, whenever any local, state, or even the federal government wants to start a program that is really expensive and might not get enough support from the electorate they inevitably attack the “sinners” among us. The story talks about how the government needs to do more to get people to kick the habit but I doubt they will really try to get less people to smoke. Less people smoking means less special projects to put on their resumes. Don’t fear you anti-smoking nuts, the government will eventually kill this golden goose because they’ll eventually get to the point with taxes where people just won’t be able to afford them anymore.

Two stories I did today dealt with terrorism. One at home and one in Baghdad, Iraq. Supposedly, our jihadi adversaries want to attack our Christmas shoppers in an effort to destroy our economy. That won’t happen because the reprisal against them would be devastating but if they’re looking for willing operatives they have a bevy coming out of Baghdad. Yes, we have eradicated the Sunni brand of terrorism in Baghdad (yeah, they might very well find their way back in, party pooper) and we’re seeing some good signs with regards to Sunni-Shia cooperation. They’re going to release a fatwa against, get this, violence. If this isn’t a good sign I don’t know what is.

A not so good sign is coming out of France. Even though their president, Monsieur Sarkozy, is a solid ally of the United States the same cannot be said of the French people with regards to their president. when he got back to his homeland he was met with a bunch of strikers (and not just script writers but cops and hospital helicopter pilots). Of course this all has to do with the radical liberalization Sarkozy wants to come to their economy. Their economy is moribund because it is in a straitjacket of regulations and taxes. At their respective current paces the Iraqi people are going to have a higher standard of living than the French people within a generation.

You could put us in with the Frenchies if Hillary gets elected and that’s just what her husband thinks will comfortably happen. At least that’s what he said in Iowa today. But is that going to happen? Well, not necessarily. According to a Wall Street Journal-NBC poll if it were Hillary Clinton against Rudy Giuliani for the presidential election as it stands right now it would be a statistical dead heat. Of course, I think polls are ridiculous and aren’t very accurate. But, hey, what else are we going to talk about?

I’m glad I asked that question because we can always talk about Hillary Clinton not tipping poor waitresses. Yeah, I know her campaign gave a nice tip (really nice actually) but this is politics and perception is what matters. She should have personally tipped the waitress. This story reminds me of a story about Ronald Reagan. He gave a speech of some sorts at a coffee shop and a lot of the press got some free stuff. Reagan wouldn’t have this so he wrote the owner a $100 check to amply cover the bill. About a month later he asked whether the man had cashed the check and when he found out he hadn’t he wrote out another check and this time the man cashed the check (he had framed the first one). If only she would have learned from the Gipper.

BigT’s Linkapalooza:
Christian right is a mindless voting bloc after all.
Mukasey is AG.
Bernanke says economy more like a tortoise.
Baseball collusion over A-Rod. Maybe now he’ll only get a $275 million contract.
Apocalypse Now: Yellowstone Rising.
I want my, I want my, I want my twenty - four.
Burma in the news again.
BigT

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France and America sitting in a tree. Oh la, la, la, la la, la. Well, at least it’s a good thing that we’re on such good terms with the Frenchies now. Sarkozy seems like a good guy who has and is going to continue singing the praises of America. But our warming relations with France isn’t just a one time thing, we are having better relations with everyone in Europe.

Four years after then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s dismissive comments about European opposition to the war in Iraq, “Old Europe” is back — and the White House is trumpeting its strengthened transatlantic ties with two highly choreographed official visits this week.

New French President Nicolas Sarkozy, an unabashed admirer of the United States, arrived in Washington yesterday for a round of high-profile appearances — including a black-tie dinner last night, an address before a joint session of Congress today, and a scheduled tour of Mount Vernon with Bush to commemorate ties dating back to Revolutionary times. Merkel, meanwhile, has snagged a rare invitation to Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Tex., where the two leaders will meet Friday and Saturday over dinner and breakfast.

The sad fact is that Bush has better relations with the French then he does with the American Congress. But Bush’s relationship with Congress is nowhere near as bad as Cheney’s relationship with Congress because right now there is a motion in Congress to impeach the Vice President. And who, you may be thinking, proffered this motion? None other than the Democrat Presidential candidate who has had a close encounter of the third kind.

Dennis Kucinich started this pissing contest and now the Republicans aren’t going to let up. The Republicans in Congress aren’t letting the Democrats give up on this motion and have forced them into a debate regarding Cheney’s proposed impeachment. This is going to be embarrassing to the democrats because it isn’t going to be even remotely successful and it is going to expose them as the crazed lunatics that they are.

Even with all the rancor going on in DC there is always room for some more diversions. One of the biggest hullabaloos going on is over waterboarding. Mukasey is being raked over the coals for his non-support of this technique to wring information out of terrorists but the fact of the matter is that it works. And it is better than some alternatives.

Fred Thompson doesn’t think he’s going to be the next President of the United States. Or at least that is what he told Fox’s Carl Cameron.

Trying to encourage his studio to hurry up so an interview could start, Carl Cameron of Fox News said into his microphone: “The next president of the United States has a schedule to keep.” Standing beside him, a deadpan Mr Thompson interjected: “And so do I.”

As some Thompson aides looked bemused and others cringed, a taken-aback Mr Cameron, Fox’s chief political correspondent, exclaimed: “You can’t do that kind of stuff!”

And the American economy isn’t doing too good either. Or so it seems from afar. There is a “silver lining” to the subprime credit collapse.

But there is a surprising silver lining. Signs of it were revealed by the absence of reporting on the big bugaboo of the past few years: the US current account deficit.

The good news is the recent reversal of the steady upward climb in the current account deficit. During the past three quarters for which we have data the deficit has been cut by $119bn, falling from about 6 per cent of gross domestic product to 5 per cent, and the adjustment appears to be continuing.

Why the reversal? One explanation is the implementation of policies that these same international policymakers agreed to at recent past meetings. The basic economic principle that led to these policies is that the US current account deficit is caused by the gap between saving and investment. Accordingly, a three-pronged strategy was called for – reducing the US budget deficit to decrease government dissaving, raising economic growth abroad relative to the US in order to stimulate US exports and increasing the flexibility of exchange rates, especially in China, to facilitate the adjustment.

You can see the strategy being implemented now. The budget deficit has come down sharply to 1.2 per cent of GDP, well below historical averages and less than in most other countries. World economic growth – especially in emerging markets – has been strong, even as US growth has slowed. And China’s exchange rate has become more flexible – appreciating by 10 per cent since the peg was abandoned. Forward markets project further appreciation. All these policies are expected to reduce the current account deficit, but they take time – too much time to explain the sharp reduction in the current account in the past year.

So there must be other forces at work too. Because the current account deficit equals saving minus investment, these are logical places to look. Herein lies the silver lining. The housing turmoil has indeed cut a chunk out of investment – residential investment has fallen by $81bn in the three quarters during which the current account deficit declined, and even more compared with the peak of the housing boom earlier last year. Hence a good part of the current account reduction can be directly attributed to the decline in residential investment. Moreover, the decline in housing prices is starting to increase the personal saving rate, as home equity loans are drying up and people are recognising that their housing wealth is not as large as they had expected. When asset prices were rising, households could spend what they earned and still see an increase in their net worth. Sometimes spending even exceeded income. Now, consumption is falling relative to income, so there is more household saving.

That is quite a bit to get your mind around so here’s an easy one. Writers in Hollywood are on strike. Beyond the assorted “stars” who go to the picket lines to “support” their peeps there is one really interesting part about all of this. You know how strikers have signs? Well they do and they are usually adorned with dumb sayings that may have taken ten minutes to figure out. So you would think that maybe people who are paid to write witty one liners for late night and prime time would be able to come up with something extraordinary like “No more late night without a fight!”

But no, they can’t even rhyme their little saying. Their little signs say “WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA ON STRIKE.”

I can see why they want a pay raise. They’re the only ones who could come up with that brilliant slogan.

And Brittany Spears now has another number one album. I guess even someone who has a life that is imploding can outsell everyone else. Oh well, maybe when the writers come back everyone else will have a chance to beat someone who spends 100 grand a month on “entertainment.” Until then I’ll leave you with a picture and links to other stories.

BigT’s Linkapalooza:
Ron Paul rakes in big bucks.
Pope and Saudi King have a meeting.
Oil nearing triple digits.
Hillary says we can save environment by 2050 if we elect her now.
Hillary: “If you elect me I’ll let you know who I am after the inauguration.
Hillary is putting a target on her back as far as Republicans are concerned.
BigT

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There is a reason for this picture. If America is the hyperpower then Gisele Bundchen is the hypermodel of the world and when she demands a certain perk in her contract then everyone bounces to attention. The hypermodel wants to get into the hot currencies now and requires clients to pay for her vivacious services in something other than American dollars. But this is why this story is so important in my mind.

The most important part of this story for me was finding out that she has a twin! Not only that but as I was looking this important information up online I found out there are not only two of ‘em but many of ‘em!

To be exact there are six sisters. Oh, what, you want to know what the falling dollar is going to mean for the future of American supremacy? Let me put it this way: we use to be really far up on everyone and now they’re beating us. Things can switch back in a flash because for every percentage point our currency falls that makes our exports that much more enticing for foreigners. Eventually we’ll right the trade imbalance and our real estate prices are going to go back up. Everything is not going to be fine for the next year or two and things can always blow up but the ship will be righted. It better be with all the good scenery we’ve got to look at.

A more serious threat to America, however, is Islamoterrorism. And one of the things that has bothered me about the narrative surrounding Islamoterrorism is that somehow we are responsible for them being the way they are. Christopher Hitchens, he is one of the most influential “conservatives” in the world (how in the heck can one consider him a conservative?), has a piece out today called Isolationism Isn’t the Answer: Jihadists aren’t in Afghanistan—or Iraq—because we are there that deals with this vexation of mine.

The latest news is of a very nasty Islamic insurgency in southern Thailand, butchering Buddhist villages (remember the Taliban assault on the Buddha statues at Bamiyan?) and making demands for the imposition of sharia law. Perhaps someone will identify for me which Thai and Buddhist—or Western imperialist—crimes have led to this sudden development. Or perhaps it will be admitted, however grudgingly and belatedly, that there is something sui generis about Islamist fanaticism: something that is looking for a confrontation with every non-Muslim society in the world and is determined to pursue it with the utmost violence and cruelty. It is also seeking a confrontation with some Muslim states and societies.

I make the latter point with deliberation. Afghanistan has a constitution that reserves special privileges for Islam. Most Afghan women still cover at least their heads. Even those who fought long and hard against the Taliban and al-Qaida—the Northern Alliance forces, for instance, or the Shiite Hazara—are intensely Muslim by any non-Muslim standard. But that does not suffice to protect them from the attentions of suicide-murderers and throat-cutters, recruited from as far away as Chechnya or even the Muslim areas of China. So, can we hear a bit less about how the jihadists are responding only to those who “target” Muslims or who are “Islamophobic”?

Why was al Qaeda in Afghanistan in the first place? Why was the Taliban killing other Muslims there? Muslim terrorists are blowing up things in Saudi Arabia, killing Iraqis, torturing Afghanis, and causing havoc in every Islamic country. And even if we are attracting jihadists to Iraq that hardly means they wouldn’t have been jihadists otherwise. They will always be able to find someone who doesn’t live according to their strict rules and will want to let some blood. At least we can fight back.

One such place where we aren’t (but should have been allowed access) is Pakistan. Things are looking bleak for the country now that Pervez Musharraf has had to call martial law for the country. The Wall Street Journal has a piece out today that deals with how America should deal with this situation. According to the Journal

The main U.S. interest here is a stable Pakistan that can help defeat the jihadists. That interest won’t be served by precipitously moving to sever ties with Mr. Musharraf, or with the Pakistan military the way the U.S. did in the 1990s. That would only reduce whatever leverage the U.S. continues to have with Islamabad, as well as reduce the prospects for cooperation in pursuing al Qaeda safe havens.

The Bush Administration will have to speak clearly to Pakistanis that its support for its government is not limited to Mr. Musharraf, and to loudly and publicly urge the General to honor his pledge to relinquish his military commission and hold elections as soon as possible. After this weekend, it is clearer than ever that U.S. policy has to prepare for the post-Musharraf era.

I seriously doubt that Musharraf is going anywhere anytime soon. He is the power behind Pakistan and the only way he is leaving now is if he gets forced out by the United States or by the terrorists with an IED with his name on it. Other than that he will be at the helm for another few years at least.

Of course all of this worrying about the dollar falling and terrorists taking over the world could very well be eclipsed by the next ice age. Oh, wait, I’m sorry, the current environmental doomsday prognostication revolves around the world burning up like a march mallow that was held too close to the campfire for too long. But 112 years ago they were worried about the looming ice age that would kill “billions.” And then a quarter century later they were hot on global warming. That lasted until the 1950s and was followed by a cold front that started in the middle of the 70s.

It’s almost like they’re reporting on the swings of a pendulum: “Bill, the pendulum is going to the right and doesn’t look like it’s going to stop! Wait, now it’s going to the left and doesn’t look like it’s going to stop! Oh my God, I don’t know what we’re going to do! There’s no way we can time our piano lessons now!” But this is some serious stuff because countries are talking about spending and actually spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the environment and many more on regulations aimed at curbing pollution. Wouldn’t it be a kick in the ass if another decade and a half from now we’re arguing over what to do to prevent the coming ice age.

I remember years ago when people said those who thought anti-smoking laws would eventually lead to an outright ban were nuts. Well it seems like the nutsos weren’t so off. There is a movement afoot to outlaw smoking in apartments and condos.

This year, two California cities passed laws restricting smoking inside multiunit residential buildings. In the last 14 months, two large residential real estate companies with apartment complexes in several states banned smoking inside units.

Thousands of smaller apartment complexes across the country have taken similar steps, said Jim Bergman, founder of the Smoke-Free Environments Law Project, which is based in Michigan.

And about 60 public housing authorities across the country have smoke-free policies, compared with less than 10 three years ago, Mr. Bergman said.

Health advocacy groups call housing one of the smoke-free movement’s final frontiers.

You have to understand that you are just too stupid to lead your own life and if someone isn’t living their life up to your standards and you bitch a big enough fit you will eventually get vengeance. Maybe it’s time to start a movement aimed at eliminating whiny nanny-staters.

Maybe there is some hope because the nanny-staters’ biggest supporters, liberal newspapers, are dying off.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations released circulation numbers for more than 700 daily newspapers this morning for the six-month period ending September 2007. Of the top 25 papers in daily circulation, only four showed gains.

According to an analysis of ABC figures, for 538 daily U.S. newspapers, circulation declined 2.5% to 40,689,617. For 609 papers that filed on Sunday, overall circulation dropped 3.5% to 46,771,486.

Here’s a link to the chart that details this tale of woe for one of the mainstream media’s flanks. Personally I don’t see any reason to keep my subscription to the Wall Street Journal (OK, not a liberal paper but a paper nonetheless and the one with the second biggest weekly subscription base, USA Today cheats though). There is just no reason to keep it because I can get all of that information the day before online. It just doesn’t make sense reading through a bunch of stories I don’t care about to get to that nugget of information that is valuable to me.

First it was models who were too skinny.

Now the weight police are after Santa’s who are too “fat.”

This is all in an effort to set a good example for impressionable youths who will undoubtedly see Santa and think they should go all out and get a big beer gut. It is funny that these freaks aren’t worried about the kids kidnapping a bunch of midgets and making them into elves because that’s what I would do if I wanted to be like Santa. Plus, if the kids do get too fat that means they’re going to die and help prevent overpopulation.

BigT’s Linkapalooza:
Olmert against right wing zealots in Israel.
The real Tony Soprano was arrested in Italy.
Crying about health care.
Currency down, Buchanan down.
If we torture then the terrorists might torture too! Oh, wait….
Colbert’s presidential campaign is DOA.
BigT

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