The stockmarket plunge that began at the end of 2007 and intensified with an intense panic that has pervaded markets since September 2008 seems to have largely abated.
Have investors just got used to feeling that way or have markets found a range that they are comfortable with and are looking for any positive sign or excuse for a market rally?
Experts are always telling us that the stockmarket is a good indication of how it sees an economy six months from now.
If that is the case then world markets-after the initial collapse last September through October-are seeing a flat global economy with little chance for recovery well into 2009. That is if we see indications that various stimulus packages from Governments worldwide manage to have positive effects on their respective economies.
I have my doubts whether these will work quick enough to stem the downturn.
The US 1 Trillion "rescue package" hurriedly passed at the end of 2008 to ease the credit markets and get banks lending again has largely failed and a proposed Barack Obama led stimulus package of about the same size but targeted at different areas of the economy looks like just more welfare that will once again largely fail in the long-term.
Even positive results in the August-September reporting season from some companies was either met with little positive upswing in share prices or a hope that there would have been a better result.
Either way investors are predicting negative times ahead for companies in their portfolios that are currently performing well.
You have to have balls of steel right now to be buying because the uncertainty over how long this current global recession will last is anyones guess.
If someone tells you they can predict just when the economy will recover they are either lying, trying to sell you something or just taking a stab in the dark.
What I do know is that the economy and markets will recover, because they always have but what I would be unwilling to predict is just when.
During the last 8 years of President George W. Bush Presidency we have seen him make the tough choices and sheppard the United States through 8 of the hardest years in the countries recent history.
He has kept the country and the world safe from terrorism since 9/11 and his done his best economically considering the poison chalice of Sub Prime that was handed to him by Bill Clinton.
Many do not support his last 8 years but many also do.
History will see his two terms as one of the most significant in the history of that nation, marked out principally by his stand against the evil tide of Muslim extremism that has been engineered to take over the world.
George W. Bush Farewell address (Video & Transcript)
THE PRESIDENT: Fellow citizens: For eight years, it has been my honor to serve as your President. The first decade of this new century has been a period of consequence -- a time set apart. Tonight, with a thankful heart, I have asked for a final opportunity to share some thoughts on the journey that we have traveled together, and the future of our nation.
Five days from now, the world will witness the vitality of American democracy. In a tradition dating back to our founding, the presidency will pass to a successor chosen by you, the American people. Standing on the steps of the Capitol will be a man whose history reflects the enduring promise of our land. This is a moment of hope and pride for our whole nation. And I join all Americans in offering best wishes to President-Elect Obama, his wife Michelle, and their two beautiful girls.
Tonight I am filled with gratitude -- to Vice President Cheney and members of my administration; to Laura, who brought joy to this house and love to my life; to our wonderful daughters, Barbara and Jenna; to my parents, whose examples have provided strength for a lifetime. And above all, I thank the American people for the trust you have given me. I thank you for the prayers that have lifted my spirits. And I thank you for the countless acts of courage, generosity, and grace that I have witnessed these past eight years.
This evening, my thoughts return to the first night I addressed you from this house -- September the 11th, 2001. That morning, terrorists took nearly 3,000 lives in the worst attack on America since Pearl Harbor. I remember standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center three days later, surrounded by rescuers who had been working around the clock. I remember talking to brave souls who charged through smoke-filled corridors at the Pentagon, and to husbands and wives whose loved ones became heroes aboard Flight 93. I remember Arlene Howard, who gave me her fallen son's police shield as a reminder of all that was lost. And I still carry his badge.
As the years passed, most Americans were able to return to life much as it had been before 9/11. But I never did. Every morning, I received a briefing on the threats to our nation. I vowed to do everything in my power to keep us safe.
Over the past seven years, a new Department of Homeland Security has been created. The military, the intelligence community, and the FBI have been transformed. Our nation is equipped with new tools to monitor the terrorists' movements, freeze their finances, and break up their plots. And with strong allies at our side, we have taken the fight to the terrorists and those who support them. Afghanistan has gone from a nation where the Taliban harbored alQaeda and stoned women in the streets to a young democracy that is fighting terror and encouraging girls to go to school. Iraq has gone from a brutal dictatorship and a sworn enemy of America to an Arab democracy at the heart of the Middle East and a friend of the United States.
There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions. But there can be little debate about the results. America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil. This is a tribute to those who toil night and day to keep us safe -- law enforcement officers, intelligence analysts, homeland security and diplomatic personnel, and the men and women of the United States Armed Forces.
Our nation is blessed to have citizens who volunteer to defend us in this time of danger. I have cherished meeting these selfless patriots and their families. And America owes you a debt of gratitude. And to all our men and women in uniform listening tonight: There has been no higher honor than serving as your Commander-in-Chief.
The battles waged by our troops are part of a broader struggle between two dramatically different systems. Under one, a small band of fanatics demands total obedience to an oppressive ideology, condemns women to subservience, and marks unbelievers for murder. The other system is based on the conviction that freedom is the universal gift of Almighty God, and that liberty and justice light the path to peace.
This is the belief that gave birth to our nation. And in the long run, advancing this belief is the only practical way to protect our citizens. When people live in freedom, they do not willingly choose leaders who pursue campaigns of terror. When people have hope in the future, they will not cede their lives to violence and extremism. So around the world, America is promoting human liberty, human rights, and human dignity. We're standing with dissidents and young democracies, providing AIDS medicine to dying patients -- to bring dying patients back to life, and sparing mothers and babies from malaria. And this great republic born alone in liberty is leading the world toward a new age when freedom belongs to all nations.
For eight years, we've also strived to expand opportunity and hope here at home. Across our country, students are rising to meet higher standards in public schools. A new Medicare prescription drug benefit is bringing peace of mind to seniors and the disabled. Every taxpayer pays lower income taxes. The addicted and suffering are finding new hope through faith-based programs. Vulnerable human life is better protected. Funding for our veterans has nearly doubled. America's air and water and lands are measurably cleaner. And the federal bench includes wise new members like Justice Sam Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts.
When challenges to our prosperity emerged, we rose to meet them. Facing the prospect of a financial collapse, we took decisive measures to safeguard our economy. These are very tough times for hardworking families, but the toll would be far worse if we had not acted. All Americans are in this together. And together, with determination and hard work, we will restore our economy to the path of growth. We will show the world once again the resilience of America's free enterprise system.
Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I've always acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some of the tough decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.
The decades ahead will bring more hard choices for our country, and there are some guiding principles that should shape our course.
While our nation is safer than it was seven years ago, the gravest threat to our people remains another terrorist attack. Our enemies are patient, and determined to strike again. America did nothing to seek or deserve this conflict. But we have been given solemn responsibilities, and we must meet them. We must resist complacency. We must keep our resolve. And we must never let down our guard.
At the same time, we must continue to engage the world with confidence and clear purpose. In the face of threats from abroad, it can be tempting to seek comfort by turning inward. But we must reject isolationism and its companion, protectionism. Retreating behind our borders would only invite danger. In the 21st century, security and prosperity at home depend on the expansion of liberty abroad. If America does not lead the cause of freedom, that cause will not be led.
As we address these challenges -- and others we cannot foresee tonight -- America must maintain our moral clarity. I've often spoken to you about good and evil, and this has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two of them there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere. Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense -- and to advance the cause of peace.
President Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past." As I leave the house he occupied two centuries ago, I share that optimism. America is a young country, full of vitality, constantly growing and renewing itself. And even in the toughest times, we lift our eyes to the broad horizon ahead.
I have confidence in the promise of America because I know the character of our people. This is a nation that inspires immigrants to risk everything for the dream of freedom. This is a nation where citizens show calm in times of danger, and compassion in the face of suffering. We see examples of America's character all around us. And Laura and I have invited some of them to join us in the White House this evening.
We see America's character in Dr. Tony Recasner, a principal who opened a new charter school from the ruins of Hurricane Katrina. We see it in Julio Medina, a former inmate who leads a faith-based program to help prisoners returning to society. We've seen it in Staff Sergeant Aubrey McDade, who charged into an ambush in Iraq and rescued three of his fellow Marines.
We see America's character in Bill Krissoff -- a surgeon from California. His son, Nathan -- a Marine -- gave his life in Iraq. When I met Dr. Krissoff and his family, he delivered some surprising news: He told me he wanted to join the Navy Medical Corps in honor of his son. This good man was 60 years old -- 18 years above the age limit. But his petition for a waiver was granted, and for the past year he has trained in battlefield medicine. Lieutenant Commander Krissoff could not be here tonight, because he will soon deploy to Iraq, where he will help save America's wounded warriors -- and uphold the legacy of his fallen son.
In citizens like these, we see the best of our country - resilient and hopeful, caring and strong. These virtues give me an unshakable faith in America. We have faced danger and trial, and there's more ahead. But with the courage of our people and confidence in our ideals, this great nation will never tire, never falter, and never fail.
It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your President. There have been good days and tough days. But every day I have been inspired by the greatness of our country, and uplifted by the goodness of our people. I have been blessed to represent this nation we love. And I will always be honored to carry a title that means more to me than any other - citizen of the United States of America.
And so, my fellow Americans, for the final time: Good night. May God bless this house and our next President. And may God bless you and our wonderful country. Thank you. (Applause.)
Let me just say that Rod Oram is probably a very nice guy if you get to know him on a personal basis. There my praise for him ends however. Mr Oram has the distinction of being widely published, I do not. He is influential because of that, I am not. His business columns are syndicated by the left wing media and snapped up by an unsuspecting and intellectually lazy New Zealand public because the alternative means you have to have the ability to think and reason rather than soak up garbage like a wet liberal sponge. Because of this and his views about so-called "global warming" he is also a very dangerous person, as are all advocates of GW in all their various political colours and stages of delusion. The GW agenda is being pushed as a means of control, higher taxes and will be fatal for business and the global economy when emission trading schemes inevitably collapse in a heap of harmless (in terms of the gas not the fallout for the global economy) carbon dioxide. Last week, evidence of fraud, lies and cover-ups from the GW pushers themselves - via leaked emails and better known as Climategate - was uncovered that should completely blow GW and its followers out of the water but Rod Oram chose to ignore this last Sunday when yet another diatribe from him about GW pushed the line that he keeps trying to sell his readers - that GW is the most important thing since that first atom exploded quite some time ago and you better be on board the GW Prius or by god you will not be the chosen one and you are gonna go straight to hell in your Range Rover Vogue. In New Zealand NIWA has been fudging figures to suit their purposes and Mr Oram would be aware of this. Why then does he continue to push this line? Is he stupid? I don't think so. Is he ignorant of the facts? Surely he cant be? He has Google on his computer and can read the scientific evidence against GW. Does he have an agenda? Like most of us, yes he does, but his agenda is hidden under reams of Climate-babble. But why? Well, like most other proponents of GW there is a question of dirty filthy capitalistic profit ( Oh you are such a sarcastic bastard Darren! ) One can only imagine then that for Mr Oram it is also about money. Al Gore, the number one peddler of the GW myth has become very rich from his connection to the GW religion and the conflicted business interests that he invests in. We know Mr Oram offsets his "Carbon Footprint" by buying carbon credits when he jets off to the next GW conference in Brazil, London or Wairoa and we also know he pushes "Green Technology" and a fancy new way to run the global economy - see "Green Jobs" for an explanation - at every opportunity. How much money does Mr Oram have invested in the "Green Economy", an "economy" that relies upon the GW machine to continue to function regardless of the fraud on which it is clearly based? We don't know but I challenge Rod to come clean and let us know in one of his future columns on this topic just what financial interest he has in keeping the GW windmill spinning. Until then anything he writes should be viewed with a least suspicion and at worst contempt. I am convinced that contempt is the most appropriate adjective for him and he deserves the obscurity he so clearly craves as the thread continues to unwind on the emperors clothes. Related Share Investor Reading Another reason to ignore Rod Oram Rob Fyfe's "Environmental Extremism" Carbon Credit Trading puts markets at extreme risk Mark Weldon Strikes out on Carbon Trading Quote of the year Of Tulip bulbs and Tooth fairies Global warning: Tax iceberg ahead Mark Weldon in two minds about carbon trading Related links
One by one, through immigration and then through a birth rate that tops every demographic outside the third world, Muslims and their pervasive violent religion spreads its evil tentacles the world over.
The fact that we in the West stand by and watch this happen with our hands open wide for a big Kymbayaishgroup hug is simply stunning in its stupidity and dangerous beyond comprehension.
Communists had 'deep sleepers' who had to be controlled in a hierarchical chain. But with Islam, who needs that?
Islam is not just a religion. Those lefties who bemoan what America is doing to provoke "the Muslim world" would go bananas if any Western politician started referring to "the Christian world." When such sensitive guardians of the separation of church and state endorse the first formulation but not the second, they implicitly accept that Islam has a political sovereignty too. There is an "Organization of the Islamic Conference": It's like the EU and the Commonwealth and the G8 -- that is, an organization of nation states whose heads of government hold regular meetings. Imagine if someone proposed an "Organization of the Christian Conference" that would hold summits attended by prime ministers and presidents and voted as a bloc in transnational bodies.
So it's not merely that there's a global jihad lurking within this religion, but that the religion itself is a political project -- and, in fact, an imperial project -- in a way that modern Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism are not. Furthermore, this particular religion is historically a somewhat bloodthirsty faith in which whatever's your bag violence-wise can almost certainly be justified. And, yes, Christianity has had its blood-drenched moments, but the Spanish Inquisition, which remains a byword for theocratic violence, killed fewer people in a century and a half than the jihad does in a typical year.
So we have a global terrorist movement insulated within a global political project insulated within a severely self-segregating religion whose adherents are the fastest-growing demographic in the developed world. The jihad thus has a very potent brand inside a highly dispersed and very decentralized network much more efficient than anything the CIA can muster. And these fellows can hide in plain sight. As the Times of London reported in 2006: "An American al-Qaeda operative who was a close associate of the leader of the July 7 [2005] bombers was recruited at a New York mosque that British militants helped to run. British radicals regularly travelled to the Masjid Fatima Islamic Centre, in Queens, to organize sending American volunteers to jihadi training camps in Pakistan. Investigators reportedly found that Mohammad Sidique Khan had made calls to the mosque last year in the months before he led the terrorist attack on London that killed 52 innocent people. Mohammad JunaidBabar, one recruit from the Masjid Fatima Islamic Centre, has told U.S. intelligence officials that he met Khan in a jihadi training camp in Pakistan in July 2003. He claims that the pair became friends as they studied how to assemble explosive devices. Babar, 31, a computer programmer, says that it was at the Masjid Fatima centre that he became a radical."
And so it goes. The mosques are recruiters for the jihad and play an important role in ideological subordination and cell discipline. In globalization terms, that's a perfect model. Unlike the Soviets, it's a franchise business rather than owner-operated; the Commies had "deep sleepers" who had to be "controlled" in a very hierarchical chain. But who needs that with Islam? Not long after Sept. 11, I said, just as an aside, that these days whenever something goofy turns up on the news, chances are it involves some fellow called Mohammed. It was a throwaway line, but if you want to compile chapter and verse, you can add to the list every week.
- A plane flies into the World Trade Center? MohammedAtta.
- A sniper starts killing gas station customers around Washington, D.C.? John Allen Muhammed.
- A guy fatally stabs a Dutch movie director? MohammedBouyeri.
- A gunman shoots up the El Al counter at Los Angeles airport? Hesham Mohamed Hedayet.
- A terrorist slaughters dozens in Bali? Noordin Mohamed.
- A British subject self-detonates in a Tel Aviv bar? AsifMohammedHanif.
- A terrorist cell bombs the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania? Ali Mohamed.
- A gang rapist preys on the women of Sydney? MohammedSkaf.
- A Canadian terror cell is arrested for plotting to bomb Ottawa and behead the prime minister? MohammedDirie, Amin Mohamed Durrani and YasimAbdi Mohamed.
These last three represent a "broad strata" of Canadian society, according to Mike McDonnell, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a man who must have aced sensitivity training class. To the casual observer, the broad strata would seem to be a very singular stratum: In their first appearance in court, 12 men arrested in that Ontario plot requested the Koran.
When I made my observation about multiple Mohammeds in the news, Merle Ricklefs, a professor at the National University of Singapore and South-East Asian editor of the 16-volume Encyclopedia of Islam, remarked sarcastically, "Deep thinking, indeed." Well, gosh, maybe it's not terribly sophisticated. But then again, when you're dealing with fellows who decapitate female aid workers in Iraq and engage in mass slaughter of Russian schoolchildren, maybe sophistication isn't always helpful. Particularly when sophistication seems mostly to be a form of obfuscation by experts wedded to the notion that Islam is something that simply can't be understood unless you've read all 16 volumes of their Encyclopedia, or, better yet, written them.
For those of us who aren't professors of Islamic studies, the obvious course is to step back and try to work from first principles: What's happening? Who's doing it? The five-thousand-guys-named-Mo routine meets the "reasonable man" test: It's the first thing an averagely well-informed person who's not a multiculti apologist notices -- here's the evening news and here comes another Mohammed.
From America Alone: The End of the World as We Know it, by Mark Steyn. Published by Regnery Publishing, Inc. Copyright (Copyright) 2006 by Mark Steyn.
The stockmarket plunge that began at the end of 2007 and intensified with an intense panic that has pervaded markets since September 2008 seems to have largely abated.
