Ugh

Just woke up from an evening nap a bit ago. It seems I've come down with a bit of a sore throat and fever. Dagnabbit! Anyway, I'm not much up for bloggin' at the moment, and besides...it's kind of a slow news day. Kinda...

Bill Pryor did get confirmed today. Hooray! He'll make a great judge, and victory came in spite of the shameful tactics used by Senate Democrats and their leftist friends to scuttle his nomination. Pryor has a brilliant legal mind, and Alabamians should be proud of their role in advancing him into his current position.

Let's see...what else? The Michael Jackson trial. Is anyone else just ready for it to be over? Not necessarily the trial itself...justice needs to be served, however it turns out. I'm just tired of the 24-hour-a-day press coverage. Have I mentioned lately how much I've come to loathe the 24-hour news networks - Fox included?

My Adtran stock is up. That put me in a good mood for most of the day.

Howard Dean continues to promote his unique brand of assocracy.

CNN says that Jacques Chriac and Gerhard Schroeder are "closing ranks." Yup...they're both losers. Their aspirations of creating a new European socialist megastate having been dashed, both are now turning back to domestic issues. And, both are in trouble...facing double digit unemployment and sluggish economies that are weighted down by the dual burdens of taxation and overregulation. The problems are particularly acute for Schroeder, whose party just lost a major state election, and who faces stiff competition from the center-right Christian Democrats in the upcoming nationwide election this fall. Say hello to Germany's Margaret Thatcher.

The Canadian Supreme Court has struck down a Quebec law forbidding private health insurance. The ruling has led to the expected reaction from Canada's health care bureaucrats, who, like all statists, fear the loss of power over the lives and health of their subjects.

Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe is a shining example of why new efforts by Western nations to extend debt relief and foreign aid to African nations are misguided. Mugabe's government is engaged in a crackdown on "black-market" merchants, most of whom want nothing more than to provide a decent living for themselves and their families. While the Mugabe regime may be an extreme example, it has much in common with the corrupt and socialistic governments that hold power in Africa and much of the Third World. Why on Earth would we want to forgive their debts and throw more money into these backwater cesspools? If these nations are ever to advance, they have to start taking responsibility for their own recklessness. I say - make 'em pay - even if it takes 100 years. Maybe in that time, an African Alexander Hamilton will emerge who understands the value in living up to one's financial commitments.

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says that "the middle-class society I grew up in no longer exists," and that "working families have seen little if any progress over the past 30 years." Does anyone really believe this? Let's see - 30 years ago - that was 1975. Personal computers were virtually unheard of, the internet didn't exist, and only the richest Americans could afford an airline ticket to a faraway destination. If Krugman prefers the economy of 1975 to the one of today, let him build a time machine and take a little trip. The problem with Krugman's statistics - especially those on inflation - is that they fail to adequately account for technological advances, improvements in product quality, and new efficiencies in trade. There's no doubt that Krugman, as an "expert" economist, is acutely aware of all that. Apparently, though, he has discarded his economist's hat, replacing it with that of a political hack.

Talladega wants Oprah Winfrey to come to town.

Tropical Storm Arlene is heading our way.

Four of the fourteen Cubans who were intercepted by the Coast Guard on a "taxi-boat" will be allowed to stay in the U.S. I feel sorry for the 10 who have to go back to Castro's prison paradise. Meanwhile, this weekend's National Summit on Cuba is getting some much-needed criticism from anti-Castro alumni of Mobile's Spring Hill College, which will host parts of the summit.

OK...time to resume my nap, now. See y'all tomorrow.