Musings

I love liberals who say that Europe is somehow m0re advanced that we. I guess we have learned over the past few days that Europe's advances are Nazi-like and probably not the type we would emulate. Further, the Groningen Protocol demonstrates just how far Europe has advanced since the 1940's. Not far! To read more about the Groningen Protocol, see Hugh Hewitt's article in the Weekly Standard at: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/983ynlcv.asp or visit his site at www.hughhewitt.com....

Walter Williams had a great column on Townhall.com yesterday. He wonders what happened to manners. I'm sure, like most, you've wondered also. Yet, it really shouldn't be surprising, afterall, we're attempting, by our policies, to create a "we're all the same" society for the past forty years. And, like most similar situations , society has lowered its standards of behavior to the lowest common denominator. Need evidence. Look at the recent NBA riot, the Clemson v. South Carolina game as well as others. At least our self-esteem is high....

The dollar continues to fall against the Euro and other Asian currencies. If this fall continues, we really need to take it seriously. I know that other countries do benefit by our overspending on imports by artificially inflating their economic growth rates. But these growth rates are nothing but paper fictions, kind of like Enron accounting. We give them dollars to purchase their imports, and they lend us back the money to finance the purchases. I think there are more than a few executives from publicly traded companies in jail for such things...

The WSJ reported that healthcare spending continues to increase. According to the WJS, "spending on health care commonly covered by insurance -- including hospital care, physician services and prescription drugs -- rose at an annualized 7.5% in the first half, the same rate as in 2003, according to price data analyzed by two nonprofit groups, the Center for Studying Health System Change and the Employee Benefit Research Institute." We won't ever solve out federal budget problem if we don't figure out a way to contain healthcare costs....