Was out shopping tonight, looking for a big new white vase to go on the new bar top. Went to four stores: two Rosses, Pier One, and a linen store. Saw the perfect thing at Ross, but it wasn't white. (I can always spray something white.) Was also at Sports Authority looking for tank tops (they had one, on sale, in XXL) and Walgreen's for new clip-on sunglasses, which I found right away. Ended up buying a lampshade at Ross and a $20 cap (!) at Sports Authority. I guess it's not the season for tank tops. So I wasn't at the gym tonight. That's OK.
Today I attended a training session at work on Internet Explorer 7, which I've been using at home for months. Learned all about the tabbed browsing and links features, and tonight made some useful links here at home.
Talked at length to my friend in Canada tonight. His mother had been in the hospital with potential cardiac problems. It turns out she only needed her drugs adjusted. From everything I've heard first-hand about Canada's universal health care system, it works fine. We're gonna get it here too. It's about time. I think our corporations will breathe a sigh a relief, since their competitiveness worldwide is hampered by their health insurance costs in the U.S.
Most countries with whom we compete have excellent universal heath care programs, which cost much less than our hodgepodge system that supports so many insurance company bureaucracies and their expensive corporate officers, with their exorbitant bonuses and golden parachutes. And meanwhile, they do everything in their power (and spend all amount of money) to deny benefits to people who truly need them. It's immoral.
Aside from being immoral, this system doesn't work. It's a perfect example of the inappropriateness of relying on laissez-faire capitalism to solve all our problems (the Bush administration's mantra, supported by Alan Greenspan, who recently discredited himself by admitting his ideological adherence to Ayn Rand was mistaken and has resulted in the disastrous situation we now face in the unregulated financial sector, with all of its repercussions). Unless the health insurance companies deny treatment to people who need it, their business can't be profitable. It's ultimately a no-win situation for them.
No amount of tax breaks and other gimmicks (touted by John McCain) can salvage this decrepit system.
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