A short word on healthcare.

I'd like to clarify my views on healthcare. First, understand that as I learn new things, I adjust my opinion, as I have on healthcare several times. There isn't any country in the world whose current healthcare system would work for the US, and nobody has it easy. Waiting times, budget restrictions, doctor pay, etc. are all very legitimate concerns and every country that has universal healthcare has a problem with one or more of those issues. We have some of them already. But some things I really like are:

Insurance Companies are not allowed to make a profit- This makes sense to me. Reducing that overhead will reduce overall healthcare expenses. And for those of you that think it will stifle competition, just because a company is non-profit doesn't mean you don't take home a nice paycheck.

Healthcare services must provide disclosure- Look, I don't want to take the free market out of the healthcare system; I am a capitalist and believe the free market is responsible for the absurdly high standard of living most Americans, including myself, enjoy today. But how is the free market supposed to work when I have no idea how much I am spending for the services I am consuming? I demand disclosure! When I closed on my house, I signed hundreds of pages all making sure I knew what exactly how much I was spending. Funeral homes are required to have up-front pricing as well. In all honesty, I want hospital to have back-lit menus like McDonalds and if I require custom work, I want a price quote before I say "Okay".

It's been a couple weeks...

Okay, so a lot has happened in the last few weeks. Namely:

-I took a concealed carry class and submitted my application for a concealed carry permit.

-I've decided to get into amateur gun smithing. Thus far I really haven't gotten anything important accomplished (besides buying a dremel tool from Harbor Freight), but I am performing a trigger lightening job on my CZ 75 Compact and my Dan Wesson 15-2 .357 and doing some aesthetic upgrades, including filling all stampings on the slide of my CZ 75 C with a silver filling to make it super-pimp.

-I bought six butterfly knives from a guy on KSL for a total of $20. One of the knives will go to Emma (My youngest sister) in lieu of pepper spray for self protection but the others will be used for practice before I buy a nice Benchmade balisong knife when I get my bonus from work later this year (I hope).

-I went on a jam canning spree in which I made a bunch of raspberry, raspberry-peach, raspberry-habanero and peach-habanero jam. I still have a truckload of habaneros I need to use for something... Probably for more jam, but we'll see.

Anyhow, I'll have some analysis and photos up a little later...