90DayFinancier

Wow so many verses being taken out of context! 

Silence, woman! Know your place in the Church of VJ. 🙊

It would be intellectually dishonest for me to pretend my experience is for the entirety of Canada. It's for two provinces -- Ontario and Alberta. I think this is more of an honest discussion because while the federal government sets certain rules, prices, and regulations, the provinces are in charge of the location, distribution, and their own contributions to that. What I've found interesting is my quality of care in Alberta (under universal) has been better despite significantly less taxes than in Ontario. It shows that there's no need for such ridiculous tax rates as seen in some other provinces. You've seen a sample of my disposable income. 
 
If I compared what I've experienced in years in California, and Ontario/Alberta (Canada), on the healthcare front, I would unequivocally say my experience in Canada is leaps and bounds beyond in the US. It's not just because of the concept of "universal", nor the "equality" of treatment regardless of what someone makes, but from a business perspective, Canada has been pretty decent at controlling costs. However, a lot of it depends on people in charge of it being motivated for it to succeed. It's not ideal, but they make it work.
 
But, the people suggesting that this be implemented in the US really don't understand that you can't just take one thing in another country, run vastly different, different relationship with freedoms, different relationship with government (Canada is more of a collectivist country so more open to social programs), and just copy+paste it in the US and boom, problem solved. Because of these differing relationships, it seems best to me that things relative to universal be handled on a state/local (county/city) level. Then, everyone gets what they want, and if what they want isn't there, they have the freedom of movement to move elsewhere. 
 
For the people who suggest US healthcare is fine as it is (as in, without universal, but with the insurance industry and the litany of regulations and mandates), let me ask you.. what do you think of the fact that over a third of the country (quickly rising toward half) is already covered by taxpayers, whether it be federal, state, or county/city level government coverage? What about the growing debt load taken on by municipalities and states because they're forced to cover the uninsured? Taxpayers are clearly paying regardless. I am definitely for a market driven solution where people have a direct relationship with providers and cut out the middlemen, but even in the most conservative states, this simply doesn't happen anymore. What I see in conservative states, like Alabama, Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Kansas, and so on, is they are more and more in favor of a type of universal. If people on the right don't see where things are trending, there's going to be virtually zero balance to a universal care when its forced by leftist parties, the left are going to get their way, and it's going to suck badly. This idea of pretending that healthcare is even a private "market" in its current state (in 2020) is largely a joke. As it stands, the Republicans basically look set on giving the left their way and then playing defense.

The per-capita cost of administering healthcare is more than four times higher in the U.S. than in Canada, where a single-payer system has been in place since 1962.  (Getty Images) By MELISSA HEALYSTAFF WRITER  JAN. 7, 2020 3:26 PM Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options In the United States, a legion of administrative healthcare workers and health insurance employees who play no direct role in providing patient care costs every American man, woman and child an average of $2,497 per year.
Across the border in Canada, where a single-payer system has been in place since 1962, the cost of administering healthcare is just $551 per person — less than a quarter as much.
That spending mismatch, tallied in a study published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, could challenge some assumptions about the relative efficiency of public and private healthcare programs. It could also become a hot political talking point on the American campaign trail as presidential candidates debate the pros and cons of government-funded universal health insurance.
Progressive contenders for the Democratic nomination, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, are calling for a “Medicare for All” system. More centrist candidates, including former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, have questioned the wisdom of turning the government into the nation’s sole health insurer.
It’s been decades since Canada transitioned from a U.S.-style system of private healthcare insurance to a government-run single-payer system. Canadians today do not gnash their teeth about co-payments or deductibles. They do not struggle to make sense of hospital bills. And they do not fear losing their healthcare coverage.
To be sure, wait times for specialist care and some diagnostic imaging are often criticized as too long. But a 2007 study by Canada’s health authority and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the overall health of Americans and Canadians to be roughly similar.
Some Canadians purchase private supplemental insurance, whose cost is regulated. Outpatient medications are not included in the government plan, but aside from that, coverage of “medically necessary services” is assured from cradle to grave.
The cost of administering this system amounts to 17% of Canada’s national expenditures on health.
  https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-01-07/u-s-health-system-costs-four-times-more-than-canadas-single-payer-system    

Are scripture quotations fair game? Because if they are, I have a few select ones to lay on this forum, if it's fair enough to get on a moral high horse.

Get better, have you tried Brandy and honey?  Also salty black licorice (the real Dutch stuff) helps relax the throat muscles.

Can't help you there. I'm just as frugal as my hubby is and he wouldn't pay tons of jeans nor would I pay tons for skincare. Nothing wrong with John Wick either. That boy is hot and skilled with gun. Maybe grab snacks and have a sit down and watch it with him, he might appreciate the company.
 
Nevertheless if it's your own money you can buy what you please, but it is still silly to increase such topics to an argument level. Better things to argue about.

Not necessary -- there are no complaints at home.  

The way you formatted it, it doesn't really look like anything.

Really fascinating article about studying Arctic ice and its physics. Quanta is pretty fantastic as a magazine overall-- Alex got me into it. ("I only read it for the maths articles!" he claims. Sadly, there are no Hot STEM Babes centerfolds.) The magazine doesn't dumb difficult concepts down, but the writing makes them approachable, even for art historians. 
 
This article is very well-written, even if you reject climate science. A longish read but worth it for a Sunday. 
 
Al swears by the math puzzles in Quanta, very good fun apparently if you like that sort of thing.
 
https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-voyage-to-the-end-of-ice-20200116/
 
 

It is an interesting concept if you get past the hyperbole at the top of the article and work down a bit where he started to outline policy shifts that could, possibly, change the minds. Still the preception among blacks is that they strongly disapprove of Trump, that racism is in ascendency, and it is a bad time to be black I'm America. Telling congresswomen of color to "go back to where they came from" is not going to help that perception.

Some number less than the sum of posts about Transgender bathrooms, AOC, Hillary hit squads or "what the world needs now is to embrace Trump in all his glory", or  slightly less than the bad dad puns that come from various quarters.

KFC only since Chick-fil-a has appeased SJW types and Popeye's is too "Urban"

What kind of dishwasher are you using? 
 
Restaurants use dishwashers and dishes are clean and sparkling, no? 😐

Our Bosh does half loads too... Everything, but a few heirlooms, go in. Runs at night, emptied by hubby in the morning.  
 
Less than $5 per day (if it lasted only for a year, but it's already 5-6 years old...), to save water, and time. Count me in.   
 

Do I belong to the only household in that has a working (automatic) dishwasher?
Dishwashers  use 1/5 of the water and deliver superior sanitation. 
 
The Bosch 500/800 series is a stellar appliance starting at $750 (and quiet).
 
As far as the current president weighing in on household chores and energy efficiency, give me a break. You can bet that the man hasn't washed a dish in his adult life and has zero credibility in this area.  He really should focus on a cure for windmill caused cancer. 
 

Do I belong to the only household in that has a working (automatic) dishwasher?
Dishwashers  use 1/5 of the water and deliver superior sanitation. 
 
The Bosch 500/800 series is a stellar appliance starting at $750 (and quiet).
 
As far as the current president weighing in on household chores and energy efficiency, give me a break. You can bet that the man hasn't washed a dish in his adult life and has zero credibility in this area.  He really should focus on a cure for windmill caused cancer. 
 

Personally, I watch for LDL going up as that is more indicative of something going on with metabolism. I like HDL to be high, but I have never been able to raise it by anything other than exercise. 
 
  HDL is responsible for returning cholesterol to the liver to be recycled so it's generally going to vary with synthesis. There's not much you can do to raise it artificially and I'm not sure there is a good reason to anyway. On the other hand LDL gets cholesterol into the cells, so if it's high, it can often indicate a problem with utilization at the cellular level. If I see a high LDL that doesn't make sense, I think thyroid issues or metabolic syndrome. 
 
  Also for people losing weight, if you are losing a pound of fat a week, it can do the same thing to your cholesterol profile as eating a pound of bacon. People will sometimes get disappointed because they have been on a diet for 2 months and their LDL and cholesterol are way up. It's best to wait until the weight loss stabilizes and the diet is over for a month or two and then check. 

Like this?

Definitely.
 
 
    yes!
  
 
   nope! 
 
 
   short is nice too. 
 
 
    

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51144177
 
Three more alleged members of a US neo-Nazi hate group have been arrested in Georgia, authorities say, in what appears to be a national operation.
The arrests came on the same day that three suspected members of the same group were detained in Maryland and Delaware.
All six men are reported members of white supremacist group The Base.
One of the three was a Canadian army reservist who had been missing for several months after fleeing Canada.
Patrik Matthews is believed to have illegally crossed into the US after his alleged affiliations with The Base were discovered. He was arrested alongside two others in the Maryland and Delaware operation.
The FBI said Mr Matthews and two others planned to travel to a pro-gun rally on Monday in Richmond, Virginia. Virginia governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency on Wednesday ahead of the rally, to block attendees from carrying weapons near the grounds of the Capitol building, citing credible threats of violence. FBI arrests suspected neo-Nazis ahead of gun rally According to an arrest warrant from the Floyd County Police Department, the three Georgia men were arrested after an undercover FBI sting operation, and charged with attempted murder and participating in a criminal organisation.
According to arrest affidavits, The Base is a racially motivated violent extremist group that sought to "accelerate the downfall of the United States government, incite a race war and establish a white ethno-state."

Dark money, it doesn't surprise me given her deep embroilment in the lucrative and corrupt part time bartending gigs before coming to the house. 
 
The working poor lobby is just out of control in this country /s

Okay sorry to miss this request.
I hope it's not too late to leverage my Virtual sommelier  Service!
I love Arroyo Grande valley , but I have reservations about Pinot in that area. It's a function of being cooled by the fog in the afternoon. The Pinot Noir grapes up in Paso Robles are facing the coast. 
 
Setting aside whether this is a good Pinot Noir, the best choices to pair would have spicy, peppery or garlic tones.
Paella, Jambalya, Bouillabaisse some milder Mexican soups that sort of thing are preferences.
That said you cannot really go wrong with fatty foods steak , salmon, creamy pasta, roast chicken.
 
 
 
 

Is that some sort of counter culture Santa Monica sign, like "bring me a carafe of your finest white Bordeaux chilled to the perfect temperature and please turn up those blinds so I don't have to see what is happening on the sidewalk"?

Excellent sale on French wines at the Brentwood Whole Foods at the moment. I am about to be undone because a very fancy wine and cocktail bar has opened on the ground floor of my building. I am told cocktails start at $16, but the menu does not reveal prices. (If one has to ask, one cannot afford, which is something I was taught at a young age.)  Helpfully, there is a price list for bottles of wine, the most expensive of which is the Armand de Brignac Rose Champagne, a trifling $1100.