One man's positive take on public health care

Richard Allen Smith, an Afghan war vet, gives his thanks for the "evil, godless socialist health care" that he has received since he was three years old. Among other things he was treated by Canadian doctors in Afghanistan and was given medication that was deemed unsafe for Americans.

For his full story, see "My Life with Public Health Care".

No one is really hiring?

This was a headline in today's Duluth News Tribune as a declarative statement.

"Come on!" thought I; somebody has to be hiring for a variety of reasons. I checked the Help Wanted section and there were several jobs listed. The appeal of them varied as well as the pay. Even the beleaguered school district was hiring.

I stopped at a Radio Shack for a dock for my iPod. I asked the sales representative if Radio Shack was hiring. He paused and said, "I think we have an opening."

As I'm writing this, I'm waiting for service on my truck. I chatted with the service manager on a variety of issues and asked him about hiring. As expected for the auto industry, his answer was negative. On the other hand, I overheard a customer saying that the repair bill on his out-of-warranty truck was going to be three to ten thousand dollars. He must have enough business to justify paying that kind of money to stay in business. And both of us are helping the service part of the auto industry keep going.