Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Haven’t had one of these in a while:
BTW, I read this and all I could think of is that Massa’s office must have been like a congressional Reno 911:
“I’m gonna show you a lot more than tickle fights,” said Massa. He also added: “Can you imagine transporting back to this today? It looks like an orgy in Caligula. And anybody that’s been in the Navy knows it.”
Lt. Dangle.
Is there some reason doctors all love Tylenol? For several weeks they have been telling me to take it, and it DOES. NOTHING. Today, I got my brace off, and have been in a lot of pain,and I asked if I could take some ibuprofen, they said “sparingly” (they believe it slows bone healing), so I took two, and the pain is gone. Completely.
Why do doctors love tylenol? Do some of you get relief from it, because for me it does nothing? Why do they put it in all the narcotic pain relievers? Why not mix narcotics with ibuprofen? Why not just give the narcotics? And am I the only one who really doesn’t experience much relief from narcotics themselves? They just sort of make me feel groggy and shitty.
And since you can seriously blow out your liver easily with tylenol, why is the preferred drug of physicians? I’m serious. After the last few months, I’ve realized how much we suck at pain relief. You can go on the highly addictive narcotics, which can make you itch, sweat like a champion, and generally feel like shit, you can take tylenol, which does jack shit, or you can do nothing.
Seriously- the best pain relief out there this whole two months? My ice machine and now the advil. And I’m not trashing my doctor, who is great and has really worked with me. It just doesn’t seem like they have much to work with.
Phoned Congressman Jim McDermott’s office, Washington 7th district (Seattle) the intern was non-commital, saying that McDermott wanted to see the final bill before voting on it. (I’m guessing he wants to see what the possible abortion provisions are going to look like, next time I call I will ask about this.) I told the intern that I strongly supported the bill and mentioned that we might not get another chance at health reform for a long time if this bill fails. She said she would pass on the message.
I really encourage people to do this, it feels good when you make an effort.
Just got off the phone with Sheila Jackson Lee’s office (D-TX-18). I’ve been calling for weeks now and her office has been a bit vague about where she stands, although it’s been relatively clear she would vote for the Senate bill. Today, however, I got a straight answer. Her staffer told me she’d vote for the bill. Thank goodness!
After I explained to the staffer that I supported the Congresswoman’s vote for the bill, she (the staffer) became rather chatty and admitted that they were getting tons of calls where people were yelling at them about the bill and shouting that Congresswoman Lee shouldn’t vote for it and repeated rightwing talking points and lies. Apparently it gets pretty heated and unpleasant, according to the staffer.
So the staffer was pretty happy to get a call from someone supporting the bill. Said they aren’t getting tons of those calls. And we had a long conversation about why it should be passed, what the ramifications are of not passing it, etc. She really was happy to talk to someone who was for the bill.
I encourage anyone who has a Congressperson out there who is voting for the bill to phone them and let them know you appreciate their vote. If Congresswoman Lee’s office is any indication, the staffers are having to deal with some pretty irate constituents. It’s genuinely appreciated when they get a call in support. Plus, it’s a good idea to let your Congressperson know that those of us who support the bill really are out here.
House switchboard: (202) 225-3121
Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121
This seems like a worthwhile endeavor, as well as being a complete no-brainer:
Today, FDL launches its Students Not Banks campaign, with a petition calling on Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and members of Congress to pass student loan reform quickly through reconciliation.
One of President Obama’s most ambitious plans for both education and the budget was the transition from a system of government subsidized student loans using bankers as middle men to direct student lending. But as The Hill notes this morning, the Senate can only move one reconciliation bill until they pass a new budget resolution. If they try to “fix” health care and don’t pass student loan reform at the same time, it will be another year until they can take it up.
Colleges across the country that are already slashing programs and hiking tuition in the wake of state budget crises. They desperately need the $4.7 billion that student loan reform will bring to them in 2010 alone.
It just makes no sense to me whatsoever to be basically throwing money at the banksters for, well, no reason at all other than to be throwing money at them. But then again, I’m not a “fiscal conservative” like Ben Nelson or Blanche Lincoln or the majority of the Republican caucus.
No, don’t call Bart Stupak unless you live in upper Michigan. If you do, give him some positive feedback for taking baby steps in the right direction.
Phone your own Rep instead. We need to know who might have promised Stupak to help kill health care without his medieval amendment. Even if you’re busy, even if you have never phoned before, please take the time if your Rep is on the TPM list of Stupak’s most likely recruits:
Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) (202) 225-7742
Jerry Costello (D-IL) (202) 225-5661
James Oberstar (D-MN) (202) 225-6211
Steve Driehaus (D-OH) (202) 225-2216
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) (202) 225-4146
Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) (202) 225-6511
Kathleen Dahlkemper (D-PA) (202) 225-5406
Joe Donnelly (D-IN) (202) 225-3915
Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) (202) 225-4636
Dan Lipinski (D-IL) (202) 225-5701
Charlie Wilson (D-OH) (202) 225-5705
Jason Altmire (D-PA) is also a critical target. (202) 225-2565
That doesn’t mean the rest of you should sit the day out. Ask every Congressperson where he or she stands on the current Senate bill. Encourage him or her to vote YES, and tell them that you also phoned your Senators to keep pressure up for reconciliation (also, do that). Tell Progressives like Raul Grijalva to stop playing John Boehner’s chump. We can improve health care if it gets passed today, or we can let Republicans win and their Congressional majority will find ways to make a bad system worse.
Regarding abortion, ask your Representative whether it bothers them that young women in their district can’t afford health care. Pregnancy complications go especially badly when a mother delays medical attention, like uninsured people do all the time. Does your Representative want those unborn deaths on his or her conscience? Let their staffers know you and your church group cannot wait to write local papers to make that point.
Congress will probably vote this week or next week at the latest. Whether your Rep supports reform or not, pick up the phone and give a shot of confidence.
Switchboard: (202) 224-3121.
Guide for first-timers here.
Once we kill off healthcare reform and get rid of that right-winger Lynn Woolsey, we can really focus our efforts on the Rahm menace. Of course, we still need to find a primary opponent for Bernie Sanders.
And yes, I am trolling my own website. Again.
Great article on low-cost, high-value technology from the Boston Globe:
Some students go to MIT to plumb the mysteries of the atom, or of outer space, or to press the limits of computer science. Amos Winter went another way: He’s trying to revolutionize the wheelchair. Specifically, he wants to make that most familiar aid to the disabled work in the Third World, where roads are bad, money tight, and the need immense.
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A doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering, Winter calls his invention the Leveraged Freedom Chair – leveraged because it is powered by hand levers.
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Abdullah Munish has another name for it. “I call it my little angel machine,’’ he said.
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For years after he survived a car crash but lost the use of his legs, Munish struggled to move his wheelchair along the rutted, hilly roads of his hometown in Tanzania. Frustrated, he often just stayed indoors, and lost touch with friends and relatives.
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Now, with the help of Winter’s invention, he has reclaimed his freedom and sense of connection. He can push himself up the hill to a neighborhood playing field where he can once again toss a ball around with friends. He can scoot along the gravel paths of Moshi to visit people again. “We believers, we know that anything that changes your life in terms of mobility, that is something that comes from heaven,’’ said Munish. A 31-year-old wheelchair technician, he is one of six wheelchair users in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda who have been testing the prototype since August.
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The genius of Winter’s wheelchair lies in the design of the long ratchet-like levers that power it. Hold them low, near the axle, and it goes fast. Hold them higher up, and it generates a lot of torque, making it possible to climb slowly but surely over rocks and up hills. In effect, you change gears by changing your body geometry.
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That helps keep the wheelchair simple and inexpensive, and may make it affordable to some of the 20 million people who need wheelchairs in the developing world…
Click through the link, and there’s a short video and an interactive graphic along with the rest of the story — exactly the sort of value-added content that the internet was supposed to enable, but all too rarely does.
And, frankly, I suspect there are plenty of people here in The Greatest Country in the World whose lives would be improved by a Leveraged Freedom Chair.