USA Today:
… Ninety minutes after Time magazine reported on a General Services Administration plan to replace a two-lane bowling alley in the White House complex, the GSA announced it had canceled the project.
The GSA, which had posted a bid solicitation for two new bowling lanes, said that “it has been 15 years since these lanes have had any professional, industry standard maintenance, modifications, repairs or attention. They are now irreparable.”…
And they didn’t even link to these classics…
***********
So, how are the frames (or the bowlers) falling in your neighborhoods this evening?
NotMax
15 years? So they’re still playing with Clinton’s balls?
(duck and slinks away)
Mnemosyne
Next up, Republicans whine that not repairing the bowling alley proves that Obama clearly hates Republicans and America since the most famous White House bowler was a Republican.
Hill Dweller
Speaker Boner is going to sue the President for a mandate delay the wingnut caucus actually voted to enact.
Alexandra
Bowling while wearing a tie looks stupid. The Dude does not abide.
Helen
@NotMax:
:spits beer: THANKS! Having a ruff day; I am
Karen in GA
Blogwhoring! Iggy, sleepy. And acting on it.
Cervantes
[@Helen: Left this for you in the other thread. Repeating here in case it is of wider interest.]
Helen writes:
Even though no one is making it easy to help these kids right now, there are a few things one can try. The system is a long way from offering them foster care, etc. To move that and other humane possibilities along, one would have to put tremendous pressure on Congress and the Administration, particularly the Department of Homeland Security. Try calling 202.282.8010, the office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs; and also Craig Fugate’s office at FEMA, 202.646.3900. Both offices are also reachable via mail and e-mail.
To provide short-term emergency help — kids as young as 3 are “sleeping” on concrete floors — the usual suspects have been trying to get access. The Red Cross is a good example. Another group I can recommend is Kids In Need of Defense.
And if you are, or know, a lawyer who would like to donate time to help these kids, I recommend getting in touch with the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Gregory Chen, the Director of Advocacy, can be reached at [email protected] or via 202.507.7600.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Finally! We’ve found the impeachable offense! !
@NotMax: :golfclap: Maureen Dowd is going to spend three days trying to figure out how to build a column on Obama’s weakness around that joke
JPL
@Hill Dweller: One has to wonder if they already have the votes of the Supremes?
raven
Get your kids out of the streets and into the alleys!
Violet
From the article:
Optics. Gah. I hate that word. When did that start being used to describe how something looks or comes across? It’s so Village-y.
Of course how it looks is the main thing our gossipy media is interested in. Along with how things make them feel. And the endless horse race.
Our media is so awful. This is from an ESPN panel about the World Cup, but Dave Zirin nails our media:
Yep. A large number of Americans are interested in something and the media ignores it completely. Our media is worse than useless. They’re destructive.
askew
@Hill Dweller:
Yeah, what the hell is the logic behind this lawsuit? It’s just going to piss off the Chamber of Commerce and other Republican business groups.
This is what they are going to focus on this summer and fall before the election? It’s definitely not going to be enough to stop the cries of impeachment from the GOP base crazies.
Roger Moore
@Hill Dweller:
What relief are they going to ask for? Are they going to ask to force him to remove the delay, because that’s going to look really fucking stupid given their previous position on the matter.
Howard Beale IV
Bottom-feeding headlines on the Newsmax Headline feed here on BJ:
The sooner marijuana becomes legal countrywide the better.
Helen
@Cervantes: Thank you. It’s weird. I am a very assertive (been called aggressive – fuck you boys; get over it) person. But what I have learned in my professional career is that I and not really the original idea person. I am fabulous at solving an existing problem as a 2nd in command being told “we need this fixed” Oh yes I can do that. But starting from scratch I cannot do.
Also I tend, when confronted with “flight or fight,” to choose “flight.” It’s kinda why I am retiring (as I have said many times here) to Ireland. I gotta get out of this mess that is America. But this crisis makes me think “hey Helen you are smart and educated – FIX THIS”
I am embarrassed for us. We only use our “exceptionalism” now as an excuse to go kill brown people. And then we laugh all the way to the bank cuz those brown people can do nothing to retaliate. And it’s MY money that’s paying for this. I pay boatloads in taxes and generally I am a pro-tax person. But really; I would like that money to go for something other than war. At a minimum I want the goobers whose kid’s educations I am paying for to STFU. They don’t even have to say “Thank you.” Just STFU.
MomSense
When a dentist tells you to “expect some discomfort”, be afraid. Be very afraid. If this advil doesn’t kick in soon I may switch to whiskey.
Mike in NC
@Howard Beale IV: Newsmax headlines are 50% fake health tips to appeal to the elderly nitwits who read that crap. We have a couple in our development.
Ruckus
@Violet:
As the kids say, This.
Suffern ACE
@askew: which mandate? The individual or corporate?
Baud
@Hill Dweller:
He’s already been told that his lawsuit will be dismissed for lack of standing. He’ll then go to the base and claim that Obama is afraid to defend himself. It’s grift all the way down.
Baud
@MomSense:
Same rule for your proctologist.
Mnemosyne
@MomSense:
This is why I picked an endodontist whose website said they use “profound local anesthesia” when I needed a root canal. Can you call and make him get you a prescription for something stronger, like Tylenol with codeine (Tylenol3)?
ETA: Also, too, an ice pack (on your cheek/jaw, not inside the mouth) may help a bit, too. 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off so you don’t get frostbite.
Howard Beale IV
@Mike in NC: Actually, all of Newsmax’s headlines are batshit crazy-maybe that’s why Cole gets their feed.
Howard Beale IV
@Mnemosyne: They should be able to do that, but I’d have him write the script for hydrocode/APAP 15/375-the less acetaminophen the better.
Howard Beale IV
@Baud: Odds he’ll try to venue shop, or is he forced to deal with DC bench?
Baud
@Howard Beale IV:
He’ll file in DC. He’s doing this for the media attention.
MomSense
@Baud:
Thankfully I will never experience the proctologist.
@Mnemosyne:
Unfortunately I don’t react well to codeine and a bunch of other pain meds. I get really sick.
Cervantes
@Violet:
In the 1970s.
Howard Beale IV
@MomSense: Bad reaction to opiates?
Eric U.
@Howard Beale IV: the top 4 newsmax headlines are batchit crazy “news” stories. Then there is an email-harvesting poll, and the bottom 3 “headlines” are actually advertisements by companies that are trying to rip someone off.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
AFSCME ends relationship with UNCF over the Koch Brothers.
Helen
@MomSense: Whenever I go to the dentist I ask – at the start – for 5 percocets. Even cleanings hurt me. Also – Percocets? Happy Time for Helen.
Howard Beale IV
@Helen:
Percodan/Percocet has been removed from the market as the result of an FDA’s advisory.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
Well, AFSCME only gave $50K to $60K annually. So, as a business decision, accepting the $25M made more sense.
Mnemosyne
@MomSense:
I have a bad reaction to opiates, too — found that out when they gave me Vicodin after my knee surgery and I couldn’t stop throwing up. Plus they don’t even really seem to do much of anything for the pain — they just make me woozy and cranky while I’m still in pain.
Crazy as it seems, the ice pack really may help — it works its way through better than you’d think.
MomSense
@Howard Beale IV:
Yes, very bad. Fortunately I was in the hospital when I had the reaction.
Helen
@Howard Beale IV:
WHAT??????? WHEN??? WHY??? What is replacing it?
Happy Time Helen is Unhappy.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Corner Stone: Yeah, I think the UNCF faced a bit of a dilemma but recognized that it could do a lot with $25 mill. I don’t know that I can blame either AFSCME or the UNCF for what either one did.
MomSense
@Mnemosyne:
Ice pack is the best!!!! Thank you!
Howard Beale IV
@Mnemosyne: Pain relief is difficult if you have adverse reactions to opiates-outside of some antidepressants, NSAIDs, GABA regualtors and THC and its derivatives there’s not that much pharmacologically that can be done.
Mnemosyne
@Howard Beale IV:
I do fine on NSAIDs (except, weirdly, Aleve (naproxen sodium)) so usually they just give me heavy doses of those. I can take 800mg of Advil three times a day with no problem, but opiates are bad news.
Botsplainer
@MomSense:
A doctor from my parish shared a short term non opiate “fix” you can do one time only. She said you can take two Tylenol with two ibuprofen, and it will have the painkilling quality of an opiate without the drowsiness. It’ll get you through until you can get a proper pain med. Thing is, you can only do that once because it plays holy hell with liver function.
It worked like a charm (I had jabbed a staple up a nail bed that wound up infected, and I had to have it lanced. Doc wrote me 30(!) v!codin, but I was slated to pick my wife up at the airport at midnight, and was afraid of falling asleep).
Cervantes
@Helen:
Again, try getting in touch with the folks (actually, they are mostly women) at KIND. If their framework appeals to you, perhaps you can work with them somehow. (They have offices in Boston, New York, Newark, DC, Baltimore, Houston, LA, and Seattle.)
trollhattan
Newsmax: “WH bowling alley replaced by ACORN mosque.”
Howard Beale IV
@Mnemosyne: My biggest bitch is that narpoxen was never released OTC in the pharmaceutical form (500 mg)-and the current OTC formulations are 2/5th the Rx grade and bound with sodium. Also, a while back a shorter duration NSAID that went OTC (ketoprofen) disappeared from the US market.
Mnemosyne
@Botsplainer:
I’ve also seen people alternate ibuprofen and tylenol — basically, you take a dose of ibuprofen first, take a dose of tylenol two hours later, and then re-dose on schedule.
Also, ibuprofen usually doesn’t do much to the liver (unless you’re allergic), but it can be bad for your kidneys, so that’s probably why you shouldn’t double-dose at the same time since you don’t want to mess with two organs at once.
Howard Beale IV
@Botsplainer: I consciously avoid acetaminophen for the reason that it plays holy hell with the liver. In the UK, paracetamol (UK spelling for acetaminophen) is one of the most widely used drugs when combined with alcohol to commit suicide with due to the combination of the two causing fulminate liver failure. One of my old doctors said you could take both, but you needed to space them apart.
Howard Beale IV
@MomSense: Clove oil? Anbesol?
Howard Beale IV
@MomSense: That’s good for you – did they use an opiate antagonist to clear your system or did you have to ride it out?
JPL
@MomSense: I have no idea what you had done but when I had my wisdom teeth pulled, I used a wet tea bag. Sounds odd but does work.
Citizen Alan
So there’s a part of the fucking White House itself that is “irreparable” and can’t be repaired because doing so would make Teabaggers whine. Wonderful. They won’t let up until every building in D.C. has a roof that’s about to cave in.
askew
@Suffern ACE:
Corporate mandate which makes no sense. It’s just going to piss off the business base of the GOP.
Davis X. Machina
Routine for acute gout esp. where colchicine is contraindicated — which is basically if you have a stomach.
:O=
schrodinger's cat
@MomSense: Oh you poor thing. Bad dentist!
schrodinger's cat
Fashionista kitteh is disapproving.
Ruckus
@MomSense:
I use an ice pack for migraines which I sometimes get 2 or 3 times a week. If I get to them soon enough the ice can do the trick. It always helps, it’s just not always enough. But I’ve got meds for that. Ibprofein helps too if taken early enough. I used to take 800mg at a time but as I’ve gotten older I find that the standard 400mg works pretty good. And it helps with arthritis which is what I take it for mostly. This getting old shit is serious.
MomSense
Thanks, everyone. I did an ice pack, 4 advil, turned on the fan and listened to Symphony in C with my headphones on. It still hurts but not as much as before. I’m going to ice again and try and sleep. May switch to Rachmaninoff.
This getting old stuff is BS.
@Howard Beale IV:
I rode it out. The poor PT was just trying to make me walk down the hall and I ended up vomiting everywhere and I don’t remember if it was just dizziness or if I was faint but I was back in bed and hooked up to everything very quickly.
Mnemosyne (iPad Mini)
@schrodinger’s cat:
With the dress+pants recommendation, I wonder if she was thinking of a salwar suit but didn’t know what it was called (I had to Google it myself):
http://vandvshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/5004A-Blue-Patiyala-Salwar-Suits.jpg
I will wear leggings with a shirt or dress in the winter, but that’s because it’s winter and I don’t like having cold legs.
sempronia
@Howard Beale IV:
wha…? Percocet wasn’t taken off the market. There was some noise around 2009 from the FDA because it was too easy to overdose on the Tylenol, but it was never pulled.
Neddie Jingo
@sempronia:
Was gonna say: The news of the FDA’s pulling of Percocet would have come as a surprise to my busted ribs, which at this exact moment don’t hurt quite as badly as they would without Percocet’s slurpy, delicious benignity!
I’m sorry, what were we talking about again?
schrodinger's cat
@Mnemosyne (iPad Mini): She calls dress + pants the equivalent of salwar kameez. Its not really because pants are much thicker than a salwar and will give you a bulky middle and make you look pregnant. Salwars are cut much differently than pants. Leggings may work better, but the thought of a clingy garment in 90 degree with 100% humidity makes me cringe.