There was a tragedy hereabouts last week: A 5-year-old child was killed, and his mother injured, when the hyperbaric oxygen chamber he was in exploded. Hyperbaric oxygen chambers push nearly 100 percent oxygen, which is highly flammable. Obviously, something went very wrong.
I didn’t think much of it at first. My friend Mark the Shark went through a course of HBO therapy a few years ago, after hand surgery post-op went awry and the bandage was removed, revealing a gangrenous pinky finger. He and his doctors managed to save the finger, which gradually returned to its normal pink hue over the course of 35 treatments. This was in a hospital setting, and wound care of this sort is one of the conditions for which HBO is indicated.
But I started reading further, and the world of, shall we say, suspect HBO treatments was revealed. This boy was not in a hospital but a treatment center, founded and run by a doctor whose degree is a PhD in education, not medicine. The list of conditions HBO is said to treat would set off alarm bells in any reasonable person. It runs from A (ADHD, autism) to T (traumatic brain injury), perhaps because no one’s thought to tie it to Zika virus. This child was being treated for sleep apnea, which is rare in kids but is treatable with, shall we say, different strategies than HBO, at least according to Yale Medicine. And the Mayo Clinic. And Cedars-Sinai. You get the idea.
Anyway. The area’s fiercest PI law firm has taken the case, and time will tell. But it’s always interesting to see how health care can make people desperate for Cures That Modern Medicine Is Keeping From Us, Because Big Pharma. The Atlantic reports that if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confirmed as HHS secretary, expect to see what flimsy restraints are put on dietary supplements obliterated entirely:
If the little regulation that the FDA is responsible for now—surveilling supplements after they’re on the market—lapses, more adulterated and mislabeled supplements could line store shelves. And Americans might well pour even more of our money into the industry, egged on by the wellness influencer charged with protecting our health and loudly warning that most of our food and drug supply is harmful. Kennedy might even try to get in on the supplement rush himself. Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that, according to documents filed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Kennedy applied to trademark MAHA last year, which would allow him to sell, among other things, MAHA-branded supplements and vitamins. (He transferred ownership of the application to an LLC in December. Kennedy’s team did not respond to the Post.)
A truly unleashed supplement industry would have plenty of tools at its disposal with which to seduce customers. Austin studies dietary supplements that make claims related to weight loss, muscle building, “cleansing,” and detoxing, many of which are marketed to not just adults, but teenagers too. “Those types of products, in particular, play on people’s insecurities,” she told me. They also purport to ease common forms of bodily or mental distress that can’t be quickly addressed by traditional medical care. Reducing stress is hard, but ordering the latest cortisol-reducing gummy on TikTok Shop is easy. Your doctor can’t force vegetables into your diet, but a monthly subscription of powdered greens can.
We talked about this a few weeks back. I’ll repeat now what I said then: There is very little FDA oversight of supplements now, and grifters and sleazebags take full advantage of it. Not-Dr. Kash Patel has pimped “vaccine reversal” supplements, for god’s sake.
Oh, well. In other mad-king news, perhaps in an effort to prove that yes there is SO a giant valve that one can turn to send water to Southern California, the president ordered two dams there to release water. It won’t do any good, but it could harm farmers when the growing season starts, because that’s what the water is being impounded for.
Finally, Neil Steinberg speaks for me.
Gird your loins. The week ahead awaits.
Sherri said on February 2, 2025 at 2:10 pm
I don’t know what the Dems are waiting for. I don’t understand why they aren’t staging pickets and demonstrations in front of the Treasury building to draw attention to how a foreign national who was in this country illegally and can’t get a high level security clearance (and has violated the security clearance he does have), was not elected to anything or confirmed by anybody, and receives billions of government funding himself, has unilaterally, illegally, and unconstitutionally put himself in charge of deciding who gets government funds.
He also has access to everyone’s personal information now, on his unsecured machines that his lackeys plugged in to take over the network.
How much irreparable damage has this administration done in only two weeks?
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Dexter Friend said on February 2, 2025 at 2:36 pm
So sad to read of the boy. My late brother-in-law had HBO in a Toledo hospital for diabetic foot lesions. He was 74 then and apparently the stress of the process induced a heart attack and his heart rapidly declined and stopped.
My wife was in knee surgery at the ballyhooed wonderhouse, The Cleveland Clinic. The giant overhead light exploded, she contracted infections, never recovered. The famous Toledo PI firms finally told us to not waste time going for a settlement as they said in similar cases Cleveland Clinic’s lawyer banks had never lost or even suggested a settlement in cases remotely similar.
Since Toledo TV advertises Michigan law firms, I can guess which one took the family’s case. I hope they win. At least they aren’t up against a whole corporation of Cleveland Clinic attorneys.
I have told my family to never send me anywhere near Cleveland if I become incoherent or unconscious in need of care.
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Sherri said on February 2, 2025 at 2:38 pm
If I file my federal income taxes, how do I know that they’re not all just going into Elon and/or Donald’s pocket, rather than towards the budget that elected members of Congress agreed on?
How do I know that my personal information isn’t now being sold to line Donald’s pockets?
Am I going to start getting visits from FBI agents suggesting that I better start buying $TRUMP coins as protection?
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Julie Robinson said on February 2, 2025 at 2:49 pm
Welp, we filed yesterday so too bad for us!
Sherri, maybe the Dems need a little down time to heal and rebuild. Or maybe there’s manuevering behind the scenes that we aren’t privy to. It’s time to let the new kids take over, IMHO.
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David C said on February 2, 2025 at 2:56 pm
Our pantry looks like an apothecary shop. My wife would take anything. She’s stopped now that she’s on Zoloft, which as it’s building up in her system is nothing short of a miracle. Her food and social anxiety are very much diminished. Sometimes real miracles come in pharmaceuticals, pardon the rhyme. There’s a quack down in Fond du Lac who pushes hyperbaric oxygen for everything. I’ve heard most of the people who cross his threshold are diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, which isn’t a thing. I knew HBO treatments were a waste of money for most things, but I didn’t know the pressure in the chamber was enough to cause an explosion.
I filed my taxes yesterday and I thought about the same thing as Sherri. How many Senate Democrats approved of the Treasury Secretary who is letting him go wild with the country’s checkbook and personal information? They shouldn’t be voting to approve a single damned one of them. But Grinning Chuck seems to be fine with it.
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Colleen Condron said on February 2, 2025 at 3:10 pm
Sherri, I am also wondering where the yelling and screaming and carrying on by the Dems is. I can only hope there are behind the scenes machinations to try to stop this illegal madness.
And speaking of illegal, can’t Musk be arrested for what he is doing?
I asked on my FB page for someone to tell me how what 47 is doing is helpful….without referring to Biden. So far, crickets, but I don’t have too many MAGATS left on my friends list, so…
I don’t know how we as a country are going to make it two years, let alone 4.
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Deborah said on February 2, 2025 at 3:18 pm
It’s going to get up to 60° and sunny today, groundhog day in Santa Fe.
There’s going to be a protest at the capitol building in Santa Fe on Wednesday at noon. I sure hope it will be well attended. LB read about it on Facebook and posted it on hers. If there is not a good sized crowd that won’t be a good thing. People say they are afraid to go to protests because of violence from the right, shooting into crowds etc. We’re going, it will be at what they call the Roundhouse which is the state capitol building within walking distance of us. LB said many states are having protests at their capitols too. I’m not hearing or reading about it anywhere else, but I hope they will do it and I hope they get a handle on publicizing it better. We need to come up with some nifty signs between now and then.
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Sherri said on February 2, 2025 at 3:38 pm
Julie, those Dems better heal fast, because what’s happening right now is a coup.
This is what a coup looks like, not tanks in the streets. Putin didn’t take control of Russia with a military coup, he won an election, then made it so he was the government. Same with Viktor Orban in Hungary. They won free and fair elections, then started smashing government.
The Dems may not have control of Congress, but neither did Martin Luther King, Jr., or Rosa Parks, or John Lewis, or Stokely Carmichael.
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Ann said on February 2, 2025 at 3:51 pm
Reddit has some more dirt on the scammers at the Troy “clinic” where the kid was killed. https://www.reddit.com/r/Michigan/comments/1ieif7f/boy_5_dies_in_troy_hyperbaric_chamber_explosion/
David C, that’s great news about your wife. Another zoloft fan here. Our incoming Secretary of HHS, of course, thinks antidepressants are worse than cocaine.
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alex said on February 2, 2025 at 4:11 pm
The WaPo had an article a while back stating that the only supplement that has any scientifically proven benefit whatsoever is psyllium husk, the primary ingredient in Metamucil. In addition to improving bowel function, it has also been shown to lower blood sugar and bad cholesterol.
Needless to say, I’ve been giving it a try and it’s great. I just dissolve plain psyllium powder in water, none of that sugared or flavored stuff.
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Deborah said on February 2, 2025 at 4:12 pm
I have a prescription for Xanax for 30 pills every 3 months at the lowest dose. I only take them for travel, leading up to a travel day because I freak out, but once I’m on the plane or even at the airport everything is fine. I’m not afraid of flying I’m obsessed about missing a flight etc. It doesn’t make sense why I freak out about that so much but the Xanax helps a lot. I also use gummies at night when I’m anxious about something, but only in NM. I’ve never bought gummies in Chicago, I have no idea where I would go to buy them. LB buys them for me in Santa Fe, I take 5mg in the evening when I take them which isn’t that often. I have anxiety about driving (or riding in a car) and being on time, those are my biggest anxiety producers. I’m a bit obsessive about cleaning and straightening up but I wouldn’t say that causes anxiety so much. I was raised with a strong work ethic so I feel guilty when I’m not doing something productive. I’m telling myself that reading books is productive for me right now.
Speaking of reading books, I’ve found after only 3 books into my one book a week goal during the Trump presidency that I maybe will end up reading more like one and a half books a week, so far it seems like that anyway.
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Heather said on February 2, 2025 at 4:17 pm
I’m disgusted by the lack of action from Dems. The only person who seems to be doing anything is JB Pritzker, although I did see U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett sounding the alarm on one of the Sunday news shows.
I agree with Sherri–this is a coup. And if you go on Bluesky, they’ve identified the team of four unqualified 19 to 24-year-olds helping Elon download all our data and decide what should get funded, who look like they should be shoved in a locker somewhere.
I haven’t done my taxes yet and am seriously wondering if I should. I already paid my estimated taxes for this year anyway.
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Sherri said on February 2, 2025 at 4:17 pm
Who would arrest Musk? Anybody at the FBI who tried to would swiftly find themselves out of a job. The current acting director of the FBI is Brian Driscoll, who was asked to be the acting deputy director by the incoming administration, under acting director Robert Kissane, but then someone put it the other way in the website so the administration decided to leave it that way (I’m not making this up.) Does that sound like someone who’s going to be willing/able to arrest Musk?
The acting Attorney General, James McHenry, has already fired all the lawyers who prosecuted Trump. Does that sound like someone who’s would arrest Musk?
If Kash Patel and Pam Bondi are confirmed as FBI Director and AG, they aren’t going to do anything to stand up to Trump.
State AGs could and should be filing lawsuits against Musk, and maybe they could even get them expedited to SCOTUS. SCOTUS might even rule against Musk. Would that stop Musk and Trump? I don’t know.
Congress could and should be filing articles of impeachment, but we know that won’t happen.
Let me say this again: THIS IS A COUP. Our aviator friend might accuse me of Trump Derangement Syndrome, but I don’t care. I’ve been warning about the dangers of a second Trump administration, of Elon Musk, of the Dems not taking decisive action, of the risks to our democracy, for years now. What makes me feel deranged is to pick up the newspaper and not see anything resembling the reality I see.
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Sherri said on February 2, 2025 at 4:25 pm
Timothy Snyder knows it is a coup:
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/the-logic-of-destruction?r=2h24&utm_medium=ios
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Mark P said on February 2, 2025 at 6:16 pm
There is a group of national park service employees who have a Facebook group called Alt National Park Service. This is a recent post:
“At OPM, Elon Musk’s staffers won’t leave—they work around the clock and have even installed sofa beds in the office. Our access to data systems has been restricted, raising serious concerns about cybersecurity and a complete lack of oversight. We are keeping our heads down and documenting everything. More details will be released soon, but rampant illegal activity is occurring here.”
Note to OPM staff: Personal items cannot be searched. If any attempt is made, demand legal representation. Personal devices you own are off-limits to these staffers. Also, do not leave personal items in the office overnight. Stay alert and cautious.“
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Mark P said on February 2, 2025 at 6:52 pm
More from Alt NPS. For anyone who has ever had a security clearance and access to classified information, this is as serious as Trump taking classified material to his Florida home:
“Let’s get into the details. Musk’s staffers have been caught plugging external hard drives into federal agency systems and reportedly locking others out of private rooms to perform—who knows what actions. This behavior violates key cybersecurity laws under FISMA and NIST guidelines, which are designed to protect sensitive federal information. Here’s why this is a serious problem.
Federal systems are strictly regulated, allowing only approved devices to connect. Unauthorized external drives can introduce viruses, ransomware, or other harmful software that may compromise entire networks and disrupt essential operations. This puts system stability and continuity of services at risk, endangering critical infrastructure.
These devices could also be used to steal or damage critical information, including personal data for millions of Americans—such as Social Security recipients and taxpayers. Unauthorized access creates significant vulnerabilities, exposing sensitive data to the risk of cyberattacks. Such attacks could cripple vital services and compromise the privacy and safety of millions of people.
Additionally, federal agencies have strict access controls to prevent unauthorized data manipulation or theft. When unauthorized devices are connected, these protections are bypassed, allowing unauthorized users to potentially alter or extract sensitive data. This undermines system integrity and opens the door to both internal and external threats.
External drives also often lack essential security features, such as encryption and antivirus scanning, making them vulnerable to cybercriminal exploitation. These security gaps further increase the risk of data breaches and system compromise, which can have far-reaching consequences.
Federal systems handle trillions of dollars in payments and manage personal data for millions of U.S. citizens. By bypassing cybersecurity laws and protocols, Musk’s staffers are putting these systems—and the public—at serious risk. This activity is illegal, reckless, and unacceptable. Immediate oversight and intervention are necessary to stop these violations!”
And here is yet more:
“ Please share: We’ve received word that Elon Musk’s staffers are using space characters to identify information leakers. Before sharing any information, please use a checker to detect and remove these. Avoid directly leaking images; instead, request that the information be rewritten and the image recreated rather than shared directly from the source. This is essentially an email watermark—adding a space here, making a typo there, and similar subtle changes to track leaks. Stay vigilant.”
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Sherri said on February 2, 2025 at 7:41 pm
Just called my (Dem) Congress members to let them know I expect them to do something about this coup, and if I didn’t see something from Dems, I wouldn’t be donating in the future. I called local offices, left voicemail for DelBene and Cantwell, but Patty Murray’s voicemail was full.
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susan said on February 2, 2025 at 8:15 pm
Sherri, I emailed Murray and Cantwell; and Schrier. Telling them to DO SOMETHING about this bloodless coup happening RIGHT NOW. Maybe I should call them all, too. Why are they there?
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SusanG said on February 2, 2025 at 8:43 pm
My current medical issue is veterinariy. I took my youngtest to the
vet for her annual. Seems she has dental problems (she’s a Yorkie and their teeth suck). So vet says, we’ll send you an estimate.
My last doggie, God-rest-her-soul, had dental work plus removal of a growth on her snout, tests to make sure it wasn’t cancer or an infection. That surgery was expensive, around $900. It was during Covid, not that long ago.
The current estimate, simple dental was 1850-21500. A few days later, I got an email from the vet telling me this was a serious medical issue, we should consider a two-stage approach and include dental X-rays. Cha-Ching, cha-ching.
My bullshit detector went off. Turns out the vet practice has been acquired by a private equity firm and they are feasting on people’s emotions, sentimentality and ignorance about their pets.
My little darling is going mid-month to an old fashioned vet clinic.
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casey confoy said on February 2, 2025 at 8:45 pm
When I read about the hyperbaric explosion I got to the clinic part (as opposed to a hospital) that was enough for me.
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Sherri said on February 2, 2025 at 9:32 pm
Asha Rangappa wonders if Musk wants to take over the Treasury payments system so he can jumpstart getting people to use X for payments.
https://open.substack.com/pub/asharangappa/p/the-x-factor?r=2h24&utm_medium=ios
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Heather said on February 2, 2025 at 9:53 pm
I was just on an Indivisible call in which the organizers said one thing people can do this week is not just call your senators’ offices but show up at them–they tend to take notice. I’m going to Durbin and Duckworth’s offices this week and demand they refuse to confirm any more Trump cabinet picks and also that they take more direct action against what Elon is doing, whether that means going down to the Treasury itself with a news crew, holding a press conference and saying he should be arrested, whatever. Like Sherri, I’m going to say I’m going to back whoever challenges them in the Democratic primary if they don’t start doing their jobs.
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Mark P said on February 2, 2025 at 9:56 pm
Something else I read in the news will be striking to anyone who has ever had a security clearance and dealt with classified material. Some news sources said late last year that Elon Musk was advised not to apply for a higher security clearance (beyond SECRET), because of drug use. Other sources say that as of February, two security officers at the US Agency for International Development were placed on leave by Trump after they refused to allow some of Musk’s goons to have access to classified information that they did not have sufficient clearance to access. Musk’s goons were eventually given access to the information. So Musk’s goons were trying to get government employees to violate the law to give classified information to uncleared individuals, and Trump put them on leave for obeying the law. How fortunate for Trump that the corrupt, political hacks at the Supreme Court have given him immunity for violating laws in the performance of his official functions.
I am with you all. Why is this not the biggest story being covered in the news? I guess the end of a lawful, democratic society is not news.
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alex said on February 2, 2025 at 11:53 pm
Watching the Grammys tonight, even though I’m not hip to any of the music at this point, and nobody’s had the balls to crack a joke or push back on any of the bullshit except for Stevie Wonder, and even his comments were at best tepid.
I would so much like to get back into book reading as a distraction from doom scrolling but something compels me to keep paying attention even though it’s sucking the fucking life outta me. I’ve been literally in a state of anhedonia since 2015 because the traditional system of journalism holding people accountable has been gaslit ever since that time. I’m a news junkie and I’m trying to recalibrate to the new regime and it’s just not happening. It’s really tough hanging on. I don’t want to accept total doom scenarios from substackers but I also don’t accept the normalized autocracy being fed to us by the papers of record. Fucking insane-making.
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Dexter Friend said on February 3, 2025 at 1:00 am
Justin Trudeau, on the way out, imposed retaliatory tariffs on USA goods and told us we must now be prepared to be really hurt at the checkout lanes and gasoline pumps. Prices are going up incredibly high tomorrow.
Dollar General eggs are already at $6.
I saw a video of a man shopping for construction wood at an LA Home Depot. For some pieces he paid $18 for 5 years ago, that price is now $78. The man wondered how LA residents can re-build, financially afford to, with even much higher prices on the way come Tuesday. Canada supplies massive quantities of lumber to the USA.
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Julie Robinson said on February 3, 2025 at 8:24 am
My cousin has been working for a refugee settlement agency, hard work that she loved. On Friday they lost most of their funding and today is her last day. The couple of employees left will be scrounging to cover expenses for the hundreds of new immigrants.
She’s a newly single mom with a non-binary child. She’s worried about the refugees becoming homeless. I’m worried about her.
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Suzanne said on February 3, 2025 at 8:30 am
This is from New York Magazine so maybe the standard media is finally catching on?
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/elon-musk-doge-treasury-access-federal-payments.html
“All it cost to gain access to America’s financial data, the government’s Social Security checkbook, and presumably every U.S. taxpayer’s personal information was $288 million in political donations to help elect Donald Trump. That’s peanuts to somebody worth more than $420 billion.”
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Mark P said on February 3, 2025 at 10:49 am
Home Depot is probably the most expensive place to buy lumber. It’s almost always cheaper, and sometimes a lot cheaper, to buy from a lumber yard. But their prices are also going up, of course.
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Icarus said on February 3, 2025 at 11:13 am
Apparently, lots of people are upset that Beyoncé Best Country Album at last night’s Grammy Awards.
These same people were very silent when Shaboozey was shut out at the Country Music Awards even though he had the longest #1 country song in 2024.
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alex said on February 3, 2025 at 11:46 am
The looks on the other Country nominees’ faces when Beyonce won pretty much stole the show.
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Jeff Borden said on February 3, 2025 at 12:54 pm
tRumpanzees are easily offended. I’ve seen numerous posts online decrying Kendrick Lamar as the Super Bowl entertainment along with promises to boycott. Yeah. Sure.
I can’t get to D.C., but I’ve written letters to my two senators, Richard Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, asking them to emulate the McConnell routine from 2008, when he declared the top priority for him and the QOP was to make Obama a one-term president. There’s so much the minority party can do to gum things up, but I’m not seeing much action. Where are the lawsuits? There must be some way to stop Elmo the Space Nazi from getting in our personal data. Where is the kind of performative outrage the QOP has mastered?
All these years later and Will Rogers’ famous quote remains too true: “I don’t belong to an organized political party. I’m a Democrat.”
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tajalli said on February 3, 2025 at 1:03 pm
Saw this detailed action plan on FaceBook. It seems like a lot of effort but n.b. that Republicans use this strategy 4-11x more frequently than Democrats and look who’s in power now.
Posted by Hank Fox on FB Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 5:22 PM
FOR EVERYONE LOOKING TO TURN YOUR ANGER INTO ACTION, here’s some advice from a high-level staffer for a Senator.
There are two things that we should be doing all the time right now, and they’re by far the most important things. You should NOT be bothering with online petitions or emailing.
1) The best thing you can do to be heard and get your congressperson to pay attention is to have face-to-face time — if they have town halls, go to them.
Go to their local offices.
If you’re in DC, try to find a way to go to an event of theirs. Go to the “mobile offices” that their staff hold periodically (all these times are located on each congressperson’s website).
When you go, ask questions. A lot of them. And push for answers. The louder and more vocal and present you can be at those the better.
2) But those in-person events don’t happen every day. So, the absolute most important thing that people should be doing every day is calling.
YOU SHOULD MAKE 6 CALLS A DAY:
2 each (DC office and your local office)
to your 2 Senators & your 1 Representative.
The staffer was very clear that any sort of online contact basically gets immediately ignored, and letters pretty much get thrown in the trash (unless you have a particularly strong emotional story — but even then it’s not worth the time it took you to craft that letter).
Calls are what all the congresspeople pay attention to.
Every single day, the Senior Staff and the Senator get a report of the 3 most-called-about topics for that day at each of their offices (in DC and local offices), and exactly how many people said what about each of those topics.
They’re also sorted by zip code and area code.
She said that Republican callers generally outnumber Democrat callers 4-1, and when it’s a particular issue that single-issue-voters pay attention to (like gun control, or planned parenthood funding, etc…), it’s often closer to 11-1, and that’s recently pushed Republican congressmen on the fence to vote with the Republicans. In the last 8 years,
Republicans have called, and Democrats haven’t.
So, when you call:
When calling the DC office, ask for the Staff member in charge of whatever you’re calling about (“Hi, I’d like to speak with the staffer in charge of Healthcare, please”)
— local offices won’t always have specific ones, but they might. If you get transferred to that person, awesome. If you don’t, that’s ok
— ask for that person’s name, and then just keep talking to whoever answered the phone.
Don’t leave a message (unless the office doesn’t pick up at all — then you can — but it’s better to talk to the staffer who first answered than leave a message for the specific staffer in charge of your topic).
Give them your zip code. They won’t always ask for it, but make sure you give it to them, so they can mark it down. Extra points if you live in a zip code that traditionally votes for them, since they’ll want to make sure they get/keep your vote.
If you can make it personal, make it personal. “I voted for you in the last election and I’m worried/happy/whatever” or “I’m a teacher, and I am appalled by Betsy DeVos,” or “as a single mother” or “as a white, middle class woman,” or whatever.
Pick 1-2 specific things per day to focus on. Don’t rattle off everything you’re concerned about — they’re figuring out what 1-2 topics to mark you down for on their lists. So, focus on 1-2 per day. Ideally something that will be voted on/taken up in the next few days, but it doesn’t really matter — even if there’s not a vote coming up in the next week, call anyway. It’s important that they just keep getting calls.
Be clear on what you want — “I’m disappointed that the Senator…” or “I want to thank the Senator for their vote on… ” or “I want the Senator to know that voting in _____ way is the wrong decision for our state because… ” Don’t leave any ambiguity.
They may get to know your voice/get sick of you — it doesn’t matter. The people answering the phones generally turn over every 6 weeks anyway, so even if they’re really sick of you, they’ll be gone in 6 weeks.
From experience since the election: If you hate being on the phone & feel awkward (which is a lot of people) don’t worry about it — there are a bunch of scripts (Indivisible has some, there are lots of others floating around these day). After a few days of calling, it starts to feel a lot more natural.
Put the 6 numbers in your phone (all under P – Politician.) An example is McCaskill MO, Politician McCaskill DC, Politician Blunt MO, etc., which makes it really easy to click down the list each day.
**If you want to share this, please copy and paste so it goes beyond our mutual friends.**
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Julie Robinson said on February 3, 2025 at 1:33 pm
tajalli, that looks similar to what Emilyinyourphone listed too. She’s on Instagram, is an attorney who worked for Chuck Schumer, and is very dialed in and very smart.
We got the expected news this morning that our frig isn’t worth fixing anymore. New one coming Friday. If you’re looking, our local appliance guru recommends GE or Whirlpool and says stay away from LG and Samsung. His are on backorder until the end of the month so he recommended Costco, Home Depot or Lowe’s, with an edge to Costco. We’d rather not give Home Depot or Lowe’s our business, and we love and appreciate Costco, so it was an easy decision.
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Mark P said on February 3, 2025 at 2:55 pm
I sent messages to my two senators, Ossoff and Warnock, but none of the suggested topics fit (the end of American democracy?). I don’t think I’ll bother contacting my representative. It’s Marjorie Taylor Greene. I guess I’ll start calling, but, again, what’s the topic?
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susan said on February 3, 2025 at 3:09 pm
I used “Homeland Security and Terrorism” on Patty Murray’s list, because nothing else fit. On Maria Cantwell’s site, she actually has “Nominations”! But that useless Senator has been voting FOR most of Trump’s horrible nominations. Both Murray and Cantwell are “Democrats.”
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Dave said on February 3, 2025 at 3:39 pm
Off topic but maybe not. Florida governor always doing the right thing and helping the people: https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/desantis-holds-news-conference-at-florida-state-capitol
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susan said on February 3, 2025 at 4:03 pm
Here is Rick Wilson, a never-Trumper, laying it all out for the timorous Senate Democrats. Why does it take a Republican to say this stuff?
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tajalli said on February 3, 2025 at 5:03 pm
If your Congress Critter does not have the topic you wish to speak about (pick your fav from your fav pundit if you’re uncertain and hammer on that), just select one of the available topics on the phone tree and make it plain your specific topic needs to be addressed as such and proceed in depth. Do not let others control the conversation.
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Sherri said on February 3, 2025 at 6:03 pm
Here’s what I don’t understand. Why are Dems incapable of seeing how things work?
Ever since Obamacare passed, Republicans have vowed to repeal it. They have held endless meaningless votes, they have talked endlessly about it, they have made sure that even as their voters benefit from it, they hate it. They have not repealed Obamacare (though they still might), and one might even claim that most of what they’ve done about it is nothing more than a stunt. But it worked a lot better than anything the Dems have done to support it.
The Dems send out carefully worded press releases and seem to think they’re above stunts, and wonder why they can’t get any traction in the attention economy. Harris/Walz did at first; “weird” was actually working, but then the focus groupers got a hold of it and it disappeared.
(Honestly, I think the Dems lost the presidential race the previous fall with the Hamas attack on Israel. That drove a wedge in the Dem coalition that couldn’t be overcome.)
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Jakash said on February 3, 2025 at 6:58 pm
I agree with your point about Israel being the biggest reason why Harris got so many less votes than Biden, Sherri.
Though it’s a tough call. Basic sexism and racism were serious competitors. All explained, of course, as being less significant than the price of eggs, when one of the most impressive things the administration did was to help lower inflation relatively promptly.
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Deborah said on February 3, 2025 at 8:19 pm
Does anyone have any idea what is going on and how to combat it? Is this Bannon’s deal about throwing shit into the wind? Because as much as I hate to say it, it feels like it’s working. Where is the backlash? Am I missing something?
It turns out the protest that was supposed to be happening at the NM Capitol is probably a false flag, nobody really knows who is calling for it or where it’s coming from. I was concerned that it didn’t seem to have any PR and maybe it’s because it doesn’t have any. In any case we’re not going now which is depressing because it seems like something needs to happen.
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Sherri said on February 3, 2025 at 9:26 pm
The Dems usually could count on both strong Jewish support and strong Muslim support. The attack fractured that. If the Dems backtracked on support for Israel, they risked Jewish support; if they didn’t, they risked Muslim support. There probably wasn’t a way to walk that tightrope, but Biden’s refusal to do anything to stop arms supplies to Israel in the face of genocide really constrained what Harris could do and say on the campaign trail.
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Sherri said on February 3, 2025 at 9:35 pm
Trump has nominated Joe Kent to lead the National Counterterrorism Center.
Not that it makes him unusual among Trump nominees, but Kent is a total nutcase, with lots of ties to white supremacist groups. He has run for Congress twice, but is too nutty even for the right-leaning WA-03. The district was formerly represented by Republican Jamie Herrera Butler, but she voted to impeach Trump, so Kent was able to knock her off in the primary. But the district has been represented since by Marie Glueskamp Perez, a Democrat, because Kent can beat any other Republican but can’t win enough other votes to win the general.
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Heather said on February 3, 2025 at 10:22 pm
I’ve spent my entire adult life being annoyed with mediocre white men screwing things up for everyone, and now they’re in charge with unfathomable amounts of power. And a lot of them are Nazis to boot!
The latest is that there is a list of keywords that will get an NSF grant pulled. Included is basically everything related to the humanities, and notably “women” and “females” but not “men” or “males.” I’ve said in the past they want to rescind our right to vote, and they could do it. After all, clearly laws don’t matter.
Is America great again yet? Will it be after all of our investments are vaporized, public schools are closed, and we’re all serfs laboring for the billionaire class?
https://bsky.app/profile/darbysaxbe.bsky.social/post/3lhcvn4hxwk2o
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David C said on February 4, 2025 at 6:08 am
This will eventually become a battle for public opinion. I don’t think Elon and his merry band of incels stealing our data is going to play very well. 47 backed down when Canada and Mexico threatened to hit him back because evidently someone was able to crowbar into his cranium the it would hurt people and he would lose support. His narcissism is his Achilles heal. He wants to do unpopular things, so hang them around his neck. He’ll back down.
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Jeff Borden said on February 4, 2025 at 8:52 am
Elmo is doing much of tRump’s dirty work. Gutting USAID is breathtakingly stupid and not only damages American standing in the world, it also offers China easy entry to even more global influence. How convenient. MAGAts didn’t vote for a nepo billionaire immigrant to run the country, but that’s what they’re getting.
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Jeff Gill said on February 4, 2025 at 9:39 am
“[RFK Jr.] has talked about vitamins or supplements at least 55 times in podcasts, speeches, shows and interviews, according to a Washington Post analysis of more than 400 media appearances since May 2020. Kennedy, in one 2023 podcast interview, described how he takes “a fistful of vitamins every day,” acknowledging he had “no idea what they do” — although he has touted some as cures for covid-19 and measles.” [WaPo story 1.22.2025]
He’s all about selling dietary supplements & “vitamins” (my scare quotes intentionally) just as his wife is selling body lotion & scented candles. High markup, massive profits, for utterly impossible outcomes other than the gentle nudge of placebo effect.
In the same story as above: “In an October post on X, Kennedy accused the Food and Drug Administration of waging an “aggressive” campaign to suppress remedies such as vitamins, stem-cell treatments, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and compounds that aim to detoxify blood.”
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Deborah said on February 4, 2025 at 10:05 am
I went to a business retreat at the Biltmore in Phoenix, having a treatment of some kind at their spa was one of the perks offered by the company I worked for. An option was an “oxygen facial”, I thought what the heck it was free for me so I got it. During the process they streamed oxygen out of a tube over my face, I have no idea what that was supposed to do and I couldn’t tell any difference afterwards. It was very cold and maybe closed all the pores on my face for a few seconds or who knows? I asked the woman administering the facial what it did and she gave me some gibberish that made no sense. In other words, a scam.
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Mark P said on February 4, 2025 at 11:12 am
What good is it? It’s obvious. Oxygen good. More oxygen better.
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Jeff Borden said on February 4, 2025 at 3:44 pm
Well, damn. It looks like Brain Worm Bobby is on track to wreck ‘Murica’s health and Putin/Assad apoligist Tulsi Gabbard will be overseeing intelligence gathering. It is a confederacy of dances.
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David C said on February 4, 2025 at 5:24 pm
The incels are rewriting the Treasury Dept. computer code. What could possible go wrong?
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/musk-cronies-dive-into-treasury-dept-payments-code-base
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Deborah said on February 4, 2025 at 6:28 pm
Protests at Tesla dealerships, now there’s a thought! I could go for that. There’s one on the Nambe native american Pueblo about 10 miles from here and in Chicago there’s one a couple of blocks from our place. Huh, I hope this catches on.
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Deborah said on February 4, 2025 at 6:59 pm
It’s time for Chuck Schumer to go, he is way out of step with how to act to be effective in a crisis. A bunch of democratic legislators went to the Treasury Dept building to protest, first they tried to be let in to the building then they seem to have staged a rally out front, there seemed to be a lot of people but then Schumer gets up there and starts screaming “we will win”. What does that even mean, this isn’t a game, this is about the law. Honestly the last few times I’ve seen him or read about him, he either is doing nothing or he’s saying all the wrong things. I think his time has come and gone.
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Sherri said on February 4, 2025 at 9:25 pm
Senate Dems seem to believe that if they’re just nice enough and don’t upset things, that they’ll be able to attract 4 Republican votes to do something meaningful, like stop one of Trump’s crazy nominees. Why they continue to think this in light of previous experience is a mystery.
Sure, Joni Ernst is a veteran who had worked hard on issues around sexual assault. But that didn’t stop her for voting for Pete Hegseth for SecDef, because to vote against him would have meant a well-funded primary against her.
Bill Cassidy may be a physician who find RFKJr’s positions on vaccines horrible, but he’s already attracted a primary opponent because he voted to convict in Trump’s second impeachment, so he’ll fall in line and vote yes. Sure, polio survivor Mitch McConnell may vote no, but only because he can count and knows that his no vote won’t stop the appointment.
They all know that Tulsi Gabbard is a threat to national security, but their own job security requires a yes vote, so that’s what they’ll do.
The Dems could grind the Senate to a halt, but they don’t seem willing to do that. I don’t know why. They’ve been trying to do bipartisanship with the GOP since the Obama years, but the GOP isn’t going to play. Why do the Dems keep believing things will suddenly return to normal? What’s this normal they’re remembering? The largely mythical friendship of Tip and Ronnie?
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Sherri said on February 4, 2025 at 10:46 pm
WashPo is finally starting to report the illegal nature of the Musk blitzkrieg: https://wapo.st/40LVERn
The NYTimes just says, well, lawsuits are being filed, guess the courts will decide whether it’s illegal or not, who can know?
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Sherri said on February 5, 2025 at 1:36 am
I swear to God, I used to think Mark Penn was the stupidest fucking political consultant alive, but Ram Emanuel and David Axelrod (not to mention James Carville) give him a run for his money.
Yes, people don’t care about USAID, but that doesn’t mean you don’t defend it. You defend it by saying here’s an unelected, unaccountable billionaire just illegally cutting programs he doesn’t like. He’s not going to stop with USAID, and the next one will likely screw you over.
This really isn’t that hard, if you aren’t trying to play eleventy-dimensional chess with yourself!
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/02/04/democrats-foreign-aid-trap-trump-00202447
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