Uninsured Wristbands: Medical alert bracelets for uninsured Americans

By GottaLaff

A wrist-slap to the health care industry (keyword: "industry"):

At first glance, this wristband looks like just another "awareness bracelet." However, it isn't meant to be used simply as a fundraising tool or symbol of concern.

The people wearing the uninsured wristband are spreading a personal message:

"I'm uninsured, you may not know why, but now you know my face. Maybe I look like you or someone you love. I'm uninsured and scared of being without health insurance in this country. Maybe my health is already suffering from lack of health care. Today it's me, tomorrow it could be you."

The state of America's healthcare system is a medical emergency.

[...] "When we do find the cures, who's going to have access to them? Only those who can afford health insurance?"

Even those who have health insurance are routinely denied essential care and burdened with skyrocketing costs, high deductibles and out-of-network expenses.

Just how many people in America are uninsured today?

The actual number of uninsured folks in America is debatable. The goal of this project is not to debate, but to make the invisible visible.

Go here for details on how to purchase one.

H/t: Pigboy

"Let's play (Gandhian) Hardball! Ha!"

By GottaLaff

Haven't we all been saying something like this for awhile (minus the Gandhi comparison)? Why, yes, I believe we have:

Hendrik Hertzberg has a great piece on President Obama's use bipartisanship as a political weapon:

"Fifty years ago, the civil-rights movement understood that nonviolence can be an effective weapon even if -- or especially if -- the other side refuses to follow suit. Obama has a similarly tough-minded understanding of the political uses of bipartisanship, which, even if it fails as a tactic for compromise, can succeed as a tonal strategy: once the other side makes itself appear intransigently, destructively partisan, the game is half won. Obama is learning to throw the ball harder. But it's not Rovian hardball he's playing. More like Gandhian hardball."

President Barack Gandhi: The Anti-Rove.