It’s time to put some good in the world as best we can.
Check your vaccination records
Hey, if you haven’t noticed, things like tuberculosis and measles are making a comeback here in the United States thanks to all the folks who think vaccines are for other people. As an added bonus, the US has cut its aid to a bunch of other countries — aid that very often included money, supplies, and vaccines for things like polio, measles, TB….
Do you know what you were vaccinated against as a child? It turns out a lot of people don’t! But since you had to be vaccinated to get into school, those records are available at your state. The CDC has a list of contacts for immunization records. Look up your state, follow their contact instructions, and find out what you’ve been immunized for. Then check in with your doctor on what you might need as a booster.
Additional reading about vaccinations:
- Measles cases are rising in the US. Do adults need a vaccine booster?
- Antibody Titer Test (a blood test you can have to determine if you actually have immunity to something)
Safer driving
Got an annoying pothole that you’ve reported to your department of transportation and nothing’s been done? Alert your fellow drivers creatively! (Be safe!) A giant pothole plagued this Englishman’s commute. He put an upside-down statue in it. The article contains other militant but decent actions people have taken to draw attention potholes in case upside-down statues are not your thing.
Saving lives via NOAA
The Washington Post reports that hundreds of members of NOAA got fired yesterday.
Write your congress critters, your governor, and Vice Admiral Nancy Hann. You can use resist.bot to contact the first two, and Vice Admiral Hann’s email address is nancy.hann@noaa.gov. Here’s a script I threw together.
Hi! My name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from [TOWN].
I’m calling to demand that [REP] do everything in their power to block and reverse the job cuts that President Trump just made to NOAA.
NOAA has been understaffed based on needs for over 50 years due to Congressional budget decisions, making it more and more difficult for trained scientists and engineers to protect the American people.
If we don’t have accurate weather, solar flare, giant storm, and volcanic activity reports, people die. If firefighters fighting wildfires don’t know which way the winds will be blowing, people die. If your state department of transportation doesn’t know which roads need to be salted, people die.
In other words, President Trump’s cuts are going to kill Americans, lead to significant damage to our infrastructure, shut down businesses, and skyrocket disaster costs.
[If your state is in particular danger due to literally any kind of weather or disaster, point that out here when writing to your congress critters or your governor.]
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Remember to provide your full address (including 9-digit zip) if you’re leaving a voicemail or emailing directly because that maps you directly to a specific voting district.
Speaking of ZIP codes, let’s save the post office
5calls has you covered for this one.
Finally, this is for you
Remember, we love you more than you’ll ever know.