Comments

1
Greatest health care system in the world, folks!
2
Thanks for posting this. I walked by the line this morning around 8am, and it was such an excruciating reminder of the failure of our health care system. Ei. And brrrrr.
3
Sad. So fucking sad. Yeah America!!
4
Do you know what's really fucking sad? 14 comments about the non-story of the non-storm. 12 comments about a dead pop star's pic. 13 comments bitching about Four Loko being banned.

And four people who noticed and gave a shit about this. No blaming republicans or Fox or Gresham or the police for this tragedy. Things have gotten this bad because most of us simply don't care anymore.
6
Re: Thousands Wait in Freezing Rain for Free Dental Care at Convention Center 11-22-10

Many of us were there by 5 am today and were told we'd be seen by the dentists. They said they counted people in line and that we and the next apprx. 200 people behind us would be seen - to total 1,000 patients that could be seen today. They made us wait outside in the freezing cold rain, even though the convention center had copious amounts of unused space - and on more than one floor - available inside (and heat). We could see much of this space and the lucky people sitting and walking around inside, through the very large picture windows. Most of our waiting time they were averaging only allowing 2 to 10 patients at a time to walk past the "Patient Entrance" sign into the building. Nearly 10 hours later we were turned away. Many of us asked if we could get tickets/numbers for going back tomorrow. The representative said, "No, we cannot give out numbers for tomorrow."

We appreciate the existence of a free clinic (it's a beautiful, generous idea). But we were treated horribly, with little to no communication throughout the day. Most of which came from very sympathetic security guards who repeatedly apologized for the decisions being made by the dental clinic/convention center powers-that-be.

It's difficult to understand how, with the convention center donating the space, the professional volunteers and corporate partners, how it is that we were left outside, in such inclement weather for such along time. Even the elderly, people in wheelchairs, and women with babies and children were made to wait outside in the wet chill. Several of us left this awful dental health care clinic experience ill, with hypothermia, oncoming colds, etc. Yes, we chose to be there - but really because we had the trust and faith we'd be seen before the end of the day because we were told we would be.

(A special thank you to the Red Cross volunteers who did their level best to try and help make today's experience bearable).
7
It was cold. Very cold. But freezing rain? Does the writer know what freezing rain is? We haven't had any freezing rain in the last 24 hours.

There's a real story here and one that doesn't need sensational inaccuracies to tell.

8
My insurance plan covers reiki, but not dental. So when half of my face falls off from a bacterial jaw infection, I can at least get some energy work done to repair my chakras.
9
The politics of organized dentistry have created this. 80% of dentists refuse Medicaid patients. 130 Americans don't have dental insurance and can't afford dentistry's high fees. Instead of mandating that dentists treat more low income people, legislators are fooled into believing a fluoridation mandate would solve the problem. However, tooth decay crises are occurring in all fluoridated cities, states and countries. See http://www.FluorideNews.Blogspot.com

In fact, according to national statistics, American children are fluoride overdosed and dentist-deficient.

Dentists don't like mandates for themselves - bu it's OK with them to mandate fluoride into our bodies every which way. The solution is to employ more dental therapists as other countries do. They can drill, fill and pull teeth as well as dentists but cost must less because they only need a couple of years training and will work in mouths and geographic areas that dentists refuse to work

Problem is that organized dentistry doesn't like any group infringing upon its lucrative monopoly, even if Americans must suffer the consequences, and use its power, money and political might to thwart dental therapists. Hence, you see groups like this lined up in every town and city where free dentistry is offered for the day. And what do the dentists say - if only they had fluoride in the water.

Yeah Right!

Take back your water supplies from the special interest groups. Get involved with the Fluoride Action Network http://www.fluorideAction.net
10
Wow, Jake. Sorry your life turned out so miserable.

Yours is the only comment I've read in several articles that was so whiney. I can't believe that anybody would complain that vehemently about the folks who are working very hard these couple of days to get at least some care to people who so desperately need it.

The website provided for this clinic has made it pretty clear that participants would need to plan to wait all day and would be seen based on how their dental needs were triaged. Other articles I read stated that while waits were long, warming blankets were handed out which unfortunately ran out. I have read no other comments that say anything but how professionally folks were treated.

When was the last time you spent two long days volunteering your time and skills? Or is your time better spent moaning about how the world owes you?
11
NYCOF's harrangue that America's unsolved problem with dental care access should prompt a revolt against community water fluoridation is cruelly stupid. The biggest study ever done on cavities in the largely unfluoridated Pacific States showed that 65% of cavities were prevented in fluoridated communities. Fluoridation avoids about 75% of the severe childhood cavities which require operation under general anesthesia. Cases thus prevented save 50% of the budget for Medicaid (ie poor kids).

Whatever the benefit would be, Oregonian's collective refusal to adopt water fluoridation is making these atrocious lines longer for both kids and adults. The Sierra Club and the Columbia Riverkeepers were the political force blocking legislation in 2005 and 2007. Opposition from Oregon's environmental community is double tragic, firstly for the harm to community oral health and secondly because like the Boy Who Cried Wolf their veracity will now be questioned by public health advocates who would normally be their strong allies.

Folks who support sensible collective activism for oral health should be mad as hell.

12
On the first day of the dental event, three thousand people showed up for care between four and six in the morning at the convention center. 2,400 people were simply turned away after paying to park, taking the day off work, cycling in the freezing rain, etc. I learned some had driven from Seattle and farther.

We were not allowed to RSVP by phone or online for the event, a common way of organizing and estimating the number of people expected.

Mission of Mercy promised five hundred of us that morning that we would indeed get help after waiting ten plus hours outdoors in the freezing rain. Instead, at the ten hour mark (2:30 PM when services were to continue until five), Mission of Mercy simply quietly snuck the volunteers inside and had security block the doors and tell us to go away. Our collective hopes were slowly built and then suddenly and swiftly shattered.

We did not feel fairly communicated with at all during this horrible experience (or entrusted to be warm and cared for in the very hallway we Metro taxpayers own), but were simply left in such a dangerous condition the Red Cross and Portland Police had to provide support.

Indeed many were helped that day, but a couple thousand of us are left heartbroken over the experience. Some were literally in tears: the elderly, mentally ill, immigrants, children..all turned away after building hope for so long in the intensely cold rain.

It's simply time for a healthy America- one that provides basic preventative health care before a disaster like this happens. Let's have a better mistake next time.
15
Hello,

My name is Rahul and I am from the Free Discount Plan for health care called Healthsouk.com.
I am a health care enthusiast and work in P.R. for HealthSouk. I was wondering if you would be interested in

interviewing our CEO - Dr. Neilesh Patel DDS regarding this innovative dental discount plan. He has started 3

previous startups that have brought access to health care to millions of people worldwide. This is the first of

its kind and it has no monthly fees for patients.

Marv Migdol who is the CEO of Consumer Health Alliance recently made a quote about HealthSouk saying he was

“impressed with our background and achievements”. Marv is the father of the discount plan industry and started

it almost 50 years ago.

This is a difficult time for patients to get access to discount dental services and our service grew from 1000

members last month to almost 10,000 in a just couple weeks. I look forward to hearing from you soon and working

with you to setup an interview with Dr. Patel

Sincerely,
Rahul
Public Relations - HealthSouk.com
www.healthsouk.com
press@healthsouk.com
16
Hows about: The time these dentist's spend working for free, they get to write that time off on their taxes at the end of the year and OH, guess what, were nearing tax time-there again some more legal loopholes that prevent the rich from actually paying their fair share into the tax pool to make sure the funding is their for things society needs, especially our retirement moneys which is in the general fund, NOT OUR PUBLIC SERVANT RETIREMENT'S. THEIR RETIREMENT IS IN A SAFE SEPARATE ACCOUNT. DID IT EVER DAWN ON ANY OF YOU THAT THEY ARE JUST PUBLIC SERVANTS PAID OUT OF OUR TAX DOLLARS WHICH IS LITTLE OR NO MONEYS TO BEGIN WITH WHICH MEANS THOSE PUBLIC SERVANTS ARE SUPPOSED TO REPORT TO US WITH A HARD COPY, WRITTEN OR TYPED FOR US, THE PUBLIC TO VIEW AND VOTE ON TV DAILY, YEA OR NAY AS TO HOW, WE THE PEOPLE, WANT OUR PUBLIC SERVANTS TO SPEND OUR PUBLIC TAX MONEY'S-NOT THE LOWLY PUBLIC SERVANTS THEMSELVES WHO WE HIRED JUST TO WATCH OUR MONEY'S, NOT SPEND IT UNTIL WE TELL THEM HOW,WHAT,WHEN,WHERE AND WHY. PUBLIC SERVANTS ARE SUPPOSED BE MORE POORER THAN THE SOCIETY THEY WORK FOR-DON'T YOU GET IT. ALL THESE NEW CARS AND NEW BUILDINGS AND NICE BANK ACCOUNTS AND THEIR, THE PUBLIC SERVANTS RETIREMENT'S IN A NON PUBLIC MONEY POOL UNLIKE OUR RETIREMENT, WE THE PEOPLE WHO HIRED THEM. The Poor and the hungry are growing and the rich do not care. Some how a bartering system is going to have to take over. Create our own form of existence. Your Public Servants are now your Judge, Jury, and executioner of any decision of any thing they might want to do or say be it good for you or not. Too bad, so sad. We need a union for the poor and build from the bottom floor up because nothing else really exist except for a bunch of rich politicians (public servants) running around trying to figure out how to stay rich at the cost of any expendable person belonging to, we the people, who hired them in the first place. Voting should be done an honest way with no college required so we can one day have an honest man to actually vote for one fine day maybe.
Definition of public servant living off of our little tax dollars:
President
Governor
Mayor
Judges
Police
Senators - all which have all doubled their own pay in the last ten years without our vote on how our tax dollars are to be spent. They raised food prices with smaller packages. Making us more hungry. I really got to say, their is a deaf-dumb-and-blind man sitting in the presidents chair today, that's for sure.
All public sevant/politicians should be taking RANDOM U A's/Drug Screen Test's and RANDOM tax audit because it is FLAT ILLEGAL TO TAKE MONEY'S FROM LOBBYIST WHICH ARE BRIBERS WAITING IN THE LOBBY WITH A BRIEFCASE FULL OF MONEY'S TO GIVE THAT PUBLIC SERVANT POLITICIAN TO THROW YOUR VOTES IN THE GARBAGE CAN. BRIBERY IS ILLEGAL WHETHER YOU CALL IT ACCEPTING MONEY FROM A LOBBYIST OR NOT. You, We the people are going to have to make a deal with the rich people in order for us and the rich to survive. Probably forming our own bartering system amongst our selves through our newly founded Poor People's Union is the only way we will develop some sort of leverage to make any deals with because they flat don't care. They are not going to give up their riches and you will never stop needing food and shelter. Banks are just the holding place for them to put their money's so they can loan out their money's, to have a bigger tax write offs and loop hole's to make themselves richer. No Banks were ever bailed out, it was the rich behind the banks closed doors. All the moneys in the banks belong to rich peoples. The bank is just a place for them to put their money's to loan out. Banks are paid to loan out their moneys. The poor will eat the rich to survive. We are over 90 percent of the population that live in slums and poverty. The rich need to put a ceiling on their dishonesty. The poor need to band together. Maybe the street gangs will form one army to help the slums and poverty survive and exist. Sort of like what's going on overseas. Yes, I need dental work also and already have a cold so this freezing, not seeing you line anyway,s, is not for me right now I guess. www.joeghetto.com

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