» Disability

As bad as the NHS in the UK can be, there are times when you get to hear about some damned good specialists.

In this case, the BBC News website reports on a 15-year old from Pontefract.

Tom Lemm fought cancer for three years, but a tumor in the upper part of his left arm meant surgeons were faced with having to amputate the entire arm, at the shoulder joint. Normally, amputating a limb at the joint (shoulder/hips) means the patient can’t use an artificial limb - there’s no stump left to attach one to.

I noticed this on the alt.support.mult-sclerosis Usenet group the other day (it was also cross-posted to alt.support.cancer.prostate), and figured it was worth reposting here.

Hi all,

You may remember I posted on here a few weeks ago asking for volunteers to be interviewed as part of a new product innovation programme which we’re undertaking for a leading provider of continence and bowel care solutions.

Firstly, thank you to those of you who got in touch and took part.

Back in April 2008, I wrote about the work that was done on our nearby park by M-NCPCC.

Shortly after that entry, they got back to us via email, saying

This situation will be corrected and you will once again be able to access the pathway that leads under Riverdale Road.

Unfortunately, there’s apparently still been no movement on this, the railing still cuts right across the park from one side to the other - and, in fact, it’s even worse now once you get past this huge metal barrier, because subsidence has caused a great big crack to appear in an older section of sidewalk.

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen runs a blog on Time Magazine’s website, “Work In Progress“, which sometimes can be almost close to approaching nearing the level of cynicism I occasionally use here.

Recently, she ran a blog entry, “Equal pay isn’t a partisan issue. Is it?“, explaining that the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act had been filibustered in Congress by the Republicans.

The Act was intended to be

Or, if previous experiences with crowds are anything to go by, at the very least loses all common sense and intelligence, and becomes totally oblivious to their surroundings.

Yep, we have the Pope coming to visit.  Staying true to form, as with any time something memorable occurs, everyone’s running around like headless chickens.

Now, admittedly, the DC area tends to run around like headless chickens when more than 3 snowflakes fall, 5 raindrops fall, or some “professional” sportsdrone we’re supposed to have heard of shows up, but this time it’s the worst example of decapitated poultry behavior I’ve ever seen - even down to the “most powerful man in the world” (George W Bush, allegedly) playing chauffeur to the guy.

[Updated April 9th 2008]

We live next to a wonderful park, beside a branch of the Anacostia River as it wends its way down towards DC and environs.

Until recently, it’s been impossible for us to use that park to get to the main road leading into town though.

The reason? This bridge over one of the drainage ravines to the Anacostia itself. The bridge is old, too narrow for wheelchairs, and has a virtual step up at either end where it meets the ground.

… But not as we know it.

British Airports Authority (BAA) spent £4.3 billion on creating their brand spanking new Terminal 5 (T5) at Heathrow Airport in London, England. After months of preparation, including “live” testing of operations, it went operational today to much fanfare.

And promptly fell into total chaos.

The most embarrassing failure? The vaunted baggage handling system, supposedly designed to process over 12,000 pieces of luggage every hour - apparently, the workers were unable to log in to the system, resulting in flights being cancelled, and several that weren’t left with passengers but without their bags.

Losing both of your legs and one arm while serving in a war zone: £214,000
Spraining your thumb typing as a civilian Ministry of Defence (MoD) employee: £484,000

Value of veterans in the eyes of some: Worthless.

That’s the only conclusion I can draw in light of the recent atrocious decision by the MoD to grant such a small amount of compensation - less than the maximum possible amount of £285,000 to boot - to Royal Marine Mark Ormrod, for injuries he suffered in Afghanistan in 2007.

Tom Simonite over at New Scientist magazine reported recently about a new development in thought-to-* devices.

Named “Audeo”, the device intercepts and interprets the nerve impulses your brain sends to your vocal cords, reproducing the words you thought to speak electronically. Outwardly, it’s just a neckband, but it’s hard to determine from the information what other equipment is needed, assuming the neckband is just the “receiver” that catches the impulses.

The device was “unveiled” at a Texas Instruments conference, with Michael Callahan, co-founder of Ambient Corporation, demonstrating the device in a cross-stage phone call.

I love all these environmentally-friendly groups. They are wonderful examples of the heights of prejudiced stupidity political correctness can lead people to.

The latest bright idea these perfectly mobile people have come up with? Banning plastic grocery bags.

Now, this might not seem such a bad idea on the face of it. They take oil to make, and they’re possibly the most common source of unsightly trash littering the world, not to mention they’re not that biodegradable and are a choking hazard to children.

They also happen to be one of the best inventions for people in wheelchairs.