Troy Davis, again

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Friday September 09, 2011 · 9:55 AM PDT

2011/09/09 · 09:55

On Friday Oct 24, 2008, I wrote this post about Troy Davis' stay of execution.

Yet now, according to Amnesty International:

Breaking News: An execution date for Troy Davis is scheduled for September 21! In the days before Davis' execution, the Georgia Board of Pardons & Paroles will hold a final clemency hearing – a final chance to prevent Troy Davis from being executed.

There is too much doubt about Troy Davis' case to let this execution go forward. There is a lack of compassion in giving any man 'a date to be dead' over and over again. Enough.

Please help him here

AT&T woes

oddstray

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Saturday May 08, 2010 · 9:32 PM PDT

2010/05/08 · 21:32

Please follow below the dialog that I had with an AT&T Customer Support Representative concerning my Sister-In-Law's email account.

I really don't think that I need to write anything else.

I've redacted identity information. Other than that, it's a completely accurate transcript, with synchronization issues and typos left intact.

What the heck can I do to get my SIL back on-line?

oddstray

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Thursday November 26, 2009 · 5:36 PM PST

2009/11/26 · 17:36

GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting or even thinking about quitting, please -- join us!

The GUS Library at dKosopedia is organically evolving, and stocked with free-range information: quit-smoking links, helpful GUS diary writing tips, and the GUS Buddy List.

Happy Turkey Day. I imagine everyone out there maxed out on food and the trimmings and too cross-eyed to be worried about GUS. It's certain that the description applies to me.

But something caught my eye last Monday, which just could be incredibly good news for the long suffering smoker.

I'm a subscriber to the service 'Medscape', and their weekly email came in, with one of the headlines, "Nicotine Patch Plus Lozenge Best Therapy for Smoking Cessation" , which led to http://cme.medscape.com/... (subscription only, no fee).

The major takeaway from the story is this:

"When you get a 40% quit rate at 6 months in a group, that's really promising for smokers who are trying so hard to quit."

oddstray

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Monday November 16, 2009 · 10:33 PM PST

2009/11/16 · 22:33

Here’s a news item that leaves me nonplussed, it’s exactly the same plot as the movie ‘The Sting’:

oddstray

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Wednesday August 05, 2009 · 10:31 PM PDT

2009/08/05 · 22:31

My story:
I started smoking when I was about 13 or 14. That would have been 1962 or 63. The Beatles were just emerging, and I tried the ‘cancer-sticks’, as my mother used to call them. After the first brutal coughing attempts, things settled down, and I wasn’t really hooked. It was just something I did from time to time. Back in that day, it was much more common to be a smoker than not. There were no ‘non-smoking’ areas anywhere, and the poor non-smokers simply had to put up with it. I’m writing this, not to excuse myself (or anyone else), but to point out how much attitudes have changed in less than half a century. Even then we knew that cigarettes harmed our health, but this was received in an abstract way, as in, ‘yes, this information that cigarettes harm your health doesn’t apply to me, look at old Joe over there, he smokes two packs a day and is strong as a horse and 80 years old.’

oddstray

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Friday July 31, 2009 · 9:25 PM PDT

2009/07/31 · 21:25

From 1949 until 1997 I lived in the United Kingdom under the National Health Service system. From 1997 until now, I have lived in the USA under the private health care system.

Below the fold is my experience of receiving health care under both systems, and my conclusion is that they are roughly the same.

At what cost?

The GDP per capita in the UK is somewhat less than in the USA (http://www.swivel.com/data_sets/show/1001530).

However, in the UK, NHS spending in 2007-2008 was projected to be 7.8% of GDP (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/801/75/sr2004_ch8.pdf).

In the USA, Health Care spending in 2007 was 17% of GDP (http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml).

Wow, just wow! 7.8%. 17%.

Just what is the problem with a single-payer solution?

oddstray

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Friday October 24, 2008 · 7:47 PM PDT

2008/10/24 · 19:47

I just got an email from Amnesty International announcing a stay of execution for Troy Davis, who was due to be executed in Atlanta on Monday.

In my opinion this is HUGE and to be celebrated without reservation.

Permit me to quote the email, which explains the background and the importance:

oddstray

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Monday March 31, 2008 · 10:41 PM PDT

2008/03/31 · 22:41

I haven't written here in months, but I just got a cellphone call from a friend 'in high places', who tells me that there's a new initiative, headed up by Al Gore and the IPCC, to make a dramatic move in the Global Warming situation.

Basically, the idea is to cover the earth's poles in aluminum foil (that's hard to write, given that my native language has it at 'aluminium'). The idea is that we will be able to reflect back the sun's energy, so that the ice under the foil will no longer melt (as it will then be in shade).

More details after the jump....

oddstray

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Sunday July 08, 2007 · 12:51 AM PDT

2007/07/08 · 00:51

Let's say that in 2008, by some fluke, a Republican gets elected as President. Deities knows who that might be.

Still and all, it's a possibility. I remember 2004, and the incredulity with which we faced a Bush re-election.

What then would happen with Iraq (Iran), healthcare, global warming, constitutional issues? Would we simply face an extension of what we see now?

oddstray

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Monday May 07, 2007 · 6:25 PM PDT

2007/05/07 · 18:25

Big Pharma really has the 'spin' under control. Even here at Daily Kos, I've seen some commenters indicating that re-importation (from Canada, I presume), would be bad as it would support price-control.

I'm going to blow that argument out the water, probably as far as Toronto, and maybe a little further.

I should have written this diary 25 years ago, when it was fresh in my mind, and when public knowledge of its content could have resulted in action.

But now, all I have left is my recollection. Something tells me it's as true today as it was then. I'll tell my story.

oddstray

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Friday April 20, 2007 · 8:50 PM PDT

2007/04/20 · 20:50

I've been observing this for a few years since the late 90's, whilst my daughter went through university in the UK, and I was paying her rent and stuff. I gradually watched the dollar drop from 1.4 ukp to more than 2 ukp. Junk currency? It was about that level (2:1 $/ukp) when I got a stonking bargain in an Hassidic New York camera store near Wall Street in 1979. Great Nikon camera :)

The Daily ToryGraph has it that

Sterling has soared to its highest level against the dollar since the early Thatcher era, smashing through resistance to reach $2.0131 as global investors turn ever more bearish on the crumbling US currency.

Follow me...

oddstray

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Monday March 26, 2007 · 10:28 PM PDT

2007/03/26 · 22:28

Whilst this might not sound like a very enticing title, it's a subject which has caught my attention for a while.

Bear with me. I'm going to try to separate two types of illegal immigration, those which are 'pure' economic migration, see Enrique's Journey, currently the subject of 'One book, One San Diego', and seasonal migration, exemplified by the guys who hang out at the bottom of my street, hoping to get some work picking avocados or lettuce.

I'm going to try to show that the seasonal guys need to get cut some slack.

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Troy Davis, again

AT&T woes

GUS: Newly published smoking study offers hope

The Sting

G.U.S. Open thread - an encouragement

Public and Private Health Care Experiences – One person’s view

Troy Davis stay of execution

Breaking: Polar Foil - A new initiative from Al Gore

What shall we do?

Big Pharma and the re-importation lie

Not so very breaking: dollar tanks against other currencies

Pay a little more for lettuce.