Random Announcements
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They hate you too, I heard them whispering earlier.
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How the feck can anyone look at the US legal system and think this is a reasonable outcome…..
RJ Reynolds told to pay wife of cancer victim $23.6bn
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That is insane.
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Short answer- that's a screw up that won't last. The compensatory damages awarded were $16 million, the rest were punitive. It's well established that punitive damages have to be proportional to the compensatory. Reynolds will appeal and the total will get cut massively, possibly to even less than $16 million.
Of course, that won't make international headlines…
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Well, the guy died in 1998, after 20+ years smoking, so the argument was that the company was deceptive back in the 70s and 80s, when he got hooked. Then he was addicted and couldn't stop. Since it was a civil case with a 6 person jury, they only had to convince 4 people that Reynolds was probably mostly responsible. It's not a bad case, just a ridiculous award, which, like I said, won't last when Reynolds appeals.
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Even if the timing makes it valid, I still think this sets a strange precedent. Are alcoholics with liver failure going to start bringing cases against liquor and beer companies? Surely their advertising has remained more agressive and deceptive for longer than tobacco. RJR has billions to burn, so even if they were forced to pay the whole penalty it would be sort of symbolic–but I think personal responsibility is a huge thing to ignore, even when we're talking about addiction.
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Nice to see you back David, I was wondering where you had been earlier.
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I am looking for stencil making machines made by "Ideal Stencil Machine Co", in good working order. They are reasonably readily available in USA, but as rare as rocking horse shit in Europe.
I'm looking at the ones currently on reBay.com, but if you come across one elsewhere, I'd appreciate a nudge.
I have none at the moment, they come in a number of different sizes and am looking for 2 or 3….
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Shameless Plug…
27 days to go!
I am doing a 3-mile (2.5 nautical miles) swim across the Solent to support the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.
Please help me reach my target of £5,000 – sponsor me here (No contribution is too small)!
We are still putting USD5 from every sale over USD200 into the pot, so if you'd prefer to contribute by spending, that's alright by us too…...
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Such is my loathing for my day job that I bought this card in the vain hope that one day I can use it.
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fell a total of 7 feet off of a ladder into the street today whilst trimming my grandparent's tree. got up, checked that my phone was not broken, shook my fingers and finished the job. what doesn't kill you only makes you happy that you were wearing iron heart!
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Even if the timing makes it valid, I still think this sets a strange precedent. Are alcoholics with liver failure going to start bringing cases against liquor and beer companies? Surely their advertising has remained more agressive and deceptive for longer than tobacco. RJR has billions to burn, so even if they were forced to pay the whole penalty it would be sort of symbolic–but I think personal responsibility is a huge thing to ignore, even when we're talking about addiction.
Personal responsibility for your own behavior ? Not in the U.S. Puzzle Factory. That train left the station long ago.
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Personal responsibility still exists in the American legal system, as does corporate responsibility. Tobacco companies spent decades and billions to convince people that their product was safe when they knew that it wasn't.
People make choices with the information that's available, and when that information is deliberately misleading, they make bad choices.
