The Calm Before the Storm
Dear Storm Watchers:
Because of fears that Hurricane Isabel may still be severe by the
time it reaches Washington, the DC government and schools will be closed
for the next two days, Thursday and Friday. This proves the truth of two
old proverbs, “It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good,” and
“Every cloud has a silver lining.”
Speaking of ill winds, after months of withholding the police
department's internal reports on its handling of the International
Monetary Fund/World Bank protests, Mayor Williams and MPD Chief Ramsey
finally released them last Friday (http://www.dcwatch.com/police/030125.htm),
but only after being ordered to do so by US District Court Judge Emmit
G. Sullivan. Williams's refusal to release the reports reflects his deep
commitment to secrecy in government and to making it difficult for
citizens to obtain information about how the city government operates.
His claim that he wouldn't release the reports to protect the privacy
rights of citizens has been proven false, since now that we can read
them we know there is nothing in them about individual citizens except
for references to the public testimony in a City Council hearing of a
few citizens who had suffered false arrest. Their release proves that
the reports were kept secret by Williams and Ramsey simply because they
could prove embarrassing to the Department. The irony is that the MPD's
reports aren't even that embarrassing, except for what they
inadvertently reveal. Instead, they attempt to justify, to make the best
possible argument for, the illegal mass arrests. They also attempt to
justify the hog-tying of those who were arrested by quibbling over the
definition of hog-tying, and by weakly arguing that the MPD's style of
hog-tying shouldn't be called hog-tying. But the reports provide ample
support for arguments by the protesters — and by the innocent
bystanders who were swept up and arrested with the protesters — that
the MPD's actions were unwarranted. The one true hero of the reports, by
the way, who should be recognized for his actions, is United States Park
Police Major Rick Murphy, who refused Assistant Chief Peter Newsham's
requests to arrest the people in the park because they had done nothing
illegal that justified their arrest. Do law enforcement officials get
medals when they don't violate citizens' rights? If so, Murphy deserves
a medal. Kathy Patterson, chair of the City Council's Committee on the
Judiciary, who asked Mayor Williams to release the reports back in
February, plans to hold another public oversight hearing on the
demonstration-related policies and practices of the MPD on October 23.
It should prove interesting.
Since you're skipping work today, and there's nothing to do but stay
in the house and browse the Internet, go by the satirical news site, The
Onion, and get a few bitter laughs from one of their latest postings,
“DC Once Again Murder Capital, Mayor Brags,” http://www.theonion.com/3936/news1.html.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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If our Internet connections or electricity go out during Hurricane
Isabel, the DC Emergency Radio Network is available as an alternative
means of communications. DCERN uses inexpensive, license-free FRS
(family radio service) radios tuned to channel 1 to enable neighbors to
communicate with each other in an emergency. This emergency radio
network steps in when normal communications, such as telephones, the
Internet or cell phones, won't work. If you don't have an FRS radio, you
can buy one at Radio Shack, Rodman's, Circuit City, and even CVS. (FRS
radios also have “privacy channels,” sometimes called CTCSS codes.
These privacy channels enable radio users to limit their communications
to specific individuals. Privacy channels/CTCSS codes should be off,
displayed as “0,” for emergency communications. DCERN uses channel
1.)
The DC Emergency Radio Network works a little like a relay, with a
message being transmitted person by person down the line. FRS radios
capture the strongest signal, so you'll only hear the person who's
talking at that moment and who has the most powerful signal. There's
more information about DCERN at http://www.dcradio.org.
I would be happy to answer any questions you may have, as well. And on a
related note, if you want to receive storm alerts via E-mail or on your
cell phone, you can sign up for those alerts for free at the Emergency
E-mail and Wireless Network, http://www.emergencyemail.org.
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Help Locate a Hit-and-Run Bicyclist and a Good
Samaritan
Cris Covelli, ccovelli1615@juno.com
On Thursday, September 11, at 5:30 p.m., returning from my office, I
was crossing Mt. Pleasant Street on the south side of Irving with my
seeing eye dog, Nelli Covelli. We had the light. Nelli would not walk
into oncoming traffic. We were about to reach the sidewalk in front of
Ercilia's Restaurant when a bicycle hit me on my right side, threw me on
the ground, and broke my left arm. Screaming and asking for help, I
stood up the best I could and asked the biker why he had done it. He
proceeded to say that it was because the dog ran in front of his
bicycle. This individual spoke with a foreign accent and seemed to be
quite scared at the moment, but did not offer to help. I cannot describe
him or his bicycle because I am totally blind. Friends tell me that it
is almost impossible not to see a person on a street when you are riding
a bicycle. I do not know how he approached me, what street he was riding
on before entering that intersection, or in what direction he departed
after injuring me. My interpretation is that that is a wide crossing
with no major interfering obstacles that could have been blamed for a
less-than-ideal transit condition. There were no cars parked there at
that moment, and I just do not know why he couldn't stop or yell a
warning before striking me. I would like to locate this individual for
further information.
Thankfully, there was a gentleman driving by who stopped his car and
came to my assistance. He had a good view of the biker and offered me
the assistance I needed. He helped me finish my walk home to leave my
dog and my backpack, and then drove me to Washington Hospital Center
where he left me at the emergency room. I would like to thank this good
Samaritan and I would like to do so in person. Would you please contact
me, or have somebody suggest to him to do so? From my conversation with
him on the way to the hospital, even though I forgot his name, I
remember his saying that he lives on Ingleside Terrace, that he is in
his early 60s, that he is a retired film maker, that he had worked on
commercial pictures, and that he himself had been hospitalized at
Washington Hospital Center in recent years.
Please somebody, help me locate this good soul and the other
individual. I am now facing weeks of physical therapy, months of
recovery, economic hardship for not being able to do the fundraising I
was planning to do for the ARRIBA Center, and possibly the loss of
training on the part of my dog Nelli. Hopefully themail is a good means
of communication and once again will prove a benefit to somebody in this
community. Please E-mail me at ccovelli1615@juno.com
or call me at 667-8456.
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Lesson Unlearned
Larry Seftor, larry underscore seftor at compuserve.com
I recently spent a day at the Moultrie Courthouse for jury duty. I
was not surprised to have to walk through a metal detector. I was quite
surprised that others, apparently employees, were waved on when they set
off the metal detector. Making employees walk through the detector is
senseless if they are not searched after they set off the detector. The
lesson from the shootings at city hall in New York City is that
everyone, even employees, should be searched for guns. It is a lesson
unlearned in DC.
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City to Oversee All Spending by Sports
Commission
Ed Delaney, profeddel@yahoo.com
In the Washington Post, September 16: “DC Puts Reins On
Sports Agency: City to Oversee All Spending By Commission,” by Serge
F. Kovaleski and David Nakamura, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21990-2003Sep16.html.
This, hopefully, means that the days of the DCSEC's carte blanche,
name-your-price deals on consulting contracts with Olympic and baseball
consultants like Bavasi Partners, Grand Prix promoters, and such are
over, and that public input may actually be able to have an impact on
and watchdog the DCSEC's spending of public dollars in the future.
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An “Act of God”
Larry Seftor, larry underscore seftor at compuserve.com
With another weather problem impending, it is worth considering why
we had such power-outage problems in recent storms and how they could
have been prevented. Those outages seem to be a classic "act of
God." The sight of power lines pulled down by fallen trees is
compelling. However, even without the large expenditure needed to bury
lines, PEPCO could have made line placement decisions that would have
greatly reduced the susceptibility of lines to storm damage. Each house
I have owned in NW Washington has had an alley behind. These service
roads have no trees and provide a perfect location for line placement.
Such placement has the added benefit that unattractive lines are behind
houses, instead of on the street. I believe that PEPCO should divert
part of its tree trimming budget to line relocation. Over the years, as
lines were moved to untreed alleys, the need for tree trimming would
drop, as would our susceptibility to storm-induced power outages. In
other cites power lines run down the alleys. It seems time for PEPCO to
start making this cost-effective change.
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PEPCO’s Use of Technology
Bob Andrew, rdandre@erols.com
I understand why PEPCO uses a phone number (877-PEPCO-62) for
customers to initially report loss of power, as simple phones in homes
will still be working even with a loss of power. PEPCO also appears to a
do a fairly good job of getting back in service from outages that
affect, say, a whole block. However, their system appears to break down
when the problem is for an isolated customer, or when their crews miss
one or two houses whenever “signing off” that they have completed a
block.
My suggestion is for PEPCO to institute a simple web form (not
virus-prone E-mail) on their web site, as a second tier or alternative
to their phone system, which customers could access from any web
browser, such as from a residential customer's place of work, or a
public library. If well designed, this would help capture recurring
kinds of service problems, to help PEPCO management raise their
performance bar from just dispatching crews to genuine improvement from
“lessons learned.” Also, by having the location data captured in a
digital form, they could produce maps communicating where the problems
are. For future planning purposes, this data could help them map where
the recurring problems happen, such as where large, tall trees and
overhead wires are in uneasy coexistence.
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Congress, Remove the Gag and Stop DC Vouchers
Melody R. Webb, melodywebb@lobbyline.com
This week, the United States Senate may take advantage of the
political disenfranchisement of DC's 570,000 residents and vote on a
tragic education plan for a poor, African American school district, most
certainly to be the first of many so afflicted across the nation if the
voucher white elephant in Congress succeeds. The public can help put a
stop to that, by visiting http://www.stopdcvouchers.org/stopdcvoucherstellsenate.htm
and by E-mailing their Senators from the website with our letter or
their own. They can also print the letter and fax it with (we supply the
fax number).
A reader of themail discovered what we did when we set up our E-mail
campaign for retirement benefits for moms across the country. I found
that as a DC mom I would get no response from the Senate because
Congress adds a gag to the shackles on DC residents who attempt to
E-mail complaints about the voucher plan by often rejecting the E-mail
or discouraging the communication. Congress instead tells their de facto
constituents that the member of Congress will only listen to those who
elect them. This, in the face of the claim that the Senators and
Congressmen are acting in the interests of DC residents and of their
children in seeking to impose school vouchers. How does Congress know
what those interests are if they will not listen to DC residents? Why
are they willing to listen to those who elect them, whose interests they
also serve? The undeniable truth is that the only Americans who have a
voice in Congress are those with voting members. DC residents lack this;
DC residents need this.
You can tell Congress to remove the gag and to listen to the people
of DC, who have stated time and again that they do not want vouchers. We
announce the “Listen to DC” campaign, where members of the public,
using an E-mail form with our letter or their own, can demand of select
members of the Senate leadership that until such time as they stop
interfering in the affairs of DC and grant the residents of DC budget
autonomy, full self governance and their own voting representatives in
the Senate and the Congress, that they should welcome, encourage and
solicit the opinions of DC residents to the same extent as they do the
opinions of those who represent them. To write Senate leaders, visit http://www.listentodc.com/listentodcemail.htm.
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[Gary Imhoff] stated that, “Closing DC General Hospital allowed the
mayor to capture a vast tract of valuable public land to divvy up among
his favored developers. . .” [themail, September 10]. If only that
were true. The real problem is that the administration closed DC General
with absolutely no plans to really develop the land -- which is what the
neighbors want. Other than giving the prime corner to St. Coletta's, the
only other plans for the area are turning the DC General building into a
homeless shelter and expanding the correctional facilities. What the
neighborhood wants is a redevelopment similar to the Southeast Federal
Center. What they are getting is a continued dumping ground for whatever
the city can't put anywhere else. In the meantime, they are going again
with a zoning that will simply lock in the institutional (rather than
residential) use of the land. For that reason, ANC 6B recently passed a
resolution that stated, in part, “ANC 6B recommends that no zoning
text or map amendments go forward until and unless there is a clear plan
for the development of site, similar to that of the Southeast Federal
Center (SEFC), that is in keeping with the principle expressed in the
Master Plan for Public Reservation 13 that the site should be integrated
into the adjacent neighborhood — and therefore the Zoning Commission
should reject any application for any underlying zoning at Reservation
13 as premature until the creation of such a development plan.”
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More Money for Primary Care, Not Hospitals
Rene Wallis, bryantstreet@highstream.net
I was upset to see [Gary Imhoff] endorse [in themail, September 14]
the CEO of GWU Hospitals Daniel McClean's position, in which he
announces to the world that DC government — and since 100 percent of
the Alliance funds are local, DC taxpayers -- should either pay up or
build a new public hospital. Millions in Alliance payments are going to
hospitals right now, and the hospitals are upset because DC government
is going to limit those payments starting October 1. McLean is right
that the Department of Health has messed up on the Alliance in all kinds
of ways; but McLean uses DOH' s failures in oversight and management to
fan the flames of “reopen DC General”; and get the hospitals more
money, not to call for the reforms that are needed.
You should know that hospitals refuse to release data on how many of
those emergency room visits are for primary care, and how many are for
poor people, and how many are for DC residents. They refuse to give DC
the information needed to evaluate exactly what is going on, but don't
mind using the data to demand money. DC's low income people cannot get
into primary care. While everyone keeps talking about primary care, the
truth is, access to primary care is only minimally better than it used
to be. The safety net is marginally better for patients who are
fortunate enough to get into a primary care clinic; but 300,000 of DC's
residents live in communities where the federal government has said
there aren't enough primary care providers. I used to run a free clinic
in DC — Bread for the City. Then I worked at La Clinica del Pueblo. To
run one of those sites you basically must be a hamster on a wheel,
running constantly to raise money for care because either your patients
are uninsured and you get no money, or you get paid the absurdly low
rates of between $35 and $65 a visit.
Prevention and primary care are boring. But they are needed. More
primary care would get people out of the ER because they wouldn't have
to go there for a basic doctor visit. It would also prevent all kinds of
terrible health outcomes, because a lot of ER visits are due to
untreated primary care problems.
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Currency
John Whiteside, loganjohn at mac dot com
I am pretty sure that Steven Tinius is wrong about the stamping of
currency being illegal. There have been other currency-stamping
campaigns in the past (including a “Gay $” one in the late 80s) and
I don't believe anyone has ever had legal troubles about it. Moreover,
the definition that Mr. Tinius provides specifically refers to
defacement “with intent to render such item(s) unfit to be
reissued.” Since the point of currency-stamping campaigns is to keep
the stamped bills in circulation, not make them unfit for use, it seems
unlikely this would apply.
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Improving Currency
Scott Vicary, svicary at globalenvironmentfund dot com
Although I am not involved with stampouttax.com or their efforts to
highlight the problem of taxation without representation in the
District, I feel that Stephen Tinius' admonishment on defacing currency
was somewhat misleading. Yes, it is a crime in the U.S. to deface
currency in such a way that would render it unfit for reissue. However,
in practice, the threshold for rendering currency 'unfit' is much higher
than simply inking “Stamp Out Taxation Without Representation in DC”
on a dollar bill. As long as the defacer does not completely obscure the
bill amount or serial number, there is an extremely low probability that
the individual would be considered in violation, and an even lower
probability that the individual would be prosecuted (much less
convicted). The confusion on this point tends to stem from the fact that
most other governments in the world have far stricter regulations on
what constitutes defacement. I would certainly advise Andy against
stamping a Canadian or Australian dollar, but the good old greenback is
a reasonably safe placard of protest for those who have a risk tolerance
slightly higher than my grandmother's.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Does Your Child Like to Sing?, September 18
Sue Bell, Capital City Public Charter School, bellsue@aol.com
The DC Children's choir is a multicultural, professional, community
choir for students in grades 3-8. Children will receive a musical
education, learning the rudiments of choral singing, breath control,
diction, and much more. There is no charge to participate in the choir,
and choir participants are paid a small stipend for performances. The
choir is based at All Souls' Church, Unitarian at 16th and Harvard, and
is led by a professional singer, Angela Powell, with the assistance of a
professional accompanist. Rehearsals are Thursdays from 6:30-7:30 p.m.,
and the choir sings once a month on Sundays, with additional
performances scheduled. For more information call 301-320-9046 or E-mail
musicalstudies@earthlink.net.
Audition times are Thursday, September 18, and Thursday, September
25, 6-6:30 p.m. Q&A, 6:30-7:30 p.m. audition/practice. Children will
audition by taking part in the weekly practice session. Parents are
invited to attend.
###############
CHIME Music on Public Access TV, September 18
and following
Dorothy Marschak, info@chime-dc.org
Traditional Afro-Cuban Rumba presented by Ivan Navas and friends on
Comcast Channel 5/Starpower Channel 10, Thursday, September 18, 6:30
p.m.; Tuesday, September 23, 11:30 a.m.; Thursday, September 25, 6 p.m.;
Saturday, September 27, 9:30 p.m.; Tuesday, September 30, 12:00 p.m.;
Thursday, October 2, 7 p.m.
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Testify Monday to Free DC Budget, September 22
Anise Jenkins, anisej@hotmail.com
DC Councilmember Phil Mendelson recently introduced the DC Budget
Autonomy Resolution (PR 15-215). On Monday, September 22, from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m., there will be a public hearing on the resolution. The
public's testimony will focus attention not only on the sheer injustice
of having members of the U.S. House and Senate (where we have no votes)
review and vote on our local budget each year (not even Puerto Rico or
Guam are subjected to this), but also tell the story of how this annual
two-to-five month delay and the attachment of special interest riders
hurts funding for, among other things, school supplies, foster care,
adoption programs, and fire department equipment and makes planning for
programs each fiscal year so difficult.
The resolution supports the bill now in Congress requiring the
release of our budget by October 1 of each year. The resolution's goal
is to FREE DC's Budget from Congress permanently! Please contact Nicola
Whiteman at 727-8275 or E-mail her at nwhiteman@dccouncil.us
by this Friday, if you would like to testify to Free DC's Budget. See http://www.standupfordemocracy.org
or call 232-2500 for more information.
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Global Nomads Conference, George Mason
University, October 24
Norma McCaig, anjinsan@geotrees.com
Global Nomads International is pleased to announce the 2003
Conference for Global Nomads, “Global Nomads Bridging to a Better
World: Effecting Change Within and Beyond Ourselves.” This event will
take place October 24-26 at George Mason University, and will include
over fifteen sessions and a variety of pre-conference workshops as well.
For those unfamiliar with the term “global nomad,” it refers to
anyone who has ever lived abroad before adulthood because of a parent's
career choice. This community includes, then, the sons and daughters of
employees representing the military, religious or intergovernmental
missions (World Bank, IDB, United Nations, etc.) the diplomatic corps or
international business corporations, for example. It also includes those
whose parents have chosen to work or study abroad for a while on their
own, rather than being posted abroad by a sponsoring organization.
The conference itself addresses the lifelong benefits and challenges
of international mobility and international intercultural interaction
during childhood, focusing on such aspects of life as relationships,
cultural identity, world view and the choices in adulthood that flow out
of them. How global nomads can, and do, use the valuable skills borne of
their upbringing is an equally important focus for the conference. Guest
speakers include the Hon. Katherine Hagen, former Deputy
Director-General of the International Labor Organization of the United
Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and Dr. Janet Bennett, Executive
Director of the Intercultural Communication Institute in Portland,
Oregon. We welcome your interest in this three-day event of fellowship,
experience, and discussion, and would welcome your spreading word
regarding our conference among any global nomads you may know. Please
note that this conference is for them, rather than about them;
therefore, most of the sessions are designed for global nomads
themselves to engage in reflection and discussion about their
experiences.
If you are not a global nomad, but have a personal or professional
interest in this community, please do contact us. We are planning on
holding a number of workshops in the future for counselors, educators,
and clergy and would like to know of your interest in such offerings. If
you have any questions regarding the conference, please telephone
703-456-0566 or E-mail infogni@gnvv.org.
Information on the conference can also be found at the Global Nomad
Virtual Village web site, http://www.gnvv.org,
and by E-mail inquiry to nomads@geotrees.com,
which will E-mail you a packet of detailed information.
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The Washington Storytellers Theater (WST) is pleased to announce its
14th consecutive season of presenting America’s finest storytellers
for adults will commence on Saturday, October 18, at 8 p.m. with Master
Liar Bil Lepp's Mayhem in Three-Part Disharmony. For the past fourteen
years, WST has presented Washington the chance to experience the very
best in storytelling for adults In fact, WST is unique in this regard,
as we are the only organization in the country that regularly showcases
these gifted performers in a theatrical setting, performers that ignite
our imagination and inspire listeners to share their own stories and
reconnect with friends and family in ways they may never have before.
WST is very proud to present our 2003-2004 Season Schedule: October
18, Bil Lepp, Mayhem in Three-Part Disharmony; November 15, Jo Radner,
The Man Who Knew the Earth Was Flat; January 31, Jeannine Pasini Beekman,
In Her Image; February 21, Susan O’Halloran, Crossing the Tracks;
March 27, Rex Ellis, Southern Exposure; May 22, Willie Claflin, Where
Were You in '72? All of this year’s performances take place on
Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. at the Westmoreland Congregational Church
located at 1 Westmoreland Circle in Bethesda. All ticket prices are $12.
Season subscriptions are available. For tickets and information call
301-891-1129 or visit our web site at http://www.washingtonstorytellers.org.
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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
Fridge, Part 2
John Whiteside, loganjohn at mac dot com
In the last issue I asked if anyone wanted my old fridge, as I was
getting a new one from a friend. Change in plans — the new one won't
fit in my insanely small kitchen! So I am keeping my fridge, but he
wants to sell his.
It's a very nice GE Profile with ice maker, white. Great shape, with
nifty features like crisper drawers with their own humidity controls. I
really wish I could get it into my kitchen, but since I can't, he's
asking $200 for it. Since it's an over $1000 fridge new, this seems like
a good price (it's what I was going to pay him myself). If you are
interested let me know!
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Poised atop one of the highest dunes in Duck, North Carolina, with
water views from every window, Sea Forever delights you with panoramic
sunrises and heavenly sunsets. Five bedrooms (four queen beds), 4.5
baths, sleeps twelve. Top level features a remarkable great room with
DVD player, dining area, and kitchen. Screened porch, two-car garage,
stereo/CD, ice maker, wood stove, and many more features! No smoking, no
pets. $800/week off-season (except December 14-20, the Wright Bros.
First Flight Week, at $2,100). Mini-vacations available.
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CLASSIFIEDS — PARKING
Off-street parking space available in Mt. Pleasant near the
intersection of 16th Street, Park Road, and Monroe Street, NW. $75.00
per month. If interested, please contact elizabethabuchanan@yahoo.com
or call 986-2745.
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CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Another plea for a good contractor. I need two complete bathrooms put
in, including plumbing, plus a small kitchen, including plumbing. And
finish work in a one bedroom apartment that is currently half done. Any
suggestions?
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Another Cell Phone Request
Ellen Compton, eacompto@erols.com
Regarding Phil Shapiro's recent posting, I too have been looking for
a low-cost cell phone plan, just for emergencies and every once in a
while. I would be grateful for copies of recommendations and ideas.
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