In October 2017, President Trump declared the opioid crisis a national public-health emergency. Now his fight over the border wall, which he has in part justified on stopping drugs, is a harmful distraction from that very real problem facing the country.
According to statistics released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there were 72,306 overdose deaths in the United States in 2017. Of those, the majority, 49,068, involved opioids. Synthetic opioids, “predominately Fentanyl,” as cited in the report, made up 29,406 of those deaths, the vast majority.
Fentanyl comes almost exclusively from China. Most of it, according to the DEA arrives in the U.S. through conventional mail services. Of the fentanyl, and other opioids, that do enter the country across the southern border, almost all of it comes through legal points of entry. Even then, the fentanyl is sourced from China or produced in Mexico with chemicals imported from China.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Rep. Steve King Defends Himself After Reportedly Asking How Phrases ‘White Supremacist’ And ‘White Nationalist’ Became ‘Offensive’
On Thursday, The New York Times published a piece titled, "Before Trump, Steve King Set the Agenda for the Wall and Anti-Immigrant Politics," featuring an interview with Rep. King (R-IA).
During the interview, King reportedly stated: "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?" He later added, "Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?"
After the piece went live, numerous politicians and political commentators condemned King’s alleged statement.
The following are merely a sampling of the condemnations:
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During the interview, King reportedly stated: "White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?" He later added, "Why did I sit in classes teaching me about the merits of our history and our civilization?"
After the piece went live, numerous politicians and political commentators condemned King’s alleged statement.
The following are merely a sampling of the condemnations:
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The Cost of Southern Cultural Genocide
The destruction of Confederate monuments and the slandering of all things Confederate is in vogue in contemporary mainline media, academia, and the political establishment. The destruction of Confederate monuments by radical mobs is similar to the radical Taliban’s destruction of Buddhist monuments and the Soviet Union’s denial of public expressions of native culture in the Baltic states—all are examples of cultural genocide.[1] Standard American history as written by the victors in the so-called “Civil War” supports and encourages Southern cultural genocide. As noted by Southern historian Grady McWhiney, “What passes as standard American history is really Yankee history written by New Englanders or their puppets to glorify Yankee heroes and ideals.”
The current campaign to stigmatize Southern heritage as detestable has its genesis in the decades before the War for Southern Independence. In 1787, Patrick Henry warned Virginia and the South about the danger of forming a union with the people of New England. Patrick Henry predicted that the North, being the numerical majority, would control the Federal Government and use the Federal Government to extract tribute (taxes in the form of tariffs) from the South. Patrick Henry was joined by other Southerners, such as George Mason and Rawlins Lowndes who warned of the danger of a union with the North.[2] From its very beginning, the United States has been a nation divided. The division was not one of slave states vs. non-slave states but a division between a commercial society vs. an agrarian society. As explained by Southern scholar Grady McWhiney, the war was a conflict of, “culture against culture.”[3] Southern scholar Francis B. Simkins observed that had slavery not existed the North would have “conjured” another moral rationale for invading the South.[4]
In 1828, Missouri Senator Thomas H. Benton declared that the Federal Government’s tariff policy was forcing Southerners to pay 75% of the Federal revenue used to support the government. He lamented, “This is the reason why wealth disappears from the South and rises up in the North. Federal legislation does all this.” [5] In an 1828 letter to Daniel Webster, Abbott Lawrence of Massachusetts advocated a proposed tariff bill because “This bill if adopted as amended will keep the South and West in debt to New England the next hundred years.”[6] As Patrick Henry had warned and Senator Benton noted, the agrarian South was being exploited by the commercial North—a Northern commercial and financial crony capitalist society that could not exist without the steady inflow of revenue gained from protective tariffs. Massachusetts historian Charles Bancroft admitted this harsh fact ten years after the North’s conquest of the South, “While so gigantic a war was an immense evil; to allow the right of peaceable secession would have been ruin to the enterprise and thrift of the industrious laborer, and keen-eyed businessman of the North. It would have been the greatest calamity of the age. War was less to be feared.”[7] Follow the money, and you will discover the real reason for war.
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The current campaign to stigmatize Southern heritage as detestable has its genesis in the decades before the War for Southern Independence. In 1787, Patrick Henry warned Virginia and the South about the danger of forming a union with the people of New England. Patrick Henry predicted that the North, being the numerical majority, would control the Federal Government and use the Federal Government to extract tribute (taxes in the form of tariffs) from the South. Patrick Henry was joined by other Southerners, such as George Mason and Rawlins Lowndes who warned of the danger of a union with the North.[2] From its very beginning, the United States has been a nation divided. The division was not one of slave states vs. non-slave states but a division between a commercial society vs. an agrarian society. As explained by Southern scholar Grady McWhiney, the war was a conflict of, “culture against culture.”[3] Southern scholar Francis B. Simkins observed that had slavery not existed the North would have “conjured” another moral rationale for invading the South.[4]
In 1828, Missouri Senator Thomas H. Benton declared that the Federal Government’s tariff policy was forcing Southerners to pay 75% of the Federal revenue used to support the government. He lamented, “This is the reason why wealth disappears from the South and rises up in the North. Federal legislation does all this.” [5] In an 1828 letter to Daniel Webster, Abbott Lawrence of Massachusetts advocated a proposed tariff bill because “This bill if adopted as amended will keep the South and West in debt to New England the next hundred years.”[6] As Patrick Henry had warned and Senator Benton noted, the agrarian South was being exploited by the commercial North—a Northern commercial and financial crony capitalist society that could not exist without the steady inflow of revenue gained from protective tariffs. Massachusetts historian Charles Bancroft admitted this harsh fact ten years after the North’s conquest of the South, “While so gigantic a war was an immense evil; to allow the right of peaceable secession would have been ruin to the enterprise and thrift of the industrious laborer, and keen-eyed businessman of the North. It would have been the greatest calamity of the age. War was less to be feared.”[7] Follow the money, and you will discover the real reason for war.
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The Fed Dilemma
For the most part in 2017 and 2018, only academics and easy-money cranks scolded the Federal Reserve for raising rates. After all, the stock market was bubbling up and the economy was strong.
The economy is still strong, but the stock market has ended its record 10-year bull-market run with a bang. The 20-percent drop in the S&P 500 during one of the worst quarters in market history classifies as a bear market, although prices rebounded at the end of 2018 and in early 2019.
Now everybody from traders to retirees as well as President Donald Trump is scolding Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for his relentless path to higher interest rates and a reduction in the Fed’s balance sheet.
To make a long story short, yes, the Fed is chiefly responsible for this and other stock-market routs, which often precede recessions. There are other contributing factors, such as worries about the Chinese economy and trade, as well as the government shutdown, which will reduce the $1 trillion yearly spending spree of the federal government. But the Fed is at the center of the storm.
And the problem didn’t begin with the Fed’s actions over the past two years. The roots of the issues we now face have their immediate origins in the last financial crisis, but ultimately can be traced back to the founding of the Federal Reserve itself.
The Current Crash
The problem on the surface right now is that the Fed is taking away easy money from market participants and economic agents through its raising of the federal funds rate as well as the $50 billion per month reduction of its balance sheet.
The Fed balance sheet, as well as the federal funds rate, is the foundation of the entire global financial system. For every dollar by which the Fed expands its balance sheet, banks and shadow banks around the world can create many dollars’ worth of debt on top of it.
Terms like balance-sheet expansion and contraction, or quantitative easing (QE) and quantitative tightening (QT), are fancy words for printing money or removing money from circulation.
Since its creation in 1913, the Fed has had the power to print money and fuel booms, and contract money and create busts. So it has to take responsibility for the vicious business cycles since its creation, such as the Great Depression or the 2008 financial crisis.
You can trace this game back to the Fed’s origins, but here, let’s confine it to recent history.
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The economy is still strong, but the stock market has ended its record 10-year bull-market run with a bang. The 20-percent drop in the S&P 500 during one of the worst quarters in market history classifies as a bear market, although prices rebounded at the end of 2018 and in early 2019.
Now everybody from traders to retirees as well as President Donald Trump is scolding Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for his relentless path to higher interest rates and a reduction in the Fed’s balance sheet.
To make a long story short, yes, the Fed is chiefly responsible for this and other stock-market routs, which often precede recessions. There are other contributing factors, such as worries about the Chinese economy and trade, as well as the government shutdown, which will reduce the $1 trillion yearly spending spree of the federal government. But the Fed is at the center of the storm.
And the problem didn’t begin with the Fed’s actions over the past two years. The roots of the issues we now face have their immediate origins in the last financial crisis, but ultimately can be traced back to the founding of the Federal Reserve itself.
The Current Crash
The problem on the surface right now is that the Fed is taking away easy money from market participants and economic agents through its raising of the federal funds rate as well as the $50 billion per month reduction of its balance sheet.
The Fed balance sheet, as well as the federal funds rate, is the foundation of the entire global financial system. For every dollar by which the Fed expands its balance sheet, banks and shadow banks around the world can create many dollars’ worth of debt on top of it.
Terms like balance-sheet expansion and contraction, or quantitative easing (QE) and quantitative tightening (QT), are fancy words for printing money or removing money from circulation.
Since its creation in 1913, the Fed has had the power to print money and fuel booms, and contract money and create busts. So it has to take responsibility for the vicious business cycles since its creation, such as the Great Depression or the 2008 financial crisis.
You can trace this game back to the Fed’s origins, but here, let’s confine it to recent history.
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Ex-Trump Lawyer Dowd: Trump Is Facing DOJ 'Coup'
President Donald Trump is facing an organized "coup" at the Department of Justice, his former attorney John Dowd said Monday. "I mean [Rod] Rosenstein, [James] Comey, [Robert] Mueller, [Andrew] McCabe, the whole crowd – and they were out to get this president no matter what," Dowd said.
Because of Opioid Crisis, Cities Risk Becoming Blocks of 'Skid Rows'
Lots of big American cities have a “skid row,” an impoverished part of town where the homeless and drug addicted often gather. San Francisco’s Tenderloin and the original Skid Row in Los Angeles are two of the best-known examples, but Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood is just as bad -- and it’s getting worse.
Kensington, which is just north along the El train from the gentrified Fishtown neighborhood, has long been a rough part of town. It began, writes Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Alfred Lubrano, as an industrial neighborhood full of factories making Stetson hats and Disston saws. Since the 1960s, when the factories shut down and the jobs left, the area has become known as a place to score heroin.
Things have gotten worse there as the opioid epidemic has morphed into a broader crisis. In the past year, Kensington’s homeless population, which has been linked to the epidemic, has more than doubled, from 271 to 700 people. In 2017, the area saw a 23 percent spike in homicides -- a trend that appeared to continue last year.
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Kensington, which is just north along the El train from the gentrified Fishtown neighborhood, has long been a rough part of town. It began, writes Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Alfred Lubrano, as an industrial neighborhood full of factories making Stetson hats and Disston saws. Since the 1960s, when the factories shut down and the jobs left, the area has become known as a place to score heroin.
Things have gotten worse there as the opioid epidemic has morphed into a broader crisis. In the past year, Kensington’s homeless population, which has been linked to the epidemic, has more than doubled, from 271 to 700 people. In 2017, the area saw a 23 percent spike in homicides -- a trend that appeared to continue last year.
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Regulators To Ease Restrictions On Drones, Clearing The Way For More Commercial Uses
Package delivery by drone is one small step closer to reality today.
Federal regulators announced plans Monday to change rules to allow drone operators to fly their unmanned aerial vehicles over populated areas and at night, without having to get special permits.
Many drone operators and enthusiasts complain that federal regulations haven't kept pace with the technology, arguing that prohibitions on flying drones over people and at night are out of date.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao agrees and announced that the government is, at long last, ready to lift those bans as long as operators are properly trained and the drones are equipped with anti-collision lighting.
"This will help communities reap the considerable economic benefits of this growing industry and help our country remain a global technology leader," said Chao in a speech at a major transportation conference in Washington, D.C., Monday.
The changes could allow for drones to to be used to survey construction sites and to deliver critical medical supplies to first responders, among other uses.
The use of drones by both hobbyists and for commercial purposes has been, well, soaring over the last couple of years. Chao says that by mid-December, the FAA had registered nearly 1.3 million drones nationwide and had registered more than 116,000 drone operators.
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Federal regulators announced plans Monday to change rules to allow drone operators to fly their unmanned aerial vehicles over populated areas and at night, without having to get special permits.
Many drone operators and enthusiasts complain that federal regulations haven't kept pace with the technology, arguing that prohibitions on flying drones over people and at night are out of date.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao agrees and announced that the government is, at long last, ready to lift those bans as long as operators are properly trained and the drones are equipped with anti-collision lighting.
"This will help communities reap the considerable economic benefits of this growing industry and help our country remain a global technology leader," said Chao in a speech at a major transportation conference in Washington, D.C., Monday.
The changes could allow for drones to to be used to survey construction sites and to deliver critical medical supplies to first responders, among other uses.
The use of drones by both hobbyists and for commercial purposes has been, well, soaring over the last couple of years. Chao says that by mid-December, the FAA had registered nearly 1.3 million drones nationwide and had registered more than 116,000 drone operators.
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Subject: Racist comments directed at a classics scholar at a disciplinary meeting floor classicists in the room, at the conference and online
Racist comments directed at a scholar at a disciplinary meeting floor classicists in the room. Some see it as a major setback for a historically exclusionary field that is trying hard to change.
Classicists engage in frequent debate about whether the field is “too white,” whether Western civilization is a manufactured idea and what new lines of inquiry will ensure classics’ continued relevance -- or even its survival.
But at an annual gathering of classicists this weekend in San Diego, that debate crossed the line from professional to personal, from real inquiry to racism.
The incident involved an attack on Dan-el Padilla Peralta, an assistant professor of classics at Princeton University, by an independent scholar named Mary Frances Williams. It happened during a question-and-answer period at a panel on the future of classics Saturday at a Society for Classical Studies conference.
Panelists included Peralta, who spoke about an alleged incident of racial profiling at the conference site, in which two classicists of color were stopped and asked for identification. He also cited classics journal publication data showing that authors are largely white, and pushed for diversification of the field. Another speaker was Sarah Bond, an associate professor of classics at the University of Iowa whose research and public outreach often focuses on the idea that our notions of race in the classical world are much more informed by Eurocentric Renaissance views than historical reality.
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Classicists engage in frequent debate about whether the field is “too white,” whether Western civilization is a manufactured idea and what new lines of inquiry will ensure classics’ continued relevance -- or even its survival.
But at an annual gathering of classicists this weekend in San Diego, that debate crossed the line from professional to personal, from real inquiry to racism.
The incident involved an attack on Dan-el Padilla Peralta, an assistant professor of classics at Princeton University, by an independent scholar named Mary Frances Williams. It happened during a question-and-answer period at a panel on the future of classics Saturday at a Society for Classical Studies conference.
Panelists included Peralta, who spoke about an alleged incident of racial profiling at the conference site, in which two classicists of color were stopped and asked for identification. He also cited classics journal publication data showing that authors are largely white, and pushed for diversification of the field. Another speaker was Sarah Bond, an associate professor of classics at the University of Iowa whose research and public outreach often focuses on the idea that our notions of race in the classical world are much more informed by Eurocentric Renaissance views than historical reality.
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Trump Wants $5.7 Billion For The Wall. One Month Ago, Chuck Schumer Wanted Much More Than That For Green Energy Subsidies
The government is shut down over border wall funding, but only a month ago Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked President Donald Trump to support billions in green energy subsidies.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, in early December asked Trump to support “permanent tax incentives for domestic production of clean electricity and storage, energy efficient homes and commercial buildings, electric vehicles, and modernizing the electric grid.”
“If left unchecked, the damage caused by climate change will cause untold human suffering and significant damage to the U.S. economy,” Schumer wrote to Trump on Dec. 6.
Extending tax subsidy provisions primarily benefiting wind and solar power would cost nearly $32 billion over the next four years, according to Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates. Permanently extending these tax subsidies could add billions more to the tab. JCT estimates solar and wind tax subsidies will cost more than $7 billion in 2019.
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Schumer, a New York Democrat, in early December asked Trump to support “permanent tax incentives for domestic production of clean electricity and storage, energy efficient homes and commercial buildings, electric vehicles, and modernizing the electric grid.”
“If left unchecked, the damage caused by climate change will cause untold human suffering and significant damage to the U.S. economy,” Schumer wrote to Trump on Dec. 6.
Extending tax subsidy provisions primarily benefiting wind and solar power would cost nearly $32 billion over the next four years, according to Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates. Permanently extending these tax subsidies could add billions more to the tab. JCT estimates solar and wind tax subsidies will cost more than $7 billion in 2019.
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Swedish Journalist: Teachers Have 'Surrendered' to School Violence
Swedish journalist Joakim Lamotte has spent time lecturing in schools across Sweden and claims that violence is on the rise because many teachers have simply given up on attempting to deal with the problem.
Mr Lamotte made his comments in a post on Facebook following a series of articles from Swedish broadcaster SVT that highlighted the problem of violence in schools.
“I saw a lot of schools in crisis in the years I went around and lectured. I often met teachers who surrendered, while pupils did exactly what they wanted,” Lamotte said, and gave an example of a school where he had lectured saying that pupils felt free to shout at him while at least eight teachers were present and did not act.
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Mr Lamotte made his comments in a post on Facebook following a series of articles from Swedish broadcaster SVT that highlighted the problem of violence in schools.
“I saw a lot of schools in crisis in the years I went around and lectured. I often met teachers who surrendered, while pupils did exactly what they wanted,” Lamotte said, and gave an example of a school where he had lectured saying that pupils felt free to shout at him while at least eight teachers were present and did not act.
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California's Largest Utility Plans To File For Bankruptcy Over Possible Liability In Wildfires
Pacific Gas & Electric Corp., the parent company of California's largest utility, plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid what could be billions of dollars in liability costs over the massive wildfires that have torn through California in recent years.
The company made the announcement Monday. Just hours earlier, PG&E said that its CEO, Geisha Williams, would be stepping down.
The state's fire agency, Cal Fire, determined in June that PG&E equipment had sparked 17 wildfires across Northern California in 2017. In 12 of those fires, the agency's findings were referred to the appropriate county District Attorney's offices for potential violations of state law.
And regulators are now investigating the utility's potential culpability in November's Camp Fire, the deadliest in state history.
If PG&E is found legally responsible for some or all of the costs connected to the 2017 and 2018 Northern California wildfires, its liability could exceed $30 billion, according to the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. And that figure does not include potential punitive damages, fines and penalties or damages related to future claims.
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The company made the announcement Monday. Just hours earlier, PG&E said that its CEO, Geisha Williams, would be stepping down.
The state's fire agency, Cal Fire, determined in June that PG&E equipment had sparked 17 wildfires across Northern California in 2017. In 12 of those fires, the agency's findings were referred to the appropriate county District Attorney's offices for potential violations of state law.
And regulators are now investigating the utility's potential culpability in November's Camp Fire, the deadliest in state history.
If PG&E is found legally responsible for some or all of the costs connected to the 2017 and 2018 Northern California wildfires, its liability could exceed $30 billion, according to the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. And that figure does not include potential punitive damages, fines and penalties or damages related to future claims.
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Nursing Home Launches New Investigation After Woman In Vegetative State Gives Birth
The owner of a long-term care facility in Arizona where a patient in a vegetative state was impregnated and gave birth last month has hired a former Maricopa County Attorney to lead an internal investigation into the "facts and circumstances" leading up to the sexual assault.
On Sunday, Phoenix-based Hacienda Healthcare confirmed in a statement that it had recruited Rick Romley "to ensure a comprehensive, objective and transparent review of the facts of this deeply disturbing matter."
"Mr. Romley will have unfettered access to every facet of Hacienda's business —including all the records related to this matter and all the operational procedures related to the [facility]," the board of directors said.
"We will do everything we can to aid this review and, once it is complete, to make sure this unprecedented situation never, ever happens again," they added.
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On Sunday, Phoenix-based Hacienda Healthcare confirmed in a statement that it had recruited Rick Romley "to ensure a comprehensive, objective and transparent review of the facts of this deeply disturbing matter."
"Mr. Romley will have unfettered access to every facet of Hacienda's business —including all the records related to this matter and all the operational procedures related to the [facility]," the board of directors said.
"We will do everything we can to aid this review and, once it is complete, to make sure this unprecedented situation never, ever happens again," they added.
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Rural Recycling Hit Hard by Shifting Scrap Market
Big cities have shielded their residents from the impact of China’s decision last year to curtail the solid waste it will accept from other countries. But rural and small-town residents are starting to get squeezed by a change that is wreaking havoc on the global recycling market.
Hannibal, Missouri, population 18,000, has stopped accepting recyclable plastics labeled with the numbers 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, such as yogurt containers and shampoo bottles. Villages near Erie, Pennsylvania, no longer take glass. And in Columbia County, New York, nestled in the Hudson Valley, residents soon will have to pay $50 a year to dump their materials at one of the county’s recycling centers.
China, for decades the world’s largest importer of waste paper, used plastic and scrap metal, last year stopped accepting certain kinds of recyclables and tightened its standards for impurities in scrap bales. In making the changes, China’s Ministry of Environment Protection cited environmental damage caused by “dirty wastes or even hazardous wastes” mixed in with solid waste that can be recycled into raw materials.
Many Americans now have access to single-stream recycling, which spares them the trouble of sorting and separating plastics, paper, glass and metal. But single-stream recycling has created headaches for Chinese processors. Even after sorting at a U.S. recycling facility, a plastic container might make it into a shipment of tin cans. Glass breaks, and shards are mixed in with pieces of paper.
The industry standard for contamination typically ranges between 1 and 5 percent. Under the new policy, China’s standard is 0.5 percent.
“They didn’t just change the policies, they radically changed the entire world market in one fell swoop,” said Joe Greer, director of sales for Buffalo Recycling Enterprises, which accepts recyclables from a number of small towns along Lake Erie.
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Hannibal, Missouri, population 18,000, has stopped accepting recyclable plastics labeled with the numbers 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, such as yogurt containers and shampoo bottles. Villages near Erie, Pennsylvania, no longer take glass. And in Columbia County, New York, nestled in the Hudson Valley, residents soon will have to pay $50 a year to dump their materials at one of the county’s recycling centers.
China, for decades the world’s largest importer of waste paper, used plastic and scrap metal, last year stopped accepting certain kinds of recyclables and tightened its standards for impurities in scrap bales. In making the changes, China’s Ministry of Environment Protection cited environmental damage caused by “dirty wastes or even hazardous wastes” mixed in with solid waste that can be recycled into raw materials.
Many Americans now have access to single-stream recycling, which spares them the trouble of sorting and separating plastics, paper, glass and metal. But single-stream recycling has created headaches for Chinese processors. Even after sorting at a U.S. recycling facility, a plastic container might make it into a shipment of tin cans. Glass breaks, and shards are mixed in with pieces of paper.
The industry standard for contamination typically ranges between 1 and 5 percent. Under the new policy, China’s standard is 0.5 percent.
“They didn’t just change the policies, they radically changed the entire world market in one fell swoop,” said Joe Greer, director of sales for Buffalo Recycling Enterprises, which accepts recyclables from a number of small towns along Lake Erie.
More
Berlin Man Charged With Supplying Heroin In Fatal Overdose
BERLIN — A Berlin man is being held without bond this week for allegedly supplying the heroin that resulted in the fatal overdose of another local man last week.
On Jan. 8, members of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Enforcement Team responded to a residence in Berlin in reference to an apparent fatal drug overdose of a 20-year-old male. During the course of the investigation, detectives were able to identify Eric R. Bouaphakeo, 21, of Berlin, as the victim’s alleged supplier using various investigative techniques.
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On Jan. 8, members of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Enforcement Team responded to a residence in Berlin in reference to an apparent fatal drug overdose of a 20-year-old male. During the course of the investigation, detectives were able to identify Eric R. Bouaphakeo, 21, of Berlin, as the victim’s alleged supplier using various investigative techniques.
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Doggie Divorce: Who Gets the Pet When Couples Split?
The divorce court judge was frustrated. The husband, in tears. The wife, adamant. The couple’s love for each other had ended, but each professed to love and want the dog. How would the judge decide?
The husband offered thousands of dollars to his soon-to-be-ex for the pit bull terrier mix named Sweet Pea. The wife wouldn’t accept the compensation, and insisted the dog was hers — a gift, in fact, from her husband.
“This was a mutt they got at the pound, and it wasn’t worth money,” said family attorney Erin Levine of Oakland, California, who represented the husband and said the judge gave her grief for not settling the dispute out of court in the 2015 case. “There was no way we weren’t going to litigate this; they were so attached to the dog.”
The woman produced a greeting card from her husband saying “This [dog] is your gift for Christmas. I love you.” Finally, the judge gave her custody of Sweet Pea. Her husband, Levine remembered in an interview, was inconsolable.
It’s that kind of messy pet custody case that a new California law is supposed to help solve. Former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, owner of two “first dogs,” corgi mix Lucy and bordoodle Cali, signed the bill, which took effect Jan. 1. It outlines criteria judges can use to determine what’s best for the dog.
The law allows people to petition for custody of a pet. It empowers judges to take into consideration the care of the pet when determining sole or joint ownership. Questions like “who walked the dog?” and “who took the cat to vet appointments?” are now permissible criteria for determining custody.
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The husband offered thousands of dollars to his soon-to-be-ex for the pit bull terrier mix named Sweet Pea. The wife wouldn’t accept the compensation, and insisted the dog was hers — a gift, in fact, from her husband.
“This was a mutt they got at the pound, and it wasn’t worth money,” said family attorney Erin Levine of Oakland, California, who represented the husband and said the judge gave her grief for not settling the dispute out of court in the 2015 case. “There was no way we weren’t going to litigate this; they were so attached to the dog.”
The woman produced a greeting card from her husband saying “This [dog] is your gift for Christmas. I love you.” Finally, the judge gave her custody of Sweet Pea. Her husband, Levine remembered in an interview, was inconsolable.
It’s that kind of messy pet custody case that a new California law is supposed to help solve. Former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, owner of two “first dogs,” corgi mix Lucy and bordoodle Cali, signed the bill, which took effect Jan. 1. It outlines criteria judges can use to determine what’s best for the dog.
The law allows people to petition for custody of a pet. It empowers judges to take into consideration the care of the pet when determining sole or joint ownership. Questions like “who walked the dog?” and “who took the cat to vet appointments?” are now permissible criteria for determining custody.
More
Wyoming Rep. push to eliminate Gun Free Zones in Public Places
Wyoming State Sen. Anthony Bouchard (R-Cheyenne) is pushing to eliminate gun-free zones on college and K-12 campuses as well other public areas that currently ban concealed carry.
KOTA reports that Bouchard’s bill, Senate File 75, would not impact the ability of private property owners to set their own policies, but it would prevent publicly funded entities from restricting the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
Part of the motivation for the bill came from the University of Wyoming’s continued ban against concealed carry for self-defense.
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KOTA reports that Bouchard’s bill, Senate File 75, would not impact the ability of private property owners to set their own policies, but it would prevent publicly funded entities from restricting the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
Part of the motivation for the bill came from the University of Wyoming’s continued ban against concealed carry for self-defense.
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Volkswagen to invest $800M build new Electric Vehicle in US
DETROIT (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) said on Monday it was investing $800 million to build a new electric vehicle at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and scheduled a briefing with Ford Motor Co (F.N) for Tuesday on their efforts to forge a global alliance.
The German automaker said in an announcement at the Detroit Auto Show that it was adding 1,000 jobs at the Chattanooga plant and that electric vehicle production there would begin in 2022.
Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess said the company was considering building luxury Audi vehicles in the United States but that no decisions had been made.
German automakers have been under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to increase their investments in the United States. Diess and counterparts from German automakers BMW AG (BMWG.DE) and Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) met with Trump at the White House in December to urge the administration not to go through with a threat to slap tariffs on European cars.
The Tennessee investment "is a signal to the government that we are really committed to the United States," Diess told reporters at the auto show.
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The German automaker said in an announcement at the Detroit Auto Show that it was adding 1,000 jobs at the Chattanooga plant and that electric vehicle production there would begin in 2022.
Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess said the company was considering building luxury Audi vehicles in the United States but that no decisions had been made.
German automakers have been under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to increase their investments in the United States. Diess and counterparts from German automakers BMW AG (BMWG.DE) and Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) met with Trump at the White House in December to urge the administration not to go through with a threat to slap tariffs on European cars.
The Tennessee investment "is a signal to the government that we are really committed to the United States," Diess told reporters at the auto show.
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Mark Penn: Voters want RESULTS not resistance from new Democratic majority
Results not resistance. That’s what I think the American public was expecting when they broughtDemocrats back into power in the House.
But instead, echoing Hillary Clinton’s ill-fated 2016 strategy, the Democratic leaders so far have fully planted a flag in simply opposing legislation, funding and appointments under the theory that putting lead boots on President Trump is the best way to get him out of office, even if the country is put on pause for another two years.
This is a fundamental mistake, and just as going overboard with Spartacus moments opposing the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh backfired and strengthened the Republicans in the Senate, this strategy too is likely to throw away the best opportunity Democrats had to build a lasting majority coalition by producing the results the Republicans failed to achieve.
The public ultimately was fed up with Paul Ryan, and under him Congress had about a 20 percent rating. He couldn’t get anything done, leading a fractured caucus to nowhere. He ultimately quit, along with 40 other Republicans. They literally abandoned the House, and suburban swing voters – voters who for a long time voted Republican – switched over to the Democratic Party. These voters were turned off by Trump, and frustrated by Ryan, because they fundamentally support progress and compromise. They are moderate, not liberal voters. They are not dancing in the hallway with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
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But instead, echoing Hillary Clinton’s ill-fated 2016 strategy, the Democratic leaders so far have fully planted a flag in simply opposing legislation, funding and appointments under the theory that putting lead boots on President Trump is the best way to get him out of office, even if the country is put on pause for another two years.
This is a fundamental mistake, and just as going overboard with Spartacus moments opposing the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh backfired and strengthened the Republicans in the Senate, this strategy too is likely to throw away the best opportunity Democrats had to build a lasting majority coalition by producing the results the Republicans failed to achieve.
The public ultimately was fed up with Paul Ryan, and under him Congress had about a 20 percent rating. He couldn’t get anything done, leading a fractured caucus to nowhere. He ultimately quit, along with 40 other Republicans. They literally abandoned the House, and suburban swing voters – voters who for a long time voted Republican – switched over to the Democratic Party. These voters were turned off by Trump, and frustrated by Ryan, because they fundamentally support progress and compromise. They are moderate, not liberal voters. They are not dancing in the hallway with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
More
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/mark-penn-voters-want-results-not-resistance-from-new-democratic-majority
Court Axes Obama’s Pro-Union ‘Joint Employer’ Rule
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that an Obama-era labor law that made businesses responsible for labor violations committed by contractors was too broad, Reuters reports.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in 2015 that companies and franchisers with “indirect and direct control” of employees could be held liable for labor violations committed by contractors or franchisees. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the board did not sufficiently define “indirect” control and sent the 2015 decision back to the board for a more restricted explanation.
The 2015 NLRB ruling overturned more than two decades of precedent while placing businesses at increased risk of violating labor laws. The ruling also empowered unions to negotiate directly with a franchise’s corporate headquarters if franchise employees sought to unionize.
Franchisers, companies and pro-business groups have sought to have the ruling overturned. An attempt by President Donald Trump’s NLRB fell flat after Republican board member William Emanuel was forced to retroactively recuse himself from ruling in a case that would affect the 2015 decision.
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The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in 2015 that companies and franchisers with “indirect and direct control” of employees could be held liable for labor violations committed by contractors or franchisees. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the board did not sufficiently define “indirect” control and sent the 2015 decision back to the board for a more restricted explanation.
The 2015 NLRB ruling overturned more than two decades of precedent while placing businesses at increased risk of violating labor laws. The ruling also empowered unions to negotiate directly with a franchise’s corporate headquarters if franchise employees sought to unionize.
Franchisers, companies and pro-business groups have sought to have the ruling overturned. An attempt by President Donald Trump’s NLRB fell flat after Republican board member William Emanuel was forced to retroactively recuse himself from ruling in a case that would affect the 2015 decision.
More
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