In todays news...
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Re: In todays news...
As fentanyl deaths surge in California, lawmakers kill bills that would punish dealers..
SACRAMENTO —
As thousands of Californians die each year from drug overdoses fueled by fentanyl, a bitter fight has emerged in Sacramento over how lawmakers can hold dealers accountable without refilling state prisons and waging another “war on drugs.”
On one side of the debate are Republicans and moderate Democrats calling for stronger criminal penalties for dealers who sell the deadly drug, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and contributed to nearly 6,000 overdose deaths in California in 2021.
On the other are left-leaning Democrats who’ve spent the last decade retooling the state’s penal code to favor treatment and rehabilitation over long prison sentences, and who are reluctant to embrace policies they fear could devastate Black and brown communities.
The disagreement reached a boiling point this week at the state Capitol, as Californians whose family members died from fentanyl overdoses packed a hearing room where Democrats voted down a bipartisan bill that would require warning convicted fentanyl dealers that they could face homicide charges if they sell it again. Meanwhile, a Democratic lawmaker shelved several other bills to increase sentences for fentanyl dealers.
“I was around during the crack cocaine epidemic, and this is really very similar to the hysteria around crack cocaine,” said Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat who chairs the Public Safety Committee. “And we rushed to come up with a solution, instead of looking at it from both a public health crisis and a public safety crisis and to bring them both together.”
A desire to not repeat that history led him to shelve several fentanyl bills for the rest of this year, Jones-Sawyer said. He said many of the proposals focused on “how can we fill up the prisons again” instead of a long-term solution to addiction.
Jones-Sawyer said he wants the Legislature’s approach to align with recent funding and enforcement actions on fentanyl from Gov. Gavin Newsom and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta. Newsom proposed nearly $100 million in the 2023-24 budget for prevention, treatment and education efforts, and expanded the California National Guard’s operations at the border. Bonta has also ramped up enforcement, leading to the increased seizure of fentanyl pills and powder.
The Legislature’s public safety committees have a record of sidelining bills that would lengthen prison sentences or create new crimes, because the Democrats who control them do not want California to incarcerate more people. But the severity of the fentanyl crisis has invited criticism of that commitment and forced a broader discussion over what role the criminal justice system should have in solving the problem.
“Fentanyl is causing an unbelievable number of deaths, and the trajectory is, unfortunately, headed in the wrong direction,” state Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange) said at a hearing for Senate Bill 44 before it was voted down.
The proposal would have required courts to provide a written admonishment to those convicted of fentanyl drug offenses, warning them of criminal liabilities if they sell a fentanyl product that kills another person.
The proposal could make it easier to secure a future conviction, because the warning could be used as evidence for prosecutors to prove that a defendant was aware of the risks in drug dealing. It was modeled after the state’s DUI Advisory, which is used to deter repeated drunk driving. Two other versions of the bill have failed to pass the committee in recent years.
State Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, a Yucaipa Republican who co-authored SB 44 , fought back tears during the hearing as family members spoke of those lost to overdoses. She said she was “heartbroken” by the bill’s defeat.
“Make no mistake. A policy like SB 44 would make a difference,” Ochoa Bogh said.
Umberg asked for reconsideration of the bill, which means it could soon get another vote. But he’ll likely have to accept an amendment proposed by Democrats to limit the bill to dealers who explicitly know they are selling fentanyl or laced products — a recommendation he has so far rejected.
State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) said the proposal was reminiscent of the tough-on-crime era of the 1980s and ’90s that led to thousands of Black and brown people serving life sentences for drug offenses.
“Simply making it easier to prosecute someone for murder will not address or solve this problem,” Bradford said.
Jones-Sawyer plans to hold an informal hearing this fall, when the Legislature is not in session, at which everyone who has a stake in solving the fentanyl crisis will have a seat at the table, he says. That means holding off until then on considering legislation like Assembly Bill 367, which would have increased criminal penalties for those who sell, furnish, administer or give away fentanyl products that result in great bodily injury.
“I felt like fentanyl is such a serious issue that it could pass the committee,” said Assemblymember Brian Maienschein, a San Diego Democrat and author of AB 367.
Watching in the hearing room as the Senate panel killed SB 44 was Matt Capelouto of Riverside County. The bill is called “Alexandra’s Law” in honor of his 20-year-old daughter, who died after taking a fentanyl pill that she bought from a dealer on Snapchat while she was home from school for the holidays.
“What are the politicians of the Public Safety Committee, the people charged with protecting the lives and livelihoods of their constituents, actually doing? What are they doing about the drug dealers, the people responsible for knowingly jeopardizing the lives of the people they trade dollars for death to?” Capelouto said after the hearing.
“I’ll tell you what they’re doing,” he said. “Nothing.”
SACRAMENTO —
As thousands of Californians die each year from drug overdoses fueled by fentanyl, a bitter fight has emerged in Sacramento over how lawmakers can hold dealers accountable without refilling state prisons and waging another “war on drugs.”
On one side of the debate are Republicans and moderate Democrats calling for stronger criminal penalties for dealers who sell the deadly drug, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and contributed to nearly 6,000 overdose deaths in California in 2021.
On the other are left-leaning Democrats who’ve spent the last decade retooling the state’s penal code to favor treatment and rehabilitation over long prison sentences, and who are reluctant to embrace policies they fear could devastate Black and brown communities.
The disagreement reached a boiling point this week at the state Capitol, as Californians whose family members died from fentanyl overdoses packed a hearing room where Democrats voted down a bipartisan bill that would require warning convicted fentanyl dealers that they could face homicide charges if they sell it again. Meanwhile, a Democratic lawmaker shelved several other bills to increase sentences for fentanyl dealers.
“I was around during the crack cocaine epidemic, and this is really very similar to the hysteria around crack cocaine,” said Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat who chairs the Public Safety Committee. “And we rushed to come up with a solution, instead of looking at it from both a public health crisis and a public safety crisis and to bring them both together.”
A desire to not repeat that history led him to shelve several fentanyl bills for the rest of this year, Jones-Sawyer said. He said many of the proposals focused on “how can we fill up the prisons again” instead of a long-term solution to addiction.
Jones-Sawyer said he wants the Legislature’s approach to align with recent funding and enforcement actions on fentanyl from Gov. Gavin Newsom and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta. Newsom proposed nearly $100 million in the 2023-24 budget for prevention, treatment and education efforts, and expanded the California National Guard’s operations at the border. Bonta has also ramped up enforcement, leading to the increased seizure of fentanyl pills and powder.
The Legislature’s public safety committees have a record of sidelining bills that would lengthen prison sentences or create new crimes, because the Democrats who control them do not want California to incarcerate more people. But the severity of the fentanyl crisis has invited criticism of that commitment and forced a broader discussion over what role the criminal justice system should have in solving the problem.
“Fentanyl is causing an unbelievable number of deaths, and the trajectory is, unfortunately, headed in the wrong direction,” state Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange) said at a hearing for Senate Bill 44 before it was voted down.
The proposal would have required courts to provide a written admonishment to those convicted of fentanyl drug offenses, warning them of criminal liabilities if they sell a fentanyl product that kills another person.
The proposal could make it easier to secure a future conviction, because the warning could be used as evidence for prosecutors to prove that a defendant was aware of the risks in drug dealing. It was modeled after the state’s DUI Advisory, which is used to deter repeated drunk driving. Two other versions of the bill have failed to pass the committee in recent years.
State Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, a Yucaipa Republican who co-authored SB 44 , fought back tears during the hearing as family members spoke of those lost to overdoses. She said she was “heartbroken” by the bill’s defeat.
“Make no mistake. A policy like SB 44 would make a difference,” Ochoa Bogh said.
Umberg asked for reconsideration of the bill, which means it could soon get another vote. But he’ll likely have to accept an amendment proposed by Democrats to limit the bill to dealers who explicitly know they are selling fentanyl or laced products — a recommendation he has so far rejected.
State Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) said the proposal was reminiscent of the tough-on-crime era of the 1980s and ’90s that led to thousands of Black and brown people serving life sentences for drug offenses.
“Simply making it easier to prosecute someone for murder will not address or solve this problem,” Bradford said.
Jones-Sawyer plans to hold an informal hearing this fall, when the Legislature is not in session, at which everyone who has a stake in solving the fentanyl crisis will have a seat at the table, he says. That means holding off until then on considering legislation like Assembly Bill 367, which would have increased criminal penalties for those who sell, furnish, administer or give away fentanyl products that result in great bodily injury.
“I felt like fentanyl is such a serious issue that it could pass the committee,” said Assemblymember Brian Maienschein, a San Diego Democrat and author of AB 367.
Watching in the hearing room as the Senate panel killed SB 44 was Matt Capelouto of Riverside County. The bill is called “Alexandra’s Law” in honor of his 20-year-old daughter, who died after taking a fentanyl pill that she bought from a dealer on Snapchat while she was home from school for the holidays.
“What are the politicians of the Public Safety Committee, the people charged with protecting the lives and livelihoods of their constituents, actually doing? What are they doing about the drug dealers, the people responsible for knowingly jeopardizing the lives of the people they trade dollars for death to?” Capelouto said after the hearing.
“I’ll tell you what they’re doing,” he said. “Nothing.”
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Noggin
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Re: In todays news...
And a catch net!!MrLongbeard wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:19 pm I've always said our po po cars should have nudge bars fitted
Life is for living. Buy the shoes. Eat the cake. Ride the bikes. Just, ride the bikes!! 
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ZRX61
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Mr. Dazzle
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Re: In todays news...
Doesn't seem that bigirie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 6:39 pm This is a big deal.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 022-02-18/
0.08% boost
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65124741
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irie
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Re: In todays news...
Think past the present ...Mr. Dazzle wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:16 amDoesn't seem that bigirie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 6:39 pm This is a big deal.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 022-02-18/
0.08% boost
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65124741
It is ironic that at exactly the same time as the UK is joining the CPTPP trade agreement (and can therefore no longer rejoin the EU), the EU's backtracking on phasing out internal combustion car engines has comprehensively pulled the rug from underneath the bleating Remainers who argue that the EU is a responsible green/eco organisation!
"Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people." - Giordano Bruno
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Mr. Dazzle
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Re: In todays news...
NOt sure I'd agree with the word "comprehensive" there.
The EU have now made it official law that you can't sell CO2 producing combustion engines after 2035. The 'backtracking' allows for carbon neutral synthetic fuels, which honestly IMO is just pandering to a few German manufacturers who still want to sell ultra high margin supercars to the wealthy few. No normal cars are gonna be combustion engined.
How is this ^ law "comprehensively" pulling the rug out from the argument? It's not actually an argument I would have made FWIW, but I don't see how this is a "Gotcha!" moment.
The EU have now made it official law that you can't sell CO2 producing combustion engines after 2035. The 'backtracking' allows for carbon neutral synthetic fuels, which honestly IMO is just pandering to a few German manufacturers who still want to sell ultra high margin supercars to the wealthy few. No normal cars are gonna be combustion engined.
How is this ^ law "comprehensively" pulling the rug out from the argument? It's not actually an argument I would have made FWIW, but I don't see how this is a "Gotcha!" moment.
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Horse
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Re: In todays news...
I guess he means 'beyond'? Or is that a 'Back to the Future' reference?
Presumably we could leave the CPTPP just as easily as we left the EU?
Even bland can be a type of character 
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irie
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Re: In todays news...
Betcha all EU car manufacturers will take advantage of this convenient get-out, including the French car industry of course.Mr. Dazzle wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:41 am NOt sure I'd agree with the word "comprehensive" there.
The EU have now made it official law that you can't sell CO2 producing combustion engines after 2035. The 'backtracking' allows for carbon neutral synthetic fuels, which honestly IMO is just pandering to a few German manufacturers who still want to sell ultra high margin supercars to the wealthy few. No normal cars are gonna be combustion engined.
How is this ^ law "comprehensively" pulling the rug out from the argument? It's not actually an argument I would have made FWIW, but I don't see how this is a "Gotcha!" moment.
"Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people." - Giordano Bruno
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Mr. Dazzle
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Re: In todays news...
I reckon they think they might, but when you look at the numbers it just doesn't add up. E-fuels are always going to be massively more expensive than alternatives if you set yourself the target of being (genuinely) carbon neutral. It may look from the outside as if ICE will live on like it is now, but it won't. It'll be the preserve of the very wealthy or the very enthusiastic. Both are the sorts of people who'll pay for high very profit margin cars 
It's the Italians and the Germans who actually make those sorts of cars.
It's the Italians and the Germans who actually make those sorts of cars.
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gremlin
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Re: In todays news...
Woman given a warning after being naked...in a changing room. 
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65133860
"The Terrigal Surf Lifesaving Club, located about an hour's drive north of Sydney, put up signs in its changing rooms advising "no nudity", and directing members to shower in their swimming costumes and change under towels."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65133860
"The Terrigal Surf Lifesaving Club, located about an hour's drive north of Sydney, put up signs in its changing rooms advising "no nudity", and directing members to shower in their swimming costumes and change under towels."
All aboard the Peckham Pigeon! All aboard!
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irie
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Re: In todays news...
Mr. Dazzle wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 11:53 am I reckon they think they might, but when you look at the numbers it just doesn't add up. E-fuels are always going to be massively more expensive than alternatives if you set yourself the target of being (genuinely) carbon neutral. It may look from the outside as if ICE will live on like it is now, but it won't. It'll be the preserve of the very wealthy or the very enthusiastic. Both are the sorts of people who'll pay for high very profit margin cars
It's the Italians and the Germans who actually make those sorts of cars.
Genuinely "Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people." - Giordano Bruno
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Yambo
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Re: In todays news...
I wonder if they allow trans-women in the womens' changing rooms.gremlin wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:54 pm Woman given a warning after being naked...in a changing room.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65133860
"The Terrigal Surf Lifesaving Club, located about an hour's drive north of Sydney, put up signs in its changing rooms advising "no nudity", and directing members to shower in their swimming costumes and change under towels."
Re: In todays news...
It's probably more to do with Germany realising that it'll really hurt their economy...irie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:31 amThink past the present ...Mr. Dazzle wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:16 amDoesn't seem that bigirie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 6:39 pm This is a big deal.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 022-02-18/
0.08% boost
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65124741
It is ironic that at exactly the same time as the UK is joining the CPTPP trade agreement (and can therefore no longer rejoin the EU), the EU's backtracking on phasing out internal combustion car engines has comprehensively pulled the rug from underneath the bleating Remainers who argue that the EU is a responsible green/eco organisation!
https://www.ft.com/content/c763c4f2-1f1 ... 6af4f6f5be
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demographic
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Re: In todays news...
Aye, a 0.08% boost compared to a 4% decrease due to Brexit.Mr. Dazzle wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:16 amDoesn't seem that bigirie wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 6:39 pm This is a big deal.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ ... 022-02-18/
0.08% boost
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65124741
Wow, lets join now...
I'm sure Irie is just having a little joke cos nobody in their right mind would do that swap.
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irie
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Re: In todays news...
Indeed it would because the EU would be flooded with relatively cheap Chinese EV vehicles.Ant wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 5:41 pmIt's probably more to do with Germany realising that it'll really hurt their economy...irie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:31 amThink past the present ...Mr. Dazzle wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:16 am
Doesn't seem that big
0.08% boost
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65124741
It is ironic that at exactly the same time as the UK is joining the CPTPP trade agreement (and can therefore no longer rejoin the EU), the EU's backtracking on phasing out internal combustion car engines has comprehensively pulled the rug from underneath the bleating Remainers who argue that the EU is a responsible green/eco organisation!
https://www.ft.com/content/c763c4f2-1f1 ... 6af4f6f5be
"Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people." - Giordano Bruno
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Mr. Dazzle
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Re: In todays news...
No chance. The super elite anti competition EU wouldn't allow anyone else to have a slice of the market....irie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 7:05 pmIndeed it would because the EU would be flooded with relatively cheap Chinese EV vehicles.Ant wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 5:41 pmIt's probably more to do with Germany realising that it'll really hurt their economy...irie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:31 am
Think past the present ...
It is ironic that at exactly the same time as the UK is joining the CPTPP trade agreement (and can therefore no longer rejoin the EU), the EU's backtracking on phasing out internal combustion car engines has comprehensively pulled the rug from underneath the bleating Remainers who argue that the EU is a responsible green/eco organisation!
https://www.ft.com/content/c763c4f2-1f1 ... 6af4f6f5be