so with our revolving door justice systems for white males, he'll go in in the morning and with good behaviour at lunch he'll be out by 2pm?
Nope he’s free to roam until his appeal’s happen
He's already been denied a new trial. Appeals do not prevent someone from going to jail.
lol yes for the unprivileged!
Meh. This is a non-violent misdemeanor, so it would not surprise me if that happened. And I wouldn't have a problem with that. Very different than someone that is appealing a murder conviction.
so with our revolving door justice systems for white males, he'll go in in the morning and with good behaviour at lunch he'll be out by 2pm?
Nope he’s free to roam until his appeal’s happen
He's already been denied a new trial. Appeals do not prevent someone from going to jail.
lol yes for the unprivileged!
Meh. This is a non-violent misdemeanor, so it would not surprise me if that happened. And I wouldn't have a problem with that. Very different than someone that is appealing a murder conviction.
Where’s all the deficit hawks at, yo? From Letter From An American:
But his main point today was to demonstrate how the Democrats’ program does not, in fact, blow up the nation’s finances the way Republicans have insisted for forty years. Biden focused on the deficit, which is the gap between what the government takes in through taxes and other revenue sources and what it pays out. Republicans insist that social welfare spending racks up government debt; Biden emphasized today that the Democrats’ investment in the nation has not increased the federal deficit. Indeed, the opposite is true: today the administration announced that the deficit this year fell by $1.4 trillion. This was the largest-ever decline in the federal deficit. Last year’s drop was $350 billion.
The deficit climbed every year of the Trump presidency, including in the years before the pandemic. Trump and the Republicans added $400 billion to the deficit, primarily because of their $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthy and for corporations.
Biden was not simply talking about today’s numbers; he was making a case that government investment in ordinary Americans is better for the nation’s finances than handing more money to the wealthy, which Republicans claim will goose the economy to produce higher tax revenues and thus balance the budget. Biden was pointing out that unlike the Republicans’ supply-side economics, the Democrats’ version of the economy actually works.
The numbers prove his point. According to Politifact, Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan have exploded deficits, while Democrats have brought deficits down. Reagan sent the deficit from $70 billion to $175 billion. George H.W. Bush took it to $300 billion. Bill Clinton—with help from Bush’s willingness to raise taxes—got the deficit to zero. George W. Bush took it back up to $1.2 trillion with unfunded wars. Barack Obama cut that back to $600 billion. And Trump’s tax cuts sent it skyrocketing again, even before pandemic spending sent it higher still.
Biden’s reduction of the deficit is due in part to the end of some of those pandemic programs, in part to the booming economy which is producing high tax revenues, and in part to higher taxes on the wealthy. He highlighted it today because, as he pointed out, the Republicans are promising further tax cuts that will send the deficit soaring upward again. The pattern is for them to cut taxes for the wealthy and then, when the deficit increases, complain that there is no money for social welfare programs and that Democrats advocating them are in favor of wasteful spending.
the funny thing to me is that pence thinks he actually has a shot at winning the primary in the "hang mike pence" party.
I agree. I can't see Pence being even a footnote in this.
he has no political future. he is a laughingstock on both ends of the political spectrum.
It's roughly as laughable as people suggesting Liz Cheney might run. When neither side like you, you're not going to get very far. I know that both of them are recognized by some of the center and left as able to do the bare minimum in term of keeping the Republic intact but that doesn't mean they're going to be high on anyone's list for any elected office.
History will look on their responses to the attempted coup well. That's as much good as that's going to do for them politically.
1995 Milwaukee 1998 Alpine, Alpine 2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston 2004 Boston, Boston 2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty) 2011 Alpine, Alpine 2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
the funny thing to me is that pence thinks he actually has a shot at winning the primary in the "hang mike pence" party.
I agree. I can't see Pence being even a footnote in this.
he has no political future. he is a laughingstock on both ends of the political spectrum.
It's roughly as laughable as people suggesting Liz Cheney might run. When neither side like you, you're not going to get very far. I know that both of them are recognized by some of the center and left as able to do the bare minimum in term of keeping the Republic intact but that doesn't mean they're going to be high on anyone's list for any elected office.
History will look on their responses to the attempted coup well. That's as much good as that's going to do for them politically.
they'd have to be as charismatic as obama to even have a hope in hell. and both of them are basically stuffed shirts.
Delusional. Good night ‘Murica, it was nice knowing you. Kind of. And Roger Dodger Stoned makes an appearance. I was wondering whatever became of him?
Nearly every presenter had something to sell — a book (Flynn), a new health program (Gold), immune-boosting vitamins, blankets that promise toward off radioactive waves, travel-sized vials of anointing oil, a glittery $500 handbag in the shape of a revolver. Roger Stone — Trump’s former adviser, pardoned after his 2019 conviction for witness tampering and lying to Congress — collected money for his legal fees in a trash bag.
“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.” ― Barry M. Goldwater
the funny thing to me is that pence thinks he actually has a shot at winning the primary in the "hang mike pence" party.
I agree. I can't see Pence being even a footnote in this.
I'm just hoping that he stays in long enough to rip tRump to shreds....that will be his only saving grace and he'll have to play that card once tRump starts insulting him on a daily basis.
Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago 2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy 2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE) 2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston 2020: Oakland, Oakland:2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana 2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville 2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
the funny thing to me is that pence thinks he actually has a shot at winning the primary in the "hang mike pence" party.
I agree. I can't see Pence being even a footnote in this.
he has no political future. he is a laughingstock on both ends of the political spectrum.
It's roughly as laughable as people suggesting Liz Cheney might run. When neither side like you, you're not going to get very far. I know that both of them are recognized by some of the center and left as able to do the bare minimum in term of keeping the Republic intact but that doesn't mean they're going to be high on anyone's list for any elected office.
History will look on their responses to the attempted coup well. That's as much good as that's going to do for them politically.
Its not laughable, it's smart.
Cheney's objective is not to win outright, its to give conservatives a legitimate candidate to vote for.
If she were to get even 5% of the conservative vote, that could be enough to influence the outcome in a negative manner for Republicans
the funny thing to me is that pence thinks he actually has a shot at winning the primary in the "hang mike pence" party.
I agree. I can't see Pence being even a footnote in this.
I'm just hoping that he stays in long enough to rip tRump to shreds....that will be his only saving grace and he'll have to play that card once tRump starts insulting him on a daily basis.
he doesn't have that killer instinct I don't think.
the funny thing to me is that pence thinks he actually has a shot at winning the primary in the "hang mike pence" party.
I agree. I can't see Pence being even a footnote in this.
I'm just hoping that he stays in long enough to rip tRump to shreds....that will be his only saving grace and he'll have to play that card once tRump starts insulting him on a daily basis.
he doesn't have that killer instinct I don't think.
I don't know...yesterday someone asked him if he would vote for tRump and he said something like "maybe there will be someone else"
Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago 2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy 2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE) 2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston 2020: Oakland, Oakland:2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana 2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville 2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
Herschel Walker faces abortion allegation from 2nd accuser
By BILL BARROW and STEFANIE DAZIO
16 mins ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman came forward Wednesday to accuse Herschel Walker, the anti-abortion Republican running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, of encouraging and paying for her 1993 abortion — an accusation that came just weeks after a former girlfriend said he did the same for her in 2009.
Walker's campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press. The candidate vehemently denied a claim earlier this month from a different woman who said Walker paid for and encouraged her abortion in 2009, two years before she gave birth to their son.
The second accuser, identified only as “Jane Doe,” spoke to reporters via an audio Zoom call arranged by her lawyer Gloria Allred. The woman alleged that Walker, a former college and professional football star making his first bid for public office, pressured her into an abortion and paid for one after she became pregnant during their six-year relationship while he was married to his first wife.
“The reason I am here today is because he has publicly taken the position that he is ‘about life’ and against abortion under any circumstances when, in fact, he pressured me to have an abortion and personally ensured that it occurred by driving me to the clinic and paying for it,” the woman said. She said she was not revealing her identity because she fears “reprisals against myself, my family and my livelihood.”
“I do not believe that Herschel is morally fit to be a U.S. senator and that is the reason why I am speaking up and providing proof,” she said.
She said partisan allegiances were not a factor in her decision to come forward. She called herself a registered independent and said she voted twice for Donald Trump, the former Republican president who has endorsed Walker.
The second round of abortion allegations against Walker returned the issue to the forefront of the campaign in the final two weeks before the Nov. 8 elections. Walker is competing against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a tight race that could help determine party control of the Senate.
Walker was campaigning Wednesday in north Georgia.
Allred, speaking to reporters in her Los Angeles office, detailed, among other items, cards that she said Walker gave her client and a hotel receipt from Minnesota. Allred played audio of what she described as a telephone message that Walker allegedly left her client in 1992 after he had arrived in Europe as part of the U.S. Olympic bobsled team.
A notable women’s rights lawyer, Allred has represented several clients who have accused powerful men, including Trump and Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, of sexual assault and harassment.
Her evidence included a $575 receipt for an abortion, along with a get-well card signed by Walker and a personal check for $700 from the multimillionaire celebrity athlete. The check is dated five days after her abortion receipt.
On Wednesday, “Jane Doe” said Walker gave her cash to have an abortion after she told him she was pregnant. She alleged that she first went to a clinic alone but was unable to go through with an abortion. She said Walker was “upset” when she told him and he insisted they return the following day. She said he drove her to the clinic that day, waited in the car while the procedure occurred and then took her to fill prescriptions.
Allred declined to discuss the cost or any records of the alleged abortion, “at least at this time.”
Walker’s responses to The Daily Beast’s stories evolved from absolute denials to suggesting the signature on a get-well card wasn’t his to suggesting he did send the woman money but that he didn’t know it was to cover an abortion.
Doe said she heard Walker's denial that he ever signed anything with a lone initial “H,” as the get-well card was signed. She said she knew that wasn't true because he had signed cards to her that way.
The first woman has not been identified publicly, asking that her name not be used out of concern for her privacy. She said she is a registered Democrat who is speaking out because of what she called Walker's hypocrisy over abortion rights.
She has spoken to multiple media outlets, revealing herself to be the same woman who filed a paternity suit for child support in New York family court. She has also alleged that Walker encouraged her to end their second pregnancy, though she refused, and that Walker has seen their son only a handful of times.
Walker’s campaign has since shared with NBC News texts between his current wife and the woman acknowledging his relationship to the child.
Walker promised to sue The Daily Beast after its initial story on the abortion claim was published Oct. 3. As of Wednesday afternoon, Walker had not confirmed that he has taken any legal action against the outlet.
The reporting has put Walker on the defensive both about his claims of being a family man and his previous support for a national abortion ban, without any exceptions. That's a notable position because the Supreme Court in June ended a constitutional right to an abortion and Congress has been discussing federal legislation to set a national regulation.
During the primary campaign, Walker was consistent about his absolute opposition to abortion. He repeated that approach after winning the nomination but has since shied away from it, trying to turn the issue back on Warnock by suggesting the Democrat supports no limits on abortion access.
In their lone debate, Walker denied his previous position and said he has settled on backing Georgia's new state law that bans abortion at six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they're pregnant. That law includes exceptions for pregnancies involving rape, incest or threats to a woman's life or health.
Walker has been dogged throughout his campaign with intense scrutiny of his past.
He's been accused of repeatedly threatening his ex-wife’s life, exaggerating claims of financial and business success, suggesting he's been a sworn law enforcement officer and overstating his role in a for-profit program that is alleged to have preyed upon veterans and service members while defrauding the government.
After a story by The Daily Beast in June, Walker acknowledged the existence of three children he had not previously talked about publicly, including the son of the woman who first accused Walker of urging her to have abortions.
More than 1.1 million Georgia voters have cast ballots so far ahead of Election Day, either by mail or through advance in-person voting that began Oct. 17 and continues through Nov. 4. That is about 50% higher than at this point in 2018, the last midterm election.
With a Libertarian nominee also on the ballot, it remains possible that neither Warnock nor Walker attracts the required majority to win outright. In that case, the two would meet in a Dec. 6 runoff.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Herschel Walker faces abortion allegation from 2nd accuser
By BILL BARROW and STEFANIE DAZIO
16 mins ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman came forward Wednesday to accuse Herschel Walker, the anti-abortion Republican running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, of encouraging and paying for her 1993 abortion — an accusation that came just weeks after a former girlfriend said he did the same for her in 2009.
Walker's campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press. The candidate vehemently denied a claim earlier this month from a different woman who said Walker paid for and encouraged her abortion in 2009, two years before she gave birth to their son.
The second accuser, identified only as “Jane Doe,” spoke to reporters via an audio Zoom call arranged by her lawyer Gloria Allred. The woman alleged that Walker, a former college and professional football star making his first bid for public office, pressured her into an abortion and paid for one after she became pregnant during their six-year relationship while he was married to his first wife.
“The reason I am here today is because he has publicly taken the position that he is ‘about life’ and against abortion under any circumstances when, in fact, he pressured me to have an abortion and personally ensured that it occurred by driving me to the clinic and paying for it,” the woman said. She said she was not revealing her identity because she fears “reprisals against myself, my family and my livelihood.”
“I do not believe that Herschel is morally fit to be a U.S. senator and that is the reason why I am speaking up and providing proof,” she said.
She said partisan allegiances were not a factor in her decision to come forward. She called herself a registered independent and said she voted twice for Donald Trump, the former Republican president who has endorsed Walker.
The second round of abortion allegations against Walker returned the issue to the forefront of the campaign in the final two weeks before the Nov. 8 elections. Walker is competing against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a tight race that could help determine party control of the Senate.
Walker was campaigning Wednesday in north Georgia.
Allred, speaking to reporters in her Los Angeles office, detailed, among other items, cards that she said Walker gave her client and a hotel receipt from Minnesota. Allred played audio of what she described as a telephone message that Walker allegedly left her client in 1992 after he had arrived in Europe as part of the U.S. Olympic bobsled team.
A notable women’s rights lawyer, Allred has represented several clients who have accused powerful men, including Trump and Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, of sexual assault and harassment.
Her evidence included a $575 receipt for an abortion, along with a get-well card signed by Walker and a personal check for $700 from the multimillionaire celebrity athlete. The check is dated five days after her abortion receipt.
On Wednesday, “Jane Doe” said Walker gave her cash to have an abortion after she told him she was pregnant. She alleged that she first went to a clinic alone but was unable to go through with an abortion. She said Walker was “upset” when she told him and he insisted they return the following day. She said he drove her to the clinic that day, waited in the car while the procedure occurred and then took her to fill prescriptions.
Allred declined to discuss the cost or any records of the alleged abortion, “at least at this time.”
Walker’s responses to The Daily Beast’s stories evolved from absolute denials to suggesting the signature on a get-well card wasn’t his to suggesting he did send the woman money but that he didn’t know it was to cover an abortion.
Doe said she heard Walker's denial that he ever signed anything with a lone initial “H,” as the get-well card was signed. She said she knew that wasn't true because he had signed cards to her that way.
The first woman has not been identified publicly, asking that her name not be used out of concern for her privacy. She said she is a registered Democrat who is speaking out because of what she called Walker's hypocrisy over abortion rights.
She has spoken to multiple media outlets, revealing herself to be the same woman who filed a paternity suit for child support in New York family court. She has also alleged that Walker encouraged her to end their second pregnancy, though she refused, and that Walker has seen their son only a handful of times.
Walker’s campaign has since shared with NBC News texts between his current wife and the woman acknowledging his relationship to the child.
Walker promised to sue The Daily Beast after its initial story on the abortion claim was published Oct. 3. As of Wednesday afternoon, Walker had not confirmed that he has taken any legal action against the outlet.
The reporting has put Walker on the defensive both about his claims of being a family man and his previous support for a national abortion ban, without any exceptions. That's a notable position because the Supreme Court in June ended a constitutional right to an abortion and Congress has been discussing federal legislation to set a national regulation.
During the primary campaign, Walker was consistent about his absolute opposition to abortion. He repeated that approach after winning the nomination but has since shied away from it, trying to turn the issue back on Warnock by suggesting the Democrat supports no limits on abortion access.
In their lone debate, Walker denied his previous position and said he has settled on backing Georgia's new state law that bans abortion at six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they're pregnant. That law includes exceptions for pregnancies involving rape, incest or threats to a woman's life or health.
Walker has been dogged throughout his campaign with intense scrutiny of his past.
He's been accused of repeatedly threatening his ex-wife’s life, exaggerating claims of financial and business success, suggesting he's been a sworn law enforcement officer and overstating his role in a for-profit program that is alleged to have preyed upon veterans and service members while defrauding the government.
After a story by The Daily Beast in June, Walker acknowledged the existence of three children he had not previously talked about publicly, including the son of the woman who first accused Walker of urging her to have abortions.
More than 1.1 million Georgia voters have cast ballots so far ahead of Election Day, either by mail or through advance in-person voting that began Oct. 17 and continues through Nov. 4. That is about 50% higher than at this point in 2018, the last midterm election.
With a Libertarian nominee also on the ballot, it remains possible that neither Warnock nor Walker attracts the required majority to win outright. In that case, the two would meet in a Dec. 6 runoff.
GOP's Cheney endorsing Michigan Democrat Slotkin in a first
By THOMAS BEAUMONT
16 mins ago
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney is expected to endorse and campaign for Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, the first time that the critic of former President Donald Trump who lost her GOP primary has crossed party lines to formally support a Democrat.
Cheney, of Wyoming, planned to announce her support for the two-term House member from Holly, Michigan, on Thursday morning, according to Slotkin aides, then join her in the Lansing-area district for a public event next Tuesday.
The Slotkin aides spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the announcement publicly.
Slotkin is competing against Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett in Michigan's 7th Congressional District. Their race is considered a toss-up by both sides and one of the Republicans' chief targets in their campaign to win the House majority on Nov. 8.
Cheney and Slotkin serve on the House Armed Services Committee, but their shared background in the federal government goes back further. Cheney worked in the State Department before launching her political career, as did Slotkin, who worked in the CIA and the Defense Department as well.
“I have come to know Elissa as a good and honorable public servant," Cheney said in a statement provided to The Associated Press by Slotkin's campaign. “While Elissa and I have our policy disagreements, at a time when our nation is facing threats at home and abroad, we need serious, responsible, substantive members like Elissa in Congress."
For her part, Slotkin was an early and vocal proponent of the select committee's formation.
The AP-NORC poll also found a large segment of Republicans, 58%, still believe Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election wasn’t legitimate. That’s down slightly from 66% in July 2021. Exhaustive reviews in key states upheld Biden’s win, while judges — including some appointed by Trump — dismissed numerous lawsuits challenging the outcome. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, called the claims bogus.
“At a moment when the very heart of our democracy is being challenged, Rep. Cheney’s voice has been critical,” Slotkin said in a statement provided to the AP. “Rep. Cheney has shown tremendous leadership over the last two years, and while we certainly don’t agree on every issue, I look forward to welcoming her to Michigan’s 7th district next week."
As of two weeks ago, Michigan's 7th District was the most expensive House race in the country, according to AdImpact, a nonpartisan political media tracking company. The two campaigns and outside groups had combined to spend $27 million.
Biden received more votes than Trump in the district in 2020 by less than 1 percentage point.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I'm saddened that Liz Cheney will likely not succeed in this endeavor...I can't believe more true conservatives haven't followed suit. I get they are balancing being able to stay in power so hoping to change it from within some (Mitt) vs being able to go against the party of trump.
I'm saddened that Liz Cheney will likely not succeed in this endeavor...I can't believe more true conservatives haven't followed suit. I get they are balancing being able to stay in power so hoping to change it from within some (Mitt) vs being able to go against the party of trump.
it is actually the hang mike pence party now. even trump can't control it.
"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
As fentanyl drives overdose deaths, mistaken beliefs persist
By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Today
Lillianna Alfaro was a recent high school graduate raising a toddler and considering joining the Army when she and a friend bought what they thought was the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in December 2020.
The pills were fake and contained fentanyl, an opioid that can be 50 times as powerful as the same amount of heroin. It killed them both.
“Two years ago, I knew nothing about this,” said Holly Groelle, the mother of 19-year-old Alfaro, who lived in Appleton, Wisconsin. “I felt bad because it was something I could not have warned her about, because I didn’t know.”
The drug that killed her daughter was rare a decade ago, but fentanyl and other lab-produced synthetic opioids now are driving an overdose crisis deadlier than any the U.S. has ever seen. Last year, overdoses from all drugs claimed more than 100,000 lives for the first time, and the deaths this year have remained at nearly the same level — more than gun and auto deaths combined.
The federal government counted more accidental overdose deaths in 2021 alone than it did in the 20-year period from 1979 through 1998. Overdoses in recent years have been many times more frequent than they were during the black tar heroin epidemic that led President Richard Nixon to launch his War on Drugs, or during the cocaine crisis in the 1980s.
As fentanyl gains attention, mistaken beliefs persist about the drug, how it is trafficked and why so many people are dying.
Experts believe deaths surged not only because the drugs are so powerful, but also because fentanyl is laced into so many other illicit drugs, and not because of changes in how many people are using. In the late 2010s — the most recent period for which federal data is available — deaths were skyrocketing even as the number of people using opioids was dropping.
Advocates warn that some of the alarms being sounded by politicians and officials are wrong and potentially dangerous. Among those ideas: that tightening control of the U.S.-Mexico border would stop the flow of the drugs, though experts say the key to reining in the crisis is reducing drug demand; that fentanyl might turn up in kids' trick-or-treat baskets this Halloween; and that merely touching the drug briefly can be fatal — something that researchers found untrue and that advocates worry can make first responders hesitate about giving lifesaving treatment.
All three ideas were brought up this month in an online video billed as a pre-Halloween public service announcement from a dozen Republican U.S. senators.
A report this year from a bipartisan federal commission found that fentanyl and similar drugs are being made mostly in labs in Mexico from chemicals shipped primarily from China.
In New England, fentanyl has largely replaced the supply of heroin. Across the country, it’s being laced into drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, sometimes with deadly results. And in cases like Alfaro’s, it’s being mixed in Mexico or the U.S. with other substances and pressed into pills meant to look like other drugs.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has warned that fentanyl is being sold in multicolored pills and powders — sometimes referred to as “rainbow fentanyl" — marketed on social media to teens and young adults.
Jon DeLena, the agency’s associate special agent in charge, said at the National Crime Prevention Council summit on fentanyl in Washington this month that there’s “no direct information that Halloween is specifically being targeted or young people are being targeted for Halloween,” but that hasn’t kept that idea from spreading.
Joel Best, an emeritus sociology professor at the University of Delaware, said that idea falls in with a long line of Halloween-related scares. He has examined cases since 1958 and has not found a single instance of a child dying because of something foreign put into Halloween candy — and few instances of that being done at all.
“If you give a dose of fentanyl to kids in elementary school, you have an excellent chance of killing them,” he said. “If you do addict them, what are you going to do, try to take their lunch money? No one is trying to addict little kids to fentanyl.”
In midterm election campaigns, fentanyl is not getting as much attention as issues such as inflation and abortion. But Republicans running for offices including governor and U.S. Senate in Arkansas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania have framed the fentanyl crisis as a result of Democrats being lax about securing the Mexican border or soft on crime as part of a broader campaign assertion that Democrats foster lawlessness.
And when Democrats highlight the overdose crisis in campaigns this year, it has often been to tout their roles in forging settlements to hold drugmakers and distributors responsible.
Relying heavily on catching fentanyl at the border would be futile, experts say, because it's easy to move in small, hard-to-detect quantities.
“I don't think that reducing the supply is going to be the answer because it's so easy to mail,” said Adam Wandt, an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Still, some more efforts are planned on the U.S.-Mexico border, including increasing funding to search more vehicles crossing ports of entry. The bipartisan commission found those crossings are where most fentanyl arrives in the country.
The commission is calling for many of the measures that other advocates want to see, including better coordination of the federal response, targeted enforcement, and measures to prevent overdoses for those who use drugs.
The federal government has been funding efforts along those lines. It also publicizes bigfentanylseizures by law enforcement, though it's believed that even the largest busts make small dents in the national drug supply.
The commission stopped short of calling for increased penalties for selling fentanyl. Bryce Pardo, associate director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center and a commission staff member, said such a measure would not likely deter the drug trade. But, he said, dealers who sell the products most likely to cause death — such as mixing fentanyl into cocaine or pressing it into fake Xanax — could be targeted effectively.
One California father who lost his 20-year-old daughter is pushing for prosecutors to file murder charges against those who supply fatal doses.
Matt Capelouto's daughter Alexandra died from half a pill she bought from a dealer she found on social media in 2019, while home in Temecula, California, during a college break. She was told the pill was oxycodone, Capelouto said, but it contained fentanyl.
The dealer was charged with distributing fentanyl resulting in death, but he reached a plea deal on a lesser drug charge and will face up to 20 years in prison.
“It’s not that arresting and convicting and putting these guys behind bars doesn’t work,” Capelouto said. “The fact is we don't do it enough to make a difference."
While some people killed by fentanyl have no idea they're taking it, others, particularly those with opioid use disorder, know it is or could be in the mix. But they may not know how much is in their drugs.
That was the case for Susan Ousterman's son Tyler Cordiero, who died at 24 in 2020 from a mixture that included fentanyl after years of using heroin and other opioids.
For nearly two years, Ousterman avoided going by the gas station near their home in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, where her son fatally overdosed. But in August, she went to leave two things there: naloxone, a drug used to reverse overdoses, and a poster advertising a hotline for people using drugs to call so the operator could call for help if they become unresponsive.
Ousterman is funneling her anger and sorrow into preventing other overdoses.
“Fentanyl is everywhere,” she said. "You don’t know what's in an unregulated drug supply. You don’t know what you’re taking. You’re always taking the chance of dying every time.”
___
AP journalists Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington and Kavish Harjai in Los Angeles contributed. Harjai is a corps members for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not sure if this is the best place for this but anyway...
The ultra right wing MAGA conspiracy theorists are at it again, claiming the Paul Pelosi attack was not motivated by right-wing ideology. The relentless false claims of these people is going further and further in absurdity.
Why conspiracy theories about Paul Pelosi's assault keep circulating
It didn't take long for the news of the attack on House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi's husband, Paul, to get wrapped up in conspiracy theories.
Once the police identified the suspect in custody as David DePape,
journalists quickly identified blog posts that appeared to be written
by him. The writer of those posts embraced far-right views, including
antisemitic tropes, false claims about the 2020 election and
conspiracies about COVID vaccines. DePape's daughter told The Los Angeles Times that her father wrote the posts.
But
as details of the story emerged, many high-profile outlets and
personalities on the right quickly moved to cast doubt that the attack
was tied to someone who shared some of their beliefs.
The Gateway Pundit, a website well-known for publishing false stories, called the attack "another liberal lie." Conservative activist Dinesh D'Souza tweeted "nothing about the public account so far makes any sense."
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz shared a tweet calling the attacker "a hippie nudist
from Berkeley" and dismissed the idea that the attack was motivated by
right-wing ideology as "absurd." The new owner of Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk, retweeted a story
with lurid suggestions from a website that's notorious for publishing
falsehoods. Donald Trump Jr. also shared a meme amplifying that same
theme. All three have since deleted their posts.
Even as those posts were deleted and new facts emerged disproving various false claims about the attack, conservative media figures
continued to repeat the conspiracy theories. Nancy Pelosi, who's been
the leader of House Democrats since 2003 and is the only woman to have
served as speaker, has long been vilified by Republicans.
...more at link
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Comments
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www.headstonesband.com
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
But his main point today was to demonstrate how the Democrats’ program does not, in fact, blow up the nation’s finances the way Republicans have insisted for forty years. Biden focused on the deficit, which is the gap between what the government takes in through taxes and other revenue sources and what it pays out. Republicans insist that social welfare spending racks up government debt; Biden emphasized today that the Democrats’ investment in the nation has not increased the federal deficit. Indeed, the opposite is true: today the administration announced that the deficit this year fell by $1.4 trillion. This was the largest-ever decline in the federal deficit. Last year’s drop was $350 billion.
The deficit climbed every year of the Trump presidency, including in the years before the pandemic. Trump and the Republicans added $400 billion to the deficit, primarily because of their $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthy and for corporations.
Biden was not simply talking about today’s numbers; he was making a case that government investment in ordinary Americans is better for the nation’s finances than handing more money to the wealthy, which Republicans claim will goose the economy to produce higher tax revenues and thus balance the budget. Biden was pointing out that unlike the Republicans’ supply-side economics, the Democrats’ version of the economy actually works.
The numbers prove his point. According to Politifact, Republican presidents since Ronald Reagan have exploded deficits, while Democrats have brought deficits down. Reagan sent the deficit from $70 billion to $175 billion. George H.W. Bush took it to $300 billion. Bill Clinton—with help from Bush’s willingness to raise taxes—got the deficit to zero. George W. Bush took it back up to $1.2 trillion with unfunded wars. Barack Obama cut that back to $600 billion. And Trump’s tax cuts sent it skyrocketing again, even before pandemic spending sent it higher still.
Biden’s reduction of the deficit is due in part to the end of some of those pandemic programs, in part to the booming economy which is producing high tax revenues, and in part to higher taxes on the wealthy. He highlighted it today because, as he pointed out, the Republicans are promising further tax cuts that will send the deficit soaring upward again. The pattern is for them to cut taxes for the wealthy and then, when the deficit increases, complain that there is no money for social welfare programs and that Democrats advocating them are in favor of wasteful spending.
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
History will look on their responses to the attempted coup well. That's as much good as that's going to do for them politically.
2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
Their America Is Vanishing. Like Trump, They Insist They Were Cheated.
The white majority is fading, the economy is changing and there’s a pervasive sense of loss in districts where Republicans fought the outcome of the 2020 election.
By MICHAEL H. KELLER and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
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www.headstonesband.com
Nearly every presenter had something to sell — a book (Flynn), a new health program (Gold), immune-boosting vitamins, blankets that promise to ward off radioactive waves, travel-sized vials of anointing oil, a glittery $500 handbag in the shape of a revolver. Roger Stone — Trump’s former adviser, pardoned after his 2019 conviction for witness tampering and lying to Congress — collected money for his legal fees in a trash bag.
Gift article.
https://wapo.st/3TxaJl9
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
Its not laughable, it's smart.
Cheney's objective is not to win outright, its to give conservatives a legitimate candidate to vote for.
If she were to get even 5% of the conservative vote, that could be enough to influence the outcome in a negative manner for Republicans
www.headstonesband.com
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy
2013: London ON, Wrigley; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
2024: Noblesville, Wrigley, Wrigley, Ohana, Ohana
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman came forward Wednesday to accuse Herschel Walker, the anti-abortion Republican running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, of encouraging and paying for her 1993 abortion — an accusation that came just weeks after a former girlfriend said he did the same for her in 2009.
Walker's campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press. The candidate vehemently denied a claim earlier this month from a different woman who said Walker paid for and encouraged her abortion in 2009, two years before she gave birth to their son.
The second accuser, identified only as “Jane Doe,” spoke to reporters via an audio Zoom call arranged by her lawyer Gloria Allred. The woman alleged that Walker, a former college and professional football star making his first bid for public office, pressured her into an abortion and paid for one after she became pregnant during their six-year relationship while he was married to his first wife.
“The reason I am here today is because he has publicly taken the position that he is ‘about life’ and against abortion under any circumstances when, in fact, he pressured me to have an abortion and personally ensured that it occurred by driving me to the clinic and paying for it,” the woman said. She said she was not revealing her identity because she fears “reprisals against myself, my family and my livelihood.”
EXPLAINING THE ELECTIONS
EXPLAINER: Why might live election results fluctuate?
EXPLAINER: Which states put marijuana on the ballot in 2022?
A swing state no more? GOP confidence grows in Florida
Control of Congress: What's at play in the 2022 midterms?
“I do not believe that Herschel is morally fit to be a U.S. senator and that is the reason why I am speaking up and providing proof,” she said.
She said partisan allegiances were not a factor in her decision to come forward. She called herself a registered independent and said she voted twice for Donald Trump, the former Republican president who has endorsed Walker.
The second round of abortion allegations against Walker returned the issue to the forefront of the campaign in the final two weeks before the Nov. 8 elections. Walker is competing against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a tight race that could help determine party control of the Senate.
Walker was campaigning Wednesday in north Georgia.
Allred, speaking to reporters in her Los Angeles office, detailed, among other items, cards that she said Walker gave her client and a hotel receipt from Minnesota. Allred played audio of what she described as a telephone message that Walker allegedly left her client in 1992 after he had arrived in Europe as part of the U.S. Olympic bobsled team.
A notable women’s rights lawyer, Allred has represented several clients who have accused powerful men, including Trump and Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, of sexual assault and harassment.
When The Daily Beast broke the story this month of the first abortion allegation, Walker insisted he had no idea who could make such a claim, but that was undermined by a follow-up report in which the woman identified herself as the mother of one of his children.
Her evidence included a $575 receipt for an abortion, along with a get-well card signed by Walker and a personal check for $700 from the multimillionaire celebrity athlete. The check is dated five days after her abortion receipt.
On Wednesday, “Jane Doe” said Walker gave her cash to have an abortion after she told him she was pregnant. She alleged that she first went to a clinic alone but was unable to go through with an abortion. She said Walker was “upset” when she told him and he insisted they return the following day. She said he drove her to the clinic that day, waited in the car while the procedure occurred and then took her to fill prescriptions.
Allred declined to discuss the cost or any records of the alleged abortion, “at least at this time.”
Walker’s responses to The Daily Beast’s stories evolved from absolute denials to suggesting the signature on a get-well card wasn’t his to suggesting he did send the woman money but that he didn’t know it was to cover an abortion.
Doe said she heard Walker's denial that he ever signed anything with a lone initial “H,” as the get-well card was signed. She said she knew that wasn't true because he had signed cards to her that way.
The first woman has not been identified publicly, asking that her name not be used out of concern for her privacy. She said she is a registered Democrat who is speaking out because of what she called Walker's hypocrisy over abortion rights.
She has spoken to multiple media outlets, revealing herself to be the same woman who filed a paternity suit for child support in New York family court. She has also alleged that Walker encouraged her to end their second pregnancy, though she refused, and that Walker has seen their son only a handful of times.
Walker’s campaign has since shared with NBC News texts between his current wife and the woman acknowledging his relationship to the child.
Walker promised to sue The Daily Beast after its initial story on the abortion claim was published Oct. 3. As of Wednesday afternoon, Walker had not confirmed that he has taken any legal action against the outlet.
The reporting has put Walker on the defensive both about his claims of being a family man and his previous support for a national abortion ban, without any exceptions. That's a notable position because the Supreme Court in June ended a constitutional right to an abortion and Congress has been discussing federal legislation to set a national regulation.
During the primary campaign, Walker was consistent about his absolute opposition to abortion. He repeated that approach after winning the nomination but has since shied away from it, trying to turn the issue back on Warnock by suggesting the Democrat supports no limits on abortion access.
In their lone debate, Walker denied his previous position and said he has settled on backing Georgia's new state law that bans abortion at six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they're pregnant. That law includes exceptions for pregnancies involving rape, incest or threats to a woman's life or health.
Walker has been dogged throughout his campaign with intense scrutiny of his past.
He's been accused of repeatedly threatening his ex-wife’s life, exaggerating claims of financial and business success, suggesting he's been a sworn law enforcement officer and overstating his role in a for-profit program that is alleged to have preyed upon veterans and service members while defrauding the government.
After a story by The Daily Beast in June, Walker acknowledged the existence of three children he had not previously talked about publicly, including the son of the woman who first accused Walker of urging her to have abortions.
More than 1.1 million Georgia voters have cast ballots so far ahead of Election Day, either by mail or through advance in-person voting that began Oct. 17 and continues through Nov. 4. That is about 50% higher than at this point in 2018, the last midterm election.
With a Libertarian nominee also on the ballot, it remains possible that neither Warnock nor Walker attracts the required majority to win outright. In that case, the two would meet in a Dec. 6 runoff.
___
Barrow reported from Atlanta.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections
Check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the 2022 midterm elections.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney is expected to endorse and campaign for Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, the first time that the critic of former President Donald Trump who lost her GOP primary has crossed party lines to formally support a Democrat.
Cheney, of Wyoming, planned to announce her support for the two-term House member from Holly, Michigan, on Thursday morning, according to Slotkin aides, then join her in the Lansing-area district for a public event next Tuesday.
The Slotkin aides spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the announcement publicly.
Slotkin is competing against Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett in Michigan's 7th Congressional District. Their race is considered a toss-up by both sides and one of the Republicans' chief targets in their campaign to win the House majority on Nov. 8.
Cheney and Slotkin serve on the House Armed Services Committee, but their shared background in the federal government goes back further. Cheney worked in the State Department before launching her political career, as did Slotkin, who worked in the CIA and the Defense Department as well.
Both have been vocal critics of House Republicans who have sought to downplay the siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Cheney is vice chair of the House Jan. 6 committee, which recently issued a subpoena for Trump to testify.
EXPLAINING THE ELECTIONS
EXPLAINER: Why might live election results fluctuate?
EXPLAINER: Which states put marijuana on the ballot in 2022?
A swing state no more? GOP confidence grows in Florida
Control of Congress: What's at play in the 2022 midterms?
“I have come to know Elissa as a good and honorable public servant," Cheney said in a statement provided to The Associated Press by Slotkin's campaign. “While Elissa and I have our policy disagreements, at a time when our nation is facing threats at home and abroad, we need serious, responsible, substantive members like Elissa in Congress."
For her part, Slotkin was an early and vocal proponent of the select committee's formation.
Cheney's role in the investigation into the violent breach of the Capitol and her unsparing criticism of Trump, a fellow Republican whom she described as “clearly unfit for future office," cost her reelection to Wyoming's at-large House seat. After her defeat in the August primary, she said she was considering a 2024 presidential campaign, which Trump is also expected to wage.
Though it's unclear how the Jan. 6 attack will be reflected in the midterm voting, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll this month found only 9% of U.S. adults think democracy is working “extremely” well or “very well" while 52% say it’s not working well.
The AP-NORC poll also found a large segment of Republicans, 58%, still believe Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential election wasn’t legitimate. That’s down slightly from 66% in July 2021. Exhaustive reviews in key states upheld Biden’s win, while judges — including some appointed by Trump — dismissed numerous lawsuits challenging the outcome. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, called the claims bogus.
“At a moment when the very heart of our democracy is being challenged, Rep. Cheney’s voice has been critical,” Slotkin said in a statement provided to the AP. “Rep. Cheney has shown tremendous leadership over the last two years, and while we certainly don’t agree on every issue, I look forward to welcoming her to Michigan’s 7th district next week."
As of two weeks ago, Michigan's 7th District was the most expensive House race in the country, according to AdImpact, a nonpartisan political media tracking company. The two campaigns and outside groups had combined to spend $27 million.
Biden received more votes than Trump in the district in 2020 by less than 1 percentage point.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2022 midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections. And check out https://apnews.com/hub/explaining-the-elections to learn more about the issues and factors at play in the midterms.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Lillianna Alfaro was a recent high school graduate raising a toddler and considering joining the Army when she and a friend bought what they thought was the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in December 2020.
The pills were fake and contained fentanyl, an opioid that can be 50 times as powerful as the same amount of heroin. It killed them both.
“Two years ago, I knew nothing about this,” said Holly Groelle, the mother of 19-year-old Alfaro, who lived in Appleton, Wisconsin. “I felt bad because it was something I could not have warned her about, because I didn’t know.”
The drug that killed her daughter was rare a decade ago, but fentanyl and other lab-produced synthetic opioids now are driving an overdose crisis deadlier than any the U.S. has ever seen. Last year, overdoses from all drugs claimed more than 100,000 lives for the first time, and the deaths this year have remained at nearly the same level — more than gun and auto deaths combined.
The federal government counted more accidental overdose deaths in 2021 alone than it did in the 20-year period from 1979 through 1998. Overdoses in recent years have been many times more frequent than they were during the black tar heroin epidemic that led President Richard Nixon to launch his War on Drugs, or during the cocaine crisis in the 1980s.
As fentanyl gains attention, mistaken beliefs persist about the drug, how it is trafficked and why so many people are dying.
Experts believe deaths surged not only because the drugs are so powerful, but also because fentanyl is laced into so many other illicit drugs, and not because of changes in how many people are using. In the late 2010s — the most recent period for which federal data is available — deaths were skyrocketing even as the number of people using opioids was dropping.
Advocates warn that some of the alarms being sounded by politicians and officials are wrong and potentially dangerous. Among those ideas: that tightening control of the U.S.-Mexico border would stop the flow of the drugs, though experts say the key to reining in the crisis is reducing drug demand; that fentanyl might turn up in kids' trick-or-treat baskets this Halloween; and that merely touching the drug briefly can be fatal — something that researchers found untrue and that advocates worry can make first responders hesitate about giving lifesaving treatment.
All three ideas were brought up this month in an online video billed as a pre-Halloween public service announcement from a dozen Republican U.S. senators.
A report this year from a bipartisan federal commission found that fentanyl and similar drugs are being made mostly in labs in Mexico from chemicals shipped primarily from China.
In New England, fentanyl has largely replaced the supply of heroin. Across the country, it’s being laced into drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine, sometimes with deadly results. And in cases like Alfaro’s, it’s being mixed in Mexico or the U.S. with other substances and pressed into pills meant to look like other drugs.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has warned that fentanyl is being sold in multicolored pills and powders — sometimes referred to as “rainbow fentanyl" — marketed on social media to teens and young adults.
OPIOIDS
AP Exclusive: Colleges got millions from opioid maker owners
Who are the Sacklers, the family behind maker of OxyContin?
Regional opioid strike force makes 1st arrest, in Maine
2-year-old overdoses on fentanyl, parents arrested
Jon DeLena, the agency’s associate special agent in charge, said at the National Crime Prevention Council summit on fentanyl in Washington this month that there’s “no direct information that Halloween is specifically being targeted or young people are being targeted for Halloween,” but that hasn’t kept that idea from spreading.
Joel Best, an emeritus sociology professor at the University of Delaware, said that idea falls in with a long line of Halloween-related scares. He has examined cases since 1958 and has not found a single instance of a child dying because of something foreign put into Halloween candy — and few instances of that being done at all.
“If you give a dose of fentanyl to kids in elementary school, you have an excellent chance of killing them,” he said. “If you do addict them, what are you going to do, try to take their lunch money? No one is trying to addict little kids to fentanyl.”
In midterm election campaigns, fentanyl is not getting as much attention as issues such as inflation and abortion. But Republicans running for offices including governor and U.S. Senate in Arkansas, New Mexico and Pennsylvania have framed the fentanyl crisis as a result of Democrats being lax about securing the Mexican border or soft on crime as part of a broader campaign assertion that Democrats foster lawlessness.
And when Democrats highlight the overdose crisis in campaigns this year, it has often been to tout their roles in forging settlements to hold drugmakers and distributors responsible.
Relying heavily on catching fentanyl at the border would be futile, experts say, because it's easy to move in small, hard-to-detect quantities.
“I don't think that reducing the supply is going to be the answer because it's so easy to mail,” said Adam Wandt, an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Still, some more efforts are planned on the U.S.-Mexico border, including increasing funding to search more vehicles crossing ports of entry. The bipartisan commission found those crossings are where most fentanyl arrives in the country.
The commission is calling for many of the measures that other advocates want to see, including better coordination of the federal response, targeted enforcement, and measures to prevent overdoses for those who use drugs.
The federal government has been funding efforts along those lines. It also publicizes bigfentanylseizures by law enforcement, though it's believed that even the largest busts make small dents in the national drug supply.
The commission stopped short of calling for increased penalties for selling fentanyl. Bryce Pardo, associate director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center and a commission staff member, said such a measure would not likely deter the drug trade. But, he said, dealers who sell the products most likely to cause death — such as mixing fentanyl into cocaine or pressing it into fake Xanax — could be targeted effectively.
One California father who lost his 20-year-old daughter is pushing for prosecutors to file murder charges against those who supply fatal doses.
Matt Capelouto's daughter Alexandra died from half a pill she bought from a dealer she found on social media in 2019, while home in Temecula, California, during a college break. She was told the pill was oxycodone, Capelouto said, but it contained fentanyl.
The dealer was charged with distributing fentanyl resulting in death, but he reached a plea deal on a lesser drug charge and will face up to 20 years in prison.
“It’s not that arresting and convicting and putting these guys behind bars doesn’t work,” Capelouto said. “The fact is we don't do it enough to make a difference."
While some people killed by fentanyl have no idea they're taking it, others, particularly those with opioid use disorder, know it is or could be in the mix. But they may not know how much is in their drugs.
That was the case for Susan Ousterman's son Tyler Cordiero, who died at 24 in 2020 from a mixture that included fentanyl after years of using heroin and other opioids.
For nearly two years, Ousterman avoided going by the gas station near their home in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, where her son fatally overdosed. But in August, she went to leave two things there: naloxone, a drug used to reverse overdoses, and a poster advertising a hotline for people using drugs to call so the operator could call for help if they become unresponsive.
Ousterman is funneling her anger and sorrow into preventing other overdoses.
“Fentanyl is everywhere,” she said. "You don’t know what's in an unregulated drug supply. You don’t know what you’re taking. You’re always taking the chance of dying every time.”
___
AP journalists Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington and Kavish Harjai in Los Angeles contributed. Harjai is a corps members for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
___
For more AP coverage of the opioid crisis: https://apnews.com/hub/opioids
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Why conspiracy theories about Paul Pelosi's assault keep circulating
It didn't take long for the news of the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, to get wrapped up in conspiracy theories.
Once the police identified the suspect in custody as David DePape, journalists quickly identified blog posts that appeared to be written by him. The writer of those posts embraced far-right views, including antisemitic tropes, false claims about the 2020 election and conspiracies about COVID vaccines. DePape's daughter told The Los Angeles Times that her father wrote the posts.
But as details of the story emerged, many high-profile outlets and personalities on the right quickly moved to cast doubt that the attack was tied to someone who shared some of their beliefs.
The Gateway Pundit, a website well-known for publishing false stories, called the attack "another liberal lie." Conservative activist Dinesh D'Souza tweeted "nothing about the public account so far makes any sense."
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz shared a tweet calling the attacker "a hippie nudist from Berkeley" and dismissed the idea that the attack was motivated by right-wing ideology as "absurd." The new owner of Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk, retweeted a story with lurid suggestions from a website that's notorious for publishing falsehoods. Donald Trump Jr. also shared a meme amplifying that same theme. All three have since deleted their posts.
Even as those posts were deleted and new facts emerged disproving various false claims about the attack, conservative media figures continued to repeat the conspiracy theories. Nancy Pelosi, who's been the leader of House Democrats since 2003 and is the only woman to have served as speaker, has long been vilified by Republicans.
...more at link