SquarePegDemLives

SusieQ’s husband. Dad to Maxwell and Xavier. NY Post editorial board member. Recovering politician & ex-assemblyman (2003-2011). Syracuse U Orangeman.

[Michael Benjamin @SquarePegDemPod]

The Trump-Nixon-NY Knicks Connection https://t.co/WYJYkHW4ON

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

Tens of thousands of Jews are gathering in Jerusalem as Jerusalem Day celebrations begin.

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

Progress is under way on my YouTube channel. Subscribe today.
https://t.co/x26MWvoRvW

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

Stay tuned.

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@rkylesmith @EsotericCD But isn't everything on TV derivative? The "original" TV shows were derivations of radio shows and Hollywood movies. This lawsuit against Noah Wylie is stupid and reveals how self-absorbed some of these Hollywood denizens are.

[Washington Examiner @dcexaminer]

Most students lag half a grade behind in reading scores: Report https://t.co/2yTS2QpHeu

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@CrimeInNYC Where's the crowd control?

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@guns_ny Very true. Recently, I learned that the Sidney Poitier film, To Sir, With Love, was written by a Caribbean RAF pilot who became a teacher after British Airways refused to hire him.

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@CrimeInNYC Protecting the public health is a more than century-old mandate. Street food sold by unlicensed vendors is a food-borne disease threat. Are any of these immigrants and/or their children vaccinated against diseases NYC conquered decades ago?

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@guns_ny ✌️✌️ refers to the "Double Victory" African Americans sought with their service in WWII (although there some who didn't want their participation). [Did you know Sikhs & Caribbean blacks flew combat missions in the RAF? Or that West Africans fought in the French Army?]

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@guns_ny That's understandable. Outside the black community, few knew. I met one tanker, but he didn't want to discuss his service. I had the pleasure of knowing Tuskegee airmen, Lee Archer & Roscoe Brown. I minored in black history like my mother.

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@TheBronxPulse I thought you had that removed? Call 311 and your local councilman.

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@GersonBorrero We saved their country and won their freedom from Nazi Germany. France's gratitude for American blood and sacrifice is appreciated. You're right. Our youth must recognize that Americans aren't villains everywhere.

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@TheBronxPulse

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@TheBronxPulse Before the Hall of Justice Courthouse was built, the photographers would set up in front of the lot and along the fence in front of the Concourse Plaza Mall entrance on E 161st Street. I lost my own photos of that time.

[SquarePegDemLives @SquarePegDem76]

@TheBronxPulse In the 90s, I used to go to the late showings. I like to get a sense of what was happening so I could speak knowledgeably about conditions. The best part was the photographers who set up portraits for moviegoers. I liked their entrepreneurial spunk.

[NYC School Secrets @NYschoolSecrets]

#NYCwithkids Everything you need to know about applying to NYC Middle and High School 2025! To make sure everyone gets the chance to ask their questions, space is extremely limited. RSVP at: https://t.co/IdbpynpJ9H

[Jeff Reisig @jeffreisig]

Yesterday, the California Assembly Leader admitted that CA residents are worse off now than a decade ago, while also hesitantly claiming Prop 47 is “working.” How exactly did Prop 47’s enactment nearly a decade ago (2014) and its significant reduction of accountability for repeat thieves and fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine users improve CA? Here are a few specifc issues he should address:

1)  Homelessness increased 51% in CA since Prop 47 was enacted, while it decreased 11% in the rest of the nation. Why? 

2) Reputable studies, experts and formerly homeless estimate a large percentage of the unhoused in CA are living on the streets because of substance abuse. When Prop 47 lowered penalties for hard drugs like heroin, fentanyl, meth etc. to a low level misdemeanor/citation offense, deterrence mostly disappeared  & highly effective drug courts across CA saw massive drops in participation (86% in my county) and some closed completely, resulting in tens of thousands of people every year not getting any drug or mental health treatment. How has that specific impact of Prop 47 benefited CA? Does he support mandated treatment, ever? Why not amend Prop 47 to bring treatment courts back? 

3) CA spent 24 billion to address homelessness in the last five years and the number of people living on the streets has only worsened. Why?

4) Since Prop 47, CA leads the nation in total and per-capita retail theft losses as reported by retailers. Why? 

5) As thousands of retail businesses in CA have raised prices, locked up product or closed since Prop 47 passed, what has the legislature done previously to effectively abate the theft crisis, as the problem has only worsened?  Why should any business or the public tolerate this or actually believe a legisltive solution is forthcoming now? 

6) How does a smaller family/mom & pop retail business (e.g. convenience stores & small shops), most without full-time professional security employees, benefit from proposed legislation that still allows independent/opportunist theives (not an organized effort) to steal up to $950 again and again without ever being held accountable for more serious felony consequences under the law? 

7) How does the legislature escape the Prop 47 legal requirement that any change to the law that allows effective aggregation of smaller thefts to get to a felony amount MUST go back to the ballot for approval? Especially given that the legislature’s own legal counsel concluded this fact in a previous published opinion, and the DAs and defense attorneys agree it must go back to the ballot?

8) The organized retail theft statute (490.4 PC), first enacted by the legislature in 2019, has been widely criticized as overly burdensome and mostly ineffective by the vast majority of district attorneys in CA because it requires complex evidence of multiple people involved, multiple thefts and a specific intent to resell the stolen goods etc before triggering a penalty that is no greater than easier to prove felony theft crimes that have been on the books for decades. Why does the legislature believe this same broken law will be the key to solving the retail theft crisis now?  

9) Why not just support modest and common sense amendments to Prop 47 that will hold repeat thieves accountable and dramatically increase drug and mental health treatment for the thousands of people suffering from addiction and homelessness across CA? 

We can’t wait another decade for change. https://t.co/UDd4j75zbj

#California #Crime #Homelessness #Drugs #Fentanyl #RetailTheft #FixProp47