Police Found a Blunt in Their Car. So They Seized Their Kids.

Posted on by Lone Candle

“Bianca Clayborne and Deonte Williams were driving through rural Tennessee with their five young children when they were pulled over. When police found 5 grams of marijuana in the car, Williams was arrested and the five children were seized by local child protective services. One month later, the couple is still fighting to regain custody of their children.”

New Regulations Won’t Stop the Next Bank Collapse

Posted on by Lone Candle

“whether SVB’s situation would have been different had these regulations remained in place is highly questionable. “You knew just by looking at this bank that it was growing at exceptionally rapid rate, which should have been a red flag to look at,” Thomas Hoenig with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University told Marketplace. “So I don’t blame it on so much on the rollback of Dodd-Frank. I blame it on the fact that the bank management didn’t understand the fact that interest rates change and they need to be managing their portfolio accordingly.”
Besides, even without the stricter rules, bank regulators still could have acted but did not. So, the idea that new regulations are needed to stop the next midsize bank collapse is suspect, to say the least.”

…

“”It appears that the leading causes of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank were managers who maintained a woefully under-diversified asset sheet, and a small group of investors who sparked a panic that led depositors to withdraw money at a rate that would be unsustainable for any bank,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D–Del.) in a statement. “SVB was subject to federal and state supervision, and it’s not clear what additional regulatory requirements might have yielded a different outcome.””

U.S. sanctions Turkey-based entities it says helped Russia’s war

Posted on by Lone Candle

“The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on at least four Turkey-based entities it said violated U.S. export controls and helped Russia’s war effort, in the biggest U.S. enforcement action in Turkey since the invasion of Ukraine last year.
The designations – which included an electronics company and a technology trader alleged to have helped transfer “dual-use” goods – were part of a global sanctions package on more than 120 entities announced by the U.S. Treasury.

Washington and its allies imposed extensive sanctions on Russia after its invasion, but supply channels from Black Sea neighbour Turkey and other trading hubs, including Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, have remained open.

A U.S. administration official told Reuters the sanctions targeted entities and people in Turkey’s maritime and trade sectors that were “primarily” Russia-owned or Russia-linked.

“It’s meant as a warning shot in the evolving phase of enforcing export controls,” the official said, requesting anonymity.”

Great Moments in Unintended Consequences: Subsidized Trees, Day Care Late Fees, New York Alcohol Ban (Vol. 11)

Posted on by Lone Candle

“The year: 2019
The problem: Mexico needs trees!

The solution: the Sowing Life project, a $3.4 billion program that pays farmers to plant fruit and timber trees on barren land. Not only will this help spruce up the environment, but it will fight poverty and inequality by paying the farmers to maintain the new trees.

Sounds like a great idea, with the best of intentions. What could possibly go wrong?

It turns out poor farmers need money. And since standing trees didn’t qualify for the program, the system incentivized farmers to cut down mature trees to make way for new ones.

In one village, two-thirds of the program’s participants cut down forests to get that cash.

One study found the program caused the deforestation of more than 280 square miles.”

States Try to Reform Prostitution Laws—for Better and Worse

Posted on by Lone Candle

“State lawmakers in at least six states have recently introduced bills related to sex work. Some of these measures would decriminalize prostitution, while others would stipulate stronger criminal penalties for prostitution.
States considering the former have the right idea. Decriminalizing prostitution has been linked to an array of positive outcomes, from lower rates of sexual violence and sexually transmitted infections overall to less violence against sex workers. It means fewer law enforcement resources wasted on policing consensual activity between adults, freeing up time and money for stopping and solving serious crimes. It’s supported by organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, and the World Health Organization. It’s also in line with what sex workers around the world say they need.”