SpankyMcFarland

This is primarily a legal matter so I would expect our government to let the legal process take its course, unlike in China. One problem for the Americans is dual criminality - the offence must exist in Canada as well as the US. Our sanctions against Iran are quite different from theirs which may be why they want to charge her with fraud for lying about Huawei’s business in Iran rather than for conducting the actual business. This may take years to resolve. Secondly, the Chi-Coms are not known for being good sports. Random Canadians may be detained over yonder and charges found for them afterwards. Our efforts to curb the tsunami of Chinese fentanyl flowing into this country may have just run into a serious problem. Given the shenanigans Huawei get up to across the world, it is unfortunate that the Americans had to pick such an obscure case to charge them with and involve us in it.

The thing is that our current policies are driving us inexorably to a point where ultra-potent opioids designed for smuggling will start killing first responders as well as addicts and casual users. We can’t allow that to happen.

That’s a sweeping generalization. In my experience, written English skills are a poor guide to competence. The new test of English skills for physicians in our province stopped a very bright McGill grad, originally from China, from even applying for a job with us.

Capitalism giveth and taketh. On the bright side, any older GM worker who owns a home in Oshawa has some fairly valuable real estate to sell and could move somewhere much cheaper in Canada.

A small minority of MPs and voters want a hard Brexit but it could happen by accident if the Brits don’t get their act together. What a mess.

We’ll be able to see if the Chinese take serious action on the fentanyl trade soon enough irrespective of where it’s going. As I pointed out in a separate thread, the next Narcos series should be filmed in China and there will be no need for a DEA voice over. Longer term, the attractiveness of making potent opioids lies in the demand for them and the ease with which they can be smuggled. Some of the next generation of synthetic opioids will be even more dangerous for first responders than fentanyl or carfentanil, making a change in our drug policy inevitable.

Sounds like the free market at work, really.

China is again making encouraging noises on the fentanyl front: https://www.everydayhealth.com/opioid-addiction/china-commits-greater-regulation-fentanyl-g20-summit/ The next series of Narcos should be based in China. Unlike Escobar and the Rodríguez brothers, these entrepreneurs have nothing to fear from the DEA.

The problem extends to pharmacists too. Hard to believe some of this stuff: https://globalnews.ca/news/4458136/ontario-pharmacists-trafficking-fentanyl-opioid-crisis/

I'm not sure about no issue but I think it is the way to go. Even with state provision of the drug, there are many roles in life that should be off-limits to heroin users. A registry would mark a boundary for young people and would also make management of users much easier.

The cost of legal heroin might be about one tenth of the street price according to one study, even less in other studies: https://www.nber.org/papers/w9689.pdf There would be savings on the health costs per addict, the spread of infections like HIV and Hep C, and the organized crime side as well. One big unknown is how many more addicts we would end up with under such a regime. Use of the drug would have to be vigorously discouraged. The problem we already face with ultra-potent synthetics like fentanyl and carfentanil, which are designed for smuggling, is that they pose a serious risk to paramedics and police. This risk is only going to heighten when even more dangerous drugs are created. It's a tricky conundrum. https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/08/health/dea-first-responders-opioids/index.html https://www.thestreet.com/story/12785354/1/legalizing-heroin-why-these-high-profile-politicians-want-it.html

A rather eccentric denial of guilt: Apparently, this physician is still practising in Kansas City.

One of the physicians mentioned in the Senate report has a fairly colourful past:

One of the biggest offenders has faced legal sanction which you can read about in the Senate report. Here’s an extract: Here’s a link to the report: At the very least, disciplinary proceedings should be intitiated against other health professionals by the relevant state medical boards. To knowingly endanger a patient for financial gain sounds like fairly serious misconduct.

Some more info on one of those drug companies and the shenanigans they got up to: http://www.wbur.org/news/2018/11/28/alec-burlakoff-insys-therapeutics-guilty-plea-opioid-kickback-conspiracy

Here’s something one probably shouldn’t do: http://www.wbur.org/news/2018/11/28/alec-burlakoff-insys-therapeutics-guilty-plea-opioid-kickback-conspiracy

The Brexiteers turned out to be woefully unprepared for the course of action they wished upon the country. They talked in Trumpian terms about how easy it would be and how a Germany desperate to sell Mercs would force the EU to accept whatever Britain dictated. Instead, May ended up concealing the reality of the compromises required from her own cabinet until the very last possible moment.

Some encouraging news from the Arab world

Mr. Al-Jubeir, how nice of you to drop by.

Trump is entirely comfortable casting doubt on MBS’s involvement in the Khashoggi murder. He’s really good at this.

The WTO agreement has brought tremendous prosperity to the world, and Canada has a huge stake in keeping a multilateral rule-based order alive. Trump should have built a coalition to confront China on its numerous abuses. Instead, he has chosen to fight with everybody.

Well good, because Congo is one of the most neglected stories in the world in terms of publicity per casualty. It’s not a nice place for journalists to visit.

Well, you are, so it’s not nobody. Of course, the Israelis should not have done that. Technically speaking, I think you’re talking about the events in East Pakistan there rather than Bangladesh which didn’t exist at the time. If you really want to complain about something that’s being undercovered, pick an African country like Congo.

They simply can’t see that parallel. You’re wasting your time.

A few points. I criticised the post, not the person, i.e. what a sad post. The poster already asked me ‘who the hell’ I was which naturally didn’t raise your ire. And the content is ludricous. Basically, anybody killing Muslims is a great guy or gal here. Suu Kyi had the option to resign and speak out rather than collaborate with genocide. That’s not a minor failing.