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44
Accident Dramatic Skid: Air Force C-130 Veers Off Samui Runway
They should stick with flying submarines instead! -
21
Jon Stewart: This Interview Exposed So Much About Trump
True, I was being polite. -
38
Australians - the most informal people on earth?
Lol ... seems that way ... the problem being you should have worded the headline better / different .... you needed to make it sound more unbias and friendly. -
76
Pam Bondi claims Donald Trump has saved 75% of American lives in first 100 days
I'm not sure the Vice President, looking at the quizzical expression that crossed his face, really agreed with the Attorney General's representation of LD50 for fentanyl. The actual value in humans is unknown, so the estimates are derived variously for values determined in rats (3.1mg/kg) and primates (0.03mg/kg), an extraordinary wide range. Even so, her claim is risible. She refers to 3.4 tonnes being seize, without reference the purity (is this crude or refined). The National Center for Drug Abuse sets the lethal dose as 2mg, so some quick maths indicates that 3.4 tonnes represents 1.7 billion lives. This repeats similar claims from January https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/ This is how the DOJ came up with the 258 million number: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/05/trump-news-doj-fentanyl-pam-bondi-lives-saved.html Its interesting in the same cabinet presentation, while Bondi claimed that every 2 milligrams of crude fentanyl seized is a life saved, in the same breathm when referring to 641,000 rounds of ammunition being seized, that 651,000 Americans saved. But this is an Attorney General indulging in political rhetoric; the objective is to create fear among the American people in a selective manner. During the President's first administration, they tried to get fentanyl classified as a "weapon of mass destruction". It creates hysteria, and ultimately undermines the good work that is being done. We know how political spin completely undermined public support for the invasion of Iraq, by linking WMDs to 45 minutes; a genuine and well grounded intelligence assessment of Iraq's capabilities was spun into some frightening sounding numbers in order to shore up public support for the policy. But it backfired. I know those in the Servives who were exasperated by this. The claim that 258 million lives were saved further collapses if you ask how much fentanyl got through. In 2024, 10 tonnes of fentanyl were seized. Its not clear if this means 10 tonnes of material containing fentanyl, or 10 tonnes of fentanyl, maybe at 99%w/v. The DEA says what is seized is typically 10% w/v. So it will need further refinement once inside the US, before becoming a product. There will be a wastage rate, and I wouldn't like to guess what that would be in the typical kitchen-based drugs lab (which I have toured in the UK; disgusting looking places, and the police have to treat some of them as potential chemical weapons labs). Heisenberg was a TV fiction; there isn't a high schoo; chemistry teacher out there achieving high yields in a trailer. https://www.cfr.org/article/how-does-fentanyl-reach-united-states https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/DEA_GOV_DIR-008-20 Fentanyl Flow in the United States_0.pdf It seems difficult to actually determine how much fentanyl gets into the US each year, only what the seizures are. Its reasonable to assume that most evades border interdiction. Which renders the 258 million claim even more meaningless, because if the amount seized in a few months is, generously, 50% of whats coming in, then by the end of the fiscal year. America is a lifeless wasteland. Everyone dead. Various estimates are given about the number of fentanyl deaths that occur. For simplicity, call it 100,000 per year (the number is acutally a bit lower). If 3400 tonnes of fentanyl will kill 256 million people, than those 100,000 were killed by 13 grams of the stuff. The reality is the AG is talking apples and oranges, and either doesn't understand the press releases from the DOJ or is being disengenousl during the DPRK-style cabinet meeting. In reality, what is seized is laced with fentanyl. and that might be a deliberate move by the smugglers to evade detection. Fentanyl is a precursor; inside the US< in the drug labs, it is further refined into a product sold on the street. The yields are likely very low, because, for the most part, these are professional labs with professional equipment. Border siezures can be interpreted as being either mre successful interdiction, or much more is coming in/ Most people using fentanyl-containing drugs do not die. The ones that die have overdosed. Fentanyl deaths is the only reliable measure of the success of border activities. To accurately measure those deaths takes a lot of collaboration between law enforcement, healthcare, and community groups, given that a significant portion of deaths may evade detection by the regular health authorities. But HHS cuts will likely impact that. So, there is a lack of joined up thinking. Or, more probably, just like stoking fear in people about 45 minute WMDs or 258 million deaths, its just theatre. -
10
Accident Polish Tourist Falls to Death from Phuket Condo Balcony
Not everything is bad in nanny States and I for 1 would be happy if it was an accepted norm here like traffic stopping @ red lights or zebra crossing as well as higher barriers plus my pet hate toilets that seem to be taken from a junior school so my poor legs need to go past my knees to sit down -
38
Australians - the most informal people on earth?
I couldn't imagine wearing long trousers and long sleeved shirts in Thailand outside the odd formal occasion. Strutting around in shorts and a t-shirt is one of the great benefits of living here, for Pete's sake! I do draw a line at wearing Speedos away from the beach though, so maybe I am a snob.😄
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