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The Real Opioid Crisis Isn’t Prescriptions—It’s Prohibition

Purdue Pharma recently reached a $7.4 billion settlement with all 50 states and the District of Columbia over its alleged role in fueling the opioid crisis through aggressive marketing of OxyContin. Regardless of the case’s merits, this landmark deal highlights what can happen when an expedient narrative replaces data-driven public policy.

Nowhere is the gap between narrative and data more clear than in West Virginia, the hardest-hit state in the country. While a wave of books and Netflix docudramas has promoted an oversimplified and often misleading storyline, new data from the West Virginia Department of Health cast a glaring spotlight on the human cost of “prescription opioid prohibition”—a policy that has failed in every tangible way. 

Overdose deaths in the state have doubled as illicit fentanyl and other street drugs have replaced the much safer prescription pills. Meanwhile, policymakers and regulators have demonized pain medications, causing real harm to patients. Many patients can no longer access legal prescriptions and instead turn to the streets, where they have an increased risk of death from taking adulterated or counterfeit pills. Policymakers addressed the wrong problem with the wrong tools—and made the crisis worse.

West Virginia Department of Health data illustrate this deadly shift. From 2015 to 2023, as prescription opioid access declined, overdose deaths in West Virginia soared—even though overdoses from prescription medications declined slightly—because users and abusers turned to riskier street drugs.

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Mexico City Protest Against American Ex-Pat ‘Invasion’ Turns Violent

In a role reversal that underscores a universal resentment of economic and social impacts caused by a major influx of foreigners, demonstrators marched in Mexico City on Friday to protest against the city’s status as a hot new residential destination for American ex-pats and remote workers. Though it started peacefully, many demonstrators turned violent, with some of them accosting Americans and smashing the restaurants, banks and other businesses that cater to them.

Angered by soaring rents they rationally blame on foreigners, hundreds of protesters marched through Condesa and Roma — two neighborhoods that are particularly popular with Americans living in or visiting Mexico City —  and proceeded to the US embassy and to a metro station. Their signs expressed a variety of sentiments: 

  • Gringo: Stop Stealing Our Home
  • Mexico For Mexicans
  • Pay Taxes, Speak Spanish, Use Pesos Or Get Out Of Here
  • Death To The Neo-Colonizer
  • Expat = Gentrifier
  • Your New Home Is An Invasion
  • Gentrification = Neo-Colonization
  • To Gentrify Isn’t Progress, It’s Dispossession 
  • We Shouldn’t Feel Like Foreigners In Our Own Land

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Report: Syria Talks With Israel Involve Seizing North Lebanon

Israeli media began reporting new specificities about the Syria-Israel peace talks that have been ongoing for awhile, and incredibly they seem to suggest that the deal is centering around discussions of carving off parts of Lebanon to give to Syria’s Islamist government.

The normalization was centering heavily around the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights. Israel invaded and occupied parts of Golan in 1967, and invaded further parts of Golan in December after the ouster of the Assad government. The new Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government has argued that public opinion obliges them to try to get the Golan back.

Or at least part of the Golan. Israeli media are suggesting that a compromise under discussion would see Israel return one third of the Golan to Syria, at least nominally, though potentially with Israel being allowed to continuing leasing it, and then compensating Syria with parts of Lebanon.

The HTS is reportedly keen to seize Tripoli, historically Tripoli of the Levant to distinguish it from the one in Libya, arguing it is a Sunni majority city and was separated from Syria proper during the French mandate. They also reportedly want the Bekaa Valley.

This seems like it would be a non-starter for Lebanon, of course, but there is no indication they’re even involved in the discussion. This gives this talk the appearance of Israel and Syria discussing how to carve up their smaller neighbor.

Tripoli is Lebanon’s second largest city, and over 8% of the city’s population is Alawites. That’s another potential problem with Syria annexing the city, because there have been on-again, off-again massacres of Alawites in northwest Syria, resulting in over ten thousand fleeing into northern Lebanon and the Tripoli area. Now, it seems, the city they fled is also up for grabs.

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Palestinian Sheikhs in Hebron Ask Israel for Separate Emirates, Not State

A group of Palestinian sheikhs in the holy city of Hebron has written to the Israeli government formally asking to be given sovereignty over the area as an emirate, and not as part of a larger Palestinian state.

The new emirate, they say, would join the Abraham Accords, the regional agreement establishing peace between Israel and participating Arab and Muslim states. Abraham himself is said by tradition to be buried in Hebron, in the Tomb of the Patriarch, holy to Muslims and Jews.

The initiative places a new option on the table for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and an alternative to the corrupt and antisemitic Palestinian Authority, which currently administers the area.

The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday:

“We want cooperation with Israel,” says Sheikh Wadee’ al-Jaabari, also known as Abu Sanad, from his ceremonial tent in Hebron, the West Bank’s largest city located south of Jerusalem. “We want coexistence.” The leader of Hebron’s most influential clan has said such things before, as did his father. But this time is different. Sheikh Jaabari and four other leading Hebron sheikhs have signed a letter pledging peace and full recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Their plan is for Hebron to break out of the Palestinian Authority, establish an emirate of its own, and join the Abraham Accords.

The letter is addressed to Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat, a former mayor of Jerusalem, who has brought Mr. Jaabari and other sheikhs to his home and met with them more than a dozen times since February. They ask him to present it to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and await his reply.

“The Emirate of Hebron shall recognize the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people,” the sheikhs write, “and the State of Israel shall recognize the Emirate of Hebron as the Representative of the Arab residents in the Hebron District.” Accepting Israel as a Jewish state goes further than the Palestinian Authority ever has, and sweeps aside decades of rejectionism.

The suggestion is timely: the U.S. and Israel are said to be preparing a formal peace plan that encompasses the region. The plan must make room for Palestinian aspirations in some form to win the support of Arab leaders.

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Afghan man, 45, ‘marries girl aged SIX before Taliban intervene… and say he must wait until she is NINE’

A six-year-old girl has allegedly been forced to marry a 45-year-old man in Afghanistan after she was given away for money.

The haunting photo of an older man and a little girl standing together horrified even the Taliban, who intervened with the union.

The youngster had allegedly been exchanged by her father for money to a man who already has two wives, it was reported by Amu.tv.

The marriage was allegedly set to take place on Friday in Helmand province but the Taliban stepped in and arrested both men involved.

No charges were brought against them but they have forced the creep to wait until the girl is nine before he can take her home, local media said.

UN Women reported last year that there has been a 25 per cent rise in child marriages in Afghanistan after the Taliban banned girls’ education in 2021. They also said there has been a 45 per cent increase in child bearing across the country.

In the same year as the Taliban came to power, after the US’ heavily criticised exit, a nine-year-old girl who was sold by her father to a 55-year-old man as a child bride was rescued by a charity.

Parwana Malik was sold for the equivalent of £1,600 in land, sheep and cash to a stranger named Qorban so her father Abdul Malik could pay for food. 

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Paedophile jailed for 25 years complains prison guards have lost his teddy bear

A convicted paedophile has complained from behind bars that prison guards have ‘lost’ his teddy bear.

Shane Medhurst was jailed for 25 years last June after being found guilty of 14 counts of child sex abuse.

Among the charges included two counts of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13.

Medhurst, 58, was jailed at Reading Crown Court, and is currently serving his sentence at the 1,100-capacity HMP High Down jail in Surrey.

The jail has two dedicated wings sex offenders, with around 400 inmates convicted of sex offences.

Writing in the latest edition of prisoner publication Inside Time, Medhurst said he was really ‘into arts and crafts’ and had started making his own teddy bears.

One in particular, which he called Mr Bear – a bright yellow bear with a blue and white striped outfit and a hat – was his ‘favourite’ and had taken him three weeks to make.

He said other teddies that he made had been sent to family and friends, and had loaned Mr Bear to the library inside the prison – but three weeks later he’d vanished.

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Marijuana Users In Iowa Are Engaged And Active Citizens, Survey Shows—Smashing ‘Lazy Stoner’ Stereotypes

For many years, cannabis users were characterized as a cult of stoners: young, often unemployed, party animals. That sector still exists in some form, however, many of today’s cannabis consumers are “middle American” adults, employed, own a home, vote regularly, pay their taxes and are involved in their communities.

That is the general profile of adult cannabis consumers across the country and in Des Moines, according to a recent survey by Consumer Research Around Cannabis/The Media Audit.

The Media Audit, the parent company of Consumer Research Around Cannabis, is an international research company serving 80+ local markets in the U.S. and Canada for more than 20 years. It started gathering data about cannabis use and attitudes in 2016.

Although the sale of adult recreational cannabis is illegal in Iowa, the survey found 16.2 percent of all adults age 18+ in Des Moines said they used or bought cannabis during the past month, or the statistical equivalent of approximately 140,000 adults.

The smallest percentage in the following table, monthly usage in Des Moines, is still substantial—and suggests a pent-up market. Unleashing the recreational cannabis market in Des Moines and all of Iowa would likely generate jobs and significant taxes for the state—money now escaping across the borders.

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Former Texas Democratic Party county chair indicted for ballot harvesting after Paxton probe

Aformer Texas Democratic Party county chair and nine other party members have been indicted for alleged ballot harvesting, according to a local news report.

Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton was behind the statewide investigation that led to the indictments.

KSAT reported that Juan Manuel Medina, former Bexar County Democratic Party Chair and former San Antonio mayoral candidate, was among those indicted on two counts of ballot harvesting.

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North Carolina Democrat Governor Josh Stein VETOES Common Sense Bill Affirming Only TWO Genders — Chooses Radical Woke Ideology Over Basic Biology

North Carolina’s Democrat Governor Josh Stein has VETOED a bill that simply affirms what every sane American already knows: that there are only two genders — male and female.

The House Bill 805, passed by the state legislature, sought to “to officially recognize two sexes in North Carolina, to prevent the sexual exploitation of women and minors, to limit the use of state funding, to modify the law related to birth certificates, to modify the law related to civil remedies for gender transition procedures on non-minors, to allow students with religious objections to be excused from certain classroom discussions or activities, and to allow parent access to library books and to provide for restrictions on school sleeping quarters.”

But instead of standing with science and sanity, Governor Stein caved to the radical transgender lobby and vetoed the legislation on Thursday.

Stein said,

“The initial version of House Bill 805 protected people from being exploited on pornographic websites against their will. I strongly support that policy, which is a continuation of my work to protect children from sex abuse, modernize our sex crime statutes to address artificial intelligence, and eliminate the largest backlog of untested rape kits in the country. Instead of preventing sexual exploitation, the General Assembly chooses to engage in divisive, job-killing culture wars.

North Carolina has been down this road before, and it is a dead end. My faith teaches me that we are all children of God, no matter our differences, and that it is wrong to target vulnerable people, as this legislation does. I stand ready to work with the legislature when it gets serious about protecting people, instead of mean-spirited attempts to further divide us by marginalizing vulnerable North Carolinians.”

In addition to vetoing HB 805, Gov. Stein struck down three more bills targeting DEI initiatives: Senate Bill 227 (banning DEI in K–12 schools), Senate Bill 558 (eliminating DEI in public higher education), and House Bill 171 (prohibiting DEI positions and programs in state and local government).

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Hertz Uses AI-Powered Scanners to Spot Tiny Damage It Can Charge Customers For

Hertz customers are complaining they are being charged exorbitant fees for tiny scrapes and dents detected by the rental car company’s new AI scanners. One man claims he was billed $440 for a one-inch scuff one on a wheel that he didn’t even notice.

The New York Post reports that Hertz, one of the world’s largest rental car companies, has recently implemented AI-powered scanners at its locations to detect damage on returned vehicles. While the technology, developed by Israel-based firm UVeye, aims to bring greater transparency and efficiency to the car inspection process, many customers are expressing frustration over the hundreds of dollars in charges they are receiving for minor scrapes and dents.

The UVeye scanners, which Hertz plans to roll out at over 100 U.S. airport locations by the end of the year, perform full-body vehicle scans in just seconds. The AI technology can detect damage such as dents, scrapes, and cracked glass both before and after a rental. Minutes after returning their vehicles, customers are informed of any damage detected and the associated fees.

One customer says he rented a Volkswagen from Hertz-owned Thrifty at the company’s Atlanta airport location, which was the first U.S. store to implement the UVeye technology. Shortly after returning the car, he received a bill for $440, which included $250 for repairs, $125 for “processing,” and $65 for “administration” — all for a one-inch scuff on one of the car’s wheels. Despite being offered a small discount for prompt payment, Patrick refused to accept responsibility for the charge.

Another customer shared a similar experience on Reddit after returning a car to Hertz’s Atlanta location. They were automatically billed $195 for a minor “ding” detected by the AI scanner. The customer reached out to Hertz’s customer service but was told that the company stands by the AI’s assessment.

Many customers are expressing concerns over the lack of transparency in how these fees are calculated and the limited options for disputing the charges. While Hertz provides explanations for the processing and administrative fees, customers find them vague and are frustrated by the absence of live agents to discuss their concerns. The chatbot can flag issues for review, but email responses can take up to 10 days, well after the early-payment discount expires.

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