The Fentanyl Crisis Redux
That's a U.S. copper penny. Next to it--the amount of Fentanyl it takes to kill somebody.
The Fentanyl Crisis in America
“On the Fentanyl Wars” by Rupert L. Chapman III, Ph.D.
We originally sent this email in mid-April. However, yesterday the US begged for help from China, which makes the raw materials Fentanyl, and Mexico, whose cartels are paying off Mexican legislators to look the other way while they manufacture the drug and illegally dump it onto U.S. streets. This is the worst drug crisis in US history. Please read Rupert’s brilliant historical piece second down.
Fentanyl is now America’s biggest drug problem. In fact, Fentanyl is the deadliest drug ever to hit American streets. It is 100 times more powerful than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. It is the third leading cause of deaths among those 19 and younger — the first, horribly, being gunshot wounds. It is a synthetic opioid used during and after major surgery and in the treatment of complex pain conditions. Now it’s being illicitly synthesized in Mexico by drug cartels—El Chapo’s four sons have been indicted for its manufacture—with component chemicals supplied by China.
As Biden raps Mexico for complicity in the tidal wave of hospital emergency room crises and early deaths, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador whines that he feels “hurt” by what America is saying. This from the head of state seen hanging out by the window of a Rolls Royce with El Chapo’s mother inside negotiating for her son’s release from prison. Sympathy for this sympathizer does not come easy.
PolitiSage writer Rupert L. Chapman III, Ph.D. offers this extraordinary look into the history of opioids in Great Britain, China, and the United States, and why China’s complicity in Mexico’s poisoning of America may be deliberate—why it may, in fact, not only be a political attack to weaken America, which certainly it is, but also an act of revenge.
On the Fentanyl Wars by Rupert Chapman
Rupert L. Chapman III, Ph.D. was for decades a field archaeologist in the Middle East. Before retiring recently, he spent nine years as Curator of Levantine Antiquities at The British Museum. He resides in Devon, England with his wife Helen.
The Biden Administration's increased effectiveness against the drug traffickers is welcome, although the amounts which get through anyway are an unknown. One can only judge the true effectiveness of the effort by monitoring the ongoing street price of the illicit drugs. And, in the end, this is another “forever war” which really doesn't tackle the root of the problem, which lies in both the poverty of whole communities in the world AND the excess wealth of other communities (we must never forget that there are rich drug addicts, also). The social and psychological problems in many countries which lead people to turn to drugs to deal with the problems in their lives are the true root.
It is also worth noting that in the late 17th century, a new drug was introduced into England that caused devastating damage across the country. That drug was gin, which was cheap to manufacture—alcohol can be distilled from almost any vegetable matter that contains sugars—and began to push out the traditional ale. One need only look at Hogarth's savage cartoons for an understanding of just how bad the problem was. The government eventually recognized that something must be done, and, lacking the means to pursue the manufacturers in the way modern U.S. agencies can, took another route altogether. Rather than attempting to suppress the supply of gin, what the government did was to license both the production and the distribution—in the process granting itself a huge and reliable source of revenue. It also created the modern pub, which became a social hub where all forms of alcoholic beverages could be consumed within limits, the publicans having an incentive to maintain order on penalty of losing their licenses to operate and being shut down.
Within a very short time the level of drunkenness and the social damage was dramatically reduced—to the extent that the idea of total prohibition never had any political traction in the UK. This is not to say that drunkenness, public or private, was eliminated—obviously that wasn't the case—but it was reduced to a manageable level and brought under a degree of control. The damage was dramatically reduced.
The Chinese Connection
The modern drug epidemic, however, has a different root, one established in the 19th century. This had to do with trade with China. The Chinese had many products which the West deeply desired, notably tea and silk, but also other products such as porcelain. The trouble was, the West had very few products the Chinese desired, so the Chinese demanded payment in precious metals, such as silver and gold, which weren't in sufficient supply in the West for this to be economical.
To force the Chinese to take something in exchange, the British (in particular) began attempting to force vast quantities of opiates on the Chinese, creating the world's first major epidemic of drug addiction. This had the additional benefit, from the West's point of view, of disrupting and weakening the imperial Chinese government, allowing the expanding European empires to seize portions of Chinese territory—for example, the British seized Hong Kong in 1848.
Even then, however, there was “blowback,” with opiates arriving in quantity in England. This shows up in English literature in Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas de Quincey and later in the plot of Silas Marner by Mary Ann Evans (aka George Elliot). It showed up also in the life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and in the late 19th century in the account of London opium dens in “The Man with the Twisted Lip,” one of the Sherlock Holmes stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Opium Wars with China were part of the process which led to the end of imperial China and laid the groundwork for the ultimate rise of Communist China. One of the reactions to that rise was a CIA effort to promote the growing of opium in the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia, especially in Burma, and the attempt to flood China with it. But the Chinese really didn't want the stuff and had not forgotten their history of suffering from it, so were unexpectedly effective in blocking the import—which caused the opium producers to develop a new market: the United States.
Which brings us to the present. I have no special knowledge of these matters. However, it seems likely to me that the Chinese are not unaware of the effect that selling the precursor chemicals for fentanyl to the Mexican drug cartels is having on the United States. It is also likely that this is a matter of policy, a means of attacking and weakening the U.S. that is deniable and unstoppable (by the U.S.) and is perhaps even payback for what the West has historically done to China.
This is part and parcel of what the YouTube video blogger Beau of the Fifth Column has dubbed “the international poker game in which everyone is cheating.” Recognizing that this is the case won’t, of course, solve the problem, but it is a simple fact that no problem can ever be solved until the true nature of the problem is brought to light and accepted.
As regards the War on Drugs, a very perceptive book on the subject—Chasing the Scream: The Search for the Truth about Addiction—was published some years ago by Johann Hari. Hari presents a very powerful argument against a forever war which has not and will not solve the problem, and presents suggestions for a different approach, essentially the same one that successfully resolved the problem of gin in late 18th and early 19th century England. — Rupert Chapman, 15 April 2023.
Iranian Police Have Intentionally Blinded Hundreds of Women’s Rights Protestors
Most of them never knew the others were out there until very recently. There are so many of them now—maybe thousands—that there is no mistaking the intentionality with which it has been done. The news has been slow to filter out, but the Iranian police blinded as many as 500 women’s rights protestors between September and November alone, so claims people are accidentally being shot in the face at close range are outright lies.
The people who always knew were the emergency room physicians all over Iran who have been treating protestors for gunshot wounds to the face and eyes. Early on, 120 ophthalmologists treating the wounded in emergency rooms from Tehran to the country villages sent a letter to the Iranian government protesting the human rights abuse. A 5-year-old boy was one of the patients who lost an eye. The Basij and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded with denial and flat statements that they are “acting professionally” in dealing with protestors.
The first to come forward publicly was 21-year-old law student Ghazal Ranjkesh, who posted a video, shot in hospital, on YouTube. Suddenly, reports from others poured in, and it became clear that law enforcement had been intentionally blinding protestors since last September when the protests first began.
The victims are faced with staggering medical costs for eye surgery, prosthetics, plastic surgery and rehabilitation. As the BBC reports:
Dr Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah is one of nearly 400 ophthalmologists … who have signed an official letter, urging the authorities to give more support to the injured. He says the blinded protesters will be marked forever in society.
Most are scarred for life. Speaking of a specific patient, he also said, "Until the end of [his] life, this young person will be living proof of Iran's crackdown."
But they are also defiant. Mohammad Farzi, 32, a street performer based in Tehran, was shot in September. Birdshot, a type of shotgun pellet, lodged in his eye. “I don't regret it," he says. "I'm proud that I sacrificed my eye for people's freedom.”
Farzi’s sentiments are echoed by Kowsar Khoshnoodi Kia, a member of Iran’s Women’s National Archery Team who has won medals in national and international competitions. She says:
People in riot police uniform shot at us and my father and I were wounded. Two shots hit my father’s left hand, three shots hit my right hand and one shot hit my left eye. I shall never regret what happened. I’ve never felt regret for being there on that day, at that time. … I have lost the sight of one eye for a purpose, I don’t feel sad for myself and for what happened, not even for a moment. … A fearful heart is a dead heart.
Ghazal Ranjkesh speaks for all when she says, "I will live my life because my story is unfinished. Our victory is not here yet but it's close. … I will witness freedom with one eye.” — Morgaan Sinclair for PolitiSage
Film: Revisiting All the President’s Men (1976)
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, Hal Holbrook, and Ned Beatty. Directed by Walter Coblenz. Produced by Robert Redford’s Wildwood Enterprises. Distributed by Warner Bros.
As Trump heads off to court again and again and again—for rape, ripping off classified documents, corporate fraud, tax fraud, hush payments, and insurrection—comparisons to that other disgraced, scandal-ridden Republican president, Richard Nixon, are inevitable.
But, as they say, you really had to be there. This film takes you there.
The spine it took for Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to follow through on a story that began with a taped lock in the Watergate and ended with the resignation of Tricky Dick “I-am-not-a-crook” Nixon—and the guts it took for editor Ben Bradlee and publisher Katherine Meyer Graham to print it—is legend in the journalistic world. The level of tension at the Post and in the entire country was unparalleled. The break-in was one thing, but the lying and deceit and obstruction were another entirely.
Nixon got off lucky. He skulked back home to California and was pardoned by Gerald Ford—in an act some say left succeeding presidents with the impression they could break the law with impunity (another connection to Trump).
But if Nixon walked, others didn’t, including:
U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell, who was convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury and sentenced to 1 to 4 years in prison. He served 19 months.
White House Chief of Staff H. R. Halderman, who faced 25 years for conspiracy and obstruction of justice. He served 18 months.
Nixon Assistant John Ehrlichman also faced 25 years in prison for conspiracy, obstruction of justice, perjury, and other crimes, and served 18 months.
White House Special Counsel Charlie Colson pled nolo contendere to obstruction of justice, turned state’s evidence, and served seven months.
The Watergate scandal tore the soul of America in a way no other presidential scandal ever had. Televised Congressional hearings featured Nixon lawyer John Dean exposing just what all the presidents men had done—and what the president knew and when he knew it. Trump’s coming indictments for hoarding classified SCIF files and for inciting insurrection will make Watergate pale in significance, but they will also mirror the corruption at the highest levels of power that drowned Nixon as they will drown Trump.
What is so important about All the President’s Men is that it portrays the immense courage it takes to face down the powerful when they have done great wrong and can be trusted to try to destroy anyone who exposes them. Besides, any movie this good about a scandal that has an informant called Deep Throat is a must-see.
All the President’s Men was nominated in multiple BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Academy Award categories and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry and by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
All the President’s Men is one of the most historically accurate films ever made. To make sure of it, the Washington Post staff functioned as historical consultants on the film. — Morgaan Sinclair
Sports: Sergio Romo Goes Home to San Francisco for the Last Pitches of His Career
The second-to-last game of the San Francisco Giants’ 2023 Spring Training saw the final appearance of pitcher Sergio Romo. One of the hallowed members of the Big Four San Francisco relief pitchers—a group that also includes Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt, and Javier Lopez—Sergio Romo was a spectacular closer, set-up man, and all-around stalwart for a fantastically successful Giants bullpen.
Romo had what was arguably the world’s most “unhittable slider”—his “unfair slider,” as batters called it. It was a “no-dotter.” The no-dot slider doesn’t spin on an axis centered on the baseball’s seams, and for this reason, it creates no red dot at its center for hitters to track as it approaches the plate. Sergio’s no-dotter was infamous, feared, the scourge of batters.
Romo played for half a dozen MLB teams, but it was his stellar run with the San Francisco Giants—one that netted him three World Series rings—for which he will most be remembered. In fact, the Giants brought Romo home to pitch one more time so he could retire in San Francisco and become a “Forever Giant.”
Before the game, several kids signed his hat, and he wore it out onto the mound. He pitched to several batters and then was brought into retirement by Hunter Pence, who escorted him off the field to deafening cheers and a standing ovation from a packed stadium.
Sergio Romo is the last of the Big Four to ride off into the sunset, and he did it as he played: with joy and class. Good luck, Sergio. You will be missed. — Ari Schutz
The Veil Nebula … Because It Makes Your Mind Happy
It looks like a painting, but it’s real. As NASA puts it:
The Veil Nebula lies around 2,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus (the Swan), making it a relatively close neighbor in astronomical terms. Only a small portion of the nebula was captured in this image.
The Veil Nebula is the visible portion of the nearby Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant formed roughly 10,000 years ago by the death of a massive star. That star – which was 20 times the mass of the Sun – lived fast and died young, ending its life in a cataclysmic release of energy. Despite this stellar violence, the shockwaves and debris from the supernova sculpted the Veil Nebula’s delicate tracery of ionized gas – creating a scene of surprising astronomical beauty.
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