Free Republic

A pandemic should have taken no one by surprise. Scientific and government bodies, not to mention science fiction writers and filmmakers, have been raising the alarm for years. Nor should anyone be surprised to learn that pharmaceutical chemical manufacturing—and the production of finished-dose generic drugs—has steadily moved to China and India as Western drug companies and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) sought to cut costs and wash their hands of the highly polluting chemicals used to make drugs.

Fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic drug primarily manufactured and shipped from China, is now blamed for nearly half of all overdose deaths in the United States. Mexican criminal groups like the Sinaloa cartel and the Cartel Jalisco New Generation are now heavily involved in smuggling the drug into the United States, according to experts.

The 10-year surge in illegal and legal immigration has exploded the populations of mostly Democratic states enough that the 2020 census is likely to result in the redistribution of 24 House seats in states President Trump won, according to a new population analysis released Thursday morning. The prediction from the Center for Immigration Studies said that 26 seats overall will shift due to immigration increases since the last census was taken. And it said that a minimum of 19 of those seats will be added to Democratic states.