Free Republic

Anonymous alleged “U.S. and congressional officials” told the Wall Street Journal this week President Joe Biden is planning to remove the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a nearly 60-year-old terrorist organization responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths, from America’s list of designated foreign terrorist groups. The FARC, a communist group, has been responsible for a wide variety of human rights atrocities in Colombia since its founding in 1964 that include mass killings, kidnappings, child rape, forced abortions, the use of child soldiers, and one of the world’s most lucrative drug trafficking operations. The government of then-President Juan Manuel...

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A trucker from Mexico was arrested after trying to smuggle record-breaking amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl into the U.S., federal prosecutors said. More than 17,500 pounds (7,930 kilograms) of meth and 389 pounds (176 kilograms) of fentanyl were discovered last Thursday hidden inside a tractor-trailer at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. The seizures are the largest of either drug in the U.S. for both 2020 and 2021, the statement said.,,,

Indian police said on Saturday they had charged senior executives of Amazon.com's (AMZN.O) local unit under narcotics laws in a case of alleged marijuana smuggling via the online retailer. Police in the central Madhya Pradesh state arrested two men with 20 kg of marijuana on Nov. 14 and found they were using the Amazon India website to order and further smuggle the substance in the guise of stevia leaves, a natural sweetener, to other Indian states. State police said in a statement that executive directors of Amazon India were being named as accused under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances...

It’s one of the strongest opioids in circulation, so deadly an amount smaller than a poppy seed can kill a person. Until July, when drug users in the United States started overdosing on carfentanil, the substance was best known for knocking out moose and elephants — or as a chemical weapon. Despite the dangers, Chinese vendors offer to sell carfentanil openly online, for worldwide export, no questions asked, an Associated Press investigation has found. The AP identified 12 Chinese businesses that said they would export carfentanil to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium and Australia for...

CALEXICO, Calif. (AP) — A truck driver was arrested after border officers discovered nearly half a ton of methamphetamine hidden inside a tractor-trailer that entered San Diego County from Mexico, authorities said. A search was ordered after officers grew suspicious about one of the walls inside the trailer when the truck was stopped at the Calexico East Commercial Facility. A K-9 team helped officers discover 30 wrapped packages of meth weighing more than 865 pounds (392 kilograms. The drugs have an estimated street value of more than $1.5 million, officials said. The driver, a 27-year-old Mexican citizen, was arrested on...

Cardinal Health will test the use of drones to expedite its delivery of medications and inhalers to pharmacies, The Wall Street Journal reported. Six details: The pharmaceutical distributor partnered with medical product delivery company Zipline International, which will operate the drones. The pilot program will begin in 2022 outside Charlotte, N.C., pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. The drones, which look like miniature planes, will be about 6 feet from head to tail and will have 11-foot wingspans, according to the Journal. They will fly 300 to 400 feet above ground and use parachutes to drop shipments into landing...

The latest version of Democrats’ $4 trillion Build Back Better reconciliation bill includes a provision to empower the government to set Medicare drug prices.Government price-setting of prescription drugs is zombie legislation that just won’t die. After briefly being excised due to opposition from moderate legislators, the latest version of congressional Democrats’ $4 trillion Build Back Better reconciliation bill includes a provision to allow the government to set Medicare drug prices. “Democrats announced they have sealed a deal [on] pharmaceutical drug costs for seniors,” announced the Associated Press last week. The consequences of prescription drug price-setting in terms of reduced access...

Almost one-third of new drugs approved by U.S. regulators over a decade ended up years later with warnings about unexpected, sometimes life-threatening side effects or complications, a new analysis found. The results covered all 222 prescription drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 2001 through 2010. The researchers looked at potential problems that cropped up during routine monitoring that's done once a medicine is on the market. The 71 flagged drugs included top-sellers for treating depression, arthritis, infections and blood clots. Safety issues included risks for serious skin reactions, liver damage, cancer and even death. "The large...

In early August Economic Information Daily, a communist Chinese government mouthpiece, accused the multibillion-dollar online video game industry of peddling "spiritual opium" to Chinese teenagers. Comparing video game playing to opium addiction has explicit historical and national security connections. Opium addiction, spurred by Great Britain, undermined China's social and political cohesion and physically harmed the Chinese people. Addicts can't think; they barely move; they certainly can't soldier. No wonder EID asserted, "No industry, no sport, can be allowed to develop in a way that will destroy a generation." Some 60% of Chinese teenagers play video games. The afflictions of degenerating...

From medications to gloves to crutches, the strains of the global supply chain are hitting U.S. health care hard. Why it matters: Shortages of health care supplies can quickly jump from a nuisance to a life-or-death proposition. They indicate serious vulnerabilities in the U.S. health care supply chain. State of play: After seeing major supply shortages for protective equipment and ventilators in the early months of the pandemic, critical supplies stabilized and, in some places, demand for domestic products later bottomed out. Now global supply chain tie-ups are rippling across the industry again, leading to extended wait times for commonly...

The execution of a Malaysian drug trafficker was stayed on Tuesday (Nov 9) by the Court of Appeal, after he tested positive for COVID-19. Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, who has been on death row for 11 years, was ushered in briefly into the dock for a last-bid attempt against his death sentence. However, he was later taken away, and a judge informed the court that Nagaenthran had tested positive for COVID-19.

At least 10 people were killed and 42 others — including a 4-year-old boy — were wounded by gunfire in Chicago over the weekend. More than half of the gunshot victims were wounded on the South Side, while nearly a quarter of the victims were shot on the West Side. It was the deadliest weekend in Chicago since the last weekend in September, when 10 were killed and 58 wounded in citywide attacks.

The Houston PD's Chief, Troy Finner, just confirmed what we'd been told ... namely, that at least one person had been injected with something via needle -- and there well may have been more. Chief Finner said a security guard working the event felt a prick in his neck by an unknown assailant while he was trying to restrain a citizen -- and he quickly fell unconscious. Finner says the guard was revived by use of NARCAN ... and that medical personnel did, indeed, see something on his neck that indicated he'd been stabbed with a syringe.

One person was killed and 11 others were wounded in shootings in Chicago Thursday. A man was killed and another man was critically wounded in a shooting in East Garfield Park on the West Side. About 5:15 p.m., the men, 26 and 34, were near the street in the 3900 block of West Van Buren Street when they were struck by gunfire, Chicago police said. A 16-year-old girl and a man were wounded in a shooting Thursday afternoon near Chicago Vocational Career Academy on the South Side. They were near the sidewalk in the 2000 block of East 87th Street...

Toxoplasma gondii, a microscopic parasite that gets inside our cells, is present in about 10 percent of the population in the U.K. But in tests on lung cancer patients, all were found to be infected with the parasite. "It's a remarkable result which we don't fully understand yet," states Geoff Hide, Professor of Parasitology at the University of Salford. "It is possible that the presence of the parasite in these patients is exacerbating their symptoms of cancer or interfering with their therapy." Working with Professor Dave Singh, clinical consultant at the Medicines Evaluation Unit at Manchester University, they tested 72...

Read a smattering of national and even international news headlines and you can see it: San Francisco has an image problem. It’s not just conservative media slamming the city. The New York Times, the Economist, even British-based publications like the Independent and Sunday Times have run recent stories on the state of San Francisco, ranging from its highly visible housing issues to its shoplifting problems. “Why San Francisco’s city government is so dysfunctional,” reads a headline from the Economist. “Crime is basically legal in San Francisco,” says another headline from the Daily Mail. The New York Times, meanwhile, just ran...

CHICAGO -- At least 19 people were shot, four fatally, in weekend shootings across Chicago, police said. Two men were fatally shot Saturday morning in Avondale on the Northwest Side. About 12:05 a.m., Chicago police found two men, 28 and 26, shot in the 2700-block of West Belmont Avenue, police said. The 28-year-old was found with multiple gunshot wounds throughout his body, and the 26-year-old was found shot in the torso shortly after, police said. Both were taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where they died, police said. They haven't been identified yet. Hours later, a man was fatally shot...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — U.S. governors want a seat at the table as international leaders prepare to gather in Scotland at a critical moment for global efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions and slow the planet’s temperature rise. At least a half dozen state governors — all Democrats — plan to attend parts of the two-week United Nation’s climate change conference in Glasgow, known as COP26. Though states aren’t official parties to talks, governors hold significant sway over the United States’ approach to tackling climate change by setting targets for reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to renewable energy. Governors slated...

A popular plan to let the government directly negotiate lower prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies -- extracting significant savings for taxpayers and patients -- will likely not be part of the Democrats' sweeping social spending package, the White House said Thursday. The development dashed hopes for what many consumer advocates had considered the best chance in decades for immediate relief to families burdened by soaring costs of medication. It also marks a major victory for drug makers who have spent millions of dollars lobbying against direct government intervention in pricing. "Unless the government steps in and fights the fight...

Elton John called the moment he took his first line of cocaine as one of the biggest regrets of his “unexpected” career. SNIP “I wouldn’t have taken as many drugs,” John told Ladbible TV when asked about regrets. “Although I continued to work when I took drugs, I didn't make my best work some of the time. ... I never really wanted to take drugs, I just joined in for the sake of it and it became an addiction. I became an addict and alcoholic, and I've since learned my lesson, but I would, if I could go back to...