Daily Discussion - May 15, 2024

U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths Decline For First Time In Decade

The U.S. saw a slight decline in the number of new overdose deaths last year, marking a rare improvement in a still-raging national fentanyl crisis, preliminary federal data show.

There were about 107,500 overdose deaths in 2023, down 3% from the year before and the first decline in five years, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One factor was fewer deaths pegged to opioids including the nation’s deadliest drug, the potent synthetic fentanyl, the CDC’s preliminary numbers show.

The U.S. has struggled to stop a relentless increase in drug-ov…  Прочетете ощеerdose deaths, making 2023 a rare year. The last two declines came in 2018 and 1990, a year when there were just 8,400 overdose deaths nationwide.

american heroin Overdose Deaths Decline

The U.S. saw a slight decline in the number of new overdose deaths last year, marking a rare improvement in a still-raging national fentanyl crisis, preliminary federal data show.

There were about 107,500 overdose deaths in 2023, down 3% from the year before and the first decline in five years, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One factor was fewer deaths pegged to opioids including the nation’s deadliest drug, the potent synthetic fentanyl, the CDC’s preliminary numbers show.

The U.S. has struggled to stop a relentless increase in drug-ov…  Прочетете ощеerdose deaths, making 2023 a rare year. The last two declines came in 2018 and 1990, a year when there were just 8,400 overdose deaths nationwide.

U.S. Boosts Production of "Bunker Buster" Bomb

An Army ammunition plant in southeast Oklahoma is being expanded to at least triple monthly production of the US’s biggest non-nuclear bomb, a weapon often invoked in debates about a potential attack on deeply buried nuclear facilities in Iran or North Korea.

The 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, known as a bunker-buster, can be dropped only from a B-2 stealth bomber. It’s far bigger than the unguided 2,000-pound (900-kilogram), explosives that the Biden administration has postponed sending to Israel out of concern for civilian casualties in its war to defeat Hamas in Gaza.…  Прочетете още

An Army ammunition plant in southeast Oklahoma is being expanded to at least triple monthly production of the US’s biggest non-nuclear bomb, a weapon often invoked in debates about a potential attack on deeply buried nuclear facilities in Iran or North Korea.

$320M US military Gaza Aid pier to open for business

A trident pier the length of five football fields is being anchored to the Gaza coast. Humanitarian aid will be dropped off there via ships from the floating pier, also built by the U.S. military, two miles off the coast. According to the Pentagon, two Navy warships will be protecting the floating pier and the sea bound transfer of the aid.

Some 1,000 U.S. service members are engaged in the project, which is costing an estimated $320 million for the first three months. U.S. personnel are not supposed to be going "on the ground" in Gaza at any time.

The military will be working with…  Прочетете още the World Food Program to deliver the aid into Gaza once it hits the beach. DOD officials say they hope to surge some 90 trucks of assistance into Gaza at first, ramping up to 150 trucks a day.

Netanyahu says Israel isn't a "vassal state" of the U.S.

A day after President Biden warned Israel that a major attack on Rafah would cross a "red line" for U.S. support, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on a rant during a meeting with his security cabinet.

"We are not a vassal state of the United States!" he declared, according to three people with knowledge of his remarks, including one of Netanyahu's aides.

Netanyahu's hot reaction last Thursday reflected his combative mood at a time when Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has strained its relationship with the U.S.

The tension began escalating two…  Прочетете още weeks ago, after Biden put a hold on 3,500 U.S. bombs that were on a ship about to depart for Israel.

The CIA has a long history of helping to kill leaders around the world

Some of the most notorious of the CIA’s operations to kill world leaders were those targeting the late Cuban president, Fidel Castro. Attempts ranged from snipers to imaginative plots worthy of spy movie fantasies, such as the famous exploding cigars and a poison-lined scuba-diving suit.

But although the CIA attempts proved fruitless in the case of Castro, the US intelligence agency has since 1945 succeeded in deposing or killing a string of leaders elsewhere around the world – either directly or, more often, using sympathetic local military, locally hired criminals or pliant dissi…  Прочетете ощеdents.

Turkish President Says Israel Will Invade Turkey Next

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims that Israel will “set its sights” on Turkey if it succeeds in defeating the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip.

Erdogan has cut trade ties with Israel, maintained close ties with Hamas, and repeatedly lambasted Israel and its “Nazi” leaders since the war was sparked by the terror group’s massacre on October 7.

He has voiced support for Hamas, which is classed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, among others.

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“Do…  Прочетете още not think that Israel will stop in Gaza,” Erdogan tells his party lawmakers in the parliament in the capital Ankara.

Pro-Putin Slovakian Prime Minister Shot In Assassination Attempt

Slovakia's pro-Putin prime minister Robert Fico has been shot in the stomach in an assassination attempt.

The politician, 59, is now in a life-threatening condition in hospital after he was attacked leaving a government meeting.

Four shots were fired - with one hitting populist leader Fico in the abdomen in the town of Handlova, some 100 miles northeast of Bratislava.

After receiving treatment in Handlova, the PM has now been airlifted to a hospital in the capital as transport to the city would take "too long", a government spokesperson said.

The incident took place in front of the local House of Culture, where the PM had come to meet with supporters.

The suspected assassin was filmed being overpowered and detained by security forces and bystanders.

6 Mile Subway In San Francisco Will Cost $13 Billion

The Federal Transit Administration last week announced a $500 million down payment for the project and is expected to finalize a $6 billion award later this year. This new underground line will extend the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) through San Jose and Santa Clara, which are already served by the region’s Caltrain and public buses.

A decade ago, the duplicative subway was estimated to cost $4.4 billion and open in 2026. Local transportation planners wanted BART to “ring” the San Francisco Bay. Estimated costs have since ballooned to $12.75 billion—$2.1 billion a mile…  Прочетете още—owing to inflation and engineering changes. Now service isn’t expected to start until 2037.

RFK Jr.’s Threat to Trump

November’s election may be decided by whose definition of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voters find most persuasive.

No one really knows which of his rivals Mr. Kennedy’s candidacy will hurt more. Mr. Biden sees Mr. Kennedy as possibly reprising the role played by the Green Party’s Jill Stein in 2016. Her vote totals were slim—in Pennsylvania she received 0.82%, in Michigan 1.07%, in Wisconsin 1.04%—but had her votes gone instead to Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump wouldn’t have been president.

With Mr. Kennedy polling today in the low double digits, Mr. Biden is taking…  Прочетете още no chances. He has gathered endorsements from almost the entire Kennedy family and even set up a war room to track the RFK campaign and make it harder for him to get on state ballots. Team Biden is trying to portray Mr. Kennedy as a creature of MAGA, citing his antivax stands and his financial support from Trump donor Timothy Mellon.

Biden aides worry about "psychological torment" as Hunter heads for trial

President Joe Biden will soon have to watch and wait as 12 jurors in his home state decide whether his son is guilty of felony gun charges — a case brought by his own Justice Department.

For the White House, the scenario of Hunter Biden’s first criminal trial, all but assured to start June 3, is an unprecedented event in American political history that they hoped never to face.

While aides insist that the White House will have no involvement in the case, brought by special counsel David Weiss, some fear it could dramatically impact the president himself, more psychologically than…  Прочетете още politically.