Overt official omissions...

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The real numbers and the sad (tragic) truth isn't going away despite being studiously ignored by politicians and press alike: "Another jaw-dropping graph" from last week [Hector Drummond]; worth reading the previous blog-post there linked through from the Hector Drummond post.



The graph in question is of of "winter-to-spring mortality for all years in England and Wales from 1993-94 to 2019-2020, with numbers from the ONS" and adjusted for population.

[For the avoidance of doubt] "the graph goes up to week 20, ie. 15 May, when most of the England and Wales Covid-19 deaths had happened. A week later and deaths were back to being around the five-year average."

Overt official omissions...

---

The real numbers and the sad (tragic) truth isn't going away despite being studiously ignored by politicians and press alike: "Another jaw-dropping graph" from last week [Hector Drummond]; worth reading the previous blog-post there linked through from the Hector Drummond post.

The graph in question is of of "winter-to-spring mortality for all years in England and Wales from 1993-94 to 2019-2020, with numbers from the ONS" and adjusted for population.

[For the avoidance of doubt] "the graph goes up to week 20, ie. 15 May, when most of the England and Wales Covid-19 deaths had happened. A week later and deaths were back to being around the five-year average."

Observing opioid overdosing...

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Iman Ghosh's article on opioids last week at The Visual Capitalist shows "The Spiraling Opioid Epidemic in America" certainly isn't getting any better. The graphic and info are actually terrifying. "As per the medical and legal standard, opioids are often compared to morphine. To that end, heroin is 2-5x stronger—while fentanyl is 50-100x more potent."  And worse is here/on the way:

"Another drug rearing its head on the streets is carfentanil. Formerly developed as ‘elephant tranquilizer’, this synthetic opioid is similar in appearance to other illicit drugs such as heroin, making it indistinguishable when mixed in. However, there’s one big problem—carfentanil is 100x more potent than fentanyl itself."

The data is from the UN World Drug Report 2020 [Executive Summary] and the image left (click to enlarge) - showing a few surprises in the Top Ten countries for drug related death - is clipped from Iman's post.



A further graphic on "Deaths by drug overdose (unintentional) in the U.S. from 1950 to 2017 (per 100,000 population)" [Visual Capitalist link] shows how the rate has ballooned this century and how it is accelerating. From 1950 to 1990 it bobbled up and down below 3%, in 2017 it had reached 20%. The biggest leap was a mammoth 40% from 2014-2016 (13.1% to 18.2%).



Hat-tip: Zero Hedge. 



Previous reading:  Options on opiates III . Or if you prefer not so serious but interesting stuff: Options on opiates and Options on opiates II, that second one: "chloroform, cannabis, alcohol and morphine in a single cough medicine! Then cocaine to cure the addiction!"

Observing opioid overdosing...

---

Iman Ghosh's article on opioids last week at The Visual Capitalist shows "The Spiraling Opioid Epidemic in America" certainly isn't getting any better. The graphic and info are actually terrifying. "As per the medical and legal standard, opioids are often compared to morphine. To that end, heroin is 2-5x stronger—while fentanyl is 50-100x more potent."  And worse is here/on the way:

"Another drug rearing its head on the streets is carfentanil. Formerly developed as ‘elephant tranquilizer’, this synthetic opioid is similar in appearance to other illicit drugs such as heroin, making it indistinguishable when mixed in. However, there’s one big problem—carfentanil is 100x more potent than fentanyl itself."

The data is from the UN World Drug Report 2020 [Executive Summary] and the image left (click to enlarge) - showing a few surprises in the Top Ten countries for drug related death - is clipped from Iman's post.

A further graphic on "Deaths by drug overdose (unintentional) in the U.S. from 1950 to 2017 (per 100,000 population)" [Visual Capitalist link] shows how the rate has ballooned this century and how it is accelerating. From 1950 to 1990 it bobbled up and down below 3%, in 2017 it had reached 20%. The biggest leap was a mammoth 40% from 2014-2016 (13.1% to 18.2%).

Hat-tip: Zero Hedge. 

Previous reading:  Options on opiates III . Or if you prefer not so serious but interesting stuff: Options on opiates and Options on opiates II, that second one: "chloroform, cannabis, alcohol and morphine in a single cough medicine! Then cocaine to cure the addiction!"

Operation Overlook...

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Brexiteers beware, keep the lookout, keep the pressure on. An oportune moment to not take one's eye off the ball. Harry Western (a pseudonym: "Harry Western is the pen-name of a senior economist working in the private sector") wrote an article that appeared yesterday on the Briefings for Britain blog (Economy & trade) "Brexiteers be alert again – Whitehall still trying to scupper a real Brexit".

"To a casual observer, the UK looks to be on course to leave the EU fully at the end of this year with either no trade deal or a deal of the ‘bare bones’ sort, either of which would deliver on the government’s avowed aim of delivering a genuinely independent trade policy..."

The most worrying of the developments is the announcement of a new agricultural commission to advise on food standards and trade policy. This was set up in the wake of an aggressive and well-funded campaign, led by the NFU, which featured a mass of misleading claims and scare stories about food imports... ...The names of individuals who will sit on this commission have now been announced and it could hardly be worse. There is an almost total absence of genuine expertise in the field of agricultural trade and economies...

[edited for typos!] There is more: the Department of International Trade (DIT) and Northern Ireland and, just as Harry mentions in the intro to his piece, taken in isolation these things may slip under the radar but taken together show the final battle is yet to be won.

Operation Overlook...

---

Brexiteers beware, keep the lookout, keep the pressure on. An oportune moment to not take one's eye off the ball. Harry Western (a pseudonym: "Harry Western is the pen-name of a senior economist working in the private sector") wrote an article that appeared yesterday on the Briefings for Britain blog (Economy & trade) "Brexiteers be alert again – Whitehall still trying to scupper a real Brexit". "To a casual observer, the UK looks to be on course to leave the EU fully at the end of this year with either no trade deal or a deal of the ‘bare bones’ sort, either of which would deliver on the government’s avowed aim of delivering a genuinely independent trade policy..."

The most worrying of the developments is the announcement of a new agricultural commission to advise on food standards and trade policy. This was set up in the wake of an aggressive and well-funded campaign, led by the NFU, which featured a mass of misleading claims and scare stories about food imports... ...The names of individuals who will sit on this commission have now been announced and it could hardly be worse. There is an almost total absence of genuine expertise in the field of agricultural trade and economies...

[edited for typos!] There is more: the Department of International Trade (DIT) and Northern Ireland and, just as Harry mentions in the intro to his piece, taken in isolation these things may slip under the radar but taken together show the final battle is yet to be won.