this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2026
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For more than a decade, the United States has faced a relentless and heartbreaking increase in fatal drug overdoses driven by synthetic opioids. A new analysis suggests this trend has suddenly reversed due to a major disruption in the global supply chain of illicit fentanyl. Published in Science, the study indicates that regulatory actions taken by the Chinese government, following high-level diplomatic engagement with the Biden administration, may be the primary driver behind this unexpected decline in mortality.

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[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 73 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (4 children)

The US could have also taken the Sackler family out to sea and disappeared them, but we didn't. I think that would have been an appropriate punishment (if a little too lenient) for engineering a nationwide addiction crisis.

But your point stands.

The American brand is permanently tarnished, and it's going to be a bummer to see the consequences unfold in the coming years.

[–] Quexotic@infosec.pub 30 points 4 days ago (1 children)

The coming decades, probably. This won't be right in my lifetime.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 18 points 4 days ago (2 children)

It's wild to think that with the same amount of power Obama and Biden had, that Donald has completely rearranged the landscape of American politics, and once the post-tariff trade agreements kick in (rerouting supply chains around rather than through the US) and the BBB puts the kill shot on the poor and middle class, I think that the next year or two will be a clear historical demarcation line.

[–] Quexotic@infosec.pub 42 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I'm not sure about that. This presidency is more than 50 years in the making, involved a stolen vote, multiple billionaire co-conspirators, even Obama was like "how do we stop this??" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnhBrVb_aaw

They have all the authors of p25 behind them, the house, the senate, the judiciary, the POTUS, the whole shootin' match.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I'm with you dude. Solid points all around.

[–] Quexotic@infosec.pub 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

We need to have a viable plan for when he cancels elections. I don't know how to make such a plan, but we need it yesterday.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Personally, I don't think it's going to end up being logistically possible for Donald's government to do that, owing to elections being run at the state level instead of federal. I am sure they will identify a few key races and counties and attempt to intimidate voters though.

Even with his Gestapo, he can't even control a handful of major cities.

[–] Quexotic@infosec.pub 5 points 3 days ago

I hope you're right. They could also steal the election again.

Feel like I'm wearing a foil hat whenever I type that, but the stats are convincing.

https://electiontruthalliance.org/

God's help us.

[–] nanoswarm9k@lemmus.org 2 points 3 days ago

Door to door raids are the vote cancelation.

They'll start taking whoever they want on a large scale now that it's been tried and warmed up on darker-than-paper-bag.

I mean. Unless the militarized offices are deactivated.

Maybe American Spring should start good and earlybwith the climate change weather.

We could start rebuilding civil inferstructure before our monocropping pays us in famine.

[–] davidagain@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Did Biden ever have a majority in both houses? I know Obama had it for the first two years and that's how he got Obamacare through. Neither of them had SCOTUS stacked in their favour and ruling them immune from their own intervention.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Idk I say we should've just given them a taste of their own medicine, but only like a week's taste, then strip their wealth.

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago

The first ones free and after that I will rinse you

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago (2 children)

The American brand is permanently tarnished

I wish this were true. But after Iraq? After Vietnam? A Cold War that nearly wiped out the entire human race? After CIA sponsored coups from Brazil to Guatamala? Henry Ford was passing out copies of "The International Jew" all over Germany during the 1920s. Roosevelt forced the Platt Amendment down Cuba's throat. McKinley oversaw a genocide in the Philippines. Polk gave us the Annexation of Texas and the revitalization of the North American slave trade. Anyone ask Andrew Jackson what happened to all the Cherokee down in Florida?

America is a country with unlimited do-overs. Our brand is never tarnished. We are always and forever a Shining City On A Hill even as Ronnie fucking Raygun is sponsoring nun rape down in Nicaragua.

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

The events you're describing are the history of every major world power. The global power that hasn't participated in numerous atrocities does not exist.

The difference here is the loss of domestic rule of law and its cascading downstream effects for global cooperation and trade, which yes, will create significant future problems for the US and its brand. This will become more evident in a year to a year-and-a-half when the post-tariff trade agreements take effect, for a start. China is the obvious beneficiary.

But could get a whole lot worse a whole lot faster depending on how far Donald decides to push his unilateral warmongering, and whether or not Congress does anything about it.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The global power that hasn’t participated in numerous atrocities does not exist.

Almost as though power is accrued at the expense of the vulnerable.

The difference here is the loss of domestic law and order and its cascading downstream effects for global cooperation and trade

The only countries that the US has alienated are ones it is explicitly sanctioning. Nobody else is actually cutting ties.

China is the obvious beneficiary.

China's the trade-alternative for countries under US sanctions, precisely because Trump's done a ham-fisted job of diplomacizing with his counterparts overseas. But a future Pete Buttigieg administration can patch that up if he chooses. There is more to be gained by doing business with the US than with Venezuela or Iran or Cuba. Chinese leaders know that and act accordingly.

But could get a whole lot worse a whole lot faster

Sure. Or it could come to a grinding halt if Trump loses control of Congress and falls into lame duck status three years early. Already, we're seeing sharp divides even inside the GOP, which already operates on thin margins in the face of a Dem election wave.

Plenty of precedent for an unpopular President to get sidelined by skilled and ambitious legislators. And the US has demonstrated time and time again that it has the manpower and the infrastructure to rebound quickly under strong, competent leadership.

We're almost certainly going to face a nasty recession going into the next few years. But we're still a massive, hugely populated, highly technical, heavily industrialized economy. Losing unipolar status isn't the end of the empire. A bad few years of economic contraction isn't the end of the world.

Now... the long tail of climate change... that's another story. If the Colorado River dries up before it reaches Arizona, we're going to see some shit flying.

[–] davidagain@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

And the US has demonstrated time and time again that it has the manpower and the infrastructure to rebound quickly under strong, competent leadership.

A lot of the manpower has been sacked. Replacing those people and getting them to a point of strong competency will take years and years and a lot of money.

[–] nanoswarm9k@lemmus.org 3 points 3 days ago

Second best time to plant a tree is today. #guesswebettergettowork

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

There might be a difference now. The US has always warmongered, but it did know who it could gonafter without consequences. Geopolitically, Vietnam, Iraq, and all these other countries hardly mattered. These could be attacked and nobody would lift a finger to stop it.

Greenland would be different. That would damage the relationship with its European allies a lot. A relationship the USA has depended on for a long time.

[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

It's wild because in China they would have done exactly that. Well, they tend to be more efficient with corporate criminals than charter a whole damn boat. A brick wall and a revolver is the normal way enemies of the people meet their end. (When they haven't cut the leadership in enough at least in some cases.)