China Charges Canadian Citizen With Smuggling 'An Enormous Amount Of Drugs'

The feud between Ottawa and Beijing climbed to absurd new heights late Wednesday after Beijing announced that it would bring drug smuggling charges against a Canadian national recently detained in the northeastern province of Liaoning. Reuters reported Wednesday that a Chinese court in Dalian has formally charged Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg with smuggling "an enormous amount of drugs" into China - a crime that typically carries the death penalty in the notoriously strict Communist judicial system. Schellenberg will face an appeal hearing on Saturday, according to a local government news site. The English-language Chinese website Global Times reported that the amount of drugs purportedly smuggled by Schellenberg "will surprise you when it goes public."

The GT listed the penalties for drug smuggling under Chinese law as follows: According to China’s Criminal Law, persons who smuggle, traffic in, transport or manufacture opium of not less than 1,000 grams, heroin or methylaniline of not less than 50 grams or other narcotic drugs of large quantities shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of 15 years, life imprisonment or death and also to confiscation of property.

Following the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou - the daughter of one of China's most celebrated titans of industry - at the behest of federal prosecutors in the US, Beijing detained two Canadians - former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and China-based businessman Michael Spavor - whom China has accused of engaging in activities that "endanger China’s security". Canada has protested their arrest and demanded their release, but Beijing has mostly scoffed at Canada's objections.

Kovrig is a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group think tank, while Spavor facilitates trips to North Korea (his clients include former NBA star Dennis Rodman). It has been widely speculated that the arrest of the two men was intended as retaliation for Meng, though no direct link has been substantiated. The circumstances surrounding Schellenberg's arrest are less clear. In addition, a Canadian woman named Sarah McIver is also being held in China and will likely be deported for working illegally in the country. Back in 2009, China executed UK national and convicted drug smuggler Akmal Shaikh after he was convicted of smuggling 4,030 grams of heroin into China - over the protests of the British government.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-26/china-charges-canadian-citizen-smuggling-enormous-amount-drugs

7 Times Hollywood Celebs Wished Violence Against Trump in 2018

Once again, several Hollywood celebrities spent the year fantasizing about violence against President Donald Trump, his family, members of his administration, and his supporters. While down from the more than dozen celebrities who imagined violence against Trump in 2017, the Hollywood hate was still savage from the likes of Jim Carrey, John Legend, and Rosie O’Donnell.

1. Peter Fonda Calls for Barron Trump to Be Kidnapped, Put in Cage with Pedophiles Actor Peter Fonda went on an unhinged rant on social media in June about the controversy over children being separated from adults at the border. Among other things, Fonda wished for Barron Trump to be detained and put into a cage with pedophiles. 2. Singer John Legend Supports Public Harassment of Trump Administration In June, singer and left-wing activist John Legend defended the public harassment of Trump administration officials, saying in a social media post, “Let’s make a deal with the Trump Administration. Reunite all these families immediately and you can go out to eat wherever the fuck you want.” 3. Jim Carrey Draws Donald Trump Burning At the Stake Actor Jim Carrey depicted President Trump being burned at the stake in a drawing posted to his social media page in August. 4. Broadway Actress Carole Cook Makes Joke About Trump’s Assassination Broadway star Carole Cook joked about the assassination of President Trump in September, saying, “Where’s John Wilkes Booth when you need him?” 5. Rosie O’Donnell Jokes About Military Coup on Trump Left-wing activist and actress Rosie O’Donnell fantasized about a military coup against President Trump in October, saying, “I want to send the military to the White House to get him.” In the same interview, she confessed that Trump’s election made her literally sick and forced her to exile herself from public life for a year. 6. Actor James Cromwell Warns of “Blood in the Streets” over Trump Presidency Actor James Cromwell said in a speech in October that if Trump’s presidency isn’t stopped democratically, there will be a bloody revolution instead. “If we don’t stop [President Trump] now, then we will have a revolution for real. Then there will be blood in the streets,” he said. 7. Tom Arnold Challenges Trump to a Fistfight on Twitter Actor Tom Arnold fantasized about fighting President Trump in a social media post in October. I say put up or shut up @realDonaldTrump Me vs You. For America. First body slam wins. Any Rally. Any Time. Between now & the midterms,” he said.

These violent threats have become the norm for Hollywood celebrities since Trump announced his campaign for president. Throughout 2016 and 2017, stars expressed a number of violent fantasies about the president and his supporters. Madonna infamously confessed her thoughts about “blowing up the White House,” while Robert De Niro openly said he wanted to “punch [Trump] in the face.”

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2018/12/26/7-times-hollywood-celebs-wished-violence-against-trump-in-2018/

Ex-Insys CEO to plead guilty to opioid kickback scheme

BOSTON (Reuters) - The former chief executive of Insys Therapeutics Inc (INSY.O) has agreed to plead guilty to participating in a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe a powerful opioid medication in order to boost its sales, U.S. prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Michael Babich, who resigned as the Arizona-based drugmaker’s CEO in 2015 and was due to face trial next month, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud charges, federal prosecutors in Boston disclosed in a court filing. Five former Insys executives and managers indicted along with Babich, including John Kapoor, the company’s founder and former chairman, remain scheduled to go on trial in late January. They have pleaded not guilty.

The terms of Babich’s plea deal were not disclosed, and it was unclear whether he would agree to cooperate with prosecutors and testify at that trial, as has another former Insys executive who recently pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy. Prosecutors requested a Jan. 9 plea hearing. A lawyer for Babich, 42, declined to comment.

The case centers on Subsys, Insys’ under-the-tongue spray for managing pain in cancer patients. It contains fentanyl, an opioid 100 times stronger than morphine. Prosecutors allege that from 2012 to 2015, Kapoor, Babich and others conspired to bribe doctors in exchange for prescribing their patients Subsys. Prosecutors said they also defrauded insurers into paying for Subsys. Prosecutors allege Insys paid doctors kickbacks in the form of fees to participate in speaker programs ostensibly meant to educate medical professionals about Subsys that were actually shams.

The case has been brought amid a national opioid addiction epidemic. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids were involved in around 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017. Babich, who was originally indicted in 2016, is married to a former Insys sales representative, Natalie Babich, who in 2017 pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay kickbacks and became a government witness. She testified this month at the trial of Christopher Clough, a former physician assistant in New Hampshire accused of accepting kickbacks from Insys. A federal jury in Concord, New Hampshire convicted Clough on Dec. 18. In August, Insys said it had agreed to settle a related U.S. Justice Department probe for at least $150 million.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-insys-opioids/ex-insys-ceo-to-plead-guilty-to-opioid-kickback-scheme-idUSKCN1OP1B4?il=0

>>4480575

Agreed, I just spent a month with spouse anon, in 2 hospitals, I was amazed at the amount of pharma reps and what they would do to keep the staffs happy, free lunch and gadgets.. doctors offices run much the same way, but I hadn't considered that hospitals get the same treatment, time for it to end.