<p>The United Nations has promised to continue trying to force restrictions on plastic in member states to “fight climate change” despite a breakdown in negotiations this week.</p><p id="">The UN Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) <a href="https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution/session-5" id="">convened</a> on Monday in Busan, South Korea to finalize a treaty that would limit plastic production and require measures to reduce plastic pollution. The text of the agreement suggests such measures could include bans on plastic bags, straws, and other products. It was clear both from the meeting and the text that the treaty would require governments to impose climate mandates.</p><p id="">"A treaty that . . . only relies on voluntary measures would not be acceptable," said Rwanda's Environment Management Authority Director General Juliet Kabera, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/over-100-countries-back-plastic-treaty-caps-talks-reach-fierce-finish-2024-11-30/" id="">according</a> to <em id="">Reuters.</em> "It is time we take it seriously and negotiate a treaty that is fit for purpose and not built to fail."</p><p id="">The agreement would also require governments to teach school children about the evils of plastic.</p><p id="">It was the fifth meeting of the INC and intended to be the final one, but an agreement was not reached. This was partly due to oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia opposing restrictions on plastic production.&nbsp;</p><p id="">“If you address plastic pollution, there should be no problem with producing plastics, because the problem is the pollution, not the plastics themselves,” said Saudi Arabia’s Abdulrahman Al Gwaiz.</p><p id="">UN Environment Programme head Inger Andersen signaled that while negotiations had broken down, the stage was set to resume talks in the future.</p><p id="">“It obviously did not fail,” Andersen said, adding: “What we do have is very, very good progress.”</p><h2 id="">Do plastic bans work?</h2><p id="">Many countries currently have some form of plastic ban in place, usually on plastic shopping bags. However, evidence shows that single-use plastic bags are better for the environment.</p><p id=""><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/grocery-bag-environmental-impact" id="">Figures</a> presented by <em id="">Our World in Data </em>reveal the “number of times a given grocery bag type would have to be reused to have as low an environmental impact as a standard single-use plastic bag.” According to the data, an organic cotton shopping bag would have to be reused 20,000 times to match a plastic bag in environmental impact. A conventional cotton bag would have to be reused 7,100 times and a composite bag 870 times.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p id="">The site lists seven more categories that require fewer uses, but none as harmless as a plastic bag, including recycled PET (84 reuses), polypropylene, non-woven, recycled (52 reuses), polypropylene, woven, recycled (45 reuses), bleached paper (43 reuses), unbleached paper (43 reuses), biopolymer (42 reuses), and polyester PET, recycled (35 reuses).&nbsp;</p><p id="">The situation is similar when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, based on an <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/grocery-bag-comparisons-ghg" id="">analysis</a> of the “number of times a given grocery bag type would have to be reused to have as low a level of greenhouse gas emissions as a standard single-use plastic bag.”</p><p id="">These data are based on a 2018 <a href="https://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publications/2018/02/978-87-93614-73-4.pdf" id="">study</a> commissioned by the Danish Environmental Agency, which analyzed 14 types of bags in Denmark. The study compared 'all environmental indicators,' which was a combined value for climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, ozone depletion, human toxicity (cancer effects), human toxicity (non-cancer effects), photochemical ozone formation, ionizing radiation, particulate matter, terrestrial acidification, terrestrial eutrophication, marine eutrophication, ecosystem toxicity, resource depletion (fossil), resource depletion (abiotic), and water resource depletion.&nbsp;</p><p id="">For most categories, the study found that low-density polyethylene (LDPE) bags, which are the usual plastic shopping bags in supermarkets, “are the carriers providing the overall lowest environmental impacts for most environmental indicators.”&nbsp;</p><p>‍</p>

UN vows to continue war on plastic

Do plastic bans work?

<p id="">President-elect Donald Trump’s <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/16/politics/trump-bloodbath-auto-industry-election/index.html" id="">warning</a> of a “bloodbath” in the automotive industry may be coming to fruition as automakers implode from electric vehicle (EV) mandates.</p><p id="">Western governments have been imposing climate regulations that force car companies to sell less internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, which use fuel, despite plummeting consumer demand for EVs. According to recent <a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/new-study-nearly-1-in-2-ev-owners-wants-to-return-to-gas-cars" id="">surveys</a>, 29% of EV owners globally and 46% of EV owners in the US say they are likely to buy an ICE vehicle for their next car purchase. An Ernst &amp; Young survey <a href="https://www.autonews.com/mobility-report/consumers-14-percentage-points-less-likely-purchase-ev-year" id="">found</a> that 34% intend to buy an EV within the next two years, a 14% drop from 2023. At the same time, carmakers are being told to increase EV production to meet unrealistic quotas.</p><p id="">Volkswagen is the latest vehicle manufacturer scrambling to stay afloat. Europe’s largest carmaker saw a global 3% drop in sales in the first quarter of this year and a 4% increase in ICE vehicle sales. Now the company is <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14148997/volkswagen-workers-factories-strikes-electric-vehicles.html" id="">considering</a> closing factories for the first time in its 87-year history and slashing employee salaries by 10%, leading to strikes and demonstrations.</p><p id="">Stellantis, the Dutch car giant that owns Jeep, Chrysler, Vauxhall, Dodge, and others, has blamed EV mandates for its recent plan to close its plant in Luton, England. The company’s CEO, Chief Executive Carlos Tavares, resigned from the company on Sunday amid a 40% drop in the company’s value. Tavares has reportedly criticized the UK’s harsh EV mandate that <a href="https://www.am-online.com/news/market-insight/2023/09/28/dft-finally-confirms-zev-mandate-15k-fines-per-car-for-missed-targets" id="">fines</a> carmakers £15,000 ($19,680) for every ICE car sold beyond the dwindling quota allowed by the government.</p><p id="">Nissan may have only a year left after failing to generate enough EV sales and not betting enough on hybrid vehicles. Last month, the company announced it would slash global production by 20% and scrap 9,000 jobs in a desperate attempt to cut costs. CEO Makoto Uchida has taken a 50% pay cut and CFO Stephen Ma is stepping down.</p><p id="">“We have 12 or 14 months to survive,” said a Nissan executive according to the <em id="">Financial Times</em>. “This is going to be tough. And in the end, we need Japan and the US to be generating cash.”</p><p id="">In October, Ford posted a $1.2 billion loss on EVs for the third quarter after <a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/ford-halves-production-of-flagship-electric-vehicle-due-to-market-demand" id="">halving</a> production last year of its all-electric flagship vehicle, the F-150 Lightning pickup truck. Other car manufacturers have had to <a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/electric-car-company-files-bankruptcy-as-ev-market-folds" id="">abandon</a> EV projects and investments, including the UK’s <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13138123/Aston-Martin-puts-brakes-new-electric-supercar-2026-bosses-say-drivers-want-engines-throaty-roar.html" id="">Aston Martin</a>. In June, California-based EV maker Fisker <a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/electric-car-company-files-bankruptcy-as-ev-market-folds" id="">announced</a> it was filing for bankruptcy due to “market headwinds.”</p><h2 id="">Toyota: ‘It’s going to distort the industry’</h2><p id="">At a virtual roundtable discussion last month, Toyota Motor North America COO Jack Hollis <a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/ev-mandates-impossible-to-meet-says-top-toyota-executive" id="">criticized</a> policies like California’s, which require 35% of cars manufactured next year to be zero-emission vehicles. Under the California Air Resources Board’s “Advanced Clean Cars II” regulations, gas-powered vehicles can only make up 65% of production. By 2030, 100% of manufactured vehicles must be zero-emission.</p><p id="">Like California, the Biden-Harris administration issued its own mandate this year aimed at forcing EV production. The new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contain tight emissions standards that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/epa-electric-vehicles-emissions-limits-climate-biden-e6d581324af51294048df24269b5d20a" id="">require</a> 56% of new vehicle sales to be fully electric by 2032, with an additional 13% required to be hybrids.</p><p id="">“I have not seen a forecast by anyone . . .&nbsp; government or private, anywhere that has told us that that number is achievable,” Hollis said, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/08/toyota-california-ev-mandates-impossible.html" id="">according</a> to <em id="">CNBC</em>. “At this point, it looks impossible. Demand isn’t there. It’s going to limit a customer’s choice of the vehicles they want.”</p><p id="">“It’s going to distort the industry. It’s going to distort the business. Why? Because it’s unnatural to what the current demand in the marketplace is,” added Hollis.</p><h2 id="">Automakers are rationing gas cars</h2><p id="">Vertu Motors, one of the UK’s largest car dealers, says it is experiencing a gas vehicle shortfall because car manufacturers are afraid to exceed the limit.</p><p id="">“It’s almost as if we can’t supply the cars that people want, but we’ve got plenty of the cars that maybe they don’t want,” Vertu Motors CEO Robert Forrester <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/09/02/manufacturers-ration-petrol-cars-hybrid-electric/" id="">told</a><em id=""> The Telegraph</em>. “They [manufacturers] are trying to avoid the fines. So they’re constraining the ability for us to supply petrol cars in order to try and keep to the government targets.”</p><p id="">Forrester called supporters of the EV mandate “economic buffoons, because car manufacturers are being forced to discount EVs to such an extent that they’re making losses . . . and that is not a good thing for business.”</p><p id="">“What the Government’s actually doing is constraining the new car market, which has a big impact on VAT receipts for them, and creates a business environment in the UK where manufacturers may question whether they want to make cars here. As Carlos Tavares has said, why should they sell cars at a loss because of UK government policy?</p><p id="">“The new car market is no longer a market, unfortunately. It’s a state-imposed supply chain.”</p><p id="">‍</p>

Car industry continues to implode from EV mandates

'We have 12 or 14 months to survive'

<p id="">On Sunday, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Florida’s Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).</p><h2 id="">Medical discrimination</h2><p id="">The appointment has raised protests from Republicans who recall Chronister’s actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chronister came down hard on unvaccinated police officers, for example, penalizing them for falling ill while accommodating vaccinated officers who contracted the virus.</p><p id="">“I put out a policy a few weeks ago that if you’re unvaccinated and you have to quarantine or you get ill, you have to use your own [accrued time]. If you’re vaccinated and for some reason you fall ill, the Sheriff’s office is going to cover your time off,” Chronister said. “This has to be for our 4,000 employees to keep them healthy but absolutely [also] the public.”</p><h2 id="">Lockdown enforcement</h2><p id="">In March 2020, Chronister’s office arrested Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne, pastor of The River Church in Tampa Bay, for violating lockdown orders by holding prayer services. Howard-Browne was charged with two second-degree misdemeanors: Unlawful Assembly and Violation of Public Health Emergency Rules.</p><p id="">“I believe there is nothing more important than faith at a time like this, and as a Sheriff’s Office, we would never impede on someone’s ability to lean on their religious beliefs as a means of comfort, but practicing those beliefs has to be done safely,” said Chronister in a <a href="https://teamhcso.com/News/PressRelease/bea53702-e647-4b0b-af34-38cbb31f6224/20-091" id="">statement</a> at the time, adding: “His reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk and thousands of residents who may interact with them this week in danger.”</p><p id="">That same month, Chronister <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2020/04/14/florida-murder-inmate-coronavirus-release/" id="">released</a> 164 inmates to “slow the spread” of COVID-19 in the county jail. One of those freed inmates, Joseph Edwards Williams, was arrested for murdering a man just hours after his release.</p><p id="">Trump’s announcement triggered harsh criticism from Republican figures.</p><p id="">“I’m going to call ‘em like I see ‘em,” tweeted Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY). “Trump’s nominee for head of DEA should be disqualified for ordering the arrest [of] a pastor who defied COVID lockdowns.”</p><div data-rt-embed-type='true'><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’m going to call ‘em like I see ‘em. Trump’s nominee for head of DEA should be disqualified for ordering the arrest a pastor who defied COVID lockdowns. <a href="https://t.co/pHSmGr81Tz">https://t.co/pHSmGr81Tz</a></p>&mdash; Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1863274428672462963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p id="">“Let’s revisit this after he serves prison time for conspiracy against rights for arresting a pastor during covid lockdowns,” political commentator Tim Pool wrote.</p><div data-rt-embed-type='true'><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Let&#39;s revisit this after he serves prison time for conspiracy against rights for arresting a pastor during covid lockdowns <a href="https://t.co/Fl4JLCBIzO">https://t.co/Fl4JLCBIzO</a></p>&mdash; Tim Pool (@Timcast) <a href="https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/1863282753069801518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p id="">“Trump has made yet another outrageous and unacceptable pick in Chad Chronister. Absolutely disqualifying. Period,” said conservative influencer Viva Frei.</p><div data-rt-embed-type='true'><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Trump has made yet another outrageous and unacceptable pick in Chad Chronister.<br><br>Absolutely disqualifying.<br><br>Period. <a href="https://t.co/jv0eftNxbV">pic.twitter.com/jv0eftNxbV</a></p>&mdash; Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) <a href="https://twitter.com/thevivafrei/status/1863320481488568578?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p id="">While most of Trump's cabinet nominations have won praise from conservatives, Chronister is not the only Trump pick to spark concerns among the president-elect’s supporters.</p><h2 id="">Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for surgeon general</h2><p id="">Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, has also raised eyebrows for her <a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/trump-taps-pro-censorship-vaccine-extremist-for-surgeon-general" id="">stances</a> during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nesheiwat urged the public to wear masks and take the mRNA vaccine, which she called “a gift from God” that is “nothing short of miraculous.” She also recommended masking children in schools and injecting them with the experimental shots.</p><p id="">Most concerningly, however, Nesheiwat advocated for censoring those who questioned the vaccines and thanked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for suppressing them.</p><p id="">“First of all, vaccines save lives,” she told a <em id="">Fox News</em> panel. “And I am so excited, and I thank and I commend Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg for taking action because this [vaccine misinformation] affects everyone. This affects our children, it affects adults . . . it’s about time that they are taking action and I hope and pray that other social media platforms will follow suit and do the same thing.”</p><p id="">Eventually, Nesheiwat appeared to reverse her approach, though she did not apologize for her previous activism.</p><p id="">Nesheiwat’s sister, Julia Nesheiwat, is married to Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who Trump has tapped as national security advisor. In 2020, Julia served as Homeland Security advisor, after being appointed a year before as Florida’s first chief resilience officer.&nbsp;</p><p id=""><a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/expert/julia-nesheiwat/" id="">Julia Nesheiwat</a> has also been a member of globalist organizations like the World Economic Forum, where she sat on its Global Advisory Council, and is still a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center. The Atlantic Council is a “think tank” whose board <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/about/board-of-directors/" id="">contains</a> several former CIA directors and other high-level intelligence officials. <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/shellenberger-testimony.pdf" id="">According</a> to congressional testimony from investigative journalist Michael Shellenberger, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), is “one of the most established and influential full-time censorship institutions in the world.”</p><p id="">The Atlantic Council has been <a href="https://frontline.news/post/biden-administration-joins-globalist-billionaires-to-fund-ai-powered-censorship" id="">serving</a> as a coordinating hub between tech giants and the State Department to censor undesirable political views in the US and Europe. In 2018 Facebook <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2018/05/announcing-new-election-partnership-with-the-atlantic-council/" id="">announced</a> an “election partnership” with the Atlantic Council and authorized it to declare which accounts and posts were “election misinformation.”</p><p id="">Julia also served as an international fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a globalist organization that arguably wields more power than the World Economic Forum or the Atlantic Council.</p><h2 id="">Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary</h2><p id="">Scott Bessent, who Trump tapped as Treasury secretary, has worried Republicans with his strong ties to subversive billionaire George Soros. Bessent was a protégé of Soros and a key executive in his companies. In 1992, Bessent was instrumental in helping Soros “break the Bank of England,” one of the most daring trades in history. Though he eventually sought other employment opportunities after that, he returned to serve as chief investment officer at Soros Fund Management from 2011 to 2015. A year later, he launched a hedge fund called Key State Capital with $2 billion from Soros.</p><p id="">Bessent is also a longtime Democratic Party donor. He has made contributions to John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/us/politics/scott-bessent-treasury-profile.html" id="">According</a> to the <em id="">New York Times</em>, however, he has donated to Republicans in the last few years, including $1 million to Trump’s inauguration in 2016. That was the same year he received the $2 billion from Soros to start his new venture.</p><p id="">Bessent has never been in Trump’s political circles, though he was reportedly friends with Trump’s late brother, Robert. This would thus be Bessent’s first time on Trump’s team. Nevertheless, the <em id="">Times </em>says Bessent has received support from key Trump advisors Stephen Bannon and Larry Kudlow.</p><p id="">‍</p>

Trump taps COVID enforcer for law enforcement role

DEA nominee has history of targeting unvaccinated, arresting clergy for violating lockdowns

<h2 id="">Can Dr. Gottlieb be taken at his word?</h2><p id="">In an interview with <em id="">CNBC</em>, Pfizer board member and former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said that he believes Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in his upcoming position as head of the HHS, will set back the progress made on eliminating childhood illnesses with vaccines and will be responsible for an upsurge in deaths.&nbsp;</p><p id="">RFK Jr is on record questioning the safety of the vaccines and demanding that proper safety studies, with inert placebos, be conducted. Opponents have claimed that he is an “anti-vaxxer” who will eliminate vaccines and bring us back to the “dark ages” of children’s deaths from “vaccine-preventable” diseases.&nbsp;</p><p id="">Speaking on <em id="">CNBC</em>’s <em id="">Squawk Box</em> (see clip below), Gottlieb said he doesn’t believe President-elect Trump wants to see a resurgence of measles, whooping, cough, or polio in this country and that RFK Jr “will cost lives in this country if he follows through on his intentions."</p><div data-rt-embed-type='true'><iframe width=560 height=349 src=https://player.cnbc.com/p/gZWlPC/cnbc_global?playertype=synd&byGuid=7000359482 frameborder=0 scrolling=no allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen ></iframe></div><h3 id=""> Aaron Siri responds</h3><p id="">‍<a href="https://icandecide.org" id="">ICAN</a> (Informed Consent Action Network) lawyer Aaron Siri was quick to tweet his response (below) to Gottlieb's assertions, pointing out each “fact” that Gottlieb was wrong about.</p><div data-rt-embed-type='true'><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pfizer board member, <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScottGottliebMD</a>, you look foolish attacking <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RobertKennedyJr</a> on CNBC (links to clips below) because it’s clear you lack basic knowledge regarding vaccines. For example:<br><br> --Your claim that in “early 2000s … FDA reformulate[d] the existing MMR vaccine to…</p>&mdash; Aaron Siri (@AaronSiriSG) <a href="https://twitter.com/AaronSiriSG/status/1863397857090248970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>‍</div><h3 id=""> Dr. Gold weighs in</h3><p id="">Dr. Simone Gold, founder and president of <em id="">America's Frontline Doctors</em>, responded to Siri's tweet, expressing shock that Gottlieb, lacking " a fundamental understanding on so many medical matters," had ever been Commissioner of the FDA. She also expressed outrage that he would attack RFK Jr to further his own financial interests as a Pfizer Board member.</p><div data-rt-embed-type='true'><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ScottGottliebMD</a> lacks a fundamental understanding on so many medical matters it’s shocking he was ever Commissioner of the FDA.<br><br>In addition to that, he&#39;s attacking <a href="https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RobertKennedyJr</a> to serve his personal financial interest as a Board member of Pfizer. <a href="https://t.co/1vEdrY3k4h">https://t.co/1vEdrY3k4h</a></p>&mdash; Dr. Simone Gold (@drsimonegold) <a href="https://twitter.com/drsimonegold/status/1863632685358334456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><h2 id="">Siri vs Gottlieb</h2><h3 id="">‍<strong id="">Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine:</strong></h3><p id=""><strong id="">Gottlieb's claim</strong>: The MMR vaccine was reformulated to remove some preservatives.</p><p id=""><strong id="">Siri's response</strong>: No preservatives were removed from the MMR vaccine.</p><blockquote id=""><em id="">Your claim that in “early 2000s … FDA reformulate[d] the existing MMR vaccine to take some of the preservatives out,” is false. Never happened. You are likely thinking about the removal of thimerosal in the early 2000s from various vaccines but as even CDC </em><a href="https://cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/about/thimerosal.html" id=""><em id="">explains</em></a><em id="">, “Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines do not and never did contain thimerosal.”&nbsp;</em></blockquote><p id=""><strong id="">Gottlieb's claim</strong>: &nbsp;Children cannot get vaccinated for MMR before two years of age.</p><p id=""><strong id="">Siri's response</strong>: Children get vaccinated for MMR starting at one year of age or earlier.</p><blockquote id=""><em id="">Your claim that a child “can’t get vaccinated [for MMR] until age 2” is simply false. MMR is routinely </em><a href="https://cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/imz-schedules/index.html" id=""><em id="">given</em></a><em id=""> at one year of age and sometimes even earlier.</em>&nbsp;</blockquote><p id=""><strong id="">Gottlieb's claim</strong> (quote from video): “For every 1,000 cases of measles in this country there will be one death.”</p><p id=""><strong id="">Siri's response</strong>: Measles mortality declined by about 98% in the U.S. before the first measles vaccine was introduced to about 1 death in every 500,000 Americans.</p><blockquote id=""><em id="">Your claim regarding measles mortality is based on dubious and unreliable data and ignores the facts that (1) approximately 400 people total </em><a href="https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/6200." id=""><em id="">died</em></a><em id=""> annually in the U.S. in the years before the first measles vaccine in 1963 (amounting to around 1 death for every 500,000 Americans), and (2) mortality from measles declined by over 98% from 1900 to 1960 before the vaccine and was continuing to decline.&nbsp;</em></blockquote><p id=""><em id="">The Gold Report</em> previously <a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/measles-by-the-numbers-perspective-to-the-panic" id="">wrote</a> about the decline of measles morbidity and mortality in the U.S. supporting Siri's claims.</p><blockquote id=""><em id="">[T]his graph from Child Health Safety shows that deaths from measles and other childhood diseases had dropped nearly 95% before vaccines were rolled out. This also held for diseases such as scarlet fever and typhoid, for which no vaccines exist.</em></blockquote><figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-fullwidth" style="max-width:885px" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="fullwidth" data-rt-max-width="885px"><div id=""><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66450044188dfe741d77c31e/6647ee03bed3dd99ff1a9e16_image_b48559aae2.png" width="auto" height="auto" alt="" loading="auto" id=""></div></figure><blockquote id=""><em id="">As apparent from the CDC’s chart below, measles outbreaks are cyclical and this year’s outbreaks are, so far, nothing to write home about. After the high number of cases in 2019, there were virtually no measles cases in 2020. Even with the 1274 cases in the U.S. in 2019, given the U.S. population of 328,239,523, the case rate was 0.0000004, way below one percent.</em></blockquote><figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-fullwidth" style="max-width:1240px" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="fullwidth" data-rt-max-width="1240px"><div id=""><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66450044188dfe741d77c31e/6647ee03bed3dd99ff1a9e1f_image_ab0f982a9e.png" width="auto" height="auto" alt="" loading="auto" id=""></div></figure><blockquote id=""><em id="">While measles may be considered to be quite contagious, the mortality rate is virtually zero in developed countries, such as the U.S.. The U.S. mortality rate vs case rate is </em><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/measles-cases-and-death-rate?time=1921..latest" id=""><em id="">shown</em></a><em id=""> in Our World in Data’s interactive graph below. For 2015 the mortality rate was shown as &lt;0.01. The last measles death in the U.S. was in 2015 when a woman on immunosuppressant drugs contracted the disease and subsequently died of pneumonia. Before 2015, the last reported measles death was in 2003.</em></blockquote><figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-fullwidth" style="max-width:998px" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="fullwidth" data-rt-max-width="998px"><div id=""><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66450044188dfe741d77c31e/6647ee03bed3dd99ff1a9e10_image_9e75969d20.png" width="auto" height="auto" alt="" loading="auto" id=""></div></figure><h3 id=""><strong id="">Pertussis (whooping cough)</strong></h3><p id=""><strong id="">Gottlieb's claim</strong> (quote from video): "I don’t think the president wants to see a resurgence of . . . whooping cough in this country . . .&nbsp;"</p><p id=""><strong id="">Siri's response</strong>: The vaccine only eliminates symptoms, but not the ability to colonize the bacteria and transmit the infection to others. [This means that a vaccinated child or adult will not know they are infected and can unwittingly infect others, including infants and the immunocompromised.]&nbsp;</p><blockquote id=""><em id="">Your claims regarding pertussis vaccines nonsensically ignore the fact that these products do not </em><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31333640/" id=""><em id="">prevent</em></a><em id=""> transmission of the pertussis bacteria – they only provide, at best, personal protection. As a recent consensus paper of industry pertussis vaccine “experts” explained, “aPVs [pertussis vaccine] … cannot avoid infection and transmission. … aPV pertussis vaccines do not prevent colonization. Consequently, they do not reduce the circulation of B. pertussis and do not exert any herd immunity effect.”&nbsp;</em></blockquote><h3 id="">Polio</h3><p id=""><strong id="">Gottlieb's claim </strong>(quote from video): “G-d forbid we have cases of polio in this country.”</p><p id="">‍<strong id="">Siri's response</strong>: The last wild polio case in the U.S. was in 1979. The inactivated polio vaccine used today does not prevent transmission of wild polio; at best it affords personal protection.</p><blockquote id=""><em id="">Your claims regarding polio nonsensically ignore the fact that the last wild case of polio in the U.S. was in 1979 and that the only polio vaccine used in the U.S. for the last 24 years only provides, at best, personal protection and does not prevent transmission of the polio virus. As CDC explains: “IPV [inactivated polio vaccine] … does not stop </em><a href="https://cdc.gov/poliovirus-containment/diseaseandvirus/index.html" id=""><em id="">transmission</em></a><em id=""> of the virus.”&nbsp;</em></blockquote><h3 id="">RFK Jr.</h3><p id=""><strong id="">Gottlieb's claim: </strong>RFK&nbsp;Jr will cost lives in this country if he follows through on his intentions.</p><p id=""><strong id="">Siri's response</strong>: RFK Jr. said he has no intention of removing vaccines from anyone who wants them.</p><blockquote id=""><em id="">In any event, you dutifully ignore the fact that RFK Jr. has made clear he has no intention of taking away vaccines from anyone who wants them.&nbsp;</em></blockquote><h4 id="">Siri challenges Gottlieb to have a debate </h4><blockquote id="">‍<em id="">You claim RFK Jr. will cost lives, but I would argue that ignorance regarding vaccine products does and has cost lives. I welcome a public debate in which we can discuss the number of lives ignorance about vaccines has cost versus your speculations about those RFK Jr. will supposedly cause (a man who has actually devoted his life to saving the lives of children).</em></blockquote><h3 id="">RfK&nbsp;Jr — in his own words</h3><p id="">RFK Jr. addressed the question of vaccines in a <em id="">News Nation Town Hall</em> which Chief Nerd tweeted, below. He explained that none of the dozens of vaccines on the schedule have been properly trialed for safety.</p><blockquote id=""><em id="">(@2:15) Of the 72 vaccine doses now mandated, essentially recommended, but they’re really mandated, not one of them has ever been subjected to a pre-licensing placebo control trial.&nbsp;</em></blockquote><p id="">RfK Jr explained that following a meeting with Dr. Fauci who could not provide him with documentation regarding the placebo-controlled trials he claimed to have. he sued HHS for records regarding pre-licensing placebo-controlled trials for children’s vaccines. The HHS came back and said they didn’t have any; the response from HHS can be <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/child-health-topics/federal-failures/rfk-jr-proves-hhs-is-in-violation-of-vaccine-safety-requirements-under-the-law-mandate-for-safer-childhood-vaccines/" id="">found</a> on CHD’s website.</p><p id="">He pointed out that since vaccine manufacturers have paid criminal penalties for lying and fraud, they can’t be trusted. I’m not anti-vaccine, he declared, and you should be able to take one if you want to, but we need good science.&nbsp;</p><blockquote id="">&nbsp;<em id="">(@9:50)The four companies that make vaccines in this country, Merck, Sanofi, Glaxo, and Pfizer have paid over $35 billion in criminal penalties over the past decade for lying to doctors, for falsifying science, for defrauding regulators. . . . We can’t just trust them . . . We need to have actual science on it. . . . </em><strong id=""><em id="">I don’t want to get rid of vaccines. If you want to take a vaccine you should be able to do it. We need good science. That’s all I’ve asked for.&nbsp;</em></strong><em id="">(Emphasis added.)</em></blockquote><div data-rt-embed-type='true'><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🔥 Robert F. Kennedy Jr Debates a Family Physician on Vaccine Safety During the NewsNation Town Hall<a href="https://t.co/ffJIzffZUZ">pic.twitter.com/ffJIzffZUZ</a></p>&mdash; Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1674266437890744323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><h3 id="">Gottlieb ignorant?</h3><p id=""><strong id="">Siri</strong>: Children’s health got worse while he was FDA commissioner. Lacking basic knowledge of the topics, he is certainly not qualified to speak with Senators to dissuade them from confirming RFK Jr as head of HHS.</p><blockquote id="">‍<em id="">Your knowledge regarding these products is only matched by your track record as a public “health” official. The plummeting decline in childhood health from the early 1980s (from less than 13% with chronic disease to now well over 50%) continued unabated while you were FDA commissioner. Respectfully, you lack authority or a track record, let alone basic knowledge, to speak on the subjects you address in this interview (let alone to discuss this topic with Senators to dissuade them from confirming RFK Jr.)</em></blockquote><h3 id=""><strong id="">Pfizer&nbsp;</strong></h3><h3 id=""><strong id="">Conflict of Interest</strong></h3><p id=""><strong id="">Gottlieb's claim: </strong>Pfizer (in which Gottlieb serves as a board member) doesn’t make children’s vaccines</p><p id=""><strong id="">Siri's response</strong>: Pfizer makes COVID-19, Prevnar, and RSV vaccines [all of which are on the children’s vaccine schedule].</p><blockquote id="">I<em id="">f you were being honest, you would reveal that your real concern, as a board member of Pfizer, is that Pfizer's golden gooses – Covid-19 vaccines, Prevnar vaccines, RSV vaccines, etc. – will have to face the reality of the devastating harms they have caused to families across America. Your interview stinks of self-interest. The time for selling out America's children so pharma and its leaders, like you, can line their pockets has come to an end.</em></blockquote><h2 id="">Who is Dr. Scott Gottlieb?</h2><p id="">Dr. Scott Gottlieb is cited as a key figure in the revolving door between the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry. (See the picture below from Kanekoa the Great's <a href="https://x.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1854949134333362403" id="">tweet</a> in which he noted that "[b]etween 2006 and 2019, 9 out of 10 FDA commissioners went to work for the pharmaceutical companies they were in charge of regulating.")</p><p id="">His career has <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Gottlieb" id="">spanned</a> multiple roles, both within government and the private sector, reflecting his deep involvement in healthcare policy and industry. He has worked as a financial analyst tracking healthcare trends, participated in various healthcare ventures, and held numerous positions within the FDA and Medicare/Medicaid.</p><p id="">Gottlieb's roles have included serving as Senior Advisor to the FDA Commissioner and the Director of Medical Policy Development (2002–2003), Senior Advisor to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2003, Deputy Commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs at the FDA from 2005 to 2007, and Commissioner of the FDA from 2017 to 2019. He currently serves on the board of Pfizer, a position that aligns with his long-standing connections to the pharmaceutical industry, and, as Aaron Siri argued, likely reflects his interest in the continued profitability of vaccine products.</p><p id="">‍</p><figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-fullwidth" style="max-width:800px" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="fullwidth" data-rt-max-width="800px"><div id=""><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66450044188dfe741d77c31e/674e18c2e6d2c346e5edac7b_674e1787c12c55de56289a07_fda%2520door.jpeg" loading="lazy" alt="__wf_reserved_inherit" width="auto" height="auto" id=""></div></figure><p id="">‍</p><p id=""><strong id="">Related articles:</strong></p><ul id=""><li id=""><a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/trump-to-rfk-jr-when-you-feed-a-baby-bobby-38-different-vaccines-looks-like-its-for-a-horse-and-then-you-see-the-baby-all-of-a-sudden-change-radically" id="">Trump to RFK Jr - 'When you feed a baby, Bobby, 38 different vaccines, looks like it’s for a horse, and then you see the baby all of a sudden change radically'</a></li><li id="">‍<a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/measles-by-the-numbers-perspective-to-the-panic" id="">Measles by the numbers - perspective to the panic</a></li><li id=""><a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/are-crowded-and-unsanitary-conditions-responsible-for-chicago-shelter-measles-outbreak" id="">Are crowded and unsanitary conditions responsible for Chicago shelter measles outbreak?</a></li><li id=""><a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/as-a-live-virus-the-mmr-can-cause-measles-dr-lawrence-palevesky" id="">As a live virus, the MMR can cause measles' - Dr. Lawrence Palevesky</a></li><li id=""><a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/aborted-fetal-cells-and-vaccines---a-scandal-much-bigger-than-pfizers-whistleblower-ever-imagined" id="">Aborted fetal cells and vaccines - a scandal much bigger than Pfizer's whistleblower ever imagined</a></li><li id=""><a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/fda-under-the-influence---6-things-you-should-know-about-pharma-and-the-fda" id="">FDA under the influence – 6 things you should know about pharma and the FDA</a></li><li id=""><a href="https://www.thegoldreport.com/news/doctors-under-the-influence" id="">Doctors under the influence - 6 things you need to know about pharma and the drugs your doctor prescribes</a>‍</li></ul>

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