Emord’s Sacred Fire of Liberty, Biden gun ban, Credit card tracking, Biden ESG veto, W.H.O. Pandemic Accord, Ukraine public support, FDA Off-label ban, ADHD over-medication, Chelcie Hope, Utah water rights, PFAS butt wipe, Gut liver connection and MORE!
March 2, 2023 3-5PM ET
Thursday on The Robert Scott Bell Show:
Sacred Fire of Liberty!
It’s that time of the week where we get to explore the political healing that this country needs so desperately! Jonathan Emord is back to help us dissect the latest political news that’s fit to print:
Biden vows to ban assault weapons ‘come hell or high water’ President Biden said in a speech on Wednesday that he’s going to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines “come hell or high water.” Biden made the comments at the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, on Wednesday night. “I know it may make some of you uncomfortable, but that little state above me, Delaware is one of them, has the highest rate, one of the highest rates of gun ownership. But guess what? We’re going to ban assault weapons again come hell or high water and high capacity magazines. When we did it last time to reduce mass deaths,” Biden said. Biden’s comments come after three students were killed on Feb. 13 at Michigan State University, injuring another six people. The suspected gunman, Anthony McRae, later killed himself before police could arrest him. One day after the shooting at Michigan State University, and five years after a gunman killed 14 students as well as three educators at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, the Biden administration announced that the Justice Department would give $231 million to states to be used for crisis intervention. The money can also be used for efforts to strengthen red flag programs and efforts to prevent gun violence.
Discover Card to Begin Tracking Gun Purchases in April Beginning in April 2023, Discover will become the first credit card issuer to track gun purchases made by their cardholders. On September 11, 2022, Breitbart News noted that Visa caved to pressure from gun control groups and New York Democrats, agreeing to flag gun and ammo purchases via a new sales categorization. The Associated Press observed that Mastercard and other major credit cards also agreed to flag gun sales. On March 2, 2023, the Independent Journal Review (IJR) reported that Discover will be first among credit card companies to track gun sales, inasmuch as the company will begin doing so in April. IJR explained, “Anyone using a Discover card to make a purchase in a gun store will have that purchase tracked, beginning in April.” There are over 55 million Discover cards in usage, so a lot of information on gun purchases can be gathered via that one company. Reuters pointed out Discover Financial Services was ahead of Visa and Mastercard in February 2023, noting that Discover would “allow its network to track purchases at gun retailers come April, making it the first among its peers to publicly give a date for moving ahead with the initiative, which is aimed at helping authorities probe gun-related crimes.”
Biden Breaks Out Veto Pen for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), Soft on Crime Bills President Joe Biden will reportedly issue the first vetoes of his term this week in the wake of Congress passing the resolution to overturn the D.C. soft-on-crime bill and the bill to scrap his administration’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Rule. As Breitbart News reported, Republicans and moderate Democrats helped to pass a bill that would nullify Biden’s ESG rule, or the Department of Labor’s “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights” rule. Two Senate Democrats, Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), voted with Republicans to pass the resolution. The resolution passed swiftly through the House on Tuesday. The resolution will soon go to Biden’s desk, where he is likely vto veto the bill. This would be the first veto of Biden’s presidency. ESG is the latest vector through which the federal government, Wall Street asset managers, and activist investors push private companies to adopt leftist positions such as combatting climate change, advocating racial justice, and diversity requirements. Breitbart News has cataloged just a few of the incidents in which activist asset managers such as BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street push companies to adopt controversial views. Likewise, moderate Democrats also joined with Republicans to overturn a soft-on-crime bill that recently became law in the nation’s capital
Joe Biden Admin ‘Committed’ to W.H.O. Pandemic Accord President Joe Biden’s envoy to World Health Organization (W.H.O.) negotiations on the creation of an international agreement on pandemics, Pamela Hamamoto, assured the global body in remarks on Monday that, under Biden, America “is committed to the Pandemic Accord” and hopes it will govern such emergencies “for generations to come.” The “Pandemic Accord” is a draft international legislation meant to streamline the response to any future pandemics, defined as events in which the entire world experiences the rapid spread of disease, jeopardizing health institutions and causing widespread illness and death. The parties working on the draft – member countries of the W.H.O.’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) – have not agreed on the contents of the agreement and are currently holding a meeting to discuss the first rough draft that exists, scheduled to take place from Monday through Friday. The draft is so preliminary that the parties have not yet agreed as to what kind of document it will be and so are calling it, for now, the “W.H.O. convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response,” or “WHO CA+”. W.H.O. leaders have attempted to establish agreement among its dozens of state parties since at least 2021 on revising international law in the aftermath of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. Early reports prior to the 2021 World Health Assembly (WHA), the agency’s annual meeting, suggested that W.H.O. leadership hoped to establish a pandemic treaty at that event, but the WHA ultimately only agreed to discuss the potential existence of such a convention.
US support for arming Ukraine dropping despite Biden promises Support for further military aid to Ukraine is dropping slowly and steadily in the U.S., challenging President Biden’s vow to support the regime for “as long as it takes.” Polls from the Associated Press, Pew Research and Fox News show rising skepticism toward the massive aid packages the Biden administration has made a habit of delivering to Ukraine. Support for such aid among Americans fell from 60% in May 2022 to just 48% today, according to the AP. Meanwhile, the share of Americans who say the U.S. has already given too much to Ukraine has risen from just 7% in March 2022 to 26% today, according to Pew. Fox News polling shows that Republicans are far more likely to be skeptical of Ukraine aid than Democrats, with 61% of Republicans saying there should be some limit to the flow of aid. Over 65% of Democrats say the opposite, however, arguing that aid should continue for as long as it takes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sought to shore up relations with skeptical Republicans. Ukrainian officials are reportedly trying to set up a call between Zelenskyy and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who said last year that Ukraine should not be receiving “blank checks.” Former President George W. Bush has pushed back on Republican criticism of Ukraine funding last week, arguing that the U.S. is wealthy enough to both support Ukraine and pursue its own priorities.
Doctors Bristle At New FDA Authority To Ban Off-Label Uses For Drugs After a string of court losses concerning the ability for doctors to prescribe drugs for off-label uses for which they were not approved, Congress has quietly given the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) more power to prohibit off-label use. Buried in page 3,542 of the 4,155-page omnibus appropriations bill is the authority to ban off-label uses, under a section which applies to “banned devices” that some doctors fear could be broadly interpreted to cover drug treatments, Just the News reports. The FDA requested this “very unprecedented” update after a string of court losses, Endpoints News senior editor Zachary Brennan told WBUR earlier this month, while cautioning that it’s not clear whether the agency could broadly interpret “devices” to cover drug treatments. Law firm Morrison Foerster specifically credited the revision to a 2021 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that prohibited the FDA from banning “individual intended usages of an otherwise legally marketed device,” in that case “electrical stimulation devices used to treat aggressive or self-injurious behavior.” -Just the News “FDA lobbyists got congress [sic] to grant the agency (not practicing doctors) the power to ban some uses of medications,” said Johns Hopkins medical professor and National Academy of Medicine member Marty Makary in a Tuesday tweet.
Hour 2
Are We Medicating Millions of ADHD Children without Scientific Justification? “As glasses help people focus their eyes to see,” medical experts from the American Academy of Pediatrics rule, “medications help children with ADHD focus their thoughts better and ignore distractions.” In their view, as well as in the view of multiple other expert consortiums, the most appropriate way to treat the “lifelong impairing condition” of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is by taking stimulant medications on a daily basis. Although stimulants, as suggested by their name, are frequently abused for stimulating (potentially addictive) sensations of high energy, euphoria, and potency, they are often compared to harmless medical aids, such as eyeglasses or walking crutches. Numerous studies, we are told, support their efficacy and safety, and evidence-based medicine dictates that these substances will be administered to children with ADHD as the first-line treatment. There is only one, huge problem. ADHD is currently the most common childhood disorder in Western-oriented countries. Its ever-increasing rates are now skyrocketing. The documented prevalence of ADHD is not about 3 percent, as it used to be when the disorder was first introduced in 1980. In 2014, a survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that over 20 percent of 12-year-old boys were diagnosed with this “lifelong condition.”
Special Guest Chelcie Hope
Snowpack concerns lead to controlled release from Utah reservoirs With an eye on alleviating any potential snowpack melt flooding after what’s been a significant water year, officials have started controlled releases at some northern Utah reservoirs to manage flows in Parleys Canyon. Releases began Tuesday at Little Dell and Mountain Dell reservoirs, according to the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities. The releases are starting at 10-20 cubic feet per second, but will be increased to 55-60 cfs with the possibility of the flows increasing even more in spring. “It is important for our teams to be proactive in anticipation of this year’s high spring runoff. [The public utilities department] operates and maintains Little Dell and Mountain Dell Reservoirs for water supply and flood control,” said Laura Briefer, Director of the city’s Department of Public Utilities. This has been one of the most prosperous snowpack seasons in recent Utah history as multiple storms have continued to dump snow across the state. However, with the large snowpack comes concerns over possible flooding when temperatures rise and the runoff begins. With the water releases causing creeks and rivers to run fast and cold, officials are warning residents to be mindful of their children and pets around areas such as Parleys Creek, Emigration Creek, Millcreek, Red Butte Creek, and City Creek. Dog owners are asked to keep their dogs away from any waters affected by rain and snow runoff because of strong currents that can lead to drowning.
Salt Lake releases water from Parleys Canyon reservoirs over possible flood risks “Significant” snowpack levels have prompted city and county officials to order a controlled release of water from reservoirs in Parleys Canyon on Tuesday, citing flood risks in the area. Salt Lake County Flood Control and Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities coordinated a release of 10 to 20 cubic feet per second of water from Little Dell and Mountain Dell reservoirs on Tuesday. Officials from the two agencies said Wednesday those will be increased to 50 to 60 cubic feet per second, and possibly higher this spring as a precautionary measure to prevent flooding. “It is important for our teams to be proactive in anticipation of this year’s high spring runoff,” Laura Briefer, director of the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, said in a statement. Officials warn that it also means water will be moving much faster than usual in Parleys, Emigration, Mill, Red Butte and City creeks. Parleys Creek cuts through Tanner and Sugar House parks, which are popular areas for children and pets. “We ask residents to please be careful around creeks and rivers,” Kade Moncur, director of Salt Lake County Flood Control, said, adding that the water in the creeks will be cold and swift, which is why people should be careful and make sure their children or pets don’t get too close to the water.
Toilet Paper May Be a Source of Cancer-Causing PFAS in Wastewater, Study Says Toilet paper may play a role in the contamination of groundwater with potentially harmful substances called PFAS.Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASTrusted Source) are found in a wide variety of consumer products, including cosmetics, cleansers, and firefighting foams. While research is not conclusive, PFAS are suspected of playing a role in a variety of conditions, including cancer, reduced immunity, and reproductive and developmental problems. “Exposure to PFAS through drinking water puts people’s health at risk,” Dr. Katie Pelch, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Healthline. “Groundwater can also be used for agricultural uses and it has been shown that plants, including crops, can take up PFAS, so food in the diet is another potential source of PFAS exposure.” Researchers from the University of Florida studying the presence of PFAS in wastewater say they discovered that one particular compound, called 6:2 diPAP, was the most commonly detected PFAS in sewage sludge samples, albeit at low levels. It also was found to be the most common PFAS found in samples of toilet paper sold in North America and South America as well as in Africa and western Europe. They published their findings today in the American Chemical Society’s online journal. In their study, the researchers estimated that toilet paper contributed about 4% of the 6:2 diPAP in sewage in the United States and Canada as well as 35% in Sweden and up to 89% in France.
Gut bacteria are crucial for liver repair, finds study Our microbiome influences a great number of processes in the human body. A recent study shows that the liver’s regenerative capacity is overridden when the microbiome is disturbed – for example, by antibiotics. Credit: Technical University Munich When parts of the liver are removed, the body can replace the missing tissue. A team of researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now discovered that the success of this process depends to a large extent on gut bacteria. The results of the study, published in the Journal of Hepatology, could help to improve the prognosis after liver surgery in case of liver cancer and other diseases. The human liver has an astonishing ability to regenerate, unlike the heart, for example. The underlying biological mechanisms are an example of the role played by our gut bacteria in processes taking place in other organs. This is demonstrated in new research conducted by an interdisciplinary team from the TUM University Hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar and the TUM School of Life Sciences. A healthy gut microbiome consists of many types of bacteria. They play an active role in digestion. Some of them break down carbohydrates into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), for example. “Liver cells need these fatty acids to grow and divide,” says study leader Prof. Klaus-Peter Janssen from the Department of Surgery of the Klinikum rechts der Isar. “We have now succeeded in showing for the first time that gut bacteria influence the lipid metabolism in liver cells, and therefore their ability to regenerate.”
Remember Friends, The Power to Heal is Yours!
