Amnesty or Inquiry?

Julie Powell, Patrick King, Walmart, US and Nazis in Ukraine, Emily Oster, National Citizens Inquiry

Greetings friends, and welcome back to Rounding the News. This is your weekly news roundup presented by Rounding the Earth. I am your host, Liam Sturgess, and I am excited to get into it with you. Don’t forget to support us by sending a Superchat on YouTube, a Rumble Rant on Rumble, or a tip on Rokfin.

Here’s our summary for the episode:

• Health: Writer Julie Powell dies of cardiac arrest

• Law: Patrick King disturbs Ottawa lawyer with kindness and honesty

• Economy: Walmart does something very helpful

• Geopolitics: US presence in Ukraine is not new

• Culture: Amnesty or inquiry?

Before we get started, however, I wanted to make two announcements.

When I woke up yesterday morning, I was floored to see that our round table discussion with Alex Washburne and Kevin McKernan from this past Tuesday had reached 105,000 views overnight. I immediately called Mathew, and we spent several minutes asking ourselves how this could have possibly happened.

Rounding the Earth @RoundEarthClub

Much to @EduEngineer and @TheLiamSturgess’ surprise, our conversation with @WashburneAlex and @Kevin_McKernan jumped to 105,524 views overnight. Thank you to everyone who watched, enjoyed and shared the video. #ScienceWins 🤩 rumble.com/v1qtgvo-synthe…

By 3:30PM Pacific time yesterday, the video had jumped even higher to nearly 143,000 views.

Believe it or not, it had almost cracked 150,000 less than an hour later.

Somehow, somewhere, this video went viral, and we can’t thank you all enough for helping us accomplish that simply by watching it and being a part of the Rounding the Earth community.

On that note: we’ve launched the official Rounding the Earth Community on Locals!

Mathew Crawford @EduEngineer

In order to bring in our community who constantly aids us in our work, @TheLiamSturgess and I established a Locals.com community. There is plenty there for both free and paid members. Here is a promo code for November to enjoy both:

roundingtheearth.locals.comSupport Rounding the EarthConnect with RoundingTheEarth and other members of Rounding the Earth community

Let’s jump into the news!

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Health

Image source: New York Times

Writer Julie Powell died at home on October 26, 2022, aged 49, of cardiac arrest.¹ Powell became famous for spending a year cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”.

On Twitter, people were quick to point out that Powell’s own feed indicated there may be more to the story. Apparently Google caught on, too.

Liam Sturgess @TheLiamSturgess

@kimseverson Looks like a lot of people are having about enough of these "rare" #cardiacarrest coincidences. Google is going ahead and working their "nothing to see here" magic. Rest in peace, #JuliePowell. 😢 #CovidVaccine #diedsuddenly #heartattack

Indeed, Powell’s feed documents some interesting statements.

• On October 1, 2021, she shared some thoughts about “anti-vaxxers/maskers”:²

Julie Powell @licjulie

@queerBengali I would argue that COVID does kill some of the right people. The anti-vaxxers/maskers are dying in legions. But yes. It’s a real shame about Kavanaugh.

• As of June 15, 2022, Powell had received three doses of a COVID-19 gene therapy:³

  Julie Powell @licjulie

  So, as a vaccinated, boosted person, I've not been tested for Covid. Is it possible for me to be at this point? The Long Covid thing worries me, but also keep in mind that I'm a hypochondriac.

• During September 2022, Powell's husband reported coming down with COVID-19 twice, with Powell falling ill at least once:⁴⁵⁶

  Julie Powell @licjulie

  Decided to take a nap and woke up sick like a dog. This is how the covid hits, I guess. All of a sudden like.

  Julie Powell @licjulie

  Weirdly, my Covid is getting worse. Terrible headache, cough, probable fever, fatigue.

  Julie Powell @licjulie

  @queerBengali I mean, I understand your POV, but my husband has been downed by Covid twice in a month, and that's with mask wearing and all available boosters. I suspect I'll be down next. I'm going to keep masking up.

• On October 25, 2022, she tweeted that she was experiencing very strange symptoms of the tongue:⁷

  Julie Powell @licjulie

  So I woke up with something that's literally Black Hairy Tongue. People, including my doctor, seem to think it's no big deal, and will go away soon, but it certainly is gross.

From Gizmodo’s coverage on Yahoo! News:⁸

The Mayo Clinic’s website describes black hairy tongue as a “buildup of dead skin cells” that accumulate on the tongue, explaining that while it can look alarming, “typically it doesn’t cause any health problems, and it’s usually painless.”

Many Twitter users started discussing Powell’s last tweet, with some suggesting her untimely death, along with her diagnosis of black hairy tongue, could have been caused by a covid-19 infection. Others, more inclined to conspiracy theories about the covid-19 vaccine, tried to frame the death as a result of vaccination.

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Law

Patrick King disturbs Ottawa lawyer with kindness and honesty

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Economy

Walmart does something very helpful

Image source: Walmart

In a move that will actually help a lot of people in the short term, Walmart has announced they will reduce the cost of certain “Thanksgiving favourites” back to 2021 pricing.⁹

The announcement explains that the supermarket giant is “removing inflation” (odd choice of words) from a basket of goods filled with “traditional Thanksgiving items” such as turkey, ham, potatoes and stuffing, as well as “convenience items” like “ready-to-heat mac and cheese or freshly made pumpkin pie.”

Image source: Walmart via ZeroHedge

As ZeroHedge reminds us, inflation is at its highest for the last four decades, "the stimulus checks are long-gone," and this stunt is supremely well-timed to give a temporary reprieve to its broke customers.¹⁰

On the other hand, it does seem highly unlikely that Walmart chose to act out of genuine goodwill. Call me skeptical, I guess. But I’m not the only one suggesting a potential ulterior motive. Commenters on the ZeroHedge article note some possible factors leading to the move:

Of course, Walmart’s self-interest can still benefit people in a case like this.

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Geopolitics

US presence in Ukraine is not new

It seems the general public doesn’t understand why NATO involvement in Ukraine is such a deadly proposition, given that it would by definition signal World War III. NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is like a blood pact between a bunch of countries in the “West” that promised to fight wars together regardless of whether or not it’s a good idea.

The United States has been in Ukraine since the end of World War II, in the form of Project AERODYNAMIC. According to declassified documents from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the project was designed by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to “exploit the anti-Soviet Ukrainian resistance groups… in Western Europe for intelligence purposes.”¹¹ This included groups that actively collaborated with the Nazis, including the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council (UHVR), and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).¹²¹³

Image source: Central Intelligence Agency via Cryptome

Helped along by the OSS and its descendant, the CIA, these Nazi-aligned groups were kept alive and armed during the decades-long Cold War against the Soviet Union.¹⁴ In fact, a number of today's notable "extremist" and "neo-Nazi" groups are self-described branches of these original WWII-era fascist/nationalist organizations.

Examples include the Right Sector,¹⁵ "an ultra­nationalist group of paramilitaries" who have held elected office in the Ukrainian government.¹⁶ The group is actively fighting alongside the Ukrainian military in the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine¹⁷ - despite having been banned from the front lines of previous conflicts.¹⁸

Then there’s the Rise Above Movement who were responsible for attacking counter-protesters at the “Unite the Right” event in Charlottesville, North Carolina in 2017.¹⁹ Their ties to Ukraine's modern Nazi elements were reported on in detail by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2018.²⁰

This deserves a whole deep dive on its own, and I want to be clear that I am not conflating Ukraine with Nazism, or suggesting that everyone fighting against Russia on the battlefield in 2022 is a Nazi sympathizer. That would be ridiculous. More than anything, my aim is to highlight that the United States has been in Ukraine for a long, long time, and has played a leading role in using violent elements of post-WWII Ukraine as puppets to antagonize Russia (for better or for worse). My own family fled Russia at the turn of the 20th Century, so I’m not stranger to Russia’s history of oppression.

On the other hand, I balk at collaborating with Nazis - which is unfortunately something my country has deemed acceptable in their fight against modern Russia.²¹

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Culture

Amnesty or inquiry?

Image source: Washington Post

Emily Oster, PhD, a professor at Brown University, made headlines on Halloween when The Atlantic published an opinion piece she wrote calling for “amnesty” in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis.²² Needless to say, she likely didn't receive the response she was anticipating. From ZeroHedge:²³

The Atlantic has come under fire for suggesting that all the terrible pandemic-era decisions over lockdowns, school closures, masking, and punishing an entire class of people who questioned the efficacy and wisdom of taking a rushed, experimental vaccine - for a virus with a 99% survival rate in most, should all be water under the bridge.

"We need to forgive one another for what we did and said when we were in the dark about COVID," writes Brown Professor Emily Oster - a huge lockdown proponent, who now pleads from mercy from the once-shunned.

"Let’s acknowledge that we made complicated choices in the face of deep uncertainty, and then try to work together to build back and move forward," she continues.

Except, they weren't “in the dark” about Covid.  There were numerous sources pointing out the actual science that ran contrary to the mandate claims, and they were deliberately silenced by a vast media campaign.  Evidence suggests that media platforms worked in tandem with Big Tech, the CDC and the Biden Administration.  It was not a simple matter of overreaction, there was collusion to remove all counter-information.  

Nice try, Emily. …

In one epic Twitter thread, Claremont Institute Senior Fellow Matthew J. Peterson (@docMJP) excoriates Oster's entire premise;

Hey—sorry you lost your job b/c of the vax that doesn’t work and your grandmother died alone and you couldn’t have a funeral and your brother’s business was needlessly destroyed and your kids have weird heart problems—but let’s just admit we were all wrong and call a truce, eh?

It’s too bad we shut the entire economy down & took on tyrannical powers that have never been used before in this country—looking back, you should have been able to go to church and use public parks while we let people riot in the streets—but it was a confusing time for everyone.

Hey I'm sorry we scared the hell out of you & lied for years & persecuted & censored anyone who disagreed but there was an election going on & we really wanted to beat Donald Trump so it was important to radically politicize the science even if it destroyed your children's lives.

OK, yes we said unvaccinated people should die & not get healthcare while never questioning Big Pharma once but we are compassionate people which is why even though we shut down the entire economy we also bankrupted the nation & caused inflation. You're welcome! Let's be friends.

As far as I’m concerned, I agree with Oster’s premise. If we seek revenge, we will dig two graves, including our own. On the other hand, without accountability, the atrocities committed over the last three years will repeat as often and indiscriminately as desired by those with their hands on the controls.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not planning on going quietly into that good night.

Liam Sturgess @TheLiamSturgess

@joshg99 @ProfEmilyOster Our friend Bojuki put it best.

Others have an alternative suggestion on how to move forward.

Announcing a National Citizens Inquiry

Image source: National Citizens Inquiry

Coming soon to Canada: a National Citizens Inquiry into the institutional response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Preston Manning, a veteran politician in Canada, held a press conference on November 2, 2022 to announce the launch of the NCI.²⁴ Beginning in early 2023, the citizen-funded and -run inquiry will continue the work started by A Citizens’ Hearing in June this year, along with another event called Reclaiming our Voice – A Conversation in Ottawa, which saw politicians at Parliament Hill meet with veteran James Topp and Canada Marches.²⁵

Manning previously chaired the Expert Panel for A Citizens’ Hearing, which took place at the end of June this year. I had the honour and privilege of sitting beside Preston throughout the entirety of the hearing, taking notes as he, Susan Natsheh and Dave Ross of the Canadian Covid Care Alliance heard testimony from 60 Canadians (plus our friend Brook Jackson) laying out the harms suffered throughout the course of the government’s response to the declared pandemic.²⁶

Image source: National Citizens Inquiry

Following the hearing, Manning and fellow CCCA member Julie Ponesse penned editorials for The Epoch Times summarizing the most important takeaways from the event, and calling for further action at the national level.²⁷²⁸

Also, let me give a sly teaser and say I may be about to add something substantial to that conversation, following some very exciting emails I received from Dave Ross and Dr. Steven Pelech, co-founders of the CCCA. More to come.

Not everyone likes this idea

While A Citizens’ Hearing received virtually no mainstream coverage except from the Western Standard²⁹ and the aforementioned Epoch Times, the National Citizens Inquiry did catch the media’s attention. From the Calgary Herald:³⁰

Widespread belief governments’ COVID-19 protections were the prime culprit for pandemic harms requires a citizens’ inquiry on that response, says former Reform Party leader Preston Manning.

The one-time federal Opposition leader is helping spearhead a proposed seven-city independent inquiry early next year into the pros and cons of how the pandemic has been handled at all government levels, one free from the suspicions aroused by politicians.

“There’s so much skepticism about political people,” Manning said Wednesday, while alluding to a recent national survey of 1,533 Canadians’ opinions conducted by the inquiry.

“The fact 74 per cent said they were injured (by government pandemic restrictions) is a fairly sobering conclusion … there’s been a lot of pain from this on everybody’s part.” …

He insisted the inquiry and its resulting recommendations shouldn’t be seen as a pre-determined indictment of COVID-19 protections and how they were administered or an affirmation of conspiracy theories. …

Manning wouldn’t divulge his own opinions on how COVID-19 protections were imposed but said “there’s been misinformation on both sides,” citing what he says were exaggerated claims of vaccines’ infection prevention abilities.

Image source: CBC News

Now, there is some valid criticism to be levelled, such as the following by University of Calgary professor Lorian Hardcastle:

“When they’ve created a website to request a certain kind of testimony, they won’t get a wide swath of the population,” said Lorian Hardcastle. …

The fact that the hearings won’t be governed by the federal Inquiries Act and will lack the independence of government inquiries shouldn’t be lost on the public, she said.

“It’s very different from when a government holds an inquiry, they’re traditionally conducted by members of the judiciary … (this inquiry is) taking a particular ideological bent.”

Hardcastle also said inquiries funded by private donors put them at risk of being compromised.

Instead, Manning and his colleagues “should be lobbying the provinces and the federal government for public inquiries,” she said.

Here’s a question: what the hell does Hardcastle think we’ve all been doing for the last year and a half, if not longer? She seems to have entirely missed two key points:

1. the provincial and federal governments have ignored any suggestion of an inquiry, other than the legally-mandated inquiry into the invocation of the Emergencies Act in February 2022 (just one small piece of the COVID-19 response puzzle);

2. the provincial and federal governments are the exact groups being accused of wrongdoing.

Of course, Manning is a professional, and I have no doubt he means it when he says there are no preconceived notions of where the inquiry should arrive in terms of conclusions or condemnations. That’s the whole point; hold the inquiry and follow the evidence where it leads. There’s smoke, so there’s probably fire. Bring an extinguisher.

Image source: NIH Record

Then, there’s Timothy Caulfield.

Among the inquiry’s 10 stated objectives is one “to consider the issue of civic and criminal liability for any damages or harms caused by governments’ response to COVID-19.”

That indicates the hearings will cater to an angry constituency and is bound to further divide an already polarized country more than find solutions, said Tim Caulfield, a professor of health law and policy at the University of Alberta.

“It plays to and engenders distrust and hatred toward the public health system and I don’t think that’s constructive,” he said.

Experts are already assessing the effectiveness of governments’ response to COVID-19, said Caulfield, a disease that’s killed nearly 47,000 Canadians and more than 5,000 Albertans.

“No one disagrees we’ve got to study, learn and refine and be better next time and people are doing it,” he said.

He said Canada, especially compared to the U.S., has handled the pandemic “pretty well,” noting repeated studies have shown in Republican-dominated areas of the U.S. where vaccination levels were lower, COVID-19 death rates were notably higher.

It’s funny that Mr. Caulfield showed up in this article - in fact, it’s a glorious coincidence. As we speak, I am writing the long-awaited next instalment in my series titled The COVID Blacklist. And guess who’s on it?

Let’s just say Caulfield isn’t likely to be one of the “experts” I am overly interested in having lead an investigation into… himself.

How’s that for a cliffhanger?

1. Severson, K., & Moskin, J. (2022, November 1). Julie Powell, Food Writer Known for “Julie & Julia,” Dies at 49. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/01/dining/julie-powell-dead.html

2. Powell, J. (2021, October 1). “I would argue that COVID does kill some of the right people. The anti-vaxxers/maskers are dying in legions. But yes. It’s a real shame about Kavanaugh.” [Tweet]. Twitter. https://archive.ph/I48zs

3. Powell, J. (2022, June 15). “So, as a vaccinated, boosted person, I’ve not been tested for Covid. Is it possible for me to be at this point? The Long Covid thing worries me, but also keep in mind that I’m a hypochondriac.” [Tweet]. Twitter. https://archive.ph/ceMeJ

4. Powell, J. (2022, October 7). “I mean, I understand your POV, but my husband has been downed by Covid twice in a month, and that’s with mask wearing and all available boosters. I suspect I’ll be down next. I’m going to keep masking up.” [Tweet] Twitter. https://archive.ph/72mIR

5. Powell, J. (2022, September 10). “Decided to take a nap and woke up sick like a dog. This is how the covid hits, I guess. All of a sudden like.” [Tweet]. Twitter. https://archive.ph/DR0CU

6. Powell, J. (2022, September 13). “Weirdly, my Covid is getting worse. Terrible headache, cough, probable fever, fatigue.” [Tweet]. Twitter. https://archive.ph/wIM1X

7. Powell, J. (2022, October 25). “So I woke up with something that’s literally Black Hairy Tongue. People, including my doctor, seem to think it’s no big deal, and will go away soon, but it certainly is gross.” [Tweet]. Twitter. https://archive.ph/fMYiT

8. Novak, M. (2022, November 2). Julie Powell’s Last Tweet Before Her Death at 49 Causes Confusion Among Fans. Yahoo! News. https://archive.ph/giT7J

9. Laney, J. (2022, November 3). Walmart is Helping Customers Set the Table this Holiday Season with This Year’s Thanksgiving Meal at Last Year’s Price. Walmart Corporate - US. https://web.archive.org/web/20221103191409/https://corporate.walmart.com/newsroom/2022/11/03/walmart-is-helping-customers-set-the-table-this-holiday-season-with-this-years-thanksgiving-meal-at-last-years-price

10. Aldi, Walmart Unleash “Thanksgiving Price Rewind” As Battle For Consumer Begins. (2022, November 3). ZeroHedge. https://web.archive.org/web/20221103191838/https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/inflation-no-thanks-walmart-rolls-back-thanksgiving-food-2021-prices

11. Memorandum for the Chief, Plans - SUBJECT: Project AERODYNAMIC (Renewal). (1953, August 28). Cryptome; Central Intelligence Agency. https://web.archive.org/web/20221103193500/https://cryptome.org/2016/01/cia-ua-aerodynamic.pdf

12. Snyder, T. (2017, July 7). Germans must remember the truth about Ukraine – for their own sake. Eurozine. https://web.archive.org/web/20221103194510/https://www.eurozine.com/germans-must-remember-the-truth-about-ukraine-for-their-own-sake/

13. Reif, E. (2022, June 11). How pre-WW II Ukrainian fascists pioneered brutal terror techniques; later improved by CIA, now ironically taught to descendants (Part 1) | MR Online. Monthly Review; CovertAction Magazine. https://archive.ph/c9KbG

14. Kuzio, T. (2012). U.S. support for Ukraine’s liberation during the Cold War: A study of Prolog Research and Publishing Corporation. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 45(1-2), 51–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postcomstud.2012.02.007

15. Shekhovtsov, A., & Umland, A. (2014). Ukraine’s Radical Right. Journal of Democracy, 25(3), 58–63. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2014.0051

16. “Extraordinary parliamentary election on 26.10.2014: Data on vote counting at precincts within single-mandate districts.” (2014, October 29). Central Election Commission of Ukraine. https://web.archive.org/web/20141223004531/http://vibori2014.rbc.ua/ukr/okrug/dnepropetrovskaya-oblast/odnomandatny-39

17. Bateman, T. (2022, April 13). Ukraine: The critical fight for “heart of this war” Mariupol. BBC News. https://archive.ph/qWj85

18. Losh, J. (2017, February 13). Ukraine turns a blind eye to ultrarightist militia. Washington Post. https://archive.ph/CFBm6

19. Fearnow, B. (2018, October 24). FBI Arrests Rise Above Movement White Supremacists. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/rise-above-movement-white-ram-charlottesville-berkeley-inciting-riots-1186443

20. Barrouquere, B. (2018, October 29). Three members of Rise Above Movement arrested in California, fourth sought as fugitive turns himself in. Southern Poverty Law Center. https://web.archive.org/web/20220929234207/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/10/29/three-members-rise-above-movement-arrested-california-fourth-sought-fugitive-turns-himself

21. Pugliese, D. (2022, April 13). Canada failed when it trained Ukrainian troops linked to the far right, says Nazi hunter. Ottawa Citizen. https://archive.ph/WFVOi

22. Oster, E. (2022, October 31). Let’s Declare a Pandemic Amnesty. The Atlantic. https://archive.ph/Unn7b

23. “You Murderous Hypocrites”: Outrage Ensues After The Atlantic Suggests “Amnesty” For Pandemic Authoritarians. (2022, November 2). ZeroHedge. https://archive.ph/oIxct

24. Preston Manning Announces National Citizens’ Inquiry into Canada’s COVID-19 Measures! (2022, November 2). National Citizens Inquiry. https://web.archive.org/web/20221103183050/https://nationalcitizensinquiry.ca/nci-posts/preston-manning-launches-national-citizens-inquiry/

25. Events. Canada Marches. Retrieved November 2, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20221102191440/https://www.canadamarches.ca/events

26. Teo, I. (2022, June 17). “Heartbreaking Stories”: Expert Panel to Hold Hearing for Canadians Adversely Impacted by COVID-19 Policies. The Epoch Times. https://archive.ph/6Bc7c

27. Manning, P. (2022, June 26). Preston Manning: Toward a National Inquiry Into Canada’s Management of the COVID Crisis. The Epoch Times. https://archive.ph/UBcds

28. Ponesse, J. (2022, October 7). What If the Truth Never Comes Out? The Epoch Times. https://archive.ph/Xfxo2

29. Risdon, M. (2022, June 21). A Citizens’ Hearing into Canada’s COVID-19 response set to start this week. Western Standard. https://archive.ph/u36zE

30. Kaufmann, B. (2022, November 2). Preston Manning pushes for citizens’ inquiry into Canada’s pandemic response. Calgary Herald. https://web.archive.org/web/20221103185401/https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/preston-manning-pushes-for-citizens-inquiry-into-canadas-pandemic-response