Earth, Wind and Fear
Life expectancy falls, ArriveCan suspended, community banking, war crimes, and we're all screwed because "climate change"
Greetings friends, and welcome back to Rounding the News! I am your host, Liam Sturgess, and this is our weekly news roundup presented by Rounding the Earth.
As we started doing last week, we’re going to break the news into six categories: Health, Legal, Economy, Geopolitics, Environment and Culture. Remember, out goal is to capture the broad scope of events across each area that directly affects the wellbeing and day-to-day of every person on the planet. Our coverage is community-supported, and the items we cover are based entirely on our own interests and instincts. Even the sponsors we work with are themselves members of the community, and they do not influence the tone or content of our work.
We’re just awesome like that. Let’s dive in!
Health
Kids don’t want the shot
Thankfully, the vast majority of parents seem to have made an informed decision to not inject their children with experimental gene therapy products that are clearly hurting so. many. people.
From the Washington Post:1
“…doctors and public health experts never expected there would be this little interest in vaccines for young children. …
Even in places with strong pro-vaccine sentiments, few young children have received shots, including in the District, which has the highest percentage vaccinated. In D.C., barely 21 percent of children 6 months to 4 years old have received one shot, and just 7.5 percent have received both doses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi — which occupy the bottom of the list — the rates are even more dismal: less than 0.2 percent. Health officials worry that the lackluster vaccination uptake might leave the nation vulnerable to coronavirus clusters in the fall and winter.”
Also happening:
US life expectancy declines by 3 years2
Legal
The Government of Canada announced it would be “suspending” the use of the ArriveCan app along with the requirement that those entering Canada be vaccinated against COVID-19 (to avoid quarantine, at least).
According to Global News:3
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau agreed to scrap the country’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate at the border and make the ArriveCAN app optional for travellers entering Canada, Global News has learned.
The decision to let the current measures expire on Sept. 30 as planned was made Thursday, according to a senior government source. The federal government is still deciding whether to maintain the requirement for passengers to wear face masks on trains and airplanes and will be discussed at cabinet this afternoon, the source said.”
Conveniently enough, the decision comes at the exact same moment the Government is in court trying to have a case on this exact topic dismissed for “mootness”.
A group of plaintiffs brought several separate challenges to the travel mandates, including those led by former Newfoundland Premier Brian Peckford (who also helped draft the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms), Karl Harrison, Shaun Rickard, and Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada.
Attorney Keith Wilson jumped on a livestream with Viva Frei to discuss the case and its timing with the changes to travel requirements.4 Check it out:
Economy
The Rebirth of Community Banking with Oliver Studd
Mathew usually does a one-on-one discussion with a guest on Mondays, and this week he bumped it up to two. Sometimes opportunity comes knocking…
The first video from Rounding the Earth this past week was a wonderful conversation with Oliver Studd, CEO of the Valhalla Network.5
From Mathew’s article:6
“Community banks are one of the small number of most undervalued entities in finance. Locally run, they are better at deploying capital to talented local (usually small, sometimes medium) business developers with low risk, and thus low interest rates. Spreading community banks around the world is one of the keys to bringing more of the world's technology to people who want and need it. These are generally the technologies of communities, not the technologies of centralized control and surveillance. Small businesses are the vehicles for artisan craftsmen to interface with world markets, and also for local farmers to feed their communities.”
Watch the entire conversation on Rumble, YouTube, Rokfin, Odysee, BitChute, or Brighteon.
Further reading
Here are a few stories that I didn’t have time to elaborate on. Click the citation numbers to jump to the links at the bottom:
Bavarian Nordic is feeling pretty good about their finances. Thanks monkeypox!7
Joe Biden says COVID is over!8 Time to spend more money on monkeypox, right guys?9
Before we move into geopolitics, a quick word from our sponsor.
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Geopolitics
War crimes in Ukraine
A group commissioned by the United Nations said today that they have documented evidence of war crimes in Ukraine - but it’s not entirely clear who they’re accusing of committing them.
From the Associated Press:11
“Based on the evidence gathered by the commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine,” Erik Mose, the commission’s chairman, told the Human Rights Council.
There are some specific accusations levelled in the direction of Russia, but I have some questions on their choices of wording.
Presenting their most extensive findings so far, they cited testimonies by former detainees of beatings, electric shocks and forced nudity in Russian detention facilities, and expressed grave concerns about executions the team was working to document in the four regions. …
Does “Russian detention facilities” refer to facilities housing Russian forces captured by Ukraine, or Ukrainian forces captured by Russia?
Who was executed, and by who?
Commission member Pablo de Greiff told reporters the team had “found two instances of ill-treatment of Russian Federation soldiers by Ukrainian soldiers. ... We have found obviously significantly larger numbers of incidences that amount to war crimes on the part of the Russian Federation.” …
How does de Greiff define “ill-treatment” and “incidences that amount to war crimes”? Can this be clarified to more transparently and explicitly compare the nature of the allegations on both sides?
[Ukrainian Ambassdor] Korynevych, speaking by video, called for the creation of a special tribunal that would have jurisdiction “over the crime of aggression against Ukraine” and investigate senior Russian political and military leaders who were allegedly responsible. …
What is the evidence leading to the allegations against Russian political and military leaders?
He said said (sic) accountability was crucial for rights violations and atrocities linked to Russia’s “aggression.” …
Absolutely, but if Ukraine is on the record as inflicting “ill-treatment” on Russian soldiers, is it not a given that both sides of the conflict should be held accountable? This is an international commission, so why treat this as if Ukraine can do no meaningful wrong?
He said an unspecified number of Russian soldiers were found to have committed crimes of sexual or gender-based violence – with victims ranging in age from 4 to 82 years old. …
Is that not too ambiguous to properly assess the extent of the violence? This could be referring to a single act of violence, or thousands. I’d also suggest that while “sexual” violence leaves little room for misinterpretation, a definition for “gender-based violence” absolutely must be provided.
According to the Canadian Women’s Federation, this can refer to “the types of abuse that women, girls, and Two Spirit, trans and non-binary people are at highest risk of experiencing. It can take physical and emotional forms, such as: name-calling, hitting, pushing, blocking, stalking/criminal harassment, rape, sexual assault, control, and manipulation.”12
Apparently “men” aren’t considered susceptible to gender-based violence. Thanks, CWF.
That aside, I think we can all agree that there are a number of instances where a war setting would bring about one or more instances of such acts as pushing, control, manipulation, and even (God forbid) name calling towards the people trying to kill each other. I assume “blocking” doesn’t mean self-defence in this case - such as preventing a punch from hitting your nose - and instead refers to preventing someone from moving from one place to another.
On the other hand, if the accusation here is that Russian soldiers have committed beatings, sexual assault or rape, these need to be explicitly stated with evidence and not lumped in with name calling. These are serious accusations and must be treated as such. NOT carelessly thrown out for the public to speculate on in this unspecific manner.
“The evidence of Russia’s atrocities becomes more horrifying by the day, most recently with the uncovering of mass graves in Izium, where the bodies show signs of torture,” Michele Taylor, the U.S. ambassador to the rights council, said, referring to a Kharkiv regional city that Ukrainian forces recaptured in recent weeks. …
Despite plenty of innuendo, I have not found any evidence to indicate that Russian forces were responsible for torturing and mass-burying those bodies. Obviously, nobody is jumping at the chance to suggest Ukrainian forces did it after reclaiming the region…
On the other hand, the AP actually does leave open the very real possibility that it is, in fact, Ukrainian-aligned forces committing these acts:
“We were struck by the large number of executions in the areas that we visited. The commission is currently investigating such deaths in 16 towns and settlements,” [Commission Chairman] Mose said. He didn’t specify who or which side in the war allegedly committed the killings.
Then comes this statement by US Ambassador Michele Taylor. From Al Jazeera:13
A US envoy says Russia may have forcibly deported between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainians, citing unnamed sources, and urged a UN-mandated commission of inquiry to investigate. …
“Numerous sources indicate that Russian authorities have interrogated, detained and/or forcibly deported between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens,” she said.
Unnamed sources are not useful, as they can not be verified. It’s funny how they’re the go-to on many geopolitical topics.
To be clear, I think this conflict is far more nuanced and complicated than the mainstream news is allowing their audience to consider. We have to be able to analyze the situation as it is, not how our governments propagandize to us. Why would we trust the Canadian, American and Ukrainian governments any more than we trust the Russian government?
After all, the U.S. Government removed restrictions on domestic propaganda in 2013.14 The Canadian military took advantage of the COVID-19 crisis to "test out propaganda techniques on an unsuspecting public" in an "information operations campaign."15 And the Ukrainian government has been caught several times just making s**t up.161718
Most importantly, I suggest that even the concept of this being a Ukraine vs. Russia battle is absurd, and that we can be part of the solution. I stand with the people of Ukraine. I stand with the people of Russia. I stand with the people all over the world suffering from the actions taken by their own governments in response. It’s very hard to tell whose military actions most closely align with our individual values, so let’s focus on what we can do: speak in support of everyday people like you and I, no matter what language they speak, the colour of their skin, or how they celebrate Creation.
Environment
Hurricanes on North America’s East Coast
Everything these days seems to be discussed as part of some larger situation. When it’s an idea being proposed, it’s part of an “agenda”. When something bad happens, it’s part of an “ongoing crisis”. These things tend to go hand-in-hand these days.
I bring this up to help introduce this: a Category 4 hurricane named Fiona is about to hit Canada’s East Coast. From The Independent via Yahoo! News:19
“The storm is expected to make landfall late Friday night into Saturday morning, bringing intense winds and rains, as well as possible flooding and power outages to much of the region.
The heaviest damage will likely be felt in Nova Scotia, where the storm is hitting directly – but since the storm is so large, dangerous weather is also forecast for parts of Newfoundland, Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
The Canadian Hurricane Centre has warned that this could be a “historic storm” and a “landmark weather event” as the powerful storm makes its way into the region.
Fiona has already become the most destructive hurricane of the year so far in the Atlantic Ocean after floods and damaging winds left millions of people without running water or electricity in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.”
To me, it would make sense to focus news coverage on the best ways to prepare for the possible damage, mitigate risk to yourself and your community, what items to stock up on… you know, useful information. I have many friends and family members in Atlantic Canada and America, and their well-being is my only concern in the short-term.
In the long-term, however, there seems to be a much broader focus on how Fiona shows that we’re all screwed “because climate change.” What does that mean, exactly? Look at the fear-mongering in these headlines:
NBC News, Sept. 19: Wetter and stronger: Hurricane Fiona and two typhoons drive home climate concerns20
Yahoo! News, Sep. 20: Hurricane Fiona is a harbinger of climate future21
Reuters (via The Indian Express), Sep. 21: How climate change is fueling hurricanes22
Global News, Sep. 23: Hurricane Fiona shows how climate change is fuelling severe weather events in Canada: expert23
If you put these four headlines together and paraphrase, you end up with something like this: Hurricane Fiona is wetter, stronger and more severe than previous storms because of climate change, and the future is grim.
There are some underlying assumptions that will immediately influence our perception of this reporting, and I won’t try to make a scientific argument beyond my own critical thinking. But there are a few things I wanted to point out that I found interesting. From the NBC News article:
With climate change making storms rainier and more intense, the weekend's extreme weather events offer a glimpse of what could become more common in the future, according to experts.
One of the most pronounced ways storms have been affected by climate change in recent years can be measured in rainfall increases, said Kevin Reed, an associate professor of atmospheric science at Stony Brook University in New York.
As the world's oceans heat up, they provide more energy for storms, allowing them to intensify as they form. A warmer atmosphere can also hold more moisture, Reed said.
"If you have warmer water, you'll have more evaporation, which means you have more moisture in the atmosphere, which means you can get more precipitation," he said.
Storms are one thing, but those tend to accompany rain… don’t they? If we’re worried about increased rainfall in the coming years, then doesn’t that solve the other, huge, unavoidable, existential threat that the World Economic Forum is so concerned about addressing?
From the article:24
More than 43% of the US was in drought at the end of July, the government’s National Integrated Drought Information System revealed. It says over 130 million people [at the time of posting] are currently affected by drought, as well as 229 million acres of crops. The US economy has lost an estimated £249 million due to drought and related crop failures according to the UN. …
Drought frequency and duration has increased by nearly a third globally since 2000, the UN says. The climate crisis is fuelling this according to Drought in Numbers, 2022. It says more than 2.3 billion people around the world are currently facing water stress. Although droughts only represent 15% of natural disasters, they killed 650,000 people between 1970 and 2019. More than 10 million have died due to major drought events over the past 100 years.
Okay, but isn’t that really similar in character to what is being said about the storms bringing too much water? I’m clearly missing something here. I suppose the argument is that everything weather-wise is getting more intense, and at really inconvenient times. The next question is: are weather events becoming more intense, and if so, is it because of human activities?
One major solution could be increased focus on land restoration such as agroforestry and more efficient irrigation systems the UN says. …
The Drought in Numbers 2022 report concludes: “Sustainable and efficient agricultural management techniques are needed to grow more food on less land and with less water, and humans must change their relationships with food, fodder and fibre – moving toward plant-based diets and stemming the consumption of animals.” The report authors say concerted policy, partnerships and funding at all levels is urgently needed going forward to provide integrated drought action plans.
The WEF’s solution involves more investment and more public-private-partnerships in order to replicate nature and build better irrigation systems. No surprise there.
I’m just not convinced these people know what they’re talking about, to be blunt. Global News’ article includes a lot of qualifiers that make it feel like opportunism more than solid science:
“I think the evidence that I’ve seen is that the number of hurricanes may not go up, but the number of intense hurricanes, categories fours and fives, will actually increase in intensity,” explains Gordon McBean, a professor in the department of geography and environment at Western University.
Hurricanes are not unusual in Atlantic Canada, with an average of three to four storms entering Canadian waters each season. About half of those make landfall, according to a Reuters report.
“Canada is warming about twice as fast as the globe … roughly two and a half degrees Celsius (above average),” said McBean, adding that eastern Canada will probably see more severe weather events in the future.
The world has already warmed 1.1 C above the preindustrial average. Scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expect that, at 2 C of warming, hurricane wind speeds could increase by up to 10 per cent.
NOAA also projects the proportion of hurricanes that reach the most intense levels — Category 4 or 5 — could rise by about 10 per cent this century.
Oh, and don’t forget to avoid going outside when there’s a hurricane actively blowing things around at breakneck speeds.
“McBean said despite the projections and the weather warnings, many people seem to ignore them.
“People may say it’s not going to happen to them or whatever, but people need to take the right actions,” he said.
McBean described the right action as going inside and making sure there’s a safe place within the property, like a basement, that would help shield people from the impact of a hurricane.
Culture
Kyrie Irving speaks up when others stay silent
Basketball star Kyrie Irving posted the following Tweet:
In an article discussing the message of support for unvaccinated workers, The Mercury News suggested Irving’s tweet was likely in response to the continued requirement that employees of the City of New York be “fully vaccinated” with COVID-19 injections.25
Then, you have this.
Thank you so much for watching/reading Rounding the News! You can find me at www.LiamSturgess.com or @TheLiamSturgess on Twitter. Make sure to subscribed to Rounding the Earth on YouTube, Rumble, Rokfin, BitChute, Brighteon, and become a paid subscriber of the Rounding the Earth Substack.
Malhi, S. (2022, September 19). Covid shots for young kids arrived in June. Few have received them. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/09/18/kids-coronavirus-vaccine/
Mercola, J. (2022, September 15). US Life Expectancy Falls Again in “Historic” Decline. The Epoch Times. https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-life-expectancy-falls-again-in-historic-decline_4732330.html
D’Andrea, A. (2022, September 22). Canada to drop COVID-19 vaccine mandate at border, make ArriveCAN optional: source. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/9148012/canada-arrivecan-optional-covid-vaccine-mandate/
Vivafrei. (2022, September 22). Interview with Keith Wilson - Brian Peckford’s Charter Challenge UPDATE - Viva Frei Live. Rumble. https://rumble.com/v1l49wd-interview-with-keith-wilson-brian-peckfords-charter-challenge-update-viva-f.html
Mr Oliver James Fairfax Studd (Valhalla Network Limited) - Director Profile. Endole. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://suite.endole.co.uk/insight/people/26750107-mr-oliver-james-fairfax-studd
Crawford, M. (2022, September 20). Banking Governance: A Discussion with Oliver Studd About Valhalla Network as a Solution to Community Banking. Substack; Rounding the Earth. https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/banking-governance-a-discussion-with
Kansteiner, F. (2022, June 14). Bavarian Nordic’s revenue forecast jumps—again—after fresh monkeypox vaccine order with Europe. Fierce Pharma. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/bavarian-nordics-revenue-forecast-jumps-again-after-fresh-monkeypox-vaccine-order-europe
Tin, A. (2022, September 19). Biden says COVID-19 pandemic is “over” in U.S. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-covid-pandemic-over/
Weixel, N. (2022, September 18). White House pushes for monkeypox funding as cases fall. The Hill. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3647117-white-house-pushes-for-monkeypox-funding-as-cases-fall/
Lyons-Weiler, J. (2022, September 13). IPAK-EDU Information #2 is Published! Here’s How to Access and How to Use These. Popular Rationalism. https://popularrationalism.substack.com/p/ipak-edu-information-2-is-published
Keaten, J. (2022, September 23). UN rights experts present evidence of war crimes in Ukraine. AP NEWS. https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-united-nations-war-crimes-48dc36f41bdcfac4720d0b2a0c359073
The Facts about Gender-Based Violence. (2022, June 1). Canadian Women’s Foundation. https://canadianwomen.org/the-facts/gender-based-violence/
Child, D., & Alsaafin, L. (2022, September 23). Kremlin eyes quick annexation of occupied Ukrainian regions. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2022/9/23/russia-ukraine-live-news-moscow-held-regions-begin-referendum
Hudson, J. (2013, July 14). U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News to Americans. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/07/14/u-s-repeals-propaganda-ban-spreads-government-made-news-to-americans/
Pugliese, D. (2021, September 27). Military leaders saw pandemic as unique opportunity to test propaganda techniques on Canadians, Forces report says. Ottawa Citizen. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/military-leaders-saw-pandemic-as-unique-opportunity-to-test-propaganda-techniques-on-canadians-forces-report-says
Galey, P. (2022, May 2). Ukraine admits the “Ghost of Kyiv” isn’t real, but the myth was potent for a reason. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ukraine-admits-ghost-kyiv-isnt-real-wartime-myth-russia-rcna26867
Ripp, A. (2022, March 5). Opinion | Ukraine’s Nazi problem is real, even if Putin’s “denazification” claim isn’t. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/ukraine-has-nazi-problem-vladimir-putin-s-denazification-claim-war-ncna1290946
McCallum, A. (2022, August 19). Much Azov about nothing: How the “Ukrainian neo-Nazis” canard fooled the world. Monash Lens. https://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2022/08/19/1384992/much-azov-about-nothing-how-the-ukrainian-neo-nazis-canard-fooled-the-world
Freedman, E. (2022, September 23). Hurricane Fiona path - live: Canada on track to be hit with “strongest ever” category 2 storm. Yahoo! News; The Independent. https://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-fiona-path-live-canada-163341683.html
Chow, D. (2022, September 19). Wetter and stronger: Hurricane Fiona and two typhoons drive home climate concerns. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/climate-change-hurricane-fiona-stronger-storms-rcna48327
Adler, B. (2022, September 20). Hurricane Fiona is a harbinger of climate future. Yahoo! News. https://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-fiona-is-harbinger-of-climate-future-204350435.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
Reuters. (2022, September 21). How climate change is fueling hurricanes. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-climate/hurricane-fiona-puerto-rico-dominican-republic-climate-change-8163340/
Al-Hakim, A. (2022, September 23). Hurricane Fiona shows how climate change is fuelling severe weather events in Canada: expert. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/9146319/hurricane-fiona-climate-change/
Ellerbeck, S. (2022, August 12). Droughts are getting worse around the world, here’s why and what needs to be done. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/08/drought-water-climate-un/
Tribune News Service. (2022, September 23). Kyrie Irving: If I can work unvaccinated, others should be able to, too. The Mercury News. https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/09/23/kyrie-irving-if-i-can-work-unvaccinated-others-should-be-able-to-too-2/
A lot to unpack here, but IMHO, this rivals The Corbett Report's 'New World Next Week'. And they have being doing this kind of thing for a very long time...
"I stand with the people all over the world suffering from the actions taken by their own governments..."
But that statement possibly absolves the masses from accountability... The kind of totalitarianism we are currently experiencing (at least in the West) would not be possible without public cooperation & even full-blown public endorsement... Mattias Desmet & others have spoken about this phenomenon recently...
I feel the root of this constant cycle of abuse, violence & exploitation lies deep within the human condition - recognising these dilemmas may be the first step towards breaking out of this vicious circle.
'More activism' (the battle cry of most popular 'influencers') may just lead to 'more of the same'... More self-awareness, self-reliance & personal development is where I would tend to gravitate.
On a more positive note, it's good to hear that parents are reluctant to go along with the experimental gene therapies - it would appear that the protective 'maternal instinct' is stronger than mainstream propaganda & even unethical applied psychology.