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QUOTES News
In the
“We have to get
it back open safely
but as quickly
as possible.”
President Donald Trump,
when asked during a
town hall about decisions
by some states to
allow nonessential
businesses to reopen
while other states remain
on virtual lockdown
NATION | A4
“Tolerance is the
key. Civility is luck.
That’s the soul
of my business.”
Eliot Rabin, owner, Peter
Elliot boutique, about
keeping his small business
open during the pandemic
NATION | A1
“I was coming to
work, telling my
wife to pray for me
to work and bring
something so that
we could eat, but ...
there’s no hope of
working today.”
Easy Darlington, owner of
a printing shop in Nigeria,
saying many businesses
were still closed even as
the government began
easing COVID-19-related
restrictions in the cities
of Abuja and Lagos
CHINA | A10
“Taiwan should be a
member of the World
Health Organization.
Taiwan’s public
health response to
COVID was excellent.”
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.)
CHINA | A10
“Reopening is
more difficult than
the closedown.”
New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo, on phasing in
business activity in the state
hardest hit by COVID-19
NATION | A1
INSIDE
Nation....................................A2
Business ............................ A7
World....................................A8
China......................................A10
Opinion..................................A13
Puzzles...................................A18
FEATURES
Arts & Tradition......................B1
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Customers at Puckett’s Grocery & Restaurant in Franklin, Tenn., on April 27, 2020.
VIRUS RESPONSE
Sunny Weather Draws Crowds
as Some Lockdowns Are Eased
Despite continued lockdown, more Americans are leaving
their homes, in some cases in defiance of local orders
IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
C
rowds flocked to parks and pub-
lic places across the United States
over the weekend, with some plac-
es defying local stay-at-home or-
ders and others taking advantage
of loosened restrictions.
In New York City, parks and
green spaces bustled with pic-
nickers and sunbathers despite
the state’s ongoing lockdown and
warnings from the city’s mayor.
Photos from social media showed
large crowds on lawns in Central
Park and the Christopher Street
Pier.
In Washington, thousands
poured onto the National Mall to
watch a flyover by the Air Force’s
Thunderbirds and the Navy’s Blue
Angels in honor of health care
workers responding to the COV-
ID-19 pandemic. Photos from the
event show some people wear-
US–CHINA
Senior Trump Adviser
Urges Chinese
People to Embrace
Spirit of Freedom
EVA FU
A senior White House adviser de-
cried the “shocking lack of diver-
sity in voices” under the Chinese
communist regime, in the first
known speech given by a U.S. of-
ficial in Mandarin Chinese.
Matthew Pottinger, the White
House’s deputy national security
adviser on Asia, highlighted the
regime’s suppression of those who
sought to speak the truth amid
the CCP virus outbreak, includ-
ing doctors and citizen journal-
ists, and heralded them as “civic-
minded citizens” who committed
“big acts of bravery.”
“The cliché that Chinese people
can’t be trusted with democracy
was ... the most unpatriotic idea
of all,” Pottinger said in a speech
given in Mandarin Chinese dur-
ing a virtual panel event held by
the University of Virginia’s Miller
Center on May 4.
Pottinger said he gave the
speech in the Chinese language
so he could open up a conversa-
tion with citizens in China and
the Chinese diaspora.
Continued on A11
Accuracy The Epoch Times was founded in 2000 as an independent newspaper with a goal to restore accuracy and integrity in
media. We have received numerous awards for our reporting, including from the Society of Professional Journalists,
& Integrity the Society for News Design, and the New York Press Association.
TRUTH AND TRADITION
ing protective masks although
the density suggested that social
distancing would be difficult to
practice.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio
said there were “some real issues”
near the pier and police would in-
crease patrols. He had previously
aired a public service announce-
ment calling on New Yorkers to
report their fellow residents who
violate the social-distancing
guidelines.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
last week ordered beaches in Or-
ange County to close after crowds
defied the state’s lockdown orders.
Huntington Beach police said
people were complying on May
3. At least one beach received the
governor’s approval on May 4 for
a phased reopening.
Continued on A3
People walk between shops and restaurants that have reopened following the
loosening of restrictions in Franklin, Tenn., on May 2, 2020.
VIRUS RESPONSE
Small Businesses Defy Odds to Keep Going Amid Lockdown
VENUS UPADHAYAYA
Small businesses around the
United States are struggling to
get by amid CCP virus lockdowns.
While a few have remained
open, defying government execu-
tive orders, some have adjusted
their business models to keep go-
ing, even as their communities
battle with death and economic
loss.
JASON KEMPIN/GETTY IMAGES
Many Americans
are eager to return
to their jobs and
classrooms.
BRETT CARLSEN/GETTY IMAGES
David Smith (not his real name),
who runs a home decor business
in a neighborhood in Los Angeles,
decided to remain open because
he believes the lockdown infring-
es on his civil liberties.
“I never closed my business, I
take custom orders,” Smith, 48,
told The Epoch Times, adding that
his business is down by 95 percent
and he’s using his savings to pay
Continued on A7
VOL. XVII | NO.
$1.00
CCP VIRUS
2nd Wave of
Virus Outbreak
Spreads
Further in
Southern China
NICOLE HAO
A district in the southern Chinese
city of Guangzhou announced at
least 10 asymptomatic carriers of
the CCP virus in recent days.
A neighboring province and
the nearby city of Shenzhen also
reported new infections among
people who came from Guang-
zhou, indicating the second-wave
outbreak is spreading in southern
China.
In late April, more than 100
new infections were reported in
Guangzhou, as well as dozens
among students and teachers in
Shenzhen.
Meanwhile, residents of Hei-
longjiang Province, located in
northeastern China, told The
Epoch Times that there are more
outbreaks in cities in the prov-
ince. Authorities have only an-
nounced new infections in the
cities of Harbin and Mudanjiang
recently.
Continued on A11
TOM POLANSEK/REUTERS
A truck arrives at Smithfield Foods’
pork plant in Smithfield, Va., on Oct.
17, 2019.
VIRUS RESPONSE
Smithfield Reopens
Illinois Pork Plant
after COVID-19
Shutdown
TOM OZIMEK
Smithfield Foods has reopened its
hog slaughterhouse in Monmouth,
Illinois, after a weeklong shutdown
because of COVID-19, the disease
caused by the CCP virus.
Company representatives said
Continued on A4
NEW YORK
New York
Governor Outlines
Reopening Plan
With Construction,
Manufacturing First
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on
May 4 outlined a phased reopening
of business activity in the state hard-
est hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,
starting with select industries such
as construction and the least-affect-
ed regions.
Cuomo didn’t give a timeline, but
the state’s stay-at-home order is due
to expire on May 15. The governor
has previously said that the areas
with fewer infections and enough
spare hospital beds could consider
reopening after that date.
While short on specifics, the out-
line disclosed by Cuomo at a daily
briefing was the most detailed
sketch so far on how the state—the
epicenter of the crisis in the United
States—would start to loosen re-
strictions on businesses and daily
life.
Cuomo said he understood the
feelings of protesters pushing for a
faster reopening but also warned
that moving too quickly could re-
kindle the virus, noting that the 1918
Continued on A3
A2 | NATION TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020

WHITNEY CURTIS/GETTY IMAGES

Federal Appeals
Court Rules
Kansas Cannot
Make Voters
Prove Citizenship
MATTHEW VADUM
A federal appeals court has
determined that Kansas
can’t make voters produce
proof of citizenship when
they register to vote, mark-
ing a setback in efforts by
largely conservative activ-
ists to safeguard integrity
in the electoral process.
In a case cited as Fish v.
Schwab, a panel of the Salt
Lake City-based 10th Cir-
cuit Court of Appeals de-
cided April 29 to uphold a
June 18, 2018, ruling by U.S.
District Judge Julie A. Rob-
inson, who was appointed
in 2001 by President George
W. Bush. The appeals court
decision affects other states
such as Oklahoma, New
Mexico, Colorado, Wyo-
ming, and Utah that are
within the geographical
boundaries of the circuit.
In 2011, the Kansas leg-
islature approved the Se-
cure and Fair Elections
(SAFE) Act, which intro-
duced a requirement that
the state’s residents pres-
ent documentary proof
of citizenship when ap-
plying to register to vote.
The plaintiffs challenged
the statute as it applied to
“motor voter” applicants,
which refers to individuals
applying to register to vote
at the same time they apply
for or renew their driver’s
license online or at a Divi-
sion of Motor Vehicles of-
fice. They claimed it placed
undue burdens on would-
be registrants and in the
process infringed on their
constitutional rights.
Activist groups largely
on the left claimed the
documentary proof-of-cit-
izenship statute inflicted
damage on voter rolls, de-
prived tens of thousands of
individuals of the vote, and
undermined confidence in
Kansas elections.
The 10th Circuit found the
SAFE Act that was signed
into law by then-Gov. Sam
Brownback, a Republican
whom President Donald
Trump later appointed
U.S. Ambassador at Large
for International Religious
Freedom, ran afoul of the
U.S. Constitution’s Equal
Protection Clause and the
National Voter Registration
Act, known popularly as
the “motor-voter law.”
Robinson blocked Kansas
from enforcing the law in
question.
The appeals court last
week found that there was
A voter casts a ballot at Shawnee Town Hall in Shawnee, Kan., on Nov. 6, 2018.
a “significant burden quan-
tified by the 31,089 voters
who had their registration
applications cancelled or
suspended” in Kansas, and
that the state had failed to
“justify the burden im-
posed on the right to vote.”
Kansas argued it has what
lawyers call a “compelling
interest” in preventing vot-
er fraud and that its proof-
of-citizenship requirement
wasn’t a significant burden
to voters. The state said the
requirement safeguards
the integrity of elections
and the accuracy of state
voter rolls.
While the appeals court
said it agreed “in the ab-
stract” that Kansas has
a legitimate interest in
making sure only the
votes of eligible voters are
counted, it made it clear it
wasn’t convinced there was
any justification for impos-
ing a burden on voters. The
The appeals court
determined that,
at most, 67 noncit-
izens registered or
attempted to reg-
ister in the state in
the preceding 19
years.
appeals court stated that
the lower court had given
the state’s electoral system
a clean bill of health.
The appeals court de-
termined that, at most, 67
noncitizens registered or
attempted to register in
the state in the preceding
19 years.
“Thus we are left with this
incredibly slight evidence
that Kansas’s interest in
counting only the votes
of eligible voters is under
threat,” the ruling stated.
“Indeed, even as to those
39 noncitizens who appear
on the Kansas voter rolls,
the district court found that
‘administrative anomalies’
could account for the pres-
ence of many—or perhaps
even most—of them there.”
Former Kansas Secretary
of State Kris Kobach, who
is now running for a U.S.
Senate seat in Kansas as a
Republican, defended the
SAFE Act, telling The Kan-
sas City Star he disagreed
with the appellate court’s
decision.
“The opinion is clearly
wrong, and I have a high
level of confidence that it
will be overturned by the
Supreme Court if the At-
torney General appeals it
to the Supreme Court,” he
said.
Kobach said the 10th
Circuit judges didn’t grasp
how the SAFE Act actually
worked, and he said it suc-
ceeded in preventing non-
citizens from voting.
“Some of those individu-
als were not actually U.S.
citizens, so they never
should have been regis-
tered,” Kobach said. “So
for the court to seize on
that 30,000 figure shows
that the court didn’t actu-
ally understand how the
law operated.”
The American Civil Lib-
erties Union called on
current Kansas Secretary
of State Scott Schwab, also
a Republican, to not pur-
sue an appeal and “turn
the page on Kris Kobach’s
sorry legacy of voter sup-
pression.”
Schwab told reporters his
office hasn’t yet decided if it
will appeal the ruling.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly,
a Democrat, told reporters
she favors not appealing
the decision.

Pence Says He Should Have Worn
Mask While Visiting Mayo Clinic
KATABELLA ROBERTS
Vice President Mike Pence on
April 3 said that he should have
worn a mask during a recent
visit to the Mayo Clinic in Min-
nesota after receiving backlash
for failing to adhere to the medi-
cal facility’s policy requiring it.
“From early on, the CDC [Cen-
ters for Disease Control and
Prevention] has made it clear
that you wear a mask to prevent
you from conveying the coro-
navirus to other people, and so
since the president and I are in
the unique position we’re in,
we’re tested often,” Pence said
during a Fox News virtual town
hall on April 3. “I didn’t think it
was necessary.”
The White House has said that
both President Donald Trump
and Pence have tested negative
for the CCP virus.
“But I should have worn a
mask at the Mayo Clinic,” he
added, noting that two  days
after visiting the Mayo Clinic,
he wore a mask when touring a
General Motors ventilator plant
in Indiana.
“I think it really is a statement
about the American people, the
way people have been willing
to step forward, practice social
distancing, wear masks in set-
tings where they can’t do that,”
Pence said. “I couldn’t be more
grateful to see how the Ameri-
can people responded.”
The CDC recommended in ear-
ly April that Americans main-
tain 6 feet of social distancing
and wear face coverings in pub-
lic settings where other social
distancing measures are dif-
ficult to maintain, to prevent
transmission of the virus.
As per Mayo Clinic policy, all
patients and visitors are re-
quired to wear a face cover-
ing or mask to help slow the
spread of COVID-19, and pa-
tients and visitors are asked to
bring their own face covering
or mask to wear. If a patient or
visitor doesn’t have a mask, the
Mayo Clinic will provide one.
Pence’s decision to not wear
a mask on his visit to the aca-
demic medical center saw him
widely criticized on social me-
dia, including by celebrities and
many public health experts.
Following the backlash, Pence
initially told reporters that he
felt he could visit the center
without a mask because he is
regularly tested for the virus,
and “since I don’t have the
coronavirus, I thought it’d be
a good opportunity for me to
be here, to be able to speak to
these researchers, these incred-
ible health care personnel, and
look them in the eye and say
‘thank you.’”
Karen Pence defended her
husband’s actions, and insisted
that they didn’t know about the
Mayo Clinic’s mask policy until
after his visit.
“As our medical experts have
told us, wearing a mask pre-
vents you from spreading the
disease, and knowing that he
doesn’t have COVID-19, he
didn’t wear one. It was actual-
ly after he left Mayo Clinic that
he found out they had a policy
of asking everyone to wear a
mask,” she said during a Fox
and Friends interview.
The vice president meant no
offense and didn’t  mean to
scare or hurt anyone, she said.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Vice President Mike Pence at the
White House on April 29, 2020.
Maryland Lawmakers File Lawsuit Against
Governor After Reported Threat of Arrest
ZACHARY STIEBER
A group including Maryland
lawmakers, pastors, and military
members filed a lawsuit against
Gov. Larry Hogan after he report-
edly threatened to arrest a del-
egate who planned to speak at a
protest on May 2.
Delegate Dan Cox, a Republican
in the Maryland House of Del-
egates, was going to address the
crowd at the event, where people
were gathered to protest Hogan’s
stay-at-home order.
The order, implemented in
March to try to slow the spread of
the CCP virus, commonly known
as the novel coronavirus, forced
the closure of so-called nones-
sential businesses and largely re-
stricted people to staying at home.
Cox said he was warned by a se-
nior law enforcement official that
Hogan “has his sights on you” and
that if Cox attended the protest he
might be arrested, according to
the lawsuit. Cox received confir-
mation that he might be arrested
from Hogan’s senior adviser An-
drew Cassilly and chief counsel
Mike Pedone.
Hogan’s office and the Maryland
State Police didn’t immediately
respond to requests for comment.
The officials referred to Hogan’s
order and said Cox could receive
up to one year in prison and a fine
of up to $5,000.
Cox with the suit is requesting
“immediate relief permitting him
to leave his home, speak and at-
tend a political rally in Mary-
land in his political district and
throughout Maryland.”
Other parties to the suit are also
requesting relief from the lock-
down, including a campground,
an amusement park, and a mili-
tary member.
“On behalf of thousands of
Marylanders represented by 18
brave plaintiffs I regrettably had
to file suit to seek to rein in the
overreaching of the governor’s
orders,” Cox said in a statement.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan talks to reporters at the state house in Annapolis,
Md., on April 17, 2020.
Delegate Neil Parrott, who
joined the suit, said in a video
statement that the executive
branch is violating the Maryland
Constitution. Hogan’s order re-
quiring that masks be worn in
public is an example, he said.
Hogan responded to the suit
on CNN’s “State of the Union”
on May 3, saying he was more
alarmed with large crowds in the
District of Columbia than those
that gathered in Salisbury and
Frederick.
“Sadly, we had far more people
die yesterday in Maryland than
we had protesters,” he said.
Twenty-six patients were con-
firmed to have died overnight
from COVID-19, the disease
caused by the CCP virus, the state
Department of Health stated on
May 3. Four others were described
as probable COVID-19 deaths.
Pictures and video footage from
the protests showed dozens of
people rallying.
“Look, we’re very anxious to
get our state reopened in a safe
way as soon as we possibly can,
because people are getting frus-
trated, and they’ve been inside
their homes,” Hogan said.
“Unfortunately, the pressure is
CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
to do it in a not safe way, and that’s
something we’re very concerned
about.”
Hogan, a Republican, is one of a
dwindling number of governors
who have not set a date that they
will or hope to allow reopening to
start. Dozens of governors across
the country have loosened harsh
restrictions to let some businesses
restart.
The state has seen about 1,000
new confirmed CCP virus cases
each day, according to state of-
ficials. As of May 4, 1,649 people
were hospitalized with the illness,
including 563 in intensive care.
Nearly 1,700 patients have been
released from isolation in the
state, which has 26,408 confirmed
cases.
The protests were led by a group
called Reopen Maryland. Pro-
testers told WMDT they believe
all businesses are essential and
asked for more transparency
around the harsh orders.
“We’re asking for transparency
in the models that he uses; we
want to know the data and the de-
cisions that he’s using and other
things that he didn’t consider,”
said Tim Walters, co-founder of
the group.
 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
New York
Governor Outlines
Reopening Plan
With Construction,
Manufacturing First
CONTINUED FROM A1
Spanish influenza pandem-
ic was deadlier in its second
wave.
“You can do it for a short
period of time, but you can’t
do it forever,” Cuomo said,
referring to lockdown orders
which have been in place
since the middle of March.
“But reopening is more dif-
ficult than the closedown.”
Cuomo said construction,
manufacturing, and select
retail shops could open in
the first phase of reopening,
followed by a second phase
that would include finance,
administrative support, real
estate, and rental-leasing in-
dustries.
Phase three will see res-
This is a different
beast that we are
dealing with, and
we learned that
the hard way.
New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo
taurants, food service, and
hotel industries reopen,
Cuomo said, followed by
arts, entertainment, and
recreation facilities as well
as schools in the fourth and
final phase.
Cuomo said regions of
his state would be able to
reopen once they meet
thresholds on four main
metrics: the rate of new in-
fections, hospital capacity,
diagnostic testing capacity,
Sunny Weather Draws Crowds as Some Lockdowns Are Eased
CONTINUED FROM A1
President Donald Trump
didn’t extend the federal
social-distancing guide-
lines at the end of April,
leaving it up to individual
governors to reopen states
and restart their econo-
mies after shutdowns
triggered by the outbreak
of the CCP (Chinese Com-
munist Party) virus, com-
monly known as the novel
coronavirus, which causes
COVID-19.
White House corona-
virus task force member
Dr. Deborah Birx on May
3 said that beach crowds
are unsafe unless people
keep six feet apart. She also
noted that it was too soon
to reopen some business,
such as beauty spas and
hair salons.
“We’ve made it clear that
that is not a good phase-
one activity,” Birx said.
The United States has
more than 1.1 million con-
firmed CCP virus cases and
more than 68,000 reported
deaths as of April 3. Anti-
body testing studies in
New York and elsewhere
suggest the true number
of people who have been
infected may be several
times higher.
Birx had also criticized
protesters in Michigan and
other states who gathered
earlier last week to dem-
onstrate against lockdown
orders.
“It’s devastatingly wor-
risome to me personally
if they go home and infect
their grandmother or their
grandfather who has a co-
morbid condition and they
have a serious or a very—or
and whether the region has
enough disease investiga-
tors to trace contacts of an
infected person. He also
said hospitals would need
to have 90 days worth of per-
sonal protective equipment
in stock to avoid the short-
ages that have dogged them
since March.
While he didn’t specify
which regions would open
first, he showed a slide la-
beling northern and central
parts of the state as “lower-
risk regions” in contrast to
harder-hit areas like New
York City and Long Island.
Cuomo said New York had
tested more than 1 million
residents, or roughly 5 per-
cent of the state’s popula-
tion, a per-capita level that
is higher than any other
country, including Italy at
3.5 percent and South Korea
at 1.2 percent.
But he said seven of the
state’s 10 regions hadn’t
met a threshold of testing
30 people for every 1,000 in
the population on a monthly
basis, and that none of the
regions had satisfied all of
the criteria to reopen.
Cuomo said that 226 New
Yorkers died on May 3, the
lowest daily total since
March 27, and that hospi-
talizations and intubations
continued a downward
trend started three weeks
ago.
But he said the decline in
hospitalizations was “not as
steep as the incline” when
infections skyrocketed in
March and warned against
underestimating a virus
Urban Park Rangers distrubting free masks to people at Grand
Army Plaza in the Brooklyn borough of New York, on May 3, 2020.
an unfortunate outcome,
they will feel guilty for the
rest of our lives,” Birx said.
In New York—the epi-
center of the nation’s
outbreak—the number
of COVID-19 patients in
President Trump
said more needed
to be done to ease
the economic hit
of the pandemic
and that more
help was coming
for people who
were unemployed.
hospitals has declined for
three straight weeks. In
other places, including Il-
linois, Texas, Maryland,
Indiana, Virginia, North
Carolina, and Tennessee,
A cleaning crew disinfects a New York subway train on May 4, 2020.
that some people had ini-
tially dismissed as akin to
the seasonal flu.
Nearly 25,000 New Yorkers
have died from COVID-19,
the disease caused by the
coronavirus, according to a
Reuters tally.
“This is a different beast
that we are dealing with,
and we learned that the
hard way,” Cuomo said.
The pandemic has posed
many new challenges for the
Department of Homeless
Services, which is battling
to minimize the spread of
the disease in its shelters. It
has moved several thousand
single adults into individual
rooms, including more than
1,000 hotel rooms. The City
Council is pushing a bill that
would require individual
REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ
the daily number of new
cases continued to rise, ac-
cording to Scott Gottlieb,
a former Food and Drug
Administration commis-
sioner. Virginia reported a
record number of 44 deaths
on May 3.
“We expected that we
would start seeing more
significant declines in new
cases and deaths around
the nation at this point.
And we’re just not see-
ing that,” Gottlieb said on
CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“If we don’t snuff this out
more and you have this
slow burn of infection, it
can ignite at any time.”
Despite the warnings,
many Americans are eager
to return to their jobs and
classrooms.
In a town hall event host-
ed by Fox News on May 3,
Trump said he understood
people’s desire to go back
to work and school and that
rooms for all 17,000 single
adults.
In all, the city has more
than 57,000 people in its
shelters, but most are fami-
lies in accommodations
with less risk of coronavirus
infection and greater access
to bathrooms.
Last week, the city imple-
mented a new plan for re-
ducing the number of home-
less people sleeping on the
subways, closing end-of-
the-line stations overnight,
with everyone aboard the
late trains required to exit.
Evacuated homeless people
are offered services by out-
reach teams, including tem-
porary lodging and medical
assessments.
City officials said May
6 that two homeless men
he expected classrooms to
reopen in September.
But he said more needed
to be done to ease the eco-
nomic hit of the pandemic
and that more help was
coming for people who
were unemployed.
In sports, the National
Football League stated it
would announce its sched-
ule for the upcoming sea-
son this week including
its season-opening game
on Sept. 10 and the Super
Bowl, which is scheduled
to be played in Tampa,
Florida, on Feb. 7, 2021.
“We are planning on
playing the 2020 NFL sea-
son as scheduled,” NFL
spokesman Brian McCar-
thy said in an email, noting
that the most popular U.S.
sports league would adjust
to government regulations.
At the other end of the
spectrum was Boston May-
or Marty Walsh in Mas-
sachusetts, which hasn’t
begun reopening and is
seeing CCP virus cases still
climbing. Massachusetts
also has issued a statewide
order for people to wear
masks in public.
Walsh said the rallies
against CCP virus miti-
gation efforts are causing
confusion and making his
job harder.
“I don’t understand it.
That makes messaging re-
ally confusing. ... It’s the
wrong message, because
we’re still very much in the
beginning days of corona-
virus. Even if you’re a state
that is seeing numbers go
down,” Walsh said.
Reuters contributed
to this report.
were found dead on subway
trains in a 12-hour period
May 1 and May 2. The De-
partment of Homeless Ser-
vices said outreach workers
had been trying to get both
men into shelters.
Starting May 6, the en-
Ohio Governor Reversed
Mask Order Because It
Went ‘Too Far’
ZACHARY STIEBER
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine
said an order he issued
requiring residents wear
masks inside stores went
“too far.”
DeWine announced the
order on April 27 but re-
versed it the next day be-
fore it went into effect.
“It became clear to me
that that was just a bridge
too far, that people were
not going to accept the
government telling them
what to do,” DeWine
said May 3 during an ap-
pearance on ABC’s “This
Week.”
“And so we put out doz-
ens and dozens of orders,
that was one that it just
went too far.”
While customers aren’t
required to wear masks
in the updated guidance,
they are encouraged to do
so.
“Unless you have a physi-
cal reason you can’t wear
the mask, and we under-
stand that, but when you
go into a retail store, that
is the kind thing to do,”
DeWine said.
Wearing masks helps
protect grocery store
workers and others who
interact frequently with
the general public, accord-
ing to health experts.
Ohio’s mask recommen-
dations center around
the CCP virus, commonly
known as the novel coro-
navirus.
The virus is believed to
primarily spread between
people within six feet of
each other through respi-
ratory droplets produced
when an infected person
coughs, sneezes, or talks,
according to the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Federal officials began
recommending in April
that people wear masks
in places such as grocery
stores where maintaining
six feet between them-
selves and others is diffi-
cult. They cited a growing
body of evidence point-
NATION | A3
STEPHANIE KEITH/GETTY IMAGES
tire subway system will be
closed from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.
By Nathan Layne & Maria
Caspani
The Associated Press con-
tributed to this report.
From Reuters
ing to some transmission
of the virus coming from
people who are infected
but don’t show symptoms.
DeWine said at an April
28 press conference that
he reversed his order after
hearing from “a lot of dif-
ferent people,” including a
mother who has an autistic
son and said it would be a
problem for him.
Those people “felt that
I may wear a mask, or I
may not wear a mask, but
the government should
not be telling me what to
do,” DeWine told report-
ers. “We’re going to leave
it up to the individual cus-
tomer.”
Businesses can bar cus-
tomers from entering if a
customer arrives without
a mask, state officials said.
After an ABC host noted
on May 3 a poll that showed
that Republican respon-
dents were more likely to
go out to restaurants and
other establishments as
the country begins to re-
open, DeWine said that
GOP members are, in gen-
eral, less inclined to have
the government tell them
what to do.
“And that’s generally how
I am. I’m a conservative
Republican. I think we’re
better off not having the
government tell us what
to do,” he said.
Ohio had 19,094 con-
firmed CCP virus cases
as of May 3. The state
doesn’t release figures on
how many patients have
recovered.
Most people who be-
come infected recover
without hospital care. The
virus primarily causes se-
vere illness in the elderly
and those with underlying
health conditions such as
obesity, cancer, and kid-
ney disease.
Nearly 3,800 people have
been hospitalized in Ohio,
including 1,078 intensive
care unit admissions.
State officials have re-
corded 957 deaths from
COVID-19, as well as 81
probable deaths.
A4 | NATION TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020

Smithfield Reopens Illinois Pork Plant

After COVID-19 Shutdown
STEPHEN GROVES/AP PHOTO

CONTINUED FROM A1

in a statement cited by the Mon-

mouth Review Atlas newspaper
that the facility, which accounts
for some 3 percent of U.S. pork
products, resumed operations
on the kill floor, maintenance,
plant service, and animal foods,
on May 2. Employees of the cold
side were due back at work on
May 4.
About a dozen of the facil-
ity’s 1,700 workers protested
the plant’s reopening on May 2,
with some holding signs saying,
“We want screening to return to
work,” according to a separate
report by the Review Atlas.
Smithfield employees earlier
protested at other plants, calling
for more protections amid the
pandemic.
Smithfield, in a statement,
said media were blowing the
supposed conflict between the
company and employees over
COVID-19 protections out of pro-
portion. It emphasized an “on-
going positive and constructive
partnership” with staff.
“Media and other reports pit-
ting the company against its em-
ployees are flat-out wrong. There
is no such division. The company
and its team members all want
the same thing, namely, to protect The Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., on April 8, 2020.
employee health and safety while
also safeguarding America’s food
supply,” Smithfield stated. to-shoulder on the line and con- continued functioning of the na- executive order, “we unblocked
In an earlier statement an- gregate in crowded locker rooms tional meat and poultry supply some of the bottlenecks.”
nouncing the Monmouth plant The company has and cafeterias. chain, undermining critical in- Smithfield Foods said in a state-
closure, Smithfield said it had been explicitly “Meat processing facilities, frastructure during the national ment welcoming Trump’s order
taken steps to protect employees instructing which are characterized by la- emergency,” Trump wrote in the that it should make for easier
from the virus, including screen- bor-intensive, assembly-line style order, noting the large impact access to protective equipment
ing for COVID-19 symptoms, employees not to production, are not designed for that key plant closures can have and testing.
providing personal protective report to work if social distancing,” Smithfield on the food supply chain. According to a CDC report re-
equipment and encouraging its
use, installing plexiglass barriers,
they are sick. said in a statement. “Employees
often work in close proximity on
“Closure of a single large beef
processing facility can result in
leased May 1, more than 4,900
workers at meat and poultry
and asking symptomatic workers Smithfield production lines. Similarly, space the loss of over 10 million in- processing facilities have been
to stay home. constraints exist in common ar- dividual servings of beef in a diagnosed with the coronavirus,
“The company has been explic- eas such as cafeterias, break and single day,” Trump noted. “Simi- including 20 who have died.
itly instructing employees not to locker rooms, and bathrooms.” larly, under established supply The illnesses occurred among
report to work if they are sick and On April 28, President Donald chains, closure of a single meat 130,000 workers at 115 facilities
that they will be paid,” Smith- Trump signed an executive order or poultry processing facility in 19 states, according to the
field said in the statement. invoking the Defense Production can severely disrupt the supply CDC. Some states didn’t provide
Meat-processing workers are Act to ensure an abundant sup- of protein to an entire grocery data, so the actual count could
particularly susceptible to the ply of protein for Americans as store chain.” be higher.
CCP virus, commonly known as plant shutdowns have sparked Trump, after getting off a call
the novel coronavirus, because concerns of shortages. with meatpacking executives on The Associated Press contrib-
they typically stand shoulder- “Such closures threaten the April 29, said that because of the uted to this report.

Trump Says as Many as 100,000 Americans Could Die in Pandemic

TOM OZIMEK
President Donald Trump said CO-
VID-19, the disease caused by the
CCP virus, could claim as many as
100,000 American lives.
Trump, speaking at a virtual
“town hall” televised by Fox News
on May 3, lamented his revised ex-
pected death count.
“We’re going to lose anywhere
from 75, 80, to 100,000 people,” he
said. “That’s a horrible thing. We
shouldn’t lose one person over this.”
The numbers are an upward revi-
sion from earlier estimates.
“I used to say 65,000,” Trump said,
adding that the death toll would be
much higher if not for the mitiga-
tion and containment measures
adopted by his administration.
“If we didn’t do it, the minimum
we would have lost is a million-two,
a million-four, a million-five, that’s
the minimum. We would have lost
probably higher than—it’s possible
higher than 2.2” million, he said.
Commenting on COVID-19 con-
tainment strategies, Dr. Anthony
Fauci, a top infectious disease
expert and member of the White
House coronavirus task force, told
a press briefing on April 22 that the
administration’s “successful for-
mula” had flattened the pandemic
curve somewhat.
“We were starting to see some
turnaround, some flattening, and
some coming down,” Fauci said of
infection and death counts nation-
wide.
“So what has happened is that the
mitigation that we put in with the
first 15 days and then the 30-day
mitigation program of physical
distancing worked,” he said. “So it
got us to where we are today. It is a
successful formula. It is the basis
for our being able to say that we can
now think seriously about reopen-
ing America.”
While highlighting that the eco-
nomic restart of the nation would
need to be done safely, Trump
struck a note of urgency at the town
hall on May 3. “We have to open our
country,” he said.
“We have to get it back open safely,
but as quickly as possible.”
Trump also took questions from
viewers, including one who asked
what he tells his children and
grandchildren about COVID-19.
He said he tells them, “A terrible
thing has happened. ... Something
has happened, but we’re going to be
strong, and we’re going to get out
of it, and our country is going to be
bigger and better and stronger than
ever before.”

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 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
Smooth Sailing
in US Supreme
Court’s First
Teleconference
Case; Thomas
Joins Fray
WASHINGTON—The first
U.S. Supreme Court argu-
ments conducted by tele-
conference—a break from
tradition because of the CO-
VID-19 pandemic—played
out smoothly May 4 in a case
involving the hotel reserva-
tion website Booking.com,
with even the typically silent
Justice Clarence Thomas
joining the fray.
The pandemic has prompt-
ed changes at almost every
level of U.S. society, with the
nine justices holding argu-
ments in the trademark case
not in their courtroom but by
participating remotely using
a dial-in format to combat
the pathogen’s spread.
The arguments began as
usual with the marshal of
the court’s traditional words,
“Oyez, Oyez, Oyez,” and pro-
ceeded with Chief Justice
John Roberts playing the role
of a traffic cop. Thomas, who
usually refrains from asking
questions during arguments,
posed two rounds of queries.
In another first, the court
provided a live audio feed,
making these the first argu-
ments that the public could
hear live.
The technical hiccups were
brief, including moments
when Roberts had to prompt
liberal Justice Sonia Soto-
mayor and Justice Depart-
ment lawyer Erica Ross a sec-
AUTHOR
A health worker in protective gear hands out a self-testing kit in Pasadena, Calif., on April 8, 2020.
US Targets Fraud in Coronavirus
Antibody Test Market With Tighter Rules
The United States on May
4 began requiring anti-
body tests for the new CCP
virus to undergo a regu-
latory agency review, ac-
knowledging that its ear-
lier policy had opened the
door to fraud.
The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration had previ-
ously required only that
companies attest their
product was valid and
labeled as unapproved,
attracting 170 companies
to the antibody test mar-
ket including unscrupu-
lous vendors making false
claims, Reuters reported
last week.
When the FDA put the
policy in place on March
16th, it had been under
pressure to move fast fol-
lowing a slow ramp-up
of COVID-19 diagnostic
ond time after short silences,
suggesting they hadn’t un-
muted their phones.
“I’m sorry, chief,” Sotomay-
or said, before launching into
her questions.
Roberts directed which
justice was up to ask ques-
tions and cut off lawyers
when they went on too long,
in an effort to keep the argu-
ments close to the scheduled
one-hour length. The argu-
ments ran about 15 minutes
over the allotted time.
Thomas, a conservative
who is the court’s longest-
serving justice, embraced
the new format. Thomas
last had asked a question in
March 2019, which was three
years after his previous one.
But Thomas queried both
Ross, who explained why
the U.S. Patent and Trade-
mark Office wants to prevent
Booking.com from trade-
marking the site’s name,
and Lisa Blatt, the lawyer
presenting the company, a
unit of Norwalk, Connecti-
cut-based Booking Holdings
Inc.
For example, Thomas
asked whether trademark-
ing a website name would
be similar to 1-800 toll-free
telephone numbers, some of
which have received trade-
marks.
The justices asked both
sides tough questions. A
tests that hindered public
health efforts.
“Flexibility never meant
we would allow fraud. We,
unfortunately, see un-
scrupulous actors mar-
keting fraudulent test kits
and using the pandemic
as an opportunity to take
advantage of Americans’
anxiety,” the FDA said in
a statement.
Blood tests for antibodies
are used to determine who
has been previously been
infected with the virus.
As the new CCP (Chinese
Communist Party) virus,
commonly known as the
novel coronavirus, can be
easily spread by people
with no symptoms, wide-
spread antibody testing is
seen as a critical piece in
the effort to get Americans
back to work safely, as the
The Supreme Court in Washington on May 4, 2020, during the first day of oral arguments held by telephone, a first in the court’s history.
number of them—conser-
vatives and liberals—ex-
pressed concern that trade-
marking the name Booking.
com would give the company
monopoly power that could
hurt business rivals as well
as consumers.
The Patent and Trademark
Office is appealing a lower
court decision that had al-
lowed the trademark be-
cause by adding “.com” to
the generic word “booking”
it became eligible for a trade-
mark. The online reservation
service filed several trade-
mark applications in 2011
and 2012.
Booking.com, along with
the rest of the travel indus-
try, has been slammed by the
pandemic, which has caused
tourism and business travel
to evaporate worldwide.
Several justices asked
questions about handing
companies an advantage
over competitors through
trademarks.
REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI
presence of antibodies to
the virus many indicate
possible immunity to fu-
ture infection.
The FDA said that it had
taken action against firms
for unlawfully marketing
tests by detaining and
refusing illegitimate test
kits at the border. It de-
clined to provide specific
examples.
Reuters reported that an
electronics salesman was
hawking an unauthorized
home test kit and a former
physician convicted in a
fraudulent gold-peddling
scheme had also begun
selling test kits.
Under the new policy,
test makers must submit
requests for emergency
use authorization of their
tests within 10 days from
when the test is validated.
“You are seeking a degree
of monopoly power that no-
body could have had prior to
the internet age,” conserva-
tive Justice Samuel Alito said.
A ‘Bridge Too Far’
Liberal Justice Elena Kagan,
while sounding skeptical to-
ward some of the company’s
arguments, also wondered
whether siding with the
government and creating a
rule barring protection for
all generic website names is
a “bridge too far.”
A Patent and Trademark
Office tribunal in 2016 reject-
ed the company’s trademark
applications, concluding
that the name Booking.com
referred generically to the
common meaning of book-
ing lodging and transporta-
tion and couldn’t be used
exclusively through federal
trademark registration.
Under U.S. law, only terms
that distinguish a particu-
lar product or service from
Companies with tests cur-
rently on the market un-
der the previous policy
must submit an applica-
tion for emergency use
authorization (EUA).
There are about a dozen
tests on the market that
have already received
EUAs.
The FDA said it would
share information on its
website and with potential
buyers of these tests, such
as states and hospitals if
they were no longer in
compliance with its noti-
fication requirements and
de-listed from its website.
The agency also set spe-
cific performance thresh-
old recommendations for
specificity and sensitivity
for all serology test devel-
opers to ensure a high
level of accuracy.
As part of a new emer-
gency use authorization
process announced late
last week, the FDA set a
minimum level of cor-
rect positive results at
90% of the samples test-
ed—known as sensitivity
and a minimum for tests
showing negative results
correctly at 95%—called
specificity.
Former FDA head Scott
Gottlieb, who has criti-
cized antibody testing
before, said May 4 on
CNBC that these tests are
not accurate enough to be
relied upon by individu-
als to make decisions that
affect their health. Critics
also question if having the
antibodies translates into
immunity, and how long
the immunity from the
new CCP virus could last.
By Caroline Humer
From Reuters
The nine justices
held arguments
in the trademark
case not in their
courtroom but
by participating
remotely using a
dial-in format to
combat the patho-
gen’s spread.
others on the market can be
trademarked.
Booking.com appealed,
presenting a survey that
showed that 74 percent of
consumers identified Book-
ing.com as a brand name.
The Richmond, Virginia-
based 4th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals sided with the
company in 2019.
The court has scheduled
teleconference arguments in
a total of 10 cases spanning
McCarthy, Republicans Outline
Strategy for Reopening US House
MASOOMA HAQ
U.S. House Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
shared a plan on May 4
outlining steps that could
be used to reopen the lower
chamber of Congress during
the CCP virus pandemic.
McCarthy, along with
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.),
ranking Republican on
the House Administration
Committee, and Rep. Tom
Cole (R-Okla.), ranking GOP
member on the House Rules
Committee, laid out four key
points of the plan.
“There is a pathway for-
ward that enables the House
to safely and fully perform
its key functions for the
American people without
sacrificing bedrock norms,”
Cole wrote on Twitter.
The Republican lawmak-
ers say they want to ensure
“greater transparency and
regular order for all mem-
bers.” They highlighted the
three main points of agree-
ment with their Democratic
colleagues, and that in-
formed the reopening plan.
The members of a bipar-
tisan task force agreed that
the work of Congress is “es-
sential,” that the physical
meeting of members should
be safeguarded, and that
any changes made to how
the House functions should
be bipartisan.
The House will need to
“modify existing prac-
tices and structures,” and
that, “moving forward,
we should expand these
protocols to reduce den-
sity and congestion in ev-
ery facet of our work,” the
NATION | A5
SAUL LOEB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
this week and next week.
The biggest ones are three
that focus on the question
of whether President Donald
Trump can keep his finan-
cial records, including tax
returns, secret. Those cases
will be argued on May 12.
The Supreme Court build-
ing has been closed to the
public since March 13 due
to the pandemic. The jus-
tices have met only via tele-
conference, and have issued
rulings only online.
The virus has proven to
be particularly dangerous
in older adults, especially
those with underlying medi-
cal issues. Four of the nine
justices are age 70 or older:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (87),
Stephen Breyer (81), Thomas
(71), and Alito (70).
By Lawrence Hurley
& Andrew Chung
The Epoch Times
contributed to this report.
From Reuters
plan’s authors said.
The Republicans suggest
creating temporary barriers
where physical distancing
can’t be achieved, such as
plexiglass dividers. They
also said that vigorous vi-
rus mitigation procedures
should be enhanced to in-
clude things such as tem-
perature checks at office
entry points.
The plan, which takes into
account top medical guide-
lines and advice from “par-
liamentary experts,” calls
for committee work to be
phased in. Committees
should submit an outline
to the majority leader de-
tailing meeting schedules
and estimated attendance
levels.
The committee data could
be used to create a staggered
calendar, with alternating
use of larger committee
hearing rooms when neces-
sary. Priority, the lawmak-
ers say, should be given to
bipartisan, bicameral CO-
VID-19 response legislation.
The plan calls for consoli-
dated voting schedules,
“with postponement au-
thority providing a struc-
ture to queue up bills at
the end of a week or work
period.”
Republicans also want to
implement a “crawl, walk,
run” strategy for using tech-
nology to legislate.
A proposal from House
Rules Committee Chair-
man Jim McGovern (D-
Mass.), that  would allow
virtual committee hearings
and remote floor voting,
concerns them for a variety
of reasons.
A6 | NATION
Government Researchers
Changed Endpoint During Remdesivir Trial
ZACHARY STIEBER
Researchers changed the
primary endpoint for a clin-
ical trial testing remdesivir
against COVID-19, a shift
that provoked concerns
among some scientists.
Results indicate
the group that
received the drug
had a lower mor-
tality rate, but the
number hasn’t yet
reached statistical
significance.
The endpoint is the main
result measured at the end of
a study. The endpoint for the
remdesivir trial was original-
ly focused on counting how
many patients died after two
weeks. After the trial began,
it was changed to “time to re-
covery,” or how quickly pa-
tients were discharged after
receiving the experimental
drug.
Remdesivir is produced by
California-based Gilead Sci-
ences. The clinical trial was
run by the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Dis-
eases (NIAID).
“Little was known regard-
ing the natural course of
Trump Predicts That CCP Virus Vaccine Will Be Ready by End of 2020
ZACHARY STIEBER
U.S. officials are “confi-
dent” a CCP virus vaccine
will be ready by the end of
this year, President Donald
Trump said.
“We are very confident
that we’re going to have a
vaccine at the end of the
year,” Trump said during
a virtual town hall on May
3. “We think we’re going to
have a vaccine by the end of
this year and we’re pushing
very hard.
“Now, the doctors would
say, ‘Well, you shouldn’t say
that.’ I’ll say what I think.
I’ve met with the heads of
the big companies, these
are great companies,” he
added.
“Yeah, I think we’re go-
ing to have a vaccine much
sooner rather than later.”
Companies and groups
around the world are racing
to test vaccine candidates
and several have entered
human trials in the United
States. Oxford University
scientists said last week
that the vaccine candidate
they’re developing could be
available by this fall.
Vaccines are studied in
three phases of trials to
determine their safety and
effectiveness. Each stage
involves injecting more
people.
Researchers are hoping
vaccines for the CCP (Chi-
nese Communist Party) vi-
rus, commonly known as
the novel coronavirus, in-
duce neutralizing titers, or
antibodies that could block
the virus from replicating.
The virus causes the dis-
ease COVID-19.
Operation Warp Speed
A Trump administration ef-
fort called Operation Warp
Speed is focusing on having
300 million vaccine doses
ready by January 2021.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, part
of the White House coro-
navirus task force, said
phase 2 trials will show
COVID-19 when the trial was
initially designed, and the
initial endpoint chosen spec-
ified a single time point for
evaluation, namely day 14,” a
spokesperson for the agency
told The Epoch Times.
“However, with the grow-
ing knowledge during the
epidemic, we learned that
COVID-19 had a more pro-
tracted course than previ-
ously known. Further con-
cerns were raised about the
reliance on a single time
point for evaluating treat-
ment effects.”
Statisticians modeled to
see what would happen if
“the right day” wasn’t picked
for assessing the trial. Mod-
els showed that meaningful
effects could be missed.
“Time to recovery avoids
this issue, and the change in
primary endpoint seemed
appropriate given the evolv-
ing clinical data. This change
in primary endpoint was
made without any knowl-
edge of data from ACTT,
before any interim data was
available,” the spokesperson
said. ACTT is an acronym
for the Adaptive COVID-19
Treatment Trial.
Under the new endpoint,
the trial found remdesi-
vir helped patients recover
faster when compared to the
control group.
“What it has proven is that
whether candidates are
safe and effective. If re-
sults are positive, then the
administration will work
with manufacturers to start
scaling up production even
as testing continues.
“You, at risk, proactively
start making it assuming
it’s going to work. If it does,
then you can scale up and
hopefully get to that time-
line,” Fauci, the head of
the National Institute for
Allergy and Infectious Dis-
ease, said on NBC’s “Today”
show last week. “I think that
is doable if things fall in the
right place.”
Fauci in January said it
would take 12 to 18 months
to develop a vaccine.
Trump told reporters at
the White House that he’s
in charge of the operation.
Vaccine Production
Johnson & Johnson, Mod-
erna, and other U.S.-based
companies are among
those working on vaccines,
but researchers in other
countries are also testing
candidates.
We are very con-
fident that we’re
going to have a
vaccine at the end
of the year.
President Donald Trump
Asked during the town
hall whether another coun-
try could have a vaccine
ready before the United
States, the president said
he isn’t worried.
“I don’t care. I just want
to get a vaccine that works.
I really don’t care. If it’s an-
other country, I’ll take my
hat off to them,” he said.
A therapeutic, or an exist-
ing drug that works against
COVID-19 would be better,
he added.
While hydroxychloro-
quine, remdesivir, and oth-
GILEAD SCIENCES VIA AP
a drug can block this virus,”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head
of NIAID, told reporters at
the White House.
Results indicate the group
that received the drug had a
lower mortality rate, but the
number hasn’t yet reached
statistical significance.
The change was an-
nounced on the trial listing
last month but received re-
newed attention after NIAID
championed remdesivir last
week. Researchers said the
trial proved the drug worked
against COVID-19, the dis-
ease caused by the  CCP
(Chinese Communist Party)
virus, commonly known as
er existing or experimental
drugs are being tested in
COVID-19 patients across
the nation, none have yet
been proven safe and ef-
fective.
Vaccines typically aren’t
used until all three phases
are completed. Some in
the medical community
are speculating CCP virus
vaccines could be used be-
fore then.
If vaccines have cleared
early safety trials by the fall,
they could be used “to ring-
fence infections in cities,
while we continue to study
them to make sure they’re
safe and effective for mass
inoculation,” Dr. Scott Got-
tlieb, former commissioner
of the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration, said on CBS’s
“Face the Nation” earlier on
May 3.
Human Challenge Trials
One way to accelerate test-
ing of vaccines is human
challenge trials.
In phase 3 trials, thou-
sands of people volunteer to
be injected, and researchers
dose some with the vaccine
candidate and others with a
placebo. Researchers track
the subjects for months to
discern whether the vac-
cine is effective in prevent-
ing infection.
A human challenge trial
would speed the process by
adding a second step after
the injections: deliberately
infecting the volunteers
with the CCP virus.
“By replacing conven-
tional Phase 3 testing of
vaccine candidates, such
trials may subtract many
months from the licensure
process, making efficacious
vaccines available more
quickly,” three professors
wrote in a proof in the Jour-
nal of Infectious Diseases
last month.
Taking into account the
global pandemic, the au-
thors argued in favor of con-
sidering human challenge
trials as long as the  par-
the novel coronavirus.
The positive results
prompted the Food and Drug
Administration to approve
emergency use of remdesi-
vir against COVID-19. Un-
like other drugs being test-
ed against the new disease,
remdesivir hasn’t received
official approval for any use
in normal conditions any-
where in the world against
any illness.
The change in endpoint,
though, drew concern from
some scientists.
“I think that they thought
they weren’t going to win,
and they wanted to change
it to something they could
ticipants were healthy and
young.
“Mult iple measures
would be put in place to
ensure that, prior to con-
senting, potential partici-
pants fully comprehend the
unusual risks involved in
the study,” wrote Nir Eyal,
professor of bioethics at
Rutgers University; Marc
Lipsitch, an infectious dis-
ease epidemiologist at Har-
vard University; and Peter
Smith, professor of Tropical
Epidemiology at the Lon-
don School of Hygiene &
Tropical Medicine.
More than 10,000 volun-
teers across 52 countries
have signed up as volun-
teers for challenge trials.
During the town hall,
Trump said he supports
the idea, saying volunteers
would be aware of what was
happening.
“They’re, in many cases,
very good people. They
want to help the process,”
he said.
A bipartisan group of law-
makers also supports such
trials, writing in a letter to
the heads of the Food and
Drug Administration and
Department of Health and
Human Services that they
are “likely appropriate in
the case of a COVID-19
vaccine.
“The enormous human
cost of the COVID-19 epi-
demic alters the optimi-
zation of the risk/benefit
analysis,” they wrote.
Using challenge trials
for CCP virus vaccines has
faced opposition.
Myron Levine, a vaccine
researcher at the Univer-
sity of Maryland School of
Medicine, says he doesn’t
believe such trials would
actually be faster, given
how quickly researchers
are already moving on CCP
virus vaccines.
“I cannot imagine that it
would be ethical and would
really speed up what we
have to do,” he told Science
Magazine.
TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
A vial of the
investigational
drug remdesi-
vir is visually
inspected at a
Gilead Sciences
manufacturing
site in the United
States in March
2020.
win on,’’ Steven Nissen, a
Cleveland Clinic cardiolo-
gist who has led drug trials,
told The Washington Post. “I
prefer the original outcome.
It’s harder. It’s a more mean-
ingful endpoint.
“Getting out of the hospital
early is useful, but it’s not a
game-changer,” he added.
The move has been de-
scribed as unusual, but
does happen. Dr. Todd Lee,
a clinician-scientist at McGill
University, said the change
“makes sense.”
There were also calls for
the data to be released and
questions about why it hasn’t
been.
Senate Legal Counsel Says
Secretary Can’t Disclose
Joe Biden Records
ZACHARY STIEBER
Senate lawyers have told
the Senate secretary not
to disclose any informa-
tion about former Vice
President Joe Biden after
he asked her to look for
records related to Tara
Reade, a former staffer
who says then-Sen. Biden
sexually assaulted her in
1993.
Legal counsel “reviewed
the relevant statute gov-
erning the records of
the Office of Senate Fair
Employment Practices,”
a spokeswoman for Julie
Adams, secretary of the
Senate, told The Epoch
Times.
“Based on the law’s strict
confidentiality require-
ments ... and the Senate’s
own direction that disclo-
sure of Senate Records is
not authorized if prohib-
ited by law,” the spokes-
woman added, Senate
lawyers advised Adams
that she “has no discre-
tion to disclose any such
information as requested
in Vice President Biden’s
letter of May 1.”
Biden asked Adams to
inquire with the National
Archives to try to locate
any complaints made by
Reade against him. After
the National Archives said
any personnel complaints
would have remained un-
der the control of the Sen-
ate, Biden asked Adams to
“take or direct whatever
steps are necessary to es-
tablish the location of the
records.”
Adam’s office cited sec-
tion 313 of the Govern-
ment Employee Rights
Act of 1991, which states
that all counseling, me-
diation, and hearings
conducted by the Office of
Senate Fair Employment
Practices shall be strictly
The full results still haven’t
been published. The NIAID
spokesperson said there’s
no firm date yet for the re-
lease. Fauci said the results
are undergoing peer review.
“As much as people re-
spect and admire and trust
Dr. Fauci, they’d prefer not
to take his word for it that
this is promising, but to see
the data themselves,” Holly
Fernandez Lynch, a medical
ethics professor at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, told
Quartz. “Even Tony Fauci
needs peer review.”
NIAID announced the
data several days earlier
than it normally would have
because of ethical consider-
ations, Fauci said.
“Whenever you have clear
cut evidence that a drug
works, you have an ethical
obligation to immediately
let the people who are in
the placebo group know so
that they can have access,”
he said.
Fauci dismissed results
from another study that
published full results the
same day.
Chinese researchers
found remdesivir wasn’t
linked to a difference in
time to clinical improve-
ment. They also found signs
of clinical improvement in
patients given the drug ear-
lier in the illness.
confidential.
The release of records
can only be made “if re-
quired for the purpose of
judicial review,” it states.
Reade and Biden’s cam-
paign didn’t immediately
respond to requests for
comment.
Reade said she filed a
report with a Senate of-
fice after being sexually
assaulted and harassed
by Biden.
She said the report
didn’t describe assault but
did describe harassment.
“I filed the intake form
regarding sexual harass-
ment and retaliation”
with Senate personnel,
she said in a May 2 state-
ment.
The statement came af-
ter an Associated Press re-
port claimed Reade told
reporters the report she
filed “didn’t refer to sexual
harassment or assault.”
“This is false,” Reade
said.
Reade told The Associ-
ated Press she recounted
Biden wanting her to
serve drinks “because he
liked my legs and thought
I was pretty, and it made
me uncomfortable.”
Reade, 56, shared social
media posts that noted
what she described ap-
peared to be sexual ha-
rassment.
Biden on May 1 for the
first time directly ad-
dressed Reade’s allega-
tions. “They aren’t true.
This never happened,”
Biden, 77, said in a state-
ment.
While he asked the ar-
chives and the secretary
of the Senate to look for
records related to Reade,
he refused to call for a
narrow search of his Sen-
ate records that the Uni-
versity of Delaware was
gifted years ago.
 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020 BUSINESS | A7

Small Businesses Defy Odds to Keep Going Amid Lockdown

TAMI CHAPPELL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

VENUS UPADHAYAYA
his utility bills. “But I handle
only one person at a time. The
door is closed, people knock
at the door, and then I allow
only one person at a time and
we follow adequate protective
measures.”
Like Smith, Eliot Rabin, owner
of the Upper East Side boutique
Peter Elliot in New York, decid-
ed to keep his store open, selling
boys’ and men’s apparel, despite
an executive order that deems
his business non-essential and
requires him to close. He says
he doesn’t want the lockdown to
disrupt what he calls the “soul
of his business.”
Rabin, 78, has suffered sub-
stantial financial losses but
wants to remain open because it
sustains hope. Small business-
es such as Smith’s and Rabin’s
across the United States are los-
ing $255 billion to $431 billion
each month due to the CCP vi-
rus lockdown, according to the
American Property Casualty
Insurance Association.
Keeping their doors open, they
say, is more about belief than
sustaining an income.
“I’m not going to allow this to
A nail technician works on a customer at a nail bar in Atlanta on April 24, 2020.
disrupt the soul of my business
or the soul of my employees or
the soul of my country,” Rabin the lockdown was the inability Act, which provides $349 billion Our business is a fraction of and non-essential businesses
told The Epoch Times, adding to pay rent and utility bills. Get- in assistance to small businesses what it was, but are hanging on as “unfair and discriminatory.”
that ever since leaving the doors ting loans hasn’t been easy for facing difficulties due to social nicely doing all of our deliveries, “We can’t distort the econo-
of his business open to clean it, most. distancing, shelter-in-place or- and creating virtual parties for my and destroy people’s live-
people just started coming in. Kate Fryer, 33, established ders, and other measures de- clients,” Jeffrey Selden said. lihoods, we all are essential.
“Tolerance is the key. Civil- her business—A Bead Just So— signed to control the pandemic. Smith says he disagrees with We are all responsible for our
ity is luck. That’s the soul of my through seven years of hard Small business owners such the approach of imposing the families, to our children, to our
business. work and patience in the village lockdown, and declined to ap- partners,” he said.
“People are coming in because of Ballston Spa, New York. ply for a loan. Rabin said his hope is sus-
they’re human beings and be- Fryer has a full-service bead “I refuse to take loans from tained by the “overwhelming”
cause I’m a human being.” store that supplies handcraft- I’m not going to the government because I don’t response he received after re-
Jeffrey Selden, managing part- ed jewelry, jewelry repair, and allow this to dis- believe in what they are doing,” opening;  he said he’s received
ner of Marcia Selden Catering, hosts birthday parties and la- he said. over 10,000 emails of support
which operates in New York dies nights. While her business rupt the soul of from all over the world since
City and Connecticut, decided model was her retail store, be- my business or the Essential Versus Non-Essential being interviewed by Fox News.
to remain open but in a differ- cause of the lockdown, she had When state governments im- “The phone doesn’t stop.
ent way. to make a quick transition.
soul of my em- posed lockdowns to control People are literally walking
“Second week of March, we “My retail store is closed and ployees or the soul the CCP virus pandemic, they in, [saying] don’t want to buy,
were at a big conference in Las I switched over to online sales,” of my country. closed all businesses that were here’s $50 to help you out,” said
Vegas for Catersource when Fryer told The Epoch Times. determined to be non-essential Rabin, adding that his store has
the world came to a halt. That “It’s very scary because my Eliot Rabin, owner, while others, deemed to be es- become symbolic of goodwill
weekend, we went back to our business, people want to come Peter Elliot sential, such as health care ser- and isn’t just a business.
office on Saturday and created in and see and touch and feel vices, grocery stores, and gas Fryer says going online has
our Party in a Box and Fill your what they are buying,” she said. as Fryer were encouraged to stations, remained open. helped her sustain hope; she
Fridge Menus,” Selden said in “It’s the idea of losing 100 per- apply for these loans through Rabin said he can’t under- believes her business will sur-
an email. cent of your business because their banks, credit unions, and stand why a liquor store would vive because of the support
“We pivoted our business, fur- people can’t shop how they are other institutions under the U.S. be considered an essential from her customers.
loughed 60 percent of our team, used to.” Small Business Administration business in New York, while “I actually had a customer,
and opened our home delivery Fryer, who is financially (SBA) rules beginning April 3. his business is considered non- right when this happened, she
service and party in a box!” “struggling,” has applied for a However, the demand for essential. and I got very close and she
Selden says business hasn’t paycheck protection program these loans is high. The SBA said “I am just as essential, if not called me and said, ‘Kate if you
been the same financially as be- (PPP) loan but hasn’t heard back May 4 that it had successfully more so because I supply, I need something, whatever you
fore the lockdown, but they have from the bank. That’s also been processed more than 100,000 give from our staff, our people, need, you call me and I’ll make
kept it relevant and positive. the case with Rabin, according loans from more than 4,000 and have bright colors, emo- sure that you and your family
to an earlier interview with The lenders, and Marcia Selden Ca- tional support, cheerfulness don’t suffer and that your busi-
Waiting for the Loans New York Post. tering was one of them. after you’ve been cooped up ness doesn’t suffer.’”
The immediate challenge that The PPP loans are given under “We have been lucky enough for weeks and weeks,” he said.
every small business faced as it the U.S. Coronavirus Aid, Relief, to apply for the PPP loans and Smith said he finds the divi- CNN Newswire
became non-operational amid and Economic Security (CARES) were granted that this week! sion of society into essential contributed to this report.

CINDY ORD/GETTY IMAGES

STARBUCKS
‘Significant
Number’ of
Starbucks Stores
Reopening
Across US
Starbucks locations
across the United States
and Canada have re-
opened as part of the
chain’s wider reopening
plan.
Some locations re-
mained open throughout
the pandemic, providing
drive-thru service only.
Starbucks reoriented
stores to comply with so-
cial distancing measures,
including inserting an
“entryway hand-off.” Mo-
bile orders can be picked
up at the entryways so
that customers don’t have
to enter the store or inter-
act directly with workers,
executives said during
a call with investors last
week.
— By Zachary Stieber
A Starbucks location opens only for mobile orders during the
CCP virus pandemic, in New York on April 24, 2020.
EXPO 2020
Dubai Expo 2020
World’s Fair
Postponed to
October 2021
Dubai’s Expo 2020 world’s
fair will be postponed to
Oct. 1, 2021, over the new
CCP virus pandemic, a
Paris-based body behind
the events said.
The announcement by
the Bureau International
des Expositions came
just hours after police in
Kuwait dispersed what
they described as a riot by
stranded Egyptians unable
to return home amid the
CCP virus pandemic. The
riot was the first reported
sign of unrest from the
region’s vast population
of foreign workers who
have lost their jobs over the
crisis.
— The Associated Press
J. CREW
J. Crew Files for
Bankruptcy as
Preppy Retailer
Succumbs to
COVID-19 Fallout
J. Crew Group filed for
bankruptcy protection
with a plan to hand over
control to lenders, adding
to a list of brick-and-mortar
retailers pushed to the
brink by widespread store
closures in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The New York-based
chain, known for preppy
clothing, filed for
bankruptcy in a Virginia
federal court with an
agreement to eliminate
its roughly $1.65 billion of
debt in exchange for ceding
ownership to creditors. It
is the first big retailer to fail
Norwegian
during the pandemic.
Air Gets $1
— From Reuters
Billion Rescue
GE
GE Aviation to Cut After Financial
Workforce by up Cliffhanger
to 13,000 Jobs,
or 25 Percent
General Electric Co. said
it was planning to cut the
global workforce of its
aviation unit this year by
as much as 25 percent, or
up to 13,000 jobs, includ-
ing both voluntary and
involuntary layoffs, citing
prolonged aircraft reduc-
tion schedules caused
by the coronavirus
pandemic.
The job cuts are the latest
mounting woes for the
aviation sector that are
now expected to last into
2021 as U.S. passenger air
travel demand has fallen
by 95 percent.
— From Reuters
NORWEGIAN AIR
Norwegian Air
shareholders backed
its financial survival
plan, with more than
95 percent of votes
cast supporting the
conversion of nearly $1
billion of debt into equity
and raising more cash
from its owners.
The approval follows
weeks of negotiations
with creditors, while
thousands of Norwegian
pilots and cabin crew
were being laid off. The
rescue deal prepares the
ground for a relaunch of
the company in a scaled-
down version when
the coronavirus crisis
subsides.
— From Reuters
A8 | WORLD TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020

REUTERS/CIRO DE LUCA

Italy Starts
Slow Return to
Normality, Fears
Resurgence of
Coronavirus
ROME— Grandparents
hugged their grandchildren,
toddlers rushed excitedly
through parks, and factories
revived their long-stalled
production lines as Italy
started the slow process of
unwinding Europe’s longest
CCP virus lockdown.
Nearly two months after
ordering Italians to stay
home in an effort to slow
one of the worst outbreaks of
the CCP (Chinese Commu-
nist Party) virus, commonly
known as the novel corona-
virus, the government on
May 4 cautiously eased a few
restrictions, while keeping
many others in place.
Despite more than 29,000
Italians dying of COVID-19
since the outbreak emerged
on Feb. 21, some people have
nonetheless complained
that the rollback is too tim-
id, while others worry that
complacency will lead to a
fresh wave of infections.
Many are simply over-
joyed to get some of their
old life back.
“I woke up at 5.30 a.m. I
was so excited,” said Ma-
ria Antonietta Galluzzo,
a grandmother taking her
3-year-old grandson for a
walk in Rome’s Villa Bor-
ghese park—the first time
they had seen each other in
eight weeks.
The unkempt grass tow-
ered above the boy’s head
and the air was full of the
sound of lawnmowers as
park staff began to restore
some order to one of Italy’s
most elegant gardens.
“He has grown by this
much,” she said, holding up
three horizontal fingers to
show the spurt. “It is won-
derful.”
Under the new rules, 4.5
million Italians can clock
back in, construction work
can resume, and relatives
can reunite. More impor-
tantly for some, cafes were
allowed to reopen for take-
aways, with customers sip-
ping their coffees on the
pavement.
“This is my first proper
coffee for eight weeks,” said
Riccardo Monti, the CEO of
an e-commerce company.
“Perhaps it is the thing I
missed most. The bar is the
focal point of our social life
so to see them closed was a
trauma.”
While some old rituals re-
turned, many curbs stayed
People at the seaside, as Italy begins to open up after the nationwide lockdown, in Naples, Italy, on May 4, 2020.
in place to try to prevent a
resurgence of COVID-19 in
the country with the world’s
second-highest death toll af-
ter the United States.
There were 195 new deaths
on May 4, up from 174 the
day before and twice as
many as the daily tally on
March 9, when Italy’s lock-
down began.
Friends are still barred
from meeting up, the cause
of much grumbling on so-
cial media, most shops must
stay shut until May 18, and
schools, cinemas, and the-
atres remain closed indefi-
nitely.
Responsibility
Despite facing the worst
recession since World War
II, the government has said
it can only lift restrictions
gradually. More than a 1,000
new cases of the highly in-
fectious coronavirus are still
being reported daily.
In a reminder of the risks
involved in easing the lock-
down, 14 out of 60 people
randomly stopped by police
as they entered Naples by
car from the north on May 4
tested positive, Corriere del-
la Sera daily reported. None
of them had symptoms.
“If we want to avoid pain-
ful backward steps now
more than ever, we need
cooperation, a sense of re-
sponsibility, respect for the
rules by all,” Prime Minis-
ter Giuseppe Conte said in
an interview with the same
newspaper.
A continuous hum of
cars, buses, and motorbikes
pointed to an increase in
early morning commut-
ing, but traffic was notice-
ably lighter than before the
virus struck and those out
appeared to be following
the guidelines on social
distancing.
“Common sense is pre-
vailing in this beginning
phase,” said Massimo Im-
prota, a police officer in
Rome. “We have not seen
people without masks, we
are not seeing gatherings.”
Gianluca Martucci joined
the ranks of those return-
ing to work for the first time
since March 12, pulling up
the shutters on a small ware-
house in the backstreets of
Rome.
“It is good to be back, but the
world has totally changed,”
he said. The company he
works for normally organiz-
es weddings and corporate
events, but these have long
since been canceled. The
firm is adjusting by offering
a catering service.
Although he was happy to
see a business resume, Mar-
tucci was anxious that infec-
tions might spread again.
“The government has been
very wise so far, but I worry
that we might be starting up
a little too soon,” he said. “I
don’t know if the country
could survive a second
wave.”
By Crispian Balmer. The
Epoch Times contributed
to this report.
From Reuters

France Extends CCP Virus Health Emergency,
Travelers Face 2-Week Quarantine
ISABEL VAN BRUGEN
France has extended its “state of
health emergency,” put in place to
curb the transmission of the CCP
virus, by two months, Health Min-
ister Olivier Véran said on May 2,
adding that most travelers entering
the country will be quarantined
for 14 days.
Véran said the country’s health
emergency will be extended
through July 24, as part of updat-
ed measures proposed to limit the
spread of COVID-19, the disease
caused by the CCP (Chinese Com-
munist Party) virus, commonly
known as the novel coronavirus.
The state of emergency allows the
government to restrict freedom of
movement, business, and gather-
ing by decree.
The announcement from the
health minister follows a propos-
al from Prime Minister Edouard
Philippe last week that on May 11,
France would gradually ease out of
its six-week lockdown due to dam-
age to the economy.
Véran said it would “be prema-
ture” to lift the public health emer-
gency, adding that the country
“could see a risk of the outbreak”
intensifying, France 24 reported.
“We are going to have to perform
a long-distance run,” he told re-
porters at a press briefing after the
weekly cabinet meeting.
As part of the measures, most
travelers to France, including re-
turning citizens, will face a com-
pulsory two-week quarantine and
possible isolation upon arrival to
help slow the spread of the virus,
the health minister said.
“This quarantine will be im-
posed on any person returning on
French soil,” Véran told reporters.
The French consulate in Britain
said on May 3 that travelers to
France who arrive from a country
in Europe’s Schengen open-border
area or Britain will be exempt from
the quarantine measures.
The proposals will be sent to Par-
liament this week, and further de-
tails are expected in the coming
days, AFP reported. It’s expected to
French Minister for Solidarity and Health Olivier Véran (L), and French Interior
Minister Christophe Castaner at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on May 2, 2020.
A deserted Nice international airport, as a lockdown is imposed to slow the
rate of the CCP virus, in Nice, France, on April 13, 2020.
become law by the end of the week.
The health minister said the
duration and conditions of both
quarantine for asymptomatic
people and isolation for those
showing symptoms of COVID-19
would be defined in a decree to be
published.
Decisions to isolate people would
be scrutinized by judges to ensure
they are justified and fair, he said.
It wasn’t immediately clear
whether those arriving in the
country would need to self-iso-
late at home or in hotels, or for
how long the measures would be
in place.
FRANCOIS MORI/POOL VIA REUTERS
ERIC GAILLARD/REUTERS
France—one of the countries
hardest-hit by the pandemic—
has reported more than 168,900
cases of the CCP virus, with at
least 24,900 deaths, according to
a tracking map by Johns Hopkins
University that collates official
government data.
As of May 11, people in France
will no longer be required to carry
a written justification explaining
why they have left their homes.
Masks must be worn when using
public transport.
Reuters contributed
to this report.
Migrant Workers in Malaysia to Undergo
CCP Virus Tests as Curbs Eased
KUALA LUMPUR—Migrant
workers in Malaysia are now
required to be tested for the
CCP virus, a senior minister
said, as the government eased
six-week long curbs on move-
ment and businesses.
Thousands of Malaysians
joined rush hour morning
on May 4 as businesses re-
sumed for the first time since
the imposition on March 18
of restrictions to contain the
spread of the CCP (Chinese
Communist Party) virus, com-
monly known as the novel
coronavirus.
Senior Security Minister Is-
mail Sabri Yaakob told report-
ers that foreign workers in all
sectors must now undergo
mandatory screening for CO-
VID-19, the respiratory illness
caused by the CCP virus, af-
ter an outbreak was reported
among migrants working at a
Kuala Lumpur construction
site last week.
“The costs for testing must be
borne by the employer,” Ismail
Sabri said.
The announcement comes
after Malaysia detained hun-
dreds of undocumented mi-
grants over the weekend,
sparking criticism from the
United Nations and rights
groups. Ismail Sabri had ear-
lier defended the arrests, say-
ing that all of those detained
had tested negative for the
CCP virus.
Migrant workers have been a
particularly vulnerable com-
munity during the pandemic.
In neighboring Singapore,
thousands of infections have
been linked to migrant worker
dormitories.
There are about 2 million reg-
istered foreign workers in Ma-
laysia but authorities say many
more are living there without
proper documents. The mi-
grant workers are mostly from
Indonesia, Bangladesh, India,
and Nepal.
Reservations
Malaysia, which until mid-
April had the highest num-
ber of infections in Southeast
Asia, has defended its decision
to relax curbs despite a recent
climb in cases. On May 3, it
reported 122 new cases, the
highest since April 14, for a
total of nearly 6,300 infections.
Migrant workers
have been a
particularly
vulnerable
community during
the pandemic.
Nine of its 13 states have ex-
pressed reservations over the
easing move, opting to delay it
or toughen restrictions for fear
of a surge in infections.
The largest palm-producing
state of Sabah, on Borneo is-
land, said it would stick to a
previous shutdown order that
runs until May 12, to ensure
people “are not exposed” to
the CCP virus, Chief Minister
Shafie Apdal said in a May 3
statement.
But manufacturers are keen
to get back to work, with some,
such as tech firm Qdos Group,
aiming to ramp up production.
Chief Executive Jeffrey
Hwang said his company was
focused on clearing a backlog
in demand for its products,
used to make medical equip-
ment, while maintaining “ab-
solute safety” at its facility.
“Got to turn on more over-
time in May and June to cope
with that,” Hwang added.
The government has esti-
mated losses of 63 billion ring-
git ($14.58 billion) and for the
economy to turn in its worst
performance in more than a
decade due to the curbs.
By Rozanna Latiff
& Krishna N. Das
The Epoch Times staff
contributed to this report.
From Reuters
 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020 WORLD | A9

Nigeria Reopens Main Cities Lagos, Abuja as Lockdowns Phased Out

REUTERS/AFOLABI SOTUNDE

LAGOS, Nigeria—Nigeria began

easing restrictions on May 4 in
its capital Abuja and largest city
Lagos, heralding the reopening
of Africa’s biggest economy after
more than four weeks of lock-
downs imposed to contain the
CCP virus.
The government has said a 24-
hour, stay-at-home order in place
since March 30 in Abuja and the
states of Lagos and Ogun—with
exceptions only for food shop-
ping and health-related trips—
will be lifted gradually over a
six-week period.
These densely populated re-
gions will now come into line
with the rest of the country.
Slightly looser restrictions in-
troduced last week by President
Muhammadu Buhari include
an overnight curfew, manda-
tory face masks in public, and a
ban on non-essential interstate
travel.
On May 4, the usually frenetic
streets of the coastal megacity
Lagos, largely empty during the
lockdown, were busy again with
cars, buses, and motorized tri-
cycle taxis.
Despite rules banning groups
of more than 20 people and stip- People wait to use an ATM, as authorities ease the lockdown, in Abuja, Nigeria, on May 4, 2020.
ulating that individuals remain
two meters (6.6 feet) apart, large TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

groups of people often gathered
by the road waiting for public
transport. Social distancing
rules were largely ignored.
Distinctive yellow minivans
used as buses were full, with
some passengers struggling to
find space to enter vehicles.
However, in a crucial differ-
ence to pre-lockdown life, most
people on the streets of Lagos
wore face masks.
In the capital Abuja, in central
Nigeria, many businesses were
still closed.
“I don’t have money in my
pocket. I was coming to work,
telling my wife to pray for me
to work and bring something so
that we could eat, but... there’s
no hope of working today,” said
father-of-three Easy Darlington,
who could not reopen his print-
ing business in a shopping mall
that remains shut.
Businesses have been allowed
to reopen provided they have de-
contaminated their offices, can
enable social distancing, and
offer hand sanitizer and hand
washing.
However, schools and places
of worship remain closed, res-
taurants can operate only on a
takeaway basis, and all cultural
events have been canceled.
Nigeria has confirmed 2,558 in-
fections of the new coronavirus
and 87 deaths since recording its
first case at the end of February, a
much lower toll than those seen
in COVID-19 hotspots in Europe
and the United States.
But the number of confirmed
cases has surged in recent days,
roughly doubling from 1,273 on
April 27.
Experts haven’t reached a
consensus on why Nigeria’s
case tally has been so relatively
low, although many point to a
low testing rate. The center for
disease control said only 17,566
samples have been tested in a
country of 200 million people.
The decision to begin a phased
lifting of the lockdown despite
the recent sharp rise in cases
was criticized by some medical
experts, including the Nigerian
Medical Association.
The NMA president, Francis
Faduyile, said on May 1 the move
was “very premature” and risked
driving up the rate of infections,
which he called a “frightening
scenario.”
African ‘Realities’
Nigeria and other African gov-
ernments have sought to balance
curbs to avert an outbreak that
could overwhelm hospitals, with
efforts to mitigate the impact on
workers in a continent where 85
percent are employed in the pre-
carious informal sector.
“While the initial reaction (in
Nigeria) was a wholesale trans-
fer of containment measures de-
signed in and for substantially
richer economies, the govern-
ment is now adapting its ap-
proach to domestic realities,”
said Malte Liewerscheidt, vice
president of Teneo Intelligence.
Rwanda, Namibia, and Zimba-
bwe also began loosening their
lockdowns on May 4.
In Rwanda, which enforced a
strict nationwide clampdown,
businesses have reopened and
travel between provinces is per-
mitted again. Similarly, shops
were allowed to reopen and curbs
lifted on domestic travel in Na-
mibia, where wearing face masks
in public is now mandatory.
In Zimbabwe’s capital Hara-
re, lines formed outside money
transfer agencies as residents col-
lected remittances. Money sent
from overseas is an important
source of income in the southern
African country, which is in the
grip of its worst economic crisis
in a decade.
But informal markets, which
provide income to more than 80
percent of Zimbabweans, are still
not allowed to operate, except for
the biggest fresh vegetable mar-
ket in Harare.
The decision to ease restric-
tions follows similar steps taken
in other nations in the region.
South Africa on May 1 relaxed
one of the world’s strictest CO-
VID-19 lockdowns and Ghana
in West Africa in April lifted a
three-week lockdown in its two
main cities.
Nigerian Pres-
ident Muham-
madu Buhari
speaks at the
U.N. headquar-
ters in New
York on Sept.
25, 2018.
But some African countries
have gone against the trend.
Kenya, which imposed a daily 7
p.m.-5 a.m. nationwide curfew
on March 25, is yet to relax the
overnight lockdown.
On May 4, residents of Mathare,
a slum in the capital city Nairobi,
said police killed a 36-year-old
man who was found outside dur-
ing the curfew. They marched
with the body to a Nairobi police
station to protest the killing.
A police spokesman didn’t im-
mediately respond to a request
for comment.
By Nneka Chile & Alexis Ak-
wagyiram. The Epoch Times
contributed to this report.
From Reuters

JOHANNES EISELE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

SOUTH KOREA
South Korea
Protests Border
Gunfire It Says
North Started
South Korea said it protested
to North Korea over the
exchange of gunfire inside
their heavily fortified border
that it says the North started.
South Korea said several
bullets fired from North
Korea hit one of its front-
line guard posts before
South Korean troops fired
20 rounds of warning shots
in response. It was the first
shooting inside the demili-
tarized zone in about 2 1/2
years, but there were no
known casualties on either
side, according to South
Korean defense officials.
— The Associated Press
POLAND
Postal Workers
Raise Alarm Over
Hasty Polish Mail
Vote
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev speaks at
U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 24, 2019.
Poland’s postal workers
are growing increasingly
concerned as the coun-
try prepares for its first
presidential election by
mail, arguing they are
not equipped to carry out
the vote safely and effec-
tively amid the CCP virus
pandemic.
Unresolved issues in-
clude how to deliver ballots
to damaged or missing
postal boxes, ensuring bal-
lots go to the right people
and protecting oneself
when interacting with
voters under quarantine,
postal workers and their
union leaders said.
With just days to go, the
ruling nationalists are try-
ing to persuade skeptics in
parliament to clear legisla-
tion that would allow post-
al voting, something that’s
normally only allowed in
rare circumstances, such
as when a voter cannot
make it to a polling booth.
— From Reuters
INDIA
8 Indian
Soldiers Die in
Gunbattles Amid
Major Kashmir
Offensive
Three Indian soldiers
were killed in a gunbattle
with terrorists in the
disputed Himalayan
region of Kashmir, a day
after a similar incident in
which five were killed.
Juniad Khan, a senior
paramilitary force officer,
told Reuters that terrorists
attacked the men from
the Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) in
North Kashmir.
“Three CRPF men were
killed. Two died on the
spot and one on way to
the hospital, and another
is critically injured,”
he said.
— From Reuters
UK
WikiLeaks: London
Court Delays
Assange Extradition
Hearing
WikiLeaks says its founder
Julian Assange will have to
wait at least until Septem-
ber before a British judge
will hear a U.S. request for
his extradition.
Assange, who faces
espionage charges over
the activities of WikiLeaks,
is currently in Belmarsh
Prison in London and is
fighting the allegations.
By the time any hear-
ing begins in September,
Assange will have spent a
year in remand after he was
dragged out of the Ecua-
dorian Embassy in London.
— The Associated Press
KAZAKHSTAN
Kazakhstan’s
President Names
His Aide Senate
Speaker
Kazakhstan’s president
put his aide in charge
of the country’s senate,
moving to tighten his
grip on power in the
energy-rich Central
Asian nation.
President Kassym-
Jomart Tokayev’s move
follows his decree
stripping the daughter
of his predecessor of the
speaker’s job.
Dariga Nazarbayeva
became a senate speaker
in March 2019 on the
same day that her father,
Nursultan Nazarbayev,
unexpectedly resigned.
Nazarbayev had led
Kazakhstan first as its
communist boss and,
after the 1991 Soviet
collapse, as its president.
His daughter, who
held a succession of
official jobs, was widely
expected to succeed
him, but Nazarbayev
named Tokayev as acting
president and supported
his election to the
presidency in June.
— The Associated Press
A10 | CHINA
Taiwan Gains International Support
for Participation in Key WHO Meeting
FRANK FANG
TAIPEI, Taiwan—A little
more than two weeks be-
fore the World Health Or-
ganization (WHO) holds its
next key meeting, countries
from around the world are
voicing their support for
Taiwan’s inclusion, includ-
ing the United States.
“Taiwan should be a
member of the World
Health Organization,” U.S.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.)
wrote on Twitter on May 3.
“Taiwan’s public health re-
sponse to COVID was excel-
lent and to isolate a nation
of 24 million only weakens
a coordinated response to
future epidemics.”
Taiwan has earned in-
ternational accolades for
its success in containing
the spread of the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP)
virus, commonly known
as the novel coronavirus.
The island has successfully
stemmed the spread of the
virus without resorting to
lockdown measures, while
schools and businesses re-
main open as usual.
Trump Administration Pushing to Rip Global Supply Chains From China: Officials
WASHINGTON—The
Trump administration is
“turbocharging” an ini-
tiative to remove global
industrial supply chains
from China as it weighs
new tariffs to punish Bei-
jing for its handling of
the CCP virus outbreak,
according to officials fa-
miliar with U.S. planning.
P r e s ide nt D on a ld
Trump, who has stepped
up criticisms of the Chi-
nese regime amid the pan-
demic, has long pledged
to bring manufacturing
back from overseas.
Now, economic destruc-
tion and the massive virus
death toll are driving a
government-wide push to
move U.S. production and
supply chain dependency
away from China, even
if it goes to other more
friendly nations instead,
current and former senior
U.S. administration offi-
cials said.
“We’ve been working
on [reducing the reliance
Taiwan’s professional
baseball league, CPBL, was
also the first such league in
the world to start this year’s
season, on April 12.
As of May 4, Taiwan had
438 confirmed infections
and six deaths in connec-
tion with the virus.
The Chinese regime
claims Taiwan as its territo-
ry, even as the self-ruled is-
land has its own democrati-
cally elected government,
currency, and military. As a
result, Beijing sees itself as
a representative of Taiwan
and bars international or-
ganizations, including the
WHO, from allowing the
island’s participation.
Aside from Taiwan’s
diplomatic allies and the
United States, officials from
Canada, Australia, Germa-
ny, Japan, and Lithuania
have also recently spoken
out in favor of Taiwan’s in-
clusion in the WHO.
While Taiwan isn’t a WHO
member state, from 2009
to 2016, its health minis-
ters took part in the World
Health Assembly (WHA),
the decision-making body
I think it is es-
sential to under-
stand where the
critical areas
are and where
critical bottle-
necks exist.
Keith Krach, undersecre-
tary, State Department
of our supply chains in
China] over the last few
years but we are now tur-
bo-charging that initia-
tive,” Keith Krach, under-
secretary for Economic
Growth, Energy and the
Environment at the U.S.
State Department, told
Reuters.
“I think it is essential
to understand where the
critical areas are and
where critical bottlenecks
exist,” Krach said, adding
that the matter was key
to U.S. security and one
of the WHO, as observers.
However, since 2017, the
year after Taiwan elected
President Tsai Ing-wen of
the Democratic Progres-
sive Party (DPP)—which
Beijing condemns—Taiwan
has been barred by Beijing
from taking part in the as-
sembly and its meetings.
Taiwan’s public
health response to
COVID was excel-
lent and to isolate
a nation of 24 mil-
lion only weakens
a coordinated
response to future
epidemics.
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon
The 73rd WHA assembly,
to be held virtually this
year due to the pandemic,
will begin on May 18, as
Taiwan’s participation re-
mains uncertain. Taiwan
hasn’t “yet received an invi-
the government could
announce new action on
soon.
The U.S. Commerce De-
partment, State Depart-
ment, and other agencies
are looking for ways to
push companies to move
both sourcing and manu-
facturing out of China. Tax
incentives and potential
re-shoring subsidies are
among measures being
considered to spur chang-
es, the current and former
officials told Reuters.
“There is a whole of gov-
ernment push on this,”
said one. Agencies are
probing which manufac-
turing should be deemed
“essential” and how to
produce these goods out-
side of China.
“This moment is a per-
fect storm,” said another
senior U.S. official. “The
pandemic has crystal-
lized all the worries that
people have had about do-
ing business with China…
All the money that people
tation from WHO,” foreign
ministry spokeswoman
Joanne Ou said on May 4,
according to Reuters.
“Although the current
situation we are facing is
still very difficult, the gov-
ernment will never give
up, and will join with allies
and countries with similar
ideals to continue to strive
until the last moment,” Ou
said, about Taiwan’s efforts
to take part in the WHA
meeting.
The American Institute
in Taiwan (AIT), the de
facto U.S. embassy on the
island, said on May 1 that
it will publish new posts in
support of “Taiwan’s par-
ticipation in the upcoming
#WHA and broader role in
global health” on its Face-
book page daily until the
WHA meeting’s opening
session.
On May 3, AIT shared a
tweet by Giampaolo Rizzo,
Honduras’ permanent rep-
resentative to the United
Nations, who wrote: “I led
a coalition of countries
that asked the WHO DG
(director-general) to invite
think they made by mak-
ing deals with China be-
fore, now they’ve been
eclipsed many fold by the
economic damage” from
the virus, the official said.
Trump has said repeat-
edly that he could put new
tariffs on top of the up to
25 percent tax on $370
billion in Chinese goods
currently in place.
That does not mean
Trump will balk at new
ones, officials say. Other
ways to punish China may
include sanctions on of-
ficials or companies, and
closer relations with Tai-
wan, the self-governing
island that Beijing con-
siders its territory.
But discussions about
moving supply chains
are concrete, robust, and
multi-lateral, sources
said.
The United States is
pushing to create an alli-
ance of “trusted partners”
dubbed the “Economic
Prosperity Network,” one
TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
Taiwan to the WHA, as well
as all technical meetings on
COVID-19.”
Rizzo added: “It’s the right
thing to do so no one is left
behind and also to learn
from their experience.”
Rizzo also posted three
photos on Twitter of a re-
cent video conference ses-
sion with WHO Director-
General Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus on April 29.
During that meeting, a
group of U.N. representa-
tives from Taiwan’s diplo-
matic ally nations urged
that Taiwan be invited to
attend the WHA and all
WHO meetings and activi-
ties, according to Taiwan’s
government-run Central
News Agency.
The U.S. State Depart-
ment’s division for deal-
ing with U.N. policies, the
Bureau for International
Organization, launched
a “Tweet for Taiwan”
(#TweetforTaiwan) cam-
paign, which aims to see
the inclusion of Taiwan in
the WHA gathering.
“The U.S. believes firmly
that #Taiwan belongs at the
official said. It would in-
clude companies and civil
society groups operating
under the same set of
standards on everything
from digital business, en-
ergy and infrastructure,
to research, trade, edu-
cation, and commerce,
he said.
The U.S. government is
working with Australia,
India, Japan, New Zea-
land, South Korea, and
Vietnam to “move the
global economy forward,”
Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo said April 29.
These discussions in-
clude “how we restruc-
ture ... supply chains to
prevent something like
this from ever happening
again,” Pompeo said.
Latin America may play
a role, too.
Colombian Ambassa-
dor Francisco Santos last
month said he was in dis-
cussions with the White
House, National Security
Council, U.S. Treasury
SAM YEH/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen
(C), seen wearing a protective
mask, alongside soldiers and
officials in Tainan, southern
Taiwan, on April 9, 2020.
table when the world dis-
cusses #COVID19 and oth-
er threats to global health,”
the bureau wrote on Twitter
on May 1.
In another tweet, the bu-
reau pointed out the stark
differences between China
and Taiwan’s pandemic re-
sponse.
“China’s response to the
outbreak of #COVID19 has
been to hide the facts, muz-
zle its scientists, and censor
discussion  #Taiwan’s re-
sponse has been and con-
tinues to be a model for the
world,” the bureau wrote.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio
(R-Fla.) said the bureau’s
tweet “is absolutely right,”
adding that Taiwan “should
be able to participate in
global health discussions
that impact the Taiwanese
people.”
On May 2, China’s Per-
manent Mission to the U.N.
lashed out at U.S. Secretary
of Health and Human Ser-
vices Alex Azar, for his sup-
port of Taiwan’s participa-
tion in the WHO. China said
Azar’s comment “violated
the one-China principle.”
Department, and U.S.
Chamber of Commerce
about a drive to encourage
U.S. companies to move
some supply chains out
of China and bring them
closer to home.
China overtook the Unit-
ed States as the world’s top
manufacturing country in
2010, and was responsible
for 28 percent of global
output in 2018, according
to United Nations data.
The pandemic has high-
lighted China’s key role in
the supply chain for ge-
neric drugs that account
for the majority of pre-
scriptions in the United
States. It has also shown
China’s dominance in
goods like the thermal
cameras needed to test
workers for fevers.
By Humeyra Pamuk &
Andrea Shalal
The Epoch Times staff
contributed
to this report.
From Reuters
 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
2nd Wave of Virus Outbreak Spreads Further in Southern China
CONTINUED FROM A1
Guangzhou
On May 3, the Guangzhou mu-
nicipal health commission an-
nounced one new asymptomat-
ic carrier in Zengcheng, the 10th
officially reported infection in
the district. Other districts in
the bustling metropolis report-
ed new outbreaks in April.
The commission previously
claimed that the first infec-
tion in the second wave in
Zengcheng was diagnosed on
April 26.
On April 27, the commission
said that one of the newly di-
agnosed asymptomatic carriers
was a 24-year-old woman from
Xintang town in Zengcheng.
While she tested positive in a
nucleic acid test at the Nanfang
Hospital Zengcheng, authorities
didn’t explain why the woman
went to the hospital even with-
out exhibiting symptoms.
On April 28, the commission
announced another seven as-
ymptomatic carriers, five of
whom are family members of
the woman. Another was her
colleague.
The commission later an-
nounced more asymptomatic
carriers from Xintang town
on May 1 and May 2. It noted
that the individuals were close
contacts of previously diag-
nosed people, but wasn’t more
specific.
However, the outbreak in
Zengcheng might have oc-
curred earlier than the 10 cases,
In Rare Speech, Top Trump Adviser Calls for Greater Freedoms in China
CONTINUED FROM A1
Under China’s Party-state
system, he said that “it’s some-
times difficult to cut through
the noise, from whether its
propaganda, from the wholly
state-owned media in China,
or the carefully curated social
media ecosystem.”
Pottinger studied the Chinese
language 25 years ago in Bei-
jing and went on to become a
China correspondent for The
Wall Street Journal. While re-
porting, he was once arrested by
government agents. On another
occasion, he was punched in the
face by agents while investigat-
ing a Chinese company’s illicit
sales of nuclear fuel to foreign
countries, according to his writ-
ten account published in the
Journal.
TRUTH and TRADITION
A medical worker collects a sample at a middle school as students receive nucleic acid testing for COVID-19 in Guang-
zhou, China, on April 21, 2020.
data from nearby regions indi-
cates.
The Shenzhen city government
announced another patient on
April 29, a 29-year-old man who
had arrived at Bao’an district in
Shenzhen from Zengcheng on
April 22. He started to develop
symptoms on April 24, and his
condition deteriorated quickly.
On April 26, the man tested
positive in a nucleic acid test at
Bao’an People’s Hospital and
two days later, he was officially
diagnosed. Local authorities
He said Beijing’s lack of toler-
ance for critical voices has taken
a turn for the worse in recent
years.
“It takes courage to speak to a
reporter—or to work as one—in
today’s China.”
Despite the regime’s iron-fist
rule, sparks of free thought
haven’t ceased, Pottinger said.
“When small acts of bravery
are stamped out by govern-
ments, big acts of bravery fol-
low,” he said.
Some recent acts of bravery he
cited: Regular citizens who were
punished for speaking their
minds about the regime’s early
coverup of the virus outbreak;
journalists who went missing
after they filmed video foot-
age of what was happening in
Wuhan; and doctors punished
for raising the alarm about the
LET’S
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TOGETHER
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currently specify multiple cri-
teria (not just nucleic acid test)
before a patient is officially di-
agnosed as COVID-19 positive.
Guangxi Province also an-
nounced a new case related
to Zengcheng. A man named
Xu Wanjie and his wife visited
Zengcheng and stayed at a ho-
tel there from April 12 to April
26. After they returned home to
Guangxi, attended a large-scale
funeral reception with at least
35 families, and visited several
areas, Guangzhou police con-
It takes courage
to speak to a re-
porter—or to work
as one—in today’s
China.
Matthew Pottinger, White
House’s deputy national secu-
rity adviser on Asia
Help Spread Subscribe to
the Truth The Epoch Times
STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
tacted them on April 28.
The police told them that some
guests who stayed at the same
hotel were diagnosed with the
virus, meaning that the couple
and hundreds of their close con-
tacts needed to be placed under
quarantine.
While Guangzhou police
spoke of diagnosed cases in
Zengcheng, authorities didn’t
officially note any diagnosed
patients with symptoms in
Zengcheng for that period.
Guangzhou authorities have
virus spreading.
Pottinger quoted a social me-
dia post by Li Wenliang, a whis-
tleblower doctor who eventually
died of the virus he warned oth-
ers about: “I think there should
be more than one voice in a
healthy society, and I don’t ap-
prove of using public power for
excessive interference.”
The top adviser’s speech
comes as the United States es-
calates its calls for China to be
held accountable for the pan-
demic.
“The U.S. isn’t looking at puni-
tive measures here,” Pottinger
said in response to a question
about economic sanctions on
Beijing. “What President Trump
is looking at doing is continu-
ing with the policy that he ran
on, the policy that he’s imple-
mented—which is to have a re-
Donate to
The Epoch Times
CHINA | A11
previously been known to re-
port inconsistent data.
Heilongjiang
In northeastern China’s Hei-
longjiang Province, official
figures show no new infections
in Jiamusi city. However, local
people described a different
situation.
“[Authorities] are building
walls to isolate each building in
the neighborhood,” a woman
identified as Ms. Zhang, who
lives in the Zhixing neighbor-
hood of Xiangyang district in
Jiamusi, said on May 4. She add-
ed that some residential com-
pounds in nearby Qianjin dis-
trict were locked down as well.
Zhang complained that resi-
dents are required to have their
body temperatures taken and
health code app scanned before
entering or leaving their com-
pound, although local govern-
ment officials haven’t explained
whether there were new diag-
nosed cases or asymptomatic
carriers.
Mr. Li, another resident of
Jiamusi, told The Epoch Times:
“The security people at the
checkpoints of our residential
compound told us to stay at
home because the outbreak is
very severe. Some hotels are be-
ing used as quarantine centers.”
On April 29, the Jiamusi gov-
ernment ordered the city “to
take extraordinary measures to
ensure no infections at hospi-
tals,” without providing further
details.
ciprocal and fair relationship
with China, not one in which
the U.S. allows ourselves to be
taken advantage of in the hopes
that somehow China will just
automatically liberalize.”
Speaking on the anniver-
sary of the May 4 movement,
a student-led protest in 1919 at
Tiananmen Square that radical-
ized Chinese intellectual think-
ing, Pottinger said the event
may serve as the philosophical
underpinning for Chinese peo-
ple to reclaim their freedoms.
The unfulfilled democratic
aspirations from a century ago
were a reminder for Chinese
people to take fate into their
own hands, he said.
“How China governs itself is
going to be up to the Chinese
people. It’s not up to anyone else
to decide.”
A12 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020

Covering Important
News Other Media Ignore
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The Facebook’s “War Room” is seen during a media demonstration in Menlo Park, Calif., on Oct. 17, 2018.
Private Industry, Not Government,
Is Playing ‘Big Brother’
DUSTIN BASS
G
eorge Orwell was, as we all
are, the product of his ex-
periences. When he wrote
his final book, “1984,” it was
the final prophecy of what
he had already seen.
His warning of the government be-
coming omnipotent, omniscient, and
omnipresent has been well-heeded by
much of the Western world. This isn’t
to say that governments don’t have too
much power, don’t invade our privacy,
and haven’t grown too big. That’s all
true, and most freedom-loving West-
erners are wary of it.
The constant checks and balances
between the branches of government,
the fourth estate (the media), and the
sovereign (the people) have helped keep
eyes open to the threat of what Orwell
called Big Brother.
What Orwell didn’t foresee, or per-
haps didn’t think possible, was that the
people themselves would become their
own greatest threat—a threat made
possible through the flourishing private
sector of American enterprise.
Social media platforms have decided
to censor any opinion—conservative
or liberal—that conflicts with
‘information you can trust from
recognized health organizations.’
Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. These
have been the faces of how Americans
communicate. When once we thought
our voices could only be amplified
when among friends or through a letter
to the editor, we now find that we all
have a platform. Americans have al-
ways prided themselves on their opin-
ions. Sometimes wrong, often slanted.
But it was our opinion.
Finally, our First Amendment guar-
anteed that freedom of speech could,
in some way, compete with that of the
freedom of the press protected within
OPINION TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020 • A13
the same amendment.
For the longest time, these compa-
nies have been understood to be public
forums. People could write and record
whatever they wished to say, and these
companies wouldn’t and couldn’t be
held accountable. People were provided
a higher level of freedom of speech, while
private industry remained protected.
We were all satisfied with the arran-
gement.
That time, however, has passed. Social
media giants have slowly been singling
out and censoring voices, primarily
of a conservative view. For liberals to
think they wouldn’t be next would have
been naive. This pandemic has proven
it to be so.
Power does not discriminate. These
social media platforms have decided to
censor any opinion—conservative or
liberal—that conflicts with “information
you can trust from recognized health
organizations.” This is the phrase labeled
at the top of your mobile Facebook and
Instagram account. Twitter has one. You-
Tube has a similar label at the top of its
homepage—a label that has been shown
more than 9 billion times.
Among the health organizations is the
one that’s been getting it wrong from
the beginning: the World Health Orga-
nization (WHO). The WHO has been so
blatantly terrible at providing accurate
information that it’s been criticized as
being a mouthpiece for the Chinese
Communist Party’s propaganda ma-
chine. The ties of its leader, Dr. Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to the Commu-
nist Party don’t help the situation.
Its destructive misinformation led
President Donald Trump to withhold
U.S. funding to the organization; the
United States gave more than $400 mil-
lion to the WHO in 2019. Since then,
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted
that his company would be giving the
WHO “as many free ads as they need for
their coronavirus response.”
As the U.S. mortality numbers (cur-
rently about 67,700) remain far below the
2.2 million predicted by the Imperial
College COVID-19 response team, con-
flicting opinions can do nothing but rise
JOSH EDELSON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
(Top) YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno,
Calif., on April 3, 2018. (Above) Twitter head-
quarters in San Francisco on Oct. 25, 2013.
to the surface. Whether right or wrong,
it’s part of the human condition to point
out when a predicted fact becomes a
falsehood. Most recently, when two Cali-
fornian doctors presented their numbers,
their video went viral.
YouTube quickly removed the video,
stating that it went against their guide-
lines.
Alarmingly, YouTube CEO Susan
Wojcicki said in an interview with CNN,
“Anything that would go against World
Health Organization recommendations
would be a violation of our policy.”
Zuckerberg told “Good Morning Ameri-
ca” that his company has implemented
policies to flag content that serves to
organize events in protest of government
lockdown orders as “harmful misinfor-
mation.”
Even The Epoch Times’ own Joshua
Philipp’s thorough and illuminating
documentary “Tracking Down the Ori-
gin of the Coronavirus” was flagged as
“false information” on Facebook.
In mid-March, Silicon Valley technolo-
gist Aaron Ginn published an article on
NOAH BERGER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Medium that was chock-full of informa-
tion and graphics, titled “Evidence Over
Hysteria—COVID-19.”
It quickly went viral. Perhaps too quickly.
Dr. Carl Bergstrom, an evolutionary
biology professor at the University of
Washington, got wind of the article and
conducted a debunking of it through
Twitter. After his labor-intensive tweet
frenzy, Medium took the article down
(it was later reposted on ZeroHedge).
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board
followed up with an article about who
is controlling the coronavirus narrative
and the risk of dissolving civil debate.
Oddly enough, Bergstrom was also one
of the first to jump into debunking mode
against the California doctors. The result,
as aforementioned, was the same as the
Medium article.
Bergstrom is part of the University of
Washington’s Center for an Informed
Public, at which the mission is “to resist
strategic misinformation, promote an
informed society, and strengthen demo-
cratic discourse.” If Bergstrom has done
any of those recently, it definitely hasn’t
been the latter; he’s become a kind of
hero for the social media giants’ clamp-
down on “democratic discourse.”
Sadly, well-intentioned heroes often
become accidental villains.
Social media has consumed our lives
so much that it has become a primary
method, if not the primary method of
speech. Text, photos, and videos have be-
come our medium to communicate with
friends, family, and the rest of the world
(or whomever is willing to listen).
As the social media giants transform
further and further into the Ministry
of Truth, this recent censorship can
feel sudden. To believe, however, that
it came without warning would be naive.
It’s true that Orwell didn’t see it com-
ing, but every American today should
have. The question is what will we do
about it?
Dustin Bass is the co-founder of The Sons
of History, a YouTube series and weekly
podcast about all things history. He is a
former-journalist-turned-entrepreneur.
He is also an author.
A14 | OPINION
COVID-19 and ‘Democracy’
EMILY FINLEY
Our national response to
COVID-19 has revealed,
once again, how little
our Establishment, in-
cluding its henchmen
in the media, want “the
people” to rule.
As we witness the self-inflicted and cat-
astrophic demise of our economy, some
have dared to protest the closure of their
businesses and the shuttering of their
places of worship. These “right-wing
extremists,” we are told, are threatening
the lives and well-being of our health
care workers, elderly, and ultimately, the
entire U.S. population.
We are told that the experts, once
again, must decide for us when and if
it is safe to return to business as usual.
A cadre of carefully vetted scientific,
medical, and other technical specialists
are stepping in to do the jobs of our state
governors and political leadership.
No matter that the governor of New
Jersey swore an oath of office to “sup-
port and defend the Constitution of the
United States,” he recently told Tucker
Carlson that considerations about the
people’s constitutional rights is “above
my pay grade.” He defers to the experts,
he says. What, then, is the purpose of
Gov. Phil Murphy, who swore to protect
his citizens’ rights?
Time and again, governors are “citing
the opinion of medical experts” in their
political decision-making regarding
COVID-19. That raises some important
questions about the role of our political
class and the place of our Constitution,
which seems to be about as essential as
churches these days.
Our democracy seems to be veering
ever closer to the administrative state
that former President Woodrow Wil-
son envisioned a century ago. Having
taken the United States to war to “make
DILBERT
PEANUTS
RED AND ROVER
GRAND AVENUE
MUTT & JEFF
the world safe for democracy,” Wilson
believed that the Great War was actual
Armageddon and that to the victor would
go the soul of the world.
With the stakes so high in Wilson’s
mind, he couldn’t allow any dissent from
the cause. The Committee on Public
Information (CPI) served as a vast pro-
paganda machine tasked with educating
the public and aggressively stamping out
opinions unfavorable to the war.
Wilson’s attorney general summed
up the climate in 1917: “May God have
mercy on [the dissenters], for they need
expect none from an outraged people
and avenging government.”
The CPI encouraged citizens to de-
nounce one another and authorized
the postmaster general to censor mail
between private citizens.
Facebook and other social media “plat-
forms” have assumed the role of Wilson’s
postmaster general and removed con-
tent that threatens the war effort against
COVID-19.
During such an emergency, consti-
tutional rights must give way to expert
opinion, and specifically the expert
opinion curated by our mainstream and
social-media elite. Other experts, who
dissent from the views put forth in the
major outlets, are quickly discredited with
dehumanizing labels: “right-wing extrem-
ist,” “pandemic-skeptic,” “data-skeptic,”
and the well-worn “conspiracy theorist.”
Any information with conclusions or
implications contrary to the prevailing
COVID-19 narrative is ignored or cen-
sured by the mainstream media.
The stakes would seem to be as high as
if we were in an actual war. In a sense, we
are. It’s a war between two worldviews:
one that upholds the bodily health of
those currently living as the ultimate
good and another that upholds some
non-material good as the final end.
The former is, in the philosophical
sense, materialist and holds a progres-
COMICS
sive view of history, believing that
science and technology are bringing us
closer to a more humane world with less
disease and fewer social and economic
ills. The latter worldview is more pes-
simistic and believes that there is no
end-of-history, so to speak, in politics or
medicine, and that we must, for the most
part, work around social and political
givens, including disease.
No one person is entirely given to one
viewpoint, but it’s safe to say that most
people fall generally into one of the two
camps, evidenced by the fierce divide
in our country. This divide isn’t sim-
ply about what the best protocol is for
responding to the new coronavirus, but
is about something much deeper, namely
one’s worldview.
The divide generally reflects the politi-
cal division in our country. Those on the
left tend to favor continued “shelter-in-
place” orders; those on the right would
like for restrictions to be lifted.
It seems to come down to a fundamen-
tal difference in imagination. One imagi-
nation fears for its life, the other for its
loss of liberty; both fears may be real. The
troubling thing right now is that only one
GARFIELD
GINGER MEGGS
BIG NATE
DRABBLE
FRANK AND ERNEST
TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
MICHAEL MANCUSO/GETTY IMAGES
New Jersey
Gov. Phil Mur-
phy tours an
emergency field
hospital being
prepared at the
Meadowlands
Expo Center
in Secaucus,
N.J., on April
2, 2020.
of those fears is being given credence,
while the other is dismissed as danger-
ous, extreme, and irrational.
However, for us to fear merely for loss of
life or limb is to open a dangerous door
to government overreach and control by
so-called experts.
The ghost of Thomas Hobbes is whis-
pering now. He insisted that the social
contract stood on a foundation of fear
among citizens, fear of one another
and, above all, fear of a violent death.
Hobbes’s solution? The Leviathan state.
A fearful people who value their lives
over all else are incapable of liberty and
self-government. We look on our scien-
tific and technical overlords as gods, for,
in the words of Dostoevsky’s Grand In-
quisitor, they will bear the freedom that
we have found so burdensome: “Make us
your slaves, but feed us.”
In other words, take away our rights,
but keep us healthy.
Emily Finley is a postdoctoral research
fellow in political science at Stanford
University. Her research interests include
political ideology, foreign policy, and the
imagination and politics.
 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
SPECIAL SERIES
How the Specter of Communism
Is Ruling Our World
Desecrating the Arts
The Epoch Times here serializes “How the Specter of
Communism Is Ruling Our World,” a new book by the editorial
team of the “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.”
1. Art: A Gift From the Divine
Over the many years of human
civilization, man has contem-
plated what constitutes true
beauty. People of faith know
that all the wonders in the world
come from the divine. Profound
art is an attempt to emulate and
display the beauty of heaven in
the human world. Inspiration
comes from the divine, and art-
ists can become outstanding fig-
ures in their fields if they receive
divine blessings and wisdom.
With strong faith and devotion
to the divine, great artists dur-
ing the Renaissance plumbed
their ingenuity to create works
in praise of God. Artists in the
mid-Renaissance period, includ-
ing Leonardo da Vinci, Michel-
angelo, and Raphael, grasped
techniques that far exceeded
those of their predecessors and
their peers, as if by miracle.
Their masterpieces—including
paintings, statues, and architec-
ture—became timeless classics
of the art world.
Divine culture and art in
the East and the West
were connections woven
between the gods and
human civilization, and
were meant to bring them
into contact. The ideas and
messages transmitted
through this art are beauty,
benevolence, light, and hope.
For centuries, these works of
art set a noble example for hu-
manity. By appreciating this art,
not only can the artists of later
generations study pure artistic
technique, but members of the
public can truly feel and see the
presence of the divine. When
these works, the techniques that
created them, and the spirit that
infused the artists are all pre-
served, human society is able to
maintain a connection with the
divine. Then, even as humanity
goes through its periods of deca-
dence and decline, there will
be hope for a return to tradition
and a path to salvation.
The same principles prevail
in the sphere of music. As the
saying (reportedly, from a Ger-
man opera house) goes: “Bach
gave us God’s word. Mozart gave
us God’s laughter. Beethoven
gave us God’s fire. God gave
us music that we might pray
without words.” For his entire
life, Johann Sebastian Bach
considered devotion to God and
the praise and worship of God
to be the highest principles in
the creation of his music. On all
of his important musical scores,
the letters SDG can be seen—an
abbreviation of “Soli Deo gloria,”
meaning “glory to God alone.”
The highest level an artist can
reach is through the material-
ization of heavenly objects in the
human realm through divine
revelation. The great paintings
and statues, and the most sub-
lime scores in the early, baroque,
and classical canon, were all cre-
ated by religious believers and
represent the pinnacle of artistic
work attained by humans.
When the artist abandons
moral standards, negative
elements hijack the creative
process.
The three most important
elements in artistic creation are
representation, creation, and
communication. All artistic
creations contain a theme, that
is, the message the artist seeks
to communicate, regardless
of the form the work takes—
whether it be a poem, painting,
statue, photograph, novel, play,
dance, or film. The artist delivers
the theme to the hearts of the
reader, listener, or viewer. This
process is the communication—
the transmission of the artist’s
mind to the recipient.
To achieve the goal of com-
munication, artists must pos-
sess a superb ability to imitate
and represent, with the object
of imitation being the world
of gods or of man, or even the
underworld. Artistic creation is
a process of refining the deeper
or more essential elements of an
object of representation. It re-
quires artists to strengthen their
own ability to communicate and
to touch people’s hearts. If the
artist possesses righteous faith
in the divine and in morality,
the divine will endow him with
the inspiration to create. Such
works will be divine, pure, and
benevolent—beneficial to both
the artist and society.
The ancient Greek
mathematician and
philosopher Pythagoras
believed that the secret of
music was in its imitation of
the harmony of the heavenly
bodies, which itself reflects
the harmony of the universe.
On the other hand, when the
artist abandons moral stan-
dards, negative elements hijack
the creative process, with evil
forces exerting influence and
using the artist to depict hideous
creations and grotesqueries
from the underworld. Works of
this kind harm their author and
the wider society.
The value of the orthodox, tra-
ditional arts thus becomes clear.
Divine culture and art in the
East and the West were connec-
Chapter Eleven
tions woven between the gods
and human civilization, and
were meant to bring them into
contact. The ideas and messages
transmitted through this art are
beauty, benevolence, light, and
hope. On the other hand, cor-
rupt works of “art” are created
by those under the control of evil
elements. They drive a wedge
between man and the divine,
and drag humans closer to evil.
2. Art’s Immense Influence
on Humanity
Great works of art transmit heri-
tage, disseminate knowledge
and wisdom, and fortify charac-
ter. They hold exalted positions
in the great civilizations of the
East and the West.
The ancient Greek mathemati-
cian and philosopher Pythago-
ras believed that the secret of
music was in its imitation of the
harmony of the heavenly bodies,
which itself reflects the harmony
of the universe.
The Chinese held similar
views. The Treatises on Music
and Harmony discuss mu-
sic’s correspondence with the
five elements (metal, wood,
water, fire, and earth), and
how musical instruments are
constructed to  represent and
emulate the patterns of heaven
and earth. Only in this way
can “music of the grandest
style” be achieved, music that
exhibits “the same harmony
that prevails between heaven
and earth.” This kind of mu-
sic is able to not only attract
divine birds like the crane and
phoenix, but also serve as an
invitation to deities to grace the
occasion with their presence.
Confucius once said: “[The
Zhou Dynasty] surveyed the
two dynasties that went be-
fore; its ways are refined and
elegant. I follow Zhou.” He
admired how the legendary
Chinese rulers governed with
ritual and music: “The Sage-
Emperor Shun invented a five-
stringed musical instrument,
which he called qin, sang to
its tune about the gentle sum-
mer breeze from the south, and
lo and behold, his empire ran
smoothly [under the influence
of his music].” These examples
illustrate the edifying effects of
pure, upright music.
The “Music of Prince of Qin
Breaking Up the Enemy’s Front,”
composed by the great Tang Dy-
nasty emperor Li Shimin, won
the deep respect of ethnicities
inhabiting the peripheries of the
Tang realm. The “New Book of
Tang” recorded that on the jour-
ney to seek Buddhist scriptures
from the West, monk Xuanzang
was told by a king in a remote In-
dian state, “Your Emperor must
be a saint, for he composed the
‘Music of Prince of Qin Breaking
Up the Enemy’s Front.’”
See next edition for the next
installment.
OPINION | A15
Stephen Gregory, Publisher
Jasper Fakkert, Editor-in-Chief
Channaly Philipp, Life & Tradition,
Travel Editor
Chrisy Trudeau, Mind & Body Editor
Crystal Shi, Food Editor
Sharon Kilarski, Arts & Tradition Editor
ABOUT US
The Epoch Times is a media
organization dedicated to seek-
ing the truth through insightful
and independent journalism.
Standing outside of politi-
cal interests and the pursuit of
profit, our starting point and our
goal is to create a media for the
public benefit, to be truly respon-
sible to society.
We endeavor to educate read-
ers about today’s most impor-
tant topics, seeking to broaden
and uplift minds. We believe that
rational, balanced debate is key
for fostering a healthy democ-
racy and a compassionate
society.
As an independent media out-
let, we use our freedom to inves-
tigate issues overlooked—or
avoided—by other media outlets.
We seek to highlight solutions
and what’s good in society rather
than what divides us.
We report respectfully, compas-
sionately, and rigorously.
We stand against the destruc-
tion wrought by communism,
including the harm done to cul-
tures around the world.
We are inspired in this by our
own experience. The Epoch
Times was founded in 2000 to
bring honest and uncensored
news to people oppressed
by the lies and violence in
communist China.
We still believe journalism is a
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A16 | OPINION TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020

DANIEL ROLAND/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The Euro logo in front of the

European Central Bank in
Frankfurt am Main, Germany,
on Feb. 7, 2018.

Considering the
severity of the crisis,
the eurozone is likely
to need at last 10
percent of its GDP to
rebuild the economy.

3 Reasons Why the fiscal and monetary stimulus, negative

rates, and the European Central Bank
(ECB) balance sheet above 40 percent of
more than 400 billion euros in invest-
ments) and the large green policies
implemented, it’s safe to say that rely-

Eurozone Recovery
GDP, France and Italy showed stagna-
tion in the fourth quarter, and Germany
narrowly escaped recession.
The eurozone weakness had already
ing on a Green New Deal will likely not
boost growth or reduce debt. The main
problem with these large investment
plans is that they’re politically directed

Will Be Poor
DANIEL LACALLE
The eurozone economy is
expected to collapse in
2020. In countries such
as Spain and Italy, the de-
cline, more than 9 percent,
will likely be much larger
TRUTH and TRADITION
TRUTH and TRADITION
than emerging market economies. Howev-
er, the key is to understand how and when
the eurozone economies will recover.
There are three reasons why we should
be concerned:
1. The eurozone was already in a severe
slowdown in 2019. Despite massive
started in 2017, and disappointing eco-
nomic figures continued throughout
the following years. Many governments
blamed the weakness on the Brexit and
Trade War cards, but it was significantly
more structural.
The eurozone abandoned all structural
reforms in 2014 when the ECB started
its quantitative easing program and
expanded the balance sheet to record
levels. Manufacturing Purchasing Man-
agers’ Indexes were already in contrac-
tion, government spending remained
too high, and the elevated tax wedge
weighed on growth and jobs.
In 2019, almost 22 percent of the euro-
zone GDP gross added value came from
the travel and leisure sector, a sector that
will unlikely come back anytime soon,
while the export sector is also likely to
suffer a prolonged weakness.
2. The banking sector is still weak.  China and the United States recover
In the eurozone, 80 percent of the real
economy is financed via the bank-
ing channel (compared to less than 15
percent in the United States). Eurozone
banks still have more than 600 bil-
lion euros in nonperforming loans (3.3
percent of total assets versus 1 percent
in the United States), an almost unprof-
itable business with a poor return on
tangible equity due to negative rates,
and a significant challenge ahead, as
and, as such, have a large tendency to
fail, as we saw with the jobs and growth
plan of 2009.
Further Challenges
Almost 30 percent of the eurozone labor
force is expected to be under some form
of unemployment scheme, be it tempo-
rary, permanent, or self-employed cessa-
tion of activity. After a decade of recovery
from the past crisis, the eurozone still
had almost double the unemployment
rate of its large peers, the United States
and China. Germany may recover jobs
fast, but France, Spain, and Italy, with
important rigidities and tax burdens on
job creation, may suffer large unemploy-
ment levels for longer.
The eurozone also faces important
challenges to its recovery due to a lack of
technological and intellectual-property
leadership. Those two factors will help
faster, as well as their having more flex-
ible job markets and higher support for
entrepreneurial activity through attrac-
tive taxation.
Considering the severity of the crisis,
the eurozone is likely to need at last 10
percent of its GDP to rebuild the econo-
my, but that figure is almost completely
absorbed by the traditional sectors
(airlines, autos, agriculture, tourism).
Furthermore, the Green New Deal initia-

A NEWSPAPER
most of the growth investments, in Latin
America in particular, may reduce capi-
tal strength significantly in the coming
months.
Most of the eurozone governments are
relying on leveraging the banks’ balance
tive includes severe restrictions to travel
and energy-intensive industries that may
act as a brake on future growth.
The ECB policy was already unneces-
sarily expansionary over the past few
years, and now it has run out of tools to

THE FOUNDING
sheets in their “recovery plans.” A mas-
sive increase in loans, even with some
form of state guarantee, is likely to cause
significant strains on lending capacity
and solvency in the coming years, even
address the unprecedented challenge
of recovery post-COVID-19. With nega-
tive rates, targeted liquidity programs,
asset purchases of private and public
debt, and a balance sheet that exceeds

FATHERS
with massive targeted longer-term refi-
nancing operations (TLTROs) and capital
requirement reductions.
3. Most of the recovery plans go to
42 percent of the eurozone GDP, the best
it can do is to disguise some risk, not
eliminate it.
We should also warn of adding massive
monetary imbalances when demand for

WOULD READ
government current spending, and
tax increases will surely impact
growth and jobs. The eurozone tax
wedge on jobs and investment is already
very high. According to the Paying Taxes
2019 report, the majority of eurozone
euros globally is acceptable but shrink-
ing according to the Bank of Interna-
tional Settlements, and risk of redenomi-
nation remains in a politically unstable
eurozone.
Our estimates show that, even with

ReadEpoch.com
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
economies show widely uncompetitive
taxation levels.
As most governments will massively
increase deficits to combat the COVID-19
large fiscal and monetary stimulus, the
eurozone economy will not recover its
output and jobs until 2023, and debt ris-
ing to record highs, as well as monetary
crisis, there’s a high likelihood of a mas- imbalances due to a massive supply of
sive increase in taxes that will make euros in a diminishing demand environ-
it more difficult to attract investment ment, may cause significant problems for
growth and jobs. the stability of the eurozone.
Most of the recovery plans are also The eurozone needs to understand that
aimed at bailing out the past and letting if it decides to increase taxes to address
the future die. There are massive bailout the rising debt due to the COVID-19
SUBSCRIBE TODAY packages for traditional conglomerates
and industries, but investment in tech-
response, its ability to recover will be ir-
reparably damaged.
nology and research and development

ReadEpoch.com continues to have high burdens and no

support.
Considering that the eurozone was al-
ready in contraction in the middle of the
massive Juncker Plan (that mobilized
Daniel Lacalle, Ph.D., is chief econo-
mist at hedge fund Tressis and author
of “Freedom or Equality,” “Escape from
the Central Bank Trap,” and “Life in the
Financial Markets.”
 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020 OPINION | A17

America’s Video-Streaming
Services Hosting People’s
Liberation Army Propaganda
DAVID BAYARONG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

CHRISTOPHER W. HOLTON

As Americans continue to suffer under

a public health lockdown due to CO-
VID-19, many of them have turned to
video-streaming services to pass the
time. But few probably expected to scroll
through their Netflix, Amazon Prime,
YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, or
Vudu and be exposed to blatant anti-
American Chinese military propaganda.
Yet that is exactly what audiences of
“Operation Red Sea,” by screenwriter
Feng Ji, producer Yu Dong, and direc-
tor Dante Lam, are being unknowingly
exposed to.
In the movie, a Chinese People’s Libera-
tion Army (PLA) military force rescues Chi-
nese citizens held by pirates off the coast of
Somalia and battles jihadists in a fictitious
nation (which is obviously meant to repre-
sent Yemen), in order to keep the jihadists
from obtaining uranium yellowcake.
None of this is particularly surprising
or offensive, except that the movie is
overtly dishonest. It opens with the claim
that it is “based on actual events,” a clue
that the movie is full of things that never
happened and people that didn’t exist.
Neither the PLA nor the Chinese
People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN)
have engaged in a hostage rescue opera- the issue to the World Court at the implication is that the Chinese military
tion in the Middle East. Nor have they U.S. destroyer USS Fitzger- Hague, where a tribunal ruled in its favor respects territorial sovereignty while the
ever engaged in a combat operation to ald arrives at Subic Bay, and against China’s claim. United States is a violator, and that the
prevent jihadist terrorists from obtaining north of Manila, Philippines, Red China’s response? Chinese military is unafraid to directly
nuclear material. on June 27, 2013. They refused to recognize the author- confront the United States.
In 2015, the PLAN did send two ships ity of the court to rule on the matter. In Beijing has been stepping up its pro-
into Aden harbor in Yemen, where they other words, according to the Chinese paganda campaign since the CCP virus
docked and took on board 600 Chinese regime, China doesn’t have to abide by dramatically impacted the globe, with the
nationals and 225 other foreign nationals, international law. clear intention of promoting an image of
some of whom were employees of Chi- The U.S. Navy routinely conducts “free- Chinese global dominance, a theme that
nese companies, as the civil war in Yemen dom of navigation” missions to defend U.S. streaming services shamefully allow
began to escalate. Neither the PLAN ships the right of free movement through in- “Operation: Red Sea” to advance as well.
nor the evacuees came under fire. Yet ternational waters. Unsurprisingly, none
through movie magic, that event turns into of this context makes it into the screen- Christopher W. Holton is director of state
an operation that makes the Rambo series play for “Operation Red Sea.” The clear outreach at the Center for Security Policy.
seem absolutely pacifist by comparison.
It’s no wonder that “Operation Red Sea”
According to the
THINK
was presented as a gift from Sina Enter-
tainment to the PLA in its recent 90th- Chinese regime, China

THE EPOCH TIMES,

anniversary celebration, since it’s clearly
a propaganda film.
doesn’t have to abide
That a Chinese production company by international law.
would create a film that celebrates its
country’s armed forces certainly comes
as no surprise. There was a time long ago
FOR TELEVISION
when Hollywood paid tribute to the U.S.
military with films such as “Sands of Iwo
Live news broadcasts, in-depth
Jima,” “The Longest Day,” “Thirty Sec- discussions, and investigative reports
onds Over Tokyo,” and “Sergeant York.”
What is surprising is that U.S.-based
streaming services have embraced it so
WATCH NTD NEWS BROADCASTS Monday to Friday
wholeheartedly and promoted it so ag-
gressively, particularly since the whole 12:30 – 1:00 PM EST 6:30 – 7:00 PM EST
film is geared toward an ending climax DAYTIME NEWS (LIVE) EVENING NEWS (LIVE)
that delivers a threat to the United States.
That ending scene is established at the • WWW.NTD.COM • CABLE (NEW YORK):
very opening of the movie, as about eight WMBC 63.1
minutes into the film, a Somali pirate • FACEBOOK: NTD NEWS
is shown escaping in a speedboat and a
• YOUTUBE: NTD • WWW.NTD.COM
Chinese commando wants to chase him.
His commander grants permission but • FACEBOOK: NTD NEWS
adds: “Don’t cross into territorial waters.” • YO
YOUT
U UB
UT U E:: NTD
YOUTUBE: NTD
TD
The commando responds, “I promise
I’ll get him before we cross into territorial
waters.”
The casual viewer may not catch the
significance of this dialogue. But more
than two hours later, during the final
three minutes of the movie, the scene is
suddenly switched from the Middle East
to the South China Sea. The same PLAN
task force is shown steaming with klaxons
sounding. Over a loudspeaker, a voice says:
“Attention! This is Chinese navy. You’re
about to enter Chinese waters. Please
turn around immediately. I repeat,
please turn around immediately!”
As this message is being delivered,
a computer-generated image of a U.S.
Navy Aegis cruiser and two Aegis de- That a Chinese
stroyers are shown steaming toward the production company
Chinese task force.
And then the movie ends with the
would create a film
message: that celebrates their
“CONQUER FEAR, CONQUER ALL.” armed forces certainly
U.S. national security experts have con-
sistently sounded the alarm about the comes as no surprise.
People’s Republic of China claiming the ... What is surprising
entire South China Sea as its territorial is that U.S.-based
waters. If you look at a map of the re-
gion, that would be the equivalent of the streaming services
United States claiming the entire Gulf of have embraced
Mexico as its territorial waters. it so wholeheartedly NTD News, NTD, and The Epoch Times
Understandably, other countries in the are part of Epoch Media Group. INFORMING AMERICA
Asia-Pacific region dispute the PRC’s and promoted
claim. In 2016, the Philippines brought it so aggressively.
A18 | PUZZLES TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020

CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTED BY TOM HOUSTON

EPOCH TIMES STAFF 94. Animal abodes 38. Get 4NUMBERS CONSTRUCTED BY C. CHANG
AT 4NUMS.COM

97. Squeezing (out) 44. Wreath given with Use the four numbers in the corners, and
the operands (+, - X, and ÷) to build an
98. A&W specialty Aloha equation to get the solution in the middle.
There may be more than one “unique” so-
101. Final Commandment 46. Toy ammo lution but, there may also be “equivalent”
102. Charge solutions. For example: 6 + (7 X 3) +1 = 28
47. www.ntd.com e.g. and 1+ (7 X 3) + 6 = 28
103. “I’m ___ you!” 49. “___ true!”
104. Anxiety 52. Slag
105. Fine-tempered Span-
54. Lead sulfide
ish swords
56. Umpire’s cry
106. “And hurry!”
57. “Medical Investigation”
Down org.
1. 1917 revolution casualty 58. Take to court
2. Teen spots 59. Tokyo, formerly
Hard 1 - 1 Solution
3. Early 60. “Star Trek” speed
4. Con 61. No longer ahead
5. Opposite of hence 62. Getting lost
6. Beseech 65. Scrapes
7. 1971 Ravi Shankar docu- 66. AWOL swab’s quarters
mentary 67. Grant
8. An egg in Caesar’s salad 69. Hermetically sealed
9. Afghan coin 71. A hooker may make one
10. Soothsayer 72. “My gal” of song Hard 2 - 1 Solution

11. Brazilian mister 74. World’s largest volcano

12. Two-year-old, at times 77. Bestow
Across 31. Em, to Dorothy 65. “Alias” airer 13. It became the TV Guide
79. Undivided
1. Pack a pipe, e.g. 32. Produces a vital sign 68. “The Hurt Locker” beat Channel in 1999
5. Opportune 82. Accords
39. Super-duper it for Best Picture 14. Clinging
12. Primitive parking brake 40. ___ Bowl 83. Chart
70. “Ghostbusters” vehicle 15. For the time being
17. Kind of tissue 41. Point of no return? 84. Wholly
73. Card game for three 16. Leaves
18. Photo follower (pl.) 42. Resentment 85. “A good walk spoiled”
75. Ad ___ (relevant) 19. Black mark
20. Doctrine 43. Become knotty according to Twain
76. II + I 22. Accra money Easy 1 - 1 Solution
21. Blood thinner 45. Quick look 89. “... I ___ man with seven
78. Fertilizer type 29. Andean stew vegetable
23. Adjust a brogue 48. “Jeopardy!” fodder wives”
80. Parched 30. Crowned Holy on
24. Be a good environmen- 50. Slippery sort
81. Python is just one 12/25/800 91. Permitted
talist 51. Miami Heat’s zone
86. Wrongful act 32. Zoo feature 92. Show the way
25. Thanksgiving side dish 53. $1000, slangily
87. Piece of glass 33. Unaccompanied 93. Danish toy company
26. Phi follower 55. Fill-in
27. They play against the 56. Some vanity items 88. A long, long time 34. Having wings 95. Pro follower
odds 60. Braided 89. Kenyan tribesman 35. Apt rhyme for “chop” 96. Check
28. “What ___?” 63. Hatred 90. Liable 36. It’s definite 99. ___ el Amarna, Egypt
30. Back up 64. Hallucinogen 91. Everyone 37. Chamber groups 100. Object in a courtroom Easy 2 - 1 Solution

WORDSEARCH CONSTRUCTED BY TOM HOUSTON

EPOCH TIMES STAFF KAKURO CONSTRUCTED
BY EPOCH TIMES STAFF

Kakuro puzzles are like crosswords that use numbers instead of words. The goal is to fill the blank squares associated with a clue (called a “run”) with the numbers
Help with Today’s Crossword Puzzle? 1-9 so that the numbers add up to the corresponding clues. Like Sudoku, digits in a run cannot repeat. When the grid is filled, the puzzle is complete.
Large: Hard Large: Easy

AIRTIGHT GRANTS ORACLE

ALATED GUANO OVERTAKEN
ALOHA HEARSE PRISONER
WORK SPACE
ANGST IMPART RETIE
APROPOS LAIRS REUSE
AVATAR LARGE SENHOR
CHARLEMAGNE MAP OUT SPRAG
CREDO MASAI STIGMA
EKING MATUTINAL TENTH
EVENS OCTETS TOLEDOS
GALENA ODIUM TRIVIA
GNARL OMBRE TUTELAGE

SOLUTIONS
CROSSWORD KAKURO LARGE: EASY KAKURO LARGE: HARD 4 NUMBERS
HARD 1

HARD 2

EASY 1

EASY 2
 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020 PUZZLES | A19
SUPERSUDOKU CONSTRUCTED
BY KANNAN SANKARAN KAKURO CONSTRUCTED
BY EPOCH TIMES STAFF

Fill in the boxes using numbers from 0 to 9 and letters from A to F so that Kakuro puzzles are like crosswords that use numbers instead of words. The goal is to fill the blank squares associated with a clue (called a “run”) with the numbers 1-9
each column, each row, and each 4x4 square contain all ten numbers and so that the numbers add up to the corresponding clues. Like Sudoku, digits in a run cannot repeat. When the grid is filled, the puzzle is complete.
six letters only once.
Easy Hard

SUDOKU
Fill in the boxes using numbers between 1 and 9 so that each column, each
row, and each 3x3 square contain all nine numbers only once.
Hard

CRYPTIC QUOTE
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
2

Easy

EPOCH ESCAPE MAZE KEN KEN

1. Each row and each column must contain the
numbers 1 through 6 without repeating. 2. The
numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called
cages, must combine using the given operation (in
any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-
left corners. 3. Freebies: Fill in single-box cages with
the number in the top-left corner.

EPOCH DOKU CONSTRUCTED

BY EPOCH TIMES STAFF

FEEDBACK@EPOCHTIMES.COM

WE HAVE MADE SOME CHANGES TO OUR

PUZZLE PAGE IN RESPONSE TO PUZZLER’S
FEEDBACK. LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

WORK SPACE

SOLUTIONS
SUPERSUDOKU SUDOKU: EASY KENKEN EASY KAKURO HARD KAKURO

SUDOKU: HARD EPOCH DOKU

CRYPTIC QUOTE
- Gilbert K. Chesterton
what he has come to see.
he sees, the tourist sees
The traveler sees what

Contact the Puzzle Master @: Feedback@EpochTimes.com

A20 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020

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 PUBLIC DOMAIN MGM
POETRY REWIND, REVIEW, AND RE-RATE

Poems for You, Mom Rethinking ‘Thelma & Louise’

We send flowers and cards and make phone calls, but A stacked deck against the ladies … or the men?
do we recognize the enormous influence of mothers?

See B2 See B7

LITERATURE | CULTURE | ENTERTAINMENT TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020 B1

RAMA/CC BY-SA 3.0 FR

King Oedipus nobly endured a

horrible fate; he wandered blind
and exiled, with only his daughters,
LITERATURE here only Antigone, for comfort.
“Oedipus at Colonus,” 1882,
by Jean-Baptiste Hugues.
Museum of Grenoble.

Oedipus JAMES SALE

O
edipus is one of the
greatest heroes

and the Plague

of Greek mythol-
ogy—immortalized
in what is generally
considered the greatest of all
Greek dramas, “Oedipus Rex”
by Sophocles. But a moment’s

The Will to Endure reflection will reveal that he is

a hero unlike most of the other
heroes of ancient Greece: He
did not possess the strength
and power of a Herakles or
Theseus, or the wily warrior
skills of Odysseus, or even the
poetry and singing skills of
Orpheus who descended more
deeply into Hades even than
Herakles. In what way, then,
was he a hero?
Well, he was a hero in that
he overcame a monster, the
Sphinx, but this was not
through strength or wiles: It
was through insight and intel-
ligence. By Oedipus answering
the Sphinx’s riddle correctly,
the Sphinx despairs and kills
herself. And this is worth no-
ticing, for here is the first clue
as to why Oedipus is a hero:
Escaping is the very thing that
he refuses to do. As we will see,
Oedipus when faced with his
crimes does not give up. He re-
lentlessly seeks, and unflinch-
ingly faces, the truth, and then
he takes the consequences.
He is a hero of the human
will’s ability to endure, to move
forward, and to persevere to
the end. In this way, he is a
real hero for our times, for was
there ever a time when we
needed such qualities more?

Today’s Ills
Suicide rates are at their high-
est-ever levels; and numbing
out—not facing reality—is evi-
dent in all the escapism, that
is, addictions to alcohol, drugs,
gambling, and home enter-
tainment systems by which we
are encased. And if we have
not subjected ourselves to sui-
cide or escapism, we also have
those extraordinary high levels
of depression and despair with
which so many in our society
are now afflicted.
What, then, is the story of
Oedipus and why is this so
relevant to us? Jungian psy-
chology takes the view, I think
correctly, that what we deny
inwardly eventually mani-
fests itself outwardly. In other
words, what is going on within
us, internally, will eventually
appear in the real world. This
becomes a fate from which we
cannot escape.
In the case of Oedipus, the
road that leads to his fate
seems terrible to contemplate.
We must start with Oedipus’s
father, Laius, and his crime.
Laius raped the king’s son, a
crime known in antiquity as
“the crime of Laius” (hybris, or
“violent outrage”). As punish-
ment, the goddess Hera sent the
monster Sphinx to the Thebans.
Furthermore, Apollo warns
Laius that if he fathers a son, as
punishment for his crime, his
own son would kill him.
Oedipus is a model for our times. Faced with this oracle,
Laius ordered that his son be
destroyed at birth.

Continued on B4
B2
POETRY
A THANK YOU LETTER FOR
Mother’s
TRUTH and TRADITION
Day
JEFF MINICK
W
e frequently hear the
saying “Politics is down-
stream from culture,”
but we should consider as
well that culture is downstream from
the family. The foundation stone for
a healthy culture is the family, both
the nuclear family and its extensions:
grandparents, cousins, uncles, and
aunts. If we wish to see what happens
to a culture when these bonds be-
come frayed or broken, we have only
to lift our heads and look around us.
And mothers are the heart of this
arrangement. (A note to Dads: We’ll be
coming back to you on Father’s Day.)
Though Anna Jarvis created Mother’s
Day in 1908 to pay homage to “the
person who has done more for you
than anyone in the world,” poets and
writers, sons and daughters, have long
extolled mothers and motherhood.
Returning
From the tributes of Marcus Aurelius
to his mother to those of other histori-
cal figures like Abraham Lincoln and
Theodore Roosevelt, children have
shown a deep appreciation for mater-
to Tradition
Advertise in the Arts & Culture Section
nal influences, recognizing, as Ralph
Waldo Emerson said, “Men are what
their mothers made them.”
The most ardent literary embrace
of motherhood occurred during the
Victorian period. Many of that era’s
poems and stories about family life
call 212-292-8359 or email advertise@epochtimes.nyc were certainly more sugary than
today’s prose and verse, though
whether that difference is good or
bad is debatable. Nevertheless, if we
glance back at some of those 19th-
century poets, we discover a deep
appreciation of motherhood.
The most ardent
literary embrace
of motherhood
occurred during the
Victorian period.
Wholehearted Love
Regarding unconditional maternal
love, Rudyard Kipling wrote these
verses in “Mother o’ Mine”:
If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!
:($5$3,(&(2)+($9(1_:::<81%287,48(&20 I know whose love would follow me
still,
'LVFRYHUWKHWLPHOHVVHOHJDQFHRI
'LVFRYHU WKH WLPHOHVV HOHJDQFH RI WUDGLWLRQDO
WUDGLWLRQDO&KLQHVHFXOWXUHZLWK<XQ
&KLQHVH FXOWXUH ZLWK <XQ%RXWLTXH
%RXWLTXH Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!
FRQQHFWLQJSDVWWRSUHVHQWDQGKHDYHQWRHDUWK
If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!
I know whose tears would come
down to me,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!
If I were damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make
me whole,
Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!
Years ago, when my mom still lived,
TRUTH and TRADITION I would on occasion recite these
lines to her, especially after she had
rebuked me. My recitation made her
COVERING
laugh, but we both tacitly acknowl-
edged the truth of these sentiments.
IMPORTANT NEWS
The Teaching Mother
Victorian writer Jane Taylor, author
of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and
her sister and collaborator Ann gave
OTHER MEDIA IGNORE
us “My Mother.” Here are two verses
from this sweet tribute to moms:
Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
SUBSCRIBE TODAY My Mother.
Who taught my infant lips to pray,
ReadEpoch.com And love God’s holy book and day,
And walk in wisdom’s pleasant way?
My Mother.
TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
Mothers still “kiss the place to make it
well,” and still teach their children to
“walk in wisdom’s way.”
American writer Strickland Gil-
lilan’s “The Reading Mother” recalls
his boyhood when his mother fired up
his imagination with “sagas of pirates”
and stories of “ancient and gallant and
golden days.” The poem’s last stanza
reads:
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Self -portrait with her daughter Julie, 1789, by
Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun, Louvre Museum,
Paris.
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be—
I had a Mother who read to me.
Treasures Unappreciated
Our own age regrettably takes a more
jaundiced view of motherhood. Some
mothers regret the constrictions of
having birthed children, some people
look askance at large families, and
some malicious souls even refer to
mothers as “breeders,” an obscenity
which if issued in the 19th century
might have brought a gentleman’s
walking stick crashing down upon the
offender’s skull.
We have retained Mother’s Day
with its flowers and cards, its outings
and phone calls, but we often fail to
recognize and honor the enormous
influence of moms on our culture.
That mother who teaches her children
their prayers, who shares nursery
rhymes and stories with her little
ones, who imparts virtue and right
thinking to her adolescents, who
steers her teenagers through the
stormy seas of high school—these
women are the true caretakers of
culture.
Thank You, Moms
Years ago, while teaching home-
schoolers, I was attempting to inspire
a class about their future when a
young man asked, “Why do you care
about us so much, Mr. Minick? We’re
not your children.”
I thought a moment and then
replied, “No, you’re not my children.
But I have grandchildren, and they’re
going to have to live in the world with
you long after I am gone.”
So thank you, Moms. Thank you for
all you do. No matter who you are—
stay-at-home moms, working moms,
single moms—thank you for trying
to raise good kids, virtuous kids, kids
who find value in poetry, art, and mu-
sic, and most especially, kids who will
treasure liberty.
Thank you for making the world a
better place for my grandchildren.
Jeff Minick has four children and a
growing platoon of grandchildren. For
20 years, he taught history, literature,
and Latin to seminars of homeschool-
ing students in Asheville, N.C., Today,
he lives and writes in Front Royal, Va.
See JeffMinick.com to follow his blog.
 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020 B3
PUBLIC DOMAIN

ESSENCE
OF
CHINA
Staying Safe
During a
Plague
“Scenes from 24
The story of Yu Paragons of Filial Piety”
Gun caring for by Japanese artist Kano
Motonobu. Indianapolis
his elder brother Museum of Art.

CINDY CHAN pecially his piety to his parents ed his brother with great care. weather can one truly see how Confucius very much valued

A
mid a deadly epidem-
ic in his hometown,
when people were
either abandoning
their afflicted homes or des-
perately fleeing town to es-
cape from infection, Yu Gun
was the only one who did not
follow suit. Instead, he was
determined to stay behind to
care for his plague-stricken el-
der brother.
It would be several months
before the epidemic gradually
began to ease. Against all odds,
not only was Yu Gun spared—
still safe and sound—but his
brother had also miraculously
recovered.
This is one among many sto-
ries of protection from disease
that have played out through-
out Chinese history. They are
timeless stories that are worth
exploring.
Yu Gun was a well-educated
young man who lived in Henan
Province in central China dur-
ing a devastating outbreak in
275–280, over 1,700 years ago.
Not only was he well-versed in
the Chinese classics, but he was
also highly regarded by every-
one for his good character, es-
and siblings.
Compelled by his filial duty to
his elder brother, despite the dire
circumstances, Yu Gun’s deci-
sion to stay behind was clear.
The illness had suddenly
emerged in the Henan area
during the reign of Emperor
Wu in the Western Jin Dynas-
ty. It swept through the region
and escalated into an epidem-
ic, taking the lives of numer-
ous people. Among them were
two of Yu Gun’s older brothers.
His second elder brother was
also infected and in critical
condition.
To save the rest of their chil-
dren, Yu Gun’s parents pre-
pared a coffin for their ill son
and made ready to take Yu Gun
and his younger brothers away
to safety.
But Yu Gun was unwilling to go,
as his elder brother would then
have no one to look after him.
‘I Am Not Afraid
of the Disease’
When his father and elder
brother urged him to escape
with the family, Yu Gun re-
plied, “I am not afraid of the
disease.”
He stayed behind and tend-
Many nights he hardly rested
or slept at all. Sometimes he
would look at the coffin and
shed silent tears, but he never
wavered in his decision to be
there for his brother.
Filial devotion may
well have been the
essential quality
that helped him
stay healthy
and safe.
Yu Gun cared for his brother
tirelessly for over 100 days be-
fore the epidemic gradually
waned, and their family and
the other townspeople were
able to return.
Back home, they were aston-
ished and relieved to find that
both Yu Gun and his brother
were healthy and safe.
The town’s elders remarked:
“This lad is truly extraordinary!
He was able to hold fast to duty
that others could not fulfill, and
do what others could not do.”
“Indeed, only after frigid
the pine and cypress are better
than other trees at withstand-
ing the cold. And it seems that
a plague cannot infect a good
person,” they added.
The winter image of the pine
and cypress was in reference to
these two evergreens that are
often paired in traditional Chi-
nese culture to convey the idea
that only through a severe and
rigorous ordeal can a person’s
true character be seen.
Genuine Safeguard
Against the Plague
The account of Yu Gun’s life is
documented in a collection of
stories about historical figures
titled “Filial Piety Biographies”
contained in the “Book of Jin,”
an official text covering the
history of the Jin Dynasty from
265 to 420.
Yu Gun’s account includes
several other stories in praise
of his filial piety, kindhearted-
ness, honest character, and at-
tention to propriety.
Filial piety is arguably the
most important among the
various essential moral virtues
in traditional Chinese culture,
as the saying “Filial piety is at
the root of all goodness” shows.
family relationships because a
stable and harmonious family
is a basic building block of a
stable and harmonious society.
The Confucian ideal of a man
of virtue extends from filial pi-
ety to one’s parents to respect
toward one’s elder brother, to
loyalty to one’s monarch, and
faithfulness and trustworthi-
ness between male friends.
According to traditional Chi-
nese belief, Yu Gun’s filial devo-
tion may well have been the es-
sential quality that helped him
stay healthy and safe amid the
severe epidemic.
History repeatedly attests to
this theme, such as conveyed
in two representative passag-
es from “Songfeng Shuoyi,” or
“Songfeng on Epidemic Dis-
eases,” a book by the famous
Qing Dynasty doctor Liu Kui,
who was also called Songfeng.
“Evil will not encroach on the
good, and filial piety can deter
Heaven. Such is the genuine ef-
fective safeguard against the
plague,” Songfeng wrote.
“One who fulfi lls his fi lial
obligation to his elders—this
is the reason Heaven protects
such a person,” Songfeng also
noted.

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B4 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020

PUBLIC DOMAIN

The infant Oedipus revived by the shepherd Phorbas, 1810s, by Antoine-Denis Chaudet. Louvre, King Oedipus, the cause of the plague, was shunned by his people. “The Plague of Thebes:
from the Luxembourg Museum in Paris. Oedipus and Antigone,” 1842, by Charles François Jalabert. Marseille Museum of Fine Arts. 

LITERATURE

Oedipus and the Plague

The Will to Endure
VLADOUBIDOOO/CC BY-SA 3.0

Continued from B1

A servant was ordered to abandon and

expose the baby on Mount Cithaeron,
with the child’s feet being transfixed
by a spike. Hence, the name Oedipus,
which means “swollen feet.” However,
the servant couldn’t go along with such
an evil act, so he passes the child to a
shepherd to look after, and so fate is set
in motion.
Fast-forward: The oracle at Delphi tells
Oedipus that he will kill his father and
marry his mother; Oedipus, not know-
ing his true heritage, assumes he will
harm his step-parents at Corinth. Thus,
to avoid the prophecy, he flees Corinth
and during his flight inadvertently
meets his real father at a crossroad. Nei-
ther recognizes the other, and following
an altercation, Oedipus kills his father.
From there, Oedipus goes on to
Thebes, and on the way answers the
Sphinx’s riddle. Through this act of
superior intelligence, he destroys the
Sphinx and is made king of Corinth; in
the process, he marries Queen Jocasta
who, unbeknownst to them both, is also
his real mother. The prophecy of Apollo
is fulfilled.
“The Murder of Laius by Oedipus,” 1867, by Joseph Blanc.
 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020 B5

PUBLIC DOMAIN PUBLIC DOMAIN

Oedipus answering the Sphinx’s question. Painted

red figure ceramic, circa 470 B.C. Gregorian Etrus-
can Museum of Vatican Museums.

PD-US

Sophocles’s play “Oedipus at Colonus” ends with

the king, who having atoned for his sins, becomes
a blessing to the city where he is buried. “Oedipus
and Antigone” by Franz Dietrich. Crocker Art
Museum, Sacramento, Calif.

Why this plague, and why

now? And so, the rest of
the story of Oedipus is his
relentless pursuit to find
the answer.

There are many points of deep inter-
est in this story, but here I want to focus
on the fact it all seems to our modern
minds wholly unfair!
It’s Unfair!
It seems as if Oedipus is some inno-
cent being led to willful destruction for
no good reason. After all, his father’s
actions—or to use a biblical term, sin—
provoked the first curse. Then, having
survived birth and exposure, his killing
of Laius was in anger, but also in self-
defense, as he was being forced off the
road by Laius, and Laius struck him. He
also had tried desperately to avoid the
prophecy by not going near his home
city. Finally, he could not know that
Jocasta was his mother.
But here we remember James Hollis’s
comment: “How different was Jung’s
puzzling but challenging religious af-
firmation that especially in the trau-
matic, the work of the gods may be seen.
He wrote, ‘[God] is the name by which
I designate all things which cross my
wilful path violently and recklessly, all
things which upset my subjective views,
plans and intentions and change the
course of my life for better or worse.’”
Something, clearly, crosses Oedipus’s
path in its violent and reckless way.
And so we come to the middle part
of the story. For Oedipus could have
lived a happy-ever-after life with Queen
Jocasta. He was a successful king for 20
years; they had four children between
them. And they didn’t know they were
committing incest. But at this point in
the narrative, the god Apollo forces the
issue. A dreadful plague descends on
Thebes, and on consulting the Delphic
Oracle, Oedipus learns that the plague
will only end when the murderer of King
Laius has been killed or banished. Oedi-
pus (ironically, since he curses himself)
puts a curse on the murderer and then
sets out to find him and end the plague.
Today, we consider it heartless and
wrong to suggest that COVID-19 is a
plague sent by God or the gods to pun-
ish mankind for some sin that we are
unaware of. But it is not just the Greeks
who held that plagues are manifesta-
tions of the gods’ anger. Most famously,
the Bible records the Egyptians, the
Israelites, the Philistines, the Assyrians,
and more besides, experiencing plagues
as a direct result of some transgressions.
Often these are ascribed to the whole
nation or tribe, but sometimes, as in the
case of Oedipus, they derive from one
sole person’s wrongdoing. For example,
in 2 Samuel 24:10 we learn of King
David’s sin—a sin that causes 70,000
people to die in a plague.
Oedipus is a hero of
the human will’s ability
to endure, to move
forward, and to
persevere to the end.
The point about the sin, however, is
that it is not obvious: It is something be-
neath the surface that has to be revealed
through the suffering. Nobody wants
it, and in one sense, nobody deserves
it. How are we, as humans, to say that
somebody deserves to die of COVID-19?
In his book “The Wisdom of the
Myths,” Luc Ferry addresses this fun-
damental question: Irrespective of
whether we see ourselves of deserving
a certain fate, we must face it. So here
is where the Oedipus story reveals the
significance of these crises: The ancients
did not go into denial to avoid the truth
or to evade responsibility. They faced
reality; in Eastern philosophical terms,
the Tao is right and to go against it is the
greater crime.
Plagues cannot be ignored; lives are at
stake. But what they force human beings
to do is ask “why?” Why this plague,
and why now? And so, the rest of the
story of Oedipus is his relentless pursuit
to find the answer to this question. In
one sense, plagues force us to confront
mortality and suffering in a very direct
and agonizing manner, and this leads
us to question the meaning of life itself.
Oedipus, then, is a model for our times.
Facing or Dodging Responsibility?
If we consider COVID-19, the modern
world wants to find who is responsible
for it. Is it the Chinese Communist
Party? Is it some aspect of biological
evolution whereby viruses naturally
mutate, or have they unnaturally mu-
tated? Is it the leader or government of
this or that country who failed to put
in place the right measures at the right
time? Is it scientists more generally who
have failed to give good advice? The list
goes on. But this way of thinking is not
how the Greeks or the Israelites or the
ancients thought.
Once Zeus triumphed over the forces
of chaos and darkness, and established
order and justice (the goddess Diké)—
the equivalent to God creating the cos-
mos and it being “good”—all violations
of this order have consequences. It’s not
that the sons of the father must be pun-
ished for their father’s sin, but rather that
in sinning in the first place the cosmic
order has been displaced, and so there is
going to be collateral damage that may
take generations to repair, and to return
to its proper and harmonious stability.
In a way, we see this all the time:
Parents can create unfortunate lega-
cies for their children, which is not the
children’s fault, but for which they have
to endure a lifetime of problems. And if
we consider the whole Oedipus family
story—which extends over several gen-
erations—this is extremely apt.
Thus, while we may be looking for who
is immediately responsible for COV-
ID-19, the ancient Greeks who recorded
what happened to Oedipus would be
looking for something deeper: perhaps
one person, one family, one tribe, or one
nation that exhibited massive hubris at
some point in the past, and now col-
lectively we all have to pay the price, as
Oedipus’s subjects did when the plague
struck them. Alternatively, has human-
ity itself committed some collective act
of hubris for which now a penalty is be-
ing enforced?
The herdsman in Sophocles’s play who
finally confirms that it is Oedipus who
killed his father, says as he is about to
make the revelation: “I am on the brink
of terrible words.” To which Oedipus
replies, “And I of terrible hearing.” What
must we in the modern world, as we
contemplate the fate of Oedipus, hear
that perhaps we don’t want to but, like
Oedipus, we must?
James Sale is an English businessman
whose company, Motivational Maps
Ltd., operates in 14 countries. He is the
author of over 40 books on management
and education from major international
publishers including Macmillan, Pear-
son, and Routledge. As a poet, he won
the first prize in The Society of Classical
Poets’ 2017 competition and spoke in June
2019 at the group’s first symposium held
at New York’s Princeton Club.
B6
‘Little Women’:
A Gem of American Literature
SUSANNAH PEARCE
L
ouisa May Alcott’s
“Little Women” (1868)
holds a unique place in
the literary annals. It
has enjoyed popular-
ity from the time of publication
until today and has even inspired
numerous interpretations for the
stage and silver screen. On the
other hand, it is discounted by
some as juvenile and preachy—
“only” a children’s book. It doesn’t
get even a mention in Wikipedia’s
“American Literature” entry, and
is only briefly listed under its
“Children’s Literature” entry.
“Little Women” also evades the
canon of “The Great American
Novel,” a term coined by novel-
ist John William De Forest in
his essay written the same year
as “Little Women.” De Forest
defined the designation as “the
picture of ordinary emotions and
manners of American existence.”
Considering academics include
on the list “Moby Dick,” which is
about a revenge-crazed whaler,
we can’t help wonder why “Little
Women,” which portrays exactly
the ordinary picture of emotions
and manners found in American
family life, does not!
It was publicly vindicated in the
2003 BBC survey “The Big Read,”
which polled three-quarters of a
million readers. “Little Women”
ranked 18th in the list of the UK’s
best-loved novels, coming fourth
among American novels.
What makes Louisa May
Alcott’s work inspire such differ-
ing responses among critics? It
may be its seeming ordinariness
that causes it to be overlooked
by academics, yet beloved by
generations of readers. Perhaps
Alcott does have something truly
unique to offer, which the aca-
demics have missed.
Lemonade From Lemons
Alcott’s bestseller is often de-
scribed as an autobiographical
work because the author lifts
from her own experience much of
what we see in the story: a family
of four sisters living in New Eng-
land, guided in their growth by
loving parents. The March family
has fallen into difficult financial
means familiar to the Alcotts. The
identities of the story’s March sis-
ters (Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy) line
up with the Alcott family (Anna,
Louisa, Elizabeth, and May).
Alcott certainly based many
of the events in the story on the
LITERATURE
doings of her actual family, but
her story is far from an autobi-
ography. Doubtless, she and her
sisters enjoyed putting on plays,
composing newspapers, and
doing general household tasks as
did the March sisters of the book.
However, her real childhood
was not quite the cozy, rooted
existence enjoyed by the March
family.
While the Marches remember
more prosperous circumstances,
the Alcotts were sadly accus-
tomed to humiliating poverty
and even outright penury and
hunger. Their family had to move
time after time as Mr. Alcott
experienced one failure after
another. This upbringing nev-
ertheless provided Louisa not
only with material for her stories
about a family living in poverty
but also with an impetus for writ-
ing: making a decent living.
A Time of Change
During her lifetime, Louisa
May Alcott witnessed a period
of head-spinning growth and
change in America and the
world. Locally, her parents were
members of the Transcendental
Movement, which arose in New
England at that time. Its ad-
herents grappled through a
philosophical fog toward an
understanding of human
anthropology better than
those who followed the tra-
dition of Puritanism or the
Rationalism of the Industrial
Age, which were then at odds.
A far from exhaustive list of
changes in the United States from
her birth to the book’s publica-
tion includes the ongoing acqui-
sition of territory and creation of
new states, the growth of rail-
roads, the founding of universi-
ties, hospitals, libraries, banks,
and publishers, wars for territory
in the frontier, the temperance
movement, a cholera pandemic,
industrialization, the gold rush,
a surge of immigration, and
clashes among abolitionists and
proponents of slave labor culmi-
nating in the American Civil War,
which ended just three years
before the publication of “Little
Women.”
Alcott’s characters apparently
experienced little of this. Mr.
March was away from home,
having volunteered as a chaplain
to the brave men fighting at “the
front.” We are only left to assume,
for lack of explication, that this is
the Civil War, which would be in
PUBLIC DOMAIN
“Little
Women” is
more than
a book for
children.
the forefront of the minds of her
readers, but it is left vague.
Battles Within
Vagueness, rather than vogue-
ness, is employed by Alcott and
contributes to the book’s appeal
over so many generations. It is
not definitely tied to any par-
ticular time or set of beliefs but
speaks to transcendent human
qualities. Its center and focus is
the family home and the hu-
man heart.
Its center and The beliefs of the March
focus is the family family are not explicit.
home and the Reference is made to John
human heart. Bunyan’s Puritan classic,
“The Pilgrim’s Progress,” as
inspiring games of play-acting
in the girls’ younger days. Mrs.
March later exhorts Jo to find
consolation in her “ever-present
Father above” when Jo appeals
to her mother’s aid in conquer-
ing her volcanic temper. Amy
learned the benefits of solitary
meditation aided by a beautiful
image of the Madonna and Child,
from her aunt’s French servant,
a Catholic.
However, the struggle to grow
in virtue and self-control is
central to the book. While the
Civil War may be somewhere in
the background of the story, the
main battles are fought within
the hearts of the March girls,
under the gentle tutelage of their
wise mother. “Marmee,” as they
call her, never scolds or nags,
but leads and encourages her
daughters toward virtuous deci-
sions as they face their individual
temptations.
The Marches’ genteel poverty
grates on each of them in differ-
ent ways. Meg desires the nice
things other girls have. Quick-
tempered Jo wants to make a
name (and fortune) for herself,
doing something big. Beth, who
is naturally virtuous, feels her
little part is not what it should
be. Amy wishes to be esteemed
as a lady.
Each girl comes face-to-face
with her temptation, teeters, and
ultimately overcomes it. Meg
finds herself among wealthy,
fashionable friends and suc-
cumbs to the allure of vanity,
being dressed up in borrowed
fineries and behaving frivolously.
Her disgust with herself returns
her to the realization that integ-
rity and the regard of those
she loves is a greater good than
pretty trifles.
Jo battles her choleric temper,
which flares up at Amy when the
younger sister destroys months
of writing work (the pride of her
heart) in an act of resentment.
Jo’s disdain for Amy nearly ends
in tragedy when she allows her
younger sister to fall through thin
ice while skating. The occasion
brings Jo to dedicate herself to
Louisa working to control her passions,
May the free run of which brings only
Alcott, sorrow.
the author Beth’s frontline of temptation
of “Little is more subtle than the others’
Women.” because she is naturally virtu-
TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
ous and sweet. The shy sister’s
victory is the realization, on her
deathbed, that her contribution
to domestic happiness is, in fact,
enough.
Amy, the pretentious youngest,
seems to achieve all her outward
desires. Her ambition was to
become the best she could aspire
to. Through prayerful meditation
on the good and beautiful and
constant adjusting of her tenden-
cies to a closer approximation of
her aspiration, she actually does
become a fine lady, with all the
attendant luxuries.
A Unique Vantage Point
Alcott had had some small
publishing success when her
publisher suggested she write
“a girl’s book.” Whether or not
her heart was in it as she wrote,
she certainly hit the bull’s-eye
with “Little Women.” It was right
on target at the time and has
remained a hit in the hearts of
succeeding generations of read-
ers ever since.
Having spent her life within
the sphere of influence of intel-
lectuals and writers at a time
of rapid change in philosophy,
technology, education, and
women’s rights, among others,
Alcott was well-placed to see
back along the path from which
American society was emerging
and forward toward the direction
in which it was headed. She was
smart enough to make something
of this pivotal position. Her book
embraces traditional goods as
well as the changes that allowed
for a greater development of the
person than had been acceptable
in the strict social atmosphere of
the time.
Today’s reader finds more that
is familiar than is outdated in this
work written over 150 years ago.
Much of the Transcendentalist
thought and theory became the
foundation of the educational
system that is now standard in
the United States. While Alcott
bore little resemblance to the
feminists of today, she supported
women’s suffrage and increased
opportunity for women to excel
in their area of talent beyond
what was common at the time.
She endorsed literacy in the arts
and wholesome exercise. These
newer views are woven (some-
times unevenly, sometimes
didactically) through her book,
all the while remaining pinned
to the traditional and enduring
goods of virtue, integrity, and
domestic happiness.
“Little Women” is a bright and
attractive refuge of familiar do-
mestic life, realistically rendered.
G.K. Chesterton suggested that
Alcott’s book “anticipated realism
by twenty or thirty years.” The
success of Alcott’s little women
lies in the development of their
characters, rather than merely
their happily-ever-after marriag-
es. As in real life, marriage is not
the end, but one of the events that
help shape the person.
Louisa May Alcott gathers
into “Little Women” the goods
common to people of all times,
and builds newer ideas onto that
foundation in a natural way that
was not shocking to her contem-
porary audience. Nor do they
seem dated to today’s readers.
Her subtle insight into the en-
during truths of human nature
may have been overlooked by
academics, yet Alcott deftly
navigates the rapid current of
change in her time to produce
a valuable piece of literature
that refuses to be relegated to
the nursery as “just a children’s
book.” She has produced a gem
of American literature.
Susannah Pearce holds a master’s
degree in theology and writes from
her home in South Carolina.
 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020
(Above left) (L–R) Geena Davis, Brad Pitt in his breakout performance, and Susan Sarandon in "Thelma & Louise." (Above right) At some point, there is no turning back. Louise (Susan Sarandon, L) and
Thelma (Geena Davis) running from the law. (Below) Susan Sarandon (L) and Geena Davis play gals on a vacation that turns into a wild adventure, in “Thelma & Louise.”
FILM INSIGHTS Mark Jackson grew up in Spring Val-
ley, N.Y., where he attended a Waldorf
WITH MARK
school. At Williams College, his pro-
fessors all suggested he write pro-
fessionally. He acted professionally
JACKSON
for 20 years instead. Now he
REWIND, REVIEW, AND RE-RATE
‘Thelma & Louise’:
An Unfair Fight for Feminism
MARK JACKSON
I
saw “Thelma & Louise,” Ridley Scott’s
paean to feminism in 1991 with an act-
ing school ex-classmate. I observed the
drug-like effect that one of the film’s minor
characters was having on her, and I made a
note to keep an eye on the career of a young
actor whose golden hair and ripped abs
were only part of his already formidable
X-factor. You can always spot a star being
born, like Scarlett Johansson in “Ghost
World,” Jack Black in “Bob Roberts,” and
Tim Robbins in “Bull Durham.”
Though I myself didn’t bliss out over the
then unknown Brad Pitt in like fashion,
director Scott’s panoramic, drop-dead-
gorgeous lensing of Utah and Arizona’s
red-rock mesas, buttes, otherworldly
desert dreamscapes, and the glorious
highways that bisect them are like potent
drugs to bikers.
Like “Easy Rider” before it, I immedi-
ately needed to own this movie. I owned
it on VHS, then DVD, had the soundtrack
on my iPod, still own it, and still want
to carve those red-rock canyons on two
wheels, with a couple of extra gas cans
strapped to my Harley.
That said, and despite the fact that it was
a zeitgeist film with a powerful influence
that’s long since entered the American
cultural lexicon, I’ve realized a few things
about “Thelma & Louise.” I think femi-
nism wins the fight here. But it’s not at
all a fair fight.
Sweet Southern Gals
Tall, beautiful, sweet, docile, easily in-
timidated Thelma Dickinson (Geena Da-
vis) and her older, equally pretty, kind,
but significantly more hard-bitten din-
er-waitress friend Louise Sawyer (Susan
Sarandon) are twangy-talking bosom-
buddies who decide they need to get outta
town and go fishing.
They don’t know much about fishing. Lou-
ise packs her entire wardrobe, and Thelma
drops the snub-nose revolver gifted by her
husband, daintily, via thumb and forefin-
ger, into her luggage as an afterthought.
What do they need a vacation from?
(Left) Waitressing, house-wifery, and the two
Gorgeous
panoramic
complete idiots they’re involved with:
shots of the Thelma’s Corvette-driving, gargantuan-
desert add ego’d rug-salesman hubby Darryl (Chris-
to the film's topher McDonald’s hysterical, cartoonish
appeal. character-study of bullying) and Louise’s
(Right) As eternally sighing, louche, noncommit-
their journey tal, lounge-musician boyfriend, Jimmy
continues, (Michael Madsen).
the women Off they go in Louise’s faded turquoise
engage in
criminal
1966 Thunderbird convertible, leaving
sleepy Arkansas quickly fading in the
acts. Susan
rearview mirror, and we find ourselves
Sarandon
(L) and (mostly due to McDonald’s hilarious she-
Geena Davis. nanigans) well-primed for a screwball
road-buddy comedy.
writes professionally about
acting. In the movies.
‘Thelma & Louise’ Our girls make a pit stop, decide to throw
back a couple of margaritas and Cuervo
Director
Ridley Scott
shots, do a little boot-scootin’ to the rous-
ing country band, and here comes sweet-
Starring talking local predator Harlan (Timothy
Susan Sarandon, Geena Carhart), who before long is slapping
Davis, Harvey Keitel, Stephen
Tobolowsky, Christopher around and attempting to rape Thelma
McDonald, Brad Pitt, Michael up against a car in the parking lot. Sud-
Madsen, Timothy Carhart denly, it’s not funny anymore.
Rated Louise to the rescue with Thelma’s
R handgun; however, Harlan’s so insuffer-
ably, sneeringly unapologetic that Louise
Running Time
2 hours, 10 minutes caves in to her omnipresent PTSD (due
to her own similar past experience) and
Release Date blasts Harlan to kingdom come. Should
May 24, 1991
have blown out his knee instead, but she
Rated nails him square in the heart. A crime of
4.5 stars out of 5 for fun, pure passion, it is. And how can we not
1.5 stars for dividing cheer a little bit?
and conquering the sexes
Our heroines hit the road, headed for
Mexico, across the Oklahoma flatlands
and into the Chihuahuan high desert of
southeastern Arizona (all of which looks
incredibly romantic when seen from a
classic T-bird).
What began as a weekend romp seg-
ues into a wild (and Wild Turkey-fueled)
transformative odyssey, with hellhounds
(of law enforcement) on their trail. Theirs is
a tragically snowballing metaphorical acid
trip, a shadow rite of passage: liberation,
maturation, and empowerment begat by
a fateful descent into criminality.
Toxic Males
There are signposts and further pit stops
along the way, and all of them are vari-
ous forms of despicable men. One such
Pitt-stop is a cowboy-hatted, hitchhiking,
hayseed-hottie juvenile delinquent (conve-
niently named J.D.), who romances naïve
Thelma till she’s cross-eyed, teaches her
how to rob a convenience store, and then
robs her blind.
Then there’s the redneck “suicide jock-
ey” (fuel-tank trucker played by Marco St.
John) whom they pass and re-pass out on
the highway. When he refuses to curb his
disgusting catcalls and obscene gesticula-
tions, they seduce him off the road and,
using their “Learned-it-off-the-TV!” fire-
arm skills, flatten his tires and blow his
18-wheeler sky-high. Isn’t that fun? What’s
even more fun is that director Scott didn’t
The film tell actor Marco St. John that the rig was
going to actually blow—the ensuing reac-
pretends to the tion is priceless.
throne of late Who else is nasty? The nazi highway pa-
trolman (Jason Beghe) who pulls them over
’60s, early ’70s for speeding. Normally nice Thelma, her
latent talent for commandeering dicey situ-
feminism by ations via cop-speak blossoming forth from
facilely laying her like unto Pallas Athena springing from
the brow of Zeus, orders him into his patrol-
the blame car trunk. “Blam!!” “Why’d you shoot the
at the feet car?” “Air holes.” Annnd the nazi cop starts
bawling like a baby. Isn’t that fun?
of six bad men. What’s even more fun is the MTV-like
B7
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF MGM
follow-up scene, where a weed-addled
Rastafarian bicyclist (Noel L. Walcott) in
full race-sponsored spandex regalia, wa-
ter bottle and giant spliff in hand, blows
marijuana smoke into that selfsame air
hole because he fancies in his blissed-out
stupor that he hears a disembodied voice
coming out of it.
So that’s Darryl, Jimmy, Harlan, J.D., the
dirty trucker, and the nazi cop, whose de-
spicable-ness all conveniently contribute to
the outlaw desperation, moral demise, and
eventual martyrdom of two lovely ladies.
Combine that with the scenic road trip
and binge drinking, which allow Thelma
and Louise to feel liberated and alive as
never before. Stir in the fact that they get
to blow away bad guys and be alpha-domi-
nant. It all presents as a veritable scorecard
of various high-five-able comeuppances to
delight females and feminists everywhere.
All of which somehow conspires to make
this feel like quite a legit state of affairs—
this business of two perfectly normal wom-
en robbing stores, shooting guns, blowing
stuff up, and driving off cliffs. Susan Saran-
don and Geena Davis both earned Oscar
nominations.
What Do Women Want?
That’s the classic question mark that sits
above every man’s head. Does feminist ac-
tion-fantasy “Thelma & Louise” answer it?
This stylized, half-comic, half-tragic saga
of desperado heroines on the lam begins
realistically, goes all anarcho, outlaw-
biker-gonzo, swipes the ending off “Butch
Cassidy,” and then pretends to the throne
of late ’60s, early ’70s feminism by facilely
laying the blame at the feet of six bad men.
And Jimmy’s not really a bad guy. Neither
is the cop—he’s just a family man doing his
job (maybe he poses a little bit). So, four
toxic males. Actually, Darryl and J.D. are
not exactly toxic but more resoundingly
“ugh” and “meh”—you can see, deep down,
that J.D.’s actually a misguided kid with a
good heart. So two truly toxic males.
Why is it, I wonder, that women from all
walks of life are going on the all-female
“Woman Within” Weekends, the female
counterpart to the all-male New Warrior
Training Adventure, which likewise mines,
in mytho-poetic fashion, tribal life for clues
and revived understandings about how
the roles of the feminine and masculine
are meant, by tradition (and therefore pre-
scribed by the gods), to be played? Why is it
that dyed-in-the-wool feminists and very
butch, sworn man-haters are coming out
of there embracing the traditional notions
that females should be feminine and serve
their families?
Ancient wisdom says yang is the light and
yin is the darkness; yang is order and yin is
chaos, yang is white and yin is black, yang is
good and yin is evil. Both are needed to cre-
ate everything in the cosmos. But darkness
and chaos attributed to women ... seems
unfair. Do men get all the good stuff?
It all makes sense if viewed from a partic-
ular perspective that says the primordial,
original souls of human beings switch off
and alternately incarnate physically, first as
male, then as female, and then back again.
We switch back and forth—and so fairness
and balance is created over the long run.
How about that? Kinda gets you thinking.
But, regardless of its feminist stacked
deck, “Thelma & Louise” is still one of the
most fun movies you’ll ever see.
B8 TUESDAY, MAY 5, 2020

POPCORN AND INSPIRATION: FILMS THAT UPLIFT THE SOUL

An Unlikely Friendship Helps a King MOMENTUM PICTURES

IAN KANE odd pairing of spaciousness and

B
eing able to commu-
nicate with others is
something that a lot
of folks take for grant-
ed—yours truly includ-
ed. This is especially clear after
watching director Tom Hooper’s
royalty-centric bio-drama “The
King’s Speech.”
The film opens in 1925. King
George V (Michael Gambon) has re-
quested that his second son, Prince
Albert (Colin Firth), deliver the clos-
ing speech at the British Empire Ex-
hibition at Wembley. There’s only
one issue: Albert, known as “Berty”
by his family, suffers from a severe
stammer. As an inkling of how ter-
rified he is of public speaking, as he
shambles up to the microphone, he
looks as though he is being led to
the gallows.
The resulting speech, if you
could call it that, resembles an
aural train wreck. Even with the
full support of his loving wife,
Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Cart-
er), Albert humiliates himself;
he croaks a few words and then
everything fades into horrid si-
lence. After that crushing defeat,
he swears to her that he’ll never
speak publicly again.
Elizabeth, who seems to see
something in Albert that he can’t,
seeks out help for her husband.
She eventually and clandestinely
finds the speech therapist Lionel
Logue (Geoffrey Rush), who lives
in a dodgy, lower-class neighbor-
hood. Logue, an Australian actor
turned therapist, is a very confi-
dent man whose therapy methods
are controversial. He insists that
the royal pair visit his office for
therapy sessions, instead of being
summoned to the royal quarters
as Elizabeth requests.
Later, in Logue’s inner office, Al-
bert takes the office in, noting its
minimal furnishings, along with
some unusually colorful wallpa-
per: indicators of an eccentric
personality.
Forging a True Friendship
At first, the two clash—Albert, the
veritable immovable object, and
Logue, the irresistible force. Al-
bert is stuffy and firmly requests
that Logue regard him officiously.
Conversely, Logue demands that
Albert treat him as an equal and
play by his rules in what he calls
“my castle.”
The second act sees Logue gradu-
ally chipping away at Albert’s offi-
cious walls. Albert begins to reveal
some of the skeletons in his royal
closet, including the fact that he
suffered both physical and psycho-
logical abuse as child, from those
closest to him. The two eventually
settle into a rather guarded friend-
ship and manage to make some
progress with the prince’s stam-
mering issues.
Colin Firth is
superb as the
reluctant king.
One day, Albert tells Logue
that his older brother David (Guy
Pearce), scheduled to succeed
their father as king, is dead set on
marrying an American divorcée
of ill repute. But the title doesn’t
allow for such an outrageously
scandalous match. Logue strong-
ly encourages Albert to wrest con-
trol of the family leadership and
become king himself. Albert, see-
ing Logue’s suggestion as treason-
ous, ends their relationship.
Eventually, lust-struck David
relinquishes the highest title in
What do a prince and a speech therapist have in common? Friendship. Colin Firth (L) and Geoffrey Rush in
“The King’s Speech.”
the land, and Albert is forced to
ascend the throne as King George
VI. At this point, all of Albert’s
insecurities (he still stammers)
bubble up under the immense
pressure of the position he finds
himself in and he realizes he
needs help. He visits Logue; the
two men bury the hatchet and be-
come real friends–ones without
boundaries.
The film culminates in 1939
when war with Germany is on the
horizon and Albert is to address
Great Britain and all of its colonies
in a national speech, the titular
“King’s Speech.” Albert is handed
the speech and told that he has to
perform it within an extremely
short timeframe. He summons
Logue and the two men have a
last-minute speech-coaching les-
son. But will Logue’s training pay
off in this crucial hour of need?
A Cinematic Masterpiece
What “The King’s Speech” boils
down to is a deeply moving histor-
ical drama about one of the most
unlikely of friendships between
two who, ordinarily, would never
meet. Circumstances dictated
that they did, and England was
the better for it. Logue unleashes
the natural leader within Albert
without kowtowing to the royals
and proves himself: Although he
was never formerly trained, his
natural ability and unusual meth-
ods work.
Screenwriter David Seidler’s
script is taut, with heartfelt dia-
logue (with light elements of com-
edy thrown in) between the very
capable actors on hand. Firth is
superb as the reluctant king,
showing vulnerability behind a
noble façade and revealing the in-
calculable pressures and respon-
sibilities that come with equally
immense power. Rush and Carter
likewise portray their roles with
the utmost of skill, as an eccen-
tric therapist and a caring wife,
respectively.
“The King’s Speech” is a rous-
ing, sublimely crafted film about
friendship and the ability to reach
down within oneself to harness
inner powers—so much so, that
the final scene will probably bring
a tear or five to many an eye.
And don’t be scared off by the
“R” rating. That’s due to some
strong language during the
speech therapy sessions.
Ian Kane is a filmmaker and
author based out of Los Angeles.
To see more, visit DreamFlight-
Ent.com
‘The King’s Speech’
Director
Tom Hooper
Starring
Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush,
Helena Bonham Carter
Running Time
1 hour, 58 minutes
Rated
R
Release Date
Dec. 25, 2010 (USA)

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