NEW YOR K | DC EDITION
0 0
In the News
NEWS
A vaccination site in Geor-
gia has paused giving shots
after reports of adverse reac-
tions, the state health depart-
ment says. ... A2
Maryland has become the
first state to repeal its police
Bill of Rights. ... A2
About 40 percent of U.S.
Marines have declined to take
a COVID-19 vaccine, Penta-
gon officials say. ... A4
The Supreme Court has
ruled against California’s re-
strictions on in-home Bible
study groups and other reli-
gious gatherings. ... A8
Rep. Michael Waltz says
that he is looking for answers
from officials about whether
critical race theory is being
taught to cadets at West
Point. ... A6
The National Rifle Asso-
ciation has hailed a Florida
appeals court ruling to uphold
a state law that bars city and
county officials from approv-
ing gun-related regulations
that are stricter than state
laws. ... A7
Sen. James Lankford says
that the H.R. 1 election bill will
make it “easy to vote and easy
to cheat.” ... A6
Former President Donald
Trump’s wealth fell by nearly
a third during his presidency
because he put “America
first,” evangelist Franklin
Graham says. ... A4
The coronavirus variant
discovered in South Africa
can “break through” Pfizer/
BioNTech’s COVID-19 vac-
cine to some extent, an Israeli
study shows. ... A11
CHINA
In a rare admission of the
weakness of Chinese corona-
virus vaccines, the country’s
top disease control official
says their effectiveness is
low. ...A9
Secretary of State Antony
Blinken says that it would be
a “serious mistake” for the
Chinese regime to attack
Taiwan. ... A1
BUSINESS
President Joe Biden has
called a dispute settlement
between two big South Ko-
rean electric vehicle battery
makers “a win for American
workers and the American
auto industry.” ... A17
The European Union and
the United States have pro-
posed suspending tariffs im-
posed on billions of dollars
of imports for six months,
EU trade chief Valdis Dom-
brovskis says. ... A17
OPINION
Josh Hammer: Clarence
Thomas Shows the Path For-
ward on Big Tech...A13
Victor Davis Hanson: Wealthy
and Woke...A14
Gu Feng: CCP’s Internet
Trolls Are the World’s Largest
Cyber Army...A16
FEATURES
One doctor’s research re-
veals the sense of peace that
the dying gain from dreams
and visions of those who have
already died. ...B1
Young Americans are more
afraid of COVID-19 than older
adults, despite facing a far
lower risk. ...B2
DON’T DELAY.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY.
READEPOCH.COM
Published in New York,
Washington, Houston, Chicago,
Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
| M O N D A Y, A P R I L 12 , 2 0 21
STATE DEPARTMENT
Blinken Warns It Would Be ‘Serious
Mistake’ for Beijing to Attack Taiwan
China’s communist regime has been dialing up military aggression
toward the island in recent months
BY CATHY HE
U
.S. Secretary of State Ant-
ony Blinken said on April
11 that it would be a “seri-
ous mistake” for the Chi-
nese regime to attack Taiwan and
expressed “real concern” about Bei-
jing’s growing intimidation against
the island.
In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the
Press,” however, Blinken stopped
short of saying whether the United Continued on A9
IRAN
Iran Orders 10-
Day Shutdown
Amid 4th Wave
of CCP Virus
Tehran and 250 other cities
and towns have been
declared red zones
TEHRAN, Iran—Iran began a 10-
day lockdown on April 10 amid a
fourth wave of coronavirus infec-
tions, state TV reported, a worri-
some trend after more than a year
of the country battling the Middle
East’s worst outbreak.
Iran’s coronavirus task force,
charged with determining virus
restrictions, ordered most shops
closed and offices restricted to one-
third capacity in cities declared as
“red zones.”
The capital Tehran and 250 other
cities and towns across the country
have been declared red zones. They
have the highest virus positivity
rates and the most severe restric-
tions in place. More than 85 percent
of the country now has either a red
or orange infection status, authori-
ties said.
AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan’s Security Is Linked to World Security,
Says Senior Afghan Diplomat
BY VENUS UPADHAYAYA
NEW DELHI—Ahead of the May 1
troop withdrawal from Afghanistan,
the country’s ambassador to India
told The Epoch Times in an exclu-
sive interview that the withdrawal
of troops shouldn’t be time-bound,
as the Afghans are fighting interna-
tional terrorism, not a civil war.
Continued on A10
Accuracy The Epoch Times was founded in 2000 as an independent newspaper with the goal to restore accuracy and
integrity in media. We have received numerous awards for our reporting, including from the Society of Professional
& Integrity Journalists, the Society for News Design, and the New York Press Association.
Truth & Tradition
ALEXANDER DRAGO/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Secretary of State Antony Blinken during an event at the
State Department in Washington on April 5, 2021.
KEVIN FRAYER/GETTY IMAGES
States would respond militarily if the
Chinese regime were to seize Taiwan
by force, saying he wasn’t “going to get
into hypotheticals.”
“All I can tell you is we have a serious
commitment to Taiwan being able to
defend itself,” he said, referring to the
United States’ obligations under the
Taiwan Relations Act to provide arms
to the island for its self-defense. “We Chinese Communist Party members
have a serious commitment to peace from the military leave after the clos-
and security in the Western Pacific. ing session of the Party’s National Con-
gress in Beijing on March 11, 2021.
-/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
CRIME
After Black Lives Matter Protests,
Police Lethal Force Decreases: Study
BY MATTHEW VADUM
Places where Black Lives Matter
(BLM) protests occurred from 2014
to 2019 experienced a decrease in
lethal use of force by police but an
overall increase in murders, ac-
cording to an upcoming soon-to-
be peer-reviewed academic study.
The study from the University of
Massachusetts–Amherst may bol-
SUPREME COURT
Iranians walk in a street in the capital
city of Tehran on March 29, 2021.
Biden Won’t Push Supreme Court
Justice Breyer to Retire: White House
The lockdown affects 23 of the
country’s 31 provinces, health min- BY TOM OZIMEK
istry spokesman Alireza Raisi said.
Businesses, schools, theaters, and White House press secre-
sports facilities have been forced tary Jen Psaki said on April
to shut and gatherings are banned 9 that President Joe Biden
during the holy fasting month of won’t interfere in Supreme
Ramadan that begins April 14. Court Justice Stephen Brey- Associate
The severe surge in infections er’s decision about when to Justice Stephen oldest member of the Su-
follows a two-week public holiday retire, with the 82-year-old Breyer.
for Nowruz, the Persian New Year. judge facing growing pres-
Millions traveled to the Caspian sure from progressive groups to should those groups pushing for
coast and other popular vacation throw in the judicial towel. him go back off?”
Continued on A10 “He believes that’s a decision Jus- Continued on A4
ANDREW RENNEISEN/GETTY IMAGES
U.S. service
members
disembark from
a helicopter
on the runway
at Camp Bost
in Helmand
Province,
Afghanistan, on
Sept. 11, 2017.
VOL . X V I I I | NO. 2,937 $1.
GEORGIA
Georgia’s
Kemp: MLB’s
Decision Will
Hurt Minority-
Owned
Businesses
BY JANITA KAN
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp doubled
down on his criticism of  Major
League Baseball’s decision to pull
this summer’s All-Star Game from
the state, saying that the move will
have a devastating economic impact
on minority-owned businesses.
Georgia Attorney General
Chris Carr reiterated
his belief that MLB was
misguided in its decision.
“It’s minority-owned businesses
that have been hit harder than most
because of an invisible virus by no
fault of their own,” Kemp told re-
porters at a restaurant in Atlanta.
“And these are the same minority
businesses that are now being im-
pacted by another decision that is
by no fault of their own.”
The MLB announced that it was
moving its All-Star Game and this
year’s amateur draft from the Peach
State in an effort to punish the state
for its enactment of a law seeking
to advance integrity and fairness
of elections in the state. The law
came in response to election rule
changes made during the pandemic
that led to controversy surrounding
the November 2020 election result.
MLB said on April 6 that this
year’s All-Star game will be played
in Denver.
Continued on A3
ster the so-called Ferguson Effect
hypothesis, which holds that police
officers are reluctant to do their jobs
and follow proper police procedure
when dealing with blacks because
they fear their actions will be char-
acterized as examples of race-driven
police brutality. Ferguson, Missouri,
was the site of prolonged violent pro-
tests in 2014 after Michael Brown,
Continued on A3
tice Breyer will make when
he decides it’s time to no
longer serve on the Su-
preme Court,” Psaki told
reporters, responding to a
question about what Biden’s
view was on calls for the
preme Court to step down.
A reporter asked, “So
SUPREME COURT
REID ON SUPREME
COURT EXPANSION
“It would be
inappropriate
at this time
after that long
history we’ve
had in the
country [to]
have term limits
for judges,” former
Sen. Harry Reid said.
Read more on A8
A2 | NATION
Georgia Site Pauses
Johnson & Johnson
Vaccinations After
Adverse Reactions
ZACHARY STIEBER
A COVID-19 vaccination site in
Forsyth County, Georgia, has
temporarily paused giving shots
after reporting a batch of adverse
reactions, with Georgia becom-
ing the fourth state where adverse
reactions have been reported.
Injections at the  Cumming
Fairgrounds in Forsyth County,
Georgia, have been halted after
eight people experienced ad-
verse reactions post-vaccination,
the state’s Department of Health
said on April 9. All eight had re-
ceived Johnson & Johnson’s CO-
VID-19 vaccine.
One person was evaluated at a
hospital and released, while the
others were monitored onsite and
later sent home.
COVID-19 is the disease caused
by the CCP (Chinese Communist
Party) virus.
More than 400
people received
vaccines at the fair-
grounds on the day
the adverse reac-
tions were seen.
“The reactions were consis-
tent with common reactions in
adults being vaccinated with any
vaccine, but due to the number
of individuals affected, the site
stopped the J&J vaccinations to
evaluate,” Georgia health officials
said in a statement.
In total, 425 people received vac-
cines at the fairgrounds on the day
the adverse reactions were seen.
“There is no reason to believe
there is anything wrong with
the vaccine itself, and other in-
dividuals who have received the
J&J vaccine should not be con-
cerned,” Kathleen Toomey, the
More Colleges Require Students to Have
COVID-19 Vaccines for Fall Semester
JACK PHILLIPS
Duke University said over the
weekend that it will require CO-
VID-19 vaccinations for students
before they’re allowed to return
for the fall semester, joining a
growing list of colleges that are
doing so.
“Duke research played an im-
portant role in the development
of these vaccines, and we are
committed to leading the way
in vaccine access for students
and employees,” Duke Presi-
dent Vincent E. Price said in a
statement. “Looking ahead, we
know that widespread vaccina-
tion will be the only way to fa-
cilitate a return to normal and
robust campus life.
“With this in mind, we plan
to require all new and return-
ing Duke students to present
proof of vaccination to Student
Health before they can enroll
for the Fall 2021 semester. This
policy will cover all undergradu-
ate, graduate, and professional
students—in all degree pro-
grams—who intend to be on the
Duke campus for any period of
time starting with the Fall 2021
semester. Documented medical
and religious exemptions will be
accommodated.”
Rutgers University in New Jer-
sey became the first college in
the United States to mandate
vaccines. More than a dozen col-
leges have followed suit, includ-
ing Notre Dame, Northeastern
University, Brown University, and
Cornell University.
The legality of colleges issuing
state’s health commissioner, said
in a statement. “We are looking
into what happened and what
may have caused the reactions,
including the conditions at the
fairgrounds such as heat and the
ability to keep the site cool.”
A mass vaccination site in Colo-
rado was shut down last week, as
were three sites in North Caro-
lina, after a spate of post-vacci-
nation adverse reactions.
“We are confident in saying that
there is no reason for concern,”
Colorado’s top medical officer
later said after a review of each
patient’s symptoms and an analy-
sis of other vaccinations from the
same lot.
A site in Iowa also experienced
post-vaccination adverse reac-
tions, Georgia officials said April
9.
A telephone call to Iowa’s De-
partment of Health went straight
to a recorded message on April 10,
and its director didn’t respond to
an email from The Epoch Times
by press time.
In a statement to news outlets, a
spokesperson for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) said officials are aware of
“several incidents of vaccine re-
cipients experiencing dizziness,
light headedness, feeling faint,
rapid breathing, and sweating
(vasovagal or anxiety-related)
symptoms following COVID-19
vaccines in Iowa, Colorado, Geor-
gia, and North Carolina.”
“CDC is working closely with
each of the state and local health
departments to evaluate these
incidents. CDC has performed
vaccine lot analyses and has not
found any reason for concern.
Currently, CDC and FDA are not
recommending health depart-
ments stop administering any
lots of COVID-19 vaccine,” the
spokesperson stated.
U.S. officials last week started a
study to investigate allergic reac-
vaccination requirements could
be a legal minefield, one expert
said.
“Most universities have the
power to require vaccines,” said
Dorit Reiss, a law professor at the
University of California–Hastings
College of the Law in San Fran-
cisco, in an interview with NPR.
“But it does depend on what the
college can do generally on vac-
cines and what they’ve done in
the past.
“There almost certainly are
going to be legal challenges,
because the anti-vaccine move-
ment is already preparing for
them.
“The main arguments will in-
clude the EUA question and the
fact that these vaccines are early
[in use].” EUA refers to the FDA’s
emergency use authorization for
COVID-19 vaccines.
COVID-19 is the disease caused
by the CCP (Chinese Communist
Party) virus.
In March, Duke University is-
sued a week-long stay-at-home
order to contain a surge in CCP
virus cases among students. Of-
ficials claimed it was caused by
students going to parties, accord-
ing to a letter.
“This is by far the largest one-
week number of positive tests
and quarantines since the start of
the pandemic,” the letter stated.
The push for vaccination re-
quirements comes as several
governors and lawmakers have
taken action to curb the usage of
so-called vaccine passports that
some governments and compa-
nies have proposed.
A man receives the COVID-19 Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccine on the grounds of the Toyota plant in Buffalo,
W.Va., on March 26, 2021.
Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine is stored for use in Chicago on March
9, 2021.
tions to COVID-19 vaccines, but
Johnson & Johnson’s shot is not
being studied in that trial.
A small percentage of vaccine
recipients have experienced ad-
verse reactions, including ana-
phylaxis, or severe reactions, and
a subset of those have died.
The current allergic reaction
rate post-vaccination is approxi-
mately two to five cases per mil-
lion, according to the CDC and
the Food and Drug Administra-
tion (FDA).
Europe’s top medical regulator
said on April 9 that it was probing
reports of post-vaccination blood
clots among a group that had re-
ceived Johnson & Johnson’s shot.
Maryland
Becomes
1st State to
Repeal Police
Bill of Rights
IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
Maryland’s Democrat-controlled
General Assembly on April 10 vot-
ed to override Republican Gov.
Larry Hogan’s vetoes of three ma-
jor police reform measures, which
included the repeal of the state’s
police bill of rights.
Maryland was the first state in
the nation to adopt the Law En-
forcement Officers Bill of Rights
in 1974. Twenty states have fol-
lowed suit, but Maryland is the
first to revoke its measure. The
bill of rights had set out a due
process procedure for probing
police misconduct.
Supporters of Maryland’s
changes say they are needed to
increase accountability and re-
store public trust. One of the mea-
sures repeals job protections in
the police disciplinary process,
which critics said impeded ac-
countability. A newly enacted
measure gives civilians a role in
the disciplinary process.
Maryland’s General Assembly
began work on the legislation en-
acted April 10 in response to the
police-custody death of George
Floyd last year.
Democrats said the measures
are long overdue, while Repub-
licans argued they went too far.
The new laws increase the civil
liability limit on lawsuits in-
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
At least three of the instances of
post-vaccination clots were re-
ported in the United States.
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine
is not yet being administered in
Europe.
“We are aware that thrombo-
embolic events including those
with thrombocytopenia have
been reported with all COVID-19
vaccines. Our close tracking of
side effects has revealed a small
number of very rare events fol-
lowing vaccination. At present, no
clear causal relationship has been
established between these rare
events and the Janssen COVID-19
vaccine,” Johnson & Johnson told
The Epoch Times via email.
SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
volving police to $890,000 from
$400,000. Officers convicted of
causing serious injury or death
through excessive force would
face 10 years in prison.
State Sen. Robert Cassilly, a Re-
publican, described the new laws
as “anti-cop.”
“It allows for hindsight review
of folks sitting in the easy chairs
to judge people who made split-
second decisions in volatile situ-
ations,” when an officer fears for
his or her life and the lives of oth-
ers, Cassilly said.
The news laws make it more
difficult to obtain a no-knock
warrant and limit the times they
can be executed to 8 a.m. and 7
p.m., except for emergencies. One
of the measures expands public
access to records in police disci-
plinary cases.
In his veto message, Hogan
wrote that he believed the mea-
sures would “further erode po-
lice morale, community relation-
ships, and public confidence.”
“They will result in great dam-
age to police recruitment and re-
tention, posing significant risks
to public safety throughout our
state,” Hogan wrote.
The measure is named after
Anton Black, a 19-year-old Afri-
STEPHEN ZENNER/GETTY IMAGES
Janssen is a subsidiary of the
New Jersey-based company.
Johnson & Johnson says anyone
who experiences the following
symptoms after getting a vaccine
should immediately seek medi-
cal care: shortness of breath,
chest pain, swelling in the leg,
persistent abdominal pain, neu-
rological symptoms, tiny blood
spots under the skin beyond the
site of injection, and excessive or
easy bruising.
The FDA said it was already
aware of reports in the United
States of post-vaccination blood
clots, including some that were
associated with low levels of
platelets in the blood.
“Both conditions can have many
different causes. At this time, we
have not found a causal relation-
ship with vaccination and we are
continuing our investigation and
assessment of these cases. Our
analysis of the data will inform
the potential need for regulatory
action,” the agency told The Ep-
och Times in an email.
“During the post-authorization
period, there is continuous safe-
ty monitoring of the COVID-19
vaccines by FDA and CDC. The
goal of continuous monitoring is
to quickly identify any specific
safety concerns that may arise,
and we will keep the public up-
dated as we learn more.”
A person walks
past a police car
in Baltimore on
July 28, 2019.
can American who died in police
custody in 2018 in a rural town on
Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Maryland has struggled with
police accountability problems
in recent years. Baltimore’s police
department entered into a federal
consent decree after Freddie Gray
suffered a broken neck while in
police custody and died, sparking
unrest in the city in 2015. Law-
makers approved some changes
the following year, but critics have
said they were not enough.
Hogan wrote that two measures
would go into effect without his
signature.
One of them would create a
unit in the attorney general’s of-
fice to investigate police-involved
deaths and prohibit law enforce-
ment from buying surplus mili-
tary equipment. The other would
enable Baltimore voters to decide
whether the state’s largest city
should take full control of the
police department from the state.
Separately on April 10, the legis-
lature also overrode Hogan’s veto
of a bill that would ban sentences
of life in prison without the pos-
sibility of parole for juveniles.
The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
Georgia’s Kemp: MLB’s Decision Will Hurt
Minority-Owned Businesses
CONTINUED FROM A1
Kemp noted during his remarks
that Denver has a much smaller
percentage of African Americans
than Atlanta, and stressed that “the
little guy” and minority communi-
ties are likely to feel the economic
impact of MLB’s decision the most.
MLB previously said the deci-
sion to relocate this year’s All-Star
Game and draft came after confer-
ring with a number of stakehold-
ers, including clubs and player
associations. It characterized
the move as a public expression
of support for “fair access to vot-
ing,” without addressing the con-
troversy surrounding the parallel
need for fairness in counting only
valid votes.
MLB didn’t immediately respond
to a request by The Epoch Times for
comment.
During the same press confer-
ence, Georgia Attorney General
Chris Carr reiterated his belief that
MLB was misguided in its decision.
He encouraged corporations to ex-
amine the new law carefully.
“Major League Baseball com-
mitted a big-league error,” Carr
said. “This is about stronger secu-
rity, expanded access, and greater
transparency to allow the public to
participate in Georgia’s elections.
These companies have been mis-
guided, and I would just encourage
them to look at the facts.”
Top executives from several
large corporations such as Coca-
Cola,  Citibank, and  Delta Air
Lines have openly taken a stance
against the Republican-led elec-
tion changes aimed at protecting
the sanctity of the ballot box in the
Peach State.
The companies and other crit-
ics say they’re worried the law will
disproportionately affect minor-
ity groups’ access to voting. But
After Black Lives Matter Protests, Police
Lethal Force Decreases: Study
CONTINUED FROM A1
an 18-year-old black man, was
killed there in a physical alterca-
tion with a white police officer
who eventually was exonerated.
After Ferguson, police reforms
followed, including the U.S. De-
partment of Justice distributing
21,000 police body cameras to
law enforcement during 2014,
and eight cities were the subject of
consent decrees aimed at improv-
ing policing, the study notes, add-
ing, “While the correspondence
between police reform, cultural
shifts, and BLM is close, BLM’s
direct role is yet uncertain.”
The study came as Patrisse
Khan-Cullors, a self-described
Marxist and co-founder of the
well-funded, influential Black
Lives Matter movement provoked
a headline-grabbing backlash by
purchasing a $1.4 million home
in Topanga Canyon, an exclusive,
overwhelmingly white suburb of
Los Angeles.
The movement took in at least
$90 million last year and led na-
tionwide protests following the
death of George Floyd in Minne-
apolis in police custody in May
2020, according to the New York
Post. The closely watched trial of
Derek Chauvin, one of the police
officers accused in Floyd’s death, is
currently underway in Minnesota.
The report, by economics doc-
toral student Travis Campbell,
found that Black Lives Matter
protests have had an observable
effect on the lethal use of force by
law enforcement officials.
Campbell examined upwards of
1,600 large BLM protests across the
United States from 2014 to 2019. He
found that there was a 15 to 20 per-
cent reduction in deadly force by
police in census places that experi-
enced BLM protests, amounting to
about 300 fewer police homicides.
After BLM protests, “lethal use-
[The] minority
businesses that are
now being impact-
ed by [a] decision
that is by no fault
of their own.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
Black Lives Matter protestors in the Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles
on Dec. 30, 2020.
of-force fell by 16.8% ... on average.”
This suggests that for “every 5 of the
1,654 protests in the sample corre-
spond with approximately one less
person killed by the police over the
following years. The police killed
one less person for every four thou-
sand participants.”
“Protests also influence local po-
lice agencies, which may explain
the reduction,” Campbell writes.
“Agencies with local protests be-
come more likely to obtain body-
cameras, expand community po-
licing, receive a larger operating
budget, and reduce the number
of property crime-related arrests.”
But at the same time, murders
jumped by 10 percent in areas that
saw BLM protests, Jerusalem Dem-
sas writes in a news analysis at Vox.
From 2014 to 2019, there were
between 1,000 and 6,000 more
homicides “than would have been
expected if places with protests
were on the same trend as places
that did not have protests,” Dem-
sas writes, adding that the study
doesn’t take into account the wave
of BLM protests that rocked the na-
tion last year after George Floyd’s
death, because reliable data aren’t
yet available.
Campbell’s research on ho-
Georgia officials have disputed
such claims, countering that the
law seeks to streamline vote-count-
ing procedures, ensure election in-
tegrity and legal votes, and includes
some provisions to expand voting
access.
Kemp, during an April 3 press
conference, said Georgia’s reforms
put the state ahead in terms of ex-
panding voting accessibility. He
compared his state’s law with elec-
tion regulations in Democratic-led
New York.
“In New York, they have 10 days of
early voting. In Georgia, we have a
minimum of 17, with two addition-
al Sundays that are optional for all
counties in our state. In New York,
you have to have an excuse to vote
by absentee. In Georgia, you can
JOHN FREDRICKS/THE EPOCH TIMES
micides seems solid, said Omar
Wasow, a professor at Princeton
University who has conducted re-
search on the effect of protests. He
told Vox the results are “entirely
plausible” and “not surprising,”
given existing protest research.
The underlying data about crime,
use of deadly force by police, and
protests can be faulty, Demsas
notes.
“For lethal force data, there’s
no federal database to turn to.
Instead, Campbell and other re-
searchers have to rely on nonprofit-
and media-collected data, which
has some drawbacks. This means
Campbell may be missing some
police homicides in his research.”
Harvard University sociologist
Joscha Legewie said the design
of the study is “very well suited”
for the kind of data Campbell ex-
amined, according to Scientific
American.
“It’s extremely important [to
have] a better understanding of
the processes behind this,” he says.
“Are these reductions [in police ho-
micides] driven by reforms initi-
ated in response to protests? That’s
a key area we need to understand
to draw more conclusions about
policy implications.”
MEGAN VARNER/GETTY IMAGES
vote absentee for any reason and
you can do it securely,” Kemp said.
“It’s easier to vote in Georgia than
it is in New York.”
Georgia’s law adds a slew of
changes to the way Georgians
vote, including requiring photo
or state-approved identification to
vote absentee by mail. The law also
mandates that secure dropboxes
be placed inside early voting loca-
tions with constant surveillance,
and expands early voting across
the state.
The law also shortens the elec-
tion cycle to four weeks from nine
weeks and requires a minimum
of one week of early voting before
Election Day. People who wish to
vote absentee are faced with new
requirements as well.
JIM WATSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; STEPHEN MATUREN/GETTY IMAGES
David Hogg Leaves Pillow Company He
Started as Rival to Lindell’s MyPillow
JACK PHILLIPS
Gun control advocate David
Hogg said he’s leaving a pillow
company he started to compete
with Mike Lindell’s MyPillow.
“A couple weeks ago, a very
spontaneous interaction over
Twitter between me and William
LeGate led to us trying to start
a progressive pillow company,”
Hogg, 20, said over the weekend.
“The goal was and still is to
create a great pillow that is sus-
tainably produced in domestic
unionized factories and have a
percentage of those profits ben-
efit progressive social causes.
We were met with immediate
and overwhelming support. But
I soon realized that given my ac-
tivism, schoolwork, and family
commitments, I could not give
100% to being a full time co-
founder at Good Pillow.”
Hogg then wrote on Twitter
that he would be leaving the
company.
“Effective immediately, I have
resigned and released all shares,
any ownership and any control of
Good Pillow LLC. I want to thank
Will for his partnership and wish
him absolutely nothing but suc-
cess with the future of Good Pil-
low,” he said.
As he started the firm in Febru-
ary, Hogg said he aimed to “run a
better business and make a better
NATION | A3
Georgia Gov.
Brian Kemp
speaks at a news
conference,
about the state’s
new Election
Integrity Law
that passed last
week, at AJ’s
Famous Seafood
and Poboys in
Marietta, Ga., on
April 10, 2021.
The White House has also criti-
cized the law. Press secretary Jen
Psaki claimed that Georgia’s law
“is built on a lie” that there was
widespread fraud during the 2020
election. Meanwhile, President
Joe Biden has assailed the law, de-
scribing it as “Jim Crow in the 21st
Century.”
Kemp has since pushed back on
Biden’s characterization.
“There is nothing ‘Jim Crow’
about requiring a photo or state-
issued ID to vote by absentee bal-
lot—every Georgia voter must
already do so when voting in-
person,” Kemp said in response.
“President Biden, the left, and the
national media are determined to
destroy the sanctity and security of
the ballot box.”
(Left)
David Hogg;
(Right)
Mike Lindell.
product all with more happy staff
than Mike the pillow guy while
creating US-based Union jobs
and helping people.”
“Mike isn’t going to know what
hit him—this pillow fight is just
getting started,” he said.
In response to the announce-
ment, Lindell told Axios: “Good
for them ... nothing wrong with
competition that does not in-
fringe on someone’s patent.”
Hogg was a student during the
2018 shooting at Marjory Stone-
man Douglas High School in Flor-
ida before he joined the gun con-
trol group March for Our Lives.
LeGate, meanwhile, said in
February that there were fraud-
ulent products being sold under
the Good Pillow name.
“There is a fraudulent compa-
ny going under the name good
pillow who started selling fake
products after we announced
the name. They are not affiliated
with us,” he wrote in a tweet on
Feb. 16. “If you order from them,
you might be scammed. We’re in
the process of dealing with this
legally but we wanted to make
aware.”
Hogg’s announcement comes
as Lindell told Steve Bannon’s
“War Room: Pandemic” that he
hired a private investigator to
investigate why, he alleged, Fox
News won’t allow him on the
network.
A4 | NATION
Nearly 40 Percent
of Marines
Declining to Get
COVID-19
Vaccine: Official
JACK PHILLIPS
About 40 percent of U.S. Marines have
declined to take a COVID-19 vaccine, ac-
cording to Pentagon officials.
Some 75,500 Marines are fully vacci-
nated or received one dose, and around
48,000 Marines have declined the shot,
Communication Strategy and Operations
Officer Capt. Andrew Woods told several
news outlets over the weekend.
“We fully understand that widespread
acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine
provides us with the best means to de-
feat this pandemic. The key to address-
ing this pandemic is building vaccine
confidence,” said Woods, according to
USA Today.
Marine Corps officials didn’t immedi-
ately respond to a request by The Epoch
Times for comment.
“The Navy and Marine Corps are
providing substantial educational in-
formation broadly, and working with
commands to ensure Marines, Sailors,
and beneficiaries have accurate infor-
mation regarding the safety and efficacy
of the vaccines to encourage individuals
to get immunized,” Woods told The Hill
in a statement.
Woods noted that Marines are typi-
cally healthy and young, adding that
there may be a number of reasons for
declining the vaccine.
“For example, an individual may have
deferred until later to allow others to get
the vaccine, they may have gotten the
vaccine on their own and not through
military channels, they could be un-
available for a second dose in the pre-
scribed time period for the vaccines that
require two doses, they could expect the
vaccine to become mandatory and are
waiting until then, or they may be al-
lergic to one of the compounds in the
vaccine,” Woods said.
COVID-19 is the disease caused by the
CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
Several Democratic lawmakers sent a
letter to President Joe Biden last month
requesting that he make the vaccine
mandatory for all U.S. military members.
The Department of Defense in mid-
February reported that about a third of all
U.S. troops had turned down the vaccine.
Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro, a top official
with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the
time that the military has a two-thirds
acceptance rate for the vaccine.
“Our initial look—and this is, of course,
very early data—is acceptance rates are
somewhere in the two-thirds territory,”
Taliaferro said in a hearing. “And of
course, it varies by different groups.”
“We believe that, of course, the vaccine
is the right thing to do. It’s clearly safe for
service members,” Taliaferro said, noting
that military officials want personnel to
get the shot. “And we need to continue to
educate our force and help them under-
stand the benefits.”
SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
U.S. Marines rest following a training march
at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in this file photo.
Evangelist Franklin Graham Says
Trump’s Wealth Declined While in
Office Because He Put ‘America First’
JANITA KAN
Evangelist Franklin Graham has defended
Donald Trump’s legacy after Forbes report-
ed that the former president’s wealth fell by
nearly a third during his four years in the
White House.
Forbes reported last week that Trump’s
wealth dropped to $2.4 billion from $3.5
billion during his presidency and that he
fell nearly 300 spots on the magazine’s bil-
lionaire rankings. The magazine attrib-
uted the drop in wealth to Trump’s refusal
to divest his portfolio when he took office
in 2017.
Trump had “bogged down his presiden-
(L–R) U.S. Supreme Justices Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, Vice President Joseph Biden, and First Lady Michelle Obama listen as President
Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House on May 27, 2010.
Biden Won’t Push Supreme Court
Justice Breyer to Retire: White House
CONTINUED FROM A1
Psaki replied, “I think I can just speak
to what the president’s view is of the Su-
preme Court justice’s ability to make his
own decision.”
Breyer has long been the target of a cam-
paign among progressives calling for his
retirement to give Biden the opportunity to
seat a fresh—and presumably liberal—jus-
tice on the high bench. After Justice Amy
Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme
Court gave conservatives a 6–3 advantage,
speculation around Breyer’s retirement be-
came more vocal, as did progressive calls
for radical proposals such as expanding the
number of seats on the high bench, known
as court-packing.
[Biden] believes that’s a
decision Justice Breyer
will make when he decides
it’s time to no longer serve
on the Supreme Court.
Jen Psaki, White House press secretary
In December, Breyer said he had no im-
mediate plans to retire, in remarks to Slate,
in which he was reluctant to address the issue
of court-packing after being asked whether
he would support extending the high bench.
“Well, I can’t answer this question because
it is too close to something that is politically
controversial. I mean, eventually I’ll retire,
sure I will. And it’s hard to know exactly
when,” said Breyer, a Clinton appointee.
Breyer was less guarded in addressing
the issue in a speech to Harvard University
students and alumni last week, in which he
threw cold water on fiery enthusiasm to pack
the court.
“To make those whose initial instincts
may favor important structural change, or
other similar institutional changes, such
as forms of court-packing, think long and
hard before they embody those changes in
cy with ethics issues for years, while also
missing a chance to cash in on a market
boom he helped propel,” the Forbes re-
port stated.
Graham, who has been a vocal defender of
the former president, defended Trump over
the news, saying that his wealth declined
because he put “America first, not his own
interests.”
“President Trump did not even take a sal-
ary when he was serving as president—he
gave it all back. So many politicians leave
office with far more money than when they
came into office,” Graham wrote in a state-
ment in response to the Forbes article.
“This report says President Trump also
White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a daily press briefing at the White House on
April 8, 2021.
law,” Breyer said.
“If the public sees judges as politicians in
robes, its confidence in the courts and in the
rule of law can only diminish, diminishing
the court’s power, including its power to act
as a check on other branches.
“My experience of more than 30 years ...
as a judge has shown me that once men and
women take the judicial oath they take that
oath to heart. They are loyal to the rule of
law, not to the political party that helped to
secure their appointment.”
Demand Justice, an advocacy group led
by a former top aide to Senate Majority
Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), on April
9 launched an online petition campaign
to pressure Breyer to step down and push
for the appointment of a black woman in
his place.
“Tell Justice Breyer: Put the country first.
Don’t risk your legacy to an uncertain po-
litical future. Retire now,” the group wrote
on Twitter.
Demand Justice launched the campaign on
MARK WALLHEISER/GETTY IMAGES
Franklin Graham, CEO of the Billy Graham Evan-
gelistic Association, at a rally in Ladd-Peebles
Stadium in Mobile, Ala., on Dec. 17, 2016.
dropped about $1 billion in wealth during
those four years while he served. Donald
Trump became president not to make mon-
ey or to put his hand in the till, but to do his
best to preserve the great things about this
nation for future generations.
“He put America first, not his own inter-
ests. I’ve never seen anyone work harder.”
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES
ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES
the same day Biden issued an executive order
establishing a committee to study possible
reforms to the Supreme Court, including
whether to expand the number of justices
or to set term limits.
Biden has been asked repeatedly about
whether he supports court-packing, with the
president declining to back the measure but
supporting the establishment of a committee
that would look into it.
The executive order will form “the Presi-
dential Commission on the Supreme Court of
the United States, comprised of a bipartisan
group of experts on the Court and the Court
reform debate,” according to an April 9 state-
ment from the White House.
The commission will hold public meetings
to hear arguments from experts and interest-
ed parties and will issue a report on its work
within 180 days of its first public meeting.
During his term, Trump successfully ap-
pointed three conservative justices to the
Supreme Court—Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and
Brett Kavanaugh.
Trump’s business holdings and finan-
cial activities through his business career
were the subject of widespread scrutiny
from his political opponents during his
presidency as they sought to impeach the
former president. He faced multiple alle-
gations that he had violated the Foreign
Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitu-
tion, which prevents any “person holding
any Office of Profit or Trust under them”
from accepting “any present, Emolument,
Office, or Title ... from any King, Prince, or
foreign State.”
Two of the cases were thrown out by the
Supreme Court in January on the grounds
that the cases became moot after Trump
left office.
Graham is the son of the late Rev. Billy
Graham, a prominent evangelical Christian
figure. He previously defended Trump dur-
ing the former president’s effort to question
election results and has been vocal about
the need to protect election integrity.
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 NATION | A5

Democrats Rebuff GOP Calls for Public Hearings

on Border Crisis
HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
TOM OZIMEK

Top Senate Democrats have re-

buffed a request by Republicans
to hold an ad hoc public hearing
to question Department of Home-
land Security (DHS) leadership
about the U.S.–Mexico border cri-
sis, saying that the annual DHS
oversight hearing, to be held “in
due course,” would provide an op-
portunity to question administra-
tion officials.
In a sharply worded April 9 let-
ter, Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
and Senate Immigration Subcom-
mittee Chairman Alex Padilla (D-
Calif.) wrote that when Republi-
cans chaired the committee and
subcommittee during the Trump
administration, Democrats’ re-
quests for hearings and oversight
action on border policies faced
pushback.
“Over the last four years, the
Committee ignored the worst
abuses of President Trump’s Ad-
ministration, including the cruel
separation of thousands of chil-
dren from their parents at the bor-
der, a travel ban targeting mostly
Muslim-majority countries, and
the attempted termination of de-
portation protections for more
than 800,000 Deferred Action for
Haitian migrants illegally cross the Rio Bravo in an attempt to get from Ciudad Juarez, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, to El Paso, Texas, on March 30, 2021.
Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipi-
ents who grew up in this country,” CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES

the Democratic senators wrote. lican on the Senate Judiciary

They said Durbin, who served
as a ranking member on the Im-
migration Subcommittee during
Trump’s tenure and now serves
as its chairman, repeatedly asked
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who
then headed the subcommittee,
to hold hearings addressing im-
migration issues.
“Then-Chairman Cornyn never
responded,” the senators wrote.
Cornyn and Sen. Chuck Grassley
(R-Iowa), when they chaired the
committee and subcommittee,
held at least 15 hearings related
to oversight of DHS during the
Trump administration.
Durbin and Padilla’s letter is in
response to an April 1 letter by
Grassley and Cornyn, who called
on Democrats to schedule a pub-
lic hearing and an opportunity
to question Homeland Security
Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
and other Biden administration
officials about the border crisis.
“While we may not agree on
the causes of or the solutions to
this crisis, we believe it is vitally
important for the Senate Judi-
ciary Committee to exercise its
oversight authority and seek tes-
timony from Secretary Mayor-
kas and relevant officials at U.S.
Customs and Border Protection
(CBP), U.S. Immigration and Cus-
toms Enforcement (ICE), and the
Department of Health and Human
Services regarding the situation at
the border and the Biden Admin-
istration’s response to it,” Grassley
and Cornyn wrote.
Grassley, the ranking Repub-
Committee, and Cornyn, the top
Our recent visit Republican on the Senate Immi-
to the Rio Grande gration Subcommittee, said they
Valley Sector of recently toured the southern bor-
der and were compelled by what
the southern bor- they witnessed to call for the hear-
der only served to ings.
reaffirm our view “Our recent visit to the Rio
Grande Valley Sector of the south-
that the situation ern border only served to reaffirm
has gotten expo- our view that the situation has got-
ten exponentially worse in the last
nentially worse. three months, becoming a crisis,
Sen. Chuck Grassley and that the Judiciary Commit-
tee should hold hearings on this
topic,” the GOP senators wrote.
Spokespersons for Durbin and
Padilla didn’t respond to requests
for comment by press time. Raul Ortiz, deputy chief Border Patrol agent for Rio Grande Valley, near Rio
Border encounters—a widely Grande City, Texas, on March 22, 2019.
used but imperfect gauge that tells
how many times U.S. authorities border crossers have evaded cap- border patrol agents to encounter
came across people crossing the ture by Border Patrol agents this over a million people this year.”
border into the United States ille- year, adding to the alarm already While the Biden administration
gally—have soared during Presi- raised around the growing num- has said the border isn’t open,
dent Joe Biden’s first months in ber of monthly apprehensions. Biden reversed or altered a num-
office. Encounters totaled more Deputy Border Patrol Chief Raul ber of key Trump era provisions,
than 172,000 in March, up from Ortiz told  Fox News Channel’s which contributed to the surge, ex-
about 100,000 the previous month “America’s Newsroom” that the perts have told The Epoch Times.
and the highest since March 2001. agency has resources at its dis- In dozens of interviews with The
Sen. Dick Durbin In another alarming statistic, posal allowing estimates of “how Associated Press over the past two
(D-Ill.) nearly 19,000 children traveling many people are actually getting weeks, migrants generally said cir-
alone were stopped at the U.S.– away from us,” adding that so far cumstances in Central America
Mexico border in March, smash- in 2021, this figure stands at “way drove them to leave their homes
ing previous highs set during pe- over 100,000 people.” and set out for the United States.
riods of heavy child migration in Separately, Ortiz earlier estimat- When asked about Biden, nearly
2014 and 2019. ed that more than 1 million illegal all said his relatively pro-immi-
Encounters don’t tell the full sto- immigrants would arrive at the gration positions influenced their
ry, however, as they don’t reflect U.S.–Mexico border in 2021. thinking.
the number of people who manage “We’re already starting to see
to cross the border. A Customs and some higher days of 6,000-plus ap- Zachary Stieber and
Border Protection official said on prehensions,” Ortiz told reporters The Associated Press
April 5 that well over 100,000 illegal on March 30. “So I fully expect our contributed to this report.

THINK
THE EPOCH TIMES
BUT FOR TV
News without spin, for you to
form your own opinion.

GET NTD ON TV WATCH US ONLINE PAUL GREANEY TIFFANY MEIER STEFANIA COX KEVIN HOGAN
NTD.com/TV NTD.com/live Host of NTD Business Host of China in Focus Host of NTD Host of NTD
and Deep Dive Evening News News Today
A6 | NATION
Sen. Lankford:
HR 1 Will Make It
‘Easy to Vote and
Easy to Cheat’
SAMUEL ALLEGRI
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said in
a video obtained by The Hill that while
traveling around Oklahoma, he’s been
getting questions about the H.R. 1 elec-
tion reform measure.
Lankford said he heard some citizens
say that the bill will enable voter sup-
pression.
“No, it actually has nothing to do with
suppressing the vote, I’m a firm believer
to make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat.
That bill H.R. 1 makes it easy to vote and
easy to cheat, and it’s really easy to do
fraud,” Lankford said.
The bill would affect multiple aspects
of the electoral process and campaign
financing.
“It’s going to challenge our elections
from here on out, and it changes a lot of
our election policies, not for the better,
but for the worse,” Lankford said. “So
lots of people have had lots of questions
about that.”
Former President Donald Trump said
last month that the H.R. 1 will be a “di-
saster” if it passes in the Senate.
“I think it would be a disaster for our
country,” Trump told Fox News.
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) during a
hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on
March 25, 2021.
“It would be very unfair that Demo-
crats should use COVID in order to do
things that they can’t believe they got
away with, what they did, and they didn’t
get their legislatures to approve, and by
the way in the Constitution, you have to
do that,” Trump said.
“In the Constitution, it says the state
legislatures have to approve changes—
they made massive changes early—just
before the election in some cases, and
they made massive changes that—not
even mentioning all of the other things
and all of the dishonesty in the elec-
tion—the state legislatures did not ap-
prove these changes. Therefore, they’re
not allowed.”
H.R. 1, also called the For the People
Act, passed the Democratic-controlled
House on a largely party-line vote of 220–
210 on March 3. All Republicans voted
against the bill, joined by Rep. Bennie
Thompson (D-Miss.), the only Democrat
who voted against the measure.
Thompson told The Epoch Times that
his opposition was driven by constitu-
ents who were against the redistricting
portion of the bill as well as the section
on public finances.
The proposal would need 60 votes to
overcome a GOP filibuster in the Senate.
Mimi Nguyen Ly and Tom Ozimek
contributed to this report.
‘Critical Race Theory’ Being Taught at US
Army’s West Point, GOP Lawmaker Says
JACK PHILLIPS
A Republican congressman said he is look-
ing for answers from officials at the U.S.
Military Academy about whether “critical
race theory” is part of instruction for West
Point cadets.
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) sent a letter
to West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Dar-
ryl Williams about “information” that re-
cently came to his “attention from unsettled
soldiers, cadets, and families that raises
serious concerns about the U.S. Army’s
introduction of elements of critical race
theory into cadet instruction.”
“While we should always eradicate ex-
tremism of all forms from our ranks and
never tolerate racism, I am alarmed that
this doctrine that focuses our future leaders
on race in ways that will be detrimental to
unit cohesion, destructive to morale, and
strain the readiness of our armed forces,”
Then-President Donald Trump and then-First Lady Melania make their way to Marine One before departing from the South Lawn of the White House
on Jan. 20, 2021.
Trump Predicts GOP Will Retake
Congress in 2022, White House in 2024
JACK PHILLIPS
Former President Donald Trump, in a
speech to Republican donors on April 10,
predicted that the GOP will win back both
houses of Congress in 2022 and the presi-
dency in 2024.
“We are gathered tonight to talk about
the future of the Republican Party—and
what we must do to set our candidates on
a course to victory,” Trump said, accord-
ing to a copy of his prepared remarks. “I
stand before you this evening filled with
confidence that in 2022, we are going to
take back the House and we are going to
reclaim the Senate—and then in 2024, a
Republican candidate is going to win the
White House.”
[Trump is] far and away
the favorite on the Repub-
lican side of the field.
Jason Miller,
spokesman for Donald Trump
Trump made the remarks at a keynote ad-
dress at a Republican National Committee
(RNC) donor summit in Florida. Trump, in
the speech, also told donors that he wants
to expand the party.
Earlier on April 10, Trump aide and
spokesman Jason Miller told Newsmax that
the former president would place emphasis
on winning back the Senate and House in
the midterm elections.
“Obviously, I’m biased to who I hope that
will be, if President Trump does decide to
run again,” Miller told the network. “But
I also think you’re going to see President
Trump go after Joe Biden again and very
strong terms with regard to the border, the
woke corporate cancel culture.”
according to the letter.
Waltz told the Washington Examiner that
he was able to speak with Williams.
“We had a brief phone call, he assured me
they’re looking into it and assured me that
I will promptly get a more formal response
laying out what’s being taught and why in
more detail,” Waltz told the Washington
Examiner, adding, “We’re going to continue
to press and get to the bottom of it.”
The congressman, in an interview with
Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, said that he got
evidence of a West Point lecture, titled “Un-
derstanding Whiteness and White Rage,”
adding that some families who spoke to
him were disturbed by the content.
“This goes way too far: One of the things
that has me so disturbed as a member of the
Armed Services Committee and a combat
veteran is when you come into the United
States Army, is ... from day one, you are all
the same,” he told Fox.
The Capitol in Washington on Jan. 2, 2020.
Miller noted that other presidents, such
as George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Bill
Clinton, didn’t have much political sway
when they left office, unlike Trump.
“He’s stronger than ever,” Miller told
Newsmax, adding that in 2024, Trump
would be “far and away the favorite on the
Republican side of the field.”
Trump’s adviser said that what President
Joe Biden “has done to the border is an abso-
lute travesty, not only with the human traf-
ficking, [but] with the drug trafficking, with
the fact that we have people who haven’t
been tested for COVID that are coming into
the country.”
He added that when “Biden got up there
on that debate stage for the Democrats and
said he wants to give citizenship to 11 mil-
lion undocumented folks, that’s basically
sending out via Western Union a telegram
Waltz, a former U.S. Army Green Beret,
added: “You are told the only skin color
you should worry about is camouflage. ...
The enemy’s bullets don’t care about black,
white, or brown, or political party or race
or religion or any of that. And we shouldn’t
care about it either as we are teaching the
future leaders of the United States Army.”
Meanwhile, the congressman said that
critical race theory-inspired lectures in-
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
MANDEL NGAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES
to everyone around the world saying, ‘Hey,
come to our border. Don’t worry about if you
have a pass to legitimately come in or not,
we’re going to let you, and if you get here,
then you get to stay.’”
During his previous speech to CPAC in late
February, Trump said he “might beat them a
third time,” referring to Democrats. “I won-
der who that will be,” he said to cheers about
the possible Republican candidate. “Who,
who, who will that be? I wonder.”
Biden, the oldest person to take the office
in history, has said he’s planning to run for
reelection in 2024.
“The answer is yes, my plan is to run for re-
election,” he said last month during his first
news conference. “That’s my expectation.”
The Associated Press contributed
to this report.
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
New cadets
practice their
salute during
Reception Day at
the U.S. Military
Academy in
West Point,
N.Y., on June
27, 2016.
cluded at West Point pose trouble in a
combat situation. Critical race theory is a
branch of Marxist critical theory.
“As a Green Beret, I can’t imagine being in
a situation in combat where I am ordering
a soldier to charge a machine gun and he
now has the seed planted in his mind—am
I sending him because he is African Ameri-
can? Should I feel guilty because of white
privilege?” he asked.
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
NRA Hails Florida Court Ruling
to Uphold Law Barring Local Gun Control
MIMI NGUYEN LY
The National Rifle Association
(NRA) on April 9 hailed a Florida
appeals court ruling to uphold
a 2011 state law that threatens
tough penalties if city and coun-
ty officials approve gun-related
regulations that are stricter than
state laws.
“MAJOR NRA COURT WIN:
Florida appellate court upholds
preemption statute and says that
public officials can be fined for
overriding state law and imple-
menting local gun control,” the
gun-rights group said on Twitter.
The NRA had filed
an amicus brief to
the appeals court in
support of Florida.
“The NRA was instrumental in
passing this statute and filed an
amicus brief in the case.”
A three-judge panel of the state’s
1st District Court of Appeal in Tal-
lahassee granted an appeal from
the state of Florida that sought to
uphold the 2011 law. The appeal by
Attorney General Ashley Moody
and Gov. Ron DeSantis was in re-
sponse to a lower court ruling in
2019 that found the 2011 law un-
constitutional.
“The trial court invalidated Flor-
ida’s statutory penalties against
local governments, local officials,
and agency heads for violating the
Florida Legislature’s total preemp-
tion of firearm and ammunition
regulation,” the ruling by Judge
Susan Kelsey reads. “We find the
challenged statutes valid and en-
forceable, and we reverse.”
Florida has had a statute since
1987, “Field of regulation of fire-
arms and ammunition preempt-
ed,” that declares null and void
any new gun control laws passed
by local-level governments that
would be stricter than state laws
and override them. The statute
sought to ensure that lawful gun
owners wouldn’t inadvertently
break local rules while traveling
within the state.
In 2011, Florida enacted a mea-
sure providing penalties against
Crenshaw Says He’ll Be ‘Off the Grid’ for Several
Weeks After Emergency Eye Surgery
JANITA KAN
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas)
said that he underwent emer-
gency eye surgery on April 9 and
will be “off the grid” for the next
few weeks as he recovers from the
operation.
Crenshaw, a Navy veteran who
lost his right eye and suffered
damage to his left eye while serv-
ing in Afghanistan, said he un-
derwent surgery for a detached
retina in his left eye after he no-
ticed some dark blurry spots in
his vision last week.
His left eye was extensively
damaged after an improvised
explosive device (IED) exploded
during his deployment in 2012.
He said the blast caused a cata-
ract, excessive tissue damage,
Michigan Governor’s Aide Takes Trip to Florida Amid COVID-19 Warnings
ZACHARY STIEBER
A top aide to Michigan Gov. Gretch-
en Whitmer traveled to Florida for
spring break, posting photographs
on Facebook from the trip.
Tricia Foster, the state’s chief op-
erations officer, posted from the
Florida Keys last week, according
to social media screenshots ob-
tained and published by Breitbart
News. The pictures showed young
people on the beach and by a pool,
as well as Foster in a bar.
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The National Rifle Association seal
at the organization’s headquarters in
Fairfax, Va., on March 14, 2013.
local governmental entities or indi-
vidual officials who wilfully violate
the state preemption statute—ef-
fectively giving it more teeth. The
penalty provisions include fines of
up to $5,000 and removal of the lo-
cal officials of concern from office
by the governor.
The law also allows for the recov-
and damage to his retina.
“This is a terrifying prognosis
for someone with one eye, and
the nature of the injuries that I
sustained in Afghanistan. Any-
one who knows the history of
my injuries knows that I don’t
have a ‘good eye,’ but half a good
eye,” the Texas Republican said
in a statement following the
surgery at Michael E. DeBakey
VA Medical Center in Houston.
“The surgery went well, but I will
be effectively blind for about a
month.”
He said doctors placed a gas
bubble in his eye, which acts as
a bandage for his retina.
“This means I have to be face-
down for the next week or so, un-
able to see anything,” he said.
Crenshaw’s offices will remain
The official told followers who
inquired about her son that he was
“home with covid.”
A spokesperson for Whitmer told
news outlets that Foster has been
fully vaccinated against the CCP
virus, which causes COVID-19.
The spokesperson called the
story about the trip “a partisan at-
tack,” adding, “Trish Foster is fully
recovered from COVID and fully
vaccinated.”
The officer of Whitmer, a Demo-
crat, didn’t immediately respond
ery of damages of up to $100,000
as well as court and attorney costs
and fees for the prevailing party if
someone successfully sues local
governments over local gun laws.
The 2011 law was challenged in
three separate lawsuits by 30 mu-
nicipalities, three counties, and
more than 70 local officials, with
the argument that the penalties
in the 2011 law were unconstitu-
tional. The lawsuits came in the
wake of the Parkland mass shoot-
ing in February 2018, which killed
17 people at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School.
Then-Leon County Circuit
Judge Charles Dodson, in a rul-
ing in July 2019 that consolidated
the three legal actions, found the
2011 law unconstitutional on a se-
ries of grounds.
“Because local governments
must have what amount to small
legislatures, and because courts
cannot interfere in legislative pro-
open, but the lawmaker won’t be
active during his recovery.
Several of his colleagues have
sent him well wishes.
Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas)
said in a statement: “Freedom
isn’t free—it’s built on the sacri-
fice of our service men and wom-
en like my friend, Dan Crenshaw.
Please join me in praying for his
speedy and full recovery.”
Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas)
said: “Wishing you a full and
speedy recovery. Prayers to you,
Tara and family. Let me know if I
or my staff can assist in any way.
God Bless.”
Crenshaw was reelected in No-
vember in Texas’s 2nd Congres-
sional District.
Considered a rising star in
the  Republican Party,  Cren-
to a request by The Epoch Times
for more details.
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) guidelines is-
sued on April 2 outline how fully
vaccinated persons can travel
without getting tested for COVID-
19 or self-quarantining after expo-
sure to a confirmed case.
But  Dr. Rochelle Walensky,
director of the agency, said in a
briefing that “CDC is not recom-
mending travel at this time due
to the rising number of cases”
cesses, neither this court, nor any
other court in Florida, can enforce
the civil penalty provisions [of the
law] against local legislators,” Dod-
son wrote in his order.
He also focused on how the Con-
stitution may define the concept of
“legislative immunity” and “gov-
ernment function immunity” that
would protect local officials from
penalties for making decisions in
their official capacity.
His ruling didn’t affect the 1987
statute, which wasn’t challenged.
Kelsey, writing for the appellate
panel, rejected the lower court
ruling.
“We hold that the statutory pen-
alty provisions disputed on appeal
are valid and enforceable. Govern-
ment function immunity does not
shield entities that act contrary
to or more restrictively than state
law in the completely preempted
field of firearm and ammunition
regulation. Likewise, legislative
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) at the Conservative Political Action Conference
in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 27, 2019.
shaw  hadn’t held elected of-
fice before running in 2018. He
served 10 years on the Navy SEAL
teams and retired as a lieutenant
commander in the U.S. Navy in
across the nation.
Whitmer said at a press confer-
ence last week that traveling in-
creases the spread of the virus.
“We know that increased mobil-
ity contributes to increase spread,
and could fuel some outbreaks as
people return back to Michigan,”
she said.
Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s
top health official, urged people
to socially distance and avoid
gatherings, in addition to getting
tested “if you’ve been exposed, es-
NATION | A7
A customer checks out a
handgun at the National Armory
gun store in Pompano Beach,
Fla., on Dec. 23, 2015.
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
immunity does not shield individu-
als who knowingly and willfully act
contrary to or beyond the limits of
state law,” she wrote.
She stated that the state Legisla-
ture is “authorized to enact general
laws preempting all regulation in
an area of the law.”
“As this case illustrates, the Legis-
lature has exercised its preemption
authority with respect to firearms
and ammunition,” she said.
The NRA had filed an amicus
brief to the appeals court in sup-
port of Florida in the case. Amicus
briefs were also filed in support of
local entities that challenged the
2011 law: one brief was filed by the
Florida League of Cities and the
Florida Association of Counties,
and another was filed by the Gif-
fords Law Center to Prevent Gun
Violence, the Brady gun-control
group, and the League of Women
Voters of Florida and Equality
Florida Institute Inc.
SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES
2016, according to his campaign
biography.
Bowen Xiao contributed
to this report.
pecially if you just returned or will
soon be returning from a spring
break trip.”
It’s not possible to socially dis-
tance on airplanes.
On April 9, Whitmer described
the entire state of Michigan as “a
hot spot” and called for a range of
voluntary actions from residents,
including high schools shifting to
virtual learning for two weeks after
spring break. The state has recently
seen sharp increases in COVID-19
cases and hospitalizations.
A8 | NATION MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021

JANE ROSENBERG/REUTERS

Medical Examiner:
Restraint Caused
Floyd’s Death,
Drugs Played Role
ZACHARY STIEBER
The medical examiner who ruled
George Floyd’s death a homicide
caused by law enforcement re-
straint last year told a courtroom
on April 9 that Floyd’s health his-
tory and intoxication contributed
to the death.
It was the stress
of that interaction
that tipped him over
the edge.
Dr. Andrew Baker, medical
examiner, Hennepin County
Floyd, 46, suffered from “very
severe underlying heart disease”
that was a factor in the death, as
was the toxicology findings that he
had ingested fentanyl and meth-
amphetamines, Dr. Andrew Bak-
er, the Hennepin County medical
examiner, testified at the trial of
former Minneapolis police officer
Derek Chauvin.
However, Baker stood by his
earlier conclusion that the cause
of death was “cardiopulmonary
arrest complicating law enforce-
ment subdual, restraint, and neck
compression.
“He experienced a cardiopulmo-
nary arrest in the context of law en-
forcement, subdual restraint, and
neck compression. It was the stress
of that interaction that tipped him
over the edge given his underlying
heart disease and his toxicological
status,” Baker said.
Cardiopulmonary arrest “is re-
ally just fancy medical lingo for
the heart and the lungs stopped,”
he said.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020.
Chauvin, 45, and three other offi-
cers had responded to a call about
counterfeit money being used.
Floyd resisted arrest and was re-
strained on the ground by three
officers. Chauvin had his knee on
Floyd’s shoulder and neck area.
All four officers were later fired.
Chauvin is on trial for second-de-
gree murder and two other charges,
while the other former officers will
go on trial for aiding and abetting In this courtroom sketch, Hennepin County medical examiner Dr. Andrew Baker testifies as Judge Peter Cahill (top L) and
murder later this year. former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin listen, on the 10th day of the trial of Chauvin for second-degree murder,
Prosecutors and defense lawyers third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on April 9, 2021.
on April 9 emphasized different COURT TV VIA AP/POOL
aspects of Baker’s findings, with the brain,” he said.
prosecutors zeroing in on how And he agreed that metham-
In this image from video, Dr. Andrew
Baker ruled the cause of death was Baker, Hennepin County medical phetamines are a stimulant that
law enforcement actions, while examiner, testifies as Hennepin increases the heart rate and the
Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s attorney, County Judge Peter Cahill presides work of the heart, while fentanyl
outlined how Floyd’s health his- in the trial of former Minneapolis can slow breathing, resulting in
tory and use of drugs were listed as police officer Derek Chauvin, at the low oxygen levels.
contributing factors. Hennepin County Courthouse in Jerry Blackwell, a lawyer work-
As jurors listened, Baker said that Minneapolis on April 9, 2021. ing for Attorney General Keith
Floyd’s enlarged heart needed more Ellison’s prosecution team, later
oxygen than normal to function, ing down for approximately nine sought to refocus the doctor on the
and that Floyd’s heart was limited minutes and 29 seconds. He said he cause of death.
in its ability to provide more oxy- would have expected to see bruising “What today remains your opin-
gen because of the narrowing of his “And what that adrenaline is going because he thought Chauvin’s knee ion as to the cause of death for Mr.
coronary arteries. to do is it’s going to ask your heart was compressing Floyd’s neck. Floyd?” he asked.
“Now, in the context of an alterca- to beat faster, it’s going to ask your Baker also said that from watch- “So my opinion remains un-
tion with other people that involves body for more oxygen so that you ing videos of the arrest, he believed changed. It’s what I put on the death
things like physical restraint, that can get through that altercation. Chauvin’s knee was primarily on certificate last June. That’s cardio-
involves things like being held to And in my opinion, the law en- the back or the side “or the area in pulmonary arrest, complicating law
the ground, that involves things like forcement’s subdual restraint and between on Mr. Floyd’s neck.” enforcement subdual restraint and
the pain that you would incur from the neck compression was just more “It did not appear to me on the neck compression,” Baker respond-
having your cheek up against the than Mr. Floyd could take by virtue video that his knee would have ed. “That was my top line then. It
asphalt and an abrasion on your of those heart conditions.” been able to occlude the carotid would stay my top line now.”
shoulder, those events are going to However, Baker under cross-ex- artery. Even if it were, normal Drugs and health issues “are not
cause stress hormones to pour out amination acknowledged there was people have two carotid arteries direct causes of Mr. Floyd’s death,”
into your body, specifically things no bruising on Floyd’s back or neck and the unoccluded carotid artery he said. “They’re contributing
like adrenaline,” he said. area from Chauvin’s knee press- would continue to supply blood to causes.”

Supreme Court Blocks California’s
Restrictions on In-Home Religious Gatherings
ZACHARY STIEBER
The Supreme Court has ruled
against California’s COVID-relat-
ed restrictions on in-home Bible
study groups and other religious
gatherings.
The court’s narrow 5–4 ruling on
April 9 was in favor of a group of
Santa Clara residents who as-
serted the restrictions violated
the First and 14th amendments
of the U.S. Constitution.
“Applicants are likely to suc-
ceed on the merits of their free
exercise claim; they are irrepa-
rably harmed by the loss of free
exercise rights ‘for even minimal
periods of time’; the State has
not shown that ‘public health
would be imperiled’ by employ-
ing less restrictive measures,” an
unsigned opinion of the court’s
majority said in its opinion.
The ruling marks the fifth time
the nation’s highest court has
overruled the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals on the state’s COVID-19
restrictions, including a February
ruling that saw the court grant
a worshipper’s application ask-
ing for restrictions on in-person
religious services be rolled back.
“It is unsurprising that such
litigants are entitled to relief.
California’s Blueprint System
contains myriad exceptions and
accommodations for comparable
activities, thus requiring the ap-
plication of strict scrutiny,” the
majority wrote on April 9.
COVID-19 is the disease caused
by the CCP (Chinese Communist
Party) virus.
The blueprint system is the
statewide criteria for loosening
or tightening restrictions based
on the level of CCP virus spread.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence
Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil
Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Bar-
rett made up the majority. Chief
The Supreme Court in Washington on Sept. 21, 2020.
Justice John Roberts, another
Republican-nominated justice,
joined the court’s liberal wing in
dissenting, although he didn’t
sign on to the dissenting opinion
authored by Justice Elena Kagan.
Kagan said she would have re-
jected the application for relief
because she felt the state com-
plied with the First Amendment
in its limiting religious gatherings
in homes to three households
since the state had the same re-
strictions on secular gatherings
in homes.
“It has adopted a blanket re-
striction on at-home gatherings
of all kinds, religious and secular
alike. California need not, as the
per curiam insists, treat at-home
religious gatherings the same as
hardware stores and hair sa-
lons—and thus unlike at-home
secular gatherings, the obvious
comparator here,” she wrote.
The original order in the case
denying the application for relief
came from U.S. District Judge
Lucy Koh, who said that in light of
“the unique risks of gatherings in
spreading COVID-19; the deaths
and serious illnesses that result
SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES
from COVID-19; and the over-
whelming strain on the health
care system,” enjoining the state
and county restrictions on in-
home religious gatherings “would
not be in the public interest.”
The 9th Circuit’s panel upheld
Koh’s ruling, writing last month
that “appellants had not satisfied
the requirements for the extraor-
dinary remedy of an injunction
pending appeal.”
“Specifically, the panel held
that appellants had not demon-
strated a likelihood of success on
the merits for their free exercise,
due process, or equal protection
claims, nor had they demon-
strated that injunctive relief was
necessary for their free speech
claims,” the panel wrote.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs and
defense didn’t respond to re-
quests for comment by press
time. California had argued in
a brief on April 8 that its policy
regarding in-home gatherings ap-
plied to all gatherings, no matter
their purpose, while also offer-
ing that the court didn’t need to
intervene because the state will
relax restrictions later this month.
Former Sen. Reid Warns Biden About
Expanding Supreme Court
JACK PHILLIPS
Former Democratic Senate Ma-
jority Leader Harry Reid has
warned President Joe Biden
against packing the Supreme
Court with more justices, after
the White House released a plan
to create a commission that will
look into making changes to the
nation’s highest court.
“We should be very, very careful
in doing so. I have no problem with
the commission, but I think that
the commission is going to come
back and disappoint a lot of people
because I think they’re going to
come back and say, we should just
kind of leave it alone,” Reid told
CNN last week.
Biden’s order will form “the Pres-
idential Commission on the Su-
preme Court of the United States,
[comprising] a bipartisan group of
experts on the Court and the Court
reform debate,” according to the
statement from the White House
on April 9. Other than possibly
expanding the court, the com-
mission said it would consider
instituting term limits for justices.
But Reid added that he believes
“it would be inappropriate at this
time after that long history we’ve
had in the country [to] have term
limits for judges.”
“I think that we’d better be
very, very careful in saying that
we need to expand the Supreme
Court,” he said.
Biden’s commission will be led
by two former Obama adminis-
tration officials, including Bob
Bauer, who wrote an opinion ar-
ticle years ago about introducing
term limits for justices.
For his part, Reid’s Democratic
majority ended the filibuster for
judicial nominees under former
President Barack Obama years
ago. That move received blowback
and warnings from Senate GOP
Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.),
It would be inap-
propriate at this
time after that
long history we’ve
had in the country
[to] have term lim-
its for judges.
Former Democratic Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid
who then proceeded to confirm
hundreds of judges under then-
President Donald Trump’s admin-
istration. Trump also nominated
three conservative-leaning judges
to the Supreme Court.
Court-packing also received crit-
icism from Justice Stephen Breyer,
a member of the liberal wing of the
court, who said the move would
erode public trust in the Supreme
Court as an institution.
“Put abstractly, the Court’s pow-
er, like that of any tribunal, must
depend upon the public’s willing-
ness to respect its decisions, even
those with which they disagree
and even when they believe a
decision seriously mistaken,” he
said last week. “If the public sees
judges as ‘politicians in robes,’ its
confidence in the courts, and in
the rule of law itself, can only di-
minish, diminishing the Court’s
power, including its power to act
as a ‘check’ on the other branches.”
Reid retired from the Senate
in 2017 after a 30-year career in
the upper chamber. The current
Senate majority leader, Chuck
Schumer (D-N.Y.), said that “noth-
ing is off the table” when it comes
to changes to the Supreme Court.
Calls to expand the court in-
creased dramatically after the
death of Justice Ruth Bader Gins-
burg last fall and the confirma-
tion of Trump nominee Judge
Amy Coney Barrett.
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 CHINA | A9
STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The coronavirus pandemic, which be-

Residents queue to receive the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China, on April 1, 2021.
Beijing Admits Chinese Vaccines’
Effectiveness Low
In a rare admission of the weakness of Chi-
nese coronavirus vaccines, the country’s
top disease control official says their ef-
fectiveness is low and the government is
considering mixing them to get a boost.
Chinese vaccines “don’t have very high
protection rates,” said the director of the
Chinese regime’s Centers for Disease Con-
trol (CDC), Gao Fu, at a conference on April
10 in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
Beijing has distributed hundreds of mil-
lions of doses abroad while trying to promote
doubt about the effectiveness of the Pfizer-
BioNTech vaccine made using the experi-
mental messenger RNA, or mRNA, process.
“It’s now under formal consideration
whether we should use different vaccines
from different technical lines for the im-
munization process,” Gao said.
Officials at a news conference on April 11
didn’t respond directly to questions about
Gao’s comment or possible changes in of-
ficial plans. But another CDC official said
developers are working on mRNA-based
vaccines.
Gao didn’t respond to a phone call re-
questing further comment.
“The mRNA vaccines developed in our
country have also entered the clinical trial
stage,” said the official, Wang Huaqing. He
gave no timeline for possible use.
Experts say mixing vaccines, or sequen-
tial immunization, might boost effective-
ness. Researchers in Britain are studying a
possible combination of Pfizer-BioNTech
and the traditional AstraZeneca vaccine.
NOEL CELIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention, speaks at the
State Council Information Office in Beijing on
Jan. 22, 2020.
gan in central China in late 2019, marks
the first time the Chinese drug industry
has played a role in responding to a global
health emergency.
Vaccines made by Sinovac, a private com-
pany, and Sinopharm, a state-owned firm,
have made up the majority of Chinese vac-
cines distributed to several dozen countries
including Mexico, Indonesia, Hungary, Bra-
zil, and Turkey.
The effectiveness of a Sinovac vaccine at
preventing symptomatic infections was
found to be as low as 50.4 percent by re-
searchers in Brazil, near the 50 percent
threshold at which health experts say a
vaccine is useful. By comparison, the Pfizer-
BioNTech vaccine has been found to be 97
percent effective.
Health experts say Chinese vaccines are
unlikely to be sold to the United States,
Western Europe, and Japan due to the com-
plexity of the approval process.
A Sinovac spokesman, Liu Peicheng, ac-
knowledged that varying levels of effective-
ness have been found but said that can be
due to the age of people in a study, the strain
of virus, and other factors.
The Chinese regime has yet to approve
any foreign vaccines for use in China.
Gao gave no details of possible changes
in strategy but cited mRNA as a possibility.
“Everyone should consider the benefits
mRNA vaccines can bring for humanity,”
Gao said. “We must follow it carefully and
not ignore it just because we already have
several types of vaccines already.”
Gao previously questioned the safety of
mRNA vaccines. He was quoted by the of-
ficial Xinhua News Agency as saying in De-
cember that he couldn’t rule out negative
side effects because they were being used
for the first time on healthy people.
Chinese state media and popular health
and science blogs also have questioned
the safety and effectiveness of the Pfizer-
BioNTech vaccine.
As of April 2, some 34 million people in
China have received both of the two doses
required for Chinese vaccines, and about
65 million received one, according to Gao.
The Sinovac spokesman, Liu, said studies
find protection “may be better” if the time
between vaccinations is longer than the
current 14 days but gave no indication that
might be made standard practice.
By Joe McDonald & Hiuzhong Wu
From The Associated Press

SAM YEH/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

mitment to transparency, to infor-

Blinken Warns It Would
Be ‘Serious Mistake’ for
Beijing to Attack Taiwan
CONTINUED FROM A1
“In that context, it would be a se-
rious mistake for anyone to try to
change that status quo by force.”
The Chinese regime, which sees
self-ruled Taiwan as part of its ter-
ritory, has in recent months been
dialing up military aggression
toward the island, which some
analysts say is a test of the Biden
administration to see whether
it will take concrete action to re-
spond. This year, the Chinese mili-
tary has sent multiple aircraft into
Taiwan’s air defense identification
zone on a near-daily basis.
Blinken also criticized Beijing’s
early handling of the CCP (Chinese
Communist Party) virus pandemic,
saying “it didn’t do what it needed
to do.” As a result of this “failure,”
the virus “got out of hand faster”
with “much more egregious results
I can tell you is we
have a serious com-
mitment to Taiwan
being able to de-
fend itself.
U.S. Secretary
of State Antony Blinken
than it might otherwise,” he said.
The Chinese regime “didn’t do
what it needed to do, which was to,
in real time, give access to interna-
tional experts, in real time to share
information, in real time to provide
real transparency,” Blinken said.
The job now is to create a stron-
ger global health security system
to ensure this doesn’t happen
again, he said.
“That means making a real com-
mation sharing, to access for ex-
perts. It means strengthening the
World Health Organization and
reforming it so it can do that. And
China has to play a part in that,”
Blinken said.
He emphasized that the world
needs to get to the bottom of how
the CCP virus originated “to have
the best shot possible at preventing
it from happening again.”
A recent report into the origins
of the virus, prepared by a team
of Chinese scientists and foreign
experts assembled by the World
Anti-landing spikes on the coast of Kinmen, the front line island of Taiwan, on
Health Organization, left unan- Oct. 20, 2020.
swered many questions relating
to how the virus began its spread.
It did, however, find that the pos- it handled the CCP virus outbreak. Responding to calls for a boycott
sibility that the virus leaked from a He also reiterated that the United of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
lab was “extremely unlikely.” States needs to “bring the world over its severe human rights abus-
After its release, the United States together in speaking with one es, Blinken said the United States
and 13 other countries expressed voice” in condemning the Chi- and its allies are not currently “fo-
concerns about the report, point- nese regime’s genocide against cused” on a boycott.
ing to the fact that the study was ethnic Muslim minorities in the “We’re not there yet,” Blinken
“significantly delayed and lacked Xinjiang region. On top of that, the said, of a possible boycott among
access to complete, original data United States should make sure Western allies. “What we are fo-
and samples.” that American companies are not cused on is talking, consulting
Previously, Blinken has stopped exporting technology that’s being closely with our allies and part-
short of saying the Chinese regime used to aid Beijing’s repression in ners, listening to them, listening
should be held accountable for how the region, he said. to concerns.”

Nearly 700 Americans’ Data Captured in Giant Chinese Surveillance Sweep

EVA FU
Information on nearly 700 Ameri-
cans was flagged on a secret Chi-
nese security watchlist during
their visits to Shanghai, according
to a leaked database seen by The
Epoch Times.
The list of 697 American citi-
zens, some of them as young as
3 years old, is part of a 1.1 mil-
lion record dataset involving
more than 5,000 foreign citizens.
The details recorded include
their full names, birth data, and
passport numbers, which were
captured as the individuals were
entering and leaving Shanghai
from 2018 to 2020.
Shanghai’s Public Security Bu-
reau, which stored the informa-
tion on its server, answers to the
Ministry of State Security, the
central government’s top intel-
ligence agency.
Among the people on the watch-
list were also 172 Canadians, 161
Australians, and hundreds of
travelers from Asian countries
such as Japan and Taiwan. Three
of the people tracked hold diplo-
matic passports.
While the Shanghai records are
far from exhaustive, it is a “small,
but highly detailed window into
the surveillance state of China,”
said Robert Potter and David Rob-
inson of Internet 2.0, an Austra-
lia-based cybersecurity firm that
analyzed the data.
A subset of the data leak includes
a blacklist containing 10,000
people tagged as “suspected ter-
rorists,” composed of 93 percent
Uyghurs. Thousands of them got
flagged for accessing the internet.
Hundreds of individuals were
placed on the watchlist for having
access to dangerous chemicals,
drugs, or materials for making
explosives. Nearly a half of them
were employees working for
foreign firms or joint ventures,
among them U.S. manufacturing
giant 3M, Kansas-based chemical
firm Invista, and Japanese car-
maker Mitsubishi.
The database was first reported
by the Australian Broadcasting
Corp.
Records from one district
called Jinshan around Shang-
hai’s harbor also revealed how
officials deployed surveillance
cameras to track individuals in
real time, recording their car reg-
istration details and movements
when possible.
Internet 2.0 noted how the lo-
cal level data were merged into a
single system to further the sur-
veillance state.
“This system is demonstrative
of how China broadly seeks to
control all data points within the
enforcement of law and political
control,” the company said, not-
ing that the tools it mobilizes are
“significantly more advanced in
both scope and scale than those
operated in democratic states.”
Michael Shoebridge, the Aus-
tralian Strategic Policy Institute’s
defense director, previously told
The Epoch Times that the mass of
information from the leak shows
the leverage that Beijing has in
targeting anyone who runs afoul
of the regime.
“Despite enormous investments
in cybersecurity, online monitor-
ing, surveillance, and a deeply
controlling central authority,”
he said, “this is a large vulner-
ability in the Party’s operating
model that seems to be growing,
not contracting.”
The State Department didn’t re-
spond to a request by The Epoch
Times for comment by press time.
A10 | WORLD
Afghanistan’s Security Is Linked to World Security,
Says Senior Afghan Diplomat
CONTINUED FROM A1
“The May 1 deadline needs to be
revisited, needs to be considered
thoroughly, and any decision on
the withdrawal of international
forces needs to be based on ground
realities and fights,” Ambassador
Farid Mamundzay, who formerly
served as a senior political adviser
to the Afghan National Security
Council.
“It’s not a conflict of Afghanistan,
it’s a conflict that the Afghans are
fighting on behalf of the interna-
tionals and on behalf of this re-
gion.”
Mamundzay said that under the
Taliban regime, global terrorist
networks including al-Qaeda were
given the opportunity to grow big-
ger and stronger, and that the U.N.
was aware of this growing threat.
“The Analytical Support and
Sanctions Monitoring Team of the
U.N. Security Council [in its Feb-
ruary 2021 report] expressed con-
cerns about the continued relations
between the Taliban and interna-
tional terrorist groups, including
al-Qaeda,” Mamundzay said.
The United States and the Taliban
brokered a deal in February 2020
for a permanent ceasefire, stating
that all foreign troops should with-
draw from the country by May 1.
However, the Biden administration
has yet to announce its next steps
of action. There are currently about
2,500 American troops stationed in
Afghanistan.
Mamundzay spoke with The Ep-
och Times ahead of a peace confer-
ence currently being planned be-
tween the Afghan administration
and the Taliban, after U.S. Secre-
tary of State Antony Blinken pro-
posed holding the talks under the
U.N.-led peace process, in a letter
to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
During the talks, to be held in
Turkey, Ghani reportedly will
present a three-phase roadmap to
peace. However, renewed violence
between Afghan forces and the
Taliban has already strengthened
doubts about the success of such a
conference.
Mamundzay said that “a failing
Afghanistan is in no one’s favor.”
“The withdrawal of the forces ...
should be conditions bound, con-
sidering if the condition in Afghan-
istan improves,” he said.
“There should be consideration
of the strength and capability of
the Afghan national defense and
security forces. Those forces should
be fully prepared to take on inter-
national terrorist organizations.”
Growing Democratically
Afghan broadcaster Tolo News re-
ported that Ghani’s peace roadmap
would include “making peace or
holding talks with the Taliban,”
“building peace—with language
that hints at a transitional gov-
ernment,” and “sustaining peace,
which indirectly refers to a post-
transitional government situation.”
However, the Afghan Embassy in
New Delhi told The Epoch Times
that there’s nothing official yet on
the peace proposal.
Mamundzay, who previously
Iran Enforces 10-Day
Lockdown Amid 4th Wave
of Pandemic
CONTINUED FROM A1
spots, packed markets to shop for
new clothes and toys, and con-
gregated in homes for parties in
defiance of government health
guidelines.
The new lockdown also affects
all parks, restaurants, bakeries,
beauty salons, malls, and book-
stores.
“Unfortunately, today we have
entered a fourth wave,” President
Hassan Rouhani said in televised
remarks. He blamed the surge
primarily on the variant that
first emerged in the UK, which
An Afghan woman wearing a burqa gives roses to Afghan National Army soldiers during a ceremony on a military base in the Guzara district of Herat Province,
Afghanistan, on Feb. 28, 2019.
served as deputy director general
at the Independent Directorate of
Local Governance in Afghanistan,
said the country has been working
over the past two decades to grow
into a full-fledged democracy, and
that the Afghan people have the
will to continue building on the
gains the country has made.
It’s a conflict that
the Afghans are
fighting on behalf of
the internationals.
Farid Mamundzay, Afghanistan
Ambassador to India
“Afghanistan is still a very new
democratic state. ... We need to
give some time to our institu-
tions to grow and get to the stage
where they would be fully ma-
tured,” he said.
While the country’s democratic
institutions are structured at the
national and the provincial level,
there’s an increasing demand for
district assemblies. “The will of the
people is there. The need is felt and
the demand has increased for these
bodies over the years,” he said.
“For the first time, the sense of ac-
countability and transparency has
come into existence together with
civil society organizations across
the country at the grassroots level,
these bodies are making a great
contribution to the overall democ-
racy in Afghanistan.
“Strengthening inclusive and
democratic institutions and pro-
moting the rights of women and
children would remain our top
priorities in the years ahead under
President Ghani’s rule.”
spread to Iran earlier this year
from neighboring Iraq.
Iran has been the epicenter
of the pandemic in the Middle
East. In February, it closed sev-
eral crossing points with Iraq in
an effort to stem the spread of the
UK variant.
Iran’s vaccine rollout has lagged,
with only some 200,000 doses
have been administered in the
country of 84 million, according
to the World Health Organization.
COVAX, an international col-
laboration to deliver the vaccine
equitably across the world, de-
livered its first shipment to Iran
Mamundzay said the young
men and women of Afghanistan
are a “beacon of hope,” helping to
bring people together and build a
modern nation.
“The new generation of young
leaders, both men and women, are
taking charge to transform the war-
torn country into a modern society,
a society based on pluralism, a so-
ciety based on democratic values, a
society that’s fair and just,” he said.
“First, most of them have seen
the brutalities and oppression of
civil war and Taliban.  Second,
these people have achieved an
unprecedented [level] of education
and capacities, and they want to
contribute through those experi-
ences to improve the living condi-
tions of the Afghan people. Third,
[they are working] to represent a
larger demographic part of the
country, not limiting themselves
to one particular region, one par-
ticular ethnic group.”
Mamundzay said the country
has changed the way it thinks.
As governance structures were
established and living conditions
improved, people started to dream
of things they couldn’t do before.
Two decades ago, the conflict-
torn country was so vulnerable that
survival was all anyone could hope
for, whereas today, as people are
better connected with the outside
world, parents wanting the best op-
portunities for their children are
sending them to study in educa-
tional institutions around the re-
gion and across the world, he said.
He gave the example of India,
where currently 20,000 Afghan
students are studying, an unprec-
edented number.
Growing Geopolitically
Though Afghanistan is dependent
on April 5 from the Netherlands
containing 700,000 doses of the
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
The Health Ministry said there
were more than 19,600 new infec-
tions on April 11, including 193
deaths. The confirmed death toll
since the beginning of the out-
break stands at more than 64,200.
Hadi Minaie, a shop owner at
Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, said mis-
management was the reason for
the new surge, and the govern-
ment should have prevented peo-
ple’s movements during Nowruz,
not at a time when people need to
earn a living.
“Nobody can say the lockdown
should not have been imposed.
But better management would
have been enforcing it during
Nowruz holiday when every-
where was already closed, not now
that everyone wants to work and
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
A man reads a local newspaper showing a photo of newly elected U.S. Presi-
dent Joe Biden, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Nov. 8, 2020.
on support from the international
alliance, Mamundzay said, it has
an important geopolitical role to
play, given its location at the junc-
ture of South Asia, Central Asia,
and the Middle East.
“It provides an excellent oppor-
tunity to the region for economic
cooperation, regional connectiv-
ity. It serves as a bridge between
continents, within continents,
within this part of the world,” he
said, adding that if there’s peace
in Afghanistan, it’ll be easier to
ensure peace and economic de-
velopment for the entire region.
“With some wonderful initia-
tives, pipeline initiatives like
Chabhar, Lapis Lazuli, TUTAP,
TAPI, and others, we think that
we wouldn’t require foreign aid
for years to come.”
Chabhar is a strategic seaport
on the Gulf of Oman in Iran that
is likely to be inaugurated by
May. The India-led project will
be linked with the International
earn a living,” he said.
Alireza Ghadirian, a carpet sell-
er at the bazaar, said, “Lockdowns
are only effective to some extent,
but for how long should the people
be paying the price?” He said the
government needed to do more to
provide vaccines.
A year into the pandemic, pub-
lic fatigue and intransigence has
deepened.
Saeed Valizadeh, a motorcyclist
who earns his living transport-
ing passengers and light packages
from the bazaar, said, “Those who
are wealthy have no problem stay-
ing home, but we can’t.”
President Hassan Rouhani said
several factors played a role in the
rising number of cases, but the
prime culprit was the UK vari-
ant of the virus that entered Iran
from Iraq.
Earlier this year, the country
HOSHANG HASHIMI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
North-South Transport Corridor,
which currently involves 10 cen-
tral Asian countries.
Lapis Lazuli is another interna-
tional corridor linking Afghani-
stan to Turkey via Turkmenistan,
Azerbaijan, and Georgia; TUTAP
(Turkmenistan–Uzbekistan–Ta-
jikistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan)
is an electricity project; and
TAPI (Turkmenistan–Afghani-
stan–Pakistan–India) is an in-
ternational natural gas pipeline
project.
Mamundzay said Afghanistan
also expects that the Quad—the
quadrilateral security alliance
between the United States, In-
dia, Japan, and Australia—will
contribute to regional peace. “It
contributes to the security of the
region by working closely with
other states of the region, i.e.,
tackling terrorism financing,
combating terrorists’ networks,
narco-trading, and other orga-
nized crimes,” he said.
kicked off its coronavirus inocu-
lation campaign, administering a
limited number of Russian Sput-
nik V vaccine doses to medical
workers.
Meanwhile, in neighboring
Iraq, authorities introduced new
measures to bolster vaccinations
among citizens, including restric-
tions on air travel.
The health ministry said it re-
quested that airlines not sell
tickets to travelers unless they
show proof they were vaccinated.
Workers at hospitals, restaurants,
malls, and shops would require a
vaccination card as well.
The measures have been intro-
duced amid a low demand in vac-
cinations among Iraqis, many of
whom remain suspicious of the
government’s inoculation plans.
From The Associated Press
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 WORLD | A11

South African Variant Can ‘Break Through’
Pfizer Vaccine, Israeli Study Says
JERUSALEM—The coronavirus
variant discovered in South Af-
rica can “break through” Pfizer/
BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine
to some extent, a real-world data
study in Israel found, though its
prevalence in the country is low
and the research has not been
peer-reviewed.
The study, released April 10,
compared almost 400 people
who had tested positive for COV-
ID-19, 14 days or more after they
received one or two doses of the
vaccine, against the same num-
ber of unvaccinated patients
with the disease. It matched
age and gender, among other
characteristics.
The South African variant,
B.1.351, was found to make up
about 1 percent of all the COV-
ID-19 cases across all the people
studied, according to the study
by Tel Aviv University and Israel’s
largest health care provider, Clalit.
But among patients who had re-
ceived two doses of the vaccine,
the variant’s prevalence rate was
eight times higher than those un-
vaccinated—5.4 percent versus
0.7 percent.
This suggests the vaccine is less
effective against the South Afri-
can variant compared with the
original coronavirus and a vari-
ant first identified in Britain that
has come to make up nearly all
COVID-19 cases in Israel, the re-
searchers said.
“We found a disproportionately
higher rate of the South African
variant among people vaccinated
with a second dose, compared
to the unvaccinated group. This
means that the South African
variant is able, to some extent,
to break through the vaccine’s
protection,” said Tel Aviv Univer-
sity’s Adi Stern.
Jordan’s King Abdullah and
Estranged Prince Hamza Make
First Joint Appearance Since Rift
AMMAN—Jordan’s King Abdul-
lah and former crown prince
and half-brother Prince Hamza
made their first joint appearance
since a rift shook the country,
attending a ceremony on April
11 marking 100 years of inde-
pendence.
State media showed the mon-
arch and other members of the
royal family laying wreaths at
the memorial to the unknown
A woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Israel on Dec. 20, 2020.
The researchers cautioned,
though, that the study only had a
small sample size of people infect-
ed with the South African variant
because of its rarity in Israel.
They also said the research was
not intended to deduce overall
vaccine effectiveness against
any variant, since it only looked
at people who had already tested
positive for COVID-19, not at over-
all infection rates.
Pfizer and BioNTech could not
be immediately reached for com-
ment outside business hours.
The companies said on April 1
that their vaccine was around 91
percent effective at preventing
COVID-19, citing updated trial
data that included participants
inoculated for up to six months.
In respect to the South African
soldier and tombs of royalty in
the Raghdan palace in Amman.
Hamza pledged allegiance to
King Abdullah late on April 5
following mediation by the royal
family, two days after the mili-
tary warned him over actions
that it said were undermining
Jordan’s security and stability.
On April 7, in the first statement
since the affair came to light,
King Jordan said sedition had
variant, they said that among a
group of 800 study volunteers
in South Africa, where B.1.351
is widespread, there were nine
cases of COVID-19, all of which
occurred among participants
who got the placebo. Of those
nine cases, six were among indi-
viduals infected with the South
African variant.
Some previous studies have in-
dicated that the Pfizer/BioNTech
shot was less potent against the
B.1.351 variant than against other
variants of the coronavirus, but
still offered a robust defense.
While the results of the study
may cause concern, the low
prevalence of the South African
strain was encouraging, accord-
ing to Stern.
“Even if the South African
been quashed and Hamza was
“under my care” with his family
at his palace.
The monarch said the crisis
was “the most painful” because it
came from both inside the royal
family and outside it.
King Jordan said
the crisis was ‘the
most painful.’
Hamza’s absence after he ap-
peared in a video on April 3 say-
ing he had been ordered to stay at
home and accused the country’s
rulers of corruption and authori-
Electrical ‘Incident’
AMIR LEVY/GETTY IMAGES
variant does break through
the vaccine’s protection, it has
not spread widely through the
population,” said Stern, add-
ing that the British variant may
be “blocking” the spread of the
South African strain.
Almost 53 percent of Israel’s 9.3
million population has received
both Pfizer doses. Israel has
largely reopened its economy in
recent weeks while the pandem-
ic appears to be receding, with
infection rates, severe illness,
and hospitalizations dropping
sharply. About a third of Israelis
are below the age of 16, which
means they are still not eligible
for the shot.
By Maayan Lubell
From Reuters
tarian rule led to speculation
about his whereabouts.
In announcing on April 4 that
the military had warned Hamza
over his actions, the government
said that Hamza had liaised with
people linked to foreign parties
seeking to destabilize Jordan and
that he had been under investiga-
tion for some time.
Hamza had been widely ex-
pected to succeed Abdullah as
Jordan’s next king, until the mon-
arch made his own son, Prince
Hussein, heir instead in 2004, in
line with family tradition.
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi
From Reuters
Iran Reports
at Natanz
Nuclear Site
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—
A problem with the electrical
distribution grid at Iran’s Natanz
nuclear facility caused an incident
at the site on April 11, Iranian Press
TV reported, a day after Tehran
launched new advanced uranium
enrichment centrifuges at the site.
The Natanz facility, which is lo-
cated in the desert in the central
province of Isfahan, is the center-
piece of Iran’s uranium enrich-
ment program and monitored by
inspectors of the International
Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.
nuclear watchdog.
“The incident caused no casu-
alties or contamination,” Iran’s
Atomic Energy Organization
spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi
said, adding that “electricity was
affected at the Natanz facility.”
The cause is under investigation,
Kamalvandi told Iran’s semi-of-
ficial Fars news agency; Iranian
lawmaker Malek Shariati-Niasar
said in a tweet, “This incident ... is
strongly suspected to be sabotage
or infiltration.”
Iran has blamed Israel for last
year’s killing of Mohsen Fakhriza-
deh, who was believed by West-
ern intelligence services to be the
mastermind of a covert Iranian
nuclear weapons program. Teh-
ran has denied seeking to build a
nuclear bomb. Israel has neither
confirmed nor denied responsibil-
ity for the killing.
A spokesman for the U.N. nuclear
watchdog said by email: “We are
aware of the media reports. We
have no comment at this stage.”
In July last year, a fire broke out
at the Natanz facility, which the
regime claimed was an attempt to
sabotage Iran’s nuclear program.
In 2010, the Stuxnet computer vi-
rus, widely believed to have been
developed by the United States and
Israel, was discovered after it was
used to attack Natanz.
Tehran and Washington have
been trying to revive Iran’s 2015
nuclear deal with major powers
after former U.S. President Donald
Trump abandoned it three years
ago. Trump reimposed sanctions
that had been lifted on the Islamic
Republic, and brought in many
more.
In reaction to the U.S. sanctions,
Iran disclosed it was in breach of
many restrictions imposed by the
accord. The two nations laid out
tough stances at indirect talks in
Vienna last week on how to bring
both sides back into full compli-
ance with the accord.
By Parisa Hafezi
From Reuters

What Our As a former journalist, I have over 25 news-oriented sites

Readers Say
(from former jourlists)
A friend turned me on to The Epoch
Times. I was stunned I had not found
ET on my own. As a former journalist,
I have over 25 news-oriented sites
bookmarked along with many other
websites. The Epoch Times is #1 on
my list for a reason—fair, ethical, well-
researched and well balanced editorial
and opinion is what I so appreciate.
In a sea of amateur, biased, poorly-
researched and poorly thought
articles by biased, out-of-touch news
outlets, littered with biased and
amateur “journalists,” The Epoch
Times is a beacon in what has become
a fog-enshrouded sea of icebergs.
ROB STUEHRK
bookmarked along with many other websites. The Epoch Times
is #1 on my list for a reason—fair, ethical, well-researched and
well balanced editorial and opinion is what I so appreciate.
As a journalism graduate and a As a retired journalist I despaired of My mother retired from The
devotee of what was always a free ever finding honest, accurate news. Cincinnati Enquirer after a life-long
and fair press, it is heartening and And I also taught in China so I know career in journalism. This is one
refreshing to turn to The Epoch that coverage is true too. Thank you paper she would have supported;
Times for full, truthful coverage of Epoch Times. facts matter.
today’s worldwide events. CORNELIA CREE ALEXA KEATING
LYNN ADAMS
As a former journalist now retired, As an English major who took
As a journalism graduate from the I enjoy all of the content you journalism classes, I appreciate the
70s, I’m happy to have discovered currently print in “all” sections of old school, professional journalism
some real journalism. newspaper. that fills your articles. You abandon
the hype and state the facts, so the
DOROTHY SEVLIE WAYNE FRANTZEN
reader can decide.
Learn more at EpochSubscription.com LISA SCHNEIDER

TRUTH AND TRADITION

A12 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021

Need to Adjust Your Epoch Times

Email Preferences?
It’s fast and easy from our customer portal!
Access our email preferences dashboard in three easy steps.

Welcome, John

1. Log In 2. Click 3. Email Newsletter

Log in to your account at Click on your name Click on the sidebar option for
TheEpochTimes.com in the top right-hand corner of the page “Email Newsletters”

You’ll then see a list of the Epoch Times emails you’re currently subscribed to You can also unsubscribe from a
—and can change your preferences to what best fits your inbox. newsletter by clicking Manage your
email preference here at the bottom
of our emails.
Welcome, John!
Have you tried our app?

My Account

3UR¿OH
Copyright © 2021 The Epoch Times, All rights
Subscription reserved.
Email Newsletters Subscribe
Our mailing address is: The Epoch Times, 229 W
Premium Content 28th St, Fl.5, New York, NY 10001
Digital Newspaper (ePaper)
Unsubscribe With social media censorship sidelining many
Help & Support important headlines, our Breaking News email is
how we make sure you get the latest developments
FAQ that our reporters have curated from around the
Subscribe
world. It’s our way of keeping you truly informed so
Terms of Service
that you can make the decisions that align with your
Contact Us
values. We hope you enjoy our coverage. Manage
Logout Unsubscribe your email preferences here

Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas attends the swearing-in ceremony for Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the South Lawn of the White House on Oct. 26, 2020.
Clarence Thomas Shows
the Path Forward on Big Tech
JOSH HAMMER
A realignment, as many
have observed, is now
unfolding in American
politics. The Republican
Party and its conser-
vatism is now the home
for the “Somewheres,” to
borrow the term from David Goodhart’s
2017 book “The Road to Somewhere,”
which refers to the more traditionalist,
hardscrabble patriots of the American
heartland.
The Democratic Party and its increas-
ingly hard-left progressivism, by contrast,
is the home for the “Anywheres”—those
highly educated, mobile, “woke” elites
comprising the bicoastal ruling class.
The big tech issue is the tip of the spear
of the realignment. As has been made
painfully obvious the last few years, with
last October’s collusive big tech assault
on the New York Post for its election-sea-
son reporting on Hunter Biden’s over-
seas travails serving as an eye-opening
pinnacle, Big Tech is now the ruling
class’s catspaw. These modern-day rob-
ber barons are willing and able to lend
their censorious assistance to the ruling
class’s ruthless entrenchment of its ideo-
logical and political hegemony.
Big Tech, in short, is the leading pri-
vate-sector appendage with which the
Anywheres cow into submission and
subjugate the Somewheres.
This emergent reality has caused no
shortage of heart palpitations among
some of the more “liberal” elements of
the American conservative firmament.
Conservatives, many were taught, stand
for unadulterated laissez-faire and a
staunch commitment to deregulating
corporate America. What to do, then,
when those unshackled big corporations
turn around and come after us?
MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 • A13
The answer, for many, has been to
carefully reassess what exactly it is we
stand for as conservatives—especially
as it pertains to unaccountable, concen-
trated corporate titans who control the
21st-century equivalents of the old public
square. To wit, there is nothing particu-
larly “conservative” about a zealous,
dogmatic refusal to countenance state
actions that might better channel the
content curation and moderation deci-
sions of a behemoth such as Amazon—
which has at least an 80 percent market
share in digital books—toward the com-
mon good of the American polity. Ditto
Google, which has a nearly 90 percent
market share in online search.
But the historical bromance between
the GOP and chamber of commerce-
style corporatism has been an obstinate
hindrance to reform. Big Tech-skeptical,
pro-realignment conservatives have
all too often had their legal and policy
arguments on such issues as antitrust
enforcement and Section 230 reform
thrown back in their faces by doctri-
naire, limited-government enthusiasts
who insist that True Conservatism is
synonymous with hands-off private-
sector fundamentalism. “Build your own
Google!” the corporatists and libertar-
ians have scowled.
On April 5, the most important con-
servative lawyer in the nation, Supreme
Court Justice Clarence Thomas, came out
swinging on the side of the reformers.
In his concurrence in Biden v. Knight
First Amendment Institute, Thomas
opined: “Today’s digital platforms
provide avenues for historically unprec-
edented amounts of speech, includ-
ing speech by government actors. Also
unprecedented, however, is the concen-
trated control of so much speech in the
hands of a few private parties.” Later,
after a discussion of the centuries-long
history of “common carrier” regula-
tion—in modern times, most often
applied to transportation networks like
rail and communications networks like
telephony—and places of “public accom-
modation,” Thomas wrote, “There is a fair
argument that some digital platforms are
sufficiently akin to common carriers or
places of accommodation to be regulated
in this manner.”
Seemingly speaking directly to regula-
tors and legislators at both the federal
and state level, Thomas also added, “If the
Google’s New York office in lower Manhattan on Jan. 20, 2021.
There is a fair
argument that some
digital platforms
are sufficiently
akin to common
carriers or places of
accommodation to
be regulated in this
manner.
Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas
Like this article? Share it
with your friends and family.
Scan this code to receive
a shareable link.
TASOS KATOPODIS/GETTY IMAGES
CHUNG I HO/THE EPOCH TIMES
analogy between common carriers and
digital platforms is correct, then an an-
swer may arise for dissatisfied platform
users who would appreciate not being
blocked: laws that restrict the platform’s
right to exclude.” Seldom is a Supreme
Court justice clearer and more forthright
than that. Finally, in a footnote toward
the end of his concurrence, Thomas
implied that Section 230 immunity may
itself be constitutionally problematic and
violative of the First Amendment.
With the imprimatur of America’s great-
est living conservative—who happens
to be one of the greatest Supreme Court
justices ever—the path forward for the
Big Tech-skeptical right is clear. We can
and must use all tools necessary in our
policy and legal arsenal to rein in the big
tech oligarchs before it is too late. Section
230 reform and antitrust enforcement
against the most egregious offenders of
concentrated power, such as Google and
Amazon, are fine places to begin.
But as Thomas urges, and as many
of us have argued at least since the New
York Post hullabaloo last October, we
should think even bigger than that. It’s
time to get serious about applying “com-
mon carrier” regulatory frameworks
and/or “public accommodation” Civil
Rights Act statutory frameworks, and to
reclaim our self-governing democracy
from the Silicon Valley technocracy be-
fore it is too late.
Josh Hammer, a constitutional attorney
by training, is an opinion editor, a podcast
contributor, and a syndicated columnist.
A14 | OPINION
Wealthy and Woke
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON
Ed Bastian made $17
million in 2019 as chief
executive officer of Delta
Air Lines, Georgia’s larg-
est employer. Bastian just
blasted Georgia’s new vot-
ing law. He thinks it is racist
to require the same sort of ID to vote that
Delta requires for its passengers to check in.
Yet most Americans believe voting is
a more sacred act than flying Delta and,
moreover, may have noticed that Delta
has partnerships with systemically racist
China. Also, a recent Associated Press
poll showed that 72 percent of Americans
favor requiring photo ID to vote.
The most privileged CEOs of corporate
America—those who sell us everything
from soft drinks and sneakers to profes-
sional sports and social media—now jab-
ber to America about its racism, sexism,
and other assorted sins.
The rules of cynical CEO censure are
transparent.
First, the corporation never harangues
unless it feels it has more to lose—wheth-
er by boycotts, protests, or bad public-
ity—than it stands to gain in staying
neutral and silent.
Second, class concerns are never
mentioned. Bastian made about $65,000
for each working day of 2019. In a sane
world, he might seem a ridiculous voice
of the oppressed.
Third, CEOs never fear offending the
conservative silent majority, who are as-
sumed not to boycott or protest.
The woke revolution is not a grassroots
movement. It is powered by a well-
connected and guilt-ridden elite. Yet the
religion of wokeness assumes that these
high priests deserve exemptions. Their
wealth, credentials, contacts, and power
ensure none are ever subject to the con-
sequences of their own sermons.
DILBERT
PEANUTS
RED AND ROVER
GRAND AVENUE
MUTT & JEFF
Multimillion-dollar NBA stars blast
America’s “systemic racism.” They utter
not a word about Chinese reeducation
camps, the destruction of Tibetan cul-
ture, or the strangulation of Hong Kong’s
democracy. Player salaries depend on
coaxing a huge Chinese market. Players’
domestic endorsements hinge on a young,
woke American clientele. Defending the
professional sports lifestyles of rich and
famous stars apparently requires loud
penance by blasting an unfair America.
Examine almost any woke hotspot and
a growing class divide is clear.
Academia? Tenured administrators
and university presidents pulling down
seven-figure salaries are far more likely to
virtue-signal their universities’ “racism”
than are untenured, poorly paid, part-time
lecturers. It is easier for a college president
to blather about his own “unearned privi-
lege” than to support the rights of exploit-
ed part-time faculty—much less resign to
give someone else a spot.
The woke media? Its clergy are elite net-
work newsreaders, not so much reporters
on the beat.
The military? The retired and current
officers who lecture us on the evils of
Donald Trump or promise to ferret out
“insurrectionists” among the ranks are
mostly generals and admirals—and some
retired top-brass multimillionaires.
We don’t hear much about privates,
corporals, sergeants, and majors push-
ing through subsidies for transgendered
surgeries or petitions to garrison a quiet
Washington with barbed wire and Na-
tional Guardsmen.
The richest people in America—the
heads of our biggest corporations—are
the most likely to voice their derision for
the unwoke lower and middle classes.
Ditto the multimillionaires of politics—
Al Gore, Dianne Feinstein, John Kerry,
and Nancy Pelosi.
Celebrity billionaires such as Jay-Z,
COMICS
Delta CEO Ed Bastian.
George Lucas, Paul McCartney, and
Oprah Winfrey weigh in often about the
oppression of the supposedly rigged sys-
tem they mastered, but rarely about the
plight of the less-well-paid in their own
professions.
So wokeness is medieval. Sin is not
given up as much as atoned for—and
excused—through loud confessionals.
Self-righteous elites rant about carbon
footprints, needless border security,
defunding the police, gun control, and
charter schools. But they rarely forgo
their private jets, third and fourth homes,
estate walls, armed security guards, and
prep schools. Apparently, the more you
rant about “privilege,” the less you need
to worry about your own.
Wokeness is an insurance policy. The
louder the damnation of American
culture, the more likely a career will be
saved or enhanced.
Wokeness is classist and elitist. Those
who made or inherited a fortune, got the
right degree at the right school, made
CEO or a four-star rank, live in the right
ZIP code, or know the right people be-
lieve they have earned the right to decide
what is moral for their inferiors.
So, some of them have created an entire
GARFIELD
GINGER MEGGS
BIG NATE
DRABBLE
FRANK AND ERNEST
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
CURTIS COMPTON/ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION/TNS
vocabulary—“deplorables,” “irredeem-
ables,” “clingers,” “dregs,” “chumps,” and
“Neanderthals”—for the peasants and
losers who must do as they are told.
Wokeness is not really about fairness
for minorities, the oppressed, and the
poor, past or present. It is mostly a self-
confessional cult of anointed bullies,
and hypocrites of all races and genders,
who seek to flex, and increase, their own
privilege and power. Period.
Victor Davis Hanson is a conservative
commentator, classicist, and military his-
torian. He is a professor of classics emeri-
tus at California State University, a senior
fellow in classics and military history at
Stanford University, a fellow of Hillsdale
College, and a distinguished fellow of the
Center for American Greatness. Hanson
has written 16 books, including “The
Western Way of War,” “Fields Without
Dreams,” and “The Case for Trump.
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 OPINION | A15
SPECIAL SERIES: HOW THE SPECTER OF COMMUNISM IS RULING OUR WORLD

Chapter Seventeen: Stephen Gregory, Publisher

Jasper Fakkert, Editor-in-Chief
Channaly Philipp, Life & Tradition,
Travel Editor

Globalization and Communism Chrisy Trudeau, Mind & Body Editor

Crystal Shi, Home, Food Editor
Sharon Kilarski, Arts & Culture Editor

YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES ABOUT US

The Epoch Times here serializes
an adaptation from the Chinese The Epoch Times is a media
of “How the Specter of Communism organization dedicated to seek-
Is Ruling Our World,” a new book ing the truth through insightful
by the editorial team of the “Nine and independent journalism.
Commentaries on the Communist
Party.” Standing outside of politi-
cal interests and the pursuit of
profit, our starting point and our
4. Cultural Globalization: goal is to create a media for the
A Means of Corrupting public benefit, to be truly respon-
Humanity sible to society.

We endeavor to educate read-

a. Destroying the World’s
Cultural Traditions (cont.)
These modern globalist values have
also become ubiquitous and main-
stream via the corporate culture of
multinational corporations. Their
promotion of sexual liberation has
seriously corroded the moral values of
traditional society.
In 2016, a large global chain retailer
announced that their store dress-
ing rooms and restrooms would be
“friendly to transgender people,”
meaning that men could enter wom-
en’s restrooms or locker rooms at will
if they self-identified as women. The
American Family Association said
the policy was harmful to women and
children and called on consumers to
boycott the company. To date, the as-
sociation’s pledge to boycott the store
chain has received more than 1.5
million signatures. [23] Boycotts have
become unrealistic, however, as more
and more companies across society
have adopted such policies. Commu-
nism is able to utilize the herd men-
tality because many people do not
have a strong will. Once humankind
deviates from divinely imparted tra-
ditions, everything becomes relative
and changes over time. The situation
becomes ripe for exploitation.
Under the conditions of globaliza-
tion, mutual respect and tolerance
of different national cultures have
become mainstream. Communism
has used this to distort the concept of
tolerance and make value-neutrality
a “global consensus,” thereby advo-
cating deviant ideas.
The long-term moral
crisis human civilization
faces is unprecedented.
b. The UN’s Role in Spreading
Degenerate Values
Article 13 of the U.N. Convention on
the Rights of the Child states, “The
child shall have the right to freedom
of expression; this right shall include
freedom to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas of all kinds,
regardless of frontiers, either orally,
in writing or in print, in the form of
art, or through any other media of the
child’s choice.” [24]
Some scholars have asked: If parents
do not allow their children to wear
T-shirts with Satanic symbolism, does
it constitute a violation of children’s
rights? Do children have the right
to choose how they speak to their
parents? Children may lack judg-
ment; if they commit acts of violence
or violate ethical norms, can parents
discipline them? These worries are
not unwarranted. In 2017, Ontario,
genders). Parents who don’t accept
UN Environment their child’s chosen gender identity
Executive Direc- may be considered to be engaging in
tor Erik Sol- child abuse, and their children could
heim (2ndR) and be taken away by the state. [25]
UN Human Set- In 1990, the World Health Organiza-
tlements Pro- tion announced that homosexual-
gramme exective ity was not a mental illness, which
director Maimu- greatly elevated and spurred on the
nah Mohd Sharif
(3rdR) pose with
LGBT movement worldwide. South
rainbow and Africa was the first country to intro-
UN flags before duce a new convention at the U.N.
the UN GLOBE Human Rights Council that required
event celebrat- that the recognition of sexual orienta-
ing first time on tion and gender identity be used as an
the International
indicator of upholding human rights.
Day against
The convention, the first that directly
Homophobia
targeted sexual orientation and gen-
and Transphobia der identity, was ultimately adopted.
(IDAHOT), at UN
In reality, the convention normalizes
Office in Nairobi,
Kenya, on May
what used to be considered deviant
17, 2018. ideas by attributing to them the same
importance as natural rights.
Communism thus uses globaliza-
tion to distort and destroy traditional
culture and moral values in an all-
encompassing fashion. This includes
the use of developed countries, global
enterprises, and international institu-
tions. People are immersed in the su-
perficial convenience of a globalized
lifestyle, but they are not aware of the
rapid transformations occurring at the
level of ideology and consciousness.
In just a few decades, these completely
new ideas have engulfed many parts
of the world. Wherever these ideas go,
the culture changes—and even the
oldest and most closed countries are
unable to escape. If this trend contin-
ues, civilization itself will be lost.
Traditional culture is the root of hu-
man existence and an important safe-
guard for human beings to maintain
moral standards. It is the key for people
to return to the righteous path and be
saved by their Creator. In the process
of globalization, traditional culture
has been twisted and ruined by the ar-
rangements of the communist specter.
The long-term moral crisis human
civilization faces is unprecedented.
Signs are
poseted outside
Globalist institutions promote
a High School’s degenerate values in virtually
gender neutral every country on earth, aiding
munism’s representatives in both
the East and the West began using
international political, economic, and
cultural exchanges and cooperation
to expand and control globalization.
Globalist institutions promote degen-
erate values in virtually every coun-
try on earth, aiding the communist
specter’s systematic destruction of
universal values, traditional culture,
and faith in the divine.
Communism is able to utilize the
herd mentality because many
people do not have a strong will.
Once humankind deviates from
divinely imparted traditions,
everything becomes relative and
changes over time. The situation
becomes ripe for exploitation.
By using globalization in conjunc-
tion with other historical processes
over the last few centuries, the com-
munist specter has greatly expanded
its power in the human world.
In the first half of the 20th century,
communists took power in Russia
and China, slaughtering the cultural
elites and destroying the traditional
culture of these two vast nations.
After World War II, the communist
camp infiltrated and controlled in-
ternational organizations such as the
U.N., abused democratic procedures
to allow the majority to conquer the
minority, and used money to win
over small countries in an attempt to
use the U.N.’s supranational power to
spread its political system worldwide.
In the little more than a century
since the emergence of communism
on the global stage, these transna-
tional political and economic forces
have come to wield formidable power,
imperiling sovereign nations every-
where with the agenda of establishing
a world government.
Only with the return of tradition can
people restore their national identity
and sovereignty and create a har-
monious international environment
governed by upright universal values.
This will allow humankind to banish
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
noble vocation, but only when it
genuinely seeks to serve its com-
munities and help them to flour-
ish. In all that we do, we will hold
ourselves to the highest stand-
ards of integrity. This is our
promise to you.
CONTACT US
The Epoch Times Association Inc.
229 W. 28th St., Fl. 7
New York, NY 10001
Advertising
advertisenow@epochtimes.com
Subscriptions
Help.TheEpochTimes.com
General Inquiries
Help.TheEpochTimes.com
Letters to the Editor
lettertoeditor@epochtimes.com

SUBSCRIBE
Canada, passed a law prohibiting restrooms in Los the communist specter’s the communist specter and live under
parents from denying their children’s Angeles, Calif., the protection and grace of the divine.
on May 4, 2016. systematic destruction of
wishes in regard to gender expression
(i.e., children could select their own universal values, traditional
Notes

MARK RALSTON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
culture, and faith in the divine.
5. Upholding National
Heritage and Universal
Values
Different nationalities and countries
have existed for millennia. Although
they inhabit different regions, have
different social forms and political
systems, use different languages, and
have different cultural and psycho-
logical qualities, all share common
universal values. These universal val-
ues are the core of traditional culture
for all ethnic groups.
Around the world, especially
after the end of the Cold War, com-
TODAY
23. “Sign the Boycott Target Pledge!”
American Family Association, April 2016.
24. United Nations Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights,
Get the
“Convention on the Rights of the Child”
(Geneva: United Nations, 1989).
independent news
25. Grace Carr, “Ontario Makes Disapproval you won’t find
of Kid’s Gender Choice Potential Child
Abuse,” Daily Caller, June 5, 2017.
anywhere else.
Subscribe and get the
This concludes Chapter Seventeen. insights only The Epoch Times
can provide, delivered to your
See next edition for the next installment. door every week.
ReadEpoch.com
To purchase the books, visit Epoch-
Shop.com
A16 | OPINION
NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Prince, a
member of
the hacking
group Red
Hacker Alli-
ance who
refused to
give his real
name, uses
his com-
puter at the
group’s office
in Dongguan,
China, on
Aug. 4, 2020.
These internet trolls pose a threat to
CCP’s Internet personal data and national security. They
carried out the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP)’s disinformation campaigns
regarding the COVID-19 pandemic,
Trolls Are the Hong Kong’s anti-extradition bill pro-
tests, Taiwan’s 2020 election, the U.S.
2020 election, and other major interna-
tional events.
World’s Largest The History of the CCP’s Internet Trolls
The CCP’s internet trolls, described in a
study as “for-hire astroturfers working
Cyber Army for and advancing the interests of com-
panies and other actors willing to pay
their fees,” are one of the largest criminal
organizations. Based on the historical
data of major search engines, commer-
cial trolls have been emerging on the
GU FENG internet since 2004.
The CCP’s internet Through an analysis of online data, the
In the online world, a group of people CCP’s internet trolls can be divided into
endangers the safety and health of the trolls are one of three stages of development.
internet, and Chinese netizens call them the largest criminal The first stage was from 2004 to 2009,
the “cyber triad.” Among the groups organizations. during which the CCP’s trolls mainly
are the Chinese regime’s internet trolls, focused on the deletion of posts, sales
known as “wumao dang” in Chinese or and promotion, and advocacy of rights
“50 cent army.” on behalf of others.
The second stage was from 2010 to 2013,
which was the business development
stage of the CCP’s trolls. In this stage, its
The Book You’ve Been business scope began to expand. Major
internet troll companies began to act as
Waiting for... public relations agents for individuals,
enterprises, local CCP parties, govern-
ment agencies, and the CCP’s nongov-
ernmental institutions, to deal with on-
line crises. During this stage, the “50 cent
army,” civilian internet trolls hired by the
CCP, started to appear on the internet to
participate in public events.
NOW The third stage was from 2014 to 2021,
when the business transformed for the
BIGGER SIZE, CCP’s trolls. In February 2014, the CCP
EASIER TO READ officially established the Central Lead-
FORMAT ing Group for Cyberspace Affairs, under
which is the Cyberspace Administration
of China (CAC), or Office of the Central
Cyberspace Affairs Commission.
Five business sectors were established
to work under the CAC: the Internet
Commentary Work Bureau, the Internet
Social Work Bureau, the Mobile Network
Administration Bureau, the Internet
Security Coordination Bureau, and the
“Extremely well “The Truth, as horrifying as it is, International Cooperation Bureau. Their
responsibilities include internet opinion
researched and true.” shall set us free. This should be monitoring, management, control of the
on this country’s academia’s CCP’s internet trolls, public relations re-
lated to internet issues, overseas propa-
list of required reading.”
HOW THE
ganda, and the CCP’s United Front Work
Department.
Following the establishment of the
SPECTER OF COMMUNISM
CAC, it launched a cyber campaign to
consolidate various independent civilian
hackers and troll companies under its
IS RULING OUR WORLD
control. At the same time, the Communist
Youth League of China (CYLC) recruited
tens of millions of university students to
work as part-time internet trolls in major
universities across China, and the Central
The specter of communism did not Committee of Political and Legal Affairs
recruited millions of detainees in major
prisons as full-time cyber trolls. In this
disappear with the disintegration of the way, cyber hackers and trolls have evolved
from a “guerrilla army” into a “regular
Communist Party in Eastern Europe army” controlled by the CCP.
Organizational Structure
ORDER NOW!
According to CCP insiders, the CCP at-
taches great importance to the formation
and management of its internet trolls.
The CCP has set up special organizations
of cyber army governance at all levels
of government. Personnel recruitment,
EpochShop.com
training, task assignment, payment, and
meetings are all conducted online.
The CCP’s internet trolls are composed
of the following six categories of person-
nel: cadres of CYLC, social media influ-
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
encers, university students, employees of
internet companies, prison inmates, and
the unemployed. Their pay is based on
different job categories and is calculated
on the number of posts they have sub-
mitted. There are many types of job roles,
and the major roles include conveners,
technical staff (hackers), writers, on-
line commentators, and public opinion
supervisors. The trolls themselves are
divided into two major categories: do-
mestic and overseas.
CCP’s Trolls Are Anathema
to Chinese Netizens
The Chinese people dare not voice their
anger at the CCP for spending huge sums
of public money to pay tens of millions of
50 cent army members every year.
In China, major internet portals, at the
behest of the CCP, allow the 50 cent army
to suppress criticism and stigmatize CCP
dissidents, create false public opinion,
cover up various crimes committed by
the CCP, undermine social order and
morality, create the illusion of national
prosperity, incite racial and ethnic
hatred, maliciously create rumors about
other countries, falsify historical truths,
and spread messages to fool the public.
Whenever articles by major CCP lead-
ers appear on the internet, the comments
are almost always filled with adulation
written by the internet trolls. Chinese ne-
tizens despise the 50 cent army, but the
Chinese regime regards their comments
as public opinion.
CCP’s Cyber Army Is Like
an Infectious Disease
Today, with the globalization of the
internet, the CCP’s cyber army has long
been endangering the social security of
countries around the world. In the cyber
world, the CCP’s online trolls are like
an infectious disease, attacking coun-
tries all over the world. For example,
online hackers attack the websites of
key government departments, scientific
research institutions, large enterprises,
and universities to steal their infor-
mation. The 50 cent army maliciously
attacks and abuses government leaders
and anti-communists in other countries.
The Chinese regime’s social media in-
fluencers implement cultural aggression
on the internet. In short, the CCP’s cyber
army is taking advantage of the freedom
of speech in democratic countries to at-
tack other countries.
As early as a decade ago, the United
States had included the CCP’s cyber attacks
as an important issue in U.S.–China diplo-
macy, but the situation is getting worse.
On March 18, the Biden administration
held its first high-level dialogue with the
Chinese regime in Alaska, where Sec-
retary of State Antony Blinken met with
Yang Jiechi, a senior CCP foreign policy
diplomat, and Chinese Foreign Minister
Wang Yi. Blinken said that the United
States would “discuss our deep concerns
with actions by China, including in Xin-
jiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyber attacks
on the United States, economic coercion
of our allies.”
With the globalization of the
internet, the CCP’s cyber army
has long been endangering
the social security of countries
around the world.
Instead of including the South China
Sea and U.S.–China trade issues on the
agenda, the United States made cyber-
attacks an important topic of the talks,
which shows the extent of harm the CCP’s
cyber army has done to the United States.
The CCP’s cyber army has also launched
fierce attacks on U.S. social media.
Twitter said on June 12, 2020, that it
suspended 23,750 accounts attributed to
the Chinese regime that the social media
platform says were involved “in a range
of manipulative and coordinated activi-
ties,” and tweeted “predominantly in
Chinese languages” to spread “geopoliti-
cal narratives favorable to the Commu-
nist Party of China (CCP) while continu-
ing to push deceptive narratives about
the political dynamics in Hong Kong.”
On Sept. 22, 2020, Facebook also re-
moved a network of fake accounts from
China that “coordinated inauthentic be-
havior” in political discussions through
“155 accounts, 11 pages, 9 groups, and
6 Instagram accounts.” According to
Facebook, their activities “originated in
China and focused primarily on the Phil-
ippines and Southeast Asia more broadly,
and also on the United States.”
Gu Feng is a former media veteran from
mainland China who spent many years
reporting on the country’s political, eco-
nomic, and social issues. He is now living
in the United States.
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
Biden Sees ‘Win’ for US in
Electric Vehicle Battery Deal
WASHINGTON—Two big South Korean
electric vehicle battery makers said on
April 11 they have settled a long-running
trade dispute that will allow one company
to move ahead with plans to manufacture
batteries in Georgia.
President Joe Biden called it “a win for
American workers and the American auto
industry.”
The agreement between LG Energy Solu-
tion and SK Innovation ended the need for
Biden to intervene in a case closely watched
for its implications on Biden’s clean-energy
agenda, which includes a sharp increase in
the number of electric vehicles as part of
his plan to address climate change. Biden
had until late April 11 to make a decision,
following a ruling in February by a trade
commission.
The companies said in a joint statement
that SK will provide LG Energy with a total
of $1.8 billion and an undisclosed royalty.
They agreed to withdraw all pending trade
disputes in the United States and South Ko-
rea and not assert new claims for 10 years.
“We have decided to settle and to com-
pete in an amicable way, all for the future of
the U.S. and South Korean electric vehicle
battery industries,” said Jun Kim, CEO and
president of SK, and Jong Hyun Kim, CEO
and president of LG Energy.
The companies pledged to work together
to strengthen the EV battery supply chain
in the U.S. and support the Biden admin-
istration’s efforts to advance clean energy
policies, including electric vehicles.
The U.S. International Trade Commission
had decided in February that SK stole 22
trade secrets from LG Energy, and that SK
should be barred from importing, making,
or selling batteries in the United States for
10 years.
The decision could have left Ford and
Volkswagen scrambling for batteries as
they both roll out additional electric ve-
hicle models, a priority for the companies
and for the Biden administration. SK has
contracts to make batteries for an electric
Ford F-150 pickup truck and an electric
EU Proposes 6-Month
Tariff Freeze With United
States: Report
BERLIN—The European Union has sug-
gested that it and the United States sus-
pend tariffs imposed on billions of dollars
of imports for six months, EU trade chief
Valdis Dombrovskis was quoted as telling
Germany’s Der Spiegel on April 10.
This would create a
necessary breathing space
for industries and workers
on both sides of the Atlantic.
Valdis Dombrovskis, EU trade chief
That would go beyond a four-month
suspension decided upon last month,
and send a signal that Brussels is seeking
compromise in a 16-year-old dispute over
aircraft subsidies.
“We have proposed suspending all mu-
tual tariffs for six months in order to reach
Shipping containers sit on a dock at the Port of Oakland, in Oakland, Calif., on March 26, 2021.
Volkswagen SUV.
The commission said SK could supply
batteries to Ford Motor Co. for four years
and to Volkswagen AG for two years. The
decision had jeopardized a $2.6 billion bat-
tery factory that SK is building in Com-
merce, Georgia.
Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), who at Biden’s
request had jump-started negotiations be-
tween two companies, said the settlement
“has saved the battery plant in Commerce,
Georgia, ensuring thousands of jobs, bil-
lions in future investment, and that Geor-
gia will be a leader in electric vehicle bat-
tery production for years to come.’’
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai
said the deal “builds confidence” in the
reliability and responsibility of the two
companies as suppliers to the U.S. auto
industry. The agreement puts the U.S. “in
a stronger position to drive innovation and
... clean energy technology while also re-
specting the rights of technology innova-
tors at the heart of trade and manufactur-
ing policy,’’ she said.
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) added,
“The best way to protect workers in Com-
merce —and the jobs Georgians were
promised—is for the companies involved
to negotiate a settlement in good faith.”
a negotiated solution,” Dombrovskis told
the news magazine.
“This would create a necessary breathing
space for industries and workers on both
sides of the Atlantic,” he added.
In March, the two sides agreed on a four-
month suspension covering all U.S. tar-
iffs on $7.5 billion of EU imports and all
EU duties on $4 billion of U.S. products,
which resulted from long-running World
Trade Organization cases over subsidies for
planemakers Airbus and Boeing.
Dombrovskis also said the EU would
closely monitor U.S. President Joe Biden’s
“Buy American” laws which provide for
U.S. public contracts to be awarded exclu-
sively to American firms.
“Our goal is to push for procurement mar-
kets that are as open as possible all over the
world,” he told Der Spiegel.
 By Madeline Chambers
From Reuters
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
BUSINESS & ECONOMY | A17
JUNG YEON-JE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
He said he raised the battery issue with
Biden during the president’s March 19 visit
to Atlanta.
Biden said in a statement that building
electric vehicles and the batteries needed
for them is an important part of his $2.3
trillion infrastructure plan.
“We need a strong, diversified, and re-
silient U.S.-based electric vehicle battery
supply chain, so we can supply the growing
global demand for these vehicles and com-
ponents—creating good-paying jobs here
at home, and laying the groundwork for the
jobs of tomorrow. Today’s settlement is a
positive step in that direction,” Biden said.
Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, called
the settlement “fantastic news for northeast
Georgia and our state’s growing electric
vehicle industry.’’
Ford, in a statement, said the deal “al-
A man walks past the lows us to focus on delivering a range of
logo of South Korea’s Ford world-class battery electric vehicles
LG Electronics in front for our retail and fleet customers, while
of the company’s also supporting American workers, the
headquarters in Seoul economy and our shared goal of protect-
on April 5, 2021. ing the planet.’’
Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for
Guidehouse Insights, said a settlement was
always the most likely outcome. Demand
for electric vehicles is projected to rise dra-
matically by 2035, and other companies
We have decided will start making them in the U.S. to meet
that demand, he said.
to settle and Switching the U.S. fleet of roughly 279 mil-
to compete in lion largely gas-powered cars and trucks to
an amicable electric vehicles is a focus of Biden’s infra-
structure plan, with $174 billion allocated
way, all for the for EV incentives, a half-million charging
future of the stations, and the development of a domes-
U.S. and South tic supply chain. Experts say it’s possible
the U.S. will run short of electric vehicle
Korean electric batteries if it doesn’t set up its own network
vehicle battery of parts suppliers.
industries. “We don’t have nearly enough (existing)
battery production capacity to meet the
Joint statement by kind of volumes that companies are talking
Jun Kim, CEO, SK, about producing,” Abuelsamid said.
and Jong Hyun Kim,
CEO, LG Energy From The Associated Press
Behind the
Subscription
Your subscription will not only provide you with
accurate news and features, but also contribute
to the revival of American journalism and help
safeguard our freedoms for future generations.
We aim to tell you what we see, not how to think; we
strive to deliver you a factual picture of reality that
lets you form your own opinions.
We believe that we live in truly epochal times, where
the faithful representation of our current events
won’t just be important for the people of today, but
also for the generations to come. The records we
keep now will directly inform the foundations of the
history they’ll learn and the values they’ll cherish—
and this knowledge is what drives us.
Learn more at
EpochSubscription.com
TRUTH AND TRADITION
A18 | PUZZLES MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021

CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTED BY TOM HOUSTON

EPOCH TIMES STAFF
Across
1. Austere
8. Living units: Abbr.
12. Salinger dedicatee
16. Mean
17. Waste allowance
18. Pseudologue
19. Overstep a boundary
21. Epithet of Athena
22. Bull’s-eye: Abbr.
23. Charter
24. Native: Suffix
25. U.P.S. delivery: Abbr.
26. Laundry equipment
30. Blood clotting protein
33. Bar order
34. Back in
35. 1968 folk album
36. Litigant
39. Schmooze
41. Getting on in years
42. Asiatic herb
8. The Braves, on score- 4NUMBERS CONSTRUCTED BY C. CHANG
AT 4NUMS.COM DAILY BRIDGE CLUB
boards
Use the four numbers in the corners, and Instant demise
9. Monk’s house, maybe the operands (+, - X, and ÷) to build an BY FRANK STEWART, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY
10. Murder weapon used equation to get the solution in the middle.
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
There may be more than one “unique” so-
by Jael to kill Sisera lution but, there may also be “equivalent” A friend of mine who runs a mortuary says
11. Lead solutions. For example: 6 + (7 X 3) +1 = 28 it’s a serious undertaking. After all, death
and 1+ (7 X 3) + 6 = 28
12. Pass, as time is always just around the coroner. Many
13. Well-to-do contracts meet an early demise: at the first
trick.
14. Convicted spy for In today’s deal, West led the eight
China, Robert of spades against four hearts. Declarer
shrugged and played the nine from dummy,
15. Victorian, for one and that was the living end. East took the
20. Some Caltech grads, king and shifted promptly to the queen of
for short clubs, and the defense took three clubs.
Down one.
26. A medicated candy How would you play as South to avoid
27. Perfect four losers?
28. Atomic number 68 UNBLOCK
29. Adds new turf South can take the ace of spades, unblock
30. ___ Schwarz his A-K of diamonds, lead a trump to
Hard 1 - 1 Solution
dummy and return the jack of diamonds.
31. Discount rack abbr. When East plays low, South discards his
32. Nonsense last spade — a loser on a loser.
37. Currency exchange West takes the queen and does best
to lead his last diamond. East ruffs
board abbr. dummy’s ten, but South overruffs, leads
38. Parmenides’ home a trump to dummy and returns the ten
of spades, ruffing East’s king. South
40. “4,” sometimes: Abbr. gets back to dummy with a trump to
43. Kind pitch a club on the high nine of spades,
45. She, in Italy losing two clubs and one diamond.
47. Some paintings DAILY QUESTION
49. Court divider You hold: k A 10 9 j Q J 8
i J 10 7 2 h5 3 2. The dealer, at your
50. Maxwell Anderson’s left, opens one diamond. Your partner
Hard 2 - 1 Solution
“High ___” doubles, you bid 1NT and he raises to
44. “Portland, Oregon and 75. Grasslands 51. Pretense 2NT. What do you say?
___ gin fizz...” (Loretta 76. Hooter 52. “Careened” synonym?
ANSWER: This is a judgment call. Your
1NT suggested six to 10 points, and the
Lynn line) 79. “A God in Ruins” 55. “Gloria in excelsis ___” hand lies in the middle of that range. Since
46. Sign of winter novelist 56. Juliet, to Romeo the diamond stopper is “slow,” I would bid
48. Flabbergasted 3NT, especially if vulnerable. With a hand
80. Phrase of resignation 59. Encircle such as Q 10 9, Q 8 2, A 4 3 2, 5 3 2,
51. Plot 61. Quadrilateral, for containing a “primary” stopper, I would pass.
83. Bottom line, in the U.K.
53. To boot example South dealer
84. Commits perjury N-S vulnerable
54. Dust busters 64. “___ Fideles”
57. “Some ___ meat and 85. Cheers NORTH
66. Not fair
canna eat”: Burns 86. “Bonne___!” kA 10 9
68. Spring (from) jQ J 8
58. Flight coordinators: 87. “Das ___” (last words 70. Twin-crystal iJ 10 7 2
of a German film) Easy 1 - 1 Solution h5 3 2
Abbr. 71. Certain turn
WEST EAST
60. 1994 Costner role 88. Runner 72. Car dealer’s offering
k8 7 6 3 kK 5 4 2
62. French tire 76. Sea predator j4 j6 5 2
63. Firth of Clyde island Down iQ 8 6 5 i9 4 3
77. Small songbird hA 8 7 6 hQ J 10
65. Barbell abbr. 1. 1960’s civil rights org. 78. “Battle not with mon-
67. Salem’s home 2. Harbor sters, ___ ye become a
SOUTH
kQ J
69. Unmarried women in 3. Behind liquid or or monster” (Nietzsche) jA K 10 9 7 3
iA K
Paris 4. Candy striper’s bosses: 79. Commercial prefix hK 9 4
73. ___ out a win (just Abbr. with vision South West North East
prevail) 5. Yom Kippur’s month 81. “The Waste Land” 1j Pass 2j Pass
74. Gray of “Gray’s Manual 6. Behavior monogram 4j All Pass
of Botany” 7. Kind of jacket 82. Plug setting? Easy 2 - 2 Solutions Opening lead —k8

WORDSEARCH CONSTRUCTED BY TOM HOUSTON

EPOCH TIMES STAFF SUPER KAKURO CONSTRUCTED
BY EPOCH TIMES STAFF

Help with Today’s Crossword Puzzle? 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
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.

ACTIONS LEASE RESULT

ADESTE MACLE RETRO
ARRAN MAEGERLE SCAPES
BIASED MAIDS SCHEME
BLATHERSKITE MESDEMOISELLES SILK-STOCKING
CAREERED NEHRU SOLACES
CLOSE-IN NOT NICE SPARTAN
ELAPSE ORACH STEER
ENTRANT OREGON TENT PEG
ERBIUM PISCES THUNDERSTRUCK
FIBRIN POLYGON TISHRI
HUMANE PRIORY TROCHE

SOLUTIONS
CROSSWORD SUPER KAKURO 4NUMBERS

HARD 1

HARD 2

EASY 1

EASY 2
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 PUZZLES | A19
SUDOKU CONSTRUCTED
BY KANNAN SANKARAN SUPERSUDOKU CONSTRUCTED
BY KANNAN SANKARAN

Fill in the boxes using numbers between 1 and 9 so that each column, each Fill in the boxes using numbers from 0 to 9 and letters from A to F so that each column, each row, and
row, and each 3x3 square contain all nine numbers only once. each 4x4 square contain all ten numbers and six letters only once.
Hard

Easy

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
3 6
EPOCH DOKU CONSTRUCTED
BY EPOCH TIMES STAFF

WORK SPACE

KAKURO CONSTRUCTED
BY EPOCH TIMES STAFF JUMBLE BY DAVID L. HOYT
& JEFF KNUREK

Kakuro puzzles are like crosswords that use numbers instead of words. The goal THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME
is to fill the blank squares associated with a clue (called a “run”) with the numbers By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek
1-9 so that the numbers add up to the corresponding clues. Like Sudoku, digits Unscramble these Jumbles,
in a run cannot repeat. When the grid is filled, the puzzle is complete. one letter to each square,
Get the free JUST JUMBLE app • Follow us on Twitter @PlayJumble

to form four ordinary words.

Easy
IRRVE
EPOCH ESCAPE MAZE
BANIC

UFNRIA

NCAYAR
Now arrange the circled letters
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC to form the surprise answer, as
All Rights Reserved. suggested by the above cartoon.
Print your “ -
”
answer here:

WORK SPACE

SOLUTIONS
SUPERSUDOKU SUDOKU: EASY JUMBLE EASY KAKURO
ers — “NEAR-BUY” WORK SPACE
were plenty of custom-
so well because there
The new store was doing
Answers:

CANARY
UNFAIR
CABIN
SUDOKU: HARD EPOCH DOKU
RIVER
Jumbles:

CRYPTIC QUOTE
employment for athletes.
tertainment for spectators or
students not to provide en-
of ideas and values to
knowledge and understanding
Universities exist to transmit
Contact the Puzzle Master @: Feedback@EpochTimes.com
A20 | MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021

Truth and Tradition

The Gift of Strength in a Challenging Time
You know that the truth doesn’t just make you more Through our journalism, you can prove to them that our
informed—it can also give you the strength to fight and to nation’s values still remain strong. You can show them that
hope. But what about your friends and family who are still there is a growing community that’s willing to stand up for
missing out? these values.
Our Epoch Times gift subscription can help you share What else can
this strength with your loved ones. Thousands of our most bring more
loyal subscribers—and counting—have already done so. hope nowadays?

Help America find a better news source, like these people did:

I rely on The Epoch Times
newspaper for factual and
unbiased news coverage.
LARRY ELDER
Best-selling author, attorney,
and talk show host
I congratulate you and I love reading The Epoch Times has been
The Epoch Times for the work The Epoch Times! a welcome and refreshing
you are doing, especially with I always feel encouraged antidote that re-instills
regard to keeping the menace and hopeful about sanity and rationality, as well
of the communist threat in our future. as sanctity for human life.
front of us. CHRISTINE CARTWRIGHT NEAL BOGOSIAN
DR. SEBASTIAN GORKA
Military and intelligence analyst and former
deputy assistant to the president

G i v e t h e G i ft o f Tr u t h a n d Tra d i t i o n , a t a n y t i m e

ReadEpoch.com/gift

I N A W O R L D O F C E N S O R S H I P, T H E T R U T H I S Y O U R W E A P O N .

PASS IT ON.
WE LIVE IN A TIME when actions can help words speak louder—and travel farther.
ensorship of social media
Your print edition of The Epoch Times is free from the censorship
companies and the hidden agendas of legacy media. Help more Americans cans see the
whole picture at a time when special interests are trying to manipulate what they
see, think, and believe. Share your copy of The Epoch Times. After you’re done with
your paper, leave it with a friend, a family member, at the library, in a waiting room,
or maybe on a neighbor’s doorstep. Every little bit helps. Because print news can’t be
deplatformed and your actions can’t be demonetized.

PLEASE SHARE YOUR COPY OF THE EPOCH TIMES

 DRAZEN ZIGIC/SHUTTERSTOCK OLYA DETRY/SHUTTERSTOCK
COVID-19 FOOD AS MEDICINE

Why Are Young Adults Lemon Water Can

So Afraid of COVID? Deliver Real Results
Young Americans are more afraid of COVID Try this experiment to see what you notice after
than older adults despite facing a far lower risk. drinking more lemon.

See B2 See B6

MIND & BODY

WELL-BEING |DIET | FITNESS MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 B1

LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS/SHUTTERSTOCK

Re-
search sug-
gests most people
have end-of-life
experiences that are
vivid, meaningful,
and transfor-
mative.

As Death Approaches, Visions of

Lost Loved Ones Offer Comfort
One doctor’s research reveals the peace the dying gain from
dreams and visions of the previously deceased
CARINE MARDOROSSIAN byes through smartphone screens held by a like any and all physicians—with attend-

O
ne of the most devastating el-
ements of the pandemic has
been the inability to person-
ally care for loved ones who
have fallen ill.
Again and again, grieving relatives have
testified to how much more devastating
their loved one’s death was because they
were unable to hold their family member’s
hand—to provide a familiar and comfort-
ing presence in their final days and hours.
Some had to say their final good-
medical provider. Others resorted to using
walkie-talkies or waving through windows.
How does one come to terms with the
overwhelming grief and guilt over the
thought of a loved one dying alone?
I don’t have an answer to this question. But
the work of hospice Dr. Christopher Kerr—
with whom I co-authored the book “Death Is
But a Dream: Finding Hope and Meaning at
Life’s End”—might offer some consolation.
Unexpected Visitors
At the start of his career, Kerr was tasked—
ing to the physical care of his patients.
But he soon noticed a phenomenon that
seasoned nurses were already accustomed
to. As patients approached death, many
had dreams and visions of deceased loved
ones who came back to comfort them in
their final days.
Doctors are typically trained to interpret
these occurrences as drug-induced or de-
lusional hallucinations that might warrant
more medication or downright sedation.
Continued on B4

FOOD AS MEDICINE

The Fever Effect on Autism

Triggers New Views on Treatment
A change that comes MICHAEL GREGER study called Fever in Autistics was pub-
over autistic children lished in Nature and it offered a ray of hope:
Autism currently affects about one in 68 “When autistics have a moderate fever,
when they have a kids in the United States. There are no they invariably display dramatically more
There are very lim-
ited treatments for fever has profound drugs to treat the core symptoms, never normal behavioral patterns, including a
autism, and that implications about mind the underlying disorder itself—and greater desire or ability to communicate,”
may be because the disorder appears to be on the rise. But wrote researcher Rodney Cotterill in 1985.
we misunderstand
the disorder—and what can we do about it?
the condition. how to treat it Decades ago, a clue was published. A Continued on B5
JEKA/SHUTTERSTOCK
B2
Men’s Versatile Polo
Sign up to our newsletter and
save 10% off your first order.
www.ShenYunDancer.com
What People Are Saying
I read The Epoch Times daily.
I still like hard papers […] and
I still like to grab that paper in
my hand, but I get more printed
versions of stories than ever
before. You guys have done an
amazing job, and really—I think
there’s such a void in media,
especially newspapers. They
slant so solidly one way that
there are very few papers that
I can really feel that I can rely on,
and The Epoch Times is one.
SEAN HANNITY
Talk show host
The Epoch Times is a
great place where you can
understand traditional
values in a way and in a tone
and through content that is
accessible. It’s smart.
CARRIE SHEFFIELD
Columnist and broadcaster
Learn more at EpochSubscription.com
TRUTH AND TRADITION
I congratulate you and
The Epoch Times for the work
you are doing, especially with
regard to keeping the menace of
the communist threat in front of us.
DR. SEBASTIAN GORKA
Military and intelligence analyst and
former deputy assistant to the president
I rely on The Epoch Times
newspaper for factual and
unbiased news coverage.
LARRY ELDER
Best-selling author, attorney,
and talk show host
It’s our favorite paper. It’s the first
one we read. Thank you so much
for your reporting of the news.
PAUL GOSAR
U.S. representative for Arizona
How to Deal
With a Year of
Burnout From
Working at
Home
Tips to resolve the accumulated
stresses of working remotely,
practicing social distancing
NILUFAR AHMED
O
ver the past year, our lives
have seen extensive chang-
es that have led to many of
us feeling a sense of  ex-
haustion and burnout.
The luckier among us have been able to
remove ourselves from harm’s way and
work from home during the pandemic.
But even the fortunate ones are left to
spend our days looking at a screen, with
a great deal of our communication tak-
ing place via video calls. This has led to
what has been termed “Zoom fatigue,”
where our brains are exhausted from
overstimulation.
Aside from the eye strain of look-
ing at a screen all day (if we are not
looking at a computer, we’re often
looking at our TV or our phone), our
sense of space is disrupted by video
meetings. Suddenly, everyone is much
closer than they would be in a pre-
pandemic meeting.
In the 1960s, anthropologist Edward
Hall described how our relationships
operate within socially accepted dis-
tances. Close family and intimate re-
lationships occur within a proximity
of less than two feet; for close friends,
Why Young Adults
Are More Frightened
of COVID Despite The
Lowest Risk
Nearly half of Americans between 18 and 34 are
concerned about returning to a normal social life
after the pandemic
JONATHAN MILTIMORE
Nearly 3 million Americans are being
vaccinated against COVID-19 each
day, but the “return to normal” may
not be as close as many hope.
A new survey shows many Ameri-
cans have concerns about interacting
with others once the pandemic is over.
“A YouGov poll of more than
4,000 people finds that two in five
(39%) Americans say they are very
or fairly nervous about the idea of
interacting with people socially
again,” wrote YouGov data journalist
Jamie Ballard.
While the high percentage of Ameri-
cans expressing angst about social-
izing after the pandemic comes as a
surprise, the breakdown along age
groups is even more surprising.
“Among 18-to 24-year-olds, 50 percent
say they are nervous about it. A similar
number of 25-to 34-year-olds (47 per-
cent) feel the same way,” Ballard wrote.
In other words, nearly half of Ameri-
cans between 18 and 34 are con-
cerned about returning to a normal
social life after the pandemic. In
contrast, just 31 percent of those over
55 responded that they are nervous
about interacting with people again.
The contrast is noteworthy because
it’s widely understood that young
people are far less likely to be hos-
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
this distance extends to about four feet.
The pandemic is sending our brain
conflicting messages. With video calls,
faces are within two feet of us, and this
tells our brain that these are close or
intimate friends, when instead they
are colleagues or strangers. Similarly,
social distancing rules have forced our
loved ones out into a much more dis-
tant field that is usually reserved for
people we may meet or know socially,
but not very well—acquaintances rath-
er than friends.
Multitasking is
mentally draining.
We are much
more efficient
when we work on
one task at a time.
While our rational brain understands
social distancing, the physical inability
to touch and hold our close friends and
pitalized or die from COVID-19. But
how less likely?
Our World in Data has a chart break-
ing down the case fatality rates in
South Korea, China, Italy, and Spain.
The data show the case fatality rate is
about 0.2 percent for people in their
20s and 30s, a tiny fraction compared
to people over 60.
Data from the United States tells a
similar story.
“The death rate in New York City for
adults aged 75 years and older was
around 2,344 per 100,000 people as
of March 28, 2021,” researcher John
Elflein notes at Statista.
That is about 500 times higher than
the death rate (5 per 100,000) for
people in the 18-to-24 age range.
Nationwide, research from the Heri-
tage Foundation shows that adults
aged 25 to 34 account for less than
3,000 of the official 565,000 COVID-
related deaths in the United States.
Many of these deaths, it should be
noted, are linked to comorbidities.
This data should come as no sur-
prise. Nearly a year ago, Stanford
University’s Dr. John Ioannidis noted
the COVID-19 infection fatality rate is
“almost zero” for people under 45.
An Inverse Relationship
All the official data point in the same
direction: Young people have the least
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
family can confuse us into thinking the
distance is somehow a rejection. The
cognitive effort of managing these con-
flicting messages is tiring.
Video calls also force us to look at our-
selves more than we are used to doing,
and this can feel uncomfortable and
make us worry excessively about how
others perceive us.
But turning the video off while on
a call can increase burnout in other
ways—people may use the opportuni-
ty to check emails or catch up on other
work while listening in. This multitask-
ing is mentally draining.
We are much more efficient when we
work on one task at a time. Our brains
respond to the end of one activity and
the onset of a new activity from pre-
learned cues. Often these cues involve
physical movement.
These have largely disappeared—the
daily commute is the most obvious ab-
sence for those working from home, but
walking to and from meetings also al-
lows the brain and body time to prepare
for the next task. Outside of work, doing
the school run, going to the gym, and
regular appointments all add structure
and separation of space to our lives.
The blurring of home and work is not
only due to bringing our work into our
homes, but also the longer hours peo-
ple report working. Being unable or
unmotivated to take part in our usual
activities means the weeks and week-
ends have begun to morph into un-
boundaried time, and the shorter PHOTO/SHU T T ERST
UL A
days of winter lessened the PA
distinction between day
and night.
How to Get Through
So how can we ad-
dress this feeling
of burnout and ex-
haustion?
Build time into
your working day
for casual chat that is
not work-related. Daily
conversations range from
small talk about the weather,
to more substantive conversation
about our lives.
Make time for these conversations,
maybe arrange an online lunch. The
different use of the technology will
help to break the monotony and as-
sociation of screens with burnout.
to fear from COVID-19. Yet the You-
Gov poll also shows they are the most
afraid.
This is odd. As influencers noted on
Twitter, the level of comfort people
feel in returning to normal life is
inversely correlated to their level of
actual risk.
This invites an important question:
Why are young people more afraid?
One obvious answer is young adults
might simply be unaware their risk of
serious illness is low.
There is a
disconnect between
perception and
reality when it
comes to COVID-19.
As I recently noted, Americans in
general are wildly misinformed about
the risk of hospitalization from
COVID-19, with roughly a third of
Americans believing the chances
of being hospitalized with the virus
are 50 percent. In actuality, it’s closer
to 1 percent.
The reasons for this aren’t hard to
find. Studies have shown that U.S.
media essentially created a climate
of fear by publishing a flood of nega-
tive news in 2020. Indeed, an Ivy
League-led study concluded that 91
percent of U.S. articles in major media
were negative in tone, nearly double
when compared to non-U.S. media.
The negative news, the researchers
noted, continued even when the pan-
demic was ebbing and when positive
medical breakthroughs were being
achieved.
“Stories of increasing COVID-19
cases outnumber stories of decreasing
cases by a factor of 5.5 even during pe-
riods when new cases are declining,”
researchers noted.
Media may only be one part of the
equation, however. Digital technol-
we can become
trapped at the
O CK
Try recreating some
of the benefits of the
office. For example,
you could enjoy some
casual chitchat over
a video lunch.
ogy may be another.
‘Young People Less Likely
to Die From Covid’
While writing this article, I had to find
statistics on the risks of COVID-19 for
young adults. To find the informa-
tion, I did what I normally do: I went
to Google and typed in keywords for
what I was looking to find—“young
people less likely to die from Covid.”
I was expecting to find on top a
bunch of articles and research show-
ing that young people have relatively
little to fear from the coronavirus.
That’s not what happened. Here are
the top results I got:
Coronavirus and COVID-19: Younger
Adults Are at Risk, Too | Johns Hop-
kins Medicine
What Young, Healthy People Have to
Fear From COVID-19 | The Atlantic
Data reveal deadliness of COVID-19,
even in young adults | University of
Minnesota CIDRAP
Young people are at risk of severe
Covid-19 illness | NBC
Dying Young: The Health Care Workers
in Their 20s Killed by COVID-19 | KHN
This is a big deal. We live in a digital
world, and Google is the biggest search
engine on the planet, processing more
than 3.5 billion searches every day.
Millions of people probably use
Google every day to find information
about this coronavirus. But instead
of finding articles that point out CO-
VID-19 is hundreds of times more
deadly for people over 60 than people
under 40, anyone who Googled about
young people and risks would find a
bunch of super-scary headlines.
Again, this isn’t to say young people
face no risk from COVID-19. But the
medical reality is that children and
young adults are more likely to die
from the seasonal flu, pneumonia,
or a car crash than COVID-19.
Clearly, most Americans aren’t
aware of this.
The Price of the Disconnect
The YouGov poll results show there is
If we work
from home,
office.
Additionally, sharing the space with
colleagues you are friendlier with in
real life and who fall into our personal
space allowance, makes the online en-
counter less stressful.
The charity Fight for Sight suggests
a 20-20-20 rule, where for every 20 min-
utes looking at a screen, you look away
at a distance of 20 meters (about 65 feet)
for 20 seconds to limit eye strain. Where
possible, during video meetings keep
the camera off or switch to phone calls,
and consider whether meetings need to
be a full hour.
Before and after a meeting, get up from
your desk, move around a bit to mimic
the walking to and from meetings, and
try to build one no-meeting day into
your working week.
Having distinct spaces helps our
brains to psychologically switch off from
work. If the dining table is used as a desk
in the day, move work items out of sight
at the end of the day. This could be just
a box by the side of the table to place
work items in, and that you open every
Americans, in particular, face a barrage of fearful news that focuses on risks and tragedies to the
exclusion of other uplifting events.
a disconnect between perception and
reality when it comes to COVID-19.
Unfortunately, this disconnect has
real-world consequences.
“Those who overestimate risks to
young people or hold an exaggerated
sense of risk upon infection are more
likely to favor closing schools, restau-
rants, and other businesses,” the au-
thors of a recent Franklin Templeton/
Gallup study concluded.
This is important because these
restrictions are quite serious. Closing
parts of the economy is no small mat-
ter. These actions are associated with
numerous unintended consequenc-
es—job losses, mental health dete-
rioration, increased global poverty,
surging loneliness, health procedures
deferred, and more. Meanwhile, the
documented benefits of these restric-
tions remain elusive.
In 2020, we witnessed unprecedent-
ed infringements on fundamental civil
liberties. And it all stemmed from fear.
Worse, despite the presence of
B3
RAWPIXEL.COM/SHUTTERSTOCK
morning to mark the start of work.
To limit multitasking and increase
focus, close down additional tabs and
browsers, turn your phone to silent, and
check and respond to emails at set times.
Sticking to a routine of starting and
stopping work at the same time every
day by adding a fake commute—where
you get ready and leave the house before
circling back and starting work—can
help create a mental division of space.
As we enter into spring with already
noticeable longer, brighter days, it’s the
perfect moment to increase the time we
spend outdoors, and to get exercise,
which is a natural mood elevator.
Being outdoors helps us to feel more
connected with others, even with main-
taining social distance we can exchange
pleasantries, or even just smiles, which
can increase well-being.
Nilufar Ahmed is a lecturer in social
sciences at the University of Bristol
in the UK. This article was originally
published on The Conversation.
WAVEBREAKMEDIA/SHUTTERSTOCK
numerous successful vaccines and
crashing case numbers, the alarm
bells keep sounding.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walen-
sky is warning of “impending doom,”
while others warn we must begin
planning for a “permanent pan-
demic.” The New York Times is using
Florida, which lifted all pandemic re-
strictions last summer, as a cautionary
tale by using rather tortured analysis.
Considering all this, it’s no surprise
that many young people are terri-
fied of the virus. But we’d do well to
remember that fear is the pathway to
subservience.
“If you want to control someone,
all you have to do is to make them
feel afraid,” the author Paulo Coelho
wrote in “The Devil and Miss Prym.”
It’s time to stop being afraid. And the
first step comes through understanding.
Jonathan Miltimore is the managing
editor of FEE.org, which originally
published this article.
B4
As Death Approaches, Visions of
Lost Loved Ones Offer Comfort
One doctor’s research reveals the peace the dying gain from
dreams and visions of the previously deceased
Over the course of
10 years, Dr. Kerr
and his research
team recorded
the end-of-life
experiences of
1,400 patients
and families.
Continued from B1
But after seeing the peace and comfort
these end-of-life experiences seemed to
bring his patients, Kerr decided to pause
and listen. One day, in 2005, a dying patient
named Mary had one such vision: She be-
gan moving her arms as if rocking a baby,
cooing at her child who had died in infancy
SC
decades prior.
To Kerr, this didn’t seem like cogni-
tive decline. What if, he wondered,
patients’ own perceptions at life’s
end mattered to their well-being
in ways that shouldn’t concern
just nurses, chaplains, and social
workers?
What would medical care look
like if all physicians stopped and
listened, too?
The Project Begins
At the sight of dying patients reaching
and calling out to their loved ones—
many of whom they hadn’t seen, touched,
or heard for decades—he began collect-
ing and recording testimonies given di-
rectly by those who were dying. Over the
course of 10 years, he and his research
team recorded the end-of-life experienc-
es of 1,400 patients and families.
What he discovered astounded him.
More than 80 percent of his patients—no
matter what walk of life, background, or
age group they came from—had end-
of-life experiences that seemed to entail
more than just strange dreams. These
One of the grave tragedies of the pandemic response is the distance it has put
between people and their dying loved ones.
Amid COVID-19,
the dying may
only see loved ones
through a tiny
screen.
were vivid, meaningful, and transfor-
mative. And they always increased in
frequency near death.
They included visions of long-lost
mothers, fathers, and relatives, as well
as dead pets come back to comfort
their former owners. They were about
relationships resurrected, love revived,
V I A YO U T U B E / T E D
S HO T X TA and forgiveness achieved. They often
R E EN LKS
brought reassurance, support, peace,
and acceptance.
Becoming a Dream Weaver
I first heard of Kerr’s research in a
barn.
I was busy mucking my horse’s
stall. The stables were on Kerr’s
property, so we often discussed
his work on the dreams and vi-
sions of his dying patients. He told
me about his TEDx Talk on the
topic, as well as the book project he
was working on.
I couldn’t help but be moved by the
work of this doctor and scientist. When
he disclosed that he wasn’t getting far
with the writing, I offered to help. He
hesitated at first. I was an English profes-
Dr. Christopher Kerr sor who was an expert in taking apart
speaks at a 2015 TEDx the stories others wrote, not in writing
event in Buffalo, New
York.
them myself. His agent was concerned
that I wouldn’t be able to write in ways
that were accessible to the public—
something academics aren’t exactly
known for. I persisted, and the rest is
history.
It was this collaboration that turned me
into a writer.
I was tasked with instilling more
DC STUDIO/SHUTTERSTOCK humanity into the remarkable medi-
cal intervention this scientific research
represented, to put a human face on the
statistical data that had already been
published in medical journals.
The moving stories of Kerr’s encoun-
ters with his patients and their families
confirmed how, in the words of the
French Renaissance writer Michel de
Montaigne, “he who should teach men to
die would at the same time teach them
to live.”
One such story of visions of comfort is
that of Robert, who was losing Barbara,
his wife of 60 years. He was assailed by
conflicting feelings of guilt, despair,
and faith. One day, he inexplicably saw
her reaching for the baby son they had
lost decades ago, in a brief span of lucid
dreaming. Robert was struck by his
wife’s calm demeanor and blissful smile.
It was a moment of pure wholeness, one
that transformed their experience of the
dying process. Barbara was living her
passing as a time of love regained, and
seeing her comforted brought Robert
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
HALFPOINT/SHUTTERSTOCK
some peace in the midst of his irredeem-
able loss.
For the elderly couples Kerr cared for,
being separated by death after decades
of togetherness was simply unfathom-
able. The story of Joan and her recurring
dreams and visions provide an example.
These experiences helped mend the deep
wound left by her husband’s passing
months earlier. She would call out to him
at night and point to his presence during
the day, including in moments of full and
articulate lucidity. For her daughter Lisa,
these occurrences grounded her in the
knowledge that her parents’ bond was
unbreakable. Her mother’s pre-death
dreams and visions assisted Lisa in her
own journey toward acceptance—a key
element of processing loss.
When children are dying, it’s often
their beloved, deceased pets that make
appearances. Thirteen-year-old Jessica,
dying of a malignant form of bone-based
cancer, started having visions of her
former dog, Shadow. His presence reas-
sured her. “I will be fine,” she told Kerr
on one of his last visits.
For Jessica’s mom, Kristen, these vi-
sions—and Jessica’s resulting tranquil-
ity—helped initiate the process she had
been resisting: that of letting go.
Isolated But Not Alone
The health care system is difficult to
change. Nevertheless, Kerr still hopes
to help patients and their loved ones
reclaim the dying process from a clinical
approach to one that is appreciated as a
rich and unique human experience.
Pre-death dreams and visions help fill
the void that may otherwise be created
by the doubt and fear that death evokes.
They help the dying reunite with those
they have loved and lost, those who se-
cured them, affirmed them, and brought
them peace. These dreams and visions
heal old wounds, restore dignity, and
reclaim love. Knowing about this para-
doxical reality helps the bereaved cope
with grief as well.
As hospitals and nursing homes contin-
ue to remain closed to visitors because of
the coronavirus pandemic, it may help to
know that the dying rarely speak of being
alone. They speak of being loved and put
back together.
There is no substitute for being able to
hold our loved ones in their last mo-
ments, but there may be solace in know-
ing that they were being held.
Carine Mardorossian is a professor of
English at the University at Buffalo. This
article was first published on The Conver-
sation.
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 B5

BECOMING MINIMALIST

How Minimalism Saved Me From Scarcity

‘From the outside, it would seem that I was a minimalist, when the truth was
that I was one step away from being a miser’
KARA STEVENS
I was raised by a strong, no-nonsense wom-
an who immigrated from Antigua to make
a way for her two children in the busy yet
lonely streets of New York City.
My mom never expected to be a single
mother in a strange land, but that was her
lot when my dad up and left us, making
her the chief caregiver and breadwinner
in one fell swoop.
It made her depressed, though she never
admitted it. It also made her fearful and
distrusting of the world, especially a world
where an abundance of anything flowed,
notably, love or money.
As her only daughter and youngest child,
she taught me that life wasn’t about taking
chances, pressing your luck, or living by
faith. None of that foolishness.
If you couldn’t make it or hold it, or if it wasn’t
guaranteed, then you weren’t to waste your
time with dreams or the pursuit of joy or hap-
piness. There was no room for error. Life was
about the ability to endure (not overcome).
There was no space for second chances.
This scarcity worldview made me a com-
pulsive overachiever (I currently hold three
degrees from some of the most
prestigious universities in
this country.) And just like
my mom, I soon became
unwilling to open myself
to opportunities that re-
quired too much of an
investment of the heart
or wallet.
To ensure that I could
control my surroundings, I
saved all of the money that I
could when I started work-
Minimalism can mean
maximizing the things
that matter, like our pas-
sions and relationships.
ing. And if I couldn’t find more to save, I
would find another job just so I could hold
on to more.
My measure of self-worth soon became
synonymous with how much sacrifice and
deprivation I could endure. It also became
aligned with how much money I had in my
account and didn’t touch.
To ensure that no one could get close to
me (or I to them), I kept things casual and
at a distance with friends and potential lov-
ers, though a part of me craved connection
and intimacy.
The irony about my decision to embrace
minimalism was that I was at the height
of living on the margins of my life. I had
grown accustomed to an ethos of with-
holding, denying, and delaying fun, con-
nection, and material from my life for the
sake of financial security, which I had ob-
jectively obtained years before.
Learning to live without didn’t necessar-
ily mean that I knew how to live with less.
What I mean by this is that minimalism
asks you to be present with the real you. It
asks you to curate a life that is marked by
meaning and value, which can only come
from a deep understanding of your per-
sonal desires and honoring them.
From the outside, it would seem that
I was a minimalist when the truth
was that I was one step away from
being a miser.
Minimalism helped me bust my
world and life wide open by giving
me a front seat to a world of truth, au-
thenticity, and abundance—the exact
opposite of the world in which I was
born into and inhabited.
When I started to embrace
minimalism, I got rid of
KRAKENIMAGES.COM/SHUTTERSTOCK
Kara Stevens believes we
all need sound yet relatable
financial advice.
items that I had purchased solely because
they were on sale or acquired them be-
cause they were free and invested in the
few things that I really wanted.
I transformed my living (and by exten-
sion my emotional) spaces with beauty,
expression, and possibility.
Minimalism introduced me
to a level of spirituality that
I wasn’t expecting. It guided
me to a bigger purpose in
life; beyond working and
hoarding money.
Minimalism helped me focus on the qual-
ity of my relationships and how I wanted to
develop deeper, lasting relationships with
those that I cared for. It helped me learn to
make time to share energy, journeys, sto-
ries, and love. I started calling my friends
more, opening up about my dreams and
challenges, planning get-togethers, and
sharing my talents and gifts.
Minimalism introduced me to a level of
spirituality that I wasn’t expecting. It guid-
ed me to a bigger purpose in life; beyond
working and hoarding money to building
a life that revolved around creating bonds.
It led me to a life based on principles and
people that improve the world, offer hope,
and create positive change.
Minimalism has made life robust, hearty,
and satisfying.
It’s made life worth living.
Kara Stevens is a speaker, author, and
founder of The Frugal Feminista, a
financial wellness platform committed
to helping women heal their relationship
with money so they experience endless joy
and possibility. You can also find more
from her book, “Heal Your Relationship
With Money,” available on Amazon.
This article was originally published on
BecomingMinimalist.com

FIZKES/SHUTTERSTOCK

FOOD AS MEDICINE

The Fever Effect on Autism

Triggers New Views on Treatment
A change that comes over autistic children when they have
a fever has profound implications about the disorder—
and how to treat it
Continued from B1
They can become less withdrawn, more
alert, more talkative, and more communi-
cative. Ruth Sullivan, one of the early leading
researchers, had noticed the same effect.
What makes this idea so groundbreak-
ing—so earth-shattering—is that it chal-
lenges the whole presumption that autism
is some kind of static, irreversible brain
disorder, where the brain is inexorably
damaged in some way with no hope of
recovery. The fever glimpses suggest it
may be more of a dynamic brain disorder,
where the normal healthy circuits are in
there somewhere but are actively being
suppressed, and the fever somehow lifts
that suppression and relieves the active
disorder process. In this way, it suggests
that if we could figure out what’s going on,
we could theoretically relieve it for not just
days, but for forever.
But the discovery did not have the effect
one might have expected, though nearly
everyone who is knowledgeable about
the disorder—parents and professionals
alike who deal with autism day-to-day—
evidently knows about it.
Part of the problem with researching the
phenomena is the risk it poses to children
with autism. Inducing fever can be danger-
ous, which means there are limited oppor-
tunities to study it, though other research-
ers did just that in an earlier era.
In fact, the first (and only) Nobel Prize for
Medicine ever given to a psychiatrist for
brain ailments went to the “father of fever
therapy,” Julius Wagner-Jauregg in 1927,
for his work treating people with paralytic
dementia, a severe neuropsychiatric disor-
der, by injecting them with malaria. Some
got better—if they didn’t die first from the
malaria, that is. What is it about fever that
can improve brain function? And, can we
figure that out without killing people?
A 2007 study published in Pediatrics tried to
do something along those lines by asking par-
ents to fill out an aberrant behavior checklist
during and after an incident of fever.
“The rapid behavioral changes report-
ed during fever” in autism suggest that
those neural networks in autism may still
be intact, just dysfunctional, “and under-
standing the reasons for improvement
during fever might provide insight” into
what’s going on, reported the research-
ers. The “fever effect” in autism had been
based on case reports and anecdotes until
researchers undertook this formal study of
the reported phenomenon, “given the …
potential implications for treatment op-
portunities.”
But how it works remains a mystery and
difficult to safely induce. While some of
the completely unrelated healing effects
of fever have been researched and in-
duced by sitting in a hot tub or sauna, the
same isn’t true with those related to the
brain. That’s because the brain has special
cooling mechanisms so it stays about the
same temperature inside no matter what
temperature it is outside, which is a good
thing. This is the reason we can bite into a
snow cone without literally getting brain
freeze. When you get a fever, though, your
internal thermostat gets turned up to fight
infection, and there is actually an increase
in brain tissue temperature.
Your brain has to be careful not to cook
itself to death, so it releases heat shock pro-
For parents of autistic children, the presence of a fever can often offer a rare chance to better
connect with their child.
teins. As your brain turns up the heat to
give you a fever, these proteins prevent and
repair protein damage. At higher tempera-
tures, proteins can start unraveling, which
is known as protein denaturing. That’s what
happens when you cook egg whites—the
proteins denature—but that’s not what you
want happening in your head.
What does this have to do with autism?
One of the causes of autism may be the
dysregulation of synaptic function, mean-
ing a dysregulation of the nerve-to-nerve
signaling pathways in the brain. Th is
dysregulation may play a key role in the
cause of autism spectrum disorders. Well,
guess what those heat shock proteins do:
They protect and sustain synaptic func-
tion. Given that, the next question is
whether there is any way to activate the
heat shock response without having to get
a high fever infection. This prompted an
article published in the Journal of Neu-
roscience Research in 2016 that looked
at foods that trigger similar biochemical
reactions.
Sulforaphane, the active ingredient in
cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli,
kale, and collard greens,  activates  the
heat shock response. No malaria neces-
sary! So, in theory, according to the review,
giving sulforaphane in the form of broccoli
or broccoli sprouts to those with autism
might reap the same kind of fever-related
benefits in function.
That is a fascinating and important line of
research and one we will talk about in the
next part of this three-part series.
Michael Greger, M.D., FACLM, is a physi-
cian, New York Times bestselling author,
and internationally recognized profes-
sional speaker on a number of important
public health issues. He has lectured at the
Conference on World Affairs, the National
Institutes of Health, and the International
Bird Flu Summit, testified before Congress,
appeared on “The Dr. Oz Show” and “The
Colbert Report,” and was invited as an
expert witness in defense of Oprah Win-
frey at the infamous “meat defamation”
trial. This article was originally published
on NutritionFacts.org
B6
Research findings suggest the pectin and polyphenols in lemons have qualities that can help with weight loss and appetite control.
FOOD AS MEDICINE
Lemon Water Can Deliver Real Results
Try this experiment to see what you notice after drinking more lemon
Y
ou’ve probably seen pictures on
Pinterest or elsewhere of large
pitchers of water with vibrant
lemons and the top 10 reasons
why you should be drinking it.
And maybe you can even remember
some of those reasons, despite not actu-
ally taking up the habit.
Lemon water can bestow vitality and
incredible cleansing effects on the body.
If you’re just getting started on a path of
feeling better through diet, replacing a
morning coffee with lemon water is a great
first step.
Here is a challenge so you can experience
the benefits yourself:
1. Look through the top benefits we’ve list-
ed below and find the one benefit that
will motivate you to start incorporating
lemon water into your daily life.
2. Commit to 14 days of lemon water.
3. Write down how you feel on day 1, then
on day 14.
Lemons are a citrus fruit in the Rutace-
ae family (scientifically known as Citrus
Limon). While being one of the smallest
members of this family, it has some of the
most comprehensive health benefits.
For example, lemons are high in vitamin
C which is essential for normal growth and
development according to the U.S. National
Library of Medicine. A single lemon con-
tains around 30 to 40 mg of vitamin C,
which is less than an orange’s 80 to 90 mg
of vitamin C, but still a substantial amount.
Vitamin C has been studied extensively
and shown to have a myriad of health
benefits from protecting against pre-
natal problems, cardiovascular disease,
eye diseases, skin wrinkles, and immune
system deficiencies.
Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant and
helps protect cells from damage caused
by free radicals.
But beyond vitamin C, lemons have other
properties that make them a perfect way
to upgrade a glass of water.
Unique Health Benefits of Lemons
1. Lemon Water as Detox and Cleanse
Cleansing is usually the first benefit that
comes to mind when it comes to lemon
water. Lemon water provides this detox
effect because of citric acid citrate.
Citrate is a naturally occurring chelating
agent, which means it bonds with metals.
This allows it to help move these toxins out
of the body. An animal study published
in Environmental Science and Pollution
Research International in 2019 found that
supplementing with citric acid can protect  5. Reduced Wrinkles and Improved Skin
against heavy metal stress and “has broad
application prospects in decreasing oxida-
tive damage caused by heavy metals.”
Toxins come into our systems through
various sources from the air we breathe to
some of the foods we eat. Two of the more
well-known studies that shed some light on
the use of lemon as a cleanse agent include
one published by Dutch researchers in a 2002
edition of the European Journal of Nutrition.
It found lemon peels and the waste stream
of the lemon peels left over after extraction
of the lemon pectin are effective in lowering
blood and liver cholesterol levels. Although
Drinking performed on animal subjects, these re-
lemon water sults suggest eating lemon peel could help
those with fatty liver disease.
and applying The second study was published by In-
dian researchers in a 2005 edition of BMC
it topically Pharmacology. Hesperidin, a citrus bio-
can both help flavonoid found in lemons, demonstrated
the ability to protect the liver from dam-
with the skin age. After administration of CCl4 (a well-
known liver toxin), the authors concluded
because of the that hesperidin demonstrated a protective
anti-aging effect on the liver.
properties of 2. Improve Digestion with Lemon Water
antioxidants Citrus flavonoids act as a great digestive
tonic, according to researchers at the Mi-
in lemons. chael Okpara University, whose 2006 study
can be found in the International Journal
of Molecular Medicine and Advance Sci-
ences. It has also been shown to calm an
upset stomach or mild indigestion. Accord-
ing to a 2014 study published in Volume 24,
Issue 3 of the Brazilian Journal of Phar-
macognosy(9), this has to do with the way
citrus flavonoids in lemon water support
the hydrochloric acid in the stomach in
breaking down food .
You can make this digestion aid even bet-
ter by including the zest of the lemon which
will improve the good bacteria in your gut.
3. Weight loss/Appetite Suppressant
We’re approaching this claim with cau-
tion since any new health fad that becomes
popular can get turned into a “fat burning
miracle.”
One of the studies finding lemons sup-
ported weight loss, a November 2008
study published in Journal Of Clinical
Biochemistry And Nutrition, was not a
human trial but did show significantly re-
duced weight gain when a diet high in fat
was being consumed. Most people whether
they want to admit it or not fall in the high
fat diet category.
Pectin and polyphenols are the main sub-
stances found in lemons that have more
research available showing weight loss and
appetite suppressing qualities.
Pectin gives a feeling of fullness much
like other soluble dietary fibers. That may
help some people reduce caloric intake
the production of inflammation, accord-
A single lemon ing to a study published in the journal of
contains around
30 to 40 mg
the Federation of American Societies for
of vitamin C. Experimental Biology on May 2011.
The main study was carried out by Drs.
Sheau C. Chai, Shirin Hooshmand, Raz L.
Saadat, and Bahram Arjmandi, of Florida
State University.
Drinking lemon water and applying topi-
cally can both help with skin because of
the anti-aging properties of antioxidants
in lemons according to a September 2011
study published in Journal Of The Science
Of Food And Agriculture.
The primary cause of skin aging comes
from free radicals that cause tissue damage.
Research showed that plant-derived an-
tioxidants were able to reverse the break-
down of collagen fibers in the skin accord-
ing to a September 2007 study published in
MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021
ALL IMAGES BY SHUTTERSTOCK
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Collagen gives skin its strength, structure,
and plumpness while protecting the skin
from absorbing toxins according to an ar-
ticle in News Medical written by Dr. Ananya
Mandal, a clinical pharmacology specialist.
If you want to apply lemon juice topically,
the simplest way is to dilute it in water and
pat on the face with a damp cloth, avoiding
the eyes.
Other methods range from creating sugar
scrubs to combining with Greek yogurt. In
all cases, the antioxidants in the lemon will
be the active ingredient.
Lemon Water Safety Measures
There are a few precautions to keep in mind
when it comes to drinking more lemon:
First off you really shouldn’t be eating the
seeds of the lemon. A few here and there
aren’t going to be terrible for you, but if you
plan to drink lemon water regularly, then
make sure you’re avoiding the seeds.
They contain small amounts of salicylic
acid which is the main ingredient in aspirin.
The easiest way I’ve found to get rid of them
is to use a small strainer or a lemon press.
If you’re used to sweetening your tea or
coffee then your taste buds are going to
want a spike of sugar in your lemon water.
If you do sweeten your lemon water, use
nutritious sweeteners like honey or stevia
and avoid refined sugar, corn syrup, and
artificial sweeteners.
If you can start to cut more and more
sugar out of your diet, you will find your
taste buds resetting and your cravings for
sugar drop dramatically.
Another common concern is what effects
lemon juice has the enamel of your teeth.
As long as you’re not using it like mouth-
wash your teeth will be safe. If you’re con-
cerned about it, just use a straw.
Drinking lemon water is one of these little
things that we can do on a regular basis
that can have long-term benefits.
The people who will have the most dra-
matic effects, in the beginning, will be
those who can replace a morning coffee
or soda with lemon water.
Give it a minimum of 2 weeks to see what
positive benefits you’re getting.
Every “body” will respond differently to
lemon water, which is why we recommend
adding this to your diet without any other
major changes to isolate the effects.
This will allow you to better attribute any
changes you experience to the lemon wa-
ter and not some new multivitamin you
started taking.
Keep a journal of your mood, energy, and
cravings for the 2 weeks to see what positive
benefits you experience.
The GMI Research Group is dedicated to
investigating the most important health
and environmental issues of the day.
Special emphasis will be placed on envi-
ronmental health. Our focused and deep
research will explore the many ways in
which the present condition of the human
body directly reflects the true state of the
ambient environment. This work is repro-
duced and distributed with the permis-
sion of GreenMedInfo LLC. Sign up for the
newsletter at www.GreenmedInfo.health
 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 B7

MADE TO MOVE

Too Much Sitting Is Bad for You—but

Some Types Are Better Than Others
Our quality of life is affected by how much we sit, and perhaps even more importantly, why we sit
EUGENIO MARONGIU/SHUTTERSTOCK

WUYOU SUI & HARRY PRAPAVESSIS

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced

a number of new behaviors into daily rou-
tines such as physical distancing, mask-
wearing, and hand sanitizing. Meanwhile,
many old behaviors—attending events,
eating out, and seeing friends—have been
put on hold.
However, one old behavior that has per-
sisted, and has arguably been amplified
due to COVID-19, is sitting—and it isn’t
surprising to see why. Whether sitting dur-
ing transportation, work, screen time, or
even meals, everyday environments and
activities are tailored nearly exclusively
to prolonged sitting. As such, sedentary
behaviors, such as sitting, make up the vast
majority of our waking day.
Pre-COVID-19 estimates place the aver-
age Canadian adult’s sedentary behavior
at around 9 1/2 hours per day. Pre-COVID
estimates in the United States reveal a simi-
lar figure, with the average office working
sitting as long as 15 hours a day. Current
daily sedentary time is likely even higher as
a result of stay-at-home orders, limitations
on businesses and recreational facilities,
and elevated health anxieties.
Screen time was
consistently and
negatively associated with
subjective well-being.
Health versus Well-Being
This is a problem, given that chronic ex-
cessive levels of sedentary time have been
linked to a greater risk of diabetes, heart
disease, mortality, and even some cancers.
However, for many people, their own judg-
ments and feelings about their quality of
life (also known as subjective well-being)
may be more important and relevant for in-
forming their health decisions and behav-
iors than potentially developing chronic
diseases.
Subjective well-being encompasses an
individual’s own evaluation of their qual-
ity of life. It includes concepts such as af-
fect (positive and negative feelings) and life
satisfaction. Interestingly, these evalua-
tions can conflict with physical health out-
comes. For example, a person could have
diabetes but still report good subjective
well-being, while someone with no physi-
cal health conditions may report poor sub-
jective well-being.
This is important, as it means how an in-
dividual feels about their own health may
not always align with what their body may
demonstrate. That’s why evaluating subjec-
tive well-being is vital for painting a holistic
picture of health.
Different Contexts of Sitting
Relatively little research has examined the
relationships between sedentary behavior
and subjective well-being. Exploring these
relationships is important, as different con-
texts of sitting—such as socializing versus
screen time—may yield different feelings
or judgments of subjective well-being, un-
like relationships between physical health
and sedentary behavior, which tend to be
more consistent.
As health psychologists focused on physi-
cal activity and sedentary behavior, we re-
viewed the scientific literature describing
relationships between measures of seden-
tary behaviors such as physical inactivity
and screen time, and subjective well-being
as reflected by affect, life satisfaction, and
overall subjective well-being.
Our review highlights three main find-
ings. First, sedentary behavior, physical
inactivity, and screen time demonstrated
weak but statistically significant correla-
tions with subjective well-being. In other
words, those who reported sitting more
often and spending longer periods with no
physical activity reported lower positive
affect, higher negative affect, and lower
life satisfaction than those who sat less and
moved more.
We also found that this relationship was
most apparent in studies that compared
people who were very sedentary to those
who had more active lifestyles.
Not All Sitting Is Bad Sitting
Our second main finding relates to the con-
text of sedentary behavior. While many
studies examined overall sedentary behav-
ior and physical inactivity, some studies
looked at specific contexts or domains of
sitting and its relationship with subjective
well-being. These studies revealed that dif-
ferent domains of sedentary behavior have
unique relationships with subjective well-
being.
For example, screen time was consistent-
ly and negatively associated with subjec-
tive well-being. However, domains such
as socializing, playing an instrument, and
reading actually demonstrated positive
associations with subjective well-being.
These results differ from the traditional
health-related sedentary behavior re-
search, in which all sedentary behavior is
viewed as harmful to health.
Those who reported
sitting more often and
spending longer peri-
ods with no physical
activity reported lower
positive affect, higher
negative affect, and
lower life satisfaction
than those who sat less
and moved more.
Domains such
as socializing,
playing an
instrument,
and reading
actually
demonstrated
positive
associations
with subjective
well-being.
Our review suggests that some types of
sedentary behavior may be beneficial to
the quality of life. Rather, not all sitting is
the same in terms of subjective well-being.
So when people work toward reducing
their sitting time, they should consider
not just how much to reduce, but what kind
to reduce.
Less Sitting Is Good for Everyone
Our third main finding concerns overall
sitting and self-perceived levels of seden-
tary behavior. Most studies found a weak
statistically significant association be-
tween higher overall sedentary time and
lower subjective well-being. However, in
studies in which participants were asked
to compare their sedentary behavior to
how much they normally sit, those who
perceived themselves as more sedentary
than usual reported significantly poorer
subjective well-being.
These findings suggest that how much
an individual sits overall may not be as
important as how much an individual sits
compared to their usual level of sitting.
This infers that anyone, regardless of how
much they normally sit or are physically
active, may potentially benefit from sit-
ting less.
COVID-19 continues to influence daily
life and routines. Even as businesses and
gyms eventually reopen, and we feel more
comfortable gathering with others and
eventually stop wearing masks, we will
almost certainly continue to sit, and sit-
ting will continue to change how we feel.
While we may not be able to eliminate all
of our sitting, we can all be mindful of both
how much we can reduce it and where we
can reduce it to be healthier and feel better.
Wuyou Sui is a postdoctoral fellow of
behavioral medicine lab, school of exercise
science and physical & health education at
the University of Victoria in Canada, and
Harry Prapavessis is a professor of kine-
siology at Western University. This article
was first published on The Conversation.

What Astronauts Can Tell You About Bone Health

MAT LECOMPTE duced activity isn’t the primary cause of Aside from load-bearing exercise, other
lost bone density in older folks, but it can things you can do to promote bone health
When astronauts are in space, they are certainly speed up the process. Low bone include:
weightless. Gravity disappears, and they density and weak bones can lead to os-
float around their spacecraft. It sounds
nds fun, teoporosis and a greater risk for fractures. G Eating a variety of vegetables
but it isn’t great for their bones. New research published in Nature G Consuming protein
Unloading your bones (taking stress tress off suggests that regular physical activ- G Eating high-calcium foods throughout
them) comes with consequences. es. Their ity can stimulate bone cell regenera- the day
bones become thinner, and their immune
mmune tion and ultimately lead to thicker and G Getting adequate vitamin D
system gets weaker. stronger bones. G Avoid super low-calorie or restrictive
This can happen to sedentary individu-
ndividu- So, one thing is clear: Putting stress on diets
als on earth, too. The more time a person your bones can help keep them stronger
spends sitting, the less stress they are put- and prevent degeneration. But are there When you take stress off your bones, they
ting on their bones. specific exercises you should be doing? get weaker. This can exacerbate age-related
When bones are under pressure re from The answer is yes. The exercise needs to bone loss and boost the risk for osteoporo-
DOTTED YETI/SHUTTERSTOCK

walking, standing, jumping, climbing,

mbing, or be load-bearing. It doesn’t mean you need sis. Fight back by spending more time up
weight training, they get stronger. er. They to be lifting heavy weights, but it does mean and moving if you can.
are forced to adapt to the pressure ure and that exercises such as swimming, aquafit,
respond. cycling, or yoga won’t be of much benefit. Mat Lecompte is a freelance health and
Bone strength naturally decreases ses with Walking, running, and resistance training wellness journalist. This article was first
age, and activity typically does, too. Re- are beneficial. published on Bel Marra Health.
B8 MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021

The 4th Phase of Water

Our cellular health comes in part from the quality of our ‘gel’
ALL IMAGES BY SHUTTERSTOCK

BRANDON LAGRECA

S
olid, liquid, and gas—these
are the three states of matter
presented in the homeschool-
ing science curriculum I was
preparing to review with our
7-year-old daughter. The best example to
learn these states is water in its different
forms: moisture vapor in a cloud, liquid
rain, and solid ice. I couldn’t stop there
though, not when the intersection of bi-
ology and physics tells of a truly amazing
fourth state of water that may be the key
to life in the animal kingdom.
The fourth state, or phase, of water
is gel. With a love of all things cooking
and baking, our daughter immediately
thought of an example of a gel. Gelatin,
a nutrient-dense snack when prepared
with pure fruit juice and quality gelatin,
is a favorite in our home. The cooking
process is amazing to watch. Gelatin is
slowly stirred into hot fruit juice until
it dissolves. Upon cooling, the proteins
in gelatin set and form an organized
structure that transforms the liquid into
a semisolid. It’s an ideal example of a
state of matter that has qualities of both
a solid and a liquid.
At room temperature, gelatin will
remain semisolid. Heating causes
the proteins to change shape and
the liquid to become liberated.
This is analogous to how the liquid
water within the human body
is structured. All animals are a
complex interaction of all states of
matter (solid bones, liquid blood,
gaseous oxygen, and carbon dioxide),
but it’s the gel-like matrix of cellular
cytoplasm that allows for optimal ef-
ficiency of biochemical work.
Although humans are predominately
water, having gel in our cells explains
why water doesn’t leak out whenever we
have a cut. Trauma leads to bleeding, but
tissues don’t deflate like a punctured wa-
ter balloon. Cell integrity and the ability
to import potassium and export sodium
are dependent upon having healthy gels.
The gel-like
matrix of cel-
lular cyto-
plasm allows
for optimal
biochemical
efficiency.
Mitochondria are the tiny power plants within each cell that provide the energy that drives our
cellular activity.
The structuring of water in cells is
enhanced by getting adequate sunlight,
eating a diet with sufficient protein,
and staying hydrated. All three of
these combine to make the gel within
you. Drinking pure water begins the
process; consuming gelatin or col-
lagen provides the proteinaceous
building blocks; and, as the work
of Gerald Pollack elucidates, sun-
light is one way to structure water
into its fourth phase. The meta-
bolic activity of mitochondria
generates adenosine triphosphate
(ATP), the power source for most
of our cellular activity. ATP is like
biochemical sunlight that “cooks” our
cells into a gel state.
Unhealthy fourth-phase water may
underlie cancer formation and numer-
The biochemical work of ous other chronic diseases. Cells become
each cell is affected by congested as toxins and toxicants bur-
the fluid-like cytoplasm den intracellular integrity. In response,
illustrated here that the body turns up the heat to convert the
surrounds the nucleus. semisolid state of cellular cytoplasm to a
slightly more fluid state, allowing impu-
rities to be flushed out of the cells and
carried away by the lymphatic system.
That increase of heat may be localized
inflammation or systemic fever. It can be
externally initiated by the warmth of the
sun or the infrared radiation of a sauna.
Dehydration, avoiding natural light, and
exposure to chemical carcinogens can
outpace the body’s ability to depurate.
It’s time to be kind to our gels. Breathe
clean outdoor air, bask in sunshine, and
eat unprocessed whole foods. Humans
are a symbolic fusion of the elements of
nature and literally a blend of all states
of matter. Ocean waves pulse through
our blood vessels, minerals compose
our bones, and the sky descends into our
being with every breath of life. The purity
of the environment is reflected in the
integrity of the human body. Inside and
out, the health of our matter matters!
Brandon LaGreca is the founder and
director of East Troy Acupuncture, an
integrative medical clinic serving south-
east Wisconsin, where he specializes in
whole-food nutrition, ancestral health,
and environmental medicine.

Made from Purslane

NATURE’S Natural Purity for All

OMEGA-3
GOLD
P uritang plant based Omega-3,6,7,9 is made
IURPSXUVODQHDQGSHULOODbVHHGV,WFRQWDLQV
RYHUb61%bFRQFHQWUDWLRQRIRPHJDbŋbWKHKLJKHVW
SRVVLEOHZLWKRXWFKHPLFDODGGLWLYHVQRWSRVVLEOHWRGHULYH
QDWXUDOO\IURPƓVKRURWKHUSODQWVDQGWKLVbFRPELQHGZLWK
Order
Online!

RPHJDDFFRXQWVIRUPRUHWKDQb90%bRISURGXFWFRQWHQW
3XUVODQHLVQDWXUHōVJROGPLQHRIRPHJDFRQWDLQLQJWKH
KLJKHVWOHYHORIDQ\JUHHQSODQWPDNLQJSXUHKLJKFRQFHQWUDWLRQ
SRVVLEOH7KHSXUVODQHDQGSHULOODVHHGVDUHJURZQRQ6RXWK
.RUHDōVEHDXWLIXO+ZDQJPDHVDQ0RXQWDLQDQDUHDZKHUHXVHRI
FKHPLFDOIHUWLOL]HUVDQGSHVWLFLGHVDUHSURKLELWHG
WUDQVIDWDQGKRUPRQHVWKLVSURGXFWLVRUJDQLF
DQGQDWXUDO,WKDVQRƓVK\DIWHUWDVWHRUULVNRIRFHDQ
ERUQHFRQWDPLQDQWV,WLVDOVRQRQ*020DGHLQ.RUHD

Puritang Green Vegetable Omega 3, 6, 7, 9 Inspired by Nature. Made from the Heart. www.Puritang.com