NEW YOR K | DC EDITION | M O N D A Y, A P R I L 19 , 2 0 21 Truth & Tradition VOL . X V I I I | NO. 2,942 $1.

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CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES

TAX
In the News Repealing
NEWS

A new study shows that the

Supreme Court has moved
from supporting religious
freedom less than half the
time to almost always in re-
cent years. ... A4
Florida Gov. Ron DeSan-
tis says that people who have
been fully vaccinated against
the CCP virus should “act im-
mune.” ... A2
The Department of Justice
is suing veteran political oper-
ative Roger Stone and his wife
over nearly $2 million in un-
paid taxes and interest. ...A2
The Arizona Senate is
ready to start a major audit,
by hand, of 2.1 million ballots
for the 2020 presidential
election. ... A7
Israel and Greece have
signed their biggest-ever de-
fense procurement deal. ...A11
Violent crime has soared in
Los Angeles County because
of progressive law enforce-
ment policies as well as the
movement to defund police,
the county’s sheriff says. ...A7
Nearly three times as
many people died from ac-
cidental drug overdoses in
San Francisco in 2020 than
from the CCP virus, according
to the city’s Office of the Chief
Medical Examiner. ... A6
SALT Cap
Deemed
Unpopular as It
Benefits Rich
New SALT caucus claims
repealing the SALT cap
would provide relief to
middle-class families, but
studies show the opposite
By EMEL AKAN
WASHINGTON—A bipartisan group
of lawmakers is pushing to eliminate
the cap on federal tax deductions
for state and local taxes (SALT) but
many argue that such a move would
massively favor the rich.
Repealing the SALT cap
A group of illegal immigrants with Border Patrol after crossing would cost more than $90
BORDER SECURITY the U.S.–Mexico border in La Joya, Texas, on April 10, 2021. billion in a single year, with
86 percent of the benefit
Number of DetainedUnaccompanied going to the richest 5
percent, according to a study.
Minors Tops 20,000 For decades, the ability to deduct
SALT has been an important tax
Biden administration continues to open emergency holding facilities break for  taxpayers  who  itemize
deductions on their federal income
as Central American children flood the border in record numbers tax returns. The 2017 Tax Cuts and
DARIO LOPEZ-MILLS/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Jobs Act (TCJA), however, limited
By CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON In March, almost 19,000 unac- the deduction for SALT payments to

M
Americans deserve to
know more about the fatal
shooting of Air Force veteran
Ashli Babbitt during the Jan.
6 Capitol breach, a National
Police Association spokes-
person says. ... A6
The man-made water res-
ervoirs supplying millions of
people in the U.S. West and
Mexico are projected to shrink
to historic lows in the coming
months, the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation says. ... A5
ore than 20,000 chil-
dren, mostly from
Central America, are
currently being held in
facilities operated by Health and
Human Services (HHS) at a tax-
payer cost of at least $60 million
per week.
Most of the children crossed the
border illegally within the last two
months.
companied minors—a record num-
ber—were apprehended by Border
Patrol, according to Customs and
Border Protection (CBP). The num-
ber doubled from February, when
9,400 were apprehended, whereas
the preceding three months hov-
ered around 5,000 per month.
Border Patrol is required to trans-
fer custody of unaccompanied
minors to HHS within 72 hours.
Continued on A2
THE EPOCH TIMES
Unaccompanied alien children, ages 3
to 9, sit in a playpen at a Customs and
Border Protection holding facility in
Donna, Texas, on March 30, 2021.
$10,000 a year. Any state and local in-
dividual income or property tax pay-
ments in excess of that amount are
no longer deductible by taxpayers.
Blue states, especially those with
higher individual income and
property tax rates, have objected
to this cap and some even tried to
create tax maneuvers to avoid this
limitation.
Democrats last year proposed
Continued on A3

CHINA HONG KONG HONG KONG

Around 1,000 Falun Gong
practitioners marched
through the Flushing neigh-
borhood of Queens, N.Y., to
draw attention to the ongo-
ing persecution in China. ... A1
The Chinese Communist
Party now sees a “window of
opportunity” to accelerate its
plans to expand its territory in
the Asia-Pacific, according to
a former senior intelligence
officer for the U.S. Navy. ...A9
BUSINESS
NASA has awarded SpaceX
a $2.9 billion contract to build
a spacecraft to bring astro-
nauts to the moon as early as
2024, the agency says. ... A17
A potential bid for Toshiba
Corp. is set to test corporate
governance at the scandal-hit
conglomerate. ... A17
OPINION
William Wagner: Derek
Chauvin and a Post-Rule-of-
Law Society...A13
Josh Hammer: The Abiding
Shame of ‘Packing’ the Su-
preme Court...A14
James Bowman: The Aboli-
tion of Doubt...A16
Hong Kong’s
Fall a Harbinger
of Communist
China’s Takeover
of Free World:
Epoch Times HK
Director
By EVA FU & JAN JEKIELEK
The suppressive climate in Hong
Kong cultivated by the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP)—under
which attackers can rampage the
printing press of one of the city’s
independent newspapers with im-
punity—is what Beijing hopes to
foist onto the West, according to
Guo Jun, director of the Hong Kong
edition of The Epoch Times.
Once hailed for its democratic
freedoms, Hong Kong has seen
a steady rollback of its autonomy
since the former British colony
reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.
Over the past year, Beijing im-
posed sweeping laws to criminalize
vaguely defined acts of secession,
subversion, and foreign collusion,
while instituting electoral reforms
Guo Jun, director of the Hong Kong
edition of The Epoch Times.
declaring that only “patriots” could
rule the territory.
Since then, authorities have pros-
ecuted dozens under the new secu-
rity law or other charges, including
most recently media mogul Jimmy
Lai, publisher of local outlet Apple
Daily and a fierce critic of the Chi-
nese regime.
“Hong Kong is the perfect example
of how the CCP turned a free society
into one where people fear speaking
freely,” Guo said in a recent interview
Continued on A10
Beijing-Backed Officials Threaten to Shut
Down Hong Kong Newspaper Apple Daily
By ALEX WU months in prison for participating
in Hong Kong’s mass anti-Beijing
Pro-Beijing media and government and pro-democracy protests in 2019.
officials in Hong Kong have set their During the opening ceremony
sights on efforts to shut down lo- of Hong Kong’s newly introduced
cal independent newspaper Apple
Daily—one of the city’s few remain-
“National Security Education Day”
on April 15, the city’s chief execu-
ing free media outlets.
Apple Daily was founded by Hong
tive, Carrie Lam, stated that the lo-
cal government would “strengthen
Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who publicity, guidance, supervision,
on April 16 was sentenced to 14 Continued on A10
PANDEMIC
Michigan Gov. Says State Can’t Issue COVID-19
Lockdown After Republican Lawsuits
By JACK PHILLIPS controlled Supreme Court,
and I don’t have all of the
Michigan Gov. Gretchen exact same tools [that I had
Whitmer said her state 15 months ago],” Whitmer,
won’t carry out another a Democrat, told NBC’s
COVID-19-related lock- “Meet the Press” on April 18.
down amid a spring spike Michigan Gov. She said the lawsuits left
in cases, following Republi- Gretchen her without the authority
can-led lawsuits in 2020 that Whitmer. to unilaterally implement a
argued she overstepped her lockdown amid a new resur-
constitutional authority. gence in cases of the CCP (Chinese
“I have been sued by my legisla- Communist Party) virus, which
ture. I have lost in a Republican- Continued on A7

HUMAN RIGHTS BORDER PATROL

FEATURES
Chinese Regime ‘Thrives on Apathy’: NY Parade Draws
Deficient food and chronic
disease are leaving us mal-
Attention to Persecution of Falun Gong DUCEY ON
nourished. ...B1
By EVA FU
LARRY DYE/THE EPOCH TIMES
CURRENT
BORDER
For the good of our social Falun Gong
health, let’s make sure hugs practitioners take

CONTROL
and handshakes make a come- NEW YORK—The “extreme and part in a parade in
back. ...B8 unthinkable” suffering  inflicted Flushing, N.Y., on

POLICY
by the Chinese regime on mem- April 18, 2021, to
bers of the faith group Falun Gong commemorate the
DON’T DELAY. 22nd anniversary of
SUBSCRIBE TODAY. typifies Beijing’s totalitarian tac-
READEPOCH.COM tics, which, if left unstopped, could the April 25, 1999, “This administration is asleep
eventually come to the free world, peaceful appeal of at the switch,” Arizona Gov.
10,000 Falun Gong Doug Ducey said.
Published in New York, human rights advocates cautioned practitioners
Washington, Houston, Chicago,
Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
on April 18. in Beijing. Read more on A3
Continued on A9

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.
A2 | NATION MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021

SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES

“The American people will learn, in court,

that I am on the verge of bankruptcy and
that there are no assets for the government
to take.”
The Stones also are charged with using an
alter-ego entity, Drake Ventures, to funnel
more than $1 million to outside bank ac-
counts in an attempt to frustrate IRS col-
lection efforts. According to the lawsuit,
the Stones used the Drake Ventures bank
accounts to pay for personal expenses, in-
cluding groceries and dentist bills, as well
as some $500,000 in tax liabilities.

I am on the verge of
bankruptcy and that
there are no assets for
the government to take.
Roger Stone,
veteran political operative

“Although they used funds held in Drake

Ventures accounts to pay some of their
taxes, the Stones’ use of Drake Ventures to
hold their funds allowed them to shield their
personal income from enforced collection
and fund a lavish lifestyle despite owing
nearly $2 million in unpaid taxes, interest,
The Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 2, 2020. and penalties,” the lawsuit states.
The Stones were in compliance with an
installment payment arrangement with
DOJ Sues Roger Stone for Nearly $2 the IRS until March 28, 2019, when they
failed to make a payment of $19,485. The
IRS terminated its installment agreement

Million in Unpaid Taxes thereafter. Two months prior to missing

IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
The Department of Justice on April 16 filed
a lawsuit against veteran political operative
Roger Stone and his wife to recover nearly $2
million in unpaid taxes and interest.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The action was re-
quested and authorized by the chief counsel
of the Internal Revenue Service and com-
menced at the direction of Attorney General
Merrick Garland.
According to the lawsuit, Stone and his
wife, Nydia Stone, filed tax returns in each
of the years 2007 through 2011 but didn’t
pay the amount reported as due. The non-
payments, late payment fees, and interest
amounted to $1,590,361, the government
alleges. Stone also failed to pay $407,036 in
taxes for the year 2018, the lawsuit claims.
Stone called the lawsuit politically mo-
tivated.
“The Internal Revenue Service is well
aware of the fact that my three-year battle
for freedom against the corrupted Mueller
investigation has left me destitute,” Stone
told The Associated Press. “They’re well
aware that I have no assets and that their
lawsuit is politically motivated. It’s particu-
larly interesting that my tax attorneys were
not told of this action, filed at the close of
business on a Friday.
TASOS KATOPODIS/GETTY IMAGES
Roger Stone, former adviser to President Don-
ald Trump, speaks in front of the Supreme
Court in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021.
the payment, Stone was indicted in con-
nection with the special counsel’s Russia
investigation.
After Stone was indicted and prior to miss-
ing the installment payment, the Stones
shifted money from Drake Ventures to an-
other entity, Bertran Trust, and purchased
a residence.
Stone was convicted of process crimes by
special counsel Robert Mueller—namely,
lying to Congress, tampering with a witness,
and obstructing the House’s Russia investi-
gation. Trump commuted Stone’s sentence
and eventually pardoned him. The special
counsel investigation concluded finding no
evidence of collusion between the Trump
campaign and Russia.
The Associated Press contributed
to this report.

THE EPOCH TIMES

Sources: CBP
Number of Detained and HHS data.

Unaccompanied Minors
Tops 20,000
CONTINUED FROM A1
However, the sheer numbers have
become overwhelming, and chil-
dren are staying in crowded CBP
holding facilities for sometimes
more than a week.
HHS started releasing data on
the number of unaccompanied
minors it was holding on March
23—which was 11,551.
Since then, HHS has opened
several emergency holding cen-
ters, including converted conven-
tion centers in Dallas, San Anto-
nio, and San Diego, military bases
in border states, and structures in
interior states such as Pennsylva-
nia and Michigan.
By April 15, 19,798 children were
in HHS custody.
In addition, CBP is holding
around 2,515 children.
The average cost to care for a
child in a permanent facility is
$290 per day, HHS officials told
The Epoch Times via email. That
cost jumps to approximately $775
per day for children in temporary
emergency facilities “due to the
need to develop facilities quickly
and hire significant staff over a
short period of time.”
HHS is charged with providing
care to unaccompanied minors
until they’re placed with a spon-
sor—most often a parent or close
family relative who is already il-
legally living in the United States.
HHS has been releasing be-
tween 200 and 350 children per
day to sponsors since March 23.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has di- to visit the border and has said her migration. being committed by the United
rected the Texas Rangers and the focus is on dealing with the “root In mid-2019, when the last influx States government. And so we are
Texas Department of Public Safety causes” of illegal immigration, of children overwhelmed Border here to stand up and say that we
to investigate allegations of child primarily of Central Americans. Patrol facilities, Harris spoke at are not going to allow this to hap-
sexual abuse and neglect in a San The Biden administration has a press conference decrying the pen—not on our watch,” she said.
Antonio facility housing minors. been criticized for fueling a rush detention of children. “I will tell you, when elected, the
On March 24, President Joe to the border after quickly re- “What is happening with the first thing I’m going to do—one of
Biden appointed Vice President scinding many of the measures detention of these children, the the first things—is to shut down
Kamala Harris to head up the bor- the Trump administration had circumstances by which they ar- these private detention facilities.
der crisis response. Harris has yet put in place to stem illegal im- rived, is a human rights abuse Just shut them down.”

Florida’s DeSantis Says Fully Vaccinated People Should ‘Act Immune’

JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES

JACK PHILLIPS
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that
people who have been fully vacci-
nated against the CCP virus should
“act immune” and shouldn’t worry
about wearing masks anymore.
DeSantis, a Republican, said if
there’s no change in mask require-
ments or social distancing, then
people will view it as useless to get
the vaccine.
“My view is if you get a vaccine,
the vaccines are effective, you’re
immune, and so, act immune,” De-
Santis told a crowd in Lakeland,
Florida, over the weekend.
“I think the messaging should
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to
the media about the cruise industry,
at PortMiami on April 8, 2021.
be, ‘Get a vaccine because it’s good
for you to do it. It works. You’re not
going to have to have to be doing
anything abnormal. You can live
your life.’ That’s got to be what the
message is.
“I advocate for [getting vacci-
nated] but I also can’t square if
the vaccine’s effective, why would
you need to be wearing two masks
like some of these folks are doing.
It doesn’t make sense.”
Several public officials, includ-
ing White House chief medical
adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, have
been seen in recent weeks wearing
two masks.
The U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)
and Fauci, the head of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, have recommended
that people wear a mask even af-
ter being fully vaccinated against
the CCP (Chinese Communist
Party) virus, also known as the
novel coronavirus, which causes
COVID-19.
The CDC recommends  that
Americans who have been fully
vaccinated to “keep taking pre-
cautions—like wearing a mask,
staying 6 feet apart from others,
and avoiding crowds and poorly
ventilated spaces—in public places
until we know more.”
People who are fully vaccinated
shouldn’t attend large gatherings
or visit indoors without a mask
with people who are at risk of de-
veloping severe symptoms from
the CCP virus.
DeSantis, meanwhile, criticized
the decision by the CDC and Food
and Drug Administration to rec-
ommend a pause on using the
Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vac-
cine, following isolated reports of
blood clots.
“How they handled the J&J, I
think was a huge mistake,” he
said. “I don’t know the informa-
tion they have, but if you’re going
to do that, you could’ve done that
in a way that was not going to cause
a lot of people to lose confidence.”
DeSantis said the halt is causing
Americans to distrust the vaccines.
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
The Hawaii Supreme Court.
Hawaii Supreme Court Ends
Pandemic-Related Early
Prisoner Release
MATTHEW VADUM
As state and local governments
across the United States ease pan-
demic-related restrictions, the Su-
preme Court of the State of Hawaii
has decided to end a program that
allowed for the release of low-level
inmates early in hopes of control-
ling the spread of COVID-19 in the
Aloha State’s detention facilities.
The three-page ruling ending ju-
dicial oversight of the jails came on
Repealing Trump’s SALT
Cap Deemed Unpopular as
It Benefits Rich
CONTINUED FROM A1
lifting the cap on the SALT de-
duction for 2020 and 2021 as part
of a COVID relief package. They
argued that lifting the cap would
provide relief to people hit hard-
est by the virus, especially in dev-
astated cities such as New York.
I don’t think that we
should be holding
the infrastructure
package hostage for
a 100 percent full
repeal on SALT.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
A growing number of House
Democrats have recently indicated
that they wouldn’t support Biden’s
infrastructure and tax plan unless
the cap is repealed.
Last week, more than 30 biparti-
san members of the House formed
Arizona State Troopers Release 17 Illegal Aliens After ICE Declines to Take Custody
CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON
The Arizona Department of Pub-
lic Safety said state troopers were
forced to release 17 illegal aliens
after Border Patrol and Immigra-
tion and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) both declined to take them
into custody.
A state trooper initiated a traf-
fic stop early on April 16 and dis-
covered the 17 illegal aliens in the
vehicle, the Department of Public
Safety (AZDPS) wrote on Twitter.
The driver was a U.S. citizen.
The incident occurred in Chan-
dler, near Phoenix.
“AZDPS requested assistance
from Immigration [and] Customs
Enforcement & the U.S. Border
Patrol to take custody of the un-
April 16. The vote was 4–1.
The order also ended the tempo-
rary prohibition on judges impos-
ing bail on defendants charged
with certain low-level offenses.
Concerned about a viral break-
out at Oahu Community Cor-
rectional Center, the Office of the
Public Defender filed a petition
with the court Aug. 12, 2020, seek-
ing the expedited release of certain
categories of inmates at Hawaii’s
community correctional centers
the SALT Caucus to push for a re-
peal of the $10,000 limit passed in
TCJA. Caucus members stated that
the move would provide tax relief
to “hard-working middle-class
families.”
“It is high time that Congress re-
instates the State and Local Tax de-
duction, so we can get more dollars
back into the pockets of so many
struggling families—especially as
we recover from the pandemic,”
SALT Caucus co-Chair Rep. Josh
Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said in a state-
ment. The group said it would seek
ways to restore the SALT deduction.
Another co-chair of the caucus,
Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) stated
that Californians have been bur-
dened by high state and local taxes.
Her district would pay on average
more than $640 million in the 2022
tax year due to the SALT cap.
According to  Tax Policy Cen-
ter estimates, however, almost all
benefits of repealing the $10,000
SALT cap would go to the top quin-
tile, with the top 1 percent getting
an average tax cut of $33,100 and 0.1
percent receiving nearly $145,000.
documented aliens, both agen-
cies declined the request,” the
department wrote on Twitter.
“Absent response from the
agencies with jurisdiction on im-
migration violations, the AZDPS
trooper issued the appropriate ci-
tations for the traffic violations,
impounded the vehicle, and was
forced to release the subjects.”
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey
also responded on Twitter with
a scathing rebuke of the Biden
administration, saying it “needs
to get its head out of the sand
when it comes to the crisis at our
border.”
“This administration is asleep
at the switch, and their total lack
of action is having real conse-
quences here in the state of Ari-
COOLCAESAR/PUBLIC DOMAIN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
and facilities. At that time, “the
pandemic’s trajectory remained
uncertain and vaccinations were
not available.”
Citing the virulence at the time
of the CCP virus within close
quarters and the possibility that
its spread in Hawaii’s jails had the
potential to overwhelm health
care providers, the court estab-
lished procedures for considering
the release of some inmates and
pretrial detainees.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) speaks during a press conference outside the
U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 21, 2020.
Lifting the SALT cap would
give essentially no benefit to the
middle class, contrary to what
Democrats and some Republi-
cans have argued,” a Brookings
Institution report stated last year.
“Only  4  percent of the benefit
would go the middle class, “for
an  average  annual  tax cut of  a
little less than $27.”
Critics argue lifting the SALT cap
forces people in low-tax states such
as Tennessee and Texas to subsi-
dize high-tax states such as Cali-
fornia and New York.
Simply lifting the SALT cap, as
zona,” he said. “I’ve met with our
Border Patrol and they need help,
and they need the support of the
administration.”
Ducey called for the National
Guard to be deployed to the Ari-
zona border.
ICE didn’t respond by press time
to an Epoch Times query about
Hundreds of misdemeanor
and pretrial detainees and those
serving misdemeanor and petty
misdemeanor sentences were re-
portedly released under the order.
Excluded from the early release
program were individuals con-
victed of or awaiting trial for felony
assault, sexual assault or attempted
sexual assault, burglary, robbery,
unauthorized entry to a dwelling,
domestic abuse, or violating a re-
straining order, protective order,
or injunction.
Last month, as petty criminals
continued to be released, Hono-
lulu residents complained about
a surge in chaos and lawlessness,
blaming the early release program
for it, Hawaii News Now reported
at the time. The state Supreme
Court policy allowed accused
criminals to be set free hours after
being arrested.
“There’s no consequences for
their bad behaviors,” said Dr. Chad
Koyanagi, a local psychiatrist. Be-
cause jails aren’t an option for of-
fenders, some hospitals have been
effectively transformed into deten-
tion facilities, and their employees
have been physically attacked.
“Half a dozen people were in-
jured by a particular individual,
and I heard that he wasn’t even
taken into custody,” Koyanagi
said at the time. “He was released
back to his family, which is hor-
rifying to me.”
The American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) of Hawaii filed a
brief with the state’s high court urg-
ing that the program be continued.
But because COVID-19 is un-
der control in the jails, there’s no
need to continue the early release
policy, the court determined in its
new ruling.
“Today, according to recent fil-
ings in this case, it appears that the
rate of positive cases in Hawaii’s
correctional centers and facilities
has significantly declined since
CHERISS MAY/GETTY IMAGES
many Democrats propose, isn’t
a solution, according to the left-
leaning Institute on Taxation and
Economic Policy (ITEP).
“While the cap on SALT deduc-
tions is problematic, repealing it
without making other reforms
would result in larger tax breaks
for the rich,” Steve Wamhoff, di-
rector of federal tax policy at the
ITEP, stated in a February re-
port. He proposed replacing the
SALT cap with a broader limit on
tax breaks for the wealthy.
Last year, ITEP estimated that re-
pealing the cap would cost more
AZDPS
State troopers
respond to a
traffic stop in
which 17 illegal
aliens were
discovered in a
vehicle driven
by a U.S. citizen
on the outskirts
of Phoenix on
April 16, 2021.
why it declined to take the 17
aliens into custody.
However, on Jan. 21 President
Joe Biden issued an executive
order that paused deportations
for 100 days. The Department of
Homeland Security then issued
guidance on Feb. 18 for handling
the arrest, detainment, and de-
NATION | A3
the petition was filed in August
2020, testing and other health
and safety measures have been
implemented within the correc-
tional centers and facilities, and
a vaccination program to vacci-
nate inmates is underway. Thus,
it appears that the conditions that
necessitated swift action by this
court in August 2020 are no longer
prevalent,” the court stated.
Hundreds of
detainees were re-
portedly released
under the order.
Both the state and defense coun-
sel continue to have the option of
filing individual motions seeking
release, the court said.
In his dissenting opinion, Associ-
ate Justice Michael D. Wilson said
the court’s majority was ignoring
the expert opinion of Dr. Pablo
Stewart, who found “the health
and safety measures that have been
implemented inside ... remain in-
adequate and ineffective at miti-
gating the risks and addressing the
harms created by COVID-19.”
After the ruling, the Hawaii
Department of Public Safety said
there were no more active CO-
VID-19 cases in the incarcerated
population in Hawaii correctional
facilities or at the Saguaro Cor-
rectional Center in Eloy, Arizona,
which is under state contract to
house prisoners from Hawaii, the
Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
The ACLU of Hawaii was “ex-
tremely disappointed” with the rul-
ing, Wookie Kim, its legal director,
told reporters.
“Everything feels the same, looks
the same, is the same ... so for the
court to say these emergency con-
ditions are no longer prevalent is
shocking to read.”
than $90 billion in a single year,
with 86 percent of the benefit go-
ing to the richest 5 percent.
Progressive Rep. Alexandria Oca-
sio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) criticized the ef-
forts to hold Biden’s infrastructure
plan hostage to demands to repeal
the SALT cap.
“I don’t think that we should be
holding the infrastructure package
hostage for a 100 percent full repeal
on SALT, especially in the case of
a full repeal,” Ocasio-Cortez told
reporters on April 15. “Personally, I
can’t stress how much that I believe
that is a giveaway to the rich.”
However, she didn’t rule out a
negotiation on revising the limit.
“There’s a conversation to be had,
I think, about the cap itself, and
at what level it’s appropriate, and
where we can help families that are
really deeply impacted,” she said.
“On the other end of it, I don’t be-
lieve that a full repeal is just.”
In a letter to shareholders dated
April 7, Jamie Dimon, chairman
and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, took
aim at five states—California,
Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey,
and New York—that continue to
demand “unlimited” SALT deduc-
tions, saying that while those five
states would “reap 40 percent of
the benefit,” more than 80 per-
cent of those deductions would
“accrue to people earning more
than $339,000 a year.”
portation of illegal immigrants.
Under the guidance, illegal im-
migrants who entered the coun-
try after Nov. 1, 2020, are an en-
forcement and removal priority.
However, ICE agents must seek
approval from their leadership
before taking into custody an il-
legal alien who isn’t a convicted
felon, a terror suspect, or a crimi-
nal gang member.
So far this fiscal year (which
began Oct. 1, 2020), Border Pa-
trol has apprehended almost
570,000 illegal aliens along the
southern border, with the last sev-
eral months showing a trajectory
that’s on track to compete with
the highest number of apprehen-
sions recorded—1,692,544 cap-
tured in fiscal 1996.
A4 | NATION
Supreme Court Rulings Show Dramatic Rise
in Support for Religious Freedom: Study
MARK TAPSCOTT
A new study of Supreme Court
decisions dating to 1953 shows
the nation’s highest tribunal has
moved from supporting religious
freedom less than half the time to
almost always in recent years.
“The Roberts Court has ruled in
favor of religious organizations far
more frequently than its predeces-
sors, over 81% of the time, com-
pared to about 50% for all previous
eras since 1953,” legal scholars Lee
Epstein and Eric Posner Jr. wrote in
the latest edition of the University of
Chicago’s Supreme Court Review.
“In most of these cases, the win-
ning religion was a mainstream
Christian organization, where-
as in the past, pro-religion out-
comes more frequently favored
minority or marginal religious
organizations.
The Roberts Court
has ruled in favor
of religious orga-
nizations far more
frequently than its
predecessors, over
81% of the time.
Lee Epstein and
Eric Posner Jr., legal scholars
“A statistical analysis sug-
gests that this transformation is
largely the result of changes in
the Court’s personnel: A major-
ity of Roberts Court justices are
ideologically conservative and
religiously devout—a significant
break from the past.”
The study examined 93 cases
decided between 1953 and 2019,
including 824 opinions issued by
31 justices. All of the cases studied
involved issues under the free exer-
cise and establishment clauses of
the First Amendment concerning
religious freedom.
Decisions were considered “pro-
religion” when they were decided
in favor of a religious organization
or religious outcome, which is typi-
cally for plaintiffs in free exercise
clause cases and for defendants in
establishment class cases, accord-
ing to the authors, who said more
than half of the decisions were re-
ported on the day following their
publication on the front page of The
New York Times.
Chief Justice John Roberts has
Prosecutor Placed on Leave
After He ‘Failed to Fully
Present the Facts’ About
Adam Toledo Shooting
JANITA KAN
An attorney with the Cook County
State’s Attorney’s Office has been
placed on administrative leave
after he “failed to fully present the
facts” surrounding the shooting of
13-year-old Adam Toledo.
“In court last week, an attorney
in our office failed to fully present
the facts surrounding the death
of a 13-year-old boy. We have put
that individual on administrative
leave and are conducting an inter-
nal investigation into the matter,” a
spokesperson from the office said
in a statement to the media.
This comes after the attorney
implied in court during an April
10 hearing related to the shoot-
ing that Toledo was holding a gun
when he was shot. The hearing was
for 21-year-old Ruben Roman, who
was with Toledo when the boy was
shot on March 29.
“The officer tells [Adam] to drop
it as [Adam] turns towards the of-
ficer. [Adam] has a gun in his right
hand,” Assistant State’s Attorney
James Murphy said, according to
led the court since being named
to the position in 2005 by President
George W. Bush. The study found
that, compared to previous eras in
the court’s history, a series of major
decisions in the last two years has
almost doubled the frequency of
support for the First Amendment’s
Free Exercise Clause guaranteeing
the right to practice religion and
assemble for its expression without
government interference.
Many of these recent decisions
were occasioned by multiple re-
strictions on churches imposed by
Democratic Govs. Andrew Cuomo
in New York and Gavin Newsom
in California, as well as in other
blue states.
The recent decisions are a
marked change. Under Chief Jus-
tice Earl Warren, for example, the
study found the court supported
religious freedom only 45.5 percent
of the time, while opposing it 54.5
percent.
Most often during the Warren
Court era (1953–1969), decisions
favorable to religious freedom
came in cases involving non-
mainstream, minority religious
groups such as Jehovah’s Witness-
es and Mormons that were deemed
lacking in protection, according to
the study.
For the era of Chief Justice War-
ren Burger’s tenure (1969–1986),
cases were decided in favor of
religious freedom 51.4 percent of
the time, while under Chief Justice
William Rehnquist (1986–2005),
the favorable percentage increased
to 58.1 percent.
In addition to the appointment of
more conservative and religiously
active justices in recent years, the
authors noted that participation
in religious freedom cases by the
U.S. solicitor general—the Justice
Department’s chief representative
in arguing cases before the high
court—increased to almost 88 per-
cent under Roberts from only 9.1
percent under Warren.
The trend has influenced the
court’s liberal wing as well. Justice
Elena Kagan, at 75 percent, ranks
as the eighth most-favorable to re-
ligious freedom among all of the
justices since 1953.
Justice Stephen Breyer, with a
62.1 percent rating, is 13th. Justice
Sonia Sotomayor, at 33 percent, is
least favorable to religious freedom
among the court’s current mem-
bers, according to the study.
Religious freedom advocates
interviewed by The Epoch Times
agreed that the study points to
The officer does not
have to wait to be
shot at or shot in
order to respond and
defend himself.
John Catanzara, president,
Chicago Police Union
the Chicago Sun-Times. “The of-
ficer fires one shot at [Adam], strik-
ing him in the chest. The gun that
[Adam] was holding landed against
the fence a few feet away.”
Following the hearing,  Cook
County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx
told reporters: “An attorney who
works in this office failed to fully
inform himself before speaking in
court. Errors like that cannot hap-
pen, and this has been addressed
with the individual involved. The
video speaks for itself.”
Foxx’s comments came af-
ter Chicago’s civilian police over-
sight agency released footage of
the fatal shooting.
The Supreme Court in Washington on May 4, 2020.
what they deem to be a positive
trend on behalf of a restoration
of the court’s willingness aggres-
sively to defend constitutional
religious freedom.
But there are significant ques-
tions about Roberts, according to
one of the advocates.
Matt Staver, founder and presi-
dent of Liberty Counsel, an Orlan-
do, Florida-based public interest
law firm that specializes in First
Amendment litigation, said he’s
puzzled by Roberts’s inconsistent
aligning with the pro-religious
freedom majority.
“The problem that we’ve seen
that raises the question but doesn’t
change the statistics is where Chief
Justice John Roberts has been com-
ing down on these COVID cases,”
Staver told The Epoch Times, re-
ferring to COVID-19, the disease
caused by the CCP (Chinese Com-
munist Party) virus.
“It should be a no-brainer that he
would come down on the majority
side against these government re-
strictions and in favor of churches
and places of worship.”
Staver noted that in cases involv-
ing challenges to state restrictions
on church worship due to the CCP
virus,  also known as the novel
coronavirus, Roberts joined the
majority only once.
“He’s only done that once, and
that was our case, a 6–3 decision,
but that restriction had to be a total
ban on worship,” Staver said, refer-
The bodycam footage shows the
officer running after Toledo and
telling the boy to stop running. In
the split second that Toledo com-
plies by turning around while
raising his hands, he is shot. The
officer immediately calls dispatch
to alert that shots had been fired by
police and asks for an ambulance.
He then turns to provide medical
assistance to Toledo.
Footage from a second respond-
ing officer shows a handgun on the
ground behind the fence opening
where the boy had stopped.
Foxx’s spokeswoman, Sarah Si-
novic, suggested on April 16 that
Murphy may not have had access
to all the videos that were released
to the public on April 15 when he
made the comments. She told the
Sun-Times: “It’s still under investi-
gation what videos were available
to [Murphy]. We’re still trying to fig-
ure out what he had access to when
he made the statements in court.”
Chicago Police Union President
John Catanzara characterized the
officer’s action as “justified,” as he
had less than a second to assess
whether Toledo was still holding
a gun in his hand as he turned
around.
“There is no way a rational per-
son can say they can process that,
and their muscle reaction would be
less than one second,” Catanzara
told CNN. “The officer does not have
to wait to be shot at or shot in order
to respond and defend himself.”
“It is 100 percent justified. That of-
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
ring to the Court’s Feb. 5 decision
in the case of Harvest Rock Church
in California.
In that decision, in which the
plaintiffs challenged Newsom’s
worship assembly ban, Roberts
said, “The state’s present deter-
mination—that the maximum
number of adherents who can
safely worship in the most cavern-
ous cathedral is zero—appears to
reflect not expertise or discretion,
but instead insufficient apprecia-
tion or consideration of the inter-
ests at stake.”
Staver said “but for Amy Coney
Barrett being on the court, many
of these cases, except ours, would
have gone the other way” due to
Roberts.
Even so, all of the advocates said
the overall trend is extremely en-
couraging to them.
“Opponents of religious lib-
erty decry the last two decades
of decisions protecting our First
Freedom as some sort of histori-
cal aberration and special politi-
cal favor,” First Liberty Institute
Vice President Jeremy Dys told
The Epoch Times.
“In reality, for most of our nation’s
history, the inalienable rights en-
shrined in the First Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution were un-
questioned.
“In recent years, the court has
restored many of our most pre-
cious freedoms, undoing much of
the damage done by progressive
CIVILIAN OFFICE OF POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS
Adam Toledo, 13, holds up his hands a split second before being shot by police
in Little Village, a neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side, in a still image from
police body camera video, taken on March 29, 2021.
ficer’s actions were actually heroic.
There is a very good reason he only
shot once. Like I said, he could have
been shot multiple times, but the
officer assessed in a split second.
Unfortunately, he committed to
the first shot already, justifiably so.”
Meanwhile, the incident has
sparked controversy among some
members of the  Little Village
neighborhood where the shoot-
ing occurred. Some believe that
Toledo was unjustly killed, while
other community members ques-
tioned why the 13-year-old boy was
out in the middle of the night.
Little Village is home to Cook
County Jail, and the community
has been plagued by persistent
gang warfare for decades.  The
federal government had previously
SAUL LOEB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
politicians and Justices of the U.S.
Supreme Court of prior decades.”
Similarly, Alliance Defending
Freedom (ADF) Senior Vice Pres-
ident Kristen Waggoner said the
court’s earlier hostility to religious
freedom prompted the more re-
cent positive trend.
“Government officials have
weaponized the law to strike at
the heart of beliefs held by mil-
lions of Catholics, Protestants,
Jews, and Muslims,” Waggoner
told The Epoch Times.
“This has resulted in the court
facing an unprecedented number
of cases where religious individu-
als and organizations are under
fire, and we’re grateful the court
has recognized the importance of
the First Amendment in many of
those cases.”
She pointed out that eight of
ADF’s 12 Supreme Court victories
since 2011 involved religious free-
dom cases.
“The First Amendment is good
for everybody, not just Christians
and not just those who are reli-
gious,” she said. “These freedoms
make us all more free to speak and
live without fear of government
punishment.”
Waggoner argued ADF’s case
that resulted in the court’s land-
mark 2018 Masterpiece Cakeshop
decision that upheld owner Jack
Phillips’s religious and artistic free-
dom to decline to create decora-
tions for gay weddings.
designed a community-wide pro-
gram in an effort to reduce gang
activity in the Little Village area.
Roman was arrested at the scene
on misdemeanor charges of resist-
ing or obstructing a peace officer
but was later charged with felony
counts of child endangerment, ag-
gravated unlawful use of a weapon,
and reckless discharge of a firearm
after investigators determined that
he had been the one to fire the gun
several times before police arrived.
He then passed on the weapon
to Toledo, according to police.
Roman remains in custody at
Cook County Jail after a judge or-
dered him held on $150,000.
The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021 NATION | A5

US West Prepares for Possible Lightning strikes over Lake Mead near Hoover Dam that

1st Water Shortage Declaration impounds Colorado River water at the Lake Mead National
Recreation Area in Arizona on July 28, 2014.

ALL PHOTOS BY AP PHOTO/JOHN LOCHER, FILE

CARSON CITY, Nev.—The man-
made lakes that store water sup-
plying millions of people in the U.S.
West and Mexico are projected to
shrink to historic lows in the com-
ing months, dropping to levels that
could trigger the federal govern-
ment’s first-ever official shortage
declaration and prompt cuts in
Arizona and Nevada.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
released 24-month projections
last week forecasting that less
Colorado River water will cascade
down from the Rocky Mountains
through Lake Powell and Lake
Mead and into the arid deserts of
the U.S. Southwest and the Gulf
of California. Water levels in the
two lakes are expected to plum-
met low enough for the agency to
declare an official shortage for the
first time, threatening the supply of
Colorado River water that growing
cities and farms rely on.
It comes as less snowpack flows
into the river and its tributaries,
and hotter temperatures parch
soil and cause more river water to
evaporate as it streams through the
drought-plagued American West.
The agency’s models project that
Lake Mead will fall below 1,075 feet
for the first time in June 2021. That’s
the level that prompts a shortage
declaration under agreements ne-
gotiated by seven states that rely
on Colorado River water: Arizona,
California, Colorado, Nevada, New The shortage
Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. comes as less
The April projections, however, snowpack flows
will not have a binding impact.
Federal officials regularly issue into the river and
long-term projections but use those hotter tempera-
released each August to make de- tures parch soil
cisions about how to allocate river
water. If projections don’t improve and cause more A bathtub ring
of light minerals
by then, the Bureau of Reclama- river water to delineates the
tion will declare a Level 1 short-
age condition. The cuts would be
evaporate. high water mark
on Lake Mead
implemented in January. at the Lake
Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico Mead National
have voluntarily given up water un- Recreation Area,
der a drought contingency plan for near Boulder
the river signed in 2019. A shortage City, Nev., on
declaration would subject the two Aug. 13, 2020.
U.S. states to their first mandatory
reductions. Both rely on the Colo- from further down in Lake Mead To prepare for a future with the wholesale electricity market
rado River more than any other wa- as its levels fall. It also has created less water, the bureau has spent because the government charges
ter source, and Arizona stands to a credit system where it can bank 10 years replacing parts of five of customers only for the cost of pro-
lose roughly one-third of its supply. recycled water back into the reser- the dam’s 17 turbines that rotate ducing it and maintaining the dam.
Water agency officials say voir without having it count toward to generate power. Len Schilling, Lincoln County Power District
they’re confident their prepara- its allocation. a dam manager with the bureau, General Manager Dave Luttrell
tion measures, including conser- Colby Pellegrino, director of said the addition of wide-head said infrastructure updates, less
vation and seeking out alterna- water resources for the South- turbines allows the dam to oper- hydropower from Hoover Dam,
tive sources, would allow them ern Nevada Water Authority, ate more efficiently at lower water and supplemental power from
to withstand cuts if the drought reassured customers that those levels. He said the turbines will be other sources such as natural gas
lingers as expected. preparation measures would in- able to generate power almost to raised costs and alarmed custom-
“The study, while significant, is sulate them from the effects of a point called “Deadpool,” when ers in his rural Nevada district.
not a surprise. It reflects the im- cuts. But she warned that more there won’t be enough water for “Rural economies in Arizona
pacts of the dry and warm con- A riverboat glides through action was needed. the dam to function. and Nevada live and die by the
ditions across the Colorado River Lake Mead on the Colorado “It is incumbent upon all users But Schilling noted that less wa- hydropower that is produced at
Basin this year, as well as the effects River at Hoover Dam near of the Colorado River to find ways ter moving through Hoover Dam Hoover Dam. It might not be a
of a prolonged drought that has im- Boulder City, Nev., on Oct. to conserve,” Pellegrino said in a means less hydropower to go big deal to NV Energy,” he said of
pacted the Colorado River water 14, 2015. The Bureau of statement. around. Nevada’s largest utility. “It might
Reclamation is forecasting
supply,” officials from the Arizona The Bureau of Reclamation also “As the elevation declines at the be a decimal point to Los Angeles
first-ever water shortages
Department of Water Resources because of falling levels at projected that Lake Mead will drop lake, then our ability to produce Department of Water and Power.
and Central Arizona Project said Lake Mead and says the to the point they worried in the past power declines as well because But for Lincoln County, it adds
in a joint statement. reservoir could drop so low could threaten electricity genera- we have less water pushing on the huge impact.”
In Nevada, the agency that sup- that it might not be able tion at Hoover Dam. The hydro- turbines,” he said.
plies water to most of the state has to generate electricity at power serves millions of customers Hydropower costs are substan- By Sam Metz 
constructed “straws” to draw water Hoover Dam. in Arizona, California, and Nevada. tially less than the energy sold on From The Associated Press

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 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021

JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES

the officer that shot Daunte Wright. But yet

it was released. And now, she (the officer) has
had to flee her home.”
The DOJ and the U.S. Capitol Police didn’t
respond to requests by The Epoch Times for
comment by press time.
The DOJ announced on April 14 that the
U.S. Capitol Police officer who fatally shot
Babbitt won’t be charged.

[The media] don’t seem

to really care why Ashli
Babbitt was killed.
Sgt. Betsy Smith, spokesperson, National
Police Association

“Officials examined video footage posted

on social media, statements from the officer
involved and other officers and witnesses
to the events, physical evidence from the
scene of the shooting, and the results of an
autopsy,” the DOJ said in a statement.
“Based on that investigation, officials de-
termined that there is insufficient evidence
to support a criminal prosecution.”
Terrell Roberts, an attorney for the Babbitt
family, told The Epoch Times that the deci-
sion was “baffling, given the circumstances
Melody Black, from Minnesota, becomes emotional as she visits a memorial for Ashli Babbitt near the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 7, 2021. that it’s a clear case of shooting an unarmed
person without any legal justification.”

American Public ‘Deserves to Know’

Mark Schamel, a lawyer representing the
officer, told The Epoch Times via email that
the officer “had to resort to deadly force”

About Ashli Babbitt’s Death: Police

and that his actions “stopped the mob from
breaking through and turning a horrific
day in American history into something so

Association Spokesperson
SAMUEL ALLEGRI
Sgt. Betsy Smith, spokesperson for the Na-
tional Police Association, says the American
public deserves to know more about the fatal
shooting of U.S. Air Force veteran Ashli Bab-
bitt during the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.
Smith believes that the continued politici-
zation of police has to be addressed, adding
that while Babbitt did wrong in being part
of the group that entered the Capitol, the
message the Department of Justice (DOJ) is
sending by choosing not to prosecute the of-
ficer who killed her infers a double standard.
“I feel like what it says to our citizens is that,
well, if you are protecting our wealthy politi-
cians at the United States Capitol, you have
different rules of engagement than you do if
you’re trying to protect a small town or an
urban area, and I find that very dangerous,”
Smith said on NTD’s “The Nation Speaks.”
NTD is an affiliate of The Epoch Times.
“The American public deserves to know
the details of why deadly force was deployed,
because there are very strict rules when we
use deadly force.
“Had Ashley Babbitt been a liberal activist
protesting abortion or perhaps protesting
Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation at the Su-
preme Court, we might be dealing with a
very different issue, and that is not how the
American justice system operates. We also
deserve to know that officer’s name, there
was really no reason to know the name of
much worse.”
Babbitt was with a group that entered the
Capitol building on Jan. 6. A witness to the
event said that police were asking people to
get back and out of the way from a door that
ASHLI BABBITT/TWITTER had its windows smashed. Babbitt didn’t heed
the call and as she tried to climb through, an
African American police officer wearing a suit
fatally shot her in the neck area.
There is no indication that Babbitt was
armed and her family’s attorney has said
she wasn’t.
Smith, the police group’s spokesperson,
said she was also disturbed by “the complete
lack of curiosity by the legacy media.”
“They don’t seem to really care why Ashli
Babbitt was killed,” she said.
Ashli Babbitt, in an undated photo posted on “They’re so concerned about police tactics
social media. and why we do what we do until it comes
to Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed woman shot
and killed by law enforcement. I think the
American public deserves to know and we
need to have that discussion.”

JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES

Florida Gov. Ron

Florida’s DeSantis Joins
Rumble After YouTube
Censorship
IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has set
up a channel on the video-sharing
platform Rumble after being cen-
sored by YouTube.
The Republican governor’s Rum-
ble channel currently features a
single 45-second video. DeSantis
hasn’t posted any videos on his
YouTube channel in three months.
“Gov. Ron DeSantis is a longtime
proponent of free speech and has
been at the forefront of the effort
to demonopolize Big Tech,” Rum-
ble CEO Chris Pavlovski said in a
statement.
“He understands firsthand
Americans’ distrust of monolith-
ic tech companies and the danger
they pose to free expression and
free markets. In fact, YouTube
recently removed from its plat-
DeSantis speaks
to the media at a
press conference
at PortMiami on
April 8, 2021.
form a video of the governor and
a handful of Ivy League-educated
medical experts discussing the
downsides of prolonged pandem-
ic-related lockdowns. Rumble, on
the other hand, invites robust and
civic dialogue on our platform,
including Gov. DeSantis’ insights
and expertise.”
Earlier this month, Google-
owned YouTube, without warning,
scrubbed videos of a roundtable
discussion between DeSantis and
prominent scientists from Har-
vard, Oxford, and Stanford who
assessed that lockdowns were an pearance. The original clip is now as enforcers of a narrative, a Big eo ... they were really continuing
ineffective measure against the hosted on a different platform, ap- Tech council of censors in service what they’ve been doing for the
spread of the CCP (Chinese Com- pearing along with a full transcript of the ruling elite,” DeSantis said in past year: stifle debate, short-cir-
munist Party) virus, commonly on the AIER website. response to YouTube’s censorship cuit scientific inquiry, make sure
known as the novel coronavirus. “Google and YouTube have not during an April 12 video confer- that the narrative is not questioned.
The American Institute for been, throughout this pandemic, ence call with three of the scien- And I think that we’ve seen already
Economic Research (AIER) was repositories of truth and scientific tists from the banned video. that that has had catastrophic con-
the first to flag the video’s disap- inquiry, but instead have acted “When they took down the vid- sequences for our society.”

San Francisco Overdose Deaths Far Outpaced COVID-19 Deaths in 2020

TAMI CHAPPELL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
Nearly three times as many peo-
ple died from accidental drug
overdoses in San Francisco in
2020 than from the CCP (Chinese
Communist Party) virus, accord-
ing to preliminary data released
by the city’s Office of the Chief
Medical Examiner.
A total of 713 people died from
drug overdoses in the city in 2020
compared to 255 who died from
the CCP virus, commonly known
as the novel coronavirus.
Nationwide, the largest increase
in the number of overdose deaths
CDC headquarters in Atlanta on April
23, 2020.
occurred in March and May 2020
and coincided with the CCP vi-
rus lockdowns, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
“The increases in drug over-
dose deaths appear to have ac-
celerated during the COVID-19
pandemic,” the CDC said in a
statement.
Overdose deaths were rising
steadily before the lockdowns.
During the 12-month period end-
ing in May last year, 81,230 people
died from accidental drug over-
doses, the largest 12-month total
ever recorded. Men accounted for
the overwhelming majority of the
deaths, at 81 percent. Twenty-sev-
en percent of the victims didn’t
have a fixed address.
The trend lines have inverted
in 2021, with more people hav-
ing died from the CCP virus
(261) in January through March
than from drug overdoses (203).
The reversal coincided with the
gradual reopening of the city that
commenced on Jan. 21. Several
business types, including indoor
playgrounds and nightclubs, are
still not allowed to operate.
Over the course of 2020, fentanyl
was behind more overdose deaths
than any other drug. China has
been the main source of fentanyl
and has flooded the United States
with the drug in recent years. The
CCP subsidizes fentanyl produc-
ers, according to Ben Westhoff, an
investigative journalist who went
undercover into two Chinese fen-
tanyl operations.
“What I learned was that these
companies making fentanyl
and other dangerous drugs are
subsidized by the government.
And so when they work in these
suburban office parks, for exam-
ple, the building, the costs for
research and development, they
have these development zones,
they get export tax breaks,”
Westhoff told Illegal Tender, a
Yahoo podcast.
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021 NATION | A7
OLIVIER TOURON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

it was about the integrity of the Arizona

Ballots are counted at the Maricopa County Election Department after the 2020 presidential election, in Phoenix on Nov. 5, 2020.
Arizona Senate to Start Major Audit of 2.1
Million 2020 Presidential Election Ballots
SAMUEL ALLEGRI
The Arizona Senate, which is controlled by
Republicans, is ready to start a major audit
of 2.1 million ballots for the 2020 presiden-
tial election. The recount will be done by
hand this time.
The state Senate said in March that
they would be conducting a “broad and
detailed” audit, adding that they’ll test
voting machines, scan ballots, look for IT
breaches, and perform a hand count.
The state-issued subpoenas needed in
order to execute the audit have been pend-
ing since mid-December and were ruled as
valid on Feb. 25.
Since then, lawmakers have been work-
ing on the specifics for the audit. Karen
Fann, the Arizona Senate president, told
Just the News that the audit process will
commence this week.
The Maricopa Fann said the state’s Republicans have
BOS has re- faced “sabotage” by Maricopa County’s
fused to allow Board of Supervisors and that the process
has been hindered.
us to perform “The Maricopa BOS has refused to allow
the audit at us to perform the audit at their facilities,”
Fann said, “and has gone so far as to refus-
their facilities. ing to even answer simple questions such
Karen Fann, president, as ‘how are the ballots sequestered?’
Arizona Senate “It’s taken the Senate two and a half
months to win in court to uphold our right
to issue subpoenas for election materials
and another 6 weeks of researching to
select the audit team to perform the full
forensic audit.”
She said previously that their intention
was “never about overturning the election,
election system.”
Fann signed a contract last week to rent
the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
in Phoenix for about a month starting April
19, according to azcentral. She previously
said she wanted to use spaces in the county
but that they declined.
She said there will be physical and
livestreaming security in the more than
20,000-square-foot facility.
“The audit teams are assembling and
transporting the equipment and person-
nel to Arizona with an expected start date
of April 22,” she said.
Fann noted that the Arizona State Sen-
ate and auditors don’t have a particular
expectation of the findings.
“We are performing the full forensic au-
dit to either dispel our voter’s concerns,
or if a problem is uncovered, we must fix
the problems before the next election,”
she said.
“We have never accused anyone of fraud
or misconduct, whether it be the hardware,
software, or actions of personnel.
“We hope there is no intentional illegal
tampering but, if found, we will turn the
information over to the state and federal
attorney generals for their further legal
action, and we will proceed to make the
appropriate corrections.”
A report is expected to be released in
about two months, according to a state-
ment from the state Senate.
The independent audit will be conduct-
ed by four out-of-state companies—Wake
Technology Services, CyFIR, Digital Dis-
covery, and Cyber Ninjas. Florida-based
cybersecurity company Cyber Ninjas will
be leading the audit, the Senate said, add-
ing that they focus on computer application
security for financial services and govern-
ment clients.
According to Just the News, Maricopa
County Board of Supervisors Chairman
Jack Sellers told Fann in an email that the
upcoming audit “is not a joint effort be-
tween the County and the Senate Repub-
lican Caucus.”
“Maricopa County will not communicate
with your vendors or interpret Arizona law
for them,” Sellers said.
He also said that because of the unset-
tled legal ramifications of the documents,
Maricopa “cannot be involved in support-
ing your audit as to do so may expose it to
liability for which it has no similar legal
protection.”
The Maricopa County Board of Supervi-
sors didn’t respond to a request for com-
ment by press time.

MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES

LA Sheriff Blames ‘Defund the
Police,’ Progressive Policies for
Spike in Violent Crime
GQ PAN
Violent crime has soared in Los
Angeles County this year because
criminals have been emboldened
by progressive law enforcement
policies as well as the “defund the
police” movement, the county’s
sheriff says.
Villanueva said the
Los Angeles county
recorded 60 homi-
cides during the
first two months
of the year.
Los Angeles County Sheriff
Alex Villanueva said the county
recorded 60 homicides during
the first two months of the year,
compared to 21 in the year-earlier
time frame, he told Fox News in
an interview.
Villanueva specifically blamed
new Los Angeles County District
Attorney George Gascón, a Dem-
ocrat who was elected to lead the
nation’s largest prosecutorial office
in December 2020, amid the wide-
spread unrest and calls to “defund
the police” following the death of
George Floyd while in Minneapolis
police custody.
Gascón’s victory over incumbent
Jackie Lacey was seen as a repudia-
tion by voters of more traditional,
tough-on-crime policies, according
to the Los Angeles Times.
“I recognize for many this is a new
path,” Gascón, a former officer with
the Los Angeles Police Depart-
ment and district attorney in San
Francisco, said after being sworn
in. “Whether you are a protester,
a police officer, or a prosecutor, I
ask you to walk with me. I ask you
to join me on this journey. We can
break the multigenerational cycles
of violence, trauma, and arrest and
recidivism that has led America to
incarcerate more people than any
other nation.”
Three months into his tenure,
Gascón has directed prosecutors
in his county not to seek the death
penalty or defend existing death
sentences, or to file any sentence
enhancements, which he de-
scribed in his special directive as
“a legacy of California’s tough-on-
crime era.” He also created a “Use
of Force Review Board,” made up of
civil rights attorneys, community
members, and policing experts, to
review police uses of fatal force dat-
Los Angeles
County Sheriff
Alex Villanueva
speaks at the
graduation
ceremony for
the Los Angeles
County Sheriff’s
Department
Academy Class
in Monterey
Park, Calif., on
Aug. 21, 2020.
ing to 2012 for possible prosecution. University of Southern Califor-
“They need to really pick and nia Law Professor Jody Armour
choose very carefully because disagrees, saying that police are
for them it’s very easy to say, ‘Oh intensifying violent crimes in
yeah, all cops are bad,’ and, ‘Let’s their communities with their own
reform and defund the police,’” actions.
Villanueva said, referring to vot- “That reservoir of resentment
ers who back progressive policies is actually, in and of itself, also a
and candidates. “Yet they’re the driver of crime,” Armour told Fox
very first ones to pick up 911 when News. “Until that’s healed, we’re re-
someone’s crawling over their back ally not going to get at the spiraling
gate trying to get into their house.” crime problem.”

Michigan Won’t Issue COVID-19 Lockdown Amid Spring Surge, Whitmer Says
CONTINUED FROM A1
causes COVID-19.
Republicans have said that
lockdowns are damaging to the
economy and the livelihood of
residents, while pointing to states
such as Florida and Texas, which
have eschewed lockdowns in re-
cent days, as models to follow. CO-
VID-19 cases in both states have
appeared to level off in recent
days, although officials have said
that spring break vacationers in
Florida sparked an increase.
“Well, at the end of the day, this
is going to come down to whether
or not everyone does their part.
That’s the most important thing,”
Whitmer said. “We’re imploring
people to take this seriously, mask
up, get tested.
“If you’ve been around someone
who’s positive, stay home. And if
you do get COVID, use one of these
monoclonal antibodies so that we
can keep you out of the hospital
and help you retain your health.”
Last year, Michigan’s Supreme
Court ruled that Whitmer didn’t
have the constitutional authority
to continue extending a state of
emergency that was declared due
to the pandemic. Around the same
time, Whitmer was sharply criti-
cized by Republicans who said the
lockdown orders were too harsh
and would harm businesses.
“We conclude that the Governor
lacked the authority to declare a
‘state of emergency’ or a ‘state of
disaster’ under the EMA after April
30, 2020, on the basis of the CO-
VID-19 pandemic. Furthermore,
we conclude that the EPGA is in
violation of the Constitution of our
state because it purports to del-
egate to the executive branch the
legislative powers of state govern-
ment—including its plenary police
powers—and to allow the exercise
of such powers indefinitely,” wrote
Justice Stephen J. Markman for the
Supreme Court’s majority.
Whitmer’s office has come un-
der criticism recently after Mich-
igan Department of Health and
Human Services Director Eliza-
beth Hertel traveled to an Ala-
bama Gulf Coast resort area ear-
lier this month.
“The sheer brazenness of Gov.
Whitmer and her staff is tru-
ly something else,” Michigan
GOP spokesman Ted Goodman
told Fox News on April 14, add-
ing that “Whitmer’s position on
the draconian lockdown orders
is simple—rules for thee, but not
for me.”
A8 | NATION
Illegal Immigrant Who Was Ordered to Be Deported
Convicted of Child Rape
JANITA KAN
An illegal immigrant who had
been ordered to be deported from
the United States in 2016 has been
sentenced to 45 years in prison for
forcible rape of a child.
Fredy Aguilar-Menjivar, 31,
from El Salvador was convicted of
three counts of rape of a child under
14 and one count of child molesta-
tion earlier this month, the Mon-
terey County, California, district
attorney’s office said in a statement.
Aguilar-Menjivar
was convicted of
three counts of rape
of a child under 14
and one count of
child molestation.
U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to
The Epoch Times that  Aguilar-
Menjivar, who resides in California,
had been ordered removed from
the United States by an immigra-
tion judge on June 28, 2016. But ac-
cording to Breitbart, he was never
deported. ICE offficials didn’t im-
mediately respond to a request by
The Epoch Times to clarify whether
any attempt to deport Aguilar-Men-
jivar was made between June 2016
and March 2020.
Following his arrest, ICE issued
an immigration detainer on Agui-
lar-Menjivar with California’s Mon-
terey County Jail on March 19, 2020.
California is a so-called sanctu-
Shots Fired at National Guard Troops in
Minneapolis; 2 Injured
JACK PHILLIPS
Some members of the Minnesota
National Guard came under gun-
fire in Minneapolis on April 18 in
the midst of the riots, looting, and
protests that followed last week’s
shooting death of Daunte Wright,
officials said. Two suffered minor
injuries.
A National Guard and Minneap-
olis police “neighborhood security
team was fired upon early Sunday
morning in a drive-by shooting
near Penn Avenue and Broadway
in Minneapolis,” the Guard wrote
in a tweet.
In another tweet, the Guard
said the shooting took place at
around 4 a.m. local time, when a
“light-colored SUV” approached
and someone inside “fired several
shots” at a “security team provid-
ing neighborhood security.”
“No team members were seri-
ously injured,” the account wrote,
adding in a separate post that two
members received minor injuries.
“One Guardsman sustained an
injury from shattered glass re-
quiring additional care and was
taken to a local hospital to receive
treatment. The other Guardsman
received only superficial injuries,”
the post states.
The National Guard was de-
ployed by Gov. Tim Walz after
ary state; it prohibits state and lo-
cal law enforcement officers from
sharing information about an il-
legal immigrant’s release from
custody, personal information,
and physical description with
federal immigration agents. Un-
der  Senate Bill 54  (SB 54), state
and local officers are also barred
from transferring these individu-
als to immigration agents unless
in exempted circumstances such
as under a court warrant. The law
also includes exemptions for illegal
immigrants convicted of a serious
or violent felony.
The Monterey district attor-
ney’s office said the sexual assault
occurred repeatedly between Au-
gust 2018 to March 2020—two years
after the deportation order. The
child, who is a family member, was
under 14 years old when the offense
began. The crimes were discovered
by another family member during
a party in which the child had at-
tempted to stop Aguilar-Menjivar,
the prosecutor’s office said. But the
31-year-old threatened to hurt her
and her parents if she screamed.
Aguilar-Menjivar will also be re-
quired to register as a sex offender
for life and is prohibited by law from
contacting the child for a maxi-
mum of 10 years.
The Trump administration had
made efforts to strike down SB 54
and escalated a case challenging
the law to the Supreme Court in
2019. But in June 2020, the nation’s
top court refused the request to
hear the case, although Justices
Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito
said they would have granted the
petition for review.
SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to
the press in St. Paul, Minn., on June
3, 2020.
rioters in Brooklyn Center, Min-
nesota, vandalized the city’s police
headquarters on April 11 following
Wright’s shooting.
Last week, the National Guard
confirmed that it had more than
500 personnel activated after
Walz’s decision, noting that the
troops were mobilized ahead of
a jury decision in the trial of for-
mer officer Derek Chauvin in the
death of George Floyd. Riots, arson
incidents, vandalism, and looting
erupted in Minneapolis last year
following Floyd’s death, leading to
tens of millions of dollars in prop-
erty damage.
The Guard “had plans in place to
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detain a man during an operation in Escondido, Calif., on July 8, 2019.
The news comes after the Biden
administration issued  “interim
enforcement priorities” for fed-
eral immigration agencies as the
administration continues final-
izing its policies. These priorities
include narrowing immigration
enforcement to three categories:
individuals who have been en-
gaged in or suspected of terror-
ism or espionage; immigrants
who crossed into the United States
illegally on or after Nov. 1, 2020;
and individuals convicted of an
“aggravated felony.”
The guidance is temporary, last-
ing for three months, until Depart-
SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
National
Guard
soldiers
and police
protect the
Brooklyn
Center
Police
Station
amid
protest over
the shooting
of Daunte
Wright in
Brooklyn
Center,
Minn., on
April 13,
2021.
increase that number in the com-
ing days as closing arguments
approach in the trial of Derek
Chauvin,” the post stated.
The officer who shot Wright and
has since resigned has been identi-
fied as Kim Potter; she is charged
with second-degree manslaughter.
The former Brooklyn Center police
chief has said that Potter, a 26-year
veteran and training officer, in-
tended to use her Taser on Wright
but fired her handgun instead.
Potter posted $100,000 bond on
April 14 and was released from
the Hennepin County jail, online
records show. Her attorney didn’t
respond to messages from The As-
sociated Press.
Potter, 48, and Police Chief Tim
Gannon both resigned on April 13,
a day after the City Council voted
to fire the city manager, who con-
trols the police force.
Court documents show that
Wright had several criminal
charges on his record when he
was pulled over, having previously
been charged with first-degree ag-
gravated robbery, fleeing from po-
lice, and possession of a handgun
without a permit. The 20-year-old
had a warrant for his arrest after
earlier failing to appear in court.
The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
ment of Homeland Security Secre-
tary Alejandro Mayorkas can issue
new enforcement guidelines for the
department.
The temporary enforcement
guidance has already been chal-
lenged by attorneys general in
Texas and Lousiana, who argue
that the current administration
failed to prioritize detention of
criminal aliens with final orders
of removal, criminal aliens con-
victed of drug offenses, or crimi-
nal aliens convicted of crimes of
moral turpitude.
The result of implementing the
memoranda, the lawsuit argues,
Indianapolis Shooting Suspect Used
2 Legally Purchased Rifles: Police
JANITA KAN
Brandon Scott Hole, the suspect
in the FedEx shooting in India-
napolis, used two rifles that
he had purchased legally last
year,  Indianapolis Metropoli-
tan Police Department said on
April 17.
IMPD learned
that Brandon Hole
purchased the
rifles legally.
Indianapolis Metropolitan
Police Department
“During Thursday’s incident,
the suspect, Brandon Hole, was
witnessed using assault rifles
in the assault. ATF conducted
a trace on the two weapons,”
police said. “IMPD learned that
Brandon Hole purchased the ri-
fles legally in July and September
of 2020.”
The department didn’t provide
further details on the types of
rifles.
Hole, 19, allegedly opened
fire  at a FedEx facility near
the Indianapolis Airport, kill-
ing eight people, police said. Au-
thorities say Hole was a former
employee at the facility and last
worked at FedEx in 2020. They
said they weren’t aware of Hole’s
reason for leaving employment
or whether he had ties with any
other employee.
About 100 employees were at
the facility when the shooting
occurred, police said.
Earlier on April 17, authorities
identified the victims as Mat-
thew Alexander, 32, Samaria
Blackwell, 19, Amarjeet Johal,
66, Jaswinder Kaur, 64, Jas-
winder Singh, 68, Amarjit Sek-
hon, 48, Karli Smith, 19, and John
Weisert, 74.
Hole died from a self-inflicted
gunshot wound.
Local media reported that four
members of the Sikh commu-
GREGORY BULL/AP PHOTO
has led to ICE rescinding detainer
requests related to incarcerated
criminal aliens, not issuing de-
tainer requests for illegal aliens
subject to mandatory removal,
and the release of such individu-
als from federal detention facilities
in Louisiana and Texas.
The Biden administration is cur-
rently facing an influx of illegal
border crossings, in which thou-
sands of unaccompanied minors
are flooding across the southern
border. Lawmakers have warned
that these children are subjected to
human tragedies such as cramped
conditions and assault.
nity were killed in the incident,
prompting some voices in the
community to call for the investi-
gation into the possibility of bias
as a motivator in the shooting.
The FBI revealed that Hole’s
mother had alerted agents in
March 2020 that her son might
try to commit “suicide by cop,”
or force police officers to shoot
him. FBI Indianapolis Special
Agent in Charge Paul Keenan
said in a statement to media
outlets that Hole was placed
on immediate detention mental
health temporary hold by the In-
dianapolis Metropolitan Police
Department and a shotgun was
seized at his home.
Keenan also said agents in-
terviewed Hole in April 2020
but found no criminal violation
and no evidence of racially mo-
tivated violent extremism.
Hole’s family apologized for the
incident in a statement on April
17. They also said they had tried
to get the 19-year-old the help he
needed.
“We are devastated at the loss
of life caused as a result of Bran-
don’s actions; through the love
of his family, we tried to get him
the help he needed,” the state-
ment obtained by the Indianapo-
lis Star reads. “Our sincerest and
most heartfelt apologies go out
to the victims of this senseless
tragedy. We are so sorry for the
pain and hurt being felt by their
families and the entire India-
napolis community.”
INDIANAPOLIS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT VIA AP
Brandon Scott Hole.
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
‘Very Dangerous Time’: Beijing Advancing Timeline to Seize
Territory in Asian Region, Former Navy Intelligence Officer Says
RYAN BAO
With the United States still reel-
ing from the pandemic and hav-
ing undergone a recent change in
administration, the Chinese Com-
munist Party now sees a “window
of opportunity” to accelerate its
plans to expand its territory in the
Asian region, according to a for-
mer senior intelligence officer for
the U.S. Navy.
“It’s a very dangerous time for
the region, as Beijing is seeking to
advance their strategy and their
timeline,” James Fanell, who pre-
viously served as the director of in-
telligence for the U.S. Pacific Fleet,
told Epoch Times affiliate NTD in
an April 9 interview.
In recent weeks, the Chinese re-
gime has amassed more than 240
militia vessels on the disputed
Whitsun Reef in the South China
Sea, an area inside the Philippines’
200-mile exclusive economic zone.
The Philippines filed a diplomatic
protest to Beijing and sent a naval
task force to patrol the area. In the
past week, the United States has
concentrated its warships in the
region, including a carrier strike
group and an amphibious group.
As of April 13, only a handful of
Chinese vessels remain in the reef,
according to the Philippines.
Fanell, now a government fellow
with the Geneva Centre for Secu-
rity Policy, said Beijing’s actions
are serving as a test for the Biden
administration. If the regime
doesn’t see “stiff resistance from
the Biden administration,” he said,
it may accelerate its plans to take
military action against Taiwan,
and in the South China Sea and
the East China Sea.
For the past year, Beijing has
ratcheted up its military aggres-
Chinese Regime ‘Thrives on Apathy’:
New York Parade Draws Attention
to Persecution of Falun Gong
CONTINUED FROM A1
“The Chinese Communist Party
thrives on the ignorance and apa-
thy of people around the world,”
said Alan Adler, chair of the New
York-based Friends of Falun Gong.
“While our backs are turned and
our eyes closed, they take advan-
tage of our weakness and do their
evils unchecked.”
If we don’t stand
up now, the oppres-
sors will be embold-
ened to expand
their reach.
Alan Adler, chair of
the New York-based nonprofit
Friends of Falun Gong
Making the remarks at an in-per-
son Falun Gong rally in the New
York City neighborhood of Flushing
on April 18, Adler urged the audi-
ence to take the “antidote to igno-
rance” by exposing the “cancerous
danger” of the regime. Standing up
for the persecuted faith group, he
said, “equates to standing up for our
China, US Agree on Need for Stronger Climate Commitments
The Chinese regime and the Unit-
ed States agree that stronger pledg-
es to fight climate change should
be introduced before a new round
of international talks at the end of
the year, the two countries said in
a joint statement on April 18.
The statement came after a
meeting between Chinese cli-
mate envoy Xie Zhenhua and his
U.S. counterpart, John Kerry, in
Shanghai on April 15–16, China’s
environment ministry said.
The People’s Liberation Army storms ashore from landing crafts in an exercise on the mainland coast close to Taiwan, in this file photo.
All indicators sug-
gest that they’re get-
ting very very close
to making a maneu-
ver [against Taiwan].
James Fanell,
former head of intelligence
for the U.S. Pacific Fleet
sion toward Taiwan, sending mil-
itary aircraft near the self-ruled
island on a near-daily basis. On
April 12, the regime sent a record
25 aircraft, including fighter jets
and nuclear-capable bombers,
into the island’s so-called air de-
fense identification zone.
Citing the Chinese regime’s
military advancements and its
growing assertiveness in the re-
own personal freedoms.”
To stay in power, the communist
regime decides to target one group
every decade, labeling them the
“public enemy,” Adler said. Even
during the pandemic, the Party
hasn’t relented its persecution of
innocents, using lockdowns to
perpetuate harassment of believ-
ers while collecting personal infor-
mation of Falun Gong practitioners
who have sought refuge overseas,
he noted.
“If these immigrants are not free
from the CCP’s grasp, what does
that say about the average Ameri-
can citizen?” Adler said.
“If we don’t stand up now, the op-
pressors will be emboldened to ex-
pand their reach. If we don’t stand
up now, we may not have the op-
portunity to do so in the future, and
there will be no one left to stand
up for us.”
Prior to the rally, about 1,000 of
the city’s Falun Gong adherents
and supporters marched through
the streets in their first parade since
the onset of the pandemic last year.
They are celebrating “truthful-
ness, compassion, and tolerance”—
the three core tenets of the medi-
tative spiritual discipline that has
been heavily persecuted in China
“The United States and China are
committed to cooperating with
each other and with other coun-
tries to tackle the climate crisis,”
their joint statement said. The two
countries will continue to discuss
“concrete actions in the 2020s to
reduce emissions aimed at keep-
ing the Paris Agreement-aligned
temperature limit within reach.”
Kerry arrived in Shanghai on
April 14 under tight COVID-19
protocols and was transferred to
gion, U.S. Adm. Philip Davidson,
head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Com-
mand, told the Senate in March
that Beijing could invade Taiwan
in the next six years. Adm. John
Aquilino, the nominee to replace
Davidson as head of the com-
mand, at his confirmation hearing
later that month declined to set a
time frame, but said the threat of a
Chinese invasion is “much closer
to us than most think.”
“When they say that, that should
cause people to really wake up and
pay attention,” Fanell said, of the
two admirals’ warnings.
While analysts have predicted
that the regime won’t act until af-
ter the 2022 Beijing Winter Olym-
pics in February, Fanell’s approach
towards Beijing is to “expect the
unexpected.”
“All indicators suggest that
they’re getting very very close to
since 1999, and to commemorate
a historic appeal’s upcoming 22nd
anniversary next week, the partici-
pants said.
On April 25, 1999, about 10,000
Falun Gong adherents gathered
peacefully at the appeals office near
the Chinese Communist Party’s
(CCP) headquarters of Zhongnan-
hai, hoping that authorities could
restore their environment to freely
practice their faith and release doz-
ens of fellow practitioners arrested
a few days earlier.
Despite senior CCP officials ini-
tially granting the petitioners’ re-
quests, the regime soon launched
an all-out campaign targeting the
faith, subjecting the estimated 70
million to 100 million adherents
to arrests, slave labor, organ har-
vesting, and various other torture
methods designed to sever them
from their faith.
Chen Fayuan, a 16-year-old Erhu
player studying in New York state,
said her parents, who live in central
China, were studying Falun Gong’s
main teaching, called “Zhuan Fa-
lun,” at a friend’s place late at night
in October, when more than 20 po-
lice officers, mostly in plainclothes,
suddenly broke in and arrested
them.
a secluded hotel not open to the
public. He subsequently traveled
to Seoul.
His stop in Shanghai was the
first high-level visit to China by
a Biden administration official
since the new president took of-
fice, and followed a contentious
exchange between officials from
the two countries in March in
Alaska.
The talks also mark a resump-
tion of climate dialogue between
making a maneuver” against Tai-
wan, he said.
Fanell believes that Chinese mili-
tary officials and other hardliners
inside the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) are “arguing vocifer-
ously” that now is the best time to
take over Taiwan. If the CCP waits
until after 2022, they’ll risk the Re-
publican Party taking back control
of the House of Representatives,
and later the White House, thereby
risking the United States taking a
“much more demonstrable hard-
line” against the regime, he said.
These CCP officials are argu-
ing that “we can’t afford to wait
too much longer while that U.S.
rearms itself and retools itself” to
be able to defeat the CCP’s strategy
to invade Taiwan, he said. “Those
arguments are going on right now
[within the CCP].”
“I’m very concerned that China
Falun Gong practitioners take part in a parade in the Flushing neighborhood of
Queens, N.Y., on April 18, 2021, to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the
April 25, 1999, peaceful appeal of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing.
Police have also harassed her
grandparents and tried to deter-
mine her whereabouts, she said at
the event.
“My parents did not commit any
crimes, but they are suffering the
persecution for following truthful-
ness, compassion, and tolerance. I
think this is extremely ridiculous,”
she said in a speech.
Chen said that if she wasn’t al-
ready overseas, she probably would
have also been arrested alongside
her parents.
“They wouldn’t even let off a teen-
age kid like me.”
Having not heard from her family
for nearly half a year, Chen said she
has been struggling with loneliness
the world’s two biggest green-
house gas emitters.
The United States is expected
soon to deliver a new pledge to
reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emis-
sions. Biden brought the United
States back into the Paris climate
accord.
Biden will hold a virtual sum-
mit for dozens of world lead-
ers this week to discuss climate
change, to be livestreamed for
public viewing. Global climate
CHINA | A9
STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
could decide to do something very
soon,” he said.
To deter the CCP, the United
States needs to be more assertive
diplomatically in calling out the
regime’s predations, and enhance
its efforts to counter Chinese pro-
paganda, according to Fanell. On
the military front, the United States
should deploy forces to “get in the
way of what China is doing” in ar-
eas like the South China Sea.
“The goal is to tell the People’s
Republic of China and Xi Jinping
and the Chinese Communist
Party that you cannot just bully
people because you’re a big nation.
That’s not the way the world works,
and we’re not going to stand for
it,” he said.
“Beijing needs to understand that
if they really try to do what they
think they can do, then they will
pay dearly for it.”
SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES
and anxiety, and crying herself to
sleep at night.
“I don’t know if they have been
tortured,” she said.
Martha Flores-Vasquez, district
leader for the New York State As-
sembly’s 40th District, said at the
rally that she was in tears watching
the parade.
Her best friend lost her husband
because he was a Falun Gong prac-
titioner, she said, adding that the
persecution that continues has
reached “beyond the point of re-
turn” and “needs to end.”
“In April of last year, I lost my fa-
ther; I know what it is to lose some-
body,” she told NTD, an affiliate of
The Epoch Times.
talks are scheduled for Nov. 1–12
in Glasgow, Scotland.
The statement said the two
countries also agreed to discuss
specific emission reduction ac-
tions including energy storage,
carbon capture, and hydrogen.
They said they would take action
to maximize financing for devel-
oping countries to switch to low-
carbon energy sources.
From Reuters
A10 IWORLD
Hong Kong’s Fall a Harbinger of Communist China’s
Takeover of Free World: Epoch Times HK Director
CONTINUED FROM A1
for The Epoch Times' “American
Thought Leaders" program.
“Today, even the Oscars can't
be aired in Hong Kong because
movies have to be reviewed by the
Chinese regime before they can
be played in Hong Kong theaters.
The Chinese regime, step by step,
turned Hong Kong into this," she
sa id, ad din g th at she has observed
the same phenomenon happening
in the West.
People don't dare
to say what they
really feel because
they fear being at­
tacked or discrim­
inated against.
Guo Jurt, director, Hong Kong
edition of The Efxtch Times
"Hollywood, some big tech com­
panies, Wall Street, they need to
do business with China, so they
toe the Ch i nese Com mu n ist Pa rty
line when it comes to topics that
the Chinese Communist Party
does not like," she said.
“Imperceptibly, things change
around you and you realize the
world is different," she said. “Peo­
ple don't dare to say what they re­
ally fe el be cause t hey fea r being at­
tacked or discriminated against."
Guo noted that some may find it
hard to conceive that this could be
happening in a free society.
“But who's behind all of this,
controlli ng all of thi s? Who's u sing
financial incentives and China's
market as bargaining chips to
change the entire world?" she said.
“We know it's the Chinese Com­
munist Party, and it's honed its
skills in Hong Kong.”
Bringing the Truth
On April 12, four men barged into
The Epoch Times' printing plant in
Hong Kong. Wielding sledgeham­
mers, two of them smashed critical
printing equipment, bringing the
outlet's ne wspaper distribution to a
halt The edition resumed publica­
tion onApril 16,in timeto cover the
sentencing of Lai and other promi­
nent pro-democracy activists.
Guo, citing a series of similar
sabotage attempts since the facil­
ity began operations in 2006, said
the CCP was highly likely behind
the violent attack.
"The Epoch Times doesn't have
any hostile enemies because we
don't owe any debts and we never
had any financial conflicts with
groups or individuals/' she said.
Guo, who wa s a mon g t he fou nd -
Hong Kong Officials, Beijing Backed Media
Threaten to Shut Apple Daily Newspaper
CONTINUED FROM A1
and management of schools, so­
cial organizations, media, and
the internet regarding national
security issues," based on the
national security law imposed
by China's ruling communist
regime in Beijing last year.
Critics say the vaguely worded
law, which punishes offenses such
as secession and collusion with for­
eign forces, has been used as a tool
to suppress dissidents. Since it took
effect, the city has seen a drastic
rollback of its freedom s as dozens
of pro-democracy figures have
been charged or convicted under
the legislation or similar laws. The
clampdown has also stoked fears
offurther restrictions on press free­
dom in the city.
The same day, Hong Kong Po­
lice Commissioner Chris Tang
told reporters the police would
"strengthen the supervision oft he
media" and criticized Lai's Apple
Daily without directly identifying
it. He also tlireatened the remain­
ing press by saying, "If there is
THEEPOCHTMES
Guo Jun, co-founder of The Epoch
Times and the head of the Hong
Kong edition of The Epoch Times, on
April 14, 2021.
ing members of The Epoch Times
in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2000, said
the scarcity of independent in­
formation from inside China was
what motivated the group to es­
tablish the newspaper.
They wanted to “bring the truth
of China to the entire world and
also convey international voices
to the Chinese people," Guo said.
At the time, the Chinese regime
staged a self-immolation incident
to use as propaganda to justify its
persecution of Falun Gong adher­
ents, which had been initiated a
1 ittle more than a year earlier. Guo
found that Chinese and English-
language outlets weren't reporting
the evidence that emerged about
how the CCPhad staged the event.
But “our newspaper at that time
was able to report the truth about
this event to the world," she said.
A year later, when SARS broke
out in southern China in late
2002, the CCP, as they did during
the current pandemic, covered
evidence that someone uses fake
news to incite hatred, they wil I be
arrested and prosecuted."
Apple Daily editor-in-chief Luo
Weiguang said Tang's remarks
against the media represent typi­
cal rhetoric from an official shirk­
ing his or her responsibility to the
people, in effect making way for the
government to suppress the media.
The 1 long Kong Journalists Asso­
ciation a Iso issued a statement that
condemns Tang for "making un­
reasonable remarks [about the
media] without substantive evi­
dence." The association requested
that Tang retract his statement.
OnApril 16, Hong Kong's Secre­
tary for Security, John Lee,said at
a legislature meeting that "sabo­
teurs and Hong Kong indepen­
dence advocates" are in thegov-
emment's sigh ts as t hey cont i nue
to spread their message through
the media.
Hong Kong Chinese language
newspaperTa Kung Pao, which is
controlled by the Chinese Commu­
nist Party's liaison office in Hong
Kong, also published an editorial
up the outbreak.
“It was the Hong Kong Epoch
Times that first broke the story,"
Guo said.
Sabotage
But the outlet's unfiltered report­
ing of the Chinese regime has
come at a cost. Not long after the
organization's founding, its first
cohort of reporters in China were
all arrested.
"A lot of them are graduates from
Tsinghua (University) and other
prestigious universities in China,"
Guo said. “They were tortured for
a long time in prisons in China."
Even today, reporters with the
outlet are targeted by the regime.
“We also have a lot of report­
ers globally whose family mem­
bers continue to be harassed and
threatened in China," she said.
In March, a host of the Hong
Kong Epoch Times' on line current
affairs programs received a mes­
sage, delivered by a relative, from
mainland Chinese police: Stop
broadcasting or face arrest under
the new national security law.
Guo herself has been the target
of intimidation by the CCP. When
she moved to Hong Kong to work
attheedition,shereceivedaletter
dema n di ng t ha t s he i mined iately
leave the city. The writer also said
they would surveil her every move
and follow her wherever she goes.
The regime had also attempted
to sabotage the Hong Kong edi­
tion by putting pressure on retail­
ers and advertisers. Guo recalled
one instance in which a small
advertising client in Hong Kong
received threatening letters in
calling for a ban on Apple Daily.
The article accused the Apple Daily
of "engaging in collusion with for­
eign forces, inciting violence, and
making fake news, as wel 1 as chal-
lenging national security"—all il­
legal under Beijing's National Se­
curity Law.
Apple Daily responded to the ac­
cusations by citing Lai, "Let's stand
tall in fallen times."
Apple Daily is widely regarded
as the benchmark of Hong Kong's
press freedom, and observers are
worried that the Beijing-backed
I long Kong government may start
with Apple Daily to completely
purge tlie Hong Kong media.
"I believe that the authorities
will take actions against the enti re
Hong Kong media,” Fu King-wa,
associate professor ofthe Journal­
ism and Media Research Center
ofthe University of Hong Kong,
told Radio Free Asia (RFA) about
the situation.
He said that as one of Hong
Kong's most influential media
outlets, Apple Daily "must be one
ofthe main targets," adding that
MONDAY. APRIL 19.2021 THE EPOCH TIMES
four different languages.
"Some of these clients [in Hong
Kong] are Koreans or from other
countries, so the Chinese regime
uses different languages to threat­
en and harass them," she said.
In May 2019, the Hong Kong Ep­
och Times started selling newspa­
pers in about 500 7-Eleven stores
in the city.
"People were very happy that it
was now very convenient to pur­
chase The Epoch Times," Guo said.
But that arrangement didn't last
long.
"Unfortunately, the Chinese re­
gime very quickly put pressure on
the 7-Elevens, so 7-Eleven unilat­
erally backed out of the contract
and took The Epoch Times off its
shelves," she said.
Not Racking Down
What the regime seeks to achieve
is "not just about filtering out one
or two news items," but to export
its entire system through a com­
bination of threats and economic
coercion, Guo says.
Because Hong Kong was free
from Western sanctions until re­
cently, the Chinese regime has
taken advantage of Hong Kong's
status as an international finan­
cial center to attract foreign in­
vestment and engage in forced
technology transfer, she said.
"Its tactics are to lie and to use
financial incentives to get major
financial groups to partner with
it, and these big financial groups
and companies control the media
and important institutions," she
said. "Financial incentives make
people lose their conscience, to
People hold up copiesof the Apple Daily Newspaper as they protest for press
freedom inside a mall in Hong KongonAug.il, 2020, a day after authori­
ties conducted a search of the newspaper's headquarters after the company's
founder, Jimmy Lai, was arrested under the new national security law.
the authorities a re now suppressing
i nfluent ia 1 media i n order to i nt i m i-
dateand silence other media, and
make it difficult for them to func­
tion astlie fourth power of society
to supervise the government and
voice the people's concerns.
Meanwhile, as another media
that's independent of the Chinese
regime's influence, the Hong Kong
Epoch Times's printing press was
attacked and machines were dam­
aged by unknown individuals on
April 12.'Iheinternational commu­
THE EPOCH TIMES
ACCTV
screenshot
shows
intruders
dressed in
black using
sledgehammers
to damage
printing press
equipment at
the print shop
of the Hong
Kong edition
of The Epoch
Times on April
12,2021.
self-censor, and to even restrict
other people's free speech."
" You can be very fi nancially free
and relatively prosperous, but fun­
damentally you have to operate
within the rules of the Chinese re­
gime," Guo said. "Your freedoms
are restricted, you have to give up
freedom of speech, and you have
to attack the other group of people
so that they can't speak up."
Asked whether she was afraid,
Guo vowed to never back down.
"For us, humans must have basic
dignity, basic freedoms of expres­
sion," she said. "There's no turn­
ing back for us because this is so
essential. If we give up even this,
then we won'thave basic dignit y."
Guo added that she's received a
lot of advice about moving opera­
tions elsewhere due to the escalat­
ing political pressure. She urged
the free world to stand together
in protecting Hong Kong's basic
rights and supporting the paper's
persistence in the city, calling it a
“shared responsibility."
"A popular nickname for Hong
Kong is 'base to counter the CCP,'"
she said." Ihe Chinese regime also
sees this. Its strategy this time
around is to take Hong Kong but
not its people... through intimida­
tion and threat."
"If it really comes to that point
one day, I feelitwouldbeatragedy,
not just for I long Kong people a nd
Chinese people, but very unfortu­
nate for the world," Guo said. "So
we hope to stop this downward
trend while we still can."
Cathy He
contributed to this report.
nity and politicians from around
the world have condemned the
attack and expressed support for
'Ihe Epoch Times.
Press freedom i n Hong Kong has
been in steady decline since the
former British colony returned to
Chinese rule in 1997.
Once hailed a "beacon of free­
dom of expression," the city's
rankingon the Reporters Without
Borders' World Press Freedom In­
dex has slipped to 80th place, from
18th in 2002.
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021 WORLD | A11

Navalny’s Team Calls Protests Russian police officers guard the entrance to the penal
colony N2, where Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been

Amid Reports of Failing Health transferred to serve a 2 1/2-year prison term for violating
parole, in the town of Pokrov on April 6, 2021.

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

MOSCOW—Associates of impris-
oned Russian opposition leader
Alexei Navalny called April 18
for massive protests in the heart
of Moscow and St. Petersburg on
April 21, saying Navalny’s health
is deteriorating severely during a
hunger strike.
Leonid Volkov, a top strategist for
Navalny, said the demonstrations
were called with three days’ notice
because “his life hangs in the bal-
ance. ... We don’t know how long
he can hold on. But it is clear we
do not have time.”
The 44-year-old Navalny, Presi-
dent Vladimir Putin’s most visible
and persistent critic, started a hun-
ger strike more than three weeks
ago to protest prison authorities’
refusal to allow him to be seen by a
private doctor. He says he is suffer-
ing from severe back pain and loss
of feeling in his legs, and that the
medical care in prison inadequate;
the Russian penitentiary service
says he is getting appropriate care.
Several doctors went April 18 to
the prison colony about 100 kilo-
meters (60 miles) east of Moscow
where Navalny is serving time but
were not allowed in to see him.
“It’s cruel and monstrous to
deny access to a dying patient,”
Anastasia Vasilyeva, the head of but the response is likely to be ing with a Soviet-era nerve agent says was politically motivated. National security adviser Jake
a Navalny-backed doctors’ union, harsh. Police arrested more than that he blames on the Kremlin. His arrest and subsequent health Sullivan said on CNN television
said outside the prison. 10,000 people during nationwide Russian officials have denied problems have brought repeated that the United States is concerned
A doctor said April 17 that test protests in January demanding any involvement and questioned criticism from the West. about Navalny’s health.
results he received from Navalny’s Navalny’s freedom. whether Navalny was poisoned, “We call on the Russian authori- “We have communicated to the
family showed sharply elevated The April 21 protests have been although several European lab- ties to grant him immediate access Russian government that what
levels of potassium, which could called for symbolically resonant oratories confirmed that he was to medical professionals he trusts,” happens to Mr. Navalny is their re-
lead to cardiac arrest, and signs locations—Manezh Square in sickened with a Novichok nerve European Union foreign policy sponsibility and they will be held
of kidney failure. Moscow, just outside the Kremlin agent. chief Josep Borrell said April 18. accountable by the international
“Our patient could die at any mo- walls, and St. Petersburg’s sprawl- Navalny was ordered to serve 2 “The EU will continue to call for his community,” Sullivan said. “We
ment,” the doctor, Yaroslav Ashi- ing Palace Square. 1/2 years in prison on the grounds immediate and unconditional re- have communicated that there
khmin, said. Navalny was arrested on Jan. 17 that his long recovery in Germany lease as we consider his sentencing will be consequences if Mr. Na-
There was no immediate com- when he returned to Russia from violated the terms of a suspended politically motivated and running valny dies.”
ment from police or government Germany, where he spent five sentence he received for a fraud counter to Russia’s international
officials about the call for protests, months recovering from poison- conviction in a case that Navalny human rights obligations.” From The Associated Press

Israel and Greece Sign Record Defence Deal

JERUSALEM—Israel and Greece
have signed their biggest-ever de-
fense procurement deal, which
Israel said on April 18 would
strengthen political and economic
ties between the countries, and the
two countries’ air forces launched
a joint exercise.
The agreement includes a $1.65
billion contract for the establish-
ment and operation of a training
center for the Hellenic Air Force by
Israeli defense contractor Elbit Sys-
tems over a 22-year period, Israel’s
defense ministry said.
The training center will be mod-
eled on Israel’s own flight acad-
emy and will be equipped with 10
M-346 training aircraft produced
by Italian company Leonardo, the
ministry said.
Elbit will supply kits to upgrade
and operate Greece’s T-6 aircraft and
also provide training, simulators,
and logistical support.
“I am certain that [this program]
will upgrade the capabilities and
strengthen the economies of Israel
and Greece and thus the partner-
ship between our two countries will
deepen on the defense, economic
and political levels,” said Israeli de-
fense minister Benny Gantz.
The announcement follows a
meeting in Cyprus on April 16 be-
tween the UAE, Greek, Cypriot,
and Israeli foreign ministers, who
agreed to deepen cooperation be-
tween their countries.
The Israeli and Greek air forces
launched a joint exercise in Greece,
the Israeli military said.
In at least one past exercise over
Greece, Israeli fighter planes prac-
ticed against an S-300 posted on
Crete. The Russian-made air defense
system is also deployed in Syria and
Iran, Israel’s foes. An Israeli mili-
tary spokesman didn’t immedi-
ately respond to a Reuters query
on whether the air force had again
trained against the Greek S-300 in
the latest exercise.
Saudi and Iran Held Talks
Aimed at Easing Tensions
Saudi and Iranian officials also held
direct talks this month in a bid to
ease tensions between the two foes,
according to sources.
Sources said the meeting focused
on Yemen, where a military coali-
tion led by Saudi Arabia has been
battling the Iran-aligned Houthi
group since March 2015.
“This was a low-level meeting to
explore whether there might be a
way to ease ongoing tensions in the
region,” An Iranian official said, add-
ing that it was based on Iraq’s request.
Iraq’s prime minister held talks
with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince
earlier this month and also visited
the United Arab Emirates.
The talks also touched on Lebanon,
which is facing a political vacuum
amid a dire financial crisis, accord-
ing to sources. Gulf Arab states are
alarmed by the expanding role of
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah
movement.
By Ari Rabinovitch &
Dan Williams
From Reuters

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TRUTH AND TRADITION

A12 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021

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Rioters watch a fire set following the police shooting of a homeless man in Portland, Ore., on April 17, 2021. The shooting comes amid heightened tensions between police and activists as the country
awaits a verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin.
Derek Chauvin and a
Post-Rule-of-Law Society
WILLIAM WAGNER
A year ago, America
exploded in protests and
riots after George Floyd
died while being arrest-
ed by police in Minne-
apolis. Today, the officer
who held Floyd’s head to
the ground with his knee sits on trial,
but what many expected to be an open-
and-shut case has been complicated by
evidence that Floyd had dangerous levels
of drugs in his system, and other contrib-
uting health problems.
Close observers of the proceedings are
now contemplating the possibility of
former officer Derek Chauvin’s acquittal,
and how the public will respond. This
places a special burden of responsibility
on everyone involved to try to minimize
the prospect of widespread violence.
Unfortunately, neither the national news
media, nor cultural influencers, nor
many political leaders are rising to the
occasion.
Coverage by major news outlets has
largely amounted to cheering for the
prosecution, so lopsided as to resemble
a chess match in which only one player’s
captures are announced. Evidence key to
the defense—which has only to establish
reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s
case—are routinely downplayed or
ignored. The result has been that percep-
tions of the case tend to differ dramati-
cally between those who have followed
it directly and those who rely on tradi-
tional news coverage, skewing the latter’s
expectations and setting them up for a
potentially devastating surprise.
The tone of these stories will likely come
back to haunt journalists who value their
reputations for objectivity, if there are
many of those left. A typical CNN head-
line on April 10 read: “In Chauvin trial,
defense has slender reed to cling to.”
The New York Times reported that a Floyd
friend was “trying to avoid testifying”
without bothering to mention that this
friend had also been identified in previ-
ous testimony as Floyd’s suspected drug
dealer. Newsweek ran an opinion piece
literally headlined, “Does Derek Chauvin
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021 • A13
Deserve a Fair Trial?” (Fortunately, the
author’s answer turned out to be yes, but
how did that even come into question?)
Some celebrities, who have more influ-
ence over public sentiment than they
should, will have even more to answer
for. Comedian Chelsea Handler, for
example, said on Twitter that it was “pa-
thetic” that Chauvin was even allowed a
trial. It’s hard not to wonder if some of
these voices aren’t, at least subconscious-
ly, hoping for violence in the streets if
the verdict doesn’t turn out the way they
want it to. They seem to be practically
handing out gasoline and matches.
Meanwhile, national political figures
have been largely silent. This would be
an appropriate role if the nation weren’t
currently being whipped into a frenzy
by activists calling for Chauvin’s head,
regardless of the evidence. But it repre-
sents an appalling lack of leadership in
the current environment.
Check out photos from the countless
rallies about the trial, and count the
number of signs with the word “murder.”
Floyd’s death may indeed have been
a murder, as it certainly appeared on
video. Or he may have died, as Chauvin’s
defense claims, primarily from a combi-
nation of fentanyl, COVID-19, and heart
problems that the police couldn’t have
known about.
It’s essential to the survival of
the Republic that questions
such as Chauvin’s culpability
be decided only in a courtroom
after due process of law—and not
by enraged mobs, real or virtual.
I want to be clear here that either way,
it’s extremely important to acknowledge
and address the broader frustrations that
many African Americans have about
their treatment by the police. But it’s
essential to the survival of the Republic
that questions such as Chauvin’s culpa-
bility be decided only in a courtroom
after due process of law—and not by
COURT TV VIA AP/POOL
Defense attorney Eric Nelson (L) discusses
motions before the court as the defendant,
former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chau-
vin (R), and Nelson’s assistant Amy Voss lis-
ten, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in
Minneapolis on April 12, 2021.
enraged mobs, real or virtual.
The United States is in some danger of
sliding into what has been called a post-
rule-of-law society. The very principles
of due process and the presumption of
innocence of the accused, hard-won over
millennia of tragic human experience,
are at risk of being swept away if they ap-
pear to interfere with someone’s overrid-
ing concept of social justice.
This trend started in academia, where
educators now risk being punished or
even fired overnight for such offenses
as quoting literature that includes racial
slurs. A law professor at Georgetown Uni-
versity recently lost her job after agoniz-
ing, in a private conversation, about low
grades among her minority students.
Big business is close behind: one Boe-
ing executive lost his job over an article
he wrote three decades earlier about
women in combat. A California utility
employee was fired last year for making
an “OK” sign while sitting in traffic be-
cause another motorist had interpreted
this as a “white power gesture” although
the offender’s claim to have been merely
cracking his knuckles seems more plau-
sible, given that he’s Mexican American.
At its core, due process is really just an
attempt by civilizations to use rules to
prevent the abuse of power by individu-
als, and it has a long and distinguished
pedigree. Long before the Constitution
NATHAN HOWARD/GETTY IMAGES
forbade depriving an individual of “life,
liberty, or property without due process
of law,” the Magna Carta declared that
no free man could be seized, harmed,
or lose his property except “by the law of
the land.” And well before that, the book
of Deuteronomy decreed that “A single
witness shall not rise up against a man
on account of any iniquity or any sin
which he has committed; [only] on the
evidence of two or three witnesses a mat-
ter shall be confirmed.”
Whatever America’s failings,
past and present, equal justice
under law is still the right idea.
True justice, as wiser statesman than
I have observed, is not simply “done,” at
least not by mortals. It can only be the
result of legitimate, transparent, and
dispassionate proceedings. The fury of the
crowd is the enemy of true justice, be-
cause it warps accountability into revenge
and precludes the kind of clear thinking
necessary to deal with complex situations.
I’m pretty sure Martin Luther King Jr.
and Nelson Mandela would agree with
me here—they knew firsthand the peril
of angry mobs. Older generations of
Americans, having studied the French
Revolution and read “Twelve Angry
Men,” took the principle of a fair trial for
granted, even if they fell tragically short
of providing them to everyone in society.
Whatever America’s failings, past and
present, equal justice under law is still
the right idea. We abandon it now at our
peril. As the Chauvin trial heads to a ver-
dict—whatever that verdict may be—our
leaders, our news media, and yes, even
our celebrities should be shouting this
from the rooftops.
Professor William Wagner is president 
of the Great Lakes Justice Center.
He is a former federal judge and is
distinguished professor emeritus at
Western Michigan University Cooley
Law School, having taught ethics and
constitutional law for more than 20 years.
A14 | OPINION
The Abiding Shame of ‘Packing’ the Supreme Court
JOSH HAMMER
In 2005, then-Sen. Joe
Biden (D-Del.) delivered
a Senate floor speech
about President Frank-
lin Delano Roosevelt’s
doomed 1937 plan to
“pack” the U.S. Supreme
Court. FDR’s plan would have permitted
him to add six justices, immediately se-
curing a pro-New Deal judicial majority.
But “in an act of great courage, Roos-
evelt’s own party stood up against this in-
stitutional power grab,” Biden recounted
16 years ago. “They did not agree with the
judicial activism of the Supreme Court,
but they believed that Roosevelt was
wrong to seek to defy established tradi-
tions as a way of stopping that activism.”
In fact, Biden actually understated
the extent to which Senate Democrats
rebuked the iconic Democratic presi-
dent’s court-packing scheme. The Senate
Judiciary Committee report issued at
the time used eye-opening, clarion
language: “Let us of the Seventy-fifth
Congress, in words that will never be
disregarded by any succeeding Con-
gress, declare that we would rather have
an independent Court, a fearless Court,
a Court that will dare to announce its
honest opinions in what it believes to be
the defense of the liberties of the people,
than a Court that, out of fear or sense of
obligation to the appointing power, or
factional passion, approves any measure
we may enact. We are not the judges of
the judges. We are not above the Consti-
tution.” (Indeed, public policy aside, the
constitutionality of partisan court-pack-
ing is questionable, as professor Mike
Rappaport of the University of San Diego
argued in November.)
Roosevelt’s plan was soundly defeated
on the floor of the Democratic-domi-
nated Senate, and no president or politi-
DILBERT
PEANUTS
RED AND ROVER
GRAND AVENUE
MUTT & JEFF
cal party since has had the temerity to
resuscitate the ghost of court-packing.
The Supreme Court has thus sat comfort-
ably at nine members—eight associate
justices and one chief justice—since the
passage of the Judiciary Act of 1869. But
all that history will now be thrown out
the window if the radical and shame-
less wing of an increasingly radical and
shameless Democratic Party gets its way.
During the Democratic presidential
primary, Biden hedged on endorsing
court-packing. During the general elec-
tion, he also dithered on the question
of whether he supports the once-fringe
idea, instead enduring many awkward
interviews where he attempted to as-
suage curious interlocutors by telling
them they’d find out his real thoughts on
court-packing only after the election. Not
exactly the hallmark of a principled and
confident statesman, that.
Last week, Biden signed an executive
order establishing a Presidential Com-
mission on the Supreme Court of the
United States, which will produce a re-
port analyzing, most provocatively, “the
membership and size of the Court.” The
very establishment of the commission,
regardless of its ultimate report, neces-
sarily makes this the closest a president
has come to court-packing since 1937.
Even more egregious, earlier this week,
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jer-
rold Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill, the
Judiciary Act of 2021, to add four seats and
thus establish a 13-justice Supreme Court.
In Nadler’s dystopian Newspeak, such a
bill amounts not to “packing” the court,
but to “unpacking” it. Alas, we have come
a long way since the scathing Senate Judi-
ciary Committee report of 1937.
In a 50-50 Senate that includes Sen. Joe
Manchin (D- W.Va.), and still (as of now) re-
tains the legislative filibuster, the Judiciary
Act of 2021 is unlikely to advance very far.
Indeed, for what little it may be worth,
COMICS
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)
has already said she has “no intention to
bring” the bill to the House floor. But the
Democrats’ move on court-packing is still
important for at least two reasons.
First, it provides the clearest struc-
tural evidence yet for the transparently
political approach the left takes to the
judiciary. This has already been obvious
for decades, as a jurisprudential matter;
what is “living constitutionalism” if not
the thinnest veneer imaginable for jurists
to bestow legal legitimacy to favored
progressive policy outcomes? The right
would be mistaken to respond to the
present moment with trite appeals to a
purportedly neutral legal procedural-
ism—far better to argue for a more mor-
ally informed and substantively cogent
jurisprudence, such as what I call “com-
mon good originalism.”
Second, the current bluster can be seen
as a power play to cow into submission
those weak-kneed Republican-appointed
justices, such as Chief Justice John Rob-
erts, who profess above all else a concern
for the court’s ostensible “institutional
integrity.” It is perhaps old hat to criticize
the decades-long failure of Republicans
GARFIELD
GINGER MEGGS
BIG NATE
DRABBLE
FRANK AND ERNEST
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
(L–R) Rep. Hank
Johnson (D-Ga.),
Sen. Ed Markey
(D-Mass.), House
Judiciary Commit-
tee Chairman Rep.
Jerrold Nadler
(D-N.Y.), and Rep.
Mondaire Jones
(D-N.Y.) hold a
press conference
in front of the U.S.
Supreme Court
in Washington on
April 15, 2021.
to nominate consistently conservative,
strong-willed justices, but maybe, just
maybe, Republicans will respond to the
now-inevitable further shift leftward of
Roberts (and likely others) by finally pri-
oritizing such important judicial nomi-
nation criteria as full-spectrum con-
servatism, commitment to resisting the
siren song of the proverbial “Georgetown
cocktail party,” and eagerness to aggres-
sively correct course.
As a practical matter, court-packing
would set in motion a series of intermi-
nable recriminations by which the court
would transmogrify into even more of
a super-legislature than it already is.
But as shameful as the present stunt is,
it is at least clarifying insofar as we see
how Democrats consider no assertion
of raw political power to be off the table.
Whether Republicans will learn any
meaningful lessons, or instead merely
content themselves with the court-pack-
ing plan’s foreseeable failure, remains to
be determined.
Josh Hammer, a constitutional attorney
by training, is an opinion editor, a podcast
contributor, and a syndicated columnist.
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
SPECIAL SERIES: HOW THE SPECTER OF COMMUNISM IS RULING OUR WORLD
Chapter Eighteen:
The Chinese Communist
Party’s Global Ambitions
The Epoch Times here serializes
an adaptation from the Chinese
of “How the Specter of Communism
Is Ruling Our World,” a new book
by the editorial team of the “Nine
Commentaries on the Communist
Party.”
2. Communist China’s Strat-
egies for World Domination
a. One Belt, One Road Initiative:
Territorial Expansion Under the
Guise of Globalization (cont.)
The initial goal of OBOR is to export
China’s excess capacity by building up
basic infrastructure such as railways
and highways in other countries. These
countries are rich in resources and
energy. By building infrastructure in
these countries, the CCP accomplishes
two secondary goals. One is to open
routes to ship domestic products to Eu-
rope at low cost; the other is to secure
the strategic resources of countries that
participate in OBOR. The CCP’s inten-
tion is to increase mainland Chinese
exports, not to help the countries along
the Belt and Road to establish their
own manufacturing industries—the
CCP would not help create competition
for its own manufacturing.
The real ambition behind OBOR is to
use economic strength as a vanguard
to establish control over the financial
and political lifelines of other coun-
tries, transforming them into colonies
of the Chinese regime and pawns
on the global stage. A byproduct of
participating in OBOR schemes is the
importation of all pernicious aspects
of communism: corruption, debt, and
totalitarian repression. The project is a
deceptive trap that will not bring lasting
economic prosperity to its participants.
These dangers have elicited alarm
from many countries, prompting their
governments to halt or reduce their
involvement in the OBOR scheme.
On occasion, Beijing has conceded
that it should be more transparent
and make adjustments to the heavily
criticized debt traps. Nevertheless, the
CCP’s plans can’t be underestimated.
While Western enterprises operate on
profit-seeking principles and won’t
tough it out in unstable host countries
for more than a few years, the Party’s
calculus extends into the next century.
It can tolerate unstable international
environments over the long term
without regard for immediate losses.
The CCP works to develop pro-
communist governments that will
support it in the United Nations and
other international organizations. Its
aim is to assume leadership across
Asia, Africa, and Latin America in its
struggle against the free world, and
ultimately replace the United States
as the world’s number one power. Hu-
man costs are no object in pursuing
these aims—for instance, the Party
can force the Chinese people to pay
for investment costs that privately
owned Western enterprises could
never handle. In this war to conquer
the world, it is not about how power-
ful the CCP is on paper, but that the
CCP has at its disposal the resources
of hundreds of millions of Chinese
people, whose lives and livelihoods
the Party views as expendable.
Former White House chief strate-
gist Steve Bannon said that with the
OBOR project, the Chinese regime
had successfully integrated the
Mackinder-Mahan-Spykman theses
of world domination. In an article
discussing this view, Andrew Sheng of
the Asia Global Institute wrote:
“Sir Halford Mackinder was an in-
fluential British geographer/historian
who argued in 1904 that ‘Whoever
rules the Heartland (central Asia)
commands the World-Island (Eurasia);
whoever rules the World-Island com-
mands the World.’ His American con-
temporary Alfred Mahan was a naval
historian who shaped the U.S. strategy
to dominate sea power, extending
the British maritime empire logic of
controlling the sea lanes, choke points
The site of a
multistory
complex being
built by a Chi-
nese construc-
tion company in
Sihanoukville,
Camobodia, on
Dec. 14, 2018.
and canals by policing global trade.
In contrast, Nicholas John Spykman
argued that the Rimland (the coastal
lands encircling Asia) is more impor-
tant tha[n] the Heartland, thus: ‘Who
controls the Rimland rules EuroAsia;
who rules EuroAsia controls the desti-
nies of the world.’” [7]
These insights reflect the Western
world’s growing vigilance against the
CCP’s ambitions exemplified by the
OBOR project.
Of course, the CCP’s ambition is not
limited to the scope of OBOR. The
initiative is not merely focused on
obtaining the rights to land routes,
sea lanes, and major ports. The CCP
wants to take advantage of any weak-
nesses that exist around the world.
In recent decades, many countries
in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
became newly independent states
created by decolonization. These
A byproduct regions experienced a power vacuum,
of inviting the CCP to gain footholds.
The newly independent countries that
participating
were once part of the Soviet Union
in OBOR and its Eastern European satellites
schemes had weak sovereign control and were
is the also easy pickings for the CCP regime.
importation Other unstable countries, which
of all Western investors tend to stay away
pernicious from, naturally fell into the CCP’s
trap. Small countries, island nations,
aspects of and underdeveloped countries in
communism: strategic locations are all especially
corruption, vulnerable to Beijing’s ambitions.
debt, and Even some states that were once
totalitarian firmly in the Western democratic
camp have drifted into the CCP’s orbit
repression.
after suffering from weak economies
The project and high debt. Geopolitically, the
is a deceptive CCP is gradually surrounding the
trap that United States by controlling the econ-
will not omies of other countries. The aim is to
bring lasting marginalize and eventually remove
American influence from those coun-
economic
tries, by which time the CCP will have
prosperity established a separate world order
to its centered on communist hegemony.
participants. This is not a new approach. It has its
roots in the Party’s original strategy
of occupying the countryside to sur-
round the cities, which led it to victory
in the Chinese Civil War.
b. The Periphery Diplomacy
Strategy to Exclude the US
From the Asia-Pacific Region
Communist Party think tanks define
the regime’s “periphery diplomacy”
as such: “China neighbors fourteen
countries along a lengthy land border
and looks across the sea at six other
neighboring countries. Beyond that, to
the east is the Asia-Pacific region, and
to the west is Eurasia. That is, the radial
extent of China’s extended neighbor-
hood covers two-thirds of international
politics, economy, and security. Thus,
the framework of periphery diplomacy
is more than mere regional strategy. ...
It is a true grand strategy.” [8]
Australia: The Weak
Link of the Western World
In June 2017, Fairfax Media Ltd. and
the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
released the results of a five-month
investigation in the documentary
“Power and Influence: The Hard Edge
of China’s Soft Power.” The documen-
tary, which raised concern around the
world, described the CCP’s widespread
infiltration and control over Austra-
OPINION | A15
Stephen Gregory, Publisher
Jasper Fakkert, Editor-in-Chief
Channaly Philipp, Life & Tradition,
Travel Editor
Chrisy Trudeau, Mind & Body Editor
Crystal Shi, Home, Food Editor
Sharon Kilarski, Arts & Culture Editor
ABOUT US
The Epoch Times is a media
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ing the truth through insightful
and independent journalism.
Standing outside of politi-
cal interests and the pursuit of
profit, our starting point and our
goal is to create a media for the
public benefit, to be truly respon-
sible to society.
We endeavor to educate read-
ers about today’s most impor-
tant topics, seeking to broaden
and uplift minds. We believe that
rational, balanced debate is key
for fostering a healthy democ-
racy and a compassionate
society.
As an independent media out-
lian society. [9] Six months later, Sam let, we use our freedom to inves-
Dastyari, a member of the Australian tigate issues overlooked—or
Labor Party, announced his resignation avoided—by other media outlets.
from the Senate. Dastyari’s resigna- We seek to highlight solutions
tion followed accusations that he had and what’s good in society rather
accepted money from CCP-linked Chi- than what divides us.
nese merchants for making statements
in support of Beijing regarding South We report respectfully, compas-
China Sea territorial disputes. His sionately, and rigorously.
statements on this critical issue clashed
with the views of his own party. [10] We stand against the destruc-
In June 2017, Australia’s ABC News tion wrought by communism,
updated a report revealing political including the harm done to cul-
donations by Chinese-linked entities, tures around the world.
ostensibly intended to influence Austra-
We are inspired in this by our
lia–China trade policies. The report re-
own experience. The Epoch
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Times was founded in 2000 to
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bring honest and uncensored
and individual donors to Liberal and
news to people oppressed
Labor party war chests between 2013
by the lies and violence in
and 2015. [11] Furthermore, in recent
communist China.
years, Australian media outlets have
signed contracts with Chinese state-run We still believe journalism is a
media outlets, agreeing to broadcast noble vocation, but only when it
propaganda provided by Chinese me- genuinely seeks to serve its com-
dia to Australian audiences. [12] munities and help them to flour-
In 2017, the book “Silent Invasion: ish. In all that we do, we will hold
China’s Influence in Australia,” by ourselves to the highest stand-
author Clive Hamilton, was rejected ards of integrity. This is our
three times by Australian publishers promise to you.
due to fear of Chinese repercussions.
After much deliberation, a publisher
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Letters to the Editor
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lettertoeditor@epochtimes.com
Notes
7. Andrew Sheng, “A Civilizational Clash
With China Comes Closer,” Asia Global
Institute: The University of Hong Kong, Jan.
16, 2018.
8. Wu Xinbo 吳心伯, “Dui zhoubian waijiao
yanjiu de yixie sikao” 對周邊外交研究的
一些思考 [“Reflections on the Study of
Periphery Diplomacy”], “World Affairs,”
issue 2 (2015).
9. Nick McKenzie and Sarah Ferguson,
“Power and Influence: The Hard Edge of
China’s Soft Power,” Australian Broadcasting
Corporation, June 5, 2017, video.
SUBSCRIBE
10. “Sam Dastyari Resignation: How We Got
Here,” Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
Dec. 11, 2017.
11. Chris Uhlmann and Andrew Greene,
“Chinese Donors to Australian Political
Parties: Who Gave How Much?” Australian
Broadcasting Corporation, June 7, 2017.
TODAY
12. John Fitzgerald, “China in Xi’s ‘New Era,’”
Get the
Journal of Democracy, no. 29, April 2018. independent news
13. Tara Francis Chan, “Rejected Three
Times Due to Fear of Beijing, Controversial you won’t find
Book on China’s Secret Influence Will Finally
Be Published,” Business Insider, Feb. 5, 2018. anywhere else.
14. Jonathan Pearlman, “US Alarm Over
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A16 | OPINION
The Abolition of Doubt
JAMES BOWMAN
If you were surprised by
the firing of Curt Bo-
ganey, the city manager
of Brooklyn Center, Min-
nesota, merely for saying
that the police officer who
shot a wanted criminal was
entitled to due process, you haven’t been
paying attention.
Kim Potter, the officer in question, says
she thought she had reached for her Taser
rather than her pistol (she even shouted
“Taser!”) when Daunte Wright, 20, wanted
on a weapons charges, attempted to flee
from a traffic stop. Wright, a black man,
was killed in the incident.
Maybe it was, as she claims, an ac-
cident, and maybe it wasn’t. It sounds
The Book You’ve Been
Waiting for...
“Extremely well “The Truth, as horrifying as it is,
researched and true.” shall set us free. This should be
on this country’s academia’s
list of required reading.”
HOW THE
SPECTER OF COMMUNISM
IS RULING OUR WORLD
The specter of communism did not
disappear with the disintegration of the
Communist Party in Eastern Europe
ORDER NOW!
EpochShop.com
People stand on a police
cruiser as rioters take to
the streets after Brooklyn
Center police shot and killed
Daunte Wright during a traf-
fic stop in Brooklyn Center,
Minn., on April 11, 2021.
One denial of due
process under threat
of violence begets
another.
NOW
BIGGER SIZE,
EASIER TO READ
FORMAT
STEPHEN MATUREN/GETTY IMAGES
like an accident to me, but I admit there
must be some doubt. It would once,
therefore, have been a matter of course
to say that a fair trial should decide the
truth of the matter.
Now that Potter, who has since re-
signed, has been charged with second-
degree manslaughter in the incident,
she will presumably receive a trial, but it
won’t be a fair one.
Mike Elliott, the mayor of Brooklyn
Center who fired Boganey for not pre-
judging her as guilty, has in effect done
so himself.
It’s not, you understand, that he has
prejudiced any potential jury by doing
so. It’s that his own premature guilty
verdict and that of any conceivable
Minnesota jury have a common deter-
minant—which is the rioters who took to
the streets of Brooklyn Center and other
cities in response to the shooting and
who, as we already know, have no inter-
est in due process.
No more do those who are now await-
ing the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial
in nearby Minneapolis and who make no
secret of their intention to resume civil
violence and attacks on the police there if
the verdict goes the wrong way.
The problem with due process is
precisely that it offers no guarantees
against going the wrong way. It might
find that the shooting really was an ac-
cident, and that wouldn’t be consistent
with the truth as the rioters understand
it. Their truth.
Riots or the threat of riots
are the means by which they
make their truth the only
truth that matters.
And riots or the threat of riots are the
means by which they make their truth
the only truth that matters, either to El-
liott or to potential jury members, who
know that they will be made to pay a
price if they take a different view from
that of the mob.
As a Brooklyn Center Council member
cited by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune
put it, “she voted to fire Boganey out of
fear of potential reprisals from protestors
if she did not.”
So one denial of due process under
threat of violence begets another.
The race hustlers in the Democratic
party and the media, speaking for the
HENNEPIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE VIA GETTY IMAGES
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
riotous mob, already know that Ms. Pot-
ter is guilty.
“It wasn’t an accident,” tweeted Rep.
Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich). “Policing in our
country is inherently & intentionally racist.”
At least Elliott, a black man himself and
an immigrant from Liberia, implicitly
admitted that the shooting might have
been an accident.
“My position,” he said, “is that we can-
not afford to make mistakes that lead
to the loss of life of other people in our
profession.”
In other words, there isn’t any real
difference between his view and that of
Tlaib, since to him it doesn’t matter if
the shooting was a mistake or not. She’s
guilty anyway—because the rioters and
their apologists in the media say so.
The legal principle of the “mens rea,” or
knowledge of wrongdoing, no longer ap-
plies in Minnesota.
Doubt, like mistakes, is not
allowed in the world of the
ideologues who are slowly
taking over our justice system.
“Despair is real among Black, brown
Americans as police ‘mistakes’ persist,
Daunte Wright killed,” wrote Suzette
Hackney for USA Today.
And the quotation marks around “mis-
takes” say it all. Don’t you know, com-
rade, that there are no mistakes.
It’s just one more way in which the
dominant ideology of our times—which
in cases like these is called “anti-racism”
but which goes under many names
and is essentially nothing more than
an adaptation of Marxist–Leninism to
21st-century identity politics—seeks to
outlaw doubt and uncertainty along with
the intellectual humility which, among
non-ideologues, must always acknowl-
edge their possibility.
But that, after all, is what ideology does,
and it’s why those are wrong who say that
the defense has only to plant a reason-
able doubt in the mind of the Chauvin
jury to gain an acquittal.
No, no, no. They don’t get it. The mob
lingers in the streets today for no other
reason than to signify that there is no
possibility of doubt, reasonable or unrea-
sonable. Not in anti-racist land.
The mob knows the truth—their
truth—already, and you must know what
to expect if you don’t acknowledge it as
truth yourself.
Some people laughed at Chelsea
Handler when she wrote in a tweet: “So
pathetic that there is a trial to prove that
Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd when
there is video of him doing so.” I laughed
at her myself.
But then I realized that she wasn’t just
making the naïve assumption that her
interpretation of an amateur video was
the only possible one. Not at all. Instead,
she was pledging allegiance to the anti-
racist ideology which had decided on the
spot that it was the only possible one—
because the ideology required it to be so.
Doubt, like mistakes, is not allowed
in the world of the ideologues who are
slowly taking over our justice system, as
they have already taken over the media
and the Democratic Party. At least not
any doubt or mistakes that might benefit
their ideological enemies—who, as Tlaib
reminds us, include the police.
Like her, or Handler or Elliott, the ideo-
logues know the truth already, without
any need for such legal niceties as the
rules of evidence or “mens rea”—because
their ideology has got it all figured out in
advance and has assured them they are
on “the right side of history.”
Both Potter and Chauvin are doomed,
I’m afraid—or the mob will know the
reason why not.
James Bowman is a resident scholar at
the Ethics and Public Policy Center. The
author of “Honor: A History,” he is a movie
critic for The American Spectator and the
media critic for the New Criterion.
Former Brook-
lyn Center
police officer
Kim Potter,
in mugshots
taken at the
Hennepin
County Jail
in Minneapolis
on April
14, 2021.
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021 OPINION |  A17

‘NASA Rules,’ Musk Says as SpaceX

Wins $2.9 Billion Moon Lander Contract
BRITTA PEDERSEN-POOL/GETTY IMAGES

WASHINGTON—NASA awarded bil- NASA said in a news release that SpaceX’s

lionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s space
company SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to
build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the
moon as early as 2024, the agency said on
April 16, picking it over Jeff Bezos’ Blue Ori-
gin and defense contractor Dynetics Inc.
Bezos and Musk—the world’s first- and
third-richest people, respectively, accord-
ing to Forbes—were competing to lead hu-
mankind’s return to the moon for the first
time since 1972.
Musk’s SpaceX bid for the contract on its
own, while Amazon.com founder Bezos’s
Blue Origin partnered with Lockheed Mar-
tin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., and
Draper. Dynetics, a unit of Leidos Holdings
Inc., had also won a preliminary contract.
“NASA Rules!!” Musk wrote on Twitter
after the announcement.
The U.S. space agency awarded the con-
tract for the first commercial human lander,
part of its Artemis program. NASA said the
lander will carry two American astronauts
to the lunar surface.
“We should accomplish the next landing
as soon as possible,” Steve Jurczyk, NASA’s
acting administrator, said during the video
conference announcement.
“If they hit their milestones, we have a
shot at 2024.”
NASA said SpaceX’s Starship includes a
spacious cabin and two airlocks for astro-
naut moonwalks and that its architecture is
intended to evolve to a fully reusable launch
and landing system designed for travel to the
Moon, Mars, and other destinations in space.
SpaceX also responded on Twitter, writ-
ing, “We are humbled to help @NASAAr-
temis usher in a new era of human space
exploration.”
Unlike the Apollo landings from 1969 to
1972—the only human visits to the moon’s
surface—NASA is gearing up for a longer-
SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk poses before receiving the Axel Springer Award 2020,
in Berlin on Dec. 1, 2020.
term lunar presence that it envisions as a
steppingstone to an even more ambitious
plan to send astronauts to Mars. NASA is
leaning heavily on private companies built
around shared visions for space exploration.
SpaceX will be required to make a test
flight of the lander to the moon before hu-
mans make the journey, NASA official Lisa
Watson-Morgan told reporters.
NASA had been expected to winnow the
lunar lander contest to two companies by
the end of April, but instead, it picked only
SpaceX, a move that deepens their coop-
eration. On April 15, NASA said it would
send its crew to the International Space
Station aboard a SpaceX rocket on April 22.
The agency aims to create regular service
to the moon and said it will have a separate
competition for that contract.
“We have to be able to provide for recur-
ring lunar services,” said Mark Kirasich,
deputy associate administrator for NASA’s
Advanced Exploration Systems division.
The announcement added to an extraor-
dinary run for Musk, who has turned elec-
tric car maker Tesla Inc. into the world’s
most valuable automaker, with a market
capitalization of $702 billion.
Musk has become a one-person technol-
ogy conglomerate, launching or controlling
companies pursuing space flight, electric
cars, neural implants, and subterranean
tunnel boring.
A factor in the choice of SpaceX was
“what’s the best value to the government,”
said Kathy Lueders, associate administra-
tor for NASA’s Human Exploration and Op-
erations Mission Directorate.
HLS Starship, designed to land on the
moon, “leans on the company’s tested
Raptor engines and flight heritage of the
Falcon and Dragon vehicles.”
NASA’s decision was a setback for Bezos, a
lifelong space enthusiast who is now more
focused on his space venture after hav-
ing announced in February he would step
down as Amazon CEO.
If they hit their milestones,
we have a shot at 2024.
Steve Jurczyk, acting administrator, NASA
The contract was seen by Bezos and other
executives as vital to Blue Origin establish-
ing itself as a desired partner for NASA,
and also putting the venture on the road
to turning a profit.
Musk has outlined an ambitious agenda
for SpaceX and its reusable rockets, includ-
ing landing humans on Mars. But in the
near term, SpaceX’s main business has
been launching satellites for Musk’s Star-
link internet venture, and other satellites
and space cargo. SpaceX announced on
April 14 that it had raised about $1.16 billion
in equity financing.
An uncrewed SpaceX Starship prototype
rocket failed to land safely on March 30
after a test launch from Boca Chica, Texas.
The Starship was one in a series of proto-
types for the heavy-lift rocket being de-
veloped by SpaceX to carry humans and
100 tons of cargo on future missions to the
moon and Mars. A first orbital Starship
flight is planned for year’s end.
By Hyunjoo Jin & Raphael Satter 
From Reuters

Toshiba Bid to Test Japan’s Corporate Governance Rules

HONG KONG—A potential bid for Toshiba
Corp. is set to test both corporate gover-
nance at the scandal-hit conglomerate as
well as rule changes in Japan designed to
improve transparency and protect minor-
ity shareholders.
The process puts the spotlight on the
world’s third-largest economy’s efforts to
attract more investments from overseas just
as global private equity firms are hunting
for more big-ticket deals in the country.
Toshiba, which has been hit by a succes-
sion of accounting and other scandals, has
just lost its CEO, Nobuaki Kurumatani, who
left this week after facing criticism over gov-
ernance issues. Buyout firms are already
circling to take the industrial group private.
“Takeover protections for minority share-
holders in Japan, are much weaker than
in other developed Asian markets such as
Hong Kong and Singapore,” said Jamie Al-
len, secretary general of the ACGA.
Another complication for investors is that
Japan tightened rules last year on foreign
ownership of strategically important compa-
nies. Under these rules, foreign private equity
bidders interested in Toshiba, whose technol-
ogy is used in defense systems, could poten-
tially be blocked from buying the company.
Some investors are concerned that if
Toshiba is taken private with government
support to allay national security concerns,
other undervalued companies in ‘restricted
industries’ might follow suit, Allen said.

The conglomerate, whose products range
from escalators to sewerage plants, is ex-
pected to consider interest expressed by
private equity firms, including a potential
Behind the
Some Japan state-backed funds are con-
sidering buying Toshiba, the Nikkan Kogyo
Shimbun reported on April 15, a Japan-led
bid which may be more palatable to regula-

$20 billion offer from CVC Capital Partners.
Japanese companies are
making improvements in
corporate governance aspects
but it’s moving at a glacial pace.
Ashley Pittard, head of global equities,
Pendal Group
“This is the next big corporate governance
test for Toshiba: whether they will run an
open and transparent process, in line with
METI’s Fair M&A Guidelines,” Seth Fischer,
Oasis Management chief investment officer
and Toshiba shareholder, told Reuters.
In 2019, Japan’s Ministry of Economy,
Trade, and Industry (METI) brought in
new rules to provide greater protections
for minority investors during transactions
by laying out a process to secure fair deal
terms. They would require Toshiba, for ex-
ample, to establish a special committee of
independent outside directors and auditors
promptly to evaluate the deal.
But the rules have faced criticism from
investors because they are voluntary.
Japan, which has the world’s third-largest
equity market, ranked seventh in Asia for
corporate governance, behind Malaysia
and Thailand, based on the latest scores
from the Asian Corporate Governance As-
sociation (ACGA).
The investor organization said that re-
cent efforts in Japan to improve governance
standards were more focused on codes of
best practice and guidelines rather than
company law and regulation.
Subscription
tors and management than rival offers by
foreign funds.
Ashley Pittard, head of global equities at
Sydney-based Pendal Group, an investor
in several Japanese companies, hoped a
Toshiba bid would lead to more corporate
activity in Japan which could help to foster
improved corporate governance standards. Your subscription will not only provide you with
“Japanese companies are making im- accurate news and features, but also contribute
provements in corporate governance aspects to the revival of American journalism and help
but it’s moving at a glacial pace,” he said.
The bidding process will put Toshiba’s safeguard our freedoms for future generations.
own governance standards under scrutiny.
The company’s past problems included an We aim to tell you what we see, not how to think; we
accounting scandal in 2015 and allegations
investors were pressured ahead of its an- strive to deliver you a factual picture of reality that
nual shareholders’ meeting last year, which lets you form your own opinions.
resulted in an independent probe into the al-
legations, resisted by Toshiba’s management.
Nicholas Benes, a corporate governance We believe that we live in truly epochal times, where
expert and head of the Board Director the faithful representation of our current events
Training Institute of Japan, said the fact won’t just be important for the people of today, but
that a majority of Toshiba’s board was ap-
parently willing to support management also for the generations to come. The records we
in opposing the independent probe shows keep now will directly inform the foundations of the
outside directors need “true independence, history they’ll learn and the values they’ll cherish—
dedication, and temerity.”
Concerning the take-private deal, “Given and this knowledge is what drives us.
this board’s mix of independent directors
... one would hope the board will conduct a Learn more at
fair auction that maximizes competition and
delivers full value to shareholders,” he said. EpochSubscription.com
Toshiba shares plunged 6 percent on April
16 following media reports that the com-
pany plans to reject the CVC proposal. The
company had said it would give the initial
proposal careful consideration. TRUTH AND TRADITION
By Scott Murdoch & Alun John
From Reuters
A18 | PUZZLES MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021

CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTED BY TOM HOUSTON

EPOCH TIMES STAFF
Across
1. Board a Greyhound, e.g.
6. Circle
13. It turns out lts.
16. Pacific nation
17. She has her pride
18. Scoundrel
19. Studier of centenar-
ians
21. “La la” preceder
22. Nobelist Hammarsk-
jold
23. 252 gallons
24. Frosh, next year
25. Lunatic
29. Green machine?
32. Provoke
34. Always, to a poet
35. “Auld Lang ___”
36. A-peeling place?
37. Seventh-century date
38. “City” dweller of video
games
10. Isabella, por ejemplo 4NUMBERS CONSTRUCTED BY C. CHANG
AT 4NUMS.COM DAILY BRIDGE CLUB
11. Magazine no.
12. Bangor time Use the four numbers in the corners, and Louie’s hasty play
the operands (+, - X, and ÷) to build an BY FRANK STEWART, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY
13. “What the Butler Saw” equation to get the solution in the middle.
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
playwright There may be more than one “unique” so-
lution but, there may also be “equivalent” Unlucky Louie shows up at my club daily
14. ___ diem solutions. For example: 6 + (7 X 3) +1 = 28 for his penny game, so every morning is the
15. “60 Minutes” regular and 1+ (7 X 3) + 6 = 28 dawn of a new error. Louie invariably plays
20. Fiesta fare too quickly — and is usually punished.
24. Mediterranean isl. Louie was declarer at today’s 3NT. (Six
diamonds would have had a chance on
25. More, in Madrid another day.) West led the jack of spades,
26. It may finish second and Louie took dummy’s ace and swiftly
27. Its ruins are across the cashed the king of diamonds, expecting to
Tigris from Mosul run six diamond tricks.
When West discarded a heart on the next
28. Alpine river diamond, Louie was in trouble. He took the
29. Sports figures A-Q, finessed with the queen of clubs and
30. “Right on!” to Cicero led the ace and a low heart. West won and
led another spade, and Louie could only
31. Fur take the ace of clubs for his eighth trick and
33. Advantageous aspect give up.
37. Extent
Hard 1 - 1 Solution ONE CHANCE
38. Sextet featured at
Louie gave himself one chance when he
Woodstock had two. He must finesse in clubs at Trick
39. “Murder, ___” Two, then cash the ace and lead a third
40. “... Queen o’ the ___” club. Since East has the doubleton K-10,
dummy’s nine furnishes Louie’s ninth trick.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson) If the clubs didn’t lie well, Louie could fall
42. Searches blindly back on a 3-2 diamond break.
44. Coll. hoops competi- This week: more than one chance.
tion
DAILY QUESTION
47. Barley brew You hold: kK 8 5 jA 10 5 3 2 iK 5
48. Passbook abbr. hA Q 4. You are the dealer. What is your
49. Levels opening call?
ANSWER: Many experts — perhaps
50. Like the Vikings most — would open 1NT. To describe the
51. Imprison Hard 2 - 1 Solution
hand’s strength and approximate shape
41. Work unit 74. Ike’s command, once: 59. 19 things on a classical in a single bid will often be advantageous.
43. RR stop Abbr. guitar Some experts would open one heart.
They might have to cope with rebid
45. Posting at JFK 75. Above a Col. 61. Play part problems but would not suppress the
46. Bibliophile’s suffix 76. Naps 62. Grassland five-card major suit. I cannot say that
47. Promotion company 83. Last: Abbr. 63. “Black-eyed” veggie either call is correct. Choose as the spirit
52. Stan who created moves you.
84. Sumptuous 64. “I am Sir ___.” Gra- South dealer
Spider-Man 85. Half note tiano in “The Merchant of N-S vulnerable
53. It’s like -like 86. 1997 U.S. Open Venice”
54. Anderson’s “High ___” champ 65. Hebrew for “house of NORTH
kA
55. 911 respondent 87. Species of Australian God” j6 4
56. Book after Galatians: parrots 66. Engine sounds iA Q 8 6 3 2
Abbr. 88. Period 67. Transition h9 6 3 2
Easy 1 - 2 Solutions
57. “Peter Pan” has a 68. Immune response WEST EAST
couple Down orchestrator kJ 10 9 7 4 kQ 6 3 2
58. Whistle blower 1. Chang’s Siamese twin 69. Peewees jK 8 7 jQ J 9
60. Canaanite deity 70. Womb resident i7 iJ 10 9 4
2. West of “My Little hJ 8 7 5 hK 10
63. “As ___ our agree- 74. “Cómo ___ usted?”
ment” Chickadee”
76. ___ anglais (English SOUTH
64. Ceremonial celebra- 3. Chestnut coat horn) kK 8 5
tion 4. Tail: Prefix 77. G.I.’s address
jA 10 5 3 2
iK 5
67. Easy 5. Ice cream parlor order 78. Big picture?: Abbr. hA Q 4
71. “Oops!” list, in 6. Thick-soled shoe 79. Cambridge univ.
publishing 7. Heating choice 80. “Bambi” character South West North East
1 NT Pass 3 NT All Pass
72. O.A.S. member: Abbr. 8. Affected 81. Sharp turn
73. Fast no more 9. Deluge 82. “Enough already!” Easy 2 - 1 Solution Opening lead —kJ

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.

ARISE OUT OF ISERE RUNTS

BETHEL LIONESS SANTANA
CARPE MANIAC SEGUE
CATCHES SOME Z’S MINIM STAGE
COTERIE NAURU STAHL
DEGREE NINEVEH STATS
EMBAR NORSE STRESS-FREE
EMBUS OPULENT SUNDAE
ENGULF ORACLE T CELL
ERRATA ORTON TACOS
FETUS PELAGE TIERS
FRETS RECTA TOO-TOO
GERONTOLOGIST REINA UPSIDE
GROPES ROSELLA VROOMS

SOLUTIONS
CROSSWORD SUPER KAKURO 4NUMBERS

HARD 1

HARD 2

EASY 1

EASY 2
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 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
19

EPOCH DOKU CONSTRUCTED

BY EPOCH TIMES STAFF

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
MLUPP
EPOCH ESCAPE MAZE
BEIAD

CCNALE

RDAPAE
Now arrange the circled letters
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC to form the surprise answer, as
All Rights Reserved. suggested by the above cartoon.
Answer
here:

WORK SPACE

SOLUTIONS
SUPERSUDOKU SUDOKU: EASY JUMBLE EASY KAKURO
CURB APPEAL WORK SPACE
food truck to have —
They designed their
Answers:

PARADE
CANCEL
ABIDE
PLUMP
SUDOKU: HARD EPOCH DOKU
Jumbles:

CRYPTIC QUOTE
stand here before you today.
all probably not be able to
States of America, I would in
sonal note. Without the United
Let me say this on a per-
Contact the Puzzle Master @: Feedback@EpochTimes.com
A20 | MONDAY, APRIL 19, 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

 SONIS PHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK
SIDE-EFFECTS COVID-19

Taking Bone Meds? They Increase Handshakes and Hugs Are Good
Your Risk of This Type of Fracture for You
Bisphosphonates are used to treat osteoporosis based For the good of our social health, let’s make sure these
on a bone density test that has come under scrutiny for customs make a comeback.
limited relevance.
See B3 See B8

MIND & BODY

WELL-BEING |DIET |FITNESS MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021 B1

ALL PHOTOS BY SHUTTERSTOCK; PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY THE EPOCH TIMES

JOSEPH MERCOLA Minerals’ role in the creation of  ATP alone

Why Most
I
is a clue to their importance. As the energy
t’s estimated that 1 in 3 Americans currency in your body, ATP is essential for
is deficient in at least 10 minerals, cellular functions throughout your body,
People Are including potassium, manganese,
magnesium, and zinc, putting them
including in your heart, which is dependent
on sufficient amounts of ATP to function

Deficient in at risk of chronic diseases such as

heart disease and diabetes.
“The Mineral Fix,” written by James
properly. DiNicolantonio believes that not
getting enough minerals in your diet can
be just as damaging as eating an unhealthy

Minerals
DiNicolantonio and Siim Land, author of
“Metabolic Autophagy,” provides a com-
prehensive guide about the role of es-
sential minerals and why you need them
to optimize physiological function and
survival.
Deficient food, chronic There are 17 essential minerals, broken
disease are leaving us down into seven macrominerals and 10
trace minerals. There are another five min-
malnourished erals that are possibly essential.
The primary role of minerals is to act as
cofactors for enzymes, but that’s just the
bare minimum.
“They literally are the shields for oxida-
tive stress,” DiNicolantonio said, “because
they make up our antioxidant enzymes.
They help us produce and activate adenos-
ine triphosphate (ATP), help us produce
DNA, protein, so literally every function
in the body is dependent, in some way, on
minerals.”
diet focused on sugar and seed oils.
3 Reasons Why You Might Be Deficient
in Minerals
About a third of the U.S. population is
likely deficient in the 10 minerals below
(estimated percent not hitting RDA/AI or
“The Mineral Fix”
estimated percent deficient):
provides guidance to
the role of essential 1. Boron (> 75 percent)
minerals. 2. Manganese (~ 75 percent)
3. Magnesium (52.2–68 percent)
4. Chromium (56 percent)
5. Calcium (44.1–73 percent)
6. Zinc (42–47 percent)
7. Iron (25–34 percent)
8. Copper (25–31 percent)
9. Selenium (15–40 percent)
10. Molybdenum (15 percent)
Continued on B4

How Pandemic Fatigue Made Us Antisocial The pandemic has us

feeling alone on the
COVID-19 took a toll on our relationships. edge.

Understanding why might help us come back together.

KIRA M. NEWMAN cheers and clapping for health
care workers. Her phone was no
On a Thursday morning in longer buzzing with messages
mid-February, writer Donna from group chats, friends check-
poem about her feeling and
then posted it to her Facebook
page, Ladies Pass It On. The poem
went viral, garnering more than
KOSHIRO K/SHUTTERSTOCK

Ashworth woke up in lockdown
in Scotland, and something felt
different. “You could feel the col-
lective quiet,” she said.
At night, her neighborhood no
longer came to life with raucous
ing in, or invitations to virtual
game nights. When someone did
reach out, Ashworth felt guilty
about how long it took her to
reply.
She sat down to write a short
7,500 comments as of this writing.
People across the world reached
out to thank her for putting into
words what they were feeling:
Continued on B6
B2
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former deputy assistant to the president
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newspaper for factual and
unbiased news coverage.
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U.S. representative for Arizona
High-impact exercises, such as tennis, basketball, running, jumping, and some cardio exer-
cise classes, help to maintain strong bones, but they can also prematurely age your knees.
10 Ways to Age-
Proof Your Knees
Your knees are a critical joint that
can last a lifetime with proper care
LYNN JAFFEE
Your knees are the workhorse joint of
your body. They’re considered to be your
body’s shock absorbers. With each step,
they absorb one and a half times the
weight of your body, and when you run
or jump, they absorb much more.
It makes sense that your knees may be
the first of your joints to act up as you
age. However, knee pain doesn’t have
to be a foregone conclusion in your later
years. Here are some ways to protect
your knees and slow down the effects
of aging on them:
1) Keep moving. Exercise helps to
strengthen the muscles that support
your knees and keeps them loose and
flexible.
2) Maintain a healthy weight. An ex-
tra 20 pounds or more puts a great deal
of stress on your knees. If you’re over-
weight, know that even small reductions
in your weight can make a difference in
the health and function of your knees.
3) What you wear on your feet is im-
portant. Stable, well-fitting shoes with
good support are what your knees want.
Flip flops offer no support and can be a
direct cause of knee pain. High heels
dramatically change your body’s bio-
mechanics, especially that of your knees
and legs—and not in a good way.
An extra 20 pounds or
more puts a great deal
of stress on your knees.
4) Strengthen the muscles that sup-
port your knees. Your quadriceps mus-
cles on the front of your thigh and your
hamstrings on the back are involved in
the bending and straightening of your
knee. These muscles run from your pel-
vis to below your knee. Strengthening
those muscles plays an important role
in preventing knee pain. Research has
documented that increasing the mus-
cles that support your knees can be as
effective as surgery in treating some
cases of knee pain. You can get help in
finding the right strengthening program
through a physical therapist or athletic
trainer.
5) Mix high- and low-impact exercises.
While exercise is good in keeping your
knees healthy, high-impact activities
can wear down cartilage, the fibrous
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
REUBEN KIM/UNSPLASH
connective tissue that acts as a cushion
between your bones. High-impact exer-
cises, such as tennis, basketball, run-
ning, jumping, and some cardio exercise
classes help to maintain strong bones,
but they can also prematurely age your
knees. What to do? A good strategy is to
combine some higher impact activities
with less bone-jarring exercise, such as
cycling, walking, or swimming to keep
your knees moving and muscles strong
without adding unnecessary wear and
tear on your cartilage.
6) Maintain the range of motion in
your knees. This means the ability to
both straighten and bend your knees to
their full capacity. Putting your knees
through their range of motion paces
helps avoid stiffness and loss of mobil-
ity as you age.
7) If you need to kneel, do so on a soft
surface or cushion. Kneeling for ex-
tended periods of time on a hard surface
can irritate or damage the bursae, the
small gel-filled protective cushions in
your knees.
8) Avoid standing on hard surfaces
or squatting for long periods of time.
Both are a recipe for knee pain and
damage.
9) Keep your knees healthy through
your diet. Eating lots of vegetables,
whole grains, and light proteins such
as fish, and avoiding processed foods
and saturated fats will help keep inflam-
mation at bay.
10) Don’t ignore knee pain. Think
about acupuncture or physical therapy
when it comes to pain in your knees.
Researchers have documented that
acupuncture can be an effective treat-
ment for many types of knee pain. It
works by decreasing inflammation in
the area, increasing circulation, and
relieving pain. If you’ve injured a knee,
acupuncture can also help speed up the
healing process. And physical therapy
is a great way to strengthen your legs,
increase your flexibility, and keep your
knees moving.
The bottom line is that your knees will
age as you age. However, with some care
and a little movement, you increase
the likelihood that your knees will stay
healthy and functional as you get older.
Lynn Jaffee is a licensed acupuncturist
and the author of “Simple Steps: The
Chinese Way to Better Health.” This
article was originally published on
AcupunctureTwinCities.com
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021 B3

Taking Bone Meds? They Increase

Your Risk of This Type of Fracture
Bisphosphonates are used to treat osteoporosis based on a bone
density test that has come under scrutiny for limited relevance

B
ALL PHOTOS BY SHUTTERSTOCK

isphosphonate drugs are a go- at 1 and 2.5 standard deviations below the
to treatment for osteoporosis, average peak bone mass of a Caucasian,
but they come with a significant young adult woman—are highly suspect,
risk of triggering an atypical as it turns the natural decrease in bone
femoral fracture, especially if density that occurs with age into a disease
you use them for more than five years. that needs to be treated with drugs.
Their use is controversial, particularly Simply put, knowing your BMD isn’t an
because bone mineral density isn’t an accurate gauge of your future fracture risk
accurate measure of bone strength and and that alone shouldn’t push you into us-
fracture risk. ing bisphosphonate drugs with serious side
And yet, bisphosphonate drugs are the effects. In fact, there are risks associated
first-line therapy for the prevention and with high bone mineral density, includ-
treatment of osteoporosis, with 14.7 million ing breast cancer.
prescriptions written annually in the U.S. Writing in the journal Clinical Diabetes
The drugs, which include alendronate and Endocrinology, researchers stated
(Binosto, Fosamax), ibandronate (Boniva), “skeletal biomechanics, size, shape, and
risedronate (Actonel, Atelvia), and zole- ultra-structural properties are the ulti-
dronic acid (Reclast, Zometa),  work to mate predictors of bone strength” and
inhibit bone resorption by blocking the detailed just some of the limitations of
action of osteoclasts, which are cells that DXA scans and the many complexities
degrade bone. that go into evaluating your actual bone
plication of bisphosphonate therapy, and health:
fear of these events discourages the use Knowing your BMD
of osteoporosis medications,” Dr. Douglas isn’t an accurate F Bone size, shape, architecture, and
Bone mineral density Bauer of the University of California San gauge of your future composition are the major determi-
Francisco said in a release. fracture risk and that nants of bone strength
isn’t an accurate The risk of atypical fracture dropped alone shouldn’t push F Bone composition is difficult to mea-
you into using bispho-
measure of bone strength rapidly when bisphosphonate drugs were
sphonate drugs with
sure non-invasively
no longer used, leading the researchers F Collagen crosslinking and density con-
and fracture risk. to suggest that “drug holidays”—during
serious side effects.
tribute to bone matrix strength
which the drugs aren’t taken—may help F The number, thickness, and connec-
Osteoclasts, however, have many func- lower the risk of atypical femoral fractures tivity of plates and rods determine
tions beyond bone resorption, including in some people taking the drugs. trabecular bone strength
affecting immune responses, and their role Separate research revealed that women F Newly formed protein matrix and the
of bone degradation serves to initiate the who took bisphosphonates for five years arrangement of hydroxyapatite crys-
normal bone remodeling process. Drugs and then discontinued treatment had tals within the matrix, along with the
that inhibit osteoclast activity, therefore, about the same risk of hip fracture as those degree of mineralization, contribute to
may have “unexpected negative … effects who continued taking the drugs for an- bone hardness and strength
on bone homeostasis.” other five years. This suggests taking the F Your genetics play a role in your bone
One risk that’s been widely known for at drugs for more than five years offers little health and may determine up to 70
least a decade is an increased risk of atypi- benefit, yet may increase the risk of atypi- percent of their strength and structure
cal femoral fractures—an ironic side ef- cal fracture. F Habitual loading, repetitive damage,
fect for drugs that are prescribed for “bone diseases such as diabetes, biomechani-
health.”  Bisphosphonates are typically High Bone Mineral Density cal factors, and rate of bone turnover
taken for three to five years, although they Doesn’t Equal Healthy Bones also influence bone health and frac-
may be taken longer—a duration that may Bisphosphonates are said to be good for ture risk
significantly increase your risk of suffering bones because they increase bone mineral F Bone size is directly related to bone
from a serious fracture as a result. density, but using bone mineral den- strength, but DXA does not account
sity as a measure of bone health is for bone size in assessing fracture risk;
Serious Fracture Risk controversial because it is not bone thickness isn’t measured either
Highest After 5 Years the same thing as bone quality
In a study reported at the and strength. If you’re interested in reducing your risk
American Society for Bone While bone mineral den- of bone fractures, there are many evidence-
and Mineral Research (AS- sity is associated with bone One risk based natural approaches that can help.
BMR) 2020 virtual meeting, strength, they are not equiva- Several examples follow, and you can find
researchers analyzed data lent. As noted in the book “Os- that’s been more details in our bone health guide:
from the Danish National teoporosis in Men”:
Healthcare database on 1.9 mil- “Bone strength is the bone’s
widely F Supplements like vitamin K and vita-
lion people aged 50 and over. resistance to fracture. It is dif- known for min D
The relative risk of atypical The relative risk ficult to quantify exactly what F Exercises such as whole-body vibration
femoral fracture among those of atypical femoral makes up the  ‘strength’  of at least a and tai chi
taking bisphosphonates was fracture among those bone. It is related to, but not decade is an
highest after five years of use. taking bisphospho- equivalent with, bone mineral Dietary modifications, including increas-
During years five to seven of nates was highest density (BMD). BMD is a strong increased risk ing carotenoids, fruits, and vegetables
taking the drugs, the relative after five years of use. predictor of fracture, but there
risk of atypical femoral fracture are also other factors, such as of atypical The GMI Research Group is dedicated to
was 35.57, which rose to 40 after seven years bone structure, bone remodeling and femoral investigating the most important health
of use. the newly coined term ‘bone quality’ to and environmental issues of the day.
Among the people who suffered an atypi- consider.” fractures— Special emphasis will be placed on envi-
cal fracture, 58 percent had used bisphos- BMD is easy to measure via an x-ray de- ronmental health. Our focused and deep
phonates, as had 19 percent of those who vice known as dual-energy x-ray absorp-
an ironic research will explore the many ways in
suffered a non-atypical fracture. For com- tiometry (DXA or DEXA), but the other side effect for which the present condition of the human
parison, 9.9 percent of the healthy control measures of bone strength are not so eas- body directly reflects the true state of the
group had used such drugs. ily quantified. drugs that are ambient environment. This work is repro-
“Since first reported more than 10 years What’s more, even the World Health prescribed for duced and distributed with the permis-
ago, it has become clear that atypical femo- Organization’s definitions of osteopenia sion of GreenMedInfo LLC. Sign up for the
ral fractures are a rare but serious com- and osteoporosis—which are diagnosed ‘bone health.’ newsletter at www.GreenmedInfo.health

Limit the Risk of Stress Fractures This Spring

TOM WANG/SHUTTERSTOCK

MAT LECOMPTE
Warmer temperatures and brighter days
may be calling your name, motivating you
to get outside for a walk or run.
But tread carefully—it’s been a long win-
ter, and your bones might not be ready for
the impact of daily runs on concrete just yet.
Along with rejuvenation, spring is the
season of stress fractures.
Stress fractures are small breaks or cracks
caused by repeated impact on a bone that’s
getting weak from too much use (or not
enough). Feet and legs are particularly vul-
nerable, especially if you’ve been sitting on
your sofa through the winter.
Pain, swelling, and bruising are the
symptoms, so if you notice any of these,
it’s good to stop what you’re doing and get
some rest. Ice and rest are how to handle
these common injuries.
When your body is inactive, it gets weak-
er. That’s why injuries are so common this
time of year, particularly in older individu-
als, who inevitably get weaker with age.
When your body is
inactive, it gets weaker.
But don’t worry. You can better avoid a
stress fracture by easing into activity and
giving your bones a chance to strengthen
and adjust to your new demands.
So, instead of going out for a jog or hard-
core power walk, start a little more leisure-
You can better avoid a stress fracture by easing
into activity and giving your bones a chance to
strengthen and adjust to your new demands.
ly. After a few days or a week, slowly pick
up the pace and duration. It won’t take long
for your bones to realize they’ve got a little
more work to do and make the adjustment.
Wearing well-fitting supportive shoes can
also help lower the risk for a stress frac-
ture. If you’ve been wearing the same pair
of running shoes for the last two or three
years, it’s probably time for a new pair.
Although it’s enticing, don’t opt for the
cheapest pair you can find. It’ll be a recipe
for injury. Go to a specialty shoe store that
focuses on running and walking shoes to
help you find the best fit for your needs.
Trust me—it’s a worthwhile investment.
Mat Lecompte is a freelance health and
wellness journalist. This article was first
published on Bel Marra Health.
B4
Minerals
provide the very
elements of good
health.
Why Most
People Are
Deficient in
Minerals
Deficient food, chronic
disease are leaving us
malnourished
Continued from B1
DiNicolantonio cites three primary rea-
sons why so many people are deficient,
including the fact that our foods are more
nutrient-depleted. People also aren’t select-
ing the right foods to reach optimal intakes
of minerals, and chronic disease states are
compounding the problem.
For instance, gastrointestinal damage
can decrease the amount of minerals you
absorb; living in a state of significant in-
flammation taxes your system, and will
increase the burn rate of minerals. Kidney
damage increases the excretion of miner-
als, while high insulin levels will cause
minerals to be excreted in your urine.
“Those three key factors are why so
many of us are depleted in so many
minerals,” DiNicolantonio said.
Minerals for Antioxidant
Defense and Immunity
You may associate antioxidants with vita-
mins, such as vitamins C and E, but miner-
als were the first antioxidants in living or-
ganisms. DiNicolantonio uses the example
of blue-green algae that lived billions of
years ago, producing oxygen and creating
an abundance of oxidative stress. They uti-
lized selenium and iodine as antioxidants.
In humans, we use these similarly.
Iodine is an essential mineral that
helps prevent polyunsaturated fats from
oxidizing, provides your thyroid with the
necessary nutrients to produce thyroid
hormones, and is a natural antibacterial
agent. Thyroid hormones are essential for
normal growth and development in chil-
dren, neurological development in babies
before birth and in the first year of life, and
in regulating your metabolism.
However, DiNicolantonio states that thy-
roid hormones also act as antioxidants,
with effects 100 times stronger than vi-
tamin C, vitamin E, and glutathione.
You need minerals, including io-
dine and selenium, to form your
thyroid hormones, and your
levels of powerful antioxidants
such as glutathione are directly
dependent on your selenium
and magnesium status.
There’s also superoxide anion,
a free radical that causes many
types of cell damage. It’s the product of a
one-electron reduction of oxygen, which
is the precursor of most reactive oxygen
species and a mediator in oxidative chain
reactions.
These oxygen free radicals attack the lip-
ids in your cell membranes, protein recep-
Getting the tors, enzymes, and DNA that can prema-
recommended turely kill your mitochondria. Superoxide
dismutase neutralizes superoxide anion,
dietary rendering it harmless. But superoxide
dismutase depends on copper and zinc.
allowance DiNicolantonio explained:
(RDA) isn’t “If you’re low in copper and zinc, you can’t
neutralize the superoxide. It combines with
enough for nitric oxide, reducing your nitric oxide lev-
optimal els, increasing blood pressure, leading to
atherosclerosis and heart disease, and then
health. you form the toxic peroxynitrite. So it goes
to show you how just having a low mineral
status can lead to high
inflammation.”
RDAs Are
Inadequate
“The recommended
dietary allowance
(RDA) for many miner-
als may be inadequate to
protect your health and won’t help
you reach the levels needed to optimize your
antioxidant defenses,” DiNicolantonio said,
calling this issue the crux of the book.
RDAs are based on studies to make sure
you’re not deficient, but this level isn’t the
same as the one that will give you optimal
health. In the case of enzymes dependent
on vitamin C, for example, you need to
consume 120 milligrams (mg) to 150 mg
of vitamin C to make sure those enzymes
are highly optimized, which is far more
than the 6 mg to 8 mg of vitamin C needed
to prevent scurvy.
“You can have up to a 1,000-fold differ-
ence between preventing deficiency and
optimal intake,” according to DiNicolan-
tonio. Magnesium is another example, but
with lower differences between deficiency
and optimal levels. You only need about
150 mg to 180 mg a day to prevent defi-
ciency, but optimal levels are closer to the
600 mg/day level.
For comparison, the RDA for magnesium
is around 310 mg to 420 mg per day depend-
ing on your age and sex. But like DiNicolan-
tonio, many experts believe you may need
around 600 mg to 900 mg per day.
As noted in a study DiNicolantonio
worked that was published in 2018 in Open
Heart: “Investigations of the macro- and
micro-nutrient supply in Paleolithic nutri-
tion of the former hunter/gatherer societies
showed a magnesium uptake with the usual
diet of about 600 mg magnesium/day. ...
“This means our metabolism is best
adapted to a high magnesium intake. ...
In developed countries, the average intake
of magnesium is slightly over 4 mg/kg/day.
... The average intake of magnesium in the
U.S. is around 228 mg/day in women and
266mg/day in men.”
Another important point that DiNicol-
antonio makes is that simply increasing
your mineral intake by taking supplements
may not be enough, because you need to
be insulin-sensitive in order to utilize the
minerals properly. If you’re insulin-resis-
tant, you can’t drive the minerals into your
cells to work well, and you’ll be eliminating
the minerals in urine as well.
“So really the first step,” he says, “is to
eliminate the harmful substances that are
causing you to be insulin-resistant in the first
place. That’s automatically going to boost
your mineral status, because you’re going
to be able to utilize those minerals better.”
Top Food Sources of Minerals
The best way to increase your mineral in-
take is via healthy foods. For copper and
iron, for instance, DiNicolantonio recom-
mends pairing muscle meat with liver,
or eating oysters, which are also high in
zinc. A lot of oysters may be contaminated
with cadmium, however, so they should be
eaten in moderation depending on where
they’re sourced.
One of the foods with the highest miner-
als overall is mussels. They’re high in man-
ganese, chromium, and copper, which are
minerals many people are deficient in. Liv-
er is another nutrient-dense food that’s rich
in minerals, but it’s possible to overdo it.
According to DiNicolantonio, in terms
of mineral consumption, one-half to one
ounce of liver per day is the ideal amount,
which will give you vitamin A, folate, and
copper. He recommends pairing this with
about 10 to 12 ounces of pastured red meat
per day for the vitamin B12, protein, zinc,
and iron it provides.
If you don’t like the taste of liver, try a
blend of meat made with pastured liver,
heart, and muscle meat. You can add in
more pastured ground beef to make it more
palatable and still reap the rich mineral
benefits.
Women need more than twice the
amount of iron as men, so animal-based
sources of iron, which are 10 times more
bioavailable than plant sources, are impor-
tant. For those who don’t eat meat, com-
bining vitamin C with beans, spinach and
other iron-rich greens may help make the
iron more bioavailable.
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
ALL PHOTOS BY SHUTTERSTOCK
Benefits of Mineral Waters Manganese helps us
It’s important to balance animal foods with with blood clotting,
alkaline minerals such as potassium and bone formation,
magnesium from plant foods or mineral and metabolize
waters, which will balance out the acid and amino acids,
help protect your kidneys. Mineral waters carbohydrates,
glucose, and more.
that contain bicarbonate can help with this
acid-base balance while providing an ad-
ditional source of minerals such as calcium
and magnesium.
Drinking mineral water with a meal is
also beneficial and can increase mineral
absorption while lowering postprandial
blood sugar.
“It’s also useful to sip mineral water
throughout the day,” DiNicolantonio said,
citing a study that found consuming seven
ounces of mineral water seven times a day
increases magnesium absorption and re-
tention by 40 percent, versus consuming
larger amounts twice a day.
“It’s that slow infusion, which mimics
more of an evolutionary intake—we would
have just drank water throughout the day
and it would have been natural. It wouldn’t
be these artificially softened waters,
it would be natural waters that
contain bicarbonate, that
contain magnesium, that
contain calcium. So it’s
something that I do.”
Less-Known Minerals
That You May Be Missing
Minerals such as boron often get
overlooked, yet they’re extremely im-
portant for well-being and health. Boron,
consumed at levels of about 3 mg daily, is
beneficial for bone health and testosterone,
but it’s thought that most Americans only
consume about 1 mg.
The highest concentrations of boron
are found in bones and tooth enamel
and, according to the Natural Medicine
Journal, it “appears to be indispensable
for healthy bone function,” as it reduces
the excretion of calcium, magnesium,
and phosphorus.
There may also be other, as yet poorly un-
derstood, mechanisms by which it benefits
bone-building and other aspects of health.
The optimal dosage is unknown, but you can
get significant amounts of this trace mineral
by eating small amounts of raisins, peaches,
prunes, dates, black currants, and avocados.
A trace mineral supplement can also
be helpful in optimizing your levels
of “overlooked” minerals such as
boron, chromium, and molyb-
denum. Chromium, which has
been linked to improved blood
sugar levels, can be found in
mussels, lobster, crab, and
shrimp, as well as broccoli, in
smaller amounts.
Further, chromium is lost in sweat, so you
if sweat a lot due to living in a hot climate,
sauna usage, or exercise, a chromium
supplement may be necessary, especially
if you don’t regularly consume chromium- Dr. Joseph Mer-
rich foods. Copper is another mineral lost cola is the founder
through sweat, and since most people don’t of Mercola.com.
consume much copper, it’s possible to lose An osteopathic
more copper than you’ve taken in if you physician, best-
sweat heavily for about an hour a day. selling author,
Molybdenum is another often-overlooked and recipient of
mineral, which is an essential catalyst for multiple awards in
enzymes to help metabolize fats and car- the field of natural
bohydrates and facilitate the breakdown of health, his primary
certain amino acids in your body. The best vision is to change
dietary source of molybdenum, according the modern health
to DiNicolantonio, is liver. paradigm by
If you want to learn more, or are con- providing people
cerned that you’re not getting enough min- with a valuable
erals, “The Mineral Fix” goes much more resource to help
in-depth about the role of the 17 essential them take control
minerals your body needs, including opti- of their health. This
mal intake levels, symptoms of deficiency, article was origi-
how to test your mineral levels, and best nally published on
food sources. Mercola.com
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
FOOD AS MEDICINE
Fighting Autism Brain Inflammation With Food
A phytochemical in some vegetables offers a promising treatment for autism
MICHAEL GREGER
O
ne food may be able to
combat all four purported
causal factors of autism:
synaptic dysfunction, oxida-
tive stress, mitochondrial
dysfunction, and neuroinflammation.
Research into this food-based treat-
ment began with efforts to figure out
what it is about a fever that has such a
dramatic impact on children with autism
spectrum disorder (ASD).
Already, up to 1.5 percent of American
children have autism, and it appears to
be on the rise. What about fever’s dra-
matic effect? “Dramatic relief of autistic
behavior by infectious fever continues
to tantalize parents and practitioners,”
reads an article in the European Society
for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism’s
journal, adding that researchers are hesi-
tant to test this mechanism for fear of the
damaging impacts fever can have.
“Yet what could be more revealing than
a common event that virtually ‘normaliz-
es’ autistic behavior for a time?” they ask.
Once it became understood that one
cause of autism may reside in the syn-
apses—the “soul of the brain,” the nerve-
to-nerve junctions where information is
transmitted—attention turned to heat
shock proteins, which are released by the
brain when you have a fever.
They can improve synaptic transmission
and, thus, may be capable of improving
long-range brain connectivity, which is
depressed in autism. A compound, sul-
foraphane, upregulates those heat shock
proteins, so you could potentially get the
benefits without the fever. Which drug
company makes it? What do I ask for at the
pharmacy? You don’t. As I discuss in my
video “Fighting Autism Brain Inflamma-
tion with Food,” you just need to check out
the produce section at your local market.
Sulforaphane is not made in a chemical
plant—it’s made by a plant. Sulforaphane
is made by cruciferous vegetables: brocco-
li, kale, cabbage, collards, and cauliflower.
Perhaps if we give broccoli to those with
autism, it will make things better by boost-
ing the heat shock proteins.
But synaptic dysfunction isn’t the only
contributing cause of autism. There’s
also oxidative stress, which the brain is
particularly vulnerable to. This is be-
cause many free radicals are forged in
the brain, and the brain has few anti-
oxidant defense capacities. This view is
supported by a long history of studies
showing that autism is associated with
oxidative stress and diminished antioxi-
dant capacity.
Nrf2 levels are cut nearly in half, which
is what triggers our body’s antioxidant
response. Nrf2? What is that? It’s “con-
sidered to be a master regulator” of our
body’s response to environmental stress-
ors, according to a 2016 article published
in Seminars in Oncology. If only there
were a way to boost Nrf2 with foods.
Well, there is.
Sulforaphane just so happens
to be perhaps “the most potent
naturally occurring inducer”
of Nrf2 on the planet, note
the authors. Under any kind
of stress—oxidative stress,
inflammatory stress—Nrf2 trig-
gers our antioxidant response
elements, activating all sorts of
cell-protective genes that balance
out and detoxify the free radicals
and facilitate protein and DNA re-
pair. So, maybe if we give some broccoli
to those with autism, it will also make
things better by triggering Nrf2, which
activates those antioxidant response ele-
ments.
There’s also the mitochondrial dys-
function. Children with autism are
more likely to suffer from dysfunctional
mitochondria, the little powerplants
within our cells where metabolism takes
place. If only there were some food that
could improve mitochondrial function.
And, there is: “A diet rich in crucifer-
ous vegetables effectively retunes our
metabolism by ... restoring metabolic
homeostasis,” or metabolic balance,
notes a study published in The American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2013.
These vegetables are power plants for our
cellular power plants.
Not only can sulforaphane boost the
gene expression of heat shock proteins
as much as sixfold within six hours, but
it can also double the mass of mitochon-
dria in human cells growing in a petri
Cruciferous
vegetables like
broccoli can ignite
important chain
reactions in the
body.
Sulforaphane
is not made
in a chemical
plant—it’s made
by a plant.
dish. So, maybe if we give some broccoli
to those with autism, it will also make
things better by relieving some of that
mitochondrial dysfunction that is creat-
ing even more free radicals.
Can we just try giving these kids some
broccoli already?
Before we do, there’s one final factor.
Neuroinflammation—brain inflamma-
tion—is another causal factor in autism. If,
at autopsy, you look at brain tissue of those
with autism, you can see inflammation
throughout the white matter, and if you
do a spinal tap, you’ll find up to 200 times
G EN
IUS Z
D U DZ I N S K I /S H U T T E R
STO
CK
the levels of inflammatory mediators, such
EU
as interferon, bathing their brains. What’s
causing all that inflammation?
Well, the master regulator of
the inflammatory cascade is a
protein called NF-kappa-beta,
which induces inflammation.
If overexpressed, as in autism,
it can lead to chronic or exces-
sive inflammation. If only there
were a food ...
Really? Broccoli does that,
too? Yes! In fact, the major anti-
inflammatory mechanism for
sulforaphane is inhibiting NF-
kappa-beta.
That completes the picture. Give
broccoli to someone with autism, and
heat shock proteins are released to boost
Sulforaphane therapies synaptic transmission, Nrf2 is activated
offer a promising to wipe out the free radicals, mitochon-
treatment for autism. drial function is restored, and we sup-
press the inflammation triggered by
NF-kappa-beta. One food counters all
four purported causal factors of autism.
That’s one of the differences between
foods and drugs. Drugs tend to have
single effects. But, autism spectrum dis-
order is multifactorial, so it’s no wonder
there are no drugs that work. Unlike
drugs, however, the complex chemistry
of plants includes phytochemicals that
spur multiple biochemical reactions in
the body.
And when researchers tested this theory
out, giving people with autism spectrum
disorder (ASD) a treatment of sulfora-
phane, the results were important.
Researchers from Harvard Medical
School, the University of Massachusetts
Medical School, and other institutions say
they “observed consistent and large im-
B5
MARTIN NOVAK/SHUTTERSTOCK
provements in behavior in the majority of
sulforaphane-treated ASD [participants].”
They note, however, that the sample
size and diversity of participants was
limited, and broader studies are re-
quired.
The findings were published in PNAS
(Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences of the United States) in 2014.
Broccoli spurs a rise
in heat shock proteins
that boost synaptic
transmission.
“Most clinical studies and medications
aim to restrain ASD’s troublesome symp-
toms. In contrast, this study was, to our
knowledge, one of the few designed to
target core clinical features as well as the
fundamental biochemical abnormalities
of ASD (oxidative stress and antioxidant
deficiency, increased susceptibility to elec-
trophile toxicity, and inflammation) by the
administration of sulforaphane,” they state.
“Unlike the rapid onset of changes in
behavior during fever in ASD, responses
to sulforaphane in this study appeared
over several weeks. This finding suggests
that sulforaphane may cause increases
in gene transcription in multiple under-
performing cell-signaling pathways.”
The implications of the study and previ-
ous findings that fever could dramatical-
ly alleviate ASD behaviors have profound
significance.
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
How Pandemic Fatigue Made Us Antisocial
COVID-19 took a toll on our relationships. Understanding why might help us come back together.
Continued from B1
We are spent.
We have nothing left to say.
We are tired of saying “I miss you” and
“I cant wait for this to end.”
So we mostly say nothing, put our
heads down and get through each day.
If the response to Ashworth’s poem is any
indication, something happened early
in the year—after the distraction of the
holidays and before vaccinations really
ramped up—where many of us withdrew
into ourselves, cutting down on social in-
teraction.
According to University of Essex social
psychologist Gillian Sandstrom, the lock-
down got harder as it went along, even for
people who coped well last year. Over in
the United States, psychotherapist Lind-
sey Antin has seen her clients’ energy and
social activity go up and down in waves,
depending on how hopeful they feel at any
given moment.
Why would we withdraw, even though
we desperately need each other?
Perhaps, if we understand the roots of
our social behavior during the pandemic,
we’ll be more likely to forgive ourselves
and the people around us for withdrawing.
This could help us come back together in a
post-COVID world.
COVID-19 Blues
It’s not news that the pandemic has brought
us extra stress, loneliness, and depres-
sion—but what perhaps went unappreci-
ated is how much these mental states led
us to avoid interacting with others.
Loneliness, rather than prompting us
to connect, actually makes us withdraw,
according to research. We start to feel un-
worthy of our relationships, worried that
people are judging us or don’t enjoy being
around us. Depression saps our energy and
motivation, and affects our sense of self-
esteem. It makes it hard to do the things
that would help alleviate the depression,
including engaging with other people.
According to Antin, people with depres-
sion often feel like they don’t have much
to bring to the table in conversations with
others. Particularly if they’ve been isolated
and inactive, they don’t always know what
to talk about that would be interesting to
another person.
The same is probably true for many of us
during the pandemic, stuck at home and
unable to eat out at restaurants, enjoy many
of our hobbies, or take vacations that would
make for good stories.
Sandstrom agrees, adding that many of
us are probably sick of talking about CO-
VID. Her own research focuses on people’s
expectations and experiences around so-
cial interactions, and it suggests that we
underestimate how enjoyable interacting
with other people will be. At the prospect
of talking to a stranger, we worry about
whether they will like us and enjoy talk-
ing to us, and about our ability to sustain a
conversation. And people probably worry
about many of the same things around
their friends, she says.
“We might think, ‘Oh, I could have told
that story better than I did,’ or ‘Oh, why did
I say that? What if they don’t understand
me? What if they’re offended?’” she says.
“We have this voice in our head judging
ourselves the whole time, and it’s not very
positive.”
In addition to feeling pressure to be inter-
esting, some also feel pressure to be posi-
tive. Early in the pandemic, many people
rallied together with optimism—the col-
lective sense of “we can do this.” We reas-
sured kids and elderly parents that things
would be fine. But after a year, keeping up
that positive spirit isn’t so easy anymore.
It’s exhausting to constantly act cheerful
and hopeful when you don’t feel that way.
But if all we have to share are complaints,
pessimism, and sadness, we may worry
about being a burden to others. This was
certainly the case for Ashworth, who has
always played the role of uplifting and en-
couraging the people around her.
“I think nobody had anything positive to
add, so everybody just kind of shut up for
a while,” she said.
By not sharing those heavy thoughts with
others, she said, we also managed to avoid
really examining them ourselves. The loss-
es and uncertainty of the pandemic felt so
monumental, from worries about whether
our kids will be damaged to the inequities
in who gets sick and who gets treatment;
avoiding people meant we wouldn’t be
forced to face them.
“Nobody really wants to dig too deep
anymore because the answers are so dis-
Zoom fatigue
has many of us
preferring time
alone.
appointing,” Ashworth said.
Pandemic Fatigue
Even for those of us who aren’t struggling
as much, we are simply lacking in time and
energy. We are overwhelmed.
It’s natural that our social worlds would
contract right now, focusing on the people
who live in our household, and maybe our
closest friends and family. Last year, many
adults were suddenly tasked with home-
schooling their kids, supporting partners
who lost their jobs, or constantly cajoling
older relatives to stay home and take the
pandemic seriously.
Indeed, around the world, in just one
year, millions of people lost their lives to
the pandemic, and millions more suffered
severe cases of COVID-19, which affected
an uncountable number of other people
in ways that were incredibly stressful and
even traumatic. We all knew that death
and suffering lay outside the walls of our
homes. Every apartment was like a tiny
lifeboat.
“In some ways, our close relationships
are the most positive but also the most tax-
ing, because they’re the ones we have to be
there for and deal with,” Sandstrom said.
“It could be that with close relationships,
we just feel like we really have to support
right now and we don’t have any energy
left over for other people.”
In a way, it’s similar to what happens
with new parents: Having a baby—a novel
experience that keeps us at home more
and deprives us of sleep, not unlike the
pandemic—increases our contact with
neighbors and decreases our contact with
friends.
With so many demands on our attention,
when we do have a moment to ourselves,
sometimes all we crave is a bit of peace and
quiet. But we can’t always get it, especially
when we’re stuck sharing space with other
people in lockdown.
We Need Solitude, Too
According to research, “aloneli-
ness”—the opposite of loneliness,
the lack of solitude—is a real
problem. People who are lack-
ing in solitude can “end up feel-
ing irritable, overwhelmed, or
drained,” wrote psychologist Virginia
Thomas. They are more stressed and
less satisfied with their lives.
In an effort to avoid this fate, some of us
may be clinging to any moments of solitude
we can get, rather than responding to a text
or joining a digital catchup.
Even Antin’s first-grade son was feeling
it. One day recently, she went to check on
him and found him alone upstairs, eating
graham crackers and reading a book. So,
she invited him to sit with her while she
worked. “He’s like, ‘No, I need some time
by myself,’” she recalled with a laugh.
When we do have enough energy to
connect, the options are fraught and of-
ten unsatisfying. Spending time in person
requires an elaborate risk-reward calcula-
tion based on the other person’s pandemic
behaviors, and possibly an uncomfortable
conversation about whether you’ll wear
masks, physically distance, and meet out-
doors.
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021
CLESMOON/SHUTTERSTOCK
Online social interaction was fun and
novel for a while, as we discovered new
platforms for watching movies, playing
games, and even dancing together-but-
apart. But now, many of us are just ex-
hausted. According to researchers, Zoom
fatigue is real, and it comes from the fact
that most video calls involve unnatural
levels of eye contact, the distraction of star-
ing at our own reflection, the inability to
move around, and difficulty interpreting
people’s body language.
We’re tired of the options available to
us, says Antin. No solution is perfect, so
sometimes we opt for no solution at all.
“Virtual hangouts tend to be less fulfilling
than in-person ones and leave us longing
for that physical connection,” wrote Kelsey
Borresen for the Huffington Post. And the
No solution opposite happens, too, when the hassle
of getting all suited up to meet someone
is perfect, so outdoors and then barely being able to hear
sometimes them through masks and distance makes
you wish you’d just had a phone call.
we opt for no
Closing the Distance
solution at all. More than a month after Ashworth wrote
her viral poem, she is seeing a shift in
people’s moods. Vaccine rollouts have
many feeling more excited about the fu-
ture, even as we worry about being disap-
pointed again as lockdowns get extended
and timelines pushed back.
When all this is over, our relationships—
digital or distanced—won’t be the same right
away. Even being around other breathing
humans may be anxiety-provoking at first.
Our social skills may still need practice, be-
cause they are skills, after all, Sandstrom
says. And the effects of pandemic-related
trauma or depression won’t immediately go
away with a shot in the arm.
K M E D IA /S H U T T E R
VE B RE A S TO
There are a few things we can do to ease
WA CK
the transition. We’d do well to remember
Sandstrom’s research on how surprisingly
fun it is to interact with others. Even dur-
ing the pandemic, when she paired up
strangers online, they ended up talk-
ing longer than expected—40 min-
utes, on average, as opposed to 14—
and found the conversation more
enjoyable and easier to maintain
than they thought it would be. We
are built for this, even when the little
voice in our head says otherwise.
Our relationships will bounce back
better and stronger if we don’t take the
past year’s unreturned messages or de-
clined invitations personally. It will help to
be patient and understanding of the people
around us who are finally emerging from
their homes, perhaps more slowly than we
When we are lonely are, perhaps with more anxiety than they
and depressed, we find had before.
ourselves seeking more
time alone—which leaves
If we’re lucky, all the Zoom fatigue and
us more depressed. loneliness and aloneliness will remind us
of what it was like to lose each other—and
what it was like to find each other again.
Kira M. Newman is the managing editor
of Greater Good. Her work has been pub-
lished in outlets including The Washing-
ton Post, Mindful magazine, Social Media
Monthly, and Tech.co, and she is the
co-editor of The Gratitude Project.  This
article was originally published in Greater
Good online magazine.
 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021 B7

WISE HABITS

Working to Become More Trustable

When others can trust us, a deeper relationship can form
ALL PHOTOS BY SHUTTERSTOCK

LEO BABAUTA

A
s a husband, father, and man,
one of the things I crave most is
for my loved ones to trust me.
It’s something I want with my
team, my readers, my coach-
ing clients, and the members of my Sea
Change and Fearless Training programs.
And I’ve worked hard over the years to
become more trustable.
It’s really a magical thing, when people
start trusting you. When your wife and
kids trust you, it can melt your heart.
They can relax, and feel taken care of.
When your clients trust you, you can go
deeper with them. When you trust your-
self, you can relax more in any activity.
There’s magic in becoming trustable.
In this article, I’d like to share some of
what I’ve learned. To be clear: I’m not
perfect, and I don’t always do everything
perfectly. This isn’t about perfection, but
about being someone that people can
count on—including taking responsibil-
ity when you’ve fallen short of what they
were expecting.

An Example: What Happens in a

Marriage When You’re Trustable
A marriage is a great example of where
the magic of trustability can transform
things. In a marriage, one partner will
crave the radiant love of the other part-
ner—a husband craving the abundant
feminine love of his wife, for example.
But she can’t fully give her radiant love
and affection if she can’t relax. And she
can’t relax if she’s always worried about
whether things are going to be taken care
of, anxious about whether her life is safe,
whether you’re going to follow through
on what you said you’d do. I can’t tell
you how many men I’ve worked with
who said this is one of their wives’ main
complaints.
When our partner doesn’t trust us and
complains that we don’t do what we say
we’re going to do, we can take that as
criticism. We can say, “Why does she
always have to complain about me?”
But what we’re missing is truly get-
ting her experience, of having to worry
about things she doesn’t want to worry
about. She feels tense, and she can’t relax
enough to give her radiant love.
When they can relax and know that
things are taken care of, they can give
their love more easily and abundantly.
Which is what we crave.
And so the magic comes when we
become trustable—all of a sudden, they
can relax more. And their love flows
more easily and abundantly. It’s a won-
derful magic!
It turns out this is how all relationships
often work, including professional rela-
tionships. When others can trust us and
relax, a deeper relationship can form.
Magic happens.
How to Become More Trustable
When we understand how all of the
above works, then the question becomes,
“How do I become more trustable?”
And my answer is that it doesn’t hap-
pen overnight. And it’s a never-ending
process, like any kind of mastery. You’re
never done growing in this area.
It can take time to re-earn
lost trust from our loved
ones—and it’s worth
every effort.
When they can
relax and know
that things are
taken care of,
they can give
their love more
easily and
abundantly.
Earning trust is an
ongoing process that
comes from continuous
effort and growth.
But it is possible to grow tremendously.
I’m going to give some of the key learn-
ings here:
r
Do your best to practice keeping your
word. That means when you say you’re
going to do something, really commit
to making that happen. Sometimes
that means sacrificing some comfort
to make it happen. But make it a top
priority, and take it seriously.
r
When you can’t keep your word, own
up to it. Let them know ahead of time
if you’re not able to do it. If you messed
up, take responsibility and apologize,
and let them know what you’ll do go-
ing forward to avoid the same mistake
repeating. Do what you need to do to
fix things.
r
Breathe deeply and slow down. When
we’re jumpy and anxious, they’ll feel it.
When we stand solidly, breathe deeply,
and go slower, they feel this as solidity
and trustability. As with all of this, it’s a
learning process. You’ll have moments
of anxiety, but you can learn to breathe
deeply even here. You’ll have moments
of fidgetiness and jumpiness, but you
can learn to slow down even here, with
practice.
r
Create structure for yourself and
them. When you’re committed to mak-
ing certain things happen (taking care
of the car, getting the groceries, paying
the bills), it will help greatly to have
structure, like a schedule with remind-
ers. When will this get taken care of?
You might alter the structure, but
having a structure for you and those
around you helps them to know that
things are in order and will be taken
care of. Practice creating structure
for others when it would serve them
and without forcing it on them. Offer
a plan, a schedule, a clear decision, an
agreement.
r
When they complain about some-
thing you haven’t done ... listen. Hold
space for their complaint, and instead
of taking it personally, see if there’s
some way you can help them. But
listen first, and
understand
them. Then
see what you
can do to make
it right, to create
structure so they
can trust it will get
done, to clean up any
mess you’ve acciden-
tally made. You don’t
need to feel blame or shame, but just
understand them.
r
Take things seriously. But not too
seriously! OK, it’s good to have a sense
of humor, but if you dismiss their
concerns or say, “Yeah, yeah, don’t
worry,” they’ll worry. They can’t trust
that you’re going to do your best. Give
it your all. Hear their concerns. Make it
clear you’re going to take care of it.
r
Take full responsibility. Especially
when you want to blame them. Instead
of pointing the finger, look at what you
might have done to contribute to this,
or to allow this situation to happen.
Have you not been clear? Have you not
created an agreement around this?
Have you not been acknowledging
them for how great they are? Have you
not been taking care of things? When
you think you shouldn’t have to take
on responsibility—that’s when you can
take on more.
r
Take care of yourself. If you can’t take
care of yourself, how can you be trust-
ed to take care of them? This means
clean up your messes, put things in
order, do some basic personal hy-
giene, take care of your emotions, and
give yourself rest when you’re feeling
stressed or burned out. Being trustable
doesn’t mean you have to take on so
much that you’re overworked.
r
Always look for ways to be more
trustable. Where have you dropped
the ball? Is there something you could
do to feel more solid to them? Where
have you avoided taking on responsi-
bility? Where have you let things lapse
into a mess? This is a continual area of
growth. You don’t have to be perfect,
but you can continue to grow. For life.
Do your best to keep
your word. That means
when you say you’re
going to do something,
really commit to doing it.
If you take some of this on, a little at a
time, I would be willing to bet that things
will magically start to change for you in
all of your relationships. And it just feels
freaking good to be trusted.
Leo Babauta is the author of six books, the
writer of Zen Habits, a blog with over 2
million subscribers, and the creator of sev-
eral online programs to help you master
your habits. Visit ZenHabits.net
B8 MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2021

Handshakes and Hugs Are Good for You

It’s important that these customs make a comeback after the pandemic

SIMON NICHOLAS WILLIAMS can’t be made up for by hugging those few and “catch” shared emotions, which can for it, and the benefits it brings.
& KIMBERLY DIENES people closest to us or in our household. It help provide the social glue for solidarity, We should continue to avoid touch and

W
hen was the last time
you shook someone’s
hand, or kissed them on
the cheek to say hello?
The pandemic has put a
stop to these simple gestures, while social
distancing and strict hygiene practices
have become part of our everyday lives as
a necessary way of minimizing the spread
of the virus. But should this new way of
interacting be permanent?
Some experts say that we might not, or
even should not, return to the old ways
once the pandemic is over. Anthony Fau-
ci, chief medical adviser to the U.S. presi-
dent, has said, “I don’t think we should
ever shake, hands ever again.” He argues
that it would reduce the spread of not only
COVID-19 but also other viruses such as
influenza.
The loss of casual touch
may be detrimental to
society as a whole in a
way that can’t be made
up for by hugging
only those few people
closest to us.
We disagree. As soon as the pandemic is
under control and it is deemed safe to do
so, there are good reasons why we should
start gradually embracing some of our old
habits: hugging, handshaking, and gather-
ing in groups. In cultures where such habits
have been customary for centuries, doing
so will have a host of social, psychological,
and biological benefits.
The loss of casual touch may be detri-
mental to society as a whole in a way that
may be that, once it is deemed safe to do so,
the long-term benefits of the handshake,
the hug, or the kiss on the cheek may out-
weigh the risks.
The Importance of Touch
From the moment of birth, physical contact
increases our immunity, reduces stress,
and connects us with loved ones. Skin-to-
skin contact with a baby regulates heart
rate, reduces pain reactions, and emotion-
ally calms both mother and infant.
As adults, physical contact such as hold-
ing hands can provide a buffer against
a stressful experience. Physical contact
also increases immune function.
On a less intimate level, in many cultures,
handshakes represent an important social
ritual through which trust and belonging
are formed and maintained. The philos-
opher Maurice Merleau-Ponty cited the
handshake in his discussion of what he
termed “inter-corporeality.” This is the
often tacit or unconscious mutual
recognition of our connectedness
as human beings.
The Wisdom of Crowds
In our research, we have found
that many people are anxious
about returning to the habit of
gathering in groups,
even after the
pandemic has
subsided. This
anxiety is
understand-
able, but in the
long term, we should
be encouraging group
gatherings.
Crowds provide
opportunities for
what sociologist
Emile Durkheim
called “collective effer-
vescence.” Such gather-
ings help us form
togetherness, and shared identity. This is a
good thing, provided the mood is a positive
one, for example at weddings, concerts,
and sporting events.
Behaviors That Are Here to Stay
With optimism over vaccines being tem-
pered by concern over new variants, we
need to reflect on which behaviors we
should keep after the pandemic, and which
we should discard.
The pandemic may have made many
people more aware of the role they play in
protecting others, even when they them-
selves may not be particularly vulnerable
to a disease. In many countries, health
information campaigns early on in the
pandemic led to dramatic improvements
in  self-reported personal hygiene, and
many more people now understand exactly
what good hand hygiene is, the rationale
engage in physical distancing when suf-
fering from a cold or the flu. Mask-wear-
ing, long established in other cultures
as a means to protect others rather than
ourselves, is now being more widely un-
derstood and adhered to, with many of us
assuming it will be an occasional part of
our lives for years to come. This is also a
good thing.
Bringing Back Rituals
The ingrained nature of social habits and
rituals helps explain why social distancing
has been so difficult and so unnatural for
so many. Although we have, quite remark-
ably, suppressed these gestures and behav-
iors in the short term, the depth of social
connection they create and symbolize may
not be so easy to replace in the long term.
When it’s safe to do so, policies that pre-
vent us physically coming together as in-
dividuals will thankfully be lifted.
After the pandemic, we need to strike a
balance between the old and new normal.
We can take the best parts of both—re-
gaining our need for physical touch while
retaining our new and improved hygiene
habits.
DIEGO CERVO/S
HUTTERSTOCK
Simon Nicholas
Williams is a
senior lecturer
in people and
organization
at Swansea
University
in the UK, and
Kimberly Dienes is
a lecturer in clinical and
health psychology at Swansea
University. This article was first
published on The Conversation.
Hugs and handshakes connect us
beyond the moment of contact.

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