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In the News
NEWS
The United States will start
sharing its stockpile of Astra-
Zeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine
with other countries, Presi-
dent Joe Biden’s administra-
tion says. ... A6
The Supreme Court has
heard a case about whether a
California law requiring chari-
ties to hand over the names of
their donors violates the First
Amendment. ... A3
Minnesota’s attorney gen-
eral says that prosecutors
didn’t bring hate crime charges
against police officer Derek
Chauvin in George Floyd’s
death because there was no
evidence of racial bias. ...A5
Former President Donald
Trump has recently made a
donation to the United Cajun
Navy for its search and rescue
mission for crewmembers of
the Seacor Power. ... A4
The Supreme Court has
declined to take up a motion
filed by Republican state at-
torneys general to resurrect
former President Donald
Trump’s “public charge” im-
migration rule. ... A4
Georgia Secretary of State
Brad Raffensperger says his
office is fully cooperating with
a Fulton County investigation
into potential election inter-
ference. ... A6
Attorney General Mer-
rick Garland has announced
a Department of Justice-led
investigation into the officer-
involved death of Breonna Tay-
lor in Louisville, Kentucky. ...A7
The UK government has
condemned the Iranian regime
after British-Iranian charity
worker Nazanin Zaghari-Rat-
cliffe was given an additional
one-year jail term for allegedly
spreading propaganda against
the regime. ...A11
Beijing’s latest efforts to
cover up its state-sanctioned
practice of harvesting organs
from prisoners of conscience
include publicizing the story
of four individuals who were
involved with the illegal prac-
tice. ...A1
BUSINESS
New orders for key U.S.-
made capital goods rose sol-
idly in March and shipments
surged, suggesting that eco-
nomic growth accelerated in
the first quarter, according to
the Commerce Department.
...A17
Apple has announced plans
to invest more than $1 billion
in North Carolina to build the
company’s first East Coast
campus. ... A17
OPINION
Charlotte Allen: Woke Capi-
talism: How Did It Happen?...
A13
Josh Hammer: The Toxic-
ity of the Permanent Outrage
Mentality...A14
Newt Gingrich & Claire
Christensen: The Anti-Amer-
ican Administration...A16
FEATURES
American painter Steve
Wineinger believes that art
should uplift humanity, as well
as glorify the one who created
us. ...B1
‘My Octopus Teacher’ is
about documentary filmmaker
Craig Foster’s transformative
relationship with a common
octopus. ...B7
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| T U E S D A Y, A P R I L 2 7, 2 0 21
CONGRESS
PRO Act Could Mean US Will
Decide Unionization Drives
Passed by House, act would enable NLRB to impose a
union, nullify right-to-work laws, enforce mandatory dues
By MARK TAPSCOTT
M
ore than 70 percent
of the employees of
Amazon’s Bessemer,
Alabama, facility voted
against joining a union, but that’s not
the last word by far, especially if the
Democrats’ PRO Act becomes law.
A total of 3,215 of the Amazon
warehouse’s 5,800 employees cast Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) speaks
mail-in ballots in the April 9 elec- during a news conference at the U.S.
tion, with 1,798, or 70.9 percent, Capitol on March 23, 2021.
The Tianjin First Central Hospital, which houses one of China’s most active organ
transplant centers.
ORGAN HARVESTING
Jailing of 4 Doctors for Illegal Organ
Extraction in China Casts Spotlight
on Forced Organ Harvesting
By FRANK FANG
A criminal case involving unau-
thorized organ procurement sur-
gery conducted in an unlicensed
ambulance in China is casting a
spotlight on Beijing’s continued
efforts to cover up its state-sanc-
tioned practice of harvesting or-
gans from prisoners of conscience.
Last July, four doctors from east-
ern China were sentenced in China
VACCINES
European Union Sues
AstraZeneca Over
COVID-19 Vaccine
Delivery Shortfall
By TOM OZIMEK
The European Union is suing phar-
maceutical giant AstraZeneca for
COVID-19 vaccine delivery short-
falls, marking an escalation in a
dispute that has simmered for
some time.
Continued on A11
Accuracy The Epoch Times was founded in 2000 as an independent newspaper with the goal to restore accuracy and
integrity in media. We have received numerous awards for our reporting, including from the Society of Professional
& Integrity Journalists, the Society for News Design, and the New York Press Association.
Truth & Tradition
ERIN SCOTT-POOL/GETTY IMAGES
HOSPITAL FILES
to between 12 and 28 months in
prison after being found guilty for
their roles in illegally extracting the
liver and two kidneys of Li Peng,
a hospital patient, after her death.
Their case was reported by state-
run media and not censored, in-
dicating that the Chinese regime
was seeking to use the story to de-
flect attention away from its state-
sanctioned practice of forced organ
Continued on A8
Hong Kong’s Richest Man Marginalized
for Not Actively Supporting CCP
By JENNIFER BATEMAN &
JENNIFER ZENG
A recent photo of Li Ka-
shing, Hong Kong’s richest
man, receiving a Pfizer CO-
VID-19 vaccine instead of a Hong Kong
China-made alternative has billionaire Li secretary for the Civil Ser-
drawn renewed attention to Ka-shing.
the relationship between
Li and the Chinese Communist Hong Kong’s vaccination program.
Party (CCP). Continued on A9
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The Amazon.com, Inc. BHM1 fulfillment center
in Bessemer, Ala., on March 29, 2021.
voting against unionizing under
the banner of the Retail, Whole-
sale, and Department Store Union
(RWDSU). The union needed 50
percent plus one to win.
The vote was closely watched by
political observers as it represented
an effort to achieve a union break-
through in the Big Tech industry,
which is largely nonunion.
Under current law, the National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
Continued on A3
INDIA
Quad Nations
Should Work Out
‘Finer Nuances’
for Coordinating
Rare-Earth
Supply Chain,
Scientist Says
By VENUS UPADHAYAYA
BANGALORE, India—The Quad
countries—the United States, In-
dia, Japan, and Australia—is seek-
ing to address their dependence on
supply chains for critical technolo-
gies dominated by China.
The Quad’s critical and emerging
technology working group will con-
vene dialogues on critical technol-
ogy supply chains for areas includ-
ing artificial intelligence (AI), cloud
computing, quantum, robotics, and
blockchain. A noted scientist and
an expert in critical technologies
says the Quad nations must ensure
they cover all their bases, as critical
technology supply chains can be
very complex and nuanced.
S. Chandrashekar, a global au-
thority on critical technologies
Continued on A10
HONG KONG
On April 16, the Li Ka Shing
Foundation posted a photo
of Li receiving the vaccine
on its Facebook page, cap-
tioned, “I am getting my vac-
cination today, have you got
yours?” That led Patrick Nip,
vice of Hong Kong, to quickly
thank Li for his support of
VOL . X V I I I | NO. 2,948 $1.
TAXES
Bulk of SALT
Cap Repeal
Benefits Would
Go to Households
Earning Half a
Million or
More: Study
By TOM OZIMEK
Around 70 percent of the benefit
from repealing the federal cap on
state and local tax (SALT) deduc-
tions would go to households mak-
ing $500,000 or more per year, while
just 1 percent of the benefit would
go to those earning $100,000 or less,
according to a recent study from
the Tax Policy Center.
Only 1 percent of the
benefit from abolishing
the cap would go to those
earning $100,000 or less.
Earlier in April, more than 30
bipartisan members of the House
formed the SALT caucus to push
for a repeal of the cap, with cau-
cus members stating that the move
would provide tax relief to “hard-
working middle-class families.”
But the analysis shows that abol-
ishing the cap would be a windfall
for higher-income households, with
those earning $1 million or more
per year set to receive 49 percent of
the benefits and nearly 93 percent
of such households seeing an aver-
age tax cut of nearly $48,000.
Further, 97.6 percent of house-
holds earning between $50,000 and
$75,000 would see no tax break what-
soever, while the remaining 2.4 per-
cent in that income bracket would
see an average tax cut of just $260.
Continued on A5
SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
A customer purchases a gun in Tinley
Park, Ill., on April 8, 2021.
SUPREME COURT
Supreme Court
Takes Up Major
NRA-Backed Gun
Rights Case
By JACK PHILLIPS
The Supreme Court has decided
to take up a major, National Rifle
Association (NRA)-backed lawsuit
that challenges a New York law re-
stricting individuals from carrying
concealed handguns in public.
It’s been more than 10 years since
the Supreme Court weighed in on
a significant case involving the
Second Amendment, coming in
the wake of President Joe Biden’s
and top Democrats’ recent push
for more gun-control initiatives,
Continued on A2
US–AFGHANISTAN
GEN. MILLER ON US
TROOP WITHDRAWAL
FROM AFGHANISTAN
“All of our
forces
are now
preparing to
retrograde,”
Army Gen.
Austin
Miller said.
Read more on n A4
A2 | NATION
Supreme Court Takes Up Major
NRA-Backed Gun Rights Case
CONTINUED FROM A1
including bans on so-called ghost
guns, proposing models for “red
flag” laws, and expanding and
lengthening background checks.
“The petition for a writ of certio-
rari is granted limited to the follow-
ing question: Whether the State’s
denial of petitioners’ applications
for concealed-carry licenses for
self-defense violated the Second
Amendment,” reads a brief order
from the high court on April 26.
It’s been more than
10 years since the
Supreme Court
weighed in on a
significant case in-
volving the Second
Amendment.
Over the years, the NRA and other
gun rights groups have criticized
the Supreme Court for not taking
up any major lawsuits relating to
the Second Amendment. In 2008,
the court stated for the first time
that the Second Amendment pro-
tects Americans’ rights to keep and
bear arms for self-defense at home.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence
Thomas, considered possibly the
most conservative justice, wrote
several years ago that courts have
engaged in a “general failure to
afford the 2nd Amendment the
respect due an enumerated con-
stitutional right.”
“If a lower court treated another
right so cavalierly, I have little doubt
that this court would intervene. ...
The 2nd Amendment is a disfa-
vored right in this court,” he wrote.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, after
The remains of a home destroyed during a tornado outbreak a decade ago, in
Shoal Creek Valley near Ashville, Ala., on April 13, 2021.
Pain, Loss Linger a
Decade After Tornadoes
Hammer 6 States
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—For Tom
Sanders, it’s the void left by the
death of a cousin and the man’s
wife, killed when a tornado mowed
through a placid Alabama valley.
To Markedia Wells, it’s the stolen
innocence of her sons, who still get
nervous anytime it starts raining.
Darryl Colburn laments a lost way
of life in his hometown, which was
all but leveled in seconds.
Waves of tornadoes pummeled
the Eastern U.S. over four days in
the spring of 2011, killing more than
320 people in six states, including
about 250 who died in Alabama on
April 27 of that year. A decade has
passed, but time has been unable to
erase the pain or replace the losses
inflicted by the terrifying storms.
Homes and businesses were re-
built and new trees have grown;
empty seats around dinner tables
were filled as babies were born and
a new generation came of age. Yet
there’s still a sense of absence, a
lingering feeling of sorrow, in com-
munities where so much was lost
so quickly.
“I don’t know if it’s a day to re-
the court dismissed a gun case last
term, wrote in early 2020 he hopes
the court will take up a Second
Amendment-related challenge
in the near future. “The Court
should address that issue soon,
perhaps in one of the several Sec-
ond Amendment cases with peti-
tions for certiorari now pending
before the Court.”
On April 26, the NRA praised the
court for taking up the legal chal-
lenge, describing it as a case that
challenges “New York’s restrictive
concealed-carry-licensing regime,”
noting that it sets up the stage “for
the Supreme Court to affirm what
AP PHOTO/JAY REEVES
AP PHOTO/JAY REEVES
Markedia Wells at the now-empty lot
in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where she and
her two sons survived a tornado a
decade ago, on April 14, 2021.
member, but it’s a day you can’t
forget,” said Colburn, the mayor
of tiny Hackleburg, where 18 died
in an EF-5 twister with winds esti-
mated at 210 mph. The same twister
hit nearby Phil Campbell, where a
granite monument at the center of
town honors 27 who were killed.
To mark the anniversary, Gov.
Kay Ivey ordered flags lowered to
half-staff on April 27, which she
proclaimed a statewide day of re-
most states already hold as true,
that there is an individual right to
self-defense outside of the home.”
The case, according to the gun-
rights group, challenges New York
state’s requirement that applicants
for pistol permits show “proper
cause” to carry a gun, which they
argue violates the Second Amend-
ment to keep and bear arms.
“The NRA believes that law-abid-
ing citizens should not be required
to prove they are in peril to receive
the government’s permission
to exercise this constitutionally
protected right,” the group wrote,
noting that if the Supreme Court
membrance for a “horrible event
that has impacted the state of Ala-
bama forever.”
Storms that began in eastern
Texas mushroomed by the time
the line reached Mississippi,
where one twister was so intense
it scoured 2 feet of dirt from the
ground. More than 60 tornadoes
then struck Alabama, including
one that was captured on video as
it decimated the city of Tuscaloosa,
and storms continued as far north
as New York state.
It’s a day you can’t
forget.
Darryl Colburn, mayor,
Hackleburg, Alabama
Another major tornado outbreak
had killed more than three dozen
people across the South about two
weeks earlier, and a spring of pain
got even worse two weeks later,
when an EF-5 ripped through Jo-
plin, Missouri. About 160 people
died there.
The government-funded con-
struction of hundreds of residen-
tial safe rooms and community
storm shelters following the out-
break, still one of the deadliest in
U.S. history, and meteorologists
improved forecasting systems.
One study suggested better ways
of communicating weather threats
through live TV, including the con-
stant presence of maps on-screen
so viewers can understand where
dangerous storms are located.
But better preparation for future
disasters has done little to ease the
pain of those who still relive the
horror of past storms and the loss
of loved ones.
In east Alabama’s Shoal Creek
Valley, where 12 died, families are
still coping with unforgettable im-
ages and stories like that of Albert
Sanders, 44, who died in the arms
of his father, Buford Sanders, after
being flung by a twister in a field.
By Jay Reeves
From The Associated Press
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
rules favorably, it will “affect the
laws in many states that currently
restrict carrying a firearm outside
the home.”
Robert Nash and Brandon Koch,
the two men who brought the law-
suit, both applied for licenses to
carry handguns in New York state
for self-defense but were denied.
A district court later said that nei-
ther had proper cause to carry a
handgun because they didn’t
face “any special or unique danger
to [their] life.”
New York Attorney General Leti-
tia James, a Democrat, wrote in a
legal brief calling on the Supreme
Alaska Airlines Bans State Senator
for Refusing to Follow Mask Rules
SAMUEL ALLEGRI
Alaska Airlines has banned Alaska
state Sen. Lora Reinbold (R-Eagle
River) from flying on the airline
for repeatedly refusing to follow
mask mandates.
“We have notified Senator Lora
Reinbold that she is not permit-
ted to fly with us for her continued
refusal to comply with employee
instruction regarding the current
mask policy,” Alaska Airlines
spokesperson Tim Thompson told
The Epoch Times via email.
“This suspension is effective im-
mediately pending further review.
Federal law requires all guests to
wear a mask over their nose and
mouth at all times during travel,
including throughout the flight,
during boarding and deplaning,
and while traveling through an
airport.”
The length of the ban is to be de-
termined after a review.
The airline had banned 506 peo-
ple as of April 23.
In a statement, the senator
said the story should have stayed
confidential until a thorough re-
view of both parties.
“Ak Air: Until there is a fair deter-
mination, after thorough review of
both sides, I believe this should be
confidential. I learned about Ak
Air decision before I knew there
was even an inquiry and before I
had a chance to talk to or discuss
this with anyone at Alaska Air. I
never received a warning via a yel-
low card per their policy either,”
Reinbold wrote.
She said there was no due
process before the incident was
made public, noting that Alaska
Airlines gave her information to
the media without her knowledge
or permission.
“I do believe constitutional rights
are at risk under corporate covid
policies,” she wrote.
Videos on Twitter appear to show
the senator discussing the incident
with the airline staff.
The Supreme Court in
Washington on Nov. 5, 2020.
J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP PHOTO
Court not to grant the case, say-
ing the state law is consistent with
prior rulings.
James said New York’s law was
“supported by a centuries-old tra-
dition of state and local measures
regulating the carrying of firearms
in public” and that it has existed
in the same essential form since
1913. “New York’s law directly ad-
vances the State’s compelling inter-
ests in protecting the public from
gun violence.”
The Epoch Times has contacted
James’s office for comment.
The court is expected to take up
the case during the next term.
Reinbold said, in a statement:
“I was reasonable with all Alaska
Airlines employees. I have been
flying on Alaska Air for decades
and am an MVP gold. I inquired
about mask exemption with up-
tight employees at the counter.
“The timing of complaint and a
specific employee is of keen inter-
est. The most divisive disaster bill
hb76 is up Monday. I have been
assured this be looked into.
“I was respectful of Alaska Air-
lines policies. We had a pleasant
safe flight with happy flight atten-
dants and great talented pilots. I
hope to be on an Alaska Airlines
flight in the near future.”
Reinbold, who was in southcen-
tral Alaska this weekend, decided
to travel by land and sea to Juneau,
where the legislative session re-
sumed on April 26.
Lawmakers can participate in
committee meetings by telecon-
ference but can’t vote on the House
or Senate floor remotely under
current procedures.
“Alaska I went to new heights to
serve you & have a new apprecia-
tion for the marine ferry system. I
am keenly aware of the monopo-
ly in air transport to Juneau that
needs reviewed!” Reinbold wrote.
“Please thank my husband for giv-
ing up his birthday to make a long
unexpected trip to Juneau by road/
ferry system!”
Reinbold has been a vocal oppo-
nent of COVID-19 mitigation mea-
sures and has repeatedly objected
to Alaska Airlines’ mask policy,
which was enacted before the fed-
eral government’s mandate.
Last year, she referred to Alaska
Airlines staff as “mask bullies” af-
ter being asked by flight attendants
to wear a mask aboard a flight.
After the incident, she reportedly
sent a cake to flight attendants
bearing the inscription, “I’m sorry
if I offended you.”
The Associated Press contributed
to this report.
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
California Law
Forcing Charities to
Identify Donors Is
Unconstitutional,
Supreme Court Hears
MATTHEW VADUM
The Supreme Court seems sympa-
thetic to arguments by two con-
servative charities that a Califor-
nia law requiring charities to hand
over the names of their donors vio-
lates the First Amendment.
The case, Americans for Pros-
perity Foundation v. Bonta, court
file 19-251, and a companion
case, Thomas More Law Center
v. Bonta, court file 19-255, were
heard together April 26. Rob
Bonta, a Democrat, was sworn
in on April 23 as California’s at-
torney general.
The court allotted 70 minutes for
oral argument; the hearing actu-
ally ran 104 minutes.
The petitioner groups were rep-
resented by Derek L. Shaffer. The
respondent, California, was rep-
resented by California Deputy So-
licitor General Aimee A. Feinberg.
The former Trump administra-
tion had argued the state’s policy
clearly violates the two tax-exempt
groups’ constitutionally protected
freedom of association.
However, the Biden administra-
tion, represented at the hearing by
Acting Solicitor General Elizabeth
Prelogar, said the appeals court’s
“analysis was incomplete” in
the ruling at hand, which found
against the charities, so it should
be returned to the court so it can
clarify its reasoning.
Americans for Prosperity Foun-
dation (AFPF) and its sister orga-
nization, Americans for Pros-
perity, are influential libertarian
nonprofits funded by business-
man Charles Koch. The Thomas
More Law Center is a conservative
Christian public interest law firm
based in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
and isn’t to be confused with the
Thomas More Society, a Chicago-
based public interest law firm.
California regulations require
charities to file a copy of their IRS
Form 990, a federal informational
return for tax-exempt organiza-
tions, annually with the state.
Schedule B to the form contains
names and addresses of top do-
nors. While the form is made
available to the public, Schedule
B donor information must be kept
confidential, under pain of federal
civil and criminal penalties.
When a Schedule B is released
PRO Act Could Mean US Will Determine
Winners of Unionization Drives
CONTINUED FROM A1
could order a new election if the
RWDSU files an unfair labor prac-
tices charge against Amazon con-
cerning the election.
But under the Protecting the Right
to Organize Act (PRO) that passed
the House with vigorous support
from President Joe Biden and is now
before the Senate, the NLRB could
unilaterally set the election results
aside and impose the union on the
Amazon employees regardless of
how they voted.
The House voted March 9 for the
proposal, with 220 Democrats and
five Republicans in favor of it and
205 Republicans and one Democrat
opposed.
The PRO Act vastly expands the
power of the NLRB to use its regu-
latory authority to reinforce orga-
nized labor’s efforts to expand its
membership after decades of de-
cline. It also would nullify the 27
state Right-to-Work laws presently
on the books and enable unions to
collect mandatory dues payments
from employees who don’t wish to
join a trade organization.
Only 6.3 percent of all private-sec-
to the public, donor-identifying
information is redacted.
Since about 2005, California has
demanded that charities file with
the state unredacted Schedule B
documents, giving state officials
the names of donors. The state’s
policy is to keep the information
confidential, but there are no state
legal penalties for breaching con-
fidentiality.
The charities concerned refuse
to file their unredacted Schedule
Bs with the liberal, Democratic
Party-dominated California gov-
ernment because they don’t trust
its officials to keep the information
secret. They say that their donors
have in the past been harassed
and been the victims of reprisals
when their names became public.
A U.S. district court agreed with
the charities and preliminarily en-
joined California from requiring
petitioners to submit their Sched-
ule B documents. The U.S. Court
of Appeals for the 9th Circuit dis-
agreed and reversed.
Shaffer told the Supreme Court
during oral arguments that in
2013, when California leaked
the Schedule B of Asian Ameri-
cans for Advancing Justice, there
weren’t life-threatening conse-
quences for donors, “but today, in
2021, sad to say, it could be a life-
or-death issue that their identities
have been disclosed.”
Shaffer said there is expert tes-
timony in the record “explaining
that precisely because there is
such intensity of views and there’s
such a proclivity to vilify perceived
enemies in our times, that’s part
of what ... raises the stakes ... and
raises the concerns of reasonable
donors for charities all across the
spectrum.”
California’s policy constitutes
“a totally gratuitous First Amend-
ment intrusion.”
Feinberg told the justices that
the petitioners failed to demon-
strate that California’s Schedule B
requirement is unconstitutional.
“They did not show that Califor-
nia’s confidential collection of the
same information that charities
already provide to the IRS chills
associational interests in general
or for a substantial number of
charities in the state.”
Chief Justice John Roberts chal-
lenged Feinberg.
tor workers were union members as
of 2020, compared to 18 percent in
1985, according to Department of
Labor data.
Referring to the prospect of an
NLRB-mandated revote in an
April 22 analysis, Capital Research
Center Research Director Michael
Watson weighed in on the potential
impact of the PRO Act.
“This maneuver spotlights one
of the worst provisions of the [PRO
Act], the massive expansion of
union coercive power endorsed by
the Biden administration and sit-
ting before the Senate as of writing,”
he wrote.
“But the PRO Act would allow this
partisan body to simply declare a
union organized if the employer
committed a technical infraction,
even if the union lost the vote. And
the PRO Act would substantially
increase the list of technical infrac-
tions.”
The union’s president, Stuart
Applebaum, said on the eve of the
election: “Our system is broken.
Amazon took full advantage of that,
and we will be calling on the labor
board to hold Amazon accountable
for its illegal and egregious behavior
The Supreme Court in Washington on May 4, 2020.
(L–R) Associate Justice
Samuel Alito, Associate Justice
Brett Kavanaugh, Associate
Justice Clarence Thomas,
Associate Justice Elena Kagan,
Chief Justice John Roberts,
Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch,
Associate Justice Stephen
Breyer, Associate Justice Brett
Kavanaugh, and Associate
Justice Sonia Sotomayor at the
Supreme Court in Washington
on April 23, 2021.
The charities con-
cerned say that
their donors have
in the past been
harassed and
been the victims
of reprisals when
their names be-
came public.
STEFANI REYNOLDS/GETTY IMAGES
Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during a
press conference at the U.S. Capitol
in Washington on April 13, 2021.
during the campaign.”
As promised, the union filed 23
objections on April 16, claiming
Amazon’s actions “prevented a free
and uncoerced exercise of choice by
the employees.”
Among the objections were the
union’s claims that Amazon:
• Sent multiple messages to work-
ers unlawfully threatening loss of
business at the facility if workers
voted for the union, which would
ERIN SCHAFF/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
If someone wants to support a
controversial cause when people
have threatened to make life mis-
erable for its supporters and “that
person came to you and said, ‘I
want to give a donation but I want
to be sure that California will not
disclose this and it will not get out,
can you give me 100 percent assur-
ance that that will not happen?’
What would you tell that person?”
“I don’t think any organization
can guarantee perfection,” Fein-
berg said, adding that the state
has improved its confidentiality
protocols since past lapses.
Justice Clarence Thomas told
Feinberg that governments have
in the past abused data, saying
that when Japanese Americans
were interned during World War
II, “census data was used to locate
them.”
Justice Stephen Breyer said he’s
concerned the current case is just
a “stalking horse” to help take
down campaign finance laws.
His remarks seem to echo those
of 15 U.S. senators—all left-wing
Democrats—who filed a friend-
of-the-court brief in support of
California’s position.
“This appeal is just the latest
incur significant layoffs or full fa-
cility closure.
• Threatened workers with losing
their pay rate, health insurance,
time off, and retirement benefits
if the union was voted in.
• Identified and removed workers
who supported the union from
mandatory captive-audience
trainings that made the case for
a vote against unionization.
An Amazon spokesman denied
the union’s accusations, saying:
“The fact is that less than 16 per-
cent of employees ... voted to join a
union. Rather than accepting these
employees’ choice, the union seems
determined to continue misrepre-
senting the facts in order to drive
its own agenda. We look forward to
the next steps in the legal process.”
National Right to Work Founda-
tion President Mark Mix told The
Epoch Times on April 26 that the
Alabama Amazon employees’ de-
cisive vote against unionization is
hugely significant.
“When you look at the metrics
around that election, it’s fasci-
nating. I mean, you had 5,800
people who were eligible to vote
for unionization and of that 5,800,
12.7 percent voted for unioniza-
tion,” Mix said.
“That 12.7 percent comes after a
national, an international, cam-
NATION | A3
SAUL LOEB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
move in the steady and methodi-
cal campaign pursued by power-
ful interests to both cement and
obscure their influence over the
public sphere since this Court’s
decision” in Citizens United v.
FEC (2010), which allowed cor-
porations to spend without limit
to influence elections.
“The effect of these efforts has
been to deprive the citizenry of
information and make our de-
mocracy less representative,” the
brief stated.
Responding to Breyer, Shaffer
said: “There is no law on the books
in California requiring Schedule
B. What you have is bureaucratic
whim,” which is “different from a
considered legislative judgment.”
California, Shaffer said, has no
interest in reviewing Schedule Bs.
“It’s in having them on hand
prophylactically on a suspicion-
less basis from all charities to then
review a tiny handful when an ex-
ternal complaint comes in.”
Responding to Justice Samuel
Alito, Shaffer said that officers
from charities testified that after
donor information went astray,
“they had instances of horrific
threats and violence, including
death threats that were directed
against the organizations or their
proxies who were in the same po-
sition that donors would be in.”
Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked
Shaffer, “Do you think the right
to anonymously associate is an
inherent part of the freedom of
assembly?”
“Yes, it is. It was precious to the
framers,” Shaffer said.
“Anonymity was a core concern
of theirs that’s reflected in this
court’s precedents ... but, also, the
right to assemble is the right to as-
semble privately and peaceably.
And when the government comes
asking tell us who your donors are,
that is a direct infringement.”
paign by union officials trying to
convince the world that these work-
ers were so overwhelmed and so
abused that there was no other way
than unionization.”
Mix said union efforts prompted
discussion of the alleged plight
of the Alabama Amazon workers
across the nation and in Europe,
and he pointed to Biden’s “craftily
worded video, a craftily acted video,
that basically was saying you’ve got
to vote for a union at Amazon in
Bessemer, Alabama.”
Mix said he expects union advo-
cates now to use the Bessemer out-
come as evidence for the PRO Act as
the Senate considers the proposal.
“Now the narrative is that they
have moved on from the vote results
and the only way this could have
happened is if there was abuse of
the workers, so they are now going
to launch a campaign that says the
defeat at Bessemer is why we need
the PRO Act,” Mix said.
The Senate version of the PRO Act
was introduced by Senate Major-
ity Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.),
and Senate Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
(HELP) Chairwoman Patty Mur-
ray (D-Wash.).
Congressional correspondent
Mark Tapscott may be contacted at
mark.tapscott@epochtimes.nyc
A4 | NATION
Trump Donates to United Cajun Navy
for Search and Rescue Mission
ZACHARY STIEBER
Former President Donald Trump
recently made a donation to the
United Cajun Navy, a nonprofit
that spearheads search and res-
cue efforts across the nation, for
its search and rescue mission for
crewmembers of the Seacor Power.
The group on April 23 confirmed
Trump’s donation, thanking him.
Terrell said
Trump’s donation
would be used to
bolster search ef-
forts for crew mem-
bers from Seacor
Power, a 129-foot
lift boat that cap-
sized on April 13
off the coast of
Louisiana.
“We will bring every crewmem-
ber of the #seacorpower vessel
home!” the nonprofit wrote on
Twitter.
Todd Terrell, president of the
United Cajun Navy (UCN), con-
firmed to local news outlets that
Trump donated $10,000. He said
the money would be used to bolster
search efforts for crew members
from Seacor Power, a 129-foot lift
boat that capsized on April 13 off
the coast of Louisiana.
Trump’s office didn’t respond to
a request for comment.
A U.S. Coast Guard-led mission,
US Starts Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan
With ‘Local Actions’ Already Taken: Gen. Miller
TOM OZIMEK
The United States’ top general in
Afghanistan says the U.S. military
has already begun closing down
operations in the country in prep-
aration for a full withdrawal.
“All of our forces are now pre-
paring to retrograde,” Army Gen.
Austin Miller told Afghan journal-
ists at an April 25 press conference
in the capital, Kabul.
Miller said the official notifi-
cation date for the withdrawal
would be May 1, but added that
“as we start taking local actions,
we’ve already begun that.”
The general told reporters that
he’s often asked whether Afghan
security forces can do the work
in the absence of U.S. and other
foreign troops.
“My message has always been
the same. They must be ready,”
Miller said, according to RFE/RL.
Miller said that while some equip-
ment would be brought back to the
United States, some would be left
behind to support Afghan forces.
“Wherever possible, if we do not
have to, we are looking to ensure
that the Afghan security forces
have the bases, pieces of equip-
ment, parts that are necessary for
the functioning of the military,”
he said, according to CNN.
The United States completely
withdrawing from Afghanistan
will make fighting terror more dif-
ficult, a top general said last week.
“If you’re out of the country and
you don’t have the ecosystem that
we have there now, it will be hard-
er to do that. It is not impossible
to do that, it will just be harder to
do it,” Gen. Frank McKenzie, head
of U.S. Central Command, told
members of Congress in Wash-
ington on April 20.
McKenzie said drone strikes that
target terrorists would, in the ab-
sence of a U.S. military presence
in Afghanistan, have to originate
in nearby countries. Top U.S. of-
ficials are looking into reaching
agreements with countries near
Afghanistan to locate resources.
“I think some of the forces are
going to remain in Central Com-
including Good Samaritans, re-
sulted in the finding of 11 people
from the capsized vessel; five were
dead.
Eight crew members remained
missing when the Coast Guard
suspended its search on April 19.
“We extend our appreciation
to everyone who volunteered to
assist during the search effort.
Suspending a search is one of
the toughest decisions the Coast
Guard has to make,” Capt. Will
Watson, commander of Coast
Guard Sector New Orleans, said
in a statement at the time.
Seacor Marine said it was focus-
ing on recovering those who were
still missing, including support-
ing “some of the most experienced
and qualified salvors and divers
in the world, who will not stop
until they thoroughly search the
entire vessel.”
The United Cajun Navy stepped
in after the search suspension and
launched what it has described as
a “massive search effort from the
land, air, and water” to try to find
the remaining crew members.
While boats searched areas
where debris was reported, other
searchers took to the air for a dif-
ferent vantage point. At the same
time, people on ATVs are covering
beach areas.
Christifer DeRouen, a UCN of-
ficial, said in an April 25 video
broadcast that he was hopeful
some of the missing members were
still alive.
“In my opinion, there’s way too
many coincidences going on with
everybody that’s involved in this
search. I really do believe that
U.S. troops patrol at an Afghan National Army base in Logar Province, Afghani-
stan, on Aug. 7, 2018.
Army Gen. Austin Miller speaks at a ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga., in this
file photo.
mand because we are going to
look at offshore, over-the-horizon
options,” McKenzie said.
“I’m actually conducting de-
tailed planning, by the direction
of the secretary, to look at those
options right now. I will report
back to him by the end of the
month with some alternatives.”
President Joe Biden recently an-
nounced that all U.S. troops will
leave Afghanistan by Sept. 11,
months after the withdrawal
deadline set by his predecessor.
something special is going to come
of this,” he said.
Darra Morales, mother of Chaz
Morales, one of the crew members
who remained missing, urged
people to donate to the Navy in a
video filmed at her home over the
weekend. She also wondered why
some officials haven’t addressed
the incident.
“The governor’s said nothing,
the president’s said nothing. I just
think the military should be help-
ing or something,” she said.
The White House didn’t imme-
diately respond to requests by The
Epoch Times for comments.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Demo-
OMAR SOBHANI/REUTERS
DEFENSE.GOV
Biden said that it’s time to end
“America’s longest war.”
The president’s decision to
withdraw the remaining troops
has drawn a mixed reaction on
Capitol Hill and from security ex-
perts, while national security ad-
viser Jake Sullivan said last week
that the Biden administration
“can’t make any guarantees” that
terrorist groups such as al-Qaida
and ISIS won’t see a resurgence
once U.S. forces are withdrawn
from Afghanistan.
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
seven miles off the coast of Louisiana in
crat, after the capsizing, asked all
Louisianans to hold a moment of
silence for the crew of the Seacor
Power.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) said last
week that he has been in contact
with the Coast Guard and Seacor
Marine about the search and res-
cue, “and we offered every measure
of federal support deemed neces-
sary to assist with the search, res-
cue, and recovery missions.”
“I share the public’s frustration
and sadness with the outcome of
the rescue missions. We are re-
solved to ensure last week’s tragedy
is deeply reviewed. My office sup-
ports a thorough investigation into
Supreme Court Rejects GOP Bid to
Revive Trump’s ‘Public Charge’ Rule
JACK PHILLIPS
The Supreme Court on April 26
declined to take up a motion
filed by Republican state attor-
neys general to resurrect former
President Donald Trump’s “public
charge” immigration rule, which
enabled new restrictions on im-
migrants who receive some form
of government aid.
The high court left
open the possibil-
ity for the attorneys
general to try again
at a later time.
The high court, in its order, left
open the possibility for the at-
torneys general to try again at a
later time, saying that the states
can raise arguments before lower
courts and return to the Supreme
Court if needed.
President Joe Biden’s admin-
istration formally rescinded the
Trump-era rule last month, spark-
ing the lawsuit.
The court noted that on March
15, the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) relied on a lower
court’s “now-effective judgment to
remove the challenged rule from
the Code of Federal Regulations
without going through notice
and comment rulemaking” and
that after “DHS had voluntarily
dismissed its appeal, a group of
States sought leave to intervene,”
which was denied.
The states—led by Texas Attorney
General Ken Paxton—then sought
relief in the courts and argued that
DHS prevented enforcement of the
rule and insulated the lower court
decision. Specifically, the officials
earlier this year tried to intervene
in a case in Illinois, where a district
court judge had vacated the rule
U.S.-wide, coming after the Biden
administration had dropped its ap-
peal of the ruling, which essentially
allowed the “public charge” rule
to expire.
“The States also contend that
DHS has rescinded the rule with-
The capsized lift boat Seacor Power,
the Gulf of Mexico, on April 18, 2021.
GERALD HERBERT/AP PHOTO
the events preceding and following
the vessel’s capsizing.”
What caused the vessel to cap-
size remains unclear, but two
lawsuits have been filed against
Seacor thus far. One was filed by
the wife of Dylan Daspit, a missing
sailor, while the other was lodged
by Krista Vercher, whose fiancé
remains missing. Both allege the
ship shouldn’t have sailed from
Port Fourchon when it did because
of warnings of intense winds.
Talos Energy Inc., which com-
missioned the boat to travel to an
oil platform it owns in the Gulf of
Mexico, has said it was the decision
of Seacor as to when to sail.
out following the requirements of
the Administrative Procedure Act,”
according to the Supreme Court’s
unsigned order. “We deny the ap-
plication, without prejudice to the
States raising these and other ar-
guments before the District Court,
whether in a motion for interven-
tion or otherwise.”
In March, DHS Secretary Alejan-
dro Mayorkas said that when the
2019 rule was rescinded, it “closed
the book on the public charge rule.”
Mayorkas said it would “have
placed undue burdens on Ameri-
can families wishing to sponsor
individuals lawfully immigrating
to the U.S.,” adding that it’s part of
a plan to implement reforms “that
improve our immigration system
and reduce unnecessary barriers
to legal immigration.”
Biden’s move to rescind the
rule—among other rules, in-
cluding halting construction
of the U.S.–Mexico border wall
and eliminating the “remain in
Mexico” policy—has drawn sharp
criticism from Republicans. They
have argued that the orders and
White House messaging on im-
migration has triggered a surge in
illegal immigrants and created a
humanitarian crisis.
Biden and other top administra-
tion officials have said they’re at-
tempting to create more humane
immigration policies and that
Trump left them with a broken
system.
The Texas Attorney General’s of-
fice didn’t immediately respond to
a request by The Epoch Times for
comment.
SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES
The Supreme Court in Washington
on Sept. 21, 2020.
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021 NATION | A5

Bulk of SALT Cap Repeal Benefits Would Go to

High-Income Households: Study
SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES
CONTINUED FROM A1

The SALT tax deduction cap was

set at $10,000 in President Don-
ald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and
Jobs Act (TCJA) as a way to offset
some of the government revenue
lost to other provisions of the tax
reform bill.
For high-tax states including
Democratic-led California and
New York, repealing the cap has
been a key priority, with support-
ers of the repeal arguing that the
cap constrains state and local
government spending, much
of which benefits lower-income
residents.
In 2018, four states—New York,
Connecticut, Maryland, and New
Jersey—banded together to sue
the Trump administration over
the cap, alleging that it was un-
constitutional, unfairly targeted
New York and similarly situated
states, and interfered in the rights
of the states to make their own
federal tax decisions. A judge dis-
missed the suit in 2019, ruling that IRS
the cap was not unconstitution- headquarters in
ally coercive and that the states Washington on
hadn’t laid out a convincing case March 8, 2018.
for how the measure meaning-
fully constrained their decision- ple hit hardest by the CCP virus. to the SALT cap. local governments, a major indi-
making processes. In the most recent push to repeal “I am proud to fight for lower rect transfer is the deductibility
Some organizations, such as Abolishing the cap the cap, SALT caucus co-Chair taxes for my constituents as Co- of SALT taxes.
the Brookings Institution, have would mean those Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) said Chair of the SALT caucus and am The SALT deduction cost the
called for the SALT tax deduction earning $1 million in a statement that “it is high time looking forward to working to- federal government just over
to be abolished entirely, stating in that Congress reinstates the State gether to ensure California work- $100 billion in 2017, according
a policy note that repealing the or more per year and Local Tax deduction, so we ers and families can keep more of to the Economic Policy Institute,
cap would be “a massive tax cut would receive 49 can get more dollars back into their hard-earned money,” Kim with the cap imposed by Trump’s
for the rich,” while arguing that percent of the ben- the pockets of so many strug- said in a statement. tax reform bill that same year re-
“there is a strong case for building gling families—especially as we Critics have argued that lifting ducing that by around 80 percent
on the progress made in the TCJA efits, and nearly recover from the pandemic.” the SALT cap would force people in 2018.
and eliminating the deduction 93 percent of such Another co-chair of the caucus, in low-tax states such as Ten- Repealing the SALT deduc-
altogether.” Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.) stat- nessee and Texas to subsidize tion cap would cost the Treasury
Last year, Democrats proposed
households would ed that Californians have been high-tax states like California nearly $89 billion in lost revenue
lifting the cap on the SALT deduc- see an average burdened by high state and local and New York. for 2021, according to the Joint
tion for 2020 and 2021 as part of a tax cut of nearly taxes and that her district would Besides direct federal grants, Committee on Taxation, while
COVID-19 relief package, arguing pay on average more than $640 which are the most significant a multi-year repeal would cost
that it would provide relief to peo- $48,000. million in the 2022 tax year due form of fiscal support to state and considerably more.

STEPHEN MATUREN/GETTY IMAGES

Minnesota Attorney General Explains Why

George Floyd’s Death Not Charged as Hate Crime
ZACHARY STIEBER
Minnesota’s attorney general,
who led the prosecution against
former Minneapolis police officer
Derek Chauvin, said prosecutors
didn’t bring hate crime charges
against Chauvin in George Floyd’s
death because there was no evi-
dence of racial bias.
Asked by CBS’ “60 Minutes” if
the law enforcement restraint
leading to Floyd’s death last year
was a hate crime, Attorney Gen-
eral Keith Ellison said he wouldn’t
call it that “because hate crimes
are crimes where there’s an ex-
plicit motive and of bias.”
“We don’t have any evidence
that Derek Chauvin factored in
George Floyd’s race as he did what
he did.”
Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck
and back for more than nine min-
utes outside Cup Foods in Min-
neapolis on May 25, 2020. Floyd
stopped speaking during that time
and was ultimately declared dead.
Chauvin was convicted last week
of three counts in the death, in-
cluding second-degree murder.
He faces up to 40 years in prison.
Prosecutors could have charged
the former office with a hate
crime, Ellison acknowledged.
“But we only charge those
crimes that we had evidence that
we could put in front of a jury to
prove. If we’d had a witness that
told us that Derek Chauvin made
a racial reference, we might have
charged him with a hate crime.
But I would have needed a wit-
ness to say that on the stand. We
didn’t have it. So we didn’t do it,”
Ellison told “60 Minutes” host
Scott Pelley.
“The whole world sees this as a
white officer killing a black man
because he is black,” Pelley re-
sponded, without citing evidence
to support the claim.
Of the three other officers in-
volved in the arrest, all of whom
were also fired and later charged, J.
Alexander Kueng is black and Tou
Thao is Asian American.
Ellison also said in the interview
that he felt bad for Chauvin. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (C) exits the Hennepin County Family
“I spent 16 years as a criminal Justice Center after a pretrial hearing for four former Minneapolis Police officers
charged in the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis on Sept. 11, 2020.
defense lawyer. So, I will admit, I
felt a little bad for the defendant. I
think he deserved to be convicted. we never forget that people who George Floyd was a human being.
But he’s a human being,” he said. are defendants in our criminal And so I’m not going to ever forget
“I’m not in any way wavering justice system, that they’re human that everybody in this process is
from my responsibility. But I hope beings. They’re people. I mean, a person.”

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A6 | NATION
US to Share AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine With
Other Countries
ZACHARY STIEBER
The United States will start shar-
ing its stockpile of AstraZeneca’s
COVID-19 vaccine with other
countries, the Biden administra-
tion said on April 26.
The United States plans to share
all the doses it has, provided they
pass safety reviews. As many as
60 million doses will be sent to
other countries in the coming
months.
As many as 60 mil-
lion doses will be
sent to other coun-
tries in the coming
months.
The administration sent sev-
eral million doses to Mexico and
Canada last month, but has been
holding onto the bulk of the stock-
pile as a reserve.
AstraZeneca’s shot is authorized
for use in a number of countries,
even though dozens of people
have died from post-vaccination
blood clots in the UK and else-
where. U.S. drug regulators are
considering granting emergency
authorization but have not yet
done so.
“Given the strong portfolio of
vaccines that the United States
has already authorized and that
is available in large quantities, in-
cluding two 2-dose vaccines and
one one-dose vaccine, and given
that AstraZeneca is not authorized
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger holds a press conference on
the status of ballot counting in Atlanta on Nov. 6, 2020.
Raffensperger: Fully Cooperating
With Fulton County in Election
Interference Probe
TOM OZIMEK
Georgia Secretary of State Brad
Raffensperger said his office is
fully cooperating with a Fulton
County investigation into poten-
tial election interference, pushing
back against reports that investi-
gators were dissatisfied with his
office’s level of cooperation.
Fulton County District Attorney
Fani Willis, a Democrat, in Febru-
ary opened a probe into efforts to
influence the state’s 2020 election
results. The investigation includes
“potential violations of Georgia
law prohibiting the solicitation
of election fraud, the making of
false statements to state and local
governmental bodies, conspiracy,
racketeering, violation of oath of
office and any involvement in
violence or threats related to the
election’s administration,” Willis
said in letters to Republican Gov.
Brian Kemp and other officials.
The letters made reference to
media reports of contacts with
the Georgia secretary of state’s
office, the U.S. attorney’s office
in Atlanta, and others, made by
“subjects of the investigation.”
While the letters didn’t mention
former President Donald Trump
by name, they indicate the probe
is focused on efforts to challenge
for use in the United States, we do
not need to use AstraZeneca in
our fight against COVID over the
next few months,” White House
press secretary Jen Psaki told a
briefing in Washington.
The vaccines will be shared with
other countries “as they become
available,” Andy Slavitt, a White
House senior adviser for the COV-
ID-19 response, wrote on Twitter.
“To everyone who understand-
ably says: ‘about time’ or ‘what
were they waiting for,’ at this time
there are still very few available.
No real time has been lost,” he
wrote.
White House officials have
said there are enough doses for
Americans among the three
vaccines greenlit by U.S. drug
regulators, even with the nearly
two-week pause of Johnson &
Johnson’s shot because of con-
cerns of post-vaccination blood
clots. Nearly 29 percent of the
U.S. population has been fully
vaccinated against the CCP virus
as of April 26.
Of the AstraZeneca stockpile,
about 10 million doses are cur-
rently available, although none
have passed a review by the
Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), White House COVID-19
coordinator Jeff Zients told the
Associated Press. About 50 mil-
lion others are in various stages of
production and could be available
to ship in May and June pending
FDA sign-off.
The United States hasn’t yet fi-
nalized which countries will re-
ceive the shots.
JESSICA MCGOWAN/GETTY IMAGES
the results of the 2020 election.
Willis’s office didn’t respond to
an earlier query from The Epoch
Times about whether she is re-
viewing a phone call Trump had
with Raffensperger and other of-
ficials on Jan. 2 concerning the
presidential election in Georgia.
Recent media reports indicate
that Willis’s office has become
frustrated with Raffensperger’s
level of cooperation in the inves-
tigation. Willis’s office didn’t im-
mediately respond to a request
by The Epoch Times requesting
confirmation of the reports as well
as comment.
Raffensperger was asked about
the status of Willis’s probe in an
AstraZeneca’s manufacturing site in Macclesfield, England, in this file photo.
“We’re in the planning process
at this point in time,” Psaki told
reporters.
Countries that receive the As-
traZeneca doses won’t have to pay
for them.
The vaccines were produced at
an Emergent BioSolutions plant
in Baltimore, where millions of
contaminated Johnson & Johnson
shots were manufactured.
The review of the AstraZeneca
shots “is being done in the context
of the FDA’s ongoing review of all
doses made at the plant,” Psaki
said.
On April 25, Dr. Anthony Fauci,
interview on CNN on April 24.
“It’s an ongoing investigation,
and that’s a Fulton County inves-
tigation, and we’re fully cooper-
ating with the district attorney,”
Raffensperger said, adding that
he expects Willis and her team to
be taking testimony from a num-
ber of people, both in-state and
outside of Georgia, in addition to
his office.
“It’s their investigation and
we’re not privy to who they’re
going to be calling but we’ll be
supporting their efforts and pro-
viding any information they need
from our office.”
Asked directly about claims that
his office wasn’t fully cooperating
with Willis’s probe, Raffensperger
replied, “That’s false.” He added
that his office had appointed
counsel to liaise with Willis’s of-
fice to coordinate information
requests in connection with the
investigation.
“We’ll fully cooperate, obvi-
ously,” Raffensperger said.
Ryan Germany, general coun-
sel for Raffensperger’s office, re-
inforced that message in a state-
ment to CNN, saying that he had
“requested time to get an attorney
lined up to represent our office to
make sure those interactions are
efficient and not disruptive. The
DA’s office told me that was fine.”
Raffensperger’s office ear-
lier started its own probe into
Trump’s calls to Georgia elec-
tions officials, with the findings
to be presented to the State Elec-
tion Board. The panel can vote to
dismiss, choose to impose a fine,
issue a letter of instruction, or re-
fer the matter to the state attorney
general or a district attorney for
prosecution.
JOHN BAZEMORE/AP PHOTO
Then-Fulton
County
Deputy
District
Attorney
Fani Willis
makes
closing
arguments
during a trial
in Atlanta
on Aug.
24, 2016.
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
one of Biden’s top medical advis-
ers, said that the United States
might send millions of AstraZen-
eca shots to India, which is seeing
a surge in COVID-19 cases and a
resulting lack of hospital beds.
“I think that’s going to be some-
thing that is up for active consid-
eration,” Fauci said on ABC’s “This
Week.”
“I don’t want to be speaking for
policy right now with you, but, I
mean, that’s something that cer-
tainly is going to be actively con-
sidered.”
Biden spoke to Indian Prime Min-
ister Narendra Modi on April 26.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) speaks to media at the U.S. Capitol in Washington
on Jan. 27, 2020.
Former Rep. Collins Won’t Run for US
Senate or Georgia Governor in 2022
ZACHARY STIEBER
Former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.)
announced on April 26 he won’t
seek a U.S. Senate seat or run for
Georgia governor in 2022.
I do plan on stay-
ing involved in
shaping our con-
servative message
to help Republi-
cans win back the
House and the
Senate.
Former Rep. Doug Collins
“For those who may wonder, this
is goodbye for now, but probably
not forever. I do plan on staying
involved in shaping our conserva-
tive message to help Republicans
win back the House and the Sen-
ate and help more strong conser-
vative candidates get elected here
in Georgia,” he said in a statement.
Collins ran unsuccessfully to
finish a six-year term that origi-
nally belonged to Sen. Johnny
Isakson (R-Ga.) after Isakson
retired due to failing health. Sen.
Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), who was
appointed to serve about a year in
the seat, also ran, as did Raphael
Warnock, a Democrat.
Collins came in third. Loef-
ANDREW YATES/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
According to a White House
readout, Biden pledged America’s
support for the people of India
amid its surge in cases.
“In response, the United States
is providing a range of emergency
assistance, including oxygen-re-
lated supplies, vaccine materi-
als, and therapeutics,” the White
House said.
Psaki said the United States
would be sending raw materi-
als to India so the country could
produce its own AstraZeneca
vaccines, along with rapid-test-
ing supplies, personal protective
equipment, and ventilators.
CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES
fler and Warnock advanced to
a runoff, which Warnock won,
helping Democrats flip control
of the Senate.
Collins was a popular choice
among Republicans for a 2022
bid, according to polls. Potential
candidates who haven’t ruled out
a Senate bid include former pro-
fessional football player Herschel
Walker, Loeffler, and Rep. Marjo-
rie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
Warnock, who is likely to win
the Democrat primary, had never
held political office before being
sworn in earlier this year.
The only Republicans who have
thus far announced a bid for the
Senate seat are Latham Saddler,
who served in the Navy before
joining the Trump administra-
tion, and Kelvin King, another
military veteran and a fellow
Trump supporter.
“The answer to why I’m run-
ning for United States Senate
is pretty simple,” Saddler said
in a campaign launch video. “I
just love this state and I love this
country to its core.”
King said on his campaign
website that the Biden adminis-
tration “is currently wrecking our
economy, creating a crisis at our
border, and systematically dis-
mantling every bit of the ‘Amer-
ica First’ agenda implemented
over the last four years.
“Personally, I am ready to take
back our state and fight for the
future of our country!” he wrote.
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
The Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 2, 2020.
DOJ to Open Investigation of Louisville
Police Over Breonna Taylor Death
JACK PHILLIPS
Attorney General Merrick Garland an-
nounced a Department of Justice-led in-
vestigation into the officer-involved death
of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
Taylor was shot to death during a police
raid of her home in March 2020, with her
death later becoming a rallying cry for Black
Lives Matter protests and riots in 2020.
In the incident, police came through Tay-
lor’s door using a battering ram. Her boy-
friend, Kenneth Walker, allegedly opened
fire at police, who fired back, striking and
killing Taylor, officials said.
Walker maintained that he wasn’t aware
that police were conducting a raid at the
time. Last year, Kentucky Attorney General
Daniel Cameron said a neighbor corrobo-
rated the police’s claims that they knocked
on Taylor’s door, which disputed allegations
that authorities used a “no-knock warrant,”
while he added that the officers involved
were shot at first by Walker.
The investigation comes
as Louisville sees an uptick
in violent crime.
But on April 26, Garland said the Justice
Department will conduct a “pattern of prac-
tice” investigation into the city’s police.
“It will determine whether LMPD engages
in unconstitutional stops, searches, and sei-
zures, as well as whether the department
unlawfully executes search warrants on
private homes.”
“As in every Justice Department investi-
gation we will follow the facts and the law,
wherever they lead,” Garland said. “If there
is reasonable cause to believe that there was
a pattern or practice of constitutional or
statutory violations, we will issue a public
report of our conclusions.”
The investigation comes as Louisville has
Rep. Cheney
Says McConnell
and McCarthy
Are Leading the
GOP, Dismisses
Trump’s Role
MASOOMA HAQ
House Republican Conference Chairwoman
Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said on April 26 that
Republicans Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Lead-
er Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are the leaders
of the Republican Party, opposing her col-
leagues’ idea that former President Donald
Trump has great influence over the party.
Cheney has spoken out harshly against
Trump and was 1 of 10 Republican House
members who voted to impeach him af-
ter the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. Her response
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington on April
21, 2021.
seen an uptick in violent crime. Police data
show that murders, rapes, and robberies
are up more than 81 percent above the five-
year average.
Kentucky’s governor signed into law a
partial ban on no-knock warrants on April
9. The measure only allows no-knock war-
rants to be issued if there was “clear and
convincing evidence” that the “crime al-
leged is a crime that would qualify a person,
if convicted, as a violent offender.” Warrants
also have to be executed between 6 a.m.
and 10 p.m.
Garland announced on April 21 that the
DOJ opened a civil investigation into wheth-
er the Minneapolis Police Department had
a pattern of using excessive force in arrests
or during protests.
“It is clear that the public officials in Min-
neapolis and Louisville, including those in
law enforcement, recognize the importance
and urgency of our efforts,” Garland said
on April 26. “We come to them as partners,
knowing that we share a common aim.”
SAMUEL CORUM/GETTY IMAGES
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) speaks during a news
conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington
on July 21, 2020.
about Republican leadership came when a
reporter asked her what role she would like
to see the former president take in Repub-
licans regaining control of the House and
Senate in 2022.
“I think right now, the Republican Party
is headed by Mitch McConnell and Kevin
McCarthy in the House. I think our elected
leaders are the ones who are in charge of
the Republican Party,” Cheney said while
at the House Republicans’ policy retreat
in Florida.
SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES
ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
One of the officers, Brett Hankison, was
indicted by a grand jury on three counts of
wanton endangerment for firing his weapon
into another apartment. The other two of-
ficers, Detective Myles Cosgrove and Sgt.
Jonathan Mattingly, were justified in their
use of force, Cameron said last year.
“Our reaction to the truth is the society
we want to be,” he said during a September
2020 news conference. “Do we really want
the truth? Or do we want a truth that fits
our narrative? Do we want the facts? Are we
content to blindly accept our own version
of events? We, as a community, must make
this decision.”
“There will be celebrities, influencers, and
activists who having never lived in Ken-
tucky, will try to tell us how to feel, suggest-
ing they understood the facts of this case
and that they know our community and the
commonwealth better than we do.”
The Associated Press contributed
to this report.
“I think as we look at ‘22 and ‘24, we’re very
much going to be focused on substance and
on the issues,” Cheney said. “And I think
that’s where you’ve got to attract back the
voters that we lost in 2020, by conveying to
them that, in fact, we are the party that they
can trust. We’re the party of competence and
of conservative principles.”
However, Trump still retains his influ-
ence over the GOP, as the most recent Har-
vard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics
poll shows.
Unlike Cheney, many Republican lawmak-
ers still see Trump as having a lot of influ-
ence in the party. Sen. Lindsey Graham
(R-S.C.) recently said in an Axios interview
that Trump’s influence on the Republican
Party could make it “bigger, he can make it
stronger, he can make it more diverse. And
he also could destroy it.”
Cheney has spoken out against what she
says is Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 breach many
times, and Trump has promised to cam-
paign against the congresswoman in her
home state to get her out of office.
Cheney told reporters she wants to see
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) 9/11-style
NATION | A7
North Carolina City
Declares State of
Emergency as Video
of Police-Involved
Shooting Expected
JACK PHILLIPS
The mayor’s office in Elizabeth City,
North Carolina, declared a state of
emergency on April 26 ahead of the ex-
pected release of body camera footage
that shows the police-involved shooting
of a 42-year-old black man, amid con-
cern that the video may spark protests
and riots.
Mayor Bettie Parker stated that law
enforcement expects a “period of civil
unrest” following the release of the vid-
eo showing the fatal shooting of Andrew
Brown Jr. last week. Brown died follow-
ing the execution of a search warrant on
April 21, and witnesses have said that
Brown was driving away from the scene
at the time when deputies opened fire.
The video is expected to be released to
the public this week, officials have said.
Reports have said that Brown’s family
is slated to see the video footage first.
Parker’s order will allow officials “to
ensure the safety of our citizens and
their property” in the event of “civil
unrest,” according to her declaration.
The order goes into effect at 8 a.m. on
April 26, directing all Elizabeth City
agencies to “take whatever steps neces-
sary to protect life and property, public
infrastructure, and provide such emer-
gency assistance deemed necessary to
preserve public safety.” City offices are
also closed Monday.
“Schools will share additional infor-
mation regarding the remote learning
schedule with families,” a statement
posted to Elizabeth City-Pasquotank
Public Schools’s Facebook page on Sun-
day read. “We appreciate your support
and understanding during this time.”
The shooting of Brown came after a
jury handed down a guilty verdict to
former Minneapolis Police officer Derek
Chauvin in the death of George Floyd as
well as an officer-involved shooting of
a teenage girl in Columbus, Ohio, who
was captured on video armed with a
knife and was apparently trying to stab
another woman.
Brown family attorney Harry Daniels
told CNN that Brown’s family has an
appointment with the county attorney
at 11:30 a.m., and Daniels, civil rights
attorney Ben Crump—who represented
Floyd’s family and helped them secure a
lucrative sum from the city of Minneap-
olis earlier this year—and attorney Ba-
kari Sellers will hold a news conference
after that.
“It’s clear to us there is something bad
on that bodycam video,” Crump told
CNN on April 24. “Transparency is es-
sential.”
Crump last week claimed in a tweet
that Brown was “posing no danger to of-
ficers” as he was allegedly driving away
from them.
Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy
Wooten II said on April 24 that he would
file a motion to allow the release of the
video.
“Only a judge can release the video.
That’s why I’ve asked the North Carolina
State Bureau of Investigation to confirm
for me that the releasing of the video
will not undermine their investigation,”
Wooten said. “Once I get that confir-
mation, our county will file a motion
in court, hopefully Monday, to have the
footage released.”
commission get started quickly to find out
what happened on Jan. 6.
“I do think it’s really important that we
have a commission. ... In my view, that is,
the members of the commission should be
retired, they shouldn’t be currently serving
officials that face political pressure of any
time. It should be absolutely bipartisan in
nature, and it should begin immediately,
should have subpoena power, because the
American people need to know how we got to
Jan. 6. What happened on Jan. 6, and people
need to be held accountable,” Cheney said.
Some Republicans including McConnell
have said that the commission shouldn’t
only focus on Jan. 6, but should investigate
other ongoing violent rioting happening in
U.S. cities since 2020, but Cheney disagreed.
“I think that what happened on Jan. 6 is
unprecedented in our history. And I think
that it’s very important that the commission
be able to focus on that. I’m very concerned,
as all my colleagues are, about the violence
that we saw, the BLM, the Antifa violence
last summer. I think that’s a different set of
issues, a different set of problems, and a dif-
ferent set of solutions.”
A8 | CHINA
Jailing of 4 Doctors for Illegal Organ Extraction in
China Casts Spotlight on Forced Organ Harvesting
CONTINUED FROM A1
harvesting, according to an expert on the
issue.
According to China’s state-run media,
Li’s liver ended up at a military hospital in
Beijing for transplant, and her kidneys went
to a hospital in neighboring Tianjin. Both
hospitals have been identified by a U.S.-
based nonprofit as suspected centers for
the forced extraction of organs from living
political prisoners.
The doctors, as well as two other accomplic-
es, were charged after Li’s son, Shi Xianglin,
alerted authorities that his mother’s dona-
tion record was not registered in China’s of-
ficial donation database, the Chinese media
stated. It said Shi began to suspect something
was amiss after he discovered that his cous-
in Shi Zijun was paid 200,000 yuan (about
$30,780) two days after his mother’s organs
were removed. Under China’s official organ
donation program, donors are not to be com-
pensated, according to Chinese authorities.
The money was reportedly paid by local
businessman Huang Chaoyang, who was
also sentenced to 10 months in prison last
year over his role in the unauthorized organ
extraction. According to China’s state-run
media, Huang was a businessman selling
medical equipment.
The four doctors later appealed their sen-
tences, according to the outlet, arguing that
what they did was a “state-endorsed” duty
since they were simply following orders from
their hospital supervisors.
Illegal Organ Extraction
Li, a 53-year-old woman living in Huaiyuan
County in eastern China’s Anhui Province,
died at the local hospital, the People’s Hos-
pital in Huaiyuan County, on Feb. 15, 2018.
Four days earlier, she had been rushed to its
intensive care unit (ICU) after being wound-
ed by her stepson during an ax attack, state-
run media said.
On Feb. 12, 2018, after spending a day in
the ICU, Li was determined to be in critical
condition with signs of imminent respira-
tory failure.
Yang, a deputy chief physician and director
of the hospital’s ICU, was the doctor looking
after Li when she was admitted to the unit.
It was reportedly Yang who persuaded Li’s
husband and daughter to sign a voluntary
organ donation form, after promising that
they would be paid, local media said. Ini-
tially, Yang promised that the family would
be paid 160,000 yuan (about $24,630), but
he increased the payment to 200,000 yuan
at the demand of Li’s nephew Shi Zijun. Li’s
husband and daughter signed the form on
Feb. 14, 2018, one day before Li’s death, ac-
cording to the outlet.
After getting the family’s approval, Yang
called Huang Xinli, who worked at a hospital
in nearby Nanjing City, about an organ ex-
traction, and Huang made the decision that
Li’s organs would be suitable for organ trans-
plantation surgery, local media reported.
At the time, Huang was a chief physician
at the Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, which
is affiliated with Nanjing University Medi-
cal School. Prior to his employment there,
Huang had worked at Jiangsu People’s Hospi-
tal, a state-run hospital located in the eastern
Jiangsu Province’s capital Nanjing.
According to state-run media, Huang then
arranged to have his former colleague Lu
Shen, and another doctor, Wang Hailang,
remove Li’s organs in an ambulance. Lu was
the chief physician in hepatobiliary and pan-
creatic surgery at the Jiangsu People’s Hospi-
tal. Wang was a doctor in stomatology at the
Huaibei Miners General Hospital in Anhui.
Li’s organs were removed immediately af-
ter her death, but it was unclear where the
ambulance was parked when the surgery
took place.
The unlicensed ambulance was owned
by Ou Yang, who received a sentence of
one year and one month in the same trial
as businessman Huang Chaoyang and the
four doctors. According to China’s state-run
media, Ou had bought the ambulance from
a government health center in Anhui’s Su-
zhou city in 2015. Since then, he had gotten
a new license plate for the ambulance and
began using the vehicle to transport patients
from areas near local hospitals.
At the trial at a local court in Anhui Prov-
ince in July, all four doctors were convicted
of the crime of intentional destruction of
a corpse.
While Lu was found liable for extracting
organs from Li only, the other three doctors
were found guilty of engaging in unauthor-
ized organ procurement surgeries on 10 other
individuals in Huaiyuan County between
2017 and 2019.
Details about these 10 individuals are not
known, but Huang was found to be the main
surgeon behind these procurement surger-
The Tianjin First Central Hospital, which houses one of China’s most active organ transplant centers.
JOE KLAMAR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
ies. Ou, the owner of the unlicensed ambu-
Falun Gong lance, was also involved in the illegal removal
practitioners stage a of organs from 7 of the 10 individuals.
demonstration against Lu was sentenced to one year in prison,
organ harvesting while Huang, Yang, and Wang were sen-
from imprisoned tenced to two years and four months, two
practitioners in China, years and two months, and two years in
in Vienna, Austria, on prison, respectively.
Oct. 1, 2018.
The four doctors appealed to an intermedi-
ate court in Bengbu, a city in Anhui Province.
The court rejected their appeals and upheld
the lower court’s ruling in August. The defen-
dants had argued that their actions were au-
thorized as they were following orders from
their hospital superiors.
On April 19, Chinese news portals Tencent
and NetEase reported that Lu Dahai, an alias
for Lu Shen, said that he had appealed his
case to the province’s highest court, the An-
hui’s Higher People’s Court.
Organ Harvesting
The two hospitals that took Li’s liver and kid-
neys respectively—the People’s Liberation
Army (PLA) No. 302 Hospital and Tianjin
Wang Zhiyuan, First Central Hospital—have been named
president of the by the U.S.-based World Organization to
World Organization Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong
to Investigate the (WOIPFG) for their suspected roles in forcibly
Persecution of harvesting the organs from prisoners who
Falun Gong, at Dag practice Falun Gong.
Hammarskjöld Plaza
The PLA hospital has carried out a large
in New York on May
16, 2019. number of liver transplant surgeries. Accord-
ing to the WOIPFG, the number of these sur-
EVA FU/THE EPOCH TIMES
geries reached 310 between April 2005 and
April 2010, and 146 between May 2010 and
December 2012.
Adherents of Falun Gong, a meditation
practice also known as Falun Dafa, have
been targeted for persecution by the Chi-
nese regime since 1999. Millions of prac-
titioners have been thrown into prisons,
The four labor camps, psychiatric wards, and other
facilities, according to the Falun Dafa In-
doctors formation Center.
appealed their In the 2000s, reports emerged that the Chi-
sentences, nese communist regime was systematically
killing detained Falun Gong practitioners
arguing that for their organs to use for transplantation. At
what they did the time, China didn’t have an official organ
donation program, and Chinese officials
was a ‘state- said organs mainly came from executed
endorsed’ duty prisoners.
since they Amid the growing scrutiny of China’s organ
transplant system, the regime announced
were simply that starting Jan. 1, 2015, it would stop sourc-
following ing organs from executed prisoners and
orders from claimed that it would exclusively rely on a
new system of voluntary donations. However,
their hospital Beijing’s claim was refuted by a 2019 report
supervisors. by a London-based people’s tribunal.
The report concluded, after a year-long
investigation, that the stated-sanctioned
practice of forced organ harvesting was hap-
pening on a “significant scale” in China, with
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
HOSPITAL FILES
Falun Gong practitioners being the main
source of organs.
An investigative report by The Epoch Times
in 2016 concluded that tens of thousands
may have been killed at Tianjin First Central
Hospital, as the hospital carried out more
transplants than the supply of organs from
executed prisoners could support.
On April 13, the WOIPFG released an inves-
tigative report into the Jiangsu People’s Hos-
pital. In November 2018, a doctor at the hos-
pital didn’t deny that they sourced transplant
organs from Falun Gong adherents when
answering a phone inquiry by a WOIPFG
investigator who posed as a Chinese Com-
munist Party (CCP) official. The doctor also
said that a liver transplant surgery could be
arranged in less than two weeks.
The report also included a 2017 audio re-
cording of a phone conversation between a
WOIPFG investigator who posed as someone
making inquiries about liver transplant sur-
geries and an unnamed liver transplant doc-
tor at the hospital. The doctor said an organ
could be available in as little as two weeks, a
waiting time shorter than that at the nearby
Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital.
The Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital is also
on WOIPFG’s list of hospitals likely to be in-
volved in forced organ harvesting.
Shifting the Narrative
That Li’s case was not censored and was
widely reported by China’s state-run media
is significant, WOIPFG chair Wang Zhiyuan
said in a recent interview with the Chinese-
language edition of The Epoch Times.
Wang said that the CCP was trying to use
the news to spin a narrative around organ
harvesting in China—by trying to create a
story that these crimes are all committed by
individuals and that it’s the Chinese authori-
ties who are trying to stop them.
In reality, China’s state-sanctioned prac-
tice of harvesting organs from prisoners of
conscience is an expansive endeavor in-
volving cooperation among government
agencies affiliated with the CCP’s Central
Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the
Chinese military, police units, and military
police, as well as regional Party and govern-
ment agencies, Wang said.
He said the sentences handed down for the
doctors were quite lenient because, while
the CCP wanted to use the case for propa-
ganda purposes, it also didn’t want to draw
too much attention to the matter because
the doctors were likely acting on orders from
their hospitals.
Based on recent findings, Wang said some
Chinese hospitals are clearly still engaging
in live organ harvesting from Falun Gong
adherents.
Organ harvesting in China has attracted
greater scrutiny in the West in recent years,
especially as the United States and other
democracies are stepping up their criticism
of the CCP over its array of severe human
rights abuses.
In the United States, eight counties in Vir-
ginia have passed a resolution condemn-
ing China’s ongoing practice of harvesting
organs from prisoners of conscience. On
April 15, the Texas Senate adopted a simi-
lar resolution.
In early March, U.S. lawmakers in both
the Senate and House introduced legisla-
tion to seek accountability for China’s organ
harvesting. If enacted, the bill would allow
the U.S. government to impose sanctions
on individuals and government officials
responsible for organ trafficking or organ
harvesting.
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
Hong Kong’s Richest Man Marginalized for
Not Actively Supporting CCP
CONTINUED FROM A1
However, people noticed that the
92-year-old Li chose not to get the
China-made Sinovac vaccine that
the Hong Kong government has
been pushing.
Prior to Hong Kong’s mass protests,
Li had been a longtime favorite of the
CCP, with the Party seeking his help
to expand its influence. He not only
invested heavily in mainland China,
but also helped the CCP to secure
many international projects.
However, during the anti-extra-
dition bill protests in Hong Kong in
2019, Li failed to show his support
for the CCP. That was when the CCP
began to marginalize the property
tycoon, who was seen as no longer
obedient to the Party.
Li’s Organization Excluded From
New Electoral Committee
Earlier this month, Hong Kong be-
gan to implement reforms approved
by the CCP’s National People’s Con-
gress for the city’s electoral system,
widely seen as a move by the CCP to
marginalize the local business elite.
The new rules reduce the number
of directly elected lawmakers to the
city’s Legislative Council, while ex-
panding the total number of seats
to 90 from 70, as well as boosting
membership on Hong Kong’s elec-
toral commission, which selects
the city’s chief executive, to 1,500
from 1,200.
A day after Beijing’s rubber-stamp
legislature approved the new “pa-
triot” election law, the pro-Beijing
Hong Kong government under Chief
Executive Carrie Lam took the lead
in actively stating its support. But
of the four major property develop-
ers in Hong Kong, Li’s CK Hutchison
Holdings Ltd. was a day late to ex-
press its support, making its position
known on April 1—April Fool’s Day.
Meanwhile, as many “patriotic
and Hong Kong-loving organiza-
tions” were added to the newly
expanded electoral commission,
the Federation of Hong Kong Chiu
Chow Community Organizations—
of which Li is honorary president—
was excluded.
Disappointed by the decision, the
federation sent a letter to Lam ex-
pressing its views.
Li Had Pivotal Role in CCP’s Global
Investment Projects
The CCP has been using Hong Kong’s
capital to invest in its strategic proj-
ects around the world. As Hong
Kong’s richest man, Li could hardly
avoid the fate of acting as an agent for
the CCP’s global expansion.
Li’s investments have focused on
strategic projects in Europe and Aus-
tralia in communications, power,
ports, and natural gas pipelines.
However, several of his attempts
to invest in the United States were
blocked because of his dealings with
the CCP.
As of October 2015, Li controlled
nearly 30 percent of the natural gas
market, a quarter of the electricity
distribution market, and 5 percent
of the water supply market in the
United Kingdom—his main coun-
try of investment.
Meanwhile, Li’s CK Hutchison
consolidated its position in the Eu-
ropean telecommunications market
with a major acquisition spree that
unified his telecommunications
businesses in six European coun-
tries, Hong Kong, and Macau. In No-
vember 2020, CK Hutchison sold its
European wireless towers business
for 10 billion euros ($11.7 billion) to
improve its operational efficiency
KEVIN FRAYER/GETTY IMAGES
Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing (C), gestures as he speaks between his son Victor (L) and CK Hutchison Co-managing Director Canning Fok during a
press conference in Hong Kong on March 16, 2018.
and accelerate 5G rollout.
In July 2018, it acquired the re-
Li failed to maining half of Wind Tre, an Ital-
show his ian telecommunications company,
support for 2.45 billion euros ($2.95 billion).
Last May, CK Hutchison bid $1.5
for the CCP billion to build and operate the
during world’s largest desalination plant
the anti- in Israel, although the offer was re-
jected by Israel’s defense minister.
extradition Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike
bill protests Pompeo also opposed Chinese in-
in Hong Kong volvement in Israeli infrastructure.
Had that bid not failed, CK Hutchi-
in 2019. The son would have controlled nearly a
CCP began to quarter of Israel’s water industry;
desalination is a key project in the
marginalize CCP’s “Made in China 2025” pro-
the property gram. The plant’s proximity to an
tycoon. empty military base and nuclear re-
search facilities was another reason
for the strong opposition by Israel’s
defense minister.
Back in 1997, Li’s Hutchison
Whampoa acquired the 25-year
rights to operate two major ports
on the Panama Canal—one of the
world’s major trade routes. Hutchi-
son Whampoa also has invested
heavily in development near the
ports.
That set off alarm bells in U.S. se-
curity circles because of Li’s per-
sonal friendship with several top
Chinese officials, including senior
figures in the People’s Liberation
Army.
Hutchison Whampoa’s connection
with “the inner circle of Beijing’s rul-
ing elite” was especially highlighted
during a U.S. House hearing on the
Panama Canal in 1999.
“With the exit of American secu-
rity forces, the situation in Panama
is deteriorating,” then-Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher of California said at the
hearing. “I recently visited Panama
Soldiers of the and it was very evident. The main-
People’s Liberation land Chinese criminal triad gangs,
Army’s Honor some of whom have ties to Chinese
Guard Battalion intelligence agencies, are active
wear protective throughout Panama.”
masks as they The year that Hutchison Wham-
stand at attention poa acquired the ports, Panama
in front of a broke off diplomatic relations with
photo of Chinese Taiwan and switched its alliance to
Communist Party the CCP.
leader Xi Jinping
By 2006, Hutchison Port Holdings
at their barracks
outside the had assumed control of scores of
Forbidden City, potential economic choke points,
near Tiananmen including 169 berths at 41 ports
Square, in Beijing worldwide. These facilities control
on May 20, 2020. about 15 percent of global maritime
container traffic. Also, 10 percent of
the Hutchison Panama Ports Co. is
owned by China Resources Enter-
prise (CRE), which is the commercial
arm of China’s Ministry of Trade and
Economic Cooperation.
In its investigation into the CCP’s
attempts to influence the 1996 U.S.
presidential campaign, the U.S. Sen-
ate Government Affairs Committee
identified CRE as a conduit for “es-
pionage—economic, political and
military—for China.”
Former Republican Sen. Trent
Lott described Li’s Hong Kong firm
as “an arm of the People’s Libera-
tion Army.”
ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Hong Kong Secretary for Food and
Health Sophia Chan (L) and Secretary
for the Civil Service Patrick Nip speak
to the media in the Causeway Bay
district of Hong Kong on Feb. 26, 2021.
Li’s Long-Standing Relationship
With CCP
The relationship between the Li fam-
ily and the CCP began during the
Deng Xiaoping era, and entered a
honeymoon period after Jiang Zemin
took power, when he received special
treatment because of his investments
in China.
In May 1996, Li’s eldest son, Victor
Li Tzar-kuoi, was kidnapped by crime
boss “Big Spender”  Cheung Tze-
keung for $1 billion in ransom. Ac-
cording to Apply Daily, after Cheung
successfully collected the money and
escaped to mainland China, Li man-
aged to appear very calm while se-
cretly reporting the matter to Jiang.
Jiang “expressed deep sympa-
thy and indignation,” and ordered
Cheung arrested.
The CCP police in Guangdong suc-
cessfully found and caught Cheung,
who was later sentenced to death and
executed at gunpoint on Dec. 5, 1998.
During the 2019 anti-extradition
protests, the CCP forced Hong Kong’s
elite from all walks of life to show
support for the CCP’s crackdown.
Almost all Chinese language news-
papers in Hong Kong, with the excep-
tion of Apple Daily and The Epoch
Times, published pro-CCP content.
However, on Aug. 16, 2019,  Li
placed an advertisement in the name
of “a Hong Kong resident,” with the
main message “the melon of Huang-
tai cannot bear the picking again.”
The ad was based on a poem written
by Crown Prince Li Xian during the
reign of Wu Zetian in the Tang Dy-
nasty. Li Xian advised Wu Zetian not
to drive the Li family’s descendants
to extinction.
The advertisement was widely in-
terpreted to be a subtle shoutout to
Beijing.
On May 27 last year, the Hong Kong
newspaper Ta Kung Pao asked Li
about his attitude toward the CCP’s
intention to enact the Hong Kong
national security law.
He responded, “I hope the passage
of the national security law will ease
the Central Government’s worries
about Hong Kong and play a posi-
tive role in long-term stability and
development; the government of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region is duty-bound to consolidate
CHINA | A9
ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Hong Kong people’s confidence in
‘one country, two systems’ and
strengthen the trust of the interna-
tional community.”
But the next day, the Ta Kung Pao
report, titled “Li Ka-shing: National
Security Law Plays a Positive Role
in Long-Term Stable Development,”
described Li’s hopes for the national
security law as certainty.
Following the Ta Kung Pao article,
many media outlets sought to inter-
view Li. He declined all requests,
claiming that he was sick with the flu.
‘Don’t Let Li Ka-shing Run Away’
Since 2013, Li has been selling assets
in China and Hong Kong, cashing in
at least HK$250 billion (US$32.19 bil-
lion). The sales include Beijing Pacific
Century Place, Metropolitan Plaza in
Guangzhou, the Oriental Financial
Center in Shanghai, Shanghai Sheng-
bang International Building, his
property in Hong Kong, and his 20
percent stake in Hongkong Electric.
After Li began selling his assets
in China, the Liaowang Institute—
which is the Xinhua news agency’s
think tank—published an article
titled “Don’t Let Li Ka-shing Run
Away,” labeling any attempt by Li
to leave China as an act of “moral
failure.”
The article begins: “Business is like
a stream of water in the first place,
and it is the nature of capital to seek
profit. Li can go wherever he wants
to go. However, given the nature of
how Li gained his wealth in China in
the last two decades, his affairs seem
to be more than simply business. As
we all know, in China, the real es-
tate industry is very close to power.
Without power resources, it is impos-
sible to do real estate business. The
wealth of real estate, thus, does not
come entirely from a thoroughgoing
market economy. In this regard, it is
inappropriate for Li Ka-shing to just
run away as long as he wants to.”
The article asserted that as a per-
son who has gained much from his
partnership with China, Li had three
missions to fulfill before he could
turn his back on China:
1. Paying back the poor by being
responsible to society.
2. Stabilizing Hong Kong and as-
suming the responsibility of a busi-
ness leader.
3. Doing more good deeds, and
running businesses for society.
On May 27, 2019, the major Chinese
website Sina.com published an ar-
ticle titled “Li Ka-shing Really Ran
Away.”
The article reads: “A group of busi-
nessmen led by Li Ka-shing, who
enjoyed the dividends of China’s
reform and opening up, started to
cash out in the process of China’s
economic transformation and up-
grading. There is nothing wrong for
businessmen to pursue profits, but
don’t let those businessmen who
used all the under-the-table rules to
gain profits to damage the credit of
business and erode the foundation
of China’s economy.”
 A10 | WORLD
Quad Nations Should Work Out ‘Finer Nuances’ to
Coordinate Rare-Earth Supply Chain, Scientist Says
CONTINUED FROM A1
and a former scientist at the Indian
Space and Research Organization,
told The Epoch Times in an exclu-
sive interview that critical technol-
ogies have penetrated all aspects
of living. Many things, ranging
from “electric vehicles,” to “green
energy” to the “big economy,” have
a strategic significance that needs
to be minutely understood if Quad
countries decide to coordinate a
critical technology supply chain.
“We need to understand how we
can use this transition period, where
all the countries are aligned in com-
mon with the purpose to contain or
deal with China, which has control
[over these supply chains],” he said,
adding that it’s an opportunity to
actually strategize for an alternate
industrial ecosystem for rare earths
(RE). “So there are some finer nu-
ances that one has to kind of watch.”
These critical technologies depend
upon the critical RE elements, the
processing of which is dominated
by China. Even the manufacture of
key intermediate products essential
to these high-tech growth industries
is also controlled by China.
The critical nature of these tech-
nologies and their growing indis-
pensability to the global economy
has created a vulnerability for ad-
vanced nations, and on Sept. 30,
2020, President Donald Trump de-
clared the U.S. dependence on China
for RE metals a national emergency.
The Biden administration has
also decided to review critical sup-
ply chains to reduce dependence on
China. President Joe Biden signed
an executive order on Feb. 24 with
the goal of establishing “resilient,
diverse, and secure supply chains
to ensure our economic prosperity
and national security.”
The significance of China’s control
of critical technology supply chains
can be further gauged from the eco-
nomic indispensability of critical
technologies such as artificial intel-
ligence that is expected to boost GDP
for local economies by 26 percent by
2030, potentially contributing $15.7
trillion to the global economy, ac-
cording to a report by PWC, a global
professional service network.
China’s Critical Tech Supply
Chains
China has established global domi-
nance in the RE industry and con-
trols the entire global supply chain,
from mining to the production of im-
portant intermediate products that
are critical inputs for high growth
industries, Chandrashekar wrote in
a paper co-authored by Lalitha Sun-
daresan and Nabeel Mancheri and
published by India’s National Insti-
tute of Advanced Studies (NIAS),
where he’s also a professor.
China’s focus on achieving global
dominance in the RE industry was
approved under its Program 863,
included under its strategic nuclear
program, according to the NIAS pa-
per. The objectives include “[gain-
ing] a foothold in the world arena”
and “[striving] to achieve break-
throughs in key technical fields that
concern the national economic life-
line and national security.”
The areas of emphasis identified by
Program 863 include biotechnology,
space technology, information tech-
nology, laser technology, automa-
tion, and energy. Program 863 was
approved by paramount leader Deng
Xiaoping in 1986, and received a
boost in 1997 through program 973.
“Improve the developments and
applications of Rare Earths and
change resource advantage to eco-
STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Mining facilities at the MP Materials rare-earth mine in Mountain Pass, Calif., on Jan. 30, 2020.
Chandrashekar
said the United
States under
Trump took
strong action to
be prepared for
threats to the
country’s high-
tech economy.
A mining/crushing
supervisor displays
crushed ore before
it is sent to the mill
at the MP Materials
rare earth mine in
Mountain Pass, Calif.,
on Jan. 30, 2020.
STEVE MARCUS/
REUTERS
Soil containing various
rare-earth elements
for export at a port in
Lianyungang, China, in
this file photo.
nomic superiority,” Chinese leader
Jiang Zemin said that year, accord-
ing to the NIAS paper.
Two years before that, China could
acquire, with conditions, the Gener-
al Motors subsidiary Magnequench,
with the aim of catching up with the
permanent magnet technology.
All assets of Magnequench were
moved to China in 2002 after curbs
were lifted by the United States. That
gave China a global dominance over
the powerful magnet industry—im-
portant for the manufacture of wind
turbines, electric vehicles, satellites,
rockets, and robots.
“After they bought Magnaquench,
they also merged operations with a
Canadian company Neo Materials—
that is involved with RE. Neo Materi-
als has tie-ups with U.S. mining and
processing companies to buy basic
RE material—they are sent to China
for separation,” Chandrashekar said.
Since then, the Chinese have
bought major stakes in various
RE mining companies including
Australia’s Lynas, according to the
NIAS paper. Even less than 50 per-
cent stakes provide China access to
information and influence, Chan-
drashekar said.
Today, China is focused on build-
ing a domestic RE industrial eco-
system with a focus on mining and
processing, manufacturing and ap-
plication, and research and develop-
ment after having already acquired
global dominance.
Chandrashekar said the United
States initially played a pioneering
role in many “breakthrough discov-
eries” in RE materials, but allowed
its once-dominant position to de-
teriorate.
“It’s now dependent on Chinese
largesse to make sure enough RE
materials and intermediates are
available for [U.S.] use. The U.S. to-
day has no industrial capacity in RE,
allowing global market dynamics to
move all of them to China,” the NIAS
paper’s authors said.
After Biden signed the executive
order for secure supply chains, the
White House said that the secretary
of defense, who is also the national
defense stockpile manager, will
submit a report identifying risks in
supply chains for critical materials—
which include RE minerals—and
make policy recommendations to
address those risks.
Complex Rare-Earth Supply Chain
The RE supply chain is complex
because each final product—such
as a car or a cellphone—contains
thousands of intermediate prod-
ucts or assemblies, each of which
may require a supply chain with a
high degree of strategic input and
coordination.
“A windshield wiper in a car may
require a small motor which requires
a magnet, which in order to reduce
the size and power requirements
may need a RE magnet. The same
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
car may need a display unit that is
like a TV that uses a phosphor coat-
ing that provides the lighting for the
display. The car may be a hybrid or
an all-electric that requires a motor
that converts battery power to me-
chanical power—that may involve a
different kind of RE magnet,” Chan-
drashekar said.
“The car may have a battery that
is made out of a nickel-hydrogen
cell that may require an electrode
to which lanthanum [one of the 17
RE materials] is added. The catalytic
converter that is attached to the ex-
haust of gasoline-powered car—uses
metals like platinum, palladium,
and rhodium. These are not RE but
have some RE materials added to
them to reduce cost and improve
the ability to deal with pollutants
like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide,
and so on.
“A music system in the car may
need speakers, which also need RE
magnets. The list can go on to in-
clude many other items that need
RE elements.
“The use of the RE can be visual-
ized as a complex network of con-
nections between the RE elements,
parts, sub-assemblies, and prod-
ucts—this network can be repre-
sented by what is called an input-
output matrix—the network that we
counted in our report was one that
had 92 nodes, all of which are con-
nected,” he said, noting how damag-
ing a supply chain disruption can be
to a complex matrix.
“Since China has a stranglehold on
raw materials as well as many inter-
mediates like magnets, phosphors,
catalytic converters, batteries, and
many others—they can if they chose
seriously endanger the production
chains of the advanced countries.
A disruption in the supply will af-
fect many interconnected and inter-
linked products and industries.”
Over a decade ago, China sus-
pended the supply of RE to Japan for
two months over a fishing trawler
dispute and recently passed a law
that requires case-by-case scrutiny
of exports.
“Since the Chinese embargo in
2010, Japan has been worried, long
before the U.S., about its vulner-
abilities in RE. I am pretty sure they
have a mechanism in place to reduce
vulnerabilities,” Chandrashekar said
STEVE MARCUS/REUTERS
A cyclist rides
along a dusty
road where
dozens of fac-
tories process-
ing rare-earths,
iron and coal,
operate on the
outskirts of
Baotou city in
Inner Monglia.
about the strategic nature of RE and
why those materials are included in
the QUAD’s agenda.
He said that while some countries
such as India could be in a better po-
sition to supply RE, others like the
United States and Japan would have
the required mineral processing and
intermediate product technologies
that define the supply chain of criti-
cal technologies.
As a result of the 2010 embargo,
Japan is better prepared to respond
to similar situations. While Australia
has good trade relations with China,
particularly in mining, this relation-
ship has recently turned “acrimoni-
ous.”
Chandrashekar said the United
States under Trump took strong ac-
tion to be prepared for threats to the
country’s high-tech economy.
“They have in place a strong, fairly
integrated program for alternate
supplies in case of domestic and in-
ternational tie-ups—the program
also calls for reducing RE content
and using alternative materials and
designs to bypass RE materials com-
pletely,” he said.
“The U.S. has scaled up and is well
on its way to reducing the impact of
any Chinese threats. Xi visited an RE
center to send a threat to Trump, as
per the news media.”
India, which has been mostly a raw
material supplier, was also forced
to develop domestic technology for
magnets when faced with embargos,
and the country has used these in
its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
“More recently, a facility to produce
magnets for critical security needs is
being set up,” Chandrashekar said.
Chandrashekar says each of the
four Quad nations has RE strategies
with varying degrees of scale, and it
could “still be useful to explore co-
operation and coordination.”
He said for coordinating a sus-
tainable critical technology supply
chain, it’s important for each of the
nations to first identify their tech-
nology needs, see who can provide
the raw materials, who can provide
intermediate technologies, and who
can manufacture. In this process,
Chandrashekar said it’s important
for each country to build assurances
and long-term trust because coordi-
nation, joint research, and innova-
tion will take time.
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021 WORLD | A11

European Union Sues AstraZeneca Over COVID-19

Vaccine Delivery Shortfall
VINCENZO PINTO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
CONTINUED FROM A1 A laboratory
technician
EU spokesperson  Stefan De supervises the
Keersmaecker told The Epoch production of
Times in an emailed statement that the University
the lawsuit was filed in a Brussels of Oxford’s
court on April 23 “due to the con- AstraZeneca
tinuous breach of the terms of the COVID-19
vaccine at the
contract and to the lack of a reliable
Italian biologics
strategy by the company to ensure manufacturing
the timely supply of vaccines in the facility in
current circumstances.” Anagni, Italy,
on Sep.
11, 2020.

De Keersmaecker
said the goal of the
lawsuit is to ensure
the speedy deliv-
ery of vaccines.
De Keersmaecker said the legal
action is for breach of the advance
purchase agreement (APA) that the
European Union signed with the
company on Aug. 27, 2020, for the
supply of 300 million doses of its
COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the
second quarter of 2021.
He said the legal action was be-
ing undertaken by the European the intent is to get more doses. sion to vaccinate as many people end of June, of which about 70 mil- Oxford University, was initially
Commission on its own behalf and “Every vaccine dose counts. Ev- as possible. Many thousands of lion would be in the second quarter. supposed to be the main vaccine
on behalf of the European Union’s ery vaccine dose saves lives,” she our employees working around the A week after that, the Commission in an EU rollout in the first half
27 member states, which are “fully wrote. clock have been driven by a pas- sent a legal letter to the company in of this year. After repeated cuts
aligned in support of the Commis- AstraZeneca said the legal action sion to help the world at no profit; the first step of a formal procedure in supplies, the bloc changed its
sion on the need to ensure a timely was without merit and that it would they remain firmly committed to to resolve disputes. plans and now relies mostly on the
and effective implementation of the fight the lawsuit in court. delivering our vaccine to the people In its statement following the an- Pfizer-BioNTech shot.
APA concluded with Astra Zeneca.” “AstraZeneca has fully complied of Europe and around the world.” nouncement of the legal action, As- The move follows months of
He said the goal of the lawsuit with the Advance Purchase Agree- Under its contract with the EU, traZeneca said it was in the process disputes with the company about
isn’t to punish AstraZeneca, but ment with the European Commis- AstraZeneca had committed to of delivering nearly 50 million dos- supply issues and amid concerns
to ensure the speedy delivery of sion and will strongly defend itself making its “best reasonable efforts” es by the end of April, a goal which about the efficacy and safety of the
vaccines in line with the contract. in court. We believe any litigation is to deliver 180 million vaccine doses is in line with the revised-down tar- vaccine. Still, while the shot has
“Our priority is to ensure #Co- without merit and we welcome this to the bloc in the second quarter of get of supplying 100 million shots been linked to rare cases of blood
vid-19 vaccine deliveries take opportunity to resolve this dispute this year, for a total of 300 million in by the end of the quarter. clots, the EU drugs regulator has
place,” Stella Kyriakides, EU as soon as possible,” the company the period from December to June. The company’s delays have con- recommended its use to contain
health commissioner, wrote in an said in a statement. But AstraZeneca said in a state- tributed to hampering the bloc’s the spread of COVID-19.
April 26 post on Twitter, echoing “We look forward to working con- ment on March 12 it would aim to vaccination drive, as the Astra-
De Keersmaecker’s position that structively with the EU Commis- deliver only one-third of that by the Zeneca vaccine, developed by Reuters contributed to this report.

UK Condemns ‘Inhumane’ Sentencing of Dual Citizen in Iran

ALEXANDER ZHANG
The British government has con-
demned the Iranian regime after
British-Iranian charity worker Na-
zanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was given
a further one-year jail term for
spreading “propaganda” against
the regime.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe completed a
five-year sentence in March on
spying charges, the last year of
which was spent under house ar-
rest due to the CCP (Chinese Com-
munist Party) virus pandemic.
Her lawyer Hojjat Kermani told
The Associated Press on April 26
that she had been given a new
jail term on a charge of spreading
“propaganda against the system”
for participating in a protest in
front of the Iranian Embassy in
London in 2009.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic
Raab said Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s ad-
ditional one-year jail term was
“totally inhumane and wholly
unjustified.”
“We continue to call on Iran to
release Nazanin immediately so
she can return to her family in
the UK. We continue to do all we
can to support her,” he wrote on
Twitter.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
also promised to work “very hard”
to secure her release.
“The government will not stop,
it will redouble our efforts, and we
are working with our American
friends on this issue as well,” he
told reporters.
Tulip Siddiq, Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s
local MP representing Hampstead
and Kilburn, said the news was
“absolutely devastating” and that
it was “shocking that her husband
was only just notified.”
“Another abusive use of her as a
bargaining chip. I’m speaking to
the family & will update when I
know more,” she said on Twitter.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project
manager with the Thomson Re-
uters Foundation, was arrested
at a Tehran airport in April 2016
as she prepared to head back to
Britain with her daughter after a
family visit.
She was later sentenced to five
years in jail after being convicted
of plotting to overthrow Iran’s
clerical establishment. Her fam-
ily and the foundation, a charity
that operates independently of
media firm Thomson Reuters and
its news subsidiary Reuters, deny
all charges against her and say she
was only visiting relatives in Iran.
She was released from jail in
March last year and put under
house arrest in Tehran in response
to concerns about the spread of
COVID-19 in Iran’s prisons, but
her movements were restricted
and she was barred from leaving
the country.
PA, Reuters, and The Associated
Press contributed to this report.

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A Coca-Cola billboard in San Francisco on Oct. 26, 2020.
Woke Capitalism: How Did It Happen?
CHARLOTTE ALLEN
I
t’s hardly news that America’s larg-
est business entities, traditionally
regarded as allies of the political
right, now openly support radically
progressive politics, to the point
of bullying conservative-majority states
and their politicians that don’t go along.
In March, South Dakota Republican
Gov. Kristi Noem vetoed a bill that would
have banned biological males from
participating in girls’ and women’s sports
at public schools—after it became clear
that the National Collegiate Athletic As-
sociation would retaliate by excluding
the state from current or future sports
championship games.
It seems that nowadays, in
contrast to the past, the most
prudent way for a business
to avoid controversy is to
take the winning side in the
controversy, which means
taking the left-endorsed side.
A few weeks later, another Republican
governor, Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas,
vetoed a bill barring puberty blockers,
opposite-sex hormones, and surgery that
would slice off breasts and genitals for
youngsters under age 18 who claim trans-
gender identity. Fox host Tucker Carlson
suggested that Hutchinson may have
faced pressure to veto the bill—which
was ultimately overruled by the Arkansas
Legislature—from Bentonville-based
Walmart, Arkansas’s largest employer.
The most stunning entry of America’s
corporate class into the world of “woke”
politics has been its mass reaction to
Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s
signing into law an election-reform bill
that tightens requirements for in-person
and absentee voting, including the pre-
sentation of some form of identification.
The law was a reaction to lax regulation
of mail-in ballots that led to allegations
of fraud in the 2020 elections in Georgia
and elsewhere.
But the Democratic Party deems any
effort to tighten voting oversight as racist
(President Joe Biden’s “Jim Crow” man-
tra), even though the Georgia law actu-
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021 • A13
ally expands poll access via early voting,
and the majority of Americans, including
black and low-income Americans, sup-
port voter ID.
Big business predictably sided with
the Democrats. Major League Baseball
announced it would pull the 2021 All-
Star Game and 2021 amateur draft out of
Atlanta. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines and
Coca-Cola also condemned the legislation.
On April 10, more than 100 CEOs and
other business leaders met on Zoom to
discuss ways to organize opposition to
similar legislation in other states. The list
of companies whose leaders participated
in the Zoom call, and then signed a two-
page open letter in The New York Times
applauding themselves as defenders of
the “right to vote,” reads like a corporate
Who’s Who: Apple, Amazon, Starbucks,
Merck, Ford Motor Co., American Ex-
press, United Airlines, American Airlines,
Target, Netflix, Levi Strauss.
How did this—the transformation of
corporate America into not just a pro-
gressive but an openly partisan mono-
lith—take place? Up through the early
21st century, big business shied away
from controversial politics of any kind
and promoted through its advertising
only the most anodyne messages of racial
and ethnic harmony: “I’d like to teach
the world to sing.” Few large corpora-
tions donated to Planned Parenthood, for
example, deeming its abortion activities
radioactive to potential customers.
Now, such entities as Amazon, Star-
bucks, Johnson & Johnson, and Unilever
proudly operate donation programs for
Planned Parenthood. When North Caro-
lina enacted a privacy-protecting “bath-
room bill” in 2016 that forbade people
from using opposite-sex restrooms in
public facilities, corporate boycotts of
every variety—from an NCAA pullout to
PayPal’s scuttling a plan to build a facil-
ity in Charlotte—resulted in the repeal of
most of the law’s provisions.
Part of the reason for the massive ideo-
logical switch on corporations’ part is
undoubtedly fear. America may be evenly
divided between right and left, but it’s
the left half that holds the cultural levers,
controlling educational institutions,
entertainment, media, and, most power-
fully of all, social media, which is under
the thumb of woke magnates in Silicon
Valley. Progressive religious leaders are
already demanding a nationwide boycott
of Atlanta-based Home Depot because it
hasn’t joined the rest of corporate America
in denouncing the Georgia election law.
It seems that nowadays, in contrast to
the past, the most prudent way for a busi-
ness to avoid controversy is to take the
winning side in the controversy, which
means taking the left-endorsed side.
But there’s another aspect to staid corpo-
rate CEOs suddenly lining up with Black
Lives Matter, LGBTQ activists, and today’s
radicalized Democratic Party: the human
yearning to be admired and respected.
William L. Anderson, an economics
professor at Frostburg State University
in Maryland, compares today’s cor-
porate top dogs, whether Facebook’s
Mark Zuckerberg or Coca-Cola’s James
Quincey, to the 19th-century business
titans who built railroads, steel mills,
and manufacturing plants.
Part of the reason for the massive
ideological switch on corpora-
tions’ part is undoubtedly fear.
“They loved being called ‘captains of
industry,’” Anderson said. “But they
weren’t captains of anything. They were
entrepreneurs who made things that
people wanted to buy. Bill Gates isn’t a
captain of industry. He’s an entrepreneur
who had really good ideas about selling
software, and now he thinks he has good
ideas about everything else.”
What those 19th-century business
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES
MEGAN VARNER/GETTY IMAGES
Georgia Gov.
Brian Kemp
speaks at a
news confer-
ence about the
state’s new
election integ-
rity law, at
AJ’s Famous
Seafood and
Poboys in
Marietta,
Ga., on April
10, 2021.
barons craved, says Anderson, was
“respectability.” They founded libraries,
museums, hospitals, scientific institutes,
and universities—“but they also got into
weird things like eugenics,” Anderson
said. Highly successful at operating their
companies, “they thought of themselves
as spokesmen” for the fashionable move-
ments of their time.
If John D. Rockefeller could pat him-
self on the back for funding research
into what the intellectual elite of his era
called improving the human race by
discouraging its “defective” components
from breeding, it shouldn’t be surprising
that today’s corporate CEOs like to take
out ads in The New York Times congratu-
lating themselves for backing whatever
woke causes today’s intellectual and
cultural elites happen to promote.
Or that nearly the same CEOs issued ef-
fusive press releases vowing their commit-
ment to “racial justice” within hours of the
murder verdict in the George Floyd trial.
“I don’t think they were ever a bunch of
radicals,” Anderson said. “If they were,
they wouldn’t have been able to run suc-
cessful companies. But they want peace—
and nobody wants to be ostracized.”
Machiavelli famously wrote that it’s
better to be feared than loved. Today’s
corporations seem to want to be feared
and loved at the same time.
Charlotte Allen is the executive editor
of Catholic Arts Today and a frequent
contributor to Quillette. She has a doctor-
ate in medieval studies from the Catholic
University of America.
A14 | OPINION
The Toxicity of the Permanent Outrage Mentality
JOSH HAMMER
The conviction of dis-
graced former Min-
neapolis police officer
Derek Chauvin on both
manslaughter and mur-
der charges ought to be,
at least in theory, a seminal
moment for a country hoping to foster
greater civic unity and recoil from the
tumultuous brink of a half-century nadir
in racially charged acrimony.
Sadly, early indications point toward
something closely approximating the
precise opposite.
Successful criminal prosecutions of
police officers for use of lethal force in
the line of duty are rare in America,
reflecting both the statistical paucity of
truly egregious police misconduct and
a still-widely held understanding that
policing is extraordinarily difficult work,
entailing split-second decision-making
to which deference must be afforded
and for which Monday morning quar-
terbacking is improper. But the viral
video of Chauvin kneeling on the neck
of George Floyd for nine minutes did
not evince such “split-second decision-
making.”
No matter what Floyd’s autopsy
revealed with respect to fentanyl and
methamphetamine, Chauvin’s use of
excessive force was clearly criminally
negligent and reckless. The prosecution
had a strong case, at least with respect
to the lesser manslaughter charge.
Whether Chauvin nonetheless received
a truly fair trial is dubious, at best. The
armchair commentary and attempts
to influence the verdict from myriad
elected officials, such as Rep. Maxine
Waters (D-Calif.), and even President Joe
Biden himself, were egregiously inap-
propriate. Equally egregious was the fact
that the jury, in such a high-profile case,
DILBERT
PEANUTS
RED AND ROVER
GRAND AVENUE
MUTT & JEFF
wasn’t sequestered for the entire trial
duration. The appeals process will take
into account these procedural follies and
lamentable interferences in the solemni-
ty of the judicial process, but for now, the
fact remains that Black Lives Matter, the
progressive left, and all those who can-
onized Floyd as a “martyr” for America’s
purported “systemic racism” sin got the
result it seems they wanted. Right?
Maybe not quite.
“This verdict is not a substitute for
policy change,” promptly tweeted far-left
icon Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
(D-N.Y). “No joy today,” tweeted Rep.
Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), “Just relief.”
Biden, an ostensible “moderate” and
healer of our national wounds, used
his post-verdict remarks to lambast the
“systemic racism that is a stain on our
nation’s soul.”
If one truly believes America
suffers from nationwide,
pan-institutional ‘systemic
racism,’ then of course the
successful prosecution of a
lone rogue cop will not suffice.
Rather, all that will ultimately
suffice is the burning down of
the nation and an attempt to
rebuild everything from scratch.
So much for reconciliation and unity.
As sickening as this sentiment is, it
makes sense if we take Democrats at
their word. If one truly believes America
suffers from nationwide, pan-institution-
al “systemic racism,” then, of course, the
successful prosecution of a lone rogue
cop won’t suffice. Rather, all that will
ultimately suffice is the burning down
COMICS
COLUMBUS POLICE DEPARTMENT VIA WSYX-TV VIA AP
In an image from police bodycam video that
the Columbus Police Department played dur-
ing a news conference, Ma’Khia Bryant wields
a knife while attacking another girl before being
shot by a police officer, in Columbus, Ohio, on
April 20, 2021.
of the nation and an attempt to rebuild
everything from scratch. And the would-
be revolutionaries did not wait very long
to find their next target.
The very next day after the verdict, the
national narrative shifted to a lethal
police encounter in Columbus, Ohio. Six-
teen-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was shot
to death as she reared back with a large
knife in hand and began to lunge, ready
to stab an unarmed fellow teenager who
posed no physical threat. Inexplicably,
the blue-checked Twitterati immediately
called Bryant’s death the heir successor
to Floyd’s.
“Demand accountability,” tweeted
former top Barack Obama presidential
adviser Valerie Jarrett. “Fight for justice.”
Worse, in a grossly irresponsible
and now-deleted tweet, iconic NBA
megastar LeBron James tweeted out a
photo of the cop—who, in a just world,
would be lionized for likely saving the
life of at least one unarmed teenager—
alongside the caption, “YOU’RE NEXT
#ACCOUNTABILITY.” The increas-
ingly anti-civil liberties American Civil
Liberties Union called Bryant’s death
outright “murder.”
This is utter insanity. The Bryant death,
GARFIELD
GINGER MEGGS
BIG NATE
DRABBLE
FRANK AND ERNEST
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
while tragic, isn’t even remotely similar
to the Floyd death. But when you’re a
hammer, everything looks like a nail—
and if America is “systemically racist”
(a leftist lie), and if modern police forces
originated with antebellum chattel
slavery (another leftist lie), then every
cop must be held “accountable.” Viewed
through this dystopian and patently un-
American lens, each police officer who
deploys lethal force in the line of duty
becomes a symbol for the alleged sins
of all cops.
It’s the same playbook the left deployed
when then-Supreme Court nominee
Judge Brett Kavanaugh was put on de
facto trial in 2018 as a symbol for all the
alleged sins of white men.
The unfortunate reality is that, in our
modern political and media ecosystem,
a permanently aggrieved, outraged,
victimized mentality pays well. For the
charlatans and hucksters of “anti-rac-
ism” and “critical race theory,” therefore,
conceding that a development such as
Chauvin’s conviction might indicate that
America’s criminal justice system is not
“systemically racist” is unconscionable.
Indeed, an entire industry has been es-
tablished to perpetuate this rotten myth.
“A post-racial America would be an
unmitigated disaster” for this industry,
David Azerrad recently wrote for News-
week. “Instead of charging $6,000 an
hour lecturing corporate America on its
white privilege, Robin DiAngelo would
be selling plastic jewelry on the Home
Shopping Network.”
Thus, the imperative for the outrage
mob to find its next target. Those like Di-
Angelo and Jarrett win, but the American
people, who are sick of ginned-up faux
anger, lose.
Josh Hammer, a constitutional attorney
by training, is an opinion editor, a podcast
contributor, and a syndicated columnist.
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021 OPINION | A15
SPECIAL SERIES: HOW THE SPECTER OF COMMUNISM IS RULING OUR WORLD

Chapter Eighteen: Stephen Gregory, Publisher

Jasper Fakkert, Editor-in-Chief

The Chinese Communist

Channaly Philipp, Life & Tradition,
Travel Editor
Chrisy Trudeau, Mind & Body Editor
Crystal Shi, Home, Food Editor

Party’s Global Ambitions

Sharon Kilarski, Arts & Culture Editor

ABOUT US

The Epoch Times is a media

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
d. ‘Colonizing’ Africa With the
‘Chinese Model’ (cont.)
In March 2013, at the BRICS sum-
mit, the Ethiopian prime minister
stated that China was both a trading
partner and a development model
for Ethiopia. Today, Ethiopia is called
Africa’s “New China.” Its internet
monitoring and censorship, the
totalitarian nature of its government,
its media control, and the like are all
cast from the same communist mold
as China’s. [78] The PRC has also held
training sessions targeted at leaders
and government officials from other
African nations.
Yun Sun, co-director of the China
Program at the Washington-based
Stimson Center, said:
“They organized this kind of politi-
cal training with three objectives in
mind. First, that the CCP’s regime is
legitimate—it is attempting to tell the
world how the CCP has successfully
managed China and how this success
could be replicated for developing
countries. Second, the CCP seeks to
promote the experience China had in
its development, during the so-called
‘exchange of ideas on how to govern
the country.’ Although the CCP is not
explicitly ‘exporting revolution,’ it is
certainly exporting its ideological
approach. The third objective is to
strengthen exchanges between China
and Africa.” [79]
After several decades of painstak-
ing effort, through commerce and
trade, the CCP gained a strong foot-
hold in Africa’s economy. By using
economic incentives, it has bought
off a number of African governments,
such that officials in those countries
follow Beijing’s every instruction.
A scholar in the PRC establishment
declared: “China’s progress over the
past forty years has proven that it
doesn’t need to do what the West did
to achieve success. ... The impact of
this on Africa is beyond what you can
imagine.” [80]
e. Advancing Into Latin America
Being geographically close to the
United States, Latin America has
historically been within the United
States’ sphere of influence. Although a
number of socialist regimes appeared
in Latin America when the tide of
communism swept over the world
during the mid-twentieth century,
those influences ultimately did not
amount to a significant threat to the
United States’ role in the region.
After the collapse of the Soviet
Union, the CCP began to target Latin
America. Under the banner of “South
to South cooperation,” it started
to infiltrate all areas of society in
a report from the U.S.-based think
Chinese leader tank Brookings Institution, in 2000,
Xi Jinping (R) mainland Chinese trade with Latin
and then-Ethio- America was $12 billion, but by 2013,
pian Prime Min- it had ballooned to more than $260
ister Hailemar- billion, an increase of more than 20
iam Desalegn times. Prior to 2008, Chinese loan
(L) together with commitments didn’t exceed $1 bil-
their delegations
lion, but in 2010, they had increased
meet in the Great
to $37 billion. [81] From 2005 to 2016,
Hall of the Peo-
ple in Beijing on the PRC pledged to loan $141 billion
June 14, 2013. to Latin American countries. Today,
Chinese loans have exceeded those
from the World Bank and the Inter-
American Development Bank com-
bined. The CCP also promised in 2015
that it would provide Latin America
with $250 billion in direct invest-
ment by 2025 and that bilateral trade
between China and Latin America
would reach $500 billion.
Latin America is currently China’s
second-largest investment target,
after Asia. [82] China is the top
trading partner to the three largest
economies in Latin America—Brazil,
Chile, and Peru—and the second-
largest for Argentina, Costa Rica, and
Cuba. With highway construction in
Ecuador, port projects in Panama,
and a planned fiber-optic cable run-
ning from China to Chile, the CCP’s
influence throughout Latin America
is clear. [83]
All the while, the CCP has de-
ployed its state companies to turn
Latin America into its resource base,
including Baosteel’s vast investment
in Brazil and Shougang’s control over
iron mines in Peru. The CCP also has
shown great interest in Ecuador’s oil
and Venezuela’s oil and gold mines.
In the military domain, the CCP
has been stepping up its infiltration
of Latin America in both scope and
depth. Jordan Wilson, a researcher
with the U.S.–China Economic
and Security Review Commission,
found that since the mid-2000s, the
CCP had progressed from low-level
military sales to high-end military
sales, reaching nearly $100 million in
exports by 2010. Starting in the 2000s,
the CCP substantially increased its
Today, military exports to Latin American
GOH CHAI HIN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
had ended diplomatic relations with
Taiwan and now recognized “only
one China.” Three years earlier, the
CCP had started actively planning
to invest in Panama’s infrastructure,
such as ports, railways, and high-
ways, with the total amount of invest-
ment reaching about $24 billion. [85]
China has already acquired control
over both ends of the Panama Canal,
which is of great international strate-
gic importance.
The CCP has also invested close to
$30 billion in El Salvador’s La Union
port. In July 2018, the U.S. ambassa-
dor to El Salvador warned in El Salva-
dor’s El Diario De Hoy newspaper that
Chinese investment in the port had a
military objective and deserved close
attention. [86]
Notes
78. Andrew Harding, “Jizhe laihong: Feizhou
chu le ge ‘Xin Zhongguo’” 記者來鴻：非洲出
了個「新中國」[“Correspondence From Our
Reporters: ‘A New China’ in Africa”], BBC
Chinese, July 27, 2015.
79. Si Yang 斯洋, “Zhengduo huayuquan,
shuchu Zhongguo moshi, Zhongguo
yingxiang OuMei he YaFei fangshi da
butong” 爭奪話語權，輸出中國模式，中
國影響歐美和亞非方式大不同 [“To Seize
Discursive Power and Export the ‘Chinese
Model,’ China Resorts to Different Means in
Europe-America and Asia-Africa”], Voice of
America, Dec. 7, 2018.
80. Quan Ye 泉野, “Duihua Wang Wen:
cong cheqian lun dao ‘xin zhimin zhuyi’
wuqu beihou de zhen wenti” 對話王文：從
撒錢論到「新殖民主義」誤區背後的真
問題 [“A Dialogue With Wang Wen: From
the Theory of Spending Money to the Real
Problem Behind the Misconstrued New
Colonialism”], Duowei News, Sept. 2, 2018.
81. Ted Piccone, “The Geopolitics of
China’s Rise in Latin America,” Brookings
Institution, Geoeconomics and Global Issues
2 (November 2016), 4.
82. Megha Rajagopalan, “China’s Xi
Woos Latin America With $250 Billion
Investments,” Reuters, Jan. 7, 2015.
83. Alfonso Serrano, “China Fills Trump’s
Empty Seat at Latin America Summit,” The
New York Times, April 17, 2018.
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sible to society.
We endeavor to educate read-
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the region, penetrating areas like
economy, trade, military, diplomacy,
culture, and the like. The govern-
ments of many Latin American
SUBSCRIBE
Ethiopia countries. The recipients of these
is called arms sales were anti-U.S. regimes, 84. Jordan Wilson, “China’s Military
Agreements with Argentina: A Potential
Africa’s most notably Venezuela. At the same
New Phase in China–Latin America
time, there has been an increase in

‘New China.’
countries, such as Venezuela, Cuba,
Ecuador, and Bolivia, were already
hostile toward the United States,
and the CCP made full use of this
when it extended its influence across
the Pacific, further aggravating the
tensions these nations had with the
United States and reinforcing their
anti-American stance.
The CCP’s overtures in Latin
America have far exceeded the gains
made by the Soviet Union in the Cold
War. Its support for socialist and left-
leaning regimes in the region lay the
groundwork for long-term confronta-
tion with the United States.
First, the CCP used foreign trade
and investment to expand its influ-
ence in Latin America. According to
military training exchanges and joint
Its internet military exercises. [84]
monitoring The CCP is rapidly developing ties
and with Latin America across diplomatic,
censorship, economic, cultural, and military di-
the mensions. In 2015, new requirements
outlined in a defense white paper by
totalitarian
nature of its
the CCP “specifically assign the PLA
to ‘actively participate in both region-
government, al and international security coopera-
its media tion and effectively secure China’s
control, and overseas interests.’”
the like are On the diplomatic front, due to
all cast from the CCP’s incentives and threats, a
number of countries have chosen to
the same sever diplomatic ties with the Re-
communist public of China (Taiwan) and instead
mold as
embrace the communist PRC. In
China’s. June 2017, Panama announced that it
TODAY
Defense Relations,” US–China Economic
and Security Review Commission: Staff
Research Report, Nov. 5, 2015.
85. Jin Yusen 金雨森, “Zhonggong jinqian
waijiao kong chengwei zuihou yi gen daocao” Get the
中共金錢外交恐成為最後一根稻草 [“The
CCP’s Dollar Diplomacy May Be the Last independent news
Straw”], watchinese.com, July 5, 2017.
you won’t find
86. “Zhonggojng ju’e jinyuan qiang
Saerwaduo, yin Meiguo youlü” 中共巨額金 anywhere else.
援搶薩爾瓦多 引美國憂慮 [“The CCP’s
Huge Amount of Financial Aid to El Salvador
Causes Anxiety for America”], NTD Subscribe and get the
insights only The Epoch Times
Television, Aug. 22, 2018.
can provide, delivered to your
door every week.
See next edition for the next installment.
ReadEpoch.com
To purchase the books, visit Epoch-
Shop.com
A16 | OPINION
The Anti-American Administration
NEWT GINGRICH &
CLAIRE CHRISTENSEN
Take a look at the following quotes from
the Biden administration and Chinese
Communist Party officials. Can you
guess which country’s government made
these statements?
“Systemic racism … is a stain [on] our
nation’s soul.”
“America has a long history of systemic
racism.”
“In order to lead abroad, America must
continue to address racial injustice and
inequities at home.”
“I’ve seen for myself how the original
sin of slavery, weaved white supremacy
into [America’s] founding documents
and principles.”
Racism in the United States is “a sys-
temic and persistence [sic] existence.”
“The challenges facing the United
States in human rights are deep-seated.
They did not just emerge over the past
four years, such as Black Lives Matter. It
did not come up only recently.”
All of these claims—made by President
Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris,
U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken, U.S.
Ambassador to the United Nations Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, and
Chinese Communist Party Politburo
member Yang Jiechi, respectively—have
a surprisingly similar theme. According
to the Biden administration and the Chi-
nese Communist Party, systemic racism,
hatred, and bigotry are deeply ingrained
The ‘Moral Equivalent of War’ Turned on Americans
JAMES BOWMAN
The death on April 19 at the
age of 93 of Walter Mon-
dale—who may go down
in history as the last hon-
est Democratic politician
(or the last but one, after
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
President Joe Biden, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Vice President Kamala Harris,
speaks to the staff of the U.S. State Department during his first visit in Washington on Feb. 4, 2021.
within American society.
As the CCP continues to imprison and
enslave Uyghurs and other minorities
in Xinjiang, eliminate freedom in Hong
Kong, and cover-up the origins of the
China virus pandemic, it’s shocking that
one of the only areas of agreement be-
tween the Biden administration and the
CCP is how terrible America is.
The statements by Biden, Harris, and
Blinken were issued following the verdict
in Minnesota. Instead of emphasizing that
the American justice system served its
purpose in upholding the rule of law, they
focused on criticizing America for its alleg-
edly inherent suppression of minorities.
Also, just last month, during the U.S.–
his old boss, Jimmy Carter)—has taken
me for a walk down memory lane: specifi-
cally to “the moral equivalent of war.”
Remember that?
Also known by the acronym of MEOW,
it was the hapless President Carter’s
attempt, via an idea borrowed from the
psychologist William James, to unify and
NOW
BIGGER SIZE,
EASIER TO READ
FORMAT
SAUL LOEB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
China meeting in Alaska, Yang spent
nearly 20 minutes condemning the hypo-
critical United States and claiming Amer-
ica has no legitimacy to criticize com-
munist China. He said, “So we believe
that it is important for the United States to
change its own image and to stop ad-
vancing its own democracy in the rest of
the world. Many people within the United
States actually have little confidence in
the democracy of the United States, and
they have various views regarding the
Government of the United States. … the
United States does not have the qualifica-
tion to say that it wants to speak to China
from a position of strength.”
Apparently, Biden, Harris, Blinken, and
rally the nation on behalf of—what was it
again? Oh, right. “The energy crisis.”
Boy, doesn’t that take you back?
It seems that, in 1977, we were import-
ing most of our oil from more or less hos-
tile Middle Eastern countries that had
formed themselves into a cartel (known
as the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries or OPEC) to drive
up the price of oil to unprecedented lev-
els, thus crippling our economy, which
largely ran on the stuff, then as now.
Since the day 44 years ago when Carter
delivered his MEOW speech, of course, we
have learned two very important things.
The first is that, by the use of advanced
technologies unknown in the 1970s, we
could and would become self-sufficient
in and even an exporter of oil.
The second is that crippling our econo-
my by cutting down on our oil production
and consumption is, as we now suppose,
a good, not a bad thing. This is because
cutting out the crude—if everybody
else in the world did the same (which, of
course, everybody else won’t) over de-
cades and decades—might infinitesimal-
ly retard the advance of “climate change.”
The virtue-signalers of the
left, in Alexandria as in the
rest of the country, use the
language and imagery of war
so promiscuously because
they believe they are at war.
What use that may be when the same
climate change is now said to be already
at “crisis” stage, I leave it to the reader to
work out for himself.
That Carter didn’t know these things in
1977, however, is, of course, not his fault.
But even at the time, people sort of knew
that attempting to drum up “war” fever,
with all its implications of national surviv-
al, over having to pay a higher price for the
oil to which our industrial economy was
and is addicted was fundamentally phony.
I remember my widowed grandmother,
already in her 90s at the time, writing to
me that she had turned the thermostat
down in the house she shared with her
older sister, aged 97, in accordance with
the president’s request. But she belonged
to a generation who knew what a real
national crisis was like—and she still
expected our national leaders to know as
well, and to ask for sacrifice in only the
most exigent circumstances.
That Carter betrayed this trust by pan-
icking over the OPEC oil shock is a lot of
the reason why Democrats now panick-
ing over global warming have to write
such sacrifices into law, thus further
diminishing our already diminished
economic freedoms, rather than asking
for the cooperation of the people. They
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
Thomas-Greenfield agree.
The anti-Americanism of the Biden
administration is not only a sobering de-
parture from the Trump administration’s
America First policy, but is dangerous and
demoralizing. Consider Russia’s recent
military mobilization along the border of
Ukraine, China’s incursions against Tai-
wan and attempts to control the South and
East China Seas, and Iran’s continued steps
toward obtaining a nuclear weapon. The
United States, our partners, and our allies,
currently face many real challenges and
threats from adversaries around the world.
Yet, the Biden administration is morally
disarming free countries and giving our
enemies tools to use against us. The false
statements from the Biden administration
that America, the world’s leading cham-
pion of freedom, isn’t actually free empow-
ers brutal dictatorships and regimes.
Clearly, as the competition with com-
munist China continues, the recent state-
ments of the Biden administration reveal
that the CCP will have no need to prepare
long-winded lectures or create original
content for their propaganda outlets. The
Chinese Communist Party will instead
only need to quote the Biden administra-
tion’s attacks against the United States.
Chinese Communist Party propagan-
dists would be wise to start looking for
new jobs—perhaps with CNN or The New
York Times.
Newt Gingrich, a Republican, served as
House speaker from 1995 to 1999 and ran
as a presidential candidate in 2012.
know the people don’t trust them any-
more to tell the truth about such things.
All the same, “the moral equivalent of
war” hasn’t gone away. She didn’t use
the expression, but Nancy Pelosi clearly
thought that there was still some mileage
in the concept when she said, in response
to the Derek Chauvin verdict: “Thank you,
George Floyd, for sacrificing your life for
justice ... Because of you and because of
thousands, millions of people around the
world who came out for justice, your name
will always be synonymous with justice.”
I’m not the first to point out that the
word “sacrifice,” used to describe Floyd’s
death under Chauvin’s knee, is spectacu-
larly ill-judged—as is the “thank you” for
a death that poor Floyd could do nothing
either to choose or to forestall.
Reasonable people might conclude that
such misuse of ordinary English words
extends to her use of the word “justice”
as well, since Pelosi and many others of
her party had from the beginning treated
the prosecution of Chauvin more like an
act of revenge than a quest for justice, as
the word used to be understood—back in
Mondale’s day, all those years ago.
But unlike real soldiers, those pressed
into fighting, at least symbolically, and
dying, however unwillingly, for the Pelo-
si–Biden revolution don’t always choose
to be or even know that they are soldiers.
If their deaths, from whatever cause, can
be turned to some account in the ongo-
ing effort to politicize everything to their
own advantage, that’s good enough for
the Pelosi–Biden Democrats of today.
In the Democrat-run city where I live,
someone has marked out a plot in one of
the riverside parks and erected in it 132
little white flags next to a sign reading:
“Alexandria Remembrance
With love we remember our 132 friends
and neighbors lost to COVID-19”
My immediate reaction was to ask: “Hey,
what about all the friends and neighbors
lost to cancer or heart disease? There must
be a lot more of them. Why aren’t they
getting any love or remembrance from
the city, or little white flags in the spring
sunshine to mark their passing?”
But of course, I knew the answer. The
virtue-signalers of the left, in Alexandria
as in the rest of the country, use the lan-
guage and imagery of war so promiscu-
ously because they believe they are at war.
And their enemy today is no longer a
bunch of Middle Eastern sheikhs but you
and I, if we dare to disagree with them—
or with their agenda, now being fever-
ishly executed while they control both
executive and legislative branches of gov-
ernment, for transforming the country.
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.
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021 BUSINESS & ECONOMY | A17

US Business Spending on Equipment

Ends 1st Quarter on Strong Note
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

WASHINGTON—New orders for key U.S.-
made capital goods rose solidly in March
and shipments surged, cementing expec-
tations that economic growth accelerated
in the first quarter as massive government
aid and improving public health boosted
demand.
The strength in business spending re-
ported by the Commerce Department
on April 26 joined upbeat data on retail
sales and the labor market in setting up
the economy for what analysts expect will
be its best performance this year in nearly
four decades.
Economists, so far, saw little impact on
investment from President Joe Biden’s push
for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax sys-
tem to pay for the White House’s ambitious
economic agenda, including upgrading the
nation’s infrastructure.
Details of the tax proposal could be re-
leased before Biden’s address to the U.S.
Congress on April 28.
The strength in business spending
reported by the Commerce
Department has joined upbeat
data on retail sales and the labor
market in setting up the economy
for what analysts expect will be
its best performance this year in
nearly four decades.
Orders for non-defense capital goods ex-
cluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy
for business spending plans, increased
0.9 percent last month. These so-called
core capital goods orders fell 0.8 percent
in February after bitterly cold temperatures
gripped large parts of the country.
Though last month’s increase was below
the 1.5 percent jump that had been antici-
pated by economists in a Reuters poll, core
capital goods orders surged 10.4 percent
year-on-year in March.
Shipping containers, stacked high at the Port of Los Angeles on April 19, 2021.
Reports this month showed retail sales
raced to a record high in March while the
economy created the most jobs in seven
months. Factory activity measures are
at multiyear highs, indicating continued
strength in manufacturing, which ac-
counts for 11.9 percent of the U.S. economy.
Increased vaccinations, leading to chang-
ing lockdown measures, and the Biden
administration’s massive $1.9 trillion CO-
VID-19 pandemic rescue package have
allowed for broader economic reengage-
ment, unleashing pent-up demand, for
both goods and services. Biden has also
proposed a $2.3 trillion jobs and infrastruc-
ture plan.
Stocks on Wall Street rose. The dollar was
steady against a basket of currencies. U.S.
Treasury prices were higher.
Strong Growth
In March, core capital goods orders were
boosted by machinery, primary and fabri-
cated metal products, as well as comput-
ers and electronic products. But orders
for electrical equipment, appliances, and
components dropped 1.5 percent.
Shipments of core capital goods rebound-
ed 1.3 percent, recouping February’s 1.1
percent drop. Core capital goods shipments
are used to calculate equipment spending
in the government’s gross domestic prod-
uct measurement.
Based on the latest data, economists are
forecasting strong business spending on
equipment in the first quarter.
“The response of capital spending to the
COVID pandemic, with both orders and
shipments of core capital goods at a record
high, is encouraging for the outlook for
2021,” said Conrad DeQuadros, senior eco-
nomic adviser at Brean Capital in New York.
With households sitting on at least $2 tril-
lion in excess savings, demand booming,
and inventories low, businesses are likely to
continue investing in equipment to boost
production, though raw material and input
shortages could be an issue.
“There’s still a gap between orders and
shipments as producers ramp up capac-
ity and adjust to increasing demand,” said
Will Compernolle, a senior economist at
FHN Financial in New York. “The increase
in the orders backlog is especially bad in
core capital goods, suggesting accelerating
capital spending.”
The government’s snapshot of first-quar-
ter GDP on April 29 will likely show the
economy grew at a 6.1 percent annualized
rate, according to a Reuters survey of econ-
omists. That would be the second-fastest
growth pace since the third quarter of 2003
and would follow a 4.3 percent rate of ex-
pansion in the final three months of 2020.
The economy grew at a record 33.4 per-
cent pace in the third quarter of 2020 after
contracting at a historic 31.4 percent rate in
the April–June period. Growth is expected
to top 7.0 percent this year, which would
be the fastest since 1984. It would follow a
3.5 percent contraction last year, the worst
performance in 74 years.
Orders for durable goods, items ranging
from toasters to aircraft that are meant to
last three years or more, rose 0.5 percent
in March after falling 0.9 percent in Febru-
ary. They were restrained by a 1.7 percent
decline in orders for transportation equip-
ment, which followed a 2.0 percent drop
in February.
Orders for civilian aircraft tumbled 46.9
percent. That was despite Boeing report-
ing on its website that it had received 196
aircraft orders last month compared to 82
in February. Last month’s orders included
185 737 MAX jets. The U.S. government late
last year lifted a 20-month grounding of the
aircraft that was put in place after crashes
in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
Orders for motor vehicles and parts shot
up 5.5 percent in March after plunging 9.1
percent in February. Motor vehicle pro-
duction has been hit by a global semicon-
ductor chip shortage. Output of comput-
ers and electronic products also has been
impacted.
Unfilled durable goods orders rose in
March for the third straight month.
By Lucia Mutikani
From Reuters

Apple Announces
1st East Coast Campus
in North Carolina
Apple announced plans on April 26 to in- County Economic Development. “This is
vest more than $1 billion in North Caro- an important milestone that strengthens
lina to build the company’s first East Coast our position as a tech hub. Apple’s decision
campus, a move expected to bring at least to invest in the Triangle is a testament to

3,000 new jobs to the state.
The development comes as part of an ef-
fort by Apple to increase investment as the
United States begins rebuilding from the
COVID-19 pandemic, according to a state-
Behind the
our community’s talent, resources, and
overall quality of life.”
Apple also stated it plans to establish
a $100 million fund to support schools
and community initiatives and contrib-

ment from the company.
The North Carolina project falls under a
commitment to invest $430 billion and add
a total of 20,000 new jobs over the next five
years, expanding teams in Colorado, Mas-
sachusetts, Texas, Washington, New York,
California, and other states, officials said.
The campus and engineering hub is
set to be located in the Raleigh-Durham
area’s Research Triangle Park alongside
hundreds of other science and technology
firms. The hub will be home to thousands
of additional jobs in machine learning, ar-
tificial intelligence, software engineering,
and other fields, the company stated.
The exact timeline for the project wasn’t
immediately given.
“We are excited to welcome Apple to our
thriving technology ecosystem,” said Mi-
chael Haley, executive director of Wake
ute more than $110 million in infrastruc-
ture spending to go toward broadband,
roads, bridges, and public schools across
the state.
The company stated that it already em-
ploys 1,100 workers in North Carolina and
expects its investments there to generate
more than $1.5 billion in economic benefits
annually for the state.
“As a North Carolina native, I’m thrilled
Apple is expanding and creating new long-
term job opportunities in the community I
grew up in,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief
operating officer. “Apple has been a part
of North Carolina for nearly two decades,
and we’re looking forward to continuing to
grow and a bright future ahead.”
By Sophia Tulp
From The Associated Press
MICHAEL SHORT/GETTY IMAGES
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TRUTH AND TRADITION

People gather at Apple Park in Cupertino, Calif., on March 25, 2019.

A18 | PUZZLES TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021

CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTED BY TOM HOUSTON

EPOCH TIMES STAFF
Across
1. Dudley Do-Right’s org.
5. Madagascar insect
eater
11. Jazz pianist Chick
16. 4X Grammy-winning
artist India ___
17. Elite groups
18. Dimin.’s opposite
19. Quick officiant
22. Inference
23. Low
24. Aspiring atty.’s exam
25. Dreamliner, e.g.
26. Any doctrine
29. QB protectors
31. Breaking capacity,
briefly
32. Income after work
36. On naval duty
37. Holding one’s breath?
38. American symbol
39. High points: Abbr.
40. “We Do Our Part” org.
41. “___ Doubtfire” (1993)
43. Cousins of ospreys
44. Class of bugs with 4
wings
47. Firefighter Red
50. Printing
51. Coast Guard officer:
Abbr.
52. ___-Man (arcade
game)
55. In danger of snapping
56. Steakhouse selection
58. ___ O’s (Post cereal)
59. It runs through Aus-
tralia
63. “___ tu” (aria for
Renato)
64. Joanne of “Abie’s Irish
Rose”
65. Method: Abbr.
66. Matt of The Monu-
ments Men
7. “The Matrix” role 4NUMBERS CONSTRUCTED BY C. CHANG
AT 4NUMS.COM DAILY BRIDGE CLUB
8. Battle of Britain grp.
Use the four numbers in the corners, and In plain sight
9. CPR pros the operands (+, - X, and ÷) to build an BY FRANK STEWART, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY
10. Black key equation to get the solution in the middle.
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
There may be more than one “unique” so-
11. Asian oppressor lution but, there may also be “equivalent”
12. Baseball’s Hershiser solutions. For example: 6 + (7 X 3) +1 = 28 Cy the Cynic and I sat down for a duplicate
13. Transfer and 1+ (7 X 3) + 6 = 28 game at the club, and we had no opponents
at our table. They showed up five minutes
14. Arugula alternative late — a husband-wife pair.
15. Cigarette smoke by- “Sorry,” the wife growled. “We were
grocery shopping, and I had to find all the
products things in plain sight for my husband.”
20. “Happy Birthday” In today’s deal, the husband became
writer declarer at four hearts after I opened three
clubs as East. Cy led the queen of clubs,
21. “Close to the ___” (Yes and I took the ace and returned the jack. Cy
album) ruffed and led a spade: three, queen, ace.
25. Baby buggy SPADE LOSER
26. Antonym of “en- South next took the A-K of trumps.
hance” When Cy discarded, South tried to run
the diamonds, but I ruffed the third
27. Capitol Hill V.I.P.: Abbr. Hard 1 - 1 Solution diamond. South was stuck with a spade
28. Memory aids loser and went down one.
30. Villainous looks “He’s better at grocery shopping,” the
wife grumbled.
33. O.K. Corral lawman South’s winning line was in plain
34. Camper’s purchase sight. He knew I had held seven clubs,
three hearts and at least one spade, so
35. “___ Smile” (1976 hit) trying to run the diamonds was futile.
40. Sea nymph After South takes the A-K of trumps,
42. Soaks he must concede a trump. When I don’t
have a spade to lead, South wins the
44. “She sells seashells” rest.
problem
DAILY QUESTION
45. Backside You hold: kA 10 5 jA K 7 5 4 2 iQ J
46. ___’acte (intermis- hK 5. Both sides vulnerable. The dealer,
Hard 2 - 2 Solutions at your right, opens one diamond. What
sion)
67. Chi follower 47. Stabs
do you say?
ANSWER: To double, intending to bid
69. Anglo-Saxon letter 48. Backside hearts next, would be reasonable. That
71. Risk 49. High priest, e.g. two-step sequence would suggest at
72. Karl Marx’s little least 17 points. But after your opponent’s
52. Vow taker opening bid, your Q-J of diamonds are
capitalists 53. Meteorite likely to be useless cards, so the hand is
78. Head lock not worth its point count. I would settle
54. “Grease” actress Didi for a one-heart overcall.
79. Confine 57. “___ Your Head on My West dealer
80. Profit on Fleet Street Pillow” N-S vulnerable
81. Sealy competitor 58. Egg-shaped instru- NORTH
82. Divining rod k8 7 3
ment j6 3
83. Environs 60. Canadian Indian iA K 10 5 4
Easy 1 - 1 Solution h8 6 2
61. Beat on eBay
Down WEST EAST
62. Prefix with -gram kK J 9 6 4 2 kQ
1. British rule in colonial 68. School subj. jJ 10 jQ 9 8
i9 8 7 6 i3 2
India 70. ___ erectus hQ hA J 10 9 7 4 3
2. Most merciless 71. A full equal SOUTH
3. Suffers calendar confu- 73. “Your safety is our kA 10 5
jA K 7 5 4 2
sion priority” org. iQ J
4. Porky’s love 74. Underground org. hK 5
5. “It is ___ that is golden, 75. Language of Lermon- West North East South
Pass Pass 3h Dbl
not silence”: Samuel tov: Abbr. Pass 4i Pass 4j
Butler 76. Coll. senior’s test All Pass
6. Dog days in Dijon 77. Sorority letter Easy 2 - 2 Solutions Opening lead —hQ

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.

ACETONES CRUELEST IMPAIR PLANE

ADAIR DAMON JUSTICE OF PROMISER
AEROLITE DERRIERE THE PEACE REASSIGN
ANOINTER DOWSER MISDATES SERTA
APNEA EAGLE MNEMONICS SNEERS
A-TEAMS EDUCT NEREID STEEPS
ATTEMPTS ERNES OCARINA TENREC
C SHARP ESCAROLE OUTBID TENSE
COREA FILET PERIL TRESS
CRESC IMMURE PETUNIA

SOLUTIONS
CROSSWORD SUPER KAKURO 4NUMBERS

HARD 1

HARD 2

EASY 1

EASY 2
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 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
17

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
TYEPT
EPOCH ESCAPE MAZE
DYLOD

CGLIRA

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

WORK SPACE

SOLUTIONS
SUPERSUDOKU SUDOKU: EASY JUMBLE EASY KAKURO
PIGHEADED WORK SPACE
hog was being —
narrow-minded
The stubborn and
Answers:

HYPHEN
GARLIC
ODDLY
SUDOKU: HARD EPOCH DOKU
PETTY
Jumbles:

CRYPTIC QUOTE
worse to better.
inconvenience, even from
Change is not made without

Contact the Puzzle Master @: Feedback@EpochTimes.com

A20 | TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021

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 PUBLIC DOMAIN NETFLIX
TRADITIONAL CULTURE FILM REVIEW

When Knighthood Was Fabulous Documentary:

in Flower ‘My Octopus Teacher’
A brief history of chivalry: from practical warrior to Chronicling the life of an octopus, this film is actually a
courtly lover to honorable gentleman. love letter to nature’s perfection.

See B2 See B7

FINE ARTS|TRADITIONAL CULTURE|ENTERTAINMENT TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021 B1

STEVE WINEINGER

“The Tempest,” 2017, by Steve Wineinger. Oil on canvas; 36 inches by 24 inches.

FINE ARTS LORRAINE FERRIER

You won’t find American realist artist Steve Wine-

inger’s paintings online easily, if at all, but for decades

American Painter Gloriously he has been quietly painting and mastering his art on
his farm near Spokane, Washington.
The self-taught artist creates fascinating still lifes,
sweeping American landscapes, and historical paint-

Captures God’s Creations ings mainly in oil, charcoal, and watercolor.

In each and every one of his paintings, Wineinger
challenges himself to chase and capture elusive light
on canvas, in appreciation of God’s creations.

Steve Wineinger’s wondrous art Continued on B4

B2
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TRUTH AND TRADITION
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Military and intelligence analyst and
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TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
TRADITIONAL CULTURE
When Knighthood
Was in Flower:
A Brief History
of Chivalry
JEFF MINICK
I
As Jones reminds us, the knights of the
n my adolescence, my friends, my Middle Ages only faintly resembled
brother, and I often pretended to our modern romanticized impression
be knights. Our shields were met- of them. He writes: “Chivalry and the
al trashcan lids, and our swords pleadings of the Church and legalists
were sticks or scrap lumber with might help to prevent the worst excesses
hand guards held in place by screws. of raiding against the civilian popula-
Around the woods and fields we’d tion, but at his heart the knight was a
charge, pretending to fight the bad practical warrior, willing to lay aside the
guys, rescue damsels in distress, and principles of his caste if that was what
win our share of glory. Sometimes I’d the situation called for.”
saddle up the pony we owned, Fritz, As time passed, however, others beside
and gallop around the yard slashing at the Church sought to gentle and refine
the air with the sword my grandfather the ferocity of these men.
had made for me, while yelling insults
at my imaginary enemies. Love and Honor       
We read the stories of King Arthur Over several hundred years, literature,
and his Knights of the Round Table, song, and women of the upper class
watched the movies “Ivanhoe” and helped elevate the standards of the code
“Robin Hood,” and looked at picture of chivalry.
books featuring men in armor from In the late Middle Ages, courtly love—
long ago. One favorite book of my late the chaste affection of a knight for his
elementary school years was Howard queen or for another lady of the court,
Pyle’s 1891 novel, “Men of Iron,” which and his performance of heroic deeds in
told the story of Myles Falworth, first her honor—became fashionable. The
as a squire and then a knight, and his extent to which knights actually prac-
struggles to redeem his father’s name. ticed courtly love remains debatable,
Perhaps inspired unconsciously by but certainly it became the subject of
this affection for knights and chivalry, the troubadours’ chansons and the tales
I later spent two years in graduate school told by poets in the great halls.
earning a master’s degree and under- The written literature of the late Mid-
taking a year of doctoral work studying dle Ages also looks frequently at knight-
the Middle Ages. In my hood. The 14th-century
master’s thesis, I wrote
of the minority of King
poem “Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight” takes
Henry III, successor to us first to Arthur’s court
King John of “Robin at Christmastide, where
Hood” fame, and en- we witness the courtly
joyed learning about behavior of knights and
one of the boy-king’s ladies, and then on a
mentors, William Mar- quest with Sir Gawain,
shal, a famous knight of the most saintly of the
the day. Knights of the Round
The changing tactics Table. In “The Canter-
of war and the introduc-
tion of gunpowder to
the battlefield eventu-
bury Tales,” Geoff rey
Chaucer gives us a
marvelous description
ally put an end to these of a knight: a meek and
mounted warriors. They humble man plainly
disappeared long ago dressed, who has fought
and now appear only in many wars, and is
in movies and books. “a verray, parfit, gentil
But chivalry had a knyght.”
The children’s classic “Men
much longer shelf life. of Iron” was written in
Published in 1485,
1891. Th omas Malory’s “Le
Hard Men Morte d’Arthur” ideal-
In “Knight: The War- ized knighthood and
rior and World of Chivalry,” military became the source for so many of our
historian and expert in medieval war- own books and movies about King Ar-
fare Robert Jones devotes a chapter to thur’s court. Malory wrote this book at
chivalry as developed and practiced a time when men encased in armor and
1,000 years ago. Here he examines the riding warhorses would soon disappear
growth of certain rules of warfare, the from the battlefield, but he encapsulates
gradual exclusivity of a knightly class, in his story and characters the virtues
the creation of various orders of knight- that we today associate with knight-
hood, the development of heraldry and hood.
badges, the founding of military orders Here are some of the chivalric virtues
like the Templars and the Order of St. found in Malory’s romantic tales:
John, and the attempts by the Church
to end some of the violence and vicious- Like his earlier counterparts, a knight
ness of battle and conquest. must display prowess and bravery on
Like some of today’s celebrities, these the field of battle.
medieval warriors were acutely aware of He practiced largesse, sharing with
their image. They longed to be seen both his companions and often with the poor
on the battlefield and in tournaments as whatever wealth he possessed.
brave men skilled in the use of sword PUBLIC DOMAIN
and lance, and able to vanquish any and
all enemies. This desire for recognition
of their prowess, strength, and courage
drove them to attempt great deeds both
in combat and in tournaments.
These knights were not without their
critics. The Church in particular tried to
restrain their violence and depredations
in warfare. In “Knight,” Jones includes the
example of Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th-
century French abbot, who denounced
these mounted warriors in this way:
“What … is this monstrous error and
what the unbearable urge which bids
you fight with such pomp and labor.
… You cover your horses with silk, and
plume your armor with I know not what
sort of rags; you paint your shields and
saddles; you adorn your bits and spurs Many believe the knight’s journey was
with gold and silver and precious stones, actually one toward sainthood, as the tales
and then in all this glory you rush to of Sir Gawain suggest. “Sir Gawain and the
your ruin with fearful wrath and fear- Green Knight,” from original manuscript,
less folly.” circa 14th century.
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
He was faithful in his religious prac-
tices.
He committed himself to protecting
women, the downtrodden, and the
oppressed.
He was loyal to his king and his lord.
He was merciful and just.
He stoically endured hardship.
Chivalry: A Renaissance
Though knights and castles became pas-
sé, this code of chivalry remained and
morphed into the code of gentlemen.
Our Founding Fathers, for example, may
have rebelled against their king, but they
would have accepted the other virtues
as touted by Malory as a given.
Later, when Victorian England be-
came enamored of the Middle Ages,
these ideals of chivalry became a part of
the literature and art. Sir Walter Scott’s
1819 “Ivanhoe” helped fire up this inter-
est in medieval England. The novel was
enormously popular, both in Britain and
the United States, and is now regarded
as one of the landmark books of the 19th
century. Scott’s depictions of King Rich-
ard, Robin Hood, and fictional knights
and ladies helped revive the values of
knighthood and chivalry.
Victorian poetry also reflected chi-
valric virtues. Read Rudyard Kipling’s
“If,” and we find in it advice about sto-
icism and honor that might have ap-
pealed to a William Marshal. Visit Sir
Henry Newbolt’s “Play Up! Play Up! And
Play the Game! ” and the values of the
14th century mesh with those of the Vic-
torian who composed this poem. Here a
schoolboy, like the squires of old, learns
lessons on the playing fields that he will
later carry into battle.  In “Idylls of the
King,” Alfred Lord Tennyson retells the
story of Arthur, his love for Guinevere,
and the downfall of his kingdom.
The pre-Raphaelite painters also paid
homage to the knights and ladies of old.
Artists like Millais, Rossetti, Hunt, and
others gave the world numerous works
depicting chivalrous knights, with one
of the most popular themes being the
rescue of a maiden from some sort of
danger. In the exhibition “Pre-Rapha-
elite Knights: Reinventing the Medieval
World,” Northern England’s Bowes Mu-
seum features an excellent video tour of
some of these paintings.
Original artworks, canvas wraps,
art posters, and framed prints of
Award-winning oil paintings
now available for purchase at
I n s p ire d O r i g i n a l .O rg
Is Chivalry Dead?
Many people, especially women, com-
plain that chivalry is dead, that men
no longer act like gentlemen, that they
lack manners and polish. There may be
some truth to this idea. After all, we have
largely banished the words “ladies and
gentlemen” from public speech, and
when words disappear, so do the con-
cepts they represent.
But chivalry was always more than just
courtesy and good manners. Included
under that umbrella of a word are values
like honor, loyalty, courage, generosity
of time and money, a willingness to de-
fend the weak, and as old-fashioned as
it may sound, to treat women as ladies.
Some would argue that even these vir-
tues have gone missing in many men.
Certainly our news media often reports
B3
stories about men who have failed to
step to the defense of a woman being
To develop assaulted, leaders who seem to lack any
these virtues sense of honor, and others who fail when
circumstance tests their courage.
required If chivalry is disappearing, then the
subsequent cost to our culture will be
centuries of enormous. To develop these virtues re-
work and quired centuries of work and refinement,
and the chivalric virtues are some of the
refinement. basic underpinnings of our society.
On the other hand, when I turn from
the news headlines and look at my fam-
ily, friends, and neighbors around me, I
see plenty of men who still practice the
old ways of chivalry, who treat women
with respect, who help out others when-
ever they can, and who live honorable
lives. They’re not riding white horses
and waving bright swords, but in my
PUBLIC DOMAIN
eyes they are knights—good strong men
worthy of respect and commendation.
Jeff Minick has four children and a
growing platoon of grandchildren. For
20 years, he taught history, literature,
and Latin to seminars of homeschool-
ing students in Asheville, N.C. He is
the author of two novels, “Amanda
Bell” and “Dust On Their Wings,” and
two works of non-fiction, “Learning
As I Go” and “Movies Make The Man.”
Today, he lives and writes in Front
Royal, Va. See JeffMinick.com to follow
his blog.
EVERETT COLLECTION/SHUTTERSTOCK
(Far left) “God
Speed” by
Edmund Leighton,
1900.
(Left) The chivalry
of the Middle Ages
was embraced
during the late
Victorian era.
B4
FINE ARTS
American Painter
Gloriously Captures
God’s Creations
Continued from B1
It’s a challenge he wholeheartedly embrac-
es: “We only have so many years in this life,
and there’re so many things a person could
do, but to get mastery of any of them is a
lifelong challenge, it seems,” he said in a
telephone interview.
An Artist’s Will  24 inches by 36 inches.
Wineinger’s process of creating art is both
determined and disciplined. He believes
that college is not a necessary step in art
training, but the basics of art do need to be
mastered. “Art—I think it’s 10 percent talent
and 90 percent hard work,” he said.
When he was in high school, or maybe
even earlier, he got his hands on a book
by Norman Rockwell in which the artist
explained the color palette and his own il-
lustration process. “That book fell apart; I
looked at it so much, and absorbed it. It was
a hardbound book, and now it’s an assort-
ment of pages,” he said.
For about 18 months, Wineinger studied
fine art at a regional college to expand and
deepen his knowledge. Mid-semester, his
tutor told the class to direct any questions
that they had to Wineinger because “He
knows more about painting than I do.” Wi-
neinger was flattered, but that wasn’t why he
was paying tuition. He didn’t return to class.
From then on, Wineinger taught himself
art, a process he likens to a rigorous version
of homeschooling. He disciplined himself
by following the fine art syllabus that major
art institutes used. For practice, he’d copy
works by artists he admired, and in doing so
he was able to deconstruct the techniques
they used. He’d practice every step he stud-
ied in books: from setting up models’ poses
for compositions, to creating full-scale char-
coal layouts, to transferring drawings onto
canvases, to underpainting canvases before
painting.
He kept a sketchpad on the nightstand by
his bed. Before he went to bed, he would
sketch something, anything: a family mem-
ber, the kitchen dishes, or a piece of furni-
ture. “It was difficult at the beginning but
got easier over time,” he said.
He also sought guidance directly from
other artists. In particular, he found himself
gravitating toward published illustrators.
(Above)
“Cape Kiwanda,
Oregon,” 2011, by Steve
Wineinger. Oil on canvas;
24 inches by 36 inches.
(Right)
“Haystack Rock at
Dusk,” 2011, by Steve
Wineinger. Oil on canvas;
They seemed to have the most discipline, a
high output of work, and therefore the most
experience, he said. Wineinger had several
helpful conversations with illustrator Tom
Lovell, a contemporary of Norman Rockwell
and famous for his illustrations in National
Geographic.
The Art Show Circuit  head off for the hike that afternoon, swap-
During this period, Wineinger began to
show his work at major regional art shows
within about a 300-mile radius from Spo-
kane. A local agent scheduled his shows
anywhere from two weeks, to a month, to
three months apart.
Art—I think It was a grueling show schedule because of
the type of paintings Wineinger created. His
it’s 10 percent oil paintings could take at least six months
talent and to dry before varnish could be applied. For
him, varnishing is of utmost importance to
90 percent enhance the colors and details in the work;
hard work. without it, the paint would appear dull.
Wineinger began to feel that he was a
Steve Wineinger, artist painting factory. “I had to stand there [in
the studio] and churn out work, and that
wasn’t what I wanted to do,” he said. And
with such a tight show schedule, he had no
time to go out in the field and research new
subject matter.
As all his inventory had been sold, he
decided to leave the show circuit and take
commissions or paint just what he wanted.
Art Hikes
Wineinger discovered many of his land-
scape subjects on hikes, often with his wife
of 44 years, Rickie. His paintings “Cape Ki-
wanda” and “Haystack Rock at Dusk” were
created after the couple’s wedding anniver-
sary trip to the Oregon coast.
Wineinger first found Cape Kiwanda when
he was researching their vacation, trawling
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
online through photographs of the Oregon
coastline.
The couple arrived in Oregon tired, hav-
ing driven nearly all day. Settling into the
motel, Rickie checked the weather report.
Sunshine had been predicted, but the fore-
cast for the night ahead had now changed
to storms and heavy fog. They decided to
ping their much anticipated supper of fish,
chips, and beer for their backpacks and
camera gear.
There was no road to the cape; they had to
hike along the rugged coastline. Once there,
Wineinger spent some time on a rocky out-
crop finding the best spot for his composi-
tion. “It was very steep, and I had to hang on
to bushes and be able to hold on to my cam-
era so we wouldn’t tumble into the ocean. …
I stood in that spot for about an hour and a
half, because of the light changes,” he said.
Wineinger took around 800 shots of the
cape. At sunset, the light and colors change
moment to moment, revealing light and
shadows that are best seen when reviewing
the images back in the studio, he explained.
As the couple walked back to the car at
sundown, Wineinger turned around to see
an amazing dusky shot. That scene became
his painting “Haystack Rock at Dusk.”
Wineinger’s painting “The Tempest” came
about from a different hike, this time in
Hawaii where they used to own a couple of
properties and where they’d spend some
time every winter. Often, they’d go on hiking
and photography jaunts.
One time, Wineinger happened upon a
map showing the ancient Hawaiian royal
sites, one of which had a koi pond. He had
often felt disappointed when he looked at
koi art. “They lacked the punch of the move-
ment of the water and the distortion and the
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021 B5
ALL PHOTOS BY STEVE WINEINGER

Steve
Wineinger
started
making
frames for
his paintings
after seeing
old paintings
in Europe and
realizing that
the frame was
an important
part of the
painting’s
presentation.

Realist
painter Steve
Wineinger
in his studio
in Spokane,
Washington.

In this
cityscape
study, Steve
Wineinger
expertly
captures the
light and rain.
Charcoal over
watercolor
wash; 15 1/4
inches by 10
1/2 inches.

(Above) historic Chicago company. In the 1800s, the

“The Pelican’s Domain,” workshop employed Austrian and German
2012, by Steve woodcarvers to create moldings and flour-
Wineinger. Oil on canvas; ishes. It’s these moldings that Wineinger
36 inches by 24 inches. sometimes uses.
(Left) For his frames, Wineinger combines the
“Late Autumn on Mica best traditional methods with today’s mate-
Creek,” 2018, by Steve rials. For instance, he undercoats the frames
Wineinger. Charcoal over with red paint, similar to the red clay prim-
watercolor wash on cold er used in the 1700s. He’s interested in the
pressed board; 19 1/4 frame’s durability and, most importantly,
inches by 36 inches. the beauty of the end result.

The Aberration of Art

refraction, which gave it life,” he said. He
effectively captured the movement of the
water in “The Tempest.”
Photography, an Artist’s Tool
Wineinger stresses that “all of the photo-
graphs are merely guides.” He believes that
replicating a photograph perfectly is a terri-
ble way to produce art. “You have to change
the color. You have to change the composi-
tion. You have to put things in, or take things
out. There’s a lot of work to transition from a
photograph to a work of art,” he said.
And that transition involves a fundamen-
tal understanding of the foundations of fine
art. For example, to paint “Cape Kiwanda,”
he adjusted the color palette and used five
photographs to make a composite image.
Photographs can also help with different
components in a composition. Once, Win-
einger needed to find a mountain man, a
trapper, for a painting. He found the right
model at his local mall, a homeless man liv-
ing behind the dumpsters. “He looked like
a trapper. He was missing teeth. He looked
a little wild. His hair was long and crazy,”
he said. He set up the paid photoshoot in a
storeroom in the mall, using a fan he had
in his car to create the effect of a mountain
man on horseback. Voilà! He had his trapper.
Photographs are just a tool to record the
details of a subject: the form of a tree, the
shape of an animal, or to record muscles or
feathers. But they shouldn’t be what you try
to reproduce, he added.
Another compelling reason Wineinger
gives as to why blindly copying photographs
doesn’t make great art is that in photo-
graphs, shadows are black. That’s not true
in nature. “You can stand on the edge of a
beautiful mountain or canyon and see nu-
ances of colors. The shadows actually should
be blue or purple, not black.”
Frame Making  person could
Wineinger began making picture frames
for his art after a trip to Europe with his wife
and a friend, who had previously lived in
Europe for a number of years.
His friend knew of several large art col-
lections where the works could be viewed
up close, rather than fighting tourists to get
a glimpse of art in the likes of the Louvre.
Wineinger was struck by the workmanship
of the picture frames, and he noticed how
the frame seemed to elevate the art.
“They were fabulous landscapes and still
lifes, but what made them prizes wasn’t
just their age but the presentation,” he
said. Similarly, in America, he’d seen art
up close by Hudson River School painters
Albert Bierstadt and Thomas Moran and
was impressed not only by the art itself but
also by the frame. “I think the frames are as
impressive as the artwork, in many cases,”
he said.
Wineinger and his son began to learn how
to make frames. They connected with Euro-
pean frame makers and restorers, experts
who worked for the Louvre or for heritage
buildings. On several occasions, his son
spoke to experts who, not seeing them as a
professional threat, divulged their frame-fin-
ishing trade secrets to him, Wineinger said.
Wineinger hand carves some of his
frames, but he also sources materials from a
Wineinger ponders on the purpose of art
and the artworld in general. He’s made a
living from his art, as well as augmenting
his income when he pursued other ventures.
But he questions artwork created by living or
recently deceased artists, which sells for $50
million to $150 million. “Who determines
the value of those pieces? ... Who determines
what is to be collected?” he said.
He’s also personally known prominent oil
and watercolor artists who have done very
well on an international scale. But he sees
There’re so a link between an artist’s character and the
art they create. Of the very successful art-
many things a ists he’s known, he says: “They were odd.
... I would not want my kids to spend the
weekend with them, or I wouldn’t want my
do, but to get grandkids to emulate their lifestyle at all.
And that’s when the light went on. Most of
mastery of these things that these people produce are
not beautiful: They’re dark and perverted,
any of them and some of them were done on drug trips.
is a lifelong I know that.”
“I think we need to be asking ourselves,
challenge. why have we gone this route?”
Wineinger believes that art, and even
Steve Wineinger, artist
sports, is being politicized and used to shape
society. “Now, it’s not just about athletic ex-
cellence. … Now, it’s about social justice.
And football is not about football anymore:
It’s about everything else.”
“But I believe in a chief engineer of all that
we see. I believe that we were created and
that everything else was created. … And
with that perspective, I do believe talent is
given to us, whether it’s music, dance, archi-
tecture, whatever it is; I think we just don’t
conjure it up ourselves,” he said.
Wineinger believes that art used to be
about capturing God’s creations on canvas
or with other materials.
“I believe the purpose of art is to lift up our
human existence, as well as glorifying the
one who created it in the first place.”
To find out more about Steve Wineinger’s
paintings, he may be contacted at
SRWFineArt@gmail.com
B6
CLASSICAL DANCE
Shen Yun Principal Dancer
Communicates Truth Through Art
CATHERINE YANG
T
he first thing that captivated
Elsie Shi about classical Chi-
nese dance was the flips—the
way dancers looked as if they
were flying, the way she felt
tumbling through the air. She would try
to prolong the feat as long as possible, stay-
ing in the air as long as possible, before
touching the ground again.
“Back then, I wanted to learn gymnas-
tics, but I was too old for that,” Shi said in
an interview. At around age 10, Shi might
have been too old to start gymnastics, but
her school had an extracurricular classical
Chinese dance program she could join.
And that led to the discovery of what she
now views as a mission.
Since 2013, Shi has been dancing in pract-
icum with Shen Yun Performing Arts, the
classical Chinese dance company that has
become a worldwide phenomenon. Shen
Yun has revitalized the once little-known
art of classical Chinese dance, a form with
millennia of history in its very bones, and
has become the standard bearer globally
for the artistic caliber of the dance. From
an early age, Shi took on classical Chinese
dance as a hobby, and that soon became
an aspiration, before realizing her dream
and joining the top classical Chinese dance
company in the world.
orld. Now an award-win-
ning artist, takingg home the Gold Award
in the 2016 NTD International Classical
Chinese Dance Competition,
ompetition, Shi wants to
use her gift to givee back.
“I want to bring the
he beautiful and the very
grand 5,000 years of Chinese history, and
classical Chinese dance—the unique side
of this dance form m and the beauty behind
it—I want to express ss this to the audience,”
Shi said.
Expression
Through her dance nce performances, she
realized that the dance form wasn’t just
technical brilliancece and gravity-defying
flips—that was merely the vehicle to ex- x Someone had ha come to her place of
press inner meaning—and
ng—and
that classical Chinese
inese
dance is all aboutut in-
ner meaning.
“It’s really different
ferent
from other dance e forms,” Shi
said. “You really feel
eel the difference.”
Once you grasp that unique feeling of
classical Chinese dance, she explained,
you start to understand
rstand it. The form itself
is the culmination n of 5,000 years of civi-
lization, and fullyy capable of expressing
the traditional culture
lture and values of this
ancient civilization.
n.
It’s a famously expressive
xpressive form, making
it perfect for storytelling.
ytelling. A typical Shen
Yun program includes
udes several storytelling
dances, sharing myths and legends from
Chinese history, ass well as the occasional
modern-day tale.
To give an example
mple of the multilayered
TRADITIONAL CULTURE
Diogenes of Sinope, the Dogged Cynic
LORRAINE FERRIER
The great ancient Greek philosopher Socrates
(470–399 B.C.) believed that self-sufficiency
is the key to a good life. And that the good
life is dependent on our virtue, which is well
within our control.
Socrates’s friend Antisthenes (455–365 B.C.)
founded the philosophy of cynicism based on
freedom as well as Socrates’s ideal of self-suf-
ficiency, and on the belief that these can be
realized under the rigors of toil and hardship.
Diogenes (404–323 B.C.), who put the philos-
ophy into practice, said that the only way we
can be truly self-sufficient and free is by un-
derstanding our true human nature, which
he believed was at odds with human society.
Therefore, to understand ourselves, we should
remove all unnecessary trappings and un-
natural desires instilled in us by society.
The root of the word “cynic”  comes from
the Greek word “kunikos” meaning dog-like.
Theories differ on exactly how and why the
cynics used this word for their way of life.
Some say it’s because the dog is shameless.
It was certainly a description Diogenes em-
braced for his behavior.
Diogenes lived a simple life outside of social
customs and etiquette on the streets of Ath-
TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
Elsie Shi, a
dancer with Shen Yun
Performing Arts, leaping
across stage in the 2016
NTD International Clas-
Chi-
sical Chinese Dance
na that
Competition.
touches
on the per-r
secution.
For Shi, art is a
precious vehicle for
sharing the truth with
a wide audience, and
she is grateful that she
can lend her gift to give
voice to this issue. Her feeling grew even
expression the stronger once she’d learned that some of the
dance is capable audience members came from China, where
of, Shi described a role she took on a such truthful information is censored. No
few years ago. In a vignette taken from an matter where she goes around the world,
ALL PHOTOS BY LARRY DYE
episode of the adventure “Journey to the and what sort of audience is in the theater,
West,” a merry band of travelers happen the reception has always been warm.
upon a queendom. Shi’s character was the “I am very honored, so much that it’s hard
queen—which called for noble bearing and to express,” Shi said. This, and expressing
a refined, elegant countenance—who dur- the beauty of classical Chinese dance, are
ing the course of the story gets possessed the most important things to Shi as a Shen
by a scorpion’s spirit. Yun dancer.
“And then it’s a completely different feel-
ing. There are similar movements, but you
can’t do them the usual way. Instead, it’s
very crazy and vicious,”
vi Shi said. Then, Classical Chinese dance
she had to switch back from the scorpion
to the majestic qu queen. The effect had to is the culmination of
Elsie Shi won the
gold award at the
be instantly clear to the audience; to ac- 5,000 years of civilization.
complish the feat she “needed to be very
2016 NTD Inter- clearheaded,” she said.
national Classical
The focus o on clarity and attention Between the Stage and the Audience
Chinese Dance
Competition. to detail is in the very culture of the Being part of the company is unlike any-
company th that Shi is part of. All of the thing else, Shi said. Where else do you get
artists, she said,
s are focused on im- to tour around the entire globe every sea-
proving every
eve day, every moment. son, bringing something so beautiful to
millions?
Truth Thro
Through Art “You get to see so many different cul-
Shi says that her first encounter with tures, and it’s very different, seeing every
Shen Yun w was an interesting one. country and seeing different peoples,” Shi
said. The cultures can be very different,
study in Taiwan
Taiw to give a presenta- she explained. Sometimes people clap and
tion about classical
cl Chinese dance cheer when something especially dazzling
and Shen Yu Yun. And through that, happens on stage. Sometimes it’s consid-
Shi and her mother
m (a teacher at Shi’s ered rude to do so, but the audiences are
place of stud
study at the time) learned still ever warm and excited. She is always
about a study center in Taiwan that grateful to hear how inspired and uplifted
focused on the arts with a specializa- the audience members are, and it’s become
classical Chinese dance.
tion in classica clear that Shen Yun is much more than en-
During that fifirst encounter, Shi also tertainment.
learned about Falun
F Gong. “It’s a cultural learning event as well,” Shi
It’s a spiritual practice that includes said. Just as she learns about new cultures
self-cultivation and following the prin- in every new city she visits, the audiences
ciples of truthfulness,
truthfu compassion, and are getting acquainted with traditional
forbearance, as w well as offering medita- Chinese culture, the beauty of classical
tion exercises. Pe People around the world Chinese dance, and the truth about China’s
today know about
abou the practice from hear- past and present.
ing news that it hahas been persecuted by the And if seeing the beautiful dances and
communist regim regime in China since 1999. thrilling flips makes you want to try your
Many of the artists with Shen Yun practice hand at learning it, just as Shi once did,
Falun Gong themselves,
themse and there is some- Shi wholeheartedly encourages the effort.
times a storytelling dance set in modern-day “Why not give it a try!” she said.
ens. He slept in a wine cask and would eat,
drink, and defecate on the street, with no care
to conceal any of his body’s natural functions.
Although some of his actions may have ap-
peared odd, the cynic’s aim was to improve
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART people’s lives and align them with reason,
nature, and virtue.
The cynics also valued freedom of speech.
Diogenes For example, as they believed in reason, they
lived a simple publicly spoke against theories or thoughts
that had no rational basis.
life outside of
Famous Anecdotes About Diogenes
social customs On hearing a fool tune a harp, Diogenes said,
and etiquette “Are you not ashamed to give this wood con-
cordant sounds, while you fail to harmonize
on the streets your soul with your life?”
One day Diogenes saw a boy cup his hands
of Athens. to take a drink of water from the river and
exclaimed, “He teaches me that I preserve an
unnecessary utensil,” and he tossed away the
only utensil he owned, a shell he used as a cup.
While sunbathing in Craenum, Diogenes
was approached by Alexander the Great, the
most powerful man in the Western world,
who stood in front of him and said, “Ask me
any boon you want.” Diogenes replied, “Stand
out of my light.” When Alexander declared he
was the king, Diogenes said, “I am Diogenes
the cynic,” which means “Diogenes the Dog.”
“If I were not Alexander, I would wish to be
“Diogenes,” 1685–1734, by Andrea Procac- Diogenes,” Alexander the Great said. As here
cini after Carlo Maratti. Etching; 20 11/16 was Diogenes, who lived true to his beliefs
inches by 14 5/8 inches. The Elisha Whittelsey and who needed nothing and no one, perhaps
Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951. Alexander, for the first time, saw true power.
 TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
(Left) Interspecies friendship of the aquatic kind: filmmaker Craig Foster and his teacher in “My Octopus Teacher.” (Top right) Filmmaker Craig Foster renews his spirit with this project. (Bottom right)
The octopus lives in a kelp forest off the coast of South Africa.
FILM INSIGHTS
WITH MARK
JACKSON
A Love Letter
to the Perfection
of Nature
MARK JACKSON
I have intense arachnophobia—I hate any-
thing that’s got eight, fast-moving legs. This
fear used to extend to the similarly eight-
legged octopus. Then, one day my brother
brought home some octopus sushi and ate
it. I forced myself to try a piece. Tasty! My
horror of the octopus family instantaneous-
ly evaporated. I began to find octopi fasci-
nating, hilarious, and adorable. Thanks to
the stunningly beautiful documentary “My
Octopus Teacher,” I now love them.
What’s become apparent via a myriad
social media posts is that the vast majority
of animals enjoy a good animal-human
cuddle. My favorite is a leopard enjoying a
head-scratch, using its giant paws to ma-
neuver its hooman’s hand: “More scratches
on this spot here please,” all the while emit-
ting industrial-strength purring, like an
idling Camaro.
What this film reveals is that a wild octo-
pus (which is a mollusk, basically a shell-less
snail) is unbelievably intelligent, and also
likes a good human-cephalopod cuddle.
Which makes you wonder whether there
isn’t something to the Buddhist concept
that many animals are really incarnated
human spirits who got shunted down a few
levels due to an overabundance of karma.
Healing Via Octopus
Told from South African filmmaker Craig
Foster’s perspective, “My Octopus Teacher”
is about his transformative relationship with
a common octopus that he discovered living
in a little rock cave near the beach bungalow
where his family stayed when he was a child.
Foster had spent countless hours playing
in the nearby tide pools and diving in the
shallow kelp forests that are home to a vast
array of marine flora and fauna.
This is the first documentary to chroni-
cle almost the entire lifespan of a solitary
Mark Jackson grew up in Spring Val-
ley, N.Y., where he attended a Waldorf
school. At Williams College, his pro-
fessors all suggested he write pro-
fessionally. He acted professionally
for 20 years instead. Now he
writes professionally about
acting. In the movies.
‘My Octopus Teacher’
Director
Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed
Starring
Craig Foster (a filmmaker),
his son, and his octopus
friend
Rated
Documentary
Running Time
1 hour, 25 minutes
Release Date
Sept.  7, 2020
Craig Foster and
film directors navi-
gate a kelp forest.
(Left) The octopus in a twirly mood. (Right) Filmmaker Craig Foster shakes hands with his
octopus friend.
ocean-dwelling animal, and in so doing,
describes the storyteller’s personal healing
(due to that animal) as well as showcases
animal behaviors previously unknown to
even marine biologists.
The story kicks off in an area off South
Africa’s Western Cape. The ocean is pri-
mal and powerful there, but the otherwise
dangerous currents are thwarted by a thick
kelp forest that creates a relatively calm
sanctuary. The water however, is freezing—
below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
It’s this rare, challenging world that Fos-
ter hopes will cure his midlife crisis. He
outdoes Navy SEALs by free-diving and
snorkeling in swim trunks, without the
use of a rubber wetsuit or scuba breath-
ing apparatus. As he says, one eventually
comes to crave the invigorating cold, which
“upgrades the brain.” He also doesn’t want
to disturb the environment or impose his
presence in any way.
Foster explains that he turned to div-
ing, one of his main childhood joys, when
he came to this crossroads. He’d burned
himself out as a filmmaker—physically,
emotionally, and mentally—and was un-
sure of his next step in life. He had nothing
left to give in art or in his human relations.
The desire to heal himself, in order to be a
strong presence in his son Tom’s life, led
him to this drastic measure of what arche-
typally is an extended, underwater, oce-
anic version of a vision quest.
A vision quest was the boyhood-to-man-
hood rite of passage for most Native Ameri-
can tribes. It’s four days and four nights in
a 10-foot circle, with no food. For modern
folks, that’s also no phone, no computer,
no books, no writing utensils, no tent, and
no people around. Uncomfortability and
deprivation are paramount. In the silence,
nature teaches the quester.
Man Meets Mollusk
In one of his early forays, Foster sees a
strange-looking cluster of shells sitting
on the sand. As he observes, suddenly—
poof!—an octopus, which had been us-
ing all of its 2,000 suction cups to hold all
those mini-shields in place around its body,
drops them all at once and explodes away
in search of another hiding place. Who
knew an octopus could do such a high-
intelligence thing?
Foster’s interest quickly grows—so many
fascinating mysteries to learn about, so
little time. He decides to visit this kelp
sanctuary, and in particular this one little
rubbery, shape-shifting, color-changing
denizen, on a daily basis.
Soon, Foster’s inspired to pick up his
camera again and start filming, and the
resulting footage in turn inspires direc-
tors Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, as well
as his buddy and cinematographer Roger
Horrocks, to eventually get in on the ac-
tion for a year and a half, resulting in this
wondrous tale.
Early on, Foster fumbles and drops his
camera, which scares the daylights out
of the octopus; it flees and disappears.
Luckily, Foster had spent time in his youth
around Kalahari tribesmen master track-
ers and is able to track the barely notice-
able, telltale signs of octopus activity, tiny
remnants of crab meals and such, to find
B7
ALL PHOTOS BY NETFLIX
it again—living in a new cave.
E.T.
There’s more than a little resemblance be-
tween the octopus and Spielberg’s “E.T.,” as
they are both brownish and a bit homely.
But discoveries and surprises abound, such
as the myriad of shapes and colors the oc-
topus can morph into for camouflage. It
can produce tiny hornlike spires on top of
its eyes, as well as twirl its legs into little
ornamental spires.
There’s octopus crab-hunting, and octo-
pus-on-land escapes from sharks. There’s
the at first incomprehensible flinging up
of the arms at schools of fish. What is that?
That’s an octopus playing with fish is what
that is. There’s a learning curve we get to
observe as the octopus figures out how best
to trap tricky-to-catch lobsters.
There’s also nail-biting drama as an en-
croaching pyjama shark (so named be-
cause of its stripes) causes the octopus to
pull its seashell-shield move, which almost
works, but which then calls for a subse-
quent kung fu move of maneuvering up
on top of the shark’s back and rodeo-riding
around up there, undetected. You can al-
most hear the shark going, “Where’d that
sneaky piece of lunch disappear to?” while
wearing an octopus on its head.
Of course, instances such as the above-
described scenario are due to tinkered-
with, re-created action, enhanced and
somewhat emotionally dictated by the
movie’s musical score. The glass-half-
empty take would be that this is artificial
and manipulative; the glass-half-full take
is that it’s dynamic storytelling.
Simply Amazing
The octopus’s level of intelligence is a rev-
elation. Its abilities for camouflage and
survival are nothing short of amazing,
and its trust in Foster—especially when it
reaches out a little tentacle to gently touch
his face—may make you tear up.
The hypnotic imagery of this ecosystem
is enchanting, especially the shots looking
up from the sandy ocean floor, past the tall
silhouettes of treelike kelp, to the eternally
rippling surface, which looks like the Milky
Way in motion.
Foster’s specific reasons for feeling per-
sonally and professionally lost are left
somewhat unclear, and therefore we’re
also left a bit clueless as to how his close
encounter of the octopus kind specifical-
ly changed his emotional, psychological,
spiritual, and familial circumstances, oth-
er than he felt less self-involved and more
able to put others’ needs first.
But it matters little. “My Octopus Teach-
er” is a reminder of how ridiculous it is for
humans to be bandying about concepts
of inhabiting Mars when we know so little
about the miracles of life right under our
noses. Especially using the long outdated
and flawed-from-the-start Origin of Spe-
cies theory, and our self-involved notions
of how high the human rung on that cocka-
mamie evolutionary ladder sits.
Most of all, “My Octopus Teacher” is a cra-
zy, octopus-appreciation 101, love letter to
the perfection of nature, so mind-blowing
that it leapfrogs all Darwinian foolishness
and points straight to the Creator.
B8
REWIND, REVIEW, AND RE-RATE
Modern Culture Invites Us to Take the Easy Way
IAN KANE
I
n the United States, we seem to have a
renewed sense of hope—a light at the
end of the tunnel after the recent tur-
bulence of dark and dreary days. But
many tend to forget that we’ve been
through some challenging times before, at
least in first-world terms, such as The Great
Recession of 2007–2009.
“Up in the Air,” a film that was pro-
duced during that period of time, gives us
a glimpse into one aspect of that world:
corporate downsizing. Here, it is a consult-
ing firm specializing in termination that is
hired by company managers who lack the
intestinal fortitude to fire their own em-
ployees. The film follows one of the firm’s
consultants, Ryan Bingham (George Cloo-
ney), as he travels via commercial airlines
to handle his downsizing duties.
The film opens with scenes of Ryan
boarding and disembarking from various
planes, with some zippy quick-cuts of him
packing and unpacking his trusty rolling
luggage bag in an orderly fashion. In fact,
we glean early on that his life is now rou-
tine, to mitigate the chaotic world of round-
the-clock air travel.
While hanging out in a ubiquitous-
looking hotel bar one evening, Ryan
comes across a woman named Alex (Vera
Farmiga). Both travel a lot for work. The two
instantly hit it off and are soon drinking to-
gether and comparing their multitudinous
travel credit cards. This begins a casual re-
lationship in which they hook up whenever
their busy schedules (and distance) permit.
Suddenly, Ryan’s boss, Craig Gregory (Ja-
son Bateman), recalls him to their head-
quarters located in Omaha, Nebraska.
A young up-and-comer, Natalie Keener
(Anna Kendrick), has convinced Craig that
she can help their firm cut fat from its own
budget—starting with what she describes
as bloated travel allowances for employees.
Since Ryan likes to be on the move con-
stantly, Natalie’s proposal to cut back on
employee travel upsets his entire life. Due to
work, his traveling has allowed him to see dif-
ferent women, but outside of work, he doesn’t
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(Left) Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is disconnected from his home life, and Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) is disconnected from those in her
work life, in “Up in the Air.” (Right) Bingham flies from one place to another, without an emotional home.
really have much of a social life. Besides an
estranged relationship with his family, he has
no one to rely on, and he’s OK with that.
To make matters worse, Craig pairs up
Natalie with Ryan so that he can train her.
Natalie is a number-cruncher, and Ryan is
more of a finesse type of person, so the two
settle into an uneasy trainer-trainee rela-
tionship as they travel to separate people
from their jobs.
We often take the
easy way out when
relating to others.
During one round of terminations, Craig
rolls out Natalie’s remote process to termi-
nate employees and wants her to be the
first to execute it. As Natalie sits in front
of a computer screen, she commences to
fire a man who had been working with a
company for many years. As she struggles
through it, the man can be seen through
a frosted glass window sitting in the next
room, much to Ryan’s astonishment. Ryan
prefers these dismissals to be personal, not
artificial and distant.
Later, ironically, Natalie’s boyfriend
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breaks up with her via a cellphone text
message. She’s distraught, and Ryan and
Alex (who had been trying to hook up at a
hotel), instead attempt to console her. But
later, after Alex leaves, Natalie chastises
Ryan for not pursuing a more serious rela-
tionship with Alex, and Ryan fires back by
criticizing how clinical and cold Natalie’s
termination methods are.
As much as Ryan is comfortable with the
way things are, he suddenly has an epipha-
nal moment and abandons Natalie on their
return trip to Omaha. His new destina-
tion—Chicago. He suddenly realizes that
he wants to give a more substantial rela-
tionship with Alex a shot.
But will she see eye to eye with his new
perspective?
A Disconnected Culture
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Clooney give
a bad performance and he doesn’t disap-
point here, but there’s only so much you
can do with a questionable script. The film’s
melodramatic narrative makes some parts
feel like a glorified soap opera. However,
it does manage to convey the turmoil that
people were going through during The
Great Recession fairly effectively.
And the film does reveal that in our fast-
paced, technological culture, we often take
the easy way out when relating to other hu-
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TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2021
ALL PHOTOS BY PARAMOUNT PICTURES
man beings—some cheapen love relation-
ships, some do that to work relationships—but
the film doesn’t go deeply enough into either.
Or it could be that our culture’s problems
feel trivial to me. Even though this film’s main
characters wax philosophic about marriage,
modernization, and what it means to settle
down, in my recent review of “The Boy Who
Harnessed the Wind,” where people are deal-
ing with much more immediate concerns
such as basic survival (food, water, and shel-
ter), I learned something. Things could be
much worse than the first-world, existential
dilemmas we see in “Up in the Air.”
Ian Kane is a filmmaker and author
based out of Los Angeles. To learn more,
visit DreamFlightEnt.com
‘Up in the Air’
Director
Jason Reitman
Starring
George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
Running Time
1 hour, 49 minutes
Rated
R
Release Date
Dec. 23, 2009 (USA)
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