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In the News
NEWS
The House is set to vote
on two immigration bills that
would provide a citizenship
path for illegal immigrants
and legal status for immigrant
farmworkers. ... A8
Forty-one Republicans are
asking the Accountability Of-
fice to evaluate whether Pres-
ident Joe Biden’s suspension
of construction of the south-
ern border wall was justified
under federal law. ... A5
Sen. Joni Ernst says that
she is introducing legislation
requiring the federal gov-
ernment to track and make
public the carbon emissions
produced by members of the
Biden administration. ... A6
A Michigan judge has ruled
that the state secretary of
state’s guidance last Octo-
ber relating to ballot signature
verification is invalid. ... A7
The Department of Home-
land Security warned Biden’s
transition team that revoking
Trump’s border policies would
have “catastrophic conse-
quences,” Trump’s former
adviser says. ... A4
Beijing is attempting to en-
tice foreign visitors to China
by lessening their load of visa
paperwork if they take a Chi-
nese COVID-19 vaccine shot,
according to the Chinese for-
eign ministry. ... A9
The United States has
sanctioned an additional 24
Chinese and Hong Kong of-
ficials over Beijing’s ongoing
suppression of political free-
doms. ... A9
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
has rejected calls from Sen.
Rick Scott to return money in
excess of COVID-19-related
costs under the $1.9 trillion
relief package. ... A8
An Amish community in
Minnesota is appealing a
state supreme court ruling
that allows a regulator to
force its community mem-
bers to install a septic sys-
tem that conflicts with their
religious beliefs. ... A2
Turkish authorities have
stripped a prominent legis-
lator and human rights ad-
vocate of his parliamentary
seat and took a step toward
disbanding the pro-Kurdish
opposition party. ... A11
BUSINESS
Retail sales fell a seasonally
adjusted 3 percent in Febru-
ary from the month before,
the U.S. Commerce Depart-
ment says. ... A18
U.S. air travel is recovering
more quickly, with the number
of travelers screened rising to
a new high since the coronavi-
rus outbreak a year ago. ...A19
OPINION
Wesley J. Smith: Boycott the
China Winter Olympics...A13
Josh Hammer: The Shame-
ful Tragedy of Open Borders...
A14
Theodore Dalrymple: The
Fascistic Drive for Equality...
A16
FEATURES
This version of pozole, a tra-
ditional celebratory Mexican
stew, is easy enough for every
day. ...B1
Braise pork belly Hang-
zhou-style for melt-in-your-
mouth results. ...B2
DON’T DELAY.
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Published in New York,
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Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
| T H U R S D A Y, M A R C H 18 , 2 0 21
NEW YORK
Pelosi Says Cuomo Should Resign
If Allegations Proven True
‘We have zero tolerance for the behavior that is alleged
against the governor,’ House speaker said
BY BOWEN XIAO
H
ouse Speaker Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif.) said
March 17 that New York
Gov. Andrew Cuomo
should resign if the probe confirms
the sexual harassment allegations
against him, joining President Joe
Biden who made similar comments
the day before.
“People have to unlearn some bad
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania
Lawmakers Seek
to Block Entry
Into Multi-State
Climate Compact
Commissioners question
governor’s authority to
implement regulations
without legislative approval
BY KEVIN MOONEY
Pennsylvania lawmakers have re-
loaded legislation from last year
that would prohibit the state’s gov-
ernor from imposing carbon taxes
in combination with new climate
change regulations without the
approval of the General Assembly.
At issue is whether Pennsylvania
will join a multi-state climate change
compact known as the Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI.
The bill was referred to the House
Environmental Resources and En-
ergy Committee in February, just
days after an independent com-
mission called for a one-year mor-
atorium on the implementation of
Continued on A5
DONALD TRUMP
Trump Says ’24 Run Depends
on How Republicans Perform in ’22
BY IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
Former President Donald
Trump said in an inter-
view aired on March 16
that his decision whether
to run for reelection in
2024 hinges on how Re-
publicans perform in 2022.
“Well, based on every
poll, they want me to run
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
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer at the White House on March 12, 2021.
SETH WENIG-POOL/GETTY IMAGES
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks
before getting vaccinated at Mount
Neboh Baptist Church in the Harlem
neighborhood of Manhattan on March
17, 2021.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
Biden DOJ
Reverses Position
on Crack Cocaine
Appeal Before
Supreme Court
BY MATTHEW VADUM
Low-level crack cocaine defen-
dants should benefit from a 2018
federal law that reduced prison
sentences for certain offenses, the
Biden administration advised the
Supreme Court, distancing itself
from a more hardline position tak-
en by the Trump administration.
Although then-President Donald
Trump signed the criminal justice
reform measure known as the First
Step Act into law, his administra-
tion held the view that possession
of a small amount of crack cocaine
wasn’t covered under the statute.
Acting Solicitor General Eliza-
beth Prelogar let the high court
know in a March 15 letter about a
pending case that the new admin-
istration has reversed course and
now takes the position that defen-
dant Tarahrick Terry qualifies for
a sentence reduction.
Continued on A6
again, but we’re going to take a
look and we’ll see. First steps
first, we have to see what
we can do with the House.
I think we have a very, very
good chance of taking back
the House,” he told Maria
Former
President Bartiromo on Fox News.
“I think we have a chance
Donald
Trump. to do better in the Senate. We
Continued on A4
OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
behavior in order to learn how we
should go forward, and again, if these
allegations are proven to be true,
then zero tolerance would follow that
the governor should not continue,”
Pelosi said during an interview on
MSNBC.
Pelosi described what happened as
“heartbreaking,” and said, “We have
zero tolerance for the behavior that
is alleged against the governor, and
Continued on A7
Ansar Alam, a silk merchant, sits in his shop in Varanasi, India, on Feb. 18, 2021.
INDIA
Indian Silk Industry Identifies
Illegal Chinese Dumping
BY VENUS UPADHAYAYA
VARANASI, India—Last year, as
bilateral relations between India
and China reached an abysmal low
following a bloody border clash,
India’s silk industry reiterated its
call for a ban by the Indian govern-
ment on silk imports and illegal
silk dumping from China, accusing
its neighbor of seeking to destroy
the indigenous Indian industry.
China is the largest silk producer
ANTITRUST
4 More States, Puerto
Rico Join in Texas
Antitrust Lawsuit
Against Google
BY JANITA KAN
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
says that five additional states and
territories have joined its lawsuit
against Google, which alleges anti-
trust violations and deceptive acts
by the technology behemoth.
Attorneys general from Alaska,
Continued on A6
VOL . X V I I I | NO. 2,920 $1.
FEDERAL RESERVE
Fed Holds
Rates Near
Zero, Boosts
Economic
Projections
BY EMEL AKAN
WASHINGTON—The Federal Re-
serve announced on March 17 that
it would keep U.S. interest rates near
zero as the pandemic continues to
pose “considerable risks” to the
economy. The central bank, howev-
er, made a significant upgrade to its
The economic recovery
remains uneven and far
from complete and the path
ahead remains uncertain.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell
forecasts to reflect the acceleration
of economic recovery after the $1.9
trillion COVID-19 relief package.
“Following a moderation in the
pace of the recovery, indicators of
economic activity and employment
have turned up recently, although
the sectors most adversely affected
by the pandemic remain weak,”
the  Federal Open Market Com-
mittee’s (FOMC) revised statement
reads.
At the end of a two-day meeting
of the committee, Fed officials said
they would hold the federal funds
rate at a range of zero to 0.25 per-
cent, in line with expectations. The
central bank will keep the rates
near zero through 2023, according
to the new projections. However, 7
out of 18 Fed officials expect a rate
increase next year or in 2023.
“The economic recovery remains
uneven and far from complete and
the path ahead remains uncertain,”
Continued on A2
VENUS UPADHAYAYA/EPOCH TIMES
in the world, while India stands at
No. 2. The industry, which is one
of India’s largest generators of for-
eign exchange, was a source of em-
ployment for 9.1 million Indians in
fiscal year 2019, according to the
Indian Brand and Equity Founda-
tion.
At a time when the pandemic
further intensified the anti-China
sentiment in the country, the Silk
Association of India, a body con-
Continued on A10
BIG TECH
TEXAS ON
ANTITRUSTT
LAWSUIT
AGAINST
GOOGLE
“We will not allow
ow
this unprecedented,
nted,
unlawful conduct to
continue,” Texas Attorney
General Ken Paxton said.
Read more on A6
A2 | NATION
Chicago Teachers
Union Tells
Members Not to
Disclose COVID
Vaccine Status
ZACHARY STIEBER
The Chicago teachers union in a
recent letter advised members to
keep secret about whether they’d
received a COVID-19 vaccine.
“Last week, Chicago Public
Schools announced a new Board
Rule allowing it to instruct all
employees to provide CPS their
vaccination status by tomorrow.
Remember, CPS made this re-
quest without notifying or nego-
tiating with the Union,” the Chi-
cago Teachers Union (CTU) said
in the letter.
“We asked all members last
week to wait for our legal review
of the matter before completing
the CPS form. We continue to rec-
ommend that members wait to
respond to the vaccination survey
form, despite CPS announcing a
deadline of tomorrow.”
The letter was obtained and
published by CBS Chicago.
A CTU spokesperson didn’t im-
mediately return requests by The
Epoch Times for comment.
The Chicago Board of Educa-
tion on Feb. 24 unanimously
approved requiring all Chicago
Public School (CPS) employees
to tell the district whether they’ve
gotten a COVID-19 vaccine.
Amish Challenge Forced Water Treatment
System in Supreme Court on Religious Grounds
MATTHEW VADUM
An isolated Amish community in
Minnesota is asking the U.S. Su-
preme Court to review a ruling by
the state’s high court that allows
a regulator to force its members
to install a septic system that con-
flicts with their religious beliefs.
The case is Mast v. Fillmore
County, court file 20-7028. The
Minnesota Supreme Court ruled
against the Amish on Aug. 25,
2020.
The Minnesota Attorney Gener-
al’s Office, which is representing
the Minnesota Pollution Control
Agency (MPCA), has been asked
by the U.S. Supreme Court to re-
spond to the petition brought by
members of the Fillmore County
Amish community. The attorney
general’s office didn’t respond to
a request by The Epoch Times for
comment by press time.
The dispute dates to 2013, when
the MPCA approved sewage treat-
ment rules mandating that all
counties create local ordinances
rather than simply adopting the
state septic code by reference.
Later that year, Fillmore Coun-
ty adopted and implemented a
stand-alone ordinance that re-
quired the Swartzentruber Amish
community to install a septic
system for so-called gray water.
Minnesota considers “gray water”
to be the household wastewater
produced from laundry, bathing,
and cooking activities and which
doesn’t contain toilet waste.
A septic system is viewed by the
Amish as a forbidden technologi-
cal innovation from the outside
world.
To the Amish, a “rejection of
modern technology is critical to
their way of life; if they are forced
to choose between their beliefs
and the farms that provide their
livelihood, they will choose their
beliefs,” the petition filed with the
Supreme Court states. “That is the
choice the government is forcing
upon them.”
A Swartzentruber Amish settle-
ment was established in Fillmore
County, Minn., in the 1980s. The
“It is important ... for us to be
able to track who has received
the vaccine, for a variety of rea-
sons,” CPS CEO Janice Jackson
said during the board’s meeting.
“And then we will make public
any changes where we would re-
quire individuals to have a vac-
cine.”
The policy also says that the CPS
CEO may require a COVID-19
vaccination as a condition of hire
or continued employment.
“Right now, as many of you are
aware, the vaccine is under emer-
gency authorization approval, so
we could not make it mandato-
ry—even if we thought that was a
good idea at this point. For right
now, the major focus is on track-
ing so that we know where we are
as a school system,” Jackson said
during the meeting.
Chicago Health Director Dr. Al-
lison Arwady told reporters last
month that she was supportive
of employers requiring the dis-
closure of vaccination status and
posited that requiring vaccina-
tion may be coming in the future.
“I do not see a setting where
the city of Chicago would say all
Chicago residents, ‘You need to
be vaccinated.’ I do not see that
coming at any point, just to be
An Amish buggy passes horses in Shipshewana, Ind., on Jan. 24, 2020.
Swartzentruber Amish are the
most conservative of the ap-
proximately 40 different Amish
affiliations and its members have
remained the most separate from
the modern world, according to
their petition.
A key tenet of Amish religious
beliefs is that its adherents re-
main separate and apart from
the modern world. This concept of
separation emanates from Chris-
tian Biblical directions to “be not
conformed to this world,” quot-
ing Romans 12:2; and “Be ye not
unequally yoked together with
unbelievers,” quoting 2 Corin-
thians 6:14.
In June 2014, 48 Swartzentruber
Amish representatives from all of
the Fillmore County church dis-
tricts sent a letter to the MPCA
stating their religious objections
to the septic system requirement.
In August 2015, 55 representatives
from all of the church districts fol-
lowed up with a second letter to
the MPCA.
The MPCA responded in 2016 by
suing the Amish to compel them
to into installing Fillmore Coun-
ty’s approved septic tank-based
system. The regulator threatened
criminal penalties, weekly com-
munity service requirements,
and fines.
Many Amish yielded to the
Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson (back R) waves to students in a preschool classroom at Dawes Elementary
School in Chicago on Jan. 11, 2021.
very clear. But I do think we may
see settings down the line where
we may see businesses or oth-
ers decide to make that part of
their practices, and it’s going to
be a major space to really watch
over the next months to come,”
she said.
CPS says it’s offered vaccina-
tion opportunities to more than
52,374 employees as of March
14. Additionally, 5,640 vaccina-
tions among staffers have been
confirmed.
“The district is able to report
confirmation of vaccinations
from its own sites but will rely
on self-reported data to gather
a greater understanding of how
many employees received vac-
cination through our healthcare
partnerships or independently,”
CPS said on its website.
The city says it’s prioritizing
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI /AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
government’s demands or left
the state. During 2016, a total
of 62.2 percent of all the MPCA
cases filed statewide for any type
of environmental concern were
filed against Fillmore County
Swartzentruber Amish families
who refused to install septic tanks
on religious grounds, according
to court documents.
The Swartzentruber Amish say
they are willing to use what they
consider to be religiously com-
pliant alternatives to the septic
system. Specifically, they would
like to adopt a mulch basin, a sys-
tem based upon the gray water
reuse methods and principles
permitted in 20 other states. Such
a system would comply with their
Ordnung, or rules governing the
community, they say, and also
provide a level of wastewater
management superior to that al-
ready permitted by the county in
other circumstances.
The Swartzentruber Amish also
don’t object to the government
requiring minimum sizes for
their mulch basins, establishing
setbacks, or requiring soil testing
to be done to determine where
these gray water systems should
be placed—but none of these al-
ternatives has been acceptable
to Fillmore County, the petition
states.
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
vaccinations for school staffers
and other employees in roles
described as “frontline” and “es-
sential.”
Employees can schedule vac-
cination appointments, though it
may take weeks to get a vaccina-
tion date due to limited vaccine
supplies.
“We are doing everything in our
power to vaccinate educators as
quickly as possible in an equi-
table manner,” CPS told parents
and students in announcing last
month a deal to reopen schools
with the union.
Like most unions, the Chicago
Teachers Union pushed for teach-
ers to be vaccinated before re-
opening schools to in-person in-
struction. However, public health
officials say vaccinations aren’t
required to reopen schools safely,
provided certain safety measures
Fed Holds Interest Rates Near Zero,
Boosts Economic Projections
CONTINUED FROM A1
Chairman Jerome Powell said
at a post-meeting press con-
ference, adding that the Fed’s
monetary policy would con-
tinue to support the economy
“until the recovery is com-
plete.”
He noted, however, that
the recent improvement in
the labor market is a positive
sign. U.S. employers added a
robust 379,000 jobs last month
and the unemployment rate
fell to 6.2 percent from 6.3 per-
cent in January.
Since the last FOMC meet-
ing on Jan. 27, the economic
outlook has improved with
the progress in the vaccine
rollout and the Biden admin-
istration’s $1.9 trillion stimulus
package. To reflect that, Fed
policymakers substantially in-
creased their growth forecasts.
Gross domestic product
(GDP) is now expected to grow
by 6.5 percent (median) in
2021, compared to the 4.2 per-
cent increase projected in De-
cember. The central bank ex-
pects the economy to expand
by 3.3 percent and 2.2 percent
in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Those figures reflect a 0.1 per-
cent upward revision from De-
cember’s forecast for next year
and a 0.2 percent downward
revision for 2023.
The median projection for
the unemployment rate for the
end of this year was reduced to
4.5 percent from the 5.0 per-
cent projected in December.
The Fed projects a 3.9 percent
unemployment rate next year,
and 3.5 percent by 2023.
The Fed officials expect up-
ward pressure on prices this
year due to an increase in
spending with the opening
up of the economy.
The Fed’s inflation projection
rose to 2.4 percent this year,
up from 1.8 percent projected
earlier. But officials expect in-
flation to return to 2 percent
next year, indicating that in-
flationary pressures will be
ASHLEE REZIN GARCIA/CHICAGO SUN-TIMES VIA AP
are implemented.
CPS and CTU officials have re-
peatedly clashed in recent weeks
over school reopening, vaccina-
tions, and other issues. They
reached a reopening plan in Feb-
ruary that has since brought all
students except for high school
students back for in-person in-
struction.
CPS officials in a letter to par-
ents and students on March 16
said that April 19 is the target date
for high school students to return
to classrooms, amid ongoing ne-
gotiations with the union.
But CTU President Jesse Shar-
key told members in response
that “we have no agreement on
returning to in-person learning
in high schools on any date, nor
will there be an agreement until
we know our school buildings can
reopen safely.”
temporary.
As part of its efforts to sup-
port the markets, the Fed has
been buying at least $80 bil-
lion per month in Treasuries
and $40 billion in mortgage-
backed securities since June
last year. The central bank
announced that it would con-
tinue to increase its asset hold-
ings at the current pace.
On the tapering of asset pur-
chases, Powell said that the
Fed would continue at the
current pace until it sees “sub-
stantial further progress.” He
reiterated that the Fed would
be looking for actual progress
in the data, not forecasted
progress.
“We also understand that we
will want to provide as much
advance notice of any poten-
tial taper as possible,” he said.
While there have been posi-
tive developments in both the
economic data and the tra-
jectory of the virus, Powell’s
message about the tapering of
asset purchases is in line with
market expectations.
“As we have noted in the
past, we think this messaging
is consistent with our expecta-
tion for a tapering announce-
ment around year-end,”
Matthew Luzzetti, chief U.S.
economist at Deutsche Bank,
said in a report.
Powell expects Congress to
shift its focus to business in-
vestment in the longer term for
the economy’s full recovery.
“It takes a lot of investment
to support a more productive
economy and raise living stan-
dards. And that hasn’t been
the principal focus” of the fis-
cal measures, he said.
“What Congress has been
doing is mainly been replac-
ing lost income and begin-
ning to support people as the
economy returns to normal.
But there should be a longer-
term focus ... on the invest-
ment front,” which includes
investment in people, skills,
plants and equipment, and
software, Powell said.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
Facebook Voter Drive Swayed Election
to Biden: Executive Caught on Camera
PETR SVAB
Facebook’s drive to register 4.5 million voters
swayed the November election to President
Joe Biden, a Facebook executive opined in
hidden camera footage.
The executive, Benny Thomas, expressed
grim views of the giant tech company, but
counted the voter drive among its positives
while secretly being recorded earlier this
year by reporters with Project Veritas, an
undercover journalism nonprofit.
“This is the good side of Facebook. ... We
made a big difference,” he said in a video
released by Veritas on March 16, explaining
that Facebook exceeded its goal of regis-
tering 4 million people and could only ac-
complish the task because of its “sheer scale
and reach.”
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure we [Biden] won that
way,” the reporter said.
“Yea!” Thomas replied, laughing. “Exactly!”
“What do you think?” the reporter
jumped in.
“Exactly. I think so too,” he said.
Thomas’s LinkedIn profile describes his
position as Global Planning Lead - Creative
& Experiential at Facebook since Septem-
ber 2019.
Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a
request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Thomas suggested to one of the reporters
that Facebook needs to do more to control
speech on its platforms.
“People are believing whatever they
see, and it’s just causing a crisis,” he said
in another video published by Veritas on
March 15.
When asked about his views on solutions,
he said, “The answer is just more controls,
more safeguards. ... To give people a guide
to behavior.”
Behavior needs to be kept in check through
surveillance, he suggested.
“That’s called democracy. Somebody is
always watching you so that you behave
well,” he said.
On the other hand, he acknowledged that
Facebook’s judgments are necessarily bi-
ased, even when machine-driven.
“There’s always built-in bias because this
is the myth that computer programmers
told us, which is, ‘Oh, these are comput-
ers, computers don’t have bias.’ But guess
what? Human beings wrote that code. And
Inflation Overtakes CCP Virus as Biggest Risk
for Investors: Bank of America
TOM OZIMEK
Inflation has displaced the CCP virus as
investors’ top worry, as Wall Street looks
beyond the pandemic to the effects of the
tidal wave of stimulus and the unleashing of
pent-up demand as the economy recovers, a
new Bank of America survey shows.
The bank’s most recent Global Fund Man-
ager Survey (FMS) indicates that while the
CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus was
the biggest “tail risk” in February, that has
been replaced in March by above-expecta-
tion rates of inflation.
Virus worries have fallen to third, behind
so-called “taper tantrums” in the bond mar-
ket. These are sharp selloffs triggered by wor-
ries about faster economic growth and higher
inflation, driving the Federal Reserve to react
by raising interest rates.
“This implies that global fund managers
think vaccination will finally lead us to re-
opening and that the extremely loose mon-
etary policy in times of economic recovery is
not without risk,” Jeroen Blokland, portfolio
manager for the Robeco Multi-Asset fund,
wrote in a daily analysis.
Of the 220 fund managers who weighed in
for the survey, 37 percent said inflation, 35
percent said bond market panic, and fewer
than 15 percent said the virus posed the big-
gest risk for investors. Far less worrying than
those top three concerns were fears of a Wall
Street bubble, higher taxes, or tighter regula-
tion under the Biden administration.
Exacerbating inflation concerns are ex-
pectations that the Federal Reserve’s new
policy of moving to a flexible, average infla-
tion target means that the central bank will
hold off on raising rates in order to let the
economy run hot for a period of time and
overshoot its 2 percent inflation target.
“The Fed’s balance sheet will continue to
swell. Interest rates will remain low. And
in doing so, the Fed will really help to con-
tinue to spur economic growth with the
ultimate goal of generating a higher trend
of inflation,” said Michelle Meyer, head of
U.S. economics at Bank of America Global
Benny Thomas, global planning lead at Facebook, in a video released by Project Veritas on March
16, 2021.
that human being has bias.”
Conservatives and some liberals have
long complained that Facebook is censor-
ing political speech based on vague, partly
secret, ever-changing, and unevenly en-
forced policies.
Thomas also said Facebook and Google
have grown so powerful, they need to be
broken up.
“The government needs to step in and
break up Google and Facebook. I’ll make
less money, but it’s a better thing for the
world,” he said.
Facebook needs to be stripped of its major
subsidiaries, he suggested.
“Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, Oculus,
WhatsApp. They all need to be separate com-
panies. It’s too much power when they’re all
one together,” he said.
“It needs to be broken up the way the tele-
com companies were broken up and the oil
companies were broken up. But better than
that, because those guys just came back
together pretty soon after that. I hope we’ve
learned from that. But that’s really the one
thing, as you said, I would break it up, and
I would remove Zuck [Mark Zuckerberg]
as the CEO.”
Facebook’s power ceases to be innocuous,
Research, in a recent note.
Meyer said Bank of America’s forecast is for
the core personal consumption expenditure
(PCE) rate of inflation—which excludes the
volatile categories of food and energy—to
edge higher through 2021 and beyond, but
not yet reach the Fed’s 2 percent target.
“So we think for core PCE, we’re likely to
end 2021 in the order of about 1.6 percent on
a year-over-year basis. Probably get to just
south of 2 percent by the end of 2022,” she
said in a separate note.
Virus worries have fallen
to third, behind so-called
‘taper tantrums’ in the bond
market.
“So still a low inflation environment, but
one where we are making some slow progress
and it will largely be a function of the trajec-
tory of wages. So it’s keenly important to focus
on the path of the labor market when trying to
understand the trajectory of inflation.”
Experts widely expect inflation to gain
steam this year, driven by massive fiscal
stimulus and the reopening of the econ-
omy as the spread of the CCP virus slows.
But continued weakness in the labor mar-
ket is likely to stop price pressures from
spiraling out of control.
The U.S. economy is still around 10 mil-
lion jobs down compared to before the
pandemic, while last week, another 712,000
Americans filed for unemployment, Labor
Department figures show.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in
an interview on March 14 that any up-
ward movement of prices will most likely
be temporary.
“Is there a risk of inflation? I think there’s
a small risk,” she told ABC in an interview.
“And I think it’s manageable. Prices fell a
lot last spring, when the pandemic surged.
I expect some of those prices to move up
again, as the economy recovers in the
PROJECT VERITAS/YOUTUBE
he said, “when you weaponize it as a politi-
cian and you go, ‘Tell me, show me people
who are racist,’” such as when “a racist politi-
cian” is looking to target messaging to “sev-
eral racists who will vote” for him.
When the reporter asked who would de-
cide what makes one a racist and how would
Facebook determine it, Thomas mused,
“What would be a proxy for a racist?”
“Lives in all-white town, education, reli-
gious preference,” he said. “So you can tri-
angulate three or four data points and say,
‘She’s likely to be racist.’”
Thomas also criticized Zuckerberg’s in-
vestment in gene-editing technology.
“It’s eugenics. I don’t know any way to
stop it. I think the genie’s out of the bottle,”
he said.
He worries the technology would lead to
the development of a “superior race” of peo-
ple and extreme polarization of society into
“haves” and “have-nots” that goes beyond
mere wealth differences.
“They have a thing that I can never have,”
he said, describing the position of the
“have-nots.”
When confronted by one of the reporters,
Thomas refused to go on record and clarify
his comments.
spring and summer. But that’s a temporary
movement in prices.”
Yellen dismissed worries about sustained
inflation.
“I absolutely don’t expect that. We have had
very well-anchored inflation expectations
and a Federal Reserve that’s learned about
how to manage inflation,” she said, adding,
“We have tools to address it,” presumably
referring to the Fed’s go-to policy measure
of raising interest rates.
A recent analysis by Oxford Economics
supports the view that upward inflation
pressures will be held back by labor mar-
ket weakness.
“The Fed’s new monetary policy framework
is being tested by rising expectations of faster
economic growth and inflation. However,
despite improvements in health conditions,
vaccine dissemination, and significantly
more fiscal stimulus, we don’t foresee a ‘large
and persistent’ rise in inflation or quick re-
covery in the labor market. This means the
Fed will maintain its very accommodative
policy stance,” Oxford Economics analysts
wrote in a post about inflation.
Some economists have warned that the
massive fiscal boost from the series of pan-
demic rescue packages could lead inflation
to surge above expectations.
“A lot of people believe that inflation in
the U.S. is dead or, if not dead, in a state of
suspended animation for the foreseeable
future. They could be setting themselves up
for an unpleasant surprise,” Bill Dudley, for-
mer president of the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York, wrote in an op-ed in Bloom-
berg last December.
The Federal Reserve’s inflation “nowcast”
model, which tracks the real-time inflation
estimates, shows that the year-over-year
PCE inflation rate had risen to nearly 1.7
percent on March 17 from around 1.27 per-
cent on Feb. 25.
The Federal Reserve’s own economic pro-
jections estimate that core PCE inflation will
rise from 1.4 percent in 2020 to 2.1 percent in
2023. This measure tracks the inflation rate
for the entire year.
NATION | A3
Michigan Man
Charged Over
Alleged Death
Threats Against
Biden, Pelosi,
Whitmer
TOM OZIMEK
A 21-year-old Michigan man faces
criminal charges for allegedly mak-
ing death threats against Democratic
officials—President Joe Biden, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer—
according to the state attorney gen-
eral’s office.
Joshua Docter, from the Netherlands,
faces one count of threat of terrorism
and one count of using a computer to
commit a crime, felonies that carry a
maximum sentence of 20 years behind
bars, Michigan Attorney General Dana
Nessel said in a statement.
BILL PUGLIANO/GETTY IMAGES
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel
at the federal courthouse in Detroit, in
this file photo.
“Threatening elected officials is
against the law and my office will pros-
ecute those who attempt to intimidate
or terrorize our state and federal lead-
ers,” Nessel said.
Docter is accused of threatening to
“shoot and kill” the three elected offi-
cials, making the threats in January on
social media platform iFunny. Officials
added that Docter said in the posts that
he wanted to “‘be the catalyst’ for a new
American revolution.” The FBI began
investigating after authorities received
tips about the threats.
“I appreciate the thorough investi-
gative work by the FBI and Michigan
State Police on this case, and I con-
sider it another excellent example of
showcasing the dedication that those
working in law enforcement have to
protecting the public,” Nessel said.
Docter is accused
of threatening to ‘shoot
and kill’ the three
elected officials.
Docter turned himself in on March
16 and was arraigned the same day
on the charges, which were filed a day
earlier in Ottawa County 58th District
Court.
It follows reports that one of six men
facing federal charges in connection
with an alleged plot to kidnap Whit-
mer has agreed to plead guilty to a
kidnapping conspiracy.
In the plea agreement, Ty Garbin
made a number of admissions, in-
cluding that he and others trained
with weapons in Munith, Michigan,
and Cambria, Wisconsin, last sum-
mer and “discussed the plan to storm
the Capitol and kidnap the governor.”
In October, the FBI said it broke up a
plot to kidnap the Democratic gover-
nor by anti-government extremists up-
set over her coronavirus restrictions.
Six people were charged in federal
court while eight others were charged
in state court with aiding the alleged
scheme.
The plot, he said, switched to a
summer home on Mackinac Island
reserved for Michigan governors or
Whitmer’s second home in Antrim
County.
Garbin said he “advocated waiting
until after the national election, when
the conspirators expected widespread
civil unrest to make it easier for them
to operate.”
In September, the six men trained at
Garbin’s property near Luther, Michi-
gan, constructing a “shoot house” to
resemble Whitmer’s vacation home
and “assaulting it with firearms.”
The Associated Press contributed
to this report.
A4 | NATION
Trump Says 2024 Run Will Depend on How
Republicans Perform in ‘22
CONTINUED FROM A1
need leadership in the Senate,
which frankly, we don’t have.
We need better leadership in
the Senate. We have a good
chance to take back the Senate,
and, frankly, we’ll make our de-
cision after that,” Trump said.
Based on every
poll, they want
me to run again,
but we’re going
to take a look and
we’ll see.
Former President
Donald Trump
Trump had previously hinted
that he may run again during his
comeback speech at the Conser-
vative Political Action Conference
in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 28.
In the interview, Trump high-
lighted and took credit for the Re-
publican victories in the House in
2020. The GOP gained 14 seats in
the House, resulting in the slim-
mest Democratic majority in the
chamber, 222–213, since 2000.
“You know, we were going to
lose from 15 to 25 seats last time. I
got involved. I worked very hard,”
Trump said. “What happened is
we ended up winning 15 seats
instead of losing potentially 25
seats. That’s a big swing and it al-
DHS Officials Warned Biden
Transition Team About Revoking
Trump Border Policies, Former
Top Adviser Says
IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
Career officials from the De-
partment of Homeland Security
(DHS) warned then-President-
elect Joe Biden’s transition team
that revoking President Donald
Trump’s border policies would
have “catastrophic consequenc-
es,” according to Stephen Miller,
who served as Trump’s top ad-
viser on immigration issues at the
White House.
“Biden’s transition team was
warned by career DHS officials
that terminating our proven
border security measures would
lead to catastrophic conse-
quences. ... They ignored those
warnings and voluntarily un-
leashed chaos,” Miller wrote on
Twitter on March 17.
“By 2020—defeating a flood of
meritless years-long litigation—
we had in place the most effec-
tive, rock-solid, profound border
security measures ever realized.
Biden inherited an unbeatable
THINK
THE EPOCH TIMES
BUT FOR TV
News without spin, for you to
form your own opinion.
GET NTD ON TV
NTD.com/TV
Outgoing President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump step out of Marine One at Joint Base Andrews,
Md., on Jan. 20, 2021.
most cost [House Speaker] Nancy
Pelosi her job. I think we have a
chance of taking back the House.”
The former president has en-
dorsed two Republican House
candidates so far, Max Miller in
Ohio and Julia Letlow in Louisi-
ana. Miller, a former White House
official, is running against one of
the ten Republicans who voted
to impeach Trump. The former
president has suggested that he
will endorse primary challeng-
ers against the other nine, which
system. He then immediately
shredded it & created this rap-
idly-escalating emergency.”
Miller, who is now a senior
adviser to Trump, made the re-
marks in response to a news re-
port about Biden telling Central
American migrants to stay in
their communities and not make
the trek to the United States to
cross the border illegally.
“I can say quite clearly: Don’t
come over,” Biden told ABC
News.
The Biden administration is
facing a surge of illegal border
crossings on pace to be the high-
est in two decades. The influx
coincided with Biden taking of-
fice and swiftly revoking more
than a dozen key Trump immi-
gration measures.
“Maybe nobody on his staff
informed him, but Biden’s DHS
implemented nationwide Catch-
and-Release,” Miller wrote. “Il-
legal migrants from all over the
world, in ever-growing numbers,
WATCH US ONLINE
NTD.com/live
include Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.),
the third-ranking Republican in
the House.
Republicans need to gain just
five seats to retake control of the
House. The Senate is currently
split 50–50, with Vice President
Kamala Harris on deck to break
ties. Fourteen Democratic seats
and 20 Republican seats will be
up for grabs in 2022. A number
of establishment Republicans in
the Senate aren’t seeking reelec-
tion, opening the door for Trump
ANNA MONEYMAKER-POOL/GETTY IMAGES
will descend on the border until
the Trump policy of Detain-and-
Remove is restored.”
Trump criticized Biden’s border
agenda in an interview aired on
Fox News on March 16, particu-
larly lamenting the decision to
halt the construction of his signa-
ture wall on the southern border.
“They should finish it,” Trump
said about the wall. “But they’re
destroying our country. People
are coming in by the hundreds
of thousands.”
Biden said there’s been a surge
of illegal immigrants over the
past two years but agreed the
current wave “could be” worse.
The president said on March 16
that he doesn’t currently plan to
visit the border.
Officials in border states have
PAUL GREANEY TIFFANY MEIER
Host of NTD Business Host of China in Focus
and Deep Dive
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
ALEX EDELMAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
to reshape the party’s leadership
in the chamber.
Trump noted that if the Demo-
crats’ H.R. 1 election bill becomes
law, “Republicans will have a very
hard time getting elected.”
“What will happen is the Demo-
crats will be able to do what they
did in the last, in the 2020 elec-
tion,” Trump said. “And when you
look at the dishonesty and all of
the things that took place in that
election, this should have never
happened.”
Then-White
House senior
adviser
Stephen
Miller in the
Oval Office
on July
15, 2020.
said some illegal immigrants are
testing positive for the CCP virus
but aren’t being forced to stay in
quarantine, stoking concerns
about them spreading COVID-19.
Biden sent a contingent of of-
ficials earlier this month to view
the situation on the ground. He
hasn’t offered a perspective on
what they saw, and it isn’t clear
whether he’s been briefed by
them yet. White House press
secretary Jen Psaki told reporters
in Washington on March 15 that
the administration feels it has a
handle on the border situation.
“We recognize this as a prob-
lem. We’re focused on addressing
it,” Psaki said.
Bowen Xiao contributed
to this report.
STEFANIA COX
Host of NTD
Evening News
Biden to Hold
First Solo Press
Conference on 64th
Day in Office
ISABEL VAN BRUGEN
President Joe Biden will hold his
first solo press conference on
March 18, White House press
secretary Jen Psaki announced
March 16.
The announcement follows
mounting pressure and calls for
Biden to hold a traditional open
news conference, and comes more
than 50 days into his presidency—
the longest stretch of any president
over the past century.
Biden’s press briefing will be held
on his 64th day in office.
By contrast, his 15 predecessors
held solo press briefings within
the first 33 days of their respective
presidencies. Former President
Donald Trump took questions after
27 days in office, while former Presi-
dent Barack Obama held a formal
press conference 20 days into his
first term.
The president, since being sworn
in over two months ago, has held a
number of “short question-and-an-
swer” sessions with reporters, how-
ever, his answers on a wide range of
issues have so far been brief.
Psaki noted last week that Biden
“takes questions several times a
week.”
“Which is an opportunity for the
people covering the White House
to ask him about whatever news is
happening on any given day,” she
told reporters.
She also defended the president,
saying that he is currently focused
“day in and day out on getting the
pandemic under control and put-
ting people back to work.”
Before Psaki’s announcement,
Biden had come under an increas-
ing media spotlight for his delay
in holding a press briefing. The
president gave his first prime-time
address on March 11, but took no
questions afterward.
Brett Bruen, White House direc-
tor of global engagement under
Obama, suggested earlier this
month that Biden’s lack of interac-
tion with the media may be “coun-
terproductive.”
“He talks about the role of jour-
nalists as being a critical one, and
yet access to a president is really the
barometer by which we judge the
importance that a president assigns
to the media,” Bruen said.
The president’s approach so far
may be “counterproductive to the
kind of connection that both the
White House needs with journalists
as well as the president needs with
the people,” he said.
“Where’s Joe?” asked Kayleigh
McEnany, Trump’s former press
secretary, during an appearance
on Fox News. “Joe Biden needs to
step up. We need to hear from him.
He needs to engage in the transpar-
ency that he promised us.”
It’s not yet clear how many report-
ers will be allowed to attend the
president’s first briefing.
The White House didn’t imme-
diately respond to a request by The
Epoch Times for comment.
KEVIN HOGAN
Host of NTD
News Today
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 NATION | A5

Pennsylvania
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Lawmakers Seek to
Block Entry Into Multi-
State Climate Compact
CONTINUED FROM A1
Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed cli-
mate change regulations. In their
comments, the commissioners
also raised questions about the
Democratic governor’s author-
ity to implement regulations that
would trigger carbon taxes without
legislative approval.
Wolf vetoed a similar bill last fall
that attracted bipartisan support
and fell just one vote shy of a veto-
proof majority in the Senate. The
current bill is co-sponsored by two
Democrats: Reps. Pam Snyder, who
serves in the 50th District covering
Greene, Fayette, and Washington
counties, and Chris Sainato, who
represents the 9th District in Law-
rence County.
The bill must pass the House be-
fore it’s taken up by the Senate.
In a statement, Snyder praised the
Independent Regulatory Review
Commission (IRCC) for its decision
to recommend delaying Pennsylva-
nia’s entry into the RGGI.
The decision from the IRCC “shows
that RGGI is definitely the wrong
path for our state to take, notably
during a pandemic, Snyder said in
the release.
“In fact, several industry represen-
tatives, including the Pennsylvania
Manufacturers Association and the
International Brotherhood of Elec-
trical Workers, are rightly concerned
that such a move would impose a
carbon tax and lead energy com-
panies in my communities to close,
and frankly, that would be beyond
devastating. We can’t afford for that
to happen.”
The Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative is a compact that current-
ly includes 10 New England and
mid-Atlantic states where regula-
tors place an upper limit or “cap”
on the amount of carbon dioxide
emissions that power plants can
emit. Energy companies can then
trade the “allowances” back and
forth during quarterly auctions.
The “cap and trade” regulations are
intended to provide energy com-
panies with financial incentives to
reduce emissions.
Companies that meet or exceed
emissions targets may sell any ex-
cess allowances back to companies
that haven’t met them.
Snyder says her region would be
among those hardest hit by the regu-
lations and taxes that she anticipates
would flow out of RGGI as energy
jobs leave the commonwealth. She
has joined with other cosponsors of
the bill to send a memo to colleagues
to describe the potential economic
fallout from RGGI.
“Since Pennsylvania deregulated
its electricity market, 19 coal-fired
electric generating units (EGUs)
have or are in the process of clos-
ing or converting,” the memo says.
“If Pennsylvania were to adopt a
carbon tax such as that imposed by
joining the Regional Greenhouse
Gas Initiative (RGGI), the remaining
coal-fired EGU’s would be forced
to pay hundreds of millions in ad-
ditional taxes and, as a result, will
shut down.
“This would lead to the direct elim-
ination of thousands of family-sus-
taining jobs in those communities,
not to mention the loss of millions
of local and state revenues.”
On the Senate side, members of the
Environmental Resources and En-
ergy Committee sent a letter to the
IRCC in February expressing their
disapproval of Wolf’s RGGI proposal.
The letter, signed by members of the
committee, challenges the gover-
nor’s statutory authority to imple-
ment RGGI.
A Tax, Not a Fee
The senators also explain why the
RGGI allowance is properly viewed
as a tax.
Since the Environmental Quality
Board plans to allocate 5 percent
of the allowance for administra-
tive purposes and just 1 percent to
the RGGI corporation, the remain-
ing 94 percent of revenue is raised
through a tax, which requires leg-
islative approval, according to the
letter. Anthony Holtzman, a Har-
risburg attorney with expertise in
constitutional and environmental
law, makes a similar argument in
testimony he offered to the Penn-
sylvania House.
“RGGI’s quarterly auction mech-
anism—which is the heart of the
program—would qualify as a ‘tax,’
not a ‘fee,’ because the proceeds of
the auctions are grossly dispropor-
tionate to the costs of administer-
ing the program,” Holtzman said.
“Through 2017, in fact, the RGGI sig-
natory states had directed less than
6 percent of the proceeds toward the
program’s administration. RGGI’s
auction mechanism is designed to
raise substantial sums of revenue—
in fact, it has raised more than $3
billion to date—and the signatory
states have used the vast majority of
this revenue to either support policy
initiatives (such as energy efficiency
and renewable energy initiatives) or
bolster state coffers through trans-
fers to general funds.
“The auction program, therefore,
imposes a tax that only the General
Power lines pass over the town of Goldsboro, Pa., as steam rises out of the nuclear plant on Three Mile Island in Mid-
dletown, Pa., on March 26, 2019.
MARK MAKELA/GETTY IMAGES
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf speaks at a campaign rally in Philadelphia on
Sep. 21, 2018.
Assembly can impose.”
Carbon allowances sold for $7.41
[The IRCC de- per metric ton in the fourth quarter
cision] shows of last year, an increase of about
that RGGI is 8.7 percent from the prior quarter
and a 30 percent increase from
definitely the the prior year, according to RGGI
wrong path figures. The latest auction raised
for our state about $120 million.
to take, nota- Defending RGGI
bly during a The state’s Department of Environ-
mental Protection projects annual
pandemic. RGGI revenue from auction pro-
Pennsylvania ceeds surpassing $300 million.
Rep. Pam Snyder The department’s modeling exer-
cises show that RGGI would produce
economic, health, and environ-
mental benefits for the common-
wealth. The department claims, for
instance, that “from 2022 to 2030,
participating in RGGI would lead to
an increase in Gross State Product of
nearly $2 billion and a net increase
of over 27,000 jobs” for the common-
wealth.
Patrick McDonnell, the depart-
ment’s secretary, has said in testi-
mony that “Pennsylvania has an
obligation to take action to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions,” since
the commonwealth is “one of the
top GHG [greenhouse gas] emitting
states in the country.”
McDonnell describes RGGI as an
“economically efficient” program
that enables power plants to achieve
the “least cost compliance” by way
of buying and selling allowances
across the entire region.
Other supporters of RGGI include
the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chap-
ter, which participated in testimony
before the Senate Environmental
Resources and Energy Committee
in June 2020.
Thomas Schuster, the chapter’s
clean energy program director, told
committee members that “regulat-
ing electric sector carbon pollu-
tion and linking it to RGGI is a very
important step” that Pennsylvania
must take to “begin addressing the
existential threat posed by climate
disruption, and to do so in a way that
is cost-effective and supportive of
our diverse energy economy.”
‘Wrong for Pennsylvania’
Meanwhile, the Independent
Regulatory Review Commission’s
recommended moratorium on the
implementation of RGGI-related
regulations sends a “clear state-
ment” that the multi-state agree-
ment “is wrong for Pennsylvania,”
Rep. James Struzzi, an Indiana
County Republican, said in a state-
ment. The General Assembly created
the Independent Regulatory Review
Commission in 1982 to review regu-
latory proposals to ensure they’re in
line with legislative intent and that
they are in the public interest.
“The governor is trying to skirt the
General Assembly and shove Penn-
sylvania into a job-killing, taxpay-
er-subsidizing multi-state compact
and potentially make our state the
only one to do so without legislative
approval,” Struzzi, who is also the
lead sponsor of the bill, said in the
release. “I have been and remain
steadfast in my opposition to RGGI.”
Wolf currently plans to have Penn-
sylvania join RGGI next year.

41 GOP Senators Ask GAO to Evaluate Biden’s Border Wall Funding Freeze
HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

MASOOMA HAQ
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)
on March 17 led 40 Republican col-
leagues to sign a letter asking the
U.S. Government Accountability
Office (GAO) to evaluate whether
President Joe Biden’s suspension
of funding and construction of the
southern border wall was justified
under federal law.
On his first day in office, Biden
signed an executive order that
halted construction on the wall
and ordered a suspension of con-
gressional funds allocated for the
project. Biden also signed an order
that canceled the emergency des-
ignation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The senators wrote that despite
the progress being made to con-
trol illegal immigration, with ad-
ditional funds being authorized by
Congress for the wall, Biden still
signed a proclamation directing
the Department of Homeland Se-
curity (DHS) and the Office of Man-
agement and Budget to “pause im-
mediately the obligation of funds
related to the construction of the
southern border wall” and “pause
work on each construction project
on the southern border wall.”
Biden’s proclamation stated that
the wall was a waste of money and
isn’t a “serious policy solution.”
The group of Republican senators
believes the actions violate the Im-
poundment Control Act (ICA) but
they want a legal evaluation from
Comptroller General Gene Dodaro.
“They are also a blatant viola-
tion of federal law and infringe on
Congress’s constitutional power of
the purse. We are writing regard-
ing these actions. We believe they
violated the ICA, as interpreted by
your office, and we request your le-
gal opinion on the matter,” wrote
the senators.
The Congressional Budget and
Impoundment Control Act of 1974
reconfirmed Congress’s power of
the purse. In addition, the law es-
tablished ways to prevent the sitting
president and other government
officials from single-handedly re-
placing their own funding prefer-
ence for that of Congress.
“The president is not vested with
the power to ignore or amend a duly
enacted law, instead he must faith-
fully execute the law as Congress
enacts it,” the GOP letter continued.
U.S. workers on the site of a 13-mile section of border wall in the desert between
Sunlad Park, New Mexico, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Jan. 15, 2021.
The senators said they believe the
freezing of the border wall funds
and constructions contributed to
the “humanitarian and national
security crisis” at the border.
A border patrol agent told Full
Measure News that the halting of
the southern wall construction
was hasty and has left wide roads
that drug cartels can now use for
illegal activity.
“Now what we have is an infra-
structure that the cartels can ben-
efit from,” said the border patrol
agent.
Meanwhile, border states such
as Texas are trying to work around
Biden’s border wall policies. Texas,
which shares 1,200 miles of border
with Mexico, is one of the states that
bears the brunt of the huge influx
of illegal immigrants.
On March 15, Texas state Rep.
Bryan Slaton, a Republican,
filed HB 2862, which would fund
the completion of the border wall
in Texas with state funds.
Apprehensions at the southern
border have climbed every month
since April 2020 and reached 96,974
in February, according to  new
data from U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, an agency that includes
Border Patrol.
Opponents to Biden’s immigra-
tion policies say that his other
decisions to reverse Trump-era
policies, such as the remain-in-
Mexico program, which required
asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico
until their claims could be heard,
are contributing to the surge in mi-
grants at the border.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) took to
Twitter on March 16 to comment
on the crisis at the border.
“Halting border wall construc-
tion, reducing enforcement, paus-
ing deportations—Biden sent the
message loud and clear that our
border is open. Now, we’re seeing
a predictable crisis of Dems’ own
making, on pace to break 20-year
records,” wrote Thune.
A6 | NATION
4 More States, Puerto
Rico Join Texas-Led
Antitrust Lawsuit
Against Google
CONTINUED FROM A1
Florida, Montana, Nevada,
and Puerto Rico joined the
multistate lawsuit, led by
Texas, that originally was
filed by a coalition of 10
states. Paxton’s office filed
an amended complaint on
March 16, reflecting the
changes.
“Today’s filing underscores
the broad consensus that
Google’s practices require
review and swift action un-
der antitrust and consumer
protection laws,” Paxton said
in a statement.
The lawsuit accuses Alpha-
bet Inc.’s Google of collect-
ing thousands of data points
about people and using that
information for its own ben-
efit and for “lying to advertis-
ers, publishers, and consum-
ers” about their conduct and
motives.
It alleges that Google had
“monopolized or attempted
to monopolize” products and
services used by advertisers
and publishers in online-
display advertising. These
practices, the lawsuit argues,
Biden DOJ Reverses Position Sen. Ernst to Introduce Bill Mandating Tracking
on Crack Cocaine Appeal White House, Executive Branch Carbon Emissions
Before Supreme Court
CONTINUED FROM A1
“The purpose of this let-
ter is to notify the Court
that the United States has
reconsidered that [Trump
administration] position
and will no longer defend
the judgment of the court
of appeals,” Prelogar wrote.
“Following the change
in Administration, the De-
partment of Justice began
a process of reviewing the
government’s interpreta-
tion of Section 404 of the
First Step Act. As a result
of that review, the Depart-
ment of Justice has con-
cluded that petitioner’s
conviction is a ‘covered
offense’ under Section 404,
that petitioner is entitled
to request a reduced sen-
tence, and that the court of
appeals erred in conclud-
ing otherwise.”
The case is Terry v. U.S.,
court file 20-5904. Oral ar-
guments are scheduled for
April 20.
Terry was sentenced to 15
1/2 years in prison after en-
tering a guilty plea in Flor-
ida in 2008 for one count
of possession with intent
to distribute 3.9 grams of
crack cocaine. In his cur-
rent appeal, the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the 11th Cir-
cuit ruled against him on
Sept. 22, 2020. Six days later
he filed a petition with the
Supreme Court seeking
review, which the Trump
administration opposed.
The court agreed on Jan. 8
to hear his case.
Conservative groups
Americans for Prosperity
Foundation, The R Street
Institute, and the Ameri-
can Conservative Union,
which runs the annual
Conservative Political Ac-
tion Conference (CPAC),
filed friend-of-the-court
briefs supporting Terry’s
position.
The District of Colum-
bia, along with Colorado,
Delaware, Illinois, Iowa,
Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota,
Nevada, New Jersey, New
then reduces the publishers’
ability to monetize content,
increases advertisers’ costs
to advertise, and directly
harmed consumers.
“We will not allow this un-
precedented, unlawful con-
duct to continue. Our coali-
tion looks forward to holding
Google accountable for its
illegal conduct and reform-
ing Google’s practices in the
future. And we are confident
Google will be forced to pay
for its misconduct through
significant financial penal-
ties,” he added.
Among the allegations
include an anticompetitive
agreement Google had al-
legedly entered with Face-
book. According to a redact-
ed version of the lawsuit filed
in December 2020, Facebook
announced in 2017 that it
would try a new method of
selling online advertising
called “header bidding,”
which would act as a threat
of competition for Google.
The lawsuit suggested
Facebook eventually “cur-
tailed its involvement” with
the project after Google gave
SARAH SILBIGER-POOL/GETTY IMAGES
A sign for the Department of
Justice in Washington on Jan.
12, 2021.
York, North Carolina,
Oregon, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Vermont,
Virginia, and Washington
also signed onto a brief
supporting Terry.
A bipartisan quartet of
U.S. senators also filed a
brief in favor of Terry. Sens.
Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and
Cory Booker (D-N.J.), along
with Sens. Charles Grass-
ley (R-Iowa) and Mike Lee
(R-Utah), argued that the
First Step Act’s “reforms
to reduce the sentencing
disparities for individuals
convicted of crack-cocaine
offenses” were “central” to
the law.
Section 404 of the stat-
ute provides “retroactive
relief ... for individuals
sentenced based on the old
100-to-1 crack-to-powder
ratio that Congress repu-
diated.”
At the time he signed the
First Step Act, Trump said
it constituted “an incred-
ible moment” for “criminal
justice reform.” He singled
out the sentencing reforms
included in it, saying
“Americans from across
the political spectrum can
unite around prison reform
legislation that will reduce
crime while giving our fel-
low citizens a chance at re-
demption, so if something
happens and they make a
mistake, they get a second
chance at life.”
Friend-of-the-court brief
signer Grassley hailed the
legislation at the time as
“historic” and “the most
significant criminal jus-
tice reform bill in a gen-
eration.”
Google’s New York offices, in Lower Manhattan on Jan. 20, 2021.
Facebook “information,
speed, and other advantag-
es in the [redacted] auctions
that Google runs for publish-
ers’ mobile app advertising
inventory each month in the
United States.”
The  Wall Street Jour-
nal and The New York Times,
which both say they’ve re-
viewed an unredacted ver-
sion of the complaint, re-
ported the alleged secret
deal referred to in the law-
suit was code-named “Jedi
Blue” by Google.
In a recent interview, Pax-
ton expressed confidence in
the trajectory of his lawsuit,
saying that he believes that
MARK TAPSCOTT
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
says she is introducing leg-
islation that would require
the federal government to
track and make public the
carbon emissions produced
by President Joe Biden, Vice
President Kamala Harris,
and executive branch de-
partments and agencies.
“What I’ve done is put for-
ward some new legislation
which will track the carbon
emissions of White House
and executive branch of-
ficials,” Ernst told report-
ers on March 17 during a
digital news conference to
mark Sunshine Week.
Sunshine Week celebrates
important transparency-
in-government laws such
as the federal Freedom
of Information Act and
the March 16 birthday of
President James Madison,
one of the main authors of
the Constitution and Bill of
Rights. “Thirty-five years
after drafting the Consti-
tution, Madison wrote that
democracy without infor-
mation is ‘but a prologue to
a farce or a tragedy,’” Sen.
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
said.
Ernst said her proposal
“really does expose the hy-
pocrisy that we have seen
with these government of-
ficials who are going after
bio-fuels and fossil fuels
while they themselves are
using fossil-fueled trans-
portation means. Just bla-
tant hypocrisy, holding
themselves to a totally dif-
ferent standard.”
The Iowa Republican
pointed to White House
presidential envoy for cli-
mate John Kerry, who, she
said, “is out there trying
to promote a clean envi-
ronment and a healthy
climate while he himself
is using—before [joining]
the administration, pri-
vate planes—now he’s us-
ing White House or official
planes on the taxpayers’
dime to travel around the
globe.”
The Ernst proposal—the
there is a high likelihood of
success.
“We’ve sued Google for
antitrust violations, and we
think we’ve absolutely got a
case that will win, and very
likely, there [will] be other
companies [doing] this pro-
cess [that we will] learn have
done the same thing [and]
that are in the very same
position,” he told Breitbart.
He argued that Google’s  to pass on those costs to con-
digital advertising business
model presents a conflict
of interest because it repre-
sents both buyers and sellers
of online advertising.
“[Google represents] the
buyers of advertising, the
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Kalamazoo Bat-
tle Creek International Airport in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Feb. 19,
2021.
“Executive Branch Emis-
sions Transparency Act”—
is co-sponsored by Sens.
Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Shel-
ley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.),
and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).
“If the Biden Adminis-
tration is going to limit
Iowans’ access to afford-
able and reliable fuels, kill
thousands  of American
jobs, and implement heavy-
handed energy regulations
paid for by hardworking
Iowans, taxpayers have a
right to know about their
blatant hypocrisy,” Ernst
said during a March 16
press call.
“My bill simply requires
the executive branch to
track and publicly release
the amount of carbon emis-
sions associated with all
fossil-fuel powered travel,”
she said.
Disclosing Costs
Also this week, Ernst gave
her monthly Squeal Award
for March 2021 to federal
agencies that ignore laws
requiring them to disclose
the true costs of programs
they administer.
Ernst said she is reintro-
ducing her Cost Openness
and Transparency Act,
which requires federal de-
partments and agencies
to publicize the cost of
all of their programs, and
she pointed to the failure
of government officials to
comply with the Stevens
Amendment.
The Stevens Amendment,
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
CHUNG I HO/THE EPOCH TIMES
sellers of advertising, and
they control the exchange,”
Paxton told the news outlet.
“It would be like Goldman
Sachs owning the only ex-
change and representing all
the buyers and sellers at the
same time, knowing all the
information, and therefore,
they can massively profit at
the expense of these busi-
ness owners who then have
sumers. So consumers are
paying an exorbitantly high
price for use of the Internet
without even knowing it.”
Other states that have
joined in Texas’s suit in-
clude Arkansas, Idaho, Indi-
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
which has been a law since
1989, requires the Depart-
ment of Education and the
Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) to
disclose “for a grant pro-
gram the percent of the
costs financed with federal
funds, the federal dollar
amount, and the percentage
and dollar amount financed
by nongovernmental funds,
according to the Govern-
ment Accountability Office.
Federal officials at the
two departments have ig-
nored the Stevens provision
for decades, Ernst said. She
cited as an example that
more than $15 million in
federal grant money went
to EcoAlliance Health, “a
group that has been col-
laborating with and send-
ing U.S. taxpayer dollars
to China’s state-run Wu-
han Institute of Virology
(WIV). A review of Eco-
Health Alliance’s press re-
leases and published stud-
ies  over the past several
years demonstrates a total
disregard for the Stevens
A mendment require-
ments.”
Ernst has asked the HHS
inspector general to inves-
tigate the lax observance of
the Stevens Amendment,
and how that allows federal
officials to funnel tax dol-
lars through private groups
that end up funding foreign
labs such as the Wuhan fa-
cility.
Asked by The Epoch
Times if the return of
ana, Kentucky, Mississippi,
Missouri, North Dakota,
South Dakota, and Utah.
The Lone Star State has
been cracking down on the
monopolistic ways in which
Silicon Valley companies
have been operating, in-
cluding how they moderate
user content.
These companies have
been scrutinized repeatedly
for their perceived political
bias and alleged unbal-
anced moderation of users’
content. Critics say much of
the companies’ moderation
in the past year has focused
on conservative speech and
speech from individuals
deemed to be supporters
of former President Donald
Trump.
Texas  Gov. Greg Abbott
previously said he’s work-
ing with state legislators
on a bill to prevent big tech
companies from taking ac-
tion to moderate user con-
tent based on political view-
points.
Similarly, Florida has also
proposed measures that
would penalize social media
companies that de-platform
candidates during an elec-
tion. The legislation would
fine companies $100,000 a
day until the candidate’s
access to the platform is re-
stored.
The Sunshine State would
also require companies who
promote a candidate to re-
cord such endorsements as
a political campaign contri-
earmarks in the federal
budgeting process would
make the problem worse,
Ernst said: “Absolutely it
will make this worse. I am
opposed, I just think that
makes it that much more
difficult when you have pet
projects, dollars being al-
located to certain senators
for whatever they want to
use those funds for.”
Joining Ernst during the
March 17 news conference
was Justin Goodman, vice
president of White Coat
Waste, a nonprofit that op-
poses federal funding of
animal-based research.
Goodman told reporters
his group’s national survey
of 1,023 voters in January
and March found that 77
percent of the public sup-
ports an independent U.S.
investigation of the origins
of the CCP virus—also
known as the novel coro-
navirus.
His group’s polling also
found that 72 percent of re-
spondents believe federal
grant recipients “should be
required to disclose how
much money they are get-
ting,” he said.
Goodman added that 64
percent of the Republicans
surveyed and 67 percent of
the Democrats agreed that
federal fund recipients that
don’t disclose should have
their grants reduced.
“This is widespread, di-
verse, bipartisan support
for these common-sense
transparency measures
just to have a sense of what
the government is doing
with our money,” Good-
man said.
“It’s an uphill battle,
but it is something that
of all the issues we have
in Washington right now
that are so divisive, there
is agreement on the COST
Act, there is agreement on
government transparency,
there is agreement on sun-
shine. I think we need to
focus on areas where there
is that agreement and we
can get things done, rather
than having partisan fights
about everything.”
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
House Administration Panel Chief Insinuates
GOP Colleagues Helped Instigate Breach of Capitol
MARK TAPSCOTT
Republican members of the House
Administration Committee claim
Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Ca-
lif.) violated congressional rules by
using her personal staff to investi-
gate social media postings by 147
GOP colleagues who objected to
certifying Electoral College results
of the 2020 presidential election.
The three committee Repub-
licans, led by ranking minority
member Rep. Rodney Davis (R-
Ill.), also want to know why Lof-
gren’s panel has held no hearings
on the Jan. 6 breach of the Capi-
tol. Davis was joined in signing
a March 11 letter to Lofgren by
Reps. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.)
and Bryan Steil (R-Wis.).
“Your personal office has man-
aged to review the social media
of 147 Republicans and released a
nearly 2,000-page ‘report’ insinu-
ating that our colleagues, who we
serve and work with every day,
were somehow complicit in an
attack against our Capitol,” the
signers told Lofgren in their letter.
“These are the same colleagues
we were with on the House floor
on January 6th as rioters entered
the Capitol and then tried to break
through the doors of the House
Chamber. This ‘report’ and its con-
clusions are not only wrong, they
are offensive to your colleagues.
“It is also a questionable use
of your Members’ Representa-
tional Allowance (MRA). As the
Chairperson of the committee
which is responsible for oversee-
ing the rules governing the use of
the MRA, you more than anyone
should know that the handbook
is clear when it states ‘the MRA
may only be used for official and
representational expenses.’ Using
your personal office resources to
investigate other Members of Con-
gress cannot be considered to be
related to your representational
Judge Rules
Michigan
Ballot
Signature-
Matching
Guidance
Invalid
LI HAI
A Michigan judge has ruled that
the state’s Secretary of State Jocelyn
Benson’s guidance last October re-
lating to ballot signature verifica-
tion wasn’t in compliance with the
law and is invalid.
“The standards issued by defen-
dant Benson on October 6, 2020,
with respect to signature-matching
requirements amounted to a ‘rule’
that should have been promulgat-
ed in accordance with the APA,”
Christopher Murray, the chief
judge from the Michigan Court of
Claims, ruled last week in the court
order. APA refers to the state’s Ad-
ministrative Procedures Act.
“And absent compliance with the
APA, the ‘rule’ is invalid.”
Michigan Republican Party and
Allegan County clerk Robert Gen-
etski had filed the lawsuit on Nov. 2,
2020, against Benson and Jonathan
Brater, director of the Michigan Bu-
reau of Elections.
The plaintiffs claimed that the
guidance Benson issued last Oc-
tober had violated the APA and
should be nullified. They also asked
the court to declare that they have
the right to request an audit of their
choosing, saying the state-wide
audit in November didn’t review
whether signatures were properly
evaluated.
On Oct. 6, 2020, Benson issued
People gather to protest the presidential election results, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
duties to your district.”
The Republicans also told Lof-
gren that the report “contains con-
cerning language and content that
is inconsistent with the Commu-
nications Standards Commission
regulations regarding the rules of
Decorum and civility,” and they
noted there are at least 75 viola-
tions of “a long-standing prohibi-
tion on official websites directly
linked or referring to websites”
created by or for partisan cam-
paigns.
Lofgren issued a statement on
March 15 insisting that the report
was an appropriate use of her per-
sonal office funds and violated no
congressional regulations.
“The former President [Donald
Trump] tried to overturn the 2020
election and his rhetoric helped
incite a mob to attack the Capitol.
guidance titled “Absent Voter Ballot
Processing: Signature Verification
and Voter Notification Standards.”
The guidance stated that clerks
“must perform their signature veri-
fication duties with the presump-
tion that the voter’s application or
envelope signature is his or her
genuine signature.”
The guidance also said signatures
“should be considered question-
able” only if they differ “in multiple,
significant and obvious respects
from the signature on file,” accord-
ing to the court order. “Whenever
possible,” election officials were to
resolve “slight dissimilarities” in
favor of finding that the signature
was valid.
According to the Michigan
APA,  to develop a rule, the state
agencies need to go through pro-
cedures such as filing requests,
public notices, impact analyses,
public hearings, approval by the
legislative service bureau and of-
fice, and finally, approval by a
joint committee on administrative
rules. The whole process might take
months.
This is not the role of
the Secretary of State,
and there is a clear
process that must be
respected.
State Rep. Matt Hall
“Nowhere in this state’s election
law has the Legislature indicated
that signatures are to be presumed
valid, nor did the Legislature re-
quire that signatures are to be
accepted so long as there are any
redeeming qualities in the applica-
tion or return envelope signature
as compared with the signature on
file,” Murray pointed out.
“Policy determinations like
the one at issue—which places a
thumb on the scale in favor of a sig-
nature’s validity—should be made
pursuant to properly promulgated
He violated his oath of office and
his actions are proscribed by sec-
tion 3 of the 14th Amendment,”
Lofgren said in the statement.
“If any Members of Congress, by
their actions and rhetoric, similarly
violated this section of the Consti-
tution, it would be the most seri-
ous business of every Member of
Congress. The Constitution seems
clear,” she said.
Lofgren said the report includes
only publicly available statements
by each of the 147 Republican
House members reviewed, who
she described as having “joined
the efforts of the former President
and the mob to overturn the results
of the 2020 presidential election.”
Prior to assuming leadership of
the administration panel, Lofgren
was ranking minority member of
the House Ethics Committee, be-
rules under the APA or by the Leg-
islature.”
However, Murray didn’t support
the plaintiffs’ claim that they have
the right to request an audit.
“For at least two reasons this
claim is not supported,” Mur-
ray wrote in the order. “First, the
constitution speaks of an audit
of election results, not signature-
matching procedures.”
Secondly, the statute leaves it to
the Secretary of State to “prescribe
the procedures for election audits”
and conduct audits according to
the prescribed procedures, Mur-
ray said.
“I’m glad the court sees Secretary
of State Benson’s attempts at law-
making for what they are—clear
violations of her authority,” State
Representative Matt Hall said in a
statement.
Hall is a Republican and was
chair of the state House Oversight
Committee during the 2019–20 leg-
islative term.
“This is not the role of the Sec-
retary of State, and there is a clear
process that must be respected,”
Hall said.
State officials and courts, not
state legislatures as required by
the Constitution, illegally chang-
ing election rules and relaxing
ballot-integrity protections have
been among the main allegations
in former President Donald Trump
and his campaign’s lawsuit.
“The democrats use the China vi-
rus as an excuse to change all of the
election rules without the approval
of their state legislatures, making it
therefore illegal,” Trump said at the
Conservative Political Action Con-
ference (CPAC) on Feb. 28. “It had
a massive impact on the election.”
Democrats have been saying that
Trump’s election fraud claims are
false and his legal challenges have
all been rejected by the courts.
Now Murray’s ruling made an ex-
ception.
Benson’s press secretary re-
sponded to a question by The Ep-
och Times saying, “No comment
at this time.”
LEO SHI/THE EPOCH TIMES
fore resigning from that position in
2011. She is currently chairwoman
of the California congressional del-
egation, and she was one of the
House impeachment managers
against Trump.
Lofgren’s personal staff com-
munications director, Ally Ke-
hoe, referred The Epoch Times to
the statement when asked if the
California Democrat had con-
sulted any congressional ethics
experts prior to the report being
researched and published.
Only one representative, Demo-
crat James Traficant of Ohio, who
was expelled in 2002, has been
booted from the House in the past
40 years. Traficant had been con-
victed of multiple federal crimes
and served seven years in federal
prison.
Peter Whippy, Lofgren’s spokes-
Pelosi Says Cuomo Should
Resign If Allegations
Proven True
CONTINUED FROM A1
again, I think he is a supporter of
zero tolerance in terms of sexual
harassment.”
Days ago, Pelosi was pressed on
why she hadn’t called on Cuomo
to resign. During a March 14 in-
terview with ABC, Pelosi suggest-
ed it was up to Cuomo whether or
not he should continue in office.
“I think we should see the re-
sults of the investigation ... but he
may decide,” Pelosi responded at
the time. “And hopefully, this re-
sult will be soon. What I’m saying
is the governor should look inside
his heart—he loves New York—to
see if he can govern effectively.
And that could be one of the con-
siderations that he has.”
Biden made similar comments
on March 16, saying that Cuomo
could potentially face prosecu-
tion if a probe confirms the al-
legations against him. Biden
was asked by ABC News’ George
Stephanopoulos about Cuomo’s
fate, and specifically whether he
should resign if the investigation
confirms the women’s claims. So
far at least six women have come
forward to accuse the governor
of inappropriate behavior.
“Yes,” Biden said in response. “I
think he’ll probably end up being
prosecuted, too.”
“Here’s my position ... a woman
should be presumed to be telling
the truth, should not be scape-
goated and become victimized
by her coming forward—but
there should be an investigation
to determine whether what she
says is true.”
Later in the interview, Biden
said, “There could be a criminal
prosecution attached to it, I just
don’t know.”
NATION | A7
man on the administration panel,
didn’t immediately respond when
asked by The Epoch Times if a
hearing would be held on the Jan.
6 breach and why none had been
convened to date.
In their letter to Lofgren, the
three Republicans pointed out
that “four Committees have held
six hearings on this issue. ... Mean-
while, our Committee has held
no hearings and there are none
scheduled.”
“This is unacceptable. Given our
Committee’s primary jurisdiction
over the entities responsible for
preparing the Capitol for January
6th and maintaining it after, we
should be the ones leading on a
review, not other committees and
not your personal office. Exercising
our oversight authority is essen-
tial to making necessary improve-
ments to ensure the Capitol is nev-
er again vulnerable to the kind of
mob attack we saw on January 6,”
the three GOP lawmakers wrote.
“Many unanswered questions
remain that the American people
deserve answers to, including the
direction that the Speaker of the
House and her staff gave to for-
mer Sergeant at Arms, Paul Irving,
leading up to and on January 6th.”
The three Republicans also
noted that their multiple requests
for preservation and production
of copies of communications be-
tween Pelosi’s staff and Irving on
Jan. 6 have been denied by staff
members working for the speaker.
Lofgren’s administration com-
mittee is also at the center of a
growing House controversy over
the seating of Rep. Mariannette
Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa), who won
the November 2020 race to rep-
resent her state’s 2nd Congressio-
nal District by only six votes over
Democrat Rita Hart.
Contact Mark Tapscott at
Mark.Tapscott@epochtimes.nyc
CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) speaks to media at the
Capitol in Washington on Jan. 7,
2021.
The president’s comments
mark his strongest response yet
on Cuomo. The governor—who
is also facing scrutiny and criti-
cism over how he handled nurs-
ing homes during the COVID-19
pandemic—has repeatedly re-
fused to resign and has urged the
public to wait for the results of
the investigation.
Both Pelosi and Biden stopped
short of calling for Cuomo’s im-
mediate resignation.
On March 12, Cuomo again
said he won’t resign from office
after more than a dozen New
York Democratic legislators said
he should step down.
“People know the difference be-
tween playing politics, bowing to
cancel culture, and the truth. Let
the review proceed. I’m not going
to resign,” the New York Demo-
crat said in a conference call.
Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-
N.Y.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), and
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-
N.Y.), among others, said he
should step down amid the al-
legations. And New York Mayor
Bill de Blasio said recently that
Cuomo “just can’t serve as gov-
ernor anymore.”
Jack Phillips contributed
to this report.
A8 | NATION
House to Vote on
Bills That Provide
Citizenship Path to
Illegal Immigrants
MIMI NGUYEN LY
The Democrat-controlled House
of Representatives is set to vote on
two immigration bills that would
provide a citizenship path for il-
legal immigrants and legal status
for immigrant farmworkers.
House Democratic Leader Ste-
ny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters
that the House would take up
the bills on March 18 after they
cleared a procedural hurdle on
March 16.
Neither bill was taken up in the
Senate when it had a Republican
majority. With Democrats now
holding narrow control of the
upper chamber, they hope to be
able to attract some Republican
support.
The  American Dream and
Promise Act would offer a path-
way to citizenship to those who
entered the country illegally as
children and are currently living
in the United States, also known
as “Dreamers.” The same bill
would also help immigrants in
the country who received tempo-
rary migration protections. The
bill is sponsored by Rep. Lucille
Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.).
An estimated 4.4 million ille-
gal immigrants could become
eligible for permanent residency
if the bill is passed, according to
the Migration Policy Institute. In
2019, seven Republicans joined
230 Democrats in the House in
voting for the bill.
The other immigration bill, the
Farm Workforce Modernization
Act, would provide illegal im-
migrant agricultural workers a
path to legal status, and make the
H-2A guestworker program more
flexible for employers. The bill is
sponsored by Rep. Zoe Lofgren
(D-Calif.) and has a Republican
co-sponsor, Rep. Dan Newhouse
(R-Wash.). It passed the House
in 2019 with the support of 34
Republicans.
Hoyer said on March 16: “These
two bills are not the fix, but they
are [a] fix to part of the problem.
But we need to pass comprehen-
sive immigration reform and
we’re going to do so in the com-
ing months.”
Rep. Tom McClintock  (R-
Calif.), ranking member of the
House Judiciary Sub-Committee
on Immigration, said on March
16 that the two bills are “implicit-
DeSantis Rejects Sen. Scott’s Calls for Florida to Return Surplus Relief Funds
‘Doesn’t make
any sense,’
DeSantis says of
Scott’s advice
TOM OZIMEK
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reject-
ed calls from a fellow Republi-
can, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), to
return funds in excess of COVID-
19-related costs that are being
handed out to state and local gov-
ernments under the $1.9 trillion
relief package, funds that Scott
has denounced as “bonus cash
to plug budget holes.”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” De-
Santis told Politico on March 16,
in response to a question about
Scott’s suggestion to give back to
the federal government money
over and above what would reim-
burse actual expenses incurred
by Florida in its COVID-19 re-
sponse.
“If Florida were to send the
money back, [Treasury Secretary
Janet] Yellen is going to send it to
ly promising the next generation
[that] all they have to do is get
here and their turn will come.”
The two bills each address por-
tions of a larger, radical immi-
gration reform bill that Demo-
crats formally introduced last
month in both the House and
the Senate with the support of
President Joe Biden, the U.S. Citi-
zenship Act of 2021.
This bill models closely Biden’s
sweeping proposal  he sent to
Congress on his first day in office.
It would provide an eight-year
pathway to U.S. citizenship for an
estimated 11 million illegal im-
migrants in the country. Its lead
sponsors are Sen. Bob Menendez
(D-N.J.) and Rep. Linda Sánchez
(D-Calif.).
The bill doesn’t offer any en-
hanced border security, which
past immigration negotiations
have used as a way to win Repub-
lican votes. The bill would need
the support of at least 10 Repub-
licans in the Senate to pass.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the
Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, said on
March 15 that he doesn’t believe
that the Biden-backed bill would
have enough backing in either
chamber. But he promised that
the House would eventually pass
a more far-reaching immigration
reform plan.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-
S.C.), one of the leading Repub-
licans in past talks on immigra-
tion, said he believed bipartisan
progress on immigration legis-
lation would be “much harder”
amid a surge in illegal immi-
grants at the U.S.–Mexico border.
“Why would you legalize any-
body, sending another incentive
to keep coming, until you stop
the flow?” he told a reporter on
Capitol Hill. “I think it’s going to
be really hard to get a bipartisan
bill put together on anything that
has a legalization component
until you stop the flow.”
‘Almost No Border Security’
Graham called the U.S. Citizen-
ship Act of 2021 a “non-starter,”
in part because it had “almost no
border security.”
He said the piecemeal ap-
proach of the American Dream
and Promise Act would need to
include provisions to disincen-
tivize illegal immigration.
Illegal border crossings hit
Illinois, California, New York,
or New Jersey,” DeSantis said.
“I don’t think that would make
sense for Floridians—for us to be
giving even more money to the
blue states that are already getting
such a big windfall in this bill.”
A vocal critic of the American
Rescue Act, Scott wrote an open
letter to governors and may-
ors across the United States on
the day that House Democrats
passed the rescue bill—without
a single Republican vote. Scott
urged the officials to “reject and
return any federal funding in ex-
cess of their federally-reimburs-
able COVID-19 related expenses,”
arguing that this would “serve the
best interests of hard-working
American taxpayers and will
send a clear message to Wash-
ington: politicians in Congress
should quit recklessly spending
other people’s money.”
The Republican senator, who
is said to be considering a 2024
presidential run, acknowledged
that the federal government
“has an important role to play”
in helping local governments
offset the costs of the response
to COVID-19.
People hold signs during a rally in support of the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals program, in San Diego on June 18, 2020.
A Border Patrol agent checks illegal immigrants near Penitas, Texas, on March
15. 2021.
The American
Dream and Prom-
ise Act would offer a
pathway to citizen-
ship to those who
entered the country
illegally as children
and are currently
living in the United
States.
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at
the Jackson Memorial Hospital in
Miami on July 13, 2020.
“However, American taxpayer
dollars should not be used as
bonus cash to plug budget holes
caused by decades of poor fiscal
management. This is not a tax-
payer-funded bailout; it is a reim-
bursement for specific, COVID-
related expenses,” Scott wrote.
He criticized that the American
Rescue Plan “dedicates less than
10 percent of its funding to ac-
tually fight COVID-19” and said
that, under the bill, “state and lo-
cal governments are set to receive
an additional $360 billion in tax-
payer dollars, wholly unrelated
to responding to the pandemic.”
The call to reject the funds was
in character for Scott, who has a
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES
more than 100,000 in Biden’s
first full month in office.  An-
other 26,000 people evaded cap-
ture. The situation has sparked
the reopening of shuttered border
facilities to house a surge in un-
accompanied children, and the
designation of a convention cen-
ter in Houston to hold up to 3,000
immigrant teenagers. Homeland
Security Secretary Alejandro
Mayorkas said on March 16 that
the country is “on pace to encoun-
ter more individuals on the south-
west border than we have in the
last 20 years.”
Republicans say the surge in
immigrants is due to Biden’s re-
versal of former President Donald
Trump’s immigration and border
policies, including halting border
wall construction and reinstating
catch and release, in which illegal
immigrants are allowed into the
country while waiting for their
asylum claims to be heard.
Republicans also alleged cartels
history of turning down federal
money. When he served as gov-
ernor of Florida, Scott refused to
let the state accept federal funds
to expand Medicaid health care
coverage under Obamacare.
DeSantis, however, has already
outlined his plans for spending
what could be as much as $10 bil-
lion earmarked for Florida un-
der the American Rescue Plan.
In a March 16 letter to legislative
leaders, DeSantis provided a list
of line items, including some
$208 million in bonuses to first
responders who have been on the
front lines of the pandemic fight,
$56 million for reemployment
assistance operations, around
$3 billion in various infrastruc-
ture, resiliency, and emergency
response initiatives, and $10
million for Alzheimer’s disease
research.
“We are certain that appropria-
tions are eligible to be made to
deliver meaningful relief to Flo-
ridians and businesses and to
protect the state’s fiscal health,”
DeSantis wrote.
He also complained that, be-
cause Congress decided to dis-
tribute the funds according to un-
SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
are taking advantage of the lax
border policies by ferrying un-
accompanied minors and other
immigrants to the border.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told a
reporter on Capitol Hill on March
16 that the Biden administration
“in effect, issued an invitation
for unaccompanied children to
come to this country.”
“That has resulted in an enor-
mous surge of unaccompanied
minors being handed over to the
custody of human traffickers who
are violent transnational crimi-
nals, who engage in physical
abuse and sexual abuse of those
kids,” he said.
But Democrats say the influx is
caused by pent-up demand that
built because of Trump’s restric-
tions.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-
Calif.) said on March 14 that the
incoming surge of migrant chil-
dren was a “humanitarian crisis”
that was exacerbated by immigra-
tion policies issued under Trump.
“The Biden administration is
trying to fix the broken system
that was left to them by the Trump
administration,” she told report-
ers. “The Biden administration
will have a system, based on do-
ing the best possible job, under-
standing this is a humanitarian
crisis.”
House Minority Leader Kevin
McCarthy (R-Calif.) told report-
ers during a trip to the border on
March 15 that the situation is a
preventable “human heartbreak”
that was enabled by the Biden ad-
ministration.
Biden should travel to the bor-
der and talk to agents, McCarthy
added.
Zachary Stieber, Samuel
Allegri, and Reuters
contributed to this report.
employment levels, rather than
population, Florida isn’t getting
its fair share.
“Congress is punishing states
like Florida who successfully
managed the COVID-19 pan-
demic and rejected life-ruining
school closures and lockdowns,”
DeSantis wrote.
“Our economic comeback is
strong, and our unemployment
rate reflects our prudent ap-
proach.”
At a March 15 press conference,
DeSantis blamed the Senate—
and implicitly its Republican
members like Scott—for not fight-
ing to amend the bill’s appropria-
tions mechanism that he said is
unfair to Florida.
“The Senate didn’t correct the
fact that Florida is getting a lot
less than what we would be en-
titled to on a per capita basis,”
DeSantis said, according to the
Palm Beach Post.
DeSantis and Scott have been at
odds on a number of issues, with
the governor blaming the senator
for problems with Florida’s un-
employment system, which was
developed when Scott held the
state’s top office.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
Beijing Needs to Change Course
to Improve Sino–US Ties: Senior
Administration Officials
FRANK FANG
As Secretary of State Antony
Blinken and national security
adviser Jake Sullivan go into talks
with their Chinese counterparts
in Alaska this week, Washington
wants to see “deeds, not words”
from Beijing if it wants to improve
ties, according to senior admin-
istration officials.
Blinken and Sullivan are sched-
uled to meet with China’s foreign
minister Wang Yi and senior for-
eign policy diplomat Yang Jiechi
in Anchorage, Alaska, on March
18. The meeting will mark the
Biden administration’s first major
in-person meeting with Chinese
officials.
“Beijing has been talking about
its desire to change the tone of
the [Sino–U.S.] relationship, and
of course, we’re going to be look-
ing at deeds, not words on that
front,” said one of the two senior
administration officials at a brief-
ing on March 16, speaking on
background.
“And we’re of course coming
to these discussions with a very
clear-eyed view about the PRC’s
[People’s Republic of China] pret-
ty poor track record of keeping its
promises.”
China’s record of broken prom-
ises includes its pledges to guar-
antee Hong Kong and Tibet au-
tonomy, and agreements made
allowing it to become a member
of the World Trade Organization
US Sanctions 24 China, Hong Kong Officials
Ahead of Talks
HONG KONG—The United States
sanctioned an additional 24 Chi-
nese and Hong Kong officials
over the Beijing regime’s ongoing
crackdown on political freedoms
in the semi-autonomous city, just
ahead of the Biden administra-
tion’s first face-to-face talks with
China.
The step reflects Washington’s
“deep concern” about the erosion
of Hong Kong’s autonomy follow-
ing changes to its election system
endorsed by China’s ceremonial
legislature last week, Secretary
of State Antony Blinken said in
a March 17 statement.
Foreign financial institutions
that deal with the 24 officials also
would be subject to U.S. sanc-
tions, the State Department said.
The planned changes to Hong
Kong’s electoral law give a pro-
Beijing committee power to ap-
point more of Hong Kong’s law-
makers. The move will reduce
the proportion of those directly
elected and ensures that only
those determined to be truly
loyal to Beijing are allowed to
run for office—effectively shut-
ting opposition figures out of the
political process.
The U.S. announcement was
made during a visit by Blinken
and Defense Secretary Lloyd
Austin to Japan and South Korea,
both of which are wary of China’s
growing economic, military, and
political heft.
While in Tokyo, the two offi-
cials delivered a joint statement
with their Japanese counterparts
expressing concern about Bei-
jing’s human rights violations
in the western Xinjiang region
against ethnic minorities and
China’s determination to alter
the status of a group of uninhab-
ited islets administered by Tokyo
but claimed by Beijing. The two
arrived in Seoul on March 17 for
talks.
On March 18, Blinken and na-
tional security adviser Jake Sul-
livan are scheduled to meet with
Foreign Minister Wang Yi and
the foreign affairs chief of China’s
ruling Communist Party, Yang
Jiechi, in Anchorage, Alaska.
(WTO) in 2001.
Now Tibetans are subjected
to mass surveillance and see
their Buddhist faith heavily sup-
pressed. In Hong Kong, the local
pro-Beijing government is crack-
ing down on local activists and
opposition figures. Meanwhile,
the Chinese regime has contin-
ued to abuse international trade
rules with measures such as
heavy state subsidies and trade
barriers.
“We’re going to lay down some
specific areas where we believe
that Beijing does need to take
some steps to change course,”
said the other senior adminis-
tration official. For example, she
pointed to China’s economic co-
ercion against U.S. allies, includ-
ing Australia, as something that
needs to be changed before the
United States “can take substan-
tial steps forward in the relation-
ship.”
Beijing has been retaliating
against Australia by imposing
sanctions on several Australian
products, including beef, lob-
sters, and wine, ever since Aus-
tralia’s foreign minister, Marise
Payne, called for an independent
inquiry into the origin of the CCP
virus, also known as the novel
coronavirus, in April last year.
In late February, Beijing sud-
denly decided to use economic
coercion against its democratic
neighbor Taiwan, by banning the
import of Taiwanese pineapples.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives for a two-day at Osan Air Base in
Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on March 17, 2021.
The U.S. has said it will be an
initial opportunity to address
intense disagreements over
trade and human rights in Tibet,
Hong Kong, and Xinjiang as well
as the coronavirus pandemic.
The Biden administration
appears committed to taking a
tough line on those issues.
China has rejected all criti-
cism of its policies toward Hong
Kong, accusing foreign govern-
ments of interfering and saying
political tightening was neces-
sary following months of anti-
government protests in 2019.
Last June, Beijing imposed
a sweeping national security
law on the city and Hong Kong
authorities have arrested most
of the prominent pro-democ-
racy supporters and outspoken
critics. Many others have fled
abroad and renewed their calls
this week for members of the
Hong Kong diaspora to keep up
the fight for freedoms promised
to the city after the 1997 end of
British colonial rule.
Among those included in the
sanctions are Wang Chen, a
member of the Chinese Com-
munist Party’s elite 25-member
Politburo, and Tam Yiu-chung,
the Hong Kong delegate to the
Chinese parliament’s standing
committee, which drafted the
According to government data,
Taiwan exported more than 90
percent of its pineapples to China
in 2020.
“Many of the things that China
professes are internal matters of
concern are of concern to a great
number of countries, not just the
United States,” the official added,
saying that issues such as China’s
oppression in Xinjiang and Hong
Kong are of “global concern.”
The Chinese regime has often
deflected international criticism
against its policies by claiming
that certain issues, such as its
policies in China’s far-western
Xinjiang region, are “internal
affairs.” These affairs consti-
tute a “red line” that the Biden
administration shouldn’t cross,
Yang warned at a virtual event
on Feb. 1.
In Xinjiang, more than 1 mil-
lion ethnic Uyghurs are currently
detained in concentration camps.
Beijing claims these camps are
“vocational training centers.”
In January, then-Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo declared
that Beijing had committed
“genocide” and “crimes against
humanity” against Uyghur Mus-
lims in Xinjiang. Blinken has said
he agreed with Pompeo’s declara-
tion.
The senior administration offi-
cial added that Beijing shouldn’t
have any perception or hope that
Blinken and Sullivan would speak
differently in the meeting than
LEE JIN-MAN/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
national security law.
Several officers from Hong
Kong’s National Security Divi-
sion were also sanctioned, in-
cluding Li Kwai-wah, a senior
superintendent, as well as Edwi-
na Lau, a deputy commissioner
of the Hong Kong police force
and the head of the division.
Starting last October, the
United States had already
sanctioned 10 officials includ-
ing Hong Kong leader Carrie
Lam and Deputy Director of the
Hong Kong and Macao Affairs
Office Zhang Xiaoming. Sanc-
tions forbid their travel to the
United States and block their
dealings with U.S. financial in-
stitutions.
Lam said in a television in-
terview in November last year
that the sanctions meant she re-
ceives her salary in cash and has
“piles of cash” at home because
she was cut off from banking
services in Hong Kong.
Ch i nese of f icia ls have
shrugged off the effects of sanc-
tions, with some calling their
designation a point of pride in
what they view as an attempt
to undermine Chinese control
in Hong Kong and its rise as a
competitor to the United States.
From The Associated Press
Raphael Wong, deputy chairman of the League of Social Democrats (R),
looks on as police search the bags of a supporter (L) as the group prepares
to hold a protest against Beijing’s plan to change Hong Kong’s electoral sys-
tem, in Hong Kong on March 17, 2021.
what they’ve said publicly.
“We think it’s really important
that we dispel that idea very ear-
ly and that we’re very clear with
delivering the same messages in
private that you have heard from
us in public,” the official said.
She also warned Beijing ahead
of the talks not to try to play Blink-
en against Sullivan.
“We’ve seen a track record from
China in the past of attempting
to try to play favorites within an
administration and, in particular,
to play the secretary of state and
national security adviser off each
other,” the official said.
“The games that China has
played in the past to divide us or
attempt to divide us are simply
not going to work here.”
The official dismissed the idea
that the talks would be anything
other than a “one-off meeting,”
saying, “This is very much about
sitting down, getting an un-
derstanding of each other, and
then taking that back and taking
stock.”
“There will not be a joint state-
China Eases Visa Rules to Entice
Visitors to Take Homegrown Vaccines
EVA FU
Foreigners seeking to enter China
can now get a Chinese COVID-19
vaccine shot to lessen their load of
visa paperwork, the Chinese for-
eign ministry stated on March 15.
The new visa rule, which took ef-
fect on March 15, marks Beijing’s
latest attempt to win international
appeal for its homegrown vaccines.
Foreign travelers who visit China
for work and their relatives would
only need to provide documents
required before the pandemic be-
gan upon presenting a vaccination
certificate, according to a March
12 notice released by the office of
China’s foreign commissioner in
Hong Kong.
Zhao Lijian, China’s Ministry
of Foreign Affairs spokesperson,
said at a March 15 briefing that the
decision was made “with a view to
resuming international travel in
an orderly fashion.”
“China stands ready to advance
mutual recognition of vaccina-
tion with other countries,” he
said. While Zhao didn’t clarify how
widely the visa relaxation would
apply, similar notices have ap-
peared on the websites of around
a dozen Chinese embassies, in-
cluding those in Israel, Thailand,
Philippines, and Vietnam.
China’s regime has promoted
its homegrown vaccines glob-
ally, exporting “vaccine aid” to 69
countries as of the end of February,
while carrying out disinformation
to discredit its vaccine rivals.
Chinese vaccine trials around
the world have, meanwhile, re-
ceived lackluster results.
In Brazil, the CoronaVac vac-
cine developed by China’s Sinovac
was found to have a 50.4 percent
efficacy rate, barely passing the
threshold of approval under World
Health Organization standards.
In Indonesia, authorities said the
CoronaVac shots were about 65.3
percent effective.
Tianjin-based CanSino’s single-
dose vaccine reported a 65.7 per-
cent protection rate. State-owned
Sinopharm, another Chinese
COVID-19 vaccine frontrunner,
said in late December 2020 that
its vaccine had a 79.3 percent ef-
CHINA | A9
PETER PARKS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
ment,” she said, adding that the
two sides will absolutely talk
about cyber issues, though she
didn’t elaborate whether the re-
cent cyberattack against Micro-
soft would be a part of the talks.
Hackers responsible for hack-
ing Microsoft’s Exchange email
program have been connected by
cybersecurity experts to the Chi-
nese regime. Hundreds of thou-
sands of organizations worldwide
are believed to be victims of the
attack.
U.S. lawmakers have called on
Blinken and Sullivan to be tough
on China when they travel to
Alaska to meet with Yang and Yi.
On March 16, Blinken visited Ja-
pan with Defense Secretary Lloyd
Austin. It was the first overseas
visit by top members of Presi-
dent Joe Biden’s Cabinet. In To-
kyo, Blinken said, “We will push
back, if necessary, when China
uses coercion and aggression to
get its way.”
Blinken and Austin arrived in
South Korea’s capital, Seoul, on
March 17.
ficacy based on interim data; that
compares to the more than 90 per-
cent figures from the Pfizer and
Moderna vaccines in the United
States.
In March, Peruvians began
an intense public debate about
whether they should continue us-
ing the two vaccines developed by
Sinopharm, after a Peruvian sci-
entist revealed that the company’s
vaccines are between 11.5 percent
and 33.3 percent effective.
None of the Chinese drug mak-
ers have made detailed clinical
trial data public.
Safety scares have also dealt set-
backs to the regime’s vaccination
efforts.
Hong Kong, which has distrib-
uted nearly 92,000 doses of Coro-
naVac shots to its residents, has
recorded 69 cases of adverse reac-
tions as of March 12. At least seven
people have died after taking the
vaccine and two developed facial
paralysis. The health authorities
found no link between the deaths
and the vaccine but are still look-
ing into the paralysis symptoms
developed by the two people.
Japan’s Olympic team has re-
jected China’s offer to inoculate
its athletes even though the In-
ternational Olympic Committee
has agreed to purchase Chinese
vaccines for the Tokyo Summer
Olympics and the 2022 Winter
Games in Beijing.
“I don’t know of any Chinese
companies that have applied for
approval in Japan,” Tokyo’s Olym-
pic minister told the nation’s public
broadcaster NHK.
The United States has announced
plans to work with its allies Japan,
India, and Australia to boost CO-
VID-19 vaccine distribution in the
Asia-Pacific region.
Chen Kuide, a dissident Chinese
scholar, told The Epoch Times that
the regime has made vaccine di-
plomacy one of its top objectives
to “shut the mouth” of the recipi-
ent countries and block criticisms
over the transparency around the
virus origin.
“There could be a lot of backlash-
es, but that’s beyond what they can
deal with, because this is the most
immediate issue,” he said.
A10 | WORLD
Indian Silk Industry Seeks Curbs on Chinese
Dumping Amid Geopolitical Clamor
CONTINUED FROM A1
sisting of stakeholders from the industry,
wrote to the Federal Textile Minister seek-
ing a ban on silk originating from China,
while also raising concerns about the
dumping of Chinese raw silk from neigh-
boring countries that enjoy duty-free pro-
visions from India.
“Production of silk in China is quanti-
tatively far more than the quantity of silk
produced in India. But India is the next
highest silk-producing country in the
world,” C. Narayanaswamy, the honorary
president of the Silk Association of India
and a former member of Parliament, told
The Epoch Times in a phone call. “If the
silk industry is ruined in the country, they
will have a monopoly of silk production
in the world globally, and they can price
it as they like.”
He said that Chinese silk has been im-
ported to the Indian market at below the
cost of production of domestically pro-
duced silk, as Beijing has done with many
other industries in the world.
While this happened legally, the Chi-
nese silk was also illegally dumped into
the country through countries such as
Nepal and Bangladesh, which enjoy duty-
free provisions from India, he said.
“In fact, Japan was previously the leading
silk-producing country. China overtook
Japan because of these illegal, unethical
business practices,” Narayanaswamy said.
In a Silk-Weavers’ Neighborhood
As the world was plunged into pandem-
ic-caused economic challenges, Indian
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched
the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat (self-reliant In-
dia) campaign and announced an eco-
nomic package to help the nation out of
the coronavirus crisis.
The Silk Association of India in its letter to
the Federal Minister in July last year asked
for a total ban, citing the new narrative of
a self-reliant India assisting the domestic
industry and seeking to block the exploits
VENUS UPADHAYAYA/THE EPOCH TIMES
A master saree weaver sits in his handloom unit
showcasing a Banarasi silk saree. The base silk
in this saree is from China, while the golden silk
is Indian.
WHO Scientist: ‘No Documented Death’ Linked to COVID-19 Vaccine
JACK PHILLIPS
A World Health Organization (WHO) re-
searcher says there is no evidence link-
ing deaths to any CCP virus vaccine, after
numerous European Union countries and
other nations suspended usage of Astra-
Zeneca’s vaccine amid reports of blood
clots.
“There is no documented death that’s
been linked to a COVID vaccine,” Soumya
Swaminathan, a WHO clinical scientist,
said in a March 17 news conference.
“While we need to continue to be very
closely monitoring this, we do not want
people to panic.”
The U.N.-backed health agency would
“for the time being recommend that coun-
tries continue vaccinating with AstraZen-
eca,” the scientist said, adding that more
updates are pending on March 18.
Her statements follow those made by the
EU’s European Medicines Agency that the
vaccine is safe, saying that “the benefits
of the AstraZeneca vaccine in prevent-
A handloom weaver makes a silk saree in Varanasi, India, on Feb. 18, 2021. The weaver is using both Chinese and Indian silk in this product.
of the Chinese.
Less than a year later, while the Indian
government has increased the import duty
on Chinese silk from 10 percent to 15 per-
cent, a complete ban has yet to happen.
“The government of India has not gone
into completely banning the import, but
it has responded to the demands of the lo-
cal industry stakeholders by imposing 15
percent customs duty in this year’s budget,”
said Narayanaswamy.
As the weaving industry, particularly
the traditional handloom industry, seeks
a return to normalcy after the coronavirus
lockdown was lifted, the weavers continue
to use the Chinese silk stocked in the In-
dian market. They also identify the alter-
nate routes through which Chinese silk is
entering the Indian market.
Ansar Alam, 45, a silk merchant in the
Madan Pura locality of Varanasi, India,
sat in his small shop on a mid-February
afternoon, trading in Chinese silk and va-
rieties of Indian silk that go into weaving
Banarasi silk sarees, a six-meter (almost 20
feet) Indian garment for women.
“The pandemic and the lockdown have
impacted us so much that we still haven’t
been able to recover,” Alam, who has been
selling silk for 25 years to the local saree
weavers, told The Epoch Times.
There are more than 400 silk sellers in
Varanasi alone who supply the saree weav-
ers; the most sold raw silk in the market is
Chinese silk, followed by Indian silk com-
ing from Bangalore, according to Alam,
who survived on private loans during the
pandemic.
“This year will also go like that. We’re not
earning profits,” he said.
“For every 200 grams of Chinese silk
ing COVID-19, with its associated risk of
hospitalization and death, outweigh the
risks of side effects.”
While we need to
continue to be very closely
monitoring this, we do not
want people to panic.
Soumya Swaminathan, clinical scientist,
World Health Organization
But France, Sweden, Germany, Spain,
and Italy have all suspended usage of the
vaccine, joining dozens of other countries
in and outside of Europe. Italian officials
in the Piedmont region said on March 15
they would launch a criminal manslaugh-
ter investigation after 57-year-old music
teacher Sandro Tognatti died hours after
receiving the shot.
Teresa Angela Camelio, the Piedmont
prosecutor, announced that the move
used in a Banarasi silk saree, 400 grams
of Indian silk is used,” said Alam. He noted
that Chinese silk is used for the base while
Indian silk is used for ornamentation in
the weave.
“Indian silk is used to bring out the de-
sign. If the base silk quality is good, the
saree quality is good,” he said.
Amir Hamza, a master weaver who works
with nearly 15 handloom weaver families,
said Chinese silk is good for a Banarasi
If the silk industry is ruined
in [India], [China] will have
a monopoly of silk produc-
tion in the world globally,
and they can price it
as they like.
C. Narayanaswamy, honorary
president, Silk Association of India
saree weave because the thread length
for that particular weave is six and a half
meters, which the Chinese silk thread pro-
vides.
Because of such reliance on Chinese silk
for a traditional weave, Alam said that the
Chinese have found ways to enter the In-
dian market.
“Chinese silk is available because it
was stocked. But other than that, it hasn’t
stopped coming, because it’s instead com-
ing through Vietnam,” he said.
Narayanaswamy says the 15 percent cus-
toms duty is levied only on the import of
Chinese silk and not on silk arriving from
“[follows] the decision of the Piedmont
region to suspend ‘momentarily’ the ad-
ministration of the AstraZeneca vaccine
included in batch ABV5811, pending the
decisions of the judicial authority and the
drug supervisory commission.”
Tognatti received the COVID-19 vaccine
in his hometown of Biella on March 13.
His wife told news outlets that he went to
bed that night with a high fever. The next
day, she said, an ambulance was called for
him, and he later died.
In a statement to The Epoch Times,
AstraZeneca stated that “around 17 mil-
lion people in the EU and UK have now
received our vaccine, and the number of
cases of blood clots reported in this group
is lower than the hundreds of cases that
would be expected among the general
population.”
The Italian man’s death came just days
after a 60-year-old Danish woman suffered
highly “unusual symptoms” and died after
receiving the vaccine, the Danish Medi-
cines Agency reported. The woman had a
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
VENUS UPADHAYAYA/THE EPOCH TIMES
other countries.
“But other SAARC [South Asian Associa-
tion for Regional Cooperation] countries,
we have a commercial relationship and we
have agreed to allow them to export silk
and other commodities without imposing
customs duty. Silk is still coming to India,
and they are able to affect our sericulture
production also,” he said.
Hamza said he believes Chinese silk
is also being imported to India through
Malaysia and Taiwan. The Epoch Times
couldn’t immediately verify Hamza’s
claims.
“That’s because there’s a policy in the
country regarding the import of silk and
certain other products from countries
which enjoy the MFN [Most Favored Na-
tion status]; they don’t pay import duty. So
the Chinese, what they do, they divert their
sale through these countries, even though
these countries don’t produce [much] silk,”
said Narayanaswamy.
The strained relations between India and
China motivated the latest attempt to press
for a ban on the import of Chinese silk, he
said.
“We can increase the production of in-
digenous silk to meet the demand of silk
locally in the country. Lately, we have
greatly succeeded in increasing our silk
production and also quality, improving the
processing technology in India. Compared
to previous years, we are in a better posi-
tion, and we’ll be shortly self-sufficient in
silk production,” he said.
“Above all, the best solution would be
to impose a customs duty on the silk im-
ported from other countries, given how the
silk originally comes from China. That’s
our main demand now.”
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Vials labeled with COVID-19 vaccine stickers
and syringes, with the logo of the University of
Oxford and its partner British pharmaceutical
company AstraZeneca, on Nov. 17, 2020.
low number of blood platelets and clots in
small and large vessels, as well as bleed-
ing, it stated, according to a report from
Reuters.
“It was an unusual course of illness
around the death that made the Danish
Medicines Agency react,” the agency said
in a statement.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 WORLD | A11

Turkey Expels Pro-Kurdish Legislator, Seeks to Disband Party

AP PHOTO

ANKARA, Turkey—In the lat- Central Asia director at the New

est crackdown on Turkey’s
pro-Kurdish opposition party,
Turkish authorities on March 17
stripped a prominent legislator
and human rights advocate of
his parliamentary seat and took
a step toward disbanding the
entire party.
Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a
lawmaker from the People’s
Democratic Party, or HDP, was
convicted over a 2016 social
media post which the courts
deemed to be terrorist propa-
ganda. An appeals court deci-
sion confirming the conviction
was read in parliament, leading
to his automatic expulsion from
the house. The legislator protest-
ed the move and refused to leave
parliament.
Meanwhile, an appeals court
prosecutor filed a case with Tur-
key’s highest court, seeking the
HDP’s disbandment. The HDP is
accused of acting together with
the banned Kurdistan Workers
Party, or PKK, and with PKK-af-
filiated organizations, to “disrupt
and destroy (Turkey’s) indivisible
integrity,” according to a court
statement.
The high court needs to ap-
prove the indictment before the
case against the HDP can begin.
Several of HDP’s predecessors
were closed down over the de-
cades for alleged links to Kurd-
ish rebels but were soon reestab-
lished under different names.
An outspoken critic of the hu-
man rights record of President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s govern-
ment, Gergerlioglu maintains
that the trial against him was
politically motivated and aimed
Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu (C), a human rights advocate and lawmaker from the People’s Democratic Party, or HDP,
reacts to the parliament stripping his parliamentary seat, in Ankara, Turkey, on March 17, 2021.
to silence him. He says he was
unjustly stripped of his seat be-
fore the Constitutional Court had
reviewed his case and has vowed
not to leave parliament until the
high court issues its decision.
The move to expel Gergerlio-
glu triggered a raucous protest
in the assembly hall, with HDP
legislators banging on desks and
accusing Erdogan’s ruling party
of an assault on democracy.
“I came here with the 90,000
votes of the people of [the north-
western province of] Kocaeli,”
Gergerlioglu said, addressing
journalists watching the proceed-
ing.
“I am my party’s legislator,
and I am not going anywhere,”
he said.
HDP legislators remained in
the assembly hall in a show of
solidarity.
The government accuses the
HDP—the third-largest party in
Turkey’s parliament—of links to
the PKK. Dozens of elected HDP
lawmakers and mayors, includ-
ing former co-chair Selahattin
Demirtas, as well as thousands
of members have been arrested
in a crackdown on the party. Er-
dogan’s nationalist ally recently
called for the party to be closed
down.
Two other HDP legislators
similarly lost their seats in June.
With Gergerlioglu’s expulsion,
the HDP’s seats in the 600-mem-
ber parliament dropped to 55.
Hugh Williamson, Europe and
York-based Human Rights Watch
said earlier on March 17 that any
move to strip Gergerlioglu of his
seat “would look like a reprisal by
the Erdogan government for his
brave and vocal stance in sup-
port of thousands of victims of
human rights violations.”
“Gergerlioglu’s conviction is
a blatant violation of his right
to free speech, and using it as a
pretext to expel him from parlia-
ment would show deep disdain
for democratic norms and the
right to political association,” he
said.
The move against Gergerlioglu,
a one-time Erdogan supporter
who joined the HDP out of dis-
illusionment with the Turkish
leader’s increasingly authoritar-
ian style of government, came
weeks after Erdogan pledged a
series of human rights reforms.
Gergerlioglu, the former head
of an Islamist human rights asso-
ciation, has exposed several hu-
man rights violations in Turkey,
including alleged illegal strip-
searches of detainees by police.
He was convicted in 2018 and
sentenced to two years and six
months in prison for “spreading
terrorist propaganda” after he
retweeted a news article about
a call for peace with the PKK and
commented that its jailed leader,
Abdullah Ocalan, should be in-
volved. In February, an appeals
court confirmed his conviction.
The PKK is considered a ter-
rorist organization in Turkey,
Europe, and the United States.
By Suzan Fraser
From The Associated Press

Tory MPs Push Johnson on China Over
Foreign Policy and Security Revamp
SIMON VEAZEY
Some Tory members of Parlia-
ment have criticized the gov-
ernment’s long-awaited foreign
policy and defense revamp for
not going far enough when it
comes to China.
The Integrated Review, pub-
lished March 16, designated
China as a “systemic challenge”
and spelled out a pivot to the In-
do-Pacific to push back against
Beijing’s dominance.
Announcing the review—
which was billed as the largest
foreign policy reset since the
Cold War—Prime Minister Bo-
ris Johnson also highlighted the
ongoing human rights violations
by Beijing, saying that “China
will pose a great challenge for
an open society such as ours.”
But a number of Tory MPs, in-
cluding the chair of the defense
and intelligence committees,
and a former foreign secretary,
suggested to the prime minister
that an even tougher stance was
needed.
Jeremy Hunt MP said he wel-
comed the review. The former
foreign secretary, however,
added, “I am worried about
designating China simply as a
systemic challenge, given the
terrible events in Hong Kong
and Xinjiang.”
Julian Lewis MP, who chairs
the Intelligence and Security
Committee, criticized the re-
view’s stance that communist
China “is an increasingly impor-
tant partner in tackling global
challenges like pandemic pre-
paredness.” He also noted that
the review calls for “deeper trade
links and more Chinese invest-
ment in the UK.”
Lewis asked the prime minis-
ter, “Does not that unfortunately
demonstrate that the grasping
naivety of the Cameron-Os-
borne years still lingers on in
some Departments of State?”
The chair of the Defence Com-
mittee, Tobias Ellwood, said: “I
very much welcome the com-
prehensive ambitions set out in
this important integrated review
paper. There is the 1930s feel to
the scale of challenges that we
face today, with rising authori-
tarian powers, weak global in-
stitutions, and an absence of
Western leadership and collec-
tive resolve.”
However, he expressed dis-
appointment with the stance
on China, with a reference to
Churchill’s famous 1946 “iron
curtain” speech in Fulton, Mis-
souri, which for many historians
marks the start of the Cold War.
“I was hoping for a Fulton, Mis-
souri, moment when we finally
call out China for the geostrate-
gic threat that it is,” said Ellwood.
Johnson said there’s a bal-
ance to be struck. “China is the
second-largest economy in the
world and a fact of our lives, and
we must accept that fact in a
clear-eyed way. But we also have
to be tough where we see risk.”
The prime minister said that
Foreign Secretary Dominic
Raab had “done more than vir-
tually any other foreign secre-
tary around the world to call
out what China is doing in Xin-
jiang.”
He also highlighted the UK
government’s offer of “refuge
and abode” to 3 million Hong
Kong Chinese facing potential
persecution.
Labour leader Keir Starmer
said that they welcomed the
“deepening of engagement in
the Indo-Pacific region.” How-
ever, he said that it “comes on
the back of an inconsistent pol-
icy towards China for a decade.”
“Conservative governments
have spent 10 years turning
a blind eye to human rights
abuses while inviting China to
help build our infrastructure,”
he said.

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TRUTH AND TRADITION

A12 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

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Activists of the International Tibet Network holds Tibet’s flags in front of the IOC headquarters during a protest against Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb. 3, 2021 .
Boycott the China Winter Olympics
WESLEY J. SMITH
The time is long past in
which China should be
regarded as a respectable
member of the interna-
tional community. Not
only does the Chinese
Communist Party brutally
suppress its own people but its actions
pose a clear and present danger to free-
dom and peace throughout the world.
But what to do? War isn’t an option ex-
cept in self-defense. China’s military is one
of the most potent in the world. Any signifi-
cant armed conflict with China would be
beyond catastrophic for the entire planet.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t sig-
nificant “soft power” options to exercise
that capable of inflicting sufficient pain to
persuade China’s rulers to ameliorate the
worst of their policies. One option gain-
ing significant traction is a boycott of the
Winter Olympics that China is hosting in
Beijing next February—and for which it
has already spent many billions preparing.
Wait, isn’t a major purpose of the
Games to forge peace and mutual under-
standing among nations?
Sure. But, if a country is going to ben-
efit from the prestige and financial gain
that comes from hosting the Olympics,
that honor should at least require con-
comitant compliance with a modicum
of international human rights standards.
Otherwise, the entire premise of the
Olympics is made a mockery.
A quick litany of China’s current offens-
es—both domestic and international—il-
lustrates vividly why the country should
be shunned as an Olympics host:
Uyghur Genocide
The CCP is engaging in a pogrom against
the Uyghur Muslims, in remote north-
western China. More than 1 million
Uyghurs have been imprisoned in concen-
tration camps, where they are treated with
brutal disregard of their dignity as human
beings, including forced sterilization, rape
as a means of oppression, the removal of
children from homes, suppression of reli-
gion, and being sent throughout the coun-
try as slave laborers. The State Department
admits that these actions have amounted
to “genocide”—an international crime—
(while refusing to deploy the G-word in the
present tense, despite no evidence of any
slackening in anti-Uyghur oppression).
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 • A13
Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong
The CCP began suppressing Falun Gong
practitioners in 1999. Since then, it has
become well-established that Falun
Gong practitioners have had their organs
live-harvested for sale in the country’s
notorious organ transplant black market.
Social Credit System
Christians and others deemed insuf-
ficiently loyal to the government are
socially excommunicated via the “social
credit” system, in which technology
such as facial recognition and computer
algorithms “score” individual’s compli-
ance with government-dictated norms of
behavior. The consequences of low social
scores—caused by such “offenses” as
simply attending church—include public
shaming, job loss, inability to rent a good
apartment, have medical needs attended,
or even the use of public transportation.
Suppression of Hong Kong
When China took jurisdiction of Hong
Kong from Britain, it promised that the
territory would continue to enjoy a high
degree of autonomy. Those promises are
now so much tear gas smoke.
If a country is going to
benefit from the prestige and
financial gain that comes from
hosting the Olympics, that
honor should at least require
concomitant compliance with
a modicum of international
human rights standards.
Cultural Genocide in Tibet
China not only illegally occupies Tibet,
which it conquered and annexed in
1951, but is actively suppressing Tibetan
Buddhism, a faith central to the Tibetan
culture.
Intellectual Property Theft
China has engaged in mass theft of intel-
lectual property all around the world, in-
cluding employing old-fashioned spying
at universities, hacking, and cyberattacks.
Commercial Control
The Chinese regime controls the coun-
try’s largest commercial firms and
deploys these companies as fronts for
spying and intelligence gathering.
Military Saber-Rattling
China has recently made unjustified
incursions across the Indian border, built
illegal artificial islands in the South China
Sea for military use, and continues its
threats against the sovereignty of Taiwan.
COVID-19
Last, but certainly not least, the CCP is
solely responsible for the COVID-19 pan-
demic, resulting in millions of casualties,
lives stunted by societal lockdowns, and
trillions in economic losses.
OK, Wesley, there is no question that
China is an authoritarian menace. But the
Olympics are supposed to be above such
considerations. After all, the 1936 Sum-
mer Games were held in Nazi Germany.
That’s true. But Hitler narrowly avoided
an international boycott and those
Games were held years before Germany
launched the Holocaust and began to
invade neighboring countries. Indeed,
Kristallnacht, the pogrom that launched
the worst anti-Semitic actions in Germa-
ny culminating in the Holocaust, didn’t
occur until Nov. 9 to 10, 1938.
But let’s turn that question around.
Would the world, say, in 1990, have coun-
tenanced holding an Olympics in apart-
heid South Africa? The answer is obvious.
Besides, there is a chance that boycot-
ting the Olympics (or changing its site)
would be moderately effective. China’s
rulers may be indifferent to the sanctity
of life, the rule of law, human rights, and
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
LINTAO ZHANG/GETTY IMAGES
People wear
protective
masks as
they walk
front the
logos of the
2022 Beijing
Winter Olym-
pics at Yan-
qing Ice Fes-
tival in Beijing
on Feb. 26,
2021.
international norms, but they do care
about commerce and “face.” If the Inter-
national Olympic Committee seriously
contemplated a move, if corporations
seriously threatened to cancel sponsor-
ships, if media threatened to stay away,
it could have a beneficial impact.
Yes, I know a boycott will disappoint
innocent athletes. But their significant
sacrifice could result in the lives of
Uyghurs, Falun Gong, Tibetans, and Chi-
nese Christians being made somewhat
more bearable.
And if the world decides to turn a blind
eye, to disregard mass human rights abus-
es in the name of business as usual and
empty promises of international goodwill
and comity by attending the Games?
There is at least one small thing every one
of us can do. We can refuse to watch and
purchase the products of its sponsors.
That may not have much of an impact
on the overall scheme of things. But
without at least some form of concentrat-
ed protest, the powers that be will hap-
pily gut the great cause of international
human rights into a cynical patina for
amoral business venality, and Mammon
will have won.
Award-winning author Wesley J. Smith
is chairman of the Discovery Institute’s
Center on Human Exceptionalism.
A14 | OPINION
The Shameful Tragedy of Open Borders
JOSH HAMMER
At present time, the United
States’ southern border
is wide open. Unaccom-
panied alien children,
single alien men, and
intact alien families are
all pouring over en masse.
Anecdotal horror stories abound: On
Thursday, for instance, U.S. Customs
and Border Protection tweeted: “Within
24 hours, Laredo North Station Border
Patrol agents apprehended 111 individu-
als during 3 separate human smuggling
attempts involving commercial trailers.”
This is a legitimate crisis, notwith-
standing self-serving presidential obfus-
cation to the contrary. And it is a legiti-
mate crisis entirely of the Democratic
Party’s own making.
As this column has previously noted,
CBP data evinced as early as last October
that border apprehensions were sky-
rocketing in anticipation of a possible Joe
Biden presidential victory. By the lame-
duck period of the Trump presidency, U.S.-
bound migrant “caravans” were already
forming in Central America’s troubled
Northern Triangle region. But what was
at that time a developing issue has now
predictably metastasized into the first full-
blown—and entirely self-inflicted—politi-
cal disaster of the young Biden presidency.
Immigration policy analysts frequently
speak of “magnets”—rhetoric and
policies, that is, that tend to incentivize
vulnerable or opportunistic migrants to
partner up with rapacious cartels and
transnational human trafficking rings to
illegally enter the United States. The big-
gest illegal immigration magnets of all
are amnesty proposals that would pro-
vide illegal aliens presently in the United
States with a “pathway” to permanent
legal status or citizenship.
But there are innumerable other
DILBERT
PEANUTS
RED AND ROVER
GRAND AVENUE
MUTT & JEFF
magnets—among them, presidential
campaign-era rhetoric promising lax
law enforcement and affirmative post-
inauguration policies, such as the Biden
administration’s lamentable nixing of
President Donald Trump’s highly effec-
tive “Remain in Mexico” policy and his
return of the Obama-era “catch-and-
release” practice, wherein aliens at the
border are expeditiously processed and
released into the nation’s interior while
awaiting their immigration hearings,
often never to be heard from again.
The upshot of the illegal immigra-
tion magnet is that migrants rationally
respond to incentives. This is hardly an
earth-shattering revelation; indeed, it is
the central tenet of “homo economicus,”
the dismal science’s fictitious conception
of the perfectly rational, incentive-driven
human that pervades neoclassical eco-
nomic modeling.
But illegal immigration—let alone the
extraordinarily high volume of illegal
immigration now transpiring—is not
an abstract or academic concept. Yes,
policies such as amnesty and catch-
and-release are fundamentally unjust,
COMICS
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
A magnify-
ing glass is
seen next to
the logo of the
Customs and
Border Pro-
tection, Trade
and Cargo
Division at
John F. Ken-
nedy Inter-
national Air-
port’s U.S.
Postal Service
facility in New
York on June
24, 2019.
insofar as they deprive U.S. citizens of
agency over the most consequential
decisions that citizens in a free republic
are ever asked to contemplate: who else
to admit into the body politic. And the
very notion of sovereignty is undermined
and rendered unintelligible. But there
are also tangible, sweeping harms from
widespread illegal immigration affect-
ing all relevant stakeholders. Democrats
who wish to downplay those harms for
the sake of boosting intersectional street
cred with their “woke” base are doing no
one any favors.
The open borders agenda massively em-
powers and enriches the smuggling rings
that the media typically refer to as the
“drug cartels,” but which are better under-
stood as barbarous transnational criminal
syndicates that sometimes even sync up
with Chinese fentanyl exporters and in-
ternationally recognized terrorist outfits,
such as Hezbollah. These are some of the
most vicious organizations in the Western
world and, as even The New York Times re-
ported in 2019, are known for widespread
raping and sexual violence committed
against female migrants. Ranchers along
GARFIELD
GINGER MEGGS
BIG NATE
DRABBLE
FRANK AND ERNEST
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
the often-barren high deserts of Texas,
New Mexico, and Arizona are imminently
endangered by the cartels’ depredations in
their own (literal) backyards.
Blue-collar workers of all races and
backgrounds are hurt by an uncontrol-
lable deluge of cheap, low-wage migrants
who lack labor market bargaining power
for the simple reason that they are not here
legally. Pro-immigration enforcement
states are perversely penalized in the U.S.
Census—at least under the erroneous pre-
vailing practice, which Trump sought to
change, of counting both legal and illegal
aliens—when they lose congressional rep-
resentation to “sanctuary city”—enabling
blue states that mollycoddle illegal aliens.
The true tragedy of this shameful
ordeal is how eminently foreseeable it all
was. Trump’s immigration enforcement
policies, especially those like Remain in
Mexico, were effectual at stanching illegal
immigration inflows and restoring order
to our porous border. Much as with the
Biden administration’s kowtowing to the
Iranian regime in the foreign policy arena,
its reversal of Trump-era actions on im-
migration enforcement seems less moti-
vated by genuine concern for the common
good of the polity and more motivated by
a blinkered case of “Orange Man Bad.”
Such posturing might play well among
the blue-checked Twitterati, but the
American people pay the price.
Josh Hammer, a constitutional attorney
by training, is an opinion editor for News-
week, a podcast contributor with BlazeTV,
of counsel at First Liberty Institute, and a
syndicated columnist.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 OPINION | A15
SPECIAL SERIES: HOW THE SPECTER OF COMMUNISM IS RULING OUR WORLD

Chapter Sixteen: The Communism Stephen Gregory, Publisher

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

Behind Environmentalism Travel Editor

Chrisy Trudeau, Mind & Body Editor
Crystal Shi, Home, Food Editor
Sharon Kilarski, Arts & Culture Editor
JOSEP LAGO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The Epoch Times here serializes

an adaptation from the Chinese ABOUT US
of “How the Specter of Communism
Is Ruling Our World,” a new book The Epoch Times is a media
by the editorial team of the “Nine organization dedicated to seek-
Commentaries on the Communist ing the truth through insightful
Party.” and independent journalism.

Standing outside of politi-

The Creator provides the conditions
for human life and all things on earth.
Traditional cultures emphasize the
benign, symbiotic relationship be-
tween man and nature. As the ancient
Chinese philosopher Dong Zhongshu
wrote in “Luxuriant Dew of the Spring
and Autumn Annals,” “Everything
on earth was created for the benefit of
man.” [1] At the same time, people must
maintain respect for nature, following
the principles of heaven and earth.
In traditional Chinese philosophy,
there is a balance between every-
thing, as well as the imperative to
avoid doing harm. The Confucian
“Doctrine of the Mean” states: “Moral
laws form one system with the laws by
which heaven and earth support and
contain, overshadow and canopy all
things. ... It is this same system of laws
by which all created things are pro-
duced and develop themselves each in
its order and system without injuring
one another; that the operations of na-
ture take their course without conflict
or confusion.” [2] The Chinese ancients
thus valued protection of the environ-
ment. According to legendary records,
during the time of Emperor Yu the
Great roughly four millennia ago, “in
the three months of the spring, people
didn’t take axes to the forest so the for-
est could flourish; in the three months
of the summer, people didn’t put nets
to rivers so fishes could breed.” [3]
Zeng Zi, a disciple of Confucius, wrote,
“Wood should only be cut down in
the right seasons and animals only
slaughtered at the right time.” [4]
Such quotes reflect the traditional
ideas, found not just in China but also
in ancient cultures around the world,
of practicing moderation in all things
and of cherishing and protecting the
natural environment.
Since the Industrial Revolution,
society has become increasingly
aware of the severe ecological dam-
age caused by pollution. Starting
in the West, this damage has been
partially offset by the passage of laws
and regulations to protect the envi-
ronment. In first-world countries, the
importance of environmental protec-
tion is universally acknowledged.
Less well-understood, however,
is how environmentalist narratives
dominant in society today have been
shaped and manipulated by commu-
nism. Though the rationale for envi-
ronmental protection is legitimate, and
many people have a genuine desire to
improve the environment and safe-
guard humanity’s future prosperity,
communist elements have comman-
deered much of the environmental
movement to advance their own politi-
cal agendas. Communism’s infiltration
of environmentalism has been under-
way virtually since the beginning of
the environmental movement.
Environmental science is a com-
plex field of study, with research that
remains far from conclusive findings
on subjects such as climate change.
Yet under the influence of left-wing
how the environmental movement
Demonstrators has been largely hijacked, manipu-
hold a banner lated, and co-opted into serving com-
reading “Capi- munism’s aims.
talism Kills the
Planet” during 1. Communism and the
a global youth
climate action Environmental Movement
strike in Barce-
After the collapse of the Soviet Union
lona, Spain, on
Sept. 27, 2019. and the Eastern European commu-
nist bloc, communists continued to
spread their influence in both Eastern
and Western societies, while also
seeking to establish a tightly con-
trolled global government.
In order to achieve this, communism
must create or use an “enemy” that
threatens all of humankind and intim-
idates the public around the world into
handing over both individual liberty
and state sovereignty. Creating global
panic about looming environmental
and ecological disasters is almost a
guaranteed route to achieving its goals.
a. The 3 Stages of
Environmentalism
The environmental movement’s for-
mation and development bear signifi-
cant influence from communist ideol-
ogy. Its development can be broken
Moral laws down into three stages.
form one The 1st Stage
system with The first stage was a theoretical “ges-
the laws tation period,” which can be traced to
by which the years from the 1848 publication of
heaven and “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl
earth sup- Marx and Friedrich Engels, through
to the first Earth Day in 1970.
port and Marx and his followers did not
contain, regard environmentalism as the
overshadow focus of their theoretical discourse,
and canopy but Marxist atheism and materialism
all things. were naturally consistent with the
... It is this main tendency of the modern envi-
ronmental movement. Marx declared
same sys- that capitalism is opposed to nature
tem of laws (that is, the environment). Marxists
by which devised the term “ecosystem” and
all created quietly infused environmentalism
things are with various public issues.
produced In the last decade of this phase, from
1960 to 1970, two best-selling books—
and develop
“Silent Spring” (1962) and “The
them- Population Bomb” (1968)—brought
selves each environmentalism to the public
in its order arena and aided its politicization. The
and sys- former raised legitimate concerns
tem without about the damage done to the natural
environment by chemical pesticides,
ence on the Human Environment, in
Stockholm. A battery of organizations
and monitoring groups were rapidly
formed. In the United States and
Europe, these groups pushed govern-
ments by using protests, propaganda,
activism under the guise of scientific
research, and so on.
The 3rd Stage
The third stage began on the eve of
the Cold War’s conclusion, when
communism was in political collapse
in Eastern Europe. Around this time,
communists began to change gears
by pushing the narrative of “saving
the world.”
In 1988, the World Meteorological
Organization and the United Nations
Environment Programme created the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), and the concept of
global warming began to enter the
political realm. In 1990, months be-
fore the collapse of the Soviet Union,
Moscow hosted an international con-
ference on the environment. Speak-
ing at the conference, Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev advocated for the
establishment of an international en-
vironmental monitoring system and
a covenant to protect “unique envi-
ronmental zones.” He also expressed
support for U.N. environmental pro-
grams, and a follow-up conference,
which was subsequently held in 1992
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [5]
What seemed to be the majority of
Western environmentalists accepted
these proposals and came to view
global, man-made climate change
as the primary threat to humankind.
Propaganda that used environmental
protection as an excuse for heavy-
handed policies suddenly escalated,
and the number and scale of environ-
mental laws and regulations prolifer-
ated rapidly.
Owing to the politicization of en-
vironmentalist issues, propaganda
and hype have overshadowed sound
policy and scientific research, as will
be discussed later in this chapter.
Notes
1. Dong Zhongshu茙լᛥ, Chunqiu fan
lu, di shisi ช纩耆襷 [“Luxuriant Dew of
the Spring and Autumn Annals”], “Fu zhi
xiang” ๐‫ګ‬虡 [“Images for the Regulation
of Dress”], 14. The line in question appears
both as “ॠԏኞᇔ犖牧犥ِՈ” and “ॠ瑿ԏ
cal interests and the pursuit of
profit, our starting point and our
goal is to create a media for the
public benefit, to be truly respon-
sible to society.
We endeavor to educate read-
ers about today’s most impor-
tant topics, seeking to broaden
and uplift minds. We believe that
rational, balanced debate is key
for fostering a healthy democ-
racy and a compassionate
society.
As an independent media out-
let, we use our freedom to inves-
tigate issues overlooked—or
avoided—by other media outlets.
We seek to highlight solutions
and what’s good in society rather
than what divides us.
We report respectfully, compas-
sionately, and rigorously.
We stand against the destruc-
tion wrought by communism,
including the harm done to cul-
tures around the world.
We are inspired in this by our
own experience. The Epoch
Times was founded in 2000 to
bring honest and uncensored
news to people oppressed
by the lies and violence in
communist China.
We still believe journalism is a
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ideology, many “green” activists and injuring one
organizations have simplified and another.
turned environmental protection into
The Doctrine
a highly politicized struggle, often
while the latter advocated immediate
and widespread population control,
sowing the seeds for the anti-human
undercurrents seen in the radical
SUBSCRIBE
ኞ苭ᇔ犖犥訅Ո.”
2. Confucius, “The Universal Order or
Conduct of Life, a Confucian Catechism

of the Mean
employing extreme methods and
radical narratives—sometimes to the
point of religious fervor. Rather than
following the ancient teachings of
moderation and conservation, radi-
cal leftist environmentalists eschew
morality and tradition in their cru-
sade against everything they deem
the “enemy” of environmentalism,
from private business to procreation.
Mixed with other radical move-
ments, the green cause has come to
be defined by misleading propaganda
and authoritarian political measures,
turning environmentalism into a
kind of “communism-lite.”
This chapter will focus on how
environmentalism as an ideology has
come to be wed to communism, and
environmental movement of today.
The 2nd Stage
At the macro level, the counterculture
of the 1960s functioned almost like
a military parade of communist ele-
ments in the West. They took the stage
by co-opting the civil rights and anti-
war movements, and then quickly
spread to other forms of struggle
against the “system,” including the
feminist movement, the sexual revo-
lution, and environmentalism. This
is the root of the upsurge in environ-
mental ideology and agitation.
The first Earth Day, held in 1970,
marked the beginning of the sec-
ond stage. Shortly after, in 1972, the
United Nations held its first Confer-
TODAY
(Being a Translation of One of the Four
Confucian Books, Hitherto Known as the
Doctrine of the Mean),” (Shanghai: Shanghai
Evening Post & Mercury Limited, 1906), 68.
3. Yi Zhou shu 蝵珏䨗 [“Lost Book of Get the
Zhou”], “Da Jujie” य़肞薹, https://ctext.
org/lost-book-of-zhou/da-ju/zh. independent news
4. Zengzi, as quoted in Li Ji 因懿[“The you won’t find
Classic of Rights”], “Zhai Yi” 纐㰽, https://
ctext.org/text.pl?node=61379&if=gb&sho anywhere else.
w=parallel.
5. Wes Vernon, “The Marxist Roots of the Subscribe and get the
Global Warming Scare,” Renew America, insights only The Epoch Times
June 16, 2008. 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
How States
Should Push Back
Against the Biden
Administration
ROB NATELSON
The Biden administration
began overreaching on
its first day. It has this
in common with every
Democratic presidency
and congressional major-
ity in recent history. Give
them the slimmest of electoral victories,
and it’s “pedal to the metal.”
Republican state officials are talking
about responding as they did during the
Clinton and Obama administrations: by
using state power to push back.
The correct term for state push-back
against the feds is interposition. James
Madison first applied that word to state
constitutional checks on federal power. In-
terposition is built into our constitutional
system.
I’ve been advising state officials on
interposition for nearly 30 years. In 2016, I
examined the topic in a Heartland Insti-
tute issue paper. This essay summarizes
some of the paper’s conclusions and adds
further observations.
The methods of interposition range
from very weak to the strongest possible
constitutional approach. Several methods
overlap, and state officials can use any or
all of them. But some forms don’t always
work and some backfire.
Educational Methods
One educational device is a state legisla-
tive resolution condemning some aspect
of federal overreach. During the Clinton
years, several state legislatures adopted
“10th Amendment Resolutions.” The first of
these, passed in Colorado in 1994, included
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
the following language:
“Be It Resolved ... That the State of Colo-
rado hereby claims sovereignty, under
the 10th Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States, over all powers not
otherwise enumerated and granted to the
federal government by the United States
Constitution.
“That this Resolution shall serve as No-
tice and Demand that the federal govern-
ment, as our agent, is hereby instructed,
effective immediately, to cease and desist,
any and all mandates that are beyond the
scope of its Constitutionally authorized
powers.”
This “Notice and Demand” was toothless,
and federal officials ignored it.
Sometimes even state officials ignore a
legislative resolution. In 2011, the Montana
legislature unanimously adopted a resolu-
tion opposing the Real ID program. Mon-
tana’s executive branch continued with the
program, and the legislature eventually
backed down.
I believe the time for passing mere reso-
lutions is long past. Whatever educational
value inheres in them also inheres in more
efficacious measures.
Lobbying Congress
State legislative resolutions memorializ-
ing Congress on federalism issues are one
form of lobbying, but Congress figuratively
consigns them to the circular file.
In 1995, Michigan Gov. John Engler made
it more personal. He camped out in con-
gressional lobbies promoting a bill curbing
federal mandates. He had some success.
However, that was 26 years ago, when Con-
gress was controlled by a new GOP major-
ity eager to scale down federal excess.
NOW
BIGGER SIZE,
EASIER TO READ
FORMAT
President Joe Biden walks on the South Lawn
of the White House on March 16, 2021.
I don’t consider state lobbying efforts to
be worth much today, except perhaps in
moderating bad legislation that’s going to
pass anyway.
Judicial Challenges
States have sued the feds repeatedly in re-
cent years. States’ most significant victory
probably was persuading a 7–2 Supreme
Court majority to strike down Obam-
acare’s mandate that all states expand their
Medicaid programs.
A carefully considered judicial challenge
is often worth the time and expense. But
victories are rare and often narrow
in scope.
Litigation can be very slow. The Supreme
Court upheld the remainder of Obam-
acare only because it was supported by
a “tax” designed to force citizens to buy
government-approved health insurance.
Yet Congress repealed that “tax” four years
ago, and by the Supreme Court’s logic,
Obamacare should have collapsed. But liti-
gation continues, and the feds continue to
force Obamacare on us—driving up costs,
spreading arteriosclerosis throughout the
medical system, and depriving states and
The Fascistic
Drive for
Equality
THEODORE DALRYMPLE
We live in an age of social
engineering, in which
unprecedentedly large
numbers of people know,
or think that they know,
what is best for society.
They mistrust spontaneity,
believing it necessarily to result in injus-
tice, and have a profound faith in their
own wise guidance, under which human-
ity will, at last, be led to the sunny uplands
of freedom, justice, and equality. It doesn’t
generally occur to them that their desid-
erata may conflict with one another.
The most important tenet, perhaps, in
the drive for totalitarian social engineer-
ing of the proto-Stalinist variety is that
all differences in desirable—or at least
desired—outcomes between identifiable
groups, even in the most open society,
can only arise from injustice or the
exercise of illicit influence by the already
powerful. This idea is now so deeply
entrenched in a large part of the intel-
ligentsia that it has become almost an
unassailable orthodoxy.
Like a gas leaked into the atmosphere,
the orthodoxy seeps everywhere, even
into the remotest corners of the intellec-
tual world, for example into the British
Journal of Psychiatry. This month’s issue
has an article, titled “Gender equality in
academic publishing: publishing action
from the BJPsych.”
This article accepts, implicitly and prob-
ably without realizing it, the arguments of
the anti-Semites and Nazis in Germany
before 1933: namely that there were too
many Jews in academia, in medicine, in
commerce, in law, and in the informa-
tion and entertainment media of the time
such as publishing, newspapers, theater,
and cinema.
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
families of health care freedom.
Coordination Among States
Interstate coordination is old, tried, and
true: The first convention of American
colonies was held in 1677 and the most re-
cent convention of states met in 2017. There
have been about 40 in all.
The basic procedure is that a state calls a
convention to consider a common prob-
lem, other states agree to attend, and the
state delegations meet to consider the issue
and propose a solution.
Since the 1960s, conspiracy theorists
have attacked interstate conventions on
specious, often ridiculous, grounds. For
example, in 1994–95, Nebraska Gov. Ben
Nelson, a Democrat, and Utah Gov. Mike
Leavitt, a Republican, proposed an infor-
mal “conference of the states” to explore
common responses to federal mandates.
Conspiracy fans claimed the proposed
conference could become a “constitutional
convention” that might stage a coup d’ état!
As absurd as their claim was, it gave luke-
warm lawmakers in many states an excuse
to avoid participating.
Fortunately, in these days of teleconfer-
The fact that Jews were overrepresented,
even grossly overrepresented, in these im-
portant fields was statistically undeniable,
but instead of inquiring what qualities—
for example, hard work, talent, aspira-
tions—had led to that result, the anti-
Semites and Nazis indulged themselves
in the simple and much more politically
and psychologically gratifying theory that
there was a Jewish conspiracy to take over
society and a freemasonry among them
to secure what Marxists used to call “the
commanding heights.”
The solution to the “problem” was to get
rid of the Jews and take over the positions
for themselves. Of course, once in power,
they turned out to be less enthusiastic
about extending their principle to non-
Nazis and other groups.
The article, as is now depressingly com-
mon, if not yet quite universal, confuses
equality and equity, indeed more or less
claims that they are the same thing.
“The current inequality in academic
publishing is a reflection of the male-
dominated hierarchy that used to exist
throughout medicine, and although
much improvement has occurred in the
clinical realm, this inequity remains
within research structures.”
We live in an age of social
engineering, in which
unprecedentedly large
numbers of people know, or
think that they know, what
is best for society.
Here, the only solution is for there to
be complete equality between men and
women in the numbers of research papers
published. In this worldview, no other
variable is important: for example, the
quality of the work submitted, which one
might have thought was important for a
supposedly scientific journal which goes
to the trouble of having papers peer-
reviewed.
The drive for equality trumps all other
considerations. The assumption that of
the 100 best papers, 50 will be by men and
50 by women could be the case but isn’t
necessarily so and, in fact, is statistically
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 OPINION | A17
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES TRENT NELSON/THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE VIA AP

is infected with political poison. Fairly or

encing, in-person consultations usually
are no longer necessary (except for consti-
tutional amendment purposes; see below).
In addition, several national organizations
of state officials regularly meet to facilitate
communication. These groups include the
American Legislative Exchange Council
(ALEC) and the National Conference of
State Legislatures.
Constitutional Amendment
By 1787, the “convention of states” device
had proved so successful that the Founders
inserted it into the Constitution as a way
to formally present constitutional amend-
ments to the states for ratification. The
convention device enabled a super-ma-
jority of states to amend the Constitution
without federal approval. It was a central
“check and balance” in the federal system,
much like the president’s veto—but more
important.
Against all the Founders’ expectations,
the mechanism has never been used. This,
of course, is a major reason the federal gov-
ernment is now dysfunctional and over-
grown. Yet the procedure is still available,
and a majority of state legislatures (but not
House Representatives at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on March 14, 2019.
the necessary two-thirds) have approved
convention resolutions.
Noncooperation
As I mentioned in a previous essay, the
Supreme Court’s noncommandeering
doctrine holds that the federal government
generally may not order state governments
to do things. States can refuse to cooper-
ate with a federal program or enforce an
unconstitutional federal law. This doesn’t
prevent the federal government itself from
administering its program or enforcing
its law.
However, if a state accepts federal fund-
ing for a program, the central government
can require a state to comply with the pro-
gram’s conditions. For example, Congress
may not order a state to raise its minimum
age for drinking alcohol to 21, but it has ac-
complished the same thing by condition-
ing federal highway funds on a 21-year-old
state drinking age.
I have long recommended that states re-
ject federal grants that 1. infringe too much
on the state–federal balance or 2. create
destructive incentives or do other damage.
Here’s an ironic story about state nonco-
operation: During the Clinton and Obama
years, conservative legislators often pro-
posed noncooperation with unconstitu-
tional federal programs. Left-wing politi-
cians and media regularly accused them of
being “extremists” and “nullifiers.”
But more recently, leftist-controlled state
and local governments have stopped coop-
erating with a clearly constitutional federal
program—immigration control. Suddenly
noncooperation was no longer “extreme,”
but “humane.”
Lawmakers considering noncooperation
must take state executive branch attitudes
into account. In 1995, Montana lawmakers
adopted an “anti-mandate” statute, which
required regular executive review of fed-
eral mandates, assessment of their impact
on the state, and recommendations for
mitigation. The executive branch largely
ignored it.
States can refuse to cooperate
with a federal program or
enforce an unconstitutional
federal law.
‘Nullification’
Nullification has at least three meanings.
First: The traditional and most precise
meaning is this: enacting a state law or state
convention ordinance that declares a fed-
eral measure void within state boundaries.
There’s no constitutional merit to this
form of nullification. Despite occasional
assertions to the contrary, James Madison
didn’t consider this a legitimate form of in-
terposition. (Neither its proposer, Thomas
Jefferson, nor its chief promoter, John C.
Calhoun, were accurate constitutional
scholars.)
Traditional nullification is too clumsy
to address multiple federal actions, and
attempts to employ it usually evaporate
quickly. Moreover, the word nullification
unfairly, it’s associated in the public mind
with the antebellum positions of Southern
slaveholders.
Second: Speakers sometimes employ
nullification to mean “interposition of all
types.” I strongly discourage this usage,
both for its imprecision and because of the
word’s historical baggage.
Third: The word is used imprecisely
to refer to state actions that go beyond
noncooperation to affirmative operations
in defiance of federal law. The best-known
recent example is state “legalization” of
marijuana.
Properly speaking, a state cannot legalize
marijuana. Whatever the state does, the
substance remains illegal by a federal law
sustained by the Supreme Court. (I dis-
agree with the court’s decision, but it’s not
my opinion that counts.)
True, under the noncommandeering
doctrine, states may repeal their own
anti-pot statutes. That’s a legitimate form
of noncooperation. But many states have
gone beyond repeal. They have adopted
statutes erecting or authorizing extensive
cannabis distribution and regulatory net-
works. They even finance state operations
from sales.
Technically, those states are involved in
a criminal conspiracy. They have gotten
away with it because marijuana legaliza-
tion is a favorite cause of the left. Whether
conservative states could do the same in
other areas is an open question.
As a licensed lawyer, I can’t recommend
flouting federal law. But some states might
decide to do so. For example, a state might
defy Obamacare by “legalizing” and af-
firmatively supporting free-market health
care options that Obamacare purportedly
prohibits.
Each state must decide for itself on its
preferred methods of interposition. To
counter media hostility, officials must
remind their constituencies regularly that
interposition is an integral check-and-bal-
ance built into our constitutional system.
Robert G. Natelson, a retired constitu-
tional law professor, is a senior fellow in
constitutional jurisprudence at the Inde-
pendence Institute in Denver. He is also on
the ALEC board of scholars, and has long
advised state lawmakers on federalism
issues. He is the author of “The Original
Constitution: What It Actually Said and
Meant” (3rd ed. 2014).

ARMEND NIMANI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

of the BJPsych’s published papers should

have a Muslim as a first author.
Is it by comparison with the proportion
of Muslim psychiatrists, or of Muslims in
the population, and if so, in what popula-
Need to Adjust Your Epoch
tion? That of the world, or of Britain, or of
the city in which a Muslim psychiatrist
happens to live? Which is the relevant
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Welcome, John

A woman holds a placard during a protest
against gender violence and patriarchy in
Pristina, Kosovo, on Sept. 23, 2020.
unlikely to be the case.
Actually, I’m not being quite fair here,
the authors do say that certain other
demographic features of authors should
be taken into account. I will give you
three guesses as to what these are. Yes,
I’m sure that you guessed right, at least in
part: they are race and genders other than
simple male and female.
With regard to gender, the authors
mention only non-binary in addition to
male and female, but this is surely a very
reduced number, albeit that the precise
number has yet to be worked out—there
are so many new ones. Genders are like
human rights, in fact: new ones are dis-
covered every day.
Why is class-origin or religion not
included in the search for demographic
justice? These are important characteris-
disgruntlement.
The fairness of a situation will be pored Click on the sidebar option for
over like Roman soothsayers used to pore 3. Email Newsletter “Email Newsletters”
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It isn’t a coincidence that many of the
most resentful people are also success-
ful in their careers. They may well have
Welcome, John!
struggled against some unfairness or
other and triumphed in the struggle, but
still aren’t satisfied, and won’t be satisfied
to their dying day. My Account
It isn’t enough that they had sufficient
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The BJPsych article, unsurprisingly, is in
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tics or determinants of people’s trajectory
through life. It’s obvious, for example, that
the majority of psychiatrists are middle-
class, and even if they started lower
down the social scale, they soon take on
the characteristics of a class higher than
theirs of origin. So it seems that matters
of equity-as-equality turn out to be rather
complex.
They are made all the more complex
because no denominator of the relevant
characteristic is mentioned. Take, for
example, the question of what proportion
discrimination without the negative vari-
ety. Against whom is negative discrimina-
tion to be exercised, and will they meekly
submit to it?
There is one word for the article, for once
not misplaced, not used as an insult but
descriptively: and that word is fascistic.
Theodore Dalrymple is a retired doctor. He
is contributing editor of the City Journal of
New York and the author of 30 books, in-
cluding “Life at the Bottom.” His latest book
is “Embargo and Other Stories.”
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A18 | BUSINESS & ECONOMY
The entrance to the Labor Department is seen near the Capitol in Washington on May 7, 2020.
What to Do If You
Are a Victim of
Unemployment Fraud
U
nemployment fraud in the
United States has reached
dramatic levels during the
pandemic—the Labor De-
partment inspector general’s
office estimates that more than $63 bil-
lion has been paid out improperly through
fraud or errors since March 2020.
Criminals are seizing on the opportunity
created by the pandemic. Using data sto-
len from prior data breaches, the criminal
makes a claim using someone else’s iden-
tity to access an increased pool of benefits.
About $550 billion was spent in support of
those out of work in 2020, compared with
an average of $32 billion in the previous
five years. States, often overwhelmed with
claims, navigating new rules and using out-
dated systems, have struggled to keep up.
The problem cuts deep for victims, who
can face delays getting their legitimate ben-
efits, are at risk for further fraud and are left
to resolve much of the problem themselves.
US Housing Construction
Tumbled 10.3 Percent in February
WASHINGTON—U.S. homebuilding
dropped to a six-month low in February
as severe cold gripped many parts of the
country, in a setback for a housing market
that remains supported by extremely lean
inventories amid strong demand for larger
homes.
Housing starts fell 10.3 percent to a sea-
sonally adjusted annual rate of 1.421 mil-
lion units last month, the lowest level since
last August, the Commerce Department
said on March 17. Economists polled by
Reuters had forecast starts would decrease
to a rate of 1.560 million units in February.
The deep freeze, which was most severe
in Texas and other parts of the densely
populated South region in the second half
of February, dented retail sales and output
at factories.
Housing starts fell in the Northeast,
Midwest, and South, but increased in the
West. Permits for future home construc-
tion tumbled 10.8 percent to a rate of 1.682
million units last month.
The year-long COVID-19 pandemic has
February Retail Sales Fall 3 Percent After January Surge
NEW YORK—Americans spent less last
month, partly due to bad weather in parts
of the country that kept shoppers away
from stores.
Retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 3
percent in February from the month be-
fore, the U.S. Commerce Department said
March 16. The decline comes after retail
sales soared in January as people spent
$600 stimulus checks sent at the end of last
year. In fact, the Commerce Department
revised its January number upwards to 7.6
percent from its previously reported rise of
5.3 percent.
Analysts at JPMorgan Chase had expect-
ed retail sales to dip in February after icy
weather in Texas knocked out power and
forced some stores to temporarily close.
The bank said credit and debit card spend-
J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP PHOTO
Experts say everyone should be on alert.
Here’s what you should know about how to
spot unemployment fraud, protect yourself,
and what to do if you are a victim.
The Signs
Unfortunately, most people don’t know
they are a victim until the damage is done.
People typically find out about the prob-
lem when they receive benefits-related
paperwork in the mail, a call from their
employer, or when they try to file a legiti-
mate claim for benefits and are denied. In
some cases, a criminal may initiate the false
claim but the money itself is sent to the vic-
tim’s account or home. The fraudsters may
also build on a legitimate claim by request-
ing further benefits and nabbing those.
Unfortunately, the fraud may have been
perpetrated months ago but some people
may just be finding out now because of tax
season. States are required to mail out a
1099-G form, which reports income from
shifted demand toward bigger and more
expensive houses as millions of Americans
continue to work and remote schooling
remains in place.
But challenges for the housing market,
one of the main drivers of the economic
recovery, are mounting. The 30-year fixed-
rate mortgage has risen to an eight-month
high of 3.05 percent, according to data from
mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac.
Supply disruptions because of coronavi-
rus-related restrictions are driving up com-
modity prices, including softwood lumber,
which surged a record 79.7 percent in Feb-
ruary on a year-on-year basis. According
to a survey from the Associated General
Contractors of America, manufacturers
have hiked drywall prices by 20 percent ef-
fective late March or the beginning of April.
A survey on Tuesday showed confidence
among single-family homebuilders dipped
in March, despite strong buyer traffic, amid
worries over rising material costs and deliv-
ery times, especially for softwood lumber.
Single-family homebuilding, the largest
NAM Y. HUH/AP PHOTO
Shoppers leave a department store in Vernon
Hills, Ill., on Dec. 19, 2020.
ing fell sharply after the storm in Texas, as
well as nearby states, such as Arkansas and
Mississippi.
Retail sales are expected to rise again in
March as many Americans get $1,400 direct
unemployment benefits. People may re-
ceive these for benefits they never claimed,
sometimes from multiple states. A taxpayer
may also discover the issue after they file
their federal taxes, only to be alerted later
by the IRS that they didn’t report all their
income, due to the bogus claim.
“We are nowhere near the end of this par-
ticular fraud,” said Eva Velasquez, presi-
dent and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource
Center, a nonprofit that helps victims of
identity theft.
We are nowhere near the
end of this particular fraud.
Eva Velasquez, president and CEO,
Identity Theft Resource Center
Anyone can be a victim, Velasquez said.
Retired individuals may find out they are a
victim when the Social Security Adminis-
tration alerts them their benefits are being
reduced.
Some homeowners have even found their
address tied up in a scam after they put their
home up for sale. The ITRC said criminals
are applying for unemployment benefits
using the addresses of homes that are being
sold. Once approved, the state unknowingly
issues benefits to the fraudsters. The thieves
get the money electronically, or they try to
retrieving the benefit cards from the mail
at the “for sale” house by contacting the
new homeowner, or even a postal worker, to
request the mail be forwarded to the thief.
Protect Yourself
Velasquez urges everyone to be alert to
any suspicious mail, phone calls, email,
or social media requests. These could be
attempts to gather personal information
or a sign of existing fraud.
Visa describes a few warning signs: of-
fers from people or organizations you don’t
recognize promising earlier and faster un-
employment benefits; solicitations from
people you don’t know offering money in
exchange for personal information; and
letters or email correspondence indicating
new accounts or unemployment insurance
benefits have been initiated in your name.
Take Action
If you are a victim, reach out to your state un-
employment office to report the fraud. If there
were false claims in multiple states, reach out
to each state individually. If you need to make
A sign sits in front of a KB Home construction site in Simi Valley, Calif., on Feb. 2, 2021.
share of the housing market, declined 8.5
percent to a seasonally adjusted annual
rate of 1.040 million units in February, also
a six-month low. Single-family building
permits tumbled 10.0 percent to a rate of
1.143 million units in February.
Starts for the volatile multi-family seg-
payments, part of a $1.9 trillion COVID-19
relief package that was signed into law
last week.
“With healthier and warmer days near-
ing, and generous stimulus checks on their
way, consumers are poised to shake off the
winter chills,” wrote economists at Oxford
Economics.
Wider distribution of vaccines is also ex-
pected to boost economic growth in the
second half of this year as people become
less fearful of catching the virus. There’s
already signs of that happening: Employ-
ers added a robust 379,000 jobs in Febru-
ary, helped by a sharp increase of hiring
at restaurants and bars, suggesting that
Americans are going out again as states
relax restrictions.
But the Commerce Department said
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
a legitimate benefits claim but have a fraudu-
lent claim made in your name, you need to
work with this department. Your claim could
be delayed while the matter is sorted out.
Contact your employer if they aren’t al-
ready aware.
Visit the FTC’s identity theft website to re-
port the fraud and get information on other
best practices. You may want to report the
fraud to your local police department or
sheriff’s office. While a police report can
be key to resolving some fraud issues, the
FTC’s identity theft report, also known as an
identity theft affidavit form, can be equally
useful, Velasquez said.
File a complaint with the U.S. Department
of Justice’s National Center for Disaster
Fraud by completing an NCDF Complaint
Form online, or by calling 866-720-5721.
Reach out to each of the three credit re-
porting agencies—Equifax, Experian, and
TransUnion—to put a fraud alert on your
account and freeze your credit. Those steps
will not prevent unemployment fraud from
being committed, but could deter further
crime. The fraud alert requires companies
to verify your identity before opening new
credit in your name. A credit freeze limits
access to your credit reports, so that no one
can open new credit—even you—until the
freeze is lifted.
Emily Snell, president of Allstate Identity
Protection, expects to see an increase in
crimes linked to unemployment fraud in
months ahead.
As such, keep a close eye on your credit
reports and financial statements moving
forward.
Then continue to practice good digital
hygiene: update passwords, use two-factor
authentication when possible, and don’t
overshare information online or respond
to suspicious inquiries.
If you haven’t filed your taxes, do so as
soon as possible. It becomes much more
difficult to do so if a criminal has filed taxes
in your name.
Also, only report your legitimate income.
The state should issue you an updated 1099-
G after you report the fraud. The IRS has
tips for victims of unemployment fraud
and filing taxes online.
Taxpayers who are identity theft victims
should consider getting an IRS Identity Pro-
tection PIN, which is a six-digit number that
helps to prevent thieves from filing federal
tax returns in the names of their victims.
By Sarah Skidmore Sell
From The Associated Press
MARK J. TERRILL/AP PHOTO
ment plunged 15.0 percent to a pace of
381,000 units. Building permits for multi-
family housing projects declined 12.5 per-
cent to a pace of 539,000 units.
By Lucia Mutikani
From Reuters
March 16 that Americans cut spending at
nearly all types of stores in February. The
biggest drops were at department and sport-
ing goods stores, which fell 8.4 percent and
7.5 percent, respectively. Even online sales,
which have soared nearly 26 percent in the
last year, fell more than 5 percent last month.
The only place where sales rose last
month were gas stations, up 3.6 percent
in February. Sales at grocery stores were
essentially flat.
The retail sales report covers about a third
of overall consumer spending. It doesn’t
include haircuts, hotel stays, and other
services, which have been badly hurt by
the pandemic.
By Joseph Pisani
From The Associated Press
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
(Left) Ford Motor Co. line workers put together ventilators that the automaker is assembling at the Ford Rawsonville plant in Ypsilanti Township,
Mich., on May 13, 2020. (Right) A man helps a driver dig her car out from deep snow on Manhattan's Upper West Side after a winter storm in New
York City, on Feb. 2, 2021.
Icy Weather Sends
Industrial Production Down
2.2 Percent Last Month
WASHINGTON—Industrial output fell
sharply in February as severe winter storms
battered much of the country, disrupting
a wide range of manufacturing activities
from autos to chemical plants.
The expectation is that the drop will
be temporary although there are con-
cerns about growing global supply chain
problems.
The Federal Reserve reported on March
16 that industrial production fell 2.2 per-
cent in February, reflecting a big decline
in output at factories and oil and gas re-
fineries.
Industrial production fell 2.2 percent last
month interrupting a string of four positive
US Wholesale Prices Rose
0.5 Percent in February as
Energy Costs Spike
WASHINGTON—Energy prices contin-
ued to rocket higher in February, although
overall wholesale prices moderated after a
record jump in January.
The Labor Department’s producer price
index, which measures inflation before it
reaches consumers, increased by 0.5 per-
cent last month following a record jump of
1.3 percent the month before.
Over the past year, wholesale
prices are up 2.8 percent, while
core inflation rose 2.5 percent.
Both readings are above the Fed’s
2 percent target for inflation.
Price increases slowed despite a 6 percent
surge in energy last month, which followed
a 5.1 percent jump in January, the Labor
Department said March 12.
Over the past year, wholesale prices are
up 2.8 percent, the largest 12-month gain at
the wholesale level in more than two years.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food
and energy, rose 2.5 percent over the past
12 months.
Both readings are above the Federal Re-
serve’s 2 percent target for inflation. Some
economists fear that inflation, which has
been dormant over the past decade, could
begin to rise under the extra demand gener-
ated by the government’s new $1.9 trillion
stimulus package signed into law last week.
Others disagree, pointing out that there
CARLOS OSORIO/AP PHOTO
monthly gains as U.S. factories recovered
from the pandemic-induced recession of
last spring. Industrial production had been
up 1.1 percent in January and 1 percent in
December 2020.
The drop in February reflected a 3.1 per-
cent fall in manufacturing and a 5.4 per-
cent decline in mining, a category that
includes oil and gas production. The only
sector showing an increase last month was
utilities, where output rose by 7.4 percent
as power production increased to meet
heating needs during the severe winter
weather that hit much of the country in
mid-February.
The weather damage disrupted the Texas
are 9.5 million fewer jobs in the U.S. econ-
omy than there were before the pandemic
hit a year ago, and argue that unemploy-
ment will keep a lid on inflation.
“While underlying price pressures will
inevitably heat up amid a healthier, fiscally
stimulated economy ... we believe infla-
tion is unlikely to spiral out of control,”
said Mahir Rasheed, a senior economist
with Oxford Economics. “The Fed should
therefore look through the transitory spike
and stick to a very dovish policy.”
Fears of higher inflation have driven in-
terest rates on bonds higher in recent weeks
but Fed officials, including Chairman Je-
rome Powell, have insisted that while infla-
tion may jump temporarily this spring as
the economy reopens, they see no signs of
sustained price increases.
For February, food costs at the wholesale
level rose 1.3 percent, the biggest monthly
gain since September. A total of 40 percent
of the rise in goods prices in February was
attributed to a 13.1 percent jump in gaso-
line prices.
The jump in food costs was driven by
higher prices for beef and eggs, while the
cost of fresh and dry vegetables fell by 16.7
percent.
Last week, the United States reported that
consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in Febru-
ary, the biggest gain in six months, also
because of rising energy prices. However,
core inflation at the consumer level posted
a much smaller 0.1 percent gain.
By Martin Crutsinger
From The Associated Press
LM OTERO/AP PHOTO
A shopper
looks over
meat products
at a grocery
store in Dallas,
on April 29,
2020.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
MIKE SEGAR/REUTERS
The big concern is that the
supply problems in the auto
industry are the tip of the
iceberg of more widespread
global supply constraints.
Michael Pearce, senior
economist, Capital Economics
Travelers walk through the Salt Lake City International Airport, on March 9, 2021.
US Air Travel Rises to Highest
Levels Since Start of Pandemic
Air travel across the United States is re-
covering more quickly from the depths
of the pandemic, and it’s showing up in
longer airport security lines and busier
traffic on airline websites.
The Transportation Security Adminis-
tration screened more than 1.3 million
people both March 12 and March 14, set-
ting a new high since the coronavirus
outbreak devastated travel a year ago.
Airlines say they believe the numbers are
heading up, with more people booking
flights for spring and summer.
“Our last three weeks have been the
best three weeks since the pandemic hit,
and each week has been better than the
one prior,” American Airlines CEO Doug
Parker said March 15.
However, the airlines still have far to
go before travel fully returns to pre-pan-
demic levels.
While the number of people passing
through airport checkpoints has topped
1 million for four straight days and the
seven-day rolling average is the highest
in the pandemic era, passenger traffic is
still down more than 50 percent in March,
compared with the same period in 2019.
Parker said American’s bookings are
now running just 20 percent below 2019
levels. A factor appears to be traveler con-
fidence now that more people are getting
vaccinated against COVID-19. About 70
million Americans, or 21 percent, have
received at least one dose, and 37 mil-
lion have completed their vaccination,
according to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said
| A19
power grid, resulting in millions of people
going without electricity for an extended
period of time. The deep freeze along the
Gulf Coast caused serious damage at oil re-
fineries and chemical plants, putting them
offline for an extended period.
Without the adverse winter impact, man-
ufacturing would have fallen by a smaller
0.5 percent rather than the 3.1 percent
drop while the mining sector would have
actually risen by around 0.5 percent, the
Fed said.
Output at auto plants dropped 8.3 per-
cent in February with a part of that decline
blamed on global shortages of semiconduc-
tors. Output at chemical plants feel by 7.1
percent, another weather-related decline.
While analysts believe the weather dis-
ruptions will quickly be reversed, there is
more concern about global supply chain
problem.
“The big concern is that the supply prob-
lems in the auto industry are the tip of the
iceberg of more widespread global supply
constraints,” Michael Pearce, senior U.S.
economist at Capital Economics, said in a
research note.
However, other analysts forecast contin-
ued solid gains in manufacturing output
in coming months as the acceleration of
vaccinations along with the new $1.9 tril-
lion stimulus package help to support faster
economic growth.
“Recovery in output, especially manufac-
turing, is ongoing and is likely to remain
well-supported by government payments ...
boosting demand for goods,” said Rubeela
Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Fre-
quency Economics.
The Fed said that total industrial produc-
tion in February was 4.2 percent below the
level of February 2020, the month before
the pandemic hit with force in the United
States.
U.S. industry operated at 73.8 percent of
capacity in February, down from 75.5 per-
cent of capacity in January.
By Martin Crutsinger
From The Associated Press
RICK BOWMER/AP PHOTO
that bookings began picking up five or
six weeks ago.
Since the pandemic hit, air travel has
picked up a few times—mostly around
holidays—only to drop back down. This
time, the recovery “seems like it’s real,”
Bastian said during the same JPMorgan
investor conference at which Parker spoke.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said
his airline will generate “core” cash in-
stead of burning cash for March, and he
expects the positive trend to continue in
the months ahead.
Our last three weeks have
been the best three weeks
since the pandemic hit, and
each week has been better
than the one prior.
Doug Parker, CEO, American Airlines
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly
said during a Washington Post webcast
that his airline could break even by June,
“where you have had much of the popula-
tion vaccinated.”
Southwest said in a regulatory filing
that March and April will be better than
expected as passenger traffic and fares
rise. The airline said people are booking
leisure trips to beach and mountain desti-
nations but business travel is still lagging.
By David Koenig
From The Associated Press
A20 | THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

‘You and I have

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TRUTH AND TRADITION

CHINESE HOME COOKING WINE

Braised Pork Belly The Gorgeous Wines of Alsace

That Melts in Your Mouth Alsace is one of France’s finest wine-growing regions—
and one of its least understood.
Making dongpo rou, a classic of Hangzhou cuisine, takes
time and patience but gives glorious results.

See B2 See B8

GOOD EATS‰‰‰|‰‰‰RECIPES‰‰‰|‰‰‰DRINKS THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 B1

FOOD
ROBERT BRIGGS/SHUTTERSTOCK

Pozole
Is a Party of Colors,
Flavors, and
Textures DIANE ROSSEN WORTHINGTON

L
The traditional Mexican oaded with flavor from spices and
stew is typically hominy, this variation of pozole
becomes a meal-in-one, with
reserved for celebrations, chicken thighs standing in for
but this variation is easy pork. And I so enjoy the color-
ful melange of textures and flavors of this
enough for every day crowd-pleasing, Mexican-style stew.
Hominy is always a key ingredient in
any pozole. What is it? It’s field corn that
has been treated with alkali that softens
and removes the tough outer hull. In this
process, the corn puffs up to twice its size.
In addition to this stew, hominy is what is
used to make masa and tortillas.
Be sure to have everything measured out
and cut up before beginning to cook. Us-
ing store-bought salsa verde and canned
hominy helps to make this seriously simple

KROOMJAI/SHUTTERSTOCK
to put together.

Continued on B2

Store-
bought salsa
verde and canned
hominy help make
this dish seriously
simple to put
together.

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E FOR U
W RIT
B2
Pozole
Is a Party of Colors,
Flavors, and Textures
The traditional Mexican stew is typically
reserved for celebrations, but this variation
is easy enough for every day
Continued from B1
You can use onions instead of leeks,
but I like the subtle leek flavor. Poblano
peppers offer spicy notes, while the
corn and hominy imbue sweet nug-
gets to the stew. Don’t forget to serve
the side garnishes so everyone can
choose what they like.
This stew is a wonderful main course
soup accompanied with warm tortillas
and a salad with jicama, orange seg-
ments, and spinach. Chilled Mexican
beer is the perfect beverage.
Diane Rossen Worthington is an au-
thority on new American cooking. She
is the author of 18 cookbooks, includ-
ing “Seriously Simple Parties,” and a
James Beard Award-winning radio
show host. You can contact her at
SeriouslySimple.com. Copyright 2021
Diane Rossen Worthington. Distrib-
uted by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
CHINESE HOME COOKING
Braised Pork Belly That Melts in Your Mouth
Making dongpo rou, a classic of Hangzhou cuisine, takes time and patience but gives glorious results
CRYSTAL SHI & CICI LI
Legend attributes the creation of dongpo
rou, a traditional Chinese braised pork
belly dish, to Su Dong Po, a celebrated
Song Dynasty poet and scholar. Half-
fat, half-lean chunks of pork belly
are slowly simmered with wine, soy
sauce, rock sugar, scallions, and
ginger for hours until the jiggly,
gelatinous squares are soft enough
to pull apart with chopsticks. The
process slowly renders the fat, so
it melts on the tongue without
leaving a greasy mouthfeel. One
bite—a blur of melting fat and ten-
der meat—and you may be moved
to put pen (or calligraphy brush) to
paper yourself.
The dish is a specialty of Hangzhou,
the historic capital of China’s eastern
Zhejiang province, but is well known and
loved across the country. To make it at
home, you’ll need a clay pot, a steamer,
and most crucially, patience.
It’s important to start by blanching the
pork belly to remove blood, impurities,
and any gamey flavor. Be sure to begin
with room temperature water, as placing it
directly into boiling water would cook the
surface, sealing in what you want to purge.
The process slowly
renders the fat, so it
melts on the tongue,
without leaving a greasy
mouthfeel.
You’ll also need some kitchen twine to
tie around the pork belly pieces—as you
would ribbon around a present—before
nestling them into your clay pot. This
helps them stay intact during the long
cooking process: an hour and a half of
braising right on the stovetop, followed
by another hour and a half of steaming.
Why both? The initial stovetop simmer-
ing helps set the shape of your pork belly
presents, but simmering for too long could
cause them to fall apart. Switching to the
gentler, indirect heat of steaming eases the
meat to the finish line still intact—leaving
it to fall apart in your mouth.
Recipe by CiCi Li, the producer and pre-
senter of “CiCi’s Food Paradise” on NTD.
Join her in discovering the world of Asian
home cooking at CiCiLi.tv
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
OLGA POPOVA/SHUTTERSTOCK
CHICKEN POZOLE STEW
Don’t forget to
serve the side SERVES 6 TO 8 1 (16-ounce) jar salsa verde
garnishes so 3 pounds skinless boneless chicken 1 (15-ounce) can white hominy, drained
thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
everyone can 1 1/2 cups frozen and defrosted sweet
corn
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
choose what Garnishes include: radishes, lime
Salt and black pepper or seasoning salt
they like. 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil,
quarters, diced avocado, tortilla chips,
cheddar cheese, and sour cream
divided
2 leeks, white and light-green part, Combine the flour and salt/pepper or
cleaned and coarsely chopped
seasoning salt in a lock-top plastic bag. Add
2 bell peppers, one red, one orange, the chicken pieces and shake until all are
seeded and cut into 1-inch dice lightly dusted with flour mixture. Remove
1 poblano pepper, seeded and cut into from bag and place on aluminum foil.
1-inch dice Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a medium Dutch
3 cloves garlic, minced oven over medium-high heat. Add the
chicken in batches and sauté for about 5
1 teaspoon chili powder minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder the chicken pieces to a bowl.
1 1/2 cups chicken stock, divided Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil
AL
LP
HO
TO
DONGPO ROU (BRAISED PORK BELLY)
S
BY
CI
CI
LI
PREP & COOKING TIME
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours and 20 minutes
SERVES 4
2-pound slab pork belly, skin on
11 long, thick slices ginger, divided
1 bunch scallions, cut into 3-inch
pieces
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
3 cups Shaoxing wine
1 1/2 tablespoons (a few small chunks)
rock sugar (or substitute granulated
sugar)
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon extra-light olive oil (or
Chunks of pork belly are slowly braised with wine, soy sauce, another high smoking point oil)
and sugar, until soft enough to pull apart with chopsticks.
PREPARE THE PORK BELLY: Fill a large,
deep pan with enough room-temperature
water to cover the pork belly. Place the pork
belly in the water and add 2 slices of ginger.
Cover the pan and bring to a boil over high
heat. Boil for 15 minutes.
Drain and discard the water, and rinse the
pork belly with running water.
Trim the pork belly into a uniform rectangle,
then cut it into four 2 1/2-inch squares.
Tie cooking twine around each piece of
pork belly, as you would tie a ribbon around
a present, to help keep the pieces intact
throughout the long cooking process.
1
4 seasonings.
2 5. Simmer for 45 minutes, then
5 6. Before serving, thicken the sauce
3 6
Hominy is
always a key
ingredient in any
pozole.
in the pan, add the leeks and sauté over
medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring
occasionally, until nicely softened.
Add the peppers and cook for about 8
minutes, scraping up any browned bits with
1/4 cup of chicken stock, until softened.
Add the garlic, chili powders, and chipotle
chile powder and sauté for another minute.
Return the chicken pieces to the pan. Add
the remaining 1 1/4 cups chicken stock and
the salsa verde and bring to a simmer. Add
the hominy and the corn and simmer for
30 minutes, or until vegetables and hominy
are nicely softened. There should be a nice
amount of liquid; you can always add more
chicken stock if it is too thick. (At this point,
taste for seasoning. If you like it hotter, add
more chili powder. If you like it with a smokier
flavor, add more chipotle chile powder.)
To serve, ladle into bowls and top with your
choice of garnishes.
BRAISE THE PORK BELLY: Line the bottom
of a clay pot with the scallions, so that the
entire bottom is covered in an even layer
(this will prevent the meat from sticking to
the pot), and arrange the remaining ginger
slices on top. Place the pork belly presents
on top of the scallions and ginger, skin side
down. Pour the soy sauce, dark soy sauce,
and Shaoxing wine evenly over the pork
belly. Set aside.
In a small pan over medium-low heat, add
the rock sugar and water. Cook, stirring,
until the sugar is melted and the liquid
is very sticky. Carefully add the extra-
light olive oil and continue to cook and
stir until the syrup is light brown, about
3 minutes; this will give the pork belly its
beautiful dark red color.
Pour the syrup over the pork belly. Cover the
clay pot, place over high heat, and bring to
a boil. Immediately turn the heat to low and
simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Flip the
pork belly to skin side up and continue to
simmer, covered, for another 45 minutes.
STEAM THE PORK BELLY: In a large
steamer, bring water to a boil. Place the clay
pot inside, cover, and steam for 1 hour and
30 minutes.
If there is still a lot of braising liquid inside
the clay pot after steaming, place the
clay pot over high heat and let simmer,
occasionally spooning the sauce over the
pork belly, until thickened.
Transfer the pork belly to a serving plate and
spoon over the sauce. Enjoy!
1. Tie the pork belly pieces with
twine.
2. Line the bottom of the clay pot
with scallions and ginger.
3. Place the pork belly in the pot,
skin side down, and pour over the
4. Drizzle the rock sugar syrup onto
the pork belly.
flip the pork belly and simmer for
another 45 minutes, before trans-
ferring to a steamer.
on the stovetop.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
FLASH IN THE PAN
Celeriac Belongs in Soup
Not just soup with celeriac, but celeriac soup—fragrant,
silky, and thick with potatoes and cream
ARI LEVAUX
It’s a farmers market cliche that celeriac is
good in soup. I hear it when folks inquire as
to how to use this fragrant root. But I’ve never
quite known what to do with that guidance.
Add celeriac to my Campbell’s tomato soup?
To a batch of clam chowder? To my ramen?
All I’ve ever done has been to substitute cele-
riac for celery, its close relative.
If you can get it trimmed and peeled,
this knobby subterranean dwelling plant
part is a worthy replacement for its watery,
stringy above-ground counterpart, with
more carbs and less fiber, and an almost
tingly flavor on the tongue.
Most celeriac bulbs include a hairy matrix
of gnarly roots that radiate from the central
orb. Sometimes these snakelike append-
ages have already been trimmed by the
time of purchase; otherwise, cut them off
yourself.
My friends Steve and Luci grow softball-
sized celeriacs that are almost as smooth.
They weigh about a pound and a half, and
cost about nine bucks each at the local
store, I realized to my shock at the cash
register after loading up.
I called Luci and tried to get a little sassy
about the price, and to her credit she was
having zero of that. She knows I know her
celeriacs are free of roots, hairs, knobs, and
dirt. I had to acknowledge they were the
finest I’d ever seen.
“The best I’ve encountered were in the
Netherlands,” Luci reflected. “I don’t know
what those Dutch farmers do. Maybe they
spit-shine their celeriacs, or grow them in
velvet soil.”
Fortunately with
celeriac, as with people,
it’s what’s on the inside
that matters.
I asked for some advice on what to do with
her valuable roots, beyond randomly add-
ing pieces to soup. She mentioned mashing
it with potatoes, and grating it into salad.
But their favorite way to use it is in none
other than soup.
Not some other soup with celeriac, but
celeriac soup, owning it like a jazz musi-
cian playing that funky note extra hard so
we all know they meant to do it.
“Go trim and dice your gold-plated celeri-
ac, ” Luci began, her sharp voice barely au-
dible beneath the aggressive rapport of her
knife on a cutting board, Steve cheerfully
comment-bombing in the background.
“I’ll have to dispatch you quickly here,” she
added. “I’m short on time.” I kept quiet, not
knowing who she was talking to.
She proceeded to bark her recipe at me
while yelling at Steve. Meanwhile, she
continued murdering something with her
knife as she finished dispatching me with
this delightful vegetarian soup. It’s a subtle
and satisfying dish, something like vichys-
B3
AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN/TNS
soise, that beloved chilled potato leek soup,
but with celeriac instead of potato joining
the leeks.
The celeriac version is thinner and less
starchy, with a smooth, strong celery flavor
and a hint of parsley. On a whim, I made a
batch with both potatoes and celeriac along
with the leeks, and that was the best of all Slicing the cooked chicken before topping it with
worlds: all the cream and thickness, with the vinaigrette made each bite well-seasoned.
an extra layer of sweet earthiness. That ver-
sion was my kids’ favorite.
At the winter farmers market a few days
later, I found the ingredients for the soup.
Citrus and Spice
A beautiful bunch of leeks, some glorious
potatoes, and four Medusa-like celeriac—
Elevate This
four bulbs at $2 each.
After I trimmed and peeled those shaggy
Weeknight Chicken
bulbs, I had about the same-sized pile of
lily-white cubes as from one of Luci’s orbs. AMERICA’S TEST KITCHEN
Given the savings in labor, and working
with the sheer majesty of Luci’s agricultural There are several steps you can take to elevate
talent, hers is worth every penny. But when lean chicken breasts for a weeknight meal.
it isn’t available from her, I’ve no problem We started with a bold citrus vinai-
trimming down some uglier versions. For- grette. For an intense hit of citrus flavor,
tunately with celeriac, as with people, it’s we used lemon juice enhanced with both
what’s on the inside that matters. lemon and orange zest. Then, pounding
the chicken breasts to an even thickness
Ari LeVaux writes about food in Missoula, ensured that they cooked at the same rate
Mont. and stayed juicy.
A little cinnamon and cumin rubbed onto
the chicken added deep flavor and the heady
aroma of warm spice to the dish. Dredging
the seasoned breasts in flour before sear-
CELERIAC VICHYSSOISE ing protected their exteriors from becoming
tough. Plus, the seared flour created a tex-
tured surface for the vinaigrette to cling to.
A simple way to put celeriac into soup, where it
Slicing the cooked chicken before topping
belongs. You’ll savor every bite of this fragrant, silky
dish. It calls for a submersible blender, aka a blender it with the vinaigrette made each bite well-
for people who are too impatient to let the soup cool. If seasoned. A sprinkling of cilantro added a
you don’t have one, you’ll have to be patient. fresh herbal counterpoint to finish the dish.
I messed around with what Luci gave me over the
phone and came up with my own version. My recipe
For 25 years, confident cooks in the know
includes potatoes, because if my kids like it that way, have relied on America’s Test Kitchen for
chances are you will too. I have also taken to adding rigorously tested recipes developed by pro-
some herbs to the soup as it cooks. And mine has less fessional test cooks and vetted by 60,000
dairy than Luci’s, and mo’ mayo, as that’s my MO, but at-home recipe testers. See more online at
do as you must. AmericasTestKitchen.com/TCA. Copy-
But it wouldn’t have been right to withhold Luci’s right 2021 America’s Test Kitchen. Distrib-
original version as a reference: uted by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
“Add about the same amount of celeriac and onions,
including whatever greenery of onion you can muster,
such as leeks, scallions, and green onions, and two
quarts of chicken stock, and cook until everything is For an intense hit of citrus
tender. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Use
a submersible tool to puree it. Add butter, milk, cream, flavor, we used lemon
all that good stuff, and salt and lots of black pepper.”
juice enhanced with both
1 pound trimmed celeriac, cubed
lemon and orange zest.
1 pound leeks, chopped
1 pound potatoes, cubed
2 quarts chicken stock
1 lemon
SPICED CITRUS CHICKEN
1 cup mayonnaise or heavy cream
SERVES 4 TO 6
Salt and pepper
Dill or another fresh herb as a garnish FOR THE VINAIGRETTE
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
In a pot over medium heat, cook the celeriac, leeks,
and potatoes in the stock with the oregano for about 3 tablespoons minced shallot
20 minutes. Add the lemon juice and cream of 1 teaspoon sugar
choice and cook another 5 minutes. Allow to cool to a
temperature that works with your blender situation. 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Blend. Season with salt and pepper. Blend again. 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest plus 2
Season and repeat. Garnish and serve. tablespoons juice
ALENAKOGOTKOVA/SHUTTERSTOCK 1/4 teaspoon table salt
FOR THE CHICKEN
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 (6- to 8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken
breasts, trimmed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
Combine all the vinaigrette ingredients in bowl; set aside.
Combine salt, cumin, cinnamon, and pepper in a small
bowl. Spread flour in a shallow dish. Place the chicken
between two sheets of plastic wrap. Using a meat
pounder, gently pound the thick part of the breasts to
3/4-inch thickness.
Sprinkle the spice mixture all over the chicken.
Working with one breast at a time, dredge in flour,
shaking off excess, and transfer to a large plate.
Heat oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat
until shimmering. Add chicken to the skillet and cook
Combining pota-
until well browned and registering 160 degrees, about
toes, celeriac,
8 minutes per side. Transfer to a carving board and let
and leeks makes
rest for 5 minutes.
a soup that’s the
best of all worlds: Slice chicken crosswise on bias and transfer to a
all the cream and serving platter. Stir dressing to recombine and spoon
thickness, with over chicken. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
an extra layer
of sweet earthi- NOTE:
ness. Use a rasp-style grater to grate the citrus zest.
B4
At the market, look for
leeks that have the biggest
proportion of pale green
and white bottoms to dark
green tops, and have some
roots attached.
3 Ways
to Love Leeks
Let these mild-flavored alliums
shine in an elegant soup, rustic
frittata, or luxurious braise
VICTORIA DE LA MAZA
It’s during those weeks when winter is nearly
over and we play peek-a-boo with spring
that leeks shine at the market in all their
glory. Yes, they are available year-round, but
to me, leeks are the gateway into springtime
foods, the transition between hearty winter
stews and delicate warmer-weather fare.
Together with garlic, shallots, scallions,
and chives, leeks are part of the allium
family. They have an onion-like texture,
with similarly tightly packed layers, but
are milder and sweeter in flavor. They grow
long and stringy, varying in thickness, with
dark green leaves that are tough and often
inedible, and white and pale green bottoms
that turn silky and sweet when cooked.
Leeks are often delegated to broths and
soups, where they hide in the background,
adding depth of flavor. But this grand veg-
etable well deserves to be brought into the
spotlight, and these recipes do just that.
Use only the white and pale green parts,
but don’t toss the tough tops: Keep them
for ... well, making stocks and broths.
At the market, look for leeks that have the
biggest proportion of pale green and white
bottoms to dark green tops, and have some
roots attached, as they will last a little longer.
Leeks need a good wash before they are
used, as they grow in loose soil and tend
to trap dirt within their layers. I slice them
and rinse them in a colander, or halve
them and leave them in a water bath for
about 20 minutes, swishing them around
to remove the dirt.
When thinking about my favorite leek
recipes, the first that come to mind are
the rustic leek and potato soup and its
chic sister vichyssoise, one of the recipes I
am sharing today. Another favorite, leeks
braised with butter and wine, is one of the
best ways to fully enjoy this vegetable in
its entirety. Finally, there’s an easy frittata
with leeks, potatoes, and spinach that, due
to its adaptability, you can use as the start-
ing point of many culinary adventures.
Victoria de la Maza is an award-winning
cookbook author, columnist, and inter-
national TV host. Passionate about great
food, she combines American traditions
with her European heritage to create
classic-with-a-twist recipes and ideas for
stylish entertaining at home.
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
MARCIN JUCHA/SHUTTERSTOCK
ALL PHOTOS BY VICTORIA DE LA MAZA UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
CLASSIC VICHYSSOISE
A wonderful way to elevate soups to party status is
to play with garnishes. For me, vichyssoise, a creamy
French potato and leek soup, is the ultimate canvas,
as so many things are delicious with it. Chives are a
standard topping, but I sometimes add a dollop of
salmon caviar, or a spoonful of chutney, or a mound of
smoked salmon slivers.
I always puree vichyssoise in a blender for a fine,
smooth consistency and elegant presentation. If you
use a food processor or immersion blender, you may
want to strain the soup through a sieve to remove any
remaining bits, and give it its characteristic smooth-
as-velvet texture.
Serve vichyssoise chilled, and as flavors do dull when
cold, season with plenty of white pepper. You will often You will often find this soup on menus in early
find this soup on menus in early spring, as a harbinger spring, as a harbinger of good things to come.
of good things to come.
SERVES 6 vegetable stock), leaving the white parts only. Slice
them into 1/2-inch pieces and place them in a large
4 medium leeks
bowl of water. Swish them around to release the dirt,
1/4 cup butter and then let them soak for about 20 minutes. Drain,
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced rinse, and pat dry.
In a large stockpot over low heat, melt the butter.
2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
Add the leeks and onion and sauté until soft, being
2 quarts stock or vegetable broth, preferably low- careful not to brown them. Add the potatoes and the
sodium stock. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the potato
1/2 cup heavy cream is completely soft. Remove from the heat and let cool
until no longer steaming hot.
1 cup half-and-half
In a blender, working in batches, purée the mixture until
Salt and white pepper to taste smooth and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the heavy
1/2 cup chopped chives, for garnish cream and half-and-half, and season to taste with salt
and white pepper. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to
Trim the leeks of their dark tops (save them for making serve. Garnish with chopped chives.
BRAISED LEEKS
Everything is made better with wine and butter, isn’t
it? These leeks are gently browned in butter, to seal in
the flavors and caramelize the outer layers, and then
slow-simmered in an aromatic bath of chicken broth,
white wine, and herbs and spices, until the insides turn
soft and silky. Many other vegetables are also delicious
cooked with this method: endives, fennel, onions, and
even hearts of romaine lettuce.
In all their simplicity, braised leeks take well to a bit
of dressing up: Crumbled goat cheese, a sprinkle of
parsley, or a dollop of aioli add an extra bit of flavor
and pizzaz. Try romesco sauce on the side for a classic
combination of flavors and textures.
This makes a sophisticated first course or the perfect
side dish to grilled fish. It can be served warm, at room These leeks are gently browned in butter, and
temperature, or cold—it all works. If you are planning then slow-simmered in an aromatic bath of
to serve it cold, substitute the butter for a mild-tasting
olive oil.
chicken broth and white wine until soft and silky.
SERVES 4 AS A FIRST COURSE, 6 AS A SIDE DISH Drain, rinse, and pat dry.
4 large leeks
In a skillet large enough to fit the leeks in a single
3 tablespoons butter, divided
layer, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-
low heat. Add the leeks, cut side down, and cook for
1/2 cup white wine about 5 minutes, until the edges are golden brown
and caramelized. Season with salt and pepper. Using
1/2 cup chicken broth tongs, flip them and cook for a few more minutes,
1 teaspoon fresh thyme until the outer layer turns golden. Turn them back to
They are cut side down.
1 bay leaf
available year- 1 teaspoon lemon juice, plus 1-inch strip lemon
Add the wine, broth, thyme, bay leaf, and lemon peel.
Cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the
round, but to peel leeks are cooked through and soft enough to pierce
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced with a fork. Remove the leeks from the pan and
me, leeks are transfer to a decorative serving dish. Discard the bay
Salt and pepper to taste
the gateway leaf and lemon peel.
Trim the leeks of the dark leaves (save them for making Bring the remaining liquid to a rapid boil, then add
into springtime vegetable stock), leaving the pale green and white remaining tablespoon of butter, lemon juice, and
parts only. Half them lengthwise and place them in garlic. Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce has
foods, the a large bowl of water. Swish them around to release thickened slightly and is golden. Pour over the leeks
the dirt, and then let them soak for about 20 minutes. and serve.
transition
between hearty
winter stews LEEK, SPINACH,
and delicate AND POTATO FRITTATA
warmer- Leeks and spinach are a great combination to use in
a frittata. With the addition of thinly sliced potatoes
weather fare. and cheese, this frittata is a great midweek supper or a
welcome dish at a ladies’ lunch.
It’s also the perfect vehicle for using up leftover
vegetables—it can be an exploration of flavors every
time you make it, as mixing ingredients is part of the
fun. I like to use two or three vegetables, as I think
more muddles the flavors, and I often add potatoes
as a nod to the Spanish tortilla de patatas, though you
certainly don’t have to. Use a melty cheese, like Swiss
or mozzarella.
Serve the frittata in the pan at the table, in keeping
with its rustic looks, or flip it onto a decorative dish. I
adore frittatas served with a dollop of pesto, slices of
warm crusty bread, a crisp green salad, and a glass of
Leeks and spinach are a great combination to
use in a frittata.
chilled rosé. Dreaming of the Riviera, perhaps?
SERVES 4 In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, season with
2 medium leeks salt and pepper, and set aside.
6 large eggs In a large (13-inch) non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil
over medium heat. Add the leeks and potatoes and stir
2 tablespoons olive oil to coat with the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Lower
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled, sliced the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until the leeks
are see-through and the potatoes fork-tender, about
1/4-inch thick
10 to 12 minutes.
6 ounces baby spinach, roughly chopped
Add the spinach and garlic and sauté until the spinach
2 cloves garlic, sliced
wilts. Add the vegetables to the whisked eggs and stir
4 ounces grated mozzarella, Swiss, or cheddar well. Leave a little oil in the pan, or add more if needed.
cheese, or a mix Return the egg mixture to the pan and flatten with the
Salt and pepper to taste back of a spoon to make an even layer. After a minute
or so, shake the pan to make sure the eggs are not
Trim the leeks of their dark tops (save them for making sticking. Add the cheese, cover, and cook until the
vegetable stock), leaving the pale green and white edges turn golden brown, the eggs are nearly totally
parts only. Slice them into 1/2-inch pieces and place set, and the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. (The
them in a large bowl of water. Swish them around to eggs will continue to cook with the heat of the pan.)
release the dirt, and then let them soak for about 20 Serve in the pan hot or warm, garnished with pesto,
minutes. Drain, rinse, and pat dry. aioli, or warm tomato sauce.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
Hot Honey Butter Smashed Potatoes Hit
All the Right Notes
SARA TANE
I could probably make smashed potatoes
several times a week and never get bored
of them. Tiny, parboiled potatoes that are
crushed into a smattering of crispy delicious-
ness? Sign me up. I am an artist and smashed
potatoes are my preferred medium.
If you have some loose
potato shards or your
potatoes don’t smash to
absolute perfection, don’t
sweat it. The uneven edges
and crispy bits are what
make them so tasty.
This hot honey variation, in a lot of ways,
speaks to my personality. In fact, I would
hope that if a friend saw them while scroll-
ing on Instagram, they might think, “Hmm,
Sara would like these potatoes,” before re-
alizing I am the mastermind behind them.
Is that vain? Just being honest here.
After boiling the potatoes, you toss them
in a mixture of melted butter, honey, hot
sauce, and red pepper flakes; then smash
them; roast them; and brush them with
more spicy butter before serving. They
taste like a warm, fiery hug, and I guar-
antee you’ll eat them all straight off the
sheet pan.
Making the Hot Honey Butter Sauce
A classic hot honey butter is typically made
with softened, room-temperature butter,
making it the perfect spreadable consisten-
cy for cornbread or a fresh batch of biscuits.
But here, we’re melting the butter to make
a dreamy sauce for the smashed potatoes.
Once melted, you’ll stir the honey and hot
sauce directly into the saucepan.
When it comes to hot sauce, I prefer
Frank’s RedHot. To me, it has the perfect
balance of heat, acidity, and saltiness, and
it’s only made more delicious in a but-
tery, honey-laden sauce. If you don’t have
Frank’s or there’s a different hot sauce you
prefer (I’ll cover my ears, don’t worry), that
will certainly work, too.
Sara Tane is a contributor to TheKitchn.
com, a nationally known blog for people
who love food and home cooking. Submit
any comments or questions to editorial@
thekitchn.com. Copyright 2021 Apart-
ment Therapy. Distributed by Tribune
Content Agency, LLC.
HOT HONEY BUTTER SMASHED POTATOES
SERVES 4
1 1/2 pounds baby Yukon Gold potatoes (10
to 14)
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt,
divided
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
(optional)
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon hot sauce, such as Frank’s RedHot
Pinch of red pepper flakes
A Greek
Salmon Bowl
That Keeps On
Giving
HILARY MEYER
This salmon and quinoa bowl with green
beans is a meal that keeps on giving. Pack
up any leftovers for lunch the next day, or
make the entire recipe ahead and pack
it into individual serving containers for
ready-to-go meals.
EatingWell is a magazine and website
devoted to healthy eating as a way of life.
Online at EatingWell.com. Copyright 2021
Eating Well, Inc. Distributed by Tribune
Content Agency, LLC.
B5
JOE LINGEMAN/TNS
ALL PHOTOS BY SHUTTERSTOCK UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE
Micro potatoes:
Boil 7 to 10 minutes.
Baby red potatoes:
Boil 12 to 17 minutes.
Red potatoes:
Boil 25 to 30 minutes.
These
potatoes
taste like
a warm,
fiery hug.
Yukon Gold potatoes:
Boil 30 to 35 minutes.
4 TIPS FOR THE BEST SMASHED POTATOES
Here are a few things to keep in mind for potatoes are on top of each other, they’ll
the smashed potato success. never get golden-brown and crispy. If you
need to split them between two pans, go
1. Start the potatoes in cold, heavily salted
ahead and do so.
water. This promotes even cooking.
4. Remember that they’re supposed to
2. Don’t drain the potatoes until they’re
be rustic. If you have some loose potato
extremely knife tender. If they’re not super
shards or your potatoes don’t smash to
soft, it’s going to be pretty hard to smash
absolute perfection, don’t sweat it. The
them.
uneven edges and crispy bits are what
3. Don’t crowd the sheet pan. If the make them so tasty.
Scrub the potatoes clean and place in a large saucepan. remaining 1 teaspoon kosher salt. RECIPE NOTES
Add enough cold water to cover potatoes by about 2 Remove from the heat, add the potatoes, and toss to
The potatoes can be boiled and refrigerated for up to
inches. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the kosher salt and coat. Using tongs, transfer the potatoes to a rimmed
two days before roasting.
bring to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, finely chop baking sheet and space them evenly apart. Reserve the
fresh chives, if desired, and reserve for garnishing. Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container up
remaining melted butter mixture. Using the bottom of
to four days.
When the water is boiling, reduce the heat to maintain a lightly greased mug or measuring cup, press down on
a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are very tender each potato until it splits open and is flattened to 3/4- Almost any size potato can be used. See below for
and can be easily pierced with a sharp knife with no inch thick. specific cooking instructions:
resistance, 18 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, arrange a Roast until the bottoms are golden-brown, about 20 • Micro potatoes (about 36): Boil 7 to 10 minutes
rack in the lower third of the oven and heat the oven to minutes. Carefully flip the potatoes with a flat spatula. • Baby red potatoes (12 to 16): Boil 12 to 17 minutes
450 degrees F. Rotate the baking sheet and roast until the second side
• Red potatoes (about 6): Boil 25 to 30 minutes
When the potatoes are ready, drain and set aside. Melt is browned and crispy, 10 to 15 minutes more. Brush
• Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4): Boil 30 to
the unsalted butter in the now-empty pot over low the potatoes with the remaining melted butter mixture
heat. Stir in the honey, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, and and top with the chives if using. 35 minutes
CARSON DOWNING/TNS
GREEK SALMON BOWL
PREP & COOKING TIME
Active Time: 30 minutes
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved or sliced
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking
Total Time: 45 minutes
SERVES 4
sheet with foil. Place salmon on the prepared baking
sheet and sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper.
1 pound salmon fillet
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
Bake until the salmon is no longer opaque in the center
and flakes easily with a fork, 20 to 25 minutes. Let
rest for 5 minutes, then flake the salmon into bite-size
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper pieces (discard the skin).
8 ounces string beans (green, yellow, or a mix), Meanwhile, bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a medium
trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces saucepan fitted with a steamer basket. Add beans;
cover and cook until tender-crisp, about 5 minutes.
1 3/4 cups water Rinse the beans under cold water, drain well, and set
3/4 cup quinoa (red, white, or tricolored), rinsed aside. Combine water, quinoa, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in
the saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover,
3 tablespoons lemon juice
and simmer until the quinoa is tender and most of the Top off the dish with a drizzle of the dressing
2 tablespoons olive oil liquid has been absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Fluff with and garnish with more fresh oregano, if desired.
1 clove garlic, minced a fork.
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano, plus more Whisk lemon juice, oil, garlic, oregano, and the more fresh oregano, if desired.
for garnish, or 1/2 teaspoon dried remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Recipe nutrition per serving: 484 Calories, Total
To serve, divide the quinoa among 4 bowls. Arrange Fat: 28 g, Saturated Fat: 6 g, Cholesterol: 69 mg,
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
the salmon, beans, tomato, feta, and olives over the Carbohydrates: 28 g, Fiber: 4 g, Total Sugars: 4 g,
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese quinoa. Drizzle with the dressing and garnish with Protein: 30 g, Sodium: 577 mg, Potassium: 807 mg.
B6 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021

CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTED BY TOM HOUSTON

EPOCH TIMES STAFF 9. Mail outfit 4NUMBERS CONSTRUCTED BY C. CHANG
AT 4NUMS.COM DAILY BRIDGE CLUB
10. Resettle
Use the four numbers in the corners, and When to draw trumps
11. Star followers the operands (+, - X, and ÷) to build an BY FRANK STEWART, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY
12. Aiding a criminal equation to get the solution in the middle.
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
There may be more than one “unique” so-
13. Hit men lution but, there may also be “equivalent”
14. “___ Town Too” (1981 solutions. For example: 6 + (7 X 3) +1 = 28 “Addicted to seaweed? Seek kelp.” —
and 1+ (7 X 3) + 6 = 28 graffiti
hit) “You often write about waiting to draw
16. Under attack trumps,” a club player said to me. “My
23. Break down partner is addicted: If there are trumps
undrawn, he displays undrawal symptoms.”
24. Put down My friend’s partner was declarer at
28. Make (out) four hearts. West led the queen of clubs,
30. Chorus member dummy’s ace won, and East unblocked
his king.
31. Withdraw gradually “Partner led a trump next, of course,” I
32. Big drawer? heard, “and East won and led another club.
Declarer ruffed and drew trumps; he had
33. King’s title: Abbr. none left. When he led a spade to dummy
34. Jedi Master ___-Wan and let the jack of diamonds ride, West
Kenobi won and cashed three clubs. Down two.”
35. Physique, informally Hard 1 - 1 Solution ENTRY
40. “... according to his South was stuck on drawing trumps.
He is at risk from West’s long clubs if
___” trumps break 4-2 and West has the king of
41. “Silent Night” adjec- diamonds. So South must dislodge West’s
tive possible entry early: South finesses in
diamonds at Trick Two.
43. “Avatar” craft West wins and leads another club, and
45. Bed-and-breakfast South ruffs and starts the trumps. When
47. Constellation with the East takes the ace, he has no more clubs.
South wins any return, draws trumps and
body of a horse takes his 10 tricks.
48. Old Icelandic literary
DAILY QUESTION
work You hold: { K 6 4 2 K 4 J 9
49. Honest yA 64 3 2. Your partner opens one heart,
Hard 2 - 1 Solution you respond one spade and he rebids two
50. Babysitter’s handful
hearts. What do you say?
Across 39. Durable wood 81. Go bad 51. Butterfly catcher ANSWER: Partner has a minimum hand
1. Big name in bricks 42. Cross shape 82. Broadway events 52. U.S. Government rate with six or more hearts. He would never
have to rebid a five-card suit here; he would
5. Camp sight 44. ___-tac-toe 83. Quilt fill setters (abbr) have a better option. You have enough to
8. Luau tuna 46. Business meeting 84. Abbr. for the most 56. Handling invite game. Bid three hearts. (North in
11. Radar unit? technology extreme 57. Fuel brought by sea in today’s deal responded two clubs with this
hand. One spade is fine, especially if two
15. Dominated 53. 180 degrees from 85. Balloon or blimp the UK clubs would force to game.)
17. Tartan cap WSW 86. Sheltered, in a way 58. Coming South dealer
54. “___ to Joy” 87. “Didn’t I tell you?” 60. Double escudo Both sides vulnerable
18. Skillful
19. Actor or sculptor 55. Stars 88. “Here’s to you, ___ 61. Floral decoration
20. Belly 56. Preowned Robinson...” 63. Artists
21. Stuff 59. “TED Radio Hour” 89. Neighbor of Earth 66. High peak Easy 1 - 2 Solutions
22. It can lead to long network 67. “___ any drop to
sentences 62. Cowboys, on score- Down drink”: Coleridge
25. Not mono boards 1. Large-eyed lemur 68. Composer’s nota-
26. Watch word? 64. Local fund-raising 2. Three-time Wimbledon tional sign
27. “Time out!” hand org. champ 69. Time-tested fact
signal 65. P.T. Barnum, e.g. 3. Action or drama, e.g. 73. Kind of ray
29. Red birthmark 70. Place for a bud? 4. They may be marching 74. Actress Samantha
33. Rip off 71. Catch, in a way 5. Complete collections of 75. “Cheep” homes?
36. Sierra Nevada, e.g. 72. The Little Mermaid’s writings 77. Dole (out)
37. Cousin of reggae uncles, maybe? 6. “Double Stuf” treat 78. The best dirt
38. “So what ___ is 76. Python, e.g. 7. Cousin of a gull 79. “Me too” sort
new?” 80. Pout 8. Now and then 80. Second degree? Easy 2 - 1 Solution

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.

ABETTAL EN ROUTE MERMEN ROSETTE

AEROSTAT EVERT NAMES SEA COAL
AT TIMES GENRE NEEDS SEGNO
BESET HAUBERK NESTS SLAYERS
CENTAURUS IMMIGRATE OMEGA STEREO
COMPUTER LASSO OPENINGS TRUISM
LANGUAGE LIMNERS ORDERS VIDEO-
CORPORA LORIS OVERBORE CONFERENCING
EBONY MANTA PISTOLE
EGGAR MECCA RENDERER

SOLUTIONS
CROSSWORD SUPER KAKURO
4 NUMBERS
HARD 1

HARD 2

EASY 1

EASY 2
 THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021 B7

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

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CRYPTIC QUOTE

EPOCH DOKU CONSTRUCTED

BY EPOCH TIMES STAFF

WORK SPACE

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

Kakuro puzzles are like crosswords that use numbers instead of words. The goal THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME
is to fill the blank squares associated with a clue (called a “run”) with the numbers By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek
1-9 so that the numbers add up to the corresponding clues. Like Sudoku, digits Unscramble these Jumbles,
*HWWKHIUHH-867-80%/(DSS‡)ROORZXVRQ7ZLWWHU#3OD\-XPEOH

in a run cannot repeat. When the grid is filled, the puzzle is complete. one letter to each square,
to form four ordinary words.
Easy MEORH
EPOCH ESCAPE MAZE
BUDTO

*27)(5

61,+;3
Now arrange the circled letters
©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC to form the surprise answer, as
All Rights Reserved. suggested by the above cartoon.

WORK SPACE

SOLUTIONS
SUPERSUDOKU SUDOKU: EASY JUMBLE EASY KAKURO
— FISHED THEM OUT The walls have ears
so the store’s employee
guppies from the tank,
They only wanted the
Answers:
SPHINX
FORGET
DOUBT
HOMER
Jumbles:
SUDOKU: HARD EPOCH DOKU

CRYPTIC QUOTE
resistance fighter.
I truly wasn’t an active
The way I lived my life,
B8  THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2021
FREEPROD33/ SHUTTERSTOCK
WINE
The Gorgeous Wines of Alsace
DAN BERGER
O
ne of France’s finest wine-
growing regions, and one of
its least understood, is the
northern district of Alsace, a
hilly region bordering Ger-
many with a populace that’s as comfortable
speaking German as it is French.
Moreover, the grape varieties of Alsace
(almost all of them white) are also found in
Germany, with riesling, gewurztraminer,
and pinot gris at the top of the list, and pinot
blanc, muscat, and sylvaner right behind.
Germany occupied Alsace for nearly 90
years over several decades and wars, but
the two wine cultures have different wine
styles. Germany generally prefers to bal-
ance its naturally high acids with residual
sugar, halting fermentations before all the
sugars have been converted. Alsace prefers
more of the dry approach. But both areas
also make stylish off-dry wines.
Alsace has traditionally treated these
wines as accompaniments to one of
Alsace is one of France’s finest wine-growing regions—and one of its least understood.
Alsace wine always
was seen as a learned
experience because of
its high acidity, but with
food, the wines were
brilliant.
France’s most interesting regional cui-
sines. To that end, it has historically kept
its wines drier.
As wine author Hugh Johnson wrote de-
cades ago in his “The World Atlas of Wine,”
“Instead of grape sugar lingering delicately
in the wine, the grower likes a dry, firm,
clean flavor, fermenting every ounce of
the sugar which the long dry summers of
Alsace give.”
This produced wine with heft, rich on the
palate with 13 percent or even 13.5 percent
alcohol. It was generally tart enough to cut
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through all the richness of pressed duck,
foie gras, and the like.
Alsace wine always was seen as a learned
experience because of its high acidity, but
with food, the wines were brilliant.
It has long been the one fine-wine region
of France allowed to use the name of the
grape variety on the label. Other French
fine wine regions use the names of their
communes or other geographic identifiers
as the wines’ names.
In terms of style, the dry approach in
Alsace began to erode in the 1980s. A few
producers started getting high scores
from some wine publications for wines
that were sweeter. That prompted other
Alsace wineries to make some wines with
sugar. Between the mid-1990s and about
2005, many Alsace wines were softer than
they had been.
Recent vintages have reverted to the more
classically dry. As the pendulum swings
back toward dryness, the wines more re-
semble what they were in the 1970s.
Alsace also produces some gorgeous
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COURTESY OF QUINTESSENTIAL WINES
2019 Gustave Lorentz Pinot Blanc,
Alsace ($16):
Elderflowers, peaches, and a hint of
dried pineapple in the aroma, and a
slight sweetness in the mid-palate
mark this attractive, medium-weight
Alsace white.
dessert-style wines—when Mother Nature
cooperates. Some of Alsace’s best sweeter
wines are called vendange tardive, made
from late-harvested grapes. They can be
gloriously decadent and pricy.
Most dry Alsace whites are priced about
$15 to $20 per bottle and carry the name
of the grape variety.
At least two dozen producers of wine in
Alsace export their products to the United
States. Of all the grapes they grow, the clas-
sic Alsace white wine is gewurztraminer, a
wildly aromatic wine that often has a trace
of residual sugar to offset the possibility of
astringency.
The house of Trimbach continues to make
classically styled dry Alsace whites. Its dry
gewurztraminer is tart and crisp. I prefer
Trimbach’s bone-dry riesling (about $25).
To find out more about Dan Berger and
read features by other Creators Syndicate
writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate webpage at Creators.com.
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