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In the News
NEWS
Forty-two million people
from Latin America and the
Caribbean region want to im-
migrate to the United States,
a new survey finds. ... A4
Arizona’s attorney general
has threatened to sue the
Biden administration over a
provision in the $1.9 trillion
rescue plan that bars states
from using its funds to offset
tax cuts. ... A7
Most Democratic and Re-
publican members of Con-
gress don’t interact with news
sources from across the aisle,
a study finds. ... A6
A group of GOP attorneys
general has filed a lawsuit
against the Biden adminis-
tration over its executive ac-
tion pausing new oil and gas
drilling on federal land. ... A2
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey
has signed into law a bill that
will provide civil remedies for
victims of human trafficking.
... A8
President Joe Biden and
former President Barack
Obama discuss a range of
issues over the phone on a
regular basis, press secretary
Jen Psaki says. ... A7
China’s threatened inva-
sion of Taiwan is more immi-
nent than most people real-
ize, a U.S. admiral says. ... A9
Ukraine’s health agency
has reported that a female
military member died after
receiving AstraZeneca’s CCP
virus vaccine. ... A11
China and Russia are de-
veloping their air power ca-
pabilities to catch up to the
Western alliance, a UK de-
fence official says. ... A9
Biden says that North Ko-
rea’s test of a short-range
missile system was “business
as usual.” ... A6
A North Carolina state sen-
ator has accused the state’s
Board of Elections director of
breaking the law ahead of the
2020 election. ... A8
Lara Trump has confirmed
that she is considering a run
for the U.S. Senate in North
Carolina. ... A2
The Wisconsin Assembly
has approved a resolution
authorizing an investigation
of the 2020 presidential elec-
tion. ...A7
BUSINESS
Regal Cinemas movie the-
aters will reopen in the United
States in early April, the com-
pany says. ... A19
Businesses across America
are increasingly offering a
range of incentives to cus-
tomers who show proof of
COVID-19 vaccination. ... A19
OPINION
Alex Newman: CCP Seeks
to Redefine ‘Human Rights’ in
Attack on America...A13
Newt Gingrich: The Ameri-
can People Versus the Demo-
cratic Machine...A14
Frank Miele: Open Borders:
An Assault on Common Sense...
A17
FEATURES
Veal blanquette, a classic
French white stew, is the per-
fect recipe to carry us from
winter to spring. ...B1
For the Easter table, a cake
that’s pure nostalgia. ...B2
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| T H U R S D A Y, M A R C H 2 5 , 2 0 21
DEFENSE
Congress Told Not to Brand
Christians in Military as Extremists
Army training manual identifies evangelical Christians
and Catholics as ‘extremists’
BY MARK TAPSCOTT
A
slide used in a Depart-
ment of Defense (DOD)
training manual identi-
fies Catholics and evan-
gelical Christians as “religious ex-
tremists,” along with members of
the Ku Klux Klan, al-Qaeda, and
Hamas, according to a Marine Michael Berry, general counsel to the
Corps officer.
“First Liberty also obtained a Washington on March 24, 2021.
JUDICIARY
Supreme Court
Considers Seizing
Guns in Homes
Without Warrant
Biden administration
supports taking guns without
warrant under community
caretaking doctrine to avoid
risk of harm
BY MATTHEW VADUM
The Supreme Court seemed skeptical
of government arguments that the
“community caretaking” exception
to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant
requirement should be expanded to
allow police to seize guns without a
warrant in a person’s home.
The case comes as President Joe
Biden and congressional Demo-
crats press for aggressive new re-
strictions on Second Amendment
gun ownership rights, including
controversial “red flag” laws, which
allow gun seizures from law-abid-
ing gun owners with limited due
process, in the wake of highly pub-
licized deadly mass shootings at a
Continued on A3
CALIFORNIA
Newsom Recall Helps to Protect
Constitutional Rights: Activist
BY TOM OZIMEK
Cordie Williams, dubbed
the Megaphone Marine
for his activism and mili-
tary background, said the
campaign to recall Califor-
nia Gov. Gavin Newsom
can serve as a template and
inspire other states to push
back against the actions of
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
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (R) visits National Guardsmen
deployed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 29, 2021.
SCREENSHOT VIA ARMEDSERVICES.HOUSE.GOV
First Liberty Institute, at a hearing in
GUN CONTROL
Biden Considering
Executive Actions
on Gun Control:
Psaki
BY MIMI NGUYEN LY
The Biden administration is con-
sidering a range of potential actions
on gun control, including executive
actions, following the recent shoot-
ings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colo-
rado, White House press secretary
Jen Psaki told reporters.
“We are certainly considering a
range of levers, including working
through legislation, including exec-
utive actions to address not just gun
safety measures but violence in com-
munities.” Psaki said, when asked
about whether there will be new
executive action on gun violence.
She didn’t provide a definitive an-
swer about whether President Joe
Biden would propose legislation to
repeal liability protection for gun
manufacturers, something he had
promised during his presidential
campaign.
“There remain a range of options
under consideration. And obvi-
ously, tragedies like last night and
Continued on A6
politicians who he said curtail
constitutional freedoms.
Williams, who found-
ed  1776 Forever Free, an
organization that advocates
for constitutional rights, told
NTD’s “Focus Talk” pro-
California
Gov. Gavin gram  that the recall cam-
Newsom. paign has amassed more
than 2.1 million signatures,
Continued on A5
MANUEL BALCE CENETA/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
screenshot of an unclassified slide
from a U.S. Army training manual.
The slide is entitled ‘Religious Ex-
tremism’ and it purports to identify
religious extremists,” Michael Berry
told the House Armed Services Com-
mittee, during a hearing on March 24
titled “Extremism in the Military.”
Berry is general counsel to the
First Liberty Institute (FLI), a Plano,
Texas-based public interest law firm
Continued on A2
A worker removes razor wire from the security fencing around the U.S. Capitol in
Washington on March 20, 2021.
CAPITOL
Outer Perimeter Fencing of US
Capitol Taken Down
BY MASOOMA HAQ
The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) an-
nounced on March 24 that all fenc-
ing around the outer perimeter of
the U.S. Capitol complex has been
removed, as there is no credible
threat at this time.
“Affected roads have reopened.
The USCP is ready to quickly ramp
up security at a moment’s notice if
needed,” USCP wrote on Twitter.
The fencing closer to the Capitol
Building, the inner perimeter, will
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Sen. Graham Introduces
Bill to ‘Stop Asylum
Abuse’ on Border
BY IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pro-
posed an immigration measure on
March 24 that aims to close loop-
holes in the asylum system and
change policies that may be con-
tributing to the escalating crisis on
the southern border.
Upon taking office in January,
Continued on A5
VOL . X V I I I | NO. 2,925 $1.
BORDER
Mexican
President:
Biden to
Blame for
Border Surge
BY BOWEN XIAO
As the number of illegal immigrants
arriving at the southern border con-
tinues to surge, Mexico’s president
cast blame this week on President
Joe Biden’s policies, saying he cre-
ated certain “expectations” that are
ultimately spurring illegal immi-
grants into making the trip.
They see him as the
migrant president.
Mexican President
Andrés Manuel López Obrador
President Andrés Manuel López
Obrador said at a March 23 press
conference that Biden has caused
the surge at the U.S.–Mexico bor-
der.  Border Patrol apprehended
100,441 illegal border-crossers
along the southern border in Feb-
ruary, according to Customs and
Border Protection (CBP). The num-
ber reflects a 28 percent increase
over the previous month.
“Expectations were created that
with President Biden’s government,
there would be a better treatment of
migrants. This has caused Central
American migrants, and also from
our country, to want to cross the
border thinking that it is easier to
do so,” he said.
López Obrador’s comments on
the situation come as the Biden
administration sent officials to
Mexico and other countries to
discuss the increasing number of
illegal immigrants at the border.
Continued on A5
TASOS KATOPODIS/GETTY IMAGES
remain in place, as will the Nation-
al Guardsmen. USCP stated they
are working with “congressional
stakeholders and law enforcement
partners to strengthen our security
posture.”
Over the weekend, House Ser-
geant-at-Arms Timothy P. Blodgett
acknowledged that there was no
“credible threat” that warranted
the outer fencing.
Blodgett wrote in an email to staff
that the inner layer of fencing will
Continued on A4
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
VP WILL LEAD
EFFORTS TO STEM
BORDER SURGE
“I think the best
st
thing to do is to
o
put someone
who ... speaks
for me, doesn’tt
have to check
with me,”
President Joe
Biden said.
Read more on A33
A2 | NATION
14 States Sue Biden Administration Over Oil,
Gas Leasing Moratorium
JACK PHILLIPS
A group of Republican attorneys
general filed a lawsuit against the
Biden administration over its ex-
ecutive action pausing new oil and
gas drilling on federal land.
By executive fiat,
Joe Biden and his
administration
have single-hand-
edly driven the
price of energy up.
Louisiana Attorney General
Jeff Landry
In their lawsuit, filed on March
24 in the District Court for the
Western District of Louisiana, 13
state attorneys general sought to
end the suspension of issuing new
oil and gas leases on federal land
and water. President Joe Biden
signed the executive orders as part
of his attempt to address climate
change on Jan. 27. Wyoming’s
attorney general filed a separate
lawsuit in a court in its own state.
The lawsuits allege the adminis-
tration’s leasing pause violates the
Mineral Leasing Act that requires
quarterly lease sales and sought
Marine Corps Officer Warns Congress Against Classifying
Christians in Military as ‘Religious Extremists’
CONTINUED FROM A1
that specializes in First Amend-
ment and religious freedom cases.
Berry is also an officer in the Ma-
rine Corps Reserves, although he
presented his testimony in his
capacity as a civilian.
“Included among those listed are
al-Qaeda, Hamas, and the Ku Klux
Klan as groups that use or advocate
violence to accomplish their objec-
tives and are therefore rightly clas-
sified as extremists,” Berry told the
committee.
“But also included are Evangeli-
cal Christianity and Catholicism,
who most assuredly do not advo-
cate violence. Surely, the fact that
Evangelical Christians and Catho-
lics hold fast to millennia-old views
on marriage and human sexuality
does not make them extremists who
are unfit to serve.
“At a time of turmoil and instabil-
ity, during which our nation faces
many external threats, [this] mes-
sage is inappropriate and offensive
to our service members and those
they defend.”
The training manual that Berry
referred to is used in Secretary of
Defense Lloyd Austin’s recently
ordered “stand-down” to identify
and root out extremists in the U.S.
military. Austin’s order came in the
wake of the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S.
Capitol, in which some of the par-
ticipants were military veterans.
Austin said, in a DOD video ex-
plaining his reasons for the stand-
down that all military members in
each of the branches are required
to view, that “there is not a single
doubt in my mind that you take seri-
ously your oath to the Constitution
and that you serve this country with
honor and dignity and character.”
Even so, according to Austin in the
video, the stand-down is needed
because of “extremism and extrem-
ist ideology, views, and conduct that
runs counter to everything that we
believe in.”
Austin claimed in the video that
the presence of extremist views “is
not new to our country and, sadly,
it’s not new to our military.” He
didn’t provide in the video any ex-
amples of such individuals.
The training materials used in
Austin’s stand-down and present-
ed by Berry during the hearing
purported to present credible de-
scriptions of extremist ideologies,
conduct, reasoning, and identifying
characteristics.
Committee Chairman Adam
Pump jacks operate at dusk near Loco Hills in Eddy County, New Mexico, on April 23, 2020.
to restore regular federal drilling
auctions. The attorneys general
also want other suspended lease
orders to move forward in places
such as Montana, Utah, Colora-
do, Nevada, Oklahoma, and New
Mexico.
“By executive fiat, Joe Biden and
his administration have single-
handedly driven the price of en-
Smith (D-Wash.) told the hearing
in his opening statement: “If you
serve in the military, you pledge an
oath to the U.S. Constitution and
to the laws of this country. If you
disagree with that Constitution
and you disagree with the laws of
this country so strongly that you
no longer think our government is
legitimate, then you have no busi-
ness serving in the U.S. military
and you should get out now.”
Two issues were particularly
prominent in witness testimony
and committee members’ com-
ments, the lack of credible data
about the extent of any extremism
in the ranks, and the lack of what
constitutes impermissible expres-
sion of views and actions on behalf
of those views.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the
panel’s top Republican, told the
hearing at the outset that “it is im-
portant to point out that we lack
any concrete evidence that violent
extremism is as rife in the military
as some commentators claim.”
Rogers said “extremism was a
factor” in the separation of only
nine soldiers from the U.S. Army
in 2020, and he noted that “since
2018, 17 Marines have been sepa-
rated for extremism, gang or sepa-
ratist activities.”
“That’s 17 out of 200,000. While I
agree that this number ought to be
zero, this is far from the largest mili-
tary justice issue facing our armed
services,” Rogers said.
“Earlier this year, 151 overwhelm-
ingly liberal organizations, in-
cluding Human Rights Watch, the
ACLU, and SPLC Action [Southern
Poverty Law Center Action Fund],
urged Congress not to expand do-
mestic terrorism charges.
“The organizations said, ‘We urge
you to oppose any new domestic
terrorism charge, the creation of a
list of designated domestic terror-
ist organizations, or other expan-
sion of existing terrorism-related
authorities.’”
The committee heard from only
two other witnesses, Audrey Kurth
Cronin, an American University
professor of international security,
and Lecia Brooks, chief of staff for
the Southern Poverty Law Center
(SPLC), a liberal advocacy group of-
ten criticized by conservatives for
defining “extremism” so broadly
as to include conventional politi-
cal groups that clearly are not.
The newest Republican member
of the committee, Rep. Pat Fallon
of Texas, pointed out that “recently
ergy up—costing the American
people where it hurts most, in
their pocketbooks,” Louisiana At-
torney General Jeff Landry, who
is leading the suit, said in a state-
ment. “Biden’s executive orders
abandon middle-class jobs at a
time when America needs them
most and put our energy security
in the hands of foreign countries,
the Washington Post, the New York
Times, Politico, NPR, and the New
Yorker magazine, just to name a
few, skewered the SPLC for, among
other things, corruption, harass-
ment, racism, and a widening cred-
ibility gap.”
Fallon also noted that Cronin
claimed 37 of those arrested in con-
nection with the Jan. 6 breach of the
U.S. Capitol were either U.S. military
veterans or reservists.
“There are 18 million U.S. military
veterans. Thirty-four were rioters.
This means that 17,999,966 of us
were not. That’s one out of 529,000,”
Fallon said.
Smith rejected Fallon’s comments,
however, as “logically absurd” be-
cause veterans arrested during or
after the Jan. 6 riot don’t represent
the full scope of the problem.
“We don’t know how large a prob-
lem this is. That’s why we’re having
this hearing,” Smith said.
Cronin told the committee in re-
sponse to a question from Rep. Jim
Langevin (D-R.I.) that recruitment
efforts by extremist groups target-
ing active and retired military in-
dividuals “is indeed becoming an
increasing problem.”
Asked by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.)
for his view on the use of lists of pro-
hibited organizations, Berry said:
“They can be dangerous. Labeling
evangelical Christians and Catho-
lics as ‘extremists’ is opening Pan-
dora’s box.”
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) ex-
pressed concern that a DOD effort
against extremism will play into
the hands of Chinese Communist
Party efforts to damage the U.S.’s
image overseas.
“There is an active propaganda
campaign being prosecuted by
the Chinese Communist Party
right now attempting to portray
our country as an evil racist hells-
cape with no authority to lecture
them on human rights. I worry that
we may be playing into our adver-
sary’s hands, and I do worry it will
undermine our ability to fight and
win wars in the future,” Waltz said.
Smith concluded the hearing by
saying “there are demagogues on
both sides” and that he “is very con-
cerned about over-reactions.”
“If we are targeting people and
shutting them off from jobs and
everything for something they said
20 years ago. There’s no reference
point, no structure to that and it be-
comes just this excuse to shove your
point of view down somebody’s
throat,” he said.
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
PAUL RATJE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
many of whom despise America’s
greatness.”
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas,
Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma,
Texas, Utah, and West Virginia
joined the suit.
“The real consequences of the
action are far from certain and
far from uniformly environmen-
Lara Trump attends the Women for America First Summit at Trump Inter-
national Hotel in Washington on Oct. 5, 2018.
Lara Trump ‘Absolutely’
Considering US Senate Run
in North Carolina
IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
Lara Trump is still considering a
run for the U.S. Senate in North
Carolina, her home state.
“I am still considering it, abso-
lutely,” Trump, daughter-in-law of
former President Donald Trump,
told Fox News on March 23.
Rumors of a potential run by
Lara Trump were revived after
retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.)
voted in favor of convicting former
President Donald Trump in the
Senate impeachment trial.
Trump publicly nudged her to
run during impromptu remarks
he delivered at a dog rescue fun-
draiser held at the Mar-a-Lago re-
sort in Florida earlier this month.
North Carolina GOP Chairman
Michael Whatley told The Epoch
Times that Lara Trump would be
the candidate to beat if she decid-
ed to run. That view is shared by
a number of Trump insiders and
pollsters.
“She would have immediate at-
tention and interest from across
the state,” Whatley said. “She’s
very beloved here down in North
Carolina.”
Lara Trump has been making
regular media appearances and
filming episodes of her own po-
litical talk show. She regularly
defends her father-in-law and cri-
tiques the Biden administration.
In her March 23 appearance on
Fox News, Lara Trump comment-
ed on the first press conference of
Joe Biden’s presidency.
“I’d like to ask him, maybe, I
don’t know, does he think any of
his policies so far have benefited
the American people? Because,
so far, we’ve seen energy jobs
leave America, we’ve seen the
tally friendly,” Wyoming said in
its complaint.
Biden administration officials
have argued that oil and gas firms
have numerous undeveloped leas-
es to use, saying that about 14 mil-
lion acres are available in western
states and 9 million acres are avail-
able offshore.
“This will not affect oil and gas
production or jobs for years to
come,” White House press secre-
tary Jen Psaki said on March 24
when asked about the lawsuit.
According to the text of Biden’s
order, the “Secretary of the Inte-
rior shall pause new oil and natu-
ral gas leases on public lands or in
offshore waters pending comple-
tion of a comprehensive review
and reconsideration of Federal
oil and gas permitting and leasing
practices in light of the Secretary
of the Interior’s broad stewardship
responsibilities over the public
lands and in offshore waters.”
The moratorium has triggered
heavy criticism from the oil indus-
try and from producing states that
receive half of the revenues gen-
erated from federal lands drilling
within their borders.
The Department of the Interior
didn’t respond to a request for
comment by press time.
Reuters contributed to this report.
JAN JEKIELEK/THE EPOCH TIMES
She would have
immediate atten-
tion and interest
from across the
state. She’s very
beloved here down
in North Carolina.
Michael Whatley, chairman,
North Carolina GOP
auto plants are now going back
to Mexico when under Donald
Trump they actually came here
to America,” she said.
“He got people back to work in
America. He got things back up
and running. Joe Biden is turning
it all around.”
Former President Trump won
North Carolina by 1.3 percent in
2020.
Lara Trump, who is married to
Eric Trump, is a native of Wilm-
ington, North Carolina.
Earlier this month, former
Trump adviser Corey Lewan-
dowski told The Epoch Times
that he believes it may not be a
good idea for Lara Trump to run
because the system in Washing-
ton is broken.
“My problem is, Washington is
so fundamentally broken that I
don’t know if it’s a good thing any-
more,” Lewandowski said. “I think
Lara Trump—and she would be
an amazing United States sena-
tor if she decided to run, because
she would win—she has more in-
fluence and more opportunity to
drive a narrative today being on
the outside than being stuck in a
broken system.”
 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
Biden Administration Tells Supreme Court Police Can Seize
Guns in Homes Without a Warrant, to Prevent Suicide
CONTINUED FROM A1
Boulder, Colorado, supermarket
on March 22 and at Atlanta-area
spas on March 16.
In the case at hand, the Biden ad-
ministration argued for expanding
government power, telling the Su-
preme Court that police should be
allowed to enter homes without a
warrant to seize handguns.
The case, Caniglia v. Strom, court
file 20-157, is on appeal from the
1st Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral
arguments on March 24 lasted 102
minutes, exceeding the allotted 60
minutes.
A reasonable
search requires
a warrant unless
there is consent or
a true emergency.
Shay Dvoretzky,
attorney for the plaintiff
The community caretaking doc-
trine holds that police don’t always
operate as law enforcement offi-
cials investigating wrongdoing, but
sometimes as caretakers to prevent
harm in emergency situations.
Police generally cannot conduct
searches of private property with-
out consent or a warrant.
In Cady v. Dombrowski (1973)
the Supreme Court held that police
may conduct warrantless searches
related to “community caretaking
functions,” but only for “vehicle ac-
cidents.” Since then, the principle
has become “a catchall for a wide
range of responsibilities that police
officers must discharge aside from
their criminal enforcement activi-
ties,” the 1st Circuit stated in the
Caniglia case.
Edward Caniglia has no crimi-
nal history and no record of vio-
lence. He had been married to his
wife for 22 years when, on Aug.
20, 2015, they had a disagreement
inside their Cranston, Rhode Is-
land, home.
The argument escalated. He pro-
duced an unloaded gun and said,
“Why don’t you just shoot me and
get me out of my misery?”
She then spent the night at a
motel. She tried to reach him by
telephone and became concerned
when he didn’t pick up. She told
police her husband might be sui-
cidal and asked them to conduct a
welfare check.
The police called the husband,
whom they said “sounded fine.”
He told police his “just shoot me”
comment happened because he
“couldn’t take it anymore.”
Biden Says Harris Will Lead Efforts to Stem Border Surge
BOWEN XIAO
President Joe Biden announced
on March 24 that Vice President
Kamala Harris will be tapped to
lead the administration’s efforts
in stemming the influx of illegal
immigrants at the U.S.–Mexico
border.
Biden told reporters that Harris
was the “most qualified” person
to handle the task. It comes as
the administration faces growing
pressure over how it’s handling
a surge at the border that started
after Biden was sworn into office.
“This increase has been conse-
quential, but the vice president has
agreed ... to lead our diplomatic
effort and to work with those na-
tions to accept the returnees and
enhance migration enforcement
at their borders,” Biden said.
“It’s not her full responsibility
job, but she is leading the effort
because I think the best thing to do
is to put someone who ... speaks for
me, doesn’t have to check with me.
She knows what she’s doing, and I
hope we can move this along,” he
told reporters, according to pool
reports.
Police stand watch outside a home in Mesquite, Texas, on July 9, 2016.
The husband went to a local
hospital briefly after police as-
sured him they wouldn’t take his
two handguns. After he left, they
seized his guns without a warrant,
telling the wife his life and others
could be in danger if they left the
guns in the home.
“After the officers falsely repre-
sented to Mrs. Caniglia that Pe-
titioner had consented, she led
the officers to the guns,” Caniglia
stated in a brief.
The couple and a lawyer asked
the police to return the guns, and
their requests were refused.
The husband sued, but the dis-
trict and appeals courts allowed
the search under the community
caretaking exception. The husband
argued in his Supreme Court brief
that the exception shouldn’t be ap-
plied inside “the home–the most
Border Patrol apprehended
100,441 illegal border-crossers
along the southern border in Feb-
ruary, according to  Customs and
Border Protection. The number
reflects a 28 percent increase over
January.
An ongoing immigration policy
tracker by the Heritage Foundation
found that Biden has rolled back
almost all of former President Don-
ald Trump’s immigration policies.
The White House and the Biden
administration have repeatedly
refused to use the word “crisis”
when describing the historical
increase of illegal immigrants
crossing the U.S.–Mexico border.
Reporters have in recent weeks
been pressing the administration
on this.
Later, Harris thanked Biden for
appointing her and described
what’s happening at the border as
a “challenging situation.”
“While we are clear that people
should not come to the border
now, we also understand that we
will enforce the law and that we
also—because we can chew gum
and walk at the same time—must
address the root causes that cause
LAURA BUCKMAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
protected of all private spaces.”
During oral arguments, Depart-
ment of Justice lawyer Morgan Rat-
ner supported the city’s position,
arguing that this case was “funda-
mentally different from most of the
court’s other Fourth Amendment
cases because the question is not
act now or get a warrant first. It’s
act now or not at all.”
There’s no warrant process in
many non-investigatory situations,
from welfare checks on elderly res-
idents to intervention in current
suicide threats, she said.
“Although there have been a lot
of questions this morning about
whether this is emergency aid or
exigent circumstances or commu-
nity caretaking or something else,
the label you give it is not nearly as
important as the principle. And the
key principle is if someone is at risk
Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and President Joe Biden meet with Cabinet
members and immigration advisers at the White House on March 24, 2021.
people to make the trek,” Harris
told reporters.
“I look forward to engaging in di-
plomacy with government, with
the private sector, with civil soci-
ety, and the leaders of each in El
Salvador, Guatemala, and Hondu-
ras to strengthen democracy and
the rule of law and ensure shared
prosperity in the region.”
Meanwhile, Mexico’s president
cast the blame this week on Biden’s
J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP PHOTO
of serious harm and it’s reasonable
for officials to intervene now, that
is enough,” Ratner said.
The justices seemed to be
searching for a legal test to cover
Caniglia’s situation, posing a long
series of hypothetical questions
about what situations might jus-
tify police entering a home with-
out a warrant.
Warrantless home entries are
unreasonable in the absence of
exigent circumstances, Cani-
glia’s attorney, Shay Dvoretzky,
told the court.
“The Fourth Amendment pro-
tects the home in a special way.
... A reasonable search requires a
warrant unless there is consent or
a true emergency,” Dvoretzky said.
The problem with the rule the
other side proposes is it would al-
low police “to go into the home
without a warrant in situations
that would essentially blow up nu-
merous other Fourth Amendment
doctrines that this court has held
are very important to protect the
sanctity of the home.”
Justice Clarence Thomas asked
if a police officer enters a home
and finds someone unconscious
on the floor, if that person could
sue the police.
“If he goes in without an objec-
tive basis and just happens to have
guessed correctly that she did need
help, that would not absolve the
officer of liability,” Dvoretzky said.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh quipped
that developing legal tests to cover
various situations was “great,” but
said in the real world, police have
CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
policies, saying he created certain
“expectations” that are ultimately
spurring illegal immigrants into
making the trip.
“Expectations were created that
with President Biden’s government
there would be a better treatment
of migrants. This has caused Cen-
tral American migrants, and also
from our country, to want to cross
the border thinking that it is easier
to do so,” President Andrés Manuel
NATION | A3
The Supreme
Court in
Washington on
Nov. 5, 2020.
to make split-second decisions.
“Every single day on average
there are 65 suicides” by gunshot,
and police “can help prevent that,”
he said, adding that Dvoretzky’s
position would make police back
away from suicide checks.
The lawyer replied, “If they’ve
been told that the person is sui-
cidal, they cannot get in touch
with the person, they cannot get
in touch with a mental health pro-
fessional, I think in that situation
they could go in.”
Marc DeSisto, attorney for Cran-
ston, said: “An absolute prohibition
against warrantless entry is wrong.
“Community caretaking in the
home without a warrant should
be allowed when it is objectively
reasonable to do so.”
Justice Samuel Alito told DeSisto
that people are concerned that
the caretaking exception “doesn’t
seem to have any clear boundar-
ies. And when you tell us that it can
include getting a cat down from a
tree, that fortifies that concern.”
The lawyer replied that “the
touchstone” of the Fourth Amend-
ment is “reasonableness.”
“The text and the meaning and
the spirit of the Fourth Amend-
ment is not offended by caretaking
activity to the most vulnerable at
the most vulnerable times, so long
as the intrusions are reasonable
when weighed against the privacy
interest,” DeSisto said.
“Our nation doesn’t abandon
those in need. Police officers
cannot turn their backs and walk
away.”
López Obrador said on March 23.
Biden’s changes to immigration
policies have triggered a surge in
illegal crossings, especially by
unaccompanied minors, more
than 11,000 of whom were being
kept in overcrowded facilities as
of March 23.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
proposed an immigration mea-
sure on March 24 that aims to close
loopholes in the asylum system
and change policies that may be
contributing to the escalating crisis
on the southern border.
Graham’s bill would require
asylum-seekers from the Northern
Triangle countries—Guatemala,
Honduras, and El Salvador—to
apply for refugee status at asylum
centers outside the United States.
The proposal would also afford
equal treatment to unaccompa-
nied minors from the Northern
Triangle as those from Canada and
Mexico. Under the current law, un-
accompanied minors from Mexico
and Canada are returned to their
home countries.
Ivan Pentchoukov
contributed to this report.
A4 | NATION THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021

Outer Perimeter Fencing of US Capitol Taken Down,

but USCP Ready at ‘Moment’s Notice’
AP PHOTO/CAROLYN KASTER
CONTINUED FROM A1

remain as the Architect of the

Capitol makes security repairs,
Roll Call reported.
The fencing and National Guard
troops were utilized after the U.S.
Capitol was breached on Jan. 6
during a joint session of Congress
in which members were tasked
with counting electoral votes to
confirm the winner of the Nov. 3,
2020, presidential election.
The Electoral College vote cer-
tification process was temporar-
ily halted, but after the Capitol
was secured, members worked
into the early morning hours to
proclaim President Joe Biden the
winner.
The FBI opened an investiga-
tion into the breach and has made
hundreds of arrests in the wake
of the incident. Both Republicans
and Democrats condemned the
violence and called for in-depth
investigations into the breach.
Soon after the Jan. 6 breach,
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-
Calif.) called for an investigation
like that of the 9/11 Commission.
Talks with senior House Republi-
cans about a bipartisan commis-
sion have all but ended. National Guardsmen open a gate in the perimeter fence to allow a colleague onto the U.S. Capitol grounds, in Washington on March 8, 2021.
Republican leaders said they
object to the makeup and scope 25: “Any commission that we es- Meanwhile, Senate Minority in this committee process we’re has held a hearing on the mat-
of the speaker’s proposed com- tablished has to be nonpartisan Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) doing now, and they chose not to ter, told Politico. “As I look at our
mission, which would consist of not just bipartisan, in order to has said the speaker’s proposal do that at this point, but I would officers on the front lines, they
seven Democrats and four Re- have legitimacy and be able to let for the commission was “partisan hope they would join us, make it can’t wait a year for some sug-
publicans, with only the Demo- the American people know what by design.” bicameral and bipartisan.” gestions about what we can do
crat members having subpoena happened that horrible day and Portman said various Senate Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) better.”
power. how to ensure it doesn’t happen committees are already probing said while she supports Pelosi’s The speaker has recently indi-
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), again. what happened on Jan. 6, and he idea for the commission, she cated that the investigation would
ranking member of the Senate “If we’re going to do a commis- hopes House members will join wants more immediate answers. be done by three House commit-
Homeland Security Committee, sion, I hope it will include some the effort. “I like the idea of a 9/11 com- tees: Administration, Appropria-
said any investigation like that of outside experts, because that “But we already have that hap- mission, but we also want to have tions, and Homeland Security (all
the 9/11 Commission would need might be the advantage of a com- pening, at least here on the Sen- something intermediary here,” chaired by democrats), instead of
to be fair. mission is to have some expertise ate, we actually reached out to Klobuchar, chair of the Senate’s a bipartisan investigation like that
Portman told reporters on Feb. from outside the Congress.” the House to ask them to join us rules committee, which already of the 9/11 Commission.

CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES

Poll: 42 Million From Latin America,

Caribbean Want to Migrate to US
JACK PHILLIPS
A new survey found that 42 mil-
lion people from Latin America
and the Caribbean region want
to immigrate to the United States.
“There are 33 countries in
Latin America and the Carib-
bean. Roughly 450 million adults
live in the region. Gallup asked
them if they would like to move
to another country permanently
if they could,” said Gallup CEO
Jim Clifton, whose company
conducted the poll, in an arti-
cle on March 24. “A whopping 27
[percent] said ‘yes.’ This means
roughly 120 million would like
to migrate somewhere.
“Of those who want to leave
their country permanently, 35
percent—or 42 million—said
they want to go to the United
States.”
The poll comes as a surge of il-
legal immigrants have attempted
to cross the U.S.–Mexico border
in recent weeks; White House of-
ficials have advised the people
that the border is closed and not
to come.
Some reporters have
accused the White
House of a lack of
transparency over
the border facilities.
This week, a Democratic con-
gressman whose district lies
along the border released strik-
ing images showing children in
cramped quarters and sleeping
on the ground in a runoff facil-
ity operated by Border Patrol in
Donna, Texas. The following day,
the Biden administration’s De-
partment of Homeland Security
(DHS) released photos showing
long lines to the bathroom, chil-
dren sleeping in fenced-off areas,
and small children in play areas.
Some reporters have accused
the White House of a lack of
transparency over the border fa-
cilities, with some pointing out
that the media wasn’t denied ac-
Border Patrol agents arrest seven illegal immigrants who tried to evade cap-
cess during the Trump, Obama,
ture near Penitas, Texas, on March 15. 2021.
or Bush administrations.
Other polls have suggested that
Americans increasingly disap- DHS Secretary Alejandro May- immigration policies.
prove of how President Joe Biden orkas and other White House of- “I’ve been to border facilities
is dealing with the border situa- ficials have said former President under the Obama admin and
tion. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Donald Trump’s immigration pol- Trump admin. The media was
last week found that only 41 per- icies are the reason for the surge always allowed to join us. It is only
cent of Americans support Biden’s in migration and how children are the Biden administration that has
handling of immigration, while being housed. But Republicans engaged in a media blackout,”
45 percent don’t support how the have said that it’s because Biden Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote on
issue is being handled. rescinded several of Trump’s key Twitter on March 23.

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 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
Newsom Recall Shows States Can Do More to Protect
Constitutional Rights: Activist
CONTINUED FROM A1
more than enough to place an
election on the ballot and poten-
tially force Newsom from office.
“This is a shot across the bow
that folks aren’t going to take
tyranny anymore,” Williams
said, arguing that Newsom acted
like an authoritarian in enforcing
COVID-19 lockdown policies that
Williams said were discrimina-
tory and encroached on people’s
constitutional rights.
“The moment the government
starts to cross that line, that’s when
patriots and Americans, and Cali-
fornians, needed to push back.”
California is one of 20 states
that have provisions that allow
voters to recall elected officials
and repeal or pass laws by placing
them on the ballot. While recall
attempts are not uncommon in
the state, they rarely win enough
support to get on the ballot, and
even fewer succeed. In 2003, un-
popular Democratic Gov. Gray
Davis was recalled and replaced
with Republican Arnold Schwar-
zenegger.
But a year of whipsaw pandem-
ic lockdowns, crushing job losses
from business closures, shuttered
schools, and the disruption of
daily life has soured Californians.
People have many grievances—
from California’s wallet-sapping
taxes to a raging homelessness
crisis that continues unabated
despite billions in spending.
Newsom, given his role as gover-
nor, has become the target of that
resentment. This has been further
exacerbated by the fallout from
a multibillion-dollar fraud scan-
dal at the state unemployment
agency, and Newsom weather-
ing a public shaming for dining
out with friends and lobbyists at
an exclusive Napa, California,
restaurant last fall while telling
residents to stay home for safety.
“You look at Newsom’s [admin-
istration], the only thing you can
think is that it’s not only socialist,
it’s not only communist, but it’s
not leadership at all,” Williams
said.
Recall organizers said they’ve
collected more than 2.1 million
signatures and, as of March 22,
Graham
Introduces
Bill to ‘Stop
Asylum Abuse’
on Southern
Border
CONTINUED FROM A1
President Joe Biden revoked a
host of Trump-era immigra-
tion measures that had largely
stemmed the flow of illegal aliens
into the country. The changes
triggered a surge in illegal cross-
ings, especially by unaccompa-
nied minors, more than 11,000 of
whom were being kept in over-
crowded facilities as of March 23.
Graham’s bill would re-
quire asylum-seekers from the
Northern Triangle countries—
Guatemala, Honduras, and El
Salvador—to apply for refugee
status at asylum centers outside
the United States. The proposal
would also afford equal treat-
ment to unaccompanied minors
from the Northern Triangle as
those from Canada and Mexico.
Under the current law, unac-
companied minors from Mexico
and Canada are returned to their
home countries.
“The Biden administration has
lost control of the southern bor-
der. It’s time to regain control
and you have to deal with the
dynamic that led to the border
being overrun,” Graham said at
a press conference in Washington
on March 24.
“This is not Trump’s fault. That’s
Demonstrators shout slogans while carrying a sign calling for the recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom during a protest against his pandemic orders in Hun-
tington Beach, Calif., on Nov. 21, 2020.
officials had verified 1,188,073.
County election officials have
until April 29 to complete signa-
ture verification, with just under
1.5 million petition signatures re-
quired to authorize the election.
As final confirmation of the sig-
nature count is pending, Newsom
has kicked off his campaign to
defeat the recall last week, ac-
knowledging the election was all
but inevitable.
In an interview on ABC’s “The
View” on March 16, Newsom said
he’s “worried” about the recall
and characterized the initiative
as an attack on California’s pro-
gressive policies.
“If you look at the list of griev-
ances from the proponents of this
campaign, it goes to our values,
it’s less about me, it’s more about
California and our values, Demo-
cratic Party values,” Newsom told
the outlet, labeling organizers of
Ulparita ssimaio. Nequodit offictis nectam
Asylum seekers, most from Honduras, walk toward a U.S. Border Patrol
checkpoint after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico, near Mission, Texas, on
March 23, 2021.
a bunch of B.S. This is policy
choices that were ill-conceived
that have blown up in the Biden
administration’s face.”
The Secure and Protect Act
of 2021 would also extend the
amount of time illegal alien fami-
lies can be detained together;
currently, officials are limited
to holding families together for
a maximum of 20 days. The bill
would also authorize the hiring of
500 new immigration judges and
necessary support staff to handle
a backlog of roughly 1 million im-
migration cases.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) co-
sponsored the bill.
Graham introduced the bill as
the Biden administration strug-
gles to deal with a surge of illegal
aliens across the southern border.
Republicans in the House and
Senate have sought to draw at-
tention to the crisis, while a group
of more than a dozen Republican
senators are planning a trip to the
This is a shot
across the bow
that folks aren’t
going to take tyr-
anny anymore.
Cordie Williams, founder,
1776 Forever Free
JOHN MOORE/GETTY IMAGES
border in the coming days.
Unlike the Trump administra-
tion, which actively sought out
press coverage of border con-
cerns, the Biden administration
has barred press access to border
operations.
The White House is under in-
creasing pressure to address
the influx of unaccompanied
minors. Early in his term, Biden
issued an exemption on Title 42
deportations for unaccompanied
minors. The Trump administra-
tion had used Title 42 authority
to send back illegal aliens, due to
concerns over the spread of the
CCP (Chinese Communist Party)
virus, commonly known as the
novel coronavirus.
“That spread like wildfire
throughout Central America.
Word is out that an unaccompa-
nied child will not be sent back
under Title 42. They will remain
in the United States,” Graham
said.
the recall effort as political ex-
tremists, calling them “folks that
quite literally enthusiastically
support QAnon conspiracies.”
While the recall is backed by
state and national Republicans,
organizers argue that they have a
broad-based coalition, including
many independents and Demo-
crats.
But framing the recall campaign
as a partisan exercise may only
work if Democrats don’t place an
alternative to Newsom on the bal-
lot and so add to its credibility.
“Hell no, we don’t want a Dem-
ocrat on the replacement line.
We’ve seen this movie before, and
we know how it turns out,” said
Garry South, a former adviser to
Davis, in remarks to the Los An-
geles Times. Davis was ousted
by Schwarzenegger after Lt. Gov.
Cruz Bustamante initially said he
wouldn’t run, but later changed
Mexican President Says Biden
to Blame for Border Surge
CONTINUED FROM A1
It’s not the first time Mexico’s
president has criticized how
Biden has handled immigration
policy. On March 1, López Obrador
said both countries should work
together to stem the flow, after a
virtual meeting with Biden.
“They see him as the migrant
president, and so many feel
they’re going to reach the Unit-
ed States,” López Obrador said of
Biden. “We need to work together
to regulate the flow, because this
business can’t be tackled from
one day to the next.”
The White House and the Biden
administration repeatedly re-
fused to use the word “crisis” when
describing the historical increase
of illegal immigrants crossing the
U.S.–Mexico border. Reporters
have in recent weeks been press-
ing the administration on this.
An ongoing immigration policy
tracker by the Heritage Founda-
tion found that Biden has rolled
back almost all of former Presi-
dent Donald Trump’s immigra-
tion policies.
Recently, CBP officials released
photos of crowded temporary fa-
cilities being used to process ille-
gal immigrants who crossed the
U.S.–Mexico border in the midst of
a recent surge in migration.
The photos, which were taken in
a Donna, Texas, overflow facility,
show what appear to be children
sleeping shoulder-to-shoulder on
floor mats under what appear to
be emergency blankets—and on
benches. Another photo shows a
NATION | A5
MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/AP PHOTO
his mind.
“Bustamante reneged and got
into the race,” South said. “And
it gave credibility to the recall.”
Voters will face two questions
on the ballot—whether they want
to recall Newsom and, if so, who
should replace him.
So far, three Republicans have
thrown their hats in the ring—for-
mer San Diego Mayor Kevin Faul-
coner, former Rep. Doug Ose, and
businessman John Cox.
“Americans want their free-
dom,” Williams said. “Americans
want choice, and I think you’re
starting to see that in the cities
where governors are getting a
little bit too tyrannical.”
People are starting to push back,
Williams said, “and that’s the
American way.”
The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
HECTOR VIVAS/GETTY IMAGES
Mexican President Andrés Manuel
López Obrador during a briefing at
Presidential Palace in Mexico City
on March 24, 2021.
large line of male illegal immi-
grants waiting to be processed,
while another photo shows small
children inside a playpen as a TV
is showing children’s shows.
The photos were released after
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas)
and Project Veritas separately
released photos of children sleep-
ing on the floor next to each other.
Cuellar told Axios that they’re be-
ing kept in “terrible conditions”
and said the CBP should transfer
them to facilities operated by the
Department of Health and Hu-
man Services.
Earlier this month, the De-
partment of Homeland Secu-
rity said the Federal Emergency
Management Agency would be
sent to the border to “support a
government-wide effort over the
next 90 days to safely receive,
shelter, and transfer unaccom-
panied children who make the
dangerous journey to the U.S.
southwest border.”
Jack Phillips contributed
to this report.
A6 | NATION
Biden Considering Executive Actions on Gun Control: Psaki
CONTINUED FROM A1
the shootings in Atlanta are just
reminders of how vital it is to move
forward on gun safety measures in
a range of formats. But I don’t have
an update on when those execu-
tive actions or what steps might be
next at this point,” she said.
A shooting on March 21 at a King
Soopers supermarket in Boulder,
Colorado, left 10 people dead, in-
cluding a police officer. The alleged
shooter was identified as Ahmad Al
Aliwi Alissa, 21. Officials refused to
comment when asked about the
weapon the suspect used.
The suspect’s 34-year-old broth-
er, Ali Aliwi Alissa, told The Daily
Beast that his brother was mentally
ill, disturbed, and paranoid, as well
as “very anti-social.” He added that
his sibling didn’t commit the shoot-
ing for political or ideological rea-
sons, blaming what happened on
mental illness.
In a statement released on March
22, Biden expressed that he wanted
prompt action on gun control.
“I don’t need to wait another min-
ute, let alone an hour, to take com-
monsense steps that will save the
lives in the future and to urge my
colleagues in the House and Senate
to act,” he said. “We can close the
loopholes in our background check
system, including the ‘Charleston
loophole.’ That’s one of the best
tools we have right now to prevent
gun violence.”
The “Charleston loophole” is a
provision in federal law that al-
lows gun sales to proceed if a
background check hasn’t been
finalized in three days. The term,
used by gun control activists, refers
to a mass shooting in Charleston,
South Carolina, on June 17, 2015.
Biden also said that he believes
the Senate “should immediately
pass the two House-passed bills
that close loopholes in the back-
ground check system.”
The House approved two mea-
sures on March 11 on gun sales.
The first bill, the Bipartisan Back-
ground Checks Act of 2021 (H.R.
8), expands background checks
on people who are seeking to buy
Most Members of Congress
Don’t Consume News From
Across the Aisle: Study
ZACHARY STIEBER
Most Democratic and Republican
members of Congress don’t inter-
act with news sources from across
the political aisle, according to a
new study.
While no Democrats interact
more than half the time with right-
leaning news sources on Twitter,
5.3 percent of Republican mem-
bers interact more than half the
time with left-leaning sources.
Republicans with the most
left-leaning news diets were Sen.
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), with
76 percent of interactions with
sources from across the aisle,
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) at
67 percent, and Sen. Marco Rubio
(R-Fla.) at 65 percent.
Democrats with the most right-
leaning interactions were Rep.
Dina Titus (D-Nev.) with 46 per-
Biden: North Korea’s Missile Test ‘Business as Usual’
IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
President Joe Biden said on
March 23 that North Korea’s test
of a short-range missile system is
“business as usual.”
The reclusive communist re-
gime conducted the test, its first
since Biden took office, over the
weekend, according to two senior
White House officials who briefed
reporters on the condition of ano-
nymity.
Biden, when asked if the test was
a provocation, said: “No, accord-
Health care workers walk out of a King Soopers grocery store after a gunman opened fire in Boulder, Colo., on March 22, 2021.
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
White House press secretary Jen
Psaki speaks during the daily press
briefing at the White House on
March 17, 2021.
or transfer guns. The second bill,
the Enhanced Background Checks
Act of 2021 (H.R. 1446), would close
the “Charleston loophole” by ex-
tending the background check pe-
riod to 10 days. The two measures
are pending before the Senate.
“These are bills that received
People are choos-
ing sides and stick-
ing with it.
Harleen Kaur, co-founder,
Ground News
cent, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) at
34 percent, and Rep. Susie Lee (D-
Nev.) at 21 percent right.
The average Democratic mem-
ber of Congress interacted with
just 4 percent of right-leaning news
sources and 60 percent left ones;
the average Republican’s news diet
included 22 percent of left-leaning
sources, with the majority com-
ing from outlets considered in the
center.
The top news sources among
Democrats were The New York
Times, The Washington Post, and
ing to the Defense Department,
it’s business as usual. There’s no
new wrinkle in what they did.”
Asked if the weapons test would
affect diplomacy, Biden chuckled
and walked away.
The missile test was conducted
just days after Kim Yo Jong, the
sister of North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un, threatened the United
States and South Korea for con-
ducting joint military exercises.
North Korea has ignored offers
from the Biden administration to
resume negotiations. Secretary of
votes of both Republicans and
Democrats in the House. This is not
and should not be a partisan issue;
this is an American issue. It will
save lives—American lives—and
we have to act,” Biden said. “We
should also ban assault weapons
in the process.
“We can ban assault weapons and
high-capacity magazines in this
country once again. I got that done
when I was a senator. It passed. It
was law for the longest time, and it
brought down these mass killings.
We should do it again.”
The National Rifle Association,
meanwhile, quoted from the Sec-
ond Amendment in a Twitter post
late on March 22: “A well-regulated
militia, being necessary to the se-
curity of a free state, the right of the
people to keep and bear arms, shall
not be infringed.”
In a statement late on March 23,
the gun rights advocacy group
Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) reads a copy of The Hill newspaper prior to a news
conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 15, 2018.
the Los Angeles Times, while Re-
publicans were most likely to con-
sume news from Fox News, The
Wall Street Journal, and Breitbart.
The study was conducted by
Ground News using its new bot,
Blindspotter. It analyzed a user’s
last 3,200 tweets as of March 11 and
tabulated the content a user re-
plied to, liked, tweeted, or shared.
Ground News has its own rating
of news sources, drawn from bias
State Antony Blinken last week
pressed China to use its “tre-
mendous influence” to convince
Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear
program.
The short-range tests conducted
over the weekend aren’t a viola-
tion of any U.N. Security Coun-
cil resolutions, according to the
White House officials.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry
said it detected two cruise missile
launches from North Korea’s west
coast on March 21.
South Korean lawmaker Ha
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
We are certainly
considering a
range of levers,
including working
through legisla-
tion, including
executive actions.
Jen Psaki,
White House press secretary
ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES
data provided by Media Bias/Fact
Check, AllSides.com, and The Me-
dia Bias Chart.
“Everybody talks about that we
are more divided than ever before,
and that’s evident in the news that
people are consuming,” Ground
News co-founder Harleen Kaur
told The Epoch Times. “People
are choosing sides and sticking
with it rather than having a more
balanced news diet that we should
Tae-keung said on Facebook that
he was told by agency officials
from Seoul’s spy agency that the
North fired two cruise missiles
off its western seaport of Nampo
around 6:36 a.m. on March 21.
Ha, an executive secretary of the
National Assembly’s intelligence
committee, which regularly re-
ceives closed-door briefings
from the spy agency, said he was
told that the U.S. and South Ko-
rean militaries had detected the
launches but had agreed not to
publicize them.
CHET STRANGE/GETTY IMAGES
expressed condolences over the
shooting and accused gun con-
trol advocates of having “already
rushed to politicize this horrific
situation—even as most of the sa-
lient facts remain unknown.”
“It is our longstanding rule to wait
for all the facts to be known before
making any policy statements,” the
group wrote.
The mass shooting in Boulder
came days after a gunman opened
fire on local businesses in Atlanta,
in which eight people—including
six of Asian descent—were killed
at three separate massage parlors.
Atlanta shooting suspect Robert
Aaron Long, 21, claimed responsi-
bility and reportedly told officers
that his actions weren’t racially
motivated, but were because he
wanted to end his sexual addiction.
Zachary Stieber and Jack Phillips
contributed to this report.
hope for and expect.”
Kaur believes people, includ-
ing members of Congress, should
work to consume news from varied
sources.
“Say you read New York Times,
Washington Post, all the time, you
should read Epoch Times or other
publications to broaden your hori-
zon and understand the issues that
you might not be aware of if you
just stick to the sources on one of
the sides,” she said.
Limitations of the study include
not being able to see what users are
reading and sharing from Twitter.
There were a few surprises in
the data. Users that are painted
by some as not balanced were
actually found to have a pretty
balanced news diet, Kaur noted,
identifying Jack Posobiec of One
America News and Tucker Carlson
of Fox News as examples.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
(R-Ga.), who had the most right-
leaning news diet, had Posobiec
among her top three influencers,
according to the study. On the left,
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)
had the most left-leaning news
consumption.
Kim Yo Jong’s statement was
issued as Blinken and Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in
Asia for talks with U.S. allies Ja-
pan and South Korea about North
Korea and other regional issues.
Former President Donald
Trump, who met with Kim Jong
Un three times during his four
years in office, was the first U.S.
president to set foot on North Ko-
rean soil. Pyongyang appears to
have not conducted any nuclear
or long-range missile tests since
2017.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021 NATION | A7
ERIC BARADAT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

“We ask that you confirm that the Ameri-

can Rescue Plan Act does not prohibit States
from generally providing tax relief,” wrote
the coalition, led by Georgia, Arizona, and
West Virginia.
In her response, Yellen asserted that
nothing in the American Rescue Plan Act
prevents U.S. states from enacting a broad
variety of tax cuts.

[The Biden administra-

tion] forgot that the states
created the federal gov-
ernment, not the other
way around.
Arizona Attorney General
Mark Brnovich

“That is, the Act does not ‘deny States the

President Joe Biden, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks during a listening session with Georgia Asian American and Pacific Islander
community leaders at Emory University in Atlanta on March 19, 2021.
Arizona AG Threatens to Sue Biden
Over Rescue Plan Act Provision
ISABEL VAN BRUGEN
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich
threatened on March 23 to sue the Biden
administration over a provision in the $1.9
trillion pandemic rescue plan that could
bar states from using its funds to offset
tax cuts.
“Looks like we will see the Biden admin-
istration in court. It forgot that the states
created the federal government, not the
other way around,” the Republican attorney
general said on Twitter.
In his Twitter post, Brnovich shared a
letter from Treasury Secretary Janet Yel-
len addressed to him and Republican at-
torneys general from 20 other states. That
letter was a response to the states after
they questioned the provision from the
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that
could prohibit states from using federal
funds to pay for tax cuts.
The stipulation of President Joe
Biden’s sweeping relief package
highlighted by the 21 attorneys
general states, “A state or ter-
ritory shall not use the funds
provided under this section
or transferred pursuant to this
section to either directly or in-
directly offset a reduction in the
net tax revenue of such state or
territory resulting from a change
in law, regulation, or adminis-
trative interpretation during the General Mark Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
covered period that reduces any
tax (by providing for a reduction
in a rate, a rebate, a deduction, a credit or ering new tax credits or cuts they believe
otherwise) or delays the imposition of any could be jeopardized simply because of
tax or tax increase.”
In a letter on March 16, the attorneys
general argued that the prohibition is
“unclear, but potentially breath-
taking”—airing concerns that
any tax cut could be construed
as taking advantage of the pan-
demic relief funds.
Signing on to the letter were
Arizona, Georgia, West Virgin-
ia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida,
Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri,
Arizona
Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma,
Attorney South Carolina, South Dakota,
Brnovich. The group listed over a dozen in-
stances of states currently consid-
the relief funds.
ability to cut taxes in any manner what-
soever.’ It simply provides that funding
received under the Act may not be used
to offset a reduction in net tax revenue re-
sulting from certain changes in state law,”
Yellen wrote. “If States lower certain taxes
but do not use funds under the Act to offset
those cuts—for example, by replacing the
lost revenue through other means—the
limitation in the Act is not implicated.
“It is also important to note that States
choosing to use the federal funds to offset a
reduction in net tax revenue do not thereby
forfeit their entire allocation of funds ap-
propriated under this statute.
“The limitation affects States’ ability to
retain only those federal funds used to off-
set a reduction in net tax revenue resulting
from certain changes in state law.”
Yellen noted that the Treasury is working
to craft further guidance to address the is-
sues raised by the coalition.
Ohio became the first state to sue Biden’s
administration over his pandemic rescue
plan, arguing on March 17 that the pro-
vision holds a “gun to the head of states”
by blocking them from cutting taxes, and
exceeds the authority of Congress.
“[States] can either have the badly needed
federal funds or their sovereign authority to
set state tax policy,” Republican Ohio Attor-
ney General Dave Yost said in his lawsuit.
“But they cannot have both. In our current
economic crisis, that is no choice at all. It is
a metaphorical ‘gun to the head.’”
The White House didn’t respond to a re-
quest by The Epoch Times for comment by
press time.
The Associated Press
contributed to this report.

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Commission authorized all voters

Wisconsin Assembly
Authorizes Investigation
Into 2020 Election
ZACHARY STIEBER
The Wisconsin state Assembly has
approved a resolution authoriz-
ing an investigation into the 2020
presidential election.
In a party-line 58–35 vote, the
lower chamber on March 23 ap-
proved Assembly Resolution 15,
which says in part that “the integri-
ty of our electoral process has been
jeopardized by election officials
who, either through willful disre-
gard or reckless neglect, have failed
to adhere to our election laws by, at
various times, ignoring, violating,
and encouraging noncompliance
with bright-line rules established
by the statutes and regulations
governing the administration of
elections in Wisconsin.”
The resolution, which notes that
the duty of the state legislature is
to make laws and to conduct over-
sight of Wisconsin officials, directs
the Assembly Committee on Cam-
paigns and Elections to investigate
the administration of elections in
the state, focusing in particular on
elections conducted after Jan. 1,
2019.
The resolution grants the panel
subpoena power to compel testi-
mony and gather documents, Rep.
Joe Sanfelippo, a co-sponsor, told
reporters before the vote.
“This is important because over
the past year, year and a half, we’ve
heard allegations of improprieties
being done, specifically state laws
on the books not being followed,”
he said.
Sanfelippo hopes that subpoenas
won’t be required.
“I would expect that we really
don’t have to come to that,” he said.
A woman casts her ballot on the first day of in-person early voting for the Nov.
3, 2020, elections in Milwaukee on Oct. 20, 2020.
“I think that this is going to be an
open and honest discussion and I
can’t understand why any elected
official in the state would not want
to talk openly and publicly about
the administration of elections in
their areas.”
In a separate news conference,
which was conducted virtually,
state Assembly Minority Leader
Gordon Hintz called the resolu-
tion an attempt to “delegitimatize
the election results of November.”
“Republicans seem to be making
a concerted effort ... to undermine
the public’s confidence and trust,”
he added.
Wisconsin judges rejected a
number of lawsuits challenging
the election results and methods
used to conduct the election, such
as how the Wisconsin Elections
to count themselves as “indefinite-
ly confined” amid the COVID-19
pandemic. That designation let
voters who wanted to fill out absen-
tee ballots avoid in-person voting.
President Joe Biden was certified
the winner of Wisconsin by about
20,000 votes over former President
Donald Trump.
Republicans last month ordered
an audit of the election from the
nonpartisan Legislative Audit
Bureau. Also this year, the assem-
bly passed a resolution accusing
county clerks of failing to enforce
certain voting laws.
Auditors with the bureau will go
out and look for information but
“they don’t necessarily have the
public hearings or receive the pub-
lic input,” Assembly Speaker Robin
Vos told reporters on March 23.
“They’re going to do the behind-
the-scenes work which is very
valuable,” Vos added. “We’d like
to have one that is a more public
process where people can actually
come in and we can do a better job
investigating than just having a
simple hearing.”

Biden Consults Regularly With Obama on ‘Range of Issues,’ Psaki Says

IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
President Joe Biden and former
President Barack Obama discuss a
range of issues over the phone on a
regular basis, according to White
House press secretary Jen Psaki.
“Well, I will say, having a unique
view of this question, they were
not just the president and vice
president, they are friends, and
they consult and talk about a
range of issues,” Psaki said dur-
ing a press briefing at the White
House on March 22. “I would ex-
pect that continues through the
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
President Joe Biden greets for-
mer President Barack Obama after
Biden’s inauguration at the U.S. Capi-
tol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021.
course of President Biden’s presi-
dency.”
Psaki made the remarks in re-
sponse to a question from a re-
porter who asked if Obama had
visited the White House, point-
ing out that the former president
was participating in an Affordable
Care Act event at around the time
Biden was highlighting the legis-
lation’s 11th anniversary.
“That can be done over the
phone, it turns out,” Psaki said,
about Biden’s communications
with Obama. “I think if Presi-
dent Obama had been here, you
would all know. He’s a recogniz-
able figure.
“But I expect, given former Presi-
dent Obama’s work on the Afford-
able Care Act, President Biden’s
commitment to expanding access
to health care throughout his pres-
idency, that, you know, it’s an issue
they’ll talk about.”
At the 11th anniversary event,
Obama praised Biden for ex-
panding the measure, commonly
known as Obamacare, as part of
the COVID-19 stimulus package.
“We’ve still got more work to do,”
Obama said. “Even with the Ameri-
can Rescue Plan, there are still mil-
lions of people who should be able
to get Medicaid but their governors
are still resistant, and that expan-
sion still hasn’t taken place in some
big states with a lot of people.”
Obama broke an unspoken tra-
dition for former presidents and
regularly criticized then-President
Donald Trump upon departing
the White House in 2017; he cam-
paigned for Biden actively in 2020.
Biden has appointed a number
of Obama-era officials to senior
positions at the White House and
federal agencies.
A8 | NATION
New Arizona State
Law Provides Civil
Remedies for Human
Trafficking Victims
ISABEL VAN BRUGEN
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on March 23
signed into law a bill that will provide civil
remedies for victims of human trafficking.
The legislation, H.B. 2116, is backed by
state Attorney General Mark Brnovich
and state Rep. Shawnna Bolick, and re-
ceived unanimous legislative support.
It will allow human and sex trafficking
victims to take civil action against their
perpetrators and anyone else who con-
tributes to their abuse.
“Human and sex trafficking victims
can now seek civil remedies against their
perpetrators as a result of legislation we
worked with [Bolick] to enact. Proud to
help survivors obtain justice and help
rebuild their lives,” Brnovich said in a
Twitter post.
“Society needs to do everything we can
to assist victims of this horrific crime and
help them rebuild their lives,” he said in
a separate statement. “Our office will
continue to be at the forefront of obtain-
ing justice for victims of trafficking, and
this law provides an additional resource
for survivors to hold their traffickers ac-
countable for the lives they’ve thrown
into chaos.”
Previously in the state, human and sex
trafficking victims were only addressed
in criminal statutes and weren’t permit-
ted to take civil action against the per-
petrators.
The attorney general’s office said that
it has, since 2015, prosecuted or is cur-
rently prosecuting 282 cases involving
330 defendants that are connected to sex
trafficking, child sex trafficking, sexual
exploitation of minors, or illegal enter-
prises and money laundering in the traf-
ficking arena, such as massage parlors.
Many massage parlors are known to il-
legally offer sexual services and are com-
monly staffed by those who have fallen
victim to human trafficking rings.
The forced labor and human trafficking
industry is estimated to be worth $150
billion worldwide, according to the U.N.’s
International Labour Organization.
Republican lawmaker Bolick praised
Ducey’s decision to enact the legisla-
tion, saying it has been an honor to work
with the attorney general and his staff
to combat human and sex trafficking in
the state.
“Justice for trafficking victims doesn’t
end when perpetrators are sentenced for
their crimes. This new law allows victims
to recover the economic losses they suf-
fered during the time their perpetrators
were committing the crime, but more
importantly, it addresses the host of re-
lated physical and mental damages that
occur as a result of being trafficked,” she
said in a statement.
Separately on March 23, Texas Gov.
Greg Abbott said that recent decisions
made by the Biden administration on
the U.S.–Mexico border are embolden-
ing human traffickers to “ramp up their
criminal operations.”
“Recent decisions by your administra-
tion are emboldening dangerous car-
tels, smugglers, and human traffickers
to ramp up their criminal operations,”
the governor said in a letter to the White
House. “In many cases, these criminals
entice unaccompanied minors into in-
humane conditions and expose them to
abuse and terror.”
North Carolina Senator Accuses Elections
Director of Breaking Law in Easing
Voting Requirements
TOM OZIMEK
A North Carolina state senator accused
the director of the state’s Board of Elec-
tions (BOE) of breaking the law ahead of
last November’s general election by agree-
ing to a settlement that changed the rules
around voting—allegations that the official
has denied.
“In my heart, you broke the law,” Sen. Bill
Rabon, a Republican, told BOE Executive
Director Karen Brinson Bell, at a Senate hear-
ing on March 23.
Rabon’s allegations of unlawful conduct
were in reference to Bell entering into
an agreement in September 2020 with a
union-affiliated group to settle a lawsuit
that sought to ease some voting require-
ments. The group argued that restrictive
absentee rules burdened the right to vote
Protesters gather at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
DOJ Refers Prosecutor’s Capitol Breach
Interview to Internal Watchdog
JANITA KAN
Former Acting U.S. Attorney Michael
Sherwin could face an internal review
over comments he made during a recent
interview about the Jan. 6 breach of the
U.S. Capitol, a department lawyer told a
judge on March 23.
John Crabb, the chief of the criminal di-
vision for the U.S. attorney’s D.C. office,
made the comments after a federal judge
admonished the department over recent
disclosures to the media about the ongoing
investigation into the Capitol breach. One
of the disclosures was Sherwin’s television
interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” while
the other was a New York Times report that
cited anonymous sources.
Crabb acknowledged
that both media dis-
closures likely violate
DOJ policy.
“These types of statements in the media
have the potential to affect the jury pool and
the rights of these defendants,” U.S. District
Judge Amit Mehta said during a hearing in
the case against 10 members and associates
of the Oath Keepers paramilitary group, who
are charged with conspiracy.
“Let this hearing serve as notice on the
Department of Justice that I will not toler-
ate continued publicity in the media that
I believe affect the fair trial rights of these
defendants.”
Crabb acknowledged that both media
disclosures likely violate DOJ policy and
that both matters have been referred to
the department’s Office of Professional
Responsibility.
“We understand and we share the court’s
concerns about the media contacts and dis-
closures that have been made,” Crabb said.
during the COVID-19 pandemic, in viola-
tion of the state constitution.
North Carolina’s Democratic-controlled
elections board unanimously authorized
Bell to enter into the agreement, which intro-
duced a number of rule changes that Senate
Republicans on March 23 argued amounted
to modifications to state election laws, which
they said are constitutionally the sole pur-
view of the state General Assembly.
“This was nothing but an unprecedented
effort to usurp the North Carolina General
Assembly,” Republican Sen. Joyce Krawiec
said at the March 23 hearing.
Bell pushed back against the claim that
laws were broken, saying, “The rules were
changed, but the laws were not changed.”
She said it was a state attorney that negoti-
ated the settlement details and that courts
ultimately upheld the rule changes as legal.
Michael Sherwin, then-acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, speaks during a news con-
ference at the Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 12, 2021.
“The department has already taken steps
with respect to both of those.”
During his rebuke, Mehta said he was “sur-
prised ... to say the least” to see Sherwin
make public comments about a pending
criminal investigation.
“Let me just say at the outset that I am sur-
prised, I’m being restrained in my use of ter-
minology, to say the least, to see Mr. Sherwin
sitting for an interview about a pending case
in an ongoing criminal investigation,” the
judge said, according to The Hill.
Sherwin, who was overseeing the Capi-
tol breach investigation until last week,
told “60 Minutes” that he believes that the
evidence obtained by federal investigators
so far would likely allow the federal gov-
ernment to prove cases of sedition against
some individuals.
“I personally believe the evidence is
trending toward that, and probably meets
those elements,” Sherwin said. “I believe
the facts do support those charges. And I
think that, as we go forward, more facts
LOGAN CYRUS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
An election worker carries a large stack of
absentee ballot applications at the Mecklen-
burg Board of Elections office in Charlotte,
N.C., on Sept. 4, 2020.
“I do not believe we broke the law, and the
courts have held that we did not break the
law,” she said.
Krawiec remained unconvinced, saying, “I
just find it amazing that you still believe that
you didn’t change a law.”
The settlement delayed by six days the
date set in state law by which absentee bal-
lots postmarked by Election Day could be
received and still count. It also relaxed the
rules about witness information require-
ments on the outer envelopes of absentee bal-
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
SAMUEL CORUM/GETTY IMAGES
SARAH SILBIGER/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
will support that.”
Under federal law, sedition includes a con-
spiracy to overthrow the U.S. government, or
to oppose the authority by force, or prevent,
hinder, or delay the execution of any law of
the United States. These charges carry a pen-
alty of up to 20 years imprisonment.
So far, none of the more than 400 cases
the Justice Department opened in relation
to the Jan. 6 breach have charged sedition.
But a small number of the defendants have
been charged with conspiracy, including
individuals affiliated with militia groups.
Sherwin said of those 400 defendants that
more than 80 percent of the individuals were
charged with trespassing on the U.S. Capi-
tol, while about 100 individuals have been
charged with assaulting federal and local
police officers.
Sherwin didn’t immediately respond to a
request by The Epoch Times for comment.
The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
lots and made it easier for absentee ballots to
be handed in at early in-person voting sites.
Following the settlement deal, the two Re-
publican members of the North Carolina
elections board resigned. Ken Raymond said
in his resignation letter that lawyers with the
state attorney general’s office didn’t explain
all the implications of the settlement before
he signed off.
“It is impossible to have true bipartisanship
when both sides of the political aisle do not
have the important and vital information
needed to make the right decisions,” Ray-
mond wrote.
The settlement deal also prompted ac-
cusations from Republican legislative
leaders that election officials had cut a
backroom deal to favor left-leaning can-
didates and causes.
Republican legislative leaders and Presi-
dent Donald Trump’s campaign challenged
the changes in court, arguing they overruled
state laws. But while a federal trial judge’s
ruling in October led state board officials to
alter their guidance on witness information,
the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately left the
ballot deadline extension in place.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
Chinese Threat
to Taiwan Closer
‘Than Most Think’:
US Admiral
FRANK FANG
Taiwan is facing a more imminent
threat from a possible Chinese in-
vasion than most people realize,
U.S. Adm. John Aquilino said dur-
ing a  hearing  over his nomina-
tion to become commander of the
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (IN-
DOPACOM) on March 23.
Aquilino, who if confirmed
would succeed Adm. Philip Da-
vidson  as commander of U.S.
forces in the Pacific, was asked
during the Senate Armed Services
Committee hearing about David-
son’s recent comment that Beijing
could invade Taiwan in the “next
six years.”
In response, Aquilino, the com-
mander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet,
declined to endorse the estimate,
saying that there were “many
numbers out there” ranging from
“today to 2045,” but warned of the
imminent threat against the self-
ruled island.
“My opinion is, this problem is
much closer to us than most think,”
Aquilino said. “We have to take this
on, put those deterrence capabili-
ties like PDI in place in the near
term and with urgency.”
The Pacific Deterrence Initiative
(PDI), created under the 2021 Na-
tional Defense Authorization Act,
the Pentagon’s annual spending
China, Russia Have
Caught Up With West
in Air Power: UK Minister
ALEXANDER ZHANG
China and Russia are developing
capabilities to counter and sur-
pass the air power of the Western
alliance, a British defense official
has warned.
“Thirty years ago, the UK and
its Western allies appeared un-
challenged in the air domain,”
said Jeremy Quin, Britain’s min-
ister for defense procurement, on
March 24 in reference to the first
Gulf War in 1991.
“Today, our adversaries have
caught up. But a major national
and international endeavor is now
underway,” he told the Combat Air
Power conference hosted by the
Royal United Services Institute, a
London-based defense think tank.
Quin said that, since the 1991
Gulf War, “the likes of Russia and
China have studied our strengths
in the air and begun developing
the capabilities to not only coun-
9 Countries Summon Chinese Envoy Over Xinjiang Row
EVA FU
Nine U.S. allies in Europe have
summoned China’s ambassadors
in protest after Beijing slapped
sanctions on a dozen European
officials, researchers, and institu-
tions that have been vocal about
the regime’s human rights abuses.
The “sanctioning of members
of Parliament and scientists is
absolutely incomprehensible,”
German Foreign Minister Heiko
Maas said in a March 23 statement
after meeting with the Chinese
ambassador in Berlin. “While we
sanction abuses of human rights,
Beijing sanctions democracy. We
cannot accept this.”
At least eight other countries,
including France, Denmark, Bel-
gium, Estonia, Lithuania, the Neth-
erlands, Sweden, and Italy, have
also called in the Chinese envoys
to register their complaints during
the past two days.
The Chinese measure came on
bill, is aimed at securing advanced
military capabilities to deter Chi-
na’s military threats in the Indo-
Pacific region. The PDI is akin to
the European Deterrence Initia-
tive, which was launched in 2014
to enhance U.S. military readiness
in Europe.
INDOPACOM has proposed that
Congress should provide the PDI
with around $27 billion in addi-
tional spending from 2022 to 2027,
including $4.6 billion for the fiscal
year 2022. The money would be
spent on new weapons such as a
missile defense system on Guam
and collaboration with allies in
the region.
Aquilino said the Chinese re-
gime has its eyes set on Taiwan,
which Beijing claims is a part of
its territory.
“They view it as their number
one priority. The rejuvenation of
the Chinese Communist Party is
at stake,” Aquilino said.
Taiwan is a de facto independent
country with its own democrati-
cally elected officials, military,
constitution, and currency. Cur-
rently, Washington doesn’t have
formal diplomatic ties with Taipei
but has maintained a robust rela-
tionship with the island under the
Taiwan Relations Act, which au-
thorizes the United States to sup-
ply Taiwan with military equip-
ter but surpass us.”
“We’ve seen China build multiple
highly effective systems that chal-
lenge Western warfighting. Pro-
ducing J-20 fifth-generation fight-
ers, Y-20 heavy transport aircraft,
armed stealth UAVs [unmanned
aerial vehicles], not to mention the
world’s most modern surface-to-air
missiles,” he said.
Both China and Russia are now
exporting advanced air technolo-
gies to many North African, Mid-
dle Eastern, and Asian countries,
he said.
He predicted that, by 2040,
Western air forces will be con-
fronted by adversaries armed
with high-end artificial intelli-
gence-assisted precision weapon
systems and “a range of surface-
to-air and hypersonic missiles
that have greater maneuverabil-
ity, greater lethality, and a greater
range than ever before.”
“If we fail to outmatch these tar-
the heels of coordinated Western
sanctions on March 22 from the
United States, the UK, Canada,
and the European Union to punish
Beijing’s repressive policy in Xinji-
ang. It marked the first of its kind
that the EU imposed on China in
three decades.
In apparent retaliation, the Chi-
nese foreign ministry singled out
10 individuals and four entities for
sanctions, accusing them of “mali-
ciously spread[ing] lies and disin-
formation” and harming Chinese
sovereignty. The ban would block
the individuals and their fami-
lies—among them eight European
politicians and two scholars, two
subcommittees under the Europe-
an Parliament and the EU—from
entering China and restrict associ-
ated entities from doing business
with the country.
The aggressive response from
Beijing has prompted an outpour-
ing of support toward the target-
ed individuals and entities, with
Taiwanese sailors salute the island’s flag at the Tsoying naval base in Kaohsiung on Jan. 31, 2018.
ment for the island’s defense.
However, the United States has
maintained a longstanding policy
of “strategic ambiguity”—mean-
ing not clearly stating whether the
U.S. government would come to
defend Taiwan in the event of a
Chinese attack.
Aquilino hinted that the U.S. mil-
itary wouldn’t stand idly by in such
an event because that would “im-
pact the credibility of the United
States as a partner in the region.”
If the Chinese regime were to
seize Taiwan, Aquilino said that
would “negatively impact” the
United States’ standing in the
region and its ability “to operate
freely in that area.”
Additionally, global trade would
Chinese J-15 fighter jets being launched from the deck of the Liaoning air-
craft carrier during military drills in the Yellow Sea, off China’s east coast,
on Dec. 23, 2016.
gets, and they continue at this pace,
we could find ourselves locked out
of the skies,” he said.
“We have to preserve our freedom
to protect ourselves and cannot
accept large parts of the world be-
coming potentially out of bounds.”
Quin said the UK needs “highly
capable systems” to counter these
“highly capable threats.”
He said the UK government will
invest more than 2 billion pounds
($2.74 billion) to develop and de-
Daniel Twining of the U.S. non-
profit International Republican
Institute—who got on Beijing’s
blacklist last year for supporting
Hong Kong—calling it “a badge
of honor.”
Ann Linde, the foreign minister
for Sweden, called the Chinese
sanctions “unacceptable.” Swe-
den’s “support for human rights
remains unchanged, which was
communicated by State Secretary
Rydberg to China’s ambassador to-
day,” she said in a March 23 tweet.
In France, Chinese ambassador
Lu Shaye also drew fire for the em-
bassy’s inflammatory comments
defending the regime’s policies. He
called the Paris-based researcher
Antoine Bondaz “mad hyena” and
“little thug” after China imposed
sanctions on him and others.
Lu, upon being summoned, ini-
tially cited “scheduling issues” for
a delay in talks.
“Neither France nor Europe is a
doormat,” Europe Minister Clé-
be impacted given Taiwan’s strate-
gic location, according to Aquilino.
In terms of Taiwan’s self-de-
fense, Aquilino applauded the is-
land for investing in the Harpoon
missile system.
“I’m encouraged by the capa-
bilities that they’re investing in,
in an indigenous fashion for their
defense. The example I would
give you is the Harpoon system.
I thought that was very thought-
ful and the right capability for one
example,” Aquilino said.
The Harpoon Coastal Defense
System was part of a $2.37 billion
U.S. arms sale to Taiwan approved
by the Trump administration in
October last year.
Taiwan’s Vice Defense Minister
STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
liver the Tempest fighter jet in col-
laboration with Sweden, Italy, and
potentially Japan.
A prototype for an uncrewed
fighter aircraft, known as Mos-
quito, is also being developed.
According to the International
Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS),
another London-based think tank,
China’s air force has continued to
integrate more advanced systems.
“In October, a modified H-6
bomber was observed carrying
ment Beaune told France Info ra-
dio. “When you are summoned as
an ambassador, you pay a visit to
the foreign ministry.”
“In our relations with China,
there is no room for insults and
attempts at intimidation against
elected officials of the Republic and
researchers,” French Foreign Min-
ister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. “We
stand up for those who embody
freedom of expression and democ-
racy. Always and everywhere.”
Adrian Zenz, a German schol-
ar known for his studies on the
Xinjiang concentration camps,
expressed concerns that Beijing
might be “fundamentally shifting”
its strategy. Instead of flat denial of
evidence on its human rights viola-
tions, “they now feel untouchable
about it all,” he wrote in a March
24 tweet.
“Beijing’s strategy is to simply
crush and silence any global op-
position to its atrocity by inflicting
crushingly punitive measures on
CHINA | A9
MANDY CHENG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Chang Che-ping said in a press
conference on Oct. 27, 2019, that
the Harpoon missiles would allow
the island’s military to destroy half
of any Chinese invasion force, ac-
cording to Taiwanese media.
The Harpoon missile sale was
one of more than 10 arms sales to
Taiwan approved by the Trump
administration. In November last
year, it approved the sale of a $600
billion package of advanced drones
to the island.
Taiwan would be most vulner-
able to a Chinese invasion in the
spring. According to Aquilino,
spring would be the best time of
the year for the Chinese military to
invade, considering light, weather,
and sea conditions.
what appeared to be a very large
air-launched ballistic missile,” the
IISS said in its recent report “The
Military Balance 2021,” which was
published in February.
China continues to develop hy-
personic missile systems, and is
likely developing a replacement
bomber with “a low-observable
design,” the report said.
“At the same time, the air force
is fielding more J-10C Firebird,
J-16, and J-20 combat aircraft
while increased numbers of Y-20
heavy transports mean that the
air force has effectively doubled
its heavy transport fleet in the last
four years.”
Gen. Sir Patrick Sanders, com-
mander of the UK’s Strategic
Command, said earlier this month
that China and Russia are “gain-
ing a decisive advantage in military
information-age technologies.”
“The consequence has been a
succession of strategic surprises,
the erosion of strategic advan-
tage, and the loss of initiative. Un-
checked, it is not unthinkable that
we will find ourselves vulnerable
in time to a fait accompli, where we
have capitulated without a shot be-
ing fired,” he wrote in The Times of
London on March 13.
anyone who speaks out.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony
Blinken said after a meeting with
NATO allies in Brussels that the
Chinese aggressive action has
heightened the importance of a
strong international alliance.
The sanctions “make it all the
more important that we stand
firm and stand together, or else
risk sending the message that bul-
lying works,” he said in a speech
on March 24.
The strained ties between the
EU and China could jeopardize a
bilateral investment deal that the
EU is set to vote on early this year,
which comes after seven years in
the making.
Bondaz, who has since added the
insulting terms to his Twitter bio,
described the countries’ speaking
up as “a symbol of solidarity” in the
28-country European Union bloc to
counter Beijing’s threats.
“United wills form a fortress,” he
said, quoting a Chinese idiom.
A10 | WORLD
Nigerians Criticize US Ambassador as Slayings
of Christians Continue
DOUGLAS G. BURTON
Two weeks after the U.S. ambas-
sador to Nigeria’s controversial
visit to a Muslim cleric, the na-
tion’s lawless central states have
been roiled by violence, includ-
ing several attacks on Chris-
tian farmers, sparking concern
among activists about the direc-
tion of U.S. policy in Nigeria.
In the most notable among
the incidents, a band of alleged
Muslim militants attempted on
March 20 to gun down the gov-
ernor of Benue state as he was de-
parting his farm in south-central
Nigeria by automobile.
“This past weekend, the Benue
State Governor, Dr. Samuel Or-
tom,  was attacked  and barely
escaped death,” Kyle Abts, co-
founder of the International
Committee on Nigeria, told The
Epoch Times.  “Since he made
his assault public, declaring the
attack was clearly by Fulani mili-
tants, he has been harassed by
the Fulani National Movement
(FUNAM) claiming responsibil-
ity, saying ‘We shall assassinate
you soon.’
Visits with the U.S.
ambassador and the
U.S. Mission should
be with the actual
leaders and victims
who have suffered
and endured at the
hands of violent Fu-
lani militants.
Kyle Abts, co-founder,
International Committee
on Nigeria
“Meanwhile, on March 5, the
U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria,
Mary Beth Leonard, was host-
ing the Muslim Fulani leader of
Lagos, Alhaji Mohammed Bam-
bado in Lago.
“No one opposes diploma-
cy, but how does  a discussion
with  a  leader  from  the south-
west of Nigeria promote peace
and development in  a  vola-
tile area far removed from his
influence?”
The diplomat’s outreach was
UK Military Revamp:
Fewer Troops, More Robots,
and New-Look Marines
SIMON VEAZEY
The United Kingdom will shrink
its troop levels to record lows as
the Ministry of Defence puts its
faith in technology, automation,
and cyber and space capabilities
in its long-awaited revamp.
The Defence Command paper,
published March 22, is billed as
the biggest shake-up to the mili-
tary since the Cold War.
The plan includes swarming
drones, a new ship for protect-
ing undersea cables, and for the
Royal Marines to be repurposed
as a commando-style force de-
ployed overseas in the teeth of
geopolitical storms.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace
said the blueprint “marks a shift
from mass mobilization to in-
formation age speed, readiness,
and relevance for confronting the
threats of the future.”
It comes as part of a broader for-
eign policy review that includes
a pivot toward the pacific and to
state-based threats and compe-
tition.
The navy and its carriers re-
main the center-piece of that
pivot to Asia, which was already
outlined last week.
“The UK Armed Forces—work-
called a gaffe by some Nigerian
media.
“The visit by the U.S. Mission
Nigeria was seen by many as a
right step, but in the wrong direc-
tion,” according to the Nigerian
website Opera News, “owing to
the fact that Lagos State has a
Royal Highness—Oba Rilwan
Akinlolu, the traditional ruler in
Lagos who exercises traditional
authority over everybody living
in Lagos, compared to the Sar-
kin Fulani of Lagos, Alh. [Dr.]
Mohammad Abubakar Bambado
II that only controls a minority
tribe in Lagos.”
The U.S. Mission said in a
tweet: “The U.S. firmly believes
that diversity is a strength, not
a weakness. Mission Leader-
ship appreciated the discussion
with the Sarkin Fulani of Lagos
on how to promote inter-ethnic
dialogue and understanding.”
Tilt Toward Muslims?
Some Nigerian activists from
the killing fields of Kaduna state
in north-central Nigeria, where
thousands of Christian farmers
have been slain by Fulani ethnic
bandits or terrorists, say the visit
was objectionable.
“We all saw this in the news. It
was an outrage. And understand-
ably so,” Vincent Bodam, 51, a
businessman in Lagos, told The
Epoch Times in an email. “This
was the first time for such a visit
to an unknown Fulani chief by
any U.S. ambassador. We were
not even told of the reason for the
visit nor the outcome.
“The only time in my recollec-
tion this happened was when the
then-U.S. secretary of state, John
Kerry, snubbed the then-Presi-
dent Goodluck Jonathan and
went straight to see the Sultan
of Sokoto in 2014.”
Bodam, who is also a politician
from southern Kaduna state,
viewed the visit as a return of the
Obama administration’s Muslim-
friendly policy toward Nigeria.
“Ever since Jonathan declined
support for same-sex marriage
in Nigeria, Obama refused to sell
arms to Nigeria to fight Boko Ha-
ram. He tacitly supported [Presi-
dent Muhammadu] Buhari and
never stepped his foot in Nigeria,”
he said.
Abts said: “The U.S. Embassy
exists because it has a diplomat-
ing with the rest of government—
must think and act differently,”
said Wallace. “They will no longer
be held as a force of last resort,
but become more present and
active force around the world.”
Despite a 14 percent boost in
spending, there will be a drop in
troop levels to historic lows.
The Army’s in-
creased deployabil-
ity and technological
advantage will mean
that greater effect
can be delivered by
fewer people.
Ben Wallace,
UK defence secretary
“The Army’s increased deploy-
ability and technological advan-
tage will mean that greater effect
can be delivered by fewer people,”
Wallace told members of Parlia-
ment. “I have therefore taken
the decision to reduce the size
of the Army from today’s current
strength of 76,500 trade trained
personnel to 72,500 by 2025.”
A burned Roman Catholic church in Kizachi, Nigeria, on March 18, 2021.
ic relationship with the Nigeri-
an government, which should al-
low for  mutual criticism and
advisement. As  the United
States promotes its values and
beliefs, it has a vital role to pro-
mote democracy and the rule of
law in Nigeria. Visits with the U.S.
Ambassador and the U.S. Mis-
sion should be with the actual
leaders and victims who have suf-
fered and endured at the hands of
violent Fulani militants.”
Sectarian Violence
Northeast of Lagos, in the bad-
lands of Kaduna state, sectarian
killings forced an evacuation of 800
farmers in the Kauru Local Gover-
nance area over the weekend.
Suspected Fulani militants
killed 12 unarmed Christian
farmers and left some elderly vic-
tims to die in their burning houses
on March 18, according to Law-
rence Zongo, founder of a crisis
website called RuralWatch.news.
The rural village of Kizachi,
near Kamaru in the Kauru Local
Governance Area, approximately
45 miles east of Kaduna city, has
been the scene of numerous ter-
ror attacks, Zongo said.
Three others were killed in a ter-
rorist ambush on March 21, Zongo
told The Epoch Times in an email.
“The community faced a series
That reduction in troops has al-
ready prompted criticism from
former army leaders.
The government is pumping
money into developing military
space and cyber capabilities,
along with unmanned aerial
systems.
“All services recognize the im-
portance of Unmanned Aerial
Systems, which is why we will
also develop combat drone
swarm technologies,” Wallace
said.
The number of tanks is also
to be reduced, raising more
concerns among some military
analysts.
“The British Army had 1,200
main battle tanks at the start of
the first Gulf War, 1990,” Robert
Clark, a military analyst at the
Henry Jackson Society, told The
Epoch Times.
“It is now going to be reduced
from its current 227 to just 148.
So that’s enough for two armored
regiments,” he said. “It’s not even
a token force amount.”
“The U.S., for instance, and
several of our significant part-
ners have seriously questioned
the UK’s ability to sustain an ar-
mored commitment going for-
ward.”
Meanwhile, the Royal Marines
are becoming SAS-style special
operations forces—the Future
Commando Force.
Instead of waiting on home
soil ready to leave at a moment’s
notice, they will be deployed
overseas, hustling for geopoliti-
cal footholds in what is known
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
of attacks by the Fulani gunmen
since the beginning of this year,”
Sunday Williams, chief of the
Kizachi community, said.
“Since January 1, we have lost
23 people to Fulani attacks. No
government assistance has come
to protect my people from being
killed by Fulani from January to
March.”
Ibrahim Simon, an eyewitness
from Kizachi, said: “I heard a
loud shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ [‘God is
great!’] in a Fulani voice. Within
a minute were rapid gunshots. I
narrowly escaped that night.
“The weather was cold, we slept
very early that day, the attackers
came around 10:45 p.m., and the
attack lasted for more than an
hour. The attackers were many,
more than 150.”
The Nigerian army arrived at
about 12:45 a.m., an hour after
the attack ended, Zongo told The
Epoch Times.
He said that a Nigerian army
officer who accompanied him
to the scene said that “everyone
should protect themselves [be-
cause] the Nigeria army can’t be
everywhere.”
The officer advised the villagers
to “stop killing each other” and to
protect themselves, Zongo said.
On March 21, suspected Fulani
tribesmen killed three young
Royal Marines come ashore as they take part in Exercise Joint Warrior in Dun-
drennan, Scotland, on April 26, 2018.
as the “grey zone.”
They will be joined by another
special ops regiment: the Rang-
ers.
“It’s a much more light foot-
print, expeditionary in nature,
deployment capability the Ma-
rines will have going forward,”
said Clark.
He says this forward-deployed
presence can counter the state-
based threats that the UK govern-
ment now regards as the major
security threat.
Special operations forces will
also be used to tackle the so-
called grey zone activity.
That refers to enemy action that
falls short of war from China’s
South China Sea aggression and
island-building, to Russia’s disin-
formation campaigns on Twitter.
LAWRENCE ZONGO
men from the community in an
ambush, with one other wound-
ed by gunfire, according to Paul
Musa, the leader of the young
adult community of Kizachi.
“The Fulani have been attack-
ing our community to take over
the land for grazing,” David Isha-
ya, an elder of the Kizachi, said.
“The Fulani want to displace
us and take over our land. They
killed our people, burned our
houses and clothes; our food also
burned, we don’t have access to
our land, and many may soon die
of hunger.”
Ishaya said: “We want the
American government to assist,
because we are Christians. The
Nigeria government can’t help us.”
Due to strictly enforced gun
control laws in Nigeria, most
rural farmers are unarmed, al-
though the cattle-herding Fulani
people carry assault rifles on a
regular basis.
“The people in Kizachi don’t
have arms like the Fulani,” Zon-
go said. Only a few people with
hunting skills have locally made
single shell shotguns for shooting
monkeys.
“One hunter in Kizachi told me,
‘This is a genocide to our people.
Christians should be trained to
use AK-47 like Fulani. We can’t be
burying our people daily.’”
JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES
According to Clark, special
forces will tackle this kind of war-
fare in collaboration with both
MI6 and GCHQ.
“You are blending traditional
capabilities and non-convention-
al capabilities with intelligence
and cyberspace. So it’s very in-
teresting, going forward.”
In the navy, a new spy ship is
being built to counter the grow-
ing threat to undersea internet
cables, and undersea drones
will replace the fleet of 13 mine-
sweepers.
Overall, reactions to the plans
have been mixed, says Clark. He
thinks that the plans may have
been over-hyped, leaving some
people underwhelmed.
“There’s so much excitement
and build-up,” he said.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021 WORLD | A11

Female Military Member Dies After COVID-19 Vaccine,

Showed No Side Effects: Officials
VINCENZO PINTO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
JACK PHILLIPS

Ukraine’s health agency has report-

ed that a female military member
died after receiving AstraZeneca’s
CoviShield CCP virus vaccine, but
stressed that the public shouldn’t
jump to conclusions.
The agency said the woman
didn’t complain of any side effects
before her death. She died about
two days after receiving the shot,
officials said on the health minis-
try’s website.

The agency said

the woman didn’t
complain of any
side effects before
her death. She died
about two days after
receiving the shot.
The woman had underlying
heart problems and other under-
lying health conditions. Her cause
of death is being investigated, the
health ministry said. Laboratory technicians unbox packages during the production of Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, AZD1222, at Catalent’s facility in Anagni,
The same batch of vaccines was Italy, on Sept. 11, 2020.
used to administer shots to nine
other people without any prob- tries after reports of blood clots and Health (NIH) said in a statement the most accurate, up-to-date effi- letter, we could not just let it go un-
lems, officials said, as reported by deaths. Later, the European Medi- that it and other agencies are “con- cacy data be made public as quickly answered.”
Reuters. cines Agency and the World Health cerned by information released by as possible.” The AstraZeneca vaccine has not
Ukraine’s army also con- Organization stated that the data AstraZeneca on initial data from its Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of yet been approved for emergency
firmed on March 23 that the ser- available doesn’t suggest that the COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial.” the National Institute of Allergy use by the U.S. Food and Drug
vicewoman had died. According to vaccine caused their deaths. “The DSMB [Data and Safety and Infectious Diseases, said in Administration. The company has
Reuters, it’s the first death reported However, some health officials Monitoring Board] expressed con- an interview with STAT: “The Data said it plans to file an application
since Ukraine started vaccination in other countries, including the cern that AstraZeneca may have in- and Safety Monitoring Board were with the FDA in the coming weeks.
in February after getting the Cov- United States, raised concerns on cluded outdated information from concerned that the data that went The vaccine is used widely in the
iShield vaccine. March 23 that positive trial results that trial, which may have provided into the press release by [AstraZen- UK, across the European continent,
Earlier this month, the Astra- released by AstraZeneca earlier an incomplete view of the efficacy eca] was not the most accurate and as well as in other countries includ-
Zeneca vaccine was suspended this week for its vaccine may have data,” the NIH said. “We urge the up-to-date data. That is what the ing India and Thailand.
in Germany, Spain, Italy, France, used incomplete data. company to work with the DSMB to DSMB communicated to AZ in a The company didn’t respond to a
and some other European coun- The U.S. National Institutes of review the efficacy data and ensure rather harsh note. Having seen that request for comment by press time.

UK Toughens Asylum Rules to Tackle Illegal Immigration

ALEXANDER ZHANG
The United Kingdom will carry out
“the most significant overhaul” of
its asylum system in decades to ad-
dress the challenge of illegal im-
migration, Home Secretary Priti
Patel said.
The government’s New Plan for
Immigration, described by Patel
as “fair but firm,” will make it more
difficult for migrants entering the
UK illegally to stay in the country.
“Because while people are dy-
ing, we have a responsibility to
act,” Patel told the House of Com-
mons on March 24.
“People are dying—at sea, in lor-
ries, and in shipping containers—
having put their lives in the hands
of criminal gangs that facilitate il-
legal journeys to the UK. To stop
the deaths, we must stop the trade
in people that causes them.
“For the first time, whether peo-
ple enter the UK legally or illegally
will have an impact on how their
asylum claim progresses.”
The government will “make ev-
ery effort to remove those who
enter the UK illegally having trav-
eled through a safe country first in
which they could and should have
claimed asylum,” Patel said.
People smugglers will face
harsher sentences and can now
be jailed for life, she said.
Patel stressed that Britain has al-
ways celebrated “those who have
come to the UK lawfully and helped
build Britain.”
Since 2015, the UK has resettled
nearly 25,000 refugees and wel-
comed more than 29,000 close
relatives through refugee family
reunions, according to the Home
Office.
Britain also created a pathway to
citizenship for millions of British
National (Overseas) status hold-
ers after Beijing imposed a dra-
conian national security law on
Hong Kong.
“Nobody can say that the Brit-
ish public is not fair or generous
when it comes to helping those in
need,” Patel said.
“But the British public also rec-
ognize that for too long parts of
the immigration system have been
open to abuse.
“Access to the UK’s asylum system
should be based on need, not the
ability to pay people smugglers.”
Patel said Britain’s immigra-
tion system is “collapsing under
the pressure of parallel illegal
routes to asylum, facilitated by
criminal smugglers.” She said
these illegal routes are “deeply
unfair,” as they advance those
with the means to pay smugglers
over those in desperate need.
“It is not fair to the British people
either, whose taxes pay for vital
public services and an asylum
system which has skyrocketed in
cost—now costing over £1 billion
[$1.37 billion] this year,” she said.
The main opposition Labour
party said the failings of the
immigration system have been
caused by the Conservative gov-
ernment’s “lack of compassion
and competence.”
In addition, the new plans “will do
next to nothing to address criminal
gangs and abandons people in dan-
ger,” said Nick Thomas-Symonds,
Labour’s shadow home secretary.

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A facility believed to be a forced labor camp where Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have been detained for “reeducation,” in Artux, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China, on June 2, 2019.
CCP Seeks to Redefine ‘Human Rights’
in Attack on America
ALEX NEWMAN
Under the guise of high-
lighting alleged “human
rights” abuses in the
United States, a new
report set to be released
soon by the Chinese Com-
munist Party aims to com-
pletely redefine the very concept of rights.
This is extremely dangerous.
Of course, the irony of having the most
murderous dictatorship in all of hu-
man history accuse the freest nation in
human history of being a serial human
rights abuser is off the charts. Literally, no
government in world history has slaugh-
tered as many people as the CCP over its
decades in power. And no government in
human history has protected key free-
doms of as many people as the American
experiment.
Naturally, the upcoming CCP report,
expected to be released shortly after the
U.S. government releases its own human
rights report on China, has been almost
universally ridiculed or ignored in the
West. But it is no laughing matter. Ignore
the hypocrisy for now, if you must. But
there is a very real threat to genuine hu-
man rights buried in the report that goes
far beyond semantics.
The real problem is global. Unfortunate-
ly, the CCP-backed campaign to replace
in people’s minds real rights with gov-
ernment-granted privileges has allies in
high places around the world—and even
in America, at some of the nation’s most
prestigious “educational” institutions and
in the halls of government. At the forefront
are the CCP’s allies around the world and
its operatives in the United Nations.
The CCP attack on America, titled “The
Report on Human Rights Violations in
the United States in 2020,” is the latest
version of an annual screed by the re-
gime’s State Council Information Office.
It was launched as a response to U.S.
criticism of the CCP’s record. Each year,
the CCP gets more and more unhinged
in its criticism of the United States.
Phony Concerns
At the top of the CCP’s list of supposed
“human rights” concerns about the Unit-
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021 • A13
ed States last year was the government’s
alleged failure to sufficiently protect
people from the CCP virus unleashed on
the world by the CCP itself. Yes, seriously.
Citing the high death toll from the pan-
demic and America’s advanced medical
technology, the regime argued that this
proved the U.S. government was “incom-
petent” and was failing in its duty to pro-
tect the alleged “human right” to “health.”
“In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic
wreaked havoc around the world, posing
a major threat to human security,” says a
preview of the 15,000-Chinese-character
report offered by CCP propaganda or-
gans. “It went out of control in the United
States following the government’s reck-
less response.”
Of course, the CCP is very familiar with
the U.S. Constitution, whereby people and
states retain most powers for themselves
while granting a few limited authorities to
their agent known as the federal govern-
ment. And under that Constitution, as the
CCP knows very well, the federal govern-
ment doesn’t have totalitarian CCP-style
powers to fight the virus with tyranny.
Instead, the Constitution protects God-
given rights from infringement by the fed-
eral government by limiting federal power.
Ironically, though, even the states that
used the most vicious and draconian
policies to “fight” the CCP virus—think
California and New York, among oth-
ers—had similar or worse outcomes than
states such as Florida and South Dakota
that didn’t weaponize the virus against
individual freedoms.
In other words, protecting real rights
is perfectly compatible—and almost al-
ways associated with—better health and
economic outcomes.
In its upcoming report, pre-release pre-
views show that the CCP also faulted the
Trump administration for “bullying inter-
national organizations” and “promoting
isolation and unilateralism” in the face of
the pandemic. That’s a reference to Presi-
dent Donald Trump’s decision to stop
funding and supporting the CCP-backed
leader of the disgraced World Health Or-
ganization (WHO), which helped Beijing
peddle its lies about the CCP virus.
How ending funding for a CCP mouth-
piece in a United Nations bureaucracy
was a violation of human rights isn’t im-
mediately clear.
Another alleged human rights abuse in
the United States: People of African heri-
tage were more likely to be killed by po-
lice than those of European heritage. The
report ignored the obvious explanations
well known to researchers—black Ameri-
cans are far more likely to be involved in
the criminal justice system, in part due to
the larger number of fatherless homes—
and presented the data point without
context as proof of widespread racism
among U.S. law enforcement.
This is a basic logical fallacy that a well-
educated elementary student should
be able to detect. In reality, studies and
surveys show that America is among
the least racist societies on the planet.
Studies also show that American police
officers are actually less likely to shoot
black suspects than white suspects.
The real danger of the CCP report
is that it is just the tip of the
iceberg in a global campaign
to completely redefine the very
concept of rights—not as God-
given, but as government-granted.
Real Violations by CCP
Meanwhile, the irony of having the CCP
suggest that American government of-
ficials are “racist” in their alleged viola-
tions of human rights defies belief. Just
this month, the Montreal-based Raoul
Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights
and the D.C.-based Newlines Institute
for Strategy and Policy concluded that
the CCP is currently engaged in a geno-
cide against the minority Uyghur ethnic
group in Western China.
“China, as a state, is committing acts of
genocide against the Uyghurs with the
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the
group as such, as exemplified by state-or-
chestrated mass internment, forced birth
prevention and campaigns of eradica-
tion,” explained principal report author
Yonah Diamond, who serves as legal
GREG BAKER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
counsel for the Raoul Wallenberg Centre.
The Dutch Parliament also passed a
motion last month finding that the treat-
ment of the Uyghur minority in China
constitutes a “genocide.”
Now that is real racism and a real
human-rights violation!
In discussing the report, “research
fellow” Lu Xiang at the CCP’s Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, widely cited
in CCP media, even compared Western
concerns about the ongoing Uyghur
genocide in western China to lies by Na-
tional Socialist (Nazi) Minister of Propa-
ganda Joseph Goebbels.
With no apparent sense of irony, the
upcoming CCP report goes on to cite
“money in politics” as a supposed hu-
man rights violation.
Of course, in free countries, citizens
are allowed to participate in the politi-
cal process by supporting candidates or
issues of their choice, whether that be
with their money, their time, their media
outlets, or their speech.
The real violation of real rights, obvi-
ously, is that the CCP regime does not
allow its victims to participate in politics
or govern themselves by choosing their
own leaders.
Now that is a real human rights violation.
At a media briefing on the subject, a
spokesman for the CCP’s foreign minis-
try blasted America’s record.
“We hope the U.S. will abandon double
standards, and face up to serious human
rights issues such as racism and violent
law enforcement, and take concrete
measures to protect human rights,” the
spokesman said.
Like any successful propaganda effort,
the CCP attack on America’s “human
rights” situation does contain some ele-
ments of truth.
In fact, during the pandemic, gover-
nors, and mayors—especially Democrats
in blue states—ruthlessly trampled on
the constitutionally guaranteed human
rights of citizens. But that isn’t what the
CCP report means.
In previous years, the CCP also made its
agenda clear in its “reports” on alleged “hu-
man rights” violations in the United States.
Continued on A16
A14 | OPINION
The American
People Versus the
Democratic Machine
NEWT GINGRICH
Earlier this week, I wrote about
how congressional Democrats
in Arizona (and other politically
mixed states) are going to have
to make a choice about whether
they will serve the people they
represent—or the Democratic ma-
chine that’s running Washington.
Specifically, I was pointing out provi-
sions in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s H.R. 1
that are deeply opposed by most Arizo-
nans. The bill is largely geared toward
keeping Democratic politicians in power
(and their allies well paid) in perpetuity—
despite the will of the American people.
This got me thinking more deeply
about how the American people as a
whole feel about the broader agenda
of the Democratic machine—which
is largely being hidden behind slickly
named legislation and a complicit
national news media that benefits more
from helping the machine than inform-
ing the American people.
First, let me explain what I mean by the
Democratic machine.
In a normal, healthy Congress, each
individual member is there to serve the
interests of his or her constituents. The
leadership has some significant power,
but ultimately the leadership needs its
members’ support to operate effectively.
Leadership understands that some mem-
bers simply can’t vote for some things,
because each district and state is unique.
To navigate this, leadership will in-
troduce legislation, let members read it
DILBERT
PEANUTS
RED AND ROVER
GRAND AVENUE
MUTT & JEFF
The Democratic
machine can
only run if the
American people
remain in the dark.
Like this article? Share it
with your friends and family.
Use the camera on your
smart-phone to scan this code
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COMICS
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks
during her weekly news conference on Capitol
Hill in Washington on Dec. 4, 2020.
and make amendments, and debate the
amendments on the floor. This is how you
make bipartisan legislation that works for,
and has the support of, most of Congress.
When I was speaker of the House,
I spent most of my time listening to
members, learning what they needed for
their districts, and helping to make sure
that the overall agenda had the support
of Republicans—and as many indepen-
dents and Democrats as we could bring
over. Listen, learn, help, and lead—that
was my method.
This isn’t the method Pelosi and Senate
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are using.
They are building a machine. In a machine,
leadership introduces legislation (which
only a handful of insiders have seen) and
calls for a vote. There is no amendment
process. There is no debate. You vote with
the machine, or you are punished.
This is what we saw when H.R. 1 passed
the House (with no Republican support),
and when President Joe Biden’s $1.9 tril-
lion political payoff bill became law (also
with no Republican votes).
Now, this machine can only run if the
American people remain in the dark. If
more Americans see what Democrats
are doing, it’s going to be more and more
difficult for Pelosi to impose her will. This
is because much of the modern Demo-
cratic agenda is totally opposed by most
Americans.
Consider these issues that McLaughlin
& Associates uncovered in a national
survey form Jan. 29—Feb. 2.
GARFIELD
GINGER MEGGS
BIG NATE
DRABBLE
FRANK AND ERNEST
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
On health care, by 89 percent, Ameri-
cans from both sides of the aisle favor
cutting prescription drug prices through
consumer choice and private sector
competition. The same percentage says
insurance should cover all pre-existing
conditions. Eighty-five percent of Ameri-
cans want more choice and competition
to lower health insurance premiums.
On voting integrity, 85 percent of Amer-
icans say mail in ballots must require sig-
nature verification to be counted. Eighty-
four percent say only American citizens
should be able to vote in elections, and 81
percent say photo identification should
be required for all voting—in-person and
absentee.
On the economy, 87 percent support a
“Made in America” tax credit for compa-
nies who manufacture in the United States.
And 82 percent say we must demand fair-
ness in trade with communist China.
In other areas, 87 percent support
mandatory deportation for noncitizens
who are in criminal gangs. Eighty-six
percent of Americans support term limits
for members of both chambers of the
Congress. And a full 85 percent support
protecting religious freedom from gov-
ernment interference.
Eighty-one percent of Americans sup-
port school choice for every American
child—as well as anti-trust legislation to
regulate Big Tech to protect competition,
free speech, and privacy.
Finally, 80 percent of Americans say we
should fully fund (not defund) our police
and law enforcement.
If you go down this list of 80 percent-plus
support issues and consider where the
Democratic machine is on most of these, it
becomes apparent that the 2022 midterm
elections will become much larger than
simply Republicans versus Democrats.
It seems to me that 2022—and potential-
ly 2024—will be defined as the American
people versus the Democratic machine.
I have faith that the American people
will win.
Newt Gingrich, a Republican, served as
House speaker from 1995 to 1999 and ran
as a presidential candidate in 2012.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
SPECIAL SERIES: HOW THE SPECTER OF COMMUNISM IS RULING OUR WORLD
Chapter Sixteen: The Communism
Behind Environmentalism
The Epoch Times here serializes
an adaptation from the Chinese
of “How the Specter of Communism
Is Ruling Our World,” a new book
by the editorial team of the “Nine
Commentaries on the Communist
Party.”
2. Climate Change
b. ‘Consensus’ in Climate Science
‘Disaster Consensus’ Overstated
in IPCC Report (cont.)
David Deming, a geologist and geo-
physicist at the University of Oklaho-
ma, obtained the 150-year historical
temperature data for North America
by studying ice cores and wrote an
article about his research, which was
published in Science. After publica-
tion, Deming said “a major researcher
in the area of climate change” sent
him an email saying, “We have to get
rid of the Medieval Warm Period,”
according to Deming’s testimony at
a U.S. Senate hearing in 2006. The
Medieval Warm Period refers to a pe-
riod of unusually warm weather that
began around AD 1000 and persisted
until a cold period in the 14th century
known as the “Little Ice Age.” More
than 780 scientists from 462 institu-
tions in 40 countries had contributed
to papers over the course of 20 years
saying that the Medieval Warm
Period existed, Deming testified.
However, erasing this period from
the historical curve of climate change
strengthens the claim that any warm-
ing today is unprecedented. [45]
Though hundreds of scientific
papers refute the IPCC’s alleged
consensus, their assertions have been
marginalized in the current academic
and media environment.
In communist countries,
crude political interference
in science is common. In
Western countries, the politics
of environmentalism is
being used to interfere with
academic freedom.
c. Establishing Dogma in
the Scientific Community
The hype generated by communist
forces around climate change is in-
tended not only to pave the way for a
global government, but also to destroy
research ethics in the scientific com-
munity.
Climatology is a young subject
with only a few decades of history.
Yet the hypotheses surrounding
global warming have been prema-
turely taken as fact. The media has
been keeping global warming in
the headlines and covering up the
inaccuracies in the underlying sci-
ence. Governments pour funds into
researching the global warming
hypothesis while marginalizing other
findings. The media and politicians
label the prediction of catastrophic
climate change as “scientifically
proven” and spread it worldwide as
unassailable doctrine. Thus, thinking
on the matter has been largely unified
among the general public, and this
has planted convoluted notions of
right and wrong in people’s minds.
If carried to its conclusion, the
natural trajectory is the establishment
of a global super-government—that
is, communism—for the ostensible
purpose of saving the earth and hu-
mankind from a fabricated or greatly
exaggerated crisis. Destroying the old
world by any means is a basic strategy
of communism.
No matter the academic reputation
of a scientist, once he or she publicly
US CONGRESS
David Bellamy
attends the
Chelsea Flower
Show at Royal
Hospital Chel-
sea in London on
May 18, 2009.
expresses doubts about the consensus
dogma, he or she immediately faces
tremendous pressure from peers and
academic institutions. Some people
have even argued that global warm-
ing skeptics should be prosecuted or
criminalized. Those who have lived in
a communist totalitarian society have
had similar experiences when ques-
tioning communist party dogma.
The late David Bellamy, a well-known
British botanist and president of The
Wildlife Trusts who wrote dozens
of books and papers during his ca-
reer, publicly stated that he did not
believe in the consensus dogma of
global warming. The Wildlife Trusts
responded with a statement expressing
dissatisfaction and ousted him several
months later when his term expired.
[46] Environmentalists who previously
showed him respect began to cast as-
persions on his mental capacity. [47]
The late William Gray, a renowned
professor, was a pioneer of American
hurricane research. After he criticized
the consensus dogma about human-
induced global warming, his research
proposals were repeatedly rejected. [48]
In “Climate of Extremes: Global
Warming Science They Don’t Want
You to Know,” co-author Patrick J. Mi-
chaels, former president of the Ameri-
can Association of State Climatologists
and a climatologist at the University
of Virginia, listed numerous examples
of environmentalists suppressing sci-
entific opinion in order to reach their
alleged consensus. Because Michaels
asserted that changes in the climate
would not necessarily lead to disas-
ter—and this stance was inconsistent
with the consensus dogma—the
governor of Virginia instructed him to
stop speaking on global warming as a
state climatologist. Michaels ultimate-
ly chose to resign. [49]
No matter the academic
reputation of a scientist, once
he or she publicly expresses
doubts about the consensus
dogma, he or she immediately
faces tremendous pressure from
peers and academic institutions.
Washington state assistant clima-
tologist Mark Albright was dismissed
from his position following an inci-
dent involving misleading statements
given by the mayor of Seattle, who
had asserted that “the average snow
pack in the [Cascade Mountains]
has declined 50 percent since 1950.”
Albright began sending his colleagues
data that showed the snow pack in the
Cascades had been growing, rather
than declining, since the 1970s. The
state climatologist at the time de-
manded that Albright begin submit-
ting his emails for vetting before they
were sent, and when Albright refused,
he was stripped of his title. [50]
In communist countries, crude
Scientist David political interference in science is
Deming testifies
common. In Western countries, the
before the Sen-
ate Committee politics of environmentalism is being
on Environment used to interfere with academic free-
and Public Works dom. Academic research that casts
on Capitol Hill in doubt about the consensus dogma is
Washington on rarely seen in academic journals, a
Dec. 6, 2006. phenomenon that began in the 1990s.
CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES
In the 1990 documentary “The Green-
house Conspiracy,” Michaels recount-
ed how he once asked an editor why
one of his papers had been rejected
for publication, and was told that his
work was subject to a higher evalua-
tion standard than that of others. [51]
According to the 1990 IPCC report,
the understanding at the time was
that the extent of global warming was
equivalent to natural changes in cli-
mate. Therefore, although Michaels’s
point of view was different from that
of many others, it could not be re-
garded as heretical. However, the goal
of establishing a false consensus had
already been set, and everyone had to
get on board.
The natural trajectory is the
establishment of a global
super-government—that is,
communism—for the ostensible
purpose of saving the earth and
humankind from a fabricated
or greatly exaggerated crisis.
In March 2008, scientists who
doubted the consensus dogma on
climate issues held a private academ-
ic event in New York. Many of these
scientists said they had encountered
various obstacles when trying to pub-
lish their research in academic jour-
nals. Meteorologist Joseph D’Aleo,
former chairman of the American
Meteorological Society’s Committee
on Weather Analysis and Forecasting,
said that some of his colleagues dared
not attend the meeting out of fear it
might affect their employment. He
believed that there was “very likely a
silent majority of scientists in clima-
tology, meteorology, and allied sci-
ences who do not endorse what is said
to be the ‘consensus’ position.” [52]
Notes
45. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee
on Environment and Public Works, “Full
Committee Hearing on Climate Change and
the Media,” 109th Cong., 2nd sess., Dec. 6,
2006.
46. Jonathan Leake, “Wildlife Groups Axe
Bellamy as Global Warming ‘Heretic,’”
Sunday Times Online, May 15, 2005.
47. Christopher C. Horner, “Red Hot Lies:
How Global Warming Alarmists Use
Threats, Fraud, and Deception to Keep You
Misinformed” (Washington, D.C.: Regnery
Publishing, 2008), 78–79.
48. Ibid., 73–74.
49. Patrick J. Michaels and Robert C.
Balling Jr., “Climate of Extremes: Global
Warming Science They Don’t Want You to
Know” (Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute,
2009), x–xiii.
50. James Taylor, “Associate State
Climatologist Fired for Exposing Warming
Myths,” The Heartland Institute, June 1,
2007.
51. Hilary Lawson, dir., “The Greenhouse
Conspiracy” (UK: Channel 4 Television,
1990), posted on YouTube by ZilogBob on
Feb. 16, 2015.
See next edition for the next installment.
To purchase the books, visit Epoch-
Shop.com
OPINION | A15
Stephen Gregory, Publisher
Jasper Fakkert, Editor-in-Chief
Channaly Philipp, Life & Tradition,
Travel Editor
Chrisy Trudeau, Mind & Body Editor
Crystal Shi, Home, Food Editor
Sharon Kilarski, Arts & Culture Editor
ABOUT US
The Epoch Times is a media
organization dedicated to seek-
ing the truth through insightful
and independent journalism.
Standing outside of politi-
cal interests and the pursuit of
profit, our starting point and our
goal is to create a media for the
public benefit, to be truly respon-
sible to society.
We endeavor to educate read-
ers about today’s most impor-
tant topics, seeking to broaden
and uplift minds. We believe that
rational, balanced debate is key
for fostering a healthy democ-
racy and a compassionate
society.
As an independent media out-
let, we use our freedom to inves-
tigate issues overlooked—or
avoided—by other media outlets.
We seek to highlight solutions
and what’s good in society rather
than what divides us.
We report respectfully, compas-
sionately, and rigorously.
We stand against the destruc-
tion wrought by communism,
including the harm done to cul-
tures around the world.
We are inspired in this by our
own experience. The Epoch
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We still believe journalism is a
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A16 | OPINION THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021

America as the ultimate protection for all Unfortunately, the U.N. and many of its

CCP Seeks to Redefine other rights, including those that the CCP
refuses to acknowledge even exist.
Switzerland, with some of the high-
member governments (and even a grow-
ing segment of influential voices in Amer-
ica) come down firmly on the side of the

‘Human Rights’ in est gun-ownership rates on Earth, also

has among the lowest murder rates.
Meanwhile, nations such as Venezuela
and Mexico, where private gun owner-
CCP’s perverse view of rights, rather than
the American and Christian view.
The U.N. view is extremely dangerous,
and the global body frequently echoes

Attack on America ship has long been virtually illegal, have

CONTINUED FROM A13
For example, a similar report released in
2012 pointed to “violations such as the
view that the U.S. government exercises
lax firearm possession control, causing
rampant gun ownership.”
Despite numerous polls showing over-
A grand- whelming public support for the constitu-
mother tionally guaranteed right to keep and bear
and grand- arms, the CCP report even argued that
daughter hug U.S. authorities were ignoring the “com-
through a plaints of the U.S. people” and “multiple
plastic drop protests” supposedly demanding that “the
cloth hung up government strictly control the private
on a home- possession of arms.”
made clothes This year, the CCP report is again expect-
line during ed to demonize the Second Amendment
Memorial
Day Weekend
for supposedly producing “gun violence.”
in Wantagh, The argument, though, is absurd—es-
N.Y., on May pecially as the United States has a lower
24, 2020. murder rate than most of the world, and
gun-rights have always been regarded in
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
If the effort to
redefine rights is
successful—and it
is already making
great progress—true
human rights could
be lost forever,
written out of the
history books.
AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES
NOW
BIGGER SIZE,
EASIER TO READ
FORMAT
among the highest murder and crime
rates on the planet.
The real violation of human rights is the
CCP’s total denial of its victims’ right to
keep and bear arms. But then again, dic-
tatorships and tyrants never trust their
victims with weapons.
The Threat: Real Rights Versus
Fake Rights
The real danger of the CCP report isn’t
that Americans will suddenly read the
document and revolt against their sup-
posedly oppressive government. Nor is
there a serious risk that the CCP’s hypoc-
risy would be taken seriously, though the
regime’s talking points and the “woke”
mob’s ramblings are increasingly diffi-
cult to differentiate.
Rather, the danger is that the CCP
screed is just the tip of the iceberg in a
global campaign to completely redefine
the very concept of rights—not as God-
given, but as government-granted.
Indeed, the regime in communist
China and its totalitarian allies around
the world use “human rights” as a pretext
to control the lives and restrict the liber-
ties of their victims.
For instance, under the guise of a “hu-
man right” to a government-controlled
education, tyrants indoctrinate children
with lies and prohibit alternatives.
Under the guise of a “human right”
to government-provided “health care,”
tyrants hijack control of medical systems
and restrict individual freedom, making
their victims completely dependent on
their abusers.
Under the guise of a “human right” to a
“decent standard of living,” tyrants seize
control of whole economies—and the
people who make up the economy.
These are all known as “positive rights,”
and they all purport to require that the
government do something to you or for
you at the expense of others that you
couldn’t ethically do on your own.
As an example, you could never go rob
your neighbor and claim you needed his
money for your college or your health
care. But if you have a “positive right” to
college or health care, government can
be authorized to go take your neighbor’s
wealth to spend on you.
Importantly, because they depend on
government, all of these “positive rights”
can also be revoked by government on a
whim, using flimsy pretexts.
Obviously, this is an extremely danger-
ous view of “human rights.”
By contrast, the traditional American
and Christian concept of rights rooted in
the Bible and Western traditions couldn’t
be more different.
Perhaps the most significant difference
is that these genuine human rights are
unalienable. Think freedom of speech,
freedom to own property, the right to
worship God according to the dictates
of one’s conscience, the right to protect
one’s family and property, and so on.
These are all “negative” rights, in that
they entail freedom from abuses, coer-
cion, and more. Just like you can protect
your property from a robber, you can
delegate authority to a sheriff to help you
protect your property.
As America’s Founding Fathers de-
clared in the Declaration of Indepen-
dence, individuals are “endowed by their
Creator” with these “unalienable rights.”
That means these rights exist indepen-
dent of government.
Because government didn’t and doesn’t
CCP-style talking points about free
speech or gun rights in America suppos-
edly being a “violation” of human rights.
But this isn’t new. In Article 29 of the
U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the global body even claims that
“these rights and freedoms may in no
case be exercised contrary to the purpos-
es and principles of the United Nations.”
That would be the equivalent of having
a First Amendment that prohibited using
one’s free speech or freedom of assembly
or right to petition in order to criticize
Congress. It is self-evidently absurd.
As if to highlight the absurdity of its
own position, on Feb. 22, the U.N. “Hu-
man Rights Council” gave a platform to
CCP State Councilor and Foreign Minis-
ter Wang Yi, marking the first time that
a CCP leader addressed the increasingly
discredited U.N. body. Incredibly, the
regime was elected to serve another term
on the disgraced U.N. body last year.
“Increasing people’s sense of gains,
happiness and security is the fundamen-
tal pursuit of human rights as well as the
ultimate goal of national governance,”
Wang declared at the 46th session of the
U.N. body, claiming to support “peace,
development, equity, justice, democracy
and freedom.”
Wang, who claimed the CCP operates
“the most representative democracy,”
also suggested that a slight increase in
the Chinese people’s standard of living
in recent years is evidence of the regime’s
devotion to human rights.
Most incredibly, perhaps, Wang de-
scribed Beijing’s murderous scheming in
Xinjiang and Tibet as “shining examples
of China’s human rights progress.” Yes,
seriously. Apparently, genocide is a “shin-
ing example” of “human rights,” at least
in the CCP’s understanding of the term.
“The Chinese government attaches
high importance to the promotion and
protection of human rights,” Wang told
the regime’s propaganda megaphone
Xinhua “news” agency, which according
to whistleblowers doubles as an intelli-
gence-gathering front.
Other brutal dictatorships on the U.N.
Human Rights Council echo those pre-
posterous claims on a regular basis.
What Next?
If the effort to redefine rights is success-
ful—and it’s already making great prog-
ress—true human rights could be lost
forever, written out of the history books.
Such a development would leave the
people of the world at the mercy of often-
times brutal governments subscribing
to the CCP-backed grotesque perversion
of rights that literally flips the concept
on its head.
Instead of having a duty to protect the
God-given, unalienable rights of the
individual, tyrants everywhere would be
empowered to oppress and abuse their
victims in the name of “human rights.”
Increasingly, like the CCP, governments
and international outfits are already
peddling the notion that gun rights and
self-defense aren’t rights, but violations of
rights. Similarly, even free speech is now
being painted as a violation of people’s sup-
posed “human right” not to be offended.
With help from corrupted education
systems and dictator-dominated inter-
national organizations, a major transfor-
mation is already happening around the
world and even in America—especially
in the minds of younger generations.
Millions of children now are being
conditioned to demand their supposed

SPECTER OF COMMUNISM
grant these rights, it has no legitimate “right” to tax-funded college, health care,
authority to revoke or restrict them. abortion, and transgender surgeries,
Instead, the government’s role is lim- while, at the same time, demanding cen-

IS RULING OUR WORLD

ited to the protection of these God-given
rights from infringement. The Declara-
tion of Independence even argues that
this is the very reason governments are
instituted.
The specter of communism did not The timeless words and principles in
that document echoed statements made
years earlier on the subject by Sam Adams,
disappear with the disintegration of the widely known as the “Father of the Ameri-
can Revolution.” In the first letter circulat-
Communist Party in Eastern Europe ed by his Committees of Correspondence
in 1772, Adams laid out his case.
“Among the natural rights of the Colo-
sorship and draconian curbs on religious
liberty in the name of “human rights.”
This is a recipe for catastrophe. If it con-
tinues, the next generation of Americans
may look at the CCP’s silly reports and
actually take them seriously.
It’s time to fight back on the battlefield
that matters: the essence and definition
of human rights. The genocidal CCP
must not be allowed to win.
The surest way to do that is by Ameri-
cans returning to a true understanding
of rights—God-given and unalienable—

ORDER NOW! nists are these: First, a right to life; Second-
ly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together
with the right to support and defend them
in the best manner they can,” he wrote.
He also argued that the “Rights of the
Colonists as Christians” could be “best
as enumerated in the nation’s founding
documents.
Alex Newman is an award-winning inter-
national journalist, educator, author, and
consultant who co-wrote the book “Crimes

EpochShop.com
understood by reading and carefully
studying the institutes of the great Law
Giver and Head of the Christian Church,
which are to be found clearly written and
promulgated in the New Testament.”
of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using
Government Schools to Destroy America’s
Children.” He also serves as the CEO of Liber-
ty Sentinel Media and writes for diverse pub-
lications in the United States and abroad.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
Open Borders: An Assault
on Common Sense
FRANK MIELE
“We hold these truths to
be self-evident ...”
So begins one of
the most pivotal pro-
nouncements in the
advancement of human
liberty. With those words,
Thomas Jefferson threw down a gauntlet
at the feet of not just the king of England,
but also at Parliament and the entire
entrenched elite who, up until then,
had reserved power unto themselves by
dint of their education, upbringing, and
wealth.
No more, Jefferson insisted. By declar-
ing the truths of equality and of unalien-
able rights to be “self-evident,” Jefferson
freed the common people from the yoke
of oppression they had too long labored
under—including the oppression of be-
ing told what to think by their “betters.”
This, in sum, is the genius of American
democracy, that it was based on “Com-
mon Sense,” not just the pamphlet by
Thomas Paine but the very concept itself.
The American people had discovered
that they were well enough equipped by
their creator to take on any task, meet
any challenge, confront any oppressor.
They could think for themselves. That
was the key.
Because Jefferson and the other Found-
ing Fathers gave voice to this revolution-
ary idea, they were granted authority by
the people to conduct a Revolutionary
War, deriving (as the Declaration of In-
dependence would have it) their powers
“from the consent of the governed.”
It’s that same consent that has been the
foundation of our democracy for the past
245 years, but it must not be taken for
granted. Jefferson posited that “when-
ever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right
of the People to alter or abolish it, and
to institute new Government, laying
its foundation on such principles, and
organizing its powers in such form, as
to them shall seem most likely to effect
their Safety and Happiness.”
Jefferson was right to caution that
governments shouldn’t be changed
lightly, but we must also be cautious of
entrenched power and ask whether the
people’s consent can be corrupted by a
government that has grown hostile to its
own citizens’ rights to life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness. In multiple
venues of American public policy today,
it seems that common sense has been
supplanted by doctrine and dogma—a
dangerous condition, especially when
the people are sufficiently educated to
rebuff doctrine with facts.
This conflict naturally results in a seri-
ous breach of the consent of the governed,
as a people who can’t trust their govern-
ment to tell the truth will eventually ques-
tion whether that government is legiti-
mate. That breach is currently as dramatic
as it has ever been since the Constitution
corrected the errors of the original Ar-
ticles of Confederation in 1787.
You need look no further than the
dispute over the legitimacy of the last
election to know that the people’s “con-
sent” is being put to the test, but you can
also witness that strain in policy debates
about transgenderism, gun control, and
CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES
free speech. Nowhere is it more appar-
ent than in the Biden administration’s
bizarre insistence that the border—like
its notion of gender—is fluid, transitory,
and apparently altogether optional.
An open border represents a funda-
mental threat to the social contract be-
tween the governed and the government
because it leaves the people unprotected.
Just as the governed owe allegiance to
the government, so too the government
owes its allegiance to the people. Not
any people, not the people of the world,
but the people of the nation. The “safety
and happiness” of the people must be
the guiding principle of any government,
yet clearly the willingness of the U.S.
government to turn a blind eye to the
influx of noncitizens into the country is
a direct threat to the health and safety of
the people.
Roberta Jacobson, who was the U.S.
ambassador to Mexico and is Biden’s “co-
ordinator for the southern border,” gave
a press conference last week to explain
what the administration was doing to
“change our immigration system,” but
she might as well have been honest and
said it was to explain what they are doing
to change our country at its core.
“We can’t just undo four years of the
previous administration,” Jacobson said,
but it looks like they are doing exactly
that. Whereas the Trump administration
worked tirelessly to halt illegal immigra-
tion, the Biden team is rolling out the red
carpet. Border wall? Construction halt-
ed. “Remain in Mexico” policy? Aban-
doned. Catch and release? Restored, with
busloads of illegal aliens being shipped
across the country, many almost assur-
edly infected with COVID-19.
Jacobson said the United States was
investing billions of dollars into Central
American countries with the hope that
conditions would improve in those na-
tions so dramatically that their forlorn
populations would give up the deter-
mined trek to our border. The ambas-
sador claimed that this infusion of cash
would address the root causes of illegal
immigration, which she said are “corrup-
tion, violence and economic devastation
exacerbated by climate change.”
Really? Sending $4 billion into the
kleptocracies of Guatemala, El Salva-
dor, and Honduras is going to make for
less corruption? In what universe? Our
American dollars are going to somehow
end violence in those countries? Well,
if we can do that, tell me why we don’t
spend $4 billion to end violence in Chi-
cago, where Democrat policies saw gun
violence and murder jump by 50 percent
in 2020.
What such policy claims represent is a
utopian worldview that is divorced from
common sense. Jacobson thinks condi-
tions “compel” people to migrate whereas
common sense provides clear evidence
that U.S. policies for decades have acted as
a magnet to attract migration.
From her press conference, it’s obvious
that those policies won’t change for the
better. They will get worse. We are going
to be “rethinking asylum processing to
ensure fair and faster consideration.” Ac-
cording to Jacobson, this is all supposed
to provide “hope for families,” but not
American families, who will foot the bill
and very possibly see their wages de-
OPINION | A17
A Border Patrol creased or lose their jobs altogether.
agent checks This is all contradictory and non-
an illegal sensical. Out of one side of her mouth,
immigrant’s Jacobson tells us that Biden will work to
wrist bands, “expand safe and legal avenues to the
which are used
by Mexican
United States,” but out of the other side
cartels to she “wants to be clear” that nothing in
control human U.S. policy is intended to “suggest that
smuggling into anyone should make the dangerous
the United trip to try and enter the United States in
States, near an irregular fashion. The border is not
Penitas, Texas, open.”
on March 15, I suppose the videos of Latin Ameri-
2021. cans streaming across the border into
the United States are just some deep fake
production of QAnon or Roger Stone (pick
your favorite conservative scapegoat!).
Jacobson went so far as to complain
that the Mexican cartels were some-
how misleading migrants into believ-
ing that the border is open. Again, this
complaint—the official position of the
U.S. government—violated the common
sense that Thomas Jefferson had prom-
ised the American republic. Anyone who
has watched video of the border in the
past week knows full well that the border
is open and the crisis is real. We hold
these truths to be self-evident.
But the Biden team doesn’t get it. In-
stead of Trump’s “America First” policy,
we now have a federal government that
intends to take responsibility for the
“hopes and dreams” of foreign nationals.
Not just that, but to do so while under-
mining Americans.
Don’t forget the Democrat plan to grant
amnesty to upwards of 20 million illegal
ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES aliens. That’s the equivalent of adding
10 times the population of Montana to
our nation, and essentially it means that
voters in Montana and elsewhere will
be reduced to second-class citizens. If
our elected leaders can dilute the vote of
Americans by engineering a new elector-
ate whenever convenient to do so, either
through amnesty or through weakening
Roberta Jacobson, election rules so that anyone can vote,
special assistant to then consent of the governed is no more
the president and than a cheap parlor trick.
coordinator for the The patience of the American people is
southern border
being tested. Will common sense pre-
ambassador, speaks
during the daily press vail? Or is it too late?
briefing at the White
House on March 10, From RealClearWire.
2021.
Frank D. Miele is a columnist and author.
His new book is “How We Got Here:
The Left’s Assault on the Constitution.”
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A18 | BUSINESS & ECONOMY THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021

The Berenstain Bears Could Curb

the ‘Stimulus’ Crowd’s Enthusiasm
CHUNG I HO/THE EPOCH TIMES

JOHN TAMNY having what money can be exchanged for.

Commentary
“‘Besides,’ added Papa,
‘sometimes the price of
things goes up, like gas.
The price of gas for our car
went up twenty cents just
last week! Maybe the same thing happens
with teeth.’” – Jan & Mike Berenstain, “The
Berenstain Bears and the Tooth Fairy,” p. 8.
Sister Bear has just lost a tooth. It had
been loose for a time, and it finally came
out in this children’s book series about
first experiences. Mama and Papa Bear
tell her to put the tooth under her pillow so
the Tooth Fairy can replace it with money.
There’s quite a bit of economic learning
that can be had from this simple story. It’s
learning that seemingly never reached all
manner of economists, politicians, and
the journalistic enablers of each.
In Sister Bear’s case, word on the street
is that a quarter is no longer the going
rate for a lost tooth. The Fairy now hands
out dollars.
The quote from Papa Bear up above
explains why. Sometimes money doesn’t
stretch as far. More specifically, amid
periods of currency devaluation, which
was the definition of inflation for the
longest time, money no longer purchases
as many market goods as it used to.
Economists think economic growth
causes inflation as demand outpaces sup-
ply, but they miss the basic truth that all
demand begins with supply. These things
balance. In reality, economic growth cor-
relates with falling prices for much that
was formerly out of reach, since growth is
a consequence of investment, and invest-
ment is all about producing exponentially
more for exponentially less.
Inflation is currency devaluation. Period.
Which speaks to another highly useful
economic lesson within this slim chil-
dren’s book. Before the tooth came out,
Sister Bear had already begun to think
“about what she could get with that dollar.”
Would it be accessories for her “Bearbie,”
or marbles, or a giant marker, a jumbo
lollypop, or maybe a milkshake? The pos-
sibilities were endless.
What’s important about Sister Bear’s
thoughts is that they explained “money”
A woman shops at a store in New York on Feb. 27, 2020.
in ways that economists no longer can.
Sister Bear’s musings are a reminder that
no one wants “money,” buys and sells
with “money,” or lends and borrows with
“money.” In truth, the movement of mon-
ey signals the movement of actual market
goods. In other words, we want money be-
cause of what it can be exchanged for. The
failure of economists and journalists to
internalize this statement of the obvious
is the source of all manner of economic
misunderstanding.
Consider a recent column by New York
Times economic journalist Neil Irwin. Ir-
win is elated that the trillions of so-called
“stimulus” spending since the tragic
lockdowns began has awoken lawmakers
to their “leading role” in economic aid; a
role that will push the Fed aside. Actu-
ally, neither the Fed nor lawmakers can
stimulate economic growth. Sister Bear
shows why.
She once again desires money for what
it can be exchanged for, but money is only
desirable insofar as there is production
to exchange it for first. If anyone doubts
this, they need only take their dollars to
the Amazon River forests or to Antarctica
to see how much their dollars will pur-
chase them. Without production, money
quite simply serves no function when
it’s remembered that the sole purpose
of money is to facilitate the exchange of
market goods. Money doesn’t instigate
production; rather it’s a consequence of
production.
Applied to lawmakers and central
bankers, they can’t create new wealth.
They can only redistribute wealth already
created. For them to pass out dollars to
others, they must extract dollars from
those who created the wealth in the first
place. There’s no new demand. There’s
only a shift of demand.
Investment, not consumption,
is the source of growth,
and government spending
logically shrinks the very
investment that drives down
the cost of most everything.
Irwin gleefully observes that “people
like having money,” so the answer is
seemingly to give them money. Growth
will follow. No, it’s not that simple.
What Irwin misses is that people don’t
“like having money” as much as they like
People like the fruits of production, but
Irwin and the economists he listens to are
calling for a scenario whereby government
depresses the producers in order to stimu-
late the depressed as the path to growth.
Oh well, not only is there no growth in
the above scenario, it’s also not one that
would logically appeal to the depressed.
If to some degree their depression is a
consequence of a lack of money, then it’s
in truth rooted in a lack of material goods.
Remember, Sister Bear doesn’t want a
dollar as much as she wants marbles,
candy, ice cream, or Bearbie accessories.
All of which explains how deadening
government spending is to economic
growth. It’s not just that it’s perhaps a
work disincentive, as some point out.
What’s really awful about government
spending is that it shrinks the dollar hold-
ings of those most capable of saving (the
stimulated) and shifts them to those most
capable of consuming (the depressed).
To the typical economist, this scenario is
grand, since economists believe con-
sumption drives economic growth. No,
investment is the source of growth, and
government spending logically shrinks
the very investment that drives down the
cost of most everything.
Please keep this in mind the next time
politicians, economists, journalists, or all
three react with elation to major spend-
ing plans. Not only do they not stimulate
economic growth, they logically slow
the process whereby goods and services
are rendered more and more affordable.
In short, the wealth redistribution that
doesn’t stimulate also doesn’t help those
it’s billed to help.
Paraphrasing Irwin, “people like hav-
ing what money can be exchanged for.”
Government spending means people get
fewer things. How sad for those strug-
gling, and how sad for Sister Bear.
From RealClearWire.
John Tamny is the editor of RealClear-
Markets, vice president at FreedomWorks,
and a senior economic adviser at Tore-
ador Research and Trading. His new book
is titled “When Politicians Panicked: The
New Coronavirus, Expert Opinion, and a
Tragic Lapse of Reason.”

Yield Curve Control: Another
Recipe for Stagnation
DANIEL LACALLE
Commentary
Central banks don’t
manage risk, they dis-
guise it. You know you
live in a bubble when a
small bounce in sovereign
bond yields generates an immediate pan-
ic reaction from central banks trying to
prevent those yields from rising further.
It’s particularly evident when the alleged
soar in yields comes after years of their
having been artificially depressed with
negative rates and asset purchases. It’s
scary to read that the European Central
Bank (ECB) will implement more asset
purchases to control a small move in yields
that still left sovereign issuers’ bonds with
negative nominal and real interest rates.
It’s even scarier to see that market par-
ticipants hail the decision to disguise risk
with even more liquidity. No one seemed
to complain about the fact that sovereign
issuers with alarming solvency prob-
lems were issuing bonds with negative
yields. No one seemed to be concerned
about the fact that the ECB bought more
than 100 percent of net issuances from
eurozone states. The thing that shows
what a bubble we live in is that market
participants find it logical to see a central
DANIEL ROLAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
YCC doesn’t
reduce the risk
of a crisis; it
simply disguises it
by manipulating
the price of
sovereign bonds.
The euro sign in front
of the European Central
Bank in Frankfurt/
Main, Germany, on
Oct. 26, 2014.
bank taking aggressive action to prevent
bond yields from rising—to 0.3 percent in
Spain or 0.6 percent in Italy.
This is evidence of a massive bubble.
If the ECB wasn’t there to repurchase all
eurozone sovereign issuances, what yield
would investors demand for Spain, Italy, or
Portugal? Three, four, five times the cur-
rent level on the 10-year? Probably. That’s
why developed central banks are trapped
in their own policy. They can’t hint at
normalizing even when the economy is
recovering strongly, and inflation is rising.
Market participants may be happy
thinking these actions will drive equi-
ties and risky assets higher, but they also
make economic cycles weaker, shorter,
and more abrupt.
Central banks have exhausted tools
such as repurchasing bonds and cutting
rates; the diminishing returns are evident.
Now they look to Japan, of all places, to
look at yield curve control (YCC) policies.
Many articles hail the Bank of Japan’s
curve control strategy as a big success. It
has managed to keep bond yields inside
a narrow range of around zero percent
since it adopted its YCC policy in 2016.
However, all this has done is disguise
risk and lead the economy to massively
indebted stagnation.
Why? The central bank applies constant
changes in its purchases of sovereign
bonds with different maturities to prevent
the yield curve from steepening and bond
yields from rising above a certain level,
which could cause an economic crisis as
risk-off takes over.
There’s a deeply flawed view of markets
in this theory. YCC doesn’t reduce the risk
of a crisis; it simply disguises it by manipu-
lating the price of sovereign bonds, the
alleged lowest risk asset. As such, market
participants always take significantly more
risk than they want to or should, because
the price of risk and the shape of the curve
is artificially managed by the central bank.
The idea behind YCC is that savers will
stop purchasing or selling sovereign bonds
when they perceive that the economic cy-
cle is changing, and that investors’ funds
will be directed to finance the produc-
tive economy and put to work to invest in
industry and provide credit to households.
However, that doesn’t happen.
Market participants know that the shape
of the yield curve is manipulated, and that
risk is hidden, so most of the funds go to
liquid short-term assets and to refinanc-
ing zombie firms that are already in high
debt. Overcapacity is perpetuated, risky
asset inflation soars, those that are already
indebted are refinanced eternally, and
low-interest rates push high liquidity to
the least productive parts of the economy.
It’s no coincidence that the number of
zombie firms has soared in the period
since YCC was implemented. It’s even less
of a coincidence that unproductive debt
has ballooned.
Allowing rates to adjust to reality
through free float would be more effective
at transferring liquidity to the productive
segments of the economy and strengthen-
ing the recovery. It would also reduce the
incentive to overspend from governments.
Central banks say they don’t cut rates but
just follow market demands. If that’s the
case, let them float freely. But they won’t.
YCC will likely be openly implemented
by the ECB and the Federal Reserve, but
it’s already de facto in place. It won’t solve
anything, just make bubbles larger and
the economy weaker.
Just like in Japan, it won’t prevent a
crisis nor make the economy better
prepared to face it. It won’t lead to stron-
ger economic recoveries, either. The only
thing that YCC does is perpetuate bloated
government spending and zombify the
economy at the expense
of real wages and the productive sectors.
Once YCC fails, like all other financial
repression tools, central banks and gov-
ernments will say it didn’t work because
they didn’t do enough. It’s never enough
when they use other people’s money.
Daniel Lacalle, Ph.D., is chief economist at
hedge fund Tressis and author of “Freedom
or Equality,” “Escape from the Central Bank
Trap,” and “Life in the Financial Markets.”
 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
Regal Cinemas LA Live in Los Angeles on Oct. 5, 2020.
Regal Cinemas to Reopen US
Movie Theaters Next Month
ZACHARY STIEBER
Regal Cinemas movie theaters will reopen
in the United States in early April after be-
ing closed for most of the past year.
The phased reopening will start on April
2, with a limited number of theaters wel-
coming customers for “Godzilla vs. Kong.”
More Businesses Offer Perks for
Proof of Vaccination: Free Donuts
and Rides, Dine-In Discounts
TOM OZIMEK
Businesses across the United States are
increasingly leaning into the vaccination
effort, offering a range of freebies and in-
centives to customers who show proof of
getting a COVID-19 shot.
Security experts note, however, that the
information on vaccine record cards—cur-
rently the only proof of vaccination—con-
tains sensitive information that bad actors
could exploit; they urge people to be mind-
ful when flashing the cards—and definitely
not share photos of them on social media.
Three separate vaccines against the CCP
virus have been approved in the United
States, and a fourth emergency use ap-
plication is expected soon for AstraZen-
eca’s version. Over 128 million doses have
been administered as of March 23, with
the highest administration rates in New
Mexico, Alaska, Connecticut, and the Da-
kotas, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC).
Looking to help the vaccination rollout
build more steam, many companies—in-
cluding Amtrak, Dollar General, Instacart,
McDonald’s, and Target—have offered in-
centives to their employees to get the vac-
cine, including paid leave, footing the bill
for rides to and from administration sites,
and cash payments.
Some businesses are now taking that a
step further and starting to offer their cus-
tomers vaccine perks.
Krispy Kreme announced on March 22
that it will offer a free Original Glazed
doughnut “anytime, any day, every day for
the rest of the year” for customers in the
United States who display a vaccine card.
Some local food and beverage retailers
GRANT HINDSLEY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
A patient receives a card showing when they
received their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19
vaccine at the Amazon Meeting Center in Seat-
tle on Jan. 24, 2021.
The reopening will continue on April 16
with “Mortal Kombat.”
“We have long-awaited this moment
when we can welcome audiences back to
our Regal theatres and restore our essential
role within the communities we serve,”
Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld, Re-
gal’s parent company, said in a statement.
have launched similar tactics to promote
vaccinations. Rumbleseat Bar & Grille, a
restaurant in Chicopee, Massachusetts,
said in a Facebook post in early February
that it will offer a 20 percent discount for
dine-in meals to customers with proof of
vaccination. Oak and Reel, a Detroit res-
taurant, offered customers a 50 percent
discount on dine-in meals.
“We want to encourage people to get the
vaccine and celebrate those who have,”
Oak and Reel chef and owner Jared Gad-
baw said, according to the Detroit Free
Press.
Major corporations are also looking to
encourage people to get vaccinated, with
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg recently
announcing a global campaign to get 50
million people “a step closer to getting CO-
VID-19 vaccines,” including by expanding
the use of chatbots and other tools to en-
courage people to register for a shot. Others
will help people travel, with Lyft and Uber
offering to provide free transportation to
vaccination centers, according to the Wall
Street Journal.
Generally, to qualify for the perks—like
Krispy Kreme’s free donut—people need
to show their vaccination cards, which in-
clude their name and date of birth and are
currently the only proof anyone has that
they’ve been vaccinated.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has
warned people not to be careless with dis-
playing the cards, urging them in a blog
post not to post selfies of themselves hold-
ing the document.
“The self-identifying information on it
makes you vulnerable to identity theft and
can help scammers create phony versions,”
the BBB said.
Sandra Guile of the International As-
sociation of Better Business Bureaus told
“Good Morning America” recently that
“some unsavory individuals out there”
will use the information on vaccine cards
and will “try to open up credit cards, buy
cellphones, go shopping.”
Jake Milstein, a cybersecurity expert and
chief marketing officer at CI Security, told
NBC5 Chicago that the information on
vaccine cards is of value to criminals and
urged caution.
“This is why on the black market and on
the dark web, health care records sell for
more than identity records,” Milstein told
the outlet.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
“With the health and safety of our cus-
tomers, staff, and communities as our
top priority, we continue to take all the
necessary precautions and abide by our
CinemaSafe guidelines to confidently pro-
vide a safe and comfortable experience.
With capacity restrictions expanding to 50
[percent] or more across most U.S. states,
A container ship sailing through the Suez Canal in Egypt on Nov. 17, 2019.
Sagging Oil Price Surges
6 Percent as Grounded
Ship Blocks Suez Canal
NEW YORK—Oil prices jumped about
6 percent on March 24 after a ship ran
aground in the Suez Canal, and worries
that the incident could tie up crude ship-
ments gave prices a boost after a slide
over the last week.
The crude benchmarks, U.S. crude, and
London-based Brent added to gains after
U.S. inventory figures showed a further
rebound in refining activity, suggesting
U.S. refiners are mostly recovered from
the cold snap that slammed Texas in
February.
Brent crude gained $3.69, or 6.1 percent,
to $64.48 a barrel by 12:53 p.m. EDT (1653
GMT), after tumbling 5.9 percent the pre-
vious day. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
climbed $3.49, or 6 percent, to $61.25,
having lost 6.2 percent on March 23.
The gains appeared to stabilize the
market that had slumped from early this
month when prices hit their highest lev-
els this year on expectations for demand
recovery. Those hopes have since been
dashed as European nations reentered
lockdowns amid another wave of the
pandemic.
Oil has recovered from historic lows
reached in 2020 as OPEC and its allies
made record output cuts. On March 23,
both benchmarks touched their lowest
since February.
A giant container ship has been block-
ing the Suez Canal for more than a day,
| A19
we will be able to operate profitably in our
biggest markets.”
Regal had closed all of its theaters in early
2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The
company reopened the venues in mid-2020
but closed them in early October, citing
challenging restrictions and key market
closures.
Major markets, including New York City,
never let Regal reopen, and officials hadn’t
provided guidance on when they would
let the theaters welcome customers back.
Some states and cities are rolling back
restrictions as the number of COVID-19
cases, hospitalizations, and deaths drop
sharply and as an increasing number of
Americans receive COVID-19 vaccines.
COVID-19 is the disease caused by
the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) vi-
rus, also known as the novel coronavirus.
Cinemark draws about 75 percent of its
revenue from the United States.
The company plans to reopen its UK the-
aters in May.
Cinemark on March 23 also announced
that it reached a deal with Warner Bros. Pic-
tures Group that will give Regal an exclusive
45-day window to screen the group’s movies.
Regal is the second-largest theater chain in
the United States. AMC, the largest, started
opening nearly every location on March 19.
About 98 percent of AMC theaters, in-
cluding more than 40 in California, were
reopening that day, while more opened
their doors on March 22.
“It was exactly one year ago that we closed
all AMC locations in the United States. It
gives me immense joy to say that by the end
of next week we expect that 99 [percent]
of our U.S. locations will have reopened,”
Adam Aron, AMC’s CEO, said in a statement.
“As we have done at all of locations [sic]
around the country, AMC is reopening and
operating with the highest devotion to the
health and safety of our guests and associ-
ates through our AMC Safe & Clean policies
and protocols, which were developed in
consultation with Clorox and with current
and former faculty at the prestigious Har-
vard University School of Public Health.”
KHALED DESOUKI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
but it has been partially refloated, with
traffic along the fastest shipping route
from Europe to Asia expected to resume
soon, port agent GAC said on March 24.
“It’s one of those wild cards that is
unique to the crude oil industry,” said
Bob Yawger of Mizuho in New York.
“Once you think you have everything
nailed down, I can guarantee one thing:
You don’t.”
Oil prices were also supported by U.S.
Energy Information Administration data
that showed refinery runs recovering af-
ter a winter storm shut Texas refineries
in February.
“The refiners are coming out of mainte-
nance and recovering from the power out-
ages. The expectation is now that they’re
getting back to work, we will see crude
inventories trending lower in the coming
weeks,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at
Price Futures Group in Chicago.
Italy, France, and other European coun-
tries have reimposed movement restric-
tions. But German Chancellor Angela
Merkel said she was reversing a decision
for a stricter Easter shutdown. Germany
is Europe’s biggest oil consumer.
OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+,
meet on April 1 to consider whether to
unwind more of their output cuts.
By Laila Kearney
From Reuters
A20 | THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021

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 ZU KAMILOV/SHUTTERSTOCK
DESSERT WINE

Olive Oil Helps This What You Should Know

Lemon Tart Shine About Cooking With Wine
It’s the key to an extra bright filling and easy crust—no In basic terms, when cooking with wine,
rolling or chilling required. use one that’s clean, fresh, and young.

See B3 See B8

GOOD EATS|RECIPES|DRINKS THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021 B1

FOOD
ALL PHOTOS BY AUDREY LE GOFF

A
French
Stew
Light Enough
for Spring Serve veal
blanquette over
rice with sweet
peas, for a dish that
Ease into the season carries you from
with blanquette de winter to spring.

veau, a classic dish

of delicate veal in a
comforting cream
sauce

AUDREY LE GOFF

V
eal blanquette is a classic white
stew from the French reper-
toire, made with tender veal
chunks cooked “en blanquette”
in a broth with vegetables and aromatics.
Finished with a creamy, mushroom-stud-
ded sauce of tangy crème fraîche and zesty
lemon juice, it brings together all the com-
forts of a winter stew, but with the bright-
ness we yearn for in a spring dish. This is
the perfect recipe to carry us from cold to
warmer days.

What Is Cooking en Blanquette?

The word “blanquette” comes from the
color white—“blanc” in French—which
describes the color of the meat and of the
sauce. Indeed, in most classic French stews,
such as beef bourguignon, the chunks of
meat must be browned beforehand—but
this isn’t the case in veal blanquette. The
meat should remain “white.”
Cooking “en blanquette” thus describes
cooking meat or fish in broth with aromat-
ics to prevent it from browning or getting
any type of sear. The meat or fish is then
reserved on the side, and the broth is bol-
stered with a white roux (butter and flour)
and enriched with white crème fraîche and
egg yolk before the meat or fish is returned
to the stew.
If you aren’t familiar with cooking en
blanquette, boiling meat in a broth may
sound like an odd or counter-intuitive
process. But you will soon realize the
slow simmering gives the veal a unique
tenderness and develops more delicate
flavors, compared to other brown stews.
Blanquettes are much-beloved dishes in
France, whether made with fish, poul-
try, or even ham—but veal blanquette,
or blanquette de veau, remains a favorite
for most.

Continued on B4

For the Easter Table, a Cake That’s Pure Nostalgia

FAITH DURAND
Easter is perhaps my favorite food holi-
day. It’s the day that the food of my people
comes out: Slovenian and Czech braided
bread, fried krofi, and sausage with sau-
erkraut.
But also? This cake. This cake is nothing
short of pure American ingenuity, in my
mind—a sweet and sticky confection of
angel food cake, marshmallow icing, and
all the jelly beans you can handle. It’s a little
bird’s nest for your Easter table, and its deep
nostalgia for me is only matched by how
easy it is to make and how fun it is to eat.
For as long as I can remember, my mom
has made this cake on Easter. It really
couldn’t be easier—just start with an an-
gel food cake (store-bought, naturally, al-
though you can make one yourself if you
have time and want to flex your baking
muscles).
Then you slather it with marshmallow
icing. The marshmallow icing my mother
and I use is a version of the fluffy frosting
recipe sometimes found on the back of
the Karo bottle. It’s a very quick and easy
recipe, and it whips up sweet and gooey
like the inside of a marshmallow, while also This cake is nothing short
light and melt-in-your-mouth. (Pro tip: Use of pure American ingenu-
a spatula warmed with hot water to get the
sticky icing to spread smoothly. Just keep a ity, in my mind—a sweet
tall glass of hot water next to the cake and
scrape and warm the spatula as you go.) and sticky confection of
This doesn’t have to be neat or polished in angel food cake, marsh-
any way; best to just spackle the cake by
slapping on the icing. mallow icing, and all the
Continued on B2
jelly beans you can handle.
B2 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021

JOE LINGEMAN/TNS

This dish can

easily be a main with
a poached or fried
egg on top, but is just
as comfortable on
the sidelines next to
a protein.

The finished orzo is

always flavorful since
it’s cooked in broth,
but lighter and quicker
cooking than risotto.

This Easy
CHRISTINE GALLARY Cooking orzo this way soon became rou-

W
tine, and I made this dish often after I was
hen I was growing up, The finished married. It paired so well with seafood or

One-Pot
eating out usually meant
going to an Asian restau-
rant or an American fast
food joint. Our very rare
with meats, and if we added enough veg-
orzo is always etables, became both our starch and our
flavorful since vegetable side all in one dish. Spinach is a
great stir-in, but I now prefer it with frozen

Orzo Makes
visits to sit-down, non-Asian restaurants it’s cooked peas, lemon zest, and Parmesan, since those
were big deals, and we mostly went to chain are always in my kitchen.
restaurants. One favorite was the Macaroni in broth, The ingredients are really flexible, but

Me Do a
Grill, and I always ordered the exact same
dish: salmon with a side of sun-dried to-
mato orzo pasta.
I ordered it not because I loved the
but lighter the one thing I always do is make sure that
the onion isn’t just cooked until softened,
and quicker but cooked until golden-brown before the
cooking than orzo is added. The browned onion imparts

Happy Dance
salmon, but because that orzo was just so
delicious. Flecked with spinach and sun-
dried tomatoes, the tender pasta wasn’t
drowned in tomato or cream sauce like
most of the other dishes at the restaurant,
and I couldn’t get enough.
This was the first dish I ever tried to recre-
DIFENBAHIA/SHUTTERSTOCK
a deeper, more savory flavor, so I never
risotto. rush that step.
The finished orzo is always flavorful since
it’s cooked in broth, but lighter and quicker
cooking than risotto. Vegetable broth works
great here if you want to keep it vegetarian,
Christine Gallary is but since it’s a dominant flavor in the orzo,

ate by taste memory. I remembered little bits food editor-at-large make sure you go with one you really like
of sweet onion and feeling like the orzo was for TheKitchn.com, the taste of.
cooked in some kind of broth or stock. So I a nationally known This dish can easily be a main with a
browned some onion in olive oil, toasted the blog for people who poached or fried egg on top, but is just
orzo in the oil, then added canned chicken love food and home as comfortable on the sidelines next to
broth a little at a time until the orzo was ten- cooking. Submit any a protein.
der. After I stirred in some spinach (I skipped comments or questions Stir often once the orzo goes in to make
the sundried tomatoes), I took a taste and did to editorial@thekitchn. sure it cooks evenly and doesn’t burn, but
my first happy dance in the kitchen. It tasted com. Copyright 2021 treat it as a meditative practice, maybe
like I was at Macaroni Grill! Maybe this was Apartment Therapy. with a glass of wine in hand and some
an early sign that I would eventually develop Distributed by Tribune tunes playing in the background. Happy
recipes for a living. Content Agency, LLC. dancing optional.

ONE-POT ORZO WITH PEAS AND PARMESAN

SERVES 4 AS A MAIN DISH; 6 AS A SIDE
1/2 medium yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 medium lemon
1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated
(about 3/4 cup or scant 1/2 cup store-bought
grated), plus more for serving if desired
12 ounces dried orzo pasta (about generous 1
1/2 cups)
1 (32-ounce) box low-sodium chicken or
vegetable broth
3/4 cup frozen peas
Coarsely chopped fresh parsley leaves, for
garnish (optional)
Dice the onion. Mince the garlic cloves.
Melt the butter or heat the olive oil in a large saucepan
over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion
and 1/4 teaspoon of the kosher salt and cook, stirring
occasionally and reducing the heat as needed so the
onions don’t burn, until very soft and light golden
brown, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, finely grate the zest of the lemon (about 1
1/2 packed teaspoons), then juice half the lemon. If
needed, finely grate Parmesan cheese.
Add the garlic and orzo to the pot and cook until
fragrant and toasty-smelling, about 2 minutes. Add
the broth and the remaining 3/4 teaspoon kosher
salt, and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom
of the pot with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil over
medium-high heat.
Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook
uncovered, stirring frequently to keep the orzo from
sticking, until the orzo is tender and almost all of the
liquid is absorbed, 10 to 12 minutes. If the orzo has
absorbed all the liquid before it’s ready, add water 2
tablespoons at a time as needed.
Remove from the heat. Add the frozen peas and the
Parmesan and stir until the peas are just heated
through and the cheese is melted, about 1 minute. Stir
in the lemon zest and 2 teaspoons of the lemon juice.
Taste and season with more lemon juice and kosher salt
as needed. Serve garnished with chopped parsley and
more Parmesan cheese if desired.
RECIPE NOTES
Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container
up to four days. Add a little water or broth to loosen
when reheating.
To cook 16 ounces orzo, use 4 tablespoons butter or
olive oil, 1 small yellow onion, 4 garlic cloves, 1 box low-
sodium broth, 1 cup water, 2 ounces Parmesan cheese,
1 cup frozen peas, and 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt.
Use the same amount of lemon zest and lemon juice,
and cook in a Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed pot.
Four cups of baby spinach can be used in place of the
peas; stir until wilted.

JOE LINGEMAN/TNS

For the Easter EASTER CAKE WITH COCONUT AND JELLYBEANS

Table, a Cake That’s
Pure Nostalgia
Continued from B1
Then sprinkle the cake with sweetened co-
conut. If you want to make it taste a little
more sophisticated, lightly toast the coco-
nut first (I like the nuttiness this gives). Or
go super old-school and leave the coconut
pure white.
The crowning touch, naturally, is the
addition of jellybeans (or Cadbury Easter
Eggs, also a favorite!). This is a fabulous
place to involve children in cooking—let
them place the candy where they like (try
to get at least a few on the cake; obviously
where they are most likely to place jelly-
beans is in their little mouths).
It’s really the simplest cake, but so festive.
Coconut and jellybeans turn this simple cake
into a festive bird's nest.
Pure nostalgia, and pure fun.
Faith Durand is the editor-in-chief at
TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog
for people who love food and home cook-
ing. Submit any comments or questions
to editorial@thekitchn.com. Copyright
2021 Apartment Therapy. Distributed by
Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
SERVES 6 TO 10 ADULTS Once the corn syrup comes to a boil, remove from
the heat. Turn on the stand mixer to medium speed,
FOR THE MARSHMALLOW FLUFF ICING
and very slowly and carefully drizzle the hot syrup
2 large egg whites into the egg whites. Add salt and vanilla extract,
and whip until stiff peaks form and the bowl has
1 cup light corn syrup
cooled to lukewarm. Use icing immediately.
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:
1 teaspoon vanilla extract Set the angel food cake on a platter or cake stand.
Use a warmed spatula to roughly spread the
FOR THE CAKE marshmallow icing over the cake’s top and sides.
1 angel food cake (12 to 14 ounces) Optional: Toast the coconut by spreading in a
large skillet over low heat. Toast for about 3
2 cups sweetened flake coconut minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently,
1 cup jellybeans or candy eggs and adjusting heat if you see dark or burnt spots.
Let cool.
MAKE THE MARSHMALLOW ICING:
Sprinkle the coconut evenly over the cake. Decorate
Whip the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with jellybeans or candy eggs. The cake can be
until they form soft peaks. served immediately or held overnight at room
Meanwhile, bring the sugar and corn syrup to a boil temperature. For best freshness, cover it with a
over medium heat. cake dome, but this isn’t necessary.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
Chicken and Rice, Persian-Inspired
JOYCE HENDLEY
Transform plain chicken thighs into an
easy, Persian-inspired chicken and rice
dish with a beautiful golden color and
a wonderful fragrance. If you have saf-
fron, do add that optional pinch; just a
little will enhance the flavor and aroma
of the dish.
This double-batch recipe makes one meal
for tonight and one to keep in your freezer
for another night.
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.
This double-batch
recipe makes plenty of food
to enjoy leftovers later.
LEMON CHICKEN AND RICE
PREP & COOKING TIME
Active Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
SERVES 8
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1 1/4 to
1 1/2 pounds), trimmed
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon paprika
Generous pinch of saffron (optional)
3 cups shredded cabbage (about 1/2 small
head)
4 cups cooked brown rice, preferably
basmati or jasmine
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
(optional)
1 lemon, sliced (optional)
Olive Oil
Helps This
Lemon Tart
Shine
AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN
Most lemon tart recipes feature butter in
both the crust and the filling, but here
we use extra-virgin olive oil instead. It
makes the crust a snap: Just mix the flour,
sugar, and salt with the oil and a little
water until a soft dough forms; crumble
it into the tart pan; press it into the sides
and bottom; and bake it right away—no
rolling or chilling required.
Using olive oil in the filling doesn’t com-
promise its firmness or sliceability, because
the filling gets plenty of structure from the
protein in the eggs. Olive oil does, however,
allow lemons’ acidity to come to the fore in
a way that butter doesn’t. That means we
can use a bit less juice and still enjoy plenty
of bright lemon flavor.
For 25 years, confident cooks in the know
have relied on America’s Test Kitchen for
rigorously tested recipes developed by
professional test cooks and vetted by 60,000
at-home recipe testers. See more online at
AmericasTestKitchen.com/TCA. Copyright
2021 America’s Test Kitchen. Distributed by
Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat two 8-inch-
square baking dishes or foil pans with cooking
spray.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet
over medium-high heat. Add 4 chicken thighs,
and cook, turning once, until both sides are lightly
browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken
to a plate and set aside. Repeat with the remaining
chicken thighs. Pour off all but about 1 tablespoon
fat from the pan.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and onions
to the pan and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Cook, stirring, until soft and golden, 12 to 15
minutes. Stir in garlic, turmeric, paprika, and
saffron, if using; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
Transfer the onions to a plate and set aside.
Return the pan to medium-high heat and add
cabbage. Cook, stirring, until wilted, about 3
minutes. Stir in rice, lemon juice, the remaining
1/4 teaspoon salt, and half of the reserved onion.
Continue cooking until the rice is well coated and
heated through, 5 to 7 minutes.
Divide the rice mixture between the prepared
baking dishes; nestle 4 of the reserved chicken
thighs in each dish. Top each with half of the
remaining cooked onions. Cover both dishes
LEMON-OLIVE OIL TART
SERVES 8
FOR THE CRUST
1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 ounces) all-purpose
flour
5 tablespoons (2 1/4 ounces) sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
FOR THE FILLING
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon table salt
3 large eggs plus 3 large yolks
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest plus 1/2
cup juice (3 lemons)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
FOR THE CRUST
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and
heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Whisk flour, sugar, and salt together in a bowl.
Add oil and water and stir until a uniform dough
forms.
Using your hands, crumble three-quarters of
the dough over the bottom of a 9-inch tart pan
with a removable bottom. Press the dough to
even thickness in the bottom of the pan.
Crumble the remaining dough and scatter it
evenly around the edge of the pan, then press
the crumbled dough into the fluted sides of
pan. Press the dough to even thickness.
Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet and
bake until the crust is deep golden brown and
BLAINE MOATS/TNS
with foil. (Label one and freeze for up to one
month.) Bake the remaining casserole, covered,
for 30 minutes.
Uncover and continue baking until a thermometer
inserted in the thickest part of the chicken registers
165 degrees F and the onions are starting to brown
around the edges, 5 to 10 minutes more. Garnish
with parsley and lemon slices, if desired.
TASTY TIPS
Instead of freezing half, you can bake the full
recipe in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. In Step 6,
bake, covered, for an additional 10 minutes.
To make ahead: This double-batch recipe makes
one meal for tonight and one to freeze for up to
one month (Step 5).
To cook from frozen: Thaw overnight in the
refrigerator, then bake as directed, adding an
additional 10 minutes of baking time once
uncovered.
Recipe nutrition per serving: 273 Calories, Total
Fat: 9 g, Saturated Fat: 2 g, Cholesterol: 49 mg,
Carbohydrates: 29 g, Fiber: 3 g, Total Sugars: 2 g,
Protein: 17 g, Sodium: 194 mg, Potassium: 307
mg, Iron: 1 mg, Folate: 28 mcg, Calcium: 39 mg,
Vitamin A: 202 IU, Vitamin C: 15 mg.
CHANTAL LAMBETH
This easy lemon
tart uses olive oil
in both the crust
and the filling.
firm to touch, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the
pan halfway through baking.
FOR THE FILLING
About 5 minutes before the crust is finished
baking, whisk sugar, flour, and salt in a medium
saucepan until combined.
Whisk in eggs and yolks until no streaks of egg
remain. Whisk in lemon zest and juice. Cook
over medium-low heat, whisking constantly
and scraping the corners of the saucepan, until
the mixture thickens slightly and registers 160
degrees, 5 to 8 minutes.
Off heat, whisk in oil until incorporated. Strain
the curd through a fine-mesh strainer set over
a bowl. Pour the curd into a warm tart shell.
TO FINISH
Bake until the filling is set and barely jiggles
when the pan is shaken, 8 to 12 minutes. Let
the tart cool completely on a wire rack, at least
2 hours.
Remove the outer metal ring of the tart pan.
Slide a thin metal spatula between the tart and
the pan bottom, then carefully slide the tart
onto a serving platter.
Cut the tart into wedges, wiping the knife
clean between cuts if necessary, and serve.
(Leftovers can be wrapped loosely in plastic
wrap and refrigerated for up to three days.)
RECIPE NOTES
Use a fresh, high-quality extra-virgin olive oil
here; our favorite is California Olive Ranch
Everyday Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Make sure that all your metal equipment—
saucepan, strainer, and whisk—is nonreactive,
or the filling may have a metallic flavor.
B3
An Irresistible
Snack for Passover
and Beyond
DIANE ROSSEN WORTHINGTON
This festive morsel is truly addicting. I wit-
nessed its power in my own kitchen with
my husband nearby all day long, looking
to sneak small handfuls. Then I took it
to friends who finished their portions so
quickly I couldn’t believe it. It was then that
I realized the appeal of this delicious snack.
While this is a fun bite to have around
during our eight days of Passover, it’s
equally desired any other time of the year.
Serve it to friends with a cocktail, or your-
self while you are on the computer or play-
ing games, or bring it as a hostess gift once
we’re gathering again.
I witnessed its power in
my own kitchen with my
husband nearby all day
long, looking to sneak
small handfuls.
My friend had shared this recipe with
me, and after I reworked it to get the pro-
portions right, I offered it to some friends
who all loved it.
Diane Rossen Worthington is an authority
on new American cooking. She is the
author of 18 cookbooks, including
“Seriously Simple Parties,” and a James
Beard Award-winning radio show host.
You can contact her at SeriouslySimple.
com. Copyright 2021 Diane Rossen
Worthington. Distributed by Tribune
Content Agency, LLC.
MATZO NUT SNACK
MAKES ABOUT 10 CUPS
4 sheets matzo, broken into 1-inch pieces
1 pound or 3 cups raw mixed nuts
3 large egg whites
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a large-rimmed
baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss matzo and
nuts in a large bowl to evenly distribute.
Whisk egg whites in a medium bowl until frothy. Add
soy sauce, honey, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika,
and whisk until thick, making sure honey is evenly
blended. Pour over nuts and matzo and fold to coat.
Make sure that all the nuts and matzo pieces are
coated with the mixture.
Spread out on prepared baking sheet and bake,
stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 35 to
40 minutes. After 20 minutes with potholders, stir
the mixture with a metal spatula so that all can be
evenly browned. Watch carefully toward the end so
the mixture doesn’t burn.
Remove from oven and cool. When cool, using the
metal spatula, scrape the mixture off the parchment
pepper and place into an airtight container.
Advance preparation: This can be made five days
ahead and covered in an airtight container. (Good
luck saving it for five days!)
TASTY TIPS
Use parchment paper on the sheet pan so it is easy
to remove the food.
It’s important to make sure every nut and matzo
piece is covered on all sides with the egg white
blend.
Make sure to store this in an airtight container so it
stays fresh.
DIANE ROSSEN WORTHINGTON/TNS
These festive morsels combine mixed nuts and
matzo pieces in a savory-sweet coating.
B4
A
French
Stew
Light Enough
for Spring
Ease into the season
with blanquette de
veau, a classic dish
of delicate veal in a
comforting cream
sauce
Continued from B1
Because it only requires one pot and one
broth, cooking en blanquette also happens
to be easier and less labor intensive than
other stews involving browning the meat
first. That said, choosing the right cut of
veal and understanding how the flavors
of this unique stew are built are essential
to making this deliciously classic stew in
your own kitchen.
Here’s how it’s done.
Choosing the Right Cut
Compared to beef, veal is more fine grained
and has a more delicate texture and flavor,
which makes it perfect for cooking en blan-
quette. The usual pieces of choice are flank,
neck, breast, shoulder (most affordable),
and collar (less common, but exquisite). For
this recipe, I use boneless shoulder, but it’s
common to use different cuts of veal to get
different textures in the final dish.
No matter which cut you choose, slice the
veal into 2-inch chunks—no smaller, as
the cubes will shrink slightly as they cook.
Using chunks of this size ensures they will
hold up to the 2 hours of simmering, and
will turn extremely tender, not break apart.
It is also essential to salt the veal at least 2
hours before you start cooking, to allow
the salt to penetrate deep into the meat.
Building the Flavor
While browned meat is often key to build-
ing depth of flavor in a stew, veal blanquette
must rely on other ingredients for flavor. We
call these other ingredients “la garniture
aromatique” (aromatic garnishes), which
are: a bouquet garni, a clove-poked onion,
and the vegetables.
Bouquet garni, translating to “garnished
bouquet,” is a bundle of fresh herbs, typi-
cally parsley, thyme, and bay leaf, all tied
up together with cooking twine. This clas-
sic element of French cuisine is often used
to flavor broths, soups, and stews. In a veal
blanquette, a bouquet garni offers aromatic
flavors to the stewing broth, the meat, and
the vegetables.
The idea of tying together herbs, instead
of simply throwing them in the stew, is to
prevent them from scattering in the dish.
Once finished cooking, you can easily re-
move the herb bundle instead of retriev-
ing sprigs one by one, or even accidentally
leaving a few leaves behind. For veal blan-
quette, using a bouquet garni allows you to
use a good amount of herbs to lend fragrant
floral notes to the dish, without altering the
texture and presentation of the signature
velvety white sauce.
The Vegetables
Following the same rule as for the meat
and the sauce, the vegetables tradition-
ally found in a veal blanquette are meant
to be white: onions and button or cremini
mushrooms. Over time, however, more
vegetables have slipped into the recipe,
and nowadays, you will rarely find a veal
blanquette made without carrots. Along
with carrots, celery is also often added to
build flavor in the broth. I myself prefer fen-
nel, which has a similar texture but brings
even more aromatic notes to the dish.
While the other vegetables are simply
added to the simmering broth to cook,
mushrooms are sautéed on the side in but-
ter and added to the stew at the end of cook-
ing. Sautéing the mushrooms is to obtain a
nice sear. You want the mushrooms to be
golden and slightly caramelized, so they
deliver all their flavor. If you skip this step
and simply stew them in the broth, they
will turn rather rubbery and bland in flavor.
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
ALL PHOTOS BY AUDREY LE GOFF
1 2 3
4 5
1. Make the bouquet garni.
2. Prepare the clove-studded
onion, carrots, and fennel.
3. Simmer the veal with the
broth and aromatics, then the
additional vegetables.
4. Cook the mushrooms sepa-
rately in butter.
5. Remove and reserve the
veal and vegetables while you
finish the sauce.
6. Bring everything together
and garnish with parsley to
serve.
While browned
meat is often
key to building
depth of flavor
in a stew, veal
blanquette must
rely on other
ingredients for
flavor.
Audrey Le Goff is a French
food writer, photogra-
pher, and creator of the
food blog Pardon Your
French, where she shares
recipes and stories from
her beloved home country,
France. She is the author
of the cookbook “Rustic
French Cooking Made
Easy” (2019). She currently
lives in Niagara, Canada. 6
VEAL BLANQUETTE
This is one of those crowd-pleasing stewed dishes that FOR THE ROUX should be fork tender.
tastes even better reheated the next day. Serve it over 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large
rice with sweet peas, or boiled potatoes. temperature frying pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms,
seasoned to taste with salt and black pepper, and cook
SERVES 4 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are cooked
2 pounds trimmed, boneless veal shoulder, cut and lightly browned. Set aside.
TO FINISH
into 2-inch chunks
1 egg yolk With a large slotted spoon, drain the meat and vegetables
Salt and freshly ground pepper and reserve on a plate covered with foil to prevent them
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice from drying. Discard the bouquet garni and onion.
6 cups vegetable broth (low sodium) 1/3 cup crème fraîche In a small bowl, mix together the butter and flour with a fork.
1 bouquet garni (5 parsley sprigs, 2 to 3 thyme Chopped parsley, to serve Pour about 1/4 cup of the hot broth into the paste and whisk
sprigs, and 2 bay leaves) until smooth. Pour the mix into the hot broth in the Dutch
About 2 hours before cooking, pat the veal cubes dry
oven and whisk to combine. Simmer for about 10 minutes
1 medium onion, peeled and poked with 6 cloves with paper towels and season them well with salt and
over moderate heat, whisking often, until the sauce thickens
4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch black pepper. Let rest to near room temperature.
slightly. Taste-test the sauce: no floury taste should remain.
pieces In a medium Dutch oven, cover the veal with the broth
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, egg
and bring to a simmer over moderately high heat. Make
1/2 fennel bulb, cut in half yolk, and crème fraîche. Pour about 1/4 cup of the hot
the bouquet garni: Tie the parsley, thyme, and bay
broth into the crème mixture to temper it, then whisk
leaves together with cooking twine and add the bundle
FOR THE MUSHROOMS into the sauce in the Dutch oven.
to the pot, along with the onion. Simmer over low heat
for 1 hour, occasionally skimming the fat that may form Add the veal, vegetables, and mushrooms, and keep
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
from the top of the broth with a large spoon. over low heat until the meat is hot again. Season the
2 cups cremini mushrooms, quartered stew with salt and pepper to taste.
After 1 hour, add the carrots and fennel and simmer
Salt and pepper to taste for another 45 minutes. Test the texture of the veal; it For serving, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley.
 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021 B5
ROGER SILJANDER/SHUTTERSTOCK

BEER

You Too Can Brew

When it comes to homebrewing, it’s easy
to get started—the hard part is stopping
KEVIN REVOLINSKI There’s a certain
satisfaction in
You may not have realized it, but Prohibi- brewing your own
tion didn’t entirely end in 1933: Brewing beer at home.
your own beer also became illegal under
the constitutional ban, but the practice
wasn’t made legal when commercial
sales of alcohol resumed. Actually, you
can thank Jimmy Carter for your home-
brew, and, in turn, the craft brewing
industry.
California Sen. Alan Cranston worked
homemade beer into a transportation
bill in 1978, and when President Carter
signed HR 1337—and when the law went
into effect Feb. 1, 1979—it was game on
for homebrewers. (Well, legally, anyway,
and according to the Feds. On the state
level, Mississippi and Alabama didn’t
sign on with the idea until 2013.)

Homebrewing Goes Mainstream

Homebrewing
Learning to brew while in college in does well in
1970, a young Charlie Papazian would
go on to become an icon in the brewing bad economic
world. He founded Zymurgy magazine, times, and
the American Homebrewers Association,
and the Great American Beer Festival, being stuck
and eventually published “The Complete
Joy of Homebrewing” in 1984 (now in its
at home only
4th edition), often considered the bible of increased the
homebrewing.
I’ve written brewery travel guidebooks ambitions.
to Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota,
BOGAC ERKAN/SHUTTERSTOCK
featuring every brewery in each state
(at the moment it was published; often
one or two behind the count 10 minutes
later). And the origin stories of these
brewing superheroes were almost always
“a hobby gone out of control.”
Here’s generally how the story goes: It
starts on the kitchen stove, then moves
to the garage and a turkey-fryer burner,
usually at the behest of an annoyed
housemate or spouse (who likely pur-
chased the starter brew-kit as a Christ-
mas gift). Let this be a warning to you if
you choose to accept this mission.

Join the Club

Find a homebrewers’ club near you.
Having support from fellow hobby-
ists increases the fun, and you may
end up exchanging final products with
new friends. In Madison, the Madison
Homebrewers and Tasters Guild actually
founded one of the best and oldest craft
beer festivals in North America: Great
Taste of the Midwest.
The American Homebrewers Associa-
tion hosts an annual Big Brew for Nation-
al Homebrew Day, held on the first Sat-
urday of May, and in 2020, the pledged
31,300 brewing gallons were triple those
of the highest recorded year. Homebrew-
ing does well in bad economic times, and
being stuck at home only increased the
ambitions.
Wisconsinite Dean Danner has been
retired just over two years, and when
the lockdown came in 2020, he needed
something to do. An avid birder and
photographer, he lamented, “You can
only take so many pictures of birds in
your yard.” He’d talked about homebrew-
ing for a long time, and so his son got him
a two-gallon BrewDemon system. His
first brew was the Arizona-based Demon
Brewing Co.’s Prophecy Ale: “Really, I
was actually surprised how good it was.”
The kit came with his first recipe, but
he’s since purchased others, including
the ingredients for a recent batch of dop-
pelbock. “They come in two cans,” he
said, referring to malt extract, a concen-
trated wort—just add water. “Following
directions, it was pretty easy. I may invest
in better equipment. I’m just happy get-
ting something I can drink.”
The process is straightforward: Boil wa-
ter, add the malt extract, move it all to the
Look for a homebrew starter kit from your local supply store—or one that ships,
like this kit from Craft a Brew.
When you start
buying stainless-
steel multi-barrel
tanks, you might
want to think about
moving out of the
kitchen.
fermenter, and add the yeast. Then follow
seven days in an airtight container, then
conditioning in bottles for at least seven
more days. “I can’t usually wait. After
the minimum time, I’m drinking it,” said
Danner.
“The hardest part is getting the equip-
My advice ment sterilized,” he added. But even that
would be to is made easier by using the included
no-rinse sterilizing powder in water. So
focus on, one, after an initial kit investment of about
whatever $90, each new batch costs $20 to $30 and
produces two gallons, the equivalent of
you find fun, about 21 standard cans of beer.
This is stage one of the out-of-control
and two, part. You can change malt extracts for
fermentation. actual grain and grind your own, us-
ing a portable grain mill that sits atop
Joe Walts, Octopi a five-gallon bucket. Upgrade to a glass
Brewing carboy instead of plastic; larger vessels;
that turkey-fryer burner out in the back-
yard for the boil. After all, Larry Bell of
the massively successful Bell’s Brewery
started with a homebrew shop in 1983
and opened the brewery two years later.
Consult your local homebrew supply
store about options. If you don’t have
COURTESY OF CRAFT A BREW a shop in town, any not-so-local store
likely ships. (A popular one is Northern
Brewer.)
As Long As We’re Having a Good Time
Even professional brewers, who in many
cases slowed down or stopped entirely,
returned to homebrewing last year, and
some never quit at all. Joe Walts, a profes-
sional brewer now working in the lab and
as process improvement specialist for
Octopi Brewing in Waunakee, Wiscon-
sin, says he continued with the hobby,
making at least a batch for Thanksgiving
each year and perhaps two or three more
besides.
“For the first eight-ish years after going
pro, it was because I loved creating recipes
and rarely got to do it at work,” he said.
Walts recommends “How To Brew:
Everything You Need to Know to Brew
Great Beer Every Time” by John J. Palm-
er. The first edition is free on Palmer’s
website, and a greatly expanded and up-
dated 4th edition came out in 2017. “It’s a
great start for broadly understanding the
processes of brewing.”
“My advice would be to focus on, one,
whatever you find fun, and two, fermen-
tation,” said Walts. Certain beers can’t
be made with extracts—“anything that
requires Munich malt has starch that
needs to be enzymatically converted”—
but that doesn’t mean you have to go
beyond the basics.
“You can make equally good beer with
extracts, plus steeped bags of specialty
grain versus all-grain,” Walts said, “but
you may want to switch to all-grain at
some point because it’s fun.” You can
even culture your own yeast. Tempera-
ture control, another important aspect of
the process, may incline you to upgrade
equipment, but “a used fridge or chest
freezer with a temperature controller is
as good as anything.”
So, aspiring homebrewers, you have
options: starting from basic stovetop
boiling with malt extracts. That’s how
they hook you. When you start buying
stainless-steel multi-barrel tanks, you
might want to think about moving out
of the kitchen. Don’t say you weren’t
warned.
Kevin Revolinski is an avid traveler, craft
beer enthusiast, and home cooking fan. He
is the author of 15 books, including “The
Yogurt Man Cometh: Tales of an American
Teacher in Turkey” and his new collec-
tion of short stories, “Stealing Away.” He is
based in Madison, Wis., and his website is
TheMadTraveler.com
B6 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021

CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTED BY TOM HOUSTON

EPOCH TIMES STAFF 12. Kind of acid used to 4NUMBERS CONSTRUCTED BY C. CHANG
AT 4NUMS.COM DAILY BRIDGE CLUB
make nylon Trials and errors
Use the four numbers in the corners, and
13. Beethoven’s “Moon- the operands (+, - X, and ÷) to build an BY FRANK STEWART, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY

light ___” equation to get the solution in the middle.

There may be more than one “unique” so- ©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
14. Captain Ahab sup- lution but, there may also be “equivalent”
porter solutions. For example: 6 + (7 X 3) +1 = 28 “Your honor,” the District Attorney intoned,
and 1+ (7 X 3) + 6 = 28 “we will prove that South committed a
16. Iced treat felony. He lost a cold game.”
21. High spots “Proceed,” the judge instructed, and the
court kibitzed the evidence.
23. Uniform “At four spades,” the DA said, “South
27. Upper house member: ruffed the second diamond (not best
defense), drew trumps and led a heart:
Abbr. seven, king, nine. He next let the queen
28. “Are we there ___?” of clubs ride,and West won and returned
a club. Declarer then led a second heart
29. Rumble to dummy’s queen and lost two hearts.
31. Animals’ backs Down one.
32. Gulf leader “After South draws trumps, he must
lead a low club toward the queen. West
33. Like some mail must take his king or lose it, and South
36. Arista later discards dummy’s low hearts on the
Hard 1 - 1 Solution A-J of clubs.”
37. Romania’s basic cur-
rency unit OMNISCIENT
“My client isn’t omniscient,” South’s counsel
38. “48___” roared. “He couldn’t know how the cards lay.”
39. Passé South was guilty. If he leads a club to
40. Manipulate dummy’s queen and finds East with the
king, South can be sure that West has the
43. Anxious ace of hearts for his opening bid, so South
44. Carnival site will be safe. He must cater to the ace of
hearts with East and the king of clubs with
45. Point West.
46. Latish lunchtime
DAILY QUESTION
48. UN Trade org. You hold: {J1095 3 6 3 2 7
49. Indian maids y A J 6 3. Your partner opens one
Hard 2 - 1 Solution diamond, you respond one spade and he
50. Docs for dachshunds jumps to three clubs. What do you say?
Across 41. 1999 Pulitzer Prize- 83. Carpenters and roof- 51. Ben Jonson wrote one ANSWER: Partner’s jump-shift is forcing
1. “Raiders of the Lost winning play ers, at times to himself to game, so you must bid again. To rebid
three spades might work by keeping you
Ark” crawlers 42. Nut 84. Cleaves 56. Muumuu accessory below 3NT, which might be your best
5. Appetizers 47. Caused Nicholas II’s 85. Fraternal organiza- 57. Large amount contract. Still, to suppress the club support
12. Web page technology abdication tion of Civil War Union would be questionable. Raise to four clubs.
58. Appraiser Your partner’s hand might be 2, A K, A Q 8
that facilitated dynamic 52. R-rated veterans (Abbr.) 59. Go this way and that 6 4, K Q 10 9 5.
web pages 53. Flushed 86. 181-square-mile 60. The near or foresee- West dealer
54. ____ d’Azur country in the Pyrenees Neither side vulnerable
15. “Common Sense” able future
pamphleteer 55. Wood choppers of old 87. Flophouse in London
61. Sartre novel
17. Cornmeal pancake 60. Blame
62. Cast off
18. The buck stops here 64. Obeys Down
63. Watch part Easy 1 - 2 Solutions
19. Loft 65. “Walk the dog” per- 1. With speed
formers 2. Zen enlightenment 66. 6 x 9 in. book
20. Tenacious
22. Over 68. 1940 Disney classic 3. Miners 67. Boot leathers
24. Prickly pear cactus 70. Gel 4. Impertinent person 69. Kind of football
25. Prior to 71. Pack animal 5. Soldier in the 82nd 70. Hot sauce
26. Lenox ___ Fishmarket 73. Enraged one may need one 72. Grace word
27. Sensualist 74. Extended stay ac- 6. Bang-up 74. A tablet maker
30. Sundance film commodation option 7. Uncool sort 75. Young salmon
32. High guy in Dubai 77. Like an isosceles 8. Crack 76. “The Art of Love” poet
34. Smack, on the street triangle 9. Friend 78. Whup
35. Decorative 81. Artfully escape 10. Scratch (out) 79. Purge
38. Time piece 82. Opposite of paleo- 11. Cathartic drug 80. Human rights agcy. 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.

ADIPIC ECLAIR METERED SATORI

ANDORRA EMEER NAILERS SENNA
APACE EVADE NAUSEA SONATA
APARTOTEL FALSE NOPAL STEAMY
ARENA TEETH OCTAVO SUEDES
ATTIC FANTASIA OFFING SYBARITE
AYAHS FUMER ORNAMENTAL TOTTER
BLESS HEEDS PAINE UNMOOR
BRAWL HOECAKE PEGLEG WEIRDO
CANAPÉS INDIE PITMEN YO-YOS
CHUTE ISOMETRICAL RIVES
DORSA ITCHY SALSA

SOLUTIONS
CROSSWORD SUPER KAKURO
4 NUMBERS
HARD 1

HARD 2

EASY 1

EASY 2
 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 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

Easy FEEDBACK@EPOCHTIMES.COM

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CRYPTIC QUOTE

EPOCH DOKU CONSTRUCTED

BY EPOCH TIMES STAFF

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

Kakuro puzzles are like crosswords that use numbers instead of words. The goal THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME
is to fill the blank squares associated with a clue (called a “run”) with the numbers By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek
1-9 so that the numbers add up to the corresponding clues. Like Sudoku, digits Unscramble these Jumbles,
*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 MEEEC
EPOCH ESCAPE MAZE
5<)72

55<$72

6.231(
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
— “PREFER-RENTS” Many happy returns
because it was their
instead of buying one
They leased a home
Answers:
SPOKEN
ROTARY
FORTY
EMCEE
Jumbles:
SUDOKU: HARD EPOCH DOKU

CRYPTIC QUOTE
as for justice.
inflicted for love as much
and every punishment is
All pain is a punishment,
B8 THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021

ZU KAMILOV/ SHUTTERSTOCK

Wine of the Week

COURTESY OF BAREFOOT WINES

Barefoot Bubbly, Brut Cuvée,
California ($9):
There are numerous sparkling wines
made in California that rival French
Champagne in quality, but most sell
When cooking with wine, use one that’s clean, fresh, and young.
WINE for $20 to $50 a bottle. And cheaper
bubblies can be a bit sweet for most
Champagne lovers. This wine won’t

What You Should Know About make you think of the Champagne
district in France, but it’s nicely
balanced between sugar and acid, and

Cooking With Wine it has a lovely aroma and aftertaste.

DAN BERGER
When a recipe calls for a cup of white wine,
the cook who wrote that suggestion likely
wasn’t referring to a $50 bottle of chardon-
nay. In basic terms, when cooking with
wine, use one that’s clean, fresh, and young.
Indeed, historically, the phrase “cooking
wine” conjures up bad images, including
wine with salt added, wine that’s gone bad
but that some folks still cook with, and even
wines of the wrong color.
Decades ago, cooking wine often con-
tained salt—a practice that goes back to
when mansions had cooks. Owners wanted
to make sure cooks didn’t take unauthor-
ized swigs. But the cooking wine of the past
also was so poor in quality that it wouldn’t
add desirable flavors to a dish.
The best wines to cook with are those you
can drink. I often find that when cooking,
I’m also sipping a glass. And usually, it’s
the wine I splash in the stew, especially if
it’s the right color for the dish.
If the dish is to be cooked
only a few minutes after
adding the wine, use a
better-quality wine. You
may be impressed.
Pasta sauces with tomatoes and beef or
pork call for tart red wines; light, off-dry
white wines are no help here. Recipes that
call for deglazing pans that have just sau-
téed onions might call for a white wine,
but if the onions are being added to a beef
dish, deglaze with a red.
One basic rule says you can always cook
with a young wine that was opened re-
cently and remains sound. But if a wine
begins to taste oxidized or vinegary, forget
it. It could ruin the dish.
And don’t take cookbooks literally. Some
older cookbooks say to use “sauterne.” There
is no such thing. French Sauternes, with a
capital S and a final S, is a sweet dessert
wine. Decades ago, the term “sauterne” in
some cookbooks simply meant a dry white.
If a dish calls for wine, check its cooking
time to see how good the wine should be.
Dishes that call for a long simmer or reduc-
ing the liquid over hours call for a modest
wine. But if the dish is to be cooked only a
few minutes after adding the wine, use a
better-quality wine. You may be impressed.
This was discovered in the 1980s by Bill
Rice, then the food editor of The Washing-
ton Post. Rice staged a dinner in which each
of four dishes called for wine to be added.
To test whether the quality of wine was an
issue, Rice prepared each dish three times.
Only one ingredient varied: the wine. In the
first preparation, he used a simple wine;
the second had a moderate-quality wine;
and the last had a great wine.
Rice discovered that the kind of wine
used was immaterial in the dishes calling
for long cooking but important for short
cooking times.
A key point: Adding wine to a dish just
before turning off the heat means less
evaporation, meaning the wine isn’t as
compromised. A poor wine cooked for a
short time may leave an unattractive ele-
ment, such as an alcoholic flavor.
The longer the cooking time, the more
the alcohol will dissipate.
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.
Copyright 2021 Creators.com

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