NEW YOR K | DC EDITION
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In the News
NEWS
President Joe Biden has an-
nounced several new gun con-
trol measures after two mass
shootings last month. ...A6
A mass vaccination site in
Colorado was shut down after
several people experienced
adverse reactions to the
Johnson & Johnson vaccine,
the site manager says. ... A4
Pennsylvania has been
forced to remove more than
20,000 deceased voters
from its voter rolls after a
lawsuit brought by the Pub-
lic Interest Legal Foundation
was settled. ... A7
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon
has signed a bill that requires
voters to present photo iden-
tification in order to vote. ...A7
A Pakistani national has
been charged with smug-
gling illegal immigrants from
Pakistan and Afghanistan into
the United States, the Depart-
ment of Justice says. ... A5
Secretary of Commerce
Gina Raimondo says that
the Trump administration’s
tariffs on steel and aluminum
saved American jobs. ... A4
Washington Gov. Jay In-
slee has signed a bill restor-
ing voting rights to convicted
felons. ... A6
The European Court of
Human Rights has ruled that
compulsory childhood vacci-
nation in the Czech Republic
doesn’t violate the European
Convention on Human Rights.
... A11
Hong Kong democracy ac-
tivist Nathan Law says that
he has been granted political
asylum in the UK. ... A10
CHINA
Billiionaire tech investor
Peter Thiel criticized major
U.S. technology companies
for being too cozy with the
Chinese Communist Party
and called on them to undo
their Chinese ties. ... A9
The U.S. Commerce De-
partment said that it was
adding seven Chinese su-
percomputing entities to a
U.S. economic blacklist for
assisting Chinese military
efforts. ... A9
BUSINESS
Although the global econ-
omy is recovering from the
COVID-19 crisis, raising inter-
est rates would hurt emerg-
ing markets, the International
Monetary Fund says. ... A17
U.S. jobless claims rose to
744,000 last week, signaling
that many employers are still
cutting jobs amid economic
recovery. ... A17
OPINION
Marco Respinti: Religious
Liberty and US Foreign Policy:
No Longer the Guiding Prin-
ciple?...A13
Martha Rosenberg: ‘Wrong’
Criminals Ruin Liberal Media
Narrative...A14
Betsy McCaughey: Ending
Big Tech Tyranny...A16
FEATURES
Glamping is an ideal way to
gather with family while trav-
eling remains fraught with re-
strictions. ...B1
Residents of Smith Island
in the Chesapeake Bay are
hardy, independent, and wel-
coming to visitors. ...B4
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| F R I D A Y, A P R I L 9 , 2 0 21
BORDER SECURITY
Border Patrol Union: ‘Surge Is Unlike
Anything We’ve Ever Seen Before’
172,000 border apprehensions in March include 18,600
unaccompanied minors and almost 53,000 in family groups
BY CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON
M
cALLEN, Texas—The
sheer number of illegal
border-crossers that U.S.
Border Patrol agents
are apprehending on a daily basis
is overwhelming in itself, but the
type of population makes it some-
thing never seen before, according
to Brandon Judd, president of the
National Border Patrol Council.
LABOR UNIONS
State Employee
Brings RICO Suit
Against Public
Sector Union
Union alleged to intimidate
employees, lie or suppress
the truth about their rights,
and fight their opting out
BY MATTHEW VADUM
An Oregon state government em-
ployee is suing a labor union under
racketeering laws over its refusal
to grant her request to opt out of
paying dues, claiming the union
engaged in a pattern of fraudulent
activity that victimized her and
other union members.
Staci Trees of Bend, Oregon, who
works for the Oregon Department of
Transportation, was required to ei-
ther sign a union membership card
or pay an agency fee to Service Em-
ployees International Union (SEIU)
503 when she was first hired in 2009.
But in June 2018, the Supreme Court
ruled in Janus v. AFSCME, disrupt-
ing how public-sector unions fi-
nance their operations.
Continued on A2
NEW YORK
Rep. Lee Zeldin Announces Run
for New York Governor
BY IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.)
on April 7 announced his
candidacy for governor of
New York in 2022.
“I’ll bring the kind of re-
lentless, fighting spirit to-
wards helping to save our
state that [Gov. Andrew]
Cuomo reserves for multi-
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
Border Patrol agents apprehend a group of illegal
immigrants in Penitas, Texas, on March 11. 2021.
CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES
Brandon Judd, president of the
National Border Patrol Council, in
McAllen, Texas, on April 7, 2021.
IRAN
US Will Not Offer
Incentives to
Get Iran Back to
Negotiating Table
on Nuclear Deal
BY ISABEL VAN BRUGEN
The U.S. State Department reiterated
on April 7 that the Biden administra-
tion won’t offer unilateral incentives
to get Iran back to the negotiating
table on the 2015 Joint Comprehen-
sive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—known
commonly as the Iran nuclear deal—
which former President Donald
Trump withdrew from in 2018.
“We are not and will not offer
any unilateral gestures or incen-
tives to sweeten any sort of deal
or to induce Iran to—back to the
negotiating table or to a better posi-
tion at that negotiating table,” State
Department spokesman Ned Price
told reporters on April 7.
Price was referring to the deal
between Iran and six major pow-
ers under which Tehran agreed to
limit its nuclear program in return
for the easing of U.S. and other eco-
nomic sanctions.
Continued on A5
million dollar self-congrat-
ulatory book deals, cover-
ups, abuse & self-dealing,”
Zeldin wrote on Twitter.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is
facing intense pressure to
resign, including from top
Rep. Lee
Zeldin Democrats in Washington
(R-N.Y.). and New York. Cuomo’s ad-
ministration is accused of
Continued on A5
CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES
“I would argue that it’s the big-
gest surge that we’ve ever seen in
the history of the Border Patrol,”
Judd said during a roundtable with
Republican members of Congress,
Texas landowners, and law en-
forcement on April 7.
During the month of March, Bor-
der Patrol apprehended 172,000 il-
legal aliens, according to statistics
released on April 8 by Customs and
Continued on A3
Families from Honduras and El Salvador in New York following their release from a
holding facility for illegal immigrants in McAllen, Texas, on March 30, 2021.
NEW YORK
NY Allocates $2.1 Billion for Illegal
Immigrants, Other ‘Excluded Workers’
BY ZACHARY STIEBER
New York state legislators this week
agreed to establish a $2.1 billion
fund that will give money to illegal
immigrants and other so-called ex-
cluded workers who lost their jobs
during the COVID-19 pandemic but
were ineligible for federal stimu-
lus checks, unemployment aid, or
other benefits.
The Excluded Worker Fund will
extend a one-time payment to
workers who lost jobs or income
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Lawsuit Defends Faith
Objections to Working
Gay Weddings
BY MARK TAPSCOTT
A New York photographer repre-
sented by the Alliance Defending
Freedom (ADF) is challenging in
federal court state laws that force
her to photograph gay weddings
despite her religious objections to
doing so.
One of the laws being challenged
Continued on A3
VOL . X V I I I | NO. 2,936 $1.
TREASURY
With US
Push, Global
Minimum
Tax Gains
Momentum
BY EMEL AKAN
WASHINGTON—Treasury Secretary
Janet Yellen is urging other coun-
tries to support a global minimum
tax rate for corporations, which is
crucial for funding President  Joe
Biden’s infrastructure proposal,
called the American Jobs Plan.
We are delighted by
the U.S. support for a
minimum corporate tax.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire
The Biden administration pro-
poses substantial tax increases on
U.S. corporations to pay for the $2.3
trillion plan aimed at boosting in-
vestment in infrastructure, clean
energy, manufacturing, housing,
and other programs.
Amid concerns that a higher
corporate tax rate would hurt the
country’s market competitiveness,
Yellen announced on April 5 that
the United States is working with
the Group of 20 (G-20) countries to
adopt a minimum global corporate
income tax.
Biden’s eight-year infrastructure
plan is to be fully paid for by tax in-
creases on companies spread over
15 years. His proposal is to boost
the federal corporate tax rate to 28
percent from 21 percent.
Yellen said if an agreement among
G-20 economies is reached on the
minimum corporate tax, it would
end “a 30-year race to the bottom.”
Continued on A2
ED JONES/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
during the pandemic.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic,
essential workers across the state
risked their lives to keep our state
moving and our families safe,”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie,
a Democrat, said in a statement.
“When unemployment rates sky-
rocketed last summer, many of
those selfless workers were exclud-
ed from any type of federal assis-
tance during this pandemic and we
must take care of all New Yorkers.”
Continued on A4
ECONOMY
STUDY FINDS
BIDEN’S CORPORATE
TAX HIKES WOULD
COST JOBS
“One million
jobs would be
lost in the first
two years,”
NAM Presidentt
and CEO Jay
Timmons said.
Read more on A2
A2 | NATION
State Employee Brings RICO Suit
Against Public Sector Union
CONTINUED FROM A1
The high court held that man-
datory union membership, dues,
and fees in the public sector are a
violation of the employee’s First
Amendment rights. In Janus, the
Supreme Court overruled Abood v.
Detroit Board of Education (1977),
which held that public-sector
unions could collect forced agency
fees from nonmembers to finance
their collective bargaining activi-
ties, without infringing the First and
14th Amendments.
We decided it was
finally time to call
this what it is, and
say this is a criminal
enterprise.
Rebekah Millard,
attorney, Freedom Foundation
After the Janus ruling, Trees con-
tacted the union and requested her
release to allow her to opt out of pay-
ing the agency fees.
Following several delays, SEIU fi-
nally canceled her membership in
December 2020. But Trees was ad-
vised by email that the union would
continue deducting around $100 a
month in dues until at least Febru-
ary 2021 because, under the terms
of a new agreement she supposedly
signed in 2016, all memberships
would be renewed automatically
unless the worker opted out during
an annual two-week window.
Trees said she has no recollection
of signing such an agreement and,
when she demanded to see it, she
formed the opinion that not only
had her signature been forged, but
important personal details had sim-
Talks Over Global Minimum Tax Pushed by
US Gains Momentum
CONTINUED FROM A1
“Together, we can use a global
minimum tax to make sure the
global economy thrives based on a
more level playing field in the taxa-
tion of multinational corporations,
and spurs innovation, growth, and
prosperity,” she said.
Both France and Germany, which
have relatively high corporate tax
rates in the OECD welcomed the
Biden administration’s proposal.
“We are delighted by the U.S. sup-
port for a minimum corporate tax,”
French Finance Minister Bruno Le
Maire told AFP.
“An agreement on international
taxation is now within reach,” he
noted. “We must seize this historic
opportunity.”
The average statutory corporate
tax rate among Organization for
Economic Co-operation and De-
velopment (OECD) countries had
fallen to 23.3 percent in 2020 from
32.2 percent in 2000, according to a
report by the Treasury Department.
The report, which outlines Biden’s
“Made in America tax plan” stated
that the declines have resulted
from a “collective action problem.”
Fierce competition among coun-
tries to attract investments has fu-
eled this “race to the bottom,” ac-
cording to the report, and a better
coordination across the globe will
prevent companies from relocating
to countries with lower taxes.
German Finance Minister Olaf
Scholz also hailed Yellen’s proposal.
“I’m in high spirits that with
this corporate taxation initiative,
we’ll manage to put an end to the
worldwide race to the bottom in
taxation,” Scholz said, according
to Reuters.
However, Ireland, which has
one of the lowest corporate tax
rates in the OECD (12.5 percent),
voiced concerns about a global
minimum tax. The country has
chosen a low tax model to attract
ply been made up.
The legal complaint in Trees v.
SEIU Local 503 was filed in U.S. Dis-
trict Court in Eugene, Oregon, by
the Freedom Foundation, a national
nonprofit watchdog organization
specializing in public-sector union
abuses. It names SEIU Local 503,
the Oregon Department of Admin-
istrative Services and its director,
Katy Coba, as defendants.
Trees’s case is the first to invoke
the federal Racketeer Influenced
and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)
Act, according to the Freedom
Foundation.
“We decided it was finally time
to call this what it is and say this
is a criminal enterprise,” Freedom
President Joe Biden receives an economic briefing with Treasury Secretary
Janet Yellen in the Oval Office on Jan. 29, 2021.
foreign investment.
Increasing the corporate tax rate
to 28 percent would raise the U.S.
federal-state combined tax rate
to 32.34 percent, according to the
Tax Foundation, a conservative-
leaning group. This change will
make the U.S. corporate tax rate the
highest in the OECD, reducing U.S.
competitiveness. The average cor-
porate tax rate among the OECD
countries, excluding the United
States, is 23.4 percent.
“Contrary to the proposal’s claims
about a ‘race to the bottom’ on
corporate tax rates, reductions in
corporate rates have plateaued for
more than a decade,” Tax Founda-
tion said in a report.
“When the U.S. cut the federal
statutory corporate rate from 35
percent to 21 percent in 2017, it was
not leading a race to the bottom but
moving to the average.”
During this week’s virtual spring
meeting of the International Mon-
etary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank, IMF Managing Director
Kristalina Georgieva also called
for “progressive taxation” and an
agreement on “minimum taxation
Foundation attorney Rebekah Mil-
lard told The Epoch Times in an in-
terview.
“If Staci Trees was the only per-
son this had ever happened to, you
could conceivably blame it on inef-
ficiency or incompetence, but this
isn’t an isolated case.”
“The state law doesn’t actually re-
quire the state to verify or to check
or even to listen if the employee
says, ‘Hey I never authorized this,’”
Millard said.
“In Mrs. Trees’s case, her employer
literally said to her, ‘We take orders
from the union—there is nothing
we can do to help you.’”
The foundation is currently in
court over four other forgery cases
KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS
for companies.”
The IMF has long supported a
global minimum tax, according
to IMF’s top economist Gita Gopi-
nath.
“It is a big concern that we have
a large amount of tax shifting,
tax avoidance, countries sending
money to tax havens, and that’s
reducing the tax base from which
governments can collect revenues
and do the necessary social and
economic spending that’s re-
quired,” Gopinath told reporters.
“So we are very much in favor of a
global minimum corporate tax.”
OECD officials earlier floated a
minimum corporate rate of 12.5
percent. Yellen, however, proposed
agreeing to a minimum tax rate of
21 percent.
World Bank President David Mal-
pass warned governments against
setting a minimum tax rate that is
too high.
“The critical thing is to have
growth for countries around the
world,” Malpass told BBC.
Yellen’s proposal of a 21 percent
global minimum tax “strikes me
as a high corporate rate,” he said.
Oregon Department of Transportation
building in Salem, Ore., in this file photo.
GARY WEBER, OREGON DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION/CC BY 2.0 VIA WIKIPEDIA
involving SEIU Local 503 and has
taken action in more than a dozen
total forgery cases involving public-
sector unions on the West Coast.
“This is a pattern of behavior,” Mil-
lard said. “This is how government
unions are responding to Janus—by
intimidating employees, lying, or
suppressing the truth about their
rights, and fighting every single at-
tempt to opt out.”
“And when all else fails, they sim-
ply forge their signature on a phony
contract, locking employees into
new terms they never agreed to.”
Millard said SEIU’s actions con-
travene both state and federal RICO
laws because the union sent out nu-
merous electronic communications
Biden’s Corporate Tax Hikes Would
Cost 1 Million Jobs, Study Finds
BOWEN XIAO
If President Joe Biden’s corporate
tax increases and other changes
to the tax code are passed un-
changed, about 1 million jobs will
be lost in the first two years follow-
ing passage and economic activity
will also decrease, according to a
new economic study.
The study by the National Asso-
ciation of Manufacturers (NAM),
conducted by  Rice University
economists, found Biden’s infra-
structure plans would cause a
barrage of negative consequences.
Biden has called for a corporate tax
increase to 28 percent from the
current 21 percent.
“This study tells us quantitatively
what manufacturers from coast to
coast will tell you qualitatively: in-
creasing the tax burden on com-
panies in America means fewer
American jobs. One million jobs
would be lost in the first two years,
to be exact,” NAM President and
CEO Jay Timmons said in a state-
ment on April 8.
The study calculated the effects
of increasing the corporate tax rate,
increasing the top marginal tax
rate, repealing the 20 percent pass-
through deduction, eliminating
certain expensing provisions, and
other actions outlined in Biden’s
infrastructure proposal.
Total employment, which is
tracked by the number of hours
worked, would also fall by 0.7 per-
cent initially before moderating.
The reduction in hours worked
equals an employment loss of 1
million full-time jobs in 2023. By
2026, these jobs would still be gone
before later stabilizing.
According to the study, the av-
erage annual reduction in em-
ployment would be equivalent to
a loss of 600,000 jobs each year
over 10 years.
Ordinary capital, or investments
in equipment and structures,
would meanwhile “be $80 billion
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
that fraudulently claimed Trees au-
thorized deductions she hadn’t.
“It’s time for the courts to recog-
nize these are not isolated instances
and take action to hold SEIU 503
accountable,” said Jason Dudash,
the Freedom Foundation’s Oregon
director. “And that’s just what this
lawsuit is intended to do.”
Andrea Chiapella, communica-
tions director for the Oregon De-
partment of Administrative Servic-
es, declined to make a statement.
“We don’t comment on matters
involving pending litigation,” she
wrote in an email.
SEIU Local 503 didn’t immedi-
ately respond to requests by The
Epoch Times for comment.
less in 2023 and $83 billion and
$66 billion less in 2026 and 2031,
respectively.”
In the long run, the study found
that real wages would fall by 0.6
percent and total labor compensa-
tion, including wages and benefits,
would decline by 0.6 percent ini-
tially before falling by 0.3 percent
after 10 years. Total compensation,
in the long run, would also decline
by 0.6 percent.
Biden’s wide-ranging proposal,
the details of which were laid out in
a fact sheet released by the White
House on March 31, is the first
part of a two-part economic plan
he aims to pass through Congress
in the coming months. The second
part of his plan features even more
ideals outside of the traditional
infrastructure scope, such as ex-
panding health insurance cover-
age, extending the expanded child
tax benefit, and more.
Some economists  have criti-
cized the package as failing to de-
liver on traditional funding, and
that it amounts to a massive federal
power grab. They also found fault
with the administration’s broad
definition of infrastructure.
When Biden first outlined his
infrastructure plan last week, he
pitched it  as “a once-in-a-gen-
eration investment in America,
unlike anything we’ve seen or
done since we built the interstate
highway system and the space
race decades ago.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) recently ex-
pressed that he’s unlikely to sup-
port Biden’s infrastructure plan
due to the hefty tax hikes.
“The administration’s non-in-
frastructure ‘infrastructure bill’
looks like another Trojan horse
for far-left demands. Rolling back
Right to Work laws. Imposing the
biggest new tax hikes in a gen-
eration—killing jobs and slowing
wage growth when workers need a
fast recovery,” he wrote on Twitter.
 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York in Buffalo, N.Y., on April 8, 2021.
Photographer Challenges New York
Law Barring Faith Objections to
Working Gay Weddings
CONTINUED FROM A1
by Rochester artistic wedding
photographer Emilee Carpenter
in the U.S. District Court for West-
ern New York also bars her from
explaining on her business web-
site why working at same-sex
ceremonies violates her deepest
Christian beliefs.
The ADF is an Arizona-based
public interest law firm that spe-
cializes in religious freedom and
other First Amendment liberties
litigation. Attorneys for the ADF
have argued and won a dozen Su-
preme Court decisions in recent
years, including 2018’s landmark
Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado
Border Patrol Apprehends 172,000 Illegal
Immigrants in March
CONTINUED FROM A1
Border Protection (CBP). An ad-
ditional 1,000 per day are evad-
ing capture. In February, border
agents apprehended 101,000
people.
Acting CBP Commissioner Troy
Miller said the increase “is not
new.”
“Encounters have continued to
increase since April 2020, and our
past experiences have helped us be
better prepared for the challenges
we face this year,” he said.
However, Judd said, “this surge
is unlike anything we’ve ever seen
before.”
In the late 1990s and early 2000s,
Border Patrol apprehended up to
1.5 million illegal aliens per year.
“Even though we were making
1.5 million arrests, we were actu-
ally dealing with about 400,000
to 500,000 individual people—
we were just arresting the same
people over and over again,” Judd
said. Most were single males from
Florida Sues Biden Administration Over Continued Cruise Shutdown
ZACHARY STIEBER
The state of Florida on April 8 sued
the federal government over its
prolonged shutdown of cruises,
arguing that trips are being run
safely in other parts of the world
and that the U.S. industry is on the
brink of financial ruin.
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) is continu-
ing to prevent cruises from launch-
ing from U.S. ports despite not hav-
ing the authority to do so, the state
said in the 156-page suit filed in
federal court and obtained by The
Epoch Times.
Even if the agency did have the
authority, its actions have been “ar-
bitrary and capricious” and violate
federal law, plaintiffs say.
They’re asking a judge to bar the
Civil Rights Commission decision
that upheld the right of cake deco-
rator Jack Phillips to decline work
for same-sex ceremonies.
Carpenter’s claims are similar to
those of Phillips in the Colorado
case, according to the ADF attor-
neys. Attorneys from ADF are also
representing photographers and
artists in similar cases in Kentucky,
Colorado, and Virginia.
“Her faith and eye for beauty
shape her photography, from first
click to final edit. And just like other
artists, Emilee decides whether to
create based on what her artwork
conveys, not who asks for it,” Car-
penter’s suit states.
“That means Emilee cannot cre-
Mexico, who were easy to turn
back across the border within a
couple of hours.
“Today ... if we make 1.2 million
arrests, we’re actually dealing with
about 800,000 to 900,000 different
people.”
The addition of so many unac-
companied minors (18,600 in
March) and family units (com-
prising almost 53,000 individuals
in March) on top of single adults
(96,600 in March) is overwhelming,
Judd said.
Family units and unaccom-
panied minors require a huge
amount of resources, including
housing, food, transport, and
health care while being processed
and subsequently transferred or
released.
Additionally, most of the family
members and unaccompanied mi-
nors end up staying in the United
States, regardless of whether they
have a meritorious asylum claim.
“You could cross the border ille-
gally one day and be in Virginia the
CDC from preventing cruises from
launching from Florida and other
U.S. ports. If the shutdown contin-
ues, Florida will lose hundreds of
millions of dollars, if not billions,
and the approximately 159,000
state residents who work in the
industry “could lose everything,”
according to the suit, which names
the CDC and the Department of
Health and Human Services and
their directors.
The two agencies didn’t imme-
diately respond to requests by The
Epoch Times for comment.
The CDC ordered cruises to stop
departing and returning to U.S.
ports in March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The no-sail
order remains in place despite a
drop in COVID-19 cases, hospital-
izations, and deaths, and a steadily
SCREENSHOT GOOGLE MAPS/VIA THE EPOCH TIMES
ate some artwork for anyone—
like photographs that flout her
artistic style, celebrate obscenity,
or demean others. She likewise
cannot promote certain views on
marriage. New York finds this last
type of editorial freedom too close-
minded.”
“These laws do not simply dictate
what she does; they dictate what
she says. Emilee is already will-
ing to work with clients no matter
who they are, including those in
the LGBT community,” according
to the suit.
“But not satisfied with equal
treatment, New York officials
demand ideological purity, that
Emilee violate her conscience by
very next day,” Judd said.
“I personally have apprehended
groups from China, from Bangla-
desh, from Russia, from Poland,
from Brazil. And these criminal
organizations are allowed to go
into these countries, and they’re
allowed to advertise their services
and make billions of dollars off
of human misery. And it’s based
upon our policies.
“That’s wrong. That is inhumane.”
The Biden administration has
drawn criticism for quickly undo-
ing Trump-era policies—which
had sharply reduced the flow of il-
legal immigration—and creating
the current crisis.
On March 24, President Joe
Biden appointed Vice President
Kamala Harris to head up the bor-
der crisis response. However, she
has yet to visit the border, saying
that her focus is instead on pro-
viding more assistance to Central
American countries.
Judd said the only way to stem
the flow is to detain people while
rising number of people being vac-
cinated against the CCP virus.
“This is not reasonable. This is
not rational,” Florida Gov. Ron De-
Santis, a Republican, told a press
conference on April 8. “And this is
something that we don’t believe
can continue any longer.”
“We are not going to sit back while
its administrative agency decides
to shut down an entire industry,”
the state’s Attorney General Ashley
Moody said.
The CDC last week issued fresh
guidance that informs cruise lines
of what changes they’ll have to
make before cruises can resume
from America’s ports. The guid-
ance came on the same day the
CDC said in updated guidance that
fully vaccinated people could fly
outside the country.
professing the state’s approved
view about marriage.
“Specifically, New York laws re-
quire Emilee to create photographs
and blogs celebrating same-sex
marriage because she creates
photographs and blogs celebrating
opposite-sex marriage. The laws
also prohibit Emilee from adopting
an editorial policy consistent with
her beliefs about marriage.
“And the laws even make it illegal
for Emilee to post statements on her
business’s own website explaining
her religious views on marriage or
her reasons for only creating this
wedding content.”
Violation of the New York laws
being challenged carries with
them unlimited liability against
Carpenter personally and against
her business for damages, fines of
up to $100,000, loss of her business
license, and up to a year in jail.
Bryan Neihart, ADF legal
counsel for the Carpenter suit,
told The Epoch Times on April 8
that New York’s law that prevents
the photographer from explain-
ing on her business’s website
why her faith prevents her from
shooting gay ceremonies is un-
usually aggressive.
“It’s definitely a unique feature
about New York’s law, that it not
only compels her to say things
that she can’t say because of her
religious beliefs, but also restricts
her from saying anything,” Neihart
responded.
Asked if any other states have
similar statutes, Neihart said:
“Some states do and some mu-
nicipalities do, it depends on the
jurisdiction, but I think New York’s
law is especially aggressive in that
it has this really vague language
that you can’t make anyone feel
‘unwelcome.’ It’s unclear how far
that could apply, and it gives gov-
ernment officials discretion to ap-
ply it as far as they want to.”
Carpenter, just in the month of
March, received six requests for her
services celebrating gay weddings,
according to an ADF statement an-
Yearly border apprehensions per month. 2021 is depicted by the blue line.
their immigration case is being
adjudicated, rather than incentiv-
izing illegal immigration through
“catch-and-release.”
He said the Trump administra-
tion’s Migrant Protection Proto-
cols, also known as the Remain
in Mexico program, were working
to that end.
“I would set up courts immedi-
ately on the border to hold these
people in custody pending the ad-
“We’re disappointed that this
guidance for the cruise industry
appears to be nothing more than
an incremental step in a far-reach-
ing process to resume passenger
sailings in the U.S. with no defini-
tive or target start date,” Port Ca-
naveral CEO John Murray said in
a statement.
The Cruise Lines International
Association said the instructions
were disappointing and urged the
administration to consider “the
ample evidence that supports lift-
ing” the shutdown.
If it doesn’t end soon, more sail-
ings will originate from the Carib-
bean and elsewhere, “effectively
shutting American ports, closing
thousands of American small
businesses, and pushing an en-
tire industry off-shore,” it said in
NATION | A3
nouncing the suit.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the
8th Circuit and the Arizona Su-
preme Court ruled in 2019 in fa-
vor of filmmakers and artists who
brought similar challenges to laws
much like those of New York.
The ADF attorneys are asking
the federal court to halt New York
officials from enforcing the laws
being challenged while Carpenter’s
litigation proceeds through the ju-
dicial system.
The solution to dis-
agreement is ... not
compelled ideologi-
cal uniformity
by government bu-
reaucrats.
Lawsuit filed by Alliance
Defending Freedom
In her suit, Carpenter’s attorneys
claim the First and 14th Amend-
ments guarantee her right to ex-
press her religious views and to
determine the parameters of her
artistic business.
“Just as the government cannot
compel a lesbian baker to create a
cake condemning same-sex mar-
riage or an atheist playwright to
wax positively about God, New
York cannot force Emilee to convey
messages she objects to,” according
to the suit.
“Emilee brings this lawsuit to
protect her right and everyone’s
freedom (even those who disagree
with her) to speak and live out their
core convictions. Because in our
diverse and pluralistic country, the
solution to disagreement is more
speech by diverse speakers, not
compelled ideological uniformity
by government bureaucrats,” the
suit stated.
Congressional correspondent
Mark Tapscott may be reached at
mark.tapscott@epochtimes.nyc.
CBP
judication of their asylum claim.
If we did that, we would address
this issue and we would stop the
fraudulent asylum claims almost
immediately,” Judd said.
Currently, only about 10 percent
of Central Americans who claim
asylum are granted relief after
their case is heard. Many don’t
show up for their hearings or apply
for asylum once they are released
into the country.
a statement.
Monica Sebata, a former em-
ployee of Cruiseport Destina-
tions, told the briefing that her
company, which serves the cruise
industry through services such as
pre- and post-cruise hotel options
for customers, has suffered finan-
cially and mentally.
Major cruise lines have been
under strain because of the shut-
down.
Carnival Cruise Line, the world’s
largest cruise company, suggested
on April 7 that it might withdraw its
ships from the United States.
“I don’t want to move Carnival
cruise ships out of the U.S., but at
some point, we also have to make
sure we can sustain our business,”
Carnival President Christine Duffy
told WESH-TV.
A4 | NATION
NY Allocates $2.1 Billion for Illegal Immigrants,
Other ‘Excluded Workers’
CONTINUED FROM A1
People can receive up to $15,600
total; taxes will be deducted be-
fore they receive the money. Work-
ers won’t be eligible unless they
were making less than $26,208
in the 12 months prior to the bill
taking effect and unless they can
prove they can still work. People
must show a valid taxpayer num-
ber and a letter from an employer,
along with other papers, to get the
maximum payments.
The Democrats in
Albany have made it
their priority to push
their radical agenda.
New York State Republicans
People who can’t meet the more
stringent documentation require-
ments can still receive a $3,200
payment, provided they prove their
identity and residency.
Approximately 290,000 people
will get money from the fund,
according to the Fiscal Policy
Institute.
Illegal immigrants and support-
ers engaged in a weekslong hunger
strike to push for the inclusion of
the fund in the state’s budget. The
community group Persist Brooklyn
shared a story with state lawmak-
ers during a recent public hearing
about Ana, a pseudonym, a Hondu-
ran mother who entered the United
States from Mexico in early 2020.
Ana was denied asylum and, dur-
ing the pandemic, “lost what mea-
ger profits she was making selling
Trump’s Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Saved US
Jobs, Biden Commerce Secretary Says
IVAN PENTCHOUKOV
Secretary of Commerce  Gina
Raimondo said on April 7 that the
Trump administration’s tariffs on
steel and aluminum saved Ameri-
can jobs.
“With respect to tariffs, there is a
place for tariffs. The 232 tariffs on
steel and aluminum have in fact
helped save American jobs in the
steel and aluminum industries,”
Raimondo told reporters at the
White House, marking a rare point
of agreement with the policies of
the prior administration.
“So what do we do with tar-
iffs? We have to level the playing
field. No one can out-compete the
American worker if the playing
field is level,” Raimondo contin-
ued. “And the fact is, China’s ac-
tions are uncompetitive, coercive,
underhanded. They’ve proven
they’ll do whatever it takes.
“And so I plan to use all the tools
in my toolbox as aggressively as
possible to protect American work-
ers and businesses from unfair
Chinese practices.”
President Donald Trump in
March 2018 imposed a 25 percent
tariff on steel and a 10 percent
levy on aluminum imports. Some
countries were temporarily ex-
goods in the street,” Cole Edick of
Persist Brooklyn told lawmakers.
“Pursuing asylum should be Ana’s
right, not a privilege reserved only
for those who can pay for it. But
because this government has not
yet found the courage to ensure the
basic needs of people like Ana dur-
ing a national crisis, she has had to
put her rights on hold,” he added.
California established a similar
fund in February, giving a one-
time $600 or $1,200 payment to
illegal immigrants.
The Excluded Worker Fund was
ultimately included in New York’s
record $212 billion 2021-2022 bud-
get, which will be financed with
funds from the federal government
and higher taxes on the wealthy and
large corporations.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Demo-
crat, pushed for the eligibility re-
strictions.
“Just because you are undocu-
mented doesn’t mean we don’t
care and we don’t have compas-
sion and we don’t want to help. It is
difficult to do it in a way that can be
administered without fraud. And
that’s obviously a major concern
for us, that we protect every tax
dollar. We ran an unemployment
insurance program for citizens of
the state. There was tremendous
fraud,” Cuomo told reporters in
Albany on April 7.
Major proponents of providing
money to illegal immigrants criti-
cized the requirements.
“The assertion that some of ... my
neighbors are just waiting for the
opportunity to commit fraud is dis-
gusting,” Assemblywoman Catali-
na Cruz, a Democrat, told reporters.
New York Attorney General Le-
titia James, a Democrat, said her
CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina
Raimondo speaks during a daily press
briefing at the James Brady Press
Briefing Room of the White House on
April 7, 2021.
empted from the tariffs. Current-
ly, South Korea, Argentina, Aus-
tralia, and Brazil are permanently
exempted. The tariffs on Canada
and Mexico were lifted with the
signing of the United States–Mex-
ico–Canada Agreement.
During the same month in 2018,
Trump fired the first salvo in the
trade war with China, imposing
tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese
goods. The Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) responded with retal-
iatory tariffs and the tit-for-tat has
escalated since. Trump had rea-
Protestors march across the Brooklyn Bridge to demand funding for excluded workers in the New York state budget, in
New York on March 5, 2021.
office would verify whether the
regulations and the process be-
ing established by the fund are
constitutional.
The tax increases also drew cri-
tiques.
“Despite having $22 billion more
in funds available over the next two
years than when the governor pro-
posed the budget in January, lead-
ers agreed to raise personal income
and business taxes and to use some
portion of federal funds to inflate
spending that likely cannot be sup-
ported in the out-years,” Citizens
Budget Commission President An-
drew Rein said in a statement. “The
Surrounded
by steel and
aluminum
workers,
President
Donald
Trump signs a
proclamation
on steel
imports during
a ceremony in
Roosevelt Room
at the White
House on March
8, 2018.
soned that the tariffs were neces-
sary to force the CCP to abandon
unfair trade practices and pay a
price for years of rampant intellec-
tual property theft from the United
States.
Trump had also targeted private
Chinese companies over concerns
national security concerns, includ-
ing the potential that troves of data
on Americans were relayed to the
communist regime in Beijing.
Raimondo made the remarks
in response to a reporter who had
also prompted her to clarify the
Biden administration’s stance on
TikTok, a social media app that
Trump had threatened to ban
unless the Chinese company that
owns it sold its American business
to a U.S. company.
“So I would say, here’s my broad
view, and I don’t want to get into
details on any particular compa-
ny,” Raimondo said. “My broad
view is what we do on offense is
more important than we do on
defense. To compete in the long
run with China, we need to re-
build America in all of the ways
we’re talking about today, and by
the way, do that with our allies.
We have to work with our allies
and find common ground where
we can.”
tax increases simply are unneces-
sary and economically risky.”
New York Senate Majority Leader
Andrea Stewart-Cousins said that
she was proud that the budget will
fund schools, help businesses re-
build, and protect the state’s “most
vulnerable.”
“Working and middle-class tax-
payers will receive the relief they
desperately need, while the wealthi-
est New Yorkers will help their
neighbors. This budget makes New
York better for all,” she said.
But Republicans criticized major
portions of the budget.
“Rather than helping families,
Mass COVID-19 Vaccination
Site Shut Down After Adverse
Reactions Reported
JACK PHILLIPS
A mass vaccination site at Dick’s
Sporting Goods Park in Colorado
was shut down after several ad-
verse reactions to the Johnson &
Johnson CCP virus vaccine, ac-
cording to Centura Health, which
is managing the site.
More than 600 people who had
appointments were turned away
from the “Vaccines for All” event
in Commerce City after 11 peo-
ple who were administered the
shot developed adverse reactions
during the on-site observation
period, Kevin Massey, a spokes-
person for Centura Health, told
local news outlets.
“Following the administration
of the J&J vaccine and during on-
site observation, we saw a limited
number of adverse reactions to
the vaccine,” Centura Health said
in a separate statement. “We fol-
lowed our protocols and, in an
abundance of caution, made the
decision—in partnership with the
state—to pause operations for the
remainder of the day.”
The Colorado Department of
Public Health said some patients
experienced nausea and dizzi-
ness after getting the J&J vaccine,
while Centura confirmed that
nine individuals were monitored
on-site and were sent home and
two individuals were taken to
nearby hospitals out of an abun-
dance of caution.
“Over 1,700 patients received
their shots today, and the 640 pa-
tients who were unable to receive
their vaccine this afternoon will
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
DAVID DEE DELGADO/GETTY IMAGES
veterans, teachers, and senior citi-
zens, the Democrats in Albany have
made it their priority to push their
radical agenda by giving a $2.1 bil-
lion taxpayer giveaway to illegal im-
migrants,” Senate Minority Leader
Robert Ortt said in a video message.
“Instead of giving people a reason to
remain here in our state, this budget
drives ever more families, seniors,
and young New Yorkers away.
“Instead of helping Main Street
businesses recover from the pan-
demic, this budget increases tax-
es on our small businesses and
makes it even more difficult for
them to survive.”
automatically be rescheduled for
Sunday, April 11, at Dick’s Sport-
ing Goods Park. Our goal is to con-
tinue to vaccinate Coloradans as
quickly as possible while keeping
our patients’ safety at the fore-
front,” Centura said.
Massey told the Denver Post that
the number of people who experi-
enced adverse reactions was about
0.8 percent.
According to the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention,
the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
is a one-dose vaccine for the CCP
virus, as opposed to the two-shot
Moderna and Pfizer vaccines,
which are also approved for emer-
gency use in the United States.
Before the April 7 event, the state
health department recorded 10 re-
actions at Colorado’s community
mass-vaccination sites, according
to the paper.
Reactions to COVID-19 vac-
cines have been reported in recent
weeks, including a Virginia man
who suffered a reported skin reac-
tion that doctors said was from the
Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Colorado Health officials, follow-
ing the closure of the site, stressed
that getting the vaccine is “far saf-
er than getting severely sick with
COVID-19.”
European Union health of-
ficials on April 7 made a simi-
lar statement after researchers
found a “possible link” between
the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare
blood clots.
Centura Health didn’t respond to
a request by The Epoch Times for
comment by press time.
MARK LENNIHAN/ AP PHOTO
A vial of the
Johnson &
Johnson
COVID-19
vaccine at South
Shore University
Hospital in Bay
Shore, N.Y., on
March 3, 2021.
 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
Rep. Lee Zeldin Announces Run for
New York Governor
CONTINUED FROM A1
covering up nursing home COVID-19
deaths and other controversies related
to his handling of the pandemic. Several
women have also accused the embattled
governor of inappropriate conduct. Cuomo
has denied wrongdoing on both fronts.
Zeldin served in the New York state Senate
for four years before being elected to the U.S.
House of Representatives for the state’s 1st
District in 2014.
While in the state Senate, Zeldin voted
against a gay marriage bill, supported a $250
million cut to the payroll tax, opposed a gun
control bill, and fought the implementation
of the Common Core curriculum.
While in Congress, Zeldin received an A-
US Will Not Offer Incentives to Get Iran
Back to Negotiating Table on Nuclear Deal
CONTINUED FROM A1
The deal made it harder for Iran’s atomic
program to be used to produce nuclear
weapons, an ambition Tehran denies.
Trump pulled the United States out of the
deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on
Iran, saying at the time that America would
“not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail.”
He called it “a horrible one-sided deal” that
is “defective at its core.”
That prompted Tehran to begin openly
violating the deal’s nuclear restrictions
about a year later.
Price echoed his remarks from last
month, in which he suggested Washing-
ton would consider each side taking steps
to resume compliance with the agreement
once they’re at the negotiating table.
“If the Iranians are under the impression
that, absent any movement on their part to
resume full compliance with the [nuclear
deal], that we will offer favors or unilateral
gestures, well that’s a misimpression,” he
had told reporters.
“If and only if Tehran comes to the ne-
gotiating table would we be in a position,
would we be prepared, to discuss proposals
THINK
THE EPOCH TIMES
BUT FOR TV
News without spin, for you to
form your own opinion.
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Zeldin served in the New
York state Senate for four
years before being elected
to the U.S. House of Rep-
resentatives.
plus grade from the pro-life Susan B. Antho-
ny List. He received a 71 percent rating on the
conservative Heritage Action scorecard and
a 62 percent rating by the Club for Growth,
an anti-tax group that opposes increasing
the size of the U.S. government.
In a series of tweets announcing his run,
Zeldin accused Cuomo of covering up nurs-
ing home deaths and said that 2022 may be
that would help push both sides back on
that path of mutual compliance to the deal.
“Ultimately, that is where we seek to go:
compliance for compliance.”
His comments come as the United States
partakes in indirect talks with Tehran in
Vienna, Austria—nearly three years after
Trump abandoned the deal. Tehran has
ruled out face-to-face bilateral talks with
the United States.
Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Marco Ru-
bio (R-Fla.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), and Todd
Young (R-Ind.), leaders of several Senate
committees or subcommittees, submitted a
letter to the president this week urging him
not to reenter the nuclear deal.
They described it as a “severely flawed
agreement that undermines our national
security interests due to its arbitrary sun-
sets and limited scope.”
“Unfortunately, recent comments from
Administration officials suggest that is ex-
actly what the U.S. intends to offer Tehran,”
they wrote.
“We urge your Administration to reset its
approach immediately. Members of Con-
gress rejected the JCPOA on a bipartisan
basis in 2015,” they wrote. “Returning to the
PAUL GREANEY
Host of NTD Business
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
Rep. Lee
Zeldin (R-N.Y.)
(L) and Rep.
Matt Gaetz
(R-Fla.) speak
to reporters
outside the
West Wing
of the White
House on April
21, 2020.
the last chance to save the state.
“At the helm of NY’s downfall is Andrew
Cuomo, whose deadly nursing home order &
cover-up is part of a long line of scandals, lies,
& harassment. Cuomo has abused the power
& trust granted to him & it’s time for him to
immediately exit stage left,” Zeldin wrote.
“I’m ready to go all in on this mission and
bring New York back from the brink and re-
turn it to glory. For many, this feels like a last
stand to save our state.”
Cuomo’s approval rating fell to an all-time
low in March, according to a poll by Emer-
son College. The same poll found that two in
three New Yorkers wanted someone new to
be elected in 2022.
Cuomo’s office didn’t respond to a request
for comment.
MANUEL BALCE CENETA/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Department spokesman Ned Price speaks during
a news conference at the State Department in
Washington on Feb. 23, 2021.
JCPOA is not a recipe for a sustainable Iran
policy, and will not protect U.S. national
security interests.”
Separately, former Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo last month warned that the United
States and the Middle East would be made
less secure by rejoining the 2015 nuclear
accord.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki
told reporters on April 6 that “a diplomatic
path is the right path forward, and there
are benefits to all sides.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
TIFFANY MEIER STEFANIA COX
Host of China in Focus Host of NTD
and Deep Dive Evening News
NATION | A5
Pakistani National
Charged With
Smuggling
Humans Into
United States
CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON
Abid Ali Khan allegedly ran a Pak-
istan-based smuggling network to
facilitate the illegal immigration of
individuals from Pakistan and Af-
ghanistan into the United States, the
Department of Justice said on April 7.
Khan, a Pakistani national, oper-
ated the network between January
2015 and December 2020, the DOJ
said. He was indicted April 7 by a
federal grand jury in the Eastern
District of Virginia.
“Khan allegedly accepted payment
in exchange for planning and co-
ordinating the international travel
for foreign nationals to travel from
Pakistan through multiple coun-
tries, including Brazil and the United
States, allegedly offered or provided
false documents for foreign nation-
als to use for travel through multiple
countries,” the DOJ stated.
ICE’s Homeland Security Inves-
tigations in Miami, Panama, and
Brazil were involved in the inves-
tigation.
The DOJ didn’t immediately re-
spond to questions from The Ep-
och Times about how many people
Khan’s network allegedly smuggled
into the United States. The Treasury
Department said Khan was charging
as much as $20,000 per individual.
“This sum includes, but is not lim-
ited to, fees to procure fraudulent or
counterfeit documents, make payoffs
to corrupt officials, secure lodging
along smuggling route, and provide
payments to facilitators in various
countries,” the Treasury Department
said in an April 7 statement.
In addition to the criminal charg-
es, the Treasury Department has
also designated Khan’s operation
as a transnational criminal orga-
nization (TCO), which requires the
“blocking and reporting of all assets
held by Khan, his associates, and the
Khan TCO in the U.S., or in the pos-
session and control of U.S. persons,”
the DOJ said.
In a 2018 case, another Pakistani,
Sharafat Ali Khan was deported
home after serving a prison sentence
for facilitating an alien-smuggling
operation from Brazil, according to
Immigration and Customs Enforce-
ment (ICE).
Sharafat Ali Khan helped smuggle
at least 100 aliens from Pakistan, Af-
ghanistan, and Bangladesh through
South and Central America to the
United States, according to ICE.
“Khan and his co-conspirators
charged each alien between $3,000
and $15,000 to facilitate their travel
to the United States. Several of the
individuals smuggled by Khan’s
organization had suspected ties to
terrorist organizations,” ICE said.
The United States has a footprint
in South and Central America and
often the biometrics of migrants are
taken on U.S.-bought equipment in
both Panama and Costa Rica.
In 2016, six Pakistanis with sus-
pected ties to al-Qaeda were deport-
ed after being discovered in Panama
en route to the United States.
KEVIN HOGAN
Host of NTD
News Today
A6 | NATION FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

New Mexico Eliminates Qualified Immunity

for Public Officials, Including Police
PAUL RATJE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
JANITA KAN New Mexico
State Police
New Mexico has eliminated a legal defense patrol
known as qualified immunity, making it around the
easier to sue government employees, includ- New Mexico
ing police officers, under a new law signed Capitol in
by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on April 7. Santa Fe
The law, dubbed the New Mexico Civil on Jan.
17, 2021.
Rights Act, also allows individuals to sue
for compensation if a state or local govern-
ment employee violates the person’s “rights,
privileges, or immunities” within the scope
of their employment.

The qualified immunity

doctrine insulates govern-
ment officials from civil
liability for conduct re-
quired by the job.

“New Mexicans are guaranteed certain

rights by our state constitution,” Grisham, a
Democrat, said in a statement. “Those rights
are sacred, and the constitutional document
providing for them is the basis of all we are
privileged to do as public servants of the
people of this great state.
“Indeed, good public servants work tire-
lessly every single day to protect those rights,
to ensure them, to safeguard New Mexi-
cans. But when violations do occur, we as
Americans know too well that the victims
are disproportionately people of color, and
that there are too often roadblocks to fighting
for those inalienable rights in a court of law.”
Civil rights activists, legal scholars, and
lawmakers have called on the U.S. Supreme
Court to revisit the doctrine, which they ar-
gue prevents officials such as police officers
from facing consequences for misconduct or
abuse of power if their actions violate the U.S.
Constitution but don’t contravene a “clearly
established” rule.
The qualified immunity doctrine insulates
government officials from civil liability for
conduct required by the job. It comes from
the Supreme Court’s interpretation of 42
U.S.C. Section 1983, commonly known as
Section 1983, which provides a basis for
people to sue state officials who violate a
person’s constitutional rights.
The Supreme Court has said that it isn’t
enough to show that the rights are violated.
Victims must also show that the action was
“clearly established,” and if they fail, the
official could be granted qualified immu-
nity. The “clearly established” rule, which
is seen to be problematic by critics of the
doctrine, requires the party suing the of-
ficial to show that the facts in their case
were sufficiently similar to the facts in prior
court cases.
Proponents say the doctrine is important
to allow government officials, such as police
officers, to carry out their jobs with protec-
tion from undue interference and threats of
liability. They also say it prevents frivolous or
retaliatory lawsuits against officers.
Qualified immunity reentered the public
consciousness amid protests last summer
against police violence following George
Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. The debate of
whether the doctrine should still be upheld
as sacrosanct has reached a crescendo in
recent months, with lawmakers taking action
to abolish the concept completely.
New Mexico follows a line of other states
that have abolished or limited the operation
of the qualified immunity defense. Demo-
crat-led Colorado was the first state to pass
a law that bypasses the operation of the de-
fense by allowing individuals to bring civil
actions police officers who violate the state’s
laws. The New York City Council last month
also passed a similar law.
The Supreme Court has so far refused to
take up any cases that present the justices
with opportunities to revisit the issue. The
court last month turned away the chance to
review the Supreme Court-made doctrine in
a case where a Cleveland man sued two po-
lice officers who assaulted him while trying
to enter his home in 2016. The officers, who
wore plain clothes at the time, had mistaken
the home as a vacant home in a high-crime
neighborhood.
The justices didn’t give any reasoning for
their decision.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Soto-
mayor had previously expressed interest in
revisiting the doctrine, after they criticized
its operation.
Meanwhile, former President Donald
Trump’s administration, which was open
to police reform, had criticized calls to elimi-
nate qualified immunity. Trump’s last at-
torney general, William Barr, said that in
situations in which an officer knowingly
and willfully violates a well-established right,
then it may be appropriate to hold the officer
civilly liable. But he said qualified immunity
is necessary to ensure police officers can do
their job without fear.
Grisham on April 7 stressed that her
state’s law is “not an anti-police bill.” She
underscored that the law “does not en-
danger any first responder or public ser-
vant—so long as they conduct themselves
professionally within the bounds of our
constitution and with a deep and active
respect for the sacred rights it guarantees
all of us as New Mexicans.”

ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES

Washington State Restores Voting Biden Announces New Gun Control

Rights to Felons After Prison
MASOOMA HAQ
Washington state is restoring voting
rights to people who have served
their prison sentence for felony
convictions but may still be on pa-
role and owe legal fees, under a law
signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on April 7.
When the law takes effect in 2022,
it will restore voting rights to more
than 20,000 people in the state,
according to the Brennan Center
for Justice. Currently, people with
felonies in the Evergreen State can
only regain their right to vote after
completing all conditions of their
sentence.
“Today, I signed HB 1078, which
will restore voting rights for people
who have completed their prison
sentence. This is a good day for
democracy in Washington state,”
Inslee wrote on Facebook.
State Rep. Tarra Simmons, who
introduced the legislation, said at
a press conference that this was a
personal issue for her.
Simmons, a Democrat, had been
convicted of a felony. After her re-
lease, she took the bar exam and,
in November 2020, became the first
former felon elected to the Legis-
lature.
“And there was a time where if a
person was convicted of a felony,
they lost the right to vote forever.
However, over the years, the state
legislature has realized the social
and racial injustice is inherent in
these policies,” she said.
Simmons said that prior to her
proposal, those who wanted their
right to vote restored had to go
through a complicated process and
weren’t allowed to miss a payment
on their legal or financial obliga-
tions.
“Under House Bill 1078, there will
be no more complicated process
and the right to vote will be restored
if a person is no longer in prison.
This makes a lot easier to administer
and it also restores some amount of
dignity for our neighbors when we
welcome them home,” she added.
Republican state Rep. Jesse
Young, an advocate of the bill, said
restoring rights to previous felons
should be a nonpartisan issue be-
cause everyone deserves a second
chance, as he learned watching his
mother fight and beat alcoholism.
Fifteen Republican representa-
tives voted in favor of HB 1078.
Republicans who opposed the
measure argued that completing
probation and fulfilling “legal fi-
nancial obligations” should be met
before the restoration of a person’s
right to vote.
“Beyond voting rights, first
comes responsibility,” Republican
state Rep. Jenny Graham said in
the state House in late February.
“When somebody makes a decision
to harm or kill another individual,
there is accountability that is due.”
Meanwhile, Inslee praised his
state for expanding voting rights
with the passing of HB 1078, and
criticized states such as Georgia
that have enacted laws for stricter
voter ID requirements.
“While other states are restrict-
ing the right to vote, I’m glad that
in Washington, we are expanding
access to democracy,” Inslee said.
Georgia’s 95-page law adds a
number of changes to the way
Georgians vote, including requir-
ing photo or state-approved iden-
tification to vote absentee by mail.
The law also mandates that secure
drop boxes be placed inside early
voting locations, with constant
surveillance, and it expands early
voting across the state.
The law also shortens the election
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee
speaks at a press conference in Seat-
tle on March 11, 2020.
cycle to four weeks from nine and
requires a minimum of one week
of early voting before Election Day.
People who wish to vote absentee
are faced with new requirements
as well.
Democrats have been saying laws
such as Georgia’s are an attempt
by Republicans to suppress votes,
while Republicans say it is to bring
greater integrity to the voting pro-
cess.
On March 26, President Joe Biden
criticized Georgia’s law as “a blatant
attack on the Constitution and good
conscience.” He also labeled the law
as a “Jim Crow in the 21st century,”
referring to Jim Crow laws that
enforced racial segregation in the
south.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp dis-
missed Biden’s comments, saying
“it is obvious that neither” the presi-
dent “nor his handlers have actually
read” the bill.
“There is nothing ‘Jim Crow’ about
requiring a photo or state-issued ID
to vote by absentee ballot—every
Georgia voter must already do so
when voting in-person,” Kemp said.
“President Biden, the left, and the
national media are determined to
destroy the sanctity and security of
the ballot box.”
Janita Kan contributed
to this report.
Actions, Says It’s a ‘Public Health Crisis’
JACK PHILLIPS
President Joe Biden on April
8 announced several new gun
control measures after two mass
shootings last month, claim-
ing that shootings are a “public
health crisis.”
“Gun violence in this country is
an epidemic, and it’s an interna-
tional embarrassment,” he said
in a speech at the White House,
where he was joined by Vice Presi-
dent Kamala Harris and Attorney
General Merrick Garland. Reports
said several gun-control advocates
and local officials also attended.
“Nothing I’m about to recom-
mend in any way impinges on
the Second Amendment. They’re
phony arguments suggesting that
these are Second Amendment
rights at stake from what we’re
talking about.”
According to text provided by
the White House, Biden is direct-
ing the Department of Justice to,
within 30 days, issue a proposed
rule aimed at curbing the spread
of so-called ghost guns, or guns
that are made from build-it-your-
self kits.
The government will also in
the next two months issue a pro-
posed rule declaring that a pistol
equipped with a stabilizing brace
will be labeled a short-barreled ri-
fle, and it will publish model “red
flag” legislation for states.
Three other actions announced
April 7 by the administration in-
clude investing in “community
violence interventions” meant
to curb the spike in murders and
shootings seen last year; issuing
an annual report on firearms traf-
ficking; and nominating David
Chipman as the director of the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms. Chipman is a former ad-
Biden is directing
the DOJ to issue
a proposed rule
aimed at curbing
the spread of so-
called ghost guns.
viser to the gun control advocacy
group Everytown for Gun Safety
and currently an adviser at Gif-
fords, an organization that says it
works to stop gun violence.
“I’ve fought my entire career to
end this violence and to pass rea-
sonable gun safety laws,” Harris
said as she introduced the presi-
dent on April 7.
“The solutions exist. ... People on
both sides of the aisle want action,
real people. ... So all that is left is
the will and the courage to act.”
Biden then called on Congress
to take action, saying: “Enough
prayers. ... It’s time for some action.”
Earlier on April 8, several prom-
inent gun rights groups includ-
ing the National Rifle Associa-
tion (NRA) and Gun Owners of
America criticized Biden’s an-
nouncement.
The latter group described
Biden’s announcement as tyran-
nical in nature.
“Like a dictator, Biden is seeking
to unilaterally regulate firearms
that gun owners currently own.
And he’s doing this via executive
action—bypassing the constitu-
tional requirements which give
Congress the authority to pass leg-
islation,” Gun Owners of America
said on April 8.
The NRA, meanwhile, warned
after Biden’s speech that his or-
ders will “dismantle the Second
Amendment.”
 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
The Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne, in this file photo.
Wyoming Governor Signs Bill
Requiring Photo ID at Polls
JACK PHILLIPS
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon this week
signed into law a bill that requires voters to
present photo identification in order to vote.
The Republican governor signed House
Bill 75, which requires voters to present valid
government-issued ID before casting a bal-
lot. Identification could include a driver’s
license, a tribal identification card, a Wyo-
ming identification card, a U.S. passport, a
U.S. military card, an ID from a university or
public school within the state, or a Medicare
or Medicaid insurance card.
The bill was approved by both chambers
of the state legislature on April 1 with over-
whelming support.
It is a necessary function
of our Republic to provide
our citizens with confi-
dence that our elections
are secure, fair, and valid.
Wyoming state Rep. Chuck Gray
In a statement to The Epoch Times, State
Rep. Chuck Gray, a Republican who spon-
sored the legislation, described the passage
at the time as “a victory for the citizens of
Wyoming.”
“It is a necessary function of our Repub-
lic to provide our citizens with confidence
that our elections are secure, fair, and valid.
Even though it took over 20 years for us to
pass this necessary legislation, I am proud
that we were able to meet this important
milestone for Wyoming,” he said.
Meanwhile, some Democrats in the state
have argued that the law would impose un-
necessary burdens on voters, which they
argue would result in “voter suppression.”
“I think when you look at how our elec-
tion structure works, we need to do every-
Replace Confucius Institutes With
‘Censorship-Free Alternatives,’
GOP Lawmakers Urge
ISABEL VAN BRUGEN
Republican lawmakers this week urged the
Department of Education to look to Taiwan
to provide “censorship-free alternatives”
for teaching Mandarin and Chinese cul-
ture on U.S. campuses, in place of Chinese
Communist Party (CCP)-funded Confucius
Institutes (CI).
In a letter to Education Secretary Miguel
Cardona, Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) and
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) led a group
of more than 20 lawmakers in calling on
the department to pay attention to concerns
regarding the presence of CIs at American
institutions of higher education (IHE).
Billed as language and culture centers,
the Beijing-funded CIs have drawn intense
scrutiny over their role in spreading Chinese
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon speaks in Cheyenne, Wyo., on March 2, 2021.
thing in our power to encourage (voting),
especially with our young people, our new
people, our people of color, and those less
fortunate. This bill doesn’t encourage that,”
said Rep. Andi Clifford, a Democrat who
challenged the bill.
The Wyoming chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union said in a statement
that it opposes the bill but didn’t indicate
whether it would challenge the measure.
The enactment of the bill comes amid
a contentious battle over voting rights
and election integrity that was triggered
following the expansion of absentee voting
during the 2020 election. Voter ID laws have
long been opposed by the Democratic Par-
ty, which characterizes such laws as “voter
suppression.” They’re concerned that some
Americans don’t hold the proper documen-
tation needed to meet the requirement.
Meanwhile, voter ID laws are common in
Republican-led states but usually impose
the requirement for in-person voting.
propaganda and stifling academic expres-
sion across college campuses around the
world. They’re funded and largely staffed by
Hanban, a nonprofit that claims to be non-
governmental but is directly controlled by
the CCP, according to a report by the Senate
Homeland Security Committee’s investiga-
tions subcommittee.
Steel and Blackburn are leading the ex-
pansion of the U.S.–Taiwan Education Ini-
tiative, which was established by the State
Department Bureau of Educational and
Cultural Affairs in December 2020. The
initiative seeks to develop more programs
to teach the Mandarin language on U.S.
campuses.
“We urge the Department of Education
(DOE) to explore censorship-free alterna-
tives to support the instruction of Man-
LOC.GOV
MICHAEL CUMMO/WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE VIA AP
Georgia recently came under intense scru-
tiny for passing a series of election reforms,
including requiring state-approved identi-
fication to vote absentee by mail. The Peach
State has since faced corporate backlash
and criticism from critics of the law, but state
officials have remained firm over the need
for legislative measures to advance election
integrity following the state’s contended re-
sults in the November 2020 election.
Data from a recent  Associated Press
poll has found that nearly three-quarters
of Americans agree that photo identifica-
tion should be required to vote. Seventy-two
percent of respondents reported that they
were in favor of requiring all voters to pro-
vide photo ID in order to vote. It added that
those in support of the requirement were
mostly Republicans (91 percent).
The AP poll was conducted between Mar.
26 and 29 with 1,166 adults and has a mar-
gin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.6
percentage points.
GRAEME JENNINGS/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) speaks during
a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington
on Oct. 26, 2020.
darin language and Chinese culture,
specifically those offered by Taiwan,” the
signatories wrote.
U.S. officials under the Trump adminis-
tration criticized CIs over concerns that the
institutes spread communist propaganda,
restrict academic freedom, and facilitate
CCP espionage in U.S. classrooms.
According to the National Association of
Scholars (NAS), as of March 25, a total of 50
CIs currently exist in the country, including
NATION | A7
Pennsylvania
Agrees to Remove
Names of Dead
Citizens From Voter
Rolls: Settlement
JACK PHILLIPS
The state of Pennsylvania agreed to re-
move the names of deceased people from
voter rolls, an election-integrity watch-
dog group announced after reaching a
settlement with state officials.
The lawsuit, which was filed by the Pub-
lic Interest Legal Foundation in No-
vember 2020, alleged that some 21,000
registrants who had died were still on
the state’s voter rolls at the time of the
2020 presidential election. Pennsylvania
agreed to compare its voter-registration
database with the Social Security Death
Index, and then direct all county election
commissions to remove the names of
dead registrants.
The foundation said
that nearly 2,000 voters
had been dead for more
than 10 years.
“This marks an important victory for
the integrity of elections in Pennsyl-
vania,” Public Interest Legal Founda-
tion President and General Counsel J.
Christian Adams said in a statement in
announcing the court’s decision. “The
Commonwealth’s failure to remove
deceased registrants created a vast op-
portunity for voter fraud and abuse. It is
important to not have dead voters active
on the rolls for 5, 10, or even 20 years. This
settlement fixes that.”
The lawsuit was filed after the Nov. 3
election and when then-candidate Joe
Biden took a lead over President Don-
ald Trump in Pennsylvania. Ultimately,
the Pennsylvania Secretary of Common-
wealth’s office certified the election.
The foundation said it found that 9,212
of the 21,000 voters had been dead for
more than five years, and nearly 2,000
voters had been dead for more than
10 years.
The settlement stipulates that the “De-
partment of State shall transmit to each
county commission the names of the in-
dividuals registered in each respective
county identified as deceased as a result
of the comparison undertaken” with the
“death data set received” from Electronic
Registration Information Center that was
then “compared to the full voter registra-
tion database ... for the purpose of iden-
tifying persons who are ineligible to vote
by reason of the registrant’s death.”
In response, the Pennsylvania Depart-
ment of State, which didn’t agree in the
settlement with the number of dead vot-
ers alleged, said the agreement to remove
the voters “includes no finding of inad-
equacy on the part of Pennsylvania and
its counties,” according to the Washing-
ton Times. Officials didn’t immediately
respond to a request by The Epoch Times
for comment.
“The Department of State is pleased
that this agreement will offer Pennsylva-
nia’s county boards of election another
valuable tool to maintain the most accu-
rate and up-to-date voter rolls possible,”
the department added in a statement.
The Department of State also agreed
to pay $7,500 to the foundation to par-
tially cover attorneys fees and other
related costs.
eight that are scheduled to close. Of these,
44 are at American colleges and universities
and one is at a private educational organiza-
tion, the China Institute. There are also five
CIs at K–12 public school districts.
Separately, 74 such institutes have so far
closed or are in the process of closing, ac-
cording to NAS.
“As IHEs take prudent steps to mitigate
the malign aspects of Confucius Insti-
tutes—often through their closure—in a
globalized world, there remains high stu-
dent demand for studies relating to Man-
darin language and Chinese culture and
history,” the group said.
“Taiwan can help the U.S. meet that de-
mand. ‘Learning Mandarin from Taiwanese
teachers means learning Mandarin in an en-
vironment free from censorship or coercion,’
according to the Director of the American
Institute in Taiwan,” the lawmakers added.
Boosting the U.S.–Taiwan Education Ini-
tiative will help safeguard academic free-
dom at America’s IHEs, they said.
The DOE didn’t immediately respond to a
request by The Epoch Times for comment.
A8 | NATION
Cowboys for Trump Leader Has Partial Firearm
Rights Restored: Reports
TOM OZIMEK
Couy Griffin, founder of the orga-
nization Cowboys for Trump, has
had his right to have a firearm re-
instated—with limitations—with
the favorable court ruling coming
after Griffin complained of receiv-
ing death threats, according to
multiple reports.
I am going to al-
low him to have
guns at his place
of residence, giv-
en your lack of
criminal record,
and your con-
cerns about safety.
Judge Trevor N. McFadden
Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the
U.S. District Court for the District
of Columbia ruled on April 7 to
allow Griffin to keep guns, but
only in his home, according to
local outlet KOB-TV.
“I am going to allow him to have
guns at his place of residence, giv-
en your lack of criminal record,
and your concerns about safety,”
McFadden said, according to In-
ner City Press. “You live in a rural
area where police response is go-
ing to be delayed. No guns in the
car, though.”
Griffin,  who is also a county
commissioner in New Mexico,
was arrested by the FBI on Jan. 17
and charged with knowingly en-
tering or remaining in a restrict-
ed building or grounds without
lawful entry after video footage
showed him breaching the Capitol
grounds on Jan. 6, according to
the Justice Department. He denies
federal charges that he knowingly
entered barricaded areas of the
Capitol grounds with the intent to
disrupt government as Congress
convened for a joint session to cer-
tify electoral votes.
At the April 7 hearing, Griffin
addressed the court, reiterating
his position that he isn’t guilty. He
waived his right to a jury trial and
instead requested a bench trial.
“I’m not concerned about being
found guilty. I didn’t enter the Capi-
tol. I did not partake in what the
Texas Man Pleads Guilty to Smuggling
119 Illegal Aliens in Refrigerated Trailer
MIMI NGUYEN LY
A Houston man has pleaded
guilty to smuggling 119 illegal
aliens into the United States,
the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Southern District of Texas said
on April 7.
Brodrick Keith Rhodes, 32, had
claimed on Jan. 12 after having
arrived at the Freer Border Patrol
checkpoint that he was carrying
lettuce in his semi-truck with a
refrigerated trailer, officials said.
Border Patrol authorities no-
ticed that the trailer was set to 30
degrees Fahrenheit (minus 1 de-
gree Celsius) but had an internal
temperature of 68 F (20 degrees
C). They also noticed there were
some discrepancies with his bill
of lading, a document issued by a
carrier to confirm receipt of cargo
for shipment.
While Rhodes said he worked
for a business in La Porte, Texas,
the document said he was trans-
porting “lettuce” from a produce
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
Protesters stand on the East steps of the Capitol Building after storming the grounds in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
JEENAH MOON/GETTY IMAGES
Otero County Commission Chairman
and Cowboys for Trump co-founder
Couy Griffin rides his horse on Fifth
Avenue in New York on May 1, 2020.
government is accusing me,” Grif-
fin said, Inner City Press reported.
Initially held in pretrial detention,
Griffin was released from federal
prison on Feb. 5, pending trial, and
returned to New Mexico.
In an order, Chief U.S. District
Judge Beryl Howell overturned
a lower court ruling, saying she
company in Laredo to a destina-
tion in Sugar Land.
The business that Rhodes
claimed to work for told officials
that he wasn’t an employee and
that the company doesn’t send
produce outside the Houston
area. The other two companies
confirmed they had no record of
the shipment.
When authorities inspected the
cargo area, they found the illegal
immigrants, who told them that
they were taken to the truck and
told to get into the trailer, after
which the truck began moving
and didn’t seem to stop until the
border checkpoint.
Sentencing for Rhodes is ex-
pected on July 27. He faces a
maximum federal prison sen-
tence of 27 years and a fine of up
to $250,000. He remains on bond
pending the court date.
Texas in recent months has
stepped up its response to a re-
cent surge in the influx of ille-
gal aliens, including by human
smuggling, across the southern
border.
At the start of March, Gov. Greg
Abbott announced the launch of
“Operation Lone Star” to combat
the smuggling of people and con-
traband. The operation has led to
referrals for more than 16,000 il-
legal aliens to Customs and Bor-
der Protection and the arrests of
598 criminals by the Texas De-
partment of Public Safety.
weighed Griffin’s unrepentant
appearance among the crowd
at the Capitol against his candid
subsequent interactions with law
enforcement. She noted repeatedly
that Griffin on Jan. 6 didn’t carry
weapons, commit violence, or enter
the Capitol.
“I appreciate that the charge
here is that he disregarded signage
about restricted areas of the Capi-
tol on Jan. 6. But his subsequent
cooperation with law enforcement
showed that he is not a person who
has a categorical disdain and dis-
regard for any and every govern-
ment act or authority,” Howell said
at the time.
Griffin told the court on April 7
that he has received death threats.
“I want my firearms back, to pro-
tect my family,” according to In-
ner City Press.
Griffin detailed the threats at an
Otero County Commission meet-
ing in February, KOB-TV reports.
“I received pictures of my fam-
YouTube Suddenly Deletes Video of DeSantis’s
COVID-19 Roundtable
JACK PHILLIPS
YouTube took down a video of
a roundtable conference hosted
by Republican Florida Gov. Ron
DeSantis, which featured for-
mer White House coronavirus
task force member and medical
scholar Dr. Scott Atlas and the
three co-authors of the Great
Barrington Declaration.
“The efforts in Florida to protect
the elderly while permitting the
rest of society to function nor-
mally led to a success that has
been celebrated the world over.
It causes major disruption to the
lockdown narrative that the only
way to suppress a virus is to sup-
press rights and freedoms,” the
American Institute for Economic
Research stated.
It added that the roundtable
“came to serve as a tutorial in
the relationship between public
policy and virus mitigation.”
The March 18 video featured
Atlas as well as Harvard profes-
sor of medicine Dr. Martin Kull-
dorff, Oxford professor of epide-
miology Dr. Sunetra Gupta, and
Stanford professor of medicine
and epidemiologist Dr. Jay Bhat-
tacharya.
On April 7, YouTube “suddenly
deleted the entire video from its
platform,” according to the in-
stitute.
When trying to access the
ily with crosshairs on each of our
heads including my son who was
not even a month old,” he said, ac-
cording to the outlet.
Griffin’s lawyers argued that even
if convicted of current charges, they
are misdemeanors and wouldn’t
lead to him losing his gun rights.
While the U.S. attorney repre-
senting the government in its case
against Griffin objected to restor-
ing his right to possess firearms,
McFadden ruled to allow it. He set
the next proceeding for April 27.
Under the terms of Griffin’s re-
lease pending trial, he is banned
from visiting Washington outside
of court proceedings, must sur-
render his passport, and—prior
to McFadden’s April 7 ruling—
was prohibited from possessing
a firearm.
According to the Justice Depart-
ment and an affidavit, Griffin told
FBI special agents that he had trav-
eled to the nation’s capital on Jan. 6
with another person to participate
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a news conference at the Jackson
Memorial Hospital in Miami on July 13, 2020.
video, one sees the YouTube
message, “This video has been
removed for violating YouTube’s
Community Guidelines.”
YouTube officials didn’t im-
mediately respond to a request
by The Epoch Times for com-
ment. YouTube, which is owned
by Google, hasn’t issued a public
comment on the matter.
“This policy has now run afoul
of the basic needs of public health
messaging, science, and sound
policy decision making, even to
the point of removing a serious
forum of a popular government
along with his scientific advisors
from Harvard, Stanford, and Ox-
ford universities,” the American
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
JON CHERRY/GETTY IMAGES
in a protest over election integrity.
When Griffin arrived at the U.S.
Capitol, he noticed a large crowd
forming around the barricade
and said he was “caught up” in
that crowd, which pushed its way
through the barricades and into a
restricted area, he told agents.
Griffin said he and his friend
didn’t enter the U.S. Capitol build-
ing at any time and remained on
the steps outside the building dur-
ing the breach. During that time, he
led a group of protesters in prayer
using a bullhorn “outside the Capi-
tol, but up where the president is
inaugurated at.” Videos of the in-
cident and other open-source ma-
terials corroborated Griffin’s state-
ments, according to the affidavit.
He said that the police never
asked him to leave the area, and
he and his friend exited the U.S.
Capitol grounds peacefully.
Janita Kan and The Associated
Press contributed to this report.
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
Institute for Economic Research
stated.
Several weeks ago, YouTube
confirmed that it removed a vid-
eo from conservative commenta-
tor Steven Crowder for allegedly
violating the platform’s content
policies regarding COVID-19.
“This video violates our CO-
VID-19 misinformation policy,
which prohibits content claim-
ing that the death rates of CO-
VID-19 are less severe or equally
as severe as the common cold or
seasonal flu,” YouTube said in a
statement in March to Bloom-
berg News. “As a result, the
video was removed from Steven
Crowder’s channel.”
 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
Tech billionaire investor Peter Thiel attends the inaugural meeting of the American Technology Council at the Eisen-
hower Executive Office Building in Washington on June 19, 2017.
Peter Thiel Calls Out Big Tech’s
Collaboration With Chinese
Communist Regime
FRANK FANG
Tech billionaire investor Peter Thiel
criticized major U.S. technology
companies for being too cozy with
the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) and called on them to undo
their Chinese ties.
“Since everything in China is
civilian-military fusion, Google
was effectively working with the
Chinese military, not with the
American military,” Thiel said dur-
ing an April 6 virtual roundtable
hosted by the Richard Nixon Foun-
dation. Former Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo and former White
House national security adviser
Robert O’Brien also took part in
the event.
Thiel is also a co-founder of Pay-
Pal and a member of Facebook’s
board of directors.
He was referring to a decision by
Chinese Embassy in Australia Downplays
‘Rumors’ of Uyghur Abuses in Xinjiang
DANIEL Y. TENG
The Chinese Embassy in Australia
on April 7 painted a rosy picture
of life in Xinjiang Province dur-
ing an extraordinary press event,
while warning the government in
Canberra against joining the EU,
UK, and the United States in sanc-
tioning Chinese officials over the
oppression of the Uyghur ethnic
minority group in the northwest-
ern region.
Local media outlets were treated
to a two-hour presentation, titled
“Xinjiang Is a Wonderful Land,”
featuring testimonials from Uy-
ghurs and Xinjiang officials pro-
moting the region’s economic
growth and religious harmony.
Erkin Tuniyaz, vice chairman
of Xinjiang Province, claimed for-
eigners with ulterior motives were
turning a blind eye to the positives
of the region and were spreading
US Adds Chinese Supercomputing Entities to Trade Blacklist Over Chinese Military Ties
The U.S. Commerce Department
said on April 8 that it was adding
seven Chinese supercomputing en-
tities to a U.S. economic blacklist for
assisting Chinese military efforts.
The department is adding Tian-
jin Phytium Information Tech-
nology, Shanghai High-Perfor-
mance Integrated Circuit Design
Center, Sunway Microelectron-
ics, the National Supercomputing
Center Jinan, the National Super-
computing Center Shenzhen, the
National Supercomputing Center
Wuxi, and the National Super-
computing Center Zhengzhou
Google not to renew a Pentagon
contract in 2018, which provides
the U.S. military with artificial in-
telligence (AI) for analyzing drone
video footage in a program called
Project Maven. Google’s reason for
not continuing the military project
was that it didn’t support “the use of
AI for weaponized systems.”
Also in 2018, Google decided to
cooperate with China’s Tsinghua
University on a new AI research
body.
Tsinghua University was also
named in the Pentagon’s 2020 re-
port on China’s military power for
having laboratories affiliated with
the Chinese military and ties to the
CCP’s military-civil fusion strategy,
which allows the communist re-
gime to leverage commercial tech-
nologies for military development.
The State Department has
warned on its website that the
“rumors” about concentration
camps, forced labor, religious
conversion, and the sterilization
of women.
“These allegations cannot be
more preposterous, and they are
downright lies,” he said. The vid-
eo was also aired in London last
month as part of a global propa-
ganda push.
Chinese Ambassador to Austra-
lia Cheng Jingye said the event
was organized to “help” Austra-
lian journalists understand the
situation in Xinjiang after there
had been “distorted coverage
about Xinjiang in certain West-
ern media.”
“Those reports are basically
based on disinformation or mis-
information,” he added.
The Australian Uyghur Tangri-
tagh Women’s Association said
the Chinese Communist Party
must have been in a “state of des-
to its blacklist.
The Commerce Department
said the seven were “involved with
building supercomputers used
by China’s military actors, its de-
stabilizing military modernization
efforts, and/or weapons of mass
destruction programs.”
This is the first time the Biden
administration has taken action
to penalize Chinese companies on
national security grounds.
The Chinese Embassy in Wash-
ington didn’t immediately respond
to requests by The Epoch Times for
comment.
CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
CCP strategy involves intellectual
property theft in order to “achieve
military dominance.”
Additionally, Tsinghua Univer-
sity is among more than 60 Chinese
universities that are under the su-
pervision of China’s State Adminis-
tration of Science, Technology, and
Industry for National Defense.
Turning a Blind Eye
Thiel also said that he spoke to
Google insiders and was told that
the internet search giant decided
to work with China because “they
figured they might as well give the
technology out the front door, be-
cause if they didn’t give it—it would
get stolen anyway.”
In another conversation with
some “Google people,” Thiel said he
asked whether Google’s AI technol-
ogy was being used by the Chinese
regime to run concentration camps
peration” to hold the event.
“The Australian community is al-
ready aware of the harsh realities
of human rights abuses and geno-
cide being committed,” it wrote in
a Facebook post.
Liberal Sen. Eric Abetz called the
video a “sickening display of pro-
paganda,” saying there was ample
evidence of human rights abuses in
the province.
“From the inquiry by the Cana-
dian House of Commons Subcom-
mittee on International Human
Rights, the horrific report from
the BBC, and the recent and first
independent expert application of
the 1948 Genocide Convention, the
truth of what is occurring in Xin-
jiang is slowly revealing itself,” he
told The Epoch Times in an email.
The senator also pointed to the
dropping birth rate in Xinjiang,
from 15.88 percent in 2017 to 8.14
percent in 2019, as evidence of
“Supercomputing capabilities
are vital for the development of
many—perhaps almost all—mod-
ern weapons and national security
systems, such as nuclear weapons
and hypersonic weapons,” Com-
merce Secretary Gina Raimondo
said in a statement.
Companies or others listed on
the U.S. Entity List are required to
apply for licenses from the Com-
merce Department and face tough
scrutiny when they seek permis-
sion to receive items from U.S.
suppliers.
The new rules take effect immedi-
in the far-western Xinjiang region.
Thiel said he was told, “We don’t
know and don’t ask any questions.”
“It’s some combination of wish-
ful thinking. It’s useful idiots, it’s
CCP fifth columnist collabora-
tors,” Thiel said about Google and
other tech companies that have
chosen to remain quiet on certain
China issues.
“If you think of it ideologically or
in terms of human rights or some-
thing like that, I’m tempted to say
it’s just profoundly racist. It’s like
saying that because they look dif-
ferent, they’re not white people,
they don’t have the same rights.”
The CCP is committing genocide
against Uyghur Muslims in Xin-
jiang, subjecting them to forced
sterilization, forced abortion, tor-
ture, forced labor, and the removal
of children from their families. The
Chinese regime rounded up more
than 1 million Uyghurs and is hold-
ing them in internment camps—fa-
cilities China touts as “vocational
training schools.”
“Even though we are ahead of ba-
sic science of AI, China is willing to
apply it and turn the entire society
into a face recognition surveillance
state that is far more intrusive and
totalitarian than even Stalinist
Russia was. That is something we
are not willing to do,” Thiel said.
At Facebook, Thiel said it was dif-
ficult for the social media giant to
take a tough stance on China be-
cause of its employee base—many
of them were Chinese nationals.
For instance, Thiel pointed to de-
bates among employees about the
Hong Kong protests in 2019.
“The employees from Hong Kong
were all in favor of the protests and
free speech, but there were more
employees at Facebook who were
born in China,” Thiel said.
“The Chinese nationals actually
said that it was just Western ar-
rogance and shouldn’t be taking
Hong Kong’s side, and then the rest
of the employees at Facebook sort
of stayed out of it.
“But the internal debate felt like
people were actually more anti-
Hong Kong than pro-Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy
movement began in June 2019
when millions took to the streets
in protest against an extradition bill
that would have allowed suspects
in Hong Kong to be sent to China
for trial. The movement eventu-
forced sterilization.
“Though the CCP tries to hide and
obfuscate information from Xinji-
ang and the human rights abuses
committed there, increasing evi-
dence reveals the CCP’s intention
to commit genocide against the
Uyghur people,” he said.
Cheng also warned Australia
against adopting similar sanctions
to those introduced by the United
States, United Kingdom, and Eu-
ropean Union against Chinese
officials involved in human rights
violations in the region.
“We will not provoke, but if we
ately but don’t apply to goods from
U.S. suppliers already en route.
During the administration of
former U.S. President Donald
Trump, the United States added
dozens of Chinese companies to
its economic blacklist, including
the country’s top smartphone
maker Huawei Technologies, top
chipmaker SMIC, and the largest
drone manufacturer, SZ DJI Tech-
nology Co Ltd.
Those companies were sanc-
tioned for a range of reasons, in-
cluding their role in aiding the
Chinese military and supporting
CHINA | A9
ally evolved into a greater call for
democracy such as universal suf-
frage, but protests subsided in early
2020 as Hong Kong was hit by the
pandemic.
CCP officials and China’s state-
run media have portrayed Hong
Kong protesters as a “small number
of people,” among them “extrem-
ists,” “rioters,” and “violent radi-
cals,” while touting that the “major-
ity of Hongkongers” didn’t support
the movement. What’s more, the
Chinese regime has accused West-
ern governments of “interfering”
in its “internal affairs” for voicing
support for the protesters.
Calling Them Out
Pointing to Facebook as an exam-
ple, Thiel said some U.S. tech com-
panies had a difficult time taking a
hard stance against China because
of how they saw themselves.
“There’s something about the
‘woke’ politics inside these com-
panies, the way they think of them-
selves as not really American com-
panies.”
To stop China’s infiltration into
the U.S. tech sector, Thiel has one
recommendation: “Keep putting a
certain amount of pressure on Sili-
con Valley. You need to call people
out on that relentlessly.”
“We need to call companies
like Google out on working on AI
with communist China not with
U.S. military,” he said. “I think we
should be putting a lot of pressure
on Apple with its whole labor force
supply chain on the iPhone manu-
facturing in China.
“Apple is one that has real syner-
gies with China.”
The U.S. smartphone giant has
made a number of controversial
decisions related to China in recent
years, including moving some of its
iCloud data to China-based serv-
ers, pulling crowd-sourced app
HKmap.live from its App Store,
and Apple’s CEO Tim Cook being
named the chairman of Tsinghua
University’s School of Economics
and Management.
The map app was popular among
Hong Kong protesters to avoid di-
rect confrontation with the Hong
Kong Police, who have been heavily
criticized for their violent handling
of protesters.
Google, Facebook, and Apple
didn’t immediately return requests
by The Epoch Times for comment.
AAP IMAGE/LUKAS COCH
Chinese
Ambassador
to Australia
Cheng Jingye
speaks to
the media
during a press
conference
at the
ambassador’s
residence in
Canberra,
Australia,
on Dec.
19, 2019.
are provoked, we will respond in
kind,” he said.
Ahead of the press conference,
Prime Minister Scott Morrison
indicated the government would
continue speaking out on human
rights issues.
“We want a positive relationship,
but we will have a positive relation-
ship that is consistent with Austra-
lia acting in accordance with its
values and its national character,”
he told reporters in Canberra.
“That would never be something
that we would yield for the sake of
a relationship.”
the Chinese regime’s repression
against ethnic Musim minorities
in the region of Xinjiang.
The Biden administration is still
formulating its China policy and
has broadly indicated that it will
continue the Trump administra-
tion’s tough-on-China posture.
President Joe Biden has repeat-
edly said the United States is in
“extreme competition” with the
Chinese regime.
By David Shepardson. Cathy He
contributed to this report. 
From Reuters
A10 | WORLD
Northern Irish
Leaders Set Aside
Bickering to Urge
End to Violence
BELFAST—Northern Ireland’s
power-sharing government put
aside factional differences on
April 8 to appeal for calm after
more than a week of nightly vio-
lence partly fuelled by frustration
among pro-British unionists over
post-Brexit trade barriers.
Hundreds of youths in the Brit-
ish province’s capital Belfast set a
hijacked bus on fire and attacked
police with stones on April 7 in
scenes reviving memories of
decades of sectarian strife that
claimed some 3,600 lives prior to
a 1998 peace deal.
The latest violence has injured
55 police officers and seen boys
as young as 13 and 14 arrested on
rioting charges.
“We are gravely concerned by the
scenes we have all witnessed on
our streets,” said the compulsory
coalition, led by rival pro-Irish
Catholic nationalists and pro-
British Protestant unionists.
“While our political positions are
very different on many issues, we
are all united in our support for law
and order and we collectively state
our support for policing,” its state-
ment added.
Britain’s Minister for Northern
Ireland Brandon Lewis was trav-
eling to the province for talks, the
BBC broadcaster said. To the south,
Ireland’s government had urged the
province’s leaders to come together
after days of blaming each other.
Merkel Tells Putin to Pull Back Troops as
Kremlin Accuses Ukraine of Provocations
BERLIN/MOSCOW—German
Chancellor Angela Merkel told
Russian President Vladimir Putin
on April 8 to pull back the Krem-
lin’s military build-up near the
border with Ukraine, while he, in
turn, accused Kyiv of “provocative
actions” in the conflict region.
Ukraine has raised the alarm
over an increase in Russian forces
near its eastern border as violence
has risen along with the line of
contact separating its troops from
Russian-backed separatists in its
Donbas region.
“The Chancellor demanded that
this build-up be unwound in or-
der to deescalate the situation,”
Germany’s government said in
a readout of a telephone call be-
tween Merkel and Putin.
Russia has said its forces pose
no threat and are defensive, and
they would stay there as long as
Moscow saw fit.
The Kremlin dismissed a Ukrai-
nian accusation that the build-
up was intended to distract from
domestic issues, including jailed
opposition leader Alexei Navalny,
ahead of September parliamen-
tary elections.
“This has nothing to do with
any detainees or anyone,” Krem-
lin press secretary Dmitry Peskov
told Reuters. Russia has to react
with caution when it has “such a
restless region as Ukraine near our
borders with the potential for re-
Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein
and others accused First Minister
Arlene Foster’s Democratic Union-
ist Party of inflaming hostilities
with their opposition to the new
trade barriers that their supporters
feel erase part of their UK identity.
After London left the European
Union’s orbit at the start of this
year, checks and tariffs were in-
troduced on some goods moving
from mainland Britain to Northern
Ireland as the province was now
bordering the bloc via EU member
Ireland.
The DUP has pointed to a police
decision last week not to prosecute
Sinn Fein for a large funeral last
year that broke COVID-19 regu-
lations. They called for Northern
Ireland’s police chief to step down
over the matter.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon
Coveney said a number of factors
were responsible for the anger,
and that the post-Brexit trading
arrangements were clearly one
of them.
Foster said on April 8 that it
wasn’t the time to rehearse those
arguments.
“It’s safe to say we should all know
well that when politics fail or are
perceived to be failing, those who
fill the vacuum offer destruction
and despair,” she told the regional
assembly, which was recalled to
discuss the clashes.
“We cannot allow a new genera-
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS
newed hostilities,” he said.
‘Forced to Defend’
A senior Kremlin official said on
April 8 that Moscow could under
certain circumstances be forced
to defend its citizens in Donbas
and that major hostilities could
mark the beginning of the end of
Ukraine as a country.
The Kremlin said in its readout of
the Merkel phone call that “Vladi-
mir Putin noted provocative ac-
tions by Kyiv, which is deliberately
inflaming the situation along the
line of contact.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr
Zelensky flew to eastern Donbas in
a show of support on April 8 two
days after he called on NATO to lay
out a path for Ukraine to join the
military bloc, whose expansion
Moscow fiercely opposes.
The rouble hit a five-month low
on April 7 a day after Russia said it
had begun a planned inspection
of its army’s combat readiness in-
volving thousands of drills.
On April 8, Dmitry Kozak, a
senior Kremlin official, said
Ukraine’s government was like
“children playing with matches.”
“I support the assessment that
the start of military action—this
would be the beginning of the
end of Ukraine,” the deputy head
of Russia’s presidential adminis-
tration said.
At a news conference, Kozak was
Youths clash at the Peace Gate at the Springfield Road/Lanark Way interface in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 7, 2021.
tion of our young people to fall vic-
tim to that path or be preyed upon
These are scenes by some who prefer the shadows
we haven’t seen to the light.”
in Northern Ire- Police said on April 8 that in some
instances, adults had stood clap-
land for a very ping while youngsters committed
long time; they are crimes of violence.
scenes that many Deputy First Minister Michelle
O’Neill of Sinn Fein said the
people thought spreading of trouble to an interface
were consigned between unionist and Irish nation-
alist communities was a dangerous
to history. escalation and that it was a miracle
Ireland’s Coveney nobody had died.
Large groups threw fireworks,
bricks, and petrol bombs at each
other late on April 8 from either
side of one of Belfast’s so-called
“peace walls” that have divided
the two communities in parts of
the city since the so-called “Trou-
bles” began.
Hong Kong Democracy Activist
Nathan Law Granted Asylum in UK
Ukrainian
President ALEXANDER ZHANG
Volodymyr
Zelenskiy Hong Kong democracy activist
visits positions
Nathan Law says he has been
of armed
forces near granted political asylum in Brit-
the frontline ain, nearly nine months after ar-
with Russian- riving in London.
backed “After several interviews in 4
separatists months, the Home Office has
during his informed me that my asylum ap-
working trip plication is approved,” he wrote
in Donbass, on Twitter on April 7.
Ukraine, on “The fact that I am wanted un-
April 8, 2021. der the National Security Law
shows that I am exposed to se-
vere political persecution and am
unlikely to return to Hong Kong
without risk,” he wrote.
Law left Hong Kong and arrived
in the UK in July 2020, after the
Chinese regime imposed a dra-
asked if Russia would protect its conian national security law on
citizens in eastern Ukraine. the former British colony.
Referring in his reply to Srebren- The legislation gives Beijing
ica, where 8,000 Muslim men and sweeping powers to target indi-
boys were killed by Bosnian Serb viduals for any acts of secession,
forces during Bosnia’s 1992–1995 subversion, and collusion with
war, he said: “It all depends on the foreign forces, with a maximum
scale of the fire. If there is, as our penalty of life imprisonment.
president says, Srebrenica, appar-
ently we will have to step in to de-
fend [them].”
Ukraine and Western countries I am exposed to
say Donbas separatists have been
armed, led, funded, and aided by
severe political
Russians. Moscow has denied in- persecution and
terfering. While a ceasefire halted am unlikely to re-
full-scale warfare in 2015, sporadic
fighting has continued. turn to Hong Kong
without risk.
By Thomas Escritt &
Nathan Law, Hong Kong
Tom Balmforth
democracy activist
From Reuters
HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Law thanked those who have
supported him but expressed
concerns for the fate of other
Hong Kong asylum seekers who
may be less fortunate than he has
been.
“Some may not have enough
evidence to substantiate their
claims due to lack of media re-
ports or fleeing before the per-
secution. Fears over their claims
being denied, most of them live
in distress and anxiety,” he wrote.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel at He wrote that he hopes his own
a cabinet meeting at the Chancellery case could “help the Home Office
in Berlin on March 31, 2021. understand more about the com-
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
CHARLES MCQUILLAN/GETTY IMAGES
Parts of the region remain deep-
ly split 23 years after the Good
Friday peace deal. Many nation-
alists aspire to unification with
Ireland while unionists want to
stay in the UK.
The European Commission,
which is in talks with the British
government to try to ease some of
the trade barriers, condemned the
violence.
“This needs to stop before some-
body is killed or seriously injured,”
added Ireland’s Coveney on na-
tional Irish broadcaster RTE.
“These are scenes we haven’t seen
in Northern Ireland for a very long
time; they are scenes that many
people thought were consigned
to history.”
By Jason Cairnduff
From Reuters
YARA NARD/ REUTERS
Exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy
activist Nathan Law holds a placard
outside the Italian Foreign Ministry
in Rome on Aug. 25, 2020.
plicated situation in Hong Kong.”
He suggested that “to free more
protesters from Beijing’s authori-
tarian oppression, the Home Of-
fice could consider more compre-
hensive evidence when coping
with Hong Kong cases.”
China’s foreign ministry on
April 8 condemned the UK’s
granting of asylum to Law, call-
ing it “gross interference in Hong
Kong’s judicial system.”
Also on April 8, the British gov-
ernment announced the launch
of a 43 million pound ($59 mil-
lion) dedicated support package
for Hong Kong British National
(Overseas) status holders and
their families to help them settle
successfully into life in the UK.
After the Chinese regime adopt-
ed the national security law for
Hong Kong in June 2020, Britain
launched a new visa scheme to
offer BN(O) status holders a path
to citizenship.
According to the UK Home Of-
fice, approximately 27,000 BN(O)
status holders and their family
members had applied for the spe-
cial visa as of March 19.
The government estimated in
2020 that between 123,000 and
153,000 Hongkongers could take
up the route in the first year, and
the figure may reach between
258,000 and 322,000 over five
years.
Reuters contributed
to this report.
 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 WORLD | A11

European Court Rules Mandatory Vaccination

for Children Doesn’t Violate Human Rights
PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
LILY ZHOU

The European Court of Human

Rights (ECHR) on April 8 ruled
that compulsory childhood vac-
cination in the Czech Republic
doesn’t violate  the European
Convention on Human Rights and
could be regarded as being “nec-
essary in a democratic society.”

One of the parents

was fined for refus-
ing to vaccinate his
children.
The Grand Chamber judgment,
held by a 16–1 vote, was on six
complaints against the Czech
government over its vaccination
policy that mandates children to
receive two vaccines—hexava-
lent and MMR—against nine
diseases.
One of the parents was fined for
refusing to vaccinate his children.
In the other cases, the children
had been rejected from preschools
after they hadn’t received one or
both of the mandatory vaccina-
tions for various reasons.
The court said it recognized that
compulsory vaccination repre-
sents “an interference with physi-
cal integrity” and therefore con-
cerns Article 8 (right to respect for
private life) of the human rights
convention.
But the Czech policy, the ECHR
stated, “pursued the legitimate
aims of protecting health as well
as the rights of others” and is in
the best interest of children.
The ECHR also stated that
there’s a “wide margin of appre-
ciation” for the policy, and that the
punishment for violating the rules
is proportionate.
“The fine imposed on Mr.
VavĜiþka had not been exces-
sive,” the ECHR stated, referring
to Pavel VavĜiþka, the parent fined
for not vaccinating his children.
For the children not accepted
into preschools, the ECHR stated
that it does mean “the loss of an
important opportunity to devel-
op their personalities,” but the
impact was limited since their
primary school education hadn’t
been affected.
“The Court also declared, by a
majority, the complaints under
Article 9 (freedom of thought and
conscience) of the Convention in-
admissible and that there was no
need to examine the case sepa-
rately under Article 2 of Protocol
No. 1 (right to education) to the
Convention,” the ECHR said in a
statement.
According to Czech tabloid the
Blesk, the Czech Office of the
Government Plenipotentiary said
the ruling “sent a message to the
world.”
“In addition to fundamental
rights, a person also has basic du-
ties and responsibilities towards
others,” the office stated, adding
The audience
room of the
European
Court for
Human Rights
in Strasbourg,
France, on April
23, 2015.
that the ruling “emphasized the
importance of social solidarity
in society.”
Zuzana Candigliota, a lawyer
who represented the parents, said
the verdict is “disappointing.”
“For us, the verdict is, of course,
disappointing, as the uncritical
vaccination ideology prevailed
before a thorough assessment of
the adequacy of enforcing a po-
tentially risky intrusion on bodily
integrity, which is vaccination.”

3rd Health Minister Fired in Virus-Battered Czech Republic

PRAGUE—Czech Prime Minis-
ter Andrej Babis fired his health
minister on April 7, the third to
have been ousted during the pan-
demic in one of Europe’s hardest-
hit countries.
Jan Blatny was replaced by Petr
Arenberger, the director of Prague’s
University Hospital Vinohrady,
who was sworn in by President
Milos Zeman.
The move opens the way for the
possible use of Russian and Chi-
nese vaccines, which have not been
approved by the European Union’s
drug regulator.
Babis repeatedly criticized Blatny
over his handling of the pandemic,
including imposing strict condi-
tions for the use of experimental
drugs to treat COVID-19 patients.
Blatny was also under fire from
Zeman, an ally of Babis who is
known for his pro-Russian and
pro-Chinese views. Zeman asked
the prime minister last month to
replace Blatny over his refusal to
allow the use of Russia’s Sputnik V
vaccine because it has not been ap-
proved by the European Medicines
Agency, or EMA.
Zeman said he approached
his Russian, Chinese, and Israeli
counterparts with a request for
help with the vaccines and re-
ceived a positive response from
all of them. Israel donated 5,000
Moderna vaccines to the Czech
Republic in February.
“Unfortunately, your prede-
cessor has blocked the process,”
Zeman told Arenberger at a cer-
emony, blaming Blatny for those
who have died.
Blatny dismissed such criticism.
He said he allowed the use of only
approved vaccines to assure people
“they are safe, tested and really
work. And that’s the same with the
drugs against COVID.”
Babis repeatedly
criticized Blatny
over his handling
of the pandemic.
“My decisions were always based
on scientific data and analysis,”
Blatny said.
Babis previously said Sputnik V
might be an option for the coun-
try due to a slow rollout of the ap-
proved vaccines from the EU.
“We’re waiting for EMA’s approv-
al,” he said on April 7.
Arenberger said his priority
would be to acquire registered vac-
cines. He said there’s an option to
conduct “clinical trials” with Sput-
nik V in the country, but didn’t im-
mediately give further details.
The contentious Russian vaccine
caused the government of Prime
Minister Igor Matovic in neigh-
boring Slovakia to collapse after
he orchestrated a secret deal to buy
2 million Sputnik V vaccines—de-
spite disagreements from his coali-
tion partners.
Blatny took office on Oct. 29 to
replace epidemiologist Roman
Prymula, who was dismissed af-
ter he was photographed visiting
a restaurant that should have been
closed as part of the country’s re-
strictive measures.
Blatny, a specialist in pediatric
hematology, was deputy director
of the University Hospital in the
second largest Czech city of Brno
before he became health minister.
Prymula had replaced Adam
Vojtech in the post on Sept. 21, to
enable a different approach to the
pandemic amid surging infections.
The latest firing comes as corona-
virus infections in the Czech Re-
public have been in decline, with
new daily cases at 5,522 on April 6,
the lowest number on a weekday
since Dec 14.
The nation of 10.7 million has
reported 1.65 million confirmed
infections and 27,329 deaths.
By Karel Janicek
From The Associated Press

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TRUTH AND TRADITION

A12 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about U.S. leadership in fighting the pandemic during an event at the State Department in Washington on April 5, 2021.
Religious Liberty and US Foreign Policy:
No Longer the Guiding Principle?
Freedom of religion recently has been placed by the US atop a
hierarchy of human rights. This will change, Secretary Blinken says.
MARCO RESPINTI
O
n March 30, U.S. Secretary
of State Antony Blinken
announced what some saw
as a fundamental change in
American foreign policy. The
United States, Blinken said in presenting
the Department of State’s 45th annual
report on human rights in the world, will
“repudiate the unbalanced views” that
placed religious liberty at the top of a
hierarchy of human rights.
“There is no hierarchy that makes some
rights more important than others,”
Blinken said.
Media saw it as a strong criticism of the
previous administration, and of Blink-
en’s predecessor as secretary of state,
Mike Pompeo, who had repeated time
and again that religious liberty was at the
top of a hierarchical pyramid of human
rights. Pompeo’s approach created the
conditions for promoting the Ministe-
rial to Advance Religious Freedom, held
twice in Washington, D.C., and a third
time online due to COVID-19 (rather
than in Warsaw, Poland, as planned),
accompanied by regional meetings, and
the admirable work of Sam Brownback
as ambassador-at-large for international
religious freedom.
Is religious liberty really just one
among a myriad of other human rights,
some of which may deserve more atten-
tion than freedom of religion or belief? I
respectfully disagree.
Surely, there are several human rights
that must be protected and granted to
all. It’s much appreciated that a world
power such as the United States renews
its commitment to putting human rights
at the top of its priorities in foreign policy.
How different human rights stand with
respect to each other is a debated philo-
sophical question, but it also has very
practical implications.
Particularly at a time when the list
of what’s considered human rights is
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 • A13
constantly growing, they may conflict
with each other, and trying to defend
all of them in the same way may lead to
intractable impasses. I believe that yes,
some basic human rights are more basic
than others, which is why we call them
“fundamental,” i.e., foundational. They
lay the foundation upon which others are
erected. Other rights depend on them.
They serve as a rationale, a paramount,
and the ultimate criterion of evaluation
and order.
The most basic human right is, of
course, the right to life. A dead person
does not have rights, and we only talk of
human rights in relation to the living. Ho-
micide is the most basic violation of hu-
man rights. But the first political human
right is religious freedom, since it allows
us to freely address the most basic ques-
tions of human life, and indeed the core
premise of the human condition itself.
This is neither a sectarian statement nor
an endorsement of faith as such. Free-
dom of religion or belief also protects the
freedom not to believe. It grants humans
the right to address the ultimate ques-
tions of human life without constraints,
deciding “for” or “against” the existence
SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
People visit
St. Patrick’s
Cathedral
in New York
City on Nov.
27, 2020.
of God, “for” or “against” any religion, or
all of them. From this, all the rest comes.
This first political human right stands at
the foundation of all the others.
As American citizens, presumably
Blinken and Pompeo agree on the fact
that this principle is enshrined (the word
is particularly appropriate) in the Bill of
Rights and the First Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution, whose aim is to pre-
serve individual and corporate liberty
from any possible interference by the
state. These documents indicate religious
liberty is the first political human right of
a U.S. citizen. Immediately after, the First
Amendment mentions the political rights
to “freedom of speech, or of the press; or
the right of the people peaceably to as-
semble, and to petition the Government
for a redress of grievances.” That of the
human rights in the U.S. Constitution is
a crowded podium, but the gold medal is
bestowed upon religious freedom.
I wonder whether a competent
ambassador-at-large for international
religious freedom will be appointed
again, and the Ministerial to Advance
Religious Freedom will continue. The
United States has involved other coun-
ALEXANDER DRAGO/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
tries, who have appointed their own am-
bassadors-at-large for religious freedom
following the American model, and have
co-sponsored the ministerials. It would
be strange if the United States, having in-
cited other countries to co-operate, now
abandoned them.
The March 30 Blinken speech accompa-
nied the publication of a strongly worded
report on human rights, which severely
criticized China, particularly for the geno-
cide waged by the CCP against Uyghurs
and other Turkic peoples in Xinjiang,
which its non-Han inhabitants call East
Turkestan. Blinken assured the world that
the strong U.S. commitment to denounc-
ing human rights abuses in China will
continue. Even before being confirmed by
the Senate as secretary of state, Blinken
had publicly agreed with Pompeo on call-
ing these CCP crimes “genocide.”
This is good news, but one wonders
whether the rights of Uyghurs and sever-
al other persecuted minorities in China
and throughout the world will now be
protected without addressing the basi-
cally religious nature of the persecution
vested on them. If this would be the case,
misunderstandings on what the perse-
cution is all about will be created and
perpetuated, to the detriment of the very
human rights Blinken vowed to defend.
Marco Respinti is the editor-in-chief of
International Family News. He is an Ital-
ian professional journalist, member of the
International Federation of Journalists,
essayist, translator, and lecturer.
This article was originally published
by Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious
liberty and human rights in China.
A14 | OPINION
‘Wrong’ Criminals Ruin
Liberal Media Narrative
MARTHA ROSENBERG
It looked like red meat for liberal, “woke”
media. On March 29, a 65-year-old
woman of Filipino descent was punched
and kicked in New York City in broad
daylight by an attacker who allegedly
made anti-Asian statements. The attack,
two weeks after spa shootings in Atlanta
that killed eight including six women of
Asian descent, looked like it would add
fuel to news coverage of an increase in
anti-Asian violence.
But it wasn’t the perfect crime story. Un-
like the white, presumed racist arrested
in the spa shootings (though he and po-
lice denied a racial motive), the New York
Law attack suspect wasn’t an alleged white
enforcement supremacist methodically acting out hate
officials
crimes. Instead, police arrested Brandon
confer out-
side a mas- Elliot, 38, a parolee of color convicted of
sage parlor previously killing his mother.
following a Certainly a suspect like Elliot—dis-
shooting in turbed enough to commit matricide and
Atlanta on not white—couldn’t be a poster child for
March 16, anti-Asian hate. Alleged Asian hatred was
2021. clearly not his only issue, and highlighting
criminal suspects of color could reinforce
BRYNN ANDERSON/AP PHOTO
DILBERT
PEANUTS
RED AND ROVER
GRAND AVENUE
MUTT & JEFF
stereotypes. Moreover, his release on
parole could raise disturbing questions
about New York’s judicial system. The
story was rapidly jettisoned from head-
lines, unlike the spa shootings, which are
still getting play, especially because the
suspect was found to be religious.
The Atlanta spa shootings on March 16
supported the dominant liberal media
narrative that white supremacy threat-
Liberal media’s ens immigrants, people of color, women,
and low-wage workers, and detailed
infatuation profiles soon surfaced of the victims.
with white male But fewer profiles were written six days
perpetrators later when 10 died at a King Soopers
grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, even
and perfunctory though their numbers were higher and
treatment of other included a police officer.
perpetrators is Why the downplay? The dead weren’t
primarily ethnic minorities and the sus-
hardly new. pect was a 21-year-old Muslim American
named Ahmad Al Aliwi Al-Issa, originally
from Syria. Strong coverage could encour-
age Islamophobia and anti-immigrant
sentiment, according to liberal media.
Like the New York City attack, the King
Soopers story quickly dissolved.
Two days later, another shameless at-
tack occurred: an attempted carjacking
in Washington, D.C. that took the life of
a 66-year-old Pakistani immigrant who
was an Uber Eats delivery driver. Mo-
hammad Anwar, a father of three, was
killed as the alleged carjackers drove his
car away while he was hanging on the
outside.
Few could imagine a more brutal and
heartless crime against a powerless per-
son, and the story could have remained a
headline for weeks except for one fact: po-
lice arrested teenaged girls, aged 13 and
15, in the lethal carjacking, not a white
male. Children allegedly killing immi-
grants isn’t a story liberal media want to
report. The girls had allegedly premedi-
tated their carjacking crime and came
armed with a stun gun, authorities said.
The story was dropped like a hot potato.
Liberal media’s infatuation with white
Like this article? Share it male perpetrators and perfunctory treat-
with your friends and family. ment of other perpetrators is hardly new.
Scan this code to receive Who remembers when college stu-
a shareable link. dent Mollie Tibbetts disappeared while
COMICS
GARFIELD
GINGER MEGGS
BIG NATE
DRABBLE
FRANK AND ERNEST
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
jogging in 2018 in Brooklyn, Iowa, and was
later found dead in a cornfield? “Murdered
co-ed” stories are notoriously clickbait for
news outlets because of the sexual over-
tones and the audience of college and uni-
versity readers and viewers whom the sto-
ries typically draw. But instead of a white
male perpetrator, hopefully a frat boy,
police arrested Cristhian Bahena Rivera,
who had been in the United States illegally,
in connection with Tibbetts’s death.
The story became radioactive. Media
give wide berth to stories about illegal
immigrants committing crimes in the
United States (or joining gangs) because
they lend credence to anti-open border
arguments. Conservative columnist Ann
Coulter’s 2016 book “Adios, America,”
documented page after page of shocking
crimes committed in the United States
by illegal immigrants that were cavalierly
ignored by mainstream media. Her book
was ignored, too.
The trial of Rivera hasn’t occurred yet,
but the story is safely out of national news
and has become a local story.
As I write this, another crime story with
the wrong suspect has surfaced. On April
2, a U.S. Capitol Police officer died and
another was wounded when a vehicle
rammed a police barricade outside the
Capitol building. News media were likely
expecting a redux of the Jan. 6 riot by con-
servative white people. But instead, police
identified the suspect—who was shot and
killed—as Noah Green, a 25-year-old Afri-
can American.
While media probe the suspect’s
motives and compare this U.S. Capitol
violence with that on Jan. 6, one fact is al-
ready clear. The story will evaporate soon.
Martha Rosenberg is a former advertising
copywriter who knows a lot about market-
ing. She began as an investigative journalist
and since has been on TV and radio as a
health expert. Martha has taught about
drug marketing tactics at a Chicago medi-
cal school and is part of the FDA press corps.
Her book “Born with a Junk Food Deficien-
cy: How Flaks, Quacks, and Hacks Pimp the
Public Health,” exposes what goes on behind
the scenes in the food and drug industries.
 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
SPECIAL SERIES: HOW THE SPECTER OF COMMUNISM IS RULING OUR WORLD
Chapter Seventeen:
Globalization and Communism
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.”
4. Cultural Globalization:
A Means of Corrupting
Humanity
As cultural exchanges and capital
flows expand throughout the world,
the various deviant cultural forms
that communism has established
over the past century—such as
modern art, literature, and thought;
deviant entertainment and lifestyles;
and consumerism—are transmitted
globally. During this process, the tra-
ditions of various ethnic groups are
interrupted and severed from their
original meaning, resulting in hollow,
degenerate lifestyles geared toward
consumption and profit, breaking
down morality and society wherever
they are spread.
Willi Münzenberg, the German
communist activist and one of the
founders of the Frankfurt School,
said: “[We must] organise the intellec-
tuals and use them to make Western
civilization stink. Only then, after
they have corrupted all its values
and made life impossible, can we
impose the dictatorship of the pro-
letariat.” [22] Indeed, as described in
previous chapters of this book, the
heritage of Western civilization has
been replaced by deviated modern
pop culture, and its spiritual values
have been largely overturned by vari-
ants of Marxism. Globalization and
globalism bring this degeneracy to all
corners of the earth.
Globally, the United States leads in
the political, economic, and military
arenas. Its unique position in these
fields carries over to American popu-
lar culture, which has been readily
accepted and adopted by other coun-
tries and regions. After infiltrating
and corrupting family life, politics,
the economy, law, arts, the media,
and popular culture across all as-
pects of daily life in the United States,
communism made use of cultural
globalization to export this corrupted
culture. Seen as the newest, most de-
sirable trends from America, this cul-
ture spread across the entire world.
Through Hollywood movies, even
the inhabitants of China’s far-flung
conservative inland villages learned
that single motherhood, extramarital
affairs, and sexual liberation were all
“normal” aspects of life in the “ad-
vanced” West. Rock ‘n’ roll became
extremely popular across the world,
from Ecuador in South America, to
Malaysia in Southeast Asia, to Fiji in
the Pacific Islands. In education, the
ideology underpinning the Common
Core curriculum created by cultural
Marxists was almost instantaneously
reflected in Taiwan’s secondary-
school textbooks. In the blink of an
eye, the Occupy Wall Street move-
ment in New York was shown on
television screens in the remotest
mountain hamlets of India.
Cultural globalization is the hur-
ricane that blows the deviant culture
of the West and the Party culture
of communist totalitarian regimes
throughout the entire world, relent-
lessly sweeping away the traditional
values that have guided humanity for
thousands of years.
SEYLLOU/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Fans react to a
performance in
Wellington, New
Zealand, on Feb.
13, 2021.
a. Destroying the World’s
[We must] Cultural Traditions
organise the Every ethnic culture has unique
characteristics and carries the deep
intellectuals influences of its own special history.
and use them Despite the differences between
to make ethnic customs, they all observe the
Western same divinely bestowed universal
civilization values in their traditions. After the
Industrial Revolution, technological
stink. Only
development brought about conve-
then, after nience, and simultaneously, tradition
they have was labeled by progressives as back-
corrupted all ward. Measuring everything based on
its values and its modernness, novelty, and “prog-
ress”—or whether it has commercial
made life
impossible, value—is now standard.
Communism promotes values that
can we
seem noble, but, in reality, are aimed
impose the
at having humankind abandon tra-
dictatorship
ditional values, replacing them with
of the homogeneous and deteriorated mod-
proletariat. ern values instead. Today’s so-called
common values formed by cultural
Willi exchange in the process of globaliza-
Münzenberg, tion aren’t from any particular tradi-
German tion—they are modern values. The
communist elements and values that are adopted
and co-founder by globalism must, by necessity,
of the Frankfurt deviate from tradition. They include
School only the crassest elements of exist-
ing cultural heritage, as well as the
aspects that can be commercialized.
Notions about the “common destiny
of humankind” and “our common
future” are the results of such devi-
ated values.
The lowest standard that is rec-
ognized during cultural globaliza-
tion manifests in consumer culture.
Product design and marketing, driven
by economic interests, are entirely
centered on appealing to consumers’
base instincts. The aim is to control
humankind by seducing, indulging,
and satisfying people’s superficial
desires.
This global consumerist culture is
used to corrupt tradition in multiple
ways. First, the unique characteristics
and meaning behind a product, as
originated from its ethnic culture, are
removed. In other words, tradition is
taken away from products through
deculturalization, or standardiza-
tion. The more alienated a group of
people is from their cultural heritage
and faith, the more susceptible they
become to such a simplified consum-
erist culture. Over time, through glo-
A child watches
an episode of balization, this population’s customs
the TV serie and identity devolve to only the low
“Maitresse d’un level necessary to maintain a cheap
homme marie” commercial culture bereft of mean-
(Mistress of a ing and morality.
Married Man) in Second, the globalized media indus-
Dakar, Senegal, on try and its monopolies have enabled
May 27, 2019. communist elements to easily make
use of the degenerated ideas behind
products. They advertise the superfi-
cial cultural aspects of products and
introduce Marxist ideology while
promoting them. The hybridization of
cultures through globalization thus
becomes another channel for promot-
ing communist ideology.
Third, a global culture makes con-
sumerism the mainstream culture of
society. Commercials, films, televi-
sion shows, and social media con-
stantly bombard consumers with the
idea that they are not living a real life
if they don’t consume or own certain
products, or seek to be entertained in
particular ways. Communism uses
different means and entertainment to
prompt people to pursue the satisfac-
MARK TANTRUM/GETTY IMAGES
tion of their base desires. As people
indulge these desires, they move
away from the spiritual plane, causing
them to deviate from their long-held
divine beliefs and traditional values
within a few short generations.
As communism quickly spreads
its deteriorated ideology amid the
backdrop of globalization, it utilizes
the herd mentality. With frequent
exposure to news media, social me-
dia, commercials, television shows,
and films, people are bombarded
with various anti-traditional ideas
and narratives. This creates an illu-
sion that such deteriorated trends
represent a global consensus. People
gradually become numb to the dam-
age wrought by these ideologies, as
twisted behaviors come to be seen as
fashionable and people are urged to
take pride in them. Substance abuse,
sexual liberation, degenerate music,
abstract art, and much more are all
spread in this fashion.
Modern art is degenerate and
violates all traditional definitions of
aesthetics. Some people may have
known this from the very start, but
after modern artworks are constantly
exhibited in major metropolitan areas
and sold at high prices, and when the
media frequently reports on dark and
strange works, normal people begin
to believe that they’re the ones who’ve
fallen out of touch with fashion and
that it’s their taste in art that needs to
be updated. Gaslighted by this trend,
people learn to deny their innate
sense of what constitutes beauty, and
accept the hideous aesthetics of dete-
riorated art.
All manner of degenerate culture
masked as Western culture is cur-
rently being spread to every corner of
the world. Hollywood, in particular,
has been a major carrier of various
narratives that stem from cultural
Marxism. The special characteris-
tics of the movie industry allow it to
make people subconsciously accept
its values. As described in Chapter
Thirteen, film has the power to depict
compelling atmospheres, narratives,
and personalities, immersing audi-
ences in the director’s viewpoint.
Hollywood movies play an enormous
role in shaping audiences’ values and
worldview.
In this book, we have also discussed
how cultural Marxism has taken
over Western education (see Chapter
Twelve), and, in turn, exposed for-
eign students studying in Western
countries to various leftist ideologies.
When they return to their coun-
tries, they spread these ideologies,
which are seen as attractive because
Western countries are more techno-
logically advanced and economically
developed. Thus, invasive modern
trends encounter little resistance as
they spread and destroy the local
traditional culture.
Notes
22. Willi Münzenberg, as quoted in Bernard
Connolly, “The Rotten Heart of Europe: Dirty
War for Europe’s Money” (London: Faber &
Faber, 2013).
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
Times was founded in 2000 to
bring honest and uncensored
news to people oppressed
by the lies and violence in
communist China.
We still believe journalism is a
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ish. In all that we do, we will hold
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A16 | OPINION
Ending Big Tech Tyranny
BETSY MCCAUGHEY
On April 5, Justice Clar-
ence Thomas announced
that the Supreme Court
soon will have to put an
end to Big Tech tyranny.
He cited the “glaring”
problem of social media
platforms like Facebook and Google
wielding unlimited power to censor us-
ers whose views they don’t like.
These tech giants, he argued, ought
to be regulated like “common carriers,”
which are legally required to serve all
customers. AT&T can’t refuse to open
a phone account for you or limit your
conversations. Amtrak cannot pick and
choose who rides its trains.
Thomas’s opinion offers hope at a time
when Democrats controlling Congress
are demanding tech giants do more cen-
soring, not less. On March 25, Democrats
on the House Committee on Energy and
Commerce ordered tech CEOs to clamp
down on “disinformation” and silence
views that “undermine social justice
movements.”
Spoken like true totalitarians.
Thomas’s groundbreaking announce-
ment was made in the context of a case
involving Donald Trump. As president,
he blocked critics from commenting on
his tweets or retweeting them. Critics
sued, claiming the president’s Twit-
ter account is a public forum. The high
court ruled the case is now moot because
Trump is out of office. Thomas con-
curred, and agreed with a lower court
ruling that Trump violated his critics’
First Amendment right to be heard.
But Thomas said “the more glaring
concern” is not what Trump did to a few
critics. It’s the power of tech giants to
censor or ban users entirely, even a presi-
dent. Thomas expressed astonishment
I’m a Capitalist, Mr. President, but You’re Not
The Book You’ve Been
Waiting for...
“Extremely well “The Truth, as horrifying as it is,
researched and true.” shall set us free. This should be
on this country’s academia’s
list of required reading.”
HOW THE
SPECTER OF COMMUNISM
IS RULING OUR WORLD
The specter of communism did not
disappear with the disintegration of the
Communist Party in Eastern Europe
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that Facebook and Google are permitted
to remove an account “at any time for
any or no reason.” He wrote “one person
controls Facebook ... and just two control
Google.” They decide what viewpoints
billions of people can express or hear.
That power, said Thomas, must be
reined in when a future controversy
reaches the high court.
Big Tech’s defenders argue that because
they’re private companies, they’re free
to censor. The First Amendment was
written to prohibit only government from
silencing viewpoints. But Thomas says
it’s past time for the Court to get tech-
savvy. These companies are more like
common carriers or public utilities than
private companies. They must be open to
all the public.
Thomas also likened them to “public
accommodations” like hotels and base-
ball stadiums, which are legally required
to serve everyone and not discriminate.
Thomas doesn’t see Big Tech tyranny
being solved by competition, as newer
companies emerge. He points to the
NOW
BIGGER SIZE,
EASIER TO READ
FORMAT
LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
These companies
are more like
common carriers or
public utilities than
private companies.
They must be open
to all the public.
CAL THOMAS
Back in the day when
“Saturday Night Live”
was funny, Chevy Chase
would open the “Week-
end Update” segment by
saying, “I’m Chevy Chase
... and you’re not.”
That line came to mind over President
Joe Biden’s massive tax-and-spend pro-
posals, which are unlike anything since
FDR, after whom Biden appears to be
modeling himself. The president thinks
he’s a capitalist ... but he’s not.
In a very short time, we have regressed
from President Ronald Reagan’s “Gov-
ernment is not the solution to our prob-
lem, government is our problem,” and
President Bill Clinton’s declaration that
“the era of big government is over” to
Biden’s belief that the era of big govern-
ment is just beginning.
The obvious question then
becomes, if big government
can solve our problems, why
hasn’t it solved them by now?
Let’s define two terms. First, capital-
ism: “An economic system in which
investment in and ownership of the
means of production, distribution, and
exchange of wealth is made and main-
tained chiefly by private individuals or
corporations, especially as contrasted
to cooperatively or state-owned means
of wealth.”
Now, socialism: “A theory or system of
social organization that advocates the
ownership and control of the means of
production and distribution, capital, land,
etc., by the community as a whole, usually
through a centralized government.”
The definition of what fits the Biden tax
and spending blowout is the latter. Trea-
sury Secretary Janet Yellen is ratcheting
up the notion that only government is
the answer to every problem by propos-
ing a global minimum tax. Axios reports
what it concludes is the rationale behind
her thinking: “Convincing other coun-
tries to impose a global minimum tax
would reduce the likelihood of compa-
nies relocating offshore, as Biden seeks
to increase the corporate rate from 21
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
“substantial barriers to entry.” The fate
of Parler proves the point. When Parler
offered a censorship-free platform, Big
Tech united to crush it.
Some hailed Thomas’s opinion as “an
invitation to Congress to declare Twit-
ter, Facebook, and similar companies
common carriers.” But the truth is that
Democrats have no interest in the free
exchange of ideas. They’d rather deputize
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to cen-
sor competitors.
And don’t count on President Joe Biden.
A staggering 14 of his picks to serve dur-
ing the transition or in his new govern-
ment are Apple, Facebook, Twitter,
Google, and Amazon recruits, according
to a Daily Caller tally.
Biden probably owes his presidency,
in part, to Big Tech. When the New York
Post published a story documenting a
Chinese company’s dealings with the
Biden family, including candidate Joe
Biden, Silicon Valley tagged it as “dis-
information.” Facebook buried it, and
Twitter locked the Post’s account entirely.
In the weeks before the election, voters
were denied information that could have
influenced their choice.
Now, with Democrats in power, there’s no
chance lawmakers will classify tech com-
panies as common carriers. But Thomas
says the court can apply that reasoning any
way, without waiting for Congress.
Until then, the public will hear only
what the Silicon Valley wants. Last week,
Lara Trump posted an interview with the
former president on Facebook. Immedi-
ately, Facebook took it down, explaining,
“further content posted in the voice of
Donald Trump will be removed.”
Only the high court will restore un-
censored political discourse, an Ameri-
can ideal. Thomas’s opinion illuminates
the way.
Betsy McCaughey, Ph.D., is a political
commentator, constitutional expert, syn-
dicated columnist, and author of several
books, including “The Obama Health
Law: What It Says and How to Overturn,”
and “The Next Pandemic.” She is also a
former lieutenant governor of New York.
percent to 28 percent.”
That’s got it backward, but it typifies
the thinking of those whose faith is in
ever growing, more expensive, and in-
trusive government.
Former President Donald Trump’s re-
duction in corporate tax rates persuaded
some businesses to move back to the
United States from overseas. They had
exited because of higher taxes.
Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody
Analytics, reacted to the Biden adminis-
tration’s tax-and-spend proposals when
he told The Hill: “It takes a whole differ-
ent perspective on government. ... Ever
since Ronald Reagan it’s been about gov-
ernment dysfunction, we need smaller
government, less government. ... This is
the complete opposite. It’s saying gov-
ernment and only government can solve
the problems we have because they’re so
large and beyond any one of us. Infra-
structure is a collective problem.”
The obvious question then becomes, if
big government can solve our problems,
why hasn’t it solved them by now?
In a 2018 article, Investor’s Business
Daily quoted the Bureau of Economic
Analysis: “Some $305.6 billion returned
to the U.S. from overseas accounts (after
President Trump cut corporate tax rates).
That’s a $1.2 trillion annual rate, and far
more than the $35 billion one year before.”
How is returning to the bad old days of
higher taxes going to convince those com-
panies that returned home to stay home?
No reporter has asked that question and
no one in the Biden administration has
voluntarily offered an explanation.
Speaking of Chevy Chase, the come-
dian once said: “Socialism works ... [and]
Cuba might prove that. I think it’s con-
clusive that there have been areas where
socialism has helped to keep people at
least stabilized at a certain level.”
Yes, and that level is mutually shared
mediocrity and, in some cases, mutually
shared poverty. Capitalism raises boats
for those who play by its rules, accompa-
nied by shared moral values, while social-
ism, especially when paired with commu-
nism, sinks too many boats and hopes.
John Calvin Thomas has been a syndicat-
ed columnist, author, and radio commen-
tator for more than 35 years. His latest
book is “America’s Expiration Date: The
Fall of Empires and Superpowers and the
Future of the United States.”
 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
IMF: Global Economy Recovering from
Pandemic but Higher Rates Would Hurt
Emerging Markets
WASHINGTON—International Monetary
Fund’s steering committee on April 8 said
the global economy is recovering faster
than expected from the COVID-19 crisis,
but warned that a spike in interest rates
could be especially painful for emerging
economies.
In its communique, the International
Monetary and Financial Committee
(IMFC) stressed the importance of ac-
celerating the distribution of COVID-19
vaccines around the world and pledged
to strengthen international cooperation.
What I took from the
meeting are two messages.
One, strong support for
the IMF at the center of the
global financial safety net
and clear willingness of all
members to see us resourced
adequately to do our job.
Kristalina Georgieva,
Managing Director, IMF
“Elevated financial vulnerabilities could
pose risks should global financial condi-
tions tighten swiftly,” the 24-member com-
mittee said. “The crisis may cause extended
scarring and exacerbate poverty and in-
equalities, while climate change and oth-
er shared challenges are becoming more
pressing.”
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Geor-
gieva said a stronger growth outlook for
the United States has positive spillovers for
the world, but some countries struggling
to reopen their economies could suffer
if faster growth leads to quick increases
US Jobless Claims up to 744K
as Virus Still Forces Layoffs
WASHINGTON—The number of Ameri-
cans applying for unemployment benefits
rose last week to 744,000, signaling that
many employers are still cutting jobs even
as more people are vaccinated against CO-
VID-19, consumers gain confidence, and
the government distributes aid throughout
the economy.
The Labor Department said on April 8
that applications increased by 16,000 from
728,000 a week earlier. Jobless claims have
declined sharply since the virus slammed
into the economy in March of last year. But
they remain stubbornly high by historical
standards: Before the pandemic erupted,
weekly applications typically remained
below 220,000 a week.
For the week ending March 27, more than
3.7 million people were receiving tradition-
al state unemployment benefits, the gov-
ernment said. If you include supplemental
federal programs that were established last
year to help the unemployed endure the
health crisis, a total of 18.2 million are re-
ceiving some form of jobless aid the week
of March 20.
Economists monitor weekly jobless
claims for early signs of where the job mar-
ket is headed. Applications are usually a
proxy for layoffs: They typically decline
as the economy improves. Or they rise as
employers retrench in response to sluggish
consumer demand.
During the pandemic, though, the num-
bers have become a less reliable barometer.
CHUNG I HO/THE EPOCH TIMES
People wearing protective face masks walk
pass New York State Department of Labor in
Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sept. 28, 2020.
in interest rates.
At an economic forum during the IMF
and World Bank Spring Meetings, she ad-
monished Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell to communicate clearly that the
Fed’s view is that inflation remains under
control, saying markets have adopted a
more “exuberant” view toward inflation-
ary expectations, pushing bond yields
higher.
The IMF is forecasting that U.S. inflation
will be 2.25 percent in 2022, only slightly
above the Fed’s 2 percent target.
“This is why the very careful approach
that Chair Powell is taking to communi-
cating clearly is very helpful. Both to hold
these expectations in the United States
from being lifted up and for the rest of the
world to be clear around monetary policy
in the United States.”
Georgieva said she was concerned about
the effect of inflation in emerging markets,
States have struggled to clear backlogs of
unemployment applications, and suspect-
ed fraud has clouded the actual volume of
job cuts.
By nearly all measures, though, the
economy has been strengthening. Dur-
ing March, employers added 916,000 jobs,
the most since August, and the unemploy-
ment rate declined from 6.2 percent to 6
percent. In February, the pace of job open-
ings reached its highest level on record.
Last month, consumer confidence posted
its highest reading in a year.
And this week, the International Mon-
etary Fund forecast that the U.S. economy
will grow 6.4 percent this year. That would
be the fastest annual pace since 1984 and
the strongest among the world’s wealthiest
countries.
Most economists say they think the still-
high level of unemployment applications
should gradually fade.
“Jobless claims may bounce around week
to week as the recovery takes hold, but we
expect they will start to decline more con-
sistently as the economy gains momen-
tum,” economists Nancy Vanden Houten
and Gregory Daco of Oxford Economics
said in a research note. “We expect the stel-
lar March jobs report to be the first of many
and look for a hiring boom in the spring
and summer months.’’
Still, the United States has 8.4 million
fewer jobs than it had in February 2020,
just before the pandemic struck. New
confirmed coronavirus cases, which
had dropped sharply from early January
through early March, have plateaued over
the past month. In addition, the vaccina-
tion rate for elderly Americans, who are
among the most vulnerable, has dramati-
cally slowed even as the supply of vaccines
has expanded.
The data firm Womply reports that the
percentage of businesses that remained
closed last week rose from the beginning
of March—from 38 percent to 45 percent
for bars; from 35 percent to 46 percent for
beauty shops; and from 30 percent to 38
percent for restaurants.
By Paul Wiseman
From The Associated Press
BUSINESS & ECONOMY | A17
KAREN BLEIER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
which might be more inclined to respond
through monetary financing or the “print-
ing” of more money by central banks to di-
rectly support government spending. Such
moves are seen as stoking inflation further
and eroding purchasing power.
She said that efforts to grow trade would
also help limit inflationary pressures.
IMF Reserves, Quotas
During a news conference, Georgieva said
all IMFC members had strongly endorsed
a $650 billion expansion of the Fund’s Spe-
cial Drawing Rights monetary reserves, es-
pecially those representing middle-income
countries.
Distribution of the reserves would es-
pecially help these countries to bolster
financial resources still strained by the
pandemic, she said.
Georgieva also said that negotiating a
OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES new agreement on the IMF’s permanent
quota resources would be difficult, but
IMF member countries are showing strong
engagement in the process, including the
United States.
“What I took from the meeting are two
messages. One, strong support for the IMF
at the center of the global financial safety
net and clear willingness of all members to
see us resourced adequately to do our job,”
Georgieva told a news conference.
The United States, which holds a control-
ling stake in the IMF, had opposed any
(Top) The International Monetary shareholding changes during the Trump
Fund building sign in Washington on administration. The last increase in quo-
April 5, 2016.
(Above) International Monetary Funds
tas, which increased the voting shares of
(IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Geor- China, Brazil, and other emerging mar-
gieva in Washington on Oct. 15, 2019. kets, was agreed upon in 2010 and imple-
mented in 2016, during the Obama ad-
ministration.
By David Lawder & Andrea Shalal
From Reuters
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A18 | OPINION FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTED BY TOM HOUSTON

EPOCH TIMES STAFF 10. Absolve 4NUMBERS CONSTRUCTED BY C. CHANG
AT 4NUMS.COM DAILY BRIDGE CLUB
11. Man Ray’s genre
12. Vanity case? Use the four numbers in the corners, and A Mickey Mouse play?
the operands (+, - X, and ÷) to build an BY FRANK STEWART, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY
13. “Bathers” painter equation to get the solution in the middle.
There may be more than one “unique” so- ©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
14. Flowery verse
lution but, there may also be “equivalent”
16. Non-stick cookware solutions. For example: 6 + (7 X 3) +1 = 28 Cy the Cynic says that certain keys can’t
coating and 1+ (7 X 3) + 6 = 28 open locks: monkeys, donkeys and turkeys.
23. Exiter’s exclamation Cy could have used a key to his hand when
he was today’s declarer.
24. Brownie bunch, At 3NT, Cy ducked two spade leads, won
briefly the third with dummy’s ace, unblocked the
28. Basis of some divi- king of hearts, took his A-K of clubs and led
a third club.
sions East won and cashed his high spade,
30. Corn Belt state and when he next led the nine of diamonds
31. The Everly Brothers, — jack, queen, ace — the Cynic was locked
in dummy. He took two clubs and the king
e.g. of diamonds, but West won the 13th trick
32. Search (into) with a diamond. Cy was down one, and
33. “Go on ...” North left for a shot of whiskey in the club
34. Pacific ring lounge.
35. Lulu Hard 1 - 1 Solution LOW CLUB
40. Tumbler Cy turkeyed up the play. After he takes the
41. Spring king of hearts, he can jockey for position by
cashing only the ace of clubs, then leading
43. The facts of life? a low club.
45. Screw up East wins, cashes a spade and leads a
47. Not the most abun- diamond, but Cy wins in dummy, comes
to his king of clubs and discards dummy’s
dant low diamond on the ace of hearts. He can
48. Burn a bit reach dummy with the other high diamond
49. Essence to cash two more clubs, making his game.
50. Slick DAILY QUESTION
51. Ball breaker? You hold: { A 6 5 3 K A K 6
52. Victorian ___ y 10 8 6 4 3. You open one club, your
56. Electric guitar hookup partner responds one heart, you bid one
Hard 2 - 1 Solution spade and he jumps to three clubs. What
57. Like the common cold do you say?
Across 36. ___’wester 80. Vivacity 58. Catherine the Great, ANSWER: Depending on your agreement,
1. Pipe part 37. Mermaid’s home 81. “Ragtime” author’s e.g. partner’s jump-preference may be invi-
38. “En garde” weapon monogram tational or forcing. In any case, your hand
5. “___ the Wine” (Rick 60. Noted remover of calls for a further bid. To try 3NT would
Danko song) 39. “No” vote from a 82. “___ of Fortune” locks be reasonable. A more flexible call is three
8. “The best things in life horse? 83. Cemetery sights 61. A Londoner might diamonds, showing diamond strength and
___ free” 42. Fly catcher 84. Actors’ union painting a picture of your distribution.
acquire one while dining North dealer
11. “Art” trailer 44. Rolodex abbr. 85. Opera’s intro 63. Didn’t let bygones be N-S vulnerable
15. Lightener 46. U.S. State Depart- 86. Literally, “king” bygones
17. Rule out ment, e.g. 87. Everyday article 66. High card
18. Like good wine 53. Lout 88. A.T.M. necessity 67. Nincompoop
19. Pain killers 54. “Well, lookee here!” 89. Pants part 68. Not as common
20. Source of Federal 55. Come again 69. Favorite summertime Easy 1 - 1 Solutions
forms 56. Plays a part Down pants
21. Nap 59. Our revenue source 1. Sends cyberjunk 73. “Vogue” copy
22. Regulates cardio- 62. Hot time: Abbr. 2. Dogma 74. “Downton Abbey”
vascular and respiratory 64. Voice vote 3. Wear down headpiece
systems 65. Body shops 4. Word before “space” 75. Cay
25. Sculptured stone 70. Local fund-raising in geometry 77. “Balderdash!”
shafts org. 5. Free of iniquity 78. Alfalfa or buckwheat
26. Toadies’ replies 71. “D” type are used in 6. Brain wave 79. Dolly ___ of “Hello,
27. Biology class abbr. flashlights 7. A pittance in Quezon Dolly!”
29. Activity in Show- 72. 1769 stop for Captain City 80. “50 Ways to
time’s “Billions” Cook 8. Hookers? Leave Your Lover”
33. Matterhorn, e.g. 76. Plaque problem 9. Comeback transportation 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.

ANGLERS GOT EVEN REVERSAL

ANODYNES ISLET RIPOSTE
ARTERIOS- ISSUE SHORTS
CLEROSIS MASSAGE SINLESS
CATARRH PARLORS SPAMS
CELLS MEAGEREST SPLODGE
CÉZANNE MEDULLA STELAE
DELILAH OBLONGATA TAHITI
DELVE MODULI TENET
EGO TRIP NEIGH TIARA
ERODE OVERTURE TSARINA
EXONERATE RARER XYLAN
GLASS RECUR YESES

SOLUTIONS
CROSSWORD SUPER KAKURO
4 NUMBERS
HARD 1

HARD 2

EASY 1

EASY 2
 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 PUZZLES | A19
SUDOKU CONSTRUCTED
BY KANNAN SANKARAN SUPERSUDOKU CONSTRUCTED
BY KANNAN SANKARAN

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

Easy FEEDBACK@EPOCHTIMES.COM

WE HAVE MADE SOME CHANGES TO

OUR PUZZLE PAGE IN RESPONSE TO
PUZZLER’S FEEDBACK. LET US KNOW
WHAT YOU THINK!
FEEDBACK@EPOCHTIMES.COM

CRYPTIC QUOTE

EPOCH DOKU CONSTRUCTED

BY EPOCH TIMES STAFF

WORK SPACE

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

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

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

NRREOY

1)7,(,
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
— “FOURTH-RIGHT” Corner store
president thought he was
James Madison to be U.S.
People who voted for
Answers:
FINITE
ORNERY
GOUGE
HATCH
Jumbles:
SUDOKU: HARD EPOCH DOKU

CRYPTIC QUOTE
of those who create it.
by the good intentions
not rendered harmless
Concentrated power is
A20 | FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

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H
as there ever been a better
moment in history for glam-
ping? The experience offers
all the joy of camping with
very few of its drawbacks—
the creature comforts we all crave but in
a setting that puts us in closer touch with
nature and the wide-open spaces of the
world around us. Plus, it’s an ideal way to
connect with families and groups during
a time when travel and gathering remain
fraught with restrictions.
If you’re ready to venture out into the
great outdoors, you’re in luck: There are
some great places to glamp all across the
United States, with varying amenity and
accommodation types, but all promis-
ing a world of new experiences. Read on
for five great places to glamp from sea to
shining sea.
Westgate River Ranch, Florida
I recently paid a visit to Westgate River
Ranch Resort & Rodeo, a giant Western-
style ranch in the middle of Florida—a
property most people find unexpected,
to say the least. It’s a short distance from
Disney and offers a similar fantastical
experience, but celebrates the magic of
camping and the great outdoors rather
than the magic of animation and story-
telling.
It’s one of Florida’s funkiest, most off-
the-beaten-path spots, yet offers a world
of activities geared toward families and
groups: Think horseback riding, petting
farm, airboat rides (yes, you’ll see gators),
archery and skeet shooting, an adven-
ture park, nightly campfires and s’mores
kits, and even an authentic Saturday
night rodeo. It’s housed on a sprawling
1,700 acres adjacent to the Kissimmee
REALEST NATURE/SHUTTERSTOCK
MARYLAND
Secluded Smith Island
Is Living at Its Best
Along with being loyal to the little village where they live,
Smith Islanders are hardy, independent, and welcoming
to visitors.
See B4
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 B1
COURTESY OF WESTGATE RIVER RANCH
Westgate
River
Ranch Resort &
Rodeo is located
a short distance
from Disney
attractions.
COURTESY OF WESTGATE RIVER RANCH
1
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2
1. Glamping in style at Westgate River, so every guest gets a golf cart to
River Ranch in Florida. traverse the property during their stay.
If you’re 2. West Beach Resort in The ranch recently debuted new glam-
ready to ven- Washington may offer various ping accommodations, including new
wildlife sightings, including orcas. luxury glamping tents and Luxe Cones-
ture out into 3. The new luxury Conestoga
toga Wagons, which are replicas of the
large 18th-century covered wagons that
the great out- wagons at Westgate River Ranch
were historically used to transfer cargo
in Florida.
doors, you’re by horse or oxen. The high-maintenance
among us will be glad to know that
in luck: There COURTESY OF WESTGATE RIVER RANCH
the “camping” part of glamping in the
are some wagons is a stretch—it’s more like a cozy
hotel room that happens to be housed in-
great places side a covered wagon—but all the same,
visitors enjoy an outdoorsy experience
to glamp all with ample creature comforts.
across the Other glamping options include Native
American-style teepees, rail cars, and
United States, traditional glamping tents, but classic
motel-style rooms and suites in the lodge
with varying are also available, as well as cottages and
amenity and cabins (ideal for families) and platform
camping, primitive tent camping, and
accommoda- RV camping.
tion types.
West Beach Resort, Washington
West Beach Resort, located on Orcas
Island in Washington, offers a scenic
beachfront site in a woodsy destination
beloved for frequent sightings of whales,
porpoises, seals, ospreys, and bald eagles.
3
Continued on B2
B2
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Fully off-the-grid glamping in the desert at Glamping Canyonlands in Utah.
The Joy of
Camping,
With Creature
Comforts
5 great spots to go
glamping in the US
Continued from B1
It’s accessible via an hour and a half
ferry from the mainland and has
both cabins and pet-friendly safari
tents equipped with beds and private
patios. RV camping and primitive tent
camping are also available.
While you’ll certainly feel off-
the-grid here, the campground has
interactive activities for kids (think
face painting, treasure hunts, and
build-your-own-sundaes) as well as a
hot tub, a well-stocked general store,
and boats, kayaks, and canoes you
can rent to explore the waters around
you. There’s also ping pong, badmin-
ton, and volleyball for a bit of friendly
entertainment.
Best of all, West Beach Resort has a
pier where guests can fish for perch,
greenling, and salmon, as well as a
fish-cleaning station if you got lucky
enough to catch your own dinner.
Glamping Canyonlands, Utah
For a fully off-the-grid experience
in the desert, head to this Wi-Fi-free
glamping spot in Monticello, Utah.
Glamping Canyonlands has boho-in-
spired bell tents with queen-size beds,
chairs, rugs, and LED candles, as well
as private decks where visitors can sit
and watch desert sunrises and sun-
sets. There are also toilets, showers,
and a communal cooking area, but for
the rest, you’re on your own, so expect
a true camping experience here, but
with some of the comforts and conve-
niences of home.
Monticello, the nearest town, is 15
minutes away, and it’s where you’ll
want to stock up on food and water
since there’s no running water on-site
West Beach Resort offers cabins as well as safari tents, RV camping, and primitive camping.
FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
COURTESY OF PITCHUP.COM
at Glamping Canyonlands. If you’re
eager to explore, Canyonlands Na-
tional Park and Arches National Park
are both less than an hour away.
Camp Long Creek
at Big Cedar Lodge, Missouri
For scenic lakeside glamping, head to
Camp Long Creek at Big Cedar Lodge
in Missouri’s Ozark Mountains. Lo-
cated on Table Rock Lake and a few
minutes away from the main resort,
the glamping experience at Camp Long
Creek varies from vintage bungalow-
style camp huts to cabins to luxurious
canvas tents complete with a private
stone patio, firepit, and outdoor tub.
These lakeside digs sleep two to four.
It’s an ideal way to con-
nect with families and
groups during a time
when travel and gather-
ing remain fraught with
restrictions.
Best of all, you can bring the whole
family to camp, even Fido: Camp
Long Creek is dog-friendly and even
has its own dog park with agility
equipment. Visitors also get access to
the Long Creek Marina, where boat
and watercraft rentals, fishing servic-
es, water ski instruction, and sunset
dinner cruises on the Lady Liberty
are available. There’s plenty to do and
gorgeous wilderness to explore, so
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 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 B3
COURTESY OF PITCHUP.COM COURTESY OF CAMP LONG CREEK

COURTESY OF CAMP LONG CREEK

A serene evening
glamping at Camp Long
Creek in Missouri.
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visitors get the full camping experi-
ence with none of its hassles. (Top left) A sign indicates
the way to the beach at West
Beach Resort in Washington.
Mystic Quarry, Texas
Located in the heart of Texas Hill (Above left) Camp huts at
Country near the Guadalupe River Camp Long Creek in Mis-
and Canyon Lake, Mystic Quarry souri.
Resort is a modern glamping camp-
ground and resort with tiny houses,
boho-style teepees, cabins, cottages,
RV sites, and tent sites, so you get to
choose your own adventure. New
safari glamping tents are set to debut
this spring, adding another fun option
in addition to the Sioux-style teepees
inspired by the Native American
people of the Great Plains.
Several on-site accommodations are Glamping at West
Beach Resort in
dog-friendly and have full kitchens
Washington.
as well as plush bedding and linens,
but you’ll still feel communion with COURTESY OF MYSTIC QUARRY COURTESY OF PITCHUP.COM

the outdoors even if you go more Skye Sherman is a

“glam” than “camping” thanks to the freelance travel writer
beautiful scenery and the clear waters based in West Palm
of nearby Canyon Lake, where you Beach, Fla. She covers
can swim, boat, enjoy water sports, news, transit, and
or simply stroll along the 80 miles of international destinations
shoreline. There are also amenities for a variety of outlets.
like bocce and volleyball courts, an
outdoor pool, rooftop deck, and other
recreational activities for campers to
enjoy (and, of course, Wi-Fi—this is a A tiny house at Mystic West Beach Resort’s
modern glampground, after all). Quarry Resort in Texas. beachside setting.

Unmoved
Oil on canvas
Size: 29 1/2 x 39 1/2 in

Original artworks, canvas wraps,

art posters, and framed prints of
Award-winninvg oil paintings
now available for purchase at

I ns piredOrigina l.Org
B4 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

The Crazy Horse Memorial: It’s

the Largest Sculptural Project in
History, but Will It Ever Be Finished? ALL PHOTOS BY FRED J. ECKERT UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

FRED J. ECKERT A 16-ton plaster model

I
n the Black Hills of South Dakota,
less than a half-hour drive down the
road from Mount Rushmore, just 17
miles away, another colossal moun-
tain sculpture—the largest sculptural
project in history—is taking shape.
The Crazy Horse Memorial officially be-
gan taking shape in 1948. No one is predict-
ing when it will be completed.
Yet while it may be a work in progress
with likely many years to go before it’s com-
pleted, it’s far enough along that already it’s
a mesmerizing sight that draws more than
a million visitors a year.
A finished three-dimensional head of
Crazy Horse stands at the peak of a 6,532-
foot mountain silhouetted against the sky.
The sculpture is truly massive; all four of
Mount Rushmore’s gigantic presidential
heads taken together could easily fit inside
the head of Crazy Horse.
From chin to top of forehead, it’s nearly
nine stories—87 1/2 feet high, just over 58
feet wide. His nose is 27 1/2 feet long. Each
eye opening and eyelid is just under 18 feet
wide and just under 9 feet high.
His head is more than 17 feet taller than
the Great Sphinx—and yet his head is but
a part of this massive memorial. The head
of the horse that he is riding will be 22 sto-
ries high.
This three-dimensional carving-in-the-
round will be 563 feet high—that’s eight
feet higher than the Washington Monu-
ment—and 641 feet long.
Carving a Dream
The idea for the Crazy Horse Memorial
came about in late 1939, when a 31-year-old
orphan son of Polish immigrants named
Korczak Ziolkowski, who had never taken
JAMES DALRYMPLE/SHUTTERSTOCK
created by sculptor
Korczak Ziolkowski
stands on a viewing
veranda, enabling visitors
to better visualize what
his Crazy Horse Memorial
(seen in the background
a mile away) will look like
when finished.
A finished
three-
dimensional
head of Crazy
Horse stands
at the peak
of a 6,532-
foot mountain
silhouetted
against the sky.
The idea for the Crazy
Horse Memorial came
about in late 1939, as
nearby Mount Rushmore
was well along.
a lesson in art or sculpture, won first prize
in sculpture by popular vote of visitors to
the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Newspaper
coverage of the award mentioned he had
spent part of that summer in the Black Hills
of South Dakota, assisting sculptor Gutzon
Borglum on the Mount Rushmore project.
An Oglala Lakota chief, Henry Standing
Bear, wrote to him inviting him to come
back to the Black Hills and carve a moun-
tain memorial to Crazy Horse, the great
chief and warrior of the Oglala band of La-
kota Sioux who had linked up with Sitting
Bull to annihilate a U.S. Army battalion
led by Gen. George Armstrong Custer at
the Battle of Little Big Horn.
“My fellow chiefs and I would like the
white man to know that the red man has
great heroes, too,” he wrote.
Eight years earlier, he had written that
same request to Borglum, who had never
responded. But Korczak did, and work got
underway in 1947 at the site he and Sit-
ting Bear selected, which was very rough
land with lots of trees on it. He had to build
roads, dig wells, bring in electricity and
build his own cabin, all while living in the
wilderness in a small tent. There was no
money.
At the time of the official dedication of the
memorial in June 1948—attended by five of
the nine Indians who had fought alongside
Crazy Horse at Little Big Horn—Korczak
was 40 years old and had only $174 to his
name.
His early tools consisted of a small used
jackhammer and an old gasoline-powered
compressor. He later acquired and began
using a bulldozer and eventually more and
better equipment. Until he died at age 74
in 1982, he spent more than three and a
half decades devoting his life and nearly
every working hour of it to the Crazy Horse
Memorial.
His obsession with his project caused
his first wife to divorce him. He later mar-
ried a younger woman who had, at age 20,
traveled from the East Coast to the Black
Hills to volunteer at the project almost at
its onset. Eventually, they had 10 children.
Over time, all the strenuous work took
a great toll on the man. He had one back
operation after another, four in all. He suf-
fered two heart attacks, one minor, one
massive. He broke fingers, broke his wrist,
broke ribs, tore ligaments, ruptured a ten-
don, and suffered hearing loss. He also suf-
fered from arthritis and the added compli-
cations that come from advancing age. Yet,
he relentlessly persisted.
Through it all, he never accepted a salary
or even a personal expense account for his
efforts. To support himself and his fam-
ily, he raised cattle and hogs for food and
sale, and designed and operated a dairy
and a lumber mill. In winter months, when
weather made working on the project im-
possible, he sometimes accepted sculp-
tural commissions.
He also refused to seek federal or state

Secluded Smith Island Is Living at Its Best

VICTOR BLOCK
Talk about hometown pride! When I
asked a grizzled waterman who lives on
Smith Island, Maryland, if he’d like to ac-
company me to one of the community’s
other nearby villages, he replied “Nope,
I’ve already been there.”
While the twinkle in his eyes suggested
he wasn’t completely serious, the fact
is that residents of Smith Island in the
Chesapeake Bay good-naturedly tout
the superiority of their tiny town over
LESLIE BILLMAN/SHUTTERSTOCK
the other two. Along with being loyal to
the little village where they live, Smith
Islanders are hardy, independent, and
welcoming to visitors.
That last trait is no accident. When folks
share a group of island strands encom-
passing about 8,000 acres—of which only
900 are habitable—it helps to develop a
friendly attitude.
Smith Island actually consists of three
minute islets, each occupied by a vil-
lage. Ewell and Rhodes Point are con-
nected by a short wooden bridge while
(Below left) A bucket holds
colorful markers that can be
used to indicate the under-
water location of crab traps.
(Below) Some residents
trace their ancestry back to
the early colonists.
KARENFOLEYPHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK
Tylerton stands alone.
Capt. John Smith spotted the diminu-
tive archipelago in 1608. Some present-
day residents trace their ancestry back
as much as 12 generations to the early
colonists. Most of the original settlers
were English and Welsh, and vestiges of
their Elizabethan dialect persist. I soon
learned that “air” means “are,” and “tie-
yum” translates to “time.”
Along with being loyal
to the little village
where they live, Smith
Islanders are hardy,
independent, and
welcoming to visitors.

Following in the bootsteps of their

ancestors, many men eke out their liv-
ing from the gray waters of the Chesa-
peake Bay. That means dropping traps
or trotlines for crabs during spring and
summer and dredging for oysters in fall
and winter. Because overharvesting and
pollution have depleted the bay’s oyster
population in recent decades, the island’s
economy has come to depend primarily
upon crabbing. Along with hard-shell
crabs, Smith Island is the center of the
country’s soft-shell crab industry.
The waters are thick with multicolored
 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
funds—a policy to which the Crazy Horse
Memorial Foundation still adamantly ad-
heres. He didn’t believe taxpayers should
have to pay for his work. He was a deep
believer in free enterprise and the private
sector. And he didn’t trust government to
fulfill his dream.
Besides the massive mountain carving,
the site includes other key parts of his vi-
sion: the Indian Museum of North Amer-
ica; the Native American Educational and
Cultural Center; and the Indian University
of North America, operated in conjunction
with the University of South Dakota.
Korczak knew when he started, that this
work wouldn’t be finished in his lifetime,
so early on, he saw to it that all the models,
plans, and methods information neces-
sary to carry his work to completion were
in place.
After he died and was buried at the foot
of the sculpture, his wife Ruth took charge
of carrying on his dream, assisted by seven
of their 10 children. She died in 2014 at age
87. Today, Jadwiga Ziolkowski, their fourth
child, is responsible for the leadership and
management of the Crazy Horse Memorial,
and Monique Ziolkowski, their ninth child,
directs mountain carving, construction,
and maintenance.
“Go slowly and do it right,” Korczak had
advised Ruth. Its extraordinarily slow
journey to completion is but one of the
controversies and criticisms surrounding
the Crazy Horse Memorial. Some critics
charge that it has become more about the
Ziolkowski family than about the great
warrior chief. Other critics multiply the
buoys bobbing in the waves, each mark-
ing a wire crab “pot.” Male crabs often
are the bait, luring females that enter
anticipating a mating ritual. Instead,
they end up on someone’s lunch or din-
ner plate.
Brought back to land, “peeler”
crabs—those about to lose their
protective hard cover and be-
come soft shells—are put into
water-filled floats. As soon as
a crustacean sheds its shell, it
is plucked out and prepared
for shipment to a restaurant
or market before a new firm
outer cover can form.
Hard-shell crabs face a differ-
ent fate. Some end up at restau-
rants in Washington, Baltimore,
and other cities not far from the
waters where they grew up. There they
are sprinkled with a peppery mixture
of spices and steamed until the shells
turned from blue to red.
Others have a shorter trip to the Smith
Island Crabmeat Co-op in Tylerton. Dur-
ing the spring-to-fall crabbing season in
normal (non-COVID19) times women
gather in the nondescript little building
to pick succulent crabmeat out of the
shells with speed and dexterity that are a
wonder to behold.
Observing the action at the co-op by no
means exhausts opportunities to sample
what Smith Island has to offer. Strolling
through the three towns or traveling
by bicycle or rental golf cart introduces
a unique way of life. How many places
have you visited where two golf carts
passing by constitutes rush hour?
Another inviting way to get around is
by canoe or kayak. A system of marked
Crazy Horse’s head is more
than 17 feet taller than the
Great Sphinx.
The three-dimensional Crazy
Horse Memorial carving
in-the-round is the largest
sculptural project in the
history of the world. It will
measure 563 feet high and
641 feet long.
R TESY
OF VIC T OR BL
O CK
C OU
Smith Island Cake is
the official dessert of
Maryland.
$12 to $35 per car admission price by the
million-plus visitors per year plus the $125
fee to go to the top of the mountain, plus
sales of gifts, and ask why all this money
hasn’t moved progress a lot further along. It
doesn’t look much different today than it did
when I first visited it a couple decades ago.
But it’s an established fact that Korczak
had both great reverence for the American
Indians and deep sympathy for their plight.
I came away from a discussion with Ruth
Ziolkowski thinking that the same was true
of her. When I mentioned to her that my
experience was that by far most of them
identify by the tribe to which they belong
and very few object to being referred to as
American Indians, and fewer still attach
any value to being called Native Ameri-
cans, she agreed and then added, “A whole
lot depends on how you say it.”
A Story in Stone
Korczak saw himself as “a storyteller in
stone” and he saw the monument as a me-
morial not so much to one great chief but
rather to the dignity, greatness, and spirit
of American Indians.
Standing Bear and his fellow chiefs
picked the great warrior and leader Crazy
Horse, a hero betrayed by his own people
and then stabbed in the back by a white
soldier while under truce, a chief who never
surrendered, never signed a treaty, and
never went on a reservation.
He also never permitted his picture to be
taken. “Would you imprison my shadow,
too?” he once scorned a photographer. So
to capture Crazy Horse’s face, Korczak had
water trails leads through creeks that
offer panoramic views of the scenery.
They also provide opportunities for close
encounters with wildlife, including her-
ons, pelicans, and many other resident
and migratory birds. Some visitors hire
a boat to try their skill—and luck—at
catching striped bass (known local-
ly as rockfish), sea trout, flounder,
and other game fish.
Back on land, each village
is built around a Methodist
church that acts both as a kind
of unofficial governmental
hub and a center of commu-
nity life. Tylerton, population
34 at latest count, is only two by
four blocks in size. A five-minute
boat ride brings you to Ewell (92
residents), which is connected to
Rhodes Point (home to 43) by a strip
of bumpy asphalt about 1.5 miles long.
Locals euphemistically refer to it as
“the highway.”
A must for visitors is to throw diet to
the wind and sample the storied Smith
Island Cake. This is a towering delicacy
of eight or nine thin layers that is desig-
nated as the official dessert of Maryland.
Most common is yellow cake with choco-
late icing, but flavors like coconut, fig,
and orange also are popular. That unique
treat is tasty, but the lifestyle of the proud
and independent people who choose to
live in such splendid isolation is reason
enough to visit them.
Victor Block is a freelance writer. To read
features by other Creators Syndicate writ-
ers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syn-
dicate website at Creators.com. Copyright
2021 Creators.com
B5
to rely on the fading memories of a few old
American Indians who had known him
plus great use of his imagination.
Crazy Horse, they told him, used to wear a
stone on his ear and tell his people that one
day he would return to them in stone. And
they told him a story about Crazy Horse that
he adapted as his design for the monument.
The sculpture is truly
massive; all four of
Mount Rushmore’s
gigantic presidential
heads taken together
could easily fit inside
the head of Crazy Horse.
Long after the Battle of Little Big Horn,
when most Sioux Indians had gone on the
reservations, a white trader who spoke their
language came across Crazy Horse on the
plains. He mocked the chief, asking him,
“Where are your lands now?”
Crazy Horse looked off to the horizon, ex-
tended his arm over the head of his horse,
and pointed his finger toward the distant
lands. Then, he said with pride: “My lands
are where my dead lie buried.”
If you look up at that mountain not far
from Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills,
just below the chin of the nine-story-high
head, you can see the still early stage of
the great chief’s outstretched arm. More
than 4,000 people could stand on that arm.
Nearly the length of a football field—263
feet long—his arm stretches out over what
will be the 22-story-high head of a horse.
His pointing finger will be 10 feet thick and
extend 37 1/2 feet.
It’s a sight you should not miss if ever you
are anywhere near this area of South Dako-
ta. In stone, high up on that mountain, what
you will see unfolding is not only the story
of a great American Indian hero but also a
fitting tribute to all American Indians.
Fred J. Eckert is a retired U.S. ambassa-
dor and former member of Congress. His
writings have appeared in many leading
publications, including Reader’s Digest
and The Wall Street Journal. He is also
an award-winning photographer whose
collection of images spans all seven conti-
nents. See his work at EckertGallery.com
IF YOU GO
For information about the Crazy Horse Memorial,
see CrazyHorseMemorial.org
For information about other South Dakota
destinations, see TravelSD.com
If you would like to learn more about Crazy Horse, I
highly recommend the book “The Journey of Crazy
Horse” by Joseph M. Marshall III (Viking, 2004).
LESLIE BILLMAN/SHUTTERSTOCK
Crab traps on
the Chesa-
peake Bay.
LESLIE BILLMAN/SHUTTERSTOCK
Steamed
Maryland
crabs.
WHEN YOU GO
Smith Island is 12 miles from Crisfield,
Md. Boat service to the island requires
about 45 minutes. Several pleasant
B&Bs and houses are available to rent.
At this time of COVID19 protocols,
it is best to check ahead about the
boat schedule and accommodations:
VisitSomerset.com or 899-521-9189.
B6 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021

Family Fun at Majestic

GLORIA V MOELLER/SHUTTERSTOCK

Mammoth Mountain
MARGOT BLACK ready to start our epic day at the charm-

F
Snowboarders or a spectacular family nature
take in the view. escape, look no farther than
Mammoth Lakes in California.
This picturesque vacation desti-
nation offers travelers a stimu-
lating scenic atmosphere where they
can learn more about myriad outdoor
activities. Our family had the pleasure of
partaking in a glorious skiing, snowmo-
biling, and tubing getaway in Mammoth
during springtime that delivered all the
adventure we could ever have asked for.
The next day, we
switched gears and spent
the morning tubing at
Woolly’s Tube Park.
Tucked away in California’s Sierra Ne-
vada Mountains, Mammoth Lakes is an
alpine community that is easily acces-
VIVIAN FUNG/SHUTTERSTOCK sible from the Mammoth Yosemite Air-
ing Stellar Brew. My main goal for this
trip was to sneak in some fun learning
activities for the kids. After a year of
online learning I wanted to ensure we
were still immersing ourselves in the
joy of hands-on learning experiences.
For this reason, we spent our first day
at Mammoth in ski and snowboarding
school. We picked up our lift tickets at
Canyon Lodge ticket counter and began
our daily lesson. Since we were all at
different skill levels, we had different in-
structors and I absolutely adored mine.
Dave was a fabulous 69-year-old who
has been teaching for an impressive 40
years. Mammoth had some incredible
beginner slopes that I zipped around,
enjoying runs such as Spring Canyon,
Schoolyard, and Roller Coaster Express.
These ski lessons were an enriching way
to explore Mammoth, get the lay of the
land and inspire the kids to remember
that learning can be fun.
Our dinner that evening at Bleu Market
and Kitchen truly hit the spot after work-
ing up such an appetite from all that ski-
COURTESY OF MARGOT BLACK

port, which is situated 10 minutes from

town. Our family stayed in a spacious
condo at the Snowcreek Resort. Our
stay here may have changed me for life
because we had a washer and dryer, and
now I don’t think I’ll ever be able to travel
again without those amenities because
they made our lodging so easy.
We got our ski rental equipment from
Black Tie Skis, who scored major mom
points not only for coming to our condo
the night before we skied for our in-
room fittings but also for their top-notch
equipment. Later that evening, we had a
delicious dinner at Giovanni’s Pizza. We
ordered their Masterpiece pizza that is
endearingly offered in a hearty “Mam-
moth” size that satisfied all the hungry
mouths in our family. Snowmobiling is only one of the adventures
The next morning, we grabbed a snow-lovers can enjoy at Mammoth Moun-
Skiers enjoy a view of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. healthy breakfast and felt like locals tain, Calif.

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 FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 B7
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ing and snowboarding. Here we enjoyed WHEN YOU GO

all sorts of divine small-plate tapas, such
as lamb meatballs and boneless short Mammoth Lakes safety guidelines:
ribs. Everyone got to sample a wide array VisitMammoth.com/responsible-travel;
of freshly prepared culinary delights Snowcreek Resort: SnowcreekResort.com;
in this epicurean marketplace with an Black Tie Skis: BlackTieSkis.com;
open-kitchen environment. Giovanni’s Pizza: GiovannisMammoth.com;
The next day, we switched gears and Stellar Brew: StellarBrew.life; Canyon
spent the morning tubing at Woolly’s Lodge: MammothMountain.com/
Tube Park. This was an excellent way to mountain/base-lodges/canyon-lodge;
take a break from skiing and give our Bleu Market and Kitchen: BleuFoods.com;
tired muscles some much-needed rest. Woolly’s Tube Park: MammothMountain.
We had so much fun screaming and com/winter-activities/woolly’s-tube-park;
twirling our way down the lanes in our Old New York Deli: OldNewYork.com;
high-speed snow tube. This is a fun-for- Snowmobile Adventures:
all-ages Mammoth activity that literally Mammothmountain.com/winter-activities/
requires zero effort, and I would recom- snowmobile-adventures; Noodle-
mend it to anybody who wants to have LY: Noodle-ly.com; Salsa’s Taqueria:
some local action without having to ski. VisitMammoth.com/restaurants/
Lunch at Old New York Deli was just
salsas-taqueria; The Warming Hut:
the ticket for our family to unwind after
TheWarmingHutMammoth.com;
snow tubing, and they definitely de-
livered on their classic Reuben sand- Black Velvet: BlackVelvetCoffee.com
wiches. Then we spent the rest of the COURTESY OF MARGOT BLACK COURTESY OF MARGOT BLACK
afternoon snowmobiling. This was one
of my favorite non-skiing snow activi-
ties because I had the opportunity to
take in breathtaking vistas in a way
that I would never have seen otherwise
because we were so deep in the woods.
Going off the beaten path during our
snowmobile excursion was an adven-
ture unlike any other.
That night, we enjoyed some warm
noodles and tasty boba at Noodle-LY, and
the next morning, we had some phenom-
enal breakfast burritos at Salsa’s Taqueria.
Then fully recharged, we hit the slopes yet
again for more amazing skiing at Mam-
moth Mountain. The Yodeler restaurant at
the base of the mountain is fun for sharing
huge pretzels and beer tastings creatively
delivered on a wood ski.
By the time we got to the Warming Hut
for dinner, we were still exhilarated from
all the adrenaline-fueled outdoor adven-
ture we had that day. This restaurant’s
cozy mountain vibe and scrumptious
dinner selections were the perfect way to (Top) Mammoth has some whole family. Whether you want to ski,
cap off our day of Mammoth-sized fun. great slopes for beginners. explore nature or just enjoy affordable These ski lessons were an
We grabbed breakfast and lavender coffee cocktails and laid-back culinary treats,
(Above) The author’s son
at Black Velvet the next morning before we jumps on a snowboard at Mammoth can do it all. enriching way to explore
departed with big smiles for miles. Mammoth Mountain, Calif. Mammoth, get the lay of
Mammoth is steeped in different op- Margot Black is a freelance writer. To read
portunities for all different levels of ex- (Above right) Skiers enjoy features by other Creators Syndicate writ- the land and inspire the
pertise, and this is just one aspect of this a cozy evening by the fire ers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syn-
world-class gorgeous resort that makes it after a day on the slopes at dicate website at Creators.com. Copyright
kids to remember that
Mammoth Mountain, Calif. learning can be fun.
such a sensational outdoor escape for the 2021 Creators.com

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