PARENTS RISING
Education controversies drive new political force in midterms By Patricia Tolson
JANUARY 14–20, 2022 | $6.95
NO. 2
Editor’s Note
From School Board Meeting to Election Booth T H E G R OW I N G C O N T R OV E R S Y surrounding the exposure of students to critical race theory and sexual content in books is driving more parents to become politically active. Specifically, what’s happening at schools around the nation may bring more parents to the polls come this November to vote in the midterm elections. The impact was already felt during the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial race, in which Glenn Youngkin ran on an education platform and secured what many considered a surprise win. Parents have criticized educators for exposing their children to harmful concepts. One parent in Tennessee told Insight that there is “a morality crisis in the country” and that she “never expected to see the sort of things going on that are going on these days.” A Florida parent told Insight: “We will no longer ignore local elections, as we realize that [school officials] have been poisoning our children. We will wrest back control of our school systems.” Another parent, in Loudoun County, Virginia— which has been considered “ground zero” for the growing parental involvement at school board meetings nationally—said that “the last 20 months have been extremely eye-opening for me.” “As far as the impact on my children’s education, the two most important elected officials or bodies are … [the] governor and … [the] school board, because those are the people who shut my kids out of school [for] over a year and a half, and I will never forget that,” she said. Of the 50 states, 36 will hold gubernatorial elections during the 2022 midterms. Jasper Fakkert Editor-in-chief
2 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
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
ON THE COVER Mounting concerns by parents over radical ideas and sexualized content in schools are pushing them to vote in this year’s midterm elections. EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS
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vol. 2 | no. 2 | january 14–20, 2022
36 | Crime in LA
51 | Good Samaritan
A Hollywood movie executive recounts real-life crime horrors.
A Navy veteran recounts nearly 25 years as a full-time volunteer on Mercy Ships.
44 | US–China
52 | ‘Woke’ Media
Competition Biden’s nominee to lead the ExportImport Bank could turn the agency into a Beijing ally.
Have today’s elite media abandoned the working class?
56 | Magna Grecia
An elegant estate in Corfu, Greece, boasts five-star amenities.
45 | CCP Threat
China’s tech sector is becoming uninvestable.
46 | Worker Shortfall The Biden administration seems to be ignoring a crucial cause of inflation: the worker shortage.
47 | Supply Chains
What tensions in the Taiwan Strait mean for the U.S. tech sector in 2022.
48 | Global Economy 2021 was the year of binge spending, and 2022 is likely to be a hangover.
58 | Budapest
Features
12 | 2022 Elections School board “shenanigans” are motivating parents to head to the polls for the midterms.
Celebrating with a drink doesn’t have to require alcohol.
61 | Good Dog
32 | Working Remotely Post-pandemic, it remains unlikely that various industries will return to offices or sprawling campuses. 38 | Sailing Away An adventurous Florida family sailed the high seas when the pandemic hit.
50 | Work Well Done
Novak Djokovic of Serbia at a practice session ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Jan. 12. Djokovic has received international attention for his visa problems in Australia, where the government is attempting to revoke his visa for a second time due to his vaccination status. The athlete’s lawyers are preparing to appeal.
No matter how small the job, pride makes all the difference.
60 | Bottoms Up!
18 | China Threat The current U.S. strategy on technology needs drastic changes to counter the CCP’s theft and acquisitions of U.S. technologies.
49 | Chinese Companies SenseTime’s IPO in Hong Kong could show the way for delisted Chinese firms.
Over 100 natural hot springs make it a renowned spa destination.
Training is all about building a strong relationship with your pup.
64 | Glamping
If you love the great outdoors but insist on perfect comfort, read this.
67 | Pedal Power
Imagine a bike ride where the bike does some of the pedaling.
WILLIAM WEST/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 3
SPOTLIGHT RAGING FIRE
A FIRE RAGES IN THE LAGUNA VERDE camp, where illegal immigrants settle before moving to other cities, on the edge of the city of Iquique, Chile, on Jan. 10. Around 100 houses were consumed by the fire. The situation was made worse due to a lack of water as a result of the irregular construction of the camp. PHOTO BY FERNANDO MUNOZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
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NAT ION • WOR L D • W H AT H A P P E N E D T H I S W E E K
The Week
Issue. 14
Ray Epps is recorded trying to recruit men to attack the U.S. Capitol, on Jan. 5, 2021. He has been accused of being a federal agent. PHOTO BY CAPITOLPUNISHMENTTHEMOVIE.COM/ BARK AT THE HOLE PRODUCTIONS
Ray Epps’s Attorney Denies Client Is an FBI Informant Epps has been suspected by eyewitnesses and lawmakers of being an informant at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
✒
FORMER FBI agent John Blischak, attorney for Capitol Hill protest participant Ray Epps, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 12 that his client has been interviewed by federal law enforcement and “unequivocally, he is not an FBI informant.” Speculation about Epps had been building for months and came to a head when top officials refused to answer questions about his alleged connections to federal law enforcement, during a Jan. 11 Senate hearing on domestic terrorism.
I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 7
The Week in Short US o t n i g e b f o d n i k u o y n e h w t m o e h t s i n r u t e “hT d e m u s a o y g n i r h y et v a h t . d n a s r e d n u , s c i t l o p t s u j o n s t ’i — y l a e r f o c i b a f r y e v h t s a w e b y a m — e c n t s i x e f o t y r i n e h t s ’i ” .n o i tse u q o t n i d e l ac Liel Leibovitz, senior writer, Tablet Magazine, saying that he has found himself “politically homeless” after falling out with his circles because he challenged their views.
“The filibuster $28,000 provides each of us A YEAR leverage that must be preserved.” — Sen. John Boozman
Inflation fears among smallbusiness owners have risen to their highest level in four decades. A National Federation of Independent Business survey shows that 22 percent of smallbusiness owners reported that inflation was their single most important business problem, the highest reading since 1981. 8 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
8 TESTS PER MONTH
Insurance companies and group health plans must cover the cost of eight over-the-counter, at-home rapid COVID-19 tests per month for people with private health coverage, starting Jan. 15, the Biden administration announced.
$308 million
The United States is donating approximately $308 million in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and will also contribute additional COVID-19 vaccine doses, the White House says.
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40 YEARS
Medicare will only cover a new Alzheimer’s drug that costs $28,000 a year for patients who are enrolled in clinical trials, the Biden administration announced.
The Week in Short US VACCINE MANDATE
Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for Large Private Employers Takes Effect THE BIDEN administration’s
American Red Cross vehicles parked outside of the KFC Yum! Center during a blood drive event in Louisville, Ky., on July 7, 2021. BLOOD CRISIS
American Red Cross Says Blood Shortage Worst in Over 10 Years THE AMERICAN R ED CROSS says it’s facing a national blood crisis and is
urging more people to donate blood to alleviate the worst shortage it has seen in more than a decade. The low supply is posing a risk to patients and forcing doctors to decide who gets blood transfusions now and who will have to wait until more supplies become available, according to the organization. Because of the shortage, the Red Cross started limiting blood product distributions to hospitals. The group estimates that up to a quarter of blood needs at hospitals aren’t being met. The shortage comes after a decline in donations brought on by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions. EDUCATION
Minnesota School Boards Terminate NBSA Membership
vaccination mandate pertaining to large private employers went into effect on Jan. 10, despite legal challenges to the rule, leaving some businesses unsure as to how to proceed. Under the mandate, businesses with 100 or more employees are required to ensure that all employees have been fully vaccinated with either two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of Johnson & Johnson’s, and they must provide paid leave to workers getting the vaccine. Businesses included in the mandate must also keep track of workers’ vaccination status via a database, provide employees with their company’s vaccine policy and procedures, and ensure unvaccinated employees wear a mask while indoors. The rule, which will be enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, applies to some 84 million U.S. workers. Businesses that aren't compliant face fines of up to $14,000 per violation.
THE MINNESOTA SCHOOL BOAR D Association has terminated its mem-
bership with the National School Boards Association (NBSA), joining a growing number of states to do so over a highly controversial Biden administration letter, which likened concerned parents to domestic terrorists. It comes after the NBSA sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Sept. 29, 2021, characterizing disruptions at school board meetings as “a form of domestic terrorism and hate crime.” The organization also urged the federal government to invoke counterterrorism laws to quell “angry mobs” of parents seeking to hold school officials accountable for teaching Marxist critical race theory and for imposing COVID-19 restrictions such as mask mandates on their children. On Oct. 5, 2021, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo directing federal law enforcement to help address an alleged “disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence” against teachers and school leaders. The memo remains in effect, despite the NSBA having since apologized for and rescinded the letter.
Protesters rally against New York’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates, at City Hall in New York on Aug. 25, 2021. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 9
The Week in Short World JAPAN
Japan Extends Entry Ban for Foreign Visitors JAPANESE PRIME Minis-
ter Fumio Kishida says that the government will further extend its entry ban on foreign visitors until the end of February amid a surge in the country’s Omicron cases. Japa suspended new arrivals of foreign visitors on Nov. 30, 2021. Returning citizens and foreign residents are required to undergo quarantine in designated facilities. Pork is prepared for processing, at Elma Locker & Grocery in Elma, Iowa, on July 25, 2018. US–INDIA
US Pork Products Gain Access to Indian Market After Nearly 2 Decades INDIA HAS AGR EED to allow the import of American pork and pork products into
the country after nearly two decades of work on the part of the United States to remove the trade barrier, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. The agreement follows the U.S.–India Trade Policy Forum held in New Delhi in November 2021, during which Tai spoke with India’s commerce minister, Piyush Goyal, about the importance of access to the Indian market for U.S. pork products.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks in Tokyo on Nov. 1, 2021. EU
Kazakhstan Detains Almost 10,000 Over Deadly Unrest, Names New Prime Minister SECURITY FORCES IN Kazakhstan
EUROPEAN PAR LIAMENT
have detained 9,900 people regarding the recent unrest in the country, the interior ministry of the central Asian nation said. The oil-rich former Soviet republic says government buildings were attacked in several major cities after initially peaceful protests against hikes in the price of car fuel turned violent. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who called the violence a coup attempt, Protesters storm City Hall in Almaty, nominated Alikhan Smailov for prime Kazakhstan, on Jan. 5, 2022. minister on Jan. 11, and the lower house of Parliament swiftly voted him in during a session broadcast live on state television. Smailov, 49, served as first deputy prime minister in the previous Cabinet, which Tokayev had dismissed amid the violent unrest.
President David Maria Sassoli has died at the age of 65, his spokesperson announced. Sassoli, an Italian Social Democrat, former journalist, and television news anchor from Florence, passed away where he was hospitalized, his spokesperson, Roberto Cuillo, wrote on Twitter. Sassoli, who had previously been treated for leukemia, had been hospitalized multiple times since September 2021 due to serious health issues, including pneumonia.
10 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
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KAZAKHSTAN
European Parliament President David Sassoli Dead at 65: Spokesperson
World in Photos
World in Photos
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1.
1. Flower vendors sell garlands ahead of the Makar Sankranti harvest festival in Bangalore, India, on Jan. 12. 2. Syrian children look out of their tent as heavy rainfall floods the al-Balea camp for internally displaced persons, near Jisr al-Shughur, Idlib Province, Syria, on Jan. 13. Many tents were washed away in the flash-floods that have affected more than 180 families. 3. Members of the port authority and the Coast Guards throw a wreath in the waters of Punta Gabbianara off the port of Giglio, Tuscany, to marks the 10th anniversary of the Costa Concordia shipwreck that killed 32, on Jan. 13. 4. Kuwait City, under a cover of heavy fog, on Jan. 11. 2.
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I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 11
Across the United States, parents’ concern about their children’s education is inspiring their interest in voting in the midterm elections. PHOTO BY ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
12 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
The Lead 2022 Elections
VOTER TURNOUT
PARENTS RISING Education controversies drive new political force in midterms By Patricia Tolson
W
H I L E M O S T P E O P L E Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Caadmit to voting only in lif.) pledged to “soon unroll a parents’ presidential elections, a bill of rights,” adding at a news conferyear of what some describe ence that the GOP “will be the party of as school board “shenani- education.” gans” has inspired greater interest among “Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia parents to vote in midterm elections. was led by frustrated parents who were According to FairVote, while about 60 fed up with an education system that percent of America’s eligible voters cast neglected the needs of their children,” ballots during presidential elections, McCarthy told Insight magazine. “It only about 40 percent vote is just one snapshot of the during midterms, with 2020 same frustration that has and 2018 marking the highbeen, and continues to be, est presidential and midfelt by millions of families term turnouts, respectivenationwide.” ly, in more than a century. According to McCarthy, STATES parents However, while midterms are facing school will hold traditionally have lower board officials who are turnout, many Americans gubernatorial “more interested in apnow have renewed perspecpeasing liberal activists elections tives on the importance of and teachers’ unions than during casting their ballots in midthey are in bettering the the 2022 term elections. educational experience of midterms. They are the time when students.” voters cast ballots for those “In my home state of Calthey want to represent them in state and ifornia, there has been a recent push community offices, such as school board to ‘de-emphasize calculus’ and include members. Some believe the surprise vic- more ‘social justice’ in math,” he said. tory of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin “Parents across the country have voiced over Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Vir- concerns about inappropriate literature ginia’s election is a sign of things to come on school bookshelves. Unexpected in this year’s midterms. threats of school closures continue to loom, and this is all happening in the The Politicians’ Perspective midst of a push to decrease parental Just a day after Youngkin’s victory, House involvement in education. This is
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I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 13
The Lead 2022 Elections
14 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
Some believe that the victory of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin over his Democratic opponent was a result of action by parents who were frustrated with a school system that had “neglected the needs of their children.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) (L) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center in Washington on May 14, 2021.
Teachers Randi Weingarten denies that CRT is even taught in elementary schools, The Epoch Times reported how some educators are teaching other educators how to “back-door it” into the classrooms and a teacher in Iowa posted a video teaching other educators how to circumvent the ban on teaching CRT in her state. At a Nov. 4, 2021, press briefing, when asked “to what degree” she believes “race was a driving issue in Virginia and around the country, given Republicans were repeatedly focusing on critical race theory,” White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused Republicans of “lying” about the issue. “Republicans are lying,” Jean-Pierre said. “They’re not being honest. They’re not being truthful about where we stand. And they’re cynically trying to use our kids as a political football. They’re talking about our kids when it’s election season, but they won’t vote for them when it matters.”
The Parents’ Perspective Judi Swilling of New Tazewell, Tennessee, always votes in midterm elections and hopes others have been paying attention to the “wrong direction” in which the country has been heading. She says there is a morality crisis in the country that “started when they took the Bible and the Pledge of Allegiance out of schools.” “I’m just a little country girl but I’ve been very avid in politics my whole life,” Swilling, the former chair of the Claiborne County Republican Party, told Insight. “But I’ve never expected to see the sort of things going on that are going on these days. I hope it affects the midterms.” Cheryl Onderchain, a Virginia parent and chair of the Loudoun County chapter of Moms for Liberty, had never been politically active and considered midterm elections to be somewhat irrelevant. However, the past year has given her a new perspective “I will say COVID and the last 20 months has been extremely eye-opening for me,” she told Insight. “Until this year, I usually only voted in presidential elections. But I think the most important thing that’s come out of the last 20 months of hell that a lot of families have
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wrong—that is why House Republicans will ensure protecting parents’ involvement in education will be a critical component of our ‘22 platform.” On Nov. 17, 2021, McCarthy, along with House Education and Labor Committee ranking member Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.), Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), and Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks (R-Ind.), officially rolled out a Parents Bill of Rights to uphold the power that parents deserve. “This is just the beginning,” McCarthy said. “We will continue to push policies that empower parents, improve quality of education, and give our families more choice. The Republican Party will be the party of parents and education.” House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York agrees. The day after Youngkin’s victory, Stefanik wrote on Twitter, “Republicans will run and win on education!” “Far-left Governor Kathy Hochul’s policies are failing New Yorkers,” Stefanik told Insight, insisting that the “illegal and authoritarian vaccine mandates” are exacerbating existing labor shortages among hospital workers and first responders. Stefanik also cited Hochul’s statewide mask mandates in the state’s schools, saying parents should be the ones to make decisions that affect “their own children’s learning and development.” “New Yorkers deserve more freedom and less government control,” Stefanik said. “We already saw voters reject President Biden and Speaker Pelosi’s far-left agenda in Virginia. But Democrats still chose to double down on their radical, socialist agenda. In the face of their economic crisis, border crisis, supply chain crisis, it should not be a surprise why Democrats are facing historically low poll numbers. “Joe Biden and House Democrats are bad for America and bad for the American people. But Republicans have a winning message in New York and around the nation. We are fighting for freedom and against Democrats’ far-left socialism.” Opposition to critical race theory (CRT) is a particular point of concern for parents across the country. However, while the head of the American Federation of
The Lead 2022 Elections
gone through is that one of the things that’s really been driven home for me is your local elections matter more than the presidential elections.” Onderchain noted how even the turnout for the off-year gubernatorial election in Virginia “was high, higher than normal.” “Especially in southwest Virginia, where I think I was up 31 percent, which really says something,” she said. “I think this wake-up call is going to cause more people to really start to pay attention to who is running their school board. I’ve learned in the last 20 months that as far as the impact on my children’s education, the two most important elected officials or bodies are who is your governor and who is on your school board, because those are the people who shut my kids out of school over a year and a half and I will never forget that. “I will never vote for another Democrat in my life,” Onderchain said. “I have nev-
I recognize that [voting in midterm elections] is important, and I’m glad more people are recognizing that. Maria Keffler, Virginia resident
er been affiliated with any political party, but the last 20 months has definitely driven me over to the conservative side based on just having my eyes opened to how these teachers’ unions are just an extension of the Democratic Party and their machine.” Maria Keffler of Arlington, Virginia, said she “always tried to make it a policy to vote whenever it’s possible.” “I think it’s a civic duty for me to vote,” Keffler told Insight, “so I wouldn’t say voting in midterm elections is a new behavior for me because I recognize that’s important and I’m glad more people are recognizing that that’s important.” Cassandra (who asked to only give her first name) in Fairfax County, Virginia, admits she votes “about half the time” in midterm elections. However, the things that were “exposed in the education system” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have “absolutely” changed her perspective.
A mother carries her son during a debate over school mask mandates at a Hillsborough County school board meeting held at the district office in Tampa, Fla., on July 27, 2021. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 15
The Lead 2022 Elections
“It’s extremely important to me now,” she said. Michelle (who asked to only give her first name), also in Fairfax, said she always voted in midterms. “But I can say now how much more important it is,” she told Insight. “With all of the rhetoric, it has become crystal clear that these school boards are making these mass decisions, they’re engaging in a lot of shenanigans. They’re not being clear about what they’re doing, like approving books with pornographic images in them.” Michelle says she finds it particularly humorous when she sees a parent at a school board meeting who tries to read from a questionable book that has been approved as part of the curriculum or slipped into a school library. “The school board members say, ‘Stop, stop! Don’t read that! We have children here!’ Are you kidding me?” Lisa Dye Wells of Perryville, West Virginia, admits she doesn’t vote in midterms. She doesn’t believe her vote will count. “We already voted for school board and the city board members here in this small city a month ago,” Wells told Insight. “I didn’t see the point where I live to go vote because there’s not enough good people who want to take this on and deal with it.” On the other hand, Joe Harman of Springfield, Missouri, has more faith in the power of one parent’s ballot. “I think the federal government is afraid of parents,” Harman told Insight. “When the parents change the school boards, it creates a sort of groundswell. This groundswell then transfers to other local elected government officials. People don’t realize how much they can change things. When the local level changes, they essentially counter any-
Parents across the country have grown concerned about inappropriate materials appearing in school curricula. thing that happens at the states and federal level.” Elina Kaplan, a registered Democrat from San Mateo County, California, who immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union, is alarmed by her state’s ethnic studies curriculum. “I firmly believe that if the vast majority of Californians and Americans knew
16 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
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While midterms traditionally have lower turnout, many Americans now have renewed perspectives on the importance of casting their ballots in midterm elections.
about this, and about the content of this type of curriculum, this would not be happening. We would not be having this conversation,” Kaplan told Politico in July 2021. Bill Gordon of Dunwoody, Georgia, always votes in midterms. But this year, he made the effort to switch his party affiliation from independent to Republican. “NOT because I believe in [the Republican Party], but because in the primaries is when my one vote has the most weight,” Gordon told Insight. “If every conservative did such, then we would have a chance at turning around our death spiral.” Of the 50 states, 36 will hold gubernatorial elections during the 2022 midterms. Florida is one of them. “Midterm elections are no longer a safe haven because local representatives have pushed parents to the breaking
The Lead 2022 Elections
Protesters rally against critical race theory instruction in schools, at the Loudoun County Government Center in Leesburg, Va., on June 12, 2021. point by forgetting that they work at the voters’ discretion,” Krysia Bailey, a Florida mother of three and co-chair of the Hernando County Chapter of Moms for Liberty, told Insight. “We will no longer ignore local elections as we realize that they have been poisoning our children. We will wrestle back control of our school systems, whether that means voting these elected officials out, pulling our children and homeschooling them, pushing our state legislatures for expanded school choice, being vocal at school board meetings, or any combination thereof. “No one has more of a vested interest in their child’s well-being than their parents. Representatives at all levels should be on their guard because, in defense of our children, we will be backing candidates who champion the cause of parental rights & who support us in our battle
to protect the innocence of our children.” Timothy Sharp of Palm Coast, Florida, says school boards have been focused for too long on “so many things that have nothing to do with education,” such as critical race theory.
40%
of U.S. voters cast ballots during midterms. “We want to send our children to school for reading, writing, science ... factual information,” Sharp told Insight. “Not theory.” Sharp, a candidate for the Florida Legislature for District 24, said he believes per-
spectives about midterms have changed “because of what we’ve seen with school boards across the country.” “I think school board elections specifically have been the most under-the-radar political experience in the country,” Sharp said. “I know I never paid any attention to them, until we had a local issue. So shame on me. When we started having mask and vaccine issues in Flagler County is when it got on my radar, and I think that’s happening across the country.” “Anything outside of a presidential ticket is never that glamorous,” Sharp said. “But take Florida for example. If Ron DeSantis had not beaten Andrew Gillum in the last midterm, how would Florida have fared during the [COVID-19] lockdowns?” Zachary Stieber and Jack Phillips contributed to this report. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 17
TECH TRANSFER
AMERICAN COMPA SUPERCHA THE CHINESE COMMU
A whole-of-society approach is needed to counter Be acquisition of US tech to advance its m 18 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
Hundreds of U.S. companies, chief among them Apple, continue to do business with Chinese regime-affiliated entities in China. PHOTO BY GREG BAKER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
NIES ARE ARGING UNIST PART Y
eijing’s aggressive theft and military goals
China The CCP Threat
By Andrew Thornebrooke
I
NEWS ANALYSIS
N THE SKIES, A CHINESE fighter pilot swipes his hand across a touch screen, and the automated target-recognition software detects his target in seconds. In China's Xinjiang region, giant servers that power an immense array of repressive surveillance technologies come to life. In Shanghai, smart city technology connects residents as never before, even as authorities tighten their control over every action of the city's residents. All these technologies and more were made possible through the continued involvement of U.S. companies with entities tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Technologies developed by U.S. companies are supercharging the Chinese regime and its military development even as the CCP directs and facilitates the systematic investment in and acquisition of U.S. companies and their assets to generate a large-scale technology transfer.
An Old Threat, New Again Michael Sekora knows something about the process. He headed Project Socrates, a Reagan-era Defense Intelligence Agency program designed to lead the United States to victory during the Cold War. The purpose of that project was twofold: to comprehend why the United States was declining in competitiveness with the Soviet Union and to use that knowledge to rebuild the nation’s competitive advantage. Sekora now believes that the lessons learned from Project Socrates hold the key to understanding—and reversing— the trend of a declining United States. “China understands that exploiting technology more effectively than the competition is the foundation of all competitive advantage,” he said. The problem, he said, is that instead of meaningfully maneuvering and exploiting critical technologies, the United States has fallen back on what Sekora calls “finance planning,” and has allowed the Chinese regime to co-opt and exploit technology to its advantage at every turn. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 19
China The CCP Threat
While China is on the move, the United States is merely loosening the reins on businesses and throwing money at the problem under the assumption that increased funding for research and development will somehow translate into the creation and deployment of the precise technologies that the nation needs when it needs them. According to Sekora, this is a sorely mistaken premise. “The only way to effectively counter a technology strategy is with a more effective technology strategy,” he said. “Executing anything else is just pissing into the wind.” Sekora isn’t alone. His sentiments follow warnings from top U.S. military officials that Chinese military technology will advance beyond that of the United States if serious changes aren’t made to the development and acquisition process. “The pace [China is] moving and the trajectory that they’re on will surpass Russia and the United States if we don’t do something to change it,” John Hyten, then-vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in October. “It will happen.” Despite such warnings, the overarching U.S. strategy for competition with China has remained relatively unchanged. Though more than 400 Chinese entities have been put on a U.S. trade blacklist, the CCP’s strategy of quickly reforming, renaming, and replacing these entities is muddling the effectiveness of such measures and increasing the complexity of the ties that bind the Chinese military with the U.S. business community. As a result, theft and quasi-legal acquisitions of key U.S. technologies by the Chinese regime continue to rise. To understand why, it’s necessary to unpack how Chinese laws facilitate technology transfer, how they were explicitly designed to do so, and how U.S. corporations are continuing to feed the dragon.
Chinese Laws Promote Acquisition of US Technologies
20 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
Members of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at the opening ceremony of China’s new military base in Djibouti.
“CCP OFFICERS ... ARE LEGALLY OBLIGATED, IF ASKED, TO EITHER STEAL AN AMERICAN ORGANIZATION’S IP OR TO IMPACT THEIR OPERATIONS IN SOME SHAPE OR FORM THAT SERVES THEIR ADVANTAGE.” Sam Kessler, geopolitical adviser, North Star Support Group
STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Stemming the flow of U.S. technologies into the hands of the Chinese military is not a straightforward task. Many Chinese laws facilitate technology transfers from companies doing business in China, whether that company is a willing
party to the transfer or not. The CCP enforces strict requirements on joint ventures and foreign businesses with locations on the mainland. Many of the requirements demanded of businesses by the regime’s national security, intelligence, cybersecurity, and data export laws are designed to facilitate technology transfers or to encourage them as a secondary effect. The regime’s 2021 data protection law requires that CCP officials vet certain data collected within China before it's sent abroad. A U.S. company doing business in China that handles certain types of personal information must therefore obtain approval from authorities before transferring it to its U.S.-based branches or servers. “The CCP controls 100 percent of the oversight of both Chinese companies and American companies doing business in China and Hong Kong,” said T. Casey Fleming, chief executive of BlackOps Partners, a strategic risk advisory and intelligence firm. “Every non-Chinese visitor is tracked and surveilled, both physically and digitally. This is reinforced by CCP laws from 2017 and 2018, which require all American intellectual property and data to be shared with the CCP.” Among those key laws in play is Beijing’s 2015 national security law. Under the law, core information technology, critical infrastructure, and important systems and data must be “secure and controllable.” The U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission released a report at the time, noting that the rule “would require any company operating in China to turn over to the government its computer code and encryption keys, as well as to provide a backdoor entry into commercial computer networks.” Likewise, the regime’s 2016 cybersecurity law requires network operators to provide technical support to public and national security organizations. Its 2017 national intelligence law requires that all organizations “support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence efforts.” Such laws aren’t limited to data transfer and intellectual property (IP) access, however. Some laws require that companies actively promote the CCP, its values,
China The CCP Threat
The theft or forced acquisition of technology by CCP officers placed into companies that are doing business in China is part of the regime’s broader effort to co-opt global research for its own power, according to Sam Kessler, a geopolitical adviser at the multinational risk management company North Star Support Group. “CCP officers have sworn oaths to serve on the behalf of the Chinese regime, which means they are legally obligated, if asked, to either steal an American organization’s IP or to impact their operations in some shape or form that serves their advantage,” he said. “It’s a form of asymmetric or irregular warfare that has been occurring in the private, public, academic, and research sectors for several years now.” The negative influence of CCP operatives isn’t limited to theft by Party members, according to Kessler. CCP members will also develop other sources inside the company as part of the CCP’s larger effort to hire foreign scientists and other experts through the “Thousand Talents” Program.
Forced Technology Transfer by Design
and its worldview by requiring that CCP officials work within companies operating in mainland China. China’s 1994 company law, updated in 2018, requires all Chinese companies and companies with foreign investments to provide for the creation of Party organizations within their companies. To be sure, the activities of CCP officers within U.S. companies operating in China may fall short of the active political role required of those officers working in Chinese state-backed organizations, whose mission is mandated by the CCP constitution. Nevertheless, political pressure exists and is exerted on foreign companies to give decision-making powers to Party members. According to the U.S–China Business Council, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing trade between the United States and China, CCP operatives working within private companies are pres-
ent to ensure that the company follows CCP laws. However, it warns that companies need to be “alert to pressures to form party organizations in their China subsidiaries.” For much of the past three decades, such was seen merely as the cost of doing business in China. But security experts now say that the presence of these CCP officers presents a direct security threat not only to the companies employing them, but to those companies’ home nations as well. This is because CCP officers work to ensure party access to key data, in accordance with China’s aforementioned data laws. “The CCP maintains a presence in all American-invested companies to ensure that technology transfer occurs,” Fleming said. “Key CCP personnel are inserted in reporting structures in companies with key U.S. technology, IP, and data.”
This cluster of laws and practices serves to politicize U.S. and U.S.-invested companies in China and funnel their precious intellectual property and most prized technologies to CCP authorities. This isn’t accidental, nor is it a secret among U.S. political and business elites. In fact, the unclassified version of the 1999 Report of the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/ Commercial Concerns with the People’s Republic of China, commonly referred to as the Cox Report, found that China’s political-legal apparatus was explicitly designed for this purpose. “The PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] approach to U.S. technology firms proceeds from the premise that foreign firms should be allowed access to the PRC market only because such access will enable the PRC to assimilate technology, and eventually compete with or even overtake U.S. technology,” the report reads. “The PRC thus views foreign firms as a short-term means to acquire technology.” The report also found that U.S. inI N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 21
China The CCP Threat
Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen talks about charges and arrests related to a computer intrusion campaign tied to the Chinese regime, at the Department of Justice in Washington, on Sept. 16, 2020.
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Accelerating Theft The pace at which CCP organs work to bring in U.S. talent and technology has accelerated immensely under CCP leader Xi Jinping, who came to power in 2012. Xi signaled in 2012 that the CCP would need to “comprehensively cover” the private sector. In 2015, he initiated his massive economic and military reforms. In 2017, he created the Central Commission for Integrated Military and Civilian Development, effectively cementing the strategy now referred to as “Military-Civil Fusion” (MCF), which began in 2015. Under the MCF strategy, the whole of Chinese society is mobilized to participate in the “great rejuvenation” of the Chinese nation by modernizing the CCP’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Coinciding with the implementation of MCF, an increasing amount of IP theft reported by U.S. companies has originated from China. According to the 2013 Report of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, most studies found that China accounted for roughly
70 percent of IP theft. However, the report noted that “there is no reliable rule of thumb” for such estimates. A statement by the Department of Justice updated in November 2021 reported that 80 percent of all economic espionage prosecutions it has brought forward since 2018 involved conduct that directly benefited the CCP. It further reported that 60 percent of all trade secret theft cases involved some connection to China. Despite this, U.S. companies continue to do business in China, employing CCP officers alongside U.S. personnel and contracting with Chinese organizations linked directly to the PLA—with the apparent knowledge that CCP law necessitates that their technology will be leveraged to improve China’s military capabilities.
US Companies Continue to Aid the PLA The CCP’s numerous laws controlling the placement of communist officers in and dictating data sharing by U.S. companies
FROM LEFT: TASOS KATOPODIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, KEVIN FRAYER/GETTY IMAGES
ability or unwillingness to engage in stronger technology transfer laws has compounded the problem. The “United States and international export control policies and practices have facilitated the PRC’s efforts to obtain militarily useful technology” and further “reduced the ability to control transfers of militarily useful technology,” the report reads. That state of affairs remains relatively unchanged even now, some critics argue. In October 2021, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) launched a campaign to warn and instruct U.S. organizations engaged in emerging technologies about the dangers of foreign counterintelligence operations. “There are multiple examples in which technology, data, talent, and intellectual capital from these emerging U.S. technology sectors have been acquired by the PRC government and put to use in fulfilling the PRC’s national and geopolitical goals,” an NCSC communications executive said at the time.
A Huawei facility in Do blacklisting of Huawei,
China The CCP Threat
ongguan, Guangdong Province, China, on April 11, 2019. Prior to the Trump administration’s Google provided hardware, software, and technical services to the company. have only marginally curbed U.S. corporate involvement in China, and tighter U.S. trade and export restrictions appear to be limited in their effect. According to a survey of 338 U.S. companies in China conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, about 72 percent of U.S. companies present in China have no plans to move any of their operations. Thus, while some manufacturers from Taiwan, Japan, and Vietnam are leaving the country, a key problem remains, according to the Financial Times. Those companies continuing to do business with CCP- and PLA-affiliated entities in China include some of the largest, most powerful technology companies on the planet. Chief among them is Apple, which has worked tirelessly to solidify its support of the CCP within China in an effort to secure its own supply chains, which reportedly employed Chinese child labor until 2016. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook reportedly went so far as to secretly sign an agreement with the CCP worth $275
billion to ensure access to supply chains and other services in mainland China. The agreement included joint ventures to handle data and security law compliance in China, though it’s unclear what percentage of ownership Apple or Cook maintain in the ventures. Fast-forward to 2021, and an investigation into Apple’s China-based practices by The New York Times found that “Apple has largely ceded control to the Chinese
400 ENTITIES
Though more than 400 Chinese entities have been put on a U.S. trade blacklist, the CCP’s strategy of quickly reforming, renaming, and replacing these entities is muddling the effectiveness of such measures.
government” in the mainland. U.S. tech conglomerate Cisco also formed a $100 million joint venture with information technology (IT) company Inspur to develop IT infrastructure, data centers, and networking equipment in 2016, despite 2015 reports that found that Inspur was known to service clients that provided China’s military with missile research. Inspur was blacklisted by the United States in 2020. In 2015, U.S. computer company Dell entered into a strategic partnership with Tsinghua Tongfang, a Chinese stateowned software company, to develop advanced cloud computing, big data, and even build smart cities in China. Tsinghua Tongfang is a subsidiary of Tsinghua Holdings, a company that sells communications equipment to the PLA. The agreement was part of a strategic shift in focus to China, which Dell leadership referred to as “in China, for China,” and it was accompanied by the establishment of an artificial intelligence (AI) laboratory at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the regime’s top state-run research center. In 2021, U.S.-based Goldman Sachs and Sequoia Capital invested a substantial portion of the more than $700 million in Series D funding raised by 4Paradigm, a Chinese tech company focusing on AI development. It was later revealed in a report by Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology that 4Paradigm had an open contract to develop AI decision-making software for the PLA. Likewise, researchers from Intel carried out research with 4Paradigm, developing and presenting a conference paper on their findings on managing databases with massive datasets. The paper provided experimental results that suggested that a new database system could provide speed boosts to enhance the efficacy of AI decision-making models. Intel described the collaboration as “academic,” and didn’t comment on whether it knew of 4Paradigm’s AI contract with the Chinese military. In 2014, Intel agreed to invest $1.5 billion in a holding company owned by Chinese semiconductor manufacturer Tsinghua Unigroup, a company that was later blocked from purchasing U.S. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 23
China The CCP Threat
24 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
A display shows an AI (artificial intelligence) cancer detection microscope designed by Google, at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2018 in Shanghai on Sept. 18, 2018. ment agencies and some state-owned enterprises in China. CETC owns 51 percent of the venture while Microsoft retains the remaining 49 percent, meaning the venture is wholly under the control of the CCP’s aforementioned security and company laws. Prior to the Trump administration’s blacklisting of Huawei, Google provided hardware, software, and technical services to the company. A lead scientist from Google also conducted research with Chinese partners that the U.S. military alleged was used to improve targeting systems in Chinese fighter jets. “The work that Google is doing in China is indirectly benefiting the Chinese military,” Gen. Joseph Dunford, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
THE PACE AT W HICH THE CCP AQUIRES AMERICAN TALENT AND TECHNOLOGY HAS ACCELER ATED IMMENSELY UNDER XI JINPING, W HO CAME TO POW ER IN 2012.
Staff, said during a hearing in 2019. “We watch with great concern when industry partners work in China knowing that there is that indirect benefit. Frankly, ‘indirect’ may be not a full characterization of the way it really is. It is more of a direct benefit to the Chinese military.” Likewise, in 2019, it was discovered that a lead scientist from Google had contributed to research that could be used to improve the accuracy of China’s stealth fighters, though Google said that wasn’t the purpose of its contributions. U.S. semiconductor giant Qualcomm also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Guizhou provincial government in southwest China and unveiled a joint venture there worth $280 million, which included a pledge from Qualcomm to establish an investment firm to secure future investments in China. The venture, Guizhou Huaxintong Semiconductor Technology Co., is 55 percent owned by the Guizhou provincial government and 45 percent owned by a subsidiary of Qualcomm. Despite the vanishingly thin divide between civilian and military or academic and government affairs in China, U.S. companies continue to work with the CCP and its subsidiaries in a manner that allows the regime to clone U.S.made technologies for the purposes of
FROM LEFT: STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, SAMIRA BOUAOU/THE EPOCH TIMES
companies because of its connections to the PLA. In 2015, the United States barred Intel from selling certain microprocessors to help update a Chinese supercomputer, saying it was concerned that nuclear weapons research was being done on the machine. In 2016, yet another subsidiary of Tsinghua Unigroup’s parent company, Unisplendour, entered a joint venture with U.S.-based Hewlett Packard (HPE) to create the company H3C. H3C was blacklisted by the Biden administration in November 2021 for its “support of the military modernization of the People’s Liberation Army.” HPE contested the claim, saying that it had “no indication” that its products were being sold to the PLA. IBM, like so many others, maintained Inspur as a partner in its OpenPOWER program, a nonprofit membership group dedicated to promoting the proliferation and sharing of expertise between users of IBM’s Power Architecture, thereby granting access to some of IBM’s most advanced server technologies and associated expertise. IBM also invested in a strategic partnership with the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), one of 10 designated defense industry conglomerate-bureaucracies, to create a venture for the Shanghai municipal government. In September 2021, IBM’s former partner, Beijing Teamsun, accused IBM of stealing customers’ data and ignoring confidentiality agreements to supply Inspur with talent. In May 2015, the U.S. Navy was forced to seek new servers for some of its Aegis Combat System, used to track and defend against enemy missiles and aircraft, when it was discovered that IBM had sold the same technology to the China-based Lenovo, effectively ensuring the PLA would have access to the technology in China. Microsoft also partnered with CETC to develop servers for government institutions and critical infrastructure in China, ultimately finishing a customized and “secure” version of its Windows 10 OS for the Chinese regime in 2017. Microsoft and CETC formed a joint venture, C&M Information Technologies, to license the operating system to govern-
China The CCP Threat
augmenting its own military. China’s military is stocked with cloned weapons created from reverse-engineered U.S. and Russian technologies. Scores of rocket launchers, rifles, tanks, Humvees, howitzers, fighter jets, and drones in Chinese possession originated as U.S. or Russian technologies.
What’s to Be Done? Security experts have long called for a ban on tech transfers concerning critical and emerging technologies. Their advice is seldom heeded, and even then, only marginally so. Most recently, the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets the budget and expenditures for the Pentagon, contained a provision that would have banned the U.S. military from funding research in mainland China. That provision was cut from the final version of the legislation. Instead, a watered-down version that barred investment in just one organization, EcoHealth Alliance, a New York-based health nonprofit that has drawn scrutiny over its links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, was included in the version signed into law. The bulk of the limited U.S. defense against tech transfers is left in the hands of the “entity list,” a trade blacklist that bars U.S. companies from doing business with sanctioned entities, which is easily evaded by Chinese shell corporations who, by a mere change of their name, can immediately resume business as usual. There are also export control laws in place to prevent technologies associated with national security from being directly sold to China and its military. However, emergent technologies such as AI and machine learning don’t have a blanket ban on their exportation, as they have legitimate uses in the civilian sector as well as the military sector. “Chipmakers like Micron and Intel found ways to continue doing business with Huawei after the Trump administration placed it on the blacklist in 2019,” Kessler said. “These companies may have headquarters in the U.S., but they were able to utilize their subsidiaries and operations abroad to classify their technology as ‘foreign.’ “The theft of American IP has been very costly over the years and has im-
paired the ability of the U.S. to retain its future edge. At some point, the policies need to meet the level of seriousness of the current and future outcomes from this situation.” Similarly, Fleming said new laws would need to be created to address a CCP strategy that’s designed to exploit current U.S. export controls. “Our traditional levers of economic power, things like export controls, tariffs, and sanctions, are only marginally effective against a totalitarian regime using every means possible to weaken the United States and its allies,” he
“THE CCP CONTROLS 100 PERCENT OF THE OVERSIGHT OF BOTH CHINESE COMPANIES AND AMERICAN COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA AND HONG KONG.” T. Casey Fleming, CEO, BlackOps Partners
said. “New laws have to be established to confront our adversary’s strategy of unrestricted hybrid warfare.” The traditional means of U.S. economic statecraft directly addressed specific entities: private corporations, military units, or government agencies, according to Fleming. He said this led to the CCP’s development of a strategy to exploit the United States and glean its technology. “The United States’ current approach leaves holes in its strategy that allows the CCP to acquire or steal the IP,” he said. “The CCP just creates new shell companies or moves through non-blacklisted companies or compa-
nies in other approved nations.” For Sekora, the situation brings back strong memories of the Cold War. He recalled how the Soviet Union developed and continuously evolved a vast array of hundreds if not thousands of front organizations worldwide. When one was compromised by the United States and its allies, two more would spring up in its place. The CCP has one great advantage compared to the Soviets, Sekora said: Few people with any real power considered China to be an adversary until very recently. As such, the Chinese communists didn’t have to carry the burden of constant confrontation and competition that their Soviet forebearers did during the execution of their national technology strategy, he said. The United States is bound to lose that competition unless it drastically alters its current approach to technology strategy and stops its finance-based planning strategy once and for all, Sekora said. “China’s technology strategy, like all effective technology strategies, relies upon positioning and adroit maneuvering in the exploitation of technology to generate and maintain the required competitive advantage in the marketplace, on the battlefield, and throughout the political world,” he said. Thus, even if the United States thwarted the CCP’s ambitions to acquire or steal U.S. military technologies in the short term, the current U.S. spending-based strategy would prove incapable of preventing the CCP from seizing the technological, economic, and political advantage in the long term, according to Sekora. Without a whole-of-government shift toward maneuvering and exploiting critical technologies, rather than just funding research, Sekora believes it will only be a matter of time before the CCP effectively displaces the United States as the world’s premier superpower. “The only way to curb the flow of American IP and R&D [research and development] to Chinese companies and military units is to fully counter China’s national and organizational technology strategies,” Sekora said. “Anything else is a guaranteed exercise in futility.” I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 25
SPOTLIGHT
DESERT RACE TOYOTA’S DRIVER NASSER AL-ATTIYAH of Qatar and his co-driver, Mathieu Baumel of France, compete during stage 10 of the Dakar Rally 2022 between Wadi Ad Dawasir and Bisha in Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 12. PHOTO BY FRANCK FIFE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
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C OF F E E B E A N S
Coffee Price Increase
Expected as Supply Drops Supply chain issues, high demand, and crop damage factor into pricing
C
By Andrew Moran
28 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
Recent weather changes significantly affected many of Brazil’s crops, including coffee.
76% COFFEE PRICES
rose more than 76 percent in 2021.
Consumers are more likely to find arabica in their morning lattes, while Robusta is typically used in blends. Conab is anticipating a sharp drop in production in most states. Output in Minas, the country’s largest producer of arabica, is projected to decline 38.1 percent to 21.44 million bags. Sao Paulo, the nation’s second-largest producer of arabica, is expected to see a 35.1 percent decrease, falling to 4 million bags. In addition, the Coffee Exporters Council of Brazil warned that it has found it challenging to garner bookings for containers and vessels. When exporters set up bookings, they regularly experience loading postpones from shipping firms. However, one of the world’s largest coffee traders is predicting a bullish 2022–2023 coffee crop. The Brazilian unit at Ecom Trading told Bloomberg that greater production, buoyed by above-average rainfall in the home stretch of 2021, could help refill depleted domestic inventories and pare prices. Whether this will be enough to trim the global deficit of 5.2 million bags remains to be seen. Experts purport that coffee production can typically take up to two years to fully respond to price changes—high or low. Rabobank, a Dutch multinational banking and financial services firm, predicts that the buying frenzy from late last year will dissipate. Industry observers noted that businesses, traders, and consumers overbought amid uncertainty related to shipping disruptions, high freight rates, and container shortages.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: GUILLERMO LEGARIA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, MAURICIO LIMA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
of f ee pr ic e s h a d t h ei r be st year in a decade, climbing more than 76 percent and making the bean the top-performing commodity of 2021. Can coffee brew up more gains in 2022? Like other assets over the past year, the supply chain squeeze and fierce simultaneous global demand have played notable roles in coffee’s boom. But other aspects have supported prices too. In July, arabica coffee prices surged roughly 30 percent after unusually cold weather affected coffee crops in Brazil, the world’s largest producer. The frigid temperatures damaged significant portions of the nation’s main growing areas. Since coffee trees are sensitive to frost, they could be permanently destroyed, potentially prompting farmers to replant trees. It can take three years for a tree to become productive, experts say. Last month, the weather changed as drought conditions significantly affected many of the South American nation’s crops, including coffee, corn, and soybeans. That led Conab, Brazil’s national supply chain company, to slash its official estimate for the 2021–2022 season by approximately 2 million bags to a four-year low of 46.9 million bags, down 25.7 million from last year. In addition, arabica output is forecast to fall to a 12-year low of 30.7 million bags, while Robusta production is projected to climb to a record high of 16.1 million bags.
A barista prepares a coffee on National Coffee Day in Bogotá, Colombia, on June 27, 2014.
Markets Commodities
“The three largest arabica producers, Brazil, Colombia, and Ethiopia, are experiencing increased rates of default, where farmers fail to deliver coffee at agreed-upon prices so they can attempt to re-sell at current higher prices.” U.S. Department of Agriculture
“While production was relatively unaffected by COVID and there is still uncertainty about any potential demand growth in 2021, we believe sales of green coffee have been faring better than expected because coffee was directly impacted by the scarcity of container availability in 2021, leading companies to over-purchase in order to guarantee production and sales,” Rabobank analysts wrote. But there could be a couple of wild cards in the tight global coffee market. Ethiopia is on the brink of a civil war, with government forces fighting with Tigray rebels on the streets. This could hurt production efforts in the world’s fifth-largest exporter of arabica coffee. Vietnam, the second-largest producer of Robusta coffee on the planet, has witnessed a notable increase in COVID-19 infections. This has resulted in reports that officials are considering heightened public health restrictions, something that could impact output for a broad array of commodities. Hoarding has also become a serious issue in many coffee-growing countries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has noticed coffee farmers failing to meet their pre-agreed contracts on the physical market. “The three largest arabica producers, Brazil, Colombia, and Ethiopia, are experiencing increased rates of default, where farmers fail to deliver coffee at agreed-upon prices so they can attempt to re-sell at current higher prices,” the USDA noted in a recent report.
But what does all this mean for consumers who need their morning cup of java? Several U.S. importers, such as Starbucks, are hedged for the rest of the year to handle wider price fluctuations. However, J.M. Smucker, which controls the Dunkin’ and Folgers coffee brands, says that rising costs caused by supply chain interruptions could affect the company’s operations. In November, overall consumer coffee prices surged at an annualized rate of 7.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Roasted coffee climbed 7.6 percent year-over-year, and instant coffee soared 6.8 percent.
Brazil is the world’s largest producer of coffee.
I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 29
Portugal F P ORT UGA L
TOPS LIST OF GLOBAL RETIREMENT DESTINATIONS
Retirees head to Portugal for pleasant weather, decent healthcare, low crime By Mary Prenon
lorida, north carolina, and Arizona move over. For the eighth year in a row, Portugal has ranked No. 1 for global retirement destinations for residents of the United States and abroad. Live and Invest Overseas, an international publishing firm based in Panama City has just revealed its “World’s Top 15 Retirement Destinations for 2022,” and sitting at the summit this year is Comporta, Portugal. “Portugal has been on the list for 14 years, and for the past eight years, various locations in that nation have earned our No. 1 spot. It’s legitimately hard to find a downside to Portugal,” Kathleen Peddicord, founder of Live and Invest Overseas, told The Epoch Times’ “Insight” magazine from her Paris satellite office. “It checks every box, including the best weather and health care, low taxes and crime, recreation, culture, and real estate value. While housing costs have risen slightly, Portugal still remains a bargain relative to the rest of Europe.” SITUATED ON THE southwest coast
of Europe, between the Atlantic Ocean and Spain, Portugal is one of the oldest nations in Europe. Comporta lies on the northwest coast just south of the Lisbon metropolitan area. It’s known as one of the most exclusive summer destinations in Europe and is often referred to as “The A house with a beautiful view over the Douro river in Portugal.
30 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
Hamptons” of Europe, referencing Southampton, Westhampton, and East Hampton in Long Island, New York—a luxury summer destination. Originally from Baltimore, Peddicord has visited, lived, and invested in foreign countries for more than 40 years. She and her staff of 20 international researchers rely on 13 categories to produce the annual ranking of the best places in the world to retire. This includes cost of living, real estate, residency, taxes, health care, entertainment, recreation, English language availability, expat community, infrastructure, access to North America, environment, and crime. COMPORTA R ECEIVED an overall
grade of “A,” including an “A-plus” for health care, “A” for crime rate, “B-plus for cost of living, and “B” for taxes. The report indicates that retirees could live comfortably there on an average monthly budget of $2,935. While Comporta is considered a higher-cost region, there are plenty of other areas throughout the country offering more affordable options. Ranking from No. 2 to 5 on the list are Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Cayo, Belize; Northern Cyprus; and Paris, France. Other locations named on the top 15 list include (in order of ranking): County Clare, Ireland; Citta Sant’Angelo, Italy; Salinas, Ecuador; Phuket, Thailand; Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic; Santa Marta, Colombia; Kotor, Montenegro; Tierras Altas, Panama; Istria, Croatia; and Ubud, Indonesia, with the lowest average monthly expenses equal to about $953. “I think one of the reasons why Americans are so attracted to Portugal is its large English-speaking population,” added Peddicord. “Historically, Portugal has had a large British ex-pat community, so people almost everywhere in the country have some knowledge of the English language.” Peddicord noted that health care is another major concern for retirees. “Portugal’s health care is among the best in the world and for legal residents, it’s free,” she said. “Medical care is more expensive in the U.S. than anywhere, so lower health care costs are also a huge incentive for retirement relocation here.” Antonio Barbosa, a U.S. native, moved to Portugal more than 20 years ago to be closer to family members. Growing up in
Retirement Hotspots
New York and New Jersey, Barbosa now lives in northern Portugal and started his own real estate firm, Infinite Solutions, in 2016. He remains a member of the National Association of Realtors and is also vice president of FIABCI-USA, an international real estate trade organization. Barbosa worked with Portugal’s RE/ MAX offices before starting his own firm. “I visited many times before deciding to move here, and I just fell in love with the country,” he told Insight from his Compos office. “It’s all about the quality of life, low cost of living, great health care, culture, climate, and beautiful beaches. In fact, Portugal has the reputation as the sunniest country in Europe.” Over the past few years, Barbosa has sold properties and provided rentals for many Americans, particularly baby boomers who want to retire abroad. “Portugal seems to be on everyone’s hot list now,” he said. While housing in and around Lisbon, the capital city, can be quite expensive, he noted, Portuguese housing values are very affordable in comparison with other European markets.
FROM LEFT: HBPRO/SHUTTERSTOCK, COURTESY OF PABLO AND RENEE HERNANDEZB
SIX MONTHS AGO, Jeana Whitaker, a
on fresh seafood and Portuguese wine. “I feel like I’m living in Paradise and am so glad I made the move,” she said. Barbosa usually recommends renting for at least a year before buying a property. Residents from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, or New Zealand can enter the country and stay for 90 days within a six-month period without having to apply for a visa. After that time, they would need to apply for a visa. THOSE CHOOSING TO R ETIR E in
Portugal can apply for a D-7 visa in their home country. The purchase of property secures new residents with a golden visa. Newcomers must live in the country for six months to be considered permanent residents. “I get inquiries from all over the U.S.— the Northeast, Texas, Chicago, California, and the southern states as well,” said Barbosa. “Most of them are retirees, but I also deal with some younger people looking for investment properties.” With the exception of Lisbon, the average cost of a typical 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom home on a quarter acre is 300,000 euros, which is equivalent to about $339,000. Pablo and Renee Hernandez recently moved to Portugal from their home in Texas and have never looked back. “The whole family has been enjoying our new life in Portugal,” Renee Hernandez told Insight. “There is a long vibrant culture that we are eager to learn. It represents a lot of the values that align with our principles.” Their two sons have been learning the Portuguese language. Pablo Jr. started a robotics program at his school and is teaching both students and teachers, while Victor is joining a school football team.
teacher, traded her Las Vegas home for a new address in Portugal. She had visited Europe many times throughout her life and always wanted to move there permanently. “I started to research and discovered that Portugal had everything I was looking for—living on a beach affordability, a great health care system, and a doorway to the rest of Europe,” she told Insight. Although COVID-19 restricted her travel to explore the country, Whitaker moved there without ever having visited. “I sold my home and everything I own and moved here with my dog and a couple of suitcases. I was done with a life of working 60 to 80 hours a week and barely get by on my salary,” she said. “I wanted to experience life, not have a house full of ‘stuff.’” YEARS Whitaker never regretted PORTUGAL HAS her decision, citing a slowbeen ranked er-paced lifestyle, beautiful No. 1 for global scenery, and new friends. retirement She now spends her time destinations for teaching English to refugees, eight years in walking on beaches, eating a row. in sidewalk cafes, and dining
8
M O S T O F B A R B O S A’ S
American clients buy in cash, having already sold their U.S. properties. Real estate taxes are also significantly lower in Portugal, with an average of just 0.5 percent of the purchase price. Using that formula, the 300,000euro home would have taxes of just 1,500 euro or $1,699.
(L–R) Victor, Pablo Jr., Pablo, and Renee Hernandez, who recently moved from Texas to Portugal.
With the exception of Lisbon, the average cost of a typical 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom home on a quarter acre is about $339,000. One-bedroom apartment rentals average 400 euro, or $453 per month. Currently, about a half-million of Portugal’s population is comprised of foreigners. Over the past few years, more than 11,000 people from abroad have retired in Portugal. Overall living expenses represent huge savings as well. Monthly household services such as water, electricity, gas, TV, and internet are about 150 euro or $170, while food typically costs around 300 euro or $339. Public transportation averages 40 euro or $45 monthly, and health care, about 10 Euro or $11.33 per month. “Two people could spend about 1,070 euro or $1,212 per month and live quite comfortably,” added Barbosa. According to the 2021 Global Peace Index, Portugal is the third-safest country in the world. “Crime is very low here, and right now we’re 92 percent vaccinated,” added Barbosa. “We didn’t politicize it here, so we’re actually one of the highest vaccinated countries in the world.” Currently, COVID-19 vaccination cards or COVID-19 PCR tests are required for entry into hotels, restaurants, and other public venues. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 31
In Focus Employment Trends REMOTE JOBS
WORKING FROM HOME
a New Norm Post-pandemic, it remains unlikely that various industries will return to offices or sprawling campuses By Michael Sakal
THE POSTING FOR THE JOB AD READS LIKE THIS: “You will work from home, full-time. It will require a quiet, distraction-free environment with access to high-speed internet. We will provide you with the computer, technology, and equipment needed to successfully perform your job. You will be responsible for providing high-speed internet.”
THE JOB POSTING IS FOR A CUSTOMER CARE
32 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
35% OF THE U.S. WORKFORCE CURRENTLY WORKS REMOTELY.
told Insight that he sees the work from home trend decreasing once we reach the post-pandemic months. Prior to the pandemic, about 5 percent of the U.S. workforce was remote, and at the peak of the pandemic in 2020, about 55 percent worked from home, Bloom said. Currently, about 35 percent of the U.S. workforce is working remotely. By the end of 2022, Bloom believes workers performing their jobs remotely will be down to about 25 percent, such as people at call centers, working payroll, or human resources, and about 80 percent will be hybrid. “People have been returning to work,” Bloom told Insight. “Not everybody can work remotely. It does have its challenges, such as innovation and maintaining a work culture; knowing what the company stands for and knowing who your co-workers are.” Bloom, who has a website focusing on working
FROM TOP: SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES, COURTESY OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY, COURTESY OF INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES
specialist at an Ohio-based pharmaceutical and medical supply company, but it could also be for a financial or high-tech job pretty much anywhere. Working remotely isn’t so much a trend anymore; since the pandemic, it’s often becoming a choice, if not the norm. From health care to high-tech, from call centers to sales and even government, workers are continuing to work remotely and transition to a trend called the “hotel” (going into the office on a very limited basis) or “hybrid” environment. It remains uncertain, if not unlikely, that various industries will return to offices or sprawling campuses. It seems that working remotely remains the way to go, at least for now. But Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University for the past 15 years, who is considered the “leading work-from-home expert” in the United States,
In Focus Employment Trends
from home, says he has spoken to decision-makers at hundreds of firms throughout the pandemic. He currently believes the workforce trend is moving toward a “hybrid” model, in which workers will spend 2 to 3 days in the office, or on-site, while working maybe 2 to 3 days from home. He sees the trend as workers going into the office on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and working from home on Tuesdays and Fridays. “One of the biggest disadvantages of working remote is isolation,” Bloom said. “Although many people working remotely are more productive, they have a hard time as they lack social interaction with their co-workers. The hybrid model helps with that and is more social.” Of the many corporations and companies Bloom spoke to, he discovered that 28 percent of remote workers had children at home, 26 percent
An expert says that most of the remote workers have been professionals and high-tech, customer service, and call center-related personnel.
“Although many people working remotely are more productive, they have a hard time as they lack social interaction with their co-workers. The hybrid model helps with that and is more social.” Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University.
As the trend of permanently moving work from the office to the home continues in the United States, companies are beginning to sell office buildings or entire campuses. Information solutions giant LexisNexis has sold its six multistory office buildings south of downtown Dayton, Ohio.
had more online meetings, and 26 percent hadn’t worked remotely before. Although many workers are happy to work from home, as it gives them more “freedom” from the office confines, is it a good thing to have these major changes in the workplace, and companies selling campuses or leaving office space unoccupied? Is remote work a viable long-term strategy? After all, working remotely does have its advantages: You can work from just about anywhere, have a flexible schedule, and spend more time with family and save on gas costs if you no longer commute. It also has its disadvantages: There’s managing your own schedule and time, the blurred line between personal and professional life, distractions such as young children staying home from schools, and communication challenges, as well as coordination challenges and social isolation. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 33
In Focus Employment Trends
Workers in other states also have continued working at home, despite the Omicron variant of the coronavirus being less severe. Bloom noted that most of the remote workers have been professionals, high-tech, customer service, and call-center-related personnel. “Not everybody can work remotely,” Bloom said. “If you’re a front-line worker such as someone in health care, retail, or the restaurant business, you have to be there and see people face to face.”
“I didn’t like [working remotely] too much at first, but I love it now.” Pat Siler, analytics developer, Premier Health’s Miami Valley Hospital
34 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
Steve Anderson, who worked at LexisNexis for 32 years, worked remotely from his office in the basement of his home for the information solutions company during the pandemic, and he now works as a consultant for hightech companies in Dayton, Ohio, on Dec. 28, 2021.
55%
OF THE U.S. workforce worked from home at the peak of the pandemic in 2020.
FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF STEVE ANDERSON, COURTESY OF JUDY PUTERBAUGH
Of the workers who were sent home early during the pandemic in Ohio, about 30 percent of those are believed to be continuing to work at home, or remotely, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services spokesman Mike Duty told Insight, citing the Ohio Mayors Alliance, which represents about 40 of the state’s larger cities. Other places that have remained remote include Ohio-based Premier Health, Montgomery County Job and Family Services that serves the Dayton area, insurance providers, and high-tech companies such as LexisNexis in Dayton, a major information solutions company, and even government workers whom people rely on for information or services. In fact, LexisNexis sold its six multi-story office buildings, totaling 391,000 square feet covering its 60-acre complex south of downtown Dayton, to Industrial Commercial Properties of Cleveland and California-based Industrial Realty Group in a joint venture for $7.8 million in early 2021. LexisNexis, which had a strong presence in Dayton for about 40 years, relocated many of its 3,000 workers to the Research Triangle, a hightech workforce area in Raleigh, North Carolina. However, it rented back two buildings for the small number of remaining workers. The property’s new owners plan to transform it into a “premier regional office park” with 254,000 square feet of commercial office space available, according to Industrial Commercial Properties (ICP). Phone calls seeking comment weren’t returned by ICP or Industrial Realty Group. Although the job of Steve Anderson, vice president for LexisNexis’s customer experience and
operations, was eliminated in February 2021, the company’s workforce had worked remotely since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The office buildings sat unoccupied, Anderson told Insight. Anderson had worked for the company for 32 years and had just completed the moving chart for workers in his division when his position was made redundant. He said the company had been looking at ways to downsize and consolidate its office buildings for a number of years, and he believes the pandemic provided them that reason to move forward with it in a faster manner. “When we had to work remotely, we had very little problems,” said Anderson, who now consults high-tech companies from an office in his basement. “Lexis-Nexis is a technology-driven company, so we had the infrastructure, all of that to work from home. We just needed to make sure there was enough bandwidth in the home for people to connect to. There had to be enough to support the computers, internet, and videos. “Whether there was enough technology to be able to work from home was a non-issue, but some people were faced with family issues and distractions. “In a lot of cases, both spouses were home, and kids were home and attending school online. I was able to work in the basement, and my daughters could work in their bedrooms. We were able to spread out, but if they would have been smaller or toddlers, it would have been different.” Pat Siler, an analytics developer for Premier Health’s Miami Valley Hospital’s IT department in downtown Dayton for the past eight years, has worked remotely since March 2020, the beginning of the pandemic. Siler isn’t sure if the medical network’s administrative staff will ever go back to their offices at the hospital. Employees were told to clean out their desks in July 2021 and the hospital staff has gone to a “hotel environment” of people going back into their offices on a very limited basis, Siler told Insight. “I didn’t like it too much at first,” Siler said of working remotely, “but I love it now.” “I took a spare bedroom and converted it into an office. I miss the personal part of the job, seeing people at work and discussing projects, but we talk during Microsoft team meetings mostly over Zoom because we’re able to log into our workstations from home. I’m more productive at home.”
In Focus Employment Trends
Other than people sometimes just stopping by the house when he’s working, on the upside, Siler said he saves about $160 a month from not having to pay for gas for his Silverado truck’s drive to the hospital. Nor does he have to pay $16 a month to park in a nearby parking garage. He’s also lost weight from not eating as much junk food at his office desk at the hospital. “It’s like getting a 4 percent raise, but I’m still paying Dayton city taxes even though I don’t go there,” Siler said. There are also many remote jobs with Bath and Body Works and Victoria’s Secret seeking customer service representatives, Montgomery County Workforce Development spokesperson Mike Zimmerman told Insight. Of the 14 caseworkers in the Montgomery County Job and Family Services office in Dayton, 12 of them work remotely and two of them remain in the office, said Judy Puterbaugh, an eligibility specialist who reviews applications for those seeking food stamps, cash, and medical assistance. Puterbaugh will mark her fourth year on the job in January 2022, and she said she enjoys working at home. The Montgomery County Job and Family Services staff members began working at home in August 2020. Because of the pandemic, JFS offices had to close their doors to applicants while workers socially distanced by working in every other cubicle while wearing masks. By the end of 2020, the number of applicants and caseloads had doubled, Puterbaugh said. They were required to have high-speed internet in their home with wireless capabilities, an ethernet cable, and a cellphone. Puterbaugh said that although she uses all three of those items for her job, she still pays for those herself. Plus, since the caseworkers possess applicants’ confidential information, they also had to be able to work in a room behind a locked door. A top requirement of JFS caseworkers being able to remain remote was keeping up with quantity and quality—work or assistance eligibility determinations that are 95 to 98 percent error-free. “I have a desk in my bedroom,” Puterbaugh said. “The ethernet cable the county gave me wasn’t long enough, so I bought one. It’s 100 feet long. Oh, it’s been a learning process.” Puterbaugh has three sons, two in college and one in high school, but said she doesn’t have any distractions at home. “It’s different,” Puterbaugh said of working at
Judy Puterbaugh, an eligibility specialist for Montgomery County Job and Family Services serving the Dayton, Ohio, area, has worked remotely since August 2020.
home. “The main thing I miss is that personal one-on-one meeting with an applicant, but I still get that one-on-one over the phone with applicants. Plus, our unit has Zoom meetings, so we still see our co-workers from time to time. Our managers want us to keep our numbers up and quality.” “I like working at home. I enjoy it. I can focus on my work without distractions. It fits my personality.” It remains to be seen what the future of remote work holds, but it could be one where most people work in the comfort of their homes (or while traveling), and where downtown central business districts (CBDs) will become less important. Remote work could cause a shift in urban planning that will transition to a dispersed style of development throughout the city and its outlying areas, according to experts. Bloom said city centers are losing people, they aren’t losing corporations. Workers at Podiatry Insurance Company of America in Franklin, Tennessee, have been working remotely since the beginning of the pandemic, and it’s uncertain whether they will return to the office. In fact, Podiatry has rented out the third and fourth floors of one of its four-story office buildings. At least one worker there said he “loves” working at home. “I have more freedom and less pressure of being in the office,” the worker told Insight. “If I get hungry, I can get up and make a sandwich, if I want to listen to the radio, I can do that. Or if I want to take a break, I’m home to walk the dog. “Plus, I can see my family on a more regular basis.”
WORKING REMOTELY Advantages:
Disadvantages:
D work from
² having to manage one’s own schedule and
anywhere D have a flexible schedule D spend more time with the family D and save on gas
time ² the blurred line between one’s personal and professional lives ² distractions such as children staying at home ² communication and coordination challenges ² and social isolation
I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 35
R I S I NG C R I M E
HOLLYWOOD MOVIE EXECUTIVE RECOUNTS REAL-LIFE CRIME HORRORS Wealthy residents and celebrities are on edge as gang-affiliated suspects follow victims home from upscale restaurants and shopping areas By Jill McLaughlin
A
36 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
“Every night, we’d have people stalking through the neighborhoods … jumping gates and getting over peoples’ walls, rummaging through and stealing packages.” Greg Strause, special effects guru
The brothers now own Hydraulx, a Santa Monica, California-based visual effects studio, and have produced and directed several films. Strause said he remembers when California made improvements in crime rates since the 1990s. But lately, the state has become more dangerous. “We went from a year of not being able to go places because of fear of COVID to now where we can’t go to places for fear of robbery,” he said. Los Angeles-area law enforcement alerted the public late in 2021 about a crime wave they dubbed “follow-home robberies.” Several wealthy residents and celebrities in the area continue to be targeted, possibly by gang-affiliated suspects who follow victims home from upscale restaurants and shopping areas. The entertainment industry was also rocked in December 2021 by the burglary and shooting death of Jacqueline Avant, the wife of music icon Clarence Avant, in her Beverly Hills home. Police arrested a suspect following an unrelated burglary that took place an hour after the shooting, according to Beverly Hills police. Strause and his wife have called police in the middle of the night as people tried to enter their security gate, and they’ve also dispersed a homeless camp set up along their property wall. At one point during recent construction, the couple made a citizen’s arrest of a suspect Strause said entered their home through an open doorway. “Basically, our neighborhood became a constant target, with the crazy tent encampments that grew on the boardwalk last year, which is pretty close to here,” he said. “Every night, we’d have people stalking through the
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: VALERIE MACON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, COURTESY OF GREG STRAUSE
ward-winning special effects guru Greg Strause recently showed off his in-home bunker, or “safe room,” where he and his wife keep survival gear next to a bullet-proof escape window. “There’s a ladder on the ceiling, so if the house were set on fire or it’s too dangerous to go back into the house, we can throw out the escape ladder,” Strause told The Epoch Times’ “California Insider.” The scene is reminiscent of “The Day After Tomorrow” and many of the other blockbuster sci-fi thrillers he helped create. The movie executive unlocked a door made of bullet-proof, half-inch-thick armored steel panels, revealing the armored window that opens to the street. Strause and his wife built the bunker inside their beachside house in Marina del Rey, California, about four years ago, after they watched crime in the Los Angeles area and their neighborhood begin to escalate. “We’re at the point where it’s dangerous to walk out at night,” he said. “You have to be careful about going to restaurants. My friends, family, and neighbors ... we don’t want to wear jewelry anymore. We don’t wear our watches.” They’re afraid of gun-toting criminals entering restaurants and mugging diners, which has happened recently in neighboring communities, Strause said. “It’s back to just full-on chaos that was probably at its heights in the late ‘80s and ‘90s.” He and his brother Colin moved to the Los Angeles area in 1995. They found success in creating visual effects for such blockbusters as “Titanic,” “Avatar,” “Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem,” “Fantastic Four,” and many other movies, music videos, and commercials.
Police at the scene where Jacqueline burglar in her home in Beverly Hills, Ca
Avant, the wife of music icon Clarence Avant, was killed by a alif., on Dec. 1, 2021. neighborhoods ... jumping gates and getting over peoples’ walls, rummaging through and stealing packages.” People have also tried to force their way through the couple’s windows and into the main entry door, he said. After that, Strause installed high-resolution cameras around his property and reviews the footage every morning. He also started making presentations to his homeowner’s association. He and his neighbors approved a resolution to hire armed security guards to patrol their neighborhood every night. Then an adjacent homeowner’s association also approved hiring guards. “Even though we do have nightly security, it hasn’t stopped the problem,” Strause said. “These criminals are emboldened. They’re not afraid of any repercussions. They’re not afraid of doing time for their crimes.” California recently approved a new system that some call “no-cash bail,” which allows economically disadvantaged people to be released from jail without posting bail and face lessened penalties on some crimes, including theft. The new policies are contributing to the uptick in crime, according to Strause. “We’ve now gotten rid of a lot of these smart rules and policies,” he said. “You’re letting criminals out on the streets, and you’re surprised that crime is going up?” The latest crime statistics released in December 2021 by the Los Angeles Police Department show a marked increase in homicides, aggravated assaults, vehicle thefts, and shootings in 2021. Motor vehicle thefts were up by 53 percent since 2019, the most recent comparable year. Shootings have increased by more than
A Los Angeles city ordinance prohibiting homeless camps in public areas requires a lengthy process for removing each camp.
Award-winning special effects guru Greg Strause shows his survival gear.
53%
THE CRIME STATISTICS
released in December show that motor vehicle thefts were up 53 percent since 2019, and shootings have increased by more than 50 percent in the last two years.
50 percent in the past two years. At the same time, police have arrested more than 25 percent fewer suspects than in 2019. “I spoke to a security guard who protects a house up in the hills, and they have the same robbers coming back week after week,” Strause said. The couple recently had to find a way to remove a homeless camp that was set up using a construction company’s cargo container alongside their property wall. People at the camp were injecting drugs, according to Straus. The couple was afraid the inhabitants would catch their home on fire while they heated the drugs, he said. The police wouldn’t respond because the camp was built in a county parking lot. Eventually, the couple contacted the builders to remove the shipping container, and the camp dispersed. In 2021, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles City Council approved Ordinance 41.18, which prohibits homeless camps in public areas. However, the city requires a lengthy process to remove each camp, including a motion to be introduced by a district councilmember and approved by the council. The recent crime wave has forced Strause and his wife to change their living habits, he said. “My wife and I are much more likely to take an hour drive down to Orange County and do shopping or go to dinner down there based on it being a lot safer,” he said. “We’re not going to Hollywood anymore. We don’t go east of [Interstate] 405 anymore. We stay by the beach and kind of hunker down. It’s such a shame. “Los Angeles was such an amazing city, and they’ve really made quite a mess out of it.” I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 37
The Wynns find like-minded people who are spending their time at sea so that they can socialize even while isolated on their vessel.
A LT E R NAT I V E E DUC AT ION
Adventurous Family Spends the Pandemic Sailing on the Seas Florida couple change jobs, buy sailboat, and take 8-year-old son on the adventure of a lifetime
By Jannis Falkenstern lex and kristi w ynn began their life’s adventure together at the tender age of 14, when they both were students at Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda, Florida. After temporarily separating to go to different colleges, with Kristi earning a master’s degree in data analytics from Boston University and Alex a Master of Arts in physics from Vanderbilt University, they came back together. Now, after 12 years of marriage, the pandemic spurred them to live on the ocean aboard their 38-foot sailboat, The Sunwise. Eight years ago, Kristi gave birth to Thomas, who shares in their day-to-day sailing adventures. Also on board is their cat Fyodor and a hamster named Rookie. Surprisingly, the cat and the hamster have found a way to “coexist,” Kristi said. Before the pandemic, Kristi worked at a pharmaceutical company in the quality department and Alex worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with computers, and is currently on extended leave. He works as a consultant while aboard The Sunwise. 38 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
Kristi and Alex Wynn pose for a selfie onboard their 38-foot sailboat The Sunwise, in December 2021.
On Board A Family Adventures
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF KRISTI WYNN
The Wynn family aboard their 38-foot sailboat The Sunwise. The couple were hesitant to tell their parents of their sailing plans. “Our moms have always been our cheerleaders with our goals and ambitions,” Kristi said. “When we told our moms about our plan to uplift the family, quit our jobs, and sail thousands of miles to pursue our dream ... there were instant gray hairs.” Kristi said there would be midnight texts from their parents with questions they “hadn’t even considered.” “They asked questions about pirate attacks or being lost at sea,” she said. “We were able to calm their fears by sharing success stories from our friend Nafiun Awal, who gave data for the likelihood of attacks or disasters, and communicate daily of our progress.” When Kristi, Alex, and Thomas “came home” to Punta Gorda in early December, Kristi got a most pleasant surprise from her folks. “My parents told me they were proud of us for our courage and ability to make the dream a reality,” Kristi said as tears welled in her eyes. “Words from your parents like that will make you cry. “When the pandemic hit, we decided to buy a sailboat. It’s something we’ve always wanted to do; with a laptop and a hotspot, we can do just about anything, even homeschooling. “The pandemic was the accelerant. Without it, we might have gone sailing eventually, but maybe not until retirement or [when our] son’s off to college.”
“Without [the pandemic], we might have gone sailing eventually, but maybe not until retirement or [when our] son’s off to college.” Kristi Wynn
Kristi said Thomas has seen things that other children have only seen on television or read about in books. “The best education sometimes is the one that isn’t taught out of books,” Kristi said. “Thomas has seen ocean life that very few adults get to see, much less children.” Thomas said his favorite thing that happened during their trips was when “about 20 dolphins surrounded our boat and stayed with us for over an hour.” “They would jump straight out of the water next to the boat and squeak as if they were talking to us,” the excited 8-year-old said. “I loved looking over the edge into the other world, as they looked back at ours.” Thomas said he’s looking forward to returning to a “regular classroom,” and more importantly, “lunchtime and recess.” However, the trip hasn’t always been a pleasant one, as the trio experienced rough weather near Annapolis, Maryland, this past October during what the National Weather Service described as a “flood that was the fourth-worst in Annapolis’s recorded history.” “We were in Annapolis for Halloween and heard it was safe to weather storms on mooring lines,” Kristi said. “The gusts got up to 50 miles per hour, and the waves were every second pushing us around.” I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 39
On Board A Family Adventures
Kristi and Alex said they weren’t fast enough to get up to the deck before “drifting into another boat.” “Our boat broke off the mooring ball, as did the other boat next to us,” Alex said. “The other boat was unmanned, and unfortunately smashed into the wall and bucked around until the Coast Guard came.” Kristi said the following day, kayakers could be seen filling Annapolis streets to see “the damages the storm had brought.” The family is musical, so for entertainment, Alex plays the guitar and Kristi the keyboard. “We absolutely love to live creatively and make music together, she said. “We find it therapeutic and a way to connect with others.” During the pandemic, the two wrote and shared on streaming platforms an upbeat instrumental song that the couple composed during the pandemic. The song is called “Happy Cat.” “Alex’s band is called Lifelvl and mine is Slapped Lucky,” she said. The couple also found a way to socialize while they were isolated aboard the vessel 24/7. “There are other people doing what we’re doing,” she said. “We find them on social media, and we connect and find other people who have similarities to ours and children the age of Thomas.” Alex said that a “good attitude” and a “laid back” attitude are necessary to be able to live in “close quarters” with your family. “We get along well,” he said. “I can’t think of a time that we have been cross toward each other
“The best education sometimes is the one that isn’t taught out of books. Thomas has seen ocean life that very few adults get to see, much less children.” Kristi Wynn
this whole trip.” With states and companies opening back up after the pandemic, it seems the Wynns will soon return to their normal lives, as Kristi says she is “getting bored and needs the challenges of work.” “Sailing is a good temporary cure [for boredom]—it sounds relaxing and easy, but it’s a complicated new set of skills to learn,” she said. “The world is not set up for boats with the same conveniences that people expect from typical life, such as drive-through food, delivery services, and utilities like power and water, which makes for a series of additional challenges.” As for the near future, Kristi said traveling remains at the top of their list. “For the longer term, we love to travel and explore new places and learn new skills,” she said. “Hopefully the world will return to a state where it isn’t necessary to live on a sailboat to accomplish this.” In their future travels, Kristi and Alex said their goal is to sail to the Southern Hemisphere to see the Southern Cross, a constellation of stars that has inspired songwriters and poets alike. Sailors knew it well and used it to help navigate their boats. The national flags of Australia and New Zealand include versions of the Southern Cross on them. “We haven’t been to the Southern Hemisphere,” Alex said. “I’ve always wanted to see the sky from the Southern Hemisphere, and I hear the dust from the center of the Milky Way is also supposed to be an amazing sight farther south as well.”
Eight-year-old Alex Wynn watches a school of dolphins off the side of the sailboat, in December 2021. 40 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
U S – C H I NA R E L AT ION S
China Engaged in ‘Direct Coercion’ of United States: Rep. Bera
Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) says that Congress and the Biden administration need to better clarify the nation’s tools for conducting economic competition.
The CCP’s heavy-handed and predatory economic policies undermine American interests, lawmaker says
T THIS PAGE FROM TOP: TING SHEN-POOL/GETTY IMAGES, JEFF PACHOUD/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
By Andrew Thornebrooke he united states must do more to understand how China’s communist regime is leveraging economic coercion and statecraft against it, according to Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.). “It’s extremely important that the United States administration, whether it’s a Democratic or Republican administration, understands how China uses economic coercion,” Bera said during a webinar hosted by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington-based think tank. “What they’re doing really is direct coercion.” Since the beginning of the trade war between the United States and China in 2018, economic reprisals such as tariffs,
sanctions, and investment restrictions have increasingly defined the Sino– American relationship. Most recently, reports documented a massive hoarding spree by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), through which the regime continues to stockpile precious resources such as semiconductor chips and cotton. This was conducted apparently to insulate itself from the effects of U.S. trade controls. Bera underscored the problem of ambiguity in U.S. economic and deterrence strategy, saying Congress and the Biden administration need to better clarify the nation’s tools for conducting economic competition and its rules for deploying them. “We should have some clarity in terms of the deterrent tools that are available,” Bera said, “and some of those tools are economic deterrent tools.”
Recent reports have documented that the Chinese Communist Party continues to stockpile precious resources such as semiconductor chips and cotton, apparently to insulate itself from the effects of U.S. trade controls.
I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 41
US–China Relations
That effort is also the subject of a proposed bipartisan bill that Bera introduced alongside Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), called the Countering China Economic Coercion Act. That bill, if made law, would require the president to establish a task force responsible for developing and implementing a strategy to respond to the CCP’s economic coercion, and to monitor the associated costs and impacts of such coercion. “The People’s Republic of China’s [PRC] heavy-handed and predatory economic policies harm our partners and undermine American interests well beyond the Indo-Pacific region,” Wagner said in a statement. “Our efforts to respond to PRC economic coercion must be strategic, measured, and proactive.” Whether the United States can influence the Chinese regime without inflaming tensions, or even open lines of meaningful dialogue, however, remains an open question for Bera. “We’re going to be competitive with China in the 21st century. That’s a given,” Bera said. “Competition is not a bad thing, [but] can we have competition without direct confrontation? “We don’t have to guess the direction that Xi Jinping wants to take China.” To that end, Bera said there was some silver lining to Xi’s hard-line and at times provocative ruling style. “I think that the heavy-handed approach that China sometimes takes actually is doing our work for us,” Bera said. “I would have said three to four years ago [for example] that Australia was taking a somewhat laissez-faire attitude towards China. That’s not the case today. They’re probably one of our strongest allies in understanding how to counter what China is doing around the world and certainly in the Indo-Pacific.”
US Is Slower to Act Than China Bera’s comments also helped contextualize a report released by CNAS in December, titled “Containing Crisis: Strategic Concepts for Coercive Economic Statecraft.” That report was based on scenario exercises carried out by CNAS that found that the United States was generally less 42 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
willing than China to engage in very aggressive economic coercion, and that both nations’ governments still desired wide-ranging access to one another’s markets. “While both China and the United States may be willing to accept negative economic impacts to pursue geopolitical objectives, both also demonstrate a preference to broadly retain access to the other’s market, which may constrain the use of the most extreme forms of economic coercion,” the report reads.
A report released by CNAS found that the United States was generally less willing than China to engage in very aggressive economic coercion. The report also noted that the CCP is willing to use a much wider array of methods to coerce the United States and others economically, whereas the United States, generally limits itself to targeted sanctions or export controls. Notably, the report found that U.S. economic strategy aims overall at preserving the international status quo. Because of this, the United States tends to coordinate policy more slowly than China, as it seeks a balance between defending its principles and deescalating situations from outright conflict. The report recommended that the United States pursue a persuasive rather than coercive strategy with regard to its economic toolset, and underscored the strategic importance of improving diplomatic relations with middle powers throughout Asia and the Indo-Pacific.
Biden Administration Hopes for New Indo-Pacific Framework Bera’s comments echoed remarks made by Kurt Campbell, White House
coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, during a webinar hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Jan. 6. Campbell’s remarks, in turn, were similar to the prognosis of the CNAS report. Campbell said the United States’ relationship with smaller nations throughout Asia and the Indo-Pacific, particularly in trade, would be central to any successes or failures it might have in directing the future of the region. “We’ve got to make clear that not only are we deeply engaged diplomatically, militarily, comprehensively, strategically, [but] that we have an open, engaged, optimistic approach to commercial interactions [and] investment in the Indo-Pacific,” Campbell said. “The ramparts, the areas in which we are going to need to compete in the Indo-Pacific, are not necessarily just in military competition, but across arenas of technology.” To that end, he said the nation would need to find a trade framework to replace the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a 19-nation trade agreement that grew out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which the Trump administration withdrew from in 2017. Former President Donald Trump spurned the TPP and withdrew from the proposed deal due to criticism that it was bad for the American job market. Biden administration officials have said for months that they’re engaged in an effort to create a new, more robust economic framework for the Indo-Pacific. Nothing has yet materialized of the effort, however. In all, Campbell signaled that a new framework would be finalized, but also cautioned that real, meaningful competition would be the defining feature of Sino–American relations for decades to come. “The general proposition of the Biden administration is that the dominant paradigm between the United States and China is increasingly going to be defined by competition,” he said.
P OL I T IC S • E C ONOM Y • OPI N ION T H AT M AT T E R S
Perspectives
Issue. 14
PHOTO BY DANIEL SHIH/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The Xinyi Shopping District, including the Taipei 101 building (C), at sunset in Taipei, Taiwan, on July 22, 2018.
China Keeps Eye on Taiwan As China continues to claim sovereignty over Taiwan, a leader in the global semiconductor industry, the tension over the island nation may be one of the biggest geopolitical risks in 2022. 47
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BIDEN TURNING US CREDIT AGENCY INTO BEIJING ALLY 44
UNINVESTABLE CHINA TECH 45
THE MAIN SHORTAGE IS WORKERS 46
2022: YEAR OF THE HANGOVER? 48
I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 43
THOMAS MCARDLE was a White House speechwriter for President George W. Bush and writes for IssuesInsights.com.
Thomas McArdle
Biden Turning US Credit Agency Into Beijing Ally The Export-Import Bank’s explicit objective is to counter the PRC threat
W
hile it’s bad enough that President Joe Biden has nominated in Reta Jo Lewis a longtime, committed appeaser of the oppressive, genocidal, and expansionist People’s Republic of China to chair the Export-Import Bank of the United States, it’s probably worse that prominent U.S. business entities continue to gulp the Kool-Aid about the long widely accepted but now thoroughly discredited notion that capitalism is wooing China into democratic reform and lawfulness. Or, worse still, prominent businesses themselves actively taking part in Beijing’s bloody persecution of its own people. Placing Lewis at the helm of EXIM is comparable to Chamberlain taking over from Churchill against the Nazis, instead of the other way around. President Donald Trump’s EXIM chairman, Kimberly Reed, secured unprecedented broad bipartisan support within Congress for the export credit agency with a multi-pronged commitment to comprehensive reform of EXIM, including increased transparency, strengthened taxpayer protections, zero tolerance for “bad actor” corruption, and preventing the displacement of private investment for exports; plus, most importantly, the launching of a “Program on China and Transformational Exports,” a project unlike anything EXIM had done since its establishment during the New Deal. EXIM’s China Program, mandated by Congress, was intended to make EXIM’s private loan guarantees and other products for U.S. exporters “fully competitive with rates, terms, and other conditions established by the People’s Republic of China” for its export business interests, utilizing 20 percent of EXIM’s total financing authority–some $27 billion out of $135 billion–and to advance competition with China in “innovation, employment, and technological stan-
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dards” focused on 10 industries ranging from 5G to fintech to renewable energy to biotechnology. At variance to someone as serious in recognizing the China threat as Reed, Lewis has spent many years accommodating Beijing’s economic warfare against the United States. She is a strategic adviser to the United States Heartland China Association, an organization with links to communist China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Biden’s nominee is a strategic adviser to an organization with links to communist China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As Lewis’s USHCA biography boasts, she has traveled extensively throughout China, meeting with Party secretaries, mayors, governors, and city secretaries of trade and investment and education in more than 12 provincial localities. In the Obama administration, Lewis was the principal negotiator between the United States and China in establishing the first U.S. Governor’s Forums with China. That initiative in particular demonstrates the PRC’s proficiency in jumping over Washington heads and infiltrating American economic life–with little disguise. Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went so far as to appear before the National Governors Association in 2019 and devoted his entire speech to China’s insidious efforts to persuade state chief executives and regional business leaders that Beijing’s interests were also theirs. Pompeo told the governors that “a Chinese government-backed think tank in Beijing produced a report that assessed all 50 of America’s governors on their attitudes towards China. They labeled each of you ‘friendly,’ ‘hardline,’ or ‘ambiguous.’ ... and, in fact, whether you are viewed by the CCP as friendly or hardline,
know that it’s working you. Know that it’s working the team around you.” Pompeo’s speech has conveniently vanished from the State Department’s website. Fortunately, the public can still watch it on YouTube. A year ago, Lewis proposed that the State Department “reinstate the U.S.-China Governors Forum to Promote Sub-National Cooperation, for which U.S. participation was discontinued in 2020 ... strengthening bilateral trade, investment, and technology exchanges by locales on both sides.” Nothing could be more in line with Beijing’s economic strategy against the United States. Unfortunately, much of corporate America either can’t see the threat or only see dollar signs. “World peace through world trade,” declares Apple CEO Tim Cook, who argued that the company has a “responsibility” to do business in as many places in the world as it can, and, of course, make countless billions doing so. In May 2021, The Information revealed that “seven companies supplying device components, coatings and assembly services to Apple ... are linked to alleged forced labor involving Uyghurs and other oppressed minorities in China. At least five of those companies received thousands of Uyghur and other minority workers at specific factory sites or subsidiaries that did work for Apple.” Why settle for cheap labor when you can get slave labor? The notion that Lewis, who for so long has been blind to the destructive influence of the PRC upon the U.S. economy, and who fails to see Beijing’s underlying objectives of expansionism in sync with its economic warfare, can now pivot and oversee an agency whose explicit objective is to counter the PRC threat on a global economic playing field tilted against the United States, with at least 116 rival export credit agencies of other nations also opposing EXIM, is ludicrous.
ANDERS CORR is a principal at Corr Analytics Inc., publisher of the Journal of Political Risk. He is an expert in political science and government.
Anders Corr
Uninvestable China Tech
China tech crackdown makes Beijing loyalists uncomfortable
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hina’s tech sector is becoming uninvestable for a host of reasons, not least that the Beijing regime hates capitalism. It’s a communist country and its leader, Xi Jinping, appears to be a true believer and on track to be emperor for life. CNBC’s “Mad Money” celebrity investor, Jim Cramer, put it in about these terms on Jan. 5, as news poured in of a major Chinese tech selloff. He called Xi a “totalitarian dictator.” Cramer said it’s “impossible” to advocate investing in Chinese stocks at any price point given a looming cold war, human rights abuse, and disregard for shareholders. “I think that President Xi has complete contempt for us, complete contempt for shareholders, and very contemptuous of rich people whom he thinks threaten his power,” Cramer said. On Jan. 4, new regulations prompted a selloff of China’s tech industry, followed the next day by fines slapped on the country’s biggest tech titans for anti-monopoly violations and failure to properly report some investment and acquisition deals. China’s top market regulator hit Tencent, JD.com, Alibaba, and Bilibili. Some companies were down more than 6 percent on the news. The Hang Seng TECH Index fell more than 4 percent. Since early 2020, the Hang Seng has lost about 50 percent of its value. Bilibili, a live-streaming platform, and Meituan, a food delivery app, both lost 11 percent. The video streaming platform iQiyi lost 85 percent of its value since a high in 2021 in part due to investor concern that censorship is weighing on the supply of creativity and new shows that can keep viewers engaged. Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities, told Bloomberg that “China is at the stage of implementing
many tightened policies and rules that the government announced last year on the technology sector.” He said the “heightened volatility” may last through March. In an interview published on Jan. 5, “bond king” and DoubleLine founder Jeffrey Gundlach said that “China is uninvestable, in my opinion, at this point.”
Beijing’s tech crackdown affects more than just stock valuations; it’s cutting into the young, entrepreneurial workforce that drives the sector. “I don’t trust the data. I don’t trust the relationship between the United States and China anymore. I think that investments in China could be confiscated.” In December 2021, China’s Didi ride-hailing app announced it would delist from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and relist in Hong Kong. Didi had just gone public—in effect robbing its new shareholders. Over the past months, Beijing regulators cracked down hard on a broad range of Chinese tech giants—wiping out billions of dollars worth of shareholder value through the arbitrary introduction of surprise anti-monopoly legislation and data security rules. The effects of Beijing’s tech crackdown go deeper than just stock valuations, however, to cut into the young and entrepreneurial workforce that drives the sector. “The crackdown is killing the entrepreneurial drive that made China a tech power and destroying jobs that used to attract the country’s brightest,” according to Li Yuan in The New York Times. An in-depth report by Li reveals that Chinese tech workers are increasingly
unemployed as Xi orders “unbridled” regulatory hits and “meddling in big ways and small” into the industry, lopping off value and decreasing capital that can be deployed in the long-term investment that’s necessary to bring in new hires, much less keep those already on the rolls. Officials nearly eliminated online education in China after they judged that its high expense decreased birth rates. Up to millions of people lost their jobs as a result. Many of those millions will not be having kids anytime soon. “Beijing’s hyper-political approach shows that it’s more about the Communist Party taking control of the industry than about leveling the playing field,” according to Li. “The crackdown is killing the innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit that made China a tech power in the past decade.” She argues that the “pride and ambition” of a few years ago have been replaced by “fear and gloom” as Chinese tech companies lower growth targets. The downward pressures of the tech crackdown are leading some CCP leaders to be critical, even when doing so can lead to imprisonment or disappearance. Alibaba’s Jack Ma was detained for three months starting in November 2020 after being publicly critical of China’s financial regulators. Despite the increasing risk, Hu Xijin, former editor of the nationalist paper Global Times, said recently that Beijing’s regulatory action should make companies healthier rather than leave them “dying on the operating table.” Given the totalitarian threat that the CCP poses to the world, perhaps it’s good that China’s tech sector is struggling. But the cause of the failure should also be a warning to us all. Xi Jinping is not a friend to anyone, anywhere, who challenges his unfettered power. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 45
MILTON EZRATI is chief economist for Vested, a contributing editor at The National Interest, and author of "Thirty Tomorrows" and "Bite-Sized Investing.”
Milton Ezrati
The Main Shortage Is Workers
More than anything else now, the economy needs work incentives
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ash i n gt o n has explained today’s inflation entirely through supply chain problems. It’s why Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell initially described the pressure as “transitory.” Though he has withdrawn that descriptor, Powell continues to speak in terms of supply matters—as does President Joe Biden. Inflation probably has other causes as well, but even in the context of supply chain issues, the administration seems loath to deal with the most significant aspect—the severe shortage of workers. It’s strange indeed that the administration has instead focused on peripheral matters such as inefficiencies at the Port of Long Beach and the practices of the nation’s meatpackers. Stranger still, the worker shortage is where the White House could make the biggest difference. Labor Department figures make the extent of the problem plain. The nation’s civilian labor force peaked in December 2019 at 164.6 million either at work or actively seeking it. After the pandemic strictures put more than 20 million people out of work, many didn’t even bother to look for work. In the worst of the lockdowns and quarantines, that would have been a waste of time. Besides, emergency legislation offered special unemployment and other benefits to ease the strain on these people and relieve the urgency of finding a job. Accordingly, the civilian labor force—those working and looking for work—declined by May 2020 to 158.2 million, 6.5 million fewer than in December 2019. The economic recovery has brought back a lot of work. Since the employment lows of May 2020, economic growth has renewed or
46 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
replaced almost all the positions lost to the lockdowns and quarantines. But even now, the civilian workforce remains about 2.5 million short of the December 2019 highs. If these missing workers were to return to the jobs market, it would enhance the numbers of available workers nationwide and go a long way toward alleviating supply shortages.
If these missing workers were to return to the jobs market, it would enhance the numbers of available workers nationwide and go a long way toward alleviating supply shortages. Yet the administration in Washington hasn’t even considered ways to correct this worker shortfall. And the administration could have leverage on more than one of the four likely reasons why people have refused to return to work or even look for a job. One reason is fear of infection. Washington can’t affect this feeling directly, but it doesn’t help that the authorities have chosen fear as a motivator in their vaccination push. The second reason is that many have become accustomed to living without work during the pandemic strictures and have now made a lifestyle choice against employment. In this, Washington has few options. A solution here will wait on time and changing fashion. But on a third issue—COVID-19 vaccine mandates—Washington could do a lot to alleviate the associated worker shortage. Data on this matter are admittedly spotty, but extrapolating from the available
anecdotal reports suggests that as many as 1 million workers have either been fired or walked away from their work rather than comply with vaccine mandates. A less strident approach by authorities might have saved these working hands and minds for production, and if instituted now, such an approach might lure them back. The fourth and probably most significant factor is the generous benefits Washington continues to provide. The biggest of these influences—extra unemployment benefits—ended in September 2021. But there are other benefits available that allow people to postpone work—some still carrying special enhancements added during the pandemic. The extent of this effect is evident in how workforce participation changed immediately after the special unemployment benefits ended. While the benefits were in effect between August 2020 and August 2021, the civilian workforce grew by a mere 0.8 percent, even as the jobs market boomed. But in just the months since the special benefits have been rescinded, the civilian workforce has grown at a historically powerful 2.6 percent annual rate. The return of other benefits to pre-pandemic levels could have the same effect without any of the undue hardship that such a change might have imposed during the worst of the pandemic strictures. This worker shortage is a problem that Washington clearly can help solve. The administration doesn’t even need new policies. It can help simply by getting its existing policies and practices out of the way. But with the administration determined to focus on peripheral matters instead of work incentives, there seems to be little hope of needed action being taken on this front any time soon.
EMEL AKAN is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times in Washington, D.C. Previously she worked in the financial sector as an investment banker at JPMorgan.
Emel Akan
Taiwan Remains a Big Geopolitical Risk in 2022 Will Beijing attempt to seize Taiwan and disrupt the global economy?
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hina’s top diplomat recently said Taiwan is a “wanderer” that will eventually “come home” to China. Such rhetoric by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials, along with increased Chinese military aircraft incursions near Taiwan in recent months, have spiked a new wave of fear and media speculation that a Chinese invasion of the island may not be far away. Some media commentators believe that the tension in the Taiwan Strait stands as one of the world’s biggest geopolitical risks in 2022. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and in the past two years has stepped up threats to take control of the island. Such a move would inflict economic pain on many countries, as Taiwan is a crucial hub for the global semiconductor supply chain, according to experts. A Chinese military takeover would cause severe supply shocks across many industries that heavily rely on chips made in Taiwan. Taiwanese companies, both large and small, account for about 65 percent of global sales of outsourced chips. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the crown jewel of the island, alone generates 56 percent of global revenues. “The situation is similar in some ways to the world’s past reliance on Middle Eastern oil, with any instability on the island threatening to echo across industries,” said Keith Krach, former undersecretary of state who played a crucial role in the warming of relations with Taipei under the Trump administration. TSMC ranks as one of the world’s most valuable companies, with a market capitalization of nearly $600 billion. “To put it in perspective GDP [gross domestic product] of Taiwan is around $750 billion. That certainly makes the
A Chinese military takeover would cause severe supply shocks across many industries that heavily rely on chips made in Taiwan. China–Taiwan tensions more combustible,” Krach said. While the world’s major chipmakers race to produce the smallest chips possible, only TSMC and South Korea-based Samsung can produce the cutting-edge standard, which is five nanometers. TSMC recently announced that it would start producing the next-generation 3-nanometer chips in the second half of 2022. China, by contrast, is sitting at the lower end of the semiconductor value chain. It only holds 5 percent of the market share in global sales and relies heavily on foreign suppliers for advanced chips. China is at least 15 years behind in the semiconductor space, according to industry estimates. Seeing this gap, Beijing has been aggressively using shortcuts to catch up, such as stealing trade secrets and recruiting talents from abroad. A recent paper published by the U.S. Army War College recommended
that Taiwanese authorities “destroy facilities belonging to” TSMC in the face of a Chinese invasion as a deterrence strategy. The paper claimed that such a move would “produce a major economic crisis” in China, whose tech sector is heavily dependent on TSMC. Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.–Taiwan Business Council agrees that an invasion would take Taiwan’s chip production almost immediately offline, causing dramatic consequences for global supply chains. However, Hammond-Chambers noted that such a move would be political suicide for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, especially before his expected election for an unprecedented third term at the communist party’s National People’s Congress in autumn. Beijing uses threatening rhetoric consistently, “and to me, it doesn’t represent a raising intention” of an actual military attack, he said. China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has accused the United States and other countries of trying to “use Taiwan to control China.” “Taiwan is a wanderer who will eventually come home, not a chess piece to be used by others. China must and will be reunified,” Wang threatened in a recent speech. “Labelling Taiwan a ‘wanderer’ is a classic bullying move,” Krach said. “Tyrants can’t persuade, so they bully, especially when their own deck of cards is weaker than they want others to think.” It’s unclear if Beijing will embark on a military adventure over Taiwan in 2022. But its growing ambitions go beyond being a threat to the island’s 23.5 million people and to global supply chains, according to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. “If Taiwan were to fall, the consequences would be catastrophic for regional peace and the democratic alliance system,” she wrote in a recent op-ed for Foreign Affairs. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 47
DANIEL LACALLE is chief economist at hedge fund Tressis and author of “Freedom or Equality,” “Escape from the Central Bank Trap,” and “Life in the Financial Markets.”
Daniel Lacalle
2022: Year of the Hangover?
It will be difficult for policymakers to stop or admit the mistakes of 2021
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he global recovery has slowed significantly since the peak of the reopening effect in June 2021. What many expected would be a multi-year cycle of above-trend growth is proving to be a more modest bounce. Furthermore, according to Bloomberg Economics, the global economy will likely grow in the next 10 years at a slower pace than in the decade prior to the pandemic. The causes of the slowdown are clear. On the one hand, China’s real estate bubble is a bigger problem than anticipated, and there’s no way that Chinese authorities can engineer higher growth from other sectors to offset real estate, which accounts for almost 30 percent of the country’s GDP and was growing at double-digit rates in past years. Additionally, inflation is rising all over the world due to a combination of excessive monetary policy and supply chain challenges brought by the lockdowns. Global food prices reached a new record high, making it more difficult for the poor to navigate the crisis. Finally, large stimulus plans have delivered no significant multiplier effect. Why would 2022 be the year of the hangover? Because the signs of overheating of the global economy are multiplying. The year 2021 was one of massive demand-side policies. To the effect of the reopening, policymakers added enormous deficit-spending plans, infrastructure and current spending boosts, and a massive monetary stimulus. The triple effect of the largest monetary stimulus in years, the reopening, and enormous government spending programs have overheated the economy. It’s evident in inflationary pressures, housing, indebtedness, and twin deficit imbalances in most large economies. And those effects won’t be there, or at least won’t be present in the same proportions, in 2022.
48 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
The United States may pass this difficult year because global demand for U.S. dollars is rising as other world currencies weaken, but the eurozone, which didn’t even see a strong recovery in 2021, is in an exceedingly difficult position. The year 2021 was one of binge spending. The year 2022 is likely to be a hangover. The combination of those enormous demand-side effects didn’t deliver the expected growth in 2021 but opened the door to a ghost of crises past: inflation. In January 2021, all policymakers said there was no risk of inflation, rather the opposite. In March, they told us it was due to the base effect. In June, they said it was temporary. Now, they see it as “persistent,” according to Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve. Inflation has been a heavy burden on families and businesses. Real wages are falling, disposable income is weakening, and small-business margins are suffering. If inflationary pressures per-
sist, the impact on consumption and investment will likely be larger in 2022. Many believe the slowdown is going to contain the inflationary spike. It may, but we should never forget that inflation accumulates. Those who see inflation in the United States moderating to 3 percent in 2022 should remember that this means more than 9 percent in two years. The hangover effect is likely because the large deficit approved for the United States budget and the Biden infrastructure plan are pushing inflationary pressures in energy-intensive activities and current spending. Governments and central banks are incentivizing demand where there’s no need to do so, as it was mostly a case of reopening the economy, not a liquidity or spending problem, and pushing global money supply and new credit to areas that have excess capacity. Meanwhile, underinvestment in commodities remains a key issue. More government spending and more debt are causing a weaker recovery and slower job creation. At the same time, excessive monetary stimulus is eroding real wages. The United States may pass this difficult year because global demand for U.S. dollars is rising as other world currencies weaken, but the eurozone, which didn’t even see a strong recovery in 2021, is in an exceedingly difficult position. The U.S. and European economies would have recovered faster and created more jobs with lower government intervention in the middle of the reopening. Now the negative effect of excessive spending and debt is likely to be larger. After overheating the economy with unnecessary spending, it’s difficult for policymakers to stop or admit the mistake. Central banks and governments will interpret the “hangover” slowdown as a need for more stimulus. And they’ll be wrong again.
Fan Yu
FAN YU is an expert in finance and economics and has contributed analyses on China’s economy since 2015.
A Blueprint for Banished Chinese Stocks
SenseTime’s IPO in Hong Kong could be a model for other sanctioned Chinese firms
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hinese artificial intelligence company SenseTime Group enjoyed a rare successful initial public offering (IPO) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in early January. Shares were up as much as 148 percent as of Jan. 4 from its Dec. 30, 2021, IPO price of HK$3.85, minting SenseTime as one of the most successful Hong Kong IPOs of last year. It has since dropped a bit from earlier highs. It’s significant news on a few fronts. First, Hong Kong new issuance stocks have been performing terribly for much of 2021. Eight of the 10 largest Hong Kong stock listings of 2021 ended the year at below their offer price. The only post-IPO risers among the top 10 were Chinese electric vehicle companies Li Auto and Xpeng. SenseTime management was unfazed. While there are still more than 11 months left in the year, the company’s stock has been off to a good start. The company didn’t have a ton of options to pick from as to where to list its shares. SenseTime has been sanctioned by two U.S. administrations for its involvement in Beijing’s persecution of Uyghur minorities in the western Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The U.S. Treasury Department accused SenseTime in December 2021 of developing facial-recognition software to identify a person’s race and ethnicity, specifically to aid in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) oppression and monitoring of Uyghur minorities. It was added to the U.S. investment blacklist as a result. That followed actions in 2019 by the Trump-era Commerce Department to put SenseTime on the U.S. trade blacklist, barring U.S. companies from doing business with the firm. Since then, the Biden administration delayed SenseTime’s IPO—originally anticipated in mid-December—to
The U.S. government accused SenseTime in December 2021 of developing facialrecognition software to identify a person’s race and ethnicity, specifically to aid in the CCP’s oppression and monitoring of Uyghur minorities. early January for the company and its advisers to assess the impact. However, SenseTime’s eventual IPO in Hong Kong provided an initial windfall for its early backers, notably Japan’s SoftBank Group. SenseTime’s IPO within the friendly confines of Hong Kong could serve as a blueprint for future Chinese companies barred from listing by the U.S. government. The IPO’s ultimate success remains to be seen. But the types of investors attracted by the initial listing are a roster of Beijing-approved capital providers. As part of its IPO, SenseTime raised more than $500 million from nine cornerstone investors, including the state-owned Mixed-Ownership
Reform Fund and an investment fund affiliated with the Shanghai government. Other cornerstone investors included a handful of Chinese and Asian regional investment firms. Notably, U.S. investors were disallowed from participating, given the recent blacklisting. Other Chinese firms not blacklisted by U.S. regulators can presumably list their shares in Hong Kong while allowing U.S.-based persons or investment funds to buy in. It will be interesting to see how many currently U.S.-listed Chinese firms delist and move to Hong Kong, and the subsequent effect on their investor base. Clearly, CCP regime leader Xi Jinping wants to keep more Chinese technology firms home. Part of this effort includes more heavily regulating where Chinese technology firms can list their shares, how and where user data must be stored, what businesses they can buy stakes in, and even regulating how artificial intelligence algorithms should operate. In other words, Xi is tightly controlling China’s privately held companies as if they all work for the CCP. Going forward, most Chinese companies wouldn’t pass the customary kinds of governance and compliance requirements that typical Western investors demand. And forget about ESG standards. In essence, they’re just not a good fit to trade on any U.S. or Western stock exchange where such conflicts of interest would be scrutinized. But Hong Kong? That’s a home crowd. As the CCP continues to integrate the former British colony politically, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a venue for Chinese companies to sell their shares to other Chinese and CCP-approved investors. And SenseTime just showed them the way. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 49
JEFF MINICK lives and writes in Front Royal, Va. He is the author of two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust on Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning as I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.”
Jeff Minick
Keys to Work Well Done
Take pride in your achievements and show initiative merica was not built on fear,” President Harry Truman once said. “America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to get the job done.” When we examine the last part of that quotation—“an unbeatable determination to get the job done”—we may recollect some of the enormous tasks undertaken by Americans in the past century: the building of the Hoover Dam, the winning of World War II, and the Apollo flights to the moon. Certainly, we can all take pride in those grand accomplishments. They came at a great cost of effort, money, and in the case of the war, of lives. Those involved in these endeavors deserve our everlasting gratitude for what they achieved. But what about our everyday workers, the unnoticed men and women who toil at various jobs? The loan officer at our bank; the guy who builds brick walls; the mechanic who comes home with grease under his fingernails; the library janitor who cleans the restrooms, empties the trash, and pushes a mop; the nurse at the hospital; the stay-at-home mom: What distinguishes some of these folks and millions of others from their fellow co-workers? Pride and initiative. I once happened to observe a volunteer at our public library shelving books. As she moved the cart down the fiction section, she not only inserted each novel into its proper place, but took the time to straighten all the books, arranging them so that their spines touched the edge of the shelf until they stood side by side like companies of soldiers on a parade ground. 50 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
That’s the sort of get-upand-go that marks great workers today. That’s taking pride in your work. The attorney who reviews her client’s defense in the solitude of her office multiple times in preparation for a trial, the chef who aims to serve his customers the most mouthwatering meal they’ve ever tasted, the homeschooling mom who keeps looking for better ways to teach her fifth-grade daughter mathematics: These people seek to give their best. They take pride in what they do. They’re also the ones who generally go above and beyond the call of their duties, showing initiative in the tasks demanded of them. In his wildly popular 1899 essay, “A Message to Garcia,” Elbert Hubbard told the story of Lt. Andrew Rowan and his mission to Gen. Garcia during the Spanish–American War. Summoned to the White House to “carry a message to Garcia,” Rowan asked no questions—“Who is Garcia? Where is he? How long do I have to find him?”—but instead simply took the packet, headed for Cuba, spent
three weeks in the jungles looking for his man, and delivered the president’s message. That’s initiative. And that’s the sort of get-upand-go that marks great workers today. The software salesman who phones his client even when all hope of a sale seems lost is “carrying a message to Garcia.” The McDonald’s employee who makes certain the kitchen is mopped and the sinks are scrubbed is showing enterprise and drive. Here’s the thing: No matter what our job, no matter how seemingly insignificant are our duties or obligations may be, taking pride in our work and showing initiative speaks of who we are to others. They’re signs not only of our abilities and our desires to do a job the right way, but are also indicative of the importance we place on work itself. At the end of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses,” he wrote, “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” Those words sum up the pride and initiative many workers bring to their tasks today. And those are the folks who keep this country running.
Profile Good Samaritan Volunteers Provide Medical Services to ‘World’s Forgotten Poor’ By Patrick Butler
M
ercy ships currently operates the largest nongovernmental hospital ship in the world, staffed “mostly by volunteers,” says David Warner, 67, a two-decade, fulltime volunteer with the organization, which was started in 1978. Warner, a U.S. Navy veteran, found a natural home in the maritime mission after his military service and a 12-year stint as an Amazon River boat captain, volunteering in the remote Brazilian jungles. He likes that Mercy Ships offer free medical services “to the world’s forgotten poor, on a much bigger scale.” In June, he will observe his 25th anniversary with the medical ministry. “You know, it’s easy just to tell someone God loves them,” he said at his East Texas home on Jan. 4, “but it’s harder for them to hear it if they are ostracized in their villages because of some medical defect such as a tumor, or can’t walk because of bone issues. “Once they have surgeries the ship provides, and makes them appear more normal, they have a better chance at a future. “I like the idea of demonstrating God’s love to people through physical, emotional, and spiritual healing that brings hope. “It’s a way to say ‘I love you’ that doesn’t use words. That’s why I volunteer. That’s something I can do.”
The Africa Mercy is a 499-foot vessel converted from a former railroad ferry from northern Europe, with multiple decks and a crew complement of “about 400,” Warner said. The hospital ship serves people in African nations that clear the way for it to dock for “a term of service,” usually up to 10 months, and do what it does best–administer new life through free medical treatments unavailable to the poor of those countries. Even though the 501(C)(3) nonprofit is headquartered in Garden Valley in East Texas, Warner said volunteers from “30 to 40 nations” staff the ship in a wide variety of capacities. He was aboard the Africa Mercy when it was serving in Senegal in early 2020. “It’s like a little city,” he said. “It’s a great hospital fully equipped with the latest gear, surgery theaters, and recovery beds, but it’s more than a hospital. Usually when you think of medical outreaches, it brings to mind doctors, nurses, surgeons, and the like. “The Africa Mercy has volunteer teachers, navigators, mechanics, cooks, maritime professionals, and more. There’s a large dining area and even a coffee shop. “When all the volunteers, training personnel, and staff are on board, there can be 600-plus on the ship, all together, all there for one purpose–to help the hurting who are so grateful someone came to help them.
“It’s volunteerism on a massive scale.” He reflected on the difference between his work in the Amazon and now. “When we were up-river, living in the jungles opening health clinics, starting schools and churches, it was me, Elizabeth, our two small children, and four faithful local volunteers doing most of the work, most of the time.” But when he’s on the ship, he’s surrounded by volunteers and the volunteer spirit, all day, every day. “The majority of people on the Africa Mercy are unpaid, as I am. A few in critical positions are not. But even the captain is usually unpaid. It’s the spirit of giving, of volunteering from all those nations, that you can actually feel. That’s quite something to see and be part of. It’s really a wonderful life.” Warner’s job is to help train the constant flow of volunteers at the ship’s International Support Center in Texas. But some circumstances dictate that training be held near where the ship is docked. “Sometimes it’s hard for our African crew to get visas to come to us,” he said, “so I went along with our training staff to Senegal so they could get the same excellent training everyone else gets, not some watered-down version that came to them secondhand. “We’re here to help everyone have the best experience they can.”
THIS PAGE: PATRICK BUTLER/ THE EPOCH TIMES, COURTESY OF DAVID WARNER
Elizabeth Warner talks with children who live on the Amazon River. Volunteer David Warner helps locals fix a canoe motor on the Amazon River. Some of his mechanical skills were learned in the U.S. Navy as a petty officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62) in the 1970s. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 51
Nation Profile
THOUGHT LEADERS
MORAL PANIC, CLASS, AND OUR ‘WOKE’ MEDIA Journalism used to be a blue-collar trade, but today’s elite media have abandoned the working class, says Batya Ungar-Sargon
O
nce a tool to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable, today American journalism comforts the comfortable, speaks power to truth, and insists on an orthodoxy that protects the interests of the elites in the language of a culture war whose burden is given to the working class to bear,” writes Batya Ungar-Sargon in her new book. On a recent episode of “American Thought Leaders,” host Jan Jekielek discussed race, class, and our elite media’s abandonment of U.S. workers with Batya Ungar-Sargon, deputy opinion editor at Newsweek and author of the book, “Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy.” JAN JEKIELEK: I’m read-
ing your book, which is fan52 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
tastic. So let’s start with this question: What happened to journalism? BATYA UNGAR-SARGON:
American journalism really began in the 19th century. Benjamin Day and Joseph Pulitzer were two journalists who showed up when America was deeply divided along income lines. They noticed that the vast majority of working-class and poor Americans were literate, so they started the Penny Press. They started selling newspapers for one penny apiece, and they got rich because so many poor and working-class people were hungry for news. This was really the birth of American journalism. Then, in the course of the 20th century, journalists underwent a status revolution. In 1937, the vast majority of American journalists didn’t have a college degree. Journalism was considered
Nation Profile
“It’s important to keep in mind that the biggest malefactors in my book, the people I criticize the most harshly, honestly believe they’re doing the right thing.” Batya Ungar-Sargon, author of “Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy.”
a blue-collar job that you picked up as you did it. Fast forward to 2015 and 92 percent of American journalists now have a college degree. Along with this status revolution from a blue-collar trade to a highly educated caste, you saw journalists shift their ideas of who journalism was for and what it should be about. The “woke” revolution we’re seeing is essentially the last stage in this status revolution among journalists. That obsession masks the real class divide in America and the skyrocketing income inequality while allowing liberal journalists to feel like heroes, even as they contribute to the class chasm in America.
media isn’t for the elites, although certainly some elites follow it. We’re just doing what journalism is supposed to do, which is reporting. MS. UNGAR-SARGON:
What’s interesting is that very often it’s the conservative press that has the working-class audience these days, whereas the vast majority of liberal media is being produced for an ever-smaller elite. The Democrats used to be the party of the lineman and the factory worker, but today they’re the party asking those people to pay off the student loans of dentists and accountants to the tune of $50,000. Or they’re pushing to defund the police. Who needs the police? It’s the working-class people, people of color, and the victims of skyrocketing murder. So I argue that the woke language is an abandonment of the most vulnerable Americans who literally put money in the pockets of liberal elites. And I’m saying this from the left. I’m a leftwing populist. MR . JEKIELEK: So how
exactly did journalism take on the woke agenda?
BAO QIU/THE EPOCH TIMES
MR . JEKIELEK: I think
MS. UNGAR-SARGON: We
you’ve just explained to me why The Epoch Times has been so successful lately.
have a deep class chasm in America. Especially over the past 20 years, the economy has rewarded those who work in knowledge industries much more than it once did. And it’s started to be punitive toward the working class. There’s been this class shift. The intelligentsia
MS. UNGAR-SARGON:
Explain. MR . JEKIELEK: I think
we’re doing what these two illustrious penny-charging individuals did, because our
today is very affluent compared to those without a college degree. We’ve ended up in a place where all of the journalists are coming out of the same few schools with the same ideology. It’s sort of pulling in the same direction of a real monoculture that’s enforced through shaming campaigns. MR . JEKIELEK: You
dedicate a whole chapter to moral panic. What is moral panic? MS. UNGAR-SARGON: For
moral panic to succeed, there has to be consensus in the population.Because if you don’t have that consensus, you just have a culture war. Some Americans today think abortion is evil, and others think it’s a civil right. That’s a culture war. You can’t have a moral panic around abortion because half of the population doesn’t recognize it as evil. In order to have a moral panic, you have to have some level of consensus. In our current moment, we’re in a moral panic around racism. When you have a moral panic, people start hunting for malefactors, and that’s what you’re seeing in the media today. You’re seeing the hunt for people who are racist or who are insufficiently anti-racist, in order to run them out of polite society and run them out of their jobs. The problem is that every single day, they change what counts as racism. For example, today “racist” references anyone who voted for
I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 53
Nation Profile
“I argue that the woke language is an abandonment of the most vulnerable Americans who literally put money in the pockets of liberal elites.” Donald Trump, the man who won the vote of 67 percent of the people who don’t have college degrees. So, you see how tightly connected to class it is. Today, it’s racist to think we should have a national border that we enforce. Again, who pays for open borders? It’s the working class whose jobs are most threatened by an incoming wave of people willing to work for less than minimum wage.
Increasingly, we’re seeing a moral panic around race and gender being used to silence the people we disagree with and to silence the working class, who tend to be more conservative, whether they vote for Republicans or Democrats. Their views have become essentially taboo. It’s important to keep in mind that the biggest malefactors in my book, the people I criticize the most harshly, honestly believe
they’re doing the right thing. Someone once asked me, what was the hardest part of writing your book? It was keeping in mind that the people who are harming black Americans and working-class Americans actually think they’re helping them. MR . JEKIELEK: You focus
on journalism. But this philosophy, or some people call it a pseudo-religion or even a religion, is why so many people genuinely believe, perhaps hubristically, that they’re helping.
itself because it’s making money off of this. We don’t have to hate our fellow Americans so that some journalist or some media company can make money. We have to be the ones who stand up and say no to that. We have to protect spaces in our lives where we’re no longer allowing politics to invade and we’re remembering what it means to be an American. MR . JEKIELEK: In a nut-
shell, what can people get out of your book that you think is valuable to them?
MS. UNGAR-SARGON: I’m
MS. UNGAR-SARGON:
religious, so I hate when people say wokeness is a religion, because religion is the opposite. It’s all about grace and forgiveness and holding yourself to a higher standard than you hold others. There’s not a lot of that on the left these days. But as a religious person, I think the media isn’t going to fix
They can learn about how we got here. If you’re a lefty like me or a liberal or a centrist or a conservative and you want to understand why the media is so terrible, if you’ve noticed a class divide and you want to know why Americans are increasingly looking at each other like enemies when the polling shows that much less divides us than ever before in our history, my book is for you. It ends with a plea that we each become a soldier in the war against the dehumanization of our brothers and sisters. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
54 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
ROBYN BECK/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Media crew members wait for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s declaration on election night, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York on Nov. 8, 2016.
T R AV E L • F O O D • L U X U R Y L I V I N G
Unwind
Issue. 14
Hungary’s picturesque Parliament, on the banks of the Danube River. PHOTO BY EKATERINA POLISCHUK/SHUTTERSTOCK
Grande Dame of the Danube Lavish architecture and thermal baths galore—what’s not to love about Budapest? 58
✒
WITH THE ADDITION of electric motors, bikes have become viable city and town transportation. It sure is tempting to let them do all the pedaling! 67 IF YOU CAN picture a five-star luxury hotel room set deep in the wilderness, complete with a chef and butler, you have grasped the basic concept of “glamping.” 64 A DECISION TO not drink alcohol, for whatever reason, does not mean you have to miss out on the cultural aspects, thanks to these booze-free alternatives. 60
I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 55
The Magna Grecia estate fronts the Ionian Sea near the quaint fishing village of Kassiopi on Corfu’s eastern shore, facing the Peloponnese.
The Epitome of
CORFU ELEGANCE
With its spellbinding views of the Ionian Sea, the Magna Grecia estate was designed with grand entertaining in mind By Phil Butler
C
56 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
residences are constructed of triple-thick stone and brick, a measure against earthquakes, and facilities mimic those of the finest five-star hotels. There’s a fully equipped gym with topof-the-line Precor equipment, a massage and steam room, a sauna and jacuzzi, as well as indoor and outdoor swimming pools. The estate even has a cellar with a cognac bar reminiscent of an exclusive London or Paris club. Rounding out the interiors, the estate has its own media room with a huge 158-inch movie screen and a Dolby Atmos system, a library, formal and casual dining areas, sitting spaces, and even a self-sustained safe room. The Magna Grecia estate grounds feature sculpted lawns, fragrant rare plants, walkways and terraces with fiberoptic lighting, an outdoor kitchen and BBQ area, and a private 62-foot jetty with security and shore electricity for docking boats and watersport vehicles. The property includes an osmosis water system, rainwater collection and filtration system, underground water tanks and supply, custom shatter-resistant windows with sun filters, and a 160-kilowatt emergency generator. Three Kawasaki golf carts are used for owners and guests to traverse the 4.56-acre grounds. Phil Butler is a publisher, editor, author, and analyst who is a widely cited expert on subjects ranging from digital and social media to travel technology.
MAGNA GRECIA CORFU, GREECE PRICE ON REQUEST • 11 BEDROOMS • 15 BATHROOMS • 2,215 SQUARE METERS (23,842 SQUARE FEET) • 18,461 SQUARE METERS (4.56 ACRES) KEY FEATURES: • PRIVILEGED LOCATION • UNCOMPROMISING SECURITY • FINE INTERIORS AND FINISHES • PRIVATE QUAY AND SEASIDE • THREE RESIDENCES AGENT SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY - GREECE DESPINA LAOU, HEAD OF PRIVATE OFFICE +30 695 169 0565
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF SOTHEBY'S INTERNATIONAL REALTY - GREECE
orfu. Just the name evokes visions of paradise. Here, elegant villas line perfect beaches kissed by the aquamarine of the Ionian Sea. Island life in this part of Greece is graced by both epic beauty and ancient myth. Surrounded by such an ideal setting, the Magna Grecia estate, for sale via Sotheby’s Greece (price on request), is a rare treasure waiting for the discerning new owner. Surrounded by beautiful grounds and blessed with spellbinding views, the property features 11 sumptuous bedrooms and 15 baths, laid out across 23,842 square feet in three residences. The main house, connected to the other residences by underground access, offers four luxurious suites. A second residence boasts five more plush bedrooms, while the gatehouse offers two more. Each of the residences has its own professionally equipped kitchen fitted with Miele and Electrolux appliances and suited for family dining or extravagant entertainment events. The property, which was designed with entertaining on a grand scale in mind, is a blend of relaxed living combined with exquisite attention to detail. From the latest KNX smart home technology installed throughout, to sophisticated surveillance and security systems, Magna Grecia’s designers left nothing to chance. This unique property is surrounded by stone walls and is protected with moving sensor technology. The
The bedroom suites carry over the atmosphere of cool elegance and openness. There’s a sense of completeness without clutter, a feeling that someone was paying close attention to aesthetics and utility.
The media room is large enough to seat 15, and it features state-of-the-art projection, a massive viewing screen, and full Dolby Atmos sound.
Every space in the residences takes full advantage of the location, the light, and a sense of open comfort even in lush private spaces.
Inside the residences, an air of contemporary chic is accented by fine traditional materials and fixtures. The overall effect is a warm, inviting sense of finery and attention to detail.
The wine cellar and lounge bar is a transportive affair with an ambiance that reminds one of a classy London or Paris private club, only right at home. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 57
Travel Hungary
Fisherman’s Bastion was built between 1895 and 1902 to celebrate Hungary’s 1,000th anniversary.
Best of Budapest
Grand delights and little discoveries abound in Hungary’s capital By Tim Johnson
B
58 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
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NATURAL hotsprnig
renow df
vhemad
B u da p e s t i t sp a .
Once dilapidated, these spaces have become a staple of Budapest’s nightlife. That includes the Szechenyi Baths, where builders drilled the first thermal hot springs back in the 1870s. In 1896, Hungary celebrated its 1000th birthday and held a national exhibition, building a number of installations like the monument on Hero’s Square, and plans for a more elegant home for the baths started to take shape. By 1909, construction began on the palace walls, designed by Gyozo Czigler, an architect at Budapest Technical University whose imprint remains on other important spots in the city. Named for Count Istvan
FROM LEFT: V_E/SHUTTERSTOCK, SHUTTERSTOCK, THE EPOCH TIMES, UNGVARI ATTILA/SHUTTERSTOCK, MISTERVLAD/SHUTTERSTOCK
udapest is full of surprises. With grand buildings rising on both sides of the Danube River and connected by a series of soaring bridges, it is undeniably one of Europe’s most dramatic capitals. The riverbanks are preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is a place where you could spend days just marveling at the Danube, walking up to the heights of Fisherman’s Bastion on the Buda side, and just taking in the sweep of things. Until 1873, there were two separate cities— Buda, on one side, and Pest (pronounced “pesht”) on the other. Once united, it became a power center in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a twin royal capital with Vienna. The legacy remains in its architecture, handsome and impressive buildings like the National Opera House, St. Stephen’s Basilica, and the Neo-Gothic Hungarian Parliament Building (which, lit up dramatically at night, is featured in almost every tourist brochure for
the city). Now restored to their original glory, no longer diminished by the difficult decades in the 20th century when Hungary was one of the largest countries in the Soviet Union’s Eastern Bloc, these masterpieces shine, day and night.
Travel Hungary Szechenyi (regarded as the greatest Hungarian), the first structure was completed in 1913, and quickly became one of the city’s most popular gathering places. That was still the case when I visited. Paying a modest fee (about $20) for a package that included a private changing cabin plus disposable slippers and a shrink-wrapped robe and towel, I enjoyed slipping in and out of the many pools, which range in temperature from 64 degrees to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, taking my time inside before scampering through a chilly afternoon to the bigger pools outside. It was a perfect way to start the day, and I felt energized by the mineral-rich waters. It was now time to explore beyond. You can visit the Buda Castle on the quieter side of the river, which dates back to 1265, the centerpiece of a cobblestone quarter accessible by bus, foot, or funicular. It includes churches, houses, and grand monuments spanning a variety of eras from medieval to baroque to neoclassical, all located on a very steep hill and overlooking the Danube. But Pest is the heart of the action. Forming what most North Americans would consider Budapest’s “downtown,” here you’ll find a dense web of pedestrian lanes, including the famous Fashion Street, home to top shops. At restaurants along the way, you can sample dishes seasoned with paprika, the national spice, as well as
The legacy remains in its handsome architecture.
BUDA
PEST
Budapest consists of two cities that straddle the Danube River: Buda and Pest.
the most beautiful synagogues in Europe, as well If You Go as spots like Karavan, a Getting Around: collection of food trucks If you’re staying that cook up everything in Pest, it’s best from traditional chimto walk, as that ney cakes, prepared over side of the river is relatively flat and charcoal, as well as lanwalker-friendly, gos, a savory fry bread on pedestrianized topped with sour cream streets. Otherwise, and grated cheese. you’ll find an efficient subway And “ruin bars.” Once and bus network, dilapidated and conplus the taxisidered uninhabitable, hailing service Bolt these spaces have works well. become a staple Stay: The Four of Budapest’s Seasons Gresham Palace is one of nightlife. Perhaps Europe’s most the best example can celebrated hotels. be found at Szimpla Kert. Take Note: While Formerly a small apartHungary is in the ment complex, from the EU, it doesn’t run on outside, it looks like the euros. Use an ATM whole structure could or an exchange to get some Hungarian collapse. Inside, you can Forints (HUFs)—$1 imbibe at more than a will get you about half dozen individual 325 HUFs. bars, serving up local beer and cocktails. Grab your drink, and enjoy it, in all sorts of spaces. From bicycles to bathtubs, all of the items surrounding you were found in the original structure. It’s gritty and lovely. If you come by in the afternoon, you’ll find a laidback place, perfect for a brew and a chat. In the evening, parties rock until (almost) the break of dawn. But that was far too late for me. After an early evening drink, I headed back to my hotel. Tomorrow? Maybe a walk across the Chain Bridge, and another soak at Szechenyi. But for the night, I was happy to retire with a nice bottle of Egri Bikaver, ease into sleep, eager to explore much more in the morning. Tim Johnson is based in Toronto. He has visited 140 countries across all seven continents.
The Szechenyi Baths were opened in 1913. The outdoor thermal baths were added in 1927. Artesian wells provide the supply of geothermal water. Hungarian wines. Generally unappreciated in the West, Hungarian wine has been made since the fifth century, and the country is home to 22 distinct wine regions. I wandered through the green spaces of Erzsebet Square, riding the heights of the Budapest Eye and spending time in the Jewish Quarter, a place of exceptional intellectual ferment in the second half of the 19th century. Now you can visit one of
The opulent Szechenyi Baths offer outdoor pools, indoor plunge pools, saunas, and steam rooms.
The Parliament’s façade is inspired by the Gothic style, while inside, the floor plan is Baroque. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 59
ALL OF THE SPIRIT, NONE OF THE BOOZE:
Nonalcoholic Drinks for Any Occasion By Bill Lindsey
FOR THOSE WHO CHOOSE NOT TO
imbibe alcohol to cut calories or avoid headaches, you can still enjoy a cold beer after work, an afternoon G&T, or a merlot to enhance dinner.
Taste of the Caribbean
Fluère Spiced Cane $26.95 This rum alternative is crafted from Dominican sugarcane molasses and a blend of botanicals from four continents, which are hydrosteam distilled to ensure a full, rich rum aroma and flavor. Ideal as an old-fashioned or enjoyed with cola over ice.
As Dry as London Is Damp Lyre’s Dry London Spirit $35.99
Bourbon Without the Kick
An afternoon gin and tonic is as traditional as Big Ben striking drinking hour, but in the case of this nonalcoholic gin alternative, it’s all about the flavor with none of the alcohol. Pepperberry provides the expected dry finish, interspersed with a hint of juniper and citrus.
Agave-Amazing Ritual Tequila Alternative $28.99 Margarita lovers will be yelling “Viva!” as they enjoy familiar agave, mesquite, and lime flavors with zero calories and no “morning-after” effects. Rated 98 out of a possible 100 by the Beverage Tasting Institute, customers often report a “giddy” placebo effect. 60 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
An Old World Brew Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Alkoholfrei $12.99 (6-pack) This wheat beer has all the aroma and zest of a traditional German brew but without the alcohol. The refreshing flavor makes it an ideal choice after playing a rousing game of soccer or just watching one on TV.
For the Red Wine Lovers LePetit Chavin Merlot$26.00 Made by the Pierre Chavin winery in France from grapes harvested at night when the temperature is lower and sugar levels most stable, this ruby red wine is a perfect choice for steaks, cheese, salmon, or tuna. The fruity flavor is balanced yet vibrant.
COURTESY OF FLUÈRE, LYRE’S, SPIRITLESS, RITUAL, WEIHENSTEPHANER, LEPETIT CHAVIN
Spiritless Kentucky 74 $35.99 Kentucky 74 was created by a group that was unable to find a nonalcoholic bourbon and decided to make their own. It’s crafted with neutral grain spirits and charred American oak, then a reverse-distilling method removes all but 0.5 percent of the alcohol content.
The Well-Behaved Pup
Sit, Stay, Good Pup!
Pets need to be well-behaved with good manners, and a system of treats and rewards makes training fun By Bill Lindsey Pet training is all about building a strong relationship. To your dog, you are the pack leader and the center of their universe. With patience and love, your fur baby can be the envy of the dog park.
1
Be Patient
4
Even Sara Carson’s Super Collies from “America’s Got Talent” were once rambunctious puppies; training a dog takes a lot of time and works much better when you have a plan. Your dog wants to make you happy; they are incredibly sensitive to our emotions, so don’t get frustrated or yell. The simple reward of “good boy” or “good girl” lets them know they are loved and makes training fun. Add a treat and they’ll be blissed.
PRATT ∙ KRIEDRICH PHOTOGRAPHY
2
Start With the Basics
Techniques used to train service dogs provide a great foundation. The Seeing Eye dog foundation starts with simple commands such as sit, stay, and come, using the dog’s name, hand signals, and verbal praise. Another important command is “wait” or “hold.” Not all dogs can do tricks like Carson’s Super Collies, and that’s OK. The Animal Health Foundation says pets alleviate depression, reduce stress, and lower blood pressure; a dog snuggled next to you providing unconditional love is the best trick of all.
Treat Me!
Treats are an excellent reward for good behavior, but need to be used judiciously; a tubby dog is a sign you are giving too many treats! Ask your veterinarian for food and treat suggestions, and always read the ingredients and country of origin; beef-based treats from the United States or South American countries tend to be safe. Many dogs love apples, broccoli, and carrots. Treats can also come in the form of a favorite activity such as “walkies” or a “goforride.”
3
Pay Attention
Dogs crave the structure of a pack and your approval as the pack leader. When working on new commands or just relaxing, make eye contact while speaking to them, rewarding good behavior affectionately. During training and play sessions, make sure they don’t physically overdo it; sudden lethargy, an unusual yelp, or a limp could all be a sign something is amiss. They may not be able to talk, but if you pay attention, you’ll realize they are communicating with you.
5
Eliminate Bad Habits
Barking at other dogs or strangers, pulling on the leash, and chewing on objects are normal, so don’t get upset. To correct excessive barking or tugging on the leash when out for a walk, react with a gentle pull on the leash and a “hush” and “sit” command. A pocket full of treats can greatly expedite the learning phase. If the dog chews on furniture, it may be bored, so give it a new toy and apply a “no-chew” spray found at most pet stores.
I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 61
Epoch Booklist
RECOMMENDED READING NONFICTION
‘Wilful Blindness: How a Network of Narcos, Tycoons and CCP Agents Infiltrated the West’
By Sam Cooper
The CCP and Transnational Drug Crime Cooper’s extensively researched book is essentially a very long investigative report—one that reads like an unfolding mystery. It exposes how the Chinese Communist Party works with corrupt businesses and corrupt governments to import deadly drugs to the West. OPTIMUM PUBLISHING INTERNATIONAL, 2021, 472 PAGES
FICTION
‘Tales From The Perilous Realm’
By J.R.R. Tolkien
Stories for All Ages This collection of short stories will enchant fans of Tolkien and
This week, we delve into transnational drug crime, as well as advice written 2,000 years ago by a Roman emperor.
Middle Earth. The light-hearted, humorous tales include, among others, the adventures of Tom Bombadil; Roverandom, a dog that is turned into a toy by a sand sorcerer and goes on a fantastic adventure; and Farmer Giles of Ham, who must reluctantly defend his village from a dragon. It also includes Tolkien’s reflections on what he calls “fairy-stories,” a good read for those interested in folklore. WILLIAM MORROW, 2021, 432 PAGES
‘Rules for Old Men Waiting’
By Peter Pouncey
Beauty, Loss, Triumph, and Death Retired historian Robert MacIver is dying. He writes out a list of rules he will follow as death approaches. He spends his final days on Cape Cod in the old house where he and his beloved wife had spent so many days together. MacIver writes a strange novella about three soldiers in the trenches in World War I, reminisces about his wife and his son, a casualty of the Vietnam War, and fights to keep the house warm and himself fed. A beautifully written story about a
62 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
Are there books you’d recommend? We’d love to hear from you. Let us know at features@epochtimes.com
brave man, warts and all. RANDOM HOUSE, 2006, 240 PAGES
‘Room 39 and the Lisbon Connection’
By Anthony Wells
Mission: Keep Portugal’s Ports Free In Britain during the late 1930s and early 1940s, many top-secret gatherings were held in Room 39 of the British Admiralty near Whitehall. There, Prime Minister Winston Churchill met with his key military leaders to discuss next steps against Germany’s Adolf Hitler. A key figure in some discussions was Lt. Cmdr. Ian Fleming, whose role in British intelligence would serve as background for his later creation of James Bond. XLIBRIS, 2021, 228 PAGES.
PRODUCTIVITY
‘Free to Focus’
By Michael Hyatt
Do Less, Achieve More
This book is for anyone who would like to enjoy more freedom in their lives by pruning their garden (so to speak) so that the most vibrant plants can thrive. If you’re stuck on “busy” at all times or if you’re consistently overwhelmed, you might just find the insights to be what you need for a life that’s less busy and more meaningful.
RANDOM HOUSE, 2003, 256 PAGES
BAKER BOOKS, 2019, 256 PAGES
By Virginia Lee Burton
CLASSICS
This award-winning book tells the story of a house built in the country that over time becomes surrounded by city skyscrapers and is then moved back to the countryside. A gentle tale for the little ones about change and endurance.
‘Meditations’
CLARION BOOKS, 2017, 44 PAGES
By Marcus Aurelius
FOR KIDS
‘The Little House’
Little House in the Big City
A Gift From an Emperor Known as one of the “Five Good Emperors,” Marcus Aurelius left the world this guide to stoic ideas and practices. Written nearly 2,000 years ago, his notes to himself are a gold mine of advice on interacting with the world while keeping our personal honor intact, the importance of fulfilling our obligations, and dealing with both joy and sorrow. Statesmen, generals, and business executives have found value in “Meditations,” as have so many other readers from different stations in life. A great read to start the New Year.
‘It’s My Birthday’
By Helen Oxenbury
Birthday Fun This simple board book starts out with a young child’s declaration, “It’s my birthday and I’m going to make a cake.” Adorable illustrations, a singular focus, and a gathering of friends in celebration culminate in a truly sweet story. CANDLEWICK PRESS, 2010, 24 PAGES
Ian Kane is a U.S. Army veteran, filmmaker, and author. He enjoys the great outdoors and volunteering.
FILM REVIEWS
Epoch Watchlist
This week, we suggest a moving biopic about friendship as well as a true story about a teacher who helps his underprivileged students.
NEW RELEASE
FAMILY PICK
‘The Ron Clark Story’ (2006)
‘See for Me’ (2022)
CRIME | DR AMA | MYSTERY
Sophie (Skyler Davenport) is a former pro skier who is now blind and lives with her overprotective mother. One outlet for her to express her fiercely independent nature is by house-sitting the mansions of wealthy folks on vacation. But when some criminals break into one of the estates Sophie’s watching, she’s forced to use some unorthodox methods in order to have a chance at survival. It starts off as an intriguing thriller, but its gimmick of “poor blind girl threatened by big bad men” begins to sag around the second act.
Release Date: Jan. 7, 2022 Director: Randall Okita Starring: Skyler Davenport, Natalie Brown, Matthew Gouveia Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes MPAA Rating: Not Rated Where to Watch: Theaters
CLASSIC SHOOT ‘EM UP WESTERN good old-fashioned bushwhackin’. It’s not only well shot, but it also has a surprising amount of ambience. AC TION | DR AM A | WES TERN
‘Winchester ’73’ (1950) When Lin McAdam (James Stewart) wins a unique rifle, the runner-up steals it. Thus begins Lin’s obsessive pursuit of the thieving scallywag.
This Wild West adventure yarn is certainly one heck of a humdinger, with a lot of thrills, plot twists, double-crosses, shootouts, and
Release Date: July 12, 1950 Director: Anthony Mann Starring: James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes Rating: Passed Where to Watch: Vudu, Starz, DirectTV
Ron Clark (Matthew Perry) is a gifted young teacher who’s appreciated at his small-town elementary school. However, he feels that he needs to challenge himself more. He packs up and moves to New York, where he begins teaching at a rundown inner-city school. Will his unorthodox teaching methods work with kids that society has largely turned its back on? This uplifting cinematic experience
shows that children have untapped potential waiting to be realized. A truly great film. BIOGR APHY | DR AMA
Release Date: Aug. 13, 2006 Director: Randa Haines Starring: Matthew Perry, Judith Buchan, Griffin Cork Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes MPAA Rating: TV-PG Where to Watch: Peacock, Ruku, Tubi
TOP BIOGRAPHY
‘The King’s Speech’ (2010) As World War II looms over Europe, Prince Albert (Colin Firth) of Great Britain must prepare his nation for war as he transcends to his position as king. His speech impediment complicates things, so Albert seeks out a speech therapist. Little does he know what miraculous discoveries lie ahead. The acting here is extraordinary—especially Geoffrey Rush as the therapist who harbors some secrets. The script is also
multifaceted and full of nuance, which is skillfully conveyed via top-flight filmmaking. BIOGR APHY | DR AMA | HISTORY
Release Date: Dec. 25, 2010 Director: Tom Hooper Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter Running Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes MPAA Rating: R Where to Watch: Vudu, Starz, DirectTV
I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 63
Who says all 5-star resorts are hotels? Glamping is enjoying decadent luxury in unspoiled settings. PHOTO BY MOISE SEBASTIAN/SHUTTERSTOCK
By Bill Lindsey
Lifestyle Glamping
This southwestern U.S. “glamping” resort features Conestoga wagons transformed into luxurious cabins.
While we doubt the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills go camping, they might consider it when they see how much fun the outdoors can be while you are swathed in luxury
COURTESY OF CAPITAL REEF RESORT
T
he COVID -19 pandemic and resulting isolation caused by air travel and hotel and resort disruptions have led many to look outdoors for a way to spend quality time with friends and family. As a result, camping has never been more popular in the United States, with the sales of RVs and camping gear soaring and many campgrounds across the country being filled to capacity. However, the traditional concept of enjoying the great outdoors while sleeping on the ground in a leaky tent full of swarming mosquitoes while hoping the bear outside doesn’t eat you isn’t the only option. More people than ever are choosing an outdoor vacation to a hotel stay, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re all roughing it.
Glamorous camping, better known as “glamping,” is focused on enjoying the outdoors while swathed in luxury. The appeal is easy to understand: Spending time in the wilderness recharges the spirit, and by staying in the lap of luxury, you get all of the adventure and none of the ordeal associated with camping. How is glamping different from traditional camping? Think of a suite at the Four Seasons, but with really fresh air. All across the globe, there are “glamping” resorts dedicated to providing five-star experiences far from the city. In Greenough, Montana, just east of Missoula, Montana, lies The Resort at Paws Up, situated on 37,000 acres of land rolling across a working cattle ranch and pristine wilderness that a 10-mile section of the Blackfoot River flows through.
Once owned and operated by the sons of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, the ranch now welcomes guests year-round to take part in authentic cattle roundups, soar in hot-air balloons, cast for salmon in the roaring river crossing the ranch, cross-country ski, ride fat-tire bikes through the snow, or simply bask in the splendor of the surroundings. Regardless of how they spend their days, nights at the ranch are spent in luxuriously appointed riverfront wall tents, complete with a chef to prepare gourmet meals and a butler to attend to the guests’ every whim. Traditional homes equipped with Lexus SUVs are also available, as are combinations of a traditional home and a luxury wall tent for those families or groups where not everyone sleeps well with only a thin layer of fabric separating them from the great outdoors. Those seeking more traditional Western accommodations will do well to consider The Capital Reef Resort adjacent to the national park in Utah bearing the same name. Despite the “reef” name, this resort is in southern Utah, far from I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 65
Lifestyle Glamping
LIFESTYLE
MAKE CAMPING FUN AGAIN How to make the great outdoors a luxury resort
Luxuriously appointed tents set in the unspoiled wilderness are an amazing setting for a relaxing vacation.
By staying in the lap of luxury, you get all the adventure and none of the ordeal associated with camping.
66 I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022
Pick Your Destination Glampsites and resorts are located in almost every country around the world, with varying levels of decadence. This allows campers to fine-tune the experience to exactly suit their desires.
2 DIY Glamping Glamping can also be a DIY effort, not just reserved for stays at highend resorts. Start by getting a larger tent, bringing a plush pillow, and packing fresh food. The posher the gear, the higher the comfort level.
3 Treehouse or Tipi
Hungry? Catch dinner in the stream running past your campsite, and let the chef prepare it.
Nature is somehow better when enjoyed from the comfort of a lushly appointed wall tent, treehouse, teepee, or yurt. In glamping, the overnight accommodations and surroundings play a major part in the overall experience.
FROM TOP: COURTESY OF FIRELIGHT CAMPS, COURTESY OF PAWS UP
any ocean. Guests can stay in Conestoga wagons converted into plush cabins or in colorfully painted teepees, all featuring unobstructed, breathtaking views of nearby mountains full of ancient petroglyphs and pictographs. On the West Coast of the United States at Ventana Big Sur, guests stay overnight in one of 15 safari-style wall tents equipped with heated blankets on kingsized beds, with gas and wood-burning firepits warding off the chill as you enjoy nature’s symphony at the 160-acre resort. In upstate New York, guests at Firelight Camps at Ithaca’s La Tourelle Resort and Spa enjoy luxury tents set in the forest. Each elevated tent is essentially a fabric-lined deluxe hotel room, featuring hardwood floors, plush king or queensized beds, private balconies, battery-powered lanterns with USB charging ports, and a writing desk and chair, with a continental breakfast served each morning. Glamping isn’t just reserved for resorts. Do-it-yourselfers can transform their camping experience by dialing up the comfort factor. For example, you could upgrade to a more comfortable sleeping bag and bringing a hotel-grade pillow, then stepping up to packing a cooler full of steaks and ice cream, as well as
fresh vegetables in place of dining on dehydrated meals in a bag. Going from a two-person tent to a large wall tent equipped with a wood-burning stove and cots piled thick with down comforters is a major game-changer. Next, consider available campsites far from the hustle and bustle of a typical campground. Backcountry sites will be more likely to have wildlife as neighbors, but they can be difficult to reach and typically lack amenities such as showers and restroom facilities, so you need to determine if the increased tranquility afforded by isolation is worthwhile. Except for the pillow, most glamping techniques won’t work for hardcore backpackers, because you’ll need a sizable vehicle, possibly with four-wheel drive, that has plenty of room for gear and the proper off-road permits to access wilderness campgrounds. Start off slow, adding to the comfort level, and soon you’ll be camping in style and loving every moment. Don’t forget the butler!
1
Luxury Living Personal
PEDAL POWER IS GOOD, BUT ADD ELECTRICITY TO MAKE IT BETTER Whether you live in a big city or a small town, riding a bike combines fresh air and exercise. Choosing an e-bike might allow you to leave the car home. By Bill Lindsey
TINY DYNAMO
SUPERMAN’S BIKE
Rad Power RadRunner 2
Specialized Kenevo SL – Superlight Turbo Mountain Bike
$1,499
FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF RAD POWER, SPECIALIZED, PORSCHE, SIXTHREEZERO, AVENTON
This is the SUV of e-bikes: A stepthrough design makes it easy to ride while 330 accessory combinations allow it to transport up to 300 pounds of cargo, pets, kids, and more. The 750-watt motor provides a range of up to 45 miles per charge.
$9,000
Mountain bikes are popular on city streets due to their rugged and simple design. Enhancing pedal power with a 240-watt electric motor makes this the ultimate, ride-anywhere choice with an adjustable carbon fiber and integral suspension frame that laughs off city potholes. Add a rack and a cape, and you’re good to go.
2-PEDAL PORSCHE
Porsche eBike Sport $10,700
EASY RIDER
Sixthreezero e-bike AroundtheBlock 250w $1,099.88
Classic lines make this a great choice for anyone who prefers a “real bike” look. The comfortable upright riding position ensures excellent visibility, while the 250-watt motor provides speeds up to 24 miles per hour for up to 30 miles. Well-equipped with a cargo rack, disc brakes, full fenders, and enclosed cables.
This joint effort by Porsche and RotWild mountain bikes is urban transportation that doubles as artwork. Cables and LED lights are tucked away to prevent snags, while a 630-watt motor linked to an 11-speed transmission provides speeds of up to 15.5 miles per hour for a range of up to 77 miles.
CLASSIC STYLE
Aventon Level Commuter Bike $1,799
This no-nonsense e-bike comes ready to work with a pre-installed rack. Full fenders help prevent puddle-splattered clothes while grippy disc brakes and front fork suspension tame city streets. With a top speed of 28 miles per hour and up to 40 miles of range, it’s reliable and practical. I N S I G H T January 14 – 20, 2022 67
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