Epoch Insight 24 (2023)

Untested Legal Theory

the prosecution of former president Donald Trump on federal charges is unprecedented in many respects.

No former president has faced federal charges before, and the case is based on novel legal theories.

Trump on June 13 pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include violating the Espionage Act, as well as conspiracy and obstruction, based on allegations that he and one of his aides conspired to move boxes containing classified documents.

In this week’s cover story, Epoch Times reporter Petr Svab talks to legal experts about the charges, their impact, and Trump’s potential defenses.

When it comes to the Espionage Act, one former federal prosecutor said it “has never been used to prosecute in this sort of a setting.”

Meanwhile, former FBI agent and whistleblower Steve Friend believes there’s a “weaponization” of process crime charges taking place, in which initial cases may be flimsy but nevertheless can result in charges like obstruction of justice.

Trump on his part has vowed to challenge the charges and says the prosecution is delib erate and amounts to election interference.

Beyond the case brought against Trump in Miami, it’s possible that special counsel Jack Smith will bring another in Washington. And a separate election-related investigation in Fulton County, Georgia, could also see the former president charged.

To understand the charges in the federal case, Trump’s response, and what to expect next, read the story on page 14.

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Former President Donald Trump’s indictment over classified documents is built on weak legal theory, experts say.

CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

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30 | US ‘Woke’ Agenda

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56 | China’s Recovery

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57 | Distressed Debt

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58 | US Jobs Market

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59 | ESG Investing

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60 | US Inflation

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THE

14 |

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The new Trump indictment rests on untested legal theory, experts say.

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76 | Treasure Hunting

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SPOTLIGHT

Tomato Fight Festival

CHILDREN THROW TOMATOES at each other during the celebration of the Colombian Tomato Festival in Sutamarchan, Colombia, on June 11. In this annual festival, locals and tourists throw ripe tomatoes to celebrate the harvest season.

PHOTO BY DIEGO CUEVAS/GETTY IMAGES

The Week

Sucralose plays a role in a range of health issues, research finds.

Researchers Discover Popular Sweetener Damages DNA 52

Taxing the Rich

When the government attempts to tax the rich, the rest of the country ends up paying the bill, an economist says.  22

Woke Movement

U.S. far-left ideology has failed to find a solid footing in Latin American countries.  30

‘Forever Chemicals’

The chemical industry has been hiding the harmful effects of PFAS, documents show.

48

PHOTO BY DJELICS/ GETTY IMAGES

300,000 IMMIGRANTS

The Department of Homeland Security has extended the temporary legal status of 300,000 immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, citing environmental disasters in those countries.

$240 BILLION

The U.S. government’s budget deficit in May surged to $240 billion, up from $66 billion a year ago, according to the Treasury Department.

19,000 QUERIES

U.S. intelligence agencies have used a foreign intelligence tool to spy on 19,000 congressional campaign donors, among whom only eight had suspected foreign ties that would justify the use of the authority.

$247 Billion

Federal officials made more than $247 billion in improper payments in 2022, with more than half of the total coming from five major Medicare/ Medicaid programs, according to government watchdog Open the Books.

19 STATES A coalition of 19 states has filed a lawsuit over the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to grant a waiver to California that allows the state to ban the sale of new diesel-powered heavy-duty trucks in 2035.

“[It’s] not a new development that China’s been trying to achieve some intelligence gathering capabilities in Cuba.”

“It will not be easy for any country to devise a way to get around the dollar.”

John Kirby, spokesman, National Security Council, at a briefing to confirm the existence of a Chinese spy base in Cuba that dates back to the Trump administration

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, affirming the U.S. dollar’s international status as the chief reserve currency

DHS Sought to Assign ‘Risk Scores’ to Social Media Users: Documents

the department of h omeland s ecurity sought to assign “risk scores” to social media users as part of an initiative dubbed “Night Fury,” documents obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request show.

Night Fury sought to develop a methodology for combing through social media posts and content to identify potential criminal or terrorist activity.

According to a complaint made to the Office of the Inspector General, the data collected under the program included social media posts, photos, and videos. The inspector general ruled that sufficient safeguards had not been put in place on the program to respect the privacy of U.S. citizens.

Illinois Becomes 1st State to Punish Public Libraries for Banning Books

illinois has become the first state to penalize public libraries for removing books, under a new law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat.

The law requires public libraries across Illinois to adhere to the Chicago-based American Library Association’s Bill of Rights in order to remain eligible for state funding.

The stated goal of the law, which takes effect in January 2024, is to encourage libraries to either adopt the association’s standards or develop their own policies that “prohibit the practice of banning specific books or resources.” Its Democrat proponents claim the law is necessary to counter censorship demands from what they call “far-right extremist groups,” while Republican opponents have denounced the effort as government overreach.

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more than 109,000 americans died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending in January, a 0.7 percent increase from the previous year, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

US Inflation Slows to 2-Year Low

the annual inflation rate slowed to 4 percent in May, from 4.9 percent a month earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This came in below the consensus estimate of 4.1 percent and represented the lowest level since March 2021.

On a month-over-month basis, the consumer price index rose just 0.1 percent, down from 0.4 percent and below the market estimate of 0.2 percent.

Customers check out at Lincoln Market in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., on June 12.

The Week in Short World

US to Send $325 Million in New Military Aid to Ukraine

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Japan’s PM Announces ‘Last Chance’ to Reverse Declining Birth Rate

japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida has announced measures to reverse the country’s falling birth rate, warning that Japan has entered its “last chance” period to address the crisis and avoid facing a “shrinking” society.

The number of newborns in Japan fell to 770,747 in 2022, down 40,875 from the previous year and the lowest since the country began record-keeping in 1899, according to the Health Ministry.

The fertility rate, the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime, fell to 1.26 last year from 1.3 in 2021. The number is far below the 2.07 rate necessary to sustain a stable population.

Kishida said the low birth rate is “a massive problem” that requires urgent action from the government, given its effects on the country’s econo

my and society.

Peru Reports Nearly 150,000 Dengue Cases Amid El Niño Rains

peru is battling its worst dengue outbreak in recent years, with almost 200 reported deaths and nearly 150,000 cases, which is being blamed on the El Niño climate phenomenon.

There have been 145,529 total cases of dengue infection in the country as of June 13, according to data from Peru’s National Center for Epidemiology, Disease Prevention, and Control. There have been 183 confirmed deaths.

More than 1,300 people are being hospitalized daily.

Dengue is a virus carried by Aedes species mosquitoes that are most prevalent in regions with tropical and subtropical climates. Peruvian health authorities are blaming El Niño as a key factor for the current surge in dengue cases.

BELARUS

Belarus Begins Taking Delivery of Russian Nuclear Weapons

belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko says his country has begun taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said are three times more powerful than the bombs that the United States dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

The Russian leader announced in March he had agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, pointing to the U.S. deployment of such weapons in a host of European countries over many decades.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks in Tokyo on June 13.

Ground personnel unload military aid from the United States at Boryspil Airport in Boryspil, Ukraine, on Jan. 25, 2022.

FINAL WAR’: A FILM ABOUT THE REAL EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES

It’s not climate change. It’s not raging inflation or even the national debt. The real threat to the United States and to the world is the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) 100-year plan to defeat America and establish world domination. There’s no urgency in the mainstream media. That’s why “The Final War” had to be made. Anchored by senior investigative reporter Joshua Philipp, and one-and-a-half years in the making, “The

Final War” is a film that is so relevant to current events and so important that we’re offering it to EVERYONE for free. It will answer your questions about the pandemic, the impending invasion of Taiwan, and how the CCP works to keep the United States occupied with at least four global adversaries.

See the film. Know the danger. Be prepared. The final war is already underway.

‘THE

(Right) Dancers get ready to attend the Santo Antonio de Lisboa parade, which celebrates the city’s protector saint, St. Anthony, in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 12.

(Right) Participants wash their horses in the River Eden during the Appleby Horse Fair in Appleby, England, on June 9.

(Right) Children fly kites along a beach at al-Shati camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza city on June 13.

The Week in Photos

(Left) A ladybug steps across the leaves of a plant in a communal garden in Berlin on June 13.

(Above) A newly ordained Catholic priest celebrates with friends and relatives outside the Duomo Cathedral in Milan, Italy, on June 10.

(Above) A view during sunset of Cáceres, Spain, on June 13. The old town of Cáceres, founded by the ancient Romans and known for its 12th-century Arab architecture, is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

TRUMP CHARGES

TRUMP CASE RESTS ON UNTESTED LEGAL THEORY

‘The Espionage Act has never been used to prosecute in this sort of a setting,’ says former federal prosecutor

By Petr Svab

Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., on June 13, following his appearance in a Miami court.

PHOTO BY SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES

The indictment of former President Donald Trump for holding military documents and obstructing the government from taking them is built on a novel legal theory that has multiple weaknesses, according to several lawyers and other experts.

Trump was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to all 37 charges on June 13 and then laid out some details of his defense in a subsequent speech.

“Threatening me with 400 years of prison for possessing my own presidential papers, which just about every other president has done, is one of the most outrageous and vicious legal theories ever put forward in an American court of law,” Trump said.

The case has been portrayed in the media as being about Trump’s retention of classified documents from his presidency. However, the charges sidestep that issue and instead use a clause in the Espionage Act that criminalizes a failure to hand over national defense information. The indictment further alleges that Trump and staffer Waltine Nauta hid some documents when the government demanded them through a subpoena.

The alleged act violations impose a high burden of proof and raise the question of whether the statute should have been applied to begin with and, if not, whether the underlying investigation should serve as a basis for obstruction charges, some lawyers told The Epoch Times.

“The key legal issue here is the interplay between the Presidential Records Act and the Espionage Act,” said Will Scharf, a former federal prosecutor.

The Presidential Records Act of 1978 stipulates that after a president leaves office, the National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) takes custody of all of his official records.

The law allows former presidents to keep personal documents such as “diaries, journals, or other personal notes” not used for government business.

“If a former President or Vice Presi-

CHARGES

TRUMP HAS PLEADED not guilty to all 37 charges, which include conspiring to obstruct justice and unlawfully retaining government secrets.

dent finds Presidential records among personal materials, he or she is expected to contact NARA in a timely manner to secure the transfer of those Presidential records to NARA,” the archives’ website states.

However, the Presidential Records Act isn’t a criminal statute. If a former president refuses to turn over some documents or claims documents that are obviously official as personal, the worst he could face is a civil lawsuit.

There’s little case law on such matters. In 2012, Judicial Watch tried to force former President Bill Clinton to turn over dozens of interview tapes from his presidency that he had kept. Clinton claimed that the tapes were personal, and the court sided with him. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an appointee of

When the FBI raided Trump’s home in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 8, 2022, they found 102 documents with classified markings in the storage room and in Trump’s office.

President Barack Obama, went so far as to argue that the court had no way to second-guess a president’s assertion of what is or isn’t personal.

“Since the President is completely entrusted with the management and even the disposal of Presidential records during his time in office, it would be difficult for this Court to conclude that Congress intended that he would have less authority to do what he pleases with what he considers to be his personal records,” Jackson wrote.

Trump called the case the “crucial legal precedent” that allowed him to keep whatever documents he wanted to keep. He noted that the Clinton tapes included conversations on sensitive topics such as trade negotiations and military activities, as well as conver-

sations with foreign leaders..

The case was tried in the District of Columbia and isn’t a controlling precedent in Florida, where Trump faces the charges.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is now arguing that former presidents can be charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 for possession of documents that they kept from their presidencies.

“That’s a totally novel legal issue,” Scharf said. “It’s never been tested before. The Espionage Act has never been used to prosecute in this sort of a setting.”

Some lawyers believe that the Espionage Act can’t be used this way because it wasn’t meant to be used in such a fashion. Before 1978, former presidents owned all documents from their presi-

dencies, including any national defense information. There has never been any suggestion that their holding on to such documents violated the Espionage Act.

“Congress has been very, very clear ... that the act that applies to presidents and former presidents is the Presidential Records Act. The act that applies to everyone else is the Espionage Act, which has different requirements,” said Jesse Binnall, a lawyer who represented Trump in another matter.

Mike Davis of the conservative Article III Project voiced a similar opinion.

“Even if [the] President declassifies his presidential records and takes them when he leaves office, he can still get charged under Espionage Act. ... Promise that theory won’t fly with [the] Supreme Court,” he wrote in a tweet.

Criminal Intent

Much of the indictment rests on the allegation that Trump kept national defense documents “willfully” and with criminal intent.

Yet the document falls short of providing evidence for such intent.

On May 11, 2022, the DOJ obtained a subpoena compelling Trump to turn over all documents with classification markings, including electronic ones.

One of the key claims is that Trump instructed Nauta to move boxes of documents around before his lawyer came to search the boxes for documents in response to the subpoena.

Nauta allegedly took 64 boxes—three boxes on May 24, 50 boxes on May 20, and 11 boxes on June 1—out of a storage room where Trump had kept items and documents from his presidency and

Former President Donald Trump

moved them to Trump’s residence at the resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Nauta then moved back 30 boxes on June 2, shortly before Trump’s then-lawyer, Evan Corcoran, searched the storage room for the subpoenaed documents, according to the indictment, which refers to security camera footage obtained from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort via a subpoena.

The indictment alleges that the boxes were moved to hide responsive documents from Corcoran. It presents a text message in which Nauta said Trump told him to put some boxes in his room.

“I think he wanted to pick from them,” Nauta wrote to an undisclosed member of Trump’s family, in a text message.

There’s no word of whether Trump, in fact, went through the boxes and, if so, what he was looking for.

The indictment alleges that Trump kept national defense documents “willfully” with criminal intent.

“Threatening me with 400 years of prison for possessing my own presidential papers ... is one of the most outrageous and vicious legal theories.”

“These boxes were containing all types of personal belongings, many many things, shirts and shoes and everything,” Trump said.

Moreover, based on the timeline sketched by the indictment, it’s unclear whether it would have been possible for Trump to review their contents.

“I hadn’t had a chance to go through all the boxes. It’s a long, tedious job—takes a long time—which I was prepared to do, but I have a very busy life,” Trump said.

On Aug. 8, 2022, when the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, 102 documents with classified markings were found in the storage room and in Trump’s office.

Some lawyers have argued that Trump should have challenged the subpoena in court because it was too broad. It’s likely that Trump had many documents with classification markings that had been declassified. Reams of such documents are available online.

Also, the subpoena mentioned nothing about national defense information, which doesn’t need to bear classification markings.

The indictment states that Trump’s alleged crime of willfully retaining 31 specific documents related to national defense started on Jan. 21, 2021, after he allegedly “caused” boxes of materials from his presidency to be shipped to Mar-a-Lago.

Details about moving the boxes to Mar-a-Lago remain unclear. Newsweek reported that 27 boxes were shipped to Trump’s home by accident. Trump’s former lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, said the documents were moved by the General Services Administration.

The indictment doesn’t explain how Trump was supposed to know about these specific documents. It presents no evidence of any criminal intention on Trump’s part to take and keep these documents.

“There are serious, serious legal infirmities in the arguments that they’re using,” Scharf said.

If the Espionage Act charges won’t withstand judicial scrutiny, the additional obstruction charges shouldn’t stand on their own, he argued.

“There’s a longstanding DOJ practice that you don’t indict for obstruction, or for really any process-related crime, unless there’s underlying criminality,” Scharf said. “So if the DOJ launches an investigation into something, somebody allegedly obstructs that investigation, but it turns out the investigation itself wasn’t well founded, that typically won’t result in an indictment.”

When it comes to investigations involving Trump, however, prosecutors have mainly brought process-crime charges alone, such as in the cases of Trump’s former national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, and his 2016 presidential campaign adviser George Papadopoulos.

“I think in this case, especially, you’re seeing this weaponization of process crimes that the FBI has begun to use, where they will, under some flimsy or some circumstantial premise, open an investigation on somebody for something and then during the course of that investigation hope that they can bring charges that are process crimes,” said former FBI agent and whistleblower Steve Friend.

Some commentary on the indictment focused on an audio recording in which Trump talks to a writer and a publisher

for Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff. The transcript indicates Trump took out a document that he said was a plan for an attack on Iran prepared by the U.S. military. Trump called the document “highly confidential” and “secret information,” and the indictment notes that neither the writer nor the publisher had security clearances. But the charges don’t include disclosure of classified information. There’s no indication that the document in question is even among those Trump is charged with illegally retaining.

The Clinton Treatment

There are indications that Trump expected to be able to deal with the government in a similar way as did Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In a CNN town hall earlier this year, Trump said that based on the Presidential Records Act, he was allowed to “negotiate” with NARA on what he could and couldn’t keep as personal items. NARA has rejected such an interpretation, but Trump was likely referring to the 2012 Clinton case.

The indictment also indicates that Trump questioned his lawyers on whether he could handle the subpoena similarly to how Hillary Clinton did

The contrast between the DOJ’s aggressive pursuit of Trump’s case compared to the FBI’s cautious approach in its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails speaks to unequal application of the law, a legal expert says.

in 2015, when her lawyers infamously sorted through her emails from her State Department tenure and had about half of them deleted, claiming that they weren’t work-related. The FBI later found out thousands of work-related emails were missing from the half handed over by her lawyers.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” Trump allegedly asked his lawyers, and recounted the Clinton episode multiple times.

Binnall said that those were “absolutely valid legal questions” for Trump to raise.

“You’re saying, ‘Well, wait a second. If legally [Clinton’s lawyers] were able to do this, and it worked, why can’t we do it the same way?’”

Prosecutorial Misconduct

The latest case against Trump was brought by Jack Smith, a former federal prosecutor who was appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 18, 2022.

Smith has been criticized by Republicans for allowing his prosecutors to go rogue, both in this case and in his prior role as head of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section.

Binnall recalled that a decade ago, prosecutors under Smith violated a defendant’s constitutional rights before a grand jury, leading the court to dismiss charges against the defendant. In the same case, prosecutors seized his client’s phone and failed to use a filter team to prevent the investigators from seeing Binnall’s privileged communications with his client, he said.

In the Trump case, Smith managed to get a judicial order to pierce Trump’s client-attorney privilege during the initial grand jury proceedings in Washington before the case was moved to Florida. But that issue could be relitigated, Binnall suggested.

“I think you’re going to see motions to suppress [evidence] based on the violation of attorney-client privilege,” he said.

Parlatore concurred, telling CBS News that much of the attorney-client communications disclosed in the indictment were legitimate questions from Trump that should never have been disclosed.

“I think that that did irreparably taint the grand jury proceedings,” he said.

Parlatore pointed out that the responsible district court judge, Beryl Howell, handed over Corcoran’s communications with Trump to prosecutors so quickly that it effectively denied Trump the right to appeal that decision and ask the circuit court to put it on hold.

“I would expect that this would get reversed,” he said.

Trump’s lawyers also may try to remove from trial evidence obtained during the Mar-a-Lago raid on the grounds that the search warrant was overbroad, according to William Shipley, a former federal prosecutor who now represents many people charged in relation to the Jan. 6 Capitol protest and breach.

“The issue is the failure to describe ‘with particularity’ the items to be seized,” Shipley wrote in a tweet.

Losing the raid evidence would seriously undermine or at least delay the case, he said.

“Suppressing the search stops the case dead in the water, and forces a trip to the Appeals Court for the Govt to defend the search,” Shipley wrote in a tweet.

The Department of Justice is arguing that Trump can be charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 for possession of documents from his presidency.

“Congress has been very, very clear ... that the act that applies to presidents and former presidents is the Presidential Records Act.”

Jesse Binnall, lawyer to Donald Trump

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP

L: GREG NASH-POOL/GETTY IMAGES, ALON SKUY/

GETTY IMAGES, MADALINA VASILIU/THE EPOCH TIMES

When

Binnall also predicted that there will be attempts to have the case tossed for prosecutorial misconduct.

Parlatore told the media that he saw multiple instances of such misconduct when he voluntarily sat down for questioning before a grand jury. One of the prosecutors accused him of “refusing” to answer a question that pertained to privileged attorney-client conversations, and Parlatore had to remind the jurors that he wasn’t refusing but was rather barred by ethical rules from answering, he told CBS News.

There also have been reports that prosecutors implied to the attorney for Nauta that his application for judgeship in Washington could be tied to his client’s willingness to cooperate.

“That is another clear example of prosecutorial misconduct,” Binnall said,

Will Scharf, former federal prosecutor

arguing that Garland’s appointment of Smith betrayed his bias. “Personnel is always policy.

“Merrick Garland knew exactly what he was getting when he appointed Jack Smith, the special counsel. He appointed a zealot. He appointed a Trump hater. He appointed somebody that he knew was going to stop at nothing to go after and get Trump.”

The contrast between Smith’s aggressive pursuit of the case and the FBI’s cautious approach in its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails speaks to unequal application of the law, he said.

“What we have right here is the very idea that you would always find an excuse to give a pass to people like [President] Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, and always find an excuse to go after Donald Trump,” Binnall said.

it comes to investigations involving Trump, prosecutors have commonly brought process-crime charges alone, which is an unusual practice for the DOJ.

“The Espionage Act has never been used to prosecute in this sort of a setting.”

A CENTU R Y OF P R OG R

Targeting the rich but hitting the middle class and poor

BY KEVIN STOCKLIN

ESSIVE TAXES

Economist a rthur Laffer’s newly published analysis of the United States’ 110-year history of income taxes is rife with paradoxes, among them that the higher the tax rates that the U.S. government imposes on the rich, the smaller the share of taxes the rich pay.

Or put another way, the more the government attempted to capture the wealth of the top 1 percent of earners, the larger the tax burden that the lowest 95 percent of taxpayers ended up paying. According to Laffer and his co-authors, the history of income taxes in the United States is a perpetual case of the government’s ostensibly trying to take rich people’s money and the rich finding creative ways to avoid giving it up.

Over the past century, while the top marginal income tax rates have ranged between 7 percent when they were introduced in 1913 and 94 percent during World War II, one thing has remained constant. Over the years, the amount of taxes paid by the rich as a share of their actual income has generally remained steady, at about 20 percent.

‘Rich People Are Different’

“Rich people are different than we are,” Laffer told The Epoch Times. “They can change the location of their income, they can change the volume of their income, they can change how many hours they work, they can change the composition of their income—how much of it is capital gains and how much of it is ordinary income. They can also change the timing of their income—things that normal people don’t think of, but rich people do.

“And rich people can hire lawyers, accountants, deferred income specialists, favor grabbers, lobbyists.”

In his new book, “Taxes Have Consequences,” Laffer and co-authors Brian Domitrovic and Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield recount the numerous, and often colorful, ways that the United States’ top 1 percent have dodged the IRS since 1913, when Congress, via the 16th Amendment, gave itself the power to “lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived.” They also examine the effects of high taxation on Americans’ prosperity, even making an argu-

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES

An illustration of $1 and $5 bills in San Anselmo, Calif., on Aug. 29, 2017. Whenever Washington concocts new schemes to “tax the rich,” the rest of the country ends up paying the bill.

ment that economic crises such as the Great Depression have their roots in punitive tax policies.

During times of high taxation, incomes usually fell for the rich, the poor, and the middle class, the authors reported. But for the rich, not only does their income fall in absolute terms, but also the gap between their actual and reported income expands, sometimes tremendously. And in this way, a substantial portion of their wealth gets diverted from productive, profitable uses into unproductive tax shelters designed to keep their money out of government hands.

To illustrate the point, the authors charted retention rates, which is the inverse of the tax rate, or the portion of income that the top 1 percent get to keep after taxes, against income over the past century. What they found was a remarkably close correlation between retention rates and reported income, suggesting that when the government allowed the wealthy to keep more of their income, more income was reported by the top 1 percent, providing a larger tax base.

Retention rates for the top 1 percent

were chronically low from the 1930s to the Reagan era of the 1980s, with the exception of tax cuts implemented under the Kennedy administration in the early 1960s. During the 1980s, retention rates and reported income for the rich shot up in lockstep. While rates have been adjusted up and down since then, the United States never returned to federal income tax rates above 50 percent, which were the norm during prior decades.

To illustrate how reported income could fluctuate to such an extent, Laffer cited the case of Warren Buffett.

“In 2011, he wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times that said, ‘Me and my friends don’t worry about taxes,’” Laffer said. “So I looked at his letter,

20%

where he went through the details of his income tax.”

Buffett, who was one of the richest people in the world at that time, wrote an op-ed titled “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich,” in which he claimed that he paid just under $7 million in taxes that year, on a reported income of about $39 million.

“What I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income,” Buffett wrote. “And that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

“Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as ‘carried interest,’ thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.”

“For an economist, the concept of income is not what you report; that’s the tax definition,” Laffer said. “For an economist, income is what you spend during a period of time, what you give away during a period of time, and the increase in your wealth.”

Calculating income as economists do, rather than reported income, Laffer estimated that Buffett’s actual income that year, as defined by economists, was about $12 billion, suggesting that his effective tax rate was less than 1 percent. In short, Buffett, like many Americans, took full advantage of all legal tax deductions to minimize what he gave away to the government.

‘Always a Step Ahead’

Other tax avoidance schemes cited by Laffer and co-authors range from mundane investments such as municipal bonds to more inventive alternatives such as personal holding companies, foreign incorporation, yachts and private jets, farms and horse estates, hunting lodges, lavish expense accounts, art collections, and movie productions. These additions to a lavish lifestyle are tax deductions for the rich and, during high tax periods, become welcome substitutes for simply handing their money over to the government.

Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks in Washington on Oct. 13, 2015. Buffet said in 2011 that he paid a lower percentage in taxes than any of the other people in his office at the time.

SINCE THE INTRODUCTION OF income taxes in 1913, the rich have generally paid around 20 percent of their actual income.

Whatever plans get cooked up in Washington to seize wealth, those who have it “are always a step ahead,” Laffer said. “That’s why when you cut tax rates on the rich, they actually do report more income, because they shelter less because it’s not worth it.”

Why this matters to the rest of us is that whenever Washington concocts new schemes to “tax the rich,” the rest of the country ends up paying the bill. This leads to another paradox: At lower marginal tax rates, the rich end up paying a higher share of the country’s tax bill.

Examining top marginal tax rates against the share of taxes paid by the 1 percent, the authors found that, as the top rate was cut, the share of taxes paid by the richest Americans went up while the share paid by the bottom 95 percent declined.

In 1986, during the Reagan administration, the highest federal tax bracket hit a low mark of 28 percent. At that point, Laffer said, the rich found it cheaper and easier to just pay taxes instead of pursuing avoidance strategies.

Federal deficits were high during the 1980s, but the authors say that was the result of escalated spending, “not because of lack of revenue from the rich ... the revenue from this source was enormous.”

‘Prohibitive Range’

This concept is illustrated in the “Laffer curve.” Developed while Laffer was teaching economics in the 1970s, the curve predicts that if taxes are raised above a certain optimal rate, revenues will decline as the tax base shrinks. This is called the “prohibitive range” of taxation.

Although this concept, which Laffer deems a logical tautology, has become widely accepted, economists and politicians disagree on what the optimal rate actually is, with more progressive economists putting it at about 70 percent for top earners.

However, the authors argue: “High tax rates on top earners of the 1960s and 1970s did not result in a higher revenue share of income from this group, and cutting tax rates increased the tendency of this group to pay taxes. Therefore, in terms of income tax rates at the top, the

United States has been in the prohibitive range of the Laffer curve.”

Laffer’s study reveals other myths and misconceptions about U.S. income tax. For example, progressives argue that hiking taxes on the rich creates income equality, and they cite periods of high marginal rates, claiming that they correlate to a smaller wage gap between rich and poor. But Laffer argues that these analyses don’t really capture the true incomes of the rich or the poor.

“Therefore this measure is, forgive me, but acres of soapsuds in horse manure. But they use that as their measure of inequality.”

In reality, Laffer argues, the pursuit of income equality does reduce the wealth of the rich, both in actual and imagined terms, but it ends up hitting the poor and the middle class much harder. Across the economy, he said, “the more you redistribute, the greater will be the drop in total income.”

Additionally, because punitive tax rates often lead to a lower tax base and reduced actual income, they can create a vicious cycle. For example, high-tax states and municipalities experience an exodus of companies and residents, forcing them to raise taxes even more on those who remain to cover revenue shortfalls, driving more of them out.

A report co-authored by Laffer and the American Legislative Exchange Council ranked all 50 U.S. states according to their “economic performance” and found that “generally speaking, states that spend less—especially on income transfer programs— and states that tax less—particularly on productive activities such as working or investing—experience higher growth rates than states that tax and spend more.”

Because progressive analyses are done on the basis of reported income, they miss vast amounts of income among the richest Americans that go unreported when taxes are high. In addition, Laffer argues, taking so much capital out of the economy that could have gone to build new companies and create more jobs but is now diverted to uneconomic tax shelters does reduce the incomes of the rich in real terms, but it also tends to reduce income for everyone else. People who don’t have jobs don’t report income at all, and thus the income of the poorest Americans is also removed from calculations of the wealth gap.

By using reported income to calculate the wealth gap during high-tax periods, “you’re way overstating the average income of the bottom 99 percent, or whatever group you want to talk about, and you’re way understating the income of the top,” Laffer said.

Today, although tax rates remain close to the range set by the Reagan administration, the decades since 2000 have been “one of the longest periods of economic senescence and necrosis that you’ve ever seen,” Laffer said. Taxation has taken a less visible form, including government spending, regulation, unfunded government liabilities, and ballooning federal debt.

“What it is that takes the money away from [Americans] doesn’t really matter,” he said. “It matters that it is taken away from them. And it can be from higher expenses, increased costs of production, strikes, the whole deal. Taxes are one of that list.

“I’m not an anti-government person at all. We need a judiciary, we need schools, we need highways, we need defense, we need all of those things. What you want to do is to collect taxes in the least damaging fashion and you want to spend the money in the most beneficial fashion.”

“FO R AN ECONOMIST, THE CONCEPT OF INCOME IS NOT WHAT YOU R EPO R T.”

Arthur Laffer, economist

Mike Simpson says his tactical training classes utilize real firearms with nonlethal rounds to avoid causing serious injury or death, on June 3.

Military-Style Tactical Training Schools POPULAR IN ARIZONA

Currently, 25 states ban tactical training camps linked with paramilitary or militia groups

Text & Photos by Allan Stein

Phoeni X—Working in pairs, the team members approached the “shoot house” at Arizona Tactical Adventures with their nonlethal rifles raised and bright flashlights pointed at the doorway.

The object on June 3 was to confront and subdue an unknown threat lurking inside the building without having to fire their weapons.

Communication with an assailant— direct and effective—and forcing compliance with words is the key.

“Armed security! Step into my light! Show your hands! Do it now!”

Another student shouted, “Armed homeowner! Come out with your hands up!”

Throughout the day, a dozen students in black T-shirts and camouflage pants practiced under the watchful guidance of Director of Adventures Mike Simpson.

He told The Epoch Times that whether it was learning how to safely clear a room or obtaining a working knowledge of tactical tools and techniques, such skills could prove critical in a life-or-death situation.

Simpson said that while danger is always with us, people are more aware of it due to rising crime, violence, and political instability.

“These are all cyclical, and we have short memories. COVID made everyone have skin in the game. They’re looking around, saying the world is very insecure,” he said.

Simpson has taught tactical training

classes since 2003, after serving four years as a military security officer in the U.S. Air Force.

He said the global war on terror heightened interest in military-style tactical training in the private sector and that interest continues to grow.

Perceived or Real Threat?

The question is whether training in using military-style weapons and tactics poses a threat to society.

At least 25 states currently ban tactical training camps linked with paramilitary or militia groups.

On May 8, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed state legislation prohibiting active paramilitary training or facilities.

Act 13 grew out of a community uproar over the training activities of Slate Ridge owner Daniel Banyai in West Pawlet, Vermont, which residents regarded as a public threat.

The conflict arose in 2017, when Banyai applied for a zoning permit to operate the tactical training school.

In March, an environmental court judge ordered the school to shut down and slapped Banyai with $53,000 in fines for noncompliance.

Banyai is now suing the town of Pawlet, the judge, and others for decisions that led to the closure order.

Act 13 (S.3) prohibits “paramilitary” training facilities from using incendiary devices capable of causing injury or death, except for “legitimate law enforcement.”

Violating the act carries penalties of

five years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both.

Simpson said state laws banning tactical camps prohibit individuals from engaging in training to disrupt government activities or to use violence against any government organization.

These groups and individuals may be concerned about self-defense or militia-style groups carrying weapons at public events or to augment law enforcement.

Constitutionally Protected Activity

In tactical training operations, there are three business models, Simpson said. The first involves self-defense instruction in the use of firearms. The second involves tactical training, learning to move and shoot, and solving problems under stress.

The third model involves small unit tactics—learning to clear rooms as part of a team or executive protection. This

model is less common.

“My company does all three of those,” Simpson said.

“Unfortunately, what happens is you

get mission creep. They all start thinking they’re like-minded and want to protect themselves.

“They form a community defense organization. Then somebody gets excited about the politics in their area and shows up to this march all dressed up in tactical gear and carrying weapons.

“Now, you have individuals who had a noble mindset—who are augmenting law enforcement or military through an unorganized militia—that they’ll call themselves a community defense group.

“They straddle the line where breaking the law is simple because you don’t know the law, putting a group in fear for their safety.”

Simpson said these groups have a right to operate under the U.S. Constitution. However, their presence often intimidates people who “feel they don’t have the right to come out.”

$5,000

VIOLATING ACT 13 (S.3) CARRIES penalties of five years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both.

Mike Simpson, director of adventures at Arizona Tactical Adventures in Phoenix, demonstrates the correct approach to a room clearing on June 3. Simpson says that learning skills such as how to safely clear a room could prove critical in a life-or-death situation.

AT LEAST 25 U.S. STATES currently ban tactical training camps linked with paramilitary or militia groups.

Director Mike Simpson instructs a female student in the correct position of an AR-15 on June 3. His clients are mostly men, although more women are becoming involved.

(Left) Simpson explains the theory of hybrid tactical responses.

“They knew law enforcement wasn’t going to provide them anything,” he said.

The global war on terror also spurred interest in acquiring tactical training skills, which eventually “morphed” into concern over a possible civil war of right versus left and now, financial collapse and the globalist vision of a new world order.

“The dates change; human nature doesn’t. People like to fracture themselves into tribes,” Simpson said.

His clients are blue- and white-collar individuals, mostly men, although more women are becoming involved.

The dozen students gathered for training on June 3 included three women. Most wore tactical gear.

Simpson said his tactical training classes utilize real firearms with nonlethal rounds to avoid causing serious injury or death.

The day’s lessons included handson training and a “hybrid” theoretical model combining the most effective techniques in dynamic and deliberate room clearing.

Hank, a student from Phoenix, said his goal was to improve his existing skill set.

“I pray every day I never have to see these kinds of things,” he told The Epoch Times.

“The world’s been violent our entire lives. It does appear to be going down certain trends that lend itself to violence.

“It’s a shame they’re banning” tactical training facilities in some states.

“They have the right to be there with their weapons. It’s when they start intimidating or stopping freedom of movement. Now, they’re breaking the law,” he said.

“The short answer is they have the right to organize and do training. It’s whether they start taking actions based on that training.”

Simpson said that in his professional experience in tactical training, having an ongoing dialogue and relationship with law enforcement can help build trust.

As long as people aren’t seeking knowledge on how to build explosives, commit robbery, or kidnap training, tactical training groups have every right to exist.

Compared to right-wing militias, left-wing militias linked to Black Lives Matter and Antifa aren’t well organized. Simpson said they’re more interested

in intimidating and pushing a political agenda.

“Both sides have similar structures in organizing and pushing political messaging; if I had to say who has the better training, it’s the extreme rightwing,” he said.

“The real threat comes from the individual actors who might attend some programs. They want to get self-radicalized and spread that message.”

Simpson said his clients fall into three types: tactical tourists on vacation wanting to be a Navy SEAL for an afternoon, groups seeking team-building experiences, and individuals desiring a skill set for self-defense or community defense.

Simpson said that during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots, many small-business owners he knew called friends who had undergone these tactical training programs.

Hank said much of the tactical training lost in media translation is the effective communication that goes into it.

“If you have to resort to firearms, you’ve lost. When they ban classes like Mike’s, you’re forced to go into a firearms class where they don’t teach all the other stuff,” he said.

While Simpson doesn’t see a similar ban on businesses such as his, he’s realistic about the government’s goals.

“Do I believe the government will try to seize control of areas that might challenge their control? Of course. They’re never going to err on the side of freedom anymore,” he said.

“I can envision that states will claim there is a perceived threat from law-abiding citizens exercising their ability to gather together and conduct like-minded training. Would that happen? Yes.”

(Above) Arizona Tactical Adventures

US ‘Woke’ Agenda Flops in Latin America

Women walk along a street in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Sept. 29, 2020. A 2020 investigation in Argentina found the bodies of 600 political dissidents who were forcibly “disappeared” during the military dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s.

Pockets of far-Left activists who’ve taken up the mantle of U.S. “woke” ideology have popped up in Latin America like political whack-a-moles. Yet their rallying cry has fallen on mostly deaf ears, despite a new wave of leftist leaders in the region.

Because of the woke movement’s trademark rigid views on divisive social issues such as gender identity, new feminism, wealth distribution, and defunding the police, the activists’ battle cry has been mostly ignored or voted down.

Meanwhile, anti-woke movements are springing up faster than weeds in their wake.

Progressive ideals have failed to find solid footing even among leftists in countries with a favorable climate for their causes, such as the highly Westernized cultures of Chile and Argentina, both of which have socialist presidents.

The woke activists in Latin American cities aren’t hard to spot. They leave behind calling cards such as images of the nefarious revolutionary Che Guevara dressed in drag against a rainbow backdrop.

Broken statues in city squares scribbled with anarchy symbols and Marxist slogans shouted alongside the sound of improvised projectile weapons hurled at police are among their signature moves.

It has all the vigor, marketing, and philosophical alignment of its sister movement in the United States.

Yet, woke philosophy in Latin America has been met with increasing disinterest and resistance at the civilian level. The new pink tide leaders in the region have also ignored it for the most part.

So why is the North American woke movement catching fire while its southern sister can’t seem to ignite?

Analysts and residents say cultural roots, combined with the realities of governance in developing economies, are something no amount of ideology can change.

Rooted in Family

“Latin America understands ‘woke’ a little bit different than we do,” Evan Ellis, a Latin America research professor for the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute, told The Epoch Times.

By Autumn Spredemann

Ellis said that a “cultural battle” is happening in the region amid mounting

The ideology has been met with increasing disinterest and resistance at the civilian level

PHOTO BY RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

economic and political stress. These elements have turned many away from the more extreme left-wing ideas.

He said that beyond commonalities on issues such as the environment and social justice, U.S. woke culture has little in common with its Latin American counterpart.

That’s because, ironically, woke ideology requires economic and educational privilege to flourish.

“At one level, I think extreme social progressivism is a luxury of societies with high levels of development,” Ellis said.

In a region where more than 30 percent of the population lives in poverty, campaigns for gender-neutral pronouns and rosy shades of communist rhetoric aren’t attractive to those just struggling to survive.

Hence, woke activism tends to appear in the countries with the largest, most affluent economies.

But then there is the past and pres-

ent suffering of millions under socialist dictators, which woke activists tend to romanticize or ignore entirely.

“Ask anyone who works in Argentina, or better, a Venezuelan, how well left ideas have worked out,” Alvaro Gomez told The Epoch Times.

Gomez is a recently retired taxi driver and longtime Buenos Aires resident who has watched the more extreme aspects of U.S. woke culture circulate in his hometown.

He said the movement was branded the “new left” but that it has few things in common with the views of many leftwing voters.

Gomez called concepts such as radical feminism and gender ideology a “ridiculous distraction” from the real challenges his country faces.

‘Real Problems’

“Our economy is in ruins; our government is a mess. We have real problems

to deal with,” he said. “The majority of leftists here just want more subsidies, and the right wants to pay less taxes. But everyone has strong roots in the home, in family.”

That cuts to the core of why woke philosophy hasn’t grown deeper roots in the region. Catholics colonized most of Latin America, and today, Christianity remains a prevailing force and emphasizes the importance of traditional family units.

Ellis said colonial-era conservatism has been replaced by a “new type of conservatism” and that both have strong Christian roots.

“Latin America continues to be very religious and very traditionalist. Even leftists fall under social conservatism,” regional analyst and celebrated author Dr. Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat told The Epoch Times.

Besides undermining the traditional concept of family, U.S. woke ideology

Two women prepare a meal in El Salvador, in this file photo. About 30 percent of Latin Americans live in poverty. These people are just struggling to live and thus are less receptive to “woke” ideology.

ignores important lessons from the region’s history.

Wearing a Blindfold

In the United States, criticizing the government isn’t normally something that gets a person murdered in broad daylight. But for years in many Latin American countries, it was.

In Argentina, a forensic investigation took place in 2020 to identify the bodies of 600 political dissidents who were forcibly “disappeared” during the military dictatorship of the 1970s and 1980s.

Chile has a similar gruesome mass grave in Santiago known as Patio 29, which contains the remains of antigovernment activists executed by a military dictator.

Both dictatorships arrived on the heels of sharp economic decline at the hands of socialist leadership. It left a permanent stamp in people’s memories of what it means to follow socialist ideals blindly.

Thousands of protesters and political dissenters have been arrested, executed, or forcibly exiled by Cuba’s communist regime since the 1960s. Their persecution at the hands of the entrenched regime is ongoing.

Leftist presidents in the modern era haven’t fared any better. Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro face a growing list of accusations of human rights abuses.

And in the middle of this is Latin America’s alleged “new left” rebranded U.S. woke subculture that clings to brutal revolutionaries such as Guevara while lamenting oppression but also ignores entire chapters of the region’s history.

“People are like, ‘Yeah, we’ve heard these ideas before,’” Ellis said.

In Argentina, one of the historical blindfolds takes the shape of Guevara as the titular figure of the LGBT movement for a more inclusive gender identity.

This stands in sharp contrast to the dictator’s well-documented legacy of hating homosexuals and targeting them for imprisonment and execution.

Boronat, the co-founder of the Cuban Democratic Directorate, said he finds this idolization of Guevara laughable.

“Guevara and Fidel Castro set in mo-

tion a systematic program of persecution, harassment, and imprisonment of homosexuals. This kind of program had never taken place in Cuban history. This kind of repression was ongoing in Cuba until very, very recently,” he said.

In Chile, it became clear that woke activists were out of touch with the realities of governance in September 2022 after the country resoundingly voted down a far-left draft for the nation’s new constitution.

Critics called the draft “ridiculously broad” and a “confusing mess” that was heavy-handed on social issues and proposed drastic economic changes.

An overwhelming 62 percent voted

against the constitutional referendum, which aimed to replace the one established during the era of military dictator Augusto Pinochet.

It was a surprising outcome because nearly 80 percent of Chileans voted in favor of replacing the Pinochet constitution in an October 2020 referendum.

Regardless, a clear message emerged: Drastic social reform isn’t worth losing economic stability.

In the wake of the failed leftist reform, Chile’s right-wing parties secured a majority of seats to draft a new constitution on May 7, creating what the Chilean media called an “earthquake” in the country’s politics.

A city vehicle was set on fire during clashes between demonstrators and riot police that erupted during the commemoration of the 49th anniversary of the 1973 military coup d’etat of Augusto Pinochet and subsequent death of President Salvador Allende, in Santiago, Chile, on Sept. 11, 2022.

“Extreme social progressivism is a luxury of societies with high levels of development.”

Evan Ellis, professor, U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute

SPOTLIGHT

‘Buzzing’ Party

A VIEW OF THE CROWD PLAYING THE KAZOO at Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia, on June 10. Thousands of people gather to play 10,000 biodegradable kazoos in an event organized for RISING 2023.

PHOTO BY ASANKA RATNAYAKE/GETTY IMAGES

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD

OPENS UP ABOUT FAITH AND POLITICS

BY MARK TAPSCOTT

CONGRESSIONAL OBSERVERS KNOW

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) as a deliberative man who thinks before he speaks, but the Oklahoma Republican doesn’t hesitate when asked about the role of faith in his personal life and political career.

“The most important decision is one I make every day—who am I going to follow, and what is going to be my foundation today? My faith in Jesus Christ has remained a firm foundation in my life, and my faith is by far the most important decision I make,” Lankford told The Epoch Times.

“I would want to be known for doing the right thing the right way. That’s a legacy that makes a lasting difference, not just making good policy, but living as a role model.”

That phrase—“doing the right thing the right way”—is one his devoted staff members often hear because Lankford makes it clear in meetings that it best describes what he expects of himself and those around him.

Politics is said to produce “strange bedfellows,” but sometimes religious faith does too, and Lankford shares with

his good friend Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) the distinction of being the present Senate’s sole divinity school graduates (Coons from Yale, Lankford from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary).

“I enjoy serving with James Lankford because, although we disagree on a wide range of political, social, and economic issues, he and I have become genuine friends ... and despite the differences in how we apply our faith to public policy, it gives us a common foundation for how we understand the world and interact with each other. James is a good husband and father; he’s funny and warm and engaging, and even though we are from different states, different backgrounds, and different parties, I genuinely enjoy serving with him,” Coons told The Epoch Times.

Lankford and Coons joined forces earlier this year to co-sponsor legislation to make it easier for taxpayers who don’t itemize to claim deductions for their charitable contributions.

In a legislative body of high achievers with big IQs and bigger egos, Lankford increasingly stands out as a consistent and thoughtful conservative and as one

of the upper chamber’s most skillful architects of bipartisan cooperation. Thus, Lankford is being seen with increasing frequency these days working with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), the former Arizona Democrat who entered the 118th Congress as an independent (although she still upholds the Democratic Senate’s 51–49 majority).

Despite her changed party status, Sinema remains chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management. Lankford is the top Republican on the panel, and immigration issues are a major priority for officials in Arizona and Oklahoma.

“James is a strong partner in finding common sense solutions, especially in our work together on the Senate Border Management Subcommittee to keep American families safe and secure. I’m proud to work with him as we strengthen our border and hold the [Biden] administration accountable, and I’m grateful to count him as a friend,” Sinema told The Epoch Times.

Last month, the two appeared to-

‘Doing the right thing the right way’ is a guiding philosophy of the Oklahoman

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 16, 2020. “My faith is by far the most important decision I make,” Lankford says.

PHOTO BY ANNA MONEYMAKER/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

gether in a Fox News “Common Ground” segment aired as the end of Title 42 grew near, amid worries that what was already an all-but-unmanageable border situation would descend into utter chaos.

“The administration has known for two years that the end of Title 42 is coming, and it was never intended to be a long-term solution. James and I together ... have been calling on the administration to prepare for the end of Title 42. Unfortunately, they have not done it; they have not prepared for the end of Title 42,” Sinema told Fox News’ Bret Baier.

Lankford said: “There are more than 2 million people a year entering the country illegally and then saying, ‘I have fear of my country,’ which is what the drug cartel told them to say. Then they are allowed to come into the country and request an asylum hearing. Depending on when it was requested, it will be about 18 years before it’s actually settled, and so they are free to go anywhere in the country they wish.”

Lankford also noted that Title 42 had turned away only about 30 percent of such illegal immigrants, requiring them to return to Mexico to await resolution of their cases. That reality, combined with the flood of drugs, including the fentanyl that has killed more than 100,000 Americans during the Biden administration, is boosting hopes that a comprehensive border security and immigration reform package may be possible in 2023.

Adding to such hopes is the May 19 passage in the House of the “Secure the Border Act of 2023,” a measure that authorizes the completion of the Trump border wall with Mexico, requires an end to federal funding of nongovernmental organizations that encourage illegal immigration, and makes it harder for illegal immigrants to remain in the country.

Seeking Immigration Reform

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told Roll Call that he’s “looking for any port in a storm” when asked whether the House action would help bring about a comprehensive legislative long-term solution to the immigration crisis.

Similarly, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called the House bill “a good starting place.”

Lankford is all but certain to be deeply involved with Sinema, Tillis, Durbin, and other senators from both sides of the aisle as a Senate version of immigration reform takes shape in the coming days.

First elected to the House of Representatives in the Tea Party revolution of 2010, Lankford is a former Southern Baptist minister who was well-known to young Oklahomans thanks to his tenure managing Falls Creek, a Baptist youth camp, the largest youth encampment in the United States. He immediately made a mark in the lower chamber as an outspoken opponent of earmarking and other forms of wasteful federal spending.

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz told The Epoch Times that Lankford has been a stalwart opponent of earmarks while serving on both sides of the Hill.

“Sen. Lankford has been an effective leader in the effort to eliminate government waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement since he was elected to the House in 2010 and then to the Senate in 2014. His annual Federal Fumbles report provides understandable and outrageous examples of wasteful spending for taxpayers and members of Congress,” Schatz said.

Schatz pointed out that Lankford’s voting record on issues such as cutting federal spending and taxes is consistently strong, with a rating on CAGW’s scoring system of 96 percent over his career, including three years in which the Oklahoman compiled perfect 100s.

Earmarks—typically obscurely written funding provisions inserted into much larger bills to benefit a single representative or senator—were a key issue in 2010 largely because of Lankford’s Senate predecessor from Oklahoma, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).

In 2005, Coburn exposed the infamous $398 million “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska and dozens of other similarly controversial earmarks in an effort that led to the House’s ban on earmarks in 2011 and the Senate’s in 2014. More recently, both chambers brought earmarks back despite opposition from Lankford and other conservatives.

In 2013, Coburn, who was known to his Senate colleagues as “Dr. No,” announced his retirement due to cancer. Lankford stepped up to win a crowded Republican primary, then gained a landslide general election victory in 2014. He was elected to a full six-year term in another landslide in 2016 and to a second term in 2022, garnering more than 64 percent of the vote.

“His strong opposition to earmarks has been expressed many times, including by his co-sponsorship of the Earmark Elimination Act and signing Sen. Mike Lee’s [(R-Utah)] April 2021 letter to the Senate Republican Conference in 2021 in opposition to lifting the ban on earmarks. There should be more senators like Sen. Lankford fighting against wasteful spending and pushing for the end of earmarks,” Schatz said.

Passion for Religious Freedom

But as important as fighting waste and fraud in government spending is for millions of Americans, protecting religious liberty is the issue that most stirs Lankford’s passion and prompts a studied, deliberative eloquence on the Senate floor during the many momentous debates that happen there.

During the Senate debate in November 2022 on the Respect for Marriage Act, Lankford offered an amendment to remedy problems he saw with the controversial legislation.

“There are three major problems in the bill on the issue of religious liberty. If these three things are not changed in this bill, it will put religious liberty at great risk for millions of Americans who ... have sincerely held religious beliefs,” Lankford told colleagues in a characteristically careful but pointed analysis.

The first was that “any individual or

“I would want to be known for doing the right thing the right way. That’s a legacy that makes a lasting difference.”

Sen. James Lankford

entity acting under the color of state law” would be subject to penalties for failing to support same-sex or interracial marriage.

“This would be an entity that a state hires to fulfill something for them. This could be a private prison, for example, it could also be an adoption agency [or] foster care agencies. It could be an entity that actually does housing for immigrants’ families, a homeless shelter contracted by the state to provide services. It could be any number of entities,” Lankford said.

Because many such agencies are faith-based, the Respect for Marriage Act “would be a new restriction on those religious entities that formally held contracts that then would very well be pushed out from providing those services ... or abandoning their faith.”

The second problem Lankford pointed to was the proposal’s creation of a new “private right of action” for “an individual who senses that they have been harmed” by a covered entity.

“Now, it’s not defined what ‘harm’ means in this new statute, it just says

if someone feels they’ve been harmed, they would now have the opportunity to sue someone else,” he said.

Such an opportunity will inevitably mean that “there will be a lot of lawsuits,” according to Lankford.

“For anyone who believes this new right to sue people won’t be used and won’t be used quickly by lawyers and outsider groups all around the country, you are kidding yourself,” he said.

“What it really does is it silences any individual who may disagree, and it discourages any faith-based entity from cooperating with government.”

Finally, Lankford pointed to the bill’s phrase, “If a benefit does not arise from a marriage”—he said he asked multiple lawyers to define it and received widely different, even conflicting, answers in response.

“It is clear what it doesn’t mean. When it says all these different rights being granted that don’t include marriage, it doesn’t include your belief about marriage,” he said.

Consequently, beliefs about marriage can still be the basis for destructive litigation against individuals and entities

that degrades religious freedom.

The Respect for Marriage Act amendment lost narrowly, but the careful reasoning and considered delivery of the floor speech prompted an admiring former Coburn confidant who asked to not be named to describe Lankford to The Epoch Times as “a legislator, not a headline-chaser.”

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said: “In this town, it’s nearly impossible to be both principled and get things done. Sen. Lankford does both with a smile on his face, which makes him such a great conservative lawmaker and good friend.”

And Americans for Limited Government President Richard Manning praised Lankford for being “positioned to be one of America’s top government reform leaders.”

“His forthright, yet not bombastic, approach to reining in the out-of-control federal government waste and bureaucracy are exactly what’s needed as we try to wrestle the D.C. behemoth to the ground,” Manning said.

Whatever the challenge, Lankford isn’t likely to change his approach, because he’s optimistic about the days ahead.

“While it’s not hard to find yelling and disagreement on TV or on social media today, I have colleagues on both sides of the aisle who want to get work done,” he told The Epoch Times.

“That was true when I was first elected to the House, and it’s true now in the Senate. There are many members who are working together to fix the problems our nation is facing.”

96% LANKFORD HAS A lifetime rating of 96 percent according to Citizens Against Government Waste’s scoring system.

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) (L) and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) announce that, although often voting differently on other bills, they found common ground and proposed the bipartisan Charitable Act enhancing tax deductions, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 1.

“Despite the differences in how we apply our faith to public policy, it gives us a common foundation for how we understand the world and interact with each other.”

Sen. Chris Coons

‘Dorky Dads’ Classical

COOL

The Piano Guys cart their piano and cello to unexpected locations to film videos that garner millions of views.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PIANO GUYS

AGAIN Make Music

The duo seek to heal the spirit and inspire children to ‘do hard things’

By Nanette Holt

t L anta t he opening notes of an instantly recognizable action-movie theme resonate through a darkened theater, slowly building to a crescendo. Transfixed, 8-year-old Royce Diaz perches on the edge of his seat.

He and his older brother and sister came to see superheroes, but not the kind who outsmart villains, punch through walls, or fly.

The trio traveled six hours by car with their parents to see heroes who make magic of another kind.

The fingers of one blast between piano keys faster than a speeding bullet. The other wields a cello bow with the precision of a master swordfighter.

The Piano Guys, as they’re known, include a duo of self-described “dorky dads.” But as a recent live concert performance began, clips from a superhero movie flashed across a screen over the stage.

The audience, along with Royce Diaz, sat spellbound in the packed hall, as The Piano Guys played their version of the theme of “The Avengers.” With superhero images flashing on the screen above, the magic they created with musical instruments on stage made some at the packed performance feel as if flying just might be possible.

A Gimmick to Sell Pianos

Since forming as a group in 2010, The Piano Guys have helped popularize a musical genre known as modern classical crossover. Their music fuses updated arrangements of centuries-old classical pieces with pop songs, hymns, and original compositions. And most are instrumentals.

Who’s into that kind of music? A healthy percentage of the planet’s population, apparently. Their videos on YouTube have racked up more than 2 billion views.

Their YouTube channel features more than 160 videos, many in hard-to-believe locations—a piano and cello performing on the Great Wall, for example, or in an ancient Scottish castle.

Their goal is to film themselves playing at all Seven Wonders of the World.

Yet, despite their worldwide fame, the popular duo came together as nothing more than a gimmick.

It all started when the owner of a struggling piano store in Saint George, Utah, believed a viral internet video could generate interest in his inventory.

That would spark excitement in playing pianos. His pianos! Paul Anderson fantasized.

The question: How could he make a video so interesting it would go viral?

Then one day, pianist Jon Schmidt wandered into the store asking whether he could practice there ahead of a nearby gig.

Anderson shared his video idea with his visitor. Intrigued by the scheme, Schmidt roped in his friend Steven Sharp Nelson, a master of a wide range of instruments. The two already shared the stage sometimes, making music and comedy, mostly with Nelson playing cello. Nelson, who exudes boundless energy, was all in.

For studio and engineering help on the video experiment, they corralled Nelson’s songwriting buddy and neighbor Al van der Beek.

A quartet (of sorts) was born.

Mission Accomplished

Anderson wanted viral, and he got it.

Since taking their first shot at selling pianos together, The Piano Guys—their moniker borrowed from the name of the store—have carted pianos and cellos around the world. They’ve filmed themselves playing at some of the planet’s most mystical backdrops.

Their videos make classical cool again, attracting audiences ranging from the very young to the very old

with mashups such as “I Want You Bach.”

That hit combines the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” with five themes by Johann Sebastian Bach. The addictively funky beat spans three centuries.

The Piano Guys have released 14 albums and played in venues around the globe.

And they laughingly admit the irony: None of that helped sell even one piano at the shop.

They now sell Yamaha pianos online. And with the monetization of their YouTube channel, their gimmick generates a life-changing revenue stream they never expected.

Yet the bringing together of their harmonious team, they believe, can be credited only to God.

“I can’t find another explanation for it,” Nelson said during a pre-concert interview with The Epoch Times.

Divinely Inspired

Because they believe their musical talents are divinely inspired, they take their work very seriously, Nelson and Schmidt said.

(Left) Concerts of The Piano Guys feature eyepopping visuals, but keep the main focus is on the music. The Piano Guys have released 14 albums and played in venues around the globe. (Below) Jon Schmidt (L) leaves his piano bench to dance across the stage, as Steven Sharp Nelson plays the cello.

“Our mission will always be to produce music videos that inspire, uplift, and make the world a better place,” they write on their website, which highlights their shared Mormon faith and membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

“If we can make a positive impact in even one person’s life, it has all been worth it to us.”

They see their concerts as opportunities to make people laugh, make them cry, and bring healing, even for themselves, Nelson said, exchanging glances with his co-creator, Schmidt.

The world is “in such heavy times right now, where we just feel pressure—comparative pressure, we feel political pressure, we feel this financial pressure—and

The Piano Guys believe their musical talents are divinely inspired and hope that their performances can inspire people to overcome challenges.

all these pressures are just weighing us down and even keeping us captive, I think,” Nelson said.

“So we would hope that if people bring their heaviness to our shows, they can leave lighter. And hopefully, that’s what they’re getting when listening and when watching our videos.”

When people leave comments on their videos, social media accounts, and ticket sales sites, The Piano Guys make a point to read them.

“We really feel like it’s sort of a ministry,” Schmidt said. “And it’s amazing how many people say: ‘This gave me comfort. This pulled me through a time that was heavy for me.’ And that is very gratifying.”

So before presenting their music, they bow their heads together. It’s key to their success, Nelson said.

“We pray before we play. We pray before we practice. We pray before we write. And this is something anybody can do.

“And it’s so critically important to recognize that everybody has been given talents in order to enable them to do their work. But I think prayer actually really helps you connect with that.”

They try to live by the mantra that “God can make a lot more out of our lives than we can,” Schmidt said.

That’s the glue, they said, that holds The Piano Guys together.

Fans often ask whether they’re really as close as they seem when trading barbs in jest on stage.

The banter is real, they said, and every line in the show arose from a spontaneous moment.

When they’re not together on the road, they text

each other pictures of their kids’ latest accomplishments, spiritual encouragement, parenting advice, and more.

“We have the same desires, goals, and ambitions, which is to be loyal husbands and loving fathers, first and foremost, and then to try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ,” Nelson said, as Schmidt nodded in agreement. “That’s it.”

Hooked on Classics

The three Diaz children of Gainesville, Florida, were inspired to take up playing the cello after discovering music by The Piano Guys.

About five years ago, a friend showed them a Piano Guys music video of “Cello Wars,” a Star Wars parody that’s been viewed more than 49 million times. In the video, two cape-wearing cello players duel in space, their bows glowing like light sabers.

During the musical battle, the two make music so

(Right) Young local violinists, invited to play during a Piano Guys concert, practice during sound check before a show in Atlanta on Nov. 29, 2022. (Far Right) Steven Sharp Nelson (L) and Jon Schmidt at a concert at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn., on Nov. 30, 2022.

“We would hope that if people bring their heaviness to our shows, they can leave lighter.”

Steven Sharp Nelson, cellist

toe-tapping that even Darth Vader and Chewbacca come together to break-dance on a space-bound platform.

Soon after the Diaz children’s introduction to the Piano Guys’ music, their father, Guillermo Diaz, came home humming what quickly became another family favorite, “The Cello Song.”

That video, with more than 48 million views, shows Nelson simultaneously playing eight parts of a centuries-old composition by Bach. Filming of all the parts was accomplished over one marathon 24-hour session, Nelson said.

Seeing that Bach mash-up, the Diaz kids were hooked. At the time, Grace was 9 and Roark was 7. They’d been playing piano for about two years and were familiar already with works by the prolific composer, who died in 1750. But this Bach composition brought the music alive for them.

Inspired, they asked to give cello a try, while continuing their piano education. Since then, Royce has joined in with lessons on both instruments, too.

Now, the three team up for practice between homeschool lessons, often tackling difficult arrangements

by The Piano Guys together. Trophies and medals from state music competitions gleam from atop music room furniture.

But they don’t play for awards, the children insist. And their mother marvels at how she never has to nag them to practice.

“They just like it,” Erika Diaz told The Epoch Times. All three are active in wrestling and basketball. And Grace hopes to be selected to play cello in the county youth orchestra next year.

“Playing their instrument isn’t a chore. It’s sort of a relaxing thing for them,” their mother said.

That’s music to the ears of The Piano Guys.

Inspiring Children to ‘Do Hard Things’

In their pre-concert interview with The Epoch Times, Schmidt and Nelson lamented that much of society seems focused on making things simpler, faster, and easier to accomplish.

Nelson and Schmidt said they hope what they do helps people consider that maybe the difficult things are more meaningful.

“The world insists that everything should be easy and convenient,” Nelson said. “You’ll hear me talk to the kids tonight about how music can teach us how to do hard things.”

Always striving to make things easier and more convenient does damage to society and people, Nelson said.

“I think it chases out true purpose in our lives.

“And so we’re trying to encourage kids to get purpose back in their lives by doing hard things. And music is a great way to teach that.”

It’s worked in the homes of The Piano Guys.

‘They’re all musicians,” Nelson said of his children. “That’s required in our household.

“When I was growing up, my dad gave me two choices: ‘You can play an instrument and eat, or not.’ So we kind of did the same thing with our kids,” he joked.

“I try to practice what I preach, which is: To teach kids hard work these days is near impossible. But music really, really helps teach kids how to how to come up against something that is really hard and overcome it

and feel that reward, that intrinsic reward that comes from accomplishment.”

Schmidt was inspired to play piano as a teen by Billy Joel. Nelson was inspired as a child by world-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

“I saw him and I said, ‘That’s what I want. I want what he has. I want to feel those feelings,’ which was just pure joy,” Nelson said.

Now, The Piano Guys hope to spark similar inspiration in audiences so that they’ll pick up an instrument and learn to play, Schmidt said.

Though they sell out concert venues around the world, Nelson chuckled and said: “Looking at the two of us— we’re extremely ordinary. We’re not rock stars. We’re the farthest thing from it. We’re middle-aged dads.”

That’s part of why they just try to be themselves on stage, they said.

“I think people look at us, and I think they have hope for themselves. They say, ‘Well, if they could do it, I could do it.’ I hope that’s what people feel,” Nelson said.

Roark Diaz (L) and his brother Royce accompany their sister, Grace, in playing a Piano Guys composition called “A Sky Full of Stars” at their home in Gainesville, Fla., on April 10.

Maybe it won’t be playing an instrument, he said, but he hopes audience members will be inspired to pursue something with passion.

“Because that’s really where true gratification and joy come from.”

In pursuing something with great passion, and in creating, “we connect to the divine” and find a “desire to be a good to the world.”

What to Expect at a Show

The Piano Guys make music mastery look easy.

During shows, Nelson alternately straddles a range of cellos, all selected from his prized collection of more than three dozen. He introduces each by name.

For some songs, his bow glides across the strings.

In others, he thumps, thwacks, plucks, or taps the instrument to make just the right sound. His creativity, he tells the audience, is thanks to his superpower, ADHD.

Schmidt exudes a more stoic presence—most of the time. He commandeers the piano, diligently tapping up and down the keyboard.

But he’s also apt to get up and dance, or lie backward on the piano bench, reaching behind his head with crossed arms, to play a jazzy rendition of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”—a party trick that was developed because of a challenge by a friend.

Audience members often clap along, laugh loudly, and occasionally dab at tears.

“I’m hoping that’s what our concerts, our music, and our videos can do—help put people in a position where they’re feeling the Spirit,” Nelson said before a show in Atlanta.

“Whether they call it that or not is not important to me. Whether they worship the exact same God that I do is not as important to me.

“What’s important to me is that they feel the Spirit, and their mind and their body and their soul are in a position where they can be receptive to the most wonderful emotions in life, which are hope, joy, healing, and all those things that we need.

“The Spirit does the heavy lifting in our work. We are simply these humble purveyors and conveyors. Our job is to open that heart a little bit, maybe an inch.”

Then, Nelson said, God can whisper to any audience member who needs to hear it: “You’re going to be OK. Things will work out. You keep going. And yes, you just got that diagnosis, but there’s good that’s going to come from this.”

“That’s what I hope that people feel when they’re in our concerts—the Spirit gets in their heart, and God talks to them directly,” he said. “God knows them so much better than I do. He’s going to be able to communicate what they need to hear in that moment.”

Schmidt said he considers it a miracle that the two

Grace Diaz (L) and brothers Royce (C) and Roark hold some of their state music-competition trophies at their home in Gainesville, Fla., on April 10.

of them can just be themselves on stage and not worry about pulling off the kind of polish that’s so common at flashy concerts these days.

Though on a break from touring over the summer, they’ll begin performing again in September, with shows scheduled in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.

“It’s a gift we’ve been given, and we’ll ride it as long as we can,” Nelson said.

They just plan to keep walking the path they’re on, they said, hoping to inspire others to create and to connect to the divine.

“One of the greatest lessons Jon’s ever taught me is you just put your feet on the path that gets placed beneath your feet, and you keep walking it, and there’s no telling where it’ll take you,” Nelson said.

“And eventually, you’ll be at a beautiful place. And you’ll think, ‘How did I get here?’”

“We’re trying to encourage kids to get purpose back in their lives by doing hard things. And music is a great way to teach that.”

Steven Sharp Nelson, cellist

Manufacturing Giants Hid Toxic Risk for Decades: Study

Industry conspired to conceal PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ hazards since 1960s, study shows

By Sheramy Tsai

In a shocking e X posé of global significance, confidential documents reveal that the chemical industry hid the harmful effects of substances known as “forever chemicals.”

Investigation by researchers from the University of California–San Francisco (UCSF), and the University of Colorado revealed the industry’s strategic measures to hinder public knowledge of the toxicity of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Employing similar methods first used by Stan Glantz in his research on the tobacco industry, researchers analyzed documents from chemical companies DuPont and 3M.

Newly published in the Annals of Global Health, “The Devil They Knew: Chemical Documents Analysis of Industry Influence on PFAS Science” states that these chemical manufacturing giants were privy to the detrimental effects of PFAS as far back as the 1960s. Yet this crucial information remained a secret from the public until the late 1990s.

A statement from the study noted that these companies had “deliberately suppressed, distorted, and obfuscated evidence of PFAS harm.” The analysis claimed that these corporations withheld crucial health information from employees and regulators.

“These documents reveal clear evidence that the chemical industry knew about the dangers of PFAS and failed

to let the public, regulators, and even their own employees know the risks,” Tracey J. Woodruff, senior author of the paper, said in a statement. Woodruff is a professor at UCSF, the director of the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, and a former senior scientist and policy adviser at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Decoding the Dangers of Forever Chemicals

PFAS are a group of synthetic chemicals that have become deeply embedded in our environment and everyday life. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that there are more than 9,000 types of PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS, formerly known as C8.

PFAS toxins aren’t only present in everyday items such as textiles, nonstick pans, and food packaging, they also lurk in our drinking water and food, so they affect the human population on a mass scale. According to the CDC, a staggering 97 percent of Americans have detectable levels of PFAS in their blood.

The persistence and accumulation of these chemicals pose significant health risks. Studies have linked exposure to PFAS with numerous health issues, such as decreased fertility, high blood pressure, and an increased risk of certain cancers. Because of their widespread presence and potential

Chemical company 3M in Delft, the Netherlands, on Nov. 5, 2014. In 1980, DuPont and 3M identified abnormalities among employee pregnancies. However, these findings were neither published nor disclosed to their workforce.

PHOTO BY KOEN VAN WEEL/ANP/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

for harm, understanding these forever chemicals and their impact on human health and ecosystems is paramount.

“One common characteristic of concern of PFAS is that many break down very slowly and can build up in people, animals, and the environment over time,” the EPA stated.

Behind the Scenes: Industry’s Own Studies on PFAS

Very little was known about the toxicity of PFAS for the first half-century of their use. A New England Journal of Medicine paper published in 1962 claimed that Teflon was “physiologically inert, insoluble, nonirritating to the skin and nontoxic when taken by mouth.”

However, as early as 1959, there were warning signs of the hazards associated with these substances when a report emerged detailing a worker’s death from Teflon inhalation. According to the study authors, this incident didn’t immediately spur broader investigations into PFAS safety. In 1961, DuPont dismissed the worker’s death as a rumor.

The new study drew from 39 documents obtained through two landmark lawsuits, Tennant v. DuPont in 1998 and Leach v. DuPont in 2002, in which DuPont was charged with contaminating local environments and endangering public health. These documents were

donated to UCSF and the filmmakers of the documentary “The Devil We Know.” Throughout the paper, researchers highlight several examples of large corporations’ awareness of the potential dangers. In 1979, DuPont’s private study, conducted by Haskell Labs, revealed the alarming toxic effects of the chemical APFO, a variant of PFOA. Exposure in rats caused liver enlargement and eye damage, while inhalation was found to be highly toxic. Two dogs given a single dose died within 48 hours, showing signs of cellular damage.

areas, presenting the move as precautionary rather than reactionary. In a 1981 memo, it denied any evidence of adverse health effects or congenital disabilities from exposure to C8, downplaying its toxicity by comparing it to substances such as table salt and water.

Yet these findings were neither published in the scientific literature nor reported to the EPA as required by the Toxic Substances Control Act. The documents were kept confidential. In certain instances, industry executives called for their destruction.

In 1980, DuPont and 3M surveyed employees’ pregnancies, identifying three abnormalities among eight pregnancies, including birth defects and detectable PFAS in cord blood. The companies later learned that some women suffered miscarriages. However, these findings were neither published nor disclosed to their employees.

Instead, DuPont decided to remove female employees from PFAS-exposed

Same Story, Different Industry

The sway of industry over science and regulatory agencies, predominantly steered by financial interests, has become a formidable factor in molding public health outcomes. This influence isn’t unique to the chemical sector. It has been consistently observed across various industries, including tobacco, pharmaceuticals, lead, and polyvinyl chloride, according to studies by researchers such as Bero and White in 2010.

Applying this analysis to the PFAS scandal, DuPont and 3M appear to have engaged in systemic nondisclosure of evidence pointing toward harm, making this an example of science concealed for commercial interests.

This example highlights a troubling industrywide practice. When faced with evidence that may damage their financial standing or reputation, many corporations opt for suppression and silence, undermining the public’s trust and potentially putting lives at risk.

Billion-Dollar Settlements in Chemical Pollution Cases

As the dangers of PFAS become increasingly apparent, lawsuits related to PFAS have surged dramatically. At the beginning of June, three large corporations jointly agreed to resolve PFAS-related drinking water claims from a defined class of public water systems serving a

Findings on the toxic effects of PFAS were neither published in the scientific literature nor reported to the EPA.

The Dupont corporate headquarters in Wilmington, Del., on Dec. 11, 2015. DuPont and 3M appear to have engaged in an example of science concealed for commercial interests.

significant portion of the U.S. population. Chemours, DuPont, and Corteva collectively agreed to establish a $1.185 billion settlement fund, as announced in a statement.

Earlier this year, the EPA proposed a federal standard to regulate several PFAS in drinking water, marking a critical step in public health protection. The EPA stated that it plans to finalize this regulation by the end of 2023.

While some states have established laws to control certain PFAS in drinking water, there is no federal mandate, leading to uneven testing and filtering practices among public water systems. However, according to the National Law Review, eight states have already filed PFAS lawsuits in 2023 alone.

Dupont, 3M Respond

3M has largely downplayed the study’s revelations.

“The paper is largely comprised of previously published documents,” it stated, pointing out that the sources cited go as far back as 1962.

“3M has previously addressed many of the mischaracterizations of these documents in previous reporting,” 3M told The Epoch Times in an email.

The company maintains that it hasn’t withheld information about the toxicity of PFAS, a contention challenged by the UCSF study.

DuPont stated that the paper’s accusations don’t apply to its current op-

erations. In 2019, DuPont de Nemours was established as a specialty products company, separate from the historical operations of E.I. du Pont de Nemours (EID), a commodity conglomerate that spun off its chemical businesses in 2015.

DuPont de Nemours, which inherited specialty products manufacturing from both EID and Dow Chemical, stated that it had never produced harmful substances.

9,000

TYPES

97%

“DuPont de Nemours has never manufactured PFOA or PFOS. Safety, health and protecting the planet are core values at DuPont de Nemours. We are— and have always been—committed to upholding the highest standards for the

A worker deals with waste containing PFAS in a rotary kiln, at a firm in Antwerp, Belgium, on June 24, 2021. Studies have linked exposure to PFAS with numerous health issues.

wellbeing of our employees, our customers and the communities in which we operate,” Dupont stated.

“To implicate DuPont de Nemours in these past issues ignores this corporate evolution, and the movement of product lines and personnel that now exist with entirely different companies.”

Pushing for Transparency, Accountability in Chemical Industry

As the gravity of the PFAS scandal continues to unfold, it has stirred a public demand for transparency and accountability in the chemical industry. Deliberate attempts to obscure the harmful effects of PFAS has provoked both anger and fear, according to research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2020.

“As many countries pursue legal and legislative action to curb PFAS production, we hope they are aided by the timeline of evidence presented in this paper,” Woodruff said. “This timeline reveals serious failures in the way the U.S. currently regulates harmful chemicals.”

Feeling the increased pressure, some chemical makers have significantly scaled back their use of these toxins. Dupont states on its website that “the company’s use of PFAS is limited,” reporting that it does not make or use PFOA or PFAS in the development or manufacturing of its products.

3M vowed to stop manufacturing PFAS by the end of 2025.

“We have already reduced our use of PFAS over the past three years through ongoing research and development, and will continue to innovate new solutions for customers,” it said in a December 2022 statement. “3M will discontinue manufacturing all fluoropolymers, fluorinated fluids, and PFAS-based additive products.”

THE CDC CDC REPORTS THAT there are more than 9,000 types of PFAS, including PFOA and PFOS, formerly known as C8.

THE CDC SHOWS THAT 97 percent of Americans have detectable levels of PFAS in their blood.

Recent findings show that sucralose, sometimes sold under the brand name Splenda, is “genotoxic.”

New study reveals additional health detriments to consuming the 1998 FDAapproved sucralose

Sweetener

Damages DNA

By Amy Denney

PHOTO BY JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES

neW study on sucraLose a popular sugar-free sweetener that was put through 110 safety studies before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it in 1998—found that the popular ingredient has toxicities that regulatory agencies must consider.

New health and safety findings revealed in the study show that sucralose, sometimes sold under the brand name Splenda, is “genotoxic,” meaning that it breaks up DNA. That’s on top of other condemning evidence revealed in the study published on May 29 in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. Years of independent research into sucralose have dismantled many of the original claims made in its food additive permit.

How sucralose can damage DNA is a metabolic process. When the sweetener is digested, it forms a metabolite called sucralose-6-acetate. But the product itself has also been found to contain trace amounts of this chemical compound. Taken together, the results of this study and previous research implicate sucralose in a range of detrimental health issues.

“This is not acceptable. We can’t have genotoxic compounds in our food supply,” Susan Schiffman, corresponding author of the study, told The Epoch Times. “I think if it was presented to the FDA today, they would not approve it. The original claims made to the FDA just aren’t true. I don’t know how they missed it.”

Original Testing

Sucralose, which is about 600 times sweeter than table sugar, is used in 15 food categories including beverages, baked goods, gum, gelatins, and frozen desserts. On its website, the FDA stated that it determined the safety of sucralose by reviewing studies on the reproductive and nervous systems, carcinogenicity, and metabolism. The FDA also reviewed human clinical trials to address the effects on patients with diabetes.

The permit also states that it was evaluated for genotoxicity and “showed weakly genotoxic responses in some of the genotoxicity tests.” However, the report goes on to state that there was no evidence of carcinogenic activity and

that “results from these chronic carcinogenicity studies supersede the results observed in the genotoxicity tests because they are more direct and complete tests of carcinogenic potential.”

Schiffman, who’s an adjunct professor in the joint department of biomedical engineering at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, said many of the studies were flawed because of how they were performed, such as not checking fat tissue for bioaccumulation and checking blood glucose levels in distant intervals from exposure.

“If you design your studies in such a way to have no effect, you’ll have no effect,” she said.

A Trail of New Evidence

The new study bolsters other research, including some Schiffman has done over the past several years.

In 2018, her team discovered that sucralose, argued to simply pass through

the gastrointestinal tract without metabolizing, converts to metabolites called sucralose-6-acetate, a fat-soluble compound that stayed in the tissues of rats two weeks after they last consumed sucralose. In the new study, researchers conducted in vitro experiments exposing human blood cells to the metabolite and monitoring for markers of genotoxicity.

“We also found that trace amounts of sucralose-6-acetate can be found in off-the-shelf sucralose, even before it is consumed and metabolized,” she said in a statement.

“To put this in context, the European Food Safety Authority has a threshold of toxicological concern for all genotoxic substances of 0.15 micrograms per person per day. Our work suggests that the trace amounts of sucralose-6-acetate in a single, daily sucralose-sweetened drink exceed that threshold. And that’s not even accounting for the amount of sucralose-6-acetate produced as metabolites after people consume sucralose.”

Because previous research has also shown a connection between sucralose and gut health, the researchers also exposed gut cells to the metabolite and observed increased activity in genes related to oxidative stress, inflammation, and carcinogenicity, showing significant risks from consumption.

Both sucralose and sucralose-6-acetate exposed to gut epithelial tissues

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the popular sugar-free sweetener in 1998, after it was put through 110 safety studies.

“[Sucralose] make the wall of the gut more permeable.”

Susan Schiffman, study author and professor, North Carolina State University

were found to cause a condition called “leaky gut.”

“Basically, they make the wall of the gut more permeable. The chemicals damage the ‘tight junctions,’ or interfaces, where cells in the gut wall connect to each other,” Schiffman said. “A leaky gut is problematic, because it means that things that would normally be flushed out of the body in feces are instead leaking out of the gut and being absorbed into the bloodstream.”

Sorting Through Guidelines

The Epoch Times contacted the American Beverage Association. It directed inquiries to the Calorie Control Council, which sent a statement by email.

“This study was conducted in a laboratory environment, which cannot mimic the complex mechanisms of the human body, even when human cells are used. The results of the study therefore cannot be inferred by extension to humans and the general population,” said Robert Rankin, president of the Calorie Control Council.

“For the millions of people who rely on low- and no-calorie sweeteners to help manage body weight and reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases like diabetes and obesity, it is important

600

TIMES

SUCRALOSE, WHICH IS ABOUT 600 times sweeter than table sugar, is used in 15 food categories including beverages, baked goods, gum, gelatins, and frozen desserts.

to know the facts, which is sucralose has been rigorously studied by scientific and regulatory authorities around the world and is safe to consume.”

In response to a previous study on sucralose, the American Beverage Association shared a statement from the European Food Safety Authority reconfirming the safety of the ingredient found in many foods and beverages.

“This is an important confirmation, as individuals world-wide rely on sweeteners, like sucralose, as safe and effective tools for both losing weight or maintaining weight loss,” it stated on its website.

The Epoch Times also contacted and left a message with the marketing and communications director at Heartland Food Products, which manufactures Splenda.

The American Heart Association and other organizations label low-calorie sweeteners, artificial sweeteners, and

A man stocks the shelf with beverages, which commonly contain sucrolase, at a convience store in Miami, in this file photo.

noncaloric sweeteners as non-nutritive sweeteners (NNSs), since they offer no nutritional benefits such as vitamins and minerals.

It advises the replacement of sugary foods and drinks with NNSs as a way to limit calories, achieve or maintain a healthy weight, and maintain stable blood glucose levels.

“For example, swapping a full-calorie soda with diet soda is one way of not increasing blood glucose levels while satisfying a sweet tooth,” one article on the AHA’s website reads. “We don’t know for sure if using NNSs in food and drinks makes people actually eat or drink fewer calories every day. But reducing the amount of added sugar in your diet? That we know for sure is a good thing.”

Unrelated to this study, the World Health Organization recently offered a controversial warning that sugar substitutes such as sucralose raise the risk of severe health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mortality.

“It’s a multibillion-dollar product, and there’s going to be pushback,” Schiffman said. “What I’m hoping is somebody who makes these kinds of decisions does something about it. At the very least, it needs to be labeled.”

Perspectives

Pirelli tires are checked for a race in Spa, Belgium, in this file photo. Beijingcontrolled Sinochem now owns 37 percent of Pirelli, an Italian company.

IS THE JOBS MARKET STRONG? FIGHT OVER ESG INVESTING STACK THE DECK AGAINST THE CCP

Don’t be fooled, China’s global loans are for its own development. 57

On the surface, things still look positive, but momentum is slowing. 58

Democrats call an antiESG hearing “an attack on economic freedom.” 59

PHOTO BY CLIVE MASON/GETTY IMAGES

Thomas McArdle

Beijing’s Existential Vulnerability

The West should take advantage of Beijing’s unforeseen weaknesses

The t Wo facts about China most important to the interests of freedom in the world are that, one, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is succeeding in its stated goal to become the dominant power on the globe by midcentury, and two, another Tiananmen Square Massacre, the 34th anniversary of which was on June 4, is almost certainly not possible for the CCP to get away with in the age of social media.

The fact that popular protest within China can’t be stamped out as bloodily as it once was presents an opportunity for the Chinese people, and for the private businesses in the West that owe so much to the Chinese workers whose labor has generated so much wealth for them.

It has been shown in recent years that Beijing does react to the pressure of popular agitation.

When a fire in an apartment building in Urumqi, the capital of the western region of Xinjiang, left 10 dead last November, and months-long strict COVID lockdown restrictions apparently hindered emergency services from rescuing occupants, there was no suppression of news of the tragedy from China’s people, or suppression of the protests that erupted there, with demonstrators seen on social media toppling a barrier, arguing with officials, and shouting demands that the regime’s COVID restrictions be scrapped.

Regime response to the fire has included appeasing the people by lifting local lockdowns.

The messages and slogans often embraced suggest real dissatisfaction with the CCP, including the lyric “Arise! Ye who refuse to be slaves!” from “March of the Volunteers,” China’s current national anthem.

Although authored by a communist, the song’s origin is deeply nationalistic, with “volunteers” referring to the

armies that fought imperial Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in the 1930s; nationalist hero Gen. Dai Anlan made it the anthem of the division under his command in the Burma campaign during the Second World War.

Video footage taken last autumn also shows students chanting, “Democracy, rule of law, freedom of expression!” And in Shanghai, residents were even found to be shouting, “Step down, Xi Jinping!”

consigned to the ash heap of history with its Moscow and Berlin cousins.

And we find the Biden administration rolling the red carpet out for the likes of Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu—who helped Beijing suppress and abuse freedom fighters in the island—inviting him to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in San Francisco this year.

Government and business should together be seeking the newest and most effective ways of informing the Chinese people, in detail, about what’s going on in their country.

In the wake of all this, China’s economic recovery from its COVID lockdowns is proving to be a major disappointment, with the once-projected growth rate of more than 5 percent for 2023 now a pipe dream because of massive overvaluations in housing and credit. This letdown will not only lessen Western investment in mainland China but is sure to foment further domestic protests, compounding those of last year.

If we lived in more normal times, instead of in an era when both elected governments in the West and major multinational corporations are fully bought into “woke” ideology, the U.S. government and this country’s business leaders would be meeting behind closed doors to strategize ways to exploit Beijing’s unexpected weaknesses. Instead, we find CEOs who should know better scurrying to the Middle Kingdom to see if they can help a genocidal governmental enterprise stay strong, a regime that should long ago have been

From caging more than 1 million ethnic-minority Uyghers in reeducation camps and subjecting millions of the rest of them to involuntary sterilization, forced labor, religious prohibitions, and surveillance, to the torture and even harvesting of organs of adherents of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline rooted in ancient Chinese tradition, communist China is one of the bloodiest tyrannies in history, even since the death of Mao and the opening to the West. And all too many rank-and-file Chinese people don’t, or don’t fully, know it.

Notions of an economic downturn lessening the China threat to the free world have it backward; the disastrous Soviet economy didn’t quell Moscow’s expansionist practices during the Cold War, and Beijing’s ongoing military growth and global audacity both reinforce Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s hold on power and fuel the regime’s long-term objectives of upending U.S. superpower status. An adversary’s weakness calls for attack, not retreat.

China’s economic troubles are an opportunity for businesses that have gotten rich from the sweat of the Chinese people to express their thanks by revealing to them how much blood their rulers have spilled in recent years, thereby giving them the inspiration and motive to arise and refuse to live any longer as slaves.

THOMAS MCARDLE was a White House speechwriter for President George W. Bush and writes for IssuesInsights.com

Government and business should together be seeking the newest and most effective ways of informing the Chinese people, in detail, about what is going on in their country.

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

Stack the Deck Against the CCP

Don’t be fooled, China’s global loans are for its own development

China’s be Lt and road Initiative (BRI, also known as One Belt, One Road) is an ill-defined international development program that includes export activities and political influence operations by the regime in Beijing. With a reported $1 trillion of spending, which could eventually become $8 trillion, the BRI has hit major speed bumps of late.

Italy, which is the only G-7 country involved in the BRI, is finally considering a departure. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said joining the BRI was a mistake that yielded insufficient trade or investment benefits. In May, a senior Italian official told Reuters that a renewal of the BRI agreement was “highly unlikely.”

China is getting bad press in Italy as it seeks 9 of 15 seats on the board of tire manufacturer Pirelli. Beijing-controlled Sinochem now owns 37 percent of the Italian company, founded 150 years ago in Milan, and is allegedly attempting to violate a 2015 agreement that limited its control of strategic decisions. The longtime Pirelli CEO has asked Meloni to block Sinochem’s power grab.

Chinese interests are also reportedly financing, through illegal cryptocurrency, the operations of Italy’s most notorious organized criminals, known as the ‘Ndrangheta mafia. Chinese and Italian criminals cooperate with Albanian criminals who control European ports to distribute record amounts of cocaine globally. One Italian research group estimated that the annual revenue of ‘Ndrangheta is approximately $47 billion.

China’s $7.3 billion high-speed rail project in Indonesia is an example of a failed BRI investment in Asia. According to a June 8 report, the project is four years behind schedule and $1.2 billion over budget. One of the stations is still incomplete, but the partnered Chinese company reportedly wants

a certification that the line is fully operational. The railway will likely lose money as the terminals are outside city centers and a one-way ticket will cost more than $23, almost a quarter of the average Indonesian weekly salary.

COVID-19 and skyrocketing inflation have hit BRI loans with a fury. From 2017 to 2019, the BRI’s distressed debt already amounted to $17 billion. That figure more than quadrupled to $76.8 billion between 2020 and 2022.

to promote the image of China as supportive of international development, while in reality, using the BRI to internationalize China’s trade at subsidized prices that increase the CCP’s global political influence.

At a conference in Washington last month, Dr. Matt Ferchen said that smaller non-state Chinese firms investing in South, Southeast, and Central Asia “can generate a lot of economic activity but can also be extremely disruptive and is associated with China’s influence.”

Ferchen has seen investments, for example, in Burma (also known as Myanmar), “where Chinese actors have taken it upon themselves to declare that their projects, like gambling, casino projects, and entire special economic zones ... are part of the BRI.”

BRI contracts are typically opaque, with secret terms written into agreements. The conditions linked to debt renegotiation are likely even more opaque. In the case of Sri Lanka, for example, the country had to relinquish rights to its Hambantota port for 99 years to renegotiate its debt.

Critics are concerned that China could use the port for naval purposes. Pakistan, which also has a potential Chinese naval port at Gwadar, is likewise unsustainably indebted to China. Both countries vote closely with China at the United Nations, indicating diplomatic conditionality to BRI loans.

Tricking countries into taking on more debt than is sustainable and thereby forcing them into diplomatic, military, or infrastructural concessions, has been called “debt-trap diplomacy” by critics.

Other criticism of the BRI focuses on how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has used the program

At the same conference, Dick Foster of USAID said, “When I look at the origin story of BRI, I see massive capital lying around and basically the Chinese government telling its banks and its governmental agencies to go out and make some money.” He said that China’s own development was “more a priority here than helping other countries develop.”

On June 14, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled “Assessing U.S. Efforts to Counter China’s Coercive Belt and Road Diplomacy.”

A likely concern at the hearing is China’s use of cross-border subsidies through the BRI to advantage its companies’ global penetration. This concern is addressed through bipartisan legislation introduced into the U.S. House and Senate on June 7. The legislation is appropriately called the Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act.

But let’s hope it more than levels the playing field. Democracies need every advantage we can get against authoritarian states and the global commerce they control.

Critics say that China tricks countries into taking on more debt than is sustainable, thereby forcing them into diplomatic, military, or infrastructural concessions.

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

Is the Jobs Market Strong?

On the surface, things still look positive, but momentum is slowing

Not too L ong ago, talk of recession dominated the financial headlines. Much of the flow of economic information still points in that direction.

The dramatic interest rate increases orchestrated by the Federal Reserve count as one such consideration, as does sluggish consumer spending and a clear reluctance by businesses to spend on new facilities, equipment, and technologies. Even slack import figures suggest that individuals and companies are spending less briskly than they might.

Talk of recession has nonetheless faded because the jobs market has remained impressively robust, allowing the economic optimists, most especially the White House, to dismiss other signs of weakness in the economy. These optimists ask: How can the economy be approaching recession when unemployment rates remain low and hiring is strong? It has been a compelling argument, but now even the jobs market is showing signs of weakness.

On the surface, recent news on hiring and unemployment still offers the optimists material. The Labor Department’s May summary reported the additional hiring of 339,000, well up from April’s gain of 294,000 and much above historical norms. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7 percent of the workforce from 3.4 percent in April but remains low by historical standards. On these bases, President Joe Biden still has bragging rights.

Even so, those observers alert to changing conditions will note that new jobs creation has fallen far short of how things looked only a few months ago. Between January 2022 and July 2022, for example, business and government were adding

an average of 463,000 new jobs per month. Although still strong compared to averages of the more distant past, recent figures show a remarkable comedown from their previous pace. Nor has the rate of unemployment improved substantially for the past 15 months. A look behind these headline figures gives reason to doubt a continuation of the good news on jobs.

openings as there were unemployed in the country. Now, the figure has dropped to 1.5 times, still high relative to the longer-term historic norm of 0.7 but nonetheless a big shift in just a few months.

Increased rates of layoffs certainly cloud the picture painted by the optimists. Apple, Google, and Meta have made headlines with huge layoffs in the tens of thousands. More complete data compiled by the Labor Department show a broader increase. Layoffs have averaged roughly 1.6 million per month so far this year through April, the most recent month for which data are available. That amounts to 1.1 percent of the workforce. True, new hiring has absorbed most of these workers and more, but the pace of layoffs is nonetheless up ominously—almost 25 percent from a year ago, when the layoff rate amounted to a mere 0.9 percent of the workforce.

Casting still darker shadows is the drop in job openings. They rose a slight 3.7 percent from their March levels in April. Still, at more than 10 million nationwide, they showed 14 percent fewer openings than in April 2022, 16 percent lower in the private economy. The decline is all but universal across all major employment categories. Only a few months ago, at the end of 2022, there were twice as many job

By one important reckoning, even this reduced figure might overstate the strength of the jobs market. A recent article in the Harvard Business Review argues convincingly that the posted jobs say little about the urgency of employers to fill a position or the intensity with which they conduct their search. These researchers pointed out that levels of intensity need consideration because they vary more over the business cycle than do simple postings. They plumbed data available from the LinkedIn website to measure the ratio of what they call active job openings to the number of active job seekers and discovered that this improved ratio had risen much less dramatically than the conventional ratio of postings to overall unemployed and has been in a steeper decline since early 2022.

The Harvard study only has figures through late 2022, but by then, this measure had already shown a 24 percent drop in the level of active searches from earlier that year to a point where these job openings had already fallen below the number of active job seekers.

Taken together, the picture remains far from one of economic decline but nonetheless clearly one of ebbing growth momentum. More significantly, perhaps, it warns against using the superficial jobs picture as a reason to dismiss other signs of economic weakness. Especially with the Fed raising interest rates, there’s little reason to argue continuing strength, either from a financial perspective or from spending patterns—or, it should be clear, from the seemingly strong jobs picture.

New jobs creation has fallen far short of how things looked only a few months ago.

Kevin Stocklin

Fight Over ESG Investing

Democrats call anti-ESG hearing ‘an attack on economic freedom’

Finance and energy experts testified before the House Oversight Committee on June 6 that the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) movement is impairing Americans’ retirement savings, reducing living standards, and infringing on civil rights, while Democrat members protested that GOP efforts against ESG compliance threaten Americans’ economic freedom.

“As American families continue to struggle under rampant inflation, increased energy costs, and an economy on the verge of recession, a subset of financial elites and their allegiance to ESG investing are making matters worse,” Mandy Gunasekara, director of the Independent Women’s Forum Center for Energy and Conservation, told lawmakers. “While branded as an investment strategy for good, ESG manipulates markets, as well as access to markets, in order to advance a leftist political agenda.”

This diverts capital away from “politically disfavored” companies, she said, “makes the realization of the American dream contingent on acquiescing to the demands of the woke left.” In addition, the “oppressive governance policies” of ESG “result in decreased viewpoint diversity; they force employees to curb free speech and to stay silent on matters with which they fundamentally disagree,” she said.

The hearing took place amid sharp declines in the shares of companies such as Target and Anheuser-Busch InBev, whose stock prices fell by $13 billion and $27 billion, respectively, after attaching their brands to controversial social-justice causes.

Stephen Moore, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation, testified that he analyzed 50 ESG-related shareholder proxy votes that were “most invasive and harmful to the company.”

“What we found is that, in most

The hearing took place amid sharp declines in the shares of companies such as Target and AnheuserBusch InBev, whose stock prices fell by $13 billion and $27 billion, respectively.

cases, these large fiduciaries were actually voting for these resolutions, even though they were contrary to the interests of the shareholders,” Moore said. He wrote in a May 16 op-ed that while Dimensional, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, and Fidelity voted against nearly all ESG initiatives, other asset managers such as UBS, BNP Paribas, and Northern Trust voted in favor of “woke” initiatives 80 percent of the time.

This finding comes in the wake of testimony by State Street Chief Investment Officer Lori Heinel, who stated before the Texas state Senate in December 2022: “I have no evidence that this [ESG investing] is good for returns in any time frame. In fact, we’ve seen the evidence to be quite contrary.”

In February 2023, Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley stated, “Our research indicates that ESG investing does not have any

advantage over broad-based investing.”

Jason Isaac, a director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, testified that, due to ESG policies, “there has been an 81 percent reduction in the number of funds that provide private capital raised for oil and gas exploration in this country, and a 94 percent reduction in dollars raised for oil and gas production,” Isaac said.

“All of this is for nothing,” Moore said. “The world is consuming the same amount of oil, it’s just that instead of producing it in Texas or Oklahoma or North Dakota or Alaska, we are stupidly getting the oil from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and countries that hate us.”

Shivaram Rajgopal, an accounting professor at Columbia Business School, praised ESG, stating, “I think of ESG as a term that covers data that’s not adequately disclosed by our financial reporting model and by our mandated disclosure rules.”

Democrat lawmakers decried the ESG hearing.

“Let’s call this what it is; it’s an attack on economic freedom,” Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) declared.

“Responsible investing depends on ESG data to facilitate prudent planning for long-term challenges,” Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said. “That’s why Democrats are working to protect access to this data so that financial professionals and the public are free to make responsible and economically beneficial investment choices.”

A 2021 report by Columbia Business School and the London School of Economics found that “ESG funds appear to underperform financially relative to other funds within the same asset manager and year, and to charge higher fees.” A 2020 study by the Boston College Center for Retirement Research found that ESG investing reduced pensioners’ returns by 0.70 to 0.90 percent annually.

KEVIN STOCKLIN is a business reporter, film producer, and former Wall Street banker. He wrote and produced “We All Fall Down: The American Mortgage Crisis” and “The Shadow State.”

Daniel Lacalle

Commodity Inflation?

Why is inflation still high when commodity prices are falling?

Most po L iticians have used the “Ukraine invasion card” to justify the massive inflationary burst in 2021–23. It doesn’t matter if inflation was already elevated prior to the war.

There are many reasons that have been given to justify inflation, such as supply chain disruptions, demand recovery, and wage growth. Nevertheless, there is only one thing that can drive up overall prices in unison, and that is the creation of more units of currency well above demand.

Inflationists will blame inflation on anything and everything except the one factor that causes all prices, which are measured in monetary units, to rise at the same time. That one thing is growth in money supply that is faster than the growth in real economic output.

Supply chain disruption and commodity inflation are caused by monetary expansion, which refers to the process of adding more units of money to the market for relatively scarce assets.

Profits, wages, or commodities aren’t causes of inflation but consequences. The unit used to measure prices is weakened by the massive increase of its supply. It’s as if I sell apples measured in glasses of milk, and suddenly the issuer of milk puts hundreds of gallons more in the market. My apples will cost more glasses of milk to adjust to the reality of the new unit of measure.

Long-term inflation expectations have risen to 3 percent, the highest level in 12 years. Furthermore, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in April, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.4 percent, seasonally adjusted (SA), and rose 4.9 percent over the past 12 months, not seasonally adjusted (NSA). The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.4 percent in April (SA), up 5.5 percent over

What no central bank wants to tell you is that the only way in which inflation will be brought down significantly is a recession. Also, the entire burden of monetary policy normalization is going to fall on families and the private sector.

the year (NSA). However, commodities have plummeted in the past year. Crude oil (WTI) is down 38 percent in the past year, trading below the pre-Ukraine invasion level. Gasoil (minus 44 percent), gasoline (minus 40 percent), heating oil (minus 44 percent), natural gas (Henry Hub, minus 74 percent and NBP, minus 65 percent) have all plummeted to prewar levels. Even wheat is down by 30 percent from a year before June 4. The FAO Food Price Index also corrected to a two-year low in May.

Monetary Contraction

Why are commodity prices plummeting in the middle of the China recovery and elevated demand growth

and tight supply?

Monetary factors again. The massive rate hikes and the subsequent monetary contraction have impacted the internationally quoted prices of goods all over the world. It’s more expensive to purchase storage, finance margin calls, hire tankers, and start long positions.

If commodities and the Ukraine war were to blame for inflation, why is the CPI remaining so elevated? Money-supply growth is plummeting, but not enough to revert the price expansion of 2020–23, and in fact, global money supply hasn’t fallen lower than $101 trillion, according to Bloomberg. That is a significant drop in money supply from its highs, and one that justifies the rapid decline in headline inflation, but not enough to revert the price increases for consumers.

Central banks engineered the massive inflationary burst, as proven in the BIS study by Claudio Borio et al., and now find that it’s relatively easy to reduce annualized inflation to 4–5 percent, but not that simple to bring it to 2 percent.

What no central bank wants to tell you is that the only way in which inflation will be brought down significantly is a recession. That is why they talk of a “soft landing” that is impossible if they truly wanted inflation to fall permanently.

What no central bank also wants to tell you is that the entire burden of monetary policy normalization is going to fall on families and the private sector, because governments continue to spend as if nothing mattered.

What nobody wants to say is that if central banks go back to easing in the second half of 2023, inflationary pressures, and the subsequent impoverishment of all citizens, will persist.

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.”

Fan Yu

Tesla: New Infrastructure Firm

The deals give Tesla a stranglehold on EV charging infrastructure

Detroit riva L s general Motors (GM) and Ford Motor Company both announced that they signed deals to use Tesla’s supercharger network in North America starting next year.

Existing owners of Ford and GM electric vehicles (EVs) can soon begin accessing Tesla’s massive supercharger network that uses the company’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector with an adaptor, and future Ford and GM EVs will have NACS chargers standard.

It’s a brilliant move by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Locking up two of the biggest North American automakers effectively means that Tesla’s NACS technology has emerged as the industry’s new “VHS” standard, drawing parallels to the 1980s battle between VHS and Betamax for home video standard.

The deals give Tesla a stranglehold on EV charging infrastructure. Two dominoes have fallen, and more automakers will now follow suit. The Biden administration on June 9 tried to throw a lifeline to the other EV charging standard, the Combined Charging System (CCS), by touting building infrastructure with the “flexibility for adding both CCS and NACS,” according to White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson. But make no mistake, it’s only a matter of time until Tesla’s NACS effectively locks up the entire North American charging infrastructure. Any company looking to invest millions in CCS technology would be wise to pause and reconsider.

Does this make Tesla an infrastructure player in addition to its merits as a leading EV maker? Absolutely.

“We have a real opportunity here to really drive this to be the unified standard for North America, which I think will enable more mass adoption,” GM CEO Mary Barra said during a Twitter

Spaces session announcing the deal.

Musk said Tesla’s charging network won’t give preferential treatment to Tesla EV owners.

If one believes in a future of EVs, then EV charging stations are the future equivalent of gas stations.

Not only would Tesla own the majority of these “gas stations” of the future, but it would also have the ability to advertise and sell other products and services alongside these charging stations. Unlike gas stations, where current vehicles can fill up within minutes, EVs take much longer to charge and businesses adjacent to EV chargers can engage EV owners more effectively in sales.

To be clear, Tesla won’t have a monopoly over the nation’s charging network, as the firm has already opened NACS charger technology to other

manufacturers. But we still expect Tesla to own a large portion of the network, given its already massive head start.

And that’s the key reason automakers are choosing to partner with Tesla.

For Tesla, this provides a recurring and stable revenue windfall to cushion its car and battery manufacturing business, not to mention upfront funding from the federal government, which is investing billions of dollars in this space. The total addressable market for selling electricity to EV owners is massive, and the industry is just getting started.

Alex Potter, the Piper Sandler analyst who covers Tesla, wrote in a note to clients that Tesla will stand to earn “$3 billion in charging revenue from non-Tesla owners alone by 2030 and $5.4 billion by 2032.”

“Game, set, match,” Tesla bull and Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in a tweet. “Tesla just cornered the market.”

Tesla was never going to have a monopoly among EVs, but charging infrastructure may be a different story.

The company has about 45,000 NACS connectors around the world at 4,947 supercharger stations. The majority of that is believed to reside in the United States. A slightly higher number of CCS charging stations are currently operational in the United States, according to U.S. government data.

Tesla’s dominance in charging infrastructure will also augment its growing energy storage business. It already offers Powerwall and Megapack products in this space. As its energy and charging infrastructure grows, there’s massive potential to link energy storage solutions and clean energy (solar) to its expanding grid.

For Tesla, one of the most polarizing companies in the stock market, its potential energy infrastructure dominance is a compelling thesis for investors.

Not only would Tesla own the majority of these ‘gas stations’ of the future, it would have the ability to advertise and sell other products and services alongside these charging stations.

FAN YU is an expert in finance and economics and has contributed analyses on China’s economy since 2015.

THOUGHT LEADERS

The War on Liberal Values and Human Equality

An ‘unholy alliance’ between Islamists and the ‘woke’ left is destabilizing America

Asra Nomani, author of “Woke Army: The Red-Green Alliance That Is Destroying America’s Freedom.”

Soft poW er can be more damaging and can weaken a nation and a people even more than bullets or bombs,” says Asra Nomani.

In a recent episode of “American Thought Leaders,” host Jan Jekielek sat down with Nomani, Muslim reformer and now advocate of parental rights, to discuss liberal values, the line between free speech and character assassination, Big Tech, and soft power. Nomani is the author of “Woke Army: The Red-Green Alliance That Is Destroying America’s Freedom.”

JAN JEKIELEK: You’ve always identified yourself as a classical liberal. Is this idea of classical liberalism here in America coming to an end?

ASRA NOMANI: There’s a war for the values of classical liberalism, for ideas like individual freedom, free speech, and the value of family. Also, something else is really important to me, which is equality, a sense that there is no hierarchy of human value, that we should view each other as the human beings we are. Unfortunately, I see sectarian, divisive ideologies now taking root in the United States.

MR. JEKIELEK: You’ve approached this question from a number of vantage points. How did you become this fierce defender of classical liberalism?

MS. NOMANI: To me, it’s about cognitive consistency. It’s about living with ethical congruity. It happened through a childhood and young adulthood of living in the freedoms of America. I was born in India, and my family came here to enjoy the freedoms that America provides because of the values of classical liberalism and the opportunity for equal opportunity. But I was feeling an incongruence between some ideas that I was

hearing and some that were embedded inside me from being a Muslim. In the traditional interpretation of Islam, you are denied principles like free speech, because laws of blasphemy can judge you and criminalize you. You are denied individual rights, because you are defined by the collective sense of how you’re supposed to live, how you’re supposed to marry, where you’re supposed to travel, and what you’re supposed to do for a living. It was actually in tragedy that I found the greatest clarity of my life in these things.

MR. JEKIELEK: Please tell me about that.

MS. NOMANI: I had become a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. In the summer of 1969, I had arrived as a girl who knew not a word of English. Then, at the age of 23, I got a job at the Wall Street Journal. This was the America in which I was able to prosper. Then on 9/11, I saw this collision between the most extreme interpretation of my faith of Islam and America.

I got on a plane to Pakistan like so many journalists did, defying the State Department warnings. A colleague and friend of mine also headed to Pakistan, a journalist by the name of Danny Pearl. On January 23rd, 2002, he came to visit a home I was renting in Karachi. He went off for an interview

and he never came back. The men he was supposed to interview had set a trap for Danny. First, they said that Danny was a spy for the United States. They used his American citizenship, and by proxy, him being white, to demonize him as a spy for the U.S. Then, the local press reported that Danny was Jewish, and he went from being a spy for the CIA to a spy for the Mossad Israeli intelligence agency. Danny was none of that. He was just a good guy who had used the pen for truth and justice in the world. In the weeks that followed, we learned that Danny had been slain and brutally beheaded.

That was the moment that I knew deep in my heart that we were in this war with this extremism. It was defined by sectarianism and by the most illiberal of ideas, which is that there is a hierarchy of human value in the world. Because of being American, white, and Jewish, Danny was at the bottom of that hierarchy. That’s when I recognized that those classical liberal values were worth fighting for.

MR. JEKIELEK: You became a Muslim reformer. In the process, you faced a lot of personal attacks. Then, in Fairfax County, Virginia, you became a parental rights advocate. It very much centers on this idea of identity that you just pointed out. It’s the uniting issue.

“We have large Muslim communities that want to raise their kids like most parents do. They don’t want their child to keep secrets from them about their gender pronoun.”

MS. NOMANI: My son was accepted into the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. It’s for kids that are really smart in math and science, and entry was based on a merit admission. In the fall of 2017, he walked into the school, and I became a PTA mom.

The student body is 70 percent Asian, 10 percent black, Hispanic, and other identities, and 20 percent white. Many of the Asian students are from India and China. Many families had fled communism in China to create, just like my family, a new reality in the United States. Then, the killing of George Floyd happened in the spring of 2020, and a new race war was launched.

On June 7th, 2020, the school’s principal, Ann Bonitatibus, sent an email to all the families in which she said we needed to check our privileges. She said we needed to change the racial demographic of the school so that it would match the racial demographic of Fairfax County.

Twenty percent of the county is Asian, whereas 70 percent of the school is Asian. We were the wrong kind of minority now. For 18 years, I had been seeing this reality of identity politics inside my Muslim community and a new identity politics emerging in the United States. Now, all of a sudden, I was in the crosshairs, and so were my son and all these amazing families.

MR. JEKIELEK: There’s an alliance of people with illiberal values. Please tell me, what is this “woke” army? It doesn’t make sense that there would be such an alliance.

MS. NOMANI: Yes, that is partly why this alliance is unholy—they really contradict each other’s values. First, there are Islamists, those people who believe in political Islam, who want theocracy, and who believe in reli-

After the 9/11 attacks, Daniel Pearl and Asra Nomani met in Karachi, Pakistan, while reporting on the attacks. They shared a light moment with two stuffed animals through whose voices Nomani was writing newspaper dispatches to children in her hometown of Morgantown, W.V.

gious law as the law of the state, which is a very dangerous prescription for secular democracies. These Islamists have now aligned with the leftists in the United States and around the world. They manifest in different forms like socialists, communists, and even Antifa sometimes. They work together to undermine classical liberal values and the freedoms we know in the United States.

MR. JEKIELEK: As we were preparing for this interview, I learned that this whole alliance was catalyzed to some extent by the Trump candidacy and presidency. Please explain this to me.

MS. NOMANI: In the early days of the Muslim reform movement, we were challenging the Islamists in the ways that they were interpreting the religion in mosques, in the states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. But something really frightening happened. I noticed with the start of the Obama

administration that the Islamists were now aligning with the Democratic Party, and they were entering into this unholy alliance of values. They actually do not believe in ideas like my body, my choice. They do not believe in equal rights or the kind of LGBTQ rights that the Democratic Party is embracing.

I saw money start flowing into the Muslim organizations from traditionally liberal philanthropists, and wondered how they could justify it. I realized they were using race. What the Islamists had started to do was take this really complicated legal theory of critical race theory and declare that Muslims were a race, and you were being racist if you dared to criticize extremism within the faith. That kept developing through both the Obama administrations. When the 2016 election was happening, that alliance first tried to defeat Donald Trump as president. When he won, on the night of the election, I saw the battle cry go out from the Islamist or-

ganizations for literally an overthrow of the government. That’s when “The Resistance” was coined. That’s when I really became aware of the threat that we were facing as a nation.

MR. JEKIELEK: What is the vision of the woke army?

MS. NOMANI: There is this real hope to bring the sectarianism and division to our country. We can see it happening everywhere now. We see it from the workplace to K–12 schools. We see segregation and separation of people based on identity. And they want a dumbing down of the United States.

That is why they came after my son’s school, where they’re against the idea of meritocracy, including merit-based education and admission. We have seen that whittling away in our system with the absence now of advanced placement classes and honors classes.

So many people feel helpless and hopeless against this woke army. They are living in fear of being canceled for what they say, in intellectual spiritual prisons. It is a war on the spirit of America and Americans.

MR. JEKIELEK: Do you have a chapter in your book about character assassination? This is something that you yourself experienced. You went on this journey with the help of a lawsuit to try to figure out who was behind this. Those are two things I want to explore.

MS. NOMANI: I was a student of the art of propaganda while at American University. I studied it with a professor who had come to the United States from Iran who had witnessed the Iranian revolution. It was propaganda that brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power and brought this Islamist interpretation of Islam to power. I knew how propaganda can be used in the

war of ideas, and then also be weaponized to slay enemies of the ideas.

The first witness that I had of that was my friend Danny Pearl. Before Danny’s killers slayed him, they waged a character assassination campaign on him; first as an American, then as a Jew, and then as a son of Israel. That was used to discredit him as a human being and to dehumanize Danny.

When I came back to the United States, I started challenging the interpretation of Islam that was used to dehumanize Danny. What did my enemies do? They started their campaign to dehumanize me, and they assigned all sorts of ulterior motives to my campaign. They turned the word Zionist into a slur and used that to discredit me.

I knew that character assassination has been used since the beginning of time against any political enemy to try to eliminate them. But the internet had allowed these assassins to be anonymous. They wore masks and I didn’t know who they were. In the summer of 2017, I learned that there had been an article published about me on an anonymous website called Loonwatch.com. It had been created literally on April Fool’s Day 2009 to smoke out the so-called loons, who they called Islamophobic.

I, a Muslim feminist, was declared Islamophobic, because I dared to challenge the sexism within my faith

and the intolerance. Their new allegation was that Muslim reformers are funded by the government of Israel. That was enough for them to try to eliminate us as credible voices in our community.

Then I learned that in the U.S. you can file a John Doe complaint. It’s a complaint of defamation that I was alleging against these anonymous character assassins.

MR. JEKIELEK: The defamation, to be clear, is that you’re funded by Israel, which is a falsehood, as I understand it.

MS. NOMANI: Yes, exactly. I’m an open book. I was ready to have them go through my bank accounts. I feared nothing in terms of disclosure. I filed subpoena after subpoena against the platforms that are called internet service providers that gave voice to these people. Who are they? Folks like Facebook, Twitter, and places where they could have their anonymous identities.

There was one platform that a lot of people might have heard of called GoDaddy, where you can register a website. They had registered Loonwatch.com at GoDaddy. I sent off my little subpoena. The anonymous accounts have a certain number of days where they can fight your subpoena. They didn’t fight it. One day, Jan, I

“We see segregation and separation of people based on identity. And they want a dumbing down of the United States.”

got a thumb drive. In that thumb drive was all of the backend documentation for the people who held that account at Loonwatch.

It was every phone call they had made to the customer service office. It was every complaint that they had filed. I went through the hundreds of pages, and I found that this character assassination campaign had been led, funded, and run by the Council on American–Islamic Relations [CAIR], an organization that touts itself as a civil rights organization for Muslims.

But what they had been doing for years, and what they continue to do, is run this domestic disinformation and character assassination campaign, not only against Muslim reformers, but also ex-Muslims, conservatives, the Republican Party, nations like Israel, India, and anybody who dares to challenge their Islamist interpretation of the Muslim faith.

Character assassination is a weapon of war. It was really important for me to understand who the combatants were in this situation. It led me to half of the woke army, because CAIR had embedded itself in the Democratic Party, and in the far-left and progressive organizations of the United States. They were now laying siege to America.

I put them in my book and I documented them, because I want people to read the book and see the blueprint for how the woke army works in the United States. I want folks to understand this tactic of character assassination is so often used to make you lose your own confidence about your value system, and to make you wonder and doubt yourself.

Because trust me, when they did this to me, there were many, many moments when I felt so just defeated. I put my pen aside, I was paralyzed. I couldn’t write. There was one time when I remember laying in the fetal position on my bed. It was my mother, who is now 83, who stood at the frame

of the door and said to me, “Asra, you don’t live in a village. You live in the United States of America. You do not have to live with shame.”

I wiped away my tears and acted even in the face of my fear, because that’s what I’ve heard courage is. It doesn’t mean that we don’t feel fear. It doesn’t mean that we aren’t scared, but we still act. That’s what I wanted people to really witness, because it’s those tactics of character assassination that are now being used against parents. I went from being called a Zionist as a slur to being a white supremacist.

If you know in your heart that you are motivated by these classical liberal values that align with the conservative values of equality and justice and individual rights, then you can withstand all of those smears, because they’re just used as weapons. Soft power can be more damaging and can weaken a nation and a people even more than bullets or bombs.

MR. JEKIELEK: The woke army is deeply opposed to parental rights. They believe that some other entity should have the rights over the children. On the other hand, and I’m not an expert on people who have very fundamentalist interpretations of Islam, they probably wouldn’t be very happy with that. So, the woke army isn’t entirely uniform here, is it?

MS. NOMANI: It’s on a collision course with itself, absolutely. The opportunity exists now in this parents’ issue to isolate parts of this woke army from itself. I see it happening in school districts, like in Detroit and in Minnesota where we have large Muslim communities that want to raise their kids like most parents do. They don’t want their child to keep secrets from them about their gender pronoun or which bathroom they want to enter, which the far-left in the woke army is pushing right now.

MR. JEKIELEK: You’re obviously a big advocate for free speech. This is a big issue right now. We’ve seen huge overreach on the side of the platforms and government in this area, given everything we’ve seen with the Twitter Files, and the Missouri v. Biden exposures. Where do you stand now on the free speech platform censorship issue?

MS. NOMANI:  I am one hundred percent for free speech, but I also recognize that rights and responsibilities come with free speech. When it comes to defamation or untruths, these platforms have no responsibility. People have now weaponized Big Tech to launch these character assassinations on people, and somebody has to be held responsible for violations that we’ve established in law of limits on free speech, like defamation or inciting people to violence. They’ve taken the liberty to deny certain people their free speech rights, but they take no responsibility.

Because if we don’t do it, then these platforms will continue to be used indiscriminately for the soft power objectives of foreign governments for domestic disinformation and domestic character assassination. The tyrants out there in the world who want to destabilize America will use all the freedoms that we allow against us, and they now have willing participants in the U.S. who will do their dirty work for them.

The greatest duty we have as citizens not only of this country, but of the world, is to think through what we are being told. “Where is this coming from? What’s the source? What’s the footnote? Who funded what?” That’s our duty, because soft power is the easiest way to dismantle a nation and to capture the hearts and minds of people.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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How to Make Big Decisions

Rather than struggling over a decision, ask MOM

By Jeff Minick

Shou L d i rent that empty store on Main Street and open a used book shop?

Should I teach my 7-yearold at home, or send him to public school?

Should I take the higher-paying software sales job in Tulsa, or stick to what I know in Baltimore?

Life is a parade of such questions and choices. Most everyday options— hamburger versus chicken at the grocery store, white blouse or blue for work—are simple enough. But the complicated ones, the game-changers, can be stressful or even terrifying.

When big decisions loom, we peer into the future, trying to discern all possible outcomes, good and bad. However, that crystal ball is usually cloudy, often because our thoughts are muddled.

What if we quit playing the fortune-teller and became detectives instead?

To find culprits involved in a crime, our police and our courts use the three-legged stool of means, motive, and opportunity. With one leg missing, the stool topples over. But if the stool stands upright on three legs, then it’s case closed.

We can use these same three tools to investigate and more accurately determine the outcomes of future possibilities.

Let’s take that bookstore question above—a situation with which I’ve had some experience—as our example. Also, to approach the problem more logically, let’s change the order of our detectives’ formula to motive, opportunity, and means (MOM).

So, should you rent the space and set up shop?

To help you decide, you open your investigation.

MOTIVE. You love books, you’re widely read, and for years, you’ve entertained the thought of opening a secondhand store. In your student days, you worked in two bookshops and a library, and loved all three experiences. You imagine yourself linking customers with great books, discussing Tolstoy or the latest Anne Tyler novel with shoppers, and living a life of the mind while providing a service and making money. You’ve even toyed with store names. “Lit Hits?” “Sonnets Bookshop?” Yep, you’re all in on the idea. Motive? Check.

OPPORTUNITY. The space that you’ve got your eye on, a former candy store, is on Main Street. The town, population 15,000, draws tourists during the summer and the fall. The COVID-19 closures left several other stores vacant, so the rent is acceptable. The public library sports a small room of used and discarded books for sale, but otherwise there’s no competition for miles around. A good friend has offered to design your website free of charge. You can build your stock through trade, library sales, and

scrounging around at thrift stores and yard sales. Opportunity? Check.

MEANS. Here’s the tough one. Your spouse works in a private school. Your two children, ages 6 and 8, attend the school at faculty-reduced rates. You own a modest home with a mortgage. You work in insurance, which brings in some money but little satisfaction. Investigation reveals that while used bookstores are proliferating right now, many owners are struggling to earn a living.

Means? Dubious.

Does that mean the death of your dream?

Not at all. It just means your voyage won’t be all sunshine and calm waters. You can hoist the sails, but you’ll step aboard that ship with your eyes—and your wallet—open.

Like other programs recommended by counselors and life coaches, MOM is just a method for weighing our prospects, thinking with our heads and with our hearts. To put aside the dreams of the heart because of fear of the unknown can kill the spirit. To chase after those dreams without listening to the head can do the same. Balance is the key.

At any rate, if you’re looking for some help, give MOM a shot.

Usually that crystal ball is cloudy, often because our thoughts are muddled.

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.”

Unwind

THERE ARE MANY GREAT beachfront condos, but this most unique one allows you to bring your car up to your unit and park it in the living room.  70

South Africa’s Klaserie Private Nature Reserve allows visitors to safely come face to face with lions, leopards, and other wildlife, and visit 300-plus Stone Age sites.

An Epic South African Adventure 72

INSTEAD OF THE SAME OLD SUMMER vacation to the beach or mountains, consider taking the entire family on a search for one of these legendary lost treasures.   76

SUMMER DAYS ARE MADE for spending time outside with your dog, and these items are just what you need to help it beat the heat.  79

PHOTO BY BYELIKOVA_OKSANA/GETTY IMAGES

SKY-HIGH PARKING

A very unique, recently renovated beachfront condo

By Bill Lindsey

The unit’s location on the 20th floor ensures a glorious view of the beach, the ocean, and the undulating coastline。

Deve L oper m ichae L d ezer has resolved one of the drawbacks to condo living: having to park your car in the garage and then take an elevator to your unit, all while carrying groceries and herding the children or pets.

To say Dezer is a car guy is a massive understatement—he has car museums filled with hundreds of his personally owned vehicles in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Las Vegas.

So when he built the sleek, black, 60-story Porsche Design Tower directly on the beach in Sunny Isles in 2016, Dezer added a distinctive feature: the “Dezervators.” Three massive elevators whisk even full-size SUVs aloft at 800 feet per minute from the three-story lobby directly to a garage in the owner’s condominium unit, where the vehicle then resides—and in the case of collectible cars, can be displayed— behind a glass wall.

The owners of this 3,415-square-foot, three-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath unit on the building’s 20th level recently completed a $1 million renovation—including the installation of an all-black Poggenpohl kitchen,

shagreen doors, and marble flooring—then fully furnished the unit with Restoration Hardware pieces.

Its 10-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glass walls throughout ensure a great view of the ocean or the Intracoastal Waterway. The open floor plan allows the owners to converse with family or guests in the lush living room or seated at the breakfast bar while preparing a meal in the spacious kitchen. The living room also affords a great view of the vehicles in the unit’s two-car garage, if so desired, though they can be tucked behind a curtain.

The terrace is ideal for relaxing to the sounds of the waves on the beach below, especially while enjoying the unit’s private pool. The master bedroom has a large walk-in closet, a sitting area, and an unobstructed view of the ocean. The oversized master bath features a large step-in shower with dual shower heads, as well as a soaking tub and dual vanities.

Building amenities include a lobby restaurant, 200 feet of beach frontage, private wine lockers, 24-hour concierge service, a ballroom, a spa, and a heated pool.

•

(Above) Floor-to-ceiling glass walls throughout the unit ensure an unobstructed, mesmerizing view of the Atlantic Ocean. (Top Right) The airy, very welcoming living room backs up to the glass-walled car garage, where the owners can display their prized automobiles. (Right) The well-equipped kitchen with a breakfast bar is conveniently just a few steps away from the dining room and the adjacent terrace with a private pool.

Africa’s Big Five

Coming face to face with lions, leopards, and more in the Kruger and Klaserie reserves

Guests get close to wildlife in Klaserie Private Nature Reserve in South Africa.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KLASERIE DRIFT SAFARI CAMPS

By Tim Johnson

In moments L ike these, the air feels more rare, time seems to slow down, and everything crackles with tension. Just a few minutes earlier, a call came over the radio and my guide, Khutso, quickly put our open-backed Jeep in gear. Doing his best imitation of a Formula One driver, he roared over the rough roads, with me hanging on as we careened around corners. What’s waiting for us, I asked? “A surprise,” he said, looking over his shoulder for an instant— just long enough for me to see his wry smile.

As we arrived, another Jeep was already in place, and the guide motioned us to a spot nearby. And then we saw him: a big male leopard. Completely impervious to our presence, it was preoccupied with tracking something—perhaps some small game, or, more likely, Khutso said, a female. It sniffed and stalked, back and forth, through the grass, eyes laser-focused on its goal. We sat there, watching its every move, just barely breathing.

Of the famous Big Five animals (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and buffalo), leopards are usually the most elusive. And they like to hang out in trees, so even when you do spot one, it’s usually just a tail emerging from foliage.

So this was truly special. And just when we thought the show was over, the situation grew even more interesting. The big cat had disappeared for a moment, and we readied ourselves to leave. But then, a flash, next to the Jeep—and half a heartbeat later, a second flash. The first flash was a small antelope, a steenbok, running for its life. The second flash was the leopard hot on its tail, looking for dinner.

I was inside Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, one of many separate preserves attached to the world-famous Kruger National Park. Unlike many of the game reserves in other parts of Africa, Klaserie and its neighbors, such as Sabi Sand and Thornybush, have dropped their fences and connected their land with Kruger. The result: a collective refuge for animals that is truly awesome in size.

Kruger itself covers about 8,000 square miles—roughly the size of the state of New Jersey. Add to that the so-called “Greater Kruger,” and you’ve got a constellation of attached, private parks covering an additional 1,350 square miles of protected flora and fauna.

Set in the extreme northeast corner of South Africa, the park shares borders with two countries, Malawi and Mozambique. The land was set aside in 1898, and the park was formally established in 1926. Still considered far-flung, Kruger was visited by only three tourist

Of all the Big Five, the leopard is the rarest to see in the wild.

Kruger is about 211 miles from Johannesburg, as the crow flies.

Kruger is considered one of the best places in the world to see leopards.

SOUTH AFRICA

Kruger National Park

Kruger has more than 300 Stone Age archaeological sites. Johannesburg

cars the following year, in 1927.

Now, hundreds of tourist lodges welcome visitors to experience the wonders of Kruger. They range from simple, remote tented camps to luxurious villas with private plunge pools. One truly unique lodge, Kruger Shalati, has posh rooms built into train cars that are permanently fixed on a historic rail bridge over the Sabie River.

Klaserie itself is a wonder. Driving a short distance from Eastgate in Hoedspruit, the main airport used by safari-bound visitors, we entered the main gates of the reserve and were immediately surrounded by its splendor. About 232 square miles (about 10 times the size of Manhattan), the reserve was formed in 1960, when 36 farm owners decided to pool their resources, drop their fences, and preserve a wilderness. Here, you’ll find all of the Big Five , plus special creatures such as cheetah and wild dogs, giraffes and zebras, and so much more.

Even the drive to the lodge provided glimpses of the wildlife to come—little warthogs trotting across the road, small clusters of springboks, and big, regal kudu with their grand, spiraling horns. My home for the next couple of nights, a lodge called Klaserie Drift, had just six thatched suites and an infinity pool overlooking a big bend in the namesake river. Beyond, grasslands stretched to the horizon. Life quickly settled into a safari routine: early morning game drives; lazy afternoons in the pool, looking down on elephants in the riverbed; afternoon drives with gin-and-tonic sundown drinks. And then, do it all again.

On our first drive, we saw the leopard. On

our last, we had a few drinks with the hippos. The light quickly fading, Khutso curled our Jeep toward a pond. We paused to observe a lone buffalo, a so-called “dagga boy,” older and solitary, his head and horns protruding from the water. Then we proceeded to the other side of the pond for gin and tonics, paired with snacks such as dried mango and biltong—dried and cured meat, a bit like an African beef jerky. The last streaks of sun had lain down on the water, and the whole world seemed to slow down. Guinea fowl tiptoed past us, then flew up into a tree, their “apartment building,” Khutso said, where they’ll rest for the night. And out in the middle of the pond, two hippos snorted at us as if to say a grumpy “good night.” Just another lovely evening in the famous South African bush, surrounded by the endless wilderness of Klaserie and Kruger.

If You Go

Fly: Two U.S. carriers fly nonstop to OR Tambo International Airport: Delta, from Atlanta, and United, from Newark.

Getting Around: Once you land, it’s a short hop on a regional carrier to Hoedspruit. CemAir is a good choice.

Stay: The thatched villas at Klaserie Drift’s Misava Safari Camp bring luxury. Also consider Safari Moon Luxury Bush Lodge.

Take Note: South Africa has 11 official languages, including Zulu and Afrikaans. However, you’ll be able to communicate everywhere in English.

Tourists take a break from a game drive to enjoy coffee in the wilds of Klaserie Private Nature Reserve in South Africa.

Tim Johnson is based in Toronto. He has visited 140 countries across all seven continents.

Guests gather around a firepit at Misava Safari Camp at Klaserie Private Nature Reserve in South Africa.

THE BEST BEE R S

for Summer Sipping

By Kevin Revolinski

WHILE THERE’S NO LAW AGAINST DRINKING a heavy beer or perhaps a stout in the summer months, we’re generally looking for those thirst-quenching, lighter-bodied brews. Choose something sessionable, generally 5 percent ABV (alcohol by volume) or less. Here are a few ideas to get your picnic started.

GREAT LAKES MEXICAN LAGER WITH LIME

This popular summer seasonal, which the brewery accurately calls a “perfect patio sipper,” is back for the season. It’s a crisp lager with that refreshing bit of lime peel and puree, at 5.4 percent ABV.

NEW GLARUS PILSNER

Wisconsin’s largest craft brewery introduced a special beer this year: a pilsner. That may sound non-newsy, but the style is a test of a brewer’s skill and ability to achieve something perfectly balanced, crisp, and clean. Brewmaster Dan Carey has put together a minor masterpiece with this brew that aims for something between the German and Czech styles.

SIERRA NEVADA SUMMERFEST LAGER

Brewed from a mix of Munich, Pilsner, and two-row pale malts with a combination of hops that provides a spicy and lemonzesty character, this crushable 5 percent ABV lager is best purchased in larger cases. It’s on the shelves through July.

FIRESTONE WALKER CALI SQUEEZE BLOOD ORANGE HEFEWEIZEN

Hefeweizen is already an excellent beer for the warmer months; now combine that pure beer garden delight with juice from actual blood oranges. At 5 percent ABV, Cali Squeeze is both refreshing and sessionable.

SCHÖFFERHOFER HEFEWEIZENS

In the German light-drinking tradition of a radler, this halfand-half mix of unfiltered wheat beer and fruit flavors comes in grapefruit, pineapple, pomegranate, cherry, passionfruit, or the intriguing watermelon and mint. Delicious, and keeps the head clear at a low 2.5 percent ABV.

GREAT LAKES WATERMELON CRUSHWORTHY

Great Lakes’

Crushworthy Lo-Cal

Citrus Wheat, available year-round, is always a good choice, but the brewer has infused some with watermelon puree for a peaksummer seasonal beer. The Watermelon

Crushworthy is still lowcalorie, at 105 calories, and easygoing, at 4 percent ABV.

Kevin Revolinski is an avid traveler, craft beer enthusiast, and homecooking fan. He’s based in Madison, Wis.

SUMMER VACATION

OFFBEAT IDEAS

Why go to the beach or a theme park when you can hunt for treasure?

By Bill Lindsey

There are lost treasures waiting to be found all over the United States, maybe even in your hometown.

PHOTO BY LASSEDESIGNEN/SHUTTERSTOCK

When it’s time to think about a summer vacation, there’s always the beach, the mountains, or the family holiday home. But this year, perhaps, you should consider an unusual adventure that could be a life-changing event.

Treasure hunting inspires movies and novels, and while many lost treasures may rest at the bottom of the ocean, there are others waiting to be found right here in the United States. The Lost Dutchman Mine, stashed somewhere in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains, is a prime example.

The chances of actually discovering such piles of cash, gold, and/or jewels are very low, but the chances of having an adventure while following clues and seeing new parts of the country are sky-high.

The Beale Treasure

Back in 1822, so the story goes, a man named Thomas J. Beale was a guest at the Washington Hotel in Lynchburg, Virginia. Upon his departure, Beale asked the innkeeper to store a strongbox until he could return for it. In 1845, having never heard from Beale, the innkeeper opened the box and found three pages written in cipher (code) and a letter that described a treasure hidden somewhere in or near Bedford County, Virginia. The letter claimed the ciphers were the key to finding almost 3,000 pounds of gold and 5,100 pounds of silver that Beale and his group had discovered in New Mexico, as well as $1.5 million in jewels.

The code to the ciphers has never been cracked, leaving the treasure—

with an estimated current value of $60 million—still undiscovered. Prospective treasure hunters can see the ciphers on the Cipher Foundation’s website at CipherFoundation.org.

Bank Robbery Stash

The farm country of Wisconsin is known for picturesque scenery, but it may also hold buried treasure. When the owner of the Little Bohemia Lodge in the town of Manitowish Waters needed legal advice, he contacted a lawyer, who had another client named John Dillinger, who needed a favor. Seeking a quiet place to hide out after a bank robbery, Dillinger offered the innkeeper $500 for a three-day stay, which was substantially higher than the normal rate.

The lodge owner jumped at the deal. Unfortunately for Dillinger, after he arrived at the would-be hideout, the lodge owner and his wife alerted the authorities in hopes of securing a $10,000 reward. When the FBI ar rived, a fierce shootout ensued. In the chaos, Dillinger escaped, though not before burying a suitcase containing $200,000 in currency in the woods near the lodge, according to the story. While the lodge was featured in the 2009 movie “Public Enemies,” the suitcase and the cash have yet to be found.

Lost Treasure State

Ohio is called the Buckeye State for its groves of buckeye trees, but it also can be called the Lost Treasure State, with at least nine treasures waiting to be found. The list starts with the “lost French payroll,” currently valued at $13 million.

In 1755, France claimed the land northwest of the Ohio River. Upon learning that British troops were coming to attack, 10 French soldiers were ordered to take the military payroll to a nearby French fort for safekeep-

Perusing a treasure map can be a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon and may well lead to a memorable adventure.

A great deal of precious metals, from lost jewelry to ancient treasure, has been discovered with the assistance of a metal detector.

Gangster John Dillinger is said to have hidden a suitcase full of cash in the woods behind the Little Bohemian Lodge in Wisconsin; it has yet to be found.

When the Ashtabula railroad bridge collapsed, $2 million in gold bullion was lost in the gorge below, mixed with wreckage and covered in mud.

While these or other lost treasures may beckon to you, take care not to trespass on private property.

ing. However, they were attacked before they could reach the fort.

According to the story, two French soldiers survived and, planning to return with troops to recover it, buried the payroll in an area said to be 4 miles east of what is now Minerva, Ohio. The French were unable to return for the payroll, but one of the soldiers wrote in a letter that it was “buried one mile east of a tree with a carving of a deer on it.” Not surprisingly, the payroll is still up for grabs.

River Gold

The next Ohio treasure, in order of value, is the Pacific Express train wreck. On the cold, snowy night of Dec. 29, 1876, at around 8 p.m., the Pacific Express train was crossing the Ashtabula Bridge. The lead locomotive had just made its way across when the bridge gave way, plunging the second locomotive, including 11 rail cars, 159 passengers, and $2 million in gold bullion, 70 feet down into the river gorge, a mere 100 yards from the Ashtabula railroad station.

A total of 90 passengers perished, and so the story goes, the gold has yet to be recovered.

Bonaparte’s Fortune

Another Ohio treasure is Napoleon Bonaparte’s war chest. According to the story, Andrew Meyer served under Bonaparte and emigrated to America

IT’S OUT THERE

Treasure hunting vacations

after the Napoleonic Wars. Meyer is said to have safeguarded some of the French general’s most prized possessions, including a jewel-encrusted chest filled with jewels and other treasure.

Before he died in 1848, Meyer was seen burying what was reported to be gold and rubies around the 17-room mansion he had built in Canton, Ohio, as well as dumping other valuables in a nearby lake. The mansion burned down in 1975, but Napoleon’s chest and the other treasures rumored to have been hidden around the home are still missing.

If these or other lost treasures beckon, take care not to trespass on private property, to respect the privacy and property of others, and to obey all local, state, and federal laws. Perhaps start off small by using a metal detector at a public beach or park.

1

Take Only Photos

Because many fabled treasures may now be on private property or state or federal land, leave the shovel at home. Enjoy the scenery and only leave footprints.

2

Start Off Small

There are no wrong choices; treasure hunting can take you high into the mountains, or it can be limited to using a metal detector on the beach.

3

Hit the Books

Pretty much every state has stories of lost treasure waiting to be found, so do some homework to discover what might be in your town or city before you head across the country. Use the internet before you use a shovel.

The entire family can take part when a treasure hunt becomes the focus of a vacation.

While a little bit of research reveals there may be many treasures awaiting discovery beneath what is now farmland across the country, ask before you start digging!

Beat

the Heat

CANADA POOCH CHILL SEEKER COOLING VEST

$39–$77

This stylish vest is more than a fashion statement; it also produces a natural cooling effect with no need for batteries. Just fill it with fresh water. As the water begins to evaporate, it cools the vest and the dog wearing it. Mesh layers allow air to circulate to increase the cooling effect. There’s also a matching cooling hat—if you can get the dog to wear it!

GEAR TO HELP FIDO BEAT THE HEAT

A selection of products designed to keep your dog safe on hot summer adventures

By Bill Lindsey

Making Nap Time Great GREEN PET COOL PET PAD

$24.99–$84.99

All dogs love to nap, especially on a cool bed on a warm day. This patented system uses a proprietary design that doesn’t use water, refrigeration, or electricity yet begins to cool as soon as the pet lays down on it. Lightweight and easy to clean with a damp cloth, it’s available in sizes for toy breeds up to the biggest dogs.

Have a Drink HIGHWAVE

$20

AUTODOGMUG

It’s critical that dogs stay hydrated while outside, especially on long walks or while playing, but having a clean source can be a challenge— making this “doggy mug” a must. The bottle holds 20 ounces of water, and the cap doubles as a water bowl so there’s no need to take it off or even use two hands; just squeeze to fill the bowl with refreshing water.

Splish Splash!

PETEAST SPLASH SPRINKLER PAD

$33.99

Dogs that love the water will love this pad that sprays them with cooling water. Crafted from heavy-duty vinyl, it can be simply attached to a garden hose. Turn on the water to start the fun, place the sprinkler pad on the lawn, and adjust the water pressure to set the water jet height. Don’t be surprised to find the children playing in it, too!

Keep Them Cool THE NOGGLE

$59.99

Most pups sit in the car’s back seat or the cargo area of an SUV, far from the air-conditioning vents, making this easy upgrade a great idea for their comfort and well-being. Using the provided zip tie, attach the adapter to an AC vent, connect the Noggle, and then place the end of the tube where you need cool air.

RECOMMENDED READING Epoch Booklist

HISTORY

‘The Second World Wars’

By Victor Davis Hanson

This one-volume look at World War II offers conclusions that may seem obvious, but are they? Germany and Japan started wars they couldn’t finish. The Allied powers could strike into the Axis heartland and occupy enemy homelands. The Allies outproduced the Axis 2 to 1. In fact, the U.S. gross domestic product alone was larger than all the Axis nations’ combined. This is an excellent starting point for those who know nothing about World War II, as well as a fresh look for those knowledgeable about it.

BASIC BOOKS, 2017, 720 PAGES

CLASSICS ‘The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time’

By Will Durant

In this compendium, we find the barebones thoughts of one of the most prolific historians of the 20th century. Durant was noted for his belief in the importance of individuals in history, his gentle wit, and his broad knowledge of the past. In this short collection, John Little does readers a great service by bringing them the essentials of Durant, lists of history’s greatest thinkers and poets, the best 100 books, vital dates, and more. This is an excellent introduction to the past and to Durant.

SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2002, 127 PAGES

Are there books you’d recommend?

We’d love to hear from you. Let us know at features@epochtimes.com

This week, we feature a winning romance with a time-hopping heroine and a comprehensive history that explores how the Allies won World War II.

EXPLORATION

‘Kon-Tiki’

By Thor Heyerdahl

FICTION ‘In This Moment’

By Gabrielle Meyer

The heroine in this time-traveling romp through history is known as Margaret or Maggie or Meg. It all depends on which time period you’re in: 1861, 1941, or 2001. Blessed or burdened, she inherits the gift of time-crossing allowing her to live three separate lives. As the Civil War breaks out, she is the daughter of a senator. A navy nurse in 1941, she elects to join a hospital ship heading to Pearl Harbor. And in 2001, she’s a brilliant medical student. Ultimately, she must choose one path.

FOR KIDS ‘Looking Closely Along the Shore’

By Frank Serafini

This visually stunning book takes the reader on beautiful explorations of natural habitats, using close-up photography. The reader is invited to guess what a partial image of a photo might be, and then its full identity is revealed on the next page with facts about the object. Educational and engaging, this is a great read to coincide with beach season.

KIDS CAN PRESS, 2008, 40 PAGES

Thor Heyerdahl had a theory: The islanders of the South Seas had come by boat from the east. In 1947, he and five other men tested this theory by sailing on a hand-built, balsa log raft they named Kon-Tiki from South America to the Tuamotu Islands in Polynesia. His account of this three-month expedition of 4,300 miles details the many hardships and obstacles they faced, including storms and sharks. It’s a triumph of the human spirit and a now-classic adventure story for young and old alike.

SIMON & SCHUSTER, 2013, 256 PAGES

ECONOMICS ‘Predecessors of Adam Smith’

By E.A.J. Johnson

Adam Smith, the Scottish economist, heavily influenced the economists who followed, specifically free-market economists. But who influenced Adam Smith? Johnson, who was an economist and a professor of economic history at Johns Hopkins University, takes the reader through the many influences on Smith, some well-known, some not, and some from the field of economics and some not. Originally published in 1937, this is a great read for those interested in the formation of our modern economic systems.

LITERARY LICENSING, 2012, 438 PAGES

BETHANY HOUSE PUBLISHERS, 2023, 400 PAGES

Ian Kane is a U.S. Army veteran, filmmaker, and author. He enjoys the great outdoors and volunteering.

ENTERTAINMENT

Epoch Watchlist

This week, we feature a captivating classic about fame and deception and a deeply moving drama about the war-scarred recovering together.

INDIE PICK

‘Reality Bites’ (1994)

‘Mending the Line’ (2023)

When U.S. Marine John Colter (Sinqua Walls) returns after being wounded in Afghanistan, a VA facility in Montana pairs him with cantankerous Vietnam War veteran Ike Fletcher (Brian Cox). Their mission? To use fly fishing together as a way of healing their unseen wounds. Lucy (Perry Mattfeld), a librarian who volunteers with veterans, also enters the picture.

This outstanding film is an intimate portrait of several people experiencing pain and anguish that gradually builds into an incredible shared odyssey of vulnerability, hope, and redemption.

A MASTERPIECE ABOUT DECEPTION AND FAME

‘All About Eve’ (1950)

Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) may pretend to be naive, but underneath, she’s a ruthless woman who ingratiates

herself into the lives of fading stage legend Margo Channing (Bette Davis) and her circle of friends.

This classic, award-winning drama features sharp dialogue and incred-

DRAMA

Release Date: June 9, 2023

Director: Joshua Caldwell

Starring: Brian Cox, Perry Mattfeld, Sinqua Walls

Running Time: 2 hours, 2 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

This snapshot of Generation X follows Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder), an aspiring filmmaker who’s making a documentary about post-college life and her diverse group of friends. These include her best friend, slacker Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke) and store manager Vickie Miner (Janeane Garofalo).

This is a fun, insightful romantic dramedy, well-paced and -acted, that marks Ben Stiller’s directorial debut. It also captures the zeitgeist of the

grunge-laden 1990s, a difficult time for disenchanted youth to find meaning in life.

COMEDY | DRAMA | ROMANCE

Release Date: Feb. 18, 1994

Director: Ben Stiller

Starring: Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo

Running Time: 1 hour, 39 minutes

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Where to Watch: Starz, Redbox, Amazon

Where to Watch:  Theaters A ROMANTIC COMEDY WITH A SILLY STORY

‘Coming to America’ (1988)

ible performances by its outstanding cast. The film proves that unscrupulous ambition doesn’t pay.

DRAMA

Release Date: Oct. 27, 1950

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders

Running Time: 2 hours, 18 minutes

Not Rated

Where to Watch: Amazon, Redbox, Vudu

Eddie Murphy stars as Prince Akeem, a pampered yet unhappy young African man whose royal parents are arranging for him to marry a woman he has never even met. Therefore, Akeem and his assistant Semmi (Arsenio Hall) travel to New York in order for the prince to find someone he can really love.

While perhaps too crude for some, this rom-com has some very funny moments, and its storyline about

a man who will sacrifice material wealth and power in his quest for true love is positive and uplifting.

COMEDY | ROMANCE

Release Date: June 29, 1988

Director: John Landis

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Garcelle Beauvais

Running Time: 1 hour, 57 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

Where to Watch: Redbox, Vudu, Amazon

Body Language Tips

Mastering nonverbal communication

We communicate with those around us in nonverbal ways just as loudly as we do with the spoken word. Being aware of what our body language is conveying can help prevent unintentionally awkward situations.

By Bill Lindsey

Sit Up Straight 1

Good parenting starts with good posture and teaching children to sit up straight. Slouching during an office meeting, while on a date, or at a friend’s home sends a silent yet clear signal that you are bored and indifferent to what is being discussed. You might be fascinated by the conversation and simply just tired, but the cues that your body gives are what matters.

Look Them in the Eye 2

Maintaining eye contact is a sure way to let the other person know that you are paying attention and interested in what they have to say. Active listening is a skill that applies to one-onone encounters as well as group meetings. If you’re listening to a presentation and are close enough to make eye contact with the speaker, do so with a smile or nod to provide them with nonverbal encouragement and approval.

Hand Signals 3

Follow the example of effective public speakers, who use their hands to accentuate what they are saying, but in a way that avoids flailing them around. Learn some of Elon Musk’s techniques by watching how he uses his hands when speaking to an audience. When you are in the audience, resist the urge to put your hands in your pockets or cross your arms, as these gestures close you off to the speaker.

Walk the Walk 5

Every movement can send a nonverbal message; a steady, purposeful stride sends a signal of self-confidence. Look ahead as you walk rather than looking down at your phone, because the latter can lead to an accidental collision with another person or object such as furniture—which does not send a positive message. Look at the person whom you are approaching and use a friendly smile to communicate that you are looking forward to the conversation.

Watch How You Look 4

Facial expressions such as smiles or frowns can be a giveaway to true emotions. The danger is that our facial expressions may not accurately reflect our true feelings. If you are distracted by a text and frown upon reading it, the speaker may see this and assume that you are at odds with his or her message. If your “resting face” is anything other than neutral, prompt yourself to gently smile while conversing with others.

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