‘STANDING IN THE GAP’ ON JAN. 6
Dallas filmmaker felt a higher calling amid the unfolding chaos at the Capitol By Joseph Hanneman
Battle Over Land
A Call to Arms
‘Secrets to Life’
Farmers fight against aggressive tactics to vie for federal tax dollars. p.12
Teachers in conservative states are training to carry firearms at school. p.28
China’s theft of U.S. agricultural technology presents “enormous” threat, expert says. p.38
JUNE 24–30, 2022 | $6.95
NO. 25
Editor’s Note
‘Standing in the Gap’ a year and a half after the events
of Jan. 6, 2021, many questions remain unanswered. As we continue to delve into the topic, a steady stream of new information emerges. One of the tragic deaths that day was that of Rosanne Boyland, who, by official accounts, died from a prescription drug overdose. New evidence since revealed shows Boyland being trampled under a pile of people as police pushed protesters out of the West Terrace Tunnel. Bodycam footage of the events captured protesters pleading with police to create space to allow Boyland to get up before she died. This is where the story of Luke Coffee comes in. Coffee says he was called by God to push back police officers to allow Boyland to be moved out and receive CPR. Coffee used a crutch to single-handedly push back the line of police. Now, prosecutors are saying it was an assault on the officers. He says he was trying to save a woman’s life. It’s the second major tragedy to hit Coffee in his young life. His fiancée died in a tragic accident in 2006 when they lived in Los Angeles. Read this week’s cover story about Coffee and his account of Jan. 6. Jasper Fakkert Editor-in-chief
2 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
JASPER FAKKERT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CHANNALY PHILIPP LIFE & TRADITION, TRAVEL EDITOR CHRISY TRUDEAU MIND & BODY EDITOR
ON THE COVER Luke Coffee of Dallas said God placed him at the Lower West Terrace Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. DIXIE DIXON FOR THE EPOCH TIMES
CRYSTAL SHI HOME, FOOD EDITOR SHARON KILARSKI ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR BILL LINDSEY LUXURY EDITOR BIBA KAYEWICH ILLUSTRATOR SHANSHAN HU PRODUCTION CONTACT US THE EPOCH TIMES ASSOCIATION INC. 229 W.28TH ST., FL.7 NEW YORK, NY 10001 ADVERTISING ADVERTISENOW@EPOCHTIMES.COM SUBSCRIPTIONS, GENERAL INQUIRIES, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR HELP.THEEPOCHTIMES.COM (USPS21-800)IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY THE EPOCH MEDIA GROUP, 9550 FLAIR DR. SUITE 411, EL MONTE, CA 91731-2922. PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT EL MONTE, CA, AND ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICES. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO THE EPOCH TIMES, 229 W. 28TH STREET, FLOOR 5, NEW YORK, NY 10001.
vol. 2 | no. 25 | june 24–30, 2022
28 | A Call to Arms
49 | Investor Sentiment
Teachers in conservative states are volunteering to carry guns.
How do investors feel about upcoming interest rate hikes?
50 | Self-Control
34 | Liberty-Lovers
Left untamed, addictions can take control of our lives.
Find Home The Free State Project has attracted more than 6,000 freedom-focused people to move to New Hampshire since 2003.
52 | School Destruction Teachers unions and progressive school boards are ruining education.
44 | Climate Policies
56 | Moviestar Mansion
The Biden administration is killing jobs in the name of saving the planet.
45 | Elections and
Inflation Democrats will hurt at the polls in 2022 and 2024 as gas prices continue to rise.
46 | Government
Budget CBO anticipates that federal spending will continue to exceed revenues.
47 | Investments
Little-known inflation bonds are gaining huge popularity as inflation worsens.
48 | COVID Stimulus
Policies Real wages are falling in all income groups as stimulus plans backfire.
Features 12 | Farmers Battle Land Grabs Landowners are fighting companies vying for tax dollars to build large-scale carbon sequestration pipelines.
Come explore this breathtaking 18th century-inspired estate.
58 | Try the Goulash The Czech Republic’s largest city is a magnificent cultural museum.
16 | ‘Stand in the Gap’ A Texas filmmaker says he felt a higher calling amid the chaos at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
60 | Safety First
30 | Muslim Mobs Attack Christians Murders over alleged blasphemy against Islam continue in Nigeria, while the police do little in response.
63 | Anchors Aweigh
THE LEAD
38 | Stealing America’s Seeds China’s theft of U.S. agricultural secrets poses grave national security risks, an analyst warns. The Supreme Court voted 6–3 on June 23 to strike down New York state’s concealed-carry gun permitting system on constitutional grounds, declaring that it violated the 14th Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their 2nd Amendment rights.
When accidents occur, immediate access to first aid is a must.
These boats are mobile private islands, ready for adventure.
66 | Grill Tools
A selection of useful tools for your next family barbeque.
67 | Respect
Your Elders Make it easier for everyone when older relatives move in with you.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 3
T H G IL T O P S Russia–Ukraine Conflict SERVICEMEN FIRE A SALVO IN TRIBUTE to a Ukrainian serviceman who was killed in the Donetsk region, during his funeral in Bucha, Ukraine, on June 20. PHOTO BY SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
4 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 5
SHEN YUN SHOP
Great Culture Revived. Fine Jewelry | Italian Scarves | Home Decor
ShenYunShop.com
6 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
Tel: 1.80 0.208.2384
NAT ION • WOR L D • W H AT H A P P E N E D T H I S W E E K
No. 25
The Week Workers move sacks of animal feed made from soybeans imported from Brazil, at a port in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, on Aug. 6, 2018. PHOTO BY -/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
China’s Quest to Steal the ‘Secrets to Life’
38
Farmers Battle Aggressive Land Grabs
Teachers Volunteer to Carry Guns
Muslim Mobs Attack Christians in Nigeria
Landowners are fighting companies who are vying for federal tax dollars to build large-scale carbon sequestration pipelines. 12
Conservative states are expanding access and training for teachers to carry firearms at school. 28
The African nation has been battered by murders over alleged blasphemy against Islam. 30
INSIDE I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 7
The Week in Short US
n i s i ] T R C f [o l a o g e h T“ otcaf ed a l atsni ot caf
nre v o g cit arconhcet g n i h t yr e v r e v o t n e m
5 YEARS -
” .dlro w eh t n i James Lindsay, author and founder, New Discourses
“Inflation was high ... certainly before the war in Ukraine broke out.” Jerome Powell, chairman, Federal Reserve
New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board has voted to hike rents for around 1 million rent-stabilized apartments in the city, in the largest rent increase in nearly a decade. It’s estimated the change will impact over 2 million tenants.
10
YEARS
Malik Fard Muhammad, 25, from Indiana has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for playing a significant part in fueling violence during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and rioting in Portland, Oregon.
72%
The chance that the American economy will fall into a recession by early 2024, according to a study published by Bloomberg Economics.
30 TO 55 YEARS — Federal prosecutors said the court should consider a 30- to 55-year sentence for socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking young girls with her long-time associate and one-time boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein. 8 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
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1 MILLION
ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods says that he is expecting oil markets to remain tight for the next three to five years.
The Week in Short US INFLATION
Powell Says Recession ‘Certainly a Possibility’ as Fed Is Determined to Hike Rates FEDER AL RESERVE CHAIR Jerome
Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on April 27. CENSORSHIP
Twitter Suspends Doctor for Sharing Study on Vaccine Impact
Powell has testified in Congress that the central bank remains determined to keep hiking interest rates high enough to cool inflation, acknowledging that recession is “certainly a possibility” but insisting the American economy is robust enough to withstand tighter financial conditions. With decades-high inflation running “well above” the Fed’s longer-run target of around 2 percent, Powell told the Senate Banking Committee that restrictive monetary policies are needed to quell price pressures and that the economy “will see continued expeditious progress toward higher rates.”
TWITTER HAS SUSPENDED Dr. Andrew Bostom, of the Brown University
Center For Primary Care and Prevention, for sharing a study that shows men who received Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine had lower levels of semen and a reduction in motile sperm count. Twitter informed Bostom that the missive violated its policy against “spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19,” according to a message reviewed by Insight.
CRIME
Andrew Gillum Charged With Wire Fraud, Making False Statements THE MAN WHO R AN AGAINST Ron DeSantis in Florida’s 2018
gubernatorial race has been charged with wire fraud, conspiracy, and making false statements. Andrew Gillum solicited campaign payments and gifts, such as Broadway tickets, from undercover FBI agents who were posing as real estate developers, according to the grand jury indictment, which was obtained by Insight. Gillum failed to disclose the payments and gifts, as mandated by federal law. Further, Gillum later told FBI agents that the developers never offered or gave him anything, which was false, according to court documents. Gillum is also accused of conspiring with an associate, Sharon Janet Lettman-Hicks, to defraud people by asking for funds that they represented would be used for Gillum’s campaign, but of which a portion was diverted to a corporation Lettman-Hicks was running. Gillum was paid directly with some of Andrew Gillum speaks in Fort the money, authorities say. Lauderdale, Fla., on May 6, 2019.
LEGISLATURE
Louisiana Governor Signs Bill That Will Shutter All Abortion Clinics if Roe v. Wade Is Overturned LOUISIANA’S DEMOCR ATIC GOV.
John Bel Edwards signed into law Senate Bill 342, which bans almost all abortions in the state and creates criminal penalties for abortion providers who flout the law. “My position on abortion has been unwavering—I am pro-life and have never hidden from that fact,” Bel Edwards wrote in a letter to Louisiana Senate President Page Cortez. Bel Edwards had wanted the legislation to include exceptions for cases of rape and incest, but in the letter to Cortez, the governor said vetoing the bill wouldn’t have accomplished that end. “In fact, vetoing Senate Bill 342 would leave fewer exceptions in place than if the bill becomes law and would further confuse whether pregnancy begins at fertilization or implantation. For these reasons, I have signed Senate Bill 342 into law,” he said. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 9
The Week in Short World US– CHINA
US Bans China’s Xinjiang Imports Over Allegations of Forced Labor THE UNITED STATES has
Diagnosing Alzheimer’s currently requires many tests, each with limited accuracy. HEALTH
A Single Brain Scan Could Diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease AN ALGORITHM IS NOW able to diagnose Alzheimer’s from a single brain scan,
MEXICO
Mexico to ‘Open Its Doors’ to Julian Assange MEXICO WOULD BE WILLING to take in “the best journalist of our time,”
Julian Assange, if the United States were to release him, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said. Obrador’s comments came after British Home Secretary Priti Patel signed an extradition order sending the WikiLeaks founder back to the United States, where he is wanted for publishing thousands of classified and sensitive documents. Assange faces up to 175 years behind bars if convicted. Obrador told reporters that he will ask President Joe Biden to address Assange’s case, and said that Mexico would “open its doors to Assange” if he were released. The Mexican president is set to meet his U.S. counterpart WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks in London on May 19, 2017. in July. 10 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
WORLD
Study Reveals Spread of ‘Increasingly’ AntibioticResistant Typhoid Strains THE BACTERIA THAT cause ty-
phoid fever have grown “increasingly antimicrobial-resistant” and have spread to several countries over the past 30 years, according to a study published in The Lancet Microbe journal. Typhoid fever is a life-threatening infection caused by salmonella typhi (S. typhi), which typically spreads through contaminated food or water. While there has been a declining trend of multidrug-resistant typhoid in South Asia, researchers have discovered that strains resistant to fluoroquinolone and quinolone—both of which are important antibiotics— have risen and spread widely. Typhoid fever is a global health concern that has resulted in 11 million cases and over 100,000 deaths annually. South Asia has the highest incidence rate, accounting for 70 percent of the global disease burden.
THIS PAGE FROM TOP: GORODENKOFF/SHUTTERSTOCK, NEIL HALL/REUTERS; RIGHT PAGE FROM TOP: TOM PENNINGTON/GETTY IMAGES, CESAR MANSO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES, JEFF J MITCHELL/GETTY IMAGES, TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
according to a UK study. The modeling can even diagnose individuals at an early stage of the disease, which is normally a difficult task. The study, published in Nature, found that a machine-learning MRI algorithm can predict whether a person has Alzheimer’s or not with 98 percent accuracy. The modeling can also differentiate between an early- or late-stage Alzheimer’s patient with a fair accuracy of 79 percent. The modeling can be achieved on a standard 1.5 Tesla machine, which is commonly found in most hospitals.
banned imports from China’s Xinjiang region, putting into force the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021. Under the rules, any good produced in whole or in part in Xinjiang won’t be allowed to be imported into the United States. To be granted an exception, importers would need to provide “clear and convincing evidence” that no forced labor was used in producing the goods, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
World in Photos
1. 2.
3.
1. Team Switzerland competes in the Artistic Swimming Team Technical Preliminaries at the Budapest 2022 FINA World Championships in Hungary on June 19. 2. Firefighters, police officers, and residents look on as a wildfire rages in Pumarejo de Tera near Zamora, northern Spain, on June 18. Firefighters continued to fight multiple fires in Spain, one of which ravaged nearly 20,000 hectares of land.
4.
3. Riders take part in their town’s Common Riding, one of the oldest Borders festivals in Selkirk, Scotland, on June 17. 4. A dog competes at the 146th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at the Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, N.Y., on June 18. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 11
Three combines guided by GPS technology harvest wheat in close formation. PHOTO BY ANDY SACKS/GETTY IMAGES
12 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
In Focus Midwest
ENVIRONMENT
FARMERS BATTLE AGGRESSIVE LAND GRABS
Landowners fighting companies vying for federal tax dollars to build large-scale carbon sequestration pipelines
T
BY BETH BRELJE
But the doughnuts weren’t convincing. He said no, just like he had numerous times in phone calls from the company and during the last unannounced visit, when two other people came to his apartment with high pressure and a contract. That’s about how Wayne Hanson described it to his son, Dennis Hanson, a recently retired Lutheran minister who has power of attorney over his father’s affairs. “She left a card,” Dennis told Insight. He called and told her that if they came unannounced again, they wouldn’t be able to get in the building. He called it elder abuse: pressuring a senior to sign a paper now or face eminent domain and get a lower price for the easement later. A receptionist at Summit Carbon Solutions took messages from Insight, but no one from the company returned calls for comment on this story. The Hayek family has land next to the Hanson farm. Allen Hayek, 66, and
A tank holding ethanol, a fuel additive, at a fuel tank farm in the Global Petroleum facility in Boston, in this file photo.
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
he l a nd easem ent acquisition woman who knocked on Wayne Hanson’s door had a box of doughnuts. She arrived without an appointment, walked past the front desk of the nursing home complex, and stopped at Hanson’s independent-living senior apartment. Hanson, 96, let her in, and they had a conversation about his Webster County, Iowa, farm and how Summit Carbon Solutions wanted to pay him roughly $30,000 for an easement on his property, a long, diagonal swath cutting a field in half from corner to corner to install a pipeline. Not for natural gas. Not for oil. The land was needed, the woman said, as part of the Midwest Carbon Express, a 2,000-mile web of pipelines in five states: Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The company needed easements from landowners for all 2,000 miles. The project would pull carbon from more than 30 ethanol plants, liquify it, and send it to North Dakota where it would be buried in rock about a mile underground, where it would stay permanently. It was a “carbon capture, utilization, and storage” project, a green initiative to help save the earth from excess carbon emissions. By allowing an easement for a pipeline on his land, Wayne Hanson was told that he would be doing so much good for the environment and that he would get that money in about 10 days. She laid the contract out in front of him. Just. Sign. Here.
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 13
In Focus Midwest
his son, Austin Hayek, 36, farm their own land and Hanson’s land through a lease. They first heard about the Summit project through an informational meeting presented in Webster County in the fall of 2021. They started getting mail and then the phone calls; all day long, every two hours, for a week, on both Allen Hayek’s and his wife Chris’s cellphones. He doesn’t know how the company got the numbers. The calls still come. The company has sent registered mail, which the couple refuses. An easement person knocked on the door with a big packet of papers as recently as two weeks ago. But despite an offer of about $50,000, they still gave the person a hard no.
Lucrative Project
14 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
The Southeast Iowa Renewable Energy ethanol facility in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on June 11, 2019. nario, the program uses taxpayer money to perpetuate the carbon-producing fossil fuel industry, while paying companies for removing carbon from the environment. “It’s not just permanently sequestered,” Jessica Mazour, conservation coordinator for the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club told Insight. “It’s used to pump more oil out of the ground, which is even further reason we shouldn’t be putting all our eggs into this basket.” Similarly, the Summit project connects to ethanol plants, which turn corn into a green additive for gasoline, reducing carbon emissions. With the electric car slated to take over by 2030, the project supports a gas-powered vehicle model that environmentalists in the federal government want to leave behind. “One of those hard conversations that Iowa has been afraid to have, that’s been brought to the forefront right now, is the conversation around ethanol,” Mazour said. “From the beginning, ethanol was always supposed to be a bridge fuel. It was supposed to be something that helped wean ourselves off fossil fuels.
Iowa went all-in on it, and literally put all of the eggs into that basket.” In Iowa, 57 percent of corn produced is used for ethanol fuel.
Rush to Build Summit is the biggest, but not the only carbon capture pipeline proposed in Iowa, Mazour said. There are three for sure and rumors of up to five, including Summit, Navigator CO2 Ventures, and Archer Daniels Midland partnering with Wolf Carbon Solutions. Other projects are planned around the nation. “Everyone’s in a race to get their project approved and get their taxes. These tax credits, once all added up, will be more than their upfront infrastructure cost,” she said. “They’re going to make a ton of money off the backs of the public.” Mazour calls herself “a lefty progressive,” but says this project has crushed partisan politics. “I am talking with more Trump supporters than I have in my entire life. We’re finding common ground. We are acting together in a unit because we
FROM TOP: SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES, COURTESY CHRISTINE HAYEK
“I realized from the first meeting what they were planning to do, and I didn’t want them through my land,” Allen Hayek told Insight. “They had plans with this CO2 [carbon dioxide] that I didn’t agree with. It was just that simple. They just planned on pumping it to North Dakota and dumping it in a hole. One guy is going to make a bunch of money off this, and I don’t see much public use for it at all.” Large-scale carbon sequestration projects will be lucrative as long as federal tax incentives are in place. The federal Carbon Capture and Sequestration tax credit, also called the 45Q, will pay up to $50 per ton for carbon that’s captured and sequestered. But the tax credit expires. Construction on new carbon capture projects must begin before Jan. 1, 2026, to be eligible, so there’s an urgency for carbon capture companies to get their projects started. “Once completed, Summit Carbon Solutions’ project will be the largest carbon capture and storage project in the world,” the company’s website reads. “This project will have the capacity to capture and permanently store up to 12 million tons of CO2 every year. That’s the equivalent of removing 2.6 million vehicles from our roads annually.” At that rate, Summit would get $600 million per year in taxpayer money. There’s another rate of $35 per ton for carbon used to enhance oil recovery. This captured carbon is forced from pipelines into wells to remove more oil. In this sce-
In Focus Midwest
$600
MILLION PER YEAR
Once completed, Summit Carbon Solutions’ project would get $600 million a year in taxpayer money.
if the company qualifies to use it. Jorde predicts that no matter the decision, it will be challenged in court. The project faces a similar situation in other states. “If you are not paying attention, you will be next,” Jorde said. “As Americans, we are notorious for only caring about something when it’s at our doorstep and not getting out there and speaking up when others, unknown to us, are being affected. Well, guess what? You’re next. It’s coming to you or someone you know. Corporations roll on and people—your rights—are collateral damage to their profits. That’s the biggest problem.”
Next Generation Pays
know how important it is,” she said. “People who are told they have nothing in common are finding out we have a hell of a lot in common, and the difference is these powerful, wealthy companies and individuals who are taking advantage of the everyday Iowan.” Brian Jorde, managing lawyer at Omaha, Nebraska-based Domina Law Group, is working in multiple states with more than 500 landowners who don’t wish to allow an easement on their land. The cases are about eminent domain abuse. “When there’s a constitutional power that was originally limited to the government—the governmental entity taking something of a private citizen for the beneficial public use of all persons, that’s one thing,” he told Insight. But now, Jorde says, state legislatures are handing out the powerful tool of eminent domain to any company that might form overnight. Soon, Summit is expected to submit a document to the Iowa Utility Board, listing easements the company still needs where landowners won’t sign contracts. Summit will ask to use eminent domain, and it will be up to the board to decide
Back out on the farm, the Hayeks have long been doing their part for the environment. “My carbon footprint is already pretty low,” Hayek said. He practices no-till farming by not plowing his fields. He plants seeds in the existing ground cover, which develops a rich soil teeming with life and prevents erosion. And like many farmers, he has developed “tiles” underground that enhance water drainage. Disturbing the
“They just planned on pumping it to North Dakota and dumping it in a hole. One guy is going to make a bunch of money off this, and I don’t see much public use for it at all.” Allen Hayek, farm owner
tiles by digging a pipeline could cause long-term damage to the agricultural and environmental best-practices science behind his farmland and affect neighboring farms that have drainage along the same tiles. “They’re offering a fair amount of money, but still, compared to the cost of having to go back and fix my tiles and loss of production and all that,” Hayek said, it isn’t worth it. Also, the cost of land has shot up substantially and the offer no longer reflects that inflation. “To me, it’s just not right. It’s a lot of taxpayer money that’s going to go fund Biden’s Green New Deal,” Hayek, said. “To me, my kids and grandkids are going to have to pay for this and the rest of it. And it’s not something that is a proven technology, that we know is even going to work.”
Summit’s Response After publication of this story, Summit discovered that it had sent an email agreeing to be interviewed for this story to the wrong address. Insight has verified that the company was willing, but didn’t have the opportunity to speak. Jesse Harris, a communications person for Summit, gave some additional context. More than 40 ethanol plants already use carbon capture technology today and commercial-scale capture and compression has been in use since the 1990s. There are more than 5,000 miles of CO2 pipelines already in operation in the United States. Harris said the safe and permanent sequestration of CO2 has been researched for years and is supported by a wide range of stakeholders across the political spectrum at the federal and state level, along with engineers and scientists, including the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees pipelines. Harris said the eminent domain conversation is premature. The company has secured voluntary easements for approximately 30 percent of the proposed route in Iowa. Project-wide, it has secured 1,600 voluntary easements, with more coming on board every day. The Summit project won’t be used for enhanced oil recovery. The company is asking for regulatory approval for the “permanent storage of CO2.” I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 15
JANUARY 6
TEXAN SAYS GOD TOLD HIM to
‘STAND IN THE GAP’
Filmmaker Luke Coffee says he felt a higher calling amid chaos at the Capitol: ‘Go up to the front and pray’ BY JOSEPH HANNEMAN 16 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
Luke Coffee brings flowers to place on the grave of Elizabeth Toon, 22, whom he planned to marry before she was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Los Angeles. PHOTO BY DIXIE DIXON FOR THE EPOCH TIMES
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 17
The Lead Capitol Riot
L
UKE COFFEE WAS WARNED THAT A STORM WAS COMING.
AS HE WALKED ALONG the perimeter of the U.S.
Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, the 41-year-old filmmaker was approached by three breathless men. One of them said, “There are people dying inside the Capitol! We need patriots!” Coffee distinctly recalls his first reaction: “Bull[expletive].” A friend who was “pretty connected” told Coffee to watch out for false-flag operations after President Donald Trump finished speaking at the “Stop the Steal” rally at The Ellipse park in Washington. According to one dictionary definition, a false flag is “an intentional misrepresentation, especially a covert political or military operation, carried out to appear as if it were undertaken by another party.” Even with that caution at the forefront of his mind, Coffee felt compelled to make the long trek to the Capitol. It was late in the day. Violence had broken out between protesters and police in hot spots on the Capitol grounds. Coffee felt that he was needed. He didn’t necessarily look the part of a protester. His backpack was full of camera gear. He wore a cowboy hat
Luke Coffee, producer and Jan. 6 defendant 18 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
DIXIE DIXON FOR THE EPOCH TIMES
“I felt the Holy Spirit saying, ‘Luke, go up to the front and pray.”
and a camouflage hunting jacket. As a joke for a buddy, Coffee put on green face paint used for duck hunting. “I felt the Holy Spirit saying, ‘Luke, go up to the front and pray,’” he told Insight. It was a long walk, but the trek seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Coffee saw scores of people looking at him intently with friendly expressions. Some made eye contact and seemed to beckon him. Paper scraps fell from above as Coffee walked, twirling in the stiff breeze like ticker-tape confetti. He looked up but couldn’t see where the paper bits came from. He grabbed one from mid-air. On it was a quote from Scripture. He recalls feeling inspired by it. He grabbed a second piece—another quote from the Bible. “They were encouraging verses,” he said. “I
The Lead Capitol Riot
Not a Normal Day
grabbed one and read it, then kept going and grabbed another. It’s what encouraged me to keep walking up to where I ended up. It’s wild how quickly I made it to that area by the terrace.” More convinced than ever that he was being divinely guided toward the massive crowd on the Lower West Terrace, Coffee approached his destination. He began to see signs of chaos. An injured man walked past. “He was bleeding,” Coffee said, “and I wanted to pray for him and wipe the blood off his face.” Having worked most of his career in television and film production, Coffee said the blood was fake. “It was stage blood,” he said. “The one guy that passed me had fake blood running down his face. It was syrup. I said something like, ‘Dude, are you stinking Antifa?’ I called it out. It was fake.”
Luke Coffee inside the rural Texas church where Elizabeth Toon wanted to be married. She is buried in the church cemetery.
On a normal day, seeing what looked like fake blood might have been enough to send Coffee scrambling back home to Texas. This was not a normal day. Coffee moved closer to the enormous crowd gathered on the Lower West Terrace. A tightly packed group stood on the stairway leading to the Capitol’s tunnel entrance. He moved up the left side of the stairs just as police gassed the crowd inside the tunnel. The ensuing panic caused a human wave to spill from the tunnel down the stairs. It was all made worse by officers pushing the crowd, causing people to be trampled. “They started pushing people, and they fell back on the stairs,” he said. “There were piles three or four people high, lying horizontally. I was trying to pull people from there.” Coffee noticed a woman he now believes was Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Georgia. She was at the bottom of a pile, struggling to breathe. “She was saying, ‘Help! Help!’ And I was trying to pull her out,” Coffee said. “It was like there was nothing I could do. So I said, ‘We need to pray.’” Video shot by a nearby protester shows the moment in dramatic clarity. Coffee stood amid the chaos, with his arms extended, imploring people to pay attention. “Stop! Pray!” he shouted over the din. “Pray! Pray! Pray!” Protester Jake Lang pulled an unconscious Philip Anderson off the pile at the top of the stairs leading to the tunnel. Eventually, protesters got access to the dying Boyland, who was unconscious. “Someone’s being crushed!” shouted a bystander who was bleeding from a head wound. “People are being crushed!” In desperation, he cried, “Get her up. Get her up! Get her up, please. Save her life! Save her life, please!” A Metropolitan Police Department officer grabbed a wooden walking stick from a protester and wielded it like a sword. Just seconds before, a crutch had flown over protesters’ heads and landed near where Coffee’s feet would soon be. His left foot was just inches from Boyland’s hand resting on the sidewalk. He held up his right hand and shouted, “Stop!” “This is just interesting how God works,” Coffee told Insight. “It was like I heard the Holy Spirit say, ‘Go stand in the gap, Luke.’ I felt called to stand in the gap between the rioters. “There’s a still [photo] of me, praying right next to this crowd being pushed on top of each other.” There were a couple of other guys praying with me right there because I thought people would die. “And I said, ‘I’ll go up there.’ God had just said, ‘Go stand in the gap.’” “Stand in the gap.” Those aren’t just any words. They’re found in the Bible. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 19
The Lead Capitol Riot
Protesters on the west end of the U.S. Capitol grounds in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The one guy that passed me had fake blood running down his face. ... I called it out. It was fake.” Luke Coffee, producer and Jan. 6 defendant 20 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
“I was like, ‘What would I do in the gap?’” Coffee recalled thinking. “There’s a crutch below me. Stand in; stand as big as I can.” The reply to Coffee’s appearance in the gap— supplied by Metropolitan Police officer Lila Morris—was a heavy swing of the wooden club. The first blow struck Coffee on the left elbow. He tried to block her second swipe, which missed. He was then sprayed in the face with pepper gel. Morris then inexplicably turned her fury on the motionless Boyland, striking her once in the ribs and twice in the head. Coffee bent down and picked up the crutch. He raised it over his head like a scepter. After several seconds, he drew it down and held it like a plow at waist level. Coffee then surged forward with what, one bystander said, seemed like superhuman strength. He pushed the front line of police back into the tunnel several feet. Coffee didn’t realize it until long after, but as he moved the police backward, several men pulled Boyland down the steps out
The Lead Capitol Riot
Footage shows protesters begging police to help Boyland well before Coffee entered the scene. Not only were their pleas ignored, but police shoved several of them on top of Boyland. of harm’s way. They were clear of the fray and started CPR.
Protecting a Dying Woman—Again This was the second time in his life that Coffee’s actions were an attempt to protect a woman from death. On Jan. 6, it was a stranger named Rosanne. On Nov. 5, 2006, it was the woman he intended to marry. Coffee and 22-year-old Sarah Elizabeth Toon had spent the evening at a birthday party at Avalon, a famous nightclub in Hollywood. It was a special night for them, too. They were a handsome couple. Toon was 5 feet, 7 inches tall inches and wore a black dress with black leggings and new high-heeled shoes. Coffee stood one inch taller. That night, he wore jeans, cowboy boots, and a chambray shirt with pearl-covered snaps. Coffee brought Toon flowers and gave her a long love letter. They counted on celebrating their life together, which they began planning the night they met 18 months earlier. She called him Luka. He called her Essie, a play on the first initials in Sarah Elizabeth. When they first arrived at Avalon, Toon was
(Bottom left) Luke Coffee begs the crowd to stop and pray as rescuers attempt to extract people crushed in a stampede at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Below) Coffee holds up a crutch as he stands in the breach between police and the crowd at the Lower West Terrace tunnel. “In the name of Jesus, please stop!” he said.
adamant that they not spend $25 on valet parking. “Luke Coffee, don’t you dare pay that,” she told him. Instead, they parked behind the 101 Coffee Shop, one of their favorite haunts just a few blocks away. Coffee was only thinking of the woman he intended to marry. She wore brand-new shoes purchased the day before at Shoe Pavilion. He worried about her walking that far in heels, but she insisted. So they parked and walked under the Hollywood Freeway and down Vine Street to the club. After a night of music and dancing, they left Avalon to walk back to the 101 Coffee Shop. Their steps were interrupted a few times as Toon stopped to adjust the straps on her shoes, which kept slipping off her heels. On a special night like this, it was easy for Coffee to look back to the day they had met, on his 26th birthday in June 2005. His friends had thrown him a “booze cruise” on a boat in Marina del Rey. Toon and her sister were invited by Coffee’s brother. They both had internships in Los Angeles. By coincidence, Toon’s parents had a Texas ranch that shared a fence line with the ranch owned by Coffee’s parents near Dallas. They had grown up practically next door to each other, at least as ranches go. Coffee recalled being briefly introduced to Toon five years earlier at a Christmas party. Now, he would get to know her, a beautiful woman five years his junior, who had a flashing smile and a kind heart.
‘You’re My Forever’ At the end of the night, Coffee told Toon he planned to marry her one day. He was trying to break into the television and film industry. She was finishing up school at the University of Texas–Austin.
FROM TOP L: JON CHERRY/GETTY IMAGES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE/SCREENSHOT VIA THE EPOCH TIMES
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 21
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A Los Angeles traffic camera shows Luke Coffee some 20 feet in the air after being struck by a hit-andrun driver going at least 60 miles per hour on Nov. 5, 2006.
“I said, ‘Well, we have the rest of summer to fall in love, then you have a year left of school, so we can fly back and forth from LA to Austin, then after that we can get married,’” he recalled. “She responded with her big toothy smile and said, ‘OK!’ And I told her I was going to kiss her, because it was my birthday after all.” As they walked east on Franklin Avenue in the Hollywood Hills, Toon had to sit down on the curb to adjust her shoes again. She pulled Coffee down to sit next to her, looked at him, and suddenly got serious. It was 1:30 a.m.—a moment burned in his memory. “Luka, do you know you’re my forever and that I will always love you?” she said. “Kiss me, really kiss me.” With that, they got up to cross the street. About a third of the way across, one of Toon’s heels popped out of the shoe again. Worried for her safety, Coffee picked her up over his shoulder like a fireman. The last sound he remembers is her giggles at being picked up like a doll. After a few steps, he saw a glint in the corner of his eye. It was a Toyota Corolla. It came out of nowhere, screaming down Franklin like a missile. Patrons in the café heard the thump as the car struck the couple. Police and witnesses estimated the driver was going 60 to 80 miles per hour at the time of impact. The speed limit was 35. Coffee hit the windshield so hard, it almost imploded. His blood was smeared across the fractured glass. The car’s bumper came off. Coffee flew 15 to 20 feet in the air and landed on his head. He lay crumpled in the street with broken ribs, punctured lungs, and a head injury. The impact was so severe, it knocked the heels off of his cowboy boots. As customers came out of the coffee shop, they
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tried to comfort Coffee as he cried out for Toon and gasped for air through deflated lungs. She flew 30 feet, struck the hood of a parked BMW, and tumbled another 50 feet onto the roadside grass. Sarah Elizabeth Toon was dead. Essie was just 22. She would be forever young. In an instant, she was snatched from life by Manuel Erik Munera, a suspected drunk driver, who fled the scene. Munera never slowed down or stopped to render aid to the couple. He was later convicted only of leaving the scene of an accident. He didn’t turn himself in to police for several days after the crash, after abandoning his car. Coffee was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. In the emergency room, he kept crying out for Essie. Although he was told on the way to the hospital that she had died, Coffee did not remember it. Coffee was devastated that his injuries prevented him from going home to attend Toon’s funeral. It was held on Nov. 10, what would have been her 23rd birthday. “I prayed for God to take me,” Coffee said. “The night I found out I couldn’t go to her funeral, I was like, ‘Lord, just kill me.’”
The Lead Capitol Riot
COURTESY OF LUKE COFFEE
Begging God for a Sign As he began the long healing process, Coffee battled emotional and physical scars. He suffered survivor’s guilt. He begged God for a sign that the love of his life was in heaven. Coffee believes God answered his prayers. In the days after the accident, several of Coffee’s friends stayed in his hospital room to provide emotional support.. “We prayed, and I asked to see her or have a dream or talk to her,” Coffee said. “I prayed with my three best friends at 4 in the morning that God would let me see her, have a dream, or talk to her, and it would give me a purpose.” The answer was almost immediate. “I had this just supernatural peace that just washed over me like a shower,” he said. “This lady rolled a harp into my room and asked if she could play. Literally, as we opened our eyes, ‘Could I play for you?’” A visitor with a harp at 4 a.m. was rather unusual, but the men were so transfixed that they thought nothing of it. They listened. The music that came
Elizabeth Toon and Luke Coffee, in an undated photo before the hit-andrun accident that claimed Toon’s life and left Coffee severely injured.
from the strings was beyond moving, beyond beautiful. It was indescribable. Coffee and his friends wept. As she played, they felt like they were in another place, without cares, pain, or sorrow. The men were reeling with emotion as the woman finished her 20-minute performance and departed. Later that day, they asked the nurse about it. She said no one from outside is allowed in the hospital until 6 a.m. (Coffee’s friends were an exception.) The nurse had seen no woman with a harp during the night. Coffee believes he had a heavenly visitor. On another day, visitors became worried because they couldn’t wake Coffee. His heart rate and breathing became shallow. In his unconscious state, he saw his Essie. “I saw Elizabeth,” Coffee said. “It was in this white space and she was right in front of me. “She called me Luka. She was like, ‘Wake up, Luka. Wake up. Wake up.’ “That jolted me up, and I started vomiting. I’ve got five more minutes left on this Dilaudid [an opioid], and I said, ‘Something’s not right.’ Then the machine starts beeping, and I was like, ‘I’ve just been given an overdose.’” In the months that followed, Coffee had time to reflect on everything. He felt blessed that Toon sat down on the curb along Franklin Avenue and told him she loved him. “It’s like the Lord let her know He was gonna take her,” he said. “Ten seconds later, she was gone. I’m grateful e gave me that gift.” In January 2008, Coffee testified at the trial of Munera, whose charges were reduced to leaving the scene of an accident. Coffee believes it was vehicular homicide. The judge in the case slammed Munera as a liar and said he was frustrated he could only sentence him to 180 days in jail. Munera ended up serving only 45 days. “It is the court’s belief that his conduct in this case is egregious, that he hit two human beings, did not brake, kept going,” the judge said at sentencing. He said Munera was “just totally, completely lying” when he testified he didn’t know he’d hit anyone. “He was aware that he hit some people. He made efforts after that to cover up. He drove a couple of blocks. He pulled the car over. He called his girlfriend to come pick him up.” Coffee and Toon’s parents made victim-impact statements at the sentencing hearing. To the judge’s amazement, they said that they forgave Munera for what he did. The judge said: “I just sit here in complete and total admiration for the Toon family and the courage and forgiveness that they have shown, and the absolute character that they have as a family. This is something that the court is not used to seeing.” I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 23
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Life went on after the tragedy. Coffee continued his career in film and television. He’s probably most recognized for starring in a 2011 episode of “Friday Night Lights” on NBC. He has worked in film production in Hollywood and with Coffee Productions, his Texas-based film company. For years, he has worked on “Texas Angel,” a film about his life with Toon. Production and funding were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Coffee is intent on finishing the film as a tribute to Toon. “She was my biggest cheerleader on Earth. And that’s what’s kept me going. ... I’ve never married,” Coffee said. “If I die tomorrow, she has been the love of my life, and she led me back to the Lord.”
Violence at the Capitol All of that seemed far away when Coffee was on the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol, where he found himself in the thick of unrest after Boyland was dragged into the building by police. Coffee grabbed a megaphone and implored the crowd to act peacefully. “They will use this against us,” he told the crowd. Sometime after 5 p.m., more police arrived at the Lower West Terrace. The crowd began to disperse after Trump released a video telling everyone to go home, Coffee said. “They brought in a bunch of back-ups, like full riot-gear cops,” he said. “They were just pushing everybody—violently pushing people who were 24 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
Luke Coffee was severely injured from the hit and Elizabeth Toon didn’t survive the tragic accident.
trying to leave. It was nuts.” Police began firing tear gas canisters into the crowd. One landed directly at Coffee’s feet. “They started shooting that chemical gas, and they hit one right by me,” he said. “I couldn’t go anywhere. I just collapsed. Patriots carried me out. I passed out. I thought I was gonna die.” When Coffee got back to Dallas, the attacks started. His film production business dried up. He was harassed and condemned on social media. He agreed to an interview with a Texas-based magazine. The subsequent article stated that he “lived in luxury while hiding from the FBI.” The finger-wagging story amplified the narrative from The New York Times that stated that Coffee had prevented police from helping Boyland, who lay unconscious near his left foot, “if they were able to notice her at all.” Bodycam footage from numerous police officers and open-source cellphone videos show that protesters begged police to help Boyland well before Coffee entered the scene. Not only were their pleas ignored, but police had shoved several of them on top of Boyland. Coffee faces 10 federal charges, including six alleging he assaulted police with a deadly weapon (the crutch). The FBI agent who testified at his preliminary hearing said Coffee appeared to be acting as a peacemaker and was separating protesters from police officers. When Coffee held the crutch at waist level, it made contact with officers for as little as five seconds, the agent said.
The Lead Capitol Riot
Luke Coffee of Dallas said God placed him at the Lower West Terrace Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
time. The soil had noticeably settled. He brought a wheelbarrow out with a load of dirt and trekked back and forth some five times. It was his corporal act of mercy. Something that just involved the two of them. Together. As he finished that day, a storm rolled in and soaked Coffee to the skin as he sat at the edge of the grave. This peaceful place is good for reflection, Coffee said. He often pulls his truck up close enough to hear the stereo that booms out some of their favorite songs. George Strait brings comfort with “You’ll Be There,” a song Toon sang on video during one trip from Texas to Los Angeles. Maybe the most impactful song, though, is “Texas Angel,” which touched Coffee so much he used it as the title of the film he is making about Toon. So won’t you smile for me My Texas angel
10
CHARGES
The FBI agent also testified that Coffee responded immediately when he contacted him on Jan. 13. Coffee was told at the time he was not a suspect. Despite the narrative that said Coffee was hiding from the FBI, the agent said he spoke to Coffee at least seven times in February 2021. Although there were informal discussions about plea agreements that could have involved four or five years in prison, Coffee plans to go to trial and is busy raising funds for his defense. He said he’s not political, not an insurrectionist, nor a rioter. He said he felt called to go there that day and is not in any way a criminal. Coffee said he now understands something that he believes God had put in his heart some six months before Jan. 6. He was warned about deceptions being unmasked and that he would be taken through a storm. Alas, this was not his first rodeo.
LUKE COFFEE faces 10 federal charges, including six alleging he assaulted police with a deadly weapon, a crutch, which a FBI agent testified made contact with officers for as little as five seconds.
It’ll be all right Just lay your head beside me And dream of me tonight And I promise I’ll watch over you Till the morning light Coffee believes God led him through the storm. He knows there will be more. He said he’s ready to go wherever he’s called. “I don’t fear anything,” Coffee said. “I’m just ready to be. I just want to be used by the Lord.”
CLOCKWISE FROM L: COURTESY OF LUKE COFFEE, DIXIE DIXON FOR THE EPOCH TIMES
A Texas Angel Coffee still visits Toon’s grave at St. Olaf Cemetery near Cranfills Gap, Texas. Just across the meadow is the old St. Olaf Church, now known as Rock Church. A couple of months before the fatal accident in 2006, Coffee and Toon had discussed plans to be married at the charming country church, followed by a reception at her parents’ ranch, with entertainment by country music artists Jack Ingram and Pat Green. Months after the funeral that Coffee was unable to attend, he had visited Toon’s grave for the first
The final resting place of Sarah Elizabeth Toon at St. Olaf Cemetery near Cranfills Gap, Texas. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 25
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SPOTLIGHT On the Look Out BOYS PEEK OUT OF A TORN MAT AT THE Al-Shati Camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City on June 20. “Shati” is the thirdlargest of the Gaza Strip’s eight refugee camps, and one of the most crowded. The camp initially accommodated 23,000 refugees who had fled from Lydd, Jaffa, Bir Saba’, and other areas of the Palestinian territories. PHOTO BY MOHAMMED ABED/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 27
SCHOOL SAFET Y
Teachers Volunteering to Carry Guns
Conservative states expanding access and training for teachers to carry firearms at school
C
By Darlene McCormick Sanchez rosses and flowers laid out in the public square of the grief-stricken town of Uvalde, Texas, where a teen gunman killed 19 students and two teachers, are an all-too-familiar scene igniting a call to arms for teachers in Texas and beyond. The Republican-led Texas legislature is addressing the twin issues of school safety and mass violence following the May 24 Uvalde school shooting. Committees of lawmakers are reviewing past legislative efforts, such as the Guardian and Marshal programs that allow teachers to carry firearms in the hope of preventing mass shootings at schools. School officials and firearm instructors in the Lone Star State say interest has risen sharply since the recent shooting. JEFF SELLERS OWNS Schools on Tar-
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what people may be hearing from select voices in legacy media. “What you’re seeing is a vocal minority,” Proctor said. Arming teachers isn’t about giving them something else to be responsible for—but instead giving them a tool as a last defense. Elsewhere, state legislatures are investigating how to make schools safer and arm teachers. LOUISIANA IS CURRENTLY looking at leg-
islation similar to that of Texas, allowing teachers to carry guns in schools after receiving specialized training. Ohio’s latest bill aims to be less restrictive than the current law, which mandates 700 hours of police training and board approval before allowing teachers to be armed. Republican governors Bill Lee of Tennessee and Ron DeSantis of Florida took
“In active shooting incidents, time is everything. No gun control law is going to stop evil from conducting evil acts.” Jeff Sellers, owner, Schools on Target
action on school security this week. Lee signed an executive order on June 6 to ensure working safety protocols at schools, and to evaluate training for active shooter scenarios. DeSantis signed a school safety bill into law on June 7 that focuses on crisis intervention and training, and mental health awareness. Meanwhile, teacher unions have nixed the idea and portrayed arming teachers
FROM TOP: GEORGE FREY/GETTY IMAGES, CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON/THE EPOCH TIMES
get, a company in Marble Falls, Texas, that trains teachers to carry firearms in schools. Since the school shooting, He told Insight that he has added nine classes—double the number customarily held—for June through August. “I’ve gotten an insane amount of calls,” Sellers said. “It hasn’t stopped. Ninety percent is because of Uvalde.” Bryan Proctor, owner of Go Strapped Firearms Training in Arlington, Texas, told Insight much the same thing—that training requests for the Guardian program have skyrocketed. “We’ve had about a 100 percent increase,” he said. “It’s been pretty dramatic. I’ve sent out over 20 proposals in the past week.” Proctor said teachers want to protect their students and themselves, despite
A teacher (R) is shown how to handle a handgun by an instructor at a concealedweapons training class, in this file photo. The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun, a firearms training expert says.
Nation Education
buildings, and access is controlled remotely or with special key fobs. Classrooms stay locked throughout the day. But it’s not enough anymore, he said. He asked for training under Florida’s school guardian program to protect his school’s 340 students, ranging from toddlers to high school seniors. He was denied because the program doesn’t extend to private schools. Currently, it’s open to employees of public schools or charter schools who volunteer to serve as guardians and their official job duties. To qualify, they must pass psychological and drug screenings, and complete a 144-hour training course. Sheriff’s offices in 45 of Florida’s 67 counties participate and receive funding to cover screening and training costs. And guardians receive a one-time bonus of $500 for serving in the program. Schools in districts can arrange to send employees for certification. SO THE PRINCIPAL is now training on
as unpopular with educators. A 2018 Gallup poll found that 73 percent of teachers oppose the idea. Meanwhile, policies to arm teachers in some form have widespread participation throughout the country amid the horror of gunmen targeting schools for mass shootings. The RAND Corporation reported in 2020 that 28 states permit armed teachers under some circumstances, while states such as Texas and Florida have passed laws encouraging the practice. IN NORTH FLORIDA, the principal at a
private Christian school said he would like to see the program expanded to include private schools. The principal, who didn’t wish to be identified, said he added chain-link fencing around his school’s 40-acre perimeter and allowed just one-way traffic onto the campus, except during drop-off and pick-up times. Cameras now monitor doors into
his own to become a licensed, armed security guard. “It’s the only option,” he said. “Even before this last school shooting, I said, ‘I’ve got to go get this taken care of.’ So we’re doing it the right way.” About a decade ago, Texas lawmakers created the school Marshal program, as a way for educators to carry weapons inside schools, and later initiated the Guardian program. Under the Marshal program, school employees can carry a handgun on school premises after 80 hours of training. However, school marshals are restricted from carrying concealed firearms if they’re regularly in contact with students. Instead, the marshal can store a gun in a safe at the school. There are 62 school districts participating in this plan, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Gretchen Grigsby, director of government relations with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, told Insight that 30 individuals and nine new school districts have signed up for the Marshal program since the Uvalde shooting. The Guardian program authorizes school boards to arm employees under the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act and the Texas Penal Code. After completing 16 hours of training, those employ-
ees may carry a concealed firearm in the presence of students. According to the Texas Association of School Boards, 389 districts reported using the Guardian plan as of May. While Democrats are calling for gun control, people such as Sellers reiterate that the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. He told Insight that the first few minutes of an active shooter situation are critical, and arming teachers could save lives. “IN ACTIVE SHOOTING incidents, time is
everything,” Sellers said. “No gun control law is going to stop evil from conducting evil acts.” Madalyn Maresh is an assistant superintendent at the Edna Independent School District, a rural 3A district northeast of Victoria, Texas. She told Insight that her district reopened the application process for the Guardian program at her school in response to the Uvalde shooting. “The day I reopened it, I got two applications immediately,” she said. In the three years since the program became operational, she gets 3 to 10 volunteers a year. Without guns for protection, teachers are forced to use their own bodies to shield students from an active shooter, she said. “You’ve got to find what fits your community. We got zero pushback on it—our community embraces it,” Maresh said. Kyle Collier, police chief for the City View Independent School District in Wichita Falls, Texas, said an additional four or five teachers have volunteered since the Uvalde shooting. Nanette Holt contributed to this report.
A makeshift memorial at Robb Elementary School for victims of a mass shooting that occurred on May 24, in Uvalde, Texas, on May 27. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 29
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RELIGION
MUSLIM MOBS ATTACK CHRISTIANS IN NIGERIA African nation battered by murders over alleged blasphemy against Islam, while the police response is weak BY MASARA KIM A GROWING WAVE OF ATTACKS BY ISLAMIC extremists over alleged
Nigerian Police Officers and Adara leaders visit and patrol an area of destroyed and burned houses after a recent Fulani attack in Christian Adara farmers’ village of Angwan Aku, Nigeria, on April 14, 2019. PHOTO BY LUIS TATO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
blasphemy in Nigeria has stirred anger and threatened to divide Africa’s most populous nation. Two gruesome mob lynchings over alleged blasphemy on May 12 and June 4 have roiled the country and stirred calls for global action. Close to a dozen people have been killed for alleged blasphemy in Nigeria in recent years, according to media reports. None of the perpetrators in these cases have been brought to justice. Analysts speaking to Insights fear the practice of prescribing death sentences for alleged blasphemy by Islamic extremists could worsen a wave of lawlessness already spreading throughout the country. On June 5, at least 40 Christians were killed and 87 injured in a massacre in the southwestern state of Ondo, VOA News reported. Nigerian Inspector General of Police Usman Alkali Baba said in a statement that gunmen using AK-47 rifles and explosive devices trapped worshippers at the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in the town of Owo during a morning Mass. The attack, described as “heinous” by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres came hours after a Muslim mob lynched Ahmad Usman, a member of a local civilian watch group, in the capital city of Abuja. The 30-year-old Usman, a Muslim, was beaten and stoned to death and his body incinerated by a mob in the Lugbe suburb on June 4, according to local media. Abuja police spokesperson Josephine Adeh told The Punch newspaper that the mob, led by a Muslim cleric, accused Usman of blasphemy. As of June 6, the police have arrested 15 suspects connected to the crime. But a similar lynching of a Christian college student—Deborah Emmanuel in the northwestern state of Sokoto on May 12—didn’t receive as much police attention.
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World Nigeria
Emmanuel, a second-year student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, was beaten and stoned to death by her Muslim classmates for allegedly blaspheming against the Prophet Muhammad. Multiple witnesses confirmed that police in Sokoto stood down during the four-hour attack within the college premises. Witnesses include a fellow classmate, interviewed by Insight, who was tortured with Emmanuel for hours but survived the ordeal. The classmate asked not to share her name, for fear of reprisal. SIMON MWADKWON , a member of the
Nigerian House of Representatives, accused the police of complicity. “Their duty is to protect the lives of all citizens, but right before them somebody was being was lynched and set ablaze, but they did nothing,” he told Insight. Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Nigerian minister and human rights attorney, also described the action of the police as unacceptable. “It raises some very serious concerns, which need to be looked into, and questions will have to be answered,” he told Insight. So far, the police have only arrested two out of dozens who took part in the stoning. The suspects have been charged
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B E T W E E N M AY 2 0 A ND M AY 2 7, one
person was reportedly killed and at least 30 others injured by Muslim mobs in the northeastern state of Bauchi after a Christian resident was accused of blasphemy. Bulus Wachakshi, a reporter in Bauchi, told Insight that the attacks occurred in Katanga in Warji county on May 20 and in Yelwa in Bauchi county on May 26 and 27. According to a letter by Nigerian American lawyers addressed to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the violence represents “a disturbing manifestation of street persecution [by mobs] in addition to sect persecution [by terror groups] and state persecution [by Government]” in the country..
The letter, which was signed by international human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe and 16 others and shared with Insight, specifically called on the U.S. government to intervene to serve justice over the killing of Emmanuel. The Christian Association of Nigeria organized a nationwide march on May 22 in remembrance of the student. Following the May 12 killing, the Nigerian Bar Association announced the cancellation of its annual conference, which was scheduled to be held in Sokoto on May 30. The lynching recalled similar killings in the country that have gone unpunished. In 1995, a group of Muslims reportedly broke into a police station and dragged a Christian resident, Gideon Akaluka, out of his cell and beheaded him for blasphemy. The police had held Akaluka after his wife allegedly used pages of the Quran to wipe her baby.
KOLA SULAIMON/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Nearly a dozen people have been killed for alleged blasphemy in Nigeria in recent years, according to media reports. None of the perpetrators has been brought to justice.
with “criminal conspiracy and inciting of public disturbance.” Several similar attacks have followed the Sokoto case.
World Nigeria
Christian faithfuls hold signs as they march on the streets of Abuja during a prayer and penance for peace and security in Abuja, Nigeria, on March 1, 2020.
shielding a Christian woman whom the mob accused of desecrating the Quran. On Aug. 9, 2008, a Muslim mob in Kano beat to death a 50-year-old Muslim man who allegedly blasphemed against Muhammad. In June 2016, a female Christian trader, Bridget Agbahime, was beheaded by a Muslim mob in Kano after she pleaded with a man attempting to pray in front of her shop to move.
thorities act to prevent the “increasing” violence against their own citizens, he fears a spread of lawlessness that could lead to civil disorder in the country. “International governments must unfold their arms and engage; they must take urgent steps to persuade Nigeria to act decisively to prevent the spread of such violence, whether perpetrated in the name of Islamist intolerance, or utter lawlessness,” Boyd wrote in an email to Insight. ON MAY 18, UK government spokes-
person Tariq Ahmad acknowledged the potential of attacks on religious minorities to rip apart one of Africa’s oldest democracies. LESS THAN A month later, a female Ahmad was responding to a presenChristian evangelist, Eunice Olawale, tation by Member of Parliament Carwas killed by a Muslim mob for preach- oline Cox, who said more than 4,400 ing about Jesus in the streets of Kaduna. Christians were killed in Nigeria withIn March 2021, a water in a nine-month period vendor popularly known in 2021. as Talle Mai Ruwa was Cox said the UK governdragged from a police ment response has been station in Sade, Bauchi, “very inadequate.” where he was being held, American rights activand beaten to death by a ist Judd Saul said that the More than 4,400 mob for allegedly insulting crimes threaten to spread Christians were killed Muhammad. to the West if nothing is in Nigeria within a nineNone of these killings done to stop them.. month period in 2021. have been followed up “The West needs to care with successful prosecuabout the plight of Christions, according to international human tians in Africa because they are the only rights activist Dimeji Thompson, who thing standing in the way of an African has been involved in prosecuting blas- Muslim caliphate,” Saul wrote in a text phemy cases in Nigeria. message to Insight. “There is something in the system that “When Africa falls into the hands of is complicit,” Thompson told Insight. terrorists, imagine the amount of reBritish religious rights activist Andrew sources that would be available to the Boyd said that unless the Nigerian au- enemies of the West.”
4,400 KILLED
On July 14, 1999, in a village called Randali in Kebbi state, a Muslim mob beheaded a local resident, Abdullahi Umaru, on allegations of blasphemy. In 2006, a class teacher named Florence Chuckwu was killed alongside another 20 Christians in Bauchi after she told a student to stop reading the Quran in class while she was teaching the English language. ON MARCH 21, 2007, a gang of Muslim
youths mobbed Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin, a Christian mother of two, in Gombe state for allegedly touching and defiling the Quran. In September 2007, a Muslim mob in the city of Kano killed nine Christians, burned several churches, and destroyed the homes of several others after some Christian students allegedly drew a picture of Muhammad. On Feb. 4, 2008, a Muslim mob razed a police station in Bauchi for allegedly
Items remaining from students abducted by gunmen, at Bethel Baptist High School in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria, on July 14, 2021. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 33
State Police patrol the state capital in Concord, N.H., on Jan. 17, 2021. PHOTO BY JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
34 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
Nation New Hampshire
POLITICAL MOVEMENT
LIBERTYLOVERS FIND HOME IN NEW HAMPSHIRE Free State Project has attracted more than 6,000 people to move to the state since 2003 BY ALLAN STEIN
COURTESY OF LILY TANG WILLIAMS
s a young schoolgirl in the People’s Republic of China, Lily Tang Williams spent most of her formative years believing in the totalitarian government of Mao Zedong. The former Red Guards student group member learned that Marxist ideology was the answer to everything, individual rights and liberty, the enemy of the people. Tang Williams said it would take years to remove the shackles of her “brainwashing.” “I did not wake up and become an independent thinker until 20 years later,” Tang Williams told Insight, “because you are indoctrinated all your life in China. “The ideology is communist indoctrination, [that] government is the solution to all your problems.” In 1988, Tang Williams immigrated to the United States, met her husband, started a family, and ran for political office in left-leaning Colorado. She learned about libertarianism from her husband and a new political phenomenon called the New Hampshire Free State Project. Tang Williams said she fell in love with New Hampshire on her first visit in 2016, and three years later, the family left Colorado and moved to the Granite State,
Lily Tang Williams as she appears as a young girl and member of the Red Guards in Mao Zedong’s People’s Republic of China during the 1960s. where the motto, “Live Free or Die,” is more than just words. Today, she is proud to call herself a New Hampshire “Free Stater.” “I am the kind of person that cares about freedom,” said Tang Williams, 57, a candidate for U.S. Senate and organizer of the Republican Town Committee in Weare, New Hampshire. “If I say I will do something, I keep my promise.”
Part of Tang Williams’s promise is to continue serving the cause of liberty and helping other liberty-minded “Free Staters,” who now number more than 6,000 since the project launched in February 2003. The movement has grown exponentially since the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, she said. Participants say the Free State Project is an idea whose time has come—a way of life rather than a physical enclave. In 2001, its founder, Jason Sorens, wrote an essay about the project to galvanize interest in mass political migration, a movement dedicated to liberty but needing a place to settle and thrive in a history steeped in freedom. The promised land was New Hampshire, picked from a list of 10 states based on its small size, favorable business climate, low taxes, and rural landscape. The goal was to have 20,000 people sign a pledge to move to the state. Bruce Fenton was among those Free Staters who signed the pledge and moved to New Hampshire with his family. “I just really liked the idea of pursuing liberty in our lifetime by going to a place where you are with like-minded people,” said Fenton, who is also running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Being from blue-state Massachusetts, Fenton said, “like many states,” the I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 35
Nation New Hampshire
Bay State is crippled by its bureaucracy. “You do not get any benefit from it. You get many drawbacks,” Fenton told Insight. “The bigger the government, the more corruption. The more government they have, the more broken they are.” Fenton said his family signed the pledge 10 years ago and moved five years later. He also convinced friends and relatives to become Free Staters.
“You are indoctrinated all your life in China. The ideology is communist indoctrination, [that] government is the solution to all your problems.” Lily Tang Williams, member, New Hampshire Free State Project
“It is nice to see most recently that it has come into its own and become more successful. Early on, it was speculative, an experiment. There was no guarantee it would work,” Fenton said. “There are more moving [in] every day. It is a free state, though not perfect.” Sorens said the Free State Project exceeded his expectations but not his hopes. “I was pessimistic about the political future of the U.S. when I wrote the essay that started it all,” he told Insight. “I did not expect so many people to move to New Hampshire and have such an [significant] impact in a short period, but I hoped something like that could happen. “New Hampshire [people] are freer now because of the Free State Project 36 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
and are probably the [most free] people in North America,” he said. Sorens said the project’s mission seems even more relevant in 2022 as people network and pool their resources to promote change and freedom in New Hampshire. Free State Project President Carla Gericke, an attorney from South Africa who moved to the United States in 1996, said more than 1,000 Free Staters came to New Hampshire in 2021 and that number continues to grow. “Many people who identify with our values are now starting to say, ‘I am a Free Stater too,’” Gericke said. Once they arrive, other Free-Staters volunteer to help families unpack and establish connections through social media, weekly meetups, and larger gatherings such as the yearly PorcFest and Liberty Forum. “We bring people in, and then we try to create a healthy community where people can figure out what they want to do,” Gericke said. “We create the opportunities for people to show up. There is no specified [physical] enclave. People live all over the state.” Gericke said the project chose New Hampshire not only for its vibrant economy but for the opportunities it offered for political activism and serving in the state Legislature, one of the largest in the United States. Many Free Staters are now elected state lawmakers advocating for freedom. Many others serve at the community board and committee levels. “They [Democrats] have to work with us, and they hate it,” said Gericke. “Sadly, the flip side is we have raised the state’s profile. We are seeing money coming into New Hampshire. Most of it seems to be Soros-funded.” Fortunately, “we have enough influence where we have got to line up our billionaires to match theirs,” Gericke joked. “What is interesting for me as an immigrant from South Africa is how many immigrants we have [in the movement]. We have a lot of Russians and Ukrainians and old Soviet bloc Free Staters. Many of us are trying to attract people who do not want to tear things down. We want people who want to build a future.” Free Staters also run the political gam-
Nation New Hampshire
(Above) New Hampshire was picked as the promised land from a list of 10 states based on its small size, favorable business climate, low taxes, and rural landscape. (Left) New Hampshire Free State Project participant Jody Underwood plays with her two dogs on her off-grid property in Croydon, N.H.
Living Free Off-Grid Jody Underwood is another Free Stater who came to New Hampshire with her husband from Philadelphia in 2007. The couple now lives off-grid in rural Croydon. “I do not think of it as a membership. It is more of an idea than an organiza-
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 37
CLOCKWISE FROM L: COURTESY OF LILY TANG WILLIAMS, JOHN ELK III/GETTY IMAGES, NEIL SHEEHAN/THE EPOCH TIMES
ut, from Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman libertarians to freedom-minded Democrats. The movement’s anarcho-capitalist orientation and emphasis on free markets further enhance the appeal.
tion. Everybody has their political issues, right? We tend to all lean libertarian,” Underwood said. Underwood said she first read about the Free State Project in Reason magazine, a conservative publication, many years ago. “My husband thought, ‘Wow! What a great idea.’” “We have lived off-grid the whole time we have lived here,” Underwood told Insight. “We have solar panels that generate electricity. We have batteries that store it, and we use generators when there is not enough sun. That is how it works.” Underwood credited libertarian economist and former presidential candidate Ron Paul for sparking a “wave of people” to sign the pledge. “We were part of that first 1,000 that moved here. The next big wave was COVID. So many people moved here because of health freedom. They just wanted to get away from their state and were looking for the promise” of liberty. The North Country of New Hampshire is among the more popular locations for Free Staters because of lower housing prices. Furthermore, in the current gig economy, this translates into telecommuting opportunities. As a Free Stater, Underwood focuses her activism on school choice. However, the family’s dream is going “back to basics.” “We’re not Preppers, per se, but let’s be prepared,” she said. “We chose it when we were ready to go on this adventure, which was moving up to New England.” Fenton said viewing the Free State Project as an outlier political migration movement would be wrong. “Opponents have said we have kind of taken over the state. It is not fringe. It is a majority in many ways. The message of liberty is popular right now,” he said. In the meantime, Tang Williams said there are promises to keep, and many miles to go before the movement finally achieves its mission of more freedom, and less government. “There are lots of battles to fight. There are many leftists in our state, too,” she said. “This is the United States of America. Why are there so many Marxists and communists here?”
FOOD SECURITY
CHINA’S QUE Beijing’s theft of US agricultural tech secrets presents ‘enormous’ national security threat, analyst says
38 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
Volunteers help farmers harvest rice in Huzhuang, Jiangsu Province, China, on Nov. 1, 2021. PHOTO BY STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
ST TO STEAL
THE ‘SECRETS TO LIFE’ By Eva Fu
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 39
US–CHINA Technology
T
iny as it is, a seed is like a mini biological computer. Inside it is all the genetic code—intellectual property containing billions of dollars of potential worth—that in the hands of adversaries could give them control over the food production of a country and beyond. One unmistakable adversary in this area is China, according to Ross Kennedy, a U.S.-based logistics and supply chain analyst at Fortis Analysis. For China, home to 1.4 billion people, “possessing the means to increase their own domestic food security is job number one,” he told NTD, sister media outlet of Insight. “Lying, stealing, bartering—whatever it takes to get that technology—China has proven willing to do.” Kennedy calls it a domain for “gray zone asymmetric warfare.” By stealing U.S. agricultural technologies and developing a version of its own, China would be able to fill the country’s most basic needs while undercutting America economically and diplomatically in its pursuit of global leadership in agricultural production, he said. “Most people don’t realize that you could steal some kernels of corn, or a few soybeans, and perpetuate a multibillion-dollar industrial espionage campaign,” Kennedy said. “If you’re able to ‘crack the code’ of a genetically modified organism, then you would be able to steal hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars of intellectual property. “In recent years, if you could do that, you’re lifting the secrets to life of that corn, that soybean, and giving yourself an enormous step ahead in terms of time and cost advantage on feeding your own population.”
SEEDS AS A WEAPON
40 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
the “most valuable and easily transferable property are seeds,” according to a May research report by the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC). Seed innovation has generated billions of dollars for U.S. agricultural biotechnology firms such as Monsanto. In 2021, the United States exported around $174 million worth of seeds to China, accounting for 15 percent of its total exports, according to the report. The importance of advancing seed technology is not lost on China. Chinese state media have described seeds as “chips” of agriculture, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping has long elevated grain security as a “core basis of national security.” In an inspection tour of a seed lab in China’s southernmost province of Hain-
an in April, Xi called on the country to “hold Chinese seeds tightly with our own hands” to “keep the Chinese rice bowls steady and achieve food security.” But some Chinese scientists have taken a shortcut by outright stealing U.S. agricultural trade secrets. Days before Xi’s trip to Hainan, Chinese national Xiang Haitao, a former imaging scientist at Monsanto in Missouri, was sentenced by a U.S. federal court to 29 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing trade secrets from his former employer. Xiang had attempted to steal an algorithm that helps farmers optimize agricultural productivity, in order to benefit a Chinese state-run research institute, prosecutors said. In another case, Mo Hailong, director of international business at a Beijing-based agribusiness with ties to the
FROM TOP: BRENT STIRTON/GETTY IMAGES, SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES
China is the world’s largest agricultural importer, with imports totaling $133.1 billion in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Plagued by shrinking arable land and natural disasters, and with swelling demand for food to feed one-sixth of the world’s population, the country has for years shown considerable interest in U.S. agricultural assets, among which
A technician holds up advanced seed chipping machines inside the Monsanto agribusiness headquarters in St. Louis, in this file photo.
US–CHINA Technology
only reverse engineer that seed’s tolerance to various pesticides or insects,” Kennedy said, but also, through reverse engineering, unlock a seed’s ability to produce high yields and adaptability to various climates, such as hotter and wetter environments. “There’s places in China where they would love to be able to grow things like corn or soybeans, but they don’t really have access to the good genetic technology to make seeds that can thrive in more challenging conditions,” Kennedy said. “So one seed is a problem,” he said. But if China gets its hands on multiple seeds, “suddenly now you’ve got a much larger issue.” The communist regime could also weaponize seeds to effectively wipe out an adversary’s ability to produce crops at scale, Kennedy said. It could do this by turning on or off the genetic triggers that cause crops to fail, create toxins in plants to poison animals, or create weakness to certain types of bacteria or fungi to “dramatically increase the disease pressure on the land,” he said.
‘MASSIVE DIPLOMATIC LEVER’
Chinese regime, attempted to steal corn seeds from testing fields at Monsanto and another U.S. seed producer, Dupont Pioneer, in 2011 and 2012. Mo was sentenced to three years in federal prison in 2016, after pleading guilty to conspiring to steal trade secrets. In 2018, two Chinese rice researchers visited various U.S. research and production facilities. U.S. prosecutors who charged them with a conspiracy to steal rice production technology said they found stolen rice seeds in the researchers’ luggage at the Honolulu airport as they attempted to fly back to China. They are currently at large in China. Two other Chinese rice researchers who helped organize their trip were convicted in a connected case in 2018 and sentenced to one and 10 years, respectively. “It seems silly, but if you can get three, four, five, six, 10 different varieties of seed, now you’ve got the ability to not
With only a handful of domestic players such as Dow Chemical Company and Dupont controlling much of the U.S. food production, China has its obvious targets, Kennedy said. “You really only need to penetrate or create problems with one,” he said. “Now you’re talking about 1.4 billion mouths to feed in a place like China that used to have to buy American and European genetic technology. And now they have the means to do their own and race ahead and provide that to the rest of the world, and undermine U.S. efforts in that way as well.” Such technology theft can become a “massive diplomatic lever” for China and allow it to undermine American diplomatic and national security efforts worldwide, he said. “In the same way they would export construction technology for [the] ‘Belt and Road [Initiative]’, you could also do Belt and Road with food and with energy,” Kennedy said, referring to Beijing’s trillion-dollar project to facilitate trade and infrastructure partnerships with Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. According to Kennedy, in places such
as Africa where there’s an abundance of arable land and labor but a lack of modern seed technology, “China could come in and say, ‘Hey, we can give the farm equipment, the methods, the machinery, and this very expensive intellectual property. We can provide the soil to you to lift yourself up out of food issues or food poverty, but we want access to these critical minerals.’ Or, ‘We want to build a military base on your shoreline,’ or whatever it may be.”
“Lying, stealing, bartering— whatever it takes to get that technology— China has proven willing to do.” Ross Kennedy, analyst, Fortis Analysis
Critics of the Belt and Road Initiative have dubbed the project a form of “debttrap diplomacy,” which saddles developing nations with sustainable debt levels and thus leaves them vulnerable to ceding strategic infrastructure and resources to Beijing. In September, research lab AidData counted at least 42 countries with public debt exposure to China exceeding a tenth of its gross domestic product. But Kennedy noted that genetically modified seeds differ from construction projects in that they have a relatively
In 2021, the United States exported around $174 million worth of seeds to China, accounting for 15 percent of total U.S. exports, according to a report. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 41
US–CHINA Technology
short life span: Each seed is “only good once, and only really keeps in condition in a bag for a year or two.” “This is a way that China has an annual way of maintaining control over certain things,” he said. By controlling the seeds, China gets to dictate the terms that the countries dependent upon the resource must follow. “It’s a variant of debt-trap diplomacy, but it’s also one that hits immediately and hits very, very close to home in a way that maybe repossessing your bridge or your railroad does not,” he said.
SECURING LAND FOR CHINA
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TIMES
OFFICIALLY, CHINESE INVESTMENT
in U.S. farmland has ballooned more than 25 times from 13,720 acres to 352,140 acres between 2010 and 2020, according to a 2020 USDA report.
133.1
$
BILLION
CHINA IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST
agricultural importer, with imports totaling $133.1 billion in 2019, according to the USDA.
“This is an enormous problem. It’s not one that’s going away,” Kennedy said. Such lands could become a potential vector for the regime to stage various forms of espionage against the United States, Kennedy said. Chinese animal nutrition supplier Fufeng Group announced last November that it was in negotiations to purchase 370 acres of land in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to build its first U.S. corn milling facility. The proposed plant’s location, about 12 miles from the Grand
Workers transferring soybeans at a port in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China, on April 9, 2018. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has long elevated grain security as a “core basis of national security,” a report says.
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Chinese purchases of American farmland, another facet of Beijing’s involvement in the U.S. agricultural sector, have also been raising economic and national security alarms. In 2013, Chinese meat processor Shuanghui International Holdings (now WH Group) took over the world’s leading pork producer, Virginia-based Smithfield Foods, marking the largest Chinese acquisition of an American consumer brand to date. The deal, according to the USCC report, gave the Hong Kong-based firm more than 146,000 acres of land spreading across six states, supplying China with record amounts of pork in 2020 as African Swine Fever dwindled herds and pandemic lockdowns disrupted production in China. Beijing’s goal is to be able to convert as much American farmland as possible to exclusively provide for China, Kennedy said. “Now you have secured on that acre, and scale that however many hundreds of thousands of acres, you’ve secured your own supply chain for your country as the owner of that land, even if it’s on foreign soil,” he said. Officially, Chinese investment in U.S. farmland has ballooned more than 25 times, from 13,720 acres to 352,140 acres between 2010 and 2020, according to a 2020 USDA report. While this only represents roughly 1 percent of all foreign-held acres in the United States, the USCC report said there’s no mechanism in place at the federal level to track land ownership and usage, and Chinese investors could circumvent the rules with few repercussions.
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Forks Air Force Base, has stirred fears of the site being used to spy on U.S. military activities in the area. “Once you have land, you have options,” Kennedy said. Getting its hand on vast swaths of land, he added, “has been an enormous priority for China for a long time.” Some lawmakers have already been sounding the alarm. Late last month, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) introduced legislation aiming to ban foreign nationals with ties to Beijing from acquiring agricultural land in the United States. “If we begin to cede the responsibility for our food supply chain to an adversarial foreign nation, we could be forced into exporting food that is grown within our own borders and meant for our own use,” Newhouse said in a statement. The threat of Chinese agricultural espionage calls for more national awareness and a switch in mindset, Kennedy said. When it comes to collaboration involving sensitive technology, the first thing to ask, Kennedy said, should be, “Is this a last resort to partner with China on this?” He said that instead of considering the benefits of a collaboration from only an economic point of view, business and academic leaders also need to factor in national security and ask: “Do we have any other options at our disposal to achieve the goal of whatever the program or the initiative may be? If the answer is yes, that needs to be pursued.”
P OL I T IC S • E C ONOM Y • OPI N ION T H AT M AT T E R S
No.25
Perspectives President Joe Biden speaks about the latest jobs report during an event at the White House on March 4. PHOTO BY WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES
GREEN TAPE
TEAM BIDEN’S GAS INFLATION DISASTER
SEC’s climate disclosure rule would be more costly than Sarbanes–Oxley. 44
Gas inflation will make Democrats unelectable in 2022 and 2024. 45
REAL WAGES FALL AS STIMULUS PLANS BACKFIRE Demand destruction is likely to be the only option to curb inflation. 48
INSIDE I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 43
THOMAS MCARDLE was a White House speechwriter for President George W. Bush and writes for IssuesInsights.com.
Thomas McArdle
Green Tape
SEC’s climate disclosure rule would be more costly than Sarbanes-Oxley
D
uring the state of the Union address to Congress this year, President Joe Biden delivered an astoundingly Orwellian endorsement of socialism, clothed as its anti-matter counterpart. “I’m a capitalist, but capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism,” the president declared. “It’s exploitation, and it drives up prices. When corporations don’t have to compete, their profits go up, your prices go up, and small businesses and family farmers and ranchers go under.” Besides dubiously blaming today’s 40-year-high inflation on corporate greed (greed that, presumably, was inexplicably dormant during decades of inflation that was a fraction of today’s), Biden’s remarks shamelessly suggest that his administration’s heavy imposition of new and revived regulations fosters competition when the real mission is to level unprecedented burdens and governmental control upon businesses of all sizes. “I’m a capitalist” belongs alongside “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” Promising to reduce average global temperatures by a degree or two is the most fashionable excuse in the United States today for the state battering companies, even though Russia and China have no intention of joining in the climate crusade at the expense of their expansionist objectives, and India and other developing nations aren’t going to abandon the ongoing industrialization their people yearn for in exchange for being congratulated by international bodies for going green. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler was heavily involved in writing one of the most onerous pieces of regulatory legislation ever—2002’s Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which costs Fortune 500 firms millions of dollars each annually on average,
44 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
and has been a powerful disincentive to firms setting themselves up as publicly traded or retaining that status. The SEC’s most prominent policy under Gensler is requiring issuers of stocks and bonds to assess and report the risks climate change poses to their investors. As Heritage Foundation senior fellow David Burton pointed out in a letter to Gensler: “Requiring all public companies to develop climate modeling expertise, the ability to make macroeconomic projections based on these models and then make firm-specific economic assessments based on these climate and economic models will be expensive, imposing costs that will amount to billions of dollars on issuers. These expenses would harm investors by reducing shareholder returns.”
Promising to reduce average global temperatures by a degree or two is the most fashionable excuse in America today for the state battering companies. Lawsuits would become legion, as publicly traded firms are endlessly accused of failing to report climate impact to the full satisfaction of environmentalists. But companies not to be found on the stock exchange, that think themselves safe in their private status, will actually also be subject to heavy new costs, because public companies’ private partners and contractors will be required by the SEC to report their emissions, outside firms having to be turned to for certification. In a media conference call on June 16, U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President Tom Quaadman pointed out that according to the SEC itself, the climate dis-
closure rule in its current form “would be at least three times the implementation costs of Sarbanes-Oxley, which was the most expensive disclosure regime that we’ve gone through over the last generation,” requiring “almost 16 to 18 years to finalize all of the different Sarbanes-Oxley rules.” Testifying to the Senate Banking Committee in September 2021, Gensler claimed of climate risk information that “investors are really demanding it.” More accurately, trendy asset managers, most prominently BlackRock, the largest such firm in the world with $10 trillion under its control, demand it, the better to inflict its wishes on companies in which it invests. Blackrock boasts that it “voted against 55 directors/director-related items on climate-related issues. This is a tool available to us in virtually every market we invest in on behalf of our clients ... 83% of the time our votes against directors in the FTSE [Financial Times] 350 over remuneration concerns resulted in revisions to pay policies within 12 months.” Pointless or politicized regulations both devastate private sector productivity and kill jobs. A Conference Board survey just found that “more than 60 percent of CEOs globally say they expect a recession in their primary region of operations before the end of 2023 or earlier ... Fifteen percent of CEOs say their region is already in recession.” With a looming economic downturn—on the heels of the devastation of COVID—is this a time to be helping multi-trillion-dollar money managers bully the nation’s providers of private-sector jobs, one objective being to charm the left so they might forget about things like BlackRock’s massive military investments? And all in the guise of a “capitalist” eager to boost competition—like a call girl attending a masquerade party costumed as a mother superior.
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
Team Biden’s Gas Inflation Disaster Gas inflation will make Democrats unelectable in 2022 and 2024
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he democrats are in trouble—big, big trouble. Gas prices are up—way, way up. See the parallel? It’s been said that “it’s the economy, stupid.” Now the most obvious economic problem Americans have is filling their tanks. So we can change the saying: It’s the gas, stupid. And gas prices won’t come down for a couple of years, according to experts. That means in the midterm elections in November and the presidential election in 2024, Democrats will be hurt at the polls. Pundits already predict a wipeout for Democrats at the midterms. For 2024, even many Democrats are whispering that President Joe Biden shouldn’t run. His popularity rating is at a record low of just 39 percent. Biden’s administration got inflation, China, and Russia wrong. He says he wants to “compete” with China, but he’s making unilateral concessions—for example, on climate change—that destroy U.S. competitiveness. That will hurt U.S. jobs and the economy, even as China hoards oil in possible preparation for a war against Taiwan. Oil and gas prices are popping, which hurts Americans at the pump, but entirely prices out many people in poorer countries, just as they’re having trouble paying for food because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That causes political instability. Democratic weakness ironically translates into global pain for some of the world’s worst off. Peace through strength has always been a better policy for the United States, other democracies, and our allies. But instead, the Biden administration has gone begging Saudi Arabia, Venezuela,
and other illiberal oil producers to pump more hydrocarbons and bring back refinery capacity. Democratic pleading with U.S. oil is shading into veiled threats against its profit margins, including by the president. That will disincentivize the very investments—for example, in refinery expansion—that the United States needs to bring down gas prices over the next two years.
Oil and gas companies have been busy dismantling refineries and not drilling due to COVID-19, but also because of anti-oil measures largely pushed by Democrats. But since 2020, U.S. refinery capacity has decreased by a million barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Oil and gas companies have been busy dismantling refineries and not drilling due to COVID-19, but also because of anti-oil measures largely pushed by Democrats. As a result, now we all see the prices at the pump and America’s increasing dependence on foreign oil. Democrats can’t have their cake and eat it, too, regardless of their doublespeak. Tradeoffs between the economic strength of the United States, climate change, and national security mean that if we sacrifice our economy in the process of transitioning to net-zero emissions, we also accept inflation at the pump and sacrifice our military and diplomatic strength.
Our national power is relative, and countries such as China and Russia aren’t playing ball by decreasing emissions. Former President Barack Obama didn’t negotiate equal emissions decreases by all countries at the Paris climate talks in 2016, so China thinks it can increase emissions as we decrease ours, leading to its relative increase in power. We’re losing the competition with China because some politicians deny that China is a real threat. They wrongly see the regime in Beijing as one with which we can cooperate and befriend through making unilateral concessions. What Democrats should instead do to preserve their chances in November is to get smart quickly on gas prices, which are the biggest component of inflation. To do this, they need to see climate change policy within the context of an adversarial relationship with China and Russia. We can no longer make unilateral concessions without equal and immediate concessions by our adversaries. This means approving new U.S. oil drilling, removing biofuel requirements for U.S. refiners, and rescinding all U.S. taxes on oil and gas. It means pledging to U.S. energy producers that we’ll never again put them at a disadvantage in their competition on global markets. Only once China and Russia become responsible members of the international community and decrease their emissions and territorial aggression should Americans again consider sacrificing at the pump. Such sacrifice doesn’t work when we do it alone. It will only destroy America’s economy and power to do good in the process. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 45
MILTON EZRATI is chief economist for Vested, a contributing editor at The National Interest, and author of “Thirty Tomorrows” and “Bite-Sized Investing.”
Milton Ezrati
Washington’s Bleak Outlook
Congress’s own budget clarifies Washington’s financial troubles
I
t makes for a depressing reading. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) anticipates that federal spending will continue to outstrip revenues. Historically large annual deficits will add to the nation’s already heavy accumulation of public debt so that by 2032, outstanding government debt held by the public will rise to 110 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and then rise further to 185 percent by mid-century, far higher than most any time in history. The driver is the growth of entitlements spending. The CBO projects that federal revenues from all sources will grow in tandem with the economy, taking, on average, a historically consistent 18 percent of GDP each year. However, the spending side is expected to rise disproportionately from 23.8 percent of the economy this year to 25.8 percent by the mid-2030s to 28.9 percent by mid-century. And the growth of entitlements lies behind the overall spending rise. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and lesser programs of this sort will rise from an estimated 10.8 percent of GDP this year to 13.7 percent in the mid-2030s to 14.9 percent by mid-century, according to the CBO. This relative increase accounts for more than four-fifths of the relative rise in all spending. The balance comes from the need for Washington to pay interest on an enlarged debt load, itself the result of past increases in entitlements spending. History certainly informs this outlook. Federal spending has grown for decades as a portion of the economy. Between 1970 and this year, overall federal spending has risen from 18.7 percent of the country’s GDP to the CBO’s 2022 estimate of 23.8 percent.
46 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
This is almost all because entitlements spending has risen from 7.6 percent of GDP in 1970 to 10.8 percent presently, an increase that more than erased the budget relief implicit in the relative drop in defense spending from 7.8 percent of GDP in 1970 to about 3.5 percent today.
Between 1970 and this year, overall federal spending has risen from 18.7 percent of the country’s GDP to the CBO’s 2022 estimate of 23.8 percent. As sad as the CBO report is, the picture it paints may be too optimistic. It assumes, for example, that defense spending will hold steady at about 3.5 percent of GDP. It might look conservative to remove from the outlook the past budgetary relief offered by relative declines in Pentagon demands, except that, going forward, developing geopolitical pressures seem likely to raise the relative size of defense outlays. Even on entitlements, there are signs of budgetary optimism. Although CBO projections slightly heighten the historic pace of increase in entitlements, there’s reason to look for still more spending. Just two considerations offer perspective. President Joe Biden plans to forgive student debt. Exact amounts would, of course, depend on how much the government decides to forgive and what income tests it places on recipients. But the White House’s decision indeed points to an increase in the relative burden of entitlements on the economy, especially since it will set a precedent for future genera-
tions of indebted collegians. More significant still is the likely impact of aging. As the huge baby boom generation ages, numbers of dependent retirees will grow. In 1970, roughly 10 percent of the population was 65 years old or older. By 2019, that figure had grown to 16 percent. The Census Bureau estimates that by the mid-2030s, that figure will rise to 21 percent of the population and to 22 percent by mid-century. This huge proportion of older people can’t help but disproportionately increase demands for Social Security, Medicare, and other federal services, greatly accelerating the relative growth in entitlements spending. CBO estimates try to account for this trend, but probably do so insufficiently. None of this is to say that entitlements, already at about two-thirds or more of the federal budget, are the wrong way for Washington to spend. That’s a political judgment. Economics can’t judge. Still, it can make clear that political judgments have condemned federal finances to deficits and ever-growing debt burdens and that they’ll continue to do so until Washington takes one of three admittedly difficult steps: It will either get control over entitlements or accommodate the ever-increasing demand of entitlements by sacrificing other government services, as was done with defense in the past, but it no longer seems possible in today’s geopolitics. Alternatively, Washington can tell voters that they must pay more taxes so that their representatives don’t have to make these difficult decisions. As the CBO has made clear, albeit indirectly, these are the only ways to avoid a debt burden that many already describe as unsupportable.
EMEL AKAN is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times in Washington. Previously, she worked in the financial sector as an investment banker at JPMorgan.
Emel Akan
Savers Rushing to Inflation Bonds
I bonds that offer inflation protection are paying nearly 10 percent interest
ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
I
nflation-protected bonds issued by the Treasury Department have exploded in popularity in recent months as Americans seek safe investments after being battered by the stock and bond markets. I bonds, inflation-linked savings bonds, currently offer an annual interest rate of 9.62 percent. Investors can purchase these bonds at the current rate through October by creating a TreasuryDirect account. The rate is valid for six months after purchase. Because of high inflation this year, I bonds have emerged as one of the hottest investment assets of the year. Although these bonds have been around since 1998, interest in them has exploded over the past couple of months, according to Joseph Hogue, an investment analyst and creator of the YouTube channel Let’s Talk Money. This is because no safe bond investment, especially savings bonds, has ever offered such a high-interest rate, Hogue told Insight. Google search trends and the popularity of YouTube videos discussing I bonds have been good indicators of their rising popularity, he said. The Treasury has issued about 10 times more I bonds this year compared to 2021. The rates for I bonds are adjusted twice per year on May 1 and Nov. 1. Interest is accrued monthly and compounded semiannually. If inflation goes higher, so will the yield. Mel Lindauer, founder and former president of the John C. Bogle Center for Financial Literacy has been a proponent of I bonds since they were first launched 24 years ago. “I thought they were a no-brainer, but people didn’t seem to be as excited as they are today,” he told
Google search trends and the popularity of YouTube videos discussing I bonds have been good indicators of the rising demand. Insight. “I was kind of a lone voice in the wilderness.” There’s no incentive for intermediaries to sell I bonds, so they aren’t frequently advertised. “Financial advisors don’t want to sell them because they don’t make any money. There’s no commission on them,” Lindauer said, noting that neither banks nor the Treasury Department advertise them. So I-bonds have been poorly understood throughout the years. Recently, thanks to social media, online forums, and press attention, people have begun to learn about them, he said. One disadvantage of I bonds is that investors can only purchase a maximum of $10,000 per year. This is because they’re primarily intended for small savers and investors. According to Lindauer, many investors ignore I bonds because of this constraint, as they have little impact on a big portfolio. However, there are a lot of ways that
people can purchase more than $10,000 per year, he said, noting that people can buy for their family members, trusts, companies, and as a gift. People can also buy up to a total of $5,000 of paper I bonds using their tax refund. Large investors prefer Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), which also include an element of inflation protection. Investors face no constraints when purchasing TIPS. Although some people believe that TIPS are better than I bonds, Lindauer said TIPS might cause short-term financial loss because “if you sell prior to maturity, they could be up or down in terms of market value.” Also, the interest rate on I bonds can’t go below zero. This indicates that I bonds are protected against deflation. TIPS, on the other hand, will have their principal balance fall in times of deflation, making them less protected, according to Lindauer. The Treasury sets a fixed rate for I bonds, as well as an inflation-adjusted rate based on the change in the Consumer Price Index over the previous six months. The next inflation adjustment will be announced on Nov. 1. An I bond has a 30-year maturity, so investors can earn interest for 30 years unless it’s cashed. If redeemed prior to five years, the final three months of interest will be lost. After five years of ownership, there’s no penalty for early redemption. However, the federal tax on the interest must be paid in the same year as the redemption. Even with the penalty, an I bond currently provides “a great return,” according to Hogue. In today’s inflationary environment, “investors are going to need that protection for at least a year.” I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 47
DANIEL LACALLE is chief economist at hedge fund Tressis and author of “Freedom or Equality,” “Escape from the Central Bank Trap,” and “Life in the Financial Markets.”
Daniel Lacalle
Real Wages Fall as Stimulus Plans Backfire
Demand destruction is likely to be the only option to curb inflation
F
48 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
With 8 percent inflation in the United States and Europe, workers with a salary are losing close to one month of wages every 12 months. it’s normal. The leverage and excess built in portfolios and investors’ bets is enormous and most market participants see how growth estimates plummet and inflation expectations soar. Stagflation is now more than just a distant risk. The World Bank has clearly mentioned the risk of stagflation, as global growth is expected to slump from 5.7 percent in 2021 to 2.9 percent in 2022, a figure that is massively below the 4.1 percent that the bank had anticipated in January. It has slashed the expectations of U.S. GDP growth by 1.2 percent for 2022 and 0.2 percent in 2023 from their January prediction. As for inflation, estimates just soared. The percentage of countries with inflation above target rose to 90 percent in developed economies and 75 percent in emerging and developing economies, according to the World Bank.
S&P Ratings has also warned recently that the global food shock may last for years, not months. Now, after the largest stimulus plan was implemented, the boomerang effect is evident. Higher inflation and weaker growth. But neither central banks can normalize quickly enough due to the risks of a market and sovereign debt contagion, nor do governments want to reduce spending. So, demand destruction is likely to be the only option to curb inflation. In the United States, demand destruction is now tangible. Real wages are falling in all income groups, as Jason Furman, professor of Practice at Harvard, points out. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell sharply to a record-low reading of 50.2, down from a May reading of 58.4, while consensus expected a 59 reading, according to MarketWatch. It’s too late now. The damage to the global economy is too large, and now mainstream economists are only finding ways to justify the disaster by blaming everything except the excess of government and central bank stimuli of 2020. Governments don’t want to cut spending, and central banks’ rate hike plans still leave them significantly behind the curve and far from normalization, so the “demand correction” is likely to come from the private sector, starting with consumers losing wages in real terms and their savings. With 8 percent inflation in the United States and Europe, workers with a salary are losing close to one month of wages every 12 months. Like all stimulus plans, the backlash will be suffered by the middle class and the same families that governments aimed to protect with massive money printing. Monetary policy doesn’t solve structural problems; fiscal policy may have worsened them.
DANIEL SLIM/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
or years, we have read that it’s important for the Federal Reserve and the major central banks to push the limits of monetary policy to boost growth and jobs. Monetary policy stood at the forefront of all recovery plans. In 2008, quantitative easing seemed enormous, but the subsequent incremental plans have made that stimulus package virtually irrelevant. Since 2008, each new government spending plan had to be larger. If it wasn’t at least a couple trillion dollars, it didn’t even make the headlines. As for monetary policy, limits were surpassed almost every five years. Negative real and even nominal rates, trillions in new money supply, and different purchase programs that included private debt and even, in the case of Japan, exchange-traded funds. Since the pandemic started in March 2020 until May 2020, central banks and governments had unveiled more than $15 trillion of stimulus, equivalent to 17 percent of the global economy, according to Reuters. In only three months. It was called “the monetary bazooka.” However, once the reopening of the economy was fully in place, most of these plans continued. Central banks alone added $9 trillion to their balance sheets to reach a combined $24 trillion size, according to Bloomberg. This, added to the fiscal response which McKinsey called “the $10 trillion rescue,” made the already astronomical figure of combined fiscal and monetary stimulus mentioned before rocket to more than $20 trillion in barely nine months. The monetary and fiscal bazooka has backfired massively. It was so large that now policymakers are surprised at the aggressiveness of market reactions to small rate hikes. But
Fan Yu
FAN YU is an expert in finance and economics and has contributed analyses on China’s economy since 2015.
Gauging Investor Sentiment Fears of stagflation are at their highest since 2008
SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES
T
he financial markets are reeling. Those who followed the proverbial “sell in May and go away” are sitting in a relatively good position. For everyone else? The U.S. stock market officially entered bear market territory, and the Federal Reserve delivered a massive 75 basis point rate increase, the biggest benchmark rate boost since 1994. Several well-known technology companies have announced layoffs. With the first of many expected rate hikes behind us, how are investors feeling heading into July? Do we have market capitulation yet? The Fed acted forcefully in an attempt to bring down inflation, with a rate cut that was widely expected by the market, yet contradicted initial Fed remarks that a 75 basis point increase was off the table. Regardless, inflation readings were higher than expected, and the central bank had to act, with Chairman Jerome Powell using the word “nimble” to describe actions going forward. “We now see a steeper path for rate increases this year, to a higher peak rate around 4%” by the end of the year, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a June 15 note to clients. “The key question now is how quickly do they stop hiking rates, and prepare for cuts should they see a material slowing.” The last sentence alludes to the dreaded recession, which, by some measures, is already upon us. There’s anecdotal evidence everywhere. Companies have announced mass layoffs, certain consumer discretionary product inventories are building, and businesses are cutting budgets and freezing hirings. May U.S. retail sales, which were released in mid-June, came in far below expectations as consumers pulled back on spending. For investors, the question is how
On an absolute basis, professional investors have the highest conviction on cash, followed by the health care sector, commodities, and the energy. they should be positioned. We turn to Bank of America’s most recent Global Fund Manager Survey, which polls how professional fund managers are thinking in June. As you would expect, professional investors are very, very pessimistic. Fears of stagflation—a period of high inflation and low economic growth— are at their highest since 2008, while corporate profit expectations are also at their lowest since 2008. In short, the outlook is negative. On an absolute basis, professional investors have the highest conviction on cash, followed by the health care sector, commodities, and energy. Banking and real estate were also squarely on the “bullish” side of the ledger. Being overweight in cash is a proxy for staying on the sidelines and not investing. Commodities and energy typically do well in inflationary peri-
ods. Banks typically thrive as interest rates go up, increasing their net interest margin, or the spread between the rate at which they lend and the rate at which they earn. Real estate, being a hard asset, typically does well in inflationary periods, and there’s also a relative shortage of quality housing in the United States, although residential real estate prices will ease from the ludicrous pace of growth over the past 12 months. And lastly, the health care sector is somewhat economically insensitive and has been under-invested over the past few decades. The sectors professional investors are most bearish on are somewhat surprising. Bonds received the most underweight ranking, followed by consumer discretionary and utilities. Bonds and utilities are typically havens for when the stock market has a downturn, but in the current environment, they’re anything but safe havens. Utility companies pay a steady dividend and are fairly stable, but with interest rates rising, they provide a relatively unattractive yield. Consumer discretionary is self-explanatory. Those companies won’t do well as consumers tighten their belts. Scott Minerd, chief investment officer of Guggenheim Partners, thinks if investors are into bonds, they need to hold high-quality, investment-grade corporate debt and government debt. “Recession means you are going to have wider credit spreads,” Minerd told Bloomberg TV. “There are cracks appearing in the credit world, and the worst is probably not over there.” He said this is a good time to put money to work in Treasury bonds. As for that much-hoped-for “soft landing”? That’s effectively out the window. The Fed, judging by its actions and messaging this month, is signaling a high chance of recession. Investors should prepare accordingly. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 49
JEFF MINICK lives and writes in Front Royal, Va. He is the author of two novels, “Amanda Bell” and “Dust on Their Wings,” and two works of nonfiction, “Learning as I Go” and “Movies Make the Man.”
Jeff Minick
Exercising Self-Control
Addiction comes in many forms, all with negative results
ddiction usually brings to mind the abuse of alcohol or drugs. Some people are also addicted to smoking, gambling, or pornography. Those who are free of these practices may feel a bit superior to friends or family members who get drunk every night or who lose their home to pay their gambling debts. We may pity Uncle Bill for his love affair with New Amsterdam gin, but that sorrow may also contain a heavy dose of condescension. Yet, truth be told, a lot of us are addicts, meaning that some force in our life controls us more than we control it. The wife of the guy who works 70 hours a week selling insurance convinces him to vacation with her at the beach. If he can set aside his work habits and enjoy that week, then it’s likely he grinds away at his job by choice. If, however, he spends the vacation out of sorts and distant, trekking 10 or 12 times a day to his laptop to check his emails and the status at the office, then work is his master, and he the slave. Once, I heard a priest say that a sin was a “good” turned inside out. A glass or two of wine in the evening can be a positive good. Eight glasses of wine ... not so much. Wine is a good—a celebration of the day, conducive to conversation and thought, and possibly with some healthy physical benefits. But when we abuse those benefits, we destroy the good and embrace addiction. In C.S. Lewis’s “The Great Divorce,” some souls from hell have the opportunity to discard their past, transform themselves, and enter into heaven. In nearly every case, these souls turn their back on paradise and return to hell. In this novel, a mother so loves her dead son that she can 50 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
Addictions of all sorts are harmful to us—and I include myself in this lot. love no other. An artist can’t imagine living without his possessions and acclaim. A wife endlessly complains about her husband and can’t forsake her grievances. In each case, these hell-shackled souls fail to realize their greed for control has become an addiction, a craving that has enslaved them. Even when we recognize our loss of control, we may have trouble cutting down the thicket of addiction. One man I know spends hours a day reading various online news sites and commentary. He regrets squandering his time in a way so meaningless and damaging to his spirit, yet he can’t break the habit. Addictions of all sorts are harmful to us—and I include myself in this lot, though shame prevents me from making this piece a confessional. These fixations separate us from other parts of life that are vital to our spiritual and mental well-being.
The mother who devotes herself to her children while neglecting her husband is doing damage to her marriage. The husband who daily watches pornography is wreaking havoc on his marriage and family. Thinkers have long known and warned of these negative consequences. The prayer Jesus taught to his disciples contains the line “Lead us not into temptation.” Seven hundred years earlier, the Greek philosopher Hesiod wrote, “Observe due measure; moderation is best in all things.” On the Temple of Apollo at Delphi was inscribed the maxim “Nothing in excess.” Behind the ancient concept of moderation is balance, a weighing of the various goods available to us: marriage, children, work, self-care, spiritual practices. Life has all of us walking a tightrope, but the best funambulists are those who understand the principles of balance. When working in the office or on a job site, they give themselves fully to those endeavors. When they return home, they give themselves to those they love. It’s really that simple—and that difficult—to practice moderation.
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Visit THEEPOCHTIMES.COM I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 51
Nation Profile
THOUGHT LEADERS
The Ruination of American Schools Teachers unions, progressive school boards are destroying education, says author
I
n a recent episode of “American Thought Leaders,” host Jan Jekielek spoke with Luke Rosiak, an investigative reporter at The Daily Wire and author of “Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education.” The consequences of this destruction, Rosiak contends, “will be devastating for society, not long in the future, but over the next five to 10 years.”
JAN JEKIELEK: I just fin-
ished reading “Race to the Bottom,” where you say that people back in 2019 made you rethink your whole concept of politics. LUKE ROSIAK: I was a
MR . JEKIELEK: Some of 52 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
MR . JEKIELEK: You
An empty classroom during a period of virtual online learning at Hazelwood Elementary School in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 11.
these districts impact a huge number of people. The case you make in the book is that some people don’t realize the radical agendas at play.
gain access to children, to money, or to whatever. MR . JEKIELEK: You heard
from people because you were writing stories in other places?
MR . ROSIAK: I live in
Fairfax County, Virginia, which has 1.2 million people. In 2019, one thing that woke me was learning that none of the 10 Democrats on the Fairfax County School Board had kids in the school system. So why would you run for school board if you didn’t have kids? It turned out they all had their own political agendas and were using the schools as a vehicle, to
MR . ROSIAK: Yes, people
were contacting me about schools. I saw that schools mattered and that no one was paying attention to them. Because of that, special interests had started colonizing these schools in places like Seattle and Minneapolis, and then in places you wouldn’t expect. Once coronavirus hit, a lot of people began paying attention to schools. But
contend in the book that the teachers unions weren’t fearing for the teachers’ safety—that some other agenda was at play to keep kids and teachers out of school. MR . ROSIAK: I live in Vir-
ginia, where the lockdowns were bad, but you could go out to eat; you could travel. Everyone’s working. You go to Target and you’ve got cashiers there. The only ones refusing to do their job were teachers. We all know that kids aren’t vectors of this disease. They shut down schools to get money, and got $80 billion in one bill alone. They got more money than the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe, and the schools weren’t even open. They were basically taking kids hostage. The thing to realize is, they’ve always operated these schools as employment centers for adults, as much as places to educate children.
FROM L: JON CHERRY/GETTY IMAGES, MATTHEW PEARSON/CPI STUDIOS
reporter covering Capitol Hill when people started contacting me about problems in schools and how it affected them. I realized then that local government has an impact. I also realized that because most people weren’t paying attention to local politics, things could go wrong. I began to focus on school problems, which occur across all 13,000 local school districts.
I started working on this book before then, and I found that a lot of what happened during coronavirus, and with CRT (critical race theory), was what some people had already wanted to do. They used coronavirus to ramp it up.
Nation Profile
MR . JEKIELEK: What do
they use the term “equity.”
you mean by taking kids hostage?
MR . ROSIAK: They re-
MR . ROSIAK: They said,
“We’re not going to open schools unless you meet our conditions.” Primarily, the conditions were a lot of money they said they needed for safety, but it wasn’t true. In Fairfax County, for example, they had a warehouse full of so many masks that they ran out of room. But the teachers union said, “If you want us to go to school, you’re going to have to give us money to buy masks.” MR . JEKIELEK: Let’s talk
about Fairfax. MR . ROSIAK: In Fairfax
County, groups called PolicyLink and the Government Alliance on Race and Equity are two nonprofits that most people haven’t heard of, but they’re important in this effort to take over local governments and spread this radical agenda. They’ve been doing it for about a decade. One of them did a study on Fairfax County to determine, “How can we take it over?” Then they adopted a policy that said, “Every decision must be made through the lens of equity.” If you go into the documents about these two activist groups, they’re explicit about their methodologies. We’ll take over this county, then this town, and then this city. They’ve colonized a good portion of America with these radical policies. MR . JEKIELEK: You men-
tioned in your book that
alized that with equity, a lot of Americans were not paying attention. Americans thought equity was the same as equality, just because they sound similar. MR . JEKIELEK: In prac-
tice, equity means equalizing around the bottom. MR . ROSIAK: The Obama
administration was concerned about discipline disparities in schools, and they called it the “school to prison pipeline,” which essentially means that blacks are suspended more than others in schools. So Obama’s Department of Justice sent a letter to the school system stating, “You’re going to be investigated unless your discipline rates are the same for all races.” The rate of Asians suspended for bringing knives to school had to be the same as the rate of blacks. But what if one group brings more knives to school than the other? What do you do? You wind up cooking the books and letting people off the hook for committing serious infractions. For example, in Los Angeles, over a couple years during the Obama administration, suspensions went from 75,000 a year to only 5,000 a year. Unfortunately, it wasn’t because the kids became better behaved. Instead
of changing behaviors, you just change appearances so the optics look better. It’s also been incredible to see school systems devalue academic accomplishment. The teachers have turned against students who are working hard, doing homework, and getting the right
answers—all in pursuit of equal outcomes. Instead, they’ve basically said, “No, we’re just going to stop measuring.” The result will be devastating for society, not long in the future, but over the next five to 10 years. We’re not even trying to get the
“There are very bad people coming for your kids. If you don’t fight, then who’s going to step up?” Luke Rosiak, an investigative reporter at the Daily Wire and author.
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 53
Nation Profile
“It’s insane. It’s a total takeover ideology. What really bothers me is we all just want our kids to be happy.” kids to be smart. We’re spending $29,000 per student per year in New York City. How do you spend that much money and get such bad results? Equity is about giving up on helping minorities by just equalizing everyone—not by helping them, but by manipulating outcomes. MR . JEKIELEK: So CRT
is a way to avoid responsibility for failing to educate students. MR . ROSIAK: CRT is the
cover-up. They’re failing our kids, in particular, the poor and minority kids. The cover-up is the various excuses they have to conceal it. CRT is obviously the big one because, they say, “Tests are racist.” So this served the interests of the teachers unions and administrators, in the sense that they just concealed they were failing these kids and started ramming them through during coronavirus. It was essentially evil what they did to the kids. Coronavirus left
50 percent of the kids in Los Angeles truant. They don’t come to school anymore. We lost them. Yet these are the people who are saying, “The parents’ job is subordinate. We know what is best.” MR . JEKIELEK: In your
book, you mention that in critical race theory, there’s counter-storytelling. What is this, and how did you see it manifest? MR . ROSIAK: CRT is a take-
over ideology that rejects objectivity. One of the ways they do that is by saying lived experience counts more than facts. So you can go into a courtroom and a district attorney could find you guilty, but you could say that you’re innocent in some subjective way. A society can’t function on some philosophical framework that rejects objectivity, but that’s what CRT does.
That’s what counter-storytelling is. It’s when subjectivity preempts objectivity, but only if it furthers critical race theory. In the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, the top math school in the state, they’re saying math should be replaced by Mathmatx, which incorporates “indigenous ways of knowing.” In this framework, there’s no such thing as the right answer to a math problem. It’s insane. It’s a total takeover ideology. What really bothers me is, we all just want our kids to be happy; having your kids focus relentlessly on this idea of negativity and oppression in America is bad. One thing people can do is run for their school board. You might think, “I’m just a regular parent. I don’t have any background in education.” That’s the point. It is much better to have outsiders. Don’t be confused by all their jargon. If you’re not going to run for school board, at least show up for these meetings with courage and confidence. There are very bad people coming for your kids. If you don’t fight, then who’s going to step up? This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
54 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
THIS PAGE: OCTAVIO JONES/GETTY IMAGES
Middle school teachers protest against the reopening of schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in front of the Hillsborough County Schools District Office in Tampa, Fla., on July 16, 2020.
T R AV E L • F O O D • L U X U R Y L I V I N G
No.25
Unwind
Center console boats are popular for their “do-it-all” nature; from fishing to diving to cruising, they are ready for any adventure. PHOTO COURTESY OF INTREPID
Cast Off for Family Fun MANY WHO VISIT PRAGUE for the Baroque architectural wonders and eclectic culture will find themselves loving the local cuisine. 58
A PROPER FIRST AID KIT should be an essential part of any plan to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. 60
63
A SELECTION OF innovative camp cooking equipment that can help you raise the standard far above the traditional canned beans and bacon. 66
INSIDE I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 55
A SAINTTROPEZ Stunner
a s e r v i R h c ne r F d l b a f T e h e t a s v i e r p m n a o f p r d k ca b e h t ea h s c r u p o f e l b a i v w o n By Phil Butler 56 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
This remarkable bathroom conveys the dedication to perfection that went into creating this stunning home. Real gold fixtures, the rarest marble, all crafted by some of the world’s most skilled artisans.
Lifestyle Real Estate
A
COURTESY OF THE VILLA OWNERS & CARLTON INTERNATIONAL
n exquisite villa overlooking the Bay of Saint-Tropez delivers on a promise of exclusive seclusion with the right touch of romance. Nestled on a green hillside overlooking the Côte d’Azur, this majestic property is well worth its $18.7 million asking price. Located inside a private gated community and surrounded by two acres of lush, private grounds, this sophisticated 6,426 square-foot home features six bedrooms and six bathrooms. Designed with uncompromising attention to detail, the majestic residence was built using only the finest materials, including Chinese onyx, Brazilian marble, burgundy stone, and fine tile and wood accents. Master craftspeople were used to create a truly impressive villa, featuring hand-carved staircases, roman pillars, rich cornices, and stunning stonework. On the first floor, there are immaculate formal living and dining areas connected to a fabulous gourmet kitchen, elegant reception lounge, and casual rooms designed for laid-back family life. Despite all its splendor, the estate was really intended as a family domicile. Upstairs, there’s a fantastic master suite with a private terrace overlooking the pool and the Riviera vistas beyond. The master bedroom also
has a stunning bath created by some of Europe’s finest artisans, finished in gold fixtures. On the lower floor, there’s a wonderful dressing room, myriad utility rooms, and an underground hall passage leading to the guest house with its own kitchen and three private guest bedrooms. There’s also an independent living room with access to the heated pool outside. In all, the residences offer 8,600 square feet of lavish living space set on 2.15 acres of manicured nature. The designers spared no expense in recreating a regal estate reminiscent of an 18th-century palace, sculpted to the finest detail. Outside, spacious terraces and elaborate balconies take full advantage of the villa’s location overlooking Saint-Tropez Bay. The glamorous pool house, private tennis court, private elevator, and underground garage finish off this unique French Riviera showplace. Not far away, the quaint village of Grimaud, France, beckons owners and guests seeking more ambiance and charm, while one of the oldest and most famous golf clubs on the French Riviera promises ultimate links challenges. Phil Butler is a publisher, editor, author, and analyst who is a widely cited expert on subjects ranging from digital and social media to travel technology.
GRIMAUD, FRANCE $18.77 MILLION • 6 BEDROOMS • EXCLUSIVE VISTAS • UNCOMPROMISING DESIGN KEY FEATURES • RARE MATERIALS • PALATIAL DESIGN • HEATED SWIMMING POOL AGENT CARLTON INTERNATIONAL EMAIL: INFO@CARLTON-GROUP. COM +33 493 95 1111
The formal dining room revisits the theme of charming elegance in a homey atmosphere. Tucked into a secluded hillside within the private domain of Beauvallon, this marvelous estate has everything the most demanding owner could wish for.
High beamed ceilings, fabulous custom carved fireplaces, immaculate stonework, and inlays blend perfectly with the finest fabrics and interior design elements. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 57
Travel Czech Republic
Bridges connect the historic Old Town to the Mala Strana neighborhood.
A City and Its River A boat ride on Prague’s Vltava River reveals intriguing spots and stories
By Tim Johnson
E
58 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
PRAGUE
CZECH REPUBLIC
A seasonal nonstop New York–Prague flight aboard Delta resumed last month from JFK.
FROM TOP L: FRASER HALL/GETTY IMAGES, THE EPOCH TIMES, FOUR SEASONS, PAUL THUYSBAERT/FOUR SEASONS, TIM JOHNSON
urope is filled with great river cities—the steeples and citadels of Buda and Pest rising dramatically on either side of the Danube, the Seine slicing Paris into Left Bank and Right Bank. But Prague? Not really one of them. Yes, water runs through its heart. And perhaps the city’s most distinctive landmark is the Charles Bridge, a stone span dating back to 1357 and lined with dozens of baroque statues. But mention the Vltava River in passing to even well-traveled individuals, and you’d probably be met with a puzzled look. And its harsh-sounding name certainly won’t inspire any gauzy romantic visions of Old World maritime culture. But still, Captain Stepan Rusnak told me the Vltava is of vital importance to Czechs. “It’s the longest river in the country,” he said, noting that it flows from the mountains in Bohemia clear across the nation until it joins with the Elbe in
Germany. Calm today, its name recalls more untamed times, meaning “wild water.” Sometimes called the world’s greatest living outdoor museum, Prague is remarkably well-preserved, being spared from some of the harshest bombing in World War II. So even a casual stroll will take you back hundreds of years, from the 15th-century Astronomical Clock at Old Town Square to the 9th-century fortifications at Prague Castle, peering down over it all. But after many visits here, I had never seen it from below, from the water. Staying at the Four Seasons Hotel, which sits directly on the river, I was about to go for a ride; it’s an experience the hotel offers guests. Rusnak operates a handcrafted timber boat with a shallow draft, perfect for navigating the tight corners of this urban waterway that few get to explore. He met me in the lobby, and as we walked across a bridge to reach his craft, Rusnak said that he grew up near here, right on
Travel Czech Republic
the water, his family fishing for a living. Old enough to remember communist times, the tall, serious captain noted the differences between then and now. Buildings, now restored, were tumbledown, and pollution marred everything. “Some days, you couldn’t even see the other side of the river,” he said, with a small shake of his head. “The city is beautiful now. Such a shame my grandparents never got to see it this way.” We climbed aboard at a small dock, his boat the only one moored there, shoving off into the flow, the city rising around us. “Let’s start with a secret tunnel,” Rusnak said, angling the handsome craft—wood and rails polished to a shine—toward the Charles Bridge. He recalled some history as we motored toward it, that a wooden bridge preceded this span, that the current stone structure took 55 years to build, and that King Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, died before he could see the completion of this great project, which still bears his name. Gliding into the tunnel under one of the bridge’s towers felt like surreptitious entry into a secret world. There are small cafes, and also other boats, their crew and passengers warm inside. Rusnak pointed out a line on the wall, a high water mark from 2002, when the river rose more than 20 feet. A massive storm near the headwaters sent the city a deluge, far more water than it could handle, overwhelming low-lying areas near the river. Thousands were evacuated, and hundreds across Europe died due to the same storm system. It was the biggest flood in the city’s
Cruising through Prague's canals reveals intriguing neighborhoods.
recorded history—one time when the Vltava lived up to its wild name. “I worked with the police to rescue people,” the stoic captain said. We passed some of the 13 islands in the river here, including Kampa Island, whose houses were once home to some of the brightest lights in the city’s creative class. We saw a water wheel, in the past powered by the river to grind flour for bread, and navigated through a canal in an area near the lesser town known as Little Venice, with more cafes and historic, pastel-colored buildings rising right from the water. Sometimes gondoliers pilot their craft through here, singing songs, like in the real Venice. “In the summer, when it’s really hot, people jump from the side and take a swim,” Rusnak said. And then the captain played Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” followed by part of “Ma vlast,” six symphonic poems written in the 1870s by Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. We were back in the middle of the Vltava now, the stone arches of the Charles Bridge ahead, the spires and towers and buttresses of Prague all around us. “This song, it’s very important. It was inspired by all this beauty,” Rusnak said, quietly conducting an unseen orchestra, the uniformed skipper caught, just for a moment, in a reverie. I was happy to sit back, relax, and let the music wash over me, flowing in chorus with the river, all the way back to the dock. Tim Johnson is based in Toronto. He has visited 140 countries across all seven continents.
Prague has
2,000
officially recognized architectural and artistic monuments.
If You Go Stay: The Four Seasons Prague is within easy walking distance of some of Old Town’s biggest attractions. The hotel links together four different buildings in a variety of styles—Baroque, Neo-classical, Renaissance—meaning no two rooms are the same, although all adhere to the same standards of luxury. Take Note: The boat experience offered by the Four Seasons isn’t the only game in town—you can book anything from a one-hour sightseeing trip to a full-on dinner cruise with a company like Prague Boats.
A Premier River room in the neoclassical Captain Stepan Rusnak. building at the Four Seasons. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 59
Stuff happens when you least expect it, making ‘be prepared’ more than just a motto
THE LIFE YOU SAVE May Be
Your Own By Bill Lindsey
A well-equipped first aid kit is a must in case you need to provide urgent care.
60 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
Lifestyle First Aid Kits
P
roviding first aid may be the most important reaction to an accident of any type, but all too often, a first aid kit is either nowhere to be found or, if you do find one, you discover that it’s woefully lacking in critical, often-used components. You can find a basic first aid kit for less than $10 at the local big-box store. These compact kits typically include a small quantity of very useful items, such as bandages, antiseptic wipes, gloves, and antibiotic ointments, making them ready for minor burns, cuts, and scrapes, and as such, they make a good starting point. But why isn’t that enough? What do you really need? A worst-case scenario mindset isn’t a bad thing to have when assembling a first aid kit; the first aid equipment company known as My Medic was inspired by tragedy. After the loss of a loved one because of having insufficient first aid gear on hand and a too-long wait for an ambulance, the founder decided to create kits that would provide a fighting chance for survival to victims of serious trauma. As a result, their kits, which we’ll discuss in a bit, include potentially life-saving items not normally found in economy first aid kits.
LEFT PAGE: MRSEGUI/SHUTTERSTOCK; RIGHT PAGE: COURTESY OF MYMEDIC
WHILE IT’S TRUE that a papercut is
so much more common than a major injury such as a punctured lung or a compound fracture, being prepared for the worst scenario, just in case, is logic that’s hard to fault. So what do you need in a “proper” first aid kit? The answer depends on your lifestyle. As noted above, a very basic kit is a good starting point, but it can be made better by the addition of a flashlight to illuminate injuries in case of a power outage, scissors to trim bandages or cut through clothing to access and dress a wound, a space blanket to help ward off shock, saline eye wash, and more. For an office environment, these basics would probably suffice in 99 percent of all incidents. To make them useful when needed, these supplies should be contained in a bag or case that’s easily accessible in a location known to all staff. The likelihood of assembling one, large, inclusive kit to cover all poten-
No matter how quickly you call 911, it can take a few minutes or much longer for assistance to arrive. tial issues is low to nil, making it a better idea to create separate kits for the office, car, home, boat, to be taken on hikes or bicycle rides, and so on. For home scenarios, such as kitchen cuts, electrical burns, or bruises, the kit can be larger, as it can be stashed in a closet and won’t need to be transported. No matter how quickly you call 911, it can take a few minutes or much longer for assistance to arrive, so at a minimum, you’ll want to simply duplicate the contents of a basic kit—bandages, gauze rolls, tape, pain relievers, ointments, and gloves—while increasing the quantity of each item. As an example, a drug store kit will have packets that contain less than an ounce of ointment and an assortment of adhesive bandages, most of which will be relatively small in size. For home use, you can add a tube of ointment several ounces in size, as well as a full-sized box of bandages of various sizes, a full-sized bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a bag of cotton balls, a bottle of several hundred ibuprofen tablets, or other appropriate pain relievers, taking known allergies into account and much more. While you’re shopping for supplies, add tweezers to remove splinters from wood or plants.
A well-equipped first aid kit should be packed with a wide variety of essential items to address many possible scenarios.
If your adventures take you far afield, consider adding specialty items such as a chest seal, burn shields, and an airway guide to your first aid kit.
Review the contents of your first aid kit regularly, replacing commonly used items such as aspirin and elastic wrapstyle bandages.
NEXT COMES THE car kit; because acci-
dents can occur in the middle of a city or out on a lonely road late at night, you need to add a few more items to the home kit, while at the same keeping the size of the overall kit compact enough to stash under a seat or in the trunk or cargo compartment. Take a Red Cross or similar first aid course to learn the basics, as well as CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator) use. If your budget allows for it I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 61
Lifestyle First Aid Kits
LIFESTYLE
BE PREPARED
Keep the basics handy so you can treat injuries ASAP
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The Basics and Mayo Start with the basics: bandages and pain relievers, plus a few mayonnaise packets to relieve the pain of burns. If you’re an avid outdoorsman, add items such as a tourniquet and clotting agents.
A very well-equipped first aid kit can be pricey, but having the right items needed to treat injuries or save a life is priceless.
62 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
2 Defibrillator
It’s normal to be squeamish around blood, so keep your attention focused on providing fast, appropriate treatment.
If your budget allows, a portable automated external defibrillator (AED) is a must in a truly wellequipped first aid kit. Consider a refurbished, certified unit.
3 Refill It
Taking Red Cross CPR, First Aid, and AED classes helps prepare you to correctly provide much-needed assistance when seconds count.
Commonly used items such as aspirin, especially those stored in an office first aid kit, need to be restocked as soon as you notice them getting low.
THIS PAGE FROM TOP: COURTESY OF MYMEDIC, PRESSLAB/ SHUTTERSTOCK, MICROGEN/SHUTTERSTOCK
and you have family members with known heart issues, consider buying an AED; refurbished, certified units are often available. A kit to take along on hikes, canoe or kayak adventures, and motorcycle or bike rides needs to be small, yet comprehensive, which is easier said than done. My Medic’s MYFAK is a well-thoughtout kit, but step up to their Pro model to add a tourniquet, splints, a chest seal to address punctures, QuickClot to address serious bleeding, glucose, and hydration packs, a CPR kit, and more. Because several of these items, such as tourniquets, require knowledge to be used properly, the company provides access to training videos. The entire kit can be strapped to a bicycle, placed in a motorcycle saddlebag, or tucked into a kayak storage compartment to make sure you can get to it quickly if an emergency situation arises. Hopefully you’ll never need your first aid kit, but it’s much better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
Luxury Living Center Console Boats
A FLEET OF FUN-ON-THE-WATER MACHINES Taking a ride in a center console boat is a perfect way to go see what’s on the far side of the lake, or dive for lobster over the reef, or just enjoy a sunset cruise By Bill Lindsey
A Compact Yacht
Luxuriously Reliable
SCOUT 255
INTREPID 475 PANACEA
$114,000
This runabout is the ideal size to be stored at home and towed to the water when you want to go for a ride. Thoughtful standard equipment such as an integrated cooler and cupholders, a sound system, a toilet, and an easy-access swim platform keep everyone comfortable and coddled.
$725,000
Intrepids are the first choice for police departments because they shrug off extreme conditions, making them a great choice for personal use, too. This model is ideal for those seeking a boat for all-day use, complete with a toilet and enclosed seating below.
Unsinkable Fun
BOSTON WHALER OUTRAGE 420
COURTESY OF SCOUT, INTREPID, BOSTON WHALER, FREEMAN YACHTS, COBIA
$599,000
This Cat Loves Water
FREEMAN 43 CALL FOR PRICING
Two hulls deliver extreme stability even in choppy waters, as well as the largest deck available on any center console boat. Four outboard engines fed by an 805-gallon fuel tank make this a perfect choice for long crossings and cruises, with seating for six, protected from the elements by the expansive T-top.
Since 1958, Boston Whaler has been making practical boats that are truly unsinkable, which is a good thing in a boat. This model blends practicality with luxurious comforts, making it a great choice for a day on the ocean, bay, lake, or river.
The Multitool of Boats
COBIA 320 $245,578
This model has all the features and room to guarantee family and friends are comfortable on the water. Twin outboards linked to a 275-gallon fuel tank allow you to stay out all day, while ample seating, a large T-top, toilet, and cooler keep everyone happy and having fun. I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 63
Epoch Booklist RECOMMENDED READING FICTION
‘Jurassic Park’
By Michael Crichton
The Nightmare of Bioengineering The newest—and “wokest”—addition to the Jurassic series is in theaters, so we recommend going back to where it all began: “Jurassic Park” the novel. Journey into the world of DNA manipulation, dinosaurs, and an adventure park that eventually turns into a nightmare. BALLANTINE BOOKS, 2012 464 PAGES
‘The Spear’
By Louis de Wohl
Love, Revenge, and Redemption Set around the time of Christ’s crucifixion, this book includes fictional characters along with people such as Pontius Pilate, his wife Claudia, and Longinus, the soldier who thrust his spear into Jesus on the cross. The author regarded this novel as his finest work, and as we unravel
This week’s picks feature the novel that started the “Jurassic Park” craze, and a biography of possibly the two best engineers of the 19th century.
its tapestry of love, revenge, and redemption, we can understand why. Here we encounter the ancient world of Romans and Jews. Bolstered by de Wohl’s extensive research, we leave the book with a greater appreciation of that age. IGNATIUS PRESS, 1998 380 PAGES
BIOGRAPHY
‘The Brunels’
By Anthony Burton
A Remarkable Father–Son Pair Isambard Kingdom Brunel may have been the best engineer of the 19th century, except possibly for his father, Marc Isambard Brunel. This is a remarkable biography of two remarkable men. Isambard built the Great Western Railroad and three pioneer steamships, including the SS Great Eastern. Marc built the Thames Tunnel and pioneered mass production. Burton highlights each man’s accomplishments, showing how the two complemented one another and how both helped shape the industrial age and modern times. PEN AND SWORD TRANSPORT 2022, 232 PAGES
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Are there books you’d recommend? We’d love to hear from you. Let us know at features@epochtimes.com
SPORTS
‘The First Tour de France’
By Peter Cossins
The Start of a Sports Tradition The quintessential French sport is cross-country bicycle racing. Why is bicycle racing so associated with France? This account of the first Tour de France answers that question. We see the cycling craze that swept Europe in the 1880s, the nationalism and commercial competition that created the race, and its creator claiming that participants were exemplars of French manhood. Sports enthusiasts and adventure lovers will love this read. BOLD TYPE BOOKS, 2017 384 PAGES
HISTORY
‘The Great Sailing Ships’
By Franco Giorgetti
The History of Sailing Wondering how sailing ships came about
and how they evolved over the centuries? Franco Giorgetti has assembled a fine collection of artwork and photos spanning several millennia to demonstrate just how vital sailing was to commerce and the expansion of civilization. A beautiful and insightful book for lovers of the high seas. WHITE STAR, 2007, 304 PAGES
CLASSICS
‘A Guide to the Good Life’
By William Irvine
FOR KIDS
‘Best Word Book Ever’
By Richard Scarry
Where Education and Fun Meet A great book for preschoolers and early readers. Hundreds of illustrations matched by identifying tags show children everything from a corncrib to a firefighter’s rescue net. Share with the little ones as you explain the pictures. GOLDEN BOOKS REVISED EDITION, 1999, 70 PAGES
A Wise Philosophy Stoic joy? Many readers may be baffled by that subtitle of Irvine’s book. Stoic joy seems a contradiction in terms. Indeed, when he began his book, Irvine found that many people thought the Stoics suppressed “all emotion and … led grim and passive lives.” As readers will discover, Irvine instead learned that Stoics, such as the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius or the slave Epictetus, gave us the ways and means to live a happy life, face our daily trials, and deal with everything from egregious insults to old age. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2008, 336 PAGES
‘Transformed’
By Bill Slavin
Curiosity Quenched Curious minds will relish this fun encyclopedia featuring steps in the manufacturing process of familiar items, such as baseballs, books, ice cream, and erasers. Illustrations and verbal descriptions are both informative and engaging. KIDS CAN PRESS, 2007 160 PAGES
Ian Kane is a U.S. Army veteran, filmmaker, and author. He enjoys the great outdoors and volunteering.
MOVIE REVIEWS
Epoch Watchlist
This week, we look at a touching adventure about a trio of pets journeying home and a dramatic biography about the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
NEW RELEASE
FAMILY PICK
‘Homeward Bound’ (1993)
‘Elvis’ (2022) Austin Butler stars as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley. The film follows him from his childhood in Mississippi and Tennessee to his meteoric rise to fame as a rock ‘n’ roll star and later as an actor. It also details his relationships with manager “Colonel” Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) and Priscilla Presley (Olivia DeJonge). Butler seems to have effectively channeled the musician through his life’s journey. With outstanding dance routines, music, and riveting drama, this highly entertaining film sizzles with energy.
BIOGR APHY | DR AMA | MUSIC
Release Date: June 24, 2022 Director: Baz Luhrmann Starring: Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge Running Time: 2 hours, 39 minutes MPAA Rating: PG-13 Where to Watch: Theaters
A GUNMAN TURNS HIS LIFE AROUND defined characters, brisk pacing, and impressive shootouts, along with a touch of romance. WESTERN
‘Gunsmoke’ (1953) Gunslinger Reb Kittredge (war-hero Audie Murphy) is hired by an evil land-grabber to run a cattleman off his own land. Instead,
Kittredge has a change of heart and defends the rancher and his daughter. This entertaining tale of a gunman who ends up fighting for the underdog has well-
Release Date: May 4, 1953 Director: Nathan Juran Starring: Audie Murphy, Susan Cabot, Paul Kelly Running Time: 1 hour, 19 minutes MPAA Rating: PG Where to Watch: Starz, Amazon Prime
Three loving pets—a sassy Himalayan cat, a sage elderly golden retriever, and a goofy young bulldog (the voices of Sally Field, Don Ameche, and Michael J. Fox, respectively)— are left in the care of their owners’ friends. Worried about their owners, the trio set out on a long adventure through rugged terrain to journey home. With some incredible cinematography and great voice work, this feel-good romp is sure to lift spirits.
It’s an unforgettable tale of determination and devotion that will bring easy tears to your eyes. ADVENTURE | COMEDY | DR AMA
Release Date: Feb. 12, 1993 Director: Duwayne Dunham Starring: Michael J. Fox (voice), Sally Field (voice), Don Alder Running Time: 1 hour, 24 minutes MPAA Rating: G Where to Watch: DirecTV, Redbox, Vudu
WHAT REALLY MATTERS?
‘Arthur’ (1981) Arthur Bach (Dudley Moore) is a wealthy drunk and playboy whose inheritance depends on his marrying a high society snob. Instead, he falls for Linda Marolla (Liza Minnelli), a struggling waitress. Thus, he must decide what’s more important: true love or wealth. This film depicts a timeless scenario: a rich man who’s totally out of touch with what really matters in life. However, its uniqueness comes not only from its
hilarious scenes, but also from touching performances by its outstanding cast. COMEDY | ROMANCE
Release Date: July 17, 1981 Director: Steve Gordon Starring: Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud Running Time: 1 hour, 37 minutes MPAA Rating: PG Where to Watch: Vudu, Redbox, DirecTV
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 65
Luxury Grilling Accessories: Perfecting the Art of Cooking With Fire
LEGEND HAS IT THAT CAVEMEN discovered the joy of grilled meat by accident. Ever since, we’ve been searching for tools to help perfect the craft, such as this collection.
Grill Year-Round
Kota Grill Cabins
Imagine a man cave with a grill and you get the idea of this incredible sanctuary. Developed in the Arctic areas of Lapland, the cabin is equipped with a Kota grill to make barbecuing an allseason social event.
By Bill Lindsey
CONTACT FOR PRICING AT KOTAGRILLS.COM
Timed to Perfection
Grill a Pizza!
Signals BBQ Alarm Thermometer The most important part of grilling is avoiding under- or overcooked meat, making this system a must. The probes send temperature info to your phone via Wi-Fi, so you can monitor the heat without constantly opening the grill cover.
Kettle Pizza ‘Serious Eats’ Pizza Oven Kit Imagine the smiles on your guests’ faces when you serve them charcoal-fired pizza. This oven insert fits into a 22-inch Weber charcoal grill, so you don’t need to buy an expensive wood-fired pizza oven. A version for Weber gas grills is also available.
$239 AT THERMOWORKS.COM
$520 AT KETTLEPIZZA.COM
Make Your Own Secret Sauce
Grillmasters will love using this heirloomquality tool set made by a 200-year-old familyowned firm. The tongs, turner, meat fork, and brush are exactly what you need to flip burgers, turn steaks, or baste chicken and fish.
If you try every barbecue sauce, searching for the perfect flavor, just make it yourself. This kit includes seasonings such as turmeric, liquid smoke, and crushed red pepper, and an instructional booklet to help you bottle your own mustardor tomato-based sauces.
Wüsthof 4-piece BBQ Set
$150 AT WUSTHOF.COM
Grow and Make Artisan BBQ Sauce Kit
$44.95 AT GROWANDMAKE.COM
66 I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022
Let a Robot Do the Cleaning GrillBot Grill Cleaning Robot
Grilling is fun, but the cleanup afterward? Not so much. So, use what’s essentially a Roomba for the grill to do the job while you’re having dessert. Set it on the cooled grill grates, push the button, and come back to a clean grill. $119.95 AT GRILLBOTS.COM
PHOTOS COURTESY OF RETAILERS
Use the Right Tools
Bringing Older Relatives Home
Some suggestions on how to welcome elderly relatives into your home One of life’s lessons is that cycles repeat themselves. Just as our parents and other relatives cared for us when we were children, so too do we need to take them under our wing when they need assistance. By Bill Lindsey
4 Make the Home Elder-Safe
1 Return the Favor As children, it’s too easy to take the efforts of our parents, uncles, aunts, and older siblings for granted. We relied on them always being there to lend a hand, now they need our assistance. The news may be full of stories of adult children moving back with their parents, but for you, it’s the opposite. The genuine heartfelt welcome you need to extend and clear willingness to share your space and life, however, is the same.
CSA IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
2 See Their Side Taking elderly or special-needs relatives into your home will absolutely call for changes and adjustment on your part, but take a moment to consider how they might feel. After a lifetime in their own home, it’s only natural for elderly relatives to feel uprooted and disturbed to find themselves in a place that’s new to them, surrounded by you, your children, and even your pets. Make it a point to be respectful and accommodating to help them get comfortable.
Just as we baby- and toddler-proof homes, a similar review is needed when older relatives move in. Take a hard look at pathways to eliminate soft spots or wobbly pavers that could lead to a fall; look at steps and consider adding safety railings; and if you have a pool, consider adding a safety fence. Install nightlights in hallways and on stairs to increase safety after dark. You may need to make a bathroom door wider to accommodate walkers or a wheelchair; plan ahead.
Include Them 3 in Activities The best way to make older family members feel at home is to let them be involved, helping to the extent they can do so with chores such as cooking, cleaning, or maybe taking care of the kids or pets. Take them along on trips to the grocery store or the mall. If they are interested in doing so, invite them to attend church services and school recitals. Let them play a role in planning vacations.
5 Be Honest At some point, there may be issues that may be too much for you to deal with. Dementia or requirements for advanced medical care may be beyond the abilities of you and your family. Wanting to be there for elderly relatives is admirable, but don’t blind yourself to reality. If you can do so, consider bringing in assistance. If that isn’t possible, for the well-being of your relative, you will need to explore assisted-living facilities.
I N S I G H T June 24–30, 2022 67
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